HPQ: HP Delivers Industry’s First PCs to Meet ENERGY STAR 4.0 Hardware Requirements

HP today announced the industry’s first business PCs configurable to meet the hardware standards of ENERGY STAR® 4.0 – the new, stringent energy-efficiency specification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

HP’s new energy-efficient business desktop PCs use less power, which is better for the environment and helps customers reduce energy costs.

HP is also the first major PC manufacturer to offer “80 percent efficient” power supplies, a key component of the ENERGY STAR 4.0 regulations that go into effect on July 20, 2007.

HP lab tests have found that configuring PCs with the optional 80 percent efficient power supplies along with the other ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware requirements can reduce total system power consumption as much as 52 percent, translating into an average annual cost savings ranging from $6 to $58 per PC.(1)

“As a leader in energy efficiency, PG&E supports new technology designed to reduce the energy needed to operate computers,” stated Roland Risser, director, Customer Energy Efficiency, PG&E, the largest investor-owned gas and electric utility in the State of California. “We look forward to working with HP to accelerate the use of computers with 80 percent efficient power supplies and help consumers take advantage of new energy savings opportunities.”

The HP Compaq dc5700, dc5750 and dc7700 desktop PCs are designed to meet business customers’ growing requirements for more efficient power management and cooling. Customers using PCs configured to meet the ENERGY STAR 4.0 requirements can benefit from increased system reliability, reduced system maintenance costs, as well as decreased air conditioning costs -- all due to less heat generation, which can also greatly extend the life of the system. These technologies also make it easier for federal agencies to comply with Executive Order 13123, which requires them to strive to meet ENERGY STAR criteria to increase energy performance and environmental quality.

“Our expanding family of energy-efficient desktop PCs not only help business customers meet upcoming regulatory requirements, but also reduce the impact on the environment by meeting the EPA’s most stringent ENERGY STAR requirements yet,” said Jeri Callaway, senior vice president and general manager, Personal Systems Group -- Americas, HP. “HP is taking an industry leadership role in the delivery of energy-efficient desktops as we focus on delivering specialized product design tailored to meet the needs of businesses today.”

Select HP Compaq dc5700 and dc7700 business desktop PCs meeting the ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware specifications are available now and feature Intel® Core 2TM Duo processors, Microsoft Windows® XP Pro, 80 GB hard drives, 1 GB of memory and DVD/CD-RW combo drives, starting at $899 and $959, respectively.(2)

ENERGY STAR 4.0 configurations are also available for the HP Compaq dc5750 business desktop with AMD AthlonTM processors, Microsoft Windows XP Pro, 80 GB hard drives, 512 MB of memory and DVD/CD-RW combo drives, starting at $609.(2)

Building on a legacy of environmental features for business PCs

The new ENERGY STAR 4.0 desktop configurations advance HP’s ongoing effort to adopt new power-efficient technologies and to provide its business customers with environmentally responsible desk-based PCs.

The company works diligently with industry and government groups to promote energy-saving programs and consistent global standards; in fact, HP was the first PC manufacturer to sponsor the 80PLUS program, a utility-funded incentive program to integrate energy-efficient power supplies into PCs and servers.

HP today also has nearly 50 Silver or Bronze-level products registered with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), a procurement tool that helps public and private sector institutional purchasers evaluate, compare and select PCs and monitors based on their environmental attributes. U.S. federal agencies are now mandated to buy EPEAT registered products.

In addition, the HP Compaq dc5750 business PC introduced late last year was the first global technology provider to offer customers a processor option that consumed less power, with the help of AMD 35-watt processors and its Cool ‘n’ Quiet® technology, which reduces processor heat and results in an overall cooler PC and a quieter work environment.

The company was also the first major PC manufacturer to ship an S3 power management-ready system, which saves energy by automatically switching the PC into a standby, low-power mode after a period of inactivity. Enabled by default on all HP business desktop PCs, S3 power management conserves up to 294 kWh per desktop PC annually. According to HP testing, that yearly savings of energy is enough to power a 75-watt light bulb burning continuously over that same year.

Business customers can also choose from a wide variety of low-power remote client solutions from HP, including the blade PC-based Consolidated Client Infrastructure as well as thin clients, which can deliver as much as 80 percent power savings over traditional desktops with similar capabilities.(3)

Additional information on the broad range of energy-efficient HP products is available at www.hp.com/go/energy.


1) Savings calculations based on PCMark 05 benchmark testing results. Internal testing; customer results will vary. Variables include customer determined percentage of sleep state, idle state, productivity state and peak usage state. Also, manufacturing variability will affect the savings a customer may see. HP advises customers to test a system with an 80 percent efficient power supply in their environment to determine potential savings.

(2) Estimated U.S. street prices. Actual prices may vary.

(3) Power savings based on HP lab tests comparing an HP thin client, with an idle power consumption average of 14.5W, to a typical desktop with an idle power consumption of 75W. HP advises customers to test thin clients in their environment to determine potential savings over traditional desktop PCs.

HPQ: Trane Employs HP and PolyVista for Warranty Chain Management Early Warning Solution

HP and PolyVista today announced that they have completed the implementation of a warranty chain management solution for Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and comprehensive facility solutions for commercial, institutional and residential buildings.

The solution, which was up and running in eight weeks, helps Trane quickly identify product quality and warranty-related issues through automated early detection and root cause analysis.

After correcting any current issue detected by the solution, manufacturing teams at Trane can pass the information on to the design or engineering teams to help avoid problems in future products, as well as to vendors and suppliers to help improve long-term product reliability. Through this process, the solution offers reduced warranty costs, improved product development, sourcing and manufacturing processes, and better customer satisfaction.

“HP and PolyVista’s warranty and quality analytics solution worked immediately, allowing us to effectively mine our warranty and production data,” said Jerry Brinks, senior quality engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt, Trane. “This helps us to identify potential product defects and warranty management challenges, trends and anomalies for faster identification and resolution of product quality and warranty-related problems before we start hearing about it from anywhere else.”

The PolyVista and HP solution frees Trane’s business users from dependence on IT or statisticians to analyze warranty and quality data – the solution provides both technical and non-technical Trane employees with a means to analyze disparate data sources using high-end analytics and text mining.

“With PolyVista, HP is enabling Trane’s business users to discover new and valuable business insights hidden in their data to transform the customer warranty and quality management processes from reactive to proactive,” said Brian Walker, director, Americas Automotive Industries, HP.

Throughout Trane’s solution investigation and vendor selection process, HP and PolyVista worked to provide the company’s key business users with an analytic environment that automatically uncovered anomalies, correlations and relationships hidden in their data.

“It is the ability to uncover unknown issues and problems that is critical to reducing production costs and warranty spend and delivering high-quality products to customers,” said Bob Potts, vice president of sales, PolyVista. “Our experience in working with HP consulting and helping other manufacturers enabled us to deliver significant value to Trane very quickly.”

About PolyVista

Founded in 1995, PolyVista is a Houston-based company that delivers software to enable business users to move beyond reporting to discover new and valuable business insights hidden in their data. PolyVista’s Discovery software fills the gap between reporting and high-end analytics. PolyVista’s Discovery can interface with any existing database. It is the only product that successfully and seamlessly integrates OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing), Discovery (data mining), text mining, and 2/3D visualization into a single, easy-to-use application for the non-technical business user. More information about PolyVista can be found at www.polyvista.com

IBM Expands Global Service Delivery Capabilities

IBM (NYSE:IBM), extending its global service delivery capabilities, has opened additional centers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Chengdu, China.


The new centers, which expand IBM’s global network of service delivery centers to more than 30 countries, will focus on development, operation and maintenance of application systems for clients based in Europe, Africa, the U.S and the Asia Pacific region.

The global delivery center located at the National University of Ho Chi Minh City IT Park, Thu Duc District, is IBM’s first such center in Vietnam. The center will offer services in the areas of electronic commerce, supply chain management, distribution and e-governance to clients in the industrial, distribution, finance and insurance, public, communication and small and medium business sectors in Belgium, France and Africa.

The global delivery center in the Chengdu High-Tech Zone is IBM’s fourth such center in China and will support clients in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the U.S. and Europe. The center also will run as a regional operations center for the IBM Global Procurement Center, supporting IBM’s globally integrated supply chain.

Mr. Erik Bush, executive vice president, of Application Services, IBM Global Delivery, said: “IBM’s delivery capabilities across countries such as China and Vietnam are a key part of our strategy to operate as a globally integrated enterprise. Such a strategy allows IBM and its clients to leverage skills wherever they exist in the world. Where there is a concentration of the right skills in a given country, IBM develops people and resources and brings in global best practices to enable us to meet the needs of not just our domestic business in that country, but also our global business.”

