InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs

Internet, TV Deemed Bad For Kids' Health

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 19:30:00 EST

The strongest association identified is between media exposure and obesity.

Firefox's Market Share Increases, IE's Falls

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 18:34:00 EST

Also showing steady growth is Apple's Safari browser, which rose to 7.13% after starting the year with a 5.82% share, Net Applications' figures showed.

VMware Introduces Cloning In Virtual Desktops

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 17:56:00 EST

Cloning saves storage because only one image of an application is shared across multiple users, according to VMware.

Employees Suing Sprint Over Commission Snafu

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 16:42:00 EST

The wireless carrier is facing a class-action lawsuit over allegations that it shafted employees of commissions totaling more than $5 million.

Verizon's Former Hawaii, New England Operations Struggling

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 16:06:00 EST

The owner of the former Verizon landline outfit in Hawaii filed for bankruptcy, while the New England operator saw its stock plunge nearly 35% on Monday.

Apple's Ban On iPod Sync Software Stymied By Wikileaks

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 16:05:00 EST

The iPodHash project is an effort to open the iPod and iPhone to third-party media software other than Apple's iTunes.

Joost IPTV Comes To iPhone, iPod Touch

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:35:00 EST

Joost's global Web video service offers more than 46,000 videos -- including 18,000 music videos -- as well as 400 TV series and 1,200 movies and short films.

San Francisco Mayor Turns To YouTube For State Of The City Speech

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:30:00 EST

In the great tradition of the long-winded politician, Mayor Gavin Newsom's annual address exceeds seven hours of online video.

Don't Hold The Phone, And Other Recycling Incentives

getitgreennow@gmail.com (Kevin Ferguson) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:19:23 EST

My BlackBerry went for a swim the other day. I'm too embarrassed to tell you where, save to say that I find myself multitasking these days in the oddest places. I will say that when it sank beneath the surface, its lights flickered like those of the doomed Titanic. That meant, aside from having an intense desire to boil my hand, I had to get a new BlackBerry and, yes, recycle the old one.

Cyber Monday Slows Retailer Sites To A Crawl

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:15:00 EST

Online stores left money on the table as e-commerce servers buckled.

Nokia Upgrades Maps, Messaging

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 14:49:00 EST

With beefed-up messaging and mapping services, Nokia continues its strategy to be more than just a cell phone manufacturer.

Apple Recommends Antivirus Software For Mac OS X

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 14:35:00 EST

As Apple's computers have become more widely used, malware authors have been targeting its products like iTunes, QuickTime, and the Safari Web browser.

Media And Tech Mogul Ted Rogers Dead At 75

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 14:21:00 EST

Rogers' company operates a vast network of Internet, cable, and telecommunications services.

Presented By:

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 14:21:00 EST

Hitachi, Intel Partner On SSDs For Data Centers

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 14:15:00 EST

Intel will be the sole supplier of NAND flash memory technology for Hitachi's high-end solid-state drives for servers, workstations, and storage systems.

Facebook Links Social Networks With Single Sign-On

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 13:14:00 EST

The site will integrate login and password services from multiple online partners.

Nokia Takes On Touch-Screen Rivals With N97 Smartphone

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 12:50:00 EST

With a full slate of features and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Nokia is positioning the N97 as a strong competitor to Apple's iPhone 3G and RIM's BlackBerry Storm.

Chip Equipment Sales Seen Down 28% In 2008

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 12:20:10 EST

An industry group said it expects a 21% decline in 2009 followed by 31% growth in 2010.

Video: Hands On With The Nokia N97

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 11:29:15 EST

InformationWeek had the chance to spend some time with the new Nokia N97. Here's a complete rundown of the hardware and user interface of Nokia's darling little multimedia computer.

IBM Patents System For Splitting The Check

paulmcd@techweb.com (Paul McDougall) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 11:15:56 EST

The waiter deposits a $200 check and an uncomfortable silence envelops the table. Glances are exchanged and eyebrows are raised. Who ordered the expensive wine? Who only had a soda and sandwich? Who pays for what? Enter IBM.

Google Gives Windows Users A Gmail Gadget For The Desktop

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:18:49 EST

If you're a user of the Google Desktop product on the Windows platform, Google has good news for you. It's finally added a Gmail gadget for the Desktop sidebar. Now you can see incoming e-mail without opening up Gmail in your browser.

