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15th September 1999 Archive

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  • Business-incubator.com – VC without the venture or the capital

    Oracle, Sun, Cisco and Exodus(who they?)back new service

    Oracle, Sun, Cisco and Exodus are pumping £5 million into a kick-start up venture called business-incubator.com. Essentially this is a branded portfolio of services designed to get new British companies up and running on the web. Pay up £15,000 for three months, and in you get hardware, database software, network infrastructure …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 06:25

  • Serial killer sells paintings on eBay

    But can he keep the money?

    eBay is in the news again -- and for all the wrong reasons -- after it confirmed that etchings from a convicted serial killer were being offered for sale through the online auction house. Fifty-four-year-old Arthur Shawcross, who was convicted of murdering 11 women in Rochester, New York back in 1991, now faces a disciplinary …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 06:33

  • Netscape Online mouse has ceased to be

    intro

    Hacks who were deafened at the rave-style launch of AOL's subscription-free ISP Netscape Online (NSO) last month were given a sleek metallic mouse complete with a capital "N" tattooed on its back by of thanks for turning up. Unfortunately the little squeaker delivered to The Register went belly-up less than 24 hours after it was …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 07:43

  • Ilion accepts Landis cash offer

    Well that wasn't so hostile, was it?

    ilion's board has approved a £40.2 million cash bid from Landis, just one day after its rival said it was considering going hostile. ilion's directors can be satisfied with their efforts to extract more money from Landis. Last week the networking equipment distie said it had terminated talks with unnamed parties (but known to …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 08:01

  • Hardware site roundup

    A snapshot of some of the sights on the sites

    If major computer manufacturers were surprised with the speed the Internet took off, they've also been astonished by the rise of Web sites, which often beat the thick monthlies stone cold on news and reviews. Press relations will never be the same again... Here's a daily report of what we've spotted since we last looked, 24 …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 08:21

  • Tekram a go-go with 810e mobo

    Supports up to 733MHz

    Taiwanese mobo manufacturer Tekram said it will build a mobo based on the up-and-coming Intel 82C810e chipset. The board uses Slot 1, has a 133MHz front side bus (FSB) and will support Intel clock speeds up to 733MHz -- and that's what we'll see very soon. It will also support 500MHz Celerons. The board comes with integrated 3D …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 09:08

  • AMD to cut Athlon price in October?

    It's a neither confirm nor deny situation

    Reports that AMD is set to cut prices on the 4th of October next were neither confirmed nor denied by the firm today. Yesterday, we reliably reported that AMD has already started shipping volumes of a 700MHz Athlon. When it does ship this part, in the near future, price adjustments are inevitable. According to information which …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 09:45

  • MS pulls scalability feature from Win2k RC2

    Finds another vast security hole, and concretes it over

    Microsoft will officially ship Windows 2000 Release Candidate 2, intended to be the final widespread beta, today, but the company has reportedly removed component load balancing from the Advanced Server and Datacenter Server RC2 code. This raises questions about Win2k's scalability and clustering ability, although the company …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 10:08

  • Sun boss abuses MS, claims 250k downloads for StarOffice

    Win2k will be greater disater than Y2k, claims McNealy

    Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun, dropped in to the IDC European IT Forum in Paris by satellite (again), but he did update his one-liners: his latest is that "W2K will be a greater disaster than Y2K". McNealy pointed out that conventional brokers who scorned online trading because the size of their client's deals were often an order of …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 10:16

  • Philips to shift entire LCD monitor biz to Taiwan

    ...while supplies are not as tight as thought

    The Taiwanese press is today reporting that Dutch firm Philips will shift its entire LCD monitor production to the island. According to the organisers of the Computex trade show, Philips will produce half a million LCD monitors in this year, representing around 12 per cent of global volume, but will make a million LCD monitors …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 10:34

  • Yahoo's Koogle – is he Mr Wiggy

    intro

    Our intrepid correspondent Graham Lea has returned safely from the IDC bash in Paris. But something's bugging him. "Can anyone confirm that Tim Koogle, CEO of Yahoo (who gave a boring speech), wears a hairpiece or wig?", he asks. "I tried to get near enough to snatch at it, but he escaped." Trichologists can contact Graham …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 10:56

