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Vol. 2, Issue 02 (c)1996 GKM Journals Feb. 1997
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This month's GrapeVine was acquired from segments of
information and articles published in selected computer and
electronics industry trade publications in addition to
several online sources. The information contained within is
comprised mostly of factual information, editorial comments,
and some hearsay from the industry in general.
Each month, we will try to focus on items of interest related
to the computer/electronics industries as they become news-
worthy, and hopefully, the GrapeVine' will be both in-
formative and entertaining to our readers.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Topical Index:
- 01. NEC pocket-sized PC ready to ship
- 02. Apple Computer's strategy unclear
- 03. The online dominos are begining to fall
- 04. Online shopping breaks records during the holidays
- 05. Software vendors fighting the Feds over encryption code
- 06. MS-Memphis operating system is out to alpha testers
- 07. Intel MMX platform is official now
- 08. Sales of color laser printers may pick up
- 09. IBM Corp. is recruiting college students
- 10. Spyglass Inc. puts Microsoft Corp. under the spyglass
- 11. AC-3 audio standard to get more exposure
- 12. TI is selling off almost everything but its semi business
- 13. New advances in digital Camera/Camcorders
- 14. Would you be interested in a home network?
- 15. Son of "Clipper" has no back door
- 16. U.S. software export controls are challenged
- 17. Graphics chip vendors to employ Intel MMX platform
- 18. More competition for high-tech jobs in the U.S.
- 19. Endless Wave takes almost endless memory
- 20. The FCC gives the OK to the Apple PDA
- 21. IBM and MasterCard enter into agreement
- 22. Intel is taking the "heat" again from notebook makers
- 23. AOL offers its apologies to its members for delays
- 24. Windows 95 plug-and-pray woes
- 25. Internet addresses may be subject to toll
- 26. Prices continue to fall in the LCD monitor market
- 27. Internet telephony services will escalate immensely by 2001
- 28. IBM to bundle Netscape products within new servers
- 29. Compaq has $4 billion in cash to buy-out whoever they want
- 30. In-house brands lead desktop sales again in 1996
- 31. New video phone shows improvements
- 32. Build your own Web-site with MS-FrontPage 97
- 33. The Bottom Line
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// NEC POCKET-SIZED PC ///
NEC Computer Systems is shipping its NEC MobilePro handheld PC,
which weighs less than a pound and handles a bundle of tasks
through the new Microsoft Windows CE operating system.
The pocket powerhouse is based on NEC's 64-bit VR4101 MIPS
microprocessor, and is enhanced with 8-Mbyte of program
functions stored on ROM (read-only memory). 4-Mbytes of RAM
(random access memory) comes installed in the MobilePro to
carry out software application chores.
Since the handheld unit only consumes 250 milliwatts of power
at 3.3 volts, it is rated for 50 hours of operation on just
two AA Alkaline batteries. A Type II PC Card slot in the NEC
MobilePro allows for telecommunications via a modem card or
additional memory through the use of flash cards.
The 4-Mbyte MobilePro 400 is priced at $649, while the #200
sells for $499, but has only 2-Mbytes of RAM.
/// APPLE'S STRATEGY NOT CLEAR ///
Apple Computer's chairman and CEO, Gilbert Amelio had not yet
provided the details last month as to how the company plans to
integrate its pending acquisition of Next Software Inc. into
its entire layout for 1997. The question also remains as to
whether application of Next's technology will aid in overcoming
the delay in bringing a new version of the Mac operating system
to market. Sources indicate that Apple plans to release a beta
version of the O/S to developers this month, and maybe ship a
full-blown version by the end of the year.
The new Mac O/S will run on either Intel or PowerPC-based
systems with support for Windows NT applications. But Apple
has not yet decided how compatible the O/S will be with its
own Macintosh applications.
Apple may be able to put to good use Next Software's "Web-
Objects" technology for accessing databases after the planned
acquisition is finalized.