Guy Kawasaki On 'The Art Of Laying People Off'

bevans@techweb.com (Bob Evans) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:15:24 EST

In which the outspoken venture capitalist and author, as always, speaks bluntly: "Take responsibility. ... Cut deep and cut once. ... Don't ask for pity." Here's Kawasaki on sharing the pain: "Take a smaller office. Turn in the company car. ... Give your 30-inch flat-panel display to a programmer who could use it to debug faster." His 12 tips don't make for much happy talk but for business leaders in these troubled times they do, unfortunately, make sense.

Linux's New Digs: The iPhone

thegline@optonline.net (Serdar Yegulalp) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:06:18 EST

So now the latest iteration of the iPhone hasn't just been "jailbroken," it's snagged a visa to another country entirely. A project named OpeniBoot lets you boot Linux on the iPhone -- admittedly with little more than a command line, but for Linux that's more than enough to begin with.

Xbox 360 Outsells PlayStation 3 On Black Friday

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST

Hot video games like Gears Of War 2 and Fable II helped boost console sales.

A Google Cloud In Your Data Center

jpfoley@techweb.com (John Foley) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 07:05:25 EST

Google's App Engine lets you build, deploy, and run Web applications on Google's infrastructure. But what if you wanted to create a Google App Engine experience in your own data center? Work is under way to make that possible.

Server Revenues Down In Tough Economy

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 04:00:00 EST

The sales drop in expensive servers was particularly felt by vendors of RISC-Itanium Unix servers.

Nokia Unveils The N97, Its Real iPhone Competitor

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:15:00 EST

Today in Barcelona, Nokia announced its flagship multimedia phone for 2009, the N97. The N97 sports a 3.5-inch touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard for messaging. Other specs include 3G, Wi-Fi, 5-megapixel camera, GPS, and a whole lot more.

Amazon Opens SimpleDB To Unlimited Public Beta

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 19:41:00 EST

To help entice businesses to at least try out its cloud computing-integrated database service, Amazon is offering a free tier of usage for the next six months.

Significant Attack Hits DoD Computers

george@georgehulme.com (George Hulme) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 18:44:00 EST

Most attacks against Department of Defense systems that we hear about amount to minor attacks on unclassified systems. And while the DoD's network is hammered on 24/7, most of those probes don't get anywhere. Apparently, this attack did.

Google Chrome Browser To Support Customization

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 18:27:00 EST

The move gives Google's Web browser the same level of third-party extensions as Mozilla Firefox.

Cell Phone Users Increasingly Satisfied With Their Service

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 18:10:00 EST

But consumers have a new complaint, or at least 14% in the Consumer Reports survey did: Cell phone service is getting too expensive.

Cell Phones More Distracting Than Chatty Passengers

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 17:12:00 EST

A simulator presenting a 24-mile multilane highway complete with on- and off-ramps, overpasses, and two-lane traffic was utilized in the research.

WiMax Future Remains Unclear With Clearwire

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

The company will rename its nationwide WiMax network Clear, and buy equipment that supports both WiMax and competing 4G technology, LTE.

Presented By:

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

Can You Track The 'Revenue Of IT'?

cjmurphy@techweb.com (Chris Murphy) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 16:11:49 EST

Does your company capture the full value of what IT delivers, or are the conversations only about how much IT costs? (Which then usually comes down to "too much.")

CIO Memo To Staff: Should Customers Really Rank Last?

bevans@techweb.com (Bob Evans) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 16:00:21 EST

In ugly times like these, what message does a CIO send to the business technology team about 2009? The National Bureau of Economic Research just declared that the United States entered a recession a year ago, consumer spending has tanked, the auto industry is floundering, and the financial industry is still trying to find its bottom (so to speak). If you're looking for inspiration, Gartner VP Michael Maoz has just posted a hypothetical "CIO to Staff" memo that's worth reading.

Texas Instruments Ranked Top MID Platform Vendor

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 15:39:00 EST

Qualcomm and Intel followed TI on ABI Research's list of mobile Internet device platforms.

Alcatel-Lucent Could Dump Mobiles To End Pain

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 14:45:32 EST

The company is set to unveil a major strategic review on Dec. 12, when investors will learn how the telecoms gear maker plans to halt losses as its core carrier market crumbles around it.

'The Simpsons' Takes On Apple

mwagner@techweb.com (Mitch Wagner) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 14:42:49 EST

When I came in this morning, Twitter was buzzing over an Apple parody that ran on The Simpsons last night. Homer, Marge, and the kids visit the Mapple Store at the mall and admire the MyPods and MyPhones. The segment includes a parody-in-a-parody of the famous 1984 Apple "Big Brother" commercial, featuring Comic Book Guy instead of an athletic woman with Eurythmics hair. Watch the embedded video below, until YouTube takes it down.

