10th June 1999 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Intel a twelve incher

Confirms its plans

As revealed here last February, Intel is set to start developing 12-inch wafer technology. (Story: Intel outlines 12-inch future) Initially, the chip giant will roll out the technology at its research fab in Oregon next year, but it says it is committed to moving the 12-inch technology to other fabs over time. The benefit of …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 07:58
IBM Micro gerstnered – gets ideas of reference

Two years ago Motherboard design in no-memory shock

From The Register two years back So to Geneva Airport, a watch, fountain and chocolate-ridden spot, where flight announcements have six musical notes as an intro, to the tune of "How much is that doggie..."* From thence, a five minute walk to the Moevenpick Hotel. Here, The Register presented itself to an IBM Microelectronics …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 08:23
x86 chips will be two a penny

But IA-64 Deerfield, Northwood won't be

One of the interesting things we saw wandering around the halls of the Computex trade show in Taipei last week were the so-called "free PCs". These systems, which we saw on the Cyrix and one or two other stands, use microprocessors and other components which cost peanuts, while delivering a fair bit of functionality by yesterday …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 08:46
Screws went onto IBM at Gates' bidding

MS on Trial Once good soldier Kempin got the word from Bill, the hunt began

Gates had set the tone about IBM's relationship with Lotus in 1994, long before the company was acquired by IBM. He had emailed Kempin "I am unsure if we need to see this as an organisational issue or an OEM issue. I am willing to do whatever it takes to kick them out, but strongly believe we need a worldwide hit team to attack …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 09:24
Cut a deal or you don't get Win95 – IBM faces PC suicide

MS on Trial In the months before the launch, MS cut off the air supply

IBM witness Garry Norris explained that Microsoft was offered $10 million by IBM to delink the audit of IBM's licence payments from the Windows 95 licence negotiation and to guarantee that any discrepancies would be cleared up. The audit was expected to take four to six months, and last until around the end of 1995, far beyond …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 09:26
Secret deals MS uses to control PC companies

MS on Trial Play ball and it's cheaper, compete and you're in trouble

MDAs are not discounts from royalty rates, Norris adamantly maintained, but "a vehicle that Microsoft used in order for us to perform activities that benefited them in many ways. It was a vehicle that also gave royalty reductions that imposed costs on the PC manufacturer, in order to attain the royalty reductions. There were …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 09:29
IBM evidence shows how MS controls PC OEMs

MS on Trial The Norris dossier provides the most detailed evidence yet

In 1995, IBM paid Microsoft $40 million for Windows. In 1996 it was $220 million. In 1997 $330 million. In 1998, $440 million. Annoyance over this thumbscrew process is probably the real reason why Garry Norris is giving rebuttal evidence for the DoJ with the clear blessing of IBM, and giving us such a cornucopia. Norris, who …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 09:33
Berners-Lee laments way Web turned out

Web was such a lovely child, says parent -- where did all those spots and greasy skin come from?

The man recognised as the creator of the World Wide Web has talked about his embarrassment and continued frustration with his progeny. "I'm embarrassed at how difficult it is," said Briton Tim Berners-Lee. "The problem is, my mother, your mother, our kids... they go out to the search engine, they ask a question. The search …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 09:39
Easy PC FlexATX designs tip up

Firms hiding designs under bushel

Taiwanese companies were showing unusual designs at Computex last week, but only in private. This case, from ChenBro, is one of four the company showed in its private suite. The others include an egg-shaped PC, and a machine which includes a PC camera. The plastic machines are designed to accommodate Intel and Microsoft's so- …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:22
Win98 SE hits the stores, but service pack MIA

And an interesting price structure seems to be emerging for them...

