News

• Microsoft responds to Larry Page remarks, but Oracle is quiet

  Microsoft has responded to a high-profile put-down by Google CEO Larry Page, but Oracle, at least for now, won't be drawn into a public fight with the executive.

• Oracle renumbers Java patch updates, confuses users even more

  Oracle has changed the numbering of its Java security updates, prompting one expert to say, "As if Java updates weren't confusing already."

• NAB reports profits as IT transformation continues

  National Australia Bank reported progress on its IT transformation in half-year results reported today.

• Apple breaks into Fortune 500's top 10

  Apple climbed the Fortune 500 this year to the No. 6 spot, its highest-ever ranking, its first time in the top 10, and the top technology company on the influential list, replacing sagging HP.

• Oracle takes stake in ingestible health sensor maker

  Aiming at health care as a key vertical market, Oracle has taken a minority stake in medical device maker Proteus Digital Health, which sells ingestible and wearable sensors for tracking health-related information.

• Oracle lands $100 million ERP project covering 34 colleges

  Oracle has won a US$100 million ERP project that will replace legacy systems at 34 colleges in Washington state, in a deal that highlights the continued relevance of its PeopleSoft product as it tries to convince customers to adopt its next-generation Fusion Applications.

• White House program targets IT jobs for service members

  The Obama administration this week teamed with Cisco, Microsoft, HP and others to roll out what it called an "IT Training and Certification Partnership" designed to get thousands of service members into the information technology world.

• Gartner: Worldwide CRM revenue grew 12.5 per cent in 2012

  Global CRM (customer relationship management) revenue grew 12.5 percent last year to US$18 billion, a rate three times that of all enterprise software segments on average, as companies look to acquire more business and serve existing customers better, according to a new Gartner report.

• Recently patched Java flaw already targeted in mass attacks, researchers say

  A recently patched Java remote code execution vulnerability is already being exploited by cybercriminals in mass attacks to infect computers with scareware, security researchers warn.

• Serious flaw present in latest Java Runtime Environment for desktops and servers, researchers say

  Java vulnerability hunters from Polish security research firm Security Explorations claim to have found a new vulnerability that affects the latest desktop and server versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

• SkySQL, MariaDB to merge

  Two companies offering third-party support for Oracle's open-source MySQL database, as well as the MySQL offshoot MariaDB, have announced plans to merge.

• Salesforce.com launches Social.com advertising platform

  Salesforce.com is taking steps to combine its acquisitions in social media monitoring and social advertising with its core CRM (customer relationship management) software through a new product called Social.com.

• IDC: SAP and Oracle winners as software growth slows

  A growing interest in big data, analytics, and cloud computing helped propel a weak software enterprise market last year, according to research from IDC. SAP and Oracle fared the best among the large software vendors.

• Infor launches version 10x, plans IBM SmartCloud launch for its apps

  Infor is hoping a new social collaboration tool, updated middleware and user interfaces, as well as options for cloud-based deployments, will help cement its place as one of the industry's largest ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendors after SAP and Oracle.

• Java 8 release delayed until next year

  The new version of standard Java was due this September, but the need for more work on security issues and Project Lambda have pushed the release date back to the first quarter of 2014