Ecommerce, CRM, CMS Solutions and Open Source Trends

Continuous live updates on Ecommerce, CRM, CMS Solutions and Open Source Trends. Check back here regularly for the latest articles. Click "Read more..." below to see all articles.

• Non-Profit Organizations Switch From Microsoft Great Plains to ... - PR Newswire

  SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N) , a leading vendor of on-demand, integrated business management software suites for mid-market enterprises and divisions of large companies, today announced that some of the ...

• Oracle releases new version of Siebel CRM - TMCnet

  Oracle has released version 8.1.1 of its Siebel CRM, reportedly providing industry-specific solutions for self-service and customer loyalty management enabling cost savings through use of open standards technology. Released under the Applications ...

• Transit CRM: Creative Ways to Get Citizens on Board - E-Commerce Times

  There are a host of reasons for government-run transit operations to persuade citizens to ride -- notably, acquiring extra revenue to stretch budgets -- and many are employing innovative customer service and marketing approaches to boost their ...

Latest News on Technology

• Web ad sales rise slightly from prior quarter (AP)

  AP - Despite the bad economy, U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose in the third quarter, according to an analysis released Thursday.

• Review: New BlackBerrys cool but can't beat iPhone (AP)

  AP - With the recent releases of three new BlackBerrys across three different wireless providers, Research In Motion Ltd. has fired back at Apple Inc. in the Great Smart Phone Skirmish of 2008.

• Ballmer dismisses Yahoo buyout but open on search (AP)

  AP - Microsoft Corp. is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo Inc., CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company would still be "very open" to a collaboration on Internet search. His comments sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 percent.

  
  
  

• China's Baidu.com fights to rescue reputation (AP)

  AP - Baidu.com has been the star of China's Internet world. But now the search engine dubbed "China's Google" is scrambling to rescue its reputation after state TV accused it of letting unlicensed suppliers of medical products pay for higher rankings on its results page — without alerting users.

• Why Dell has its head in the clouds (CNET)

  CNET - Dell plans to preload computers with more subscription-based functions. The idea: give IT another, presumably less expensive way to access a myriad of systems management functions through the "cloud."

• Germany takes aim at online child pornography: minister (AFP)

  AFP - Germany's family minister Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to crack down on Internet child pornography by enlisting online service providers to block offensive sites, in an interview published Thursday.

  
  
  

• Microsoft to let Zune owners keep 10 tracks a month (AFP)

  AFP - Microsoft, seeking to boost the popularity of its Zune music player, announced a new subscription offer on Thursday that will allow users to keep 10 tracks a month permanently.

  
  
  

• Virgin Media sees mobile broadband as complementary (Reuters)

  Reuters - British cable operator Virgin Media said it did not believe mobile broadband had mass appeal in the short term, but it entered the market to offer the service in its high-end mobile, broadband and TV bundles.

• Sun receives complaint about Java vetting process (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - Sun Microsystems has heard from a company concerned about the vetting process of Java and open source, a Sun official said on Wednesday.

• A future without programming (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - A few years ago, self-proclaimed nondeveloper Kevin Smith worked for a software company that tried to build a project tracking tool using Microsoft .Net. Some 15 developers spent a year with little success. "After burning though a million dollars and still without a product, the company called it quits," says Smith, now managing partner of NextWave Performance, a consultancy in Denver, Colo.

Latest News on Softwares

• A future without programming (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - A few years ago, self-proclaimed nondeveloper Kevin Smith worked for a software company that tried to build a project tracking tool using Microsoft .Net. Some 15 developers spent a year with little success. "After burning though a million dollars and still without a product, the company called it quits," says Smith, now managing partner of NextWave Performance, a consultancy in Denver, Colo.

• Microsoft: New software not Symantec, McAfee rival (Reuters)

  Reuters - Microsoft Corp's upcoming security software is not designed to take sales from Symantec Corp and McAfee Inc as it is a stripped-down, free product that focuses purely on anti-virus protection, a Microsoft executive said.

• Microsoft CEO rules out another Yahoo takeover bid (AFP)

  AFP - Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday ruled out making another takeover bid for Yahoo but said the US software giant remains open to a partnership on Internet search.

  
  
  

• Microsoft Will Replace OneCare with Security Software (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - Microsoft plans to stop accepting paid subscriptions to Windows Live OneCare in mid-2009. The security software is slated to be replaced by a free offering code-named Morro, which will focus on providing consumer PCs with core protection from viruses, spyware, rootkits, trojans and other forms of malware.

• IBM To Buy Virtualization-Software Company Transitive (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - IBM plans to buy Transitive to help its customers cut costs. Big Blue announced Tuesday that it will acquire the Los Gatos, Calif.-based virtualization-software company for an undisclosed amount.

• Microsoft to offer free anti-virus software (AFP)

  AFP - Microsoft has announced plans to offer free anti-virus software to PC users starting next year.

