News Archive - January 2010

Apple iPad Challenges Google's Chrome Cloud Computing Designs
January 30, 2010

Apple stands to challenge Google in the cloud computing war with the new iPad. The iPad is geared to provide the most compelling mobile Internet experience users have seen to date, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaiming that holding the tablet was like "holding the Internet in your hand." But Google later this year is expected to bring its own vision for mobile Web consumption in the form of netbooks based on its Chrome Operating System.
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Motorola ekes out profit, but sales are off
January 28, 2010

Motorola turned a profit of $143 million, compared with a loss of $3.7 billion in the same quarter of 2008. The 2008 quarterly loss was largely attributed to nonrecurring charges that Motorola was forced to take. Still, sales were a disappointment.
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AT&T profits up 25 percent on wireless growth
January 28, 2010

AT&T posted a 25.6% increase in fourth-quarter earnings as its wireless and new TV businesses continued to grow.
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Apple lifts VoIP ban over 3G networks
January 28, 2010

Apple has swung open the cellular network doors and updated the iPhone SDK to allow developers to take advantage of VoIP over 3G functionality.
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Cisco Offers Open Telepresence Standard
January 27, 2010

Cisco announced the release of an interoperability protocol that it believes will enable vendors and suppliers in the telepresence space to seamlessly collaborate with each other and with customers. At the same time Cisco cited five new telepresence applications with collaboration features.
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Microsoft eyes clean break with Windows Mobile 7
January 26, 2010

Microsoft's long and winding road toward regaining lost ground in the cell phone business will reach an important milestone in Barcelona next month.
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Analysts predict bold growth for Google Android
January 25, 2010

Google's Android is expected to take the smartphone market by storm in the next few years, growing faster than all its competitors.
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Juniper, Polycom forge telepresence, video-conferencing alliance
January 25, 2010

Juniper Networks and Polycom have teamed on a joint telepresence and video-conferencing offering that's designed to serve as a counterweight to Cisco Systems and its recent acquisition of TANDBERG.
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Ericsson to trim 1,500 jobs
January 25, 2010

Ericsson it is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees.
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Why cloud exchanges won't work
January 22, 2010

As cloud computing in its various forms increasingly happens rather than just being talked about, there is talk of a cloud-computing exchange floating around. There are certainly things to like about the concept but, but this author does not see it playing out in pure form anytime soon.
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IBM adds meeting functionality to Lotus Sametime
January 21, 2010

IBM has added online meeting functionality and expanded audio and video integration to its Lotus Sametime 8.5 videoconferencing software.
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Polycom, SEN in tie-up as competition heats up
January 20, 2010

Polycom has agreed to a global resale partnership with Siemens Enterprise Communications (SEN), aiming to broaden its sales reach and fight off competition from Cisco in the videoconferencing space.
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Microsoft Calls for Cloud Computing Transparency
January 20, 2010

Arguing for industry self-regulation, Microsoft says that "it should not be enough for service providers simply to say that their services are private and secure. There needs to be some transparency about why this is the case."
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Avaya Unveils Roadmap for Future of Business Communications
January 19, 2010

Avaya unveiled its vision for the future of communications and a roadmap that integrates products and services from the recently acquired Nortel Enterprise Solutions (NES) to create a new standard for business communications.
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Does the Fourth Amendment cover 'the cloud'?
January 17, 2010

One of the biggest issues facing individuals and corporations choosing to adopt public cloud computing (or any Internet service, for that matter) is the relative lack of clarity with respect to legal rights over data stored online.
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Network flaw causes scary Web error
January 15, 2010

A Georgia mother and her two daughters logged onto Facebook from mobile phones last weekend and wound up in a startling place: strangers' accounts with full access to troves of private information. — Sadly, this highlights a few problems: 1) AT&T proxies everything; 2) their proxy servers are seriously flawed; and 3) AT&T is apparently in the middle of your conversations, even if they're supposed to be encrypted.
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Microsoft Said to Plan Debut of New Mobile Windows in February
January 15, 2010

Microsoft plans to unveil its new mobile-phone operating system, Windows Mobile 7, next month, a bid to reverse market share losses to Google and Apple, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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IBM grabs largest enterprise cloud deployment
January 13, 2010

IBM is expected to announce the largest enterprise cloud computing deployment to date as Panasonic begins a migration off Microsoft Exchange to IBM's LotusLive cloud service. More than 100,000 employees will participate in the initial migration effort expanding to a total of more than 300,000 employees and external partners globally.
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HP and Microsoft Simplify Technology Environments With Cloud Solutions
January 13, 2010

HP and Microsoft announced a three-year agreement to invest $250 million to significantly simplify technology environments for businesses of all sizes. The plans calls for use of the Windows Azure cloud infrastructure along with Microsoft and HP software and services.
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VMware To Buy Zimbra From Yahoo In Cloud Computing Play
January 12, 2010

VMware said it planned to purchase Zimbra from Yahoo, a move that gives the virtualization leader a strong, cloud-based, open-source collaboration suite with which it could attack rival Microsoft's Outlook and Exchange e-mail applications.
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MagicJack's next act: disappearing cell phone fees
January 8, 2010

The company behind the magicJack, the cheap Internet phone gadget that's been heavily promoted on TV, has made a new version of the device that allows free calls from cell phones in the home, in a fashion that's sure to draw protest from cellular carriers.
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Microsoft LifeCam Cinema certified interoperable with Mirial Softphone
January 7, 2010

Mirial's Certification Program attests Microsoft widescreen webcam LifeCam Cinema to be interoperable with the software-only client for professional quality videoconferencing Mirial Softphone.
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Is Compliance in the Cloud Possible
January 6, 2010

Security and compliance concerns are at the forefront of issues potentially holding large enterprises back from capitalizing on the benefits that cloud computing has to offer.
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Windows Azure: Microsoft's Big Bet
January 6, 2010

With Windows Azure, the cloud computing platform that will debut as a paid service on Feb. 1, Microsoft faces a new type of challenge: showing the industry that its deep software expertise can translate into success in the Wild West frontier of cloud computing.
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Cisco brings telepresence home
January 6, 2010

Cisco Systems will soon be testing a home version of its TelePresence videoconferencing product, the company said Wednesday from the Consumer Electronics Show.
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Skype reaches the living room via HDTVs
January 5, 2010

Skype is embedding its service on a bevy of HDTVs, the company said, adding that it is supporting high-definition video calls in the 720p HD format on PCs.
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Google Announces the Nexus One
January 5, 2010

In Mountain View, California, Google announced the long-anticipated “Google phone” called the Nexus One. The Nexus One is manufactured by HTC and, of course, runs the Android 2.1 operating system.
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FTC set to examine cloud computing
January 4, 2010

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating the privacy and security implications of cloud computing, according to a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission.
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Cloud computing still raises security, reliability concerns
January 4, 2010

Cloud service providers will need to address several IT management concerns — including security, reliability and vendor lock-in — before they can win more early adopters.
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Apple to buy Quattro Wireless for $275 million
January 4, 2010

Apple is set to announce that it has acquired mobile-advertising start-up Quattro Wireless for $275 million.
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Google wants to build 'white spaces' database
January 4, 2010

In an effort to revolutionize wireless broadband, Google has asked the Federal Communications Commission to designate it as one of the administrators of a database for "white space" devices.
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