BREAKFAST WITH THE FOOL
Wednesday, December 8, 1999
"Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but in selection."
-- Edmund Burke
Microsoft Rolls Out Mobile Software Platform By
Richard McCaffery (TMF Gibson)
Software giant Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> today unveiled a new software product aimed at allowing mobile phone users to access the Internet, e-mail, and corporate data networks. Called Microsoft Mobile Explorer, the product is an open software platform that will allow phone manufacturers and wireless carriers to outfit cellular phones with a wide array of applications that will run on top of Microsoft software.
As the Internet has moved workers away from just PCs, Microsoft has been racing to catch up with the spread of so-called Internet devices, electronic products from cellular phones to handheld computers that need software to operate.
For instance, it invested $5 billion in AT&T <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") end if %> last May in return for an agreement to supply software for millions of AT&T's latest cable set-top boxes.
Gaining market share in the set-top box and mobile computing industry is a key part of Microsoft's strategy to provide end-to-end software products that enable users to access the Internet from any device.
Right now, Mobile Explorer is being used by British Telecommunications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BTY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BTY)") end if %> in the United Kingdom and Norway, and is being evaluated by other companies in Europe and Korea. The first release of the product is expected in the first quarter of next year.
In related news, Microsoft and Stockholm-based phone giant Ericsson <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ERICY)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ERICY)") end if %> have formed an alliance to create products that help mobile users access the Internet. Little has been revealed about the agreement, except that Ericsson will own the lion's share of the venture and that it will use Microsoft Mobile Explorer for some of its phones.
News to Go
Computer systems integration company Electronic Data Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: EDS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: EDS)") end if %> is taking steps to spin off its community banking business to Willis Stein & Partners, an equity investment firm that caters to middle market companies. EDS said it's shedding the unit because it's no longer part of its core business.
Retail grocer and pet supply company Weis Markets <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: WMK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: WMK)") end if %>, which is engaged in a family feud over control of the business, has formed a special committee to consider alternatives in response to an unhappy shareholder who's asked that its board be removed. The dissident shareholder group is headed by Janet Weis, the daughter-in-law of company co-founder Sigmund Weis.
Global financial services company Citigroup <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: C)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: C)") end if %> and State Street Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: STT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: STT)") end if %> have reached agreement to form a benefits company called CitiStreet that will offer services for the defined contribution, pension, health, and welfare industry. The company, which will start operations in the first half of next year, will have 3,000 employees and administer about $200 billion in assets.
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