11th August 1999 Archive

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Intel invites Linux developers to help spend $200 million

Grove tells Merced world+dog: spend, spend, spend!

Only 10 per cent of Intel's IA-64 funding cash is taken so far, chairman Andy Grove told delegates at Linux World yesterday. That means it has at least a staggering $200 million left, a full three months after it started the IA-64 fund. (Story: Intel in desperate cash bid to push Merced) It also means there's lots of money …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 05:22
Sony stops shipping ‘X-ray vision’ camera

A year ago Yes it can see through clothes, no it was an accident, honest

From The Register No. 90 -- a year ago Sony says it has halted shipments of a video camera that can see through clothes, and no, this does not appear to be a publicity stunt. Just shy of a million of these - now intensely valuable - units have gone out of the door, but Sony, which says it knew nothing of the interesting …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 05:47
Now Intel-IDT enter cross-licensing frenzy

Where does this leave Via, Cyrix, Centaur et al whoever he is?

A low-key announcement in what would have emanated from a smoke-filled room if it happened thirty years back has resulted in Intel signing a cross licensing deal with IDT, which still owns the x.86 Centaur intellectual property (IP). The Register has learned that IDT will make a statement about this deal tomorrow. Last week, …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 07:24
Chip firms FUD end users over .18µm v .25µm technology

Just how the hell are you gonna tell?

A reader of The Register has highlighted the level of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) chip companies are generating by using the micron (µm) word in their spin doctoring. A few days ago, the reader said he was about to buy a notebook PC and had heard that Intel had introduced a .18µm processor for the mobile market. But when …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 07:48
Compaq fears for $7 billion if Taiwan and China fight

It would affect Capellas' bottom line, that's for sure

Earlier this year, after dickering over prices, Compaq struck a deal with 16 Taiwanese firms worth an estimated $7 billion. (Story: Compaq strikes $7 billion Taiwan supply deal) The Houston-based outfit was keen to ensure it could knock around 15 per cent off its supply chain so it could compete with the Great Stan of Hardware ( …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 07:59
No more deals behind closed doors – EU tells NSI

Threat of swingeing fines hangs over domain name registrar

Network Solutions (NSI) may be forced to cough up ten per cent of its annual sales if found guilty of abusing its monopoly position as a domain name registrar. The US company is still under investigation by the EU and US authorities who are worried that some of the licensing deals between NSI and the five would-be registrars may …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 08:28
Novell makes pirate walk the plank

Man busted after trying to shift $48,000 of dodgy software over the Web

Novell is suing a man for copyright and trademark infringement after he allegedly tried to flog almost $48,000 worth of illegal software over the Net. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that Gregg Olsen of Plainview, NY, tried to sell a pirate version of NetWare using the Yahoo …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 09:22
HP thrashing Umax in scanner market

Survey Ouch! Eclipse word appears again

A survey by PC Data on the retail scanner market said that HP is "eclipsing" Taiwanese firm Umax. Ouch! The spin doctors had better be careful they don't overuse this word too much, today, else they'll get a thrashing... According to PC Data, HP's move to compete in the retail market has meant it doubled its unit share from 13 …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 09:28
Online shopping appeals to third of all Net users

Laxatives cited as one of most common purchases -– must be all that sitting in front of a PC

A third of all people online regularly buy things off the Net according to a study by US-based CDB Research & Consulting. It claims consumers are using ecommerce to order everything from travel bargains to laxatives and says that the floodgates (of e-commerce, that is) are officially open. The most common purchases are …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 10:07
SGI pledges ‘major commitment’ to Linux

We'll more closely support the open source OS than any other vendor, claims company

SGI claimed yesterday it was making "a major commitment" to Linux -- the biggest from any major computer vendor -- following its announcement of its latest major restructure. That commitment, said company execs speaking at a press conference this evening, is to move all of its software technologies over to the open source OS and …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 10:46
Amazon to expand into Japan

Subsidiary to focus on gadgets, not books

Amazon.com will extend its geographical presence with the formation of a Japanese subsidiary, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported today. The online store will open within the year and focus on the company's gadget sales business rather than books, the commodity that made its name. The paper also claimed the subsidiary will be set …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 11:17
Web workers to get own trade union

Webmasters of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your HTML

Web workers will be asked to unite in solidarity against the repression of the managing classes if a new trade union receives the backing it needs. The brothers and sisters behind W4U -- the World Wide Web Worker's Union -- claim that a global union would be able to negotiate with employers on issues such as wages, overtime and …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 12:05
Wibbly Wobbly Web casts shadow over eclipse

BBC servers max-out –- would have done better with a stone circle...

