7th December 1999 Archive

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Ciscom escapes ilion legal action

Distie's new owner passes peace pipe

ilion has pulled out of suing reseller Ciscom, the distributor's parent company, Landis, has said. The networking distributor, which bought ilion earlier this year, said in a statement issued yesterday: "Following the due diligence carried out in relation to the acquisition, and reviewing the evidence submitted by ilion of mis- …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 07:15
GreatXscape intros two hour cut-off

Another free access ISP moves to curb abuse of the system

Mancunian ISP GreatXscape is in a tizz after being involved in yet another U-turn, sparking concerns that it is making up policy on the hoof. After assuring PC Format last week that it had no intention of introducing a two hour cut-off for users of its toll-free dial-up service, it changed its mind faster than an indecisive …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 07:16
Global IT economy threatened by slapdash Taiwanese practices

Future quake could cost Taiwan fabs tens of billions

The next major earthquake to strike Taiwan could cost chip makers "tens of billions of US dollars" and halt production for months if safety standards are not improved, according to a report which will be presented to the island's electronics industry Tuesday. The report, compiled by US-based SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 09:17
Gartner warns of Sun server unreliability

And claims Sun admits quality issues

A damning note from market research company, the Gartner Group, is claiming that Sun Microsystem's Ultra Enterprise servers are unreliable. The note, dated 16 November last, and sent to selected Gartner customers, also claims that Sun has owned up to the problem. The most frequent bitches, according to the document, are …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 10:13
US privacy group sues NSA for Echelon info

Yeah, now we got 'em on the run...

US National Security Agency officials may or may not be shaking in their boots in response to a recent onslaught of public interest in their alleged activities. In past months, the US Congress has cast a jaundiced eye on the Agency and may bring it somewhat to heel in the next session; and the American Civil Liberties Union has …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 10:19
Could Linux IPOs be a better bet than Web ones?

The money flowing into Linux outfits could be more justifiable

With the coming to the market of a number of Linux companies - VA Linux Systems debuts this week - day traders are beginning to realise that Linux IPOs may turn out to be hotter and possibly more reliable than Internet ones. This is good in that venture capitalists and investment bankers could do more for Linux development than …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 10:27
And another online channel matchmaker service hits the streets

This one's called IT-Xchange.com. Soon there'll be more of these services than resellers

A French company today launched a free online search engine for hardware components in the UK. IT-Xchange.com is a virtual meeting place for distributors and resellers, where resellers can source hardware. The Paris-based outfit claims its service will speed up computer hardware buying. By typing in just the product reference …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 10:54
Rambus Ink has brilliant future

Buy now, rake it in later...

Yeah, OK, we know we've had our fun with Rambus Ink and Intel, but, please believe us, this company has a seriously good future and is also seriously undervalued. However, the success that Rambus will rake in is not necessarily pegged to the Great Satan of Chips. Those who have followed Rambus throughout the year will remember …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 11:11
DoJ, states file claims against Microsoft

MS on Trial Claim illegal maintenance of monopoly

The main claim against Microsoft by the DoJ and the plaintiff States in the "Plaintiffs' Joint Proposed Conclusions of Law" is that the company illegally maintained its monopoly. There is every probability that Judge Jackson will agree with this claim. By going for this broad claim, the plaintiffs allow themselves maximum …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 11:19
BT intros unmetered Net access

This time it's for real, says BT -- honest

BT is to introduce flat-fee, unmetered access to the Internet, the giant telco announced today. A spokesman for the company said there were "no strings attached" and that it was a "wonderful offer", but denied it took the decision in the wake of unbearable pressure for reform. According to BT, 24/7 unmetered access would could …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 11:45
3dfx open sources Glide, Voodoo 2 and 3 specs.

