11th March 2004 Archive

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SCO shares keep on sliding

Cash Register Even with filling for the pie

While The SCO Group heats up it licensing attacks, investors continue to dump shares of the company at an astonishing rate. When we last wrote on the subject in early February, SCO's shares were hovering just below the $14 mark. Since that time, SCO has dipped well below $10 per share, dropping all the way to $9.51 today on a 7 …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 02:04
Hynix unveils 550MHz DDR ‘first’

Alternative to DDR 2

Hynix will start mass-producing 550MHz DDR SDRAM chips next month, the memory maker announced this week, claiming the speed's availability as an industry first It is already sampling the technology. The South Korean company said it is pitching the memory at PC enthusiasts who want faster RAM but don't necessarily want to …

Channel 11 Mar 2004, 09:32
ATI 'drops pixel, vertex shader 3.0 support' from R420

Focusing on the tech games developers are actually using

ATI's upcoming R420 graphics chip will not support DirectX 9's version three pixel and vertex shaders. So claims German web site 3D Center, saying that the absence is "beyond doubt". The site argues that since the R420 is derived from the older, proven R300 architecture, it would never have been easy to 'bolt on' pixel and …

Channel 11 Mar 2004, 09:59
Intel to launch $120 2.4GHz Prescott

Available by month's end, apparently

Intel has begun hawking a 2.4GHz version of its 90nm 'Prescott' Pentium 4 to system builders and mobo makers, and will ship the part at the end of March. The low-clocked part was never mentioned at Prescott's launch early last month, but emerged among Intel's list of boxed processors which have been certified to conform with …

Channel 11 Mar 2004, 10:12
MS moves to purge Lindash from Benelux

Lindows under the cosh - again

Microsoft is to sue Lindows over its new name, Lindash, which it adopted a month ago to avoid further legal action in Benelux, Webwereld reports. In late January, Lindows was served a preliminary injunction to keep it from selling the operating system under the Lindows moniker. The name created too much confusion, Microsoft …

Software 11 Mar 2004, 10:17
M-Systems ships $40k 90GB Flash drive

Small drive, big price tag

Memory specialist M-Systems this week released a 90GB hard drive based not on spindles, platters and mobile read/write heads but solid-state Flash memory. The announcement comes a week after the company's CEO, Dov Moran, claimed that Microsoft - an M-Systems customer - has dropped the hard drive from the Xbox 2 spec. That …

Storage 11 Mar 2004, 10:29
George Michael offers free songs on Internet

Wake me up before you download

George Michael has declared that he is going to give his music away for free on the Internet. Speaking yesterday on the Jo Whiley show on BBC Radio 1, the pop star also announced that he will never make another album. He says he doesn't like the fame, and certainly doesn't need the cash. Fans will be given the option to donate …

Music and Media 11 Mar 2004, 10:52
BOFH: Protecting our backs from litigious attack

Letters special SCO? Never heard of 'em

It's not often that the Vulture Central Letters Directorate allows Reg reporters and contributors to bathe in the warm glow of praise. This is not because the hacks don't occasionally knock out a half-decent piece, but rather to protect management against aggressive claims for more money/suite of offices/personal assistant, etc …

BOFH 11 Mar 2004, 10:54
Fujitsu Siemens to carry on reselling EMC kit till '08

Signs on dotted line

Fujitsu Siemens has signed on the dotted line to flog EMC storage systems throughout EMEA until 2008. EMC is so delighted that it has promptly named Fujitsu Siemens as its supplier of the year for the second year in a row. And quite right too: for it has retained a very big reseller, which could have always gone off to half- …

Storage 11 Mar 2004, 10:57
Israeli teen quizzed over US cop file hack

Pardon me boy - are you the Pennsylvania hacker?

