After several months of testings, the WebSentric Web conferencing Service will go commercial on September 15.

As reported previously, WebSentric is a German company that has expanded its operations into the US. Its flagship product is a Web- based conferencing service called Presentation.Net.

The service is billed as the industry's first truly interactive Web-based conferencing service.

The service relies heavily on Java and D-HTML (dynamic hypertext markup language) technology to allow connections across the Web at relatively slow speeds (i.e. 9,600 bits per second).

In essence, the service allows several Web-based users to tie their Web browsers together and for one person to interactively "broadcast" a Web-based presentation to all user's computers.

Perhaps more importantly, the Presentation.Net facility has been designed to dovetail in with existing PC presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Users simply run their PowerPoint presentations through the Presentation.Net software and the resultant file can be "played" across the Presentation.Net service.

One of the most interesting features of the service is that the manager of the session can control each user's Web-based computers.

By tying in the presentation with a telephone-based audio conference, the firm says that the presentation is almost like being in the same room as the other participants.

According to Bill Barhydt, WebSentric's president, the service runs with almost any latest generation Web browser, including Internet Explorer 4.xx or Netscape Navigator 4.xx and later, and supports multiple computer platforms.

"WebSentric's technology will make global communications seamless," he told Newsbytes, adding that the company's service is changing the way corporations and organizations of all types hold business meetings.

WebSentric's Web site is at http://www.websentric.com .

Apple Unveils

Apple Computer Corp. [NASDAQ:AAPL] rolled out today the much-anticipated PowerMac G4 computer, a Pentium III rival that holds speeds of up to 500 MHz, along with a host of other new products, including its first dual processor system since 1997.

Steve Jobs, Apple's founder and interim chief executive officer, introduced the new products in his keynote speech at the annual Seybold Publishing conference. The company's new professional desktop systems are based around Motorola's G4 processor and feature new casing, new graphics and speeds of 400, 450 and 500 MHz. Jobs called the new PowerMac "the ultimate Photoshop machine."

The 400 MHz PowerMac, priced at $1,599, will begin shipping immediately, Jobs said. The two other systems will be available in a few weeks. The 450 MHz PowerMac will be priced at $2,499, while the 500 MHz version will go for $3,499.

The key to the PowerMac G4, according to Apple, is a multimedia addition to the G4 processor called AltiVec. AltiVec's architecture includes a 128-bit vector execution unit and could increase the speed of some multimedia operations by 2 to 30 times over current Power PC processors.

Jobs also introduced a new 22-inch flat panel display called Cinema Display that, according to Apple, is the largest LCD display ever brought to market and displays twice the brightness and sharpness as CRT displays. Geared toward publishing professionals, the Cinema Display will be bundled with the 450 Mhz PowerMac 64 for a total price of $6,498. Cinema Display will be available beginning in October through the Apple Store, Jobs said.

In non-product news, Jobs told the Seybold audience that Apple currently has more than $3 billion in cash and ended the last quarter with less than one day of inventory. He also said the company has received about 140,000 advance orders for the iMac, the new laptop first announced in July. Apple plans to begin shipping iMacs in mid-September.

Sun Offers Free Competitor To MS

By Bob Woods,

Sun Microsystems Inc. [NASDAQ:SUNW] is taking on Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT] head-on by announcing the purchase of a company whose products are Office-like, but that can be delivered to any Web browser. In the process, Sun's vision of "networked computing" or "networked services" has taken a big step toward reality.

Shares of Sun hit a 52-week high following today's news.

Sun said its new "StarPortal" is a "major initiative" that will move word processing, presentation graphics, spreadsheet and other office software tools off of the desktop to any Web browser - and eventually to portable devices.

Sun officials announced the StarPortal initiative and discussed its networked services future this morning at a New York City news conference, which Newsbytes attended via teleconference.

Although Sun doesn't "have all of the `i's' dotted and the `t's crossed," Ed Zander, president and chief operating officer of Sun Microsystems, said, "We're `dot-comming' the office" with the strategy.

Sun is carrying out its plan via its proposed acquisition of Star Division Inc. of Fremont, Calif. Financial details of the buyout were not made available.

In order to entice users away from products like MS Office and to its new StarPortal product, Sun will offer the desktop version of StarOffice for free via download at its Web site, http://www.sun.com/staroffice . A CD-ROM of the software is also available for a $9.95 charge that covers domestic shipping and handling. Printed documentation and support can be purchased from $39.95.

The StarOffice software is completely compatible with MS Office product family, including Word and Excel, and is designed to make the transition from Microsoft's product to Sun's product much easier, Zander also said.

Sun's StarPortal, essentially, is a Web-based version of StarOffice that combines a Java-based client with the software to enable browser access to office productivity tools. Through StarPortal, users will be able to access their office "desktop" and synchronize changes from any Web browser.

Software developers will be able to integrate StarPortal features via a component model Sun will develop, company officials also said. Through this program, for example, a Web-based financial service could embed within an investment application a basic spreadsheet component, which would then be made available to customers through a Web browser.

Sun will also provide source code under licensing terms, officials said. The company will make available the binary version of StarOffice to end-users and the binary version of StarPortal to service providers. Sun will also publish the specifications to these technologies and provide the source code under Sun's Community Source License.

StarOffice and StarPortal are also multi-platform capable, Zander said, meaning the products can run on Solaris, Linux, OS/2 and Windows. StarPortal is also Java client-ready, he said, and is scalable so it can run on "thin" Web clients and Web applications that cannot handle "fat" clients like MS Office.

