News Briefs for the Week Ending
04/15/2011
Copyright 2011, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid:00020009
Publication Date: 1104
Publication Type: NEWS
ACQUISITIONS & DIVESTITURES
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Alcatel Rumored to be Considering Selling Telecom Gear Unit
Alcatel-Lucent is exploring the sale of its mobile handset and other telecommunications gear businesses, believed to be valued at around $1.5 billion USD, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal. According to the report, Alcatel has already contacted several potential
buyers, including Microsoft, HP, and Ericsson. Alcatel has not responded to the story, which says the company may also be considering an IPO for mobile unit.
Source: WSJ, 4/14/2011
DISH Network Gets Regulatory Approval for Blockbuster Deal
DISH Network received regulatory approval for its acquisition of all assets of video rental company Blockbuster, Inc. The agreement will see it assuming control of the company’s retail, online, and associated
businesses for the final price of $228 million. DISH Network plans to close the transaction on April 21, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/8/2011
eBay to Acquire 93% of Turkish Online Retailer GittiGidiyor
eBay announced plans to acquire additional shares of the Turkish online retailer GittiGidiyor. The auction site has owned a minority stake in the company since 2007. Following this planned purchase eBay expects to own
93% of the retailer’s outstanding shares. The transaction is expected to close some time in the second quarter of 2011. No financial terms for the deal were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Expedia to Spin Off TripAdvisor
Expedia‘s board of director’s has approved a plan to split into two publicly-traded entities, All Things Digital reported. The company would be divided into a
travel agency, which would take over the sale of air fare, accommodations, and car rental; and TripAdvisor, which would continue to provide travel reviews for its territory of 27 countries. All Things D suggests that the move might be an effort to
counteract the massive shift expected in the online travel industry following the US Department of Justice’s approval of Google‘s acquisition of travel search provider ITA. According to some estimates quoted in the
article, TripAdvisor could be worth $4 billion on its own. A move away from Expedia cloud allow the separated entities more room to grow, and a better chance of staving off Google’s plans. It remains to be seen exactly when the split will occur.
Source: AllThingsD, 4/8/2011
Google Gains Justice Department Approval for ITA Acquisition
Google gained approval for its acquisition of travel software maker ITA from the US Department of Justice, following its agreement to commit to several caveats. The DOJ’s statement requires Google to develop and license travel software through 2016, to establish internal firewall procedures, and to continue software research and development. Additionally,
the search giant has agreed to license ITA’s QPX software on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms,” as required by the DOJ. The company said it would like to close the acquisition as soon as possible.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Google Acquires Mobile Media Sharing Company PushLife
Google acquired PushLife, a mobile content management service. The news was reported on the acquired company’s Web site. Founded in 2008, PushLife specialized in creating mobile
experiences designed to unify media across multiple devices. The assets of PushLife will become part of Google’s engineering team in Canada, where it will be used to enhance the company’s mobile media offerings. PushLife says that it will eventually
discontinue its service, but has not set a date.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
IBM Closes Acquisition of TRIRIGA
IBM closed its acquisition of TRIRIGA, Inc, a provider of real estate management software solutions. IBM plans on using the assets of the acquired company to strengthen its own Smarter Buildings initiative by adding new
functionality, such as real estate portfolio management, capital project management, and energy and environmental sustainability tools. TRIRIGA will be absorbed into IBM’s Software and IBM Global Business Services. More information is available on a Web page IBM has created for the acquisition.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Level 3 Communications Acquiring Global Crossing
Colorado-based Tier 1 IP communications network Level 3 announced it is acquiring Global Crossing in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction valued at $3 billion USD. The combined company will operate a global
services platform anchored by fiber optic networks on three continents, connected by undersea cables. The combined companies will have owned-networks in 50 countries and connections to more than 70 countries. Under terms of the deal, Global Crossing
shareholders will receive 16 shares of Level 3 common stock for each share of Global Crossing common stock, Based on Level 3’s closing stock price on April 8, 2011, the transaction is valued at $23.04 per Global Crossing common or preferred share, or
approximately $3.0 billion, including the assumption of approximately $1.1 billion of Global Crossing’s net debt as of Dec. 31, 2010.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Verizon Closes Terremark Worldwide Acquisition
Verizon Communications has officially closed its previously-announced acquisition of Terremark Worldwide, a managed IT infrastructure and cloud services provider. The acquisition was completed via a short-form
merger under Delaware law and, therefore, a Terremark shareholder vote was not required. Terremark will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon. With the closing of the transaction, Terremark’s common stock will cease trading on NASDAQ as of
market close on April 11, 2011, and will no longer be listed on NASDAQ.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
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CSC Allies with BioSignia for Cloud-Based Mortality Assessment Tech
CSC signed an alliance agreement with BioSignia, a science and technology company, to offer Mortality Assessment Technology (MAT) to US-based life insurers and reinsurers. The predictive underwriting tool was developed
by BioSignia, and will be hosted as a cloud-based service by CSC. The companies say the MAT solution improves upon existing insurer rating systems by incorporating factors such as medical studies, the client’s total risk, and other variables. More
information about the new collaborative offering is available CSC’s MAT product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
IBM Teams with SAP for mCommerce Appliance Solution
IBM teamed with Sybase, a subsidiary of SAP, to offer a new workload-optimized server appliance based on the company’s Power Systems family of servers. The so called IBM mCommerce
Appliance Solution will be marketed to financial institutions, mobile operators, and enterprises. The companies say the new appliance will help customers run smart banking applications for mobile devices such as iPads, iPhones, Blackberry devices, and
Android units. The IBM mCommerce Appliance Solution will be available May 13, 2011. More information about the new product is available at its product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
BIOMETRICS
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Lockheed Adds More Capabilities to FBI’s Biometrics
Lockheed-Martin is developing and deploying a capability to enhance the FBI‘s latent fingerprint matching accuracy and introduce palm printing to the system. The latent and
palm print matching algorithms for the Next Generation Identification system will be provided by MorphoTrak.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
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FCC Requests Input Regarding Emergency Networks, Services
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a notice of inquiry (NOI) seeking public comment on ways to boost the reliability of communications networks. The NOI requests comment in four key areas: industry
efforts currently being made to ensure communications services during disasters; existing reliability and resilience standards for broadband communications networks; how the FCC can promote communications services; and the legal responsibility of the FCC
to ensure the reliability of such services and networks.
