May 2000 Contents
Wireless to dominate Web by 2001 By the middle of next year, the main venue for Internet access will be through wireless devices, according to a new study by International Data Corp. (IDC). By mid-2001, all digital cellular/PCS handsets shipped in the world will be WAP-capable. So it’s very realistic that the majority of Internet access will shift so that it is through wireless, and not wired, means. That means changes are in store for the way consumer e-commerce is conducted. The shift to wireless access is driven in part by a growing trend on the part of phone service and other providers to encourage customers to use the Web for customer service, bill paying and account information. It is a logical extension for these companies to prompt consumers to buy products and services over their Internet-ready phones. Through notification services, vendors can start to encourage the use of the wireless Internet. As an example, if a consumer walks into a mall with a "smart" phone, the phone company knows that he has just entered the mall and can send him, through the phone, a coupon for $5 (US$) off a purchase at the Gap. Everyone will benefit from the growth in wireless use. Handsets manufacturers will gain as the popularity of the devices grows; carriers will be able to get a piece of the action through transaction fees and profit-sharing arrangements; both traditional and Web retailers can figure out many ways to promote sales over wireless devices. Software companies and credit card firms will also have a new source of revenue. Webmasters will need to adapt to the shift and retool their sites to accommodate the shift. According to IDC, by the end of 2002, there will be more Internet-enabled wireless device users than wired Internet users. Today, Internet sites have to be retrofitted for wireless users, but three years from now, it is conceivable they might have to be redesigned for wired users. Ariba Forms B2B Venture with Bank of America Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions company Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the largest bank in the United States, announced plans today to develop a suite of B2B services and a marketplace for the bank’s two million business customers. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, with $633 billion (US$) in assets, will set up a new company, Banc of America Marketplace LLC, powered by the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform. Bank of America will also use Ariba’s platform for its own procurement and marketplace operations. This is the most strategic move to date on the Internet for Bank of America, positioning us to redefine finance in the new economy. The cornerstone of the new alliance will be a B2B financial services engine to provide businesses of all sizes with expanded payment and finance options, including credit card Automated Clearing House (ACH), wire transfers, and foreign exchanges. The new product will also provide businesses with Web-based information integrating and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The breadth of financial and marketplace services will be important catalysts for accelerating B2B e-commerce process integration. Initially, the marketplace aspect of the venture will focus on small and medium-sized business customers of Bank of America, providing them with access to the bank’s preferred suppliers at negotiated contract prices. Offerings will be expanded over time, and the bank will develop "vertical communities" within the marketplace to target specific industries with common buying and selling needs. "This ubiquitous engine will provide businesses of all sizes with expanded payment and finance options and automated information flows for all types of purchases, from computers to capital equipment to tons of steel, " Eventually, Bank of America business customers will be able to buy from and sell to each other, using either traditional catalog pricing or auctions. The system will be available through a variety of desktop or wireless Internet-enabled devices. For Silicon Alley, The Good Old Days Are Now In Silicon Alley the surest sign of nostalgia craze was the recent New York Magazine cover story about the class of 1995 — the "original" Silicon Alley crew. Back in 1995 there was only one news organization covering Silicon Alley and that was at NewYork.com, known as "@NY" and published as a biweekly e-mail newsletter. Back in the day Silicon Alley was a derisive joke, an ongoing gag. Those days did have much to recommend them. There was a sense of revolutionary conspiracy in the air, a spirit of creativity, a sense of adventure. Of course, it was a kind of exclusive place as well. Today the sense of revolutionary conspiracy is gone while the exclusiveness and posturing remain, but despite that, the reality is that Silicon Alley circa 2000 is not only a vastly different place than Silicon Alley 1995 — it’s also a vastly better place. The new face of Silicon Alley is more entrepreneurial, more technically sophisticated, more experienced, more diverse, less naïve, and in some ways more creative than we were five years ago. First of all business models are smarter. In part this is just a function of the industry as a whole being more mature. But in part it’s a function of next generation Silicon Alley entrepreneurs thinking about new ways of improving the on the old ideas of targeted advertising and data mining. Second, the companies are developing their own platforms for content delivery, not just relying on being handed a platform by technologists from the West Coast. Today companies are developing their own platforms for new media like wireless devices and broadband to desktop and set top, That kind of development didn’t go on in the old days because we didn’t have the technology expertise. Third, we’re importing talent, money, and companies now and it’s vastly expanding our resource pool. There’s a new kind of New York City immigrant — the technoimmigrant. Finally, the naivete is gone. People around here now know what it takes to launch and grow an entrepreneurial business. Now entrepreneurs who have learned lessons are plowing their knowledge and their money back into new start-up in town, giving the new Silicon Alley an backbone the old Silicon Alley never had. Microsoft To Launch New Palm Assault Microsoft plans to release a new generation of handheld organizers addressing flaws that caused earlier versions to flop, in an attempt to gain share from market leader Palm. The palmtop devices, renamed Pocket PCs, are produced by Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer and Casio Computer and run on Windows CE, a smaller version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Microsoft is betting on features like audio, color and improved battery life to compete with the