Full Speed
One of the fathers of the Internet isnt buying reports of a slowdown. Traffic on the Internet quadrupled during the past year, and demand from corporations for around-the-clock access will force carriers to start spending heavily on upgrades next year, said Caspian Networks Chairman Lawrence Roberts, who created ARPANet. He based his findings on reports from major carriers.
Palms Be-Bop
Palm scooped up the technology assets and intellectual property of Be, a Net appliance and multimedia software developer, for $11 million in stock. The acquisition is part of Palms plan to fortify the Palm operating system as a rival to Microsofts Pocket PC. Also last week, Palm said Alan Kessler, who headed the OS group, resigned from the company.
No Delay
Microsoft lost another round in its antitrust struggle Aug. 17, when a federal appeals court denied the companys request to delay proceedings pending Supreme Court involvement. The case will be returned to U.S. District Court for remedy consideration this week.
Wyly Retreat
The battle for control of Computer Associates International was scaled back last week, when investor Sam Wylys Ranger Governance decided to run a slate of four nominees against the incumbent board, rather than challenge all 10 members.
Another Wave?
Qualcomm will invest $300 million in NextWave Telecom, which holds disputed wireless licenses and is trying to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Qualcomm also wants to help NextWave deploy a wireless broadband network in the U.S., but NextWaves licenses have been auctioned to other wireless players.