Heavyweights team for Wi-Fi; Sony dumps Microsoft; more

Intel, IBM and AT&T team for Wi-Fi startup Three of the most influential technology firms have have officially thrown their combined weight behind a nationwide series of Wi-Fi hot spots, according to a CNET article. "As expected, Intel Capital, along with Big Blue, AT&T and investors Apax Partners and 3i, announced the creation of Cometa Networks--formerly known as Project Rainbow--a new company focused on deploying hot spots throughout the United States. Hot spots are public areas where people can access the Internet using products based on 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, a wireless networking standard with a range of about 300 feet from a network's access points, or radio transmitters" More.

IDC: PC market rebounding CNET reports that after two tough years, the PC market will experience tangible growth again in 2003 and 2004 due in part to the rise of wireless, according to market research firm IDC. "Shipments of desktops, notebooks and servers based around PC architectures will rise 8.3 percent in 2003 to 147.5 million units, then rise 11 percent to 163.8 million units in 2004, according to IDC." More.

Sony dumps MS Office for StarOffice Sun Microsystems announced a deal Wednesday to install Sun's StarOffice software on some European Sony PCs, moving away from Microsoft's Offie. According to a ZDNN article: By the end of the year, Sony will include version 6.0 of StarOffice on most consumer desktop PCs sold in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to Sun. Microsoft's Works package is currently used on most of those PCs. More.

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