Tech News

Apple appears to be having trouble keeping its new iPhone 3G in stock in the U.S., as reports suggest few phones were available in Apple's stores.

The problem appears to be exacerbated by the simultaneous launch of the iPhone 3G across international markets. Another factor driving demand is likely because exclusive carrier AT&T is offering subsidies on the iPhone 3G, making the price considerably less than when the first-generation iPhone launched.

Severe Shortages

An Apple fan site reported severe shortages in California and New York. It said only one store in California had stock on hand, and that was limited to the black 16GB model. It also said Apple's 5th Avenue store was the only outlet in New York with stock, limited to the white 16GB model.

The Web site for the Apple Retail Store has a tool to check iPhone availability at Apple's stores in the U.S., but it appeared to be disabled Monday and a notice advised visitors to return after 9 p.m. Reportedly, last week only 13 Apple stores had all three iPhone 3G models in stock, and on Sunday no stores had all the models. Those models are the black 8GB, the white 16GB, and the black 16GB versions.

AT&T stores began running out of stock just four days after the July 11 launch for the iPhone 3G. AT&T says the average wait time for the iPhone 3G is now about three weeks.

There were also problems on launch day, with AT&T reporting in-store iPhone 3G activations were stopped at about 9:30 a.m. Eastern time because of issues with the iTunes 7.7 software needed to configure the device. AT&T then recommended that customers activate the smartphones at home.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch, noted that the July 11 launch started in New Zealand and was to continue on to California as stores... Tags: research, software

San Diego-based Websense Inc. was deemed a front-runner in the data leak prevention market by top-tier industry research firm Forrester Research. In its second quarter 2008 report on DLP released this month, Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester ranked Websense and Reconnex Corp. of Mountain View highest across 74 criteria, including market presence and product offerings.

Websense, with corporate headquarters in Sorrento Valley, is an integrated Web, messaging and data protection company. It employs 1,200 workers.

Websense captured a lead in the market for its balance of product capabilities and solid marketing, said Forrester Senior Analyst Thomas Raschke.

Stephen Brunetto, product manager for Websense, said many chief technology officers use Forrester reports as key sources for buying and decision-making.

"Customers use it to find out who the big players are," said Brunetto. "It is a very positive step for us to be named a leader in this report."

Leo Cole, vice president of marketing for Websense, said research in the report shows that preventing data loss is an integral part of corporate security strategies and broader information management initiatives.

During the last 18 months, few technology areas in security and risk management have seen as much level of attention as data leak prevention, according to Forrester.

New Software Release

Websense plans to release an updated software solution in the third quarter. The new version of Websense's Data Security Suite will protect data in motion (sensitive information sent over the Internet), data at rest (information on servers, hard drives and laptops) and now data while in use.

The Forrester report conducted product evaluations in January and interviewed 12 vendors and more than 30 customers, including Code Green Networks Inc. of Sunnyvale, McAfee Inc. of Santa Clara and Verdasys Inc. of Waltham, Wash.

Websense clients include Sallie Mae, Altura Credit Union in Riverside and San Diego-based Intuit Inc. Tags: research, software, technology

Growing businesses in the UK have been urged by an expert to consider investing in integrated software solutions.

Rebecca Haines of DMC Software Solutions has stated that the programs, which allow a number of aspects of business including direct marketing to be managed from the same information, have benefits for companies. However, she added that firms should seek advice when choosing the systems to ensure they get software that is tailored to their needs.

She explained: "When it comes too integrated software there is no one size fits all solution. Providing that time is invested in choosing the system it is more than a worthy investment."

Ms Haines' comments come after research by E-consultancy and Clash-Media found that online lead generation is expected to become increasingly important to all kinds of businesses in the UK.

