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EC's Kroes to US senators: Mind your own business on Oracle + Sun
If the AP is accurate, the EU's antitrust chief just told the United States Senate that any merger that takes place in the world is more her affair than theirs.
What does AT&T's 'Mark the Spot' app say about service quality?
That's a question for Betanews readers to answer in comments to this post.
Windows fix for TLS security bug still forthcoming, won't be Tuesday
Anyone looking for a fix for last month's discovery of a potentially serious security hole in TLS and SSL may have to wait until everyone is ready to act together.
Google rolls out real-time search, Near Me Now, extended personalization
Over time, searches from PCs and mobile phones will grow even "more personalized." But what about user privacy and search results that give you "the truth"?
Betanews Podcast: Rupert Murdoch and the buying stuff online problem
We'll have a more difficult time paying for online news if the underlying protocol for online payment has a big gaping hole in it.
Not the first, not the last, technology predictions for 2010
Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: The real truth is probably that what went around in 2009, will come around to haunt us next year.
Google Goggles: Hands on with the Shazam of the Real World
Google today unveiled Goggles, its visual search lab for Android devices that identifies objects by sight.
Microsoft: Windows 7 Family Pack wasn't 'pulled,' it just sold out
If you hurry, you may still be able to find the last Family Pack upgrade editions hanging around retail store shelves, but probably not so much online.
Clever iPhone game returns after being bumped over a name dispute
The game's simple concept and multitude of platforms and puzzles manage to pull off a retro, 8-bit style that's reminiscent of an old Atari game given a modern makeover.
Intel's marriage of CPU and GPU not ready for prime time
Although there will be an Intel component this month that can compute and plot in parallel, Betanews was told today, it won't be based on Project "Larrabee."
An alternative to Research in Motion's enterprise e-mail? There's an app for that
Good Technology today released an iPhone app compatible with its enterprise e-mail solution.
Dell: Most Linux users don't really need the latest version
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 20, 2009, 3:24 PM
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The new Mini 10v netbook that Dell launched last week will get more capabilities over the year ahead, including what the company is calling "wireless improvements." However, although "Linux enthusiasts" might wish otherwise, an upgrade from the currently supported Ubuntu Linux 8.04 to the newer 8.10 or 9.04 won't be happening yet. A later release of Ubuntu isn't in the best interests of "mainstream users," according to an e-mail from Dell to Betanews last night.
The official word from Dell is that there are two main reasons for sticking with Canonical's Ubuntu 8.04 -- for the time being, anyway -- in the Linux editions of its Inspiron netbooks, a line-up also available with Microsoft's Windows XP.
Continue reading Dell: Most Linux users don't really need the latest version...
Dell changes its Windows vs. Linux netbook strategy, plans new subsidized model
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 13, 2009, 5:22 PM
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Rolled out last night at a press event in New York City, the Mini 10v "companion netbook" offers some but not all of the same features as the slightly pricier Inspiron Mini 10 "media netbook," according to DK Ray, product marketing manager.
The new Inspiron Mini 10v is the first netbook from Dell to be available for Windows and Linux simultaneously, and it won't be the last. Up to now, Dell has released the Windows XP flavors before the Ubuntu Linux editions. Going forward, though, Dell will ship all future netbooks on the same OS, Ray divulged, in a meeting with Betanews at the event.
Continue reading Dell changes its Windows vs. Linux netbook strategy, plans new subsidized model...
IBM tackles Microsoft with blade servers and cloud services
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 8, 2009, 5:19 PM
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Targeted mostly at midrange customers who might otherwise turn to Windows, the new IBM Express Advantage products rolled out this week include newer and faster models of IBM's BladeCenter Express servers, along with a new hardware/software bundle called the "Comprehensive Data Protection Solution," said Bob Kelly, TSM (Tivoli Storage Manager) product manager, in a briefing with Betanews.
In a separate announcement this week, IBM launched WebSpan, a fee-based, service-oriented software environment that's already drawing a lot of comparisons with Microsoft's Azure.
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Usage share for both Windows and IE sink ever so slowly
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 8, 2009, 3:28 PM
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In Web usage statistics now expanded to include mobile platforms, Windows is slipping against not just Macintosh and Linux, but also against iPhone, iPod Touch, and Java ME. This according to the latest live statistics from Net Applications, which samples global Web traffic from its clients.
Among visitors to all of Web sites tracked by Net Applications, Windows has dropped nearly 3 full percentage points in under a year, falling from 94.8% to 87.9% between June 2008 and April 2009. Apple's Mac OS rose from 7.94% to 9.73% over the same time frame, while Linux clients broke the one percent hurdle for the first time ever, stepping from 0.80% to 1.02%.
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Xerox rolls out pioneering ColorQube printer with crayon-like ink
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 7, 2009, 2:22 PM
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Formerly codenamed Jupiter, the ColorQube 9200 series printers unveiled today will bring groundbreaking cost efficiencies to color printing through a combination of solid ink technology and per-click pricing plans, Xerox officials contended, in a series of press launches.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that, for the first time, you can release your 'true colors' in the office," declared Xerox Corp. President Ursula Burns, touting ColorQube as the "most significant change in office printing in the past 30 years."
