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10th December 1999 Archive

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  • Big Q found in Small Magellanic Cloud

    They bought The Reg, now God's on their side

    One of our regular readers has pointed out that Compaq's reach is far wider than anyone first thought. As evidence that The Big Q can buy whoever they like, not just for a week, like The Register, but, for practical purposes, eternity, he points to this picture which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mike Capellas and the …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 09:43

  • Sun hits back at Gartner report

    Problems completely taken out of context

    A Gartner note warning of quality control problems with CPUs in high-end servers has been rubbished by Sun Microsystems. Ian Meakin, director of Sun's data centre operations in the UK, said that the note Gartner sent on the 16 November, describing quality control problems with 400MHz, 4MB CPUs, said that the information was …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 10:43

  • Sony to become 'web department store'

    Getting into e-banking too

    More flesh was added yesterday to the bones of Sony's scheme to dominate the digital world, when company president Nobuyuki Idei announced plans to set up an Internet-based bank, the first stage in Sony's plan to become a "web department store". Watch out, Amazon et al. "We are not simply trying to provide distribution networks …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 11:05

  • Quebec menaces Sony and Nintendo over bad languages

    If it ain't in French, it ain't legal, mes amis...

    The Canadian province of Quebec is insisting that commercial Web sites aimed at people living there must be in French, although English is also allowed. The latest move by Quebec language minister Louise Beaudoin is give Nintendo and Sony until New Year's Eve to produce a French language version of their Web site, or be fined. …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 11:12

  • Dell sells 600MHz PIII system for $103,324

    A pretty healthy margin, innit?

    Direct PC vendor Dell was offering a bargain of sorts on its Web site yesterday. For a mere $103,324, you could pick up a Dell Precision workstation 210. The machine came with a 600MHz Pentium III chip, 128MB of memory, a Diamond Viper V770D video card with 32MB graphics memory, a 27GB Hard Drive, Windows NT 4.0 (but no upgrade …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 11:22

  • Intel making 800MHz-capable Pentium IIIs

    Has it shipped or hasn't it? Both, says confused Chipzilla techie

    Intel is already making Pentium III processors capable of operation at over 800MHz, it emerged yesterday. Speaking at the International Electron Devices conference, Chipzilla engineers described the modification the company has made to its 0.18 micron CMOS process. Afterwards, Tahir Ghani, an Intel senior engineer, said the …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 12:03

  • IPO makes VA Linux instant $10bn company

    But one can't help starting to wonder why...

    Yesterday's VA IPO turned into the biggest Linux hit yet, with the company's stock at one point zooming 800 per cent over the debut price of $30 a share. And that $30 had been a revision of a revision - VA Linux Systems' offer price had already been yanked up a couple of times in anticipation of greater demand than, er, …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 12:18

  • Site News Register Sherlock plug-in updated

    Download your MacOS enhancer now

    Version 1.0.2 of The Register's Sherlock plug-in is now available. Sherlock's auto-update still appears to damage the download file, so we suggest you visit our main Sherlock page here to download the update. ®

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:04

  • Argos shuts website in run-up to Xmas

    From ho, ho, ho to no, no, no

    Argos has shut its website because it is snowed under with a backlog of orders. The leading catalogue-based British retailer pulled its site on Wednesday afternoon and won't open up again until Monday. Unfortunately, that only leaves three shopping days before the cut-off for guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas. A …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:35

  • Second free call trial kicks off at X-Stream

    First come, first served though -- so don't expect miracles

    The X-Stream Network launched another toll-free Internet access trial yesterday although it warned users that they could experience problems with the service if demand outstrips capacity. Greg Sukornyk, chief executive of X-Stream, refused to say how many people the service would be able to handle. Instead, he said it would be …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:37

  • Eudora Pro for free – but with built-in adverts

    Sit still too long in this business and somebody will sell space on you...

    Qualcomm is offering to upgrade the 16 million users of its Eudora Light email packages to a new, full-featured "Pro" version - in exchange for their agreeing to view a series of advertisements, and use the package in "sponsored mode." This is to be one of three options available to users of the new converged Eudora, which is …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:41

  • KPN beats France Telecom to E-Plus Mobilfunk

    Another episode in the everyday tale of Euro wireless wars...

    KPN Royal Dutch Telecom announced this morning that for 18.7 billion Euro it had acquired 77.5 per cent of E-Plus Mobilfunk, now Germany's largest mobile telephone operator, while BellSouth, one of the founding shareholders of E-Plus, keeps the remaining 22.5 per cent. This is a considerable blow to France Telecom, which had …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:48

  • Chip sales hit four-year high

    Growth spurred on by mobile devices and the Net

    Chip sales hit a record $13.4 billion last month, spurred on by demand for mobile phones and the Internet. Worldwide sales rocketed 23 per cent on the previous October, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported. This broke the previous record of $13.2 billion, set in November 1995, and represented a 5.6 per cent …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 13:54

  • Does MS care about WinCE, or is the browser the platform?

    If it's the mobile market, we're OS-agnostic, apparently...

    The various Microsoft and Ericsson participants in the announcement of this week's mobile market alliance were at some pains - Ericsson reps in particular - to point out that it did not cover Windows CE, and did not affect Ericsson's plans for Symbian. Habitual Microsoft watchers however noted MS president Steve Ballmer's …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 15:46

  • UK PC makers throw weight behind Athlon 750

    Gamers rushing to buy PCs with latest AMD chip

    Leeds-based PC builder Panrix has added its name to the roll call of system builders launching machines with AMD's Athlon 750MHz chip. Panrix is offering two machines - the Magnum 750, with 128MB memory, 13.5GB hard drive, AGP Creative GeForce Annihilator 32MB graphics card, 56.6 modem, 17 inch screen and Windows 98 at £1,685 …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 16:31

  • Coppermine gets Voodoo curse

    Vevers appear on die

    Gateway has warned customers using systems which include a Coppermine processor and Voodoo3 of problems with some games. According to a Gateway memo, the problem will be fixed in around two week's time, when new drivers will become available. The games affected are Drakan, Descent 3, Close Combat Russia Front 3.0, Midtown …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 17:02

  • BBC Watchdog takes machete to Jungle

    Dozens of complaints trickle in

    Jungle.com received a mauling last night on prime time UK television and in front of millions of people following complaints that the service was simply not up to scratch. Ann Robinson, the BBC's pack leader on its consumers affairs programme, Watchdog, tore into CEO Steve Bennett after she said the programme had received …

    Business 10 Dec 1999, 17:42