More Volleys Fired in the NC vs. NetPC Battle

Is the business pc headed for extinction? It could be if the NC (Network Computer), championed by the likes of Sun Microsystems and Oracle, catches on. An NC is little more than a low-cost, stripped-down, diskless desktop computer whose most important function is to link users to a network. But since diskless NCs could hurt its future software sales, Microsoft has countered by announcing plans to offer a cheap, easy-to-maintain NetPC for businesses.

The NC versus NetPC battle heated up in June in Tokyo. First, five major Japanese PC manufacturers (NEC, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi), together with three foreign PC companies (IBM Japan, Compaq KK, and Dell Computer KK), unveiled prototype NetPCs - units targeted at the corporate market that comply with Microsoft's design guidelines for PCs with simplified functions for "Total Cost Reduction." These makers aim at commercialization of their NetPC products within this year.

In addition, 20 other hardware manufacturers in Japan have expressed their endorsement for the core concept of the NetPC, called the Zero Administration Initiative for Microsoft Windows (ZAW). As the first step toward realizing the ZAW, Microsoft was scheduled to offer the Japanese version of its Zero Administration Kit for Windows NT Workstation, version 4.0, free of charge via its website (http://www.microsoft.co.jp/products/tco/) in late July. The Zero Administration Kit enables a system administrator to have central control of the business application software running on each user's NetPC.

Just four days after the NetPC announcement, meanwhile, the same Japanese PC manufacturers (minus NEC) again showed up to make a joint announcement regarding their cooperation for establishment of the Mobile Network Computer Reference Specifications. These specifications are an extension of the NC reference profile that had previously been agreed upon by five companies, including Oracle, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. In addition to the four Japanese PC manufacturers, seven foreign companies have announced their participation in the mobile NC standard creation: Apple Computer, IBM, Lotus Development, Netscape Communications, Nokia Mobile Phones, Oracle Network Computer Inc., and Sun Microsystems.

These companies will establish the standard that will determine the mobile NC's screen type, power consumption, linking method with networks, and peripheral device types. While NEC did not join in the announcement, the company, together with 12 other firms (including Digital Equipment Corp., Japan Telecom, Matsushita Electric Industrial, PeopleSoft, Secom Information, and Tokyo Internet) expressed endorsement of the mobile NC specifications.

Wireless Suppliers Back WCDMA for 3rd-Generation Mobile System

In June, wideband system pioneers Nokia and Ericsson announced their support of a new WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology proposed by NTT DoCoMo as a standard for the third generation of wideband cellular phone systems. The proposed 5-MHz WCDMA air interface will offer up to 384K-bps for wide area and 2M-bps for indoor applications. "Together, our companies will cooperate with NTT DoCoMo to lay the foundations for rapid commercialization of third-generation cellular technology," says Kurt Hellstršm, president of Ericsson Radio Systems.

According to Ericsson and Nokia, this new WCDMA technology is optimized for packet-switched data (high-speed Internet applications and electronic multimedia mail) and offers high-capacity circuit-switched capabilities (for full-motion video services and high-quality voice communications). With this advanced WCDMA system, a user would be able to simultaneously use several services, such as video conferencing, accessing graphics-intensive Internet/intranet applications, and transferring large data files. "A third-generation air interface technology is only as good as its underlying network infrastructure," says Matti Alahuhta, president of Nokia Telecommunications. "Well-standardized, open WCDMA radio access technology will be closely linked with the GSM [Global System for Mobile Communication] core network, which is widely regarded as the most open and robust wireless system in the world."

NTT DoCoMo will begin establishing a WCDMA test environment by the end of 1997, and will conduct field tests of the system in 1998. Commercial launch of the system is scheduled for 2001, by which time Nokia and Ericsson estimate there will be GSM networks on all continents serving 300 million subscribers.

Information Appliance-based Online Shopping

In early June, Tokyo-based venture company access announced a technical tie-up with VeriSign Japan (the Japanese subsidiary of US-based VeriSign) to develop browser software for home information appliances that supports electronic authentication. The browser is set to be embedded into new home information appliances that are to be released by major Japanese home appliance manufacturers in late summer and in the fall.

