News

Microsoft patching five flaws, two critical

The software giant returns to its monthly security update schedule, announcing plans to ship fixes for five vulnerabilities including four issues in Windows — one of which it ranked as critical

Vista rants keep coming — now it’s Palm’s Catch-22

Carrier groups oppose spectrum auction proposal

Coalition opposes consumer groups' proposal that would impose open access and net neutrality on auction

WSJ: Judge’s ruling puts Vonage on Ice

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Federal Judge ruled today that VOIP provider Vonage is barred from signing up new customers until it has stopped using patented VOIP technology from Verizon.

Update: Google and Agence France Presse settle lawsuit

AFP and Google sign licensing agreement granting Google permission to use AFP news and photos

Report: EU wants MS to charge little for Windows info

EU commission states Microsoft-proposed royalties are 'prohibitively high' and should be reduced

A crowd of bloggers gathering at SNW

Software upgrades to an astral plane

Qualcomm document talks tough on Nokia

Patent licensing dispute could come to a head Monday when existing agreements are set to expire

Acer takes the number 3 spot in mobile PCs

Hewlett-Packard retains its lead with the strongest year-on-year growth in the market

Google evades question about software similarities

Google calls its IME product 'a work in progress' that will continue to improve over time

Microsoft releases SDK for Windows Home Server

Beta documentation will help developers create applications for the forthcoming Home Server, which is presently in its second beta release

Microsoft funds new mapping research programs

The software company has dedicated $1.1 million to programs that develop new uses for the VIrtual Earth and SensorMap applications

Not always encrypted, but IRS PCs do phone home

In the midst of a rash of missing laptops, the IRS has implemented means to recover lost equipment

Windows, Java get incremental boosts

Longhorn precursor offered; Java spruced up for Daylight Saving Time

M&A activity tops and tails the week

The investment community roundly applauds this week's major merger and acquisition announcements

VeriSign to increase .com, .net domain fees

Slight increase in doman registration fees goes toward infrastructure improvements to handle the ever-increasing amoung of Web traffic

Forrester: Today’s NAC is whack

A new research report contends that current network access control solutions won't survive, and predicts that future device authentication efforts will be centered on technologies residing on end points

Qualcomm says it doesn’t need Nokia patents

In the latest twist to the companies' legal battle, Qualcomm threatens to forbid Nokia from using its patents, claiming it doesn't use any of Nokia's patents in the first place

A coalition’s call for spectrum auction conditions

As 60MHz of spectrum in the upper 700MHz band is abandoned by TV broadcasters, consumer groups want auction rules that favor the public over providers

Vendors push for Fibre Channel on Ethernet standard

A group of big-name data-center vendors is pushing ANSI to create a standard for Fibre Channel over Ethernet connections, saying it will simplify data management

After emergency fix, more Microsoft patches ahead

Next week's patch set, including one to fix a flaw rated as 'critical,' will be part of a five-set series

Software design just isn’t sexy

Lenovo sets up new consumer unit

Lenovo's sales in the Americas have declined in recent months

Google to build $600M datacenter in South Carolina

Google is also looking to build a second site in South Carolina

Yahoo tests customizable search engine

Yahoo Alpha will make it easier for users to tailor search sites to reflect their interests

IRS still losing laptops

Agency admits it misplaced almost 500 devices over the last three years, some with sensitive taxpayer data

WebMethods to vault Software AG into top 3 SOA players

Acquisition will position Software AG behind leaders IBM and Tibco in the SOA and BPM market

GridwiseTech Report On Open Source Portals

Google software shares striking similarities with rival

Sohu.com may take legal action over Google Pinyin IME software

Epson case against ink vendors moves forward

Judge rules ink cartridges infringe on Epson's patents, recommends the companies be barred from selling them in the U.S

HP is ready to play in the gaming market

HP to take on games consoles by developing technology that lets PCs play interactive video games

Nokia makes $20M payment to Qualcomm for patents

Licensing deal may buy Nokia more time in its legal disputes with Qualcomm over 3G mobile phones

Software AG to buy webMethods for $546 million

Software AG moves forward with effort to reinvent itself as an SOA company

Google delivers maps mashup tool for non-techies

Google aims to increase the amount of data created for its mapping service by extending mashups capabilities to regular users

New class of attack targets embedded devices

Researcher finds vulnerability in embedded chips that can compromise routers or mobile phones

Google founders, CEO took $1 salaries in 2006

SEC filing shows top three execs at Google are also the company's lowest paid employees

Smoothing waters for the iPhone

Microsoft e-mail upgrade experiences glitch

Some Windows Live Hotmail users are not getting the expanded storage they expected

Microsoft SaaS plan has image problem

Software giant struggles to keep up with Web-based competitors in SaaS market

Microsoft plans campus expansion

New Redmond facilities will house 4,000 workers

Apple unveils octa-core Mac Pro

Company targets developers, animators, and other high-end workstation users with its 2 quad-core Xeon processor option

Negative votes prompt BPEL 2.0 review

OASIS to investigate tally on Web services specification

What to look for in a program manager

Everything potential employers and employees need to know about this in-demand profession

DoubleClick intros ad exchange system

Ad brokering exchange is expected to launch globally by the end of the year

AMD upgrades dual-core Opteron chip to 3GHz

Processor will get one more speed bump before AMD commits to quad-core design

Government policies add to Japan’s broadband success

U.S. customers pay considerably more than the Japanese for bandwidth

Gartner: Intel still number 1, despite revenue declines

Samsung and Texas Instruments round out list of top three semiconductor vendors

H-1B demand askew to quota

Retail stores report strong demand for Vista

New Windows OS drove sales up 10 percent at Best Buy, Circuit City did not keep enough in stock