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Apple's FileMaker releases $4.99 mobile database to App Store
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 6, 2009, 5:34 PM
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The new Bento for iPhone and iPod touch comes with about 30 pre-designed templates for on-the-go organization of car maintenance logs, expenses, recipes, and sundry other aspects of home and work life, said Ryan Rosenberg, FileMaker's VP of marketing and services, in a briefing for Betanews.
Most, but not all, of the templates and features in the new mobile database are the same as those included in the desktop edition of Bento, first released at Macworld 2008 and updated in October with spreadsheet-like functionality.
Continue reading Apple's FileMaker releases $4.99 mobile database to App Store...
EcoFocus: Linux maven Xandros demos Presto dual-boot Windows/Linux software
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 1, 2009, 3:22 PM
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In a demo at this week's EcoFocus press event in New York City, Jordan Smith, product marketing manager for Xandros, showed how his new downloadable Presto dual-boot software allows fast power-up to either Windows or Linux.
If you choose Linux at boot time, you get access in something like five to 20 seconds to a Xandros desktop Linux environment that includes Skype, FireFox, the the Pidgin "universal chat client," Thunar file manager, Windows List, and Xandros' online Presto Application Store. Here you'll find the latest Sun Java 6 runtime, Adobe Reader, Picasa photo management software, the Last.fm audio player, games, and lots of other additional software.
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EcoFocus: PCs and software meet bikes, paint, and other green goods
By Jacqueline Emigh on May 1, 2009, 1:17 PM
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At Pepcom's EcoFocus press event this week, HP launched new notebooks featuring HP Smart AC Adapters for automatically making power adjustments when needed. Available preloaded with a choice of Microsoft Windows or Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11, the five new HP ProBook models also come with HP Mobile Broadband, a system combining an HP m2400 module with built-in Qualcomm Gobi technology to support wireless connectivity to multiple broadband networks and operators.
Priced starting at about $529, the ProBooks come in 14-, 15.6-, and 17.-3-inch widescreen flavors. All five ProBooks are also outfitted with a new keyboard design, in which the keys are raised in an attempt to prevent dust and dirt from settling underneath. The notebooks offer a mercury-free design and high-definition backlit displays. A compatible USB 2.0 docking station is slated to ship in June, Betanews was told.
Continue reading EcoFocus: PCs and software meet bikes, paint, and other green goods...
EcoFocus: PiSAT launches solar-powered 'green' lantern
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 30, 2009, 3:25 PM
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PiSAT and its partner the Koinonia Foundation gave the K-Light its first big push at last night's EcoFocus show in Manhattan, demoing how the soda can-sized solar device can morph from a lantern to a flashlight in just a few seconds when you remove the side handles and the piece on top.
Like SunNight's solar flashlight, touted during the CEA's Greener Gadgets Expo last month, PiSAT's K-Light is set for distribution in a couple of different ways: through foundation subsidies in developing nations, and commercial sales in the US and elsewhere.
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New scares loom over open source license lawsuits
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 29, 2009, 4:38 PM
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Within the short "tradition" of open source lawsuits, users have typically needed to worry their heads only about breach of contract concerns. But last summer, in a case called Jacobsen v. Katzer, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opened up copyright claims as a new route for people looking for financial damages.
Open source developer Robert Jacobsen sued Matthew Katzer and Kamind Associates, producers of commercial software used with model trains, alleging that Katzer and his company violated copyrights around the Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI), an open source software project licensed under what's called the Artistic License.
Continue reading New scares loom over open source license lawsuits...
Apple lays off 1,600 workers but keeps stores afloat
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 24, 2009, 5:40 PM
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Ten percent of the full-timers in Apple's newly mushroomed total of 250 stores got handed pink slips between January and April, according to Apple's latest 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apple dubbed the laid off salespeople "full-time equivalents," reporting a headcount of 14,000 Apple store employees. That's slashed from the 15,600 number listed in its 10-K filing just last January.
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Red Hat: France is the most 'active' open source country, Moldova the least
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 24, 2009, 2:56 PM
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Landing ahead of the US for "activity" in Red Hat's Open Source Index this year were these countries, in the following order: France, Spain, Germany, Australia, Finland, the UK, Norway, and Estonia. Also among the 75 countries surveyed by Red Hat and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Denmark took tenth place.
At the opposite extreme of the open source spectrum, the study found these ten countries to be the least active, in descending order: Algeria, the Philippines, Morocco, Cameroon, Yemen, Latvia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Kenya, and Moldova.
Continue reading Red Hat: France is the most 'active' open source country, Moldova the least...
Dell launches notebooks with lower prices but higher resolution
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 22, 2009, 2:40 PM
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Dell first launched the Studio 15 at a New York City press event last June, at a $799 beginning price tag. Now, newly updated models are available starting at $649.
