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27th November 2000 Archive

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  • VIA ups profit predictions – again

    Chipset exports drive 22 per cent increase in expected earnings

    VIA has said it will make even more money this year than it originally expected - or than it reckoned when it raised its pre-tax profit predictions earlier this year. The PC market may be depressed, but VIA believes that demand for its core products - SoCs, integrated chipsets and DDR chipsets - will remain high. The upshot is …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 09:59

  • P4: Tom's Hardware has another rethink

    Intel burns midnight oil in Munich

    A week ago, renowned hardware site Tom's Hardware Guide reported that they really quite liked Intel's new flagchip Pentium 4. But after trying some MPEG 4 encoding, took the view that P4 was pretty horrible compared with the opposition, being outperformed by both Athlon and PIII. A number of Tom's readers pointed out that it …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 10:32

  • Smut to drive m-commerce

    Porn in the Palm of your hand

    Porn will power the mobile e-conomy, according to PK Entertainment, a Baltimore-based peddler of erotic scribblings. PK - run by a husband and wife team - provides naughty stories for PDA users to download and read on their palmtops. PK's tales are free - the company's Web site, which the couple claims is "very profitable", …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 10:35

  • AMD roadmap revisited

    It's Chimptastic

    With the hype and hot air surrounding last week's launch of the P4 cooling somewhat, we thought it was time to revisit our roadmap department and produce up to date listings of what's coming in the next few months from both AMD and Intel. On the Athlon performance desktop, AMD plans on sampling SMP-capable Palominos at over 1. …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 11:09

  • PlayStation 2 launch marred by DVD, fan issues

    Cable confusion, cooling fan failures and more

    After last Friday's European debut of the PlayStation 2, gamers have been frantically putting the new console through its paces over the weekend, and are beginning to uncover potential problems. First, the PS2 requires multiple connections to a TV if users want to play games and watch DVDs. The console supports RGB SCART cables …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 11:22

  • Robo Spy – cuddlier than a Web cam

    It could be yours for $995

    A Jetsons-style world has moved a little closer with the Spy Cye, a friendlier kind of robot. The 16in x 10in x 5in robot can monitor a house while the occupant is away. It can send and receive controlled remotely and send images back to its owner. Made by US firm Probotics, Spy Cye communicates with the computer by radio, and …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 11:28

  • The joy of customer service

    Your call is important to them. Honest

    We published an article on customer service by Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry that was forwarded by a regular reader for our amusement. We mistook it for the reader's work and ran it in Readers Letters on Friday. You can read Dave Barry's columns at the Daily Herald online.] It's worth it. He's funny. ®

    Letters 27 Nov 2000, 11:28

  • No one ever got fired for buying Intel

    AMD's corporate challenge

    AMD last week told the world it wanted 30 per cent of the processor market by 2003. Jim Doran, who runs AMD's German manufacturing operations, mapped out the company would produce the chips (see AMD builds two million Athlons). Today, we publish AMD's latest roadmap, which shows us the chips it intends to sell to reach this …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 12:39

  • Delinquent hackers target games site

    Poetasters score with rhyming couplets

    Games developer Microprose - famous for such simulation titles as GrandPrix 3 - has had its Web site defaced The Delinquent Hacking Organisation (dhc) - which already boasts some 390 scalps - has claimed responsibility for the act of vandalism. Curiously, instead of marking their effort with a grotesque picture or some …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 12:40

  • Intel roadmap leaks again

    Can Chipzilla keep nothing secret?

    With the hype and hot air surround last weeks launch of the P4 cooling, we thought it was time to revisit our roadmap department and produce up to date listings of what's coming in the next few months from both AMD and Intel. Intel's confidential roadmap found its way to The Reg over the weekend, and it won't come as much of a …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 12:59

  • BT and United want £400m for LineOne

    You have got to be joking...

