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12th July 1999 Archive

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  • Third party K7 mobos peek over parapet

    Ahead of August availability

    A list of third party support for Athlon has arrived, including information about motherboard manufacturers. The information, listed at AMDZONE, shows that Gigabyte, Microstar, Asus, FIC and BioStar will produce motherboards for the K7. An AMD representative said this morning that full details are now on the Athlon (K7) FAQ at …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 07:15

  • The Intel roadmap, according to Intel

    What are Internet SIMD extensions when they're at home?

    As we speculate, talk to Intel OEMs and distributors, and pick up information from the world and its dog, let us never forget that Chipzilla does disclose some elements of its future. So, then, take a decko at this page to see how Intel sees its roadmap developing during the second half of this year and the first half of next …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 07:25

  • Apple, Swatch to make e-mail watch

    Could this be a cuckoo clock?

    A Swiss site is reporting that Apple and Swatch have launched a watch that allows you to read your email. The report, which you can find in French and English here, reckons the watch will cost about £80. It comes with an ADB or USB port and will be out by the end of the year, the report suggests. There's a picture of a watch on …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 07:41

  • Complete Copper in IBM whopper deal

    A year ago Ancient Aluminium gets boot

    Posted 14 July 1998 -- a year ago A US company called Novellus said yesterday that it had signed a deal with IBM to manufacture integrated circuits using copper interconnections. Novellus said that it and IBM Microelectronics had been jointly developing manufacturing equipment needed to manufacture chips using copper, rather …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 07:52

  • Caldera update: MS condemned by its own emails

    MS on Trial There's a 1916 precedent dealing with corn and starch, appropriately...

    Microsoft is likely to lose its cases against the DoJ and Caldera for a number of reasons. High on that list is the contrast between Microsoft's internal communications and what its witnesses have said in evidence (or introduced in written testimony), and what Microsoft's lawyers have written in court-filed pleadings. All …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 08:08

  • Bristol update: MS lawyers muzzle Compaq witness

    MS on Trial Don't answer questions about intimidation - or else

    Bristol's lawsuit against Microsoft is scheduled to go to the jury this week, and for the last few days Microsoft's final witnesses have been taking the stand. One, Compaq VP Tim Yeaton was blocked by Microsoft attorneys from answering questions about Microsoft intimidation of Compaq, among other things. Yeaton, who'd earlier …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 08:25

  • Sharp to launch EPOC communicator next year

    And is the company up to something with the Vikings?

    Sharp is to build a wireless PDA using Symbian's EPOC operating system, according to weekend reports in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. According to the paper the device will be released in Europe early next year. This is unusual, as so far the wireless data efforts of Japanese companies have tended to be aimed at Japan in the …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 09:12

  • TFT shortage to push notebook prices up

    Production not nearly equal to demand

    Taiwanese manufacturers of TFT LCD screens said that demand for the parts means that their capacity is filled until the end of the year. Both Acer and Chung Hwa are struggling to meet demand, according to local reports, and there is still a shortage of TFT LCD screens from other Far Eastern manufacturers. That will mean an …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 10:45

  • UK lagging behind Europe on e-commerce

    Survey Most companies only implementing e-mail

    A report by market research company Banner has claimed that the majority of UK companies risk losing business to European competitors because of slowness in implementing e-commerce. According to the survey, which approached 4,584 IT decision makers, only four per cent are implementing e-commerce, meaning that the UK lags far …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 10:59

  • LocalTel restricts free Web calls to two hour blocks

    Not quite the unlimited free access that was promised…

    Embittered users of LocalTel, the telco offering free calls to ISP Screaming.Net, have reacted angrily to their free access being restricted to two hour blocks. The service restriction is the latest in a long line of problems that have plagued the LocalTel/Screaming.Net service since it began, leading to users taking direct …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:12

  • 64Mb DRAM prices edging up

    Is there any rhyme or reason in this market?

    The price of 64Mb SDRAMs has shot up over the last four days but there seems little rhyme or reason behind the price moves. According to Alan Stanley, MD of memory company Dane-Elec, the price has risen by about 50 cents on a price of $4. John Byrne, joint MD of VML UK, said prices had risen further than that and stood today at …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:24

  • Web giants team-up to combat legislation

    Shaping the Internet in a non-regulatory sort of way, apparently...

