A survey of 156 Australian IT professionals by technology recruitment company Diversiti has found that 72 percent consider their skills to be "hot" or "in demand", and want recruitment companies to fulfill a role more akin to talent agents.
More than three quarters of respondents indicated they were planning to change, or would consider changing jobs, within the next year, resulting in a need for recruiters that can support and guide them as their careers progress.
Furthermore, at least 50 percent had worked for three or four different companies in the past five years, with most changing jobs every twelve to eighteen months.
Diversiti's NSW general manager Robert Stummer said that today's IT candidates are increasingly business oriented, highly skilled and savvy.
"This new generation is challenging the status quo and demanding a fresh approach to the traditional employment relationship and job seeking process. They don't want to be placed in the next role that arises in a recruiter's books," he said.
According to Diversiti,78 percent of those surveyed saw a need for recruiters to act as "talent agents" working on their behalf, able to provide long-term career support and guidance to help meet their ambitions.
"In this skills deficient market, IT professionals want to deal with recruiters who are willing to provide a 'talent agent' role," Stummer said.
"This means providing ongoing advice, counselling and job recommendations, and placement to support their individual professional ambitions. Simply put, these IT professionals know they are in demand and they want every avenue explored for them now and in the future."
According to one respondent, "there is a serious shortage of skilled people but there are also some highly skilled people who are working outside their key areas because there is little done to match skill sets of individuals with employers' requirements,".
Another said "I think that having a person who understands who and what you are about is more important than just looking at your resume. I think that traditional recruiters don't really look between the lines and where someone doesn't have the exact criteria line by line from their client brief doesn't get a chance. Having a talent agent will allow the individual the chance to get to know their talents that they are touting [so] they are more likely to get it right the first time."
According to Stummer, recruiters should explore in-depth a candidates individual skills, attributes and interests, as well as ask questions and give honest advice about their long and short-term career goals.
"A genuine 'talent agent' appreciates that it is all about relationship building, not job filling. There is a real appetite among IT professionals for long-term career guidance, and they are not afraid to spell out what they want," he said.
Stummer said smart employers and recruiters that can help fulfill the career aspirations of IT candidates by matching their skills, goals and culture with the "best fit" role and organization will improve engagement and retention levels, thereby achieving the best outcome for all parties.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Patched Firefox 'still vulnerable'
A patched version of Mozilla's Firefox browser released on Friday isn't quite as watertight as it should be, according to a security researcher.
On Friday, shortly after Mozilla released a patch for a high-profile directory-traversal flaw - along with nine other patches - Dutch programmer Ronald van den Heetkamp posted proof-of-concept code which he claims shows that the bug is still exploitable.
The original bug could be exploited when Firefox was running any of more than 600 add-ons to steal "session information, including session cookies and session history," according to Mozilla, which ranked it as "high" severity.
But the patch that arrived on Friday only fixes "50 percent" of the problem, according to van den Heetkamp.
"I found another information leak that is very serious because we are able to read out all preferences set in Firefox, or just open or include about every file stored in the Mozilla program files directory, and this without any mandatory settings or plugins," he wrote in an advisory.
He said the attack vector had only taken "a couple of minutes" to come up with, and that other similar holes could remain.
Among Friday's 10 Firefox patches were three for critical vulnerabilities, which could allow an attacker to read sensitive information, bypass certain security restrictions, conduct spoofing attacks, or compromise a user's system, according to Mozilla.
On Friday, shortly after Mozilla released a patch for a high-profile directory-traversal flaw - along with nine other patches - Dutch programmer Ronald van den Heetkamp posted proof-of-concept code which he claims shows that the bug is still exploitable.
The original bug could be exploited when Firefox was running any of more than 600 add-ons to steal "session information, including session cookies and session history," according to Mozilla, which ranked it as "high" severity.
But the patch that arrived on Friday only fixes "50 percent" of the problem, according to van den Heetkamp.
"I found another information leak that is very serious because we are able to read out all preferences set in Firefox, or just open or include about every file stored in the Mozilla program files directory, and this without any mandatory settings or plugins," he wrote in an advisory.
He said the attack vector had only taken "a couple of minutes" to come up with, and that other similar holes could remain.
Among Friday's 10 Firefox patches were three for critical vulnerabilities, which could allow an attacker to read sensitive information, bypass certain security restrictions, conduct spoofing attacks, or compromise a user's system, according to Mozilla.
Tibco adds Eclipse, ESB to SOA platform
Tibco Software is shipping its ActiveMatrix 2.0 platform Monday for managing SOA, featuring an Eclipse-based development environment and an enterprise service bus.
The platform offers expanded capabilities for integration, composite application development, and governance, Tibco said. Users can build and manage SOA applications, supporting technologies such as Java, .Net, and service mediation. Applications can be built that combine services developed with disparate technologies and manage them via a single infrastructure, Tibco said.
"This is a comprehensive platform for companies wanting to roll out enterprise-scale and enterprise-grade SOA," said Matt Quinn, vice president of product management and strategy at Tibco.
The platform features several components, including ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks, for integration, and ActiveMatrix Service Grid, for assembling services. New to the platform is ActiveMatrix Service Bus, for on-ramping services and implementing content or context-based routing.
A common environment based on the Eclipse platform is provided for business analysts, architects, and developers for development and management.
ActiveMatrix covers a spectrum of capabilities ranging from service virtualization, with developers able to build services in a tool of their choice, to governance and integration. With ActiveMatrix 2.0, Tibco seeks to help users manage large-scale SOA rollouts with a single platform. Much of the technical coding involved in service creation and deployment is replaced with configuration.
Governance and management capabilities enable administrators to deploy applications and apply policies from a single console.
Also featured is expanded support of the Service Component Architecture (SCA) specification to improve interoperability in deploying SOA.
In version 2.0, BusinessWorks is available in a standalone mode or as a container hosted in the ActiveMatrix infrastructure. An integrated service view in version 2.0 delivers a view of service performance and dependencies.
Products in ActiveMatrix can be purchased separately or as part of three packages, with these being Tibco's SOA Starter Bundle, for small projects; Integration Bundle, for integration projects, and Composite Application Bundle, for delivering new applications assembled from services.
ActiveMatrix 2.0 is available now, with licensing based on a per-CPU format.
The platform offers expanded capabilities for integration, composite application development, and governance, Tibco said. Users can build and manage SOA applications, supporting technologies such as Java, .Net, and service mediation. Applications can be built that combine services developed with disparate technologies and manage them via a single infrastructure, Tibco said.
"This is a comprehensive platform for companies wanting to roll out enterprise-scale and enterprise-grade SOA," said Matt Quinn, vice president of product management and strategy at Tibco.
The platform features several components, including ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks, for integration, and ActiveMatrix Service Grid, for assembling services. New to the platform is ActiveMatrix Service Bus, for on-ramping services and implementing content or context-based routing.
A common environment based on the Eclipse platform is provided for business analysts, architects, and developers for development and management.
ActiveMatrix covers a spectrum of capabilities ranging from service virtualization, with developers able to build services in a tool of their choice, to governance and integration. With ActiveMatrix 2.0, Tibco seeks to help users manage large-scale SOA rollouts with a single platform. Much of the technical coding involved in service creation and deployment is replaced with configuration.
Governance and management capabilities enable administrators to deploy applications and apply policies from a single console.
Also featured is expanded support of the Service Component Architecture (SCA) specification to improve interoperability in deploying SOA.
In version 2.0, BusinessWorks is available in a standalone mode or as a container hosted in the ActiveMatrix infrastructure. An integrated service view in version 2.0 delivers a view of service performance and dependencies.
Products in ActiveMatrix can be purchased separately or as part of three packages, with these being Tibco's SOA Starter Bundle, for small projects; Integration Bundle, for integration projects, and Composite Application Bundle, for delivering new applications assembled from services.
ActiveMatrix 2.0 is available now, with licensing based on a per-CPU format.
WSO2 joining open-source SOA registry field
WSO2 debuted its WSO2 Registry on Monday, providing registry and repository services for SOA.
Featuring SOA governance and Web 2.0 collaboration capabilities, WSO2 Registry offers a repository for storing information and a registry for locating it. A Web-based interface is included along with Web 2.0 features like tags, ratings, and comments systems. Users can store and manage enterprise metadata in a wiki-style model.
"It's a registry and repository product, so it basically organizes and lets you store in a versioned and REST-compatible way all the [SOA metadata] that happens to be in your enterprise," said Glen Daniels, director of Java platforms at WSO2. Metadata can include service descriptions, XML schemas, and configuration data.
The company follows MuleSource in announcing an open-source registry and repository for SOA. But don't expect open-source registry/repository products to displace commercial products, one analyst said.
"Commercial registry/repository products support significantly more capabilities than the open-source products," said Anne Thomas Manes, vice president and research director at Burton Group. "Organizations that are looking for solutions that can facilitate a comprehensive governance program will find the commercial products to be much more helpful than the open-source ones. The open-source solutions will put a lot of price pressure on the commercial products, though."
"[WSO Registry is] a simple, lightweight registry and repository product," Manes said. "It provides a means to manage SOA artifacts (e.g., WSDLs and schemas) and provides rudimentary lifecycle management of these artifacts."
Web 2.0 capabilities, such as tagging and commenting, helps link communities to SOA, Daniels stressed. This improves communication among team members and across the enterprise, WSO2 said. "We're trying to build middleware that sort of helps out not only with the storing of the technical information but helps out with the fostering of these community connections that actually makes SOA go," he said.
WSO2 views its Web 2.0 capabilities as a differentiator between the rival MuleSouce platform.
WSO2's structured repository supports XML and SOA metadata formats along with arbitrary data, such as Microsoft Office documents, images, files, and text formats. A catalog of enterprise information can be built that includes services, service descriptions, employee data, and ongoing projects.
Also, the product can be deployed in several usage scenarios, including being embedded in a Java application that needs to store resources. Also, a REST-style (Representational State Transfer) Web API allows the product to be used remotely from any language including Java, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), C++, and JavaScript.
A Web API in the product is built on Atom and AtomPub protocols enabling a feed reader, such as Google reader, to browse registry contents. An AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) interface is featured as well, allowing the registry to be used as a Web application. The product can be used with its embedded database or use an existing database, such as MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server.
Other features include:
-- A single model of dependency chains, helping organizations understand the implications of changing a service
-- Deployment in any Java servlet container, such as JBoss or Apache Tomcat
-- Configurable security, including the ability to work with existing LDAP or Acegi directories.
-- Resource/collection versioning for browsing previous versions of resources or collections
-- Links to workflow systems or Web applications to integrate with governance and management processes
-- Searchable audit logs and search options, such as the ability to search based on tags
-- A client API to integrate with code that does not use HTTP to obtain configuration or other metadata.
WSO2 Registry is available for download Monday and is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. WSO2 offers service and support options.
Featuring SOA governance and Web 2.0 collaboration capabilities, WSO2 Registry offers a repository for storing information and a registry for locating it. A Web-based interface is included along with Web 2.0 features like tags, ratings, and comments systems. Users can store and manage enterprise metadata in a wiki-style model.
"It's a registry and repository product, so it basically organizes and lets you store in a versioned and REST-compatible way all the [SOA metadata] that happens to be in your enterprise," said Glen Daniels, director of Java platforms at WSO2. Metadata can include service descriptions, XML schemas, and configuration data.
The company follows MuleSource in announcing an open-source registry and repository for SOA. But don't expect open-source registry/repository products to displace commercial products, one analyst said.
