The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

29th January 2001 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • The Benchmark's Bunk – BAPCo a ‘Front’ for Intel

    Or so rival claims

    The two most widely used industry CPU benchmarks are effectively bunk, as they are under Intel's thumb, a rival maker claims. Speaking at last week's Platform Conference held in San Jose, Randall Kennedy, the Director of Research for Competitive Systems Analysis, stated that BAPCo, the organization responsible for the most …

    Channel 29 Jan 2001, 10:03

  • Woundup Whistler 2419, MS product names

    And we confess a blooper or twain...

    So far I've had two errors since I began writing the Woundup, but I'll confirm one right now. Thanks to the people for e-mailing me the obvious: how can Build 2240 of Whistler succeed build 2416?! Anyway, on Saturday, Microsoft released Build 2419 of Whistler with the following additions (reported by ActiveWin): new splash …

    Software 29 Jan 2001, 10:05

  • Colour Palm V spec. leaks

    m505 to be accompanied by slimmer, monochrome m500

    It's looking increasingly likely that last week's picture of the upcoming colour Palm V - officially known as the m505 - is genuine, as we predicted (see Colour Palm V debuts on Web). Further leaks claim the new PDA will be accompanied by a monochrome version, the m500 - the m505 has a 16-bit colour screen. Both will contain …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 11:14

  • BT to shut London call centre

    110 jobs disappear by May

    BTOpenworld - the Internet division of BT - is to outsource its helpdesk and customer services operation to a US company with the loss of more than 110 staff, The Register can reveal. The new contract with customer relationship outfit, ClientLogic, comes into force in June. The details of the deal are not yet known but it is …

    Data Networking 29 Jan 2001, 12:22

  • BT cuts off payphones

    Can't compete with the mobile explosion

    BT phone boxes are losing out to mobile phones to such an extent that the monster telco has announced it will not be installing any new boxes this year. Revenue from the 141,000 boxes had fallen 37 per cent over the last two years, BT said, a situation it has tried to remedy by upping the minimum charge from 10p to 20p. A BT …

    Data Networking 29 Jan 2001, 12:27

  • ICANN: one in, four out, more TLD controversy

    Another day in the life of the Internet body

    A rolling stone gathers no moss and ICANN, the governing body for domain names, is trying hard to get rolling again. On Tuesday, it announced a new president and CEO in the form of "British-born" Dr M. Stuart Lynn (what's the "M" stand for? We don't know). Stu has a hefty computing background and will start on March 13. He has …

    Media 29 Jan 2001, 13:10

  • Microsoft outsources some DNS servers to Linux

    Will S'Kiddies leave penguin-powered servers alone?

    Microsoft has partially outsourced the management of its Domain Name System (DNS) servers to a firm that is using Linux for the job. Last week Microsoft's Web server became unavailable to many users first through router misconfiguration and later through a denial of service attack. Networking experts blamed Microsoft's problems …

    Software 29 Jan 2001, 13:15

  • US wireless auction ends

    $16.86bn splashed out

    Well, it's all over, after 101 rounds and a load of breathless reporting. The grand total for the 422 licences was $16.86 billion (£11.6 billion). During the auction, the most fashionable stat to give was the cost per megahertz of the licences. This then could be compared to the same stat for the European 3G licence auction. …

    Data Networking 29 Jan 2001, 13:28

  • AOL begins work on AIM for Psion

    Epoc 32 release sponsored by S3/SonicBlue

    AOL is to port its Instant Messenger app over to the Epoc 32 operating system used primarily by UK PDA pioneer Psion's family of handhelds. That said, the deal was actually cut by SonicBlue, the company formerly known as S3, which persuaded AOL to bring AIM to its Diamond Mako PDA. However, since the Mako is simply a rebadged …

    Software 29 Jan 2001, 13:46

  • Rambus to demo abtruse memory tech

    Engineers only

    Rambus staffers will show off some new technology tomorrow at the DesignCon 2001 show. Much of what the memory company will be demonstrating turns out to be highly technical stuff, of more interest to the electronics engineer than the PC user. However, Rambus will give demos of its quad-speed signalling technology, QRSL, which …

    Channel 29 Jan 2001, 14:19

  • Ignite BT? – We'd love to

    Burn, baby, burn

    BT Ignite is the telecom giant's international broadband IP tentacle. Very useful, undoubtedly, but hardly the sort of thing to set the Reg's news pages alight. Until, that is, you look at its new logo. Lads, you want to watch your word order there. Ignite BT? We'd love to. Everyone else form an orderly queue. ®

    Bootnotes 29 Jan 2001, 14:34

  • Evesham cuts staff and freephone support

    And there was no Xmas bonus

    PC assembler and retailer Evesham.com has made 20 people redundant from their jobs, and has also dropped its freephone customer support line. The 20 staff have been culled from the production, technical and warehouse sides of the business, but Evesham has five jobs going its sales and customer care departments which are …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 14:35

  • Online ad spend set to rocket in Europe

    That can't be right, can it?

    The amount of cash spent on Internet advertising in Europe is set to rise a massive 70 per cent this year, according to Forrester Research. It reckons online ad spending is set to touch E1.2 billion (£757 million) this year - up from E690 million (£435 million) last year. Forrester predicts that the first half of 2001 will be …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 15:43

  • Tales of the strange from hardware headcases

    HWRoundup USB ciggie lighter, anyone?

    Because it is Monday, I didn't want to launch into a massively serious roundup, so here are a few light bites for you delectation: Roland (Rolotech) gives some thought to the best videocard for an overclocked PC. He's looked at 25 cards and ran them at different AGP settings to get loadsa data together. He also has a look at …

    Hardware Roundup 29 Jan 2001, 15:52

  • BT confirms pondering Yell demerger

    Might do, might not - who can say?

