Microsoft Should Worry Less About Live, More About Linux
The Chart — Microsoft is gunning mightily for Google in the Internet search and advertising space, but it might stand to benefit by putting some of that corporate focus back on its bread-and-butter: the desktop operating system. Lots of commentary ...

DataVision Hits Black Friday, Cyber Monday Jackpot
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — DataVision, one of the fastest growing online players in the country with its datavis.com Web site , is seeing big sales gains as a result of an expanded online presence backed up by a new, 30,000 square foot climate controlled warehouse. The new warehouse, which opened last month, is giving the retailer all the muscle DataVision needs to break through with strong E-tail sales with great consumer electronics values in the end of the year holiday dash. Located in Long Island City, N.Y., 15 minutes from the company's premier retail location at 445 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the new warehouse allowed DataVision to ship 5,000 ...

Microsoft Releases Vista SP2 Beta To Testers
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft on Tuesday released the beta for Vista Service Pack 2 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers and said it'll make the Vista SP2 beta publicly available on Thursday, Dec. 4. Microsoft isn't encouraging the masses to download the Vista SP2 beta, but will offer it to anyone who wants to take it for a test drive as part of Customer Preview Program (CPP), said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows Product Management, in a Tuesday blog post . The Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 SP2 beta are included in a single package, and Microsoft plans to release the final Vista SP2 code sometime in the first half of ...

Cisco Accused Of Monopoly In Antitrust Lawsuit
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Cisco Systems is the target of an antitrust lawsuit that accuses the vendor of holding a maintenance services monopoly for its networking equipment. Multiven, a Redwood City, Calif.-based company that provides network maintenance and consulting services, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., where Cisco is based. In the suit, Multiven alleges that Cisco harmed it and consumers by requiring customers to buy Cisco Smartnet maintenance services in order to receive bug fixes, patches and updates. The suit alleges that Cisco's practices prevent competitors such as Multiven from servicing ...

Spin Zone? Apple Says Virus Warning Was Old
The Channel Wire — Yesterday it was reported that Apple was urging Mac users to update their antivirus protection in order to keep the growing threat of malicious code from infecting their machines. Today, Apple has removed that notice from its Apple Support Web page and is denying the reports that Mac computers and laptops are becoming more prone to viruses from the Web. Bill Evans, an Apple spokesman, told Mac World that the article was outdated. "We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Evans is quoted as saying. "The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against ...

Spin Zone? Apple Says Virus Warning Was Old
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Yesterday it was reported that Apple was urging Mac users to update their antivirus protection in order to keep the growing threat of malicious code from infecting their machines. Today, Apple has removed that notice from its Apple Support Web page and is denying the reports that Mac computers and laptops are becoming more prone to viruses from the Web. Bill Evans, an Apple spokesman, told Mac World that the article was outdated. "We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Evans is quoted as saying. "The Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against ...

Field Mobility: The Business Priority Your Customers Cannot Ignore
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Day: Thursday Date: 12/11/08 Time: 2 pm ET/11 am PT Title: Field Mobility: The Business Priority Your Customers Cannot Ignore Never mind current economic conditions. Mobile workforce and wireless are now a critical business priority due to factors everyone can understand - increased productivity outside "the four walls," need for more up-to-date information and the lack of tolerance for information delays. Mobility cannot be delayed. It cannot be ignored. [image] ...

MySpace Brings Streaming Video To Your Phone
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Is it true that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are adopting an entire third-world country? Now you can find out by going to one of MySpace's channels, such as TMZ, and stream video to your phone. Working with longtime partner RipCode, MySpace's beta mobile video initiative uses RipCode's real-time technology, On-Demand Video Transcoding. The technology enables MySpace to support several handsets even if they require different combinations of codes, bit rates and resolutions. That means that users no longer have to store the entire MySpace video library in multiple mobile formats, the company said. "As the volume of ...

MySpace Brings Streaming Video To Your Phone
The Channel Wire — Is it true that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are adopting an entire third-world country? Now you can find out by going to one of MySpace's channels, such as TMZ, and stream video to your phone. Working with longtime partner RipCode, MySpace's beta mobile video initiative uses RipCode's real-time technology, On-Demand Video Transcoding. The technology enables MySpace to support several handsets even if they require different combinations of codes, bit rates and resolutions. That means that users no longer have to store the entire MySpace video library in multiple mobile formats, the company said. "As the volume of ...

Yahoo's In His Sights: Ex-AOL Exec Seeks Investors
The Channel Wire — Just when you thought it was over, someone else is considering buying Yahoo. Former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller is looking for $30 billion from investors to buy all or part of the Web search engine ...

Yahoo's In His Sights: Ex-AOL Exec Seeks Investors
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Just when you thought it was over, someone else is considering buying Yahoo. Former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller is looking for $30 billion from investors to buy all or part of the Web search engine ...

RIM Cuts Forecast
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Research In Motion announced late Tuesday that its sales figures for the third quarter are likely to disappoint Wall Street analysts and not meet the predictions the company previously made. RIM, the sixth largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, cut its sales and profit forecasts for 3Q, which ended on Saturday. The makers of BlackBerry expect revenues from the fiscal quarter to come in between $2.75 to $2.78 billion, marking a dip of 9 percent from midpoint analyst forecasts. Adjusted earnings for the company are expected to be 81-83 cents a share, as opposed to the 89-97 cents per share the company initially forecast for the ...

RIM Cuts Forecast
The Channel Wire — Research In Motion announced late Tuesday that its sales figures for the third quarter are likely to disappoint Wall Street analysts and not meet the predictions the company previously made. RIM, the sixth largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, cut its sales and profit forecasts for 3Q, which ended on Saturday. The makers of BlackBerry expect revenues from the fiscal quarter to come in between $2.75 to $2.78 billion, marking a dip of 9 percent from midpoint analyst forecasts. Adjusted earnings for the company are expected to be 81-83 cents a share, as opposed to the 89-97 cents per share the company initially forecast for the ...

Amazon.com Offers Free iPhone App -- To Buy Stuff From Amazon.com
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — If you're going to develop a "free" iPhone application, you might as well design it to make people buy things from you. That's the ingenious strategy utilized by Amazon.com Inc.'s new "Amazon Remembers" application, now available for iPhone and iPod ...

Two Data Breaches To Tell Your Customers About
The Channel Wire — Lots of Canadians have gotta be scratching their heads wondering what will happen to them in the wake of two big data storage security leaks. Last week, it was reported in the Vancouver Sun that the executive of a direct-marketing firm absconded with a computer backup tape containing the names and information of about 3.2 million customers as well as the credit card and bank information of more than 800,000 customers. That same news organization also reported last week that inadequate security procedures at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce means that more than 470,000 customers whose data was on a hard drive ...

Two Data Breaches To Tell Your Customers About
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Lots of Canadians have gotta be scratching their heads wondering what will happen to them in the wake of two big data storage security leaks. Last week, it was reported in the Vancouver Sun that the executive of a direct-marketing firm absconded with a computer backup tape containing the names and information of about 3.2 million customers as well as the credit card and bank information of more than 800,000 customers. That same news organization also reported last week that inadequate security procedures at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce means that more than 470,000 customers whose data was on a hard drive ...

Koi Pond Tops Apple Apps; Developers Get Larger Distribution
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Everybody's in the Koi Pond, or at least it seems that way, as it's Apple's No. 1 selling paid app of the year, according to the company. Meanwhile, some developers are happily claiming that the company is now allowing them to distribute more promo copies of their work. Just in time for the holiday season, Apple has helpfully released its lists of most downloaded free and paid apps in gaming, music, utilities, entertainment and social networking ...

MSP Partners, ASCII Group Will Collaborate
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — MSP Partners has signed a deal with The ASCII Group that allows members of each organization to share key information and services with each other. ASCII's 3,000 solution provider members can now enjoy a free membership in MSP Partners, while MSP Partners members will get a discount, to be determined, on ASCII's annual fee, according to the organizations. In addition, executives from both parties hope their agreement can foster more business partnerships and collaboration between members. Each group has about 3,000 members and there is little overlap between members, both organizations said. "We're doing a lot of cross ...

MSP Partners, ASCII Group Will Collaborate
The Channel Wire — MSP Partners has signed a deal with The ASCII Group that allows members of each organization to share key information and services with each other. ASCII's 3,000 solution provider members can now enjoy a free membership in MSP Partners, while MSP Partners members will get a discount, to be determined, on ASCII's annual fee, according to the organizations. In addition, executives from both parties hope their agreement can foster more business partnerships and collaboration between members. Each group has about 3,000 members and there is little overlap between members, both organizations said. "We're doing a lot of cross ...

Want To Win In SMB? Free Up Business Owners' Time
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The key for solution providers to winning in the SMB market is to focus squarely on the time savings that come with helping business owners get rid of that big IT headache. That was the advice of Carol Modell, vice president of sales and co-partner at A , a maker of figure skating and hockey accessories, that is partnered with solution provider Powersolution.com., Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J. "I was the in-house IT person and that was by default," said Modell, whose husband, Ira, is the president of A , Ridgefield, N.J. "Whatever I was spending with Dave's [David Dadian, CEO of Powersolution.com] company freed up my time. And my time is ...

IDC: PC Markets Slow, With U.S. Taking Biggest Hit
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Turmoil in the economy is taking its toll on the x86-based PC market, according to a new report released on Wednesday by analyst firm IDC. IDC also said that worldwide server revenue fell in the third quarter, a harbinger of what to expect going forward. In its newest Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, IDC said that it expects total worldwide x86-based PC shipments to grow a mere 3.8 percent to reach 313.9 million units in 2009, up from its estimated shipments in 2008 of 302.3 million units, which is a 12.4 percent increase over 2007's shipments. IDC includes x86-based desktop and portable PCs as well as x86-based servers in ...

Analyst Sees Apple iPod Shortage Spreading
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Is Apple a victim of its own success? It sure looks that way, according to one analyst, who said that robust iPod sales on Black Friday have led to shortages in certain models and across some retail channels. In a research note Wednesday, Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu said that what began as "stock outs" or shortages on Amazon.com on just the iPod touch model have now spread to other retailers and different iPod models. Wu said that the wait time at Amazon.com on the 8 GB iPod touch has stretched to three to five weeks from 11 days; the wait for the 16 GB model is three to five weeks. Based on distribution and ...

Test Center SMB Picks At Virtual Tradeshow
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Everything Channel Test Center editors on Wednesday introduced several of their picks for products aimed at the small and midsized business market as part of the Everything Channel Virtual eVent: Selling into the SMB Market. Edward Moltzen, Test Center managing editor, and Samara Lynn, Test Center technical editor, introduced their picks for products for small and midsized businesses based on their recent product reviews. Lynn started out with her pick for small and midsize business operating system, Windows Small Business Server 2008. She said she liked the simple, almost completely automated, installation. Lynn also liked the ...

Kaspersky Lab: Product Innovation Will Help Combat Cyber 'Arms Race'
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — MOSCOW -- The struggle between cybercriminals and security vendors has often been called a battle. But in reality, Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of Moscow-based endpoint security company Kaspersky Lab, said the ongoing saga has escalated to look more like an arms race, with both parties escalating their tactics but neither getting ahead. Consequently, Kaspersky is developing new technologies to keep pace with the onslaught of malware ...

Microsoft, RSA Team Up To Prevent Data Leaks
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft and RSA, the security division of EMC, on Thursday announced plans to weave RSA's data loss prevention (DLP) technology into the Windows platform, giving companies a way to improve their chances of not ending up in the headlines over an embarrassing data leak incident. Shipping later this month, RSA's DLP Suite 6.5 will integrate with Microsoft Active Directory ...

Free Internet Access On FCC's Docket
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The Federal Communications Commission at a Dec. 18 meeting will debate a plan that, if approved, would result in free Internet access. Free Internet access continues to be a hot topic as the cell phone industry vociferously opposes it, while the Republican leadership of the FCC entertains proposals in favor of it. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is a champion of the plan, which involves auctioning off 25MHz of the little-used Advanced Wireless Services band and offering at least 25 percent for a free nationwide broadband ...

Microsoft Warns Against Fake 'Blue Edition' Software
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft doesn't want you to have a blue Christmas and Thursday warned consumers to steer clear of a new online auction scheme that sells fake discounted Microsoft software. Microsoft said it has been receiving complaints from unsuspecting customers having been stung after buying counterfeit Windows XP software and "illicit software components" burned onto a CD. The fake software ...

AT&T To Slash 12,000 Jobs
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The U.S. economic crisis has claimed another victim, with AT planning to lay off approximately 4 percent of its work force, or 12,000 employees. The exclusive mobile provider of Apple's iPhone says the move is a result of the economic climate, changing business and the desire to create a more streamlined operation. AT 's job cuts are planned to begin this month and continue throughout 2009. The move is aimed at reducing AT 's capital expenditures for 2009 to levels consistent with what the company incurred in 2008. AT plans to take a charge of $600 million in the fourth quarter to pay for employee severance packages. AT had no ...

AT&T To Slash 12,000 Jobs
The Channel Wire — The U.S. economic crisis has claimed another victim, with AT planning to lay off approximately 4 percent of its work force, or 12,000 employees. The exclusive mobile provider of Apple's iPhone says the move is a result of the economic climate, changing business and the desire to create a more streamlined operation. AT 's job cuts are planned to begin this month and continue throughout 2009. The move is aimed at reducing AT 's capital expenditures for 2009 to levels consistent with what the company incurred in 2008. AT plans to take a charge of $600 million in the fourth quarter to pay for employee severance packages. AT had no ...

Google Dodged Antitrust Charges By Three Hours
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The proposed advertising pact between Google and Yahoo came under fire almost immediately after it was announced. But Wednesday Sanford Litvack, a consultant for the Department of Justice's antitrust division, confirmed that Google pulled the plug on the proposed ad deal a scant three hours before the Department of Justice was going to file a claim. Speaking to the AM LawDaily , Litvack confirmed that the Department of Justice was preparing to pursue legal action against Google. "We were going to file the complaint at a certain time during the day," Litvack said. "We told them we were going to file the complaint at ...

Google Dodged Antitrust Charges By Three Hours
The Channel Wire — The proposed advertising pact between Google and Yahoo came under fire almost immediately after it was announced. But Wednesday Sanford Litvack, a consultant for the Department of Justice's antitrust division, confirmed that Google pulled the plug on the proposed ad deal a scant three hours before the Department of Justice was going to file a claim. Speaking to the AM LawDaily , Litvack confirmed that the Department of Justice was preparing to pursue legal action against Google. "We were going to file the complaint at a certain time during the day," Litvack said. "We told them we were going to file the complaint at ...

