Computer Trade Shopper articles from October 2004

Computer Trade Shopper archives from October 2004

Damned if you mess up.(Editorial)
October 6, 2004... Phil Wainwright points out that in responding to user demands for more secure Web browsing, Microsoft has created a blocker for unwanted pop-ups and downloads with an unfortunate side-effect At first sight, it seemed like a case of...

HP urged to put grey market into black and white.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... Resellers have called on Hewlett-Packard to clarify what constitutes a grey product in light of the channel purge the vendor has embarked upon across EMEA. Over the past month, HP has issued writs against five resellers across the region...

Consolidation could impact chip market.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... Expectations of consolidation in the IT industry have resounded across the channel in the past few months with the latest spotlight turning on the semiconductor industry. According to Gartner, there are too many semiconductor producers and...

Acer alters balance of portfolio.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... Acer will recruit around 800 resellers from 2005 as the vendor attempts to aggressively promote run-rate desktop sales in the UK and reduce its PC portfolio's heavy reliance on mobile products. The Taiwanese giant has already taken the...

Small businesses miss HCI message.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has admitted that awareness of the Home Computing Initiative (HCI) among small businesses remains relatively low. According to a survey of BCC members, 3.6m companies--70 per cent--had heard of HCI,...

HP aims to put 90 per cent of PC sales through build schemes.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... Hewlett-Packard is determined to direct up to 90 per cent of its PC sales through build programmes and has added two of the UK's largest hybrid players to its TopConfig scheme. About 60 per cent of HP UK PC sales go through TopValue and...

Microsoft to raise the bar for large account resellers.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... Microsoft's large account resellers (LARs) are set to face tougher criteria to keep their status as the vendor looks to increase standards. The vendor introduced an audit last year to gauge the performance of its 18 LARs, and LARs have...

Monitor vendors still under threat of 14% import duty.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... The issue of import duty for computer monitors has flared up again after an IT working body was unable to reach a compromise with the European Union over the enforcement of duty payments. The problem erupted at the start of the year when...

Trend towards all-in-one partners.(Reseller News)
October 6, 2004... As customers' IT requirements become increasingly sophisticated, the previously distinct business models of VARs, ISVs and Sis are merging to form a new class of channel partner--the solution provider. According to research from Gartner,...

Laptop ticks all the boxes.
October 6, 2004... Laptops are the future for the channel, at least for the next few years, as desktop margins become ever tighter and more users demand flexibility. The momentum behind mobile computing existed long before wireless became a widespread...

Asus gets ahead of the game.
October 6, 2004... When you scan the Internet to research a product and come across phrases such as "this baby is a beast" and "mind-blowing", you get the feeling that the subject of your review might be something a bit special. It doesn't have to be that...

CAER keeps it in the family with user-friendly cases.
October 6, 2004... The difference between those who want to be seen as important and those who actually are comes down to breadth and depth--breadth of portfolio and depth of research and development pockets. To use a football analogy, the teams that are...

Samsonite bag carries it off.
October 6, 2004... One of life's ironies is that laptops are too valuable an investment to carry around in a plastic bag, but the minute you pop one on a laptop bag you might as well scream "mug me" down the high street. The traditional laptop bag is a...

Total security guaranteed.
October 6, 2004... Anyone who has had to clean a computer system infected with viruses and worms will understand the value of taking preventative measures. As your time is consumed by obtaining and applying the fix, you will probably be wondering whether there is...

Storage opens up.(round-up)
October 6, 2004... The world of storage is usually seen as an enterprise-level market with little opportunity for the SME-facing system builder and SME. But according to research carried out by vendors among their own customer bases, the average-sized company...

One of the big suppliers of flash memory for mobile phones and digital cameras, PNY Technologies, has launched a range of Mini Secure Digital Cards and Reduced Size Multimedia Cards to take advantage of the increasing demand for smaller, more powerful flash memory.(Shorts)
October 6, 2004... One of the big suppliers of flash memory for mobile phones and digital cameras, PNY Technologies, has launched a range of Mini Secure Digital Cards and Reduced Size Multimedia Cards to take advantage of the increasing demand for smaller, more...

