News Briefs for the Week Ending
07/01/2011
Copyright 2011, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid:00020009
Publication Date: 1107
Publication Type: NEWS
ACQUISITIONS & DIVESTITURES
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Capgemini Completes Acquisition of Praxis Technology
Capgemini completed its acquisition of Praxis Technology, a Beijing-based provider of IT and consulting services to the Chinese utility market. The acquisition will be used to enhance Capgemini’s own growth in
China, as well as giving it an instant foothold in the Chinese utilities industry. This is the company’s first acquisition in China. Services provided by the newly acquired firm are expected to include business management consulting, Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) implementation, and application and software development. No financial terms for the acquisition were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
Charter to Acquire Cable TV Systems of US Cable of Coastal Texas
Charter Communications signed a definitive agreement to acquire cable television systems from US Cable of Coastal Texas. The included systems service a total of about 16,000 customers in Missouri, and span the
towns of Hannibal, Mexico, and Moberly. The company plans to use these new systems to expand its own presence in Missouri, a state already contains Charter’s headquarters. This acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2011. No financial
terms were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
News Corp Sells MySpace to Specific Media at Huge Loss
News Corp sold its flagging MySpace social network to Specific Media, a digital media company. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corp will remain a minority stakeholder in
MySpace following the close of the acquisition. Although the exact terms of the purchase were not made public, The Wall Street Journal reported that the purchase was made for $35 million, significantly less than the $100
million News Corp was rumored to be asking. In 2005, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bought Myspace for $580 million.
Source: Vendor, WSJ, 6/30/2011
Oracle Agrees to Acquire Pillar Data Systems
Oracle signed an agreement to acquire Pillar Data Systems, provider of SAN Block I/O storage systems. Oracle says it will use the acquisition to create a line of storage solutions that are optimized to run its
software faster and more efficiently. No financial terms for the transaction were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
PwC to Acquire Management Consulting Firm PRTM
PricewaterhouseCoopers signed a definitive agreement to acquire PRTM, a global management consulting firm. The acquired company will be combined with the PwC global Advisory practice. The transaction is expected to
close some time during the late summer of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. No financial terms for the acquisition were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
TelePacific Acquires Tel West Network Services
TelePacific Communications announced a definitive agreement to acquire Tel West Network Services, a privately-held company that provides telecom services to
approximately 3,400 businesses and government agencies across Texas. Financial terms of the acquisition were not released. TelePacific, headquartered in Los Angeles, serves business customers in California and Nevada. The combined company will be
headquartered in Los Angeles and led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Jalkut. Tel West will continue to operate under its own name, and Jeff Swickard who will continue as President of Tel West. The acquisition follows TelePacific’s recent
announcement that it is purchasing the assets of Telekenex, which includes a nationwide PCI-compliant MPLS/OC-192 backbone, cloud-based security services, managed network services, and a hosted PBX platform.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
US Cable Selling 16,000 Missouri Accounts to Charter Communications
US Cable will sell systems serving about 16,000 subscribers in Missouri to Charter Communications, including systems serving the communities of Mexico, Hannibal, and Moberly.
“With our headquarters located in St. Louis, Charter is pleased to have these cities become part of our largest regional systems, which furthers Charter’s geographic clustering strategy,” said Steven Apodaca, Charter’s president of operations.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
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Agilent Equipping NERI Labs with Research Instruments
Agilent Technologies is collaborating with the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute (NERI) on life sciences and chemical analyses research. Part of NERI’s new laboratory at the National
University will be equipped with Agilent instruments for chemical and bio-analysis, and electronic measurement. The facility will be used mostly by NERI researchers, but will also be open to international scientists and engineers who collaborate with NERI
on international research.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Alcatel Contributes to Global Innovation Index Report
Alcatel-Lucent participated in The Global Innovation Index 2011 edition, a report analyzing the role of technological innovation in the growth prosperity, and sustainability of mature and emerging economies,
worldwide. The report provides data for social policy researchers, companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations, for making recommendations and driving policies to better foster innovation. It also provides a tool for exploring these
efforts. It includes a foreword by CEO Ben Verwaayen, entitled “The World Needs Open Innovation.” Other parties involved in the report include the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and Booz and Co..
Highlights and a full report download are available at http://www.insead.edu/elab.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
BroadVision Names InTouch as Clearvale PaasPort Reseller
BroadVision announced cloud solutions provider InTouch as a Clearvale PaasPort reseller. InTouch – among its numerous products – offers cloud technology to allow separate organizations to connect and collaborate
within a legal, secure, technical framework. It can now resell its own “platform of engagement” with full social networking functionality based on Clearvale Enterprise, BroadVision’s enterprise social network. Clearvale allows for creating and managing
multiple networks for collaboration and communication.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Broadvision Signs Partnership Agreement with InTouch N.V.
BroadVision signed a partnership agreement with InTouch N.V, a cloud solutions provider. The new agreement positions InTouch as a Clearvale PaasPort reseller. This will allow the company to integrate PaasPort’s
social networking functionality into its own cloud solutions for connecting and collaborating within a legal, secure, and technical framework. No terms for the agreement were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
BT Signs Global Innovation Partnership with Deutsche Post DHL
BT signed a “Global Innovation Partnership” agreement with Deutsche Post DHL, a German-based mail and logistics group. Under the terms of the contract, BT will be called on to support the DHL Solutions & Innovations
(DSI) unit, which handles all research projects, and innovations. The goal of the partnership is to develop new logistic service offerings and technical solutions. Areas slated to be researched include RFID tracking and security solutions, supply chain
improvements, and “green and sustainable” logistics.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
CA Announces Plans to Integrate PPM Solution with Salesforce’s Chatter
CA announced plans to integrate its Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) solution with Salesforce.com‘s Chatter private enterprise social networking solution. The companies
say the combined solution will give workers traceability, streamlined workflows, more detailed reporting, and improved collaboration. The joint product will also add capabilities from CA Clarity PPM, as well as CA Technologies’ PPM-related cloud
applications, CA Idea Vision and the most recent releases of CA Agile Vision and CA Product Vision. More information about the new solution is available from CA’s Project and Portfolio
Management page.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Cisco Launches Moroccan ICT Training Academy
Cisco Systems Morocco and the Moroccan Ministry of National Education launched a regional Cisco Networking Academy program, for providing ICT training to the department’s network administrators. The program should
allow it to further develop its communications network, providing improved network management and skills development for trainees. The Networking Academy will provide training for more than 100 IT administrators in 16 regional government academies, and
will also be introduced into technical high schools throughout the country.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Deutsche Telekom Signs Partnership Agreement with Blue Jeans Networks
Deutsche Telekom signed a strategic partnership agreement with Blue Jeans Network, a startup company specializing in cloud-based video conferencing. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly
market a scalable and interoperable videoconferencing solution in Europe before the end of the year. A similar service is already in operation in the US as a Blue Jeans Network products. The companies says the combined solution allows customers to easily
launch new video conferences using anything from smartphones, to tablets, or full-room systems. The solution will be interoperable across provider and protocols, and will only require an Internet connection, and access to a client application, such as Skype.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Microsoft Signs Patent Licensing Agreement with Velocity Micro
Microsoft signed another patent licensing agreement for intellectual property relating to the Android mobile operating system, this time with Velocity Micro. The agreement provides broad coverage for all of the
company’s Android-based devices, including its upcoming Cruz Tablet. As usual, the contents of the agreement were not disclosed. However, it was revealed that Microsoft will be collecting royalties as a result of the deal.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Microsoft Signs Licensing Agreement with General Dynamics Itronix
Microsoft signed an agreement with General Dynamics Itronix including coverage under its patent portfolio for Itronix devices running on the Android platform. Although
no specific terms were disclosed, the companies did reveal that Microsoft will be receiving royalties under the agreement. Microsoft claims it has signed more than 700 licensing agreements since it launched its IP licensing program in December 2003.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Consortium Wins Nortel Patent Portfolio for $4.5 Billion
A consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research
In Motion, and Sony has purchased Nortel Network‘s remaining patent portfolio for $4.5 billion in an auction held earlier this week. The Nortel
patent portfolio comprises approximately 6,000 patents and patent applications covering information and communication technologies, including telecommunications, Internet search, and social networking. It covers mobile, LTE, and data
networking as well as optical, Internet, service provider, semiconductors, and other patents. Google had offered more than $900 million for the patent portfolio in a “stalking horse” bid filed in April. The sale will require
approval from bankruptcy courts in Canada and the United States, Nortel said. A joint bankruptcy court hearing has been scheduled for July 11. In a press release, Ericsson said it expected
the sale to close in the third quarter of 2011. Nortel has been operating under bankruptcy protection since 2009.
Source: Vendor, 7/01/2011
Oracle Names Capgemini Diamond Level Partner
Oracle named the Capgemini Group as its latest Diamond level partner, the highest rank available in its Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program. To achieve this status,
Capgemini has to prove its ability to successfully implement Oracle software, and to help customers around the world leverage technology to accelerate their own success. Capgemini currently holds 22 Oracle Specializations, 5 Advanced Specializations, and
maintains a stable of more than 2,700 Oracle specialists.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
PCCW Combines Ethernet Network with Tinet’s
PCCW announced that it has bridged its Ethernet network with the network of Tinet, a Neutral Tandem company. The companies say the new combined network will provide improved network coverage and service availability.
