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IT News Review - Week ending September 29, 2000

IDG staff, Information Age

29/09/2000 17:10:58

NEC Hitachi Unveils New Memory Chip, Company NameNEC-Hitachi Memory, the joint venture company formed by NEC and Hitachi, has unveiled its new name and the first of its new products.

The company will be called Elpida Memory, a name derived from the Greekroot word "eplis," which means expectation. Work at the newly-named company began in April this year when 200 engineers from NEC and Hitachi began work on memory products based on a 0.13 micron rule.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/B90C27BA7DD9A4DB4A256968007DF009!OpenDocumentOlympic Pirate Sites Caught in the ActIllegal internet streaming of Olympics coverage has not reached the high proportions expected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with less than 50 violators caught so far. The IOC's restrictions on online coverage of the Sydney Games, in particular the use of video and audio streaming, caused controversy in the lead-up to the competition when web journalists were refused official media accreditation.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/099D2FEBB2DCA7724A2569680011A46F!OpenDocumentIBM Global Services Adds Storage to PortfolioIBM Global Services will provide a network-delivered service for clients, allowing them to store data online on IBM-managed servers, the company has announced. Clients will be able to purchase storage capacity and management services on the customer's property, or off-site at an IBM data centre, IBM Global Services said in a release. The service is aimed at corporate customers with extensive data storage needs, like government, financial services, insurance or media companies, said Ginni Rometti, general manager for strategy at IBM Global Services.

The services are immediately available in North America, with a phased roll-out over the remainder of the year in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and a launch in the Asia-Pacific region at the beginning of next year, said Roger Schwanhausser, director of storage and storage area network services for IBM Global Services.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/A2BDAEBA82047C744A256967007C8BB7!OpenDocumentLaser Breakthrough in Fibre-Optic SplicingA local researcher has proven his skeptics wrong by developing what is likely the world's first laser splicing technique to fuse optical fibres, whilst maintaining the high performance and reliability optical networking is renowned for. In an era where the growth of the Internet has spawned the need for high-speed, high-capacity communications systems, optical fiber networking has emerged as the medium of choice since no other technology has been able to match its data transmission speed and capacity.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/8115957A45DC7CB04A256967001D4BDF!OpenDocumentSOCOG Faces Damages Over Web SiteThe Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) has failed to comply with a ruling to make the official Games Web site (olympics.com) fully accessible to visually impaired people. The organisation is facing a damages claim and the possibility of a class action on behalf of visually impaired people around Australia, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Sydney has confirmed.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/ADA70B83D65D2FEE4A2569660081CBA6!OpenDocumentMicrosoft Moves On up to the EnterpriseMicrosoft 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.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/1FA58580CA29A24C4A256966007C336C!OpenDocumentOpposing Vendor Groups Merge for MetadataTwo opposing camps of database and data-warehousing software vendors 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.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/553B64D1333201AA4A256966007C50F8!OpenDocumentRed Hat Raises Flag, Leads Linux ChargeThe open-source Linux operating system continues to move closer and closer toward widespread enterprise acceptance. The penguins came out in full force with vendors releasing a number of software applications gearing Linux for heavy business use.

Red Hat - a maker of one of the most widely used versions of the Linux operating system - led the Linux charge with announcements regarding the release this week of the vendor's new Red Hat Linux 7 server software and the Red Hat Network Internet-based service for management of open-source platforms.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/04A999EDBCC0A77B4A256966002D222B!OpenDocumentMicrosoft, IBM Release UDDI SpecificationsIBM and Microsoft have developed a language standard for the new UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) business directory, which is designed to fuel business-to-business commerce. The standard, called Web Services Description Language (WSDL), is a mixture of both IBM's Network Accessible Services Specification Language and Microsoft's Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) contract language. SOAP is an open standards-based interoperability protocol that uses XML (Extensible Markup Language) to provide a common messaging format to link applications and servicesLinux NetworX Extends Web Server SecurityLinux NetworX has bolstered its line of Linux servers for ISPs and application service providers with a clustered server environment aimed at increasing server uptime and minimising failure in environments wheredowntime can't be tolerated.

The Evolocity 1240s take four Linux servers called compute nodes and arranges them into a fault-tolerant configuration that acts as a single computer so downtime is eliminated. Data is read and written to each computer in a compute node at the same time. If one member of the cluster fails, one of the other servers takes over immediately. The Evolocity 1240s package contains the servers, the network adapters for joining the servers into a cluster, and software.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://www2.idg.com.au/nwwdb.NSF/nwtoday/8EA50303CD9F19DD4A256966000197BCYour Palm is ringingPalm and RealVision Technology has announced a telephony attachment device for the Palm V handheld device, enabling the PDA (personal digital assistant) to function like a cell phone. The device, as yet unnamed, will snap on to the PDA and will include a headset to enable users to listen to and hold phone conversations.

Scheduled to go on sale in early 2001, the device will be available initially to users in Europe and Asia at a price of $US299. The device will have dual-band GSM (global system for mobile communication) compatibility.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://arn.idg.com.au/arndb.nsf/tibco_stories/17B2B6965F928C444A256965000E1F77Study: WAP Dominates Asia's Mobile DataGateways supporting WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) or its precursor HDML (Handheld Devices Markup Language) microbrowsers have been installed by operators controlling 73 per cent of Asia-Pacific's mobile phone subscriber base. But other microbrowsers promise competition should WAP stumble, according to a new study from market researcher Gartner Group (US).

In Japan, NTT DoCoMo, which accounted for 17 per cent of total Asia-Pacific mobile phone subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2000, uses a different solution -- cHTML (Compact Hypertext Markup Language). Japan's J-Phone Communications Co. Ltd., with 5 per cent of Asia-Pacific subscribers, is using its own MML (Mobile Mark Up Language)-based browser.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/1CECF4058BABF1DE4A256965007EFC57!OpenDocumentNovell Aims to Simplify Directory ManagementNovell is expected to bolster its directory management tools this week with enhancements that let will IT staff more easily manage their NetWare, Windows NT, Solaris and Linux networks, as well as consolidate directories. At NetWorld+Interop 2000 in Atlanta, the company will announce several directory products grouped under the code name Tao. These include Novell Directory Services (NDS) 8.5, Account Management and new drivers for Novell's recently released metadirectory, DirXML. They will ship next month.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/6887BDD83A4104794A256965007F2BD8!OpenDocumentEU Strengthens Consumers' Rights in E-CommerceThe European Parliament last week approved a measure which, among other things, 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.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/91292E27A962128D4A256964007BFF5D!OpenDocumentSuspect Arrested in NASA HackA man charged with hacking into US government computers is being held in a federal jail in Los Angeles. Jason Diekman, a 20-year-old resident of Mission Viejo, California, is being charged with gaining unauthorised access to government computers in hacking incidents involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as well as computers at, among others, Stanford, Harvard and Cornell universities. The complaint against Diekman includes charges that he used the JPL's computers to intercept electronic communication, caused over $US17,000 in damage to Stanford computers, and intercepted login names and passwords from computers at Harvard. Diekman allegedly had access to the NASA systems that control a number of NASA satellites. He is also charged with possessing nearly 500 stolen credit card numbers.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/F1220660F73010D04A256964007C26AC!OpenDocumentFirst Palm Virus FoundTwo 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 digitalassistant (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.

Click on the link below for the full storyhttp://computerworld.com.au/cwt1997.NSF/cwtoday/495263E8DA00C8914A256964007C2AA2!OpenDocument