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3rd April 2001 Archive

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  • PC World goes the distance with P4 SMS compo

    Geographically challenged

    Intel is running a competition with PC World to give away 100 P4 PCs. You SMS them your post code, they send you a message back giving you a date and time to turn up at your local store to enter a prize draw. Now either PC World is introducing a cross-country challenge element to the competition, or they want to invite you to …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 07:46

  • Chinese Feds demand computer virus samples

    Ministry of nefarious research

    China's Ministry of Public Security has been requiring Western anti-virus vendors to supply samples of malicious code as a condition of doing business with Mainland consumers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The official Chinese explanation would have us believe that the secret police have lately gone into the consumer …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 07:49

  • Gateway flees Canada, scales back in Europe

    Canadian retailers crow

    Gateway is shutting down all 10 Canadian outlets with the loss of 220 employees after just nine months as a retailer in the country. And local retailers are crowing, judging from this report in The Globe and Mail. "For other Canadian companies . . . it shows that a US retailer coming into Canada is not a slam dunk," one said. …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 08:24

  • Intel CPUs roll off 300mm, 0.13 micron line

    You'll see the results next year sometime

    Intel's Hillsboro, Oregon plant has begun punching out functional processors based on 0.13 micron technology and on 300mm wafers. It has to be both, since other companies have reached either 0.13 micron or started working with 300mm wafers already. "Intel expects chips produced on 300mm wafers to cost 30 per cent less than …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 09:09

  • ICANN approves VeriSign's .com monopoly

    No surprise; it's official

    It appears that VeriSign is going to control the .com registry for all eternity following a decision by ICANN Monday which guarantees it ownership until November 2007, and sweetens the pot with an option to renew for four years thereafter. VeriSign will retain rights to the .org registry through 2002, and .net through 2005. …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 09:23

  • Be axes 25 per cent of staff

    Cash running out rapidly, company warns

    Following weekend reports that Be is about to run out of cash, the company yesterday announced it was trimming its already small headcount by cutting "approximately" 27 jobs - around one quarter of its worldwide workforce. The axe will fall primarily on the necks of sales, marketing and admin staffers, but Be admitted that some …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 09:33

  • Rambus vs. Infineon: final pre-trial meet set

    Infineon trying to avoid jury trial

    The final pre-trial hearing in Rambus' legal action against Infineon has been set for 10 April in preparation for what a battle over patents that will have a major affect on the memory industry. That was the date the trial itself was expected to kick off, but that's been put back a week. In the trial, Rambus is hoping that the …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 11:55

  • Apple's Australia's top dealer goes pear-shaped

    Channel Flannel

    Apple Australia has lost patience with Buzzle, its biggest reseller, and placed the company into receivership, according to Computer Daily News. Buzzle collapsed owing AUS$30m, almost half of which was owed to Apple. The company, formed last year through the amalgamation of six dealerships, operates 24 of Australia's 68 …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 11:56

  • Gameplay up for sale

    The sign's in the window

    Gameplay, the troubled multiplatform games outfit is up for sale. Following informal chats with prospective buyers Gameplay's board has appointed Commerzbank Securities to assist the process. In a statement, Gameplay's board said it "remains committed to positioning Gameplay at the forefront of digital delivery of games but is …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 11:58

  • IBM laps up desktops

    Synergy

    IBM is merging laptop and desktop divisions, creating a Personal Computing Devices group. This group will handle the NetVista desktop line, the ThinkPad notebook range, plus all design, development and logistics for 'personal computing' devices. Its basically an admission that customers don't think there's that much difference …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 12:00

  • Sega employees ‘imprisoned and ignored’

    Nothing ever happens

    Console giant Sega has assigned 12 disgruntled employees at its Tokyo headquarters to sit in a windowless room from 9am to 5.45pm every day "waiting" for nothing to happen, in order to avoid a financial slap from the authorities. The 12 employees claim the videogame giant is bullying them into quitting, According to an …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 12:57

  • Advertising clampdown on monitor sizes

    Viewable inches matter

    In the biggest clampdown on PC advertising trickery since the ex-VAT price scam was stamped on, monitors will now be sold clearly stating their visible screen size. The same goes for TVs. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will no longer accept standard industry practice of giving CRT (cathode ray tube) sizes in adverts …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 14:49

  • PC2100 DDR SDRAM out and about

    Early sighting means spring is here

    Direct memory supplier Crucial.com has said it's got some PC2100 DDR SDRAM for you - and it's available now. Prices for the modules start at $60.29 for 128MB. Jeff Mailloux, director of marketing at Crucial's parent Micron, said: "Now that DDR SDRAM chipsets are becoming more widely available for a variety of processors, we …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 14:50

