Tech Newsic :: hear the techiness: 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Canonical takes on Windows 7 with latest Ubuntu release candidate

Canonical made available on Thursday the Release Candidate of its latest Linux-based operating system, Ubuntu 9.10, on the same day Microsoft launched the long-awaited Windows 7.

Google's Sergey Brin laments Yahoo's Microsoft search deal

Google cofounder and President of Technology Sergey Brin made a surprise appearance at the Web 2.0 Summit on Thursday, answering a variety of questions on hot-button issues affecting the search company.

Interviewed on stage by conference chairman John Battelle, Brin lamented Yahoo's decision to enter into a search outsourcing deal with Microsoft.

Apple must upgrade Boot Camp to support Windows 7

Apple today announced that it will update its Boot Camp utility before the end of the year to support Microsoft's just-launched Windows 7 .

In a short support document posted to the Apple site, the company said it would soon revise Boot Camp, a utility that lets users run Windows and its applications in a separate disk partition on an Intel-based Mac.

Apple must upgrade Boot Camp to support Windows 7

Apple today announced that it will update its Boot Camp utility before the end of the year to support Microsoft's just-launched Windows 7 .

You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

This week was so chock-full of news we really needed two quizzes to cover it all. Apple unveiled heaps of new hardware, not quite 48 hours before Microsoft officially served up Windows 7 -- a sorbet of an OS designed to help users lose the bitter aftertaste of Windows Vista. But wait, there's more. With new e-book readers, new "iPhone killers," and new music services, our holiday wish list overfloweth. Your task: Navigate our knotty questions on your way to a perfect score. Award yourself 10 points for each correct answer. Now begin.

Microsoft releases major update to Hyper-V R2, closes feature gap with VMware

Competition between VMware and Microsoft got a little tighter on Thursday with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, which includes a major update to Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization software.

VMware dominates the server virtualization market, but Microsoft hopes to change that with its new offering, Hyper-V R2. The update adds important capabilities that help Microsoft close the functionality gap with VMware and other rivals. But analysts still see the product falling short in a few areas required for running enterprise-class applications.

WiMax to go on sale in Chicago next month

WiMax will finally go on sale next month in Chicago, a city that was to have been one of the first places where the high-speed wireless service was offered in the U.S.

Lack of information makes it hard to know if the federal stimulus is creating tech jobs

WASHINGTON -- One obvious follow-up question to the U.S. government's announcement this month that the federal stimulus has created or saved 30,000 jobs so far is this: How many were IT and engineering jobs?

Unfortunately, there isn't an answer.

[ Keep up on the day's tech news headlines with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: Wrap Up newsletter. ]

AOL hard at work on Internet 'content platform'

As it braces to be spun off and struggles with revenue, Time Warner's AOL Internet unit is busy crafting a new strategy focused around content creation that represents a shift in its focus, AOL's CEO Tim Armstrong said Thursday.

"We're focused on growing a large platform around content and monetizing that content," Armstrong said on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Microsoft seeks ISO security certification for its cloud services

Microsoft Corp. wants to get its suite of hosted messaging and collaboration products certified to the ISO 27001 international information security standard, part of an effort to try and assure customers about the security of its cloud computing services. It comes amid broad and continuing doubts about the ability of cloud vendors in general to properly secure their services.

U.S. man to serve prison term for selling counterfeit software on eBay

A 46-year-old Falls Church, Virginia, man has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for selling counterfeit software on eBay, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Gregory William Fair was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In addition to the prison term, Judge R.W. Roberts ordered Fair to pay US$743,098 in restitution.

PHP frameworks square off

Advocates of different PHP development frameworks squared off in a debate of sorts Thursday, with each touting the merits of their particular entrant.

Frameworks represented during a panel discussion at the Zend/PHP conference in San Jose include Agavi, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Symfony and Zend Framework.

[ Earlier this week, PHP 6 plans were revealed at the conference. ]

Update: Microsoft sales and earnings drop less than expected

Microsoft reported revenue that was down 14 percent year-on-year for its first fiscal quarter, with net income down 17 percent -- but it still beat analyst expectations on both counts.

The figures were dragged down by deferral of revenue from sales of Windows 7 to PC manufacturers ahead of the operating system's launch on Thursday, the company said.

Update: Microsoft strikes search deals with Twitter, Facebook

Microsoft has reached collaboration agreements with Twitter and Facebook to get their members' public status updates and messages indexed and presented in useful ways on the Bing search engine.

Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft's Online Audience Business, made the announcement on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

[ Discover what's new in business applications with InfoWorld's Technology: Applications newsletter. ]

IBM revs up enterprise-class disk storage arrays

For the first time in three years, IBM has unveiled a new high-end model in its DS8000 series enterprise-class disk storage arrays.

Based on IBM's latest Power6 processor, the new DS8700 model announced today offers up to 2.5 times the performance of IBM's current DS8300 array and is up to 50 percent more energy efficient, the company said in a statement.

Update: EU chides Oracle over lack of cooperation in probe of Sun deal

Europe's head of competition has criticized Oracle for what she characterized as a lack of cooperation over the investigation of Oracle's planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems, a spokesman for the European Commission said.

Can Windows 7 help PC, chip sectors rebound?

The global economy may not be robust, but the PC and chip sectors are hoping to gain some ground with the help of Microsoft's Windows 7 OS, which will start shipping on Thursday.

Equinix expands datacenters through buyout

Equinix has agreed to acquire Switch & Data Facilities in a $689 million deal that will bring together two of the world's largest operators of datacenters.

Equinix already operates 45 datacenters in the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, which house infrastructure for customers including Google, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, Netflix and the Nasdaq stock exchange. With the Switch & Data acquisition, expected to close in the first quarter of next year, it will add 34 more across the U.S. and Canada.

PC makers look to cash in on Windows 7 hype

PC makers will ship new laptops on Thursday to coincide with the release of Microsoft's Windows 7 in an effort to drum up excitement around the new OS.

