http://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2011-04-15T18:22:00ZThe three workstations are more durable and provide the processing power and graphics punch to handle professional video editing, design, and engineering tasks, according to the computer maker.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401731?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=45"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/HP_EliteBook8460w_tn.jpg" alt="HP EliteBook 8460w" title="HP EliteBook 8460w" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">HP EliteBook 8460w</div> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Hewlett-Packard has introduced a line of mobile workstations that are more durable than previous models and provide additional storage options. <P> The new HP EliteBook w-series includes the <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-4307559-5071180.html">17.3-inch 8760w</a>, the <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-4307559-5071171.html">15.6-inch 8560w</a>, and the <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-4307559-5060942.html">14-inch 8460w</a>. The products are the first with HP's industrial design has a distinctive radial-brushed gunmetal finish, a backlit jewel log, and orange-colored accents. <P> The 8760w has the biggest graphics punch with the choice of an AMD FirePro or <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/229401032">Nvidia Quadro</a> professional graphics and up to 4 GB of video memory. The desktop-replacement model can be configured with three hard drives and RAID 5 support. The latter is a first for HP mobile workstations. <P> The 8560w provides the option of FirePro graphics for 1 GB of video memory or Nvidia Quadro for 2 GB. The 8560w and its bigger brother are available with HP's DreamColor display, which provides more than 1 billion color possibilities. <P> The 8460w is HP's smallest and lightest mobile workstation. The system starts at just less than five pounds and comes with a 1 GB FirePro. <P> The latest portable workstations are targeted at designers, animators, and engineers. "As the fastest growing segment of the workstation market, mobile workstations continue to provide value," Efrain Rovira, director of mobile workstations for HP, said in a statement. <P> All three systems have aluminum-alloy hinges and cast titanium-alloy display latches for more durability than previous EliteBook workstations. The latest products are available with either a second-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 quad-core processor, which provides enough computing power to handle 3-D professional applications. In addition, the systems support up to 32 GB of system memory and the AMD or Nvidia graphics can power up to five independent displays. <P> Storage capacity options include SATA hard drives or solid-state drives, with up to RAID 5 capability. Available ports include USB 3.0, eSATA, and USB 2.0. The 8760w and 8560w are available with an eight-cell primary battery, while the 8460w comes with either a six- or nine-cell battery. <P> The new systems are scheduled to be available in the U.S. in May. Prices start at $1,899 for the 8760w, $1,349 for the 8560w, and $1,299 for the 8460w.2011-04-15T07:00:00ZThe eight-bay system for SMBs comes standard with a 6 Gb SAS interface, a data transfer rate of 800 MB per second, and a maximum of 24 TB.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401654?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=44"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/SansDigital_Storage_tn.jpg" alt="Sans Digital MobileRAID MR8X6" title="Sans Digital MobileRAID MR8X6" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Sans Digital MobileRAID MR8X6</div> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Sans Digital has introduced an eight-bay storage system within a compact tower case for smaller businesses. <P> The MobileRAID MR8X6 comes standard with a 6 Gb SAS interface through an SFF-8088 external multilane connector. The directed attached storage (DAS) supports 6 Gb/s SAS or SATA hard drives. <P> The MR8X6 has a data transfer rate of more than 800 MB per second, making the product suitable for video editing or server database applications, according to Sans Digital. The system provides storage expansion of up to seven more MS8X6s, each with a maximum of 24 TB, using the hardware RAID controller in the systems. <P> "The MobileRAID MR8X6 is a versatile RAID storage product that could be utilized in a large variety of data storage applications," Stanley Chan, director of business development for Sans Digital, said in a statement. <P> Sans Digital has included features more common to enterprise rack-mount storage systems. They include storage expansion through a built-in expansion port and online RAID expansion without system downtimes. <P> Other enterprise features include remote storage management and email notification for critical events. All these features come standard. <P> The MR8X6 provides <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/whitepaper/Security/Encryption/why-raid-cannot-be-considered-as-a-storage-securi-wp1264612444133?articleID=124300003">hardware RAID</a> 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60 data protection against hard drive failure and supports clustering applications and storage failover through dual-channel SAS interfaces. The system has a built-in processor for handling RAID algorithmic calculations, offloading the workload from the CPU in the host computers or servers. <P> Use of a RAID processor also eliminates operating system compatibility problems, which are common with RAID controller device drivers, Sans Digital says. The system supports Windows, including Windows Server 2008, Mac OS X and Linux. Virtualization applications are also supported, including VMware ESX/ESXi Vshpere, Critix XGen Server, and Microsoft Hyper-V. <P> The MobileRAID MR8X6, introduced Wednesday, has a starting price of $3,750. <P> Sans Digital also provides rack-mount RAID storage. The company <a href="http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14693&Itemid=99999999">launched last month</a> the AccuSTOR AS108XP, a 1U eight bay system that supports 2.5-inch SATA or SAS hard drives or solid-state drives. The system has a data transfer speed of more than 650 MB per second and is suitable for video editing, server database, or data backup applications. The starting price is $939.2011-04-14T16:25:00ZThe chipmakers' joint venture is providing customers with samples of 20-nm NAND flash memory, the industry's smallest.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401639?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=43"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/IMFT-20nmFlash_tn.jpg" alt="20nm Flash Memory" title="20nm Flash Memory" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">20nm Flash Memory</div> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->IM Flash Technologies, a joint venture of Intel and Micron Technology, is the first to shrink the size of NAND flash memory to 20 nanometers, which will make it possible to boost storage in smartphones and tablets while taking up less space on circuit boards. <P> IM said Thursday that it is providing customers with samples of 8 GB NAND devices and expects to begin mass production in the second half of this year, when the company plans to start providing samples of 16 GB devices. The 20-nm products will make it possible to build a 128 GB solid-state drive that is smaller than a postage stamp, the company said. <P> IM is the front-runner in the race to fit higher-capacity NAND flash in smaller areas on circuit boards in smartphones, tablets, and other handheld computing devices. "There is no other semiconductor manufacturer using a 20-nm process," Jim Handy, analyst for <a href="http://www.objective-analysis.com/Home_Page.html">Objective Analysis,</a> said in an interview. "This is the first ever." <P> IM has been making NAND flash using 25-nm circuitry for a year and a half. The company is releasing the smaller product, as competitors Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor, and the partnership of Toshiba and SanDisk, are ramping up 25-nm products. "They &#91;Intel, Micron&#93; just keep running as fast as they can, and once they're in the lead, they stay in the lead," Handy said. <P> IM's latest 8 GB NAND device takes up 30% to 40% less circuit-board space, depending on package type, than the 25-nm model, the company said. The reduction means smartphone and tablet makers can use the freed space for a bigger battery, larger screen, or adding another chip to power additional features. <P> Objective Analysis estimated that IM can manufacture 20-nm NAND for 33 cents per gigabyte versus 50 cents per gigabyte for 25-nm NAND. Such price drops are behind the steady decline in NAND flash memory prices in general. As a result, storing music, video, and pictures on NAND flash is replacing other mediums, such as CDs and DVDs. <P> Declining prices and increased competition, as the demand for flash memory rises with the growing number of smartphones and tablets, are expected by some analysts to contribute to a reduction in revenue in the global market. Objective Analysis predicted revenue will fall to $19 billion this year from $22 billion last year.2011-04-14T08:00:00ZIntel's Core processors power the updated Tecra and Portege business notebooks.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401564?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=40"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/Toshiba_TecraR840_tn.jpg" alt="Toshiba Tecra R840"title="Toshiba Tecra R840" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Toshiba Tecra R840</div> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Toshiba has made its mainstream business laptops thinner and lighter and has boosted the performance of its most portable pro notebook with the addition of Intel's latest Core processors. <P> The company has made its latest 14-inch Tecra, the R840, about 25% thinner and 20% lighter than its predecessor, the M11. The new 15.6-inch Tecra, the R850, is 19% thinner and 6% lighter than its predecessor, the A11. <P> Toshiba has slimmed down the R840 and R850 to 4.2 pounds and 5.3 pounds, respectively, while lessening the thickness to an inch for the smaller laptop and 1.2 inches for the R850. The reductions are due to the introduction of a case made of a fiberglass-plastic blend that's lighter and stronger than the plastic used in building the previous models, Kelcey Kinjo, product manager for Toshiba, said in an interview Wednesday. <P> The R840 is thinner than the R850, because Toshiba has incorporated a higher density motherboard and has used the same airflow design for cooling as in its new 13.3-inch Portege R830, its thinnest and lightest business laptop, Kinjo says. "The actual spec is 1.08 at the thickest for the Tecra R840, compared to the M11, which was at 1.44, so we actually cut it down by 25%." <P> The R850, Toshiba's more standard business laptop and a desktop replacement, is left thicker and heavier in order to keep the cost down. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the beefier system ranges from $879 to $1,399, depending on the configuration, while the R840's MSRP ranges from $899 to $1,479. <P> The Portege R830 is the same size and design as its predecessor the R700. The R830, which has a magnesium case, has a starting weight of 3.1 pounds and is an inch thick. Because of Toshiba's proprietary airflow design, the small system has a cooling system that can handle any of Intel's second-generation mobile Core processors. MSRP ranges from $1,049 to $1,649. <P> All three systems are available with the latest mobile Core i3, i5 or 17 chips and a 7200 RPM hard drive or 128 GB solid state drive. The pro laptops are also available with an optional AMD Radeon discrete graphics card with 1GB of dedicated memory. The systems include USB 3.0 ports and the choice of a DisplayPort or HDMI connector for attaching to external monitors. All the systems support the same Toshiba docking stations.2011-04-13T18:10:00ZAt the Beijing Intel Developer Forum, the company reiterated its support for the 64-bit RISC architecture and claimed the next generation eight-core chip is on schedule.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401548?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_htmlIntel, which has had its commitment to the Itanium platform challenged by Oracle, says it will ship the next version of the server processor on schedule next year. <P> Kirk Skaugen, VP and general manager of Intel's Data Center Group, underscored the company's support for the 64-bit RISC architecture during his Wednesday keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing. While the next version of Itanium, codenamed Poulson, will launch on time, Intel still refuses to provide a narrower timetable. <P> Poulson is an eight-core chip with 3.1 billion transistors, the most of any current microprocessor, according to Intel. The processor has twice the performance of the current quad-core Itanium 9300, formerly called Tukwila, and provides 33% more bandwidth through higher bus speeds. Other improvements include better power management and lower overall socket power consumption. <P> Oracle sent Intel and Hewlett-Packard, the top Itanium customer, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/229400232">into a tizzy</a> last month when it said <a href= "http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/unix_linux/229400112">it would halt</a> software development on Itanium. Oracle said it had lost confidence in Intel's commitment to the platform, goading CEO Paul Otellini into issuing a statement saying work on Itanium continued "unabated with multiple generations of chips currently in development and on schedule." <P> Some industry observers saw Oracle's statements as self-serving, given that it owns the competing Sparc processor, which the company acquired through the purchase last year of Sun Microsystems. Nevertheless, Oracle's abandonment of Itanium leaves HP as the last major server manufacturer still supporting the processor. <P> Patrick Ward, an Intel spokesman, said in an interview that Intel is already working on Poulson's successor, codenamed Kittson. Intel has not said when the latter chip will be released, but Ward says the company plans to release new versions of Itanium roughly every two years. "We have a full Itanium roadmap flushed out," he says. Both chips use the same socket as the current Itanium, making it easier for customers to boost the performance of their servers without buying new hardware, other than the chips. During the keynote, Skaugen had Intel customers Huawei and Inspur, both based in China, demonstrat Poulson performance on upcoming servers. Other makers of Itanium-based servers include Hitachi, NEC, and Super Micro, Ward says. <P> Skaugen also provided an update on Intel's Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture. The specialty processors are targeted at highly parallel applications used in high-performance computers found in scientific research, oil and gas exploration, weather modeling, and other tasks requiring huge amounts of data crunching. Intel's first MIC product will be based on its upcoming 22-nanometer manufacturing process, which could begin ramping up at the end of the year. <P> Intel expects to have more than 100 developer sites for MIC, and the company is on track to deliver a software programming model for handling highly parallel workloads on the platform, Skaugen says.2011-04-13T07:00:00ZThe Hitachi-made storage arrays and adaptable modular storage complement the Acer servers launched earlier this year for small and midsize businesses.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401478?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=36"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/Acer_AS2040_tn.jpg" alt="Acer Hitachi AS2040 Storage Array" title="Acer Hitachi AS2040 Storage Array" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Acer Hitachi AS2040 Storage Array</div> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Acer has introduced the Hitachi-built storage products it will offer in the U.S. with the Acer servers launched two months ago for small and midsize businesses. <P> The Hitachi systems include the AS2040 storage array and its Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 (AMS 2000) family of scalable storage, Acer said Tuesday. The products will complement the 16 servers, including tower, rack, blade, and rack multi-node models, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/windows_servers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219076">Acer introduced</a> in the U.S. in February. <P> Taiwan-based Acer has sold servers and storage in Asia and Europe for years, but is a newbie in the U.S. market. The company plans to compete against leaders Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and IBM through channel partners, which Acer says it will announce in the future. <P> Acer plans to use the channel as an alternative to spending a lot of money building a nationwide direct sales force. Because distributors also sell competitors' products, Acer will have to compete on terms and pricing in order to entice partners to push its technology. <P> One advantage Acer believes it has is the fact that it won't be competing with sales partners. "Acer has no plans to take this business direct," Bret Gibbs, storage product manager for Acer America, said in an interview. "When we say we're going to go 100% indirect, the partners that we're partnering with out there aren't going to have to worry about us coming back around and competing with them." <P> Acer is hoping Hitachi, which sells storage and other gear to large corporations, will provide the credibility it needs to add business supplier to its resume. The company is best-known in the U.S. as a low-cost, consumer PC vendor. <P> "You can't just go in to this market, put a name on a product and say, hey, look at me, come buy me," Gibbs said. "We definitely want the Hitachi name attached to our products." <P> The partnership is beneficial to Hitachi, because it can use Acer's experience in marketing to the low-end of the U.S. market and SMBs in other countries. "Acer's forte has always been in the consumer and the small and medium business region," Gibbs said. The Acer Hitachi AS2040 storage arrays support up to 180 terabytes using multiple RAID levels. The arrays can be configured with mixed tiers of SAS and SATA drives and come with Hitachi management software. <P> The AMS 2000 family includes the AMS 2100 and AMS 2300 systems. The former supports 512 virtual server ports and scalable capacity up to 236 terabytes, while the latter supports 2048 virtual server ports and 472 terabytes. The systems come with Hitachi's system diagnostic utility and remote replication software for disaster recovery, data retention or data migration. <P> The manufacturer's suggest retail price begins at $11,699 for the AS2040 with five hard drives. The AMS 2100 has a starting MSRP of $18,499, while the AMS 2300 starts at $31,499. All products are jointly branded.2011-04-12T17:14:00ZThinkPad laptops and ThinkCentre desktops get a Lenovo software client that improves security when connecting to cloud applications.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401464?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://informationweek.com/galleries/smb/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226100020"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/468/CloudSecure_01_tn.jpg" width="175" alt="Slideshow: Cloud Security Pros And Cons" title="Slideshow: Cloud Security Pros And Cons" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Cloud Security Pros And Cons</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for full slideshow)</span></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Lenovo is giving business customers a secure and manageable way of accessing Web applications by adding a cloud-connecting client to its desktop and laptop computers. <P> The company on Tuesday announced Cloud Ready Clients, which are <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/229219023">ThinkPad laptops</a> and ThinkCentre desktops equipped with client software powered by webNetwork, an application delivery method developed by Lenovo partner <a href="http://www.stone-ware.com/site/index.html">Stoneware</a>. The cloud-ready PCs have to be powered by Intel's second-generation Core or Core vPro processors. <P> Intel is involved because <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/229400471">Lenovo</a> uses the chipmaker's application programming interfaces that expose security, management, and power management features in the hardware. These features are used by Lenovo's client software, which it calls <a href="http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Sitelets/Alternative_Desktop_Computing/Overview">Secure Cloud Access.</a> <P> SCA provides a browser-based interface for accessing applications deployed in a private or hybrid private/public cloud. The Lenovo software can be used on a smartphone or tablet, as well as a PC. Requirements include an Internet connection and a Java-enabled browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. SCA uses its own browser on the desktop, providing the same look and feel as a standard browser with a task bar, recent history, and favorites. <P> Lenovo developed the client to provide customers the option of performing some computing tasks on the client, Bryan Thomas, manager of alternative client computing for Lenovo, said in an interview. <P> "We've got a lot of devices out there that have compute capabilities on them, but the bottom line is most cloud content services do not take advantage of those compute capabilities," Thomas said. "Everything that is being done now in the cloud is being done so that the data center is controlling all of the compute and that really is an unbalanced approach. We felt that it was a much more efficient approach to share that compute power on the endpoint and on the data center." <P> For example, customers could tie a fingerprint reader on a PC to a cloud application for authentication, Thomas said. SCA also can be used to automatically detect the hosting device's processor performance, free memory, graphics and available bandwidth, and then fit the application delivery within those parameters. <P> Available security methods includes SSL or VPN access, integration with Active Directory, eDirectory or LDAP directories, and the ability to incorporate additional layers of authentication when such security measures do not already exist on the device. SCA tries to prevent virus contamination by providing access to corporate applications and print and file resources, while walling off its intranet. <P> The cloud-ready software allows single sign-on to applications, whether Windows, Web, internal or hosted, and services. This is meant to reduce the number of password resets by IT management. Lenovo also offers a built-in fingerprint reader with its PCs to complement or replace application-unique passwords. <P> SCA has a starting price of about $80 per user, and is available only in North America.2011-04-11T16:41:00ZMore than 35 tablets will hit the streets in May with the latest low-power Atom processor from Intel.