Microsoft updates business database program

Microsoft has just released an updated version of its database program for large corporations, the first of a series of major updates to its core technologies that it plans to introduce in the next year.

The New York Times reports (7 November) that the new version of SQL Server, the first major one in nearly five years, is intended to improve Microsoft's ability to compete with Oracle, the leading seller of corporate database software.

Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, unveiled the product to thousands of computer programmers in San Francisco.

The newspaper reports that Microsoft also announced Visual Studio 2005, a software tool for creating applications, and said it would release a program for tracking business processes, called BizTalk Server 2006, next year.

The release of SQL Server 2005 comes as Microsoft, the world's largest software company, prepares for a major new release of Windows, called Vista, in the latter part of 2006. Both programs have been delayed repeatedly, in part because the company has had to grapple with technical security problems, according to the NYT report.

Among the features of SQL Server 2005 are faster processing, better data analysis and report preparation, and tighter integration with Microsoft's other software for corporations, the company said.

The NYT reports that prices for SQL Server 2005 range from about US$6,000 a server processor for the standard version to US$25,000 a processor for a version intended for very large companies.

The worldwide corporate database market totaled US$14.4 billion in 2004, according to IDC, a market research firm. While Microsoft's share of the market is 14 percent and growing, Oracle leads with roughly 41 percent market share, with IBM next at 31 percent, the newspaper reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Grokster calls it quits on sharing music files}Grokster calls it quits on sharing music files

Grokster, a developer of file-swapping software used to trade copyrighted music and movie files, said Monday that it would halt distribution of the software and cut off support for its associated network as part of a landmark settlement with the recording industry and Hollywood studios.

The New York Times reports (8 November) that the pact comes four months after the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Grokster could be held liable for copyright infringement by users of its software, a decision that delivered a decisive victory for entertainment companies, particularly music labels, which have blamed widespread digital piracy for a worldwide slump in sales.

The newspaper says that the court decision sent the case back to a trial court, but the settlement - submitted to a federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday - averts further legal wrangling for Grokster in the four-year-old lawsuit. Grokster also agreed to pay up to US$50 million in damages, though music executives say they do not expect to collect because the software company lacks the resources to pay.

The deal also includes an injunction that bars Grokster from directly or indirectly infringing plaintiffs' copyrighted material.

According to the NYT., while Grokster is disappearing in its original form, the underlying case that culminated in the Supreme Court showdown may continue. Grokster's co-defendant in the case, Streamcast Networks, the promoter of a file-sharing network known as Morpheus, has indicated it plans to keep battling the movie studios and record labels in court.

For its part, Grokster has added a new message to its web site: "There are legal services for downloading music and movies. This service is not one of them," reports the newspaper.

The newspaper says that the company said it planned to create a "safe and legal" service and refer users to a new Web site, www.grokster3g.com. Grokster is expected to be absorbed by Mashboxx, a new venture run by Wayne Rosso, a former Grokster president, who has already struck a deal to license music from Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the world's second-biggest music company.

{mospagebreaktitle=India and China take on the world and each other}India and China take on the world and each other

For years, the rapid growth of China and India has been based on business with the developed world, and has often meant taking business away from Western industries. Now,

Companies in the two largest emerging economies in the world - China and India - are beginning to hunt intensively for business in each other's markets after years of taking business away from western industrioes, reports The New York Times (8 November).

The newspaper says that in recent months, a giant company in one country has announced ambitious expansion plans in the other. India-China trade had already been growing at a phenomenal rate, reaching US$13.6 billion last year - a sevenfold increase from 1998. Companies have said their new investments are critical strategic moves aimed at profiting from the other country's rapid rise.

But also driving the boom in investment, says the newspaper, has been the shortage of talent in crucial sectors in both countries. The strengths of each are remarkably different: China is an industrial powerhouse in the making, while India has placed its bets more heavily on services.

According to the NYT., nowhere can this trend be seen more clearly than in information technology, where India is already perceived as a global leader. China is vowing to catch up.

Infosys Technologies, the software and information services giant in India, for example, recently announced plans to invest US$65 million to expand its business in China. Infosys plans to hire 2,000 computer specialists over the next two years and to construct corporate campuses in Shanghai and Hangzhou to accommodate even more workers. Infosys has not previously made an investment in China of that size and scope and, experts say, it presages similar moves by other Indian technology companies.

The company said it would seek business with multinational corporations in China and also with China's own emerging multinationals.

The newspaper reports that India's information technology sector is growing so quickly that wages in some areas are increasing by 25 percent a year, making qualified graduates from the country's best schools scarce. China produces 400,000 engineering graduates each year, many of them in computer studies, and expansion by Indian companies into China is aimed, in part, at wooing them.

Infosys, based in Bangalore, the capital of India's computer services industry, has risen from obscurity in the last few years to become one of the world's top computer outsourcing companies, mostly by providing software services to large corporations in the United States and elsewhere in the West.

