The CRS-3 offers three times the traffic capacity of the its predecessor, the CRS-1, Cisco said, and promises to accelerate the delivery of new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace. That’s a lot of hyperbole, but analysts said it’s believable.

“It’s too bad Cisco led up to this router announcement with so much hype. People were expecting Armageddon or something. They had this countdown timer as if something big was going to happen,” said Zeus Kerravala, a vice president at Yankee Group. “At the end of the day what Cisco announced was a big, fast router. But that’s what Cisco does. We expect Cisco to release bigger, faster routers. It’s what they built their company history on.”

Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

Microsoft’s internal investigation reveals that the latest version of the browser, Internet Explorer 8, is not affected. Likewise, Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 4 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 is not affected.

Here’s a quick list of affected versions for IT administrators looking to implement a workaround to mitigate the risk: Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.

“In addition to Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday updates today, the company also issued an advisory for a new zero-day vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer,” said Josh Talbot, security intelligence manager for Symantec Security Response. “Symantec has observed exploitation of this vulnerability in the wild and has created Trojan.Malscript!html and JS.Downloader detection to mitigate this attack.”

Read the rest of the story on NewsFactor.

The report follows TiVo’s launch last week of digital video recorders that combine broadcast and web content. Microsoft and Apple are also looking for their place in the hybrid broadcast-web space. Google’s experiment offers the search giant access to 14 million Dish viewers, signaling the potential to yield valuable results.

Read the rest of my story on TopTechNews.

Microsoft used to configure Internet Explorer as the default browser for its Windows operating system , but agreed last October to test-market measures to give European consumers an option to download and install competing browsers like Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox.

Microsoft is now offering European Windows users a choice through a browser screen that will be displayed automatically, and users can make any browser the default. Users can even turn Microsoft’s Internet Explorer off, although Microsoft has said there’s no need to turn it off to make another browser the default.

Read the rest of my story on CIOToday.

TiVo is positioning the new devices as a one-stop shop for entertainment, offering viewers broadband and broadcast integration that lets them search for YouTube clips, Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand and Blockbuster On Demand libraries, and more from one interface. The new offering uses pictures and graphics to make the television guide more interactive as users search through millions of pieces of content.

“TiVo has advanced the state of the art in DVR appliances. There’s no question about that,” said Phil Leigh, a senior analyst at Inside Digital Media. “But whether it’s enough to motivate existing owners of TiVo to spend money on a new box is more debatable. If I didn’t have a DVR, it certainly gives me a material added reason to buy TiVo. But if I just bought a TiVo a year or two ago, I’m not ready to spend more money just to get a newer interface.”

Read the rest of my story on CIOToday.

VirtualOfficeSales.com bills itself as a centralized global online resource for virtual offices. It officially launched just days ago and its on a mission to help businesses find the right virtual office in the right place for the right price.

“Current online resources for office space have a heavy focus on serviced offices and there is a definite lack of resources developed specifically for the virtual office market,” notes Liam Murphy, Editor-in-Chief for VirtualOfficeSales.com. “VirtualOfficeSales.com has been created to fill that gap to become a complete online resource where businesses can find information, advice, reviews and listings of virtual offices.”

Read the rest of my story on aBetterOffice.com.

Brian Axe, a product management director at Google, noted the rise in people sharing and storing photos online. In addition to photo-sharing sites, Facebook and MySpace are also driving traffic to online photos within their social-networking communities. In fact, Facebook leads the photo-sharing market in the United States and worldwide.

“This enhances Picasa and is consistent with Google’s cloud strategy, which also extends to mobile,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “It provides a photo editor but without the need to download and install any software. When Google netbooks start coming out, this will be a part of that experience undoubtedly as well. Those will also have no software other than the OS and will require all functionality to be accessed via the browser.”

Read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.

The platform focuses on what Cisco sees as four critical anchors: Mobile and fixed enterprise end points, the Internet, the data center, and context- and location-aware policies.

