InfoWorld.com articles from February 2006

InfoWorld.com archives from February 2006

Sun offers support to NetBeans users; New version of open source Java tools platform is ready.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems will provide code-level customer support for the NetBeans open source tools platform, the latest version of which is being released by the Sun-driven NetBeans community on Wednesday. The company's...

Windows Vista preview to feature Sidebar, Gadgets; Combination enables mini-apps to be displayed on a user's desktop.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill A February CTP (Community Technology Preview) of Microsoft's planned Windows Vista OS will feature Windows Sidebar and Gadgets technology, for adding mini-applications such as video or audio feeds to the Windows desktop....

Network General snags Fidelia; Addition of NetVigil product further extends Network General's move toward application management.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Ted Samson Further blurring the lines between network and application management, network analysis vendor Network General Monday announced the acquisition of Fidelia, maker of business service monitoring application NetVigil....

Q&A: Microsoft's Somasegar touts value of ALM platform; Executive also shares perspective on blogging.(Interview)(Panel Discussion)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill S. "Soma" Somasegar is corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. This division is responsible for the various developer tools projects at Microsoft such as Visual Studio and the new application...

X1 updates enterprise desktop search product; Version 2.5 gains cluster management, content integration features.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Cathleen Moore X1 Technologies on Monday released an upgrade to its enterprise desktop search tool, adding new capabilities for remote server management, integration with Interwoven's WorkSite 8.0, and a set of SDKs for extending...

Demo 06 to launch 68 startups; From ice cream makers to desktop trouble shooting, the morning presentations offered a taste of today's high-tech scene.
February 7, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Demo 06, the place where startups meet investors, got off to a very cold and unusual start on Tuesday morning, when MooBella demonstrated an ice cream maker in a vending machine. With a promised launch in...

Mustang version of Java racing toward beta release; Web 2.0, scripting languages, Web services are key themes.
February 7, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Web 2.0 and expanded support for scripting languages are expected to be key themes of the planned Mustang version of Java, which is due in a beta release later this month. Officially known as Java Platform, Standard...

Demo show unveils Krugle, Google for developers; Site lets developers search by strings of code for solutions.
February 7, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Opening day of Demo 06 turned the spotlight on open source with three companies leveraging the collaborative and community nature of the model to bring developers and users closer together. Krugle presented a...

In Brief: OpenConnect launches soaSolution; Also in Brief: Zapatec offers AJAX suite for speedy deployment; Conversagent offers BuddyScript SDK; Kodak, Sanyo to close OLED venture; Compuware DevPartner SecurityChecker supports Visual Studio 2005; db4o offers seamless synchronization of objects; Blue Titan receives SAP NetWeaver certification.
February 8, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff OpenConnect Systems has launched the soaSolution mainframe-to-service-oriented architecture (SOA) suite, comprised of three core components: soaComprehend, soaConfigure, and soaConnect. The suite is designed to help...

Demo 06 highlights practical solutions; From tracking data logs to green-screen interactions, startups focus on solving everyday problems.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz With more than 60 new products on display at Demo 06, the conference that brings together startups and monied high-tech investors, it is sometimes the most practical solutions that win the audience over. ...

Blogs, wikis find a home in the enterprise; ECM vendors Stellent, iUpload tackle thorny security, compliance issues that blogs and wikis pose.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Cathleen Moore Blogs and wikis have moved past the flashy tech bling phase and are now settling in as core elements of the enterprise collaboration infrastructure. Two enterprise content management vendors are helping drive this...

In Brief: Wireless technology comes to Timbuktu; Also in Brief: Toshiba, LG cross-license optical drive patents; OpenConnect launches soaSolution; Zapatec offers AJAX suite for speedy deployment; Conversagent offers BuddyScript SDK; Kodak, Sanyo to close OLED venture; Compuware DevPartner SecurityChecker supports Visual Studio 2005.
February 9, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff China's ZTE is helping to bring telephone access to Timbuktu, Mali, through a contract to provide WLL (wireless local loop) telephone equipment. Calling Timbuktu a "byword for the most remote places on Earth,"...

Sun blends SeeBeyond, in-house technologies for SOA; Java CAPS package enables composite apps to be developed with little coding.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems on Thursday is set to make a play in the SOA space. The company is re-branding technology gained from SeeBeyond, mixing it with in-house software, and presenting the package as the Sun Java...

