19th November 1999 Archive

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Fun Loving Criminals torpedo Dell factory

The virus, not the band

Dell shut down European PC assembly lines at its Limerick, Ireland plant for four days, following a little, local trouble with the FunLove virus. The company checked out 12,000 machines, including 500 PCs that had already gone out to customers - and they were all free of the fairly innocuous virus (it posts the message Fun …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 07:57
Dual float on Horizon for Irish channel player

Cash will fund future acquisitions

Horizon Technology Group is seeking a dual listing on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges for December. The Cork-based distributor's flotation is being sponsored by NCB Corporate Finance. The company's principal shareholders, Samir Naji and Charles Garvey, will see their holdings diluted after the float, with NCB set to place …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 09:21
Bol locks horns with online CD sellers

Takes on the myriad of other online retailers

Bol.com, the online bookshop launched by Bertelsmann AG earlier this year, will add to the growing competition for CDs over the Web by launching its own service at the end of the month. No fancy title, but Bol will have over 500,000 titles to choose from, 50 per cent of which, it says, will have 30-second audio clips for the try …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 10:28
Cisco says failure to adopt Euro will hit business

William Hague not a factor in Netzilla's view

The UK Conservative Party may not have heard of Cisco, but if so, perhaps it should give the company a ring. With a market capitalisation of something like $250 billion, and an acquisitive maw that makes Moby Dick's mouth look like a minnow, it is the nearest thing to a Great Satan of Networks there is on the planet. And perhaps …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 11:24
Open for business today:The Sotheby's Amazon love in

...if you're German, American or British

Here's a couple of names that don't go together: stuffed shirt auctioneer Sotheby and Internet hot shot Amazon. Today, they launch their bastard offspring, the clumsily-named sothebys.amazon.com, for the American, German and British Intenet markets So what has the site got to offer:? It boils down to this: the Sotheby's comfort …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 11:52
0800 court case adjourned…

...until next month

Chris Buckley, the teenager accused of using a BT 0800 number to access the Web without permission, yesterday had his case adjourned to December. The 18-year-old had his appearance at Corby Magistrates Court, Northamptonshire, put back to December 3 to enable his solicitor to take instructions. Buckley, from Oundle, …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 11:56
Tony Blair is not impotent

Cherie pregnant — that'll teach us to mess with metaphors

Thanks to every one who pointed to our recent story titled Tony Blair is impotent. Last night, Downing Street announced his wife Cherie (45), is expecting their fourth child. But hold fire on any more emails, please. The original story concerned Blair's relationship with technology -- not to a medical condition. ®

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:03
STMicro buys flat-screen chip firm

Arithmos technology to be written into range of devices

STMicroelectronics is to acquire flat-screen chip supplier Arithmos for $43m (£27m). Arithmos has developed "unique" digital technology, according to STMicro, which the company plans to write into integrated chips for a whole range of different screens from PC monitors to digital mobile phones. STMicro will control all rights to …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:10
How Intel is re-engineering itself…

...and why chips are only part of its strategy

This year has seen unprecedented drops in prices of x.86 microprocessors, as Intel, AMD and a handful of other manufacturers slog it out to satisfy continued demand for PCs. While Intel continues to make good profits on its server and high end desktop microprocessors, and also makes some profit on its low-end Celeron range. But …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:13
MS bows out of instant message war with AOL

Claims AOL is exploiting 'security bug'

Microsoft has decided to stop its scrap with AOL about messaging services, claiming that to continue would pose a serious security risk for its users. The security claim was made by Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft director of internet marketing, who said that AOL was using a "very serious security bug" to stop MSN users trying to send …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:24
NatSemi, Acer, Microsoft threaten Intel hegemony

The MS Web Pad will use the Geode part

Sources close to semiconductor manufacturer National Semiconductor told The Register today that the Microsoft version of the Web Pad, expected to be announced shortly, will be built by Acer and use the Geode chip. That is likely to cause hearts in Intel's HQ in Santa Clara to flutter, given that its own system-on-a-chip (SOC) …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:24
Settlement no closer after MS brush with Justice

MS on Trial So the show must go on, apparently...

