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18th June 2001 Archive

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  • NSA secures Win-2K

    Civic-minded spooks

    Your tax dollars have been put to good use for a change, as the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been busy figuring out how to make Windows 2000 more secure, and has released a set of templates and instructions to enable anyone to batten down their '2K hatches. The package had been available briefly at NSA's Web site, but …

    Software 18 Jun 2001, 06:47

  • Oh no! Not another channel programme!

    Software resellers shun accreditation

    The number of enterprise software purchase influencers in the US channel will double to 47,000 companies in 2001, a market research firm claims. As product margins and average selling prices (ASPs) slip, it becomes less attractive to jump through ever-increasing financial hoops to obtain and retain channel accreditation. Lack …

    Channel 18 Jun 2001, 08:47

  • Intel slices up to 37% off Mobile Celeron prices

    Golly

    Intel cut the prices of selected Mobile Celeron processors yesterday, as we anticipated. "These moves are part of Intel's strategy to align the prices of individual products to meet the needs of each market segment," is the official line. ® Mobile Celeron       CPU New Price Old Price Cut 800MHz $107 $170 37 …

    Channel 18 Jun 2001, 09:23

  • BT share issue off and running

    Been pretty popular, as it turns out

    BT's massive £5.9 billion rights issue is off and running and the telecoms giant has revealed that 89.5 per cent of shareholders have decided to take up their allocation. Nearly all institutional investors have gone for the offer to buy extra discounted BT shares (three for every 10 held), but 1.8 million private investors ( …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 10:13

  • MemoWatch Nortel ‘re-aligns’ 10,000 employees

    Six point plan to oblivion

    Networking equipment monolith Nortel is in big trouble. The Canadian company recently announced record losses of U$19.2bn. To put that in perspective, this amount would be more than enough to run a couple of banana republics for a decade, keep Imelda Marcos in shoes for a year and still have change to see George Formby at the …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2001, 10:35

  • Compaq to beat Palm on PDA revenue – Gartner

    But only with some questionable maths

    Palm is certainly having problems, but is the PDA company really in quite as much trouble as market research firm Gartner Group is suggesting in its latest report? Gartner report, apparently to be released today but announced early and uncritically on CNET, goes as far as to claim Compaq will make more money selling iPaqs this …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 10:38

  • E-district.net coughs up to ‘financial irregularities’

    Looks to the future

    E-district.net has confirmed that key financial and operational data was fabricated at the dotcom. Releasing full year results for the year ended 31 December 2000, the entertainment and games outfit confirmed preliminary investigations which pointed to widespread "financial irregularities" at the AIM-listed company. The full …

    e-Business 18 Jun 2001, 10:49

  • Time Ellipse 700

    Review Super-budget PC

    Time's sub-£400 Ellipse 700 may be cheap, but it's a system of compromises. With its reliance on underpowered onboard peripherals, the 700MHz AMD Duron processor is hardly the most promising start, and its WorldBench score of 110 is a throwback to the figures we were getting from mainstream PCs six months ago. The poor 64MB of …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 10:51

  • Dotcom casualties litter skid row

    Database programmers sleeping rough in San Jose

    Former dotcom workers in Silicon Valley have ended up on skid row after their high flying firms went titsup.com. It's always being thought that staff from failed e-commerce ventures had gained marketable experience, however ropy the business plan of the firms they worked for was. However Associated Press has uncovered evidence …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 11:02

  • Tiscali UK culls celebrities

    'Portal with personality' gets personality transplant

    Tiscali UK is to ditch a number of celebrity columnists from its LineOne portal just six months after they started work. It's not known exactly who will be for the chop but sassy actress Joan Collins could well be a victim of Tiscali UK's latest axe-wielding exercise. It seems the Italian-owned ISP is tightening the purse …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 12:12

  • MSNBC doctors anti-MS WSJ story

    All the GNUs are printed to fit

    MSNBC has been caught doctoring copy originating from the Wall Street Journal to make it more favourable to the news channel's co-owner Microsoft. The changes introduced by MSNBC also had the effect of removing references to Microsoft competitors. Amongst many fairly harmless edits, designed to improve readability, were some …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 12:16

  • Nvidia nForce mobos $100-$120

    Plus a pumped up preview

    Though Nvidia isn't saying anything about the pricing of its nForce integrated graphics chipsets we're getting a few numbers back from system builders. The 64-bit nForce 220, formerly known as Crush 11, is priced at $45 without audio and the 128-bit nForce 420 - aka Crush 12 - is $55 because this has got the Dolby Digital 5.1 …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 12:19

  • Lawyers raise fears over AltaVista's search engine

    Data protection at stake

    Lawyers have warned that companies using AltaVista's new search engine technology are at risk of breaching data protection laws. Launched last week, AltaVista's new software lets people search entire corporate networks allowing employees to access all network folders, personal computers and emails. Announcing the launch, Phil …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 12:22

  • Intel to launch Tualatin tomorrow?

