12th July 2000 Archive

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Intel notebook chips to top 1GHz

Roadmaps Dance to the rythmn of the Tualatin

The most recent notebook roadmaps from Intel shows that the firm is humming-and-hawing on whether to include its SpeedStep battery saving technology on all future mobile chips, including the mobile Celeron. And, at the same time, the firm is set to intro the new Tualatin .13 micron core in the second quarter of next year for …

Channel 12 Jul 2000, 05:55
AMD notebooks beat Intel to GHz punch

Roadmap Tweedledum and Tweedledee line up

The race is on with a vengeance with both AMD and Intel lining up in a three-horse race to see which is first to hit 1GHz in the notebook market. And, according to confidential AMD roadmaps we have seen today, it is set to be a close run thing, with the firm launching its 1GHz Athlon in Q1 next year. Well fancy that. But …

Channel 12 Jul 2000, 10:13
Global PDA production slows down

Component shortages to blame?

The momentum behind the PDA market appears to be slowing, according to the latest data from Japan's Nikkei Market Access. Last year, some six million PDAs were produced, twice the number knocked out during 1998. However, Nikkei's estimates for 2000, while still higher than 1999's figures, show reduced growth. Nikkei reckons 10. …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 10:48
SGI predicts deeper than expected Q4 loss

Revenues down on supply problems, lower sales

SGI's Q4 loss will be bigger than planned thanks to tumbling revenues, the company warned Wall Street yesterday. SGI predicted the quarter's revenue will fall within a $525-535 million range. That's well down on the $829 million it recorded for the same period last year, and down on the previous quarter's $563.7 million, itself …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 11:11
US musos unite against Net piracy

Please don't pinch our songs, rock stars plead

A band of US musicians yesterday pledged to fight Internet music piracy, primarily, it seems, by asking fans not to do it. Under the name Artists Against Piracy (AAP), the group of 70-odd musos ran a series of national newspaper ads yesterday pleading with listeners not to take the bread from their mouths by not paying for …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 11:31
Gates buys piece of pineapple paradise

£12m to get 'leid'

Billionaire Bill Gates has bought a piece of paradise where he once got 'leid'. The Microsoft founder has splashed out an estimated $19 million (£12.5 million) to possess part of the Hawaiian island where he tied the knot with Mrs Gates. More specifically, he is saying Aloha to a 6.3 per cent stake in property company Castle & …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 11:36
The Bastard gets taste of own medicine

Episode 26 So much to do, so much to learn

This episode is based on real experiences with some of the largest computer companies in the globe. Names and Companies have been changed to protect the guilty. . ---- So I'm ringing Tech support and, as usual, get put through to their lifeline, which is more like a life sentence when you're waiting for help. And of course, …

BOFH 12 Jul 2000, 11:39
Symbian CEO suggests dream ticket alliance with Palm

The Nokia contract writ larger?

Symbian CEO Colly Myers has trailed the prospect of further co-operation with Palm. The two companies co-developing a port of Palm's pen-based UI to Symbian for Nokia, so presumably Myers is anticipating more of the same. Actually, we're relieved to hear that the two are working on the Nokia gig. That announcement was widely …

Software 12 Jul 2000, 11:45
Letsbuyit.com pulls out of IPO (again)

Ants in their pants

Online co-op Letsbuyit.com has delayed a stockmarket flotation for the second time in two months, even though it had slashed its original valuation by nearly half. The first float, where it valued the company at between £750 million and £1 billion was pulled because of "market volatility". The company's investors pledged to …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 12:25
Dunblane – the plot thickens

More stunning herf gun stuff

Douglas Hayward, editor of Computing, writes: I always enjoy reading Pete Warren's work, and never more so than when he really gets the bit between his teeth. Still, Bunny's spirited defence of his mangled opus on Dunblane contains an uncharacteristic inaccuracy which I'd like to correct. Bunny reports me as quoting, in my now …

Letters 12 Jul 2000, 13:14
US shies from unwanted Net music legislation

Much jaw-jaw at Senate hearing, but Napster vs RIAA war-war continues

The fight between the music industry establishment and the business' Net-based young guns will be settled in the courts, not the legislature, if the outcome of yesterday's US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into Internet music distribution is anything to go by. Certainly, the majority of the combatants feel that there's no …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 13:16
Psion spends millions on Canadian wireless group

Reckons it's the most important buy it's ever made

Psion has agreed to buy Canadian wireless technology and software development group Teklogix for C$554 million (£243 million). The London company's offer is made up of £100 million cash and the remainder in shares. Teklogix shareholders stand to get around 2.3 Psion shares and cash that will value each share at C$35 - 41 per …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 13:33
TV ebiz show fails to generate any killer ideas

But it's got to give £1 million to someone

We return to our tracking of the Channel 4's bandwagon-jumping ecommerce extravaganza, The E-Millionaire Show. On the panel last night were Stelios Haji-Ioanou of Easyeverything fame; Mariella Frostrup the gravelly voiced TV presenter; and founder of Orchestream, Charlie Muirhead. Apart from Mariella Frostrup pointing out that …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 13:53
So just how guilty is Netscape?

