News Briefs for the Week Ending
09/03/2009
Copyright 2009, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid:00020009
Publication Date: 0909
Publication Type: NEWS
ACQUISITIONS, MERGERS, DIVESTITURES
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eBay Sells Majority Stake in Skype to Private Investor Group
Electronic commerce giant eBay announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Skype Internet telephony unit to a private investor group in a deal valuing the business at US$2.75 billion. eBay bought Skype
from its founders in 2005, for $2.6 billion. The buyer, who will control an approximately 65 percent stake in Skype, is a private group led by investment firm Silver Lake. The investor group includes Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board. eBay is expected to receive approximately $1.9 billion in cash on completion of the sale and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. eBay will retain an approximately 35 percent equity investment in
Skype. While eBay was never successful in integrating Skype into its other properties’ operations, Skype’s revenues are growing and eBay wants a share of that growth. eBay said in a press release that it will focus on its core properties,
which include the eBay online auction site and its electronic payment unit PayPal. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
EMC Acquires Software Provider FastScale
EMC acquired FastScale Technology, a privately held software provider. EMC is looking to expand its ionix portfolio, for automating IT management, and accelerating migration from
a physical, to a virtual, to a private cloud infrastructure. FastScale will join the ionix software group, under the direction of Jay Mastaj. The transaction will not have a material impact on EMC’s revenues or profits for the 2009 fiscal year.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
EMC to Acquire Kazeon Systems
EMC agreed to acquire Kazeon Systems, a privately held, e-discovery software provider, reportedly for about $75 million USD. Kazeon’s software can help identify, preserve, collect,
process, analyze, and review information, in accordance with the electronic discovery reference framework It will bolster EMC’s SourceOne portfolio – an integrated family of products for e-discovery, archiving, and compliance – allow EMC to offer in
house, e-discovery and litigation readiness products, via its SourceOne family. The transaction will close in the third quarter, and will not have a material impact on EMC’s revenues or earnings for the full fiscal year. Kazeon will become a part of EMC’s
content management and archiving division.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Orange Acquires UK’s Unanimis Digital Advertising Network
The Orange France Telecom Group announced that it has acquired 100% of Unanimis, the UK’s largest exclusive digital advertising network. Through the combination of Unanimis’s advertising network and Orange’s
mobile and web assets, advertisers, buyers, and media agencies will be able to reach over 71.5% of the UK’s online population and over 66% of the online population across UK, France, Spain, and Poland. The acquisition will put Orange and Unanimis at the
forefront of digital and mobile advertising in the UK with scale and reach across web, mobile, and interactive media. Unanimis will continue to operate under its brand name and become part of the Orange Group Advertising Network, which offers advertisers
and publishers an opportunity to reach new audiences by leveraging Orange’s multi-screen assets across the PC, mobile, and TV platforms.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Lockheed Buys Optical Surveillance Systems Vendor
Lockheed Martin completed its acquisition of Gyrocam Systems, a developer and supplier of gyrostabilized optical surveillance systems and sustainment field
services, mainly to the US military. Lockheed said that its Missiles and Fire Control unit, part of its Martin’s Electronic Systems business area, will manage the Gyrocam business. Missiles and Fire Control has major facilities in Dallas, Texas and
Orlando, Florida.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
McAfee Completes MX Logic Acquisition
McAfee completed the acquisition of privately owned MX Logic for approximately $140 million in cash. The MX Logic team will report to Marc Olesen, McAfee’s senior vice president and general manager.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Raytheon to Buy BBN Technologies
Raytheon has agreed to acquire BBN Technologies, a privately-held research and development firm and provider of systems for national defense and security. The transaction is
expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009 subject to conditions. Raytheon said that the transaction is not expected to materially impact revenue or earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2009, and is expected to be accretive in 2010. BBN’s
portfolio covers systems for networking, speech and language technology, IT, sensor systems, and cybersecurity.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
ALLIANCES, JOINT VENTURES
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Accenture, HP Secure PosteMobile’s Wireless Transactions
Accenture teamed with HP to develop security services for PosteMobile, a wireless communications provider in Italy. The systems are designed to allow customers to use mobile
handsets to transfer money, payments, and make purchases, by securing mobile financial transactions and delivering fraud protection. Accenture implemented and maintains PosteMobile’s fraud management system, which is based on the HP CentralView software
platform.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Boeing, WB Electronics Sign Agreement for Future Cooperation
Boeing signed an agreement with WB Electronics of Poland for future operation between the companies. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines future areas of
collaboration, such as ground combat vehicle battle management and command, control, and communications systems.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
China Unicom, Apple Reach Deal to Sell iPhone
China Unicom, China’s second largest wireless carrier, announced that it reached a three-year agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in China. The initial launch is
expected to be in Q4 2009. Several news sites reported that some functions of the iPhone will be disabled for the Chinese market.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Dell, Brocade to Develop Efficient Enterprise Initiative
Dell, Brocade Communications Systems, and Scalent announced an agreement to develop Dell’s efficient enterprise initiative, a unified data
center technology to compete with similar strategies from rivals such as Cisco, HP, and IBM. The companies will use Dell’s data center systems, Brocade’s networking technologies, and Scalent’s automation and management software, to create an open data
center environment, enabled by virtualization. The first products from the initiative are planned for the fourth quarter. The deal also extends Dell’s existing Brocade storage networking products, to provide a portfolio of Dell branded, fiber channel HBAs
and converged network adapters, FCoE switches, and converged enhanced Ethernet switching products.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Sierra Wireless, T-Mobile Sign Agreement to Pursue M2M Market
Deutsche Telekom‘s T-Mobile and Sierra Wireless announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is expected to lead to joint solution offerings for the
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications market. The areas of cooperation identified by the MOU are product development, marketing, sales, and deployment of M2M solutions, and related services. The joint effort targets the European market, with initial
focus on Germany. One objective of the effort is to identify target customers, with particular focus on the automotive, fleet, navigation, utility, and security markets.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
EMC, VMware Extend Integration, Resale Agreement
EMC expanded an alliance, with VMware, focused on enabling applications on VMware’s vSphere 4, offering configuration and compliance management, and automating IT processes, across
the data center. The companies’ reseller deal will see EMC sell VMware’s vCenter AppSpeed, alongside EMC virtualization services, as part of the ionix portfolio. EMC and VMware will also provide new services, for identifying and migrating applications,
from physical to virtual.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
HDS to Resell InMage Appshort Replication, Data Protection
Hitachi Data Systems announced it will co-brand and resell InMage Systems‘ appshot technology to expand its replication and data protection software portfolio. InMage is an ISV that
focuses on disk based, business application recovery software. Its appshot platform provides 24×7 data protection, remote replication, and failover, and supports recovery for enterprise applications, including Microsoft exchange, SQL and SharePoint, as
well as Oracle, MySQL, BlackBerry Server, SAP, and Windows, Linux, and UNIX file systems.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
IBM, Community College Partner for Green Datacenter Degree
IBM announced that it will collaborate with Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, Nebraska, to develop a unique green data center management degree using IBM hardware, software and online skills training
resources. The two-year associates degree will include courses that provide students with technical and business skills for careers in the design and management of energy efficient data centers.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Sprint, M2M DataSmart Partner for M2M, Embedded Device Opportunities
Sprint and M2M DataSmart announced they have formed a multiyear partnership. In a press release, Sprint said the collaboration will make it easier and faster for an
entrepreneurial startup or a traditional brick-and-mortar company to take an idea from concept to completion, and enter the machine-to-machine (M2M) arena using the Sprint mobile broadband network. The companies envision their partnership as providing a
“one-stop shop” for machine-to-machine solutions. Sprint is already significantly involved in the M2M and embedded device sector, with partner solutions such as the Amazon Kindle, Ford Work Solutions, and DriveCam.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
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Cincinnati Bell Deploys Harris Novar Traffic and Billing System
Harris Corporation announced that Cincinnati Bell has integrated the Harris Novar traffic and billing system into its daily business operations. Focused specifically on
the broadband industry, the Novar suite includes tools to schedule and insert ads, reconcile logs, and invoice customers among other tasks in a paperless environment. Harris said the new system replaced a legacy analog system that required three operators
to perform multiple tasks for nine channels.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Final Opera 10 Launches; Promises “Turbo” Speed
Opera Software released the final version of Opera 10 with a bevy of new features and a new interface. The free Web browser comes in 43 languages and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Opera says the latest
version of its browser provides “turbo” speeds for downloading and for resource-intensive pages such as Gmail and Facebook – particularly helpful for users with slow connection speeds – and adds features like full thumbnails of all open tabs. Opera said
the browser is up to eight times faster than rival browsers at low connection speeds.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Sony to Bundle Chrome with Vaio PCs
Google has signed a distribution with Sony’s PC division and is in talks with other computer makers as it looks to promote its Chrome Web browser. The deal with Sony, which involves
shipping Chrome on new Vaio PCs, is the first Google has struck with a computer maker. Google confirmed that Sony PCs carrying Chrome had started to go on sale. Brian Rakowski, product management director for Chrome, said the browser has 30 million active
users.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
BIOMETRICS
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Lockheed Team Reviews FBI’s Fingerprint Biometrics System
The Lockheed Martin-led Next Generation Identification (NGI) team completed a design review of their fingerprint identification system, as the team continues to develop a biometrics platform for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The NGI system’s fingerprint ID technology is being provided by Virginia-based MorphoTrak. In addition to expanding fingerprint processing capacity, the
system should accommodate other biometric platforms that may mature and become relevant to law enforcement efforts. The Lockheed Martin team also includes Accenture, BAE
Systems Information Technology, Global Science & Technology, IBM, and Innovative Management & Technology Services.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
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Government Leaders Discuss Emergency Preparations
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met with Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, and Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine to discuss coordination on emergency
preparedness and response efforts in the National Capital Region. The meeting focused on situations that require a coordinated response, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and public health crises.