/// THE DOMINOS ARE BEGINNING TO FALL ///
The claimed financial burden imposed by the unlimited access to
the Internet has prompted the Internet service providers to re-
state their position on the matter.
NetCom On-Line Communications will be the second ISP to phase-
out its $19.95 per month price package for unlimited access, as
reported by Computer Reseller News (CRN) last month. The move
is expected to be echoed by other Net providers before the dust
settles at NetCom.
Most ISPs agree that the pressure placed upon the industry by
AT&T Corp.'s issuance of the flat-rate package to its customers
forced them to make a competitive offer to their subscribers.
The first ISP to throw in the towel on the unlimited access
deal was PSInet, which abandoned the $19.95 package last summer
after just one year in the venture. Meanwhile, Columbus, Ohio
based CompuServe Inc. is now ready to end its $17.95 unlimited
access price by the first of this month, according to CRN.
Sprint officials are saying they will try to hold on to their
$19.95 access deal for another 12 to 18 months. A spokesman
for Zona Research Inc. at Redwood City, Calif. said that with
the crowded Internet marketplace and the fact that the $19.95
rate puts the providers into a low-margin situation, he expects
to see more rate change announcements within the Internet
service provider industry.
/// ONLINE SHOPPING IS ANOTHER STORY ///
While the ISP's are singing the blues, the online shopping
merchants are boasting a record holiday shopping season of
$194 million in sales.
Marketing analysts stated that the shorter time period of
shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this season
encouraged the last minute shoppers to try the online method of
buying gifts.
/// SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS SQUARE OFF AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT ///
The proposed regulations by the Clinton administration regarding
software containing 56-bit encryption has the Business Soft-
ware Alliance (BSA) up in arms.
The BSA said that the proposed regulations may impede their
software exportation commerce and make it almost impossible to
use the "key recovery" security technology. According to BSA
spokesmen, the Clinton administration issued an outline of its
security policy, which stated that Internet service vendors
would be allowed to use the strong encryption standard as long
as the key to unlock it was made available to the federal
government. Then in early December, regulations were published
by the government which stated that software companies that
wanted to export encrypted software would have to submit their
marketing and business plans to the federal government for
examination.
One BSA official protested that the new regulations represent
a huge step backwards. And that "step backwards" appears to
have come directly from the office of the Vice President of
the U.S., who has totally ignored the position of the BSA as
spelled out in a letter sent to Al Gore on December 2.
The final draft of the regulations were to have been issued on
Dec. 23 and should have been in effect since Jan. 1, 1997. The
BSA will lobby Congress for an alternative legislation, which
will hopefully counteract the set-back from the White House.
/// MS-MEMPHIS OUT FOR ALPHA TESTING ///
In a covert move by Microsoft Corp., advanced copies of Windows
97 were shipped out to alpha testers in late December.
Code named "Memphis," the new operating system was delivered
minus Internet Explorer 4.0, but Microsoft executives said that
IE 4.0 will be included in the "beta" version, which should
be ready by March of this year. The final commercial version
of Windows 97 is still slated for release within the third
quarter of 1997, according to the company officials.
The general look and feel of Windows 97 will be much the same
as that of Windows 95, but with additional features, such as
the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface specification
that will allow PCs to turn on instantly and remain available
to accomplish pre-determined automated tasks... even after the
computer has been turned off. The technology is also referred
to as Microsoft Corp.'s "OnNow" platform.
Support for digital videodisc players may also be included in
Memphis, and its drivers will be common for Windows and Windows
NT inclusively.
/// MMX ADDED TO INTEL PENTIUMS ///
The formal introduction of Intel Corp.'s Multimedia Extensions
(MMX) enhanced Pentium processors took place last month. The
unveiling brought with it many expectations of widespread sales
and industry support, as implied by Intel administrators.
MMX allows for better sound and faster graphics as compared to
current Pentium chips on the market. A company spokesman said
that MMX will become a part of all future Pentium-based systems.