AMD Sees Q4 Revenue Shortfall
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday warned fourth-quarter revenue would be much weaker than expected due to sluggish demand, particularly among consumers. AMD expects revenue from continuing operations for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 27 to decline 25 percent from the third quarter to roughly $1.19 billion. [image] ...

Rumors Swirl That Wal-Mart Will Sell $99 4-GB iPhone
The Channel Wire — Save money, live better and get an Apple iPhone for the low, low price of $99? Whether that's fact or wishful thinking, news that Wal-Mart will sell the 4-GB Apple iPhone at the rock-bottom price is causing a buzz. While it can't confirm the story, Boy Genius Report broke the news Thursday after it said it got a tip about the deal, and said that the deeply discounted 4-GB iPhone will require a two-year agreement. The Web site warned that readers should take the rumors with a grain of salt. Back in October, the site also cited unnamed sources who said unspecified iPhone models would be sold at the discount retailer around Dec. 28. ...

Rumors Swirl That Wal-Mart Will Sell $99 4-GB iPhone
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Save money, live better and get an Apple iPhone for the low, low price of $99? Whether that's fact or wishful thinking, news that Wal-Mart will sell the 4-GB Apple iPhone at the rock-bottom price is causing a buzz. While it can't confirm the story, Boy Genius Report broke the news Thursday after it said it got a tip about the deal, and said that the deeply discounted 4-GB iPhone will require a two-year agreement. The Web site warned that readers should take the rumors with a grain of salt. Back in October, the site also cited unnamed sources who said unspecified iPhone models would be sold at the discount retailer around Dec. 28. ...

Top 25 Channel Exec Steps Down At Samsung
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Chris Franey, a 20-year-plus channel veteran who led IT product giant Samsung to a channel comeback and big market share gains, is stepping aside as vice president of marketing and commercial sales at the multibillion-dollar conglomerate's Information Technology ...

Pushing The Case For Next-Gen Document Outsourcing
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With the economic recession leaving no end of IT untouched, CIOs and other attendees at Everything Channel's Print & Imaging Summit in Bonita Springs, Fla., have cost-effective solutions on the brain—be they the planned adoption of smart multifunction products or attempting to gain a better understanding of managed print services. Gartner Managing Vice President Peter Grant on Wednesday night identified both of those solutions—plus software—as the "the three lighthouses guiding [organizations] to the land of print cost savings." "A year ago, we sat here and tried to look at where the industry was going," Grant said, "and I ...

IBM Fights Microsoft With Virtual Linux Desktop
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — IBM is working with a couple of partners to introduce Linux-based virtual desktop PCs in a move aimed straight at the heart of Microsoft's business. IBM on Thursday said it is working with Virtual Bridges and Canonical to develop a Ubuntu Linux-based solution with Lotus collaboration software ...

Just Getting Started, Apple App Store Breaks 10,000
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Last week the iPhone application Web site 148apps reported that the Apple App Store had surpassed 10,000 applications. Unfortunately for 148apps, a number of the apps the site counted had been removed, dropping the number shy of 10,000. Wednesday AppShopper , which keeps its own tally of available iPhone applications, said the store really had passed the 10,000 mark. The store opened on July 11 of this year and iPhone app developers have already broken into five digits worth of free and pay apps. That was accomplished in less than six months. And the developers wrote those apps all while being subjected to Apple's ...

Idealstor Looks To Ease VMware Backups
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Storage software vendor Idealstor on Wednesday said it has rewritten its enterprise backup solution to make it easier to back up virtual servers in VMware environments. The solution, iBac Virtual Infrastructure Proxy (VIP), allows the backup of the virtual servers to be offloaded to a separate physical server to increase the backup performance significantly, said Nandan Arora, the vendor's CTO. Those proxy servers can either be purchased from Idealstor or from other sources. IBac VIP is a reworked version of the company's iBac backup application for Windows servers, with new functionality specific to ...

Facebook Connect, Now Live, May Change The Web
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Originally announced in May, Facebook Connect opened itself for general availability Thursday, giving its 130 million users the ability to fuse their Facebook browsing with any desktop application, Web site and mobile device. The Facebook Connect ...

Facebook Connect, Now Live, May Change The Web
The Channel Wire — Originally announced in May, Facebook Connect opened itself for general availability Thursday, giving its 130 million users the ability to fuse their Facebook browsing with any desktop application, Web site and mobile device. The Facebook Connect ...

IBM's Linux-Based Virtual PC Solution Faces Channel Questions
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The new Ubuntu Linux-based virtual desktop PC architecture released Thursday by IBM and a couple of its software partners could save customers money compared to traditional Microsoft-based PCs, but that depends on whether customers are ready for it or not, according to an IBM solution provider. IBM on Thursday said it is working with partners Virtual Bridges and Canonical to develop a Ubuntu Linux-based virtual PC solution . The PC virtualization solution includes Virtual Bridges' Virtual Enterprise Remote Desktop Environment (VERDE), Canonical's Ubuntu Linux desktop operating system and IBM's Open Collaboration ...

Report: Obama Seen Rocking Out With A Zune
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — President-elect Barack Obama was recently observed exercising at a Philadelphia gym listening to a Microsoft Zune music player, according to a Tuesday report in the Philadelphia City Paper , a free alternative news weekly. One recent morning at the Philadelphia Sports Club, Obama "hopped on the machine next to me and broke a mean sweat while reading a copy of USA Today and listening to his Zune," wrote Philadelphia City Paper reporter Neal Santos. Obama, wearing track pants and a sweat shirt, was accompanied by a phalanx of Secret Service agents, who frisked Santos as he arrived at the gym. In a Wednesday blog post, ...

Report: Obama Seen Rocking Out With A Zune
The Channel Wire — President-elect Barack Obama was recently observed exercising at a Philadelphia gym listening to a Microsoft Zune music player, according to a Tuesday report in the Philadelphia City Paper , a free alternative news weekly. One recent morning at the Philadelphia Sports Club, Obama "hopped on the machine next to me and broke a mean sweat while reading a copy of USA Today and listening to his Zune," wrote Philadelphia City Paper reporter Neal Santos. Obama, wearing track pants and a sweat shirt, was accompanied by a phalanx of Secret Service agents, who frisked Santos as he arrived at the gym. In a Wednesday blog post, ...

Adobe Lays Off Eight Percent Of Workforce
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Adobe Systems on Tuesday became the latest company to cut staff as a result of the global economic crisis, announcing plans to lay off 600 employees, or about 8 percent of its workforce. San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe, which will hold its fourth-quarter earnings call Dec. 16, cited weak demand for Creative Suite 4, a collection of design tools for print, Web, mobile, interactive, film and video ...

Facebook: Beware Of False Friends Bearing Worms
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Don't take the bait! Two new variants of the Koobface worm are hitting Facebook after previously making the rounds on MySpace. The worm was discovered by IT security provider Kaspersky Lab, which said the threat, Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b, is targeting Facebook users by creating spam messages and sending them to the infected user's friends via the site. "Unfortunately, users are very trusting of messages left by 'friends' on social networking ...

Facebook: Beware Of False Friends Bearing Worms
The Channel Wire — Don't take the bait! A new variant of the Koobface worm is hitting Facebook after previously making the rounds on MySpace. The worm was discovered by IT security provider Kaspersky Lab, which said the threat, Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b, is targeting Facebook users by creating spam messages and sending them to the infected user's friends via the site. "Unfortunately, users are very trusting of messages left by 'friends' on social networking ...

Microsoft Taps Yahoo Exec To Lead Online Group
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft may have walked away from its proposed acquisition of Yahoo, but it's continuing to Hoover away brainpower from the struggling search giant. On Thursday, Microsoft announced that Dr. Qi Lu, former executive vice president of engineering for the Search and Advertising Technology Group at Yahoo, will take over as president of Microsoft's Online Services Group on Jan. 5. Lu, who spent 10 years at Yahoo and left the company in August, oversaw development of Yahoo's search and monetization platforms, and will fill one of the executive slots created when Microsoft split its Platforms & Services Division (PSD) into two groups in ...

Acer-Branded Smartphone Coming In 1Q
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — After several months of industry speculation, Acer has finally confirmed that it's planning to launch its first Acer-branded smartphone in the first quarter of 2009. But given the razor-thin margins of mobile devices, Acer resellers aren't exactly bubbling with excitement over the news. Acer closed its acquisition of Taiwan-based smartphone maker E-Ten in September, but company executives have been so reluctant to discuss particulars of a forthcoming device that some in the industry have taken to calling it the 'A-phone.' Acer will boost staffing in its smartphone division to 500 employees and take over full control ...

Facebook Connect: Show And Tell For The Web
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Facebook Connect went live Thursday and may usher in a new way to browse and interact with the Web. The program enhances the connectivity among the social network, its users and the Web pages users visit. In addition, Facebook shrewdly increases ad revenue for itself and partners while cementing its reputation as the social network ...

Facebook Connect: Show And Tell For The Web
The Channel Wire — Facebook Connect went live Thursday and may usher in a new way to browse and interact with the Web. The program enhances the connectivity among the social network, its users and the Web pages users visit. In addition, Facebook shrewdly increases ad revenue for itself and partners while cementing its reputation as the social network ...

Avnet Lowers Sales Guidance For Hardware
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Avnet on Thursday lowered its sales guidance for its second quarter ending Dec. 27 by 4 percent to reflect the Phoenix-based channel distributor's perception of lower demand for computer and electronics components, Avnet CEO Roy Vallee announced at a technology conference ...

Apple App Store Surges Past 300 Million Sales Mark
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Apple this week ran advertisements that announced the company has sold more than 300 million App Store applications for iPhone and iPod Touch users since July.

Apple App Store Surges Past 300 Million Sales Mark
The Channel Wire — Apple has sold more than 300 million applications to iPhone and iPod Touch users since launching its App Store in July, according to Apple advertisements that appeared this week in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Some industry pundits have suggested that App Store, which now has more than 10,000 applications for sale, is just another passing fad, but Apple appears to be averaging 60 million App Store downloads per month. In August, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told the Wall Street Journal Apple had hit the 60 million figure in the first month and suggested it could eventually become a billion dollar business. "This ...

Eugene Kaspersky: Growing In Times Of Crisis
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Everything Channel sat down with Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of endpoint security company Kapsersky Lab, at the New Dimensions International Press Tour in Moscow, Russia, to discuss the company's rocket growth, overcoming the challenges of the global economic crisis and the company's recently announced plans to make inroads into the enterprise. Here are a few edited excerpts. You started Kaspersky Lab 11 years ago in Russia, in a time when there wasn't a lot of infrastructure ...

Review: Shedding Light On Logitech's New Keyboard
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — In the course of a year, the Test Center examines products ranging from high-end servers to lower-end netbooks—and everything in between. But the one piece of technology that we seem to touch the most is what often gets the least attention: the keyboard. Logitech recently launched its Illuminated Keyboard, a $79.99 peripheral that stands out because of the backlighting it provides the keys in addition to a few other nifty functions. After trying out the USB-connected device for a few days, it becomes clear that it is one of those rare products that enhances the computing experience so much that it's worth recommending strongly. For ...

Apple iPhone To Be $2 Cheaper At Wal-Mart
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Following in the footsteps of the T-Mobile G1, the Apple iPhone 3G may soon make an appearance in the electronic section of the nation's largest discount retailer -- Wal-Mart -- for a discounted price. While neither Wal-Mart nor Apple has officially confirmed the iPhone's Wal-Mart debut, several reports have surfaced indicating that the now-iconic touch-screen smart phone could be on Wal-Mart shelves by the end of the month, just in time for the last-minute holiday shopping rush. According to MacRumors , new Wal-Mart training materials and advertising for the iPhone show that Wal-Mart will sell the 8GB version ...

How Much Is That Apple iPhone In Wal-Mart's Window?
The Channel Wire — Following in the footsteps of the T-Mobile G1, the Apple iPhone 3G may soon make an appearance in the electronics section of the nation's largest discount retailer—Wal-Mart—for a discounted price. While neither Wal-Mart nor Apple has officially confirmed the iPhone's Wal-Mart debut, several reports have surfaced indicating that the now-iconic touch-screen smartphone could be on Wal-Mart shelves by the end of the month, just in time for the last-minute holiday shopping rush. According to MacRumors , new Wal-Mart training materials and advertising for the iPhone show that Wal-Mart will sell the 8-GB version of ...

IT Channel Vision Keynote: Government IT Spending To Dip
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Any solution provider who thinks selling IT to the government represents a safe haven from the budget pressures facing the commercial sector better think again. Given the downturn in overall IT spending, Gartner's lead public sector analyst expects federal IT spending to drop by more than $4 billion in 2009—and growth won't return until 2012. It was a stunning revelation by Rishi Sood, Gartner research vice president, who was speaking at Everything Channel's IT Channel Vision Government Summit. He said he was "unofficially" providing a federal IT spending forecast to the crowd as a means of gathering feedback from the key vendors and IT ...

Google Android G1 Goes Unlocked For Developers
The Channel Wire — Google's Android team is looking to make it a very happy holiday for developers, releasing the Android Dev Phone 1, the first SIM- and hardware-unlocked smartphone based on the Google Android open-source mobile operating system. The G1 made waves when it was released by T-Mobile in October, officially launching the Android-based device into a head-to-head-to-head rivalry against touch-screen titans the Apple iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Storm , Research In Motion's first-ever touch-screen device. The T-Mobile G1 marked the first commercially available device based on Google Android. Other ...

Google Android G1 Goes Unlocked For Developers
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Google's Android team is looking to make it a very happy holiday for developers, releasing the Android Dev Phone 1, the first SIM- and hardware-unlocked smartphone based on the Google Android open-source mobile operating system. The G1 made waves when it was released by T-Mobile in October, officially launching the Android-based device into a head-to-head-to-head rivalry against touch-screen titans the Apple iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Storm , Research In Motion's first-ever touch-screen device. The T-Mobile G1 marked the first commercially available device based on Google Android. Other ...

Walmart.com: We've Got Thousands Of Wiis For Sale
The Channel Wire — It's rated "E" for everyone. On Monday, Walmart.com reached into its bag of goodies and began offering "tens of thousands" of Nintendo Wii consoles. The sale is a godsend for folks who have found Wiis sold out nearly everywhere. The rollback savings mean that Nintendo Wii consoles are available for $249.24, selected game titles for $30 and accessories such as the Wii Racing Wheel starting at less than $10. The products are limited to the online site and are available "while supplies last." The discounter is also offering a Nintendo Wii Value bundle that includes console, game, accessory pack and an extra set of controllers for $329, a ...

