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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: drmorgan who wrote (17152)	8/24/1998 9:42:00 PM
From: WebDrone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22053

< Correct me if I'm wrong but AAPL is continuing to lose market share, correct? > Um, market share was up last Q by a little, and that was before iMac. A really inferior marketing survey by an independent party showed 14% of iMac sales were to people who had Windows, and about 14% to people who never owned computers before. There are a lot of technically incompetent people out there who want to surf the web and send an eMail. Windows won't cut it for technophobes, and WebTV is a joke because a TV is not even a poor monitor-- it's crap. So long as you guys think AAPL is dead, I think I've got a sleeper. WebDrone

To: drmorgan who wrote (17152)	8/27/1998 2:15:00 AM
From: Scrapps	Respond to of 22053

INTERVIEW-Microsoft takes aim at PalmPilot in China By Scott Hillis BEIJING, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will launch a Chinese version of its handheld computer platform later this year, hoping to shoot down 3Com's popular PalmPilot before it even enters China's airspace, a company executive said on Wednesday. Microsoft's development team in China was tailoring the company's Windows CE platform, a slimmed-down version of its ubiquitous Windows operating system, for Chinese users, said Michael Rawding, regional director for Greater China. "There are a number of devices that are already available in the U.S. and we're working aggressively on a Chinese version," Rawding told Reuters in an interview. "We'll start to see the fruits of that at the end of this year in December, when we anticipate having the first WinCE devices available," Rawding said. Handheld computers, weighing in at a few ounces (less than 200 grams) and slightly larger than a tape cassette, are rapidly gaining popularity in the United States and Europe. The devices are widely used to store personal data such as appointments and telephone numbers, but developers have dreamed up ever more uses ranging from Internet surfing to monitoringstock quotes. Microsoft's release of the second version of Windows CE has turned up the heat on handheld market leader 3Com Corp, which has sold some two million of its PalmPilot computers in the United States and Europe. 3Com has also set its sights on China and has said it plans to launch localised machines in Asia by the end of this year. But in China, the PalmPilot could face its biggest challenge yet from Microsoft, whose billionaire founder Bill Gates is revered as a genius by techno-savvy Chinese. By contrast, 3Com, whose core business is networking and switching systems, is virtually unknown to the average Chinesecomputer user. To make Windows CE more attractive to potential Chinese buyers, Rawding said Microsoft was developing unique applications, such as better methods of inputing Chinese script, and a Chinese dictionary. Chinese has long been a headache to computer developers because the written language consists of thousands of complicated pictographs rather than words assembled from a fewdozen letters. "Windows CE really does represent our first attempt to think more from the ground up of what is needed in non-PC, handheld, and other types of devices to support the unique characteristics of this marketplace," Rawding said. Rawding said Microsoft would target business professionals, and cited the phenomenal growth rates of the PC, mobile phone and pager markets as indications the machines would be hotsellers. Rawding declined to say how much the machines would cost, but said Microsoft was in talks with China's computer makers to come up with a design for the Chinese version. "It's hardware manufacturers that are selling the device, so we'll continue to work with them as a business partner so that it's profitable for them but also reaches a price point that we think is the right sweet spot in the market," he said. Handheld WinCE devices such as those made by Dutch electronics maker Philips and Japan's Casio Computer <6952.T> sell for $300 to $400 in the United States. 3Com's latest PalmIII also retails in that range. -- Beijing Newsroom (86) 10-6532-1921; Fax (86) 10-6532-4978 -- Email: beijing.newsroom@reuters.com