Cisco’s first proof points for the new architecture are the just-released AnyConnect Secure Mobility Solution and the expansion of Cisco TrustSec. That expansion aims to help businesses gain more control over policies and maximize information security in an age of web-based collaboration and communication.

Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

So here’s the deal: The Boardroom Executive Suites signed an agreement to open a new executive suite business center at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and I-25.  This makes serviced office facility number two for Boardroom. (The company also has a location at 3773 Cherry Creek Drive in Denver.)

The new center will be located on the 7th floor of the Denver CenterPoint I office building at 3900 E. Mexico Avenue. With 10,300 square feet of office space, the executive suites project will feature 25 individual offices, four 500-square-foot office suites, two conference rooms, advanced VoIP telecommunications, on-demand administrative services, and six virtual office plans. The company also offers meeting rooms and virtual offices.

Read the rest of my story on aBetterOffice.com.

Sky News will use the office space as a studio to air “Jeff Randall Live,” the broadcaster’s flagship business program. Julie Calder, managing director at Abbey Business Centers, explains that Sky News’ non-traditional use of serviced office space is a prime illustration of just how flexible business centers can be in the quest to provide commercial solutions.

“Sky News was particularly impressed by The Gherkin itself and the view from its base on the 15th floor. I think this gives out a message that there is a place for the serviced office package within iconic structures,” Calder says. “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Sky News and hope to regularly bump into celebrities from the world of business.”

Read the rest of my story on aBetterOffice.com.

The survey found the Internet is the third most popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers, and radio. Reading news online fits into a broad pattern of news consumption by Americans, the survey reported, with 59 percent getting news from a combination of online and off-line sources on a typical day.

“People are not replacing traditional media sources with the Internet — at least not right now,” said Kristin Purcell, an associate director for research at the Pew project. “The Internet is just another platform they turn to. People use the combination of platforms that’s available and convenient for them.”

Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

With the ARM core running at 800 MHz, the i.MX508 provides twice the rendering speed of Freescale’s last round of e-reader processors. That means faster page turns for consumers, more speed for value-added applications, and advanced touch solutions for manufacturers.

“DisplaySearch forecasts that the worldwide e-book/e-reader device shipment will triple that of 2009, increasing to over 14 million units in 2010,” said Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, director of display technologies at DisplaySearch. “Key to this growth will be improving the quality of the digital reading experience while simultaneously making it affordable. The results coming from the Freescale and E Ink collaboration are very encouraging.”

Read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

Most analysts predict commercial real estate vacancies will continue to rise while rents decrease across South Florida. Many expect the market to hit bottom this year.

According to a 2010 emerging trends in real estate report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute, 2010 and 2011 will present generational opportunities for investors to buy at near cyclical lows, nationally and in South Florida. Access to capital remains a critical factor.

Vanessa Grout is vice president for acquisitions at New Valley, a Miami-based subsidiary of Vector Group with $250 million ready to spend on South Florida distressed properties. She said she expects banks to loosen up in 2010.

“I see an opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in the capital structure that are created by stricter lending requirements when the debt matures or becomes troubled,” Grout said. “In situations where the borrowers are still in the project, the debt coverage is thin and very close to triggering lock box covenants.”

In that scenario, the lender would require that all property revenue be directed to [the lenders'] control. Grout said current property owners in this situation remain concerned about the near future.

“Investors will urge more deals to close if they are able to structure a deal with low interest rates and a purchase price just below book value while allowing the bank to have a limited equity position once the asset is sold,” Grout said. “Land will continue to decline in value but most banks with the ability will hold the prime pieces.”

Gavin Campbell, managing principal of Steelbridge Capital, a privately-held, real estate investment company in Miami, said most markets are at or near bottom from an operational perspective. Still, sales values are not fully at bottom. He expects prices to continue sliding in many submarkets and subsectors in the face of extremely limited debt.