Walmart.com: We've Got Thousands Of Wiis For Sale
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — It's rated "E" for everyone. On Monday, Walmart.com reached into its bag of goodies and began offering "tens of thousands" of Nintendo Wii consoles. The sale is a godsend for folks who have found Wiis sold out nearly everywhere. The rollback savings mean that Nintendo Wii consoles are available for $249.24, selected game titles for $30 and accessories such as the Wii Racing Wheel starting at less than $10. The products are limited to the online site and are available "while supplies last." The discounter is also offering a Nintendo Wii Value bundle that includes console, game, accessory pack and an extra set of controllers for $329, a ...

Blackberry Apps Help VAR Ride Out the Storm
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With RIM's Blackberry Storm debut a few weeks ago, the popularity of those little devices in the workplace continues unabated. Some of the reviews have been mixed, particularly regarding the Storm's sluggish performance (Verizon is slated to upgrade the firmware ...

Salesforce Links Development Platform To Google App Engine
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Salesforce.com is linking its Force.com online development platform to Google's App Engine in a move Salesforce said would expand opportunities for developers building cloud applications and integrating them with other Web 2.0 ...

Fugitive CEO Stein Bagger Arrested In L.A.
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Stein Bagger, the fugitive CEO of bankrupt Danish SaaS solution provider IT Factory, turned himself in to Los Angeles police over the weekend, just over a week after disappearing while on a trip to Dubai. In a case that has taken more bizarre twists and turns ...

Report: Microsoft, Dell Ink Live Search Toolbar Deal
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft and Dell have agreed to pre-install the former's Live Search Toolbar on the latter's new PCs, according to Microsoft blogger Mary Jo Foley. Citing sources familiar with the deal, Foley late last week reported that Microsoft has convinced Dell to scrap its existing search toolbar deal with Google and replace it with Microsoft's Live Search ...

Report: Microsoft, Dell Ink Live Search Toolbar Deal
The Channel Wire — Microsoft and Dell have agreed to pre-install the former's Live Search Toolbar on the latter's new PCs, according to Microsoft blogger Mary Jo Foley. Citing sources familiar with the deal, Foley late last week reported that Microsoft has convinced Dell to scrap its existing search toolbar deal with Google and replace it with Microsoft's Live Search ...

Album Cover Image Blocked On U.K. Wikipedia Site
The Channel Wire — Thirty-two years later, a Scorpions' album cover that shows a naked little girl is again stirring up controversy, this time on the U.K. version of Wikipedia. The Internet Watch Foundation Saturday blocked access to the Wikipedia ...

Album Cover Image Blocked On U.K. Wikipedia Site
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Thirty-two years later, a Scorpions' album cover that shows a naked little girl is again stirring up controversy, this time on the U.K. version of Wikipedia. The Internet Watch Foundation Saturday blocked access to the Wikipedia ...

Belkin Gets New Sales Chief
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Belkin International has a new sales and channel leader to go with the company's recent change in product lines. Sean Williams was recently promoted to the newly created role of vice president of the Americas, a spokesperson for the Compton, Calif.-based peripherals vendor confirmed. The spokesperson also said that Gregg Prendergast is no longer the company's vice president of sales, and is no longer working with Belkin. Belkin did not say whether Prendergast left the company under his own accord or was let go. Prendergast joined Belkin in May of 2006 after handling sales and distribution for Samsung America's Information ...

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Launches In Canada. Is U.S. Next?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd. on Monday launched the BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as the BlackBerry Javelin, in Canada. Now that our neighbors to the north have it, the U.S. release can't be too far behind. The updated Curve, considered by many to be the kid brother of the high-end BlackBerry Bold 9000, takes a more sophisticated twist on previous Curve models. The quad-band device offers EDGE support with built-in Wi-Fi ...

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Launches In Canada. Is U.S. Next?
The Channel Wire — BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd. on Monday launched the BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as the BlackBerry Javelin, in Canada. Now that our neighbors to the north have it, the U.S. release can't be too far behind. The updated Curve, considered by many to be the kid brother of the high-end BlackBerry Bold 9000, takes a more sophisticated twist on previous Curve models. The quad-band device offers EDGE support with built-in Wi-Fi ...

Adults Get Their Game Face On
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Video games aren't just for kids anymore: A new Pew Internet Research study found that 53 percent of American adults age 18 and older play video games and roughly 21 percent play every day or almost every day. Still, teenagers—the crowd that doesn't have a pesky day job to interrupt playing time—are the most active players. A whopping 97 percent of teens reported playing video games. But perhaps their parents are picking up some of their kids' habits: Parents surveyed are far more likely than non-parents to play video games. Sixty-six percent of parents or guardians of children 17 years old or younger play games, compared with ...

Top 25 Exec Takes Top Kensington Post
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Samsung's loss is Kensington's gain. Chris Franey, who led a channel resurgence as a vice president at IT products giant Samsung and resigned suddenly last week, has resurfaced as president of the Computer Products Group of ACCO Brands, which markets a wide variety of computer accessories under the Kensington brand. The appointment puts Franey, a 20-year-plus channel veteran and perennial CRN Top 25 Executive ...

Chip Makers TI, National Semiconductor Slash Revenue Targets
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Chip maker Texas Instruments Inc and smaller rival National Semiconductor Corp have slashed revenue forecasts to far below Wall Street expectations, suggesting orders for analog and wireless chips are at a virtual standstill. TI shares fell 5 percent after the news Monday, while National Semiconductor stock dropped 7 percent. [image] TI cut its revenue forecast for the current quarter by about 19 percent, which was far worse than analysts had forecast, even though expectations had already been low after cell phone maker Nokia, TI's top customer, issued two warnings in three weeks about phone demand. Charter Equity ...

Partners: Microsoft On Right Track With Windows 7
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — As Microsoft moves toward a possible mid-January public release of the first Windows 7 beta, many channel partners like what they're seeing from Microsoft and the way it's communicating about the next version of Windows. Microsoft, which distributed a pre-beta version of Windows 7 to Professional Developer Conference (PDC) and Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) attendees, is reportedly aiming for a Jan. 13 release of Windows 7 beta 1, although some Microsoft pundits expect Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to unveil the Windows 7 beta during his Jan. 7 keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show. Andy Kretzer, director of ...

IT Security Panel Urges Obama To Name Cyberspace Czar
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The United States could have its first cyberspace czar if a blue-ribbon commission on cybersecurity finds a receptive audience in President-elect Barack Obama. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) panel on Monday recommended that Obama name an "assistant for cyberspace" and create a new White House office and National Security Council (NSC) directorate to better coordinate the U.S. government's response to electronic security threats from foreign powers and criminals. The CSIS commission's 96-page report , "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency," was intended to recommend an ...

First Look: Google Adds Task Listing To Gmail
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — For a few years, Microsoft has made a task list a neat feature inside Outlook—a function that allows users to keep a running checklist of the stuff they need to do all day—and integrated it tightly into its e-mail and calendaring. Now Google is matching that functionality by adding a "tasks" function to Gmail. According to Google's Gmail blog: ...

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 Live, Mozilla Already Eyeing Beta 3
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 was released to the public Monday, but Mike Beltzer, director of Firefox development, said that Mozilla is already targeting Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 for a February 2009 release. In an e-mail to ChannelWeb.com, Beltzer outlined some of the important features that come with Beta 2 and the reasons for releasing Firefox 3.1 Beta 3. "Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 includes some big changes (Web worker threads, Private Browsing Mode and Tracemonkey) and it was felt that another public consultation point would be needed before we were ready to move to release candidates," Beltzer wrote. Private Browsing ...

Social Climber: MySpace Toolbar For Your Browser
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — MySpace will roll out a feature that allows members to access their profile information through a toolbar that can be placed in the browser. MySpace members will be able to view status information via the toolbar to stay better connected with friends on the network. "It's a toolbar with the social functionality built in," said Amit Kapur, MySpace's COO, speaking at LeWeb 08 conference in Paris, PC World reports. The MySpace toolbar will only function on PCs running Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browser, but the company is hoping to get a Mac version of the toolbar up and running soon. ...

Social Climber: MySpace Toolbar For Your Browser
The Channel Wire — MySpace will roll out a feature that allows members to access their profile information through a toolbar that can be placed in the browser. MySpace members will be able to view status information via the toolbar to stay better connected with friends on the network. "It's a toolbar with the social functionality built in," said Amit Kapur, MySpace's COO, speaking at LeWeb 08 conference in Paris, PC World reports. The MySpace toolbar will only function on PCs running Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browser, but the company is hoping to get a Mac version of the toolbar up and running soon. ...

Sony Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Slashes Investments
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Sony said Tuesday it would cut 8,000 jobs in reaction to sluggish sales, particularly of its televisions and digital cameras. That number comprises regular workers and represents 4 percent of Sony's entire workforce. Sony also said it plans to reduce head count in its seasonal and temporary workforces. The move is aimed at slashing $1.1 billion in operational and investment costs. Sony's investment in the electronics business will decrease by approximately 30 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. That includes plans to cut investment expenditures this fiscal year by outsourcing ...

Cisco's Ready For The Video Revolution
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With IP video showing no signs of slowing, Cisco this week lifted the curtain on a new video strategy and technologies designed to make IP networks the platform for the new generation of video and rich media applications and services. Dubbed "medianet," the new suite of technologies was built for advanced communications, collaboration and entertainment through video and rich media-optimized service provider, business and home networks. "The use of rich media technologies will play a very important role going forward in terms of how we work, live and play," said Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco's ...

EMC, Dell Extend Agreement Despite Cracks In Relationship
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Storage giants EMC and Dell on Tuesday restated their vows by signing a multiyear extension to their global reseller agreement and making EMC's Celerra NX4 storage system a part of Dell's storage portfolio. The relationship between the two, under which Dell sells much of the EMC storage portfolio under the Dell | EMC brand, was originally signed in October 2001 . With Tuesday's agreement, it is now extended through 2013, despite cracks that have appeared between the two. Under the relationship, which was extended several times, Dell has become EMC's largest reseller, accounting at times for up to one-third of EMC's ...

IBM VAR Ryjac Acquires Services, Colo Provider
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — A small IBM solution provider has acquired a provider of managed hosting and co-location services in order to offer a more complete solution to its customers. Ryjac Computer Solutions, an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider and IBM premier partner, in early December acquired Express ASP, an Irvine, Calif.-based provider of a variety of services via its Irvine and Scottsdale, Ariz., data centers. Mitch Kleinman, president of Ryjac, was one of the original investors in Express ASP, but at the time of the initial investment was not sure how well the business would do. "But I thought their ideas had merit," Kleinman said. ...

Google AdWords Go Mobile
The Channel Wire — While other industries and companies are scrambling to find a way to monetize Web platforms, Google seems to have it down to a science. On Monday, the company formally rolled out its AdWords campaign for T-Mobile's G1 device and Apple's iPhone, giving advertisers the ability to reach potential customers anywhere. Alexandra Kenin, product marketing manager, mobile ads team for Google, posted a note to the Official Google Mobile Blog alerting advertisers to the new options and customers to the swarm of ads that may soon be coming to their mobile devices. "The Google mobile ads team is announcing a new campaign-level option that ...

Google AdWords Go Mobile
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — While other industries and companies are scrambling to find a way to monetize Web platforms, Google seems to have it down to a science. On Monday, the company formally rolled out its AdWords campaign for T-Mobile's G1 device and Apple's iPhone, giving advertisers the ability to reach potential customers anywhere. Alexandra Kenin, product marketing manager, mobile ads team for Google, posted a note to the Official Google Mobile Blog alerting advertisers to the new options and customers to the swarm of ads that may soon be coming to their mobile devices. "The Google mobile ads team is announcing a new campaign-level option that ...

Former Microsoft Exec Raikes Joins Costco Board
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Costco Wholesale Corp. on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and a 25-year Microsoft veteran, to its board of directors. Raikes is the 14th member of the Costco board, which also includes William H. Gates Sr. (Bill Gates' father), Yahoo President Susan Decker and Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of the board of Berkshire Hathaway. Raikes joined the Gates Foundation in September ...

Former Microsoft Exec Raikes Joins Costco Board
The Channel Wire — Costco Wholesale Corp. on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and a 25-year Microsoft veteran, to its board of directors. Raikes is the 14th member of the Costco board, which also includes William H. Gates Sr. (Bill Gates' father), Yahoo President Susan Decker and Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of the board of Berkshire Hathaway. Raikes joined the Gates Foundation in September ...

What Big-Spend End Users Want From Print And Imaging
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Budgets are shot, resources are low and efficiency is crucial. If all these things sound familiar to solution providers in the print and imaging space -- not to mention everywhere else in IT -- they're the exact same concerns that were echoed by large enterprise and other end users at Everything Channel's 2008 Print & Imaging ...

Microsoft Fixes 28 Security Bugs For Patch Tuesday
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft issued eight security patches in its December security bulletin, fixing a total of 28 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office that allow remote attackers to launch malicious attacks on victims' PCs. The security fixes are part of Microsoft's regular monthly patch release, issued on the second Tuesday of every month, known as Patch Tuesday. Six of the updates, repairing a total of 23 errors, were deemed critical, which means that potential cyber attackers have the ability to execute malicious code remotely that could shut down or completely take control of a user's PC. ...

Lousy Economy Hits Home: IT Sales Growth To Slow To 1.6 Percent In 2009
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — U.S. business and government purchases of IT equipment and services will grow a paltry 1.6 percent in 2009, with sales of computer hardware and communications equipment taking the biggest hit, according to a new report from Forrester Research. The good news: The sales slowdown won't be as bad as in 2001 and 2002 following the dot-com crash, when IT purchases declined 15 to 20 percent, according to the report. Forrester has steadily lowered its forecasts for IT sales in 2009, which the firm once predicted would grow 10 percent. "The recession is now likely to be deeper and longer than we had assumed as late as October 2008," analyst ...

Yahoo Workers Will Learn Of Layoffs Wednesday: Source
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Yahoo will cut its workforce in high-cost markets and hire aggressively in lower-cost locales such as Eastern Europe, India and Southeast Asia, the company has said.

Who Will Obama Name As Cyberspace Czar?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — If president-elect Barack Obama heeds the advice of a blue-ribbon IT security panel , he'll create a new White House office for cyberspace to be headed by an adviser charged with coordinating the computer security efforts of federal departments and agencies. In other words, a Cyber Czar. But who would fill the role envisioned in the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) commission's recent 96-page report , "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency?" ChannelWeb runs down the list of potential candidates for Cyber Czar. THE CORPORATE LEADER John Thompson, CEO of Symantec. Thompson's timing ...

