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Palm
unveals new color displays while rivals lurk (2/22/2000)
Palm unveils new handheld models with color displays, yet analysts wonder
whether the colorful look will entice new buyers. Palm also faces increased competition
from rival Handspring, which will start selling its device in retail stores this month.
(CNET News.com)
Info
Appliance market set to take off (2/7/2000)
TV set-top boxes offering interactivity and online services from cable and
satellite TV providers will be the first of a new wave of Internet technology hitting the
home, in a market IDC says will eventually outpace even consumer PCs. (CNET News.com)
Intel's Next Generation (2/3/2000)
By fall, "Willamette" processors running at speeds greater than one
GHz (gigahertz) and utilizing an enhanced data pathway will be seen in high-end desktop
systems, while many lower-end PCs will contain the upcoming "Timna" processor, a
derivative of the current Celeron that will contain integrated graphics capabilities. The
first servers containing the Itanium chip, which will gradually replace Xeon, will also be
out.
(CNET News.com)
Start-Ups
attemp to push FREE DSL services (1/12/2000)
A handful of Internet service providers are attempting to do for free what some
of the largest phone companies are struggling to do for a fee: offer high-speed consumer
Internet access. (CNET News.com)
Free DSL service opens its doors
(1/2/2000)
After a year filled with strong gains by free dial-up Internet
service providers, a Southern California company is raising the ante with an offer of free
high-speed Net access.
(CNET News.com)
Soft Soaping From Microsoft (10/15/99)
With its Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP), Microsoft would let business software programs communicate over the 'net,
regardless of their programming languages. This would give companies more freedom to link
systems -- great news, right? But not as far as Microsoft's competitors are concerned.
They see the move as one more attempt by Microsoft to dominate the market. Read more at CNET
News.com.
How to avoid a $400
"free" ISP phone bill (9/22/99)
Dong Xie, an Illinois software engineer, signed up for
AltaVista's free Internet access service a month ago. This month he got a nasty surprise
in his mail--a $400 phone bill. (USA Today)
Latest PC to Ship with Built-In Refrigerator (9/03/99)
A new prototype refrigerator called
the Screenfridge from the Swedish company Electrolux replaces paper notes
and magnets with a built-in Internet connected multimedia computer. According to the web
site's video demo, you can record and play back video messages with the push of one
button, send and receive e-mail (using an on-screen keyboard), and browse the Internet.
You can watch TV, listen to the radio, manage the home security system and look up any of
hundreds of recipes in the Screenfridge's database. Oh, and it even keeps food cold. The
ship date and price have not been set on the product, though the company says they may
lower the price in exchange for on-screen advertising. (WinMag.com)
AOL Europe begins free Internet in UK
(8/25/99)
DULLES, Va. - AOL Europe, a joint venture between America Online and Bertelsmann, began
offering a free Internet access service in the United Kingdom Tuesday. Customers using the
service, called Netscape Online, will not pay for access to the Internet but must pay
local phone charges. European telephone companies charge per minute, even for local calls.
Netscape Online will compete directly with a free Internet access service called
Freeserve, which is Britain's largest Internet service provider with more than 1 million
users. (USA Today)
Amazing Web Site o' the
Week (8/20/99)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology built a web page linking to 9,000 radio stations around the world.
Well over 2,000 of the stations offer live streaming of their signal over the Internet. (WinMagazine.com)
New
Computer Is Size of an Aspirin (8/14/99)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The latest from the cyberworld: an aspirin-size computer that,
embedded in household appliances, could let people on the road or at the office use the
Internet to cool their homes, heat coffee and tape TV shows. (Associated
Press)
What
makes a PC fast (8/5/99)
A personal computer these days is defined less by the
processor's raw speed and more by chip technologies competing to rev up other parts of the
PC--but it can all be pretty confusing. (CNet/News.com)
More using cell instead of home phones (7/28/99)
NEW YORK - A growing number of consumers are disconnecting their home phones and using
their wireless phones instead, according to one of the first national surveys quantifying
the trend. The survey from The Yankee Group shows 2% of all U.S. wireless customers use
their wireless as their only phone and customers have shifted about 12% of their regular
calls to wireless. The survey is seen as another signal the luxury is moving into the
mainstream as prices continue dropping an average 30% a year.
