MSFT: Games for Windows Titles Fly, Splash and March Onto Shelves in Time for the Holidays

Flight jockeys, military tacticians and animal lovers can rejoice this holiday season; Microsoft® Games for Windows® has something for everyone. Carrying the Games for Windows branding bar, new titles available today include the highly anticipated “Flight Simulator X,” and extremely popular expansion packs “Age of Empires® III: The WarChiefs,” and “Zoo Tycoon® 2: Marine Mania®.” Also available today is the “Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection,” which includes the original “Zoo Tycoon 2” and two expansion packs.

Other recent Games for Windows releases sure to be on the top of many holiday lists are the epic World War II strategy game “Company of Heroes” and the family-friendly “LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.” Each of these games will also carry the new Games for Windows branding bar, which ensures that the game has met a set of technical guidelines that give consumers a consistent, reliable gaming experience on Windows XP and the forthcoming Windows Vista™ operating systems. The guidelines help ease game installation, increase reliability and add support for key Windows Vista features, such as the Games Explorer and Parental Controls. Following is a list of Games for Windows titles to check out this holiday season:

• “Flight Simulator X” (Microsoft Game Studios). The franchise that’s been flying high for more than two decades lets gamers of all ages and skill levels experience what it is like to be an aviator traveling the globe either solo or online with others. With more than 50 new missions to choose from, Windows aviators can pilot dozens of new aircraft, including the AirCreation 582SL Ultralight and Maule M7-260C Orion. “Flight Simulator X” is available in standard and deluxe versions. The deluxe edition will come with additional planes and missions. Each carries a estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.) and $69.99 (U.S.), respectively.

• “Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania” and the “Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection” (Microsoft Game Studios). These additions to the wildly popular, award-winning franchise will appeal to the animal lover in all of us and are fun for families and sim enthusiasts alike. Players experience an ocean of fun in the expansion pack “Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania.” They can care for 20 new aquatic animals, create breathtaking underwater exhibits, train animals to do tricks, and then create splashy marine shows. “Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection” triples the zoo fun by combining three award-winning fan favorites — “Zoo Tycoon 2,” “Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species” and “Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure” — to deliver the ultimate in zoo fun. Estimated retail prices are $29.99 ($U.S.) for “Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania” and $39.99 (U.S.) for “Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection.”

• “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs” (Microsoft Game Studios). The new expansion pack for the best-selling real-time strategy game of 2005, “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs” lets gamers of all ages lead three new playable Native American civilizations as they expand their empires and fight for control of the Americas or enjoy an all-new, single-player campaign. “The WarChiefs” also brings new maps, units and technologies to the European civilizations from “Age of Empires III.” The estimated retail price for “Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs” is $29.99 (U.S.).

• “Company of Heroes” (THQ). This World War II real-time strategy game brings to life the journey of the brave men of Able Company as they fight across Europe in one of the greatest wars mankind has ever known. From the opening shots of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, players will find themselves immersed in a rich single-player campaign. Gamers will enjoy the cinematic intensity of the experience as well as the courage and bravery of the heroes that defined a generation, set against the backdrop of the most dynamic battlefield ever seen in a game.

• “LEGO Star Wars II” (LucasArts) combines the fun, endless customization of LEGO play with a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek take on the epic story, characters and action from Star Wars: Episodes IV, V and VI films. Gamers build and battle their way through favorite film moments and mix and match the body parts of more than 50 playable characters to create millions of possible LEGO Star Wars heroes in true LEGO style.


“For the casual to the hard-core gamer, the Windows platform provides the widest range of games, allowing families to come together this holiday season to enjoy an amazing lineup of titles that are as entertaining as they are groundbreaking,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

In addition to great new games, gamers can also enjoy playing the latest and greatest Windows-based titles with the Xbox 360™ Wireless Controller via the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows, which will be available in late December for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.).

The soon-to-be released Windows Vista operating system will be the best Windows version ever for games. The new Games Explorer will make it easier for gamers to find and play the games they want, and Parental Controls will allow parents and caregivers to customize their children’s gaming activities to help ensure safer and more appropriate entertainment experiences.

About Games for Windows

Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system in the world for games, delivering the widest range of titles, the most gaming hardware choices, and advanced gaming technology for players of all types. With Windows as the cornerstone, the Games for Windows platform offers publishers and gamers the most enjoyable and innovative gaming experiences available on a PC. More information can be found online at http://www.gamesforwindows.com

Oracle Introduces New Functionality in PeopleSoft Cash Management 9 to Help Corporations Streamline the Payments Process

Oracle today announced the release of new functionality in PeopleSoft Cash Management 9, part of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management 9. The solution enables companies to manage enterprise-wide cash positions, perform automated bank reconciliation and process payments efficiently and securely. It includes a centralized platform, a feature set called PeopleSoft Financial Gateway, for straight-through-processing (STP) of payments to simplify corporate-to-bank connectivity. PeopleSoft Financial Gateway provides connectivity to banks, streamlines the payments cycle and delivers out-of-the-box interoperability with major worldwide payment and bank statement formats. PeopleSoft Financial Gateway, coupled with FLEXCUBE SWIFTNet Services Integrator, a new SWIFTnet connectivity solution launched by i-flex solutions last week, enables corporations to replace multiple proprietary payment interfaces to their banks with a single, standards-based interface and enables banks to offer value-added solutions to their corporate customers.

PeopleSoft Cash Management 9 includes new capabilities to help customers maximize existing software investments. New functionality includes better bank reconciliation, including many-to-many and many-to-one reconciliation and enhanced support for International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN), vital for the Single Euro Payment Area initiative in Europe. Payment processing enhancements include support for anti-money-laundering regulations, such as the OFAC regulation in the United States.

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Cash Management 9 also includes new capabilities enabled by innovative technologies - including an expansion of Web services, integration with Oracle(r) Fusion Middleware including Oracle Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Process Manager and Oracle XML Publisher - to help customers maximize existing software investments.1

"Driven by tighter regulations and the need for better cash management, corporations are more focused than ever on expanding insight into their cash positions and forecasts," said David Sardilli, Senior Vice President, Financial Services for Oracle. "Oracle understands these challenges and has introduced solutions and functionality designed to help corporations gain new visibility into and control over their financial supply chain. The PeopleSoft Cash Management 9 release, which builds on our commitment to support a myriad of payment and statement formats, brings new levels of simplicity and control to the corporate-to-bank connectivity function."

PeopleSoft Financial Gateway offers a centralized framework for payment processing and electronic banking. The solution facilitates the preparation, formatting, validation, approval and release of clean payment instructions to the company's banks or external payment systems. The instructions can come from other PeopleSoft Enterprise modules as well as third-party systems.

PeopleSoft Financial Gateway facilitates payment processing by supporting both automatic and manual payments processing; the loading and review of payment requests; transmission of high-value payments; aggregation of payments across multiple ERP systems; real-time tracking of payment status at any time; and the transmission of data using various international and national payment formats, including SWIFT, EDIFACT, NACHA, ANSI X.12 and ISO 20022 XML.

PeopleSoft Cash Management 9, which uses Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) technology, supports STP by providing different ways of capturing payments originating in ERP systems, including capturing payments through Web services. Using standardized and information-rich formats in combination with STP improves reconciliation rates against accounts payable and accounts receivable items. These capabilities can help to reduce costs, risk and the number of disputes with business partners.

The solution can be extended by integrating it with FLEXCUBE(r) SWIFTNet Services integrator - Messaging Hub (FC-SSi - MH) from i-flex solutions as part of an implementation project, to allow corporate customers to reach their banks over the SWIFT network. By doing so, these corporations need to implement only one interface to their respective banks instead of having to deal with multiple bank proprietary interfaces.

Value for Banks
Banks can also leverage PeopleSoft Cash Management 9 release to provide added value to their corporate customers by offering a multi-bank payment factory solution as part of their cash management services. Banks can offer this software as a service, appealing to companies that have tighter budgets and resource constraints that hinder implementation of sophisticated cash management solutions in house.

Additionally, banks can expand the payment factory solution to a full cash management solution incorporating cash positioning, cash forecasting and treasury functionality. This approach leads to a better understanding of the corporate customer's financial supply chain, offering the bank a competitive edge when it comes to offering foreign exchange, trade finance and supply chain financing services.

Visit Oracle at The Association for Financial Professionals Annual Conference at the Venetian Hotel / Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Booth 1649.

