6th September 1999 Archive

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Via, SiS aim for high chipset market share

Want to cut chunk out of Intel's cake

Taiwanese chipset firms Via and SiS both announced over the last few days that they mean business in the chipset market. They want to grow their market share at the expense of chip giant Intel. On Friday, SiS said its target was to have 35 per cent of the market by the year 2002, while Via is even more ambitious. It claims it …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 07:43
Compaq pursues aggressive Linux strategy

Walks the tightrope between Tru64 and OSS

Without much PR fanfare, Compaq has begun an aggressive advertising campaign to persuade Linux users to adopt the Alpha platform in Asia. The company has taken out adverts in the The Straits Times which highlight Alpha Linux as the choice for servers, with headlines such as "Linux screams on Alpha" and "Alpha puts Linux on full …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 07:58
Why Intel and Rambus are so close

Analysis It's a carrot and stick relationship

Many people have wondered why it has taken Intel just so long to say it will support PC-133, even though its acceptance by the chip giant is hedged about with many a caveat. Interest in the relationship between Intel and Rambus has been fuelled not only by the small matter of endorsing PC-133, but also by the fact that most of …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 08:37
LocalTel v. GreatXscape: so who won?

Two ISPs named Sue

The slanging-match between Screaming.net and GreatXscape is growing ever louder and neither side appears to show any sign of developing laryngitis. Both sides are claiming victory after appearing in the High Court on Friday to settle a dispute between the two companies. LocalTel, the telco behind Screaming.net alleged that …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 09:14
Nintendo to use ARM and copper PowerPC in next generation

Great things planned for next year

Nintendo has just announced that its next generation Game Boy, provisionally entitled the Game Boy Advance, will ship in a year's time and will be based on a 32-bit ARM CPU. But it's clearly hedging its bets over CPUs. in May of this year Nintendo announced that its next generation game console (to ship next autumn) would be …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 09:22
Psion to take on MS with notebook-style machines

Anyone remember first time around?

Psion is returning to the notebook market this week, years after it abandoned development of a brace of intriguing, but commercially unsuccessful, lightweights. This time around the company is scheduled to launch the netBook, announced earlier this year and aimed at the corporate market, plus an unexpected consumer version, the …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 09:25
Dabs Direct launches Playdirect.com

Resellers flock online

Resellers are flocking to get online and branch out to other areas apart from selling IT kit. Bolton-based Dabs Direct is set to launch website Playdirect.com, which will sell music and videos, by Christmas. Last week saw the launch of jungle.com, the cyber initiative of Steve Bennett, Software Warehouse MD, which will sell also …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 09:30
Via offers succour to 1394 standard

Chipset out by year end

Via is to breathe some new life into Firewire, the connection standard that has looked increasingly moribund since Intel decided to back the rival USB 2.0 camp. Via is putting the finishing touches on a 1394 solution, which will hit the streets in chipset form next year, Taiwanese reports reveal. More than 40 per cent of new PCs …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 10:31
Intel slashes PII/notebook chip prices

Prepares for the intro of PIII based parts

Paving the way for the introduction of higher performance Pentium III mobile chips in the near future, Intel slashed prices on its existing range at the weekend. The Pentium II/400 mobile, its .18 micron offering, fell by 32 per cent to $358, the 366MHz was reduced by 41 per cent to $187, and the 333MHz by 14 per cent to $161. …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 10:41
1.6GHz Alpha to be fastest Quake chip on planet

It's a monster

Compaq and API are readying a 1.6GHz Alpha 21364 which will include a version of SIMD 3D instructions and support for Rambus without the latency penalties that seem to dog the x.86 platform. A 1.6 GHz 21364 using the EV7 platform, is likely to belt out 6.4 single precision Gflops, according to sources. This would beat Merced …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 11:14
OECD seeks to protect online shoppers

Stop! There's an Internet thief about

Online shoppers could get greater protection from rogue traders if internationally recognised consumer protection guidelines are introduced this week at a top level meeting in Paris. The Consumer Policy Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will seek to offer e-consumers protection …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 11:34
Microsoft readies x86, Nvidia-based rival to PlayStation

MSX reborn?

In an attempt to widen industry support for Windows CE, Microsoft has begun development work on a games console reference design based on the PDA-oriented OS. According to Next Generation magazine, the console will be driven by a 500MHz Intel CPU... or maybe an AMD Athlon... or perhaps... well let's just say the point appears to …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 11:57
Virgin goes tits up into Labor (Day)

Discount offer brings site to its knees

It's been an unprofitable Labor Day Weekend for Virgin Megastore Online. According to CNET e-shoppers hoping to take advantage of a 50 per cent discount sale got more than they bargained for when the site crumpled on Friday due to heavy traffic. It's impossible to say how many people have had their brand loyalty to Virgin tested …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 12:14
TFT famine runs until 2001

Production not ramping up fast enough

The Great TFT Shortage will last until the beginning of 2001, according to a poll of Taiwanese manufacturers. They say previous forecasts (that the shortage would be over by Q2 next year) were too optimistic. Cash-strapped Korean vendors have turned out to be the fly in the ointment for the forecasters. Now they have some money …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 12:43
You're almost liquidated, Olivetti Computers Worldwide!

Now where is that convicted fraudster?

Olivetti Computers Worldwide is in provisional liquidation, and there will be a creditors’ meeting later this month. Price Waterhouse Coopers, which is handling the affairs of the High Wycombe office in the UK, said a creditors’ meeting would take place on 21 September. A liquidator is expected to be appointed at the meeting, …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 12:45
Brit Net agency to track drug gangs and paedophiles

Government directs spies to the Internet

The Government is setting up a unit of professional code crackers to track drug runners and paedophile rings on the Internet. The unit will get £20 million in Government funding, and will be staffed by encryption specialists from GCHQ, as well as new recruits from the private sector. It is expected to be called the Government …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 15:22
AMD to intro K8 at Microprocessor Forum

Things happen quickly in this industry

Fresh from the successful hype of its K7 (Athlon) family, AMD is now gearing up for the K8, its 64-bit follow-up. The company goes public on the K8 at, next month's Microprocessor Forum -- we understand. But the clone chip firm refuses to confirm or deny such a chip is on the cards. AMD reckons it's piling the pressure on Intel …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 15:27
Tosh, Panasonic recall Intel notebooks

But is the problem confined to Asia?

Toshiba and Panasonic have admitted there is a problem with notebooks fitted with mobile Pentium IIs and Celerons, and have recalled some stock. Earlier today, Intel UK confirmed it had slashed prices on some of the very same parts. According to information on the Intel Japanese site, the problem is connected with boot failures …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 15:42
Swedish God is in Hollywood wearing fancy Finnish dress

Viruses do all sorts of stuff to your head

The mystery of the latest virus to hit our PCs may have a link to Hollywood, religion or even Scandinavian fancy dress. The "Thursday" virus is set to start weaving its mischief on December 13, and experts were last week said to be baffled by the significance of this date. But our international readership has come up with a few …

Business 6 Sep 1999, 16:52