Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DaveMG who wrote (18166)	11/10/1998 11:19:00 PM
From: straight life	Respond to of 152472

WirelessKnowledge CEO hopes for IPO in Q1 2000 REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 10 (Reuters) - WirelessKnowledge Chief Executive Officer John Major on Tuesday said he hopes the newly formed joint venture of Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and Qualcomm Inc (Nasdaq:QCOM - news) could go public in the first quarter of 2000. In a brief interview at WirelessKnowledge's unveiling here, Major said the company could conceivably begin making money soon, but is focusing for now on developing support for its concept of data delivery via a wireless network. He said the company is seeking additional equity partners, possibly among telecommunciations companies. Officials of both companies declined to comment on how much each is investing, saying only it was a ''substantial'' amount. WirelessKnowledge was unveiled earlier today by software giant Microsoft and wireless equipment maker Qualcomm. WirelessKnowledge will provide access to the Internet and private business networks through wireless network links with laptop and desktop PCs, digital phones, pagers and other business equipment.

To: DaveMG who wrote (18166)	11/10/1998 11:19:00 PM
From: DaveMG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Red Herring : End of Eudora? redherring.com

To: DaveMG who wrote (18166)	11/10/1998 11:21:00 PM
From: straight life	Respond to of 152472

MICROSOFT, QUALCOMM LAUNCH MOBILE VENTURE By Owen Thomas Red Herring Online November 10, 1998 REDMOND, WASHINGTON -- "Everything is becoming a cell phone." At least that's how Microsoft vice president Haresh Kodel sees it. At a joint announcement Tuesday by Microsoft (MSFT) and Qualcomm (QCOM) on the software giant's campus, Mr. Kodel pointed out that sales of wireless phones were rapidly outpacing PC shipments. The companies had gathered to launch WirelessKnowledge, a 50-50 joint venture that aims to develop services for wireless carriers. The venture draws on Qualcomm's wireless technology and Microsoft's back-end servers and Windows CE platform for small devices like phones. It's an important boost to Microsoft's ambitions to extend Windows down to devices much smaller than the ones currently capable of running the bulky desktop OS. News of the venture followed on the heels of the announcement of Symbian, a rival to WirelessKnowledge. Wireless equipment makers Ericsson and Nokia and British software developer Psion formed the Symbian partnership to create a new operating system for cellular phones and other small, handheld communications devices. Heavy on the Qualcomm "It's nice to sell a little NT on the side," says Microsoft president Steve Ballmer. But, he adds, the real goal is to develop a platform for a wide range of wireless data services. The event also gives notice that Qualcomm is scaling back ambitions to develop a consumer software business that spanned PC desktops and smart cellular phones. WirelessKnowledge will be based near Qualcomm's San Diego headquarters, and all four senior executives named Tuesday come from Qualcomm. CEO John Major was previously Motorola's chief technology officer; James Debello, VP and general manager, served as general manager of Qualcomm's Eudora division; and VP of product development Randy Salo comes from a similar role at the Eudora division. The brain drain is significant: Through several recent acquisitions, Qualcomm built up strong offerings in email clients, Internet mail servers, and contact management software -- all of which competed directly with Microsoft's Exchange mail server and Outlook email and contact management program. WirelessKnowledge will offer services based on Microsoft's Windows CE platform, and will adopt Exchange as its information infrastructure. Paul Jacobs, president of Qualcomm's consumer services division, told the Herring that his company had tried to market a version of this service, called Qualcomm Mobile Network, to wireless carriers, but didn't meet with much success. "We started out trying to write our own server [software]," says Mr. Jacobs. "But we weren't successful in our brand-building -- we didn't have the IT managers [as customers]." While Qualcomm's Eudora software has a strong consumer following -- analysts estimate the email client has tens of millions of users -- it failed to gain much traction in the market for corporate email servers. Most users downloaded a free version of the software, and as a result, the division saw modest revenues from the product. "We're certainly looking for a good business model [for Eudora]," says Mr. Jacobs. "We're looking at some ways to make it sustainable." Creative balance The move also bolsters Microsoft's move into the palm-sized PC market, perhaps allowing OEMs to create products like the pdQ, a combination of 3Com's PalmPilot handheld organizer and Qualcomm's digital wireless phone. Mr. Jacobs says Qualcomm will continue to collaborate with Palm on smart phones, but will add support for Windows CE, a competitor to 3Com's Palm OS. "We're going to support Windows CE, obviously," he says. "Microsoft wants to be successful, but they recognize Palm is out there. The pdQ is a device that could validate the whole [smart phone] space." It's clear that WirelessKnowledge will have to strike a careful balance between both parent companies. Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs said the venture was likely to seek additional strategic investors. A board, as yet unnamed, will have two representatives each from Microsoft and Qualcomm. WirelessKnowledge's Mr. Major will take the fifth seat. RELATED LINKS Last year, Qualcomm seemed poised to merge its software and wireless businesses. DISCUSSION / FEEDBACK Can Microsoft and Qualcomm have a happy relationship? Talk it over in our public companies message board.

To: DaveMG who wrote (18166)	11/10/1998 11:22:00 PM
From: Harvey Rosenkrantz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

" Wide Information Access and Distribution, and Universal Updating The services brought to you by wirelessknowledge™, teamed with your wireless device, enable you to: send, receive, forward, and store e-mail; check, update and revise your calendar; review and update your contacts; get up-to-date news and information from the Internet; and MORE… all from one central data source. This means you can read, delete, and respond to your e-mail, update your calendar, add new contacts only ONCE, since every action you take is universally updated to all of your devices -- even your desktop! Your carrier-provided wirelessknowledge™ access gateway is your personal, goes-anywhere home page. While the information on your home page stays the same, the format adapts to the device you're using. Your information appears one way when viewed on the window of your mobile phone, another on the screen of your hand-held PC, and yet another way on the monitor of your desktop or laptop computer. So–no matter the device displaying your home page–your data is always the same! " The above quote is from the WirelessKnowledge web site. It is now evident where the expertise accrued from Eudora as well as the purchase of Now! Software is headed. What a great, logical, next step for expansion into the big leagues of telecom servicing. I don't have the expertise to translate this new division into earnings per share, but I think it has big time potential. Did anyone else notice that the only major domestic wireless operator that was not on the list was SBC?