Original Source
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Business Digest

Barrett steps up to replace Grove as Intel's CEO
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Intel Corp. of Santa Clara announced that president and COO Craig Barrett will become the company's chief executive starting May 20.

Mr. Barrett, 58, succeeds Andy Grove, 61, who will continue working as chairman of the company.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed being Intel's CEO for the past 11 years, and now I would like to focus more of my time on broad strategic issues," Mr. Grove said in a statement.
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During Mr. Grove's tenure as CEO, the company's revenues grew seven-fold and its stock appreciated more than 1,600 percent. Now the dominant developer of microprocessors, Intel's estimated worth is $127.2 billion.

In his role as operating officer, Mr. Barrett has served as the key architect behind the company's chip development and has been successful in driving its products into new markets overseas, the company said.
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SGI anticipates lower than expected earnings

Silicon Graphics Inc. said its earnings and revenue for the quarter ending March 30 will be below expectations.

Mountain View-based SGI said it expects to incur a significant loss based on expected revenue of about $700 million. For the comparable quarter a year earlier, SGI earned $11 million, or 6 cents per share, on sales of $909 million.
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"Our disappointing third-quarter results reflect the declines in the Unix workstation and super computer business and marketing execution challenges in the server business," SGI chief executive Richard Belluzzo said in a statement.

In January, SGI posted a second-quarter loss and flat revenue growth. It also named Mr. Belluzzo, a former Hewlett-Packard Co. executive vice president, as CEO, replacing Ed McCracken.
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Global Village to sell modem business

Sunnyvale-based Global Village Communication Inc. agreed to sell its modem business to rival Boca Research Inc. for $10 million in cash and notes.

Global Village, which specializes in making communications equipment for Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers, also said it will rename itself later this year and focus on a new business, making networking equipment for small and medium-sized businesses.
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In the past five years, Global Village has reported two big annual losses, mostly due to the fact that the company's business has been dependent on ups and downs of Macintosh sales.

Global Village, a public company, reported that its modem business accounted for a majority of its $68 million in sales in 1997.

Boca Research, a maker of modems based in Boca Raton, Fla., will receive Global Village's brand name, modem technology, distribution agreements and about 60 employees.
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Global Village said it expects to lay off about 25 employees in the restructuring.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by June.

David Manovich, former senior vice president of international sales and support for Apple, has been retained to facilitate the transition of the Global Village business to Boca Research.
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Sun, IBM to co-develop Java-based OS

IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. agreed to jointly develop a computer operating system based on Sun's Java programming.

Executives for the two companies said they expected to roll out the system by the middle of this year. IBM plans to offer the software, called "JavaOS for Business," on its network station computers in early 1999, while Sun will shift customers to the software over the next year.
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IBM and Sun have worked closely on Java, which Sun has pitched as an environment that would allow programmers to write code once for use on any computer or intelligent appliance.

In contrast, programs written to run on Unix systems have to be re-written for Windows systems and vice versa.

Task force considers ferry service
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A panel of high-profile local officials met in San Jose March 30 to discuss the possible expansion of ferry transportation in the San Francisco Bay.

Hosted by San Jose mayor Susan Hammer, the meeting was the first of a new task force that was started under the direction of the California State Senate and is being led by the Bay Area Council and the Bay Area Economic Forum.
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The first meeting of the task force brought together Ms. Hammer, San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, Oakland mayor Elihu Harris and nearly 40 other representatives from area companies, environmental organizations and government agencies.

For the time being, the task force is only studying the feasibility of expanding the water transportation systems in the Bay Area to help relieve traffic congestion.
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Interest in expanding the ferry service has been growing since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, when the Bay Bridge closed and ferry usage swelled. Since then, job growth has increased in Silicon Valley, especially in the region bordering the southern shores of the Bay.

Latest Intel chip not so speedy

The new, much-anticipated chip developed by Intel Corp. in Santa Clara is not as fast as its competitors, according to tests performed by computer magazine PC World.
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The chip, called Celeron, is expected to be launched April 15 and is aimed at the sub-$1,000 personal computer market.

PC World said it obtained a pre-production PC with a Celeron chip running at a speed of 266 megahertz.

After initial tests, PC World said that Intel's rivals are still ahead in both price and performance in comparison to chips developed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and National Semiconductor Corp.
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PC World wrote that Celeron fails to live up to its name, which comes from the Latin word "celer," which means speed. PC World has published its complete results at its complete results at http://www.pcworld.com.

Banks add real estate expert to board

Palo Alto-based Greater Bay Bancorp has added a prominent real estate figure to its board of directors.
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The $1.2 billion holding company for Cupertino National Bank, Mid-Peninsula Bank, Peninsula Bank of Commerce, Venture Banking Group and Greater Bay Trust Co., has snagged longtime real estate broker/developer George Marcus to serve on its board effective March 24.

Mr. Marcus, the chairman and founder of Palo Alto-based Marcus & Millichap Co., has been a member of the board of Mid-Peninsula Bank since its founding in 1987.
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His banking experience began in the early 1980s as a founder and member of the board of directors of Plaza Bank of Commerce, which was headquartered in the Silicon Valley.

His Marcus & Millichap firm is also the parent company of Palo Alto-based SummerHill Homes and Essex Property Trust of Palo Alto, which was spun off into a real estate investment trust.
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Adaptec cuts 7 percent of work force

Officials with Adaptec Inc. said the company will lay off as many as 250 people or 7 percent of its work force, and take a charge of $8 million to $12 million to cut costs as sales of its computer equipment drop.

Milpitas-based Adaptec is responding to an industrywide slump in integrated circuit sales to disk-drive makers.
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The company is also hit by the downward price pressure in the desktop computer business, which is challenging companies such as Adaptec that make high performance and higher priced system options.

Adaptec makes adapter cards that connect personal computers to printers, storage devices and other accessories.

The company will make the reduction in force in the next few days and take the charge in its first quarter ending June 30. Most of the cuts will be made in the United States, company officials said.
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The publicly traded company reported revenue of $934 million for fiscal year 1997 and started to see a drop in revenue at the end of the third quarter last December.

Digital Microwave expands in Brazil

San Jose-based Digital Microwave Corp. announced March 30 the opening of an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to support increasing demand for its products.
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The demand is resulting from growth of competitive cellular telecommunications services in Brazil, according to Charles Kissner, chairman and CEO of Digital.

The office will provide sales, marketing, customer service and project management support.

Immediate projects include the support of products currently being supplied for private users and for the Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras S.A., which is the largest telecommunications carrier in Latin America.
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New toilets flow into downtown

Downtown will be flush with toilets this summer, thanks to a recent decision by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency.

After approving a contract for the installation of six stand-alone, self-cleaning public toilets last December, the agency on March 19 approved an amendment to the original agreement, which allows for an additional commode to be installed in the central business district.
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French manufacturer JCDecaux--which has a domestic operation in San Francisco and whose toilets are already scattered throughout that city--has agreed to provide the pricey pit-stops for $369,000 annually for 20 years.

The addition of the seventh toilet will increase the value of the contract to $430,500 per year, or $61,500 per unit.
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The newest addition will be located at the northeast corner of Almaden Boulevard and San Carlos Street, at the south end of the Almaden Mall.

The six other toilets, which will be installed by the end of July, will be located in St. James Park, San Pedro Square, Fountain Alley, the Valley Transportation Agency site at Santa Clara and First streets, in the South First Street area near First and San Salvador streets and in the Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
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c 1998 American City Business Journals Inc.

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