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Microsoft and America Online were in talks about bundling the AOL internet access service with the next version of the Windows operating system, Windows XP, but the talks fell through on Saturday. The companies say they are unlikely to resume the talks, although Microsoft has pledged to guarantee that AOL meshes well with Windows XP and will run smoothly. AOL has been included with Windows for the past five years, but that contract expired in January. The sticking point for the internet and software giants was the distribution of digital audio files. AOL would not promise not to sue Microsoft over the issue or to use Microsoft’s audio and video software. The two companies disagreed on how to handle the rivalry between Windows Media Player and AOL partner RealNetworks. AOL had been considering including Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser with its own software, instead of its own Netscape browser. Microsoft’s inclusion of AOL with its Windows operating system helped propel AOL to internet dominance and helped it build its 29-million-member user base.
Women.com sued for copyright breach
European internet service provider, marketer and women’s entertainment site Euregio.net has filed a $900,000 lawsuit against women’s portal Women.com for copyright infringement and unfair competition. More specifically, Euregio accuses Women.com of swiping horoscope material from its EasyScope Entertainment Network. According to Euregio, Women.com appropriated text from EasyScope in order to boost its search engine rankings. Euregio alleges that Women.com pasted content from EasyScope on its InternetHoroscopes.com site, disguised as white letters on a white background. Doing this made Women.com’s horoscope site more likely to show up whenever web users looked for the types of keywords found within Euregio’s content. Euregio claims that it discovered the alleged copyright violation because Women.com did not correct EasyScope’s deliberate spelling mistakes and trademark references. Women.com denies the accusations.
Britannica will resume publication of print edition
After a prolonged and earnest flirtation with life as a dot.com, Encyclopedia Britannica has announced that it will return to its old-economy roots and recommence publication of its 32-volume print edition. The print edition has not been revised since 1998; all new entries have appeared instead across Britannica’s various internet properties. The 233-year-old reference materials company had been concentrating on the web, diverting tens of millions of dollars into its web operations in an effort to dominate the online- and electronic-reference markets. At the end of 1999, Britannica unveiled a free web site as a companion to its fee-based online encyclopedia, which it introduced in 1994. The company also focused heavily on an online directory it called eBLAST, which has been discontinued. Britannica executives stress that the company isn’t ditching its web sites; rather the company is just expanding its product line by turning back to off-line publishing.
Unisys: So sorry for inventing the computer
Can’t escape those urgent emails? Don’t blame the boss--blame Unisys, the creator of the first commercial computer. In a publicity gambit coinciding with the machine’s 50th anniversary, the company has issued a tongue-in-cheek apology for unleashing UNIVAC upon the world. Unisys jokingly takes credit for many of the follies of modern-day office life. If it weren’t for UNIVAC, the company claims, business hours would be reasonable; life wouldn’t be reduced to a “series of counterintuitive acronyms;” people wouldn’t be crushed under tons of email; privacy would still be a right; and Spam would still be Spam. UNIVAC stands for “Universal Automatic Computer.” The first UNIVAC was powered up on June 14, 1951 for the U.S. Census Bureau and was so large that people could walk inside it and use it as an air-conditioned office. The machine has long since been supplanted by vastly smaller, smarter computers, but Unisys is still around as an “e-business solutions” company.
Volkswagen rolls out wired wheels
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a wired automobile, and you may ask yourself, how did I get here? The answer comes from Volkswagen, which has just introduced a web-enabled version of its popular Golf model. The Golf eGeneration will include a built-in mobile telephone, mini-computer and MP3 player. Drivers, or preferably their passengers, will be able to check their email, get directions, look up stock quotes and even do their banking as they barrel down the Autobahn. The car will be available in blue and only in Germany. As befits an internet-enabled car, the Golf eGeneration will be for sale online, not at bricks-and-mortar dealerships. The cyber-Golf will cost $19,319--that's $1,760 more than the cost of the low-tech version. Sales begin July 9, and Volkswagen projects that it will sell 3,000 of them in a pilot project. VW is treating the eGeneration as an experiment, and whether or not it produces more for other markets will depend on how the pilot project goes. VW claims that the Golf eGeneration is the first mass-market web-enabled car, though most of the major auto manufacturers have been toying with the concept for some time now.
Chinese tops Spanish as No. 2 webcast language
According to the National Basketball Association, Chinese is now the most widespread non-English language for its internet audio broadcasts. Until this year, Spanish was the most popular tongue, after English, for NBA webcasts. The NBA attributes the increase in Chinese listeners to several factors. The sport is increasingly popular in China, and several Chinese basketball players now play in the NBA. The highest profile athlete, Wang Zhizhi, hooked up with the Dallas Mavericks during the last part of this season. Also, the NBA has marketed extensively in China, signing deals to broadcast the games to more than 150 million people there. The NBA offers webcasts in 12 languages, including Japanese, Korean, Italian, German and Arabic, in addition to Chinese, English and Spanish. The NBA has been audio-broadcasting games online for about five-and-a-half years. The foreign language audio webcasts commenced roughly four years ago.
June 18, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
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