27th July 1999 Archive

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Intel admits chipset famine

Prices hiked to cut demand, encourage move to 810

Intel appears to be unable to meet current demand for its 440BX and 440ZX chipsets and has been forced to raise prices by up to 20 per cent in an attempt to cope with the problem. A Chipzilla spokesman confessed to US newswires that the company was indeed facing a shortfall of both chipsets, but claimed Intel is "working quickly …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 10:09
3dfx revives Velocity brand for corporate push

But do corporates really want it?

3dfx yesterday relaunched the Velocity brand name once favoured by the company's wholly-owned motherboard manufacturer STB Microelectronics. Originally based on nVidia 3D accelerator chips, the new Velocity range will be powered by 3dfx's Voodoo 3 and be aimed at the emerging business and corporate markets. Two boards make up …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 10:34
Falling prices dent CCM figures

The continuing saga of the squeezing of the distribution channel...

CCM Distribution saw profit and sales fall for the six months ended 31 March, due to falling component prices. The Cheshire-based distributor recorded pre-tax profit of £600,000, down on last year's £800,000. This included an exceptional item of £100,000, which resulted from legal proceedings settled out of court with Microsoft …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 10:44
Amiga goes for Transmeta

Collas tight-lipped about 'wonder CPU', so here's what we know

Amiga president Jim Collas this weekend effectively revealed the Transmeta CPU will power the company's upcoming (and rather ugly, it has to be said) next-generation hardware products. On video via satellite link at the World of Amiga (WOA) show, held in Kensington, London, Collas simply unveiled which chip the new machines will …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 10:55
BT nets Cellnet from Securicor

It'll take a lot of Transit vans to cart away the £3bn payola

BT is set to fork out a whopping £3.15 billion in cash to Securicor to acquire its minority holding in the mobile phone company Cellnet. The acquisition of Securicor's 40 per cent shareholding means that BT will control 100 per cent of the UK's second largest mobile phone operator behind Vodaphone. What's more, it appears that …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 10:59
Computer delays student loan payouts

Latest government foul up renders students miserable and penniless, err...

With the news that things in the passport office are beginning to return to normal, it was about time for another government computer system to go wrong, and it has. The new software system installed to manage the issuing of Student Loans has succumbed to the traditional teething troubles of new software, causing delays in …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 11:04
Intel clamps down on dual-Celeron systems

Chipzilla changes packaging until 'fixed' CPUs ship

Intel's attempt to prevent Celeron CPUs being used in multi-processor systems may for now depend more on bamboozling buyers than actually nobbling the chip. According to hardware-oriented Web site BX Boards, Chipzilla began disabling one of the Socket 370 Celeron's pins (AN15, to be exact) at the end of June, to ensure the chip …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 11:35
Compaq moves to sue eMachines

Cut-down PC vendor accused of patent infringement

The air is thick with flying writs in Houston, as Compaq takes steps to sue eMachines -- the maker of cut-down Internet computers. The suit alleges 13 separate infringements of Compaq patented technology, although the details of what these technologies might be are thin on the ground. eMachines is owned by Korea Data Systems ( …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 11:48
Intel uncovers new erratum in PIII and Xeon CPUs

Hangs multi-CPU machines, and needs bios update

Intel has found an erratum (one of those things that isn't a bug, honest) in Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon processors, according to hardware site HardwareCentral. The problem manifests itself as a system hang, and the more processors in the system, the more likely it is to occur. The fix requires a bios update, and OEMs were …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 11:57
Entry-level HDDs debuted by Quantum

Simplified drive specs to help OEMs move products quicker

Quantum Corporation is aiming for the budget PC market with its new product line, starting with the Fireball lct desktop hard disk drive. Designed for use in sub-$700 PCs, the Fireball ranges in capacity from 4.3GB to 26GB. Its features include Quantum's SPS II Data Protection System, Ultra ATA/66 interface and the third …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 12:29
Paid-for ISPs take a beating from free model

Research points to a rapid decline

The number of people signing up for subscription-based ISPs is falling so quickly it's like Michael Schumacher hitting the barrier in the British Grand Prix and coming to a bone-breaking halt. According to the quarterly Internet report from investment bank Durlacher, the growth of subscription-based services has decelerated from …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 12:30
PC sales strong in EMEA, but margins disappearing

Big names hang on to top spots but bottom lines are under attack from cheap PCs

PC shipments rose 15.5 per cent to 7.08 million units in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) for the second quarter, with sustained demand in both business and consumer markets, according to IDC. Western Europe continued to drive the region's PC market, with sales rising 18.4 per cent to almost 5.9 million. Compaq …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 12:32
It's good to talk – over the Web

Now we can all send talking email without the need for pesky plug-ins

Gadget boys and girls eager to try something new-ish could be in for a pleasant surprise following the release of a free Web streaming voice mail (VM) service. The nattily-named VoizMail from California-based MediaRing lets Net users send VM over the Web just like email. Although this is nothing new, MediaRing claims that what …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:22
Testers say TNT2 is a blast

nVidia-based boards blow competition away

Mercury Research has given top marks to three nVidia TNT2 Ultra-based graphics cards in test runs of Quake 3 Arena. 3dfx's Voodoo 3 3000 board came behind nVidia -- coming fourth in four of the tests. At the bottom of the pile was ATI's Rage Fury and Hercules' Terminator Beast 99 (which is based on S3's Savage 4 accelerator). …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:23
Toucan play at Compaq's game

Latest ProLiant server strictly for the birds?

