News Briefs

AT&T recently named Arun Netravali the new chief of Bell Labs. Netravali, who has 23 years of experience with the lab, specializes in digital video. He replaces Nobel Laureate Arno Penzias, who was named chief scientist and vice president.

Former Apple vice-president Jean-Louis Gassee has finally surfaced, bringing with him the "BeBox," the first computer from his new company, Be Inc. The BeBox, which is built around two PowerPC processors, a proprietary operating system, and a built-in database, is either a high-end PC or a low-end workstation, depending on your point of view. It will sell for about $1600, including development tools.

Oracle has announced a family of low-cost Internet-access terminals that will be available for licensing to consumer-electronics vendors. The terminals range from a PC-like system to a set-top device for TVs. Oracle projects they'll retail for about $500 per unit.

DDJ