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V-One sets up VPNs with Pocket
PCs V-One sets up VPNs with Pocket PCs V-One Corp. has adapted its SmartGate virtual private network software for the new Pocket PCs from Casio Inc., of Dover, N.J., Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., all of which run a handheld version of Microsoft Windows. Officials of V-One, said the Pocket PC VPNs can connect either wirelessly or by wired links to provide authentication, access control and triple Data Encryption Standard encryption. They also said the Environmental Protection Agency is piloting a wireless VPN version called Air SmartGate on platforms such as the Motorola PageWriter 2000 two-way pager and Windows CE devices. Pocket PC users register themselves online for SmartGate VPN via a browser; the Pocket PCs bundle lightweight versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Internet Explorer. They also accept handwritten input. To access large-scale applications on a central server, Pocket PCs work with Microsoft Terminal Server or Citrix WinFrame from Citrix Systems Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Separately, V-One plans to release a $7,495 turnkey SmartGuard VPN and firewall appliance, built by Intel Corp. with a 500 MHz Celeron processor, 128M of RAM and 9 gigabytes of storage. The 1.75-inch-thick server runs a hardened version of the Red Hat Linux 6.2 operating system from Red Hat Inc.and manages inbound or outbound traffic on any IP network.
BCE completes spinoff of Nortel BCE's distribution of most of its Nortel stock begins this week: public trading of the new BCE-without-Nortel stock begins Wednesday. Jean Monty is BCE's new Chairman, replacing L.R. (Red) Wilson. BCE reported first-quarter baseline earnings (without Nortel) of $278 Million, up 2.6% from last year. Bell Canada local service revenue was up 10%, long distance and network services were up 4%. Bell Mobility's cellular subscriber total rose 83,000 to 1.88 Million.
Telus wants out-of-territory forbearance Telus wants to amalgamate all of its subsidiaries into a single company by January 1, 2001. In an application to the CRTC it asks for confirmation that the amalgamation will not trigger re-regulation of its CLEC and payphone activity outside of BC and Alberta.
AT&T may face challenge in meeting customer goal MediaOne recently installed its 100,000th cable-phone customer, although AT&T doesn't yet intend to count MediaOne's subscribers toward the installation target for this year, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. AT&T Wireless Group's shares rose 7.8 percent yesterday after the biggest-ever U.S. initial stock sale as investors bet the unit of AT&T will benefit from surging cell phone use.
Nortel breaks free from telecom roots It also marks a significant moment in Nortel's evolution, because the company has shed much of its roots as a slow-moving telecommunications equipment provider to become a fast-paced player in the Internet technology era, as evidenced by the company's recent earnings. The company is in a heated battle for customers vs. the likes of Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies. Because of the SBC relationship, Nortel could be perceived as giving favorable treatment to SBC over another customer, said Mikula. Over the long term, analyst John Wilson, of Warburg Dillon Reed, said Nortel's independence will also make the company more attractive to U.S. mutual funds that currently invest more in other communications equipment firms, such as Cisco and Lucent.
EarthLink to offer free DSL installation Source: Cnet EarthLink, one of the nation's largest dial-up Internet service providers, has announced plans to waive all setup costs for high-speed Net access in order to boost its broadband customer base, according to executives. As earlier reported, the company, which charges $49.95 per month for high-speed digital subscriber line connections to the Net, will renounce its up-front equipment and installation costs nationwide. Customers are expected to save roughly $300 as a result of the offer, according to the company. Analysts believe use of DSL will grow rapidly in the next several years, perhaps outpacing the adoption of competing cable modems, according to some studies. Investment bank U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray estimates there will be 12.9 million DSL lines in the United States by 2002. The move is intended to rapidly increase the number of customers using EarthLink's DSL services--an offering with higher profit margins for the company. It also represents the continuation of a low-cost trend in the high-speed, or "broadband," Net access market. DSL prices have fallen to the $50-a-month range during the past year, with several companies offering promotions such as no-fee installation or other discounts.