SAP Unifies Global Partner Programs Under SAP PartnerEdge

Further demonstrating its focus on building, nurturing and supporting a broad ecosystem of partners around its solutions for small, midsize and large customers, SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) today announced plans to unify its various partner activities into a single, powerful program designed to make SAP the clear partner of choice in the business software marketplace. The expanded program, known as SAP® PartnerEdge™, will encompass thousands of partners who resell, build, implement or provide services for SAP products and solutions. The program will also include enhancements to SAP Partner Service Benefits Package, including additional training, marketing and other resources to help partners deliver long-term satisfaction to SAP customers. The announcement was made at the EMEA Enterprise Services Partner Summit, being held in Amsterdam on Oct. 17.

One Partner Program, Multiple Partner Tracks
SAP PartnerEdge currently serves indepdendent software vendors (ISVs) focused on developing solutions for SAP® Business One and mySAP™ All-in-One applications, and the value-added reseller (VAR) partners who sell and implement them. Over the next 12-18 months, SAP intends to evolve SAP PartnerEdge to offer a single, world-class structure to serve ISV, systems integrator (SI) and technology partners that build solutions with SAP technology for customers of all sizes, not just in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) space. With the lines blurring between VARs, SIs, and ISVs, SAP PartnerEdge will be extended to provide a comprehensive business framework and offer unprecedented support beyond its initial rollout to partners serving SMEs to partners that sell, as well as partners that deliver, build upon and support SAP technology, as well.

“As SAP continues to invest in expanding our partner ecosystem, we’re listening to the feedback from our partner community,” said Rami Branitzky, senior vice president, global software solution partner program, SAP. “For years, software vendors have established partner programs based on who partners are versus what partners do. SAP’s intent is to evolve its partner program to meet the changing needs of the global partner community, while fostering new models of co-innovation.”

Partners Power Up Across the Globe
Since the program launch in mid-2005, SAP PartnerEdge has introduced a series of key enablement components, including e-learning curricula available in nine languages to more than 2,000 partner organizations; an online partner collaboration network involving 3,000 users and over 300 partner solutions; and ongoing global sales training and education programs for partners serving small and midsize customers. Rolling out steadily across the globe, SAP PartnerEdge is now live with full deployment activity in SAP’s EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions, with ongoing deployment planned through early 2007 in both North and South America.

Increasing numbers of channel partners are taking advantage of the program’s educational benefits, with more than 1,300 new partner representatives achieving certification to sell and consult on SAP’s solution and service offerings since the new curriculum was made available. The volume and speed of partners achieving certification highlight SAP’s commitment to channel enablement and building a highly qualified partner channel network that avoids over-saturation in geographic, industry and solution markets.

“Successful partner models depend on mutual trust, support and the ability to deliver on commitments,” said Peter Geelen, general director at mYuice, a successful partner selling, implementing and supporting SAP’s SME offering, based in Den Bosch, Netherlands. “The tools and increasing enablement we are receiving through SAP PartnerEdge have introduced a new level of responsiveness, focus on our business and overall engagement that has substantially enhanced our relationship with SAP and ability to serve customers.”

New SAP Partner Service Benefits Package for Quality Customer Support
Addressing a key issue for channel partners to support their small and midsize customers, SAP has introduced enhancements to SAP Partner Service Benefits Package, a comprehensive package of technical, service and educational enablement benefits that includes:

Proactive Technical Advice – provides a single point of contact, the Partner Services Advisor (PSA), who provides support on SAP PartnerEdge inquiries and guidance on organizational and content-related activities. The PSA proactively contacts partners to define a tailored service plan based on individual partner demands and requirements.

Technical Services – puts partners in touch with multiple experts within SAP who support the development, implementation and operations of SAP solutions.

Enablement Support – provides “how-to” information on integration and certification services, release strategy and product roadmaps for solutions and partner program.

Knowledge Transfer – provides 24/7 access to a pre-defined set of online self-service business and technical educational offerings, including role-based curricula enabling partners to develop their skills and prepare for certification programs for both partner employees and partner-developed software.

“In a move to continue to enhance the total partner experience, we are evolving SAP PartnerEdge to take a more holistic view of how partners engage with SAP,” said Donna Troy, executive vice president, Global SME Indirect Channels, SAP AG. “By offering multiple tracks under the SAP PartnerEdge umbrella, we are continuing to build out the programs, tools and resources available to our partner community to ensure they are supported in the best way possible and can focus on what is most important – our mutual customers.”

EMEA Enterprise Services Partner Summit
The EMEA Enterprise Services Partner Summit is the opening event of SAP® TechEd ’06 in Amsterdam and provides SAP’s software solution provider and implementation partners with an opportunity to learn more about the services, resources and programs available within the SAP ecosystem. For more information on the EMEA Enterprise Services Partner Summit, please visit http://www.enterpriseservicesforum.com/

SAP® TechEd ’06 in Las Vegas, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Bangalore
More than 15,000 SAP customers, partners and technical community are convening at SAP TechEd ’06 to learn how to transform existing business processes and IT landscapes and take advantage of the power and flexibility of enterprise service-oriented architecture. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, SAP’s largest ecosystem education event of the year offers more than 900 hours of lecture-driven and hands-on sessions. Following successful events in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sept. 12 – 15, and Tokyo, Japan, Oct. 5 – 6, SAP TechEd is being held in Amsterdam, Oct. 18 – 20 and Bangalore, India, Nov. 8 – 10, 2006. For more information, please visit www.sapteched.com

TI: Texas Instruments Processors Drive Higher Performance Graphics And Highly Integrated Automotive Displays

Addressing automotive instrument cluster systems' growing performance requirements, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced an expansion of the 32-bit TMS470 microcontroller (MCU) platform, offering new devices for instrument cluster host controller applications. As the amount of information displayed in vehicles increases – from enhanced vehicle diagnostics and driver assistance features such as rear park assist cameras, to digital media and full real-time navigation systems – drivers demand higher performance graphics and more highly integrated displays. To meet this challenge, new TMS470PLFx MCUs are targeted for systems with up to six stepper motors and are tightly coupled with TI’s OMAP33x and DaVinci TMS320DM64x based graphics controller to drive high resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) and Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) displays.

Drivers Demand Top-Notch Graphics

With the recent advances in vehicle digital display technology, traditional analog gauges complement, and in some instances, are being entirely replaced by digital displays. Consumers who are accustomed to high-performance graphics in their personal computers and handheld devices demand no less from their vehicles displays – high quality graphic is a must.

The new TMS470 generation of MCUs for cluster applications will help developers build highly integrated cluster solutions that use a color graphics display controller with the real-time performance and versatility inherent in OMAP and DaVinci technology. TMS470PLFx MCUs can directly drive small segment LCDs through its embedded 128-segment LCD controller, while the use of peripheral modules such as the High-End Timer (HET), Direct Memory Access Controller (DMA), and Multi-Buffered SPI (MibSPI) allow the TMS470PLFx instrument cluster MCU family to directly drive some other types of digital displays with no CPU load impact. The TMS470PLFx MCUs can also drive up to 6 stepper motors directly through the use of its intelligent peripherals, and supports modulated frequency and slew rate control to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI).

TI’s OMAP Platform is comprised of high-performance, power efficient processors, a robust software infrastructure and a comprehensive support network for the rapid development of differentiated multimedia-enhanced devices. Based on an ARM926 processing core, the OMAP33x applications processor platform includes advanced multimedia performance, an 18-bit LCD controller, a 2D graphics accelerator engine, robust frame buffer performance, a high-throughput DMA interface and several other features for graphics and streaming video applications.

The DM64x architecture is a highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) that has absorbed many external components required for digital video. Based on TI’s DaVinci technology, this architecture includes multimedia codecs, multiple display output types, and robust frameworks for rapid development of high-performance graphics systems, giving cluster manufacturers powerful capabilities to bring new digital graphic and video products to market.

Scalability and Compatibility are Crucial for Wide Display Support

Scalability and compatibility of designs across automotive platforms give cluster system designers the flexibility to address ever-changing market requirements during all phases of development. The suite of intelligent peripherals and common architecture across TMS470 devices allows for more efficient development and an overall reduced system cost. In addition, the ability to use a single graphics library on all devices for image rendering offers developers the same look and feel at the API level across processors. This feature ensures that developers' graphics software is extremely scalable from low- to high-end clusters, helping reduce time to market and development costs. The TMS470 MCU instrument cluster platform is also pin-for-pin compatible for reduced hardware redesign.

Silicon and Tools Availability

Developers can start designing with TMS470 MCUs, OMAP or DaVinci DM64x processors today with evaluation modules, starter kits and demonstration platforms along with compatible software from TI and leading third parties, including Lauterbach, iSYSTEMS, TES, Altia, Sophia, ETAS, and Vector. Automotive manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers can obtain pricing, hardware and software tools pricing from their local TI sales office. TMS470PLFx and OMAP33x devices are available in samples today with the DaVinci DM64x processors available in fourth quarter 2006.