STORAGE INSIDER: Network Appliance's growing ambition; Alacritus acquisition bears fruit as NetApp extends data protection offerings and adds services to its portfolio.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Mario Apicella It's probably a sign of the times when almost every one of the numerous new products I hear about in a week is related to data protection. Despite the volume of new solutions, there is often sharp disagreement among...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft continues to nibble at security; ISA service pack leverages WAN links, while OneCare Live service tidies up desktop protection.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist We’ll have to wait for any revolutionary product announcements out of Redmond, as now just isn’t the time. But things rarely stand completely still in the rainy Northwest; each week Microsoft tends to...

In Brief: Stickam free media player set to launch; Also in Brief: UT Starcom deal in India under scrutiny by auditors; Wireless technology comes to Timbuktu; Toshiba, LG cross-license optical drive patents; OpenConnect launches soaSolution; Zapatec offers AJAX suite for speedy deployment; Conversagent offers BuddyScript SDK.
February 10, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Advanced Video Communications on Monday will launch Stickam, its free video communications player that combines video, photo, music, and chat functions in one application. With Stickam users can add live...

Oracle cites Eclipse as competitor with new dev tool; Company also packs app server with middleware, including a rules engine.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Oracle, with the newly shipping version of its free JDeveloper Java development tool, is looking to compete with the Eclipse open source juggernaut. The company also is shipping an upgrade to its application server,...

SECURITY ADVISER: The security grab bag: Is Treo hacking overrated? Tech security education courses, the best security newsletter, and more in this week's missive.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Roger A. Grimes I’ve been ranting lately about things that bug me. This week, I’ll cover a variety of topics that have nothing to do with one another other than my level of excitement. Elemental Security ...

In Brief: Real Software offers new home to Borland developers; Also in Brief: Cittio WatchTower 2.5 extends network management capabilities; Canon to build inkjet printer plant in Vietnam; Stickam free media player set to launch; UT Starcom deal in India under scrutiny by auditors; Wireless technology comes to Timbuktu; Toshiba, LG cross-license optical drive patents.
February 13, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Real Software announced that all Borland Delphi users can receive a free license for RealBasic 2006 for Windows Standard Edition through Feb. 28. RealBasic, an object-oriented environment for creating...

AJAX, agile programming are highlighted by Tibco, Rally; Low-cost version of General Interface is readied.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Two trendy software development technologies, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and agile programming, are being advanced this week with rollouts from Tibco Software and Rally Software. Featured is a new version...

Borland unveils IT management/governance combo; Company plans to address core ALM processes.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Borland Software is blending process improvement and skills training services with its Borland Tempo software to provide the Borland IT Management & Governance (ITM&G) Solution. The effort is intended to help...

In Brief: China's entertainment rules ban pirated products; Also in Brief: Real Software offers new home to Borland developers; Cittio WatchTower 2.5 extends network management capabilities; Canon to build inkjet printer plant in Vietnam; Stickam free media player set to launch; UT Starcom deal in India under scrutiny by auditors; Wireless technology comes to Timbuktu.
February 14, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff China's State Council, the country's highest bureaucratic body, has issued a set of regulations governing China's entertainment industry that ban the use of pirated products at entertainment venues. According...

OSBC: BEA open-sourcing former SolarMetric technology; Palamida expands code library.
February 14, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill BEA Systems at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday will announce intentions to offer up its Java-based Kodo persistence engine to open source. Acquired when BEA bought SolarMetric in...

Cingular launches global 3G data plan; Service will eliminate exorbitant roaming charges.
February 14, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz Cingular became the first of the wireless carriers this week to offer business users a single tri-band (850/1900/2100MHz) data card for its 3G, EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), and GPRS networks. ...

OSBC: Sun seeks to woo HP to Solaris; Microsoft exec touts "coopetition".
February 14, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems is trying to persuade Hewlett-Packard to move its HP-UX Unix customers over to Sun's Solaris, Sun President/COO Jonathan Schwartz said at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday....

