Intel Wi-Fi, Dynamic Microsoft, Google Affairs and the Blogosphere
When Storage Meets Security - cxotoday
Piece “Security and the availability of information are the two growing concerns in the enterprise circle today. Following a rash of high-profile data security breaches, companies are demanding that implementing security be made more simple. This is driving the CIO community worldwide to go for solutions that bundle security with storage. “
WSJ: Skype, EBay in Merger Talks - tmcnet
Piece “Reuters is reporting on a WSJ story today that has online auction site EBay Inc. in talks to acquire Internet-telephone company Skype for between $2 billion and $3 billion.”
Microsoft’s Ballmer Speaks - line56
Piece “Line56: Do you believe that corporations will continue to see e-business as a key strategy for driving cost savings and sales growth?
Ballmer: A lot of what we know of as e-business today falls under the umbrella of integration: supply chain management and trade exchanges, for instance. The fundamental idea of automating integration points between systems and businesses is clearly sound.
As businesses begin to identify opportunities to create completely new offerings based on XML Web services, we’ll see a tremendous invigoration of the e-business market. For instance, a manufacturing company might want to move beyond simple integration of their MRP ] system with their customers’ procurement systems. They might offer an XML Web service delivering real-time production statistics to a customer’s data warehouse or to mobile devices. These new services will help companies differentiate themselves from their competitors, and they will provide new sources of revenue.”
Why VoIP telephony is quickly coming of age - ft.com
Piece “Also exploring VoIP are some of the internet world’s biggest names, such as Microsoft, Google and Yahoo. This month Microsoft bought Teleo, a company with technology that will allow anyone who uses Microsoft’s MSN instant messaging service to make internet phone calls. A week earlier Google, Microsoft’s arch-rival, introduced Google Talk, a service that lets users of its web-based e-mail service talk to one another using a microphone and speaker. Yahoo’s purchase in June of Dialpad Communications, a VoIP provider, will enable it to offer an internet telephony service. Meanwhile Skype is understood to be in early talks with eBay.
Uptake of broadband, which most VoIP services require, has been a bottleneck for VoIP. But the global broadband internet market is forecast to pass 190m subscribers by the end of next year and will approach 440m by the end of 2010, according to Informa Telecoms & Media, a market research firm and consultancy. Niklas Zennstrom, the founder and chief executive of Skype, says broadband growth drives take-up of VoIP. “Over the next five to 10 years all traffic will migrate to VoIP. This is a function of internet penetration with broadband becoming ubiquitous,” he says. “
Starting Your Own Blog: How to Choose the Right Blogging Tool for You - informit
Piece “There are so many blogging options these days, so I’ll describe just a representative handful. In my mind, the best way to go about this is to describe blogging utilities based on type. The following types of blogging solutions are available:
Managed solutions. This category of blogging involves a user signing up for a free or low-cost service that provides you with blogging tools. In many cases, the server hosting can be provided for you as well, such as with TypePad, which also offers a range of pricing and features. Or, you have the option to place your blog on your own server, but manage it through the service’s interface, as is commonly done with Blogger. The benefits of these types of solutions are their low barriers to entry and their low (or free) cost. I often recommend choosing a solution like this when you’re first starting out because you can quickly determine whether blogging is for you.
Community solutions. Many online communities offer some blogging features, as can be found with MSN, Yahoo!, LiveJournal, and others. Also an excellent option for those new to blogging, community solutions tend to be more restrictive in both the options offered and the terms of service allowed.
Server solutions. Server solutions answer the need for strong yet modifiable software. Server-based solutions require more technical experience to install, customize, and extend. However, it’s the server-based solutions that are the most feature-rich. Due to the community nature of most blogging software, many plug-ins, add-ons, and modifications are developed by the community to be used freely. What’s more, server solutions offer better support. Movable Type is a good example of this—because of its licensing structure, technical support is part of the package. With WordPress, its open-source nature lends itself to many resources online where people with a passion for the product and for blogging help each other out with technical concerns. “
Big names in tech change companies - usatoday
Piece “• Business software maker SAP (SAP) hired nine executives this summer from competitors, including Oracle (ORCL), Siebel Systems (SEBL) and BEA Systems (BEAS).
• Computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) recently wooed Randall Mott from rival Dell(DELL), where he was chief information officer. Thursday, HP said it hired former Palm chief marketing officer Satjiv Chahil.
• Microsoft (MSFT) acquired collaboration software maker Groove Networks and elevated Groove’s founder, renowned programmer Ray Ozzie, to chief technical officer.
• Yahoo (YHOO) recently plucked executives from Amazon.com (AMZN) and IBM (IBM) .
Companies in the cutthroat tech industry are known for poaching talent from one another. But the sudden rash of recruits has its controversy”
Q&A: Plumtree’s John Kunze - Fresh from its acquisition by BEA Systems, the enterprise portal company gets a chance to target a larger worldwide market for enterprise portals. - redherring
Piece “Q: How do you think the combination of Plumtree and BEA will affect the industry?
A: The combined entity will be the single largest pure play that’s dedicated to the openness business. [This simplifies the integration of structured and unstructured information, as well as interoperability between existing systems.] They will use the openness advantage to compete against the stack vendors [such as IBM, SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft]. Because they are acquiring us and instantly filling the product gaps that they have in the AquaLogic [a product that allows multiple technologies and platforms to share information] line, they are going to be able to compete more effectively and sooner toward the mission of having software that is committed to openness. “
Salesforce plans online software exchange | News.blog | CNET News.com - sapventures
Piece “AppExchange will let Salesforce.com customers buy and sell applications and components that run on the company’s hosted platform. The idea builds on the company’s Multiforce tools that let developers build new applications that expand the capabilities of Salesforce’s existing products.”
KM in call centers - blog.jackvinson
Piece “A client sent an article about knowledge management in call centers from Call Center Magazine, Find the Needle. Organize the Haystack by Joe Fleischer:
Knowledge management is more than a way for customers to locate information about a company by themselves. We reveal how knowledge management enables customers to get the most out of your company by learning from one another. “
The RSS Space defined - readwriteweb
Piece “Table 1: RSS Sectors
CATEGORY (–> means sub-category)
EXAMPLES
Publisher Services
–> Content
–> Analytics
–> Feed Mgmt
–> Advertising
Feedburner
Nooked
Pheedo
SimpleFeed
Syndicate IQ
Reader Services (including RSS Aggregators and Consumer services/tools)
–> Web-based
–> Desktop
–> Mobile
–> Enterprise
–> White Label
Bloglines
Del.icio.us
Moreover
Newsgator
PubSub
CMS/Blogging
–> Hosted
–> Standalone
–> Enterprise
Blogger
MSN Spaces
Six Apart
Wordpress
Yahoo 360
Content (including Podcasting, blog networks, news directories)
–> Proprietary
–> User-Generated
Gawker
iPodder
Odeo
Topix.net
Weblogsinc
Search
–> Index
–> White Label / Microsites (e.g. Technorati Live8 promotion)
–> Embedded (e.g. Google network and Technorati partnership with Newsweek)
–> Market Research
Bloglines
Feedster
Google
Ice Rocket
Technorati
“
IBM’s Innovative Electronic Workplace - dealarchitect
Piece “I first saw an IBM presentation in 1996 on how they had re-engineered their employee travel expense processing. They had taken a very manual, paper based process around approvals, receipts, audits, reimbursements and automated it using fax, workflow, digital imaging and archiving and neural networks (for exception analysis). While those technologies seem ancient today and there are many packaged solutions today, 10 years ago, the innovative use of technology had helped reduce their travel accounting staff 80% from 1993 to 1995. “Innovation” used to squeeze their “utility” spend.”
Microsoft Eyes a Business Niche - nytimes
Piece “In the new suite of programs, called Microsoft Dynamics, the company will include features for some 50 business tasks and incorporate new technology, which has been in development for the last few years under the code-name Project Green.
A new version of the company’s accounting program, Great Plains, expected this fall, will automate the processes of jobs like accounting clerk, sales manager, controller and finance manager. The software will be renamed Microsoft Dynamics GP when it is released.
