News this month
Insurers, Security Experts Wary of Google Apps
Jul 29, 2010
Reporting from the Burton Group Catalyst Conference, NetworkWorld writes that enterprises continue to have security concerns about Google Apps. One major insurer, The Hartford, has rejected issuing cyber risk insurance because of similar concerns.
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Enterprises Budgeting for Windows 7
Jul 28, 2010
According to a Computer Economics study on technology trends, a significant percentage of IT organizations are budgeting to upgrade to Windows 7.
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Microsoft Says Google-Yahoo Japan Alliance is Anticompetitive
Jul 27, 2010
Google announced that it will provide search services for Yahoo Japan, a separate business entity from Yahoo, which owns a minority stake in the company. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said, “This agreement is even more anticompetitive than Google’s deal with Yahoo in the United States and Canada that the Department of Justice found to be illegal.”
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European Commission Opens Investigations of IBM
Jul 26, 2010
The European Commission announced today that it was opening two investigations of IBM to determine if the tech giant was illegally thwarting competition in the mainframe market. The investigations focus on emulation software and service contracts.
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Microsoft Beats Wall Street Expectations
Jul 22, 2010
Microsoft reported quarterly earnings that outpaced the forecasts of Wall Street analysts. In the fourth quarter of its 2010 fiscal year, the company posted a net income of $4.52 billion on revenues of $16.04 billion. The company’s full year income and revenue were $18.76 billion and $62.48 billion, respectively.
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States Proceed with Google Investigation
Jul 21, 2010
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, leading a group of 37 states and the District of Columbia, demanded answers from Google about its collection of private information from Wi-Fi networks. “We will take all appropriate steps -- including potential legal action if warranted -- to obtain complete, comprehensive answers,” said Blumenthal.
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Server Sales Surge
Jul 20, 2010
As part of the rebound in corporate spending, companies are making substantial investments in servers to bolster their online offerings.
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Nokia Siemens Snaps Up Motorola Unit
Jul 19, 2010
Joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks is purchasing Motorola’s network equipment arm for $1.2 billion. The acquisition strengthens Nokia Siemens market position in North America and Japan.
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Chile is First Nation to Enact Net Neutrality Law
Jul 16, 2010
While policymakers in many nations, including the U.S., weigh net neutrality issues, Chile has moved forward and passed a law that prevents ISPs from favoring specific online content or services.
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Public Sector Partners of the Year Announced
Jul 15, 2010
As part of the wrap-up of WPC in Washington, DC, Microsoft highlighted Partners of the Year serving the public sector. “Not only are Microsoft Partners helping public sector organizations realize the enormous benefits of cloud computing, their success is driving economic growth and creating jobs in communities around the country,” said Vince Menzione, general manager of U.S. Public Sector Partner Strategy at Microsoft.
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Federal Health IT Rules Issued
Jul 14, 2010
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) issued final rules establishing requirements for electronic health records. To help health providers comply, incentive payments that could reach more than $27 billion have been allocated as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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Microsoft Offers Partners Cloud Essentials Pack
Jul 13, 2010
At WPC, Microsoft announced new tools and training to help Partners expand their businesses into the cloud. In addition to launching the Microsoft Cloud Essentials Pack, Microsoft is offering Partners free licenses for certain Microsoft cloud services for their own use.
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Azure Appliance and Other Announcements at WPC
Jul 12, 2010
Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference is under way in Washington, DC, with a series of product announcements--including the Windows Azure hardware-software platform appliance and Windows 7 tablets--garnering headlines.
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NTP Files Wireless Patent Suits Against Tech Leaders
Jul 9, 2010
Patent holder NTP, which won a patent settlement against BlackBerry maker RIM, has filed suits against Microsoft, LG, HTC, Google, and Apple. The claim references eight patents used in delivering email over wireless devices.
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Microsoft Releases Lightweight Web Development Tools
Jul 7, 2010
Microsoft has released a free public beta of WebMatrix, a lightweight tools suite for Web development on Windows.
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Pew Study Shows Strong Support for the Internet
Jul 6, 2010
Though a fair amount of hand-wringing occurs when people consider the social impact of the Internet, a new Pew Research Center study finds that a vast majority of Americans see the Internet as a positive force.
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New Office 2010 Certifications Launch
Jul 1, 2010
Microsoft has introduced a new three-level certification program for Office 2010. The program is designed not only for office employees, but also for developers, help desk personnel, and trainers.
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Finland Makes Broadband Access a Right
Jul 1, 2010
Starting on July 1, a new Finnish law requires that telecommunications companies operating in Finland must offer 1Mbps broadband access to all customers.
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News from last month
IDC Study: Windows 7 Dramatically Cuts Support Costs
Jun 30, 2010
An IDC study finds that SMBs upgrading to Windows 7 can cut support costs by 50% or more. The upgrade also improves employee productivity and security, according to IDC’s findings.
