Five Schools Sign onto Google Apps Program
Google said Thursday that it had signed on another five universities to its Google Apps Education Edition. The free service for schools offers students of the universities e-mail, calendaring, documents and spreadsheet applications. It was already in use in several schools, including Arizona State and Northwestern, as well as several international colleges.
The schools added Thursday include the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Clemson, University of Texas San Antonio, Kennesaw State University, and Arkansas State.
IBM to Implement Sun Solaris on x86-based System x
IBM and Sun Microsystems did indeed announce an agreement for deploying the Solaris operating system on IBM servers, but it wasn't the system we guessed: IBM will deploy Solaris for its Intel x86-based System x and BladeCenter servers.
It's a significant move, as it validates the presence of Sun's operating system among a broad customer base that few can mistake as a "niche." As Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz told reporters today, IBM becomes the first Tier 1 reseller of Solaris products and services for x86 platforms.
Microsoft Actively Lobbying Against Doubleclick Deal
Microsoft is actively getting into the business of lobbying the federal government to reject the Google-DoubleClick merger, government documents indicate.
A Wednesday Associated Press article detailed a lobbying disclosure form that the Redmond company is required to file with Congress. It showed that Microsoft hired Patton Boggs LLP to lobby the government concerning the DoubleClick merger.
Netflix Silently Lowers Monthly Fees
Netflix silently dropped its monthly fee for its three disc out plan on Thursday, sending a e-mail to subscribers. The price will drop by a $1 to $15.99 monthly, a dollar cheaper than a similar plan from Blockbuster. The lower price will take effect with the first statement after today.
The last price decrease by the company was in July, when it lowered it by a dollar to $16.99. This matched a move by Blockbuster the month before. Both sides are locked in a bitter battle for online retail customers, which Blockbuster has showed strength in recent months, adding more customers than its rival.
New Zero-Day Flaw for Yahoo Messenger
McAfee said Wednesday that it was able to confirm an earlier reported zero-day flaw in Yahoo Messenger, which could put users at risk of a code-execution attack.
According to a post on the company's Avert Labs web log, the flaw can be exploited when the victim accepts an invite for a webcam chat. McAfee said that it had informed Yahoo of the issue, which was not available for comment.
Diebold Reorganizes, Renames Its Election Systems Unit
In an attempt to distance itself from a swarm of negative publicity surrounding security integrity problems plaguing its voting machines and servers, Diebold, Inc. announced this morning it is renaming its Election Systems unit to Premier Election Solutions, and restructuring it to give its new board of directors greater independence from the parent company.
While the news from Premier this morning sounded upbeat and hopeful, that message was indeed independent from that of its parent, which glumly announced it had failed to achieve its principal goal of selling the election systems division outright.
Sprint to Spend $5 Billion on WiMax
Sprint reiterated on Thursday its plans to spend $2.5 billion through the end of next year on WiMax, claiming that it will spend an additional $2.5 billion on the technology through 2010.
The company says it has gotten several manufacturers to commit to putting 50 million WIMax devices in consumer's hands through the end of the decade. Sprint had already partnered with Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola on WiMax devices, but this appears to be more extensive.
IBM to Announce Software Agreement with Sun Today
This afternoon Eastern time, a key official with IBM and Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz are scheduled to hold a joint briefing with press and analysts. Although they say the subject matter will be "a software agreement," the fact that IBM is being represented by Bill Zeitler - a senior vice president responsible for a critical company reorganization - gives us our best clue as to what the agreement is probably really about.
As first reported by IT Jungle last month, Zeitler led a reorganization in IBM's business systems units that redistributed its System p and System i series into new marketing units focused more on the customer, not the system. That restructuring was completed just a few days ago, as IT Jungle also reported.
Office 2007 SP1 Now in Limited Beta
Microsoft has released to a select group of testers the first beta release of Office 2007 Service Pack 1. Dubbed a "Technical Preview," those in Microsoft's TAP program will have 30 days to provide feedback to the Redmond company.
Few details are known about the service pack, such as what new features or fixes it includes, and Microsoft is remaining mum on its release plans for both Office 2007 SP1 and Vista SP1. Typically, Office service packs are simply a collection of fixes and rarely bring major changes to Microsoft's flagship productivity suite.
Skype Hit by Major Outage, Downloads Disabled
Skype suffered a major outage early Thursday morning in what is being characterized as a "software issue" related to users logging into the service. Engineers say it will take them 12 to 24 hours to fix the problem, and in the meantime have disabled all downloads of the Skype client.
The company, owned by eBay, has not specified what exactly caused the outage, but Skype has a strong history of reliability. It's possible there was some database corruption related to user logins, which could explain the lengthy time needed to repair the issue.
Closed Beta Test for THQ 'Company of Heroes' Expansion
One of the most critically acclaimed games to have premiered in 2006 is Company of Heroes, designed by Relic and published by powerhouse THQ. The game gives you a bird's eye view of realistic World War II ground combat, as you make command decisions that direct the mission of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. Now, the first expansion pack for Company is undergoing limited beta tests, and now you have the option of leading companies in the British 2nd Army and the German Panzer Elite.
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts uses Relic's outstanding battlefield engine, first in enabling you to substitute the 101st Airborne for the 2nd Army in a critical mission to retake Caen from Axis occupation. But second - in a surprising divergence that reveals the Relic engine was more capable than at first realized - you can lead the Panzer division that successfully repelled the 1st British Airborne division from taking that key bridge in Arnhem, Holland, depicted in the classic film A Bridge Too Far.
IBM Awarded $119.9 Million to Educate Americans About DTV Transition
One of the first government contracts for the nearly $1 billion Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program has been awarded - in a surprise move - to IBM. In conjunction with three of its business partners, the company will receive $119.96 million between now and September 2009 to help educate consumers about the upcoming availability of two $40 coupons per household, good toward the purchase of DTV converter boxes for existing analog VHF/UHF television sets.
IBM said it will also aid in distributing coupons to retail stores for redistribution to customers, as well as in the processing of financial transactions for subsidized equipment. The award was announced earlier today by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and was later confirmed by IBM.
Company Says FCC Blocking Free Broadband
A company that is aiming to bring free broadband to the entire US is being blocked by the Federal Communications Commission, its CEO claimed Wednesday.
M2Z Networks now plans to take the FCC to court over the rejection, apparently claiming the agency has not given the idea a fair study to determine its viability. M2Z's plans call for vacant radio spectrum to be used to provide high-speed Internet service to 95 percent of Americans within 10 years.
Xandros + Microsoft Deal Gives Linux E-mail Server a Second Chance
In the latest stage of a collaboration that's looking more and more like it was planned to work out this way months ago, Microsoft announced today the extent of the intellectual property it's licensing to newly acquired Linux client Xandros. In addition to some systems management protocols, it's getting access to ActiveSync, a crown jewel of Microsoft IP that may come just in time to resuscitate Xandros' newest division.
At the time Xandros was signed on last June, it was only a principal producer of systems management tools for the Linux platform. But since then, it acquired e-mail server provider Scalix. Now, the combined entity will be receiving access to IP that could enable Scalix servers to communicate fully with mobile clients.
Microsoft Licenses Audio Watermarking Tech
Microsoft said Wednesday that it had licensed its audio watermarking technology to Activated Content in an effort to spur the efforts behind embedding trackable "watermarks" in audio files.
The process of watermarking holds many benefits, as it can potentially be used in the fight against piracy. For example, DRM-less files could carry an identifiable code in them. When these files appear on peer-to-peer networks, labels would be able to identify where they are coming from.
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
Regional iGaming Content
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.