Microsoft has finished most of the major work on its Hyper-V virtualization technology and expects it will be available for Windows Server 2008 on schedule in August, the company said Wednesday.
A feature-complete release candidate of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V is now available online. Hyper-V is Microsoft's long-promised hypervisor technology for Windows Server 2008, formerly code-named Viridian.
The ability to use virtual machine technology to run multiple operating systems on a physical server, is widely seen as a disruptive technology and is becoming increasingly important as companies seek to cut costs and consolidate hardware in their data centers and IT environments. Microsoft had originally intended to release Hyper-V as part of the original release of Windows Server 2008, but the technology was delayed until six months after the server's release last month because Microsoft opted to pull out some originally planned features.
Microsoft has added support for more guest OSes in the release candidate, which now has the ability to host Windows Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2, Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. Microsoft also has expanded host server support to include the 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions.
Support for 64-bit OSes is critical for Hyper-V, as customers and partners think its availability for Windows Server 2008 will be a factor in moving from 32-bit versions of Windows to 64-bit versions. Microsoft is urging customers to move off of 32-bit Windows and has even made some of its software, such as Exchange Server 2007, available in 64-bit only versions, a trend that is expected to continue.
Now that Hyper-V's release is imminent, third parties also are coming out in support of the technology. A product from a company called Surgient in particular could be useful to developers that need to test applications with limited back-end server resources.
The Surgient Lab Management Platform will support Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 once it is available, Surgient said Wednesday. The product is a virtual test environment that allows developers to test applications on a host of virtualized machines so they don't tie up live production servers.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
3Com still seeking Huawei deal
3Com and its partners in a proposed acquisition haven't yet reached a deal that they believe would ease U.S. government concerns about national security.
The networking vendor, which makes some intrusion-detection products used by the U.S. government, agreed last September to be acquired by Bain Capital, a Boston-based investment company, and Huawei Technologies, a networking vendor owned in part by the Chinese government. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) rejected that plan, the companies announced in late February.
At that point, 3Com said it would work with Bain and Huawei to come up with a deal that would pass muster.
"To date, the parties have been unable to agree upon an alternative transaction that addresses CFIUS's concerns and is acceptable to 3Com's Board of Directors," 3Com said in a statement on Wednesday. The company remains committed to looking for ways to close the proposed US$2.2 billion deal, but also confident in its own long-term prospects, President and CEO Edgar Masri said in a statement.
The disclosure came as 3Com said it would go forward with a scheduled shareholder vote on the deal Friday in order to meet its commitments under the existing merger agreement. The 3Com board of directors still recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the merger.
Although Bain would hold 83.5 percent of 3Com under the deal, with Huawei controlling just 16.5 percent, the proposal raised concerns about foreign control of sensitive security technologies. 3Com is a relatively small player in networking and has long sought angles to compete against the dominant Cisco Systems. In 2003, it formed a joint venture with Huawei to make enterprise networking gear for worldwide sale and to gain a foothold in the Chinese market. In 2006, it bought out Huawei's 49 percent stake in that venture.
The networking vendor, which makes some intrusion-detection products used by the U.S. government, agreed last September to be acquired by Bain Capital, a Boston-based investment company, and Huawei Technologies, a networking vendor owned in part by the Chinese government. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) rejected that plan, the companies announced in late February.
At that point, 3Com said it would work with Bain and Huawei to come up with a deal that would pass muster.
"To date, the parties have been unable to agree upon an alternative transaction that addresses CFIUS's concerns and is acceptable to 3Com's Board of Directors," 3Com said in a statement on Wednesday. The company remains committed to looking for ways to close the proposed US$2.2 billion deal, but also confident in its own long-term prospects, President and CEO Edgar Masri said in a statement.
The disclosure came as 3Com said it would go forward with a scheduled shareholder vote on the deal Friday in order to meet its commitments under the existing merger agreement. The 3Com board of directors still recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the merger.
Although Bain would hold 83.5 percent of 3Com under the deal, with Huawei controlling just 16.5 percent, the proposal raised concerns about foreign control of sensitive security technologies. 3Com is a relatively small player in networking and has long sought angles to compete against the dominant Cisco Systems. In 2003, it formed a joint venture with Huawei to make enterprise networking gear for worldwide sale and to gain a foothold in the Chinese market. In 2006, it bought out Huawei's 49 percent stake in that venture.
Dynamics GP aims at QuickBooks users
Microsoft is making a new attempt to lure QuickBooks users over to Dynamics GP, its enterprise resource planning application for small and medium-size businesses, through a set of dedicated data migration tools and a new marketing campaign.
Microsoft is not interested in killing off the popular brand of accounting software -- just in grabbing the users who need broader capabilities over time, said Jon Pratt, senior director for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System.
Intuit, maker of QuickBooks, claims to have a major chunk of market share already -- 4 million users overall -- and that its stake is well-guarded.
Microsoft's Platt, however, says, "a lot of those customers as they've grown have probably stayed on QuickBooks too long. There's a lot of pain they start running into."
Such discomfort might occur as companies form multiple divisions or open a number of warehouses, Pratt suggested.
Microsoft has created a wizard-style tool for migrating QuickBooks data over to Dynamics GP. The tool lets users edit or update data while making the switch.
Microsoft is also launching a new Web site, www.asmartmove.com, in April. The site will contain "example pricing" for complete product packages, which include software licenses and partner implementation costs.
But Microsoft is offering no guarantees because Dynamics is sold through partners who ultimately determine the final price, Pratt stressed. "We're being very clear on the Web site that these are estimates, and [customers] will need to talk to partners to get a detailed proposal."
Dynamics in general is sold on three levels. The first level, Business Essentials, starts at an estimated US$2,250 per user, according to a spokesperson.
Microsoft believes the "core small-business" and "core mid-market" sectors, containing companies with 10-49 and 100-500 employees, respectively, is worth $2.5 billion.
Angus Thomson, vice president and general manager of Intuit's Mid Market Group, said the company is actually seeing Dynamics GP customers switch to its QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions product, which provides more functionality than the basic accounting offering. "We're also retaining our base. With 4 million [users], some of them grow up. We capture the vast majority of those people that grow up."
There are approximately 50,000 implementations of QuickBooks Enterprise, according to Intuit.
"We're winning a lot of switchers. They're gaining a few," Thomson added. "It is not as if they're announcing all of a sudden that they're winning against QuickBooks."
Microsoft also must vie with many other contenders for the remaining customers, said China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group. "Other guys are swooping in," she said.
At the same time, the fact that Microsoft's products are tightly integrated into its stack can serve as a competitive advantage, she noted. "Whenever I ask a competitor, 'Why'd you lose a deal,' the answer is, 'this was a Microsoft shop.'"
But another observer said the company's efforts are familiar music and likely won't shift the landscape too dramatically.
"Whenever a vendor wants to move down from wherever they are and start going into the smaller businesses, Intuit is a very dominant player, so this is the natural thing to do," said Laurie McCabe, an analyst with AMI Partners. "Everybody tries to go after QuickBooks because, face it: This is the big installed base," she said.
Part of the problem is that "a lot of small businesses stay small" and therefore aren't looking to upgrade their software, she asserted.
Microsoft's deep channel program and overall understanding of the small-business market, however, will help it present "a serious challenge," McCabe added.
"I think we can't underestimate their ability to chip away at what Intuit has. On the other hand, the vast majority of the Intuit installed base, they aren't thinking of going anywhere. ... It's not going to be a big avalanche of business."
Microsoft is not interested in killing off the popular brand of accounting software -- just in grabbing the users who need broader capabilities over time, said Jon Pratt, senior director for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System.
Intuit, maker of QuickBooks, claims to have a major chunk of market share already -- 4 million users overall -- and that its stake is well-guarded.
Microsoft's Platt, however, says, "a lot of those customers as they've grown have probably stayed on QuickBooks too long. There's a lot of pain they start running into."
Such discomfort might occur as companies form multiple divisions or open a number of warehouses, Pratt suggested.
Microsoft has created a wizard-style tool for migrating QuickBooks data over to Dynamics GP. The tool lets users edit or update data while making the switch.
Microsoft is also launching a new Web site, www.asmartmove.com, in April. The site will contain "example pricing" for complete product packages, which include software licenses and partner implementation costs.
But Microsoft is offering no guarantees because Dynamics is sold through partners who ultimately determine the final price, Pratt stressed. "We're being very clear on the Web site that these are estimates, and [customers] will need to talk to partners to get a detailed proposal."