The performance gain offered by MMX should measure from 10 to 20
percent over that of existing Pentium systems. Of the major PC
manufacturers introducing MMX-based desktop and notebook models,
IBM PC Co., Toshiba America, Hewlett-Packard Co., and NEC
Computer Systems, have taken the lead. Some of the MMX systems
were scheduled to hit the market at the end of last month.
Intel however, is always looking to the future and ways to
improve performance and lower production costs. That is why
the company has been discretely and quietly working toward its
next move within the high-end processor market with further
enhancements of the Pentium Pro.
By reducing the size of a wafer blank from the current 0.35
micron dimension down to a 0.25 size, as scheduled for the
second-half of the year, Intel will have the option to build
the Pentium Pro on a single chip to increase its speed while
decreasing its size.
The first Pentium Pro to be re-vamped will be code-named
"Katmai", which carries a target ship date of early 1998. A
clock speed of 300-MHz is in the forecast as will be the speed
of the first Klamath chips to hit the market later this year.
Intel admitted last month that it will have to alter the current
MMX instruction set in the Pentium Pro chips because the exist-
ing processors require two or more cycles to switch between
MMX and floating point instructions. That performance deficit
should be remedied in future versions by simultaneously
executing floating point [and] MMX instructions in parallel,
according to one Intel marketing spokesman.
Soon after Katami, Intel plans to debut the Willamete variant
of the Pentium Pro, also within the 1998 time frame, but with
further improvements over the Katami chip. Following the
Willamette, the often referred to "Merced" microprocessor, which
is being co-developed with Hewlett-Packard Co will arrive on the
scene. The word within the industry predicts the introduction
of Merced will not be until very late in 1998 or early 1999.
Intel's Klamath chip however, may be produced on a 0.25 micron
wafer, and should roll out the door during the second-half of
this year, but it is designed primarily for the lower end of the
Windows NT workstation market.
/// COLOR LASER SALES MAY PICK UP ///
Although the past three years have shown less than satisfactory
sales and acceptance of color laser printers, industry
forecasters are saying that this year could be a different
story.
Leading printer manufacturers, such as Lexmark International,
Xerox, and others plan to break the $3,000 price barrier this
year with their low-cost color laser entries.
Other than the current prices of color-laser printers running
as high as $5,000 or even $10,000 in some cases, their speed
has been about one-fourth that of monochrome laser printers.
But now, with improved technology and lower prices, the printer
industry sees a ray of hope for renewed interest in the concept.
/// IBM RECRUITING COLLEGE STUDENTS ///
To fill some 15,000 job slots to be created this year, IBM
Corp. is recruiting fresh young talent from the college level.
The company is talking to colleges located near its Boulder, CO
and San Jose, CA branch service facilities to offer instruction
in Microsoft Novell and Unix communications and networking, as
revealed by Front Range Community College officials at Fort
Collins, CO.
Front Range has patterned its curriculum after that of San Jose
City College because that school has been teaching IBM requested
courses since last August, according to a Computer Reseller
News (CRN) story. The article stated that students are offered
a variety of communications and networking courses including
Windows NT and Windows 95 server applications. Front Range has
also made available technology-upgrade training courses for
current IBM employees.
Other computer companies have contacted both San Jose and Front
Range colleges for similar programs. Among those companies are
Lucent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, and Symbios Logic Inc.
///SPYGLASS PUTS MICROSOFT UNDER THE SPYGLASS ///
A patent royalty conflict has arisen between Spyglass Inc. and
Microsoft Corp.
The dispute appears to focus on the number of copies of Internet
Explorer that Microsoft has shipped, and a possible audit to
determine if MS owes Spyglass any royalties and/or how much
money is involved.
According to Spyglass officials, a three year contract was
signed by Microsoft in Dec. 1995, under which Microsoft had
agreed to pay Spyglass a set royalty on copies of Internet
Explorer.
