Monday, April 23, 2001		Latest in IT world

Game software sale on Web

Nintendo Co Ltd, the world’s second largest home video game maker, will start selling game software for its popular Game Boy Advance handheld game console via the Net, aiming to lure older players who often shop online, a company spokesman said. The move would mark Nintendo’s entry into e-commerce following similar ventures by rivals Sony Corp, creator of the PlayStation home game machine, and Sega Corp. For its online sales debut, Nintendo plans to package its new golf game with an adapter for Internet-compatible mobile phones, which are surging in popularity in Japan. When connecting to Nintendo’s server, gamers can send game results to friends, or join golf tournaments organised by the game company, the spokesman said. The package will be priced at 5,800 yen ($46.55), the same price Nintendo had previously put on the adapter alone.

Ailing Japanese electronics group Aiwa Co Ltd said it would close all five of its domestic plants by the end of March 2002 A.D. as a part of restructuring efforts aimed at dragging it back into the black. The company, which announced a dramatic revival plan last month, said it would announce on April 26 plans to consolidate its global manufacturing operations at its Malaysian or Indonesian plant. In late March, Aiwa said it would consolidate three production lines with nine separate factories — in Japan’s Iwate prefecture, Malaysia and Indonesia — into a single line with one factory.

Intel Corp demonstrated last week for the first time a fast digital signal processor (DSP) chip designed jointly with Analog Devices Inc that will play a key role in its strategy for wireless devices. "The MSA (micro signal architecture) silicon is capable of operating at speeds of up to 400 MHz, more than twice as fast as other DSPs for wireless handheld devices," Intel said in a statement. The new DSP design, along with XScale processors for handsets, due for launch by the end of the year, and its flash memory products, comprise the architecture Intel plans for advanced wireless devices such as third generation, or 3G, mobile phones offering high-speed data transmission.

Major record labels planned to file legal documents opposing efforts by song-swap company Napster — now operating under a crippling injunction — to get a rehearing in a San Francisco appeals court. The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in February that Napster was infringing on copyrights and directed Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to issue a preliminary injunction. Napster requested a rehearing shortly after the appeals court decision in February and has subsequently asked if it could supplement that request with material from proceedings at the US District Court, which issued the injunction.

 —Reuters