1st February 2000 Archive

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Trucker wins Intel's golden Bunny Suit

Runners and riders in

If only some of our readers had got the first four questions right, they would have been well in with a sporting chance of winning the Bunny Suit. (See Win a genuine full-size Intel Bunny Suit). While many were very creative with the tie breaker, quite a few got the first four questions wrong. The answers to the first four …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 09:47
LineOne users to get free phone calls

Deal with Quip offers 16 hours per month free call time

British OSP, LineOne, has teamed up with discount telco Quip to offer toll-free access to the Net for its 700,000 users. The catch is that LineOne users have to sign-up for Quip and use its service to get free of-peak calls to the Net. Users who spend £5 a month with Quip -- which offers 20 per cent discount on national and long …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 10:36
Channel Flannel

Our new channel news round-up

Welcome to Channel Flannel, The Register's round-up of some of the week's movements in the channel. 1 Feb 2000 Hypertec has trashed prices on all memory products by 20 per cent due to falling DRAM prices. The Berkshire-based vendor said it anticipated the first quarter of 2000 to be a busy trading period for memory. Avnet ACC …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 10:40
Intel price drops no trickle treat

Prices even rising because of shortages

Evidence is emerging that the price cuts Intel has made on its microprocessors in the month of February are not percolating through to consumers as quickly as normal. Yesterday we reported that there is a big shortage of boxed Intel Coppermine units in the channel, and one dealer said that the price had actually risen over the …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 11:21
$3m price tag for loans domain

How much for www.payuporelse.com?

Web address, Loans.com, was sold for $3 million last week following an auction by brokers GreatDomains.com. Despite forking out a fortune for the virtual real estate, it seems the new owners are a little publicity shy, preferring instead to hide behind the warm comfort of anonymity. Web watchers keen to find out the identity of …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 12:01
Industry's biggest trade body lines up against MS

MS on Trial There goes the rent cheque from Redmond...

Microsoft objections have been rolled over by the Software and Information Industries Association, which last week voted to file an amicus curiae brief on the side of the DoJ. Microsoft is the largest contributor to the Association, which itself is the computer industry's largest trade body. Somewhat considerably larger than the …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 12:20
Novell boss aims high for NDS, downplays Active Directory

A mere tactic, he sniffs, and salivates over telecoms revenues

Novell is currently locked in a messy custard-pie fight with Microsoft over the relative capabilities of Win2k and NetWare/NDS, but yesterday CEO Eric Schmidt delivered a clear signal that Novell intends to move the competition sideways, preferably over the body of Active Directory. Novell has been pitching Novell Directory …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 12:24
France Telecom to deploy Palm-based wireless services

Three-cornered deal puts IBM in with servers and infrastructure

France Telecom has opted for a combination of Palm Computing client and IBM back-end system for a wireless data system for businesses to be launched in the second half of the year. The move will provides a boost to the Palm-IBM axis as a possible 'third force' in wireless data. IBM itself licenses the Palm Pilot, and favours it …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 12:27
Online Tory sleaze makes way for cash-for-questions

Mighty political force falls through holes in the Net

The Conservative Party's attempt to get groovy with the Net by offering users the chance to sign up for its own ISP has come in for further ridicule. Some prankster has created a site devoted to "cash for questions"* using the free Web space available on Tory.org. The site gives users the opportunity state which MP they want to …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 13:20
Willamette coming real soon now

Look, just trust us on this, will ya?

The headless chicken scenario at Intel goes from strength to strength. As OEMs queue up to build Athlon-based systems, the once-almighty Chip behemoth is plumbing new depths in the panic department. Not content with being unable to supply enough Coppermine Pentium III chips, Athlon's performance is forcing Intel to torture the …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 13:34
Intel confirms huge Pentium III chip shortage

What Intel is telling the channel - official

The following letter from Intel to its channel partners is self explanatory. It includes information about up and coming price cuts, the big shortage of Pentium IIIs in February, the move to FC-PGA and the shipping of Intel Pentium IIs to the channel. "January 18, 2000 "This is a notice to inform you of the current …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 14:20
Intel 933MHz Pentium III slated for May

Not quite a gig but pretty close

Sources close to Intel's plans say that it has now included a 933MHz Pentium III processor on its roadmap. This is an iteration of the 133MHz bus speed, with a multiplier of seven. The 933MHz part is likely to be the last of the Pentium III Coppermine series, with Intel, on its official roadmap at least, scheduled to introduce …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 15:03
Sony goes direct in Japan with online Vaio store

Brings CE giant one step closer to 'online department store' goal

Sony started sell direct in its homeland today through its new e-commerce business. The electronics giant said it was aiming for sales from Sony Style.com Japan to hit Y10 billion ($93.1 million) in its first fiscal year. The Web site will initially sell consumer electronics and related services such as the company's Vaio …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 15:11
UK's worst serial killer was ‘computer bore’

Dr Harold Shipman's geekish devotion to technology was his downfall

The British doctor convicted yesterday of murdering 15 patients came unstuck via his meticulously kept computer records. Harold Shipman was a "disciple of computer records" from the moment he became a GP in 1974, today's Times reported. He prided himself on logging patients' files on his trusty PC using MicroDoc software, a …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 15:13
Vodafone and Casio promise colour, video-enabled mobile PDA

Deeply happening wireless behemoth scales new hypes

Vodafone's frenetic wireless Web deal-making has spilled over into Space Cadet territory with the announcement of a deal with Casio to produce a 'do everything' range of multimedia wireless palmtops. Until quite recently Vodafone had seemed to be snoozing gently when it came to wireless Internet, but this year the company has …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 15:13
Memory makers start to suffer from Intel chip drought

February will be flat as a pancake

The first repercussions of a shortage of Pentium III processors has already begun to make its mark in memory markets. One major UK memory supplier said that is already seeing a knock on effect of the chip shortage on prices. He said: "Demand is already fairly flat, and I don't think Chinese New Year is going to do anything to …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 16:58
Unsealed Caldera files detail MS evidence shredding claims

MS on Trial It's all over, but here comes the fallout

Evidence given under oath that Microsoft deliberately destroyed evidence that could be used in pending or forthcoming antitrust actions has finally come to light. Although its existence had been generally known, Microsoft has succeeded keeping it secret until now. But following an application by the Salt Lake Tribune, the San …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 17:07
UK retailer threatens music biz with payment freeze

Our Price demands online stores shouldn't get best deals -- they're not, says music industry

UK music retail chain Virgin Our Price has said it will freeze payments owed to record companies over allegations that its online music rivals are getting preferential treatment. Richard Branson's High Street giant met with record companies yesterday to say it was holding off on bills owing to distributors until it got better …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 17:13
Microsoft plans to Windows You in Y2K

Barking-mad marketing plan suggests no further Windows revs until 3000 AD

The final (maybe, we reckon) Microsoft retread of the old Dos-Windows 9x code will ship this year under the tag Windows Millennium Edition, according to the usually reliable Paul Thurrott. We say usually reliable because, love him as we do, we can't help recalling he was assuring the world earlier this month that the blessed …

Business 1 Feb 2000, 20:18