Broadening Portfolio of Innovation and Leadership in Automotive Applications

TI processors have a history of leadership and innovation in the automotive industry. TI's TMS470 MCU, for example, is used in the vast majority of automotive safety systems around the world such antilock braking systems and airbag electronics, while TI’s leading digital signal processors offer innovative solutions for infotainment, navigation, and electronic drive assist. The TI automotive portfolio extends into mixed signal solutions integrating analog-, power-, digital-circuits, as well as embedded processors.

TI is committed to the automotive market, providing OEMs and system suppliers with a broad digital and analog portfolio of superior-quality, reliable, innovative and cost-effective solutions. TI products address electronics in the car for systems ranging from power train to braking to audio and infotainment. The company has achieved ISO/TS16949:2002 certification at 36 facilities worldwide. For more information on TI's automotive products, please see www.ti.com/automotive

YHOO: Yahoo! Makes Strategic Investment in Right Media

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, and Right Media Inc., creator of the Right Media Exchange, today announced that Yahoo! has made a strategic investment to acquire a twenty percent stake in Right Media. Yahoo! will also join the Right Media Exchange to offer advertisers the ability to bid on Yahoo!'s non-premium inventory through an open and transparent marketplace.

"Yahoo! believes an open and transparent ad exchange is an innovative new distribution channel for non-premium inventory and encourages competition in the market," said Greg Coleman, executive vice president, global media sales, Yahoo!. "Participating in Right Media's leading exchange is consistent with our strategy to extend Yahoo!'s audience to additional marketers, and to help them deliver the right ad to the right person at the right time."

Every ad on the Right Media Exchange is auctioned in real-time to the highest bidder, giving participants equal access to media in an open, fair market, and enabling competition to drive more value for both sides of every transaction. More than two billion impressions are traded daily on the Right Media Exchange. The Right Media Exchange is open to all advertisers, publishers and ad networks.

"We're thrilled to have Yahoo! as a partner and as a participant in the Right Media Exchange," said Michael Walrath, CEO and founder of Right Media. "Right Media has grown through partnerships with key stakeholders in this industry and all participants at the exchange benefit from the addition of companies like Yahoo! that share our vision of more efficiency, transparency and accountability in online advertising."

Right Media raised a total of $45 million in Series B financing, led by Yahoo! and including Redpoint Ventures and other existing investors. As part of the investment, Yahoo! will designate a member to Right Media's board of directors.

About Right Media

Right Media created an open media exchange to bring more efficiency, value and standardization to interactive advertising. The Right Media Exchange includes more than 11,000 buyers and sellers trading digital media through the company's open, transparent platform. Right Media offers a range of solutions that help these businesses operate more efficiently -- from simple exchange access to white label sales programs. Founded in 2003, the company is privately funded and based in New York.

YHOO: Yahoo! to Acquire AdInterax

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AdInterax, a provider of rich media advertising solutions to online publishers. The acquisition of AdInterax will enable Yahoo! to provide advanced rich media creative assembly and campaign management tools directly to marketers at no charge as part of Yahoo!'s graphical advertising offerings. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Creativity in advertising is critical to the further adoption of the Internet as a marketing medium, and Yahoo! is committed to giving marketers more creative choice and control over their ads," said Greg Coleman, executive vice president of global media sales, Yahoo!. "We look forward to working with our customers and AdInterax's publisher partners to generate new and innovative solutions for marketers that help simplify the rich media creation and purchasing process."

Rich media technology enables marketers to create more compelling and interactive advertising units online using sight, sound and motion to deliver a message to target consumers. Yahoo! plans to further integrate rich media capabilities into its current leading offerings by developing a self-service model for marketers based on the AdInterax platform. This new rich media solution will enable advertisers and agencies to create and run rich media campaigns coupled with other Yahoo! capabilities including behavioral targeting, geo-targeting, demo-targeting, and dayparting.

"We look forward to joining the Yahoo! family. Yahoo! has remained a strong leader in delivering rich media technology solutions to marketers as the opportunities have continued to evolve in the industry," said Peter Matsuo, chief executive officer, AdInterax. "We believe the addition of AdInterax's tools and technology into Yahoo!'s services will create compelling offerings for marketers and publishers."

As one of the first publishers to offer rich media capabilities through agreements with third party vendors, Yahoo! has long been committed to assisting marketers in tapping into the creative potential of rich media advertising. Yahoo! will continue to allow marketers to designate their rich media vendor of choice on Yahoo!'s platform.

Fysix Corporation, doing business as AdInterax, has developed the AdInterax suite, a leading rich media software solution that enables advertising agencies and publishers to create, manage, serve and measure online advertising. The AdInterax design module streamlines the technical processes for building of a wide variety of rich media formats, including floating animations, expandable banners and streaming video, as well as surveying and eCRM initiatives.

The AdInterax tracking and reporting module tracks traditional metrics including impressions, clicks, and reach and frequency, in addition to other key branding and direct marketing data.

ORCL: Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g to Deliver Comprehensive, Integrated Application Management

Oracle today announced it is broadening the capabilities of Oracle(r) Enterprise Manager 10g to deliver new, wide-ranging management functionality for Oracle Applications and third-party applications.
In addition to providing extensive functionality for managing customer built applications running on Oracle and non-Oracle databases and middleware, Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g will greatly enhance management and monitoring of Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise, and Oracle's Siebel environments. Delivering a single, unified management solution, Oracle will help customers reduce the complexity and cost of administering applications and the underlying infrastructure to enable improved application availability and business transaction performance.

Over the coming months, Oracle plans to deliver advanced application management, monitoring, and service level capabilities in the form of three new Oracle Application Management Packs for Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise and Siebel with support for additional packaged applications to follow. Because these applications depend upon a variety of infrastructure software, these solutions take advantage of the broad heterogeneous system management functionality that has been added to Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g over the past year through its partner initiatives. The Oracle Application Management Pack for PeopleSoft Enterprise is planned for availability in Q4 of 2006. The remaining Oracle Application Management Packs are planned for availability spring of 2007.

With new capabilities for application management, Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g will be the only solution to deliver comprehensive management functionality from the operating system through the application layer -- regardless of the underlying infrastructure -- all the way to the end-user. These capabilities help to drive down enterprise systems management costs and improve business results through higher quality of service.

"We're taking a significant step forward to fulfill our commitment to provide superior management of applications," said Jay Rossiter, vice president of System Management Products, Oracle. "Oracle Applications and third-party application customers will have a single solution at their disposal to manage their applications and underlying systems comprehensively. With a consolidated view of their entire environment, customers will be better able to identify and resolve application availability and performance issues quickly and accurately, resulting in improved service quality."

"Applications deployed and managed by IT deliver critical business processes and services at Edmunds.com," said Sheng-te Yang, Senior Manager, Enterprise Applications Support, Edmunds.com. "Oracle Enterprise Manager has played a key role in helping us meet our business objectives. Now by delivering a common way to manage applications and system components, it is introducing a new dimension of superior IT management. It will result in higher overall quality of service, more productive IT and improved business performance."

New Capabilities Improve Oracle Applications Availability and Performance
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's rich application management capabilities offer lifecycle management of an application deployment including service level management, application performance management, configuration management, and change automation. These capabilities are integrated with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's management of underlying Oracle and non-Oracle infrastructure system components. This comprehensive application management solution enables customers to reduce the total cost of ownership by helping to minimize application downtime, cut the cost of application management, and streamline maintenance and support.

The service level management functionality built into Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g and the Oracle Application Management Packs will help customers deliver the service quality required by the business. Customers will be able to ensure proper service levels for their complete set of Oracle Applications by capturing and monitoring the performance of critical business transactions and understanding application user experience by simulating end user behavior.

Application performance management features will allow administrators to monitor the entire application environment, proactively measure the real users' experience, and identify the root cause of problems regardless of where they occur in the application stack. The combination of these solutions gives administrators the information and power to anticipate potential problems before service levels are violated and proactively resolve issues before end-users are affected, ultimately resulting in improved application performance and availability.

The comprehensive configuration management capabilities in Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g and the Oracle Application Management Packs enable administrators to discover and manage application assets and help ensure that their configurations are in compliance with enterprise standards and best practices. Administrators will be able to track system changes, validate changes, and take snapshots of their environments to prevent configuration-related problems and application outages.

Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's automation capabilities will enable administrators to further streamline labor-intensive and potentially error-prone administrative tasks such as provisioning servers, patching software, and cloning QA/Staging environments into production.

"Today's announcement is evidence of Oracle's continued execution on our 'Applications Unlimited' strategy," said John Wookey, senior vice president of Applications Development, Oracle. "With the expanded breadth of Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g, we're helping our customers maximize the use of their Oracle Applications, improve service levels, and lower operational costs."

