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Thursday, May 25
Sun's New Sparc Catches Fire
Sun Microsystems's next-generation Sparc microprocessor, the 64-bit UltraSparc, took a significant step closer t o landing on real-world users' desktops on Wednesday, when it became generally available in sample quantities. "Sample availability" means that small numbers of the chip are available to systems manufacturers who are planning to build computers based on the chip. The first UltraSparcs run at 143 MHz and 167 MHz. The chips are priced at $1,095 each for the 143 MHz model, and $1,595 for the 167 MHz model, in quantities of 1,000. Systems based on the chip are expected to be available to users in the fall
Sun says 13 systems vendors have announced commitments to develop computers based on the new chip, including the company's own hardware unit. They include Toshiba, Cray Research, and Tatung Science & Technology. Also, Data General says it plans to port its DG/UX operating system to UltraSparc.
The chip is designed to support multimedia and other high-throughput applications, with built-in video decompression, and data throughput of up to 1.67 gigabytes per second.
AppleTalk Client Available For Windows
Apple Computer on Wednesday started shipping its AppleShare client software for Microsoft Windows, to give Windows PCs the ability to share file and print services on AppleTalk networks. The client software will be available in future versions of the Apple Workgroup Server, and also in the Windows version of its text search and retrieval package, AppleSearch Version 1.5.
Free versions of the Windows clients will be available to users who bought a Workgroup Server after Jan. 1 this year, or who bought the Apple Internet Server Solution for the World Wide Web, introduced in April, or AppleSearch Version 1.5. Otherwise, the client is available priced at $199.
Sterling Rolls Out Client-Server Developers Tools
Sterling Software Inc. said Wednesday it plans to make a new client-server development toolkit, Key for Workgroup, available in the third quarter. The software package is designed to merge business-process re-engineering with visual software developmen t. The software comes in several components. Key:Advise for Workgroup is a methodology and process-management tool for coordinating development efforts. Key:Model is designed to create business models and for business process redesign. Key:Assemble is for accessing multiple databases, multimedia repositories and groupware for development. And Key:Empower is designed to assist with Microsoft Visual Basic or Powersoft PowerBuilder. It supports Windows clients, and Windows NT, Unix, and OS/2 servers. Single-user pricing for the systems will start at $3,500, with enterprise-wide licenses available starting at $45,000.
Wednesday, May 24
Sun Rolls Out Internet Servers, Software
Sun Microsystems on Tuesday introduced servers and software designed to make Internet connectivity easier and more flexible. The new products include a line of servers that provide Internet and World Wide Web connectivity out of the box, security hardware and software, and new client software.
The ser ver announcement consists of enhancements to Sun's Netra line of Sparc servers for Internet connectivity. The hardware, introduced last year, comes preconfigured with the software and network connections needed to set up an Internet site. The new Netra systems, available in June, are priced starting at $5,999 and include server software for the World Wide Web. Netra also now includes NetWare connectivity, to allow clients on a NetWare LAN to attach to the Internet.
Sun also announced the Internet Gateway for Solaris, a software-only version of the server designed for OEMs and integrators. The $295 software package will be available May 30 for its Solaris on Intel operating system.
Andrew Myers, "managing webmaster" for AT&T's site on the Web , says that Sun's announcement could be a way for businesses to set up Web sites without requiring close involvement from the Information Systems department. "That's the same way all software has gone--you don't need to be a programming expert to do a lot of things," he says.
Sun also announced Solstice SunScreen, a packet-screening device designed to provide security on an enterprise network. Pricing for Solstice SunScreen, slated for release this September, starts at $50,000. In a related security announcement, Sun said it is now re-selling FireWall-1, a software security gateway for the Internet from CheckPoint Software Technologies Ltd.
Rounding out Sun's Internet news was the release of the SolarNet PC, an Internet client for Windows, which includes Netscape Navigator client and a Usenet newsreader, designed for LAN or dialup connections, scheduled to be available in July.
