7th June 1999 Archive
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Samsung could buy Compaq out of Alpha hole
These are rumours, OK?
IBM's fabbing of the Alpha processor has been delayed because of a possibility Compaq might offload the whole lot onto its partner Samsung, sources said at the weekend. According to the one source, if Samsung bites, Compaq would continue to source Alphas from the Korean company. That would also allow Compaq to be "architecture …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:32
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More heads to roll at the Big Q?
And we have the triumvirate's memo
Additional rumours from insiders at Compaq are suggesting that other senior heads are likely to roll during the course of the week. According to our source, who wishes to remain unnamed, there is speculation that senior exec Bill Strecker's job could be threatened as Ben, Frank and Ted continue their purge at Compaq. Enrica …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:33
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Intel carries on recruiting Merced babes-in-wood
A whole spate of new jobs emerge…
To tape-out or not to tape-out, that is the question many are asking as a whole slew of IA-64 jobs came up for grabs at Intel at the end of last week. Our source close to the employment agency has sent us a massive list of job vacancies at Intel, all of which suggests there are still a few problems with screwdrivers at the chip …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:37
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Merced hotter, harder slower
Letter from architect Gives opposition real chance…
A scientist who has taken time out to read Intel's IA-64 material is concluding that the processor may well be a pup. The boffin, who has supplied his name and address to The Register, is concluding that Intel may have a real problem persuading the world+dog that its IA-64 architecture is a goer. He said: "Like many other …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:39
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Our Computex 99 coverage
Typhoons, Cathay Pacific and earthquakes notwithstanding...
Despite being afflicted by the threat of typhoon Maggie, a minor earthquake and Cathay Pacific pilots going on strike, The Register managed to make it back to Blighty. Below is a list of the stories so far filed from the show. We will also provide separate product roundups from the show during the course of the week. 4 June 1999 …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:42
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Someone registers AMD domain name
But was it Advanced Micro Devices?
A domain name called ADVANCEDMICRODEVICES.COM was registered last week but it is unclear whether AMD itself has taken out the name. Ten days ago, we reported that AMD had registered the name Advanced Micro Devices as a trademark. That is trademark no 75-659234, with the application taken out on the 12th of March last. This …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:48
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Watch the horses when the earthquakes strike
Or any other animals you have with you
Just after a tremor caused the Imperial Inter-Continental Taipei to wobble like a jelly last week, we decided to look again at the innkeeper's limitation of liability document again. Thank god we did. The opening par tells us that: "No innkeeper shall be liable to make good to his guest any loss of or money to goods or property …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 09:56
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Intel uses Russia military technologies
Russian designer could have been inspiration for Pentium name
Former Elbrus employee, Vladimir Pentkovski is a leading Intel processor architect. The core of the Russian Elbrus team has been together for over 40 years, developing supercomputers for the former Soviet Union's defence establishments. Pentkovski carried to Intel many advanced Elbrus technologies. According to microprocessor …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 10:14
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Is pizza delivery the killer couch potato app?
Microsoft buys stake in minimalist interactive TV outfit
Microsoft has taken a $30 million stake in an interactive cable TV outfit aiming at the impulse buy end of the market. The company, Wink, has a system that allows couch potatoes to view the ads then buy the products with the aid of nothing but their TV remote control. Is this the killer app interactive TV has been searching for …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 10:19
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Red Hat to be first major Linux IPO
But as it 'grows up,' stresses become apparent...
As predicted here las t April Red Hat is to be the first major Linux IPO. The company, which has been strengthening its management recently, is to make an offering of $96.6 million. Red Hat has won a series of high-profile investors, including Intel, IBM, Netscape, Oracle and SAP, within the past year. These and the lucky …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 10:22
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MS caught searching for massaged Netscape sales data
MS on Trial First decide on the result, then get the data. Heard it before?