New Management Pack for Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Delivers Immediate Benefits
The Oracle Application Management Pack for PeopleSoft Enterprise delivers comprehensive application management capabilities that allow customers to monitor and manage their PeopleSoft Enterprise applications and application infrastructure components in a manner far superior to previously offered solutions.

In addition to Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's system and application monitoring capabilities, this solution provides administrators with a comprehensive set of management tools within its centralized, graphical console. PeopleSoft Enterprise administrators can perform domain management actions such as start, stop and purge cache from the console and can carry out configuration management tasks via a meta-data driven user interface that guides them as they define configuration attributes. New service level management capabilities allow administrators to monitor services from an end-user perspective using service pre-packaged and custom service tests to ensure that service levels are met.

Administrators also benefit from Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's broad set of monitoring and service level management features including alerts, automatic performance data collection and trending, blackout windows and templates, and lights-out monitoring to provide total system service monitoring for the PeopleSoft Enterprise application stack. A graphical topology display of a PeopleSoft Enterprise environment is now available to clearly outline the relationship between the various PeopleSoft Enterprise components. With this view, administrators can manage and monitor the entire domain of PeopleSoft Enterprise servers as a single system as opposed to managing servers individually.

Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g's Web-based console provides a more intuitive, user interface with step-by-step guidance for common tasks to improve ease-of-use. Log management has been centralized so that administrators can view specific logs with the option of searching, viewing or exporting them to their local machine. Logs can also be purged or archived either individually or via a scheduled job.

The Oracle Application Management Pack for PeopleSoft Enterprise is priced at $6,000 per CPU or $120 per Named User Plus. The Oracle Application Management Pack for PeopleSoft Enterprise is compatible with PeopleTools 8.48.

About Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g, an industry-leading family of management products, is a comprehensive application and system management solution. Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g manages packaged and custom applications and a wide variety of IT infrastructure, including Oracle and non-Oracle technologies. With a broad set of administration, configuration management, provisioning, end-to-end monitoring, service level management, and security capabilities, Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g helps reduce the cost of ownership of enterprise applications and their dependent IT resources.

Yahoo! News and CBS Television Stations Form Exclusive Partnership to Deliver Local News Video

CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) (NYSE:CBS.A), and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced an exclusive video syndication agreement in which local news video from 16 of CBS's owned stations will be made available on Yahoo! to the Internet's largest news audience. The relationship, which begins tomorrow, marks the first video agreement between a network-owned television station group and an Internet news provider. CBS and Yahoo will share revenue from advertising sold adjacent to CBS Stations' content on the site.

"Local news has become one of the most important pieces of a user's online news experience, and this agreement brings some of the best local TV journalism to the millions of Yahoo! News users," said Scott Moore, head of news and information, Yahoo! Media Group. "One of our key priorities is to offer our users relevant and high-quality local news in each market, and with CBS we've found a partner that deeply understands the issues most important to the communities they cover."

Yahoo! News users will have access to 10 to 20 local news video stories per day, from each of the 16 markets. The video includes breaking news stories, as well as other locally-focused features and reports.

"This is the first of its kind for a local TV station group -- our local TV station video will now be available to millions of Yahoo! News' users everyday, providing them with our CBS Station's extraordinary local news coverage from every one of our markets," said Jonathan Leess, President, CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group. "Finding new platforms to distribute and monetize our industry-leading content has always been a core strategic initiative of our company, and this deal accomplishes both."

Yahoo! will highlight the local video to users who select a city or zip code within a CBS owned station market. The video will be station-branded and can be found on the Yahoo! homepage (http://yahoo.com) and throughout Yahoo! News. On Yahoo!'s local news pages, video will also include links to the station's website where users can view additional local video and stories.

Yahoo! News has exclusivity among major news website aggregators to the CBS Television Stations video content, and CBS will be the exclusive provider of local news video from their markets to Yahoo! News. The agreement covers 16 of CBS's owned stations that are part of the CBS Television Network and have local news operations, including:

-- New York (WCBS)

-- Los Angeles (KCBS)

-- Chicago (WBBM)

-- Philadelphia (KYW)

-- San Francisco (KPIX)

-- Boston (WBZ)

-- Baltimore (WJZ)

-- Salt Lake City (KUTV)

-- Dallas (KTVT)

-- Minneapolis (WCCO)

-- Miami (WFOR)

-- Denver (KCNC)

-- Sacramento (KOVR)

-- Pittsburgh (KDKA)

-- Austin (KEYE)

-- Green Bay (WFRV)

About Yahoo! News

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IBM Previews IDS Cheetah Data Server

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled details of the next-generation Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) data server—code-named “Cheetah.” IDS, a key element of IBM’s Information Management portfolio, is a relational data server that delivers exceptionally fast OLTP performance, high reliability and near hands-free administration.


During the Information On Demand event, IBM will preview the roadmap and upcoming features of IDS Cheetah, which is designed to introduce unprecedented capabilities in spatial and temporal data management. This capability can be critical for customers – such as shipping companies - who require detailed, real-time knowledge of their assets which can be spread across a large geographic region.

Scheduled for release in 2007, IDS Cheetah is expected to support and further IBM’s efforts to help clients meet their data management goals by creating unparalleled opportunities for users to extract value from their business information.

“IDS is ideal for customers who either don’t need or can’t have large numbers of DBAs,” said Arvind Krishna, vice president IBM data servers. “IDS Cheetah will build upon IDS’ ability to handle image data, cartographics as well as the use and storage of 3-D geometry.”

IDS is a leading integrated data server in many market segments such as retail, telecommunications, healthcare, government and SMB. The continued popularity and use of IDS is illustrated by the fact that in North America alone, eight of the top ten retailers and twenty of the top twenty-five supermarkets are IDS customers.

The low administration requirements of IDS enable customers to deploy thousands of IDS instances world-wide, integrated in applications in locations where there are no technical resources required to support the database. For example if you place a cell phone call in North America, Europe or Asia odds are that your call information will be routed quickly and accurately thru an IDS server to validate the call. Likewise, emergency call centers rely on the dependability and industry-leading replication capabilities of IDS to ensure that their systems are always available.

Customers, developers and partners can find out more about IDS at http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/ids/

IBM Linux Solution Optimizes Enterprise Data Warehousing

IBM has introduced a fully-integrated and scalable data warehouse solution for Linux that combines software, server, and storage resources to maximize business intelligence and information management performance for enterprises.


The IBM Data Warehousing Balanced Configuration Unit for Linux (BCU) combines DB2 Data Warehouse Edition, and eServer 326m running on either SUSE or Red Hat Linux with TotalStorage DS4800.

Business intelligence and information warehousing are top priorities for enterprises because they enable informed decision making throughout an organization. Access to information and analytics can provide valuable insight into how a company can gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

"Our clients are increasingly evaluating Linux as the foundation for their fast growing and high performance Data Warehouse platforms," said Karen Parrish, vice president, IBM Business Intelligence Solutions. "IBM's Balanced Configuration Unit for Linux further demonstrates our ongoing commitment in providing our clients with fast, affordable and simple solutions for their business intelligence needs."

This solution is targeted at enterprise data warehouses that require an infrastructure solution optimized for scalability, manageability, fault-tolerance and performance. The solution saves time, money and effort by providing enterprises the ability to analyze, understand, and take action on business information. Additionally, the Balanced Configuration Unit for Linux delivers unparalleled support for archiving, integrating and analyzing vast amounts of data.

The new Balanced Configuration Unit is designed around best practices of creating a balanced performance through the use of modular nodes, or building blocks, which IT departments can use to reduce design time, shorten deployments and maintain a favorable price/performance ratio as they add nodes to enlarge data warehouses over time.

One customer who is already benefiting from IBM's Balanced Configuration Unit for Linux solution is Katz Group, one of North America's leading drug store operators with more than 1,800 drug stores in Canada and the United States. In addition to its retail operations, Katz Group owns and operates Canada's only national mail order pharmacy business, Meditrust Pharmacy Inc.

"Business intelligence provides us with an accurate and real-time view of our enterprise-wide information, which ultimately allows us to make better operational and overall business decisions," said Bill Rohal, director of development with Katz Group. "The IBM Data Warehousing Balanced Configuration Unit reduces the complexity, cost and risk of designing, implementing, growing and maintaining our business intelligence infrastructure now and in the future. We were able to significantly upgrade our Data Warehouse capabilities in a reasonable time without negatively impacting our current user base.”

A single Balanced Configuration Unit consists of a balance of server, storage and software resources. The solution provides several advantages, including:

• Simplified Infrastructure, Scaling and Capacity Planning: Using its building block design, this solution can help clients understand their entire warehouse infrastructure for better predictability.


• Reduced Implementation Time: The solution has been pre-staged, pre-integrated, pre-tested and validated by a services team to help clients rapidly implement a data warehouse.


