News Briefs for the Week Ending 05/27/2011






News Briefs for the Week Ending

05/27/2011



Copyright 2011, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid:00020009

Publication Date: 1105

Publication Type: NEWS



ACQUISITIONS & DIVESTITURES


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Citrix Closes Acquisition of Kaviza, Adopts VDI-in-a-Box

Citrix closed its acquisition of Kaviza, makers of the VDI-in-a-Box solution for small and medium business. Citrix plans to add the VDI solution to its own portfolio, as well as expanding its services to small and
medium-sized businesses. The VDI-in-a-Box solution will be sold beside the company’s own XenDesktop software to create a comprehensive enterprise-class desktop virtualization solution. VDI-in-a-Box will remain available through existing Kaviza channels for
the time being. Citrix plans to begin offering the product itself in July. No financial terms for the transaction were disclosed.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

HP to Acquire Printelligent’s Assets to Boost Print Services

Hewlett-Packard (HP) signed an agreement to acquire all assets of Printelligent, which offers managed print services (MPS). It will use Printelligent’s infrastructure, software, and trained workforce – combined with HP
channel relationships and its current products and services – to strengthen its MPS capabilities. The move is part of HP’s efforts to optimize traditional technology environments to deliver a better connected world. Printelligent’s assets will be
integrated into the LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions unit within the Imaging and Printing Group. The merger should close in the third quarter.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Qualcomm Completes $3.1 Billion Acquisition of Atheros

Qualcomm said it has completed its acquisition of Atheros Communications. Atheros will operate as Qualcomm Atheros, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm. The Qualcomm “connectivity team” will transfer to Qualcomm
Atheros subsidiary now that the deal is complete.The acquisition, which was completed at a value of approximately $3.1 billion, enables Qualcomm to expand its presence in existing businesses and grow into a variety of adjacent businesses including home,
enterprise, and carrier networking, the company said.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

SanDisk Acquires SSD Manufacturer Pliant Technology

SanDisk announced it is acquiring Pliant Technology, a manufacturer of solid-state drives (SSDs), for $327 million. While SanDisk has been primarily known for its storage cards and flash drives sold at retail
stores, the company has benefited from sales of its memory chips for smartphones, tablets, and digital music players. Now SanDisk takes on a crowded, yet growing SSD market with established companies like Intel, Seagate, Samsung (whose SSD business was
acquired by Seagate), and Hitachi.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Symantec to Acquire Clearwell Systems

Symantec has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Clearwell Systems, a provider of archiving and backup offerings. Under the terms of the agreement, Symantec will acquire Clearwell for $390
million USD. The acquisition is expected to close in the September quarter.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES


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Avaya Names Carousel Industries to DevConnect

Avaya appointed Carousel Industries as its newest DevConnect program member. Carousel is the developer of CAPS, an application family for deploying feature-rich IP
telephony applications.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Convergys Launches CRM Powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Convergys announced the launch of Convergys CRM powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. The new solution is designed to help communication and utility service providers with tasks such as customer service,
marketing, and sales management. This product is the result of the strategic partnership signed between the two companies in February 2010. More information about the new offering is available from the Convergys CRM Fact Sheet.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Lenovo, ACS Establish Alliance to Extend Global Services

Lenovo signed an agreement with Affiliated Computer Services – a Xerox company – to extend its Global Services business while also creating hundreds of new jobs in North Carolina, US. The deal includes the addition
of 300 staff (50 at Lenovo’s Morrisville, NC campus), to accommodate its customer base, both local and worldwide. In addition, Lenovo Global Services will add 100 positions, worldwide. ACS will provide customer services for Lenovo’s US, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand customers, via telephone, e-mail, and Web chat. It will handle customer inquiries, provide technical support, service order management, coordination of service and parts dispatches, and customer escalations. ACS and Xerox employ 3,600 in
North Carolina, including 2,300 in the greater Raleigh area.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

SAP Signs Reseller Agreement for Palantir’s Analytics Software

SAP signed a new reseller agreement with Palantir Technologies. Under the terms of the deal, SAP will sell Palantir’s intelligence analysis platform as the SAP Intelligence Analysis for Public Sector application by
Palantir. The solution is designed to provide public safety agencies with improved predictions of security threats, enhanced service delivery, and improved safety and security outcomes. More information about the new joint product is available from the SAP corporate blog.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

BIOMETRICS


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Pinnacle Environmental Chooses BioLink Biometric Offering

BioLink Solutions and its partner Bio-Metrica announced that they have provided MBU-BT units to be used for time and attendance at remote construction sites of
Pinnacle Environmental. The MBU-BT is a ruggedized biometric time and attendance system that can be configured to operate in harsh environments and can be outfitted with an internal battery that can function for up to 10 hours.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

BUSINESS CONTINUITY


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Sprint Says It Is Prepared Ahead of Atlantic Hurricane Season

Sprint said it has invested more than $315 million to prepare its networks in Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season. In addtion to network upgrades, Sprint said its
emergency response team and network and business continuity teams will be pre-staged in hurricane-prone areas ahead of any major storms. Emergency equipment will include portable generators, satellite cell on light trucks, and cell sites on wheels. The
company also has permanent generators- automatic cutover switches to immediately neutralize any loss of commercial power – installed at all of its wireless and wireline switches, and PoPs (Points of Presence).

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

CALL CENTER


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Avaya Unveils Social Media Contact Center Software

Avaya Japan introduced the Social Media Manager, contact center software that provides customer support through social media. It can monitor feedback from social media such as Twitter and Facebook, using preset
keywords to locate the contact center operator with relevant knowledge and experience. Social media support functions are integrated into multimedia desktop applications for operators, making it possible to use a contact center platform for customer
support through social media. It is used in conjunction with Aura Contact Center software.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CARRIER SERVICES


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AT&T to Launch 4G LTE Service in 5 Metro Areas this Summer

AT&T announced it will launch 4G LTE service in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio this Summer. The carrier said it plans to add another 10 or more markets in the second half of the year, and cover 70
million Americans with LTE by year’s-end. AT&T noted it also plans to add twenty 4G devices to its product portfolio, with some of the additions being LTE-capable devices.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

BT Teams with Lime for SEC Risk Compliance Service

BT teamed with Lime Brokerage to offer broker-traders a new service designed to help them comply with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 15c3-5 and its July 14 implementation deadline. The new rule
requires the broker-traders to have risk controls in place before they allows their customers access to the market. Lime will be providing the pre-trade solution for new and existing subscribers to the BT Radianz community. Risk checks on Lime’s system
include reasonableness checks, throughput limits, buying power, open order exposure, long sale, and easy-to-borrow/locates. The companies say the system will add less than 10 microseconds to the transaction. More information is available at BT’s Global Banking page.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Cox Drops Plans for Building Out Its Own Mobile Network

Cable operator Cox Communications announced it is dropping plans to build its own mobile network and will instead expand an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) deal with Sprint.
The company said it will decommission the small number of CDMA base stations and network equipment already built. Huawei was the equipment supplier for the network. Cox launched mobile services last November and offers
the service over Sprint’s network in a small number of markets, including Rhode Island, Connecticut, Cleveland, Orange County in California, and Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cox said focusing on the wholesale deal with Sprint will allow it to expand
mobile coverage more quickly, with a goal of reaching 50 percent of its cable footprint by the end of this year.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

DISH Network Begins 90-Day Free Blockbuster By Mail Promotion

DISH Network announced a new promotion to offer its customers three free months of Blockbuster By Mail service. The program will be available to any customers activating
new qualifying DISH Network programming before August 10, 2011. The service includes 100,000 available titles spread across movie and TV shows, and allows customers the option of exchanging their videos at a local Blockbuster location.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

EarthLink Forms Carrier Division

IP communications services company EarthLink announced the creation of the EarthLink Carrier division. The new wholesale unit combines EarthLink’s Deltacom Interstate FiberNet, New Edge Networks’ wholesale unit,
and One Communications’ carrier business, which EarthLink recently acquired. EarthLink Carrier will offer a suite of fiber-based transport, voice, and data services, as well as a number of other switched services.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

PCCW to Offer Free Wi-Fi to 158 Public Rental Housing Estates

PCCW announced plans to offer free Wi-Fi to residents of 158 public rental housing estates across Hong Kong. The company has been providing free Wi-Fi connectivity at 45 of these estates since 2008; this new expansion
includes all of the remaining locations not already covered. The service will be made available between 6 AM and 11 PM each day, in the recreation areas of the estates, as well as in some of the shopping centers.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Sprint Opens Revamped Online Store

Sprint said its newly-redesigned online store has features and functionality that make it easier for customers to choose or change phones and service plans, as well as find and buy accessories. A Sprint spokesman
said the company spent months testing the new online store with customers, and “getting their candid feedback.”