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401356?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div style="margin:0;padding:0 0 10px 10px; float:right; width:185px;text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/personal-tech/tablets/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219390"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/Ben/MotorolaXoom.jpg"width="175" alt="Motorola Xoom Teardown: Inside The New AndroidTablet" title="Motorola Xoom Teardown: Inside The New AndroidTablet" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0"style="margin:0 0 3px 0; padding:0;" /></a><br /><span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for largerview)</span><br /> <div style="margin:5px 0 0 0;padding:0;font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em; color:#990000;">Slideshow:Motorola Xoom Teardown: Inside The New Android Tablet</div></div><!--/KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <P> Intel said more than 35 Atom-powered tablets from a variety of computer manufacturers will be released this year, as the chipmaker launches its biggest technology push yet into a market where its presence is nearly nonexistent. <P> Intel announced Monday at its Developer Forum in Beijing that the Atom-based tablet platform, formerly codenamed Oak Trail, would be in tablets and hybrid devices from Evolve III, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Motion Computing, Razer, and Viliv. The portable computers would be released starting in May and through 2011. <P> The new platform is Intel's best technology to date for the tablet market, which has been growing quickly since Apple jumpstarted sales with the release of the iPad in April 2010. The power-sipping Intel platform, which is based on a Z670 Atom, makes it possible for tablet makers to produce devices that provide up to "all-day" battery life, according to the chipmaker. <P> Until Oak Trail, Intel has not had low-power technology small enough to compete with processors based on the designs of ARM Holdings, which were in 99% of tablets, including the iPad, that shipped last year, <a href="http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS22777311">according to IDC</a>. ARM is projected to lose only a few points this year, as Intel struggles for a role in the market. <P> Intel has said that it is committed to the tablet market and is taking a long-term strategy of slowly whittling away at ARM. "I view this as being a marathon, not a sprint," Paul Otellini, president and chief executive of Intel, said at a technology conference in San Francisco late last year. With billions of dollars in the bank, Intel is seen as having the resources to compete, despite its miniscule position in the market. <P> The Z670 Atom supports tablets running Google Android, Microsoft Windows, and MeeGo, a Linux-based operating system developed jointly by Intel and Nokia. To reduce the size of the processor by 60% over previous generations, Intel has packed integrated graphics and the memory controller onto the chip die. <P> To reduce power, Intel has added technology that ratchets down power consumption when the processor is inactive. In addition, the company said its integrated high-definition video decode engine provides "smooth" 1080p video playback at a fraction of the power consumption of previous Atom processors. <P> Whether Oak Trail places Intel on the right track remains to be seen. None of the computers makers in Monday's announcement are leaders in the tablet market today. Apple accounts for more than 80% of the market and is expected to hold a 47% share by 2015, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/229401337">according to Gartner</a>. Tablets running Google Android are expected to be the cause of Apple's decline, and are likely to give Intel its best chance of winning share against ARM. Apple designs its own processor for the iPad, and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/226300300">Microsoft</a> Windows, which runs on Intel chips, is not expected to be a top five player in the tablet market in 2015.2011-04-11T10:45:00ZPresident Obama has threatened to veto legislation overturning the agency's ability to regulate broadband Internet traffic.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401316?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/government/leadership/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227700337"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/529/blackberryobama_tn.jpg" alt="Obama's Tech Tools" title="Obama's Tech Tools" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Obama's Tech Tools</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->The House of Representatives has voted to overturn rules passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that prevented Internet service providers from controlling online access. <P> The House voted 240 to 179 Friday for a Republican-backed resolution reversing the FCC's "net neutrality" rules <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/policy/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228900022">passed in December</a>. The House Joint Resolution 37, sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., was approved nearly along party lines, with all but six Democrats and two Republicans voting against the resolution. <P> The resolution is not expected to pass the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority. President Obama has said he would veto the resolution if it reached his desk. A two-thirds vote by both houses would be needed to override a veto. <P> The five-member FCC voted 3-2 in December to pass rules that stopped service providers from blocking or retarding online access. The three Democrats on the commission voted for the rules, while the two Republican commissioners voted against it. <P> FCC chairman Julius Genachowski had hailed the rules as necessary to make the U.S. Internet the "freest and fastest in the world." At the same time, Genachowski and his fellow Democrats tried to find a middle ground with opponents by excluding wireless carriers from the rules. Nevertheless, Republicans have stuck by <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229203012">their arguments</a> that a less-regulated Internet would spur investment and innovation. <P> Friday, House majority leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., hailed the House vote for trying to thwart the FCC's "harmful and partisan plan to regulate the Internet." <P> "These regulations give the government unwarranted authority to control broadband networks which ultimately will hinder a thriving industry, harm competition, and stifle innovation," he said in a statement. "Under Republican leadership, the House is focusing on ending anti-growth government regulations." <P> Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco acknowledged in a statement that the FCC rules "are not sufficiently clear, consistent, or firm to effectively protect consumers and innovative freedom. <P> "But that's not reason to eliminate them; it's reason to strengthen them," she said. "Today's resolution takes us in the wrong direction -- revoking basic consumer protections, eliminating competition, and shutting off outlets of innovation." <P> Besides pitting Democrats against Republicans, the FCC rules have also split the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/policy/222301150">business community</a>. Service providers, such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, opposed the rules, while companies thriving on an open internet, including Amazon, eBay, and Google, supported the regulations.2011-04-08T11:40:00ZThe old-school case packs not just nostalgia, but also an Intel dual-core 525 Atom CPU, an Nvidia Ion 2 graphics chipset, five USB ports, and an optional Blu-ray disc player.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401217?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=34"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/NewCommodore64_tn.jpg" alt="Commodore 64 Replica" title="Commodore 64 Replica" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Commodore 64 Replica</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->For the nostalgic geek, Commodore USA has released a replica of the Commodore 64, a home computer loved by many when it hit the market in 1982 to take on the Apple II and other pioneering systems. <P> The new C64, available since Tuesday on the <a href="http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64.aspx">Commodore USA</a> website, looks exactly like the original, but with modern-day internal components. Where the original had 64 KB of system memory, quite impressive for the time, today's version sports 2 GB of DDR3 memory, expandable to 4 GB. <P> The new model also does away with the 1.023-MHz MOS Technology 6510 microprocessor and replaces it with an Intel dual-core 525 Atom CPU and an Nvidia Ion 2 graphics chipset. Other modern components within the classic design include five USB ports and an optional Blu-ray disc player. The price starts at $250 for just the retro chassis; buyers have to install their own motherboard and components. Fully assembled models range from $595, the same price as the original, to $895. <P> Barry Altman, president and chief executive of Commodore USA, says he didn't plan on selling a replica of the C64 when he bought the Commodore trademark in September 2010 to bring to market a new line of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/hardware_software/229300599">all-in-one</a> home computers. <P> The company reconsidered about six months ago after receiving lots of email from C64 fans. "We sort of dismissed it as a silly notion that didn't have much legs to grow on," Altman said in an interview Thursday. "The more we were in this and the more we had a presence online, (we saw) the demand was there." <P> With the original design drawings or manufacturing molds no longer available, the company set out to recreate everything from scratch, with only the insides altered to fit modern components. The new factory mold was created with the help of Motorola, Altman says. "The unit is gorgeous. It looks exactly like the original 64." <P> While the new machine can surf the modern Web and play online video, it also has a C64 emulator for the diehard fans who still have the original 8-bit <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/enterpriseapps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227101766">games</a>. The system's modern operating system is Ubuntu Linux. <P> Altman would not say how many units the company has sold but says, "It well surpassed our expectations and we're in our second production run now." <P> People buying the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/services/hosted_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226500105">retro PC</a> are not just middle-aged folks who might still remember the original C64, but teenagers who weren't even born when the original Commodore company <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=56800119">filed for bankruptcy</a> in 1994. "Maybe because it's so retro looking and maybe that's a fashionable thing right now," Altman says. <P> The original C64 went up against two other <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227400522">popular home computers</a> at the time, the Apple II and the Atari 400 and 800. The C64 had sound and graphics performance considered at the time superior to IBM PCs and clones. <P> From 1983 to 1986, Commodore sold 2 million units a year, dominating the home computer market with a share of between 30% and 40%. The C64 outsold IBM PC clones and Apple and Atari computers.2011-04-07T17:30:00ZTen data centers and 12 research centers are planned to help customers move to cloud computing on Dell technology.