“It looks as if Google is ever-so-carefully inching toward a public release of Gmail, its Web-based e-mail service. On Tuesday, I read that some random users of Google's (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) main search page were being invited to try Gmail. On successive visits to Google.com, I haven't seen the text line under the search field inviting Google users to give Gmail a try. But I would imagine the company has to be pretty close to throwing open the doors to the general public any day now.�
“J2Global Communications provides an excellent example of how the Internet has transformed business…The company's Messaging and Communications business include eFax Plus, which enables subscribers to send and receive fax messages through their e-mail systems. eFax Corporate extends these capabilities and provides additional administrative, directory and security features. jConnect Premier directs incoming faxes and voice mails to a subscriber's e-mail account. jConnect Free and eFaxFree are advertising-supported introductory services with limited capabilities. jBlast and eFax Broadcast enable high-volume faxing with the capability of sending documents simultaneously to hundreds--or thousands--of recipients worldwide. M4 Internet is an outsourced e-mail service with tracking capabilities.�
Yahoo 360 takes spin through blogosphere, Cnet News.com, 16 Mar 2005
“Dubbed Yahoo 360, the new service is accepting invitation-only beta testers for now, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web giant said Wednesday. The test will be opened to a broader audience on March 29. Yahoo 360 combines a new blogging tool along with several longtime Yahoo products, including instant messaging, photo storage and sharing, and Internet radio. It also offers tools for sharing recommendations about places to eat, favorite movies, music and so on.�
Yahoo Service Combines Blogging, Social Networking, eWeek, 16 Mar 2005
“Yahoo on Tuesday confirmed that it will start beta testing a new community service this month that will let users share blogs, photos, music and other content with their friends. The "invitation-only" beta test for the new service, called Yahoo 360, is scheduled to start March 29, said Paul Brody, senior director of community products at Yahoo Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif.�
VoIP could provoke 'electronic Pearl Harbor', ZDNet, 17 Mar 2005
“The head of information security for the United Kingdom's Royal Mail has warned that Internet telephone applications will expose companies to hackers and malicious code if not implemented correctly.�
Skype goes for the gold, Cnet News.com, 17 Mar 2005
“Net phone phenom Skype is preparing to expand its menu of paid services, hastening its efforts to evolve from a free provider of niche services into a profitable company that could give industry giants a run for their money. The Luxembourg-based upstart has so far signed up 29 million registered users for its free Net phone calling software--a unique version of voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP--making it one of the fastest-growing services on the Net. Now it's aiming to milk profits from its swelling ranks of freeloaders with paid services that promise to make its Net-only product significantly more useful to consumers--and potentially more lethal to traditional phone providers.�
Will AJAX help Google clean up?, Cnet News.com, 17 Mar 2005
“Start-ups and industry giants such as Microsoft continue to devise newfangled systems for delivering desktop-like applications over the Web. But search giant Google has taken a different path, using older technology to build its newest applications such as Google Maps and Gmail. That's prompted developers to take a second look at old-hat technologies that have been kicking around on the Web since the 1990s, such as JavaScript and Dynamic HTML.�
Man bilked in e-mail con, court told, South China Morning Post, 18 Mar 2005
“A Chinese-American engineer was swindled out of $1.2 million in the so-called Nigerian e-mail scam last year, the District Court heard yesterday. It is believed to be Hong Kong's first prosecution of such a fraud in which the victim lost money.�
Japanese companies join forces to fight spam, AFP, 15 Mar 2005
“Some 30 Japanese companies including leaders in the computer and mobile phone industries said they would form a body to fight spam, saying the country was lagging behind in stopping e-mail abuse. The firms in a statement said they would set up the Japan E-mail Anti-abuse Group to attack spam at the technical level, saying Japan until now only had groups to address the problem from a legal angle.�
The Japan E-Mail Anti-Abuse Group, JEAG, REDNOVA, 15 Mar 2005