An Israeli teenager suspected of hacking into a US police system and erasing records has been arrested and questioned by local police. The unnamed 19-year-old was released on bail after appearing before a court yesterday in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The youth, who may be charged with computer fraud offences, …

Security 11 Mar 2004, 11:08
Europe's tail wags Tech Data's dog

Falling dollar, Azlan keeps profits up

The falling dollar and new money from Azlan helped Tech Data to easily exceed year-on-year net income and revenues for Q4, ended 31 January, 2004. The distie giant had net sales of $4.9bn, 22 per cent higher than last Q4's $4bn. Net income was $38.9m, against a net loss of $303m last time around. Last year's Q4 had a whopping …

Channel 11 Mar 2004, 11:33
US Senate takes protectionist stance

Opinion Outsourcing? Not in our back yard

The US has taken another step to protect its jobs from the threat of outsourcing, writes Bloor Research analyst Bob McDowall. Last week the US Senate approved a motion preventing companies from carrying out Government work outside the USA, unless it is in the interest of national security. None of this is surprising in a US …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 11:55
Madrid bombings strain mobile phone network

Operator asks clients to limit calls

Mobile operator Telefónica Móviles has appealed to Madrid residents to limit their mobile phone calls to reduce network congestion after this morning's bomb attacks in the Spanish capital. More than 170 people were reportedly killed after four bombs went off at busy train stations at the beginning of the morning rush hour. The …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 12:25
Kazaa to appeal data seizure order ruling

Judge failed to consider vital evidence, it claims

Kazaa owner Sharman Networks today said the company will appeal against an Australian Federal judge's ruling that information seizure orders granted to the music industry last month be allowed to stand. The P2P purveyor damned Judge Murray Wilcox's original decision to grant the orders as "an improper exercise of the …

Music and Media 11 Mar 2004, 12:32
French music rights holders threaten to sue Apple

Back 'em or Sacem

Apple's legal woes continue. Yesterday, a French music rights management organisation threatened to sue the Mac maker if it fails to cough up a levy imposed on recording equipment as a compensation against piracy. The Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (Sacem) claims that Apple has failed to add that levy …

Mac Channel 11 Mar 2004, 12:55
MS legal case: Dash is 'dows, 'dows means Windows, which we own

Embracing and extending its way through the alphabet

Court documents obtained by The Register show Microsoft's legal campaign to stamp out Lindows in Benelux becoming positively surreal. In addition to merely demanding the impossible, i.e. blocking Benelux access to the Lindows.com site, the company insists that Lindows.com should stop using names that might sound like names that …

Software 11 Mar 2004, 12:55
Japanese unveil trumpet-playing robot

Cybersatchmo - a great step forward for humanity

Japanese car maker Toyota is resolutely determined not to be outdone in developing the world's most pointless novelty robot. Responding to the gauntlet thrown down by Honda's Asimo and Sony's Qrio - the latter of which can sing and dance - Toyota has unveiled an unnamed, 120cm-high trumpet-playing assemblage of components, …

Rise of the Machines 11 Mar 2004, 13:11
Mobile phone sales forecasts up

580m handsets to go in 2004

Following strong sales in the first few weeks of the year, Gartner has upped its forecast for the number of mobile phones to be shipped in 2004 to 580m. The technology analyst reported that sales in 2003 exceeded industry expectation, to the point that vendors struggled to meet the demand for new mobile handsets. Worldwide, …

Mobile 11 Mar 2004, 13:12
More NetSky worms. So much for quitting

Copycats?

Two new NetSky worms appeared on the scene yesterday, despite a promise by the original author this week to refrain from releasing any more versions. Differences in the code of NetSky-L and NetSky-M from their 11 older siblings have led anti-virus researchers to suspect that they are the work of a copycat. This suggests the …

Anti-Virus 11 Mar 2004, 13:21
Atos Origin: resilient under pressure

Confident despite drop in revenues

The September 2002 acquisition of part of KPMG Consulting's business drove Atos Origin to post a net loss and declining revenue last year. While the company may also struggle initially to absorb Sema, its latest purchase, it remains well placed overall in the IT services sector. Parisian services provider Atos Origin has …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 13:22
Introducing Dasani – the water with added, er, protein

Revealed: Coca Cola's secret ingredient

Coca Cola is to be applauded for introducing enhanced water in the form of Dasani - a "cool, vibrant, refreshingly blue" improvement on the original. About time too. Water was always a tasteless, lacklustre product; dangerous to small children when stored in ponds and swimming pools and required in huge amounts for putting out …

Bootnotes 11 Mar 2004, 14:51
MS delays Yukon

Whidbey release date also gets wobbly

Microsoft yesterday confirmed a decision to delay the next versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio until next year. These are needed for testing and quality assurance work, says the software giant, which until recently has been talked of a 2004 debut for both packages. Analyst Gartner questions the improving QA justification, …

Software 11 Mar 2004, 15:00
Nortel delays results

How deep does the rabbit hole go?

