14th August 2001 Archive
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Shareholders sue Rambus
If it hadn't committed fraud, it's share price wouldn't have fallen, suit claims
Having been stung with a $7.12 million payment to cover Infineon's legal expenses, Rambus now faces the prospect of further payouts to its own shareholders. New York-based law firm Beatie and Osborn filed a class-action suit against the memory developer late last week on behalf of shareholders. The suit alleges that Rambus …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 10:08
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ATI unveils Radeon 8500, 7500
Updated Not Radeon 2, Radeon 2VE after all...
ATI didn't surprise anyone by announcing its latest generation of graphics card today, but it did astound almost everyone by not calling the new products Radeon 2. The new cards, based on ATI's R200 and RV200 graphics chips, will be called the Radeon 8500 and Radeon 7500, respectively. As expected from the various leaks ATI …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 10:13
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Nvidia lost 13% marketshare in Q2
Probably behind the fridge...
ATI appears to be winning back the marketshare it has lost to its arch-rival, Nvidia, over the last year or so. According to the latest stats from market watcher Mercury Research, ATI's share of the desktop PC graphics business grew six per cent during the second quarter. By contrast, Nvidia's share fell 13 per cent. Mercury's …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 10:22
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US broadband row gets louder
And we think we've got problems...
A bitter war of words is raging in the US over the roll-out of broadband services across the country. Those in favour of the Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act - introduced in July 1999 - believe it will give a much needed fillip to the sector by removing red-tape that ties the hands of the Regional Bell Operating Companies ( …
Telecoms 14 Aug 2001, 10:29
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Handspring to update Visor line RSN
Ace, Columbia to supersede Deluxe, Platinum, say wagging tongues
Palm-based PDA maker Handspring is preparing some new models and price cuts to help it win back customers after a disastrous second quarter. Two new Visors are in the works, according to hints heard by Web site PDA Buzz: one codenamed Ace, the other codenamed Columbia. At least, we reckon they're codenames - as PDA Buzz notes, …
Personal 14 Aug 2001, 10:44
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You just have to check this out
Updated We've tracked down the song!
It's not often that we recommend some complete craziness on the Internet - in fact we have been doing it far less frequently of late, which may be a sad indication of how creativity has dried up on the modern Internet. However... You have to pay a visit to David Stevenson's, Rammstein's and Robert Manuel's musical comic lunacy …
Bootnotes 14 Aug 2001, 10:53
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IBM ditches AMD in US, Europe
Big Blue's Asian operation still a fan, however
IBM has confirmed it is no longer selling PCs based on AMD processors in North America and Europe - and hasn't done so since May. Hardly a ringing endorsement for Athlon and Duron, that. Quite apart from Big Blue's decision to drop the chips, no one else noticed for the best part of three months, until a CNET source tipped the …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 11:13
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Christine Hamilton moans about ‘Mr Plod’ reading her emails
Public whinge goes into day three
Christine Hamilton, wife of disgraced former MP Neil Hamilton and one of three people being investigated over rape claims, has continued her public whinging about her and her husband's treatment by attacking "Mr Plod" for reading her emails. She said: "I know an enormous number of people have been sending me emails... but I can …
Music and Media 14 Aug 2001, 11:16
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Tiny shifts PC manufacturing to Scotland
Chinese take-away
Tiny Computers is to pull its manufacturing facilities from China and shift them to Scotland. The UK outfit has started trialling a plant in Prestwick, near Glasgow, which will be able to pump out up to 3,500 computers a day for the British market. Tiny said today it had signed a five-year deal worth £200 million with …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 11:25
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Tech funds dry up as VCs take a holiday
Comms companies worst hit
Venture capitalists continue to desert the US technology sector, according to research published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and VentureOne. PwC reckons that this year $30 billion will be invested in tech companies, compared to $89 billion last year. Telcos, infrastructure companies and service providers are bearing the brunt, …
Business 14 Aug 2001, 11:29
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Blueyonder to launch new games site
That's what its broadband punters want
Blueyonder is to launch a new broadband games and entertainment site in September in a bid to show-off the potential for hi-speed Net services. Exact details of the site remain under wraps but online games playing will feature heavily. It's understood Blueyonder - the broadband service from cableco Telewest - has poached half …
Games Industry 14 Aug 2001, 11:36
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Fat cat severance packages for Lucent bosses
Ordinary workers get Schatt on
Details have emerged of a multi-million dollar severance package that struggling telecoms equipment manufacturer Lucent has paid out to its formed chief executive, Richard McGinn. Reuters reports that Lucent's quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals that it gave McGinn a $5.5 million one- …
Business 14 Aug 2001, 11:45
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Microsoft lays into Oracle (and Sun)
Interview Future belongs to SQL Server/Itanium
IT-Analysis spoke to Gordon Mangione, the vice-president of Microsoft's SQL Server Team, about SQL Server and where he sees it in the market. How's the year been for SQL Server? SQL Server has had a truly tremendous year. We've nailed down 35 per cent year-on-year growth. We've broken the $1 billion sales mark. And we aren't …
Hardware 14 Aug 2001, 11:45
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Fujitsu-Siemens LifeBook S-4572
Review Budget notebook
The LifeBook S-4572 only just scrapes in under the heading of Budget notebook at £1499, but this high price is partly compensated for by a few extras. The most notable of these is a combined DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive - the first we've seen at this price. The drive offers eight-speed DVD playback and 24-/8-/4-speed read/write/rewrite …
Personal 14 Aug 2001, 12:02
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MBO planned for Gateway UK and Ireland?
