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12th April 2002 Archive

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  • Amazon ambushes Bunch of Fives

    IT-Minds.com returns fire

    This week's Bunch of Fives from IT-minds.com got ambushed by Amazon.co.uk. IT-Minds' featured lead offer - 20 per cent off the Linux Administration Handbook - looked generous, until compared with Amazon.co.uk. So £31.99 on IT-Minds plays £24.57 on Amazon. What would you choose? Amazon gouged the discount even deeper to an …

    Site News 12 Apr 2002, 07:27

  • Transmeta gets new CEO

    Perry to lead low-power processor firm

    Transmeta yesterday appointed Matthew R. Perry as its president and chief executive officer. Perry, 39, succeeds Murray A. Goldman as chief executive officer and Hugh Barnes as president. Goldman, 64, will continue to serve as Transmeta's chairman and Barnes retains his seat on the company's board. Perry served as vice …

    Channel 12 Apr 2002, 07:28

  • Ingram Micro extends Asustek gig

    What is pan-European?

    Ingram Micro Europe is extending its "pan-European relationship" with Asustek to - more countries in Europe. Which kinda suggests that previously, the gig was not really pan-European. Coming on stream is the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland, joining system builders in Austria and Germany who can already source Asustek …

    Channel 12 Apr 2002, 09:04

  • Microsoft postpones .NET My services

    Security concerns

    Microsoft Corp has delayed a set of planned online services for consumers - named .NET My Services - in response to growing concern over security and lock-in to Windows, Gavin Clarke writes. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said yesterday it has delayed .NET My Services so it can introduce new features. The features …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2002, 10:06

  • OpenMail Lives Again

    Samsung's First UC Systems Platform

    Samsung Data Systems, the IT products and services arm of the South Korean industrial chaebol, has launched an assault on the emerging global market for unified Communications (UC) systems based on the OpenMail email platform it acquired from Hewlett-Packard Co last year. Samsung is offering a 90% discount per mailbox to …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2002, 10:09

  • SEC launched then closed IBM probe

    Unusual comments

    The Securities and Exchange Commission took the almost unprecedented step of commenting on an informal investigation yesterday, after reports that it had begun a probe into IBM Corp's financial reporting rocked the US financial markets, Joe Fay writes. The SEC said that it had opened an investigation into IBM but closed it …

    Business 12 Apr 2002, 10:11

  • TSMC confirms plans to build in China

    Inevitable step

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has confirmed that it plans to commence production in mainland China by the end of this year, and that it is currently surveying prospective manufacturing sites. As the world's premier independent foundry operator, TSMC is the brightest star in Taiwan's chip industry, so its decision to …

    Channel 12 Apr 2002, 10:11

  • Global Crossing takes $8bn charge

    Ouch!

    Global Crossing Ltd is to write down $8bn of goodwill for its fourth quarter of 2001, and has warned that further billions may have to be written down at a later, unspecified time. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 28, has yet to file its fourth-quarter 2001 …

    Business 12 Apr 2002, 10:13

  • Oh No! not another chip foundry alliance

    Unprecedented? We think not

    Four very big semiconductor companies are pooling their R&D budgets for the development of 32nanometer CMOS process technology. The participants are Motorola, Philips, STMicroelectronics and - crucially - TSMC, the world's biggest chip foundry. The deal is for five years, and the Fab Four expect to spend $1.4bn by 2005 on the …

    Channel 12 Apr 2002, 10:30

  • Juniper stuck in the red

    Buy a router, someone. Please...

    The networking market continues to show little sign of an early recovery. Juniper Networks, the main competitor to Cisco Systems in high-end routers, yesterday posted net revenues for Q1 2002 of $122.2 million, 63 per cent down on the $332.1 million for the same period last year. Juniper recorded a net loss of $46m for the …

    Business 12 Apr 2002, 10:32

  • UK Govt backs data sharing

    Big Bro just got bigger

    The privacy of UK citizens could be under threat following the publication of a report which outlines plans for Government departments to share personal information without people's consent. Details were published yesterday by the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) in its report Privacy and Data-Sharing: The Way Forward for …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2002, 12:05

  • E-commerce sales soar

    Do what?

    E-commerce sales are booming, according to the latest figures from research outfit BizRate.com. It found that year-on-year online retail sales for the first three months in 2002 jumped 41% to $11.60 billion compared to $8.22 billion during the same period a year ago. The trend-bucking improvement has led BizRate.com to revise …

    e-Business 12 Apr 2002, 13:25

  • E-Envoy and team schmooze Seattle with MS again

    Returning to scene of crime

    It's spring in Seattle (OK, no it isn't), so it must be time for Microsoft's prestigious annual Government Leaders Conference, where movers, shakers and wannabees get to rub shoulders with Microsoft's High Command and sundry bigwigs. Glitter this year is provided by HRH Crown Prince Aleksander II of Yugoslavia, who may come in …

    Software 12 Apr 2002, 13:29

  • FSF ask Lindows: 'Where's the Source?'