IBM’s Global Delivery Centers in China and Vietnam are an integral part of IBM's global delivery network of centers that runs across Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Scotland, Spain, Slovakia, Taiwan, Trinidad, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.

DJ: Dow Jones Reports February 2007 Advertising Revenue

Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ) today reported February advertising revenue and volume for its leading print publications.

Advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal decreased 10.0% in February on a 6.6% decrease in advertising volume, due to declines in the technology, financial, general and classified advertising categories. Technology advertising volume decreased 12.2% as decreases in communications and personal computers advertising were partially offset by increases in software and office products advertising. Financial advertising volume decreased 9.8% primarily due to a decrease in retail advertising partially offset by an increase in wholesale advertising. General advertising volume decreased 5.4% as decreases in auto, pharmaceutical, corporate, aviation and other general business advertising were partially offset by increases in travel, luxury goods and other consumer advertising. Classified advertising volume decreased 3.8% due to a decrease in real estate advertising partially offset by an increase in other classified advertising.

At Barron’s, total advertising revenue increased 0.5% in February on a 0.6% decrease in advertising pages due to an increase in financial advertising partially offset by decreases in general and technology advertising.

International advertising revenue increased 16.6% in February due to increases in general, financial and classified advertising partially offset by a decrease in technology advertising at The Wall Street Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe.

Local Media Group advertising revenue, on a same property basis, decreased 2.4% in February on an 8.4% decline in volume. Decreases in non-daily (down 16.8%), classified (down 4.5%) and display (down 0.9%) advertising revenue were partially offset by increases in pure* online (up 49.7%) and preprint (up 1.6%) advertising revenue.

* Pure online advertising revenue represents advertising that is not part of a print and online bundled offer. In January 2007, pure online advertising revenue was up 90.0%


Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; dowjones.com) is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Licensing Services, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.

WMTL: Wal-Mart Increases Annual Dividend 31 Percent

The Board of Directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has approved an increase in the annual dividend to $0.88 per share, a 31% increase from the $0.67 per share paid during fiscal year 2007. For fiscal year ending January 31, 2008, the annual dividend of $0.88 per share will be paid in four quarterly installments of $0.22 per share, according to the following record and payable dates:

Record Date
March 16, 2007
May 18, 2007
August 17, 2007
December 14, 2007

Payable Date
April 2, 2007
June 4, 2007
September 4, 2007
January 2, 2008

Based upon this announced increase, the Company plans to return more than $3.6 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividends in fiscal year 2008. Wal-Mart has increased its dividend every year since its first declared dividend of $0.05 in March 1974.

The Company also announced that April 5, 2007 is the record date for its annual shareholders’ meeting that will occur on June 1, 2007.

Quest Software(QSFT) and Microsoft(MSFT) Announce First License for Protocol Technology in European Licensing Program

Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today jointly announced that Quest has become the first licensee in the Microsoft Work Group Server Protocol Program (WSPP) established following the European Commission’s March 2004 decision.

Quest officials said the agreement to license Microsoft’s protocol technology will extend and enrich interoperability capabilities for customers working across heterogeneous server environments. Quest plans to develop innovative software solutions, incorporating Microsoft protocols, which will provide customers with expanded capability to integrate Unix, Linux and Java authentication systems with Active Directory beyond what is available from Quest today. Today’s announcement is the latest step by Quest and Microsoft to provide easy and effective ways to secure and manage user identities across a heterogeneous IT infrastructure.

“Our mutual goal has been to ensure enterprise organizations needing to manage a diverse infrastructure can do so in a practical way and leverage their existing investments in technology and people,” said Doug Garn, president, Quest Software. “The value of this agreement is that Quest is now better positioned than ever to implement truly interoperable solutions for customers that do not require them to support and maintain multiple islands of technologies and redundant processes.”

As a WSPP licensee, Quest will have access to the communications protocols that are implemented in Windows Server Operating Systems and used by a Windows Work Group Server to deliver group and user administration services (including Windows Domain Controller services, Active Directory services, and Group Policy services) to Windows Work Group Networks.

Microsoft developed the protocol licensing program to meet its obligations under the European Commission’s March 2004 decision, which required Microsoft to expand upon the protocol licensing it already offered under a U.S.-based licensing program. While 27 companies have licensed Microsoft protocol technology through the U.S. program, Quest is the first company to license protocols in the European program.

“This agreement represents a significant milestone for the WSPP and demonstrates the momentum we are seeing in the industry around platform interoperability,” said Bob Muglia, Microsoft senior vice president, Server and Tools Business. “Quest is a great partner and we look forward to working together to make this program successful for Quest and its customers around the world.”

Garn added that both companies have been working together for a number of years to make sure the right protocols are available to enable a full and positive experience for Unix users and for Unix-centric solutions. Quest is focused on providing simplified identity management solutions for customers by using standards-based methodologies and products such as Active Directory to integrate, consolidate and optimize Windows and cross-platform infrastructures.

About Quest Software, Inc.
Quest Software, Inc. delivers innovative products that help organizations get more performance and productivity from their applications, databases and Windows infrastructure. Through a deep expertise in IT operations and a continued focus on what works best, Quest helps more than 50,000 customers worldwide meet higher expectations for enterprise IT. Quest’s Windows Management solutions simplify, automate and secure Active Directory, Exchange and Windows, as well as integrate Unix, Linux and Java into the managed Environment. Quest Software can be found in offices around the globe and at http://www.quest.com/.

Vivox(R) Calls on IBM to Give Voice to Online Gamers

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Vivox, the leading provider of integrated voice services for online games and virtual worlds, are working together to bring integrated voice communication to the games and interactive entertainment market.

Vivox runs its managed communication service on powerful IBM BladeCenter servers to enhance voice interaction and broaden the user experience among game participants. The online gaming market is all about providing compelling experiences to players, and IBM's high-performance and highly scalable servers deliver a dynamic and responsive platform for in-game voice environments.

"Live voice is essential to realizing the full potential of gaming environments and virtual worlds," said David Laux, IBM global executive for games and interactive entertainment. "IBM is exploring a variety of ways to use virtual worlds to link people in a way that is more like real life. We anticipate that integrated voice communications will soon become a standard requirement for any game to be successful, and Vivox's extensive skills in voice communications make them a natural fit for gaming customers."

Vivox recently announced its selection as the integrated voice provider for Second Life®, where Residents will have speaking indicators and tools that will allow them to stay connected with each other and the Second Life universe while in their first life.

By combining storage, networking and servers, the blade server systems simplify computing for Vivox. The company turned to IBM BladeCenter to save space, increase density and decrease power consumption, while lowering total cost and improving infrastructure flexibility. IBM BladeCenter's flexible and scalable security technologies for protecting against online security threats were also a mission critical feature for Vivox.

"IBM provides us with an extended global reach, and IBM's pioneering work with its clients to help them understand and apply virtual worlds to their business is key," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "Our work together for customers such as CCP Games' massively multiplayer online game EVE Online has proven the scalability and performance of our integrated voice capabilities on the BladeCenter platform."

About Vivox, Inc.

Vivox provides online games, virtual worlds and online communities with managed voice communication services that are simple to integrate and enhance gameplay and community. Vivox's carrier-grade, customizable solutions help online games and communities create improved offerings and extend their user base. Today, Vivox is bringing voice to approximately one million subscribers in more than 180 countries. For more information visit www.vivox.com

Defense Information Systems Agency to Manage IT Assets With IBM's Maximo Solution

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that the Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) Center for Computing Services (CS) will use an IBM Maximo asset management solution to manage all information technology (IT) assets across its Center for Computing Services.


With approximately 2,000 personnel, DISA CS is responsible for planning, acquiring, fielding, and supporting global net-centric solutions to serve the needs of the warfighter, defense agencies and services. DISA CS provides the IT services and capabilities to enable the warfighting, business, and intelligence mission areas of DoD operations.

The $2.1 million contract will support a DISA CS initiative to automate the management and control of the network using technology to reduce human intervention, improve availability and security, and reduce costs. The IBM Maximo solution will help automate asset and service management capabilities for Computing Services, which manages a network environment of IBM, Unisys, and Unix/Windows computers, communications devices, a variety of hardware and software, and related assets in 18 sites across the globe.

DISA awarded MRO Software, an IBM company, the contract because Maximo best addressed its five key criteria including:

A central repository for storing all IT asset data;
The ability to the track installations, moves, additions and changes to assets, including return and repair, and retirement and disposal histories;
Auto-discovery capabilities that automatically collect configuration data on all networked assets;
A commercial off-the-shelf solution that integrates procurement, inventory management, hardware and software contract management, and license management; and
Industry best practices to reduce total cost of ownership and yield maximum return on investment.
"DISA CS is considered by many to be the government's trailblazer in the use of information technology," said Mark Gruzin, vice president, public sector, for MRO Software, an IBM Company. "It's enormous validation for Maximo's IT asset and service management capabilities, and provides a key framework to build on going forward. We believe Maximo will help the agency better serve the nation's warfighters and all those who support them in the defense of the nation."