Source: FCC, 4/7/2011
SunGard Updates its Business Continuity Tool for Banks, Credit Unions
SunGard Availability Services has added new features to PLANet, its Web-based business continuity tool for banks and credit unions. PLANet now offers enhancements to its vendor management, risk
assessment, and reporting capabilities.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
CARRIER SERVICES
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AT&T Introduces New Campus Messaging Platform
AT&T announced the availability of Rave Campus Messenger, a hosted, Web-based notification system designed for colleges and universities. The platform supports a range of different devices and offers messaging, polling,
reporting, and response features enabling users to monitor the status of notifications. AT&T said Rave also integrates with e-learning tools so that, for example, students and faculty can receive emails or text messages when new content is posted to course
pages.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
T-Mobile USA Introduces New “Unlimited” Plan
T-Mobile USA announced a new, single-line unlimited plan for $79.99 per month, with a two-year contract. Like unlimited plans offered by most US carriers, however, there are limits to the “unlimited” plan. T-Mobile
USA said customers exceeding 2GB of usage in a billing month will still have access to data services, but at reduced speeds until their new billing cycle starts. On average, the carrier said, its smartphone customers consume about 1GB of data per billing
month.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
CHIP TECHNOLOGY
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AMD to Deliver Chipsets Supporting USB 3.0
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said in a blog post that it will deliver the first chipsets to integrate support for USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB. A chipset accompanies the main processor.”With [today’s]
announcement AMD is…disclosing our support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 in upcoming AMD A75 and A70M Fusion [chipsets]. Both chipsets are shipping today,” said Phil Hughes, an AMD spokesman.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Intel Launches Late-to-Game Tablet Processor
Intel launched its Oak Trail processor, designed for tablet computers. The new microchip is smaller and uses less power than other models in its Atom family for mobile devices. Until now, most devices have used chips
designed by Apple and ARM. Announcing Oak Trail’s retail name – the Z670 – Intel conceded that it was currently lagging behind the competition. “You won’t find a lot of Intel based tablets on the shelves at the moment,” said Kevin O’Donovan, marketing
manager for notebooks and tablets. “2011 is about becoming relevant,” he added.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Zoom Licenses Qualcomm’s 3G Technology
Qualcomm and Zoom Technologies have signed a licensing agreement gives Zoom the right to develop, manufacture, and sell WCDMA and TD-SCDMA -based wireless devices. A Zoom
spokesman said the agreement with Qualcomm “is an enormous step towards our advancement in the 3G market, enabling us to produce the latest products for the dynamic Chinese market.” Zoom’s wholly-owned subsidiary Nollec Wireless, a mobile phone and
wireless communication design company, will operate under the license.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
CLOUD COMPUTING
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BT Puts Radianz Financial Services Cloud at 15,000 Member Sites
BT‘s Radianz dedicated financial services cloud has reached 15,000 member sites globally, according to the company. BT says this milestone insures that Radianz is the largest secure networked financial community in the
world. It says the recent surge in Radianz membership is the result of three factors: renewed focus on the Foreign Exchange (FX) sector; a focus on the Asia Pacific region; and adaptability to regulatory changes around the world.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Google Adds Pagination, Direct Printing to Google Docs
Google added pagination to its Google Docs document editor. The long-absent feature shows the page breaks of the document being edited as they will appear when the document is printed out. The new feature also
supports the display of headers at the top of each page, rather than all of them appearing at the top of the entire document, as was previously the case. The new feature also adds the ability for users to print directly from the browser, without the need
to first convert their document to a PDF. Google Docs users that prefer the original layout can return to a non-paginated view by clicking the “compact” option in the view menu.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Red Hat Expands Cloud Computing Partnership with NTT
Red Hat expanded its cloud-computing partnership with telecom company, NTT Communications. The communications company has revamped its cloud computing and hosting service, Biz Hosting Basic, to run on Red Hat
Enterprise Virtualization and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat says the new Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology will allow NTT to offer security, scalability, and services comparable to an on-site solution.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Zoho Launches Desktop Plugin for Zoho Assist
Zoho announced a new desktop plugin for its Zoho Assist software. Previously, Zoho Assist users were required to use Zoho Meeting to start a remote session from the desktop. With the advent of the new plugin, users can
instead launch sessions with a single click on a Zoho icon located in their taskbar. The company says the plugin is browser independent, and has a very small memory footprint. The new add-on is currently only available for download on the Windows operating
system. However, Zoho says it plans to launch versions compatible with additional operating systems in the near future.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS & EQUIPMENT
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Alcatel to Provide an IP/MPLS Infrastructure for Telepak
Alcatel-Lucent was selected to deploy Internet Protocol / Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) for Telepak Networks, for a packet-based network to deliver wireless Ethernet backhaul services and advanced
IP services throughout Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee in the southeast portion of the US. The deployment will allow Telepak to offer IP backhaul services while also better addressing future network growth needs.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Alcatel to Provide Technology to Pakistan Telecom
Alcatel-Lucent will provide very-high bit rate DSL (VDSL2) bonding technology for Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), to upgrade its DSL speeds to 50M bps. VDSL2 bonding takes two copper-based
lines, per subscriber, aggregating them to nearly double bandwidth to support the delivery of bandwidth intensive services such as triple-play voice, data, and IPTV services.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Alcatel to Upgrade Tunisiana’s Mobile Network in N Africa
Alcatel-Lucent was selected to migrate Tunisiana’s Northern Africa mobile network to IP, as it prepares to evolve to 3G and longterm evolution (LTE). Alcatel will supply IP technology based on its High
Leverage Network architecture, to provide an infrastructure that better accommodates increasingly sophisticated and high-bandwidth mobile services. Tunisiana is a subsidiary of Qatar Telecom.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Alcatel Announces Wireless Network Upgrade for nTelos
Alcatel-Lucent announced that nTelos Wireless – an integrated telecommunications provider in the mid-Atlantic region of the US – will upgrade its wireless broadband network in Hagerstown, MD, US using Alcatel
EV-DO Revision A high-speed wireless broadband technology. Funding for the project was received under the US Department of Agriculture, Rural Utility Service broadband stimulus program. The announcement came days after Alcatel competed an end-to-end, 4G
longterm evolution field trial for nTelos in Virginia.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Alcatel to Deploy Pacific Sub Network for Interchange
Alcatel-Lucent announced it will deploy an international, 1,230-kilometer submarine cable system for Interchange, linking Port Vila, Vanuatu and Suva, Fiji. The system is scheduled for completion in mid-2012.
It will deliver faster Internet connectivity while removing Vanutatu’s dependence on satellite, and will strengthen its competitive position as an e-business hub. Interchange will construct, own, and operate the system, which will link directly into the
high-capacity Southern Cross Cable between Sydney, Australia and Hawaii.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
DIRECTV Plans HD Local Channel Roll Out in 16 More Markets
DIRECTV announced plans to roll out high-definition local channel coverage to 16 additional markets, 15 of which will be receiving local channel coverage from the carrier for the first time. The company says this
move will bring its total number of supported markets to 190, which represents more than 99% of the population of the US. DIRECTV’s local channels include ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and CW. The roll out is expected to be completed before the end of 2011. A full
list of the new markets is available from DIRECTV’s press release.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Orange Business Services Signs Networking Contract with New Zealand
France Telecom‘s Orange Business Service won a contract to provide global networking services to the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The agreement calls on Orange to connect the ministry
with other government agencies, and global offices spread across 56 sites in 52 countries. The network will be based on MPLS VPN and Internet VPN technologies, and will offer secured voice, video, remote access, and unified communications. No financial
terms for the agreement were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Fujitsu to Deliver UK Fiber-Optic Broadband Network
Fujitsu UK announced it will work with Cisco Systems, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk Telecom to deliver ultra-fast, fiber-optic broadband to five million locations in rural parts
of the UK, to provide an alternative to BT’s offering. The network will be underpinned by Cisco technology. Virgin Media and TalkTalk will access wholesale products via the network in order to sell their services to customers in remote parts of the
country. The network will also be open to other service providers on wholesale terms.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Harris Corp Releases Updated NEXIO Server and Storage Solutions
Harris Corp unveiled its next-generation of Harris NEXIO server and storage solutions. The latest iteration includes the most recent NEXIO AMP advanced media platform and NEXIO Farad high-performance online storage,
both powered by NEXIO 6.0 software. Features of this release include 1080p (3 Gb/s) format support, improved energy efficiency, reduced cost per channel, and the ability to choose between four bidirectional HD channels or eight SD-only channels.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Juniper Releases Pulse Gateways for Network Connectivity
Juniper Networks released its MAG Series Junos Pulse Gateways, which provide a single point of convergence for managing network connectivity. The MAG Series can secure user connectivity, regardless of device or
location, to deliver mobile, remote network access with Juniper SSL VPN. They support between 100 and 40,000 concurrent mobile access users, and from 200 concurrent guest users to 60,000 NAC users.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Motorola Ethernet Bridges Validated for FIPS Requirements
Motorola Solutions announced that its PTP 600 series of point-to-point (PTP) wireless Ethernet bridges have been successfully validated to meet the US Government Federal Information Processing
Standards (FIPS) 140-2 requirements. The wireless broadband Ethernet bridges provide government agencies and the military with secure wireless connectivity, the company said.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
NEC Receives Contract for Supplying 8,900 km South-East Asia Cable
NEC revealed that it is one of two companies contracted by the South-East Asia Japan Cable (SJC) System Consortium to provide supplies for the 8,900 km data cable. The project is expected to link 8 South-East Asian
countries with a capacity of 15 terabits per second. No financial terms for the agreement were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Nokia Siemens to Roll Out 3G / HSPA Network for TelEm
Nokia Siemens Networks reported it will roll out a 3G / highspeed packet access (HSPA) network for TelCell St Maarten, the Caribbean mobile services arm of the TelEm group. Nokia Siemens will provide a
complete network infrastructure – including equipment and related turnkey services – for faster mobile broadband. The enhanced HSPA network will launch by the end of April.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
CONFERENCING
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Orange Business Launches Teleconferencing Interoperability with Tata
France Telecom‘s Orange Business announced a collaboration with Tata Communications to allow customers on its Telepresence Community service to conduct telepresence meetings over its own network, as well as
Tata’s Global Meeting Exchange. The new interoperability supports any private or public room on the Tata Communications Global Meeting Exchange.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
CONSULTING & MANAGED SERVICES
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CSC Signs IT Outsourcing Contract Extension with Tryg
CSC signed an IT outsourcing contract with Tryg, an insurance company located in the Nordic region of Europe. This deal expands on an existing contract, and includes new services, as well as provisions for Tryg’s
recently acquired subsidiaries. Under the terms of the new contract, CSC will provide help desk support, mainframe technology, networking, Web hosting, project work, print, and distributed computing. The company will also offer new technologies, such as
its own CSC Dynamic Desktop software. The new agreement has a 7-year duration, and a total value of $348 million .