• Reduced Costs: Balancing components avoids purchasing unnecessary resources.


• Reduced Risks: The solution is based on business intelligence best-practices take from IBM’s vast experience with data warehouse customers.


• Simplified Integration: The solution is built with components based on open industry standards.
  
  

Availability
The IBM Data Warehousing Balanced Configuration Unit for Linux is currently available from IBM. For more information about the solution, visit www.ibm.com/bi

IBM Unveils Master Data Management Software for Customer Data Integration

IBM today introduced software aimed at helping clients build more profitable customer relationships through master data management.


IBM WebSphere Customer Center 7.0 – part of IBM’s master data management family of products – is designed to help businesses achieve a single version of the truth across all of their business processes from customer treatment to product performance. Transforming toward a customer-centric view allows organizations to tailor product and service offerings to customer preferences across multiple touch points – the Web, call centers or sales representatives – and to increase customer loyalty. In doing so, businesses can create more effective cross-and up-sell campaigns, product bundles and high-touch interactions, while maintaining a cross-enterprise record of customer transactions.

“IBM’s new customer data integration software will help firms identify and capitalize on new business opportunities by giving them deeper insight into their customers,” said Tom Reilly, vice president, enterprise master data solutions, IBM. “We will continue to draw on our rich software and consulting resources to help clients access the trustworthy information they need to win in the marketplace.”

IBM customers already using WebSphere Customer Center, such as Nationwide Bank, Carlson Hotels, SunTrust, Honeywell, Morgan Stanley, and Post Finance, are extending their company’s reach in customer data integration. These companies are tackling some of their industries’ toughest problems – data quality issues, semantic reconciliation across disparate systems, stewardship over rules and processes and business process integration – with multiple styles of master data management approaches.

IBM’s WebSphere Customer Center 7.0 embraces this holistic approach by providing advanced capabilities in managing data corruption, eliminating duplicate data and enhancing semantic-based searches across multiple domains. The new release integrates disparate systems through IBM’s WebSphere Information Server and takes advantage of the flexibility and reuse offered by a service-oriented architecture, resulting in a single version of the truth for all business processes across the value chain.

WebSphere Customer Center 7.0 provides new capabilities that enable deep insight into customer activity and allow companies to maintain high levels of service while continuously monitoring for threats or fraudulent behavior. IBM offers a broad array of solutions built on strong Master Data Management capabilities that address customer centricity, product and service optimization, risk and compliance and threat and fraud intelligence tailored to specific industries.

WebSphere Customer Center is currently available from IBM and IBM Business Partners. For more information WebSphere Customer Center visit http://www

IBM Introduces Industry Models and Consulting Services For Health Plans and Financial Institutions

IBM today announced new industry models and consulting services that deliver industry-specific best practices to help health insurance providers and financial institutions leverage their institutional know-how and information assets to gain a competitive advantage.
The new offerings expand IBM’s portfolio of industry models that are currently used by more than 400 customers and market leaders throughout the banking, insurance, telecommunications and retail industries. IBM’s holistic approach to business modelling through data, process and services templates is built upon a ten-year track record of helping customers conduct real-time business analysis.


Aimed at institutional investment firms, the IBM Financial Markets Industry Models draw upon the company’s deep expertise in banking. The data models are the keystone to enabling analytic applications that monitor market, operational, credit and reputational risks in real-time. Continuous auditing of high-risk transactions reduces the risk of loss and liability while maintaining compliance with Basel II, Sarbanes Oxley, along with the more recent Markets in Financial Instruments Directive guidelines.
IBM’s process and service templates for financial markets form a foundation for straight through processing and accelerated trade clearance by using highly-optimized workflow and business rules that manage the customer lifecycle, account reconciliation and transaction monitoring. Data, process and service models span the entire financial markets value chain from trade confirmation to settlement.
“By adding financial markets to our banking and insurance industry models portfolio, IBM helps financial institutions establish a common business framework that extends to multiple lines of business,” said Mark Greene, vice president, IBM Financial Services Sector. “The result for our customers is accelerated delivery of solutions that enable continued business innovation and greater client intimacy.”

The IBM Health Plan Data Models build upon the company’s insurance offerings for life, and property and casualty insurance firms. The data models – which include enterprise-wide data definitions, extensive business vocabulary and multiple solution templates – allow health plans to more accurately analyze cost per insurer, evaluate cost against quality of care and measure the effectiveness of fee for service programs. In addition, the models provide claims analysts with a complete audit trail of care management from delivery to outcome.
“Health Plans have been struggling for a long time to develop a ‘single analytical view of the truth’ about their members, operations, and medical costs. Via the IBM Health Plan Data Models, Health Insurers can leverage the investment they have made in various departmental information management technologies into a truly enterprise-enabling view, thereby unleashing the power of their data and opening up new possibilities for business transformation,” said Mike Svinte, vice president, Global Innovation & Information Based Medicine, IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences.
As with previous offerings, IBM’s new suite of models help companies adopt service-oriented architectures by providing pre-built business processes and service definitions. Process and service models map to standard industry concepts, enterprise-wide business rules and corporate governance practices, all of which help organizations reduce redundancy and project development time. The models are designed to leverage WebSphere Process Server, WebSphere Business Services Fabric, Information Server and WebSphere Customer Center.
Consulting services are available to support all aspects of development using the industry models and are tailored to suit the needs of the client. In addition, IBM offers educational courses and a technical support inquiry facility for clients needing those services.
The industry models announced today are enhanced by integration with the IBM Information Server, a first-of-a-kind software platform that delivers trusted, consistent and reusable information to applications and business processes. By consuming information delivered by the IBM Information Server, the IBM Industry Models are able to leverage complete, accurate and up-to-date information to even further increase productivity and help address business intelligence and compliance requirements.
In addition to the new models for financial institutions and health plans, IBM has enhanced its leading Banking Information Framework, Insurance Application Architecture and the Retail Data Warehouse offerings.


The IBM Industry Models
The IBM Industry Models provide structured and deployable business content for a growing number of industries including banking, insurance, telecommunications, and retail. They consist of integrated data, processes and service models consistently defined across business requirements, analysis and design. This structure fosters business and IT collaboration and enterprise-wide approaches, and ensures that projects are delivered faster and with less risk. The models are uniquely designed to facilitate the deployment of a service-oriented architecture involving infrastructure, such as Master Data Management, Business and Data Integration platforms. The IBM Industry Models have been used successfully to accelerate the deployment of strategic business initiatives, such as core system and process renewal, data warehousing and business intelligence, risk and compliance, new product introduction, customer experience, and financial management. In addition, the industry models have become a certified platform for analytic, component and process-driven ISV offerings. The models are designed to be used with WebSphere Process Server, WebSphere Business Services Fabric, Information Server and WebSphere Customer Center.

IBM DB2 9 Data Server Wins New Customers, Sets Benchmark Record

IBM today announced that just two months after its launch, the DB2 9 data server is rapidly gaining new customers and setting industry benchmark performance records.


DB2 9–code named “Viper”–is IBM’s new data server that incorporates the most significant database technology enhancements introduced to the industry in more than two decades.

Hundreds of customers across different industries have already embraced DB2 9 and many are moving their databases from Oracle to IBM’s new data server, including: American Electric Power, Central Michigan University, Farmers Insurance and Teleglobe. These new DB2 9 customers have cited the product’s combination of industry-first features, along with new security and disaster recovery enhancements, as the reasons for their migration.

“As a result of the ground breaking features in DB2 9, we are seeing a great deal of customer interest,” said Arvind Krishna, vice president IBM data servers. “Our customers are telling us that DB2 9 has ushered in a new era of data server technology that helps them to grow their businesses.”

DB2 9 marks the culmination of a five-year IBM development project that has transformed traditional, static database technology into an interactive, vibrant data server that enables clients to improve their ability to manage all types of information, such as documents, audio and video files, images, Web pages, and digitally signed XML transactions. IBM’s new data server provides an industry-first seamless and simultaneous information flow of both XML and relational data, regardless of format, platform or location.

A key measure of the impact that these new technologies are having is the “big three” industry benchmark records (TPC-C, TPC-H and SAP SD) – collectively known as the Database performance triple crown. Each benchmark has its own unique characteristics, making it difficult for a single database vendor to lead in all three.

In the history of these benchmarks, DB2 is the only data server to have held the leading performance results for all three at the same time. IBM today announced that with the introduction of DB2 9 it has set new record marks in each and has now won the “triple crown” of database performance for an unprecedented third time.

TPC-C is an OLTP benchmark which requires efficient use large memory, intensive random read/write I/O and has extremely intensive database log activity. The latest TPC-C result, which is almost 4 times the next best result, illustrates the performance of DB2 9, and its industry leading compression, partitioning, and workload management.