For more information on IBM please visit www.ibm.com

Maximo® is a registered trademark, and MRO Software™ and MXES™ are trademarks, of IBM.

SEC Obtains Order Freezing $3 Million in Proceeds of Suspected Foreign-Based Account Intrusion Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that on Tuesday, March 6, 2007, it won an emergency court order freezing assets in a Latvian-based bank's trading account being used to conduct a hi-tech market manipulation scheme. The Commission's enforcement action is the third filed in as many months involving market manipulation schemes conducted through online account intrusions.

In an emergency federal court action filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Commission alleged that the account, maintained by relief defendant JSC Parex Bank based in Riga, Latvia, had been used by one or more unknown offshore sub-account holders to launch a "pump and dump" manipulation scheme involving the stocks of fifteen different public companies. As part of the scheme, the unknown traders hacked into unsuspecting investors' online brokerage accounts at seven different brokerage firms, selling off investors' positions and using the proceeds to pump up the market for the stocks subject to the scheme. Through this technique, the unknown traders generated at least $732,941 in illicit profits and cost U.S. brokerages some $2 million in losses.

In response to the Commission's motion, the Court issued a temporary restraining order freezing the defendants' fraudulent profits held in JSC Parex's omnibus trading account.

SEC Enforcement Deputy Director Peter Bresnan stated, "In today's global economy, where con artists can misuse computer technology to defraud innocent U.S. investors from far beyond our borders, freezing the unlawful profits of those behind these intrusion schemes is especially important. Working to prevent injury to U.S. investors from intrusions into online brokerage accounts is a top priority of the Enforcement Division."

"Using sophisticated computer hacking and identity theft techniques to break into the accounts of innocent online brokerage customers," said SEC Office of Internet Enforcement Chief John Reed Stark, "these perpetrators effectively cut out the middleman of the old fashioned pump-and-dump scheme, eliminating phony stock promotions, creating their own artificial trading demand, and consummating their frauds in as little time as a couple of hours."

The Commission's complaint alleges a complex scheme that combines electronic intrusions into online brokerage accounts with a traditional market manipulation. From at least December 2005 through December 2006, one or more foreign-based unknown traders purchased, through four sub-accounts of an omnibus trading account titled in the name of Relief Defendant JSC Parex Bank and held at Pinnacle Capital Markets LLC of North Carolina, shares in 15 U.S.-based Nasdaq-traded companies. These unknown traders then hacked into unsuspecting investors' online brokerage accounts at seven major online broker-dealers and sold off investors' existing securities holdings. They then used the proceeds to buy shares on the open market of the thinly traded issuers the unknown traders had previously purchased in their own sub-accounts. This illicit account activity artificially heightened the share price and trading volume for each of the thinly traded issues and enabled the unknown traders to sell their holdings at a substantial profit, realizing at least $732,941 in ill-gotten gains, and possibly more. The unknown traders also used electronic means to hide their identities and mask the means by which they intruded into accounts.

The Commission's complaint further alleges that the unknown traders violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and seeks permanent injunctions against future violations by the unknown traders, and disgorgement of all the unknown traders' ill-gotten gains, including prejudgment interest and civil penalties. The complaint also seeks a final judgment requiring Parex to disgorge any assets it may have obtained as a result of the unknown traders' scheme.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Assistance has issued an investor alert, which is available on the SEC's website, that provides tips for avoiding becoming a victim of an intrusion. See http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/onlinebrokerage.htm

The Commission acknowledges the assistance of the NASD in this matter.


Additional materials: Litigation Release No. 20030

CSCO: Cisco Expands Microsoft Interoperability to Address Customer And Partner Demand

Highlighting customer and partner demand for interoperability in the unified communications market, Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced it is expanding Microsoft® interoperability to provide collaborative real-time capabilities for customers using Cisco Unified Communications solutions with Microsoft Exchange 2007, Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005, and Microsoft Office Communicator. In addition, Cisco confirmed that its broad portfolio of Unified Communications solutions will support Microsoft Windows Vista and Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0.

"Cisco provides an open approach to unified communications, allowing customers to integrate a variety of application vendors, such as Microsoft, into their business environment," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of enterprise research, Yankee Group. "It is clear that Cisco is partnering with Microsoft in unified communications to offer deep integration to joint customers."

With interoperability being critical to long-term customer success in the unified communications market, Cisco first highlighted its unified communications collaboration with Microsoft in March 2006, when the two companies announced integration between Microsoft® Office Communicator 2005, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and the Cisco Unified CallManager (now known as Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.0). The business communication and collaboration benefits, such as allowing click-to-call or Cisco Unified IP Phone presence via Office Communicator, have accelerated partner deployment and customer adoption of this combined unified communications solution.

"The flexibility offered by a unified communications infrastructure was an ideal solution for us," said Scott Ferguson, Group IT Infrastructure Manager, Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd. "Leightons viewed Cisco Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Communicator as ideal communication technologies to enhance collaboration between our employees."

"Dimension Data develops communication solutions that combine technologies from both Cisco and Microsoft to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts," said Andrew Briggs, managing director, Converged Communications, Dimension Data. "By crafting solutions that contain both Cisco's and Microsoft's technologies, clients benefit from increased productivity gains, cost savings and business agility."

Building off its interoperability momentum, Cisco is showcasing several Microsoft interoperable unified communications solutions at VoiceCon Spring 2007, including:

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6.0 with the Presence and Instant Messaging Capabilities of Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) and Office Communicator - allowing users to quickly escalate instant messaging sessions to audio conferences for improved collaboration and to view presence information to determine availability, initiate ad-hoc audio conferences, invite users and initiate connection to the conference.
Cisco Unity 5.0 with Microsoft Exchange 2007 - providing Cisco Unity customers a seamless migration path from Exchange 2000 or 2003 to Exchange 2007. Cisco Unity, which has more than 7 million messaging seats deployed, offers enhanced security and networking integration with Cisco IP phones, legacy PBX and visual voicemail on mobile devices from Nokia, RIM as well as Windows-based mobile devices.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager with Microsoft Exchange 2007 - for customers that choose to deploy the new unified messaging capabilities of Exchange 2007 with the rich call processing, video, mobility, and presence services offered by Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager with Microsoft Office Communicator - extends voice, video, and presence services, including advanced telephony features, security, quality of service, call admissions control and interoperability with legacy private branch exchanges (PBXs.). This latest version of Communications Manager (formerly CallManager) increases the scalability of this solution to 10,000 users per cluster and to more than 100,000 users for multicluster enterprise solutions, addressing the communication needs of large enterprise customers.
In the future, Cisco plans to add support for Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2.0, and is currently testing these solutions as part of the Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 beta program.

Microsoft Exchange 2007 interoperability with Cisco Unified Communications Manager is available now. Microsoft Exchange 2007 interoperability with Cisco Unity is scheduled to be available in May 2007. Increased scalability for the Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft Live Communications Server and the Cisco Unified Communications system is scheduled to be available in May 2007. Microsoft LCS click-to-conference with MeetingPlace audio and web conferencing is scheduled to be available in April 2007, as is the Unified MeetingPlace integration with Exchange 2007.

CSCO: IBM and Cisco Unveil Platform for Developing Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced their intent to deliver a new platform for unified communications and collaboration client development. Based on open technologies such as Eclipse and OSGi, the platform will accelerate application development by enabling developers to easily include a rich set of communications and collaboration capabilities in their solutions. Additionally, the companies announced plans to deliver specific customer offerings including a joint solution based on the new client platform and a set of "plugins" that bring together the communications and collaboration capabilities of both companies.

At the core of the unified communications and collaboration (UC2) Client Platform will be an open set of application programming interfaces (APIs) offered by IBM as a subset of Lotus Sametime collaboration capabilities along with communication APIs provided by Cisco to access communications functionality such as voice and video services. The Lotus Sametime collaboration capabilities are built on IBM's Lotus Expeditor, which contains open technologies from OSGi and Eclipse. This allows customers and partners to build new classes of applications and services that are easily managed and run across desktops, laptops, web browsers, and mobile devices.

Cisco and IBM will adopt the UC2 Client Platform to develop their own unified communications and collaboration clients. Lotus Sametime 7.5 is based on this platform and IBM plans that future releases will continue to take advantage of the platform. Cisco also intends to develop future versions of its Cisco Unified Personal Communicator client based on this client platform.

In addition, the two companies intend to work together to promote the benefits of open technologies for development and will drive market adoption of the UC2 Client Platform among customers and partners. These activities are expected to include training, enablement and certification programs for developers, ISVs and unified communication providers.

