JUDGE CALLS CONFERENCE ON MICROSOFT CASE

After the withdrawal of two critical witnesses, the European Court of First Instance has summonsed all parties involved in the Microsoft antitrust case to a meeting this Thursday (European time) in Luxembourg, reports The New York Times (24 Nov.). The paper says those close to the case say the judge wants to discuss the situation in light of the withdrawal of two prominent Microsoft foes, Novell and the Computer and Communication Industry Association, from the trial earlier this month. Microsoft agreed to pay Novell $US536 million and the industry association an undisclosed amount in return for the withdrawal of their support for the European Commission's case. The commission is defending its decision last Spring to fine the computer giant 497 million euros, or $600 million at the time, and order it to change the way it sells its software in Europe. Microsoft has already paid the fine into an escrow account pending the outcome of its appeal, reports the NYT.

BRITAIN MIGHT RELAX 3G LICENSE RULES

Britain might relax rules about the speed at which mobile phone operators have to build out third-generation (3G) networks as part of a radical overhaul to throw open the highly-regulated market for radio frequencies, reports The New York Times/Reuters (23 Nov.). Regulator Ofcom said this week that it will address industry concerns about onerous 3G network regulations in a consultation document planned for mid-December as part of its revamp of 100-year-old regulations governing the country's radio frequency spectrum. The paper says mobile phone operators such as mmO2, which has almost 14 million customers in Britain, have urged Ofcom to be more flexible about rules, which demand that high-speed 3G networks cover 80 per cent of the population by the end of 2007.

CHIP FACTORIES UTILISATION RATE FALLS WORLDWIDE

The utilisation rate of the world's chip factories fell in the period July to September from the previous quarter, the first decline in two years and the latest evidence of a slowdown in the semiconductor sector, reports The New York Times/Reuters (23 Nov.). The Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics group said this week that the utilisation rate fell to 92.7 per cent in July-September from 95.4 per cent in April-June, amid weaker sales than makers had expected of chip-intensive products such as flat-screen televisions and digital cameras. A spokesperson for the statistics group said that the industry consensus was that days of overherated chip demand were coming to an end and the sector would be back on the path of modest growth next year and the year after.

AMD RECOVERS FROM SALES SLUMP, INTEL RESULTS EAGERLY AWAITED

Despite the predictions of a chip industry slowdown (see story above), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said sales of its computer chips have recovered from a "hiccup" caused by anxiety surrounding the US presidential election, reports The New York Times/Reuters (23 Nov.). AMD says it has seen a very quick recovery post-election, with the company's comments coming just ahead of a closely watched fourth-quarter financial update from Intel, the world's largest chip maker and perennial rival to AMD. The report says the $US200 billion chip industry, which has been hurt by overproduction and a $1 billion glut of unsold products, is bracing for sharply slower sales growth next year.

THE CASE OF THE EXPLODING CELL PHONES

In the US, safety officials report that they have received 83 reports of cell phones exploding or catching fire in the past two years, usually because of bad batteries or chargers, reports The New York Times (23 Nov.). According to the paper, US phone makers and carriers say most fires and explosions are caused by counterfeit batteries, and they note that in a country with some 170 million cell phone users, the number of accidents is extremely low. However, some consumer advocates says the cause goes beyond bad batteries making their way to the market, and they point to the increasing pressure on battery and phone makers to fit more capabilities into small instruments, reports the paper. In a separate story, the NYT/AP report that wireless companies and federal safety officials list measures consumers can take to keep cell phone batteries from overheating, including: "when removing battery, avoid putting it in contact with metal, such as keys or coins"; "don't expose battery to water or extreme temperatures; "avoid crushing the battery, or dropping it against hard surfaces, especially when fully charged".

CINGULAR WIRELESS TO CUT JOBS AFTER ACQUISITION

Cingular Wireless, the largest US cellular phone company, plans to cut about 10 per cent of its workforce, or 7,000 jobs, as a result of its $US41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless, reports The New York Times (24 Nov.). The company has said that most of the cuts would come in administrative and managerial positions that were duplicated as a result of the buyout, which was completed late last month, with most layoffs taking place during the next 18 months.

CHEAP WIRELESS INTERNET FROM MUNICIPALITIES OF CONCERN TO COMMERCIAL OPERATORS

The US state of Philadelphia's plan to offer inexpensive wireless internet as a municipal service - the most ambitious yet by a major US city - has collided with commercial interests including the local phone company, Verizon Communications, The New York Times reports (23 Nov.). Regional and long-distance phone companies, who sell broadband internet to consumers and businesses, have in recent months intensified a national campaign to quash municipal wireless initiatives like Philadelphia's as dozens of cities and towns, including San Francisco, have either begun or announced such plans, the NYT reports. Telecommunications companies are doubly worried because hundreds of other municipalities provide broadband service over cable or telephone lines and the idea of cheap, municipally-provided internet as a social leveler is particularly appealing to big city politicians.

PRICES OF ELECTRONICS GOODS FALL

Falling prices in September for plasma televisions and digital cameras sparked the biggest monthly decline in US consumer electronics prices, reports The New York Times/Reuters (23 Nov.). According to an industry study prepared for Reuters, a decline of 9.2 per cent,, or about $US250, in prices of 42-inch plasma screen TVs brought their average price to below $2,500 for the first time, and led an overall decline of 2.7 per cent for the most popular consumer electronics goods. The paper says, however, that a handful of gadgets bucked the declines, posting higher prices in September, including portable DVD players, which increased 2 per cent to $231, and 20-gigabyte hard-drive music players which rose 2.2 per cent to $295.

FINLAND MAY CANCEL 3G NETWORK LICENSE

Finland may withdraw a third generation mobile network license from Suomen 3G, an operator owned by Sweden's Tele2, due to delays in building the high-speed network, reports The New York Times/Reuters. Finland was the first country in the world to award 3G licenses in 1999, but the roll-out of networks has been delayed due to technological glitches and a lack of phones, and the country has fallen behind other countries, according to the paper.

TECH SPENDING LOOKS UP IN ASIA

Spending in Asia and Eastern Europe is expected to lead a recovery in the global technology market over the next three years, according to an industry report just released, reports The New York Times/Reuters (23 Nov.) The Reuters correpondent, writing in the NYT, said that a study commissioned by World Information Technology and Services Alliance, an industry trade group, found that after years of sluggish growth, technology spending is expected to climb steadily through 2007 as China, Poland and other countries in the developing world invest heavily in hardware, software, networking equipment and services. The report says total spending should hit $US3.2 trillion in 2007, up from $2.1 trillion in 2001, with spending in Asia and the Pacific Rim expected to grow quickest at 9.3 per cent annually. The paper says the study predicted that spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa would grow at a rate of 8.9 per cent per year, while technology markets in North and South America would grow at a 6.7 per cent annual clip.

CANON TO AUTOMATE JAPAN PRODUCTION

Japanese office equipment and camera maker Canon has just announced that it plans to fully automate 25 per cent of its domestic production by the end of 2007, aiming to cut $US270 million in annual costs, Reuters/New York Times report (22 Nov.). The paper's report says Canon, whose annual domestic production comes to about 1 trillion yen ($US9.71 billion), has said it aims to save 28 billion yen in 2007 by automating assembly lines for key copier and printer components such as toner cartridges and ink jet printers. The report says that under a new chief executive Canon has come to symbolise a rebirth of Japan's manufacturing sector, with other electronics makers shifting plants offshore while Canon vows to keep 60 per cent of its total output in Japan. Canon, the world's second-biggest digital camera firm and third-largest printer maker, is counting on lower manufacturing costs to help it achieve a group net profit of 500 billion yen in 2010, up about 50 per cent from its target for this year, the NYT reports.

ORACLE-PeopleSoft IMPASSE

Oracle has said that the company is at an impasse with PeopleSoft, signalling that the two software makers will wage a proxy battle to resolve Oracle's $US9.2 billion takeover bid, reports the New York Times/Bloomberg News (23 Nov.). The paper says the stalemate will probably force Oracle to seek enough votes to install its own directors at PeopleSoft's annual meeting in April or May. Both companies make business back-office software used for payroll, supply management and other tasks. And, the battle between the two rivals in the courts continues - see story below)

ORACLE STILL IN PURSUIT OF PeopleSoft

Oracle continues its endless struggle to acquire PeopleSoft, and this week plans to ask a judge in the US to dismantle one of the last obstacles to the hostile bid for its rival, reports The New York Times (22 Nov.). Last Friday a majority of PeopleSoft stockholders accepted Oracle's offer of $US24 a share, or $9.2 billion, but the next day the PeopleSoft board unanimously agreed to oppose the deal, reiterating its position that the price was too low. As a result, the bitter power struggle that has lasted for a year and a half will continue, perhaps even into the US spring, concludes the NYT. This week, Oracle will ask a Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court to remove a measure PeopleSoft adopted to prevent a takeover - the provision, known as a poison pill, would create millions of new shares in the event 20 per cent of total outstanding shares were purchased, making it nearly impossible to acquire a majority, reports the NYT.

KAZAA OFFERS UNLIMITED FREE INTERNET CALLS: DEAL WITH SKYPE

In the US, Sharman Networks, distributor of the Kazaa file-sharing software, has launched its latest version which enables users to make free online calls anywhere in the world, reports the New York Times/Reuters (22 Nov.). The NYT says Kazaa v.3.0 includes the integration of internet telephony software from Skype Technologies and also offers advanced search capabilities and a free weblog trial..

CORDLESS HANDSETS FOR VoIP & FIXED-LINE CALLS

Danish electronics equipment maker RTX Telecom has just announced that it has signed an agreement with Skype, a provider of internet-based voice telephony, to develop and market cordless handsets, Reuters/The New York Times report (22 Nov.). The paper says the first result of the cooperation between the two companies is the introduction of a cordless phone that can be used both for internet calls (VoIP) and ordinary fixed-line calls. According to the report, Skype last month said more than 12 million people had adopted its internet-based voice service in just over a year. Skype's software can be downloaded from the internet for free and allows users to make phone calls and exchange files, data and instant messages online at no cost.

GOOGLE, CAUGHT NAKED: PERFECT 10 SUES

A web site that sells photos of naked women is suing Google alleging that the online search engine leader is destroying its business by distributing links and passwords that provide free glimpses of the nude models, reports AP/The New York Times (22 Nov.). Beverly Hills-based Perfect 10 is seeking unspecified damages from Google for alleged copyright infringement and providing unathorised access to thousands of its copyrighted pictures. According to Perfect 10, Google dispays the images from rogue web sites operated in foreign countries.

DEATH OF VHS, IN WITH DVD

A Reuters report in the New York Times (22 Nov.) says the last rites have been sounded for the revolutionary VHS home video format which changed the lifestyles of a generation, but is now facing a lingering death. The paper reports that all over the world, Video Home System is in headlong retreat as the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) takes over. The report says that accepting the inevitable, Britain's biggest high street electronics retailer Dixons has just announced that it is taking VHS video players off its shelves for good, while in the US Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, offers only a handful of stand-alone VHS recorders on its web site.

MOBILE TV THE NEXT BIG THING

A reality show or soap opera on your mobile phone? This is the vision of top telecoms firms as they hope that from 2006 consumers will sign up for new phones that can receive digital television signals, reports Reuters/The New York Times (22 Nov.). The paper says some telecoms executives predict that full-fledged television could be the biggest mobile hit since voice calls, with mobile TV actually the most important application beyond voice and messaging in phones. The paper quotes an A.T.Kearney consultant as saying he believes that US users alone will spend $30 billion annually on mobile TV, money that will go to telecoms operators, equipment makers and broadcasters. The report says that mass market mobile TV will only become possible with a new type of broadcasting and with mobile phones that have separate TV antennae alongside mobile communications aerials to pick up the signal.

ANTI-PIRACY THREESOME JOIN FORCES

French technology company Thomson has announced that it is joining Microsoft and Time Warner's proposed venture to make anti-piracy software, a move that could relieve European Union concerns about the pending deal, The New York Times/AP report (22 Nov.). In a joint statement, the companies said Thomson has agreed to purchase a 33 per cent voting stake in US-based ContentGuard, with the aim of developing new standards in so-called digital rights management technologies which allow online access to movies, music and other digital content while protecting it from unauthorised copying and counterfeiting.

CA GETS NEW CEO

Computer Associates International , the troubled software company, has announced that its new chief execuitive will be John Swainson, an IBM executive with strong technical and sales credentials, reports The New York Times (23 Nov.). The paper says Swainson assumes control over a company that is emerging from an accounting scandal, barely sidestepped criminal indictment and whose long-time leaders have been forecd out.

MINCOM'S NEW CEO - PRESSURE TO LIFT COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Software developer Mincom has announced that Richard Matthews will take over the company's chief executive post, replacing the long-serving Alan McElrea, reports The AustralianIT (23 Nov.). The paper says Matthews, a former JD Edwards senior vice-president, will take up the post in early 2005, and will be under pressure to correct the drop in the company's performance after it recoeded a 10 per cent drop in revenue for the 2003-2004 financial year.

TELSTRA DENIAL

Rumours sweeping the stockmarket that Telstra chief executive Dr Ziggy Switkowski had offered his resignation to the board were without basis, the company said, reports The AustralianIT (23 Nov.). The paper said Telstra denied the rumours had any substance. The paper says Dr Switkowski has been under increasing pressure at the helm of Telstra, caught between shareholder demands for growth as its mainstream services commoditise and the ongoing political saga as the Federal Government attremps to fully privatise the company.

DOUBLING OF FAST INTERNET USE IN US

The number of Americans using fast internet connections doubled from 2001 through late 2003, still below expectations and especially low among minority groups and people in rural areas, according to a report by the Bush administration, reports The New York Times/AP (22 Nov.). The Commerce Department report said use of fast internet connectioms grew dramatically through October 2003 to 20 per cent of US households, although some experts said growth was disappointing, far behind countries that include South Korea, Taiwan and Canada.

VIDEO GAMES THE BIG SELLER FOR XMAS : US SURVEY

Nearly half of all US adults with children plan to give video games as gifts this holiday season, according to a survey conducted by the trade group representing the video game industry and just released, reports Reuters/The New York Times (22 Nov.). The Entertainment Software Association survey found that 47 per cent of adults with children plan to give a video game as a gift, and 37 per cent of Americans expect to either give or receive a video game as a gift this holiday. The paper says the ESA represents the $US10 billion US video-game industry, and the nationwide poll covered just over 1,000 people.

iPOD POPULARITY FLOWS THROUGH TO OTHER APPLE PRODUCTS

Apple Computer stock jumped to a four-year high this week after a major Wall Street firm nearly doubled its price target on the stock, saying that customers satisfaction with its iPod music players is creating "wildfire word-of-mouth marketing" for its Mac computers and other products, reports AP/The New York Times (22 Nov.). Shares of Apple closed the day last Monday at $US61.35, up $6.18, or 11 per cent. on the Nasdaq Stock Market, with Apple shares trading as high as $64, the highest it had been since September 2000. The paper quotes stock analysts as saying that a market survey showed that 13 per cent of iPod users in their sample users were formerly PC users, and following the purchase of their iPod have already purchased a Mac (6 per cent) or are planning to buy a Mac within 12 months (7 per cent).

MOBILE PHONE USAGE: TWO DIFFERENT TALES IN GREECE & NORTH KOREA

Two separate Reuters reports in The New York Times (22 Nov.) provide vastly different pictures of mobile phone usage in Greece and North Korea. According to one report, in Greece where 76 per cent of Greek households own mobile phones, interest for third-generation (3G) services is rising. The report also showed that one in three households owns a personal computer with one in five Greeks surfing the internet in the first quarter. In North Korea, however, a report says that authorities in the country are cracking down on the use of mobile phones in border areas in a bid to stop smuggling and "spy activities". The report says that some residents have contacts with people in neighbouring countries by hiding mobile phones in places with good reception, such as tall buildings and on hilltops.

GOOGLE THREATENING MICROSOFT'S CORE MARKET: ANALYSTS

Google, best known for its wildly popular search engine, is now muscling into the software giant Microsoft's turf, including its stronghold - the computer desktop, reports the New York Times (22 Nov.). Analysts say Google's aggressive ambitions could pose a formidable threat to Microsoft because it gets to the heart of what drives Microsoft's dominance - its control of the user experience through the Windows operating system. The NYT says if successful, Google could help refashion computing, making people less reliant on storing information on the Microsoft-powered PC on their desk and more dependent on free web-based email and search functions that can be accessed anywhere from any device regardless of the operating system. The paper reports analysts as saying that under the circumstances, the risk for Microsoft is that the computer desktop as we know it could cease to exist, with computer buyers maybe one day deciding that they no longer even need a Microsoft operating system.

AUSTRALIAN GOVT. SUPPORTING CRACK AT US MARKET

The Federal Government will spend $25 million backing local hardware, software and services companies to take a crack at the $US60 billion ($76 billion) US government IT and homeland security markets under the Free Trade Agreement, reports The AustralianIT (23 Nov.). The paper says access for Australian exporters to the US Government's $200 billion procurements and contracts business was a key outcome for local negotiators.

SHORTAGE FEARS - IT GRADUATES DRY UP

Fears of a return to the late 1990s when there was shortage of IT graduates have been fuelled by universities reporting a slump in applications for next year, reports The AustralianIT (23 Nov.). The Australian says that despite an employment upswing this year, recent reports reveal vanacies for IT graduates have tripled over the past year, as school leavers are shying away from a technology career. One university, the University of Technology Sydney reported a 50 per cent cumulative fall in enrolement applications from 2002 to 2004.Applications for 2003 entry had dropped 25 per cent on 2002 and demand for 2004 entry had fallen another 24 per cent.

WORLD PC MARKET CONSOLIDATING: GARTNER

In the US, rsearch company Gartner has forecast a new round of consolidation in the personal computing industry worldwide as the replacement cycle winds down in mid-2005 and unit growth fails to offset falling prices, reports The Australian Financial Review/Wall Street Journal (23 Nov.). The AFR quotes Gartner as saying that the the economic recovery that began in 2003 along with sharp gains from companies purchasing replacement PCs were major factors behind the industry's resurgence in the last two years - but, the robust sales are unlikely to be duplicated in the years ahead. Gartner now predicts shipments of desktop and notebook PCs will reach 182.7 million units, up 11.43 per cent from 2003 levels, reports the AFR.

DEFENCE SOFTWARE SPENDING TO FIX PROBLEMS

The Department of Defence spent more than $56 million on computer software last financial year as it bought new systems and continued remediations work on troubled projects, reports The Australian Financial Review (23 Nov.). The AFR says changes to the Department's $88 million software licensing agreement with IBM also caused a $31 million rise in its liabilities as Defence shifted the arrangement from an operating to a finance lease. According to the AFR, expenses came as Defence continued to invest money in a raft of software systems including its troubled PMKeyS human-resources plaform, standard defence supply system (SDSS) and resource and output management accounting network (Roman).

CITEC CHIEF RESIGNS AS EARNINGS FALL

Citec (ASX:CTL) chief executive Wayne Morris resigned yesterday, just as the industrial software developer warned that earnings in the present half would be at the lower end of its forecasts, reports The Australian Financial Review (23 Nov.). Citec told the AFR that Morris would finish up at the end of the year and would move his family to the US for personal reasons. The company said earnings in the second half would be lower than for the same period in 2003 because of heavier investment in marketing and sales, the AFR reports.

EDS MOVING AWAY FROM SA GOVT. WORK

The South Australian government paid EDS $94 million for computing services in the past financial year and still has more than $1 million to contribute to a new fit-out of the EDS Adelaide headquarters as the two parties wind down their long-term outsourcing contract, The Australian Financial Review reports (23 Nov.). The paper says the state Department for Administrate and Information Services is expected to award the first contracts hatched by its new procurement strategy early in the new year. And, in a separate story, the paper says the new head of EDS in South Australia, Fraser Nicholson, is adding more private sector contracts to balance the company's reliance on work for the South Australian government. The report says EDS says it hopes to win a human services contract with Coles Myer.

TARGETING THE OLDIES

In the US, Microsoft is targeting the ageing population for whom buying, installing and learning how to operate a personal computer remains a daunting task, with the launch of its latest version of an interactive platform, once known as WebTV, which allows users to easily browse the web, read news and email and access digital content, reports The New York Times/Reuters (21 Nov.). The paper says the ageing generation is more comfortable sitting in front of a television set instead of a monitor, so Microsoft is using its second generation product, MSN TV, which includes in the package email and instant messaging accounts, and for those with faster internet access, access to 200 radio stations and video clips. Viewers can also browse web pages or even digital photos stored on memory card. The NYT says Microsoft's goal is the continued convergence of television and computer technology, merging to become a comprehensive information platform.

NVIDIA-INTEL LICENCE TECHNOLOGY TO EACH OTHER

Nvidia and Intel have announced an agreement to licence technology to each other after years of difficult negotiations, giving Nvidia for the first time the right to make chipsets for personal computers that use Intel microprocessors, reports The Mercury News (20 Nov.). The paper says the deal opens up a huge market to Nvidia, which to date has only made chipsets for PCs using Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) microprocessors. Chipsets are pairs of chips in computers that are like traffic cops inside the PC, routing data to memory or to the microprocessor. In many low-cost machines, graphics chips are integrated into the chipset, the NYT says.

IDENTITY THEFT CONCERNS WITH E-PASSPORTS

The United States hasn't issued microchip-equipped passports yet, but as the Department of State tests different prototypes, the international standards for the passports are under fire from privacy advocates who worry the technology won't protect travelers from identity thieves, reports the New York Times/AP (21 Nov.). The paper reports that the American Civil Liberties Union has raised alarms and says that even an executive at one of the companies developing a prototype for the State Department calls the international standards woefully inadequate. The international standards call for a very sophisticated smart card device that uses a chip and an antenna embedded in the passports' covers, the NYT reports.

PRIVACY CONCERNS WITH TECHNOLOGIES

Last week Privacy International and the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) published this year's edition of their annual global privacy study, concluding that threats to personal privacy have now reached a level dangerous to fundamental human rights, reports The Register in the UK (22 Nov.). The Register says the report found that crime and public laws had limited freedom of assembly, privacy, freedom of movement, the right of silence and freedom of speech. The report went on to say that ID schemes, the weakening of data protection and the intensification of data sharing and collection are also catching, and made more possible by growing cooperation between government entities and the private sector. Among major trends identified by EPIC, were DNA and health information databases, radio frequency identification technologies, new electronic voting technologies and mismanagement of personal data and major data leaks.

US TELCO INDUSTRY CONCERNS OVER VoIP IN AUSTRALIA

he United States telecomunications industry is considering whether it will lobby the Austraian Communications Authority over plans to further regulate broadband internet phone services, reports The AustralianIT (23 Nov.). The paper says the possible move by the US industry follows intervention by German and UK regulators in the voice-over inernet protocol (VoIP) market. The paper says the ACA has said it will examine whether regulations need to be changed to take account of residential VoIP services, with concerns that VoIP services provide emergency calling and disabled access, and take account of Australia's universal service obligations,

YAHOO CEO $US231 MILLION RICHER

Yahoo chairman and chief executive Terry Semel this year joined the panetheon of Silicon Valley's most richly rewarded executives, reports The Mercury News (22 Nov.), with the executive pocketing just under $US231 million so far in 2004 from exercising options and selling shares in the internet company's high-flying stock. The paper says that after the latest trades, Semel owned 1.6 million Yahoo shares and also holds about 9 million exercisable options to buy company stock. The Mercury adds that when Semel joined Yahoo in May 2001, half of the options to buy Yahoo shares he was granted were "underwater" - some priced more than 300 per cent above Yahoo's stock at the time.

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY LOOKING TO COMPUTERS FOR ADMIN. IMPROVEMENTS

Healthcare industry experts in the US, at a conference sponsored by IBM, have spent considerable time discussing the need for the industry to move into the computer age to electronic health records and away from the ink-and-paper era, reports The New York Times (22 Nov.). The NYT says the conference was told that an estimated 31 per cent of this year's total national healthcare bill of $US1.79 trillion is spent on administration, but electronic record-keeping woud eliminate enormous amounts of paper-shuffling, which could save hundreds of billions of dollars and many lives.

ADVERTISING FOR VIDEO-ON-DEMAND

Video-on-demand in the US has reached a criticial mass, and advertisers have taken notice, with Fox Cable Networks and Visa planning to test the ad waters in January, reports The New York Times (22 Nov.). The initial trial will include the National Geographic Channel, which has been offering free-on-demand content since October 2002, but has never included commercials. The paper says 17 million homes in the US have video-on-demand, and the head of McKinsey & Company's media and entertainmenrt practice says that video-on-demand will become a significant way for consumers to find and watch programs. McKinsey told the paper that from an advertiser's perspective, what made video-on-demand an incredibly attractive advertising vehicle is that it was known that consumers actually selected the program.

PHONE/SATELLITE PROVIDERS GANG UP ON CABLE PROVIDERS

For years, consumers who wanted to cut the cord with their cable company found that getting television and high-speed internet service often meant the inconvenience of finding two new providers, but that's now changing in the US, reports The New York Times (22 Nov.). The NYT reports that cable's two hungry rivals - phone companies and satellite providers - are stealing cable's disgruntled customers with cheaper all-in-one packages that bundle TV with internet and phone services. According to the paper, cable's problem has created an opening for an ungainly alliance of regional Bell companies - Verizon Communications, SBC Communications and BellSouth - and the two biggest satellite companies, DirecTV and EchoStar, which runs the Dish Network, to lure away cable customers by selling each other's products at a discount.

GOOGLE CO-FOUNDERS TO SELL COMPANY SHARES

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each plan to sell up to 7.2 million shares of their stock in the online search engine leader during the next 18 months, in divestitures that would generate windfalls of more than $US1 billion apiece at current market prices, reports The New York Times/AP (19 Nov.). The paper says Google has disclosed the intentions of the two 31-year olds in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commision. It was also revealed that Google chief executive Eric Schmidt plans to sell 2.2 million shares of his holdings to cash in on the company's stock price, which has nearly doubled since an August initial public offering. The NYT says Page, Brin and Schmidt will retain most of their company stock and if the planned sales are completed, Page and Brin will still own about 31 million shares apiece, in stakes worth more than $5 billion as of last Friday when the stock closed at $169.40 on the Nasdaq.

2005 THE YEAR OF THE 3G MOBILE SERVICES: ANALYSTS

Analysts are predicting that 2005 could be the year when third-generation (3G) mobile services finally gain a global audience, with most technical issues now resolved and giants like Vodafone singing up customers, reports The New York Times/Reuters. The paper says that for carriers in Europe, the start of commercial services offers a chance to begin recouping 3G investments that included more than $US100 billion on spectrum licenses and billions more on network upgrades and development of applications. As evidence of the big expenses, the paper cites the experience of the Australian unit of Singapore Telecommunication and Vodafone which both said the 3G network would cost up to $A1 billion. The paper says signs of building momentum for the technology have emerged with growing frequency in recent months, with the launch of services by big carriers, entry of new players into the equipment market and the rapid profileration of 3G capable handsets. According to analysts, there are 54 networks already operational and at least that many more will be operational by next year.

REAL 3G BATTLE IN EUROPE ABOUT TO BEGIN

The phoney war is over and the battle for 3G supremacy in Europe will begin in earnest next year as consumers adopt the technology in wider numbers, reports The Register (19 Nov.), with analyst group Gartner predicting that European consumers will be spoilt for choice as operators vie with rivals to build market share. The news service says that up to now third-generation mobile networks have been competing against second-generation GSM networks, and as more 3G networks are launched these networks will compete against each other as well as older services. The Register says the battle between rival operators could last several years and will focus on the consumer - rather than business - marketplace. However, the report says the western European telecomm market is already saturated and, because of this, 3G operators will have to try to lure customers away from rivals or else encourage people to own more than one handset. Gartner predicts the likelihood of increased customer churn, alongside the possibility that the 3G operators will face competition from rivals with deeper pockets who may subsidise consumer offerings for longer.

AUSTRALIAN 3G BATTLE BEGINS: OPTUS/VODAFONE JOIN FORCES

The race to get a widespread third generation mobile phone network (3G) in Australia started in earnest yesterday with Optus and Vodafone agreeing to a joint venture network, reports the Melbourne Herald-Sun Business (20 Nov.). The paper says, however, that rivals Telstra and Hutchison are closer to the goal, with a tentative major 3G launch in mainland capitals by next July, which should put Telstra and Hutchison a few months ahead of Optus/Vodafone. The paper says Optus and Vodafone are aiming to get their network running by the third quarter of 2005 and it is then due to continue being rolled out until it is finished by March 2007. Hutchison is alone in already offering a 3G service in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, reports the paper, but under the terms of the Optus/Vodafone deal each party will contribute about $350 million to set up more than 2000 3G base stations and antennas.

SPAM EVENTUALLY THING OF THE PAST: GATES

Spam could become a thing of the past in around two years' time, according to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, noting that progress had been made in the fight against unsolicited mail, reports The Australian IT (22 Nov.). The paper reports that Gates told an internet forum in Madrid that he hoped the problem will be under control within two years, with the amount of spam going down as "new technologies are bringing it under control". Gates also predicted that within a decade the web would be less prone to security lapses, reports the paper.

A SOBERING THOUGHT - THE SOBER EMAIL WORM SPREADS

A new variant of the Sober email worm was spreading rapidly across the internet last Friday (19 Nov.) reported The Register. The Register said the Sober-1 worm is a mass mailing worm which sends itself to email addresses harvested from an infected computer, and it uses a variety of subject lines, message bodies and file attachment names, both in English and in German. The report says there are 150 variants and opening unsolicted email on a Windows PC results in infection, however Mac and Linux boxes are immune.

ORACLE'S BID FOR PeopleSoft STRENGTHENS

Oracle reported on Friday that 61 per cent of PeopleSoft shares were tendered for its $US24-a-share offer, strengthening Oracle's hostile bid position as it waits to see if PeopleSoft's board will remove the final barrier to a deal, reported The New York Times (20 Nov.). Oracle had warned it would drop its $9.2 billion takeover bid if a majority of PeopleSoft shareholders did not tender their shares by late Friday. The NYT says that after the tendered-share tally, Oracle said it again had asked PeopleSoft's board of directors for a meeting to enter into a final merger agreement. Despite the outcome, Oracle has said it will not move forward with the acquisition with PeopleSoft's shareholder rights' plan, considered a poison pill, in place. That would trigger the plan's poison pill provisions and unleash many more shares Oracle would be obliged to buy, making the deal far more costly.

TELSTRA REVAMPING TRADING POST AS CIRCULATION DECLINES

One of Australia's major dedicated classified advertising papers, the Trading Post, now owned by Telstra, is to next year get a new national masthead and be relaunched as a national brand, as the telco continues its assault on the classified advertising market, reports Melbourne's Herald-Sun Business (20 Nov.).The chief of Tesltra directories arm Sensis, John King, told the Herald-Sun the Trading Post would be redesigned, with a relaunch attempting to stymie a decline in the paper's circulation. Telstra purchased the Trading Post Group from Dutch company Trader Classified Media NV for $636 million in March, with the acquisition including 22 print publications and five online sites, reports the paper.

MICROSOFT WARNING TO ASIAN GOVERNMENTS ON LINUX

Microsoft has warned Asian governments they could face patent lawsuits for using the Linux operating system instead of its Windows software, as Linux grows in popularity and is a threat to the global dominance of Microsoft's Windows, The New York Times/Reuters report (18 Nov.). The paper says Linux, an open-code software freely available om the internet and easily modified by users, violates more than 228 patents, according to a recent report from a research group. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said that someday, for all countries that are entering the World Trade Organisation, somebody would come and look for money owing to the rights for that intellectual property. The NYT reports that earlier this year the Open Source Risk Management Group said that potential intellectual property claims against Linux could expose users to unexpected claims that might result in lawsuits. According to the NYT, Singapore's Ministry of Defense last month switched 20,000 personal computers to run on open-source software instead of the Microsoft operating platform.

BRITISH COMPLACENCY ON IT SECURITY & CYBERCRIME RISKS

British businesses are too complacent over IT security and risk becoming easy targets for fraudsters and other would-be cyber criminals, warns the British Computer Society, in a report in The Register (19 Nov.). The Register says the BCS in its Review 2005, says British companies need to get their act together on security or risk growing cybercrime losses, with the society highlighting risks such as corpoprate data being lost from company laptops. The BCS warns that internal miscreants pose a greater security threat, and draws particular attention to workers that have access to sensitive data such as salary databases, takeover plans, product research and development information.