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401201?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_htmlDell plans to spend $1 billion over the next nine months to open 10 data centers worldwide and broaden customer service, as the computer maker looks to take advantage of the growing market for cloud computing. <P> Dell said Thursday it will open 12 "Global Solution Centers" this year and an additional 10 during the next 18 months. The centers will bring Dell engineers together with customers to help the latter optimize their applications for Dell hardware, while giving the vendor an opportunity to introduce customers to new products. <P> Dell plans to introduce integrated hardware and software for companies building cloud computing environments in their own data centers. The new products include vStart, which is a "complete virtual infrastructure" capable of running up to 200 virtual machines from a single management environment. Dell <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224200268">launched the first</a> of such turnkey cloud-computing packages about a year ago. <P> Dell has also entered into a three-year partnership with Microsoft to help customers deploy and manage virtualization and private cloud technologies using Dell hardware and software and Microsoft's technology, including its Windows Server Hyper-V. A Dell spokesman said in an interview that Dell customers are interested in Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing platform and that the two companies are working together on it. <P> Dell is <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/infrastructure/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222300841">not new</a> to cloud computing. The company launched its data center business practice four years ago, customizing hardware to meet the needs of large Internet companies, such as Facebook. The latest announcement shows how Dell is taking what it has learned and applying it to the mainstream market. <P> The timing is right for Dell to start launching data centers that customers can eventually tap for disaster recovery, storage, or running Web applications on Dell servers. That's because enough companies have been working for several years on building virtualized environments that provide the experience for taking the next step and using services remotely from a vendor working off a similar platform, Matthew Eastwood, analyst for IDC, said in an interview. "We're early on in this, but over the next 10 years that's' really the transition that's happening in the market." <P> The market for providing infrastructure as a cloud service will rise from $3.7 billion this year to $10.5 billion in 2014, according to market researcher Gartner. <P> Dell, which is competing with Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, and others in cloud computing, is focused on mid-market companies with 250 to 5,000 employees, Eastwood says. From that point, the company can scale the technology down or up to target small or large companies. <P> "The SMB market is one of the ones that's most intrigued with cloud because they just don't have the resources to throw at technology the way a really large customer would," Eastwood says. "To me it becomes kind of a table stakes thing for Dell. They had to do this (the latest initiative), because if they didn't they knew HP and others would. They really needed to do this to cement the relationship they have with customers in the middle." <P> Dell has set a goal of doubling its data center business to $30 billion by fiscal year 2014, which begins in February of 2013. Three of the new data centers Dell is building will be in the Americas, with the rest in Europe and Asia. <P> The Global Solution Centers will be located in Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Northern California, Brazil, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Limerick, Ireland; Frankfurt, and Paris. In Northern California, Dell plans to consolidate four offices into one center that could employ up to 1,500 people within five years, a spokesman says.2011-04-07T07:00:00ZHP, Cisco, Supermicro, and Dell are among the major vendors launching systems with Intel's latest Xeon server processors.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401101?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=33"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/HP_ProLiantDL980G7_tn.jpg" alt="HP ProLiant DL980 G7 Server" title="HP ProLiant DL980 G7 Server" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">HP ProLiant DL980 G7 Server</div> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Major server vendors are in a refresh frenzy, boosting power and performance with the latest Intel Xeon E7 processors that provide up to 10 cores per processor. <P> Hewlett-Packard and Supermicro are among the first to max out the E7's power in 80-core, eight-socket servers. Other vendors, such as Cisco and Dell, appear to be satisfied, initially, with maximum four-socket systems with up to 40 cores. <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/229401018">Intel released</a> its most powerful Xeon server family Tuesday. The Xeon E7 now takes the top end of the brand, while the E5 and E3 families hold the midrange and entry-level positions. <P> The E7 supports 2TB of memory and is based on the Westmere EX architecture, a follow up to the eight-core maximum Nehalem EX. Both architectures have the so-called "RAS" features (reliability, availability, and serviceability) that make the four- and eight-socket servers competitors to RISC systems, such as HP's Itanium servers, IBM's Power systems, and Oracle's Sun Sparc computers. <P> The top-of-the-line E7 chips, the strongest competitors to high-end RISC systems, are pricey, costing more than $4,600 each in quantities of 1,000. But compared to RISC system prices, an eight- or four-socket x86 powerhouse sporting the chips is likely to be competitive. <P> "They're going to be pricey, but they're going to be priced against a Unix (Unix/RISC) server," Jed Scaramella, analyst for IDC said in an interview. "It's going to be priced competitively." <P> HP plans to release in June an eight-socket <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/15351-15351-3328412-241644-4222584-4231377.html">ProLiant DL980 G7 server</a> with up to eight 10-core E7 4800 processors, a spokeswoman said in an interview Wednesday. The server today is a four-socket system that supports Nehalem EX-based, eight-core Xeon X6550s with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz and 256 GB of standard memory. Such a configuration starts at $52,400. <P> Supermicro is providing the option of 10-core E7 8800 chips for its eight-socket, 5U <a href="http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/5U/5086/SYS-5086B-TRF.cfm">SuperServer 5086B-TRF</a>. The system provides up to 2 TB of DDR3 memory in 64 DIMMS, 10 PCI-E Gen 2.0 expansion slots and up to 24 2.5-inch hard drives. Pricing was not released. <P> These large systems, along with some four-socket servers with 10-core E7s, will compete with RISC servers in running business applications, such as enterprise resource planning systems, analytics and business intelligence software and other highly computational tasks. "So long as these processors compare in features and performance and come in at lower price, by chip and total cost of ownership, compared to RISC competitors, they'll be welcomed by the market," IDC analyst Shane Rau says of E7 in an email interview. <P> The market for such systems is less about unit sales and more about revenue. Four- and eight-socket systems, RISC and x86, account for 5% of server shipments and 16% of revenue, according to IDC. <P> Mainstream x86 servers are expected to continue to be two- and four-socket systems, even with the E7 chips. Servers higher than four sockets are expected to account for only about 1% of x86 market revenue, according to market researcher Gartner. <P> A two- and four-socket E7 server will be higher priced than other servers in the category. The price tag will be justified by the RAS features, including higher security and better power management, and the additional memory, which translates into a better system for virtualization, Scaramella says. <P> Dell <a href="http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/press-releases/2011-04-05-dell-westmere.aspx">is offering</a> E7 processors in its PowerEdge R810 2U rack server, which has up to 32 memory DIMM slots that the company says provides the capacity of older four-socket servers in a two-socket box. This enables software licensing costs of a two-socket system in running virtualized workloads handled by a four-socket system today, according to Dell. The computer maker is also offering E7 processors in its four-socket R810 and R910 rack servers. <P> Cisco <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11587/index.html">announced support for</a> E7 chips its two-socket rack-mount server the UCS C260 M2 and in its four-socket UCS C460 M2 system.2011-04-06T09:00:00ZThe Quadro 400 is five times faster than high-end consumer gaming cards and its small footprint allows it to fit in any workstation.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401032?