As the first step of their technical cooperation, Access will enable authentication of the Web servers that have acquired VeriSign's Digital ID through original browser software developed by Access, called NetFront. For the authentication function, Access has developed an original cipher module, NetFront Crypt Module, which includes a public key algorithm (RSA), secret key algorithms (DES and RC4), and hush functions (MD5 and SHA). The module is currently designed to support SSL (Secure Socket Layer), but will soon support SET (Secure Electronic Transactions) as well, according to Access. VeriSign began an authentication certificate service on the Internet in 1995. In Japan, the number of websites that have acquired a VeriSign Digital ID exceeds 1,000.

For inquiries about VeriSign's ID Service, send e-mail to info@verisign.co.jp.

Global Net/Fax Connection
Services Launched

Nishiden started its global internet connection service and Internet fax service in June. The Global Access Internet connection service allows subscribers to connect to the Internet from more than 900 cities in 200 countries. The Internet fax service, called Global Interfax, allows users to attach an Internet connection auto-dialer to an existing facsimile.

The Global Access initial subscriber fee is JPY 6,500, and the monthly fee is JPY 4,000. Depending on the area to be connected, there is an additional time-based communications charge of JPY 25 to JPY 120 per minute (JPY 25/minute to North America and Mexico, JPY 55/minute to Western Europe,JPY 65/minute to Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, and JPY 120/minute to other areas).

Nishiden's Global Interfax service has no initial subscriber fee or monthly fee. A one-year deposit of JPY 12,500 is required for the auto-dialer, however, and the connection charge per minute ranges from JPY 46 to JPY 172, depending on the country to be connected.

Nishiden expects to set up more than 15 sub-agents and to acquire more than 1,500 corporate users for its services within the first year. The company also plans to initiate other services soon, including Internet phone, e-mail-to-fax, and fax-to-e-mail services.

For more information contact Nishiden, Ltd., at phone 03-5565-5551, or e-mail sugawara@sales.nishiden.co.jp

PC Networking Is Up in Japan

But user satisfaction is down

Pc network installation is booming in Japan, but overall satisfaction among network users is surprisingly low. Only 5% of users are satisfied with the performance of their PC networks, according to JD Power Japan's 1997 PC Network Customer Satisfaction Survey. This 5% satisfaction level has remained unchanged over the past two years, and is dramatically lower than, for example, user satisfaction with facsimiles (29%). Among network server manufacturers, Toshiba enjoyed the highest customer satisfaction index, followed by NEC and IBM.

Networking is progressing in Japanese corporations as more and more PCs are being installed. The JD Power Japan survey found that in the past year the average number of employees per computer has dropped from six per PC to 4.5 per PC. Nearly one-third of the companies surveyed stated they intend to continue increasing their PC investment until every employee has a PC.

In large companies, PC network connectivity now exceeds 50%. Most of these networks are client/server systems with traditional network protocols, but the use of intranet systems is increasing (14%). Some 45% of large companies stated they intend to install intranets in the near future.

Internet connectivity in large businesses is proceeding very rapidly, with 69% of companies with PC networks connected. A notable trend, however, is that few businesses (just 31%) connecting to the Internet are taking the precaution of installing a protective firewall to fully guard their networks from unauthorized outside access.

The most dramatic advance in PC network standardization over the past year has been the adoption of Windows NT as the network operating system (NOS) of choice. In 1996, according to JD Power Japan, Novell NetWare was used as the NOS by 47% of companies surveyed, and Windows NT by just 16%. In 1997, however, Windows NT had captured a 51% NOS share while NetWare usage dropped to 34%. Windows 95, meanwhile, is used as a client operating system by 56% of companies surveyed.

In terms of application software, Microsoft products take top place in 1997 in all categories among large corporations except for browsers, where Netscape Navigator enjoys a slight edge. Microsoft Word edges out Justsystem's Ichitaro in the word processing sector, and Excel commands an 81% share of the spreadsheet sector.

Pay-Per-View
Internet

IBM Japan has announced development of the world's first billing system for webpage contents. The Pay Per Click System is a prepaid billing method that uses a billing "counting server" placed between the content provider's server and the user's client terminal.

To use the paid webpage viewing service, the user purchases, in advance, a virtual prepaid ticket on the Internet via the operator of the counting server. When the user has finished using the pay-per-click service, the counting server deducts the service charge and sends the billing data to the content provider. Since the system does not use any cryptography protocol, such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer), it can be utilized by corporate users of intranets with firewalls.



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