The basic idea is that Apple will sell the Newton unit to Sun. THe value is
probably somewhere between $200M and $20M, or perhaps even lower. The news
was broke by USA Today, which oddly has not been the URL people have been
citing:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds3.htm
Perhaps they update their online edition later than everyone else.
Anyway, this makes much more sense than the Sun-Apple merger, and explains why
everyone was so tight-lipped about it.
More interestingly, the talks are also rumoured to center around Java. I am
praying for a JavaStep JFC merger. JFC is Sun & Netscape's attempt o build
OpenStep into Java, while JavaStep (not an official name) is Apples' attempt
to build Java into OpenStep. These are two very convergent efforts, and it
would make life a heckuva lot easier for everyone (except Microsoft) if they
merge.
-- Ernie P.