Customer demands, Novell the best partner

Nice meeting you!

Microsoft tailors Dynamics CRM for Office and Vista
InfoWorld - Nov 7, 2006
4 to the same price list as its Dynamics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suite. The move will simplify how customers order CRM and other products in the Dynamics line, Microsoft said. Dynamics CRM will still be available through volume licensing channels. The company's Dynamics product group is responsible for a range of back-end business applications, including supply chain and financial applications... That version will be hosted by Microsoft. CRM is offered as a hosted service by its partners and as on-premise software. This week, Microsoft is also adding the Dynamics ERP suite to its Subscription Licensing Model. Dynamics ERP includes the applications Dynamics AX (Axapta), Dynamics GP (Great Plains), Dynamics NAV (Navision) and Dynamics SL (Solomon). Through its partners, Microsoft will let customers either license the applications or subscribe to .
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/07/HNmsdynamicscrm_1.html&source=searchresult

Customer demands, Novell the best partner
CNET News.com - Nov 3, 2006
It is now quite common for a customer to choose Windows to run a CRM or production management system, and choose Linux to run a print server, file server, or a rapidly changing environment. What has changed is that now customers are using virtualization to better utilize their servers, and they now want to run Windows and Linux on the same server. Customers also wanted assurances that they would not be caught in the crossfire of patent infringement lawsuits between the vendors. These customer requests caused Microsoft to look for a Linux partner who would work cooperatively to make interoperability successful, and recognize the IP rights of both companies. Novell has a long history as a commercial software company and has significant ownership and patents in the Unix and Linux space... What has changed is that now customers are using virtualization to better utilize their servers, and they now want to run Windows and Linux on the same server. Customers also wanted assurances that they would not be caught in the crossfire of patent infringement lawsuits between the vendors. These customer requests caused Microsoft to look for a Linux partner who would work cooperatively to make interoperability successful, and recognize the IP rights of both companies. Novell has a long history as a commercial software company and has significant ownership and patents in the Unix and Linux space. Novell was a great fit for Microsoft, and vice versa. I wrote a blog about more of the details here.
http://news.com.com/5208-1016_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=22583&messageID=199404&start=-1

Showtime for the Xbox 360
BusinessWeek - Nov 7, 2006
But to Microsoft (MSFT), it's always been seen as that—and a whole lot more. Microsoft wants the machine to be the digital entertainment hub in your home; a way for customers to consume all.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061107_374903.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Microsoft Plays a New Zune
BusinessWeek - Nov 8, 2006
That might not be enough. Zune’s large display and wireless capability.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2006/tc20061108_782680.htm?sub=techmaven

PeopleSoft co-founder launches his ERP Workday
InfoWorld - Nov 6, 2006
At the same time, the company will "deepen and broaden" its HCM offering, Duffield said. Workday also announced four key partnerships, and the most significant is with Microsoft Corp. The software giant to date has limited presence in the on-demand applications market, with the focus on hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, not ERP. Workday and Microsoft are hoping to provide integration between Workday software and Microsoft's Outlook, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server products some time next year. Turning to the other partnerships, systems integrator Accenture Ltd. is building a practice around Workday technology. Payroll specialist Automatic Data Processing Inc... Workday also announced four key partnerships, and the most significant is with Microsoft Corp. The software giant to date has limited presence in the on-demand applications market, with the focus on hosted CRM (customer relationship management) software, not ERP. Workday and Microsoft are hoping to provide integration between Workday software and Microsoft's Outlook, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server products some time next year. Turning to the other partnerships, systems integrator Accenture Ltd. is building a practice around Workday technology. Payroll specialist Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) is integrating its PayForce product with Workday's offerings.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/06/HNerpworkday_1.html&source=searchresult

Q&A: Salesforce.com to be on-demand computing platform
InfoWorld - Nov 2, 2006
IDGNS: Talking about Salesforce. com being a platform begs the question: Will you ever stop selling CRM software?Benioff: We're in two businesses today. We're the leading independent CRM vendor and also the leading on-demand platform. We'll always be in CRM. Our largest user Cisco has 7,500 users on Salesforce. Before they had Siebel. Merrill Lynch has more than 5,000 Salesforce users... IDGNS: What do you think Oracle will do about on-demand applications?Benioff: Oracle's got to be there. They aren't there and they're doing a terrible job. Microsoft is in the same spot, they've got nothing. Lots of companies would like to do on-demand, but they've not figured out how to crack the code. With our AppExchange Incubator, we're giving companies physical space in San Mateo, California at the former Siebel headquarters. It's US$20,000 per cube per year. We're looking to offer incubators in Singapore, Bangalore, London and Tokyo.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/11/02/HNsfplatform_1.html

Have a nice day!

Hitting on a Point, but not quite

How do you do!

Office Live Goes Live on November 15
PC World - Oct 31, 2006
The service also will be available in beta versions in France, Germany, Japan and the UK on November 15. New Online Ad Service Microsoft will also introduce a beta of a new service at that time, Office Live adManager, which lets users purchase online advertising for Microsoft's MSN. And in the next six months, the company also plans to add the ability to let users purchase ads for search engines from Google, Yahoo, Ask... But on its most recent quarterly earnings call last week, Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said the company was seeing progress in this area, though he was not clear on exactly what metrics the company is using to track that progress. Office Live Details Office Live will be available in three versions: Office Live Basics, which is a stripped-down, free version; Office Live Essentials, which costs $20 per month and can support up to 10 users; and Office Live Premium, which costs $40 per month and can support up to 20 users. All three versions will include adManager, as well as another new service called Office Live Business Contact Manager, a CRM service, Cetinok said. Another change to the full version of Office Live will be a simplified Web-site design tool, Cetinok said. The new tool made it easier for users to bring custom HTML to their Web sites, something beta users requested, he said. More than 160,000 businesses have tested Office Live so far.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127715-page,1-c,enterprisetechnology/article.html

