Thor Olavsrud

In the trenches of the instant messaging (IM) wars, America Online Inc. has so far argued against interoperability, citing security concerns on behalf of its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) users. But a security advisory from @stake Inc., issued Wednesday morning, suggests AIM users may be at risk from the AIM client itself. According to @stake, […]

Sun Microsystems Inc. Tuesday moved to place its mark on the handheld market with the developer release of Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) and the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) for the Palm OS platform. J2ME is intended to address the consumer space, from smart cards and pagers to set-top boxes. Sun describes J2ME […]

Compaq Computer Corp. Tuesday could not escape the general malaise that has affected the computer industry in the past few months. It warned the Street that fourth quarter revenues and earnings would fall below expectations, due in large part to weakness in U.S. markets. The computer maker said revenue would be in the neighborhood of […]

Faced with reassuring customers of struggling ISPs, Covad Communications Monday raised the curtain on the Covad Safety Net Program, intended to help the company’s customers maintain Covad service while switching service providers. The DSL provider said the program is available to customers of financially distressed ISPs. Both broadband providers and ISPs have been struggling in […]

Google Inc. Monday unveiled a browser plug-in that will enable users to utilize the Google search engine from any page on the Internet. Dubbed Google Toolbar, the free plug-in integrates with Windows Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher and enables searches on sites without their own search capability. Google said it can quickly highlight and jump […]

NeoPlanet Inc., maker of the NeoPlanet browser, is gearing up to release a Mozilla-based browser early next year, in the process making its product available to Mac OS and Linux users. “I think we will probably have a beta release sometime in January,” said Drew Cohen, chief executive officer of NeoPlanet. “The first production release […]

Despite weakening demand in the U.S., the future looks brighter for computer manufacturers than some might expect. IDC Thursday forecast a healthy worldwide PC market with shipments expected to reach 40.15 million units in the fourth quarter, representing 19.6 percent growth over the same period last year and 19.8 percent sequential growth from third quarter […]

Users of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.’s online trading site could be opening themselves to attacks that would give a hacker access to their accounts, a bug hunter warned. Jeffrey Baker, a San Francisco-based software developer, discovered three security problems with the service on Aug. 25 but said Schwab staff did not listen to his […]

Harnessing zooming electrons to create the Internet may be hundreds of years more advanced than printed information, but whether readers access it through a softly glowing screen or in the glossy pages of a magazine, the written word can cut deeply. Luminant Worldwide, an integrated professional e-business services firm, learned that lesson from a story […]

MP3.com emerged from the bunkers Tuesday, relaunching its My.MP3.com service which for nearly a year has been beset by copyright infringement lawsuits brought by major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The only difference? Submit to ads and store a maximum of 25 CDs, or pay an annual fee and store […]

For the first time in three years, Apple is looking ahead to a losing quarter. The computer maker said Tuesday that poor sales in October and November will have a chilling effect on revenues and earnings for the quarter ending Dec. 30. Apple expects to report a net loss of $225 to $250 million on […]

Gaylord Entertainment Co., owner of the Grand Ole Opry, said Tuesday it will pull the plug on its Internet unit, Gaylord Digital, which resulted in a negative operating cash flow of $16.8 million through the first nine months of 2000. Gaylord Entertainment said that contributed to its own negative operating cash flow of $10.9 million […]