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5th June 2001 Archive

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  • Taiwan needs to exploit China

    Computex Build our stuff cheap then buy it off us

    The Computex tradeshow in Taiwan kicked off with industry and trade officials saying how much they need to exploit China's cheap labour, land, and huge market for computers - but not give it enough resources to compete against Taiwan. China nipped past Taiwan in 2000 to become number three in the world's IT hardware producers …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 02:55

  • Desktop components in notebooks catch on

    Computex They're hot stuff and Dixons' digs 'em

    Korean hardware outfit KDS is ploughing a happy field bunging desktop components into its notebook range. It's particularly pleased with its KN8360DC model which incorporates a desktop hard drive. Visitors to the Computex trade show in Taiwan though they were witnessing the return of the luggable when they saw the thickness of …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 04:54

  • AMD shows off multiprocessing platform

    Computex Chip and chipset

    AMD has introduced its first multiprocessing-capable platform for one- and two-way servers and workstations at the Computex tradeshow in Taiwan. The AMD Athlon MP processor AMD-760 MP chipset support DDR memory. Multiprocessing workstations and servers based on the MP processor and the AMD-760 MP chipset will initially be …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 07:07

  • iomart extends DSL reach

    I SME you, you SME me

    Scottish broadband outfit iomart is to begin trials of a new DSL service later this summer which will make high-speed Net access accessible for more users. Its new rate adaptive DSL service - dubbed CopperSurf - will extend DSL reach capability to 5.5 kilometres. Currently, anyone looking to get hooked up to a DSL connection …

    Telecoms 5 Jun 2001, 07:18

  • 256Mb DDR on show

    Computex Mosel Vitelic pumps it out

    Mosel Vitelic has been showing off 256Mb DDR SDRAM on its stand at the Computex tradeshow in Taiwan. The company's display showed off the 256Mb DDR with these chipsets: VIA's Apollo Pro 266; the ALiMAGiK1; and the SIS 635. It also boasted a "512Mb registered DDR module for server/workstation" using AMD's 760 multi-processing …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 07:34

  • Just call it 'GNU/Linux', insists Sun founder

    This namespace ain't big enough for the both of us

    Richard Stallman's singular crusade to have Linux christened GNU/Linux got praise from an unexpected quarter yesterday. Sun Microsystem's chief scientist and co-founder John Gage credited RMS with creating the free software that made the Linux phenomenon possible, describing it as a fifteen-year sleeper hit. "Many overnight …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 09:10

  • VIA P4 chipset spanks the Intel 850

    Computex Not totally conclusive proof

    VIA has given a live head-to-head demo of its P4 chipset running against the Intel 850 chipset, using the 3D Mark 2001 bench test software. This is interesting, of course, because VIA hasn't got an Intel licence for its P4 X 266 chipset, which isn't even in production yet. The mano-a-mano punch-up was held at the Computex …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 10:09

  • US to get Nokia's 9210 ‘ultimate geek phone’ after all

    JavaOne BOFH classic gets glitzy

    North Americans will, after all, be able to use the world's most coveted phone. Later today we gather, Nokia President Pekka Ala-Pietilä will announce that the 9210 communicator will be tailored for the US market in his keynote at JavaOne in San Francisco. The 9210 was "launched" as long ago as last November in Prague, and so …

    Data Networking 5 Jun 2001, 10:13

  • Labour's last election txt message mocks Hague

    But u won't get it til we explain

    Labour is to send its second and last election text message tomorrow - just one day before the general election. It reads: "d:*0 WUCIWUG #:-0 VTE LBR 2MORO". The last bit is pretty obvious - Vote Labour tomorrow - but what the hell is the bit in front? Well, like all emoticons, you'll have to look at it from the side. Obvious …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 10:18

  • Uni chess course aims to spawn smarter supercomputers

    First chess PhDs to work on AI research

    Aberdeen University is to set up postgraduate courses in chess which it hopes will lead to the development of supercomputers even smarter at the game than grandmasters like Gary Kasparov. The Scottish University is launching Masters and three-year PhD courses this autumn with up to 40 places available. Prospective applicants …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 10:22

  • ASPs are the next big thing, after all

    Bullish IDC

    ASPs, as Application Service Providers are familiarly known, were not so long ago supposed to be the next big channel thing. However, customers have been less ready to commit to ASP-style firms. There has been an inevitable backlash among financial and IT analysts. But not IDC. It estimates that ASPs collectively produced …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 10:24

  • Napster nears deal with music industry

    But does anyone care anymore?