The anticlimax of today's once-in-a-lifetime solar event was eclipsed only by the difficulty experienced by people trying to watch it on the Web. Thousands of moon watchers flocked to BBC Online to watch the corporation's coverage of the eclipse. How many were disappointed when they couldn't get on is another matter. Simon …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 12:06
Behind Bill Gates' ‘cooked’ email

MS on Trial DoJ Motion reveals more MS shenanigans

Just occasionally the curtains are drawn back and we get to see just what is really happening behind the scenes in the Microsoft trial. Further extraordinary information has now come to light as a result of a June Motion by the Department of Justice asking that Microsoft be compelled to produce documents in response to an April …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 12:10
Saucy hacker whips Feds' Web into shape

She's a cracker - and we've got the pics

Another US government Web site has been hacked -- this time by the most saucy and voluptuous villainess around. Sarin -- a busty, PVC clad, whip-wielding dominatrix -- broke into the site last night, according to a report by ZDNet. Instead of being able to read about the rather sober day-to-day workings of the Federal Energy …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 13:20
Cisco beats Street – just

The only way is up...

Cisco's earnings continued their upward spiral yesterday when the company reported Q4 profits of 21 cents a share, a 38 per cent increase on the 16 cents a share it recorded for the same period last year. The figures were a smidge above expectations: Wall Street had anticipated earnings of 20 cents a share, but what's a penny …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 13:48
StorageTek, Sun team up

Re-alignments order of the day

It's debatable or not whether storage is dull (it is dull, ed), but there's a never ending round of activity these days. And it is lucrative. The latest adjustment in the market has arrived after StorageTek, which fell out with Big Blue just the other day, forged a new relationship with Sun. According to the Sun announcement, it …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 14:19
Athlon mobos three times dearer than PIII equivalents

Until third parties get on board...

Athlon K7 motherboards are more expensive than their Pentium III equivalents, according to Taiwanese OEM magazine Eurotrade. Motherboards from MicroStar and GigaByte are typically three times more expensive than equivalent Pentium III mobos, making any price reduction AMD has managed on its Athlon family negligible, Eurotrade …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 14:25
AMD needs cash for the Dresden money pit

"Do or die" as service contracts change

The chief financial officer of AMD caused a few hearts to beat faster in corporate HQ when he said his company was looking for a partner to help fund its fab. But now we have had word from a contractor who worked at Dresden that there are acres of space in the 90,000 square foot clean room. Fab 30, which we visited at the …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 15:14
Memory claws its way back

Opinion PC133 to reach volume end of year

The memory market is currently on the up, clawing its way slowly out of one of the biggest troughs in many years. SDRAM, presently the biggest volume product, has been in oversupply. Manufacturers have been overproducing during the first quarter 1999, for a market that has not expanded to prediction. Realising this, most have …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 15:28
Lucent logo – the pin win

intro

We had a good response to our question about Lucent's logo (see below). Thankfully, most respondents understood our British reluctance to engage in sexual innuendo so instead many focused on more fundamental issues... Of the replies we received, 95 per cent seemed to think the Lucent logo had some sphincter-like message to tell …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 16:10
Fujitsu Siemens tie-up under threat

Neither company can agree on who will run the JV, apparently

Fujitsu and Siemens failed to sign an agreement that would merge their European PC operations into a single company, according to German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. In a report to be published tomorrow, the magazine claims the companies were due to sign a contract on 2 August, but that did not happen. Instead, both of …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 16:11
Eclipse update: Apple PR stunt shocks World

Jobs rents sun, moon for $55 billion

The IT industry was left reeling today as Apple mounted its most audacious promotional campaign yet -- one that literally cast its famous 1984 Superbowl ad into the shade. At 11am British Summer Time, the UK was overcast by the largest Apple logo ever seen. In central London, traffic halted as millions of Brits paused to watch …

Business 11 Aug 1999, 16:28