Source: DHS, 9/1/2009
CARRIER SERVICES
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BT Enhances Broadband Managed Connect Service
BT announced a new broadband service enhancement that will enable communications providers to deliver a mix of next-generation and legacy broadband services in different geographies across the UK over a single backhaul
link. Running over BT’s 21st Century Network (21CN), the service – called Wholesale Broadband Managed Connect (WBMC) over IPstream Connect – will enable communications providers to accelerate the migration of their end users to 21CN broadband while
reducing their costs, BT said..
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Verizon Expands Online Support Center to SMBs
Verizon Business announced that is has expanded the range of online tools available to small and mid-sized business customers through its Verizon Enterprise Center (VEC). VEC’s full suite of services is now
available to these businesses, as well as to large enterprise customers. Among the features available at the online support center are a “click-to-chat” help desk, a billing management tool placed on the VEC Dashboard, and proactive delivery of alarms
directly to a customer’s event monitoring systems. Verizon Business is a unit of Verizon Communications.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CHIP TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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AMD Releases 40 Watt, Six Core Processor
AMD released a 40 watt, six core opteron EE processor. It was developed for system builders for cloud and Web 2.0 customers. AMD also announced that its radeon HD 4800 series of graphics processors supports Apple‘s snow leopard OpenCL v1.0.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
CLOUD COMPUTING & SAAS
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EMC Introduces Private Cloud Migration Offerings
EMC more than 30 new products and services for speeding the transition to the private cloud. The offerings include consulting, technology integration, resident, and education services, as well as a suite of products for
planning, implementing, and scaling private cloud environments.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
IBM Launches Public Desktop Cloud Service
IBM introduced what it called the "industry’s first public desktop cloud service." The desktop service is designed to enable end-users with network-attached PCs and other devices to access applications and
data through a centrally-managed computing environment. The IBM Smart Business Desktop on the IBM Cloud subscription service helps clients virtualize desktop computing resources. Through partnerships with Citrix, Desktone, VMware, and Wyse, along with IBM tools for customer assessment and planning, IBM is helping clients address PC replacement dilemmas,
deliver resilience and reliability, and resolve Internet access parity problems.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Telstra, Microsoft Unveil Cloud Software Offerings
Microsoft and Australian telecom Telstra announced the availability of Microsoft Online Services on the Telstra T-Suite platform, giving Australian organizations access to a
range of business-oriented cloud computing services. Microsoft Online Services includes: Exchange Online, a hosted enterprise messaging solution; SharePoint Online; Office Communications Online, a hosted instant messaging and presence solution; and Office
Live Meeting. The availability of Microsoft Online Services through Telstra expands the alliance the two companies formed last year, which also incorporates mobile services and unified communications.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Perot Systems Offers Cloud Integration, Virtual Services
Perot Systems launched a portfolio of cloud and virtualization services – including Cloud Integration Services and Perot Systems Virtual Services – delivering enterprise-class pay-per-use IT infrastructure and
desktop services to businesses. Perot is collaborating with providers such as Dell and VMware in order to provide the cloud advisory and implementation services to businesses.
Offerings also include Perot Systems Virtual Servers, for secure, pay-per-use computing, storage and back-up services; and Perot Systems Virtual Desktops, for pay-per-use desktop computing services.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS & EQUIPMENT
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Cisco, Orion Announce Health Crisis Reporting Platform
Cisco Systems and Orion Health announced rhapsody connect AXP, a product for reporting and tracking potential disease outbreaks. It integrates Cisco’s application extension
platform and integrated services routers, and Orion’s health rhapsody connect platform, for public health reporting. Rhapsody connect AXP automates public health reporting, enabling the secure interchange of medical data, between organizations.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Cisco Deploys Unified Computing System for Tutor Perini
Construction company Tutor Perini deployed Cisco Systems‘ unified computing system (UCS) in its new data center, which will consolidate five existing facilities. All applications
and data will be migrated to the UCS platform, which will integrate network, computational storage access, and virtualization. The implementation is Cisco’s first since announcing UCS in March.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Ericsson, EMOBILE Help Launch Japanese HSPA
Japan’s first HSPA evolution network launched in several cities, including: Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, and Nagoya. The deployment – part of an expansion and upgrade agreement between Ericsson and mobile broadband
operator, EMOBILE. – will allow for a peak data rate of 21M bps.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
General Dynamics Team Adds Radio to Soldier Connectivity Systems
General Dynamics announced that the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) team – led by General Dynamics’ C4 Systems unit – added the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW 1.0c) to
the Rifleman Radio and the HMS Manpack Radio for use in vehicles. This places HMS first in line to bring the JTRS SRW 1.0c to dismounted soldiers for network connectivity. Next steps for the Rifleman Radio include security verification testing and final
certification, followed by a US Department of Defense Milestone C decision. Prior to production, General Dynamics-led team has qualified four manufacturers as HMS radio suppliers. Each of the suppliers – BAE
Systems, General Dynamics, Rockwell Collins, and Thales Communications – has delivered HMS radios to the government for testing and use during military
exercises.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Mississippi Demonstrates Emergency Com Network
In conjunction with Motorola, the US state of Mississippi conducted a public demonstration of a new wireless emergency communications network designed to help first responders communicate in emergency situations.
The Mississippi wireless integrated network (MSWIN) demonstration – which connected the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, and the Jackson County emergency
operations center – was staged from the emergency operations center at the National Guard Headquarters in Gulfport. This facility would serve as the state’s forward operations center during an actual Gulf Coast emergency. Motorola is the vendor for the
project, the contract for which was executed in 2007. Construction is planned in three phases, with the recently-completed first phase covering the lower third of the state and including 44 tower sites.
Source: Vendor, 8/29/2009
NEC, Transmode Launch Mobile Backhaul Product
NEC Japan and Transmode launched a wireless and photonic product for convergent mobile backhaul. Designed to bring the benefits of WDM technology to legacy and Ethernet
transport equipment, it features NEC’s smart microwave aggregation node, and Transmode’s TM-Series metro WDM systems, linked by a fiber connection. It is managed by NEC’s integrated network management system
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Nokia Siemens Increasing Hutchison 3G Network Capacity
Nokia Siemens Networks is increasing the capacity of Hutchison 3G Austria‘s mobile broadband network, providing microwave backhaul technology. Microwave backhaul
provides the link between individual, mobile base stations and the rest of an operator’s network, using a line of sight radio link, as opposed to a fixed cable or optical fiber. The upgrade will allow it to better handle mobile data traffic, allowing for
new multimedia and data services. The companies have been partners since 2002.
