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Canadian net
'guru' finds way to online mapping firm
Canadian
net 'guru' finds way to online mapping firm Bill Tapscott, Don's brother who serves a corporate development role with the new company, told Newsbytes that Maptuit's "value proposition" is its ability to generate sophisticated route information that can be applied to a variety of business scenarios. For example, he said, a delivery company could use the service to generate routes for drivers so that they do more deliveries and less path-finding during their shifts. A bank could use the same technology on its Web site to help customers locate its ATM machines, or a cell phone company would take advantage of Maptuit's wireless application protocol (WAP) support to provide a host of location-specific services for its mobile customers. The company has announced it is working with 724 Solutions Inc. - a Canadian company which has focused on wireless delivery of financial data - to develop applications that combine map-based searching and personalization. Such technology could, for example, automatically direct a business traveler to a restaurant that accepts a particular credit card they use, or to a nearby ATM machine affiliated with their bank.
$600
Mil-infused
CoreExpress to launch
A new company with roughly $600 million in funding and a business model to prod Internet service providers (ISP) to better work together is ready to put its rubber to the information superhighway on May 9th. CoreExpress, headquartered in St. Louis and Herndon, Va., will raise the curtain on the first network to let businesses move their data across the Internet with end-to-end performance guarantees. Though debuting at the Networld+INTEROP show in Las Vegas, CoreExpress' network, which crosses the Internet with a frame relay system, won't actually be ignited until about October or November, CoreExpress Vice President of Business and Channel Development Joe Croft told Washtech.com today. But the company seems excited, ready and funded enough to hang its virtual shingle, having raised around $600 million from financial firms like Benchmark Capital and Morgan Stanley among others. As the startup sees it, the Internet offers anywhere access, scalability and cost advantages, but it also has inherent limitations in service quality and consistency. And, as a network of networks, there are no end-to-end guarantees that span across the numerous ISP networks. By contrast, more reliable alternatives such as frame relay and point-to-point private line networks offer a high level of quality and consistency, but don't provide practical scalability, cost- effectiveness or options for multi-carrier networks. CoreExpress will act as a settlement company of sorts, Croft said. Customers will pay a premium charge to their originating ISP, with a chunk of it going to CoreExpress. In turn, for every bit of traffic delivered by the terminating ISP, CoreExpress will pay it a share of the charge, Croft said. But privately held CoreExpress also has jumped in to physically help the ISPs communicate better by establishing the first inter-ISP network called the "Internet Data Exchange System" (iDES). This fully redundant, high-capacity fiber-optic network uses Cisco Systems routers, Hewlett-Packard computing systems and Nortel Networks optical networking technologies to interconnect various ISPs in major cities nationwide.
U.S. stops
degrading GPS data Civilian users of the Global Positioning Service can now receive much more accurate location information. On May 1, the U.S. government discontinued the "Selective Availability" feature that degraded the data provided to non-military users by a factor of 10 or more.
Canada Payphone Corp. will begin this year deploying a payphone with a five-inch screen for ads and Internet access. CPC is also intends to install 7,000 Internet kiosks without phone service in the next 12 months.
"The addition of Askey Computer Corp., Atheros Communications, Eumitcom, Intel Corporation, Mobilian Corp., and Xircom sends a clear message: The most important companies in technology today - its very pioneers - believe in the importance of 802.11b HR as an industry standard and of building standards-based wireless LANs," noted WECA chairman, Phil Belanger. In August 1999, WECA founding members 3Com, Cisco Systems, Intersil, Lucent Technologies, Nokia and Symbol Technologies united to drive the adoption of one globally accepted standard for high-speed wireless local area networking: the IEEE 802.11b HR standard. Products built to the new standard operate in the 2.4 GHz radio band and transmit at a raw data rate of 11 Mbps. Unified support of this standard will facilitate the rapid deployment and adoption of these products to ensure global, broadband wireless connectivity across the enterprise, small office, public access and home markets. Cable industry bracing for boom fraught with challenges Source: Cnet Cable industry leaders at the annual National Cable Television Association conference in New Orleans are planning for a future brimming with potential new services but fraught with challenges. Enthusiasm for high-speed Internet access, cable-based local phone service and interactive TV offerings are tempered somewhat by the reality of delivering these services. After all, in the mid-1990s this same conference helped spawn the expectations for 500 channels of cable TV programming--a vision yet to come true. Major cable operators such as AT&T, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Comcast all are launching high-speed Internet services at a fast pace. But there have been a number of setbacks. The cable modem and phone services are still not widely available, for example, and the network upgrades necessary to offer these services are costly. Cable telephony and interactive TV services, meanwhile, have been far slower to appear on the market. The potential for new "broadband" cable services is huge. Most analysts expect about 3 million cable modems to be in use in North America by the end of the year, up from just a few hundred thousand a few months ago. And executives clearly are excited by those prospects, which has led them to think beyond simply providing multi-channel TV programming. One potential setback for the cable industry is regulation. Federal policymakers, including Congressman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, and U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley both argued against new regulations, suggesting the cable industry is doing its part to bridge the so-called Digital Divide in which lower-income Americans have limited access to the Internet.