Adtran Opens VoIP Line To More Partners
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Adtran this week launched a new program that aims to open its VoIP product lines to SMB-focused solution providers that haven't achieved the necessary technology specialization. Through its new Value-Added Distribution (VAD) program, the vendor is working to team highly skilled distributors with partners that might not have the wherewithal to sell its NetVanta line of VoIP products on their own. Partners must earn Adtran's IP Telephony Specialization in order to sell NetVanta VoIP offerings. "Through our VAD program, [distributors] are making the investment to become certified. They have the resources to serve ...

Steve Ballmer's CES Keynote Could Be A Doozy
The Channel Wire — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show is still nearly a month away, but it's already looking like it could contain announcements of seismic significance. Some Microsoft pundits have speculated that Ballmer, in his first CES keynote since Bill Gates stepped away from day-to-day duties in June, could publicly unveil Windows 7 beta 1 . However, that wouldn't be a huge surprise given that Microsoft has said Windows 7 beta 1 will be available "in early 2009." Microsoft evangelist Keith Combs also recently mentioned Jan. 13 as a possible target date for releasing Windows 7 ...

Steve Ballmer's CES Keynote Could Be A Doozy
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show is still nearly a month away, but it's already looking like it could contain announcements of seismic significance. Some Microsoft pundits have speculated that Ballmer, in his first CES keynote since Bill Gates stepped away from day-to-day duties in June, could publicly unveil Windows 7 beta 1 . However, that wouldn't be a huge surprise given that Microsoft has said Windows 7 beta 1 will be available "in early 2009." Microsoft evangelist Keith Combs also recently mentioned Jan. 13 as a possible target date for releasing Windows 7 ...

Open Handset Alliance Welcomes 14 New Members
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Fourteen new companies have joined Google's Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and mobility players bent on developing open-source solutions on the Google Android Mobile Operating system. The addition of the 14 brings the total number of members to 47. According to Google, AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borgs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone are the latest to join the Android revolution. The new members, along with existing members like Motorola, Sprint Nextel, HTC, T-Mobile, LG ...

Open Handset Alliance Welcomes 14 New Members
The Channel Wire — Fourteen new companies have joined Google's Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and mobility players bent on developing open-source solutions on the Google Android Mobile Operating system. The addition of the 14 brings the total number of members to 47. According to Google, AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borgs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone are the latest to join the Android revolution. The new members, along with existing members like Motorola, Sprint Nextel, HTC, T-Mobile, LG ...

Microsoft Agrees To Reduce Time It Keeps Search Data
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft agreed Monday to adhere to a request from a European privacy panel to reduce the time it archived search engine records to six months, but only if its competitors, Google and Yahoo, promised to do the same. Microsoft's search engine, MSN Live Search, currently holds onto records for up to 18 months. However, Microsoft said that it would be willing to comply with a request to keep records no longer than six months, which was issued by Article 29 Working Party, a European Commission advisory panel, comprised of data protections specialists from 27 European countries. "Today, Microsoft announced that it's ...

Sun Discusses Cloud Computing Tech, But Not Plans
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Sun Microsystems is laying the groundwork for its participation in the building of computing clouds, but is not yet ready to talk about its plans for running its own clouds. Dave Douglas, senior vice president of Sun's Cloud Computing Business Unit, said Tuesday that his company has hundreds of employees working on cloud computing and is spending a lot of time with enterprise customers, services customers and partners on developing the infrastructure ...

Microsoft, HP Open Private Label SaaS To VARs
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — HP and Microsoft have teamed up on an initiative to school their channel partners in the finer points of selling Software-as-a-Service applications to SMB customers. On Wednesday, Microsoft and HP unveiled plans to give VARs the tools and guidance necessary to provide their own branded, or 'private label' Microsoft SaaS offerings that are hosted by managed service providers. HP and Microsoft say the ability for SMBs to tap into services that were previously out of their financial reach will benefit them as well as the VARs with whom they've developed "trusted adviser" relationships. "This is about helping make VARs more ...

Open Handset Alliance Grows; Where Are The Devices?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With this week's addition of 14 new members to Google's Open Handset Alliance, the total number of participants skyrockets to 47, all working to develop devices and applications based around Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. Google's Open Handset Alliance includes several top handset makers, mobile operators, and software, semiconductor and commercialization companies. The new additions—AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borgs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone—will further the ...

Open Handset Alliance Grows; Where Are The Devices?
The Channel Wire — With this week's addition of 14 new members to Google's Open Handset Alliance, the total number of participants skyrockets to 47, all working to develop devices and applications based around Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. Google's Open Handset Alliance includes several top handset makers, mobile operators, and software, semiconductor and commercialization companies. The new additions—AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borgs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone—will further the ...

'Green' Batteries To Power HP Notebooks
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — A Boston-based battery company will power up Hewlett-Packard notebooks in 2009 with its line of environmentally friendly devices. Boston Power will sell the Sonata as a "green" power supply for laptop computers. According to the manufacturer, the next-generation lithium-ion battery delivers like-new performance for three years. Consumers will be able to purchase the optional Sonata batteries for use with select HP consumer notebook PCs early next year. The HP Enviro Series program notebook batteries with Sonata technology will come with a three-year warranty. Initially targeting notebook PCs, Sonata's "drop-in" form factor ...

International Win: Perot Scores Health-Care Contract In Jordan
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is preparing to pilot an open-source clinical and health-care information management system, and it has awarded the contract to a familiar face in U.S. and international health-care IT: Perot Systems (No. 35 on the 2008 VARBusiness 500 list). The goal of Jordan's King Abdullah II, according to a Perot press release, is to continue building on Jordan's reputation for having one of the best health-care standards in the Middle East, as well as continue to invest in the country's increasingly more-robust IT sector. E-Health Solutions, a nonprofit Jordanian company selected by the government to spearhead the ...

AOL's Bebo Unclutters Your Online Social Life
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — AOL unit Bebo Wednesday unveiled "Social Inbox," a one-stop interface that aggregates fragmented content from social networking sites such as Twitter and Flickr. Social Inbox lets users pool and organize e-mail, social networking and media recommendations from multiple sites in a single area. Aggregated feeds and updates include content from Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, YouTube and AIM. In addition, Social Inbox provides one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail, as well as user-selected media features such as videos, music and photos. The social feed aggregation is based on technology from AOL's ...

AOL's Bebo Unclutters Your Online Social Life
The Channel Wire — AOL unit Bebo Wednesday unveiled "Social Inbox," a one-stop interface that aggregates fragmented content from social networking sites such as Twitter and Flickr. Social Inbox lets users pool and organize e-mail, social networking and media recommendations from multiple sites in a single area. Aggregated feeds and updates include content from Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, YouTube and AIM. In addition, Social Inbox provides one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail, as well as user-selected media features such as videos, music and photos. The social feed aggregation is based on technology from AOL's ...

Review: The Dual-Xeon, HP xw6600 Workstation
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With the advent of the Nehalem age from Intel, where a single PC processor is now capable of driving systems that can outperform blade servers in a data center, you can expect the rules to be rewritten as far as computing expectations. But evaluating a system means a lot more than just running benchmarking software. Stability, long-term life cycles and support for high-octane, 64-bit applications are traits that we need to consider when looking at workstations for engineers, designers, video editors and others. How well does a workstation support 3-D? How well does it handle audio? How many virtual machines, including virtual servers, ...

Novell, Avnet Strike Distribution Deal
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Avnet Technology Solutions will distribute Novell's PlateSpin workload and virtualization management software through Avnet channel partners under a deal the companies announced Wednesday. Avnet and Novell said the move would allow VARs to expand their data center solutions. The alliance covers Novell's PlateSpin Recon, PlateSpin Migrate, PlateSpin Protect and PlateSpin Orchestrate software. Those tools are used to manage IT system workloads across both physical and virtual computing infrastructures. Novell acquired Toronto-based PlateSpin in February for $205 million in a bid to expand the company's IT ...

Selling Green IT Means Digging Deeper With Customers
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — When it comes to selling environmentally friendly IT solutions, green is just a color to Patrick Ciccarelli, president and CEO of Varsity Technologies, a San Francisco-based solution provider. It's not that Ciccarelli is opposed to selling IT products and services that help the environment. Quite the contrary. But the problem, he feels, is in many cases those solutions aren't helping the end user. And there's a way to do both. Ciccarelli prefers the term "sustainability" to green when it comes to developing solutions that have a lower carbon footprint and can save a company money. He's sold such solutions for the past couple of years ...

Review: GammaTech's Durabook D15RP
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Although Panasonic has made a big name for itself in the durable notebook market, GammaTech Computer has slowly been advancing its Durabook line to compete with the popular Toughbooks. One of the newest models is the D15RP, which the Test Center subjected to our usual "real-world" assessment. Similar in both design and specs to its predecessor, the D15TS, the D15RP has a 15.4-inch WXGA LCD display with resolution up to 1280 x 800. Although it is not the brightest screen we've looked at, the color reproduction and clarity is top notch, driven by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900. There are three USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire ...

LG Display Slashes Q4 Estimates
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — LG Display announced significant cuts to its sales and margin estimates for the fourth quarter Wednesday, telling analysts it expected factories to run at about 80 percent of full capacity in the October-December quarter. "Due to the global economic recession, demand for LCD panels has sharply declined and the price of LCD panels has dropped more than expected," LG Display said in a statement. Chief Financial Officer James Jeong said LG now expects average selling prices of its LCD panels to fall by a percentage, in the low 20s, in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. An earlier forecast from LG had suggested the ...

Psystar Accuses Apple Of OS X Funny Business
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — After a federal judge in California threw out its antitrust lawsuit against Apple last month, the tenacious Mac clone maker Psystar is trying a new legal tactic to battle what it feels is Apple's illegal monopoly of the Mac market. In a Monday filing with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Psystar claims that Apple has illegally manipulated OS X so that it won't boot ...

New Microsoft Services Chief Ready To Tackle Google
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Asked recently to assess Microsoft's chances of ousting the search market leader, Dr. Qi Lu, the newly-named president of Microsoft's Online Services Group, did something that many Microsoft executives have typically avoided doing: He mentioned Google ...

McAfee's 2009 Road Map: Integrate Secure Computing, Ease Deal Reg
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — If all goes according to McAfee's plan, channel partners can look forward to enhanced deal registration processes and new technologies gained from the purchase of Secure Computing. These and other projects the company has on the books were outlined Wednesday by company executives during a conference call. In response to partner feedback, McAfee execs said that they are putting increased effort into simpler and more streamlined deal registration. Specifically, McAfee said that it aims to further reward partners who bring opportunities to the table, either by education outreach or consulting services, even if they don't necessarily close ...

Seagate Tells Workers To Stay Home During Holidays
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Seagate Technology on Wednesday told investors it is slashing its revenue expectations for the quarter and mandating unpaid furloughs for much of its staff during the holidays as a cost-cutting measure. The storage vendor said at the Barclays 2008 Global Technology conference that it expects revenue for the current quarter to be in the range of $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion. As a result, company executives said, its operating results are expected to be below the expectations it previously announced. Seagate on October 22 said during its first fiscal quarter of 2009 financial call that it expected revenue for its second quarter to be ...

Intel Gearing Up For 32 nm 'Westmere' Chips
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The buzz around Intel's new Core i7 parts is still in full swing, but the chip giant already has tongues wagging about the next step in its relentless march to microprocessor dominance, the transition to the 32-nanometer fabrication process. Intel released a statement ...

Report: Netbook Sales Jumped 160 Percent In Q3
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The netbook market grew by more than 160 percent quarter-on-quarter during Q3 of 2008, with Acer grabbing a dominant 38.3 percent share and selling more than 2 million units, according to a new report ...

Report: Netbook Sales Jumped 160 Percent In Q3
The Channel Wire — The netbook market grew by more than 160 percent quarter-on-quarter during Q3 of 2008, with Acer grabbing a dominant 38.3 percent share and selling more than 2 million units, according to a new report ...

Finally, It's PlayStation Home Sweet Home
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — After a year of false starts, Sony Thursday launched the PlayStation Home beta service. Available as a free download to current PS3 users, the 3-D game lets players create avatars. Users can talk to other players via text or voice chat to create a virtual community through a "club" feature with other members who share the same interests and discuss clues and strategies. In developing PlayStation Home, Sony teamed up with Activision, Disney Eidos, Electronic Arts, Lucas Arts, THQ and UBISOFT. Through the partnerships, gamers can create virtual communities in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune; Far Cry 2 spaces and upcoming releases of ...

Obama Makes His Pick For Secretary Of Health & Human Services
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce Thursday at a noon news conference that former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle will be appointed Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services. According to Reuters, Daschle will also oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform. Health care was a major focus of the Obama campaign, and the president-elect's transition team is meeting with a number of advocacy groups across the country to share ideas. Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden have pledged to make a significant investment—$10 billion a year over five years—toward the creation and adoption of ...

Sprint Falls 15 Percent After Debt Downgrade
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Shares of Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, fell as much as 15 percent Thursday after Moody's downgraded its debt to junk status. Although Sprint is not expected to need to raise any new capital any time soon, investors saw the downgrade as adding to a pile of bad news for the phone company, which has been bleeding customers who pay monthly bills. [image] ...

Try, Try Again: Google Brings Back Gmail Texting
The Channel Wire — Google doesn't often ask for a do-over when it rolls out a product. In October, Google's e-mail client, Gmail, rolled out the ability for users to send text messages to friends' phones from their Web e-mail ...

Try, Try Again: Google Brings Back Gmail Texting
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Google doesn't often ask for a do-over when it rolls out a product. In October, Google's e-mail client, Gmail, rolled out the ability for users to send text messages to friends' phones from their Web e-mail ...

Review: Palm Treo Pro Remains A Classic
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Remember Palm? It's been obscured of late by the whirlwinds caused by the Apple iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and the BlackBerry Storm. But Palm is attempting to get into the mix with its latest smartphone, the Treo Pro. The Treo Pro may be Palm's most beautifully engineered smartphone to date. It's got a sleek, albeit slippery-feeling black encasement. It's probably the smallest and lightest Treo ever at 4.49 i 2.36 x 0.53 inches. The Treo Pro weighs 4.69 ounces. A 320 x 320 color touch screen makes for easy viewing. Unfortunately, the keyboard design feels a bit awkward. The keys are flat, not raised like they were in Treos of days past. ...