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/229300081?pgno=32"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/Nvidia_Quadro400GPU_tn.jpg" alt="Nvidia Quadro 400 GPU" title="Nvidia Quadro 400 GPU" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Nvidia Quadro 400 GPU</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Nvidia has introduced a professional graphics processing unit (GPU) that is small enough to fit in even the smallest workstations. <P> The <a href="http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-quadro-400-us.html">Quadro 400</a> is built for use with computer-aided design applications, such as <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/productivity_apps/227200123">Autodesk AutoCAD</a>, delivering five times faster performance than high-end consumer gaming cards, Nvidia says. When running CAD applications, the card's performance is up to 10 times faster. <P> The Quadro 400, introduced Tuesday, consumes less than 35 watts and has a small enough footprint to fit into any workstation, including small form-factor systems, Nvidia says. The GPU has 512 MB of DDR3 memory and features a 30-bit color engine with a dynamic range of more than 1 billion color variations. <P> "The Quadro 400 is the right tool to help ensure that job gets done the right way, especially when it comes to running professional apps like Autodesk AutoCAD," Jeff Brown, general manager for Nvidia's professional solutions group, said in a statement. <P> The new product follows by a month the release of the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229300987">Quadro 2000D</a> for medical imaging equipment used to display high-resolution imagery to diagnose disease and other medical conditions. The Quadro brand of professional graphics is built on Nvidia's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/222301458">Fermi architecture</a>, which features up to 512 cores. <P> Features in the Quadro 400 include a unified driver architecture for forward and backward compatibility with professional application software drivers. The GPU also has "hardware 3-D window clipping," which enables faster data transfer between a window and the frame buffer to improve overall performance, according to Nvidia. <P> Other features include support for two active connectors: a dual-link DVI with a resolution up to 3840 x 2400 pixels at 24 Hz on each panel, and a DisplayPort with up to a 2560 x 1600 resolution. A card can drive up to two displays, but can be used with three additional cards in the same system to drive as many as eight displays. <P> The Quadro 400 supports Nvidia's 3-D Vision Pro, which enables 3-D visualizations on a range of display options, from a single desktop panel to a multi-projector power wall. <P> Nvidia's latest pro GPU is now available in workstations from HP and Fujitsu. Lenovo is expected to offer the card with its ThinkStation in May. The Quadro 400 has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $169.2011-04-06T07:00:00ZBased on the 32-nanometer Westmere EX architecture, the Xeon E7 family comprises 18 processors with up to 10 cores for two-, four-, and eight-socket servers.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229401018?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_htmlIntel has introduced a more powerful family of Xeon processors with up to 10 cores, giving Windows and Linux computer makers the muscle needed to continue luring customers away from manufacturers of Unix servers running RISC processors. <P> The Xeon E7 family, consisting of the 8800, 4800, and 2800 series, forms the top end of the brand, with the E5 and the E3 families comprising the midrange and entry-level positions. Introduced Tuesday, the E7 is based on the 32-nanometer Westmere EX architecture, which is the generational successor of Nehalem EX. <P> Intel introduced a total of 18 processors with up to 10 cores for two-, four-, and eight-socket servers. The chips provide up to 40% higher system-level performance than the Nehalem EX architecture, which has as many as eight cores. The E7 processors boost by 25% the performance of applications running on virtual machines. <P> The higher computing power makes Intel's x86 platform, typically running Windows or Linux, an even stronger competitor against RISC-based servers running variants of the Unix operating system. The latter has traditionally been trusted with running so-called mission-critical applications, such as enterprise resource planning systems, databases, and other applications requiring major horsepower that's reliable. <P> Servers running x86 chips from Intel or Advance Micro Devices have already taken the low-end of the RISC market, and are moving slowly into the midrange and high-end of the market with each new chip generation that's more powerful and energy efficient than the last. Makers of Unix/RISC systems include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Oracle. <P> But despite the gains Intel is making in chip performance, full displacement of Unix systems is a process that will take many years, if it happens at all. Large companies as a whole have invested billions of dollars in software and RISC hardware that won't be replaced soon. What analysts do see is a slow migration to x86, as it comes time to replace older RISC systems. <P> "It continues over time," Jean Bozman, analyst for IDC, said in an interview. "It's a process of having a higher percentage of units and a higher percentage of revenue on x86 systems, but clearly there's still going to be Unix servers in the marketplace." Intel is focused on more than just raw power in trying to grab bigger chunks of the server market. The E7 platforms provide 2 TB of memory in a four-socket system. In addition, the processors have security improvements in the form of Intel's Advanced Encryption Standard New Instruction (AES-NI) and Trusted Execution Technology (TXT). The former accelerates data encryption and decryption, and the latter is a hardware extension to Intel chips that provide computer makers with a higher level of control over security. <P> The E7 processors also have major improvements in power management by incorporating capabilities introduced in other Xeon CPUs, such as Intelligent Power technology that reduces idle power on cores not in use. <P> Intel is providing 10 different 10-core versions of the E7, including the 8870, 4870, and 2870, all of which reach 2.4 GHz with a thermal design point of 130 watts. The company is also providing a low-voltage 10-core chip. The 8867L reaches 2.13 GHz with a TDP of 105 watts. <P> "It's hard to find a downside to this announcement," Richard Fichera, an analyst for Forrester Research, said <a href= "http://blogs.forrester.com/richard_fichera/11-04-05-intel_ups_the_ante_at_the_high_end_with_new_e7_cpus?cm_mmc=RSS-_-IT-_-943-_-blog_">in his blog.</a> "Intel extends its performance franchise even further into what was legacy RISC/UNIX territory with this announcement, and Linux and Windows workloads get a platform that improves performance significantly without requiring any system redesign, ensuring a rapid flow of product into the market." <P> Intel says system makers are expected to announce more than 35 products based on the E7. The manufacturers include Bull, Cisco, Cray, Dawning, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, IBM, Inspur, Lenovo, NEC, Oracle, PowerLeader, Quanta, SGI, Supermicro, and Unisys. <P> The Xeon E7 processors range in price from $774 to $4,616 in quantities of 1,000. The Xeon processor E3-1200 entry-level family, also unveiled Tuesday, ranges in price from $189 to $612 in quantities of 1,000. <P> RISC/Unix servers in the fourth quarter of last year accounted for almost 26% of the server market, or $3.8 billion, which was relatively flat year over year after a string of quarterly declines, IDC says. Sales of X86 servers, which make up nearly 60% of the market, rose more than 21% to $9 billion. <P> Nevertheless, the fact that sales of Unix servers were flat indicated the market was stabilizing, according to IDC.2011-04-05T16:27:00ZERP vendors are being acquired or merging to better compete with large software companies like SAP and Oracle.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400958?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/reviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219081"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/581/freehand-4_tn.jpg" alt="Great Lost Software: 16 Gone But Not Forgotten" title="Great Lost Software: 16 Gone But Not Forgotten" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Great Lost Software: 16 Gone But Not Forgotten</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Private equity firm Apax Partners plans to acquire business-application makers Epicor Software and Activant Solutions and combine them into a single mid-market company with annual revenue of $825 million. <P> The companies announced the deal Monday, launching the latest merger attempt among vendors providing <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229300673">enterprise resource planning systems.</a> Lawson Software said last month that it had received an unsolicited bid from rival Infor. <P> Apax said the combined purchases of Epicor and Activant is valued at $2 billion. If the acquisitions are successful, Apax will own a mid-market company with more than 30,000 customers and $825 million in annual revenue. <P> Epicor provides ERP software for manufacturers, while Activant focuses on retailers and wholesale distributors. Apax is paying cash for Activant, a privately held company, and is offering Epicor stockholders $12.50 a share in cash, which is an 11.2% premium over Friday's closing stock prices. The Epicor deal alone is valued at $976 million. <P> Epicor's board has approved the sale, which awaits the OK from regulators. Under the terms of the deal, Epicor has 30 days to search for a superior proposal before committing to the acquisition. Such a proposal is not expected, and the companies plan on closing the deal by the end of the current quarter. <P> "With Apax, we are partnering with one of the premier investment firms in the world and one that is very much focused on growth and delivering value to the customers of its portfolio companies," George Klaus, Epicor chief executive and chairman, said in a statement. <P> Size matters in the ERP business, so the market is seeing attempts at consolidation by mid-market companies to give them more clout with customers against the larger vendors, such as SAP and Oracle. Recent examples include Infor's unsolicited, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229300929">$1.84 billion bid</a> for Lawson. <P> In the case of Epicor and Activant, the companies will benefit by combining intellectual property in a single company focused on specific markets, Scott Guinn, an analyst for IDC, said in an interview. "It turns them into a pretty big powerhouse in the manufacturing, retail, and wholesale distribution areas." <P> An Infor and Lawson combination would create an organization with nearly $3 billion in annual revenue, or more than three times larger than the combined Epicor and Activant. Lawson provides ERP, customer relationship management, and human resource management software. Infor is an ERP, CRM, and lifecycle management company led by Charles Phillips, former co-president at Oracle and an architect of that company's acquisition of business software makers Siebel, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft. <P> Human resource application vendors have been <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800982">particularly hot</a> as takeover targets recently. Late last year, Lawson said it would acquire Enwisen for $70 million in cash, and Epicor bought Spectrum Human Resource systems for $16 million cash.2011-04-05T15:19:00ZThe GoFlex Slim holds 350 GBs of storage, is 38% thinner than the previous model, and weighs less than six ounces.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400944?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/reviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229300081&pgno=31"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/605/Seagate_GoFlexSlim2_tn.jpg" alt="Seagate's GoFlex Slim" title="Seagate's GoFlex Slim" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Seagate's GoFlex Slim</div> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Seagate has introduced its slimmest external hard drive, a 320-GB model that's roughly the width of a pencil and works with a Mac or Windows PC. <P> The GoFlex Slim, launched Tuesday, is 38% thinner than the previous GoFlex ultra-portable drive and weighs less than six ounces. The new product is about 5 inches high and 3 inches wide, making it easy to carry in a pocket or carrying bag. The Slim uses Seagate's 2.5-inch Momentus hard drive for thin notebooks and netbooks. <P> The Slim's black metal case includes a USB 3.0 port, which is compatible with USB 2.0, but can transfer data 10 times faster when connected to another USB 3.0 port. The internal hard drive is also quick at 7,200 revolutions per minute. <P> The Slim is formatted as a FAT32 file system, so files can be transferred from either a Mac or Windows PC. The drive comes with backup software and the ability to encrypt files. <P> The Slim comes with an 18-inch USB 3.0 cable and a three-year warranty. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $100. <P> Seagate is marketing the Slim as an accessory for thin notebooks or netbooks, which typically have less internal storage than mainstream mobile PCs or desktop replacements. The Slim is targeted at anyone with a need to carry video files, large graphics, or presentations. <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/data_protection/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229301117&queryText=seagate">Seagate</a> is offering an HFS+ formatted version of the Slim for people who want to use the external drive with Apple's Time Machine backup software. The drive, which can also store files from a Windows PC, has a metallic finish meant to complement the aluminum casing of a MacBook. The GoFlex Slim for Mac has a MSRP of $99. <P> Demand for storage is rising, driving an increase in storage capacity of hard disk drives, as well as shipments of HDDs. <a href="http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS22324610">IDC predicts</a> that HDD shipments for enterprise applications will rise to 52.6 million units in 2014 from 40.5 million in 2009. At the same time, the price per gigabyte is expected to decline at a rate of 25% to 30% per year. <P> Seagate <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/systems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219599">introduced last month</a> a 3-TB desktop HDD called the Barracuda XT. The drive is targeted at professional works stations and high-end PCs.2011-04-04T21:45:00ZThe $6.5 Billion acquisition would make TI the world's third largest maker of semiconductors.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400891?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_htmlTexas Instruments plans to acquire rival National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion in cash, making TI the third largest semiconductor maker in the world and broadening its leadership in the global market for analog chips. <P> Under the deal announced Monday, TI will pay $25 a share <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/soa_webservices/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210600640">for National</a> stock. The transaction, which has been approved by each company's board, is expected to close in six to nine months, pending regulatory approval. <P> TI makes 30,000 analog products used in medical devices, telecommunication, and industrial equipment. The chips are also used in mobile phones to amplify radio signals and to manage power consumption in PCs. Buying National will add 12,000 analog products to TI's portfolio. <P> The acquisition will make TI the world's third largest semiconductor maker with $14.5 billion in revenue, surpassing Toshiba, which would fall to fourth place, according research firm IHS iSuppli. As of the end of 2010, Toshiba had $13 billion in revenue. TI is the world's largest <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218600860">analog chipmaker,</a> accounting for 13.7% of the market, or $6.4 billion. With the National buy, TI's share will rise to 16.8%, iSuppli says. Rivals in the analog market include Analog Devices, Linear Technology, and STMicroelectronics. <P> "This acquisition is about strength and growth," Rich Templeton, TI's chairman and chief executive of TI, said in a statement. "National has an excellent development team, and its products combined with our own can offer customers an analog portfolio of unmatched depth and breadth." <P> Under TI, National's portfolio will be sold by a sales force that is larger by tenfold. "TI has much greater scale in the marketplace, with its larger portfolio of products and its large global sales force," National chief executive Don Macleod said in a joint statement with Templeton. "This provides a platform to enhance National's strong and highly profitable analog capability, power management in particular, leading to meaningful growth." <P> National's analog chips for power management were likely very attractive to TI. In 2010, the market for voltage regulators expanded 36.3% to $9.1 billion, compared to the 32.1% year-to-year increase for the semiconductor market as a whole, according to iSuppli. <P> Another key benefit for TI is National's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226300139">chip factories</a>, called fabs, which are located in Maine, Scotland, and Malaysia. TI plans to continue operating the facilities, each of which has additional capacity to increase production, the companies say.2011-04-04T15:11:00ZNetWitness' network analysis and visualization tools, used to investigate the high-profile breach of RSA's SecurID authentication system, will be folded into EMC's RSA security management products.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400831?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/galleries/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226700232"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/478/SecurityAnalytics_Slide01_tn.jpg" width="175" alt="Strategic Security Survey: Global Threat, Local Pain" title="Strategic Security Survey: Global Threat, Local Pain" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Strategic Security Survey: Global Threat, Local Pain</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for full slideshow)</span></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> EMC has bought NetWitness, whose network security analysis and visualization software is expected to give EMC an edge over other enterprise vendors, such HP, Cisco, and IBM. <P> EMC announced the acquisition Monday and said the purchase had been completed April 1. NetWitness will become a "core element" of EMC's RSA security management products. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190500752">EMC acquired</a> security firm RSA in 2006 in becoming a one-stop shop for enterprise information and content management. <P> NetWitness recently extended the network security analysis capabilities in its technology to also include automated malware analysis, which is important for tracking persistent threats to a corporate network. The company announced at the 2011 <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229218961">RSA Conference</a> that it would release in the second quarter a new product called Spectrum, which provides multiple signature-free methods to identify advanced and zero-day malware. <P> "The intensity and sophistication of advanced adversaries and zero-day malware challenge every organization to rethink traditional approaches to network security," RSA president Tom Heiser said in a statement. <P> Rocky DeStefano, president and chief executive of consulting firm Decurity, said RSA can use NetWitness to close "some gaping holes" in current products, and add advanced security analytics that go beyond what is currently available from other enterprise vendors, such as HP, Cisco, Symantec, and CA. <P> "My advice to EMC is very simple," DeStefano said <a href="http://www.visiblerisk.com/blog/author/visiblerisk">in his blog</a>. "Let NetWitness run wild. It's a family that can deliver you to greatness if you allow them to lead the way." <P> Experts also expect the deal to raise the profile of other companies offering data-driven security products, such as AccessData, Niksun, Solera Networks, Fireeye, NitroSecurity, Mandiant, and Q1Labs. The market is likely to see acquisitions or partnerships arise as enterprise companies like HP, SourceFire, CA, Cisco, and IBM look to compete more directly with what EMC will have, according to DeStafano. <P> Scott Crawford, analyst for Enterprise Management Associates, pointed out <a href="http://blogs.enterprisemanagement.com/scottcrawford/2011/04/04/emcrsa-acquires-netwitness-data-driven-security-goes-mainstream/">in his blog</a> that the acquisition followed a recent high-profile breach of RSA systems, which NetWitness helped investigate. In March, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229400810">RSA reported</a> "an extremely sophisticated cyber attack," called an advanced persistent threat (APT), which resulted in information being taken from RSA's systems. <P> Some of the information was related to RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication products. RSA said the information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a SecurID implementation. <P> "If there's anything that highlights that &#91;NetWitness'&#93; level of deep visibility in security has arrived, it's RSA's own recent breach," Crawford said. "Though one must assume that at least part of RSA's generous reference to the role NetWitness played in revealing the nature of its breach was to lead up to this announcement, it cannot be denied that NetWitness is already widely used for just this purpose."2011-04-04T07:00:00ZThe 20th update in five months adds features that make it easier to chat and access Twitter without leaving the browser.http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/229400775?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/web_services/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200784"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/539/rockmelt10_tn.jpg" alt="RockMelt Social Web Browser Revealed" title="RockMelt Social Web Browser Revealed" height="117" class="img175" /></a><br /><span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: RockMelt Social Web Browser Revealed</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->RockMelt, which is hoping to crack the browser market by piggybacking on the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, has released its 20th update in five months in its continuing effort to make its namesake software more social-network friendly. <P> RockMelt Beta 2 includes easier chatting with multiple friends, an overhauled Twitter app, and a new feature for saving content for viewing later, whether it's a Web page or a posting on Facebook. There are also the many bug fixes that typically accompany software updates. <P> RockMelt has gotten attention as much because of the person behind it as its attempt to ride the social networking craze. The social browser is backed by Marc Andreessen, a founder of Netscape; the company's eponymous browser was ultimately crushed by Microsoft in the early days of the Web. Microsoft's anti-competitive tactics led to government regulators forcing the company to change the way it drove use of Internet Explorer, which accounts for roughly 57% of the browser market today, according to NetApplications. IE's share of the market used to be much higher, but its size has been whittled over the years by Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and others. <P> RockMelt is betting that enough of the 500 million people on Facebook and the 500,000 accounts added to Twitter each day will want a browser that lets them browse online, while also chatting with friends and monitoring updates on the social networks. <P> The latest version adds a new chat bar at the bottom of the browser, so users can keep track of multiple conversations. Notifications have been added to let people know when a new message has arrived, and dragging a chat off the bar opens a separate window. <P> RockMelt <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200685">integrates with social networks</a> through two vertical bars, one on each side of the browser window. On the left are the user's Facebook friends, showing which ones are online and ready to chat. On the right are icons for all the applications connected to the browser, which can include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Flickr. <P> RockMelt Beta 2 adds to the app bar a clock icon that's clicked when users run across a Web page or a posting on a social network that they want to save for viewing later. The app edge also includes a new Twitter app that can edit retweets, view direct messages, reply to all users, and search the micro-blogging site. <P> In addition to having new features, the latest RockMelt, which is built on version 10 of Google's Chromium browser engine, also contains fixes for 78 flaws in previous versions. <P> Whether people are passion it enough about their social networks to switch to a new browser remains to be seen. It's not the first browser to fold in people's social networking activities. Firefox and Chrome can offer similar interactions through extensions. <P> The number of RockMelt downloads to date is fewer than 1 million, according to the company. While the number is small given the size of the market, users spend more than six hours a day in the browser.2011-04-01T17:00:00ZA Government Accountability Office report indicates that a small number of companies reap the most benefit from the foreign worker program and U.S. worker protections have eroded.