The duo plans to begin offering joint products and services to connect customers with more than 70 countries worldwide. The pair’s first collaborations will take place in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and will combine PCCW’s global connectivity with
Tinet’s international Ethernet presence.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
SAP Renews Reseller Agreement with IBM
SAP renewed its reseller relationship with IBM for the launch of the IBM SPSS Modeler solution. SAP plans to immediately begin selling the product under the name SAP BusinessObjects
Predictive Workbench software by IBM. The agreement was signed to replace a contract between SPSS and Business Objects, before the company’s were acquired by IBM and SAP respectively. More information about the new solution is available from the SAP Business Analytics Newsroom.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Yahoo and Benchmark Capital Create Joint Apache Hadoop Venture
Yahoo joined with Benchmark Capital to found a new joint venture called Hortonworks. The new company will be an independent entity staffed architects and core contributors to the open source Apache Hadoop technology
created by Yahoo. The goal of the new organization will be to increase global investments in the Hadoop platform, and to accelerate its adoption. Hortonworks plans to accomplish this by designing a more robust, easier to install, and easier to use version
of Apache Hadoop. The formation of the joint venture is expected to close in July 2011.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Yahoo Signs New Co-Branding Partnership with Frontier Communications
Yahoo announced a new partnership with Frontier Communications, an Internet service provider specializing in connecting customers who live in rural or remote areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo will deliver
customized online experiences to Frontier customers across 27 states. The alliance will results in the creation of a co-branded Frontier-Yahoo Web mail service, which will launch later this year. The agreement also includes provision for co-branded content
experiences, home pages, toolbars, and search bars. No financial terms for the contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
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Cisco, Chinese Province Complete “Connecting Sichuan” Program
Cisco and the Sichuan Provincial Government announced the successful completion of Cisco’s “Connecting Sichuan” program, which they said “has achieved remarkable results in rebuilding and improving local education and
healthcare systems” after a devastating 2008 earthquake in the Chinese province. The “Connecting Sichuan” program, carried out over the last three years, is the first successful public-private partnership program between Chinese government and a foreign
corporation, Cisco said. Under the program, 32 “smart” hospitals, four connected regional healthcare collaboration networks, six regional healthcare data centers, and three mobile clinics have been built. The program also designed and delivered three new
schools, an education cloud, and virtual education, and has set up 25 Cisco Networking Academy venues designed to support higher vocational education in the local regions.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
New Frameworks Evaluate Program Weaknesses, Impact
Government contractor Mitre, the SANS Institute, and the US Department of Homeland Security announced two frameworks for evaluating programming
weaknesses and their impact on critical business systems. The first is the Common Weakness Scoring System, which defines the severity of certain weaknesses and prioritizes them by their potential impact. While the
ratings help developers to focus on taming certain defects in their code, the lists do not measure the impact of the vulnerabilities on a specific company’s environment. For that, Mitre created the Common Weakness
Risk Analysis Framework, or CWRAF, designed to allow a company to create a “vignette,” or scenario, that combines the domain in which the software is used along with the technology and business impact.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Symantec Provides Security Analysis on iOS, Android
Symantec has published a new whitepaper that examines the security approaches
employed in Apple‘s iOS and Google‘s Android in an effort to understand the security risks of deploying these devices in the enterprise. The paper finds that while iOS and Android
offer improved security over traditional desktop-based operating systems, both technologies are still vulnerable to many existing categories of attacks.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
CALL CENTER
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VirtualLogger Unveils AgentPrescience Automated Call and Survey System
VirtualLogger unveiled AgentPrescience PCS, a new cloud-based system designed to automate the process of recording a customer service call, and delivering the post-call survey to the customer. Features include
speaker recognition technology to automatically document which employee is on the call, and computer telephony integration (CTI)-free operation. VirtualLogger says this approach streamlines the call and survey process in three ways: reducing costs by
eliminating the need for accompanying CTI systems; automatically mapping the follow-up survey to the context and responding agent of the call; and using cloud-based recording to make the stored call available from anywhere. VirtualLogger notes that
AgentPrescience is compliant with all current regulatory rules.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
CARRIER SERVICES
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Belgacom Launches Proximus Day Passes
Belgacom launched its new Proximus Day Pass. The new Internet access offering allows customer to purchase single-day allowances of 10 MB for EUR 5.99, or 50 MB for EUR 18.15. The data is compatible with smartphones,
laptops, and tablet devices. Overages will be billed at a rate of EUR 1.50 per MB. Belgacom says customers can get started by activating their Daily Travel Pass, after which they will automatically be signed up for the service when using data outside of
Belgium.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
China Mobile Now Has More than 611 Million Subscribers
China Mobile released its May customer numbers. The wireless carrier said – as of May 31, 2011 – it had 611.1 million subscribers, having added a little more than 5 million customers during the month of May .
Some 31.9 million of its customers use 3G devices.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
China Unicom Adds Broadband, Wireless Subscribers
China Unicom released its May operational statistics, which charted the addition of 2.2 million new wireless customers, 800,000 new broadband customers, and a loss of 303,000 traditional wireline customers.
China Unicom now has a total of 157.2 million 2G wireless and 22 million 3G wireless subscribers. In its wireline business, it has 95.8 million local access wireline subscribers and 51.2 million broadband subscribers.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Sprint Launches 4G Enterprise WAN
Sprint announced that it is now offering businesses Sprint 4G Enterprise WAN (wide area network), a fixed wireless access solution that provides wireless connectivity to the Sprint Global MPLS (Multiprotocol Label
Switching) network. 4G Enterprise WAN provides 4G and 3G wireless access as primary and secondary network connectivity, backed by a 99.95 percent availability service level agreement. Sprint said Explorer Pipeline, which operates a 1,900-mile fuel pipeline
from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, is an early user of the new solution.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Telecom New Zealand Unveils New Prepaid Bundle Plans
Telecom New Zealand launched a line of new Prepaid Value Packs. The packs offer bundles of text, minutes, and/or data for $20 per month, in addition to the cost of a prepaid calling plan. The bundles are Talk,
which includes 40 minutes of talk time with a 90-day expiry; TalkText, which includes 40 minutes and 1000 text messages with a 30-day expiry; and TalkTextData, which includes 20 minutes, 1000 text messages, and 200MB of data with a 30-day expiry. More
information about the new service options are available from the carrier’s Prepaid Value page.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Telstra Launches New High Definition Voice Calling on Next G Network
Telstra launched its new High Definition Voice calling across its entire Next G mobile network. The company says any compatible handset will now be able to deliver clearer voice, and reduced background noise when
running on the Next G network. The upgrade is made possible by Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate coding (WB-AMR), a technology which increases the range of sound frequencies which can be transmitted over the network. The HD voice calling upgrade is available
now, free of charge, to all customers with compatible devices.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
Vodafone to Offer Bundle of Office 365 with its Vodafone One Net
Vodafone announced plans to offer a new service to small and medium-sized businesses which bundles Microsoft Office 365 with its own Vodafone One Net hosted telephony
offering. The carrier says the plan is designed to gives smaller businesses access to ” enterprise-class productivity and telecoms services on a more affordable, rental basis”. Vodafone says the combination of Microsoft’s cloud-based solution, and its own
intelligent call routing will allow a customer’s workforce to operate from almost anywhere. The solution is expected to begin rolling out to select European markets later this year.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
ZTE Builds VAS Platform for Vodafone Essar
ZTE announced that it has built and deployed a value-added service (VAS) platform for Vodafone Essar in India. The platform will be used to deliver the Vodafone Newswrap service to subscribers. Newswrap provides
daily news via MMS to the subscribers mobile phone. ZTE will also remain a partner in the Newswrap service through a revenue sharing model with Vodafone Essar. The company says this is the first step in its transition from being solely a hardware provider,
to a diversified organization with value added services numbered among its products. No financial terms were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
CLOUD COMPUTING
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AWS Announces Two New Capabilities for Elastic Beanstalk
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced two new capabilities for its AWS Elastic Beanstalk product. First, using the AWS Management Console, customer can now save an environment’s configuration, launch a new
environment with a saved configuration, or apply a saved configuration to an existing environment. AWS says this allows users to seamlessly launch multiple environments with their preferred settings. Additionally, Elastic Beanstalk now has the ability to
swap URLs between environments, allowing administrators to avoid the need for downtime when deploying a new application version. More information about both new features is available from the AWS Elastic Beanstalk release notes page.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
AWS Reduces Data Transfer Pricing in US and Europe
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a new pricing scheme for data transfer, effective July 1, 2011. First, the company will no longer charge a separate fee for Internet data transfer in. Internet data transfer
out will now come in three tiers: 1 PB (petabyte), 5 PB, and greater than 5PB. All of these new tiers, as well as all existing tiers of usage in the US and Europe have had their prices reduced. These changes also affect AWS’ content delivery network,
Amazon CloudFront. AWS has set up a Web site detailing the new pricing scheme for all included tiers and services.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Cisco Unveils AppHQ Cloud Ecosystem for Cius Applications
Cisco Systems introduced the cloud-based AppHQ, an “application ecosystem” that provides tools and resources for creating, managing, and deploying tablet applications for the Cius tablet. The AppHQ storefront includes
capabilities for testing, validation, and store-within-a-store browsing. The Android-based Cius was created for enterprise use, and combines voice, video, collaboration, and virtualization capabilities.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Proofpoint Releases Proofpoint Compliance for Microsoft Office 365
Proofpoint announced the release of Proofpoint Compliance for Microsoft Office 365, a suite of cloud-based products designed to provide regulatory
compliance support for the Microsoft Office 365 email application. The solution allows for compliance with regulatory standards such as email encryption, email archiving, email security, and data loss prevention (DLP). Proofpoint says the product also
offers easy deployment, reduced total cost of ownership, and predictable costs. Proofpoint Compliance for Microsoft Office 365 is available now for shared, dedicated, and federal deployments.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS & EQUIPMENT
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Alcatel Introduces Cutting-Edge FP3 Chip for Operators
Alcatel-Lucent introduced its next-generation FP3 network processor, to help telecommunications operators eliminate bottlenecks and improve access to rich online services such as broadcast quality HD video
conferencing and other business applications. The technology can boost capacity and connection speeds while also reducing Web congestion. It delivers a performance increase of up to 4X comparable technology, supporting 400G-bps transmission speeds. The FP3
will be commercially available in 2012.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Cisco to Deploy Network Architecture for Peruvian Bank
Cisco Systems Peru agreed to provide its Borderless Network Architecture for Peru Credit Bank, to improve system availability for better customer service.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Ericsson Demonstrates New LTE Advanced Services
Ericsson demonstrated commercial LTE Advanced services featuring speeds more than 10X faster than those experienced by Swedish LTE consumers. The system is based on commercial hardware and features carrier
aggregation and extended multiple-input, multiple-output functionality to allow information to be retrieved and sent more quickly. The demonstration was held before the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency in Kista. It was based on Ericsson’s multi-mode,