The SmartDownload privacy case retackled and in full

Since we posted the story that a case had been brought against AOL for infringing consumers' privacy through its Navigator browser, we have been inundated with interesting, uninteresting, encouraging and abusive emails. This then is an attempt to update those interested in the story and give a rundown on the facts and arguments …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 14:51
Duron vs Pentium III death match showdown

A battle royal of biblical proportions

Last week Planet Hardware brought us the trouncing of the Celeron 700 by AMD's Duron. To follow that, they have lined the Duron up against the Pentium III 700. Billed as a David vs Goliath affair, this match should be interesting, even if it doesn't follow the plot lines sketched out in the Bible. Natural 3D Tech's site is now …

Hardware Roundup 12 Jul 2000, 14:59
Berners-Lee slams Net advertising

The Perversion is the Message

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has issued a stinging rebuke to online advertisers for suckering people into clicking on ads dressed up to look like content. Speaking at the International Advertising Association in London, he also slammed the practice of designing ads to look as if they are computer system …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 15:40
Net Imperative saved at the bell

Free of debts, free of Durlacher

Net Imperative, the dotcom publisher which went bust last week, has been saved by a consortium, according to Sunday Business. Astonishing, isn't it, Net Imperative scooped on a story about itself... Durlacher, which had paid £570,000 for 28 per cent of Net Imperative, will no longer have an interest in the company. But what of …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 15:49
Forrester Why did Boo flame out so fast?

Poor execution of good idea, says Dr Therese Torris of Forrester Research

Boo.com quickly burned cash on PR and advertising Boo.com's first financing round of E120 million - raised from prestigious investors like Europ@web, Morgan Capital, and Goldman Sachs - was the largest-ever private investment in a Web retailer headquartered in Europe. But within six months, boo.com exhausted these funds on …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 15:59
BBC ‘bleeds value into Yahoo’

Deserves rough week, FT columnist says

The BBC this week announced a news republishing deal with Yahoo! In deference, to the organisation's non-commercial remit, Yahoo! promises that all BBC News stories posted on the site would be carried free of advertising. The BBC is providing news FOC (free of charge). FT hack James Harding described the deal as "worrying". …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 15:59
Finally the truth! Mobiles only kill children

The Great Mobile Debate comes to a close. Until next time, ha ha ha

It may not be Panto season but that hasn't stopped Sir Liam Donaldson, Sir William Stewart and the Labour government. "Mobiles phones are safe", "Oh no they're not", "Oh yes they are", "C'mon boys and girls". Will Stewart's ten-month, government-sponsored study of mobile phone use is to recommend a minimum age limit and …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:04
Mobile phones kill… worms

Cause sci-fi B-movie style mutations

Researchers seem to be slipping down the food chain in their quest for the truth about mobile phones. The latest study took the humble earthworm as its victim, blasting a group of the timid creatures with microwave radiation similar to that emitted by mobiles. After a night of this treatment, the worms apparently underwent the …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:04
Win2k successor Whistler slips as MS strokes developers

But .NET is closer than you thought...

Microsoft's .NET strategy is, as we've suspected for some time, closer than you might think. But the next version of Win2k, Whistler, turns out to be a little further off. At its Professional Developers Conference yesterday the company opened up on some of the components of .NET, made it clear it would take the tried and tested …

Software 12 Jul 2000, 16:09
Mobile phones will kill you…

...But only if you're driving, or fail to follow the Green Cross Code

Okay, the most recent government report says that, yes, mobiles can kill you. But it's not the actual mobiles this time (would the government accept £23 billion in licence fees if they weren't safe?), it's their use by us foolish humans. Apparently, driving while using a mobile phone makes you four times more likely to have an …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:17
Ain't nobody here but us chickens, oh, and the transmitters

Has the world gone clucking mad?

Chickens may soon be implanted with transmitters and computers if a, frankly, bonkers engineering professor in Georgia gets her way. According to an Associated Press report, Takoi Hamrita has put five-pence-sized radio transmitters under 12 chickens' breast bones and linked them to some artificial intelligence software. What …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:17
Mobile phones won't kill you after all

Ten month investigation finds no evidence of threat to health

There is no proof that mobile phones can damage your health. That is the conclusion of the Stewart inquiry, which will publish the results of its 10-month investigation on 11 May, according to The Guardian. Further, the report says there is no risk from mobile phone transmission masts and children are not necessarily more …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:27
Government Health Warning: mobile phones may damage your health

Mobile phones to go the way of a pack of smokes

The UK government is to force mobile phone companies to display a health warning on mobile phone packaging, according to the Observer. A government committee formed to study the health risks of mobile phone usage will this week publish its findings and will recommend that phones carry a cigarette-style health warning, the paper …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 16:27
Blair hoax email exposes bumlickycrawlies

Have they got no pride?