Netscape Pours Itself A Cup Of Java
Netscape Communications Corp. has licensed Sun's Java language, and plans to incorporate it into its popular Netscape Navigator Web browser later this year, so that users can more easily build sound, animation and 3-D effects into Web sites. Sun already has a version of Java a vailable in its free Web browser, Hot Java, which is available for download over the Internet. Java and Hot Java have been available in pre-release form for several months, although Sun chose to formally unveil them this week at the SunWorld trade show in San Francisco. The software is now available free for alpha testing on SunOS, Solaris and Windows NT. Windows 95 and MacOS 7.5 versions will be available in late summer, along with beta releases on all platforms.
Sequent Introduces Multiprocessing Windows NT Servers
Sequent Computer Systems Inc. on Wednesday introduced two symmetric multiprocessing systems designed to run Microsoft Windows NT as an enterprise server. The WinServer 5000 WS30 and WinServer 5000 WS70 are designed to support from two to 28 Intel Pentium processors, and will begin shipping in June, says the Beaverton, Oregon-based company. The servers are designed to support hundreds or thousands of users, and are priced starting at $154,000. S equent's line of Windows NT servers are among the most powerful available. Digital Equipment and NEC also offer very high performance NT servers based on Risc processors--Alpha and Mips respectively.
PG&E Selects Saros For Enterprise Document Management
The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. utility has selected Saros Corp's Mezzanine document management system for enterprise-wide service at its plants and offices, Saros says. The contract with Saros uncludes software, on-site training and support. The software will be installed in phases over two years, including an on-site manual system for its plants, and engineering drawing systems. PG&E will use Mezzanine in conjunction with Microsoft Office for desktop systems, and SAP software for financial applications. Ultimately, PG&E plans to deploy the system to its 16,000 users. PG&E serves about 12 million people in northern California. Saros is located in Bellevue, Washington.
Tuesday, May 23
IBM Intro duces PC Server That Runs Mainframe Apps
IBM on Monday introduced a PC server designed to run mainframe applications, designed to allow developers to create and test mainframe software in a less expensive environment. The PC Server 500 S/390 is a PC running OS/2 Warp that also supports applications made for the mainframe System/390 architecture. The system can run applications written for the VM/ESA, MVS/ESA and VSE/ESA mainframe operating systems. The system comes with a 90 MHz Pentium processor and C/390 CMOS processor. The PC Server 500 S/390 will be priced at $50,000 to $90,000, depending on operating system and software selected. It's slated to be available in July. The server was announced at the IBM Technical Interchange conference in New Orleans.
IBM Bids For Windows Developers
Also at the New Orleans conference, IBM introduced a set of software tools designed to make it easier to port 32-bit Windows applications--those that run on Windows NT and the forthcoming Windows 95 operating system--to OS/2. The Developer API Extensions to OS/2 comprise 700 APIs and 300 messages for OS/2 that are consistent with Win32 APIs and messages. Developers writing apps for the Developer API Extensions will end up with code that will run on either OS/2 or Win32 with a simple recompile. The APIs will go into alpha testing next week, and be available by the end of the year, IBM says. They will eventually become part of OS/2.
IBM has licensed SMART, the Source Migration Analysis Reporting Toolset, from OneUp Corp., which is designed to automate the process of converting Windows code to OS/2 code, and will make SMART available for re-sale to its customers through IBM Direct.
The Win32 compatibility plan is consistent with IBM's overall strategy of trying to win Windows users to OS/2 by offering them a more stable platform for running their Windows apps. Indeed, an early slogan for OS/2 Warp was "better Windows than Windows."
IBM says it also plans to make its VisualAge C++ an d IBM Open Class Library available on Windows later this year. The object-oriented software tools are now in beta test on OS/2.
Digital Names Palmer Chairman
In a vote of confidence for Robert Palmer, president and CEO of Digital Equipment, the company said Monday it has named Palmer to the additional post of chairman of the board of directors. Palmer is a 10-year-veteran at Digital, who took the position of CEO and president in October 1992, replacing founder Kenneth Olsen. The company was failing when Palmer took the helm, and he has led it on a long, slow improvement. Although it's too early to tell whether Digital has entirely recovered, vital signs are certainly stronger--the $14 billion Digital saw $74 million in earnings in its most recent quarter, ending March 31.
