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 : Newbridge Networks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MD Bryant who wrote (7395)	11/16/1998 9:53:00 PM
From: pat mudge	Respond to of 18016

Driving the need for C&W's spending is Bill Gates' challenge: daily.zdevents.com <<< Standing O greets industry 'superstar' Gates: Best still yet to come By Charles Bermant, The Daily Bill Gates opened COMDEX Sunday night with an upbeat address to a capacity crowd that reportedly started queuing up at noon, providing a mix of technology vision, product previews, and humorous asides. As he presented these new technologies, he reiterated a familiar theme: As the PC becomes more powerful and versatile, it also becomes a lot more fun. As he walked onstage, Gates was greeted like a rock star or political hero, soliciting a standing ovation and a flashbulb fireworks display from the photographers who were crowded between the front row and the stage. The shutterbugs were efficiently cleared away two minutes into the speech. <Picture: Bill Gates><Picture: Video>Video 28 \| 56 Keynote Sidebar: Microsoft's Titanium SQL 7.0 Partners "The power and the performance of the PC continues to multiply," he said. "COMDEX is a demonstration of how companies of all sizes are contributing to these improvements. "As we tap into the power of this technology, we must accept some of the pitfalls that face us. As PCs become more powerful, we must work to keep them simple. And as we open the Internet to new users, we must work hard to protect their privacy." While Gates is a big deal to everyone in this vicinity -- estimates are that about 15,000 people heard the speech in the main and overflow halls -- there are still those who are not yet convinced. In one videotape, Jay Leno interviewed several people who weren't quite sure if Gates "had more money than Oprah." Looking back...and forward "My last year has been exciting," he said before launching one of the evening's many short videos, this one a collage of the tribulations Microsoft and Gates has faced in the last few months -- from a pie in the face to the ignoble crash of Windows 98 during his COMDEX keynote in Chicago last April. Gates has mastered the art of the in-speech demo, with this year's models stressing the symbiosis between hardware and software. "Software needs to become richer in order to tap into this new world of incredible performance," he said. "It needs to be able to meet the most demanding needs that users of the Internet will require." First, Silicon Graphics senior VP Tom Furlong demonstrated a new graphical workstation that runs Windows NT and, in an impressive demonstration of price and performance, will cost around $4000. A demonstration of full-motion video onscreen prompted an enthusiastic ovation from the crowd. But it was not all for fun and games. Furlong pointed out how such machines allow designers to test components before they are built, significantly shortening the time "between the design studio and the driveway" (in the case of the new Volkswagen Beetle). Gates then brought out Microsoft's Bill Hill to demonstrate ClearType, a new implementation for fonts that was designed for use in electronic books. According to Hill, the process triples the resolution of fonts as it uses existing LCD technology. Hill presented a hypothetical: "If we introduce this technology into the next operating system..." "Which we will," Gates interrupted. "Which we will," Hill continued. "Every application will be able to benefit from this, which increases the resolution of the hardware you are using today by 300 percent." The next demonstration was Office 2000, which will have configurable menus, multiple language support, and other intelligence features. Finally, Gates demonstrated the new version of SQL Server, which allows simple English language queries to retrieve information from vast databases. Privacy concerns Privacy is a huge issue. Gates said that a set of rules must be established, to govern how far employers can go to check out the background of an applicant or how a phone company can use information about the numbers that you dial. To this end, there are measures we can take today. He advocates developing "biometric" (fingerprint and eye scan) technologies along with more powerful smart cards. Passwords also need to be more sophisticated. "We need to make sure that a concern for privacy isn't the thing that holds us back from developing these technologies and adding new people to the Internet." <Picture: Bill Gates>Further comic relief was provided by Motocross hero Rusty Crank, who roared onstage on a motorcycle and emerged for some rowdy interaction with Gates and a new game called "Motocross Madness." After Gates ignominiously crashed a motorcycle, Crank admonished "Big G, you better just stick to those PowerPoint presentations." Amid the levity, the message was clear: The graphics on games are increasingly compelling and realistic. The hardware used to power these games offer greater control. And pretty soon this graphical power will trickle down to the "regular" PC environment. "The PC is not standing still in any way," Gates said. "The number of things that we use the PC for will continue to expand." Some of these areas: music, digital photography, telephony, toys, and new peripherals. He then ended the speech with the same words he has used several times before: "The best is yet to come." >>>>

To: MD Bryant who wrote (7395)	11/17/1998 12:33:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

News on SBC: <<< SBC to expand Calif. high-speed Internet service Reuters Story - November 16, 1998 20:43 NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - SBC Communications Inc. plans to expand its existing high-speed Internet service in California next year, SBC chairman Ed Whitacre said Monday. The service, which uses a technology known as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), allows local phone service providers such as SBC to deliver near-instantaneous Internet access over standard phone lines. "We're poised to make a large announcement in California, putting ADSL in front of a million customers," Whitacre told investors at the Warburg Dillon Read Telecom Conference in New York. Whitacre said revenues per customer for ADSL service would be about $50 to $60 a month, or more than double the rate customers pay for slower speed, so-called "dial up" access, that is the primary way computers users link to the Internet. Separately, Whitacre said his company was "very, very interested" in potential investments in cellular properties, responding to a question about whether it would consider adding additional cellular properties. Whitacre said SBC's existing wireless operations continue to grow despite competition and margins continue to remain strong. ((New York Newsdesk (212) 859-1700)) <<<< And more from Cable & Wireless: >>> November 17, 1998 <Picture> Tech Center Cable & Wireless Plans High-Speed Data Network By GAUTAM NAIK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL LONDON -- Cable & Wireless PLC confirmed plans to build a high-speed network for voice and data linking 40 European cities in 13 countries. The goal is to provide high-speed Internet and other data services to corporate customers. The company expects to spend about $450 million in the first two years of the project; it will spend an additional $550 million over the following three years. In London trading Monday, Cable & Wireless stock rose 3.5% to close at 688 pence ($11.45), an increase of 23 pence. Unlike older phone networks that are slow and mainly built to carry voice calls, the new system will use Internet technology to transmit data at high speed. Eventually, the European leg of the network will connect, via undersea cables, to Cable & Wireless's Internet assets in the U.S. The British carrier recently acquired those assets from MCI Communications Corp. for $1.75 billion. Cable & Wireless already owns a network in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. "What we're doing is creating a global high-speed network," said Stephen Pettit, executive director of Cable & Wireless's Global Businesses unit. "The European element is a key part of that jigsaw." Other companies have similar ideas. WorldCom Inc. has a high-speed network in Europe that links to its U.S. operations. British Telecommunications PLC and smaller firms like Esprit Telecom Group PLC also are building pan-European networks. Like many of its rivals, Cable & Wireless won't be laying its own fiber-optic cables. Instead, it will buy capacity from existing carriers. Once the "dark fiber" is acquired, Cable & Wireless will add the electronics and make the system operational. The British carrier will buy its first chunk of capacity from Hermes Europe Railtel, a venture between Global TeleSystems Group of the U.S. and two European railways. That portion of the network will connect 10 European cities and become operational in the first quarter of 1999. Cable & Wireless will separately spend $100 million to acquire 7,200 kilometers of additional high-speed links from a Los Angeles-based company, Global Crossing Ltd., which is building its own global fiber-optic system. That portion of the network will carry five million simultaneous phone calls, and is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of next year, Cable & Wireless said. The company also plans to set up shop in Frankfurt and Duesseldorf this year, offering voice and data services to German businesses. The overall $1 billion investment over five years could create more than 1,000 European jobs, Cable & Wireless said. >>>>