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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (2387)	1/20/1999 10:12:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 3178

When defining FCC rules on what constitutes arbitrary, "Web-Portal-Dominance", how could a line of demarcation be drawn ? zdnet.com The Big-Name Partnership That Will Threaten AOL Jesse Berst, Editorial Director ZDNet AnchorDesk By now you've heard about the $6.7 billion deal that marries Excite's portal and @Home's cable-based Internet access. Click for more. And about NBC and CNet launching a new portal aimed at users of ADSL and other high-speed, phone-based Internet services. Click for more. What's next? And who's going to win once the dust settles? Analysts think Microsoft will buy Lycos. Click for more. But there's a blockbuster in the wings that could be even more powerful… Amazon and Lycos. That's right. Ecommerce pioneer Amazon.com may take its overpriced stock and snap up a portal, possibly Lycos. Combine Lycos with Amazon's customer base and the calendaring services of its PlanetAll subsidiary, and you have a super-portal that could be first to truly cash in on personalized ecommerce. Even if Amazon succeeds in its super-secret efforts to buy a portal, it will face tough competition. In order of size and muscle: America Online: Brand leader and audience leader with great content, commerce and community. Has the best interface (of a bad lot). Poor personalization and a proprietary platform are stumbling blocks. Main challenge is merging/managing multiple brands -- AOL, CompuServe, Netcenter. Yahoo: Strong brand and strong personalization features, plus popular search and navigation tools and a growing ecommerce function. But this arrogant giant is beginning to slip against rivals and has no (visible) broadband strategy. (Disclosure: AnchorDesk parent Softbank is an investor in Yahoo.) MSN/Lycos: If Amazon.com can't corral Lycos then Microsoft probably will. A deal would create a rich customer base -- MSN, Microsoft.com, Hotmail and Lycos. Already a leader in personalization, MSN has strong content and ecommerce with Expedia, Car Point, Investor. @Home/Excite: Richest customer base with @Home, Excite and AT&T customers/subscribers. A leader in broadband rich media marketing, ads, personalization and services; can add phone service over cable. Like AOL, offers full soup-to-nuts menu -- Internet access, content, commerce, community, services. Lacks brand awareness and compelling content. Go Network: Will distinguish itself as a content-oriented destination with rich fusion of ABCNews.com, ESPN.com, other Disney properties. Has Infoseek's excellent directory and search services. Plus Mickey's promotional genius. NBC, Snap: Late to the game, but can try for early lead in broadband content with new partnership with phone companies. Click for more. There are other portals and portal wanna-bes that are candidates to buy or be bought, including AltaVista, McAfee Online, PointCast, GeoCities, The Mining Company and HotBot. Who will be the No. 1 portal site 12 months from now? I predict America Online will stay on top, followed by Amazon, Disney and Microsoft. What do you think? Use the TalkBack button below and/or join my Berst Alerts forum.

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (2387)	2/2/1999 8:15:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 3178

So one day driving schools will change, but not in my life time? First Handheld Portable Vehicle Navigation System to Market Delivered by DATUS Using BSQUARE Technology February 2, 1999 BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE) Portable Car Navigation Assistant Generates Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions with Automatic Voice Guidance Letting Users Focus on Driving without Stress or Delay! BSQUARE(R) Corporation announcedts technology was used to embed Microsoft's Windows CE operating system and the AMD ElanSC400 processor on DATUS' new RouteFinder PNA, the first handheld portable vehicle navigation system to generate turn-by-turn driving directions with automatic voice guidance. Utilizing BSQUARE's CE Xpress Adaptation Kit technology to quickly bring up Windows CE on the AMD SC400 microprocessor enabled DATUS to concentrate on developing the features of the navigation system that allow it to stand out in the market place. DATUS' focus on differentiation directed BSQUARE's Project Engineering Services to develop a custom 16 Bit audio driver for speech synthesis that allows the RouteFinder PNA to speak turn-by turn driving directions. "We are constantly developing and enhancing BSQUARE technologies that enable companies such as DATUS to deliver their Windows CE-based devices in record time," said William Baxter, president and CEO of BSQUARE Corporation. "When a customer utilizes our products and services, they are able to take advantage of our in-depth experience with Windows CE and invest their engineering efforts in differentiating features rather than spending months just bringing up Windows CE. Ultimately, this strategy produces the highest quality Windows CE products while minimizing development time and project cost." DATUS Inc. specializes in vehicle navigation hardware and software and developed RouteFinder PNA, which includes Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, using the AMD SC400 Xpress Adaptation Kit and a custom audio driver from BSQUARE along with the AMD Elan SC400 processor and Windows CE. " RouteFinder PNA is a breakthrough for navigation systems. Employing BSQUARE's products and services helped a great deal in achieving our goal of delivering the PNA on time and on budget," explained Andy Khanna, president of DATUS, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Daewoo Telecom, Ltd. "BSQUARE stood behind us throughout development of the PNA demonstrating support and becoming a great partner." About the CE Xpress Kits CE Xpress Kits extend the capability of Microsoft's Platform Builder (ETK) to meet the particular needs of individual development platforms. Each processor-specific kit provides the tools and components necessary to implement Windows CE on a specific hardware platform. BSQUARE offers kits for a wide range of evaluation boards, reference platforms, single-board computers, and custom hardware devices. CE Xpress Kits include production ready and fully tested on-chip and on-board device drivers, platform-verified OALs, loaders, and more to provide a complete build environment. BSQUARE's CE Xpress Kits are offered in three versions: -- CE Xpress Adaptation Kit -- a fully comprehensive development environment, complete with source code, for in-depth Windows CE development -- CE Xpress Binary Kit -- a low cost, quick and easy way to evaluate a hardware platform and begin initial development on a given platform. -- CE Xpress Single-Board Computer Kit -- Out-of-the-box solutions for a fast bring-up of Windows CE, in conjunction with our SBC hardware partners. About BSQUARE As a Microsoft-sanctioned Windows CE Systems Integrator and distributor, BSQUARE's Embedded Systems Group offers a single source solution for embedded systems designers looking to incorporate Windows CE into their target devices. BSQUARE delivers all the necessary components for a successful implementation of Windows CE: licenses for Windows CE, CE Xpress Adaptation Kits, CE Xpress Binary Kits, BSQUARE CE EmbeddedDesktop, Project Engineering Services, Microsoft's Platform Builder, and technical support. BSQUARE, located in Bellevue, Washington, specializes in Windows CE and offers consulting services, embedded system products and services, and software applications for portable PC companions. BSQUARE offers more experience with Windows CE than any other systems integrator, and leverages this knowledge and years of direct experience to deliver cutting-edge technology and speed the customer's time-to-market. BSQUARE was founded in 1994 and is the market leader in providing complete Windows CE-based solutions.