In Brief: Nokia's CTO to leave company on April 1; Also in Brief: China's entertainment rules ban pirated products; Real Software offers new home to Borland developers; Cittio WatchTower 2.5 extends network management capabilities; Canon to build inkjet printer plant in Vietnam; Stickam free media player set to launch.
February 15, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Nokia's chief technology officer has landed the CEO job at a Finnish electronics company and will leave Nokia on April 1. Pertti Korhonen, Nokia's CTO and executive vice president of technology platforms, will...

Sun set to release Mustang Java beta on Wednesday; Scripting, Web services, and diagnostics are improved in next desktop version of Java.
February 15, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems on Wednesday is releasing a beta version of the next desktop version of Java, codenamed Project Mustang and officially known as Java Platform Standard Edition 6 (Java SE 6). Highlights of the release...

OSBC: SAP exec cites IT consolidation wave; SpikeSource's Polese touts open source effects.
February 15, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill SAP and SpikeSource executives on Wednesday emphasized IT consolidation and the effects of open source, in different presentations at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco. Consolidation of systems...

In Brief: Amazon may take on Apple's iTunes; Also in Brief: Nokia's CTO to leave company on April 1; China's entertainment rules ban pirated products; Real Software offers new home to Borland developers; Cittio WatchTower 2.5 extends network management capabilities; Canon to build inkjet printer plant in Vietnam; Stickam free media player set to launch.
February 16, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Amazon.com plans to launch its own Internet music service to rival Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unidentified sources. The world's largest online retailer...

Death of the software salesman? Eclipse executive director questions need for the role.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Will the software salesperson role become extinct? This possibility was raised during a panel session at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon. Panelists from Apache, Eclipse,...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft extends SMS 2003's reach into Windows; More than just patches, Service Pack 2 also yields key console changes.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist Yeah, Windows Live is the popular talking-head topic, but I’m just too sick of it. Unproven software, unproven model, just not worth the type time until Redmond releases even a piece of it beyond beta. ’Nuff...

In Brief: WebMethods Access helps create, monitor business processes; Also in Brief: DoCoMo, RealNetworks to work on mobile streaming; Software AG introduces Natural Business Services; Amazon may take on Apple's iTunes; Nokia's CTO to leave company on April 1; China's entertainment rules ban pirated products; Real Software offers new home to Borland developers.
February 17, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff webMethods has unveiled webMethods Access, a new component of webMethods Fabric that provides a framework for rapidly assembling new processes from existing applications and Web services. Key elements of...

IBM to boost Web enablement in Rational tools; Company seeks to adapt to distributed development.
February 17, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Seeking to more easily accommodate distributed development, IBM later this year plans to modernize its Rational software lifecycle management products to make them strictly Web-based. While Rational has products now...

SECURITY ADVISER: IT security podcasts you can't miss; Get the latest news and opinions on malware, network security, and more from six top podcast picks.
February 17, 2006... Byline: Roger A. Grimes I’m pathetic. I’m so consumed with computer security that when I can’t sleep in the early morning hours, I head to my computer to do research. Often, my wife will awaken to the sound of me banging...

In Brief: Philips designs watermark system to curb video piracy; Also in Brief: WebMethods Access helps create, monitor business processes; DoCoMo, RealNetworks to work on mobile streaming; Software AG introduces Natural Business Services; Amazon may take on Apple's iTunes; Nokia's CTO to leave company on April 1; China's entertainment rules ban pirated products.
February 21, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Dutch electronics manufacturer Koninklijke Philips Electronics has developed a new system, based on watermarking technology, to help the movie industry battle video piracy. CineFence embeds watermarks with...

Sun previewing enterprise Java revision; Company readies software development kit.
February 21, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Sun Microsystems on Tuesday plans to offer previews of the next releases of the enterprise version of Java and the NetBeans open source developer tools platform. The company, in conjunction with the Java and NetBeans...

Interview: Tim Bray opens up about open source; Co-inventor of XML also talks about the future of XML, blogs, and document formats.
February 21, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Tim Bray is director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, but is perhaps best known as a co-inventor of XML. He also has launched one of the first public Web search engines, Open Text Index, and founded Antarctica...

