ePostal News articles from January 2005

ePostal News archives from January 2005

AuthentiDate beefs up EPM operations; COO quits.(Authentidate Holding Corp. enhances its electronic postmarking service)(cheif executive officer)
January 10, 2005... Struggling electronic postmark outfit AuthentiDate Holding Corporation is beefing up its EPM operation under the stewardship of its new CEO Suren Pai. The Schenectady, New York concern, which provides the technology behind the US Postal...

Selling Japan post Koizumi's top economic goal.(Junichiro Koizumi)
January 10, 2005... Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says his top economic priority for 2005 will be to get approval to sell Japan Post and let private banks manage some of its $3.4 trillion in assets. "The private sector should be allowed to do what...

Siebel buys e-billing ISV.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Siebel, the business applications house, is acquiring e-billing ISV edocs. Under the terms of the deal, Siebel will pay $115 million in cash and additional payments based on revenue and contractual milestones. Siebel expects the...

Norway post restructures ErgoGroup.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... The Norwegian Post's ErgoGroup unit plans to subsume its ErgoIntegration, ErgoEphorma and ErgoSolutions subsidiaries. The restructuring is supposed to be implemented by April 1. After the merger, ErgoGroup will comprise of four business...

USPS automated kiosks installations growing.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... The US Postal Service says it's now got Automated Postal Centers (APCs), its version of ATMs for postal services, in all 50 states. The APCs are designed to let customers weigh, calculate and apply exact postage, ship Express and Priority...

Pitney buys European firm.(Groupe MAG)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Pitney Bowes has acquired Groupe MAG, a distributor of software, production mail equipment and finishing equipment that commercial printers in France, Belgium and Luxembourg use. Financial terms were not disclosed. Groupe MAG's...

Everything you ever wanted to know about the world wide Web & were afraid to ask.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... W3C has issued "Architecture of the World Wide Web, Volume One" as a standard. The consortium says the document, which got started three years ago, distills the overall architectural principals that make the web work well and covers those...

Symantec buys Veritas, still has acquisition itch.
January 10, 2005... Symantec, the consumer anti-virus house, is buying Veritas, the enterprise storage and backup manager, for $13.5 billion in stock. The price works out to roughly $30.75 a share, better than a $5 premium over Veritas' closing price on Friday...

Microsoft buys spyware buster.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Microsoft has acquired a New York City-based anti-spyware outfit called Giant Company Software on undisclosed terms. Whatever the arrangement, it apparently didn't take into consideration the fact that Sunbelt Software apparently co-owns...

KFW to buy 12% of Deutsche Post.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... German bank KFW plans to buy 12% of Deutsche Post from the German government in a $2.31 billion transaction adding to the 36% it already owns. KFW, a state owned bank, plans to sell the stock to the public later. The German government...

Microsoft goes into the software-as-service biz with Bell Canada.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Microsoft Canada and Bell Canada have climbed into bed together so Bell can develop integrated IT-telecom solutions for the SME market using Microsoft widgetry. Bell is supposed to develop a line of new services and a wizard-type...

Microsoft betas desktop search.(MSN Toolbar Suite, a desktop utility, launched )
January 10, 2005... Microsoft has put out a beta desktop search utility as it's been expected to do following Google's lead. Concomitantly Google's push into the space in October, which got the jump on Microsoft, has stumbled over a Gartner-issued warning...

OSDL looks under the sofa cushions for signs of Linux growth.(Open Source Development Labs)
January 10, 2005... The Open Source Development Labs has gone into the soothsayer business and--based on research that it had IDC run up--says that the global Linux market will be worth $35.7 billion in 2008. It's the first time a major market researchers has...

'.mobi' designation approved for mobile devices.(content provider for mobile devices)(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... Web sites that cater to content for digital media-enabled cell phones and other mobile devices are getting their own web domain suffix--.mobi. ICANN, the international Internet standards body, tentatively approved the .mobi designation. Mobile...

European broadband use soars.(Brief Article)
January 10, 2005... The use of broadband to access the Internet soared across Europe during 2004, according to the latest Strategy Analytics report "Broadband Subscriber Market Forecast: Europe." It says that nearly half of all Internet households now use a...

USPS rolls out e-program to notify people of mail hiccups.(United States Postal Service )
January 17, 2005... The US Postal Service has started rolling out an online program to notify customers electronically of problems with their mail. The program is an enhancement to the agency's PostalOne system. Dubbed eMIR, short for electronic Mail...

Maltapost mulls e-gov services.(electronic government)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Maltapost is considering launching a bunch of e-government services this year. Maltapost chairman David Stellini says the agency plans to leverage its extensive retail network in launching the e-government products and services. ...