Original game-oriented 3D API put out to pasture

3dfx extended its strategy to court the Linux community by releasing its Glide 3D graphics API under an open source licence and detailing its Voodoo 2 and 3 hardware specs. Of course, it's not the blessing that 3dfx is portraying the move. While it's certainly good news for coders keen to use 3dfx-based 3D accelerators on their …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 11:51
Fair Trade investigators raid Apple Japan

Price-fixing allegations under scrutiny

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has begun an investigation into allegations that Apple Japan has been fixing the prices of the Mac makers consumer-oriented iMac desktop and iBook notebook machines. And the FTC kicked off its enquiry by raiding Apple Japan's Tokyo HQ in search of incriminating evidence. Neither the FTC nor …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 12:26
Banks.com auction kicks off with £600K bid

Only 400K before URL hits reserve price

Bidding kicked off yesterday for the first URL to carry a £1 million reserve tag. The banks.com domain name, whose current owner is registered in Luton, is being sold by UK online auction house Names123.com. Today the highest bid still stood way below the reserve price, at £600,000. The offer closes on 1 March 2000. The URL …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 12:39
Still no sign of 08004u Lazarus act

But when it works...

There's still no sign of life at troubled ISP 08004u despite promises that the Dundee-based outfit was set to relaunch its service a week ago. Its Web site doesn't register a pulse and its phone line just runs dead every time it's called. Dundee Trading Standards, which is handling complaints about the service, said officials …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 12:44
BMG to launch MP3 sales site in January

Trial system aimed at Japanese market follows Sony launch this month

The Japanese wing of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) will launch an Internet-based digital music distribution service next January, the company, one of the World's 'Big Five' major record labels, said today. The announcement follows a similar one from Sony, which will launch a e-singles music service in Japan on 22 December. BMG's …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 13:07
Cash Register 1-15 Nov 1999

Daily Net Finance News

15 Nov 1999 Forrester Research has acquired British Internet analyst firm Fletcher Research for an undisclosed sum - although Forrester estimates that it will incur a one-time charge in the fourth quarter ranging from $500,000 to $700,000 for costs related to the transaction. William Reeve and Neil Bradford, co-founders of …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 13:22
Compaq scraps channel-only volume sales policy

Same price through Web or through dealer

Compaq today halted its channel-only policy on selling volume orders in the UK. The vendor is to offer the same price on kit to both resellers and end-users. Customers will view this price on the Compaq.com Website, and either buy direct online, or pay for extra services through a reseller. This means resellers will no longer …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 13:29
Intel doles out Itanium prototypes

Inching towards launch

Intel is doling out the first prototypes of the Itanium 64-bit chip to big system builders, well ahead of next summer's scheduled launch. This should keep the bug-hunters happy. It will also give plenty of application-recompiling time to software developers that wish to take advantage of the 1A64 platform. Developers do have a …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 14:29
Westcoast poaches C2000 sales johnny

Can Cook, Will Cook

Westcoast has poached Computer 2000’s field sales manager. Alan Hunt will join Westcoast in the first week of January as sales director. Hunt left Computer 2000 on Friday after seven and a half years at the distributor. He follows ex-C2000 sales director, Paul Cook, who left the distributor to be Westcoast MD earlier this year. …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 14:32
Fireball lct – world's quietest desktop HDD

Quantum shouts it from the highest hills

Quantum has hauled in a "renowned independent acoustical consulting firm" to confirm that it has the world's quietest desktop hard drive in the form of the Fireball lct. The vendor bases its claims on sound benchmarking tests conducted by Charles M Salter Associates (CSA) of San Francisco on 5400rpm drives from Quantum, Fujitsu …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 15:11
Samsung to double Rambus production

Demand high and rising despite Chipzilla's i820 chipset blunder

Samsung has pledged to double its Rambus output or die in the attempt. Actually, the last part isn't true, but such was the tenor of the company's press conference on the matter we did wonder quite how far it would go. The Korean giant is currently pumping out around one million 128/144Mb Rambus chips each month, having resumed …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 15:27
Smartphones, Palms to dominate mobile market

WAP, CDMA will to become de facto standards, report reckons

Smart phone manufacturers and Palm Computing are the companies to watch next year, according to Datacomm Research's latest study of the mobile market, Wireless Web Wonders: Opportunities for Smart Phones and PDAs. The market research company predicts that in less than five years, 90 per cent of all mobile phone sales will be …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 15:48
AOL salutes BT flat rate – sort of

Still double US costs, ISP uncharitably points out

AOL Europe gave a cautious welcome to BT's announcement today that it is introducing flat-rate tariffs to the net, but warned that the proposed cost is still too high. It claimed today's offer of £34.99 for 24/7 unmetered access was almost double the cost of Internet telephone access in the US. "While it is gratifying to see …

Business 7 Dec 1999, 16:55