AT&T adds 3.2 million iPhones in Q3

AT&T said Thursday it activated 3.2 million iPhones in the third quarter, its best-ever for a quarter, adding that nearly 40 percent of those iPhone activations were for new subscribers to the wireless carrier.

FCC moves toward net neutrality rules despite opposition

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has taken the first step toward creating formal net neutrality rules, despite a huge lobbying effort from opposing groups in recent days.

The FCC voted Thursday to open a rulemaking process and begin receiving comments on a proposal to create new net neutrality rules following a contentious debate on whether new regulations are needed.

AT&T exec implies iPhone exclusivity in U.S. ending

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega strongly implied today that the carrier's exclusive deal to sell the iPhone in the U.S. is ending, although he gave no details in a conference call with analysts.

Google-Microsoft search war heats up

The ongoing search war between Google and Microsoft is intensifying as both companies battle to outpace the other in real-time search.

In a dance of timing yesterday, both companies announced major real-time search deals at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Ballmer headlines global Windows 7 launch events

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage in New York Thursday, playing the role of chief salesman in a day of worldwide launch events, executive speechmaking and sales promotions meant to persuade consumers and businesses to migrate to Windows 7.

With characteristic high energy and in his booming voice, Ballmer evoked the Windows 7 marketing mantra of "simplicity" to a crowd of about 250 journalists and analysts in a Soho loft space.

Microsoft offers second beta for Visual Studio Express

Microsoft began offering this week Beta 2 releases of its free Visual Studio 2010 Express products, which are intended to enable students, hobbyists, and novices to build Windows and Web applications.

Nokia sues Apple over iPhone 'free ride'

Nokia today said it has sued Apple in federal court, charging that the iPhone infringes on 10 patents owned by the Finnish mobile phone maker.

The patents have been used by the iPhone since it was introduced in June 2007, Nokia said, and relate to several technologies "fundamental to making devices which are compatible with one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA) and wireless LAN standards." According to a statement from Nokia, the patents cover wireless data, speed encoding and decoding, security and encryption.

Yahoo revenue down, but income up sharply

Yahoo has reported revenue of $1.58 billion for the third quarter of 2009, down 12 percent from the same period a year earlier, although net income was up sharply, by 244 percent, the company said.

Yahoo's third-quarter income was $186 million, the company said Tuesday, up from $54 million for the third quarter of 2008. Earnings per share was $0.13, significantly ahead of analyst estimates of $0.07, according to those polled by Thomson Reuters.

Bridgette Chambers takes the helm of new SAP user group

The Americas' SAP Users' Group announced its new CEO on Tuesday, nearly one year after parting ways with its previous chief.

Interim CEO Bridgette Chambers will take leadership of ASUG, which represents about 70,000 individuals at 2,000 member companies. Chambers assumes the role previously held by Steve Strout, who was ousted by ASUG's board in November 2008 for undisclosed reasons.

Windows 7: The essential guide

The Oct. 22 official release of Windows 7 will likely be anticlimactic, given the new Microsoft OS's months-long availability as a public beta and the thousands of stories about the Windows that Microsoft hopes will make the world forget the debacle that was Vista.

Windows 7: The essential guide

Microsoft posts Sidekick data recovery tool

Microsoft has posted a link to a data recovery tool for T-Mobile Sidekick smartphone users, the latest step in the company's effort to clean up the mobile device service outage mess.

Dell touts services offerings after Acer's PC triumph

Dell's growth plans focus on pairing its hardware and IT services offerings rather than on increasing PC unit shipments, a company executive said Wednesday, dismissing rival Acer's rise past Dell in PC sales.

Zetta opens its enterprise storage cloud to all

A cloud storage provider that designed its system from the ground up to meet enterprise needs is ready to offer its service to the world.

The Zetta Enterprise Storage Cloud, from Sunnyvale, Calif., startup Zetta, is set to enter general availability on Wednesday after months of beta testing, evaluations and use by a limited set of customers.

HP CEO says external clouds not secure

Hewlett-Packard's CEO, Mark Hurd, is raising issues with cloud computing, on everything from its name to its ability to offer a secure environment.

Teradata: We still rule over Oracle, IBM in analytics

Business intelligence vendor Teradata is unfazed by Oracle's and IBM's recent saber rattling, saying the vendors' respective technologies remain fundamentally unsuited for high-performance analytics.

Arm wards off Intel with faster, cooler smartphone chip

Arm Holdings Wednesday introduced a processor for smartphones and other devices that it says will be cheaper, and more powerful and energy-efficient than the two ARM processors it will supplant. The company expects that the new chip will also help it ward off incursions from Intel's rival Atom chip.

ARM announced the chip Wednesday at its annual ARM TechCon3 conference in Santa Clara, Calif.

RIM confirms BlackBerry Bold 9700 to launch next month

Research In Motion (RIM) this morning decided to acknowledge what most Web-watching gadget-enthusiasts have known was coming for months: the BlackBerry Bold 9700.

SAP, Siemens ink new support pact

SAP said Wednesday that Siemens has signed a three-year renewal of its software maintenance agreement, an announcement that would seem to quell widespread speculation that the global engineering and electronics company was considering dumping vendor-provided support in favor of lower-cost alternatives.

Unused servers squander $25 billion a year

Millions of servers around the world are doing little more than wasting energy, according to a new study.

At least 15 percent of servers are not doing anything useful, said a majority (72 percent) of server managers polled by Kelton Research. In addition, 83 percent said they don't have an adequate grasp of server utilization, and 72 percent rely on CPU utilization as their measure of server efficiency.

Microsoft to launch Office 2010 public beta next month

Microsoft will launch the public beta of Office 2010 next month, company CEO Steve Ballmer said on Monday.

AT&T adds hosted apps to enterprise mobile suite

AT&T on Monday made another grab for business mobile users, introducing two more hosted applications built on its Mobile Enterprise Applications Platform.

Citrix bows to user pressure on XenDesktop licensing

Citrix Systems has added more licensing options and editions to its upcoming desktop virtualization platform XenDesktop 4, including the option to pay by the number of devices used, it said on Tuesday.