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

T-Mobile USA Announces New No Contract Options

T-Mobile USA announced two new no annual contract, unlimited Monthly4G plans starting at $50 per month. In addition to the Monthly4G plans, which became available May 22, T-Mobile USA continues to offer a 1500
Talk and Text plan with 30 MB of data for $30 per month, as well as Pay As You Go plans starting at 10 cents per minute for voice calls.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Telstra Announces Plans to End Data Overages, Implement Throttling

Telstra announced plans to implement a system designed to reduce “bill shock” resulting from unexpected data overages. The company says this plan consists of throttling users’ connection to lower speeds once they
have passed their monthly data allowance cap. The user will not be charged for their excess usage under this new system. Customers wishing to resume their full speed will be able to purchase additional data allowances directly from their Telstra handset.
SMS alerts will be used to inform subscribers when they are nearing, and when they have reached their allowance cap. The company says this is one of the first steps in its plan to
improve overall customer satisfaction
.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Verizon Wireless to Launch LTE Network in New Markets on June 16

Verizon Wireless said it is bringing its 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network to a number of new areas on June 16th. The company is rolling out its LTE service in the greater Hartford, Connecticut area; the
Dayton and Springfield, Ohio areas; in Harrisburg, Camp Hill, Hershey, and portions of Dauphin and Cumberland counties in Pennsylvania; in Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and additional sections of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan; the I-465 loop in
Indianapolis and most of Allen County, Indiana; and in Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Verizon Wireless customers with 4G LTE smartphones, laptop modems, and hotspots will be able to take advantage of speeds up to 10
times faster than the company’s 3G network, Verizon Wireless said.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CHIP TECHNOLOGY


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NetLogic Reaches Volume Production for IPv6 Processors

Semiconductor manufacturer NetLogic Microsystems announced it has reached volume production for its NL11k family of IPv6 processors for OEM customers’ next generation of IPv6 switches and routers. The first of
more than two dozen IPv6 systems that are using the NL11k processors will begin shipping in production in the third quarter of 2011, with the remaining systems expected to begin shipping over the following twelve months, NetLogic said. The new systems
using NetLogic processors are being launched to support an increased level of IPv6 traffic.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CLOUD COMPUTING


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AWS Launches Amazon RDS for Oracle Database

Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched Amazon RDS for Oracle Database. The new offering allows users to run multiple editions of Oracle Database (11g Release 2) on
Amazon RDS, a feature which Amazon says will simplify setup and database provisioning, as well as off-loading administrative tasks such as backing up and software patching to AWS. The new service is available in two licensing versions “License Included”
and “Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL)”. License Included options start at $0.16 per hour, inclusive of software, underlying hardware resources, and Amazon RDS management capabilities. This version does not require the user to have a pre-existing Oracle
Database license. However, the BYOL option requires that the user have an active Oracle Database license, but costs less than the alternative at $0.11 per hour.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

AWS Adds Three New Features to Elastic Load Balancing

Amazon Web Services announced a trio of new features for its Elastic Load Balancing service: IPv6 support, zone apex support, and security group integration. IPv6 support is available immediately for the Amazon EC2 US-East (Northern Virginia) Region and
the Amazon EC2 EU (Ireland) Region. AWS says traffic will continue to use IPv4 for the time being, meaning no configuration changes are necessary for users. The second new feature, zone apex, is also available now, and allows users to create friendly DNS
entries for your load balanced Web sites. Lastly, security group integration now lets EC2 customers configure security groups for individual EC2 instances, causing them to only accept traffic originating from the Elastic Load Balancer. More information
about these new features can be found at the AWS Elastics Load Balancing page.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

AWS Makes Route 53 Service Generally Available, Adds New Features

Amazon Web Services announced three new features for its Route 53 DNS service. First, Route 53 is now integrated with the company’s Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) service. AWS says this will allow users to easily map their root domain, or “zone apex”
directly to their ELB. Second, Route 53 now offers a Weighted Round Robin (WRR) functionality. This allows developers to specify the frequency with which difference DNS responses are returned to the user. Lastly, Amazon Route 53 is now generally available
to all AWS customers, and has begun offering a 100% service level agreement.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Nokia Siemens Announces Integration Center Pilot

Nokia Siemens Networks announced the pilot project for its new Integration Center, which launched in February. Integration Center includes a software development kit and a public, cloud-based test
environment to help integrate hardware and software into the NetAct network management system. The system is presented as a Web 2.0 application, with e-mail support and instructional videos. It also announced that European IT services firm Tieto will use
the platform for Operations Support System integration.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

PAETEC Announces Expansion of Cloud Portfolio, New Data Centers

PAETEC announced an expansion of its cloud-based product portfolio, as well as plans to build a string of 13 new data centers across the country before the end of 2012. Products included in the expansion are
Dedicated Server, a turnkey cloud-based server; Virtual Server, a monthly fee-based storage option; Managed Storage, a multi-tenant storage system with granular controls; and Hosted Exchange, a Microsoft Exchange email server. These new services, as well
as existing offerings, will be supported by a total of 20 data centers across the country once PAETEC’s expansion goes live. More information is available at PAETEC’s Cloud Services page.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

New Report Details Action Areas for Deploying Cloud Computing

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a new report identifying specific action areas for addressing the issues and concerns
that could impact the adoption and deployment of cloud technologies. ” Advancing Cloud Computing. What to do Now? Priorities for Industry and Government” presents eight actions areas for providers of cloud computing services and government agencies
regarding the use of such new technologies.

Source: WEF, 5/23/2011

ZTE Announces Plans, Expectations for 2011 Push into The Cloud

ZTE announced that it expects to take in more than $2 billion in revenue from its planned cloud computing business during the course of 2011. The company says its offerings will include datacom products, enterprise
networks and servers, and storage products for government networks. ZTE also says it will expand on two fronts: direct sales and services to consumers of cloud-based products; and working with operators to found offerings in the business cloud and
application cloud. According to ZTE, more than 3,000 employees have already been assigned to develop its forthcoming cloud-computing products.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS & EQUIPMENT


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Alcatel to Manage Fujian Unicom Mobile, Fixed Networks

Alcatel-Lucent was selected by Fujian Unicom to manage its mobile and fixed networks in Xiamen and Nanping, China. The agreement should allow Fujian, and its parent company China Unicom, to address the recent
explosion in Chinese broadband traffic, driven by mobile gaming, video streaming, and social networking demand. Alcatel provides management for more than 100 networks, supporting more than 250 million subscribers, worldwide.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Alcatel to Provide IMS Technology for France’s SFR

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its end-to-end IP Multimedia Subsystem for French fixed and mobile operator SFR, to allow it to offer rich fixed and mobile broadband services that better address the demand for
unified voice, data, multimedia, and video services. The technology will also allow SFR to migrate its TDM network toward a converged architecture. Alcatel will provide design, testing, integration, deployment, maintenance, and operation services as
well.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Alcatel Partnership to Offer Emergency Mobile Broadband

Alcatel-Lucent and Cassidian reported they will provide mobile broadband technology for emergency response and security communications systems that operate in the
400-MHz spectrum band. The joint technology will use LTE to support broadband data services such as mobile video security, location based video services, and smart vehicle integration of devices and applications, to compliment current voice and data
systems.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Cable&Wireless to Provide Communication Backbone for Aviva

Cable&Wireless received a contract from Aviva Europe to provide the insurance company’s communications backbone for its European markets. The three-year project is the first step in the company’s plans to build a unified
voice and data network across the entire continent. C&W was selected via a competitive process after Aviva decided to end it’s multi-carrier framework and unify its communications under a single provider. No financial terms for the agreement were
disclosed.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Cisco Unveils Products, Services for IPv6 Migration

Cisco Systems introduced new products and services for smoothing the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, especially as Ipv4 addresses began to run dry earlier this year. The effort requires unifying IPv4 and IPv6 across
networks, software, and applications. The new IPv6-compliant additions include support for IPSec v2 VPNs – on Cisco’s ISR G2 branch routers – and stateful NAT64 support on the ASR 1000 series routers, to allow IPv6 devices to access IPv4 servers. Cisco
also added support for Location/ID Separation Protocol to its IOS router software.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Cisco to Provide Unified Computing, Switches for Travelport

Cisco Systems‘ Unified Computing System (UCS) and Nexus switches were selected by Travelport – a transaction processing vendor for the travel industry – to improve business agility and scalability as it supports
transaction services for more than 160 countries and 60,000 travel agencies. The technology should increase data center virtualization while also allowing Travelport to accommodate future growth and decreasing the time to add and provision servers. Cisco
will also provide UCS implementation services.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

Ericsson to Roll Out, Support Network for Pacific Operator

Ericsson will provide Digicel Pacific – an operator in the Pacific Islands – with the technology services required for offering new mobile broadband services. Digicel uses a hybrid power technology that includes
solar paneling, rechargeable batteries, and diesel generators to migrate from 2G to 3G. Ericsson will provide network rollout, support, and technology consulting services. Digicel Pacific offers mobile services in Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and
also has 2G/GSM networks in Fiji, Tonga, and Nauru.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Global Crossing to Expand EtherSphere Virtual Private LAN Services

Global Crossing said it plans to expand its EtherSphere Virtual Private LAN Services to more than 40 new locations in the United States, Europe, and China by the end of 2011. The company’s EtherSphere family
of Wide Area Network transport services is designed for interconnecting data centers and remote locations and is especially beneficial for backup and disaster recovery implementations, Global Crossing said. EtherSphere services are available now as
carrier and enterprise offers in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia, and Latin America.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Harris Corp Wins $18 Million First Responder Communications Contract

Harris Corp has been selected to design and implement the P25IP project in Linn County, Iowa. The goal of the project is to provide voice and data communications to first responders across the county. The company
will construct 6 sites across the service area to serve as communications hubs. Harris will also be providing its Unity XG-100P Full-Spectrum Multiband portable radios. The contract has a total value of $18 million.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Hibernia Atlantic Connects to Interxion’s Dublin Data Center