The study found that 82 per cent of companies think the marketing technique will become more vital to their business over the next year.
Tags: research, software

The Associated Press said today that it has debuted a new, mobile news portal focused on wireless users. The new portal is powered by Encinitas-based Verve Wireless, a developer of wireless software for online publishers. The AP's web application allows users to access international, national, and local news content from the AP and its members. Verve Wireless was selected by the Associated Press as a technology provider for the network, in a deal which was announced last month. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. The AP is providing news from 100 of its news publishers, and also is offering a iPhone optimized version of its news portal. READ MORE>> Tags: software, technology

NewsFactor - IBM has acquired privately held storage software provider Diligent Technologies. The financial terms were not disclosed. Tags: software

IBM has acquired privately held storage software provider Diligent Technologies. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Diligent's deduplication software substantially reduces the amount and cost of physical storage required in data centers while maintaining the integrity of the data, noted Andy Monshaw, general manager of IBM System Storage.

"Exceptionally suited for midrange and enterprise clients," the newly acquired technology is designed "to eliminate redundant data and streamline the infrastructure required to support their businesses, which can result in dramatic improvements in data-center efficiency," Monshaw said.

A Good Fit

"For IBM, Diligent is a good fit," noted Forrester Research analyst Stephanie Balaouras. "The company offers both mainframe and open systems virtual tape libraries and they are a pioneer of deduplication," she said.

Deduplication is important because storage capacities are growing 50 percent or more a year and most of the information that we store -- at a file and at a block level -- is redundant, Balaouras noted. "With deduplication, companies can reduce storage-capability requirements by a factor of 10 to 15 times," Balaouras said.

As corporate information grows, so does the amount of time required to back up that data. Deduplication technology enables enterprises to cut costs by reducing this time requirement.

The technology also reduces the amount of physical storage required in the data center, which leads to lower energy costs, noted Diligent CEO Doron Kempel. "Any economically oriented customer who cares about data protection will need this technology," Kempel said.

Impeccable Timing

The Diligent acquisition follows Sun Microsystems' announcement that it is adding deduplication capabilities to its virtual tape library storage portfolio. The announcement was no big surprise, according to Balaouras.

"Customers now expect virtual tape libraries and other backup to disk appliances to support deduplication," Balaouras explained. "Every VTL and appliance vendor will support deduplication within three months, if not... Tags: design, research, software, technology

A scientist at the University of California at Riverside is working on a scheme to turn thousands of laptop computers into a sensitive network of seisometers, capable of delivering early warnings of impending earthquakes via the Internet.

It turns out many laptops already contain the necessary sensor. They're called accelerometers - sensors on a chip, much like those that sense car crashes and trigger your airbag. (Who knew?) I suspect the gizmos are designed to help hard drives protect themselves from jolts when laptops are bumped or dropped.

Anyway, with the proper free software and an Internet connection, those accelerometers can sense unusual tremors, and communicate the data to a central computer through the Internet. With hundreds, or thousands reporting, along with longitude and latitude data, the computers can figure out how big the quake is, where it originated and where the ripples in the Earth's crust are headed - and do it faster than the existing seismograph networks.

Coupled with an Internet alert system, that could provide a valuable 10 or 20 seconds of warning time. People might be able to brace themselves, dive under a desk, get into a door jamb or flee the building.

A few hundred computers - just MACs and Thinkpads so far - are already hooked up to the "Quake Catcher Network" and giving the idea a shakedown cruise. Here's more.

The developers are also working on accelerometers that can be attached to laptops with a USB connector. For those of us whose computers are acceleration-challenged.

Tags: blog, design, mac, science, software

Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software reported today that it has received a network management patent, and also upgraded its mobile music management software. Smith Micro said it received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering management of computer systems and network infrastructure from handheld mobile devices. The patent, number 7,349,957, was granted March 25th. According to the USPTO, inventors on the patent were Thomas Matthews and Alex J. Alexander, and the patent was originally filed in March of 2002. Separately, Smith Micro said it upgraded its QuickLink Music 2.0 software, which is used to manage and transfer music files between a PC and mobile phones. The software is used by wireless carriers and customers to allow end users to download music files from a carrier's music store. READ MORE>> Tags: music, software

InfoWorld - Responding to increasing pressure from other mobile phone platforms, Microsoft on Tuesday planned to introduce updated versions of Windows Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile and also make its new enterprise device management software available to all medium-size and large businesses. Tags: microsoft, software

PC World - HP on Monday said it reached an agreement to buy Tower Software, which makes document and records management software. Tags: software