Nortel Networks is to delay filing 2003 annual financial statements because of continuing investigations. The Canadian networking giant launched an independent review of its finances in October 2003 when it said it needed to restate some of its results for last year. This has determined that Nortel is likely to have to restate …

Data Networking 11 Mar 2004, 15:38
Amsterdam braced for Apple store invasion

Are three new outlets a bridge too far?

The good burghers of Amsterdam will next month be able to avail themselves of no fewer than three Mac stores - a vast improvement on the one tiny outlet which served the city just a year ago. Two of the new stores will be similar to those of the chain of US Apple-owned stores. So, has Apple gone mad? Well, not really. The three …

Channel 11 Mar 2004, 15:55
Starbucks readies music download service

Apple-served?

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched the company's iTunes Music Store, he compared each song's 99c price tag with the cost of a latte. The coffee analogy has proved oddly prescient, since Apple may soon be serving up song downloads to Starbucks customers. Next Tuesday, the coffee shop chain will announce its intention to launch …

Music and Media 11 Mar 2004, 16:51
Leaked Nintendo DS specs reveal touch screen, Wi-Fi, 3D graphics

'Nitro' details reveal a very different beast to the GBA

A document leaked onto the Internet purporting to be a full specification for Nintendo's forthcoming DS handheld includes a touch panel input device, 802.11 wireless LAN support and a 3D graphics system. The one-page specification summary, written entirely in Japanese, also provides further confirmation of many things we …

Personal 11 Mar 2004, 17:02
Microsoft, Sun, IBM and the war for government desktops

Analysis But the real war's elsewhere...

It's been a good year so far for Microsoft UK - a couple of high profile open source insurrections in the public sector headed off, and an honorary knighthood for Bill, so who could ask for more? But the UK could be where Microsoft finally begins to taste defeat on the desktop, and where the Windows franchise starts to buckle. …

Software 11 Mar 2004, 17:27
HP owes Canada $120m, claims official

Promises not kept

The Canadian government has fingered Hewlett Packard in a C$159m ($120m) services contract scandal. The Department of National Defence (DND) claims that HP - and the old Compaq - failed to deliver on contracts dating back to 1991. HP was paid for the work, but the work was never done, say the Canadian feds. If HP cannot prove …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 20:47
IBM woos SMBs with new servers

Serial ATA made easy

IBM continues to go after the small business market with a pair of new low-cost servers. IBM is shipping the x206 and x306 servers equipped with Intel's Pentium 4 processor. Customers will likely use the single processor x206 tower system for file and print and email functions. The thinner single processor x306 rack system is …

Small Biz 11 Mar 2004, 20:47
Microsoft encouraged anti-Linux investment – shock!

Who would have thought?

In a revelation that may damage Microsoft's impeccable open source credentials, Business Week has revealed that Microsoft staff encouraged a San Francisco-area investment company to invest in the SCO Group. The SCO Group is embroiled in a lawsuit against IBM and two companies who use Linux software, claiming that they all owe …

Software 11 Mar 2004, 20:48
BT goes broadband crazy

Kimono slips open

BT is gearing up for the second phase of its broadband strategy after declaring that the "coverage issue is now behind us". With 85 per cent of the UK now hooked up to a DSL-enabled exchange with the promise that all of the UK will have access to high speed Net services sometime next year, BT is looking ahead to how it can …

Telecoms 11 Mar 2004, 22:07
Yahoo! and MSN to dilute Google supremacy

Some things to all men

Top Web destination Google will continue to be a success, but rivals MSN and Yahoo! won't be shut out by any means, Forrester predicts The research firm says Google's dominance in the online search space will be diluted by Internet giants Microsoft and Yahoo! which will gain strength in the sector. Forrester's commentary comes …

Music and Media 11 Mar 2004, 22:25
SCO lifts skirt but investors recoil

Cash Register Don't you think we're attractive

Trying to spur a bit of confidence in its shares, The SCO Group announced a stock buyback program today, touting itself as an "attractive investment opportunity." SCO's timing here is impeccable. Just yesterday, we pointed to the protracted lull in SCO's shares, as the market cools on its prospects against IBM and on its rights …

Business 11 Mar 2004, 22:27