multi-standard radio base station.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Ericsson Provides Software for Telstra HD Network Upgrade
Ericsson provided a software upgrade for Telstra’s existing core and WCDMA network in Australia, covering more than 2.1 million square kilometers. The upgrade includes Mobile Softswitch Solution and WCDMA software,
and will allow Telstra’s high-definition (HD) voice customers to access services on compatible HD voice handsets. HD voice is the latest way to transport speech across a mobile network. It improves voice quality by capturing a broader range of audible
speech.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Harris Corp Receives $23.6 Million Contract from Floyd County, Georgia
Harris Corp received a contract from Floyd County, Georgia to deploy a new digital radio system in support of its public safety first responders. The system will include 10 colocation sites, and will run on the
800MHz spectrum. Harris will be using its Harris P25IP radio product to fulfill the order. The project has a total value of $23.6 million.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
HP to Extend Network Services for Three US School Districts
HP Networking reported it will deploy technology for three US school districts – Thompson School District (Colorado), Westerly Public Schools (Rhode Island), and Paso Robles School District (California) – to
improve network performance and allow them to better address the increased bandwidth consumption required by thousands of students and staff members. It will also allow IT departments to deliver on-demand services more easily. HP also announced it will
provide laptops for the Derry Township School District of Hershey, PA, US.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Huawei Offers Network Management System for Bearer Networks
Huawei Technologies launched its iManager U2100 network management system (NMS), for managing super large-scale bearer networks and – when used with the U2000 – offers network operation and maintenance for super
large-scale all-IP networks as well. The NMS can help manage network faults while also acting as a data center to provide information for planning network-wide resources, services, software and hardware, and standby parts to address the increase in
communication bearer networks.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Huawei Unveils 10T Multi-Service OTN Prototype
Huawei Technologies introduced its over-10T multi-service optical transport network (MS-OTN) prototype, during a special demonstration in Monaco. The device can be upgraded to manage 20T+ capacity, and features
uniform service switching and all-service access. It also supports future evolution to OTN networks.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Huawei Deploys Mobile Number Portability for India’s IDEA
Huawei Technologies and GSM mobile services operator IDEA completed a joint commercial mobile number portability (MNP) implementation in India. Huawei provided 470 sets of equipment – including 6,000 links – for
IDEA, without interrupting services, and migrated IDEA to its signaling transfer point-based MNP solution. The deployment will provide portability services to 63 million + subscribers, and allows the network to support an all-IP implementation.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Huawei, Telenor Launch LTE Site in the Arctic Circle
Huawei Technologies and Telenor Norway launched a rugged LTE site on Svalbard, the remote archipelago located in the Arctic Circle. The equipment was designed to withstand harsh winds and a regular temperature of -50
degrees Fahrenheit. Huawei has served as the sole wireless vendor of Telenor – a Norwegian telecommunications firm that provides services on the islands – since 2009. It is also handling Telenor’s GSM/UMTS network modernization in Norway.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Juniper Provides Switches for Chinese Internet TV Firm
Juniper Networks deployed an Ethernet switching infrastructure for Youku.com, an Internet TV company, for its data center and content delivery network caching points in China. It should allow Youku to better scale
its data center and content distribution network.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Level 3 Expands Global Network Reach to Slovenia and Croatia
Colorado-headquartered Level 3 announced it has added points-of-presence in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia – giving customers there access to Level 3’s global network and portfolio of IP-based communications
services. Level 3 said the new points-of-presence underscore its commitment to expanding its network in Eastern Europe, which is viewed by Level 3 as a growth region for Internet traffic. Level 3 said it can now offer its Croatian and Slovenian customers
new services, including Ethernet private line and wavelength transport services, high-speed Internet protocol, direct Internet access, and virtual private network, as well as content and media delivery services.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
QuantHouse Selects Level 3 for Transport Services
Level 3 said it has been selected to provide ultra-low-latency transport services from London to Stockholm by QuantHouse, a global provider of end-to-end systematic trading
solutions. The route, which was recently added to Level 3’s portfolio of low-latency offerings, provides financial services customers high-speed connectivity between Europe’s largest trading market and the growing financial market in Stockholm, Level 3
said.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
NSN, Juniper Win Broadband Network Upgrade Deal
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Juniper Networks were selected to upgrade the network of Italian broadband provider FASTWEB. NSN said it has deployed Juniper Networks’ high-capacity T1600 flagship core routers, which were added to a Multiservice IP Backbone to integrate with FASTWEB’s existing core and access networks.
Financial terms of the deal were not released. FASTWEB is a unit of Swiss telecom company Swisscom Group.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Nokia Siemens to Design Dutch Mobile Core Network
Nokia Siemens Networks was awarded a contract to design, implement, and support Intercity Zakelijk’s mobile core network in the Netherlands. The NSN technology and services should allow the virtual
mobile operator to provide new, differentiated services for its business customers. The deployment includes mobile softswitches, Evolved Packet Core technology, subscriber data management and repositories, operation support systems, billing mediation, and
a services platform supporting GSM and 3G core networks.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
PAETEC’s Intellifiber Wins DISA Edge Fiber Contract
PAETEC subsidiary Intellifiber received a contract from the Defense Information System Agency (DISA) to provide the Defense Enterprise Computing Center (DECC) with edge fiber infrastructure. Intellifiber will provide
the DECC with high-availability fiber services, including fiber access laterals to its backbone in Pennsylvania. The agreement has a three-year duration. No financial terms were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Telecom New Zealand Confirms Plans to Close CDMA Network In July 2012
Telecom New Zealand confirmed its plans to close its CDMA mobile network on July 31, 2012. The network has been slated for closure since the launch of the XT Mobile Network in 2009. The company says the network
will continue to operate normally until that date. However, after the network’s closure, users with CDMA-based mobile devices will no longer be able to make or receive calls or exchange text messages. More information about the upcoming network closure is
available from Telecom New Zealand’s Web site.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Simplot Taps Zayo for Metro Ethernet Connections
Fiber services provider Zayo, has won a multi-year contract with food processing and agribusiness company J.R. Simplot to provide “lit” high-bandwidth connectivity to
each of Simplot’s 10 facilities in Idaho. Zayo is providing 10Gbps Wavelength service between Simplot’s two enterprise data centers as well as ring-protected, metro Ethernet service connecting its Idaho locations with facilities across the US and
internationally.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Zayo to Expand Fiber Infrastructure in Cincinnati
Colorado-based Zayo, which provides bandwidth infrastructure and carrier-neutral colocation services, said it plans to expands its fiber network in Cincinnati, Ohio as part of an agreement to deliver services for one of its
large wholesale customers. Several miles of new network will be added as a result of the expansion, and Zayo will double its on-net building count in Cincinnati and will bolster the route diversity. Zayo’s Cincinnati network also provides access to
bandwidth infrastructure services throughout Zayo’s Northeast and Midwest regional network, which includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
CONFERENCING
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Skype Approved for Use by Members of US Congress
Skype announced that the US Committee on Administration has cleared the use of its VoIP product by members of congress. The company says this will allow representatives to reduce travel times and costs, and to improve
communications, transparency, and accountability. Skype says it has worked closely with the Congressional network security team to ensure that its software and network of safe for use by lawmakers and government officials. The communications company says
it hopes this will be the first step in a wider adoption of its VoIP and video calling services by the US government.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
CONSULTING & MANAGED SERVICES
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Dell to Support Towers Watson Data Center Consolidation
Dell Services agreed to provide support services and support for human resources consulting firm Towers Watson, to aid in its data center transformation program. It will
consolidate nine Towers Watson data centers into two compute environments, housing its business operations. The five-year agreement also includes a next-generation Dell compute platform, and covers data center consolidation, infrastructure implementation,
and managed support services.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Dell to Provide Hyatt with Assorted IT, Network Services
Dell Services signed a contract with Hyatt to provide asset and inventory management, security, and project services to support a single point of contact for end-user
support and incident management, with multi-channel access, logging, and tracking of all IT incidents and contacts. It will also provide network and server support services. The agreement spans five years.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
HP Consulting Providing Services to Serbian Telecom
HP announced that Telekom Serbia has completed the first steps in a transformation of its operations and business support systems (OSS and BSS) designed to improve services
and cut costs. HP Solutions Consulting Services said that it helped the telecom company transform OSS functions including service
fulfillment (activation of new customers on the network) and service assurance (detection and resolution of network problems). HP also helped the company evaluate BSS functions including billing and customer care systems.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
IBM to Modernize and Expand Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
IBM signed a contract with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to support he financial institution’s program of modernization and business expansion. Under the terms of the agreement, IBM will be called on to provide
hardware, software, and IT services in support of the bank’s business growth and strategic shift from manual financial processes to real-time financial services. IBM claims the project will allow the CBE increase its customers by 25% per year, install 200
new ATMs, and open 500 new branches over the next 5 years. No financial terms for the contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Northrop Grumman Signs Global Supply Chain Contract with Australia
Northrop Grumman signed a Global Supply Chain (GSC) Deed with the Australian Department of Defence. The goal of the contract is to let the Australian government agency compete for the global supply chains of
multinational primes. Northrop Grumman says the agreement contains a “mechanism that will enable the Australian Government to fund Northrop Grumman to assist smaller Australian companies to compete for work within the corporation”. No financial terms for
the contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Siemens Chooses Verizon for Global Identity Authentication
German conglomerate Siemens has chosen a Verizon solution to authenticate users of Siemens’ communications systems. Siemens’ in-house PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) solution and user identity certificates are now
fully-authorized by Verizon’s OmniRoot certificate chaining services, the company said. Verizon Business, through its Terremark subsidiary, offers managed security services; governance, risk and compliance
solutions; data loss and prevention solutions; and identity management solutions.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
CYBERCRIME
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Hackers Take Down Al Qaeda Web Site
Flashpoint Global Partners, a group that monitors Al Qaeda’s communications, reported that the terrorist organization suffered a hacker attach that shut down its Internet channels. Unknown hackers are
responsible for the attack but it is suspected that the US or UK governments could be behind it.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Beware of WiFi Hacking via New Android App
Lookout Mobile Security has revealed that an Android app can allow anyone to spy on traffic on WiFi networks and possible gain access to network accounts. The app, called FaceNiff, provides “one-touch hacking,”
according to Lookout’s CTO Kevin Mehaffey. To protect against this type of attack, users are advised to encrypt their communications with SSL.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
MasterCard Site Hacked Again by WikiLeaks Supporter
MasterCard‘s Web site was under attack this week for the second time in six months by a supporter of WikiLeaks. An individual using the moniker “ibomhacktivist” appeared to be the one responsible for the hacking.