    Nine of the Web's top companies have formed a lobbying group to inform and educate legislators about the Internet. This will be done in Washington, apparently, as so far there's no obvious sign that the new outfit, NetCoalition.com, has heard of Brussels. The outfit claims sites run by its member companies are visited by 90 per …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:41

  • Builder spills beans about AMD fab

    Fab 30 completed, ready to roll high yields

    Information from a builder about AMD's Fab 30 factory in Dresden provides some interesting facts about capacity, size and the loans involved. According to UK based M+W Pearce, Fab 30 cost DM500 million while investment over the next seven years will amount to DM3 billion. This figure consists of three separate investments from …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:45

  • How much is that Freeserve in the window

    UK ISP set for £2 billion price tag after all, woof woof

    Pre-float speculation on the final value of Freeserve is mounting with only two weeks to go before trading begins. Reports out today indicate that the UK's self-proclaimed No 1 ISP is likely to be valued at around £1.5 billion. This is substantially less than the claims of £2.5 billion that began to circulate when talk of a …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:46

  • Memory claims fastest flash controller

    New cards due to debut in Q3

    Memory Corporation has announced it is launching its Flash System Manager (FSM) later this month. FSM is described a new technology, which Memory says will improve the efficiency and reliability of file storage applications for flash memory. The new algorithms behind FSM are the result of research into data storage in flash …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 11:56

  • SEMI to survey copper chip whoppers

    Philips Analytical to help it out

    Trade organisation Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said it will survey the tae up of copper interconnect technology at Semicon West, held in San Francisco this week. According to SEMI, the purpose is to identify the factors that limit or have impact on the industry's ability to deliver the benefits of …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 12:00

  • SEMI says chip industry on rise

    Survey Nine per cent growth this year, 18 per cent next...

    Industry body SEMI said today that worldwide growth in the semiconductor chip industry showed optimistic signs. Over 80 member companies in the US, Europe and Japan were surveyed in the bi-annual report. Those respondents account for 80 per cent of worldwide revenue in the market. The survey looked at equopment companies which …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 12:11

  • Y2K to bring local authorities to their knees

    UK councils set to lose reputation as bastions of efficiency

    Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The government has been nagging us all about it for ages now, but the Y2K watchdog, Action 2000, has revealed that eight UK councils have totally failed to deal with the problem of the flesh-eating millennium bug. Of the remaining 98 per cent of town halls in the UK, only six per cent have been given a …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 12:18

  • Prospro prospers with Intel ASP gong

    Halifax reseller secures second accreditation

    Yorkshire-based reseller Prospro, has been named as an Intel Authorised Solution Provider (Intel ASP), effectively a stamp of approval from Intel indicating a high level of knowledge and a wide range of desktop/server solutions. Chris Rawson, Prospro's MD commented: "Qualifying as an Intel ASP demonstrates our commitment to… …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 12:41

  • US-EU wireless trade war: TDMA group joins in

    And ETSI responds with a haughty snort...

    The sabre-rattling between the US and Europe over third generation (3G) broadband wireless standards has been getting louder over the last few days, with the TDMA mob climbing on board the US FCC bandwagon late last week. TDMA, which is a kind of cousin of GSM, has tended to be neglected during the long-running arguments over 3G …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 12:53

  • Disney to buy Infoseek

    Great Satan of Cartoons follows up on earlier hints

    Disney today confirmed that it will buy Internet portal Infoseek, merge it with its own Web operation and build the whole lot into Go.com, the portal joint venture between Disney and Infoseek. Disney signalled its interest in Infoseek last month. Clearly its talks with Infoseek finally bore fruit, no great surprise since Disney …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 13:06

  • Teledesic confirms Motorola support

    Fears over Iridium-style mistakes calmed, apparently

    Motorola has been selected by Teledesic, the $9 billion satellite-based global data network developer, as its prime hardware supplier. Motorola remains a major stakeholder -- and debt guarantor -- of the troubled Iridium satellite-based cellphone network. That company's recent rough times had persuaded some pundits that Motorola …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 13:31

