Server Sales Up Sharply in 2005: Gartner

Worldwide server shipments jumped 12.7 percent in 2005 while revenues increased 4.5 percent to US$51.68 billion as companies turned to lower-end -- and less expensive -- systems for their computing needs, the research firm Gartner has reported.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (21 February) that the numbers, released Tuesday, show the continuation of a trend toward servers based on commodity, or ''x86,'' microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. They often run the freely distributed Linux operating system.

''The most dynamic market remains the x86 server segment,'' said Jeffrey Hewitt, a research director at Gartner. ''These servers continue to be the choice in increasing numbers to meet the needs of more Web users accessing more file types from more access points than ever.''

AP reports that according to Gartner, high-end servers based on non-x86 chips that run the Unix operating system saw shipments fall 5.3 percent with just a 0.5 percent increase in revenue.

''The replacement at the low end of this market with Linux servers and declines at the high end of the market are the reasons for these results,'' a Gartner analyst said.

The report found that IBM remained the top server vendor in terms of revenue (US$16.61 billion), followed by Hewlett-Packard (US$14.57 billion), Dell (US$5.43 billion) and Sun Microsystems (US$4.95 billion).

HP, however, took the lead in unit shipments with 2.09 million servers. It was followed by Dell's 1.7 million, IBM's 1.2 million and Sun's 342,457, according to Gartner.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft Office snaps into back office}Microsoft Office snaps into back office

Microsoft has released code for developers and ISVs that continues its strategy of turning Office into the window on customers' back-end business data.

The Register reports (21 February) that Microsoft has shipped four programs, collectively called Dynamics Snap, that integrate calendar data in the Office 2003 edition of Outlook with business processes in Microsoft's Dynamics AX 3.0 and Dynamics CRM (customer relationship management) 3.0.

According to Microsoft, integration will make it easier to use Outlook calendar data as part of a business process managed by Dynamics or to pull data managed by Dynamics into collaboration, email and documents managed by Office 2003.

The Register says that the goal is not just to make sharing of data easier for end-users but to also simplify the process of integrating the two separate pieces of Microsoft software, creating a broader market and potential business opportunities for partners.

Last year, Microsoft tried to rally partners to the Office 2003 flag by highlighting a US$140bn market building applications and services around messaging, collaboration, portal and enterprise content management for the suite.

According to the publication, Microsoft hopes to excite partners about Office 2003 after last year, admitting just 15 per cent of PCs are running the suite, while many customers still remain on Office 2007. The company is trying to attract interest around Office to attain US$9.2bn in revenue from the suite by 2010.

{mospagebreaktitle=Judge won't hold BlackBerry hearing}Judge won't hold BlackBerry hearing

A federal judge in Virginia has refused the United States government's request to hold a hearing on how a proposed shutdown of BlackBerry service would work.

The Bloomberg News reports in The New York Times (22 February) that the government, which would be exempt from a shutdown, asked Federal District Judge James R. Spencer to hear testimony and gather evidence to show that functions like communications with federal contractors would not be impaired. The BlackBerry's 3.2 million users in the United States include Wall Street executives and members of Congress.

In 2002, a jury ruled that Research in Motion's BlackBerry service infringed patents of NTP., a patent holding company.  Judge Spencer set a hearing for Friday for arguments on whether BlackBerry service in the United States should be shut as a result. The judge's rejection of the government request appeared yesterday on his docket.

James Wallace, a lawyer for NTP, said: "Judge Spencer is a very fair, no-nonsense guy, and he knows RIM would like to drag this on and on. Whatever he decides, he's going to decide quickly."

{mospagebreaktitle=Dell meeting postponed}Dell meeting postponed

Dell, the computer maker, said yesterday that it would move its analyst meeting to September from April, causing concern that the company is struggling with plans to revive sales growth.

Bloomberg News reports in The New York Times (22 February) that a Dell spokesman said: "We want to be able to demonstrate more progress on our initiatives, and we feel we can certainly do that better in September."

Dell's chief executive, Kevin B. Rollins, promised in a conference call last week to update investors at the April meeting.

{mospagebreaktitle=Judge rules Google infringes on Adult co.}Judge rules Google infringes on Adult co.

A federal court judge has concluded that an image search service run by Google infringes on the copyrights of adult entertainment company Perfect 10 by displaying small versions of its images in search results.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (21 February) that US District Court Judge Howard Matz said that based on evidence submitted at a preliminary injunction hearing, Google could not be held responsible when viewers click on the images and are directed to third-party sites that contain full-size images stolen from Perfect 10's web site.

Matz ordered both sides to craft a narrow preliminary injunction that would respect Perfect 10's copyrights but not curtail Google's broader right to catalog and display online images.

AP says that the order was issued Friday and made public Tuesday. A trial in the case has not been scheduled. Google said it would appeal any injunction ordered by the court.

Daniel Cooper, Perfect 10's general counsel, called the ruling a victory regarding the search portion of the case and said his company would prevail on the rest of the matter at trial.

Perfect 10, based in Beverly Hills, publishes a magazine and a web site that sells access to thousands of photos of nude women.

AP reports that the company sued Google in 2004 and Amazon.com, which runs the A9 search engine, last year. The cases were consolidated. The court said it will issue a separate order in regard to Amazon, which licenses much of Google's technology.

At issue is Google's search engine technology that displays thumbnail images in response to a search request.

{mospagebreaktitle=Chinese hackers allegedly make a game of ID theft}Chinese hackers allegedly make a game of ID theft

Names and national identity numbers of 2,000 South Koreans have been stolen by sneak thieves who used the information to play the popular online computer game Lineage for free.

