Gateway misses expectations again

Gateway has performed much worse than analysts expected, only breaking even in this quarter. The PC manufacturer has instated many cost-saving measures to try to push itself back into profitability in the second half of the year. It has already announced job losses and said it would streamline or close many international operations. ...more

French Geoportail crashes to earth

The French government sponsored rival to Google Earth has collapsed under the strain, just days after it was launched. The French language service has proved too popular with reports of around 10 million visitors trying to access the site in the first weekend of its debut. The site is currently down with a message to the effect that visitors should try again later. ...more

Microsoft deploys Application Center 2000

Microsoft launched its Web application deployment system yesterday at the Internet World Spring 2001 show in Los Angeles. Application Center 2000 [sic] is based on the use of Web clusters, or "Web farms" - rather than a monolithic central server - to manage "capacity on demand". That is to say, it automatically adds server capacity where the need is identified, and it makes adjustments to manage infrastructure failures. ...more

EU states approve multi-million fine for Microsoft

EU member states have approved the amount that Microsoft will be fined for anti-trust violations by its Windows operating system. Competition commissioner Mario Monti's presented his findings to representatives from the 15 governments and got backing for a fine that will run into hundreds of millions of dollars. The exact amount will not be revealed until Wednesday. ...more

NTL bids for Virgin Mobile

The cable television company NTL is bidding to take over Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile business in a deal thought to be worth over ?800 million. Under the terms of the deal Branson would swap his 72 per cent holding in Virgin Mobile for a 14 per cent stake in the new business. The assets of the new group would offer the trendy 'quadruple' play of telephone, broadband, TV and mobile, which is being sought by media groups across the world. ...more