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29th November 1999 Archive

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  • Ideal to split from parent group

    InterX to concentrate on Internet side of business

    Ideal Hardware and parent company InterX are to split due to the incompatibility of the group's Web and distribution businesses. InterX said today it would become an Internet-only business made up of its product information service IT Network and its 34 per cent stake in Cromwell Media. Ideal will stick to distribution, with …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 07:53

  • AMD intros 750MHz Athlon, 533MHz K6-2

    Gigahertz secret weapon reserved for AD 2000

    While major x.86 manufacturer Intel still struggles to supply its major customers with .18 micron Pentium IIIs at speeds of 600MHz and above, AMD will formally announce its 750MHz Athlon processor today, using a .18 micron process technology. We exclusively revealed the date of the release of the 750MHz at the end of last month …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 08:08

  • Consumers reject clothes shopping online

    So what does this mean for Boo.com?

    With a fair wind and £200 million VC money behind you, anything is possible. Or so you would think. But what if you're flogging clothes over the Net, as Boo.com, the extravagantly-funded sportswear purveyor, is trying to do. You can tell it's got heaps of money - or how else could it afford those incomprehensible ads currently …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 11:37

  • Show me the money, Register tells ISP

    We're not above bribery –- if it's in a good cause

    AllAdvantage.com -- the company that pays people to surf the Net -- is to hand out crisp new £10 notes at its press bash on Wednesday to celebrate its launch in Britain. Apparently, AllAdvantage is going to use the event at the Internet Exchange in Covent Garden to say how many people in Britain are using the ad-for-cash scheme …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 11:51

  • Evesham, other UK vendors, intro 750MHz Athlon kit

    Problem with high end Pentium availability...

    UK vendors are already selling PCs using the AMD Athlon 750MHz processor, introduced today. Both Evesham Micro and Mesh plc have made machines available, the companies confirmed. There are four Evesham Athlon 750MHz machines in the range, said Luke Ireland, director of operations at the company. The TNT 2 machine costs £1,329 …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 12:03

  • Hopeless: M&S dips toe into e-commerce water

    Plans one-year trial from non-existent store

    Marks & Spencer's, the UK's snootiest High Street grocer, is throwing caution to the wind, joining the online shopping revolution after all. But don't get too excited -- online shopping is available only to the good burghers of Beaconsfield, Bucks (a very posh place indeed) and then to only 100 people. M&S will let them order …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 12:04

  • Confusion reigns over Mannesmann bid

    Just how are much is Vodafone offering Herr Esser?

    Far from the political shenanigans circling the hostile takeover bid by Vodafone of Mannesmann, another bout of confusion has appeared: just how much is the all-share offer worth? Admittedly, Mannesmann CEO Klaus Esser doesn't give a monkeys over the extent of the deal -- he'd much rather just keep his job -- but the variation …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 12:26

  • PalmPilot accessory to credit card theft

    Shop assistant used her Palm for fraud, New York police allege

    A year on from the discovery that Palm handhelds can be used by thieves to open infra-red car locks, comes news that at least one shop assistant has apparently been using her Palm to steal credit card details. Tania Ventura, 26, an employee of posh New York department store Bloomingdale's was last week arrested after a shopper …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 12:43

  • 1999: Annus Horribilis for Chipzilla

    Analysis How does it feel about AMD tweaking its nose?

    This time last year, there were a good few contenders in the x.86 market. Most, however, were looking a lot less robust than the Intel Corporation, which had spent most of the year thrashing its nearest competitor AMD and stomping over NatSemi's Cyrix brand. IDT's WinChip family had hardly come into the picture at all, while …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 12:52

  • Freeserve books deal with WH Smith

    ...remainders Bol?

    Top British ISP Freeserve is cosying up to WH Smith, top British High Street book retailer, in a deal that could lead to a "combination of their web site and a merger of many of their ecommerce activities", according to the Sunday Telegraph. WH Smith boss Richard Handover and Freeserve top banana John Pluthero have been …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 13:09

  • Oracle reseller Fulcrum snapped up

    Chicago based ebiz firm gets UK presence

    Chicago-based Whittman-Hart is buying Oracle reseller Fulcrum Solutions to expand its UK ecommerce business. The acquisition of London-based Fulcrum will add offices in Edinburgh and Manchester to Whittman Hart, which advises companies on their Internet strategy and helps them set up online. Terms of the agreement were not …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 13:10

  • GreatXscape caps off-peak free Net access

    So, what's your USP now?