AT&T, Apple Plan Wide-Area Videoconferencing
AT&T Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. said Monday they plan to provide videoconferencing and desktop collaboration using Apple's QuickTime Conferencing carried over AT&T WorldWorx Network Services. Apple QuickTime conferencing allows for real-time sharing of audio, video and data, including documents, images and movies. The conferencing service will extend to 27 countries worldwide, compliant with the international H.320 ITU videoconferencing standard to maintain compatibility with third-party applications. The service is expected to be available beginning in the third quarter this year.
MCI To Acquire National Cellular Service
MCI Communications Corp. and Nationwide Cellular Service Inc. said Monday they've entered into a merger agreement whereby MCI would acquire Nationwide for about $190 million in cash or $18.50 per share. Nationwide is a reseller of cellular service. MCI says its acquisition of Nationwide is part of a plan to provide national wireless services integrated with other MCI services for businesses and consumers. Nationwide reported 1994 revenue of $213 million and provides wireless services to 275,000 business and res idential customers in 10 U.S. cities including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
AOL Buys Internet, Multimedia Companies
America Online Inc. said Monday it plans to buy Medior Inc., which makes multimedia and CD-ROM products, and Wais Inc., a provider of Internet servers and services. Medior, San Mateo, Calif., has published about 150 CD-ROM titles in business, entertainment, and electronic commerce. Medior also helped design the current user interface for the Vienna, Va., based AOL. AOL will acquire Medior for about 825,000 shares in stock. Wais Inc., based in San Francisco, develops search tools and server software for the World Wide Web. The company also offers Internet services, which have been used by publishing companies creating a Web site, including Encyclopedia Brittanica and Dow Jones. WAIS also provides consulting services and hosts Techweb from CMP, including InformationWeek Interactive. AOL will acquire WAIS for about 400, 000 shares in stock. AOL expects both transactions to be complete by May 31.
Special Update, Monday, May 22
Microsoft Nixes Intuit Buy-Out
Citing fears of getting involved in a drawn-out legal donnybrook, Microsoft Corp. announced Saturday it is abandoning its plan to buy Intuit Inc. Both companies continue to maintain that the merger would not have violated federal laws governing anti-competitive practices. Intuit makes the personal-finance software product Quicken, while Microsoft makes competitive software, Microsoft Money. The two companies had hoped their combination would allow them to deploy an array of successful products in the emerging industries of home banking and electronic commerce. However the U.S. Justice Department, investigating the proposed merger, said that it would stifle competition and harm consumers because Microsoft and Intuit are the leading vendors in personal finance software and they have no credible competition. The Justice Department filed a l awsuit last month to block the acquisition, citing Microsoft and Intuit's internal memos which--the Justice Department claimed--proved that the two companies believed their combination would stamp out all competition and drive up prices.
In a written statement, Microsoft and Intuit say they continue to believe the merger would be beneficial for consumers. The companies also maintain that they would have faced competition in the personal-finance software market, citing as an example the recent announcement by Bank of America and NationsBank Corp. that they are buying Meca Software, which makes the Managing Your Money software package.
Monday, May 22
Employee Review Software Going Network
Avantos Performance Systems Inc. is bolstering its software for writing management reviews of employees by making the Review Writer package able to function over a network. Executables for Review Writer 2.0 can be installed on a network, while each manager's database of reviews resides on his or her personal computer. The upgrade also includes a utility designed to make review data easily transferable to a laptop computer or another PC for mobile review writing. Also, Avantos, has created a new unit to focus marketing and sales efforts on medium to large-sized corporations. The new marketing unit of the Emeryville, Calif., company will handle Review Writer and also Manage Pro, a personal organization and goal-setting package designed for managers. Review Writer 2.0 carries a suggested retail price of $129 and an upgrade price of $30.
Graphical Middleware To Connect Legacy Apps
Connecting together legacy applications requires middleware for the applications to communicate--and plenty of work by developers to hook the legacy apps to the middleware. Momentum Software in Needham, Mass., hopes to change that with their new product, VisualFlow. The software is a visual development tool specifically designed for integrating existi ng VMS and Unix programs with Momentum's InterFlow message-oriented middleware.