The US version of Windows 98 SE goes on sale today, but international users may have to wait a while longer, and the free service pack for existing users apparently won't be posted for few more weeks yet. According to US Windows 98 product manager Mike Nichols, the new version will be shipping with almost all new PCs, and will …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:32
DVD player prices set to drop

Acer Labs intros chipset combo

The price of DVD players is set to plummet over the next year as Taiwanese manufacturers implement an Acer Labs Inc (ALi) solution. At Computex last week, ALi introduced a chipset for MPEG-2m Dolby Digital decode and DVD channel control. ALi claims it is the first chipset which provides a complete solution. The Acer subsidiary …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:36
Sony brings digital music to retail channel

Major filip for record stores about to be made obsolete by online sales

Sony's music division, Sony Music Entertainment, yesterday signed digital content distribution specialist Digital On-Demand to serve its album back catalogue to record stores worldwide. The move marks a major shift in the way music is provided to buyers, and could ensure the long-term survival of the high street record shop. …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:40
Pentium chips could get pricier after World Customs ruling

Korea introduces two year retrospective duties

A decision by the World Customs Administration to re-classify CPUs as components rather than chips could raise prices of PCs worldwide. According to English-language newspaper The Korea Herald, local customs authorities have imposed a retrospective tariff on Pentium IIs and Pentium IIIs imported since May 1997. Korean customs …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:50
GamePC to ship 600MHz PIII system next week

Liquid cooling essential

Game players seeking the acme of performance might like to check out US vendor GamePC's Liquid Metal line. The PCs contain a 450MHz Pentium III processor overclocked to 600MHz, a 190MHz 3dfx Voodoo 3 3000 card, 384MB of PC133 RAM, 6x DVD drive, 10,000rpm IBM 18GB Ultra2 SCSI hard drive, and a 40x CD-ROM unit. An EIDE version …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 10:53
Amstrad loses Western Digital case

But Seagate had already divvied up

A US jury has found that Western Digital was not guilty of shipping faulty drives to Amstrad in 1989. Amstrad had wanted $140 million in compensation from WD, and had already received compensation from Seagate in an out of court settlement worth over $120 million. Western Digital had always maintained that its hard drives …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:11
Real 3D targets ATI with patent suit

Patent appears to cover every 3D accelerator card

Graphics hardware market leader ATI was yesterday slapped with a patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets suit by rival graphics specialist Real 3D. Real 3D's suit claims ATI, which commands over 70 per cent of the graphics chip market, has infringed two of its patents which cover the use of 3D graphics products …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:27
Euro Net market too small to support so many ISPs

Survey Expect many fatalities, warns report

ISPs across Western Europe could be in for a torrid time as competition continues to hot up in the marketplace. Although there are some 3000 ISPs in Western Europe chasing a $10 billion industry, those unable to stand the heat will simply be left to fry. That's because Internet demand is exploding, prices are in free fall, and …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:30
AMD K7 to launch 28 June at 600MHz

First time faster than Intel

Sources said that AMD will formally introduce its K7 processor on the 28th of June and will have one processor running at 600MHz. There will also be 500MHz and 550MHz flavours, as previously revealed. Processors will ship to system integrators on the 3rd of August. In the first two weeks of August, there will be volume shipments …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:34
Intel confirms Celeron price cuts

Slash and burn all the way

Intel confirmed today it made price cuts on Celerons and its 400MHz Pentium II last weekend. The price cuts have come a month earlier than anticipated. The Celeron 466 now costs $147/1000, the 433MHz part $113/1000, and the 400MHz Celeron $93. The 366MHz part drops to $69/1000. The PII/400 now costs $173/1000, a ten per cent …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:47
Job losses follow Ideal re-org

Kevin Harper leaves Inter-X board

Ideal Hardware is to make "substantial" redundancies and reorganising to cut costs, following a profits warning. The storage distie is disbanding its operational board and replacing it with a smaller, executive board, headed by Ian French, who is now promoted to chief executive. He will report directly to Inter-X boss James …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 11:52
Sage recruits for e-commerce drive

We want you (and 299 others) as a new recruit

Accountancy software giant Sage will create 300 new jobs at its head office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne over the next year. Granted, most of these will be in that late 20th Century equivalent dark satanic mills -- the call centre. But beggars can't be choosers. especially in the North-East, England's biggest employment black-spot. …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 12:38
More UK telcos deny toll-free access – so who is it?