PMC-Sierra
introduces Chess chip set architecture for the optical edge The chip set provides SONET/SDH framing capability at OC-3, OC-12 and
OC-48 optical line rates. Its STS-1 channelized traffic grooming capability
allows for dedicated service processing cards such as Packet-over-SONET, ATM and
Frame Relay that replace dedicated network equipment. PMC-Sierra said the STS-1
grooming capability of its CHESS chip set will allow for sub-lambda wavelength
processing such that multiple user services could be run over individual 2.5
Gbps lambda wavelengths. The
architecture will scale to OC-192/STM-64 rates.
eCommerce software spending
to skyrocket "By 2003, US consumers and businesses will spend $2 trillion over the Net. Online retail sales will hit $144 billion, and business-to-business sales will reach $1.8 trillion," said Eric Schmitt, analyst at Forrester Research. "To thrive in these competitive arenas, firms will need the software tools to promote brands, analyze trends, and capture market share, as well as the support tools to retain buyers -- all of which require a reliable, high-performance software infrastructure." As firms build out their online businesses, several factors will cause software spending by US companies to grow from $3.1 billion in 1999 to $14.5 billion in 2003. eCommerce budgets will continue to rise as companies spend 1% of total revenues on eCommerce initiatives in 2003. Large companies will dominate the market, driving an average of 50% of all software spending through 2003, while smaller firms will choose to lease software from application service providers. Finally, whether by choice or market pressure, many firms will be forced to channel their eCommerce through third-party intermediaries, offloading investments in software to personalize, measure, and support nonstop eCommerce. As companies increase their commitment to packaged software, they also increase the burden of integrating and managing multiple products. Forrester believes that decision-makers will seek out platform products instead of feature-rich, but proprietary, packages; platform products allow for deep customization as well as the flexibility to rapidly integrate new best-of-breed apps. Firms will also align corporate IT and business strategies to avoid duplicated efforts and incompatible systems. Forrester believes that a single, dominant software strategy --platform orchestration -- will emerge as firms synchronize IT and eBusiness efforts. Based on a core apps platform, an open and extensible standards framework, and plug-in component apps, platform orchestration enables firms to balance the need for constant innovation against the benefits of site longevity.
iSoftel joins T-Portal collaboration Source: iLocus iSoftel, a next-gen carrier solutions company, and ipx, the administrator of the T-Portal VoIP industry collaboration, has announced that iSoftel has joined T-Portal and will support its effort to accelerate the spread of advanced VoIP applications. With its carrier solutions, iSoftel has provided technology for a variety of service providers including traditional telephone companies, ITSPs, and competitive and incumbent local exchange carriers. T-Portal provides services providers with hardware, software, network connections and support needed to offer diversified and advanced applications via a private IP network. Typical applications include unified messaging, IP fax, conferencing, and online collaboration. iSoftel has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the U.S. The company deals with Singapore Telecom, ST Sunpage, Pacific Internet, I2U, Phoenix Communications, Malaysia Telecom, Celcom Malaysia, Telecom Organisation of Thailand, Communications Authority of Thailand, Philcom, and Asia Access Telecom. ipx provides VOIP Clearinghouse services and has now become the Application Telecom Service Provider providing wholesale enhanced service. ipx offers service providers an enhanced services solution called Phone-Company-in-a-Box.
e-tel uses RADVision's technology in VoIP telephones Source: iLocus e-tel, the developer and manufacturer of VoIP products has reported that it has integrated RADVision's H.323 technology into its line of FreeRide VoIP telephones. e-tel's line of FreeRide H.323 VoIP phones now incorporate H.323 enabling software. Support for MGCP and SIP is optional. The phones are functioning like traditional phones, and are available with an additional standard telephone line interface for routing calls over an IP network or the existing telephone network. Each model includes advanced features such as local and remote configuration, using Web, SNMP and CTI device management interfaces. e-tel's VoIP phones integrate with existing network infrastructures and with existing gateways and IP PBXs.
Government seeks Microsoft split The U.S. Justice Department and partner states in the antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp, Redmond, Wash., presented a proposal on 28 April recommending that the company be divided in two. Under the Government's plan, Microsoft's operating system business, which pulls in just over 40 percent of its revenue, would be spun off into a separate company. The rest, including the Office software and Internet products, as well as enterprises such as WebTV, would remain under the same umbrella. Although the Government admits that such a split would simply create two monopolies where there was one, it hopes that each will have an interest in creating competition for the other. It is not clear whether Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who had originally given the government a 25 April deadline to propose a remedy for Microsoft's practices, will agree. Some antitrust specialists have favored breaking the company into two or more vertically integrated firms–"baby Bills"–that would compete with one another across the full range of Microsoft’s current activities. A spokesman for the software maker, which will have until 10 May to respond to the Government's proposal, characterized it as "a radical and extreme example of government regulation that would be bad for consumers and for the high-tech economy." The Microsoft representative added, "There is no basis in the evidence presented in this case for this sort of radical remedy." As it stands, the Government is seeking to impose several interim restrictions on Microsoft, which would remain in place for three years if the breakup is approved, or 10 years if rejected.
