Archives

Judge Denies Microsoft Motion to Move RealNetworks' Antitrust Suit to Seattle

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2004 - 6:16am.
Seattle -- The judge presiding over RealNetworks' $1 billion antitrust suit against rival Microsoft has denied a Microsoft motion to move the trial to Seattle from San Jose, California, where RealNetworks lodged its original claim. U.S. District Court Judge James Ware said that Microsoft would not be any more inconvenienced if the trial were in California instead of Washington, even though both companies are based there. RealNetworks is thought to have filed in California partly because many of Microsoft's rivals operate in Silicon Valley, and because some employees of these firms may be called to testify. "We look forward to presenting our case to a jury in San Jose, where key third-party witnesses can give important testimony in person," said RealNetworks spokesman Greg Chimengo. In its suit, RealNetworks argues that Microsoft used its monopoly standing to influence the digital media player market in which the two companies compete. Microsoft has defended its actions, pointing to a healthy and competitive market in which Microsoft, RealNetworks and Apple's QuickTime all hold large shares.
tags: Microsoft | RealNetworks | Seattle | Antitrust | Denies |

HP, Starbucks to Offer Custom CD Creation Service in Cafes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2004 - 6:15am.
Seattle -- PC maker HP announced on Friday that it has partnered with Starbucks to offer an in-store custom CD creation service, where patrons may choose tracks from an in-store digital music library. BusinessWeek.com reports that Starbucks will offer the service in 2,500 stores, beginning with the launch of the first "Hear Music Café" in Santa Monica, Calif. next Tuesday. The service is expected to offer a library of 250,000 songs. Starbucks also offers wireless Internet access in many of its retail locations.
tags: HP | CD | Starbucks | Custom | Cafes |

Report: 25% of All Cell Phones Sold in 2004 Will Have Cameras

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2004 - 6:14am.
Norwell, Mass. -- Over 25% of all cell phones sold in 2004 will be camera phones, as unit sales reach 150 million this year, according to projections from Massachusetts-based market research firm InfoTrends Research Group. Camera phone sales are expected to reach 656 million units in 2008. The firm reports that Japan accounted for half of the world's camera phone sales in 2003. "Growth in the camera phone market creates new opportunities for many industry players, including handset vendors, wireless carriers, and digital photofinishers," said InfoTrends senior research analyst Jill Aldort. InfoTrends noted that rapid adoption of camera phones worldwide will generate an additional 29 billion digital images captured this year.
tags: Reports | Cameras | Cell Phones |

Yahoo Teams with BT On IM Telephone Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2004 - 6:12am.
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looking for another revenue stream, Yahoo said on Thursday that it has teamed with U.K. telecommunications group BT on a new service that will allow users to make phone calls using Yahoo's instant messenger. Dubbed Yahoo Messenger with BT Communicator, the new service, which will employ the increasingly popular Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, is scheduled to launch later this year. The companies said they will share revenues evenly from the service, which will be billed to users' home phone accounts at normal toll-call rates.
tags: Yahoo | IM | BT | Telephone Service |

EU Launches $61 Million Program to Clean Up Internet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 12, 2004 - 6:11am.
Brussels -- The European Commission (EC) announced on Friday that it has earmarked 50 million euro ($61 million) for a new three-year program designed to "clean up the Internet." The EC said its main objective was to improve protection for children and minors, but added that the program would also address other illegal and/or harmful content, such as racism, violence and even ubiquitous "spam" emails. Under the program, the EC will establish hotlines for the public to report illegal Internet content and encourage self-regulation to deal with unwanted and harmful content, providing funding for the development of content-rating and filtering services. The Commission said it would also inform parents and teachers' about the tools available to protect children using mobile and broadband content, online games, peer-to-peer file transfers and all forms of real-time communications such as chat rooms and instant messages (IMs).
tags: Internet | EU | Program |