With the object-oriented toolset, developers can use a mouse and menus to record parameters for legacy apps, then connect them to Oracle, Ingres, Rdb, and DB2 databases.
VisualFlow also includes prebuilt objects supporting process control systems from GE-Fanuc, Allen-Bradley, Honeywell, and Modicon, and Momentum plans future support for IBM's MQSeries middleware.
VisualFlow is shipping now starting at $4,500, and requires the InterFlow middleware, which starts at $995.
Bell Atlantic, Nynex Tap CEO For Joint Venture
Bell Atlantic Corp. and Nynex Corp. have named Dennis Strigl as president and CEO of their joint wireless venture. The companies expect by July to finish combining cellular operations serving about 3 million customers in the mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest. Strigl is now Bell Atlantic Mobile's president and CEO. Meanwhile, Cynthia Whit e was named executive VP and chief operating officer for the joint venture. She now serves in the same capacity at Nynex.
Lotus's Notes Champion Moving On
Tim Davenport, a Lotus Development Corp. VP who spearheaded the company's applications development tools, has left the company to become president and CEO of Best Programs. Davenport's new company, in Reston, Va., makes business software, including the M.Y.O.B. financial package and Fixed Asset System. While at Lotus, Davenport was responsible for Notes ViP, Notes HiTest and Lotus Forms. His responsibilities will be picked up by David Rome, who currently handles Companion Products for Lotus.
Friday, May 19
Wells Fargo Goes Online With Account Information
Wells Fargo Bank on Thursday added functionality to its World Wide Web storefront to allow its customers to get account balances and other inform ation online.
The World Wide Web functionality will give customers access to balances for checking, savings, line of credit and credit card accounts, and also transaction histories for checking and savings.
"We've learned that our customers are changing. They want anytime, anywhere banking and this is another way we can provide it," says Gailyn Johnson, senior VP of Wells Fargo's direct distribution group.
The service uses technology from Netscape Communications Corp. in Mountain View, Calif., which makes software for encrypted, secure transactions over the Internet. Ultimately, Wells Fargo hopes to give customers additional banking functionality, such as transferring funds and paying bills, over the Net. "But, we are proceeding very carefully--step by step--to ensure that our Internet access is secure and dependable," said Johnson in a written statement.
Wells Fargo runs Netscape's Netsite server software on a Digital Alpha platform, which accesses customer account informa tion stored on Wells Fargo's IBM and IBM-compatible mainframes. The security protocol that encrypts social security numbers, passwords and account numbers is Netscape's Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Customers must have the Netscape Navigator browser, version 1.0 or higher, to ensure security. Wells Fargo officials are working to incorporate the Secure HTTP standard into the service to make it compatible with other secure browsers, including several commercial derivatives of Mosaic.
Wells Fargo is offering sign-up information about the service on its home page.
The account-information access online makes Wells Fargo a leader in the emerging industry of personal electronic banking. Although the industry is small now, banks, Internet technology companies, and online services are expecting it to mushroom in coming years, carried along by growth in the Internet, online services and other forms of electronic commerce. Bank of America, Visa and Microsoft Corp. are othe r companies working on personal electronic banking and finance products. As part of Microsoft's strategy, the company is seeking to acquire Intuit Inc., although the U.S. Justice Department has ruled the acquisition as anti-competitive and is suing to attempt to block it.
Wells Fargo has offered PC banking over the Prodigy online service, or via dial-in directly to the bank, since 1989. The San Francisco based bank says it is the second largest in California, and the principal subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co.
-- Mitch Wagner and Clinton Wilder
Data Center Costs Plunge
Data center costs were slashed 26% in 1994, quadruple the cost reductions achieved in 1993, according to a branch of KPMG Peat Marwick. The savings included hardware, software, and personnel and they came about despite a 6% increase in spending on systems software.