As existing programs incorporate the new technology, they will also be renamed, the company said. For example, the new version of Microsoft’s Axapta, a human resource management program, will become Microsoft Dynamics AX. “
Web Development Trends for 2006 - dashes
Piece “Curious about what technologies and techniques are going to be popular in the coming months and into the next year? Well, our crack team of editors here at dashes.com (that is to say, me) have assembled a list of up-and-coming trends that you should keep an eye on. Call it vocational education for people building Web 2.0. - Dampening, E4X, JSON, XHTML, CSS, Ajax , Atom API and Ruby on Rails“
Microsoft targets Google with developer platform - computerworld
Piece “Analyst surveys put Microsoft a distant third behind Google and Yahoo in the Web search market, and the MSN business unit has been working intently and releasing new Web-based products and services to catch up to those companies. Google, in particular, has been in Microsoft’s sights with its online search, mapping and other services.
A recent MSN release in this area was a beta of Virtual Earth, a new mapping tool similar to Google Maps. Both Virtual Earth and Google Maps allow users to find locations or businesses by address and other search criteria, and both use both street-map and satellite-map views. Microsoft also made a major revamp of its MSN Search engine last June in an effort to take on the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant, but the tool has not yet caught on widely with users. “
Symbol, Intermec Settle Suit on RFID Patent - crmbuyer
Piece “Competitors Symbol Technologies and Intermec Technologies have agreed to place dueling intellectual property lawsuits on hold after settling a dispute over radio frequency identification patents. Symbol has joined a program Intermec launched for other companies that want to buy access to its RFID patents. Conversely, Intermec will receive access to Symbol’s RFID technology. “
Apple, Motorola & Cingular Launch World’s First Mobile Phone with iTunes - gizmosforgeeks
Piece “In the latest step in convergence, iTunes has made it’s way to your mobile phone. Motorola, along with Apple and Cingular, have brought iTunes to your phone with the new Motorola ROKR for a retail price of $249.99 available earlier this week at Cingular retail stores. “
Microsoft Hawks Its IPTV Platform - informationweek
Piece “Microsoft came to this week’s International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) with a novel media processor co-designed with Sigma Designs and targeted at IPTV applications, as well as a host of set top box offerings.
Microsoft said it is working with many other semiconductor suppliers to introduce a range of SOC products to support its efforts in IPTV. “
Ex Libris to raise $50m on London’s AIM - globes.co.il
Piece “The company develops automated systems for libraries, information centers and research institutes”
Google Recruits Father of the Internet - newsfactor
Piece “Google has appointed Vinton Cerf as its Chief Internet Evangelist. “Vint Cerf is clearly one of the great technology leaders of our time,” said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.”
Gates Q&A: What’s Ahead For Microsoft - smallbizpipeline
Piece “Microsoft’s ambition in the market for software that runs companies’ finance, sales, and operations is large, but so far results in Microsoft’s 5-year-old Business Solutions division have been lukewarm. The company has had to manage expensive research-and-development teams it inherited through two acquisitions, respond to customer requirements without the benefit of a direct sales force, and iron out overlap in its network of resellers. On Sept. 7, Microsoft rolled out a new plan for its business-apps group that revolves around personalized products tailored for PC users’ jobs.”
Ingram Micro Is ‘Out-Executing’ Competition, Says CEO Spierkel - varbusiness
Piece “During his keynote address, Spierkel gave reseller customers a summary of his first 100 days as CEO of the world’s largest IT distributor. Spierkel, who took over at Ingram Micro in June, first touted Ingram Micro’s sales gains overseas, particularly in Europe where the company “is kicking ass,” he told the audience. In fact, he said all four geographic regions for Ingram Micro earned more than 1 percent in operating income, which was the first time in the company’s history that had happened. “
Intel Eyes Wi-Fi Security - wirelessnewsfactor
Piece “Intel is developing a way to locate a Wi-Fi user by timing how long it takes for packets to travel to and from a wireless access point, which could block rogue access to Wi-Fi networks.”