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
HP Announces Application Transformation Services
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced new application transformation services to provide remote, 24×7 access to information, for assessing, modernizing, and managing applications. HP Application Transformation services allow
enterprises to understand their application portfolios and decide what to keep, change, or retire. The rollout includes application portfolio management software, delivered as a service, a Cloud migration service, and consulting, development, and
outsourcing services for transforming legacy applications into agile services. HP also announced it is providing application transformation for the Flemish Government, to transform its technology environment, allowing it to provide instant-on government
services for more than six million Belgian citizens.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
IBM Signs 5-Year Technology Transformation Contract with The Hartford
IBM signed a five-year contract with The Hartford Financial Services Group to “simplify and transform its technology infrastructure.” The project will consist of a transition from the company’s legacy virtual desktop
environment to IBM’s Smart Business Desktop Cloud solution. IBM will also continue to operate Hartford’s data center. No financial terms for the contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
IBM Launches New BPM Service
IBM launched a new global consulting and services practice with the goal of providing business process management services to its customers. The new line of products will offer common BPM services such as marketing,
human resources, and finance, as well industry-specific services including insurance claims, campaign management, and compliance. The new offering will be considered part of the GBS Application Innovation Services line. More information about IBM’s BPM
practice is available at the company’s GBS Web site.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
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AT&T Adds Applications to Content Acceleration Suite
AT&T debuted two cloud-enabled additions to its Content Acceleration suite. The additions are Search Engine Optimization and Cloudlet. Both applications were developed by Cotendo,
which specializes in software-based Web site acceleration technologies.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
CYBERCRIME
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Feds Seize Servers, Domain Names in Effort to Crush Coreflood Botnet
The FBI and US Department of Justice (DOJ) have seized servers and Internet domain names registered to a powerful botnet in an effort to dismantle the operation, which is suspected
of stealing millions of dollars worldwide via computers running Windows. The botnet uses Coreflood, a type of keylogging malware that records private communications on a computer and then remotely controls that computer, stealing passwords and private
personal and financial information. Coreflood has infected more than 2.3 million machines. The DOJ had to obtain a court order to gain control of the botnet’s servers.
Source: DOJ, 4/13/2011
DATA BREACHES
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Texas Snafu Exposes Data on 3.5 Million People
The comptroller for the State of Texas announced a huge data breach that resulted in the disclosure of sensitive information for about 3.5 million people. The records, which contained names,
mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, and other details, were accidentally placed on a public access server. Once Texas Comptroller Susan Combs realized the mistake, she switched the data to a secure location. Letters have been sent to those people
whose information was publicly displayed to notify them of the breach.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Barracuda Networks Caught Off Guard by Weekend Cyber Attack
Barracuda Networks was hit with a SQL injection attack last weekend that compromised the names and email addresses of partners and customers. Michael Perone, the company’s executive vice president, blogged about the attack, saying that Barracuda’s firewall was accidentally put into passive monitoring mode and offline last Friday.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Hackers Target WordPress
WordPress acknowledged that some of its servers were hacked, allowing hackers access to some customers’ source code. There was no mention of which of
its partners’ code was affected, but WordPress customers include CNN and Flickr. WordPress has called the hack a “low-level” breakin.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
DATA CENTERS
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Facebook Creates Open Compute Project to Share Data Center Design
Facebook launched its Open Compute Project, a new initiative to share the technology behinds its custom-built data center in Prineville, Oregon. The company says the systems employed at the center resulted in a 38%
increase in energy efficiency, as well as a 24% decrease in cost. The social network says it intends to share its specifications and best practices with other organizations in an effort to encourage the advancement of data center and server technology.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Dell, HP and Intel are all among the providers that contributed technology to the
center.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
DESKTOPS
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HP Unveils Mobile Workstations Supporting Three HDDs
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced a new lineup of EliteBook mobile workstations for engineering, power computing, and content creation. The new 14-17-inch EliteBook w series workstations feature a high-definition screen,
and can be configured with three hard drives. They cost between $1,299 and $1,899 USD. It also unveiled the new Z210 workstation.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE
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Adobe Unveils Flash Builder 4.5 for PHP
Adobe unveiled its new Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 for PHP, a new software development product is designed to let creators develop rich Internet applications (RIAs) for the mobile Web, and desktop PCs. Adobe says the
software combines the capabilities of Flash Builder and Zend Studio to allow for the rapid creation of Flex and PHP applications. The product is capable of creating a single code base which can be ported to Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and iOS mobile
operating systems. More information about this new release is available at its product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Adobe Launches Photoshop Touch SDK
Adobe launched the Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit (SDK), new software developed to let designer’s create mobile and tablet applications capable of interacting with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5
Extended. The software supports development for Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and iOS. The SDK is being made available as a free download from Adobe’s Photoshop Devnet page. Photoshop CS5 owners can
download a patch to add Photoshop Touch compatibility from the Adobe Application Manager starting May 3, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
IBM Introduces New Software for App Development
IBM introduced several new software development products designed to help companies expedite the creation and delivery of new software. The first is WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 8, software designed to speed up
the development of applications and services by enhancing the designer’s installation, maintenance, testing, and problem resolution capabilities. Other software includes IBM Workload Deployer, a program for deploying customized cloud services via
templates; IBM WebSphere DataPower XC10 Appliance, which provides automatic data duplication and high availability; and IBM WebSphere Application Accelerator, which uses the Internet to speed up the delivery of applications to customers.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
E-READERS & E-BOOKS
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Amazon Announces Ad-Supported $114 WiFi-Only Kindle
Amazon announced plans to sell a new ad-subsidized version of its Kindle e-reader. The new version, dubbed Kindle with Special Offers, will display ads on the bottom of the homescreen, as well as on the device’s
screensaver. As compensation for the ads, the WiFi-only device will retail for $25 less ($114) than its ad-free counterpart. Amazon says the initial advertisers include Visa, Olay, Buick, and Chase, with that list expected to grow in the near future. The
Kindle with Special Offers will begin shipping on May 3, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SOFTWARE
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Adobe Launches Creative Suite 5.5 with Subscription Pricing Model
Adobe announced its new Creative Suite (CS) 5.5 product line. The new collection of the company’s creative software marks a change in the long-standing release schedule. Going forward, Adobe now plans to release a new
major iteration of the Creative Suite once every 24 months. This will be accompanied by a mid-cycle update, similar to this 5.5 version. The company is also launching a subscription-based pricing model for this, and all future versions of CS products. This
will give customers access to the most up to date version of a given application for prices such as $35 per month for Adobe Photoshop, and $125 per month for the entire Creative Suite Master Collection. Updates to the 5.5 version of the Suite include
support for the company’s new tablet SDK, new video capabilities, and Adobe CS Live improvements.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
IBM Announces New Set of Smarter Commerce Software Titles
IBM announced a new set of Smarter Commerce software and services. The new products include Advanced Analytics, Coremetrics Lifecycle, a cloud-delivered products designed to track customer milestones; several
Cross-Channel Commerce titles, all designed to give customers insight into buying trends; WebSphere Commerce, which includes the ability to measure the impact of social features on Web commerce; and Sterling Order Management, an inventory investment
optimizer. More information on all of these products is available at IBM’s Smarter Commerce product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Oracle Releases Autovue 20.1
Oracle Introduced Autovue 20.1, the newest version of its enterprise visualization solution. New features added with this edition include ECAD enhancements, which support the full development process, from design to
manufacture; improved support for paper-based processes; hotspot-based visual navigation; additional text extraction APIs; and Active X integration. More information about the product is available at Oracle’s Autovue Enterprise Visualization Solution page.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Oracle Shows PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials and SCM 9.1 Feature Pack
Oracle unveiled its new PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials and Supply Chain Management (FSCM) 9.1 Feature Pack 2011. New capabilities of the Feature Pack include PeopleSoft Mobile Inventory Management, which automates
mobile inventory transactions; enhancements to the PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing module, which manages document requests; and several new integrations with other Oracle products. The company says this pack will serve as a bridge for customers waiting for
its Supply Chain Management 9.2 release. More information is available at the company’s Enterprise Applications page.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
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Microsoft Unveils Dynamics AX 2012
Microsoft unveiled its new Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the latest update to its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
Microsoft says the primary improvement in this version is its set of Unified Natural Models, a library of business process scenarios that are modeled to replicate real-world situations. The company expects to release a beta version of Dynamics AX 2012 some
time in April 2011. The final software is expected to launch in August 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
SAP Debuts Transportation Management Application 8.0
SAP debuted version 8.0 of its SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM) application. Expected to be released later this year, the newest version offers improved order execution, global freight management, and reduced
logistics costs, the company says. More information about the updated solution is available at its product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
FINANCIAL
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Check Point’s Earnings Soar 25% in First Quarter
Check Point Software announced first quarter revenues of $281.3 million USD, a 15% increase over the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $122.1 million, an increase of 25%, compared to $98.0 million in the
first quarter of 2010. Earnings per diluted share were $0.57, an increase of 24%, compared to $0.46 in the corresponding quarter last year.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Google Revenue, Profit Up for First Quarter
While investors focused on the short-term were disappointed, Google posted increased revenue and profit for the first quarter of 2011. The search giant posted a rise in first-quarter earnings per share but said
costs also rose by 54 percent because of more hiring, company-wide salary increases of 10 percent, and increasing marketing and technology costs. Google’s share price fell on the news. Google reported revenues of $8.58 billion USD for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, an increase of 27% compared to the first quarter of 2010. Net income in the first quarter of 2011
was $2.30 billion, compared to $1.96 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $4.57 billion, representing 53% of total revenues in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 52% in the fourth quarter of 2010
and 53% in the first quarter of 2010. Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $2.04 billion in the first quarter of 2011, compared to TAC of $1.71 billion in the first quarter of 2010. TAC as a
percentage of advertising revenues was 25% in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 26% in the first quarter of 2010.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Nortel: Proceeds Distribution Mediation Efforts Have Failed
Nortel Networks announced in a press release that the mediation process related to the allocation of proceeds
from the sale of its various assets has ended “without resolution,” potentially delaying distributions to claimholders. The Canadian company has been operating under bankruptcy protection since 2009, and selling its assets at auction since filing for
protection. Nortel said delays in resolving allocation and inter-company claims “could be significant.”