Obama's Innovation Panel Creates Opportunity, Pride For Tech Industry

kconley@techweb.com (K.C. Jones) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:30:17 EST

President-elect Barack Obama has added an advisory group for technology and innovation to his transition team. The newly formed Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group will draft an "innovation agenda."

Free-As-In-Beer Tools For Chrome And Firefox

thegline@optonline.net (Serdar Yegulalp) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:19:57 EST

"Free as in beer", meaning, of course, free to use, but not open source. In this case, it's a couple of tools which are handy as adjuncts to both Firefox and Chrome.

Open Source: Broken Model Or Breaking The Mold?

thegline@optonline.net (Serdar Yegulalp) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 12:22:03 EST

Much of the analysis of open source business models seems schizoid: it's either the greatest thing since sliced bread or the worst thing since ... you get the idea. The truth is, of course, somewhere in the middle, but in what form?

Get Ready For Some Big News From Nokia

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 11:48:36 EST

On Tuesday, Nokia kicks off its own Nokia World show in Barcelona, Spain. According to what I've been told by Nokia staffers, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will be dropping a huge bomb during his keynote address. The device is so secret that most Nokia employees haven't seen it yet.

The Primary Storage Temptation

georgeacrump@mac.com (George Crump) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 11:34:11 EST

As IT staffs get stretched even thinner, a challenge is arising in what to do with primary storage. There is still the need for more and more capacity, there are limited dollars to buy more of it, and there are limited resources to properly manage it.

Alcatel-Lucent's Big Plans

mfratto@nwc.com (Mike Fratto) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 10:20:15 EST

Alcatel-Lucent recently announced a sweeping set of enhancements across many of its switch and unified communications product lines. ALU, better known in the service provider arena, wants to send the message that it can compete with the likes of Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and 3Com as a total solution provider for voice and data services rather than a point product vendor. Is a single source necessary or the best option?

Poznan Punch: What You See Is What You'll Get

getitgreennow@gmail.com (Kevin Ferguson) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:40:14 EST

So, what do we make of this week's climate summit in Poznań, Poland? That may well depend on what emotional baggage we bring on our trip.

Google Calendar Now Supports Apple's iCal

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 06:25:48 EST

Google recently added support for Apple's native calendaring program. With a new tool, users can set it up so that Google Calendar and Apple's iCal can share information.

First Firmware Update For The BlackBerry Storm Blows Into Town

eric@zemanmedia.com (Eric Zeman) — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 05:15:47 EST

If you've read any reviews of the BlackBerry Storm, you no doubt have heard that the poor thing is a bit buggy. Heck, even The New York Times' David Pogue harshed on it. The initial batch of Storm's are running firmware version 4.7.0.65. Over the weekend, firmware version 4.7.0.75 became available, and with it a bunch of fixes.

Oh Boy, A Survival Kit For The Holidays

hmarks@naol.com (Howard Marks) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:09:04 EST

Welcome to the silly season, when marketers decide their company's products make great holiday gifts. As InformationWeek's Master of Disaster, I get e-mail from all sorts of folks who think I should say nice things about their products in this here blog. Sometimes they try just a little too hard to make their products topical.

Looking At Twitter As A News Source

allen@centernetworks.com (Allen Stern) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:26:34 EST

If you are into online technology, you've certainly heard of Twitter by now. It seems many tech blogs can't get enough of how great Twitter is. The scene reminds me a bit of Facebook about 18 months ago. Apparently there's nothing Twitter can't do. In addition to people sharing that they just rode a horse; watched a video; cleaned their apartment; ate a hamburger or took a shower, now Twitter is being utilized as a key news source.

Twitter In Controversial Spotlight Amid Mumbai Attacks

awolfe@techweb.com (Alexander Wolfe) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:27:53 EST

Never before has a crisis unleashed so much raw data -- and so little interpretation -- than what we saw as the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, unfolded. Amid the real-time video feeds (kudos to CNN International), cell phone pictures, and tweets, we were able to keep abreast of what seemed to be happening, and where it was going down, all the while not really knowing those other key, canonical components of journalistic information gathering -- namely, who or why.

Microsoft Loses Internet Ground, Or Not?

infoweek@methvin.com (Dave Methvin) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:09:00 EST

As Microsoft continues its struggle for relevance in Internet services, the latest numbers seem to tell a confusing story. Depending on the headline you read, Microsoft is either treading water or losing ground to Google. A closer look at two takes on the Microsoft search share show that it's a half-full/half-empty situation with a worrisome long-term trend.