Source: Vendor, 8/20/2009
Nortel Trials 40G Optical Technology for Submarine Cable Network
Nortel Networks successfully trialed a 40G optical technology, across Reliance Globalcom‘s Atlantic FA1 ultra-long distance submarine cable. The trial was conducted over a
6000 kilometer submarine segment, between the US and the UK. Nortel equipment was added to both ends of the third party submarine cable, with Nortel demonstrating the ability to provide over two times the bandwidth capacity without needing to replace or
upgrade the submarine cable or undersea repeaters.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Qualcomm Working with MTNL for 3G Network Audit
QUALCOMM and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), an Indian, state owned telecommunications services provider, will work on a technical audit of MTNL’s 3G network, for extending
MTNL’s 3G services. MTNL will work with Qualcomm’s engineering services group.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Qwest Rolling Out Network Backbone Upgrade
Qwest Communications announced that it is upgrading its nationwide network with technology that will enable it to deliver speeds of up to 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) to its customer edge sites. The build-out has
started and will continue through 2010; it includes a partnership with Alcatel-Lucent. Qwest said its new backbone will deliver 100 Gbps directly to customers in markets where Qwest offers its Ethernet-based iQ
Networking and QWave data networking services. Qwest will deploy, among other technologies, Alcatel-Lucent’s recently-announced 100 Gbps Ethernet service routing capability. Installation includes supporting routers and switches out to the edge of the
network, as well as Alcatel-Lucent’s optical, ultra long-haul platform that will transport the 100 Gbps services. Terms of the agreement between Qwest and Alcatel-Lucent were not released.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CONFERENCING
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TELMEX to Market, Deliver Cisco Telepresence
Telefonos de Mexico (TELMEX) launched Telepresencia Administrada TELMEX, a regional initiative, in Latin America, to market and deliver Cisco Systems‘ TelePresence for
multipoint intracompany services. It includes TELMEX’s launch of public TelePresence suites, the first of their kind in Latin America. The service will allow companies to use TelePresence to conduct live meetings.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
TANDBERG Releases Precision HD USB Webcam
TANDBERG released the PrecisionHD USB camera for Web-based videoconferencing, now available through the company’s channel partners. The PrecisionHD USB Camera is optimized for TANDBERG Movi and Microsoft Office Communicator R2, and is the first webcam to offer 720p high definition with 30 frames per second for business-quality video communications.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
CONSULTING, IT & MANAGED SERVICES
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Accenture Delivers Application Outsourcing to Global Retailers
Accenture agreed to provide international consumer goods company Henkel with application development and maintenance in Europe and North America, under a seven-year application outsourcing contract. Henkel will
outsource to Accenture its application development and maintenance, including all SAP applications, business intelligence systems, CRM programs, and Web applications. Accenture will provide services from a delivery center
in Bangalore, India. Separately, Accenture signed a five-year application outsourcing contract with Luottokunta, a Finland-based card payment servicer, to implement and maintain the company’s business and Web applications.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
AT&T Wins State Department Managed Services Contract
AT&T Government Solutions has been awarded a contract worth up to $45 million from the US Department of State to provide the agency with managed services. The award was issued via the
General Services Administration’s Networx Universal program. Under the contract, AT&T will provide managed services including Private Line, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, Frame Relay, Voice, and IP Telephony. The contract could run up to eight years. AT&T
said it will provide the services at more than 100 State Department locations, supporting systems and applications for the agency’s 13,000-member work force.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Boeing Delivers Air Force Training Center
Boeing received a contract from the US Air Force to deliver a C-17 Distributed Training Center (DTC) to Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Boeing will provide the ability to network 10
existing C-17 training sites in the US, using Scott Air Force Base as the hub. Boeing expects to deliver the DTC in 2012. The 10 training sites will maintain their existing connections to the DMO network, which allows military aircraft training sites
around the world to link with one another for large-scale, high-fidelity training operations.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Lockheed Delivers Kazakhstan Center’s Air Traffic Management
Lockheed Martin announced that a SkyLine automated air traffic management (ATM) system that it supplied went operational at the Aktobe Area Control Center (ACC) and three remote towers in Kazakhstan. The
system, installed under contract with Kazaeronavigatsia, the air navigation authority for Kazakhstan, is part of an air traffic management overhaul for the region. SkyLine ATM provides flight and surveillance data processing for a tower, terminal area,
procedural, or flow monitoring system service.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
McKesson Extends Contract for Disease Management Program
McKesson and the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services extended their “Your Healthcare Plus” disease management program through June 2011. Your Healthcare Plus now benefits more than 8,000 new
eligible Medicaid beneficiaries in addition to the 220,000 beneficiaries that it currently serves. The program employs a McKesson care team of registered nurses and healthcare professionals to improve health outcomes for participants. The McKesson care
team seeks to help patients manage chronic illnesses like diabetes, asthma, coronary artery disease, and HIV/AIDS.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
PwC: Canada’s Forest Sector is Weighed Down by Economy
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reported that Canada’s forest, paper & packaging (FPP) sector continued to be negatively impacted by the global economic downturn during the second quarter of 2009. According to PwC’s
quarterly net earnings review, weak commodity prices and low demand during most of the period resulted in aggregate second quarter losses of $660 million CAD for the 15 companies surveyed, compared to losses of $462 million CAD during the same period in
2008. These losses are on top of net losses of $480 million CAD in the first quarter of 2009. One positive finding toward the end of Q2 was an improvement in pulp prices as exports to China increased.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
SAIC Wins FEMA Systems Maintenance Contract
SAIC was awarded a prime contract by the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide operations and maintenance support to FEMA’s chief
information officer and Information Technology Division (ITD). The contract has a one year base period, four one-year options and a $500 million USD contract ceiling for all awardees. SAIC will provide services in support of the ITD including systems
maintenance and sustainment; network operations and help desk support; and hardware installation. SAIC will also help consolidate FEMA’s network services.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Sprint Debuts Managed Network Solutions Portfolio
Sprint Nextel launched a portfolio of Managed Network Solutions for enterprises as part of its newly-formed Business Markets Group (BMG). Sprint has provided managed data services for 10 years, and its latest
services focus on converged voice and data networks. Sprint’s new Managed Network Solutions provide third-party oversight of both wireless and wireline networks. The unit was formed in March 2009.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CONTENT MANAGEMENT
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IBM Launches Content Management Software
IBM released updated enterprise content management (ECM) software designed to enable clients to manage high volumes of information. Updates include analytic features in the business process management offering,
additions to IBM’s content management software line, and ECM starter packs for smaller deployments. IBM consolidated five products into one business process management (BPM) bundle – the IBM FileNet Business Process Manager bundle – which now includes
FileNet Process Monitor, FileNet Business Process Framework, FileNet Connector for Microsoft Visio, and FileNet eForms. IBM also updated the bundle’s individual software products, and it introduced IBM Cognos Now!, designed to provide monitoring and
visibility into business operations.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CYBERCRIME & PUNISHMENT
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IBM Report Finds Widespread Web Insecurity
IBM‘s mid-year analysis of Web security has revealed “unprecedented” and “untenable” levels of "insecurity," as threats converged for a high-risk landscape. In IBM’s X-Force 2009 report, X-Force Director Kris Lamb remarked, “There is no such thing as safe browsing.” The report found a 508 percent rise in new malicious links spotted in the first half
of 2009. No longer limited to rogue domains or Web sites, malicious content was found on popular search engines, blogs, bulletin boards, personal sites, online magazines, and news sites. While vulnerabilities hit a plateau, PDF vulnerabilities reached a
new high, as attacks became more sophisticated. Trojans accounted for more than half of new malware, or 55 percent, up nine percent from last year. According to the report, many analysts believe that banking Trojans are replacing phishing attacks on
financial targets. Sixty-six percent of phishing was aimed at the financial industry, down from 90 percent. Online payments made up 31 percent of phishing targets. In terms of spam, URL spam is still number one, but image-based spam is making a comeback.
Nearly half of all vulnerabilities remain unpatched, according to the report.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Hackers Indicted for Crime Operation
IDG News Service reported that New York prosecutors indicted five Eastern European men on Monday in an extensive credit card fraud operation that netted the defendants at least $4 million from some 95,000 stolen card
numbers. Prosecutors allege the defendants were involved in an organization called the Western Express Cybercrime Group, which stole and then sold credit card numbers on Internet forums called carding sites, where other criminals can buy tracts of stolen
data. The crimes detailed in the indictment cover the period from November 2001 to August 2007.
Source: idg, 9/2/2009
Skype Is the Newest Trojan Horse Victim
A new Trojan horse virus is hitting Skype users, according to multiple media reports. The virus records Voice over Internet Protocol calls through the popular Skype service, enabling hackers to eavesdrop on voice
conversations. It does not target a specific vulnerability, but hooks into the Windows operating system that handles audio processing for the Skype program.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
DBMS
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Oracle Launches Database 11g Release 2
Oracle announced that users can now download Database 11g Release 2 from the Oracle Technology Network. In this release, Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) delivers grid plug and play and server pooling features
to allow organizations to streamline the provisioning and management of consolidated database grids. Oracle RAC One Node, a new database option, is also available. RAC One Node is designed to allow customers to more easily consolidate their less critical
database environments on the grid with most of the redundancy and availability provided by Oracle Real Application Clusters.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE
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OpenAjax Alliance Delivers Software for Secure Enterprise Mashups
The OpenAjax Alliance, founded by IBM, proposed OpenAjax Hub 2.0 as an industry standard for secure Web 2.0 mashup applications. OpenAjax Hub 2.0 was developed over two years at
OpenAjax Alliance, a group dedicated to the adoption of open and interoperable Ajax technologies. Ajax is Web development code based on HTML and JavaScript that runs mashups, widgets, and gadgets. The major addition to Hub 2.0 is a JavaScript Library for
Secure Enterprise Mashups, created to protect widgets and mashups from hackers and malicious intent.