Last December, the hacker group “Anonymous” launched targeted attacks against the credit card company after MasterCard blocked payments made to WikiLeaks. MasterCard confirmed in a statement that its Web site experienced a disruption but said that no
cardholders were affected by the cyber attack.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
DATA BREACHES
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AZ Public Safety Department Network Breached by Hacker Group
The Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) confirmed on Wednesday that its Web site had been under cyber attack by a hacker group known as Antisec. The breach released personal information about DPS employees and
documents. The stolen data was posted on Antisec’s Web site. As a result of this attack, the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) has been activated.
Source: AZDPS, 6/29/2011
Latest Data Breach Victim: Gannett
Gannett‘s database has been hacked and personal details regarding subscribers to its publications, including US government officials and military leaders, have been stolen, the media company said in an email. The
breach of Gannett Government Media, which publishes Air Force Times, Army Times, and Military Times, was first discovered back
on June 7, and information including subscribers’ names, passwords, and email addresses were stolen as well as duty status and service branch for those subscribers who are in the military.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
DATA CENTERS
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IBM to Build Data Center for PRAVEX-BANK
IBM signed a five-year agreement with PRAVEX-BANK to provide a new data center with IBM servers, storage, software, and services. The goal of the project is to automate the bank’s customer service systems, and to bring
the financial institution into compliance with the Ukraine’s new ban on hosting customer data on foreign servers. PRAVEX-Bank maintains more than 400 branches, and more than 1 million customers across the Ukraine. No financial terms for the agreement were
disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
DBMS
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CA Launches New Lineup of Mainframe 2.0 Solutions
CA launched the next phase of products in its Mainframe 2.0 line. The new and updated offerings include CA Mainframe Software Manager, which features new “Shield-like capabilities” designed to streamline software
configuration; CA Mainframe Software Stack, a collection of 234 software products designed to improve mainframe operational efficiency; CA Endevor Software Change Manager, a software solution designed to simplify system management, and streamline IT tasks;
CA SYSVIEW Performance Management, which conserves system resources for cross-enterprise and mainframe efficiency; and CA Database Management solutions for DB2 for z/OS, which are designed to streamline database administration, improve performance, and add
DB2 support. More information about the new and existing components of CA’s Mainframe 2.0 line are available at the line’s product page.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
DESKTOPS
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Acer to Provide Systems for Thailand School Development
Acer International was selected by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority to supply computer systems for its School Computer Development Project, for enhancing computer literacy in schools. Acer
will provide 20,625 PCs, 436 servers, educational software, and networking technology, in Thailand, making it the largest education tender project in the country.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
E-READERS & E-BOOKS
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Pew: E-reader Ownership Growth Outpaces Tablets
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a new study, which found that the percentage of US adults with an e-book
reader doubled from 6% to 12% between November 2010 and May 2011 while tablet computers have not seen the same level of growth among adults in recent months. In May 2011, 8% of adults report owning a tablet computer such as an iPad, Samsung Galaxy, or
Motorola Xoom. This is roughly the same percentage of adults who reported owning this kind of device in January 2011 (7%), and represents just a 3 percentage-point increase in ownership since November 2010.
Source: Pew, 6/29/2011
ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SOFTWARE
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Cisco Updates its Quad Collaboration Platform
Cisco Systems announced its upcoming release of Quad 2.5, a new version of its enterprise collaboration platform, and reported that ACS – a Xerox company – will offer hosted managed deployment in the US and Canada,
The update includes pre-built integration with top content management and IM platforms from EMC, Microsoft, and IBM, as well as a new mobile application for the Cius Android tablet. It offers capabilities to help customize it, plus services to accelerate
engagement and adoption. ACS will provide professional services and integration for channel partners.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Fujitsu Subsidiary Rolls Out SaaS Meal Delivery Mgmt Service
Fujitsu Japan and its Fujitsu Chugoku Systems subsidiary began selling its new SaaS technology for dinner-home deliveries, in Japan. It can manage processes such as member data, orders, deliveries, and fee
collection. It uses Fujitsu data centers to provide a monthly, use-based fee system.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Fujitsu Scanners, OCR Software Deployed for Chinese Census
Fujitsu Japan reported that the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC) in Beijing concluded its 6th National Census Project in April, using large-volume Fujitsu document scanners and Chinese optical character
recognition software for recording handwritten data. NBSC – which estimated there are more than 1.3 billion Chinese citizens in its once-a-decade survey – released the results of this project on April 28th. The Fujitsu technology was used to scan about 740
million census sheets with handwritten data, at hundreds of NBSC offices.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Microsoft Announces Global Launch of Office 365
Microsoft announced the global launch of its new Office 365 cloud-based service. The new offering combines Microsoft Office with SharePoint
Online, Microsoft Exchange Online, and Microsoft Lync Online. Office 365 will receive continual automatic updates, and is billed on a monthly subscription basis through various service plans. Office 365 for small businesses and Office 365 for enterprises
are both available now. Pricing begins at $6 per user/per month. New customers can sign up for a 30-day free trial of the product at its Web site.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Mozilla Releases New Version of Thunderbird Email Client
Mozilla announced the release of a new version of Thunderbird, it email client. The latest iteration includes more than 390 improvements and performance enhancements according to its designers. The upgrades focus on
making the software easier to use, reducing its startup time, and making it more responsive. Several other areas have also been improved, such as RSS feeds, Attachment management, and Tabs. The newest version of Thunderbird can be downloaded from the
software’s home page.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Oracle Announces New VM Template for MySQL Enterprise Edition
Oracle announced a new VM Template for its MySQL Enterprise Edition. Oracle says the new solution offers a pre-installed,
pre-configured, and certified software stack which includes Oracle VM Server for x86, Oracle Linux with the “Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel”, and MySQL Enterprise Edition. The purpose of the new Template is to simplify installation, configuration, and
ongoing maintenance operations, while allowing customers to achieve faster time to market and reduced costs, Oracle says.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
FINANCIAL
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Accenture Announces Record Revenue, Increased EPS in Q3 2011
Accenture reported its financial results for the third quarter ended May 31, 2011. Quarterly revenues totaled $7.2 billion, up from $5.98 billion, reported for the same period in 2010. Net income was $628 million,
or $0.93 per share, compared to the $563.5 million, or $0.73 per share reported for the third quarter of 2010. On these results, the company predicted a fourth quarter revenue range of $6.4 billion to $6.6 billion, and a FY earnings per share range of
$3.36 to $3.40, an increase over its former prediction of $3.22 to $3.30.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Accenture to Join S&P 500 Index
Accenture announced plans to join the S&P 500 Index. According to the company, Standard & Poor’s will add it to its index of common stock after the close of trading on July 5, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
AT&T Board Declares Quarterly Dividend
AT&T said its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 a share on the company’s common shares. The dividend is payable on August 1, 2011, to stockholders of record at the close of business on July
8, 2011.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Citrix Makes Strategic Investment in Graymatics
Citrix made a strategic investment in Graymatics, a “stealth mode” company currently designing a “highly scalable cloud platform for content-based analysis of video and other digital media”. Graymatics plans to
produce products to enhance workload-focused enterprise computing, and create cloud technologies with media-centric services, features and analytics. This is the fourth investment made by the company’s Citrix Startup Accelerator.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Lenovo Submits Public Cash Tender Offer for Medion
Lenovo Germany Holding – a wholly owned Lenovo subsidiary – submitted its public tender offer to all third-party shareholders in Medion, to acquire their shares. The cash
offer is for 13 EUR ($18.90 USD) per share, subject to the terms and conditions described in the offer document. The acceptance period for the takeover offer began June 28, 2011, and ends August 1st.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Lockheed Martin Declares Q3 Dividend of $0.75
Lockheed Martin declared a dividend of $0.75 for the third quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. This amount will be payable on Sept. 23, 2011 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Sept. 1,
2011.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Oracle Posts Impressive Gains for Q4, 2011
Oracle reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending May 31, 2011. For the quarter, revenue was $10.7 billion, up 13% over the $9.5 billion reported for the same period last year. Net
income was $3.2 billion, or $0.62 per share, compared to $2.36 billion, or $0.46 per share, a 36% year-over-year increase. For the year, revenues totaled $33.6 billion, up 33% over the $26.8 billion reported for 2010. Net income was $8.55 billion, or $1.67
per share, a 39% increase over the $6.13 billion, or $1.21 per share recorded for the prior year. Oracle also announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share. This amount will be payable to all shareholders of record by the close of business on July
13, 2011. The company pointed to its Exadata and Exalogic systems as being largely responsible for its success this year.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
TIBCO Posts Revenue Revenue, 40% EPS Gains for Q2 2011
TIBCO announced its financial results for the second quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. The company’s revenue totaled a record-setting $216.4 million, up from the $173 million reported for the same period last year. Net
income was $21.04 million, or $0.12 per share, a 40% increase when compared to the $12.81 million, or $0.08 per share reported for Q2 2010. The company also noted that it repurchased 1.6 million of its own shares over the course of the second quarter.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
ZTE Announces 1 Million Share Purchase by Management
ZTE announced that its management has increase its shareholding through the purchase of 1 million “A shares”. The shares were acquired with individual funds via the secondary market, for market price. The company
says this move is part of its long-term market strategy.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
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Accenture Receives $17.2M Contract from USAF Electronic Systems Center
Accenture received a contract from the US Air Force’s Electronic Systems Center Capabilities Integration Directorate (ESC/XR) for risk reduction and prototyping for advanced command and control services.