    GreatXscape subscribers are up in arms following the ISP's decision to cap the number of toll-free hours its users are allowed each month. Angry Net users claim GreatXscape has welched on its original agreement that gave them unlimited toll-free access to the Net during off-peak hours. As of 9 December, this will be capped to …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 13:12

  • Infobank sells cash-cow in MBO

    Software reseller sold to management for £6.25m

    Infobank International Holdings is offloading its software business with a loss of around £2 million in an MBO. The UK reseller today said it would sell Internet Software Corporation for £6.5 million in an internal takeover headed by the division's founder and MD Paul Ridley. Payment will be £3 million cash, £2 million in …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 14:03

  • BBC demands URL from Canadian IT club

    Lawyers sent in to snatch bbc.org

    The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is using heavy-handed bullyboy tactics to get a small Canadian computer club to hand over its domain. The BBC wants Big Blue and Cousins to relinquish its bbc.org domain at its own expense even though the Canadian club has legally owned the domain since 1995. Lawyers representing the …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 14:15

  • Intel aims for mobo, processor FUD

    No user serviceable parts inside - Seattle do nicely

    Remember the Intel Overdrive processors? This was Chipzilla's attempt to flog user-upgradeable processors to provide a straightforward power boost to ageing systems. A year or so back, Intel chopped the whole range claiming that hardly anyone upgraded anyway, they just went out and bought an entire new system. Now Chipzilla is …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 14:32

  • Japanese mobile comms co. moots MP3-by-cellphone kit

    DoCoMo' better blues?

    Japanese cellphone flavour of the month NTT DoCoMo has begun touting a wireless digital music distribution system to consumer electronics companies. Details of the scheme are scarce -- Nikkei Electronics' report was basic to say the least -- but it appears the mobile phone company has developed a reference platform for receiving …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 14:35

  • Rambus RIMMs ready for receptive Intel slots

    The 12th of December is the magic day, allegedly

    Memory manufacturers from Bangkok to Timbuktu are now readying Rambus RIMMs in preparation for the expected spate of Intel motherboards that will support them. Over the last two weeks, dealers and distributors worldwide have complained that although the i820 Vancouver board, as well as the i840 Outrigger board are supposed to be …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 15:13

  • Intel PSN no threat to personal freedom

    The Hell it isn't

    So Intel faces yet another threatened blockade on those pesky Pentium IIIs with their evil Processor Serial Numbers, does it? Give us strength. The STOA (scientific and technological options assessment) committee is presenting its findings to the European Parliament, in connection with the development of surveillance technology …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 15:34

  • GreatXscape changes its mind about capping Net access

    It's all been a terrible mistake – you ain't kidding

    Chaos has broken out at GreatXscape after the ISP admitted it "cocked-up" today when it announced it was set to cap the amount of free time users could spend online. The letter -- which was sent to all GreatXscape subscribers -- should only have been sent to those people who are about to join the service. It informed them that …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 16:25

  • Cyberstalking gets scary

    It's on the increase and no longer a case of annoying emails

    Police in the US are gearing themselves up for an increase in serious cyberstalking. A new report has identified a new type of obsessive who relies on the anonymity of the Internet to wreak havoc on victims' lives. Perhaps naively, this reporter did not view cyberstalking as that serious a crime. But with the point conceded that …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 16:29

  • 3dfx works its Voodoo on Mac users

    OpenGL support,faster PCI board

    3dfx continued its pursuit of non-Windows gamers by touting its latest Voodoo 3-based card, a PCI version of the Voodoo 3 3000, directly at Mac users. Well, sort of. 3dfx's Voodoo 3 2000 PCI has proved one of the company's more popular products, irrespective of platform, despite operating aat a lower clock speed than 3dfx's AGP …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 16:35

  • Intel confirms 12 December price cuts

    This is not a knee jerk reaction

    As reported here earlier, Intel has now confirmed to its distributor and dealer channel that it will cut prices on the 12th of December next. That will also be the date that its boxed Rambus motherboard, the VC820, becomes widely available for sale. In a letter to large dealers, dated yesterday, Intel said: "On December 12, 1999 …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 17:23

  • Oftel wimps out, again

    Sit, shut up, roll over – good watchdog

    Following an EU report earlier this week that slammed BT for overcharging on leased lines, Oftel has shown itself as the toothless watchdog yet again with the announcement of another new review into the situation. The EU's recommended monthly ceilings for leased lines, which had been heartily welcomed by UK operators, made only …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 17:56

  • MS quietly dumps Windows OpenGL support

    Joint programme with SGI to define future of graphics ends in tears

    Fahrenheit, the joint Microsoft-SGI project "to define the future of graphics" has crashed in ruins, with Microsoft to all intents and purposes pulling its support for OpenGL and throwing its weight behind Direct3D. The Register has obtained correspondence from the Win2k beta tests which makes this abundantly clear, and last …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 18:30

  • CHS quizzed over money laundering claims

    US SEC opens investigation, offers $25m settlement

    Distributor CHS Electronics is under investigation in the US for money laundering. Hidden deep in the chasms of a financial document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 22 November, the company revealed one of its divisions was under scrutiny in the US for allegedly breaking export laws. According to the CHS …

    Business 29 Nov 1999, 19:40