  • Jobs blow at Seagate

    Ten per cent of workforce to go

    In the wake of poor sales and a viscous HDD price war, Seagate has announced that ten per cent of its worldwide workforce is to about to bite the bullet. The 8000 or so jobs will be cut over the next nine months and the disk drive vendor hopes the action will save it around $150 million a year. The company will take a $200 …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 11:08

  • NetBenefit breaks into the black

    Plans for full listing are under way

    A sharp increase in demand for domain names and related services has catapulted NetBenefit into the black, a sure sign of the UK's growing appetite for the Internet. Sales at NetBenefit were up 73 per cent to £1.97 million during the year to 30 June turning a loss of £3852 in 1998 into an operating profit of £254,357. Since year …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 11:10

  • Hamburgers try to TM Linux

    Application filed with German patent office -- three months to object

    Hamburg patent lawyers Hauck, Graalfs, Wehnert have filed a claim with the German patent office to trademark the word Linux, according to Germany's c't (story in German). The news service says that a spokesman for the partnership confirmed the application. c't also notes that Linux is listed in the German Markenblatt (listing of …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:01

  • Reuters to launch 24/7 retail Net op

    Wades into retail swamp

    Reuters, the world's biggest news wholesaler, is getting into retail. It is pumping in £20 million into an own-brand 24/7 global news service, The Guardian reveals. Reuters research suggests "that there is demand among high-net-worth individuals for a readable, fast service that can provide 24-hour news", according to The …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:13

  • 08004u plagued by yet more woes

    Users get redirected to other sites

    There's yet more shenanigans at 08004u -- the flat fee freephone ISP -- The Register can report. After going belly up less than 24 hours after launching the service, some people trying to access the site have been directed to the personal ICQ homepage of a 16-year-old schoolboy. "The visitor counter raced up to 50 in ten seconds …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:18

  • The Internet changes nothing – Yahoo!

    Claims business plan hasn't changed since 1995

    Does Yahoo! understand the interests of a business audience. Not a lot judging from CEO Tim Koogle's dull performance at the European IT Forum in Paris. It was less than riveting to hear how Yahoo! had continued to follow its original business plan and strategy from the days of six employees in 1995. Did we believe that? Not a …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:24

  • Amiga boss charts software-only course

    Amiga Inc. pulls out of hardware, steps further away from Amiga community

    Amiga president -- and now CEO too, you'll notice, unlike ex-pres. Jim Collas -- Tom Schmidt yesterday posted his take on the future of his company and the Amiga platform. The much-anticipated statement was short on detail, big on vision, but one thing is very clear: Amiga Inc. is no longer a hardware company. Schmidt's strategy …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:25

  • Microsoft ‘changes the world through software’

    Vergnes trots out the one-liners at IDC

    The modest title that Bernard Vergnes, the old-timer who has been put out to pasture as chairman of Microsoft Europe, took for his talk at the IDC European IT Forum in Paris was "Changing the world through software". Gates' vision statements that had driven the company were duly trotted out by his obedient servant, from …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:47

  • DRAM prices rocket on spot market

    Fifteen dollars a pop? You must be joking

    The unthinkable is happening in the DRAM market: prices are shooting skywards. A modest increase in the last couple of months has been eclipsed by spot market prices hitting $15 only two days ago, according to DRAM price gurus ICIS-LOR. Ed Bateman, product manager at memory manufacturer Hypertec, said: "In many cases prices have …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:57

  • SGI doubles job-loss total

    3000 jobs to be lost, but only takes a hit on 1500

    SGI pulled a neat trick yesterday, doubling the number of job cuts it intends to make in its restructuring programme, yet claiming it's only laying off the 1500 staff it said it would last month. How was this feat of mathematical dexterity achieved? The addition 1500 jobs will not be axed -- the company will simply pack those …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 12:58

  • Micron, Infineon to win big with Fujitsu

    Big time DRAM supply contracts in the offing

    Following its decision to cut back on its own DRAM production last year, Fujitsu is in talks with Micron and Infineon to secure memory supplies. According to reports, Fujitsu is saying that negotiations are on-going and that no deals have yet been struck. NEC is also understood to be talking to Micron and Infineon for the very …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 13:01