dominant organizers from Palm. The new devices also weigh less and offer a simpler and more stylish design. Microsoft is counting on the devices to get it back into the market for software to run handheld devices, where Palm has more than eight times Microsoft’s market share. That market is expected to grow to about $2 billion in the U.S. in 2003, from $764 million last year. Palm had about 83 percent of the U.S. market in 1999, while devices running on Windows CE accounted for about 10 percent of sales. That’s expected to change over the next three years, with Windows CE machine accounting for 40 percent of sales in 2003m compared with 58 percent for Palm. Both companies have great opportunities to grow their market. Palm will get a smaller slice, but they both have the opportunity to grow the overall pie. Earlier versions of Windows CE-based devices were widely criticized for being heavy and badly designed, with poor battery performance and screens that were difficult to read. The new Pocket PCs feature software including Microsoft Outlook for scheduling and organizing contact information, a version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for browsing the Web, as well as software for playing music and reading books downloaded from the Internet. The devices also will have word processing and spreadsheet software and a program for downloading street maps into the organizers. They also come with a slot for plugging in hardware such as modems, digital cameras or extra memory cards. UniversalCom Annouces Merger With NewSouth Communications Two of the South’s Leading Broadband Integrated Communications Providers Join Forces. UniversalCom, Inc (UCI), the Gulf South’s leading broadband Integrated Communications Provider (ICP), announced that it has entered into a letter to intent to merge with NewSouth Communications. Of Greenville, SC, the premier broadband ICP in the southern United States. UCI is a rapidly growing telecommunications portfolio company of Stewart Capital, LLC, the private investment vehicle of Frank B. Stewart, Jr. Backed by financial sponsors First Union Capital Partners, J.P. Morgan Capital, and AT&T Ventures, NewSouth is one of the fastest growing broadband ICPs in the nation. The merger unites two of the leading up-and-coming ICPs in the southern region of the country. UCI has built a large loyal customer base as a result of the technical expertise it has developed in its many years in the telecommunications interconnect and data systems integration business. This expertise will be married with NewSouth’s strong marketing and communications capabilities, impressive back office infrastructure, and highly scalable systems. The combined company will be able to better serve its customers through a wider product offering and an extensive network covering the entire South. These two networks will be joined together to offer expanded and improved service to the combined company will serve 106 markets via 208 central office collocations. UniversalCom, has built an extensive base of business customers, over the past twenty years by providing a full bundle of telecommunications and data products and services. The addition of UCI will enhance NewSouth’s geographic coverage of the entire southern portion of the United States and strengthen NewSouth’s bundle of telecommunications and data offerings. The merger, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, is expected to close in May. As part of the merger, UCI’s senior management senior management team. After a brief transition period, the combined company will be known as NewSouth Communications. Japanese Business in the United States u Sega Enterprises Ltd. will start an Internet-based video-game business in North America in May through a U.S. subsidiary. Sega of America Inc. has set up Sega.com for opening a game Web site in May. Subscribers will be able to play online about 10% of the 200 Dreamcast games available in North America, Customers who sign a two-year contract will be given a rebate of $200, or just about last year’s price for a Dreamcast game console. v u Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Corp of U.S. plan to tie up in the field of intelligent transportation systems. From the next year, Honda plans to outfits Acura luxury cart in the U.S. with the equipment that can access GM’s Onstar Information service. The Japanese automaker will do the same in Japan and Europe later as the service expands worldwide. The OnStar service uses the global positioning system to automatically transmit emergency signals from cars involved in accident, Drivers can also receive a wide range of information through the satellite radio, GM is seeking investment from Honda in a satellite radio company affiliated with the U.S. automaker.v u Kubota Corp. plans to double production of its V3300 engines destined for export to North America. The company plans to invest more than 1 billion-yen this fiscal to expand the production line at its Sakai Plant from 10,000 units of the 3,300cc engine this year to 20,000 next. In addition to brisk sakes if Kubota’s M-series tractors in the North America, there is growing demand for the engines for use in construction machinery and to power compressors for refrigerator vehicles. v u Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. aims to export its MH2000 helicopter to the U.S. from 2003. Negotiations are under way with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to obtain approval for the midsize model. The company will consider enlisting the support of business partner Boeing Co. to sell the helicopter. Mitsubishi Heavy developed both the body and the engine of the 400 million-yen helicopter, which seats 10 including a two-member flight crew. v u Zenrin Co., Japan’s leading maker of maps for motorists, established a new unit, Zenrin USA Inc., upgrading a San Francisco branch office opened in 1996 to conduct survey used in compiling maps for car-navigation systems. Zenrin which has a roughly 70% share of the domestic market for navigation software, aims to establish itself as a leader in the U.S market. The company is supplying navigation software on compact disc read-only memories for Nissan Motor Co.’s luxury Infiniti model. Fiscal 2000 sales at the new unit are estimated at $1.6 million, on the back of continuing growth in the U.S. car navigation market.v u Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. plans to build production facilities overseas and set up local market systems to pave the way for winning a share of the U.S. market for next-generation mobile phones. The company will begin shipping cell phone built with Time Division Multiple Access technology, the current U.S. standard, to AT&T Corp. in July, aiming for shipments of 1.2 million units.v | |
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