9th June 1999 Archive

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US trade body hypes up chip growth

SIA says things on the mend, but it always says that

US trade association the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is pumping up the hype for the future of the market. In a press release issued late yesterday, the SIA said that global chip sales have risen to the double digit level, fuelled by the Internet. According to the SIA, growth next year is expected to exceed 15 per …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 06:57
S3 gets $42 million from UMC

Good stuff, that patent licensing

S3 is being paid $42 million by Taiwanese foundry United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) for 29 patent licences. The money is being paid by UMC for multimedia and integrated circuit technology licences that S3 owns. Neither UMC nor S3 would say which particular products will be manufactured by the foundry in association with the …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 07:07
Further Camino delay will mean Intel compromises

Chipzilla may have to light other backburners

As reported here yesterday, the Camino (i820) chipset is now unlikely to arrive until the end of September at the earliest. (Story: Rambus Meltdown a sorry tale of fudge, mudge and kludge) And that is likely to mean more compromises to ensure that Direct Rambus RIMMs, processor and board all work together. Our inside information …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 07:11
MS finally conquers Borland

Once-mighty competitor accepts $$$ for intellectual property

Microsoft has finally conquered Borland, even if it took the departure of BillG's bete noire Philippe Kahn, and then the sudden and mysterious board-requested resignation of CEO Del Yocam on 31 March, as the result of "philosophical differences regarding the company's growth strategy". It has just been announced that Microsoft …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 08:23
MS offered IBM Win95 source for ‘neutral’ PC

MS on Trial A neutral PC, friends, is one that only comes with MS software

In March of 1997 IBM and Microsoft were negotiating a renewed alliance which would boost IBM's use of Microsoft software, and give IBM access to the source code of Windows 95, according to documentation produced at the Microsoft trial yesterday. Microsoft had been trying to bludgeon IBM into co-operation with a mix of carrots …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 09:35
ILDF manage to stave off Meta patent judgement

Where this leaves Intel, we dunno

A group of shareholders and creditors have managed to postpone an attempt by Randolph Osherow to obtain the patents for the Meta 3240. This is the case where it emerged that Intel had created a Cayman Island shell company called Maelen in a bid to grab the patents for itself. (Intel, TechSearch, IMS case takes further twist) Now …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 10:03
HP merges five sales forces worldwide

Value, not volume sales units affected

Hewlett Packard has today re-organised its value sales business worldwide. Units which formerly sold consultancy, finance, support, software and enterprise business have been merged into a unit called the Enterprise Computing Sales Organisation (ECSO). The software unit includes OpenView, while the enterprise business includes …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 10:53
Intel named in fresh antitrust suit

Updated, again Multivideo files action

More details have emerged about Multivideo's antitrust suit, first revealed here three days ago. The legal action was filed on the 28th of May, and alleges that Intel attempted to stop implementors of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) from accepting Multivideo's interconnect product as a standard. Multivideo also alleges that Intel …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 11:00
Big Blue sued over mice – twice

There's a rolling moose loose aboot the hoose

F&G Scrolling Mouse LLC has sued IBM for alleged patent infringement. It's the second time F&G has sued Big Blue over Mice in the last month. Big Blue sued over mice That's it. ®

Business 9 Jun 1999, 11:09
AOL claims 24/7 toll-free access offer “a hoax”

But it is testing a freephone number...

AOL UK has move quickly to quash rumours that it is on the verge of introducing round-the-clock toll-free access to the Internet. A newsgroup posting on the Editor's Message Board last night sparked a fresh wave of rumours that AOL was set to introduce toll-free access. The message has been branded a hoax by AOL. The alleged …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 11:55
Dell launches Euro free ISP

Direct vendor leaps on the bandwagon

Dell has become the latest company to offer subscription-free net access joining Granada and themutual.net this week alone. Launched in the UK it is the start of a pan-European Internet service that will be rolled out in Germany on 21 June and France within the next month. Other European countries should be able to take …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 11:58
MSN FreeWeb goes dotty

At last - there is a point to the Microsoft Network...

It's official -- the guy and gals at MSN are dotty. The Register received this email today that suggests that MSN simply hasn't got the point - or if it has, then it's in the wrong place... "Apologies, but we managed to add an extra dot to one of the web addresses in yesterday's announcement of MSN FreeWeb. The correct address …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 14:40
NatSemi credit card PC heralds ‘end of PC era’

First products of new alliance to ship in Q4 - then you'll be able to cut your PC in half

NatSemi has forged an alliance with a specialist 'single component PC' company which could result in PC-compatible devices the size of a credit card. The deal with ZF MicroSystems announced today will combine NatSemi's system-on-a-chip technology with ZF's embedded expertise. NatSemi has been pushing the system-on-a-chip route …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 15:11
Motorola scores $1bn PPC deal with, er, Sun and Motorola

Bombastic ten year alliance to revolutionise IP wireless services. Honest.

Motorola and Sun have teamed-up to pitch IP-based telephony services to the wireless market. The ten year strategic alliance puts together Motorola hardware and Sun software, and incidentally throws a substantial lifebelt to Motorola Computer Group (MCG). As part of the deal Motorola will buy "up to $1 billion in board- and …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 15:41
The curse of MSN strikes another MS VP

Isn't it extraordinary how many of them have gone into holiday mode since Ballmer took over?

Another Microsoft executive has been "disappeared" -- this time it's John Ludwig, VP of the consumer and commerce group, who's signed-up for an extended leave of absence. Ludwig was involved in the development of IE, and has left a number of fingerprints in the trial transcripts. But more recently he drew the Microsoft lemon job …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 16:16
MP demands cheaper net access from UK government

He's called Webb. No, really...

Net users in the UK have a new political champion willing to take their fight for better and cheaper access right to the very top of Government. Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat MP for Northavon near Bristol, spoke for all of the UK's ten million Netizens today as he quizzed the Government about the cost of Net access in the UK. …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 16:28
UK government refuses to act on Net access costs

'Let the market decide' is the policy, apparently...

The Government has confirmed it sees there is no reason for it to intervene in the marketplace and force telcos to cut the cost of Net access. Responding to an adjournment motion today in the House of Commons Michael Wills MP said it wasn't up to the government to adjudicate in such matters. He said it was up to the market to …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 16:32
UK users will get unmetered Net access within three months

Mysterious major telco (not BT, maybe C&W then) plans to unleash toll-free, meter-free service

The UK will get toll-free access to the Internet within the next three months, The Register can confirm. Conservative MP Ian Bruce said this afternoon that telcos are working on a service that would give users access to a single toll-free number of their choice. Although users would have to pay a premium for this service -- a …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 16:35
3Dfx set to take over S3

It's an 85 per cent rumour, OK?

S3, the company with mighty patents, is set to be taken over by 3Dfx, reliable sources told us today. When we asked where the money could come from, the source told us the bid will be funded by a consortium dead interested in all of the S3 patents. If the reports are true, it would be a hostile bid. S3 is being wooed by Intel …

Business 9 Jun 1999, 22:13