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Telus and Toronto agree Telus and Toronto agree On April 12, Toronto City Council gave Telus Integrated Communications permission to install fiber under the City’s roadways, ending a months-long dispute over terms for using rights-of-way. Details of the agreement were not made public. Telus says it will install 118 km of fiber in Toronto by May 2001.
McGill Hospital
installs multi-site wireless The McGill University Health Centre in Montreal has installed what it says is Canada's first multi-site in-house wireless phone system, using SpectraLink equipment. Two hundred cells cover four Montreal hospitals, served by Mitel and Nortel PBXs.
Rim intros wireless palm-like device Research In Motion has introduced the 957 Wireless Handheld, a palm-sized variant of its BlackBerry pager. The 957 will go on sale in May for $649 plus $49.99/month for always-on airtime.
MCI WorldCom to enhance filtering performance in high speed network Juniper Networks, Inc. and MCI WorldCom , announced on April 18th, plans to deploy Juniper Networks(R) new Internet Processor II ASIC in MCI WorldCom's UUNET U.S. network. The breakthrough ASIC, which is designed to deliver filtering services without adversely impacting performance, is available in the new M160 routers that UUNET is using for its nationwide OC-192c/STM-64 (10 gigabits per second) deployment. The initial circuits, deployed in March, run between Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. The ASICs are also being considered for deployment in the Juniper Networks routers in MCI WorldCom's UUNET U.S. network. Because the ASIC will run
filtering services while still maintaining optimal router performance in MCI
WorldCom's UUNET network, customers will reap the benefits of added filtering
and superior network performance simultaneously. The new capabilities of the Internet Processor II are
enabled by JUNOS 4.0, the sixth release of Juniper Networks Internet
software. In addition to packet filtering, the Internet Processor II provides
sampling, counting, and load balancing.
Competing efforts may threaten home-networking standard Late last year, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) formed a group that includes Sony and Thomson Consumer Electronics to develop a similar standard. Some companies, including 3Com and Panasonic, and powerline companies Enikia, Adaptive Networks and iTran, are members of both groups. The two groups are currently discussing whether to collaborate. But why did the companies create a new standards group when one already existed? An Enikia executive said speed is an issue. The HomePlug coalition can build a standard faster than a typical standards organization such as the CEA, said Jarek Chylinski, Enikia's vice president of Global Marketing. The home networking market is starting to take off as high-speed Internet access becomes more widely available in homes. And technology companies want to offer a mix of home networking products. Two previous coalitions have created standards for wireless and phoneline connections in the home. A phoneline networking kit allows PCs to network with each other by simply plugging them into regular phone jacks. To remain competitive, the powerline companies decided they needed to create a standard. Analyst firm Cahners In-Stat predicts that phoneline will capture 50 to 70 percent of the market, wireless will get a third, leaving powerline with less than 10 percent. Both groups have similar goals, however. They both want to create a standard that will handle not only Internet data, but also audio and video. Their plan is to test the technology from powerline companies, such as Enikia and Intellon, and pick the best one as the standard. The only difference is HomePlug hopes to finalize a standard by September, while the Consumer Electronics group wants to nail down a standard by the end of this year. One start-up, whose technology is crucial, is a member of the Consumer Electronics effort and refuses to join the new HomePlug group. Inari, which spun off from software maker Novell several years ago, is the first powerline company to create a home networking kit that allows PCs to link and share Internet access through electrical outlets. And company executives say they hope to sell enough products in the market to become a de facto standard. Todd Green, Inari's director of product marketing, said the company joined HomePlug briefly but decided to drop out because it felt HomePlug wasn't an open enough process. Green said it was unfair that rivals Intellon and Enikia have more power as founding members, while the other powerline Firms--such as Inari, iTran and Adaptive, wouldn't have as much. Analysts agree, saying the whole powerline home networking effort will only work if there's one standard allowing electronic devices to communicate.
Philips introduces speech-enabled call routing Philips is now shipping Pure ReQuest! Small Business Edition, a less expensive version of their Pure Request! auto-attendant. A wider range of companies will benefit from the release by Philips Voice Request, a unit of Philips Speech Processing. Pure ReQuest! has typically been utilized by larger organizations. Small Business Edition offers the same feature set and technology, but handles up to 700 names. Previously, all versions of Pure ReQuest! would accommodate tens of thousands of names, but could be costly for smaller companies. Pure ReQuest! routes incoming or internal telephone calls when callers say the name of the person or department they wish to reach. It eliminates the need to memorize extension numbers or spell a person's last name on the telephone keypad. It greets the caller, listens for the request, looks up the extension of the party requested and transfers the call. By automating the routing of routine telephone calls, it frees up operators to handle more complex calls.