Security software protects mobile and remote Mac, Windows users

DeepNines Technologies Tuesday is unveiling a desktop security agent that works in tandem with its content-filtering and anti-malware gateway to protect mobile and remote workers.

Ballmer: Sidekick outage 'not good'

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer characterized the recent Sidekick data loss episode as "not good," and said he believes all the data will be recovered, but added that Microsoft will have to be more forthcoming in explaining to enterprise customers why a similar situation won't occur

AMD launches first triple-core Athlon processors

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday announced a new range of desktop microprocessors, including its first Athlon triple-core processors.

AMD launched four Athlon II X3 triple-core processors as part of a new lineup that slips in between the dual-core Athlon II X2 and quad-core Athlon II X4 processors. The processors run at speeds between 2.2GHz and 2.9GHz and draw up to 95 watts of power.

Hackers change tactics, Gumblar attacks surge again

Security researchers are seeing a resurgence of Gumblar, the name for a piece of malicious code that is spread by compromising legitimate but insecure Web sites.

Zend says Code Tracing capability eases PHP problem resolution

Zend Technologies on Tuesday will release a public beta version of its Zend Server 5.0 PHP Web application server, featuring Code Tracing, which the company says will slash problem resolution time by as much as 50 percent.

Richard Stallman joins call for Oracle to divest MySQL

Oracle must be stopped from taking over MySQL, according to Richard Stallman, a developer and prominent activist for free software.

Server virtualization now 18% of server workload

How fast is the shift to server virtualization happening? According to Gartner, 18 percent of server workloads this year run on virtualized servers; that share will grow to 28 percent next year and reach almost half by 2012.

Zoho links project management tool with Google Apps

Zoho has integrated its online project management tool, along with some other features, with Google's Apps -- a linkage Zoho thinks will benefit users of both software suites.

Zoho and Google are competitors, offering a range of Web-based office applications and collaboration features that are designed to be an alternative to desktop suites such as Microsoft's Office. Both Zoho and Google have their strengths, however, and it appears some people are opting to use both for some functions, according to Zoho.

Apple refreshes its lineup with new iMacs and revamped MacBooks and minis

Apple today revamped its iMac, MacBook and Mac mini lines in a long-expected refresh that company executives hinted yesterday was imminent.

But as is Apple's custom, the company did not lower prices for the least-expensive new models.

Spring 3.0 framework for Java to debut

Spring 3.0, a major upgrade to the popular open source Java development framework, is being introduced Monday by SpringSource, featuring full REST support for rich Web applications as well as an expression language.

SpringSource, which recently was acquired by VMware, also is announcing SpringSource tc Server Developer Edition, offering a runtime environment for building Spring applications. And tc Server is compatible with the Apache Tomcat Java application server.

Mozilla blocks Microsoft's sneaky Firefox plug-in

Mozilla late Friday blocked the Microsoft-made software that had put Firefox users at risk from attack.

Google Chrome browser snubs Windows 7

Google has scrubbed plans to fully integrate its Chrome Web browser with Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system.

Microsoft issues first Windows 7 patches

Microsoft last week patched nine vulnerabilities, five marked "critical," in Windows 7, a move that will require users upgrading to the new operating system starting Thursday to download a security update to keep their PCs secure.

The patches were the first for Windows 7's final build, dubbed RTM for "release to manufacturing," that has been in some customers' hands, primarily enterprises with volume licensing agreements, since August.

IBM mainframe biz focus of U.S. antitrust probe again

The U.S. Department of Justice's decision to launch an antitrust inquiry into IBM's mainframe business could reignite a legal battle that started 40 years ago.

Mozilla unblocks Microsoft add-on for Firefox

Mozilla has now unblocked a Microsoft add-on thought to pose a danger due to a software vulnerability, but a second add-on remains blocked, the organization said on Sunday.

Micron boosts NAND flash endurance six-fold

Micron has introduced what it claims to be the industry's highest endurance, highest capacity multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory.

The technology, which is used for building solid-state drive products, is aimed at enterprise-class companies that want to boost performance of I/O-hungry applications, while maintaining the longevity they get with hard disk drives.

BMC buys startup Tideway for component tracking tools

BMC Software said Monday it has signed a deal to buy London startup Tideway Systems, which makes software for tracking and analyzing IT system components. Terms of the deal, which is expected to be concluded this week, were not disclosed.

Tideway’s Foundation product builds a map of a company’s applications and the underlying infrastructure that supports them. Customers can use the information to spot risks, eliminate wasted resources and recover more quickly from incidents, according to the company.

MySQL cofounder says Oracle should sell database

Oracle should resolve antitrust concerns over its acquisition of Sun Microsystems by selling open-source database MySQL to a suitable third party, its cofounder and creator Michael "Monty" Widenius said in a blog post on Monday.

Microsoft to detail feature-complete SharePoint upgrade

Microsoft will detail its planned SharePoint Server 2010 business collaboration platform for the enterprise and Web on Monday, emphasizing Internet, developer, and video capabilities.

SharePoint 2010 is feature-complete and will be offered in a beta release in November along with the Office 2010 applications suite. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will discuss the upcoming SharePoint release in a keynote presentation at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas.

Microsoft to offer second beta for Visual Studio 2010

Microsoft will offer the second beta of its upcoming Visual Studio 2010 software development platform and the accompanying .Net Framework 4 programming platform on Monday and unveil consolidated packaging options for the toolset.

The beta package will be available to MSDN subscribers on Monday and to everyone else on Wednesday. The official launch of Visual Studio 2010 and .Net Framework 4 is set for March 22, 2010, with the technology expected to ship around that time.

Budget cuts could increase server failures

Despite an improving economy , companies aren't moving quickly replace servers, PCs and printers, which will likely cause an increase in failure rates over the next two years, according to Gartner Inc.

