Craig Newell

Sony Plans Full-Featured PDA

BetaNews has learned that Sony is planning a PDA that will connect to the PlayStation2 via the FireWire, known as iLink on Sony products, IEEE1394 connector.

The new Sony PDA is different from the PalmStation in that it will probably run off of the Palm OS, the popular OS of digital organizers from 3Com's Palm Computing. The Sony PDA will offer Internet connectivity through either wireless or a direct connection through the PlayStation2. The PDA will also offer an alternate interface to the PlayStation2 for those who want to control the DVD player functions of the PlayStation without using a game controller.

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All-Tech Radio Ready to Launch

Silicon Valley commuters who have been complaining about fighting through
traffic without -- gasp! -- the Net for two hours a day now have an
alternative. CNet, the Internet network dedicated to technology, is teaming
up with broadcast company AMFM to launch the first all-tech radio station.
CNet Radio starts airing in the San Francisco Bay Area later this month on
KNEW 910 AM, with plans to roll it out nationally by year's end.

Led by Brian Cooley, who has been heading CNet Radio's streaming-audio Web
site since 1995, the on-air show will initially feature 13 1/2 hours of
programming a day. But it won't be just for geeks, Cooley says. The station
will deliver tech news to people who find themselves dealing with
technology
every day: "Technology found them; they didn't find it," he says. "This is
a
news format that is more explanatory than you usually hear on the radio."

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NASDAQ Drops 229 Points

The Nasdaq composite, which closed at an all-time high on Monday, fell 229.46 points plunging well below the 4,000 mark. Today's drop was the largest daily point loss ever to the Nasdaq composite, which was only the seventh-largest ever in percentage loss.

Many investors and analysts expect the Fed to raise interest rates at its February meeting. At its last meeting, the Fed left interest rates unchanged.

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MP3.com Acquires seeUthere

MP3.com has acquired seeUthere.com in a stock-swap deal valued at $168 million based on yesterday’s closing price of MP3.com’s stock. The acquisition expands MP3.com’s services outside of the controversial MP3 business. seeUthere’s service is for musical artists who want to manage their concerts online. Online ticket sales, concert promotion sites, and other promotional options are provided for members.

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Virtual Hard Drive For Free Last-Minute File Storage

Procrastinators just beginning to ponder what to do about
potential Y2K bugaboos can back up critical files for free.

FreeDiskSpace.com offers the use of its virtual hard drive to safely
and securely store up to 300 megabytes (MB) of computer users worried
that the Millennium Bug will zap everything on their PCs.

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Server Sales Weak Due To Y2K

Not all vendors had a financially happy
Christmas this year. The latest data from International Data Corp.,
a global forecaster of information technology (IT) markets and
trends, indicates a significant weakness in the worldwide server
market for the third quarter of 1999.

Third quarter 1999 figures indicate total factory revenue worldwide
at $13.5 billion, that's a decline of 10 percent when compared to
the third quarter of 1998.

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Mondex E-Cash, Beenz & E-Commerce Smart Card Coming

Mondex International, the e-cash subsidiary of MasterCard
International, says it has developed a smart card-based, e-cash card
that supports Beenz and other e-commerce promotional services.

Beenz is a promotional points system seen on
an increasing number of e-commerce Web sites that rewards users for
online purchases. The more online purchases a registered Beenz user
makes, the more points they amass for future cash for rewards.

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Nasdaq Begins Y2K Freeze On Market Data Updates

The Nasdaq Stock Market went into partial Y2K
hibernation today, freezing changes made to information about
almost 5,000 listed companies held on its computer systems.

The freeze will last from December 27, 1999 through to January
3, 2000. It will delay company and new share issue data changes,
including updates about new initial public offerings, company
name changes, Nasdaq symbol changes, new NASD member
additions, time and sales updates, and others.

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ACLU Sues FBI, Justice Dept Over Y2K Flick

By: David McGuire and Robert Macmillan

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
earlier today made good on its plan to file a lawsuit against the FBI
and the Justice Department for allegedly suppressing a Web-based film
that predicts a riot in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

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3Com to Spin Off Palm Computing

Santa Clara, Calif. (eFront News) – 3Com Corporation has filed the necessary paperwork to begin the initial public offering of Palm Computing Inc. In connection with the IPO, Palm Computing will change its name to Palm, Inc. The IPO will begin with 3Com offering 20% of its ownership in Palm Inc. Six months later, the remainder of the shares in Palm will be distributed among all of 3Com’s existing shareholders.

3Com aquired Palm Computing when it purchased US Robotics, the former parent company of Palm Computing. Since then, Palm as gained market share and introduced many more successful products. According to International Data Corporation, Palm had a 68% share in the personal digital assistant market in 1998.

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Amtrak to Delay Trains for Y2K

Amtrak has announced that it will keep trains at the stations longer than normal on Dec.31 to ensure the safety of its passengers. All Amtrak trains will be stopped and delayed between fifteen minutes and an hour so that Amtrak can ensure there will be no safety problems with computers that operate the tracks, railroad crossings, and gate equipment. Complete story to follow.

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Internet Group Blasts AOL Hypocrisy

The Internet anti-regulatory group Hands Off the Net has slammed America Online, Inc. saying the company has, “The worst case of corporate hypocrisy on the web.” The statement comes after AOL blocked instant messaging software from several companies, most recently AT&T, from communicating with users of its online service.

AT&T and Tribal Voice jointly released the new I M Here software Wednesday; AOL blocked the software shortly thereafter. Since Wednesday, AOL has blocked AT&T’s software several times. Software engineers from Tribal Voice have worked around the block each time, most recently posting a new version Friday afternoon, which has not yet been blocked.

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Apple Computer’s Japan Offices Raided

Tokyo (eFront News) – Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided Apple Computer’s Tokyo offices today in hopes of uncovering evidence that would suggest Apple broke Japan’s antitrust laws by fixing prices. The Fair Trade Commission alleges that Apple urged to keep the price of Apple’s popular iMac and iBook computers at the suggested retail price or higher. More information will follow as it becomes available.

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Privacy Group Sues NSA Over Echelon

Washington (eFront News) – The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a lawsuit Friday against the National Security Agency to request the release of controversial documents relating to the worldwide communications intelligence system, Echelon. The lawsuit comes after the NSA missed the 20-day Freedom of Information Request deadline to disclose the documents to EPIC.

The NSA refused to provide the same set of documents to the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year. When the NSA refused, Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-FL), chairman of the oversight panel and former CIA officer, wrote in a committee report that NSA's rationale for withholding the legal memoranda was both "unpersuasive and dubious."

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MyWebOS.com Launches Web Based OS

Baltimore (eFront News) - MyWebOS.com launched its new Web-based operating system Tuesday offering 20 megabytes of storage space to users who sign up for the free beta. The site is the first attempt to market a Web-based operating system to Internet users.

For the moment, MyWebOS is free and offers an office productivity suite of software called Hyperoffice 2000. Hyperoffice includes various tools including a word processor, email, calendar, and contact management. The software runs on the server side and no information is stored on the user's computer. This feature makes it much easier for users to transfer their files and applications from computer to computer. It can also serve as a cost cutter for small businesses since there is less client side maintenance for the IS department, as well as lower software costs.

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