KODAK FIGHTS FOR DIGITAL CAMERA US MARKET LEAD

Eastman Kodak is nipping at Sony's heels in the ballooning US digital camera market, with the world's biggest film manufacturer aiming to become the No. 1 seller of point-and-shoot digital cameras on its home turf in 2004, reports SiliconValley.com (19 Nov.). Kodak almost drew level with Japanese front-runner Sony in US digital camera shipments in the third-quarter, according to market research firm IDC. SiliconValley.com says that IDC reported Sony delivered 1 million consumer digital cameras in the third quarter, only 10,000 more than Kodak. Canon ranked third with 800,000 shipments, followed by Olympus with 585,000. Other major camera makers include Fuji, Hewlett-Packard and Nikon. Kodak invented the world's first digital camera prototype in 1976, but appears to have been caught off-guard by the speed with which shutterbugs took to digital photography, according to analysts.

INTEL SEES INCREASED DEMAND AHEAD

Intel, the world's largest computer chip company, is not suffering from overcapacity and new areas are emerging that will increase global demand for microprocessors, according to the company's chief executive, the New York Times/AP reports. Intel CEO, Craig Barrett said the company had built its capacity on the long-term growth outlook for the industry. Barrett told business leaders in India, while on a visit to the country, that Intel would invest $US40 million over the next two years to expand its design centre in the southern Indian city of Bangalore where future versions of its business and mobile computer chips will be designed. The money will be used to develop Intel's Centrino wireless chips and microprocessors, and Barrett said the company currently had inventories worth nearly $3.18 billion. The paper says that Intel now has 2,400 people employed at its Bangalore design centre.

INTEL NOT SO HOT IN ITANIUM CHIP SALES

Meanwhile in San Francisco, another Intel executive, President Paul Otellini, said the effort by Intel to sell its Itanium 2 chip high-volume, lower-end computer servers has not worked, reports The New York Times/Reuters (18 Nov.). The paper says Itanium was jointly developed by Intel and Hewlett-Packard, but has not yet found a large following in a server market crowded with competition from chips made by IBM, Sun Microsystems and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Otellini said Itanium was showing success in the high end, not in the mid-range and "..it just doesn't work in terms of the economics of the low-end of the industry."

OPTUS GOES TO INDIA - TASMANIAN CALL CENTRE SUFFERS

The 360 staff at a call centre in Devonport, on Tasmania's north-west coast, have been warned they must adjust to the loss of a key contract with Optus after the telco decided to shift call centre work to India, reports The Weekend Australian Financial Review (20-21 Nov.). The staff at the centre, all employed by Sitel on the Optus contract, face an uncertain future as their employer searches for new customers to make up for the lost business, reports the AFR.

NINTENDO'S NEW GAME PACKED WITH SPECIAL FEATURES

Nintendo is this weekend launching a new handheld video game system, the Nintendo DS, which the game maker claims is like no other portable gaming system before it, reports The New York Times/Reuters (18 Nov.). The NYT says Nintendo's target market is the more sophisticated game player who has more disposable income and more interest in complex play than the younger children who have made the Game Boy line a global success. According to the paper, the new Nintendo DS will have several features not seen before - two screens (one of them touch-sensitive), two slots for different types of game cartridges, two kinds of wireless connections, and a number of other bells and whistles that distinguish it from the crowd.

EMI'S BIG INCREASE IN DIGITAL MUSIC SALES

The world's third largest music label, EMI, saw its revenues from digital music increase by more than 300 per cent in the six months to 30 September, although the company calculates that the global recorded music market fell 1.3 per cent during its first half, down from a 10 per cent decline a year ago, reports The Register (19 Nov.). During the period of its revenue increases, Apple expanded its iTunes Music Store from the US to the UK, Germany and France, and Napster opened a UK store. EMI's digital music sales totalled 12.2 million pounds, just over two per cent of the music and movie group's total turnover of 851 million pounds.

AUTODESK REVENUES STRONG, SHARES UP

Shares of software maker Autodesk rose this week, following strong third-quarter results and an upbeat view driven by increased demand, reports SiliconValley.com (19 Nov.). The techology online news service said Autodesk, which makes design software for architects and engineers, is seeing positive growth in the maufacturing, building and construction, civil engineering and government sectors, with predicted revenues for the quarter of $US335 million to $345 million, indicating growth of at least 12 per cent, the new service reports.

APPLE-OWNED STORES OPEN IN THE UK

Apple is opening new retail stores in the UK - a total of three so far - just as the company prepares to open stores on continental Europe, reports The Register (19 Nov.). The Register says the London store just opened in Regent Street is the first to be owned and operated by Apple itself, although there are a number of Apple-branded stores around Europe which are members of its reseller channel.

IBM CLAIMS DATABASE-PROCESSING RECORD SMASHED

IBM has said that its workhorse commercial computers have smashed the industry's most demanding tests, which analysts say creates a performance gap that could put further pressure on Hewlett-Packard or Sun Microsystems to recalibrate their strategies, reports The New York Times (18 Nov.). The paper says that IBM told industry analysts this week that IBM's Unix eServer 595 computer running on IBM's own Power 5 line of computer chips has set a new database-processing record that surpasses by nearly three-times the previous performance record set by HP for its heavy-duty Superdome computers. The NYT says IBM's eServer 595 performed 3.21 million transactions per minute, or nearly three times the 1.2 million transactions of HP's fastest tested machine. The world's biggest companies and government agencies pay $US1 million or more for such machines.

NEW HOTMAIL DOMAINS IN EUROPE, JAPAN

Microsoft has expanded its flagship MSN Hotmail internet service to include European and Japanese domain names, reports The New York Times/Reuters (19 Nov.). Microsoft has said that people signing up for new email accounts in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan would get a country-specific email address. The paper says that as the largest internet email service with 187 million users, it has become difficult for people to register a Hotmail email name that is both unique and meaningful, and the new domains will allow for Hotmail customers to more easily find desirable email names within their country. Micrsoft says it will be increasing free storage for email accounts to 250 MB for new Hotmail customers in several countries including Australia.

US INTERNET TAXES BLOCKED

The US Congress has acted to block state and local governments from taxing connections that link consumers to the internet for the next three years, reports SiliconValley.com (19 Nov.). The news service says the Senate had made adjustments to the bill that freed the tax prohibition from a yearlong stalemate, blocking taxes of all types of internet connections, from traditional dial-up services to high-speed broadband lines.

NVIDIA DEAL WITH INTEL

In the UK, the online IT industry news and information resource, The Register, reports (19 Nov.) that Nvidia, the graphics chip specialist, has won a frontside bus licence from Intel, paving the way at long last for the company to release versions of its nForce chipset family for Pentium 4 processors. The Register says that while Nvidia get to use Intel's frontside bus technology, the chip giant can now make elements of the nForce platform and - interestingly - Nvidia's SLI system, which allows two graphics cards to co-operate on the rendering of a single image.

ANOTHER INDIAN STATE GETS IN ON THE TECHNOLOGY ACT

Southern India's Kerala state plans to create a 400-hectare zone called "Smart City" where technology companies from around the world will be invited to set up operations, reports The New York Times (19 Nov.). The paper says the area, outside Cochin city, will have facilities for software developers and call centres, two of India's fastest growing sectors. Smart City will be an exclusive IT zone where foreign companies can easily set up shop without any stringent formalities or registration and licensing. The city will be managed by Dubai's Internet City, a free trade zone backed by the Middle Eastern country's government, and is being built with an initial investment of $US400 million.

RADIO FREQUENCY TAGS TO IDENTIFY PATIENTS

A radio frequency tag that patients can affix like a bandage to ensure doctors perform the right surgery on the right person has won government approval in the US, reports The New York Times/AP( 19 Nov.). The paper says the tag, manufactured by Florida-based SurgiChip, aims to prevent wrongful surgeries that records show kill thousands of patients each year in the US. The SurgiChip is the first surgical marking device approved by the Food and Drug Administration to use radio frequency identification, reports the NYT.

ASSISTANCE FOR THE BLIND FROM NEW TECHNOLOGIES

New technologies are coming to the asssistance of the blind, in separate developments just announced in Spain and Japan, reports The New York Times/Reuters/AP (18-19 Nov.). In Japan, researchers at the Kyoto Institute of Technology have developed a system - an 'electronic eye' - that can be fitted to a pair of glasses to help the blind cross the road more safely, using a camera and computer to detect the location of a pedestrian crossing, its width and the colour of any related traffic lights. And, in Spain, Microsoft signed an agreement with a Spanish association for the blind to develop better software for people with visual impairments, and for enhanced technology giving blind and visually impaired people access to the internet. Microsoft's idea is to improve software for equipment such as voice synthesizers and braille keyboards that allow computers to tell blind people what is on the screen in front of them, the NYT reports.

MICROSOFT-DASSAULT FORGE GLOBAL ALLIANCE

Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, and France's Dassault Systemes, have forged a global, 5-year strategic alliance to deliver Dassault's 3D software to firms using the Microsoft software platform, reports The New York Times (17 Nov.). In Paris to announce the deal, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said the new alliance was Microsoft's second-biggest cooperation agreement after that with German software maker SAP. Dassault's software allows companies to stimulate products in three dimensions, from conception to maintenance, in what is known in the industry as product lifecycle management (PLM), and helps the company's more than 70,000 clients in the aerospace, automobile and electronics sectors save time and costs. The paper says the alliance brings together Dassault's 3D expertise and Microsoft's platform, which includes web services development via Microsoft's .NET, real-time collaboration and both the Windows Client and Windows Server operating systems. It also integrates these solutions with Microsoft's SQL server, BizTalk Server, SharePoint Portal Server, Windows Longhorn and Windows XP 64-bit edition, the NYT reports.

MUSIC RECORDING INDUSTRY'S MASS LEGAL SUITS

The recording industry has filed copyright infrignement lawsuits against 761 computer users, the latest round of litigation in the record companies' effort to stamp out unauthorised trading of music online, The New York Times reports (19 Nov.). The latest batch of lawsuits also targeted 25 computer users suspected of swapping songs over university networks, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The paper says the RIAA claims the defendants used peer-to-peer services, including eDonkey, Kazaa and LimeWire to share music, and in all, the recording companies had sued 6,959 computer users since September 2003, with 1,300 defendants settling their cases out of court.

TECH, MEDIA, TELECOMS CHIEFS PREPARE FOR SLOW 2005

Technology, media and telecoms chiefs are expected to be cautious about 2005, with an expected business slowdown and a "dull and challenging year" according to industry heads speaking prior to attending the annual Morgan Stanley TMT investor conference in Barcelona, reports The New York Times (17 Nov.). The NYT says the industry chiefs' stance will be similar to that expressed a year ago, even though 2004 brought mobile phone unit growth of more than 25 per cent, strong business for wireless networks producers and a robust wireline telecoms equipment market. The paper says, however, that Morgan Stanley analysts have predicted that telecom operators will start to benefit from more efficient broadband technology which can handle more traffic at less cost and is easier to manage.

VOICE SMS DEBUT IN SAMSUNG MOBILES

A new feature, Voice SMS, which enables users to leave a voice message in someone's email inbox, or on their mobile phone, without giving the recipient a chance to answer live, is to debut on the US market next week on a new Samsung phone to be carried in Sprint stores, reports The Mercury News (17 Nov.). Voice SMS has been created by Core Mobility after the company's chief technology officer came up with the idea after having trouble sending reminders to himself. Most mobile phones can receive the messages, but for now only the Sprint service with the Samsung phone can be used to send them, reports The Mercury.

FIRST E-PASSPORTS TO BE TRIALED WITH SMARTGATE

The Australian Customs Service is building an updated version of its SmartGate border-control system, due to process newly developed electronic passports by late December, in a major revision of the face-recognition technology being tested at airports, reports The Australian Financial Review (19 Nov.). The AFR says the system is being upgraded to read so-called e-passports, which store a digital image of a passport holder on computer chip, under a separate project by the federal government to boost Australia's border security. The paper also reports that Qantas employees will begin trialing the e-passports in December when travelling to and from Australia.

FUJITSU TO DEVELOP NEW APRA DATABASE

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) has announced that it has appointed Fujitsu Australia to develop a new database to help the insurance industry set premiums for public liability and professional indemnity insurance, The Australian Financial Review reports (AFR 19 Nov.). The paper says the national claims and policies database will compare data from rival insurers.

HCN TO DEVELOP ELECTRONIC SERVICES LINKING GPs AND PHARMACIES

Both The AustralianIT and The Australian Financial Review (19 Nov.) report that Health Communication Network (ASX:HCN) has formed an alliance with PCU NU Systems to explore opportunities to develop electronic services linking general practices and pharmacies. The AFR says HCN competes in the general practice software market with IBA Health (ASX:IBA). The paper also reports that HCN has withdrawn its application asking the publicly run Takeovers Panel to examine a breach by IBA of one of the conditions of its hostile bid to acquire HCN.

GO GO WITH DoCoMo AND STEREO SOUND MOBILES

Japan's largest mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo has unveiled a new line of advanced mobile phones with stereo-quality surround sound, high-resolution digital cameras, and a special chip that allows owners to use their phones as a debit card, The New York Times (17 Nov.) reports. DoCoMo has said the latest line of five phones will be rolled out in stages, starting with a model by Sharp on 26 November. DoCoMo was one of the world's first operators to launch a 3G network in October 2001, but its 3G service, known as FOMA, was slow to take off due to the network's limited coverage area and bulky, expensive phones with a short battery life, the NYT reports. Three of the phones offer "three-dimensional" surround sound that allows users to hear the whack of a golf ball, clapping of hands, or bells ringing in games, plus 3D graphics and a Sony smart chip that can store financial and personal information.

MOTOROLA PREDICTS 3G PHONE SALES TO QUADRUPLE

Motorola, the world's No2. mobile phone maker, expects sales of phones based on the WCDMA third-generation technology to more than quadruple next year, helping it claw back market share, the New York Times reports (17 Nov.). The company made its prediction after WCDMA, expected to become the world's dominant 3G standard, got a major boost with its recent widespread rollout in Europe by Vodafone. The NYT says other operators already offering the high-speed service, which can deliver multimedia downloads to phones, include Hutchison Whampoa, which has launched WCDMA over the last year in parts of Australia, Hong Kong and Europe.

MOTOROLA ACQUIRING MeshNetworks & NEW TECHNOLOGY

Motorola has announced a deal to acquire wireless application developer MeshNetworks for an undisclosed amount, in a deal which will allow Motorola to extend its broadness wireless technology profile by taking advantage of MeshNetworks' mobile mesh networking and position location technologies and products, The Register, the UK online IT information resource reports (17 Nov.). The Register says the acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year, with Motorola predicting that the technology will find a home in everywhere from the enterprise to cars and home entertainment applications.

CHINESE 3G MAY FOLLOW EUROPE

Chinese mobile companies are moving away from the homegrown standard for next generation phone services and are now likely to use the standard - TD-SCDMA - to support the rival European standard WECDMA, reports The UK Register, citing a report in the Financial Times (17 Nov.). The Register quotes the Financial Times as saying that, if as predicted, the Chinese government awards four licenses or less, then no operator will adopt TD-SCDMA only for a national network. The Register says the Chinese government still has to decide how licenses will be awarded following disappointing trials of the homegrown mobile standard.

DIMENSION DATA AUSTRALIA PUSHING INTO PUBLIC SECTOR

Dimension Data Australia, the local subsidiary of the South African-based company, is banking on strong government spending to give it another solid year's growth as it pushes deeper into the public sector, health and education markets, reports The Australian Financial Review (19 Nov.). According to the AFR, the company has targeted network security and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) as strong performers in the coming year after it reported a 16 per cent revenue rise, on a constant currency basis, during the 12-months to 30 September this year. The Australian operation was the largest revenue contributor to Dimension Data's global sales and accounted for 19.4 per cent of group revenue, the AFR reports.

UNISYS-SUNCORP EXTEND OUTSOURCING CONTRACT

Unisys has announced that its payment processing subsidiary has signed a two-year extension to its outsourcing contract with Suncorp, with the new arrangement adding services such as archiving and document imaging to the contract, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 19 Nov.).

ULTRA-THIN NEW MOTOROLA PHONE

Motorola has just released its Razr V3, the ultra-thin mobile phone that it has promoted heavily as the star of its portfolio of 20 new handsets, reports The New York Times/AP (17 Nov.). The colour-screen camera phone has built-in Bluetooth wireless technology for email and offers video playback and a speaker phone in a half-inch thick clamshell design.

GOOGLE GOES ACADEMIC & GIVES A BIT BACK

Google, the online search engine leader, is setting out to make better sense of all the scholarly work stored on the web with the unveiling this week of its new service, https://scholar.google.com, which draws upon newly developed algorithms to list the academic research that appears to be most relevant to a search request, reports The New York Times (18 Nov.). Google doesn't intend to charge for the service nor use the feature to deliver text-based ads, which are the primary source of its profits. The paper quotes Google as saying it has benefited a lot from scholarly research, and the new service is one way of giving back to the scholarly community.

US MOVES TO REINSTATE INTERNET ACCESS TAX BANS

The US Congress has moved this week toward reinstating a ban on internet access taxes, as the Senate modified a measure it had previously passed with hopes that the House of Representatives would take it up, reports The New York Times (18 Nov.). The paper quotes senators as saying that the compromise balances well two important principles - federalism and free markets. The ban on internet taxes expired one year ago amid predictions that state taxes could choke internet growth. Since 1998 Congress has prevented states and local governments from taxing the monthly access fees that internet providers charge their customers, though it did allow existing taxes to stay in place, the NYT reports.

MICROSOFT, GATES INITIATIVE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

And, like Google, Bill Gates and Microsoft were doing their bit for the good of the world community this week with the Microsoft chairman signing a cooperation agreement with UNESCO to improve access to computers, the internet and information technology training in developing countries, reports the New York Times/AP (17 Nov.). Under the agreement, Microsoft and UNESCO will work together to increase computer literacy in poorer countries and to expand the contribution of computers to economic development. The agreement also focuses on training teachers and other professionals to use computers to share information. The NYT says the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation endowment currently stands at about $US30 billion after Gates handed over some $3 billion he earned from a one-time dividend paid out to Microsoft shareholders in July.

SOFTWARE COMPANY ALLEGES MICROSOFT DESTROYED DOCUMENTS

A Californian software company, Burst.com, in court papers unsealed this week in the US, has alleged that Microsoft developed policies stressing the systematic destruction of internal emails and other documents crucial to lawsuits it has faced in recent years, report The Mercury News and The New York Times/AP (17 Nov.). Burst.com also accuses Microsoft of destroying emails crucial to Burst's lawsuit against the software giant even after the trial judge ordered it to retain the documents. The papers say Burst is suing Microsoft for uncompetitive behaviour, alleging Microsoft misappropriated the intellectual property behind its multimedia software after breaking off talks with Burst on a joint project.

APPLIED MATERIALS REPORTS GOOD RESULTS

Applied Materials, the world's largest maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, saw its profits skyrocket in the quarter ended 31 October when the company posted net income of $US455 million, or 27 cents a share, reports The Mercury News (17 Nov.). The paper says Applied Materials reported an 80 per cent surge in sales in the quarter, with net sales rising to $2.2 billion from $1.22 billion. The company introduced what it called 10 breakthrough products in critical technology areas for transistors, interconnects, defect review and flat-panel displays, as well as new service products, the paper reported.

MEGAPIXEL PIC BY THE DUTCH

The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research has produced what it claims is the largest digital panoramic photo (https://www.tno.nl/gigapix) in the world, and at 2.5 billion pixels, it's 500 times more pixel-packed that can be produced with modern five megapixel consumer cameras, reports the UK online IT information source, The Register (17 Nov.). The photograph shows the Dutch town of Delft and its surroundings in the autumn of 2004 and was taken from a height of about 100 metres on top of a Delft University building with an ordinary Nikon D1x and a 400mm lens, The Register reports.

FXall LAUNCHES ONLINE MONEY MARKETS SERVICE

Multi-bank currency trading platform FXall has launched a money markets service, with all of the service's customers being able to trade loans and deposits on the platform, reports The New York Times/Reuters (17 Nov.). The paper says that FXall has said it is introducing money market trading in response to requests by their customers, who wanted the service because there was a limited amount of money market dealing available online, mostly from single-bank sites. The NYT quotes FXall as saying that its trading volumes are regularly above $US25 billion a day.

AOL PACKAGES NEW SECURITY SERVICES

America Online (AOL) is packaging new features to combat viruses, spam and spyware in response to growing online security threats, with subscribers to the service able to get free tools through a software download known as AOL 9.0 Security Edition, reports The New York Times (18 Nov.). The paper says the new features will be available this week and includes anti-virus software from McAfee, a new SpyZapper to check spyware every time you sign on, junk mail controls, a pop-up blocker and a program to combat identity theft. In addition, it includes a service with credit agency Experian where subscribers are notified when their credit cards exceed a preset spending limit.

TiVO USERS TO STILL SEE MANY ADS

TiVo, a US maker of digital television video recorders, will next year add ways for viewers to see advertising and corporate logos even as they try to skip commercials, reports The New York Times/Reuters (17 Nov.). Starting in March, most viewers who fast-forward through programs on their TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) - a set-top box that saves shows on a built-in computer hard drive - will see small pop-up billboards or logos related to the brands repesented in some ads, reports the NYT. TiVo says it has worked with more than 30 of the biggest US advertisers, including auto manufacturers and Hollywood studios, in a strategic move to bolster its tiny ad unit, which generates only a fraction of the company's revenue.

PortalPlayer VALUE INCREASES AHEAD OF IPO

PortalPlayer, the company which makes chips for the iPod music player, has this week had the value of its planned initial public offering (IPO) raised to as much as $US100 million, and the estimated share price range increased to between $14 and $16 a share from $11 to $13 a share according to a regulatory filing, The Mercury News reports (17 Nov.). PortalPlayer's software allows consumers to download, play, record and manage music on computers, portable devices and compact discs.

AVOID THE POST OFFICE QUEUES, DO IT ONLINE, IN THE US

In the US, shipping (postal delivery) services, most of which were previously only available to businesses that did a lot of shipping, have now been made available online to consumers, just ahead of the expected Xmas & holiday season rush, the New York Times reports (18 Nov.). The paper says that the US Postal Service, FedEx or UPS web sites, let senders log on and plug addresses into a personal address book, calculate shipping costs, order pickups at home, print shipping labels and pay for it all by credit card. Shipping supplies, including boxes, can be ordered online in advance, with addresses and other information kept in free, secure accounts.

eBAY BANS RACIALLY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE

Following complaints, eBay has announced a new policy regarding use of racially offensive terms in its listings, and users who now attempt to use the offending terms will see a pop-up notice informing them of the new policy, reports The New York Times (17 Nov.). The paper says racially offensive terms may not appear in descriptions of sites, as some sellers apparently have done in the web site's Black American categories.

AIRLINE CHECK IN USING MOBILE PHONES

Passengers wanting to skip airport queues will be able to check in for flights using their mobile phones beginning next year, with two Euorpean firms set to offer the service, reports The New York Times (16 Nov.). The paper says Siemens and air transport-related information technology firm SITA have teamed to develop the service, which uses GPRS, or general packet radio service, a speedy system for sending information to mobile phones, says the NYT. Passengers can check in, change seats, check times asnd receive details for dropping off baggage using their phones. The NYT says the first carrier lined up to offer the service is Brazilian airline TAM.

SHAREHOLDERS SPLIT ON ORACLE'S OFFER TO PeopleSoft

Two major PeopleSoft shareholders have indicated they would split their votes on whether to accept Oracle's $US8.8 billion hostile takeover bid, The New York Times reports (16 Nov.). But, the tender offer which ends on Friday is expected to be a cliffhanger, with a quarter or more of outstanding shares held by arbitragers who will take whichever deal looks best at the last moment, according to analysts. The paper reports that Oracle has said Capital Guardian Trust, which owns about 5.9 per cent of PeopleSoft, plans to accept the offer by Oracle. However, that was offset by Private Capital Management LP, with 9.4 per cent, which said in a regulatory filing this week that it will not tender its shares because it believes Oracle's offer udervalues PeopeSoft.

GOOGLE SHARES RELEASED, STOCK DROPS

Google shares fell 6.7 per cent yesterday as selling restrictions were lifted on 39 million shares held by employees and early investors, reports The New York Times (16 Nov.). The paper says the expiration of the lockup more than doubled the number of shares eligible for trade, to about one-fourth of total shares outstanding. Industry analysts, reports the NYT, said the stock had been expected to slip somewhat as the selling restrictions were lifted, but they said most investors were probably more interested in the long-term prospects of Google's business. Yesterday, shares of Google closed at $US172.54, with the stock making its debut in mid-August at $85.

HEWLETT-PACKARD'S REVENUE, PROFITS UP

Hewlett-Packard has reported a 26.5 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on the strength of record revenue growth across all of the computer manufacturing giant's businesses, The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com report (16 Nov.). For the three months ended 31 October, HP reported a net income of $US1.091 billion, or 36 cents per share, compared with $862 million, or 28 cents per share in the same period last year. Fourth-quarter revenue was $21.39 billion, up 8 per cent from $19.85 billion in the fourth-quarter 2003. The paper says HP's software, storage server and services division reported a combined $8 billion in revenue, with commercial sales growing 12 per cent while consumer sales rose 4 per cent.

THIS TIME, IT'S A SCREENWRITER SUING MICROSOFT

Academy Award winning screenwriter Roger Avary has sued Microsoft in California for purportedly stealing his idea for a virtual yoga studio after the software giant sought his advice for winning over women to videogames, The New York Times reports (16 Nov.). The screenwriter, who won a best screenplay Oscar for 1994's 'Pulp Fiction', seeks at least $30 million plus punitive damages and has asked a judge to stop Microsoft and co-defendant ResponDesign, an Oregon game publisher, from selling the yoga game, called "Yourself!Fitness.

SBC-MICROSOFT DEAL ON TV PROGRAMMING DATA LINES

In the US, SBC Communications, as part of its effort to compete head-on with the cable industry for television subscribers, is to announce today that it will pay $US400 million to Microsoft for software used to deliver TV programming over high-speed data lines, The New York Times reports (26 Nov.).The paper says it will be a critical move by SBC, which like other regional telephone giants wants to grow by expanding beyond phone and internet services and into entertainment, the NYT says. To do that, SBC expects to spend more than $4 billion over the next three years on its first fibre optic network to offer faster internet connections able to carry digital video programming. The paper says the deal is also a milestone for Microsoft, which has spent rougly $20 billion in the last decade trying to break into the television business, but has little to show for that investment, according to industry analysts.

MAXTOR IN TURMOIL

Maxtor, the world's No2. maker of disc drives, has had its CEO Paul Tufano quit the company with no explanation, only months after the CFO Robert Edwards resigned after eight months on the job, reports SiliconValley.com (16 Nov.). Maxtor has had four consecutive quarters of losses amid industry price wars and the company, which develops disc drives for personal computers and corporate servers, has been slow to develop smaller drives for the growing notebook-computer market, reports the NYT.

FIRST LAW SUITS FILED AGAINST MOVIE PIRATES

Trade group, the Motion Picture Association of America, representing seven major movie studios has filed a first wave of lawsuits against individuals they say are offering pirated copies of films using internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing programs, reports The Mercury News (16 Nov.). As part of a larger effort to combat piracy, the MTAA has also said it will make available a computer program that sniffs out movie and music files on a user's computer as well as any installed file-sharing programs.

DIGITISED NEWSPAPER PAGES TO BE AVAILABLE

The US Government has promised anyone with a computer will have access within a few years to millions of pages from old newspapers, with the first of what's expected to be 30 million digitised pages from papers published from 1836 through 1992 to be available in 2006, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (16 Nov.).

MICROSOFT EXPANDS SIGNIFICANTLY IN INDIA

Microsoft is to significantly expand its software development operations in India, just as the company this week opened its new campus near Hyderabad, its second largest campus after its headquarters in the US, report both the New York Times and The Mercury News (16 Nov.). At the same time, Microsoft signed software partnerships with India's leading outsourcing firms, Infosys and Wipro, and stepped up plans to hire more programmers in India. The deals will enable Infosys and Wipro to use Microsoft technologies to build software for their clients. The papers report Microsoft chief executive, Steve Ballmer as saying that hundreds more staff in India will be hired in the coming months, with Microsoft currently having 1,500 employees in its Hyderabad office. The NYT also reports that Intel's chief executive, Craig R Barrett is to arrive in India this week, highlighting the country's growing role as a source of skilled technical labor as well as a sizeable market.

ORACLE STILL SAYS "BEST AND FINAL" OFFER TO PeopleSoft

Oracle has again said that the $US24 a share offer for PeopleSoft remained the company's "best and final" offer, in what may be the last week of a 17-month hostile takeover battle, reports The New York Times (16 Nov.). The paper says the $US8.8 billion offer, rejected by PeopleSoft on 10 November, will be withdrawn unless a majority of PeopleSoft shares are tendered by midnight Friday. PeopleSoft, the world's No. 2 maker of business-management software, has spurned five offers by Oracle since June 2003, saying each undervalues the company.

CONSUMERS BENEFIT AS SEARCH ENGINE BATTLE CONTINUES

Yahoo is more than doubling its limits on free email storage in its latest move to combat two of its biggest rivals, Gogle and Microsoft, reports The New York Times (16 Nov.). The paper says email account holders will get up to 250 megabytes of free storage effective Monday, up from 100 megabytes previously offered by Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. The change follows Microsoft's recent decision to boost the free storage on its Hotmail service to 250 megabytes per account. The NYT says both Yahoo and Hotmail have dramatically increased their storage limits since Google rolled out its free email service offering in April. The Google service, called Gmail, offers each account holder up to 1,000 megabytges of email storage, the paper reports.

WIRELESS WILL DRIVE INTERNET'S NEXT GROWTH PHASE

Wireless services will lead the next growth phase of the internet as venture capitalists who helped fund the early boom open their wallets again, according to industry leaders who met at a summit in California, reports The New York Times/Reuters (16 Nov.). Industry leaders at the TechNet Innovation Summit at the headquarters of Google heard one of Silicon Valley's renowned venture capitalists, John Doerr, report that "...the internet's largest opportunities are in bringing new services, ones that we barely imagine, to billions of people around the world, wirelessly.". One focus of the summit's discussion was new ways to use wireless technology to expand the web, as WiFi gains traction and other wireless technologies are in the works, the NYT reports.

PROTECTING EUROPEAN SONGWRITERS

The organisations that collect royalties for songwriters in Europe are preparing to defend themselves at a hearing against accusations by the European Commission that they are restricting competition in the field of music distribution over the internet, reports the New York Times (16 Nov.). The commission alleges that the 16 so-called collecting societies are illegally forcing online music retailers to buy rights to songs only from the collecting society in their own country, the paper reports.

MUSIC FILE-SHARING GAINS EXTRA MOMENTUM

In the US, in another sign of the music industry's grudging embrace of file-swapping technology, Universal Music Group has agreed to licence its 150,000-song catalogue to Snocap, a San Francisco company started by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, reports Silicon Valley's The Mercury News (16 Nov.). The paper says Snocap, which has been operating in stealth mode for more than a year, will provide the technology to let listeners buy music legally distributed over internet file-sharing networks. The Snocap service is expected to make its debut in early December, and Mashboxx, a new file-swapping service to be powered by Snocap, is expected to make its debut in January, according to industry sources, The Mercury reports.

PortalPlayer RIDES ON BACK OF iPOD POPULARITY

PortalPlayer, which makes components for Apple's iPod music player, plans to go public this week in the US, selling 6.25 million shaes at $11 to $13 a share, The Mercury News reports. According to those watching PortalPlayer, demand for the shares has been strong, driven largely by the success of the iPod. The paper says investors seem drawn by the continued growth potential of the iPod, which has become a must-have for some. The paper says that in October, Apple said it sold 2 million iPods in its fiscal fourth quarter, up strongly from 836,000 players sold in the same quarter a year ago.

UNDERUTILISED COMPUTING POWER TO BE USED FOR SOCIAL GOOD

IBM and top scientific research organisations are joining forces in a humanitarian effort to tap the unused power of millons of computers and help solve complex social problems, reports The New York Times (16 Nov.). The World Community Grid will seek to tap the vast underutilised power of computers belonging to individuals and businesses worldwide and channel it into selected medical and environmental research programs. The paper says volunteers will be asked to download a program to their computers that runs when the machine is idle and reaches out to request data to contribute to research projects. Organisers say the Grid can help unlock genetic codes that underlie diseases like AIDS and HIV, Alzheimer's or cancer, improve forecasting of natural disasters and aid studies to protect the world's food and water supply, reports the NYT.