Hitting on a Point, but not quite
CNET News.com - Oct 26, 2006
Microsoft just might have enough bright minds in all their offices combined to pump out a seriously good operating system. If you have 1 good mind in charge of parts of IE security but 10 other guys working on the part, your weakest link is going to hurt you. This seems to be across the board for Microsoft IMO. Looking at your comment about using the right tools in Firefox for the right job, Microsoft should take that advice and realize that people who do use Windows are often using it for it's ease of use... Microsoft just might have enough bright minds in all their offices combined to pump out a seriously good operating system. If you have 1 good mind in charge of parts of IE security but 10 other guys working on the part, your weakest link is going to hurt you. This seems to be across the board for Microsoft IMO. Looking at your comment about using the right tools in Firefox for the right job, Microsoft should take that advice and realize that people who do use Windows are often using it for it's ease of use. (For those using Windows, it's somewhat of a dumb reason, but some people pick their cars based only on looks too.
http://news.com.com/5208-1002-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=22308&messageID=197105&start=-167

Cisco teams up with Microsoft on CRM
VNUNet.com - Nov 1, 2006
0 customer relationship management product on theformer’s Unified Communications software for IP-based environments. Aimed at UK small and medium-sized companies or branch offices, the effortwill link Microsoft’s software to Cisco’s Unified CallManager infrastructure viathe free CRM Communications Connector computer-telephony integration software tooffer basic services such as in-bound screen pop-ups with caller details, callerservice history and click-to-dial capabilities. The service will also offerintegration with Cisco’s 7960 and 7970 IP screen-phones. “We’re aiming this at companies rather than call-centres and we think thesweet spot is companies with about 50 users,” said Steve Frost, Cisco UnifiedCommunications marketing manager.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/news/2167712/cisco-teams-microsoft-crm

Gaming for the Broadband Era
BusinessWeek - Oct 26, 2006
So the challenges in this next generation of gaming are not only about dealing with the scalability issues and process tools through it, but also how do you deploy these games online. We have architected from a system level a modular system that allows you to go from the day you start production to prototyping to the day you deploy. … It’s hosting, e-commerce, CRM [customer relationship management], the whole ball of wax. ”Selzer added, “The way we’re looking at it is we’re probably the only company out there external to say Microsoft or Sony that is looking at the direction of the industry and creating solutions starting at a systems architecture basis. ”A beautiful friendship?Buttler and Selzer are clearly ambitious executives and it remains to be seen whether or not their plans will take with consumers. If Trion’s games coupled with Emergent’s tools can deliver an online experience that gamers crave, we could see truly “dynamic online content” and “large-scale” TV programming-like experiences in online games. For now, though, both Trion and Emergent share a common vision... We have architected from a system level a modular system that allows you to go from the day you start production to prototyping to the day you deploy. … It’s hosting, e-commerce, CRM [customer relationship management], the whole ball of wax. ”Selzer added, “The way we’re looking at it is we’re probably the only company out there external to say Microsoft or Sony that is looking at the direction of the industry and creating solutions starting at a systems architecture basis. ”A beautiful friendship?Buttler and Selzer are clearly ambitious executives and it remains to be seen whether or not their plans will take with consumers. If Trion’s games coupled with Emergent’s tools can deliver an online experience that gamers crave, we could see truly “dynamic online content” and “large-scale” TV programming-like experiences in online games. For now, though, both Trion and Emergent share a common vision. "Our visions are so closely aligned that we are attempting to make our roadmaps and product roll outs tie together, and to the extent they do we will be working together.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2006/id20061026_124883_page_2.htm

Salesforce prepares to build platform
VNUNet.com - Oct 30, 2006
This could be the biggest platform play by a business software company sinceMicrosoft corralled thousands of independent software vendors through Windows3. 0 and associated developer tools. In an updated version of what Microsoft didwith Visual Basic and other tools, Salesforce is making the Apex tools that itsdevelopers use available to end-user organisations to create so-calledmulti-tenancy online applications that run on shared datacentre infrastructure. Salesforce's approach dovetails with AppExchange so that applications createdthrough Apex tools can be made available for third-parties to try out andpurchase. The company is also providing facilities for startup ventures that commit toits platform. Customers will gain access to computing infrastructure and getsales, marketing and other help from Salesforce for about $20,000 per cubicleper year. Salesforce has acquired an office complex in San Mateo, California that wasformerly the home of Siebel Systems, the leader in traditional client-servercustomer relationship management (CRM) software... "However, client-server systems built up over the past 15 years are unlikelyto go away anytime soon, and Salesforce and others in the sector will need todemonstrate scale to continue their progress. Muj Harris, a marketing adviser for Shell Energy Europe, said the prospect ofSalesforce being acquired by a larger firm remained "one area of concern in thisworld of consolidation". Harris also noted that Salesforce's focus on CRM and salesforce automation,leaving most other applications to partners, could be another weakness becauseit made it easier for buyers to focus on suppliers with bigger estates. Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/analysis/2167545/salesforce-prepares-build

Software needs help to be born again
VNUNet.com - Oct 26, 2006
Until recently I would have thought this quixotic but by opening up the Apexdevelopment platform that underlies its core code, Salesforce declared itsserious intent. Nevertheless, Salesforce’s biggest challenges lie ahead. Salesforce’s smart, pluralist answer is to create a platform forcomplementary capabilities through Apex and the AppExchange marketplace forprograms. AppExchange is growing nicely but many of today’s transactions arefreebies, Salesforce-built, or add useful but not critical functionality. Itremains infant compared with the proven and adhesive – albeit pricey andsometimes clunky – apps on offer from giants. Second, Salesforce remains a minnow that is only beginning to compete inmarkets such as government, manufacturing and energy.
http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/comment/2167288/software-needs-help-born-again

Have a nice day!

S&P Cuts Microsoft to Hold

Hello!