Compaq has announced that it will be launching a new server from the ProLiant family, codenamed Toucan, in September this year. Toucan consists of two clustered servers with shared storage. It has two Intel Pentium III processors per server, 128MB SDRAM expandable to 1GB, high performance 10,000rpm SCSI disks, four PCI expansion …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:24
Europress falls into Hasbro clutches

Can we expect an Alan Tichmarsh doll?

Hasbro is beefing up its interactive business with the acquisition of Europress, Macclesfield's very own consumer software house. The US toy giant will gain control of FunSchool, the UK's best selling educational software label for primary school children, a large range of National Curriculum-compliant study software, and a …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:36
IT giants fund US police

Intel, HP, others hand over huge wedges for fight against computer crime

Hi-tech companies are paying out thousands of dollars to hard-up police departments in the US to help combat computer-related crime. According to a report in the LA Times, Intel regularly slips police departments in Oregon $100,000 a year to help pay the wages of a few law enforcement professionals. It's also more than happy to …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:57
Opinion: How Linux could screw MS in Q4 2000

What if something else was ready to roll when MS missed the deadlines, this time around?

After a few months hiatus Microsoft and Intel seem to have got their act back together, and have produced the first draft of the roadmap for the class of PC that's intended to go on sale late in the year 2000. They've done joint roadmaps before, and it has worked to the extent that Intel has remained the dominant chip supplier …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:57
Action suspends shares

Could there be an acquisition announcement waiting in the wings..?

Action Computer Supplies suspended its shares yesterday morning after a fall in price, prompting speculation that an announcement concerning the company's impending sale was in the offing. The PC reseller asked that trading in its shares be suspended "pending an announcement." Shares were frozen at just over £2.70, against a mid …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 14:58
Palm to drop Web clipping for WAP

Palm VII's Web access technology future uncertain

3Com subsidiary Palm Computing looks set to abandon its current approach to Web browsing and leap onto the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) bandwagon. So far, Palm's plan for wireless Net access, offered through the Palm VII, currently forming the basis for public trials and various parts of the US, centres on its Web ' …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 15:39
Is that a MAG InnoVision email in your pocket…

intro

Or are you just pleased to see me? Hats off to Reading-based monitor vendor MAG InnoVision, the recipient of a one-off Register award for sending out fat-boy emails. The Bugger the Bandwidth Award goes to the company after it sent out a press release today with more attachments than the Royal Engineering Corp. It had two jpegs, …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 16:42
Hate your PC? Tell Compaq all about it

New helpline to soothe computer rage goes live

Compaq has launched a Computer Rage Helpline, designed to relieve the stresses of working in a high tech environment. When The Register called the helpline, we were given a list of options to describe the type of computer problem we had. Did we hate our computer with a passion? Physically or verbally abuse it? Did we blame …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 16:43
Mandelson mauls ministers over ecomm bill

Sour grapes from the ex-minister that started the ball rolling, surely not

There's cheek, bare-faced cheek -- and then there's Peter Mandelson. The former trade and industry minister, who left the UK government because of a financial faux-pas, spent yesterday slagging off his old colleagues to a bunch of new media types at lecture sponsored by ITN. Apparently, the government has made a complete hash of …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 16:45
ATI Rages against Gateway machines

Latest add-in board to feature in Performance PCs

Gateway is to use ATI's Rage Fury 16MB graphics add-in board in its Performance PC range. The company is remaining tight-lipped about the terms of the deal. The boards are built around ATIs 128 chip, a 128-bit graphics and multimedia accelerator. Offering high resolutions up to 1600 x 1200, ATI claims that it accelerates all …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 16:46
It's steady as she goes for Freeserve shares

Looking pretty comfortable around the 200p mark, for now at least

Shares in Freeserve fell by a smidgen under five per cent on day two of its life as a plc. They fell through the 200p barrier mid morning after closing last night at 205.5p Freeserve was nestling at around 195.5p late this afternoon. News of the float jostled for top spot in today's newspapers alongside photos of learner-driver …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 16:52
IBM unveils free Netfinity Linux support, Linux for RS/6000

Servers to ship with Red Hat, Caldera

IBM today said it would offer 90 days' free support for Netfinity server users running either the Red Hat or the Caldera Linux distributions. The announcement comes days after the company said it was working with PowerPC Linux distributor Yellow Dog to port the latter's Champion Server to the RS/6000 platform. On the Netfinity …

Business 27 Jul 1999, 17:13