15th June 1999 Archive

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AOL's plans for dumping Windows, IE

MS on Trial Slightly Walter Mitty, they were, but TV's another matter

AOL's projected 'no-Windows' PC (Sun-AOL plan for no-Windows PC) finally made it to court yesterday, but by some strange alchemy Microsoft's attorneys nevertheless seem to have failed to set the world on fire in the quizzing of 'hostile witness' David Colburn. The AOL PC plan was presented to the AOL board last October, but the …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 08:02
Felten hits back at MS exec Allchin on integration

MS on Trial And an old Kempin-related email sticks its oar in...

Computer scientist Edward Felten of Princeton was the last of the three rebuttal witnesses for the DoJ. Steve Holtzman of the Department of Justice took him through some of the contentious issues in the testimony of Microsoft vp Jim Allchin, which was described as "questionable". Allchin had said "Yes" in response to the …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 08:49
MS DLLs are like ice cream and carrots – expert

MS on Trial So if you'd thought wet string and chewing gum, you were wrong...

Microsoft has given DLLs multiple functionality to make it difficult to remove browser functionality without impairing Windows performance. In discussing such tricks, the DoJ rebuttal witness Edward Felten grasped at the analogy of a DLL being composed of ice cream and carrots. His reasoning was that the component content of any …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 08:54
‘Compaq’ invents Linux-based palm computer

But actually it's more likely decided to get some mileage out of Digital R&D after all...

One of the things Compaq got hold of when it bought Digital was the latter's wacky research division. This wasn't obviously something an outfit like Compaq would automatically know what to do with (e.g., 'what are we going to do with Alta Vista then?'), but as the company has now started talking about a Linux-based palm computer …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 09:55
Sun, 3Com bring Java to Palm

Paves way for push against Symbian

Sun and 3Com have agreed to turn the Palm organiser into a Java device, by building in the latest, most compact version of Sun's programming language, the 100K Java Micro Edition. Clearly the move helps shore up both companies' products against Windows CE, by giving Java access to a new market, and providing Palm Computing with …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 11:14
Intel to be paid to limit fab jobs

Agreement required for $200 million Oregon tax break

Officials in Oregon's Washington County, home of four of Intel's key US manufacturing sites look set to approve a $200 million tax-break package for the chip vendor. However, there's one proviso for Chipzilla, though: don't create too many jobs. The plan will contain a clause forcing Intel to pay $1000 for every manufacturing …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 11:29
Cloner to make MS Java available to all platforms

Which would however appear to be subtly different from making it open source...

More information is emerging about Microsoft's deal with Java cloner Transvirtual Technologies. At JavaOne today in San Francisco Transvirtual is due to show a new version of its product, Kaffe, which can run Microsoft's Java extensions as well as Sun Java. Transvirtual would seem to have been paid by Microsoft to develop the …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 11:35
‘Free’ Internet claims exposed

This is an offer you can refuse, Tim Richardson reports

A premium rate phone line that promised "unlimited 'free' UK calls to the Internet!" has been exposed as little more than a crude marketing ploy for Euphony Communications Ltd. Free-Link, based in Leeds, claimed it would spill the beans on toll-free access to the Internet if Net users called the premium-rate line and paid a £25 …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 11:58
Ten fingers, two thumbs keep moving with HP Internet keyboards

Should be fine for Hannibal Lecter and Anne Boleyn, then

Apply Darwinian theory to Web use and the next evolutionary change to happen to Homo sapiens will be the sprouting of extra fingers to cope with ever-expanding keyboards. No? Well in its infinite wisdom Hewlett-Packard is to add a stack of new keys that will make it easier for users to jump onto their favourite parts of the Web …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 12:06
3Com partners with NTT DoCoMo for wireless Palm roll-out

Japanese wireless data service to mirror recent US launch

3Com's Palm Computing subsidiary has won the support of Japan's largest cellphone company, NTT DoCoMo, with a major technology and business alliance that puts the Palm platform at the heart of DoCoMo's mobile data service plans. Essentially what we have here is a Japanese version of the wireless trials Palm is currently running …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 12:07
Maxtor issues profit warning

Price tumble to blame

The hard drive price war has taken its toll on Maxtor, which says it will not meet market expectations. The company, part-owned by Hyunda, blames significant price deterioration this quarter for the profits warning. It now expects to report a loss of between $23 million and $33 million for the quarter ending on the 3rd of July. …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 13:40
Psion launches Series 5mx – the 5 ‘Second Edition’

Faster, cleaned-up, includes the stuff they promised (oops) to put in the last one...

