7th September 1999 Archive

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Psion teams up with LineOne for Net assault

Aims to build handheld community site

Psion is climbing into bed with LineOne, as part of a move to make the handheld company more Net-friendly. LineOne will supply content for Psion's new portal site, Planet Psion. The site already has content from the Met Office. Psion wants the portal site to become a free ISP in its own right (with LineOne providing the …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 06:23
AOL says boo to a few gooses

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It's heartening to see the ad boys at AOL's new subscription free ISP Netscape Online being so in yer face about their rivals. Quarter page ads taken out in this weekend's papers read: "Amazing news! FREE internet access from the electronics shop, the hi-fi shop, county council, newspaper, bank, disco, the internet company. Of …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 06:52
Britain launches CrapJobsRUS.Com

Government aims to turn shirkers into (clerical) workers

Down and out in the Rhondda Valley? Check out that Call Centre in Milton Keynes. Unemployed in Sheffield? Become a cleaner in Weybridge. The Government is opening a monster.com-style -- but much more downmarket -- recruitment site. This will feature every job vacancy currently listed on High Street state-run Job Centres. Now …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 11:00
Sick porn baron escapes jail

How can they tell?

A UK cyber porn baron, suspected of netting millions from schoolgirl and farmyard sex Web sites, has escaped jail --because he's sick. Graham Waddon, 28, pocketed over £126,000 from his Web venture, but yesterday had a prison term suspended after complaining of thyroid and leg problems. Judge Christopher Hardy told Southwark …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 11:03
Apple iMac II set for Paris debut

Supports wireless strategy

Apple will introduce its next-generation iMac -- the so-called 'C2 Revision', codenamed Kihei -- next week at Apple Expo Paris, according to a Korean source cited by Mac-oriented Web site Japan Apple Watch. JAW doesn't offer any clues as to the authenticity of its source, but with Apple now outsourcing the bulk of its iMac …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 11:53
Mitsubishi to develop portable Net access device OS

Lines up against WinCE,PalmOS and Symbian

US software developer Integrated Systems yesterday said it is working with Japanese giant Mitsubishi on an operating system for hand-held Internet access devices. The project essentially has Integrated building an OS for a series of microcontrollers coming from Mitsubishi. Around that core, the duo will develop a complete device …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 12:30
AOL UK erects sight screen for kids' site

Wins plaudits from ChildLine

AOL UK has affirmed its credentials as a protector of family values by offering a "walled garden" of safe content where children aged 2-12 are free to roam without fear of coming across disturbing or adult material. Although AOL UK maintains the "kids only" accounts are no substitution for parental supervision, it claims the …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 12:59
BT promotes home wireless revolution

Lame Brains spot trend shock horror, but how long before they mess up. We give them a week...

BT is touting a new range of wireless networking products for the home and for small businesses. The system has four components: a controller, data sockets, phone sockets and hand sets. All connections are wireless. It will support all major standards, including ISDN and ADSL. BT says that this product is part of the ' …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:01
You can't get smuttier than a Kwik-Fit Fitter

Rude emailers sue for wrongful dismissal

Two ex-Kwik-Fit employees are suing their former bosses for unfair dismissal, after they were sacked for sending smutty emails on the company network. They claim that the company had no clear policy covering email use or content at work. Cases like this could become more common if companies fail tighten up their regulations, …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:05
Hyundai Semicon to take Arm, Java route

Invests W20 billion in technology

The Korean press is reporting that Hyundai Semicon, formed from the merger LG Semicon, is to release a Java processor aimed at the digital TV market. It will also release an embedded processor with the core design licensed from UK company Arm, and will be a 32-bit chip. Production of the processor and the Java chip is set to …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:06
Old people trash young at gaming says Intel

Helps with the concentration, dear

Old people are increasingly playing games on PCs and on the Net. They are more likely to have played games online than any other age group, including youngsters aged between 15 and 24, according to an NOP survey commissioned by Intel. Twenty eight per cent of people playing games on the Net were were aged 65 and over, with many …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:16
Sony, Sega turn nose up at cheap copy protection

Calls go unanswered, no-one wants to know

A Spanish developer of a cheap software copy protection system has claimed that his solution is being ignored by the games console industry. Elias Megido says his firm has developed and patented a one peseta system that will prevent illicit use of games on Sony and Sega machines. But although he has a prototype it wants to show …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:29
Memory Life's a Roller Coaster!

After the flood, the famine

By Alan Stanley, MD Dane-Elec The roller coaster ride continues. Just two months ago anybody that had to sell memory was complaining that there was a glut of memory in the market. Now, look what's happened, a sad lack of abundance. Nitto, nil, diddlysquat, sums up the state of play in today's memory market. Six weeks ago I was …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 13:43
Intel's Barrett found on Pouffe

Where's the picture of him on his hoss?

Here we see Intel's CEO Craig Barrett sitting on a pouffe at last week's Developer Forum in Palm Springs. He likened the pouffe (it's really a Concept PC) to his horse. Intel's PR in the US have promised us that pic, which we await eagerly. The picture is courtesy of Nico at Tecchannel which has just opened for business... ®

Business 7 Sep 1999, 14:23
Acer turns to Compaq for sales director

Gunning for notebook market

Acer UK has poached Scott Dodds from Compaq to be its sales director. Dodds was Compaq UK's general manager for channel sales and spent six years at the company. He reeled in over $2 billion of Compaq's direct and indirect business in the UK, according to Acer. The appointment of Dodds is part of a shake-up of Acer's sales and …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 15:17
eBay babies put up for sale

Hoaxers, surely?

eBay, the notorious online auctioneer, has created a bit of a stir with its recent offerings. Three people had separately put unborn babies under the virtual hammer. eBay has now taken down the postings which are thought to be hoaxes. One couple, claiming to be a pair of law students, offered an unborn baby boy due later this …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 15:24
Argos welshes on three quid TV Net ‘offer’

Transmission error to blame for bargain of the decade

A telly for under a fiver? You'd have to be either insane or just back from the updated Argos website, where a Sony TV was on sale for a mere £3.00. The price has now been changed, but the company says it has received a number of multiple orders from online customers. Argos has just updated its site for the autumn season. Over …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 15:27
Harrods looks overseas for online custom

Opens next week

For those times when parking the Mercedes is simply too tiresome in central London, Harrods is launching an upmarket online shopping service. From next week, shoppers will be able to virtually peruse the food halls and other departments and get Harrods to deliver the order to their doorstep -- be it here or abroad. The …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 15:46
BT declares war against The Register

Lame Brains unleash Operation Overdog against plucky independent web site

BT has declared war against The Register. Its tactics are straightforward -- to drown us in its Kafkaesque bureacracy. Today, BT's ISDN 30 maintenance team told us that it would not investigate problems with our voice/data lines until 13 September. Why the delay? Well, according to BT, The Register does not have an ISDN 30 …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 20:23
Net Finance News: 29 Aug- 1 Sept 1999

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1 Sept 1999 Free ISP carrier makes a profit Online insult mars Freenetnames launch Kids of all ages will have even greater choice about they buy their toys from after eToys announced it is to expand its operation into the UK. This is eToy's first venture outside the US and the company said the Web site will be ready in time …

Business 7 Sep 1999, 21:30