30th July 1999 Archive

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IS MS ducking the Win64 question?

The OS codenamed Janus looks like being a long time coming...

Microsoft has taken a very low key approach to the 64-bit version of Windows, codenamed Janus, so low that it was not even mentioned at the recent financial analysts conference. This suggests that it is not even slideware yet. The search engine on Microsoft's web site includes a reference to an article in CRN that says that …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 09:03
DoJ prepares to demand break-up of Microsoft

MS on Trial Thoughts at Justice seem to be turning to the nuclear option

Against expectations, the DoJ has been asking investment bankers how Microsoft could be split up. It had been thought that only the states, co-plaintiffs in the case, wanted this solution. However, it would be wrong to assume that just because the DoJ has made some enquiries, that break-up is the favoured course of action. In a …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 09:16
Bong – LineOne signs up ITN for news service

First piece of broadband service plan now in place

LineOne has teamed up with independent news bunnies ITN to deliver broadband content to its Net users. The online service provider's (OSP) 350,000 members can expect to receive all the latest audio and video news directly to their desktop -- but only once they've upgraded to a broadband service provider. News of LineOne's latest …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 09:34
Amiga chip choice confusion continues

Come on, guys -- spill the beans

So what the heck is Amiga's choice of chip for the company's next generation hardware platform? Last week at the World of Amiga (WOA) show, held in London, a videocast of a speech by Amiga president Jim Collas contained comments from Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, the open source operating system that will now form the basis …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:11
CCM dips toe in e-commerce waters

Warns channel that it's not a panacea

CCM Distribution will launch an e-commerce site for resellers by the end of the year. This is the component distributor's first dip into the cyber selling pool, according to CCM MD Brent Cutler. This is because he thinks the Web's merits are over-rated by the distribution channel. "E-commerce is not the be all and end all. …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:25
ADSL market set to explode

Analysts predict widespread take up

Half a million people will be using broadband ADSL services in the UK by the end of next year. Three quarters of these early adopters will be small or medium sized companies. The rest will be made up of well-off home users who can afford to pay around £48 a month for an ADSL service. These predictions were made by London-based …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:29
ISP severs contract with Microworkz

How will it bundle Net access now?

Internet access device developer Microworkz had some real bad news yesterday when its ISP, EarthLink, pulled out of its deal with the company and leaving it unable to deliver on its promise of bundled Net access. An EarthLink spokesman told US newswires Microworkz was in breach of contract, so the ISP had no choice but to …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:40
Samsung slips laptops its 16.5-inch whopper

LCDs keep getting bigger and bigger

They say size isn't everything, but Samsung might disagree. The Korean giant has developed a 16.5in TFT LCD for notebook PCs. The screen has Super Extended Graphics Array (SXGA) resolution, which Samsung claims gives 1.9 times the resolution of existing XGA displays. The 16.5in whoppers won't go into volume production until …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:53
MP3.com Q2 revenues way up, profits way down

But what else do you expect from Internet IPOs these days?

Web-based music supplier MP3.com yesterday followed the trend of Internet IPO'd companies by announcing major revenue gains accompanied by large losses for its latest fiscal quarter. MP3.com's second quarter, ended 30 June, saw revenues rise 769 per cent year-on-year to $1.9 million. That figure also represents growth of 286 per …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 11:55
Same old show on my Internet radio

Sound comes to LineOne

LineOne is to launch its own Web-based radio station as part of its contribution to the broadband revolution, The Register can reveal. ITN will provide some of the news and feature-based content although the exact make-up of the service has still yet to be ironed out. A senior but as yet unnamed figure from the radio industry …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 14:24
BT disappoints City with Q1 profits

Loads-a-money, but not as much as expected

BT unveiled disappointing first quarter profits yesterday, triggering a drop in its share price as the City reacted to results which were at the bottom end of analyst forecasts. Shares dropped 44p to £10.86 at the close of business as pre-tax profits for the three months to 30 June recorded only a seven per cent improvement to £ …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 14:37
Profits up for Maxdata