In Brief: ObjectWeb announces EasyBeans project; Also in Brief: Fluke enhances VoIP with Visual UpTime Select update; Quality concern delays Nokia launch with NTT DoCoMo; Philips designs watermark system to curb video piracy; WebMethods Access helps create, monitor business processes; DoCoMo, RealNetworks to work on mobile streaming; Software AG introduces Natural Business Services.
February 22, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff The ObjectWeb open-source consortium announced Wednesday the creation of the EasyBeans project. EasyBeans aims to offer a pluggable, easy-to-use, open-source container based on the EJB 3 (Enterprise Java Beans)...

SAP designing new search engine; Technology will allow users to combine structured and unstructured data in single search.
February 22, 2006... Byline: Ephraim Schwartz In the ever-increasing battle to offer the best search engine on the planet, SAP is planning a blockbuster extension to its search capabilities with the next major release of NetWeaver. The search enhancement...

Interview: IBM's Sabbah touts Rational offerings; Exec says company far ahead of Microsoft in ALM.
February 22, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Daniel Sabbah is general manger of IBM Rational Software, within the IBM Software Group. Prior to that, he was vice president of software development, strategy, and architecture for the group. Having begun his IBM career...

Microsoft ALM server to debut with limited Internet access; But company expects fix soon after Team Foundation Server's initial release.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Microsoft's soon-to-be-released Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server initially will be limited in how users can access it over the Internet, according to a Microsoft blogger. Due in March, the product will...

ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: Microsoft builds a beta ISA 2006; Better Active Directory integration and improved manageability boosts ISA 2006's perimeter role.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Oliver Rist Last week, I’m struggling for Redmond news; this week, it’s like they have a volcano up there or something. SMS (Systems Management Server) 2003 R2, a Vista Community Technology Preview, Commerce Server 2006...

STORAGE INSIDER: Getting to know SAS; Refuse to be confused by serial attached SCSI -- or the multiple new products that put it to good use.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Mario Apicella Don't you love it when a new technology moves from the drawing board to becoming real products? This is (finally) happening for SAS (serial attached SCSI), with several products coming to market in several areas. ...

In Brief: Orange offers wireline service; Also in Brief: ObjectWeb announces EasyBeans project; Fluke enhances VoIP with Visual UpTime Select update; Quality concern delays Nokia launch with NTT DoCoMo; Philips designs watermark system to curb video piracy; WebMethods Access helps create, monitor business processes; DoCoMo, RealNetworks to work on mobile streaming; Software AG introduces Natural Business Services.
February 24, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Orange said on Friday that its existing small to medium-sized business customers in the U.K. will be able to sign up for Orange fixed line telephone services in the office and receive a single bill for their mobile...

In Brief: SOA, Forum integrate products; Also in Brief: Ericsson sues Samsung in patent dispute; Sony, NEC to establish optical disc joint venture; Orange offers wireline service; ObjectWeb announces EasyBeans project; Fluke enhances VoIP with Visual UpTime Select update; Quality concern delays Nokia launch with NTT DoCoMo; Philips designs watermark system to curb video piracy.
February 27, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff SOA Software and Forum Systems on Monday are announcing that SOA Software's Service Manager product for SOA management can integrate with the Forum Systems XWall Web services firewall. The integration means...

Actional enhances SOA management platform; 'Business process visibility,' finding of rogue services are among the improvements.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Paul Krill Actional on Monday will unveil Version 6.0 of its Actional SOA and Web services management platform, featuring enhancements in "business process visibility," governance, and security. Business process visibility in...

In Brief: Intel to invest $300M in Vietnam chip plant; Also in Brief: SOA, Forum integrate products; Ericsson sues Samsung in patent dispute; Sony, NEC to establish optical disc joint venture; Orange offers wireline service; ObjectWeb announces EasyBeans project; Fluke enhances VoIP with Visual UpTime Select update; Quality concern delays Nokia launch with NTT DoCoMo.
February 28, 2006... Byline: InfoWorld staff Intel, the world's largest chip maker, plans to invest $300 million in Vietnam on a chip assembly and testing plant. It will be the first factory of its kind ever built in Vietnam. The plant, to be located in Ho...

Entuity improves Eye of the Storm's network vision; Version 4.5 offers greater control and broadens device support.
February 28, 2006... Byline: Ted Samson Entuity on Tuesday unfurled Version 4.5 of its Eye of the Storm network management suite, equipping administrators with greater visibility and control over the network. Designed to perform continual automated network...