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Qualcomm Directors Declare Quarterly Dividend
Qualcomm Incorporated announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.215 per common share payable on June 24, 2011, to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 27, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Seagate Board Okays Cash Dividend
Seagate Technology announced that its board of directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share. The first dividend will be payable on June 1, 2011 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 2, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 04/07/2011
Telefonica Announces EUR 1.75 Dividend for 2010
Telefonica announced its 2011 annual dividend, 2012 minimum dividend, and revenue expectations for 2013. The company will pay out a dividend of EUR 1.75 for each share of its stock. This amount was also confirmed
to be the minimum Telefonica will pay out for 2012, although that number could rise based on the final performance figures for the year. Lastly, the carrier placed its expected revenue growth for the period between 2010 and 2013 at 1-4%.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
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General Dynamics Receives Support Contract from DOJ
General Dynamics received a contract under the US Department of Justice’s Information Technology Support Services 4 (ITSS4) program. The agreement calls on the company to provide systems development
lifecycle support for the DOJ’s systems and equipment. It also gives all affiliated agencies the ability to purchase services under the same contract. The agreement has a maximum value of $1.1 billion over 7 years, if all options are exercised.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Microsoft Signs Licensing Agreement with Maryland EEC
Microsoft signed a new statewide agreement with the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium (MEEC). The new contract builds on an existing deal, which has been in place since 1999. The contract licenses Microsoft
products such as Windows, Office, Exchange Server, and Sharepoint to MEEC member institutions. Microsoft says this agreement has saved the Consortium “tens of millions of dollars each year for the past 10 years.” The new agreement will run into 2015. No
financial terms were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/8/2011
SAIC Signs $41 Million Task Order with Naval Surface Warfare Center
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) received a task order from the US Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Indian Head Division to provide the Department of Defense (DoD) with equipment and
infrastructure lifecycle and sustainment enhancements. Under the terms of the agreement, SAIC will create a scientific research program designed to explore materials degradation and advanced materials development. The acquired knowledge will be used to
improve the agency’s lifecycle and sustainment success. The contract has a one-year base period, four annual options, and a total value of more than $41 million if all options are exercised.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
SAIC Signs IT Contract with FAA
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) received a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Enterprise Services Center (ESC) for the provision of comprehensive IT services for itself, the
Department of Transportation, and other federal agencies. Specifically, SAIC will be called on to support the areas of system development, integration, management and hosting; telecommunications; information security and media support; office automation;
and training. The agreement has a one-year base period, 4 annual options, and a total value of more than $156 million if all options are exercised.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
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AT&T Deploys TotalMobile for Arkansas Department of Health
AT&T announced that the Arkansas Department of Health has deployed TotalMobile from AT&T to design a mobile flu clinic solution that will help the agency more efficiently transmit flu vaccination records across the
state. Using TotalMobile, the department is able to more accurately capture patient information digitally at many mobile flu clinics and submit reimbursement claims to insurance providers, Medicaid, and Medicare, in near real-time over the AT&T wireless
network. Current plans are to extend the use of the solution to the department’s year-round immunization programs and to deploy TotalMobile from AT&T applications for use by health inspectors across the state.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
INTERNET
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Senators McCain and Kerry Introduce New Online Privacy Bill
Senators John McCain and John Kerry introduced a new privacy bill that requires companies to inform customers when their data is being collected, and requires that the companies keep that data secured, the The New York
Times reports. The Times speculates that this may be a reaction to recent privacy breaches, which reached their peak with the hacking incident at Epsilon, an event which exposed the personal information of hundreds of firms’ clients. The proposed bill
would include Internet companies such as Google, as well as telecom carriers, such as Verizon. It would specifically require the affected companies to disclose the reason for their
data collection, the parties who will be privy to the data, and the security measures which will be safeguarding it. There is also a requirement for an opt-out that must be presented to consumers. HP, eBay, and Microsoft have already voiced their approval for the bill.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Bing Launches Beta of Business Portal, its Google Places Competitor
Bing launched a beta version of its new Business Portal service. Similar to Google Places, Bing’s Business Portal lets business
owners claim a listing and control their online presence on the search engine. Bing’s business profiles support features such as promotional deals, menus, parking availability, and mobile search.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Comcast Announces New Higher-Speed Internet Service
Comcast announced a new residential Internet service, called Extreme 105, that delivers data at 105 megabits per second – more than 60 times faster than a T-1 line, Comcast said in a press release. Extreme 105 will be available to consumers in more than 40 million homes in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC,
and Miami, among other locations. The service also offers upload speed of up to 10 mbps, and is available for new or existing customers at an introductory price of $105 for 12 months, part of a triple-play bundle. Comcast will also offer Extreme 105 on a
stand-alone basis. The service comes with a wireless home-networking gateway, as well.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Google Adds New Features to goo.gl Link Shortener
Google added several new features to its goo.gl link shortening service. First, the company added a feature which automatically highlights shortened URLs to let the user easily copy them
to the clipboard. Second, Google gave users the ability to remove previously generated shortened links from their dashboard. This deletes the links from the user’s history, but does not cause the shortened link to stop functioning. Lastly, the service now
includes a spam reporting feature, which allows users to inform Google when one of the shortened links leads to a spam site. The new features should be rolling out now.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Google Combines Hotpot with Places for Reviews and Ratings
Google announced that it would be combining its Hotpot business recommendation function with its Google Places local search service. The company says this will make it easier for users to find reviews and ratings for
the 50 million plus businesses with a Google Place page. The Hotpot feature will be decommissioned once the company has completed its integration.
Source: Vendor, 4/8/2011
ICANN Publishes Proposal for Renewal of .NET Agreement
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published its proposal for the renewal of the .NET
agreement, the governing policy of all .net domains. The proposal includes several changes suggested by Verisign which will bring the agreement into closer parity with other domain agreements, such as those for .COM,
.BIZ, and others. These changes affect areas such as traffic data, limitation of liability, indemnification, assignment, and notice provisions. Verisign is also requesting that changes be made to prevent the registration of certain domains that might pose
a threat to the security and stability of the DNS and the Internet. The proposal will be available for public comment until May 10, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Internet2, Level 3 to Build New National Network
Internet2 and Level 3 announced a new, multi-year agreement to build a national network with an unprecedented 8.8 Terabits of capacity designed to support more than 200,000
community anchor institutions in the US, including K-12 schools, libraries, community colleges, health centers, hospitals and public safety organizations. The new network, partially funded by a federal stimulus grant, will enable a wide variety of
bandwidth-intensive applications and data sharing. Network development and deployment is scheduled to begin immediately with the first coast-to-coast segments expected to be in service by mid-summer. Under the agreement, Internet2, a networking consortium
led by the US research and education community, will acquire the right to use fiber strands on Level 3’s fiber-optic network as well as Level 3’s network management support. Internet2 will use more than 10,000 miles of fiber on the Level 3 national
footprint and gain the ability to obtain additional miles for the next three years, as needed. Level 3 will install Internet2’s 8.8 Terabit optical equipment and provide 24/7 monitoring and field support to these facilities. Colocation facilities and power
for the network will also be provided by Level 3.