Transatlantic connectivity provider Hibernia Atlantic said its high capacity fiber optic submarine cable system is now connected to Interxion‘s newest data center,
DUB2, located in Dublin, Ireland. The new high-capacity link offers a direct submarine cable connecting North America to Ireland. It also provides access throughout Ireland, and to and from mainland Europe and North America. Interxion is a carrier-neutral
colocation data center services provider. It operates 28 carrier-neutral data centers in 11 European countries.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Level 3 Expands Network to Link Up with Seattle Data Center

IP communications services company Level 3 announced that it has extended its network infrastructure in the Seattle market with the construction of a direct network link to the South Hill Data Center, a high-capacity
data center located in the Seattle, Washington metropolitan area. The data center hosts customers who now have direct access to the more than 190 markets served by Level 3’s international IP network.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

LG-Ericsson USA Introduces New Gigabit Unmanaged Ethernet Switches

LG-Ericsson USA announced the availability of its three newest iPECS switches: the iPECS ES-1008G eight port, ES-1016G 16 port, and ES-1024G 24 port Gigabit Unmanaged Ethernet switches. The new switches are
available now through LG-Ericsson USA’s partners and resellers.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Motorola Unveils New Rollout of TETRA Radio Products

Motorola Solutions introduced a new portfolio of terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA)-based products – "safe" devices for hazardous environments, covert surveillance radios, and
complementary technologies and accessories – during a demonstration at the TETRA World Congress in Budapest. The rollout includes Dimetra 8.0, a system architecture that can connect to non-TETRA networks such as standards-compliant LTE networks, and
TETRA RF Automated Coverage Evaluation system – dubbed "TRACES" – for providing visibility into network coverage.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Nokia Siemens to Upgrade Joint Swedish Data Network

Nokia Siemens Networks agreed to upgrade and expand the capacity for a joint Telenor and Hi3G Access 3G network in Sweden. The modernization will allow the network to offer twice its existing bandwidth,
allow subscribers in large parts of Sweden to stream mobile date at up to 42M bps, Nokia Siemens will modernize high-traffic areas of the network by providing base stations and dual-cell functionality. It will also provide implementation, planning, and
optimization services.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

NTT DOCOMO Develops Compact Multiband Power Amplifier

NTT DOCOMO announced that it has developed a prototype power amplifier for six frequency bands between 1.5 GHz and 2.5 GHz – in a form factor smaller than multiple single-band power amplifiers currently in use.
Packaged on a rectangular printed circuit board measuring 8.05 mm x 6.2 mm, the prototype meets requirements for LTE, W-CDMA, and GSM mobile communication standards, the company said. It was developed by DOCOMO with support from Renesas Electronics
Corporation. DOCOMO will exhibit the amplifier during Wireless Japan 2011 to be held in Tokyo from May 25 to 27.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

PCCW to Provide Turnkey Broadcast Solution to Home2US Communications

PCCW signed an agreement to provide a turnkey video and media broadcast solution to Home2US Communications, a US satellite-based, direct-to-home Pay-TV service provider that specializes in international content. The
broadcast solution uses the company’s worldwide MPLS network, and provides carriers with end-to-end monitoring and proactive support for their customers. No financial terms for the agreement were disclosed.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

T-Mobile USA Boosts Speed over Its HSPA+ Network

T-Mobile USA announced that it is doubling the speed of its 4G (HSPA+) network in more than 50 markets to achieve theoretical peak download speeds of up to 42 megabits per second. The new markets include Atlanta,
Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Miami, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Phoenix, Arizona; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Portland, Oregon.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Telecom New Zealand’s Chorus Outlines Role in UFB Initiative

Telecom New Zealand subsidiary Chorus has been selected as a participant in New Zealand’s Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative (UFB). The company will serve as the government’s partner in a total of 24 regions, or
about 70% of the UFB’s planned coverage area. According to the terms of the contract, Chorus will work to expand the fiber available beginning in 2012 and ending in 2015. During that time the carrier will prioritize bringing connectivity to locations such
as schools, hospitals, and businesses. Chorus expects to connect 299 schools within the first 12 months, and an additional 736 schools by the end of 2015. The rollout will also include an initial total of 30 hospitals, with 7 more to follow before the end
of 2015. Pricing plans for the new network will begin at NZ$37.50 for 30Mbps speeds, and NZ$55 for 100 Mbps. Retail service providers will not be charged connection fees for standard residential connections.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Telstra Switches On First LTE Base Stations

Telstra switched on its first wave of 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) base stations at sites in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The expansion will make use of the company’s existing 1800MHz band, which
previously supported its 2G mobile services. Telstra is still planning to hold the official public launch of the network prior to the end of 2011. The carrier says its first products will support dual-band LTE/HSPA+ broadband, prioritizing LTE networks,
but switching to 3G when they are not available. The central business districts of all capital cities will be the first locations to have LTE commercially available when it launches.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Verizon Wireless to Offload Traffic from EV-DO, LTE Networks

Fierce Wireless reported that Verizon Wireless will use Wi-Fi offloading techniques to handle increased data traffic on its EV-DO and LTE networks in homes as
well as crowded hotspots such as hotels, airports, and stadiums. The report cites Verizon Communications Chief Technology Officer Tony Melone who made the comments during an appearance at the 2011 TIA conference. Melone did not indicate when the Wi-Fi
offload service would launch or what markets it would be available in, but he said it would be an important element of Verizon’s overall network strategy.

Source: FierceWireless, 5/23/2011

CONFERENCING


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Cisco, VADS Berhad to Provide Telepresence in Malaysia

Cisco Malaysia and VADS Berhad signed an agreement to offer joint managed telepresence services to public and private sectors throughout Malaysia and the surrounding
region. The VADS Managed Telepresence Service will be offered on a three- or five-year contract., and includes bandwidth, managed high call-quality services, 24×7 helpdesk and technical support, and endpoints. VADS will also build a telepresence exchange
infrastructure, the core of which residing in a VADS data center and available for local and global markets.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CONSULTING & MANAGED SERVICES


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Capgemini Signs 5-Year Procurement Contract with Hilti Corporation

Capgemini signed a 5-year contract with the Hilti Corporation, a technology provider for the construction industry. The agreement calls on Capgemini Procurement Services to provide a complete suite of electronic
solutions for Hilti’s Procurement Indirect Materials division. The company will be using its proprietary IBX on-demand technology platform to handle the work. Materials will be made available through multiple sources, including catalogues, Web-shops,
vendor forms, and free text orders. No financial terms were disclosed.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

HP Expands Telecom Consulting Services

HP Enterprise Services announced expanded telecom offerings. The services unit of HP has expanded two portfolios that support communications service providers: HP Solutions Consulting
Services and HP Operations Support Systems Transformation. The portfolios provide telecom operators with business transformation services, including strategic and financial advisory services, operational analysis, transformation management, and a portfolio
of operations support systems software and integration services. HP Enterprise Services is the former EDS business unit.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Huawei to Provide Managed Services for China Unicom

Huawei Technologies agreed to provide managed services for China Unicom Shanghai, covering more than 50 percent of the operator’s base station sites in 11 districts of Shanghai, China. Huawei will provide
preventative, planned, and corrective maintenance services for the China Unicom Network. It will also be responsible for maintaining the network. Shanghai has more than 23 million citizens.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CRM


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SugarCRM Announces New Collaboration with Constant Contact

SugarCRM announced a new collaboration with Faye Business Systems Group, makers of the Constant Contact email marketing, online surveying, and event marketing tools. The tool is designed to let users connect their
SugarCRM accounts with their Constant Contact accounts. The companies say the interoperability will save time as well as providing instant information on how any of the company’s contacts has been responding to its marketing campaigns. More information
about the new tool is available from the Faye Business Systems Group Web site.

Source: Vendor, 5/20/2011

CYBERCRIME


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Microsoft Finds 400,000+ Emails on Siezed Rustock Drive

Following the dismantling of the Rustock botnet that went offline in March, Microsoft discovered 427,000 emails on one of the hard drives that was seized, according to a status report sent to a federal judge, eWeek has learned. Microsoft also found information on the drives that the Rustock hackers used stolen credentials to pay for hosting and email services. Additional data gleaned from the seized drives has indicated that the
botnet originated in and was used by attackers in Russia.