Update: Google grows both revenue and profit in Q3

Google grew both its revenue and profit in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, registering results its CEO called "strong" and that exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The company now considers the worst of the recession to be over so it has decided to step up its investments in areas like hiring and acquisitions.

[ Stay ahead of the key tech business news with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: First Look newsletter. ]

Apple's 'no cheap netbooks' strategy pays off

Netbooks were instrumental in the increase in PC shipments for most manufacturers during the third quarter, but Apple defied the trend despite offering standard laptops at premium prices, according to figures from analyst firm Gartner.

Mozilla complains that it doesn't get top slot in browser 'ballot'

Mozilla again slammed the browser "ballot screen" proposal that Microsoft's made to European antitrust regulators, saying that the voting will be skewed Apple's way because its Safari browser will be the first choice on the list.

Mac News: Business Card Composer 5 adds map integration

Business Card Composer now features Google Maps integration, as BeLight Software released a new version of its business card creation and printing application. In addition, Business Card Composer 5 features 210 re-designed business card templates as well as 140 new templates in its Retail edition.

Storage pros worry about putting data in the cloud

Cloud storage platforms need to mature before they are enterprise-ready, particularly for customers in highly regulated industries, IT professionals attending Storage Networking World in Phoenix, Ariz. this week said.

Security, legal issues and portability of data are potential roadblocks cited by customers.

You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

It was a weird week all right. Bonehead moves by major companies caused massive data loss for their subscribers. Entire countries dropped off the Internet. Microsoft hired an animated pitchman. And that's not all. This week's news also included Twitter wine, unicorns, post-coital tweeting, social-media-induced crimes, and dangerous lapses in punctuation. (Hey, we said it was a weird week.) Can you rise above the strangeness and ace our quiz? Correct answers earn you 10 points. Ready? Have a swig of Twitter wine and get started.

Real-world Windows usage database surpasses 20,000-user milestone

More than 20,000 users have now joined the exo.repository, a publicly accessible database that anonymously tracks the configuration and performance data of Windows PCs and servers throughout the world. That database powers Windows Pulse, a set of Web widgets that provides a live snapshot of key Windows usage metrics in more than a dozen areas.

Sneaky Microsoft add-in leaves Firefox open to attack

An add-on that Microsoft silently slipped into Mozilla's Firefox last February leaves that browser open to attack, Microsoft's security engineers acknowledged earlier this week.

New wave of Windows 7 portables adds touch of style to biz tech

Despite its valiant attempts at creating a carnival atmosphere, when Microsoft launches a new operating system, it seldom feels like a world-changing event in the world of design. Even the considerable hoopla surrounding the introduction of Windows XP was hardly like the introduction of the bikini or the Volkswagen Beetle -- or, dare we say it, the iPhone.

Apple enables in-app purchases from free iPhone apps

Apple has introduced an in-app purchase feature for free iPhone apps that allow you to fulfill transactions within the iPhone applications themselves -- no Apple App Store required. The feature was previously available for paid applications.

Hacked Facebook apps lead users to fake anti-virus software

New applications are turning up on Facebook. Unfortunately, some of them are fake anti-virus programs.

While researching Web sites that host malicious software, Roger Thompson, chief research officer of software security company AVG, noticed something funny. A Russian Web site known for hosting malware was getting lots of referrals from Facebook.

IBM plans big hardware upgrade next year

IBM disclosed the plans at a time when server sales among all vendors have taken a bruising during the economic downturn, and IBM is no exception. In a third quarter earnings call yesterday, said Mark Loughridge, IBM's CFO, said that the company's third quarter mainframe revenue declined by 26 percent from the year-earlier period.

38 Oracle security patches coming next week

After a record-setting week of Microsoft and Adobe security patches, Oracle is gearing up for a major update of its own next week.

Next Tuesday, the database vendor will release its quarterly Critical Patch Update, which "contains 38 security vulnerability fixes across hundreds of Oracle products," according to an advance notification posted to Oracle's Web site.

EnterpriseDB cites enterprise capabilities in open source database

EnterpriseDB is touting enterprise-level capabilities of its Postgres Plus Standard Server 8.4 open source database, which was released this week. The company says the database, which is based on PostgreSQL database technology, offers enterprises cost benefits of open source, performance benefits of a community-developed product, and the reassurance of vendor support.

Collaboration tools worth the investment, survey says

A recent global survey of business and IT managers found that their companies got back benefits perceived as equal to four times their investment, on average, in unified communication and collaboration technologies.

IBM boosts SAN Volume Controller performance with SSDs

IBM will add support for SSDs to version 5.0 of its SAN Volume Controller and is promising a big boost in performance with or without flash storage.

Acer passes Dell as second-largest PC vendor

Acer overtook Dell as the world's second-largest computer vendor during the third quarter, as the PC market showed signs of coming back to life, IDC said on Wednesday.

Global PC shipments grew 2.3 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, to 78.1 million units. It was the first quarter this year in which PC shipments have grown, IDC said.

Oracle's long-awaited Fusion Applications to launch in 2010

Oracle plans to launch its long-awaited Fusion Applications in 2010, and they will be deployable both on-premises and as SaaS (software as a service), CEO Larry Ellison said Wednesday during a keynote address at the OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.

Mozilla plug-in checker boosts security

Mozilla developers have launched a new online tool that tells Firefox users whether popular add-on components such as Java or QuickTime are up to date.

Six years of Patch Tuesdays yield 400 security bulletins, 745 vulnerabilities

Microsoft's massive security update this week marked the completion of the sixth year of the company's move to a monthly patch release schedule.

Acer reveals details of Android-based smartphone

Acer has disclosed more details about its upcoming Android-based Liquid smartphone, a thin device with a 3.5-inch touchscreen.

CollabNet boosts agile development in latest TeamForge release

CollabNet is increasing focus on agile software development methodologies in a release of its CollabNet TeamForge application lifecycle management platform being announced on Thursday.

Ncomputing device adds virtual desktops over USB

Ncomputing is launching a device that can be used to add a virtual client to a host PC via a USB connection.