    Napster has almost reached agreement over a licensing deal with three of the big five record companies. AOL Time Warner, BMG Entertainment and EMI are hoping to turn the infamous song-swapping service - which was all but shut down by a blizzard of lawsuits - into something that, surprise, surprise, they can make a huge amount …

    Music and Media 5 Jun 2001, 10:27

  • Internet trade show spurns web, sticks to paper

    Internet World What's wrong with pen and paper anyway?

    At 10 o'clock the doors at Internet World 2001 opened with scores of people eager to get their first peek at the companies on show. A minute later and this hack was witness to the show's first argument. Chap in suit (annoyed): "Look I registered online, why do I have to fill out a registration card? Security: "Sir, you …

    Music and Media 5 Jun 2001, 10:55

  • Ballmer calls for Nokia partnership, Nokia coughs politely

    Always been firm friends, apparently...

    Speaking in Helsinki yesterday Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wished out loud for an "even deeper partnership with Nokia." This however would not appear to be the first sign of a rapprochement between the two companies - Nokia reps said as far as they were aware, Ballmer wasn't actually meeting anyone from the company this trip. …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 11:43

  • MS Enterprise resellers should adapt or die

    IDC warning

    IDC has warned Microsoft's enterprise resellers they will need to change their business model if they want to survive the upcoming software licensing changes. From October, Microsoft will try to snare more companies by dropping the minimum number of computers a customer needs from 500 to 250 desktops. The Licensing 6.0 scheme …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 12:16

  • ORBS' death: Alan Brown replies

    Succinctly

    Following the surprise disappearance of anti-spam company ORBS from the Internet, we have received a succinct email from its head Alan Brown over its demise. "I am unable to talk about anything. Alan." Alan has however been a little more expansive in an email sent to the users of his ISP Manawatu Internet Services. In it he …

    Music and Media 5 Jun 2001, 12:19

  • Playstation bootlegger escapes jail

    Back to flogging furniture

    A Northern Irish man has received a suspended prison sentence for counterfeiting games software. On May 25, Eugene Geraghty, a 35 year-old furniture store manager, was fined £2,000 and sentenced to three years, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to a variety of trademark offences before Newry Crown Court. The case …

    Games Industry 5 Jun 2001, 12:51

  • UK PC games industry: What recession?

    £219m spent in Q1

    The PC games industry stayed buoyant in the first quarter, with sales up five per cent on the previous year. Brits spent almost £219 million on computer and video games during the first three months of 2001, according to research by trade association the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). In terms of …

    Games Industry 5 Jun 2001, 12:54

  • Net malaise blamed for iomart lay-offs

    Up to 50 staff going

    iomart, the Scottish broadband provider, is to make up to 50 people redundant, it announced today. The company says it has "launched a consultation process with staff to restructure the organisation". iomart recently sold its Madasafish consumer ISP business, attacking the mad economics of some of its rivals. It decided to …

    Telecoms 5 Jun 2001, 13:03

  • Dead in the watermark, SDMI turns to chips, players?

    Many flee sdmi.org in terror, but there's a pattern to the new entries...

    A recent Federal filing by the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) reveals a massive cull/defection of members, and a small clutch of additions who may in some ways be related. The filing can be seen here, or is mirrored at Cyptome target="new"here. There are nine joiners, and 27 leavers. The volume of leavers might be …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 13:30

  • Wear your ATI graphics chip with pride

    Joins Xybernaut catwalk

    Xybernaut has selected the ATI Rage Mobility graphics chips to power its new Mobility Assistant wearable computer. It's not exactly a huge design win for ATI, but a nice high-profile one all the same. One day we'll all be wearing computers, but in the meantime, the subject - and Xybernaut - collects acres of coverage. The Rage …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 13:53

  • Tele2 trumpets wireless broadband

    Internet World Sound alternative

    Tele2 is to expand its broadband wireless network over the next 12 weeks, the operator announced at Internet World. Its wireless broadband service is currently available in Reading, Nottingham, Leicester, Bradford, Leeds, Bracknell and Wokingham but it intends to roll-out its service in Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield, …

    Telecoms 5 Jun 2001, 15:08

  • Euro dotcom execs fear the Order of the Boot

    Don't spray and pray

    Almost half of Europe's dotcom elite are panicking about losing their jobs. Forty-seven per cent of the top tech tycoons fear they will soon be laid off due to the current economic slump. Meanwhile, 65 per cent of those looking for a new job remain pessimistic about their prospects of finding one, according to a survey by …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 15:12

  • Net confessions fail to get Vatican blessing

    Evangelisation yes

    The Roman Catholic Church has ruled out the forgiving of sins online. The Pontifical Council for Social Communication will shortly issue a document stating that believers can only confess in person and to priests - not to servers, according to a senior Vatican official, Reuters reports. Archbishop John Foley, the president of …

