The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

30th January 2001 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Waitt takes charge at Gateway

    Value statement

    Gateway CEO Jeff Weitzen is retiring - after just 13 months at the helm - and at the age of 44! His replacement is Ted Waitt, Gateway's founder, who says he's taking the job on a permanent basis. In a tough year for the PC business, Gateway had a more disastrous 2000 than most. The company was slow to react when rival cut …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 08:34

  • AMD buy back is masterstroke

    Tax loophole

    Yesterday, we expressed some doubts over the wisdom of AMD's $300 million share buyback (see AMD to buy back 'undervalued shares). Today, we bring you two counter-arguments - and pretty persuasive ones at that. First up, we can thank Isak Swahn for alerting us to this post on Raging Bull's AMD message board Apparently, the …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 09:33

  • Woundup Whistler beta requires product key, IE6 escapes

    And Dell pulls plug on Win95...

    As reported earlier here in the Woundup, Microsoft has begun cracking down on who actually gets Beta 2. Today, Microsoft announced that beginning with Whistler Build 2419, a product key will be required to complete the installation. This key will work with all versions of Windows, including Personal, Professional, Server, and …

    Software 30 Jan 2001, 11:27

  • Compaq suffering iPAQ shortages

    No high res screens to be seen

    Compaq has admitted it is suffering major supply shortages of its iPAQ handheld PocketPC device. CEO Michael Capellas said the problem was that Compaq cannot get enough high-resolution screens, combined with demand being 25 times greater than expected. Capellas was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 11:42

  • Intel reveals Transmeta ‘killer’

    So it hopes...

    Intel will unveil Transmeta-targeting mobile Pentium III and Celeron parts today. The new chips' clock speeds are lower than Intel's existing mobile processors, but are expected to offer significant power savings. We say "expected" because that claim comes from Chipzilla itself, spinning it up in a pre-launch official leak to …

    Channel 30 Jan 2001, 11:47

  • Thus loses less

    Demon's parent only flushes £13.8m

    Thus, the phone and Net services and ISP company owned by ScottishPower, has announced a reduced operating loss for its third quarter, thanks mostly to a 11 per cent rise in sales. It lost £13.8 million on sales of £59.9 million. "Earnings" before interest, tax etc came in at a loss of £4.7 million, but this was better than the …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 11:57

  • Here's what's in IE6 build 2403

    Tighter integration with Microsoft services and software

    Early test version of Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 6 browser have been posted onto the Internet. The 'beta' version of the browser was posted onto software developer and enthusiast sites The-Ctrl-Alt-Del.com and FileClicks, before Microsoft stepped in and got the content pulled. Downloads are no longer available but …

    Software 30 Jan 2001, 12:48

  • Euro telco reform is failing

    What did you expect?

    Industry experts have slammed the pace of telecoms reform in Europe warning that rival telcos are finding it difficult to break into new markets. The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) has published a survey that it claims proves that incumbents and regulators aren't doing enough to promote competition …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 12:50

  • How LinuxDisk will put a bomb under storage fatcats

    Adios, EMC

    Linux advocates who think corporates have stolen their revolution ought to have reason to cheer up this week. For a humble free software device driver still has the power to change the world, we'll discover at LinuxWorld in New York this week. Tomorrow file system provocateur Peter Braam will be on hand to talk about a number …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 13:10

  • Banking software goes open source

    Based on Linux and Apache

    Dresdner Kleinwort, the German investment bank, is to employ a new software system, called Openadaptor, that will allow distinct systems and devices to connect to each other on the Net. It is based on Linux, Apache, and other open-source Internet software tools, including a system developed by Silicon Valley based CollabNet. …

    Software 30 Jan 2001, 13:14

  • Telewest crows about numbers

    Simple things...