Source: OpenAjax, 9/1/2009
Progress Provides Data XML Converters to Workday
Progress DataDirect, the data infrastructure unit of Progress Software and provider of access and integration systems, announced that Workday, a provider of SaaS-based human resources and financial services software, is using the Progress DataDirect Data Integration Suite and its DataDirect XML Converters to transform X12 compliant Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) documents to XML. In order to extend its support to additional EDI document types, Workday selected the Progress DataDirect product to provide data access and conversion to support 315 X12 file types used by the healthcare, insurance,
government, transportation, and finance industries.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
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SAP Delivers Fairfax County’s ERP Software
SAP announced that Fairfax County, Virginia in the US has selected financial, human capital management, and procurement software from SAP America to streamline the day-to-day operations of its county government and
public school system.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
FINANCIAL
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China Unicom Profits Down 42% in First Half
China Unicom announced its 2009 interim results. In the first half of the year, China Unicom recorded operating revenue of RMB76.32 billion (US$ 11.17 billion). Service revenue amounted to RMB74.51 billion,
representing a decline of 4.3% from the same period last year. Service revenue of the GSM business reached RMB34.19 billion, representing an increase of 5.7%. The net addition of GSM subscribers was 7 million, taking the total subscriber number to 140
million. Service revenue of the fixed-line business reached RMB40.19 billion, representing a decline of 11.3% from last year. The net addition of fixed-line broadband subscribers was 4 million, taking the total subscribers to 34 million. Overall, China
Unicom recorded a profit of RMB6.62 billion, representing a decline of 42.1% when compared with profit from the continuing operations over the same period last year. Basic earnings per share was RMB0.28. The company expects to expand the number of cities
covered by its 3G network from the original 284 cities planned earlier this year to 335 cities in order to push forward the 3G pre-commercial trial and launch its 3G business within the year.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Chunghwa Telecom Revenues Down 4%
Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications service provider by revenue, released its operating results for the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period last year. Chunghwa’s total
consolidated revenues for the first half of 2009 decreased by 3.7% year-over-year to NT$97.2 billion, of which 27.3% was from fixed-line services, 36.3% was from mobile services, 25.4% was from Internet and data services, and the remainder was mainly from
handset sales. For the mobile business, total revenue amounted to NT$35.2 billion, representing a decline of 2.9% year-over-year. Chunghwa’s Internet and data revenue decreased slightly by 0.2% year-over-year to NT$24.7 billion. Fixed-line revenue totaled
NT$26.5 billion, decreasing 7.7% year-over-year. However, at the end of June 2009, Chunghwa maintained its leading fixed-line market position, with fixed-line subscribers totaling 12.58 million.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Intel Raises its Third Quarter Sales Forecast
Intel reported that – as a result of stronger than expected demand for microprocessors and chipsets – it now expects revenues of $9 billion, up from previous estimates of about $8.5 billion, for the 2009 third
quarter, ended September 30, 2009.
Source: Vendor, 8/28/2009
Nortel Requests Extension for US Bankruptcy Filing
Nortel Networks filed a court request in Delaware US district court to extend its deadline for filing a bankruptcy reorganization plan from September 11th to February 1,
2010. Since filing for bankruptcy in January, Nortel has sold off many of its assets – most recently, its wireless technology division to Ericsson for $1.13 billion. Even though Nortel is also under bankruptcy
protection in Canada, it made the request only in the US.
Source: Delaware US DC, 8/31/2009
Novell Returns to Profitability
Novell announced that it regained profitability in its third fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2009, compared to its loss of $15 million in the third fiscal quarter of 2008. Net income for the 2009 quarter was $17
million USD, or $0.05 USD per share, compared to a net loss of $15 million, or $0.04 loss per share, a year ago. Revenue slipped 12 percent to $216 million from $245 million, negatively impacted by $6 million in the 2009 quarter due to exchange rate
fluctuations. Novell reported $40 million of product revenue from Open Platform Solutions, including $38 million from Linux Platform Products, up 22 percent compared to product revenue from Linux Platform Products from the same period last year.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
SAIC’s Revenue Rises 8% in Q2
SAIC announced its second quarter results for fiscal year 2010, which ended July 31, 2009. An increase in defense contracts bolstered SAIC’s revenues, which rose 8 percent to $2.75 billion from $2.55 billion from the
second quarter of fiscal 2009. Key growth drivers included recent wins in defense logistics, IT, and cyber-security as well as increased tasking on existing defense programs. Net income was $123 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to $109 million, or
$0.27 per share, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2009.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Sony to Sell 90 Percent Stake in Sony Baja California
Sony Japan will sell 90 percent of its stake in Sony Baja California, and certain manufacturing assets related to its Tijuana, Mexico site, to Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision
Industry. Sony Baja primarily manufactures LCD TVs for the Americas region. Hon Hai will assume employment of employees at the Tijuana site.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Icahn Cuts Stake in Yahoo
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Yahoo revealed that financier Carl Icahn, one of Yahoo largest stockholders, has sold 12.7 million shares to pare his holdings in Yahoo to a 4.5 percent stake. Icahn,
who also is on Yahoo’s board of directors, sold the shares at prices ranging between $14.74 and $14.93 each, leaving him with 62.9 million shares still under his control. He paid an average of about $25 per share when he bought most of his Yahoo stake last
year. Icahn praised the recent Yahoo/Microsoft deal; he had favored an earlier acquisition bid by Microsoft, which failed.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
HANDHELDS & SMARTPHONES
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Boost Mobile, Motorola Launch New Push-to-Talk Slider Phone
Motorola and Boost Mobile, a pre-paid wireless services division of Sprint, announced the launch of a new push-to-talk slider phone,
the Motorola Debut i856. The new slider phone is available online and through retailers for US$169.99. The Debut has nationwide Walkie-Talkie, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities, among other features.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Microsoft Windows Phones to Launch October 6th
Microsoft announced that Windows phones will be sold in stores worldwide on October 6th. The phones will use Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. The phones will include
updates to the user interface, browsing features, and services, including access to Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone services. Numerous vendors will offer the phones that use Windows Mobile 6.5. In North America, this includes
operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint Nextel, TELUS, and Verizon
Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, and Toshiba. In Europe, partners who will launch Windows phones include operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and Vodafone as well as handset makers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba. In Latin America, TIM Brazil will launch Windows phones made by HTC, LG, and Samsung. In Asia Pacific, mobile operators who will launch the phone include NTT DOCOMO, SOFTBANK, SK Telecom, Telstra, and WILLCOM, and phone makers Acer, HTC, LG, Samsung,
Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
INTERNET
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Internet Turns 40
The 40th anniversary of the Internet was marked and celebrated on a range of Web sites this week. One Internet seed project began in the Fall of 1969 as an experiment funded by the US Advanced Research Projects
Agency; the project was called the ARPANET. By the end of the 1969, four sites were connected. Today, hundreds of millions of computers comprise the Internet, the "network of networks." To mark the anniversary, a video on National Geographic News provides a brief history of computing, the Internet, and the
World Wide Web. Wikipedia provides a more complete, if slightly disjointed, story of the Internet’s evolution.
Source: NatGeo, 9/2/2009
Gmail Outage Blamed on Miscalculation of Server Load
Google issued an apology after a “miscalculation” caused a blackout of its Gmail service for
people attempting to access Gmail directly over the Web, affecting the “majority” of its 150 million users. Google The firm described the two hour outage as a “big deal” and said it was investigating ways to ensure it did not happen again.The disruption
was caused by an error during “routine upgrades” to the company’s Web servers, and involved a miscalculation of server load. Other ways of accessing the service – such as through desktop email programs – were unaffected, the firm said. Google posted status updates over the course of the outage.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
VeriSign to Provide Text Banking for Wilmington Trust
VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media, a division of VeriSign announced it has been selected by Wilmington Trust to provide text banking services to its clients. Clients will now be able to access banking
information, such as ATM and branch locations, personal account information, and recent transaction history via text message. The service, available now, can be activated by enrolling at the Wilmington Trust Web
site.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
W3C Publishes Three POWDER Recommendations
The World Wide Web Consortim (W3C) announced that its POWDER working group has published three W3C Recommendations: Grouping of Resources, Formal Semantics, and Description Resources. POWDER is a protocol for publishing descriptions of Web resources using RDF, OWL, and HTTP.