Azerbaijan Post to get $15m in modernization aid.(World Bank invests to improve postal infrastructure)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... The World Bank is considering investing $15 million to improve the Azerbaijan postal system. The bank's project is expected to assist Azerbaijan Post in beefing up its infrastructure including banking and financial services. The main...

Aquilent behind carrier pickup.(United States. Postal Service selected Aquilent Inc. as IT service provider for its Carrier Pickup service)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Aquilent Inc has been identified as the IT services provider for the US Postal Service's Carrier Pickup service. Carrier Pickup, which debuted last February, lets people notify their local post office online up to 90 days in advance when...

Group 1 upgrades SortStream Canada.(Group 1 Software Inc. releases upgraded version of sorting software)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Group 1 Software has upgraded its SortStream Canada software, which presorts mail according to Canada Post's Software Evaluation and Recognition Program regulations. The upgrade--version 2.4.1--is supposed to increase mailing efficiencies,...

JPMorgan to buy logistics ISV.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. acquires Vastera Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... JPMorgan Chase is buying logistics software provider Vastera in a cash deal valued at $129 million or $3 a share. Dulles, Virginia-based Vastera provides software that's designed to automate the trade management processes associated with...

Pitney buys services business.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Pitney Bowes has acquired the equipment services business of Standard Register for $17 million in cash. The business has reportedly generated annual revenues of about $23 million from servicing the installed base of printers and...

Opera betas browsers.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... Opera Software has beta'd its next-generation browser for Linux on the heels of the one for Windows. Neither of them has been christened yet. The widgetry includes a simplified user interface and tools like Fit-to-Window-Width,...

Online holiday sales boom--up 25%.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... US consumers spent $23.2 billion online during the 2004 holiday season, excluding travel, a 25% increase from the $18.5 billion spent during the 2003 holiday season. Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen//NetRatings compiled the...

Passport to nowhere--the megaservice turns megaflop.(single sign-in Passport program from Microsoft)
January 17, 2005... It was once touted as a passport to safe, secure and convenient navigation through the treacherous shoals of cyberspace. However, the single sign-in Passport program that Microsoft used to call the megaservice that extends the web's...

Oracle clinches PeopleSoft acquisition.
January 17, 2005... On the strength of 75% of the stock that had been tendered, Oracle took control of PeopleSoft, its swivel-hipped prey, two days before the end of 2004 and immediately started cleaning house, beginning with PeopleSoft's top managers. Oracle...

Microsoft debuts spyware buster beta, antivirus tool.(Windows AntiSpyware)
January 17, 2005... Microsoft has put out the first beta of the anti-spyware tool that it got from its recent acquisition of Giant Company Software. It's called Windows AntiSpyware and is designed to detect and remove spyware, the nasty pernicious software...

BellSouth drops to $9.95 a month.(Brief Article)
January 17, 2005... BellSouth has lowered its monthly DSL rate to $9.95 a month for the first six months. The company has been the least aggressive of the four major regional phone companies in marketing its DSL service, both on pricing and extra services offered....

Portuguese Post to debut e-post service.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... CTT Correios de Portugal, the Portuguese Post, is preparing to launch an e-post service. Its new electronic mailbox service is designed to facilitate the transmission of electronic statements and bills to corporate, consumer and government...

Matav to roll out Hungary's first e-bill service.
January 24, 2005... Hungarian telecom carrier Matav plans to roll out the country's first e-billing service for consumers. Matav, which has reportedly started pilot implementations of the service, plans to roll it out at the end of February. The service...

Pitney debuts new digital meters.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Pitney Bowes has launched a new family of digital postage meters. Dubbed DM Infinity Series, the new widgets are supposed to frank up to 22,000 pieces of mail an hour and meet the reliability and durability requirements of production...

SingPost gets new group CEO.(Chief Executive Officer)(Appointment)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Singapore Post has named Lau Boon Tuan its new group chief executive starting February 1. Boon Tuan will also join the post's board. An accountant by training, Boon Tuan's resume includes stints at Serm Suk Public Company and Citibank....

Apple offers cheap Mac.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... The Apple rumormongers were right. The usually pricey Apple will be putting a $499 six-and-ahalf inch by two-inch Mac it calls the Mac mini on the market come January 22, its first foray into sub-$800 territory, and now, because of it,...

Opera goes to school.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Norwegian browser house Opera Software says it will offer free site licenses to higher education institutions. Opera claimed the move responds to schools' growing concern about the security threats students may encounter by using a less...

Morgan Stanley turns thumbs down on HP.(Morgan Stanley co., Hewlett-Packard Co.)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... A few days before HP moved its dicey PC unit into its golden printer operation, Morgan Stanley went negative on the company. It said it expects PC unit growth will be in the single digits this year and that HP is in the worst position to...