    Telewest claims it has 280,370 dial-up Net access customers - up 52,102 during the last quarter, according to details published today. It also boasts some 6,893 Blueyonder subscribers (its broadband cable service) - up 4599 during the same period. Telewest CE Adam Singer said that the figures showed that the company was …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 13:17

  • Cops face mobe jingle ban

    No Go! Go! Go! for their favourite show

    Police in Kent have banned undercover officers from using TV cop theme tunes as mobile ringing tones, The Sun reports today. The move, which prohibits such favourites as The Bill, The Sweeney and The Professionals, is aimed at preventing plod blowing their cover through an ill-timed trill from their blowers. The Kent old Bill …

    Bootnotes 30 Jan 2001, 13:18

  • Red Hat to bundle Eazel

    And Nautilus reaches Preview Release 3

    Red Hat yesterday said it will bundle Eazel's Nautilus 'Linux user interface for the rest of us' software with future releases of the open source OS. Something of a coup, this, since Red Hat dominates the Linux market. With Sun gearing up to bundle Nautilus with Solaris and Dell choosing the software as its own preferred Linux …

    Software 30 Jan 2001, 13:23

  • New Labour's Internet dirty tricks campaign exposed

    Party employee peddles anonymous propaganda on political newsgroups

    The Labour Party has been heavily implicated in a political dirty tricks campaign carried out over the Internet. Thousands of anti-Plaid Cymru messages posted to various political newsgroups have been traced back to the Labour Party's communications headquarters in Millbank, London. The messages, which attack Plaid Cymru (the …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2001, 14:10

  • Psion bid for big time wrecked by Motorola pullout

    There goes the US bridgehead...

    The collapse of Psion's joint venture with Motorola is major bad news for the British company, but isn't likely to cause significant ripples for the cuckoo in the Psion nest, Symbian. Yesterday Psion shares nosedived as the company confessed that Motorola had canned the jv, and that consequently Psion's all-in-one PDA/mobile …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 14:14

  • Plot to snoop on Prince William

    Bugger-all evidence in bugging reports

    MI5 has foiled an attempt to bug the phone calls and email messages sent by Prince William, according to an exclusive story in today's Daily Express. The paper reports that officers of the intelligence agency found bugs planted at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, where the British Prince is due to begin a history of …

    Bootnotes 30 Jan 2001, 15:06

  • Thus kinda pulls out of LLU

    Update Make up your mind!

    Thus has confirmed it isn't pulling out of local loop unbundling in Britain - it simply isn't going ahead and installing equipment in BT's exchanges. With this semantic, equivocal stab at answering a straight question, a Thus spokeswoman has effectively confirmed earlier press reports that the telco has pulled out of the …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 16:09

  • VoIP finds captive market in US prisons

    Call management allows convicts' calls to be spied on

    A firm has finally found a killer application for Voice over IP technology - using it make it easier for prison staff to eavesdrop on calls made by convicts. Forget reduced cost or the ability to have a single network infrastructure, where VoIP really scores in America's hard-pushed penitentiaries is the ability to manage the …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 16:11

  • Nokia cuts mobile handset forecast

    Q1 profits to stay flat

    Nokia today warned profit would stay flat for Q1, while cutting handset sales forecasts for the year. The mobile phone giant said growth would be slower than expected for the first quarter of 2001 - it expects earnings per share of 0.19 euros, matching Q1 the previous year. It forecast sales growth of 25-30 per cent from a year …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 16:27

  • Lucent dazzled by AMD Flash

    We'll buy AMD memory for next three years

    Lucent will buy AMD Flash memory parts for the next three years, the company said today. Actually, it didn't - AMD did, part of the chip maker's plan to convince the world it's the number one choice for non-volatile memory products. The deal was described by both parties as "strategic", but it's by no means an exclusive …

    Channel 30 Jan 2001, 16:51

  • VIA roadmap and chipset jamboree

    HWRoundup Wibble wibble wibble

    X-bit labs has posted a review of the Iwill DVD266-R mainboard, based on the VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset. The site says "the results turned out unbelievable: even Pentium 4 1.5GHz capitulated in front of dual Pentium III 1GHz on Iwill DVD266-R." The bottom line isn't a killer endorsement, but positive nonetheless. "Those who use …

