Nokia, Samsung sued over Bluetooth patents ... MySQL on track with new storage engine

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Nokia, Samsung are sued over Bluetooth patents
News: MySQL is on track with new storage engine
News: Dash, Yahoo bring local search to GPS device
News: LG's Shine to make international debut at CES
Opinion: What's on tap in 2007
ITwhirled: Practice doesn't make perfect


NEWS UPDATES

Nokia, Samsung are sued over Bluetooth patents
Just as the number of Bluetooth device users passed the billion mark, a lawsuit threatens the momentum of the short range wireless technology.

MySQL is on track with new storage engine
Open-source database maker MySQL AB will soon release the alpha version of its Falcon storage engine, designed for high-volume Web server environments, a company executive said Wednesday.

Dash, Yahoo bring local search to GPS device
Dash Navigation Inc. will work with Yahoo Inc. to add a local search capability to its forthcoming Internet-connected in-car satellite navigation terminal, Dash announced Wednesday.

IBM: ISVs from emerging markets play bigger role
The IBM team that works with developers is putting a "disproportionate amount of focus on emerging markets," says Buell Duncan, IBM's general manager of ISV (independent software vendor) and developer relations. The stakes are high for IBM, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to provide technical, sales and marketing support for ISVs around the world.

LG's Shine to make international debut at CES
LG Electronics Inc. will give the successor to its popular Chocolate cell phone its international unveiling at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

AT&T's big buy could mean new bundles
AT&T Inc.'s acquisition of BellSouth Corp. may reshape wired and wireless telecommunications in the U.S., letting the giant carrier create new product bundles and setting the nation's two dominant providers on a collision course.

Incipient delivers virtualization first for Cisco
SAN storage virtualization vendor Incipient has announced support for Cisco MDS9000 switches, which the company claims is the first true enterprise-class SAN virtualization product.


OPINION

What's on tap in 2007
By Dan Blacharski

It's the beginning of a new year, and the blogosphere is full of armchair futurists speculating on what it will hold. It seems everyone is getting in on the act, with predictions that range from the unlikely to the bizarre. An Associated Press/AOL News poll shows that 25 percent of respondents expect the second coming of Jesus Christ in 2007, and 19 percent think scientists will find evidence of extraterrestrial life in the new year. But before you go out and buy your ascension robes and roll out the red carpet for E.T., let's take a look at what 2007 may hold for the world of technology.


ITWHIRLED

Practice doesn't make perfect
Looks like mom was wrong. Scientists have found that inconsistencies in the brain's behavior means that no amount of practice will make perfect. Bye bye sloth-induced guilt.