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5th August 2003 Archive

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  • SITA bags Eland

    Buys Irish integrator

    SITA, the data networking operator for the airline industry, has bought a small Irish integrator to improve its ecommerce skills. Its acquisition, Dublin-based Eland Technologies, has 60 staff based in Ireland, the UK and the USA. Terms are undisclosed. SITA is folding Eland into its Passenger and Travel Solutions business unit …

    Channel 5 Aug 2003, 07:39

  • JDA saves (some of) Engage from the knackers

    Bolt-on

    JDA has outbid rivals for "substantially all" of the assets of terminally ill Engage inc.. The enterprise software firm is stumping up $3m cash and assuming $800,000 in liabilities for Engage's advertising, marketing and promotion software. It is also taking on 30 Engage staff, but will move them to cheaper offices near the …

    Hardware 5 Aug 2003, 08:08

  • AMD unveils Opteron 246

    Almost a week after IBM did...

    AMD today introduced the Opteron 246, the latest iteration of its 64-bit CPU aimed at two-way workstations and servers. Thanks to a press release schedule accidentally emailed to all and sundry last month, the launch was anticipated. However, we note that AMD bumped the release back a day just to confuse all those who had been …

    Channel 5 Aug 2003, 08:42

  • MSN junks Monster.com for Career Builder

    Bit of a trend

    CareerBuilder.com has pulled off its second coup against Monster.com in a week, replacing the market leader as the US jobs board for MSN.com. It is committing to pay up to $150 million over five years to MSN - but the mixture of guarantees and performance-related payments are undisclosed. CareerBuilder is also cosying up to …

    Business 5 Aug 2003, 09:15

  • SoC designs threatened by PalmChip bus patent

    Prior art challenge

    PalmChip has warned fellow system-on-a-chip specialists that it now holds a key patent in the design of the buses that connect on-chip units and suggested they check their own technologies for signs of "conflict". The company was granted the patent, number 6,601,126 on 29 July. It was filed in May 2000. Entitled 'Core-chip …

    Channel 5 Aug 2003, 09:22

  • Lastminute hits profit again

    Splendid

    Online travel firm Lastminute.com has slipped back in the black, notching up a Q3 pre-tax profit of £1.6 million. The last time the dotcom travel and gift outfit reported such good news was back in Q4 when it scored a pre-tax profit (pre exceptionals) of £302,000 compared to a pre-tax loss of just under £4m during the same …

    Business 5 Aug 2003, 09:29

  • Union preps legal action as job fears loom at Direct Line

    Recognition wanted

    Finance union UNIFI has launched a vicious attack on general insurer Direct Line for failing to give it formal recognition. Nine out of ten staff at Direct Line's IT centres in Croydon and Pudsey near Leeds, have joined UNIFI in recent weeks, following fears that as many as 200 jobs could be lost as part of a general …

    Business 5 Aug 2003, 09:32

  • Analyst won't be surprised if IBM buys AMD

    Neither would we, but we don't think it'll happen

    IBM is going to buy AMD, sooner or later. That's how Illuminata analyst Jonathan Eunice is being widely quoted on the web, though the Austin American Statesman article that mentions Eunice's views actually says the analyst won't be surprised if it happens. A minor semantic point, but one that shifts Eunice's comment away from …

    Channel 5 Aug 2003, 10:02

  • Whither Informatica?

    Analytics rethink

    Informatica has been a very annoying company. It has nice people in it, it has good products, it is the market leader in its main area of business, and it is both profitable and growing. So, why was it annoying? And, by inference, why isn't it going to be annoying (I hope) anymore, writes Phil Howard of Bloor Research. …

    Hardware 5 Aug 2003, 10:04

  • StorageNetworks goes to the wall

    Dismembered

    Last week StorageNetworks, Inc. announced that it would seek the approval of its shareholders for a plan of liquidation of the company, writes Tony Lock of Bloor Research. At the same time the company announced that it has "terminated" all remaining employees of the company with the exception of a small transition team to …