The U170 can run full multimedia applications when it is connected to a host machine's USB port. Multiple U170 boxes can add extra users to a host machine, which can be cheaper than buying separate machines, said Carsten Puls, vice president of strategic marketing at Ncomputing.

Microsoft manages to recover most Sidekick data

Microsoft has good news for most Sidekick users: the company says it has recovered most of the data for T-Mobile Sidekick users who saw personal information accidentally wiped from their devices earlier this week.

How Apple is trying to derail Windows 7

Next week, Microsoft is supposed to be in the spotlight with the launch of Windows 7, but the way it's shaping up Apple could steal the limelight. With Microsoft's Oct. 22 Windows 7 launch only days a way, sales of Apple Macs are by far outshining those of Windows PCs, according to two leading analyst firms.

JetBrains readies open source version of its Java IDE

JetBrains, which has provided its IntelliJ Idea Java IDE as a commercial product, now is offering a preview of a free, open source version of the IDE.

Some Sidekick users report data has been restored

Nearly a week after what started out as a service disruption, a few users of T-Mobile’s Sidekick device are reporting that personal data feared lost forever in a back-end server failure appears to be restored.

Oracle says the no-cost 11g Xpress Edition is still at least a year away

It may be "a year or two" before Oracle releases a no-cost Express Edition (XE) of its 11g database, according to Andrew Mendelsohn, the company's senior vice president of database server technologies.

That's because Oracle is going to wait until after the first patch set ships for 11g Release 2, which was launched in July, Mendelsohn said in a brief interview following a speech at Oracle's OpenWorld conference in San Francisco on Monday.

Fate of some Sun technologies still up in the air

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has been fawning all over Sun Microsystems technologies lately, such as Java, the Solaris OS, the MySQL database, and the Sparc CPU platform. But it still remains to be seen how Oracle will deal with redundancies in the Java enterprise application server and IDE spaces once Sun becomes part of Oracle.

Ubuntu Linux adds private cloud backing

Canonical is touting private cloud capabilities in an upgrade to its Ubuntu Linux OS being announced on Tuesday.

Available for free download on October 29, Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition introduces UEC (Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud), an open source cloud computing environment based on the same APIs as Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud). Businesses can take advantage of private clouds, Canonical said.

Ubuntu Linux adds private cloud backing

Canonical is touting private cloud capabilities in an upgrade to its Ubuntu Linux OS being announced on Tuesday.

Acer recalls Aspire laptops that could overheat

Acer has issued a voluntary recall of some of its Acer Aspire laptops that may overheat due to a faulty microphone cable.

The PC maker has issued a voluntary recall for some Acer Aspire models that may be affected by the issue, the company said on a European customer support page.

Microsoft offers hope Sidekick users may regain some lost data

Microsoft late Monday held out a glimmer of hope to Sidekick users, saying that it may be able to recover some data previously believed lost in a massive server failure.

Microsoft extends Mac Office support in 11th-hour reprieve

Just a day before Microsoft was to have retired Office 2004 for Mac by ending updates and fixes, including security patches, the company said Monday that it would instead extend the five-year-old suite's support until Jan. 10, 2012.

Perot extends Dell's global reach with purchase of China consultancy

Perot Systems will buy the China unit of technology consultancy BearingPoint, bulking up its overseas business as the company is acquired by Dell.

HP laptops get power management to help cut energy costs

Hewlett-Packard is bringing new power management features to laptops that can help companies measure and cut energy costs, the company said on Tuesday.

Cisco to acquire Starent for $2.9 billion

Aiming to expand its mobile Internet offerings, Cisco Systems will acquire Starent Networks for $2.9 billion, the companies announced Tuesday.

Starent offers IP-based infrastructure technology designed to help carriers scale up their mobile networks. Starent's technology is used in CDMA2000, UMTS/HSPA, and WiMax networks.

[ Stay ahead of the key tech business news with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: First Look newsletter. ]

HP predicts business use for touchscreen PCs

Hewlett-Packard sees businesses in the future adopting touchscreens, but the technology needs further development to be an alternative to keyboards and mice in corporate environments, a company executive said.

Cloud vendor Zimory adds database oomph using virtualization

Enterprise cloud vendor Zimory has set its sights on databases. Using so-called "satellites," more capacity can be added to existing databases, the company said on Tuesday.

Relational databases have so far been kept out of both virtualized and cloud environments, and are still very much tied to a single computer and location, according to Zimory CTO Gustavo Alonso. But Zimory hopes to change that with the introduction of a new database architecture code-named Spree, he said.

OpenWorld to shed light on Oracle's Java plans

Oracle's long-term agenda for Java may come into focus next week as the company plans to place Sun's application development technology in the Oracle OpenWorld 2009 spotlight, beginning with Sunday's keynote, which will feature Sun Chairman Scott McNealy and Sun Vice President James Gosling, considered the father of Java, alongside Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz

The cell phone industry is having its big semi-annual confab, so this quiz may be a bit more mobile than most. But handsets are not the only things that happened this week. For instance: The FBI looks to send 100 cyber scammers up the river, while a patent troll research firm files lawsuits up the wazoo. The EU and Microsoft may finally settle their browser brouhaha, while the Feds open a new can of worms by taking on the freebie-loving blogosphere. Can you worm your way to a perfect score on our quiz? Give yourself 10 points every time you get it right. Ready? Let's go.

Windows 7 boots 42% slower than Vista, says study

Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system boots slower than its unloved predecessor, Windows Vista, a PC tune-up developer said Thursday.

The claims by iolo Technologies, a Los Angeles maker of PC software, contradict Microsoft's boasts that Windows 7 starts up faster than Vista.

Microsoft plans largest-ever Patch Tuesday next week

Microsoft today said it will deliver its largest-ever number of security updates on Tuesday to fix flaws in every version of Windows, as well as Internet Explorer (IE), Office, SQL Server, important developer tools and the enterprise-grade Forefront Security client software.

Among the updates will be the first for the final, or release to manufacturing, code of Windows 7, Microsoft's newest operating system.