Call us -- the phone bill's getting really aggravating...

Cable and Wireless and NTL have joined BT in denying they have plans to offer unlimited toll-free access to the Internet within the next three months. Yesterday, Tory MP Ian Bruce said that telcos were working on a service that would give phone users access to a single toll-free number of their choice -- a move that would …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 13:06
Access to Auntie now comes free

Beeb.com launches gratis ISP service

The current mania for launching subscription-free Internet services shows no sign of waning despite warnings today that there are already too many ISPs in Western Europe (see Euro Net market too small to support so many ISPs). BBC Worldwide's commercial web service, beeb.com, has confirmed it is the latest outfit to offer a …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 14:32
NTL to launch digital telly service in September

Watch out BT, warns bullish cable company

Cable company NTL is predicting massive growth when it starts bundling a new range of digital communication services in the UK in September. Its focus will be on selling packages of TV, Internet and interactive services, and telephone across the whole of the UK and through new European franchises. NTL executives hope this new …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 14:35
BT saves Station X for exploitation

Home of world's first electronic computer at last to become tourist trap

Bletchley Park, site of the British successful attempts to crack Nazi cyphers during World War 2 and old stomping ground of this reporter, is finally destined to become a crypto theme park. Today, Bletchley Park Trust chairman Sir Philip Duncombe announced that British Telecom and land-owning quango Pace have saved the site for …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 14:57
Linux disties clash over PowerPC clustering quality

Is PowerPC better for parallel computing than Intel, Alpha or not?

The Mac Linux community was in a some confusion today when it emerged that attempts to show the Linux on the PowerPC was an ideal platform for parallel computing systems might not be all they were cracked up to be. TerraSoft Solutions (TSS) a couple of days ago announced Black Lab Linux, a version of the company's Champion …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 15:32
Computacenter battles to retain BT contract

Out to tender

BT’s PC procurement business is up for grabs as its three-year contract with Computacenter comes to an close. Computacenter, ICL Multivendor Computing and Compel are understood to be on the shortlist for the UK's biggest PC supply contract, worth £60-£80 million a year. BT’s decision, expected in the next few months, could …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 16:12
Oz porn queen defends lecher list

MPs can check its accuracy, says flame-tressed Bernadette

Porn queen and cyber-rights crusaderess Bernadette Taylor has kneed the Australian Government right where it hurts after ministers questioned the accuracy of her "exposed list" (see earlier story). And in a move that could seriously embarrass the Australian Government, she's told ministers they can even check the details for …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 16:59
What do Micron, Samsung and Rambus have in common?

Intel investment is a sheer coincidence

Rambus shares rose sharply at the beginning of the week after Micron said it was ready to provide samples for the memory technology. Over the last month, Rambus shares have seesawed between $75 and around $90. When we checked for the purposes of this piece, its share price was $84.75. Last year, Intel invested half a billion …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 18:28
Beer, cigarettes, crisps make it hard to use laptops in pubs

(With apologies to Walter S. Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal)

There's few major items we own that are as confusing, unpredictable and reliable as our personal computers. And it's even harder when you have to use them in your pub. Q. This may sound daft, but is there any inherent danger in using my laptop in my local? I'm in there for most of the afternoon, and would love to use my notebook …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 19:04
Further Intel, VIA shenanigans emerge

Murk lurks at Satan Clara

After we revealed at last week's Computex that VIA was facing tough pressure from Intel over its PC-133 chipset, further evidence has emerged of the chip giant's Machiavellian manoeuvres. (Story: Intel outed on PC-133) According to the latest issue of Forbes magazine, Intel has sent out a heap of letters in an attempt to …

Business 10 Jun 1999, 19:24