TPC-H is a data warehousing benchmark which demonstrates the ability to perform complex queries efficiently. DB2 9 adds even more performance and efficiency in this area with table compression that can reduce table size by up to 80 percent and improve throughput by over 40 percent in real world examples.

In addition to these two industry standard benchmarks, the 3-tier SAP SD standard application benchmark represents the de facto standard for ERP benchmarks. This leading benchmark result is further proof of the commitment to the integration of SAP applications with DB2.

For more information about IBM, visit www.software.ibm.com/data

IBM Completes Acquisition of FileNet Corporation (FILE)

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has completed its acquisition of FileNet Corporation (NASDAQ: FILE), a publicly held company based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire FileNet on August 10, 2006. FileNet's operations will be integrated into IBM's Information Management software business.

IBM acquired FileNet to advance its Information on Demand initiative, IBM's strategy for pursuing the growing market opportunity around helping clients capture insights from their information so it can be used as a strategic asset. FileNet is a leading provider of business process and content management solutions that help companies simplify critical and everyday decision making processes and give organizations a competitive advantage.

With today's announcement, IBM has completed 20 strategic acquisitions in support of its cross-company Information on Demand effort.

Starting today, the thousands of customers using IBM and FileNet solutions have a comprehensive and powerful base of industry-leading content management products to build upon as they explore next-generation information management solutions.

The FileNet acquisition enhances IBM's ability to meet increasing client demand for a combination of content- and process-centric business process management capabilities, which is driven by changing governance and compliance mandates, as well as the need to integrate content-centric business processes with enterprise applications.

IBM is integrating its business process management and service oriented architecture (SOA) technologies with the FileNet platform to allow customers to access content wherever it may reside and use it in the context of business processes. This will enable clients to achieve effective compliance, archiving and document retention. For more information, visit www.software.ibm.com/data

IBM Announces New Programs, Services and Incentives for SOA Business Partners

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new marketing benefits, business services and incentives for its growing Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Business Partner community.

The IBM Service Oriented Architecture Partner Program, formalized in June 2005 with 50 Business Partner members, has grown to 2,500 members that take advantage of IBM software, services, tools and education to help their customers embrace SOA.

A new initiative, "Ready for SOA," provides incentives for members in the IBM Business Partner SOA Specialty program. These Business Partners have demonstrated full support of the IBM SOA Foundation -- IBM's set of standards-based software, best practices and patterns for deploying SOAs -- and have met the rigorous business and technical requirements for invitation to the specialty. In exchange, Business Partners in the SOA specialty receive technical enablement, support, and a skills-building roadmap to access the growing SOA market opportunity.

Other IBM-driven marketing opportunities for SOA specialty Business Partners include speaking opportunities, online marketing campaigns and additional resources to support SOA events. For example, several IBM SOA specialty Partners are hosting roundtable discussions with customers on SOA-related issues.

IBM is also offering several marketing incentives for Business Partners aligned with its strategy to help customers govern their software and systems development and comply with industry-specific regulations. IBM will help eligible Business Partners promote IBM's SOA Governance offering along with the Business Partner's value-added SOA offerings through a variety of co-marketing benefits. Among these benefits, Business Partners may create and place advertisements* that align with existing WebSphere and Rational software advertising campaigns to enable Business Partners to gain additional visibility in print and online media outlets. For a limited time, IBM will help eligible Business Partners promote their SOA governance and related IBM offerings in high-profile publications, eNewsletters or online banner ads at significantly discounted rates negotiated by IBM.

Taking advantage of Web 2.0 capabilities, IBM and SOA Business Partners are collaborating to create SOA Specialty Wikis in vertical industries and specialized focus areas. Podcasts will also be available to further educate the Business Partner and customer community on the business value of SOA.

IBM is also supporting Business Partners in the creation of new SOA Solution Galleries. These dedicated SOA centers will offer technical resources, demos, and marketing materials for customers on their journey to SOA.

Further enabling the Business Partner community, IBM has created 'cross-sell' kits for SOA. These kits contain all of the relevant information and roadmaps to enable Business Partners to expand their current product or service offerings to now include SOA. IBM will continue to provide the information and materials to develop kits tailored to the specific needs of the audience based on IBM's experience with more than 3,000 SOA customers. Additionally, to help Business Partners articulate the required technical, financial, and human investments in an SOA project as well as the return on investment, IBM has created the Rapid Value Assessment Tool. Since February, IBM has trained more than 50 Business Partners on the tool.

Ultramatics, an IBM Premier Business Partner, has taken advantage of IBM Business Partner resources to help create a customized SOA for Crowley Maritime, a major provider of maritime services, to streamline and reposition the company to meet the new challenges as it enters its second century of operations.

The resulting benefits for Crowley Maritime are summed up by Jerry Dresch, director of application services at Crowley. "The first step in our SOA strategy has led to a direct dollar savings of $15,000 per integration interface, which are now implemented as reusable services. As reuse of the SOA platform continues and these numbers hold true, we anticipate this savings on at least 15 new integration interfaces over the next 24 months. Not to mention the soft dollar implications on resource utilization, costs and efficiency as those resources can now focus their efforts on other fronts."

"With these new initiatives, IBM is not only helping Business Partners realize the potential of SOA for driving business -- we're helping them better understand how SOA helps customers align technology with business strategy," said Sandy Carter, vice president, SOA and WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing, IBM.

Business Partners Key to IBM SOA Strategy
IBM recently announced the WebSphere Business Services Fabric, a new technology platform based on pre-built, customizable SOA assets, semantic models and policies that supports a wide range of industry and semantic standards including ACORD, HIPAA and HL7. Six SOA Business Partners have already committed to developing industry-specific services that will be made available through the IBM SOA Business Catalog by the end of the year.

The SOA Business Catalog is a repository of IBM- and Business Partner-developed SOA software assets or IT 'services.' These combinations of software code, intellectual property and best practices are used to solve specific business problems. In fact, Business Partners contributed 62 percent of the 3,000 assets that are in the catalog. Only Business Partners which have achieved the SOA specialty may list their assets in the catalog.

Finally, IBM recently introduced Business Process Management (BPM) Methodology and BPM Competency Center services, which combine best practices and services expertise to accelerate BPM adoption. For Business Partners, these services provide an opportunity to share in-depth knowledge and strengthen current offerings in BPM through IBM and its network of 400 SOA Business Partners that specialize in BPM.

Made in IBM Labs: Speech Translation Technology Breaks Through Language Barrier for U.S. Forces in Iraq

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the successful delivery of an advanced speech-to-speech translation system to U.S. forces in Iraq. The bidirectional English to Arabic translation software is designed to improve communication between military personnel and Iraqi forces and citizens.

The United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) is embracing automated speech-to-speech translation techniques to help offset the current short supply of military linguists. Developed by IBM Research, supplied and supported by IBM's Technology Collaboration Solutions group, the Multilingual Automatic Speech-to-Speech Translator software -- dubbed "MASTOR" -- will initially be deployed on 35 ruggedized laptops to various Department of Defense components including the Army Medical Department, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Marines.

These military units will use MASTOR to facilitate military and medical-oriented conversations with members of the Iraqi security forces, in hospital settings and during daily interactions with Iraqi citizens. In addition, some of the devices will be used in the U.S. to help train military personnel in advance of deployments.

"Our goal is to enable units operating in areas where human interpreters are scarce to communicate effectively with speakers of different languages in real-world tactical situations," said Wayne Richards, Branch Chief, U.S. Joint Forces Capabilities Division. "The feedback gained in the field is crucial to enhance the translation system requirements and performance expectations."

"The advances IBM has made in research and development of speech-to-speech translation systems have the potential to revolutionize the way people around the world communicate with one another," said Anne Altman, Managing Director, IBM U.S. Federal. "The military's use of the MASTOR system is a very exciting example of that capability -- one where we see the potential to improve the safety of U.S. service personnel and save lives."

Currently, commercially available translation systems can only work with pre-programmed fixed phrases. MASTOR offers users the ability to have a free-form conversation without having to memorize any pre-determined phrases.

The goal of MASTOR is to convey the meaning of what is said, even if minor errors are made by the speaker or speech recognizer. During operation, the user speaks into a microphone that is interfaced with MASTOR. The technology recognizes and translates the speech, then vocalizes the translation in the target language for the foreign language speaker to hear. The foreign language speaker can then speak into the microphone in their own language, and MASTOR translates and vocalizes their speech back to the original language. In addition to the audible translation, MASTOR captures the spoken dialogue as text. MASTOR has been tested to run on a variety of platforms, including PDA, tablet PC and laptop computers.