System builders which have struggled to get decent support for laptop repairs can tap into expert advice using the IPC Multimedia TekCam Live Support Chat system, which gives resellers a chance to see on-screen instructions as well as hear them down a phone line from a technician.(Shorts)
October 6, 2004... System builders which have struggled to get decent support for laptop repairs can tap into expert advice using the IPC Multimedia TekCam Live Support Chat system, which gives resellers a chance to see on-screen instructions as well as hear them...

Canon has taken the wraps off its Multimedia Projector--the XEED SX50, an SXGA+ resolution projector with a remarkably compact body and affordable price tag.(Shorts)
October 6, 2004... Canon has taken the wraps off its Multimedia Projector--the XEED SX50, an SXGA+ resolution projector with a remarkably compact body and affordable price tag. Boasting 2500 ANSI lumens brightness, a high contrast ratio of 1000:1, and a...

Mirror Products has appointed Mitek Computer Components as an official distributor for its products.(Shorts)
October 6, 2004... Mirror Products has appointed Mitek Computer Components as an official distributor for its products. To date, Mitek has been active in launching the range of products within its customer base and impressed the vendor with its ability to win new...

People make all the difference.(Talking Shop)
October 6, 2004... What have you got in your handbag? I never leave the house without lip balm. Plus the normal umbrella, purse, hairbrush and mandatory sticky sweet. Who would you most like to have a date with? My husband. I don't see him nearly as...

NHS: the new order (Part 1).(Market Overview--The NHS)
October 6, 2004... Running a 6bn [pounds sterling] IT programme would be challenging under any circumstances, let alone when it involves the health of everyone in England. Over the past two years, an IT and comms framework for a new, modernised NHS has been...

Manufacturers.
October 6, 2004... MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATIONS PC Association 01763 262987 DATA STORAGE CD-ROM/DVD STORAGE 1st Computer Traders Ltd 01827 55555 Amacom Technologies Ltd 020 8993 7373 Apple Computer...

Distributors.
October 6, 2004... DISTRIBUTORS 1st Computer Traders Ltd 01827 55555 01827 66666 3d Micro Limited 020 7384 1174 020 7736 6033 4Front Network 01635 567299 01923 210910 a A One...

Welcome to the idiot proof world.(Editorial)
October 20, 2004... There is a scary parallel between the world of politics and commerce: there are only opportunities--not problems, the metaphorical sky is always blue even in cloudy old Britain, and the spin doctors are peering out from the shadows ...

HP warns it will police partner skills.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Hewlett-Packard is to reduce accreditation costs and rewards for enterprise resellers that put sales and pre-sales staff through technical training and warned that those companies not investing in skills will not be preferred partners. The...

Police to take action over CNP fraud.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Police forces across the UK have been sent guidelines for basic reporting procedures when they encounter cardholder not present (CNP) fraud, helping raise their awareness of the crime. Riten Gohil, risk management executive and project...

Big Blue drops xSeries accreditation.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... IBM's decision to move from selective to open distribution in high-end xSeries servers could unlock the market to thousands of resellers but may upset partners that have spent resources on accreditation. In the desktop, laptop, low-end...

Paradise Holdings is ordered to honour its guarantee.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Bell Microproducts Europe has given the parent company of beleaguered reseller Paradise Computers UK Ltd one week to settle a debt or the distributor may issue legal proceedings. A year and a half ago the reseller created a distribution arm...

Sun ups volume attack on HP channel.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Sun Microsystems has opened up distribution of its x86 AMD Opteron-based products to Interface Solutions in a bid to aggressively pursue Hewlett-Packard's reseller channel. The move comes after Sun expanded its product base to include the...

Reseller faces winding-up petition for unpaid debt.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance Ltd has issued Bill a winding-up petition against Middlesex-based reseller Consultius Technology Ltd after failing to receive money owed to one of its factoring clients. The petition to wind-up the reseller...

Calls for accreditation.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... Home Computing Initiative (HCI) providers have called for an accreditation scheme to vet suppliers after coming across a growing number of confused customers that have been misinformed about the legislation. The HCI programme--which was...

Notebook pricing has stabilised.(Reseller News)
October 20, 2004... The channel has witnessed sharp declines in notebook pricing over the past year, but according to IDC the market has now settled. In the four quarters since August 2003, average unit prices have fallen by 21, 20, 19 and ten per cent...

