26th July 2000 Archive

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MS to ask Supremes to stay off its case

MS on Trial The dance resumes...

Microsoft is about to file its first missive to the Supreme Court, in what is widely expected to be an attempt to persuade the Supremes not to hear the case, and send it to the more sympathetic Court of Appeals. Antitrust lawyer opinion is divided as to whether it is more likely that the Court of Appeals will be asked by the …

Software 26 Jul 2000, 07:58
Sony aims Emotion Engine tech at SGI's Hollywood fief

Bricks fly at SIGGRAPH

Sony used SIGGRAPH in New Orleans this week to poop on SGI's big hardware announcement of the year. SGI revealed the replacements for its aging Onyx2 and Origin series, using a new hardware architecture. SGI's "bricks" are based around its proprietary fast switches, but the design should make it easier for punters to move to …

Business 26 Jul 2000, 07:58
More red ink spatters SCO

But not a merger in sight...

As it warned last month, the Santa Cruz Operation continues bleed red ink. For the third quarter of financial year 2000, SCO reported a net loss of $19m, compared with a $4m profit for the corresponding quarter last year. Revenues were less than half what they had been in Q31999. SCO's CEO Doug Michels continued to blame Y2K …

Software 26 Jul 2000, 08:03
Pentium 4 to use SDRAM

End of the road for Rambus?

As world+dog jump on the PC-133 and DDR bandwagon, Chipzilla is keen not to be left holding the Rambus baby. The company today confirmed that it was developing a new chipset for P4, aka Willamette, to give users a choice of either RDRAM or SDRAM. Encouraged by the favourable response to the 815 and 815e chipsets for SDRAM-based …

Channel 26 Jul 2000, 09:56
Big Q's PC biz back on track

Alarum bells stop ringing in Capellas' nut

The Compaq Computer Corp, which doesn't like to be referred to as the Big Q any more, has managed to turn round its PC business and post a tidy little profit for its second quarter. The firm posted revenues of $10.1 billion and a net profit of $387 million for the Q, compared to a loss in the same quarter last year of $184 …

Business 26 Jul 2000, 09:56
Heavy breathers winded by Net access rejection

Modern Urbanists blamed

breathe, the lifestyle conscious ISP that courts a cliquey social group it calls "Modern Urbanists", is to withdraw Net access from 500-odd heavy users later today. The new media luvvy ISP claims that the few are spoiling it for the many and that such heavy usage is contrary to breathe's terms and conditions. For those …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 10:37
Nortel rakes it in with optical kit

Web and wireless gear also boost profits

Nortel Networks saw profits jump for the second quarter on surging demand for fibre optic, Web and wireless kit. The Canadian telecoms giant yesterday reported operating profit at $561 million for the three months ended 30 June 2000, from $320 million for the same period the previous year. This was 29 per cent higher than …

Data Networking 26 Jul 2000, 10:47
Egg makes losses, no big stink

And other tales of wired world wonga

Egg reported a pre-tax loss of £80.7m for the six months ending June 30 2000. This was in line with expectations, and compared with £69.7m the previous year. Sales were up at £33.2m, against £2.1m. The online bank said it gained 311,000 new customers during the period – making a total of 1.1m. "Whilst we are seeing increased …

Business 26 Jul 2000, 11:16
Itanium gets the Insane treatment

Journey to the centre of the hardware round-up

Intel's Itanium gets the treatment down under as it features on the pages of Insane Hardware. It is true its bus speed is up at an impressive sounding 400MHz, but does this always translate into performance? Check out the site to see what those crazy Aussies think. Still down under, the insane ones have posted answers to all …

Hardware Roundup 26 Jul 2000, 11:19
Borland bounces back in style

Now stop calling yourself Inprise...

It's been widely assumed that because Inprise/Borland almost succumbed to Corel's caper, it must be awaiting another suitor. But a glance at its Q2 results shows that the venerable tools maker still knows which way is up in the developers' world, so maybe it's not. The company delivered a 16 per cent increase in revenue (to $47 …

Software 26 Jul 2000, 11:39
MS, TRUSTe ad campaign says trust them on privacy

Empowers consumers to believe them...

