Oracle Corp told the conference it expects to retain and perhaps expand its market share in its core database business: it is planning a major push into corporate and consumer markets for interactive information and noted that it is embarking on a trial of interactive television with Bellsouth Corp (CI No 2,446), running on a Hewlett-Packard Co server; the trial represents the fourth that Oracle has established with telecommunications companies, the others being with British Telecommunications Plc, Bell Atlantic Corp and US West Inc; the company will make a series of announcements this year about its push into the interactive market, with the effort focussing on making Oracle software usable both on additional servers and for services that companies such as retailers would provide; the company is excited about its new Context software, which highlights information in documents, and sees it as appropriate for the corporate market; it expects its workforce to grow beyond its current 12,058 this year.