Source: Level 3, 4/14/2011
Microsoft Unveils Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 10
Microsoft has already unveiled its first platform preview of Internet Explorer 10 at its annual MIX11 conference. The new browser, debuting only a month after the final version of Internet Explorer 9 was released,
includes features such as CSS3 Gradients on background images and CSS3 Flexible Box Layout, as well as deeper HTML5 support. Internet Explorer 10 will be available for download at the IETestDrive page of
Microsoft’s Web site until its official release. The company says it expects to be refreshing the version available for download once every 12 weeks.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Mozilla Adds New Phase to Firefox Development Cycle
Mozilla announced a new format for the release development cycle of its Firefox Web browser. The new structure will include three levels of builds: nightly builds, with features not tested by the organization’s
quality assurance team; the Aurora Channel, which will be more polished than nightly builds, but not as stable as a beta version; and Beta, which is designed to broadly test the new features added in that build. The revamped development framework is part
of Mozilla’s efforts to increase the speed of new Firefox releases.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
LAPTOPS & TABLETS
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Gigabyte Taking Orders for S1000 Windows 7 Tablet
Gigabyte Technology has begun taking orders for its new S1080 tablet, a Windows 7 Home Premium OS system now available in Taiwan and, in May, other parts of the world. The S1080 has a 10.1-inch external monitor and
a 320-GB hard drive. It weighs less than two pounds. It costs 22,900 NTD ($787 USD).
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Motorola Extends Availability of the XOOM Tablet
Motorola Mobility announced that assorted versions of XOOM – its popular tablet featuring the Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform – are now available in Italy, Argentina, Brazil, and other parts of Latin
America.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Toshiba Unveils Ultra-Portable Laptop Models
Toshiba‘s Digital Products Division announced new high-performance, ultra-portable Tecra and Portege business laptops with optional nine-cell battery for longer life per charge. The Intel based systems have a 128-GB
solid state drive.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
LEGAL
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HP Sues Former Executive for Sharing Trade Secrets
Hewlett-Packard (HP) filed a lawsuit against former executive Adrian Jones in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California, over allegations he took trade secrets with him when he went to work for rival Oracle, according to court documents posted by CRN. The suit is considered an indication that the decade-long partnership between HP and Oracle is now strained by
growing competition. Jones – who served as SVP for HP’s server, storage, and networking division in Asia – resigned on February 16, 2011, before being fired for allegedly violating HP’s standards by failing to disclose a personal relationship with a
subordinate, and for submitting thousands of dollars in expenses for visiting the subordinate without a legitimate business purpose. According to the suit, HP is seeking to “prevent Jones from using the theft of confidential documents to place HP in an
unfair competitive disadvantage.” HP asserts Jones downloaded hundreds of files and thousands of e-mails detailing HP secrets prior to leaving the company.
Source: CRN, 4/11/2011
Motorola, Huawei Settle Litigation
Motorola Solutions and Huawei Technologies announced they have signed an agreement to settle all pending litigation between them, pending certain conditions.
Motorola agreed to withdraw its claims and – without prejudice – dismiss Huawei as a defendant in the Motorola v. Lemko, et al case, pending in Chicago federal district court. Huawei will withdraw its claims and dismiss its suit against Motorola Solutions
and Nokia Siemens Networks, also in Chicago federal district court, resolving its claims by entering an agreement that will allow Motorola to transfer its commercial agreements with Huawei to Nokia Siemens. The agreement also allows Nokia Siemens to
receive confidential Huawei information to service the networks Motorola deployed, worldwide, using Huawei technology. In 2000, Motorola reached an agreement to resell certain Huawei products. It subsequently purchased $800 million USD in technology from
Huawei, covering core and radio access networks.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Priceline Founder Walker Digital Sues Numerous Tech Giants
The Founder of Priceline, Walker Digital, filed a total of 15 lawsuits which accuse Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and 100 more companies of patent infringement against it. The range of included patents
cover areas such as e-commerce, social networking, online auctions, and driving directions. Walker Digital owns more than 200 patents, while its chairman, Jay Walker, is named on 450 current and pending patents worldwide. The company claims to generate
more than $200 million in licensing from these patents. This is not the first time the company has taken alleged infringers to court: Walker has filed cases against Zynga, Activision Blizzard, and Facebook. The cases will be reviewed in the US District
Court of Delaware.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
MALWARE WATCH
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Microsoft Catches Sight of New Ransomware in the Wild
Microsoft reported that a new version of malware, detected as Program:Win32/Pameseg.P, is circulating. This ransomware is a version of “LoviVkontakte”, an application for the Russian social networking Web site
“vkontakte”.
Source: Vendor, 4/7/2011
SonicWALL: Be on the Lookout for New Computer Worm
A new Rayon worm is in circulation and was noticed this week by SonicWALL. The worm spreads through removable storage and disables Windows security features and security software that detects malware.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
SonicWALL Reports of New Oficla Trojan Lurking in Emails
Researchers at SonicWALL have found that new variants of the Oficla Trojan are currently circulating in spam email campaigns. The messages come with zip attachments, which contain the Oficla Trojan executable.
Source: Vendor, 4/8/2011
MOBILE APPS
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Bing Launches iPad Application
Bing announced a new application for the Apple iPad. The company says the new app has been designed from the ground up to take advantage of the tablet’s larger screen. The
application includes news, movies, local business listings, and trending topics. Users can also search the application by voice. Bing for iPad is available now as a free download from the Apple App Store.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Harris Corp Expands Newsfish App for Government and Military Use
Harris Corp expanded its Newsfish iPhone application to include support for military, government, and public safety agency use. The app is used to capture, annotate, and distribute video to Harris’ Full Motion Video
Asset Management Engine (FAME). The company suggest this will allow agencies such as the US Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and government organizations to gather information from soldiers, federal agency operators, or other citizen
journalists.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
HP’s ePrint iPhone App Now Available for App Store
Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced its ePrint service iPhone app is now available for Apple’s iPhone and online App Store. ePrint allows the user to print within
an enterprise network via an HP Managed Print Services engagement. Users can also download the HP ePrint service App to print at thousands of HP ePrint Mobile Print Locations, worldwide.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
MOBILE PLATFORMS
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AT&T Introduces New Mobile Commerce Service
AT&T introduced a new service, Digby Mobile Commerce from AT&T, created for retailers to help them design, deploy, and manage mobile commerce Web sites and applications for smartphones. The new service joins AT&T’s
portfolio of mobile retail services, including Mobile Barcode Services, Messaging Suite, Digital Signage, and ShopAlerts by AT&T. The new service offers analytics for retailers and Payment Card Industry (PCI) Level 1 certification.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Microsoft Unveils Next Windows Phone Update, Mango
Microsoft unveiled the next iteration of its Windows Phone operating system. Codenamed Mango, the newest mobile OS adds application multitasking, deeper OS integration of third-party apps, and developer access to
devices’ cameras and motion sensors. This broadening of access for developers will be accompanied by the release of a refreshed version of Windows Phone Developer Tools, which is slated for release in May. The company unveiled several apps, currently in
development, which will take advantage of these new capabilities. They include Skype, Spotify, Layar, Qantas, Amazon Shopping, and Kik Messenger. No exact date for the release of the
Windows Phone update was disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Motorola Solutions Adds New Mobile Device Management Service
Motorola Solutions said it has added Service from the Start with Device Management to its services portfolio targeted at enterprise customers. The new service integrates break/fix repair and
support with device management in a single program. Motorola Solutions said customers in North America with a minimum installed base of 500 mobile computing devices can start purchasing Service from the Start with Device Management in the second quarter of
2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
OPERATING SYSTEMS
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Windows 7 to Pass Windows XP for Market Share Within the Month
Microsoft‘s Windows 7 operating system is on the verge of becoming the most widely used in the world, according to StatCounter The measurement
company shows the newest Windows version as neck-and-neck with Windows XP, with both holding just over 30% of the market at the end of March. Windows 7 has been on a steady climb since its public release, and passed Windows Vista back in October 2010. The
upstart operating system should pass its aged predecessor some time in April.