    BT today confirmed that it was reviewing its options for Yell, its international directories and e-commerce subsidiary. Weekend press reports speculated that the monster telco was considering demerging the whole business - instead of the 25 per cent that was originally up for grabs. A BT spokesman said its proposed listing of …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 15:54

  • DRAM saga shafts Danish memory maker

    Memory Card Technology applies for bankruptcy protection

    The DRAM price meltdown has claimed a fresh victim in the shape of Danish memory maker Memory Card Technology. The company said today it had applied for bankruptcy court protection after weekend talks with investors failed to secure a refinancing plan. The application, in Aarhus, Denmark, came a week after the outfit warned …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 16:15

  • IBM and Dell kick Toshiba into notebook 3rd place

    And the market grew 21 per cent as well

    Toshiba has lost its lead in the notebook market to IBM, if new figures from Dataquest are to be believed. The research company released figures today which put Toshiba firmly in the back seat, taking third place behind IBM and Dell. According to reports online, IBM has a 13.5 per cent market share, Dell has 13 per cent while …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 16:31

  • World Economic Forum to decide Net's future

    Well, egotists and leaders plan to have a chat

    As you will probably know, the World Economic Forum is currently taking place in Davos, Switzerland (bottom right-hand corner) where 3,200 heads of state and top CEOs will get together and discuss what they think they ought to do to make the world better/safer/richer. Among them will be Bill Gates and the founder and chairman …

    Media 29 Jan 2001, 16:35

  • Siemens recalls ISDN products

    Gimme gimme shock treatment

    Siemens is recalling some of its ISDN networking products after discovering a manufacturing fault in a batch of its kit which affects the electrical safety of the devices. The fault could affect between one and two per cent of a batch of devices, which were manufactured in its Swiss production line, and distributed throughout …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 16:40

  • Palm to buy Psion?

    London stock market thinks so, even as Psion loses Motorola development money

    Palm is trying to buy UK PDA pioneer Psion in order to take control of Symbian, according to claims doing the rounds among London's stock brokers, at any rate. Earlier today, Psion's share price rose to 290 on the rumour, but later fell to 213 after it admitted its wireless device development deal with Motorola was over. Psion …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 17:15

  • What is the problem with eGroups?

    Yahoo's changeover runs over a few bumps

    What is going on with eGroups? The US email conferencing system switched over from eGroups to Yahoo over the weekend, and it doesn't seem to have gone smoothly. Yahoo says it is trying to assess user reaction to the switch. Allow us to help: There are a lot of annoyed eGroupers out there. A loyal Register reader let us know …

    Media 29 Jan 2001, 17:19

  • Napster pay-to-share service coming in June

    CEO keeps mum, but Bertelsmann boss spills the beans

    Napster CEO Hank Barry yesterday reiterated the company's Bertelsmann-sponsored move to charge users a subscription fee. At the same time, Bertelsmann bosses said the fee-based service is set to launch this summer. Hovering around the World Economic Forum in Davros, Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Middelhoff said: "I'm convinced we can …

    Media 29 Jan 2001, 17:26

  • Posh club calls wannabe an asshole

    Dangerous thing this email business

    The manager of a posh member's club has been caught out by Claire Swire syndrome - that is the inability to be discreet in an email. Jason Gissing was thinking about joining the club, but wanted to spend an evening there before signing up. He approached Patricia Cusack, manager at Monte's Private club in Sloane Street asking …

    Bootnotes 29 Jan 2001, 17:48

  • Lucent unveils IP strategy targeted at telcos

    Plays catch-up on Cisco, Juniper

    Lucent Technologies has revamped its range of carrier-grade networking kit in an attempt to make it easier for service providers to provide value-added Internet services for businesses. Last week, Lucent announced plans to cut 16,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to save $2 billion and turnaround its business through a seven- …

    Data Networking 29 Jan 2001, 17:54

  • AMD to buy back ‘undervalued shares’

    But only $300m-worth

    AMD is to buy back up to $300 million worth of shares to "assist in offsetting dilution from stock issuances under our employee equity incentive". The company reckons that its shares are undervalued (it certainly trades at a massive discount to the multiples afforded Intel) and says the buyback "represents a sound investment at …

    Channel 29 Jan 2001, 17:54

  • BIND holes mean big trouble on the Net

    MS takedown just a preview

    Serious new security holes have been found in the ubiquitous BIND name server (DNS) program, the worst of which jeopardize hundreds of thousands of computers and make key elements of the Internet's infrastructure vulnerable to hack attacks, according to a Monday morning advisory from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT …

    Media 29 Jan 2001, 18:41

  • Xerox to chop 4000 staff after Q4 loss

    And HP to lay off 1700

    Xerox is to lay off 4000 staff after reporting losses of almost $200 million for Q4. The printer company said today the jobs, which represent around 4.5 per cent of worldwide staff, would go during the first quarter, with more to follow later in the year. It recorded a $198 million loss, or a loss of 31 cents per share, …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 23:26

  • Microsoft attacks Jackson in reversal plea

    Bill is not Napoleon

    Microsoft said it had acted lawfully and competitively in final papers filed today in its antitrust appeal. The software giant also used the 75-page document to attack Judge Jackson's order to split the company in two. Microsoft said Jackson's decision should be reversed, and also asked for him to be thrown off the case for …

    Software 29 Jan 2001, 23:28

  • Disney confirms Go.com death

    400 staff out on the street

    The Walt Disney Co has confirmed it is to kill off its Go.com Net portal. The move will result in around 400 layoffs, mostly in Sunnyvale, California, and the company will take a Q2 charge of around $800 million. It is also looking to sell the Go.com name and InfoSeek search engine. The announcement comes just weeks after …

    Business 29 Jan 2001, 23:30