Source: W3C, 9/2/2009
IT ASSET MANAGEMENT
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PCTS Delivers Health System’s Asset Tracking
Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, announced that Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Delaware selected the company’s Amelior Tracker system to track and manage the
hospital’s assets across their two facilities. Christiana Care will integrate the Awarepoint Real-time Location System (RTLS) to provide automatic location data capture to the Amelior Tracker end-user software. Awarepoint serves US healthcare customers
through its distribution partnership with Skytron.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
LAPTOPS
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Netbook Shipments Soar in Second Quarter
Market research firm DisplaySearch published its latest Quarterly PC Shipment and
Forecast Report, which found that more than 38 million netbooks shipped in the second quarter of 2009, helping netbooks capture a 22.2 percent share of the portable PC market. Quarterly demand for netbooks, or mini-note PCs, jumped 40 percent over the
first quarter, according to a DisplaySearch press release. The jump in netbook sales contrasts with
“traditional” notebook shipments, which grew 22 percent over the same period. DisplaySearch said Asus, the pioneer in netbooks, has been steadily losing share because Tier 1 brands like Acer, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba have become increasingly
aggressive in the segment.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Nokia Unveils Full Booklet 3G Specs, Pricing
Nokia unveiled the complete specifications and pricing for its Booklet 3G. The mini-laptop, or netbook, weighs 2.75 pounds, includes a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, runs Windows 7 Starter Edition with optional support
for Home Premium or Professional editions, and boasts 12 hours of battery life. The Booklet 3G has 1GB of memory and a 120GB, 1.8in hard drive. The very thin netbook has a 10.1-inch display and supports a built-in 3G modem, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
and GPS. To be priced at more than US$800, the Booklet 3G is at the “premium” end of the netbook spectrum. Nokia expects to begin selling the new netbook in the fourth quarter of this year. Nokia released the Booklet 3G specs at its Nokia World 2009 trade
show, where it also introduced a new smartphone, the Nokia N97 mini.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
LEGAL
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Texas Court Rules in Favor of FLIR
A federal court in Texas dismissed Raytheon‘s claims against FLIR and its subsidiary, Indigo Systems, for trade secret misappropriation, violation of the Texas Theft Liability
Act, unfair competition, tortious interference, and fraudulent concealment. Raytheon’s claims were based on its allegations that Indigo hired former Raytheon employees in an effort to obtain their knowledge of Raytheon’s trade secrets relating to infrared
camera technology.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Microsoft Calls for Global Patent Reform
In a post on Microsoft‘s legal analysis blog, a senior company lawyer
proposed that the US Patent and Trade Office (PTO) tackle “21st Century” patent issues by promoting a global patent system. In a blog meant to congratulate David Kappos’ confirmation as Undersecretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director, Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez urged Kappos to consider several patent issues: escalating application backlogs; long pending periods; costs of patent prosecution; dubious patent quality due to the
global explosion of prior art and the time allowed to examine applications; and inefficiency due to duplication of work by multiple patent offices. Microsoft’s push for a global patent system comes as the company faces an injunction in the US against
selling its ubiquitous Word software, which was found to infringe a patent held by Canadian software company i4i.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
German Courts Issue Injunction Against Qualcomm
In Germany, QUALCOMM was served with a restraining order, prohibiting it from using the term “smartbook” when referring to its netbooks. The preliminary injunction was issued by a German court, at the request of Smartbook AG, which claim the term infringes on its name. The decision calls for a 250,000 EUR ($357,000 USD) fine, in risk of non compliance.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
MOBILE SOFTWARE & PLATFORMS
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HealthMap Launches iPhone App for Tracking Flu Outbreaks
Google.org announced that one of its grant recipients, HealthMap has launched a new Apple iPhone application called “Outbreaks Near Me”, which tracks flu outbreaks and is
available for free download to iPhone users. HealthMap brings together disparate data sources on its Web site to provide a view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health. The Web site integrates outbreak
data of varying reliability, ranging from news sources (such as Google News) to personal accounts (such as ProMED), to validated official alerts (such as those from the World Health Organization).
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
OPERATING SYSTEMS
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HP to Provide Support for Updated Mac OS X Customers
Hewlett-Packard (HP) will provide real time support for customers who have updated to the new mac OS X v10.6 snow leopard, via HP support forums. HP – which has worked with Apple through the mac OS X v10.6 snow leopard development process – will provide built-in print driver support for more than 1,300 HP peripherals, and scan support for HP inkjet all in ones, built into the operating system.
Users can access additional information, regarding driver support for several HP products.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Microsoft Releases CTP of Windows 7 Embedded
Microsoft released the Windows 7-based Windows Embedded Standard 2011 (formerly code-named “Quebec”) Community Technology Preview (CTP) to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers of specialized
devices, with public availability online. Windows Embedded Standard 2011 delivers Windows 7 technology to OEMs, enabling them to extend the Windows user experience to devices such as thin-client,
point-of-service, kiosk, medical, multifunction printers, and other systems.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Microsoft Offers Free 90-Day Trial of Windows 7
Microsoft is offering a free 90-day trial version of Windows 7 Enterprise, the latest version of its Windows operating system, which is due
October 22. Once the 90-day trial ends, users who want to continue using the OS will have to purchase a copy and reinstall it, including drivers and applications. The trial is intended for IT Pros who do not already have access to the new OS. Microsoft
said testers can continue using the software after program ends, but warned that the OS will shutdown once an hour after the expiration date.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Red Hat Powers Sensei’s IT Infrastructure
Red Hat announced that Sensei has standardized its IT infrastructure on JBoss Enterprise Middleware and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat’s software allows Sensei to deliver to
its customers in its flagship PC and mobile software product, Sensei for Weight Loss, a virtual dietitian that creates a tailored weight loss plan including grocery lists, meals, and exercise routines.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
PERIPHERALS
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Verizon Launches New USB Wireless Modem
Verizon Wireless announced the new Verizon Wireless UMW190, a USB wireless modem available online and through the company’s business sales channels. It will be in Verizon Wireless Communications stores later
this month. The UMW190’s 3G capabilities offer high-speed Internet connectivity around the world through a combination of Dual-Band CDMA Revision A (Rev. A), Tri-Band UMTS/HSPA, and Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE capabilities.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
PERSONNEL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES
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Accenture Incorporates in Ireland
Accenture completed the change in its place of incorporation to Ireland from Bermuda, after receiving approval from the Supreme Court of Bermuda. Accenture will continue to be registered with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and to be subject to SEC reporting requirements. The company’s shares will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ACN”.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Agilent Separates Life Science, Chemical Analysis Groups
Agilent Technologies announced the separation of its life science and chemical analysis groups into two businesses. Effective immediately, Mike McMullen has been promoted to president for chemical analysis, while
Nick Roelofs will preside over the life sciences group.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Alcatel-Lucent India Appoints VP for R&D
Alcatel-Lucent India appointed Subhash Bana as VP for R&D. Previously, Subhash served as VP for Thomson’s India and Sri Lanka operations.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
AOL Names New CFO
AOL has named Arthur Minson as the company’s new Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Minson joins AOL from Time Warner Cable, where he has served as Executive Vice President and Deputy CFO and helped
manage that company’s separation from Time Warner. Prior to his role at Time Warner Cable, Minson led AOL’s Corporate Finance and Development activities.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
West Region Core Wireline Workers Ratify AT&T Contract
AT&T announced that core wireline employees in its West Region (CWA District 9) have voted to ratify a three-year agreement with the Communications Workers of America. The
agreement covers about 23,000 employees in California and Nevada. A total of about 57,500 employees – roughly half of those covered under AT&T’s core wireline contracts – have now have ratified contracts or have pending votes on tentative agreements. AT&T
and the CWA announced on August 7 the ratification of a new contract in the Midwest Region (CWA District 4). Pending ratification are tentative agreements for employees covered under the Legacy AT&T Corporation (CWA Communications and Technology unit)
contract, and a contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
AuthenTec Appoints VP, GM of its Chinese Division
AuthenTec named Dr. Lunji Qiu its Vice President and General Manager of AuthenTec China. Dr. Qiu previously held positions as Vice President of Product Development and General Manager of Atrua Technologies.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Canada’s Bell Launches New Portal
Canada’s Bell launched a new Web portal, Sympatico.ca, after reaching an agreement with Microsoft to separate their joint site into the
Sympatico.ca and MSN.ca portals. Bell and Microsoft, who partnered on the portal for five years, dissolved their general interest site to compete for online advertising revenue. The Web address sympatico.msn.ca will now redirect users to Bell’s new
Sympatico.ca. Bell also launched four new information and entertainment channels for the site. Meanwhile, Bell and Microsoft will continue to collaborate and exchange traffic between their portals, as part of a new three year deal. Sympatico.ca will also
provide access to Microsoft’s new Bing search engine, and to Windows Live Hotmail and Messenger inventory for Canadian advertisers.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Boeing CEO to Retire at Year’s End