Excite@Home unveils mobile web portal Source: Teledotcom Excite@Home Corp., the Internet company best known for its broadband products, is preparing for a narrowband world, too. Excite@Home has launched a site that lets Internet-enabled cell phone users in the United States access weather, directions, news and other information. Many information providers--even those targeting broadband connectivity like cable modems or digital subscriber lines are preparing for a world where users want access to information anywhere and on any device. Thirty percent of the mobile phones shipped this year in the United States are expected to have a browser and 80 percent of the mobile phones will in two years, according to The Yankee Group. Cell phone manufacturer Nokia estimates that more than 1 billion devices will soon be connected to the Internet. In providing this service, Excite@Home, which is affiliated with AT&T, joins the portal Yahoo! Inc., which has a similar deal with Sprint Corp. Some 15 million phones will be able to access the Internet by year's end. There will be a lesser number of people who use them to access the Net, but that's just the beginning, he said.
Founding father of wireless gets lifetime award Al Gross, hailed the 'founding father' of wireless communications, was presented with the 2000 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for invention and innovation at the American Museum of Natural History. Gross was recognized for his contributions as a pioneer of miniaturized portable communications devices and for playing a major role in the wireless personal communications revolution. He is credited with the invention of the walkie-talkie, the pager and the cordless telephone, among other things. "This is the top. This award is slated in a manner that deals with education, innovation and invention. My career was based on exactly that long before this award was given to me. This award and the people who conduct it are doing something very progressive. It's a case of using the abilities today to give to the students so they can become innovative. I focus attention on that," said Gross. "In terms of where the industry is headed," Gross said, "you've yet to see wireless. You haven't experienced all the new things that are on the way. When I started out, mobility was on my mind, to be able to walk around with this technology. It's based on the premise that I wanted to be mobile. There's so much more to be done." Gross serves as senior principal electrical engineer for Orbital Sciences Corp. (Chandler, Ariz.), where he is involved with programs to explore Mars and other space environments and technologies. He is also the recipient of the 1999 Marconi Gold Medal of Achievement from the Wireless Operators Association and the Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "The question now is: How do we divert children's minds from games and make them interested in science and technology? I'm competing with television and Pokemon. I use my education to promote innovation with the kids," said Gross. The Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award is conferred annually by the Lemelson-MIT Program, which recognizes the nation's most talented inventors and innovators and promotes living role models in the fields of science, engineering, medicine and entrepreneurship in the hope of encouraging future generations to follow their example.
Intel chips in on future devices Intel is using the conference to gather together about 500 researchers from academia, industry, and government to prognosticate about the imminent era when computers are built into everything, from the clothing on our backs to the blacktop on the freeway. At a press conference Joe Paradiso from MIT's Media Lab initially raised the eyebrows of skeptical journalists by showing off the sneaker with a wireless connection and more than a dozen sensors that detect things like shock, tilt, and pressure. But Paradiso appeared to win over the crowd with a video showing a dancer using the sneakers to create music perfectly synchronized to the dancer's movement. In addition to helping to create performance pieces, the shoes could be used to provide very detailed performance data for athletes, Paradiso said. Paradiso also showed shoes with built-in dynamos that generate power from the motion of walking. While not yet powerful enough to run much more than a low-wattage radio, the shoes may one day recharge cell phones or personal digital assistants, Paradiso said. Wilf Penfield, an Intel researcher, demonstrated a seemingly ordinary pen that simultaneously transcribes writing to a computer screen while the user is writing on an ordinary sheet of paper. The pen relies on a built-in sonic positioning system, Penfield said, and early versions should be on the market in less than a year for under $100. Penfield said researchers are using the pens to try to overcome the shortcomings of pure voice or pen interfaces for handheld computers and smart phones by developing hybrids. "The problem is for any one of these technologies, they are not adequate on their own," Penfield said. "It's like a keyboard without a mouse or a mouse without a keyboard."
Fiberless optics draws a second look Lucent's OpticAir functions within the wavelength standards established by the International Telecommunication Union. Galuppo is confident that the OpticAir's characteristics fill the demanding needs of telecom companies. The system's reliability is questionable since severe weather conditions can reduce transmission distances to as little as 400 meters. An eight-wavelength OpticAir model is scheduled to enter the market in September 2001.
Undoing a traffic jam at the light
The broad range of wireless access Nextlink is presently the largest provider of LMDS in the United States. But expense is a concern of all millimeter systems platforms, and limits their marketability. However, possible advances in development could reduce platform costs in the future. The economic alternative for most companies to LMDS is the use of systems operating below 5 GHz, such as MMDS. MMDS does not have the spectrum capabilities of LMDS, but attracts users for its low platform cost. MMDS operators were purchased by Sprint and MCI during 1999, and it is anticipated to be the most widely used wireless broadband platform in the world. |
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