A significant number of customers, developers, distributors and communications providers have already expressed their support for the UC2 Client Platform, including Berbee, Citrix Systems, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Nokia, Optimus, Presidio Networked Solutions, PSC Group, Radvision and Research in Motion. Comments from these companies may be found at: newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/eKits/quotesheet_030707.pdf or ibm.com/lotus/uc2.

"Here at Coca-Cola Enterprises, we are focused on leveraging our technology investments to enhance our employee productivity," said Ray Repic, Chief Technology Architect at Coca-Cola Enterprises. "The ability to provide our users with a single focal point for the full suite of applications they use every day, including such things as Cisco CallManager and Unity, Lotus Sametime and Notes is very strategic for us. The announced platform by Cisco and IBM will allow us to more fully integrate core applications as well as build additional applications to work with them via open APIs. We praise IBM and Cisco for working together to drive integration of these core capabilities and look forward to adoption of this important effort."

An open approach to development represents a significant opportunity for developers, ISVs and unified communications providers. Developers and ISVs have access to the more than 2.3 million existing members of the Eclipse and OSGi development communities to take advantage of this platform. Open APIs mean developers can create solutions with confidence, knowing that the APIs will not change at the whim of a vendor. Additionally, the need for unified communications providers and ISVs to recreate base UC2 capabilities is significantly reduced, saving time and development costs.

To help ensure the UC2 Client Platform is accessible and rapidly adopted in the industry, IBM plans to offer the platform to developers at no charge with minimal costs for support and redistribution. A certification program is also planned for organizations that license the UC2 Client Platform, helping to ensure consistency between product deployments and allowing them to claim compatibility with the platform.

The UC2 Client Platform is expected to be available second half of 2007 and an early software release is planned for developers and partners in the second quarter of this year.

Expanded IBM and Cisco Alliance Delivers New Value to Customers

Cisco and IBM today also announced they plan to combine unified communications and collaboration strengths as part of an expanded strategic alliance. The expanded relationship is expected to include: joint offerings based on the UC2 Client Platform, communication and collaboration products from both companies, and expanded go-to-market activities including Cisco selling Lotus Sametime and IBM selling Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity, and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace.

In addition, Integrated Communications Services, from IBM Global Technology Services, is expected to offer assessment, design and implementation services on the full Cisco Unified Communications and Lotus Sametime portfolio, which will help clients accelerate implementation time, provide a quicker time to value and improve project success rates.

The joint offerings will help make business communication more efficient, customers more productive and partners more successful and are expected to include:


Click-to-Call and Voice Mail integration (planned availability for first half of 2007) - Lotus Sametime users will be able to send instant messages to and from Cisco Unified IP Phones, view and play Cisco Unity voice messages, and click-to-call another user directly from their Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 client.


New joint client offering (planned availability for second half of 2007) - In addition to the above functionality, a combination of capabilities will be offered from Lotus Sametime and a suite of functions from Cisco to include federated presence information, a soft phone, hard phone control, call history, conferencing and video telephony.


Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and Lotus Sametime and Lotus Notes integration (planned availability for second half of 2007) - Lotus Sametime Web conference integration with and control of Cisco Unified MeetingPlace audio and video conferences, and click to conference capabilities from Lotus Sametime and Lotus Notes.

For more information on IBM: www.ibm.com

HPQ: HP BladeSystem Reduces Data Center Thermal Footprint

HP today announced benchmark results confirming the HP BladeSystem c-Class uses up to 27 percent less power than the IBM BladeCenter-H in similar configurations that reflect real-world customer usage of blade server environments.(1)

The results derive from a week-long study conducted by Sine Nomine Associates of Ashburn, Va., which examined the overall power consumption and external airflow requirements of a variety of blade server and 1U rack server configurations in a typical data center environment experiencing light to heavy use.

The documented and publicly available results demonstrate that the HP BladeSystem c-Class and its zoned cooling properties not only lower power usage through efficient power distribution but also optimize airflow, which is a significant component in keeping data centers cool. In fact, the benchmark study shows the HP BladeSystem c-Class requires 60 percent less airflow than the IBM BladeCenter-H.

HP, the new industry leader in factory revenues and units shipped for blade servers,(2) features HP Thermal Logic technology in its BladeSystem enclosure to offer customers reduced power and cooling loads right out of the box.

“Power and cooling are serious issues for customers,” said Mark Potter, vice president, BladeSystem Division, HP. “Sine Nomine took an objective look at this real-world customer problem and the test results show what we already knew: HP BladeSystem c-Class featuring Thermal Logic is the clear choice for customers addressing their power and cooling challenges.”

HP offers broad power and cooling portfolio

Recent industry studies reveal that data center power density has increased more than tenfold in the last 10 years and that, in some cases, cooling represents upwards of 70 percent of the total data center power spend for customers.(3) These costs are driven by the data center power requirements and the cubic feet per minute of cooling airflow.

While some vendors focus on single aspects of the data center power and cooling problem, HP takes a holistic approach to synchronize power efficiency across multiple elements. Systems taking advantage of this approach include the HP BladeSystem c-Class and the recently announced data center-wide HP Dynamic Smart Cooling solution.

Additionally, HP has a large patent portfolio covering advances in power and cooling technology in the past 10 years. HP continues to address power efficiency issues across the data center by introducing new technology solutions to meet the needs of its customers, particularly those building next-generation data centers. Customers today benefit from HP Thermal Logic featuring HP Active Cool Fans and Dynamic Power Saver, HP Dynamic Smart Cooling, HP Modular Cooling System, HP Power Regulator and HP Insight Power Manager.

Energy efficiency has been a key aspect of HP’s environmental strategy since 1992. The company offers a full range of energy-efficient products and enterprise solutions that help customers save money while reducing environmental impact.

The full version of the Sine Nomine study is available at www.hp.com/go/bladepowerreport More information on HP power and cooling technologies for businesses is available at www.hp.com/go/powerandcooling More information on Sine Nomine is available at www.sinenomine.net





(1) Sine Nomine Associates, “A Comparison of HP BladeSystem c-Class with HP Thermal Logic to Competitive Systems,” Feb. 2, 2007.
(2) IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, February 2007.
(3) Malone, C., Belady, C. “Metrics to characterize Data Center & IT Equipment Energy Use,” Proceedings of 2006 Digital Power Forum, Richardson, Texas, September 2006.

Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN) And Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) Expand Alliance with Global Distribution Agreement

Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN), a worldwide leader in removable data storage, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced a distribution agreement naming Imation the worldwide media distributor for Sun's full line of data storage media. Under terms of the agreement, Imation will become the distributor of the full portfolio of Sun-branded tape media for entry-level, mid-range and data-center environments. Already the exclusive co-developer, manufacturer and distributor of Sun StorageTek 9840 and 9940 tape cartridges, Imation will now also distribute Sun's newest Sun StorageTek T10000 format, as well as all Sun StorageTek-branded LTO Ultrium, Super DLTtape, DLTtape, and DDS tape cartridges, globally.


"Today's announcement is ultimately about simplifying the process for customers and creating new opportunities for partners by providing a one-stop shopping experience for tape media," said Nigel Dessau, senior vice president, Storage Marketing and Business Operations, Sun Microsystems. "We expect Imation's global distribution capabilities and worldwide reach, from the Americas to Europe and Asia-Pacific, will benefit both customers and resellers via quick and easy access to media for Sun StorageTek tape drives and libraries."

"Imation is pleased to add the Sun brand to our global portfolio," said Frank Russomanno, president, chief operating officer and acting chief executive officer, Imation. "We have a long history of working with Sun to meet the needs of our mutual customers who require the highest quality data storage products, responsive customer service and top-notch technical support. Pairing Sun's trusted media brand with Imation's global distribution capabilities will provide significant benefits for our companies and our customers."

"The distribution agreement between Imation and Sun Microsystems is very positive news for our customers," said Al Zoldos, vice president of Sales for Corporate Express Imaging & Computer Graphic Supplies (NYSE: BUH), one of the largest distributors of data center media and high-speed production printer supplies. "This expanded alliance provides added convenience and helps to ensure that, as a reseller, Corporate Express can readily provide our customers with the full portfolio of Sun-branded tape media."

This agreement is one of several with premier companies looking to build on Imation's worldwide distribution capability and knowledge. Imation's regional sales and marketing headquarters are located in Oakdale, Minn., serving North America; Miami, Fla., serving Latin America; Schiphol, The Netherlands, serving Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Hong Kong, serving Asia-Pacific. Imation serves customers in over 100 countries.