SAVVIS gives CRM startups Google-style resources - Oct. 17, 2006
CNNMoney.com - Oct 17, 2006
-- to handle the massive number of servers needed to help the software company move more of its product line to the Web. (These centers, sometimes called "server farms" because of the rows and rows of computers housed therein, require factory-grade electrical switches and cooling systems, and can cost tens of millions of dollars to build. )What Google and Microsoft are doing to move applications from the desktop to the 'Net is just the start. In fact, the Internet is making it surprisingly easy for a bunch of new software companies to distribute their products -- and easily upgrade their applications -- without having to spend huge sums. How? By leasing space in data centers especially built to house the servers and other gear of companies that can't build their own Googleplexes. The big timeThis week, Entellium, a small, privately held maker of so-called CRM (customer relationship management) software is expected to announce a wide-ranging alliance with data center operator... In fact, the Internet is making it surprisingly easy for a bunch of new software companies to distribute their products -- and easily upgrade their applications -- without having to spend huge sums. How? By leasing space in data centers especially built to house the servers and other gear of companies that can't build their own Googleplexes. The big timeThis week, Entellium, a small, privately held maker of so-called CRM (customer relationship management) software is expected to announce a wide-ranging alliance with data center operator.
http://money.cnn.com/rssclick/2006/10/17/technology/pluggedin_mehta_savvis.fortune/index.htm?section=money_technology

S&P Cuts Microsoft to Hold
BusinessWeek - Oct 13, 2006
Plus opinions on Centex, American Tower, and La-Z Boy. Delivery of worldwide availability for volume license business customers.
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2006/pi20061013_883598.htm

Office Live to complement Office 2007 in SMBs
InfoWorld - Oct 13, 2006
However, collaboration features available in the Enterprise edition and some other versions of Office 2007 will not be offered in the Small Business version of Office 2007, Capossela said this week in Bangalore, India. Small businesses want the collaboration features that are available in the enterprise edition of Office 2007, but they don't want to have to install and run the servers for it, Capossela said. Instead Microsoft is developing Office Live services that complement the Office desktop for small business users. Office Live will for example host some of the capabilities of Microsoft's Office SharePoint collaboration server, that will enable small businesses to share documents with business associates, Capossela said. Office SharePoint Server 2007 helps organizations gain better control and insight over their content, streamline their business processes, and access and share information, according to Microsoft. The current focus of Office Live is on small businesses, the segment that is likely to find these services more valuable, but Microsoft is also adding Office Live services that will help students and home users share information with others, Capossela said. Microsoft will package Office 2007 with different features for different categories of users... It has announced on its Web site eight versions of Office 2007, including Office Small Business, Office Home & Student, and Office Enterprise. The small business version of the product has a contact management system that is not available on the enterprise or home versions. Small businesses are not likely to buy a separate, stand-alone CRM (customer relationship management) system, but they want contact management capabilities, Capossela said. "The contacts module in Outlook has been beefed up, and it is almost like a CRM lite," he added. There are some other business capabilities in the enterprise version of Office 2007 that will not be available in a version for students and home users, he said. Home users will not, for example, be able to digitally protect documents they send to others. Now will they be able to use workflow tools to automatically route a document to other people for approval or comments.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/13/HNofficeliveinsmbs_1.html

Long: Oracle; Short: Salesforce.com
Forbes - Oct 20, 2006
We believe that Oracle is well positioned to benefit from increased corporate spending on new technology. In the past two years, the company has been on an acquisition spree, acquiring PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and 20-plus other companies to boost its presence in the market for application software used to help automate and manage business processes. Oracle's diverse suite of products, combined with its database management software, will surely enable the company to gain greater ground and compete directly with Microsoft (nasdaq:... While we do not doubt its near-term potential, we do not believe that the company can maintain this kind growth rate for long, as competitors and increased pricing pressure bear down on its growth and bottom line. Disclaimer: Maltbie's firm is currently long ORCL and short CRM. Robert Maltbie is a principal of California-based Millennium Asset Management. More On This TopicCompanies:.
http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2006/10/20/maltbies-mix-oracle-salesforce-oped-cx_rm_1020maltbie.html?partner=netscapetix

Intelligence quotient
VNUNet.com - Oct 12, 2006
But thefirst is how the term is regarded by most organisations, and until recently muchof the vendor community. Collectively we have bounded our understanding and expectations of BI, and ifwe wish our businesses to become more productive and competitive, with BItechnologies as supporting tools, that has to change. At its most basic, within this bounded view, BI is considered to be theanalysis of operational data extracted from transactional systems such asenterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM),and reported through numerical or graphical analysis. The tools from specialists such as... informationbuilders. With the launch of its Office 2007 products. Open source BI tools such as those from Pentaho and JReport are establishingthemselves as credible, lower-cost alternatives to products from the mainstreamvendors, offering organisations much of the standard functionality out of thebox without large deployment and training overheads. Consequently these attract attention from smaller firms.
http://www.vnunet.com/computing/analysis/2166240/intelligence-quotient

PlayStation 3's Tough Transition Game
BusinessWeek - Oct 17, 2006
But serious rivals await, from Nintendo and Microsoft—and other platforms. The PlayStation 2 was a game machine that could play DVD movies and would eventually be able to offer online gaming,.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2006/gb20061017_210482.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_insight

Sybase: All Mobile, All the Time
Motley Fool - Oct 23, 2006
Besides providing mobile messaging technology (such as through SMS or instant messages), Mobile 365 has more than 700 carrier relationships. In addition, Mobile 365's technology is delivered as a hosted application. This is becoming much more popular in enterprise markets, as seen with the success of Salesforce.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/10/23/sybase-all-mobile-all-the-time.aspx

Take care.

Salesforce ups developer tools

How's things?