First half looking good

Maxdata, the monitor manufacturer has reported a 42 per cent increase in profit in the first half of its fiscal year, and a 33 per cent increase in its turnover. Net income rose to DM28.6 million, or $15.7 million, and the tax bill fell by a massive 67 per cent to DM6.5 million and cash flow increased by over 50 per cent to DM35 …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 15:33
Open letter to AOL about instant messaging

intro

Mr. Steve Case President & CEO America Online Inc. 22000 AOL Way Dulles VA 20166-9328 Dear Steve, We are sure you are aware of the issue regarding interoperability between the instant messaging services of AOL and other vendors and of AOL's efforts to block instant messaging clients from other companies. These actions have led …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:09
AOL chief gets open letter on messaging war

Net industry big wigs join forces

The biggest guns from the Net industry have sent an open letter to AOL calling for a truce in the battle over Instant Messaging (IM). The "Dear Steve" letter was posted yesterday and calls for the adoption of an industry standard on IM as soon as possible. Microsoft, Excite, Yahoo! and the others wouldn't want their gesture …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:12
US judge blocks Web kiddie porn law

Banning circulation of porn to kids is an infringement of civil liberties, it seems

A law designed to stop the distribution of pornography to children over the Net has been put on hold, for the time being at least, because a US District Court Judge ruled the legislation was unconstitutional. The preliminary injunction was delivered by Judge Arthur Tarnow who ruled that the Michigan Law was too broad and would …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:14
Congress urged to extend Net tax-free zone

What will happen when moratorium ends?

Net bosses in the US voiced their concerns about the future of Internet taxation during a day of talks with politicians in Washington DC. Lobbyists from the US Net industry schmoozed with Capitol Hill's finest to try and influence the direction of future legislation. In particular, they're worried about what will happen when the …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:15
Free-PC offers free Net access to boot

More free products and services than you can shake a modem at

US give-away company Free-PC is back and embarking on an IT freebie frenzy that promises to ship 20,000 machines by the end of the year. Starting in September, the company plans to shift 5,000 free PCs with Web access every month. The bonanza follows last month’s launch, where the US company shipped 10,000 such freebies. At the …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:21
AOL UK trials ADSL

Climbs aboard BT train

AOL UK is to start trialing BT's ADSL technology in the late autumn, a company spokeswoman confirmed today. The launch of the national trials to provide high speed, flat-rate access should also enable the OSP to introduce flat-rate pricing for those taking part in the trial. Despite the expected high cost of the service, it …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:36
Network Solutions International under fire from EU

Domain name body accused of abuse of position

Network Solutions International (NSI) has come under fire from the EU in Brussels following allegations that the US Internet domain name registrar is abusing its dominant market position, ahead of future liberalisation. The European Commission is conducting an investigation into the issuing of licensing agreements between NSI …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:46
Ecommerce beats Y2K spend – soon

Half of the IT market by 2002

IT spending is set to climb 50 per cent by 2002, spurred on more by ecommerce than Y2K, says GartnerGroup. Worldwide sales will reach $2.2 trillion this year, with around Y2k upgrades accounting for 40 per cent of the total. By 2002, however, the market will grow to £3.3 trillion with ecommerce accounting for 50 per cent of IT …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 16:50
EDS back in profit, but debts climb

More surgery likely, and a sudden end to boom times could be nasty

EDS returned to profit in its Q2, after losing $21 million in the last quarter as a result of savage staff cuts - and not that there was a whiff of earlier woes in its quarterly report, which showed revenue of $4.6 billion, up sequentially 6.6 per cent on the previous quarter, and just 6.9 per cent over the year-earlier quarter …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 18:29
US net snooping plans debunked

FIDNET not a threat after all. Well, not yet, anyway...

Terror spread across the Net on Thursday when New York Times correspondent John Markoff broke the Big Story: a National Security Council draft proposal will put the FBI in control of "a sophisticated software system to monitor activities on non-military Government networks, and a separate system to track networks used in crucial …

Business 30 Jul 1999, 18:31