    Work in progress

    Bradley Kuhn, vice president of the Free Software Foundation, says the organization is contacting representatives because the company has not included source code with its "sneak preview" releases. Lindows CEO Michael Robertson says his company will comply with the GPL when the product is released to the public. Kuhn says a …

    Software 12 Apr 2002, 13:32

  • Conspiracy to create ‘Cisco of China’

    Lucent trade secrets case extended

    The charges against three Chinese men accused of industrial espionage against Lucent were yesterday extended to include allegations of spying against four other companies. The trio, including two former scientists at Lucent's headquarters, now face 24 charges: the original conspiracy charge, 14 counts of possessing trade …

    Data Networking 12 Apr 2002, 13:35

  • First Amiga games for Windows devices to ship next week

    Amiga Anywhere strategy bears fruit

    Amiga's Microsoft relationship has borne near-instant fruit; the first Amiga Anywhere Entertainment Pack for CE, CE.NET, PocketPC and PocketPC 2002 is due to ship from Monday, April 15th. The pack comes with the Amiga Anywhere Content Engine, which allows Amiga Anywhere applications to run on Windows devices, plus four games, …

    Software 12 Apr 2002, 13:55

  • Pollutors whinge, and whinge, and whinge

    WEEE are the Champions

    The European parliament this week voted through some amendments to the proposed The Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which mean that manufacturers will have to pay only for the recycling of their own kit. Under previous proposals, manufacturers were collectively responsible for the handling of waste …

    Business 12 Apr 2002, 14:56

  • MS, IBM propose SOAP security kit for Web services

    Flexible, extensible, maybe even sensible?

    A team of researchers from Microsoft, IBM and VeriSign have put together a preliminary proposal for securing Web services with SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) extensions which will work with a variety of authentication and encryption schemes. Called WS-Security (Web Services Security Language), the proposed specification …

    Software 12 Apr 2002, 15:20

  • EMC sues HDS over patents

    Honest competition. Not

    EMC wants the US government to ban the importation of Hitachi Data Systems products which - it says- infringes six EMC patents. The HDS products include HORC, HOARC and ShadowImage The data storage giant says it "refuse(s) to compete against infringing imitations of our own inventions", even though the HDS product "do not …

    Hardware 12 Apr 2002, 15:23

  • Clinton worm variant makes fun of Sharon

    MyLife saga saps Internet security

    The Internet vandal behind the MyLife virus released four fresh variants this week, bringing the grand total to 10. The latest variants of the worm, which can delete files on an infected PC, are spreading to a modest extent and finding fresh victims despite their market similarities. Infection bearing emails, which all pretend …

    Malware 12 Apr 2002, 15:24

  • NTHellworld.com founder takes job with NTL

    Poacher turned gamekeeper?

    NTL has hired the founder of the NThellworld.com to create a new customer help site for the cableco. It's expected that the new NThelpworld.com will go live in around a month's time, providing Web-based support for the cableco's customers. However, the recruitment of Frank Whitestone - whose site has become a thorn in NTL's …

    Music and Media 12 Apr 2002, 15:25

  • Seagate profits up

    HDD makers do well

    Seagate posted GAAP net income of $196m on revenues of $1.81bn for Q3 ended March 29, 2002. Strip out restructuring charges of $4m and pro forma net income was $199m. For the same period last year, the disk drive maker declared GAAP net income of $24 million and pro forma net income of $57 million for the year-ago quarter. In …

    Personal 12 Apr 2002, 15:35

  • The light goes out on iPAQ H3800s

    But does it require a service event?

    So you bought a Compaq iPAQ H3800 and the backlit screen sometimes doesn't work? Don't fret, you didn't break it, you're not alone. Compaq is on the case: in a customer advisory, the company says: "When applying power to the iPAQ H3800 Series Pocket PC, the backlight may fail to illuminate. Holding down the power button to …

    Personal 12 Apr 2002, 16:24

  • NTHellworld.com protest site bought by NTL

    Not gagging critics, says cableco

    NTL has bought protest Web site Nthellworld.com for an undisclosed sum, The Register has learned. The cableco denies that it has done this to gag the critical site but instead claims that this online forum will help to improve customer service. Earlier today The Register reported how NTHellworld.com founder, Frank Whitestone, …

    Telecoms 12 Apr 2002, 16:24

  • Tricord execs bail out

    CFO, veep

    Tricord, the developer of niche cluster applications, has lost two senior execs in three days. On April 9, chief financial officer Steve Opdahl resigned, and on April 11, Kerry Yndestad, vice president of product development handed in his notice. Tricord does not have replacements for either, and has execs filling until new …

    Business 12 Apr 2002, 16:47

  • Infineon workers called out on ‘warning’ strike

    Bavarian creme

    Infineon employees in Bavaria who belong to the IG Metall trade union participated in a warning strike today over pay. IG Metall also called on workers at Siemens and Epcos in the state to join in. In total 9,400 workers from the three companies took part in the walk-out over pay. The union wants 6.5 per cent pay rises for its …

    Channel 12 Apr 2002, 17:03

  • The Mark of the Beast ID microchip

    Website of Revelations

    Recently my colleague John Leyden wrote about chips from a company called Verichip which will be implanted in humans (. He expressed reservations about the privacy implications, as we turn ourselves into organic dogtags. These Last Days Ministeries Inc, a mystical Marian group-cum-we-guess-from-the-inc-bit-business, objects to …

    Bootnotes 12 Apr 2002, 21:54