On the Record: Marc Benioff
San Francisco Chronicle - Oct 8, 2006
" That's a big change from the model we're talking about. They are preparing to release their most anticipated piece of software ever next year, called Vista. What they just said was all the Microsoft CRM customers are going to have to upgrade and change all their software if they want to run with Vista. Well, that is just a game that I think all of us are tired of playing. Every time Microsoft upgrades one thing, you have to change everything else, and you have to pay for the update fee. That's not how it is with Google. That's not how it is with Yahoo.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/08/BUG2QLICVV1.DTL

Salesforce ups developer tools
Register - Oct 9, 2006
Early next year the company will make developer tools and code available. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff will detail the announcement later today at the firm's user conference... CRM rival NetSuite is offering defecting Salesforce customers a discount for switching to its product. ® Track this type of story as a. Related storiesSalesforce. com targets Wall Street with wealth creation plan (27 February 2007).
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/09/salesforce_dev_tools/

Salesforce.com CEO: Customization is king
CNET News.com - Oct 9, 2006
Hosted CRM competitors include. Apex is in a closed beta test now and will enter open beta in the first quarter of 2007, Benioff said. The production version will be available in the second quarter. The service will run on hundreds of Dell servers, Chairman Michael Dell said in a video appearance. The systems are Intel processor-based models, the PowerEdge 1850 and 1950, according to a presentation by Parker Harris, Salesforce.
http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-6124153.html

Salesforce.com CEO: Customization is king
USA Today - Oct 10, 2006
com offers an online version of customer relationship management (CRM) software, which tracks details such as customers' purchasing history, sales force quotas, or supervisors' approvals of discounted product prices. Hosted CRM competitors include NetSuite and RightNow Technologies, while traditional software companies including Oracle, SAP and Microsoft also are in the market. Apex is in a closed beta test now and will enter open beta in the first quarter of 2007, Benioff said. The production version will be available in the second quarter. The service will run on hundreds of Dell servers, Chairman Michael Dell said in a video appearance. The systems are Intel processor-based models, the PowerEdge 1950 and 2950, according to a presentation by Parker Harris, Salesforce.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2006-10-10-apex_x.htm?csp=34

EMC, Microsoft sing Duet
InfoWorld - Oct 9, 2006
"This is the culmination of a vision we've been working on for a number of years," Bernard said. "It's about unifying the front end with the back end that the casual user needs to interact with in ECM, ERP, and CRM. "And EMC and SAP won't be the only vendors to get hooks into Office, Bernard said. "Overall, we are seeing all of the major ECM vendors actively building tight links into desktop tools like Outlook and partnering aggressively with Microsoft," said Melissa Webster, program director, content and digital media technologies at IDC. Vendors of all stripes are beginning to collaborate to make it much easier for users to have full, unimpeded access to enterprise applications from their familiar desktop productivity software, she said.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/09/41NNecmduet_1.html

Enterprise Content Management Systems
VNUNet.com - Oct 5, 2006
“This trend will accelerate with both Microsoft and. ” Needless to say,OpenText is working with those two named players on development projects... ”As Oracle sees it, there is a significant shift underway in how ECMapplications are perceived. Organisations have realised that content no longerneeds to be merely stored: it needs to be proactively managed and shared toenable companies to drive efficiency. “Many organisations are trying to drive increased process efficiencies byintegrating their knowledge workers with their process workers, whompredominantly use customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) and human resource management systems (HRMS) administrativeapplications,” says Elsham. Pete Atkinson, MD for European operations at Percussion, agrees there isgrowing realisation that CM is more than merely consolidation of infrastructure. “For the first time since the web bubble burst, business units are again incharge of budgets and purchases of CM solutions,” he says. “They desireapplications that let them utilise content more effectively to achieve theirline-of-business objectives. ”So, while traditional ECM vendors have been grappling with developing anaccommodation with the big infrastructure suppliers, mainly for scalabilityreasons, there has also been a seismic shift in consciousness about how theirapplications are marketed within enterprise business units.
http://www.vnunet.com/information-world-review/features/2165805/enterprise-content-management

SOA finds its VoIP | InfoWorld | Test Center | October 09, 2006 | By...
InfoWorld - Oct 9, 2006
But PBX vendors Siemens and Avaya, as well as data upstarts BlueNote Networks and Ubiquity Software, are laying the groundwork today. Back-office service and application providers such as Salesforce. com and SAP are also jumping on the bandwagon, communications-enabling CRM and ERP applications, along with enterprise integrators such as IBM Global Services and Accenture. SOA-enabled unified communications are not just another form of CTI (computer-telephony integration), more of the click-to-call and customer screen pops you’ve seen in the call center for years. Applications will no longer have to access these functions directly through the specialized CTI protocols, such as TAPI, JTAPI, and CSTA, of yore. Business developers will no longer need to learn the intricacies of SIP... Siemens has worked with Salesforce. com and Siebel to integrate its unified communications Web services with CRM applications, and it is working with IBM and SAP to embed its communications software components into IBM’s WebSphere Everyplace Service Delivery platform as well as SAP’s NetWeaver. OpenScape runs on top of Microsoft Live Communications Server, which federates with other LCS servers and public IM service providers to share presence information. BlueNote’s SessionSuite line provides a number of distributable software-based telephony services that, rather than using its own separate PBX provisioning and management system, run on typical datacenter servers and integrate with Microsoft’s Active Directory and Radius. “Our business model is not about PBXes and $200 desktop phones,” says BlueNote’s Bament. “We don’t provide reworked CTI APIs. We’re a software solution.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/infoworld/article/06/10/09/41FEsoavoip_2.html

Google's Video-Search Challenge
BusinessWeek - Oct 10, 2006
"Some of Google's competitors in video search are very close to that future, if not already there. And many are sharing their technology with Google's biggest rivals. Microsoft (MSFT) has struck a deal to use Blinkx video-search technology. Similarly, search engine Lycos is also using Blinkx to find videos on its user-generated video site. PodZinger has agreements with leading video blog Rocketboom and other video sites. There are also YouTube competitors that have been steadily improving their video-search capabilities (see BusinessWeek.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2006/tc20061010_914750.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Bye.

The shift toward hardware independence | Tech News on ZDNet

How's things?

