8 February 2006 Technology News

last SG · 2006-02-09T09:55:45+00:00

Lost an IPod or Wallet? Look for It Online BOSTON - Maureen Silliman felt her empty pocket and gulped: Her new $300 iPod must have bounced out as she ran t...

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IBM bringing gaming chip to blade servers

IBM introduced its overhauled blade server line on Wednesday, upgrading its core components and touting forthcoming options based on Xeon, PowerPC and Cell chips at the same time.

The revamp begins with a new chassis, BladeCenter H, and a higher-end PowerPC-based server, both due in March. Next-in-line machines will get a new slant from Intel's low-power Xeon and IBM's own unusual Cell processor.

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To grow, Borland to cut off its roots

Once again, it's time for Silicon Valley stalwart Borland Software to reinvent itself.

The company on Tuesday said it intends to purchase testing tool company Segue Software for $100 million in cash and sell its highly regarded but low-margin developer tools business.

Executives said the acquisition and divestment is intended to accelerate an ongoing realignment at the company: rather than sell one-off developer tools to programmers, Borland has been trying to sell large suites of tools to high-level technology executives.

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Earnings alert: DirecTV shows profit

Read the latest in earnings reports and financial news from some of technology's leading players. This page is updated as new reports are filed. Keep checking back for the latest.

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EU Commission denies Microsoft another delay

BRUSSELS--Microsoft lost a bid Wednesday for a second delay in responding to charges it failed to comply with European antitrust remedies, moving it one step closer to a fine of up to 2 million euros ($2.4 million) daily.

An independent European Commission hearing officer also turned down the U.S. software giant's request for access to correspondence involving technical experts, which it wanted for its defense.

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Nuance to buy Dictaphone

Nuance Communications on Wednesday said it agreed to buy Dictaphone, a privately held dictation and speech recognition company, to boost Nuance's presence in health-care transcription services. Nuance said it expects the purchase, which will cost $357 million in cash, will add between $80 million and $85 million in revenue during fiscal 2006, and $180 million to $185 million in fiscal 2007.

The acquisition is expected to reduce net income by 11 cents to 12 cents per share in 2006, and by 2 cents to 5 cents in 2007, the company said. It has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by March 31. Nuance and Dictaphone were represented by Evercore Partners and UBS Investment Bank, respectively.

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Intel invests in Collax

Intel has joined an $8.4 million first-round investment in Collax, a Munich-based company. Collax sells Linux-based server software called the Collax Business Server and integrates it with the systems it runs on. It didn't disclose the size of the investment, but the two earlier investors, Atlas Venture Partners and Wellington Partners, contributed about $6 million.

The funds will go toward Collax's European expansion and a planned entry into the United States in the third quarter, the company said Tuesday. The Collax Business Server includes security features such as firewalls and virus scanning; network infrastructure features such as proxy and Web server software; and communication features such as e-mail and fax software.

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IBM to buy Viacore to boost supply-chain services

IBM said Wednesday it will acquire consulting firm Viacore to strengthen its outsourcing capabilities in the market for supply-chain management services.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Viacore had signed a deal with IBM in 2003 to provide consulting services for business-to-business applications. Viacore is based in Irvine, Calif.

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Funds flow for open-source document company

Alfresco, a start-up whose open-source software is used to manage documents in corporate environments, announced Wednesday that it received $8 million in a second round of venture funding. The Mayfield Fund led the Series B investment round, while Series A investor Accel Partners also contributed again. Mayfield's Robin Vasan will join the Alfresco board as part of the deal.

Afresco was started in 2005 by John Newton, co-founder of ECM provider Documentum, a proprietary document management company acquired by EMC for $1.7 billion in 2003, and John Powell, former chief operating officer of business intelligence firm Business Objects.

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Borland to buy Segue Software

Borland Software said on Wednesday it would buy Segue Software, a maker of software quality and testing systems, in an all-cash deal valued at about $100 million.

Borland said it would pay $8.67 per share and has entered voting agreements with Segue shareholders who own about 21.5 percent of the company. Segue shares closed at $6.92 onTuesday.

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Sun's next goal: A Linux ecosystem

Sun Microsystems' ambitions have grown another size larger.

The server and software company launched its servers based on its own UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" chips in December, a major part of a drive to restore its lost luster and financial strength.

But alongside the hardware launch came a more quiet software push: an attempt to make the Linux and BSD Unix open-source operating systems a serious option for buyers of Sparc-based computers. To promote the technology combination, Sun is trying to coax an accompanying software business into existence.

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Exploit turns up heat for Firefox flaw

Computer code that could be used in cyberattacks on Firefox users has been released, increasing the urgency for people to upgrade to the latest version of the Web browser.

The two pieces of exploit code, posted online earlier this week, take advantage of a security vulnerability in Firefox that Mozilla patched in an update Thursday. In response to the exploit release, the browser maker on Tuesday upgraded the severity rating of the flaw from "moderate" to "critical," its most serious rating.