Spyglass source code is used in certain Internet Explorer
products which belong to versions made specifically for Windows
3.1 and 3.11 and respective Apple Macintosh systems... but the
agreement does not pertain to the code used in Windows 97 and
Windows NT 4.0.
Microsoft claims that it is living up to the agreement.
/// AC-3 STANDARD TO GET MORE EXPOSURE ///
An increased number of AC-3 chip makers will attempt to inte-
grate their discrete products into 3-D audio applications this
year, as pointed out by the Electronic Buyers News.
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was used as a
spring board last month to showcase recent AC-3 offerings by
Zoran Inc., Harmon International, Dolby Labs, Spatializer Audio
Labs, SRS Labs, and Q-Sound Labs.
Zoran's ZR-38600 chip can decode either Dolby or AC-3 audio. The
specifications of AC-3 define the audio segment of DVD (Digital
Video Disk) for viewing MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) type
2-coded video. A subsidiary of Zoran, CompCore, has produced
a software product that handles both MPEG-2 audio and video.
Sources are predicting about a half-million discrete chips to
be integrated into personal computers, DVD players, and set-
top boxes this year. Some analysts however, are questioning
the delays by Microsoft Corp. in development of application
programming interfaces (API) to be used with 3-D audio, while
several other software and hardware manufacturers have formed
their own group to develop their own API code to allow their
hardware to work under Windows.
/// TI DEFENSE BUSINESS IS SOLD TO RAYTHEON ///
Texas Instruments Inc. sold its U.S. Government defense business
to Raytheon Co. last month. The $3 billion cash deal terminated
several decades of commerce between TI and the military sector.
The defense business will be recognized as Raytheon TI Systems,
and will be directed by David W. Welp, the former president of
TI's Defense Systems & Electronics Group.
Another graphic illustration of TI's down-sizing trend was
described in a news release from Dallas, Texas, which announced
that the company has also sold its notebook PC business to
the Acer Group. In addition to the sale of its defense
business and notebook operations, it was reported that the
Dallas-based corporation made the decision to sell out its
custom manufacturing services business to a company called
Selectron Corp., and the TI printer operations went to Genicom
Corp. within this past year.
Business analysts conclude that 90 percent of TI's remaining
enterprise operations are devoted solely to semiconductors.
/// DIGITAL CAMERA/CAMCORDER DEVELOPMENT ///
Hitachi Ltd. displayed some prototypes of what it claims to be
the world's first MPEG digital camera/camcorder.
The new units were exhibited at the Winter Consumer Electronics
Show by Hitachi representatives. Their camera differs from the
others by using a very small 260-Mbyte hard drive to store the
video and still picture data rather than using a flash card.
The hard drive is built into a standard PC Card, and can store
up to 20 minutes of full-motion MPEG video or 3,000 still
pictures.
[No price information or production dates were given in the press
release.]
/// WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN A HOME NETWORK? ///
Not so much for computing tasks, but for entertainment value
would be one way to describe the concept of the "Home Network."
Visitors and vendors at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show
last month were adding some support to the Home Network idea,
where a single household control center could distribute digital
video, audio, games, and telecommunications throughout the home.
An Acer America representative said that the home network is
coming much faster that anticipated. Many vendors expressed
their approval of the new DVD-ROM devices that are just around
the corner, which will extend the capabilities of the PC as an
entertainment device. With the DVD-ROM, as opposed to a
separate DVD player, the PC can be used to display the enter-
tainment content or send it to one or more TV-sets.
Thomson Consumer Electronics sees the PC/TV as a [server] to
other progressive-scan displays. The title "progressive-scan"
is important here. As reported in the Jan. issue of the Grape-
Vine, the PC makers apparently won the HDTV battle over which
display format (non-interlaced [progressive-scan] vs interlaced)
would become the standard. Progressive-scan as used in the
computer industry is far superior to the interlaced scanning
technology of the present television industry.
TV vendors and PC vendors at the show were in agreement that
the progressive-scanning standard was the way to go, and that
the PC-driven displays will help usher in a whole new market.