F5
and Alteon
unveil technology to speed Net Two small firms, F5 Networks and Alteon WebSystems, have created updated technology for Web sites and Internet service providers to manage Net traffic, hoping to catch a wave of interest in the wake of Cisco Systems' $6 billion acquisition spree in the market. F5 announced on May 8th four new devices that make Web sites faster and more reliable, while Alteon announced it has upgraded its family of products that manages Web traffic. Both companies compete with Cisco Systems, Foundry Networks and others that build networking equipment called "Web switches," which ease traffic congestion. The devices distribute Net traffic evenly among servers on a network, so none of the servers are overloaded with work. The equipment, made popular by start-up companies like F5 and Alteon, has recently caught the eye of established networking firms as sales boom. Cisco bought its way into the emerging market Friday by acquiring start-up ArrowPoint Communications for $5.7 billion. F5, which builds appliances that attach to existing network switches, is targeting e-commerce sites and businesses of all sizes with its four new "Big-IP" products. F5's "e-commerce controller" product can scan encrypted messages entering an e-commerce Web site, then decode them before they enter a server and are processed, said Mark Goodman, F5's senior marketing director. The new device speeds up e-commerce sites while keeping information secure because the messages can be read and decoded before they enter a server system, he said. The three other new F5 products can manage Internet traffic in front of Web servers and Web caching software, as well as manage security software called firewalls. The products, which cost $10,000 each, will ship during the second and third quarters of 2000.
Nortel creates
new fiber-optic unit Nortel's new unit, which combines more than 6,000 employees from its optical components and microelectronics units, could reduce the company's reliance on suppliers such as JDS Uniphase, analysts said. The division will serve Nortel's internal supply needs and sell to other network suppliers. Nortel, which has invested $660 million to more than triple its optical production and keep pace with demand, expects to record revenues of $10 billion this year from optical equipment. Growing data traffic, powered by the Internet, is fueling massive demand for optical networks and related equipment. High-speed and high-capacity fiber-optic networks, which transmit communications signals as pulses of light, can be quickly enlarged as demand grows. Nortel's new optical group, High Performance Optical Components Solutions, aims to get new technology to market faster. The unit will design and develop equipment that helps boost the capacity and power of optical networks. It includes such equipment as lasers, which launch light down fibers, and receivers, which convert light to electrical signals. It will also develop microelectronics technology such as high-speed integrated circuits used inside optical systems. Nortel has been aggressively pursuing the optical market, spending nearly $8 billion in three recent deals to buy CoreTek, which has optical filter and laser technology; Xros for its optical switch; and Qtera, which has long-haul fiber technology.
Microsoft says it will propose restrictions on itself this week Source: Digitalmass Microsoft Corp will follow a federal judge's order and this week
propose restrictions on its business practices, taking an approach sharply
divergent from a government plan to cleave the software giant into two firms.
In a landmark antitrust ruling early last month, District Court Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson ruled Microsoft illegaly abused monopoly powers, wielding its
Windows operating system in a way that harmed consumers and competitors. He said
it also attempted to monopolize the market for Internet Web browsers to damage
rival Netscape Communications, later sold to America Online. Murray said the company was preparing its brief and declined comment on a Washington Post report yesterday's editions outlining approaches said to be in a draft. The paper reported that Microsoft will propose: (i) It be required to provide software developers information they need to build their products in a timely way. The judge had found Microsoft did not provide such information equally to its customers; (ii) It permit computer makers to tinker with the computer desktop, the screen consumers see when they first run Windows; (iii) It permit computer makers to conceal access to Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. The company says the browser is integrated and cannot be removed. Jackson ruled the firm illegally tied its browser to Windows; (iv) It be prohibited from making restrictive agreements that induce others to promote its products over those of others. A government official said such remedies would be ''backward looking and ineffective to stimulate competition because they would not stop the company from using monopoly power in the future to crush competition, likely leading to continuing government oversight of Microsoft's business.''
Intel to unveil network devices to
accelerate B2B Intel Corp. plans to unveil two network devices on May 8th that can make business-to-business transactions over the Internet 150 times faster than previously possible. In the latest growth push from its communications products business, Intel said the devices will take some of the data processing load off network servers. The products will be targeted to data centers and other application service providers offering services over the Web. The Intel NetStructure 7280 XML Director and the 7210 XML Accelerator are in pilot tests with a handful of business-to-business companies. They are the latest addition to a family of e-commerce products that seek to speed up business, first launched in February at the Intel Developer Forum. Both devices are based on XML (extensible markup language), which is evolving into a standard format for structured documents like invoices, purchase orders, and other documents that are used in business-to-business transactions, just as HTML (hypertext markup language) became the standard for designing Web pages. Intel said both its Intel NetStructure 7280 XML Director and the 7210 XML Accelerator devices will ship in quantity in the middle of the year. Both devices accelerate and control secure XML-based Internet transactions, for faster electronic commerce.
