Korean firms protest against Microsoft
South Korea’s largest Internet portal, Daum Communications, and 17 other software companies said they would take joint action against the planned release of Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system. Windows XP, the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship product, is scheduled for widespread retail release on October 25.

“We are expressing deep concerns about Microsoft’s attempt to disrupt the market by selling Windows XP bundled with a variety of application software,” the companies said in a joint statement. “We officially demand it immediately stop such efforts.”

Their initiative follows a complaint filed earlier this month by Daum with the Korea Fair Trade Commission over the US software giant’s planned release of Windows XP. In the complaint, Daum said Microsoft’s bundling of a variety of application software with Windows XP would constitute an unfair business practice.

Qualcomm, Sega in deal for mobile games
Japanese video game publisher Sega said it would develop video games for cellular phones based on a platform developed by Qualcomm.

Qualcomm’s BREW, which stands for Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, is a system for bringing interactive, downloadable content to third-generation cellular phones. Sega said it would have games ready for BREW-compatible handsets by December.

The deal is Sega’s third foray into the handheld arena in the US. The publisher announced earlier this year that it would abandon hardware to focus on developing games. Sega also has announced deals to put its games on Palm OS and PocketPC handhelds, though none of those games are available yet. Sega already provides games for three different cell phone platforms in Japan.

AT&T mulls bid for assets of Excite+Home
Telecommunications giant AT&T is contemplating bidding for certain assets of Excite+Home if the troubled Internet access and content provider ultimately files for bankruptcy protection, sources familiar with the situation said.

AT&T, the No 1 US cable and long-distance company, has discussed the possibility of bidding for various assets that help Excite+Home deliver broadband Internet access to cable providers, the sources said. The exact size and type of bid have not been finalised and in all probability won’t be until Excite+Home determines whether it intends to file for bankruptcy, the sources cautioned. AT&T however, declined to comment.

Caliper to put drug research labs on chips
Caliper Technologies, a specialised chip maker working in glass and quartz, wants to do for biological labs what the titans of silicon have done for generations of computers: it wants to make them faster, smaller and cheaper.

The Mountain View, California-based company now sells customised chips for use mainly by pharmaceutical companies to more quickly and easily screen chemical libraries against biological targets in their quest to develop new drugs.

The chips have tiny wells containing minute quantities of dozens of chemicals. As the samples to be analysed are pumped through miniature channels to the wells, computers work to assess the resulting chemical reactions. Analysts say if the new technology is widely adopted, it could grab a significant piece of the nearly $11 billion market for life science research tools.

Exodus files for bankruptcy
Burned by the dotcom blowout and costly growth, Web hosting giant Exodus Communications filed for bankruptcy protection but said its business will continue to operate.

Santa Clara, California-based Exodus, which provides services to major sites including Yahoo! and eBay, has warned for months that it was quickly running out of cash and needed additional financing to stay afloat.

It was not immediately clear whether the filing would lead to customer defections. Yahoo officials were looking into the situation, spokeswoman Shannon Stubo said. EBay did not return a telephone message.