The Register reports (21 February) that Seoul-base game developer NCSoft issued a warning after getting numerous, and rising, reports of unauthorised players last week. It reckons the purloined data "leaked" from internet shopping malls, the Korea Times reports.

According to the report, Lineage is offered with a three day free pass for each new registration in Korea. Normally the game costs 29,700 Won (US$31) per month. NCSoft maintains victims of the identity theft were not hit financially. Local reports speculate that Chinese hackers obtained the personal data on Koreans in order to resell game access on the black market

{mospagebreaktitle=AT&T, Yahoo link web to Cingular mobile phones}AT&T, Yahoo link web to Cingular mobile phones

In the US.,AT&T and Yahoo are launching a service that lets people use Cingular mobile phones to get access to their photos, e-mail, instant messaging and address books on their Yahoo accounts, AT&T has said.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (21 February) that the AT&T Yahoo Go Mobile service is part of the Yahoo Go brand, the internet media company's push to make its services available to users on a variety of devices from mobile phones to televisions.

The phone also includes an MP3 music player and a digital voice recorder.

Reuters says that Go Mobile, which will be available on the Nokia 6682 mobile phone, will be sold online, in AT&T's 13-state service area and at some Cingular Wireless stores in Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Los Angeles.

Cingular, the US's largest wireless company, is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sony unveils high-definition camcorder}Sony unveils high-definition camcorder

Sony has just introduced a high-definition camcorder that is small enough to rest comfortably in the palm of your hand.

The Associated press reports in The New York Times (21 February) that Sony billed its 18 ounce, 5.5 inch-long HDR-HC3 as the world's lightest and smallest. The device, 26 percent more compact than the previous model, is set to go on sale next month in Japan for US$1,300 and in April in the United States for US$1,700.

According to AP., high-definition TVs, which are increasingly popular around the world, can display clearer and more vivid images than old-style TVs. Home videos taken with the new camcorder will be high-definition quality -- as long as you own one of those new TVs.

Sony engineers were able to make the camcorder smaller by decreasing the size of the lens and combining three computer chips into one.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft blunder leaks information about Vista}Microsoft blunder leaks information about Vista

Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, prematurely posted information about its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system on one of its web sites, the company said on Tuesday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (21 February) that Microsoft disclosed information about a plan to release eight different editions of the new operating system on a company help page that was under development. The company has not made any official statements about the different versions of Windows Vista it plans to offer.

The company has since taken down the web site and declined to confirm the information and said it will offer more details about the Vista launch, targeted for the second half of 2006, in the coming weeks, says Reuters.

{mospagebreaktitle=China said cracking down on junk e-mail}China said cracking down on junk e-mail

China is cracking down on junk e-mail and ''illegal'' mobile phone text messages, the official Xinhua News Agency has said.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (21 February) that a new regulation will ban sending e-mail for advertising purposes to people without their permission, and all advertising e-mail must be titled ''advertisement'' or ''AD,'' the agency said.

It also said that mobile phones must be registered under users' real names, and that text messaging will be controlled more tightly due to the spread of ''illegal messages.''

According to AP, the government was vague on details, however. For instance, the report did not describe what constituted illegal messages or how they would be controlled, nor did it specify any penalties or say when the new rules would take effect.

It's also not clear how well the rules could be enforced. Several countries and US states have anti-spam laws, yet junk e-mail continues to be an online pest, with much of it coming from or through computers in China and other Asian countries, says AP.

China now has 111 million internet users, second only to the United States, and Xinhua said Tuesday that each e-mail subscriber in China received an average of 16.8 pieces of junk e-mail a week from August 2004 to April 2005.

AP says that on the mobile phone rules, state media already reported in December that China would soon require that all mobile phone users -- including the large number who use prepaid phone cards -- register with telecom providers or face a service cutoff.

They said the measure was aimed at fighting unspecified telephone fraud, and the use of counterfeit and otherwise illegally obtained mobile phones. It was also expected to help authorities control ''improper political commentary,'' the December report said.

{mospagebreaktitle=Implications of Oracle acquisition for open source-report}Implications of Oracle acquisition for open source-report

With the dust settling on Oracle's Sleepycat Software acquisition, attention has focused on the future open source developers and products can expect in the closed source camp, according to The Register in a 22 Febrtuary report.

The Register says that a former Sleepycat chief executive Mike Olson has said employees of open source companies and developers supporting their software tend to get itchy when closed source companies buy them, especially when they are rivals.

Olson, speaking during an Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) panel on mergers and acquisitions last week, said it was important for buyers to maintain "trust." He piped up during an OSBC debate where one speaker said that those who buy open source ISVs worry that engineering teams will leave once the buyer takes over, and be able to form their own rival company because the product's code is open.

The Register says that Olson, now an Oracle vice president, said: "I can say from the other side of the table... our community and employees are concerned about what the buyers intend, and what's going to happen to the software going forward.

According to the publication, Oracle bought Sleepycat to make headway in the embedded database market and with the community of open source developers. Commenting on further open source deals, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said: "Rather than fight this open-source trend, we think it's important to figure out ways to make it work to our advantage."

Oracle launched its own database for embedded systems last October, but - critically - this lacked buy in from open source developers, says The Register, adding that, by contract, MySQL - whose bread and butter is embedded deployments - is used by nearly 50 per cent of developers.

Oracle has already taken one step to undermine MySQL with last year's purchase of InnoDB, maker of an advanced storage engine used by MySQL, says The Register.