    Latest leaks say it will

    Intel will officially launch its 0.13 micron Pentium III die-shrink, codenamed Tualatin, tomorrow, 19 June, if company sources cited by Web site X-bit Labs are to be believed. With a clock speed of 1.13GHz (as predicted) and an L2 cache of 256KB or 512KB (ditto), tomorrow's Tualatin will apparently be aimed at the server market …

    Channel 18 Jun 2001, 12:25

  • Storm clouds have silver lining for portal site

    Met Office invests in unpredictable weather market

    The Met Office, Britain's government run weather forecasting agency, is investing £500,000 in an e-commerce firm which aims to create a market for trades based on the weather. Weatherxchange.com, a joint venture between the Met Office and technology partner Umbrella Brokers, will provide information about the weather from …

    e-Business 18 Jun 2001, 12:38

  • Pentium 4 to be upped to 1.8GHz on 2 July

    Squeezed in before 2GHz part ships?

    Intel will fill out and extend its Pentium 4 line-up with two new versions in two weeks' time, on Monday 2 July, Web site X-bit Labs has claimed, citing sources close to the company. The two chips will increase the P4's top clock speed to 1.8GHz, and add a 1.6GHz part between the current top-end part, the 1.7GHz chip, and the 1 …

    Channel 18 Jun 2001, 12:43

  • Microsoft and Vodafone launch mobile Outlook app

    It's the best thing since the PC, apparently

    Microsoft and Vodafone have launched new products that will enable you to pick up Outlook emails from your mobile phone. The plan is to extend it to any Web-enabled apps. On Microsoft's part, it has produced Microsoft Mobile Software, run on the Microsoft Mobile Information 2001 server (MMIS); Vodafone has launched Vodafone …

    Data Networking 18 Jun 2001, 13:26

  • Nintendo US flogs 500,000 GameBoy Advances

    Looking for one million in first month

    Nintendo says its GameBoy Advance sold through 500,000 units during its first week on the market in the US, and claims this makes it the US' fastest selling game system ever. It went on sale on 11 June and total shipments are on track to reach more than one million by the end of June. The GameBoy Advance goes on sale in the UK …

    Games Industry 18 Jun 2001, 13:28

  • No AMD Athlons faster than 1.6GHz this year

    Apparently

    AMD won't have a 2GHz Athlon out this year and the company's fans probably won't see one before Q2 2002. So says roadmap data posted on Danish (?) Web site ComputerDK. According to the site's handy little table, the Athlon will, as expected, jump up to 1.5GHz and 1.53GHz during Q3, but the best AMD can manage for Q4 is 1.6GHz. …

    Channel 18 Jun 2001, 14:32

  • Oftel gets tough with phone scams

    Sort it - or we send the boys round

    Oftel is to clamp down on people running phone-related scams after seeing a rise in complaints concerning "find me anywhere numbers". Today's missive from the winged watchdog focuses on the misuse of personal numbers beginning with the prefix 070. While many people use these numbers legitimately (they enable people to have one …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 14:56

  • Maxtor goes volume with 100GB and 80GB drives

    The 80GB uses two double-sided 40GB platters

    Maxtor is pushing away at the fat end of the hard disk market, saying its 100GB DiamondMax D536X and 80GB DiamondMax D540X are volume production. The DiamondMax D540X stacks two double-sided platters to achieve 80GB because Maxtor has managed to bump the data-storage of a two-sided drive platter from 20GB to 40GB. This …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 14:58

  • Microsoft buys Xbox name off true owner

    Not for very much, we reckon

    Microsoft has bought the Xbox trademark off its original owner for undisclosed sum. The current incumbent, Xbox Technologies, will change its name. Surprise, surprise. Well, when Xbox Technologies' attempts to get money out of Microsoft emerged earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before the Beast of Redmond got its …