For more information and country contacts, see www.imation.com

About Imation

Imation Corp is the only company in the world solely focused on the development, manufacture and supply of removable data storage products spanning the four pillars of magnetic, optical, flash and removable hard disk storage. With more than 50 years of data storage leadership beginning with the development of the world's first computer tape, Imation proudly marked its tenth anniversary as an independent company in 2006. In addition to the Imation brand, Imation Corp's global brand portfolio includes the Memorex brand, one of the most widely recognized names in the consumer electronics industry, famous for the slogan, "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Additional information about Imation is available at www.imation.com or by calling 1-888-466-3456.

S:Sprint Nextel Announces Resignation of William Kennard From Board Of Directors

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) today announced that William E. Kennard resigned from the company's Board of Directors effective March 1, 2007. Kennard served as a director of Sprint Nextel since the merger of Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications in August 2005. He joined the Nextel board in 2001 and is a Managing Director in the Global Telecommunications and Media Group of The Carlyle Group. Prior to his association with Nextel, he served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

"Bill Kennard has been a visionary leader in telecommunications policy and technology, and his contributions to our company and the entire industry have been immeasurable," said Sprint Nextel Chairman and CEO Gary Forsee. "We thank him for his great service to Sprint Nextel, and wish him the best as he continues an accomplished and dynamic career."

Kennard served on the Human Capital and Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Sprint Nextel Board. The Board is currently conducting a search to fill the open seat.

ARBA: Ariba Enhances Electronic Invoicing Capabilities

Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading spend management solutions provider, today announced that it is enhancing its electronic invoicing capabilities to make it easier than ever for companies doing business in Europe to transition to a fully automated and VAT compliant environment. The enhancements were announced at Ariba LIVE™ London, the first in a global series of spend management conferences that Ariba is hosting throughout the year (www.aribalive.com).

Through new, country-specific features embedded in Ariba Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment™, Ariba Procure-to-Pay™ and Ariba Supplier Network™, companies of all types and sizes can implement a completely paperless, dematerialized approach to invoice presentment and payment that enables them to automatically capture, validate, process and store data electronically in accordance with country-level regulations and facilitate VAT compliance.

"Paying, reporting and getting reimbursed for VAT payments are integral parts of the electronic invoicing process and vital links in the procure-to-pay chain," said Bob Shecterle, Vice President, Solutions Marketing, Ariba. "By implementing a fully automated, end-to-end approach to invoice presentment and payment, companies can streamline these processes and drive improved productivity and cost savings."

Comprehensive Solutions for a Paper-Free Process
Ariba offers a complete range of solutions that enable companies to manage invoice presentment and payment electronically from data capture, transmission and receipt through processing, exception management and archival. Leveraging Ariba Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment, Ariba Procure-to-Pay and Ariba Supplier Network, companies can optimize their processes and generate bottom-line results by:


Capturing "early pay" and sourcing-negotiated discounts to reduce invoice cycle time and ensure prompt payments;

Developing and implementing integrated cash management strategies to improve the efficiency of the entire procure-to-pay cycle;

Tracking and analyzing spend and compliance with contract terms to increase accuracy of payments and to avoid disputes; and

Providing access to invoices for internal and regulatory audits to drive process efficiencies and productivity improvements.



Enhanced Capabilities for Greater Automation and Compliance
Through the new features embedded in Ariba’s solutions, companies doing business in Europe can facilitate VAT compliance and streamline reimbursement processes by:

Capturing 100 percent of invoices electronically according to European regulations;

Creating tailored invoices that contain fields required by buyers, suppliers and local tax authorities;

Confirming completion of all data fields on reimbursement forms;

Archiving invoices and their accompanying electronic signatures to guarantee authenticity;

Passing invoice data to ERP systems for processing and VAT Reclaim Document submission; and

Eliminating or minimizing the need for accompanying paper documents.



"Moving to a completely paperless environment isn't easy," Shecterle added. "But with Ariba Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment solutions, companies can make the transition quickly and begin reaping the benefits that a fully automated approach provides."

About Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of spend management solutions to help companies realize rapid and sustainable bottom line results. Successful companies around the world in every industry use Ariba Spend Management™ software and services. Ariba can be contacted in the U.S. at 1.650.390.1000 or at www.ariba.com

IBM Unveils DB2 Viper for the Mainframe

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the DB2 9 "Viper" data server is now available for System z customers. Featuring hundreds of new features for mainframe customers, DB2 9 for z/OS will provide unmatched security, enhanced data storage compression and, for the first time, allow the seamless management of relational and XML data in the same database.

DB2 9 for z/OS (DB2 9) brings significant advancements to the mainframe, including patented "pureXML" technology and enhanced autonomic data management capabilities. This combination of industry-first features, along with new security and disaster recovery enhancements, can speed information queries and provide clients with unconstrained information access and significantly reduce total cost of system administration.

IBM customers such as Citigroup have done extensive testing of DB2 9 for z/OS and are excited about the new capabilities the product provides.

"The new security and compliance tracking capabilities of DB2 9 for z/OS will allow us to simplify our existing process for the management reporting of changes to our production database systems," said Bob Perih, Senior Vice President, Citigroup. "In addition, we have evaluated the new native XML support that DB2 9 provides and view this as a major technological advancement to help us to integrate XML data into a format that will allow for more robust and efficient usage by applications."

IBM partners also played a key role during the development of DB2 9 for z/OS and have added applications to what has become a rapidly growing ecosystem supporting the new data server.

"IBM and SAP have cooperated very closely on DB2 9 for z/OS and we look forward to supporting our customers with these new capabilities," stated Torsten Wittkugel, Vice President of Database and Operating System Platform Development at SAP. "The SAP Banking Services 5.0 release, which will be released soon, will be the first SAP product to take advantage of many new beneficial features in DB2 9 for z/OS."

DB2 9 for z/OS builds upon proven capabilities in areas such as online schema evolution, Unicode, XML, SQL, utilities, security and compliance, and 64-bit virtual storage. Optimization improvements include performance-boosting innovations, synergy with IBM System z, and query management enhancements driving increased cost savings.

"DB2 9 Viper for z/OS marks a significant milestone in the database software industry and has changed the rules of competition," said Ambuj Goyal, general manager IBM Information Management. "Viper provides increased performance, deep compression capabilities along with scalability and availability that are unmatched anywhere in the industry."

In addition to DB2 9 for z/OS, IBM is announcing new and enhanced DB2 and IMS Tools including IBM DataQuant, DB2 Optimization Expert and DB2 Utilities Suite. IBM is also announcing that all DB2 tools support and exploit DB2 9 for z/OS today.

DB2 9 for z/OS builds on the customer value of IBM's DB2 9 Viper data server that was first introduced for Linux, UNIX and Windows customers in July of 2006.

DB2 9 is the culmination of a five-year IBM development project that transformed traditional, static database technology into an interactive, vibrant data server that enables clients to improve their ability to manage all types of information and provides an industry-first seamless and simultaneous information flow of XML and relational data, regardless of platform or location.

For more information about IBM, visit ibm.com/db2/zos-new

MSFT: Microsoft Announces General Availability Plans for Microsoft Forecaster 7.0

Microsoft Corp. subsidiary FRx Software Corp. today announced that Microsoft® Forecaster 7.0, the latest release of the company’s budgeting and planning software, will be released to manufacturing on March 28, 2007. This latest version of Microsoft Forecaster focuses on enhanced usability, adaptability and visibility, giving organizations confidence that their budgets are realistic and accurate, and enabling them to monitor business conditions and respond to new business opportunities and challenges to improve overall performance.

“Our customers and partners have told us they want an affordable application that will make budgeting and forecasting less cumbersome, faster to implement and easier to use and that will offer greater adaptability to changing business conditions, all of which are addressed in Microsoft Forecaster 7.0,” said Andy Kamlet, director of marketing and sales of Denver, Colo.-based FRx Software. “We seem to have struck a chord with customers as they have reviewed this release, with survey results from our customer preview program showing that 95 percent of them are ‘satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’ with what they’ve seen.”

Usability, Adaptability, Visibility — Three Pillars in Microsoft Forecaster 7.0

Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 includes many capabilities that support the release’s overarching themes of usability, adaptability and visibility. Usability is of prime importance to customers because many business decision-makers who contribute to the budgeting process — especially those in manufacturing, supply-chain and service organizations — typically budget once a year, limiting their ability to become familiar with their applications. Usability is enhanced in Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 with the introduction of a new user interface and streamlined navigation, among other features, reducing the time it takes to learn the application.

Also key to midmarket segment companies is adaptability in the face of changing business dynamics, both internal and external to the organization. Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 offers customers the ability to take advantage of up to 10 segments or dimensions for more precise budgeting, and the new Total Types functionality reduces the number of calculations or trees to be maintained by the user. These capabilities shorten implementation time and streamline regular maintenance.

Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 still allows users of Microsoft FRx® to integrate their general ledger and budget data from Microsoft Forecaster into reports generated by Microsoft FRx. However, the release extends visibility by including new functionality related to what fields can be viewed, especially in the human resources area of the application, as well as a variety of new formatting options. These include numeric, font and conditional formatting, which allow those responsible for creating templates and reports to meet the needs of their users, thus increasing user satisfaction.