/// CLIPPER CHIP SUCCESSOR HAS NO BACK DOOR ///
A successor to the defamed Clipper encryption chip will be
produced by VLSI Technology Inc. Code named "GhostRider," the
new security device arrives on the scene just after the 5-yr.
scheme to build and ordain the Clipper chip had failed.
The National Security Agency realized the folly of their Clipper
technology and canceled the project in 1996 after overwhelming
opposition from the computer industry. In addition to the PC
manufacturers and electronics vendors, privacy advocates were
also very angered by a "back door" architecture in the Clipper
chip that would have allowed government agencies to gather
information from protected files and confidential transmissions.
A VLSI spokesman commented that its GhostRider encryption chip
does NOT have either a back door or a software key to over-ride
its security aspects. The new chip will be formally identified
as the VMS230, and is designed for PCI-based computers, cellular
telephones, modems, Web browsers, and television set-top boxes.
GhostRider can be used to safeguard the transfer of commerce,
e-mail, confidential intellectual property, and other electronic
data transmissions. An on-chip RISC (Reduced Instruction-Set
Computing) processor is used in concert with an encryption/
decryption engine to perform its security tasks.
According to one industry spokesman, unless the chip can be
proven to be completely secure, equipment manufacturers will
be reluctant to accept the VLSI encryption solution. VLSI
however, has scheduled production to begin within the next
several months.
/// U.S SOFTWARE EXPORT CONTROLS ARE CHALLENGED ///
When the new U.S. regulations governing the export of computer
encryption systems went into effect last month, they were
promptly challenged by professor Daniel Bernstein of the
University of Illinois. Prof. Bernstein, who had won a federal
court ruling overturning a previous ruling on the export of
encryption software source code, asked the Clinton White House
to delay implementation of the new export restrictions until
they can be reviewed by a court to decide the constitutionality
of the ruling.
If the Clinton administration chooses to ignore the request and
go ahead with the controls, Prof. Bernstein's layers said that
they are prepared to go back into court with the request that
the latest ruling be struck down.
The U.S. computer and software manufacturers support the
affirmation that they are restricted and shackled by the export
controls, while their foreign rivals can sell computer en-
cryption systems on the open market. A prime example of the
unfair hardship placed up on our U.S. vendors was pointed out
by the Electronic Buyers News last month. In their Jan. 20
issue, EBN reported that Toshiba Corp., Japan, announced its
plans to begin shipment in April of a computer encryption Smart
Card offering the highest level of security available.
The Toshiba CZ3017 Smart card can be connected to a PC or a
banking/financial terminal to provide encryption of any elect-
ronic business transaction. The encryption is accomplished
through a 124-bit code word. That level of encryption is more
than double that of the 56-bit technology permitted to the U.S.
vendors by the Clinton administration.
/// GRAPHICS CHIP VENDORS TO EMPLOY MMX ///
S3 Inc. and Trident Microsystems Inc., two of the leading
graphics chip vendors, disclosed their plans to employ the Intel
MMX architecture within software solutions to extend their
product lines into the audio communications market.
A report from Santa Clara, Calif. last month said that both
chip vendors plan to use MMX-Pentiums to do a major share of
audio and communications processing in software.
An industry spokesman indicated that the two companies will
announce their production schedule within the next two months.
/// MORE COMPETITION FOR U.S. HIGH-TECH JOBS ///
A U.S Senator and the president of Cypress Semiconductor Corp.
brazenly announced their opposition to proposed government
restrictions on immigration.
Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and T.J. Rodgers, president
of Cypress, were seen on C-SPAN complaining that any new
restrictions on legal immigration could jeopardize the talent
pool at corporations such as Cypress and others located in
Silicon Valley.
/// ENDLESS WAVE TAKES ALMOST ENDLESS MEMORY ///
The Brooktree Division of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems will
incorporate its new Endless Wave technology within its next-
generation audio chip sets.
