Archive for May 7th, 2007
Once bitter rivals, Microsoft 
and Novell have become allies and now are recruiting new friends to join their open-source party and put some meat on the bones of a landmark interoperability deal. Dell is the first of what the two tech titans hope will be several computer makers to bless the partnership by agreeing to help server customers migrate to SUSE.Microsoft and Novell inked their agreement to jointly build, market, and support new solutions to improve interoperability between their products six months ago in response to what they described as customer demand for greater interoperability and intellectual property assurance. Now, Dell is citing a similar reason for aligning with the companies.
Rick Becker, vice president of solutions at Dell Product Group, said Dell’ customers have told the company they want interoperability and expect technology vendors to work better together.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
May 7th, 2007
To generate customer loyalty in a cutthroat telecommunications industry, Comcast plans to introduce a new Web-based communications center that integrates its e-mail and voice-messaging services.Dubbed SmartZone, the online portal will offer Comcast customers free access to several communications tools in one central location. Beyond the staples of e-mail and voicemail, the service will offer an online dashboard as a jumping-off point to launch instant messages and manage a new “smart” address book.
Comcast isn’t pulling off SmartZone alone, though. The cable operator is partnering with high-tech firms to design and create the communications application that will roll out later this year. HP is managing and hosting the integrated data, voice, and video services center, for example, while Plaxo is offering the address book integration.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
May 7th, 2007
Yahoo shares are rising amid reports that Microsoft is planning a takeover. If the news reports turn out to be accurate, they would mark the second time the two companies have discussed a merger that could give Google a run for its money.The Wall Street Journal is reporting what appear to be early-stage discussions of a megamerger, or at least some sort of partnership that would combine the strengths of each company to compete more effectively in a market Google has long dominated.
The supposed talks are an admission that neither company can dethrone Google on its own and any alliance the companies form — full merger or otherwise — would stand on the axiom that there is strength in numbers.
The conditions are perhaps more ripe today than they were a year ago when the two tech titans, led by Bill Gates and Terry Semel, initially pondered a merger. New executives are in key positions at both companies, and Google has advanced its global agenda with several acquisitions recently.
Click here to read the rest off this story on CIO Today.
May 7th, 2007
With Google snapping up DoubleClick and Yahoo acquiring Right Media, putting pressure on Microsoft to play its hand, analysts have been predicting Microsoft would make a major move in the online-advertising arena.On Thursday, Redmond responded to the pressure and predictions with an agreement to acquire ScreenTonic, a Europe-based mobile-advertising company. Rather than buying into an ad network, like Google did with its DoubleClick acquisition, or purchasing an ad exchange, like Yahoo did with Right Media, Microsoft is making a wireless play.
Specifically, Microsoft is betting on the next frontier: mobile advertising. Mobile advertising and marketing opportunities could grow to reach $10 billion a year by 2010, according to The Shosteck Group. And mobile search is now accessible to more than 85 percent of mobile phones, according to wireless market research firm M:Metrics.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor Network.
May 7th, 2007
“If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.” — Isaac Newton, Physicist
May 7th, 2007
