expect to launch the service in the first half of 1999.
Unplugged: Microsoft and Qualcomm have jumpstarted their new Wireless Knowledge joint venture by investing $25 million each. The central idea: use the Windows infrastructure to create a wireless platform for ubiquitous access to e-mail, calendars, contacts and the Web from a range of devices. Service through AirTouch, Sprint (dossier) PCS and others should be ready next spring. The competition: Symbian, a wireless data consortium of Java licensees, some of which expect to announce products in the next six months.
Options Online: E-Trade founder Bill Porter expects to launch an online options exchange in 2000. Called the International Securities Exchange, the project is being financed by a consortium of broker-dealers including E-Trade, Ameritrade, Scottsdale Securities and Knight/Trimark. ISE plans to submit an approval application to the SEC by the end of this year.
NOTED: Microsoft's VP of interactive media, Pete Higgins, has stepped down. ... ATT (T) WorldNet launched Community Port, a service for home-page hosting. ... Rockwell Semiconductor Systems has renamed itself Conexant Systems, the first step in its spin-off from parent company Rockwell Corp. ... The consumer electronics Web site 800.COM got $4 million in first-round VC financing.