So we've heard
Plans for an MBO are afoot at Gateway's UK and Irish operations, we believe. The US PC maker announced it was shutting down UK and Irish operations, with the loss of 1,200 jobs last week, but it seems the local management think there's life in the business. This is in spite of the collapse of European sales by 46 per cent in …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 13:09
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Nokia 9210 Communicator – any good?
Reg Smartphone Roundup Part 3
The BOFH wonderphone, the much anticipated first Symbian open phone, has got off to a very shaky start. We've been using the 9210 for several weeks now and have to conclude that users should hold off for future revisions - although the interest piqued by this spectacular communicator (and the vast marketing campaign that goes …
Personal 14 Aug 2001, 13:16
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Mystery of crashing HP printers solved?
Telnet password bug prime suspect
A DoS vulnerability with the installation and management software used on HP's line of commercial print servers has been reported. The potential flaw, which HP has not so far publically acknowledged, is interesting not because it is particularly devasatating (it isn't) but because it may explain problems our readers are having …
Security 14 Aug 2001, 13:24
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RIPA Code of Practice goes out to public consultation
Already a year late
The Home Office finally put the Code of Practice for the RIP Act out to public consultation yesterday - more than a year after the Act received Royal Assent. The Act is extremely controversial because it gives the police and secret services unprecedented access to the personal communications of British citizens. It has also …
Music and Media 14 Aug 2001, 13:29
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US Net use increases
They love it they do
US Net users are spending more time online each month, according to the latest stats from Jupiter Media Metrix (JMM). Despite the downturn in dotcom land, analysts found that people in the US spent on average 20.7 hours online in July 2001 - two hours more than in the same month last year. Question is, what are they up to? …
Music and Media 14 Aug 2001, 14:03
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Linux game maker Loki runs out of cash
Linux users don't want Linux games
Loki Software, which specialised in porting A-class PC games to Linux, has filed for bankruptcy. According to a report on LinuxPorts, the company owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to Activision and other publishers it has worked with. The company's problems are perhaps unsurprising as Linux gaming is something of a niche …
Games Industry 14 Aug 2001, 15:23
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Nvidia eyes mobile workstation market with Quadro 2 Go
What do you mean, there isn't a mobile workstation market? So, we'll make one...
Nvidia today introduced a mobile version of its workstation-class graphics processor the GeForce Quadra, the latest push in the company's war to win control of the mobile graphics market away from arch-rival ATI. The Quadro 2 Go is essentially the equivalent of the GeForce 2 Go. The chip consumes less power than the regular …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 15:24
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AOL job cut speculation rises to 1,000
Yesterday it was just hundreds
There's growing fears that AOL-Time Warner is about to make up to 1,000 people redundant at its online division. WashingtonPost.com reports that an announcement on the job losses is expected within the next fortnight, citing unnamed sources close to the media giant. The report adds that jobs are set to go at the online …
e-Business 14 Aug 2001, 15:28
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Nintendo chief speaks
Why there won't be a modem or many third-party games at GameCube's launch
With Nintendo's preparations for SpaceWorld 2001 in full swing, Japanese magazine GB-Advance caught up with director Satoru Iwata to discuss third-party relations, software strategies and more. Among comments about the GameCube's successful reception at E3 and his thoughts on how the software lineup conveys "Nintendo's …
Games Industry 14 Aug 2001, 15:28
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UK govt slammed for sucking up to Compaq
Brit PC builders excluded from £2m contract
The government is under attack for excluding British companies from a multi-million pound contract to dish out computers to MPs. Under its latest IT scheme, the government has promised each Member of Parliament three PCs and one laptop. And it has entered into a contract with US computer giant Compaq to provide all the …
Channel 14 Aug 2001, 15:34
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I beg your pardon, I never promised you a (Princess Di) rose garden
Domain names just part of dispute
An American businesswoman, Bonnie Masterson, has caused some bristling of skirts in England's gardens through the promotion of a rose garden in commemoration of the late Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Ms Masterson has used her position as vice-president of the Royal National Rose Society (RNRS) to raise awareness and money …
Music and Media 14 Aug 2001, 16:55
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IT giants whacked by Code Red
Lucent joins Microsoft in the hall of shame
The IT industry has demonstrated its fumbling approach to dealing with major security issues once again with the outbreak of the Code Red worm. As previously reported, our spies in Redmond told us Microsoft's internal network became infected with Code Red, almost certainly after a smart-arsed techie saw fit to ignore the …
Malware 14 Aug 2001, 16:58