Dynamics in general is sold on three levels. The first level, Business Essentials, starts at an estimated US$2,250 per user, according to a spokesperson.
Microsoft believes the "core small-business" and "core mid-market" sectors, containing companies with 10-49 and 100-500 employees, respectively, is worth $2.5 billion.
Angus Thomson, vice president and general manager of Intuit's Mid Market Group, said the company is actually seeing Dynamics GP customers switch to its QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions product, which provides more functionality than the basic accounting offering. "We're also retaining our base. With 4 million [users], some of them grow up. We capture the vast majority of those people that grow up."
There are approximately 50,000 implementations of QuickBooks Enterprise, according to Intuit.
"We're winning a lot of switchers. They're gaining a few," Thomson added. "It is not as if they're announcing all of a sudden that they're winning against QuickBooks."
Microsoft also must vie with many other contenders for the remaining customers, said China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group. "Other guys are swooping in," she said.
At the same time, the fact that Microsoft's products are tightly integrated into its stack can serve as a competitive advantage, she noted. "Whenever I ask a competitor, 'Why'd you lose a deal,' the answer is, 'this was a Microsoft shop.'"
But another observer said the company's efforts are familiar music and likely won't shift the landscape too dramatically.
"Whenever a vendor wants to move down from wherever they are and start going into the smaller businesses, Intuit is a very dominant player, so this is the natural thing to do," said Laurie McCabe, an analyst with AMI Partners. "Everybody tries to go after QuickBooks because, face it: This is the big installed base," she said.
Part of the problem is that "a lot of small businesses stay small" and therefore aren't looking to upgrade their software, she asserted.
Microsoft's deep channel program and overall understanding of the small-business market, however, will help it present "a serious challenge," McCabe added.
"I think we can't underestimate their ability to chip away at what Intuit has. On the other hand, the vast majority of the Intuit installed base, they aren't thinking of going anywhere. ... It's not going to be a big avalanche of business."
Adobe will make Flash work on iPhone
Adobe Systems is committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone, according to CEO Shantanu Narayen, even though Steve Jobs said last week that Flash isn't suitable for the iPhone.
But Narayen isn't wavering. "Flash is synonymous with the Internet and, frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web's glory really needs Flash support," he said during a conference call Tuesday with investors, according to a transcript at seekingalpha.com.
He is sure adding Flash support to the iPhone isn't a problem. "We've evaluated the SDK, we can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves and we think it benefits our joint customers," Narayen said.
But he was also diplomatic, saying twice that Adobe wants to work with Apple.
"We think it benefits our joint customers. So we want to work with Apple to bring that capability to the device," he said.
But Jobs also seems to be sure about his position. Last week, he was quoted saying Apple hadn't adopted Adobe's mobile version of its Flash program because of technical and performance concerns.
At the time, he suggested Adobe work on a new version of the player, according to The Wall Street Journal.
An Apple spokesman in Europe declined to comment about Adobe's plans.
But Narayen isn't wavering. "Flash is synonymous with the Internet and, frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web's glory really needs Flash support," he said during a conference call Tuesday with investors, according to a transcript at seekingalpha.com.
He is sure adding Flash support to the iPhone isn't a problem. "We've evaluated the SDK, we can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves and we think it benefits our joint customers," Narayen said.
But he was also diplomatic, saying twice that Adobe wants to work with Apple.
"We think it benefits our joint customers. So we want to work with Apple to bring that capability to the device," he said.
But Jobs also seems to be sure about his position. Last week, he was quoted saying Apple hadn't adopted Adobe's mobile version of its Flash program because of technical and performance concerns.
At the time, he suggested Adobe work on a new version of the player, according to The Wall Street Journal.
An Apple spokesman in Europe declined to comment about Adobe's plans.
Google brings gadgets to Docs' spreadsheet
Google plans to roll out enhancements to its online spreadsheet program, including the ability to display data in new ways using lightweight "gadgets" and to notify users via e-mail when data is changed.
The enhancements, expected to go live either late Tuesday or early Wednesday, will be extended later to the other Google Docs components -- the word processor and presentation applications.
The gadget feature will let third-party developers and Google create new features for the spreadsheet application in a componentized way, said Jonathan Rochelle, senior product manager for Google Docs.
"If we have a new idea for visualizing data, we can create that as a separate feature that can be pushed out to users of Google Docs' spreadsheet," he said.
For example, a gadget could be created that takes data from a spreadsheet and presents it visually on a map or in charts that can be displayed in Web sites that support inline frames, such as the iGoogle personalized home page, he said.
"We're finding today, spreadsheets being used more and more as a foundation to publishing information on Web sites," Rochelle said.
The gadgets will access spreadsheets via a visualization API, designed to let developers quickly identify a range of cells whose data they want the gadget to use or render graphically, he said.
Meanwhile, the new notification feature will generate e-mail messages to users who collaborate on a spreadsheet, alerting them of changes to the document, including who made modifications and what changed.
The notifications, which users can configure to receive once per day or every time a change is made, also include a link to the spreadsheet, where the modified cells will appear highlighted, Rochelle said. "It supports the collaboration and makes it stronger," he said.
Google didn't say on Tuesday when the enhancements would be made to the other Google Docs programs.
Google Docs is a free suite of Web-hosted applications that is considered a rival and a complement to Microsoft Office, the dominant office productivity suite. Unlike Microsoft Office, which is designed to be installed on PCs, Google Docs lives on Google servers and is accessed via a Web browser. While Microsoft Office has more features, Google Docs has gained attention because it allows people to collaborate on documents and jointly edit them.
Microsoft has recently been making moves to make its software available via the Web, including enhancements to Office Live Workspace, which is still in beta, or test, mode.
People can sign up for Google Docs only, or they can use it as part of a broader collaboration and communication suite called Google Apps, which includes other components like Gmail, Google Sites and Talk.
The enhancements, expected to go live either late Tuesday or early Wednesday, will be extended later to the other Google Docs components -- the word processor and presentation applications.
The gadget feature will let third-party developers and Google create new features for the spreadsheet application in a componentized way, said Jonathan Rochelle, senior product manager for Google Docs.
"If we have a new idea for visualizing data, we can create that as a separate feature that can be pushed out to users of Google Docs' spreadsheet," he said.
For example, a gadget could be created that takes data from a spreadsheet and presents it visually on a map or in charts that can be displayed in Web sites that support inline frames, such as the iGoogle personalized home page, he said.
"We're finding today, spreadsheets being used more and more as a foundation to publishing information on Web sites," Rochelle said.
The gadgets will access spreadsheets via a visualization API, designed to let developers quickly identify a range of cells whose data they want the gadget to use or render graphically, he said.
Meanwhile, the new notification feature will generate e-mail messages to users who collaborate on a spreadsheet, alerting them of changes to the document, including who made modifications and what changed.
The notifications, which users can configure to receive once per day or every time a change is made, also include a link to the spreadsheet, where the modified cells will appear highlighted, Rochelle said. "It supports the collaboration and makes it stronger," he said.
Google didn't say on Tuesday when the enhancements would be made to the other Google Docs programs.
Google Docs is a free suite of Web-hosted applications that is considered a rival and a complement to Microsoft Office, the dominant office productivity suite. Unlike Microsoft Office, which is designed to be installed on PCs, Google Docs lives on Google servers and is accessed via a Web browser. While Microsoft Office has more features, Google Docs has gained attention because it allows people to collaborate on documents and jointly edit them.
Microsoft has recently been making moves to make its software available via the Web, including enhancements to Office Live Workspace, which is still in beta, or test, mode.
People can sign up for Google Docs only, or they can use it as part of a broader collaboration and communication suite called Google Apps, which includes other components like Gmail, Google Sites and Talk.
DRAM may remain cheap for a long time
DRAM (dynamic RAM) chip prices may bottom out in the second quarter but remain down for a year or more, analysts said, since a glut in the chips shows no signs of abating.
Sluggish DRAM prices are good for people interested in buying a new PC or adding memory to their laptop or desktop. PC vendors such as Dell and Acer often add more DRAM to new PCs when chip prices are low, and users can beef up an older PC by installing more DRAM on their own.
The current DRAM downturn will likely last more than a year and possibly two, said Simon Woo, memory chip analyst at Merrill Lynch, at a conference in Taipei Tuesday.