    Anyone who reackons Freeserve's £1billion-plus price tag is a bit out of their league might want to take a butchers at LineOne. Weekend reports suggest that its owners, United News & Media and BT, could be happy for just £400 million. Rumours about LineOne's sale have been around for donkeys, although neither side will confirm …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 13:43

  • Redstone chipper about local loop

    Telco has a cunning plan

    Redstone Telecom is "confident" that it will be able to supply xDSL services via 1250 of BT's local exchanges by July 2001. Unlike other operators that need to locate their equipment within BT's local exchanges, Redstone has taken an "external location" approach to local loop unbundling (LLU). This means it is looking to …

    Data Networking 27 Nov 2000, 13:44

  • Manufacturer grinds out email abusers

    Kermit in a liquidiser

    So you think you're safe sharing jokes around the office? Make sure you look at your contract of employment first. A Huddersfield engineering firm has won a case of unfair dismissal against two employees, who had being the most active members of a group of 40 exchanging jokes and sexual explicit cartoons. The tribunal …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 14:21

  • M$ now has bigbollocks.com

    Who has the biggest of them all?

    The BBC has nobbled Bigbollocks.com. The charmingly-named site which dangled its domain over the BBC's massive portal is now redirecting traffic to microsoft.com after someone fiddled with it. Peter Norris, the registered owner of bigbollocks.com, told Reg: "The Beeb have used the Host Header Protocol or similar to redirect …

    Bootnotes 27 Nov 2000, 14:30

  • DTI wades into software patent debate

    Yes, we should; no, we shouldn't; behind you!

    The Department of Trade and Industry and an American law professor have jumped into the European software patent punch-up. Patricia Hewitt (e-minister) and Kim Howells (consumer minister) aren't actually daft enough to say what they think but they have started a consultation exercise and invite any and all input on the issue of …

    Software 27 Nov 2000, 14:32

  • Cisco ex-worker in trade secret theft probe

    Caught red-handed with blueprints

    A former Cisco engineer has being arrested for stealing the blueprints for an optical networking product. Peter Morch is accused of stealing trade secrets from Cisco before he left the firm in October to join rival Calix Networks, according to to the San Francisco Chronicle. Morch, who faces a charge which carries a penalty of …

    Data Networking 27 Nov 2000, 14:33

  • Mobile phones: Gov't health warning

    The Disneyfication of British health policy

    Just like cigarettes, mobile phones are to carry health warnings according to reports today. The information leaflets were to be bundled with all phones sold in the run up to Christmas, but now reports suggest they will not be ready in time. The warning leaflets, which are still being finalised by the Department of Health, are …

    Data Networking 27 Nov 2000, 16:09

  • New Intel, Motorola, AMD chips face off

    Rival 130nm processes go head to head

    The fur should be flying at this year's International Electron Device conference in San Francisco on 12 December as rivals AMD/Motorola and Intel climb atop the soapbox to present details of their rival 130nm processes in back to back presentations. Chipzilla's batting first at 1510 on the 12th, with AMD/Motorola following …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 17:05

  • Sharp updates Zaurus to take on Palm

    Multimedia PDA to ship in the US next year

    Sharp has launched the latest version of its Zaurus PDA in Japan, in an attempt to take the fight for marketshare to Palm. Sharp's Zaurus has actually been around for some time, in one form or another, bridging the gap between the company's more basic electronic organisers and palmtop computers. Over time, successive Zaurus …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 17:07

  • Who is LineOne?

    Don't ask their PR company - they ain't got a clue either

    Monster PR outfit Hill & Knowlton is obviously doing well - but is it doing too well? Is it just too big for its own good? For it appears the global PR outfit is so big it doesn't even know its own clients. We only phoned this morning for an update on the 'LineOne for sale' story, but ended up in a right old tangle - and all …

    Bootnotes 27 Nov 2000, 17:28

  • The Sun wrestles back porn domain

    Hopefully

    News International has won assurances it will be handed the domain ukpage3.com after the monster media group claimed ths site's owners had walked all over its trademark, writes Andrew Smith. UKPage3.com is run by Universe Models, a photographic studio and model agency. The Sun, which is owned by News International, is famous …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 17:30

  • Yahoo! Japan in child porn police raid

    Videos for sale on auction site

    Police have raided Yahoo!'s Tokyo office over the alleged sale of child porn videos through its Website. Today's inspection at the top Internet portal was part of the Japanese authorities' hunt for evidence to help bring charges against a 38-year-old man arrested earlier this month. Shinichi Hori, who runs a dance school on …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 17:34

  • Computers cripple kids

    RSI rears its hoary head

    Children spending prolonged amounts of time on computers are putting their health at risk, according to researchers. They claim thousands of children have already developed medical problems associated with operating computers. And this time it isn't the ever-present evil of radiation that is being highlighted, but bad posture …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 17:40