DELL & MICROSOFT JOIN FORCES ON NEW SOFTWARE

Dell and Microsoft have promised big savings on the billions of dollars companies spend on system maintenance, as they unveiled jointly developed software this week that manages and upgrades servers in one mouse-click, The New York Times reports (15 Nov.). The NYT says the new toolkit brings together Dell's OpenManage 4 server management software and Microsoft SMS 2003, used to configure and upgrade servers running Windows. Dell says systems managers will now be able to manage and upgrade servers from one platform instead of requiring several tools, reports the paper.

MSN MUSIC DEAL TO HELP LITTLE-KNOWN MUSICIANS

Microsoft's MSN Music site will begin featuring some artists from the independent web site GarageBand.com in a deal both companies say is aimed at giving little-known musicians access to a broader audience, reports The New York Times. The paper quotes the chief excutive as saying that GarageBand.com's online music community is already well-known among musicians for its efforts to give independent artists a forum, but it is still largely unknown to the general public. Under the deal, Microsoft's web site will initially feature five of GarageBand's musicians, and eventually it will have the entire catalogue of free donwnloads from GaragBand.com musicians who have agreed to give their songs away, the paper reports.

BANKS REDUCE SOFTWARE SPEND, NAB REDUCES STAFF

The gradual swing towards a more conservative approach to software spending has finally reversed the build-up of software assets at Australia's major banks, reports Emma Connors in The Australian Financial Review (16 Nov.). The paper says that for the first time in many years the total of software capitalised by the top five banks has fallen, down to $1.67 billion at September 30, compared with $1.87 billion recorded a year earlier and $1.9 billion noted at the end of March. The paper also reports that National Australia Bank will slash some 300 jobs from its embattled technology group. The restructuring, to be announced tomorrow, involves NAB scrapping its division-oriented approach to IT in favour of handing day-to-day responsibility to regional exectives, reports the AFR.

NAB DECLARATION OF A "DISASTER"

NAB's technology situation is looked at by James Riley in The Australian (16 Nov.) in a story under the heading "Inside NAB's tech wreck", in which the reporter says the bank's slicing of $400 million off the book value of its software assets last week was a public declaration of disaster. Riley says this was the latest in a series of software writedowns over the past three years worth well over half a billion dollars.

FIREFOX: MILLIONS OF DOWNLOADS AND GROWING

The New York Times (15 Nov.) takes a comprehensive look at the web browser market, reflecting on the days in the 1990s when Microsft thwarted competition from the likes of Netscape, while noting that it is "refugees" from the original Netscape who are behind Firefox, the open-source browser to just hit the market, with a commitment to provide competition. The paper says that the Firefox browser released last week has won praise from some internet experts for being more innovative than Microsoft's Internet Explorer and less susceptible to mailicious programs that routinely attack the Microsoft browser. The NYT also reports that experts have said that Firefox is a compact, free-standing browser designed to display web pages rapdly while blocking pop-up ads and other unsolicited windows. According to the NYT, downloads of Firefox were running at one million a day last week, and over the past five months a preview version, prior to its official release, was downloaded by eight-million people.

OPTUS PULLS OUT OF PART OF GOVT. CONTRACT

Optus has abandoned part of its bid for a $300 million NSW government telecommunications overhaul as the long-running project heads into its third year of tendering, reports The Australian Financial Review (16 Nov.). The paper says the move comes just months after Optus was shortlisted for the project, launched in 2002, to update the way the NSW governmnent buys telecommunications services. Optus told the AFR it had pulled out of a component of the tender that covered a core network.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS ROLLS OUT NEW OPERATING SYSTEM

Sun Microsystems has just introduced to the market the latest version of its flagship Solaris operating system, Solaris 10, and intends to offer a free version of the program to make it more attractive to corporate and academic computer users, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.) The paper says even though Sun is unveiling the program now, it will not be commercially available until the end of January, although versions of Solaris 10 have been available for trial use for almost a year. Sun said that Solaris 10, a version of the heavy-duty Unix operating system used by large computer data centres, banks, telecommunications firms and governments, cost more than $US500 million in research and development, but incorporates more than 600 new features. The NYT says Sun is relying on Solaris 10 to set it apart from rivals such as IBM, Hewletter-Packard and Dell.

ATO HIRING TECH STAFF

The Australian Taxaton Office has begun the task of recruiting hundredsof technology professionals to work on its four-year, $350 million technology overhaul, reports The Australian Financial Review (16 Nov.). The paper say the ATO is advertising across Australia for 20 permanent project managers and business analysts, with a further 50 to 60 development positions to be advertised early next year. The AFR reports that the ATO will also almost double its graduate recruitment intake from 20 this year to 38 next year to help cater for the staffing requirements of the project.

YAHOO TO TEST NEW ANTI-SPAM TECHNOLOGY

Yahoo and Earthlink are to begin tests of a new anti-spam technology that encodes digital signatures into customers' email as a way to separate legitimate messages from unwanted spam, reports The New York Times/Reuters (15 Nov.). The paper says the technology, developed by Yahoo, is one of several emerging standards that seeks to flush out fake addresses used by spammers to clip through content filters, and it will be invisible to regular internet users. The NYT says Yahoo's DomainKeys embeds outgoing messages with an encrypted digital signature matched to a signature on the server computer that sends the message. The report says that internet experts agree that DomainKeys provides a higher level of security than a Microsoft-backed standard known as SenderID, but it is more difficult to implement and requires about 10 per cent more computing power to process.

NSW GOVT. PROJECT BUDGET BLOWOUT

The NSW Government's plan to cut $70 million in administrative expenses from its paper-based licensing systems by replacing them with a web portal may end up years behind schedule, reports Simon Hayes in The Australian IT Today section (16 Nov.). The paper says that two years into what was originally billed as a four-year project, the state Commerce Department has launched an online licence site for only one of the 19 agencies covered by the system, and has estimated it will cost $17 million more than was originally announced.

TELSTRA LAUNCHING "MOBILE BROADBAND"

Telstra is formally launching (on 16 Nov.) its new 2.4 Mbps EVDO 3G mobile network, becoming in the process one of the few telcos in the world planning multiple 3G networks running on different standards, reports AustralianIT (15 Nov.). The paper say that in addition to its mainstream role of providing high speed mobile data to Telstra's corporate customers, the company is also eyeing the EVDO (Evolution Data Optimised) as a possible means of getting broadband internet to customers beyond the reach of its DSL-equipped exchanges. Initial coverage by the EVDO network - dubbed by Telstra as Mobile Broadband - concentrates on metropolitan areas and larger regonal centres, The Australian reports.

MACQUARIE TELECOM GOING AFTER TELSTRA'S BUSINESS

Telco Macquarie Corporate is preparing for a raid on Telstra's blue-chip business base with a new name, look and plans for a $9 million "intelligent access" network that will deliver high-quality phone calls and high-speed data services, reports The Australian IT Today section (16 Nov.). The paper says business and government customers are increasingly interested in voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone calls, because it is much cheaper than fixed-line services. The paper reports that Macquarie Telecom will remain strongly focused on Australia's top 10,000 corporate and government clients, with its Metro Access Network allowing faster product and service development to meet customers' specific needs.

IS TELSTRA PROMOTING COMPETITION?

The competition regulator - the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) - has indicated flaws in Telstra's argument that its slashing of broadband prices had promoted competition, reports The AustralianIT (15 Nov.). The paper says the ACCC has said that some of Telstra's rivals were actually making losses, but were doing so in order to build up their customer numbers. The Australian says the ACCC is currently working on its case against Telstra over the telco's move in February to drop the basic price of broadband for its residential customers to $29.95 a month.

E-HEALTH NETWORK BLUEPRINT REVEALED

The final blueprint for the planned nationwide e-health records system has been issued, revealing HealthConnect as a federated network of state-based databases holding "event summaries" of patients' encounters with doctors, hospitals asnd pharmacies, reports The Australia IT Today section (16 Nov.). The paper says patients will have control over who has access to their personal information, although de-identified data will be made available for medical research and health planning purposes.

TECH SPENDING UP PREDICTION, LINUX TO CHALLENGE MICROSOFT

Tech spending will swing up next year, but there will be unsettling news for Microsoft and a software-led revolution, according to Gartner research vice-president Bob Hayward. Hayward, talking just before the annual Gartner Symposium/ITxpo being held in Sydney this week, said 2005 would be an "interesting" year for Linux on the desktop, with a prediction that next year serious vendors such as IBM, Novell and Sun would start to really push hard on desktop Linux, which he said has been gaining traction, especially in Government.

NEW ONLINE AD-TO-CONSUMER MATCHING TECHNOLOGY

In the US, Tacoda, an online marketing company based in New York, has announced the creation of a network of 60 web sites, including USAToday.com and the web site of the Tampa Tribune, that allow its members to display ads based on how people surf through the network, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.). The paper says that at the height of the dot-com boom, DoubleClick made itself the object of scorn among privacy advocates by trying to track internet users individually and show them ads related to their surfing habits. The NYT goes on to say that what Tacoda offers is different than what DoubleClick tried to do, with Tacoda's system using no personally identifiable information, and no data sharing between publishers.

GOVERNMENT VoIP CONTRACT GIVEN GO-AHEAD

The Australian (16 Nov.) reports that one of Australia's largest voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and converged network rollouts has been given the go-ahead after almost five months of negotiations. The paper says the ACT Government's InTACT shared services communications agency contract awarded to TransACT, is thought to be the first in Australia that will operate across all agencies, rather than within a single department. According to The Australian, the contract has grown in size and value from an initial 9000 handsets to more than 11,000 which will cover 15,000 extensions, and cost $27 million rather than the original figure of $15 million. TranACT displaced Telstra as the chief supplier in the whole-of-government VoIP project.

CAUTION TO COMPANIES CONSIDERING VoIP

Chief information officers should be cautious about the hidden costs of upgrading to internet protocol telephony (VoIP), according to a Gartner analysts, reports The Ausatralian IT Today section (16 Nov.). Gartner's Geoff Johnson said CIOs were in danager of being slugged with extra costs if they chose the IP path as PABX installations in Australia were replaced during the next decade. The paper quoted Johnson as cautioning that companies often realised too late that their local area and wide area networks were not up to specifications for IP telephony, and those that had not replaced their router in the last two years may find their system is not voice-capable.

DOW JONES BUYS MARKETWATCH

Dow Jones, the publishers of The Wall Street Journal, has agreed to buy MarketWatch, the parent company of the financial news web site CBS MarketWatch for about $US486 million, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.). The paper says the deal will give Dow Jones a way to reach a broad audience of consumers interested in financial news and a new source of revenue from online advertising. The NYT says the acquisition of MarketWatch, a free news site at cbsmarketwatch.com marks a major strategic shift for Dow Jones, which until now has focussed its online efforts exclusively on paid subscription services like The Wall Street Journal Online, one of the few successful subscription-based news web sites.

SURVEY: TECH SECTOR SALARIES INCREASE

Salaries in the technology sector have jumped up to 18 per cent in the past six months, driven by demand from large consultancies and financial services organisations, according to a survey by recruiter Michael Page Technology, reports The Australian IT Today section (16 Nov.). The paper says the study showed a "pronounced shift" in the technology sector, which has translated into increased spending and recruitment. In addition, most salares have increased by 5-10 per cent during 2004, and others have jumped by as much as 18 per cent, according to the survey, The Australian reports. The study also showed there was fierce competition for technology candidates which has increased permanent salary levels and contract rates in areas such as IP telephony, security, enterprise architecture, data warehousing and project management.

NEW FEATURES ENHANCE ADOBE ACROBAT, READER

Software maker Adobe Systems has upgraded its flagship desktop publishing products, giving powerful new features to not only the authors of electronic documents but also their recipients, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.). The paper says Adobe's Acrobat converts documents in the Portable Document Format, or PDF, which is commonly used for viewing files over the web and in email attachements. Adobe Reader is used by more than 500 million people to access PDF documents. The paper says that while, in the past, Adobe Reader simply allowed viewing capabilities, the new version 7.0 along with Acrobat 7.0, lets users make comments or editing changes for the first time - if the original creator of the document uses Acrobat 7.0 and authorises it.

SMART TOYS GROWING MARKET SHARE

The New York Times (13 Nov.) carries a report about what it describes as "toyland digitising" - the $US20 billion a year US toy industry becoming "smarter". The report quotes toy industry retailers as saying that smart toys have really broken into the pre-school age group market, and that the victory march of GameBoy and computer games is just the tip of the iceberg. The report says that if you enter any toy store, especially the big retail chains, you are met by staring, talking, moving and responding dolls. The NYT says smart toys came onto the market around five years ago, but that according to retailers Moore's Law of exponentiallty increasing computer power means manufacturers can put a lot more sdensors, processors and memory into a plaything for the same amount of money.

GOOGLE INVESTORS - TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

Google investors may find out this week whether there really can be too much of a good thing, even though the search company's stock price has more than doubled in the three months since its public offering, closing at $US182 last Friday, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.). The paper says that one possible reason for the surge (in Google's share price) is that relatively few shares of Google have been available to trade (only about 7 per cent of its stock, or 19.6 million shares, were sold in its 19 August debut). The NYT says the number of shares outstanding could change today (Monday US time) when Google insiders will be permitted to sell as many as 39 million more shares to the public. Analysts say they don't know what impact this potential flood of shares into the market will have on the stock price of Google.

TRAVEL PURCHASES ON THE INTERNET

UK online travel agent Ebookers cut its losses in the third quarter thanks to a lower wage bill arising from job cuts, and the firm says it is still in discussions about a possible sale and "a further announcement will be made in due course," reports The Register (15 Nov.). The Register says gross sales were 159 million pounds, up from 145 million for the same period of 2003. The firm made a loss for the period of 2 million pounds, down from a loss of 3.2 million for the third quarter of 2003. The report says that eBookers expects trading in the fourth quarter to be satisfactory, with expectations of the recovery of the European mid and long haul travel to continue and more European consumers using the internet to make travel purchases.

TINY ANTENNAS TO KEEP TRACK ON US DRUGS

The US Food and Drug Administration and several major drug makers are today expected to announce initiatives that will put tiny radio entennas on the labels of millions of medicine bottles to combat cunterfeiting and fraud, reports The New York Times (15 Nov.). The paper says that among medicines that will soon be tagged are Viagra, one of the most counterfeited drugs in the world, and OxyContin, a pain-control narcotic that has become one of the most abused medicines in the US. The NYT says the labels are called radio-frequency idfentification, and as in automated toll collection systems, they consist of computer chips embedded into stickers that emit numbers when prompted by a nearby radio signal.

MICROSOFT LEADS PalmSource IN PDA MARKET

Microsoft took over the market lead from PalmSource in the number of PDA shipments worldwide for the third-quarter with 48.1 percent of the 2.8 million PDA shipments, report The New York Times/AP and The Mercury News (13 Nov.). Both papers report research from Gartner which showed that PalmSource's Palm OS operating system saw its share of the worldwide personal-digital-assistant market plummet to 29.8 per cent with 851,000 shipments in the quarter, compared to 46.9 per cent with 1.2 million shipments in the same period last year. According to Gartner, PalmSource had dominated the market since 1996, and this was the first time they had been passed, with the magnitude of the decline in Palm OS shipments unexpected. However, the papers report that PalmSource has labelled the findings misleading, saying that the report only covered software shipments for PDAs and excluded sales to makers of smart phones, which combined wireless-phone and PDA features and used the same operating system.

SAMSUNG TO HIT US MOBILE MARKET WITH NEW PHONE

Samsung Electronics plans to introduce a mobile telephone with high-speed internet links in the US in the first quarter of next year, with expectations of providing about 20 per cent of the roughly 100 million mobile handsets to be sold in the US this year, reports The New York Times/Reuters (11 Nov.). Samsung has said the phone would be based on EV-DO, a high-speed technology that Verizon Wireless and Sprint are building into their networks, reports the paper. Samsung, the world's third largest mobile phone maker, has also unveiled its p735 phone, which has a high resolution camera and music player and will go on sale by year end. According to analysts, Samsung is only 500,000 phone sales away from taking the No.2 position from Motorola, the NYT reports.

BigPond RESPONDS TO CUSTOMER DEMANDS WITH NEW PLANS

In response to what it says is customer demand, Telstra BigPond has brought to the market a range of new, cheaper and simplified broadband internet plans. BigPond Managing Director, Justin Milne, said that BigPond members had asked for simpler plans and better prices. He said the company has now responded by making more plans eligible for Telstra Reward Options and offering packages including a 20GB cable uncapped/128kps plan which it says will be particularly attractive to high usage cable customers seeking to avoid speed capping on unlimited download plans.

IBM SECURES $57M ABB CONTRACT

IBM has secured an eight-year, $57 million outsourcing contract with automation specialist ABB in Australia, reports The Australian Financial Review (15 Nov.). The paper says the contract will commence in January and will expire at the same time as a 10-year, $US1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) agreement signed between IBM and ABB in Europe and North America. The AFR says about 19 ABB staff are expected to join IBM when the outsourcing arrangement takes effect, with the contract to include server consolidation, help-desk services and disaster recovery services.

EUROPEAN MOBILE HANDSET MANUFACTURER FOCUSES MORE ON DESIGN

Europe's top electronics manufacturing services firm, Elcoteq of Finland is targeting growth by strengthening its focus on design services to tap surging demand in the mobile handset market, reports The New York Times/Reuters (11 Nov.). The paper says that for years, handset manufacturers have outsourced low-margin assembly work to electronic manufacturing services (EMS) firms, but as the number of handset models has risen sharply, more deals have gone to firms that also offer design services, known as original design manufacturers (ODMs). The paper says Elcoteq, whose largest single client is top mobile phone maker Nokia, has traditonally been an assembly firm, but has focused increasingly on design since 2002 when it bought the design operations of small Finnish handset manufacturer Benefon.

APPLE VS MICROSOFT, THE TECH REMATCH OF THE MOMENT

Under the heading "Gates vs. Jobs: The Rematch", New York Times writer, Saul Hansell, looks at the history of competition between two of the giants of the technology industry - Apple's Steve Jobs and Microsoft's Bill Gates - and discerns that if Apple continues to dominate its market in a way that no Apple product like the iPod has done in a generation, and the company continues to ride the wave of digital consumer electronics products, it may become the Sony of the 21st century. However, for that to happen, writes Hansell, Mr Jobs must do what he failed to do last time: prevail over his old nemesis, Bill Gates, who sees entertainment as Microsoft's next great frontier. The report says that while Mr Jobs boasted at a recent advertising campaign launch for the iPod that the product had become the "Walkman of the 21st century", Microsoft and Mr Gates, on the other hand, are turning up the volume in the portable music business, with the Microsoft chief making no secret that he expects to beat Mr Jobs in that market as convincingly as he did in personal computers.

INTEL'S NEW PUSH WITH HOME ENTERTAINMENT CHIPS

Intel will unveil next year a bundle of chips designed for home entertainment computers, and support the move with a branding campaign modeled on the successful launch of its Centrino chips for notebook computers, reports The New York Times/Reuters (11 Nov.). The paper says the intiative, codenamed East Fork, is part of a push to develop "platform" brands - heavily promoted names that designate bundles of chips for particular applications, like entertainment, mobility, or business computing. Such brands boost sales of Intel's high-margin microprocessors, according to chip industry analysts, the NYT reports.

DELL THINKING ABOUT CHIPS FROM INTEL RIVAL AMD

Dell, the No. 1 personal computer maker and the best customer of leading computer chip maker Intel, is mulling using rival chips from AMD, according to the company's chief excutive, reports The New York Times/Reuters (11 Nov.).The paper says Intel is considering using Advanced Micro Devices chips for some future server products, but that the company had no formal plans as yet to embrace AMD and had not announced that it was using any AMD products. The paper says that 2005 will mark an intense year of upgrades to server computers to 64-bit chips after Microsoft introduces software designed to take advantage of 64-bit processing early next year, the NYT reports.

PENTAGON BUILDING ITS OWN INTERNET

The Pentagon is building its own internet - called the Global Information Grid, or GIG - which will be the military's world wide secure web for wars of the future, reports The New York Times (13 Nov.). The paper says the goal is to give all American commanders and troops a moving picture of all foreign enemies and threats - "a God's-eye view of battle". The paper quotes an air force official as saying that this "internet in the sky" would allow marines in a Humvee, in a faraway land, in the middle of a rainstorm, to open up their laptops, request imagery from a spy satellite and get it downloaded within seconds. The NYT says the secure network was conceived six years ago and its first connections were laid six weeks ago. It may take two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars to build the new war net and its components, says the paper.

GET YOUR NEWS & INFORMATION ONLINE - IT'S THE THING TO DO!

The internet will change the way news is provided to the world by giving consumers the power to demand and receive any sports score, analysis or breaking story instantly, says the head of the world's largest news organisation, The Association Press (AP), reports The New York Times (13 Nov.). The paper reports that AP's president and chief executive, Tom Curley, has said that newspapers, TV broadcasts and even fancy Web pages will have less meaning as people use web-surfing programs and recording devices to pick and choose from various providers. In the new media age, people will be able to dictate exactly what news they want, when they want it and on which electronic devices they want to receive it, according to the AP chief, the NYT reports. The paper says a recent study found that 29 per cent of internet users - about 43 million people - go online to get news three or more times per week, and the advent of high-speed, always on-broadband internet access is leading to change in how news is covered. The paper says the AP chief also touched on internet users who disseminate news and ideas through web logs [or websites & news & information services like The Beer Files], citing one recent estimate that there are 4 million "bloggers" making 400,000 posts per day, or roughly 16,000 posts an hour.

SUN'S LINUX TO BE CONSIDERED IN JAPAN

Sun Microsystems has opened a second front for its Linux-based desktop operating system in Asia with a Japanese win of sorts, reports the UK IT industry online information source, The Register (12 Nov.). The Register says Sun's Java Desktop System has been picked as one open source OS of preference during a competition held by the Information-technology Promotion Agency in Japan (IPA), which clears the way for Sun's software to be picked as an open source alternative to Microsoft's Windows at Japanese schools. The Register says Sun last year enjoyed a much bigger and more concrete win in China when the government selected the Java Desktop System for at least 500,000 desktops.

US TO ALLOW SOME TELEMARKETING "ROBO" CALLS

Telemarketers in the US will be allowed by regulators to use prerecorded "robo calls" to stay in touch with established customers starting next week, at least for the short term, reports The New York Times/Reuters (12 Nov.). The paper says the Federal Trade Commission currently forbids telemarketers from using prerecorded messages on more than three per cent of all calls, but the consumer-protection agency has now said it will take another look at the issue, and in the meantime will take no action against marketers who use them. Another agency, the Federal Comunications Commission, allows telemarketers to use such "robo calls" with existing customers.

US TELEPHONE COMPANIES FACE NEW REGULATIONS

Competitive telephone carriers in the US could still serve small and medium-sized businesses by cheaply leasing the big local telephone networks under rules being drafted by communications regulators, reports The New York Times/Reuters (12 Nov.). The paper reports that the US Federal Communications Commission has been drafting new rules governing whether the big carriers like BellSouth and Veirzon, known as the Baby Bells, still must share parts of their networks with rivals to promote competition. The paper says the new rules would allow companies like AT&T and Covad Communications, to continue leasing the Bell networks at low government-set rates as well as use part of their own facilities to serve those business customers depending on the market, the NYT reports.

NOVELL'S NEW ANTITRUST ACTION AGAINST MICROSOFT

Less than a week after collecting a $US536 million settlement from Microsoft, Novell yesterday filed another lawsuit accusing the software giant of violating antitrust laws, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (12 Nov.). The paper says the suit, which dovetails in part of the US government's antitrust case against Microsoft, claims the company used its market dominance in the mid-1990s to keep the WordPerfect word processing program and Quattro Pro spreadsheet application from gaining wider commercial acceptance.

SELF-DESTRUCTING DVDS: NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T

Later this month, DVD rental movies will be available in the US in the disposable EZ-D format through amazon.com, reports the New York Times/Reuters (12 Nov.). The paper says the technology for self-destructing DVDs has been around for a few years, but hasn't generated much interest from movie studios, video rental companies - or customers - despite experiments to deliver movies direct to consumers and eliminate late fees. The paper says disposable DVDs look and play like normal DVDs, except that their playable surface is dark red. Each disc contains a chemical time-bomb that begins ticking once it's exposed to air. Typically, after 48 hours, the disc turns darker, becoming so opaque that a DVD player's laser no longer can read it. A Christmas-themed movie, "Noel" is to be released as a self-destruct DVD after its cable and theatre releases.

GREEK-BRITISH POLICE CRACK PIRATED SOFTWARE SALES RING

Greek and British police in a joint operation cracked a multi-million illegal software sales ring, arresting two people and seizing thousands of pirate high-tech software programs, reports The New York Times/Reuters (12 Nov.). The paper says Greek police arrested a Greek citizen and a Briton who pirated and sold an expensive computer software program for the car and aeronautic industry, charging only about 700 euros. The report says the copyright to the program belonged to a multinational software development company that lost $US360 million because of the illegal sales and distribution, which was done over the internet.

CHINA CHOOSES CISCO TO BUILD NEXT-GENERATION NETWORK

Network equipment giant Cisco Systems has announced that it has been chosen by China's biggest telecoms company to build a next-generation backbone network, reports SiliconValley.com/The Mercury News (12 Nov.). The paper says the deal with China Telecommunications Corp. follows a pledge earlier this year by Beiijing to step up purchases of US telecoms equipment, as sought by the US Government, as a way of redressing America's massive trade deficit with China. According to the paper, in the past six months, the state-owned China Teleco has signed deals worth more than $US100 million with Cisco. The next-generation network is part of a plan by China Telecom to become one of the world's largest providers of internet protocol, or IP, within a decade or two.

OPERA LOSS, BUT SALES UP

In Norway, Opera Software, the maker of the No 3 browser, has reported a third-quarter net loss that was more than three times greater than the year before, despite an increase in revenue, reports The Mercury News/SilconValley.com (12 Nov.). With its shares falling 6.5 per cent, Opera reported a loss of 1.68 million kroner ($US267,000) for the July-September period, compared with a loss of 559 million kroner in the same period last year. The paper reports that Opera's sales rose to 24.6 million kroner ($US3.9 million) from 18 million kroner a year ago. The paper says increased sales meant more money to pay for the company's expansion, including higher marketing costs and operating expenses, and were partly to blame for the quarterly loss.

NINTENDO DS AIMED AT NEW MARKET SEGMENT

Nintendo is set to launch Nintendo DS, the latest of its wallet-sized game systems designed to slip easily into your backpack and encourage procrastination wherever you may roam, says the New York Times/AP in its report of 12 Nov. The paper says the Japanese company has already built up a following with its popular handheld Game Boy systems, but those appealed mainly to kids. Now, Nintendo is hoping their new gadget's sleeker design, more adult games and risque ad campaign will draw teens and young men, says the NYT. The paper says the new product would open up a sizeable set of new customers and potentially give Nintendo an edge over rival Sony which plans its own handheld offering in coming months.

MATTEL'S NEW PORTABLE VIDEO PLAYER USHERS IN ERA OF CHEAP PLAYERS

The New York Times/Reuters report (11 Nov.) that a new portable video player from Mattel, the Juicebox, is remarkable for its list price ($US69.99), which is less than half of what the cheapest portable video players cost, and with other players that store movies on internal hard drives, sort of like iPods for video, costing around $500. The NYT says the price of the Juicebox means the day has come a bit closer when it will be as easy and cheap to carry around a video player as it now is to tote around an MP3 player or a book. However, the paper says the Juicebox, which is the size of a Walkman, is quite limited, only accepting Mattel's prerecorded video cartridges and won't play DVDs or download movies.

INTEL'S NEW CEO

Intel, the world's largest computer chip maker, has appointed the company president, Paul S Otellini as chief executive, effective 18 May, 2005, report The New York Times and The Mercury News (12 Nov.). The papers say the promotion will produce a subtle shift at the top of Intel, with Mr Otellini the first non-engineer to lead the company and promising a "kinder, more gentle leader than his last two predecessors". The current chief executive, Craig R Barrett, will take over in May as Intel chairman.

AOL TELLS CUSTOMERS: FIND NEW CARRIER

America Online (AOL), which earlier this year stopped signing up new broadband customers, is telling existing broadband subscribers in nine US southern states that they must find a new broadband carrier by 17 January, reports The New York Times. The paper says those AOL customers who do not switch to a new broadband carrier by that date will have their accounts revert to AOL's traditional dialup service. The report says that most of AOL's 23 million subscribers receive standard dialup service for $US24 a month, but the company would not disclose how many customers still received the $54 monthly broadband service, which it has acknowledged is relatively expensive compared to other broadband pricing packages now available to consumers. The NYT also reported that AOL in partnership with Kayak Software is to launch a free online service to search the web for the best travel deals, which it says highlights the company's ambitions to boost its free web-based businesses.

AOL'S NEW TRAVEL SERVICE PLANS

America Online (AOL) plans to enter the crowded online travel market early next year with a free service it claims will search dozens of web sites for the best deals, reports The Wall Street Journal (12 Nov.). The paper says the move raises the profile of the new travel search-engine space, with at least half a dozen sites, most of them launched in the past year, scouring online travel agencies and web sites of hotels, airlines and car-rental companies to find the best deals.

DELL SALES AHEAD OF WORLDWIDE GROWTH

Dell, the world's leading personal computer maker, has reported a quarterly profit rise of 25 per cent on the back of a steady increase in technology spending by American businesses and a surge in sales abroad, reports The New York Times (12 Nov.). The paper says Dell's sales to the commercial sector in the US rose 20 per cent, ahead of the overall industry growth rate of just under 12 per cent worldwide. The company reported net income of $US846 million, or 33 cents a share, for the third quarter ended 29 October, up from $677 million, or 26 cents a share, in the quarter a year ago, reports the NYT.

MICROSFT SEARCH, EARLY PROBLEMS

Microsoft's new search engine, launched in test mode this week, encountered some glitches on its first day, reports The New York Times/Reuters (11 Nov.). The paper says the new search engine, which is Microsoft's first assault on market leader Google, returned "temporarily unavailable" messages to some users looking for answers to queries at its web site at beta.search.msn.com. The NYT says Microsoft has said its new search engine would deliver results from a database index of more than 5 billion indexed web documents and pages, while Google said this week it had nearly doubled its index database to 8 billion pages.

FIREFOX STEALS MARCH ON MICROSOFT WITH SECURITY

The New York Times/AP carries a report (11 Nov.) on the release this week of Firefox's new browser, suggesting that the biggest reason to consider Firefox is security. According to the paper, Firefox packs security protections and other welcome features that emphasise just how little Microsoft has innovated its ageing Microsoft browser in recent years, although "to its credit" Microsoft is trying hard to address the issue of security. The NYT says "that's not to say you can't get spyware or other malicious code using Firefox, but risks are greatly reduced". The paper says Firefox also offers protections against phishing - email scams that pretend to be legitimate notices from banks and service providers.

PeopleSoft PREPARES FOR PROXY FIGHT WITH ORACLE

PeopleSoft is gearing up for a proxy fight at its annual meeting next spring, a sign that executives believe rival Oracle is likely to gain the support of a majority of PeopleSoft's shareholders for its $US24-a-share hostile takeover offer, reports The Wall Street Journal (12 Nov.). The paper said PeopleSoft had begun meeting with institutional shareholders to pitch its new financial plan, unveiled this week, when PeopleSoft's board said it had rejected Oracle's $US9.2 billion offer.

NORTEL'S FINANCIAL WOES CONTINUE

Nortel Networks, sinking deeper into its accounting mess, again delayed release of its financial statements this week and found major new revenue-reporting problems in its past results, reports The Wall Street Journal (12 Nov.). The paper said Nortel has said it plans to shift some $US2.5 billion of revenue booked in 2000, and $600 million in 1999, to later years, and $250 million of the 2000 figure will be "permanently reversed."

SMART PHONE SALES DOUBLE

Around 8.69 million Symbian smart phones were shipped to the end of September, more than double the 3.91 million shipped to the same point in 2003, reports The Register (11 Nov.) the UK's online IT information service. The Register said the news was announced by Psion, which used to own a significant chunk of the Symbian operating system which is widely used in smartphones - Psion sold its 31.1 per cent stake in Symbian in February this year, with the amount it ultimately receives for its shares dependent upon the number of Symbian units sold in 2004 and 2005.

VERIZON AFTER CINGULAR CUSTOMERS

The purchase of AT & T Wireless by Cingular Wireless is just a few weeks old and already the company is under attack from its biggest rival, Verirzon Wireless, which is trying to recapture the top spot in the cellphone industry, reports The New York Timers (12 Nov.). The paper says Verizon started an advertising campign yesterday in the northeast of the country that takes aim at customers of AT & T, and inviting dissatisfied customers of its rival to jump ship. The paper reports that in the third-quarter, Verizon added an industry-leading 1.7 million customers, 10 times the gain of AT & T Wireless in the same period.