Google's Chrome Comes Out Of Beta
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Google is preparing to do something with its Chrome browser the company hasn't done with many of its other popular products such as Gmail: take it out of beta and make it an official product. The current speculation is that the move is part of a planned offensive to let computer makers bundle the software ...

Google's Chrome Comes Out Of Beta
The Channel Wire — Google is preparing to do something with its Chrome browser the company hasn't done with many of its other popular products such as Gmail: take it out of beta and make it an official product. The current speculation is that the move is part of a planned offensive to let computer makers bundle the software ...

Intel Says Server Components In Short Supply
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Intel is blaming a shortage of server chassis and components on a problem with one of its suppliers, but its system builder partners are blaming Intel itself. Intel late last week sent an e-mail to its system builders apologizing for the difficulty in getting certain components, and said that it expects to see a partial recovery this later month. That e-mail, addressed to Intel's channel customers and signed by Eric Thompson, director for North America channel and distribution at Intel, reads, "As you know, recently it has been difficult to obtain selected server components through Intel authorized distributors. This ...

Nortel Receives Listing Notice From NYSE
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks said it received notice from the New York Stock Exchange Thursday that its share price is below the exchange's continued listing standards. Nortel's common shares have closed under $1.00 for 30 consecutive trading days to Dec. 9. Under exchange rules, the company has six months to bring its average common share price back above $1.00. In the interim, its shares will remain listed on the NYSE as long as it meets other exchange requirements, Nortel said. [image] ...

Microsoft Warns Of Zero-Day IE Attacks
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft warned users of two new cyberattacks in the wild exploiting recent vulnerabilities found in Internet Explorer and WordPad Text Converter, which enable malicious hackers to infiltrate a user's PC and install information-stealing code. The advisories came after Microsoft released a monster patch ...

Classmate PC Architect Ditches Intel For NComputing
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Thin-client desktop vendor NComputing has landed another top executive from a big-name competitor in emerging markets, tapping Mark Bedford of Intel's Classmate netbook initiative to lead its worldwide marketing efforts. Beckford, an 11-year employee of Intel who most recently spearheaded the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant's "World Ahead" program that spawned the Classmate PC, was on Thursday named vice president of global business development at Redwood City, Calif.-based NComputing. He joins former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) international affairs liaison Lindsay Petrillose at NComputing, as well as Will Poole, formerly a top ...

Seagate Managed Services Arm Targets Channel
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The new managed services arm of Seagate, i365, plans to expand its channel business early next year in a move to help solution providers become managed service providers. The company was formed in September, when Seagate rolled together the technologies from four acquisitions ...

Is Apple Gaining Ground In The Enterprise?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Apple is steadily making inroads with enterprises due to the Mac's strong reputation for security and reliability, according to new research from ITIC and Sunbelt Software. In a worldwide survey of more than 700 corporations, ITIC and Sunbelt found that 77 percent use Macs, and 23 percent have more than 50 Macs in their networks. However, 68 percent plan to allow their employees to use Mac as their work desktops in the next year, according to the survey. The survey also found that 70 percent of companies rated the security of OS X 10.x as "excellent" or "very good," while 82 percent assigned the same rating to the reliability ...

What's Palm Brewing Up For CES?
The Channel Wire — After a rocky year filled with layoffs, dwindling revenues and other missteps, struggling device-maker Palm is looking to begin 2009 with a bang, starting with the Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas. This week, Palm sent out invitations to an event it is hosting at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas during CES. The invite asked attendees to "Come to CES to see all that Palm New-ness you've been waiting for." What's Palm got up its sleeve? Most likely, Palm will unveil its latest operating system, which the company has long talked about but has yet to deliver. The operating system, dubbed "Nova," is a Linux-based mobile ...

What's Palm Brewing Up For CES?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — After a rocky year filled with layoffs, dwindling revenues and other missteps, struggling device-maker Palm is looking to begin 2009 with a bang, starting with the Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas. This week, Palm sent out invitations to an event it is hosting at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas during CES. The invite asked attendees to "Come to CES to see all that Palm New-ness you've been waiting for." What's Palm got up its sleeve? Most likely, Palm will unveil its latest operating system, which the company has long talked about but has yet to deliver. The operating system, dubbed "Nova," is a Linux-based mobile ...

Radio Shack's $99 Acer Aspire Notebook Too Good To Be True
The Channel Wire — Radio Shack and laptop maker Acer teamed up to make laptops more affordable this holiday season by offering the Acer Aspire One for just $99. When a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, and this is no exception. While the Acer Aspire One will retail for a scant $99, customers are forced to purchase a built-in 3G ...

Radio Shack's $99 Acer Aspire Notebook Too Good To Be True
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Radio Shack and laptop maker Acer teamed up to make laptops more affordable this holiday season by offering the Acer Aspire One for just $99. When a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, and this is no exception. While the Acer Aspire One will retail for a scant $99, customers are forced to purchase a built-in 3G ...

Dell: Look For More Services, Certifications In 2009
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — It's been a year since Dell launched its PartnerDirect program in the United States and the Round Rock, Texas-based vendor has had its share of milestones in since then. But there's still work to be done in 2009 too, according to Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Americas Channel Group at Dell. Davis spoke recently with ChannelWeb about the anniversary of PartnerDirect and what lies ahead. The following are excerpts from the conversation. Take us briefly through the first year of PartnerDirect. What were some of the highlights to you? Prior to kicking off PartnerDirect, we had a global channel business that was about $9 ...

Game On! Wii Sees Record Sales; Xbox, PS3, Not So Much
The Channel Wire — November was a very, very good month for Nintendo, which sold a record 2 million Wii consoles in the month, outselling Microsoft's Xbox 360s and Sony's PS3s. Nintendo also sold 1.57 million DS ...

Game On! Wii Sees Record Sales; Xbox, PS3, Not So Much
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — November was a very, very good month for Nintendo, which sold a record 2 million Wii consoles in the month, outselling Microsoft's Xbox 360s and Sony's PS3s. Nintendo also sold 1.57 million DS ...

Sharper Image Making A Comeback At CES
The Channel Wire — Sharper Image, the struggling consumer electronics retailer that met its demise after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, is planning a comeback at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month. In an e-mail ...

Sharper Image Making A Comeback At CES
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Sharper Image, the struggling consumer electronics retailer that met its demise after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, is planning a comeback at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month. In an e-mail ...

Apple App Store Adds New Categories
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — It seems like everyone has a problem with some element of Apple's App Store in iTunes. Developers, most notably, have been having a hard time getting Steve Jobs and his crew to approve the applications they've developed and placed in the store. Yesterday, Craig Hockenberry posted an open letter to Steve Jobs on his blog ...

Apple App Store Adds New Categories
The Channel Wire — It seems like everyone has a problem with some element of Apple's App Store in iTunes. Developers, most notably, have been having a hard time getting Steve Jobs and his crew to approve the applications they've developed and placed in the store. Yesterday, Craig Hockenberry posted an open letter to Steve Jobs on his blog ...

Picture Positive For State Health Care IT Despite Budget Squeeze
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — State governments are finally getting up to speed when it comes to taking a good look at health-care information technology and how to leverage its benefits concurrent with federal initiatives. That's the word from a new report this week from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) that said lawmakers around the country introduced more than 370 bills related to health-care IT in an 18-month period from 2007 to 2008. The NCSL said during that period 132 bills containing health information technology provisions were enacted in 44 states and the District of Columbia -- three times the number of health-care IT bills ...

How Close Is Lenovo To Acquisition Target?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The buzz is building. Lenovo, the world's fourth largest PC manufacturer, confirmed it's in talks for an acquisition, though it has not yet named the target nor confirmed if formal negotiations are happening. Both Positivo Informatica, Brazil's biggest computer maker, and Fujitsu's Fujitsu-Siemens PC business were mentioned by Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and other sources as names in the mix. "The directors confirm that the company has certain preliminary discussions with independent third parties regarding potential investments opportunities and acqusitions," said Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing in a statement to Reuters. ...

How Close Is Lenovo To Acquisition Target?
The Channel Wire — The buzz is building. Lenovo, the world's fourth largest PC manufacturer, confirmed it's in talks for an acquisition, though it has not yet named the target nor confirmed if formal negotiations are happening. Both Positivo Informatica, Brazil's biggest computer maker, and Fujitsu's Fujitsu-Siemens PC business were mentioned by Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and other sources as names in the mix. "The directors confirm that the company has certain preliminary discussions with independent third parties regarding potential investments opportunities and acqusitions," said Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing in a statement to Reuters. ...

Cisco Leads Enterprise Telephony Market: Report
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — While the enterprise telephony market is expected to face a difficult road in 2009, Cisco Systems is bucking the trend and has claimed the top spot in the enterprise telephony market for the first time, according to a recent study released by Infonetics Research. According to Infonetics' report, Enterprise Telephony Worldwide Market Share and Forecasts, Cisco snagged the first-place spot for overall PBX-KTS equipment after growing its revenue 19 percent in the third quarter of 2008. Avaya took a close second, posting strong quarterly growth and increasing overall PBX revenue 10 percent, the study said. Avaya now ranks second ...

Cisco Leads Enterprise Telephony Market: Report
The Channel Wire — While the enterprise telephony market is expected to face a difficult road in 2009, Cisco Systems is bucking the trend and has claimed the top spot in the enterprise telephony market for the first time, according to a recent study released by Infonetics Research. According to Infonetics' report, Enterprise Telephony Worldwide Market Share and Forecasts, Cisco snagged the first-place spot for overall PBX-KTS equipment after growing its revenue 19 percent in the third quarter of 2008. Avaya took a close second, posting strong quarterly growth and increasing overall PBX revenue 10 percent, the study said. Avaya now ranks second ...

Business Objects Enhances On-Demand BI Service
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Business Objects is expanding its on-demand business intelligence software with new data warehouse development capabilities and improved links to Salesforce.com, enhancements the vendor said will aid solution providers working with the hosted service. BusinessObjects BI OnDemand, which debuted last year, is a software-as-a-service suite of business intelligence tools including reporting, analysis and data warehouse software. Business Objects is the business intelligence software unit of SAP. The new release of the BusinessObjects BI OnDemand service, which is available immediately, includes hosted development ...

Retail Sales Down Fifth Straight Month
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — For the fifth straight month, retail sales were down in November, a sign that consumer confidence and holiday spending have been hit hard by the economic downturn. According to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Commerce, retail sales dropped 1.8 percent from October to November. And while the predicted dip was 1.9 percent, November marked the fifth consecutive monthly drop in sales. November 2008 sales, which were $355.7 billion, were 7.4 percent below retail sales for the same month last year. The report said total sales for the September through November 2008 period were down 4.5 percent from the same time last year. ...

Retail Sales Down Fifth Straight Month
The Channel Wire — For the fifth straight month, retail sales were down in November, a sign that consumer confidence and holiday spending have been hit hard by the economic downturn. According to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Commerce, retail sales dropped 1.8 percent from October to November. And while the predicted dip was 1.9 percent, November marked the fifth consecutive monthly drop in sales. November 2008 sales, which were $355.7 billion, were 7.4 percent below retail sales for the same month last year. The report said total sales for the September through November 2008 period were down 4.5 percent from the same time last year. ...

Google's Chrome Emerges From Beta
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Google's new Chrome Web browser left its stint in beta Thursday after just 100 days since its inception. Google executives said in a blog that it was time well spent, however short. Sundar Pichai, Google vice president of product management and Linus Upson, Google engineering director, said in a blog Thursday that the company repaired extensive video and audio glitches during the beta period. "If you had problems watching videos with Google Chrome in the past, you should be pleasantly surprised with the performance now," they said. Google says that the final version of the browser runs faster than the ...

The Shimmering Mirage of iPhone Copy/Paste
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Pastebud, the latest third-party effort to bring copy/paste functionality to the iPhone, achieves its goal in a roundabout fashion. This has some solution providers wondering if Apple will ever decide to satiate copy/paste-hungry iPhone users with native copy/paste support. Through a combination of Web services and Javascript ...

The Wolf's At The Door
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Regulatory compliance is becoming trickier--and so are the hackers. 2009 will see continued attacks against SQL Server and Oracle databases, network routers, e-mail accounts and even root directories. While threats like the Storm Bot seem to have vanished from the map, others like smarter network port scans and password-guessing software are becoming more sophisticated. To deal with next year's threats, here is a list of 15 products and practices assembled by VARBusiness staff, including Test Center editors and interviews with solution providers, that could assist your efforts in keeping enterprises safe. ...

It's Not Business As Usual
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — We have often said that you will not find much in the way of revolutionary findings in our State of the Market study, but what you will find is the evolution of the VAR model. The most fascinating part of the study is examining just how adaptable solution providers are to market conditions today and the adjustments they make to their business models based on customer behavior and their attempts to drive profitability higher. But this year we have an exception, maybe a whole bunch of exceptions based on VARs adapting their business models to the deteriorating economic conditions. Since this is the first major study of the VAR community ...

Netbook Heroes
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Industry observers have been predicting a surge in desktop Linux adoption for years, but over time, those claims have taken on a decidedly "wait 'til next year" type of feel. But the growing popularity of netbooks, a significant number of which are shipping with Linux, could serve as a long-awaited catalyst for Linux on the desktop. Filling an important mobile computing ...

Catching Up With Watson
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Despite the current storm clouds gathered over the economy, Allison Watson, corporate vice president of Microsoft Corp.'s Worldwide Partner Group, says there's plenty of opportunities for VARs to grow, as long as they stay focused on projects that improve energy efficiency, boost productivity and drive down costs. In a recent interview, Watson talked about partner opportunities around Windows 7, explained how the economic situation is shaping her conversations with VARs and gave an update on how the channel is responding to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft's rollout of unified communications. VB: What opportunities will partners have ...

Start-Up Palo Alto Attracts Backers With Fresh Approach
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Palo Alto Networks is one company that's taking buzz to the bank. Despite the tough economy, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based security start-up expanded its latest round of financing, adding $10 million in venture funding and bringing its total haul to $64 million. ...

MSPs Move Upstream
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — More MSPs are taking their services offerings upstream and more experienced service providers are finding more success than newcomers, according to a study by MSP platform vendor Nimsoft Inc., Redwood City, Calif. About 40 percent of the survey's respondents said their managed services sales to medium and large enterprises have resulted in revenue increases of more than 25 percent over the last 18 months. [image] As MSPs have grown more sophisticated, they are targeting enterprises with complex IT requirements, characterized by proprietary and custom applications and a broader number of technologies, said Ken Vanderweel, director of ...

Hooked On Gogo Inflight: Delta The Latest To Offer Aircell Service
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Delta Air Lines is expected to announce as early as Tuesday inflight Internet service on some shuttle flights for $9.95 to $12.95, according to Aircell, the company providing the service. American Airlines and Virgin America began offering Wi-Fi ...

