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25th July 2001 Archive

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  • US Senator aims to kill Win XP launch

    Maybe Gibson got to him

    You'd think it was an election year. US Senator Charles Schumer (Democrat, New York) called a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday so reporters might learn just how outraged he is by Win XP's inclusion of Microsoft photography, instant messaging and multimedia apps, which, he believes, will devastate the hardworking little- …

    Software 25 Jul 2001, 09:15

  • Stepstone needs more money

    Anti-recruitment

    In its broadest hint yet, Stepstone says it can "see a need for further capital before the company reaches profitability". Looking at its cash burn (after a restructure), one can see why: the company only has EUR46.9m left in the bank - enough to cover maybe four months of losses at the current rate. Stepstone's operating …

    e-Business 25 Jul 2001, 10:42

  • Elpida: DDR to outsell RDRAM in Q1 2002

    And may dominate DRAM biz in 2H 2002

    Elpida's DDR sales will have caught up with RDRAM shipments by the end of the year and will overtake them during the first three months of 2002, the memory maker said yesterday. Elpida reckons that by the end of 2001, DDR and RDRAM will each account for 15 per cent of the company's memory sales, based on preliminary orders for …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 10:46

  • Intel to phase out Rambus bundles

    Selling enough P4s now so RDRAM carrot not needed

    Intel has confessed that, yes, it is indeed going to stop bundling RDRAM with its Pentium 4 processors. It's a fair cop, guv. The chip giant's motive is simple: its P4 price cuts means in doesn't have to resort to giving memory away to encourage PC builders to buy the processor. The company also points to the fall in RDRAM …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 10:50

  • Hewlett-Packard virtualises storage biz

    Buys StorageApps for $350m

    HP is beefing up its storage business through the purchase of StorageApps. Headquartered in New Jersey, StorageApps describes itself as a "leading provider of storage virtualization solutions". No we don't know what it means either, but it must be very impressive if HP is willing to splash out $350m worth of stock to get its …

    Hardware 25 Jul 2001, 11:07

  • The axe falls at CNET

    Lops off 15% of heads

    CNET Networks is to reduce its headcount by a further 15 per cent, on the back of a deteriorating sales outlook for the rest of the year.The layoffs will take place by mid-September. The layoffs are CNET's second round of job cuts this year. In February it chopped 190 staff. But as the world's biggest tech portal, CNET has …

    e-Business 25 Jul 2001, 11:17

  • Mobo makers: Pentium 4 to dominate sales in Q4

    Gigabyte, Asustek etc. look to P4 to drive up average mobo prices

    Intel is set to launch faster Pentium 4s in Q4 - so much is known from the company's roadmap - but, according to motherboard maker Gigabyte, we can expect further price cuts too. The next round of P4 price reductions is expected to take place on 26 August, when the 2GHz P4 will be introduced. Further cuts will come on 28 …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 11:24

  • Vodafone drops below Orange and BT Cellnet

    Stops fudging figures but still making more money

    Vodafone has released its latest user figures and dropped from number one to number three on the UK. It now has 10.54 million users, compared to Orange's 11.9 million and BT Cellnet's 10.89 million. One2One has 7.6 million and Virgin 1.0 million. How come? It has followed the rest of the industry's lead and posted figures only …

    Business 25 Jul 2001, 12:04

  • ‘Microsoft Assport’ going up and down

    Update A real game of cat and mouse

    Our recent story on the MSN Communities bug, which lets outside surfers browse random image files belonging to Community members, contained a link which ceased to work shortly after we posted it. Naturally, we quickly received a series of alternate links from concerned readers, but those also died after a few hours' use. …

    Security 25 Jul 2001, 12:06

  • Palm m500 and m505

    Review Pair of PDAs

    Palm set the benchmark for keyboard-free PDAs with the introduction of the PalmPilot. Since then, competition from innovative developers such as Handspring has left the original design looking tired. With its latest devices, however, Palm proves that it's still got what it takes to trounce the competition and keep its customers …

    Personal 25 Jul 2001, 12:26

  • Microsoft hints at Japanese Xbox delay

    But that's not what Bill promised...

    Microsoft has admitted that Xbox's Japanese debut will follow the US launch and not take place on the same day as the company had originally suggested. The official line is that the Japanese launch will be "not too far behind" Xbox's appearance in US stores, which is currently scheduled for 8 November. However, the Microsoft …

    Personal 25 Jul 2001, 12:37

  • LogoWatch Special How Unix will save the planet

    Readers present convincing eco-case

    Last month, LogoWatch turned its attention to The Unix versus NT organisation. According to the blurb which accompanies its exciting new logo: The dark green color was chosen because it represents life, nature, growth, and ecology. This corresponds to the re-growth, rejuvenation, and general UNIX renaissance we now find …

    Bootnotes 25 Jul 2001, 12:40

  • Even when MS apes Unix the bugs keep cropping up

    Services For Unix has denial of service bug

    Microsoft makes security mistakes even when the software giant tries to emulate the approach to delivering services that Unix vendors take. That's the admittedly cynical conclusion we can infer from news that a denial of service vulnerability has cropped up in Microsoft's Service for Unix (SFU) 2.0. The software giant has …