Microsoft seems totally unable to learn from its earlier unpleasant trial experiences, if one of the most recent published email exchanges is to be believed. It took place this year, when Microsoft's legal team would already have searching for material to shore up its case in the rebuttal phase of the trial, and yes folks, it's …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 10:26
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NASA downed in hack attack
But boldly going again
A reader has reported that the NASA government site was the latest in a list of US .gov sites to be hacked last week. Although NASA boffins quickly got it up again the next day, for some time people interested in the Space Shuttle et al got the following message, which we have slightly edited, adding asterisks, to avoid …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 10:40
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Dixons says yes to Freeserve IPO
But will anyone other than a rival ISP really want it?
Dixons has confirmed it is to spin-off part of Freeserve in a move that will surely test the UK's appetite for Net stocks. It has also said it intends to register part of the offering in the US -- a move that would tap into the US' dwindling craving for Net stocks. The move also quashes speculation that Freeserve may have been …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 11:00
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Japanese giants propose mini-1394
Small connector not small enough, apparently
The compact, easy to use IEEE 1394 connector is clearly not sufficiently compact or easy to use for a band of seven Japanese consumer electronics companies. Sony, Toshiba, Matsushita, Hitachi cable and three others have just proposed a smaller, half-size version of the IEEE 1394 (aka FireWire) connector for home networking …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 11:22
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S3 launches mobile graphics market attack
Updated Brings Savage 4 to notebooks
Intel's favourite 3D graphics company, S3, will today unveil its bid to dominate the emerging notebook graphics market, as we reported here back in March. Based on S3's Savage 4 architecture, the Savage IX and Savage MX are aimed at OEMs keen to target power-hungry gamers and business users, respectively. Traditionally, the …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 11:54
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Erotic exhibitor options IPO to fund online expansion
Swelling interest in Net continues... ahem
Investors with a fetish should be turned on by the latest Internet company to make noises about going public. Erotica is planning to float on the UK's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) or NASDAQ next year, according to a story in the Observer newspaper. The company, which organises adult trade shows, is looking to expand its e …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 12:06
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Architect talks unto Architect about IA-64
And one architect thinks t'other is talking crap
A letter from an architect who thought IA-64 marchitecture does not cut it was described by another, Australian architect, as "total crap" today. The Aussie architect, who does not wish to be named on the grounds that he wants to work in the future, was responding to a letter which claimed Merced would run "hotter, harder and …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 16:20
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Celestica, Big Q laugh at IBM-Acer deal
Assembly, dissembly, whatever
A sense of chagrin seemed likely to kick in at Compaq's HQ in Houston today as it realises the extent of the manufacturing deals Big Blue has struck so far this year. Except that Compaq has just signed a deal with mystery firm Celestica, according to our sources. A really funny but true fact is that Celestica was a division of …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 16:21
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PowerPC G4 not late, says Motorola
Expect big news in Q3, promises company
Motorola today called The Register to stress that it's PowerPC G4 production process is still running to plan. That contradicts a story posted last week on Apple-oriented Web site AppleInsider, which cited unnamed Motorola sources who claimed that the company had fallen way behind schedule. Motorola's head PowerPC spin-paramedic …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 16:25
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Euro Net strike “great success” claims organiser
But will the telcos take notice?
Yesterday's Europe-wide Internet boycott has been hailed "a great success" by the organisers of the action. Fifteen countries took part in the strike in the hope of forcing telcos and governments to cut the cost of Net access in Europe. In Spain the use of e-mail plummeted by 90 per cent compared to a normal Sunday. The use of …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 16:30
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UK Govt called to account for Net charges
Do metered calls put Europe at a disadvantage? asks MP
The Government is to be tackled in the House of Commons about the cost of Net access in the UK. Liberal Democrat MP Steve Webb has half-an-hour on Wednesday to find out the Government's position on the cost of Net access and whether it believes anything needs to be done. It will also shed more light on the Government's wired …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 16:32
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Nelson Mandela is IT mandala
Exclusive to The Register Technology smoothes SA elections
South Africa may sit at the bottom end of the Dark Continent, but when its citizens went to the polls last week (2 June) in the country's second fully-democratic election, technology helped to make the process as painless as possible. Memories are still fresh of the two and three-day queues that voters endured to make their mark …
Business 7 Jun 1999, 21:39
