20th August 1999 Archive

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Apple sues eMachines over iMac looky-likey

Jobs deals blow to Korean-owned manufacturer

eMachines has been hit by its second lawsuit in as many months, with Apple accusing the cut-price vendor of copying its iMac design -- Apple's second lawsuit against a would-be iMac cloner. According to reports, Steve Jobs, Apple's (still) interim CEO, said: "There is an unlimited number of original designs that eMachines could …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 10:35
Amiga president responds to Iwin

Collas cautiously optimistic about Commodore wannabe's plans

Amiga, inc. president Jim Collas yesterday held out -- albeit cautiously -- an olive branch to European hardware player Iwin, the company behind plans to release AmigaOS 3.5-compatible computers and market them under the Commodore Business Machines brand. Collas' comments, posted on the comp.sys.amiga.misc Usenet newsgroup, …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 10:54
Y2K bug eats Inland Revenue records

EDS glitch blamed after bailiffs sent round to innocent company

The Inland Revenue has apologised for threatening to seize goods from an innocent company after a Y2K glitch. The tax office believed the unnamed firm had not paid its tax and national insurance contributions, and threatened to send the bailiffs round. The Bradford Midland Tax District Office blamed "computer faults at this end …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 11:07
Tesco online shopping pilot crashes PCs

Too much plug and not enough play as shoppers have to swap devices around

UK supermarket chain cum-ISP Tesco has denied that its online retailing trials have suffered hardware problems causing shoppers' PCs to crash. A report in New Scientist claimed that e-shoppers who used a barcode scanner plugged into their PCs to compile their shopping lists were up in arms over the service. The glitch revolved …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 11:09
Sony to fight PlayStation emulator in court next month

Connectix confident of success after 14 September court appearance

Software developer Connectix, creator of the Virtual Game Station (VGS) Mac-based PlayStation emulator, will finally get to battle Sony in court on 14 September. The hearing will be first time the two companies' conflict has come to court since Sony won an injunction in April banning Connectix from shipping VGS or releasing …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 11:39
Novell Q3 beats street, clocks major revenue, income gains

Figures confirm Novell is beyond the recovery phase and into growth

Novell turned in some tidy figures yesterday for its third quarter, with a 20 per cent revenue increase to $327 million, and net income of $49 million, up from $27 million in the year-earlier quarter. Earnings per share doubled to 14 cents compared with the prior year. Financial analysts had anticipated 13 cents a share. Wall …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 11:48
Via to push Gobi chip in Q4

Hmm...bit of a puzzler this one

Taiwanese wires are reporting that Via, which bought IDT's WinChip and Cyrix earlier this year, will release the latter's Gobi processor in Q4. According to the reports, the Socket 370 part will be aimed at the low end of the market. Samples have already been sent to a number of Taiwanese motherboard companies for evaluation and …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 12:00
Acer to integrate nVidia technology into chip set

Year end, it seems

The chip subsidiary of Acer has signed a deal with nVidia to put its technology into a chipset. Acer Labs Inc (ALi), will produce an integrated chipset using nVidia technology by year end. The move is part of the growing trend towards low-end, integrated systems. Yesterday, Intel acknowledged that the future of graphics chips …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 12:09
Iridium shares up for grabs on eBay

Bidding starts at $6500 for 1300 shares -- but is it legal?

With trading in Iridium stock officially suspended pending the troubled satellite cellphone company's move out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, canny shareholders are being approached with an alternative way of selling their shares. Nasdaq halted trading in Iridium shares last Friday. One enterprising trader yesterday …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 12:18
Intel clocking software found on Web

Updated But it only works with pre-production chips

A piece of software that appears to alter clock speed settings on some Intel motherboards from the DOS prompt is now available on a hardware Web site. Hard OCP has the 27KB utility up on its site, while over at Anandtech, the existence of the utility has attracted a stack of interest in the forum section. Meanwhile, a source …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 12:31
Interactive Investor slammed for running teeny-weeny ads

Not guilty, we say

Investors Chronicle has taken a pop at online rival Interactive Investor (iii.co.uk) for running smaller than average banner ads (like what The Register sometimes does) It quotes an unnamed iii.co.uk advertiser, who says "The pages impressions were nothing like we anticipated. The banners were cut to half the size expected. We …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 13:27
TFT shortage bites into notebook sales

Don't forget, you read it here first

Notebook sales are being held back due to a shortage of screen components. IBM, Dell are just two manufacturers struggling to meet demand for notebooks. This shortage and its effects on the notebook market were predicted by The Register back in July. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. The problem may even be exacerbated …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 13:34
Locals gang up on EDS

Kingston council urged to sack beleaguered services giant

The good folk of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames are taking action against one of the world’s largest outsourcing and services companies. Kingston's local paper, the Kingston Informer has joined forces with local MP, Edward Davey, after a catalogue of problems concerning EDS's handling of the borough’s housing benefits …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 13:38
Quantum sheds 800 jobs worldwide