According to the NYT., Infosys's plans to expand in China have been mirrored by those of several other big Indian companies that also specialise in computer services and outsourcing, like Tata Consulting, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services. T

On the Chinese side, reports the newspaper, the drive to explore the Indian market is being led by corporate giants, like Huawei Technologies, a networking equipment manufacturer that competes with Cisco Systems.

{mospagebreaktitle=Yahoo tightens control in Europe and Asia}Yahoo tightens control in Europe and Asia

Yahoo said Monday that it would pay US$500 million to buy the remaining shares of its British, German, French and South Korean units to reduce its dependence on the United States market and to compete better with Google.

The New York Times reports (7 ovember) that technology analysts said Yahoo was eager to cement its control of its European businesses so it could take better advantage of the European online advertising market. But they said Yahoo also wanted to catch up with Google's aggressive overseas expansion.

"The U.S. online advertising market is much bigger than Europe's, but it is a crowded market and the room for growth is shrinking," said Julian Smith, an analyst at Jupiter Research, a market research firm in London. "In Europe, online advertising is growing much faster and portals like Yahoo want to tap into that."

According to the NYT., in Europe, revenue from online advertising is expected to reach 6.5 billion euros in 2010, from 3.2 billion euros, or US$3.8 billion, in 2005, according to Jupiter Research. In the United States, it said, annual online advertising revenue will increase to US$16.04 billion, from US$10.1 billion, during the same period.

The newspaper says that Google's European expansion has also forced Yahoo increasingly to turn its attention across the Atlantic. Google has attracted a large and loyal following by expanding the languages of its search engines in Europe and by teaming with local portals to offer access to services like plumbers and restaurant reviews.

Analysts say such services have helped Google gain an edge over Yahoo in important countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain. In Germany, Europe's largest online market, Google had 18 million users last month, compared with 5.4 million for Yahoo, reports the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=Cisco seeks new businesses for stronger growth}Cisco seeks new businesses for stronger growth

Cisco Systems is on track to report solid quarterly revenue, but also is trying to inject life back into its stock, which investors increasingly see as a reliable yet staid portion of their portfolios.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (7 November) that sales for the company's 2006 first quarter are expected to hit US$6.6 billion -- strong, but flat compared to the previous quarter. That is too slow for investors who seek edgier stocks when they invest in the technology market, analysts said.

According to Reuters in the NYT report, five years ago, Cisco nearly hit US$80 a share as it came to embody the story of the technology boom. Unlike many of the firms that vaporised in the bust, the company prospered, but it did so by taking a more conservative approach to its business.

The company is looking to its six ``advanced technology'' businesses as a way to shed the perception that its shares are on their way to being considered the technology industry's version of a ``value stock,''says Reuters.

These areas, including home networking and network security products, will account for 18 percent of Cisco's sales in 2006, but 40 percent of growth, analysts commented.

{mospagebreaktitle=Hong Kong man jailed in 1st copyright violation case}Hong Kong man jailed in 1st copyright violation case

A Hong Kong man on Monday was sentenced to three months in prison in what local officials say is the world's first successful prosecution of copyright violation using the popular file-sharing software BitTorrent.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (7 November) that Chan Nai-ming, 38, who called himself ''Big Crook'' on the internet, was earlier convicted of illegally uploading three Hollywood films, ''Daredevil,'' ''Red Planet'' and ''Miss Congeniality,'' onto a Web site so that others could obtain them.

AP says that Chan is the first person in the world to be convicted and jailed for illegal online sharing of copyrighted material using the BitTorrent software, said customs spokeswoman Glenis Liong.

The software allows computer users to share large chunks of data in a speedy way. But movie and music industries say the illegal online sharing of files causes them losses of millions of dollars a year.

Chan filed for an appeal following his sentencing and was granted bail of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$641), reports AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=Linux worm targets PHP flaw}Linux worm targets PHP flaw

Virus writers have created a Linux worm which uses a recently discovered vulnerability in XML-RPC for PHP, a popular open source component used in many applications, to attack vulnerable systems.

The Register reports (7 November) that XML-RPC for PHP features in many web application including PostNuke, Drupal, b2evolution, Xoops, WordPress, PHPGroupWare and TikiWiki. Most of these applications have been updated to address the security flaw.

But, says The Register, unpatched systems are at risk from a Linux worm - called Lupper - which exploits the bug to load itself onto vulnerable systems.

{mospagebreaktitle=Card fraud grows online}Card fraud grows online

Fraudulent use of credit cards online is increasing because Chip and PIN technology makes other forms of fraud more difficult.

The Register reports (8 November0 that the six-monthly survey from Apacs, the UK payments association, found that card-not-present fraud, which covers internet, mail order and telephone scams jumped nearly a third compared to the same period last year.

In the period January to June 2004 card-not-present scams netted fraudsters £70.2 million but in the first half of this year losses grew to £90.6 million. The internet part of this fraud grew five per cent to £58 million.

The Register reports that despite the growth in card-not-present frauds total card losses fell 13 per cent to £219.4 million. ID theft on card accounts fell 16 per cent from £19.1 million to £16.1 million.