No whispers of settlement came from Judge Jackson's chambers yesterday when Microsoft and the Department of Justice met to discuss the scheduling of the case. Microsoft was legally outnumbered, since it was represented only by John Warden and Steve Holley. Warden said before the meeting that he wasn't going to talk about any …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:25
Mesh launches 810e mobo PC

The Intel chipset has fans after all

Mesh has launched its first PC based on Intel’s 810e chipset. The Mesh 550e uses Intel’s "Flip-chip" Pentium III 500e and 550e processors, along with the i810e motherboard. Included in the £1099 + VAT package is 128MB DRAM memory, 18GB hard drive, Mitsubishi 17" monitor and Corel Word Perfect Office 2000. It features 370 socket …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:31
DRAM stabilises in quake wake

Down, Spot

DRAM chip spot prices are resting at around $12 due to Taiwanese foundries' swift recovery from the September quake. Contract prices are slightly higher at $13 for 8x8 PC100 DRAM memory, Eurotrade reported. These figures are a far cry from prices following the earthquake on September 21. At the time, it was feared DRAM and other …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 12:37
Mannesman humiliated in court as Vodafone goes hostile

Totally disgraceful and unacceptable

Vodafone has made history with a world-beating £79bn hostile bid for German group Mannesmannn. The all-paper offer is 20 per cent higher than the bid rejected out of hand by Mannesmann's board earlier this week. On paper, the deal looks good - the two companies complement each other and shareholders look certain to benefit. But …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 13:05
Y2K bug smokes fire station like a kipper

Now that's what we call testing

Canadian firemen were cursing the Millennium bug after it burnt down one of their shiny fire stations. The IT menace did its worst on a Montreal station after firemen were called away to a fire at a nearby building. One of the firemen had been frying a hearty meal of chips on the station cooker, and left the food cooking when …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 13:14
Where The Law stands on Net porn

Or "making indecent photographs", in legalese

Many remain confused on the point of law which has recently seen two men sent to prison in high-profile cases for "making" indecent photographs and therefore breaking the Protection of Children Act 1978 - the most famous of which was of course former pop star Gary Glitter. Well, The Register can now give the full legal rundown …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 14:07
Intel's Concept PCs: Wintel's last stand?

Analysis Inverted Fordism - any colour you like, so long as it's a PC

PC companies are finally starting to ship FlexATX board-based machines that deliver some of the capabilities of the "Concept PCs" Intel first unveiled over a year ago. But at Comdex this week Intel was showing a clutch of next generation "Concepts for 21st Century PCs." And jolly gruesome most of them look too. Intel operatives …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 14:27
Here it comes – Windows for lawnmowers…

A Comdex keynoting Gates wakes an unexpected dragon...

Many's the time that a cool feature devised for a Bill Gates demo has contributed to feature-creep in Windows. But in his Comdex keynote last Sunday Bill unwittingly (we hope) laid the groundwork for the daddy of them all - a control and monitoring system for all your electronic and automotive possessions which will surely …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 15:46
3dfx blames quake for shaky figures

Sales up, but profit is replaced by loss

3dfx yesterday blamed memory price hikes and the Taiwanese earthquake for its disappointing results for the third quarter. The graphics card manufacturer posted net losses of $17.6 million for the period ended 31 October, compared to pre-tax profit of $3.1 million for the quarter ended 30 September. Sales were $105.8 million, up …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 15:58
Intel will cut Coppermine prices earlier than expected

We told you Yule be sorry...

After a rather shaky start in production, Intel has got into its stride on Coppermine and will cut prices of the newer chips on the 12th of December. It launched the parts on the 25th of October but supplies of some remain scanty. And rather than slash prices on the existing .25 micron chips in early December, which most of its …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 16:04
Fujitsu Siemens courts SMEs with i820 PC

Plans to release i810e-based machine next year

Fujitsu Siemens has launched a PC based on Intel's 810 chipset aimed at the SME market. The SCENIC 322 is an entry-level desktop with Intel Celeron 433Mhz chip, 64MB memory, 4.3GB hard drive with 15in monitor and Windows 98. Priced at £559, the machine is a "silent" PC which uses a cooling fan and Air Tunnel technology from …

Business 19 Nov 1999, 17:21