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Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Tech companies, still ravaged by a spending slump, are hoping new bells and whistles or entirely new product lines will help increase sales.

Yahoo , the company known more for its free e-mail and search portals than anything else, wants to make some cash by selling spruced-up instant messenger services to companies. Today, the Web portal giant will announce a new instant messenger product, Yahoo Messenger Enterprise Edition and 1.0 , which is geared for businesses. The IM product will include security features and will allow company techies to centrally manage IM traffic. The product will be sold later this year for $30 for each licensed user. Many workers already use IM at work -- but through Yahoo's free service and competing IM products offered by American Online , Microsoft and others. Yahoo has been aggressively pushing fee-based services for businesses, including customizable Web portals and Webcasting services . * Reuters: Yahoo To Offer Instant Messenger For Companies

* Bloomberg (via San Jose Mercury News): Yahoo to Sell IM for Business Users * Reuters (via The Economic Times): Web Portals Gear Up for Autumn Battle

Meanwhile, both America Online and Microsoft are gearing up to hawk the next-generation of their services. Next week, AOL will unveil its version 8.0 software, with Canadian singer Alanis Morissette helping to sing its praises. Microsoft's own 8.0, the latest version of its MSN Internet service, will be unveiled later this month by company co-founder Bill Gates . New services have been added to the products. The aim? To woo new customers, of course. * The New York Times: Dueling 8.0's: America Online vs. Microsoft (Registration required) * IDG News Service (via PCWorld): AOL Bets Big on Version 8.0 * Business Week: For AOL and MSN, It's Broadband 1.0

The war to boost lackluster revenues continues with handheld devices too. Palm today will begin selling a $99 hand-held computer called Zire , just in time for the holiday season. It's the first time Palm will be selling a hand-held for under $100. * Wired: Palm Unveils Cheap PDA for the Masses * PDALive.com: Palm Debuts First $99 Handheld - The Zire Handheld

In related news, if you thought infrared-based data exchange was cool, check this out: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and NTT DoCoMo have developed technology that lets people zap data via their PDAs just by touching each other. The advance uses the conductivity of the human body , according to sources close to the company, Nikkei Net Interactive reported yesterday. The technology sends weak electrical signals through people through a signal-receiving and sending device on a PDA. The companies plan to sell the nifty technology to consumers as a whole new communications medium. * Nikkei Net Interactive (via The Wall Street Journal): NTT, DoCoMo Develop Way For Human-Contact Data Swap (Subscription required) * The Associated Press (via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer): Wireless Data May Get Human Touch

Extra Breathing Room?

The investigation into AOL Time Warner 's accounting practices may be widening. The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing an agreement with Oxygen Media Inc. , looking into whether both the company's Time Warner Cable and America Online units booked the same revenue for the deal, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources. The newspaper said the development "could raise new questions about the hundreds of millions of dollars in ad sales made between divisions of AOL Time Warner that have boosted divisional results since the merger of America Online and Time Warner at the beginning of 2001." Oxygen and the SEC declined to comment. AOL said its Oxygen accounting deal was appropriate. * The Wall Street Journal: SEC Probes AOL-Oxygen Pact For Double-Booking of Revenue (Subscription required) * Reuters: SEC Probing AOL Pact With Oxygen - WSJ

Yard Sale

Just days after restructuring of some of its units, Nortel Networks Corp. has sold its optical-component plans and technology in a deal pegged at $108 million. Britain's Bookham Technology PLC is the buyer. The deal, to be paid in common shares, debt, warrants and cash, involves business units in Canada, England, Switzerland and New York. * Canadian Press (via The Toronto Star): Nortel Sells Optical Component Plants

* Reuters (via Forbes): Bookham Buys Nortel Businesses * Nortel statement

No Dice

EchoStar Communications Corp. 's $18 billion acquisition of Hughes Electronics Corp. could be scuttled by the Federal Communications Commission as early as today, both The Wall Street Journal and USA Today reported today. The Journal said at least three of four FCC members were expected to vote to reject the bill. * The Wall Street Journal: Regulators Are Set to Block EchoStar's Hughes Purchase (Subscription required) * USA Today: FCC May Say No Today to Satellite Deal

No Gag Order Here

In a column, The Washington Post's James Grimaldi explores Microsoft Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson 's recent opinion piece. Jackson -- who oversaw the United States of America v. Microsoft Corp case and ruled that Microsoft used its monopoly power to undermine competition in the software market place -- doesn't mention Microsoft by name, but Grimaldi points out that readers can, well, read between the lines. Jackson's commentary, which appeared in the Sept. 30 Legal Times, is titled "Don't Gag the Judges; It Makes No Sense to Keep the Judiciary Silent." Of course, Jackson's penchant to talk to the media in the Microsoft antitrust case was taken to task by the D.C. Appeals Court. * The Washington Post: Microsoft Judge Takes His Case to the Public

* Legal Times: Don't Gag The Judges

The Worm, And We're Not Talking Bad '80s Dance Moves

The Slapper worm keeps getting modified to gain new life, as hackers have produced at least four new variants of the worm, which infects a flaw in the Linux Web server program. Meanwhile, a mass-mailing worm called Bugbear continues to spread. A security team in Sydney first detected the worm last week. * CNET'S News.com: Virus Writers Get Slapper Happy * National Infrastructure Protection Center Slapper advisory * Symantec's Bugbear Alert * Singapore's The Business Times: Millions of Computers Infected by Bugbear

Check Mate

A Russian world chess champion beat the computer Deep Fritz in the second game of a match that is being dubbed the "Brains In Bahrain" contest. Vladimir Kramnik, 27, will get cash if he wins or loses -- $1 million for a win, $800,000 for a draw and $600,000 for a loss. The match is being broadcast a the Web site www.brainsinbahrain.com . The first game in the match resulted in a draw. * Agence France-Presse (via Mid-Day Multimedia): Kramnik Beats Deep Fritz Chess Comp * South Africa's Independent Online: Kramnik Beats Machine in Game Two

* Gulf Daily News of Bahrain: Young Prodigy Sets New Game Standards

Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindy.webb@washingtonpost.com.