    Storage 5 Aug 2003, 10:07

  • Cellphone maps for pedestrians

    m-spatial shows Vodafone where to go

    Location, location, location. There's been a lot of talk about location based services for mobile phones, writes Rob Bamforth of Bloor Research. Much has revolved around personalised location oriented advertising, and for a sneak preview of one version of that future take a look at the Tom Cruise film, Minority Report. But …

    Mobile 5 Aug 2003, 10:12

  • Power saving for phones – Intel's way

    Power down for XScale

    The problem facing Intel's attempt to move into the smartphone market is that Intel is notorious for throwing power at processor chips - electric power, that is - to make them fast. Intel has hit back with an "optimisation kit" for phones and PDAs. The new kits have been under test before launch, says Intel. "Results from …

    Mobile 5 Aug 2003, 10:22

  • File swappers ignore RIAA threats

    Don't know, don't care

    Internet users appear to be snubbing the RIAA as they continue to download music files with no regard for copyright, according to a US-based study by Pew. Despite aggressive challenges by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to on-line music suppliers like the defunct Napster, two-thirds of Internet users in the …

    Music and Media 5 Aug 2003, 10:32

  • AMD must focus on cost to beat Intel – report

    90nm or bust

    AMD must rapidly move to a 90nm fabrication process and shift quickly from its ClawHammer Athlon 64 to the 'Paris' core if it's to maintain or even grow its share of the x86 processor market, researcher In-Stat/MDR has warned. It will also need to recruit more tier-one vendors alongside IBM if it's to make Opteron as successful …

    Channel 5 Aug 2003, 10:46

  • Meet the ‘transhumanists’ behind the Pentagon terror casino

    Rumsfeld's gurus?

    If there was an other-worldly feel to the news last week that the Pentagon was investing in an online futures exchange to reward terrorist atrocities, then the following few days have been even stranger. Rather more than any 'sexed-up dossier', which is a dispute about the integrity of intelligence material, this episode tells …

    Music and Media 5 Aug 2003, 11:20

  • Soaraway censorware

    Filter Fish

    The threat of lost productivity and exposure to legal liability is boosting sales of Web filtering packages. Frost & Sullivan forecasts global sales of Web filtering technology will grow from $247.2 million in 2002 to $776.9 million in 2007. Media coverage of legal or disciplinary proceedings and high-profile dismissals as a …

    Security 5 Aug 2003, 11:35

  • MCI returns fire at AT&T

    'Malicious fabrications'

    MCI has hit back at allegations made by rival AT&T claiming they are merely an attempt to "delay and derail" MCI's exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District Court of New York about improperly rerouted long-distance calls, MCI said it had done nothing wrong. …

    Data Networking 5 Aug 2003, 11:43

  • BestBuy database said to list new Palms

    The mystical world of model numbers

    Palm will release three new PDAs in October: a pair of Zires and what looks like the rumoured Tungsten T3. They, at least, are likely bets if information from an anonymous poster on ClieSource who claims to be a Best Buy employee is accurate. The data coincides with a report on Brighthand also citing an anonymous source who …

    Mobile 5 Aug 2003, 12:24

  • Vodafone buys Project Telecom

    Founders trouser £100m

    Vodafone is buying Project Telecom, one of its airtime resellers, for £155m. The two founders and their families stand to make £100m from the deal. In April, Project Telecom issued a profits warning and has been effectively in play ever since. The company has approx. 185,000 customers - too small, analysts say, to compete in …

    Mobile 5 Aug 2003, 13:37

  • ATI unveils All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro

    Reg Kit Watch Plus: Addonics' DVD copier, D-Link's tri-mode WLAN kit

    Graphics card ATI today launched its latest All-in-Wonder multimedia card, the 9600 Pro. The new card extends previous editions' FM radio support, provides DVD and CD burning, and updates the All-in-Wonder series' remote control system. All-in-Wonder cards have offered built-in stereo radio receivers for some time, but the …

    Personal 5 Aug 2003, 13:37

  • BT boffins develop SMS ‘with feelings’

    Sub-Text

    BT has developed new technology that takes mobile messaging from the arena of 2D photo messages and voice clips to another level where "actual emotions can be conveyed between family and friends in a physical and tactile way". The research by BT Exact, BT's research business, allows interactive toys to be linked to mobile …

