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27th February 2001 Archive

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  • Intel spends $550m on DSP biz

    Extends small stake in VxTel to full ownership

    Intel today splashed out $550 million on chip maker VxTel, the latest in a long line of acquisitions it has made in the DSP and comms sectors. The deal will be paid for with cash, and follows an earlier investment made in the privately-owned VxTel by Intel's financial wing, Intel Capital, one of over 550 the chip giant has made …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 01:28

  • Nvidia GeForce 3 is go

    Xbox marks the spot...

    San Jose Nvidia launched its latest graphics chip, the GeForce 3, here in San Jose, California this evening - just hours before 3dfx's shareholders are due to meet to decide whether that company should sell off its technological and brand assets to Nvidia before dissolving. And the company held out the prospect of further …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 07:45

  • IE won the browser war because Navigator sucks

    MS on Trial Or we had to kill Netscape because Navigator rocks

    By the District Court's (that's Judge Jackson's) own admission, Netscape distributed 160 million copies of Netscape Navigator in 1998, thereby saturating a marketplace of only 100 million Internet users, Microsoft appeals lawyer Richard Urowsky claimed during arguments before the appellate bench in Washington Monday. …

    Software 27 Feb 2001, 08:47

  • Internet still big business in UK, says CBI

    It's the second wave (we thought it was the third)

    A new report by the CBI and KPMG Consulting, released today, paints an optimistic picture of the future of Internet technology in businesses. Of course, the dotcom, money-down-the-toilet frenzy has subsided but Digby Jones, director-general of the CBI, was keen to point out that business is still very much concerned with the …

    e-Business 27 Feb 2001, 09:47

  • e-district.net sacks CEO

    Writs issued, assets frozen and damages sought

    The CEO of e-district.net, Steven Laitman, has been dismissed amid allegations that he inflated usage and financial figures at the entertainment dotcom. On Friday, e-district served an injunction on Laitman alleging that he breached fiduciary and contractual responsibilities. The British dotcom also froze his assets and is …

    e-Business 27 Feb 2001, 10:54

  • Orchestream moves further into the red

    Invests in IP traffic prioritisation technology

    Networking software developer Orchestream has announced annual results which show it moving further into the red as it expands its business and product range. Orchestream, whose software allows automated configuration of complex IP services over multi-vendor networks, has announced annual losses of £9.5 million on sales of £2.7 …

    Data Networking 27 Feb 2001, 11:41

  • Voltage verbiage on the GeForce2 GTS and MX

    HWRoundup Soyo and Asus KT133As go head on

    HardOCP has a couple of KT133A boards left to tell you about, so it stacked 'em up head to head, let 'em go, and waited for the dust to settle. Who are you going to put your money on? Soyo or Asus? Click here to find out who is left standing. X-Bit Labs discusses voltage tweaking on the Nvidia GeForce2 GTS and MX. Amazing …

    Hardware Roundup 27 Feb 2001, 11:58

  • Redstone's broadband strategy ‘on track’

    Warns other telcos will drop out of LLU

    Redstone Telecom said today that its broadband strategy was "on track" and that it would soon be launching an ADSL trial in Portsmouth. The pilot project will test Redstone's distant location technology for local loop unbundling which works without having to install kit within BT's telephone exchanges. Instead, Redstone will …

    Telecoms 27 Feb 2001, 12:39

  • Broadband radio firm tunes into AIM float

    London Unlimited

    Big Broadband is to float on AIM, valuing the Web-based radio company at £5 million. The company, which includes dotcom celebrity investors Matthew Freud and Michael Edelson among its backers, plans to create franchises across Europe and in the US for its service. The company owns London Unlimited, a Web-based radio station …

    Telecoms 27 Feb 2001, 12:46

  • Mobile companies may have to hold hands over 3G cost

    Foul-weather friends

    The extortionate cost of building 3G phone networks has prompted mobile companies to discuss working together on making the dream a reality. Having spent a fortune on winning the 3G licences, mobile companies still have to build very expensive networks before they can even start recouping the cost from consumers. The BT-owned …

    Data Networking 27 Feb 2001, 13:01

  • SCH to swallow Compel's desktop biz?