SEMICONDUCTOR DOWNTURN HITS AGILENT TECH.

Stung by a sharper-than-expected semiconductor downturn, Agilent Technologies missed analysts' estimates as it reported results this week for its fiscal fourth quarter, reports The Mercury News (12 Nov.). The paper says Agilent's revenue for the quarter ended 31 October was $US1.82 billion, up 9 per cent from $1.67 billion a year earlier. Earnings were $74 million, or 15 cents a share, up fivefold from $13 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier.

WELLS FARGO: ONLINE $ TRANSFERS FREE-OF-CHARGE

In the latest sign that Americans are taking more of their finances online, Wells Fargo is to start allowing its customers to transfer up to $US1,500 a day to another Wells Fargo account holder, at no charge, reports The Mercury News (12 Nov.). The paper says users must transfer the money online, and that it can't be moved by phone or ATM, with the money immediately available, even after business hours. The Mercury says a small number of other banks, including Citibank, already offer similar services, but not always at no cost for both sender and recipient.

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES SEARCH ENGINE, QUIETLY

As the story we posted yesterday, from the New York Times, told you, Microsoft is ready to compete with Google and Yahoo in the internet search business - the NYT has now confirmed (11 Nov.) that Microsoft has, in fact, rolled out its new search engine, but "with an uncharacteristically soft-sell approach". The paper says the debut took the form of a test site, and Microsoft announced that its MSN search engine would index five billion web pages. The NYT says this would make it the most extensive search data base, depending on who is counting, and when. According to the paper, until recently, Google had said that its database indexed four billion pages, but on Wednesday company executives said that they were updating that count to eight billion pages. Microsoft's search engine is offering features meant to leverage the company's other online assets, but internet search experts and industry analysts say that Microsoft still has far to go to be viewed as a serious competitor to either Google or Yahoo.

MICROSOFT SEARCH HAS SPECIAL FEATURES

The Australian Financial Review (AFR 12 Nov.) reports on Microsoft's new search engine, saying that it has revealed a raft of features, including a built in maths engine, that the company hopes will help it catch and then overtake Google in the race for supremacy in the $3.2 billion internet search business. The paper's John Davidson says as well as the built-in maths engine which will answer homework questions just by typing in the problem, another feature deals with natural language queries such as "what is the population of Europe" and returns answers from the Encarta encyclopedia as well as from websites that the search engine has catalogued.

PeopleSoft REJECTS LATEST ORACLE BID

PeopleSoft has rejected Oracle's latest - and supposedly last - tender offer of $US24 a share, putting the company's fate in the hands of its shareholders and showing that its new management team intends to continue to fight the merger, reports The New York Times (11 Nov.). The paper reports that PeopleSoft's board has said that the company is worth substantially more than Oracle's latest offer and its valuation of the company at $9.2 billion. PeopleSoft's board urged shareholders not to respond to the offer, but said it "would be willing to discuss an offer made by Oracle at an appropriate price, but $24 isn't it."

AIRBORNE INTERNET SERVICES

The high-tech revolution which has transformed the way we communicate, is making itself felt in the aviation industry, reports John Masanauskas in Melbourne's Herald-Sun (12 Nov.). The paper says internet and SMS access while flying has become a reality and airlines such as Virgin Blue are planning to bring live TV to passengers for a fee. Airlines have begun offering products that in many cases were put on hold after September 11, and a prime example is the world's first airborne internet service, Connexion by Boeing, which made its debut in May on German carrier Lufthansa. Connexion is a high-speed service provider that gives wireless broadband access to the internet, email and company intranets via the passenger's laptop or hand-held computer, reports the Herald-Sun.

COMPANY CONCERNS ABOUT DATA MANAGEMENT

There are rising concerns about the management of corporate data and regulatory compliance amongst companies, with new global survey findings released by Pricewaterhouse Coopers yesterday showing that only 34 per cent of respondents were "very confident" about the quality of their data, compared with 37 per cent three years ago, reports The Australian Financial Review (12 Nov.). The PwC survey - Global Data Management Survey 2004 - found that companies were even less trusting of third-party data, just 18 per cent expressed strong confidence in others' data, 50 per cent were at best only "fairly confident" and 24 per cent expressed little or no confidence at all.

Gmail USERS SOON ABLE TO CHECK EMAIL VIA OUTLOOK

Web search leader Google said this week it will soon make it possible for users of its free Gmail service to check their email via Microsoft Outlook or on certain handheld devices such as mobile phones, reports The New York Times (10 Nov.). Google said it's adding POP (post office protocol) access to Gmail for all users over the next couple of weeks. The move will enable Gmail users to download a copy of their messages through other email programs, such as Outlook and Eudora, and devices that support POP. The paper says that using POP access, Gmail users would also be able to view their messages offline.

IBA HEALTH LIFTS HCN STAKE

IBA Health (ASX:IBA) has lifted its stake in Health Communication Network (ASX:HCN) to 10.9 per cent after acquiring 6,884,760 shares in HCN at $1.40 per share, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 12 Nov.). The paper says IBA bought the entire shareholding of MediMedia Group, a long-term HCN shareholder after HCN advised its shareholders to take no action following IBA's takeover offer last week.

MOTOROLA BRINGS 20 NEW MOBILES TO MARKET

Motorola is introducing 20 new mobile phones as it tries to avoid slipping to number 3 in the market, and has signalled its confidence in strong holiday sales and no further product delays, reports The New York Times (10 Nov.). The paper says Motorola has said that its much-hyped $US900 Razr phone is "flying off the shelves" around the world as it nears its US launch. The NYT says the star of the new product portfolio is the pricey Razr V3, a color-screen camera phone which has built in Bluetooth wireless technology for email and offers video playback and a speakerphone in a half-inch thick clamshell design.

VODAFONE LAUNCHES HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SERVICES

Vodafone this week launched high-speed internet services for mobile phones across much of Europe, ending a wait of several years since the world's biggest mobile phone company spent billions for new wireless licenses at the height of the technology bubble, reports The New York Times (10 Nov.). The NYT says the advanced cellular technology, often referred to as third-generation or 3G, can connect with the internet at up to 40 times the speed of current mobile handsets, enabling users to send and receive richer content such as web pages, video, music and high-resolution photos.

CHINA CAUTIOUS ON 3G TECHNOLOGY

China remains cautious on issuing licenses for next-generation mobile phone services before the best technologies can be selected, as officials in the country denied that recent market trials showed a homegrown version lagged behind, reports The New York Times/AP (10 Nov.). The paper says China has been testing several standards for so-called third-generation or 3G technology - a domestically develped version, a European-backed version and US-based Qualcomm's CMDA (code division multiple access) 2000. Chinese officials said it was not urgent for China to rush to 3G at the moment, and they still needed to evaluate the equipment, technology, and market demand before deciding which companies to license, the NYT reports.

KEYCORP DOING WELL

Smartcard technology company Keycorp says it expects to post a turnover of up to $120 million for the full year and the company has a positive outlook for 2004-05, reports The Australian Financial Review/AP (12 Nov.). Earlier in the year, Keycorp reported a $16.5 million net profit for 2003-04 compared with its $51 million net loss for the previous year.

$US125 MILLION HALO 2 1ST DAY SALES - US & CANADA

Halo 2, the much-hyped video game for Microsoft's Xbox video game console, had sales of $US125 million in just 24 hours on the market, reports The Mercury News (10 Nov.). The paper says the figures for the US and Canada, which represented sales of 2.38 billion units, easily exceeded Microsoft's prediction that it would top $100 million in sales. US retailers reported a busy first day of sales of the game, with one store group, GameStop, which operates 1,726 stores throughout the country, selling more than 500,000 copies of Halo 2 in the first day, substantially more than any other game on its first day of release, reports The Mercury.

BANKS BRACE FOR ATM ATTACKS

An international group of law enforcement and financial industry associations - the Global ATM Security Alliance (GASA) - has said it hopes to prevent a new type of bank robbery before it gets off the ground: cyber atacks against automated telleer machines, reports the UK IT information website, The Register (11 Nov.). The Register says GASA has published what it says are the first international cyber security guidelines specifically tailored to cash machines. Experts see new dangers as legacy ATMs running OS/2 give way to modern terminals built on Microsoft Windows, reports The Register.

GLOBAL MOBILE SHIPMENTS DOWN FOR QT.

Global mobile phone shipments will fall during the last three months of 2004, market watcher iSuppli has warned, reports UK IT industry website, The Register (11 Nov.). The Register says that iSuppli has issued the warning as inventory stockpiled during Q3 hits production. However, strong third-quarter shipments encouraged iSuppli to up its annual shipments forecast to 675 million units from the previous prediction of 670 million, which would be an 18 per cent sales increase on last year, reports The Register.

eBAY ACQUIRES DUTCH CLASSIFEDS COMPANY

Online auction giant eBay has this week acquired the most popular classifieds web site in the Netherlands for about $US290 million, reports The New York Times/AP (11 Nov.). The paper says eBay announced the purchase of Marktplaats.nl from Het Goed Beheer BV, a company that owns second-hand retail shops in the Netherlands. Marktplaats has more than 1 million listings at any time, ranging from clothing and collectibles to cars and household items, the NYT reports.

AMD CHIPS TO BE MADE IN SINGAPORE

Hoping to blunt Intel's manufacturing edge, Advanced Micro Devices this week cut a deal with Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor to manufacture AMD's most advanced microprocessors, reports The Mercury News (10 Nov.). The paper says AMD will use a Chartered 300-millimeter factory in Singapore as a contract chip manufacturer to make its AMD Athlon 64 and Opteron microprocessors starting in 2006. The paper says AMD has forged a manufacturing technology alliance with IBM, but it has been reluctant to rely on contract manufacturers, known as foundries, to make its most sophisticated chips. But, Chartered has also licensed IBM technology making it easier to adapt Chartered's factory to make AMD chips, the Mercury adds.

HACKERS COULD TERRORISE AMERICA

The hacking and identity theft tools now earning big money for mainly eastern European organised crime could be used by terrorists to attack the United States, according to an FBI official, reports The New York Times (10 Nov.). The FBI official said cyber crime was no longer the domain of teenage geeks but had been taken over by sophisticated gangs. The paper says that, according to the official, tools and methods used by these increasingly skilled hackers could be employed to cripple America's economy and attack the country's critical infrastructure as part of a terrorist plot.

US TAKES LEAD IN SUPERCOMPUTER RACE - FOR HOW LONG?

The Mercury's SiliconValley.com online news service says the United States took the lead from Japan in the supercomputer Olympics this week, with an IBM system and an SGI system placing first and second among the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world. However, a report by the National Research Council says that while the new ranking restores the US's bragging rights, it is no guarantee that the country will remain leader in developing the monster machines used for everything from forecasting climate to modelling nuclear explosions. The council says the government should more than triple the money it is spending to invent the next generation of supercomputers - especially those designed to tackle the hardest problems in science, industry and defense, reports the news service.

WTO REPORT: ALLOW INTERNET OFFSHORE GAMBLING

There has been much discussion in Australia about online gambling and the pros and cons of its availability to local gamblers, but in a ruling that could open the US to offshore internet gambling, a World Trade Organisation panel this week said Washington should drop prohibitions on Americans placing bets in online casinos, reports The New York Times/AP (10 Nov.). In its final 287-page report, the WTO panel confirmed the preliminary ruling it issued in March in a dispute pitting the US against the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua, saying the ban represented an unfair trade barrier.

MICROSOFT PREVIEWING NEW SEARCH ENGINE

Both The New York Times and The Mercury News (9 Nov.) carry a leaked report announcing that Microsoft is this week planning to introduce its long-awaited internet search engine. The papers report that the search engine will be released as a competitor to Google and Yahoo, even though Microsoft has long offered a search engine on its MSN web site, but the technology behind it has been powered by subsidiaries of Yahoo. They say that earlier this year Microsoft conceded that it had missed a large market opportunity by not developing its own search technology. The NYT comments that internet search engine advertising has become a hotly contested market in recent years and Microsoft has been rushing to catch up by bringing a competitive offering to market. Currently Google, the largest search engine, indexed about 4 billion web pages, 880 million images and 845 million Usenet messages, with the service used by almost 82 million people each month. Microsoft has declined to comment on what features will be available, but the NYT says the Microsoft search engine won't include technology to let people search their own computer desktop as well as the broader internet, although the company has promised that desktop search functionality by year's end.

TELSTRA-MICROSOFT TEAM UP AGAINST VoIP THREAT

Telstra is working with Microsoft on a version of the software giant's Office software for consumers that will tightly link Office and Microsoft's instant messaging software with residential and mobile telephone networks, reports John Davidson in The Australian Financial Review (AFR 11 Nov.). The paper says the Telstra-branded Microsoft software, which is still under negotiation, could let home internet users place calls on Telstra's voice network by clicking on names stored in the Office contact database, or on contacts stored in Microsoft's MSN Messenger application. The AFR says the consumer software, which could be sold as part of a monthly subscription, would help Telstra to defend its residential network against the threat of voice over internet protocol, orVoIP, technology.

VoIP INDUSTRY GETS ITS WAY WITH REGULATOR

In the US, providers of internet-based telephone services - VoIP - have won their battle to have the industry regulated federally and not by State regulators, which the industry had said would drive up the cost of making calls through cyberspace and adversely affect growth in the fledgling industry, reports the New York Times (9 Nov.). The paper says the Federal Communications Commission has voted 5-0 in favour of Vonage Holdings, of Edison, which had asked the agency to declare the company's product an interstate service, giving the FCC regulatory control. The paper says the FCC ruling applies to cable, phone and other companies offering an internet phone service similar to the one Vonage provides.

MINCOM SEALS THAI DEAL

Australia's biggest commercial software company, Mincom, has announced that Thai coal miner Banpu has bought its MineMarket software to improve its supply chain management as well as its sales asd marketing systems, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 11 Nov.). The paper says the sale follows Mincom's strategy of providing business support beyond simply installing its software.

SINGTEL'S BIGGER STAKE IN PHILIPPINES TELCO

Optus owner, Sinagpore Telcommunications (Singtel) has raised its stake to 45 per cent in the Philippine's mobile phone operator, Globe Telecom, to make it the biggest investor in the company, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 11 Nov.). The paper says Singtel agreed to pay Ayal Corp 6.65 billion pesos ($156 million) for 7 million Globe common shares at 950 pesos each. The AFR says SingTel is investing abroad to compensate for slowing growth in Australia and declining sales in its domestic market.

XMAS SHOPPING ONLINE

A survey by internet auctioneer eBay has found that 41 per cent of Australian internet users intend to shop online in the lead-up to Christmas, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 11 Nov.). The paper says the survey found that 81 per cent of online shoppers believe the internet is becoming safer.

IBA HEALTH SHARE PLACEMENT

IBA Health (ASX:IBA) has announced that it has completed a $19.94 million share placement and has issued 27.7 million shares to institutional investors, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 11 Nov.).

CISCO PROFITS, INTERNET TELEPHONY IN THE MIX

Cisco Systems fiscal first-quarter profits jumped 29 percent as the network equipment giant saw growth in its traditional routing markets as well as its emerging technologies like internet telephone and home networking gear, reports The Mercury News (9 Nov.). The paper says that for the three months ended 30 October, the company reported profits of $US1.4 billion, or 21 cents per share, on sales of $6 billion. In the same period last year, Cisco earned $1.2 billion, or 17 cents per share. The paper says Cisco has bet on a handful of advanced technologies - including internet telephony, home networking and security - to ensure that overall growth continues.

MAN CHARGED FOR ALLEGED SOURCE CODE THEFT

In the US, a 27-year-old Connecticut man has been arrested on charges that he illegally sold a secret source code used for Microsoft's Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 programs, according to Federal prosecutors, reports the New York Times (9 Nov.). William P Genovese Jr. was charged with unlawfully distributing a trade secret, a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a $US250,000 fine if he is convicted. Prosecutors say Genovese posted a message on his web site offering to sell the source code, which had previously been stolen by others, the NYT reports.

IBM OFFERS WEB CONFERENCING SERVICE

IBM plans to offer web-conferencing as a hosted internet service, seeking to reach small and medium-sized business customers while taking on more established rivals in the market, reports The New York Times/Reuters (9 Nov.). The paper says IBM's new Lotus Web Conferencing Service requires users simply to register an account and have an internet connection, a browser and a phone. IBM manages the computer networks that host the conversations, the paper says. According to IBM, final testing with customers is underway and the service would be offered in December. Web conferencing services allow users to conduct meetings, share documents, presentations and software programs over the internet using a standard web browser.

NORTEL SETTLES COPYRIGHT, TRADE SECRETS LAWSUIT

The operator of an automated marketplace for telecommunications services in the US, Arbinet-thExchange, is paying Nortel Networks an undisclosed amount to settle a technology-infringement suit, reports the New York Times (9 Nov.). Nortel announced the settlement of a lawsuit, filed in July, which claimed that Arbinet violated copyrights and misappropriated trade secrets by using Nortel software without authorisation. Nortel also claimed that Arbinet exceeded the permitted usage level under its license and failed to meet contractual obligations for the purchase of switching systems, the paper reports.

1ST DAY HALO 2 SALES

First-day sales of Microsoft's new video game "Halo 2" would reach $US100 million, according to a Microsoft executive, reports the New York Times (9 Nov.). The paper said the launch would be one of the largest in gaming history and would dwarf the first-day figures of even the biggest historical hits in the movie and music businesses. The paper said Microsoft had reported that in total $78 million of the $100 million came from pre-sales. There are two versions of the game, the regular edition for $49.99 and a "Collectors Edition" in a custom case with a "making of" DVD for $54.99. Analysts expected "Halo 2" to sell a total of about 10 million units.

MICROSOFT GIVES BACK TO SHAREHOLDERS

Microsoft shareholders have approved changes to the company's stock compensation plans, clearing the way for the software giant to award a one-time $US3 per-share dividend that will cost the company an estimated $32 billion, reports The New York Times (9 Nov.) The paper says the dividend is part of Microsoft's plans to give a substantial portion of its accumulating cash back to investors. Its cash holdings are about $74 billion, and growing, reports the NYT.

ONLINE SCHOOLS THREATEN TRADITIONAL SCHOOLING

In the US state of Colorado schools are having to devise strategies to soften the blow of losing students to online schools, reports The New York Times/AP (9 Nov.). The paper says that during the 2000-01 school year Colorado spent nearly $US1.1 million to educate 166 full-time cyberschool students. Schools in the state are nervous and worried because they lose money from missing out on government funding when students walk out the door. The paper says that in Colorado the state spends $5,627 to educate each online student, which is lower than for a traditional student attending a school.

MICROSOFT-NOVELL SETTLE ANTITRUST CASE

Microsoft has reached a $US536 million antitrust settlement with Novell and an agreement with a computer industry trade association that has long fought Microsoft on antitrust issues in the US and Europe, reports The Mercury News (9 Nov.). The world's largest software company, Microsoft has hailed the agreement as the culmination of its 18-month, multi-billion dollar campaign to settle antitrust conflicts with its major antagonists in the industry, including Time Warner and Sun Microsystems, the Mercury News adds. The paper says these settlements suggest the US government and most of the computer industry have now moved beyond their decade-long pursuit of the company for antitrust violations. Microsoft argues, says the paper, that the settlements should cause regulators in Europe, where Microsoft still faces significant challenge, to rethink their approach. As well as Novell, Microsoft has settled with the Washington-based trade group, the Computer and Communications Industry Association.

BIG RISE IN INTERNET SERVICE COMPLAINTS

Internet service complaints jumped by 158 per cent and all mobile phone complaints rose 28 per cent, according to a report just released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, reports Melbourne's Herald Sun (10 Nov.). The paper says the worst offenders are the big telcos, with most consumers concerned about misleading sales information. The Ombudsman said one factor behind the rise in complaints was increased competition over the past year in the telecommunications industry. He said that overall, complaints for landline, internet and mobile services rose 7.8 per cent to 59,850 for the financial year 2003-04, reports the paper.

ACCC SAYS KEEP PHONE CALL PRICE CAP

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a draft report recommending that the cost of a local phone call should remain capped at 22 cents, reports Melbourne's Herald Sun (10 Nov.). The paper says the ACCC is reviewing price controls on Telstra services, which expire in July next year, and in its draft report has recommended that the cost of a local call should remain unchanged for at least three more years until July 2008. The paper says the ACCC is yet to decide whether price controls that apply to services for domestic consumers should also apply to businesses.

FIREFOX'S NEW BROWSER

Firefox's browser, Firefox 1.0 based on the Mozilla Foundation's open-source development work, is just being released (long available in experimental form), reports The Mercury News (8 Nov.). The paper says the browser is available for free download, and that there have been downloads exceeding 8 million of Firefox's preview release. The Mercury says Firefox's browser is increasingly popular and boasts features not found in the market-leading Microsoft browser.

SOUTH KOREAN PROBE INTO MICROSOFT

South Korean regulators have widened a probe into Microsoft's local subsidiary over allegations the US software giant violated trade rules by tying its Media Player program to its Windows operating system, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (8 Nov.). The paper says Microsoft's rival RealNetworks in South Korea has filed a complaint alleging that Microsoft was undermining competition in the market by tying its Media Player and Media Server software to Windows.

ELITE BANK HACKERS AT WORK

The Australian Financial Review's Rachel Lebihan (10 Nov.) says that while banks are grappling with a chaotic stream of ghost websites and keystroke loggers, a more elite group of hackers is going to far greater and more subtle lengths to breach online bank accounts. The chief scientist of Internet Security Systems, Robert Graham, told the AFR that hardcore hackers are increasingly using a technique called SQL (structured query language) injection to gain ilicit access to web-based databases from which information wouldn't usually be accessible.

COMCAST-MICROSOFT VIDEO RECORDER SET-TOP DEAL

Microsoft and US cable television provider Comcast will next week begin deploying set-top boxes powered by Microsoft software, starting in Washington State, reports The New York Times/Reuters (8 Nov.). The paper says the deal between the world's largest software maker and the largest US cable operator will deliver digital video recording capabilities to pause, record and store TV shows and movies to one millon Comcast subscribers in Washington state. Microsoft said the Washington launch would be the first large-scale commercial deployment of the company's TV software in the US, where consumers are increasingly turning toward new technology that allows them to access televised content on demand, instead of being tied to programming schedules, reports the NYT.

DJs REPLACING COMPUTER SYSTEMS

The Australian Financial Review's David Crowe (10 Nov.) reports that David Jones department stores are to replace the computer systems that run most operations under a strategy to lift service levels and paint a clearer picture of stock levels. The paper says David Jones is expected to gauge formal interest from technology suppliers early next year to implement a wireless network that will connect thousands of devices as well as many cash registers. The systems replacement project is expected to be staggered over several years to keep capital expenditure within $50 million each year.

NEC SUING HARRIS FOR ALLEGED PATENT VIOLATIONS

In Japan, giant electronics maker NEC has announced that the company is suing Harris Corp of the United States for alleged patent violations of wireless communications technology in the US and Canada, reports the Mercury News (8 Nov.). The paper says that in its court filing, NEC accused Harris, based in Melbourne and Florida, of infringing seven patents in the US and four in Canada for point-to-point digital microwave radio terminals.

LookSmart FOUNDERS SELL SHARES

The husband and wife team who founded internet company LookSmart, Evan Thornley and Tracey Ellery, have sold down their Nasdaq-listed company in share transactions that have netted the pair $US394,640 ($521,238), reports Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 10 Nov.). However, the two remain substantial shareholders in LookSmart, which is also listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:LOK).

AOL REORGANISES, TAKING ON YAHOO

The new chief executive of America Online (AOL) Jonathan F Miller has unveiled a broad reorganisation that cements his power over the company and emphasises his new strategy of taking on Yahoo as a free web portal, reports The New York Times (9 Nov.). The paper says the reorganisation creates three new business units - content and advertising, internet access and fee-based services - and the new CEO intends to build AOL.com into a free web site supported by advertising, with the company becoming "...a broadband company all the way through".

NANOTECHNOLOGY, BUT BIG REVENUES FORECAST

The New York Times/AP report (8 Nov.) that Fortune 500 companies from General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co and IBM to Motorola, Sony, DuPont and 3M are making big investments in nanotechnology to improve medicine, computer components, electronic toys, microelectronics, photovoltaic systems, cosmetics and flat-panel displays for TV and video screens. The paper says some products are already on store shelves, and that for a science that's about manipulating substances at the molecular level, nanotechnology is starting to bring big profits to many consumer product makers. Estimates of nanotechnology's financial impact range from about $US20 billion to $50 billion in revenues today, jumping to as much as $1trillion by 2010 and more than $2 trillion by 2015, reports the NYT.

INFOSYS SHARE TRANSFER TO US

India's second largest software exporter, Infosys Technologies, plans to increase the availability of its shares on New York's Nasdaq Stock Market by draining the Indian stock markets of 16 million shares, or nearly 6 per cent of its stock, reports The Mercury News (8 Nov.). The paper says the company has said it will let its Indian shareholders sell their stock to US investors, convert such shares into a form tradable on Nasdaq and cancel their listing on India's stock exchanges. Infosys, which employs 33,000 people, expects revenues in the year ending March 2005 to exceed $1.55 billion, with about 65 per cent of its revenues derived from the US.

TAKE NO ACTION : HEALTH COMMUNICATION NETWORK

Health Communication Network (ASX:HCN) recommended shareholders take no action after IBA Health (ASX:IBA) offered to buy it for $78.1 million in stock, reports the Australian Financial Review/Bloomberg (10 Nov.) The paper says shares of IBA, Australia's largest listed health information technology provider, declined 4 cents to 71 cents and Health Communication dropped 3 cents to $1.52.

INTEL INTRODUCES NEW PROCESSOR

Intel has updated its Itanium 2 processors, adding a top-end model to a high-end family designed to displace chips from Sunmicrosystems and IBM, reports The Mercury News (9 Nov.). The paper says the new Intel processor runs at 1.6GHz and costs $US4,226 per chip in batches of 1,000, with Hewlett Packard and Unisys already having introduced servers that employ the new processor.

ILLEGAL COPIES OF "HALO 2" HIT MARKET EARLY

A month before this week's scheduled release of Microsoft's new sci-fi video game, "Halo 2", illegal copies of the game were already circulating on the internet, just as other highly anticipated games have also done, reports The New York Times (8 Nov.). The paper says other games such as "Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas" and "Half-Life 2" have fallen victim to copyright theft, with illegal copies, often incomplete versions, appearing on file-sharing networks, news groups and web sites. The paper says Microsoft has said it is still investigating, working with authorities to track down those responsible.

MOTOROLA ISRAEL PULLS OFF US DEAL

Motorola Israel Ltd is to provide the US Postal Service with new hand-held scanning devices under a three-year deal worth about $US300 million, reports The New York Times/AP (8 Nov.). Motorola will design, manufacture and support the devices for the postal services' Intelligent Mail Data Acquisition System, reports the NYT.

MODEST IPO BOOM

The IPO market has entered the second coming of the internet age, but it's a far cry from the dotcom boom years that led to the most buoyant period for initial public offerings, followed by the new-issues market's most dramatic collapse, reports the New York Times/AP (8 Nov.). Unlike the dotcom days with companies with "twenty something CEOs", the NYT reports that company's in the IPO market today are ones which are established in their marketplace, have revenue and almost have to have turned the corner on profitability. The paper says some of the highest-profile IPOs this year have come from the web, notably the $US1.6 billion auction of online search giant Google.

IBM BEATS NEC WITH WORLD'S FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTER

IBM, the world's biggest computer maker, has regained its position at the head of the Top 500 list of supercomputer installations, dislodging rival NEC, reports the New York Times/Reuters (8 Nov.). The paper says IBM has announced plans to begin offering commercial versions of its record-breaking Blue Gene supercomputer, and that the company now has 216 of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers used for massive data-crunching. The NYT says the Blue Gene L supercomputer was built by IBM for the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Agency, and in independent tests it handled 70.72 trillion calculations per second.

MORE INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH NEEDED

At the same this week that IBM took the mantle of the builder of the world's fastest supercomputer, a panel of leading computer scientists in the US warned in a report that unless the federal government significantly increased support for advanced research on supercomputing, the country would be unable to retain its lead on that technology. The scientists warned of a looming imbalance between hardware and software technology in high-performance computing, and called for a sustained and long-term investment to help develop advanced software and algorithms.

MORE LEGAL MOVES TO STOP MOVIE/MUSIC FILE-SHARING

A disparate group made up of dozens of state attorneys general, labor unions, retailers, professional sports leagues and others have urged the US Supreme Court to hear a claim brought by the recording and film industries against two internet file-sharing firms, Grokster and StreamCast Networks, reports The New York Times/AP. The legal brief filings are designed to support a petition made last month by a coalition of major recording companies and Hollywood movie studios who asked the court to reverse lower court decisions clearing Grokster and Streamcast Networks of liability for their customers' online swapping of movies and music, reports the NYT.

HANDS OFF VoIP SAYS US INDUSTRY

In the US, Federal authorities are poised to declare internet phone services - VoIP - off-limits to state regulators, following calls from the fast-growing industry to be declared an interstate information service exempt from state regulation, reports The Mercury News (8 Nov.) The paper says that providers of VoIP say making the industry off-limits to state regulators is critical to the industry's development, although consumer advocates fear it will unfairly burden those who place calls the old-fashioned way. The paper says the industry has said that federal authorities must establish a uniform framework in which VoIP can be allowed to thrive. They say that rather than treat it like telecommunications, taking it and regulating it heavily, it should be treated like information technology, keeping government hands off and letting market-based innovation benefit everyone, reports the NYT.

IBM FIGHTING FOR POSITION

Hardware giant IBM is preparing for an old-fashioned stoush in the storage sector as it drives to become the largest vendor of storage equipment in Australia by 2007, reports James Riley in The Australian (9 Nov.). The paper quotes IBM Australia's newly appointed systems and technology vice-president Mark Latchford as saying the company was an underperformer in Australia and New Zealand, trailing market leader EMC, and second-placed vendor Hewlett-Packard, and would "claw back market share point by point" in Australia until it regained market leadership.

ACS FORCED TO PULL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

The Beer Files has been critical, as have a number of our readers and members, of the Australian Computer Society's decision to mount an advertising campaign in which it promotes its credentials as "the CPA for IT". Well, as reported by James Riley in The Australian (9 Nov.), we note the ACS has now been forced to pull its television and print campaign following complaints from the accounting profession. An ACS spokesperson told The Australian the society believed it had approval from CPA Australia to use the 'ACS:CPA for IT" tagline. The paper says that when the campaign reappears it will no longer refer to accountants, or their highly regarded qualification.

ONLINE LITERATURE LEGAL FIGHT

Project Gutengberg, the volunteer effort to put the world's literature online, may be the latest victim in the internet battle over copyright, with an Australian connection very much involved, reports The New York Times (8 Nov.) The paper says that earlier this year the Australian affiliate of Project Gutenberg posted the 1936 novel "Gone With the Wind" on its web site for downloading at no charge, but that last week after an email nessage was sent to the site by lawyers representing the estate of the author, Margaret Mitchell, the hyperlink to the text turned into a "Page Not Found" dead end. As the paper reports, in the US "Gone With the Wind" will not enter the public domain until 2031, but in Australia, as in a handful of other places, the book was free of copyright restrictions in 1999. The NYT says the case is one example of the internet's inherent lack of respect for national borders or, from another view, the world's lack of reckoning for the international nature of the internet, and the already complicated range of copyright laws.

COMDEX SCRAPPED FOR 2004

For the first time in 25 years, thousands of geeks and tech executives will not be flocking to Las Vegas this month for their annual pilgrimmage to Comdex, once the computer industry's biggest schmooze-fest and showcase for new gadgets, reports The Mercury News (8 Nov.). The paper says Comdex owner Media Live has scrapped this year's show in response to paltry attendance in 2003, although in its heyday more than 200,000 people would attend the show. The paper says a smaller, more focused Comdex has now been rescheduled for 13 to 17 November, 2005.

PHISHING SCAMS HIT CREDIT CARD COMPANIES

More than 40 phishing websites have been closed down in the Asia-Pacific region in the last two months, as the major credit card companies step up the fight against internet fraud, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 9 Nov.). The paper's Rachel Lebihan and Emma Connors report that as fraudsters implement phishing scams and become increasingly indiscriminate in their attacks, the card companies are being hit as hard as the banks and are taking new steps to bolster their defences, such as partnering with technology companies, restructuring fraud detection teams, and launching covert in-house operations to track down the perpetrators.