Customers Anticipate Business Benefits With Microsoft Forecaster 7.0

Customers such as the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) say they believe Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 will help make their organizations more effective in the long run because of time savings and other efficiencies the new release makes possible.

“We’d like to be able to budget and do reforecasts more often, and we think Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 will make that possible,” said MariAnne Woehrle, director of Information and Technology for CTAM, a nonprofit association for the cable industry based in Alexandria, Va. “This version makes it easier to keep everything in one place. So if something unforeseen happens, such as an invoice being a lot higher or lower than expected, we can immediately identify the issue, recognize the impact, then re-forecast it into our quarter and reflect it in our financial statements, and have a better picture. We’re hoping it will save time on budgeting, too. In the past, we used Excel® spreadsheets and then tried to consolidate them and then find the backup. With Microsoft Forecaster, users can put in their line items — whether they’re trips or hotels or whatever they’re doing — and the program accumulates all of the data for them into the cost centers. Then the data all roll up into a sheet, so we can see automatically where we are to produce the budget.”

A Great Opportunity for Partners and Resellers

Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 offers many benefits to those that sell and implement it, in part because of increasing demand for budgeting and planning solutions. A 2006 report by market research firm IDC, titled “Worldwide Business Performance Management Applications 2006–2010 Forecast and 2005 Vendor Shares” (IDC, Doc #203414, Sep 2006), predicts that budgeting and planning applications will be a prime driver of growth in the worldwide financial and business performance management analytic applications space in 2007. Specifically, they will account for 31 percent, about $600 million (U.S.), of the projected $1,984 million (U.S.) total market revenue, according to the report. Meanwhile, in the 2007 “Beyond the Hype” webcast review of business performance management vendors and trends, BPM Partners noted that 55 percent of respondents it surveyed are looking for budgeting and planning solutions as the first step of a performance management initiative.

The fact that Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 includes 10 budgeting segments as a core capability is also a benefit to reselling partners because it opens up additional vertical industries beyond those that have already adopted Microsoft Forecaster, such as government agencies, utilities, and educational institutions that tend to need more than the traditional three segments, or dimensions, found in the previous release.

“Our clients are all utilities and local governments, most of which need more than three segments, so the expansion to 10 is a very big plus,” said Duncan Shaw, co-president of Cogsdale Corp., a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Microsoft Business Solutions ISV/ Solutions competency partner based in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Other key benefits, according to Shaw, are the integration with the core accounting system, and the intuitive user interface, a huge benefit when presenting the product in sales situations.

Pricing and Availability

Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 will release to manufacturing March 28, 2007, and will be generally available in early April. Pricing starts at $8,500 (U.S.) for the server plus one user, plus $500 (U.S.) per additional user*. Customers currently on the Microsoft Forecaster support and maintenance plan can receive the upgrade at no additional charge as part of their support and maintenance agreement.

Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 Tour

The Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 Tour will take place April 16–20, covering 20 cities across North America including New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, Detroit and Toronto. On the tour, customers and partners will gain insight into this solution while having the opportunity to fully understand the features and benefits, learn useful tips, and network with other users. Those who want to register or obtain more details should visit http://www.frxsoftware.com/tour

About FRx Software Corp.

FRx Software Corp., a Microsoft subsidiary, is a provider of solutions that give small and midsize businesses, large corporations and divisions of global enterprises the control they need to be more effective. Microsoft FRx is licensed by more than 110,000 sites worldwide to gain immediate control of financial reporting, allowing financial professionals to save time and manage change effectively. Microsoft Forecaster gives customers a fast and affordable way to gain control over budgeting and planning. Used together or separately, these solutions provide the financial visibility organizations need to help actively manage their business and take decisive action. Microsoft FRx and Microsoft Forecaster are available directly or through a worldwide channel of partners.

CSCO:Cisco Completes Purchase of Selected Assets of Utah Street Networks, Inc.

Cisco Systems® (NASDAQ: CISCO) today announced that it has completed the purchase of select assets of privately-held Utah Street Networks, Inc., the operator of the social networking site Tribe.net.

Utah Street Networks uses a proprietary software infrastructure to create and maintain online communities on the Tribe.net website. As part of the asset purchase, this software will be integrated into the Cisco Media Solutions Group (CMSG), which is focused on infrastructure products to help digital media content owners improve the consumer experience. Employees from Utah Street Networks, Inc. will also be joining Cisco to continue software development.

Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Utah Street Networks was founded in 2003 and has seven employees based in San Francisco, Calif. The Utah Street Networks technology and certain members of team will join CMSG led by Dan Scheinman, Senior Vice President and General Manager. The deal does not include the Tribe.net site, which will remain completely independent of Cisco.

Cisco also announced the close of the acquisition of Five Across. With the close of the transaction, the Five Across team and technology now report into Scheinman.

ADSK: Autodesk and Renault Form Three-Year Global Strategic Alliance

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced a multi-million-dollar three-year global strategic alliance with Renault's renowned Design Department. The deal underscores Renault's commitment to Autodesk AliasStudio and Autodesk Maya software applications as the foundation for its pioneering global digital design workflow. The Renault Design Department uses complementary AliasStudio and Maya software to design every new vehicle model -- including the new Clio 3, Europe's Car of the Year for 2006 -- and at every stage of the design process. AliasStudio is used extensively for Renault's initial conceptual design and creative ideation process through to digital prototyping, Class A production surfacing and final validation, while Maya supports Renault's advanced design visualization needs.

Established in 1898, Renault is Europe's leading automotive brand, designing, developing, manufacturing and selling innovative, safe and environmentally-friendly vehicles worldwide. Producing more than 2.3 million cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) in 2006, Renault has industrial and commercial presence in 118 countries. In 1999, Renault and Nissan signed the Renault-Nissan Alliance, uniting the two global companies through a coherent strategy, common goals and principles, results-driven synergies and shared best practices, while respecting and reinforcing their respective identities and brands.

Automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide now create a wider variety of models than ever before to meet the changing needs of customers in numerous niche markets. To meet this need, Renault continues to introduce an increasingly broad and diverse range of new vehicle models. This trend not only results in a heavier workload for designers but also a reduction in the development time available for each project.

As a result of this trend, Renault depends on an efficient digital workflow to maximize time by making improvements early in the design process to enable better design innovation and quality. Largely dependent upon Autodesk software, Renault's fully integrated digital workflow encompasses modeling, digital prototyping, visualization and presentation processes, and supports the need to evaluate a greater number of design themes and make faster decisions. In addition, digital prototypes have made it easier for Renault's Design Department to collaborate with other members of the extended design team including Renault's Vehicle Engineering team, encouraging greater communication, collaboration and faster design evaluation. With Autodesk software, the Renault Design Department has developed automated processes for creating ultra-high-quality stills and animated images, addressing the challenge of reducing production time and the need to make rendering expertise available for Digital Modelers. Renault's designers and decision-makers are now able to actively visualize a virtual 3D model as it evolves within the context of a 'real' environment -- all within a few hours of calculation.

Autodesk's strategic alliance with the Renault Design Department, which originated with Alias before it was acquired by Autodesk in January 2006, has also helped to drive the development of Alias' design products, influencing industry-critical enhancements such as Class A modeling. In the future, the successful execution of Renault's digital design processes will continue to rely heavily on Autodesk software solutions. By forming this alliance, Renault Design Department is demonstrating both the trust it has in Autodesk as a solutions partner and the importance it places on its software as a critical element in its overall workflow vision and design strategy.

"Autodesk is pleased to partner with an industry leader such as Renault -- an innovator that is taking automobile design to the next level," said Carl Bass, Autodesk president and chief executive officer. "Renault Design Department's world-class digital workflow process is recognized as a benchmark throughout the automotive industry and we are committed to ensuring Renault's continued success in pursuing design innovation."

MSFT: Microsoft Announces 512MB Memory Unit for Xbox 360 and Increased Xbox LIVE Arcade Game Size Limit

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007, Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to launch a 512MB Memory Unit for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system and an increase in the official size limit of Xbox LIVE® Arcade games from 50 MB to 150 MB.

The 512MB Memory Unit, available worldwide beginning April 3, 2007, will retail for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.) in North America.* The 512MB Memory Unit will be pre-loaded with the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade game “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved” from developer Bizarre Creations Ltd. for a limited time. The original 64MB Memory Unit will simultaneously drop in price from $39.99 to $29.99 (ERP).*

Eight times larger than the 64MB Memory Unit, the 512MB Memory Unit will provide Xbox 360 owners with vastly expanded storage capabilities for gaming on the go, allowing gamers to easily store and transport their gamer profile and save game data, Xbox LIVE Arcade games and Xbox LIVE Marketplace content. The 512MB Memory Unit also gives Xbox 360 owners the ability to download exclusive content from any of the 45,000 Xbox 360 kiosks accessible at retail outlets worldwide.