Source: eWeek, 5/24/2011

DATA BREACHES


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Another Data Breach Targets Comodo

A data breach has hit a fourth partner of Comodo, the SSL certificate authority, giving hackers access to sensitive data via a SQL injection attack. ComodoBR is a Brazilian partner to Comodo, who experienced a data
intrusion in March when hackers issued fraudulent digital certificates, which were quickly revoked. Two other partners were attacked by hackers after the initial data breach.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

The Sony Saga Continues with More Targeted Attacks

Sony‘s nightmares are far from over as three of its sites have been hacked in the past week. The Web sites for Sony BMG in Greece, Sony
Music Japan
, and Sony Ericsson‘s Canadian ecommerce site were all targeted by hackers who used the same SQL injection vulnerability to launch their attacks. Sophos noticed
the first attack when an anonymous poster listed a user database containing usernames, passwords, and other information registered to users of SonyMusic.gr to a hacker forum. It has been confirmed that at least 2,000 customer records were stolen from the
Sony Ericsson site.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Sony PS Network Still Not Fully Functional after April Breach

Although it was suspected that the Sony PlayStation Store would be back up and running by May 24 following the massive April data breach that crippled the PlayStation
Network
, that event has yet to be. A blog post from Sony said that the company is hoping to have all PlayStation services restored completely by
the end of May.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Sony Expects PlayStation Breach to Cost $170 Million

Sony has said that it expects to incur a loss of 260 billion yen ($170 million USD) for expenses related to the data breach on its PlayStation Network back in April. That loss will be taken for the fiscal year that
ends on March 31, 2012.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE


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Adobe Collaborates with SAP to Combine Flash and Netweaver Tech

Adobe announced a new collaboration with SAP which will see its Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 technology integrated with SAP’s NetWeaver Gateway. The companies say the combination will
allow developers to create new rich mobile and Web applications designed to extend SAP consumer and business processes. The development environment will also be compatible with the most popular tablet operating systems, including Android, BlackBerry
Tablet OS, and iOS. More information is available at the Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 page.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

Opera Releases Newest Opera Mobile Emulator

Opera released the newest version of its Opera Mobile Emulator, software designed to test how Web sites and Web content will perform on the various Opera mobile browsers. The software is compatible with both Mac and
PC, and allows developers to simulate varying screen sizes, environmental settings, resolution densities, and input modes. More information about the emulator is available from the company’s developer’s tools page.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

E-READERS & E-BOOKS


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California State U to Eliminate Paper Textbooks from Some Classes

BetaNews reported that Nature Publishing Group and California State University have signed a three-year partnership that will eliminate paper textbooks from some classes, and
replace them with interactive e-books. The first e-textbook in the program will be “Principles of Biology” and will be used in the Introductory Biology class at CSU Los Angeles, Northridge, and Chico campuses beginning in September 2011. Each school will
be testing a different licensing and access model. It will only cost $49 per student, and will include 175 interactive lessons.

Source: BetaNews, 5/24/2011

Amazon Releases Second Ad-Supported Kindle

Amazon launched its second ad-supported Kindle device, the Kindle 3G with Special Offers. Like the previously released Kindle with Special Offers, the
new device will display ads within a banner on the home screen, and on the device’s screen saver. The trade-off for the advertisement placement is a lower $164 price point, $25 less than the existing 3G model. The company says that this makes the Kindle 3G
with Special Offers the lowest price 3G-enabled e-reader available today. The new device is available now, and will begin shipping immediately.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Barnes&Noble Debuts Nook Simple Touch Reader

Barnes & Noble unveiled the newest member of the Nook e-reader family, the Nook Simple Touch Reader. The new device features a 6-inch e-ink touchscreen with faster page turns, up to 2
months of battery life, 2GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi connectivity, and access to the Barnes&Noble e-book store. The device is running a version of Android 2.1 as its operating system, although it is incapable or using any of the apps
compatible with the Nook Color. The new e-reader will replace the company’s first generation Nook, which has been discounted to $119 for the Wi-Fi only model, and $169 for the 3G model to clear remaining inventory. The Nook Simple Touch
Reader is available as a pre-order for $139, with shipments expected to begin June 10.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Kobo Unveils New Touchscreen e-Reader

E-reader company Kobo unveiled a new touchscreen e-reader with a 6″ E Ink Pearl display and Neonode zForce infrared touch technology. It runs on a Freescale processor and has 1GB of built-in storage with a microSD
slot that supports cards up to 32GB in size. Kobo eReader Touch Edition will be available at Best Buy, WalMart, Borders bookstore, and Indigo for $129.99. The original Kobo e-reader has now dropped in price to $99.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SOFTWARE


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Accenture Unveils Enhanced Life Insurance Platform

Accenture unveiled an enhanced life insurance platform. According to the company, improvements include additional administration and processing tools, updates to accelerate product time to market, reduced
implementation costs, globalization enhancements, an improved user experience, and wider support for life and annuity products. The enhanced life insurance platform is available now.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Dell Introduces New Desktop Virtualization Products

Dell announced new desktop virtualization products, including Virtual Lab 2.0 software and OptiPlex FX series thin-clients. Virtual Lab software was designed for academic settings. It provides remote access to software
such as Adobe Premiere Pr CS3, AutoCad 2DLT, Wolfram Mathmatica 7, Mathworks MatLab, SAS, and IBM SPSS, from any connected device. The thin client products were designed for the education, finance, healthcare, and retail sectors, and offer seamless
connectivity for implementing a desktop virtualization infrastructure.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

HP Introduces Insurance Agent Enablement Software

Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced Agent Enablement, software to provide insurance agents and brokers with access to real-time policy holder information for creating personalized, targeted customer communications. It can be
used with existing data systems, including ECM and CRM systems. It is based on the HP Exstream software platform. It also automates document processes by pre-populating documents with data.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

IBM Enhances Service Provider Delivery Environment with New Analytics

IBM announced enhancements to its Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE) designed to help “communications service providers (CSPs) deliver new and innovative services to subscribers”. The company plans on doing
this by incorporating recently acquired analytics and campaign software into the SPDE. It says this will allow customers to effectively manage their marketing campaigns with tools such as targeted promotional offers, and better intelligence on their
customer base. More information about the expanded capabilities of SPDE are available from IBM’s industry communications page.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Oracle Unveils New Retail Merchandising Analytics Solution

Oracle unveiled its new Oracle Retail Merchandising Analytics solution. The new offering provides retailers with a
pre-built business intelligence (BI) tool that incorporates enterprise-wide performance metrics. The analytics software is able to collect and parse information such as item sales, store performance, efficacy of promotions and markdowns, inventory turn,
sales and profit trends, and current and potential out-of-stocks. The company says it will continue to expand this new offering with additional BI applications tailored for emerging areas of customer need. Oracle Retail Merchandising Analytics Solution is
available now as part of the Oracle Retail Merchandising product family package.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Progress Software Launches New Insurance Information Model Solution

Progress Software launched its new Progress Insurance Information Model(IIM) solution accelerator. The new product is designed to help insurance companies meet with the customer experience requirement of ACORD
standards. It does this by consolidating customers, policy, claims, and other insurance data from disparate departments into a single accessible database. Other features include a single view of claims data, data governance, impact analysis, and reduced
data integration time. More information about Progress IIM is available from the company’s insurance products page.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Progress Software Launches Promotion Solution Accelerator

Progress Software launched its Progress Situation-Based Promotion solution accelerator, a new software solution designed to help communication service providers (CSPs) by providing real-time marketing capabilities.
The company says the capabilities of the new product will allow customers to precisely target their ad spending, and leverage location-based advertising, as well as personalized promotions. More information is available at the accelerator’s product page.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

FINANCIAL


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Cable&Wireless Posts Flat Revenue, First Yearly Profits

Cable&Wireless reported its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011. The company’s revenue was GBP 2.26 billion, a very slight decrease from the GBP 2.27 billion reported for 2010. Earnings per share
were 7.9p, while the dividend per share was 4.5p. The company did not report either of these totals last year. This is the first year Cable&Wireless has been cash positive.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

CenturyLink Board Declares Quarterly Dividend

CenturyLink announced that its board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend. Its board voted to declare a quarterly cash dividend of $.725 per share, payable on June 16, 2011 to shareholders of record on
June 6, 2011.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

CSC Reports Preliminary Q4 and 2011 Results, Delays 10-K Filing

CSC reported its preliminary fourth quarter results for the 2011 fiscal year. The company’s revenue was $4.2 billion, flat with the same period last year. Its earnings per share were 1.09, down dramatically from the
$1.66 reported for the fourth quarter 2010. CSC also posted its preliminary year-end results, including a total revenue of $16.04 billion, and an EPS of $4.73, up from $15.92 billion and down from $5.28, respectively. The company says it will miss its
scheduled date for filing its 2011 Form 10-K due to continued investigation of accounting irregularities in its Nordic region. The new filing date is expected to be June 15, 2011.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

CSC Declares $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

The Board of Directors of CSC declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share of the company’s common stock. This amount will be payable on July 12, 2011 to all shareholders of record by the close of business on June
14, 2011.

Source: Vendor, 5/20/2011

Lenovo Continues to Outpace PC Industry for Quarter

Lenovo reported that profits were $273 million USD, or $2.84 per share, for the 2010/11 fiscal year ended March 31st. This was more than double its profits for the 2009/10 fiscal year, and reflected its position as
the fastest-growing of the top five PC manufacturers in the world, and, for the eighth consecutive quarter, its outgrowing of the worldwide PC market. Revenues were $21.6 billion, up 30 percent from 2009/10 fiscal revenues. Quarterly profits were $42
million, or $0.43 per share, while sales grew 13 percent – hitting 4.9 billion USD – for the 2011 fiscal fourth quarter. In the quarter, PC shipments increased 16 percent year-to-year (compared to an overall industry decline of one percent).

