Tuesday, November 30

A new study by the Cahners In-Stat Group predicts that DSL installations won't pull ahead of cable modems in the US until 2004, with 10.1 million DSL installations and 9 million cable installations.

The Arthur D. Little High-Speed Internet Access Study surveyed consumers by telephone and found that cable modems were preferred 2 to 1 over DSL.

Macintouch has reader summaries of Mac-compatible Internet access routers.

Low-cost PC makers EMachines and FreePC are merging as Emachines prepares an IPO.

Dell is preparing an iMac clone, the Dell WebPC. [In my first book, The Mac Demystified, I expressed reservations about the then-new iMac. I mean, the stupid thing didn't have a floppy drive, had no expansion slots, and lacked any ports other than USB, audio and Ethernet. Apple was clearly doomed. Now the iMac is a huge hit, Apple's stock is at an all-time high, and PC makers are copying the iMac in whole or in part. Shows you what I know about designing consumer computers. PS. I still think the iBook is weak. - Leslie]

A ZDNet article, "Is Your Cell Phone Killing You?," summarizes recent research into cell phone hazards. Kicker quote:

We have suggestions of excessive mortality from brain cancers among wireless phone users, and we have very clear evidence of a statistically significant higher risk of neuroepithelial tumors. We now have more data suggesting problems with wireless phones than the FDA had when it banned silicone breast implants.

- George Carlo, chairman of Wireless Technology Research

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Friday, December 3

Best Buy will now carry DirecPC Internet satellite dishes in all of its stores, making Best Buy the first national retailer to carry the product.

Privacy Times reports on privacy concerns with Earthlink's Total Access software. The software stores the user's unencrypted username and password in the Windows registry, along with an ID number assigned to that user.

Cisco has announced a new wireless Internet service - multichannel multipoint distribution services, or MMDS - that doesn't require a direct line of sight to the transmitter.

Ministers with the World Trade Organization (WTO) agree that the current moratorium on Internet taxes should be extended, probably by 18 months to two years.

Craig McCaw is interested in buying Iridium, the bankrupt satellite phone company, which now owes US$4.25 billion to creditors. McCaw's other ventures have included McCaw Cellular, Nextel and Nextlink Communications.

Apple upgraded its G4 line to use ATI Rage Pro cards, which Apple claims increase 3D graphics performance by 40%. The base 350 MHz model has been reconfigured with a DVD-ROM drive, AGP graphics card and support for AirPort wireless networking. Price for all G4 models remains the same.

Sega plans to spin off its software division to refocus its efforts. Interesting factoid in the article: despite the presence of the 56K modem built into the new Dreamcasts, only one out of the 16 current Dreamcast titles supports multiplayer games across the Internet.

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