    Hardware Roundup 30 Jan 2001, 17:42

  • New govt health bill leaves privacy on deathbed

    Wants right to access all your medical details

    A new government health bill, due to enter the Commons in two weeks, will trample on patient privacy by giving the Health Secretary Alan Milburn the right to "disclose and process" even confidential information. The Health and Social Care Bill has appalled the health industry and civil rights groups are gearing themselves up …

    Bootnotes 30 Jan 2001, 17:44

  • US whupped in cyberspace

    Satellite defences undermined by bloke with chequebook

    Pentagon chiefs and US boffins are apparently running around like headless chickens after their first 'space war games' resulted in the 'Chinese' giving Uncle Sam a good old cyberkicking. The games, held in Colorado, were a serious attempt to evaluate how best to defend America's satellite systems. Two countries, codenamed Red …

    Bootnotes 30 Jan 2001, 17:46

  • Amazon.co.uk denies existence of MI6 book

    We could have sworn it was there

    The controversy surrounding the book by ex-MI6 spy Richard Tomlinson continues. The Sunday Times won the rights to publish extracts; a publisher in Scotland is to print it and 192.com has said it will import thousands of copies into the UK, so bringing it into the public arena and bypassing the Official Secrets Act. However, …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2001, 17:48

  • Be quarterly revenue falls to $16k

    Preparing the way for a Sony takeover? So one reader reckons

    Internet appliance operating system developer Be is looking forward to a good 2001. It has to: last year it recorded revenues of a mere $480,000, which barely covers the salary bill, we reckon. For its last completed quarter, ended 31 December 2000, Be's fourth of fiscal 2000, the company lost 13 cents a share, better than the …

    Software 30 Jan 2001, 17:58

  • Search engine veteran poo-poos AltaVista patent claims

    Back off, Wetherell

    AltaVista's claim that it owns patents to virtually all search engine technology has been mocked by a search engine veteran, Alan Emtage. The CEO of AltaVista's parent company CMGI, David Wetherall, said in an Internet World interview earlier this month that not only did AltaVista have a large number of patents on search …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2001, 18:11

  • IPv6 translation device released

    High claims for network protocol conversion technology

    A Japanese firm has released what it claims is the first network protocol conversion device that can translate between current and next-generation Internet protocols. The TTB translator, which comes from the YDC subsidiary of Yokogawa Electric, converts between IPv6 and IPv4, the current version of the Internet protocol used in …

    Music and Media 30 Jan 2001, 18:29

  • NTT DoCoMo to link PlayStation to mobiles

    Inks deal with Sony and six phone operators

    Sony Computer Entertainment and Japan's NTT DoCoMo have taken their love-in one stage further to develop links between PlayStation consoles and mobile phones. The two have roped in six of NTT's overseas buddies - AT&T Wireless in the US, Dutch KPN Mobile, Telecom Italia Mobile and Hutchinson 3G in Europe, Hutchison Telephone in …

    Data Networking 30 Jan 2001, 18:32

  • Amazon remainders 1,300 staff

    Expects profit by Q4 2001

    Amazon is to make 1,300 people - 15 per cent of its staff - redundant. The job-cuts will cost it more than $150 million - now. In 2003 the e-tailer will issue an unspecified number of shares through a special trust fund to dumped staff. Which is nice... but a bit peculiar. The job cuts are targeted at the US - the axe is …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 22:41

  • New York to get tax-free PCs?

    For one week a year

    New Yorkers may get the chance to cash in on tax-free computers later this year. Senate Majority Leader Joseph L Bruno today proposed a "Sales Tax-Free PC week" to boost IT literacy in the state. Bruno wants a one-week waiver in August of the state and local sales tax on home computers, accessories and certain software. The …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 22:43

  • BSA offers piracy truce in five US cities

    Turn yourself in, pay up and we'll say no more about it

    The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is launching a piracy truce for small and medium businesses in five American cities. The companies are to be encouraged to turn themselves in if they suspect they are harbouring unlicensed or counterfeit software. They will not be prosecuted for any dodgy software in operation before …

    Business 30 Jan 2001, 22:48