Source: StatCounter, 4/11/2011
Novell Extends Long Terms Support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Novell extended its Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS) program for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. This change will lengthen the company’s support for each service pack released for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z. This brings the total support provided for original purchases to 3 years of extended support, and 7 years of standard support. Additionally, customers can now extend the coverage for new service packs an
additional 3 years past its traditional expiration at the end of two years. More information can be found on Novell’s Suse Linux product page.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
PERSONNEL AND ORGANIZATION
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Cisco Debuts New Learning Labs Bundles
Cisco Systems introduced “Learning Labs,” virtual practice lab bundles for Cisco certification preparation. It allows users to secure hands-on IOS Software lab practice for routing and core switching. Multiple labs
are available per bundle, accessible any time for 90 days, for up to 25 hours. Supplemental lab time is available in increments of five hours.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Cisco Confirms Plans to Close Flip Unit, Lay Off 550
Cisco Systems will close its Flip video camera unit – cutting 550 jobs in the process – as it reorganizes its consumer business, according to a recent
statement. It will realign its remaining consumer business to support core routing, switching and services, collaboration, architectures, and videos. The layoffs represent less than one percent of Cisco’s worldwide workforce. Cisco will also
restructure its Home Networking business.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Comcast Promotes Two Staff Attorneys to VP Positions
Comcast announced that it has promoted Sarah Gitchell and David Marcus to Vice President, Deputy General Counsel for Comcast Cable. With the promotions, Gitchell becomes Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and
Chief Counsel, Content Acquisition, and Marcus becomes Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Patent Counsel. Shortly after joining Comcast in 2005, Gitchell became the lead attorney for the company’s Content Acquisition group, providing legal
support for programming and retransmission consent agreements for all Comcast cable systems and for new media rights and strategic multiplatform initiatives. Marcus, who joined Comcast in 2007, is responsible for legal support on all patent-related
matters, including litigation, and works closely with the company’s Strategic IP group.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
CSC Names Alisoun Moore VP and GM of NPS Health Services
CSC named Alisoun Moore as its new vice president and general manager for the North American Public Sector (NPS) Health Services Division. She will report to Mike Gaffney, president of the company’s NPS Civil Group,
and will be responsible for driving NPS’s business in the government health IT market. Prior to joining CSC, Moore served as director of health systems management at Northrop Grumman’s health information technology programs.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Harris Appoints John Scarcella VP and GM of Consumer Business
Harris Corp named John Scarcella vice president and general manager of the consumer business for Harris Broadcast Communications. In this position, he will report to Harris Morris, president, Harris Broadcast
Communications and will be responsible for deploying the full suite of Harris products. Scarcella’s most recent position was as president at Professional Solutions of America.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
NEC Opens New HQ In Sao Paulo as Part of Regionalization
NEC announced the launch of a new regional headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil as part of its new strategy of regionalization. The new location will be lead by Tadashi Ugajin, who will become CEO of NEC Latin America S.A.
The focus of the reorganized branch of the company will include cloud computing, solutions for stadiums, urban mobility, integrated security, and traceability, as well as ICT infrastructure for businesses, governments, and carriers, especially in OSS
applications and Femtocells.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Nokia Siemens Names New Head for Latin America
Nokia Siemens Networks appointed Eduardo Araujo to head its Latin America business, effective May 18th. Araujo joins the company from Ingram Micro, where he was president of its Latin American
operations. He will be based in Dallas, TX, US.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Northrop Grumman Taps Judy Perry Martinez as Chief Compliance Officer
Northrop Grumman appointed Judy Perry Martinez vice president and chief compliance officer. She will report to Sheila C. Cheston, corporate vice president and general counsel, and will manage compliance across the
entirety of the company. Prior to this promotion, Martinez served as assistant general-counsel, litigation.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
PAETEC Names Rick Cunningham as VP and GM of Midwest Markets
PAETEC named Rick Cunningham to the office of Vice President and General Manager of Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa markets, as well as Kansas City, Missouri. He will be responsible for his region’s overall strategies,
including sales and customer support. Cunningham joined PAETEC in 1999, and most recently served as the leader of PAETEC’s nationwide sales strategy.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Sprint to Launch New Advertising Campaign
Sprint announced it is launching a new cross-media advertising campaign dubbed “All. Together. Now.” Sprint said the new tagline is designed to “celebrate all the things people are doing with their mobile devices on
the Sprint Now Network and promotes the idea that people can do more of those activities without wondering if they’ll suffer slower speeds or higher costs as a result of that increased usage.” The campaign will run across TV, print, online, and
social-media channels, and was developed by Sprint’s San Francisco-based agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Telecom Italia Announces Opening of New SKIL Lab in Trento
Telecom Italia announced the opening of its new Semantics & Knowledge Innovation Lab (SKIL) in Trento. The new location will house projects dealing with advanced research and post-university education in
semantic technologies geared towards interpreting and leveraging data from the Web and other sources.
Source: Vendor, 4/8/2011
PREPAID WIRELESS
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Sprint Wraps Common Cents Mobile into Virgin Mobile’s payLo
Sprint Nextel said it will fold its Common Cents Mobile prepaid brand into its Virgin Mobile USA payLo offering in May, a move that brings to an end a brand Sprint
launched less than a year ago. Research firm Current Analysis reported that Sprint alerted its Common Cents Mobile customers about the change last week, saying “our service will remain the same as it is right now so long as your Common Cents account
remains active and you remain on this plan.” The carrier said Common Cents customers will still get 7-cent-per-minute calling, and can purchase Virgin Mobile top-up cards to replenish their minutes. The carrier promised to provide additional information on
the transition “in a few weeks.” The Common Cents Mobile launch coincided with the introduction last May of Sprint’s multi-brand prepaid strategy that also included Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile USA, and Assurance Wireless.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
PUBLIC SAFETY
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EPA Posts Daily Updates on Radiation Air Monitoring Efforts (04/15/2011)
The US Environmental Protection Agency is
posting daily updates
at its Web site detailing the results of its ongoing radiation air monitoring
efforts. The agency noted, again, that it does not expect to see radiation at
harmful levels reaching the US from damaged Japanese nuclear power plants.
Japan Raises Severity Level of
Nuclear Emergency to 7 (04/12/2011)
Japan raised the severity level of the ongoing emergency at the crippled
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from level 5 to the maximum level 7 on an
international scale, recognizing that the tsunami-caused accident matches the
world’s worst nuclear catastrophe in 1986 at Chernobyl.
Kyodo News
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency upgraded its provisional evaluation
based on an estimate that radioactive materials far exceeding the criteria for
level 7 have already been released into the external environment, but added that
the release from the Fukushima plant is only about 10 percent of that from the
former Soviet nuclear plant. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano emphasized that
raising the severity level does not mean the situation at the Fukushima plant is
”worsening,” Kyodo News reported. A top government spokesman said the latest
assessment is simply based on data that is more accurate than it was for
previous assessments.
More than 100 Designated Shelter Sites in Japan Swamped by Tsunami
In a sober lesson for emergency planners, Kyodo News reported that more than 100 evacuation sites designated by local governments were swept away or inundated by the tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake
just off the coast of northeastern Japan. Many people are thought to have lost their lives after fleeing to those sites believing they would be safe, but no data has so far been collected on the actual death toll at the sites, the news agency said.
Source: Kyodo News, 4/13/2011
New Fire Safety Tool Aids in Sprinkler Decisions for Residences
A “sprinkler use decisioning” tool is now available for free from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and is targeted at new home builders and prospective buyers to determine the cost
effectiveness of fire sprinklers. The new tool can help provide comparisons of different fire sprinkler installation scenarios while detailing the cost factors involved. The NIST tool was released in support of the newest version of the International
Residential Code, which will require fire sprinklers in all new family residential dwellings and townhomes beginning in January 2011.
Source: NIST, 4/12/2011
REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
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Department of Education Launches Plan to Safeguard Student Privacy
Last week, the Department of Education announced a plan to secure the privacy of students while addressing the need for states to share the the necessary school data required to judge government investments in education.
The steps to this initiative include a chief privacy officer, who will advise the Secretary of Education on privacy products and programs; the creation of a Privacy Technology Assistance Center; technical briefs that encourage best practices; and the
intention to create proposed regulations for data-sharing.
Source: DOE, 4/7/2011
FCC Reports Drop in US-billed International Traffic
The Federal Communications Commission released its annual international telecommunications data report. The new report, entitled 2009
International Telecommunications Data, found that international “US-billed” traffic – primarily traffic originating in the US – decreased 2.7%, from 74.9 billion minutes in 2008 to 72.9 billion minutes in 2009. The per-minute charge to US consumers for
this traffic fell 7.5% from 2008 to 2009. From 2000 to 2009, the charge has decreased 83%, from $0.47 per-minute to $0.08 per-minute. The FCC said reasons US carriers suggested for the decrease in US billed minutes included the general, depressed economy
and competition from Voice over Internet Protocol providers.
Source: FCC, 4/12/2011
US House “Disapproves” FCC’s Open Internet Rules
The Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted to disapprove Internet “neutrality” rules that were adopted last year by the Federal Communications Commission. The Associated
Press reported that House Republicans pushed through a measure against the FCC’s rule by a vote of 240 to 179. A similar bill has been presented in the Senate to an uncertain fate; White House staffers reportedly have recommended that President Obama
veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The FCC’s rules banned Internet service providers from blocking traffic on their networks, while allowing providers like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T the right to “reasonably” manage their networks and charge consumers
based on usage. Republicans argued in House debate that the FCC’s rules needlessly impose government regulation on the Internet.
