Attention....T A P has researched further into the Internet craze going on in China and has uncovered 2 news releases from last week involving Microsoft's plans on expanding its horizons in China. Both these are same story from two different writers!Add it all up
Mr Tilton + Internet Shopping Mall + Spin-off + Internet Craze in China + Microsoft= Very bright prospects for TNRG.
Wednesday March 10 5:32 PM ET
Microsoft Wants China Online
By MARCOS CALO MEDINA Associated Press Writer
SHENZHEN, China (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) moved to step up its presence in China's fast-growing Internet market with a unique deal to get Chinese consumers onto the Web and another to help the government go online.
The deals underscore Microsoft's determination to crack one of the world's most restricted but potentially lucrative markets for Internet products and services.
Only a small fraction of the nation's 1.2 billion people own personal computers, let alone have Web access, and Internet use is tightly regulated by government authorities. The proposals unveiled by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates Wednesday would make it easier and cheaper for Chinese consumers to log on to the Internet.
One Microsoft venture, dubbed ''Venus,'' would let Chinese consumers view the Internet through their television sets, similar to Microsoft's Web TV product in the United States. TV sets are far more widespread in China than PCs.
Chinese consumers would need to buy a small, low-cost device, possibly a set-top box, that uses a version of Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, which runs the basic functions of gadgets other than personal computers. Users would also need a keyboard, joystick or mouse, but wouldn't need to shell out for a PC.
''It will really open up Internet usage in a dramatic way,'' Gates told reporters at a signing ceremony in the booming southern border city of Shenzhen.
The devices are expected to go on sale later this year, said Phil Holden, a group product manager for Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.
The idea is part of a two-fold Microsoft strategy to eventually sell more Internet software in China.
In a second deal, Microsoft donated Internet software to China Telecom, the state telephone monopoly, and the State Economic and Trade Commission to help put their operations online. Microsoft officials did not disclose a value on the donated software.
The ventures come at a time when the Chinese government has been seeking to control the Internet and other new forms of telecommunications and multimedia services both for the sake of profit and to block the use of such services for political dissent.
China has passed laws to keep pornography - and material that the government views as subversive - off the Internet. Special computer crime squads have been set up.
Nonetheless, the government in Beijing has encouraged the rapid spread of Internet use in China - assuming service providers follow the rules, such as registering customers with the authorities.
Internet use in China has soared. Users topped 2.1 million in 1998, a fourfold growth in a year, and another 1.5 million accounts are expected to be opened this year.
''Sooner or later, technology will find a way to circumvent restrictions,'' said Charle Peza, a telecommunications analyst at the Hong Kong office of investment bank Salomon Smith Barney. ''The policy direction in China seems to be one of opening up.''
Microsoft announced another deal in Shanghai last year which involved offering Internet services over small, handheld computers. Those devices were developed using entirely Western technology. But in the new venture, Microsoft says it is using technology jointly developed by Western and Chinese experts at its research facility in Beijing.
Wednesday March 10 12:20 AM ET
Microsoft Expands Presence in China
By MARCOS CALO MEDINA Associated Press Writer
SHENZHEN, China (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), eyeing a restricted but rapidly growing Internet market in mainland China, plans to start offering systems to let the Chinese download movies, music, e-mail and other services through computers, televisions and VCD players.
''It will really open up Internet usage in a dramatic way,'' Microsoft chairman and chief executive Bill Gates said at a signing ceremony in this booming southern border city not far from Hong Kong.
Microsoft is banking on electronics manufacturers to install the necessary hardware in their products that are distributed across China. The end-users of services provided by the so-called ''Venus'' project will get connected to the Internet in a partnership between Microsoft and China Telecom.
It is unclear how broad Microsoft's reach can be in a huge nation where the Internet has posed touchy policy questions for authorities who are at once encouraging its growth while also trying to keep tight controls on information.
Despite various controls and threats to information dissemination in China, Internet use has soared. Users topped 2.1 million in 1998, a fourfold growth in a year, and another 1.5 million accounts are expected to be opened this year.
High-tech analysts believe the growth is unstoppable.
''Sooner or later, technology will find a way to circumvent restrictions,'' said Charle Peza, a telecommunications analyst at the Hong Kong office of investment bank Salomon Smith Barney. ''The policy direction in China seems to be one of opening up.''
A public relations adviser for Microsoft, Jenny Liu, would not say how many customers Microsoft is hoping to get in China. Nor would Microsoft discuss how much money it is investing in deals it was signing today with seven companies on the mainland.
Microsoft's venture is the second of its kind in China for the U.S. software giant.
The first such Microsoft project was launched late last year in Shanghai but offers its services only through small, handheld computers. The Shanghai version was developed using entirely Western technology; on the new venture, Microsoft says it is using technology jointly developed by Western and Chinese experts at its research facility in Beijing.
Piracy of software and other Western high-tech items is a perennial problem in China, but Microsoft said that in its latest dealings it has signed an anti-piracy agreement with Shenzhen, a booming southern border city not far from Hong Kong.
Microsoft will provide software for the Shenzhen government so it can go online.
The deal comes at a time when the Chinese government has been seeking to control the Internet and other innovative forms of telecommunications and multimedia services both for the sake of profit and to block the use of such services for political dissent.
China has passed laws to keep pornography - and material that the government views as subversive - off the Internet. Special computer crime squads have been set up.
Nonetheless, the government in Beijing has encouraged the rapid spread of Internet use in China - assuming service providers follow the rules, such as registering customers with the authorities.
T A P has received 700K shares of TNRG from the company for services provided for a period of 1 year. For a complete write-up on TNRG and other Turn Around Picks and free membership go to T A P profile for url.
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