30th November 1999 Archive

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Cybersquatter targets Toys R Us

Is this the acceptable face of the practice

Software developer Richard Warr has taken a dispute with toy store Toys 'R' Us onto the Internet by registering the domain name toys-r-us.co.uk and putting up a site to air his grievance. Warr says he is angry over the "callous attitude of staff at the Toys R Us store in Stevenage towards a senior citizen" concerning a faulty …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 08:02
Big Blue wants you in the Lotus position

Recruitment drive takes the fight to its software rivals

IBM seems to be in a hiring and firing mood, announcing it will take on 500 software sales staff worldwide to compete with rivals such as Oracle. Big Blue said the newcomers, to be hired during 2000, would bring numbers up to 7000 worldwide in its software sales group. The unit has over 22,000 staff in total. "When you spread …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 08:04
Red Hat aiming to buy Corel Linux rival?

Scene set for WordPerfect's revenge...

Corel shares soared yesterday on speculation that Red Hat was planning a bid for the rival Linux distributor. The market clearly views the possibility as a marriage made in heaven, because Red Hat stock promptly hared after it. Corel stock closed at $20 7/8 (up 48 per cent) and Red Hat at $236.625 (up 11 per cent). In the last …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 10:02
We forgot some Chipzilla blunders…

Letter ...and not just in 1999

A reader has pointed out that we missed quite a few other things that Intel got wrong in 1999. And he adds that there are other factors, earlier in the decade, which ought to be taken into account when judging the company's performance. The author, who wishes to remain sub rosa, said: "It's not too late to insert a comment about …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 10:15
Intel plays hard ball with sports jocks' Knicks

Puts money where its mouth is, into Choice Seats

Chip giant Intel has signed a deal with, and put money into, a technology called Choice Seat, owned by CSI. Described as "an interactive experience for sports fans", Choice Seat lets sport jocks make games more interesting when they are dull by fiddling with a 10-inch touch screen built into other fans' seats, during a game. The …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 10:35
Jobs slashed at Kalamazoo

Cost cutting exercise takes toll on head count

Kalamazoo is to slash up to 99 jobs as part of a £2 million cost cutting scheme. The reseller said the decision, part of the ongoing Advantage 2000 review started by CEO Malcolm Roberts after his appointment last June, would include a one-off charge of £700,000. The reorganisation will run to the end of the company's financial …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 11:02
IBM and Olympus demo wearable PC – again

Showing them's easier than building and selling them, apparently...

IBM and the Japanese camera manufacturer Olympus have produced a prototype of a wearable PC weighing 14.3oz (370g). IBM also demonstrated another prototype in Tokyo in September last year which weighed a little less. It's been such a long time coming that there is a real danger that it will be distinctly out of fashion by the …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 11:48
CHS hit by foreclosure action

Failed buyout leads to claim for $42m

SiS International Holdings was braying for CHS Electronics' blood this week over claims that the distributor owed over $42 million for a buyout agreement. According to Reuters, the US distribution group said on Monday it had begun foreclosure proceedings against CHS. In February 1998, CHS had agreed to buy 80 per cent of SiS' …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 12:32
AMD: Pete Sherriff a very young man – official

The hell he is

The Sherriff may be an enigma wrapped in a mystery to some folks, but was flattered to find that delegates at the AMD investor conference (no telephone booth jokes please --Ed) apparently felt strongly enough to hold a debate as to his (or her) true identity. Amidst the electronic sackload of emails generated by yesterday's …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 12:57
French implant chips in Parisian trees

Chip off the old block?

A report in today's Daily Mirror claimed that the municipal authorities in Paris are to insert microchips into trees on the capital's boulevards. The aim of the scheme, according to the Mirror, is to warn the authorities when individual trees feel they're about to peg it. And, the tabloid continues, London is thinking of …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 13:35
Storage tech boffins to demo 140GB ‘CD-ROM’

Updated And it's see-through, too

US data storage specialist C3D will today show off a technique for creating a CD-sized disc capable of holding up to 140GB of information. Current CD-ROMs can store 0.65GB of data. Double-sided DVD-ROMs can hold 6GB. C3D's system, dubbed FMD ROM, uses a multi-layer disc containing fluorescent materials as the active optical …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 13:35
eMachines snaps up, buries Free-PC