Accenture’s tasks will include the development of advanced decision support services, information exchanges, and system interoperability protocols. The agreement has a 24-month period of performance, and a total value of $17.2 million.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Harris Corp Receives $56.7 Million FAA Contract for OASIS Program
Harris Corp received a contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade and manage the system that provides real-time weather data and flight-planning capabilities for the entire aviation community
of Alaska. Under the terms of the Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) program Harris will provide integrated flight planning and real-time weather briefing capabilities to FAA Specialists. The program will also support “Notice to
Airmen” (NOTAM) messages, as well as satellite and radar imagery. The agreement has a one-year base period, one one-year option, and three six-month options. The total potential value of the contract is $56.7 million.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Northrop Grumman to Develop Fraud Prevention System for Medicare
Northrop Grumman signed a contract to develop a fraud prevention system for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) National Fraud Prevention Program. The system will be used to identify high-risk
claims in an effort to prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and other violations of the Medicare program. Northrop Grumman plans to fulfill the contract by developing a system using analytic techniques, including predictive analytics, linkage analysis,
outlier analysis, network analysis, behavioral analysis, and other statistical techniques. The task order is valued at $77 million over one year, with three additional one-year extensions.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
SAIC/Tetra Tech Joint Venture Receives $10 Million INL Contract
Integrated Justice Systems International, a joint venture between Tetra Tech and SAIC, received a contract from the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to
provide worldwide civilian police and criminal justice assistance. The company will be called on to provide program management, criminal justice, and life and mission support to countries in unstable situations. Other tasks will include technical
assistance, training, logistics, and infrastructure services to aid in the Department’s plans to strengthen local criminal justice systems in affected countries. The contract has a one-year base period, four one-year options, and a total value of more than
$10 million if all options are exercised.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
INDUSTRY GROUPS
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Toshiba Participating in Energy Systems Network Group
Toshiba Japan announced its participation in the Energy Systems Network, a nonprofit organization focused on realizing the potential of clean energy technologies
and advancing diverse “smart community” initiatives in the US. Other partners include SAIC, Purdue University, and The University of Notre Dame.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
INTERNET
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Google Announces Plans to Redesign Several Web Properties
Google announced plans to redesign many of its Web properties, beginning with the immediate launch of a redesigned Google home page. The company says the changes are designed to improve three areas of usability:
focus, elasticity, and effortlessness. Focus refers to moving the most commonly used aspects of a page to the forefront for easy access, while elasticity refers to the ability to view content on a variety of devices, and effortlessness uses technologies
such as HTML5 and WebGL to reduce any complications the user may experience. Changes to the Google’s search page, Google maps, and Gmail are also expected to launch in the coming months.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Google to Retire Google Health and Google PowerMeter
Google announced plans to retire two of its products over the next year: Google Health and Google PowerMeter. In the case of Google Health, the company says it is retiring the service because it is not “having the
broad impact that [they] hoped it would”. Essentially, the service never reached any type of widespread adoption. Google Health will be retired on January 1, 2012, with all customer data remaining available for
retrieval until January 1, 2013. In the case of Google PowerMeter, the company says that the service has been largely obviated by the launch of smart meter initiatives, and other state and federally-backed methods of accessing energy usage data. Users
will be able to access the service until September 16. Google suggests that all users download their usage data prior to that date by visiting the “Account Settings” page of their PowerMeter accounts.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
ICANN Publishes Plan for Promoting Awareness of New gTLDs
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published a document from its communications
department which details the organization’s plans to promote the availability of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The regulatory group says the 6-month period prior to its acceptance of new gTLD applications was put into place in order to give it a
chance to publicize the availability of the new domains. ICANN wishes to eliminate the possibility for any entity who may want to register a new gTLD to miss the opportunity due to a lack of knowledge. The organization notes that it does not intend to
promote the creation of gTLDs, but rather intends to promote the awareness of their availability. A public comment period on ICANN’s promotional plans
will run until July 15.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
Mozilla Launches Web FWD Innovation Accelerator
Mozilla announced the launch of Web FWD (Web Forward), a new “community-driven innovation accelerator”. The program aims to help Web innovators by providing space at Mozilla where
they can build their products. Mozilla says it will accomplish this by hosting small teams for a period of 4 weeks each. The organization says that it’s hoping to discover “playful, useful, original problem-solving applications and tools that make the Web
a better place”. Teams will be mentored by Mozilla employees, have access to Mozilla personnel and tools, and will receive financial support during their stay in the program. More information is available at the Web FWD site.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Verizon Deploys High Speed Platform for UK Education, Research Network
Verizon has helped deploy a broadband networking solution for JANET (UK), the provider of the United Kingdom’s education and research network, which is called JANET. The new platform
gives UK academic institutions the ability to collaborate online over ultra-fast broadband, running at up to 100G (100 gigabits per second).
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
LAPTOPS
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HP Rolls Out New Education Sector Tablets, Laptops
Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced new TouchPad systems with webOS, Elitebook convertible tablets, workstations, laptops, and smart clients for its Digital Learning suite, all for the education market.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Lenovo Extends Cisco EnergyWise to ThinkPad Systems
Lenovo and Cisco Systems collaborated to extend support for Cisco EnergyWise – an energy management service embedded within Catalyst switches – to select ThinkPad laptops. The
integration will allow customers to monitor and control the energy use of Lenovo smart PCs and other IT devices connected to Cisco networks.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
LEGAL
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Apple Takes Samsung Patent Suit Battle to South Korea
Apple sued Samsung Electronics for patent infringement in South Korea’s Seoul Central District Court on June 22nd, according to a report published by Bloomberg that cites the case record on the court’s own site, which does not provide details. The litigation relates to
Samsung’s design and packaging for its Galaxy smartphones and Android tablets. The news follows the announcement that Samsung filed patent suits in South Korea, Japan, and Germany last April, over Apple’s iPhone and iPad, after Apple claimed Samsung’s
Galaxy line copied its products. Samsung is a supplier of key components for the iPhone and iPad and has a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, and software lineup that directly competes with Apple.
Source: Bloomberg, 6/27/2011
Bell Canada to Pay $10M to Competition Bureau Over Ad Disclaimers
Bell Canada entered into a consent agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau over the agency’s concerns with Bell’s use of disclaimers for some fees in past advertising. Bell noted that it fundamentally disagrees
with the Bureau’s decision, saying that its ads have always been in compliance with the law, and comparable to similar advertisements placed by its competitors. However, the carrier says that it has decided to immediately resolve the matter by paying an
“administrative amount” of $10 Million.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Google Releases July-December 2010 Transparency Report
Google released its semi-annual Transparency Report, covering time between July and December 2010. The report details the information requests submitted to
Google by any and all government agencies during the aforementioned period. The search giant says it has improved this edition of the report by adding more contextual clues, and making it easier to find trends. This report also marks the first time Google
is providing numbers on the percentage of requests that it actually complied with.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Google Sued by French Search Engine 1PlusV for EUR 295 Million
Google is being sued by French search engine 1PlusV for EUR 295 million in damages, the BBC reported. The complainant claims that Google is using its dominant market position to
block the growth of rival services. 1PlusV was also a member of the group of companies which lodged a series of complaints resulting in the current EU investigation into Google’s business practices. Raising awareness of Google’s business practices is one
of the reasons behind this filing, a spokesman from 1PlusV told the BBC. The company also claims that Google is causing it to lose revenue, and making it impossible to launch “specialized ‘vertical’ search engines”. The French search engine says these
crimes were accomplished by the targeted “black-listing” of its pages on Google’s own search engine. For its part, Google told the BBC it was too early in the case to make a statement on its position.
Source: BBC, 6/28/2011
ObjectVideo Takes Action against Sony, Samsung,and Bosch
ObjectVideo has filed a complaint against Bosch, Sony, and Samsung with the US
International Trade Commission (USITC). The complaint claims that some products from the named vendors infringe upon ObjectVideo patents.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
M2M
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Deutsche Telekom Releases M2M Developers Toolkit
Deutsche Telekom released a new machine to machine (M2M) developers toolkit. The purpose of releasing the kit is to simplify the development of M2M solutions by software
developers and application solution providers. Deutsche Telekom says the kit allows for the creation of solutions ranging from intelligent blood meters to complete smart home products. The developers toolkit was created in collaboration with Intel, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with Intel to jointly develop and market M2M technologies and solutions.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
MALWARE WATCH
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New “Vishing” Scheme Targets Skype Users
AVG Technologies issued a warning to Skype users about a new type of social engineering attack called “vishing.” The attack is a variation on email spear phishing campaigns and uses
both voice and text to attempt to scam users into thinking they are receiving legitimate calls. The purpose of vishing is to get victims to download malware, which ultimately leads users to providing personal information to their financial, social
networking, and other accounts.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Kaspersky Documents Emerging Threat in New TDL-4 Malware
Kaspersky Lab investigated the behavior of a new version of the TDL-4 malicious program and evaluated its new capabilities, among which
are the use of peer-to-peer networks for controlling infected computers, and functions for opening a proxy-server. In particular, TDL-4 can delete around 20 of the most popular competing products on an infected machine, including Gbot, ZeuS, and Optima and
can stay hidden from antivirus companies and products. TDL-4 can possibly infect 64-bit operating systems and may also have the capability to open a proxy-server.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
No Free Dinner from McDonalds, Says SonicWALL
According to SonicWALL, an email campaign that looks like it originated from McDonald’s Restaurants and promises free dinners is actually malicious. The spam campaign can steal system information from the victim’s
computer and downloads and installs a fake antivirus program.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Symantec’s June Intelligence Report Finds Decrease in Spam
The June 2011 Symantec Intelligence Report found
that spam reached a level of 72.9% in all email in June, returning to the same level as this past April. Spam relating to pharmaceutical products accounted for 40% of all spam in June 2011. The report also discovered that phishing activity decreased by
0.06% since May 2011; one in 286.7 emails (0.349%) comprised some form of phishing attack.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Phishing Attack Targets Tumblr Service
Tumblr, a microblogging service, was hit with an aggressive phishing attack that was first spotted by GFI Software. The attack began with a scam that entices the victim to click on a
link that shows pornographic material. The pages involved are all regular Tumblr users who have previously been compromised.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Virus Worms its Way into Chinese “Twitter”
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Weibo, a Chinese microblogging service similar to Twitter, fell victim to a virus on Tuesday, resulting in the upload of malicious links,
which infected the account of any user that clicked on them. Sina, the Chinese company that owns Weibo, issued an apology to users. It is estimated that up to 32,000 of Weibo’s 140 million users were affected by the virus.
Source: WSJ, 6/28/2011
MOBILE APPS
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NTT DOCOMO To Launch Mobile Money Transfer Service
Mobile operator NTT DOCOMO said it will become Japan’s first operator to offer a mobile service for overseas remittances, including phone-to-phone money transfers to the Philippines, when it launches “Docomo Money
Transfer” on July 7. Remittances to the Philippines will be possible from i-mode compatible DOCOMO phones to SMART Money, a reloadable payment card operated by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of DOCOMO partner Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company.