“Recognizing that spam E-mail is a serious problem that requires a concerted, industry-wide effort to resolve, Internet Initiative Japan Inc., KDDI Corporation, NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Panasonic Network Services, Inc., Plala Networks Inc., and Vodafone K.K. today announced that Japan's major Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecommunication carriers have jointly established the Japan E-mail Anti-Abuse Group (JEAG) to examine and implement technological countermeasures against E-mail abuse. About thirty companies make up the founding members of JEAG and a partial list of these companies is included below.�
Cable company NTL shrinks losses, BBC News, 15 Mar 2005
“Losses at cable company NTL have narrowed, helped by a crackdown on non-paying customers. The UK's biggest cable firm said net losses dropped 39.8% to £73.6m ($141m) compared to the same period a year ago, while revenue rose by 5.3% to £531.7m.�
Broadband boost helps NTL trim losses, The Register, 15 Mar 2005
“NTL's decision to restructure its business, focus on broadband and elbow "delinquent" punters into touch appears to paying off. Operating losses fell 80 per cent from £192.4m to £39m for the year to the end of December as revenues rose 8.7 per cent to £1.5bn. Much of this is down to a 40 per cent growth in broadband subscribers to 1.33m, said the UK cableco, although 62,000 of those were added following the acquisition of Virgin.net in November.�
Mobile phone becomes train ticket, BBC News, 15 Mar 2005
“Public transport users in Tyne and Wear may soon be able to use their mobile phone as a bus or train ticket. Metro operator Nexus is trialing a scheme in which tickets are issued by text message. A similar scheme operates in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. But Nexus hopes the idea will catch on the UK.�
For Telecoms in Europe, Turf Battles Are Escalating, The New York Times, 14 Mar 2005
“Before the telecommunications bubble burst in 2000, blockbuster acquisitions were the only way that Europe's former phone monopolies could get into new geographic territory. Now the telecom giants are taking the much more modest route of crossing borders to sell Internet services, and rising competition has meant lower prices and improved service for businesses and consumers.�
Tom Online warns of flat growth in revenue, South China Morning Post, 16 Mar 2005
“Tom Online expects flat revenue growth this quarter due to competition for multimedia services (MMS) from China's leading mobile operator. The company, dually listed on the Growth Enterprise Market and Nasdaq, said revenue would rise from US$34.48 million last quarter to between US$35.5 million and US$36.2 million this quarter, representing an increase of only 2.9 per cent to 4.9 per cent, against a 9.8 per cent rise in the previous period. "The migration of MMS services to China Mobile could put pressure on the company's MMS revenue this quarter," Tom Online said in its earnings statement.�
Critical Path Delivers New Consumer Email Experience with Unveiling of Memova to North American Market; Memova Mobile Enables Operators to Unlock Grow
“Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq:CPTH), a leading provider of messaging software and services, today unveiled Memova(TM) -- a new brand of consumer messaging solutions for mobile operators, broadband and fixed-line service providers -- at the CTIA Wireless conference in New Orleans. The Memova solutions, which include mobile email, anti-abuse, email and value-added messaging services, were unveiled today for the first time in North America.�
AOL clarifies IM privacy guarantee, Cnet News.com, 14 Mar 2005
“America Online said late Monday that it plans to revise its user agreement in response to concerns that instant messages sent through the company's service could be monitored. The new policy for AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, will stress that the company does not eavesdrop on customer's conversations except in unusual circumstances such as a court order, an AOL spokesman said.�
AOL: AIM Conversations Are Safe, eWeek, 14 Mar 2005
“America Online quells public criticism of changes to its AIM terms of service, insisting the controversial privacy clause does not pertain to user-to-user instant messaging communication. America Online Inc. on Sunday moved to quell public criticism of the terms of service for its AIM service, insisting the controversial privacy clause does not pertain to user-to-user instant messaging communication.�
Focus on useful services, mobile firms told, South China Morning Post, 15 Mar 2005
“Mobile operators should focus on exploring revenue opportunities in simple but useful value-added services to customers rather than sophisticated offerings such as video downloads, says Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu…Mr Chung said the focus and core profit of mobile business still lay in voice and communication such as SMS. "They will not be easily outpaced by data services, despite the emerging third-generation services in Hong Kong and elsewhere." China, the world's biggest mobile market by subscriber, generated 1.11 billion text messages during the 10-day Chinese New Year holiday last month.�
Google ogles the mainland market, South China Morning Post, 15 Mar 2005
“Internet search giant Google is expanding in the mainland market, but continues to keep quiet about its strategy for turning its widespread popularity in China into advertising revenue…Google accounts for about 30 per cent of mainland search inquiries but derives little revenue from China's internet search advertising market. Baidu - of which Google owns a small stake - accounts for 48 per cent of search inquiries and is preparing a Nasdaq listing.�
China Telecom Wins OK to Plug Into Internet Cafes, Reuters, 14 Mar 2005
“China's top fixed-line phone company, China Telecom Corp., said on Monday it had won approval to open a nationwide chain of Internet cafes, leveraging a fast-expanding broadband network to try to generate new growth…Internet cafes are popular in China, attracting mostly males in their teens and early 20s who lack computers at home and use the cafes' high-speed broadband connections to play Internet-based video games.�
Report Shows Internet Spending Jumps, internetnews.com, 14 Mar 2005
“The Internet continued to grow as a marketplace last year with consumer spending on online content increasing 14 percent to $1.8 billion, according to a published report. The biggest increases in 2004 came in spending for entertainment, which soared 90 percent in 2004 to $413.5 million from $217.6 million in 2003, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and survey partner comScore Networks, a group that studies consumer behavior online.�
AOL's Terms of Service Update for AIM Raises Eyebrows, eWeek, 12 Mar 2005
“The revamped terms of service, which apply only to users who downloaded the free AIM software on or after Feb. 5, 2004, gives AOL the right to "reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote" all content distributed across the chat network by users…Although the user will retain ownership of the content passed through the AIM network, the terms give AOL ownership of "all right, title and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by AOL using or incorporating this [user] content…The changes could have serious ramifications for AOL's AIM@Work service which is being marketed to businesses. AIM@Work offers things like Identity Services to allow the use of corporate e-mail address as AOL screen names. It also offers premium services like voice conferencing and Web meetings.�
Europe, U.S. Separated by Telephone Cultures, Reuters, 13 Mar 2005
“European and American culture differ in language, automobiles, sports and -- less obvious but no less important -- the way they use telephones… An FCC report said American mobile users talk more and pay less than Europeans, citing it as "evidence that the U.S. market is effectively competitive" compared to Europe and Japan. But eight of 10 European Union residents have mobile phone numbers while only six of 10 Americans do… Europeans traditionally pay by the minute for both fixed lines and mobiles. Teenagers save money using cheap SMS messages instead of mobile calls, and pay nothing to receive. Those Americans who have SMS must pay to send and receive.�
Yahoo Freshens up Its Services Portfolio, internetnews.com, 11 Mar 2005
“The Internet media and services provider added RSS feeds (define) to its mobile Internet service, enhanced travel search and made moves toward launching a contextual ad service similar to Google's AdSense.�
Pakistan monitors 7 million e-mail users, newkerala, 12 Mar 2005
“The Pakistani government has admitted it regularly monitors more than seven million e-mail users in the nation… The government also informed the House there are more than one million registered Internet subscribers in Pakistan and seven million people use the Internet.Internet providers have registered more than 21 million e-mail addresses.�
“America Online announced at this week's Voice on the Net conference that it will launch an Internet phone service within a month. The service will use an adapter to link ordinary handsets to a broadband connection, AOL said at the San Jose, Calif., conference, which is also known as VON 2005. AOL's service will also be accessible through a PC and will be integrated with AOL's popular instant-messaging and e-mail software.�
“The rich had a very good year. The collective net worth of the 691 billionaires we could find is $2.2 trillion, up $300 billion from the combined worth of the 587 people listed last year. Every region saw gains. The world's richest moguls now hail from 47 countries, including, for the first time, Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine and even Iceland. The newcomers include 69 Americans and 38 Europeans. More than half of them are entirely self-made.�
