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  07/11/97 5:06 p.m. EDT Computer-telephony integration a $2 billion market by 2000, study says The market for computer-telephony integration will grow to about $2.38 billion by the year 2000, according to a report from the MultiMedia Telecommunications Association (MMTA). The report predicted that the growth of computer applications that integrated with telephone systems will be driven by voice-based desktop productivity applications. By 1998, most computer vendors will offer such capabilities as automated attendants and voice mail unified messaging, according to the report. Internet-related applications will also drive such integration, and these applications will allow Web sites to be more productive. Meanwhile, prices for required equipment will drop about half by the year 2000, the report said. To ensure that MMTA member companies are able to meet demand spurred by this growth, the Arlington, Va., association plans to launch a certification program, teaching basic data, telecommunications, LAN and computer-telephony integration skills to network managers. 07/11/97 5:06 p.m. EDT HP, Tandem top bidders on Warsaw Stock Exchange contract Hewlett-Packard Co. and Tandem Computers, Inc. are the lead bidders among 13 companies vying for the contract to set up a new computer system for the Warsaw Stock Exchange Market, the company that operates the biggest stock exchange in Eastern Europe. "We expect either Tandem or Hewlett-Packard to start implementation at the end of the year," said Janusz Zawila-Niedzwiecki, information systems manager at the exchange. The new system will comply with European Union regulations that require local stock markets to be open to international investors. 07/11/97 12:37 p.m. EDT Trend Micro files patent suit against Integralis Trend Micro, Inc. has sued Integralis, Inc. for patent infringement involving virus detection for computer networks. The suit, filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, involves Integralis' MIMEsweeper Internet content security product. In May, Trend Micro sued McAfee Associates, Inc. and Symantec Corp., making similar patent-infringement charges. Several weeks ago, Integralis launched a legal effort to invalidate the threat of a patent-infringement suit, said Bob Lowe, vice president and general counsel at Trend Micro. "We originally wrote a letter saying, 'you infringed,' and we invited them to talk about it. ... They have the right in that situation to file a lawsuit asking for court protection," Lowe said. Kirkland, Wash.-based Integralis asked that Trend Micro's claim be thrown out because it was marketing MIMEsweeper in Europe well before Trend Micro received a U.S. patent for virus detection techniques used on data carried over the Internet, electronic mail and groupware. But Lowe said in these cases it doesn't matter when a patent is granted, only when a company files for it. Trend Micro received its patent in May, more than a year and a half after it applied for it, so Integralis' claim is irrelevant, he said. Integralis wasn't available for comment by deadline. 07/11/97 12:37 p.m. EDT Student uncovers NT security breach A security hole in Windows NT can allow local users to get administrative privileges and access other users' files, a Russian student announced recently on the Internet. His NT attack, dubbed "GetAdmin," only applies to local users gaining access to privileges on their group and doesn't work for an outside attack. Microsoft Corp. has issued a patch for the problem, available at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/nt40/ 07/11/97 12:37 p.m. EDT Microsoft names Maffei CFO Microsoft Corp. said yesterday that it will name Gregory Maffei its next chief financial officer, replacing Michael W. Brown, who will retire at year's end. Brown will work on several Microsoft projects for the rest of the year and devote time to the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, where he currently serves as chairman of the board. Maffei has served as Microsoft's vice president of corporate development since 1996 and as treasurer since 1994. He will officially be named to the CFO post at Microsoft's annual financial analyst meeting in Seattle July 24, company officials said. As CFO, Maffei will be responsible for Microsoft's worldwide finance organization, including corporate development, analysis, planning, accounting, reporting, treasury, tax, investor relations and corporate audit. Maffei has also managed the company's cash and strategic investment portfolio and led Microsoft's recent acquisition efforts, including the Comcast Corp., WebTV Networks, Inc. and Vermeer Technologies transactions. Maffei joined Microsoft in 1993 as director of business development and investments. 07/11/97 9:03 a.m. EDT It's Platinum vs. Platinum in trademark-infringement suit The name game is getting messy over at Platinum Software Corp., which filed suit in Federal Court today against Platinum Technology, Inc. for trademark infringement. Platinum Software, an Irving, Calif.-based maker of client/server financial management software, claims Chicago-based Platinum Technology, a maker of database and system management software, is illegally using the Platinum name. Platinum Software claimed that "product branding, Internet domain name, and marketing materials are confusingly similar to Platinum Software's Platinum trademark and have caused confusion in the market with potential customers, business partners and industry and financial analysts and others." Platinum Technology snagged the domain name www.platinum.com before Platinum Software, which can be found at www.platsoft.com. 07/11/97 9:03 a.m. EDT Reuters launches intranet news service Reuters America, Inc., which has long provided a dial-up news service, is now offering customizable news packages via corporate intranets. Reuters Business Briefing can include access to 2,000 news sources. Features range from headline news to searchable access to a database containing 10 years of news. 07/10/97 6:02 p.m. EDT R/3 adds life to S/390 mainframe German engineering firm Carl Zeiss has become the first company to go live with SAP AG's R/3 running on an IBM S/390 mainframe. IBM and SAP announced the plan to port SAP's business applications to the mainframe last December (see story). The mainframe will act as the database server for all Zeiss' financial, sales, materials and distribution applications, while the application layer resides on an RS/6000 Unix server. The Carl Zeiss project went from testing to production in six months. IBM claims about a dozen other mainframe shops are testing R/3 on the mainframe, but the product won't be generally available until late summer (see story). 07/10/97 6:02 p.m. EDT Microsoft labels a dozen vendors as pirates Weekend computer shows -- the kind that pop up in high school cafeterias and hotel conference rooms -- are on Microsoft Corp.'s attack list. The software giant has filed suit against 12 vendors operating at such shows in the New York area, the company said today, charging them with everything from "hard disk loading" -- selling PCs with pirated software -- to offering bootleg shrink-wrapped software and fake Microsoft-brand mice. Industry groups that campaign against software piracy, such as the Software Publishers Association and Business Software Alliance, said that the computer shows generally attract home consumers and some small business customers, but major companies don't purchase software at such venues. Illegal software at trade shows is, nonetheless, "a big problem" especially as home PCs become more common, said Peter Beruk, director of the domestic antipiracy program at the SPA. However, the trade groups hope that Microsoft's action will deter violators and educate consumers. "This is stealing, this is against the law. ... It is not easy to enforce," said Diane Smiroldo, a BPA spokeswoman. 07/10/97 6:02 p.m. EDT Microsoft, Intuit strike Web content deal Microsoft Corp. and Intuit, Inc. today announced that several Intuit products will be integrated with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0, including Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax. Quicken is Intuit's personal finance software, TurboTax is tax preparation software, and QuickBooks is the company's small-business accounting software. In addition, the companies said that Explorer 4.0 will offer Quicken as a Microsoft Active Channel content provider. These channels deliver personalized information content to the desktop, according to Microsoft. Intuit's Explorer-enabled products will be available to the company's users starting around September. 07/10/97 6:02 p.m. EDT HP, SAS to offer enterprise data mining service Hewlett-Packard Co. has teamed up with data mining software provider SAS Institute, Inc. to offer an enterprise data mining service. The service, with fees starting at $30,000, will use HP 9000 servers and SAS software to build a customized system that will mine client data for trend and behavior analysis, risk and campaign management, and fraud detection. The service was designed for the financial services, telecommunications and retail industries. |
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