The company plans to completely synthesize a grand piano via a
sound file of 1.6-Gigabyte capacity. When compared to sound
files normally used in current wavetable synthesis, which take
approximately 4-Mbytes of system RAM, the Brooktree method looks
like a memory-hungry monster. But Endless Wave does provide
the sufficient sound library to store the required data on an
average hard drive.
To avoid the delays or lapses involved in retrieving the data,
an elaborate system of caching is used to keep the latencies
to within 5 milliseconds.
Each note of an 88 key grand piano was recorded with seven
channels of audio and seven velocity layers to provide for
an impressive demonstration of the Endless Wave technology to
industry journalists.
/// FCC GIVES NOD TO APPLE PDA ///
A press release from Washington stated that the FCC gave its
approval for Apple Computer Inc.'s Newton PDA (Personal Digital
Assistant) to become a wireless handheld Internet terminal for
business and school use.
Last month, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that
Apple can use special frequencies within the 5-GHz band, which
the computer company calls "the National Information Infra-
structure (NII) band." NII has been set aside for unlicensed
PCS (Personal Communications Services) use for low-power devices
only. According to the report, the range of NII devices is to
be limited to a distance of a few miles to avoid interfering
with current users of that frequency in several geographic
areas.
Further FCC rulings restrict unlicensed NII devices to indoor
applications to avert interference or conflict with earth-
orbiting communication satellites. Higher-power licenced NII
units can operate indoors and outdoors at dedicated frequencies
above 5.25-GHz, and at power ratings up to 4-watts.
/// IBM & MASTERCARD ENTER AGREEMENT ///
IBM Corp. and MasterCard Corp. have entered into a joint effort
to promote progress in market development of secure electronic
transactions over the Internet using credit cards as payment.
MasterCard members will be participants in the pilot program,
which will run under IBM's CommercePoint network using the
new Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) Internet security
standard.
/// INTEL TAKING THE HEAT FROM NOTEBOOK MAKERS ///
When Intel Corp. introduced its 150-MHz Pentium for notebook
computers there was an outcry from the notebook manufacturers
over the apparent cooling problems resulting from the whopping
7 to 8 watts of power it consumed and the resulting heat it
would generate within the confines of a portable PC. Up to that
point in time the average power consumption of a CPU designed
for the portable market was just 3 to 4 watts of power.
Now Intel has introduced the 200-MHz and 233-MHz notebook
versions of the Pentium, and the same old issue of excess heat
and the problem of just how to dissipate it has come into
question.
The new chips require about 10 watts of power, which has the
notebook makers pondering whether to re-design their cases to
offer more air-space, add internal cooling fans, install larger
heat sinks, or all of the above.
/// AOL OFFERS APOLOGIES ///
The giant internet service provider, America Online Inc. has
had to officially apologize to its subscribers for lapses in
service and constant busy-signals for the second time in the
last six-months.
In an open letter to his 8 million customers, AOL chairman
Steve Case admitted there are problems connecting to the service
and pledged to institute remedies, which include a $100 million
budget to expand the system servers and add 600 more staff
members to the organization. Mr. Case also promised to cut
back on the number of free-trial disks being issued.
[The class-action proceedings initiated by some unhappy AOL
subscribers from Ohio and an official reprimand by the Attorney
General's office of New York may have had some bearing on the
apologetic attitude from Steve Case.]
/// IT'S BACK TO PLUG & PRAY 95 ///
Where notebook and other PC applications requiring PC Card
installation is concerned, Microsoft's Windows 95 Plug and Play
format might better be identified as "Plug & Pray," as related
by some resellers.
As one vendor complained, Windows 95 still displays a lot of
error messages when PCMCIA (Pc Cards) are inserted. Most of the
errors occur when more than one card is used.
CRN magazine reported that PC Card vendors and software vendors
have teamed up to develop some "fixes" to get the cards to
work. Other problems related to using the cards with docking
stations were also reported. The magazine indicated that the
core of the problem lies within the interrupt system embedded
within the PC itself.