"Commercial registry/repository products support significantly more capabilities than the open-source products," said Anne Thomas Manes, vice president and research director at Burton Group. "Organizations that are looking for solutions that can facilitate a comprehensive governance program will find the commercial products to be much more helpful than the open-source ones. The open-source solutions will put a lot of price pressure on the commercial products, though."
"[WSO Registry is] a simple, lightweight registry and repository product," Manes said. "It provides a means to manage SOA artifacts (e.g., WSDLs and schemas) and provides rudimentary lifecycle management of these artifacts."
Web 2.0 capabilities, such as tagging and commenting, helps link communities to SOA, Daniels stressed. This improves communication among team members and across the enterprise, WSO2 said. "We're trying to build middleware that sort of helps out not only with the storing of the technical information but helps out with the fostering of these community connections that actually makes SOA go," he said.
WSO2 views its Web 2.0 capabilities as a differentiator between the rival MuleSouce platform.
WSO2's structured repository supports XML and SOA metadata formats along with arbitrary data, such as Microsoft Office documents, images, files, and text formats. A catalog of enterprise information can be built that includes services, service descriptions, employee data, and ongoing projects.
Also, the product can be deployed in several usage scenarios, including being embedded in a Java application that needs to store resources. Also, a REST-style (Representational State Transfer) Web API allows the product to be used remotely from any language including Java, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), C++, and JavaScript.
A Web API in the product is built on Atom and AtomPub protocols enabling a feed reader, such as Google reader, to browse registry contents. An AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) interface is featured as well, allowing the registry to be used as a Web application. The product can be used with its embedded database or use an existing database, such as MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server.
Other features include:
-- A single model of dependency chains, helping organizations understand the implications of changing a service
-- Deployment in any Java servlet container, such as JBoss or Apache Tomcat
-- Configurable security, including the ability to work with existing LDAP or Acegi directories.
-- Resource/collection versioning for browsing previous versions of resources or collections
-- Links to workflow systems or Web applications to integrate with governance and management processes
-- Searchable audit logs and search options, such as the ability to search based on tags
-- A client API to integrate with code that does not use HTTP to obtain configuration or other metadata.
WSO2 Registry is available for download Monday and is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. WSO2 offers service and support options.
Intel develops processor similar to MacBook Air chip
Intel has shrunk another processor that will be incorporated into new ultrathin laptops, possibly creating competition for the processor it developed for the MacBook Air ultrathin laptop
Laptop vendors Lenovo and Fujitsu will include Intel's low-voltage Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV chip in their upcoming laptops, which are expected to hit the market soon.
Like the Core 2 Duo processor specially developed for Apple's MacBook Air notebook, Intel shrunk the new processor to make it 60 percent smaller than standard-sized processors belonging to Intel's Merom family, according to Connie Brown, an Intel spokeswoman. The chip is manufactured using the 65-nanometer process, like other Merom processors.
Though the shrink size is the same, the SL7100 LV chip consumes less power and operates at a slower speed. It will operate at 1.2GHz, with 4M bytes of cache. It uses 12 watts of power, according to processor details provided by Intel. The Core 2 Duo processor for MacBook Air uses 20 watts of power, while operating at 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz.
The new processor was developed independently of the MacBook Air processor, Brown said. "These [SL7100 LV processors] are similar but not identical to the Apple processor," Brown said. The MacBook Air processor was specially developed to meet Apple's needs and is also available to other PC makers, Brown said.
Lenovo will include the Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV processor in a new notebook, according to specifications published on the Best Buy Web site, which lists specifications of 2G bytes of RAM, a 64G-byte solid-state drive and a 13.3-inch screen. The laptop is the ThinkPad X300, according to posts at numerous tech-enthusiast Web sites.
Declining to comment on the ThinkPad X300 posts, Lenovo spokesman Raymond Gorman said in an e-mail that the company will be "announcing a new ThinkPad by the end of the first quarter that we believe will continue our tradition of innovation and function."
Fujitsu will include the SL7100 LV in its ultraportable LifeBook P8010 laptop, which includes a 12.1-inch screen, a DVD-RW drive, and wireless and wired networking, according to a document filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The laptop is due to ship in the U.S. this month and will be available starting at US$1,699 on Fujitsu's Web site starting Tuesday, according to a company spokeswoman.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs called Intel's development of the Core 2 Duo chip for its MacBook Air an engineering feat during a keynote at the Macworld Conference and Expo in January.
Intel has publicly talked about developing chips with smaller form factors, including at the Intel Developer Forum last year, when it said it would shrink chips by up to 60 percent for its next-generation Montevina mobile platform, which will include the new Penryn processors manufactured using the 45-nm process.
Laptop vendors Lenovo and Fujitsu will include Intel's low-voltage Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV chip in their upcoming laptops, which are expected to hit the market soon.
Like the Core 2 Duo processor specially developed for Apple's MacBook Air notebook, Intel shrunk the new processor to make it 60 percent smaller than standard-sized processors belonging to Intel's Merom family, according to Connie Brown, an Intel spokeswoman. The chip is manufactured using the 65-nanometer process, like other Merom processors.
Though the shrink size is the same, the SL7100 LV chip consumes less power and operates at a slower speed. It will operate at 1.2GHz, with 4M bytes of cache. It uses 12 watts of power, according to processor details provided by Intel. The Core 2 Duo processor for MacBook Air uses 20 watts of power, while operating at 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz.
The new processor was developed independently of the MacBook Air processor, Brown said. "These [SL7100 LV processors] are similar but not identical to the Apple processor," Brown said. The MacBook Air processor was specially developed to meet Apple's needs and is also available to other PC makers, Brown said.
Lenovo will include the Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV processor in a new notebook, according to specifications published on the Best Buy Web site, which lists specifications of 2G bytes of RAM, a 64G-byte solid-state drive and a 13.3-inch screen. The laptop is the ThinkPad X300, according to posts at numerous tech-enthusiast Web sites.
Declining to comment on the ThinkPad X300 posts, Lenovo spokesman Raymond Gorman said in an e-mail that the company will be "announcing a new ThinkPad by the end of the first quarter that we believe will continue our tradition of innovation and function."
Fujitsu will include the SL7100 LV in its ultraportable LifeBook P8010 laptop, which includes a 12.1-inch screen, a DVD-RW drive, and wireless and wired networking, according to a document filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The laptop is due to ship in the U.S. this month and will be available starting at US$1,699 on Fujitsu's Web site starting Tuesday, according to a company spokeswoman.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs called Intel's development of the Core 2 Duo chip for its MacBook Air an engineering feat during a keynote at the Macworld Conference and Expo in January.
Intel has publicly talked about developing chips with smaller form factors, including at the Intel Developer Forum last year, when it said it would shrink chips by up to 60 percent for its next-generation Montevina mobile platform, which will include the new Penryn processors manufactured using the 45-nm process.
'Office 14' to be more Web-friendly, Gates says
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates talked publicly for the first time on Monday about the next big Office release, code-named Office 14, which he said will give users new ways to access their applications online.
Microsoft won't provide the full functionality of Office online, but it will offer limited capabilities to view and edit the data in Office applications. It already does this for its Outlook e-mail client with a product called Outlook Web Access, and it will offer similar capabilities for other applications in Office 14, Gates said in a speech at the Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose, California.
"Outlook Web Access is not the full version of Office, but if you want to go into a kiosk or an Internet cafe and browse and connect, it gives you plenty of functionality," he said. "As we look at all the modules [in Office 14] we have in mind the equivalent of Outlook Web Access," Gates said.
It was the first time Microsoft had confirmed the "Office 14" moniker for the next release, although the Windows enthusiast Web site AeroXperience reported that fact recently, citing an internal Microsoft document. It also reported that a beta of Office 14 would appear this year, with commercial release planned for 2009.
Gates offered no time line Monday and addressed Office 14 only briefly at the end of his speech, which focused on how developers can extend the current version of Office. He was answering a question from a developer in the audience who asked when Microsoft would provide full online access for Office in the same way Google does for its Google Apps service.
"There are lots of ways I can get to your Office data, but nothing compares to Google," the developer said.
Google Apps is used mostly by smaller businesses today, but it is seen as a potential competitor to Office despite having more limited functionality. Microsoft, which makes much of its profits from its Office desktop software, has been criticized for moving too slowly in getting the applications online.
It will take another step in that direction with Office 14, by offering Outlook Web Access equivalents of other Office applications such as Excel. "If you look at spreadsheets, maybe you'll not be able to set up all the data models [online], but you'll be able to read documents, change a few assumptions and try things out," Gates said.
Outlook Web Access is a part of Microsoft's Exchange Server 2007 software, and it was unclear how the other Office 14 applications would be packaged and delivered. Gates did say that SharePoint Server, which is becoming more closely aligned with Office, "will be able to render a greater set of Office documents in an HTML environment."
Microsoft won't provide the full functionality of Office online, but it will offer limited capabilities to view and edit the data in Office applications. It already does this for its Outlook e-mail client with a product called Outlook Web Access, and it will offer similar capabilities for other applications in Office 14, Gates said in a speech at the Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose, California.
"Outlook Web Access is not the full version of Office, but if you want to go into a kiosk or an Internet cafe and browse and connect, it gives you plenty of functionality," he said. "As we look at all the modules [in Office 14] we have in mind the equivalent of Outlook Web Access," Gates said.
It was the first time Microsoft had confirmed the "Office 14" moniker for the next release, although the Windows enthusiast Web site AeroXperience reported that fact recently, citing an internal Microsoft document. It also reported that a beta of Office 14 would appear this year, with commercial release planned for 2009.
Gates offered no time line Monday and addressed Office 14 only briefly at the end of his speech, which focused on how developers can extend the current version of Office. He was answering a question from a developer in the audience who asked when Microsoft would provide full online access for Office in the same way Google does for its Google Apps service.
"There are lots of ways I can get to your Office data, but nothing compares to Google," the developer said.
Google Apps is used mostly by smaller businesses today, but it is seen as a potential competitor to Office despite having more limited functionality. Microsoft, which makes much of its profits from its Office desktop software, has been criticized for moving too slowly in getting the applications online.
It will take another step in that direction with Office 14, by offering Outlook Web Access equivalents of other Office applications such as Excel. "If you look at spreadsheets, maybe you'll not be able to set up all the data models [online], but you'll be able to read documents, change a few assumptions and try things out," Gates said.
Outlook Web Access is a part of Microsoft's Exchange Server 2007 software, and it was unclear how the other Office 14 applications would be packaged and delivered. Gates did say that SharePoint Server, which is becoming more closely aligned with Office, "will be able to render a greater set of Office documents in an HTML environment."
Microsoft updates Office Live Small Business
Microsoft has updated its Office Live Small Business hosted service with new e-commerce and marketing tools to help small businesses sell their products and services online.
The new version of Microsoft's service to help small businesses build a Web presence, unveiled Monday, now includes Store Manager, a tool aimed at helping small businesses build their own e-commerce sites as well as storefronts on eBay.com to sell their products. Store Manager costs US$39.95 per month.
Microsoft also has added a beta version of an e-mail marketing service that allows users to send out regular e-mail newsletters, promotions and updates. The service is free for up to 200 e-mails per month during the beta, the company said.
Other new features to Office Live Small Business include custom domain name and business e-mail that is available free for one year and $14.95 per year after that. Through the service, businesses can privately register their domain names and brand up to 100 business e-mail accounts, each with 5G bytes of storage, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft also has added Web-site customization tools; support for Firefox 2.0 so Mac users can use Office Live Small Business tools and features; and an improved interface and enhanced search ability in Contact Manager, the service's contact-management system, to the updated service.