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

McKesson Board Approves $0.20 Dividend

McKesson‘s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share of its common stock. This amount will be payable on July 1, 2011, to stockholders of record on June 10, 2011.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Salesforce.com Announces Numerous New Investments in Japan

Salesforce.com announced a list of new strategic investments in Japan, designed to promote the growth of the Cloud 2 environment within the country. These investment include the opening of a new Tokyo-based
data center in collaboration with NTT Communications; supporting the further development of the Ruby programming language; an investment in Toyota Media Services cloud development platform organization; and an investment in the Netyear Group Corporation,
an e-marketing group. No specific financial terms for the aforementioned investments were disclosed.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Salesforce.com Posts Q1 Revenue Gains, Sliding Profits

Salesforce.com announced its fiscal first quarter results for the period ending April 30, 2011. The company’s revenue totaled $504 million, a 34% increase, year over year. Net income for the quarter was $39.5
million, or $0.28 per share. This was a 7% decrease from the same period last year, largely caused by a $48 million stock-based compensation expense. On these results the company posted guidance for the second quarter of 2012 including a revenue range of
$526 million to $528 million, and an EPS range of $0.29 to $0.30. FY guidance includes revenues between $2.15 billion and $2.17 billion, and an EPS total of $1.30 to $1.32.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

Sycamore Networks Reports Declining Revenues, Continued Net Loss in Q3

Sycamore Networks reported its third quarter fiscal results for 2011 year. The company’s revenue was $11.9 million, down somewhat from the $14.6 million reported for the third quarter of 2010. The bad news
continued with the company suffering a net loss of $4.1 million, or $0.14 per share, even worse then the net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.13 per share absorbed during the same quarter in 2010. Daniel E. Smith, president and chief executive officer of
Sycamore blamed the declined revenue and profits on the market conditions of the company’s bandwidth management business.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS


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Dell to Provide PCs, Services for US Veterans Affairs

Dell was contracted to provide thee US Department of Vererans Affairs with PCs and services at more than 1,200 sites, nationwide. The four-year, $476 million USD agreement includes 600,000 OptiPlex PCs, plus deployment
and support services to help the agency continue to transform its end-user computing environment to improve access, manageability, and security. Dell’s bid was one of several competitive offers.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Raytheon Received $20.7 Million Order for IV-77 Cryptograhic Units

Raytheon received a $20.7 million award for the delivery of more than 1,900 KIV-77 Mode 4 / 5 cryptographic units to the US Air Force. The units are designed to encrypt battlefield communications, providing secure
channels for combat systems force identification. This brings the total number of units ordered from Raytheon to 3,600, with options in place to accept additional orders through 2014.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

SAIC Signs $53 Million EHR Deal with Department of Defense

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) received a contract from the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide IT services and electronic health record systems support to the TRICARE Management Activity
Military Health System (MHS). SAIC’s goal will be to address existing technical and functional EHR difficulties. This includes fixing and updating legacy systems to provide a more stable, reliable, and user-friendly experience for the TRICARE workers. The
agreement has a one-year base period, three annual options, and a total value of more than $53 million, if all options are exercised.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

SAIC Wins USAF Prime Contract for Fighter Testing

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) received a prime contract from the US Air Force (USAF) to provide fighter operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) services to its Air Force Operational Test and
Evaluation Center (AFOTEC). SAIC will be called on to provide service such as integrated testing; test design, planning, execution, and reporting; digital test tool development and training; and development of test capability requirements. The contract has
a five-year base period of performance, and a ceiling value of $85 million.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS


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HP to Provide Outsourced Technology for Healthways

HP Enterprise Services signed a 10-year, $380 million USD applications and technology services outsourcing agreement with Healthways, a disease-management technology company. HP will provide application
development and management services to upgrade the firm’s applications and technology infrastructure, and allow its mission-critical EMBRACE application to support multi-party integration. The agreement will also bring together HP healthcare applications –
for private and public sector health insurance programs – and Healthways technology for domestic and international health plans, employers and governments.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

McKesson Launches New Web App for Long Term Care Providers

McKesson launched a new Web application, McKesson Supply iQ SM. The new software is designed to help customers with their long term care service needs. It does this by tracking a medical facility’s MDS-based
clinical supply requirements against its actual supply usage. McKesson says this will help customers reduce costs, and improve patient care. Supply iQ will integrate with MDS 2.0 and MDS 3.0 information, and recognizes standards such as AMDA. More
information is available at the McKesson LTCSolutions page.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

INTERNET


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AOL Relaunches TV Site as AOLTV

AOL relaunched its flagship television site under the name AOLTV. New features added to the site include a richer set of TV listings, expanded video integration, and new accompanying
iPhone and iPad apps. The company says the revamp is the result of a partnership with television services startup i.TV. The iPhone and iPad apps are available for download from the Apple App Store.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

ICANN Releases Results of DNAME Study

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published the results of a study commissioned to examine
the security and stability implications of using the Domain Name System (DNS) DNAME Resource Record in the root zone of the DNS. The testing used a lab environment to duplicate the behavior of certain sections of the public DNS. The primary finding of the
study was a 100% success rate for DNSSEC validation when DNAME was used in the root zone. The organization says the use of DNAME in provisioning isomorphic domains could also make the deployment of variant TLDs possible. ICANN says the results are positive
enough to support further testing, and the possible deployment of DNAME in the root zone.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

W3C Announces Last Call for Comments on HTML5, Five Related Specs

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the last call for comments as part of a broad review of HTML5 and five related specifications. The group is specifically looking for comments on the extent to which technical
requirements have been met, as well as whether or not groups inside and outside W3C have been satisfied. Comments will be accepted until August 9, 2011. A full list of the five related specifications, as well as documentation on all of the aforementioned
protocols is available at the W3C Web site.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Yahoo Announces Public Launch of Revamped Web Mail

Yahoo announced the end of beta test for the latest update to its Web mail service. New features in this version include social networking integration, a prioritized inbox, new visual themes, Web mail apps, an
improved mail search, increased speed, and enhancements to the service’s anti-spam filters. More details on the new features are available from Yahoo’s mail overview page. The updated mail service will be
rolled out to all users gradually over the next several weeks.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

LAPTOPS & TABLETS


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Dell Debuts 15-Inch Ultra-Thin HD Notebook

Dell introduced its XPS 15z, a thin 15-inch laptop with Intel processors, high-definition display, backlit keyboard with adjustable brightness, and eight hours of battery life per charge.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

HP to Soon Unveil WebOS-Based Touchpad Tablet

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is preparing to release a new Touchpad tablet that uses the WebOS operating system, based on technology HP acquired from Palm, and is expected to compete directly with Apple’s popular iPad 2 device.
According to unconfirmed reports, retailer Wal-Mart will carry 32-GB Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi versions as early as June 1st. HP also announced new t5335z and t5565z smart clients, reprogrammable and supporting Citrix, Microsoft, or VMware infrastructures. The
systems were created for remote and mobile workers, and feature HP’s Client Virtualization Enterprise Reference Architecture, for client virtualization.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

LEGAL


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Cisco Sued for Alleged Chinese Surveillance System

Cisco Systems has been sued in Federal District Court in Northern California, accused of designing a specialized surveillance system to help the Chinese government track the Internet activity of the Futan Gong
spiritual movement, according to a 52-page brief filed by the Human Rights Law Foundation of Washington DC and law firm Schwarcz, Rimberg, Boyd, & Rader, which confirmed the suit by posting an article from Mercury News. The suit claims Cisco supplied and maintained a “Golden Shield” surveillance system, proving instrumental
in helping censor the group while also enabling false imprisonment, torture, and wrongful death. The suit is seeking class action status, and names chairman and CEO John Chambers and two other executives. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive
damages. There are 11 plaintiffs -eight anonymous – in all, including Charles Lee, an American citizen who traveled to China in 2003 and was detained at the airport and tortured until his 2006 release. According to Cisco’s official statement, “Cisco does
not operate networks in China or elsewhere, nor does Cisco customize our products in any way that would facilitate censorship or repression.”

Source: SRB&R, 5/23/2011

FLIR Agrees to Settle Pending Litigation

FLIR Systems has agreed to settle claims filed in 2008 related to FLIR’s 2004 acquisition of Indigo Systems. Under the terms of the agreement, FLIR will make a cash settlement payment of $39 million USD to William
J. Parrish and E. Timothy Fitzgibbons to dismiss the claims in the current litigation and a non-exclusive license for use of certain infrared technology.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Oracle Sued by Montclair State University over Botched ERP Project

Montclair State University is suing Oracle over a mismanaged enterprise resource planning (ERP) software project, PCWorld reports. The school filed a complaint with a New Jersey
District Court alleging that Oracle’s mistakes and delays could cost it as much as $20 million more than the original budget for the project. The contract, signed in 2009, was slated to replace legacy applications that had been in use for 25 years. The
agreement included “pillars,” which were to serve as dates when certain aspects of the project would be completed. However, Montclair says continually Oracle breached its contract by failing to deliver key services, missing critical deadlines, and failing
to deliver properly tested software. This came to a head on September 27, 2010, when Oracle requested an additional $8 million over the agreed-upon price of $15.75 million for the entire project. The project was subsequently terminated, and the school
began a search for a replacement firm. Oracle has not yet responded to the suit as of the time or writing.