Beginning today, the Xbox LIVE Arcade game size limit has increased from 50 MB to 150 MB, giving developers greater flexibility in game design and expanding the opportunity to add advanced game features while still keeping games compact.

“The new size limit offers developers increased flexibility and continued opportunities for innovative game development, while also ensuring that the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE can continue to easily access, download and play all Xbox LIVE Arcade games on Xbox 360,” said Chris Early, product unit manager for Xbox LIVE Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games at Microsoft. “If you take a look at current games like ‘Roboblitz’ and ‘Small Arms,’ it’s clear that our developers deliver amazing game experiences within a compact size limit. Our focus is on continuing to provide developers with an environment that allows for the creation of cost-efficient games and that nurtures an artistic and creative approach to game development.”

“As we prepare to launch our first Xbox LIVE Arcade game, ‘Boom Boom Rocket,’ we’re able to see how dynamic and creative this platform is,” said Chip Lange, vice president of Online Commerce for Electronic Arts Inc. (EA). “Having ‘Wing Commander Arena’ on Xbox LIVE Arcade allows us to take full advantage of the online play and bring to life a 16-player online arcade experience that delivers unparalleled arcade action.”

This week at GDC, Microsoft will showcase forthcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade games from a cross-section of genres to the game development community:

• “Boom Boom Rocket” (EA and Bizarre Creations). This eagerly anticipated title from EA and Bizarre Creations is a hypnotic rhythm music game that will launch on Xbox LIVE Arcade this spring, priced at 800 Microsoft Points.

• “3D Ultra™ Minigolf Adventures” (Sierra Online and Wanako Games). The first outdoor sports game on Xbox LIVE Arcade, “3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures” lets players putt their way through 36 fun-filled holes on wild courses that include settings such as the Classic Carnival and the fantastical Outer Space.

• “Eets: Chowdown” (Klei Entertainment Inc.). A completely revamped version of the popular PC title, “Eets: Chowdown” offers a fun puzzle game experience unlike anything else available on Xbox LIVE Arcade, and features new items and 120 new levels.

• “Jetpac Refuelled” (Rare Ltd.). This is a new take on Rare/Ultimate’s 1983 classic space blaster with enhanced graphics and Xbox LIVE features; players must clear a path through hordes of aliens to refuel their ship and amass a fortune over the course of more than 100 high-definition levels.

• “Pinball FX” (ZEN Studios Ltd.). “Pinball FX” offers an unparalleled pinball experience that will be fun for novices and experts alike, with realistic ball physics and stunning 3-D tables. “Pinball FX” also features real-time, head-to-head competition over Xbox LIVE and Xbox LIVE Vision camera support.


About Xbox LIVE Arcade

Xbox LIVE Arcade on Xbox 360 is the premier destination for digitally distributed high-definition games. Xbox LIVE Arcade is a fast-growing phenomenon with more than 20 million game downloads and a diverse library of original development and classic titles from the world’s best independent and established developers and publishers. With a dynamically updated library and free** trials for every title, Xbox LIVE Arcade makes it easy for every type of gamer — from casual to hard-core — to get instantly immersed in the fun. Xbox LIVE Arcade also lets friends connect and play these incredible games either from the same room or from around the world via the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/livearcade

SY: Major Companies Select Sybase To Deliver Real-Time Analytics And Enterprise Data Management

Sybase Inc. (NYSE: SY), a leading provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software, today announced that organizations in financial, federal, telecommunications and retail industries have recently chosen Sybase® Adaptive Server® Enterprise (ASE) database and Sybase IQ analytics server to meet the increasing demands of managing and mobilizing critical data throughout the enterprise. These technologies enable the organizations to deliver enhanced customer service, access multiple data sources and pave a path to develop and innovate for the future.

Industry leaders include Samsung Securities in Korea; the South Korean Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs; China's Guang Dong Telecom; and the leading retailer in China, Wang Fujing Department Store Group.

“Business challenges impacting our customers’ current enterprise infrastructure require high availability, ability to handle structured and unstructured data in a single context and conformance to stringent regulations,” said Horace Chow, vice president, Asia Pacific, Sybase, Inc. “Business decision-makers continue to turn to Sybase to deliver real-time analytics, providing mission-critical data as well as delivering information anytime, anywhere.”

Samsung Securities
Samsung Securities in Korea has invested in Sybase solutions to support its next-generation operational system. Sybase ASE enables Samsung Securities to deliver results in response to increased customer demand by efficiently handling the order settlement process, thereby helping the securities firm to maintain its leading position in Korea's competitive capital market industry.

Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs
In South Korea, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) selected Sybase ASE and Sybase IQ to organize distributed data in an improved interface, delivering more accurate data that is shared by the central government as well as the nation’s 16 provincial governments. MOGAHA supports mission-critical initiatives in the government including future innovation and e-government, support for local governments, as well as measurement of regional development and management of national disasters. The new functionality streamlines processes and eliminates delays, making data management easier and more cost-effective for government agencies. Sybase’s solutions also enable a smooth decision-making system, managing 24 operational functions including finance, tax, telecommunication, human resource and natural disaster response.

Guang Dong Telecom
China's Guang Dong Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom Group, built a high-speed customer data system using Sybase ASE and Sybase IQ that delivers a consolidated view of customer interactions and usage trends. This system was implemented to improve customer service for Guang Dong Telecom, and helped the company maintain its leading position in China’s competitive telecommunications market.

Guang Dong Telecom’s Sybase data management system stores, manages and analyzes all the data collected by Guang Dong Telecom. The enterprise infrastructure supports all Network Access business throughout the province, including the local phone network, PHS, wideband network and the Intelligent Network.

Wang Fujing Department Store Group
Wang Fujing Department Store Group selected Sybase to improve its business analysis by implementing Sybase IQ, Sybase ASE, Sybase Replication Server® and Sybase PowerBuilder® solutions. The system will help Wang Fujing track consumer buying patterns across all outlets in near real-time, allowing management to quickly observe trends and adjust merchandise offerings to meet customer needs and increase productivity. Wang Fujing Department Store Group selected Sybase solutions based on their record-breaking performance, high reliability of delivery and outstanding customer service.

About Sybase, Inc.
Sybase, Inc. is the largest global enterprise software company exclusively focused on managing information from the data center to the point of action. Sybase provides open, cross-platform solutions that securely deliver information anytime, anywhere, enabling customers to create an information edge. The world's most critical data in commerce, communications, finance, government and healthcare runs on Sybase. For more information, visit the Sybase Web site: http://www.sybase.com

GE Global Research, TOKKI Corp. Announce Joint Project to Develop PECVD Film Encapsulation Technology & Equipment for OLED Displays

GE Global Research, the centralized research organization for the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) and TOKKI Corporation, a leading supplier of OLED manufacturing equipment, announced a joint agreement to develop PECVD Film Encapsulation technology and equipment for manufacturing organic electronics such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) flat panel displays. The goal is to develop and demonstrate equipment that could serve as the foundation for the future manufacturing and sale of glass-based displays that are thinner in design and much lower in cost.

As part of the agreement, GE Global Research will license its patented PECVD film encapsulation process to TOKKI for use in the company’s state-of-art OLED manufacturing equipment. OLED devices require a high degree of hermetic sealing or "encapsulation," since moisture and oxygen can impede the devices’ functionality. The encapsulation technology is seen as a critical component for enabling future OLED devices and process technology that are much thinner in design, while still protected from environmental degradation.

“Through our joint partnership, we have a great opportunity to develop new, state-of-the art manufacturing equipment that can produce thinner, more affordable OLED displays on glass substrates,” said Anil Duggal, Advanced Technology Program Leader for Organic Electronics, GE Global Research. “A key to this effort will be successfully incorporating the unique encapsulation technology developed at Global Research into the manufacturing process.”

“We are excited by the opportunity to work with GE through this JDA and believe that this collaboration will have a big impact not only to Tokki’s business but also on the OLED industry as a whole,” said Kenichi Tsugami, President of Tokki Corporation. “Our success on this project could greatly expand market opportunities for OLED flat panel displays and create new markets in organic electronics.”

A primary focus of the project will be to successfully develop and demonstrate pilot line manufacturing equipment that successfully incorporates Global Research’s film encapsulation technology. The ultimate goal is to build manufacturing equipment for OLED displays that can be sold commercially.