Boeing announced that its Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Scott Carson will retire from the company by the year’s end. Boeing president, CEO, and chairman Jim McNerney named Jim Albaugh to lead Boeing
Commercial Airplanes (BCA), while Dennis Muilenburg will succeed Albaugh as president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Both appointments are effective immediately. Carson worked for Boeing for 38 years and led BCA since 2006, after two years
heading up the unit’s sales organization. Carson will work with Albaugh to ensure a smooth transition, and Carson will assist on special projects for the company until he retires.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CA CEO John Swainson to Step Down
CA announced that CEO John Swainson will retire from the company on December 31, 2009, or upon the earlier selection of a successor. CA’s Board of Directors formed a committee to search for a successor for Swainson, who
led CA for five years and helped restore the company’s image as it recovered from an accounting scandal. Swainson will remain CEO and a director during the transition and plans to step down from the Board when he retires. William McCracken, previously
non-executive chairman, was named interim-executive chairman until a successor is found, or at the discretion of the Board.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CA Debuts Channel Program for B2B Internet Security Products
CA announced that its Internet Security Business Unit (ISBU) is rolling out a channel program for its Business-to-Business (B2B) product lineup. CA will now offer CA Host-Based Intrusion Prevention (HIPS) free with the
purchase or renewal of CA Threat Manager. In addition, CA B2B Internet Security products, including Threat Manager and HIPS as well as CA Total Defense, CA Anti-Virus, CA Anti-Spyware, and CA Gateway Security, will now include remote installation free of
charge.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Cardinal Health Completes CareFusion Spin-off
Cardinal Health completed its spinoff of CareFusion by distributing roughly 81 percent of shares of CareFusion common stock, launching CareFusion as a publicly traded
company. About 180 million shares were given to Cardinal Health shareholders, and about 41 million were retained by Cardinal Health to be divested within five years. CareFusion will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under symbol “CFN”. Cardinal
appointed George Barrett as its new chairman and CEO, while Philip Francis, Michael Losh, and Michael O’Halleran transitioned from Cardinal’s board of directors to CareFusion’s board. Cardinal’s board will now consist of 10 members, including two new
directors: Bruce Downey, effective immediately, and Glenn Britt, effective October 1st.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
CenturyLink Board Member Resigns
CenturyLink announced that Steve Davis, chairman and CEO of Bob Evans Farms, voluntarily resigned as a member of CenturyLink’s board of directors effective September 30th. CenturyLink, a communications network
services provider operating in 33 states, was recently formed by the merger of CenturyTel and EMBARQ, a merger that was completed in July. Since May 2006, Davis had served on EMBARQ’s board of directors. CenturyLink does not plan to fill the vacancy
created by Davis’ departure, the company said in a press release. Davis is leaving to “dedicate more time to his family and his business responsibilities,” said CenturyLink Chairman Bill Owens.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
EMC Co-Founder Dick Egan Passes Away
EMC announced that co-founder Dick Egan passed away, after a battle with cancer. Egan – the “E” in “EMC” – served as CEO until 1992 and board chair until 2001. His death comes the same week as the 30th anniversary of
EMC’s founding.
Source: Vendor, 8/29/2009
Hitachi Opens LTE Research Facility Near Dallas
Hitachi announced that it has opened a LTE research facility in Dallas, Texas though a local subsidiary company, Hitachi Communication Technologies America. The facility is located in the “telecom corridor” area of
Richardson, Texas. The Dallas R&D Center will focus on the Mobility Management Entity and other components of the Evolved Packet Core for LTE.
Source: Vendor, 8/30/2009
Microsoft Makes Time Zone Updates Free for Extended Support Products
Microsoft announced that it revised its policies to offer customers more time zone and daylight saving time updates at no charge. Previously, Microsoft
offered the updates free while products were in mainstream support (usually five years from release), but it required customers who wanted updates during the extended support phase to purchase hot-fix support. Under the new plan, products that enter
extended support after January 1st will get free daylight saving and time zone updates twice a year, during the Northern hemisphere’s fall and winter. The updates will be provided via Windows Update and Microsoft’s Web site. Customers who want time zone
updates outside of those general times will still need to enroll in the paid program.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Qualcomm, Foundation Partner for Broadband Initiative in India
QUALCOMM and the Azim Premji Foundation announced an initiative for advancing Web-enabled educational content, and providing wireless broadband access to many
rural and government run schools in India. The initiative, in its pilot phase, will connect about 40 government-run schools.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Qwest Names Teresa Taylor Chief Operating Officer
Qwest Communications has named Teresa Taylor as its next chief operating officer (COO), effective immediately. Taylor will lead Qwest’s daily operations and growth strategies, reporting to Qwest CEO Edward Mueller.
Taylor is replacing Thomas Richards, who served as Qwest’s COO since July 2008 and left to become president and COO of electronics reseller CDW. Previously, Taylor led Qwest’s Business Markets, Wholesale, and Product groups and served as the company’s
chief administrative officer. In Taylor’s place, Qwest promoted Christopher Ancell, vice president of sales for Business Markets Group (BMG), to executive vice president of BMG.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
ST-Ericsson Announces Exec Changes
ST-Ericsson, a joint venture of STMicroelectronics and Ericsson announced the appointment of Gilles Delfassy as President and CEO of
ST-Ericsson. Alain Dutheil will work with Delfassy over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. Delfassy will assume his position as President and CEO effective November 2, 2009. After then, Dutheil will continue to support ST-Ericsson by joining
its Board and will return to his previous role as STMicroelectronics’ Chief Operating Officer. In addition, Hans Vestberg, CFO and incoming CEO of Ericsson, and a member of the Board of ST-Ericsson, has become Chairman of the Board of ST-Ericsson,
succeeding Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Yahoo’s Chief Accounting Officer Leaving Company
In an August 28 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo announced that its principal accounting officer, Michael A. Murray, Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, will leave the
company on September 30, 2009.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
REGULATORY, GOVERNMENT
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Court Strikes Down Cap on Cable Marketshare
A US federal appeals court has overturned a Federal Communications Commission rule limiting cable companies to serving no more than 30% of US cable subscribers, citing increased competition in the pay-television market.
This represents a win for cable operators, particularly Comcast, the largest US cable company. Since 1993, the FCC has decreed that no one cable operator can own systems serving more than 30% of US households. When Time Warner Cable challenged the rule in
2001, the federal appellate court for the District of Columbia sent the issue back to the FCC seeking further justification of its limit. Two years ago, the FCC voted to maintain the cap. This time around, Comcast
sued to overturn the cap, citing increased competition, particularly from Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-Verse services. In its ruling issued late last week, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the FCC “failed to demonstrate that
allowing a cable operator to serve more than 30% of all cable subscribers would threaten to reduce either competition or diversity in programming.” In a statement, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a
cable industry trade group, said “We applaud the court’s decision to reject an unnecessary rule that can no longer be justified in a market where consumers are enjoying robust competition.”
Source: NCTA, 9/2/2009
New Ads Prep Americans for Emergency Situations
Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have teamed up with the Ad Council to launch a new series of Ready
Campaign public service advertisements to encourage all Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies. The ads direct audiences to visit the Ready Campaign site to find national and local preparedness information and resources.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
US, Mexico Ink Deal for Public Safety Network
The Department of Homeland Security and US State Department announced that the United States-Mexico High-Level Consultative Commission on Telecommunications has signed a bilateral
agreement to support a new cross-border communications network for public safety and law enforcement organizations. In a press release, DHS said the agreement is focused on
strengthening border security. The new network will enable participating public safety organizations to coordinate incident response and cooperate on a broad range of law enforcement activities through the establishment of new cross-border voice, data, and
video channels.
Source: DHS, 9/2/2009
GAO: More Steps Needed to Ensure Checkpoint Security
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently assessed the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency in its checkpoint performance and the impact of checkpoints in various
communities. These checkpoints are used to detect and apprehend illegal aliens and contraband. In its report, the GAO recommended that CBP take several actions to strengthen checkpoint design and
staffing, and improve the measurement and reporting of checkpoint effectiveness, including community impact. The CBP is an agency of the US Department of Homeland Security.
Source: GAO, 8/31/2009
GAO: Past Disasters Provide Insight into Emergency Preparation
In an effort to better understand the response of various agencies in the aftermath of an emergency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed five catastrophic disasters – the Loma Prieta
earthquake, Hurricane Andrew, the Northridge earthquake, the Kobe earthquake, and the Grand Forks/Red River flood. In its published findings, the GAO recommended that the Department of Homeland Security direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create a mechanism focused on sharing information and lessons learned regarding disaster recovery, including
good collaborative practices.
Source: GAO, 9/1/2009
NIST’s IT Library Plans to Reorganize
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that its Information Technology Laboratory has proposed a reorganization of its structure. A key goal of the proposed reorganization is to strengthen
NIST’s cybersecurity efforts. Any changes made to management of the cybersecurity programs will be designed to improve and reinforce protections for US IT resources, NIST said.