Announces $50m reshuffle in the face of stiff competition

Quantum is to slash 800 jobs and re-jig its hard disk drive business following the onslaught of cheaper PCs and stiff pricing from rivals. The company said it would cut 13 per cent of staff due to increasing competition in the market and the growing popularity of sub-$750 computers. In a company statement, Quantum said it would …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 13:48
Iomega CEO quits after ten months at helm

Glore resigns to spend more time with family

Iomega president and CEO Jodie Glore is bailing out of the troubled storage specialist less than a year after he climbed on board. His reason? To spend more time with his family, a euphemism much used by British politicos forced to resign in disgrace. That's not the case here: certainly Iomega's board was quick to state it is in …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 14:35
Blair hits out at ecommerce laziness

Businesses accused of being slow to embrace technology, a case of the pot calling the kettle grimy arse?

Prime Minister Tony Blair believes UK companies aren't doing enough to exploit ecommerce. According to the FT he is to issue a "wake up call" to UK Plc warning that unless it gets to grips with ecommerce the country could be left behind. His kick-up-the-backside pep talk is scheduled to be delivered in a report due out in the …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 15:11
Churchill's granddaughter to Webcast facelift

We will bite them on the features…

The granddaughter of former British bulldog - and Prime Minister - Sir Winston Churchill is to have her facelift operation broadcast live on the Net. Arabella Churchill will have the full facial reconstruction op sometime in November. Broadcast on CelebrityDoctor.com, the surgery will be performed by Dr Steven Bloch of Illinois …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 15:12
Luck of the Irish hangs on ecommerce

ROI wants to be major force in international ebusiness

Ireland is looking to get a slice of the increasingly juicy ecommerce pie. Market watchers are saying that the industry will be worth an elephantine $1.3 trillion by 2003. And while the vast majority of the industry - about 80 per cent - is based in the US, but Ireland wants to bring some of it to the other side of the pond. …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 15:13
Christmas virus is coming to drive you crackers

It'll stuff more than just your turkey

A virus is threatening to strike this Christmas, and it'll do more than put you in bed for a week with only a temperature and a stocking for company. Labelled Win32.Kriz.9862, it may not sound as cool as the Chernobyl bug, but could be just as deadly for those affected, according to news service CNET.com. The virus is set to …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 15:16
Toll-free ISP in orbit around Planet

Greatxscape - terrible name

A copycat ISP has followed in the footsteps of Screaming.net to launch a new service promising toll-free access to the Internet. Manchester-based Greatxscape.com has teamed up with ISP Planet Online to provide the service. From day one Greatxscape claims it will be able to cope with 500,000 users with none of the problems that …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:49
One2One man accused of spying

Former employee is now helping police with their inquiries

A former employee of One2One is the subject of a police investigation, following claims that he was passing sensitive information about the company to one of its rivals, according to The Guardiannewspaper. The man was arrested a fortnight (that's two weeks, for anyone reading this in the US - Ed) ago, but so far has not been …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:50
Microsoft gets the Spanish inquisition

The good people of Spain point accusatory finger at Stan the sexist

Just when it seemed that Bill Gates had offended everyone, he's gone and done it again - and this time in a foreign language. The Spanish are up in arms at some of the "clearly sexist" synonyms in the dictionary part of Microsoft Word. So much so, that the Spanish government has asked the Great Satan of Software to change …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:51
Ingram hit by $5m lawsuit

Reseller blames distie for sale of unlicensed Novell software

Ingram Micro is being sued for $5 million by a US reseller alleging fraud and misrepresentation. Frank Vanderputt, president of Vandy Corp, trading as Vandy-Micro in California, said the distributor knowingly sold upgrade packages of Novell Netware to his company for unregistered users. He said Ingram did not ask for licenses …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:53
HP plays channel lottery

Someone in the UK channel is about to win £1m

Hewlett-Packard plans to put 59 resellers on Concorde as an incentive to sell its printers and scanners. More than that, it is planning to make one of them a millionaire. As if everyone in the channel isn't one already. The vendor has launched its MillionAir promotion, and is sending out scratchcards to resellers of its Hardcopy …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:54
Lone shareholder tries to scupper BT's Cellnet buy out

Deal with Securicor over future of mobile carrier is under fire

BT's bid to buy the 40 per cent of Cellnet that it doesn't already own, has run into trouble. A US investor in Securicor, the security company that helped set up Cellnet, has objected to the deal, saying that the bid is too low. BT needs to get the remaining shares to be able to bid for a third generation mobile licence. The …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:54
After the flood – Demon's under fire

Users complain of poor service as email servers take an early bath

Demon users who've been unable to access their email for the last 36 hours or so may have a long wait on their hands. According to tech support, there's no estimate as to when the service will be up and running. A spokesman for Demon said the flood and fire alarm which hit two of Demon's buildings earlier this week were not …

Business 20 Aug 1999, 19:58