The carrier said it plans to add other countries to the service in the future.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Skype Releases Version 2.0 App for Android with Video Calling
Skype released version 2.0 of its mobile app for the Android operating system. This is the first version on Android that allows users to make and receive video calls. Calls can be connected between the new app and
iPhones, Macs, Windows PCs and televisions. The video feature is available on both Wi-Fi and 3G connections. Skype for Android 2.0 is available now as a free download from the Android Marketplace.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
OPERATING SYSTEMS
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Debian Group Releases Second Update for Debian 6.0
Debian released the second update to the stable distribution of Debian 6.0. Debian 6.0.2 includes corrections for several security problems, as well as adjustments to serious operational problems. The group notes
that this is considered a minor update, and does not require the re-installation of the operating system. The Debian group recommends visiting its list of download mirrors to receive this latest update.
Source: Vendor, 6/25/2011
Debian Completes Transition from OpenOffice to LibreOffice
Debian completed its transition from OpenOffice to LibreOffice. LibreOffice has been available in several pre-release formats since March, but this marks the first time it will be included in the “stable” version of
Debian 6.0 distributions. Instructions on updating Debian 6.0 with the new office suite are available at Debian’s site.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
PERSONNEL AND ORGANIZATION
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Accenture Appoints Jorge Benitez Director of North America, CEO of US
Accenture appointed Jorge Benitez managing director of North America and chief executive of the United States segment, effective September 1, 2011. He will replace Robert Frerichs, who will become a strategic
initiative advisor for Chief Executive Officer Pierre Nanterme. Benitez’s new role will see him taking responsibility for Accenture’s business and operations across North America, including developing and executing the business strategy, and ensuring
growth. Benitez is currently serving as chief operating officer of Accenture’s Products operating group.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Accenture Appoints Two New Members to Technology Leadership
Accenture announced two new appointments to the leadership team of its Technology organization. First, Paul Daugherty has been named chief technology architect. In this new position he will be responsible for
expanding Accenture’s business relating to new and emerging technologies as well as managing the company’s team of technology architects. Daugherty will also retain the duties of his previous position as head of Accenture’s Advanced Systems & Technology
delivery platform. The company also appointed Gavin Michael as its new chief technology innovation officer. Michael will lead the company’s innovation agenda, including its technology vision, research, and development agendas. He will also be tasked with
leading the Accenture Technology Labs, a division of the company’s R&D department.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
AOL Names Former Microsoft Exec Lou Severine as ADTECH’s Head of Sales
AOL announced the appointment of Lou Severine as the head of global sales at ADTECH. He will lead the advertising team’s efforts to build the brand within the publisher, agency, and advertiser communities. Prior to this
appointment, Severine worked as Director of Business Development for Microsoft.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
AWS Opens New Edge Location in Stockholm, Sweden
Amazon Web Services (AWS) opened a new edge location in Stockholm, Sweden for users of its Amazon CloudFront and Amazon Route 53 products. The company says this will reduce latency and improve performance for
customers located adjacent to the new edge location. The Stockholm site is the 6th location to open in Europe, and the 19th globally. AWS says further expansions are planned for the remainder of 2011.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Facebook Adds Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to Board of Directors
Facebook announced the addition of Reed Hastings to its Board of Directors. Hastings currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Netflix. He is also the lead independent director of Microsoft’s
Board.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
IDT Reconsidering Spin Off of Innovative Communications
Telecommunications and energy company IDT announced that it is re-evaluating its previously-announced decision to spin off Innovative Communications Technologies, which holds a portfolio of communications-related
patents, including Voice over IP patents. IDT’s board decided not to proceed with the spin-off at this time, expressing concern about how the company’s patents might be enforced after a sale. IDT did, however, reaffirm its current plan to proceed with the
spin off of Genie Energy (comprising IDT Energy and Genie Oil and Gas), and expects the spin-off to occur this Fall. The company also said its board has raised IDT’s cash dividend by approximately five percent from $0.22 per share to $0.23 for the third
quarter of IDT’s 2011 fiscal year. The dividend will be paid on July 12, 2011 to shareholders of record on July 1st. In addition, a special committee of the board approved the purchase by the company of 302,000 shares of Class B Common stock from Howard
Jonas at $24.83 per share. Following the purchase, Jonas will own or control 1,574,327 shares of IDT Class A Stock and 3,795,859 shares of IDT Class B Stock, together representing 23.67% of the total outstanding capital stock of the company. Jonas founded
IDT in August 1990, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since its inception.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Lockheed Martin Announces Appointment of Two Corporate Officers
Lockheed Martin announced the appointment of two new corporate officers. First, Kenneth R. Possenriede has been named as vice president and treasurer of the organization. He will replace John McCarthy, who is
retiring after 40 years with Lockheed. The new role will give Possenriede responsibility for worldwide banking activity, including global treasury operations, foreign exchange and capital markets, rating agency relations, capital planning, facilities, and
risk management. Prior to this appointment, Possenriede led financial activities for the Lockheed’s Electronic Systems and Space Systems business areas. Additionally, Leo S. Mackay, Jr will be the company’s new vice president of ethics and business
conduct. He will be replacing Alice M. Eldridge, who is moving on to the role of general counsel. Mackay will handle Lockheed’s ethics and compliance activity, including employee training and guidance, issues management, and performance tracking. Prior to
this appointment, Mackay served as Lockheed’s vice president, corporate business development.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Northrop Grumman Appoints Gary Salisbury as VP of Business Development
Northrop Grumman appointed Gary Salisbury vice president of business development for its Information Systems sector. In the new position, Salisbury will report to Linda A. Mills, corporate vice president and
president of Northrop Grumman Information Systems, and will be responsible for identifying and generating new business opportunities for his sector. Prior to this appointment, Salisbury led business development for the sector’s Defense Systems
Division.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Opera Co-Founder Jon S. Von Tetzchner to Leave the Company
Opera announced the upcoming departure of Jon S. Von Tetzchner. Von Tetzchner helped co-found the company in 1995, and served as CEO of the organization until 2010. Von Tetzchner says he is leaving opera to explore
“ideas about new projects”.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
Proofpoint Names David Knight to Position of Exec VP
David Knight has been named executive vice president of product management and marketing at Proofpoint. Knight previously held the position of CTO for the Collaboration Software Group at Cisco.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Proofpoint Taps David Knight as EVP of Product Management, Marketing
Proofpoint announced the appointment of David Knight to the position of executive vice president of product management and marketing. Knight comes to Proofpoint from Cisco,
where he served as CTO for the Collaboration Software Group.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Verizon Virginia President Retiring July 15
After 40 years with Verizon Communications, including the last 11 years as president of Verizon Virginia, Robert Woltz Jr. will retire effective July 15. Organizational changes resulting from Woltz’s retirement will
be determined at a later date, the company said.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
PUBLIC SAFETY
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Spot Fire Near Los Alamos Labs Contained
InciWeb reported that fire crews contained a spot fire that started in a remote area of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Emergency officials said the Las Conchas fire, which had burned to the southern edge of New
Mexico State Route 4 at the Lab’s southwest boundary, crossed the road to the north but that air crews dumped water at the site within the Lab’s Technical Area 49 and brought the blaze under control. About one acre burned and the Lab has detected no
off-site releases of contamination. No other fires are currently burning on Lab property, no facilities face immediate threat, and all nuclear and hazardous materials are accounted for and protected, according to the InciWeb post. Environmental sites are
being monitored and air quality experts are coordinating with the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Las Conchas fire has burned an estimated 49,000 acres in forests, canyons, and mesas south and west of the Los Alamos National Lab. InciWeb – created by the US Forest Service– is an incident information system that provides updates for active fires.
Source: InciWeb, 6/28/2011
Officials Say Flood-Threatened Nebraska Nuclear Plants Safe
CNN reported that a manager at the Cooper Nuclear Power Station in Nebraska is “100 percent confident” the facility’s countermeasures will keep the overflowing Missouri River from damaging critical gear and causing a
hazard to the public. The Cooper Nuclear Power Station, located about 80 miles south of Omaha, is still in operation. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Gregory Jaczko toured the plant early this week, along with a plant north of Omaha that is already surrounded by floodwaters, the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant. The NRC chairman said both the Cooper and Fort Calhoun plants have
taken precautions against this Summer’s flooding. At Fort Calhoun, as much as two feet of water has forced plant workers to navigate a catwalk from the parking lot, and a water-filled berm that surrounded the reactor containment structure and auxiliary
buildings was punctured by a worker over the weekend, CNN reported. The plant has been shut down for refueling since April, however, and authorities have put floodgates, sandbags , and other barriers in place to help protect the facility. Despite the
flooding, Fort Calhoun is designed to withstand water up to 1,014 feet above mean sea level, according to the Omaha Public Power District. The river is not expected to exceed 1,008 feet, the OPPD said.
Source: CNN, 6/28/2011
Verizon Sends Equipment to Boost Coverage for Firefighting Crews
Verizon Wireless said it has deployed a wireless repeater to boost coverage for emergency crews battling the Las Conchas Fire near Los Alamos, NM. Last week, the company also deployed a wireless repeater to
the Incident Command Post for the Pacheco Fire near Santa Fe.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Verizon Deploys Crisis Response Team to Flooded Minot
Verizon Wireless said it has deployed emergency resources to augment wireless communications, network capacity, and coverage in the Minot, North Dakota area to help the more than 10,000 residents who have
fled their homes due to the flooding of the Souris River. The Verizon Wireless Crisis Response Team has added 55 per cent capacity to cell sites in the Minot area and is monitoring the network 24/7; has staged a temporary cell site, known as a Cell on
Wheels (COW), and will activate the COW once a site is finalized to further augment network capacity; and distributed more than 125 wireless devices to the North Dakota National Guard and American Red Cross serving the area. Verizon said its employees are
also staffing a Crisis Communications Center in Minot offering free Internet access, phone calls, and charging stations for customers to charge their wireless devices.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
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ITC Continues to Mull Kodak Patent Case vs Apple, RIM
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) announced last week that it would spend additional time reviewing Eastman Kodak‘s patent claims against Apple and RIM prior to issuing its verdict on Thursday, June 30, 2011. In January 2010, Kodak sued the companies, claiming they infringed on a 2001 image-preview patent. It is looking to negotiate a licensing deal estimated to be worth
as much as $1 billion USD.