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Bilski Patent Ruling Adds Nuance to Intellectual Property Issues
Jun 28, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for advances in testing the legitimacy of patents beyond the so-called “machine-or-transformation” test. The Justices declined to specify additional tests, leaving open the window for future business method or software patent litigation.
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FTC-Twitter Ruling Underscores Privacy Enforcement
Jun 25, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission and Twitter reached a settlement that will strengthen Twitter’s security and privacy practices. “When a company promises consumers that their personal information is secure, it must live up to that promise,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
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Leadership Change in the Microsoft Partner Program
Jun 24, 2010
After 8 years heading the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group, Corporate Vice President Allison Watson will take on a new role at Microsoft, leading the company’s U.S. Business & Marketing Organization. Jon Roskill, a longtime Microsoft executive, will lead the Partner program. Both Roskill and Watson will participate in the Worldwide Partner Conference next month in Washington, DC.
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Microsoft Partners of the Year Announced
Jun 23, 2010
In advance of July’s Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced Partner of the Year Award winners and finalists. “It’s incredible to see the level of expertise our partners continue to exhibit as they create and deliver innovative solutions and services to grow their businesses, meet customer needs and drive down costs,” said Allison Watson, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Group.
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Connecticut AG to Lead Multi-State Investigation of Google
Jun 22, 2010
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will lead a 30-state investigation of Google’s collection of data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks. “Google must come clean, explaining how and why it intercepted and saved private information broadcast over personal and business wireless networks,” said Blumenthal.
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Toshiba Announces Windows 7 Dual-Screen Tablet
Jun 21, 2010
Toshiba announced that it will release an ultramobile, touchscreen PC with two screens that runs Windows 7 called the Libretto W100. The device can used like a traditional notebook, as a single tablet, or as an open book.
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A Divided FCC Moves Forward with Broadband Plan
Jun 17, 2010
On a 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission will move forward with collecting public comments on its plan to regulate broadband under rules originally established for traditional telephone operations.
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Federal Government Sues Oracle on Pricing
Jun 16, 2010
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Oracle, alleging that the enterprise software company overcharged government agencies for its products in violation of government services contracting rules.
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Office 2010 Reaches Consumers
Jun 15, 2010
Today Microsoft made the Office 2010 suite available to consumers worldwide via download, pre-installed in new PCs, and at retailers.
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Microsoft Kinect Takes Center Stage
Jun 14, 2010
At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft officially unveiled Kinect, its revolutionary, controller-free, motion-detection add-on for the Xbox 360 video game console. This device, which tracks players’ movements and gestures, goes on sale on November 4.
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Motorola and RIM Settle Patent Dispute
Jun 11, 2010
Mobile phone manufacturers Motorola and RIM announced the settlement of patent litigation between the two companies. RIM will pay unspecified fees to Motorola and the two companies will now cross-license certain patented technology from each other.
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Industry Group Seeks Consensus on Net Neutrality Issues
Jun 10, 2010
Several leading IT and telecommunications companies, including Verizon, Microsoft, Google, and AT&T, have banded together to form the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). The group will provide technical guidance to policymakers on broadband management and aims to find consensus among often opposed business interests.
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Azure Adds Muscle at TechEd
Jun 9, 2010
Microsoft continues to take steps to help developers move applications to Windows Azure to take advantage of the cloud’s scalability. At TechEd, the company unveiled an update to Azure tools and support for .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010.
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New Study Weighs Open Source Exploit Vulnerabilities
Jun 7, 2010
MIT’s Technology Review synopsizes a paper to be released this week that examines some 400 million software intrusion alerts and finds more frequent and rapid attack of vulnerabilities in open source than closed source software. Other security experts cast doubt on broadly generalizing about development model and security.
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Kentucky Schools Statewide Adopt Microsoft Hosted Mail
Jun 4, 2010
In the largest cloud deployment in the U.S. thus far, the Kentucky Department of Education is making Microsoft Live@edu email and other tools available statewide to 700,000 students, faculty, and staff.
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Senator Proposes Call Center Tax
Jun 2, 2010
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has proposed legislation to impose an excise tax on companies that transfer calls to offshore call centers. The legislation would also require that callers be informed that calls are being transferred and to which country.
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Microsoft and Novell Alliance Offers HPC Solution
Jun 1, 2010
For more than three years, Microsoft and Novell have collaborated to serve customers operating mixed Windows and Linux environments. Now the two companies are offering an interoperable high-performance computing solution.
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Ozzie Speaks
Jun 1, 2010
In a wide-ranging interview with the Los Angeles Times, Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie talks about the future of the PC and emerging privacy issues in the increasingly interconnected world.
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