Ballmer coy about Yahoo acquisition prospects

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Ballmer coy about Yahoo acquisition prospects
News: Wall Street Beat: Apple up in down market
News: Red Hat and Intel make managed Linux PCs
News: FSF cozies up to Apache
News: IBM spends $1 billion on 'green' data centers
News: Sun’s JavaFX helps bridge digital divide, McNealy says
Go Figure: Execs go green when they can see green
ITWhirled: Bad idea of the week: Faxing to freedom


NEWS UPDATES

Ballmer coy about Yahoo acquisition prospects
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer didn't rule out a possible acquisition of Yahoo Inc. but said Wednesday that Microsoft usually doesn't make acquisitions as large as the rumored US$50 billion deal for the Internet company.


Wall Street Beat: Apple up in down market
Concerns about retail sales and the U.S. trade deficit Thursday put a halt to the recent increase in market indexes, including the technology-oriented Nasdaq, but news from bellwether IT vendors such as Apple Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. show that underlying computer sector issues are still uppermost in the minds of IT investors.


Red Hat and Intel make managed Linux PCs
Red Hat has announced a joint program with Intel to deliver Red Hat-branded software that supports fully-managed desktop PCs using Intel's vPro technology.


FSF cozies up to Apache
The Free Software Foundation says it is on track to build Apache License compatibility into the upcoming GPL version 3, despite "11th-hour" problems that scuppered the feature in the latest GPL 3 draft.


IBM spends $1 billion on 'green' data centers
IBM is investing a billion dollars a year in an initiative to double energy efficiency, first in its own data centers, then in those of its customers.


Sun’s JavaFX helps bridge digital divide, McNealy says
Sun Microsystems Inc. expects that technologies like its JavaFX Script scripting language, and JavaFX Mobile software for mobile devices will help bridge the digital divide.


GO FIGURE

25%
The share of IT execs who have formalized "green" criteria in their IT procurement process, according to a new Forreseter Research report. In large part, going green is more about getting lean; one respondent said, "We would do green because it makes business sense, not because it's green. It would have to show cost savings." SOURCE: IDG News Service


ITWHIRLED

Bad idea of the week: Faxing to freedom
While everyone is worried about social engineering scams like phishing and password thievery, let us not forget yesterday's high tech wonder, the humble fax machine. Timothy Rouse, being held in Kentucky awaiting trial for assault and robbery, was set free when the police received a fax state supreme court ordering his release. As it turns out, the fax was actually sent from a local grocery store -- something the cops shoud have picked up on, since it wasn't on court letterhead and was riddled with spelling errors.

Microsoft invites hackers back for Blue Hat

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Microsoft invites hackers back for Blue Hat
News: JAVAONE: GlassFish shows open source at its best
News: McNealy says Sun evaluating OpenSolaris on GPL
News: Motorola CEO is ready to take on iPhone
News: Microsoft to release next SQL server in 2008
News: Intel 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptops hit shelves
Gadgets: DIGITAL GEAR: Gadgets that tackle tough problems
ITWhirled: Coming online soon: The five-minute 'Charlie's Angels'


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft invites hackers back for Blue Hat
Microsoft Corp. is once again inviting members of the hacking community into its Redmond, Washington, campus to show the software giant where it's gone wrong.


JAVAONE: GlassFish shows open source at its best
GlassFish is the first project to spring from Sun Microsystem Inc.'s decision to open source its Java programming code and Ken Drachnik, one of its chief evangelists, points to the project as a lesson in how open source spurs innovation.


McNealy says Sun evaluating OpenSolaris on GPL
Sun Microsystems Inc. is evaluating whether it should release OpenSolaris under the GNU GPL (general public license), company co-founder and chairman, Scott McNealy told reporters in Bangalore on a conference call Wednesday.

Motorola CEO is ready to take on iPhone
Motorola Chairman and CEO Ed Zander says his company is ready for competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone, due out next month.


Microsoft to release next SQL server in 2008
Microsoft Corp. is working on products that will support a massive growth of enterprise data and enable more people in enterprises and smaller businesses to access that data.


Intel 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptops hit shelves
Intel Corp. launched the "Santa Rosa" upgrade of its Centrino notebook platform Wednesday, running on PCs from Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., Gateway Inc. and others.


GADGETS

DIGITAL GEAR: Gadgets that tackle tough problems
Looking for quick answers to problems? Gadgets are here to help. Blood-alcohol levels can be hard to estimate, so OmegaPoint Systems LLC's BreathKey keychain attachment provides an instant reading of a user's blood-alcohol level, potentially saving lives from drunken driving. After a long day of work Sharper Image Inc.'s StressEraser relieves stress by easing breathing and coordinating it with a person's continuous heart rate. Two alarm clocks from Hammacher Schlemmer and Co. Inc. -- Flying Alarm Clock and the Peaceful Progression Wake Up Clock -- make it easier for sloths to wake up.


