On the Net ... with UPI

• Tweet

DOWNLOADABLE MOVIES COULD SPIKE BANDWIDTH COSTS

When Hollywood blockbusters such as "Spiderman" and "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" become available for download over the Internet next month, companies soon afterward could begin receiving bigger charges for excess Internet bandwidth, warns N2H2, Inc., an Internet content filtering company. Movielink.com, a joint venture between MGM, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros., will begin offering downloadable Internet movie rentals in December. Even though movie files can be as large as 700 megabytes and can take as long as two hours to download even over high-speed broadband connections, MGM forecasts video on demand delivered via the Internet or TV will account for roughly 25 to 35 percent of the $10 billion video-rental business by 2005 or 2006. But with just 15 percent of homes wired for broadband Internet access, many users likely will rely on their employers' high-speed connections to download streaming media files. Research suggests the problem of employee bandwidth misuse is large and widespread. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, 22 million people used streaming media in the workplace in 2001. In addition, 59 percent of IT professionals nationwide listed the problem of misused bandwidth as a "very important" concern in a 2001 study by independent research firm Market Resources.

AMAZON.COM PAIRS WITH GOLDANDDIAMOND.COM TO SELL JEWELRY ONLINE

GoldandDiamond.com, a leading online jewelry store, has formed a relationship with Amazon.com to provide Fine and Fashion Jewelry at Amazon's new Apparel and Accessories Store. GoldandDiamond.com, of Clearwater, Fla., will offer a broad array of products ranging from $10-$2,500, the company said, including diamonds, precious gems, 14 & 18 karat gold, pearls, and Sterling silver. "The GoldandDiamond.com product line selected for the Amazon.com Apparel and Accessories Store offers the highest quality fashion and fine jewelry products at prices below those of any offline retailer," said Steve Weinraub, the company's president and board chairman. "We combine this value with our focus on customer service to create a convenient one-stop shop for customers to do their Holiday Shopping on the trusted Amazon.com Web site." Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, added, "In time for the holidays, the new Apparel & Accessories store gives customers the opportunity to shop for clothing and accessories with all the easy-to-use features they have come to expect at Amazon.com."

COMPANY PLANS RIDE-THROUGH COMPUTER

Global Edutainment Inc. said the company plans next year to unveil an attraction that makes it possible for people to travel inside a computer and the Internet. "Binar-e-World(TM): The First Cyberadventure INSIDE the Computer and the Internet" is intended to make information technology friendlier and more accessible to anyone, the company said. The attraction will target "those people who make use of these important tools on a daily basis as well as those who are still afraid or without access to computers," the company said in a statement. Within the attraction, visitors "effectively become the zeroes and ones (binary numbers) that drive the system. On this incredible journey, people will find out how computers actually work, going inside each device and component. As they zip from the computer out into the wide horizons of the Internet, the journey continues in a digital world of exploration and discovery through direct interaction with information technology." Global Edutainment will debut the attraction in Miami and is in the process of negotiating potential sites. Company executives said they envision placing the computer attraction in other countries by 2007.

WEBEX TO OFFER WIRELESS WEB MEETINGS SERVICE

WEbEx has announced it will enhance its MediaTone Network to deliver WebEx Mobile Meetings, a wireless Web meetings service to geared to the "advanced inking, display, multimedia and wireless capabilities of the Tablet PC," the San Jose, Calif., company said in a statement. The WebEx MediaTone Network, which is specifically designed for real-time data, voice and video communications, allows users to hold interactive mobile meetings using the Tablet PC's wireless networking capabilities. WebEx Mobile Meetings are supported on all WebEx services and will be available to WebEx's 6,800 enterprise customers and through the international network of telecommunications providers that offer WebEx meetings. "WebEx provides an important business communications service and we are pleased to be working with them to bring the power of the MediaTone Network to Tablet PC users," said Alexandra Loeb, vice president of the Tablet PC division at Microsoft Corp. "With WebEx, Tablet PC users can leverage the power and mobility of the Tablet PC to conduct highly interactive meetings from any place, anytime," she said.

(Got a tip for UPI's On the Net? Send it to sciencedesk@upi.com)