Microsoft to put stripped-down Office on new PCs

Microsoft announced today that it will abandon its decades-old Works entry-level suite, and will instead offer a stripped-down, advertising-supported version of Microsoft Office 2010 on new PCs next year.

AT&T defends its wireless coverage, lays out HSPA plans

AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan defended his company's wireless coverage against attacks by industry analysts and media while laying out some details about its plans for further network upgrades.

"I don't plan our network based on blogs. We plan and build our networks based on the needs of our customers," Donovan said at CTIA. "We're working incredibly hard to make [the user's] experience a great one."

Does Microsoft complicate its licensing on purpose?

Navigating Microsoft's complex rules and programs for software licensing has been notoriously difficult for businesses -- a pain point not lost on the company, which for years has said it is trying to simplify the process for customers.

But remarks made recently by Microsoft's top executive, as well as suspicions raised by customers and software consultants, suggest that Microsoft keeps its licensing complicated for a reason, and that it has no plans to make it any simpler in the foreseeable future.

IBM touts new DB2 grid feature as Oracle 'Exadata-killer'

On the eve of Oracle's OpenWorld user conference, IBM unveiled a new clustering feature that it says contends will help its flagship DB2 database trump Oracle's rival product on scalability, speed and price.

IBM says the new pureScale feature will enable companies to "scale out" their DB2 clusters without paying an enormous performance cost. IBM says Oracle's long-running Real Application Clusters (RAC) technology does significantly affect performance.

They're back: Hackers quick to exploit year's fourth PDF zero-day

For the fourth time this year, Adobe has admitted that hackers were using malicious PDF documents to break into Windows PCs.

Phishing scam arrests highlight massive problem on the Web

The massive phishing scam broken up by federal authorities this week is only a hint at what many say is an insidious and growing problem on the Internet.

Federal authorities on Wednesday indicted 53 people in the U.S on various charges related to a phishing scheme that victimized thousands of customers of two major U.S. banks. Authorities in Egypt arrested another 47 people there on the same charges.

Oracle support portal to get an HTML option

Oracle has made a partial concession to users angered by its decision to retire its venerable Metalink support portal in favor of the next-generation My Oracle Support.

For months, many users have expressed baffled outrage at Oracle's decision to use Flash for the MOS user interface, saying it resulted in poor performance and made it difficult to do their jobs since many companies restrict the use of Flash.

SAP and HP to deepen their BI ties

SAP and its long-time partner Hewlett-Packard will announce plans next week to more closely link their technologies for BI (business intelligence) and data warehousing.

The companies plan to conduct joint development efforts resulting in tighter integration between HP's Neoview data warehousing appliance and SAP's NetWeaver Business Warehouse, according to Zia Yusuf, who heads SAP's global ecosystem and partner group. However, the work won't actually be completed until the latter half of 2010, he said.

Microsoft to release hardware reference designs for Windows Mobile

Microsoft plans to replicate some processes from the PC industry to try to boost its performance in the mobile market and expects to see a growing number of applications in its new Marketplace, an executive said this week.

In a wide-ranging interview, Andy Lees, senior vice president of mobile communications for Microsoft, confirmed that for the first time the company will release hardware reference designs to make it easier for handset makers to use Windows Mobile.

Rimini Street adds SAP to its maintenance portfolio

Rimini Street fired the latest salvo in the ongoing war over software maintenance this week, announcing that it has expanded the number of SAP applications it supports.

The third-party maintenance provider, which also supports Oracle applications, said it will now back a range of SAP Business Suite modules, including SCM, CRM, EWM, PLM and GTS. Rimini Street had already supported SAP R/3 4.x, ECC 5.0, ECC 6.0 and other products.

Microsoft and Red Hat deliver on interoperability deal

Eight months after announcing they would make their virtualization wares interoperable, Microsoft and Red Hat delivered the goods Wednesday on their first major collaboration.

The two companies announced they have completed testing and validation and that they now fully support virtualization environments that combine Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4.

Genachowski lays out FCC's mobile strategy at CTIA

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined a four-part strategy for U.S. wireless communications on Wednesday, focusing on additional radio spectrum, obstacles to 4G (fourth-generation) deployments, an open Internet and competition.

Researcher refutes Google's, Microsoft's accounts of hijacked passwords

One researcher isn't buying Microsoft's and Google's explanation that hijacked Hotmail and Gmail passwords were obtained in a massive phishing attack.

Dell to close U.S. desktop manufacturing plant as part of on-going cost cutting

Dell next year will close its desktop computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., as the company tightens costs in a difficult market.

The move is part of Dell's ongoing initiatives to simplify operations and improve efficiency, the company said on Wednesday. The company plans to cut costs by $4 billion by the end of fiscal 2011.

Sprint renews focuses on wireless M2M with new business unit

Sprint Nextel has been in the wireless M2M (machine-to-machine) business for a decade, but this week announced a greater focus on the exploding market area by creating a new Emerging Solutions business unit to speed up delivery of the technology to businesses and consumers.

Ex-Cisco exec's storage startup accelerates data access

Ex-Cisco storage executive Mark Cree is back with a startup called Storspeed, which has built a caching product that accelerates access to frequently needed data.

Update: IBM faces DOJ antitrust inquiry on mainframes

IBM is facing an antitrust inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice for recent actions the company has taken in the mainframe computer market, according to the trade group that filed the complaint.

The DOJ has begun issuing formal requests for information related to a complaint filed against IBM in September, according to the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the trade group that filed the complaint.

Verizon, McAfee form enterprise security alliance

Verizon Business and McAfee have entered into a strategic agreement that will give Verizon Business customers access to McAfee's entire line of enterprise security products and services.

As part of the agreement, McAfee will also be able to take advantage of Verizon's datacenter outsourcing and consulting services. The companies are also working jointly to create a line of managed security services designed specifically for Verizon Business customers.

Samsung to kick off enterprise push with mobile access to Oracle, other software

Samsung has developed a mobile CRM (customer relationship management) service, based on Oracle products, that it partially hosts from a datacenter in New Jersey.

