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| | | November 23, 2003
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Sunday, November 23, 2003 |
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It's getting down to business on Comdex 2003
Forget the crowds, the bubbling excitement and the multitude of exhibitors showing off their latest gadgets. Comdex 2003 was all but the same. With less than 50,000 attendees during the week-long event and the noticeable absence of major IT players like Novell, Oracle, Red Hat and SuSE, Comdex is seeking to reinvent itself as a forum for IT managers and business-oriented technology rather than an engrossing launchpad for consumer tools and devices.
In his 20th annual keynote speech, Microsoft's Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates laid out his vision for 'seamless computing', where the giant will be playing a crucial role in overcoming software challenges like security, information accessibility and data access mobility. In his address, Gates emphasized the importance of vanquishing junk mail, which now threatens rendering e-mail a useless medium. Microsoft will be offering Intelligent Message Filter (IMF), a free spam filtering add-on for its corporate e-mail software Exchange 2003. Other software makers also unveiled new solutions for battling bulk mail. Symantec underscored the importance of whitelisting e-mail traffic, while start-up Cloudmark demonstrated reliance on end-user feedback with its SpamNet desktop software.
On the hardware front, Sun Microsystems unveiled two new high-end servers, using AMD's 64-bit Opteron processors. Sun also said it has reached an agreement with a Chinese software consortium to use its Java Desktop System, the company's Linux desktop software. Meanwhile, Siebel touted an upcoming online customer relationship management (CRM) service. CRM On Demand will be sold through IBM's On Demand program for $70 per user per month. Hewlett-Packard showed its first photocopier entering a new $24 billion market.
For the consumer Dell announced plans to offer big-screen LCD television sets. The computer maker will be offering 23-inch and 30-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs by the year's end.
More from: AP (via The Washington Post) | CNET News.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | Computerworld 1 2 3 4 | CRMDaily.com | CRN 1 2 | eWeek 1 2 | Reuters 1 2 3 | VNUNET.com 1 2 3 | Tbe Washington Post
SCO escalates Linux battle, seeks to block Novell's SuSE buyout
The SCO Group has decided to enter a new phase in its battle against Linux. The Utah-based software maker is planning to begin filing copyright infringement lawsuits against 1,500 major Linux corporate customers from around the world. In May, SCO sent warning letters alleging Linux is an illegal derivative of UNIX. The company is now preparing to file its first suit within 90 days.
At a press conference this week, SCO's CEO Darl McBride warned Novell it could block its recently announced acquisition of SuSE. SCO claims there is a non-competing agreement between the companies, which forbids Novell to sell Linux products. Novell denied the charge, saying SuSE's buyout is in no violation with any agreement between the two companies.
More from: CNET News.com 1 2 | Computerworld 1 2 | eWeek 1 2 3 4 5 | InternetNews.com |
InformationWeek | LinuxWorld | NewsFactor | VNUNET.com 1 2
Microsoft tunes in
At last, Microsoft confirmed its intentions to join the online music business. After first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the software behemoth said it will launch its song store in 2004 as part of its MSN division. Earlier this year, key executives shrugged off the idea of going into direct competition with other major players like Apple Computer, but later began changing their tune.
In the meantime, a group of six powerful Washington lawmakers sent letters to major peer-to-peer software distributors asking them to govern the activities of their users. In a statement released by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, she said P2P groups had "a legal and moral obligation to conform to copyright laws, and end pornographic trade over these networks."
More from: AP (via CRN) | CNET News.com 1 2 | The Register | USA Today
In Other News...
 The main servers of the Debian Project were breached by a hacker this week. During the break-in, which was discovered within 24 hours, the attacker had access to four major machines supporting the Linux distribution. Debian's founder, Ian Murdoch, however, said the source code of Debian was untouched.
Cornell University computer scientists are saying they will attempt to block Red Hat's intentions to trademark the name 'Fedora' for its new line of hobbyist Linux software. According to university officials, Fedora is the name of a project for building a software tool for librarians that started in 1997.
The U.S. House of Representatives has adopted a federal anti-spam bill, which calls for the creation of a national Do-Not-Spam registry and sets requirements for online marketers to provide a working opt-out method to e-mail users.
Top Sun Microsystems sales executive Barbara Gordon has left the company and joined rival Microsoft. Gordon has started working as a vice president for global accounts, managing sales activities for the giant's top 50 clients.
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