GN Netcom introduces Activa GN Netcom unveiled its Activa headset with an integrated amplifier. It gives users a built-in amplifier and weighs only 2.5 ounces. Activa noise-canceling microphone eliminates background noise on the user's side, while Advanced Voice Shaping technology isolates and enhances the other party's voice to improve communication. It's compatible with most phones and phone systems. For users who want the option of quickly switching between their Activa headset and telephone handset, the Activa Switch is available. Activa is available for immediate shipment through GN Netcom distribution partners.
Info Systems introduces Talkie Browse N Talk Info Systems introduced Talkie Browse N Talk, based on the Talkie Convergent Services Platform. Browse N Talk enables web browsers and online shoppers to place instant calls from any web site to a company’s customer service representative with a click of the mouse. Browse N Talk is a web-to-call-center product that permits people browsing the web to place worldwide toll free calls directly from the web site of the company they are browsing and talk to a live operator. The toll-free calls are routed through voice over IP. For customers without a multimedia PC, Browse N Talk will call back the customer at a regular phone, through the Browse N Call PSTN Callback option. Moise Benedid, President of Info Systems, stated, "The number of consumers transacting through the Internet is increasing daily. E-commerce is quickly becoming the way to shop, and corporate web transactions are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Consumers who browse the Internet to search for products or use an e-commerce site to purchase items, trade stock, or complete any other transaction require timely information. The use of e-mail to request information is slow. Browsers need to talk to a live person immediately. We expect Browse N Talk will assist companies to immediately address the needs of their increasingly online consumer base. In today’s competitive market, companies cannot afford to lose the interest or the buying momentum of the consumer." "Competition in the ISP marketplace is fierce," added Doron Cohen, President of Fidelity Holdings Inc., "Internet access is becoming a commodity with low prices and low margins. ISPs are looking for value added services to differentiate themselves from the competition. Talkie Convergent Services platform will allow ISPs and carriers to offer enhanced telecommunications services to their customers."
Whiteboard wars Problem is, another company, Electronics for Imaging of Foster City, Calif., came out with a very similar product last November, two months after mimio hit the market. EFI is publicly traded (Virtual Ink is not), and the company already has a large ''installed base'' of customers for its Fiery product line, which helps manage high-end digital color printing. Virtual Ink counters by saying it has a patent just days away from being issued, which covers technologies that are part of EFI's product. Litigation between the two is a distinct possibility, if the market for digital whiteboards proves big enough to be worth fighting over. On April 18th Virtual Ink announced a partnership with RealNetworks to create ''Boardcast,'' a way of linking audio with whiteboard presentations. The synchronized sound and pictures can be streamed live over the Web, or stored for later playback. Imagine taking a correspondence course in cartooning online, or watching John Madden analyze plays while a football game is in progress on your TV. The company also will announce a version of mimio that can hook up directly to a printer - no PC required - to produce paper copies of whatever is on the whiteboard.
Brothers' disappearing act gains visibility Each e-mail sent out with Disappearing Inc.'s software is encrypted with its own ''key.'' To read the message, the recipient must fetch the key over the Internet from Disappearing Inc.'s computers. Once the message expires, say after 60 days, Disappearing Inc. throws away the key, effectively rendering the message and all copies of it unreadable. The company, which charges $4 a month for each mailbox it tracks, has raised $8.5 million so far. Investors include the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Compaq's chairman, Ben Rosen. There remains the task of solving what is seen as the biggest flaw in Disappearing Inc.'s product: the need for a live Net connection for people to retrieve the keys needed to read their their messages. For now, the locked messages can't be downloaded and read on the plane, for example, said Frank Prince, senior analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge. Dave Marvit says his company will release another version of its software in ''a few months'' that will let people get their mail offline. Another problem is that people can still print these messages or take screen shots and paste them into another file for posterity. The Marvits acknowledge they can't do much about the ''saboteur problem.'' 'We can't eliminate that risk,'' said Maclen Marvit. ''That's a very different and difficult problem. But we can enable you to reduce the risk that private communications between cooperating parties will be exposed.''
3Com choses Cirrus Logic's solution 3Com has selected Cirrus Logic's CrystalLan embedded Ethernet controller (CS8900A) for its Ethernet/IP-powered LAN telephony system (NBX 100). 3Com's NBX 100 provides VoIP functionality for e-businesses. 3Com's NBX 100 eliminates the need to install duplicate networks for voice and Internet communications. This VoIP approach for enterprises requires reduced network cabling, installation, operations, and management costs. Initially designed into NBX 100 telephone handsets, Cirrus Logic's CS8900A, low power Ethernet solution, will now also provide embedded Ethernet control functions for the NBX 100 system chassis and device ports. Cirrus Logic's products enable system-level applications in mass storage, audio, and precision data conversion.