Bugs and Fixes: Critical Fixes for Windows, IE, Office
PC World - Sep 22, 2006
The company just shipped 12 bug patches--9 of them critical--affecting everything from Windows to Internet Explorer to Office apps. And unfortunately, things have not gone smoothly. In keeping with what is now a regrettably familiar pattern, hackers launched a zero-day attack on a hole that one of the fixes addressed, before the patch could be released. This exploit was designed to target the Windows "Server service," which handles file and printer sharing in Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 through Windows Server 2003 as well as in Windows XP SP1 and SP2... A Broken IE Fix Shortly after releasing a cumulative update for Internet Explorer 6. 0 SP1 that patched six critical holes, Microsoft discovered a problem. The new patch introduced a bug that crashed IE under certain circumstances--such as when running CRM (customer relationship management) applications like PeopleSoft and Siebel. At about the same time, eEye Digital Security, a security research firm, discovered that an attacker could take advantage of the crashes to commandeer a computer running Windows 2000 SP4 or XP SP1 (though not SP2). Two weeks later, Redmond released an updated patch. Grab the fixed fix, which includes the cumulative updates of the previous patch, over Automatic Updates or from Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-042 (".
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127065-c,virusesworms/article.html

The shift toward hardware independence | Tech News on ZDNet
ZDNet - Sep 21, 2006
The growing number of mobile employees that work in a "virtual office" need, and are demanding, access to their files and data without being restricted to an individual PC or intranet. This evolution is the driving force behind the Software as a Service revolution. Functionality and flexibility without the costs
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides applications--such as CRM and sales force automation solutions, e-mail and collaboration software--which customers access through JavaScript enabled Web browsers. Users log in to specified Web pages for immediate and up-to-date access to their business application(s). These applications do not require desktop clients or downloads, freeing up device memory and increasing accessibility. Their potential often exceeds that of traditional boxed software by integrating the application with the Internet's communication capabilities, making it easy to instantly share data, such as customer information, calendars and other files. With a cost structure that fits the small business budget and services that meet their needs, smaller companies are finally reaping the benefits of applications that have typically been available only to big businesses that could afford to make large investments in hardware, software and IT staff.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6118152.html

Can Web-based applications outwit, outplay, outlast the desktop?
InfoWorld - Oct 2, 2006
“It’ll be fun,” he says. No access to my Microsoft Office apps, just the Web 2. 0 equivalents that seem to be popping up like gaffes at a Bush press conference. The point of this little exercise was to see whether anyone would seriously contemplate replacing desktop with Web-based productivity apps. And if not, how close are we? After all, whenever Google waves its hands in this direction, the pundits swoon. Not to mention that enterprises would save gazillions in licensing and desktop maintenance... I’ll be looking at additional applications on the. And before the flame mails start, let me be clear that my selection of apps for my WINO (Week of INternet Office) project are … personal. Which apps appealed to my particular style of working is partially based on features and partially on ease of use in the user interface -- I’m a creature of Office, and I don’t feel like spending the week staring at a Help menu.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/10/02/40FEbrowseapp_1.html

Second third-party fix out for Windows bug | CNET News.com
CNET News.com - Oct 1, 2006
The group, calling itself the Zeroday Emergency Response Team, or ZERT, created. People have a choice of third-party fixes. Security company Determina on Friday.
http://news.com.com/Second+third-party+fix+out+for+Windows+bug/2100-1002_3-6121630.html

With Online Friends Like These…
BusinessWeek - Sep 27, 2006
Microsoft's (MSFT) Internet Explorer, the most widely used Web browser, had the most attacks against it and accounted for 47% of all Web browser attacks. Symantec saw 38 new vulnerabilities in its software, a 52% increase over the past six months. Microsoft has addressed the problems as Symantec reported them and developed downloadable patches to shore up its systems. Mozilla, maker of the popular Firefox open source browser, had 47 vulnerabilities, an increase of 276%. Even Apple Computer's (AAPL) Safari browser, which is typically immune to many weaknesses shared by other more popular browsers, had 12 vulnerabilities. Most of those vulnerabilities were discovered by testers whose purpose is not to exploit them, but to help the companies protect their applications.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060927_746300.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Fool on the Street: Akamai Access [Fool.com] October 02, 2006
Motley Fool - Oct 2, 2006
Broadband, dude, broadbandAkamai is there, too, but its recent sales growth has approached 50%. Some of that surely owes to its early-2005... And Microsoft, a big customer in software downloads -- Akamai's network has delivered millions of beta copies of the Vista operating system -- seems likely to turn to Akamai when its. No wonder media is Akamai's largest segment, accounting for 38% of revenue, according to chief financial officer J.
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06100223.htm

SAP Eyes "Third Way" Software
BusinessWeek - Sep 29, 2006
How many of them understand their differentiators? According to Agassi: "About 10 per cent. As an example, he pointed to the way Apple was able to roll out its iTunes music store in just three months, based on an SAP backbone, whereas one-time digital music leader Napster took a year and was left behind. On a flying visit to Europe - he is normally based on the US west coast - the executive talked positively about the company's partnership with Microsoft and didn't miss the chance to disparage arch-rival Oracle. In recent years Oracle bought PeopleSoft and Siebel, both major players in business software, traditionally around HR and CRM respectively. SAP will continue to look for smaller acquisition targets - once upon a time that's how Agassi came into the fold - but he added: "We don't believe in buying customers. We want to see benefit the day after [any acquisition], not the day before," with a nod towards Oracle's approach. He also said Oracle customers must be "confused" about where the former PeopleSoft and Siebel products are being taken, saying "there is no real road-map"... As an example, he pointed to the way Apple was able to roll out its iTunes music store in just three months, based on an SAP backbone, whereas one-time digital music leader Napster took a year and was left behind. On a flying visit to Europe - he is normally based on the US west coast - the executive talked positively about the company's partnership with Microsoft and didn't miss the chance to disparage arch-rival Oracle. In recent years Oracle bought PeopleSoft and Siebel, both major players in business software, traditionally around HR and CRM respectively. SAP will continue to look for smaller acquisition targets - once upon a time that's how Agassi came into the fold - but he added: "We don't believe in buying customers. We want to see benefit the day after [any acquisition], not the day before," with a nod towards Oracle's approach. He also said Oracle customers must be "confused" about where the former PeopleSoft and Siebel products are being taken, saying "there is no real road-map". Oracle declined to respond to these comments when contacted.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2006/gb20060929_100437.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business

See you later.