About GE Global Research

GE Global Research was the first industrial research lab in the United States and is one of the world's most diversified research centers, providing innovative technology for all of GE's businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as medical imaging, energy generation, jet engines, advanced materials and lighting. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; and Munich, Germany. Visit GE Global Research at www.ge.com/research

About Tokki Corporation

TOKKI Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading distributor of machinery and other value-added specialty machines. The company manufactures and sells factory automation systems, notably flexible manufacturing systems and robot cells. It develops, manufactures and sells vacuum technology-related equipment such as organic electroluminescent (EL) manufacturing equipment, sputtering, heat deposition, and plasma chemical vapor deposition products. TOKKI also sells numerical control manufacturing machinery, including numerical control lathes and machining centers. Visit TOKKI Corporation at http://www.tokki.co.jp/eng/index.html

UPS to Cancel A380 Order

UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced its intent to cancel later this year an order for 10 Airbus A380 freighters.

The final cancellation decision will be formally presented to Airbus on the first date specified under an agreement reached last week that gives either party the right to terminate the order.

Last week's agreement specified a revised delivery schedule that delayed UPS's first A380 jumbo freighter from 2010 to 2012. UPS originally expected its first freighter in 2009.

UPS had intended to complete an internal study of whether it could wait until 2012 for the aircraft, but now understands Airbus is diverting employees from the A380 freighter program to work on the passenger version of the plane.

"Based on our previous discussions, we had felt that 2012 was a reasonable estimate of when Airbus could supply this plane," said David Abney, UPS's chief operating officer and president of UPS Airlines. "We no longer are confident that Airbus can adhere to that schedule. UPS has built one of the largest airlines in the world in order to ensure reliable service to our customers, and we're confident we have the resources to continue doing so in the future."

AMD Demonstrates Accelerated Computing Solution that Breaks Teraflop Barrier

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today showcased a single-system, Accelerated Computing platform that breaks the teraflop computing barrier. Organizations are ultimately expected to be able to apply this technology to a wide range of scientific, medical, business and consumer computing applications. At a press event in San Francisco, AMD demonstrated a “Teraflop in a Box” system running a standard version of Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional that harnessed the power of AMD Opteron™ dual-core processor technology and two next-generation AMD R600 Stream Processors capable of performing more than 1 trillion floating-point calculations per second using a general “multiply-add” (MADD) calculation. This achievement represents a ten-fold performance increase over today’s high-performance server platforms, which deliver approximately 100 billion calculations per second.

“The technology AMD demonstrated today is just one example of how the ‘New’ AMD is changing the game for our industry,” said Dave Orton, executive vice president of visual media business at AMD. “Today, teraflop computing capability is largely reserved for the supercomputing space. But now that “Teraflop-in-a-Box” is a reality, AMD can deliver an order of magnitude increase in performance.”

Today also marks an important milestone on the road to Accelerated Computing, AMD’s vision for specialized “co-processors” interoperating with x86 microprocessors to provide efficient and flexible acceleration for specific applications. Platforms based on the same technology found in the “Teraflop-in-a-Box” demonstration should benefit a wide range of scientific and commercial applications, including energy, financial, environmental, medical, scientific, defense and security organizations around the world by equipping them with the intensive computing power they require to conduct research and deliver solutions significantly faster than previously possible.

What is a Teraflop?
In the supercomputing field, “flops” is an acronym meaning FLoating point Operations Per Second, a measure of a computer’s ability to perform floating point calculations. A teraflop is one trillion floating point operations per second. Stream processing technology helps raise the bar in this regard by leveraging sophisticated, massively parallel processors, generally used for 3D graphics applications, to solve real-world problems.

i2 and IBM Join Forces to Deliver Transportation Management Solution Through a Software as a Service Model

Delivering on its commitment to provide customers with new generation solutions to meet both current and future business needs, i2 Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITWO) today announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with IBM (NYSE: IBM). As part of the agreement, i2 and IBM are increasing sales and marketing, implementation services, hosting and development investments to deliver the i2 hosted and subscription-based transportation management solution, i2 FreightMatrix.

Under the agreement, IBM's Global Business Services consultants will apply their knowledge of hosting services and transportation best practices to implement the i2 FreightMatrix solution. i2 and IBM will also collaborate on commercial development through both companies' worldwide sales organizations for industries including manufacturing, retail, and third-party logistics providers in both the enterprise and small-medium business markets.

“We have shared several joint transportation engagements with IBM that have resulted in the successful delivery of our solutions to our customer base,” said Razat Gaurav, vice president of global transportation solutions, i2. “With our combined assets, IBM and i2 can jointly deliver domain and industry expertise.”

As part of the expanded alliance, IBM will provide server and infrastructure management support for i2 FreightMatrix to help automate application hosting and management and provide a scalable platform for hosting the solution. The i2 offering is delivered to customers in a subscription pricing framework and is available globally in both the enterprise and small-to-medium business markets.

“Subscription-based pricing, which tends to be linked with SaaS deployment, is growing much faster than traditional pricing in the transportation management systems (TMS) market. On average, TMS vendors predict that 63 percent of their installed customer base will be on-demand by 2011,” said Adrian Gonzalez, director, Logistics Executive Council ARC Advisory Group. “IBM’s expertise with selling and managing SaaS deployments will enable i2 to scale its FreightMatrix solution and reach a broader customer segment. For IBM, this partnership provides the company with a technology platform to grow its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services in transportation.”

i2 FreightMatrix is an internet-based software as a service (SaaS) solution designed to enable companies to procure, plan, execute, monitor and measure freight movements across multiple modes, borders and enterprises. With the rising fuel costs and logistics capacity issues companies are faced with in the current market environment, managing transportation costs has become a top priority. The solution helps companies reduce costs and improve product availability, as well as automate the transportation process. With this SaaS offering, companies can not only implement the solution quickly, but do so at a cost that makes it appealing to both large and small-to-medium-sized customers.

IBM Software as a Service Initiative

The news is another major step in IBM's commitment to helping business partners take advantage of the growing SaaS opportunity. IBM has collaborated with more than 150 business partners helping them transition their software solutions to a subscription-based delivery model, and more than 2300 ISVs have joined the IBM SaaS partner community.

“IBM and i2 are making it easier for companies to leverage critical information to support quick decision-making and better responsiveness,” said Rick McGee, vice president, software as services, IBM. “We are dedicated to the success of our partners - we're collaborating to help them understand the business benefits of transitioning to a SaaS model and find new ways to manage change and support our joint customers, while lowering the costs of doing business to maximize profits. Today’s news is a significant endorsement for the future of hosted services, a key element for driving technology innovation.”

About i2

i2 helps business leaders make better supply chain decisions. i2's flexible new-generation solutions are designed to synchronize demand and supply across ever-changing global business networks. i2's innovative supply chain management tools and services are pervasive in a wide cross-section of industries; 20 of the AMR Research Top 25 Global Supply Chains belong to i2 customers. Learn more at www.i2.com

About IBM

To learn more about IBM Software as a Service initiative, go to http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/isv/marketing/saas/. To learn more about IBM's partner programs go to http://www-1.ibm.com/partnerworld/pwhome.nsf/weblook/index.html

ORCL: Oracle Buys Enterprise Performance Management Leader Hyperion

Oracle today announced that it has agreed to buy Hyperion Solutions Corporation (Nasdaq: HYSL), a leading global provider of performance management software solutions, through a cash tender offer for $52.00 per share, or approximately $3.3 billion.
"The acquisition of Hyperion makes Oracle the category leader in the high growth enterprise performance management market," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. "Hyperion's EPM software coupled with Oracle's Business Intelligence (BI) tools and analytic applications form an end-to-end performance management system that includes planning, budgeting, consolidation, operational analytics and compliance reporting. "

"Requirements for Performance Management and Business Intelligence solutions are increasingly converging," said Hyperion Chief Executive Officer Godfrey Sullivan. "Given the critical need for managers across the enterprise to align operational decisions with strategy, now is the right time for Hyperion to combine with a strategic partner like Oracle to deliver the first, integrated end-to-end Enterprise Performance Management System."

"Hyperion is the latest move in our strategy to expand Oracle's offerings to SAP customers," said Oracle President Charles Phillips. "Thousands of SAP customers rely on Hyperion as their financial consolidation, analysis and reporting system of record. Oracle already has PeopleSoft HR, Siebel CRM, G-Log, Demantra, i-flex, Oracle Retail, and Oracle Fusion Middleware installed at SAP's largest ERP customers. Now Oracle's Hyperion software will be the lens through which SAP's most important customers view and analyze their underlying SAP ERP data."

"We expect this transaction to be accretive to Oracle's earnings on a non-GAAP basis by at least one cent per share in fiscal year 2008 and by at least four cents per share in fiscal 2009," said Oracle President and CFO, Safra Catz. "Given the size of our global organization and the complementary nature of our businesses, we should recognize substantial revenue synergies and significant economies of scale."

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in April 2007. More information is available at http://www.oracle.com/hyperion