"This exploit was published after we released the 1.5.0.1 update," said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Mozilla. "Most of our users had already been upgraded by the time this exploit was published."

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Sun issues patches for critical Java flaws

Sun Microsystems issued a patch Tuesday to address seven "highly critical" flaws in its Java Runtime Environment that could allow a malicious attacker to gain remote control over a user's system.

The flaws affect systems running on Windows, Solaris and Linux that are using certain versions of Sun's Java Development Kit 1.5, Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.3 and 1.4, and JRE 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 5.0, or earlier, according to an advisory issued by Secunia, which rated the flaws as "highly critical."

Sun's JRE software, especially version 1.4, is found on a number of computers and allows users to run Java applications, which operate in a "sandbox"--a separate area cordoned off from the rest of the user's system.

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SonicWall buys e-mail protection provider

Security vendor SonicWall has acquired MailFrontier in a $31 million deal that will add e-mail protection to its threat and content management business.

SonicWall, which sells appliances and subscription services to protect corporate networks, such as gateway antivirus scanning, said Wednesday that MailFrontier's e-mail security software and appliances will round out its product line.

"Our channel partners and their customers are adamant that they need asolution that can be integrated into their broader secure network," Matthew Medeiros, SonicWall chief executive, said in a statement.

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When Intel calls, Skype listens

The latest version of Skype's Internet-calling software can host up to 10 users on a conference call, but only if your PC has a dual-core processor from Intel, Skype and Intel announced Wednesday.

Intel's Core Duo and Pentium D processors have been designated the mass conference-calling processor of choice for Skype 2.0, launched last month. The limit will remain at five callers for PCs using single-core chips and Advanced Micro Devices' dual-core Athlon 64 chip, which some tests have shown outperforms Intel's dual-core chip.

Skype's software allows PC users to make free voice calls to other Skype users over the Internet and to call cell phones and landlines for a fee.

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Motorola to launch new mobile-wallet service

Cell phones, which are already threatening digital music players, video-game consoles and digital planners, could also replace credit cards, if Motorola has its way.

Under a new service announced by Motorola on Wednesday, people can use cell phones equipped with a specific chip to pay bills, simply by passing their handsets over scanners at the cash register.

The roots of the new M-Wallet service, which is coming to North America, are in Japan, where companies like Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo began issuing mobile wallets two years ago. Offering such services is another way mobile carriers can boost profits, analysts have predicted. But such services must convince the public to trust wireless technology to safeguard their financial information--and that hasn't been an easy sell.

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Service lets Skype users chat on cell phones

PHOENIX--For the tens of millions of Skype users worldwide, making calls over the Internet is a free or cheap experience that has the AT&Ts and Verizons of the world wondering how they're going to keep up.

But with the exception of Skype's phone that can connect to Wi-Fi networks, the service's members have been tied to their computers and thus to limited locations.

On Tuesday, Eqo Communications, a Vancouver, British Columbia, start-up, launched its mobile Internet phone service, a package that allows Skype users to talk to each other via cell phones.

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Lucent buys Riverstone for $170 million

Lucent Technologies announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $170 million in cash to buy some assets from Riverstone Networks, which makes Ethernet routers. As part of the deal, Riverstone, which has been under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since April 2003, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Lucent plans to use the Riverstone equipment and technology to compliment its broadband, data and optical-networking products, the company said. Lucent has been reselling Riverstone equipment since 2004. All of Riverstone's 400 employees are expected to join Lucent.

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Nortel proposes $2.5 billion shareholder settlement

Nortel Networks said Wednesday that it plans to pay about $2.5 billion in cash and stock to settle two shareholder class action lawsuits, which arose from an accounting scandal under the company's former management.

The proposed settlement calls for Nortel to pay shareholders $575 million in cash and issue 628.7 million shares of its stock worth nearly $1.9 billion, based on Nortel's closing price Monday of $3.02 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shareholders--who filed suit against the company following Nortel's revised guidance in 2001, revised financial results in 2003 and restatements for other prior periods--must accept the terms of the settlement before it takes effect.

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Demo's dizzying product parade

At Demo '06 in Phoenix, companies had better be ready to pitch their products pronto. If something goes wrong, or if they forget their lines, too bad. The next big thing is waiting in the wings.

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Maker of game player short of cash, admirers

Gizmondo, a handheld video game player whose creators hoped to take on the likes of PlayStation Portable from Sony and DS from Nintendo by advertising it as a device that "can do anything," has rapidly become a machine that can do very little.

Last week, just three months after the product's American introductionclick me, a bankruptcy court in London ordered the maker, Tiger Telematics, to liquidate its European operations after a lender failed to make enough operating funds available.

The company also closed its flagship store on Regent Street, where the pop singer Sting entertained customers at the opening last March.

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