A BIG, COMPETITIVE GAME WITH HALO 2 LAUNCH

The rush in the US to buy the first units of Microsoft's new action game, Halo 2, just released on the market there, was on for young and old but it was the internet - eBay to be precise - where fans were prepared to pay anything to get their hands on the game before anyone else, reports The New York Times (6 Nov.) The paper reported that advance copies of the aliens-versus-space marines video game had already fetched as much as $US265 on the internet auction site, days before the official launch of the $50 Xbox game. In a subsequent report (8 Nov.) the NYT had predicted that queues of fans would be lining up at midnight to get Halo 2 at special midnight events in stores across America. The paper says the stakes for Halo 2 are unusually high for Microsoft, given the fact that sales of its Xbox console were still trailing a distant second behind chief rival, Sony and its PlayStation 2 game.

INTEGRAL ENERGY TO END OFFSHORING DEALS

Integral Energy has ended its seven-year experiment with "big bang" outsourcing, announcing that it will award its IT and telecommunications outsourcing contracts to LogicaCMG and Optus, reports the Australian Financial Review's John Davidson (9 Nov.). The paper says the yet-to-be finalised contracts will see LogicaCMG managing Integral's IT systems, including its billing and metering systems, and Optus managing Integral's telecommunications services for the next four years.

AXA JOBS GOING OFFSHORE

The Australian's James Riley (9 Nov.) says a decision by Axa to outsource its software development and maintenance work to India under a $17 million contract with Wipro, quietely underscores the nature of an emerging offshoring trend among larger enterprises in markets such as banking and finance, telecommunications and transport. Riley says that 30 full-time AXA tech staff and another 10 contractor roles have been affected by the decision to outsource the work and by Christmas those jobs will no longer exist at the company.

NO NEC FLOAT, FOR NOW

NEC has shelved plans to float its fast-growing local managed service unit, NEC Business Solutions, after management changes, reports The Australian (9 Nov.). James Riley reports that the company's new managing director, Riaki Tanaka said that NEC would not rule out listing on the ASX, but such a move was off the agenda for the forseeable future.

GRAB THAT ADDRESS IN SECONDS

The Mercury News says help is on the way for people with desks cluttered with stacks of business cards - the eGrabber company has brought a new product, Address Grabber software, to the market. Users highlight text in an email and hit one button. The software automatically brings up an address form from your own contact manager and fills in the blanks with all of the correct information. You then hit transfer and the process is complete in a few seconds, says the NYT. The paper says the software works with numerous programs including Microsoft Outlook, Palm, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and a couple of dozen other contact applications. In the US it sells for $US69.95 for a standard version and $129.95 for a business version.

MONASH-CORPORATE ALLIANCE

Monash University has forged a $16 million corporate alliance that will give students access to advanced computer-based engineering tools and real-life industry design projects, reports The Australian (9 Nov.). The paper says the university has become the first in Australia to qualify for the International Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) program. PACE is a corporate alliance between General Motors (represented in Australia by GM-Holden), EDS, Sun Miocrosystems and UGS.

APPLE INSIDERS SELL $US73 MILLION IN STOCK

Seven insiders at Apple Computer sold more than $US73 million in stock during October, with 10 top executives so far this year selling $229 million in company shares, reports The Mercury News (8 Nov.). The paper says Apple's stock has soared lately, with profits driven by the hot-selling iPod digital music player and iTunes music service. It also reports that seven company executives pocketed more than $44 million in gains last month from option exercises and stock sales. The largest individual gain last month, according to The Mercury, was one executive who exercised options to buy 500,000 Apple shares for $17.31 each 1 October. The same day he sold those shares for a gain of $10.7 million, the paper says.

TAIWAN CHIP MAKERS CHINA PLANS

Taiwan has agreed in principle to allow microchip packaging firms to set up units in China, but final approval will have to wait until local elections are completed next month, reports The New York Times/Reuters (7 Nov.). The paper says industry experts will be convened after the 11 December elections to make a final decison on whether to allow the industry to build units in China, according to a report in Taiwan's Economic Daily News. The NYT says Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), the world's largest chip packaging firm, has already started building facilities, such as employee housing, in Shanghai in anticipation of easier rules.

ONLINE REBATES CATCHING ON

Paperless, online rebates are finally gaining momentum in retail in the US, according to the New York Times/AP(7 Nov.), in an industry that has long offered customers electronic options for virtually every other type of transaction, from simple purchases to coupons. The NYT says Staples Inc. is about to launch an online rebate program, bringing the products retailer into company that in the past few years has grown to include Costco Wholesale Corp, BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. The paper says online rebate programs typically offer the customer the option of logging on to the rebate section of a retailer's web site and entering rebate offer and identification numbers as well as personal contact information.

IRAN BLOCKS WEB SITES & LOGS

Iran has continued to crackdown on journalists, with two arrests in the past week, and has moved against pro-democracy web sites, blocking hundreds of sites in recent months and making several arrests, reports the New York Times (8 Nov.). The paper says the Iranian government, as part of its crackdown, has blocked hundreds of political sites and web logs, including three major pro-democracy web sites that support President Khatami blocked in August. The NYT says the number of internet users in Iran has soared in the last four years, to 4.8 millon from 250,000, and as many as 100,000 web logs operate, with some of them political.

MICROSOFT TO LAUNCH NEW PRODUCT

Microsoft is planning to release a new version of its Office program for small businesses that handles accounting and customer management tasks, reports the New York Times/Reuters (5 Nov.). The paper says the world's largest software maker's new program is due out in a year and is code-named Magellan, with the program taking direct aim at Intuit Corp's Quickbooks and other financial and accounting software for small businesses. The paper says that for the last three years Microsoft has been building a new division that it hopes will fuel $US10 billion in growth by the end of the decade with software designed and developed for small business. The paper says Magellan is expected to include familiar Office programs such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, but its Outlook e-mail and scheduling program will also feature an enhanced contacts manager for tracking customer accounts.

E-GOVERNANCE FAILURES

Many electronic governance projects are failing globally due to poor planning, political interference and bureaucratic bungling, according to a top World Bank official, reports The New York Times/Reuters (5 Nov). The bank's leading information technology specialist, Robert Schware, told delegates at a seminar on e-governnance in Bangalore, India this week that more and more failures are being seen, including the failure (in some respect) of about 85 per cent of all such e-governance projects in developing countries. Of those, 35 per cent failed completely, and the statistics in the US and Europe are just as grim, he reportedly said.

IBM DEFENCE CONTRACT EXTENSION

The Department of Veteran Affairs has extended until February 2007 its long-running outsourcing arrangement with IBM for 12 months in a deal valued at about $30 million, reports Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 8 Nov.). The paper says the extended arrangements mean the department will have spent at least $260 million with IBM since handing over the running of computing infrastructure to IBM in late 1997.

MICROSOFT'S HALO 2 LAUNCHING

This week Microsoft will release "Halo 2", the much anticipated sequel to its popular video game, in its bid to catch up to rival Sony in the video game console battle, reports The Mercury News (6 Nov.). The paper says Halo 2 is the result of three years of work by Microsoft's Bungle Studio, and the science fiction-themed game for the Xbox console will be sold in 27 countries and in eight languages. The Mercury says the game's success is crucial to Microsoft as the company has yet to make any money on the Xbox. If Halo 2 helps win fans from rivals then Microsoft will be in a better position to make its play for leadership in the next generation of video game consoles due in 2005 and 2006.

FOUR VENDORS WIN NSW EDUCATION CONTRACTS

The NSW Department of Education has named four personal computer vendors as approved suppliers for its $544 million schools technology program, reports The Australian (9 Nov.). The paper says IBM, Apple, ASI and Optima will provide schools with 100,000 new machines, which for the first time will be bought rather than leased, and about 75,000 leased machines will be bought outright.

COURT ADJOURNS SOFTWARE CASE

The Federal Court has reserved judgement in a case brought by Microsoft against PC Club Australia and individuals involved in PC Club's business, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 8 Nov.). The paper reports that Microsoft alleged PC Club infringed Microsoft's copyright and registered trade marks by selling unlincensed software.

IT RECRUITMENT UP

OlivIer Recruitment Group's October survey of internet job advertisements shows a significant resurgence in the IT sector, rising 5.49 per cent in the month to 53.51, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 8 Nov). The paper says IT reported the second best annual improvement, with demand for workers 84.61 per cent higher that it was a year ago.

NO STOCK SPLIT FOR GOOGLE?

Google, a company built on complex algorithms that power its online search engine, doesn't appear to be in a rush to tackle one of Wall Street's most basic equations - the stock split, reports AP in The Mercury/SiliconValley.com (5 Nov.). The paper says this widely used market manouvre, designed to make a stock more affordable to the masses, is something that would seemingly appeal to an egalitarian-minded company like Google, whose shares crossed the $US200 threshold for the first time earlier this week. However, the paper says all signs so far point to Google adopting an anti-split stance, despite the fact that stock splits have become so commonplace in corporate America that investors almost reflexively expect them whenever a company's share price approaches $100.

ORACLE BID WILL 'BENEFIT' TECHNOLOGY ONE

ASX-listed software supplier Technology One (ASX:TNE) believes it will benefit if PeopleSoft shareholders agree to accept Oracle's takeover bid this month, reports Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 8 Nov.). The paper reports that Technology One's executive chairman Adrian Di Marco suggested at last Friday's annual meeting that companies using PeopleSoft software would be shopping for alternatives if the Oracle takeover succeeded, and that the long-term future for product support and R&D would not be positive for PeopleSoft customers. He said that Technology One was the only vendor in the mid-market to develop, market, implement and support all its own products, the AFR reports.

VODAFONE OVERCHARGES HALF MILLION CUSTOMERS

Vodafone Ireland has overcharged over half a million WAP customers to the tune of 2.65 million euros as a result of billing inaccuracy, reports The UK online news service, The Register (6 Nov.). The Register says Vodafone has stated that it found a billing discrepancy in its WAP services after conducting an internal review, with some 550,000 WAP customers identified as having been overcharged. Vodafone has apologised and says it has begun reimbursing all affected customers, with each customer also receiving compensation worth 10 per cent of the overcharged amount.

NEW COMPETITIVE PRESSURES IN US CELLPHONE MARKET

In the US, smaller, second-tier regional cellphone companies are under intense competitive pressure as the big cellphone companies who dominate the country's major markets are faced with saturated urban markets and are now looking to rural areas for new subscribers, reports The New York Times (6 Nov.). The paper says smaller communities, many of them in rural America, have been well served by regional providers who have had good business with little competition while collecting fees from the major carriers when their customers roam to rural areas. However, these companies are now under intense pressure as urban markets become saturated, and as the national carriers build out their networks they have less need to pay rural providers for roaming privileges. The paper says that nationwide in America, some 168 million people own cellphones, but only 5 per cent of the minutes they use are for calls outside their local coverage area.

UK BUSINESS BROADBAND CONFUSION

UK small businesses are becoming increasingly baffled by telecoms terminology, according to a new survey, with almost two thirds of businesses finding it difficult to compare various broadband solutions, reports the UK online news service, The Register (5 Nov.). Tiscali business services, which conducted the survey, revealed that over half of 250 businesses polled are confused by jargon and acronyms used to market telecom systems and "...if they aren't getting to the right broadband package to support their specific business needs because of confusing technical jargon, it is a bad thing...". According to the survey, about 38 per cent of businesses are using basic consumer broadband and Tiscali says that such a choice does not supply businesses, of any size, with the type of bandwidth, technical support and security they require.

SUN-KODAK SETTLE PATENT ISSUE

Sun Microsystems's first quarter loss was reduced this week as the server and software company finalised the accounting for its $US92 million patent settlement with Kodak over the Java programming technology, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (5 Nov.). Sun's loss for the three months ended 26 September was pared by $US27 million, according to a regulatory filing, reports the paper. The loss now stands at $147 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of $286 million in the same period last year. The paper says Sun and Kodak reached the settlement in October.

MICROSOFT SECURITY WARNINGS

Microsoft has announced that it will give all computer users early word on issues to do with security problems, after the company was criticised for a program that only provided some of its largest customers with warnings on security problems, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com. The paper says that beginning this month, the software giant will make public in advance how many security fixes it plans to release in its regular monthly bulletins, how severe the problems are and what products are affected.

SonicWall OS WITH ANTI-VIRUS SCANNING

Security vendor Sonic Wall is expected to formally announce this week a new operating system that includes the capability for scanning for viruses at the gateway, reports The New York Times (5 Nov.). The paper says Sonic Wall is planning to include its Realtime Gateway Anti-Virus with its SonicOS 3.0.

BLACKBERRY MAKER'S PATENT PROBLEMS

The Canadian company, Research In Motion, that makes the BlackBerry, a wireless e-mail service, has for the second time in a week seen its shares tumble on rumours that a decision is imminent in the company's appeal of a patent dispute with NTP Inc., reports SiliconValley.com (5 Nov.). Research In Motion makes wireless products for the mobile personal communication market, including the Blackberry, an interactive pager, wireless PC card adapters and embedded radio modems.

OUTSOURCING: INDIAN DATA SECURITY WORRIES

A Wall Street Journal report in the Australian Financial Review (5 Nov.) says that India's outsourcing companies are taking aggressive steps to guard their clients' information as cybersecurity becomes a major political issue in the US. The paper says many Indian and American executives have expressed concerns about data security more than North American job losses, and that the issue presents the greatest single threat to the continuing boom in the outsourcing of services by US companies to foreign countries. It's reported that US state and federal politicians are proposing legilsation that seeks to regulate the processing of sensitive financial and medical information in countries such as India. The paper says technology-industry executives say that even one major case of data fraud involving an Indian or other overseas company could give renewed ammunition to critics of outsourcing technology.

TAPEI PUTTING IN CITY-WIDE WIRELESS NETWORK

The Taiwanese capital of Tapei plans to make wireless internet access available across the city by the end of 2005, joining a small number of cities offering Wi-Fi networks, reports The New York Times/Reuters (5 Nov.). The paper says the network will reach almost 90 per cent of the capital's population of 3 million and aims to make accessing the internet as easy as using cellphones. New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Jerusalem are among cities offering or planning city-wide networks, reports the paper. Hewlett-Packard has said it will work with Intel, Microsoft and Cisco Systems to implement the Taipei wireless network. The paper says that according to HP, Taiwan's Q-Ware Corp., whch won Tapei's tender to build the network, plans to spend $US70 million on infrastructure, setting up 15,000 to 20,000 access points around the city, and will charge users for access.

RUSSIAN BRAIN DRAIN

Russia is seeking to slow the exodus of computer specialists and increase software production, a top government official said this week, reports AP/SiliconValley.com (5 Nov.). The news service says the deputy minister for information technology and communications, Dmitri Milovantesev, has said the government might consider introducing tax free zones and creation of places similar to California's renowned Silicon Valley.

BANK ONLINE SECURITY SCARE

British internet bank Cahoot has plugged a flaw in its online security that could have enabled people to move freely in and out of other customers' accounts, reports The New York Times (5 Nov.). The paper says Cahoot took the site down for 10 hours while it fixed the flaw and that the problem was likely the result of an upgrade 12 days before. The vulnerability was discovered by a customer who had bookmarked areas of his online bank account and was then able to access those areas on future visits to the site without entering anything other than a user name, reports the paper.

US YellowPages ACQUISITION

In the US, BellSouth and SBC Communications are expanding their partnership beyond Cingular Wireless with a joint purchase of YellowPages.com, an internet-based phone directory service, reports SiliconValley.com (4 Nov.). The news service says the two companies plan to combine the acquired business with their own online directory affiliates, RealPages.com and SmartPages.com. The agreement comes about a week after SBC and Bell South completed a joint $US41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless, the news service reports.

NOKIA - MOBILE MARKET TO SLOW

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, expects slowing mobile phone growth in 2005 but plans to launch more phones next year and regain lost market share, reports The New York Times (4 Nov.). Nokia has told Wall Street investors it can boost operating profit margins, partly by slashing spending on new product development, while recovering from market share losses. The paper says that Nokia, seeking to entice consumers to upgrade older phones, has vowed that 50 per cent of its phones would contain music players next year to distinguish its products. While the mobile market is expected to slow next year, Nokia has forecast that its growth will be somewhat faster than the market, and has reiterated its goal of eventually grabbing 40 per cent market share, up from around 30 per cent now, reports the NYT.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS TO SUE

Hollywood's major movie studios have announced they will begin filing lawsuits this month against people who make copyrighted films available for downloading over the internet, reports The New York Times (5 Nov.). According to the paper, the lobbying group for Hollywood's seven major studios said the companies had decided on the aggressive strategy after concluding that record companies suffered financial consequences because they waited too long to combat people who were sharing digital music files. According to the paper, after suing the makers and distributors of the file-sharing software programs, the record industry last year began to take aim at people who share music files, and since September 2003 the industry has sued 6,191 individuals, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Although none of the the music suits have gone to trial, there have been more than 900 settlements, averaging $3,000 in damages paid to record labels, the industry group has said.

IBM LAUNCHES CONSULTING SERVICES PRACTICE

IBM has launched a consulting services practice around services-oriented architecture -- issuing a vote of confidence in the revenue potential of the emerging software development approach, reports The New York Times (4 Nov.). The company's consulting arm, IBM Global Services, said this week that the practice will be designed to help corporate customers create large-scale business systems around a services-oriented architecture, which is a method for writing business applications in modular fashion. The paper says a services-oriented architecture represents a way of designing a company's software so that programs and data can be more easily shared between different business divisions.

IBM STUDY: NO INCREASED RISK OF CANCER FOR WORKERS

In the US, IBM has found that workers at its San Jose plant and two other facilities did not face an increased risk of developing cancer according to preliminary results of a health study commisioned by the computer giant, reports Silicon Valley's The Mercury News (5 Nov.). In 2000 the company ordered a study of 126,000 employees at three of its US manufacturing locations when, at the time, IBM was facing lawsuits by former employees who alleged they developed cancer because of exposure to toxic chemicals while working at the plants. The paper says that according to the early results of the study IBM employees suffered substantially fewer deaths, regardless of the cause, than the general population, and the overall death rate at the facilities was 35 per cent lower than the surrounding general population. However, the International Centre for Occupational Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, said comparing workers with the general population was not a valid scientific method.

NO MORE FAX SPAMMING

The US State of Idaho has won a court order permanently barring the advertising company Fax.com from doing business within the state, reports SiliconValley.com (5 Nov.). The company is believed to be the largest volume "fax-spammer" in the country, and the State of Idaho had filed a lawsuit claiming that Fax.com had faxed hundreds of unsolicited advertisements to Idaho consumers, using automatic dialing machines to find active fax numbers and then compiling those numbers in a data base. The paper says the company did not admit to the allegations but agreed to stop doing business in Idaho. Fax.com was required to pay a $US5,000 civil penalty and must pay up to $5,000 for each unsolicited fax sent into Idaho in the future. The paper reports that at least three other states - California, Indiana and Washington, and the federal government, have brought similar actions against Fax.com.

MICROSOFT'S MINIMAL SUCCESS GOING AFTER VIRUS WRITERS

The New York Times (5 Nov.) says that while virus writers have a price on their heads, in the year since Microsoft kicked off its Anti-Virus Reward Program, it has only tallied a single success. According to the paper, the program has offered $US1 million to informants who help close official investigations into four major viruses and worms, and has another $4million earmarked for future rewards. The paper says the software giant has offered four $250,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest of the culprits behind four online threats. Microsoft's most wanted list of viruses and worms include the Sobig.F Virus, the MSBlast worm, the MyDoom virus and the Sasser worm, says the NYT. The paper says the most recent case, concerning the Sasser worm, could be counted as the program's biggest success. German authorities arrested a teenager in mid-May after Microsoft tipped them off with details about the alleged Sasser author it had received from informants.

INTEL CEO DISPUTES CHIP SLOWDOWN FORECASTS

Intel CEO Craig Barrett believes the current inventory correction being experienced by the chip industry does not herald a slowdown and has said he takes forecasts of flat sales growth through 2005 "with a grain of salt", reports The Register in the UK (5 Nov.). Speaking at a Semiconductor Industry Association meeting this week, Barrett said he didn't think the inventory correction was a euphemism for a slowdown. According to the online news service, Barrett's expectations seem mirrored by the market watcher iSuppli, which has reiterated its bullish September forecast for growth of 9.6 per cent during 2005.

NVIDIA TURNS CORNER

Graphics chip maker, Nvidia, has posted its best quarterly results in almost two years for the third quarter of fiscal 2005, with revenues of $US515.6 million, reports the UK's The Register (5 Nov.). The online news service says Nvidia's third quarter revenues were up 13 per cent on the previous quarter and six per cent on the Q3 FY 2004. The company said its improving financial performance reflected the success of the GeForce 6 architecture and its strategy to recapture the technology leadership position. Last week it emerged that Nvidia had lost its long-held leadership of the standalone graphics chip market to its arch-rival, ATI which took 59 per cent of the market while Nvidia dropped from 46 per cent to 37 per cent, reports The Register.

VoIP TO RESHAPE EUROPEAN PHONE MARKET

VoIP applications and services, which allow residential customers to avoid call charges, could grab up to 13 per cent of the European phone market by 2008, reports The Register in the UK (4 Nov.). The Register says this is one of the key findings of a new Analysys report Voice Communications:From Public Service to Private Application, with the report estimating that more than 50 million broadband users could be taking advantage of Private Voice Applications (PVAs) within four years. The online news service says that in revenue terms, the impact on telecom operators could be drastic. Incumbents could lose over 3.3 billion euro of subscription revenues in 2008, and cumulatively about 6.4 billion euro over the period between 2004 and 2008.

VERIZON PAYS $3 BILLION FOR LICENSES

In the US, Verizon Wireless has announced that it has signed an agreement with NextWave Telecom to purchase all of its airwaves licenses for $3 billion, reports The New York Times (5 Nov.). Verizon said the licenses cover 23 markets around the US, and would be acquired through the purchase of NextWave after it completes its bankruptcy reorganisation, when Verizon says it will have no assets other than the licenses.

GREATER US OUTSOURCING TO INDIA PREDICTED

India's outsourcing companies are jubilant at the reelection of US president George Bush, predicting that the trend toward outsourcing by American companies will now become even more inexoreable, reports The New York Times (4 Nov.) While the increasing outsourcing by American companies and the loss of thousands of jobs was an election issue, the Indian industry says that Bush's reelection will bring out the latent demand for outsourcing and lead to more offshoring announcements by companies that had been cautious about signing or announcing deals during the election campaign. The paper says that in spite of some strong American sentiment against offshoring, Indian outsourcing companies have been growing robustly recently. In the quarter ended in September, Infosys Technologies announced a 49 per cent rise in profit, and added more than 5,000 employees. It's rival Wipro had a 65 per cent increase in quarterly profit, and hired 5,500 more workers.

TIME WARNER Q3 PROFITS DOWN, ALLOWS FOR AOL PENALTIES

Time Warner has announced that it has set aside $500 million to pay for penalties stemming from a government investigation into accounting practices at America Online (AOL), a step that led to a 7.8 per cent decline in profits in the third quarter, reports The New York Times (4 Nov.). Time Warner, America's biggest media group, earned a net $499 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter, down from $541 million, or 12 cents, in the same period last year. Excluding the legal reserves and other one-time events, earnings were $722 million, or 15 cents a share, which was slightly more than analysts predicted, reports the NYT.

IT HIRING TO GROW

Three in 10 Australian organisations will hire new technology staff this financial year as the freeze on spending continues to give way to a slow thaw, according to new research, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 5 Nov.). The paper says a survey by Forrester Research of 50 executives at Australian and New Zealand government agencies and businesses shows that carefully managed investments in new projects will drive much of the hiring. The Forrester research indicates that 30 per cent of technology decision makers will hire full-time IT staff in 2004-05, up from 23 per cent in the last financial year, the AFR reports.

LIVE TV FOR DOMESTIC AIRLINE FLIGHTS

Australian domestic airline passegners will be able to watch breaking news and direct sports telecasts with the introduction of live TV on Virgin Blue flights next year, reports Melbourne's Herald-Sun (5 Nov.). The paper says that in a first for the southern hemisphere, Virgin Blue will offer 24-channels from pay TV stations Foxtel and AustaR, with all seats equipped with video screens. Passengers will be able to access live TV by swiping their credit cards on the unit or buying a special card from flight attendants, all for about $5.

US HACKER INDICTED

A former University of texas student was this week indicted on charges he hacked into the school's computer systems and stole social security and other personal information from more than 37,000 students and employees, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (4 Nov.). The hacker, Christopher Andrew Phillips, 21, was charged with fraud and storing credit card and bank account information with intent to defraud. He allegedly hacked into the system in February and March 2003, and university officials said they spent $US167,000 responding to the security breach and warning people of possible identity theft. Phillip's lawyer said his client "didn't use any hacking tools...the system was open...there weren't any signs saying don't go in," reports the paper.

OPTUS PROFITS IN FACE OF COMPETITION

Optus yesterday delivered an 82 per cent surge in net profit for the second quarter and, despite aggressive mobile price cuts and increasing competition in the broadband market, managed to expand its margins, reports Fleur Leyden in The Age (5 Nov.). The paper says Optus reported a $163 million net profit for the three months to September 30, with operating revenues rising 12 per cent to $1.75 billion. These revenues, reports the paper, excluded Optus's CI satellite defence contract, and margins increased by 1.7 percentage points to 31 per cent.

MOTOROLA ACQUISITION

Motorola, the world's second biggest manufacturer of mobile phones, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Crisnet, a privately held software firm that develops record-keeping systems for law enforcement, justice and public safety agencies, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (4 Nov.). The paper says no price was disclosed for the acquisition but Motorola has said it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. Motorola is a major producer of police radios and dispatch networks as well as mobile phones.

INTEL-MICROSOFT JOINT CAMPAIGN

Intel and Microsoft are launching a joint advertising campaign to entice consumers to buy living-room computers, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com. The paper says the "Digital Joy" campaign will target consumers with television, internet and cinema ads that promote Microsoft's Media Centre software and an "entertainment PC" based on Intel's Pentium 4 microprocessors. Entertainment PCs allow videos, music and other content stored on a personal computer to be viewed on a big-screen TV, and The Mercury says the two companies together will spend tens of millions on the campaign.

RADIO TO TV, OR TiVo

And, a new $US70 device called RadioShark - or TiVO for radio - released in the US by Griffin Technology, lets consumers record their favourite AM and FM radio shows to their home computer and enjoy them later either from the desktop or a portable device, reports AP in The New York Timnes (4 Nov.). The AP/NYT review of the product says its operational simplicity is part of its appeal. Consumers connect the device to their PC using a USB connection, from which the RadioShark also gets its power. There are no buttons or dials or station-setting on the unit itself - that's all accessed via software (for PC or Mac), reports the paper.

INTEGRAL ENERGY DEAL PENDING

The Australian Financial Review (AFR 5 Nov.) reports that Integral Energy is just weeks away from finalising two computer and communications outsourcing contracts as it disentangles itself from an eight-year relationship with incumbent supplier EDS. The paper says the two contracts with Integral are being hotly contested by three technology services providers, including IBM and Optus, with industry speculation that they could be worth a combined $10 million to $15 million a year.

EDS DELAYS RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT

Computer outsourcing giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has again delayed its third-quarter financial report amid new questions about its accounting for employee bonuses as it continues to clash with auditors, reports The Wall Street Journal (4 Nov.). The paper says the delay and accrual questions are a new complication for EDS, which last week proposed to cut about 4600 workers, or 9 per cent of its 53,000 US jobs, and take a charge of about $US150 million to four-quarter earnings to cover severance costs.

CHIP INDUSTRY FALTERING

The faltering chip industry boom will sputter out in 2005, with essentially flat chip sales compared to its previous forecast of 4 per cent growth in the year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association of the US, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (4 Nov). In contrast the chip industry group expects the industry to end 2004 with sales up 28.5 per cent to $US213.8 million. The worsening market prediction for 2005 is partly due to the fact that makers of dynamic random access memory chips in particular have too much factory capacity coming on line next year, making it likely that memory chip prices will come down, reports The Mercury.

NOKIA SUING MOBILE PHONE MAKERS

Nokia has taken legal action against small European handset makers Sagem and Vitelcom over patent infringements, reports the New York Times (4 Nov.). Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said it wants Sagem to withdraw its flagship myX5-2 handset and pay damages for copying designs. It is seeking either injunctions against the sale and marketing of an unspecificed number of Vitelcom phones or monetary damages, reports the NYT.

ACER REVENUES UP

Acer, the Taiwanese-based, world's fifth-largest computer maker, has announced that its global revenues are expected to increase by 30 to 40 per cent in 2005 compared to this year, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (3 Nov.). Acer has said it aims to increase both notebook and desktop sales by 2 million units next year, meaning sales of each would surpass 10 million units. The company also expects to ship 3 million more units of liquid-crystal display monitors than this year. The full year 2005 revenues are expected to reach $US6.58 billion, but are dependent on selling some of its shareholdings and if Intel issues new chips this quarter, spurring PC and note book sales.

Q3. LOSS FOR NEWS CORP'S SATELLITE TV COMPANY

News Corporation 34% owned DirecTV Group - the largest satellite television programmer - has told the market that its losses widened considerably in the third quarter because of a one-time charge to pay for new satellites, reports The New York Times (3 Nov.) The paper reports that DirecTV Group lost $US1.01 billion, or 73 cents a share, in the quarter after losing $23 million, or 2 cents a share, in the period a year ago. The report says the loss came despite a 20 per cent rise in revenue to $2.86 billion, from $2.38 billion in the third quarter of 2003, thanks to the addition of a record number of new subscribers. According to analysts, the competition between satellite and cable TV companies has reached a new level of intensity, but American consumers were choosing satellite over cable - it's a "landslide" in favour of satellite providers, they are quoted as saying.

ANZ ADDS STAFF TO INDIAN OPERATION

The ANZ Bank has increased staff numbers at its technology facility in Bangalore, India, by a third to 530 as it ramps up its technology operations to cope with increased integration and compliance activity, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 3 Nov.) The ANZ, says the paper, has stated that the bank's increased offshore operations reflected a shortage of some skills in Australia, with software developers skilled in PeopleSoft applications easier to find in India.

INDIA-CHINA WHERE RESOURCES ARE

Indian software services giant Infosys Technologies has turned to China as a source of unlimited, low-cost human resources, and is now doing application development and maintenance work in China through their Shanghai offshoot company set up a year ago, reports The New York Times (2 Nov.). The Shanghai business of Infosys has 200 employees and four multinational customers and is growing rapidly to keep up with booming demand from the West for their services, the paper reports. The other Indian outsourcing rivals to Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies, are doing the same thing in China, with all three companies quickly concluding that only China has a worker base equal to India's in terms of cost, quality and scale.

TELSTRA GOES BUSH WITH ELDERS

Telstra will sell its products to rural Australia through agribusiness Elders in a six-month pilot scheme starting in February 2005, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 3 Nov.). The paper says Elders staff in two rural locations in Queensland and Western Australia will offer customers a range of Telstra products and services. In turn, a Telstra Country Wide spokesperson says if the pilot is successful Telstra eventually will sell its products through 400 Elders retail outlets, reports the AFR.

IBA HEALTH TARGETS IT SOLUTIONS PROVIDER

Health care information business IBA Health (ASX: IBA) today announced a takeover bid for Health Communication Network (ASX:ACN), reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR 3 Nov.). The AFR says IBA will make an off-market takeover bid for all of the ordinary shares of HCN, a provider of IT solutions to the general practitioner and specialist markets. The offer values HCN at approximately $88.2 million ($1.40 per HCN share), and IBA has said the transaction would continue its strong market share in hospital information systems with HCN's strong market share in general practitioner and specialist systems, the AFR reports.

FILM STUDIOS TO SUE ONLINE ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTORS

Hollywood movie studios, taking a cue from recording companies, are preparing to file copyright infringement lawsuits against computer users it says are illegally distributing movies online, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (3 Nov.). The paper says lawsuits will target movie fans who share digitised versions of films over peer-to-peer networks, with the first wave of litigation planned for as early as this week, according to sources in the industry. The Movie Picture Association of America, which represents the major film studios, claims the US movie industry loses more than $US3 billion annually in potential global revenue because of physical piracy, or bogus copies of videos and DVDs of its films.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE....NOT QUITE!

Look out all you Aussie blokes seeking a wife if you're in receipt of an email from a young, good looking Russian girl keen to meet wth a view to marriage! The New York Times (3 Nov.) reports that a resurgent internet hustle that has become a Russian boom industry this year, offering young Russian women to Western men as potential wives (for a fee, of course), has spawned a new crop of on-line swindlers luring Western victims into highly successful confidence games. The paper says the "women" are nothing more than fictional characters, with the internet scammers using fake names, forged visas and snapshots of young Russian women. The report says the escalating flirtation between an unsuspecting man and a Russian grifter masquerading as a young women typically ends when the victim wires money to Russia to pay for visas and airfare for a consummation of the affair.