Office Live Small Business is Microsoft's Web-based service aimed at giving small businesses a Web site as well as providing basic management, worker collaboration, accounting, and CRM (customer relationship management) capabilities. Microsoft defines small businesses as those with 50 employees or fewer. The service originally was called Office Live but Microsoft recently changed the name.
People often mistake Office Live for a Web-based version of Microsoft's Office productivity suite, one of the reasons Microsoft added "Small Business" to the service's name. Eventually, Microsoft does plan to offer features of its Office software online as a service, plans Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates discussed Monday at the Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose, California.
Microsoft said Office Live Small Business currently has nearly 600,000 customers in the countries where it is currently available -- the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan.
More information about Office Live Small Business can be found on the home page for the service.
The new version of Microsoft's service to help small businesses build a Web presence, unveiled Monday, now includes Store Manager, a tool aimed at helping small businesses build their own e-commerce sites as well as storefronts on eBay.com to sell their products. Store Manager costs US$39.95 per month.
Microsoft also has added a beta version of an e-mail marketing service that allows users to send out regular e-mail newsletters, promotions and updates. The service is free for up to 200 e-mails per month during the beta, the company said.
Other new features to Office Live Small Business include custom domain name and business e-mail that is available free for one year and $14.95 per year after that. Through the service, businesses can privately register their domain names and brand up to 100 business e-mail accounts, each with 5G bytes of storage, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft also has added Web-site customization tools; support for Firefox 2.0 so Mac users can use Office Live Small Business tools and features; and an improved interface and enhanced search ability in Contact Manager, the service's contact-management system, to the updated service.
Office Live Small Business is Microsoft's Web-based service aimed at giving small businesses a Web site as well as providing basic management, worker collaboration, accounting, and CRM (customer relationship management) capabilities. Microsoft defines small businesses as those with 50 employees or fewer. The service originally was called Office Live but Microsoft recently changed the name.
People often mistake Office Live for a Web-based version of Microsoft's Office productivity suite, one of the reasons Microsoft added "Small Business" to the service's name. Eventually, Microsoft does plan to offer features of its Office software online as a service, plans Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates discussed Monday at the Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose, California.
Microsoft said Office Live Small Business currently has nearly 600,000 customers in the countries where it is currently available -- the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan.
More information about Office Live Small Business can be found on the home page for the service.
What's behind Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft bid?
Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's acquisition bid is likely a negotiating strategy to elicit a higher offer and shouldn't be seen as an attempt to resist a deal at all costs, according to analysts.
Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo has many options to improve their position in online services and advertising, and combining forces is their best bet against common rival Google, analysts said.
"It's part of a larger negotiation that's occurring. Clearly, Yahoo should be and is seeking a higher bid, and this is part of that process," said Clayton Moran, a financial analyst with Stanford Group.
Yahoo is unlikely to find a company willing to bid as much as Microsoft for it, while Microsoft will not be able to attain its Internet goals by acquiring a company other than Yahoo. "While they need to negotiate and go through the process, at the end of the day this deal will happen," Moran said.
On Monday, Yahoo rejected Microsoft's bid, saying it undervalues the company. Microsoft offered to pay US$31 for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half. At the time of the offer, Microsoft's stock stood at $32.60 and the bid was valued at $44.6 billion, a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's stock price at the time. However, the bid's value has dropped with Microsoft's sliding stock price, which at press time was $28.10. At the same time, Yahoo's stock price has risen from a close of $19.18 on the day before the bid to $29.75 at press time.
Moran predicted that Microsoft will adjust its offer so that it ends up at $35 per share, probably increasing the fixed cash portion and reducing the variable stock portion so that value is less vulnerable to Microsoft stock fluctuations. A $35-per-share offer would be a midpoint between the original bid and the $40 per share Yahoo is reportedly seeking.
"We continue to view a Yahoo sale to Microsoft as the most likely outcome," Citigroup financial analysts wrote in a note published Sunday after press reports over the weekend that Yahoo would reject the Microsoft bid. The rejection isn't surprising, but rather consistent with Yahoo's board job to "extract maximum value" for shareholders, the Citigroup analysts wrote.
Yahoo has reportedly held talks with Google and AOL to explore alternatives to a Microsoft acquisition. One scenario being floated would be for Yahoo to outsource its search advertising business to Google, while another, reported Monday by The Times of London, has Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL discussing a possible merger.
However, neither option would match the potential benefits of an acquisition by Microsoft, Moran said. "A combined Yahoo-AOL wouldn't be particularly strong, and Yahoo's stock wouldn't react favorably to that deal," Moran said. A search partnership with Google would boost Yahoo's revenue but it wouldn't address larger problems within the company, he said.
For Moran, if Yahoo has approached AOL, it has done so probably to send a message to Microsoft that it has other options and that Microsoft has to sweeten its offer. Meanwhile, Google's intervention is probably directed at complicating and lengthening the negotiation process between Microsoft and Yahoo, and thus delaying the formation of a stronger rival, Moran said.
While merging with AOL is unlikely to give Yahoo the boost it needs, such a deal would probably be more palatable to Yahoo's management, because Yahoo would be the strongest party in the fusion, according to industry analyst Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence.
"Yahoo sees its own demise in a Microsoft acquisition. My sense is that Yahoo's management believes that Yahoo's soul wouldn't survive as part of Microsoft," Sterling said.
At this point, the situation is very complicated for both Microsoft and Yahoo. If Yahoo is intent on fending off Microsoft's advances at all costs, Microsoft could opt to walk away empty-handed and face a public embarrassment, or attempt a hostile takeover, which could alienate and scare away Yahoo employees it would want to retain, Sterling said.
At the same time, Yahoo can't simply wave away a generous Microsoft offer if it doesn't have an alternative to it, Sterling said. "There is a great deal at stake for both sides, and it's very complicated," he said.
Microsoft declined to comment about Yahoo's rejection. AOL didn't immediately reply to a request for comment about its reported merger talks with Yahoo.
Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo has many options to improve their position in online services and advertising, and combining forces is their best bet against common rival Google, analysts said.
"It's part of a larger negotiation that's occurring. Clearly, Yahoo should be and is seeking a higher bid, and this is part of that process," said Clayton Moran, a financial analyst with Stanford Group.
Yahoo is unlikely to find a company willing to bid as much as Microsoft for it, while Microsoft will not be able to attain its Internet goals by acquiring a company other than Yahoo. "While they need to negotiate and go through the process, at the end of the day this deal will happen," Moran said.
On Monday, Yahoo rejected Microsoft's bid, saying it undervalues the company. Microsoft offered to pay US$31 for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half. At the time of the offer, Microsoft's stock stood at $32.60 and the bid was valued at $44.6 billion, a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's stock price at the time. However, the bid's value has dropped with Microsoft's sliding stock price, which at press time was $28.10. At the same time, Yahoo's stock price has risen from a close of $19.18 on the day before the bid to $29.75 at press time.
Moran predicted that Microsoft will adjust its offer so that it ends up at $35 per share, probably increasing the fixed cash portion and reducing the variable stock portion so that value is less vulnerable to Microsoft stock fluctuations. A $35-per-share offer would be a midpoint between the original bid and the $40 per share Yahoo is reportedly seeking.
"We continue to view a Yahoo sale to Microsoft as the most likely outcome," Citigroup financial analysts wrote in a note published Sunday after press reports over the weekend that Yahoo would reject the Microsoft bid. The rejection isn't surprising, but rather consistent with Yahoo's board job to "extract maximum value" for shareholders, the Citigroup analysts wrote.
Yahoo has reportedly held talks with Google and AOL to explore alternatives to a Microsoft acquisition. One scenario being floated would be for Yahoo to outsource its search advertising business to Google, while another, reported Monday by The Times of London, has Yahoo and Time Warner's AOL discussing a possible merger.
However, neither option would match the potential benefits of an acquisition by Microsoft, Moran said. "A combined Yahoo-AOL wouldn't be particularly strong, and Yahoo's stock wouldn't react favorably to that deal," Moran said. A search partnership with Google would boost Yahoo's revenue but it wouldn't address larger problems within the company, he said.
For Moran, if Yahoo has approached AOL, it has done so probably to send a message to Microsoft that it has other options and that Microsoft has to sweeten its offer. Meanwhile, Google's intervention is probably directed at complicating and lengthening the negotiation process between Microsoft and Yahoo, and thus delaying the formation of a stronger rival, Moran said.
While merging with AOL is unlikely to give Yahoo the boost it needs, such a deal would probably be more palatable to Yahoo's management, because Yahoo would be the strongest party in the fusion, according to industry analyst Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence.
"Yahoo sees its own demise in a Microsoft acquisition. My sense is that Yahoo's management believes that Yahoo's soul wouldn't survive as part of Microsoft," Sterling said.
At this point, the situation is very complicated for both Microsoft and Yahoo. If Yahoo is intent on fending off Microsoft's advances at all costs, Microsoft could opt to walk away empty-handed and face a public embarrassment, or attempt a hostile takeover, which could alienate and scare away Yahoo employees it would want to retain, Sterling said.
At the same time, Yahoo can't simply wave away a generous Microsoft offer if it doesn't have an alternative to it, Sterling said. "There is a great deal at stake for both sides, and it's very complicated," he said.
Microsoft declined to comment about Yahoo's rejection. AOL didn't immediately reply to a request for comment about its reported merger talks with Yahoo.
Touch-based interfaces infect show with 'iPhoneitis'
Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung have all caught "iPhoneitis," joining in on one of the hottest trends at the Mobile World Congress -- touch-based user interfaces.
All three launched mobile phones at the show in Barcelona, and they all use touch in different ways -- from LG's icons that change function depending on what part of the phone is being used to Sony Ericsson's ability to focus where a user touches while taking a picture.
Sony Ericsson likes to point out that it has supported touch since the birth of the company. But it also gives Apple some credit.
"They are a source of inspiration," said Rikard Skogberg, category manager at Sony Ericsson.
The point is to make mobile phones easier to use and to open the door for more features, such as mobile Internet.
"Sony Ericsson's goal is to make our phones as easy as possible to use, and touch is a big part of that. If people are going to buy more advanced phones, they must be able to use all the features -- and for that to happen they must be intuitive," Skogberg said.
LG's Channel Marketing Manager Heather Seabrooke agrees.
"It's all about usability. With touch you don't need a million different buttons. Instead you can use the same ones for different things," she said.
But not all phone vendors seem to be convinced. Nokia was expected to show a new version of its S60 operating system with an integrated touch-based user interface, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Nokia says it will use touch starting sometime during the second half of this year, but not in a gimmicky way. And there must be a clear migration path for users.
Several analysts are also skeptical.
"We believe that a good user interface must also support buttons to be effective and fast. And we will see a lot more innovation before this market becomes mature," said Leif-Olof Wallin, research vice president at Gartner.
But at the same time he thinks that Nokia's lack of support for touch may hurt its sales in the short term.
"Nokia's new flagship phone, the N96, has an impressive spec but it doesn't support touch. And that makes it a bit handicapped," said Wallin.
Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight, has this warning for users: "We think 2008 will be the year of crap touch phones."
All three launched mobile phones at the show in Barcelona, and they all use touch in different ways -- from LG's icons that change function depending on what part of the phone is being used to Sony Ericsson's ability to focus where a user touches while taking a picture.
Sony Ericsson likes to point out that it has supported touch since the birth of the company. But it also gives Apple some credit.
"They are a source of inspiration," said Rikard Skogberg, category manager at Sony Ericsson.
The point is to make mobile phones easier to use and to open the door for more features, such as mobile Internet.
"Sony Ericsson's goal is to make our phones as easy as possible to use, and touch is a big part of that. If people are going to buy more advanced phones, they must be able to use all the features -- and for that to happen they must be intuitive," Skogberg said.
