Monday, March 19, 2001		Lens on IT

A Chinese man waits at a bus stop next to a poster advertising a local Web site in Beijing . Only three Chinese Internet firms are listed on the Nasdaq and all saw their share prices trading below $2, including sohu.com which fell below $1. If a share price remains below $1 at Nasdaq for 30 consecutive trading days, a company receives a warning — the first step towards delisting.

Jun Akimitsu with Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan talks about superconductors at a press conference in Seattle last week. Approximately 5,000 scientists are in Seattle to discuss recent work on a newly discovered superconducting metal compound that can conduct electricity with virtually no resistance, and at very low temperatures.

Sony Marketing (Japan) employee Yoko Dobashi demonstrates a new "CLIE" Palm-powered Personal Entertainment Organiser with colour LCD PEG-N700C in Tokyo last week. Sony Corp said it would launch the new version of its Clie handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) fearuring audio playback, an improved display screen and longer battery life. Sony will introduce new CLIE for Japanese market on April 7 at approxmately 50,000 yen ($330).

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft (R), and Meg Whitman president and CEO of eBay Inc., shake hands in San Jose, California, after the two companies announced a strategic alliance to jointly expand their global online presence and improve the e-commerce experience for consumers.

Russian newsman Vladislav Borodulin, left, and British journalist Bridget Kendall, centre, listen to President Vladimir Putin, right, during an online session in the Kremlin, Moscow , with the presidential standard depicted on Putin's laptop and some of the questions screened in the background. Thousands of Russians jumped at a chance to query President Vladimir Putin on everything from politics to his personal life Tuesday, sending questions via the Internet for the president to answer in an online session.

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer (top) participates via satellite in a technology panel discussion in New York last week, while television anchor Tom Brokaw (bottom) moderates the event. Other participants included (seated L to R), Bob Pittman, the co-chief operating officer of AOL/Time Warner; Howard Stringer, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Corporation of America; and Darrien Dash, founder and chief executive of DME Interactive Holdings, Inc. The discussion, aired live on MSNBC, brought together leaders from the Internet and technology revolution to create a dialogue among the key decision-makers in the industry.

— Reuters photos