"It's longer than expected," he said, comparing it to the DRAM industry crunch of 1997-1998, which lasted nearly two years.
The current glut started around the middle of last year, but prices fell in earnest in the third quarter. The spot price of 1G-bit DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) chips that run at 667MHz fell to US$1.92 Wednesday, according to DRAMeXchange Technology, which operates a clearinghouse for the chips. Prices of the chips hit their third quarter high of $6.25 each on July 12 last year. The current price marks a decline of 69 percent since the third quarter high.
DRAM makers caused the current glut by building too many new factories in anticipation of strong DRAM demand for PCs armed with Microsoft's Vista OS. The OS requires 1G-byte of DRAM per PC to run well, compared to just 128M-bytes for Windows XP.
Vista didn't take off quite as DRAM makers had hoped, leaving the market awash in excess chips.
Huge price declines in the DRAM market caused Gartner to pare its global chip revenue growth forecasts for this year to just 3.4 percent, from a previous estimate of 6.2 percent. DRAM will fare much worse than the overall chip market, with revenue forecast to drop 15 percent this year to $54.9 billion, from $58.1 billion last year, the market researcher said.
Most analysts believe prices will bottom out in the second quarter because that's when PC demand is seasonally weakest. Most DRAM goes into PCs.
"We expect DRAM prices to fall another 10 percent in the second quarter of 2008 as PC DRAM content growth slows and inventory rebuilding ends," said Matt Evans, memory chip analyst at CLSA, in a report. He expects DRAM makers to cut spending on new production lines, which could spur a price recovery of as much as 10 percent in the third quarter.
Do Hoon Lee, memory chip analyst at Macquarie Securities, warns that second quarter DRAM price declines could be far worse than expected if DRAM makers unload inventory into the market. Macquarie expects many DRAM makers to put the construction of new factories on hold, a move that could boost DRAM prices a bit.
Product gluts in most industries normally cause companies to cut production until the market improves. But that's not the case in DRAM. DRAM makers cannot afford to cut back on production in part due to the global credit crunch, and also over the fear of losing market share. The global credit crunch means it's harder for companies to find new funding, so DRAM makers need to keep selling chips - even at cut-rate prices - to ensure a steady flow of cash to fund continuing operations.
The heavy cost of building new DRAM factories is also an issue. Such plants can cost up to $3 billion each, and companies normally run them 24 hours per day to get as much out of them as they can. DRAM technology advances so fast that companies have to constantly upgrade their production lines, costing them even more money. Since the technology on chip production lines loses its usefulness so fast and the value of the lines erodes quickly, chip makers are loathe to curtail production, even during market gluts.
Sluggish DRAM prices are good for people interested in buying a new PC or adding memory to their laptop or desktop. PC vendors such as Dell and Acer often add more DRAM to new PCs when chip prices are low, and users can beef up an older PC by installing more DRAM on their own.
The current DRAM downturn will likely last more than a year and possibly two, said Simon Woo, memory chip analyst at Merrill Lynch, at a conference in Taipei Tuesday.
"It's longer than expected," he said, comparing it to the DRAM industry crunch of 1997-1998, which lasted nearly two years.
The current glut started around the middle of last year, but prices fell in earnest in the third quarter. The spot price of 1G-bit DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) chips that run at 667MHz fell to US$1.92 Wednesday, according to DRAMeXchange Technology, which operates a clearinghouse for the chips. Prices of the chips hit their third quarter high of $6.25 each on July 12 last year. The current price marks a decline of 69 percent since the third quarter high.
DRAM makers caused the current glut by building too many new factories in anticipation of strong DRAM demand for PCs armed with Microsoft's Vista OS. The OS requires 1G-byte of DRAM per PC to run well, compared to just 128M-bytes for Windows XP.
Vista didn't take off quite as DRAM makers had hoped, leaving the market awash in excess chips.
Huge price declines in the DRAM market caused Gartner to pare its global chip revenue growth forecasts for this year to just 3.4 percent, from a previous estimate of 6.2 percent. DRAM will fare much worse than the overall chip market, with revenue forecast to drop 15 percent this year to $54.9 billion, from $58.1 billion last year, the market researcher said.
Most analysts believe prices will bottom out in the second quarter because that's when PC demand is seasonally weakest. Most DRAM goes into PCs.
"We expect DRAM prices to fall another 10 percent in the second quarter of 2008 as PC DRAM content growth slows and inventory rebuilding ends," said Matt Evans, memory chip analyst at CLSA, in a report. He expects DRAM makers to cut spending on new production lines, which could spur a price recovery of as much as 10 percent in the third quarter.
Do Hoon Lee, memory chip analyst at Macquarie Securities, warns that second quarter DRAM price declines could be far worse than expected if DRAM makers unload inventory into the market. Macquarie expects many DRAM makers to put the construction of new factories on hold, a move that could boost DRAM prices a bit.
Product gluts in most industries normally cause companies to cut production until the market improves. But that's not the case in DRAM. DRAM makers cannot afford to cut back on production in part due to the global credit crunch, and also over the fear of losing market share. The global credit crunch means it's harder for companies to find new funding, so DRAM makers need to keep selling chips - even at cut-rate prices - to ensure a steady flow of cash to fund continuing operations.
The heavy cost of building new DRAM factories is also an issue. Such plants can cost up to $3 billion each, and companies normally run them 24 hours per day to get as much out of them as they can. DRAM technology advances so fast that companies have to constantly upgrade their production lines, costing them even more money. Since the technology on chip production lines loses its usefulness so fast and the value of the lines erodes quickly, chip makers are loathe to curtail production, even during market gluts.
Google sees mobile search on the rise
Google's search tool for mobile phones has increased searches by 20 percent, according to the company.
The software for Nokia, BlackBerry and now also Windows Mobile phones, makes searching 40 percent quicker, because it needs fewer clicks and there's no waiting for a browser to download the search engine's Web page, Google said.
Ease of use has become a mantra for the mobile phone sector, the success of Apple's iPhone being one of the primary motivating factors. Making services simpler to use will lead to increased use of mobile Internet in all shapes and forms.
But it is also proving to be true, as in the case of search, according to Google.
"Faster is proving to be much better on the mobile phone," said Google spokesman Anthony House.
But ease of use isn't the only reason for increased usage. Flat rate data plans also help.
As mobile search grows in popularity so will ad revenues, something that isn't lost on Google.
"We always say get the users first, then worry about the money," said House.
But mobile will increase in importance over the next five years as a means to make more money from search, according to House.
Revenue generated from mobile search will reach US$4.8 billion by 2013, according to a study from Juniper Research, published on Tuesday.
Just like Google, Juniper sees ease of use and flat rate data tariffs as driving factors.
But Windsor Holden, principal analyst with Juniper, also has a warning for carriers and search companies: advertising overload might turn users off and limit adoption.
Google thinks there still is work to be done: The challenge is put ads on the small screen in a way that isn't annoying to users, House said.
The software for Nokia, BlackBerry and now also Windows Mobile phones, makes searching 40 percent quicker, because it needs fewer clicks and there's no waiting for a browser to download the search engine's Web page, Google said.
Ease of use has become a mantra for the mobile phone sector, the success of Apple's iPhone being one of the primary motivating factors. Making services simpler to use will lead to increased use of mobile Internet in all shapes and forms.
But it is also proving to be true, as in the case of search, according to Google.
"Faster is proving to be much better on the mobile phone," said Google spokesman Anthony House.
But ease of use isn't the only reason for increased usage. Flat rate data plans also help.
As mobile search grows in popularity so will ad revenues, something that isn't lost on Google.
"We always say get the users first, then worry about the money," said House.
But mobile will increase in importance over the next five years as a means to make more money from search, according to House.
Revenue generated from mobile search will reach US$4.8 billion by 2013, according to a study from Juniper Research, published on Tuesday.
Just like Google, Juniper sees ease of use and flat rate data tariffs as driving factors.
But Windsor Holden, principal analyst with Juniper, also has a warning for carriers and search companies: advertising overload might turn users off and limit adoption.
Google thinks there still is work to be done: The challenge is put ads on the small screen in a way that isn't annoying to users, House said.
IBM opens cloud computing center in Dublin
IBM has opened a new data center in Dublin aimed at letting businesses use its computing power and applications for collaborative projects such as software and IT services development.
