Netscape's Andreessen is at it again

After walking away from AOL, Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen is off on his own again with Loudcloud. Venture capitalists are lining up to take the financial plunge.

Loudcloud is reportedly targeting application hosting at the back end with a full-service platform. Although expectations are high, Andreessen isn't saying much. No answers about investments, projects, or anything else. The company's public launch date is still a week or two away.

Andreessen will chair the new company, and former Netscape colleague Ben Horowitz will serve as CEO. Several other former Net-escapers are also expected to join the show.

Netscape was founded in 1994, went public in 1995, and was swallowed by AOL in 1998. Andreessen's new company, like his old one, will face off against Microsoft, among others.

Where will the chips fall?

AMD cut prices by as much as 18 percent, bringing its Athlon 700MHz chip down from US$849 to US$699 -- US$55 less costly than Intel's 700MHz chip and US$77 less than Intel's 733MHz.

Lower-end chips were cut less drastically, but the price war is definitely on.

The Athlon 600 fell to US$419, and the 550 to US$279. The 500 was held to US$209 -- US$30 less than Intel's Pentium III 500.

Intel's latest Pentium III ("Coppermine") chips are based on a new .18 micron process. Older Pentium III chips are based on a .25 micron process.

Intel's price cuts reached as deep as 24 percent, bringing the 600 from US$615 to US$465. The 550 price cut hit 18 percent, reducing the processor from US$423 to US$348, and the 533 dropped 14 percent to US$316. The 500 fell to US$229 and the 450 hit the floor at US$173.

Intel also dropped Pentium II and Pentium II Celeron chip prices between five and eight percent, bringing the 433MHz Celeron to US$73.

Intel's latest 733MHz processor puts Intel back in the speed lead over AMD.

The latest and the greatest

If you were worried about not having the latest bits of InterBase, fear no more. Inprise Corp. has announced the availability of InterBase 5.6 for Windows and Novell NetWare.

InterBase 5.6 is the first version of InterBase 5.x to support NetWare. It includes updates to SQL functions and roles, as well as performance enhancements, says Inprise.

"InterBase 5.6 further affirms Inprise's commitment to serving the business-critical embedded database needs of VARs and application developers," says Inprise CTO Jeff Barca-Hall.

InterBase 5.6 is certified on NetWare 4.2 and 5.0, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP4, Windows 95, and Windows 98.

RSVP e-solution

A tool that tests your e-business end-to-end. A tool that analyzes and diagnoses problems, giving you an early warning of application brownouts or service outages. Sound too good to be true? Not any longer. Response Networks Inc. has introduced ResponseCenter, an active testing solution that diagnoses the response time of an e-transaction across networks, servers, databases, middleware objects, and application components.

ResponseCenter provides a broad range of application visibility, including applications for ERP, messaging, CRM, and back-office.

A free 30-day evaluation of ResponseCenter is available.

Right On

Technology that addresses the challenge of integrating the Linux OS into the embedded-systems market is now available. On Channel Inc. has begun integrating and customizing its OS 2000 embedded Linux software for specific consumer solutions, giving its users the reliability, stability and expansability of Linux.

According to CEO Bill Tauskey, "On Channel offerings, based on the Linux kernel, provide OEM and solution providers with all the benefits the Linux community has to offer, including faster time to market, increased functionality, higher stability, easy customization and integration capabilities, and extremely broad support for new platforms and devices that are coming to market."

Web stats made easy

Have you been waiting for a desktop tool that automatically updates your site's Web stats at regular intervals? Would daily site-activity graphs assist you in fine-tuning your e-business? MyComputer.com may have your solution.

The company has launched SuperStats Desktop, a tool that gives users real-time Web-site monitoring right on their PCs. SuperStats Desktop provides a direct link to SuperStats reports, helping users manage Web site traffic, profile visitors, and analyze Web marketing tactics. This information is available 24 hours a day from any Web connection.

For a full listing of all of MyComputer.com's tools for webmasters, visit the company's Web site.

Security on sale

Secure Internet commerce has become more affordable. Spyrus Corp. has introduced a new pricing model that reduces up-front costs for SSL deployment. Traditionally, developers have paid for code and the rights to distribute it -- sometimes in advance. Spyrus has developed an affordable alternative: an SSL toolkit that simplifies the process of deploying products using Secure Socket Layer -- the standard for channel security of the Internet.

Spyrus's DeviceSSL and TLS Gold contain both Diffie-Hellman/DSA and RSA cipher suites. Support for Diffie-Hellman/DSA algorithms is provided by an included cryptographic module. RSA support is provided through BSafe.

Says Spyrus CEO Sue Pontius: "Working with our customers made it clear that previous industry pricing standards were cost prohibitive. Our new model makes it considerably easier for customers to release products to market that include full channel security using SSL."

Pricing for the Spyrus DeviceSSL and TLS Gold developer kits has been reduced from US$4,900 to US$95. Distribution fees have been eliminated. Royalties are paid quarterly as products are deployed. Annual support agreements have been reduced by 50 percent to US$12,500 per year.