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Technology Stocks : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dolfan who wrote (31642)	6/18/1999 3:07:00 AM
From: Dennis C	Respond to of 45548

3Com to Form New Business for Wireless Internet Services 3Com to Form New Business for Wireless Internet Services Santa Clara, California, June 18 (Bloomberg) -- 3Com Corp., the No. 2 maker of networking equipment, said it will form a new company to supply wireless Internet service for cell phones, 3Com's PalmPilot and other hand-held devices. The new company, named OpenSky, will receive investments from 3Com, OpenSky's top management and closely held Aether Technologies International LLC, a maker of software used to run wireless data networks. Financial terms weren't disclosed. OpenSky President and Chief Executive Patrick McVeigh said the new company's service will be available in the U.S. by the fourth quarter for users of the PalmPilot and some cell phones. The service, which will let customers download e-mail and information from corporate databases over the World Wide Web, later will link to devices run by Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE operating system. ''We want to speed the development of the market for wireless data services,'' said McVeigh, former vice president of worldwide sales for 3Com's Palm Computing division. OpenSky will be based in Palo Alto, California. 3Com will license its Palm operating system and provide technical support to OpenSky, part of plans to increase sales of its market-leading product. The new company will employ ''a handful of 3Com people,'' said Mike Dolbec, 3Com's vice president of business development. Shared Technology 3Com's so-called Web clipping technology, which speeds up the transmission of data from Internet sites by selecting only part of its content, will be integrated with Aether's AIM.net service. 3Com, based in Santa Clara, California, in November invested $6 million in Owings Mills, Maryland-based Aether, which runs wireless data services for Bear Stearns & Co., Discover Brokerage and other financial companies. The pricing of the OpenSky product hasn't been set yet. McVeigh said the company will likely offer ''unlimited access for a fixed price.'' The company will announce in the next two months which wireless telecommunication providers will carry the service on their networks, he said. Separately, Aether soon will unveil an agreement to run an internal wireless data service for Merrill Lynch & Co., Aether Chief Operating Officer George Davis said.

To: Dolfan who wrote (31642)	6/18/1999 3:49:00 AM
From: Dennis C	Respond to of 45548

The New York Times reported the following stories on the FRONT PAGE of its business section on Friday. * Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, ...... * Intensifying the consolidation of the nation's top book publishers...... * On June 2, the big, four-engine Russian Ilyushin IL-96T ..... * 3Com (Nasdaq:COMS - news) plans to announce that it is starting yet another business, one that would provide wireless phones, pagers and advanced handheld computers with access to Internet data, including news, stock quotes and sports scores.

To: Dolfan who wrote (31642)	6/18/1999 11:33:00 PM
From: Bernie Weinsaft	Respond to of 45548

3Com works on Net strategy to boost sales By Wylie Wong Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 18, 1999, 12:50 p.m. PT news analysis 3Com is creating a company that offers wireless Internet service for one main reason, analysts say: to sell more of its PalmPilots. 3Com today joins a growing number of tech firms, including Microsoft and Oracle, that are diving into the emerging wireless market in hopes of selling more of their core technology--whether it be operating systems, handheld computing devices, or database services. "The goal is to ultimately grow what we call the Palm economy," said Mike Dolbec, 3Com's vice president of business development. As reported earlier, 3Com today paired up with Aether Technologies to form OpenSky, a new company that will offer wireless Net service for cell phones, PalmPilots, and other handheld devices. Aether makes software used to run wireless data networks. OpenSky will work with telecommunications carriers to offer users access to email and corporate data over the Internet, as well as sponsor a portal that will give users access to news, stock quotes, and e-commerce sites. Punk Ziegel analyst Michael Davies said 3Com's initiative is a smart one, as the wireless device market is exploding. Offering new functions for the devices, like Internet services, may entice businesses and consumers to buy more products, he said. "They're leveraging the usability of the PalmPilot and other handhelds into more exciting areas, such as unified messaging," Davies said. "This broadens the market opportunity for the products." Dataquest analyst Scott Quote Snapshot June 18, 1999, 1:01 p.m. PT 3com Corp. COMS 28.6250 +0.5625 +2.00% by symbol by name More from CNET Investor Quotes delayed 20+ minutes Miller said it will take a few years before wireless Internet services become popular. The new generation of cell phones that can handle Net service won't be available until next year, he said. And it will take a few years for the cost of handheld devices--as well as monthly subscription prices for the Net services--to go down. "It'll take some time for the prices to hit the mainstream," Miller said. Analysts believe 3Com's jump into the wireless Net fray is a direct response to moves by Microsoft, which competes with 3Com in the handheld market with its Windows CE operating system. In November, Microsoft and Qualcomm created a company called Wireless Knowledge. Similar to OpenSky, their goal is allow wireless carriers--including AirTouch Communications, GTE Wireless, and Sprint PCS--to offer data services to businesses. For example, an employee with a cellular phone or Windows CE-based handheld device would be able to hook into the Internet or corporate network over Microsoft software. "As we move along the convergence between the voice world and data world and unified messaging, the players that can best bring that to consumers will be 3Com and Microsoft, given their position with the Palm and CE operating systems," Davies said. But 3Com's Dolbec said OpenSky is different from Wireless Knowledge, as OpenSky is going after carriers as well as end-users, while Wireless Knowledge is only targeting the carrier market. Separately, Oracle is working to launch a similar wireless service called Project Panama that would use the Oracle 8i Lite mobile database. Oracle executives in the past have said they were discussing a potential partnership with 3Com in a move to unify their efforts. 3Com's Dolbec today said OpenSky may consider teaming with Oracle in the wireless Net space. Dolbec said OpenSky will announce partnerships with carriers later this summer and should roll out services throughout most of the United States by the fourth quarter. Last month, 3Com entered the wireless Net service market when it introduced its new Palm VII Palm.net service. The subscription-based Internet service gives users news and information, such as stock quotes from E*Trade and sports scores from ESPN. OpenSky will use 3Com's "Web-clipping" technology, which pares down the information from Web sites and fits into the PalmPilot's small screen.