Stories about: Koala

When big companies release new software, they launch it with lots of hoopla: press tours, technical conferences, free T-shirts. Open-source projects, even the well-known ones, generally release their major new versions with a lot less fanfare. The FOSS (free and open-source software) community is often too busy coding and testing to bother with marketing, even when the new "point release" of the software is really remarkable.

Subsidies made available under the federal government's $162.5 million Broadband Guarantee program will allow IPSTAR Australia, a subsidiary of Thailand's Shin Satellite Plc, to expand its coverage and services.

Koala Telecom today declared it has not received one red cent from the government's Broadband Connect program proudly stating that it is business as usual at the Adelaide-based Internet Service Provider (ISP).

IBM showed off research efforts in a number of areas, including SOA, wikis, and mashups, at its IBM Silicon Valley Lab last week.

Look out, Java. Ruby on Rails is staking out your turf.

Real-time communications vendors Akonix and FaceTime this week are expected to beef up their security gateways to lock down the avenues that viruses and malware travel using instant messaging and peer-to-peer programs.

In a conference room overlooking the site of the World Trade Center, early adopters of biometrics technology this week stressed the importance of determining someone's true identity.

Yet again the channel has excelled itself. The word is that last week's mystery man was in fact Path Communication's Brad Merrick. He was spotted by the ever-vigilant LAN Systems Cisco representative extraordinaire Rennee Owens who will duly receive ARNnet paraphanalia to adorn her desk (see we are learning something from vendors after all).

For 19 years, the InfoWorld Product of the Year (POY) awards have created a unique portrait of the previous year in the fast-moving world of computing and technology. To get another perspective on this year's 12 winning products, services, and solutions, I looked back at the POY winners from five, 10, and 15 years ago. I found a lot in common through the years but also differences. Some years we were stingy with the awards; other years we found scores of great products.