The size of the Internet has almost doubled in the past year, according to the latest Internet Domain Survey, conducted by hardware and software development firm Network Wizards. Published last week, the survey, which is carried out twice a year, found 36,739,000 online host, or individual machines, connected to the Net. In the January 1998 survey, 29,670,000 individual hosts were found and this time last year a paltry 19,540,000 hosts were accounted for. The five most popular top-level domains this year are .com, .net, .edu, .mil, and .jp.
Sirf's Up: The world's two largest digital cellular phone companies and a Japanese micro-electronics giant have announced separate deals with a three-year-old Silicon Valley start-up company to produce global positioning system (GPS) chips cheap enough to be installed in cellular phones. Nokia has announced a $3 million investment in Sirf Technology, while both Ericssons and Hitachi have announced partnerships to develop GPS's for consumer products.
Lotus Release: Lotus Development Ireland has released the millennium edition of their SmartSuite software which includes over 100 new features focusing on speech recognition, Internet functionality and file compatibility. The soft- ware has an enhanced version of the spreadsheet 1-2-3, Word Pro with built-in continuous speech recognition and full email and Net integration. The SmartSuite package is available at a knock-down price for users currently running Lotus software.
E-Mail Traps: Sendmail is offering free software patches to fix security flaws recently found in Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 98, and Netscape Mail. The patches automatically trap email messages containing attached files that could take advantage of the flaws. Microsoft and Netscape have already prepared fixes to protect their programs from attack, but Sendmail executives argue that it makes sense to install a fix at the mail server level rather than at the level of individual computers.
Wall Street Aces Test: Donald Kittell, an official of the Securities Industry Association, has said that Wall Street passed the first test of its readiness for Y2K problems "with flying colors". The test involved the participation of 28 firms carrying out a simulated trade of about 40,000 stock, bond, and option transactions which could take place in the last two trading days of 1999 and the first two trading days of 2000.
Revealing Survey: The Web is awash with surveys and statistics, many pertinent and many more pointless. One such study has revealed the blindingly obvious fact that people with Web access watch less television than individuals without such access. This gem of information is brought to you courtesy of a Nielsen Media Research study for AOL. The study also found that households with Internet access tend to be wealthier than average because of the cost of owning a PC and the monthly fee charged by ISPs. Who would have thought it eh?
Anti-Trust Delay: Microsoft last week asked a federal judge to dismiss the landmark anti-trust suit filed against it contending that Internet Explorer is properly integrated with its market-dominating Windows operating systems based on clearly laid out legal standards. A Justice Department spokeswoman said there was "nothing new" in Microsoft's filings and the request was rejected. Late last week, the presiding judge was considering a request from both Microsoft and the Department of Justice to delay the start of the trial, scheduled to begin on September 8th, by a fortnight.
Bumper Apple Harvest?: Apple has announced that it received orders for more than 150,000 of its sleek new iMacs since it began taking orders two weeks ago. The iMac, a translucent all-in-one computer, will sell for $1,299 - considerably more than that on this side of the Atlantic no doubt. Tying in - with the launch, Apple plans to spend more than $100 million on its largest-ever advertising campaign in an effort to lure new users.
E-Commerce Growth: The electronic commerce marketplace is projected to grow 57.7 per cent to an estimated $28.2 billion this year, according to an industry report. The research report from Simba Information said that business-to-business commerce will total $19 billion in 1998, accounting for 67.3 per cent of the electronic marketplace overall and making it by far the largest segment in the industry. E-commerce is forecast to experience annual growth of more than 30 per cent for the next five years, reaching $102 billion in 2002.
Big Blue's Baby: IBM plans to announce the creation of an independent software company aimed at the customer services market, forming what will be the largest single player in a fast-growing business. The new company, which has yet to be named, will develop out of Software Artistry, the customer support software firm IBM acquired earlier this year, together with other customer service and "call center" phone operator systems from IBM. IBM's new business will build integrated software with features for product marketing and sales and customer services.
Future Bright For Contrite: GeoCities has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges over the collection and dispersal of information provided by GeoCities members. The FTC expressed its hope that the case would send a clear message to Internet marketers that utterances about information collection practices would have to be "accurate and complete". As part of the settlement, GeoCities agreed to post a detailed privacy policy outlining how user information will be used and distributed and how users can access and remove their information. Geocities staged one of the most successful recent listings last week when its issue soared on Nasdaq from its offer price of $17 to close at more than $37, a 120 per cent gain.
In Brief
. . .Computer People Ireland, the Irish branch of Europe's largest IT recruitment and contracting company, is seeking partners to help re-train workers with little or no experience in computer programming . . . The same TV company that broadcast the first live birth on the Net plans to air the first live transmission of a heart operation from the Texas Heart Institute on August 19th . . . The global information technology industry had revenues last year of 1.027 trillion dollars, 80 per cent of which were earned by US companies. Revenue from sales of computers, software and telecommunications equipment increased eight per cent last year. . . Lycos said that it has signed an agreement to acquire WhoWhere? for $133 million in stock. . .