(USA Today)
DSL modem standard gets final approval
(6/25/99)
The International Telecommunications Union today gave final approval to
a long-awaited digital subscriber line standard that could hasten consumer use of
high-speed Net connections.
G.lite, often called "ADSL light" because it is a slower-speed version of
asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL), has maximum
data download capabilities of 1.5 mbps (megabits per
second). Other versions of DSL, however, offer much faster speeds. (CNet/News.com)
Sprint, Nokia Team to offer Web-Capable phone
(6/18/99)
Sprint PCS and Nokia announced an agreement to offer Web- capable, dual-band
Nokia 6185, and single-band Nokia 5170 phones. Both phones will deliver the benefits of
the Sprint PCS 100 percent digital, 100 percent PCS nationwide wireless network. (CNet/News.com)
FBI searching for Web site vandals
(6/2/99)
WASHINGTON - Computer hackers who vandalized five government Web sites are
being hunted by the FBI and could face jail time, FBI and Justice Department officials
said Tuesday. Officials took a dim view of the hackers who left a note threatening to
attack other sites in retaliation for an FBI investigation in Texas into hacking at a
corporate Web site. ''It's time-consuming and takes a lot of spade work, but we can track
down many of these hackers, and that's going on now,'' FBI spokesman Frank Scafidi said. (USA
Today)
Intel Connected Car PC (5/27/99)
In March, the chip maker announced plans to produce an on-board computer that
could, like a radio, be installed in any car. Dubbed the Connected Car PC, the device
will include such features as global positioning system (GPS) navigation, customized news
and traffic updates, and e-mail and Web access. It will also sport a cutting-edge
interface combining voice recognition and speech synthesis, enabling users to stay focused
on their driving. (ZDNet)
Study: Many kids online are not supervised
(5/27/99)
About half of parents don't closely supervise their children's online activity,
and a fifth say they don't supervise their kids' Internet activities at all, a survey has
found. The survey, conducted by the Roper polling organization for the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, also found that 18% of the 62 children surveyed say they
plan to meet someone they have met online. (USA Today)
Cheap DSL (5/12/99)
US West has announced a major price cut. The local telco will now offer a basic
digital subscriber line, which processes data at 256 kilobits a second, or 4.5 times
faster than a 56k modem, for a mere $25 a month.
Fast Net cost comes down (5/11/99)
NEW YORK - US West will cut the price of its high-speed Internet access service by
25%. The announcement is a sign of competition between local phone companies and cable TV
companies. US West will reduce the price of its digital subscriber line service (DSL) to
$29.95 a month from $40. The price cut is a signal local phone companies are beginning to
compete with cable TV operators. (USA Today)
Smart Phones.
Soon to be indispensable? (4/30/99)
A smart phone is a wireless phone with text and Internet capabilities. It
can handle wireless phone calls, hold addresses, take voice mail, access
information on the Internet, and send and receive E-mail and fax
transmissions. Computerworld
Cutting the
Cord. New devices allow continuous connectivity (4/30/99)
It’s the new model: cyborg chic. We’re taking bits and pieces of the
network with us – in our hands, on our belts, in our jacket pockets. The
Industry Standard.
Web scam: How one ISP
took the money and ran (4/29/99)
One ISP stood out: InfoNet Corporation. "InfoNet had a professional-looking
site and an attractive offer," Buchanan says. A year's worth of Web access --
including two e-mail accounts and space for a home page -- cost a mere $9.99
a month. So he activated the account instantly by paying via I-Check.net, a
third-party service that debited $119.88 from his mother Geraldine's checking
account. more
Fast
Net access is here (4/20/99)
How fast you want to surf the Web is really up to you (and your pocket).
This page was last updated on 03/23/01.