News in briefs

Ariba freezes IDC plan

BANGALORE: Ariba Inc., which had last year announced that it would put up an

India Development Center (IDC), has said that it has put the project on hold.

"Looking at the business and economic scenario, particularly in the US, we

have decided to freeze our plans of an IDC. It would not make an economic sense

now," said Ariba Asia Pacific managing director Lawrence Wee on Monday.

Wee, however, denied reports that the company was closing down its Indian

operations. "India is important to us, especially in a medium term period.

We have about eight certified and enabled systems integrators in the country

today," added Ariba India country manager M Ganesh. Wee said that he was

optimistic on the growth potential for Ariba in the Asian markets as the B2B

market in the region is expected to touch $516 million by 2005 from $29 million

this year. He was quoting the IDC projections for the region during the next

five years.- CIOL Bureau

Blueshift launches SENATE for education sector



CHENNAI: Blueshift has launched SENATE, a software-driven Service Engine for
assessment, testing and e-learning, designed to meet the needs of institutions

that conduct large-scale tests. SENATE, which enables institutions to go

electronic with their test processes, will be offered as a service that

completely manages the test processes, right from online applications for tests

and conducting tests online to electronic evaluation and result generation. It

intends to tie up with at least 750 partners who have the necessary

infrastructure to act as Blueshift accredited test centers. The service is

intended for Universities and Colleges, education and training institutes,

companies recruiting in large numbers and education boards. Blueshift is in

advanced stage of negotiations with some of the educational institutions to

deploy the service.-CNS

Hysea to seek opportunities in Japan



HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Software Exporters Association will visit Japan
with a 10-member delegation from July 1 to July 7. The delegation will give

presentations on the proposed business ventures. Commenting on the initiative

Akebano Technologies Pvt. Ltd. managing director and coordinator of Japan

Affairs of HYSEA, Rama Bhadra said that representatives from more than six

eminent software companies from Hyderabad would be part of the delegation. HYSEA

was established in the year 1991, to promote cooperation and good business

practices among the members and assist the members in solving the problems

affecting their business interests.-CNS

H-P, SK Telecom to jointly invest in wireless tech



SEOUL: South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom said on Monday it had
agreed with computer maker Hewlett-Packard to jointly invest $10 million in

wireless Internet venture companies. Each company would offer $5 million to set

up a joint venture fund and help venture companies develop core technologies

required to provide wireless Internet services including position location and

mobile settlement, SK said in a statement. SK said they also agreed to further

cooperate in entering into a new wireless business in the future.-Reuters

IsquareIT, Good I Inc. to offer IT education



PUNE: International Institute of Information Technology (ISquareIT), Pune
has signed up with South Korea-based Good I Inc. to provide post-graduate

advanced IT education to students from South Korea on its campus coming up at

the Pune Infotech Park, Hinjewadi. ISquareIT advisory chair Dr Vijay Bhatkar

said that both the institutions were also planning to replicate the program in

Korea, where GI will provide the infrastructure while ISquareIT would bring in

the faculty and course material. The one-year diploma courses in advanced

information technology begins in August 2001 and as per the MOU a minimum of 250

South Korean students will be admitted per year.-CNS

Kodak Digital, Neoteric launches 3-in-1 camera



MUMBAI: Kodak Digital India and its channel partner Neoteric, have jointly
launched Kodak mc3 in Mumbai. The portable multiple device Mc3, performs

three-in-one function of a camera-walkman and video camera. This is the seventh

digital device in the digital device series of Kodak India. Priced at Rs 18,000,

the camera has the resolution of around 640/480 and with 96MB picture card, one

can do video shoot for about half an hour. The Kodak picture cards are available

with the capacity varying from 16MB to 96MB.- CNS

Appeals court says no warning on Microsoft opinion

WASHINGTON: A federal appeals court reviewing the antitrust case against
Microsoft Corp. warned on Monday that it will not provide advance notice on the

timing of its decision. The court said it had received many inquiries about the

distribution of the opinion that it also warned may be issued outside of the

regular issue of decisions on Tuesday, and Friday mornings. "The issuance

of this notice should not be taken as a sign that issuance of the opinion is

imminent," cautioned the posting on the Web site for US Court of Appeals

for the District of Columbia. Many antitrust experts expect the appeals panel

will substantially scale back a lower court's findings against the software

giant after the government's case faced tough questioning during oral arguments

in February - Reuters.