Quick Hits

Tuesday, December 14, 1999

Wal-Mart and AOL work to put together a marketing alliance

Wal-Mart Stores is talking with Microsoft MSN rival America Online Inc. about a marketing alliance to drive traffic to the retailer's Web site and introduce millions of people to AOL, The Wall Street Journal reports.

AOL is seeking a potentially broad pact that could include in-store promotion of its Internet service. In exchange, AOL is offering to promote Wal-Mart's online store.

Retailers are the latest weapon in Microsoft's battle with AOL. Microsoft last month scored a major victory by winning its way into Tandy Corp.'s RadioShack stores. AOL had negotiated with Tandy for months on a similar deal but lost out after Microsoft offered better terms.

RealNetworks offering RealSlideshow 2.0 free

The latest version of the software, designed to simplify sharing digital pictures with audio narration and music over the Internet, includes support for MP3 audio, built-in email support, and support for additional image formats, such as .PNG and .GIF.

Real also announced Version 2.0 of its $29.99 RealSlideshow Plus.

Primus Knowledge to buy Imparto Software Inc.

Imparto develops software that allows personalized marketing campaigns for companies. Primus will add Imparto's 60 employees to its own 180. Primus had 1998 sales of $8.6 million and $6.3 million in revenue for the third quarter.

Linux-on-Intel group is gaining in strength

Although Linux already runs on 64-bit chips from Sun Microsystems, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard, Trillian is considered key to the future success of Linux, which until now has enjoyed most of its growth on 32-bit Intel chips. Microsoft in August began prototyping Windows on Intel's 64-bit Merced processor.

It's OK to play the field, venture tells Microsoft

Jinny Benecke, Wireless Knowledge's vice president of marketing, said Microsoft's partnership with Ericsson, announced last week, is "just one more force that will drive the adoption of wireless data."

Wireless Knowledge is one of several companies aggressively targeting the wireless-data market for business users. Many analysts think the mobile-data market will explode in the United States over the next few years.

Meanwhile, Microsoft won't stand still. Yesterday it said it will supply its Windows CE operating system to Orange Plc, the third-largest mobile phone operator in the United Kingdom, which was recently bought by Germany's Mannesmann AG.

GTE Corp. promises companies more uptime

Under the company's older network, GTE guaranteed only 99.9 percent reliability, which he said amounts to four fewer days of uptime per year.

The new network will run initially at OC-48, or 2.6 gigabits per second, but is capable of running at OC-192, or 10 gbps. The older network had a capacity of only OC-3, or 155 megabits per second.

The name billgates.com is going, going . . . stop!

Microsoft is trying to stop an anonymous U.K. resident from auctioning the Internet domain name billgates.com for around $3.2 million, the Daily Telegraph reports, citing Microsoft representatives.

Microsoft lawyers said, "We would object to anyone taking unfair advantage of the goodwill and recognition of Mr. Gates' name and reputation, and would object to any suggestion that he is involved with, or endorses, this domain."

Snippets

Microsoft will donate more than $500,000 in cash and software, all recovered in piracy lawsuits, to three community organizations in Southern California. . .. The next major release of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system, currently code-named Shiloh, will be named SQL Server 2000 and is set to ship by July 1. . ..

Global Majic Software Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., which sells the 3DLinX graphic rendering tool for Windows developers, has added a three-person marketing office in Bellevue. . .. Seattle's X10.com now offers XRay Vision Kit, a $199 package containing a miniature color video camera that broadcasts to a 2.4 gigahertz receiver and onto a PC through a USB converter . . .

Attention, Amazon.com: bookseller Barnes & Noble will begin printing books on demand by next spring, to reduce inventory cost and widen customer access to less popular books, Computerworld reports. . .. Bellevue-based Web design and hosting firm MPL2.com says it helped the WTO host committee's Web site survive 700 vulnerability probes and 54 penetration attempts. . ..

T3 Media, a Seattle provider of software to help companies manage their employees' use of the Internet, has launched www.websense.com, featuring product information and free downloads. . .. Visio's proposed merger with Microsoft, announced Sept. 15, was approved by shareholders yesterday and now must withstand review by the Justice Department. . ..

Reelplay.com, a Santa Monica, Calif., company that Webcasts movie trailers, has signed a strategic partnership with encoding.com, a Seattle company that transfers audio and video to the Web.

Quick hits is written by P-I reporters John Cook and Dan Richman. Send comments, questions or suggestions to johncook@seattle-pi.com or danrichman@seattle-pi.com.