Why Google Loves The Little Guys

Nice meeting you!

Microsoft Dynamics leader named
Register - Sep 14, 2006
News of the appointment came in the week SAP, the world's largest provider of business applications, laid out its vision and roadmap for ERP and CRM at its annual TechEd conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. MBS vice president Doug Burgum announced he was stepping down last year, since which time Microsoft has since been conducting the search for a leader. Burgum, who joined in 2001 as chief executive of the acquired Great Plains Software, is leaving Microsoft. The focus on someone with a strong technology background is significant, as Microsoft wants to integrate MBS applications' functionality and workflows with new versions of Office.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/14/microsoft_dynamics_leader/

Why Google Loves The Little Guys
Forbes - Sep 18, 2006
Yahoo! has been slower to let developers profit, but a new delivery advertising platform will probably change that. It better, since now mashups with Yahoo! software often sport Google-driven ads and not Yahoo!'s own ad service, called the Publisher Network. Microsoft officials say it will leverage its existing developer network, plus the mashup newbies, with its forthcoming Windows Live product. Already, it boasts mashups from Microsoft's Virtual Earth map service on Marriot's Web site. As the Web moguls see it, the Internet has evolved from a method of transmitting information to its own computing platform, as novel as the personal computer was in the late 1970s, or client-server networks were in the '80s. And when you have a new platform, you win by getting people to work for you for free. The big winner in PCs was Microsoft, which spent millions on developer conferences and Visual Basic, its software toolkit for developers.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/09/17/mashup-search-google-tech-cz_qh_0918google.html

Google, Intuit Pair Up Against a Foe
BusinessWeek - Sep 14, 2006
"Beyond desktop software, Google is also integrating its services into online business software. In August, Salesforce. com (CRM) and NetSuite said they will incorporate AdWords into online customer-management applications. But Schmidt was quick to distinguish those arrangements from the Intuit deal because the QuickBooks desktop software will give millions of small businesses who have not yet ventured onto the Internet the ability to do so—and in the process, he hopes, bring Google millions of new customers.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060914_725426.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Murdoch to Bid Satellite Goodbye
BusinessWeek - Sep 18, 2006
2 billion last year, which could be a basis for setting a price for the DirecTV stake. "It's hard to imagine that they could command a price higher than one-and-a-half times revenue," says Susan Kalla, an independent media and telecom analyst. The negotiations are being handled for the most part by Liberty CEO Greg Maffei, a former Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) executive, and News Corp. Chief Financial Officer David DeVoe, one person familiar with the talks said. Murdoch is said to be keeping tabs on the talks, although he is believed to have been on vacation in Italy and Greece. That same source said other deals, including the sale of News Corp. TV stations, have been on the table.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060918_564376.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

The Business Mash
Forbes - Sep 18, 2006
"We want 300,000 applications to work off of Salesforce," he says. It is no knock on him to say that he has 210 so far. Each application is a novel use of Salesforce's (nyse:.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/09/17/google-mashup-salesforce-tech-cz_qh_0918googlecorp.html?partner=rss

Eclipse: The billion-dollar baby?
InfoWorld - Sep 18, 2006
, in early September, with foundation executives touting the success of the open source application development project in attracting developer interest and support from big-name players such as IBM. InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill caught up with The foundation’s Executive Director Mike Milinkovich to talk about the organization’s accomplishments, competition with Microsoft and Sun, respecting Java and the road ahead. InfoWorld: How much money would you estimate is being generated by Eclipse-based software, or is the main attraction to Eclipse still that it’s all free?Mike Milinkovich: I wish we actually had good numbers on trying to estimate the size of the Eclipse ecosystem. I’m quite confident that it’s in the billion-dollar range and probably more, but we just don’t have the hard numbers. But what you said about the attraction to Eclipse being free -- the economics of the Eclipse model is a little bit different than that, because the Eclipse community as a whole is almost uniquely focused on enabling a commercially profitable ecosystem around the free platform. So yes, we do provide open source tools and frameworks from Eclipse, and those are provided for free... Do you see that as a trend where software companies, particularly open source software companies, don’t have salespeople because they don’t see the need?MM: Historically enterprise software has been sold through [a] direct salesforce channel. I do believe over time, we’re starting to see success in open source software products in areas which have been traditionally the realm of the direct sales force. I’m thinking of things like Sugar CRM and Compiere  [ERP] and open source products like this. Those environments or those products have very, very low cost of sales, so as customers get more used to that, I think that over time, yeah, there are going to be fewer and fewer software salesmen. IW: Is anything going on as far as Sun joining Eclipse or merging NetBeans and Eclipse?MM: Nope, absolutely not. They’ve made it pretty clear that they’re not really interested in doing anything other than continuing to push their NetBean strategy. IW: What do you think of their being two kind of rival camps? Is it good for competition?MM: Well we’re certainly not shy of competition, and frankly we’re winning.
http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/09/18/38NMmain_1.html