Source: AP, 4/08/2011
GAO: Further Data Needed on Prison Officer Safety Equipment
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed information in an effort to determine if the equipment used by prison corrections officers and personnel is effective in promoting the safety of these individuals
while on duty among prison inmates. After conducting interviews and reviewing evidence, the GAO recommended that the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which falls under the Department of
Justice (DOJ), assess whether the equipment used by prison officers has proven effective in keeping them safe.
Source: GAO, 4/8/2011
NIST Releases Report on OCIL Version 2.0 Standard
The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has issued a report, identified as NIST IR 7692, “Specification for the Open
Checklist Interactive Language (OCIL) Version 2.0. The report defines OCIL version 2.0 and explains the requirements that products must meet to comply with this specification.
Source: NIST, 4/7/2011
Senators Kerry, McCain Push for Commerical Privacy Bill of Rights
Senators John Kerry and John McCain have introduced the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, which would establish a framework to give American consumers the right to decide how personal information about them is collected, used, and
distributed. The New York Times reported that the bill would require online businesses to clearly make consumers aware of any information that is collected about them. Consumers could then opt-out of information
collection of their choosing. Senator Kerry said, “Americans have a right to decide how their information is collected, used, and distributed, and businesses deserve the certainty that comes with clear guidelines.”
Source: Senate, 4/12/2011
WEF: US Lagging in Use of Computing, Communications Technology
The United States continues to lag other nations in its use of computing and communications technology, according to an annual study issued by the World Economic Forum. For the second consecutive year, the United States finished fifth in the study’s comparison of 138 countries that make up 98.8 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product. Sweden was first,
followed by Singapore, Finland, and Switzerland. The rankings, for 2010, are based on an index of 71 economic and social indicators, including such data points as new patents, mobile phone subscriptions, and availability of venture capital. The study
showed the rapid progress of the so-called Asian Tigers, whose governments have invested heavily in technology. Besides Singapore, Taiwan was ranked 6th, South Korea 10th, and Hong Kong 12th. Japan was 19th. China ranked 36th and India 48th, falling five
places from 2009.
Source: WEF, 4/14/2011
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
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Gilat to Provide Telecom Namibia with Satellite Network
Gilat Satellite Networks has been selected by Telecom Namibia to provide a SkyEdge II Broadband Satellite Network to serve hundreds of locations throughout Namibia. The new,
IP-based, high capacity network will replace legacy equipment and enable the connection of new sites to broadband services, Gilat said. Namibia, located in southern Africa, has a population of 2.1 million people.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
Harris Corp Announces Unfurlable Ka-Band Space Antenna
Harris Corp unveiled what it is calling the first unfurlable Ka-band space antenna. The new antenna is designed to be installed on new Ka-band satellites, and features increased gain and spot beams, enhanced
frequency reuse, and higher data rates for services such as HDTV. The antenna’s aperture ranges from 3.5 meters to 8 meters, and is designed to fit inside most commonly used launch vehicles. More information is available on Harris’ commercial space page.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
SEARCH
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comScore Posts March Search Rankings; Bing Reaches 30% of US Market
comScore released its US search engine rankings for the month of March 2011. On the Explicit Core Search Share Report Google gained an additional 0.3% of the market to stay on
top with 65.7%. Yahoo, now powered by Bing, dropped 0.4% to hold onto 15.7%, and second place. Microsoft came in third, gaining 0.3% and reaching
13.9%. This gave Bing-powered search engines an impressive 29.6% of the market. Ask.com was a distant fourth with 3.1%, while AOL was fifth, with 1.6%. On the Total Core Search Share Report, Google lost 0.8% to hold at
64.1% in first place. Yahoo gained 0.7% to reach 18.0%, while Microsoft rose 0.2% to reach 13.6%. This gave Bing-powered search engines 31.6% of the market here. Ask was essentially flat with 2.8% of the market in fourth, while AOL clung to 1.4% of the
market in fifth.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Q-Sensei Debuts New Enterprise Search Platform
Q-Sensei introduced its new Enterprise Search Platform. The company says the goal of the new product is to give customers a real-time view of their data, regardless of source or format. The platform does this by
analyzing and processing structured and unstructured data from sources including databases, document servers, SharePoint, CRM, and social-media feeds. Q-Sensei expects offering to be used for corporate intranet searches, organizational analytics, social
searches, and consumer-facing Web sites.
Source: Vendor, 4/6/2011
SECURITY FLAWS & FIXES
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Another Zero-Day Flash Flaw Brings Adobe Advisory
A zero-day vulnerability has been found in Adobe‘s Flash Player 10.2 plugin for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android platforms. The flaw is being actively exploited in attacks via a Flash file embedded in a Microsoft Word file delivered as an email attachment. Adobe released an advisory to make
users aware of this flaw. A fix is expected on April 25.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Microsoft Reader Has Several Vulnerabilities
Several critical flaws were reported in Microsoft Reader version 2.1.1.3143. No fix is yet available to address these issues.
Source: Secunia, 4/13/2011
Microsoft Issues Massive Patch Tuesday Bulletin, Fixes 64 Flaws
For its April Patch Tuesday release, Microsoft issued 17 security bulletins to address 64 vulnerabilities within Windows, Office,
Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, SMB, .NET Framework, and GDI+. Nine of the security bulletins have been deemed "critical" while the remaining eight are considered "important." The MS11-034 bulletin alone addresses 30 vulnerabilities.
Microsoft recommends that users test and deploy the bulletins immediately to mitigate any security risks.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Advisory Issued for VideoLAN’s VLC Media Player
A highly critical flaw was discovered in VideoLAN‘s VLC Media Player versions 1.0.0 through 1.1.8. An advisory has been released to provide information
about this vulnerability.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
SECURITY PRODUCTS & COMPANIES
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AuthenTec Rolls Out Downloadable DRM Offering for Android, Apple
AuthenTec announced the commercial availability of a standards-based downloadable digital rights management (DRM) client offering for Android-based phones and tablets and Apple
iPhones and iPads. DRM Fusion Agent is a client-side software application that supports PlayReady, Windows Media DRM, OMA 1.0, OMA 2.x, and UltraViolet.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Kaspersky Receives Patent for New Technology
Kaspersky Lab has received a US patent for a new system that assesses how resource-intrusive computer tasks are in real-time. The new Kaspersky technology configures applications’ settings in an effort to ensure
optimal use of system resources.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
McAfee’s Application Control Protects against Stuxnet
McAfee announced that its Application Control system has been proven compatible with Siemens-Division Industry Automation after extensive testing. McAfee Application Control for
Siemens-Division Industry Automation protects against such threats as Stuxnet by using whitelisting capabilities and a trust model.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
McAfee Boosts Features within its Network Security Platform
McAfee has added new functionality to its Network Security Platform including botnet control via reputation intelligence, virtual network inspection, and a traffic analysis port for network monitoring and forensics.
The botnet control enhancement allows Network Security Platform to perform in-line botnet prevention based on over 60 million malware samples.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Microsoft Calls Out Google Over False FISMA Certification on Product
Microsoft is calling Google out over recently unsealed documents originating for its lawsuit against the US government for unfair business practices when it chose Microsoft’s
products to power its cloud-based email system. According to Microsoft, at the beginning of this case, and frequently since, Google claimed that its Google Apps for Government product was certified under the Federal Information Security Management Act
(FISMA). However, recently released
documents show that the US Department of Justice had actually rejected Google’s claim of that certification, proving it didn’t exist. In reality, a different product, Google Apps Premier, had received FISMA approval by the General Services
Administration, for its own use. Despite this, Google has continued to file court documents asserting that the disproved certification exists. Microsoft is asking that Google provide an explanation and a retraction of this stance on its Web site.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Morpho to Supply Gaming Terminals to Australian Lottery Operator
Tatts, Australia’s lotterly operator, has chosen Morpho (Safran Group) to supply and maintain 5,000 lottery terminals and 3,500 ticket checkers. The Morpho Australasia
subsidiary signed a 10-year contract to support Tatts’ business development including expanding its fleet of lottery terminals.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Motorola Integrates Personal ID Management Into Mobile Computer
Motorola Solutions has integrated MOBILE personal identity verification (PIV) software, from Salamander Technologies, with its MC75A mobile
computer. MOBILE PIV software will allow the MC75A and its biometric smartcard reader attachment to provide credentials, access management, and identity verification for first responders. Under the US Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, federal
workers are required to carry a secure PIV card.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Firewall Vendors Dispute Claims from Independent Study
PC World reported that firewall vendors are taking aim at NSS Labs, an independent security testing organization, which documented alarming results from a recent test of
firewalls from Check Point Software, Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Networks, and SonicWALL. According to its independent study, NSS Labs said that five of the six firewalls it tested failed against TCP Split Handshake spoof
attacks including Fortinet’s Fortigate 3950 and SonicWALL’s NSA 8500. Both Fortinet and SonicWALL have refuted the claims of the NSS Labs analysis, saying that their firewalls do protect against such spoofing attacks.