    Announcement as early as tomorrow

    Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH) has emerged once again as the likely buyer for a chunk of rival UK reseller Compel. The Birmingham outfit is due to acquire Compel's desktop business, UK channel mag Microscope reported. An announcement is expected as early as tomorrow, when Compel is due to report its interim results. Compel …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 13:09

  • Wireless wandering web access from Intel

    But only for you Yanks so far

    Intel published details of the spec of its wireless Web Tablet at IDF yesterday. The tablet is basically a wireless screen with a small amount of processing power behind it, loaded with a web browser. The idea is that users can wander around the house while they're online. It connects to the home PC via a Home Network Adapter, …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 13:27

  • Intel drops 900MHz PIII

    OEMs told last orders 30 March

    Intel has warned its OEM customers it will phase out 900MHz Pentium IIIs by the end of March. The product will be discontinued by June 3 and last day for orders is March 30 reports TechWeb. PIII's are in most demand with the 133MHz front side bus, so the PIIIs using the 100MHz bus are being ditched. ® Related Link TechWeb …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 14:12

  • Philips to sell PCP

    Now that is diversifying

    It is not often that major electronic companies call press conferences to announce that they are deeply involved in illegal drugs trade, and we suspect that Philips did not intend to do so. However, at its pre-CeBit press conference, while exclaiming happily about the flatness of the PC market relative to sales of peripherals, …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2001, 14:13

  • InterX axes quarter of workforce

    More woe in dotcom land

    InterX is to axe more than 40 jobs as part of an urgent review of its operation, the e-business software company announced today. Some 25 per cent of InterX's workforce has been cut delivering a decrease in the company's salary overhead of around 40 per cent. The company - which has its headquarters in West London - employs …

    e-Business 27 Feb 2001, 14:28

  • Pop site fails to get a life (and readers)

    Don't cross AmmoCity or they'll get really upset

    A cautionary tale if you own an over-designed pop site and are desperate for readers. Musician Toby Slater was surprised to find a plug for "cool" Web site Ammocity.com on the messageboard of his homepage. "Have you seen ammo city? It's great!!" And so Toby did just that. He then replied to the message, saying "I feel that the …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2001, 16:35

  • CBI warns UK Govt about broadband

    Now the bosses are worried

    The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has called upon the Government to act over the roll-out and availability of broadband communications in Britain. Speaking after the publication of a major study into e-business, Nigel Hickson, head of e-business at the CBI, told El Reg that there was growing pressure on the Government …

    Telecoms 27 Feb 2001, 16:36

  • Samsung boosts RDRAM production

    Thanks to a bung from Intel

    Intel is putting more investment in Samsung to get it to boost Rambus DRAM production. Samsung plans to get production levels of 128 Mb RDRAM chips beyond 10 million units a month in March, the company said in a press release pumped out at the Intel Developer Forum The level of Intel's investment hasn't been revealed. Samsung …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 16:37

  • Broadvision signs BT Ignite for ASP action

    Strategy

    Broadvision has signed up BT Ignite to act as an ASP for its big ticket eCRM (electronic customer relationship managment) software. The company says the deal is the most significant it has struck to date in the UK and is one of only six 'strategic consulting partnership' deals signed worldwide. BT Ignite, the business …

    e-Business 27 Feb 2001, 16:42

  • Dell punts out lightest Latitude

    Notebook range refresh, story rehash

    Dell today unleashed its latest notebook, which it claims is aimed at business "road warriors". At around 3.4 lbs, Dell says the L400 is its lightest Latitude. The machine uses an Intel Low Voltage mobile 700Mhz PIII chip, with 128MB SDRAM, 6GB hard drive, Windows 2000 and 12.1-inch XGA screen. It also comes with a Dell …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:05

  • Gnutella users warned of Internet worm

    Novel virus spreading technique

    Security firms are warning about a proof-of-concept Internet worm which tries to spread malicious files via the Gnutella peer-to-peer file sharing system. The virus, called Gnutella Mandragore, will connect to the Gnutella network once it affects a users PC and will then attempt to offer itself for download when users search …

    Security 27 Feb 2001, 17:11

  • 11th biggest Web site in world goes titsup.co.uk

    FortuneCity withdraws

    FortuneCity - the "largest and fastest-growing international network of native language web-based communities on the Internet" - has sacked everyone but a few sales staff in the UK. We don't know yet about the company's other offices in the US (only voicemail) but the MD of the German office tells us no-one has been fired there …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2001, 17:13

  • P4 Northwood has its picture taken

    Get an eyeful

    The Japanese PC Watch site has snapped a nice pic of the P4 Northwood. Northwood will be rolled out from Q3 2001 onward at the entry-level alongside the P4, initially at 2GHz the rising beyond that sometime in Q4. Come Q2 2002, the P4 (chipset: 850) will be phased out of this market by Northwood. ® Related link PC Watch's …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 17:16

  • Philips gets phunky with its peripheral habit

    CD-RW gizmo, flat panels, sound cards

    Philips announced a profusion of new products at its pre CeBit press briefing: Sound cards, flat panel monitors, speakers and new recording technology for your CD writer. Not to mention the projectors, which we won't. Probably the most interesting announcement was the Thermo Balance Writing technology for CD writers and re- …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:22