Comments on ‘Groping your way around the mobile device maze’
Register - Sep 19, 2006
Talk about project creep. And it wasn't just the users, it was their managers, the board. Firstly they needed access to mail and CRM, then they needed GPRS too, (ouch) then they definately needed MP3 - because someone had the smart idea of recording post sales notes on the device and uploading them into the CRM system so that sales could subsequently listen to the notes as they drove to the follow-up meeting. We almost got close to a stanard too - but then it broke down once again when we came to finding appropriate hands-free kits, and headsets. I think my overall point is that finding devices is bad enough but once you get into the true requirements for every user in your orgaisation it's not just the devices that you have to care about - it's all the peripherals too, which turn the whole thing into such an incredible pain. I beleive this points to a number of shortfalls in th emobile market altogether - there's no one that can provied the full range of services - we need one of the big boys Mobile firms to buy garmin, sony, B&O, IBM and plenty more before this becomes a soltuion you can take off the shelf... And my users don't need "push" email for the enviroment they work in they just need "always available" email which this solution provides. Finally I can change the phones without changing the PDA anytime. One option I did look at was Dataviz, Roadsync which gives Microsoft Exchange email to Smartphones, if reading email and a quick reply is all thats needed maybe just some software will fit the bill. My advice is answer the questions :-How often do i need my email?How big a phone am i willing to carry?How important are email attachments?How much money have i got?How much money have i investe in what i have? (carkits, cables, etc)What do i do with the email when i get it?RegardsAll I want! By Nicholas WrightPosted Tuesday 19th September 2006 13:41 GMTGimme an XDA II equivalent that will actually fit in my pocket, won't behave like it's running on an 8088 processor, can actually be turned off to save power, doesn't have a camera button that you press everytime you come in contact with the device, not a huge screen but one big enough to surf the web now and then without squinting, and is actually integrated with the hardware. A life saving website is one that takes people's requirements and tells them their ideal phone!It's for business By Greg MortimerPosted Tuesday 19th September 2006 13:49 GMTAssuming we're talking here about business mobile email devices, if an organisation is seriously considering MP3 playing functionality or camera spec that points to something very wrong in their policy making process (unless they're niche markets that actually use that technology for business reasons, maybe estate agents snapping flat interiors or music biz peeps). You want your organisation to buy you a "cool" device? Go buy one yourself, why should the rest of the organisation fund your vanity?So moving swiftly on, looking at sensible options, I recently evaluated an O2 XDA Exec as an alternative to our Blackberry fleet. We've had berrys every since they arrived in the UK and there's no real imperative to move from that platform (apart from the recent patent litigation scare), but the talk about Windows mobile 5 "push email" had me interested.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/19/mobile_devices_maze/comments/

Business 2.0...Big Innovations: Coghead - Sep. 18, 2006
CNNMoney.com - Sep 18, 2006
wjw -->The Disrupted: Initially, custom-software developers, but potentially almost all software-tool makersWhat if the next time you longed for a piece of software to help you do your job, you didn't have to grovel before IT or shell out big bucks to outside consultants? What if you could simply create the software yourself, in a few easy steps? That's the promise of Coghead, an online tool due out this month that promises a hassle-free world of roll-your-own apps. Using Coghead requires only basic computer literacy. The company says anyone who can code a simple Excel macro should have little trouble using Coghead to create even sophisticated enterprise apps like logistics trackers, CRM programs, or project management systems. A user logs on to Coghead's Web site and drags and drops a few buttons and labels onto a form, indicates relationships between the form's drop-down menus and text boxes, groups appropriate elements by drawing boxes around them -- and then launches the apps. "From my experience so far, the product is incredibly easy to use," says Liz Amaral, product management vice president at InsideTrack, a San Francisco firm that offers coaching services to college students and has been beta-testing Coghead. Coghead boasts an impressive entrepreneurial pedigree. Chief executive Paul McNamara is a former exec at computer graphics pioneer SGI and at open-source software leader Red Hat; CTO Greg Olsen co-founded Extricity, a business-integration software firm that Peregrine Systems bought for $227 million in 2001... Chief executive Paul McNamara is a former exec at computer graphics pioneer SGI and at open-source software leader Red Hat; CTO Greg Olsen co-founded Extricity, a business-integration software firm that Peregrine Systems bought for $227 million in 2001. They believe that they'll initially take business from software consultants and outsourcing firms that specialize in small, customized-software projects. But ultimately, Coghead could undermine much bigger markets and much bigger names, including the likes of.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_coghead.biz2/index.htm

A Needy Napster Searches for Takers
BusinessWeek - Sep 19, 2006
Napster (NAPS) lags far behind market leader Apple (AAPL), with its iPod-iTunes combination, and RealNetworks (RNWK), owner of the Rhapsody service. Microsoft (MSFT) plans its own music player, called Zune, and download service later this year (see BusinessWeek. Napster has appeared ripe for a buyout since wireless phone giant Nokia (NOK) acquired Loudeye (LOUD) in August (see BusinessWeek.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060919_053475.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology

Adobe Snoozes Toward Excellence
Motley Fool - Sep 15, 2006
Sure, the Macromedia acquisition was exciting, and there are still potential threats from Microsoft (Nasdaq:. Softy pushes its own platforms to rival Adobe's Flash and PDF formats in its new Vista operating system... With its software on 500 million PCs and Flash on 700 million PCs, mobile phones, and other devices, the company seems to be off to a good start. Adobe's collaboration with Salesforce.
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2006/09/15/adobe-snoozes-toward-excellence.aspx

Siebel to aid Oracle push against SAP
Seattle Times - Sep 15, 2006
"Oracle was behind the curve so it needed to buy some big headline-making companies and feed off their technology," Williams said. "They really didn't have much choice, unless they wanted to see their stock price cut in half. They needed to keep their sales growing, and to do that, they need to cannibalize smaller companies. "

The big question is whether Oracle has bitten off more than it can chew, said Octavio Marenzi, chief executive of Celent, a technology consultancy... Siebel Systems is run by Tom Siebel, who has occasionally sniped at his former boss since leaving Oracle and starting his own company in 1993. But Siebel, who is his company's chairman and largest individual shareholder, welcomed Oracle's takeover offer, calling it a "wonderful, exciting event. "

Siebel Systems has been shrinking since 2001 amid weakening demand for its main product — customer-relationship-management, or CRM, software that helps companies analyze their sales patterns and market their products. The niche accounts for about $3. 5 billion in new software sales annually, according to technology-research company Gartner. But Siebel Systems has been losing market share to SAP, Oracle and Internet startup.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002490625_oracle13.html

Bye.

Sonata partners with Microsoft for ERP solutions

How are you?