It showed off the new service during CTIA in San Diego, but doesn't plan to officially announce it until Oracle Openworld next week.

[ Dive deep into next-gen mobile with InfoWorld's 20-page PDF featuring hands-on reviews, analysis, and insights from our editors. ]

IBM boosts business agility in WebSphere middleware upgrade

Looking to provide business agility, IBM is rolling out on Thursday a slew of products in the version 7 upgrade to its WebSphere middleware portfolio.

Available later this year, the products run the gamut from the BPM space to an enterprise service bus and a hardware-based messaging appliance. The rollout focuses on what the company calls the SOA, BPM, and business strategy layers for IT.

Oracle CEO Ellison mocks Salesforce.com's 'itty bitty' application

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison mocked on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) vendor Salesforce.com during a shareholder meeting Wednesday, saying its "itty bitty" application depends on Oracle's products.

Will AT&T start managing iPhone data usage?

AT&T Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega bemoaned the disproportionate wireless bandwidth usage of iPhone users in a speech to wireless industry professionals here today, and hinted at an unpleasant way of dealing with the problem.

De la Vega spent his first 11 slides talking about the virtues of the U.S. wireless industry versus the rest of the world, and of the quality and popularity of AT&T's 3G wireless network and services in particular. He said such a vibrant market needed no additional regulation from the FCC.

OfficeBench 7: A cool new way to evaluate PC performance

Interested in PC performance? Looking for a way to benchmark Windows 7 versus Vista versus XP? Then check out OfficeBench 7, the latest incarnation of the OfficeBench family of benchmarking tools from InfoWorld's development partner, the exo.performance.network.

Microsoft, EU reach accord in antitrust battle over IE browser

Microsoft appears to have reached an agreement with the European Commission that concludes an antitrust battle that has lasted a decade, Europe's top competition regulator said Wednesday.

Adobe AIR update to address performance, memory leak issues

While Flash Player got most of the attention at Adobe Systems' developer conference this week, the company also announced an update to Adobe AIR, a runtime environment that allows Flash programs to run offline on the desktop.

ZDNet Web site accused of offering stolen Chinese software code

Solid Oak Software filed its first lawsuit in a case of Chinese software code theft against TV giant CBS's Internet division, CBS Interactive.

The Santa Barbara, California, company filed the suit against CBS Interactive for distributing software that contained programming code stolen from its CyberSitter software, which filters pornography, violence and other Internet content deemed bad for kids.

CIA endorses cloud computing approach to bolster security

WASHINGTON -- One of the U.S. government's strongest advocates of cloud computing is also one of its most secretive operations: the Central Intelligence Agency. But the CIA has adopted cloud computing in a big way, and the agency believes that the cloud approach makes IT environments more flexible and secure.

LTE mobile broadband will deliver 20Mbps download speeds

When the first LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks and devices are launched next year, users can expect to see a download speed of about 20 Mbps, according to Motorola and ZTE.

On the show floor at ITU World, ZTE and Fujitsu are showing upcoming modems that support download speeds of up to 100 Mbps (bits per second) and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps when connected to an LTE network, according to their respective spec sheets.

Stolen Hotmail data reveals widespread use of weak passwords

1234567 may not be a very secure password, but it's popular on Hotmail. That's according to Bogdan Calin, a security researcher who got hold of 10,000 stolen Windows Live Hotmail usernames and passwords that were posted to the Web site PasteBin late last week.

Microsoft, EU reach accord on antitrust

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@If(datelineinbody = "No"; tString; "")Microsoft appears to have reached an agreement with the European Commission that concludes an antitrust battle that has lasted a decade, Europe's top competition regulator said Wednesday.

A proposal the company offered in July to address charges of monopoly abuse were dismissed as insufficient by the Commission as well as by rivals in the software industry. But the latest iteration appears to have mollified the EC's regulator.

Google gains ground in search wars as Microsoft’s Bing slips

As the search wars continue, new numbers are in showing that Microsoft's Bing slipped while Google inched further ahead last month.

Update: Compuware buys Web application management vendor Gomez

Compuware said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Web application management vendor Gomez for $295 million. The transaction is expected to close in November.

Gomez's technology will work in concert with Compuware's portfolio of tools for managing the performance of on-premises applications, providing coverage "from the datacenter to the customer," the companies said in a statement.

FCC's Genachowski to tackle wireless issues at CTIA

What once looked to be a quiet CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show this week is now taking place amid a growing buzz about U.S. regulatory issues, with several appearances by U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski shaping up as the centerpiece.

Security researcher shows how hackers spy on BlackBerry and other smartphones

IPhone lovers and other smartphone users should take heed: A security researcher showed ways to spy on a BlackBerry user during a presentation at the Hack In The Box (HITB) conference Wednesday, including listening to phone conversations, stealing contact lists, reading text messages, taking and viewing photos, and figuring out the handset's loc

Atlassian's app dev issue tracker gets an upgrade

Atlassian this week launched its Jira 4 issue tracker for software development projects, featuring a refreshed UI, activity streams, search, and OpenSocial gadget integration.

The UI provides a new look and feel. "It's a little slicker and a little bit faster," said Ken Olofsen, product marketing manager at Atlassian. Context-awareness enables the UI to be aware of what projects a developer interacts with, Olofsen said.

VMware Fusion 3.0 dumps Windows interface for Mac look

The upcoming version of VMware's Fusion software for Mac-Windows desktop virtualization includes an interface overlay called "Unity" that erases Windows' long ubiquitous Start taskbar in favor of Mac OS X's Dock, and replaces the Windows Search with one closely resembling Mac OS X's Spotlight search box.

"We got rid of the Start menu because we wanted to give you a Mac-like experience via Unity," said Pat Lee, director of personal desktop products at VMware.

Attacks spur regular security updates from Adobe

Hackers like Adobe Systems, and now the company knows it all too well.