Source: US ITC, 6/27/2011
FCC Approves New Rules to Curb Caller ID Spoofing
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules designed to stop fraudulent and deceptive use of
caller ID spoofing. Last year, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Truth in Caller ID Act, which prohibited caller ID spoofing with harmful or fraudulent intent and directed the FCC to adopt rules implementing the Act. Under the FCC’s
new rules, violators are subject to up to $10,000 for each violation, or three times that amount for each day of continuing violation, to a maximum of $1 million for any continuing violation. Callers are still permitted to alter caller ID information if
their purposes are not harmful or fraudulent, the FCC said. For example, domestic violence shelters may have important reasons for not revealing the actual number of the shelter, and doctors responding to after-hours messages from patients may choose to
transmit their office numbers rather than their cell phone numbers.
Source: FCC, 6/27/2011
Feds Update Internet Banking Guidelines
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued a supplement to the Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment guidance,
released in October 2005. The supplement stresses the need for performing risk assessments, implementing effective strategies for mitigating identified risks, and raising customer awareness of potential risks, but does not endorse any specific technology
for doing so.
Source: FDIC, 6/28/2011
Google Confirms FTC Antitrust Investigation
Google has confirmed in an SEC filing that it has received a subpoena and notice of civil investigative demand from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) relating to a review by the FTC of Google’s business practices, including search and advertising. Google said it is cooperating with the FTC on the investigation.
Source: Vendor, 6/24/2011
Security Alliance Criticizes White House Cybersecurity Proposal
The president of the Internet Security Alliance testified that the Obama administration’s Cybersecurity Proposal might actually make networks more vulnerable to attacks by enabling third-party inspectors to review the
security processes involved in protecting them. Larry Clinton, president of ISA made his remarks in testimony at a Homeland Security
subcommittee hearing, saying, “The threat of introducing a constant stream of new ‘insiders’ into our nation’s most critical infrastructure far outweighs the dubious assumption that they will provide a tangible security benefit.”
Source: ISA, 6/24/2011
LightSquared Submits New Plan; Slams GPS Device Manufacturers
LightSquared announced that it has formally presented the company’s modified spectrum plan to the US Federal Communications Commission and proposed “a comprehensive solution”
to the GPS interference issues uncovered with its original, proposed network. Slamming GPS device manufacturers in a press release, LightSquared said that despite its own tests showing
that “the interference is caused by the GPS device manufacturer’s decision over the last eight years to design products that depend on using spectrum assigned to other FCC licensees,” it is “stepping forward to help resolve the problem.” The company’s plan
to move to another spectrum “resolves interference for approximately 99.5 percent of all commercial GPS devices – including 100 percent of the 300 million GPS-enabled cell phones, Lightsquared says. While conceding that its new plan does not solve GPS
interference issues for about 200,000 devices, LightSquared declared it is “fully committed to finding a solution.” The company said it “will not launch” its proposed nationwide, hybrid satellite/ broadband network until the FCC and its engineering
advisory panel are satisfied “that all reasonable interference concerns have been addressed.”
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
House Committee Moves to Block LightSquared Until GPS Issues Resolved
Computerworld reported that the US House Appropriations Committee has passed a measure that would use Congress’ control of the Federal Communication Commission‘s purse strings to stop the agency from letting LightSquared move forward with its proposed broadband network, which has come under attack from a
range of public and private groups whose tests show LightSquared’s network could cause widespread GPS interference. The FCC earlier this year gave LightSquared a green light to build its hybrid satellite/LTE network. The House Appropriations Committee
adopted an amendment to its 2012 appropriations bill that would stop FCC funding “to remove conditions on or permit certain commercial broadband operations until the FCC has resolved concerns of harmful interference by these operations on Global
Positioning System (GPS) devices.” LightSquared, meanwhile, unveiled a new plan that would move its network to
a different spectrum band, which the carrier claims would greatly reduce GPS interference. Some witnesses at a Congressional hearing reviewing the plan were also skeptical about the carrier’s new proposal, however.
Source: Computerworld, 6/27/2011
Comments Sought for E-Authentication Guideline
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking comment for its E-Authentication Guideline, which is identified as Draft Special Publication 800-63 Revision 1. The guideline provides technical frameworks for the design of electronic systems for the remote authentication
of citizens by government agencies.
Source: NIST, 6/28/2011
NIST Researchers Release Guidelines for Evaluating Technology
After serving for five years as independent evaluators of emerging military technologies under development by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a team from the US National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) has published critical "lessons learned" the agency says can help businesses and others negotiate the promises and pitfalls encountered when “pushing the technology
envelope to enable new capabilities.” Writing in the International Journal of Intelligent Control and Systems, the NIST researchers also describe the evaluative framework they devised for judging the performance of a
system and its components as well as the utility of the technology for the intended user. Called SCORE (System, Component, and Operationally Relevant Evaluations), the framework is a unified set of
criteria and software tools for evaluating emerging technologies from different perspectives and levels of detail, and at various stages of development.
Source: NIST, 6/27/2011
NRC Releases Annual Abnormal Event Report
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released its annual report on abnormal occurrences for fiscal year 2010, citing 15 events that occurred at licensed medical facilities during that period. There were no abnormal
occurrences at the 104 NRC-licensed nuclear power reactors. Most of the incidents concerned misadministration of radioactive material during diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, the NRC report said.
Source: NRC, 6/29/2011
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
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HISPASAT Chooses Gilat to Provide Broadband Network in Spain
Gilat announced that it has been selected by Spanish satellite operator HISPASAT to provide a new broadband satellite IP network based on Gilat’s
SkyEdge II System. The network will enable the deployment of a broadband program mandated by the Spanish government with the goal of providing thousands of consumers across Spain with broadband Internet services. According to the agreement, Gilat’s Sky
Edge II system is scheduled to be fully operational by the summer of 2011. The system will also be used by HISPASAT to provide broadband communication services in North Africa and Latin America.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Hughes Receives two R-APDRP Contracts in India
Hughes received two contracts relating to the Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) for the states of Rajashthan and Karanataka in India. The first contract was awarded by Jaipur
Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (Jaipur Discom) in Rajasthan. It calls on Hughes to provide broadband satellite connections for 825 locations. The second contract was signed with a group of five utility companies in Karnataka. It will see Hughes deploying a
network of 713 satellite terminals. Hughes will also become the secondary network bandwidth service provider for the completed terminals. No financial terms for either contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Hughes Receives Contract for Satellite Broadband from State of Texas
Hughes received a contract from the State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) to provide primary business Internet and access continuity services via satellite broadband. The five-year contract was
signed under the Texas Agency Network Next Generation (Tex-AN NG) Communications Technology Services program. The Tex-AN NG program includes more than 600 entities across the state, including cities, counties, councils of government, independent school
districts, institutions of higher education, and assistance organizations. Services will be provided by Hughes’ HX satellite platform, and will come in various levels, with each level tailored for a facility or agency of a different size. More information
is available from Hughes’ government services page.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
SEARCH
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Bing Maps Updates with New High-Resolution Imagery
Bing announced an update to its Bing Maps World Tour application. The update is designed to showcase the new high-resolution imagery added to the
mapping software as part of the company’s Global Ortho imagery program. The goal of the program is to provide users with “30cm (1 foot) aerial blanket coverage of (initially) the continental United States and Western Europe”. The new high-resolution
imagery is currently available for 153 locations throughout the US.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Yahoo Launches Updated Yahoo! Clues Search Analytics Service
Yahoo launched a new update to its search analytics service, Yahoo! Clues.The revamped free service allows anyone to examine the search engine’s statistics on the public’s search
behavior. The results can be filtered by age and gender, and are available from date ranges of the past 24 hours, to the past year. New features include a new site design; more data, going back further than 12 months in some cases; global coverage; and a
new trend analysis map. More details about what the redesigned service’s capabilities are available from its help page.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
SECURITY FLAWS & FIXES
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Apple Issues Advisory, Patches for Mac OS X, Java
Apple has released Mac OS X 10.6.8 and Security Update 2011-004 to fix several critical flaws. The company also released released Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 5.
Source: Vendor, 6/23/2011
Google Chrome 12.0.742.112 Fixes Seven Issues
Google has released Chrome 12.0.742.112 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome Frame. This new version fixes six high level vulnerabilities and one medium level flaw. Further details about this patch are available in a
blog post from Google.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
List of 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors Published
The 2011 CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors, a list of the most widespread and critical errors that can lead to serious vulnerabilities in software, has been released. The Top 25 list,
known as the Common Weakness Enumeration or CWE can be used as a tool for education and awareness to identify and avoid common mistakes that occur before software is shipped, and consists of overviews and examples of the vulnerabilities along with other
information. The list is the result of collaboration between the US Department of Homeland Security, SANS Institute, Mitre, and other software security
experts in the US and Europe.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
SECURITY PRODUCTS & COMPANIES
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AuthenTec Technology Used in Ralink Communications Equipment
Ralink, a developer in the wireless home networking and broadband access semiconductor markets, has chosen AuthenTec‘s SafeXcel EIP-93 packet engine to provide security in its xDSL Customer Premises Equipment
(CPE) ICs. AuthenTec’s SafeXcel EIP-93 and QuickSec software toolkit will be used to enable VPN security in xDSL Wi-Fi gateways.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Cloudmark’s Mobile Messaging Security Solution Debuts
Cloudmark launched its Mobile Messaging Security Solution, a security offering which combines a global reporting and analysis component with an automated, active messaging filtering application. In conjunction
with the launch of the new product, the company has also rolled out its 2011 Mobile Spam Guide, a toolkit designed to help the ecosystem address mobile spam.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Honeywell Releases Wireless Module for Security Systems
Honeywell released the 5800ZBRIDGE Wireless Module, which enables security systems to control up to four Z-Wave devices. It can automatically set back thermostats and turn lights on or off whenever Honeywell
security systems are armed or disarmed.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Kaspersky Obtains Two New Russian Patents
Kaspersky Lab has received two new Russian patents. The first patent (No. 2420791) covers the technology involved in assigning a previously unknown file to a particular reference set of files based on the degree
of similarity. The second patent (No. 2420793) discloses the system of determining potentially malicious software programs by controlling the integrity of files using timestamps.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
March Networks Looks to Expand in Asia, Middle East
March Networks has partnered with Milicon Gulf Group in an effort to better serve video surveillance markets in Southeast Asia and select countries in the Middle East.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
Proofpoint Supports Microsoft Office 365 with New Offering
Proofpoint announced the availability of Compliance for Microsoft Office 365, a suite of cloud-based products that provide regulatory compliance support for the Microsoft
Office 365 email application. This new offering allows customers using Microsoft Office 365 email to comply with regulatory standards that require email encryption, archiving, security, and data loss prevention (DLP).
