IT News Review - Week ending 29 September 2000

C&W Optus Continues Search for Partners

Australia's second-largest telecommunications company Cable & Wireless Optus is still pursuing alliances and equity investment for its mobile business and its consumer and multimedia divisions, the company said Wednesday. Optus is currently 52.5-per cent owned by U.K. company Cable & Wireless PLC (C&W). C&W has signalled its intention to sell down its Optus stake in those two divisions by saying it will concentrate on the data and business services market in Australia.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/564C216ECAF079EB4A256967007C9BC3!OpenDocument

Security Vendors out in Force at N+I

An assortment of methods to prevent Web hacks and network breaches will litter the NetWorld+Interop 2000 floor this week as security companies offer their latest products to safeguard users. With a rash of recent high-profile break-ins still fresh on their minds, conference attendees will keep their eyes on finding intrusion detection methods that are tailored to meet their specific needs, said Eric Hemmendinger, senior analyst of information security at Boston-based Aberdeen Group.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/653056298E137EA54A256967001D4903!OpenDocument

New Processors, Servers to Spur Sun's Net Effect

In the face of sharp criticism from competitors and some industry analysts, Sun Microsystems on Wednesday announced at its Net Effect event here that the company has begun volume shipments of its long-awaited 64-bit processor, the UltraSPARC III. Claiming to still be ahead of the competition after a nearly 3-year delay in shipping the new chip, Sun Microsystems ushered in its era of the UltraSPARC III with the debut of Sun Blade 1000 workstation and the Sun Fire 280R server -- the first hardware iterations to come from its second generation of 64-bit RISC hardware, officials said.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/4D889B53A8C4F9804A256967007C7811!OpenDocument

Supreme Decision Marks a Microsoft Victory

Microsoft won an initial victory Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear an expedited appeal of a court-ordered breakup of the software giant. The justices ruled that the case should first go to a lower appellate court. The decision is seen as a win for Microsoft because the appellate court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, has ruled in favor of Microsoft at times during the course of the government's ongoing antitrust case. Microsoft is hoping for a similar outcome in its appeal of a federal judge's ruling this spring that it engaged in anticompetitive conduct. Moreover, the appeals process is expected to delay the final ruling of the case, and perhaps the implementation of remedies, for as long as two years.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/6A499E6402FE546E4A256966007C4223!OpenDocument

Microsoft Moves On up to the Enterprise

Microsoft made a bold move toward the enterprise market Tuesday when the software giant announced a new generation of hardware, software and services geared to handle intensive high-end applications. Hosting the Enterprise 2000 Launch here was Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer and president. Also present were executives from high-profile vendors including Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Unisys, who all announced the availability of systems based on Microsoft's enterprise operating system Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/1FA58580CA29A24C4A256966007C336C!OpenDocument

Opposing Vendor Groups Merge for Metadata

Two opposing camps of database and data-warehousing software vendors Monday ended a five-year rivalry, deciding to combine forces in search of a single metadata standard aimed at creating a plug-and-play environment for users who are building data warehouses. In a joint announcement, the Meta Data Coalition (MDC) and the Object Management Group (OMG) said the MDC would cease operations and merge with the OMG to work on a combined set of specifications for metadata interoperability between different data-warehousing tools. Until now, the two industry groups have supported competing standards for metadata, which functions as a card catalog for warehoused data.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/553B64D1333201AA4A256966007C50F8!OpenDocument

BankWest Selects eCRM Provider

As part of an "evolution in technology", BankWest has finalised plans for a complete overhaul of its existing call centre system. The bank has signed contracts with Aspect Communications for the implementation of a telephony upgrade by the end of the year, and a computer telephony integration (CTI) by February next year.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/1A00099A4D2F405F4A256965007D25D1!OpenDocument

HP Names Fiorina Chairman

Carly Fiorina was named chairman of the board of Hewlett-Packard on Friday, adding to her list of titles and duties. Fiorina, the company's president and chief executive officer, replaces Richard A. Hackborn, a current HP board member, who had been serving as chairman. Hackborn will continue to

serve on the company's board. The company also announced that the board of directors has approved the use of $US1 billion to buy back company shares. Despite the recent roller coaster motion of the tech sector, HP's stock was trading at $US99.44 per share early Friday, up more than $US4.

HP makes a wide variety of products, including computers, peripherals and

medical equipment.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/FA746D4B8120F1DB4A256964007C0705!OpenDocument

First Palm Virus Found

Two vendors of antivirus software announced separately that they've discovered a virus that targets Palm's popular handheld computers and could be spread from one device to another. But both companies described the virus, dubbed PalmOS/Phage, as a low-risk one for personal digital assistant (PDA) users. The virus was found by both Finland-based F-Secure and Network Associates McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team in Beaverton, In separate announcements today, the companies said PalmOS/Phage is the first known virus designed for the Palm OS operating system used in Palm personal digital devices.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/495263E8DA00C8914A256964007C2AA2!OpenDocument

EU Strengthens Consumers' Rights in E-Commerce

The European Parliament last week approved a measure which, among otherthings, allows customers to sue operators of foreign e-commerce sites in the consumers' home country courts. The vote overturned the stance of the parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, which would have restricted lawsuits to the member state where the company has its registered office. But consumer-rights advocates called that an undue burden. "In my view, if we want to make European business really competitive, it's got to be more responsive to consumer complaints," said Diana Wallis, the U.K. Member of the European Parliament who introduced the amendment adopted Thursday.

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http://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/91292E27A962128D4A256964007BFF5D!OpenDocument

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