The free PC vendor cull starts here

Budget-price PC vendor eMachines is to buy up rival supplier Free-PC in a stock swap which signals the end of the great PC giveaway. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the companies said they would not be expanding the customer base of either Free-PC or its free ISP, FreePCNet. That suggests eMachines' doesn't …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 13:50
Egg cracks on security gaffe

Didn't think sending credit card details by plain email was un safe, admits online bank

Egg is to stop sending out credit card details in unsafe e-mails after the online bank finally realised such actions may compromise customers' security. The Prudential-backed online bank also admitted that was described as an "isolated" incident was, in fact, common practise within the company. "We didn't think [sending credit …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 13:58
Global Crossing, Microsoft sign Asian fibre net JV deal

MS takes 3.5 per cent of $4bn operation

Plans for the first Asian broadband seamless network have come nearer to fruition with the signing of a deal announced in September between Global Crossing, Microsoft ($175 million for a 3.5 per cent stake) and Softbank (also $175 million for 3.5 per cent), to create a joint-venture company called Asia Global Crossing. Its East …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 14:08
AMD to launch K6-III/500 in December

It won't be copper, but will coincide with Intel CuMine price cuts

Sources close to AMD have told us that the long-awaited K6-III/500 is now timed to hit the streets, in volume, on the 12th of December. That is the date that Intel has confirmed it will introduce its first price drops on its Coppermine processors, launched on the 25th of October last. The move is timed by AMD to coincide with …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 15:36
Oftel green lights telco access to BT's local loop

Another BT monopoly ended -- or will be by 2001

Oftel has finally given the green light for telecoms companies to compete with BT and operate broadband services in Britain. The decision is a long-awaited and much-flagged milestone in the deregulation of the British telcoms market and effectively signals the end to BT's monopoly of the local loop -- the short distance that …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 15:39
AMD share price soars, Intel relaxes…

Updated Gateway is a maybe go-go, at the high end

The news that AMD released its 750MHz Athlon processor caused its share price to top $30 in New York yesterday. The same news (probably, or perhaps even possibly), caused Intel's share price to slip around a point from $80 a share to $78 15/16. Now, we understand from sources close to Gateway, that the company might well back …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 15:50
Flame Of The Week Full coverage

intro

In some ways, The Flame Of The Week (FOTW) a misleading title -- as we don't always get around to posting a new flame every seven days. Any delay, and we get accused of losing our nerve. That ain't so: we simply don't get enough interesting flames to merit publication each week. This is not a call for spoof messages. Previous …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 15:52
Dell gets in on the cheap WebPC idea

We wish you a merr-e-Christmas

Dell has joined Compaq and Hewlett-Packard by releasing a cut-down, low cost PC aimed squarely at the Internet user. The WebPC basic model (433MHz Celeron, 15in monitor) will cost $1,000 (£628), with a 466MHz model costing $1,099 (£690) and with a flat-panel screen, $1949 (£1,223). It comes in a range of colours a la iMac and …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 16:44
The legend of Samson and Delilah… sort of

The Modern English translation of Judges 16

1 One day BT went to Ludgate Hill, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The operators of UK were told: "BT is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him." 3 But BT lay there only until …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 16:45
TSMC-Acer to boost output by 40pc

$200m investment to push production in 2000

TSMC-Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp plans to increase production by 40 per cent by the fourth quarter of next year. The Taiwanese company said it aimed to up manufacture of wafers from the current 30,000 to 43,000 per month at its "TA-1" factory. This was based on using 200mm wafers. By product, this can be divided into …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 17:19
HP journeys up the Amazon

Amazon beefs up HP reseller status

Hewlett-Packard today unveiled a deal with Amazon.com that will use the vendor's servers and technology for Amazon's Web infrastructure. As part of the agreement, HP will beef up its range of products sold through Amazon's consumer electronics store. The Seattle-based etailer will also start sourcing products directly from HP. …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 17:24
Cybersquatting gets the thumbs up

We've decided it's actually a marvellous idea: power to the people

The case for cybersquatting has been strengthened further with the arrival of a satirical US site on George W Bush's presidential campaign. The site (which is really quite funny) contrasts Bush's pledges with his actual behaviour and stated views prior to the campaign. If ever there was democracy in action, this is it. While …

Business 30 Nov 1999, 17:30