LG's Channel Marketing Manager Heather Seabrooke agrees.
"It's all about usability. With touch you don't need a million different buttons. Instead you can use the same ones for different things," she said.
But not all phone vendors seem to be convinced. Nokia was expected to show a new version of its S60 operating system with an integrated touch-based user interface, but it was nowhere to be seen.
Nokia says it will use touch starting sometime during the second half of this year, but not in a gimmicky way. And there must be a clear migration path for users.
Several analysts are also skeptical.
"We believe that a good user interface must also support buttons to be effective and fast. And we will see a lot more innovation before this market becomes mature," said Leif-Olof Wallin, research vice president at Gartner.
But at the same time he thinks that Nokia's lack of support for touch may hurt its sales in the short term.
"Nokia's new flagship phone, the N96, has an impressive spec but it doesn't support touch. And that makes it a bit handicapped," said Wallin.
Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight, has this warning for users: "We think 2008 will be the year of crap touch phones."
Android comes to life in Barcelona
Google's Android software platform for mobile phones is coming to life in Barcelona, with a number of chip manufacturers showing it running on prototype or proof-of-concept phones at the Mobile World Congress on Monday.
Freescale, Marvell, NEC Electronics, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments all had Android on show. Most of them expect to see Android phones based on their chips on the market in the second half of this year.
The hardware ranged from bulky development boards with daughter cards sticking out at unlikely angles to more compact devices small enough to slip into your pocket. All were built around chips containing processor cores designed by Arm, a British fabless semiconductor company.
One of the most polished prototypes is on the Texas Instruments stand -- although TI representatives insisted that it's just an example of how a finished product could look, as the company only makes chips, leaving the development of phones to its customers. "We don't do plastic," one said.
TI actually had Android running on two different devices. One was based on its OMAP850, a single-chip device containing an application processor for Android and a baseband processor for controlling the phone's radio interface. The other contained TI's OMAP3430 multimedia application processor, capable of decoding high-definition television signals at a resolution of 720p. It requires a separate baseband processor, and is designed for high-end multimedia phones.
Developing software for a new phone typically takes 14 to 18 months, said Ramesh Iyer, mobile Internet device product manager at TI. "Android cuts that dramatically. It's a disruptor," he said.
Google is shaking the market in other ways, Iyer said. "Android is a single stack. You don't have to go looking for third-party solutions. Suddenly, they have defragmented the whole Linux ecosystem into one building block," he said.
Android is entering an already crowded market for mobile phone software: To see how crowded, you only had to look at the NEC stand, where four prototypes containing its Medity2 processor were packed onto a narrow table. One was running Symbian OS, one Windows Mobile, one Android on top of Wind River Linux -- and the last was running the same Wind River Linux, but with a different application layer based on software from Trolltech and Esmertec.
NEC staff expressed surprise at the level of interest in Android, saying they expected more attention for the completed phones based on the Medity2 at the next table. Manufactured for NTT DoCoMo, those phones contained the version of Linux promoted by the LiMo Foundation.
The two systems are not necessarily in competition, though. With Android's focus on the application layer and Limo's work on the middleware, the underlying services needed to link applications to the Linux kernel, the two can be complementary, NEC staff said.
Marvell took the prize for the most secretive Android demonstrations, refusing to allow photographs and declining even to say on which of its communications processors the software was running. The company showed a compact handset running the Android interface with a bare minimum of applications, and a more complete installation playing video and browsing the Web on a bulky development board. Shrinking that down to a pocket-sized device will not take long, staff said. In fact, they had one ready -- just not loaded with the Android software.
Android's Linux roots are likely to encourage the development of a wave of new handset applications, said Marvell's marketing director Vish Deshmane.
"You will see a lot more software to run on devices from people who want to exploit the commonality with desktop systems. It's going to be a boon for the 3G world because more applications means more data traffic, so operators will be happy," he said.
Over at Freescale Semiconductor, staff showed Google Maps zooming in on the center of Barcelona on a development board built around Freescale's i.MX31 processor. This processor is not intended for mobile phones at all, and is more at home in GPS (Global Positioning System) terminals or media players such as Toshiba's Gigabit and Microsoft's Zune.
Qualcomm's demonstration of its 7201 combined baseband and application processor sparkled, but did not exploit the chip's full potential. The spinning globe of Android's Global Time application turned smoothly even without the assistance of the 3D graphics hardware acceleration, for which the drivers are not yet ready, said Rob Woodford.
Android phones based on the chip will go on sale in the second half of this year, Woodford said -- but U.S. readers should contain their excitement: the Qualcomm display was overshadowed by a card warning that it may be prohibited from shipping the products on show to the U.S. because of a Dec. 31 court injunction obtained by chip rival Broadcom in a patent infringement case.
The Mobile World Congress runs through Thursday at the Fira de Barcelona showground.
Freescale, Marvell, NEC Electronics, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments all had Android on show. Most of them expect to see Android phones based on their chips on the market in the second half of this year.
The hardware ranged from bulky development boards with daughter cards sticking out at unlikely angles to more compact devices small enough to slip into your pocket. All were built around chips containing processor cores designed by Arm, a British fabless semiconductor company.
One of the most polished prototypes is on the Texas Instruments stand -- although TI representatives insisted that it's just an example of how a finished product could look, as the company only makes chips, leaving the development of phones to its customers. "We don't do plastic," one said.
TI actually had Android running on two different devices. One was based on its OMAP850, a single-chip device containing an application processor for Android and a baseband processor for controlling the phone's radio interface. The other contained TI's OMAP3430 multimedia application processor, capable of decoding high-definition television signals at a resolution of 720p. It requires a separate baseband processor, and is designed for high-end multimedia phones.
Developing software for a new phone typically takes 14 to 18 months, said Ramesh Iyer, mobile Internet device product manager at TI. "Android cuts that dramatically. It's a disruptor," he said.
Google is shaking the market in other ways, Iyer said. "Android is a single stack. You don't have to go looking for third-party solutions. Suddenly, they have defragmented the whole Linux ecosystem into one building block," he said.
Android is entering an already crowded market for mobile phone software: To see how crowded, you only had to look at the NEC stand, where four prototypes containing its Medity2 processor were packed onto a narrow table. One was running Symbian OS, one Windows Mobile, one Android on top of Wind River Linux -- and the last was running the same Wind River Linux, but with a different application layer based on software from Trolltech and Esmertec.
NEC staff expressed surprise at the level of interest in Android, saying they expected more attention for the completed phones based on the Medity2 at the next table. Manufactured for NTT DoCoMo, those phones contained the version of Linux promoted by the LiMo Foundation.
The two systems are not necessarily in competition, though. With Android's focus on the application layer and Limo's work on the middleware, the underlying services needed to link applications to the Linux kernel, the two can be complementary, NEC staff said.
Marvell took the prize for the most secretive Android demonstrations, refusing to allow photographs and declining even to say on which of its communications processors the software was running. The company showed a compact handset running the Android interface with a bare minimum of applications, and a more complete installation playing video and browsing the Web on a bulky development board. Shrinking that down to a pocket-sized device will not take long, staff said. In fact, they had one ready -- just not loaded with the Android software.
Android's Linux roots are likely to encourage the development of a wave of new handset applications, said Marvell's marketing director Vish Deshmane.
"You will see a lot more software to run on devices from people who want to exploit the commonality with desktop systems. It's going to be a boon for the 3G world because more applications means more data traffic, so operators will be happy," he said.
Over at Freescale Semiconductor, staff showed Google Maps zooming in on the center of Barcelona on a development board built around Freescale's i.MX31 processor. This processor is not intended for mobile phones at all, and is more at home in GPS (Global Positioning System) terminals or media players such as Toshiba's Gigabit and Microsoft's Zune.
Qualcomm's demonstration of its 7201 combined baseband and application processor sparkled, but did not exploit the chip's full potential. The spinning globe of Android's Global Time application turned smoothly even without the assistance of the 3D graphics hardware acceleration, for which the drivers are not yet ready, said Rob Woodford.
Android phones based on the chip will go on sale in the second half of this year, Woodford said -- but U.S. readers should contain their excitement: the Qualcomm display was overshadowed by a card warning that it may be prohibited from shipping the products on show to the U.S. because of a Dec. 31 court injunction obtained by chip rival Broadcom in a patent infringement case.
The Mobile World Congress runs through Thursday at the Fira de Barcelona showground.
Microsoft buys mobile software company Danger
Continuing its push into the mobile consumer market, Microsoft announced that it plans to acquire Danger, the developer of software and services that run the Sidekick.
Danger's operating system and applications work in tandem with backend servers to offer services such as games, social networking, Internet access, Web e-mail and instant messaging. T-Mobile's Sidekick, manufactured by Sharp, is perhaps the best known Danger device.
Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of the deal or say if it planned to continue to support the Danger mobile operating system, since Microsoft has its own mobile operating system in Windows Mobile.
However, Microsoft indicated that it has plans for Danger's technology beyond mobile phones. In a statement, Microsoft suggested it could combine Danger's services with MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile. In addition, Microsoft said that Danger would join its Entertainment and Devices Division, not specifically the Windows Mobile group, which is in that division.
Danger, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded by Andy Rubin, who later went on to start a company called Android that Google bought. Google's Android is a Linux-based mobile phone operating system.
While Danger has a loyal following, the company hasn't turned a profit. In late 2007, it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to execute a public offering, which may have been an indication that it needed money.
Sidekick fans have a mixed reaction to the news of the Microsoft acquisition. In an online forum, some people wrote that they were excited that Danger would have better financial backing in order to further its research and development. Others said they feared that Microsoft was essentially buying out the competition and would soon discontinue Danger's products and services.
Microsoft has recently indicated that it is trying to attract more consumers to Windows Mobile, which the market views as primarily a business tool. It recently hired a new executive to focus on consumer marketing and the Danger buy could help it acquire consumer customers.
Danger's operating system and applications work in tandem with backend servers to offer services such as games, social networking, Internet access, Web e-mail and instant messaging. T-Mobile's Sidekick, manufactured by Sharp, is perhaps the best known Danger device.
Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of the deal or say if it planned to continue to support the Danger mobile operating system, since Microsoft has its own mobile operating system in Windows Mobile.
However, Microsoft indicated that it has plans for Danger's technology beyond mobile phones. In a statement, Microsoft suggested it could combine Danger's services with MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile. In addition, Microsoft said that Danger would join its Entertainment and Devices Division, not specifically the Windows Mobile group, which is in that division.
Danger, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded by Andy Rubin, who later went on to start a company called Android that Google bought. Google's Android is a Linux-based mobile phone operating system.
While Danger has a loyal following, the company hasn't turned a profit. In late 2007, it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to execute a public offering, which may have been an indication that it needed money.
Sidekick fans have a mixed reaction to the news of the Microsoft acquisition. In an online forum, some people wrote that they were excited that Danger would have better financial backing in order to further its research and development. Others said they feared that Microsoft was essentially buying out the competition and would soon discontinue Danger's products and services.
Microsoft has recently indicated that it is trying to attract more consumers to Windows Mobile, which the market views as primarily a business tool. It recently hired a new executive to focus on consumer marketing and the Danger buy could help it acquire consumer customers.
Forrester slashes global IT outlook
Forrester Research said Monday that it is downgrading its 2008 forecast for IT purchasing in both the U.S. and around the world.
The firm is still predicting increased IT spending, but has dropped its U.S. growth projection to 2.8 percent from 4.6 percent, and its global forecast to 6 percent from 9 percent.
