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9th December 1999 Archive

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  • iBook tops US October sales charts

    But iMac crowded out by sub-$600 Wintel boxes

    Apple's multi-hued iBook continues to dominate the US retail, online and mail-order sales charts, according to PC Data figures for October. However, the latest version of the iMac, launched alongside the iBook, failed to make the top five desktop PC list, ousted by computers much cheaper than the Apple machine. The blueberry- …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 02:44

  • How Intel tried to make distie hire a brickie

    Only accredited cowboys may apply

    This is a fun one, comes from a very reliable source, and happened a few years back. An exec at a newly set up components distributor, whose name will remain secret, was negotiating with Intel to supply some of its products. Negotiations between Intel and the start-up went extraordinarily well, right up until the very last …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 08:47

  • Intel fine tweaks Pentium III prices

    But Chipzilla will use a wrench on January 23

    Sources close to Intel's plans have now provided us with details of the price adjustments the company will make on its Pentium IIIs on the 12th of December. And it's clearly a fine tuning exercise, as we already suspected, in preparation for the big bang that will happen on the 23rd of January 2000. Many prices on Pentium III …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 09:00

  • HP forced to recall fibre channel adaptors

    Updated It's not just Sun that's got bovver from customers

    A glitch in HP's fibre channel adaptors has forced the company to do a world wide recall of the parts, but now the problem is apparently fixed. A representative from HP UK confirmed that there had been a problem with fibre channel adaptors using the GLM laser component. But, he said, the problem has now been fixed. "We've fixed …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 09:11

  • Rambus Ink confirms big game deal

    Buy When we say buy, the share price falls...

    One or two of our long-time readers were rather surprised when we ran a story a couple of days back suggesting that Rambus Ink, maker of fast memory, was undervalued. We said that the introduction of the Sony PlayStation II was sure to give the company a fillip, regardless of whether or not it was worth stuffing RIMMs into Intel …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 09:33

  • Police plot mass dawn raid in child porn clamp-down

    Twenty forces involved

    Police have arrested 11 men today in connection with Internet kiddie porn as part of country-wide raid on 27 addresses. Computer equipment and CD-ROMs were confiscated as part of Operation Queensland. The arrests targeted those people who possess and distribute indecent images of children. Those arrested are not thought to be …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 12:04

  • Hypochondriacs flock to NHS health site

    18-month waiting list... (not really)

    Fears that Britain is becoming a nation of hypochondriacs increased yesterday after the Government revealed that one and a half million people visited a new health site on its first day of operation. The site is an extension of a 24-hour telephone helpline that enables people to get in touch with health professionals without …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 12:08

  • Dell last domino to fall to AMD Athlon?

    The rumours are running the rounds

    If Dell ever starts using the AMD Athlon in its machines, then that would be a mighty blow for Intel. There are rumours spreading like wildfire through the UK industry that Dell is just about to take such a step, which would really be an unprecedented move for the direct vendor, acting, as it does, like an Intel distributor. …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:04

  • Sun, Microsoft and the standards wars

    Sun's Java move is just the latest in a long sequence of twists and turns

    Sun pulled Java out of the ECMA standardisation process earlier this week, citing its concern that compatibility could otherwise suffer. But there are many subtle and not-so-subtle issues underlying the decision. Sun thinks that ECMA, the Geneva-based European Association for Standardising Information and Communication Systems ( …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:18

  • Apple Japan Fair Trade probe – details emerge

    It's definitely a price-fixing charge

    Apple Japan's suspected violation of Section 19, Articles 12 and 13 of the Japanese Anti-monopoly Law provoked this week's raid by on the Mac maker's Tokyo HQ, other Apple sites and wholesale partners by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (FTC), it emerged this morning. As anticipated, the FTC's allegations centre on retail …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:21

  • Toshiba to release MP3 player on Xmas Day

    DiGo only to be sold via Net

    Toshiba will ship its diGo MM300 portable digital music player on Christmas Day when it will become the company's first product to be sold only via the Internet. The Y29,800 ($290) diGo measures 54mm x 86mm x 10mm and weighs 52g, including the battery. It's compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs, suggesting it hooks up to a …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:37

  • E&Y touts for Billion pound incubatees

    Wanted: exceptional candidates with very refined products

    Soon there are going to be more business incubator companies than there are start-ups. Ernst & Young, the top five accountancy firms and the latest to set out its business incubator stall, says it will work only with companies "capable of producing producing billion-pound entities based on unique business models". Well that …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:49

  • Toshiba's Chinese plans put pressure on Taiwan firms

    Island government could ease local restrictions

    Toshiba's plan to manufacture notebook PCs in China will increase pressure on the government to let Taiwan's manufacturers follow suit, say industry observers. Foreign companies, such as Toshiba, order billions of dollars worth of notebook PCs from Taiwanese manufacturers every year. The Japanese company's new factory, near …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:50

  • Taiwan chip power house doubles sales

    Semi industry bouncing back on island

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Taiwan's largest chip maker, has doubled its monthly sales over the past year. The company's record November sales figures, up 98.5 percent to NT$7.85 billion, are evidence of a dramatic turnaround in the industry, from slump last year to boom today. TSMC and its main competitor, …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 13:54

  • Music biz sues Napster

    MP3 sharing software encourages piracy, industry body alleges

    The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has gone ahead and filed its long-awaited contributory copyright infringement lawsuit against Napster. Napster produces software (also called Napster) that essentially combines an MP3 music player with Web search, FTP and chat facilities. The company bills the product as a new …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 14:14

  • Oh no! It's Intel FDIV time again!