Having used the cookie issue to establish last week that it was a 'responsive and leading' company when it comes to security, Microsoft has followed up swiftly, joining its friends in the TRUSTe "Privacy Partnership" to launch a multimedia consumer privacy education campaign. TRUSTme and Microsoft are of course former co- …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 13:06
BT confirms ADSL availability dates

It's definitely this year

BT has admitted it still hasn't got to grips with its broadband ADSL product. In an open letter from Marc Deschamps, COO of Broadband at BTopenworld, the executive admits "we're nearly there with the single computer service, but not quite". Which is nice... nice of BT to admit that despite years of testing and development it …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 13:48
BT dreams of long hot summer

What, no seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness?

BT has confirmed that global warming has already had an impact on the Earth and is responsible for shifting the seasons in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. There are also real fears that Autumn could become a thing of the past and may even disappear altogether. This shock revelation - which you won't find in …

Data Networking 26 Jul 2000, 14:02
Surftime encounters billing problems

Not a problem says BT

BT has denied it has cocked up the billing for its Surftime product by overcharging its customers. Ian Fenn, director of Chopstix Media Limited, claims one of BT's customer service operators admitted to him that the telco had incorrectly charged punters. "I signed up with BT Surftime when it launched in the middle of June and …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 14:05
How to dodge RIP

Updated Report shows how

A report due to be published tonight will explain how to dodge the government's email snooping bill via a few simple steps. The paper, courtesy of Web security experts Ian Brown and Brian Gladman, shows you don't have to be an Internet genius to bypass the proposed controls in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill. …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 14:32
Rambus shares plummet

Intel U turn clobbers stock value

Today's news Pentium 4 to use SDRAM that Intel was to offer SDRAM support for its forthcoming Pentium 4 (Willamette) processor has had an inevitable knock-on effect for Rambus' stock price. Rambus, which until yesterday had been the only memory technology Intel planned to use for the new chip, saw its shares drop by as much as …

Channel 26 Jul 2000, 15:05
Where the hell is… the PowerPC 'G4 Plus'?

Running a little late, claim sources

Motorola has of late been ominously quiet about the development of the PowerPC. Last October, the chip company unveiled its 'G4 Plus' project to rebuild the current PowerPC 7400 (aka G4) CPU. That chip slots in between the current G4 and G5, the next processor listed on Motorola's current (ish) PowerPC roadmap. In the meantime …

Mac Channel 26 Jul 2000, 15:30
GTS beefs up European backbone

1Tbps network to handle traffic explosion

Network operator GTS has launched a beefier version of its European Internet backbone, E-Bone. The new backbone will use multiplexing technology from Ciena to run 96 channels, each with a capacity of 10Gbps, through a single fibre pair. This translates to a total raw capacity of just under 1Tbps. The data will run through Cisco …

Data Networking 26 Jul 2000, 15:30
Compaq lumbered with dodgy DEC deal

Agrees to cough up $4.5 million compensation

Compaq has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle charges that Digital - acquired by big Q in 1998 - overcharged the US Defense Department for work done back in 1995, reports Reuters. Digital admitted that it had inflated labour charges on work done on projects in Florida and Frankfurt, but a US Justice Department investigation …

Business 26 Jul 2000, 16:52
IBM barges into mobile Net market (too)

A cool one billion dollars to grab its share

Never one to come late to the party, IBM has finally joined the other throngs in the wireless market. And, according to its PR, it's gonna put its money where its mouth is. That's right, one billion smackeroonies (that's dollars) is to be pumped into a range of programmes/initiatives/call em what you will and these will turn you …

Data Networking 26 Jul 2000, 16:56
MIPS and Gemplus go for Smartcard standard

Built around MIPS 32-bit processor core

In a move that it hopes will lay the foundations for an industry standard, chip architecture bods MIPS Technologies is working with smartcard specialists Gemplus on the creation of a next generation of smartcard chips. Whatever your views are on technology industry standards and how they're adopted - this is what the deal …

Business 26 Jul 2000, 17:48
ICANN not up to the job?

Insider talks to The Reg

A man with insider knowledge of the workings of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has criticised the body's approach to creating new domain names for the Internet, adding to a line of unhappy punters, ranging from governments to corporates to the press. We spoke to Dr Jonathan Robinson, a man who …

Music and Media 26 Jul 2000, 17:55
Do not buy a PC from this Bastard

Episode 27 BOFH discovers retail therapy

BOFH 2000: Episode 27 So I'm at Tottenham Court Road peering at some overpriced kit when I notice that one of my former users is in the house. Well, when I say "user", I mean a: "This machine must be broken"; "I can do it faster by hand" stick-in-the-mud Luddite who still uses a black and white toaster. And Roger me silly with …

BOFH 26 Jul 2000, 23:04