    Music and Media 5 Jun 2001, 15:21

  • Nortel touts the light fantastic

    Blindingly fast

    Nortel will give the first live demonstration of its OPTera Connect PX photonic switch, at the Supercomm 2001 trade show in Atlanta this week. The PX redirects light from one optical fibre to another, without electronic conversion, using a micro-electro mechanical switch system with tiny moveable mirrors. According to Nortel …

    Data Networking 5 Jun 2001, 15:33

  • e-Envoy to speak at MS-sponsored Digital UK summit

    He of the MS-built, MS-only Government Gateway...

    The Office of the e-Envoy is now sending out a revised statement on the Government Gateway and its little problem with non Microsoft browsers and operating systems, but Government Gateway Statement2.doc (still in Word format, natch) adds little or nothing to the feast; meanwhile it emerges that e-Envoy Andrew Pinder is a …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 15:50

  • Maxtor gets 20GB 541DX off to OEMs

    Single-headed monster

    Maxtor has started shipping its 20GB 541DX hard drives to OEMs in volume. It claims the 5400 RPM Ultra ATA/100 hard drive offers a higher areal density than rival products. It is available in a single-head, single-platter configuration, and comes with 10GB, 15GB or 20GB of storage. It is also 38 per cent smaller than …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 15:51

  • Java is not a hairball – Official

    JavaOne Merely swelling in its maturity

    Sun brushed aside the 'Put Java On A Diet' by saying that developers want more, not fewer features. And Register readers overwhelmingly agree with Big Mauve. "It's not a hairball," Pat Sueltz told us. "It's becoming quite handsome." Rickie Green, Sun's VP of Java Development added: "It's a very delicate dance you have to do. …

    Software 5 Jun 2001, 15:59

  • LibDems should win election

    But people are too stuck in their ways

    The Liberal Democrats should form the next government but are unlikely to, because people are unwilling to question their beliefs. That, at least, is what a fascinating online experiment would appear to demonstrate. How2Vote.co.uk is a simple but remarkably effective Web site that aims to fit your beliefs with what the parties …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 16:02

  • Hague's concession speech leaked; Blair appoints himself to cabinet

    And other such stories

    Here's a site worth checking out - BrainsTrust.co.uk. Pitching itself as the British Onion, it heartily embarks on that grand voyage of satire that had provided some of the most memorable sketches of politicians and celebrities in the last fifty years. It being election time, inevitably, politics comes high on the site at the …

    Business 5 Jun 2001, 16:42

  • Small biz cool to broadband

    fails SME test

    Small businesses in the UK fail to see the business benefits of broadband Internet access, even if it were more readily available. This is the main conclusion drawn from a survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by market opinion outfit MORI, which highlights scepticism about the Internet as a suitable sales tool for …

    Telecoms 5 Jun 2001, 17:02

  • AMD unveils MP Athlon – but no big-name partners

    Munich Athlon finally does MP properly

    AMD has announced the multi-processing version of the latest Athlon iteration, based on the Palomino core, and the 760MP chipset that supports it, as predicted by world+dog. The part also shipped today, in 1.0GHz and 1.2GHz versions. The 128mm square die contains 37.5 million transistors. The 760MP supports up to 4GB of PC2100 …

    Channel 5 Jun 2001, 20:08

  • PSINet UK promises it's still alive

    Internet World Just the US that's in bankruptcy

    Troubled ISP PSINet has sought to reassure customers that it's still operating in the UK. Its stand at Internet World has been swamped by punters eager to find out how last week's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will affect its operations in the rest of the world. Despite the uncertainty, those on today's …

    e-Business 5 Jun 2001, 23:44

  • Tiscali unveils new-look high command

    Internet World LibertySurf a distant memory, a different era

    Fresh from shedding 300 jobs Tiscali UK is making its first public appearance as a newly unified company. According to the press release, Tiscali SpA is "the leading Internet communications company in Europe". It seems Internet World is the perfect opportunity to introduce Tiscali UK Business Services and its new …

    e-Business 5 Jun 2001, 23:44

  • Linux outfit in metatags ‘oversight’

    Where did those trademarks come from?

    A US outfit has been caught using rivals' trademarks in its Linux Web site metatags. US-based Guardian Digital inserted words such as "redhat", "va linux" and "cobalt" into the metatags on its site for its Engarde Linux product. The company also used the word "smoothwall" - which is the name of a British Linux-based firewall …

    e-Business 5 Jun 2001, 23:44