10th February 2000 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
-
Taiwanese TFT makers form industry body
And prices keep on falling in Japan
Taiwan's TFT-LCD makers are coming together in a spirit of cooperation with the formation of the TFT-LCD Association (TTLA). Due to be launched on 18 February, the TTLA says it hopes to boost members' chances of moving quickly to exploit new market opportunities. The TFT-LCD sector is seen by some as the Holy Grail of the post- …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 09:52
-
The Streets Online are paved with gold
Company rises without trace to bag £150m IPO
Amazon a run for its money. This one, Streets Online, an entertainment specialist, has secured backing from BskyB, which is paying £6 million for a 14 per cent stake. The money will come in handy in the run up to a £150 million IPO (planned for the first half of the year, the FT says). Big bucks are required to fund Streets …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 09:52
-
Linux server sales surge as NT treads water
Into second place, and closing?
Linux is now second only to NT in server market unit sales, according to IDC. The open source OS accounted for 25 per cent of all shipments in 1999, zooming up from 16 per cent the previous year and hopping past Unix and NetWare on the way. NT's share meanwhile was static at 38 per cent, while Unix and NetWare both fell away. …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 11:09
-
Amstrad doubles profit
Cash up, stock levels down -- trebles all round
UK home electronics and computing stalwart Amstrad has doubled its pre-tax profit during the six months ended 31 December. Sales for the period were up from the previous year's £45.5 million to stand at £60.8 million. The manufacturer recorded a pre-tax profit of £8.2 million -- up from £4.1 million for the last six months of …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 11:16
-
MS pushes developers to switch from NT to Win2k
And doesn't seem to want them to work with Millennium at all. Weird.
Microsoft is pushing for an early demise for NT 4.0, and a big switchover to Win2k. We all knew this already, of course, but a report from Paul Thurrott of WinInfo identifies another area where Microsoft is executing the big heave - the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). MSDN Professional and Universal level subscribers receive …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 11:48
-
Did the CIA launch DoS attacks against ZDNet?
You want conspiracy theories, we got 'em
Impish Net users have caused havoc again in the US after launching an attack on ETrade and ZDNet. This latest example of mischief-making comes hot on the heals of high profile acts of cyber-vandalism earlier this week against Amazon.com, eBay, Buy.com and CNN. So who's behind it? One report said that paranoid Web watchers blame …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 11:58
-
Willamette it or won't it?
Register staffers in a quandary
Intel's new wonder chip, codenamed Willamette, is, according to official leaks from Chipzilla central, due for launch in October. Slightly less official, but usually reliable, sources close to the chip behemoth tell us that Willamette is due to start sampling in July. This would be about right for a sampling date for an October …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 12:22
-
DRAM industry sits on massive overstocks
Inventory clear-out sees prices fall
ICIS-LOR's latest DRAM market survey makes gloomy reading for memory makers, with prices falling in all three major markets. And there could be more doom and gloom to come: according to "industry watchers" quoted by Biztech Asia, major memory makers still have to shift 20-30 million excess units, on top of the usual stock levels …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:02
-
S3 and Nvidia kiss and make up
Peace in our time
S3 and Nvidia are friends again, after dumping their patent suits against each other, and agreeing to cross-license each other's technology. With 3dfx stumbling recently, it makes sound commercial sense for the two companies to concentrate their fire on their weakened rival, as opposed to each other. Nvidia and S3 have signed a …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:13
-
Iridium to receive $75m from Teledesic's McCaw
Rescue cash injection three times anticipated investment
Teledesic boss Craig McCaw's plan to pump rescue money into ailing cellphone-by-satellite operation Iridium is to go ahead. Earlier this week, it emerged that just such an investment, to the tune of at least $20 million, would be made by a McCaw-led group of investors. It now appears that McCaw and co. will give Iridium $74.6 …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:17
-
Integrator Forum gears up for 2000
Get your sun cream out, we're off to Monte Carlo
System builders attending this year's Integrator Forum will get more of a chance to air their views than at the previous two events, according to the show's MD, Dimitri Granovsky. Speaking to The Register, Granovsky said he had made a point of listening to what delegates had to say after last year's show and making adjustments …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:22
-
Intel pledges 800MHz Itanium launch speed
So has it bypassed Merced with McKinley?
Intel said yesterday that its 64-bit Itanium processor will ship at 800MHz around the middle of the year. Last month, reliable sources told The Register that the desire to get Itanium out at 1GHz might well persuade Intel to skip Merced and go straight to McKinley. Certainly Merced seems to have been beset with problems, with …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:46
-
E-envoy pledges to improved wired gov't
Well, that's a relief -- but haven't we heard it all before?
The government's wired wizard announced plans earlier this week to drag Whitehall into the digital age. Speaking at a seminar on government on the Web, e-envoy Alex Allan spoke of how big improvements could be made to the quality and availability of services, together with significant savings. He explained how he hoped to …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 13:48
-
EU MS probe focuses on directories, tying, e-commerce
Analysis Might the Commission find MS' stated strategy is illegal? Whoops...
More details are beginning to emerge about the European Commission's shock announcement of an antitrust investigation into Microsoft. The Commission has confirmed that there are several Microsoft-related subjects pending in addition to the one referred to yesterday. It also appears that, although the current investigation was …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 14:11
-
Linux second best-selling server OS in 1999
And almost as popular as the MacOS on the client side
Linux is now the world's number two server operating system, second only to Windows NT, according to IDC's latest figures. The only snag: there's barely any money in it. Linux vendors made a total of $32 million last year. Hardly a tiny amount by most peoples' standards, but a drop -- 0.6 per cent to be precise -- in the $5.7 …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 14:38
-
Reno, FBI feast on bad network security
Manna from Heaven shows why FIDNET is so important....
The recent spate of high-profile distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks comes as a blessing to US Attorney General Janet Reno and her Justice Department, which only this week requested a $37 million increase in funds for cyber crime fighting. Because DDoS attacks have been automated to an extent that allows any imbecile …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 16:05
-
Amazon UK search throws up XXX answer
Not for the easily offended
Gawd bless the Net. For a cheap thrill -- nod, nod, wink, wink -- and an ever cheaper laugh, go to Amazon.co.uk. Under search, enter "Pointers in C" -- an obscure reference, I'm told, to the somewhat dry subject of C++ programming. Wait to be entertained.. Check out the paperback by Deborah Addington. It's enough to bring tears …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 16:08
-
Red Hat invades Italy and France
Chasing the sun
Red Hat has opened local offices in France and Italy. It's chosen the highly industrialised south of France to site Red Hat France (a decision entirely unprompted by the weather) and Milan, the motot of the Italian economy, for Red Hat Italy. Red Hat France will also deal with other French speaking territories, including North …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 16:19
-
‘Defamed’ bulletin board firm primes lawyers
Anonymous tipster has cover blown as options are weighed
Walker Greenbank is still in two minds about whether it will take legal action against an anonymous tipster who allegedly used the Hemmington Scott bulletin board to defame the wallpaper group. CEO Aidan Connolly, confirmed that he is now aware of the identity of the anonymous tipster after lawyers representing Walker contacted …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 16:22
-
Corel plus Borland plus Linux – is this the big one?
Analysis The competition to MS could just be reaching critical mass
Microsoft must be regretting that Corel's home page is able to quote MSNBC saying last month that "Corel Linux is terrific". Feelings at Fort Redmond must be less generous this week following news of the Corel merger with Inprise/Borland. Corel CEO Michael Cowpland sees his destiny as establishing Linux on the desktop on a big …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 16:31
-
Registration Wizard casts spell on Office 2000
Will turn software counterfeiters into frogs
Microsoft has stepped up the war against software piracy by incorporating compulsory registration technology into the retail version of Office 2000 (O2k) and boosting the number of holographic identifiers Windows 2000 (W2k) will carry. The entire surface of W2k CD-ROMs will be one big hologram. Right from the centre of the disc …
Business 10 Feb 2000, 17:55