The Dublin facility is the first one to be built in Europe, and will also serve the Middle East and Africa. IBM is labeling the facility a "cloud computing center," in that companies can access applications that are hosted on IBM's hardware.
Some of those applications have features that are also seen on Web 2.0 sites. The hosted applications will include Lotus Connections, IBM's social software that lets employees create blogs and wikis, tag Web sites and make comments on other people's ideas, said Willy Chiu, vice president of high performance on-demand solutions for IBM's Software Group.
When wrapped together, IBM's software also lets companies test new services and applications with their customers. Other IBM products involved are its WebSphere integration and application infrastructure software and its Tivoli provisioning software, Chiu said. IBM will additionally offer experts who can advise companies on how to set up their own enterprise data centers.
Pricing information has not been released, Chiu said.
IBM launched a similar program last September called Innovation Factory in partnership with the Shanghai Research Institute of China Telecom Corporate (STTRI). The project focuses on developing communication services for the Chinese market. In that instance, IBM installed its software in STTRI's data center, Chiu said.
IBM has signed up Sogeti, an IT services division of Capgemini Group, to use the Dublin center, Chiu said. "They wanted to pilot the Idea Factory to accelerate innovation," Chiu said.
Next month, Sogeti will start a six-month trial of IBM's collaboration technologies, said Michiel Boreel, Sogeti's chief technology officer. The trial will start with a three-day session involving 18,000 employees in 14 countries. Employees will submit ideas to make the company's IT services offerings better.
During the second phase, the best of those ideas will then be put into IBM's collaboration software, Boreel said. The plan is to move away from tools such as e-mail, which is good for exchanging information, but "lousy" for collaboration, he said.
Wikis, a format where people can work on the same document at the same time, are much better, Boreel said. After six months, Sogeti will decide whether IBM's hosted collaboration platform is worth using permanently, he said.
"I expect people are going to use these kinds of collaboration tools more intensively," Boreel said, adding that Sogeti could eventually offer the same kind of service to its customers.
The Dublin facility is the first one to be built in Europe, and will also serve the Middle East and Africa. IBM is labeling the facility a "cloud computing center," in that companies can access applications that are hosted on IBM's hardware.
Some of those applications have features that are also seen on Web 2.0 sites. The hosted applications will include Lotus Connections, IBM's social software that lets employees create blogs and wikis, tag Web sites and make comments on other people's ideas, said Willy Chiu, vice president of high performance on-demand solutions for IBM's Software Group.
When wrapped together, IBM's software also lets companies test new services and applications with their customers. Other IBM products involved are its WebSphere integration and application infrastructure software and its Tivoli provisioning software, Chiu said. IBM will additionally offer experts who can advise companies on how to set up their own enterprise data centers.
Pricing information has not been released, Chiu said.
IBM launched a similar program last September called Innovation Factory in partnership with the Shanghai Research Institute of China Telecom Corporate (STTRI). The project focuses on developing communication services for the Chinese market. In that instance, IBM installed its software in STTRI's data center, Chiu said.
IBM has signed up Sogeti, an IT services division of Capgemini Group, to use the Dublin center, Chiu said. "They wanted to pilot the Idea Factory to accelerate innovation," Chiu said.
Next month, Sogeti will start a six-month trial of IBM's collaboration technologies, said Michiel Boreel, Sogeti's chief technology officer. The trial will start with a three-day session involving 18,000 employees in 14 countries. Employees will submit ideas to make the company's IT services offerings better.
During the second phase, the best of those ideas will then be put into IBM's collaboration software, Boreel said. The plan is to move away from tools such as e-mail, which is good for exchanging information, but "lousy" for collaboration, he said.
Wikis, a format where people can work on the same document at the same time, are much better, Boreel said. After six months, Sogeti will decide whether IBM's hosted collaboration platform is worth using permanently, he said.
"I expect people are going to use these kinds of collaboration tools more intensively," Boreel said, adding that Sogeti could eventually offer the same kind of service to its customers.
Pennsylvania pulls plug on voter site after data leak
With voting in Pennsylvania's presidential primary just a month away, the state was forced to pull the plug on a voter registration Web site Tuesday after it was found to be exposing sensitive data about voters in the state.
The problem lay in an online voter registration application form that was designed to simplify the task of registering to vote. State residents used it to enter their information on the Web site, which then generated a printable form that could be mailed to state election officials. Pennsylvania's Department of State disabled the registration form late Tuesday after being informed of the vulnerability by IDG News Service.
Because of a Web programming error, the Web site was allowing anyone on the Internet to view the forms, which contained data such as the voter's name, date of birth, driver's license number and political party affiliation. On some forms, the last four digits of social security numbers could also be seen.
"Upon learning of this situation, the Department of State acted immediately to disable the specific page," said Department of State Spokeswoman Leslie Amoros in an e-mail message.
"The Department is reviewing the facts to determine how this information became available," she said. "We are also taking all necessary steps to correct the situation and are implementing processes aimed to prevent future occurrences"
The flaw was first reported by a reader of Digg.com, who stumbled upon the bug after filling out a voter registration form.
"Being a security conscious programmer, I decided to test," wrote the reader, identified only as mtg169, "Very bad PA...very very bad!"
The bug did not expose all registration data, just the information supplied by those who used the Web site's online form. About 30,000 voter registration records appeared to be available on the site.
"That's bad, really bad," said Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer with Web security vendor WhiteHat Security. In an e-mail, he said he hadn't seen this type of error on a voter registration Web site before, but that it was caused by a common Web programming error. "We've seen a great many vulnerabilities like this in the course of doing out work.
Many counties offer online access to voter registration data, so that residents can check on their status, but these databases typically remove data that could be misused, such as date of birth, social security numbers and driver's license numbers.
The last four digits of a social security number are often used as a security question, required to access certain types of billing accounts, and a skilled identity thief could use a driver's license number, name and address in a check forging scheme, according to privacy experts.
"There are so many alarming things about this," said Kim Alexander, president of California Voter Foundation, which has studied voter privacy across the U.S. "It just seems to be a case where you have government agencies using sophisticated technology in thoughtless ways."
With an important presidential primary set to occur in Pennsylvania on April 22, it's particularly worrisome that this data could have been accessed by anyone, she added. "All kinds of dirty tricks could be played," she said. "In heated campaigns we've seen cases where someone will call a whole bunch of voters and tell them that the election date has been changed."
While states may make these databases available for political purposes, their use is strictly controlled and sensitive information like driver's license numbers is removed. With the data on the Web, this is no longer possible, Alexander said. "You lose all those protections when you have this data available on the Internet."
"It's unprecedented that this information would be so freely available on the Internet," she added.
Ironically, with many voters already avoiding voter registration because of privacy concerns, Pennsylvania's efforts to help voters may end up backfiring, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse "When word gets out, it will be one of those things that will deter people from registering to vote," she said.
The problem lay in an online voter registration application form that was designed to simplify the task of registering to vote. State residents used it to enter their information on the Web site, which then generated a printable form that could be mailed to state election officials. Pennsylvania's Department of State disabled the registration form late Tuesday after being informed of the vulnerability by IDG News Service.
Because of a Web programming error, the Web site was allowing anyone on the Internet to view the forms, which contained data such as the voter's name, date of birth, driver's license number and political party affiliation. On some forms, the last four digits of social security numbers could also be seen.
"Upon learning of this situation, the Department of State acted immediately to disable the specific page," said Department of State Spokeswoman Leslie Amoros in an e-mail message.
"The Department is reviewing the facts to determine how this information became available," she said. "We are also taking all necessary steps to correct the situation and are implementing processes aimed to prevent future occurrences"
The flaw was first reported by a reader of Digg.com, who stumbled upon the bug after filling out a voter registration form.
"Being a security conscious programmer, I decided to test," wrote the reader, identified only as mtg169, "Very bad PA...very very bad!"
The bug did not expose all registration data, just the information supplied by those who used the Web site's online form. About 30,000 voter registration records appeared to be available on the site.
"That's bad, really bad," said Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer with Web security vendor WhiteHat Security. In an e-mail, he said he hadn't seen this type of error on a voter registration Web site before, but that it was caused by a common Web programming error. "We've seen a great many vulnerabilities like this in the course of doing out work.
Many counties offer online access to voter registration data, so that residents can check on their status, but these databases typically remove data that could be misused, such as date of birth, social security numbers and driver's license numbers.