With only 16 interrupts within a notebook PC, they are quickly
filled up by the normal work-load. When you add a PC Card with
its complex functions, the errors occur more often.
Microsoft Corp. offers a partial fix that creates "floating"
interrupts in Windows 95 that free up unused interrupts when
the system detects that a PC Card has been inserted.
/// INTERNET ADDRESSES MAY BE SUBJECT TO TOLL ///
Internet service providers (ISPs) and value-added resellers
(VARs) are fearful that a scheme to charge them for Internet
addresses may soon take effect.
Many ISPs are worried that the proposed overseer of the proposed
charges, the American Registry for Internet Numbers, would not
be giving a fair shake to the smaller service providers.
The plans call for the Registry to levy fees of between $2,500
to $20,000 upon ISPs, which would be paid annually. The payment
level would be determined by the amount of Internet space
purchased by the Web-site owner. In addition to the annual fee,
a one-time charge of from $2,500 to $10,000 would be imposed.
The Registry's proposal is open to comment, but according to one
industry source, it could be set in motion within three to six
months after the deliberations are concluded.
/// PRICES CONTINUE TO DROP ON LCD-FP SCREENS ///
A Freemont, Calif. company, Pacom Data Inc. has added the LC21
color LCD flat-panel screen to its line of monitors this year.
The 21 inch monitor offers high-resolution and a dot-pitch of
0.28-mm. This large-screen LCD-FP monitor is priced at only
$1,349, which is less than many CRT monitors of that size.
The flat-panel design offers the user space-saving advantages as
well as power conservation as compared to a conventional CRT
display.
/// INTERNET TELEPHONY SERVICES WILL ESCALATE ///
A report from Washington last month indicated that the emerging
Internet telephony services business will mushroom in growth to
about 12.5 billion minutes of use by the year 2001.
According to one market research firm, the combined Internet
traffic in telephone and multimedia transmissions will most
certainly contribute to an upward spiraling increase in
telephony operations in the next few years.
One newcomer to the telephony market, InfoGear Technology Corp.,
is ready to market its iPhone product, which can communicate
on the Internet and surf the World Wide Web. The display phone
has a 7.4 inch screen and pop-out keyboard.
Selling for about $500, the iPhone concept will also contain a
magnetic card-reader to allow users to transmit credit card
data for purchases conducted over the Internet.
Sprint Corp. will conduct market testing of the iPhone during
a pilot sales program.
/// IBM TO BUNDLE NETSCAPE PRODUCTS ///
In its continuing relationship with Netscape Communications,
IBM Corp. revealed plans to initiate efforts to include some
Netscape applications bundled within its RS/6000 server systems.
The move apparently would give IBM the opportunity to position
the RS/6000 server as the leader in the Internet server market,
according to some business analysts. IBM sources said that the
RS/6000 platform could surpass the long established Sun Micro-
systems SPARC server in the Internet Web business.
IBM's plans increased the already tense relationship with its
own subsidiary, Lotus Corp., which is pushing its rival"Domino"
technology. The people at Lotus are so upset that they are
planning to undermine IBM's efforts with Netscape, as related by
one trade source.
One Lotus official stated that the IBM/Netscape bundling "is not
going to happen!"
/// COMPAQ HAS $4 BILLION TO BURN ///
Industry analysts are contemplating as to just what Compaq
Computer Corp. might buy with its $4 billion in cash surplus
that is just sitting there with nothing to do.
High on the speculation list of possible acquisitions is Digital
Equipment Corp. and Unisys Corp., either of which would turn
the No. 1 PC manufacturer into a major enterprise company over
night. The resources of such an acquisition would offer Compaq
valuable global service and support for its distribution system,
as reported by CRN last month.
A merge with Digital would give Compaq a total of $30 billion
in assets and provide additional 64-bit technology for server
and workstation applications. Some financial experts also have
been watching for any indications that Compaq may have its
sights set on either Unisys Corp. or NCR Corp. as likely
candidates for a corporate buyout.
