26th August 1999 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Net Finance News: 15-21 Aug 1999

Cash Register round-up

21 Aug 1999 Bertelsmann has teamed up with fellow German publisher Gruner+Jahr to run online auctions. The European Internet auction market will be worth $1.6bn, according to Bertelsmann -but it doesn't say when. Neither does it reveal how it will fund the new business, called Andsold. Scoot.com the world's most boring …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 06:23
French ISP market to go freebie mad

France Telecom to push new flat-rate tariff structure

France Telecom is to offer new tariffs to its customers, in a move that could restructure the French ISP landscape. One of the suggested models is a subscription free, flat-rate call charge, of 28 centimes/minute, including tax. This would match the current peak rate cost, but include free access to an ISP. France Telecom says …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 06:28
Intergraph claims Intel still strangling it

x.86 business collapsing because chip monster not complying

Workstation company Intergraph's long-running feud with Intel took a further bitter twist yesterday after it accused the chip giant of not complying with a court's instructions. It filed a further action in its litigation against Intel, alleging that its workstation business is collapsing because of the chip monster's action. …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 07:33
Phoenix snuggles up to Java developer Insignia

Is this a Register stock tip, perchance?

Phoenix Technologies COO David Frodsham has joined the board of Insignia Solutions, and we feel a Register stock tip coming on. Insignia is best known for its SoftWindows product, which is by no means the money-spinner it once was, but Frodsham's arrival indicates a positive future for Insignia's next generation products, and a …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 08:14
Gates hints Win2k shipment will slip to next year

Yes, we know that's not how everybody else is reporting it, but we don't care

Here's a puzzle. Yesterday Bill Gates was widely reported as expressing confidence that Windows 2000 would ship this year, whereas what he really said could more comfortably be interpreted as suggesting further slippage. You hear what you want to hear, apparently. He was speaking to some of his firmest friends, at Dell's …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 08:16
Chip prices start to soar in Taiwan

Major foundry ups increases to 25 per cent

Local Taiwanese wires are reporting that component shortages are allowing silicon manufacturers to raise their prices by significant amounts. According to one report, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has announced price hikes of 25 per cent, starting in early September. The company had already warned of earlier …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 08:18
Microsoft puts boot into 64-bit Alpha

Thuds hit Compaq's corporate body which screams in pain

Compaq has suffered a further body blow to its Alpha chip strategy after it emerged any Microsoft support for 64-bit software will be thin gruel indeed. Earlier this week, senior VP Enrico "The Cloak" Pesatori held out hope for 64-bit Microsoft Alpha development, but those dreams have been dashed by a PR release from the Satan …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 08:33
MS partner Telewest gobbles up Cable London

Does this mean the UK now counts as fully consolidated?

Microsoft's prospects of setting the standards in the British cable TV industry have improved slightly, with the news that Telewest is buying the 50 per cent of Cable London it doesn't already own. As part of its recent deals with AT&T Microsoft itself is acquiring a stake in Telewest. But Cable London isn't quite the heavy- …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 08:40
AMD's Sanders gets chips with his chicken

Finger-licking good

I wonder how many of our readers have noticed the resemblance between AMD CEO Jerry Sanders (left), and KFC's Colonel Harland Sanders (right). Do they have common antecedents, we wonder? ®

Business 26 Aug 1999, 09:03
Intel's NEWSPEED's little legs continue to run

It is good for something, apparently

The debate over the virtues and vices of Intel's NEWSPEED.EXE utility has taken a further twist. The Hard OCP boys have received an email from a vendor who has explained what the utility is for. According to the vendor, pre-production PIIs with SIMD on a Seattle mobo has an adjustable clock speed BIOS. But to make use of it, the …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 09:43
Dellfest hosts the Bill and Mike show

Gates rehashes book, Dell thumps the Web tub

Michael Dell and Bill Gates cuddled up yesterday at Dell's DirectConnect customer conference in Austin, Texas, but it was a lacklustre performance by both of them. In his speech, Dell introduced a new fat Internet PC, pinched in the middle, and code-named the Webster. Dell has not been known for the sexiness of its boxes, but …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 11:42
Banner ads more appealing to women

Survey finds online advertising more popular than you might think

Men are less likely to 'click thru' on banner advertising than women - but only just, according to research from PC Data. 51 per cent of women and 43 per cent of men said they occasionally clicked on advertisements, while 39 per cent and 29 per cent respectively stated they 'seldom' clicked on the banners. But men and women both …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 11:50
New Jersey Environmental Protection dept. sues IBM, others

The list is practically endless...