The last four digits of a social security number are often used as a security question, required to access certain types of billing accounts, and a skilled identity thief could use a driver's license number, name and address in a check forging scheme, according to privacy experts.
"There are so many alarming things about this," said Kim Alexander, president of California Voter Foundation, which has studied voter privacy across the U.S. "It just seems to be a case where you have government agencies using sophisticated technology in thoughtless ways."
With an important presidential primary set to occur in Pennsylvania on April 22, it's particularly worrisome that this data could have been accessed by anyone, she added. "All kinds of dirty tricks could be played," she said. "In heated campaigns we've seen cases where someone will call a whole bunch of voters and tell them that the election date has been changed."
While states may make these databases available for political purposes, their use is strictly controlled and sensitive information like driver's license numbers is removed. With the data on the Web, this is no longer possible, Alexander said. "You lose all those protections when you have this data available on the Internet."
"It's unprecedented that this information would be so freely available on the Internet," she added.
Ironically, with many voters already avoiding voter registration because of privacy concerns, Pennsylvania's efforts to help voters may end up backfiring, said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse "When word gets out, it will be one of those things that will deter people from registering to vote," she said.
FCC closes 700MHz spectrum auction
The controversial 700MHz spectrum auction has closed, raising US$19.59 billion, a record for a spectrum auction in the U.S., the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.
The FCC, however, failed to sell off a swath of spectrum that was set aside for a public safety network. That block did not receive a bid that met the FCC's $1.3 billion reserve price. The agency is evaluating its options for the spectrum, it said.
The 700MHz auction was the first to require anonymous bidding, and the FCC has not yet revealed which companies won the rights to the bands that were sold. While Google was instrumental in pushing the so-called open-access rules for the auction, it is still unknown if the search giant bid for or won any of the licenses.
The open-access rules, which apply to one-third of the spectrum, require operators to allow customers to use any device they want, and download and use any applications.
The auction lasted for 38 days and 261 rounds of bidding. Throughout, onlookers wondered if the public safety block would sell. Frontline Wireless, a company headed by a former FCC commissioner and other wireless industry veterans, was expected to take the lead in bidding for the spectrum, but the company abruptly shut down just weeks before the start of the auction.
The winnings from the auction will go to the U.S. Treasury and are earmarked for support for public safety and digital television transition initiatives.
Winners of FCC auctions earn the right to build wireless networks that operate in the given spectrum band. The 700MHz band has been used by television broadcasters, but it is becoming available with the switch to digital television broadcasting. The spectrum is considered ideal for cellular applications because wireless signals sent over the band can travel long distances, requiring operators to deploy less network equipment than in higher spectrum bands.
The 700MHz band is also one of the last broad bands of spectrum available for cellular services, another reason this auction has been so closely watched. Companies like Google and others pushed for the open-access rules in the hope that the winners would build new networks that support innovative mobile data services to compete with the incumbent mobile network services.
The FCC, however, failed to sell off a swath of spectrum that was set aside for a public safety network. That block did not receive a bid that met the FCC's $1.3 billion reserve price. The agency is evaluating its options for the spectrum, it said.
The 700MHz auction was the first to require anonymous bidding, and the FCC has not yet revealed which companies won the rights to the bands that were sold. While Google was instrumental in pushing the so-called open-access rules for the auction, it is still unknown if the search giant bid for or won any of the licenses.
The open-access rules, which apply to one-third of the spectrum, require operators to allow customers to use any device they want, and download and use any applications.
The auction lasted for 38 days and 261 rounds of bidding. Throughout, onlookers wondered if the public safety block would sell. Frontline Wireless, a company headed by a former FCC commissioner and other wireless industry veterans, was expected to take the lead in bidding for the spectrum, but the company abruptly shut down just weeks before the start of the auction.
The winnings from the auction will go to the U.S. Treasury and are earmarked for support for public safety and digital television transition initiatives.
Winners of FCC auctions earn the right to build wireless networks that operate in the given spectrum band. The 700MHz band has been used by television broadcasters, but it is becoming available with the switch to digital television broadcasting. The spectrum is considered ideal for cellular applications because wireless signals sent over the band can travel long distances, requiring operators to deploy less network equipment than in higher spectrum bands.
The 700MHz band is also one of the last broad bands of spectrum available for cellular services, another reason this auction has been so closely watched. Companies like Google and others pushed for the open-access rules in the hope that the winners would build new networks that support innovative mobile data services to compete with the incumbent mobile network services.
VON: WiMax will take flight with Intel's new mobile platform
More than one-third of the ultramobile PCs coming later this year on Intel's Atom Centrino platform will offer a combination of WiMax and Wi-Fi, the head of the company's Ultra Mobility Group said Tuesday.
Intel has been pushing WiMax aggressively, saying the standards-based wireless broadband technology will proliferate just as Wi-Fi did, though the system remains an upstart against more established cellular technologies, namely the forthcoming LTE (Long-Term Evolution) standard. But of the 35 third-party designs for Atom Centrino devices due to hit the market in the second quarter, 37 percent will include WiMax, said Intel Senior Vice President Arun Chandrasekhar. Fourteen percent will have only Wi-Fi and 49 percent will include a combination of Wi-Fi and HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), a 3G (third-generation) cellular system.
During his keynote address Tuesday at the Von.x conference in San Jose, California, Chandrasekhar also showed off mock-up devices based on a future mobile chipset called Moorestown, looking toward a future when social networking will drive Internet use on the go.
Two of the devices, which he produced from his pockets during the speech, were similar to a typical smart phone but about twice as wide. That form factor fits the entire width of a typical Web page, making browsing more convenient, said Chandrasekhar, who leads Intel's Ultra Mobility Group. Another one, code-named Magic, was a triple-folding device that opened one way to display a screen and keyboard, and another way as a media player with controls on the outside. Because it's about the size of a men's deodorant stick, Chandrasekhar called it the "speed stick."
In a video about the design concepts, Intel showed one being used for social networking, with a map at one end of the wide screen, pictures of friends at the other, and a messaging interface in between. Another video showed a user playing different songs at either end of the screen and mixing them as a disc jockey would.
All of the designs were just possible interpretations of what OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) may do with Moorestown. Also at the event, Intel displayed three larger devices based on the Menlow chip package, recently renamed Atom Centrino, which will show up in products on the market in the second quarter.
The tiny Atom chip at the heart of the Atom Centrino package was built from the ground up to meet the size and power consumption requirements of MIDs (mobile Internet devices), designed to be portable but not pocket-sized. Moorestown will be the next step down in size, with 10 times less power consumption at idle than Atom Centrino, Chandrasekhar said. Both will be built with a 45-nanometer manufacturing process. After 2010, Intel will use a 32nm process to build future generations with higher levels of integration.
Social networking is the engine that will drive demand for the mobile platforms, according to Chandrasekhar. That technology has surpassed pornography as the biggest bandwidth-consuming application on the Internet, he said. Worldwide, consumers spend 3 billion minutes per day on social networking, but most of that is on PCs over fixed broadband connections. People want to be able to do it wherever they are, he said.
"That's the next chase," Chandrasekhar said. "This race has started, and there's a tremendous amount to be done here." Intel expects to lead in speed, maintaining two times the performance of competing chip platforms, he said.
Intel dove into the handheld market earlier in the decade with its Xscale processors, based on ARM technology, but built Atom from the ground up using the Intel architecture. Compatibility between handhelds and PCs is critical to a good mobile Web experience because the Internet was built primarily on and for PCs, Chandrasekhar said. To develop software for cell phones today, developers have to write versions for dozens of platforms. By contrast, PC developers can write software once for all models of PC, he said. Although Intel envisions many Atom Centrino and Moorestown devices to be based on Linux, the Intel chip architecture will help to bring that kind of consistency to the mobile world, Chandrasekhar said.
Intel has been pushing WiMax aggressively, saying the standards-based wireless broadband technology will proliferate just as Wi-Fi did, though the system remains an upstart against more established cellular technologies, namely the forthcoming LTE (Long-Term Evolution) standard. But of the 35 third-party designs for Atom Centrino devices due to hit the market in the second quarter, 37 percent will include WiMax, said Intel Senior Vice President Arun Chandrasekhar. Fourteen percent will have only Wi-Fi and 49 percent will include a combination of Wi-Fi and HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), a 3G (third-generation) cellular system.