ITWHIRLED

Coming online soon: The five-minute 'Charlie's Angels'
In a move that aims to exploit its vast library of terrible TV shows, Sony has come up with idea of "minisodes," which would consist the best three to five minutes of an episode, distilled out and available for purchase online. Shows up for the treatment include "Charlie's Angels" and "T.J. Hooker" ("Shatner is just hilarious," says the president of Sony Television).

VMware upgrade adds Vista support

HIGHLIGHTS

News: VMware upgrade adds Vista support
Related Reading: Gartner says virtualization too expensive
News: SAP to buy OutlookSoft to get closer to CFOs
News: Microsoft fixes DNS server, Exchange flaws
News: Cisco posts strong Q3 revenue, profit growth
News: JAVAONE: Sun partners with Ericsson on Java platform
News: With Yahoo deal off, what next for Microsoft?
News: Google Analytics gets a makeover
ITWhirled: Geek comic of the week: A map of online communities


NEWS UPDATES

VMware upgrade adds Vista support
VMware Inc. is scheduled to introduce a new version of its workstation virtualization product on Wednesday that supports Windows Vista, dual monitors and other features.

Related Reading: Gartner says virtualization too expensive
Businesses will need to open their wallets if they want to be technology leaders as virtualization is expensive, Gartner analyst, Thomas Bittman said Tuesday.


SAP to buy OutlookSoft to get closer to CFOs
Business applications vendor SAP AG is making another acquisition aimed at filling out its product portfolio to better meet the needs of chief financial officers (CFOs). The company announced late Tuesday plans to buy U.S. corporate performance management software company OutlookSoft Corp. for an undisclosed sum.


Microsoft fixes DNS server, Exchange flaws
Microsoft has released its May set of security patches, fixing critical bugs in Windows, Office and Exchange.


Cisco posts strong Q3 revenue, profit growth
Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday reported strong growth in revenue and profit for a fiscal third quarter in which it made several acquisitions that it expects to help power Web 2.0.


JAVAONE: Sun partners with Ericsson on Java platform
Sun Microsystems Inc. is collaborating with Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson to support development of Java-based server applications that can run on wireless networks. The announcement was made at the JavaOne 2007 conference Tuesday in San Francisco.


With Yahoo deal off, what next for Microsoft?
As of Tuesday, a Microsoft Corp.-Yahoo Inc. megamerger seems far less likely than it did late last week.


Google Analytics gets a makeover
Google Inc. has revamped Google Analytics, improving and expanding the data reporting capabilities of the Web site usage monitoring service.


ITWHIRLED

Geek comic of the week: A map of online communities
Where do you spend your time online? On the vast plain of MySpace or the moutainous realms of Orkut? Do you sail through the Straits of Web 2.0 towards the Blogipeligo? Get situated with this map.

DRAM price crashes through US$2

HIGHLIGHTS

News: DRAM price crashes through US$2
News: Siemens expands OpenScape line
News: JAVAONE: Sun: The bulk of Java is open sourced
Related Reading: Finally, Sun preps open source Java release?
News: IBM and Amazon.com settle all patent litigation
News: BlackBerrys cozy up to office phone systems
Related Reading: RIM to offer plug-in for Visual Studio
News: TOKYO EDGE: May's coolest gadgets
News: Samsung launches Q1 Ultra ultramobile
News: PostrgeSQL creator on the art of open source
News: Ubuntu plans mobile Linux version
Go Figure: Web 2.0 attracts many, but more gladly do without
ITWhirled: Sony sparks outrage with decapitated goat


NEWS UPDATES

DRAM price crashes through US$2
Users looking to add more DRAM (dynamic RAM) to their PCs are likely to continue to see bargains throughout May and June, as prices of the memory chips continue to crash.


Siemens expands OpenScape line
As unified communications moves from the bleeding edge to the mainstream, Siemens Communications Inc. is set to expand its OpenScape platform into a line of three products, including a less expensive one with a focused set of features.


JAVAONE: Sun: The bulk of Java is open sourced
Sun Microsystems Inc. announced Tuesday it has finished the process of making the bulk of its core Java technology available as open-source software under the GNU general public license version 2 (GPLv2). The vendor made the announcement at its JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

Related Reading: Finally, Sun preps open source Java release?
Some twelve months have passed since Sun Microsystems promised to open source the venerable Java programming language, but the industry is yet to see the code, which should now be available within a few weeks.


IBM and Amazon.com settle all patent litigation
Amazon.com Inc. has paid IBM Corp. an undisclosed amount of money to settle all outstanding patent lawsuits between the two companies. They have also agreed a long-term patent cross-licensing agreement, giving Amazon access to IBM's patents on Web technology, the vendors said.