Growth: It's Still Out There
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Planning for growth in flush times is difficult enough, with solution providers wondering: What will customers want? What will they need? How will our product or service beat the competitions'? And during an economic downturn, accurate planning can be next to impossible. The variables are plentiful, and cash flow for businesses as well as customers is tight. Deciding on the most profitable product and vendor mix becomes a life-or-death proposition. [image] ...

New Printers Tap Into Niche Segments
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Consider this: A market including trucking delivery services, warehouses and emergency services departments is a huge customer base, one TallyGenicom, Chantilly, Va., aims to reach through the channel. The CRN Test Center took a look at some of its new printer ...

So What Have You Learned From 2008?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — ROBERT C. DEMARZO Can be reached via e-mail at rdemarzo@everythingchannel.com . Learn how to take a profit. We should all pray for the wisdom to know when to take a profit, no matter how small or large. But despite past meltdowns and burst bubbles, I haven't met anyone in the industry who took a profit this year by selling a stock or a piece of real estate. As we all learned, what starts out well can end ugly. Earlier this year, we all had a skip in our step. Sure, pressures were mounting, but no one could have forecast how far things would fall. Many people have told me the lesson they learned was to expect the unexpected. When ...

Give Yourself A Laugh, Then Get On Board
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — ROBERT FALETRA Can be reached via e-mail at rfaletra@everythingchannel.com . But the one that really gave me a belly laugh is Larry Ellison's comments around cloud computing. It's far too long to repeat here; you really have to take a look online. It surrounds the latest spin around cloud computing and how it's really nothing more than redefining everything that already happens in the market as cloud computing. "The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion," he said, along with a few choice other words. I couldn't agree more, but why is that all bad? The reality is when an industry ...

Solution Provider Chases BlackBerry Storm
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — With the debut of Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Storm a few weeks ago, the popularity of those little devices in the workplace continues unabated. Some of the reviews have been mixed, particularly regarding the Storm's sluggish performance (Verizon is slated to upgrade the firmware ...

Microsoft Offers First App For Apple iPhone
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft is offering a free application for Apple's iPhone before making the software available for its own Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft added the Seadragon Mobile application to the Apple iTunes App store on Saturday. The software lets users browse images on the iPhone and then, by tapping their fingers, zoom into them with resolution up to 10 gigapixels, all while remaining online. Seadragon was developed by Microsoft's Live Labs operation and is part of the vendor's Photosynth system for patching a series of images together to create a 3-D environment. Microsoft opted to offer the application for the ...

Sharp To Cut LCD Output, Workers Abroad
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Sharp late last week responded to declining global demand for LCDs, announcing it will close small and midsize LCD panel manufacturing lines at two different plants in Japan in January. According to The Wall Street Journal , the Tokyo-based company also will cut 380 temporary workers—29 percent of its temporary workforce—as it looks for more cost-efficient ways to manufacture LCDs and reduce a current glut of panels. No full-time positions are expected to be eliminated. The LCD panel lines affected are at plants in Mie and Nari prefectures in central Japan. Sharp Executive Vice President Yoshiaki Ibuchi said in a media briefing ...

Oops! McCain Camp Sells Loaded BlackBerry
The Channel Wire — Want to call John McCain's friends? Should've bought one of the 10 BlackBerry smart phones the Republican nominee's campaign sold off recently to recoup some costs. An Arlington, Va.-based Fox 5 investigative team this week said they bought a Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry from the McCain-Palin camp containing a plethora of confidential campaign information including phone numbers, emails and other information. According to the reporters' take, the campaign was selling off used office inventory at bargain prices at its headquarters, including phones, computers and other equipment. Among the hot items, several $20 BlackBerry smart ...

Oops! McCain Camp Sells Loaded BlackBerry
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Want to call John McCain's friends? Should've bought one of the 10 BlackBerry smart phones the Republican nominee's campaign sold off recently to recoup some costs. An Arlington, Va.-based Fox 5 investigative team this week said they bought a Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry from the McCain-Palin camp containing a plethora of confidential campaign information including phone numbers, emails and other information. According to the reporters' take, the campaign was selling off used office inventory at bargain prices at its headquarters, including phones, computers and other equipment. Among the hot items, several $20 BlackBerry smart ...

SMBs Unite: Ingram Micro, Heartland Tech Groups Team Up
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Arlin Sorensen launched his first solution provider peer group as a way to share ideas and help his business. More than seven years and 18 additional peer groups later, Sorensen's model has proven successful and he's ready to take it to the next level. Heartland Tech Groups, the consortium of peer groups he initiated in 2001, will now be managed by Ingram Micro's SMB ...

North Korea Reportedly Calls For Cell Service
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — North Korea reportedly has made arrangements to launch its own 3G cellular network, but details on how it works, how it will be accessed and, in particular, who can use it are sketchy. Orascom reportedly has just been given a 25-year license to operate an exclusive four-year telecommunications contract within North Korea. Published reports said the new network is operated by Cheo Technology, a joint venture between Orascom (which owns 75 percent) and the state-run Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp. (KPTC). Cheo has the exclusive rights to operate cell service tax-free for the first five years. Orascom said it will invest ...

North Korea Reportedly Calls For Cell Service
The Channel Wire — North Korea reportedly has made arrangements to launch its own 3G cellular network, but details on how it works, how it will be accessed and, in particular, who can use it are sketchy. Orascom reportedly has just been given a 25-year license to operate an exclusive four-year telecommunications contract within North Korea. Published reports said the new network is operated by Cheo Technology, a joint venture between Orascom (which owns 75 percent) and the state-run Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp. (KPTC). Cheo has the exclusive rights to operate cell service tax-free for the first five years. Orascom said it will invest ...

Unified Communications Startup Hops On Free Train
The Channel Wire — Unison Technologies, a startup in the unified communications space, is now offering its software free of charge through a sponsor-supported model, a move it hopes will motivate SMBs to adopt the technology. Unison's unified communications software, which includes a Linux server and Linux and Windows clients, wraps together a PBX ...

Unified Communications Startup Hops On Free Train
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Unison Technologies, a startup in the unified communications space, is now offering its software free of charge through a sponsor-supported model, a move it hopes will motivate SMBs to adopt the technology. Unison's unified communications software, which includes a Linux server and Linux and Windows clients, wraps together a PBX ...

Google, WSJ Lock Horns Over Net Neutrality
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Google struck back at an article published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday that claimed the Internet search engine giant was proposing a plan that would violate its own stance on net neutrality. Net neutrality is a principle that says all content that is being pushed out over cables should be treated the same. That means that if a company were to approach an ISP with an offer to split the costs of its hardware for, say, ordering their traffic first in the pipeline, that would constitute a violation of net neutrality principles. The article that appeared today in the Wall Street Journal claimed that ...

Google, WSJ Lock Horns Over Net Neutrality
The Channel Wire — Google struck back at an article published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday that claimed the Internet search engine giant was proposing a plan that would violate its own stance on net neutrality. Net neutrality is a principle that says all content that is being pushed out over cables should be treated the same. That means that if a company were to approach an ISP with an offer to split the costs of its hardware for, say, ordering their traffic first in the pipeline, that would constitute a violation of net neutrality principles. The article that appeared today in the Wall Street Journal claimed that ...

Sprint Makes BlackBerry Curve 8350i Chirp
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Taking a page from what it does best -- push-to-talk -- Sprint Nextel on Monday launched the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone. Sprint is calling the BlackBerry Curve 8350i , which it announced during the fall at the CTIA Wireless show, "the most advanced push-to-talk BlackBerry smartphone ever." It uses IDEN technology on the Nextel National Network and offers Nextel Direct Connect, its national push-to-talk service that offers sub-second call set-up, meaning BlackBerry users can now get a hold of contacts instantly with a chirp, the sound Nextel devices make during a new push-to-talk conversation. The push-to-talk ...

Sprint Makes BlackBerry Curve 8350i Chirp
The Channel Wire — Taking a page from what it does best -- push-to-talk -- Sprint Nextel on Monday launched the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone. Sprint is calling the BlackBerry Curve 8350i , which it announced during the fall at the CTIA Wireless show, "the most advanced push-to-talk BlackBerry smartphone ever." It uses IDEN technology on the Nextel National Network and offers Nextel Direct Connect, its national push-to-talk service that offers sub-second call set-up, meaning BlackBerry users can now get a hold of contacts instantly with a chirp, the sound Nextel devices make during a new push-to-talk conversation. The push-to-talk ...

Apple Launches OS X 10.5.6 Update
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Apple on Monday released the client and server versions of the OS X 10.5.6 update, which includes a range of bug fixes and security patches. OS X 10.5.6 shores up the performance of Airport WLAN ...

Hitachi Data Systems Plans SSD Option For Arrays
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Hitachi Data Systems plans to add solid-state drives to its Universal Storage Platform line of arrays. The move will help improve the storage performance for certain applications once customers start embracing the technology, said Claus Mikkelsen, chief scientist for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor. HDS plans to integrate 73-GB and 146-GB solid-state drives, or SSDs, in its USP V and USP VM storage virtualization ...

Oracle Offers Training For Accelerate Apps Resellers
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Oracle has launched a new training program for channel partners that sell the vendor's Accelerate applications to midsize customers. The new Oracle Accelerate Academy offers training for solution providers in marketing, selling and implementing Accelerate software. Oracle's Accelerate solutions are applications pre-configured for midsize businesses (those with less than $500 million in annual sales) in specific industries: Altogether, the company has some 200 Accelerate solutions covering 19 industries and 48 industry segments. The products are designed to be rapidly installed by resellers on a fixed-scope, fixed-cost basis. Working ...

Microsoft Partners Don't Expect A Flood Of iPhone Apps
The Channel Wire — Microsoft on Monday launched Seadragon Mobile, its first application for Apple's iPhone. But Microsoft developers don't expect the software giant to start building a wave of new apps for the world's most talked-about mobile device. Now available as a free App Store download, Seadragon Mobile ...

Microsoft Partners Don't Expect A Flood Of iPhone Apps
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft on Monday launched Seadragon Mobile, its first application for Apple's iPhone. But Microsoft developers don't expect the software giant to start building a wave of new apps for the world's most talked-about mobile device. Now available as a free App Store download, Seadragon Mobile ...

Despite Fire And Mud, SoCal VAR Feels Fortunate
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — One solution provider survived one of the worst wildfires to hit Southern California this century only to be chased out by the potential for mudslides. Joe Kadlec, vice president and senior partner at Consiliant Technologies, an Irvine, Calif.-based storage solution provider, said he feels fortunate despite being forced to evacuate with his family and Yorba Linda, Calif., neighbors on Tuesday due to the torrential rains that followed last month's huge wildfires. The mudslide risk came as a result of the mid-November fires that raged throughout Southern California. The fires were driven by high winds from the desert, and destroyed ...

Best Buy Beats Q3 Forecast, But Plans Job Buyouts
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Best Buy beat Wall Street estimates for the third fiscal quarter ended Nov. 29, excluding charges, but the company also said it would seek to cut jobs through buyout packages to corporate employees as Best Buy braces for a tough 2009 economy. "The historic slowdown in the economy and its effect on our business over the past 90 days have been the most challenging consumer environment our company has ever faced," said Brad Anderson, vice chairman and CEO of Best Buy, in a statement. "We believe that there has been a dramatic and potentially long-lasting change in consumer behavior as people adjust to the new realities of the marketplace." ...

Palm App Store Goes Live; Is Nova OS Far Behind?
The Channel Wire — Following in the footsteps of Apple, Research In Motion and Google, Palm this week launched its own application marketplace, which lets users download applications to devices running both Palm OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile. The Palm Software Store comes as speculation swirls around the struggling smartphone maker's plans for the Consumer Electronics Show next month. By many accounts, Palm will launch its new mobile operating system, dubbed "Nova," at CES. There's even been word that a device or two running the long-anticipated OS may make an appearance in Las Vegas. The combination of the Palm Software ...

Palm App Store Goes Live; Is Nova OS Far Behind?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Following in the footsteps of Apple, Research In Motion and Google, Palm this week launched its own application marketplace, which lets users download applications to devices running both Palm OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile. The Palm Software Store comes as speculation swirls around the struggling smartphone maker's plans for the Consumer Electronics Show next month. By many accounts, Palm will launch its new mobile operating system, dubbed "Nova," at CES. There's even been word that a device or two running the long-anticipated OS may make an appearance in Las Vegas. The combination of the Palm Software ...

Web Tool of the Future: Your Phone
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — By 2020, the mobile phone will be the primary connection tool to the Internet and it will be so integrated into our daily lives that it will be difficult to imagine what life was like without one, according to new research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In addition, respondents thought voice recognition ...

Apple Rumor Mill: New Mac Mini To Debut Next Month
The Channel Wire — Three weeks ahead of Macworld Expo, rumors are spreading like wildfire that Apple will launch an updated version of the Mac Mini desktop. An anonymous Apple employee told Wired.com that Steve Jobs will unveil the new Mac Mini at the show but would not disclose further details. The latest Apple chatter follows earlier buzz last month that Apple was set to unveil revamped and refreshed iMacs and Mac Minis as well as an update for its desktop products in time for Christmas. An Apple spokesperson quickly shot down those rumors. Apple launched the Mac Mini three years ago, but the product has languished while the Cupertino, Calif.-based ...

Apple Rumor Mill: New Mac Mini To Debut Next Month
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Three weeks ahead of Macworld Expo, rumors are spreading like wildfire that Apple will launch an updated version of the Mac Mini desktop. An anonymous Apple employee told Wired.com that Steve Jobs will unveil the new Mac Mini at the show but would not disclose further details. The latest Apple chatter follows earlier buzz last month that Apple was set to unveil revamped and refreshed iMacs and Mac Minis as well as an update for its desktop products in time for Christmas. An Apple spokesperson quickly shot down those rumors. Apple launched the Mac Mini three years ago, but the product has languished while the Cupertino, Calif.-based ...

Health-Care IT: 8 Privacy Principles
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The benefits of health-care IT are by now well-established, especially for digital patient records, a more facile exchange of information and the easier analysis of medical data. But technology's role in both improving care and bringing down costs to make health-care delivery more efficient won't come to fruition until the security piece is solved, said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt on Monday. In a keynote address to the Nationwide Health Information Network Forum ...