During his keynote address Tuesday at the Von.x conference in San Jose, California, Chandrasekhar also showed off mock-up devices based on a future mobile chipset called Moorestown, looking toward a future when social networking will drive Internet use on the go.
Two of the devices, which he produced from his pockets during the speech, were similar to a typical smart phone but about twice as wide. That form factor fits the entire width of a typical Web page, making browsing more convenient, said Chandrasekhar, who leads Intel's Ultra Mobility Group. Another one, code-named Magic, was a triple-folding device that opened one way to display a screen and keyboard, and another way as a media player with controls on the outside. Because it's about the size of a men's deodorant stick, Chandrasekhar called it the "speed stick."
In a video about the design concepts, Intel showed one being used for social networking, with a map at one end of the wide screen, pictures of friends at the other, and a messaging interface in between. Another video showed a user playing different songs at either end of the screen and mixing them as a disc jockey would.
All of the designs were just possible interpretations of what OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) may do with Moorestown. Also at the event, Intel displayed three larger devices based on the Menlow chip package, recently renamed Atom Centrino, which will show up in products on the market in the second quarter.
The tiny Atom chip at the heart of the Atom Centrino package was built from the ground up to meet the size and power consumption requirements of MIDs (mobile Internet devices), designed to be portable but not pocket-sized. Moorestown will be the next step down in size, with 10 times less power consumption at idle than Atom Centrino, Chandrasekhar said. Both will be built with a 45-nanometer manufacturing process. After 2010, Intel will use a 32nm process to build future generations with higher levels of integration.
Social networking is the engine that will drive demand for the mobile platforms, according to Chandrasekhar. That technology has surpassed pornography as the biggest bandwidth-consuming application on the Internet, he said. Worldwide, consumers spend 3 billion minutes per day on social networking, but most of that is on PCs over fixed broadband connections. People want to be able to do it wherever they are, he said.
"That's the next chase," Chandrasekhar said. "This race has started, and there's a tremendous amount to be done here." Intel expects to lead in speed, maintaining two times the performance of competing chip platforms, he said.
Intel dove into the handheld market earlier in the decade with its Xscale processors, based on ARM technology, but built Atom from the ground up using the Intel architecture. Compatibility between handhelds and PCs is critical to a good mobile Web experience because the Internet was built primarily on and for PCs, Chandrasekhar said. To develop software for cell phones today, developers have to write versions for dozens of platforms. By contrast, PC developers can write software once for all models of PC, he said. Although Intel envisions many Atom Centrino and Moorestown devices to be based on Linux, the Intel chip architecture will help to bring that kind of consistency to the mobile world, Chandrasekhar said.
Facebook beefs up privacy options, readies online chat
Facebook plans to roll out new privacy features on Wednesday that will give users more control over who sees the data stored on their profile pages.
The new privacy controls will allow users to choose which of their friends can see information such as their photo albums, mobile phone number or e-mail address. Facebook users will also be able to share information about themselves with a wider group of people, thanks to a new "friends-of-friends" feature that is also expected to be available on Wednesday.
The company has also taken efforts to make these new privacy features easy to use, said Naomi Gleit, a Facebook product manager. "We've introduced a standardized privacy interface that users will see when they're editing their privacy setting anywhere," she said.
Privacy has become a hot-button issue for Facebook since its mismanaged launch of Beacon, an online advertising tool unveiled in November.
Privacy experts blasted the program for being confusing, and computer experts soon revealed that Beacon was tracking Web behavior and secretly sending data back to Facebook without notifying users. Facebook was forced to retool the product amid a firestorm of bad publicity.
The new privacy features do not have any relationship to Beacon, but at a press event held Tuesday, the company's vice president of product management gave a frank assessment of the Beacon roll-out.
"With Beacon we just screwed it up," said Matt Cohler. "It was just poor execution on our part."
From its humble beginnings as a Web site for Harvard students four years ago, Facebook has grown to a global phenomenon, and that has at times made it difficult for the company's developers to balance things like privacy with ease-of-use, Cohler said.
Just 18 months ago, 90 percent of Facebook's users were in the U.S. Today, about two-thirds of the 67 million active members are from outside the country.
"On the one hand, we think it's important that the tools we give people are really powerful," Cohler said. "On the other hand, you have to make sure those things are really easy to use."
"That was early on a pretty easy problem for us to solve, back in the dorm in Harvard."
Cohler also confirmed rumors that Facebook plans to roll out its own Web-based chat software in the coming weeks.
The company demoed a very simple chat client that could be used to connect with other Facebook users, so long as they are logged into the Facebook Web site. Facebook chat appears as a small icon on the bottom of the Web browser that, when clicked, pops up a small chat window. Chat conversations will be archived for 90 days, although users will have the option of erasing them.
Cohler wouldn't say whether Facebook's chat software would be integrated with other chat clients, but hinted that this could be a possibility. "We want to be able to extend Facebook out into as much of your use of the Web as possible," he said. "Our vision is not to make Facebook an island."
The new privacy controls will allow users to choose which of their friends can see information such as their photo albums, mobile phone number or e-mail address. Facebook users will also be able to share information about themselves with a wider group of people, thanks to a new "friends-of-friends" feature that is also expected to be available on Wednesday.
The company has also taken efforts to make these new privacy features easy to use, said Naomi Gleit, a Facebook product manager. "We've introduced a standardized privacy interface that users will see when they're editing their privacy setting anywhere," she said.
Privacy has become a hot-button issue for Facebook since its mismanaged launch of Beacon, an online advertising tool unveiled in November.
Privacy experts blasted the program for being confusing, and computer experts soon revealed that Beacon was tracking Web behavior and secretly sending data back to Facebook without notifying users. Facebook was forced to retool the product amid a firestorm of bad publicity.
The new privacy features do not have any relationship to Beacon, but at a press event held Tuesday, the company's vice president of product management gave a frank assessment of the Beacon roll-out.
"With Beacon we just screwed it up," said Matt Cohler. "It was just poor execution on our part."
From its humble beginnings as a Web site for Harvard students four years ago, Facebook has grown to a global phenomenon, and that has at times made it difficult for the company's developers to balance things like privacy with ease-of-use, Cohler said.
Just 18 months ago, 90 percent of Facebook's users were in the U.S. Today, about two-thirds of the 67 million active members are from outside the country.
"On the one hand, we think it's important that the tools we give people are really powerful," Cohler said. "On the other hand, you have to make sure those things are really easy to use."
"That was early on a pretty easy problem for us to solve, back in the dorm in Harvard."
Cohler also confirmed rumors that Facebook plans to roll out its own Web-based chat software in the coming weeks.
The company demoed a very simple chat client that could be used to connect with other Facebook users, so long as they are logged into the Facebook Web site. Facebook chat appears as a small icon on the bottom of the Web browser that, when clicked, pops up a small chat window. Chat conversations will be archived for 90 days, although users will have the option of erasing them.
Cohler wouldn't say whether Facebook's chat software would be integrated with other chat clients, but hinted that this could be a possibility. "We want to be able to extend Facebook out into as much of your use of the Web as possible," he said. "Our vision is not to make Facebook an island."
Dell launches new servers for SMBs
Dell on Monday launched new single-socket servers for small and medium-size businesses, replenishing its overhauled PowerEdge line of servers.
The PowerEdge T300, with a tower chassis, and PowerEdge R300, a rack server, are designed to consume less power and include system management tools to better manage IT tasks, Dell said. The servers have quad-core Xeon processors and provide memory expandability and redundancy features, the company said.
The servers run on processors including Intel's Celeron, Core 2 and Xeon chips. The PowerEdge R300 also supports a low-voltage Xeon processor, said Lionel Menchaca, a Dell blogger.
The servers come with hot-pluggable hard drives, which allow hard drives to be replaced without powering down the server, Dell said. They also come with redundant power supplies to boost system reliability. Both servers include Dell's OpenManage system management tools to help administer and manage IT system resources.
The servers hold up to 24G bytes of RAM and come with integrated graphics controllers. The T300 supports up to 4T bytes of storage, while the R300 supports up to 2T bytes of storage. The servers will support Windows Server 2008, Red Hat Linux Enterprise 5 and Suse Linux Enterprise Server 9 and 10.
The servers are available worldwide Tuesday and in Latin America starting March 25, a Dell spokesman said. The R300 server is priced starting at US$1,249, and the T300 starts at $999.