Source: PCWorld, 5/26/2011

MALWARE WATCH


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Scammers Up the Ante on Apple MacDefender Scareware Tactics

Just hours after Apple released an advisory providing details about the phishing scam in circulation that promotes fake antivirus software known as MacDefender,
MacProtector, and MacSecurity, the scammers updated their scareware tactics. A new variant of MacDefender is circulating under the name MacGuard and was updated to sidestep administrator passwords needed to download the malware. Apple’s advisory,
meanwhile, offers information on how to remove MacDefender from infected systems, but a patch for this issue is not yet available.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Kaspersky Spots New Trojan Variant in the Wild

Kaspersky Lab detected new samples of the malicious program MAX++ (aka ZeroAccess). Computers are infected using a drive-by attack on a browser and its components via the Bleeding Life exploit kit. The downloader
identifies the type, x86 or x64, of the system it is running on and downloads the appropriate MAX++ dropper (Backdoor.Win32.ZAccess.a/Backdoor.Win64.ZAccess.b).

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Memorial Day Scams in High Gear, McAfee Says

McAfee has seen a rise in Memorial Day scams that are circulating online and issued an alert to Internet users to be aware of such malicious activity.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

McAfee Report Gives Sobering Details on Mobile Security

McAfee released a new report that looks at mobility from two perspectives – that of a company’s senior IT professionals and the end users of mobile devices in
the workplace. Four in 10 organizations have had mobile devices lost or stolen and half of lost/stolen devices contain business critical data, according to the report’s findings. The study also found that weak security measures are common. Fewer than
half of device users back up their mobile data more frequently than once a week, and about half of device users keep passwords, pin codes, or credit card details on their mobile devices.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

SonicWALL Alert Web Surfers to Drive-by Infections

SonicWALL issued a warning about a recent rise in drive-by infection malware. Such an infection takes place simply by visiting a Web site that uses a known browser exploit. Some of these sites are hosted on
legitimate servers that have been compromised.

Source: Vendor, 5/225/2011

Be Alert to New Drive-by Trojan, SonicWALL Cautions

Computer users are being warned by SonicWALL about a new drive-by Trojan circulating via malicious domains. The malware is downloaded and executed without any user interaction once the applet is run. The
downloaded malware was found reporting system information back to a remote server, and it also creates a backdoor on the victim’s machine.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Report: Spammers Establish New Service to Contribute to Malware

Symantec‘s latest MessageLabs Intelligence Report reveals that in the month of May spam increased by 2.9 percentage points partially due to the fact that
spammers are establishing their own fake URL-shortening services to perform URL redirection. The most frequently blocked malware targeting endpoint devices for May was the W32.Ramnit!html, a worm that spreads through removable drives and by infecting
executable files. The report also found that although phishing decreased slightly in May, such malicious activity accounted for 1 in 286.7 emails.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

MOBILE APPS


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Opera Releases Opera Mini 6 for iOS

Opera released the Opera Mini 6 browser for iOS. Updated features include faster and smoother panning and zooming, social networking share buttons, and a new user interface with revamped menus. Opera Mini 6 is
available as a free download from the Apple App store for iPhone and iPad devices.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

MOBILE PLATFORMS


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Microsoft Previews Features of Upcoming “Mango,” Windows Phone Update

Microsoft released a preview of the features in the next update to its Windows Phone mobile operating system. The update, codenamed “Mango,” includes “hundreds of new features,” according to the company. Among
these are App Connect, a new contextual connection that allows applications to interact with other facts of the phone’s operation, such as Web searches; a new level of user-input prediction; improved Live Tiles with more information visible; multitasking;
and Live Agents, a new facet of multi-tasking that lets developers create app add-ons for multitasking, such as augmented reality, media controls, and more. The update will be available as a free download to all Windows Phone owners when it is released
this fall.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

OPERATING SYSTEMS


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Debian Opens New Primary Mirror in China

Debian announced the opening of a new primary mirror in China. The group says this will significantly reduce latency for users in the region, as well as adding IPv6 support.
The new mirror offers the Debian Package Archive, as well as CD and DVD images, and the organization’s Backport Archive.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

PERIPHERALS


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Livescribe Launches Livescribe Connect Sharing Service

Livescribe launched its new Livescribe Connect service for its Echo and Pulse smartpens. The new software captures users’ written information, which
can then be shared as “Pencast” audio, or as a text-based PDF. This is handled through several software connectors, including Email Connector, which support Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and AOL; Google Docs Connector; Facebook Connector; Evertnote
Connector; Mobile/iPad connector; MyLivescribe connector, a service including 500MB of free online storage; and Computer connector, which moves the stored data directly to a specified folder on the user’s PC. The basic version of Livescribe Connect is free
to all Pulse and 2GB Echo Livescribe customers, while the premium version is free for all 4GB, 8GB and 8GB Echo Pro Pack customers, and $14.99 for everyone else.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

PERSONNEL AND ORGANIZATION


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AT&T Awards $50,000 Grant Toward Joplin Relief Efforts

The AT&T Foundation announced a $50,000 grant to the Greater Ozarks Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross to support storm relief efforts in Joplin, Missouri. The funds will be presented to the local chapter to
help restoration and relief efforts that will benefit victims of the severe weather that affected the Joplin community.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Avaya Unveils New Support Advantage Framework

Avaya introduced a new support model – Support Advantage – that includes 24×7 remote software and hardware support, with additional modular options. The framework will provide 24×7 maintenance coverage, as well as
troubleshooting. It is available in Essential and Premium versions.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Cable&Wireless Taps Andrew Morawski as Managing Director of Americas

Cable&Wireless appointed Andrew Morawski as the Managing Director for its business in the Americas. Morawski will be responsible for the overall commercial and strategic performance of the company in the region. His
specific areas of supervision will include enterprise and carrier sales, marketing, HR, and service delivery operations. Prior to joining Cable&Wireless, Morawski worked for more than a decade at Telstra, most recently
holding the position of President and CEO of Telstra America.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Cisco to Invest $10 Million in Jordan Job Creation

Cisco Systems reported a $10 million USD venture capital investment toward sustainable job creation and economic development in Jordan. It will be targeted at small businesses.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

Comcast Donates $250,000 to Tornado Relief in Alabama

Comcast announced a quarter of a million dollars in contributions to several charities engaged in disaster relief efforts in Alabama following recent, devastating tornadoes in that state. The charities include: the
Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund; the American Red Cross; and one of its local chapters, the Red Cross of West Alabama.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Deloitte Elects Joseph Echevarria as CEO, Punit Renjen as Chairman

Deloitte announced the election of Joseph Echevarria as the company’s new chief executive officer, and Punit Renjen as its new chairman of the board. Eschevarria succeeds Barry Salzberg, who has moved on to the
position of global chief executive officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, while Renjen replaces Sharon Allen, who is retiring from the company. In this new role, Echevarria will be responsible for Deloitte’s subsidiaries, as well as its shared
service functions. He currently serves as chief operating officer, a position he has held since 2007. Renjen is a 23 year veteran of the consulting industry, having held numerous positions at Deloitte.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

Harris Announces CEO’s Departure Date, Transition Plans

Harris Corp announced a CEO succession plan following the announcement of its current chief executive, Howard L. Lance, that he would be retiring at the end of the next fiscal year in June 2012. The company says it
has engaged an unnamed executive search firm to help fill the position. Lance has said he will remain in the position until a suitable replacement can be found, and will continue on as Chairman, if the Board wishes it, for the duration of the transition.
Lance joined Harris at his current position in 2003.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

HP Unveils New Support Center Platform for IT Pros

Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced its new Support Center platform, which provides IT professionals with access to online support tools and mobile technical support . This includes access to the HP Always-On community, for
interacting with other IT professionals, exchanging best practices, and submitting content to a knowledge base. In addition to standard keyword and product searches, clients can locate information through a step-by-step troubleshooting tool, and access the
most popular support documents on demand.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

IBM Opens New Facility in Columbia, Missouri

IBM opened a new technology service delivery center in Columbia, Missouri. The new facility is expected to house as many as 800 employees by the end of 2012, and will focus on supporting the company’s US IT services
clients in the areas of server systems operations, project management, and security services. IBM also has plans for the facility to develop a relationship with the University of Missouri, including recruitment and curriculum enrichment agreements.

