Microsoft launches new Zunes; Google adds Postini services to Google Apps; Sun combines servers, storage businesses

IN THE NEWS

Microsoft unveils new Zune players and community
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday unveiled three new models of its Zune portable digital media players featuring touch-sensitive buttons for navigating the device, the ability to sync with wireless networks, and flash memory in two of them.

Google's Apps Premier suite adds Postini e-mail services
Google Inc. will add e-mail security, compliance and recovery services to Google Apps Premier edition at no extra charge, boosting an area of this hosted communications and collaboration suite that is key for its adoption by large organizations.

Adobe to give designers visual tool with 'Thermo' project
Adobe Systems Inc. next year will release a visual tool for designers to help them more quickly and easily build RIAs (rich Internet applications) and work better with developers writing code on the back end.

SAP offers NetWeaver subscription for developers
SAP AG is allowing individual developers to buy a one-year subscription for its NetWeaver software in a move to bring new blood to the platform and expand its community of users.

WLAN patent threat may be resolved
A roadblock that reportedly could have held up a key wireless LAN standard seems to have been cleared now that an Australian research group has responded to the IEEE standards body.

Sun combines servers, storage businesses
Sun Microsystems is combining its servers and storage businesses to better sell computing systems to data center customers.


OPINION

I have looked at clouds from both sides now
Sean McGrath, ITworld.com

Depending on your particular point of view, network clouds can be a fantastic concept, not requiring you to know or care where stuff lives or whether the right thing is going to happen when you connect to it. Or they can be a dangerous concept: You cannot know where your stuff lives on the cloud. You cannot care for or protect it by yourself. You have no option but to connect to it and hope that matters such as security, availability etc. happen somehow. How scary is that!


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Microsoft launches new Zunes, Google adds Postini services to Google Apps, Broadcom launches multimedia phone chip

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GADGET GIVEAWAY

It's Fall, and we have a new gadget giveaway ... just for the heck of it. We've brought back the ultimate geek tool, the Swiss Army knife equipped with USB flash drive, LED light, and ballpoint pen.

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ITWHIRLED

Linux nerds attempt to sell themselves to sorority girls
Sometimes, when you can't give the junk in your basement away, you can slap $1 price tag on it, set up a garage sale, and people will take it off your hands because they think it's a "bargain." Perhaps that's the logic behind the Washington State University Linux User Group's attempt to auction its members off to campus sorority members.

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POLL

Have you ever been fired?

* Nope - I've been at the same job my whole working life
* Nope - I've always left on my terms
* Well, I've been part of mass layoffs, but I've never been singled out
* Yes, but I've grown as an employee since then
* Yes, due to personality conflicts with the boss
* I am unemployable

Vote now!