The future of the Internet--10 years out.(Information technology)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Broadband adoption will grow and broadband speeds will increase over the next decade according to 1,286 "respected technology experts and social analysts" that the Pew Internet Project asked last fall. Most predicted that "vastly more people...

Case: 'we were the wrong guys to Run AOL-Time Warner'.(Steve Case speaks on the failure of merger of Time Warner and Americal Online)
January 24, 2005... Steve Case, admitting what other people have known for some time, is taking the blame for the failure of the merger of Time Warner and AOL, according to CNET. Describing Case as "visibly graying," CNET quoted Case, who was speaking to an event...

Rogers cable reports 20% broadband growth.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... Tracking similarly to US cable TV services, Canada's Rogers Cable reported a slight decrease in TV subscribers and a 20% increase in broadband subscribers for the 12 months ending December 31. Basic cable subscriptions decreased slightly from...

France Telecom to offer broadband-only wholesale service.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... By year-end France Telecom intends to offer a new wholesale ADSL product that will let independent ISPs, including its own Wanadoo, sell broadband service to people who don't have local phone service. The product is aimed at consumers who use...

Gates: PC won't be the only device.(Bill Gates speaks on the personal computers usage and forecast)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2005... "The PC has a central role to play in that it's where it all comes together--e-mail, instant messaging; if you want to organize your memories in a rich way, if you want to edit photos, if you want to create papers. But, it won't be the only...

Canada Post upgrades online shipping tools.
January 31, 2005... Canada Post has enhanced its Electronic Shipping Tools application for commercial mailers. The upgrade comes with several new features including an automation incentive for using its Unaddressed Admail Fully Featured function and new...

epost completes webdoxs integration.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... epost, the online mail delivery service, has completed its integration with webdoxs, the e-billing service that it acquired from BCE Emergis in July in hopes of boosting the adoption of e-bill presentment and payment in Canada. epost, a...

Belgacom sees e-bill momentum.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Belgacom claims to be seeing increasing interest in the e-billing service it offers via its Certipost joint venture with Belgium Post. Belgacom said 15,000 customers had signed up for Bills Online since it rolled out the service last May....

Post office names IT veteran operations chief.(Ric Francis appointed)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Royal Mail's Post Office subsidiary has named Ric Francis as its new operations director. Francis was most recently CIO of Safeway Stores. His newly created role, which combines IT and network support services, is designed to optimize the...

Captiva bags 4 Digital Mailroom orders.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Captiva Software, the input management software house, crows that it bagged four orders for its Digital Mailroom widgetry during the fourth quarter. Captiva CEO Reynolds Bish claims the company "met our objectives for the first year of...

Yahoo KO's Microsoft's MSN, grabs Verizon deal.
January 31, 2005... Yahoo has knocked Microsoft's MSN out of its deal with Verizon. Verizon will offer a Yahoo-branded broadband Internet service a la SBC. British Telecom and Canadian cable TV service Rogers Communications also offer Yahoo-branded Internet...

HP unites printers & PCs in its Version of Beauty & the Beast.
January 31, 2005... Hewlett-Packard has merged its marginally profitable PC unit into its Imaging and Printing Group, source of most of its profits, to form a new operation called the Imaging and Personal Systems Group (IPSG). HP's Imaging and Printing chief,...

Microsoft debuts first Office subscription service.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... Microsoft has made its brand new Outlook Live the first subscription-based service from its Office portfolio. Outlook Live combines Microsoft's Hotmail and MSN e-mail with the new Outlook 2003 for Subscription Services. It means that...

UK standards group signs off on ADSL2+.(Network Interoperability Consultative Committee supports high speed broadband technology)(Brief Article)
January 31, 2005... The Network Interoperability Consultative Committee, the UK's broadband standards body, has agreed to support the new high-speed broadband technology called ADSL2+. ADSL2+ can transmit information over a phone company's copper wires at...

Oracle fires 5,000; lays out project fusion.
January 31, 2005... Oracle said it is firing 5,000 people, roughly 9% of the newly combined Oracle-PeopleSoft workforce. The terminations, most believed to be PeopleSoft and JD Edwards staffers, are key to Oracle's effort to capture a $400 million profit boost...

SAP hopes to capitalize on Oracle discontent.(SAP AG mergers with TomorrowNow Inc)
January 31, 2005... SAP AG, the big kahuna of applications and the guy whose lunch Oracle wants to swallow, has bought a tiny little Texas company called TomorrowNow Inc, a six-year-old, privately held PeopleSoft maintenance and support outfit, to use as a base...

DSL technology will continue to dominate European broadband.
January 31, 2005... By 2010, 41%--72 million European homes--will have a broadband connection, according to a new Forrester Research study "European Residential Broadband Forecast: 2004 To 2010." The study says that broadband will continue its explosive growth of...