BlackBerrys cozy up to office phone systems
Research In Motion Ltd. this week tightened up the links between enterprise phone systems and its BlackBerry handsets, demonstrating software that makes it easier for employees and IT administrators to keep the work force connected.

Related Reading: RIM to offer plug-in for Visual Studio
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) will let developers create applications for BlackBerry phones using Microsoft Corp.'s .Net programming environment, continuing its efforts to broaden the capabilities of the devices.


TOKYO EDGE: May's coolest gadgets
May begins each year in Japan with Golden Week. A week-long holiday for most people thanks to four public holidays, three of which are bunched together. It's a great chance to relax or get out of the city and the first big holiday of the year after the new year break. For many companies the weeks before and after the holidays also mark the start of the build-up to the summer sales season.


Samsung launches Q1 Ultra ultramobile
Ultramobile PCs have often been criticized as falling into a gap between laptops and smartphones, but Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. hopes to change that perception with a reduced price and upgraded performance for its Q1 Ultra.


PostrgeSQL creator on the art of open source
Bruce Momjian may not be the most famous free software figure, but as a founder and lead architect of the PostgreSQL relational database management system, he is an ardent believer in the correctness and beauty of open source development.


Ubuntu plans mobile Linux version
Ubuntu Linux developers plan to extend its open-source software development to handheld Internet-enabled devices.


GO FIGURE
23%
The share of American adults that regularly use advanced mobile technologies and Web 2.0 sites, according to The Pew Internet & American Life Project report. But nearly half of those surveyed have little interest in either. SOURCE: IDG News Service


ITWHIRLED

Sony sparks outrage with decapitated goat
Sure, your video game may feature nudity and gore, but it doesn't help those who argue that video games are harmless fantasies if you advertise it with actual nudity and gore -- like naked models and a real decapitated goat, for instance. Sony perpetrated this massively ill-conceived plan at an event in Athens last month, as reported in Britian's Daily Mail. "Anyway, the game is really good," a Swedish gamer noted on the newspaper's Web site.

Rivals pour scorn on Microsoft security tool

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Rivals pour scorn on Microsoft security tool
News: Microsoft delivers Hotmail upgrade
News: Comcast works on single comms dashboard with Zimbra
News: Dell joins Microsoft, Novell in Linux collaboration
News: Nokia Siemens Networks to cut 9,000 jobs
News: Expands' speedier remote Notes
News: Sun to give away encryption key software
News: Microsoft-Yahoo: Not if but when, analysts say
ITwhirled: Homeless man's cigarette brings down Internet2



NEWS UPDATES

Rivals pour scorn on Microsoft security tool
The technology in Microsoft’s new business security product, Forefront, is not up to scratch, rivals have warned.


Microsoft delivers Hotmail upgrade
Microsoft Corp. has closed the public testing period for Windows Live Hotmail and has begun a months-long process of migrating users to this major upgrade of its Hotmail Web mail service, the company will announce Monday.


Comcast works on single comms dashboard with Zimbra
Comcast Corp. has turned to open-source software vendor Zimbra Inc. to help supply some of the technology behind the U.S. cable provider's upcoming free SmartZone communications dashboard for its broadband users.


Dell joins Microsoft, Novell in Linux collaboration
Dell Inc. is backing the Windows-Linux partnership set up by Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. As part of the deal, Dell will buy Suse Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft for corporate customers that are not already using Linux, the computer maker said Monday.


Nokia Siemens Networks to cut 9,000 jobs
Nokia Siemens Networks BV says it wants 5 billion people to enjoy the benefits of being connected by 2015, but in the meantime it will be disconnecting about 9,000 employees.


Expands' speedier remote Notes
Expand Networks has developed a Lotus-specific module for its WAN accelerators which it claimed can accelerate Notes and Domino applications by a factor of 10 or more. The company said it would allow Notes-using organizations to eliminate regional email servers and consolidate their Domino servers at HQ.


Sun to give away encryption key software
Sun is offering to give away its encryption key management software interface for nothing. Customers with devices that encrypt data will be able to interoperate with a Sun key management system freely.


Microsoft-Yahoo: Not if but when, analysts say
Reports that Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are in talks over a possible acquisition or merger have come as anything but a surprise to analysts who question not if, but when, a deal will happen.


EC still convinced mobile roaming consensus is possible
Failure to agree on a law slashing the cost of using your mobile phone abroad this week hasn't dented the European Commission's optimism that the legislation will still be passed, it said Friday.


ITWHIRLED

Homeless man's cigarette brings down Internet2
The Internet2 network was knocked offline for days when a cigarette tossed off a bridge in Boston by a homeless man started a fire that ate through crucial cables. Even those not dependent on the experimental high-speed network were affected, as the Red Line subway was also brought to a halt.