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400777?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_htmlThe nation's contentious H-1B visa program that lets companies fill jobs with foreign workers whose skills are scarce in the U.S. is weak in protecting U.S. workers, while bestowing disproportionate benefits to relatively few companies, a government report found. <P> The Government Accountability Office, Congress's watchdog for public programs, also found that poor coordination between agencies in sharing data hindered tracking of H-1B workers and the ability to determine whether the annual cap on such worker has been reached. <P> The GAO delivered its report Thursday to a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. The report spells out the current state of the divisive program. Proponents, many of which are tech companies, argue that it allows companies to fill gaps in the U.S. workforce, particularly in areas of science and technology. Opponents say there is no skill shortage, and the program is used to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign workers. <P> Rather than take sides, the GAO report spelled out the shortcomings in the program, based on research covering the years 2000 to 2009. One finding showed that less than 1% of H-1B employers received more than a quarter of all the workers allowed to enter the country, while the majority of employers -- 68% -- were approved for just one foreign worker. <P> Among the biggest beneficiaries of the program were staffing companies that contracted out H1-B workers. The GAO found that 10 of the top 85 H-1B-hiring companies in 2009 fit that category, with six of the 10 headquartered in India. All together, these 10 companies accounted for 6% of all H1-B approvals that year, and three of them were in the top five hiring companies. <P> While these companies benefited from the program, U.S. workers saw protections, such as requirements to pay prevailing wages, weakened. That's because program oversight is fragmented among four agencies and restricted by law, the GAO says. In addition, the program does not hold employers accountable for following the rules, when they hire foreign workers through a staffing company. Finally, changes to the program that has broadened job and skill categories, increased exceptions to the annual 65,000-worker cap, and unlimited extensions to H-1B visas has led to lower standards for eligibility and a pool of foreign workers that exceeds the cap. <P> How much the cap is exceeded is unknown, due to poor integration of data systems spread across various agencies involved in the program. As a result, the GAO was unable to determine the total number of H-1B workers or how long they have been in the country. <P> One fact the GAO was able to determine is that companies are not moving operations overseas because of the H-1B cap. Interviews with 34 companies across industries uncovered several reasons for heading to other countries: access to lower-cost skilled labor, the pursuit of new markets, the ability to have more workers available anytime by having them in different time zones, and lower taxes. <P> A copy of the report is available on the <a href="http://www.gao.gov/htext/d11505t.html">GAO website</a>.2011-04-01T16:12:00ZThe scareware sends users to a bogus Web page warning them that their PCs are infected with malware and tries to sell them an anti-virus application.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400764?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229300675"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/586/TJX_tn.jpg" alt="10 Massive Security Breaches" title="10 Massive Security Breaches" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: 10 Massive Security Breaches</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Hundreds of thousands of website URLs have been compromised in a massive malware attack that tries to trick people into buying fake anti-virus software to remove bogus infections, security experts said. <P> Dubbed LizaMoon, unidentified perpetrators of the scareware campaign inject script into legitimate URLs, so when people try to access the website, they get redirected to a page warning them that their PCs are infected with malware that can be removed by downloading a free AV application called Windows Stability Center. The software eventually will find bogus threats that will require victims to buy a more robust product, using their credit cards. <P> Security firm Websense says a Google search shows more than 1.5 million URLs with the nasty script. Because Google counts unique URLs and not domains or websites, the number is likely inflated. "It's safe to say it's in the hundreds of thousands," Websense said Thursday in a <a href="http://community.websense.com/blogs/securitylabs/archive/2011/03/31/update-on-lizamoon-mass-injection.aspx">blog post.</a> The attack is worldwide, with U.S. PC users making up roughly half those getting redirected to the bogus warning page. <P> LizaMoon, named after the first domain Websense discovered with the malicious script March 29, is believed to be a SQL injection, which is when hackers <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/database-security/167901020/security/application-security/219401046/index.html">get their script into a Microsoft SQL Server database</a> that then adds it to a site's URL. SQL injections is <a href="http://www.darkreading.com/database-security/167901020/security/application-security/223100129/index.html">one of the most common forms</a> of attacking Web sites and back end databases. <P> LizaMoon code has been found in SQL Server 2003 and 2005. Websense does not believe hackers are exploiting a vulnerability in the database. They are more likely penetrating Web systems used by the sites, such as outdated content management and blog systems. Security experts are still trying to determine exactly how the SQL injection occurs. <P> Fortunately, people heading to a hijacked URL are only redirected once. If the bogus warning page is ignored, then people can go on their way without being continuously sent to the same page. <P> Websense said the first domain may have been infected with the LizaMoon script as early as Oct. 21, 2010, but the evidence is inconclusive. The first confirmed case that Websense knows of was in December 2010. That infection was identified as LizaMoon until Thursday.2011-04-01T10:35:00ZGianfranco Lanci has left the company after failing to reach an agreement with directors on the PC maker's future.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400731?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229201160"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/575/PaulOtelliniThumb.jpg" alt="15 Influential Tech Board Members" title="15 Influential Tech Board Members" class="img175" /></a><br /> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view)</span><br /><div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: 15 Influential Tech Board Members</div></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Acer chief executive Gianfranco Lanci has resigned, following disagreements with the board over the future direction of the world's third-largest computer maker, which recently reported a dim outlook on PC revenue. <P> The Taiwanese company said Thursday that Lanci's resignation was effective immediately, and board chairman J.T. Wang would be acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found. <P> Lanci left the company less than a week after Acer reported that first-quarter PC revenue would fall short of expectations, due to weak sales in Western Europe and the United States. The company said revenue was about 10% less than in the fourth quarter of last year. In addition, Acer said PC shipments in the second quarter would be flat over the first quarter. <P> The weak outlook sent Acer stock plummeting, with the company losing more than $1 billion in market value in four days, the Reuters news agency reported. <P> Acer said Lanci and a majority of the board held different views on the company's future, and the parties could not agree, despite several months of discussion. "They placed different levels of importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation," the company said of the discussions. <P> Going forward, the PC would remain the core of Acer's business and the company would continue expanding its commercial computer business, Wang said in a statement. "In addition, we are stepping into the new mobile device market, where we will invest cautiously and aim to become one of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800586">the leading players</a>." <P> In February, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/windows_servers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219076">Acer announced</a> plans to start selling later this year storage and servers in the United States for the first time. The company's initial offering would include a total of 16 tower, rack, blade, and rack multi-node servers. The systems would be based on Intel Xeon or Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron processors. Acer planned to resell Hitachi storage products. <P> Acer rode high in 2008 and 2009 on the popularity of netbooks, inexpensive mini-laptops that fit well in the company's strengths as a maker of low-priced consumer PCs. That netbook market waned considerably last year with Apple's introduction of the iPad tablet. The iPad has led to a wave of competing tablets from other vendors, all of which have cannibalized netbook sales, analysts say. <P> Acer introduced its <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229000522">Iconia Tab</a> in February and said it would release more models in the second quarter. Whether these systems can get the company's sales back on track in a fiercely competitive market remains to be seen. Wang acknowledged that Acer would need "a period of time for adjustment." <P> IDC in January rated Acer as the world's third-largest computer maker, in terms of shipments, following HP and Dell. <P>2011-03-31T17:11:00ZJava and Python software development kits get upgraded as Google refreshes its platform-as-a-service offering.