Yahoo Lets Developers Help Deliver The Mail
The Channel Wire — Yahoo made good on its promise to embrace an open-source strategy by rolling out enhancements to Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Toolbar this week, both of which are part of its Yahoo Open Source Strategy. The goal behind the Yahoo Open Source Strategy is to welcome independent developers into the fold while simultaneously positioning Yahoo as something of a social network. The new and improved Yahoo Mail—which initially is being rolled out to a limited number of users in the U.S. and Australia—embraces social media. It's being billed by the company as a "smarter" mailbox that streamlines information and highlights other friendly ...

Yahoo Lets Developers Help Deliver The Mail
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Yahoo made good on its promise to embrace an open-source strategy by rolling out enhancements to Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Toolbar this week, both of which are part of its Yahoo Open Source Strategy. The goal behind the Yahoo Open Source Strategy is to welcome independent developers into the fold while simultaneously positioning Yahoo as something of a social network. The new and improved Yahoo Mail—which initially is being rolled out to a limited number of users in the U.S. and Australia—embraces social media. It's being billed by the company as a "smarter" mailbox that streamlines information and highlights other friendly ...

Cost-Cutting, Not Tree-Cutting: Dell Packages Go Green
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Dell expects to save more than $8 million over the next four years and eliminate 20 million pounds of shipping materials through a new initiative Dell says could preserve more than 150,000 trees. The initiative will reduce Dell's packaging material use by about 10 percent worldwide, according to Dell. In addition, the company plans to increase sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent and ensure that 75 percent of its packaging components are curbside-recyclable by 2012. "We're challenging every technology company to join us in implementing a global green packaging strategy," said Tod Arbogast, director of ...

Cost-Cutting, Not Tree-Cutting: Dell Packages Go Green
The Channel Wire — Dell expects to save more than $8 million over the next four years and eliminate 20 million pounds of shipping materials through a new initiative Dell says could preserve more than 150,000 trees. The initiative will reduce Dell's packaging material use by about 10 percent worldwide, according to Dell. In addition, the company plans to increase sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent and ensure that 75 percent of its packaging components are curbside-recyclable by 2012. "We're challenging every technology company to join us in implementing a global green packaging strategy," said Tod Arbogast, director of ...

Ex-Vodafone Exec Reportedly Says, 'No Thanks, Yahoo'
The Channel Wire — The ex-CEO of Vodafone Group, Arun Sarin, reportedly wants his name taken off Yahoo's list of candidates to replace embattled ex-CEO Jerry Yang. "[Sarin] is expected to tell Yahoo that he does not want the job, according to these people. Yahoo said the company did not comment on rumours or speculation," said the Financial Times . According to the paper, Sarin is instead considering other roles at U.S. public companies and also a position at a private equity firm. Sarin's rumored rejection comes just a week after reports circulated that he was on the short list to take the reins from Yang. Sarin may be hesitant to be involved with ...

Ex-Vodafone Exec Reportedly Says, 'No Thanks, Yahoo'
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The ex-CEO of Vodafone Group, Arun Sarin, reportedly wants his name taken off Yahoo's list of candidates to replace embattled ex-CEO Jerry Yang. "[Sarin] is expected to tell Yahoo that he does not want the job, according to these people. Yahoo said the company did not comment on rumours or speculation," said the Financial Times . According to the paper, Sarin is instead considering other roles at U.S. public companies and also a position at a private equity firm. Sarin's rumored rejection comes just a week after reports circulated that he was on the short list to take the reins from Yang. Sarin may be hesitant to be involved with ...

Windows PCs Outsell Apple Macs In U.S. In November
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — When asked about the slumping economy during Apple's fourth-quarter earnings call in October, CEO Steve Jobs said the company's customers were loyal and would postpone purchases in hard times rather than switch to another brand. It looks like he may be right. They are postponing purchases. Sales of Apple's Macintosh computers in the U.S. were flat in November, while sales of PCs running Microsoft Windows grew 7 percent in November, according to a report issued by market researcher NPD Group. That's a marked change from recent years when Apple had been gaining market share against PCs. Apple is taking a hit on the desktop. Sales of ...

AT&T Launches Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — As BlackBerry users grapple with their holiday smartphone wish lists, AT and Research In Motion (RIM) have added another BlackBerry to the mix in the Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320. While it may not be the BlackBerry Curve 8900 ...

AT&T Launches Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320
The Channel Wire — As BlackBerry users grapple with their holiday smartphone wish lists, AT and Research In Motion (RIM) have added another BlackBerry to the mix in the Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry Curve 8320. While it may not be the BlackBerry Curve 8900 ...

Happy New Year! Apple iPhone 3G To Be Unlocked
The Channel Wire — Just in time to unlock that iPhone 3G you receive this holiday season, the iPhone Dev team said it will release a hack to unlock the Apple iPhone 3G on New Year's Eve, opening it up to be used on more carrier networks. Basically, the hack , codenamed yellowsn0w, will enable iPhone users to tweak their iPhones for use on GSM networks and bypass the AT exclusivity the smartphone carries in the U.S. Here, that means the unlock will make an iPhone work on T-Mobile's network. However, since GSM is widely used overseas, international iPhoners and users who frequently travel will get the biggest benefit by ...

Happy New Year! Apple iPhone 3G To Be Unlocked
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Just in time to unlock that iPhone 3G you receive this holiday season, the iPhone Dev team said it will release a hack to unlock the Apple iPhone 3G on New Year's Eve, opening it up to be used on more carrier networks. Basically, the hack , codenamed yellowsn0w, will enable iPhone users to tweak their iPhones for use on GSM networks and bypass the AT exclusivity the smartphone carries in the U.S. Here, that means the unlock will make an iPhone work on T-Mobile's network. However, since GSM is widely used overseas, international iPhoners and users who frequently travel will get the biggest benefit by ...

Lenovo Offers More Discounts With LESS Program
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Lenovo is offering LESS to its solution providers in a move to help them increase sales in a down economy. The server, desktop, and notebook PC vendor is offering its partners who buy Lenovo products through distributors a new program it calls the Lenovo Economic Stimulus Solution, or LESS. LESS is aimed at helping small and midsize business customers address such issues as the credit crunch, a shortage of cash and the preservation of capital, said Alan Andrade, executive director of channel marketing for Lenovo. "LESS is about how we can work with our partners to work with customers on these issues," Andrade said. A big part of ...

Intel Shuts Down Channel Platform Group
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Intel has confirmed it will be closing down its three-year-old Channel Intel has confirmed it will be closing down its three-year-old Channel Platform Group (CPG) early in 2009 and folding the Shanghai, China-based group's activities back into the company's mobility, desktop and server ...

Microsoft To Patch Giant IE Bug
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft said Tuesday that the company intends to release an out-of-band patch for a monster error affecting all versions of the Internet Explorer Web browser, which has caused hackers to launch malicious attacks to steal information and take over computers without any user intervention. Microsoft posted an advanced notification for the patch on its Web site Tuesday. The company initially warned users about the flaw last week in a security advisory following its monthly Patch Tuesday security bulletin release Dec. 9, which it updated in another advisory Monday. Since then, hackers have released exploit code, which ...

IBM Hardware Boss Speeds Up Payments To Partners
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — IBM's hardware chief has implemented a sweeping overhaul aimed at simplifying partner compensation and account engagement. Robert Moffat Jr., who took the helm of the $18 billion systems and technology group nearly six months ago, said at the top of the list for changes that take hold effective Jan. 1 is a partner incentive structure that is "radically simplified." Moffat, who made his mark in IBM overhauling the $90 billion computer giant's arcane supply chain to the tune of billions of dollars in savings, said his aim in simplifying partner compensation and account engagement was to make sure IBM partners can invest in growing their ...

Apple Says Jobs Won't Speak At Macworld
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Apple on Tuesday dropped a pair of bombshells, announcing that CEO Steve Jobs won't deliver his customary keynote speech at next month's Macworld conference and revealing that this will be Apple's last year as a Macworld participant. Apple, by way of explanation, issued a press release stating that trade shows have become less important in terms of how Apple reaches customers and noting that it has been scaling back its involvement in trade shows in recent years, pulling out of NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris. "The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit ...

McAfee Channel Chief Leaves After Three Months
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — McAfee is once again without a channel chief after Lisa Loe left her role as vice president of North America channel operations, which she occupied for only three months. McAfee confirmed that Loe had left the company but declined to comment further on the details of her departure. Roger King, senior vice president of worldwide channel operations, will be handling North America channel operations until McAfee can find a replacement. McAfee said it would look at both internal and external candidates to fill the position vacated by Loe. Loe replaced former channel chief Dave Dickison in September, joining McAfee after serving nine ...

Report: Apple To Unveil Netbook At Macworld
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Apple plans to announce a netbook-like device product at next month's Macworld conference in San Francisco and will launch it in the middle of 2009, according to a Tuesday report from research firm Technology Business Research. The new device will come in two sizes, one similar to the MacBook Air and the other to a netbook, with the smaller unit priced at $599, according to Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with TBR, Hampton, N.H., and author of the report. Gottheil said the device will fit somewhere between netbooks and the iPhone, with a small form factor and a slightly smaller-than-normal keyboard. As with the iPhone, users will ...

Report: Apple To Unveil Netbook At Macworld
The Channel Wire — Apple plans to announce a netbook-like device product at next month's Macworld conference in San Francisco and will launch it in the middle of 2009, according to a Tuesday report from research firm Technology Business Research. The new device will come in two sizes, one similar to the MacBook Air and the other to a netbook, with the smaller unit priced at $599, according to Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with TBR, Hampton, N.H., and author of the report. Gottheil said the device will fit somewhere between netbooks and the iPhone, with a small form factor and a slightly smaller-than-normal keyboard. As with the iPhone, users will ...

IBM Hardware Chief To HP's Hurd: IBM Is Server Share King
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — IBM's feisty hardware czar wants to set the record straight with Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd when it comes to the highly charged issue of server market share. "Let me make sure I get this on the record," said IBM Senior Vice President and Group Executive Systems & Technology Group Robert Moffat in an interview with ChannelWeb. "The stuff that Mr. Hurd said was going away kicked his ass: Z Series (mainframe hardware) outgrew anything that he sells. (IBM) Power (servers) outgrew anything that he sells. So he didn't gain share despite the fact that we screwed up execution in (x86 Intel based server) X Series. So ...

Global Chip Market To Shrink For Second Straight Year
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The semiconductor industry already faced the prospect of things getting worse before they got better, but now technology research firm Gartner has revised last month's moderately gloomy outlook for chip sales next year toward some seriously dismal prognostication. Gartner in November had already pegged the global market for chips in computers and electronic devices as shrinking 2.2 percent year-on-year in 2009. But the firm revised that number downward Tuesday, issuing a report that projects just $219.2 billion in total sales next year, a drop of 16.3 percent. What's more, the revised number also accounts for last week's Gartner ...

Ingram Micro Puts Some Workers On 'Winter Break'
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Ingram Micro is getting creative with its time-off calendar in an attempt to keep as many of its employees employed as possible. A company spokesperson confirmed that Ingram Micro is implementing a four-day "Winter Break" for most employees in its Santa Ana, Calif., and Buffalo, N.Y. offices. Those offices will not close and will stay open to handle customer service and sales calls. Employees impacted by the Winter Break will use their existing paid time off or vacation days, or they can apply for time off without pay, the spokesperson said. Ingram Micro is also considering extending the Winter Break concept to the week of July 4, ...

Panasonic Expands Financing For Toughbooks
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Panasonic Computer Solutions on Wednesday announced a range of new financing options for the company's Toughbook mobile computers, hoping to ease the financial strain on customers looking to purchase and update their Toughbooks--and offer more sales tools to solution providers. Panaonic will now offer such financing choices as zero percent leasing for 36 months, step payments, flexible payments and deferral and lease-back programs that can go up to 60 months. All new options will be made available through Panasonic Finance Solutions, the company's two-year-old financing arrangement with CoActiv Capital Partners. "Given the economic ...

Western Digital To Cut About 2,500 Jobs
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Western Digital announced plans Wednesday to cut approximately 2,500 jobs—5 percent of its workforce—as it restructures and attempts to counteract what the company calls a "softer demand environment." According to a Western Digital press release, the Lake Forest, Calif.-based vendor also will reduce compensation of the company's executive officers, board of directors and senior management; reduce manufacturing work hours by 20 percent through fewer temporary workers, less shift overtime and employee attrition; close one of its three hard-drive manufacturing plants in Thailand; close one of its two substrate manufacturing plants in ...

Apple Stock Downgraded Due To Concerns Over Jobs' Health
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — As Oppenheimer & Co. downgraded Apple's stock from "outperform" to "perform" yesterday, investors wondered whether it was just another story of Apple's impending doom, or could there be some sense to it? Apparently, worries over CEO Steve Jobs' health are beleaguering company investors. Oppenheimer said that it could not recommend the stock until Apple either disclosed the state of Jobs' health or made a succession plan public. Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, underwent surgery in 2004 to remove the malignancy. However, recent appearances -- such as at a product launch back in June -- have revved up speculation ...

Apple Stock Downgraded Due To Concerns Over Jobs' Health
The Channel Wire — As Oppenheimer & Co. downgraded Apple's stock from "outperform" to "perform" yesterday, investors wondered whether it was just another story of Apple's impending doom, or could there be some sense to it? Apparently, worries over CEO Steve Jobs' health are beleaguering company investors. Oppenheimer said that it could not recommend the stock until Apple either disclosed the state of Jobs' health or made a succession plan public. Jobs, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, underwent surgery in 2004 to remove the malignancy. However, recent appearances -- such as at a product launch back in June -- have revved up speculation ...

Sprinting Ahead: Carrier Debuts Dual 3G/4G Modem
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — As the rest of the world upgrades to 3G wireless broadband, Sprint Nextel has 4G in its sights. Sprint Wednesday unveiled a dual-mode 3G and 4G modem, set to hit retail stores Dec. 21, that operates on both Sprint's 3G and 4G networks. According to Sprint, the 3G/4G Modem U300 uses Sprint's Now Network, its nationwide 3G network, while also using the lightning-fast speeds of WiMax on Sprint's 4G network. In September, Sprint officially launched 4G WiMax in Baltimore and has plans to release it in other markets across the country in 2009. The U300 modem, Sprint contends, will offer wireless ...

Yahoo Will Watch You, But Only For 90 Days
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Hey, it's progress. Yahoo Wednesday instituted a new policy that will anonymize user log data for 90 days instead of 13 months. Yahoo also expanded its policy to cover not only search log data but also page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks. The change will be seamless and users won't see a difference using the company's products or services. However, to combat fraud and security breaches. Yahoo said it will retain system-specific data in "identifiable" form for up to six months if it needs to meet specific legal obligations. Yahoo said the move was fueled after it conducted a review of its data practices and that its ...