Adobe's software has increasingly come under attack in recent years as hackers have come to realize that it can be easier to find flaws in popular software that runs on top of Windows than to dig up new vulnerabilities in the operating system itself.

Nasty banking Trojan heralds new wave of smarter crimeware

A sophisticated Trojan horse program designed to empty bank accounts has a new trick up its sleeve: It lies to investigators about where the money is going.

First uncovered by Finjan Software last week, the URLzone Trojan is already known to be very advanced. It rewrites bank pages so that the victims don't know that their accounts have been emptied, and it also has a sophisticated command-and-control interface that lets the bad guys pre-set what percentage of the account balance they want to clear out.

Citrix provides desktop virtualization from any location, any device

Citrix on Monday said its latest desktop virtualization software will give users access to high-definition desktops from any location and from just about any device, including PCs, Macs, thin clients, laptops, netbooks, and smartphones.

Windows 7 will create 25,000 jobs, says study

Windows 7 will add 25,000 jobs to the U.S. and "do its bit" to help the economy climb out of the crisis , says IDC in a new study.

But overall IT spending and employment growth will be modest over the next few years, according to this Microsoft-sponsored report, released today .

Prototype mobile phone with fuel cell on display at Ceatec

The latest prototype cell phone based on a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) made its debut on Tuesday at the Ceatec show in Japan.

The modified Toshiba T002 handset is being shown by Japanese carrier KDDI as a research and development device and shows some improvements in technology based on previous prototypes, but there's still no word on when a phone based on the technology will be available.

Diskeeper says new HyperBoot can slash Windows startup times in half

Diskeeper says its new HyperBoot app can cut the startup time on Windows by more than half.

Best known for its disk defragmentation software, Diskeeper has licensed HyperBoot to Taiwanese PC maker Asustek, which will install it on its Eee netbooks and other laptops running Windows XP.

Update: Jive links corporate social networking tools with CMS

Jive Software will begin to deliver later this quarter new modules to link its flagship Social Business Software (SBS) enterprise social networking product with leading content management systems (CMS) from other vendors.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile debuts with 246 applications

HTC and Samsung are at the head of the line of U.S. handset vendors offering Windows Mobile 6.5 phones, the first smartphones based on Microsoft's new OS that are meant to finally give Microsoft-powered phones features that are on par with those available in Apple's iPhone.

Microsoft finally ships Windows Mobile 6.5, to poor reviews

The reviews of Microsoft's new mobile OS, Windows Mobile 6.5, are in -- and none of them are glowing. It seems that Windows Mobile 6.5 is more of a superficial cosmetic overhaul, not a bona fide upgrade capable of handling the mobile market's stiff competition.

Smartphone maker Palm reveals WebOS developer program

Palm will open its WebOS developer program in December and offer developers a choice in how to get their applications to market, the company said Tuesday.

Verizon teams with Google to develop Android devices

Verizon and Google have entered into an agreement to jointly develop wireless devices based on Google's open source Android mobile platform.

During a teleconference Tuesday, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam and Google CEO Eric Schmidt outlined the companies' new strategic partnership that will see them working together to develop Android-based smartphones, PDAs, and netbooks, and to deliver users with applications sold through the Android Market app store. Verizon says that it will have two Android-based handsets on the market by year-end with more to come by 2010.

Kalido brings master data management to the masses

Kalido said on Tuesday that an upcoming version of its Information Engine platform will include a user interface that makes it easier for average users to explore master data, spot errors, and get them fixed.

Master data refers to information shared by multiple applications within a company, such as lists of products and customers. MDM (master data management) technologies are meant to ensure master data is consistent and accurate. Kalido competes with a wide range of vendors in the space, from platform vendors like SAP and Oracle to smaller players like DataFlux.

Adobe puts LiveCycle in the cloud

Adobe Systems is preparing an update to its document-based workflow system, LiveCycle Enterprise Suite, that can be hosted in the Amazon computing cloud and accessed on the go from smartphones, the company said Monday.

LiveCycle Enterprise Suite 2 (ES 2) will also gain a new portal-like technology, called LiveCycle Mosaic, for creating custom workspaces where employees can view contextual data from back-end systems in a series of windows, or "tiles," on their computer screens.

T-Mobile ties Wi-Fi BlackBerrys into office PBXes

T-Mobile USA is expanding beyond its consumer roots on Monday with T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice, a service that lets businesses extend capabilities of their desk phones to BlackBerry smartphones.

The service will tie into office PBX (private branch exchange) systems so that employees can use their T-Mobile BlackBerrys in the office on Wi-Fi, using the same number as on their desk phones. They will also have one voicemail box and call filtering system for both phones. Companies could even remove their desk phones and simply use the BlackBerry.

Hackers plan to clobber the cloud, spy on BlackBerrys

A new era of computing is on the rise and viruses, spies, and malware developers are tagging along for the ride.

The new playground for hackers is the cloud, the term for computer applications and services hosted on the Internet. Some of the devices making the cloud more popular these days are BlackBerrys and other smartphones.

Flash Player inches closer to smartphones

Adobe Systems' Flash Player is getting closer to appearing on smartphones, with Research in Motion adding its BlackBerry to the list of devices that will run the software. Apple's elusive iPhone remains out of reach, however.

At its Adobe Max conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Adobe announced that a beta of its new Flash Player 10.1 software will be released by the end of the year for Windows Mobile and the Palm webOS, with betas for Google's Android and the Symbian platform to follow early next year.

Salesforce.com, Cisco partner on call-center communications tech

Salesforce.com and Cisco Systems on Monday announced an offering for small and medium-size companies that integrates Salesforce.com's on-demand, customer-service software with Cisco's unified communications technology.

The Customer Interaction Cloud is aimed at businesses with between 30 and 300 sales representatives or call-center agents.

Upkeep makes laptops costly after three years

These days, companies are tempted to hang on to their notebook computers for a couple of years beyond the usual three-year lifecycle in order to avoid the capital expense of replacing them. But tech analyst Jack Gold has developed a cost model that casts doubt on that make-do strategy.

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