IBM's technology is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Spoken Language Communication and Translation System for Tactical Use (TRANSTAC) program, where MASTOR was one of the Speech to Speech systems selected for investigative equipping in support of the Multinational Force Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I).

USJFCOM currently oversees the investigative equipping of speech to speech systems that enable rapid, two-way, natural language speech translation capabilities to protect and support the warfighter. The intent of the investigative equipping is to capture user feedback and use the operational test results to provide valuable input on automated translation system requirements and performance expectations. This includes training users, developing tactics, techniques and procedures, and joint concepts of operations, and collecting data that can be leveraged by future research programs.

Development of MASTOR began in 2001 in IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center where scientists worked closely with IBM engineers, manufacturing and military experts. The research scientists combined cutting-edge technologies in the areas of automatic speech recognition, natural language understanding and speech synthesis. The development of this state of the art system required innovations in the tight coupling of speech recognition and understanding to effectively mitigate the impact of speech recognition errors and non-grammatical inputs common in conversational speech.

MASTOR is available in two-way English to Iraqi Arabic, English to Modern Standard Arabic and English to Mandarin Chinese; additional languages are planned. The solution can recognize and translate a vocabulary of over 50,000 words in English and 100,000 in Iraqi Arabic. IBM intends to explore public and private sector market opportunities where language translation technologies are in high demand, including aerospace and defense, medical facilities, law enforcement, banking, travel, and government customer service settings on the state, local, and federal levels.

MSFT: Microsoft Acquires Colloquis to Enhance User Interactions Online

Microsoft Corp. announced it has acquired privately owned Colloquis Inc., a provider of conversational online business solutions that feature natural language-processing technology. Microsoft will offer services based on Colloquis technology to businesses with online operations, as well as incorporating the technology into its own products.

“Today’s ‘anytime, anywhere’ world has established a standard of instant and easy access to all forms of information, media and content,” said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft. “Colloquis provides Microsoft with the tools and platform to build conversational capabilities into a wide array of applications that enable businesses to facilitate a simple and rewarding online experience for their end users.”

Initially, Microsoft will offer a managed service called Windows Live™ Service Agents based on the existing Colloquis Automated Service Agent offering, which has been implemented by companies such as Cingular Wireless, Comcast Corp., Cox Communications Inc., Panasonic Corp. of North America, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Vonage Holdings Corp. Windows Live Service Agents provides businesses with a hosted Web-based customer service application that interacts with end users in conversational language, combining the ease of traditional online support with the valuable insight of natural language logic. Windows Live Service Agents will augment Microsoft’s existing contact center solution, Microsoft® Customer Care Framework (CCF).

“Microsoft is focused on providing solutions such as CCF that will allow our customers to create a positive customer service experience regardless of the channel, be it phone, e-mail or the Web,” said Maria Martinez, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “With the addition of Windows Live Service Agents to our portfolio, businesses can simplify access to information, streamline issue resolution, minimize support costs and improve customer satisfaction.”

Xbox will be the first group within Microsoft to use Windows Live Service Agents. Colloquis technology will be a strong contributor in enabling Xbox® customers to rapidly find helpful information related to their support needs. The conversational tone and ease of use of the product will offer customers another approach with which to address commonly asked questions, providing quick resolution to customer issues. The product’s technical flexibility makes it an excellent fit with other self-service options that Xbox plans to release in the fall.

In addition, Microsoft plans to take advantage of Colloquis Internet bot technology in an application called Windows Live Agents, a conversational application that users can interact with via Windows Live Messenger. These “agents” are used to entertain, encourage engagement with products or services, provide a new advertising opportunity for brand advertisers, and drive search and information retrieval.

“The Colloquis team fully believes in the tremendous potential of natural language software in everything from improving customer service to helping brands connect better with their constituents,” said Stephen Klein, chief executive officer at Colloquis. “Microsoft has the resources to not only unlock that potential, but to leverage its expansive customer base to create truly innovative real-world uses. We’re excited to see what the future holds.”

MSFT: Microsoft Says on Track to Release Windows Vista on Schedule

Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it is on track to deliver Windows Vista™ for worldwide availability to its volume license business customers in November and worldwide general availability in January. The company also confirmed that it would be releasing Windows Vista in Europe and Korea on schedule, following what the company called “constructive dialogue” with the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

“We are excited to bring the security enhancements and innovative new features of Windows Vista to our customers and partners around the world, and we are committed to adhering to local law in every region of the world,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft.

Ballmer said the company over the past two years had submitted information to competition authorities around the world about Windows Vista as it was being developed.

Microsoft agreed to make a number of changes to Windows Vista in response to guidance the company received from the European Commission, said Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith. Smith confirmed that the company has also incorporated changes to Windows Vista in Korea to comply with its legal obligations there.

“We recognize that the European Commission does not give ‘green lights’ for new products, and we have not asked for one,” Smith said. “We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have had with the commission and the guidance the commission has provided. Based on this guidance, we have made changes to ensure that we’re in compliance with our competition law obligations, and we are moving forward to make Windows Vista available on a worldwide basis.”

“We welcome the constructive discussions we have had with governmental authorities around the world, and we are committed to continuing this type of dialogue in the future,” Smith said.

MSFT: Microsoft Partners to Offer New Windows Vista-Ready Products for Holidays

Today At DigitalLife 2006, Microsoft Corp. announced the holiday availability of PCs, software, hardware and games that will work with Windows Vista™. More than 250 hardware and software products from over 50 industry partners have received either the Certified for Windows Vista logo or the Works with Windows Vista logo created to help consumers more easily identify software and devices that are compatible with the new operating system. The Works with Windows Vista logo helps ensure compatibility, and the Certified for Windows Vista logo indicates that a particular software or device will help deliver a superior end-user experience when used with a PC running a Windows Vista operating system.

During his opening keynote address, Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of Windows Client Marketing at Microsoft, emphasized the breadth of products on the market come the holidays that will work with Windows Vista. “We are thrilled that so many of our industry partners are working with us to bring Certified for Windows Vista software and devices to market this holiday season,” said Sievert. “This certification helps ensure our customers will have a great experience with these products now, and an even better one when they are using them with Windows Vista. These products will make a great gift for the holidays that gets better with Windows Vista.”

All the products shown in Sievert’s keynote are undergoing the logo testing process, and all will be available this holiday season, including NVIDIA GeForce® graphics cards; Logitech’s Cordless Desktop MX 3200 Laser®, MX Revolution Mouse®, ChillStream game pad® and QuickCam Ultra Vision®; and the InterVideo® WinDVD® and WinDVD Creator®. These products represent a sampling of the many devices and applications Microsoft’s partners are releasing today and in the coming months that take advantage of new features like improved graphics, increased stability and enhanced security in Windows Vista.

Windows Vista — The Growing Ecosystem

Since the availability of the Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) early last month, products from companies such as ATI Technologies Inc., Canon Inc., Logitech and NVIDIA Corp. have qualified for the Certified for Windows Vista logo, and many others have begun the process. Products from Attachmate Corp., Belkin Corp., Buffalo, Computer Associates Inc., Corel Corp., D-Link Systems Inc., Epson, Fujifilm, Hauppage Computer Works Inc., HP, Lexmark, Logitech, Microsoft Hardware, Microsoft Office, NetPro Computing Inc., Nero AG, Olympus, Riverdeep Interactive Learning Ltd., SanDisk Corp., Seagate Technology Inc., Sonic, Symantec Corp., Trend Micro Inc., Viewsonic Corp., Workshare Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and other companies are expected to a Windows Vista logo within the Windows Vista launch time frame, further contributing to the growing Windows Vista ecosystem. Throughout their product development process, Microsoft has collaborated with independent hardware and software vendors, ensuring not only that the products support a high level of compatibility, but also that the products coming to market now and over the next several months will take advantage of exciting new features in Windows Vista.

HP is one of the companies pursuing approval for the Certified for Windows Vista logo for a variety of products. “Just as we did with the launch of Windows® XP, HP has worked closely with Microsoft to ensure our imaging and printing products take full advantage of the capabilities of Windows Vista,” said Greg Wallace, senior vice president of marketing for the Imaging and Printing Group at HP. “HP will be a top provider of products ready for Windows Vista, offering more than 450 compatible imaging and printing products once Windows Vista is available on the market.”

Also carrying the Certified for Windows Vista logo will be NVIDIA GeForce Graphic Processing Units (GPUs), which enable features in Windows Vista such as Windows Aero™ and Flip-3D. “NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards underwent thorough testing to attain the Certified for Windows Vista logo,” said Ujesh Desai, general manager of desktop GPUs at NVIDIA. “It was the commitment to quality testing that attracted us to the program. People can be confident that any products carrying the logo will provide a top-notch experience with their PCs running a Windows Vista operating system.”

