27th February 2007 Archive

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HP pays for PolyServe while IBM and Dell watch

Cluster a Go Go

Longtime acquisition suspect PolyServe has been eaten by HP. HP today picked up the Oregon-based software maker for an undisclosed sum. Should the deal close as expected in the next months, PolyServe's products and staff will be tucked into HP's StorageWorks division. This acquisition builds on a long-term partnership between …

Enterprise 27 Feb 2007, 00:59
Dell could go indirect with Acer buy - analyst

Model 2.0

Michael Dell could prove that "Dell 2.0" is more than a marketing throwaway by buying rival Acer, according to a leading Wall Street analyst. Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi today laid out a plan for Dell to revive its fortunes by purchasing Acer - a relatively cheap target with a $4bn market cap. Such a move would …

PC Builder 27 Feb 2007, 02:34
Intel announces fourth 45nm fab

Chip plant to go into production H2 2008

Intel is to spend $1-1.5bn upgrading its Rio Rancho, New Mexico plant, Fab 11X, to produce 45nm processors, the chip giant said yesterday. Output will commence in H2 2008. Intel's 45nm transistion centres on plants D1D and Fab 32 located in, respectively, Oregon and Arizona. These are the fabs that will punch out Penryn, the …

IT Channel 27 Feb 2007, 10:03
German cops and spooks prep own spyware

Analysis Federal Trojan for 'online searches'

Germany's police and secret services are pushing for a legal basis for "online house searches" – carried out without the knowledge of suspects, using spyware similar to a Trojan. The German public learned of the practice in November last year, when a magistrate of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal High Court) ruled that there is …

Software & Security 27 Feb 2007, 11:31
Google set to challenge Microsoft's office monopoly

Comment Not great software, but certainly good enough

Google is now head-to-head with Microsoft in the Office Apps market, as you may have guessed from the recent Google Apps announcement. What you get from Google is word processing, spreadsheet, calendar, chat, web page creation, and email. There are two price points: It's free. Just log on to Google and register. But prepare …

Software & Security 27 Feb 2007, 11:54
Comodo resolves site validation glitch

Trust restored

Digital certificate firm Comodo has restored services to normal after websites displaying Comodo's Trust Logo were reduced to a crawl on Friday. Comodo's Trust Logo validates a website's identity to surfers, building confidence in ecommerce. But problems contacting the trustlogo.com site resulted in sites that displayed the …

Software & Security 27 Feb 2007, 12:12
Westcon dives into NOXS

Pays €53.25m to boost network security offer

Westcon Group has snapped up network security distie NOXS for €53.25m. Networking distie Westcon reckons the deal sets it up to become a “leading multinational distributor of network security products and solutions.” NOXS operates in the UK, Germany, Benelux, France, Ireland Italy and Austria. Its vendor roster in the UK …

IT Channel 27 Feb 2007, 12:43
MySpace hackers avoid extortion rap

Blackmail charges dropped against tracking software duo

Blackmail charges have been dropped against a pair of hackers accused of mounting an extortion scam against MySpace as part of a plea-bargaining agreement. Shaun Harrison, 19, and Saverio Mondelli, 20, of Suffolk County, New York, pleaded guilty to developing code that tracked MySpace users in exchange for an agreement by …

Software & Security 27 Feb 2007, 13:46
Torex Retail loses two more directors

Still sorting last year's accounts

Torex Retail said goodbye to two more directors late yesterday. The Oxfordshire-based software company came unstuck when a trading update, which said everything was fine, was quickly followed by a profits warning last month. Shares in the firm are suspended while KPMG tries to make sense of the company's accounts. Torex …

IT Channel 27 Feb 2007, 16:06
Security flap over support ActiveX controls bug

Help!

Flaws in an ActiveX component incorporated in many technical support support packages create a risk of hacking attacks, security watchers warn. SupportSoft's ActiveX controls are subject to multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities, which create a means for hackers to inject malware onto vulnerable systems. The controls are …

Software & Security 27 Feb 2007, 16:32
C2000 makes SME push

IBM server deal shows the way

Computer 2000 has officially launched a campaign to sell IBM servers to SME resellers. The distributor signed up to sell IBM's x servers and workstations last August, while IBM launched its server campaign for SMEs in December. Yet C2000 tried to make out in a press release it published today this was all new: "Computer 2000 …

Enterprise 27 Feb 2007, 16:35
Brocade makes hay before McData integration

Bitter pill to swallow?

Storage switch specialist Brocade posted a strong set of quarterly results as it prepares to near-double its market share by integrating recently completed acquisition McData. For the three months to January 27, Brocade revenues were $224.2m, up 32 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Margins widened too, with the …

Enterprise 27 Feb 2007, 20:15
Microsoft employs bologna defense against VMware

Raises white paper with ball of fluff

In classic Redmond fashion, Microsoft has countered VMware's charges of anticompetitive practices in the server virtualization market by heaving a giant ball of fluff at reporters. Yesterday, we reported on VMware's new white paper that offers a point-by-point synopsis of how Microsoft makes life difficult on customers trying …

Enterprise 27 Feb 2007, 23:32