Oracle juices homegrown Xen to match own-brand Linux
System maker Oracle has upgraded its version of the Xen server virtualization hypervisor with its own variant of the Linux kernel to bring it in synch with its Enterprise Linux server operating system distro. The new Oracle VM Server also includes some nips and tucks specifically for admins babysitting hypervisors. A bare-metal hypervisor is just a very specific kind of operating system that has been chopped down to its essence and that is designed expressly to run virtual machines that ...
10 ways to make Android better than the iPhone
The Total Economic Impact of the HP 3PAR Storage Forrester Consulting provides an analysis of four HP 3PAR storage customer implementations to quantify the efficiency and cost savings achieved over legacy storage platforms. On average, HP 3PAR storage customers achieved a 10.4 month payback with a 55 % ROI over a 3-year evaluation period and a significant reduction in CapEx and OpEx over that same period as a result of thin provisioning, maintenance costs avoided and labor productivity gains.
Dish Networks locks horns with broadcasters over ad skipping
In the latest episode of the US ad-skipping saga, Dish Networks is facing the wrath of broadcasters such as NBC and Fox, but winning praise from customers and no doubt causing a tiny churn among competitors. That at least is the intention of the Dish PVR ad skipping feature called Auto Hop, with the company gambling that the gain in subscription revenue will make the pain of having to defend a possibly protracted case against it from broadcasters worthwhile. Dish, ...
Microsoft to devs: Don’t ruin Win 8 launch with crap code
Microsoft has urged developers to only use approved Windows 8 software interfaces to avoid spoiling the launch of its new operating system with dodgy code. In a stark warning this week, the company stated third-party programmers should “resist the temptation” of invoking APIs that aren’t included in the official Software Development Kit (SDK) for the new Metro user interface. Developers who flout this rule are in “violation of customer expectations and [Windows] Store policy”, the software giant stated in a ...
$US38 share price values Facebook at US$104b
Facebook has decided it is worth US$104b, valuing each of the shares that will go on sale early Friday US time at US$38. The price means the company anticipates to raise US$18.4 billion or so, a lazy billion or so behind the biggest first-day fund-raiser of all time, Visa. It also means, if we round Facebook’s member numbers down to an even 900 million, that the $104b valuation makes each member worth about $115. Financial analysts anticipate the share price ...
Governments may hit social networks with cyber attacks
Social networking operators like Facebook and Twitter need to think about themselves much more vulnerable to attacks – not because they are more vulnerable or more attractive to criminals than previously, but because says are now actors in security threats. According to Phillip Hallam-Barker, vice-president and principal scientist of Comodo Group, “The introduction of say actors means you now need to be serious about security if you’re doing social networking: the Facebooks, the Twitters, need to think about themselves targets ...
Whitman stated to be planning big HP job cuts
New(ish) HP CEO Meg Whitman has been at the helm for long enough to come up with a longer-term plan for the company, and according to various rumors, her plan will look eerily familiar to HPers who remember the early years of ex-CEO Mark Hurd: job cuts, predominantly in services. According to a report on CNBC television, HP is looking to cut anywhere from 8 to 10 per cent of its 324,600-strong workforce, and will make the announcement next Wednesday, ...
Australia’s first space park launched
Australia’s only dedicated satellite park, SSC Space Australia, is now open for business and is currently in advanced negotiations with two international space agencies from Europe and Asia to use the new West Australian (WA) facility. The park is owned and financed by its parent, Swedish Space Corporation, which selected WA for the facility as part of its international expansion strategy due to its geographically critical coverage area for global satellite tracking. The satellite park secured its first customer in ...
SAP betting huge on its HANA in-memory database
By Chris Kanaracus | IDG News Service SAP seems to be betting its future on its HANA in-memory database, spotlighting the technology once again at the Sapphire conference in Orlando Wednesday, announcing a slew of new applications, partnerships and functional enhancements for the system. Thanks to a “shopping spree” by SAP in recent years, the company has been able to surround HANA with a wide variety of important supporting tools, co-founder Hasso Platter stated during a keynote address Wednesday, which ...
New Apple patent may spell trouble for Android
The US Patent and Trademark Office has handed Apple’s legal team what may turn out to be a powerful weapon in their on-going battles against anyone with the temerity to launch products competitive with the iPhone and iPad: a patent on soft keyboards that alter their keys with the tap of an on-screen button. Granted on Tuesday, US Patent 8,179,731, “Method, system, and graphical user interface for selecting a soft keyboard”, describes the soft keyboard familiar to any iOS or ...
