A story in today's National Post reports Research in Motion may use Intel's Centrino chips so Blackberry users could check e-mail and surf the Web using hotspots. The story also suggests RIM would have to turf its current supplier, Motorola, to do a deal with Intel. RIM and Intel are not strangers. Intel Capital was one of RIM's early investors and Intel's 386 chips were used in RIM's first-generation Blackberries.

One of the fascinating things about the Internet is how Web-based services can be tweaked or modified to enhance or expand their features. Skype, for example, is attracting a growing eco-system of third-party developers happily adding new bells and whistles at an amazing rate. Another Web-based service drawing lots of developers is Google Maps, which has spawned a flurry of related services since its beta launch in February. A good example is HousingMaps, a hack that combines craigslist real estate listings with city maps from Google Maps. Another spin-off of the Google Maps phenomena are blogs that track new hacks and modifications. For more information on the Google Maps eco-system, a blog to check out is Google Maps Mania, which bills itself as an "unofficial Google Maps blog tracking the websites, ideas and tools being influenced by Google Maps". The blog, which has been attracting a lot of traffic and some media coverage, a good example of the fascination with Google and how the Internet is allowing the community of developers to grow by leaps and bounds.
Update (July 28): ReserveMy.com is a neat little service using Google Maps to find hotels. For more information on the Google Maps phenomena, check out Erick Schonfeld's Aug. 1 column.

Lucent's fiscal third-quarter results didn't shock or wow anyone but they provided some insight into where it and the telecom equipment market is going. On the positive side of the ledger, Lucent's restructuring efforts appear to be progressing so margins could improve if it can grow revenue. On the other hand, a 2% decline in wireless sales is disappointing. The drop is also troubling for other wireless players such as Nortel, Ericsson and Nokia because it may suggest the days of strong growth are no more. CIBC analyst Steve Kamman's take is that Lucent seems to ahead of Nortel in adapting to the "new marketing environment" - particularly in the IP and VOIP markets. He also takes another dig at Nortel by applauding Lucent's financial transparency. When Nortel posted its first-quarter results, Kamman was unhappy with the level of disclosure and the failure to break down each unit's performance.
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I wrote a column earlier this week in the National Post about Firefox's market share gains. I tried to step back and look at why Firefox is doing so well, why other browsers (Opera, et al) have failed to gain the same kind of momentum, and why Firefox's success is important for the browser market and the Internet. I've been using Firefox for several months, and apart from running into a few Web pages that have display issues, I've never looked back. Here's the column.