Week ahead: Tigers on the loose

Following are some of the notable technology-related events scheduled for the week of June 20. The big news on the conference circuit is that Comdex won't be rolling the dice in Vegas this year. But not all bets are off--organizers have said the show is still on for next year.

But in keeping with splashy Vegas show traditions, there's a pair of shows this week that could make Siegfried and Roy proud.

One is Sun Microsystems' "Tiger," the code name for its latest version of Java 2 Standard Edition 1.5, designed to make Java programmers more productive and Java applications run faster. It will be put through its paces, as CEO Scott McNealy, President Jonathan Schwartz and Java luminary James Gosling whip up excitement for the JavaOne conference faithful.

The other tiger will take the stage with Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs at the company's Worldwide Developer Conference. Jobs' keynote will feature its own showing of "Tiger," the code name for the next major release of Mac OS X, which will be revealed to the crowd of Mac fanatics there.

Across town, there's likely to be a showdown at the antitrust trial in District Court in San Francisco, where Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway will be sure to carry on a war of words. Closing statements could come as soon as Friday.

In another battle, Intel is expected to launch Monday its "Nocona" version of the Xeon server processor. The chip, its first 32/64-bit processor for workstations and servers, was announced in February and could help Intel counter the growing popularity of the Opteron processor from Advanced Micro Devices. A variety of manufacturers are expected to come out with workstations incorporating the Intel chip on Monday.

Meanwhile, tech earnings are mostly on vacation this week, with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion the only notable company scheduled to report.

The information was gathered from Thomson First Call, Hoover's Online and CNET News.com Investor.

Events scheduled this week:

	Tech Events

Monday, June 28

• Sun Microsystems' JavaOne conference will be at the Moscone Center and thronged with the Java-faithful looking for the latest releases. June 28 to July 1, San Francisco.

• Apple Computer's Worldwide Developer Conference, at the Moscone Center and flocked by Mac fanatics. June 28 to July 2, San Francisco.

• Storage World Conference 2004, June 28 to July 1, Long Beach, Calif.

	Earnings

Monday, June 28

• Research In Motion makes the BlackBerry handheld. It's expected to report a first-quarter profit of 32 cents a share.

	Economic Reports

Thursday, July 1

• Initial Claims is the weekly total of new claims filed for unemployment compensation. Briefing.com expects the total to decrease to 340,000 for the week ended June 26, from 349,000 the previous week.

Friday, July 2

• The Unemployment Rate is the percentage of American workers looking for jobs. The June rate is expected to stay flat at 5.6 percent, from the previous month.