Wired prime minister Toneeee e-Blair should take heart from news that his MPs aren't quite so gullible as some might like to think. Web-based e-mail company another.com sent a spoof e-mail to 89 Labour MPs from tony-blair@prime-minister.co.uk to see how many would respond. The email was short and to the point, but asked, as a …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 16:31
Yell if you think awards ceremonies are rubbish

Now we're not saying it was crap but...

At least it wasn't billed as 'the Internet Oscars', but then it may as well have been for all the sense the choice of winners made. That's right, soon-to-be-sold-off BT subsidiary Yell has concluded its annual awards ceremony for the best Web sites for 2000. Hosted by erstwhile celebrity Jonathon Ross, the awards "known as the …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 16:59
Minister slams RIP objections as ‘ill founded’

Feminists and pro-fox hunters unite in opposition

Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has labelled concerns over the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) bill from an alliance of 50 UK organisations "ill founded". In the ongoing daily media circus that RIP seems to have become, the Home Office Minister has written to The Daily Telegraph denying that the authorisation …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 17:04
MS to drop J++ from Visual Studio

Just like it said last December it wasn't going to do...

So farewell then Visual J++ - at least as far as Microsoft Visual Studio.NET is concerned. The Internet-oriented version of the Great Stan's development suite will not include a Java tool, the company has admitted. Surprise, surprise. The future Visual J++ has been in doubt since late last year, when Microsoft sources claimed …

Software 12 Jul 2000, 17:11
Zero mag cull in VNU's buy up of ZD's Euro paper biz

Nightmare scenario might not be realised

At last. Dutch publisher VNU has finally got round to announcing it is buying Ziff Davis' European publishing business. This means VNU gets the titles IT Week, PC Magazine, PC Direct and PC Gaming World in the UK. In Germany, the market where VNU really wants to make some headway as it's been fended off for about 15 years, it …

Bootnotes 12 Jul 2000, 17:29
ACLU seeks Congress' help against FBI's ‘Carnivore’

Please de-fang this beast before it devours us

A slick new e-mail snooping system developed by the FBI and named 'Carnivore' has so concerned the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the organisation has petitioned the House Constitution Subcommittee to consider drafting legislation to bring it and similar schemes under control. "The Carnivore system gives [to] law …

Media 12 Jul 2000, 17:51
Helicopters – an apology

Reg jumps off the bandwagon

In recent issues, The Register has run salacious, ill-researched and, above all, space-filling stories about Scottish helicopter crashes. We now wish to set the record straight. At no time did we wish to cause distress to the families, friends and loved ones of well-respected professionals. We wish to apologise unreservedly …

Bootnotes 12 Jul 2000, 19:42
Stratus in road to Damascus scenario

No money to be made with Itanium, apparently

Wintel is the one true path to happiness, confessed a born-again Stratus suit today. Speaking at a preview of the upcoming Win2K Service Pack, Stratus' David Chalmers extolled the virtues of Intel hardware and Microsoft operating systems, but stopped short of swallowing Chipzilla's plans for the move to 64bit computing. For the …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 19:44
Win2K Service Pack 1 due Monday

Modem meltdown

The first service pack for Windows 2000 will be RTM'd next Monday (17 July) and posted on the web a couple of days later. You don't really want to be an early adopter on this one unless you own an unfeasibly fast modem, because the core update weighs in at a hefty 83.3Mb. Although MS says the final version which will be posted …

Software 12 Jul 2000, 19:47
How much is your domain name really worth?

Shoutloud.com offers free valuation

Shoutloud.com, Europe's self-styled biggest domain name broker, has launched an online valuation service. It's free. Pump in your domain name, and get a guide price - in seconds! Then you can see how little your URL is really worth. Shoutloud's valuation utility assess domain names according six criteria: length, hyphenations …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 20:48
TV show rips off Britain's brains

www.thanksalotsuckers.com

Got a great idea for a new Web venture? Then why not send it to Channel 4 - if it's good enough you are guaranteed £1 million, or you may be one of the lucky five to get a share of a further £1 million. Alternatively, why not walk around the streets naked, asking people to take pictures of you in the hope that one of them is a …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 20:55
Man plunges to his death using mobile phone

Prime candidate for Darwin Awards

It's official - mobile phones can seriously damage your health. A North London man has plunged ten floors to his death after apparently trying to get a signal on his mobile. An inquest heard how Noel Connelly, 38, frequently made phone calls in the early hours - to take advantage of cheap rate calls - while standing on the …

Data Networking 12 Jul 2000, 21:45
Cisco tells spam victims to reply with abusive emails

Alternatively, clog up the servers

Cisco Systems is urging victims of spam to take the law into their own hands and deliver their own form of vengeance to combat unwanted e-mails. It claims the best way to deal with spammers is to reply with abusive e-mails and to dump massive files that will clog up their servers. It's the online equivalent to blowing a …

Business 12 Jul 2000, 21:46