  
  
  

• DoCoMo, KTF to sell Google phone next year: report (Reuters)

  Reuters - Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc and South Korean partner KTF Co will jointly develop a smartphone using Google Inc software for launch next year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

  
  
  

• Microsoft to offer free security software (Reuters)

  Reuters - Microsoft Corp said Wednesday it will discontinue sales of its subscription PC security service and instead offer free software to help protect computers from viruses, spyware and other threats.

  
  
  

• Adobe accommodates Visual Studio, Eclipse (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - Adobe Systems at its Adobe Max 2008 conference Tuesday heralded a slew of new technologies, including links between its Flex application development platform and Microsoft's Visual Studio software development platform.

• IBM says plans to acquire Transitive Corp (Reuters)

  Reuters - International Business Machines Corp said on Tuesday that it plans to acquire privately-owned Transitive Corp, whose technology helps businesses use software on IBM computers that was designed to run on rival systems.

Latest News on Search Engines & Website Portals

• Ballmer dismisses Yahoo buyout but open on search (AP)

  AP - Microsoft Corp. is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo Inc., CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company would still be "very open" to a collaboration on Internet search. His comments sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 percent.

  
  
  

• Yahoo, T-Mobile announce mobile search deal (Reuters)

  Reuters - Yahoo Inc announced an expansion of its mobile Web portals to T-mobile, so its smart phone users who get data will have Yahoo search by default.

• Microsoft CEO rules out another Yahoo takeover bid (AFP)

  AFP - Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday ruled out making another takeover bid for Yahoo but said the US software giant remains open to a partnership on Internet search.

  
  
  

• P&G, Google team up to swap jobs, trade knowledge (AP)

  AP - The world's largest consumer products company and the online search leader are working together to learn more about each other and about targeting customers.

• Google Will Make Life Photo Archive Searchable (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - Google on Tuesday announced a deal with Life magazine to bring more than 10 million of its archived photos online in a public display. The mix of iconic and never-before-seen photos is searchable through Google Image Search.

• Microsoft rules out buying Yahoo but likes search deal (Reuters)

  Reuters - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer ruled out an acquisition of Yahoo Inc on Wednesday but said his company was interested in resuming talks on a Web search partnership.

  
  
  

• Japan's DoCoMo eyes 'Google phone' launch next year (AFP)

  AFP - Japan's top carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. aims to launch next year a cellphone developed with Internet search giant Google, an official said Wednesday, a move that could counter Apple's iconic iPhone.

  
  
  

• Microsoft interested in search pact with Yahoo, not acquisition (Reuters)

  Reuters - Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday said the company is "not immune" to "current economic realities". Highlights:

  
  
  

• China's Baidu.com fights to rescue reputation (AP)

  AP - Baidu.com has been the star of China's Internet world. But now the search engine dubbed "China's Google" is scrambling to rescue its reputation after state TV accused it of letting unlicensed suppliers of medical products pay for higher rankings on its results page — without alerting users.

• iPhone sex: Google application baffled by British accents (AFP)

  AFP - A new voice-recognition search tool for the iPhone has problems understanding British accents, leading to some bizarre answers to spoken queries, a newspaper report and users said Wednesday.

  
  
  

Latest News on Open Source & Linux

• Sun receives complaint about Java vetting process (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - Sun Microsystems has heard from a company concerned about the vetting process of Java and open source, a Sun official said on Wednesday.

• Microsoft, Novell eye Moonlight beta, system management (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - Marking the two-year anniversary of their controversial interoperability agreement, Microsoft and Novell this week are announcing upcoming availability of both the beta version of Moonlight, which puts Microsoft's Silverlight rich Internet application technology on Linux, and the general release of Advanced Management Pack for Suse Linux Enterprise for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.

• 'Moonlight' heads to beta (CNET)

  CNET - Microsoft and Novell said Tuesday that they are nearly ready with a beta version of Moonlight--a Firefox add-on that allows Silverlight content to play on Linux PCs.

• Trick Out Your Firefox Browser with Style (PC Magazine)

  PC Magazine - The Mozilla creators of the popular open source Firefox browser are offering a supplementary web application that helps users customize the browser to their specific needs.

• The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - Two years ago this month, Microsoft forged its controversial partnership with Novell that, among other things, had the two companies agreeing not to sue each other over intellectual property issues, in part to protect Suse Linux users over any patent litigation from Microsoft.

• Gartner: 85 percent of companies using open source (CNET)

  CNET - Eighty-five percent of companies are already using open-source software, with most of the remaining 15 percent expecting to do so within the next year, according to analysts at Gartner.

• Norway encourages use of open source software (AP)

  AP - Norway pledged funds Monday to stimulate public sector use of the free open source software OpenOffice to reduce its dependency on Microsoft Corp. and other major software producers.

• BlueStar sparks energy services with SOA (InfoWorld)

  InfoWorld - These days, the electrical power business has taken on a complexity akin to that of commodities trading. Deregulation, alternate energy sources, and customers seeking protection from rising prices have opened a world of opportunity to nimble electricity retailers such as BlueStar Energy Services, which -- thanks to a strategic investment in SOA, much of it open source -- has made the most of it.

