Catch the wave

The latest in enterprise and personal wireless data solutions will be the focus of BellSouth Wireless Data's Wireless Alliance and Vision Exchange 2000, to be held 13 to 15 Mar. 2000 in San Diego. WAVE 2000 will bring industry leaders together to get an in-depth look at cutting-edge wireless data solutions, says BellSouth.

The event will be a combination developer conference and end user function, offering both business and technical information as well as an exhibition of the latest wireless data solutions enabled by the nationwide BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network. WAVE 2000 will feature keynote speakers, technical and general business sessions, application demonstrations, optional day-long workshops, expert presentations, and a gala reception. 

WAVE 2000 is open to wireless data developers and end users, hardware manufacturers, systems integrators, resellers and distributors, and solution providers. Among the sponsors of the event are Microsoft, Ericsson, and Panasonic.

Visit the WAVE 2000 Web site for more information or to register.

Faster, simpler USB design

Computer Access Technology Corp. has beefed up its USB Chief Bus & Protocol Analyzer development tools with increased functionality. Added to the family of tools are three new features: secondary recording channel, class/vendor-specific decoding, and advance event counting and sequencing.

The new features are seamlessly integrated with all the test and analysis features available in the line of USM Chief bus & protocol analyzers, including the newly announced Chief Plus, says CATC. According to the company, the enhancements will make the design process in the development of USB devices faster and simpler.

The new secondary recording channel enables developers to record bus traffic on two USB branches simultaneously, allowing for analysis of traffic from both channels. Class/vendor-specific decoding provides designers with the English language equivalent of numerous data string command structures. Designers no longer need to memorize command structure sequences and mentally decode each sequence to interpret interaction between the device and its host system -- which was a long and error-prone process. The advanced event counting and sequencing options allow the user to configure and control the order in which selected events will trigger the Chief Analyzer or filter the recording.

The enhancements are free to existing and new CATC customers.

A place to get embed with Linux

Developers of Linux-based embedded systems have a new source for news, information, products, and links to embedded Linux resources: LinuxDevices.com. The Internet startup gives developers a means to locate the information and components they need for incorporating the popular Linux operating system into non-desktop applications, says LinuxDevices.com.

The new Web site is the latest project of Rick Lehrbaum, well-known in the embedded computer industry as a founder of Ampro Computers Inc. That company invented the highly popular PC/104 embedded PC standard.

Lehrbaum said that LinuxDevices.com aims to be the "global 'embedded Linux portal'," offering news, articles, events, links, jobs, polls, and an interactive forum -- all focused on using Linux in embedded applications. "LinuxDevices.com...will be an active player in helping bring coherence to the sometimes fragmented Linux world," said Lehrbaum.

Digital John Hancock

Dissatisfied with e-signature technology? Maybe this will change your mind. A liaison between Interlink Electronics of Camarillo, CA., and Montreal-based Silanis Technology may yield the e-signature and authentication solution you've been waiting for. A blending of Interlink's new e-Pad signature input pad with Silanis' ApproveIt secure signature software, will give e-business a more secure and exacting tool for network, Intranet and Internet transactions.

Interlink's e-Pad signature pad makes signing comfortable -- almost like signing paper itself. The intelligent ePad captures the penmanship style of the signer, the pressure placed on the pad to write a signature, and the time it takes to complete the signing task. ApproveIt software then affixes the signature to the target document, making it a permanent and unalterable attachment. Aside from its many security features, ApproveIt offers "one-pen" signing for all Microsoft Office applications, rapid electronic approval, and controlled document management.

According to Tommy Petrogiannis, president of Silanis, "Of the 75 million Microsoft Office users worldwide, most remain paperbound due in part to the lack of an electronic signature component within their application." Mr. Petrogiannis goes on to say, "Widespread adoption of electronic approval software, such as ApproveIt, need no longer be bound by the cost constraints associated with sophisticated hardware."

The Interlink/Silanis solution is expected to cost under US$100 per workstation.

Linux-Mandrake, another distribution option

Touting its user-friendliness and initial customer success rate, MandrakeSoft announces Linux-Mandrake 6.1, an easy-to-use distribution of Linux for the home or business user.  Linux Mandrake 6.1 is based upon Linux, the full 32-bit multitasking OS, and runs on most Pentium and compatible architectures. It combines the power of Unix with the flexibility of the KDE graphical desktop. Other graphical desktops like Gnome, AfterStep, WindowMaker, IceWM, XFCE, FVWM are also supported.

The Linux-Mandrake 6.1 PowerPack Edition features:

• e-mail installation support for 100 days
• customized Apache 1.3.9
• MySQL 3.20
• Enlightenment 0.16 -- development version 5
• XFCE 3.0.2
• customized XFree with support for new international encoding 
• optimized X-TT/FreeType server
• enhanced documentation
• user account creation during install
• graphics testing during install
• scalable font support in all X applications

For a list of resellers in your area, please visit MandrakeSoft's Web site.

Microsoft Windows 2000 price points 

Pricing for Microsoft Windows 2000 OS has just been announced. The retail price tags vary greatly, depending on the user's requirements. In this unusual step -- advance pricing has not been made available up until now -- Microsoft has taken aggressive measures to win over competitive software subscribers. For example, if you're a Novell NetWare user, you can take advantage of a 10-user license pack of Windows 2000 for under US$600. Upgrading to the most current NetWare release is estimated to run over US$1,000.

The Windows NT community can take advantage of an upgrade package to Windows 2000 Professional for US$149 -- half of its planned retail cost. Are you a Windows 95 or Windows 98 aficionado? For a little over US$200 you too can migrate to Windows 2000 Professional.

The target release date is 17 Feb. 2000 -- this includes OEM, channel and retail shipments.