Andrew Bartels, vice president at Forrester, said in a statement that the forecast is based on the assumption a mild recession will hit the U.S. economy in the second or third quarter.
"While it is by no means certain that the U.S. economy will in fact experience a recession, the risks of one are high enough to justify a more conservative outlook for the IT market." The sheer size of the U.S. market is enough to affect spending globally, he added.
Forrester is pegging the global market for IT spending in 2008 at $1.7 trillion, and said IT purchasing grew at 12 percent globally worldwide and 6.2 percent in the U.S. during 2007.
Region to region, the 2008 outlook varies, according to Forrester.
Growth in central and western Europe will stand at 5 percent this year, the company said. That is a substantial drop from 2007's 15 percent growth rate, but Forrester noted that the dollar's weakness against the euro helped drive that performance.
Meanwhile, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa are set for a strong year, according to Forrester. Oil-producing nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia will see 12 percent growth in 2008, just a slight drop from last year.
The Asia-Pacific region will also see strong growth at nine percent, but that figure represents a drop from the 15 percent rate posted in 2007, Forrester said.
Meanwhile, the U.S.'s overall share of global IT spending is still falling, dropping this year to 33 percent, Forrester said. That percentage stood at 40 percent in 2003, according to Forrester. The U.S. still has a healthy stake in software purchasing, however, with a 44 percent share of the worldwide market, the analyst firm said.
The picture is also mixed within various sectors, according to Forrester.
Software buying will grow 8 percent globally, down from 11 percent in 2007.
In contrast, hardware will be especially stunted. The firm predicts investment growth in communications equipment will fall to 3 percent from last year's 12 percent tally; and growth in IT spending on personal computers, servers, storage devices and peripheral markets will drop to 4 percent from 12 percent last year.
IT outsourcing will grow by 9 percent while consulting and integration services will see a slowdown, the firm predicted.
Forrester analyzed financial reports from 46 large IT vendors, as well as data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in preparing the forecasts.
The firm is still predicting increased IT spending, but has dropped its U.S. growth projection to 2.8 percent from 4.6 percent, and its global forecast to 6 percent from 9 percent.
Andrew Bartels, vice president at Forrester, said in a statement that the forecast is based on the assumption a mild recession will hit the U.S. economy in the second or third quarter.
"While it is by no means certain that the U.S. economy will in fact experience a recession, the risks of one are high enough to justify a more conservative outlook for the IT market." The sheer size of the U.S. market is enough to affect spending globally, he added.
Forrester is pegging the global market for IT spending in 2008 at $1.7 trillion, and said IT purchasing grew at 12 percent globally worldwide and 6.2 percent in the U.S. during 2007.
Region to region, the 2008 outlook varies, according to Forrester.
Growth in central and western Europe will stand at 5 percent this year, the company said. That is a substantial drop from 2007's 15 percent growth rate, but Forrester noted that the dollar's weakness against the euro helped drive that performance.
Meanwhile, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa are set for a strong year, according to Forrester. Oil-producing nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia will see 12 percent growth in 2008, just a slight drop from last year.
The Asia-Pacific region will also see strong growth at nine percent, but that figure represents a drop from the 15 percent rate posted in 2007, Forrester said.
Meanwhile, the U.S.'s overall share of global IT spending is still falling, dropping this year to 33 percent, Forrester said. That percentage stood at 40 percent in 2003, according to Forrester. The U.S. still has a healthy stake in software purchasing, however, with a 44 percent share of the worldwide market, the analyst firm said.
The picture is also mixed within various sectors, according to Forrester.
Software buying will grow 8 percent globally, down from 11 percent in 2007.
In contrast, hardware will be especially stunted. The firm predicts investment growth in communications equipment will fall to 3 percent from last year's 12 percent tally; and growth in IT spending on personal computers, servers, storage devices and peripheral markets will drop to 4 percent from 12 percent last year.
IT outsourcing will grow by 9 percent while consulting and integration services will see a slowdown, the firm predicted.
Forrester analyzed financial reports from 46 large IT vendors, as well as data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in preparing the forecasts.
Zeemote wants mobile gamers to let go of their phone
You might think the last thing you'd need to play games on your mobile phone would be a wireless remote control, but Zeemote's JS1 is just that.
The Bluetooth device has four buttons and a thumb-operated analog joystick, and can be held in the left or right hand, leaving the other hand free to hold the phone.
The control measures 95 millimeters x 35 mm x 20 mm, and is less fiddly to operate than the small buttons on phones, said Jim Adams, Zeemote's vice president of sales and business development. Separating the control from the phone also makes it easier to hold the display steady while playing action games, he said at a press event on the eve of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where Zeemote will be showing the device.
This reporter is no gamer, but flying the helicopter in Fishlabs' shoot-em-up game Heli Strike 3D seemed easier with the Zeemote than with the tiny joystick of the Nokia N95 on which the game was running. The instinctive reaction is to point the control at the phone, holding them close together, but the gadget works just as well if you relax and let your arm fall to your side.
Fireworks, a bubble-bursting game developed by Finblade, showed off what Adams sees as a key benefit of the JS1: it makes two-player gaming possible on a single mobile phone. It also showed that whoever is holding the phone has a certain advantage.
Games must be specially coded to work with the Zeemote, Adams said, but the company will offer programmers a software development kit (SDK) at no cost. Zeemote will retain control of the SDK under a royalty-free license that will allow it to ensure that game play meets a certain minimum quality standard, he said.
In addition to Fishlabs and Finblade, Zeemote is working with developers such as Eidos and Sega Mobile, the company said.
Zeemote will sell the device first in Europe, because the high-end handsets it is most likely to be used with are more prevalent here, Adams said.
No price has been set: the company hopes to convince operators or retailers to bundle the controller with games and a new phone. Focus groups have told the company they would expect to pay between US$30 and $50 for such a device, Adams said.
The company plans to put the controller into mass production in May. The three-year-old company is on surer financial footing after landing $7million in new funding from Nauta Capital, Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Egan-Managed Capital.
The Mobile World Congress, at the Fira de Barcelona, runs through Thursday.
The Bluetooth device has four buttons and a thumb-operated analog joystick, and can be held in the left or right hand, leaving the other hand free to hold the phone.
The control measures 95 millimeters x 35 mm x 20 mm, and is less fiddly to operate than the small buttons on phones, said Jim Adams, Zeemote's vice president of sales and business development. Separating the control from the phone also makes it easier to hold the display steady while playing action games, he said at a press event on the eve of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where Zeemote will be showing the device.
This reporter is no gamer, but flying the helicopter in Fishlabs' shoot-em-up game Heli Strike 3D seemed easier with the Zeemote than with the tiny joystick of the Nokia N95 on which the game was running. The instinctive reaction is to point the control at the phone, holding them close together, but the gadget works just as well if you relax and let your arm fall to your side.
Fireworks, a bubble-bursting game developed by Finblade, showed off what Adams sees as a key benefit of the JS1: it makes two-player gaming possible on a single mobile phone. It also showed that whoever is holding the phone has a certain advantage.
Games must be specially coded to work with the Zeemote, Adams said, but the company will offer programmers a software development kit (SDK) at no cost. Zeemote will retain control of the SDK under a royalty-free license that will allow it to ensure that game play meets a certain minimum quality standard, he said.
In addition to Fishlabs and Finblade, Zeemote is working with developers such as Eidos and Sega Mobile, the company said.
Zeemote will sell the device first in Europe, because the high-end handsets it is most likely to be used with are more prevalent here, Adams said.
No price has been set: the company hopes to convince operators or retailers to bundle the controller with games and a new phone. Focus groups have told the company they would expect to pay between US$30 and $50 for such a device, Adams said.
The company plans to put the controller into mass production in May. The three-year-old company is on surer financial footing after landing $7million in new funding from Nauta Capital, Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Egan-Managed Capital.
The Mobile World Congress, at the Fira de Barcelona, runs through Thursday.
Encryption could make you more vulnerable, warn experts
The use of data encryption could make organizations vulnerable to new risks and threats, a panel of security experts warned Monday.
Many organizations are encrypting their stored data to relieve concerns over data theft or loss - for example, U.S. mandatory disclosure laws on data breaches do not apply to encrypted data.
However, experts from IBM Internet Security Systems, Juniper, nCipher and elsewhere said that data encryption also brings new risks, in particular via attacks - deliberate or accidental - on the key management infrastructure.
The change comes particularly with the shift from encrypting data in transit to encrypting stored data - often in response to regulatory demands - said Richard Moulds, nCipher's product strategy EVP.
"Lot of organizations are new to encryption," he added. "Their only exposure to it has been with SSL, but that's just a session. When you shift to data at rest and encrypt your laptop, if you lose the key you trash your data - it's a self-inflicted denial-of-service attack.
"Organizations experienced with encryption are standing back and saying this is potentially a nightmare. It is potentially bringing your business to a grinding halt."
Encryption is also as big an interest for the bad guys as the good guys, warned Anton Grashion, European security strategist for Juniper. "As soon as you let the cat out of the bag, they'll be using it too," he said. "For example, it looks like a great opportunity to start attacking key infrastructures."
"It's a new class of DoS attack," agreed Moulds. "If you can go in and revoke a key and then demand a ransom, it's a fantastic way of attacking a business."
Another risk is that over-zealous use of encryption will damage an organization's ability to legitimately share and use critical business data, noted Joshua Corman, principal security strategist for IBM ISS.
"One fear I have is that we're all going to hide all our information, but companies are information-driven, so we take tactical decision and stifle ability to collaborate," he said.
"Sometimes, the result of implementing security technology is actually a net increase in risk," added Richard Reiner, chief security and technology officer at Telus Security Solutions.
Many organizations are encrypting their stored data to relieve concerns over data theft or loss - for example, U.S. mandatory disclosure laws on data breaches do not apply to encrypted data.
However, experts from IBM Internet Security Systems, Juniper, nCipher and elsewhere said that data encryption also brings new risks, in particular via attacks - deliberate or accidental - on the key management infrastructure.
The change comes particularly with the shift from encrypting data in transit to encrypting stored data - often in response to regulatory demands - said Richard Moulds, nCipher's product strategy EVP.
"Lot of organizations are new to encryption," he added. "Their only exposure to it has been with SSL, but that's just a session. When you shift to data at rest and encrypt your laptop, if you lose the key you trash your data - it's a self-inflicted denial-of-service attack.
"Organizations experienced with encryption are standing back and saying this is potentially a nightmare. It is potentially bringing your business to a grinding halt."
Encryption is also as big an interest for the bad guys as the good guys, warned Anton Grashion, European security strategist for Juniper. "As soon as you let the cat out of the bag, they'll be using it too," he said. "For example, it looks like a great opportunity to start attacking key infrastructures."
"It's a new class of DoS attack," agreed Moulds. "If you can go in and revoke a key and then demand a ransom, it's a fantastic way of attacking a business."
Another risk is that over-zealous use of encryption will damage an organization's ability to legitimately share and use critical business data, noted Joshua Corman, principal security strategist for IBM ISS.
"One fear I have is that we're all going to hide all our information, but companies are information-driven, so we take tactical decision and stifle ability to collaborate," he said.
"Sometimes, the result of implementing security technology is actually a net increase in risk," added Richard Reiner, chief security and technology officer at Telus Security Solutions.
Attacks aimed at Adobe Reader, Acrobat flaws intensify
The flaws disclosed last week in Adobe System's Reader and Acrobat programs have been used to exploit computers since at least January via malicious banner advertisements, security analysts are reporting.
Adobe issued patches last Wednesday for Reader and Acrobat, but the company did not detail the flaws.
Problems with Adobe's software can potentially affect millions of PC users, since the company's software is widely used to read PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Most people regard PDFs as harmless.
"From our standpoint, it appears that this PDF-based attack has been quite successful, affecting many thousands of users throughout the world," wrote Hon Lau on Symantec's Security Response Weblog.
Greg McManus of iDefense Labs, the security arm of VeriSign, reported one of the vulnerabilities to Adobe in October, according to a post by the SANS Institute, a computer security organization.
Since hackers have been apparently using the Adobe flaws since January, it raises the question how they discovered the flaw.
Lau wrote that the "swiftness of the exploit appearing in the wild suggests that leaks had occurred."
However, it appears that the vulnerabilities in Reader and Acrobat were disclosed in a responsible way, Lau wrote.
The flaws in the programs allow a hacker to create a malicious PDF document. If opened by a victim, that document downloads a malicious Trojan that Symantec calls "Zonebac."
Zonebac was first detected in 2006. It shuts off a user's security software as well as downloads other bad software. The latest version also appears to taint search engine results, Lau wrote.
In January, iDefense noticed that the malicious PDF document was being delivered through malicious banner advertisements. Symantec's Lau wrote that it's not immediately clear how the PDF file is delivered, but that the banner ads could be redirecting people to other harmful Web sites with the file. Also, spam messages may be carrying the bad file as an attachment.
Malicious banner ads can be particularly dangerous since the ads can show up on legitimate Web sites. Online advertising companies have struggled to keep these ads off their networks. Sometimes, hackers will approach the networks with what is a legitimate ad and then substitute it for a malicious one. Many of those bad ads have exploited vulnerabilities in Adobe's Flash multimedia technology.
Adobe's Reader and Acrobat are designed to regularly look for updates, but users are advised to upgrade to the patched version, 8.1.2.
Adobe issued patches last Wednesday for Reader and Acrobat, but the company did not detail the flaws.
Problems with Adobe's software can potentially affect millions of PC users, since the company's software is widely used to read PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Most people regard PDFs as harmless.
"From our standpoint, it appears that this PDF-based attack has been quite successful, affecting many thousands of users throughout the world," wrote Hon Lau on Symantec's Security Response Weblog.
Greg McManus of iDefense Labs, the security arm of VeriSign, reported one of the vulnerabilities to Adobe in October, according to a post by the SANS Institute, a computer security organization.
Since hackers have been apparently using the Adobe flaws since January, it raises the question how they discovered the flaw.
Lau wrote that the "swiftness of the exploit appearing in the wild suggests that leaks had occurred."
However, it appears that the vulnerabilities in Reader and Acrobat were disclosed in a responsible way, Lau wrote.
The flaws in the programs allow a hacker to create a malicious PDF document. If opened by a victim, that document downloads a malicious Trojan that Symantec calls "Zonebac."
Zonebac was first detected in 2006. It shuts off a user's security software as well as downloads other bad software. The latest version also appears to taint search engine results, Lau wrote.
In January, iDefense noticed that the malicious PDF document was being delivered through malicious banner advertisements. Symantec's Lau wrote that it's not immediately clear how the PDF file is delivered, but that the banner ads could be redirecting people to other harmful Web sites with the file. Also, spam messages may be carrying the bad file as an attachment.
Malicious banner ads can be particularly dangerous since the ads can show up on legitimate Web sites. Online advertising companies have struggled to keep these ads off their networks. Sometimes, hackers will approach the networks with what is a legitimate ad and then substitute it for a malicious one. Many of those bad ads have exploited vulnerabilities in Adobe's Flash multimedia technology.
Adobe's Reader and Acrobat are designed to regularly look for updates, but users are advised to upgrade to the patched version, 8.1.2.
Sony Ericsson to make Windows Mobile phone
Sony Ericsson will begin selling its first phone using Windows Mobile software this year, Microsoft was due to announce on Sunday, just ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Until now, Sony Ericsson has primarily used the Symbian operating system to power its smart phones. Its Windows Mobile phone will have a touch screen with a slide-out keyboard and a camera, said Brian Arbogast, vice president of mobile services at Microsoft.
While Apple's iPhone has spurred wider interest in touch-screen phones, Sony Ericsson has been selling touch-screen phones for years. It uses the UIQ user interface on its Symbian phones. UIQ competes with Series 60, the user interface Nokia developed to run on its Symbian phones.
Sony Ericsson joins HTC, Motorola, Palm, Samsung and others selling phones that use Windows Mobile.
Microsoft said the Sony Ericsson device should be available to end-users this year, and that examples of it will be on display at the conference in Barcelona. Sony Ericsson was not available to offer more details. It has scheduled a conference call Monday to discuss the announcement.
"We're excited about them bringing their entertainment expertise and experience and brand to a device that has all the benefits of Windows Mobile," Arbogast said.
Sony Ericsson will likely continue to sell Symbian phones in addition to the Windows Mobile handset, a common practice among mobile-phone developers. For example, Motorola sells Windows Mobile, Symbian and Linux phones, while Palm sells Windows Mobile phones as well as handsets that use its own operating system.
Nokia, the number-one handset maker in the world, does not make Windows Mobile phones, but it uses Linux to power handheld computers, in addition to its wide use of Symbian.
The Sony Ericsson phones could help Microsoft further a recent effort to position Windows Mobile phones, which are primarily seen as tools for business users and attractive to consumers. Sony Ericsson makes phones with its Walkman music players and Cybershot cameras, featuring brands that are well-known to consumers.
Rumors circulated late last year that the handset maker had begun manufacturing a Windows Mobile phone that would ship in the second half of this year. At the time, Sony Ericsson would not confirm the plans.
Windows Mobile is in a distant second place behind Symbian in market share among mobile operating systems. In the fourth quarter 2007, Symbian was used in 65 percent of smart phones sold worldwide, according to recent research from Canalys. Microsoft had 12 percent of phones sold, followed by Research In Motion with 11 percent.
The Mobile World Congress, formerly called 3GSM, starts Monday in Barcelona.
Until now, Sony Ericsson has primarily used the Symbian operating system to power its smart phones. Its Windows Mobile phone will have a touch screen with a slide-out keyboard and a camera, said Brian Arbogast, vice president of mobile services at Microsoft.
While Apple's iPhone has spurred wider interest in touch-screen phones, Sony Ericsson has been selling touch-screen phones for years. It uses the UIQ user interface on its Symbian phones. UIQ competes with Series 60, the user interface Nokia developed to run on its Symbian phones.
Sony Ericsson joins HTC, Motorola, Palm, Samsung and others selling phones that use Windows Mobile.
Microsoft said the Sony Ericsson device should be available to end-users this year, and that examples of it will be on display at the conference in Barcelona. Sony Ericsson was not available to offer more details. It has scheduled a conference call Monday to discuss the announcement.
"We're excited about them bringing their entertainment expertise and experience and brand to a device that has all the benefits of Windows Mobile," Arbogast said.
Sony Ericsson will likely continue to sell Symbian phones in addition to the Windows Mobile handset, a common practice among mobile-phone developers. For example, Motorola sells Windows Mobile, Symbian and Linux phones, while Palm sells Windows Mobile phones as well as handsets that use its own operating system.
Nokia, the number-one handset maker in the world, does not make Windows Mobile phones, but it uses Linux to power handheld computers, in addition to its wide use of Symbian.
The Sony Ericsson phones could help Microsoft further a recent effort to position Windows Mobile phones, which are primarily seen as tools for business users and attractive to consumers. Sony Ericsson makes phones with its Walkman music players and Cybershot cameras, featuring brands that are well-known to consumers.
Rumors circulated late last year that the handset maker had begun manufacturing a Windows Mobile phone that would ship in the second half of this year. At the time, Sony Ericsson would not confirm the plans.
Windows Mobile is in a distant second place behind Symbian in market share among mobile operating systems. In the fourth quarter 2007, Symbian was used in 65 percent of smart phones sold worldwide, according to recent research from Canalys. Microsoft had 12 percent of phones sold, followed by Research In Motion with 11 percent.
The Mobile World Congress, formerly called 3GSM, starts Monday in Barcelona.
Razr, others designated LiMo Linux phones
The LiMo Foundation plans to announce 18 phones based on its platform, including some that are already on the market, on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The phones come from LG Electronics, Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung and others. Included among the LiMo phones already used by consumers are Motorola's Razr2 and Motorokr as well as a number of NTT DoCoMo handsets.
"The LiMo platform in Release One uses technology that the founder companies had created from two to three years ago," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation. That means that some existing phones can now be designated as LiMo handsets, even though Release One isn't officially available. LiMo plans to release the first version of its open-source Linux-based operating system platform for mobile phones in March.
Some of the handset makers, including LG, Aplix and Purple Labs, plan to exhibit prototype and reference handsets based on LiMo at the conference. The Purple Labs reference design is a 3G (third-generation) phone designed to cost less than US$100, Gillis said.
LiMo also plans to announce on Monday that it will make a software development kit available in the second half of this year. The SDK will provide Eclipse-based tools so that developers can build software for LiMo handsets. Access, Motorola, Wind River and other LiMo members are developing the SDK.
"We're hoping to empower mobile developers on a broad scale to work with us and to bring their applications and services to consumers in a direct way," said Gillis.
Despite the interest in Linux mobile phones and the variety of groups working on it including LiMo, the LiPS (Linux Phone Standards) Forum and Google's Open Handset Alliance, market momentum has stalled. A recent report from Canalys revealed that total Linux phone shipments in 2007 were essentially flat compared to 2006.
The phones come from LG Electronics, Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung and others. Included among the LiMo phones already used by consumers are Motorola's Razr2 and Motorokr as well as a number of NTT DoCoMo handsets.
"The LiMo platform in Release One uses technology that the founder companies had created from two to three years ago," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of the LiMo Foundation. That means that some existing phones can now be designated as LiMo handsets, even though Release One isn't officially available. LiMo plans to release the first version of its open-source Linux-based operating system platform for mobile phones in March.
Some of the handset makers, including LG, Aplix and Purple Labs, plan to exhibit prototype and reference handsets based on LiMo at the conference. The Purple Labs reference design is a 3G (third-generation) phone designed to cost less than US$100, Gillis said.
LiMo also plans to announce on Monday that it will make a software development kit available in the second half of this year. The SDK will provide Eclipse-based tools so that developers can build software for LiMo handsets. Access, Motorola, Wind River and other LiMo members are developing the SDK.
"We're hoping to empower mobile developers on a broad scale to work with us and to bring their applications and services to consumers in a direct way," said Gillis.
Despite the interest in Linux mobile phones and the variety of groups working on it including LiMo, the LiPS (Linux Phone Standards) Forum and Google's Open Handset Alliance, market momentum has stalled. A recent report from Canalys revealed that total Linux phone shipments in 2007 were essentially flat compared to 2006.
Report: Motorola, Nortel in wireless infrastructure talks
Nortel Networks on Monday declined to comment on a news report that the company is negotiating with Motorola to combine wireless infrastructure units.
"Nortel doesn't comment on rumors and speculation," a Nortel spokesman said.
The two companies are talking as a way to cut costs in a network equipment market that is consolidating and facing stiff competition, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The deal with Nortel would be separate from Motorola's announcement last month that it was considering spinning off its mobile handset business, the Journal reported. Motorola on Jan. 31 announced it was looking at separating the lagging handset division from the rest of its business.
A Motorola spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment Monday.
A combined wireless infrastructure unit would have sales around US$10 billion, the Journal reported. Talks between Motorola and Nortel have been going on for about a month, the news report said, and under one scenario, Nortel would own a majority of the joint venture.
Both companies have faced challenges recently. Motorola last month reported a loss of $49 million for 2007, due largely to declining handset sales.
But fourth-quarter 2007 sales were up in the Home and Networks Mobility group, which makes set-top boxes and wireless infrastructure. The group saw sales rise 11 percent to $2.7 billion from the fourth quarter of 2006.
Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven former Nortel executives with participating in a 2003 accounting fraud by manipulating reserves to manage Nortel's earnings.
Last February, Nortel announced it would lay off 2,900 employees and move another 1,000 jobs to low-cost locations throughout 2007 and 2008.
"Nortel doesn't comment on rumors and speculation," a Nortel spokesman said.
The two companies are talking as a way to cut costs in a network equipment market that is consolidating and facing stiff competition, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The deal with Nortel would be separate from Motorola's announcement last month that it was considering spinning off its mobile handset business, the Journal reported. Motorola on Jan. 31 announced it was looking at separating the lagging handset division from the rest of its business.
A Motorola spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment Monday.
A combined wireless infrastructure unit would have sales around US$10 billion, the Journal reported. Talks between Motorola and Nortel have been going on for about a month, the news report said, and under one scenario, Nortel would own a majority of the joint venture.
Both companies have faced challenges recently. Motorola last month reported a loss of $49 million for 2007, due largely to declining handset sales.
But fourth-quarter 2007 sales were up in the Home and Networks Mobility group, which makes set-top boxes and wireless infrastructure. The group saw sales rise 11 percent to $2.7 billion from the fourth quarter of 2006.
Last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven former Nortel executives with participating in a 2003 accounting fraud by manipulating reserves to manage Nortel's earnings.
Last February, Nortel announced it would lay off 2,900 employees and move another 1,000 jobs to low-cost locations throughout 2007 and 2008.
Dell moves AMD consumer PCs offline to retail
Dell has scaled back the range of consumer PCs with processors from Advanced Micro Devices that it sells on its Web site, focussing almost exclusively on systems with Intel processors.
Dell's entire line of AMD-based laptops for consumers, as well as most of its AMD-based consumer desktops, will now be sold only through Dell's 10,000 retail outlets worldwide, said Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden.
Except for one desktop, the Inspiron 531, which includes the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ processor, Dell will focus its online consumer sales on Intel-based PCs. For businesses, Dell will continue to sell a range of AMD-based systems online.
The decision, made this week, could be a setback for AMD. The Intel rival received a big boost in 2006 when Dell began offering its chips in desktops, laptops and servers.
AMD-based systems tend to be priced lower than Intel-based systems, so it makes sense for Dell to ship AMD products through retail channels, said Dean McCarron, founder and principal at Mercury Research.
"[Dell's decision] is not that surprising given that AMD's primary strength is the consumer retail channel," he said. Price points on PCs tend to be lower in the retail market, and retail buyers are more sensitive to cost than online buyers, McCarron said.
AMD said the move was part of a strategy to offer a wider range of AMD-based PCs through retail channels. "We are always evaluating product offerings and how customers can access them," Camden said.
Not many consumers buy systems based on the processor type, she said, and few distinguish between AMD and Intel processors. Users select PCs based mostly on price and what they will use them for, such as surfing the Web or playing music and videos, she said.
Dell has expanded its in-store offerings over the past six months by signing up more retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Tesco in the U.K. and Bic Camera in Japan.
The retail strategy helped the company expand its lead over Hewlett-Packard as the largest U.S. PC vendor in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to IDC. However, HP remained the world's largest PC dealer, topping Dell, Acer and Lenovo, IDC said.
Hewlett-Packard already offers more AMD-based PCs in retail than online, so Dell's decision isn't a first, McCarron said. Until it won over top-tier PC vendors several years ago, AMD relied on the retail market and white-box vendors for its chip sales.
The effect of Dell's strategy shift on AMD remains to be seen, McCarron said. It is a large and important PC vendor, but it is also a relatively new partner for AMD.
AMD has suffered some setbacks recently, reporting five straight quarterly losses and delaying shipments of some new desktop and server processors. Its market share was 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, down a fraction from the year before, while Intel's market share climbed slightly to 77 percent, according to IDC.
Dell's entire line of AMD-based laptops for consumers, as well as most of its AMD-based consumer desktops, will now be sold only through Dell's 10,000 retail outlets worldwide, said Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden.
Except for one desktop, the Inspiron 531, which includes the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ processor, Dell will focus its online consumer sales on Intel-based PCs. For businesses, Dell will continue to sell a range of AMD-based systems online.
The decision, made this week, could be a setback for AMD. The Intel rival received a big boost in 2006 when Dell began offering its chips in desktops, laptops and servers.
AMD-based systems tend to be priced lower than Intel-based systems, so it makes sense for Dell to ship AMD products through retail channels, said Dean McCarron, founder and principal at Mercury Research.
"[Dell's decision] is not that surprising given that AMD's primary strength is the consumer retail channel," he said. Price points on PCs tend to be lower in the retail market, and retail buyers are more sensitive to cost than online buyers, McCarron said.
AMD said the move was part of a strategy to offer a wider range of AMD-based PCs through retail channels. "We are always evaluating product offerings and how customers can access them," Camden said.
Not many consumers buy systems based on the processor type, she said, and few distinguish between AMD and Intel processors. Users select PCs based mostly on price and what they will use them for, such as surfing the Web or playing music and videos, she said.
Dell has expanded its in-store offerings over the past six months by signing up more retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Tesco in the U.K. and Bic Camera in Japan.
The retail strategy helped the company expand its lead over Hewlett-Packard as the largest U.S. PC vendor in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to IDC. However, HP remained the world's largest PC dealer, topping Dell, Acer and Lenovo, IDC said.
Hewlett-Packard already offers more AMD-based PCs in retail than online, so Dell's decision isn't a first, McCarron said. Until it won over top-tier PC vendors several years ago, AMD relied on the retail market and white-box vendors for its chip sales.
The effect of Dell's strategy shift on AMD remains to be seen, McCarron said. It is a large and important PC vendor, but it is also a relatively new partner for AMD.
AMD has suffered some setbacks recently, reporting five straight quarterly losses and delaying shipments of some new desktop and server processors. Its market share was 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, down a fraction from the year before, while Intel's market share climbed slightly to 77 percent, according to IDC.
Yahoo rejects Microsoft offer
Confirming weekend rumors, Yahoo rejected on Monday Microsoft's US$44.6 billion cash-and-stock offer, saying the unsolicited proposal substantially undervalues the company.
In a statement, Yahoo said that its management team, along with financial and legal advisors, believe the offer doesn't reflect cash flow, earnings potential, or recent investments in its advertising platform.
Further, Yahoo said its board would continue to evaluate other "strategic options."
"We remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders," the statement said.
Microsoft offered $31 per share on Feb. 1, which was a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's closing price the day before, and was thus characterized at the time as the proverbial "can't refuse" type. However, since then, Yahoo's stock has risen in value and was trading just above $29 on Monday morning.
At the same time, Microsoft's stock has fallen since it made the offer, closing at $28.56 on Friday, down from a close of $32.60 on the day prior to the offer. Microsoft offered to pay $31 for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half.
Yahoo's executives were rumored to have been searching for a buyer other than Microsoft. However, no buyer has emerged. Yahoo's latest moves mean that Microsoft may have make a more generous offer, or pursue a hostile takeover.
Microsoft said it believes the acquisition of Yahoo would give it the engineering talent and resources to compete better with Google. While Microsoft and Yahoo have had some success with display advertising, Google's has built a fortune on contextual text ads that appear during a search and on third-party Web sites.
With the offer, Microsoft acknowledged it believes that it and Yahoo can't make a credible run at Google unless they fuse into one organization.
However, skeptics doubt that jointly Microsoft and Yahoo will generate the magic potion that allows them to break Google's stranglehold on the search engine advertising market, the largest segment of the online ad market and the source of Google's riches. Far from making progress, Microsoft and Yahoo have seen their share of search engine queries shrink, as people's preference for Google expands.
If Microsoft acquired Yahoo, it would face the perils and traps of integrating its Internet business with Yahoo, which has 14,000 employees and enough internal problems of its own. The integration process could be long and painful, slowing down both companies while Google speeds further ahead. Eliminating redundancies at the staff, technology and product levels would be a major undertaking.
At the product level, Microsoft and Yahoo have many overlaps in areas like Webmail, instant messaging, advertiser services, portals, content sites, mobile services, online media properties and international properties -- most, if not all, based on different technology platforms that would have to be merged. Then there are the long lists of partnerships and customer engagements that they would have to work through and sync up.
Beyond the inherent challenges in fusing its Internet operations with Yahoo, the bid also prompted swift condemnation from privacy advocates in the U.S., like the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). These organizations argue that a combined Microsoft-Yahoo would have too much power over online journalism, entertainment, advertising and other forms of communications, as well as consumers' data.
Microsoft Monday did not immediately issue a reaction to the Yahoo statement. However, it said when making its offer that it is convinced that the time to make a move is now, when it still sees considerable growth for online advertising on the horizon. Microsoft expects the market for online advertising to almost double in size over the next three years, from $40 billion in 2007 to $80 billion by 2010.
With Yahoo, Microsoft is confident it can supercharge its research-and-development efforts, boost its data center infrastructure and gain a heavy influx of engineering and business talent. Microsoft also see cost reductions at the tune of about $1 billion a year by generating "economies of scale" with a Yahoo fusion.
The merger plan would be drafted jointly by both companies and Microsoft will be aggressive with compensation offers to retain key Yahoo engineers and other staff, Microsoft has said.
While it never characterized the offer as hostile, Yahoo did describe it as unsolicited and didn't embrace it, remaining civil but noncommittal about its options, saying that it would review the offer and make the best decision for the company, its shareholders, customers and employees.
Possibly guessing that Yahoo's management would rather keep the company independent, Google promptly swooped in and blasted the Microsoft proposal, saying it raised "troubling questions" such as whether Microsoft would attempt to replicate its "inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC. Google also reportedly entered into discussions with Yahoo over possible partnerships that would allow Yahoo to justify rejecting the offer.
On Monday, The Times of London reported, citing anonymous sources, that Yahoo is actively discussing possible tie-ups not only with Google but also with AOL and Disney.
To be sure, Microsoft would also be taking on a company that has been trying to regain its business and technology edge for about two years, and that has gone through several rounds of dramatic reorganizations and management shakeups. In other words, Yahoo isn't precisely firing on all cylinders and Microsoft's Internet unit would certainly run the risk of catching that corporate malaise if it's unable to provide Yahoo with a quick cure for it.
Of course, Microsoft's Internet business has been far from a top performer as well, long suffering from lackluster performance, despite heavy investments from Microsoft. Critics also say it is afflicted by an identity crisis caused by the introduction of the Live name, which some feel has diluted the brand power of the MSN online services.
Microsoft believes it is still early days not only in search but in social media, and specifically social networking, areas which it believes are ripe for innovation and disruption.
Although the deal is aimed primarily at jump-starting Microsoft's online ad business, Microsoft has also said it hopes that Yahoo could boost efforts to make Windows and Office more Internet-friendly and bring them into the world of Web-hosted software. Microsoft has often been criticized for how slow it's moved to shed its legacy of desktop software to keep up with the innovations of Web 2.0.
Now, all of this is up in the air and it seems the next move is to come from Microsoft.
In a statement, Yahoo said that its management team, along with financial and legal advisors, believe the offer doesn't reflect cash flow, earnings potential, or recent investments in its advertising platform.
Further, Yahoo said its board would continue to evaluate other "strategic options."
"We remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders," the statement said.
Microsoft offered $31 per share on Feb. 1, which was a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's closing price the day before, and was thus characterized at the time as the proverbial "can't refuse" type. However, since then, Yahoo's stock has risen in value and was trading just above $29 on Monday morning.
At the same time, Microsoft's stock has fallen since it made the offer, closing at $28.56 on Friday, down from a close of $32.60 on the day prior to the offer. Microsoft offered to pay $31 for half of Yahoo's outstanding shares and 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for the other half.
Yahoo's executives were rumored to have been searching for a buyer other than Microsoft. However, no buyer has emerged. Yahoo's latest moves mean that Microsoft may have make a more generous offer, or pursue a hostile takeover.
Microsoft said it believes the acquisition of Yahoo would give it the engineering talent and resources to compete better with Google. While Microsoft and Yahoo have had some success with display advertising, Google's has built a fortune on contextual text ads that appear during a search and on third-party Web sites.
With the offer, Microsoft acknowledged it believes that it and Yahoo can't make a credible run at Google unless they fuse into one organization.
However, skeptics doubt that jointly Microsoft and Yahoo will generate the magic potion that allows them to break Google's stranglehold on the search engine advertising market, the largest segment of the online ad market and the source of Google's riches. Far from making progress, Microsoft and Yahoo have seen their share of search engine queries shrink, as people's preference for Google expands.
If Microsoft acquired Yahoo, it would face the perils and traps of integrating its Internet business with Yahoo, which has 14,000 employees and enough internal problems of its own. The integration process could be long and painful, slowing down both companies while Google speeds further ahead. Eliminating redundancies at the staff, technology and product levels would be a major undertaking.
At the product level, Microsoft and Yahoo have many overlaps in areas like Webmail, instant messaging, advertiser services, portals, content sites, mobile services, online media properties and international properties -- most, if not all, based on different technology platforms that would have to be merged. Then there are the long lists of partnerships and customer engagements that they would have to work through and sync up.
Beyond the inherent challenges in fusing its Internet operations with Yahoo, the bid also prompted swift condemnation from privacy advocates in the U.S., like the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). These organizations argue that a combined Microsoft-Yahoo would have too much power over online journalism, entertainment, advertising and other forms of communications, as well as consumers' data.
Microsoft Monday did not immediately issue a reaction to the Yahoo statement. However, it said when making its offer that it is convinced that the time to make a move is now, when it still sees considerable growth for online advertising on the horizon. Microsoft expects the market for online advertising to almost double in size over the next three years, from $40 billion in 2007 to $80 billion by 2010.
With Yahoo, Microsoft is confident it can supercharge its research-and-development efforts, boost its data center infrastructure and gain a heavy influx of engineering and business talent. Microsoft also see cost reductions at the tune of about $1 billion a year by generating "economies of scale" with a Yahoo fusion.
The merger plan would be drafted jointly by both companies and Microsoft will be aggressive with compensation offers to retain key Yahoo engineers and other staff, Microsoft has said.
While it never characterized the offer as hostile, Yahoo did describe it as unsolicited and didn't embrace it, remaining civil but noncommittal about its options, saying that it would review the offer and make the best decision for the company, its shareholders, customers and employees.
Possibly guessing that Yahoo's management would rather keep the company independent, Google promptly swooped in and blasted the Microsoft proposal, saying it raised "troubling questions" such as whether Microsoft would attempt to replicate its "inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC. Google also reportedly entered into discussions with Yahoo over possible partnerships that would allow Yahoo to justify rejecting the offer.
On Monday, The Times of London reported, citing anonymous sources, that Yahoo is actively discussing possible tie-ups not only with Google but also with AOL and Disney.
To be sure, Microsoft would also be taking on a company that has been trying to regain its business and technology edge for about two years, and that has gone through several rounds of dramatic reorganizations and management shakeups. In other words, Yahoo isn't precisely firing on all cylinders and Microsoft's Internet unit would certainly run the risk of catching that corporate malaise if it's unable to provide Yahoo with a quick cure for it.
Of course, Microsoft's Internet business has been far from a top performer as well, long suffering from lackluster performance, despite heavy investments from Microsoft. Critics also say it is afflicted by an identity crisis caused by the introduction of the Live name, which some feel has diluted the brand power of the MSN online services.
Microsoft believes it is still early days not only in search but in social media, and specifically social networking, areas which it believes are ripe for innovation and disruption.
Although the deal is aimed primarily at jump-starting Microsoft's online ad business, Microsoft has also said it hopes that Yahoo could boost efforts to make Windows and Office more Internet-friendly and bring them into the world of Web-hosted software. Microsoft has often been criticized for how slow it's moved to shed its legacy of desktop software to keep up with the innovations of Web 2.0.
Now, all of this is up in the air and it seems the next move is to come from Microsoft.
Report: Yahoo plans to reject Microsoft's $44.6B buyout bid
Yahoo's board of directors plans to reject Microsoft's unsolicited US$44.6 billion takeover bid, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing as its source "a person familiar with the situation."
According to the report, the source said the Yahoo board has determined that the $31-per-share offer "massively undervalues" the online services company. In addition, Microsoft's buyout bid doesn't take into consideration the business risks that Yahoo would be taking if it entered into an agreement that in the end might not be approved by government regulators, the source told the Journal.
According to the Journal, Yahoo's board intends to send Microsoft a letter on Monday, detailing its position.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the report today. "We are not providing details on the board's review process," she wrote. "Yahoo's board is carefully and thoroughly evaluating the Microsoft proposal in the context of all of the company's strategic alternatives, and will pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders."
Microsoft, which announced its offer for Yahoo on Feb. 1, couldn't be reached for comment today. The offer is a combined cash-and-stock deal; in announcing the bid, Microsoft said Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or Microsoft stock, although it added that the total consideration would be equally split between the two forms of payment.
Yesterday, published reports said that Yahoo's board was meeting to discuss the offer.
Yahoo is still evaluating other options, including a search advertising partnership with Google Inc., according to today's report by the Journal. It also may still be open to a longer negotiation with Microsoft: The Journal said it was told by the source that Yahoo would be unlikely to consider any offers below $40 per share.
If so, that would require Microsoft to raise its original offer by at least 29 percent, or about $13 billion. In other words, the cost for Microsoft to become a more credible rival to Google in the search and online advertising markets could start at about $57.6 billion.
Google has been doing what it can to scuttle the Microsoft takeover bid, including playing the antitrust card by asking, in a blog post by one of its executives last Monday, whether Microsoft might "attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?"
Microsoft quickly shot back, issuing a statement saying that a combination of it and Yahoo merger would "create a more competitive marketplace."
(Eric Lai contributed to this story.)
According to the report, the source said the Yahoo board has determined that the $31-per-share offer "massively undervalues" the online services company. In addition, Microsoft's buyout bid doesn't take into consideration the business risks that Yahoo would be taking if it entered into an agreement that in the end might not be approved by government regulators, the source told the Journal.
According to the Journal, Yahoo's board intends to send Microsoft a letter on Monday, detailing its position.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the report today. "We are not providing details on the board's review process," she wrote. "Yahoo's board is carefully and thoroughly evaluating the Microsoft proposal in the context of all of the company's strategic alternatives, and will pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders."
Microsoft, which announced its offer for Yahoo on Feb. 1, couldn't be reached for comment today. The offer is a combined cash-and-stock deal; in announcing the bid, Microsoft said Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or Microsoft stock, although it added that the total consideration would be equally split between the two forms of payment.
Yesterday, published reports said that Yahoo's board was meeting to discuss the offer.
Yahoo is still evaluating other options, including a search advertising partnership with Google Inc., according to today's report by the Journal. It also may still be open to a longer negotiation with Microsoft: The Journal said it was told by the source that Yahoo would be unlikely to consider any offers below $40 per share.
If so, that would require Microsoft to raise its original offer by at least 29 percent, or about $13 billion. In other words, the cost for Microsoft to become a more credible rival to Google in the search and online advertising markets could start at about $57.6 billion.
Google has been doing what it can to scuttle the Microsoft takeover bid, including playing the antitrust card by asking, in a blog post by one of its executives last Monday, whether Microsoft might "attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?"
Microsoft quickly shot back, issuing a statement saying that a combination of it and Yahoo merger would "create a more competitive marketplace."
(Eric Lai contributed to this story.)
Red Hat, Ubuntu top vendor's usage study
Ubuntu and Red Hat are the most used Linux distributions among the 35,000 members of content-management vendor Alfresco's community, the company found in its second survey of trends in enterprise open-source software usage.
The surveys help inform Alfresco's technology strategy, according to Ian Howells, Alfresco's chief marketing officer. "It's important for us to know which platforms to test against first," he said, adding, "It's in users' interest to give us good data."
Among Linux operating systems, usage of Ubuntu and Red Hat stood at 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, according to the survey. Suse, OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise collectively garnered 13 percent; Debian, 15 percent; and "other" distributions usage of 14 percent.
Users also reported using a variety of proprietary enterprise software.
Among Windows users, Vista adoption was just 2 percent, compared to 63 percent for Windows XP and 28 percent for Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft's Office suite remained strong, however, with 66 percent usage. Twenty-four percent of the respondents reported they used OpenOffice. However, German and French users were twice as likely to use the latter compared to those in the U.S. or U.K., Alfresco said.
Tomcat held a dominant position in the application server category, logging 72 percent. JBoss' entry stood at 18 percent. Entries from Sun, BEA and IBM rounded out the field.
In the virtualization category, VMware perhaps predictably ranked highest, at 61 percent. Microsoft's Virtual Server took 16 percent, followed by Xen, Parallels, Virtual Iron and "other" offerings, according to the study.
MySQL took home the database prize, with a 60 percent tally, followed by Oracle with 14 percent and Microsoft SQL Server with 13 percent.
"It kind of validates that people want to have a mixed stack," Howells said of the overall results.
Alfresco collected data between July and December of last year, with survey participants coming from 260 countries, according to the company. Fifty percent were from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, while 24 percent were in the U.S., and 26 percent from other nations, Alfresco said.
The surveys help inform Alfresco's technology strategy, according to Ian Howells, Alfresco's chief marketing officer. "It's important for us to know which platforms to test against first," he said, adding, "It's in users' interest to give us good data."
Among Linux operating systems, usage of Ubuntu and Red Hat stood at 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, according to the survey. Suse, OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise collectively garnered 13 percent; Debian, 15 percent; and "other" distributions usage of 14 percent.
Users also reported using a variety of proprietary enterprise software.
Among Windows users, Vista adoption was just 2 percent, compared to 63 percent for Windows XP and 28 percent for Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft's Office suite remained strong, however, with 66 percent usage. Twenty-four percent of the respondents reported they used OpenOffice. However, German and French users were twice as likely to use the latter compared to those in the U.S. or U.K., Alfresco said.
Tomcat held a dominant position in the application server category, logging 72 percent. JBoss' entry stood at 18 percent. Entries from Sun, BEA and IBM rounded out the field.
In the virtualization category, VMware perhaps predictably ranked highest, at 61 percent. Microsoft's Virtual Server took 16 percent, followed by Xen, Parallels, Virtual Iron and "other" offerings, according to the study.
MySQL took home the database prize, with a 60 percent tally, followed by Oracle with 14 percent and Microsoft SQL Server with 13 percent.
"It kind of validates that people want to have a mixed stack," Howells said of the overall results.
Alfresco collected data between July and December of last year, with survey participants coming from 260 countries, according to the company. Fifty percent were from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, while 24 percent were in the U.S., and 26 percent from other nations, Alfresco said.
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