NETSCAPE TARGETS CONSUMER DEVICES
Netscape Communications will announce on Monday its plans to incorporate its
Navigator technology into a wide range of consumer products, including
pagers, video games, cell phones and cable TV set-top boxes. "The strategy
is to have Navigator running everywhere," says co-founder Marc Andreessen.
The company has already formed a top-secret subsidiary, staffed with 30 to
50 people, to develop operating systems for those devices. (Interactive Age
Digital 23 Aug 96)
SILICON ALLEY GETS ATTENTION FROM INVESTORS
"Silicon Alley" -- the New York-area companies focused on the Internet and
new media -- has the attention of a new investment fund called Flatiron
Partners, in which the Softbank Corporation of Japan and the venture capital
arm of Chase Manhattan Bank each will invest $25 million. Silicon Alley is
centered around the Manhattan's Soho and Flatiron districts. (New York
Times 23 Aug 96 C1)
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER, MERLIN
IBM is moving aggressively to shorten future product development cycles to
three months or less, and is planning to release OS/2 Version 4.0,
code-named Merlin, by the end of September, says the general manager of
IBM's personal software products unit. In addition to Merlin, the company
has set the same deadline for shipping the symmetric multiprocessing
extensions for OS/2 Warp Server. IBM will then update the system
incrementally, adding features such as Internet firewall support and
development tools for Java, and configuring OS/2 to work with Lotus's
upcoming Internet release of Notes, code-named Domino. (Information Week 12
Aug 96 p30)
NSF CUTS FUNDING FOR PRIVATE SECTOR INTERNETWORKING
The National Science Foundation, which has been managing the NSFNET Internet
backbone since 1985, says it will no longer support the Internet networking
and routing services that the private sector provides for the nation's
research and education community. The move will allow NSF to concentrate on
building the next generation of the Internet: "The NSF-funded operations of
NAPs (network access points) and RAs (routing arbiters) can now shift to the
commercial marketplace as their researchers focus on connections and routing
for advanced networking," says Mark Luker, NSFNET program director. "Both
actions help NSF to move to the next stage, a stronger focus on the
high-performance Internet of the future needed to support today's advanced
research." (BNA Daily Report for Executives 20 Aug 96 A7)
NEWS FLASH - YOU'VE GOT E-MAIL WAITING
Office workers using local area networks usually hear a tone or see a little
moving icon, signaling they've received new e-mail in their in-box, but
people who work out of their home aren't so lucky. They generally have to
go through the process of logging onto their Internet service to check if
any new mail has arrived. Ex Machina has a better idea -- next month it
will debut its AirMedia Live service, which will broadcast news alerts to
small receivers plugged into your PC, causing an icon to pop up on your
screen. The company plans to give away basic services, and will charge
about $150 per receiver plus an extra $5 a month for a second tier of
features. (Business Week 26 Aug 96 p53)
FLAW DETECTED IN EXPLORER 3.0
Computer scientists at Princeton University identified a flaw in Microsoft's
Internet Explorer 3.0 that could allow someone to send a destructive command
to a Windows-based computer connected to a Web page. A Microsoft vice
president describes the flaw as "not a big deal" but says a software patch
is being developed quickly to rectify the problem. (New York Times 23 Aug
96 C16)
THE AYES HAVE IT ON NET BALLOTING
A recent AT&T poll of 1,000 people found more than 65% of respondents were
interested in using the Internet to research where candidates stand on
certain issues. Also, nearly half indicated they'd rather vote
electronically than in person. About 25% of those polled said they have
access to the Internet and of those, 20% plan to follow the 1996
presidential election on the Net. (Investor's Business Daily 26 Aug 96 A6)
GOV'T TAB FOR CENTURY DATE CHANGE COULD REACH $30 BILLION
The Year 2000 Interagency Committee is developing a database to help federal
agencies locate hardware and software to fix the "year 2000 problem," spread
throughout many different government computer systems. Each agency will be
responsible for identifying, documenting and prioritizing the lines of
computer code that will need to be changed, with estimates of such changes
running anywhere from $1 to $8 per line of code. The Year 2000 Home Page <
http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov > includes information on best practices with
regard to code inventory and pilot projects. A best practices conference is
planned for next March. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 22 Aug 96 A8)
COMPUTER INTERFACE CONTRIBUTES TO PLANE CRASH
The crash of a Cali-bound American Airlines jet last December in Colombia,
S.A., occurred because the plane's captain entered an incomplete command
into the onboard computer -- and the default action taken by the software
pointed the plane in the wrong direction. The beacons at the Cali and
Bogota airports both begin with the letter R, which is the only character
the pilot typed; instead of proceeding toward Cali, the plane turned in the
opposite direction (toward Bogata) and crashed into a mountain. (New York
Times 24 Aug 96 p7)
Edupage is written by John Gehl <gehl@educom.edu> & Suzanne Douglas
<douglas@educom.edu>. Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057.
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