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May 15, 2003
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Sun, HP prep new top-end Unix servers
Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard are preparing new higher-end Unix servers for debut near the end of the year, and several other models will spring up from HP before then.
The new high-end systems incorporate technologies that let customers double the number of processors in an existing chassis. The systems will compete with IBM's p690 and its successor, code-named Squadron.
Sun will overhaul its systems with the new UltraSparc IV processor "right around the end of the year," beginning with the top-end Sun Fire 15K that currently has 72 UltraSparc III processors for business customers, said Clark Masters, executive vice president of Sun's high-end server line, in an interview Thursday. The UltraSparc IV is a "dual core" design with two processors on each slice of silicon, and using it will effectively double the number of processors that fit into each server.
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Intel gears up for Prescott, wireless
Intel is on track to come out with a new generation of desktop chips and improve its notebook processors by the end of the year.
Speaking at the company's spring analyst meeting in New York on Thursday, Intel President Paul Otellini stated that Prescott, the company's next big desktop chip, and Dothan, a faster version of the most recent Pentium-M, will appear in the second half of 2003. Both chips will be made on the 90-nanometer manufacturing process.
Company executives also reiterated Intel's now familiar strategy of providing silicon and other components for a wide variety of computers and communications devices. The Santa Clara, Calif., chipmaker will continue to chase market share in both the home and business markets, in part by advancing its manufacturing capabilities and by incorporating R&D breakthroughs faster than competitors do, executives said.
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SuSE: SCO's Linux claims are 'curious'
SuSE Linux plans to continue honoring its commitments to UnitedLinux, despite allegations by SCO Group--a fellow founding member of the alliance--that Linux contains unauthorized intellectual property.
Meanwhile, Linux sellers MandrakeSoft and Red Hat--which are not members of the UnitedLinux group--said they had not been contacted about the allegations and did not see them affecting business.
SuSE's response came shortly after SCO on Wednesday announced it would stop selling its own Linux product, which is based on UnitedLinux's software, because of concerns about intellectual property.
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Chip designer MIPS lays off 60 workers
Chip creator MIPS Technologies plans to cut about one third of its staff, part of a restructuring plan announced Thursday.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based chip designer, which creates and licenses processors and related technologies, said it would eliminate 60 full-time and contract employees in an attempt to return to profitability by the end of this year.
MIPS chips are used in a broad range of products such as set top boxes, PDAs (personal digital assistants), networking gear and smart cards. Many chipmakers, such as Advanced Micro Devices, Motorola, Philips Electronics and Toshiba, have at least one MIPS license.
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Feds prime new antispam weapon
Federal and state law enforcement agencies pledged to take an aggressive new approach to fighting spam: identifying "open relay" mail servers that serve as conduits for massive quantities of junk e-mail.
At an event in Dallas on Thursday, representatives of the agencies said they--in tandem with officials from Australia, Canada and Japan--had sent letters to operators of over 1,000 e-mail servers around the globe warning that an open relay "creates problems for consumers worldwide, for law enforcement and for your organization."
"Spammers hunt these open relays down and hijack their resources," said Marc Groman, a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, which has created a Web site devoted to open relays. "They avoid filters. They avoid law enforcers. They also damage the reputation of innocent parties. Therefore we want the open relays around the world closed."
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Napster killer takes on DVD copying
When Hollywood studios go into court Thursday to argue that DVD-copying software is illegal, they'll stand alongside a lawyer who has quietly had as much influence on the Net as any well-known code-slinger.
Movie studio attorney Russ Frackman is the same lawyer who has represented the recording industry against Napster and a host of other file-swapping services. Over the course of four years, he and his legal team have made a deep mark on Net culture and history, stopping in their tracks some of the all-time fastest-growing and most-popular online services.
Most of the headlines--and most file swappers' feelings of animosity--have been reserved for more vocal public figures such as the Recording Industry Association of America's chief executive, Hilary Rosen. But it has been the 56-year-old Frackman, in the file-swapping cases and in Thursday's DVD copying case, who has led the nuts-and-bolts legal drive against the popular services, telling a courtroom story of Internet piracy in a way that has consistently led judges to rule in copyright owners' favor.
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Software support wanes for GameCube
Publishers of video game software are starting to talk as if that might be the case, with support waning for Nintendo in the three-way fight for survival in the lucrative game console business.
Software executives interviewed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show here said they're reconsidering the number of titles they plan to produce for Nintendo's GameCube in the wake of declining sales for the console. Total GameCube sales for Nintendo's recently concluded fiscal year fell dramatically short of company estimates, and sales have been particularly off in Europe, traditionally a weak spot for Nintendo.
Vivendi Universal Games, the interactive entertainment arm of the French media conglomerate, will produce fewer GameCube titles this year, as industry support for the console wanes, said Phillip O'Neil, senior vice president for sales and marketing.
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Dell earnings rise with shipments
Dell Computer on Thursday reported that its first-quarter earnings rose 31 percent, matching analyst expectations, as PC and server shipments showed increases.
The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker turned a profit of $598 million, or 23 cents per share, on revenue of $9.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2003, which ended May 2. That compares with earnings of $457 million, or 17 cents per share, on revenue of $8.1 billion in the same period a year ago.
The results match analyst expectations, according to First Call. Dell also met its own predictions for the quarter, which were made in April.
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Gateway nixes expensing options
Shareholders of personal computer maker Gateway voted down on Thursday a stockholder proposal urging the board of directors to treat stock options as an expense.
The proposal, made by the Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Businesses and Participating Employees, was defeated by a vote of 77 percent to 23 percent at Gateway's annual meeting in Sioux City, Iowa, the company said.
The proposal was opposed by the Gateway board.
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