14th March 2000 Archive

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ATI fights Nvidia with T&L support

Graphics world squares up for big fight

ATI has seen the future of PC Gaming. And it's called T&L (transform and lighting). The graphics giant has revealed plans to launch two products which support the technology. ATI's motherboard chipset will have an integrated 3D graphic card in the chipset with a T&L feature. This solution will be similar to Intel's i810 chipset …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 07:45
Intergraph loses Intel antitrust case

Harsh biz practice not the same as monopolies

The writing on the wall for Intergraph in its solo fight against alleged Intel antitrust activities came yesterday with the failure of its attempt to take the chip giant to the cleaners. Intergraph's case, which was that Intel had breached the Sherman Antitrust Act, by cutting off access to future technology, has been thrown out …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 08:11
Intel notebook chips get price chop

There are movements in the channel...

Chip giant Intel has notified its distributors and dealers, sorry resellers, that they can expect to see product introductions as well as a set of price cuts on processors aimed at the notebook market. But the price cuts will not be across the range, Intel has warned. The changes will come on March 26th, and follow the inability …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 08:21
Book busy on when Rambus hits $500

Go RMBS, go!

The big question with the Rambus Ink share price is now not whether it will reach $500 but when it will reach $500. Yesterday, the stratospheric stock managed to hit $459 during the day's trading on Wall Street, and rose over $24 on the day, closing at $445.0625. Fuelled by its use in what will undoubtedly be the successful …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 08:38
Intel ‘just talking’ about old LG Wales fab

Why isn't it 'just talking' to Alpha Queensferry?

Chip giant Intel is in talks with Hyundai over a mothballed Welsh memory factory which used to belong to LG Semicon, it confirmed today. But that doesn't mean Intel is about to rescue the memory fab and its former workers from their plight, a representative said. He confirmed that Intel was in talks about this factory with its …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 09:09
Nomura gives ARM Holdings shares a good kicking

Does not believe in miracles

Amazing what a research note can do to a company's shares: yesterday chip designer ARM Holdings fell eight per cent on publication of a sell recommendation from Nomura. In a note to clients, "Do you believe in miracles", Nomura said: "The key element of our negative stance is the unrealistic market share assumption in the …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 09:22
China eases crypto restrictions

The foreign cash cow is sacred after all

The People's Republic has softened its previously Draconian stance on encryption products with the announcement of a substantial and welcome list of exceptions, Reuters reports. The Chinese State Encryption Management Commission sent a "clarification" letter to U.S. business organizations last week easing the position it took in …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 09:34
How Intel employees idle away their hours

There must be an angel

Be warned. We are about to point to some Intel confidential information which will stagger you. The second warning is that this file, from the Intel FTP server, is a big Excel file, amounting to over 800,000 bytes, so unless you got one of those fancy DSL, ADSL thingummijobs, don't bother. If you can't be bothered, the Excel …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 10:16
Siemens snaps up US Entex outfit

The Euro and the Dollar play together

German conglomerate Siemens, fresh from its success in floating Infineon on both the NYSE and on the Frankfurt Dax market yesterday, has bought Entex, the US reseller. Siemens' HQ in Munich said today that the price it paid to acquire Entex was confidential. That's a secret, to you and me. The new subsidiary has a turnover of $ …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 10:33
LCDs hit by component shortage

Flat screen makers go flat out

The LCD screen market has been hit by a component shortage that is drying up TFT production. The problem concerns LCD driver ICs, according to a report on the EETimes Web site (www.eetimes.com). One of the leading manufacturers of the driver chips is NEC - the company has put all customers on allocation and there are three month …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 10:37
Lastminute jumps – but punters get next to no shares

Everyone gets something

Lastminute shares jumped 40 per cent this morning in hectic first day trading, taking its market cap comfortably above the £1bn mark. But there is going to be an awful lot of disappointed would-be investors. In an effort to keep everyone happy (but sure to please no-one) Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has decided to dish out shares …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 10:47
Freeserve chants 24/7 unmetered mantra

yeah, but what a racket

Freeserve announced today that it is to offer unmetered access to the Net, as reported by The Register last week. Hedging it's bets the monster ISP has decided to opt for BT's discredited SurfTime product and offer users unmetered off-peak access for £6.99 a month. This option will be made available from May. It's also extending …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 10:50
Connectix ships Linux Virtual PC for Mac

Red Hat connection delivers further OS

Connectix has started shipping its implementation of Virtual PC with Red Hat Linux, at an expected street price of $99. Virtual PC is intended to allow Mac users to run PC operating systems alongside the Mac environment on their machines, and is now available in Dos, Win9x and Linux flavours, with Win2k promised for the end of …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 11:18
MS-Andersen JV aims at IBM, Sun – Ballmer

$15bn by 2002? Saliva a-go-go at nascent Avenade...

Steve Ballmer has accidentally revealed the real reason for Microsoft's $1 billion joint venture with Andersen Consulting, which is being called Avanade. He says it's all to do with competing with IBM Global Services, Sun and Oracle in the services business, and was quoted by Reuters as saying that: "We've never been able to …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 11:18
France braces for smart card fraud onslaught

It's out, how much will it cost, how fast can we upgrade?

