Yahoo pushes enterprise IM | CNET News.com

Yahoo pushes enterprise IM | CNET News.com The Web portal has begun a campaign called "Save Smiley," in reference to Yahoo Instant Messenger's smiley-face icons. The campaign, which has launched in certain areas of Yahoo, asks users to inform Yahoo if a company has blocked instant messaging in the workplace. The Web giant plans to then approach these companies and to try to sell its enterprise IM service to their information technology departments.

Microsoft: Greenwich On Schedule

Microsoft: Greenwich On Schedule Adding presence APIs to Windows Server 2003 is aimed at boosting use of RTC Server technologies by ISVs and enterprises, by enabling them to embed Greenwich-based presence in Web pages and to create new applications based on the technology. This month's debut of Windows Server is expected to be Microsoft's biggest product launch of the year.

AOL Tests Video Messaging

AOL Tests Video Messaging For AOL, the move appears a stopgap measure, coming as it does as the company is aiming to get those restrictions lifted. Last week, the New York-based media conglomerate filed a petition asking the Commission to reconsider the condition in light of AOL's slipping market share in the IM sector. In the petition, AOL argued that the free, public IM sector is healthy and competitive, and that it doesn't have an opportunity to use its leading position in the market as a way to unfairly catapult itself to dominance in an area built on that position -- like video messaging.

Forbes.com: Can WebEx Meet Growth Expectations?

Forbes.com: Can WebEx Meet Growth Expectations? Shares of WebEx fell more than 20% Jan. 22, the day that Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) bought a WebEx competitor, privately held Placeware. "Perhaps the greatest risk to the WebEx story is the pending entry of Microsoft into the Web conferencing industry," wrote Steve Ashley of Baird Equity Research, in a March report. WebEx now trades 40% below where it was at the start of the year.

But here's the thing: Despite its success--WebEx earned healthy profits of $12 million in 2002 after several years of losses--it still has revenue of only $140 million in an industry that is expected to hit only $315 million this year.
...
WebEx expects sales of $190 million this year, up nearly 40% from 2002. Earnings per share are expected to increase 77%, to 48 cents, followed by 35% growth in 2004.

And placeware is only the beginning problems that webex will face from Microsoft...maybe there's a landing spot with webex's name already on it...

IBM makes home-networking stride | CNET News.com

IBM makes home-networking stride | CNET News.com People who have the new systems will be able to control devices like their heaters and stoves remotely and check that their doors are locked.

I can see using this to turn off my stove if I left it on by mistake, but turning on the stove while you're not home - that requires a lot of faith in more than just the internet....

Microsoft set to launch real-time server | CNET News.com

Microsoft set to launch real-time server | CNET News.com Microsoft on Thursday plans to announce that its Greenwich software will be renamed Microsoft Real Time Communications Server 2003, which it plans to roll out the first half of the third quarter.

Sun Boosts IM Integration, Features

Sun Boosts IM Integration, Features Due to launch formally in May, Sun ONE Instant Messaging 6.0 offers improved integration with the Sun ONE suite's calendaring server. As a result, the system will send out real-time pop-up notifications for event reminders or task notifications. In connection with the Sun ONE Portal Server, the IM 6.0 release adds message archiving -- using the storage and search components of the portal server to record and sort through one-on-one chats, conferences, and polling transcripts.

SmarterChild is Reborn -- For a Fee

SmarterChild is Reborn -- For a Fee Originally intended as a test, and later, a demo of the company's interactive agent platform SmarterChild was yanked from America Online's (Quote, Company Info) AIM platform last July after proving more successful than expected and potentially jeopardizing to the popularity of soon-to-be-launched bots on behalf of advertisers. In its new incarnation, SmarterChild will carry a $9.99 per-year price tag -- becoming the first consumer-focused IM bot to go behind the premium curtain.

TiVo Home Media Option(TM) Now Available, Delivering the Benefits of Networked Home Entertainment

...said Brodie Keast, Senior Vice President and General Manager, TiVo Service. "Our approach recognizes that the PC or Mac may be the best place to store, organize, manage and protect your digital media, but the living room is the best place to enjoy it."

It's either stealth mode out of the gate or smartly saying uncle before the real fight for the living room begins...

WiredRed's e/pop Provides Instant Company-Wide IT Alerts

WiredRed's e/pop Provides Instant Company-Wide IT Alerts More Organizations Adopting Secure EIM for Instant Communication About Viruses, Server Outages and Application Availability

New MSN, Windows Messengers On the Way

New MSN, Windows Messengers On the Way Some of the confusion surrounding the differences between Microsoft's (Quote, Company Info) Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger could be reduced when the Redmond, Wash. software giant ships new -- and increasingly specialized -- versions of each IM client in coming months.

Some of the feature differences include email client default (outlook vs hotmail), support for pen-enabled tablet PCs, and elimination of joining chat rooms and viewing MSN profiles. I'm sure they'll be many more changes especially post initial release.

IM Growth

IM Growth The overall business IM market will grow by 130% from 2002 to 2003, and a further 85% from 2003 to 2004. By 2007, the overall business IM market will increase to 182 million users, representing a compound annual growth rate of 79%

A graphic from the same Ferris report...

Instant Messaging Becoming Corporate Standard -- www1.internetwire.com

Instant Messaging Becoming Corporate Standard -- www1.internetwire.com "In the best-case scenario, 891 million users will solidly adopt IM by 2007, with a revenue take of $2 billion. In the moderate-case scenario, we project that 193 million users will adopt IM by 2007, with a revenue take of $154 million," said Ferris Research Analyst Michael Sampson. "The worst-case scenario will see poor adoption-carrier IM will be a total flop-with only 3.8 million subscribers by 2007, and carrier revenue decreases due to voice-call cannibalization."

I guess you need the report to figure out what he's saying...

FRB: Speech, Greenspan-Market economies--April 4, 2003

FRB: Speech, Greenspan-Market economies--April 4, 2003 Only in recent decades, as the economic product of the United States has become so predominantly conceptual, have issues related to the protection of intellectual property rights come to be seen as significant sources of legal and business uncertainty. Intellectual property is clearly more difficult to define and, hence, to protect. The physical property of one owner cannot occupy the same space as that of another. Ownership of physical property is capable of being defended by police, the militia, or private mercenaries. Ownership of ideas is far less easily protected.

I'm very interested in the direction this conversation takes moving forward, certainly a needed discussion...

Boston Globe Online / Business / Anyone can be a Google 'hacker'

Boston Globe Online / Business / Anyone can be a Google 'hacker' As you'd expect, Google's own engineers do some of the best Google hacking. They've put their best work on display at labs.google.com. Here you'll find a Google viewer, a lovely bit of code that turns the results of your Google searches into a slide show and flashes them on your screen one by one. There's also voice search, an experimental hack on the leading edge of cool. Dial a phone number that appears on the site. A voice asks you to pronounce a search term. After a delay, it tells you to click a link on the page. Up pops the search you asked for.

Interest article on the definition of 'hacking' but more importantly as a glimpse into google's SDK mindset...