Source: Vendor, 5/20/2011

Juniper Appoints New Director Board Member

Juniper Networks named former Avago Technologies SVP and CFO Mercedes Johnson to its director board. Johnson has more than 20 years experience in financial leadership and corporate management. Johnson was also
appointed to the board’s Audit Committee.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

SAIC Appoints Dr. David Heimbrook as CEO of SAIC-Frederick

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Dr. David Heimbrook as chief executive officer of SAIC-Frederick, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. The appointment, effective May 31, will see
Heimbrook succeeding Dr. Larry Arthur, who served in the position since 2000. Heimbrook will be responsible for the management and oversight of all scientific and business activities conducted by the subsidiary. He will lead a staff of approximately 2,000
employees. Prior to joining SAIC-Frederick, Heimbrook was head of discovery for the Oncology Discovery and Translation Area of Hoffman-LaRoche.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Steve Hale Named VP, Channel Sales at Sophos

Steve Hale has been appointed to the position of vice president of global channel sales at Sophos. Hale was formerly in channel sales at both Microsoft and Novell, and in his new position, he will reporting to Mike McGuinness, senior vice president of worldwide sales and field operations.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Sprint Donates $100,000 for Missouri Tornado Relief Efforts

The Sprint Foundation has made a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross to support disaster-relief efforts following the recent
devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri. In addition to the $100,000 donation, the Sprint Foundation is matching American Red Cross donations made in support of Joplin tornado relief made by Sprint employees and retirees, and members of the Sprint board of
directors.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Verizon Donating $500,000 to Domestic Violence Prevention Programs

The Verizon Foundation and the HopeLine from Verizon program will invest $500,000 in New England-based nonprofits that support those
affected by domestic violence. As part of the investment, the foundation is inviting nonprofit agencies in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to apply for a total of $250,000 in grants through the 2011 Verizon Foundation New
England Domestic Violence Solutions Awards RFP. In addition to the RFP grants, another $250,000 in grants will be awarded to support programs that use technology to improve the reach of services to survivors of domestic violence, and to fund a new
entrepreneurial program that will help survivors of domestic violence start businesses.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

Terremark Founder, CEO to Step Down

Terremark Worldwide, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications, announced that founder and CEO Manuel D. Medina will step down from his position effective May 31. Kerry Bailey,
Group President of Enterprise Cloud Strategy and Services for Verizon, will assume leadership of Terremark. Bailey, who has held various executive positions within Verizon, most recently served as chief marketing officer for Verizon Business and chief
operating officer of Cybertrust. In a press release, Verizon said he will work closely with Terremark’s management team to “accelerate the execution of Verizon’s cloud strategy.” Verizon closed its acquisition of data center services company Terremark in
April.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Verizon, AT&T Implement Mobile Giving Programs for Joplin Relief

Verizon Wireless and AT&T have implemented mobile giving programs for customers looking for a simple way to contribute to relief and recovery efforts following the
devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Customers can use their mobile phones to make $10 donations to a variety of nonprofit organizations responding to the tornado . For example, customers can text REDCROSS to 90999 in order to donate $10. Other
organizations include the Convoy of Hope (text CONVOY to 50555); Salvation Army (text JOPLIN to 80888), United Way – Heart of Missouri (text JOPLIN to 864833); and World Vision (text TORNADO to 20222).

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

PUBLIC SAFETY


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DHS Expands Public Awareness Campaign to Washington Ferry System

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded its “If You See Something, Say Something” public awareness campaign to include the Washington State Ferries (WSF). This partnership will help to ensure the safety
and security of riders, customers and crew members throughout the WSF system by encouraging public and key frontline employees to report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

Source: DHS, 5/19/2011

National Hurricane Preparedness Week Declared

US President Barack Obama designated May 22-28, 2011 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week, and urged citizens to learn more about how to protect themselves against hurricanes. FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are partnering to get the message out about the importance of preparedness for hurricanes and other potential natural
disasters.

Source: FEMA, 5/24/2011

Emergency Agencies Respond to Deadly Tornado Aftermath

The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency coordinated disaster response efforts after a category EF-5 tornado devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri on May 22nd. Missouri governor Jay Nixon activated the
Missouri National Guard and directed all available response resources be deployed to the area. In addition to Missouri, tornadoes struck Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Reading, Kansas on May 22nd. On, May 24th, another widespread tornado outbreak slammed
Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas leaving at least 14 dead in its wake. That storm system stretched from Texas to Iowa. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is working through its regional offices to coordinate
with officials in all affected states and stands “ready to assist, as needed.” The Joplin tornado confirmed death toll stood at more than 120 by week’s end, with search and rescue operations transitioning to recovery efforts. Last month’s deadly
“Southeast Outbreak” resulted in 232 tornadoes and 315 people killed across the southeastern US. Federal, state, and local agencies continue recovery efforts in the affected states.

Source: SEMA, 5/24/2011

REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES


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US, UK Move to Strengthen Security Ties

The formation of the National Security Strategy Board was announced at the start of US President Barack Obama’s state visit to the United Kingdom. Headed by the UK and US chief security advisers, it will look at threats from terrorism and rogue states,
the BBC reported. The security board, jointly led by Britain National Security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts and his US counterpart, Tom Donilon, is expected to meet several times a year.

Source: BBC, 5/23/2011

European Union Looks to Simplify, Enhance Data Protection

Last week, the European Commission announced that in an effort to boost data protection, the European Union is considering creating a voluntary registry for companies in third-party nations to adhere to data protection rules in Europe. Speaking at a
business summit in Brussels, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said she planned to simplify the rules of the EU to encourage business opportunities but to further enhance data protection within the region. EurActiv
reported the speech.

Source: EurActiv, 5/19/2011

FCC Says US Lags in Broadband Adoption

The latest Broadband Progress Report to Congress from the Federal Communications
Commission
reveals that approximately 26 million Americans, mostly in rural communities located in every region of the US, are “denied access to the jobs and economic opportunity made possible by broadband.” The FCC report also found that approximately
one-third of Americans do not subscribe to broadband, even when it is available. This suggests that barriers to adoption such as cost, low digital literacy, and concerns about privacy remain too high. The report also noted limited broadband capacity
for schools and libraries as a further indicator that broadband is not being reasonably and timely deployed, and is not available to all Americans. The agency concluded that “without action by the FCC in partnership with the states and the private sector,
prospects for broadband service in many of the areas cited in the report will remain unacceptably low.”

Source: FCC, 5/23/2011

GAO Gives Update on IRS ID Theft Initiatives

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) gave testimony regarding the effort that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has
made to resolve, detect, and prevent innocent taxpayers’ identity theft-related problems, which have resulted from thieves filing fraudulent tax documents using stolen names and Social Security numbers. The GAO has reported on this issue previously and in
its latest testimony, details that the IRS has made progress in developing measures to assess its identity theft initiatives.

Source: GAO, 5/25/2011

NIST Releases Conformance Testing Methodology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a report, identified as IR 7773, which describes combinatorial methods to
conformance testing for document object model events.

Source: NIST, 5/24/2011

UK Expects to Curb Fraud while Improving Electoral Register

The UK Cabinet Office is planning to launch pilot exercises in an effort to improve rates of electoral registration while tackling electoral fraud. The 22 pilot exercises are expected to make the electoral
register more accurate and complete.

Source: Cabinet Office, 5/24/2011

SECURITY FLAWS & FIXES


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Adobe Takes Top 3 Spots on Kaspersky’s Security Threats List for 2011

Adobe software accounted for the top three threats to network security on this year’s Kaspersky IT Threat Evolution
report
. In first place was Adobe reader with its “‘uniqueName’ Buffer Overflow Vulnerability”. The security flaw could potentially give hackers full access to the affected system, including the ability to execute code locally, and steal information.
This vulnerability was found on 41% of computers examined for the report. The second and third place threats were Adobe Flash and Adobe Flash Player respectively. Each plug-in had multiple vulnerabilities, which could result in the same intrusions listed
for Adobe Reader. The Flash vulnerability was found on 31.3% of computers, while the Flash Player security flaw was present on 24.2%. The second largest source of security threats was Sun’s Java JDK/SRE/SDK, which accounted for fourth and fifth place on
the list.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Report Finds that Companies Are Not Ahead of Network Threats

In a new report released this week, Dimension Data, an ICT services provider, revealed that more than 73% of corporate network devices that were
analyzed during 2010 were carrying at least one known security vulnerability. That figure was almost double from 2009. The report also found that a single high risk vulnerability – PSIRT 109444 – which was identified by Cisco in September 2009, was found in 66% of all devices, and was responsible for this high number of flawed network devices.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

Google Fixes Vulnerabilities in Chrome

Four highly critical vulnerabilities in Google Chrome have resulted in the release of a security advisory. Google suggests
that users immediately update to version 11.0.696.71 to alleviate risks.

Source: Secunia, 5/25/2011

IBM Releases Advisory, Patches for Lotus Notes

An advisory was released by IBM to provide information on seven serious flaws in Lotus Notes versions 8.0 and 8.5. IBM also issued patches to fix the
vulnerabilities.

Source: Secunia, 5/25/2011

NSS Labs Says SCADA Fix Failure Behind Talk Cancellation

A planned presentation by NSS Labs on the vulnerabilities that affect Siemens‘ supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems at the TakeDown Conference was cancelled
at the last minute after it was determined that the fixes released by the vendor were still open to penetration. It was suspected that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had issued an warning about the presentation
but NSS Labs CTO Vik Phatak said that the talk was cancelled following the discovery that the fix that Siemens had administered didn’t work and the holes could still be exploited by an attacker. DHS, NSS Labs, and Siemens are collaborating on fixes for
patching SCADA flaws following the appearance last year of Stuxnet, the first worm that targets Siemens’ industrial control systems.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

SECURITY PRODUCTS & COMPANIES


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Global Crossing Adds Security Services to Hosting Infrastructucture

Tier 1 fiber optic network carrier Global Crossing has added virtualized security services to its Virtual Hosting on-demand service infrastructure. The company is using unified threat management technology
from network security company Fortinet to provide the new services. Global Crossing Virtual Hosting Solutions offer virtual servers, as well as the support services for their deployment, through 15 data centers in Latin America. In April, 2011, Level 3
Communications announced that is acquiring Global Crossing.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

GroupLogic Promotes Secure iPad File Management with mobileEcho

GroupLogic has unveiled mobilEcho, a secure mobile file management (MFM) software product for Apple iPad. This new offering enables enterprise IT organizations to provide
corporate file access for enterprise iPad users, based on existing security and access control policies. GroupLogic is offering a free trial of mobilEcho for interested parties at its Web store.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

McAfee Promotes New Compatible Solutions Center, Adds Partners

McAfee has unveiled its Compatible Solutions Center, a new customer initiative that features select Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) partners who have had their products tested and integrated with McAfee offerings.
Additionally, seven new members have joined the SIA program including Intel, MITRE, and NetOptics.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

New Version of Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Tool Available

Microsoft released a new version of the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). EMET, which is available for free, is designed to mitigate exploitation attempts (even of zero-days) by making current
exploitation techniques harder and less reliable.