Fear of consumer having their bank accounts debited via fraudulent smart card transactions has gripped France, but the potential victims of the cracking of the security code would be the French banks, and not individuals. Nevertheless, Gallic pride in the "puce" - or flea, as the French call the chips in their smart card - has …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 12:08
Aladdin buffs up Nvidia's low-end lamp

Latest chip & chipset aimed at sub-$1,000 PCs

Graphics giant Nvidia has officially launched its latest chip and chipset, the Vanta LT3D and Aladdin TNT2, respectively. Nvidia has described them as being aimed at OEMs in the value end of the PC market, which translates as sub-$1,000 boxes. Eurotrade quoted Nvidia senior VP for marketing, Dan Vivoli, saying: "The sub-$1000 PC …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 12:30
Which 1GHz PC should I buy?

PC Clinic Trust Spinola, he's a doctor

Having trouble with your brand new machine or with the lovely application software that's cost you an arm and a leg? Our very own PC paramedic, Dr Spinola will guide you through the hardware morass. Q Which 1GHz PC should I buy? A Before even contemplating buying a machine which uses either the AMD or the Intel 1GHz …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 12:34
Computacenter to IPO Biomni

Isn't that a fertilizer?

Computacenter has outlined plans to IPO its Biomni subsidiary after posting soaring profits for 1999. The reseller giant today said it would float its 50 per cent share in the business-to-business e-commerce "in the first six months of the year". The announcement came four months after Biomni was started with Computacenter's …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 13:06
ASA raps ‘killer’ phone firm scare tactics

Children and babies are especially vulnerable to electrosmog

A Northampton company was reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)after it used scare tactics to sell anti-radiation mobile phone products. Clear Communications used an ad headlined: "This page could save YOUR LIFE". "Televisions, computers and mobile phones are silently destroying our health," and "US Military …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 13:11
Intel gives $5 million to schoolkids

Don't spend your pocket money all at once

The unified school district for Chandler in Arizona has received a $5 million grant for technology from chip giant Intel. This is good news, according to local newspaper The East Valley Tribune, because it means that the money, spent over five years, will help the kids (and teachers, lest we forget) to implement technology …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 13:55
Creative's forum gets censored now

Stalinised, but it's definitely not Microsoft's fault

Graphics board manufacturer Creative Labs has been forced to point irate users to its posting guidelines, after its product forums were deluged about drivers for the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. The problems started with a question to Creative asking when CT 7160 drivers would be available for Windows 2000, which was …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 14:51
TurboLinux powers up in the UK

In Brief: Appoints Guildsoft

TurboLinux is setting up in the UK with the help of Guildsoft, a local remarketing and republishing company. In effect, Guildsoft is to act as TurboLinux's UK arm, supplying distribution, marketing, sales, technical and distribution for the territory. TurboLinux describes itself as the world's fastest growing Linux company. ®

Business 14 Mar 2000, 14:56
DoJ cyber-crime site helps Feds make busts

Your tax dollars at work

The US Department of Justice launched a Web site devoted to electronic crime called cybercrime.gov on Monday. The site is maintained by the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) to provide information on crimes related to the Internet, focusing on hackers and intellectual property …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 15:20
Save over 50 per cent on a 1GHz PC

RegMark 2000 raises its eyes over parapet

It is a truth universally acknowledged that early adopters (aka people with more money than sense) pay through the nose to be the first kid on the block with the latest, greatest processor. A 1.0GHz Pentium III would set you back a cool $990 apiece if you could find 1,000 of them. An Athlon of the same speed comes in at $1,299. …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 15:24
Wide Open News BSD's Big Break?

Can Linux make room for another Cinderella story?

Once upon a time, there was a little-known operating system that built up its support base, incorporated some hefty enterprise-directed source code, got a distributor, and went on to become a major player in the open source market. Though the key factors are similar, this particular tale does not belong to Linux. Rather, it's …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 15:32
IE5 plus 128-bit logs Win2k users off, warns MS

Patch produces large void - distribution frozen, pending fix

Microsoft has told IEAK (IE Administration Kit) partners to freeze distribution of builds of IE5, following the discovery of a "serious problem" that stops Win2k users logging on to their machines. The gotcha relates to the installation of the 128-bit security patch for IE 5.0, 5.0a and 5.0b on Win2k as part of an IE5 IEAK …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 16:44
Tom's Hardware takes on 1GHz processors

Points worth noting

When the gigglehurts started to bubble at the beginning of last week, we thought it would probably take some time for a measured judgement on the AMD and Intel announcements, given the amount of PR flak generated. Now Tom Pabst has written a piece about the whole 1GHz affair which you can find here. In summary, the good doctor …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 18:05
Anand 'earns $250K a year' – - but makes his mum work for free

Boy Wonder soon to be Man Wonder

Anand Shimpi, the super-achieving Boy Wonder of Anandtech fame, draws an annual salary of $250,000, according to something called Young Biz. This figure seems to have been plucked from the air, as Anand ain't saying how much he's paying himself. For all we, or Young Biz, know he could be ploughing the site's profits back into …

Business 14 Mar 2000, 22:07