The deepest cuts came in tape and disk storage, where costs dropped one-third. The saving s were realized through delayed implementations of new technology, fully realized depreciation, and increased efficiencies, according to the study. Headcount reductions, particularly in operations and administration, also contributed greatly, reducing total personnel costs by 28%. "The fear of outsourcing is driving the cost-cutting efforts," believes Thomas Hickey, a director at the Boston-based consultancy which performed the study, Nolan, Norton & Co.
The findings were published in the latest Data Center Baseline study. Nolan, Norton & Co. is the information technology, strategy and benchmarking arm of KPMG Peat Marwick. The study was conducted with 200 companies.
British Manufacturer Finds New Suitor After Splitting With EDS
Lucas Industries plc, a $3.7 billion auto and aerospace manufacturer in London, England, has signed Computer Sciences Corp. to an outsourcing and acquisition deal, after a previous deal with EDS collapsed. EDS had estimated the deal would be worth $1.6 billion over a 10-year-contract.
The deal calls for Lucas to pay $800 million to have its entire computing infrastructure managed, and also to give up two systems development and consulting units comprising 1,200 people. Lucas says the revenue from the two units would be $800 million over 10 years.
But EDS now says further research into the agreement revealed that it could not make the deal work under the original terms and conditions. The Plano, Texas, company did not give further information on its reasons for the split-up.
Lucas, meanwhile, says that it could not work with EDS because the ongoing negotiations revealed that the two companies' corporate cultures would clash.
A spokeswoman for CSC says that the El Segundo, Calif., company will accept the deal from Lucas under the identical terms that EDS would have had.
Time Warner Developing Data Services For Cable-TV
Divisions of Time Warner Inc. are working on technology to deliver online and Internet services over fiber-optic and coaxial networks. The new on-line service is designed to combine high-speed data delivery from Time Warner Cable, with Time Inc.'s creative resources in news and information. Time Inc. is the publisher of Time Magazine. The service will be delivered to PCs over a cable modem. Time Warner is one of many companies working on marrying the flexibility of the Internet and online services, combined with the high-speeds of cable-TV networks that are already laid out all over the U.S. However, Time Warner looks like it might have a better chance of succeeding than others, since it can combine technology from its cable TV divisions with content from its magazines. The company already has a site on the Internet, Pathfinder, displaying content of its magazines. Meanwhile, Time Warner also said on Thursday that it has sold 15 cable TV companies for about $260 million to help reach its goal of cutting up to $3 billion debt.
Computer Chips Stolen at Gunpoint
A band of thieves confronted the employees of a southern California semiconductor company in the corporate parking lot, forced them back into their office building at gunpoint, and made off with memory chips and motherboards valued at millions of dollars, say police.
At about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, four suspects confronted three employees of Centon Electronics, Irvine, California, and made the employees let the robbers into the parking lot, says Lt. Sam Allevato of the Irvine Police Department. The employees included the company's warehouse manager. Once inside the building, they locked two of the victims in one room, two in another room, let several confederates into the building and removed thousands of motherboards and 1 to 32 MByte memory chips, all marked with the Centon logo.
"This sounds like they knew what they were doing and planned this out very well," says Allevato. "These were well-dressed male Asians, wearing sportcoats, suits, ties, and dress shirts. We think they're Vietnamese, based on speech. They got off in a red car, a white car and a van."
The theft was the latest of many thefts of computer components, which are prized by thieves because of they are expensive, very portable, and easy to fence. The thefts are a concern for users as well as vendors. IS managers can find their inventories mysteriously dwindling. Also, they might find themselves unwittingly buying machines containing stolen--and inferior--components.
- Thefts Of Computer Components A Growing National Concern
- An insurance-company service group estimates that technology-related crimes now cost as much as $8 billion annually.
Compiled by
Mitch Wagner
This Week's Issue
Technology Whitepapers
- Mobile BI: Actionable Intelligence for the Agile Enterprise
- Creating the Enterprise-Class Tablet Environment - by Yankee Group
- How To Regain IT Control In An Increasingly Mobile World - by BlackBerry
- Red Alert: Why Tablet Security Matters - by BlackBerry
- New Visual and Wizard-Driven Paradigms for Exploring Data and Developing Analytic Workflows
