Ephraim Schwartz

If attendees of a Web services panel discussion came to be reassured their networks and data will be safe, they left the session wiser and perhaps more troubled.

Executives from Microsoft and Sun Microsystems started out on a conciliatory note in a debate over the direction of Web services at a recent conference, but by the end of the session, the intense rivalry between the two companies surfaced.

Wireless technology news from the likes of Sprint, ViewSonic, Motient, Infowave and Samsung blanketed the massive convention centre at this week

As applications and services are extended to mobile devices, a battle rages over whose mobile application development environment will be supported and used by wireless carriers, ISVs and corporations.

Columnist Ephraim Schwatrz predicts Voice-over-Internet protocol will become the killer application that closes the deal for the Wireless Ethernet, also known as IEEE 802.11b or Wi-Fi, installation.

Working under the assumption that wireless will drive profits, Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., and Motorola Inc. are busy lining up companies with the know-how to extend and deploy enterprise applications to a wide variety of mobile devices.

No matter how fat the bandwidth or how fast the wireless network, converged devices with larger screens will ultimately be the winning form factor, according to one InfoWorld (U.S.) columnist.

As so often happens in this industry, a new buzzword suddenly appears and everyone is afraid to say they don