Dell’s partners fear divorce after firm beds new squeeze
CommVault and Symantec will be getting the jitters now that Dell is buying Quest, having acquired AppAssure and its continuous data protection technology just a few months back. Now it looks like the hardware giant is plumping up its portfolio of software with its latest acquisition... which might make its partnerships with the software firms redundant.
New acquisition Quest bought BakBone for $55m in November, 2010, gaining the NetVault product line and customer base. It joined Quest's application-specific LiteSpeed products, which cover databases like SQL Server and Oracle, its vRanger virtual server protection software and its Recovery Manager product line. These four products are being unified under a common NetVault XA architecture and management interface, which offers service-oriented data protection reporting, monitoring, alerting and control across an enterprise's multiple sites. This is usable by general line of business managers and IT people as well as specialised storage admin staff. Read more...
Full upgrades to Windows 8 only from Windows 7
Microsoft will support full upgrades to Windows 8 only from the three-year old Windows 7, according to a report Thursday.
Yesterday, ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley, citing unnamed sources, said that Microsoft has informed select partners of the upgrade paths to Windows 8.
Microsoft has not yet set a release date for Windows 8, but most analysts expect it to go on sale this fall, most likely in October.
The upgrade paths that Foley's sources spelled out were the same that Microsoft revealed in February when it released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the first public beta. Read more...
Oracle: Partners with specializations are much more successful
Oracle's partner community had a "phenomenal" fiscal 2012, but those who achieved official specializations did far better than ones who didn't, a top Oracle executive said during an event on Tuesday.
Specialized partners closed three times as many deals as non-specialized ones, and those transactions are 50 percent larger, said Judson Althoff, senior vice president of worldwide alliances, channels and embedded sales. Althoff revealed those details during Oracle's fiscal 2013 partner kickoff event, which was webcast.
"We're focusing on specialization because we think it makes you sell better," Althoff said. Of course, Oracle also generates revenue from specializations, which are offered in silver, gold, platinum and diamond tiers, with fees rising accordingly. Read more...
You are naked on the Internet
Unless you’re Ted Kaczynski circa 1985, living deep in the woods of Montana far from one of the roving homeless 4G connections we so conveniently enjoy here at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, your illusion of privacy is a sad, pathetic, ridiculous joke.
Providing a much-needed wake-up call to those of you who think your spouse or partner will never know about your dalliances at the local hot-sheets motel (as long as you protect your password), “Sex, Dating, and Privacy Online Post-Weinergate” described the myriad ways in which every step you take, every move you make, is online and searchable.
You don’t have to be a prominent politician sexting pics of your junk to be vulnerable to the brave new world of naked data, panel members said. You may have heard that Facebook and dating-site messages are commonly subpoenaed by divorce lawyers. Read more...
Study: Many websites ‘leaking’ personal info to other firms
Many top websites share their visitors' names, usernames, or other personal information with their partners without telling users and, in some cases, without knowing they're doing it, according to a new study from Stanford University.
Many websites "leak" usernames to third-party advertising networks by including usernames in URLs that the ad networks can see in referrer headers, said the study, released Tuesday by Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. While there's a debate in legal circles whether usernames are personal information, there's a growing consensus among computer scientists that Web-based companies can use usernames to identify their owners, said Jonathan Mayer, a Stanford graduate student who led the study.
"The vast majority of usernames are unique," he said. "Given the prevalence of social networking, often times, once you have a username for a social network, you then also have a person's real name, possibly a photo, possibly more." Read more...
5 reasons to set up unified communications
There are so many different ways to communicate with partners, customers and co-workers--by phone, email, instant messaging, fax, video conferencing, and social media. Managing each system separately is not only inefficient, but can cause conflicts since they all use the same underlying technology--the Internet.
Instead, establishing a single system to manage all digital means of communication allows for a single management interface, as well as integrated archiving and backups. Most importantly, with unified communications (UC) users get a single interface to access all messages. They can hear voice mails, answer emails, post Twitter or Facebook entries, send and receive faxes, and engages in video conferences from an single application, whether in the office or on the road. Here's why your company should invest in UC. Read more...
Apple Talk: Can Google become the new Apple?
Much has been written about the Google-Motorola deal. About how it adds 60 per cent to Google's headcount. Much has been written about what it means for Android's platform partners such as HTC and Samsung, and even more has been said about Google's access to Motorola's vast, though not exhaustive, library of patents.
The argument for the Google-Motorola deal that interests me in the context of Apple is the idea that Google wants to use the deal to become an integrated supplier of hardware and software. Just like Apple.
It would be an admission that the Apple way is the right way. Ideological arguments aside, the balance sheet would seem to agree.
Google is a software company, pure and simple. It's a brilliant software company that has developed an incredibly successful product that makes it a huge amount of money. But it is just a software company. Or at least it was at the start of the week. Read more...
Behind Microsoft’s $15 Samsung Android royalty claim
Microsoft is turning the screws on Google's phone and tablet partners, but what kind of win-win is Redmond really going for?
Steve Ballmer's software company was Wednesday reported to be seeking $15 for each device Samsung ships loaded with Google's Android smart-phone operating system.
Samsung is reported to be trying to lower the payment to $10.
The source for this report is the South Korean Maeil Business Newspaper, which quoted unnamed industry officials.
The Samsung story follows a week in which Microsoft named three OEMs as having agreed to license its patents for devices they make and sell running Android. Read more...
Microsoft seeks to expand influence over PC makers
As it works to bring its touch-enabled Windows 8 operating system to market, Microsoft is trying to extend its influence over PC makers to ensure they build systems that are best able to run its new software.
"For Windows 8 systems to be the best ever, we're taking a new approach to how we work with our partners in the ecosystem," said Michael Angiulo, the Microsoft vice president in charge of Windows planning, hardware and ecosystem, as he demonstrated the new OS to Microsoft's hardware partners in Taipei on Thursday. Read more...