APPLE DISABLES iTunes plug-in

With the latest version of iTunes - iTunes 4.7 - introduced last week, Apple has disabled an add-on program that let people transfer songs off their iPod, reports The New York Times/CNET.News (2 Nov.). Apple has now confirmed that version 4.7 does breaks compatability with iPodDownload. The NYT said the iTunes plug-in is designed to enable iPod owners to copy songs from the music player to an iTunes library, a feature that Apple has not supported. It says there are other programs, none sanctioned by Apple, that allow iPod owners to copy or recover music from an iPod, but most require another step for the music to be imported back into iTunes.

PIRATED CISCO SOURCE CODE FOR SALE

The New York Times/CNET News report (2 Nov.) that a group of self-identified hackers, the Source Code Club, has posted files online that it claims contains source code for Pix security firewall from Cisco Systems, and that they are selling the proprietary software for $US24,000. "SCC is proud to announce the general availability of Cisco Pix 6.3.1 source code. This release is significant because Pix is vital to the security of many ultra-secure networks," read a Google group posting marked as a Source Code Club newsletter, reports the NYT. A Cisco spokesperson said she was unable to comment on the authenticity of the source code or its source, says the NYT. The paper says that Version 6.3.1 is an older version of the firewall product released in March 2003. A version 6.3.4 was released by Cisco in July this year. The paper reports that the Source Code Club in its newsletter is now offering a "buyer incentive", with people who purchase one full set of source code becoming a private member, which gives them access to sources not available to the general public.

MORE NEWS, LESS MAIL

Email remains the king of all internet activities, but web surfing is gaining fast to the point that internet users now spend significantly less time each month reading email and sending instant messages compared with a year ago, reports The New York Times (3 Nov.). The paper reports that according to a recent US survey by the Online Publishers Association, an industry group, and the online research firm Nielsen NetRatings, internet users now spend more time reading articles and watching videos on the internet compared with a year ago. The paper says the study found that internet users in September spent 4 hours 52 minutes communicating online, a half-hour drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, users spent 4 hours 41 minutes perusing media sites, 48 minutes more than a year ago. The association says high-speed internet connections are behind the trend, with the survey results showing that total monthly time online has jumped from last year by more than 20 minutes, to 12 hours 14 minutes.

SPRINT-QUALCOMM IN TALKS

Sprint Corp. in the US is in talks with Qualcomm about using a network the chipmaker is building to deliver live television to Sprint mobile phone customers, reports the New York Times/Reuters (2 Nov.). The paper says Sprint is also interested in bidding for airwaves or spectrum in a government auction expected to take place next year to ensure it has enough to meet its needs going forward, according to the company's COO. The paper says Sprint, the third-largest US mobile service, has enough airwaves for current services and plans to begin building a faster network to boost its capacity this year and next year.

MOBILE PHONE SALES ROCKET

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association has issued a report which shows that mobile-phone mad Australians buy 25,000 handsets every day, with 5.8 million phones sold in the first nine months of this year, reports Melbourne's Herald-Sun (3 Nov.). According to the AMTA, 767,300 mobile phones were sold in September alone, with sales for the year-to-date up 45 per cent above last year's corresponding figures. The paper says more than 16.5 million Australians own a mobile phone, and almost seven million will update their handset this year.

JUNKING MOBILES (AND COMPUTERS) US STYLE

Meanwhile, in America mobile phones are also in the news, where the Californian State Government is introducing two groundbreaking laws which will facilitate consumers being able to recycle their old cell phone and junked computer monitors, reports Silicon Valley's Mercury News (2 Nov.). Effective in July 2006, the new cell phone law mean consumers can toss their old cell phones in to a collection box at any store that sells the devices, with no charge. And the computer law, effective in January 2006, means consumers can put their junked monitor or broken TV on the curb and get it carted away for free, instead of the confusing maze of recyling programs and paying hefty fines. However, the paper warns that cell phones could be refurbished and sold overseas, or they could be shipped to Asia as toxic scrap.

MOBILE PHONE OPERATORS SETTLE DISPUTE

Two of America's biggest cellphone operators, Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communictions have announced that they plan to drop their lawsuits against each other, which The New York Times (3 Nov.) says should clear the way for Nextel to receive final approval for a swap of spectrum that Verizon had opposed. The paper says Nextel will also drop its oppositiion to Verizon using the phrase "push to talk" in marketing its walkie-talkie, claiming it infringed on the company's trademark. Dropping of the law suits means the companies can now focus on the more pressing issue of how to compete with Cingular Wireless, the BellSouth and SBC joint venture that became the industry leader when regulators last month approved its purchase of AT&T.

DIAL UP ON ITS LAST LEGS?

Broadband is quickly overtaking dial-up in Australia, with more than half of all Australian internet connections expected to be broadband by mid-2006, report The Australian and the Australian Financial Review (2 November). Both papers report on a joint study by Ericsson and the Melbourne Business School which found that the number of broadband users will surge from about 21 per cent of all internet users to over 50 percent by mid-2006. Interestingly, the study also found that there were still a proportion of Australians - less than 10 per cent - not interested in the internet, with no plans to get online. However, research firm, IDC, said in the AFR that the firm was sticking to its prediction that the transition from dial-up to broadband will occur around mid-2007. IDC maintained that while broadband use was accelerating, dial-up was not decreasing as fast as the firm first thought.

AOL LOSING CUSTOMERS TO BROADBAND

America Online (AOL) has been trying to turn its fortunes around as users leave the service for broadband connections, but the company now plans to cut about 700 jobs next month in a bid to meet financial targets, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (2 Nov.). The paper says AOL employs about 13,000 people in the US and 20,000 worldwide and was once a leading star of the internet business.

US CIVIL CASE SETTLED

In the US, two former executives of Computer Associates International, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, have agreed to pay a total $US387,470 to settle related civil charges in a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal at the big software company, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (2 Nov.).

US, WORLD CHIP SALES SLOW

The Mercury News (2 Nov.) says there is more bad news for the chip industry as National Semiconductor warned of weaker sales and an industry trade group reported that worldwide chip sales slowed in September. National Semiconductor said sales are likely to be $US445 million to $450 million for its second fiscal quarter ending 28 November, down 18 per cent from the first fiscal quarter, reports the paper. And, the Semi Conductor Industry Association reported that September global chip sales were $18.4 billion, up 27 per cent from a year earlier, but only1 per cent from August, representing the slowest growth month for the year.

UNI. TECH COURSE ENROLMENTS DOWN

Australian universities are expecting another decline in computer course enrolments, with the first round of course preference figures for 2005 indicating there will be a similar slide in demand for technology degrees to that experienced this year, reports Rachel Lebihan in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 2 Nov.). The paper says the confirmed slide comes despite signs of a recovery in the technology sector, with IT job advertisements currently 70 percent higher than they were a year ago.

ORACLE BOOSTS PeopleSoft BID

Oracle has sweetened its hostile bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft to $US9.2 billion, a 14 per cent increase aimed at resolving the long-running takeover battle between the bitter foes, reports The Mercury News (1 Nov.). The paper says the new all-cash bid of $24 per share raises the stakes from $21 per share - an offer that PeopleSoft rejected as inadequate in May, and which marked the fourth time Oracle had revised its bid since its attempt to buy PeopleSoft 17 months ago. The paper says Oracle has stated that its latest bid is its "best and final offer", and that its take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum would be abandoned if a majority of PeopleSoft's shareholders haven't accepted the new offer by a 19 November deadline.

NSW GOVERNMENT: PROPRIETARY OR OPEN SOURCE OK

The NSW Commerce Minister John Della Bosca has ruled out umpiring government contracts in an effort to promote open source, saying individual agencies would choose their own software, reports The Australian IT Today section (2 Nov.). The paper says that despite Opposition calls for a single panel for proprietary and open-source vendors, the Government has decided to maintain two panels and allow agencies to select from either.

ONLINE ADVERTISING MARKET HOT, BUT DoubleClick IS NOT

The online advertising market is hot, but pioneer advertising services company, DoubleClick is not hot, and has decided to explore strategic alternatives including a possible sale, reports The Mercury News in SiliconValley.com (1 Nov.). The paper quotes analysts as saying the reason for Double Click's problems is in part that the company has underperformed its peers. With a resurgent online ad market boosting the fortunes of companies such as Yahoo and Google, DoubleClick has struggled to capitalise on the boom, reports The Mercury. One analyst says internet advertising as a whole is growing 35 per cent or more a year, and that DoubleClick has not been growing, and in fact has declined.

INTERNET FRAUDSTERS HIT JOB SEEKERS

Internet fraudsters are casting a wider net and "phishing" for Australian job seekers, as people who bank online wise up to the prolific hoax email scams, reports Rachel Lebihan in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 2 Nov.). The paper reports that the latest fake email to hit inboxes purports to be from the Credit Suisse Group as part of a new recruitment drive in Australia and New Zealand. Lebihan says recipients are directed to fill out a very detailed application form - including bank account name - on a website that looks like the Credit Suisse site but is, in fact, a replica. A spokesperson for spam-watch website Codefish told the AFR that while no scams had spoofed an Australian company brand, some had pretended to be affiliates with local career websites such as seek.com.au and careerone.com.au.

IBM GOING WELL IN CANBERRA

IBM Australia expects to add 40 staff to its government-focused Canberra operation over the next year in anticipation of 6 per cent growth in the federal public sector's $4.2 billion IT spending, reports James Riley in The Australian IT Today section (2 Nov.). IBM told the paper that the company's 400-strong Canberra workforce would expand by at least 10 per cent over the next 12 months, largely on the back of its growing workload at the Australian Tax Office. There has been widespread adoption of IBM software within the ATO after the agency opened the door to using J2EE-based standards, reports the paper.

MORE CANBERRA BUSINESS

While IBM is doing well in Canberra, James Riley (The Australian 2 Nov.) also reports that CAP Gemini Ernst and Young expects to use a $14 million Australian Tax Office contract to attract more government business. The company only set up its consulting practice in Canberra in April and its branch office there will target CAP Gemini's core expertise in defence, taxation and finance, and social welfare, reports the paper.

BANKING ON SOFTWARE CHANGES

St George Bank will pilot a customer relationship management system in September 2006 as banks hone their software weapons in the battle for customer wallet-share, reports Kelly Mills in The Australian IT Today section (2 Nov.). The paper reports that St George is following the likes of Westpac, the Commonwealth Bank and the National Australia Bank which have spent millions rolling out CRM systems with advanced analytics. The paper reports St George as saying that the bank's CRM project will not require a radical change from its current CRM system, but it would improve the software tools.

ASG GROWTH TO CONTINUE

A growing preference for home-grown technology services is expected to fuel growth for the Australian Stock Exchange-listed ASG Group (ASX:ASZ), with company revenues tipped to rise by 44 per cent this financial year to reach $35.2 million, reports Emma Connors in The Australian Financial Review (AFR 2 Nov.). The paper reports that the $2.5 million net profit the company reported for the year to June will increase to $3.4 million, according to a research note by Tolhurst Noall. ASG's chief executive Geoff Walsh says organic growth as well as acquisitions will help the company to maintain momentum, reports the AFR.

IPO SUCCESSES FOLLOW GOOGLE

It seems the extrordinary success of Google since its spectacular debut as a public company has rubbed off on others, with The Mercury News reporting in SiliconValley.com (1 Nov.) that initial public offerings (IPOs) just wrapped up one of their best weeks in some time, with 10 companies coming to market, raising $US1.7 billion. The paper says Google has had some IPO coattails after all, with several of these new IPOs soaring in their debuts. Analysts say the Google IPO seems to have changed market sentiment, given that investor attitude toward new stock issues prior to the Google entry have been lukewarm at best. Google had renwewed interest in the IPOP market at large, the paper reports.

WARNING ON SWITCHING TO INTERNET PHONE SYSTEMS

Businesses in Australia should consider the potential risks before following the latest trend of switching their phone systems over to an internet-based technology, according to a report - Voice over IP - Decipher and Decide -by accounting firm KPMG, reports The Australian IT Business section (2 November). The paper says the KPMG report looks at some of the pitfalls of voice over internet protocol, which is rapidly being adopted by businesses to replace their traditional phone systems. KPMG warns that the technology is so new that businesses are exposed to mistakes when choosing it, and the consequences of a major security incident can be substantial in terms of business interruptions, loss of consumer confidence or cost through fraud or missed opportunities, reports the paper.

MINISTER ENDORSES ACS PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BID

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan has endorsed the Australian Computer Society's bid to create professional standards, reports James Riley in The Australian IT Today section (2 Nov.).The paper says the Government will encourage the ACS to adopt and enforce a set of professional standards as a means of improving the quality of work in the industry and reducing the cost of professional indemnity insurance, but it will not endorse mandatory ACS membership for IT professionals. The report says only 15 per cent of ICT professionals are ACS members, compared to 85 per cent of lawyers belonging to the Law Society, and an even higher percentage of doctors who are members of the Australian Medical Association.

HONEYWELL EXPANDS IN INDIA

Aerospace and high-tech manufacter Honeywell International will hire 1,000 software programmers and invest $US10 million in India over the next 12 months to bolster its research and development activities, reports the New York Times/AP (1 Nov.). The report says Honeywell, which makes a range of products from airplane parts to home themostats, began its Indian operations with a manufacturing unit near the Indian capital New Delhi. It now has research units in Bangalore and the southern town of Madurai, with the centres currently employing around 3,000 people. Honeywell employs around 100,000 people worldwide and had revenues of $US19 billion in the first nine months of 2003, reports the NYT/AP.

DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA HAS ITS PROBLEMS

In Bangalore, India's technology hub, city officials have promised to improve the city's battered infrastructure, making life easier for the hundreds of American and European companies with offices there, reports the New York Times/AP (1 Nov.). The chief minister of the region says the government will ensure that the orderly growth of the information technology industry continues after software and high-technology firms complained that the city's poor roads and inadequate power supply had hurt their operations, reports the paper.

NEW INTERNET VIDEOPHONES FOR BUSINESS

Avaya and Polycom have unveiled an internet videophone for businesses, adding to a growing lineup of more affordable, easier-to-use gear of the sort once seen only in newspaper comic strips, reports the New York Times/CNETnews.com (1 Nov.). The paper says networking gear maker Avaya will sell camera maker Polycom's ViaVideo 11 video camera for PCs, packaged with an Avaya Softphone. The report says the combo is designed to let people make video or phone calls by dialling someone's number from an IM-like window on a PC. If the recipient's setup is also video-enabled, the call goes through as video, or if not the call automatically switches to voice only.

LOCAL SHOPPING ONLINE

The New York Times (1 Nov.) reports that a trio of new US online companies - Cairo.com, ShopLocal.com and StepUp.com - are working towards filling a need consumers reportedly have for checking online the prices of products at stores in their local shopping mall each day. The paper says shopping comparison sites already let consumers check prices and products across tens of thousands of online retailers, but not necessarily in their local shopping mall. The paper says that, for example, Cairo.com, which introduced its web site late last month, scans the web sites of about 25 national merchants to cull sales data from the retailers' weekly circulars. Consumers enter their zip code and can search the database for particular items, or register to receive an e-mail message when the price of an item drops. The paper says these new online shopping sites are seeing interest in serving internet users with more localised search results climbing, with both Google and Yahoo, for example, starting to offer more localised services.

VENTURE CAPITALISTS ATTRACT RECORD AMOUNTS

Venture capitalists raised $US5.5. billion for future investments during the third-quarter, continuing a recent upturn that reflects renewed optimism about the financial future for fledgling compannies, reports The Mercury News/SiliconValley.com (1 Nov.). The paper says the amount of venture capital raised from investors during the three months ended in September more than doubled the $2 billion collected during the same time last year, according to newly released statistics. Through the first nine months of the year, venture capitalists have raised $11.2 billion surpassing the $10.5 billion that the industry took in during all of 2003.

NEW BAGLE WORM CLOGS EMAILS

Both the New York Times/AP and The Register (29 Oct.) report on a new variant of the Bagle email worm spreading rapidly across the internet on Friday, apparently filling up people's email accounts, posing a medium to high risk threat, although the NYT said it had caused little apparent damage. One expert, reported the NYT, had described the Bagle worm as "comparable in size" to MyDoom. According to The Register, the Bagle worm infects emails with one of several executable attachments (COM,EXE,SCR) and attachment names such as Price or Joke, with typical subject lines of infected emails including 'Re: Hello' or 'Re:Thank you!'

PHONE FAULT ONLINE CHECKS

Retail customers will be able to log and monitor the status of phone line faults online as part of an extension to Telstra's $100 million FutureEDGE project, reports The Australian IT Today section (2 Nov.). Reporter Kelly Mills says that although Telstra has confirmed that the new facility is in the works, it has not set a roll-out date. The FutureEDGE project began in January 2002 with the aim of enabling Telstra's wholesale customers to log faults via the internet, and overhauling workforce management systems, reports the paper. Wholesale customers can already log and view faults status online.

TECH JOBS SLOWDOWN FORECAST

One technology job hunting firm, Icon Recruitment, has forecast a slowdown soon in the technology job market, reports The Australian Financial Review (1 Nov.). The paper quotes Icon's national human resources consultant, Jill Noble, as saying the impending slowdown is part of a cyclical trend in which hiring freezes occur in the lead-up to Christmas, and job vacancies rebound early the following year.The AFR says the forecast slowdow is in line with recent figures by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (see News Roundup story "Technology Job Vacancies Slip).

SYDNEY MAN TRIGGERS BOMB SCARE

The Register (UK 29 Oct.) reports that a Sydney student, known only as Bobby T, aged 20, set up a wireless access point outside his suburban home when it triggered a bobm scare. According to The Register, the man st up a Dlinj 2100AP wireless access point to act as a node in a community wireless network (https://www.sydneywireless.com) . The man told The Register that the wireless kit - removed of its casing and with the PCB siliconed onto a black weatherproof electronics box - caused a worried neighbour tip off police who apparently visited the man and dug up cables in his garden and quiizzed him on other users of the wireless LAN. The Register says that apparently the case is now closed aftyer police realised it was not a bomb.

HARVEY NORMAN UNLICENSED SOFTWARE CRACK DOWN

The Australian Financial Review's (AFR 1 Nov.) David Crowe reports that retailer Harvey Norman has completed a project to crack down on the use of unlicensed software on the company's 8000 personal computers in an effort to cut management costs and avoid legal liabilities. Harvey Norman said the crackdown had led to some financial savings by avoiding the purchase of unnecessary software and also protected the company from legal challenges over unlicensed software, reports the AFR.

BigPond's NEW OFFERINGS: TV SHOWS, MOVIE RENTS

Telstra will begin offering movies and television shows as internet downloads through its BigPond service over the next few months, report John Davidson and Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 1 Nov.).The paper says the new service will allow BigPond customers to rent movies and TV shows by downloading time-limited copies to their PCs, and is part of a push by Telstra to get more people watching video over the internet (Telstra will broadcast tomorrow's Melbourne Cup online).

TELSTRA BOARD SEEKS NEW TALENT

Telstra's new chairman, Donald McGauchie, has told Channel Nine's Business Sunday program (31 Oct.) that the company will be looking to add new talent with telco experience to the company's board. McGauchie said a review process would also look at the size of the board - it currently has 9 directors from the worlds of banking and finance, retail and science - and is one of the larger boards in Australian companies. He also said the CEO, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, the only board member with telcommunications experience, had the full support of the board after he set growth targets of about 4-5 per cent by 2006, although many analysts see these targets as ambitious. The chairman rejected the need to impose further regulation on Telstra ahead of full privatisation, saying that over-regulation could stifle future investment in the company.

VENTURE CAPITAL ACTIVITY - GOOD & BAD NEWS

An article in the New York Times (31 Oct.) explores what's happening in the world of venture capital investing in US technology start-ups today and says that there has been a resurgence of fierce competition among firms seeking to invest in promising start-ups. The paper reports that "Silicon Valley is again silly with venture capitalists jostling one another to own a piece of any young technology company with a plausible business model. This raises the fear, says the NYT, of a return to the exorbitant inflation that hit the venture industry in the 1990s. Given those fears, the paper says (ironically) it's good news that last week figures showed that venture investing was way down in the third-quarter, with the amount venture capitalists invested falling 15 percent to $US4.6 billion, from $US5.4 billion in the second quarter. The NYT says the 601 deals that venture capitalists consummated frrom July through September were the fewest in any quarter since 1996.

GARTNER: INTERNET GETTING SMARTER

A smarter internet and a host of cheap, web-enabled mobile devices will allow users to access a whole range of services on the move, says research group Gartner Dataquest, according to a Reuters report in the New York Times (31 Oct.). Ahead of its annual ITXpo symposium in Cannes, France next week, Gartner issued its report, commenting that a smarter internet will allow consumers to collaborate to pay for services costing just a few cents, making a whole range of offerings viable. The report says that mobile users will one day be shown the way to the nearest doctor on weekend duty, parents will be able to contact the nearest child minder to take over at a moment's notice. The NYT/Reuters report says the building blocks for a more intelligent internet are standardised data from a plethora of sources which can be recognised and connected, and it expects the distinction between fixed and mobile internet to slowly disappear.

SPYWARE, AN INTERNET SCOURGE

The New York Times/AP (31 Oct.) says a new study in the US found that spyware has reached epidemic proportions in the past year as people spend more time online and spyware developers get more aggressive. The paper says a government-backed study conducted by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that spyware was on the computers of 80 per cent of participants in the study. Technicians who visited one woman found 1,300 spyware-related items on her machine. In another article in the NYT., reportedly one computer user broke his computer trying to remove spyware himself, and it took three technicians at the local repair shop to figure out how to restore his machine. Some repair shops, says the paper, blame spyware for more than half the trouble they're seeing, and Dell says spyware accounts for 15 percent of service calls, up from 2 percent in August 2003.

CELLULAR COMPANIES AGREE STANDARDS

In the US, the country's cellular companies have agreed on a common standard for multimedia messaging that should enable mobile phone users to exchange photos, video and audio clips just as they do email, regardless of their wireless carrier, reports AP in the New York Times (29 Oct.). The paper says that since the wireless companies still need to implement the new standard and negotiate terms to deliver "outside" messages to their customers, the disparate services aren't yet interoperable. Until then, multimedia services will remain more like instant messaging, where users of services from AOL, Yahoo! and MSN still cannot chat directly.

PUBLIC COMPUTING GRID FOR US STATE

Researchers and businesses in the US state of West Virginia will be able to access the country's first state-sponsored public internet computing grid when the Global Grid Exchange is launched in November, reports AP/New York Times (30 Oct.). The paper says the project, which will function as a supercomputer at a fraction of the cost, is a joint effort by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium, Verizon and Hewlett Packard. The consortium recceived a $US14.7 million grant from the State's Economic Development Authority to develop the grid, and it will link computers in academic institutions, government offices and home personal computers, reports the paper.

IDENTITY THEFT RING CRACKED

Federal authorities have indicted 19 people in the US and other countries on charges related to a Web site investigators claimed was one of the largest online centres for trafficking in stolen identity information and credit cards, reports SiliconValley.com. More than 20 others have also been charged and the site - www.shadowcrew.com - had about 4,000 members who dealt with at least 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers and carried more than $US4 million in losses. Those arrested were from the US, Bulgaria, Canada, Estonia, Poland, Sweden and the UK.

E-MAIL LEGAL BATTLE

Microsoft and other Internet access providers filed three new lawsuits last week in the US to stop the spread of unsolicited e-mail messages touting everything from home refinancing to miracle health cures, reports Reuters in the New York Times (28 Oct.). At the same time, reports the paper, America Online, a unit of Time Warner, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Virginia targeting "spim", or unsolicited messages sent to users of its instant messaging service. The report says that Microsoft has used its legal muscle to launch a barrage of lawsuits against spammers over the past year in an attempt to curb the spread of unsolicited e-mail, with the company now involved in more than 100 legal cases against spammers.

LookSmart FORECASTS EARNINGS GROWTH

Search pioneer LookSmart is counting on strong sales of a "safe search" service to push it back into profit next year after announcing quarterly earnings that beat estimates, reports David Crowe in the Weekend Australian Financial Review (AFR 30-31 Oct.). The company has reportedly vowed to to keep its net loss to less than $US1 million ($1.3 million) in the December quarter while increasing revenue slightly to up to $US20 million. The paper says LookSmart's new chief executive, David Hills, has issued an upbear forevast for the year ahead by promising "solid and sustainable growth" in the near term as new company strategy's get under way.

ACER POSTS BIG LOSSES

Acer, the world's fifth-largest computer company, yesterday announced third-quarter net profits fell 63 percent from the same period last year because of investment losses from affiliates, reports AP in The Mercury News (29 Oct.). The Taiwanese comany said its net profit in the three months ended 30 September was 1.43 billion New Taiwan dollars ($US42.76 milion).

INTERNET ADVERTISING PAYS

DoubleClick, the well known and successful internet advertising company, has just announced earnings have doubled in the third quarter to 30 September, helped by higher revenues and a $US7.1 million gain on the sale of the company's 15 per cent interest in AdLINK Internet Media AG., reports The Mercury News (28 Oct.).In the third-quarter the New York company earned $US15.4 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $80.9 million, compared with earnings of $6.34 million on revenues of $74.7 million in the same period last year.

INTERNET'S 35th BIRTHDAY

The Internet's 35 birthday was yesterday (29 October) when the first baby steps were taken to network computers as a forerunner to what we know today as the Internet, reports SiliconValley.com. The publication reports that the first steps to creating the Internet were taken 35 years ago yesterday by Leonard Kleinrock at UCLA when the professor and his team networked their computer with one at the Stanford Research Institute. The plan was for UCLA to send the letters "L-O-G" and for SRI to answer back with "I-N". The system crashed with the message reading just "L-O", but Kleinrock knew that communicating over computer networks could change the world.

NOVATEL SHARES DOWN

Shares of Novatel Wirless Inc. slid on Friday after the wireless modem provider posted a disappointing fourth-quarter revenue outlook, reports Dow Jones/AP in SiliconValley.com (29 October). The revenue projection - $US 32-34 million for the fourth quarter - came despite the San Diego-based company's strong third-quarter results and its securing of a deal with British wirless giant Vodafone. Shares on Friday were at $US21.07 in early afternoon trading, down $3.43 or 14 percent on heavy volume on the Nasdaq. On Thursday Novatel posted third-quarter earnings of $4.9 million.

BUSH Vs KERRY ON TECH ISSUES

In the US Presidential race, the Mercury News (29 Oct.) reports that President Bush and his challenger Senator John Kerry have similar policy themes when it comes to technology. Both talk about the importance of innovation to the economy and of education in creating those innovators and, according to the paper, both have identifcal centrepieces in their high tech agendas: expanding broadband internet capability and developing hydrogen fuel cell technology. The paper says Bush wants to spur broadband almost exclusively by reducing federal regulations. For Kerry, to boost broadband development and deployment he wants $2 billion in tax incentives for private companies.

NEW FREE & PAID INTERNET MUSIC OFFERING

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and online peer-to-peer software distributor Grokster are working on a new venture that is expected to offer paid and free song downloads over the Internet, sources say, reports The Mercury's SiliconValley.com (29 Oct.). Details of the venture, dubbed Mashboxxx, have not been finalised but the service would allow users to download promotional versions of songs by Sony BMG acts at no charge and buy licensed versions, the paper reports. Since the emergence of free online music sharing, recording companies have sought to put file-sharing companies out of business. Failing in that effort, the industry has also lobbied to outlaw the firms altogether, reports The Mercuy.

FLEXTRONICS BUYING NORTEL UNITS

European Union regulators yesterday cleared Singapore's Flextronics International Ltd, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, to acquire factories from Canada's telecommunications equipment maker,Nortel Networks, reports AP in The Mercury News (20 Oct.). The European Commission said the transaction gave no rise to any competition concerns. Nortel had previously announced the sale of manufacturing operations to Flextronics that employ 2,500 people in Canada, Brazil, Northern Ireland and France, reports the paper.

JAPAN PREPAID PHONE SCAM

According to AP in The Mercury News (28 Oct.) Japan's ruling party is mulling over a ban on prepaid cell phones in an effort to crack down on a rising spate of scams, in the country, in which people use handsets that are hard to trace to call people and pretend to represent relatives in distress asking for cash. The paper says the Liberal Democratic Party is planning legal measures to put a stop to such crimes, including a ban on prepaid phones. The report says scammers using prepaid phones falsely claim to be police officers or lawyers dealing with a son or daughter and demand cash be transferred quickly into a bank account to save their child. According to AP, the company most likely to be hurt by a ban is Vodafone KK, the Japan unit of the giant, which has about 12.5 million people in Japan using its prepaid phones, or about 10 of all prepaids in the country.

ORACLE-PeopleSoft: THE BATTLE CONTINUES

The stage is now set for a showdown over how much Oracle is willing to pay for PeopleSoft, after European regulators this week approved Oracle's hostile takeover bid, reports Silicon Valley's The Mercury News (27 Oct.)The paper says after the EU approval, the focus immediately turned to speculation about what would happen next and which would be the first, at long last, to blink. PeopleSoft has already issued a statement rejecting Oracle's current bid of $US21 a share as "inadequate." Analysts reportedly agree that there was one thing Oracle could do to clinch the deal - pay more. But, Oracle officials have argued that PeopleSoft had performed poorly this year and analysts say Oracle's next move may be to launch a proxy battle to gain control of the PeopleSoft board, reports The Mercury.

OPTUS GRAB FOR MARKETSHARE

Optus has launched an aggressive move to snare more broadband subscribers and apply intense price pressure to Telstra, reports The Australian Financial Review's David Crowe (28 Oct.). Crowe says Optus had said this week it would give customers three or four months free service every year so long as they signed up for at least one other Optus service such as fixed-line home phone or a mobile phone. The AFR carries a comment from an Optus spokesperson saying the broadband market had grown to about 1.3 million subscribers, with Optus having about 250,000. The market was adding about 100,000 new customers every month.

INTERNET OVER POWER LINES - THE NEW THING!

High-speed internet access usually comes to homes through one or two wires - a telephone line for D.S.L. subscribers, or a coaxial cable for cable modem users. But, an emerging technology known as broadband over power lines, or B.P.L. may soon offer a third wire into homes, reports The New York Times (28 Oct.). The paper says B.P.L. would channel high-speed data through a somewhat improbable conduit - an ordinary electrical outlet. Describing B.P.L. as the ultimate in plug-and-play, the paper says users plug a small power line modem into a wall outlet and then connect the modem to a computer with a U.S.B or Ethernet cable, or through a wireless Wi-Fi connection. In the US, the Federal Communications Commission recently adopoted rule changes to encourage the technology in the hope of making broadband more widely available and fostering greater competition among high-speed internet providers. According to the NYT, internet service over power lines is probably a year or more away from becoming widely available.

YAHOO-GOOGLE RIVALRY RAGES

Yahoo this week launched its Web search service aimed at mobile phone users in the US, opening a new front in its rivalry with Internet search leader Google, reports The New York Times in an article by a Reuters correspondent. Yahoo says the free service, which works on most US phones sold in the last two years, allows consumers to search for basic information on local businesses like restaurants and city cleaners, such as addresses, phone numbers and color maps with driving directions. The report says the new service marks the first time Yahoo is offering a easy-to-use Web search interface for US mobile phones, while earlier this month Google announced a test service that allows people to use mobile phones or handheld devices to tap Google's Web search via text messages, or short message service. Yahoo's new search offering, which is in addition to Yahoo's existing mobile products, comes as big Web search providers seek to expand their businesses by delivering services to people who are away from their personal computers, reports the paper.

GOOGLE ACQUIRES DIGITAL MAP MAKER

Meanwhile, not content with a spectacular rise in their share price and company value, Google this week bought digital map maker Keyhole Corp., extending the search engine leader's bid to fend off rivals with a toolbox that can catalog almost anything in the world, reports AP in the New York Times (27 Oct.). Keyhole uses 3-D technology to provide faraway or close-up views of a region, neighbourhood or specific address. The images, which rely on shots taken from satellites and aeroplanes, can be titled into different positions, reports the paper.

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

In another sign of a broad chip industry slowdown, LSI Logic in the US announced this week that the company is laying off 11 per cent of its workforce, including 210 Silicon Valley employees, reports SiliconValley.com and The Mercury News (27 Oct.). According to the paper, LSG Logic employs 1,380 people at two US facilities where it makes chips for DVD players, video games and communications and data storage. The report says more than 30 chip companies have warned of weaker-than-expected earnings, citing slowing demand and rising inventories.