  • Giant mouse to save kids from online pervs

    Disney reworks the three little pigs

    Mickey Mouse, Goofy and all the Disney gang are to be employed to teach Europe's youngsters about steering clear of strangers on the Net. In a reworking of the popular fairy tale, the three little pigs will warn kids of the dangers of the "big bad wolves" that stalk the Net. According to Reuters, Disney Online will launch the …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 13:10

  • MS tentacles extend to Visio

    Money Nib: $1.3 billion stock deal

    Microsoft is buying graphics software specialist Visio in a $1.3 billion stock deal. Visio will operate as a separate unit within Microsoft's Office Productivity Group. It will also continue as a "separate but complementary brand". What does this mean -- MS Visio 2000? And... there's not really much more to say, really, which is …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 13:53

  • Punters want speech-driving PCs

    But Florida hurricane disrupts ViaVoice demo (only a little)

    Speech Recognition. Will people use it? Will it be as good as a keyboard? IBM answers a resounding 'yes' to both questions. Research conducted by MORI found that 63 per cent of respondents would swap their keyboard for voice recognition technology, given half the chance. Surprisingly, nearly as many (60 per cent) RSI-prone touch …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 14:27

  • Red Hat signs up C2000

    Channel Nib: First UK distie

    Red Hat has selected Tech Data subsidiary Computer 2000 as its first UK wholesaler. C2000 will carry all currently available versions of Red Hat Linux, including the newest, Linux 6.0. Red Hat has recently drawn criticism for behaving in a corporate manner in the non corporate world of techies and hackers. See story. ®

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 14:51

  • BT keeps mum about ADSL pricing

    But we know so make sure you're sat down when you read this

    BT has published its wholesale rates for ISPs looking to offer broadband ADSL services in Britain. In a leaked report obtained by The Register BT will charge ISPs £1,065 a year for a 512kbit connection and £1,590 for a 2MB line. That works out at £90 a month for a 512kbit connection and £130 a month for 2MB line rental. All the …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 15:10

  • DRAM killer ships.. in five years

    Set to beat up on hard drives, too

    Boffins at Cambridge University and Hitachi say their DRAM killer will be ready to go into production within five years. The device, called PLEDM (Phase state Low Electron hole number Drive Memory), may sound like something one would cough up after too many B&Hs, but it could have major implications for the future of electronics …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 15:10

  • HP crows as Xerox loses War of the Printheads

    My patents are bigger than yours

    A New York Court yesterday dismissed an IP suit concerning -- get this -- inkjet printheads, filed by Xerox against Hewlett Packard. Xerox says it will appeal. The spat concerns patent number 5,030,971, which covers Xerox's multi-colour thermal inkjet print-head technology, As is so often the case, the judge's ruling has not …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 15:21

  • Red Hat Linux certified for ThinkPad – but only sort of

    All of the things that didn't exactly work before certification still don't exactly work

    From the look of things an IBM plan to offer Linux on ThinkPads has escaped early, spattering both IBM and Red Hat with a certain quantity of ordure. On Monday Red Hat completed Red Hat Linux certification testing on the ThinkPad 600e, and posted the machine as certified on its site, but unfortunately, under Linux some of the …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 16:25

  • Hate speech: US legislature gets down, dirty and confused

    Please, for the sake of the children...

    The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony yesterday on the proliferation of hate speech through the Internet. The news is discouraging, but hardly a surprise coming from a country so racked by tribal conflicts and smouldering racial resentments. There are now approximately 600 Web sites, mostly American, devoted to …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 16:39

  • UK's Orange cares hardly a whit for Orang Utangs

    Despite massive adverts saying contrariwise...

    An Orange UK representative said today his company is looking to customers, rather than itself, to look after the intelligent ape called the Orang Utang. Since Orange UK launched a series of streetwide hoardings using decimated species the Orang Utang, because it is of an orange colour, he said a total of £35,000 was raised -- …

    Business 15 Sep 1999, 20:11