First Mexican VoIP carrier selects iBasis as partner Operadora Protel, one of Mexico's national carriers, has signed a VoIP service agreement with iBasis. With today's announcement, Protel becomes the first Mexican telecommunications carrier to provide VoIP-based international service in Mexico. Both will exhange traffic with each other especially on the US-Mexico route which in 1999 was the second largest telecom traffic route in the world - with more than 4.2 billion minutes of voice and fax traffic carried between the two countries. Protel has deployed a national fiber optic Cisco based network
that currently serves 51 cities in Mexico and Central America. With this
partnership, iBasis now has more than 60 international carriers as customers.
Protel, founded in 1995 provides long distance services to
commercial customers thoughout Mexico, and operates one of the country's largest
international long distance gateways.
Microsoft security flaw goes beyond FrontPage A security flaw first found in FrontPage 98 and server extensions to that package also exists in Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, according to the CRN Test Center. Test Center engineers also found similar, suspicious code in Visual Studio6.0, although it was unclear whether that code represented a security threat. The security flaw, first disclosed Thursday, renders solutions using the NT 4.0 Option Pack or FrontPage extensions noncompliant with the government's C2 security standard. Unlike other security holes, which are usually generated as oversights, this one was intentionally added by Microsoft developers. Microsoft acknowledged Thursday that the bug represented a major security threat. The bug allows hackers to gain access to key Web site management files, potentially giving access to sensitive information such as customer credit card numbers. As of yet, little is known about the bug except that Microsoft and certain "security consultants" were able to exploit it. Microsoft said it planned to warn customers about the flaw via e-mail bulletins and an advisory published on its corporate Web site as soon as possible. However, no notices had been posted as of Friday 14th. FrontPage 98 began shipping free with Windows NT 4.0 three years ago, which indicates that potential security breaches date back that long ago. The bug's backdoor password, "Netscape engineers are weenies!", would likewise indicate that code was written at a time when competition between Microsoft and Netscape was at its height.
Going out of dot commission? Much has been made of the distinction between leaders in the online retail sector, such as Amazon.com, and all the would-be Amazons that are not nearly so well established, or so well-funded. But in many ways, all of these e-tailers, big and small, have been thrust into crisis mode. Not a single publicly traded e-tailing company is profitable, and none of them appear to have enough cash to last until that unspecified time in the future when they will start to make money, Murphy said. Online grocer Webvan, for instance, is one of the best-funded among them, with an enviable $540 million in cash. But Webvan expects that money to last only through the end of the year, and says its operating losses will last somewhat longer. If nine months-worth of cash on hand was once regarded as a healthy reserve, it no longer looks like that much, now that markets have soured on the e-tail sector and IPOs and secondary offerings are often being canceled. As investors lose faith in e-tail businesses, it not only becomes harder for these companies to raise more money, but it poses the added challenge of how they can retain employees who are paid in large part with stock options. In the midst of all this discouraging data, there remains the indisputable fact that online retailing is a booming industry that is rapidly attracting new customers. One new survey released Monday by the Boston Consulting Group projects the online retail market will grow 85 percent this year alone, generating $61 billion in revenues.
HP and Compaq ready PocketPC devices When Microsoft launches PocketPC on April 19th, incorporating its Windows CE operating system, at least four manufacturers will be on hand to announce support. Hewlett-Packard Co. will announce three new additions to its Jornada line -- the Jornada 540, 545 and 548, all of which support PocketPC. The devices will come with the full suite of new Microsoft applications for PocketPC, including tiny versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, Money, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player (which supports both MP3 and Microsoft's WMA formats), eBook Reader and a desktop version of Outlook 2000. The operating system itself has drawn complaints from CE detractors because it still includes a Start menu, therefore requiring more work than the competing Palm operating system. But beta testers report that PocketPC is at least simpler than previous versions of the OS. The handwriting recognition screen feels more natural, they say, and it takes fewer clicks than before to reach key applications. Most of the devices announced on Wednesday will offer wireless support, but only through a cell phone connection. Casio Inc. , meanwhile, will introduce several new Cassiopea handhelds with improved battery life and up to 32MB of RAM. The devices will also provide wireless support through cell phones. Several months from now, Casio will introduce wireless CE devices created in a partnership with Siemens and Vodafone, company officials said. Sources close to the Houston-based company said the new iPaqs, which will ship in June, have up to 32MB of RAM and will be as thin as the Aero 1500, the currently shipping black-and-white CE device that is about the size of a Palm V. An Aero 1500 with PocketPC will ship immediately. Symbol Systems Inc. will be announcing several new devices on Wednesday as well. Company officials declined to offer details on the models. All four vendors will be demonstrating their wares at the official PocketPC launch in New York's Grand Central Station.
Most web surfers to be
wireless by 2002
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