PDA MARKET SHARE DECLINE

Shipments of personal digital assistants declined for the third consecutive quarter as large vendors continued ceding the depressed market to smaller electronics makers, the research firm IDC has found, as reported in both Silicon.Valley.com and the New York Times (27 Oct.). The report by IDC reveals that worldwide shipments of handheld PDAs lacking telephone capabilities decreased to 2.1 million units in the third-quarter ending 30 September - an 8 per cent drop compared with the same quarter a year ago and a 4.6 per cent decline from this year's second quarter. So-called smart phones, which combine organiser functions with voice capabilities and more, absorbed some of the PDA market, reports IDC. The AP report says that as a result, major PDA vendors such as Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp have nearly completed their exits from the market as smaller electronics makers move in and quickly gain market share.

MarketWatch UP FOR SALE

In the US, MarketWatch, the owner of a leading financial news site - CBS MarketWatch - is soliciting bids expected to be as much as $US400 million for the company, reports The New York Times (28 Oct.). The paper says MarketWatch quietly put itself on the block early last month, and that it operates one of the few Web sites born in the late 1990's that has survived the bursting of the dot-com bubble amid a torrent of competition from more established news organisations. Some of those media companies are among the suitors, including the CBS unit of Viacom, Dow Jones which owns The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Company and possibly the Financial Times Group of Pearson. Yahoo is also a suitor, reports the paper.

NEW INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES A RARITY

Two new internet domain names - ".post" and ".travel" - could appear online as early as next year as the internet's key oversight board announced preliminary approval this week, according to an AP report in The New York Times (27 Oct.). AP reports that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in advancing the applications for postal services and the travel industry, said they were still considering eight other proposals including ".asia," ".jobs," and ".xxx." Separately, ".eu" for the European Union is also in the works. The paper reports that in 2000, ICANN approved seven new domain names for global use - including ".biz," ".info" and ".museum," - the first major additions since the Domain Name System was created in the 1980s.

OPEN SOURCE SAFTWARE VIABLE:UK GOV REPORT

Open Source Software is now a viable and credible alternative for government, says a report published this week by the UK's Office of Government Commerce, reports The Register (28 October). The Register comments that the OGC is not saying that UK government should switch to open source as a matter of policy, but that it is saying that in many areas Open Source Software can be better, and more cost-effective, than proprietary solutions. The report finds that OSS is "viable and credible for infrastructure" for meeting the requirements of the majority of desktop users and as a lower cost alternative to proprietary software sold by commercial technology companies such as Microsoft. While outlining the potential for achieving cost savings, the OGC signposts OSS as a possible escape route from vendor lock-in.The OGC report is based on pilot scemes conducted by International Business Machines (I.B.M) and Sun Microsystems, and says interoperability is no longer an issue with open source software.

MARKETING BLITZ TO 47.6 MILLON CUSTOMERS

Now that its $US41 billion takeover of AT&T Wirless has been approved by regulators and completed, Cingular Wireless, based in Atlanta, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in coming weeks on an intense marketing blitz in the US, reports The New York Times (28 Oct.). The paper says Cingular's goal is to reassure its own 25.7 million customers, to welcome the 21.9 million customers of AT&T Wireless and to woo the tens of millions of customers of competitors like Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. The paper says the AT&T acquisition makes Cingular the US's largest cellphone company, surpassing Verizon Wireless

VERIZON'S STEADY REVENUE & PROFITS

Meanwhile, as Cingular boosted its market share by acquisition, the third-quarter profit for Verizon Communications held steady at about $1.8 billion despite declining revenue from traditional phone services, reports SiliconValley.com (28 Oct.). Verizon, 45 percent owned by Britain's Vodafone, added a record 1.7 million subscribers for the quarter and earned $US1.7billion on third-quarter revenues totalling $18.2 billion.

GOOGLE FOUNDERS' WEALTH SOARS

As the price of Google shares has skyrocketed over recent weeks, so too has the wealth of the company's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, reports The Mercury News (27 Oct.). According to the paper, with Google shares surging to $181.80 last Tuesday, the value of the founder's holdings raced to $6.9 billion and valuted them to 27th place on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans. Only at the end of September, Page and Brin's stock was worth $4 billion, $2.9 billion less than their worth not quite a month later. The paper says other key Google shareholders are sitting pretty, too. Venture capitalist John Doerr and his colleagues at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers own shares that about a month ago were worth $38 billion, and now they are worth double that after recent rises in the Google stock price.

TECH FUND LOOKING FOR INVESTMENTS

A group of technology venture capitalists has formed a $23.5 million fund to acquire stakes in early-stage companies, which the Australian Financial Review's (AFR 28 Oct.) David Crowe says is another sign of the heightened investment activity in the local technology sector. The paper reports that the funds, managed by Jolimont Ventures and backed by Macquarie Bank, is intended to buy out passive investors in private copanies and replace them with more active management supervision.

INTERNET PRIVACY A WORRY

Internet users are increasingly concerned about personal information falling into the wrong hands online but most are doing little to beat the privacy invaders, according to the Federal Privacy Commissioner, as reported in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 28 Oct.) Figures issued by the Privacy Commissioner found that 67 per cent of internet users reported having more concerns about privacy than they did two years ago. The report said that fewer than half of all respondents to the study, or 41 per cent, set web browsers to reject cookies and about a third of internet users said they provided false information in online forms to maintain their privacy, the AFR reports.

U.S. INTERNET SLOWING DOWN

Free-market federal policies have led to high prices that have slowed the spread of high-speed Internet service in the United States, according to a report by the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union, reports Silicon Valley's Mercury News. The report, "Expanding the Digital Divide and Falling Behind in Broadband", blames Bush administration policies for allowing the U.S.to fall behind other industrial countries in broadband adoption among households. The compiler of the research said "we've had this double-barreled failure - a failure of high-speed Internet to penetrate at the rate that it has around the world, and a failure to close the gap between the haves and have-nots." The paper says that among the report's conclusions was the finding that while broadband adoption in the U.S. has tripled in the past three years, overall penetration remains flat, with the percentage of households with any kind of Internet access stuck at about 60 percent.

NEGLECTING MOBILE-DEVICE SAFETY?

The Mercury News (27 Oct) carries a story warning users of mobile devices such as cell phones or handheld computers about how quickly they can become a target for viruses, worms and other bugs that wreak havoc. As the paper says, "we don't think twice about updating anti-virus software on our computers to keep out the bad guys, but mobile devices (Internet-connected) have been another matter. However, the report goes on to say that InnoPath Software in California has developed an over-the-air technology that allows people to protect their phones and PDAs in similar fashion. The trick to the technology is installing only what's necessary by comparing the update file to the original software file already stored and installed on the device. Apparently InnoPath's software determines the difference between the two files and compresses that data to allow it to travel over a phone's relatively slow Internet connection.

MELBOURNE IT SEEKS SALES INCREASE

Internet company Melbourne IT hopes to outperform expectations of a 40 per cent rise in earnings this year as it expands its operations beyond its original domain registrey business, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 28 Oct.). The company is reported to be wanting to reduce its reliance on registry sales, where it is facing intense competition from scores of registeries worlwide. The paper says Melbourne IT has now unveiled services that include web hosting and search engine optimisation to increase sales to hundreds of thousands of existing customers.

NEW SUPERCOMPUTER - FASTER THAN A ROCKET!

Silicon Graphics and NASA this week unveiled what they called the world's fastest supercomputer, taking the speed record away from IBM, reports The Mercury News (27 Oct.). The supercomputer, called the Columbia, takes up almost two large computing rooms at the NASA Ames Research Centre in Mountain View and cost more than $40 million. The paper reports that NASA's scientists and engineers will be able to tap into the supercomputer's hefty computing power to simulate the evolution of the Earth and other planets, perform weather forecasting, predict supernova detonations and tackle many other scientific problems. A NASA spokesperson said that the analysis that took scientists and engineers three months to do on the Columbia disaster could have been done in one day on the Columbia system. Silicon Graphics says the Columbia system is made up of 20 separate Altix systems and a total of 10,240 Intel Itanium 2 processors. It had reached a sustained performance of 42.7 trillion calculations in total per second - or teraflops - with 16 systems. According to the report, IBM's newest supercomputer, Blue Gene/L, reached a sustained computing performance of 36.01 teraflops per second.

AD AGENCIES GETTING INTO BLOGS

While Web logs used for political comment have received lots of attention in America, it seems that advertising agencies and communications professionals are attracting their share of attention, now using blogs to create discussion about ideas within their industries, reports the New York Times (27 Oct.). The NYT says there are various blogs in the two industries discussing everything from video game marketing, the politics of emotion and the art of client service to another, Urban Intelligence, looking at industry trends. The NYT says the advent of blogs in the two industries has certainly brought out various industry experts arguing for and against the value of starting a blog. Says one industry expert: "The questions any smart marketer should be asking are, does this provide a platform to connect with their most relevant audiences and how will this address business objectives?". "It's pretty much impossible to have a face-to-face with every single business contact out there. What better way than to put your voice out there on a regular basis with a Web log," comments another.

EU REGULATORS CLEAR ORACLE BID FOR PeopleSoft

European antitrust regulators have cleared Oracle to pursue its hostile $7.7 billion bid to buy PeopleSoft, but the legal breakthrough wasn't expected to end the negotiating stalemate separating the bitter business software rivals, reports AP in the Mercury News (26 Oct.). The widely expected decision removes the last antitrust hurdle that threatened to block Oracle from taking over PeopleSDoft, a quest that has lasted nearly 17 months, reports AP.

THE ARTIFICIAL SPINAL DISC IS HERE

In the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration has just permitted a unit of Johnson & Johnson to market an artificial spinal disc in that country as a new form of treatment for people with severe lower back pain, reports the New York Times. The disc, called the Charite, represents the first of a wave of such devices that are expected to become available over the next decade as an alternative to spinal fusion surgery. The paper says spinal disc implants are expected to become a billion-dolar market for medical device companies in the next decade.

SAP-HP: PAY BY MONTH SOFTWARE

The German company, SAP, has stayed on the sidelines of the pay-by-the-month software market, but that may soon change, reports the New York Times (27 Oct.). According to the NYT, SAP - which specialises in business-efficiency programs - is getting ready to launch a service similar to those offered by subscription software companies, Salesforce.com and RightNow Technologies. The paper says SAP will next week discuss details of the initiative, which involves a new agreement with longtime partner Hewlett-Packard. Under the agreement, SAP and HP will jointly market and sell SAP's business systems for a monthly fee as low as $US325 per user, which includes technical support and installation services. HP will also offer to run and maintain the software for customers at its own data centres, requiring nothing but a Web browser to access the systems, reports the NYT.

NEW PORTABLE SATELLITE RADIO

XM Satellite Radio has announced in New York that it will sell a portable satellite radio with a built-in antenna that can record up to five hours of programming, according to an AP report in The Mercury News (26 Oct.). The report says the 7.3-ounce device will act as a TIVo for satellite radio, letting users record one station while they listen to another, or record a station when they're not using the radio at all. The $US350 radio, which will be available in December, will ship with headphones and a remote control and come with kits to adapt it for home and car use. XM has more than 130 channels and 2.5 million subscribers who pay $10 a month, and the device will be manufactured by Delphi Corp.

EDS 'RETIRING' WORKERS EARLY

Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) has announced it is putting 9,200 workers into early retirement, reports The Mercury News (26 Oct.). The paper says the workers are being offered early retirement incentives, with 9,000-odd employees representing 17.4 percent of the company's domestic U.S. workforce. According to the paper, EDS is struggling to recover from money-losing contracts and a downturn in technology spending.

'05 START FOR NEW UNISYS CHIEF

Unisys's newly appointed President and CEO, Joe McGrath, will take up his post at the beginning of January next year after joining the company in 1999 as senior vice-president of major account sales and chief marketing officer. McGrath says he believes the company is "at an inflection point in the development of the IT services industry, a time when clients are looking for providers with deep industry expertise, in-depth technology understanding, and end-to-end, standards-based services offerings." He goes on to say that "because of our work in recent years, Unisys today is positioned to capture this opportunity. We have the right strategy, the right portfolio, and the right people and skills to be a force in this industry."

OQO Model O1 ON REVIEW

The praise greeting the OQO Model 01 full-fledged Windows XP computer has been decidely muted, comments a technology writer for Reuters, in a story carried in the New York Times (26 October). The report says that the OQO Model 01 is a fraction of the size of a laptop and would seem to be the answer to a digerati's prayers, with the device finally going on sale after months of buzz for prices starting at $US1,899. According to the report, most of the reviewers said they see promise in it, but most also pointed to significant shortcomings in design and ease of use. Well, that's the view from the U.S reviewers, but The Beer Files own resident technology reviewer, Alex Zaharov-Reutt, will have a look at Model 01 and give you his opinion.

TECHNOLOGY JOB VACANCIES SLIP

The Australian Financial Review (AFR 27 Oct.) reports that technology job vacancy rates have slipped over the past month according to new data released by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). The AFR says the department study found that vacancies in the information technology services sector slipped 0.7 per cent over the four weeks to mid-October, although it was the first slide in job advertisements for the sector since January.

TATA TO EXPAND IN MELBOURNE

Indian computer giant Tata Consultancy Services has promised to expand its development centre in Melbourne in a commitment agreed on Monday with the Victorian government during a state trade mission to India, reports David Crowe in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 27 Oct.). Crowe says TCS has said it would create a new unit at its Australian headquarters specialising in business software applications from SAP, and positioning the company to bid for bigger systems integration contracts with business and governments.

MICROSOFT NEW RELEASE

Microsoft plans a 1 December release for the latest version of its server software that aims to give companies more secure instant messaging and other corporate communicatons tools, reports Silicon Valley's Mercury News (26 Oct.). The paper says the standard version of Microsoft's Live Communications Server 2005 will start at around $US750, about the same as the previous version. An enterprise edition, which can be coupled with other servers to allow for many more users, will start at $3,000. The paper also reports that businesses who buy the new software will also be able to pay extra for the option of receiving messages from Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft's instant messaging systems, according to which brand the user is running. The Mercury says the communications server software is one of a number of products Microsoft is touting to extend its popular Office suite of business software.

AT&T ACQUISITION CLEARED

U.S. Justice Department antitrust regulators have cleared the way for Cingular Wireless LLC's $US41billion acquisition of AT&T Wirless Services Inc, reports The Mercury News (Oct 25). The paper says the clearance is a crucial step toward creating America's largest wireless telephone company. The merger still has to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, possibly as early as this week. The merger will give Cingular, a joint venture between BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., 47.6 million subscribers. Together the two companies have about 70,000 employees, although layoffs are expected after the merger goes through as expected.

LOW GROWTH TECH RECOVERY

The current technology recovery around the world, with good profit report cards for old and new companies in the industry such as I.B.M, Microsoft or eBay, Amazon.com and Google, is a recovery of "seemingly diminished expectations", says the New York Times of 26 October. The paper says proof of lower expectations was evident when there was a "collective sigh of relief" on Wall Street when I.B.M said it expected spending on information technology to increase 4 percent or 5 percent this year, a performance which would be the best since 2000. The NYT comments that "still, a modest single-digit growth rate is none too impressive when compared with the boom times of the 1990s or the long-term trend." The paper says growth in a low gear is the consensus outlook. The technology research firm, IDC, estimates worldwide growth in spending on information technology - computer hardware, software and services - through to 2008 to be 6.5 percent a year, one and a half times world economic growth over all.

WILL DELL TAKE AMD PLUNGE?

The New York Times & CNet News.com (26 October) ask whether Dell will take the AMD plunge, with one of the chief questions in the PC market for the next couple of years being whether Dell will incorporate Opteron or Athlon chips from Advanced Micro Devices into its systems. The report says AMD is making gains in chip technology and corporate customers, and now Dell executives are getting more generous in their praise for the company. However, while the compliments are well and good, and could be a favourable omen, the report says that AMD is still waiting for the PC giant to actually adopt its chips for use in Dell systems. The report also makes the point that adopting AMD chips would also require that Dell design and build new lines of computers, adding cost and production complexity.

APPLE JUST GETS FASTER

The fastest Mac supercomputer has gotten faster, thanks to an Eserve makeover, reports the New York Times in an article from CNET News. The paper says Virginia Tech plans to announce on Tuesday that its System X now operates at 12.25 teraflops, or 122 trillion calculations per second, up from 10.28 teraflops in its original incarnation, which used 1,100 Power Mac G5 towers. The report says the peformance boost comes in large part because Apple Computer has made available to Virginia Tech custom 2.3GHz X serve machines, faster than the 2GHz processors that power Apple's fastest machines.

OPTUS SPENDING $100M - DUMPS HP

Optus will spend more than $100 million centralising its fractured billing systems and has dumped long-tuime desktop services partner Hewlett-Packard, in its biggest tech shake-up in years, reports The Australian (October 26). The paper's Michael Sainsbury reports that HP's removal has already begun and will lead to the commercial entry of SingTel IT services subsidiary National Computer Systems into Australia, as it takes over management of 10,000 Optus computers. Sainsbury says the changes will be accompanied by a redundancy program.

VULNERABLE U.S. INTERNET USERS - WHAT ABOUT OZ?

Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, with a study finding that most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated virus software and dozens of spyware programs secrely running on their computers, reports Associated Press in the New York Times (25 October). A U.S. nationwide inspection by researchers found that America's Internet users are confused about computer security, 80 percent of their computers are infected with spyware and almost 20 percent of the machines have viruses. The paper reports that 329 adults were questioned, with all of them either using dial-up or broadband Internet access. The study found that although 77 percent of those surveyed thought they were either "very safe" or "somewhat safe" from online threats, 67 percent did not have currently updated antivirus software and two-thirds of all the computer users did not have firewall protection. Makes you think, would a study here in Australia give us similar results? We think so.

FEDERAL GOVT. JOBS AT RISK?

Several thousand technology jobs in Commonwealth departments coud be at risk as agencies mull the Government's pre-election talk of allowing federal hi-tech work to go offshore, reports James Riley in a major story in The Australian (26 October). Riley says the Coalition's election win has changed the political environment, which has so far tempered federal departments' use of offshore software developers and maintenance staff. He says it is not clear yet which department will head down an offshore path.

SAMSUNG ENTERS AUST. PC BUSINESS

Korean electronics giant Samsung has revealed plans to take on notebook kings Toshiba and Acer, entering the PC business in Australia for the first time next week with the launch of a range of ultra-thin notebooks, reports The Australian (26 October). The paper says Samsung is targeting the low to mid-range with prices ranging from $2999 to $3699 and will kick off its PC push next Friday thjrough as yet undisclosed retail and reseller channels.

TIGHT JOB MARKET

There's been a big drop recently in jobs for computer science postgraduates and new data shows that many are without full-time employment four months after graduating, reports the Australian Financial Review (26 October). The AFR says the full-time employment rate for computer science postgraduates was also significantly lower than the national average of almost 90 per cent, according to the Graduate Careers Council of Australia report to be released today.

CSIRO'S ICT CENTRE LAUNCH

Today (26 October) the CSIRO's ICT Centre is being launched more than a year after its creation, reports The Australian's James Riley. The paper says a swag of funding and commercialisation announcements will mark the launch, and the centre's director has stated that following a review of its research structures, priorities had been set aimed at building collaboration with the public sector, particularly with the ICT industry's global players.

VODAFONE USING HOME-GROWN SYSTEM

A successful trial of a locally developed interactive voice response system has helped Vodafone keep staff numbers down and put off plans to use offshore call centres, reports The Australian's Kelly Mills (26 October). Vodafone says the system, called Lara, can deliver a better customer experience and the system serves as a receptionist for incoming calls to Vodafone's Australian corporate offices, as well as registering pre-paid customers, reports the paper.

YAHOO, ADOBE GET TOGETHER

Yahoo and Adobe Systems have joined forces to tap into each others' customers and put Web search features into Adobe's popular Acrobat Reader software, reports Associated Press in the New York Times (25 Oct.) As part of a stepped up battle of online search and services, the two have announced their broad strategic relationship in what is described as Yahoo's lastest manouvre against chief rivals Google and Microsoft in the fight to become the gateway of search and Web access on as many desktops as possible, AP reports.

INTERNET PHONES CATCHING ON

Internet phone systems are expected to account for more than half of all sales of telephone equipment in the large business and government market next year, reports the Australian Financial Review's (AFR 26 October) David Crowe. The paper says a surge in spending on internet phone technology has helped equipment supplier Cisco Systems gain ground against its rivals as all players take advantage of the shift from traditional phone systems.

BANKS MANAGING RISK

Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR 26 Oct.) reports that the Basel 2 accord has promoted a flurry of tender activity as the banks seek out risk-management software solutions to help satisfy the new regime for determining capital adequacy. Although the new regime won't be fully implemented until 2008, Conners says those banks seeking advanced accreditation will need to be ready to demonstrate new systems and processes next year, and reports that St George has started a discovery process with a preferred bidder while the CBA and Westpac are still evaluating risk-management software.

POLICE UPGRADE

The Victorian police department has started to upgrade its financial software to bring its accounting systems in line with other Victorian government agencies, reports the Australian Financial Review's (AFR 26 October) Ben Woodhead. The report says the upgrade is part of a project that will involve progressive updates over the next four years, including replacing the ageing Oracle financial applications and one to cover service, support and other updates to the system

I.B.M. TO ISSUE MONTHLY THREAT REPORTS

I.B.M. plans to begin releasing next week a monthly report of threats to computer networks in an effort to establish an indicator similar to the U.S. Government's Homerland Security Advisory System, reports the New York Times (25 Oct.). The I.B.M. report - to be named the Global Business Security Index - is intended to give computing managers early warning of a range of computer vulnerabilities like attacks by malicious hackers, automated softwares, viruses and worms, as well as to gauge the impact of political upheavals and natural disasters.

NEW VERSION OF iPod

For music fans worldwide who have flocked to Apple's iPod, there's a new, stylised version of the digital music player about to come out loaded with Irish rock band U2's tunes, reports Silicon Valley's The Mercury News (25 Oct). The black "U2 Edition" is an extension of the unusual marketing paretnership between Apple and the band, reports the paper.

AMAZON TO TAKE ON DVD RENTAL COMPANIES

Amazon changed the face of e-commerce categories like music and video by simply entering those markets. Now, Amazon has the DVD rental industry in the U.S. shifting its focus on the back of rumours that the highly successful online company is about to offer a competing service, reports the New York Times (25 October). The paper says that in the U.S., Netflix, the leading online DVD service, recently dropped its prices 18 percent to $18 a month for unlimited rentals after its chief executive learnt that Amazon would soon offer a competing service. The other key U.S. player in the market, Walmart.com has also said it is evaluating its own pricing strategy.

SELLING ONLINE EXPLOSION

A fascinating article in the New York Times (24 October) reveals the explosion of recent years in Internet auctioning of everything from macrame to Maseratis, with these highly successful "power sellers" succeeding by researching consumer trends, finding reliable sources for goods and not sparing the bubble wrap. The paper says an estimated half-million people now make a full or part-time living by auctioning goods on the Internet. As reported, EBay is not the only game in town, though it is clearly the largest and most popular Internet auction site, with 114 million users, far more than competitors like Ubid.com, Bidville.com and ePier as well as the auction sections of Amazon.com, Yahoo and Overstock.com. A successful seller of sports and advertising memorabilia says he earns $15,000 annually with eBay.

BROADBAND - BIG PRICE DROPS FORECAST

Competition among Internet service providers will mean cheaper prices for users, with monthly plan prices dropping to up to half what they are now, according to independent telecommunications expert Paul Budde, reports Melbourne's Sunday Herald-Sun (24 October). The paper says Budde expects today's $30 monthly plan to be priced between $15 and $20 by 2007 as ISPs respond to stiffer competition by tailoring products and services to suit individual needs. Mr Budde told the paper that service providers need access to infrastructure on commercially viable conditions so they can build their own products and services rather than re-selling Telstra's.

SOFTWARE FOR NAVY PROJECTS

Defence contractor Tenix will introduce new software to help manage thousands of components used in shipbuilding, in a project to help the company secure defence contracts, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 25 October). The paper reports that the project will manage components under the Royal New Zealand Navy's $NZ500 million ($470m) Project Protector modernisation program, but will also be used to support the company's bid for a $6 billion contract to build Australia's proposed air-warfare destroyers.

YOUR IDENTITY AT RISK

It's a worrying trend that the New York Times (24 October) explores in an in-depth article about "identity theft" which the paper describes as one of the fastest-growing white collar crimes in the US (and no doubt worldwide). As reported, identity theft involves the most intimate, the most stealthy and perhaps the most intrusive of frauds - the wholesale lifting of someone's financial persona to secure bank loans, credit cards and mortgages in that person's name. The paper reports analysts as saying that several factors have combined to make identity theft a particularly intractable crime - the growth of the Internet and digital finance, decades of expanding consumer credit worldwide, the hodgepodge nature of local and federal law enforcement, and the changing but often still inadequate regulations governing the credit industry.

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CONTRACT WIN

An Adelaide-based communications company, Tetracom, has just won its biggest contract, a $2.9 million deal to supply local radio links for South Australia's Country Fire Service with 1800 hand-held radios and 1000 vehicle-mounted radios, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 25 October.

$12 MILLION SPEND ON UPGRADE

One of Australia's biggest aid organisations, World Vision, is spending $12 million to upgrade its database and information systems, reports
Melbourne's Sunday Age of 24 October. Funded entirely from donations, the technology contract was awarded to New Zealand-based Jade Software. World Vision said the upgrade was necessary because the number of people donating to the organisation had doubled since the September 11 terrorist attacks. Of the decision not to publicly announce the cost of the contract at the time it was awarded, World Vision's new CEO, Toby Hall told the paper he expected the organisation to be more transparent in future.

MEMORIES OF THE DOT-COM BUBBLE

There's no doubt about it, you can't pick up a newspaper or read a website (including The Beer Files) these days without at least one, if not more, stories about the Internet search engine of the moment, Google. The New York Times (23 October) says the cheerleading for Google from the analysts at leading brokerage firms is starting to sound a lot like the days of the dot-com bubble, when some of the analysts on TV were trumpeting ever higher prices for profitless Internet companies. Google shares surged by more than $23 last week (22 Oct.) to close at $172.43 (more than double the issue price of $85)after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. The paper reports a New York lawyer, commenting on the enormous increase in the value of Google over a few weeks, as saying "we've seen this before....Google is another bubble that will burst. Next year we will bring claims by investors who were hyped to buying Google by analysts with a herd mentality."

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN - FORECAST

There's a slowdown on the way in the microchip industry, with lower growth predicted over the next 10 years, reports the New York Times of 23 October. According to 73-year old Morris Chang, founder of the Taiwanese goliath and the world's biggest manufacturer of made-to-order chips, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), there is a more fundamental reordering of the industry, rather than simply a looming downturn. The paper reports Mr Chang as saying that industry leaders are impelled to reconsider their approach to business because of the lower growth and greater outsourcing, rising competition from China and the spiraling cost of staying at the technological forefront. TSMC enjoyed revenues of nearly $6 billion last year, but the cost of building an advanced chip-making factory is escalating toward $3 billion or more.

US CONGRESS ATTEMPT TO CURB SPYWARE

Silicon Valley paper, The Mercury News, reports (24 October) that the US Congress after taking on spam last year, is this year poised to take on spyware. The paper reports that Congress is considering three bills attempting to slow the spread of spyware, the unwanted and often harmful software creeping onto millions of personal computers. Consumer advocates say any legislation would provide some relief, but they expect no fix because the proposed laws are flawed. They say the federal bills target some of the offenders - those out to defraud computer users - while giving others a pass to spread, including "adware" that serves up commercial pitches to often unsuspecting consumers. An Interenet-rights-advocacy groups says that a broad law protecting online privacy would be more useful, reports the paper. In it's defence, the leading adware company Clara, says ads are clearly marked as being from Network, the company's advertising brand, and include instructions for removal. The company says its software has been installed on about 43 million PCs and pop up on a user's screen or pop under the site being viewed.

ROBOTS, COMING TO A HOME NEAR YOU

A worldwide survey by the United Nations has found that the use of robots around the home to mow lawns, vacuum floors, pull guard duty and perform other chores is set to surge sevenfold by 2007, reports Silicon Valley's Mercury News (24 October). The U.N.'s annual World Robotics Survey credits dropping prices for the robot boom and says the increase in domestic robots coincides with record orders for industrial robots. The report, issued by the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe and the Federation of Robotics, says 607,000 automated domestic helpers were in use at the end of 2003, two-thirds of them purchased last year. Most of them - 570,000 - were robot vacuum cleaners, but sales of lawn-mowing robots reached 37,000. The paper reports that the UNECE said household robots could soon edge out their industrial counterparts, which have dominated since the U.N. body first began counting in 1990.

DIY CUSTOMISATION ONLINE

As reported in the New York Times (24 October), it's really no suprise to us that in the world's biggest consumer market the idea of designing your own products, such as clothing or footwear, has caught on, despite the fact that on-line customisation as it's known, was a slow starter at the beginning of the 1990s. Now, "anything that can be digitised, can be customised," comments Joseph Pine, the author of "Mass Customisation:The New Frontier in Business Competition." As the paper reports, there is usually a small premium for the service, but for little more than retail, and a little patience for delivery, customers can build an item that is a perfect fit, a reality rarely experienced off the rack. As also reported, Nikeid.com, or Nike Individual Design, started online in 1999 with two running shoes. The paper says the site has been revamped this year and is like a child's paint-by-numbers canvas on steroids. There are roughly 40 items to choose from, 38 types of shoes alone.

YAHOO CHALLENGE TO GOOGLE!

Silicon Valley's Mercury News (22 October) says Yahoo Inc. appears to have moved a step closer to challenging Google Inc. in searchable Web mail by acquiring the startup behind the powerful e-mail application Bloomba. The paper says it was Yahoo's second purchase this year of an e-mail startup following the July acquisition of Oldpost Inc.

INTEL CANCELS CHIP

Intel has cancelled a chip for flat-panel television sets - the "liquid crystal on silicon" chip - with the company saying it has now decided resources are better spent elsewhere, reports The Mercury News (22 October). The paper reports the chip was a major part of the Santa Clara company's plan to diversify into semiconductors for consumer electronics.

TELSTRA KAZ PLANS

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 23-24 October reports that Telstra is adding to the staff of its newly acquired Kaz Group to create a computer and communications services company with a new focus on small and medium businesses. The paper says 1300 Telstra employees will go across to Kaz with the company also appointing a joint managing director, Mike Foster alongside Kaz's co-founder Peter Kazacos.

ERICSSON'S SOLID Q3

A third-quarter profit of 4.8 billion kroner ($US666.6 million) has been posted by Telefon AB LM Ericsson, the world's largest supplier of equipment for wireless phone networks, reports The Mercury News (22 October). The paper reports the company as saying that consumer convenience is crucial for its industry's future development, with consumers wanting personal, reliable and easy-to-use services with broadband capabilities.

EURO DECISION ON ORACLE-PeopleSoft DEAL

European Union regulators will decide next Tuesday whether Oracle Corp.'s $7.7billion bid for rival business software concern PeopleSoft Inc. can proceed, reports SiliconValley.com (22 October). The online news service says the EU initially opposed the merger, but after gathering more information about the software market, it is now expected to clear the takeover.

PeopleSoft REVERSES LOSS

Meanwhile, while the PeopleSoft-Oracle battle continues, PeopleSoft has just announced a profit and rising revenues for its third-quarter, reports The Mercury News (22 October). The paper says PeopleSoft reported income of $23.6 million, or 6 cents a share, reversing a loss of $7.3 million, or 2 cents a share, for the same period last year. Revenue rose to $698.8 million from $624.1 million, topping analyst estimates of $680.8 million, the paper reports.

APF SPECTACULAR ASX DEBUT

Electronics payments company Bill Express (ASX:BXP) floated spectacularly on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday, listing at 25 per cent premium to its 20 cent issue price, and closed at 27.5 cents, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 22 October. Based in Victoria, the company was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian Pure Fruits, and launched its technology venture in 2001 after acquiring an electronic business management system that now forms the basis of an electronic sales, distribution and payments systems network.

GOOGLE Q3 PERFORMANCE

Google Inc. exceeded analyst expectations in its first quarterly earnings report as a public company, with earnings of $US52 million, or 19 cents per share during the three months ended in September, reports SiliconValley.com.(21 October). Google was propelled by a continued surge in online advertising distributed by its Internet-leading search engine. Revenue for the period totaled $805.9 million, up from $393.3 million last year. Google said most of the revenues - $411.7 million - was through text-based ads displayed on company sites.