  • Amiga seeks to pacify community over Linux

    QNX plays it calm

    QNX Software Systems has pledged it does not want to get into a fight with Amiga following the latter's decision to drop support for QNX's eponymous operating system in favour of Linux. Meanwhile, Amiga has been moving fast to pacify its supporters over that decision. Last Friday, QNX CTO Dan Dodge posted details of the company' …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 13:55

  • IBM has bought Sequent – as expected

    Big Blue blushes pink at $810 million deal

    IBM today paid $810 million to pick up Sequent, as predicted here. (Story: Will IBM buy Sequent, will Compaq use Merced) The reason, explained a spokesperson, was to extend its grasp in the network server area. The takeover will be through an $18 share swap. For the last 10 days, IBM's share price had been riding high on the …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 14:22

  • Meta Smalltalk patent spat assumes Merced meaning

    Correction Emulation the key to Intel's needs...

    Since we filed this story yesterday, we have heard from the ILDF plaintiffs who now inform us that the patent in question, below, has now been assigned to Techsearch. Val Scott, representing ILDF, said that she is filing another motion for the judge to reconsider. MM New factors in the ongoing patent case between ILDF …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 14:42

  • CHS president outlines Trigem deal details

    Denies move toward role of manufacturer will damage core business

    CHS Electronics today outlined its plans with South Korean vendor Trigem to supply low-cost PCs to Europe. Through the newly created company The PC Way, Trigem has started to operate a production and assembly plant at CHS’ distribution facility in Helmond, the Netherlands. CHS is providing the logistics and distribution services …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 14:53

  • Gameboy-based book outsells Stephen King, John Grisham

    This could be a real worry for Intel et al

    A report at a Gameboy site has illustrated the threat that conventional chip manufacturers face from console companies. According to the report on US Today the popular (amongst children) book The Official Pokemon Book has outsold authors like Stephen King and John Grisham in the USA. The Pokemon Handbook came in at number 21 in …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 14:58

  • CHS press conference starts with CAOS

    intro

    You turn up in Holland and things start getting weird… CHS Electronics seemed to be distributing more than its usual PCs this morning. Journalists waiting in Holland’s Eindhoven airport for their lift to today’s CHS press conference were met by a flustered woman waving a sign marked "CAOS". The group brushed her away, assuming …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:17

  • IRA prisoners' details leaked on second-hand PC

    Anyone out there know anything about data-wiping?

    A second hand laptop is at the centre of two inquiries after it was found to be holding confidential records on some of the UK's most dangerous prisoners. The records are said to catalogue details from monitored phone calls from inmates at Belmarsh prison in south east London. The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, has ordered …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:24

  • C&W gets bullish about UK cable reorgs

    The time for talking is over, cable giant wants some action

    Cable & Wireless is starting to throw its weight around over the restructuring of the UK cable industry. It says the multibillion dollar process must now be completed by the end of the month, with C&W chief executive Graham Wallace adamant that the talks not drag on into the summer holidays. C&W controlled Cable and Wireless …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:29

  • Wafer foundries fight back

    It's shortage time, folks

    A report from NECX today claimed that major foundry manufacturers were telling customers that there are shortages, across the board. Accoding to NECX, IBM Microelectronics, TSMC, UMC and a number of other fabs have suspended volume discounts on six and eight inch wafers. That is the first time such a situation has occurred in …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:36

  • MP3.com upgrades IPO details

    French institutional buyer forces share price hike

    Online music seller MP3.com has upgraded the price of its shares to be offered in its upcoming IPO, the company has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares will now be offered at $16-18 each, up 70 per cent on the $9-11 it originally filed. That values the company at a staggering $1.2 billion. MP3.com will …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:45

  • Intel, SAP, Cisco to back $13 billion Korean site

    Inchon Airport to be biggest in Asia claim

    The South Korean government will announce Thursday some of the fruits of foreign investment in the country. A major science park is being built at Inchon, South Korea, using reclaimed land. In 2001, Asia's biggest airport, Inchon International will open close to the site. It is already under construction, a representative said. …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 15:53

  • eBay server falls over again

    Isn't it time someone propped that thing up

    Anyone with a troublesome server (and that hardly narrows the filed) will have some sympathy with online auctioneer eBay, which has had more server trouble recently than most. In fact, over the last four weeks or so, eBay's servers have developed the unfortunate habit of turning themselves into three-legged donkeys. The latest …

    Business 12 Jul 1999, 16:33