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Symantec Manages Virtualized Applications with New Offering
ApplicationHA is a new product from Symantec that provides high availability for business-critical applications through application-level visibility, control, and recovery in VMware environments. ApplicationHA runs inside a VMware guest operating system and fully integrates with VMware High Availability.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Epsilon Taps Verizon for Cloud-Based Security
Verizon Business said marketing services firm Epsilon has chosen Verizon to help bolster the security of its global email platform. Epsilon is using Verizon’s cloud-based
security solution to establish a baseline for normal network behavior. With the baseline in place, the company now is alerted by Verizon to incidents that are not normal, and receives near real-time notification of other indicators of behaviors of an
attack. Verizon’s solution combines intelligence from its global IP network, its database of breach statistics, and its cybersecurity experience create a custom solution for Epsilon that resides within the Verizon cloud.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
SERVERS
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HP to Provide Storage System, Servers for HPC Facility
Hewlett-Packard (HP) was selected by the University of Utah’s Center for High-Performance Computing (HPC), to provide storage and servers to help reduce the data processing time required for its research projects, while
also accelerating information delivery. The Center for HPC provides large-scale, high performance systems to faculty and research groups requiring enhanced computing resources. It will use HP’s X9320 IBRIX network storage system and ProLiant servers.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY
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IBM to Collaborate with CPFL Energia Holdings on New Smart Grid
IBM announced a new collaboration with CPFL Energia Holdings, a Brazilian energy provider, to develop a new smart grid strategy to drive operational efficiency and optimize the accompanying communications network. For
its part IBM will provide consulting and assessment services for the implementation of three smart grid projects: Automatic Meter Data Collection, Meter Data Management, and Optimized Communications Networking. The companies will base smart grid on plans
laid out by the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition (GIUNC). No financial terms for the contract were disclosed.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
SMARTPHONES
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Bell Canada Announces Samsung GALAXY S II 4G Smartphone
Bell Canada announced plans to carry the Samsung GALAXY S II 4G. The new Android-based smartphone features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, dual-core processor, 8 MP camera with 1080p video capture, and Bluetooth
3.0+HS, all running on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The device also runs on Bell’s 4G network, allowing it to reach download speeds of up to 21Mbps. The Samsung GALAXY S II 4G will be available in the coming week. Interested customers can preorder the device at Bell’s Web site.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
LG Launches First 3D Smartphone, The Optimus 3D
LG launched its newest Android smartphone, the LG Optimus 3D. This model is the company’s first to use its so-called “Tri-Dual” technology, which includes dual-core, dual-channel, and dual-memory components. The phone
features a 480×800 3D touchscreen, dual 5MP cameras for taking 3D images, 8GB of internal storage, and Android 2.2. The device’s defining feature, according to LG, is the ability to capture and play back 3D images without the need for the viewer to wear 3D
glasses. The LG Optimus 3D is available now in Europe, with availability in other regions expected to follow shortly.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Motorola Mobility Rolls Out Chinese 3G Smartphone
Motorola Mobility Technologies China released its dual-core TD-SCDMA 3G smartphone: the MOTO MT870. The Android handset has a four-inch, high-definition display. It is available for China Mobile’s 3G
network.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
T-Mobile USA to Launch myTouch 4G Slide in July
T-Mobile USA announced the upcoming availability of its latest 4G smartphone, the myTouch 4G Slide, which it expects to launch in July. Manufactured by HTC exclusively for T-Mobile USA, the new smartphone boasts a
1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 3.7-inch LCD touch-screen display with Swype technology, and a slide-out full-QWERTY keyboard. Pricing was not released.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
SOCIAL MEDIA
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Google Finally Announces Facebook Competitor Google+
Google finally announced its long-gestating Facebook competitor, Google+. Google’s social network offers several
features which the company believes differentiate Google+ from current offerings. These include +Circles, a method of tailoring exactly what content which social connections have access to, such as what pictures a classmate can see versus which an employer
could; +Sparks, a curated feed of media from across the Internet which allows users to enter their areas of interest and be presented with related content; +Hangouts, a video chatting service for multiple simultaneous users; and +Mobile, the service’s
mobile-phone version, which supports location-based services, media uploads, and group messaging. Google+ is currently in a limited, invite-only testing phase. No launch date for the service has been announced.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
TIBCO Announces tibbr 3.0
TIBCO announced tibbr 3.0, an upgrade to its enterprise social computing platform. New functionality in the third iteration of tibbr includes unified communications capabilities, HD video conferencing, and desktop
sharing. TIBCO says there are 5 key goals for the upgrade: to unify communications in the workplace: to provide the ability to act on activity streams from enterprise applications; to add a social layer to existing enterprise applications; to improve
document management; and to expand workers’ connectivity outside the workplace. The new version of tibbr is expected to reach general availability some time in August.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
STREAMING MEDIA
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AOL to Relaunch AOL Radio in Collaboration with Slacker
AOL announced that it will be relaunching AOL Radio in partnership with Slacker Inc. The companies say the result will be fewer ads, new personalization features, and premium subscription offerings. The new online radio
product will be delivered in three tiers: a commercial-supported free tier, and two paid tiers that will offer on-demand music, personalization, and customization. The new AOL Radio and its accompanying iPhone app are expected to launch later this summer,
with applications for Android and other platforms to follow soon after.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
Level 3 to Provide Internet Services to Video Advertising Company
Level 3 has signed an agreement with Extreme Reach, a provider of video advertising solutions based in Needham, Massachusetts, to support Extreme Reach’s production and distribution of digital video advertising.
Extreme Reach will use Level 3’s advanced Internet services in a new facility located in Burbank, California that will facilitate the company’s in-house production services and capabilities.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
Motorola Mobility Unveils IP Set-Top with DVR Module
Motorola Mobility UK introduced its new VIP1853, an IP set-top with click-in digital video recording (DVR) module. It will allow service providers to offer a set-top that can be upgraded from basic box to
DVR-equipped, with the capability to also add capacity up to 500GB. It will be available, globally, in the third quarter.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
TABLETS
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General Dynamics Unveils Itronix GD3015 Semi-Rugged Tablet PC
General Dynamics Itronix introduced its new semi-rugged GD3015 tablet PC. The new unit weighs less than three pounds and provides the same functionality as a
notebook PC, according to its makers. Features include IP54 compliance for dust and water resistance; MIL-STD-810F compliance for shock, vibration, rain, sand and dust; a Windows 7 Operating system; a 10.4-inch, sunlight viewable, high-resolution
touch-screen; a Trusted Platform Module security chip and user authentication software; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth; GPS; and a three-year warranty. The company says the product was specifically designed for workers in the public safety, utilities, transportation,
warehousing, and field service industries. Pricing starts at $2,400.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
Motorola Mobility Releases 10-Inch XOOM Tablets in India
Motorola Mobility India Private released new XOOM Wi-Fi and 3G variant tablets, in India. The devices are powered by Android Honeycomb, and have front- and rear-facing cameras, and a 10-inch high-definition
display.
Source: Vendor, 6/28/2011
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
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Orange Business Services Launches Business Together as a Service
Orange Business Services introduced Business Together as a Service, a new unified communications (UC) offering designed to deliver innovative ways of working and collaborating. The new offering allows UC services to
be delivered via a cloud model. It will be supported by six cloud-ready data centers spread across five continents, all of which are “secured with premium levels of security required by global enterprises”. Business Together as a Service uses the Cisco
Hosted Collaboration Solution to deliver its services. The new UC offering is available now in France, with the remainder of Europe to launch before the end of 2011, and all other regions to follow during 2012.
Source: Vendor, 6/27/2011
VOIP
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Microsoft Seeks Patent for Technology to Allow VoIP Eavesdropping
eWeek reported that Microsoft has developed technology to secretly intercept, monitor and record communications on Voice over IP (VoIP) networks. Called “Legal Intercept” in the
patent application, the technology is designed to silently record communications on VoIP networks such as Skype, according to a filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (Microsoft announced its
acquisition of Skype in May.) According to the filing, Microsoft’s current products would be modified to “cause the communication to be established via a path that includes a recording agent,” Microsoft said in its patent application. eWeek noted there is
no indication on how soon the US Patent Office might act on Microsoft’s application. The publication said Legal Intercept seems similar to tools telecommunications companies already use to comply with the US government’s wiretap and surveillance requests,
which currently do not work for VoIP communications. Although Skype was named in the patent application, it is not clear how Microsoft plans to use Legal Intercept with Skype. It is also not clear, eWeek noted, whether Skype already has a similar backdoor
mechanism to give federal law enforcement officials access to user communications because the Internet telephony company has always kept details of its technology under wraps. Microsoft also declined to comment on whether it is already using the technology
in any of its other products, eWeek said.
Source: eWeek, 6/30/2011
WIRELESS
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Cox Communications Expanding Wireless Footprint
Cox Communications announced that it will introduce Cox Wireless service in San Diego and Santa Barbara, California; Topeka and Wichita, Kansas; and communities in Northwest Arkansas later this year. By the end of 2011,
Cox Wireless service will be available in more than 50 percent of the company’s footprint.
Source: Vendor, 6/29/2011
T-Mobile USA Announces New Wireless Pooling Plans for Small Businesses
T-Mobile USA announced eleven new pooling plans for small business customers. Its shared plans for multiple lines are available now in the US. The pooling plans start at $59.99 per month for two lines using 1000
Whenever Minutes, with no activation fee. Additional lines are $9.99 each per month, with the maximum number of lines varying based on the plan selected.
Source: Vendor, 6/30/2011
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