HIGHLIGHTS
Technology - China market
China sets up Windows, Linux labs
China’s software industry continues to attract the attention of Western IT giants: on the same day that HP signed a deal to set up a Linux laboratory in China, Microsoft signed a deal to establish Windows.Net-based technology labs in the country. HP signed a three-year agreement with the Ministry of Information Industry of China to "set up a Linux laboratory that will focus on open-source software development, testing and certification to support small and medium-size Chinese businesses."
Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to work with both Chinese and Western IT companies to "build Windows labs and serve a large number of small and medium-size Chinese software companies and computer users in China." The article includes a brief look at other efforts by HP and Microsoft to crack the Chinese software market.
Source; ZD Net China
Internet - Search engines
Search upstarts storm Google’s gates
Yet another article on the new start-ups vying to displace Google as the leader in online search. Given the public adulation about Google’s upcoming IPO, it is perhaps not surprising that the company "faces Lilliputian threats from a fast-growing group of start-ups that hope to replicate its own meteoric rise from unknown upstart to Internet powerbroker." Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler comments: "Search is a hyper-growth area. There will be lots of special smaller players that without going public will be worth between $20 million and $100 million annually." The article includes profiles of five companies competing with Google for parts of its business: Quigo (which recently landed $5 million in VC financing), Industry Brains, Mooter, Eurekster and Dipsie.
Source; News.com
Internet - New media
Net cries out for Madrid
The terrorist attack in Madrid, which killed nearly 200 people and injured another 1,400, has led to a "huge outpouring of sympathy and concern" on the Internet. By some estimates, the terrorist attack led to at least 800 blog posts in just six hours: "There's been a big spike of posts about the bombings. There's been a burst of conversation all over the Internet about this. There's been a hell of a lot of concern." In fact, some analysts see some parallels with the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which also catapulted weblogs and around-the-clock news updates into the limelight. Included: links to weblogs with coverage of the Madrid terrorist attack.
Source; Wired News