    Floating point errors back from the dead to haunt Chipzilla

    As if it weren't enough that you can't buy Coppermine Pentium IIIs for love nor money, the latest list of erratanotbugs on the Intel Web site (over 60 and counting) includes one guaranteed to send a shiver down the spines of everyone at Satan Clara: "E56. It is possible that a negative sign bit may be incorrectly applied to the …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 14:20

  • Alta Vista launches Euro search engines

    Germany, Sweden and Britain

    Alta Vista has launched three localised services for Britain, Germany and Sweden. Here are the URLs: www.altavista.co.uk www.altavista.de www.altavista.se Er, that's it. ®

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 14:27

  • Azlan plays e-commerce card

    Expects resellers to talk turkey

    Networking distributor Azlan is to offer free delivery on orders placed online when it launches its e-commerce Web site next week. Azlan.com will open its virtual doors to the UK on 14 December, and the service will be rolled out in the remaining 12 European countries the company operates in by 2001. The site will offer real- …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 14:45

  • MemCorp preps MP3-Go launch, raises new money

    Internet appliances are its new bag

    Memory Corporation is raising $10.25 million (before expenses) to help fund the transition from DRAM-only business into Internet appliances developer. The EASDAQ-quoted company is getting the money through a placing of 450,000 Global Depository Receipts, representing 11.25 million ordinary shares, at $22.50 each. It has …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 14:54

  • Child sex Disney exec ‘admitted offence’

    says Infoseek CEO, in evidence

    The jury in a US paedophile sex trial has heard how a former Infoseek executive flew to Los Angeles on business before dashing off to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Patrick Naughton, 34, was a top executive at Infoseek and the man in charge of Disney's websites before he was sacked over the affair. He was …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 15:19

  • Beer Barter System overcomes Y2K drought

    Two kegs are not enough

    Three-quarters of beer drinkers have taken steps to prepare themselves against the potential negative effects of the millennium bug on beer. According to a global survey conducted by beer.com, almost half of those surveyed said they would need more than two kegs of beer on hand in the event of Y2K bedlam. One in five has already …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 15:59

  • Govt gives voice to Net for the blind

    ...and ups apparatchik head count with New Media Team

    The British Government has introduced a reel of red tape to improve the effectiveness of its Web sites. Although the new guidelines will be welcomed by some, others will scoff at that the new media measures, saying that the Government is simply playing catch-up. The new Web site policy will also open up the Internet to the …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 16:45

  • QXL buys Norwegian auction site

    £13.2m -- going, going, gone

    Auction-house QXL.com plc has acquired Norway's largest online auction site, DinSide Auksjon, for £13.2 million. The deal, covered by the issue of 1,296,154 QXL shares, strengthens the auctioneer's presence in Europe. Jim Rose, CEO of QXL.com, said: "This acquisition will enable QXL.com to quickly gain a strong position in …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 16:50

  • Microsoft names and shames Net pirates

    Counterfeiters scuppered

    Microsoft is suing alleged software pirates across six US states for selling illegal goods via the Internet. According to Microsoft, three of the defendants were flogging fake software through online auction sites, and at least two relied on spamming via email. All used the Inernet as their primary forum for distributing the …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 16:53

  • VA Linux Systems nets $132m in first hours of trading

    Updated Linux stocks on the up

    Linux-based hardware vendor VA Linux Systems launched its IPO today - making itself $132 million in the process, with shares originally mooted to fetch $11-13 going for round $30. Trading in VA's 4.4 million shares continues, but with almost every other major Linux stock rising through the day, VA's share price is unlikely to …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 16:54

  • November round up: DRAM prices on the slide

    No pick up expected until January

    DRAM memory prices slid by around 15 per cent on the spot market in November. According to memory manufacturer and distributor DMC, the price of a 64MB DIMM (PC-100 8x8) on 1 November was £52.53. By the end of the month, this price was down to £42.43. Andrew MacKenzie, VP of DMC Europe, said he expected this steady decrease to …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 17:05

  • Be to bundle Opera Web browser

    Software coming to BeOS and Stinger info appliance 'BeOS Lite'

    Be has licensed the Opera Web browser and plans to include the software with both the BeOS and its upcoming Stinger 'BeOS Lite' for information appliances. BeOS already has a built-in browser, but it's one that hasn't fully been kept up-to-date with the latest developments in HTML. Opera brings to the alternative OS a modern Web …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 17:31

  • Computers are ‘better than sex and chips’

    Microsoft survey confirms Brits lousy lay stereotype

    Brits prefer using their PCs to having sex or a bag of chips. According to research by Microsoft, a quarter of Britons would rather be using their computer than having sex. And one in five rated silicon chips above the potato variety -- that's 'french fries' to our US readers. But our technical prowess apparently does not fall …

    Business 9 Dec 1999, 17:34