Motorola Freezes Pensions, Chops CEO Salaries
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — In its bid to further cut costs, Motorola Wednesday said it will chop its co-CEOs' salaries and revise employee compensation and benefits in 2009. According to Motorola, it will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans effective March 1, 2009, "to better align with industry norms." The freeze, Motorola said, will eliminate future benefit accruals for U.S. employees and retirees while preserving vested benefits accrued. Starting Jan. 1, 2009, Motorola will also temporarily suspend all company matching contributions to employees' 401(k) plans. Along with freezing pensions and suspending 401(k) matches, Motorola said it will freeze ...

Yahoo Will Watch You, But Only For 90 Days
The Channel Wire — Hey, it's progress. Yahoo Wednesday instituted a new policy that will anonymize user log data for 90 days instead of 13 months. Yahoo also expanded its policy to cover not only search log data but also page views, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks. The change will be seamless and users won't see a difference using the company's products or services. However, to combat fraud and security breaches. Yahoo said it will retain system-specific data in "identifiable" form for up to six months if it needs to meet specific legal obligations. Yahoo said the move was fueled after it conducted a review of its data practices and that its ...

Sprinting Ahead: Carrier Debuts Dual 3G/4G Modem
The Channel Wire — As the rest of the world upgrades to 3G wireless broadband, Sprint Nextel has 4G in its sights. Sprint Wednesday unveiled a dual-mode 3G and 4G modem, set to hit retail stores Dec. 21, that operates on both Sprint's 3G and 4G networks. According to Sprint, the 3G/4G Modem U300 uses Sprint's Now Network, its nationwide 3G network, while also using the lightning-fast speeds of WiMax on Sprint's 4G network. In September, Sprint officially launched 4G WiMax in Baltimore and has plans to release it in other markets across the country in 2009. The U300 modem, Sprint contends, will offer wireless ...

Orange Loses Exclusive Apple iPhone Deal In France
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — A French government authority has temporarily halted France Telecom's exclusive distribution rights for Apple's iPhone in the French market. Other telecommunications vendors immediately said they would begin selling the popular mobile phone. The decision by the national Competition Council barred the exclusive five-year deal between Apple and Orange, France Telecom's mobile telephony ...

Cisco Agrees To Pay VAR $5.45 Million Settlement
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Cisco has agreed to settle with a small solution provider who successfully sued the networking giant over breaches in its reseller agreement and deal registration program. Cisco signed the document on Tuesday, promising to pay $5.45 million to the VAR, Infra-Comm, said Brian Daucher, attorney for the VAR. Infra-Comm, a San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based solution provider, alleged Cisco breached its Indirect Channel Partner Agreement (ICPA) and the terms of its deal registration program by passing a potentially large deal with the Irvine Company, a property development company, to AT The jury in the lawsuit, ...

Longtime ViewSonic Channel Chief Has New Role
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Jeff Volpe has been made vice president and general manager of ViewSonic North America, ChannelWeb has learned. The change was effective Dec. 1, 2008, meaning Volpe, a 20-year channel veteran, has transitioned out of his role as vice president of global brand and emerging technologies -- a position he held for about a year following more than a decade of other executive positions at the display ...

Demand Still Strong For Vista-XP Downgrades
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Of the many signs of the industry's aversion to Windows Vista, perhaps the most telling is that customer interest in the downgrade rights that Microsoft offers with premium versions of Vista remains stronger than ever. In fact it's usually the first question that system builders' clients ask when they're considering a Vista deployment. "Downgrade rights are our most popular OS selection. I'd estimate that at least 75 percent of Vista licenses are going to XP," said Joe Toste, vice president of marketing at Equus Computer Systems, a Minneapolis-based system builder. With downgrade rights, Microsoft gives customers that buy PCs with ...

Brocade Sees Foundry Deal Closing Thursday
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Brocade Communications Systems said it expects to close its acquisition of Foundry Networks Thursday, after Foundry's shareholders approved the deal. Foundry said Wednesday that a majority of shareholders voted in favor of the deal, relieving worries among some investors of a last-minute hitch and lifting its shares 3.2 percent to $16.59. [image] ...

Microsoft Releases Critical Patch For IE Zero Day Flaw
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft issued an out-of-band emergency patch Wednesday for a zero-day Internet Explorer vulnerability that has opened the door for hackers to install malware on susceptible computers without any user intervention. The flaw, which is given the highest severity rating of critical, affects all versions of Microsoft's IE Web browser. Specifically, Microsoft's IE update affects versions of Windows 2000 for IE 5.01: XP, XP Professional, Server 2003 for IE 6; and XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 for IE 7. The vulnerability was reported after the release of Windows IE 8 Beta 2, but Microsoft still ...

No $99 Apple iPhone 3G At Wal-Mart
The Channel Wire — File this one under "too good to be true." It appears the rumors of Wal-Mart selling its own exclusive 4-GB Apple iPhone 3G for less than $100 was nothing more than a rumor. The nation's largest discount chain, however, will indeed be selling 8 GB and 16 GB models of the now-iconic smartphone for a few dollars less than Apple Stores come the end of the month, and the store already launched a pilot program in some stores. Popular gadget blog Engadget has published what appears to be an internal Wal-Mart memo detailing the launch of in-store iPhone sales. According to the document, Wal-Mart stores will ...

Mozilla Fixes Security Bugs In Firefox Browser
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Mozilla patched numerous security flaws in its Firefox Web browser Tuesday, six of which were considered "critical," which pave the way for hackers to hijack users' sessions while they surf the Web. The latest version of Firefox, 3.0.5, repaired a multitude of glitches that could enable remote hackers to execute malicious code that would shut down a vulnerable system or infiltrate a victim's computer and steal information. One of the most serious vulnerabilities repaired by the update enabled attackers to inject malicious URLs into the session restore feature of the browser. The flaw could be used to violate the same origin ...

MFPs/Printers: Which Vendors Score With Gartner?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Results are in for the latest of Gartner's "Magic Quadrants," which examine particular technology areas to identify leading vendors and analyze them in terms of their ability to execute and the completeness of their vision. Strong showings in both of those areas put vendors in the upper right corner of the quadrant, where they're designated by Gartner as "leaders." In the Dec. 12-released quadrant for multifunction products (MFPs) and printers, Gartner identified Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Ricoh as the leaders in those segments. Elsewhere on the quadrant, vendors with strong completeness of vision but lesser ability to execute ...

SlingPlayer Mobile For BlackBerry Coming Dec. 30
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — SlingMedia plans to launch SlingPlayer Mobile software for BlackBerry smartphones into a public beta later this month. The application lets BlackBerry users watch and control home TVs and DVRs directly on a Research In Motion BlackBerry device via a SlingBox. San Mateo, Calif.-based SlingMedia's TV streaming device lets users remotely view their home's cable, satellite or personal video recorder from a computer over a broadband Internet connection. According to SlingMedia, BlackBerry users can watch streamed video from their SlingBox over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Supported BlackBerry ...

SlingPlayer Mobile For BlackBerry Coming Dec. 30
The Channel Wire — SlingMedia plans to launch SlingPlayer Mobile software for BlackBerry smartphones into a public beta later this month. The application lets BlackBerry users watch and control home TVs and DVRs directly on a Research In Motion BlackBerry device via a SlingBox. San Mateo, Calif.-based SlingMedia's TV streaming device lets users remotely view their home's cable, satellite or personal video recorder from a computer over a broadband Internet connection. According to SlingMedia, BlackBerry users can watch streamed video from their SlingBox over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Supported BlackBerry ...

Panasonic Wins Bid To Acquire Sanyo
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Goldman Sachs Group agreed Wednesday to sell its take in Sanyo Electric, joining Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking—Sanyo's other two big shareholders—in an agreement to Panasonic's takeover offer. The electronics giant's board of directors is scheduled to meet Friday to finalize a tender offer, expected to be made as early as February, according to Reuters. The Wall Street Journal reported that Panasonic's stake from the three banks will constitute 70 percent of Sanyo, and Panasonic will buy shares for 131 yen ($1.48) each. That's 1 yen higher than an offer Goldman rejected from Panasonic on Dec. 4, and the deal values ...

Stocks Prices Volatile For VARBusiness 500 Companies
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The current economic climate has many investors scrambling for cover, and that includes a number of VARBusiness 500 companies. Thursday morning, however, several companies with high-end stock prices climbed a bit over yesterday, but only one is seeing year-over year stock growth. Microfocus (2008 VB500 rank 268), a U.K. company with U.S. headquarters in Rockville, Md., saw shares rise almost 5 percent to $280.50 Thursday morning. That's up 13.7 percent from one year ago. Its stock price has clearly benefited from the software ...

Lawmaker Praises Yahoo's Privacy Policy
The Channel Wire — Earlier this week, Yahoo unveiled a new wrinkle to its privacy policy, limiting the amount of time it would hold onto private information to 90 days before making the information anonymous. Microsoft and Google ...

Lawmaker Praises Yahoo's Privacy Policy
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Earlier this week, Yahoo unveiled a new wrinkle to its privacy policy, limiting the amount of time it would hold onto private information to 90 days before making the information anonymous. Microsoft and Google ...

Analysis: Is Microsoft's IE Flaw The Last Nail In Its Desktop Coffin?
The Channel Wire — Microsoft isn't going away anytime soon. The software giant's presence is deeply anchored in homes and businesses globally. Microsoft is guaranteed a place in the annals of technology history. But, due to a recent spate of mishaps, it sure looks like that when it comes to the desktop and end-user side of things, Microsoft's days may be numbered. What happened? Microsoft has introduced some excellent products, especially its server and enterprise offerings. Server 2008 is Microsoft's most outstanding server product to date and Exchange remains the most popular corporate e-mail platform, with each subsequent version being better and more ...

Analysis: Is Microsoft's IE Flaw The Last Nail In Its Desktop Coffin?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Microsoft isn't going away anytime soon. The software giant's presence is deeply anchored in homes and businesses globally. Microsoft is guaranteed a place in the annals of technology history. But, due to a recent spate of mishaps, it sure looks like that when it comes to the desktop and end-user side of things, Microsoft's days may be numbered. What happened? Microsoft has introduced some excellent products, especially its server and enterprise offerings. Server 2008 is Microsoft's most outstanding server product to date and Exchange remains the most popular corporate e-mail platform, with each subsequent version being better and more ...

T-Mobile Deep-Sixes Device Upgrade Fee
The Channel Wire — T-Mobile USA on Thursday said it has eliminated its $18 handset upgrade fee, a charge that nailed existing T-Mobile subscribers when they bought new devices. According to T-Mobile, which put the $18 fee in place just over than a year ago, it axed the added charge as of Dec. 17. "T-Mobile is pleased to announce that beginning yesterday, the company has ditched the handset upgrade fee for customers," T-Mobile said in a press release. All T-Mobile devices are covered whether bought in retail stores or online, the carrier said. The $18 reprieve also includes the T-Mobile G1 ...

T-Mobile Deep-Sixes Device Upgrade Fee
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — T-Mobile USA on Thursday said it has eliminated its $18 handset upgrade fee, a charge that nailed existing T-Mobile subscribers when they bought new devices. According to T-Mobile, which put the $18 fee in place just over than a year ago, it axed the added charge as of Dec. 17. "T-Mobile is pleased to announce that beginning yesterday, the company has ditched the handset upgrade fee for customers," T-Mobile said in a press release. All T-Mobile devices are covered whether bought in retail stores or online, the carrier said. The $18 reprieve also includes the T-Mobile G1 ...

BlackBerry Storm, Bold Boost RIM In Q3
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — A string of hot new devices and strong Black Friday sales helped BlackBerry maker Research In Motion weather the economic storm in the third quarter. In a conference call discussing RIM's third-quarter financial earnings, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said third-quarter fiscal 2009 revenue was $2.78 billion, up 7.9 percent from $2.58 billion in the previous quarter and up 66.3 percent from $1.67 billion in the third quarter last year. Despite strong competition and the shaky economy, RIM hit its adjusted revenue forecast, which it lowered on Dec. 6. At the time, cut its third-quarter forecast ...

BlackBerry Storm, Bold Boost RIM In Q3
The Channel Wire — A string of hot new devices and strong Black Friday sales helped BlackBerry maker Research In Motion weather the economic storm in the third quarter. In a conference call discussing RIM's third-quarter financial earnings, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said third-quarter fiscal 2009 revenue was $2.78 billion, up 7.9 percent from $2.58 billion in the previous quarter and up 66.3 percent from $1.67 billion in the third quarter last year. Despite strong competition and the shaky economy, RIM hit its adjusted revenue forecast, which it lowered on Dec. 6. At the time, cut its third-quarter forecast ...

HP To IBM Hardware Boss: The Mainframe Is Going Down
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Hewlett-Packard has a message for IBM's feisty hardware czar: HP's server share is on the way up and IBM's mainframe business is on the way down. At least that's the way HP sees it. Paul Miller, HP vice president of worldwide marketing for enterprise storage and servers, says that HP's server share is up dramatically since HP CEO Mark Hurd took the helm in April 2005. "We have significantly closed the gap on overall server revenue to the point where it was a tie in the last quarter," said Miller. Three years ago, HP was roughly 6 market-share points behind IBM, said Miller. Miller's comments came in response to ...

Oracle: Sales Held Steady Despite Recession
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Blame it on currency fluctuations, not the recession. Oracle reported Thursday that sales in the second quarter ended Nov. 30 increased 6 percent year-over-year to $5.6 billion. But net income dipped 1 percent to $1.3 billion. And new software ...

Former F5 Channel Chief Back In the Saddle
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — The changes keep coming for 2008 channel chiefs. F5 Networks confirmed Thursday that former vice president of North American channels Dean Darwin has returned to the role he left in early 2007, adding Latin American channels to his business card as well. Darwin replaces former chief Steve Hale, who was first appointed vice president, North American partner organization, at F5 in July 2007 after more than 17 years at Microsoft. According to F5, Hale left the company in August, and Darwin's return was finalized by the end of October. "I'm not aware of any skeletons in the closet--he [Hale] wanted to start a consulting company and saw ...

Will Snow Leopard Be On Display At Macworld?
ChannelWeb Complete Feed — Now that Apple has revealed CEO Steve Jobs won't be giving his traditional keynote at next month's Macworld Expo in San Francisco and after this year the company will be pulling out of the event altogether, it's tempting to assume that Apple won't be coming out with any major news at the event. But Thursday, The Guardian (U.K.), citing sources close to Apple that claim development of OS ...