Compiled by Kevin Smith
IBM Unveils More Linux Services
At the recent Linux World Conference and Expo IBM Corp. and a host of other firms released systems using the increasingly popular Linux platform. The trend has some in the industry hoping that the popular codes, which are part of the public domain, can loosen the strong hold that Microsoft has on the industry. IBM was joined in the mix by such industry leaders as Intel Corp., Hewlett Packard, Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., and AMD. Linux, developed in the early 1990s by Linus Torvalds, is a so-called "open source" language whose basic instructions are developed by volunteers and owned by no one individual or company. The move from IBM came just one month after it announced a plan to spend $1 million in December to develop more Linux-based options.
Qualcomm Develops Software Platform
Qualcomm, a San Diego wireless firm, has developed a software platform that will make it easier to add complex games, music and other applications to mobile phones and other wireless devices. With the new platform software companies will be able to create their own programs for downloading applications that work in the devices from a variety of manufacturers.
A host of manufacturers and wireless carries have inked deals with Qualcomm to begin using the new technology and the company plans phones to be built with the technology installed in it to be ready by the fall. Other companies, including Motorola, are also developing common operating systems that will make it easier to add more applications to phones and handheld wireless devices.
Interactive Games Coming to BlackBerry Clients
Rogers AT&T Wireless customers in Canada are getting expanded service to their wireless handheld devices and wireless web phones with the addition of the ME Network from Indiqu.
The games include casino, card, arcade, sports, quiz show, board and parlor games provided by Game On. Rogers AT&T Wireless is Canada's largest wireless communications service provider, with over 2.9 million customers and offices in Canadian cities from coast to coast.
Intel Roles Out New Versions of Chips
The new generation of Intel chips isn’t designed to go faster, but they are designed to operate in a more energy conscious manner. Two new low-voltage chips, energy-saving versions of the Pentium III and Celeron microprocessors, are designed for lightweight notebooks weighing less than three pounds. Intel claims that the new Pentium III is the industry’s first to operate at 300-megahertz speed under 1 volt while consuming less than a half-watt of power. The chip is designed for the notebooks on the principal that the less power the chip uses, the longer the battery will last on the notebook. The new chips give Intel a leg-up in a heated competition in the notebook market. Industry projections estimate that by the year 2005 there will be 30 million notebooks in use.
Legacy Unveils New DIMM
Legacy Electronics announced the availability of their new 1.16" height SDRAM DIMM, a CMTL-registered, 256-megabyte, PC133 SDRAM dual in-line memory module for local-area and wide-area network server applications. In addition to LAN and WAN server applications, the 1.16" SDRAM DIMM meets other space-limited design applications, including those requiring a 1U chassis fit. The Legacy 1.16" DIMM is certified by Computer Memory Test Labs, which means the unit has passed an exacting battery of tests and meets stringent standards for reliability.
Java Database Software Available for Wireless Developers
PointBase and DevelopOnline are teaming up to bring PointBase’s Java database management software to developers of wireless and embedded device applications. The software will be made available through DevelopOnline’s open platform site. The Linux-based platform, expected to go online in the coming months, gives software developers access to the complete line of PointBase products via DevelopOnline. PointBase said the partnership would shorten time to market by simplifying the development of data-intensive applications on embedded systems.
IBM Inks Deal with LifeFX
IBM e-business applications may soon sport a new look as the company has signed a licensing agreement with LifeFX, Inc. LifeFX, which develops photo realistic digital human faces that can interact with customers in real time, will embed IBM’s text-to-speech technology from IBM into its player software. In return, IBM will receive two LifeFX "stand-ins," or virtual people, which will be incorporated into existing e-business applications. Providing stand-in technology to CRM vendors for front-end applications is one of the latest goals of LifeFX business development, according to the company.
Forrester Holding eBusiness Forum for Europe
According to new research results published by Forrester, 80 percent of all e-business revenues in Europe during the next four years will come from business-to-business products and services.
With that in mind Forrester is offer eBusiness Forum Europe for B2B firms in Amsterdam February 26-28. Key industry speakers include Sally Davis, president, BT Ignite Application Services; Sergio Giacoletto, executive VP EMEA, Oracle; Marcos Gonzalez-Flower, director of Strategy & Planning EMEA, webMethods; Dan Keelan, senior VP & Managing Director EMEA, i2; Erkki Liikanen, commissioner, European Union; Wolfgang Stockinger, director, Global Cash Management, Deutsche Bank AG; Engelbert Suchla, managing director, IT Planning & Control, BMW; and Paul Taylor, VP & general manager EMEA, Commerce One. For more information, visit: http://www.forrester.com/ER/Events/Upcoming/Overview/0,1550,301,FF.html