Read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.

And there are a number opportunities out there. The area is currently home to $12.4 billion in troubled commercial real estate assets, according to data analysis firm Real Capital Analytics, and more lenders are foreclosing with the goal of reselling the properties to willing buyers.

That spells big business for distressed asset and receivership specialists, workout pros and other commercial real estate experts who can navigate the troubled waters of these property types.

“The Chinese word for crisis is opportunity and the future for seasoned commercial brokers with workout experience has never been brighter,” said Miami real estate consultant Jack Studnicky, vice president at International Sales Group. “Lenders will have to sort out the real and reputable from the promoters who launched their firms in the last two years.”

Studnicky said brokers who see the long term value in protecting assets, banks and their own reputations will emerge as winners in the current cycle. He warned against “fire sale” pricing that ultimately harms the entire market.

Warren Weiser, principal of Continental Real Estate Companies, agreed.

So far the market isn’t reproducing the fire sales that characterized the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. That, he said, is because there is more than enough capital chasing distressed deals to encourage some level of bidding to maintain fair market value rates.

“We don’t necessarily need to push real estate out the door to anyone willing to buy it,” Weiser said. “Rather, we need to understand the real value and see if we can create more value. If it’s right to sell it today, we’ll sell it. But if it will appreciate over time, we’ll hold on to it.”

Continental has been managing receiverships and distressed assets for 20 years, taking on 29 Florida projects in the past year alone, including Parc Central East in Aventura. Studnicky has, too.

“The proper value is derived by analyzing today’s market value as well as replacement cost and projected value,” Studnicky said. “Taking the opinion of local brokers on property value will generally lead to fire sale pricing. Unfortunately, I’ve seen lenders leave millions on the table for lack of the right advice.”

Distressed properties abound in South Florida’s commercial real estate market. If 2009 was a year of workouts between gun-shy lenders and defaulted borrowers, then 2010 could very well be remembered as a record year for commercial foreclosures. The question is, how long will the opportunities last?

“This opportunity is going to be here throughout 2010 and 2011 but I think the market will slowly get better over time,” Weiser said. “I don’t think anyone can give a real accurate projection of when it’s going to change. How robust our recovery is going to be — and when that happens — is largely tied to the general economy.”

Read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.

One Park Doral, which opened October 2009, is Miami’s newest Class A office building. The project is the first phase of Park Square at Doral, a 51-acre mixed-use development with office, retail, hotel and multi-family residential properties. As 2010 progresses, its only tenants are its developer, Shoma Group along with Alcora Group and Visit Us, which signed a lease earlier this month.

Blanca Commercial Real Estate took on the task of filling the building in a down market. It’s one that offers landlords far fewer prospects, as businesses fail or stay put in a weak economy, providing prospective tenants with ample negotiating power. Still, Blanca believes One Park Doral’s strategic location near the airport, Class A facilities, amenities, and prime position in a suburban mixed-use project will woo commercial tenants.

“There is no new supply of office space in Coral Gables, which represents an opportunity for both Brickell and Doral to attract tenants,” said Tere Blanca, a principal at Blanca Commercial Real Estate. “Airport West has historically been one of the best performing markets in Miami-Dade from a net absorption standpoint. This market should perform well in 2010.”

Jose Juncadella, principal of Miami-based Fairchild Partners, has been working in the Doral part of the Airport West market for 28 years.

He’s witnessed the growth of Doral as one of the most successful industrial markets in the nation.

But Doral has not fared well in recent months. Last October, BankUnited filed a $10 million foreclosure suit against commercial condominiums inside the Point at Doral, a 31-unit condo with no recorded sales. Boston Scientific announced its planned departure from its 14-acre Doral office space in November. Also, Executive National Bank closed its doors at the end of 2009, citing declining balances from real estate industry clients. All this is in addition to recent multimillion-dollar multi-family property foreclosures.

Read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.