"We're not interested in going out and trying to compete with Microsoft's Office fat-client product," Zander said. "This is a network play, this is a service-distributed play, this is a net economy play. This is a play to enable users to get easy access to simple office productivity applications from the network."

Early-access versions of the StarPortal office productivity suite will be available later this fall. The company said it is targeting Spring 2000 for final delivery. Sun will sell service and support for StarPortal, officials also said.

Sun said it will work with key partners like certain Internet service providers (ISPs) and network hosting services to accelerate the adoption of StarPortal.

Some of Sun's 27 partners include AT&T, America Online, BellSouth, Chello Broadband and GTE on the ISP end; Caldera Systems, Linuxcare and Red Hat for the Linux operating system; and Pennsylvania State University and VA Research as end-user partners.

The new strategy fulfills Sun's "anyone, any time, anywhere from any device computing" strategy, Zander said. "It's building Webtone and datatone that's synonymous with dialtone."

"The network's where it's at, and applications and services (will) move to the network," he said. Sun and its partners will move services to the network by building powerful back-end servers with the space and transmission capabilities to store these applications in a secure environment."

Sun's goal is not modest: "To Web-enable and browser-enable every device that has a microprocessor in it; whether it's your car, whether it's your television, whether it's your desktop, whether it's your airline seat or hotel room," Zander said. Sun aims to "provide the network infrastructure in terms of software and technology to allow you to connect these Web front-ends to these very sophisticated back- ends through a portal-based computing environment."

On the Nasdaq exchange at 11:15 AM EDT, Sun shares were up $3.375 or 4.5 percent at $79 each in heavy trading. Just one minute before that, Sun's stock hit a 52-week high of $79.188 per share.

NeoPlanet & McAfee

An enhanced Internet experience is part of a new suite of software to be launched by McAfee Software into retail stores across the US. The McAfee Office 2000 Pro will include NeoPlanet's Internet Desktop, the companies announced today.

The Internet desktop is a heightened Web software package that allows a vast amount of customizing on the Internet Explorer browser and will soon be available for Netscape Navigator as well, NeoPlanet spokesman Sean Conway told Newsbytes.

McAfee Software, a division of Network Associates, Inc. [NASDAQ:NETA] says McAfee Web View, a custom version of NeoPlanet's Internet Desktop, marks the first retail distribution of the next-generation consumer Internet application which brings together content, communication, and community in a powerful, personalized, and user-friendly environment.

McAfee Office 2000 Pro, priced at about $69, is an advanced integrated suite designed to provide all the tools needed to secure, protect, repair, and optimize the PC. The new suite extends the user interface introduced in McAfee Office 2000 and is claimed to provide an enhanced level of navigability, providing easy access to all the tools in the suite, which combine the advanced technology of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and Guard Dog with the components found in McAfee Office 2000, including VirusScan, McAfee Utilities, First Aid, UnInstaller, Oil Change, Y2K Survival Kit, and McAfee Virtual Office.

McAfee Web View, the branded name for NeoPlanet Internet Desktop, includes a built-in directory of channels which puts the best of the Web on the desktop and features direct links to over 1,000 popular Websites.

A feature called "Skins" allows users to personalize their visual and audio experience as they surf. Enhanced e-mail features include filters, preview panes, and auto-import of Internet service provider (ISP) e-mail settings.

With the Integrated Search feature, users can search the Web no matter which Website they are currently viewing, and a translation function can translate Web pages between English and five different languages and vice versa.

"NeoPlanet's Internet Desktop gives McAfee customers the next-generation in Internet navigation," says McAfee's General Manager Dale Cline. "Our alliance with NeoPlanet bolsters our award-winning security and performance software with a new level of service for consumers who use the Internet."

Both NeoPlanet Internet Desktop and McAfee Web View are available free for downloading at http://www.neoplanet.com and at http://www.mcafee.com , respectively.

AOL Rolls Out Upgraded Version Of

America Online Inc. [NYSE:AOL] has released a new version of its instant messaging system today, but the interactive media giant pointedly distanced the upgrade from having anything to do with its ongoing battle with Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT] over instant messaging compatibility.

AOL is rolling out its upgraded 3.0 version of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) just over a month after it introduced the 2.0 version of AIM and two years after it introduced the original version.

AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley said the upgrade is part of AOL's overall strategy to continually improve its users' online experiences. "This is a product upgrade. This is not an upgrade meant to respond to anything put out by other instant messaging services," Bentley told Newsbytes.

Among the new features of the 3.0 version of AIM are a customizable news ticker, a stock ticker that scrolls across the bottom of AIM "buddy lists," the ability to place a permanent icon such as a photo of oneself in AIM messages, and an auto-reconnect service that detects breaks in user connections and automatically keeps AIM running.

Bob Pittman, AOL's president and chief operating officer, said in a statement that the company will roll out more new features in coming months "to ensure that AIM continues to be the most valuable instant messaging product in cyberspace."

The comment is a veiled dig at Microsoft's recent foray into the instant messaging arena and its subsequent attempts to give users of its MSN Messenger service access to AOL's instant messaging system.

AOL, which claims to have 45 million registered users, is the clear leader in the instant messaging circuit, and has aggressively laid claim to that leadership position. Since MSN Messenger debuted, AOL has inked a slew of instant messaging pacts with Internet service providers like EarthLink and MindSpring, and computer companies such as Apple Computer.

AOL also released new figures on AIM use today. The instant messaging service counts about 45 million users, including 15 million AOL members and 30 million AIM registrants. This is up from about 40 million users in July and due largely to the increase in registrants resulting from its recent instant messaging pacts, Bentley said. About 475 million instant messages are sent daily over AIM, the company said