The PowerEdge T300, with a tower chassis, and PowerEdge R300, a rack server, are designed to consume less power and include system management tools to better manage IT tasks, Dell said. The servers have quad-core Xeon processors and provide memory expandability and redundancy features, the company said.
The servers run on processors including Intel's Celeron, Core 2 and Xeon chips. The PowerEdge R300 also supports a low-voltage Xeon processor, said Lionel Menchaca, a Dell blogger.
The servers come with hot-pluggable hard drives, which allow hard drives to be replaced without powering down the server, Dell said. They also come with redundant power supplies to boost system reliability. Both servers include Dell's OpenManage system management tools to help administer and manage IT system resources.
The servers hold up to 24G bytes of RAM and come with integrated graphics controllers. The T300 supports up to 4T bytes of storage, while the R300 supports up to 2T bytes of storage. The servers will support Windows Server 2008, Red Hat Linux Enterprise 5 and Suse Linux Enterprise Server 9 and 10.
The servers are available worldwide Tuesday and in Latin America starting March 25, a Dell spokesman said. The R300 server is priced starting at US$1,249, and the T300 starts at $999.
Vista SP1 officially available
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is available starting Tuesday, a day after Amazon.com let slip that it would become available this week.
Interested Vista users can manually open Windows Update and download the new software. Customers who have set Windows Update to automatically download updates will find the software automatically downloaded to their PCs in mid-April.
If users decide to manually access SP1 now, there's a chance they won't see it in Windows Update. There could be several reasons for that, according to the Windows Vista blog. For example, users of an earlier version of SP1 must first uninstall the older version before reinstalling the final SP1.
In addition, Windows Update will detect if a user has certain drivers that must first be updated before installing SP1. Until those users have the updated drivers in place, Windows Update won't offer SP1.
Initially, SP1 is available in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. If a PC has any other language installed, SP1 won't be offered to the user. Microsoft plans to release the second wave of SP1 in additional languages in April.
The company has long said that SP1 would come out in the first quarter. A major hint that the release was imminent came on Monday with an Amazon.com listing of Windows Vista that included SP1 and said that the product would be available on Wednesday.
It's been a long trek for Microsoft up to the release of SP1. Microsoft inadvertently posted SP1 to Windows Update in February, although few people were actually able to download it from there. Microsoft also had some hiccups with an update designed as a prerequisite for SP1 that caused some users to get stuck in a reboot cycle.
Some observers believe that the release of SP1 could boost Vista sales, particularly among enterprises that have said they're waiting for the update before upgrading to Vista.
Interested Vista users can manually open Windows Update and download the new software. Customers who have set Windows Update to automatically download updates will find the software automatically downloaded to their PCs in mid-April.
If users decide to manually access SP1 now, there's a chance they won't see it in Windows Update. There could be several reasons for that, according to the Windows Vista blog. For example, users of an earlier version of SP1 must first uninstall the older version before reinstalling the final SP1.
In addition, Windows Update will detect if a user has certain drivers that must first be updated before installing SP1. Until those users have the updated drivers in place, Windows Update won't offer SP1.
Initially, SP1 is available in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. If a PC has any other language installed, SP1 won't be offered to the user. Microsoft plans to release the second wave of SP1 in additional languages in April.
The company has long said that SP1 would come out in the first quarter. A major hint that the release was imminent came on Monday with an Amazon.com listing of Windows Vista that included SP1 and said that the product would be available on Wednesday.
It's been a long trek for Microsoft up to the release of SP1. Microsoft inadvertently posted SP1 to Windows Update in February, although few people were actually able to download it from there. Microsoft also had some hiccups with an update designed as a prerequisite for SP1 that caused some users to get stuck in a reboot cycle.
Some observers believe that the release of SP1 could boost Vista sales, particularly among enterprises that have said they're waiting for the update before upgrading to Vista.
Microsoft, Intel give $20M for multi-core research
Imagine a man you know but whose name you can't remember approaches you, and your mobile phone uses face-recognition capability to give you his name and information about him before he says hello. This is the kind of application that researchers hope will be developed from US$20 million Microsoft and Intel are giving two U.S. universities for research on parallel computing.
The companies are donating the money to Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers (UPCRCs) at the University of California Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, they announced at a news conference on Tuesday. The centers are aimed at tackling the challenges of programming for processors that have more than one core and so can carry out more than one set of program instructions at a time, a scenario known as parallel computing.
In addition to the $20 million, the University of Illinois will provide $8 million to fund its center, and UC Berkeley has applied for $7 million in grants for its research.
UC Berkeley quietly opened its Parallel Computing Lab in January, according to a UC Berkeley Web site. The lab was born out of research done there and published in a white paper by researchers at Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department in 2006.
In the paper, they said the current evolution of programming models from single-core to the dual-core and quad-core processors available today from Intel and AMD won't work for a future where processors could have as many as 16, 32 or hundreds of processors. They set out to find a better way to develop programming models to meet the challenges of multi-core chips.
UC Berkeley's David Patterson, a professor of computer science and director of the UPCRC, described the problem as one of designing programs to take advantage of parallel computing's ability to divvy up workloads across different processors. On Tuesday's conference call, he compared the scenario to dividing the work of writing one story between 16, or even hundreds, of reporters. While the work could potentially be done 16 -- or even hundreds of times -- faster, "we won't get to deliver on that performance without balancing the work well," he said.
Microsoft's and Intel's interest in parallel computing is not merely altruistic -- both companies already are doing their own research so they can take advantage of the computing power that comes with multi-core technology, and thus gain a competitive advantage in their respective software and processor markets. The agendas of the research centers will align closely with Intel’s Tera-scale Computing Research Program and Microsoft’s Technical Computing Initiative, the companies said.
As for some of the real-world applications of parallel computing, Patterson and Marc Snir, professor of computer science at the University of Illinois, said if researchers can use programming to harness the capabilities of multi-core machines, it will give mobile devices the computing performance that today comes only from supercomputers.
Patterson described the scenario in which a mobile phone might use face-recognition technology to save someone -- he used himself as an example -- from an embarrassing situation of not knowing a person's name. "I'd personally be excited to buy a cell phone that has that technology," because this is a situation he often encounters as a university professor, Patterson said.
Fourteen members from the UC Berkeley faculty, as well as 50 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, will staff the UPCRC, while the center at the University of Illinois will be led by Snir and Wen-Mei Hwu, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Twenty additional faculty members and 26 graduate students and researchers also will participate in research at the Illinois center. Both centers will make software available to the technology community for additional development.
While there are only dual-core and quad-core processors available today, Intel plans to release a six-core processor, code-named Dunnington, in the second half of this year, and an eight-core processor, called Nehalem, at some point in the future.
The companies are donating the money to Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers (UPCRCs) at the University of California Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, they announced at a news conference on Tuesday. The centers are aimed at tackling the challenges of programming for processors that have more than one core and so can carry out more than one set of program instructions at a time, a scenario known as parallel computing.
In addition to the $20 million, the University of Illinois will provide $8 million to fund its center, and UC Berkeley has applied for $7 million in grants for its research.
UC Berkeley quietly opened its Parallel Computing Lab in January, according to a UC Berkeley Web site. The lab was born out of research done there and published in a white paper by researchers at Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences department in 2006.
In the paper, they said the current evolution of programming models from single-core to the dual-core and quad-core processors available today from Intel and AMD won't work for a future where processors could have as many as 16, 32 or hundreds of processors. They set out to find a better way to develop programming models to meet the challenges of multi-core chips.
UC Berkeley's David Patterson, a professor of computer science and director of the UPCRC, described the problem as one of designing programs to take advantage of parallel computing's ability to divvy up workloads across different processors. On Tuesday's conference call, he compared the scenario to dividing the work of writing one story between 16, or even hundreds, of reporters. While the work could potentially be done 16 -- or even hundreds of times -- faster, "we won't get to deliver on that performance without balancing the work well," he said.
Microsoft's and Intel's interest in parallel computing is not merely altruistic -- both companies already are doing their own research so they can take advantage of the computing power that comes with multi-core technology, and thus gain a competitive advantage in their respective software and processor markets. The agendas of the research centers will align closely with Intel’s Tera-scale Computing Research Program and Microsoft’s Technical Computing Initiative, the companies said.
As for some of the real-world applications of parallel computing, Patterson and Marc Snir, professor of computer science at the University of Illinois, said if researchers can use programming to harness the capabilities of multi-core machines, it will give mobile devices the computing performance that today comes only from supercomputers.