Departments of the state government of New Jersey filed suit two days ago against Big Blue and a host of other firms, including several technology companies. The administrator of the NJ Spill Compensation Fund, and the commissioner of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, filed the environmental suit against Lucent too …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 11:57
Osmosis man to stage comeback

Fenton sets up components broker in UK

John Fenton, ex-Osmosis MD, is launching a components sourcing firm in the UK next month. Fenton is opening a UK sales office of IT brokerage firm Tradelink Distribution, which is based in the West Indies. Tradelink Distribution, which also has a subsidiary in Vancouver called Tradelink West, was set up by Fenton and ex-Osmosis …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 12:16
Acer pushes into networks with Cisco deal

Video phones first on shopping list of new products

Taiwanese PC builder Acer, is to branch out into networking following a deal signed yesterday with Cisco. The deal will initially focus on voice and data comms systems using Cisco's data, voice video integration (DVVI) protocol. According to reports on Taiwanese wires, video phones will be among the first products developed …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 13:17
Microsoft share price rise is a puzzle

The analysts all seem to have different explanations...

For no agreed reason, Microsoft shares have increased in value by 14 per cent this week. There's an opinion from Michael Stanek of Lehman Brothers which noted that Microsoft is "somewhat immune from Y2K", and projects a price of 130 within 12 months. Bloomberg and Dow Jones cited "a favourable court ruling" which may be an …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 14:11
Chat network bans Malaysian users

Singles out Malay ISPs as irresponsible after lack of support over hacks

Malaysian Internet users have been banned from the Undernet chat system, following allegations that not enough is being done to stop abuse of the Internet Chat Relay (IRC) network. Undernet has been quick to point out that Malaysian Net users are not more ill-mannered than those from any other country, but lays the blame at the …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 14:15
Microworkz president falls on sword

Latman to hand over day-to-day operations to more conventional management team

Rick Latman, president of budget-PC vendor Microworkz, today said he will quit his post on 15 November to make way for a new management team. Latman will stay on at the company he founded, but take a more back-seat role as chairman of the board. Until a replacement is found, Microworkz will be run by recently arrived COO Lance …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 14:22
Young blood pushing out Intel old blood

Just what are Intel's plans for the future?

What were the most important events of 1929, 1936 and 1939? Some might say the Wall Street Crash, Jesse Owens thumbing his nose at the Nazis at the Berlin Olympics and the premiere of John Ford's western masterpiece, Stagecoach. But for the denizens of Chipzilla's hallowed cubicles, the obvious answer would be the births of top …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 14:35
BSA bullies blasted by accountants

That's right - accountants

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but you never expect one to look like an accountant. Yet that's just what has happened. One of the UK accountancy community's trade bodies - the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) - has blasted the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for its bully-boy tactics, becoming a …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 15:32
Asda lashes mobile carriers for price hikes

BTCellnet and Vodafone attacked for 90 per cent increases

Vodafone and BTCellnet are feeling the wrath of Asda after announcing plans to raise pre-paid mobile phone prices by 90 per cent. The supermarket chain has complained to Oftel, the telephone watchdog, that the companies have broken sales agreements. Asda has been buying mobiles at a cost price of around £30, but BTCellnet has …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 16:05
Vodafone Scoots info to handsets

Tie-up sees phone users get access to directory enquiries

Online information company, Scoot.com has won the contract to provide Vodafone with Internet Directory Services. The deal means that when Vodafone launches its new phones with Internet access, its customers will be able to get results of any searches sent to their phones as text messages. The deal is a good one for Scoot, but …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 16:08
Official: the Net can give you syphilis

Do you have Safe Surf? Plenty don't, it seems...

The Internet has swarmed with health threats lately, the vast majority of which seem inevitably to originate in the United States. We have heard of ten-year-old American fatties glued to the monitor and developing adult-onset diabetes; we have heard how the mouse and keyboard are implicated in carpal tunnel syndrome; we have …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 16:34
Leaked Compaq Q&A shows level of 64-bit NT Alpha chaos

Rev One is below

This internal Q&A should be viewed against our story Microsoft puts boot into 64-bit Alpha. Any of our own comments are italicised. Windows NT Alpha Strategy Q & A Version 1 - 25 Aug 99 General Questions: Q. Exactly what has Compaq changed in its Alpha Windows NT Strategy? What has Compaq announced? Why has Compaq decommitted …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 16:57
Merced silicon happens: Linux runs, NT doesn't

Oops...

Reliable sources close to Intel's plans say that the company has produced first silicon samples of the processor in its fabrication plants. Intel has struggled to produce working silicon for some time, with various stops and starts, as reported here previously on numerous occasions. But while the news may be good for Intel, …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 17:15
How a leaked Pesatori Alpha NT customer letter reads

A bit like the below, we think...

The following document was forwarded to us and we have no idea as to its veracity. But we do know, for a fact, that Microsoft has pulled the rug on 64-bit NT for Alpha... and the following is a pretty convincing validation of earlier stories, and written in Q style. If Compaq would care to take the time to contact us, we would …

Business 26 Aug 1999, 22:24