30th September 1999 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
Gates outlines how smart devices will eclipse PC
Not deliberately, of course, but maybe Win2k and Neptune aren't such big deals after all...
The latest instalment in the Bill Gates PR offensive, an article published in Forbes, provides rather more signposts to where MS is going than is usual for one of the lad's visions. The short piece - on convergence, allegedly - indicates that the eclipse of the PC may soon be upon us. Now, we know Bill has people to write …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 09:41
-
Games developer to eat insects if bugs infest software
Is this an insane bid for publicity? Is the Pope a Catholic?
If you think you've had your fill of the millennium bug, spare a thought for Jason Whong, marketing director of games developer Ambrosia Software. He could be seeing more than his fair share of bugs when we enter the new millennium. So convinced is Whong that all the software Ambrosia will ship in late 1999 and early 2000 will …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 10:19
-
Is Monterey Unix's revenge?
It could be shaping up to be the real threat to Win2k
Stealth marketing is evidently being used for an alternative to Win2k that did not even get a mention in the oral evidence at the Microsoft trial. It is uncertain if Microsoft wanted no mention of it, or whether Microsoft's lawyers were unable to understand that the real threat could be Project Monterey. This industry standard …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 10:24
-
Bluetooth to figure in French high-speed mobile data
To be implemented in GPRS service next year
Both French and German implementations of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) wireless data are set to go live next year, and in the case of the French one at least, Bluetooth phones will be a part of the service. Germany's T-Mobil is carrying out trials of GPRS using Motorola equipment, and France Telecom has already completed …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 11:36
-
Ingram launches UK components division
It's exciting...
Ingram Micro UK yesterday announced a new components division headed up by Pieter Waasdorp. The Components Business Unit is the fourth arm in the distributor's latest business model. Waasdorp, director of the unit, has been at Ingram for five years. He was previously the company's European mass storage business manager. Meinie …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 11:53
-
Microsoft jump-starts streaming media offensive
MS brings in big guns, draws bead on RealNetworks, Apple
Microsoft yesterday upped the ante in its bid to dominate the streaming media market when it announced what it's calling the Windows Media Broadband Jumpstart (WMBJ) -- its answer to Apple's QuickTime TV initiative. Both ventures, of course, are targetting the streaming market leader, RealNetworks. Apple's approach is to …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 11:59
-
Red Hat ready to launch Linux 6.1 this week
Kernel updates, bug-fixes, improved installers ahoy!
Red Hat will launch the latest version of its Linux distribution this week, according to US newswires and, in effect, according to Red Hat itself, which has organised a press tour to promote the new release. It probably feels it needs to hype up the release a bit, what with Corel getting closer to the release of its major …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:11
-
New IE5 security hole leaves PCs wide open to hacking
Switch it off, quick...
The latest addition to IE5's list of security 'issues' is a corker. The problem, detailed by Microsoft here, allows a "malicious Web site operator" to gain access to the computers of people visiting the site. It uses the IE5 "download behaviour" feature, which is intended to allow Web page authors to download files for use in …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:15
-
AOL users are revolting
Cost of 0800 access could put us out of business weeps service provider
Senior executives at AOL Europe have tried to quell a rebellion among its users after the service provider effectively conceded it had postponed indefinitely plans to introduce flat-fee 0800 access because of the "regulatory structure" in the UK. It also warned that if it did introduce 0800 access across the board it could put …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:19
-
Sotec unveils un-iMac-like eOne design
Blue box becomes not-so-blue box
Sotec, the Japanese distributor of eMachines' eOne PC, this week unveiled the computer's new look, designed to get the increasingly litigious Apple off its back. And the big change? Well, there isn't one -- eMachines has simply dropped the machines blue plastic panels in favour of silvery, 'Millennium Blue' ones. The redesign …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:31
-
Computacenter 'preps £250m Synstar bid'
Not one of our rumours
Shares in Computacenter jumped five per cent yesterday on market speculation that it was preparing a £250 million bid for Synstar, Europe's biggest IT maintenance firm. According to The Times, the paper that likes to be known as journal of record, Computacenter had also "informally explored a merger with its rival Compel, but …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:45
-
Ideal unveils new reseller services offering
Leasing, training, PR & marketing, you name it they're offering it
Ideal Hardware is to launch a new range of financial services, including PC rental and leasing, it said today. The distributor will offer a host of value-added services, such as software licensing, specialised training and advanced technical support. It will also offer marketing services, including advertising and PR for …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 12:57
-
Nintendo selects S3 texture comp. for next-gen console
Could have had 3dfx's for free
Top marks to S3 for rushing out a release informing us all of Nintendo's decision to license its S3TC texture compression technology in Dolphin, the in-development successor to the Nintendo N64. However, Nintendo will have to wear the dunce's cap and stand in the corner for paying S3 for technology it could have got from S3's …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 13:07
-
CIA recruits video game mogul for IT venture
Ex-Holobyte exec Louie to pick high tech investments for spies
The CIA has smartened its image with the creation of In-Q-It, a high-tech venture capital firm playfully named for the eccentric gadget meister "Q" of James Bond fame. As if to build further on the fun and games motif, the agency has chosen former Spectrum Holobyte and Microprose exec Gilman Louie for its CEO. The new company …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 13:25
-
Chips are down for RAM burglars
Blockhead thieves leg it with faulty goods
GSI has become the latest memory distributor to be hit by a DRAM robbery, but was today having the last laugh. The Essex company had around 500 memory modules stolen last night, comprising 32MB, 64MB and 128MB PC100 DIMMs. This is the second RAM robbery in the UK in as many days. Dane-Elec was stung in the early hours of …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 13:44
-
Sony signs Six for Stick
Memory Stick standard drive begins in earnest
Sony today announced six other Japanese electronics companies have licensed its Memory Stick solid-state floppy disk technology. Aiwa, Fujitsu, Sanyo, Sharp, Kenwood and Pioneer will variously produce, promote and support in other devices Sony's answer to Compact Flash. That's a long way from the industry standard status Sony …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 14:36
-
Massive recall hits Western Digital
Faulty chip causes disks to fail
Western Digital has recalled around 400,000 hard disk drives due to a faulty chip. The pulled drives are from the vendor's WD Caviar 6.8GB per platter desktop series, with capacities ranging by from 6.4 to 20.5GB. According to Matt Massengill, Western Digital's co-COO, the chips could cause the hard drives to fail to power-up …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 15:54
-
Telinco whacks AOL, chins Freeserve for confusing users
Also announces its own 0800 service, but is keeping details to itself for now
Cheshire-based ISP Telinco has lambasted AOL UK and Freeserve for introducing confusing new pricing structures earlier this week. It says the 10 hours of toll-free access a month offered by Freeserve and AOL UK's 24/7 1p-a-minute flat fee for Net access will only serve to muddle Net users. Throwing its own hat into the ring, it …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 15:55
-
IBM maps out company-wide Linux strategy
It's a key platform, and all the key software will go onto it
IBM has just held the first of a series of internal Linux summits to thrash out the company's Linux strategy, according to Joe Barr of LinuxWorld. The summit itself was IBM-only, but Barr managed to get an interview with the IBMer responsible for setting it up, and he seems to have been pretty forthcoming. (Full interview text) …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 19:15
-
New Psion Revo for consumer market escapes early
It looks like Psion is trying an overdue back to basics approach
A surprise Psion product aimed at the volume consumer market has escaped early in a mail order catalogue ad. Psion intends to announce the £255.31 (ex tax) Revo on Monday, but the fact that the catalogues are already printed indicates the company is trying to return to its old approach of not making announcements until it has …
Business 30 Sep 1999, 21:13