  • One in three UK firms hit by cyber-crime

    Don't Panic

    One in two senior IT managers believe the future survival of their organisations "could be put at risk by a major network security breach". And a third of large organisations have fallen victim to cybercrime in some form, a survey reveals. The study, compiled from anonymous responses from 172 large organisation in the UK, was …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 15:42

  • Fear and loathing in small town America

    Come to harm in Fishing Creek Farm

    Fear and loathing in small town America has been turned into a living docusoap on the Web. The squabble revolves around Fishing Creek Farm - a wealthy community near Washington,DC. The story begins in 1997, when residents Tim and Lori Gough received an anonymous letter accusing them of being bad parents for letting their son, …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 16:03

  • MS, HP agree to drop ‘deceptive’ PocketPC ads

    Settle quietly to avoid FTC wrath

    Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have spared themselves hefty fines by agreeing to Federal Trade Commission demands that they cease claiming that PocketPCs provide built-in wireless Net access. The FTC began investigating claims that the pair were making misleading statements in their advertising back in February. Of course, …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 16:51

  • 99% of Web users eat cookies. Yum

    Cookies 'not a big concern among most Internet users'

    Cookie rejection on the Internet is less than one per cent, according to a survey out today. Researchers at California firm Websidestory took a sample of one billion page views from high-volume sites in February. They found that cookies - used by Web sites to store information about their visitors - were rejected just 0.68 per …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 17:27

  • World chip sales down 7% in February

    January worse than previously thought. Whoops...

    Semiconductor sales around the world fell almost seven per cent in February, but sales remain higher this year than last. Some $15.5 billion worth of semiconductors were sold in February, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association's latest figures. That's a fall of 6.9 per cent on January's figure of $16.6 billion, …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 17:31

  • Stratus re-enters telco biz

    Lucent lifts server sales ban

    Stratus, the fault tolerant server company, has reached an agreement with beleaguered networking giant Lucent to lift contractual restrictions which prevented it selling its full range of servers to service providers. Because of this, Stratus Technologies may now directly sell its Continuum 600 and 1200 Series servers, XA/R …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 19:15

  • Microsoft ambushes Bluetooth

    Mugging may hurt assailant more...

    Microsoft has knifed Bluetooth by refusing to support the technology in Windows XP. "The format still seems to have some bugs in it... It looks like Bluetooth is not ready for prime time" Carl Stork, general manager of the Windows division, told EE Times at WinHEC last week. Stork added, we presume with a straight face, that " …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 19:20

  • Microsoft bungles IE bug fix

    Cross Patch, Turn the Latch

    Microsoft has come under fire from users who have discovered the company's patch to fix a potentially seriously security problem works only if they upgrade their browsers. As we reported last week, Microsoft issued a patch designed to fix flaws in the way IE renders binary attachments in HTML email. Problems in the way this was …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 19:26

  • Spooks cock snooks at RIP oversight

    Clipped wings for this watchdog

    British spooks are continuing to defy public oversight of the draconian Regulatory of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act. An interim report from Parliament's security services 'watchdog', the Intelligence and Security Committee, made it on the Web today, here. It's worth reading for all the wrong reasons: as it beautifully …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 19:36

  • America fully brainwashed by cybercrime FUD

    Yanks invite FBI to read their e-mail -- study

    Child-protective hysterics who want to eavesdrop on the electronic comings and goings of ordinary citizens in the name of legions of exploited little lambs have successfully won the hearts and washed the brains of nearly all Americans. The US populace is "deeply worried" about Internet crime; and on-line kiddie porn looms as …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 22:16

  • Intel pumps ups P2P cancer fight

    Screensaver and lifesaver

    The peer-to-peer project to find a cure for cancer will be the first of many hosted by Intel, according to company chief Craig Barrett. Barrett, whose son and grandson are currently fighting cancer, said at today's launch he hoped the Intel Philanthropic Peer-to-Peer Program would become a common site for similar schemes aimed …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 22:18

  • IBM goes matt-black (wireless) PC stylee

    Hasta La NetVista

    IBM today launched a wireless keyboard and mouse and five extra models for its NetVista X40 line of desktop PCs. The PCs include the NetVista X40i model, which comes with the Rapid Access Wireless Keyboard and ScrollPoint wireless mouse as standard. The black machine comes with a up to a 1GHz Intel chip and a 15-inch flat …

    Business 3 Apr 2001, 22:22