Business Center Blogs

The combination of pumped-up technical features and relatively low prices are giving vendors with open source-based products more inroads to corporate networks than ever before.

Watch a slideshow of these 11 open source companies.

The gloves are off now in the fight for the data center. Cisco has operated largely unchallenged in providing routing and networking equipment for data centers, but with the purchase of 3Com, HP is poised to go head-to-head with Cisco.

The nearly $3 billion acquisition allows HP to incorporate a diverse portfolio of network switching and routing equipment, as well as 3Com's TippingPoint intrusion prevention products into its inventory. Combined with the growing success of HP's existing ProCurve network devices, purchasing 3Com intensifies the rivalry between Cisco and HP.

Yesterday was Microsoft's Patch Tuesday for the month of November. There are 6 new Security Bulletins this month: 3 rated as Critical and 3 rated as Important. Not all Critical Security Bulletins are created equally though. You need to understand the implications of the flaw being patched and how it applies to your systems to determine how urgent the update is.

With one month left in 2009, Microsoft would have to have a record-breaking month in December to surpass the 78 Security Bulletins released in 2008. So, in that regard you can say its been a better year for Microsoft. It is also worth noting that this month's Security Bulletins do not affect the new Windows 7 operating system.

Google has added new features to its Latitude location mapping and tracking service, allowing users to see where they have been and automatically be alerted (warned?) when friends are nearby.

"One of the most popular ideas was for Latitude to keep track of location history, allowing you (but not your friends) to see where you've been at any point in time. Another popular idea was to notify you when you're near your Latitude friends so you can easily meet up or grab lunch," wrote Google's Chris Lambert in an announcement on the Google Mobile Blog posted late Tuesday.

Google announced the latest in a barrage of free Wi-Fi promotions from the three online search engine giants--Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. This promotion provides free Wi-Fi at 47 airports around the country for weary travelers. The Wi-Fi altruism from Google and others is much appreciated, but it shouldn't be necessary. The Wi-Fi should be free to begin with.

Free Wi-Fi is apparently the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season. Google partnered with Virgin America to provide free Wi-Fi networking on all of its flights within the Continental U.S.. Yahoo is providing free Wi-Fi in New York's Times Square for one year. Microsoft is delivering free Wi-Fi for Bing users at random locations scattered around the country. And now, Google is picking up the tab for airline travelers to use Wi-Fi connections for free at 47 different airports.

Today brings news of Bada, a new smartphone operating system from Samsung, product of corporate fantasy that second-tier brands can really change the world.

"Bada will be Samsung's landmark, iconic new platform that brings an unprecedented opportunity for operators, developers and Samsung mobile phone users around the world," said Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics in a prepared statement.

Logitech announced that it is purchasing Austin-based LifeSize Communications for $405 million. Purchasing the high-end video equipment vendor moves Logitech from the desktop to the boardroom and into the big leagues of video-conferencing.

LifeSize has established itself as a provider of high-definition video-conferencing systems in a nascent, but quickly growing market that is tied closely with the boom in unified communications. It provides high quality video-conferencing over moderate bandwidth connections with systems that range from $8,000 to $12,000 each. LifeSize has over 9,000 customers, ranging from small businesses to large enterprises spanning more than 80 countries.

In a world where computing goes "cloudy," can Firefox survive? What if Chrome OS successfully merges browser with operating system to create a new Google world order?

This is all highly speculative, but on Firefox's fifth birthday, I fear for the browser's future. (I am not alone; Tony Bradley also worries over Firefox).

Users who want the Mac OS X experience on a netbook budget have figured out how to hack the Mac OS X operating system to force it to work on netbooks based on the Intel Atom processor. The latest update to the Snow Leopard update removes support for the Atom processor and puts an end to the 'hackintosh'--at least for now.

Why would Apple do such a thing? Is Apple so bent on maintaining draconian control of the Mac OS X software and the hardware platform it runs on that it would risk the customer backlash that might come from breaking hackintosh netbooks? Well, yes and no.

Google's gift of free holiday Internet access at 47 U.S. airports only points out how backward those airports are. Don't they understand Internet access in public places is supposed to be free?

The scale of Google's announcement turned Yahoo's "free Internet in Times Square for a year" promotion, also announced Tuesday, into another example of how out-classed Yahoo has become.