FUJITSU AUSTRALIA ACQUISITION

Fujitsu Australia has acquired the Australian arm of Atos Origin for an undisclosed sum, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 22 October. The paper says Fujitsu staff will grow by about 150 to 2650 following the acquisition and the new business will add revenues of about $30 million to local revenues, reports the paper.

ATMs COSTING CONSUMERS

Not using their own bank's ATM terminal costs Australians a total of almost $500 million a year, according to the Australian Consumers Association, reports Melbourne's Herald-Sun (22 October). The paper reports that consumers are hit by a $1.50 fee every time they withdraw cash from ATMs not provided by their bank. Australia now has 21,500 ATMs, four times as many than a decade ago. The paper reports the Reserve Bank is investigating the regulation of the EFTPOS and payments systems, and an ATM review will follow.

HP, IBM, DELL SET WORKERS "CODE"

Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Dell have agreed on a "code of conduct" for the treatment of workers and the environment, reports Silicon Valley's Mercury News (21 October). The paper says the companies have brought in the Code of Conduct after they were accused earlier this year of having "dire working conditions" at factories outside the United States. The paper says that in January the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development issued a report stating that workers who make computer components in Mexico, China and Thailand were working in "atrocious conditions".

SENIOR IT PROFESSONALS IN DEMAND?

Recruitment firm Candle Australia is looking for business acquisitions to bolster its recently launched executive search division ahead of an anticipated surge in demand for senior technology executives, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 21 October. The paper says the move comes despite a recent decline in job advertisements for senior technology professionals. According to the paper, new data to be released today by EL Consult shows a 20 per cent drop in demand for executive in the technology sector. Candle derives 80 per cent of its revenue from the technology sector and has embarked on its acquisition drive because it believes a market upturn is coming, the AFR reports.

POLICE DATA BASE UPGRADE

The Australian Federal Police is embarking on a major computer upgrade that will allow investigators to link information across huge databases, including national DNA and fingerprint repositories, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 21 October. The AFP overhaul will include the integration of some commercially available software components with Promis, a fuller exploitation of the capabilities of the AFP's current databases and the creation of some new functions in the system used by AFP intelligence analysts, reports the AFR.

EMC REVENUE CLIMB

Storage giant EMC has reported a 34 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue to $US2.03 billion ($2.8 billion) in its third quarter, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 21 October. In Australia and New Zealand, EMC's business also claimed a strong performance with 41 per cent growth in the period, outstripping the company's average growth rate across the Asia Pacific, although local Australian business was relegated to second place in the region amid booming sales in China, reports the paper.

GROWTH IN MOBILE COMPUTING

Research company Meta Group reports in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 21 October that up to 60 per cent of Australian companies have started developing a mobile computing strategy so far this year. Meta forecasts that by 2007, 65 per cent of companies will have deployed at least one wireless application, with messaging slated to be the most popular, the AFR reports.

SCANSOFT BULLISH

Interactive voice recognition specialists are bullish about the year ahead, with ScanSoft Asia-Pacific regional director Peter Chidiac saying that the business was on a "positive growth path", reports the Australian Financial Review (20 October). The paper says that for the first six months of 2004 ScanSoft reported total revenue of $US88.9 ($122.6 million), a 60 per cent increase over revenue of $US55.6 million in the first six months of 2003. Companies in this specialist field are hopeful the negative experiences many people have had with automated calling systems are now fast fading memories, says the AFR.

PC SHIPMENTS - DELL LEADS

Worldwide shipments of personal computers grew nearly 12 per cent in the third quarter, according to market research company IDC, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 20 October. A PC shipments report released yesterday by research company Gartner reported quarterly growth of 9.7 per cent, with lower than expected US shipments limiting overall growth. The AP report in the AFR says that Dell remained the worldwide PC market leader with an 18.2 per cent share.

GOOGLE RISK!

Users of Google's new free PC search tool are warned about the risks associated with its use, in articles in the Silicon Valley paper, The Mercury News and the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 20 October. The Mercury says people who use public or workplace computers for e-mail, instant messaging and Web searching have a privacy risk to worry about with Google's new tool which indexes a PC's contents for quickly locating data. Both The Mercury and the AFR report that if the Google tool is installed on computers at libraries and Internet cafes, users could unwittingly allow people who follow them on the PCs, for example, to see sensitive information in e-mails they've exchanged, such as passwords, conversations with doctors, or viewed Web pages detailing online purchases.

A BIG BYTE

Byte Power Group's big plans for the China market have taken another step forward after its Hong Kong subsidiary signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture with a local partner, reports the Australian Financial Review's Emma Connors (20 October). The paper says the plan is to roll out an e-learning computer network to 500 schools in Nanyang, with Byte Power estimating the project could generate $35 million in revenue in its first two years.

PRO MEDICUS SHARE PUSH

Shares in Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) were pushed up by investors by 6 per cent yesterday as the company's stock price enjoyed a boost from a new agreement announced earlier in the week, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 20 October. The company announced a licensing deal with imaging company Agfa that is expected to generate at least $10 million in revenue for the developer over the next three years, reports the AFR.

IPEX LEGAL WRANGLE

The Australian Financial Review's (AFR) Emma Connors reports (20 October) that another former Ipex employee, Jonathan Sheiman, is engaged in legal action in a bid to recover payments allegedly agreed to by Ipex founder Joel Shwalb. Mr Shwalb is now a non-executive director and a major shareholder in the ASX listed services company, Volante (ASX:VGL) which merged with Ipex this year. Connors reports that back in 1994, Mr Sheiman and several other Ipex employees reached agreement with Mr Shwalb that set out equity entitlements to companies collectively known as the Ipex Group.

MICROSOFT'S NEW APPLICATION

Silicon Valley's The Mercury News reports (19 October) that Microsoft Corp. has introduced a desktop computer application that aims to seamlessly integrate e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, traditional phone service and Internet-based calling. The paper reports that Microsoft plans to debut the product, code-named "Istanbul", sometime in the first half of 2005. It will compete with efforts from rivals including IBM Corp. and smaller players such as Convoq Inc. to link together various channels of communications and promote their use.

HP CONFIDENCE

Hewlett-Packard's outsourcing revenues will increase by 20 per cent this year, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 19 October, with the company predicting that new federal government contracts will help it notch up healthy growth in 2005. The paper says outsourcing accounts for about 20 per cent of HP Australia's revenues, which reached $2.2 billion in the 12-months ending October 31, 2003.

VIC. GOVERNMENT TENDER

The Victorian Government has put the second major tranche of its controversial $323 million public hospital software upgrade to tender, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 19 October. The paper contrasts the Victorian Government decision to put out the public hospital tender with other states and territories which it says "continue to grapple with outdated patients and clinical systems."

EFTPOS RULES

The Australian Payments Clearing Association has secured a five-year extension to operate the Consumer Electronic Clearing System that underpins Australia's autoteller and eftpos networks, reports The Australian IT Today section (19 October). The paper says the ACCC has approved APCA's request for re-authorisation on "net public benefit grounds"

DOOM & GLOOM

The New York Times of 18 October carries a CNET News.com story reporting that antivirus companies are perplexed by a spate of recent viruses that contain messages in which the writers threaten to attack them. The report says worm writers are threatening to attack antivirus companies F-Secure, Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee, and that in the latest version of MyDoom -- MyDoom.AE -- the authors embedded a message ridiculing rival worm Netsky and promising to attack the antivirus companies.

CISCO, MICROSOFT JOINT SECURITY EFFORT

Cisco Systems and Microsoft are teaming up to make their security architectures interoperable in an effort to keep worms and viruses off corporate networks, according to a CNET. News.com story carried by the New York Times of 18 October. The report says the two companies have just announced a partnership that will allow them to share technology and integrate security features on Cisco's networking gear and Microsoft's server and desktop products.

OFFSHORE SOFTLY

Hutchinson Telecommunications has been quietly shifting software development work to India, according to The Australian IT Today section (19 October). According to the paper Mumbai-based IT services company Tata Consultancy Services is building and deploying Hutchinson's Australan 3G order management and customer management systems.

AXA AUSTRALIA TURNS TO INDIA

AXA Australia has signed a $17 million deal with Indian IT company Wipro for application maintenance and development services, reports The Australian IT Today section (19 October). According to the paper, the contract will provide development and maintenance services for the support of AXA mainframe and mid-range product systems within its wealth management and financial protection business. An AXA spokswoman said both local and offshore organisations were invited to respond to the request for proposals.

POWER WIN

Telstra's KAZ Group has landed a three-year, managed service contract with ElectraNet SA that operates and manages the electricity transmission network in South Australia, reports the Australian Financial Review (19 October). The paper reports that the contract begins this month, with KAZ responsible for managing ElectraNet's information technology infrastructure portfolio.

NO POSTCARD

Computer emergency regulator Auscert has issued a warning about several fraudulent emails that entice the reader to malicious websites, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 19 October. The paper says one email purports to be delivering a digital postcard that can be retrieved by clicking on a link, while another looks like an online order confirmation from www.tvshop.com.au

HEALTHY OUTLOOK

Listed medical software company IBA Health (ASX:IBA) announced positive operating cash flow of $3.15 million for the three months to September 30, reports the Australian Financial Review (19 October)

ATO MOVING FORWARD

The Australian Taxation Office has announced that it is ready to begiun contract negotiations with Accenture for new tax-administration software, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports (19 October). The paper's Emma Connors says the ATO's ambitious $350 million technology overhaul is to take a year longer than planned after the agency baulked at hiring 500 extra staff. Implementation should start in December, reports the AFR.

WAR OF THE SEARCHERS

The New York Times (18 October) says "Google envy", new players and Internet industry giants are rushing into the online search market, and to fend of its challengers Google has furiously intensified efforts to add new services to its brand. The paper says that analysts believe there is plenty of room in the search market for both small and large competitors because profits from online advertising, much of it based on ads linked to search results, are growing fast.

AUSTRALIANS DRIVE E-PASSPORT BIDS

The Australian team that was behind Cybertrust's winning a federal government e-passport contract is providing crucial input to the company's bids for at least seven similar international tenders, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 18 October. The paper reports that Cybertrust has formed a virtual e-passport team of public key infrastructure (PKI), biometric, and application security specialists to bid for tenders in several countries, and is drawing heavily upon the success of the Australian team.

SMS ACQUISITION

SMS Management & Technology (ASX:SMX) is set to complete the purchase of Melbourne-based management consulting firm, Implementation Partners International (IPI) in a deal expected to add $3 million in revenue in the coming year, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 18 October. IPI's 30 staff will be absorbed into SMS, which is also on track to achieve its recruitment target of 100 new consultants in the 2005 financial year, according to the AFR.

WARNING TO TELCOS

Mobile phone companies that refuse to make their contracts fairer for consumers will soon be prosecuted, according to the Melbourne Herald-Sun's consumer reporter, Ian Royall (18 October). The paper says the Victorian Government has warned the telcos following a two-month review of phone contracts containing unfair terms. The contracts bliz uncovered lock-in clauses, penalty clauses and limitations on the consumer's ability to sue, reports the Herald-Sun.

EXAMS ONLINE PREDICTION

Victorian students in their final year at secondary school could be completing their examination papers online within five years, according to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, reports The Sunday Age (17 October). The paper says the VCAA is analysing the results of online trial examinations in August and September. The authority says both the hardware and software solutions will vary, as will the costs, reports the paper.

THE GAMES GOOGLE PLAYS

At Google's Mountain View headquarters in the US last Friday, 50 of the world's top computer programmers took part in what Silicon Valley's Mercury News (16 October) described as a digital shootout, otherwise known as the Google Code Jam, to see which of them could solve a series of progressive programming puzzles. According to the Mercury News, the contest is both a recruiting tool for Google and a way for the company to nurture talent it will need to draw on as it continues to grow. The paper reports the winner as Sergio Sancho of Argentina who took home $10,000 and a chance to impress engineers and perhaps land a job with the world's most famous search engine.

E-MAIL 'BOMB' WARNING!

The Internet Industry Association has warned of the potential threat of the 'e-mail bomb', where a terrorist uses computer viruses to shut down critical infrastructure, reports Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun of 17 October. The association's chief executive Peter Coroneos said terrorists could use viruses to shut down financial systems. The paper also reports that a British conference heard last week that 60 per cent of all e-mails were spam, up from 10 per cent in 2001. The conference was told that spammers were also hacking into home PCs and using them to relay the junk-mail messages.

PHONE CARDS - BUYERS BEWARE!

Phone cards offering cheap international calls don't always deliver, according to a telecommuncations analyst, reports The Age of 16 October. The paper's consumer affairs reporter, Bridie Smith, quotes independent analyst Paul Budde as saying that smaller companies made up about 50 per cent of the market but up to a quarter of them would close within a year, leaving customers and retailers stranded. Budde called for closer scrutiny of the industry and Consumer Affairs Victoria says it is a case of "buyer beware". In its 2002-2003 annual report, Consumer Affairs said phone cards were among the top 11 products that generated regular complaints, reports The Age.

MOBILE PHONE GROWTH

Mobile phones increase the risk of developing ear tumours, according to a new study by Sweden's Karolinska Institute, reports the Sunday Herald Sun (17 October). The paper says scientists believe using a mobile phone for at least 10 years increases the risk by up to four times. The study of 750 people found the risk of developing a benign tumour in the auditory nerve was 3.9 times more likely to occur on the side of the head a mobile phone is used, reports the paper's Mary Papadakis.

CARRYING YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS WITH YOU

The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for a Florida company to market implantable chips that would provide easy access to individual medical records, reports the New York Times of 14 October. The NYT says the approval for the implantable chips is expected to bring to public attention a simmering debate over a technology that has evoked Orwellian overtones for privacy advocates and fueled fears of widespread tracking of people with implanted radio frequency tags, even though that ability does not yet exist. The company, Applied Digital Solutions, is making the chips which it calls VeriChips, AND says it could save lives and limit injuries from errors in medical treatment.

DECISION TIME IN ORACLE-PeopleSoft BATTLE

In the US, the two-week trial involving PeopleSoft and Oracle ended last Friday, with the presiding judge urging both sides to agree on what issues remain in contention and to leave everything else out of their post-trial briefs, reports the New York Times (16 October). The judge now has to decide whether to block defenses by PeopleSoft against Oracle's $7.7 billion hostile tender offer. The paper says at issue in the trial are PeopleSoft's poison pill, which would make a hostile takeover prohibitively expensive by nearly doubling the shares to be bought, and a customer rebate that says that if an acquirer of PeopleSoft fails to maintain PeopleSoft software, customers licensed after the tender offer can claim a refund of up to five times their license fee.

INTEL SCRAPS OFFER

Intel is scrapping plans to hit a high-profile performance milestone for its flagship microprocessor, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 16-17 October. The paper reports that Intel has said it no longer plans to offer its Pentium 4 chip for desktop computers at a clock speed of four gigahertz.

INVESTORS TAKE TO ONLINE TRADING

It seems do-it-yourself online investing in the sharemarket is a growing in leaps and bounds as the price of online trading has been pushed down to rock-bottom levels, according to a report in the Weekend Wealth section of The Australian of 16-17 October. The paper's Bina Brown says the growing sophistication of Australian investors is leaving online brokers with little doubt as to who is driving the market. The report quotes CommSec as saying "the biggest challenge we all face is keeping up with out clients," and independent share market analysis provider, Bourse Data, says "more investors want independence, instead of relying solely on financial advisers and brokers to make decisions for them."

PORN PROTECTION

Soon mobile phone carriers will have to comply with not one, but two sets of rules as industry regulators sprint to keep pace with technology, reports Emma Connors in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 16-17 October. The report points out that mobile phones can now be used to access all the internet has to offer with multimedia capability delivering R-rated material in full technicolour. Connors says the convergence of mobile and internet technologies has resulted in a regulatory double act from the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Authority. Mobile industry veteran, David Burden, chief executive officer of Legion interactive and chairman of the Mobile Marketing Council, says regulated access is a priority, commenting that "we have to ensure children are protected - these are absolutely vital concerns."

RETURN TO PROFIT

Design software developer Altium has flagged a return to profitability and a 5 per cent lift in revenues this financial year after notching up three quarters of improved product sales, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 16-17 October. The paper says Altium reported a net loss of $88 million on revenues of $40.6 million in 2003-2004 when it reconsidered the value of some of its software assets.

CONTRACTS AWARDED

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 15 October reports that Ballarat Health Services has awarded IBA Health (ASX:IBA) a $900,000 administrative and clinical systems contract. The listed medical software company will install a web-based administrative system at BHS, which will be used to automate and streamline patient bookings across admissions, operating theatres and discharge. The paper also reports that LogicaCMG has been awarded extensions to its technology services contracts with Tasmasnia's Aurora Energy and NSW-based Eraring Energy. The Aurora deal extends LogicaCMG's arrangement with the utility until 2007, and LogicaCMG will now provide services to Eraring until April 2011.

iPods FUEL APPLE GROWTH

A report by The Wall Street Journal carried in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 15 October says that fourth-quarter profit at Apple Computer Inc. has more than doubled on a 37 per cent increase in revenue, powered by a share rise in sales of its iPod digital music player. The paper reports that the growth in iPod sales was striking, with more than 2 million sold during the quarter. In the same quarter last year it sold 336,000 iPods,and in the fiscal third quarter ended in June, Apple sold 860,000 iPods.

CONDAN OUTPERFORMS GROWTH TARGETS

Remote communications company Condan continues to outperform its targets for last year's $30 million IPO, reports The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 15 October. The paper says Condan's performance has been helped by international security concerns and poor communications infrastructure in world trouble spots. New products and an anticipated return to growth in public telecommunications will underpin growth. The paper reports that Condan is looking to technology enhancements to keep its business bustling along. To date, the company's robust high-frequency radio and satellite communications equipment has carved a healthy niche in global markets.

GOVT. CALL CENTRES LAG

A report in The Australian Financial Review (15 October) says research from callcentres.net has shown that Government call centres are not living up to private-sector standards of customer service and are not yet taking full advantage of email and the internet to meet customer needs. The research found that only 54 per cent of issues handled by government call centres were resolved at the first point of contact, compared to 78 per cent at private-sector call centres.

ACCENT ON PROFITS

The consulting and outsourcing arm of Accenture has reported solid growth and a fiscal fourth-quarter profit rise of 52 per cent, says The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 15 October in a report from Dow Jones Newswires. However, the management and consulting services company reduced its forecast for fiscal 2005. Accenture reported net income of $183 million for the quarter ended August 31, up from $120.5 million.

HOSPITAL WIRELESS NETWORK

Health insurer NIB has installed wireless networking and internet telephony systems at one of NSW's largest regional private hospitals - Newcastle Private Hospital - reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 15 October. Aside from wireless mobile phones, NIB has installed 400 voice over IP, or VoIP handsets throughout the Newcastle hospital's two buildings. The wireless and IP networks cover the hospital's eight operating theatres, intensive care and rehabilitation units, medical imnaging centre and birthing suites.

GOVT. AWARDS CONTRACTS

The Federal Government has awarded two major contracts to Sharp Australia and Betrusted to provide the technology for its $160 million electronic passport project, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 14 October. The paper says Sharp will provide computer chips that will store electronic images of passport holders for up to 6000 passports. Data stored on the passports will be safeguarded using public key infrastructure provided by security firm Betrusted.

IT INDUSTRY PROBLEMS

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 14 October, technology chiefs have cited an inadequate view on how well IT is performing. Operational failures and staff problems are reportedly the top three problems, the IT Governance Institute has found. The high cost of IT, with a low return on investment, and a lack of knowledge of critical systems, were other big concerns, the paper reports.

DISASTER - COMPANIES NOT PREPARED!

A report by Veritas Software found that 56 per cent of companies surveyed had no idea how long it would take to regain operations following a disaster. According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 14 October, Veritas found that 51 per cent of Australian respondents had executed disaster recovery plans in the last year. Barriers to testing plans included lack of resources and disruption to employees.

MICROSOFT RELEASE

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 14 October reports on Microsoft's Australian release of its 2005 version of Windows XP Media Center Edition, designed to make the PC the centre of the home entertainment system. Microsoft also announced it had struck deals with nine MSN and Telstra's BigPond to make news, sports and entertainment content available through an interface, designed to be operated from metres away, on a TV rather than a regular computer monitor, reports the AFR.

YAHOO PROFITS FROM GOOGLE

Third-quarter profit for Yahoo!, owner of the second-most-used internet search engine, more than tripled as a result of higher advertising revenue and a gain from selling shares of Google, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 14 October. Excluding the gain from selling shares in Google's initial public offering, Yahoo! said it would have earned $US124 million, of US9c a share.

RUSH TO REDFLEX

The Age Business section (13 October) reports that shareholders in red light camera maker Redflex Holdings (ASX: RDF) will be offered the now-customary pre-Christmas share purchase plan, but says they are going to have to pay a lot more for their shares this year. Business writer Ian Porter said that, even though the discount to market prices will be trimmed from 10 to 7.5 per cent this year, the news sparked a rush for Redflex scrip yesterday, sending the share price soaring 8.8 per cent, or 24c, to $2.97.

HP MOBILE COMPUTING GROWTH FORECAST

The CEO of Hewlett Packard, Carly Fiorina, has forecast a dramatic transformation of gobal business as consumers rapidly adopt mobile computing devices, reports David Crowe in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 13 October. The AFR reports Fiorina as saying that the world today has entered an era in which every physical process and all analog content will become digital, mobile, virtual and personal." Speaking at the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Fiorina questioned the technology industry's track record in building products that could deliver on the enormous promise of mobile digital devices, and said companies would have to adjust to the customers' new demands, reports the AFR.

LEGION CONSIDERS SALE, SAYS AFR

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 13 October reports that Legion Interactive's board is considering a sale of the company that would provide an exit for venture capital investors and generate a handsome return for the executives who took control of the company three years ago. The paper reports that the interactive communications company has retained Deloitte to advise on its capital structure.

INTERNET TELEPHONY GROWTH

The enterprise internet protocol telephony sector grew 29 per cent in the second quarter of 2004 compared with the first quarter, reports The Australian (12 October). The segments which contributed most to the growth of internet telephony were finance and government, reports the paper.

OUTSOURCING OFFSHORE

St George Bank is the most likely of the top five banks to outsource work to low-cost companies overseas, reports David Crowe in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 12 October. The paper says that according to an influential report based on surveys of bank executives, St George is likely to go down this track first in a bid to cut costs and gain a competitive edge over its rivals. The Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) study concludes that about $7.5 billion in collective bank costs at the top five banks could be moved overseas.

NABBING A CIO

The Australian Financial Review's (AFR) Emma Connors reports (12 October) that National Australia Bank's (NAB) soon to be appointed Australian chief information officer will ditch the bank's fragmented operations approach in favour of a consolidated approach. According to the paper, a review of NAB operations by consultancy firm, Accenture concluded that substantial cost savings could be made by combining the central enterprise technology group with other units that now support the NAB's wealth management, institutional markets and services, and financial services divisions.

ASG PREFERRED TENDERER

Perth technology services company ASG Group (ASX:ASZ) has been named preferred tenderer for a multi-year contract to supply share corporate services to the West Australian government's corporate services reform program, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 12 October. The paper says the contract is expected to be signed early next year.

THE OPTUS ZOO

Optus (ASX:CWO) is moving the mobile internet into the great beyond with its Arcade channel which is part of Optus Zoo, reports The Australian in its IT Today section of 12 October. The paper says Zoo Arcade allows customers to connect directly from mobile phones to third-party content providers, which breaks down the traditional walled-garden concept of WAP services.

SYSTEMS UPGRADE

The NSW Department of Housing will replace almost all of its core computer systems just five years after it carried out a major upgrade of the hardware and software it uses, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 12 October. The decision to upgrade the systems it uses to manage the state's $26 billion residential property portfolio comes as the department looks to build stronger links with a range of other organisations including Australia Post and Centrelink, reports the paper.

ACS TURNS TO SMALL SCREEN

For the first time in its 38-year history the Australian Computer Society (ACS) has turned to television advertising to promote the organisation, and the skills and abilities of IT workers in an increasingly professional workplace, reports The Australian IT Today section of 12 October. The ACS advertisements are directed at parents considering career options for their children and seek to link IT workers with doctors, lawyers and accountants as professionals valued in the wider community, according to The Australian.

TECTURA ACQUIRES ASTON

US firm Tectura has acquired Danish company Aston Business Solutions, which has a local operation in Brisbane, reports The Australian of 12 October. It's reportedly part of an aggressive drive into the Microsoft Business Solutions arena locally and in the Asian region. The report says Aston's 45-person Australian operation will support 80 to 100 staff by October next year.

TECHNOLOGY REFORM POST-ELECTION?

The Australian's IT Today section (12 October) reports that there is an IT industry expectation that the Communication Minister Helen Coonan will implement a series of promised initiatives which will substantially change the technology sector. James Riley and Kelly Mills report that amongst initiatives Coonan will tackle are the rewriting of the standard government IT and communications contract (GITC) to remove unreasonable unlimited liability insurance clauses that make bidding for government business difficult for all but the largest companies.

E-PASSPORTS TRIAL

Australia's first biometric passports have rolled off the production line ready for trial with US authorities next month, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 11 October. According to the AFR the e-passports will store an electronic image of the passport holder which will be matched against a photograph of the traveller taken at customs checkpoints. The first trial will involve Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade employees in the US.

BILINGUAL SKILLS IN DEMAND

There's an increased demand for bilingual and trilingual workers from multi-national companies favouring Australia as a base for regional technology support, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 11 October. The paper says information technology supplier EMC and medical equipment group Medtronic have both set up information technology support centres in Sydney. Demand for English speakers fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese is reportedly outstripping supply, reports the AFR.

THE MOBILE WAR

A price war has erupted in the mobile telephone market as increased competition forces call costs down, reports Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun of 10 October. According to the paper it's bad news for Telstra that the market share battle has increased a trend away from fixed-line telephones, with growing numbers of customers relying solely on mobiles. Smaller players, such as Orange, Vodafone and 3 Mobile have led the way in the price war, reports the paper.

VoIP GROWTH PREDICTIONS

There's predictions of booming sales of internet telephone equipment delivering a new phase of growth for Sydney listed company, Integrated Research (ASX:IRI), according to a report by David Crowe in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October. The report says growth could flow under a plan by the software company's new chief executive, Keith Andrews, to strike deals with global networking companies.It's reported that new growth is expected to come from the Internet phone market, where similar non-stop performance is being expected of the equipment that runs communications networks.

ALL GO FOR MICROSOFT MEDIA CENTER

Microsoft will launch Media Center PCs in Australia this week, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October. The PCs with the Media Center Edition of Windows XP, called Symphony, will feature TV tuners, allowing users to watch and record programs to hard disk, reports the AFR. The paper says that Microsoft will join with a host of local and multinational PC makers to launch Media Center Edition PCs in Australia. Local PC makers include Optima, Hallmark, Ipex and Altair, as well as global brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Acer and Toshiba.

INVESTORS - LookSmart Now!

Internet company LookSmart (ASX:LOK) moved on Friday (8 Oct.) to raise the value of its scrip by embarking on a 20:1 consolidation of its Australian stock, bringing it into line with its US shares on the Nasdaq, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October.

FREEDMAN INVESTS

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October reports that former EquitiLink director Laurence Freedman has taken a stake in software developer eServGlobal joining investors including Ron Brierley's Guinness Peat Group, which owns about 20 per cent.

KEYCORP CUTS

Keycorp (ASX:KYC) said it would reduce its share capital by $418.7 million through a capital reduction exercise aimed at reducing the company's balance of accumulated losses and its share capital, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October.

INVESTORS - TUNE IN TO WIRELESS COMPANY FLOAT!

A wireless broadband company, The Access Providers, has launched plans to list on the ASX, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 9-10 October. Backed by former executives from Uecomm and Primus, the Access Providers float aims to fund the Melbourne copmpany's expansion into Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, where it is hoping to build base stations to launch wireless networks, reports the AFR. Access Providers is seeking $3.7 million in an offering that will value the company at $12 million.

FUJITSU, THE WORLD & AUSTRALIA

Fujitsu expects to grow its Australian operations by 5 per cent to about $630 million in annual sales in the year ahead, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 8 October. The paper says the growth predictions are made as the computer giant accelerates a grand restructure of its global operations.The AFR's David Crowe also reports that the Australian subsidiary, overhauled earlier this year by a merger with the local DMR Group consulting unit, will be expected to achieve much higher growth in the longer term as Fujitsu attempts to double net profit by 2006.

MINCOM LOSSSES

Software developer Mincom is blaming costs associated with the start-up of its electronic trading hub coupled with an internal systems upgrade and a strong Australian dollar for a $7.3 million loss after tax, reports IT Today in The Australian of Tuesday, October 5. The Australian says the Brisbane company's sales revenues fell 10 per cent to $148.9 million in the 2003-04 financial year.

APPT - TESTING, TESTING

Second-tier Telco APPT is using its new wireless local area network-equipped headquarters in central Sydney to test WiFi internet protocol phones in preparation for a commercial launch next year, reports IT Today in The Australian (5 October).APPT's Strategy Manager, Jeff Putt reports that once testing is completed, including with a number of customers, wireless phones would then most likely be sold early in the new year.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

Jobs in IT&T have been boosted by strong demand for graduates in September with the market experiencing a 32 per cent growth in vacancies for new tech recruits, according to research by The Olivier Internet Job Index, reports The Australian (5 October) in the IT Today section.The research reveals that the graduate job market has exploded by a massive 152 per cent in the past 12 months, and 11.92 per cent in September alone.

NEW PRICING STRUCTURE

Telstra (ASX:TLS) is pioneering a pricing structure with potential applications service providers based on shared risks and shared rewards to encourage take-up of hosted services, James Riley reports in The Australian of 5 October.
The company says it wants to encourage the ASP model - "the more successful these companies are, the better off Telstra is," says Telstra's business and government services product director, Graham Mirabito.

UNIS GO INTO BATTLE

There's a battle being waged by Australian universities for a share of growing numbers of Asian students using distance and online education, reports The Australian (5 October). The paper reports that online student numbers at our universities have doubled in the past three years and the universities are competing fiercely in the Asia-Pacific region, South-East Asia and China.
The stakes have been raised further by the entry of other international institutions, particularly from Britain and the US, The Australian says.

INDIA'S TALENT WOES

India's outsourcing sector faces a major "talent challenge", reports The Australian (5 October) as lack of skilled employees threatens its global success. According to company officials and analysts, India is not ready to meet new demands and the outsourcing industry could be badly hurt if supply shortages are not overcome soon.The paper reports that call centres are flourishing in India, but they represent only a small portion of the global outrsourcing market.

ALL ABOARD THE INDIAN EXPRESS

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 7 October reports the Victorian Government has put together more than 40 people from 30 companies for a trade mission to India. This, says the paper, intensifies Australian interest in technology trade with the growing Indian market. The Victorian mission later this month will be followed by a NSW government delegation led by Premier Carr in November.The AFR's David Crowe says that although trade with India has disturbed some industry employees worried about the transfer of software work from Australia to low-cost Indian companies, state governments are competing to lure Indian investment.


SPAM TRICKSTERS

Security experts have discovered that inventive spammers can send junk mail on computers commandered from email users who hit the "unsubscribe" link in junk mail, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR) of 7 October. According to the paper, the latest spamming trick uses the opt-out feature on spam mail to turn computers into "open proxies" that allow unauthorised users, or hackers, to remotely control a computer and send spam.

TAKING OVER

Consolidation in the IT security industry has reached fever pitch, reports The Age (October 5) with Betrusted, TruSecure and Ubizen merging to form Cybertrust, and Symantec acquiring renowned US-based consultancy AtStake. The paper reports that the latest deals come barely a monthg after Foundstone, a security software and services company, was acquired by McAfee for $US86 million ($A121 million). Symantec's Australian managing director John Donovan is reported as saying that the AtStake acquisition will have no impact in the Asia-Pacific region.

VIRTUAL TRAVEL

US firm Travelocity is bullish about online travel bookings in the Asia-Pacific region and reportedly it is just a matter of time before the company increases its stake in regional partner Zuji, reports The Age of 5 October.Travelocity's CEO Michelle Peluso describes the Asia-Pacific regional online travel market, and especially Australia,as an attractive one, with currently 5 per cent of travel bookings in the region now made online.

VENTURING FORWARD

Venture capital activity in the information technology sector has leapt back to life, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR 1 October) as investors search for new deals with a handful of start-ups likely to raise cash before the end of the year. According to the AFR's David Crowe,fund managers including Deutsche Bank, Innovation Capital and Technology Venture Partners are evaluating investments in young companies in areas such as software and communications.