    Software 18 Jun 2001, 15:26

  • Level 3 culls 1,400 staff

    Cuts sales forecasts

    Level 3 Communications is canning 1,400 workers and has lowered its 2001 sales estimates. The network provider now anticipates 2001 revenues of $1.5 billion, down on earlier projections of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion. "The continuing slowdown in the economy is significantly impacting our business," said CEO James Crowe. The …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 15:26

  • Business Systems Group gets down to earth

    Idle hands

    Usually when a computer dealer begins to call itself an e-business consultancy, it is time to look for a large vat of salt to pinch. But not in Business Systems Group's case. Once a major UK reseller shifting tin to all sorts of corporates, BSG is now an almost fully-fledged consultancy-cum-Web applications software house. But …

    e-Business 18 Jun 2001, 15:43

  • Home Secretary mulls green card immigration scheme

    Good news for IT folk - but what of IR35?

    The new home secretary David Blunkett has suggested he will introduce a US-style green card system in the UK for immigrants. The scheme works by giving priority to those with skills needed in the country. IT professionals would come high in the list thanks to a skills shortage. A Home Office spokesman stressed however that …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 16:01

  • CueCat workers face mass redundancies

    DigitalConvergence skirts around titsup.com atoll

    DigitalConvergence, which markets the CueCat scanner, has become the latest victim of growing sentiment in the market against Internet stocks. Peter Eschbache, a vice president at the Dallas-based start-up, confirmed that a large number of employees were told they would lose their jobs last Friday, though he didn't have exact …

    e-Business 18 Jun 2001, 16:06

  • iSyndicate follows the YellowBrix Road

    From Chapter 11 safety

    iSyndicate, the US online syndication business, is selling itself to a rival concern, Yellowbrix. The enlarged group has 400 paying customers, concentrated in the corporate sector. iSyndicate is seek to complete the sale from the safety of Chapter II - the company has filed for this bankruptcy protection today. Presumably this …

    e-Business 18 Jun 2001, 16:26

  • Online spending fell in May

    By $400m. Ho-hum

    Online spending in the US and Canada fell by $400 million in May according to the latest figures from Forrester Research. Total monthly online sales fell from $4.3 billion in April to $3.9 billion in May. The number of households shopping online also fell from 15.7 million in April to 14.8 million in May. Consumer spending …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 16:43

  • Lunatic pulls gun on Captain Cyborg

    We have the exclusive picture

    A lunatic pulled a gun on Captain Cyborg during his gibberish tour of Switzerland and here is the exclusive snap. While the man handling the gun is a lunatic, sadly he failed to blast a small piece of metal through Kevin Warwick's cyborg exo-skeleton rupturing internal organs on the way. The crazed geek is instead fellow …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2001, 16:47

  • Notebook TFT LCD prices to rise in Q4

    After plunging 23% in Q2

    The TFT LCD glut which caused notebook-size panel prices to fall in Q1 2001 is ending and screen prices are expected to start rising by Q4. But before that happens prices will have fallen by 23 per cent in the current quarter ending 30 June, following the 17 per cent plunge in Q1. According to DisplaySearch, a research …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 16:49

  • Creative Labs preps 1394-based digital music rig

    Let's hear it for Audigy

    Creative Labs' SoundBlaster Audigy sound system - details of it, at least - have leaked out onto the Web. Part of what looks suspiciously like the company's launch presentation has been smuggled out onto a Russian Web site. Creative describes the as-yet-unannounced Audigy - from 'Audio Energy'? - as "the most advanced digital …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 17:03

  • Toshiba debuts cheap hi-res digital camera

    Consumers offered four megapixel tech

    Toshiba have announced details of digital camera that features the ability to capture high-resolution images with a 4.2 megapixel screen. The PDR-M81 digital camera will be unveiled by Toshiba at PC Expo trade show in New York on June 24, and is expected to be available from July at a retail price of around $600 (says dpreview. …

    Business 18 Jun 2001, 17:31

  • ORBS splits into ORBZ and ORBL

    It's all go

    We reported on Friday how anti-spam company ORBS has been reborn as ORBS UK, after its demise following a New Zealand court case. The owner of ORBS UK, Paul Cummins, has been back in touch to tell us that he has renamed the company ORBZ - standing for Open Relay Blocking Zone. He was also keen to point out that Actrix and Xtra …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2001, 17:33