In-Depth
Industry Watch
Seagate Enters the Video Game
Seagate Technology has been chosen as a strategic supplier of hard drives for Microsoft's future-generation Xbox video game console, due to hit retail stores in Fall 2001. Microsoft awarded Seagate a multi-year contract to provide hard drives for the Xbox, beginning in June 2001 and continuing through mid-year 2003.
As well, Seagate has landed the contract to become the primary provider of hard drives for Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2) game console. The company will make internal and external hard drives for PlayStation 2.
The PS2 was released in the United States in late October. The U.S. version contains an open slot for hard drives and other hardware, but no hard drives have hit the market yet.
ASP-One to Design French Tax Portal
ASP-One EUROPE, a subsidiary of ASP-One Inc., has recently won a 15.2 million Euros (approximately $13 million) bid to develop and operate a tax declaration portal for French businesses. The five-year agreement with the French Council of the Order of Charter Accountants (Conseil Supérieur de l'Ordre des Experts-Comptables) will provide accounting firms with a single, secure, Internet portal for electronic transmission of all tax and payroll submissions in France. ASP-One's Data Center will automatically date and process the information, issue a time-stamped receipt, sort and distribute the returns to appropriate authorities.
The deal is a result of the French mandate that all companies with annual earning of more than 15.24 million Euros (approximately $13.1 million) submit tax documents over the Internet. While the portal is being developed under contract with the Council of the Order of Chartered Accountants, as of May 2001, all French companies will have access to the system and ASP-One's data submission program. Based on a lump-sum system, users will be charged between 0.24 and 0.40 Euros (approx. 21 to 34 cents) per return as a processing fee.
ASP-One will provide overall project management, production and operation. As the application service provider, ASP-One will be responsible for qualification, certification, service quality, billing and user support. For more information, visit their Web sites at www.asp-one.com.