Source: Vendor, 8/28/2009
European Union to Investigate Oracle-Sun Merger
The European Commission launched an in-depth probe into Oracle‘s planned $7.4 billion USD takeover of Sun Microsystems, citing concerns about the
deal’s impact on competition in the market for database software. The European Union’s highest competition authority called for a closer look at the deal after conducting a long examination. The commission will “…examine very carefully the effects on
competition in Europe when the world’s leading proprietary database company proposes to take over the world’s leading open source database company,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in a statement. The European Commission now has 90 days –
until January 19, 2010 – before it decides whether to approve or block the deal.
Source: EC, 9/3/2009
Paperless Boarding Now Available at San Francisco Airport
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Continental Airlines expanded the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program at San Francisco International Airport. The program
allows passengers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs, which are then scanned by TSA security officers at the checkpoint. The need for a paper boarding pass is eliminated.
Source: TSA, 9/1/2009
SCM
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IBM Powers Implanet’s Supply Chain Services
IBM announced that Implanet, a manufacturer of implantable medical devices, selected IBM’s sensor technology as the foundation for BeepN’Track, a new service that traces the movement of Implanet’s products – including
knee and hip implants – across its supply chain to hospitals.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
SEARCH
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Google Rules Worldwide Search in July
Web research firm comScore released its worldwide search share numbers for July, which showed that Internet searches increased by 41 percent to 113 billion in the month of July. Slightly more than two-thirds of
those searches were done with Google, which saw the number of searches done through its search engine increase 58 percent compared with last year. Yahoo ranked a distant second with
8.9 billion searches in July, while China’s Baidu ranked third with 8 billion searches. Both of those sites posted slow growth in July, while fourth-place Microsoft saw an increase
of 41 percent in the number of searches performed on its site compared with last year, perhaps due to its launch of the Bing search engine. According to comScore, Europeans searched the most in July, but residents of Latin America were responsible for the
most searches per person.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
SECURITY FLAWS & FIXES
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Flaw Found in Microsoft’s IIS Server Could Equal Big Problems
PC World reported that a hacker has posted code that could be used to take over a system running the Microsoft Internet Information Services server. The software, which was
posted to the Milw0rm Web site on Monday, could be a big problem for some Webmasters but the attack appears to work only on older versions of Microsoft’s products. It is not immediately clear how many versions of Microsoft’s products are vulnerable to the
attack, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for more information on the issue.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Java Update Available from Red Hat
Red Hat has issued an update for Java-1.5.0-IBM, which fixes some flaws that could result in a denial of service or disclose sensitive information. An advisory is available and users are instructed to update their packages via the Red Hat Network.
Source: Vendor, 8/28/2009
SECURITY PRODUCTS & CONTRACTS
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3Com Introduces New H3C VPN Firewalls
3Com introduced H3C SecPath F-Series and SecBlade VPN firewalls, which were developed for edge, core, data center, and high speed computing environments. 3Com will also integrate new intrusion prevention system
capabilities – from its TippingPoint business – with H3C’s networking and security offerings.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
New Version of Zone Alarm Extreme Security Now Available
Check Point Software rolled out ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2010 which encrypts all hard drive content to protect personal and irreplaceable data in the event of laptop loss or theft. The product is available
immediately at a purchase price of $69.95 for a three-user license.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
ZoneAlarm’s Updated Security Suite Includes Encryption
Check Point Software has announced updates for ZoneAlarm’s full-featured security suites. Available in two versions, ZoneAlarm Internet Security 2010 includes a firewall, antivirus, antispyware, and parental
control package for $50. ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2010 adds Web-browsing protection, system tune-up tools, backup options, and anti-phishing technology for $70. Tthe Extreme Security edition also includes an identity protection module to encrypt personal
information. Check Point also offers a version of ZoneAlarm for free but it includes only a basic firewall.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
FLIR Is Awarded $4.9 Million Government Contract
FLIR has received a $4.9 million US government foreign military sale order for the Colombian Army and Air Force. The order includes FLIR’s Star SAFIRE III infrared multi-sensor surveillance systems, training, and
related services.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
HDS Announces Data Protection, Recovery Products
Hitachi Data Systems announced new data protection and disaster recovery products, for VMware‘s vSphere 4. The products combine HDS storage platforms and software with technologies
from companies such as Brocade, Cisco, CommVault, and Symantec. The products – featuring CommVault and Symmantec NetBackup – were created to help manage an IT environment’s operations.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Kaspersky Lab Launches Arabic Version of Its Web Site
Kaspersky Lab has launched an Arabic version of its corporate Web site. This site provides updated information on IT threats along with business, product, and technology news
from the company.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Oracle Updates Financial Services Fraud Prevention Software
Oracle has introduced software to help financial services institutions defend against fraud and financial crime. Oracle’s latest release of Oracle Mantas Fraud is designed to provide new features aimed at better
preparing institutions to meet the challenges posed by the advancement and globalization of fraud activity, as well as more stringent regulatory environments.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Raytheon Debuts Faster Version of Data-Sharing System
Raytheon released a faster version of its High-Speed Guard cross-domain information-sharing system for government organizations. Peak performance was increased to 5G bps from 800M bps, and costs were reduced by 75
percent. Cross-domain systems distribute data between varied security classification environments, providing interoperability and serving as a link to ensure that data maintains sensitivity levels across the transmission processes. High-Speed Guard 3.0
sustains full transfer rate on two processor commercial servers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 with a strict Security Enhanced Linux policy.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
New Paper from RSA Talks Compliance for Virtualization
RSA has released a security brief entitled "Security Compliance in a Virtual World." The paper, which is available from the vendor’s Web site, offers actionable best practices for organizations faced
with proving compliance in virtualized environments.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Three Symantec Products Are VMware Ready
Symantec‘s Backup Exec, NetBackup, and NetBackup PureDisk have all achieved VMware Ready Data Protection status. In order to pass VMware Ready Data Protection testing criteria,
Symantec completed specific qualifications and interoperability requirements to ensure its solutions are optimized for VMware environments.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Trend Micro Offers Web Gateway Security
Trend Micro rolled out its Web Gateway Security solution, which integrates the InterScan Web Security Virtual Appliance 5.0 product and the new Advanced Reporting and Management module. The Web Security Gateway
is built on the Smart Protection Network infrastructure and includes antivirus and anti-spyware technologies to clean, delete, or quarantine infected content.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
SERVERS
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IBM Upgrades System x Servers
IBM announced that it upgraded its x86 servers with increased support for virtualization and higher processing speeds. IBM announced an upgrade to its iDataPlex rack mounted server as well as a new switching fabric for
its BladeCenter chassis, both aimed at delivering virtualization capabilities. The iDataPlex offers 2U x86 server with two Xeon processors, 5TB of storage, and up to 64GB of memory, which IBM is doubling to 128GB with the new release. IBM has also added
support for vSphere 4, VMware‘s upgraded virtualization software. The upgraded server will be displayed at VMworld next week.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
SOCIAL NETWORKS
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NFL Bans Tweeting During Games
The National Football League announced that it had modified its social-media policy to limit Twitter and other social networking use by players, coaches, league officials, and media
covering NFL games. The NFL said that it will let players, coaches, and other team personnel engage in social networking during the season but they will be prohibited from using Twitter and from updating profiles on Facebook and other social-networking sites during games. In addition, they will not be allowed to tweet or update social-networking profiles 90 minutes before a game and until post-game interviews are completed. The NFL
also said that media attending games will be prohibited from providing game updates through social networks.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
STANDARDS & PROTOCOLS
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Security Metrics Research Publication Released
The US National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) announced that it has released a new publication: 7564 Directions in Security Metrics Research. The document is available from NIST’s Web site.