    Security 25 Jul 2001, 12:44

  • Flashing film star knobs adorn mobiles

    Pick your favourite naked actor

    Malaysian police have seized a batch of mobile phone covers that display flashing pics of nude Hollywood stars. The 12 customised casings were grabbed during raids in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's The Star reports. The naughty phone covers show photos of famous actors and actresses, with nothing more than a few lights to cover …

    Personal 25 Jul 2001, 12:46

  • Posh Spice police suspect in phone crime

    And Consumer Association should be interested too

    The police said yesterday they were trying to track down a con artist that was compelling people to dial a number but receiving nothing in return - except that is a £1.50 premium-rate charge. We would suggest to the boys in blue that they start their inquiries with Victoria Beckham, wife of footballer David Beckham and formerly …

    Bootnotes 25 Jul 2001, 13:54

  • VIA Pentium 4 chipset ships to mobo makers

    Still set to undercut Intel on price

    News has surfaced once again that VIA's controversial P4X266 Pentium 4, DDR-based chipset will undercut Intel's own P4, SDRAM-based i845 chipset by 25-30 per cent. According to a short item over at Overclockers Workbench, VIA has begun shipping the P4X266 to mobo makers. Some 30,000 chipsets have gone out in the initial batch …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 14:24

  • 24xCD-R, 10xCD-RWs get pumped out

    Burn baby burn

    Production of 24x CD-R drives is ramping up and Plextor has kicked in with a CD-RW which offers: 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW, and 40x CD-read. It's an internal drive with E-IDE interface. Plextor isn't the first with this, and Ricoh says it has had 1-24x CD-R's available since the beginning of May, included in its MP7200A-DP 20x 10x …

    Personal 25 Jul 2001, 14:41

  • Outsourcing mucks up IT supply chain

    Woe is Cisco, Compaq, Palm etc.

    Guess what, outsourcing production to contract manufacturers causes more problems than it solves. Vendors today are unable to effectively adjust the supply of products from contract manufacturers to dramatic changes in demand, management consultancy Booz Allen claims. The result is "product shortfalls in times of high demand …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 14:54

  • SiS Pentium 4 DDR chipset details leak

    Not as smart as Acer Labs' rival part

    Details of SiS' official Pentium 4 chipset - as opposed to VIA's unofficial one, see VIA Pentium 4 chipset ships to mobo makers - have emerged on the Web over at Overclockers Workbench. SiS' chipset, the SiS 645, comprises a Northbridge part of the same name and a Southbridge called the SiS 961. Connecting the two is a 533MBps …

    Channel 25 Jul 2001, 15:01

  • RSA poses $200,000 crypto challenge

    Latest round of factoring competition sets tough test

    RSA Security is running a factoring challenge that offers would-be code breakers a prize of up to $200,000 for finding the two numbers of the kind used to create ultra-secure 2048-bit encryption key. The idea of the RSA Factoring Challenge, which has been set before with lower-strength ciphers, is to encourage research into …

    Security 25 Jul 2001, 15:03

  • BT promotes DIY DSL

    It's the only way you'll get it. Not til next year though

    BT is planning to allow you, Mr Consumer, to install DSL Internet access from next year. Beats waiting for the monster telco to bother. There is currently one trial going on that is "wires only", meaning that you are responsible for the modem and a BT engineer will install a service plate. What's a service plate? "It's a front …

    Telecoms 25 Jul 2001, 15:06

  • Metallica wants ‘to share music’

    Gone all pro-Napster? Not quite...

    It's official - Metallica supports music sharing and always has. What other conclusion can be drawn from once anti-Napster band's latest missive to its fans? Says the posting, on the Metallica Web site, "we look forward to continuing to share music with you in the future". A reference, perhaps, to Metallica's recent …

    Bootnotes 25 Jul 2001, 15:17

  • Hotmail fails to block SirCam worm

    MSN techies haven't bothered to update McAfee virus protection

    The anti-virus protection offered by Microsoft's Hotmail service hasn't been updated to protect users against the prolific SirCam worm. Register readers have written in to inform us that the McAfee virus scanning engine used by Hotmail does not stop users either sending or receiving the bug which has become a major nuisance for …

    Malware 25 Jul 2001, 16:43

  • This is the best Computer Science course in the UK

    Reg readers have their say

    About a fortnight ago, we got an email from Canadian reader David Powell asking us if we knew any good computer science courses in the UK because he was thinking of popping over here to do one. We hadn't a clue, so we asked you. Fortunately, we only left the story on the front page for a short while because we've received just …

    Business 25 Jul 2001, 16:49

  • Be revenues rise 615% to $715,000

    Thanks to Sony

    Alternative operating system developer Be appears to be pulling away from the brink of oblivion, if its second quarter results, posted this evening, are anything to go by. But it had better find some more paying customers, PDQ. Revenues for the three months to 30 June totalled $715,000, up from the $142,000 it posted for the …

    Business 25 Jul 2001, 21:31