12th January 2000 Archive

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BT bids $2.46bn for Esat

Board recommends acceptance

BT is acquiring Esat Telecom Group, Ireland's second-largest telecom company for $2.46 billion, in cash, following a bidding war against a hostile bid from the Norwegian Telenor, and outbidding the company by 18 per cent. Esat and Telenor both own 49.5 per cent of Esat Digifone, which is thought to be the main prize for BT. The …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 09:01
IBM rolls out unified Linux strategy

Turns multiple initiatives into company-wide embrace

IBM is increasing its bet on Linux by adopting software's counter-culture as a primary operating system for the Internet. This turns a series of initiatives within IBM into a strategic, company-wide embrace. The reason appears to be to make IBM big iron more attractive for running networks, and to provide some tougher …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 09:03
Novell buys ASP to bolster Web directory efforts

There really is a consumer strategy forming here, friends...

Novell has plugged a hole in its plans to take its directory services onto the Internet by acquiring JustOn, a provider of Internet hosted file sharing and publishing services. The company's services are to be integrated with Novell Directory Services (NDS) and In-theNet Services products, including caching, directory, identity …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 11:57
MS Mac chief moves to head up mobile device development

Ten year trusty given Pocket PCs, Handhelds and mobile phones to play with

When Microsoft was saying how great it was to be developing Office for Mac OS X last week, the mouthpiece from the Mac Business Unit was, we noted, "acting." Now all becomes clear - former general manager of the unit Ben Waldman has now popped up as VP of the Microsoft Mobile Devices Division. The what? Well, it seems this …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 12:02
TFT shortages to end this year

Good news on prices as production lines ramp up

Prices of TFT screens are expected to fall as last year's supply problems come to an end. Shortages will still exist in the notebook PC market but this is unlikely to be major problem during Q1 due to seasonal demand patterns. In Q4 last year, global production was up 41 per cent to 6.46 million LCD-TFT sheets. New mass …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 13:04
Red Hat powers new Millennium school

No software piracy, here

Here's a way to stamp out rampant software piracy in British schools -- move over to Linux. It's easier, of course, when you're opening up on a greenfield site, like Red Hat Linux adopter Parrs Wood High School, the first school in Britain to be opened in the 21st Century. Based in Manchester, Parrs Wood is also the first school …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 13:18
Big Blue shows off skinny server

Less than two inches thick

IBM today unveiled the eighth addition to its Netfinity server range, aimed at the ISP and ASP markets. The UK can expect to see first shipments of the Netfinity 4000R in March, along with the rest of the EMEA region. Big Blue claims the server is the thinnest Intel-based server on offer from a major vendor. It is a mere 1.75in …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 13:51
Apple Palm-based PDA to be closely tied to MacOS X

Transfer data, files between Mac and Palm by drag and drop

Support for Apple's upcoming Palm-based PDA, samples of which are now coming off the production line, is to be build into MacOS X, according to company sources cited by MacOS Rumors. That would suggest the device will be announced sometime before the next-generation OS' ship date of next summer, probably in limited at next July' …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 14:04
AOL, Time Warner shares down on merger pessimism

Wall Street 'wisdom' seems penny wise and pound foolish

Investors left shares of AOL and Time Warner down sharply at the end of Tuesday's trading, amid suspicions that the high-tech superstar's phenomenal growth will be brought down to something approaching realistic rates as a result of the proposed merger. Thus AOL shares fell by 11 per cent in heavy traffic yesterday, dropping $8. …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 14:37
Profit jumps at Dixons

High street giant fends off pressure from falling margins, Yahoo does well too

Dixons saw almost £3 knocked off its share price today after warnings over falling margins overshadowed rocketing profits. The group posted pre-tax profit of £299.4 million for the six months ended 13 November 1999, against the previous year's £68.9 million. Sales increased 18 per cent to £1.67 billion, with profit - after …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 15:25
Seagate sees $35m loss

But let's face it, it could have been much worse

Increased competition and price slashing have been blamed for a $35 million net loss from Seagate for Q2, the period ending 31 December. The loss includes a restructuring charge of $23 million. As the PC market pushes prices down, so margins get squeezed in the component market. a factor which will affect not just Seagate, but …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 15:54
Caldera IPO filing reveals plans and shareholders

And Noorda's sitting on a tidy slice...

Caldera Systems' draft IPO filed at the SEC on Monday shows that the company plans to raise a maximum of $57.5 million and will trade under the ticker symbol CALD, but it will be some time before the issue is priced. The statement shows the company has never made a profit, and had net losses of $7.9 million on revenue of $1.06 …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 16:11
Evesham bundles free Net access with PCs

No subs, no call charges offer in conjunction with CallNet

Evesham Micros is launching a range of PCs offering Internet use free of monthly fees or call charges. The UK company has got into bed with CallNet0800 and F1 Racing Telecom to offer a range of three PCs starting from around £700. CallNet0800 is the toll-free ISP which has been inundated by UK users hungry to register for the …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 17:17
Janet Reno proposes online police squad

FIDNET by another name, we reckon

An online network of law-enforcement agents should be created and empowered to operate across jurisdictional lines with a minimum of red tape, US Attorney General Janet Reno announced yesterday. "There is a dark side of hacking, crashing networks and viruses that we absolutely must address," Reno told the National Association …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 17:39
Xerox patent action over Palm Pilot casts cloud on IPO

Patent Office interlude now over, apparently

A legal action over Palm's alleged violation of a Xerox patent for handwriting input technology is heading back to court, after a delay caused by a re-examination of the patent by the US Patents and Trademark Office at the request of 3Com, which now owns Palm. A recent 10Q filed with the SEC by 3Com has revealed that the PTO had …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 18:28
DoJ will demand breakup of Microsoft – report

Updated But maybe Microsoft will agree...

The Department of Justice has decided to push for the breakup of Microsoft, according to a report in today's edition of USA Today. According to the paper, which cites "sources," this represents a consensus view between the DoJ itself and the group of US states which is its partner in the antitrust action. The report was however …

Business 12 Jan 2000, 18:55