In stepping up resolution on the laptops from XGA+ and UXGA to High Definition (720p / 920p / 1080p), Dell has also grown the screen size a tad, from 15.4 to 15.6-inches. The LCD panel also includes a 2 megapixel built-in camera, according to Anne Camden, a Dell spokesperson.
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VMware launches 'cloud OS' for SMBs, hosters and enterprises
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 21, 2009, 6:20 PM
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At a large-scale rollout today, VMware and blue-chip partners filled in the details on a cloud-oriented "virtualization operating system" that's been hinted more and more about since its initial preview at an EMC customer conference last fall.
Essentially, vSphere 4 "slides in a new layer of software" for bringing together "islands" of server software running in different operating environments, said VMWare CEO Paul Maritz, speaking at an event that also featured live appearances by top brass from allies Intel, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.
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Sun launches cost-conscious x86 servers for clouds
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 17, 2009, 10:18 PM
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11:45 am ET April 20, 2009 - Sun Microsystems' announcement last week came before the business deal last weekend that led to the absorption of Sun by Oracle. Most noteworthy from Monday morning's joint conference call with Oracle and Sun management was that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison characterized the deal as a software acquisition. Though the fact that Sun makes servers was mentioned (Oracle does now as well), that fact wasn't high on anyone's list this morning. And because no questions were taken from the press, we don't actually know the fate of the Sun Fire server lineup that Jacqueline Emigh covered just late last week.
Sun's new x86 hardware is designed to bring speed, simplicity, and "obviously savings, [as we] deliver the same application performance as before," said Sun CTO John Fowler, in a rollout this week at Sun's North American Partner Summit in Las Vegas.
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Analysts: While 3G gadgets thrive, only five mobile 'App Stores' will survive
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 17, 2009, 5:33 PM
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The small subset of software 'app stores' most likely to survive includes Apple's download site, Google's Android Store, and RIM's new BlackBerry App World, according to recent analysis during a webcast featuring Andy Castonguay, Yankee Group's research director.
But outside of downloadable apps, other big differentiators in the increasingly crowded broadband gadget space will include size of the device, connectivity, keyboard, screen, and user interface.
Continue reading Analysts: While 3G gadgets thrive, only five mobile 'App Stores' will survive...
Dozens of corporations float to the Amazon cloud on RightScale
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 14, 2009, 9:56 PM
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Big businesses are now moving to the clouds "en masse," through a deal between Capgemini and RightScale. The 50-or-so corporations are all clients of IT consulting firm Capgemini's emerging Cloud Computing Center of Excellence, said RightScale CEO Michael Crandell, in a briefing with Betanews.
After starting to migrate the customers' existing Web sites to "cloud-style, elastic-type applications and grids" in Amazon's EC2, Capgemini turned to RightScale's pre-configured templates for assistance.
Continue reading Dozens of corporations float to the Amazon cloud on RightScale...
EMC launches cloud storage for VMware first, Microsoft's Hyper-V later
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 14, 2009, 5:33 PM
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Built on an entirely new architecture known as the Symmetrix Virtual Matrix Architecture, EMC's new VMax departs from more customary data center storage arrays such as its own DMX-4 through its unprecedented scalability, contended Dave Donatelli, president of EMC's Storage Division, in a webcast today. The new Symmetrix V-Max storage array is designed to scale to tens of thousands of terabytes of storage and tens of millions of I/O operations per second.
The new array also uses APIs from VMware -- a company in which EMC holds majority ownership -- to automate provisioning of storage across hundreds of thousands of VMware virtual machines running on PC servers. But EMC will also provide a set of parallel capabilities for deployments of Microsoft's Hyper-V, predicted Simon Robinson, an analyst at the 451 Group.
Continue reading EMC launches cloud storage for VMware first, Microsoft's Hyper-V later...
Novell rolls out its Service-Driven Data Center initiative
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 10, 2009, 8:54 PM
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An offshoot of its Linux and open source software activities, Novell's new Service-Driven Data Center initiative revolves around three components: SUSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES) 11, PlateSpin Workload Management solutions, and Novell Business Service Management tools.
Announced at the Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) last month, SLES 11 features data center enhancements such as the Xen 3.1.1 hypervisor, for virtualization; a new Swap over NFS capability for remote storage; and new control groups and CPUset features for more fine-grained management of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources.
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Time Warner Cable responds to bandwidth cap complaints with price cap plan
By Jacqueline Emigh on April 10, 2009, 1:21 PM
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In a statement this morning, Time Warner COO Landel Hobbs announced a $150-per-month pricing tier for high volume users, which he says is meant to stem user complaints over Time Warner's tests of capped bandwidth usage.
"We've heard the passionate feedback and we've taken action to address our customers' concerns," according to Hobbs. In a controversial early trial in Beaumont, Texas, Time Warner has been charging customers between $29.95 and $54.90 a month based on data consumption and connection speed. Customers have then been charged an extra $1 for each gigabyte over their plan limit. The ISP had planned to use the same general price structure in an expanded trial of capped bandwidth usage in the cities of Rochester, N.Y., Greensborough, N.C., and San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
Continue reading Time Warner Cable responds to bandwidth cap complaints with price cap plan...