Partners are drawn to the logo program as a means of helping consumers find products that are designed to work well with Windows Vista. “With Windows Vista arriving in the new year, we’re eager to provide people with new, exciting technologies that will work seamlessly with the new operating system,” said Steve Ro, CEO of InterVideo. “We’re thrilled to be a part of this program. When people look for software like ours this fall, they’ll look for the Certified for Windows Vista logo. InterVideo would like to promise that we will have all our software certified to carry the logo so as to ensure a superior multimedia experience on Windows Vista PCs.” InterVideo’s WinDVD Creator offers a full range of video and DVD editing features, helping people to enjoy and share their home videos and photos with Windows Vista.

Getting Consumers Ready for Windows Vista Now

In addition to the Windows Vista logo program, Microsoft is taking steps to ensure that consumers can buy PCs now that will be ready for the launch of Windows Vista. PCs capable of supporting Windows Vista bear the Windows Vista Capable logo. Consumers can feel confident in purchases they make today due to the broad availability of Windows Vista Capable PCs that are capable of running Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, identified as Premium Ready PCs.

Consumers also can now purchase new PC games that offer exceptional compatibility with Windows Vista as well as Windows XP. Games that carry the Games for Windows logo must meet certain requirements, such as the ability to work with x64 versions of Windows Vista and support the Windows Vista Games Explorer function. Games that feature this logo and will be available for purchase this holiday season include “Company of Heroes,” “LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy” and “Microsoft Flight Simulator X.”

In addition to these products available at retail, two Windows Vista features, Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7and Windows Media® Player 11, will be made available in the coming weeks. Windows XP users are encouraged to try the features to get familiar with and excited about these programs now, which will be included in Windows Vista. Internet Explorer 7 will be made available to Windows XP customers via free download in the next two weeks. Microsoft encourages all Windows XP users to download the new version to explore the browsing experience in Windows Vista and take advantage of the new security features that will help protect them against malicious software and phishing attacks. Windows Media Player 11 will be available via free download beginning Oct. 24 and will enable users to take advantage of an elegant and intuitive user interface, a new level of online store integration, especially with MTV’s URGE service, and improved navigation for larger music libraries.

About the Windows Vista Logo Program

With Windows Vista, for the first time products are eligible for either a Certified for Windows Vista or a Works with Windows Vista logo. All software and devices with the Certified for Windows Vista logo have been tested to meet high-quality standards and deliver a superior end-user experience when used with a PC running a Windows Vista operating system. This logo is reserved for products that meet specific technical requirements and support features in Windows Vista such as XML Paper Specification (XPS) printing, Media Transfer Protocol and Windows Aero, enabling new technologies that provide optimal experiences with Windows Vista. With over two-thirds of consumers reporting that such certification is an important factor in purchasing software and hardware, achieving logo certification provides partners with a valuable way to differentiate their products in the market. In addition, these certified products stand to benefit from Microsoft’s marketing and product-support efforts. The Works with Windows Vista logo ensures compatibility with Windows Vista.

MSFT: Microsoft and Intel Help System Builders Get Ready for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corporation announced the Ready 2 Rock Road Show, a series of day-long, hands-on events designed to prepare the system builder channel to make the most of the myriad business opportunities offered by new and innovative products and technologies from Microsoft and Intel. The road show, to be held in 23 cities across the U.S. and Canada, is designed to help system builders be more competitive in the marketplace by providing the training and technical content they need to build and sell customized solutions based on the most powerful Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processors, the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Intel and Microsoft server products. (Office server products are included in the 2007 Microsoft Office system.)

In a single day, attendees will receive technical readiness training on new Intel and Microsoft products, including Windows Vista, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Intel vPro™ technology, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Intel and Microsoft server products. They will also receive instruction on the unique features and benefits of each edition of Windows Vista, learn how to advise business and consumer customers on which edition of Windows Vista will best meet their needs, and have the opportunity to build a Windows Vista system on a Verified by Intel mobile platform. Attendees will also be taught how to use Intel vPro technology to deliver service value to their business clients and how Intel Core 2 Duo processor-based PCs deliver rich, new computing experiences. In addition, they will be given information about Intel and Microsoft system builder channel programs, marketing and sales tools; and a variety of alliance vendors offering complementary products will be available in the Showcase portion of the event.

“The upcoming availability of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system, along with powerful processors and technology from Intel, offers tremendous business opportunities for our system builder and distributor partners,” said John Ball, general manager of the U.S. System Builder Partners Group at Microsoft. “We are committed to providing tools and resources that help system builders grow their businesses, and we are excited to be joining forces with Intel to provide training on these innovative products at the Ready 2 Rock Road Show.”

“The innovative new technologies that Intel and Microsoft are bringing to market provide a unique opportunity for our mutual system builder partners to create compelling solutions that deliver unprecedented value to their customers,” said Shirley Turner, Intel’s director of North America Channel Partner Marketing. “By coming together in this way, Intel and Microsoft can demonstrate, side by side, to our channel partners that we value their business and will continue our collective support to help them in their efforts to increase sales and drive new opportunities around Intel Core 2 Duo-based systems.”

The Ready 2 Rock Road Show is one component of Microsoft’s plan to train more than 80,000 system builder partners worldwide before the release of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. For those who cannot attend a road show event, Microsoft is providing a number of additional training opportunities as part of the “Get Ready Your Way” campaign. Offerings include online training through the Microsoft Partner University and live training sessions offered at over 80 New Horizons locations nationwide. More information about “Get Ready Your Way” can be found at http://microsoft.com/oem/getready. Microsoft also continues to make significant investments in the system builder channel through innovative partner programs such as the Microsoft Partner Program, which includes the OEM Hardware Solutions Competency, through which partners can get the things they ask for most: technical support; software for internal use; and branding, marketing and sales materials. Other examples are the Buy Local campaign, Office Ready and the small-business customer campaign.

In addition to this unique joint training program, the Intel Channel Partner Program allows system builders and value-added resellers to access marketing resources, technical support and sales tools that help them deliver innovative technologies and services to their customers.

More information and event registration for the Ready to Rock Road Show can be found at http://www.intelmicrosoftr2r.com

Broadcom's Broadband Access Platform Selected by Pirelli Broadband Solutions for Its ADSL2+ Multiplay Access Gateway Product Line

Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its broadband access silicon and software platform has been selected by Pirelli Broadband Solutions, the broadband access and photonics company within the Pirelli Group, for its next generation Discus™ ADSL2+ Multiplay access gateway product line. The combination of Broadcom® ADSL2+, wireless LAN (WLAN) and Voice over IP (VoIP) silicon, coupled with TR-069 remote management gateway software, is now powering Pirelli's portfolio of ADSL2+ broadband access customer premises equipment (CPE) products. By supporting ADSL2+ and TR-069, Pirelli is able to cost-effectively deliver managed broadband services over an ADSL2+ network connection while expanding its product portfolio to include triple play services.


Pirelli's Discus™ Multiplay access gateways, based on Broadcom technology, enable significant product advancements in ADSL2+, wireless and VoIP services, while allowing carriers to remotely manage these services using the industry-adopted DSL Forum TR-069 protocol. By adopting the Broadcom broadband access platform with TR-069 software, Pirelli's Discus product line sets a new standard for performance, cost and flexibility in the broadband access gateway marketplace. Pirelli's Discus product line is currently shipping in volume.

"Broadcom is very pleased to have partnered with Pirelli to deploy next generation broadband access services within its Discus line of ADSL2+ gateway products," said Greg Fischer, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Carrier Access line of business. "The Pirelli and Broadcom relationship, which cost-effectively delivers next generation broadband services over ADSL2+, as well as Wi-Fi® and VoIP phone services, exemplifies a winning combination of advanced silicon and software solutions driven by industry leaders."

"Partnering with Broadcom has enabled us to develop a next-generation broadband gateway family that offers superior capabilities and performance over previous generation products. It has also helped us meet our customers' expectations, which are based on five successful years of experience in the triple play arena," said Corrado Rocca, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing and Development for Pirelli Broadband Solutions. "This highly integrated gateway product line, based on Broadcom's broadband access platform technology, has helped us produce a strong ADSL2+ gateway product solution with value-added capabilities such as remote management."

About Pirelli Broadband Solutions

Pirelli Broadband Solutions specializes in broadband access technology and photonics. The Access division provides a range of broadband CPE, including access gateways, set-top boxes, multiple handsets, and a remote management system. The Photonics division leverages nanotechnology and its use of tunable and pluggable solutions to deliver multi-wavelength components, modules and subsystems, including tunable lasers, GPON triplexers, an integrable tunable laser assembly, radio over fiber and a CWDM metro access system. In full year 2005, Pirelli Broadband Solutions posted revenues of 112 million euros (+78% compared to a year earlier).