Source: Vendor, 5/18/2011

Northrop Grumman Receives Follow-On Contract for DoD’s ID System

Northrop Grumman received a follow-on contract to continue work on the US Department of Defense Automated Biometric Identification System (DoD-ABIS). Awarded under the US Army’s Information Technology Enterprise
Solutions 2 Services (ITES-2S) contract, the ID system is designed to let military rapidly identify persons who may pose a threat to national security. Northrop Grumman’s expanded tasks now include systems engineering, software development, infrastructure
and performance engineering, and modeling and simulation support. The new agreement has a ceiling value of $141 million.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Symantec Updates IT Management Suite

New enhancements have been added to Symantec‘s Altiris IT Management Suite 7, including support for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Phone, and HP Web OS. IT Management
Suite provides a management console across physical devices and virtual machines from VMware and Microsoft Hyper, and new reporting capabilities have been included in the newest
version.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Telecom Italia Joins Banca Sella for New Digital Signature Service

Telecom Italia launched a new digital signature service designed to remove the need for customers to ever visit a bank branch or mail in physical documents for the purpose of providing a signature. The carrier
is launching this new SellaDigit service in collaboration with the Banca Sella Group. The signature will be usable from the client’s home computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Security is handled via a PIN number, which will be assigned to each customer
when they sign up for the service, and a single-use transaction code, which will be available from the security devices already in use by Banca Sella customers. The service is available at all Banca Sella Group branches, or through Banca Patrimoni Sella &
C promotors.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

Verizon Security Ops Center Wins ISO Certification

Verizon Communications said it has earned the ISO 9001: 2008 certification for its Converged Security Operations Center (CSOC). Verizon’s CSOC – located in Cary, North Carolina – earned the certification after
passing an assessment conducted by independent auditor UL DQS. The certification is valid for three years, with audits performed every year by UL DQS. ISO 9001: 2008 is a quality-management certification awarded to organizations that meet specific
criteria for assuring quality in the products or services they provide their customers.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

VMware Looks to Boost vShield Capabilities

VMware announced that it is pushing its vShield Manager software-based security architecture to become a “manager of managers” for security within the VMware environment. The vShield Manager would use an agentless
approach with third party products like antivirus software or firewall technology to provide monitoring and reporting.

Source: Vendor, 5/19/2011

SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY


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Google Invests $55 Million in Terra-Gen’s Alta Wind Farm

Google continued its clean energy initiative with a $55 million investment in the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC). The new wind farm will be located at the junction of
the Mojave Desert and the Tehachapi Mountains in southern California. The site is expected to produce 1,550 megawatts of energy, or enough to power about 450,000 homes. Google and co-investor Citibank will actually become the owners of the project as part
of a financial agreement called a “leverage lease”. Under the terms of the lease, the two investors will retain ownership of the wind farm, but will lease it back to its creators, Terra-Gen Power. With this investment Google has pumped a total of $400
million into clean energy projects.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

SMARTPHONES


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Google Previews Mobile Payment System

Google unveiled its mobile payments system, which turns an Android-powered smartphone into an electronic wallet using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. Google, along with Citi, MasterCard, First Data
and Sprint, gave a demo of the Google Wallet app. Google said it is field testing Google Wallet now and plans to release it soon. At launch, Google Wallet will be compatible
with Nexus S 4G by Google, available on the Sprint network. Over time, Google said, it plans to expand support to more phones.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

Telstra Announces Launch of 2 New Android Smartphones

Telstra announced that it will be the exclusive carrier of the HTC Desire S and Wildfire S smartphones in Australia. The Desire S’s features include a 1GHz processor, 5MP camera,
720p video recording, virtual surround sound, and a 3.7" touchscreen with 480 x 800 resolution. The less costly Wildfire’s features include a 600MHz processor, 5MP camera, and a 3.2" touchscreen with 320 x 480 resolution. Both devices are
running on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

Verizon Wireless Debuts LG Revolution Smartphone

Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones announced that the Revolution by LG smartphone will be available today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online
today. The smartphone runs Android 2.2 and comes preloaded with the Netflix application for downloading movies. Revolution runs on Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. The smartphone is priced at $249.99 with a new two-year customer agreement. Revolution
customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a data package. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access; an unlimited data package is available for $29.99 for monthly access. Verizon Wireless said its
Mobile Hotspot feature will be included for a limited time at no additional charge.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

SOCIAL MEDIA


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Storm Survivors Enlist Social Media for News of Loved Ones

Survivors of the deadly tornadoes that tore across the Midwestern US this week are using social media sites like Facebook to post information about missing people in the wake of the storms. The American Red Cross
also opened up its Safe and Well Web site to tornado victims. The site lets people report that they are safe, or to search for information about people who have posted to the site.

Source: Red Cross, 5/25/2011

LinkedIn Sees 109% Growth on First Day of Trading

LinkedIn held its Initial Public Offering this week, closing its first day of trading with a valuation of $8.9 billion, CNN reports. The 109% first day growth makes the company the
most successful Internet IPO since Google’s in 2004. LinkedIn is also the first purely social networking company to go public, a fact that CNN believes will have competitors prepping their own IPOs in droves. It’s not hard to understand this initial fervor
given that the company’s first day ended with a share price of $94, resulting in a valuation of more than 36 times its 2010 revenue. For reference, Google is currently trading at 5 times its 2010 revenue, according to CNN

Source: CNN, 5/23/2011

Twitter Confirms Acquisition of TweetDeck

Twitter finally confirmed its long-rumored acquisition of the team behind TweetDeck, a popular desktop Twitter client. Twitter says it plans to leverage the new software as a platform for brands, publishers, marketers,
and other to track the real-time conversations always occurring on the micro-blogging service. The social media site says it will continue to develop TweetDeck, but suggests it will not be radically changing the software.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

STORAGE


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Fujitsu Releases Next-Gen ETERNUS Storage System

Fujitsu Japan released ETERNUS DX S2, a second generation of its ETERNUS DX disk storage system designed to manage digital data growth and better address business continuity, data integrity, and performance and
bandwidth bottleneck issues. It can be used with Fujitsu’s cloud portfolio, for holistic technology built using servers, storage devices, networking, software, and services.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

IBM Launches Big Data Initiative, New Services

IBM announced plans to expand its analytics services to include a wider range of offerings for customers with “big data” needs. The line will include new software capabilities extremely large volumes of streaming data
using a Hadoop-based analytics framework. IBM says the new product will be able to handle “tens-of-petabytes” of data, and will retain a sub-millisecond response time. The company also plans to launch 20 specific new service offerings, including numerous
analytical tools for business and IT.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

STREAMING MEDIA


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blinkX Debuts App on Roku’s Channel Store

blinkX announced the launch of a new app on the Roku platform. The applications is available from Roku’s Channel Store, and allows users to search blinkX’s media library for videos,
which can then be played back on the Roku device. Searchable categories include Sport; News; Popular, a curated roundup of popular Web content; and Fun, a lineup of videos featuring bloopers, stunts, and pranks.

Source: Vendor, 5/26/2011

SUPERCOMPUTERS


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Cray Announces Its XK6 Operates at 50 Petaflops

Cray is reporting that its new XK6 supercomputer packs 50 petaflops, a statistic that would shatter all previous supercomputing records. According to reports, the XK6 uses NVIDIA Tesla 20-series GPUs, Opteron
processors, and Cray’s own Linux OS. It is also upgrade-able as future technology becomes available. China’s Tianhe-1A held the previous record at about 2.5 petaflops. The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Manno, Switzerland is Cray’s first
customer for the new Cray XK6 system. CSCS – which develops and promotes technical and scientific services for the Swiss research community in the field of high-performance computing – signed a contract with Cray to upgrade its Cray XE6m system, nicknamed
“Piz Palu,” to a multi-cabinet Cray XK6 supercomputer.

Source: Vendor, 5/24/2011

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS


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Avaya to Provide UC for Johnson Controls Upgrade

Avaya Global Services will provide its Aura Unified Communications platform for Johnson Controls, as the vendor looks to migrate from traditional PBX equipment to a new global IP telephony implementation.
Avaya will design, deploy, and manage the entire operation, which extends to over 1,000 locations and 75,000 employees at key hubs in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.

Source: Vendor, 5/23/2011

WEB COMMERCE


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comScore and PMB release New Fused Databse

comScore and PMB Print Measurement Bureau released their second fused database, a collection of information linking Canadians’ online media consumption with statistics on other forms of media consumption. As with
the first database, the newer iteration is available only to PMB and ComScore Canada customers. Findings of the second database include a 10% to 25% rise in readership for magazines leveraging a Web brand; and statistics on the likelihood of visitors to
certain Web sites using certain products. The companies say the database will now be released twice year, in May and November, going forward.

Source: Vendor, 5/25/2011

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