Source: NIST, 9/3/2009
NIST Publishes Cryptography-Related Standard
The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the completion of Special Publication 800-56B, “Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key
Establishment Schemes Using Integer Factorization Cryptography”. It provides the specifications of key establishment schemes that are based on a standard developed by the Accredited Standards Committee ANS X9.44, Key Establishment using Integer
Factorization Cryptography. SP 800-56B provides asymmetric-based key agreement and key transport schemes that are based on the RSA algorithm.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
STORAGE
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Brocade Adds Features to SAN Hardware, Software
Brocade Communications Systems added several new features to its SAN hardware, software, and management portfolio, for providing visibility for virtual machines. The features support open computing and storage
environments, and include: DCFM v10.3, which offers SAN management for server virtualization; and server application optimization;
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
HGST Releases 500-GB Travelstar Mobile Hard Drive
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies released the 500-GB travelstar 7K500 mobile hard disk drive. The drives were developed for laptops, gaming systems, and external storage devices. It is also
available with capacities of 120GB, 160GB, 250GB, and 320GB.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Toshiba Announces 640-GB Hard Drive Series
Toshiba Japan announced the MK6465GSX series of 2.5 inch, 640-GB hard disk drives. The 5,400 drives were created primarily for high performance laptops and all in one desktops.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
Western Digital Releases 2-TB Desktop, Server Drives
Western Digital released its 2-TB caviar black desktop hard drives and RE4 server, NAS, and storage network drives. The drives operate at 7,200 RPM.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
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Alcatel Motive Releases Network Analyzer Product
Alcatel-Lucent‘s Motive subsidiary released its network analyzer product, which offers copper and fiber network management capabilities. It is designed to operate over any vendor’s network, and can manage
access network infrastructure, regardless of vendor.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
BMC’s Software Manages Cloud-based Vendor’s Data Services
BMC Software announced that Concur Technologies, a provider of on-demand employee spend management services for travel and expenses, is using BMC’s Business Service Management (BSM)
platform to power its datacenter, supporting Concur’s virtualization and cloud computing efforts. Concur uses BMC BladeLogic Operations Manager to automate the release of code and patches to thousands of servers that support the company’s travel and
expense product, and to audit the environment for compliance.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
BMC’s Software Detects VMware Events
BMC Software introduced service management features for virtual machines (VMs), including capabilities for dynamic detection and response to VM infrastructure changes. Through integration with VMware vCenter Server, BMC’s BSM platform can now detect VMware VMotion events and automatically respond by adjusting performance monitoring thresholds, maintaining performance history, tracking VM changes, and updating
the configuration management database in near-real time.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
CA’s Web Management Software Used at Northrop’s Lab
CA announced that its Web application management products, including CA SiteMinder and CA Wily Introscope Web, are part of Northrop Grumman‘s recently opened Army Knowledge Online
(AKO)/Defense Knowledge Online (DKO) Emerging Technologies Lab for the Army’s collaborative portal. The lab is a scaled replica of the AKO/DKO environment and allows for testing, evaluation, and preliminary
integration of features prior to use on the AKO/DKO portal. The portal provides e-mail, file storage, instant messaging, directories, and collaboration tools to service members and US Defense Department personnel.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
Citrix Designs HD Virtual Desktop
Citrix Systems introduced the latest version of its HDX virtual desktop platform – a system that supports high-definition virtual desktops for professional graphics environments. HDX 3D, available as a feature of
Citrix XenDesktop, provides HD desktop applications to users in any location. HDX 3D is part of Citrix’s line-up of HDX platforms that are designed to address potential problems in an IT infrastructure across the datacenter, networks, and devices.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Available for HP BladeSystem, ProLiant
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced that Red Hat‘s new Enterprise Linux 5.4 virtualization product is now available on HP BladeSystem and HP ProLiant servers. The new open source software
was created to drive next generation, converged server, storage, and networking infrastructures.
Source: Vendor, 9/3/2009
Microsoft Offers System Center Software License for Midsize Firms
Microsoft introduced an offering for midsize organizations with limited IT resources that are looking to deploy and manage server and desktop systems. Microsoft and participating OEM channel partners will offer a
software license, Microsoft System Center Essentials Management Suite, that includes Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. Microsoft partners Fujitsu Technology
Solutions and Lenovo already said that they intend to offer an upgrade program for midsize organizations that purchase the System Center Essentials Management Suite before the final release of System Center
Essentials 2010. Along with the System Center license offering, Microsoft launched other licenses for midsize organizations.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
NetApp Adds Desktop, Cloud Management Products
NetApp introduced new products for managing desktop and cloud computing environments. The products – which compliment VMware vSphere 4 and VMware view – include: the virtual
storage console plug-in, for VMware’s vCenter server; SnapManager for virtual infrastructure; and a rapid cloning utility, for cloning virtual machines and data stores.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
VMware Launches New Data Center Suite
VMware rolled out its vCenter product family, designed for automating data center tasks and managing service level agreements. vCenter automates tasks, such as data center provisioning, monitoring, and change and
performance management. Its products were designed to be used with VMware’s vSphere cloud computing operating system (OS). VMware claims it can also manage policies and service level agreements, on which each virtual server is deployed. VMware also
announced a deal with Lenovo, to make vSphere 4 available for Lenovo’s ThinkServer offerings.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
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Alcatel Deploying IP, UC Technology for North Bristol NHS
Alcatel-Lucent is deploying IP telephony technology to upgrade North Bristol National Health Service Trust’s telecommunications services. The deployment includes speech enabled, automated directory
technology, and advanced call center and UC applications, to improve the firm’s patient services. The two million GBP ($3.25 million USD) investment will also provide a communications infrastructure for a new “super hospital,” in Bristol, scheduled for
completion in 2013. Implementation is being carried out by South West Communications.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
Cisco, Vsys Promoting UC as a Service Platform
Cisco Systems is working with Vsys, in Mexico, to develop a technological platform for promoting unified communications (UC) as a service. Enabled by Cisco technology, Vsys provides unified IP telephony, unified
messaging, unified personal communication, unified voice and Web collaboration, and unified mobile convergence to companies, on a pay per use scale.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
NEC Updates Unified Communications for Enterprise
NEC Unified Solutions updated its UC for enterprise (UCE) unified communications suite, adding: UCE mobility, which provides an interface for remotely changing status and setting contact rules; new
integration capabilities for UCE attendant; and Microsoft outlook integration for the UCE desktop client.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
VOIP
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Polycom Delivers Media System Vendor’s VoIP BPX
Polycom announced that it replaced the legacy telephone system of Euphonix, a manufacturer of controllers and audio consoles for media creation, with a software-based VoIP PBX
system and HD voice equipment from Polycom and 3CX.
Source: Vendor, 9/1/2009
WEB COMMERCE
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Coalition Asks Congress to Restrict Use of Behavioral Targeting Data
A coalition of nine privacy organizations is calling for legislation to restrict the collection and use of behavioral targeting data. Letters were sent to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce and two subcommittees from the Center for Digital
Democracy, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Lives, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, the US Public Interest Research Group, and the World Privacy Forum. The letters outlined privacy and security concerns about the practice and concluded: “Self-regulation by advertisers is not enough – legislation is needed to protect consumers.”
Source: eff.org, 9/3/2009
Social Networks Host 20% of Online Display Ads in June
Web market research firm comScore released a study of US online display advertising on social networking sites in June 2009, based on data from the comScore Ad Metrix service. The study showed that social
networking sites accounted for more than 20 percent of all display ads viewed online, with MySpace and Facebook combining to deliver more than 80 percent of ads among sites in the
social networking category. Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president, said:”Social networking sites now account for one out of every five ads people view online. Because the top social media sites can deliver high reach and frequency against target
segments at a low cost, it appears that some advertisers are eager to use social networking sites as a new advertising delivery vehicle.” In June, AT&T ranked as the top display advertiser on social networking sites with more than 2 billion ad impressions,
which accounted for 30 percent of the company’s total number of display ads delivered during the month. Experian Interactive, which delivered a heavy rotation of ads for educational degree programs and credit scores, ranked second with nearly 1.3 billion
impressions in the category, comScore said..
Source: comScore, 9/1/2009
Walmart Launches Marketplace for 3rd Party Sellers
Walmart has launched Walmart Marketplace, a new program that allows third-party sellers to offer products to WalMart customers shopping at the retailer’s online Web site, in the same way Amazon lets 3rd parties sell
goods on Amazon.com. Retailers participating in the new Walmart Marketplace include CSN Stores, eBags.com and Pro Team. Walmart said it has added nearly one million new items to its online inventory with the
introduction of Walmart Marketplace.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
WI-FI, WLANS, WIMAX
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Agilent Deploys WiMAX Protocol Test System in China
Agilent Technologies deployed its N6430A series mobile WiMAX protocol conformance test system, for the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR). It used the system
to complete the first test of mobile WiMAX products in mainland China, in June. CATR is a division of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as a WiMAX Forum designated
certification laboratory. N6430A systems deliver a suite of test products for mobile WiMAX PCT, NCT, and development testing.
Source: Vendor, 8/31/2009
WIRELESS
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Worldwide Mobile Infrastructure Sector Down in Second Quarter
The Dell’Oro research group announced that the mobile infrastructure sector saw a worldwide contraction in the second quarter of 2009. The group’s Mobility Quarterly Report showed that despite very strong growth in
3G markets, declines in the 2G market, particularly with GSM, forced overall revenue to contract 12 percent from the year-ago quarter. India and China continued to drive GSM growth, but 2G equipment sales declined as Chinese telecoms accelerated 3G WCDMA
rollouts and operators in India upgraded their existing infrastructure. The report also showed that, while GSM spending and the WCDMA markets are expected to rise in the second half, total market revenue is still forecast to contract 10 percent in
2009.
Source: Vendor, 9/2/2009
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