/// IN-HOUSE DESKTOPS LEAD IN SALES AGAIN ///
For the second year in a row, computer resellers have picked
their own in-house brand of desktop PC as the No. 1 in sales.
A survey taken by CRN, in which 1,800 resellers participated,
shows sales of in-house brands capturing 36.6 percent of the
desktop PC market. Not even a close second place went to
Compaq at 9.8%. In third place was Acer with a 9.2% share,
followed by Hewlett-Packard at 6.3%. IBM placed fifth in the
survey with only 5.8% of the reported desktop PC sales.
In the notebook PC category, first place went to Toshiba at
24.8%, IBM was second, earning 14.8%. Compaq and Texas Inst.
shared the third place spot with each taking a 7.8% share.
AST followed with just 4.7% of the notebook sales.
/// NEW VIDEO PHONE FROM 8BY8 ///
A company with a rather strange name, 8BY8 Inc., is looking for
distributors for its ViaTV Phone.
The set-top device will sell for $499, and according to sources,
will take over where the short lived video phone from AT&T left
off.
ViaTV offers a big advantage in $$ savings alone as compared to
the AT&T video phone, which carried a price tag of twice the
amount of the 8BY8 unit. Other drawbacks overcome by the ViaTV
Phone are that it complies with the H.324 protocol for video
transmitted via POT (plain old telephone) lines, whereby the
AT&T offering required proprietary video compression and high-
speed telephone lines... and ViaTV is easy to set up. All you
have to do is make an audio & video connection to the TV-set,
hook-up one cable to a touch-tone phone, and one cable to the
telephone wall jack.
/// BUILD YOUR OWN WEB SITE ///
Microsoft Corp.'s "FrontPage 97" software package take a step
in the right direction toward allowing the average PC user to
build an Internet Web site.
According to one trade report, FrontPage 97's Wizards make it
easy. Skeleton documents are generated that contain a complete
basic Web site structure including graphics design and text.
MS-ActiveX components, PowerPoint Animations, and lots of
point-and-click features help create image maps and pages with
frames.
FrontPage 97 is shipped separately from Office 97 for $149, but
you can receive a $40 rebate if you own MS-Office.
/////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
/// The Bottom Line \\\
/////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The media front page headlines hit home in the computer
industry as the murder investigation of 6-yr. old JonBenet
Ramsey unfolded last month in Boulder, Colorado.
JonBenet was the daughter of Access Graphics president,
John Ramsey, who discovered the girl's body the day after
Christmas. Her death appeared to have resulted from
strangulation. While the police had released very few details
of the case, one police report did say that Mr. Ramsey and his
wife provided them with written answers to some questions asked
by Boulder detectives. Neither the content of the questions nor
the Ramsey's answers were revealed when this posting of the
GrapeVine was prepaired.
The director of Boulder's media relations, Leslie Aaholm,
declined to comment on whether the police investigation has
focused some of its attention on Access Graphics or any of its
employees. However, one disquieting coincidence appeared in a
CNN news update on Jan. 21. The $118,000 requested on the
ransom note was supposed to be the identical amout of a recent
bonus awarded to John Ramsey by his company. Company sources
were quick to deny the alledged figure, stating that the amount
of John Ramseys year-end bonus had neither been decided or paid.
An NBC/Dateline edition aired Jan. 28, reported that the
Ramsey's had hired the former FBI agent, John Douglas, to
conduct an independent analysys of the case. Mr. douglas
disclosed that 6-yr old JonBonet had suffered head injuries,
sexual battery, and strangulation.
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin, which owns full interest
in Access Graphics, said that the company had given John Ramsey
an "unlimited" leave of absence in view of the tragedy.
One can only speculate what sort of being could be fiendish
enough to commit such a deplorably vile act of cruelty upon a
child. Once the criminal is identified and convited, wouldn't
it be wonderful if the punishment, just this once, would be
equally as violent and brutal as the crime itself?
Gary Miller