International News »

• HP posts 14% Q1 revenue gain

  Hewlett-Packard reported a first quarter profit on Wednesday of 80 cents per share, slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations. Revenue for the quarter, which ended January 31, was $11.7 billion, up from $10.2 billion a year ago, HP said.

  Written by James Niccolai • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Intel products promote faster e-commerce

  Intel on Wednesday announced a new set of communications products and services aimed at improving e-commerce transactions through faster online connections.

  Written by James Cope • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Vendors Tout Voice Over IP

  Visit Catalyst Capital Inc., a venture capital and merchant banking company in Newport Beach, Calif., and you won't find any phone lines or private branch exchange (PBX) systems. Nor will you encounter a traditional phone system if you stop by Home Shopping Network Inc.'s (HSN) newest warehouse in Salem, Va.

  Written by James Cope • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Game Makers Announces PlayStation 2 Titles

  Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) and 17 video game makers today took the wraps off new titles for the PlayStation 2, SCEI's highly-anticipated video games console.

  Written by Martyn Williams • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Developers Get a Peek at Visual Studio 7.0

  Microsoft Corp. laid out its long-awaited plans for a Web-friendly Visual Studio 7.0 this week and found a receptive audience among the developers at the Visual Basic Insiders Technical Summit here.

  Written by Lee Copeland • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Guest column: Frankly speaking: Death-defying craziness

  Want to hear something crazy? Forrester Research says the IT shop will be killed off in three years, its functions absorbed by outsourcers or the business departments currently served by corporate IT. Want to hear something even crazier? One reporter told me that for Computerworld's upcoming Premier 100 feature, he asked IT chiefs what they thought of getting top corporate management - we're talking CEO and board level here - involved in picking technology and vendors. Roughly half the IT bosses thought it was the right approach. The other half bristled at the very idea.

  Written by Frank Hayes • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Norton AntiVirus 6.0

  Vendor-induced paranoia aside, the reality of today's Net-connected world is that every networked computer - Mac and PC alike - is susceptible to viruses. Even careful computer users may have sloppy friends who unwittingly propagate malicious wares. Consequently, antiviral software is a necessity. For most Mac users, this means Symantec Corp.'s Norton AntiVirus (NAV), currently the only credible antivirus software for the Mac.

  Written by Stephan Somogyi • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• The Gripe Line

  Readers say CompuServe billing is out of control -- $100+ charges per month

  Written by Ed Foster • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Dot-coms Appear Happy With Oracle8i

  Customers seeking to build a robust presence on the Web report that they're pleased with several of the speed-boosting features of Oracle Corp.'s 8i database.

  Written by Robin Robinson • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Gates officially unveils Windows 2000

  In an upbeat and playful keynote address this morning, Microsoft Chair Bill Gates officially introduced Windows 2000, which he grandly described as "the future of computing."

  Written by Liane Gouthro • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Briefs

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shut down its Internet connection last week after receiving word that its main computer systems were easily hacked into by investigators from the General Accounting Office. The vulnerability, if left unchecked, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and expose trade secrets, the GAO said. Members of the House Commerce Committee made the incident public.

  Written by Computerworld Staff • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Briefs

  New York-based Kozmo.com Inc., an online delivery service company, has announced a five-year co-marketing agreement with Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. The deal will garner Starbucks $150 million from Kozmo.com and will provide the Internet retailer with publicity in Starbucks' coffee shops. In return, Kozmo.com will sell Starbucks coffee over the Internet.

  Written by Computerworld Staff • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Attacks Bring Users to Feds

  As soon as eBay Inc.'s denial-of-service attacks began Feb. 8, the company's information systems department called Robert Chesnut, eBay's associate general counsel. It's an established routine. When called, Chesnut usually jogs across the company's San Jose campus to its control room to see what's up.

  Written by Patrick Thibodeau • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Oracle, Telia Form Mobile Net Services Company

  Oracle Corp. and Swedish telecommunications company Telia AB have formed a mobile Internet services joint venture to be based in Sweden, the two companies announced today.

  Written by Laura Rohde • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Tools Part of Enterprise Play

  With its launch of Windows 2000, Microsoft Corp. this week unveiled its plans to better support Web development on that server platform in its Visual Studio 7.0 tool set.

  Written by Lee Copeland • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• LookSmart: Organisation the key to profits

  The best way to make money on the Internet is not by "providing" content, but by "organising" it, according to search engine guru and LookSmart head, Evan Thornley.

  Written by David Smedley • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Tracking Stocks

  A tracking stock is created by a company that wants a separate market valuation for a business unit whose operations are somehow separate from the main company's core business. Typically, the tracking stock is in a growth industry, such as an e-commerce unit spun off from a traditional company. The parent company continues to control the assets of the business unit, while benefiting from investors' heightened interest in the tracking stock's industry and expected growth.

  Written by Robin Robinson • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• In the Big Leagues: SQL Server 2000

  Microsoft announced strong benchmarks for its SQL Server 2000 database at the Windows 2000 launch, but the database won't even be seen until April, when a select group of users will be asked to beta-test it.

  Written by Robin Robinson and Jaikumar Vijayan • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Briefs

  Santa Clara startup BoldFish Inc. next month plans to ship a high-volume outbound mail server designed for e-commerce marketing. The SMTP-based server software, which runs on Windows NT or Unix, can blast out 500,000 messages per hour, according to the company. The software can also manage any "bounce-back" messages that don't reach intended recipients, the company says.

  Written by Network World staff • 18 Feb. 00 12:01

• Deja Vu Y2k? Stock Decimalization Looms

  Financial companies are characterizing the decimalization of the stock market as "Y2k all over again" for the expense, time, risk and creative accounting it's likely to incur. And some agree that an expected increase in stock market transactions will be just as challenging.

  Written by MARIA TROMBLY • 18 Feb. 00 12:01