Microsoft Takes Third Shot at Buggy Security Patch
PC World - Sep 13, 2006
Microsoft today was forced to release its third version of the update because of a new security bug discovered in the update, according to Tony Chor, a group program manager with Microsoft. First released on August 8,. Embarrassingly, it also introduced a security vulnerability into the browser, which was fixed last month... " His posting can be found here: Problems Cropped Up Fast Microsoft customers ran into problems with MS06-042 soon after it was released. Web sites that used HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) 1. 1 compression to speed up the downloading of images could cause the browser to fail and users of Web-based applications such as PeopleSoft, Siebel, and Sage CRM had problems with the software. Later in August, security researchers at eEye Digital Security disclosed that Microsoft had introduced a new critical security vulnerability in the update. Two days later Microsoft fixed the eEye bug in the MS06-042 re-release. Apparently this re-release did not address this latest but "similar" vulnerability mentioned by Chor. Microsoft executives could not be reached immediately for comment.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127140-c,browserbugs/article.html

Sonata partners with Microsoft for ERP solutions
Economic Times - Sep 12, 2006
Targeted at growing
companies, these applications can be customised to meet any business need such
as financial management, supply chain management and customer relationship
management, Sonata Software on Tuesday informed the Bombay Stock
Exchange. "With our experience
of implementing over 100 ERP or CRM solutions and our proactive investments in
Microsoft Dynamics we are in a unique position to enable our customers adopt
Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions with minimum disruption to their
on-going operations," Sonata Information Technology Director Sujit Mohanty
said. Microsoft Dynamics
increases a company's efficiency by connecting employees, customers and
suppliers, which eventually translates into higher profits for
businesses. Microsoft Dynamics
ERP and CRM applications integrate easily with Microsoft's core products such as
Office and Windows. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3... Microsoft Dynamics
ERP and CRM applications integrate easily with Microsoft's core products such as
Office and Windows. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3. 0 for the Indian market was introduced last
year. Sonata is a leader in ERP
and CRM implementations, management and has been Microsoft's partner for the
last 15 years. Sonata
Information Technology Limited (SITL), is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sonata
Software Ltd. Shares of the
company closed at Rs 29.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1984203.cms

Sonata launches Microsoft Dynamics
Hindu - Sep 13, 2006
Microsoft Dynamics increases company's efficiency by connecting employees, customers and suppliers, which eventually translates into higher profits for businesses. "

Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM applications integrate with Microsoft core products such as Office and Windows to simplify processes across an organisation. Microsoft introduced Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4. 0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3. 0 for the Indian market last year. While the offerings are targeted at companies across the board, Microsoft has seen high customer traction from manufacturing, logistics and distribution, construction, retail, automotive, professional and IT services and public sector companies.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200609130352.htm

ASPs snake back into hosting limelight - vnunet.com
VNUNet.com - Sep 11, 2006
“Most of it is going on under the radar, buthosted applications are becoming more and more mainstream and most sizeablesoftware vendors have some presence in this space now. ”Sage has various CRM offerings pitched at different levels and based aroundthe Accpac software and technology it acquired from CA. Oracle has also boughtits way into this part of the market – and into CRM as well – through theacquisition of Siebel. Microsoft is also looking to make a splash in the sector:Hosted Exchange has been available for some time and Microsoft is pushing thelatest of its CRM packages hard as a hosted solution. According to James Murfin, hosted applications product manager at MicrosoftUK, there are already about 300 partners in the UK offering some kind of ASP oron-demand applications service. Some already offer hosted SQL and even Officeapplications and Microsoft is signing up more partners every week, Murfin said. Some are already very well established; e-know.
http://www.vnunet.com/crn/analysis/2163922/asps-snake-back-hosting

Salesforce.com adds mash-ups to new CRM
VNUNet.com - Sep 13, 2006
"In the same period. Two versions verses 21.
http://www.vnunet.com/articles/print/2164169

Sensex closes 110 pts up at 11,660
Economic Times - Sep 12, 2006
90 as the company came closer to acquiring Irish company, Pinewood valued
at over $100 million. Sonata
Software Ltd rose 0. 5% to Rs 29 after it informed BSE that Sonata Information
Technology Ltd, in association with Microsoft India Pvt Ltd, launched Microsoft
Dynamics, ERP and CRM solutions from
Microsoft. Ranbaxy Laboratories
Ltd slipped 0. 10 on announcing the launch of its branded product,
Avessa inhalation capsules in India for the treatment of
Asthma.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1984131.cms

Market surges past 11,600-mark
Times of India - Sep 12, 2006
90 as
the company came closer to acquiring Irish company, Pinewood valued at over $100
million. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3:00
pm :

Sonata Software Ltd rose 0. 5% to Rs
29 after it informed BSE that Sonata Information Technology Ltd, in association
with Microsoft India Pvt Ltd, launched Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM solutions
from
Microsoft. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2:45
pm :

Punj Lloyd Ltd rose 2. 3% to Rs 768 on
entering a joint venture with Swissport International.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1983869.cms

Unpacking Amazon's Unbox Video Service
BusinessWeek - Sep 7, 2006
It offers DVD-quality downloads, triple the video quality of the leading rivals, and a free downsized version for some Microsoft Windows-compatible portable devices. The videos also can be viewed starting in as little as five minutes, while the rest of the movie continues to download. And unlike with other services, they can be downloaded to multiple personal computers. "ULTIMATE DESTINATION. " Amazon is offering thousands of movies from most of the major studios, such as Warner Bros.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060907_611445.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

Treo Troubles Trigger Palm Plunge
BusinessWeek - Sep 8, 2006
and is moving to expand its reach overseas. And it has become software-agnostic, offering devices on both the Palm and Microsoft operating systems, as well as BlackBerry Connect and Good Technology e-mail services. Still, the Treo's design hasn't substantially changed since it was introduced three years ago—close to an eternity in the fad-driven cell-phone business. Analysts correctly predicted Palm would quickly lose market share as consumers flocked to slimmer designs like the Q and Motorola's hit Razr phone over the bulky Treo. "The big question around the Treo is when will it get a design refresh?" says analyst Cliff Raskind at Strategy Analytics.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060908_222115.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories

Sybase's $425 Million Mobile Plan
Motley Fool - Sep 11, 2006
At more than four times revenues, the price tag is not cheap. But for Sybase to be a true player in the mobile enterprise space, it needs what Mobile 365 offers. First, Mobile 365 has a hosted solution, which is similar to Salesforce.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/09/11/sybases-425-million-mobile-plan.aspx

Take care.