News in brief

Handspring reports fourth quarter loss



MOUNTAIN VIEW: Handheld computer maker, Handspring Inc. on Wednesday

reported a fourth quarter loss and revenues that fell sharply from the third

quarter, as the firm struggled with the demand slump and supply glut gripping

the industry. The Mountain View, California-based maker of pocket-sized personal

information devices, said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss, excluding special

items, was $32.4 million, or 29 cents on a per share basis, compared to a loss

of $5.9 million, or 13 cents one year ago. A consensus of Wall Street analysts

surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had predicted a fourth-quarter

per-share loss of 32 cents, with a range 25 cents to 37 cents. - Reuters.

Java to be excluded from Windows XP



In the aftermath of the legal dispute with Sun Microsystems and Microsoft
over Java software language, Microsoft said this week that Java will not be

included in Windows XP. The software giant said that including Java in Windows

XP might further violate Sun's copyrights. In January, Sun and Microsoft settled

a lawsuit in which Sun had accused Microsoft of infringing a licensing agreement

to use Java. Under the agreement, Microsoft agreed to no longer license from Sun

any current or new versions of Java. Microsoft also paid Sun $20 million, and

was barred from using Sun's "Java Compatible'' trademark. "In the wake

of the settlement agreement with Sun and the resolution of that litigation, this

approach simplifies our implementation and adherence of that agreement,'' a

Microsoft spokesman said. - SVNS

Samsung’s to commence local manufacturing operation



MUMBAI: Samsung Electronics India Information & Telecommunication
(SEIIT) has announced that its color monitor manufacturing units at Noida will

commence commercial operation in the second half of July 2001. SEIIT’s IT

chief Vivek Prakash said, "We have invested around $10 million in the first

round of investment. The second round will call for an additional $25

million." The unit would manufacture one million units in the first year of

operation and then four million units by year 2005. With the manufacturing unit

in place, the cost of monitors is expected to come down. The company plans to

appoint 200 personnel for the unit. — CNS

Eastern software systems bags ERP contract



NEW DELHI: Eastern Software Systems (ESS), an Indian e-business solution
provider has bagged the ERP contract of SD Fine Chem Ltd (SDFCL), producer of

Laboratory Chemicals, a Rs 25 crore Mumbai-based firm. ESS would be implementing

its flagship product 'ebizframe' to connect SDFCL's headquarters in Mumbai to

the two production units Boisar in Maharastra and Polcha in Gujarat. Besides

this, ebizframe will also connect the nine branches of SDFCL spread across India

with the head office. This online connectivity will aid SDFCL in efficient and

timely data communication, synergistic integration of its diverse enterprise

operations, optimal inventory management and increased cost cutting. - CNS

Sitagita and Paisapower in strategic tie-up



KOLKATA: Sitagita.com has announced a strategic partnership with
Paisapower.com the online money manager. The partnership allows Sitagita users

access to the complete range of personal finance products, loans, credit-cards,

investments, insurance, holiday packages, time shares and more. While the

co-branded online money manager will carry forward the basic theme and look of

Sitagita it will provide a direct link from the Sitagita homepage for which a

certain revenue-sharing model has been arranged. Commenting on the alliance with

Sitagita, P M Austin, CEO, Paisapower.com said, "Women today are playing a

significant role in decision making at home as well the workplace. They have

special financial needs that are not addressed by intermediaries today.

PaisaPower.com and Sitagita.com plan therefore intends to create a platform that

will cater to all these requirements." - CNS

Zenith slashes prices of PIII



NEW DELHI: Zenith Computers Ltd, a PC manufacturer, has announced the
availability of its Zenith P III 600 Mhz. machine at Rs 24,500. This is the

lowest price offered by any company for a machine of similar configuration. This

will bring down the Pentium III price in level to the price of the Celeron.

Other recent offerings from Zenith are Zenith P III 1 Ghz at Rs 32,000 and the

Zenith Pentium IV 1.4 Ghz at Rs 47,000. - CNS