Natural MicroSystems unveils platform for IP-based services Natural MicroSystems has announced availability of the platform for deployment and management of nex-gen IP voice/data applications and services. This platform is based on NMS' voice-over-packet network hardware and software platform, and PolicyPoint, a multi-purpose traffic classification engine for the aggregation and management of traffic between the public network and the enterprise. NMS' new offering supports the array of WAN, LAN and remote access voice/data connectivity, it also protects investment in legacy equipment by ensuring integration with the PSTN.
Eschelon delivers Nortel solution Eschelon Telecom, provider of integrated voice, data and Internet services, has announced that it plans to deploy Nortel's Enterprise Edge 1000, an IP enabled communications system providing Eschelon's customers with a single platform for voice, data and IP services. Nortel Networks' Enterprise Edge, a Unified Networks solution, can deliver voice and data communications transported over the same network and managed via a single browser-based tool. This offering will complement Eschelon's existing suite of local and long distance network services originating from its Nortel Networks multi-service switching systems. The result will be an end-to-end network solution for Eschelon's business customers. Eschelon will offer Enterprise Edge and its enhanced services to small and medium businesses. Eschelon offers a comprehensive line of integrated telecommunications products ranging from telephone equipment to advanced voice and high-speed Internet services.
SpectraLink introduces new gateway Source: iLocus SpectraLink, the manufacturer and supplier of workplace wireless voice systems, has introduced the NetLink 50 Telephony Gateway for the NetLink Wireless Telephone System. The NetLink 50 Telephony Gateway serves as the interface between a traditional circuit-switched telephone system and an IP-based telephony network. It uses SpectraLink's LinkPlus technology to provide digital integration with most business telephone systems. The Gateway offers the same functionality of the NetLink 150 Telephony Gateway, but in a lower-cost, lower-capacity package. The Gateway provides four digital or analog ports, and up to four Gateways can be combined for a maximum capacity of sixteen users. The NetLink 50 Telephony Gateway is targeted at small customer installations, such as retail stores that typically require fewer than eight Wireless Telephones.
Device
extends reach of microwave links Teligent Inc., Vienna, Va., and Remec Inc., San Diego, Calif., announced on May 2nd their development of a device that extends the reach of fixed wireless networks without resorting to adding base stations. The device, called an active antenna repeater, amplifies and redirects microwave signals from a base station to the buildings of customers with antennas. This eliminates the need for a direct line of sight with a base station. Teligent, which said that transmissions from its base stations currently reach 60 percent of the buildings in their coverage areas, estimates that the device increases this number to just over 90 percent. The repeater operates at 24 GHz and features vertical and horizontal polarized antenna ports and a signal-level detector for precise antenna alignment.
An
ideal switch Scientists at Lucent Technologies Inc., in Murray Hill, N.J., and the University of Kentucky, in Lexington, report they have developed the first field-effect device to switch between an insulating and a superconducting state. The group created a field-effect transistor using a substrate of C60 doped with alkali metal, and gold contacts. They then cooled the device to below 11 K and showed that applying a voltage to the transistor’s gate changed the device from an insulator to a superconductor. The Lucent group reported their findings in the 28 April issue of the journal Science.
Globalstar off to
slow start Globalstar (GSTRF), the first company to test the market for satellite service in the wake of the ill-fated Iridium, began selling service on a limited basis in January and expanded its operating area in March. For the first three months of the year, Globalstar reported revenue of $609,000 and recorded 550,000 minutes of billable service. In addition, the company reported that five of its partners agreed to pre-purchase $19 million worth of discounted minutes of use. The company attributed the low numbers to the fact that it didn't roll out commercial service in many important markets until March. Globalstar only offered service in Canada and Brazil -- two of its key markets -- for a few weeks of the quarter, while service to Australia didn't start until March 30. By the end of June, Globalstar said it expects to offer commercial service in 50 countries, including China, Russia, and South Africa. In addition, the company said it plans to offer service for sending and receiving data over the Internet using its phones later this year. Although Globalstar spent less to build its system than Iridium, investment analysts have fretted that the company will face similar problems securing enough users to cover costs. Globalstar, for its part, points out that the Iridium debacle has also helped its fledgling service. In several countries, service providers are offering Iridium users promotional discounts to convert to Globalstar service. In Brazil, Iridium customers may exchange their phone for a free Globalstar phone, paid for by the local Iridium provider.
Stanford advances
optical nets Current network equipment is only capable of working with optical information at the wavelength level. To avoid converting to an electric format, the researchers at Stanford are using lasers to switch packets of data to a wavelength by tuning the lasers to a new frequency in less time than a packet can travel through the network. The project does use electronic impulses to alter the laser frequency, and therefore is not a complete optical network, which requires that an electric signal never be introduced.
Fiberless
optics draws a second look 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.
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