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400711?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229301210"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/588/chrome10_tn.jpg" alt="Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management" title="Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management</div> <span class="inlinelargerView"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229301210">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</a></span> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Google has upgraded the App Engine, the company's platform for developing and hosting Web application in Google data centers. <P> Version 1.4.3, <a href="http://googleappengine.blogspot.com/2011/03/announcing-app-engine-143-release_30.html">released Wednesday,</a> brings the Java and Python runtimes closer to parity by including in the latter's software development kit a test library matching the Java SDK's testing framework, Google said. On the other hand, the Java SDK gets deferred and remote application programming interfaces. <P> A key feature in the Python SDK is an experimental released called the Prospective Search API, which taps into a querying service that allows developers' applications to match search queries against real-time data streams. The technology can be used to search for updates on social networking services or real-time comments in a chat room. It also can be used in applications that analyze data sources that provide notification, monitoring, or filtering services. <P> The test bed suite in the SDK enables developers to test the quality of code locally, instead of using App Engine production services. By dropping the need for the external service, Google said developers will be able to write stable code more quickly. <P> An important update to the Java SDK is "concurrent requests," which makes it possible for each application instance to serve multiple users at the same time. Previously, Java apps build with the SDK had to rely on starting additional instances to scale up to higher traffic levels. <P> The remote API added to the SDK lets developers perform operations on an application's data store from a local computer, Google said. The deferred API allows users to more easily write and execute ad hoc tasks. Both have been in the Python SDK for a while. <P> In releasing the new SDKs, Google also gave a peek at the upcoming 1.4.4 version of App Engine. The upgrade will include a change that would let people who upload code to download it, as well as owners of the project, as listed in the administration console. "In preparation for this, be sure to properly assign roles to all developers on your App Engine application in the Admin Console," Google warned. <P> Last year, Google <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225300295">had to suspend</a> some App Engine fees following temporary service troubles that the company said was due to rapid growth. Competing cloud application platforms include Amazon Web Services, Heroku, Microsoft's Windows Azure Platform and Salesforce.com's Force.com.2011-03-31T15:15:00ZThe formal complaint with European Union regulators says Google is not playing fair in capturing the lion's share of ad revenue from search.http://www.informationweek.com/news/229400702?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229400241"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/590/ie91_tn.jpg" alt="Internet Explorer 9 Fast, Powerful, Intuitive" title="Internet Explorer 9 Fast, Powerful, Intuitive" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Internet Explorer 9 Fast, Powerful, Intuitive</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</span></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->Microsoft has filed an antitrust complaint against Google with European Union regulators, throwing its industry weight behind other companies that claim Google is not playing fair in capturing the lion's share of ad revenue from search. <P> Microsoft announced Wednesday that it launched a formal complaint against its rival, which accounts for more than 90% of the search market in Europe, placing Google way ahead of Microsoft's Bing search engine. In filing the complaint, Microsoft is joining its subsidiary Ciao, a price comparison site that has made similar accusations. <P> Google, which has yet to officially present its side, says it is in talks with EU regulators. <P> "We're not surprised that Microsoft has done this, since one of their subsidiaries was one of the original complainants," Google said in an emailed statement Thursday. "For our part, we continue to discuss the case with the European Commission and we're happy to explain to anyone how our business works." <P> Search is central to Google's advertising income, which accounts for most of the company's $30 billion in annual revenue. The EU <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/soa_webservices/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228400231">embarked on</a> a wide-ranging antitrust investigation of Google last November, triggered by complaints from much smaller search engines than Bing. <P> Microsoft's complaint takes the probe to another level and directs the EU's attention toward whether Google is denying a major rival access to key technologies necessary to index information on sites Google controls, such as YouTube, the world's largest video-sharing site. Microsoft claims Google has blocked Bing and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, the company's mobile phone operating system, from properly accessing YouTube. <P> "Without proper access to YouTube, Bing and other search engines cannot stand with Google on an equal footing in returning search results with links to YouTube videos and that, of course, drives more users away from competitors and to Google," Brad Smith, senior VP and general counsel at Microsoft, said in a blog post announcing the complaint. <P> Microsoft also is accusing Google of preventing advertisers and online agencies from using third-party software to make the information they input into Google's Adwords easily accessible by other ad platforms, such as Microsoft's Adcenter. "If it's too expensive to port their advertising campaign data to competing advertising platforms, many won't do it," Smith says of advertisers. "Competing search engines are left with less relevant ads, and less revenue." <P> Microsoft recognizes that in filing the lawsuit, it is taking the same position other companies took against Microsoft in the Web browser market, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206900497">leading to</a> an antitrust ruling against the company in 2004. "There of course will be some who will point out the irony in today's filing," Smith says. If Google is found in violation of EU laws, it could be ordered to change its business model and to pay a fine equal to as much as 10% of the company's annual revenue, <em>The New York Times</em> reported.2011-03-31T08:00:00ZFacebook is the target as the company builds a social network around search results that lets people share recommendations for websites and online advertisers.http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/229400648?cid=nl_IW_daily_2010-10-25_html<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229301210"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/588/chrome10_tn.jpg" alt="Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management" title="Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Slideshow: Google Chrome 10 Boosts Performance, Management</div> <span class="inlinelargerView"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/internet/browsers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229301210">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</a></span> </div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->With Facebook evolving into a major rival, Google is meeting the challenge by building its own social network centered on its lucrative search business. <P> On Wednesday, Google introduced the "+1" (plus-1) service that would let people who connect to friends using their Google Profile to share their recommendations for websites and online advertisers on search results. Google hopes to eventually expand the feature to include a person's friends on other social networks. <P> The service has the potential of changing the way people use Google's search engine. Today, search queries are answered through machine algorithms. In the future, the website recommendations of people and their friends could also play a role in how results are displayed. <P> "What I like about this is it give you the best of both worlds," Allen Weiner, an analyst for Gartner, said in an interview. "It gives you a machine answer and it gives you a human curated answer by adding recommendations from other people." <P> The way that will be done is by people clicking on the "+1" that will start appearing on websites and online advertising. People in a person's social network within the Google community will then see the symbol on results fed to a related search query. The symbol could eventually be useful to people searching for products and services, since experts agree that word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing tool. <P> Facebook has a similar feature called the "like" button. People on the social network click the button to show approval of a picture, link, or other content on Facebook, the world's largest social network with roughly a half billion users. Facebook poses a threat to Google's business, because people are using the network as a way to find products and services through recommendations of others, rather than search engines. "The biggest threat that search faces today is social networks," Weiner said. <P> Google's +1 would take on the challenge by first leveraging those people who have a Google Profile. Similar to a Facebook profile, the page provides general information about a person, such as occupation, education, the city where they live, and more. On Google, the profile can be connected to contacts a person has on other services provided by the company, such as Picasa photo-sharing, YouTube, or Gmail. <P> People who take advantage of the +1 feature will have their recommendations appear on the search results delivered to people on their contact lists. Rob Spiro, product manager for +1, said on the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/1s-right-recommendations-right-when-you.html">Google blog</a> that a person's contacts on other social networks, such as Twitter, could also be tapped sometime in the future. There was not mention of Facebook in the blog. <P> Connecting +1 to social networks outside of Google services will be critical to building a large enough community to make the feature useful to people. "There's really not enough people in the Google community to make it work," Weiner said. <P> Google is rolling out the feature starting in English on Google.com. People who want to get started immediately can opt-in through the company's <a href="http://www.google.com/experimental/index.html">experimental search site.</a> Advertisers will be able to participate through Google's AdWords service.