  • Deckchair sheds 13 jobs

    Lastminute.com scrounges for cast-offs

    Sir Bob Geldof's travel outfit - Deckchair.com - has made 13 people redundant and is looking for a partner to help inject new cash into the business. The Guardian reckons an announcement will be made within the next few weeks and names Online Travel Company (otcuk.com) as Deckchair's new partner. So, nothing new there then; …

    e-Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:24

  • Sun unleashes sub $1,000 workstation

    Get your hands on an UltraSPARC IIe

    Sun is set to unleash a sub $1,000 Unix workstation using its UltraSPARC IIe chip. The Blade 100 comes with 128MB RAM, 15GB hard drive and Solaris 8 OS. It also uses the SunPCi II coprocessor card so Windows and Solaris can run simultaneously. The entry-level workstatin runs on the UltraSPARC IIe, a relation of the UltraSPARC …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:26

  • Horizon drops on ASP costs

    Channel flannel

    Horizon, the Irish-owned networking reseller, posted a 36 per cent drop in first-half profits from 3.6m euros to 2.32m euros. It attributes much of the fall to a 2.2m euro investment in I-Fusion, an application service provider (ASP) start-up. The company says that underlying profits were up 55 per cent, if the ASP investment is …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:30

  • BarrysWorld saved by EB

    For £400K

    Electronics Boutique has saved UK online gaming site BarrysWorld with a buyout deal worth £400,000. BarrysWorld announced it had run out of cash last month after venture capitalist 3i pulled funding for the business - the site was not due to break even until 2002, and the state of the market made 3i lose its nerve. Electronics …

    Games Industry 27 Feb 2001, 17:41

  • Nvidia's NV20 poses for saucy snap

    Hard core GeForce3 centrefold

    We've already written Nvidia's GeForce3 graphics chip, codename NV20, will be the best thing since sliced bread, because all new 3D accelerators are. Now you can see for yourself courtesy of Japanese site PC Reporter. Our Tony Smith wrote here that, as expected, GeForce 3 is an impressive step forward. Indeed, it's much further …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 17:48

  • MS owns the Web, you, me and everyone else

    And it knows, we tell you, it knows

    We ran a story on Friday pointing to an amusing Microsoft spoof on www.hwnd.net. The site ran an M$-style product support service on HowTo: Read the Fucking Manual. We thought it was funny, and evidently, so did you. But not so long after our story went up, we had readers complaining that the link was broken. Also missing was …

    Bootnotes 27 Feb 2001, 17:50

  • Cisco spams its resellers

    Flame war breaks out

    An angry exchange has broken out on a mailing list dedicated to Cisco resellers after the networking giant sent twelve copies of the same message to channel partners. The offending email, which invites European partners to sign up for MxU (multiunit) Solutions sales update training, was sent out a dozen times yesterday, and has …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 17:55

  • Double DDR technology gets shown off

    Intel Developer Forum Beat those bottleneck blues

    Kentron Technologies plans to demo its QBM (Quad Band Memory) technology at IDF. It reckons the technology doubles the data transfer rate between the processor and main memory, by doubling the bandwidth available. The company says that any application that suffers from a memory bottleneck would benefit from its technology, from …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 18:07

  • Chinese develop software to ‘purify’ Net

    'Unhealthy information' targetted

    Chinese authorities have come up with software to "purify" the Net. The Ministry of Public Security has released the "Internet Police 110" software to "protect users from getting unhealthy information from foreign and domestic Web sites," Reuters reported. The software comes in three versions for homes, cybercafes and schools …

    Music and Media 27 Feb 2001, 18:10

  • Intel ships second anti-Transmeta Mobile PIII

    Intel Developer Forum After the Ultra-low Voltage 500MHz part comes the not-so-low-voltage 700MHz chip

    Intel Developer Forum, San Jose Intel today announced its latest mobile processor, the Low Voltage 700MHz Pentium III, less than a month before it ships its first 1GHz notebook-oriented CPU, as predicted (see Chipzilla readies 1GHz Mobile PIII). The new part is aimed at what Intel calls the 'mini-notebook' segment, which …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 19:51

  • New McKinley IO goodies leave Itanic stranded

    Intel Developer Forum The first born is dead?

    Intel Developer Forum, San Jose: Intel gave the clearest signal yet that McKinley, and not the first born Merced Itanic chip, will be the first serious business contender from the IA-64 processor family at its Developer Forum today. CEO Craig Barrett showed McKinley live today for the first time, running on prototype 64bit …

    Channel 27 Feb 2001, 20:18

  • FTC investigates Microsoft Pocket PC ads

    Complaints that small print was just too small

    Microsoft is under investigation over claims that advertisements for its hand held computers were misleading. According to Press Association reports, the Federal Trade Commission is to probe a advertising campaign which made a comparison between Microsoft's products and those of chief rival Palm. Complaints have been made that …

    Business 27 Feb 2001, 21:44