Today in London Psion unveiled the product that the Series 5 pocket organiser should have been. The Series 5mx fixes defects and delivers on promises made two years ago. But alongside what is essentially a holding action, Psion previewed a larger, notebook-style machine, the netBook. The netBook won't be available until later …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 14:41
Inktomi, Inktomi, they've all got it Inktomi

Robot takes over directory

Inktomi Corporation has launched the world's first fully automated Directory Engine. Unlike Yahoo!, which employs hundreds of editors to plough through Web sites and structure them into neat little groups, the Inktomi Directory Engine does it all without anyone lifting a finger. Officially launched today, the Directory Engine …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 15:12
M4 touts DLT tape library

Wants resellers

M4 Data launched the MagFile tape library today, a data storage product which the company hopes will push it into the UK channel. MagFile uses Quantum drives, and is a mid-range DLTtape automated tape library that Surrey-based M4 hopes will increase its coverage with resellers. Each library module holds up to 20 cartridges, …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 15:32
MS bids for wireless generation with MSN Mobile

Trust us, even if it's free it's a plot. Especially if it's free...

Microsoft's launch yesterday of MSN Mobile was to some extent an exercise in reinventing wheels that have started to roll elsewhere, but it was also a classic Microsoft bid to grab itself another big pile of users. Say you're in the US, and you've got a pager or a cellular phone - how would you like to be able to get weather …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 15:52
Handbags at dawn between Excite and GTE

War of words breaks out over cable trials

An unholy row has broken out today after Excite@Home accused GTE of publishing duff information over its Clearwater cable trials in a bid to "derail" the development of a broadband network in the US. Yesterday, GTE said it had clearly established that cable modem systems could be operated easily on an "open access" basis that …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 15:53
UK encryption proposals ‘breach’ human rights

Government warned to back off

The British Government could be in breach of Human Rights legislation if it proceeds with its encryption policy, a pressure group warned today. Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) made the claim in a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair. The letter says that too much emphasis is placed on the value of encryption in support of …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 16:41
Intel displays mobile 400MHz wares

First 0.18-micron CPU hits the streets

First the hype, now the reality. Today, Chipzilla ships the mobile 400MHz Pentium II, the first CPU to roll off its spanking, gorgeous new 0.18-micron production line. At the same time, it’s slipping out a Celeron-flavoured 400Mhz mobile, manufactured to the 0.25 micron spec. Smaller die size means lower power consumption and …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 16:59
One jumps, others pushed from Ingram Micro UK

Confirms 50 redundancies

Ingram Micro UK has made 50 redundancies across the board in its Milton Keynes office last Friday. This leaves around 450 staff in the UK. "The UK operation has been reviewed from top to bottom. The job cuts will streamline the business. There will be no mass layoff in the UK," an Ingram representative said. In March, Ingram …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 17:07
Cadence snaps up Orcad

Cash offer

Chip design house Cadence is digging its claws into Orcad, with an agreed cash bid valuing its smaller rival at $121 million. Cadence is the market leader for electronic design automation services, at the high-end. With Orcad under its wing it gets to play a bigger game in the so-called shrink-wrapped PCB market. The two …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 17:18
Emails damage your health

This is getting ridiculous

Email and phone messages damage health and make staff tired and less efficient, according to a report by top psychologists. Just four phone calls or emails an hour increased heart rate levels, the study of office staff in Holland and Russia found. Although workers speeded up their other tasks to compensate for these distractions …

Business 15 Jun 1999, 17:33