• Adobe answers cries for 64-bit Flash on Linux (CNET)

  CNET - Starting to answer the clamorous demand from open-source fans, Adobe Systems plans to release an alpha version of its Flash Player technology on Monday for those using 64-bit Linux software.

• NASA turns to open-source problem-tracking databases (CNET)

  CNET - When the Space Shuttle Endeavour launches Friday afternoon, assuming it is not delayed, the astronauts onboard and the technicians on the ground at mission control will have at their disposal new software that could streamline the process of problem reporting and analysis.

Latest Internet News

• Web ad sales rise slightly from prior quarter (AP)

  AP - Despite the bad economy, U.S. Internet advertising revenue rose in the third quarter, according to an analysis released Thursday.

• Germany takes aim at online child pornography: minister (AFP)

  AFP - Germany's family minister Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to crack down on Internet child pornography by enlisting online service providers to block offensive sites, in an interview published Thursday.

  
  
  

• New European online library swamped by users (AFP)

  AFP - The EU's new Europeana digital library, an online digest of Europe's cultural heritage, was forced to close temporarily on its launch Thursday after it was swamped by Internet users, a spokesman said.

  
  
  

• McCartney, Guns N' Roses albums to launch on MySpace (Reuters)

  Reuters - Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and Guns N' Roses released their biggest hits on vinyl records and compact discs, but on Thursday, their new albums will debut online on MySpace.

  
  
  

• Virgin Media sees mobile broadband as complementary (Reuters)

  Reuters - British cable operator Virgin Media said it did not believe mobile broadband had mass appeal in the short term, but it entered the market to offer the service in its high-end mobile, broadband and TV bundles.

• Teenagers learn important social, technical skills online: study (AFP)

  AFP - Parents may disapprove of the amount of time their teenagers spend online but they are actually learning important social and technical skills, according to a study released on Thursday.

  
  
  

• Woman posed as teen online in suicide case: attorney (Reuters)

  Reuters - A Missouri woman established a fake identity online to torment a vulnerable teenage girl who later committed suicide, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday in a trial that is being closely watched by the burgeoning social networking industry.

  
  
  

• Readers overwhelm EU's new digital library (Reuters)

  Reuters - Europe's heritage went digital Thursday when the European Union launched an online library putting famous works such as Dante's "Divine Comedy" and Beethoven's 9th Symphony just a mouse click away.

• "World of Warcraft" has rivals racing for new worlds (Reuters)

  Reuters - "World of Warcraft" has become a phenomenon among role-playing interactive online games with its unrivaled success leaving competitors racing to draw gamers into new virtual worlds.

  
  
  

• Ballmer dismisses Yahoo buyout but open on search (AP)

  AP - Microsoft Corp. is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo Inc., CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company would still be "very open" to a collaboration on Internet search. His comments sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 percent.

  
  
  

Latest News on RSS & Blogging

• `Fake Steve Jobs' stops blogging as the 'Real Dan' (AP)

  AP - It was bad enough when Dan Lyons stopped sharing his musings about the technology scene in a hilarious satire of what Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs would be like as a blogger.

• GE embraces blogs, some see disclosure worry (Reuters)

  Reuters - General Electric Co has quietly changed the way it communicates with Wall Street over the past month, using a company blog, GEReports.com, to share news with investors.

• Kanye Blogs About U.K. Arrest (E! Online)

  E! Online - Who's winning? Kanye West or the media?

  
  
  

• Texas man blogs about waiting for execution (Reuters)

  Reuters - Rogelio Reyes Cannady dreams of earning a degree that would lift him from his hardscrabble Texas roots to become a paralegal.

• Google adds video to Gmail, translations of RSS feeds (AFP)

  AFP - Internet giant Google on Tuesday beefed up its free Web-based email service by adding online video and voice chat as well as automatic translation of RSS feeds people commonly use to stay updated on blogs and news.

  
  
  

• Do Oscar voters bring opinions along? (Reuters)

  Reuters - When Entertainment Weekly awards columnist Dave Karger argued last week that the Election Day results could help boost the best picture chances of "The Dark Knight" and the upcoming gay-themed drama "Milk," it triggered a war of words among his fellow bloggers.

• 7 Things Obama's Win Could Mean for Women's Health (U.S. News & World Report)

  U.S. News & World Report - Women's health activists are fist-bumping each other over Obama's slam-dunk win, and they're hoping that he'll reverse some of the policies put in place by Bush. Yesterday, I had a chance to catch up with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards in between her strategy meetings and blogging for the Huffington Post. She predicted seven things that would change in the new administration.

• Utah faces boycott after Mormon work for Prop 8 (AP)

  AP - Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

• Malaysian court frees blogger (Reuters)

  Reuters - A Malaysian court freed on Friday a blogger who was detained under the country's draconian security laws and whose arrest in September sparked condemnation from the opposition and rights groups.

  
  
  

• Prominent Malaysian blogger freed from detention (AP)

  AP - Malaysian authorities freed the editor of an anti-government news Web site Friday after a court decided that his arrest under a law allowing indefinite detention was illegal.