Source: PC World, 4/13/2011
Symantec Releases Updated Version of Messaging Gateway
A new version of Symantec‘s Messaging Gateway is now available and has been updated with new antispam capabilities. Messaging Gateway 9.5, formerly known as Symantec Brightmail Gateway, provides new handling
techniques for marketing email and newsletters; an add-on for Symantec Data Loss Prevention; and integration with a single sign-on Web console.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Unisys’ Stealth Solution Receives EAL-4+ Certification
Unisys‘ Stealth Solution for Networks received EAL-4+ certification from the National Security Agency (NSA) as a solution for securing “data-in-motion across any network.” This clears the solution to be used on
sensitive materials up to the “secret” level of classification. This certification was awarded by the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) following testing and validation using the government approved Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation
Scheme.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
SERVERS
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Oracle and Fujitsu Launch the Sparc Enterprise M3000 Server
Oracle teamed with Fujitsu to release the latest SPARC Enterprise M3000 server with the SPARC64 VII+ processor. The companies are marketing the new server as a solution for business intelligence, database functions,
and business processing. Oracle says the new model’s quad-core or dual-core 2.86GHz SPARC64 VII+ processor provides a 20% increase in performance over the previous SPARC server iteration. Other features of the newest SPARC system include solid state drive
(SSD) storage support, Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Ops Center compatibility, and 37 percent lower power consumption than comparable HP models.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY
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AT&T Launching Its First Prepaid Smartphone
AT&T said it will launch two new smartphones on April 17th, the LG Thrive and LG Phoenix. Thrive is AT&T’s first prepaid smartphone. The carrier said its GoPhone prepaid customers can choose from new data packages for
the Thrive, with no long-term commitment required. Both smartphones are based on Android 2.2 and will be available at AT&T retail stores and through other national retailers. AT&T is introducing a new prepaid data package with the LG Thrive, offering 500
MB of data for $25 and two other lower-cost plans. The phone itself will sell for $179.99. The postpaid Phoenix smartphone will sell for $49.99 with a two-year agreement and data plan.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
SAP Teams with RheinEnergie to Install 30,000 Smart Meters in Cologne
SAP is teaming with RheinEnergie for a pilot program which will see the duo installing 30,000 smart meters in the area of Cologne, Germany. SAP will provide the infrastructure for the project, including its SAP Advanced
Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Integration for Utilities software. The meters will be used to capture electricity, water, and gas consumption, which will be communicated back to RheinEnergie. The rollout of the program is expected to begin in September
2011, and reach completion by December 2011.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
SMARTPHONES
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Nokia Launches Updated Symbian OS, Two New Smartphones
Nokia announced two new smartphones, the E6 and X7. The two devices are the first Nokia smartphones to contain updated Symbian software, which Nokia said has improved text input, a faster browser, and better Ovi Maps.
The Nokia E6 targets the business market with a full QWERTY and includes access to Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Communicator Mobile, and Microsoft SharePoint. The Nokia X7 is an entertainment-focused smartphone with a large 4″ display ideal for gaming,
and an 8 Megapixel camera for capturing pictures and HD-quality video. In coming months, the Symbian software update, which is nick-named Symbian Anna, will also be available as standard on newly-shipping Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6-01
devices, as well as available for download to previously-purchased models of those same smartphones.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Twitter Adds Support for More than 70 More Local Trend Locations
Twitter launched support for local trending topics in more than 70 additional locations. The feature, which lets users see what topics of conversation are currently popular in a given geographical area, launched last
year with about 30 locations. Users can find the full selection of new trending areas by clicking “change” in the Trends sidebar.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
STORAGE
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Seagate Releases GoFlex Sim Drive
Seagate announced the availability of its new GoFlex Slim portable hard drive, a 9mm, 2.5-inch external drive designed for portable, thin laptops and netbooks. Initially showcased at the 2011 International Consumer
Electronics show in January of this year, the new GoFlex Slim performance drive is now available online and at retailers. A 320GB version of the GoFlex Slim drive can be purchased for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $99.99 USD.
Source: Vendor, 4/05/2011
Toshiba Launches New Self-Encrypting Drives
Toshiba Japan launched new self-encrypting drives (SEDs) for copiers, printers, point-of-sale systems, PCs, and other devices. These feature Wipe Technology for customizing security settings, including the
invalidation of encryption keys and data invalidation when a drive is removed from its housing or connected to an unauthorized host system. The drives offer a capacity range of between 160GB and 640GB. Sampling will begin at the end of April, with mass
production to follow in June.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
STREAMING MEDIA
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Cisco Extends Streaming Technology Deployment for AEG
Cisco Systems extended an existing deployment of Cisco technology for AEG Digital Media, which provides Webcast management and digital media services for live video-streaming events. The new technology will allow AEG
to deliver live, streaming video to any device over an IP network. AEG already uses Cisco digital media processing.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
Motorola Launches SocialTV Companion Service
Motorola Mobility launched its new SocialTV Companion Service, for service providers looking to deliver video service management across multiple screens. It allows providers to offer a connected service
whereby users viewing video content on a TV can also interact via social networks, and access content, applications, or merchandise related to the program being viewed.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Nomad LiveEdge to Be Integrated with Verizon Wireless LTE Network
Nomad Innovations announced that its LiveEdge Solution, which delivers video in real-time for live news broadcasts, will soon be available with full integration with the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Nomad said it will offer demonstrations of LiveEdge this Summer in several major US markets, and that installations for broadcast customers will begin later this Spring.
Source: Vendor, 4/12/2011
NTT America Unveils CineCloud Media Collaboration Platform
NTT America, an infrastructure services provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of NTT Communications, unveiled its pilot platform of CineCloud media collaboration services at the 2011
NAB Show, being held this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. CineCloud services are designed to improve the productivity of media professionals working on deadline by enabling them to collaborate in real-time over private 1 GigE and 10GigE networks.
The services can be billed on a project-by-project basis, NTT said.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
Verizon Unveils New Digital Media Management and Distribution Platform
Verizon Business unveiled its new Digital Media Services, designed to automate previously manually-managed workflow processes associated with formatting and delivering digital media to a range of devices or
platforms on a large scale. Verizon said its new service will also, ultimately, enable “unicasts” – individualized video streams tailored to fit consumer preferences on virtually any viewing screen. While the majority of the patent-pending technology for
the new service is being created by Verizon, the company is also partnering with Technicolor and other companies to support advanced capabilities for its service. Other vendors contributing to the Verizon Digital Media Services offering include Motorola,
Alcatel-Lucent, and HP.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
Verizon Wireless, LiveCast Media Announce 4G Mobile Reporter Service
Verizon Wireless and LiveCast Media announced that they have partnered to deliver a new service called 4G Mobile Reporter that is designed to
deliver a complementary option to traditional satellite and microwave delivery for video transmissions from field to live on-air broadcasts. 4G Mobile Reporter runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network and can use laptops a Verizon Wireless 4G USB modem, such as
the Pantech UML290 or the LG VL600, to transmit HD video streams. It also embeds GPS data continuously throughout the stream, tracking locations dynamically and allowing a map display next to the video playback window.
Source: Vendor, 4/11/2011
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
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Telefonica’s JAJAH to Power Voice Portion of Microsoft Lync
Telefonica‘s JAJAH subsidiary will provide the voice calling functionality for Microsoft Lync Online, the company’s upcoming cloud-based communications and collaboration
service. Telefonica says Microsoft chose JAJAH due to its ability to call landlines and mobile phones as well as the ability to receive calls and route them to a landline, mobile phone, or computer.
Source: Vendor, 4/14/2011
WEB COMMERCE
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PwC Puts 2010’s Total Internet Ad Revenue at a Record $26 Billion
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) found that US Internet ad revenue had reached a record breaking $26 billion by the end of 2010. According to the company’s report, the popularity of online video and social media
resulted in the 15% growth of income over the previous record, set in 2008, which was $23.4 billion. The fourth quarter showed the most growth of the year, coming in at $7.4 billion, a 19% jump over the prior year, and another new record, replacing the
third quarter of 2010 with its total of $6.5 billion. The largest single portion of this success, 46%, was accounted for by search ads. Following this was display ads, with 38%; and classifieds with 10%.
Source: Vendor, 4/13/2011
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