GeCube bundles a blinder.
October 20, 2004... Get a bundle right and a product that was attractive in its own right suddenly becomes a 'must buy' as users drool over the possibilities of matching two complementary products. In the graphics card world the usual approach is to make the...

Optronix taps into PCI-Express.
October 20, 2004... You have a choice: you wait to see how Intel's next-generation CPU gets along over the next six to 12 months to check it is a worthwhile investment before upgrading an entire computer system; or you head out to buy a killer product right now....

Belkin approach wins silver.
October 20, 2004... When you talk about networking most people think of a company that begins with a C of another that starts with a number as the main suppliers of switches and cards. Those in the channel with blinkers on sadly often fail to get deeper into...

A case of no-hassle flexibility.
October 20, 2004... Despite the proud heritage of CTS covering the components channel from A to Z, it is sometimes possible to miss one of the big Taiwanese names, but with the arrival of the CasEdge TA-192 case for review, we can now correct that. The...

Performance at a good price.
October 20, 2004... In economic markets that are functioning properly there are always at least two choices for the consumer, keeping the manufacturers from forming a monopoly and giving the resellers a couple of things to sell. It is the case in the world of...

Tapping into software.(Computer Trade Shopper round-up)
October 20, 2004... Awareness is growing among the larger software companies that they have not tapped into the system builder and reseller market. The opportunity to make sales through the channel is being seized by some of the largest names in the software...

Those users looking for a product that will help them carry out covert surveillance need look no further than the Pacific PC2005, which measures just 22mm x 26mm but can provide high-resolution colour pictures.(Shorts)
October 20, 2004... Those users looking for a product that will help them carry out covert surveillance need look no further than the Pacific PC2005, which measures just 22mm x 26mm but can provide high-resolution colour pictures. The PC2005 provides 450 TV lines...

Quick to spot a multimedia opportunity, AverMedia Technologies has launched eight SKUs of TV tuner cards for the Microsoft Media Center 2005 systems.(Shorts)
October 20, 2004... Quick to spot a multimedia opportunity, AverMedia Technologies has launched eight SKUs of TV tuner cards for the Microsoft Media Center 2005 systems. The products include the M180, A180, E502, M105, M033, M150, M113, M17D, M155 TV tuner cards.

Computers Unlimited is opening its doors to those resellers keen to hear about the digital living room and how the channel can take advantage of the growing interest in digital products.(Shorts)
October 20, 2004... Computers Unlimited is opening its doors to those resellers keen to hear about the digital living room and how the channel can take advantage of the growing interest in digital products. The distributor and a host of vendors will be present at...

The world of projectors, for so long a tired backwater of the IT industry, can now continue evolving with the latest product announcement coming from Canon.(Shorts)
October 20, 2004... The world of projectors, for so long a tired backwater of the IT industry, can now continue evolving with the latest product announcement coming from Canon. With the launch of its high-end LV-7565 multimedia projector, Canon raises the stakes...

Why can't mini bars be free? Liz Holland, marketing executive, Belkin Components.(Talking Shop)
October 20, 2004... What are your main responsibilities at the company? My main functions are PR, advertising and trade marketing. I write press releases, launch products in the UK, buy ad space and do the creative with an in-house team--constantly trying to...

NHS: the new order (Part 2).(Market Overview--The NHS)
October 20, 2004... The concluding part of our overview of the NHS. In the new NHS order, it is vital to establish a working relationship with the LSPs, which now supply systems to the five English regions. "Our relationship with LSPs is just beginning,"...

The tender spot.(Tender Invitations)
October 20, 2004... This is a list of public authorities that are inviting bids from potential suppliers. Further information is available from Tenders Direct--contact details at the bottom of the page. These notices are from the Official Journal of the European...

Manufacturers.
October 20, 2004... MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATIONS PC Association 01763 262987 DATA STORAGE CD-ROM/DVD STORAGE 1st Computer Traders Ltd 01827 55555 Amacom Technologies Ltd 020 8993 7373 Apple Computer...

Distributors.
October 20, 2004... DISTRIBUTORS 1st Computer Traders Ltd 01827 55555 01827 66666 3d Micro Limited 020 7384 1174 020 7736 6033 4Front Network 01635 567299 01923 210910 a A One...