According to The register, Apacs also carried out research into consumer attitudes to security and found one in four online shoppers not checking whether sites are secure or not. Almost half of women and half of 16 to 24 year olds do not know what 'phishing' is. Apacs is starting a marketing campaign to show punters how to protect their cards.

{mospagebreaktitle=Computer Associates to reduce role in unit}Computer Associates to reduce role in unit

Computer Associates, the business software developer, has said that it would divest itself of a majority stake in its Ingres open-source database unit to focus on growth areas like security and storage.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (8 November) that the private-equity firm Garnett & Helfrich Capital will be the majority shareholder in the Ingres Corporation. Computer Associates will own a minority stake and appoint one representative to its board, the companies said in a joint statement. They declined to disclose financial terms.

The new company will offer consulting and support services to businesses that use Ingres software, which was developed 30 years ago at the University of California.

{mospagebreaktitle=Nokia's Linux Tablet due in US}Nokia's Linux Tablet due in US

Nokia's Linux-based Tablet will be available in the USA this Thursday, a week after its European debut.

The Register reports (7 November) that the imaginatively titled Internet Tablet is an unusual move for Nokia in a number of ways. Linux PDAs such as Sharp's Zaurus haven't shown much staying power on the market, and have in recent years been hard to find outside Japan.

According to The Register, Nokia is effectively launching a brand new PDA platform - its open source Maemo - that starts with zero applications against competition from PalmOS and PocketPC that can boast abundant software catalogs.

{mospagebreaktitle=Qualcomm sues Nokia over patents}Qualcomm sues Nokia over patents

In an escalating legal battle, Qualcomm said this week that it had filed suit against Nokia, accusing it of infringing a dozen patents related to GSM, a cellphone standard that is used in two out of three handsets worldwide.

The New York Times reports (7 November) that the suit, filed Friday in a federal court in San Diego, comes after six companies - including Nokia, Ericsson, Texas Instruments and Broadcom - filed a complaint 28 Oct. with the European Union, charging that Qualcomm offered lower royalties on its cellphone chip patents if customers also bought the chips.

The lawsuit intensifies an already fierce battle over one segment of the mobile phone business: the growing market for handsets with multimedia features like music players and cameras.

The newspaper reports that Qualcomm, a US$5.7 billion company, makes cellphone microchips and holds patents that are essential for other phone technology. Its main technology is CDMA, or code division multiple access, which is used in networks in the United States run by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.

But Qualcomm also sells chips for W-CDMA, a third-generation technology in use in Europe and Asia. In the European complaint against Qualcomm, the six companies argued that it was demanding unreasonable fees for use of its patents in the technology needed for W-CDMA, which allows for faster data transfers and multimedia features like video calls.

The NYT reports that, in its suit, Qualcomm said that Nokia had infringed on 11 Qualcomm patents and it demanded that Nokia stop selling and producing products in the United States designed for GSM mobile phone networks.

{mospagebreaktitle=Dutch record companies say no to podcast licence}Dutch record companies say no to podcast licence

Dutch record companies have refused to contribute to a uniform podcasting licence proposed by the Dutch collection organisation for composers, lyricists and music publishers BUMA.

The Register reports (7 November) that they are only interested if some form of DRM is in place, a spokesman for Dutch Association of Phonogram and Videogram Producers (NVPI) told Dutch news site 3voor12.

So, says The Register, podcasters aren't allowed to use recorded music released by NVPI members. That agency represents most of the record companies in the Netherlands and abroad, including local offices of major record labels, such as EMI, Universal and Sony BMG.

{mospagebreaktitle=Olympus cuts digital camera sales goal}Olympus cuts digital camera sales goal

Camera and endoscope maker Olympus on Tuesday lowered its digital camera sales target to 8.1 million units from 9.5 million units for the current business year to March.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (8 November) that Olympus, the world's fourth-best selling digital camera brand after Canon, Sony and Eastman Kodak, earlier on Tuesday reported a 67.7 percent fall in first-half profit as its loss-making digital camera operations outweighed robust endoscope demand.

{mospagebreaktitle=China's NetEase net profit falls short}China's NetEase net profit falls short

NetEase.com has said quarterly profit rose 137 percent, but shares fell 16 percent as results for China's second-largest gaming software company fell short of investor hopes amid growing competition.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (7 November) that the Beijing-based company, which recently has transformed itself from a web portal into a games specialist, posted a third-quarter net profit of 258.6 million yuan, representing US$32.0 million, or 89 cents per American Depositary Share (ADS), compared with US$13.2 million, or 40 cents per share a year-ago.

According to the Reuters report, revenue rose 94 percent in Chinese currency terms to 462.6 million yuan, or US$57.2 million, from 238.6 million yuan a year earlier.

Reuters says NetEase is known for its massive multi-player online role- playing games, including Fantasy Westward Journey, the most popular gaming franchise in China. The number of concurrent users for the two editions of the game rose to about 345,000 users, on average, for Fantasy Westward Journey and 198,000 users for Westward Journey Online II, it said.