Patterson described the scenario in which a mobile phone might use face-recognition technology to save someone -- he used himself as an example -- from an embarrassing situation of not knowing a person's name. "I'd personally be excited to buy a cell phone that has that technology," because this is a situation he often encounters as a university professor, Patterson said.
Fourteen members from the UC Berkeley faculty, as well as 50 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, will staff the UPCRC, while the center at the University of Illinois will be led by Snir and Wen-Mei Hwu, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Twenty additional faculty members and 26 graduate students and researchers also will participate in research at the Illinois center. Both centers will make software available to the technology community for additional development.
While there are only dual-core and quad-core processors available today, Intel plans to release a six-core processor, code-named Dunnington, in the second half of this year, and an eight-core processor, called Nehalem, at some point in the future.
Yahoo to Microsoft: Cheapskate
Yahoo has dusted off a three-month old financial plan to reinforce its contention that the company is worth much more than Microsoft has offered to pay for it.
The plan, presented to Yahoo's board of directors in December, predicts that Yahoo will double its operating cash flow over the next three years from US$1.9 billion to $3.7 billion, the company said Tuesday.
The plan also forecasts that, subtracting the commission that Yahoo pays to sites in its advertising network, Yahoo will generate $8.8 billion in revenue in 2010.
The plan, drafted before Microsoft announced its US$44.6 billion bid on February 1, supports the decision by Yahoo's board to reject that acquisition offer for undervaluing the company, Yahoo said.
In addition to trotting out the plan, Yahoo on Tuesday also reaffirmed its outlook for first-quarter 2008 revenue to be in the range of $1.68 billion and $1.84 billion, and between $7.2 billion and $8 billion for the full fiscal 2008 year.
The plan's forecast in general is extremely aggressive and optimistic, a best-case scenario, said financial analyst Clayton Moran from Stanford Group. "The stars have to align perfectly for them to hit those numbers," Moran said.
The revenue and cash-flow goals are way above what Wall Street expects, Moran said, adding as an example that his forecast for 2010 revenue is $7.5 billion -- $1.3 billion less than Yahoo's expectation.
Yahoo submitted a copy of today's news release and of the investor presentation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company wouldn't comment beyond what's stated in the news release, so it's not clear why the company didn't disclose this plan earlier.
A good time to do that may have been on Jan. 29, when the company announced its 2007 fourth-quarter results, which were generally considered disappointing as Yahoo missed revenue expectations and saw its net income fall. In addition, that day Yahoo also announced it would lay off about 1,000 employees and CEO Jerry Yang warned that the company would likely face "headwinds" this year.
The day after that report, Yahoo's shares hit a 52-week low at $18.58, before closing at $19.05. After Microsoft announced its bid on the morning of Feb. 1, Yahoo's shares jumped and closed that day at $28.38.
On Tuesday, Yahoo said that its bullish three-year plan is based on a forecast of $1.9 billion in added revenue -- minus the ad partner commissions -- over the next three years from display and video advertising, and $1.4 billion in added search revenue.
Microsoft didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Yahoo has been reportedly trying to strike up a deal that will allow it to reject Microsoft's offer without making itself liable to lawsuits claiming that by rejecting Microsoft, Yahoo's board didn't look out for investors' best interests. Yahoo has reportedly held talks with Google, AOL, News Corp., Disney and others.
Microsoft has indicated it's willing to pursue any options to acquire Yahoo, leaving the door open to a hostile takeover through a proxy fight. Earlier this month, Yahoo lifted the deadline for nominating directors to its board, an attempt to discourage Microsoft from launching a proxy fight to replace the current board with members willing to approve its Yahoo acquisition bid.
Moran sees Yahoo's announcement as its last public posturing to try to prod Microsoft to increase its bid before the two companies inevitably sit down to negotiate in earnest.
Clearly, Yang has come up empty-handed in his attempts to hammer out an alternative deal, and Yahoo's stock price will likely drop back to its pre-Microsoft-bid levels if the Microsoft acquisition doesn't happen, he said.
At the same time, Microsoft's offer looks better today than it did four weeks ago, due to the deteriorating macroeconomic scenario and shrinking market valuations, Moran said.
Microsoft offered to pay $31 per share for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares in cash -- about $22.3 billion -- and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half. Microsoft's half-cash/half-stock offer to Yahoo was valued at about $44.6 billion when it was made; Yahoo's share price was $19.18 at the time, while Microsoft's was $32.60.
At the time, the offer represented a 62 percent premium based on the price of Yahoo's stock, but that premium has been erased as Yahoo's stock has risen and Microsoft's fallen. In mid-day trading on Tuesday, Yahoo's stock price was $27.38 and Microsoft's $28.87.
The plan, presented to Yahoo's board of directors in December, predicts that Yahoo will double its operating cash flow over the next three years from US$1.9 billion to $3.7 billion, the company said Tuesday.
The plan also forecasts that, subtracting the commission that Yahoo pays to sites in its advertising network, Yahoo will generate $8.8 billion in revenue in 2010.
The plan, drafted before Microsoft announced its US$44.6 billion bid on February 1, supports the decision by Yahoo's board to reject that acquisition offer for undervaluing the company, Yahoo said.
In addition to trotting out the plan, Yahoo on Tuesday also reaffirmed its outlook for first-quarter 2008 revenue to be in the range of $1.68 billion and $1.84 billion, and between $7.2 billion and $8 billion for the full fiscal 2008 year.
The plan's forecast in general is extremely aggressive and optimistic, a best-case scenario, said financial analyst Clayton Moran from Stanford Group. "The stars have to align perfectly for them to hit those numbers," Moran said.
The revenue and cash-flow goals are way above what Wall Street expects, Moran said, adding as an example that his forecast for 2010 revenue is $7.5 billion -- $1.3 billion less than Yahoo's expectation.
Yahoo submitted a copy of today's news release and of the investor presentation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
A Yahoo spokeswoman said the company wouldn't comment beyond what's stated in the news release, so it's not clear why the company didn't disclose this plan earlier.
A good time to do that may have been on Jan. 29, when the company announced its 2007 fourth-quarter results, which were generally considered disappointing as Yahoo missed revenue expectations and saw its net income fall. In addition, that day Yahoo also announced it would lay off about 1,000 employees and CEO Jerry Yang warned that the company would likely face "headwinds" this year.
The day after that report, Yahoo's shares hit a 52-week low at $18.58, before closing at $19.05. After Microsoft announced its bid on the morning of Feb. 1, Yahoo's shares jumped and closed that day at $28.38.
On Tuesday, Yahoo said that its bullish three-year plan is based on a forecast of $1.9 billion in added revenue -- minus the ad partner commissions -- over the next three years from display and video advertising, and $1.4 billion in added search revenue.
Microsoft didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Yahoo has been reportedly trying to strike up a deal that will allow it to reject Microsoft's offer without making itself liable to lawsuits claiming that by rejecting Microsoft, Yahoo's board didn't look out for investors' best interests. Yahoo has reportedly held talks with Google, AOL, News Corp., Disney and others.
Microsoft has indicated it's willing to pursue any options to acquire Yahoo, leaving the door open to a hostile takeover through a proxy fight. Earlier this month, Yahoo lifted the deadline for nominating directors to its board, an attempt to discourage Microsoft from launching a proxy fight to replace the current board with members willing to approve its Yahoo acquisition bid.
Moran sees Yahoo's announcement as its last public posturing to try to prod Microsoft to increase its bid before the two companies inevitably sit down to negotiate in earnest.
Clearly, Yang has come up empty-handed in his attempts to hammer out an alternative deal, and Yahoo's stock price will likely drop back to its pre-Microsoft-bid levels if the Microsoft acquisition doesn't happen, he said.
At the same time, Microsoft's offer looks better today than it did four weeks ago, due to the deteriorating macroeconomic scenario and shrinking market valuations, Moran said.
Microsoft offered to pay $31 per share for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares in cash -- about $22.3 billion -- and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half. Microsoft's half-cash/half-stock offer to Yahoo was valued at about $44.6 billion when it was made; Yahoo's share price was $19.18 at the time, while Microsoft's was $32.60.
At the time, the offer represented a 62 percent premium based on the price of Yahoo's stock, but that premium has been erased as Yahoo's stock has risen and Microsoft's fallen. In mid-day trading on Tuesday, Yahoo's stock price was $27.38 and Microsoft's $28.87.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)