    Mobile 5 Aug 2003, 13:40

  • nCipher edges closer to break even

    Cash mountain

    nCipher, the niche crypto-security hardware house, has reduced Q2 operating losses to £500,000 (Q1, 2003: -£900K) on flat sales of £3.5m (Q1 £3.6m). The Cambridge, UK company's cash burn for the quarter ended 30 June 2003 was £300K, against £400K for the previous quarter. For the half year operating loss was £1.4m, much better …

    Security 5 Aug 2003, 14:18

  • Innovation Blue is the Colour

    LogoWatch Branding is the Game

    So what do you do when you merge two camera companies? You guessed it, you design a new logo. Not only do you design a new logo, but you are overcome with an inexplicable urge to imbue your new marque with instant import. You fail miserably to resist this inexplicable urge; instead you are irresistably drawn to tell world+dog …

    Bootnotes 5 Aug 2003, 15:12

  • Telewest unveils wireless BB pack

    Home Roam

    Telewest has launched a DIY wireless self-installation pack for its broadband cable service following the successful completion of trials in the North West. The new wireless pack costs £35 and makes use of a pre-configured Netgear access point with the cable modem already embedded in the company's digital TV set-top box. …

    Telecoms 5 Aug 2003, 15:36

  • SuSE and IBM secure Linux for the Feds

    Open source lockdown

    SuSE and IBM have moved a step closer to some meaty government and military contracts by helping Linux pass muster on a key security standard. The two vendors have met Evaluation Assurance Level 2+ (EAL2+) of the Common Criteria (CC) standard used by Feds the world over. This security seal of approval covers SuSE Linux …

    Servers 5 Aug 2003, 15:41

  • Wi-Fi to be embedded in 95% of notebooks by 2005

    Just in time for enterprise WLAN roll-outs

    Market watcher In-Stat/MDR has added to the growing weight of research reports that claim there are going to be lots of notebook PCs with built-in WLAN adaptors over the coming years. According to In-Stat/MDR's latest report, The Wi-Fi Field of Dreams: If You Embed Wi-Fi, Infrastructure will Come, the company reckons that some …

    Wireless 5 Aug 2003, 15:42

  • Britain: a nation of cyber snoopers

    Sneaky buggers

    Britain is fast becoming a nation of cyber snoopers, according to a study out today. The NOP survey, commissioned by Internet security firm Symantec, reveals that many of us would, given the opportunity, read messages or files on other people's computers and mobile phones. Men are the worst culprits, with just over a quarter …

    Security 5 Aug 2003, 16:27

  • UK birth certificates to morph into your life story, and more?

    The 'through life record' to provide 'focal point' for interested parties

    To little fanfare last month the UK's Office of National Statistics announced proposals for the creation of a central electronic database containing birth, death and marriage records. Announcing the publication of "Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change," and a consultation process running through until 31st October, the …

    Music and Media 5 Aug 2003, 16:55

  • Bumper Q1 masks Nintendo GameCube gloom

    Stellar GBA performance

    Nintendo shrugged off the gloom surrounding the underperforming GameCube to post first quarter net profits of £59.1 million (11.5bn Yen) for the three months to June 30 2003, buoyed by stellar Game Boy Advance console sales, foreign exchange rate gains in Europe and the well timed re-emergence of the Pokemon brand. Sales for …

    Personal 5 Aug 2003, 17:03

  • HP unleashes Linux cluster army

    Servers unite

    HP has kicked off an aggressive Linux clustering campaign with a set of pre-configured hardware packages and a list of software that rivals anything another vendor can offer. HP is making its presence felt at the Linux World conference with some of its top executives showing up to deliver keynotes. More impressive, however, is …

    Servers 5 Aug 2003, 19:04

  • SCO ready to clean out Linux users for $1399 per CPU

    Good scrubbings don't come cheap

    Linux users face a serious question. Is $699 too much to pay for a good bath? The $699 scrubbing fee is exactly how much SCO wants for one CPU's worth of a Linux license, and that's just for the time being. Come October 15, the single CPU fee jumps to a whopping $1,399. This is the latest word from SCO handed down by Mr. Clean …

    Hardware 5 Aug 2003, 21:58