  • Royal clampdown on Net ‘smut’

    To the tune of 100,000 booklets

    The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme - a kind of Scouts organisation for young adults fearful of woggles, uniforms and over-friendly 'masters' - has ordered that 100,000 promotional booklets it produced be pulped. The booklets promoted a Web site for young people called The Site. However, when the organisation started handing …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 17:42

  • Semiconductors trip the plastic fantastic

    Very cheap

    Mega-boffins at Cambridge University have come up with a way of making mega-cheap microchips from plastic and they have the funding to prove it. Intel and AMD are not shaking yet in their silicon boots, despite claims from Plastic Logic, the company taking on the commercialisation of the technology, that the technique will be a …

    Channel 27 Nov 2000, 17:47

  • Rich rock stars launch anti-Napster campaign

    Sharing MP3s hurts musos more than major labels

    UK musicians trade organisation British Music Rights today launched a campaign that seeks to persuade fans not to download illicit MP3 files from the Internet. The scheme, called Respect the Value of Music, aims to show how trading music on the likes of Napster is hurting musicians, not faceless industry executives. That's not …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 17:48

  • America spends $6.3 billion online in Q3

    E-tail surges while retail sags

    Net sales rose 15.3 per cent to top $6.3 billion between June and September, according to figures released by the American government today. The US Commerce Department's fourth quarterly report showed growth beat the 5.5 per cent in the second quarter and 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2000. The surge in online shopping …

    Business 27 Nov 2000, 17:58

  • Oftel says ‘no dice’ to DSL crap shoot

    Dull compromise replaces the only interesting thing about LLU

    Oftel has ditched plans to employ a lucky throw of the dice to decide who gets space in BT's local exchanges as part of local loop unbundling (LLU). The news will no doubt disappoint many onlookers who were looking forward to the spectacle of Britain's broadband future being decided by a five knuckle shuffle followed by a quick …

    Data Networking 27 Nov 2000, 18:08

  • Net gives dead dad plastic self-abuse ideas

    Michael Hutchence tribute site?

    The Internet has been blamed for the tragic death of father-of-three Alastair Hunt from a kinky sex game-for-one. The man's body was found by his young son. The son broke into the house after there was no reply and found his dad - fully clothed - in the living room with a plastic bag clinging to his face. Mr Hunt had used a …

    Bootnotes 27 Nov 2000, 18:11

  • ADSL killed the Video Store

    Tele-TV from BSkyB

    British Sky Broadcasting is prepping asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) technology to expand video on demand services over telephone lines. A spokesman for BSkyB confirmed that it is in talks with BT and other potential ADSL suppliers to provide technology enabling it to offer films and programmes on demand, as well as …

    Data Networking 27 Nov 2000, 18:21

  • HWRoundup Anand gets the Mobos talking

    Crystal ball time

    Anand obviously got himself a crystal ball and did some serious future searching to produce this glimpse into the future of motherboards. We'd tell you what he said but that would kind of defeat the object of the exercise. The guys over at Sharky's got their mitts on a particularly co-operative Creative labs Annihilator2 …

    Hardware Roundup 27 Nov 2000, 18:23

  • MS appeal: judge ‘whopped us upside the head’

    Must be some kind of technical expression

    In its initial and chief filing with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Microsoft illustrates US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's single-minded and malicious persecution of the company with a little exemplum: "I like to tell the story of a North Carolina mule trainer," the court brief quotes Jackson …

    Software 27 Nov 2000, 21:40

  • Germans probe Yahoo! over suspected Mein Kampf sales

    Shouldn't they be finding the people who bought it?

    Yahoo! execs are in trouble in Europe again - and this time the Germans have taken the Internet giant to task over suspected sales of Mein Kampf. German prosecutors today said they had launched a probe into online auctions of the banned Hitler book on the Yahoo! Germany site. Unnamed execs at the California-based Web portal are …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 23:55

  • Tulip sues Dell over alleged $17bn patent infringement

    Motherboard design copied, screams Dutch vendor

    Dutch PC maker Tulip Computers has decided to sue mighty Dell over an alleged $17 billion patent infringement. Tulip reckons the Texas PC giant copied its patented technology for motherboards, and filed papers on Friday at the US District Court in Delaware. The Rosmalen, Netherlands-based company nabbed the patent for a " …

    Music and Media 27 Nov 2000, 23:55