Michael Hickins

NEW YORK — Microsoft  copyright attorney Thomas Rubin accused rival Google  of profiting handsomely from online theft, the latest arrow slung between two software giants struggling to corner online markets. Rubin, who made his accusation in an address to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) here today, said that Google employees “actively encouraged advertisers” to […]

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) ship has sailed with a boatload of customers, while many traditional vendors of on-premise software have been left behind. According to Gartner, the market for SaaS applications grew by 26 percent last year, from $5 billion in 2005 to $6.3 billion in 2006. The consulting firm expects demand for SaaS to continue […]

Novell  has come through on its first deliverable stemming from its controversial deal with Microsoft  last year. The open source software vendor has produced a translator, available for download on its site, that allows users of OpenOffice, Novell’s version of ODF, to read and edit documents produced using Microsoft Word 2007. ODF is the OpenDocument […]

Oracle  is introducing a new governance, risk and compliance (GRC) suite today that is intended to help companies monitor, report on and assess enterprise risk, as well as meet complex regulatory compliance requirements. If done right, GRC initiatives can give line-of-business executives greater visibility into how governance and risk-management policies are implemented and followed in […]

On-demand collaboration services vendor WebEx (QUOTE NASDAQ:WEBX> is rolling out a new version of PCNow, its remote-access application that lets users access their computer desktops from any Web-enabled handset. The company is hoping to attract knowledge workers on the move, who represent a significant portion of cell phone users. A Gartner study released last week showed […]

Robots, already deployed by the military to replace the eyes and ears of uniformed personnel, will soon be using similar skills to perform search and rescue missions in rubble piles across America. But unlike their military clones, robots working on home soil may suffer from a failure to communicate. According to a test performed by […]

The European Commission sent Microsoft  a “Statement of Objections” (SO) today and threatened to slap the software vendor with fines that could total more than $1.3 billion. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that she will take “formal measures to ensure that Microsoft complies with its obligations” with regards to how much it will charge for […]

The consumerization of the enterprise is in full swing. What began in 2006 as a trickle of consumer-oriented web applications like podcasts and gadgets making their way into the enterprise, has today become a veritable torrent. In what may be the signature moment of this consumer-enterprise mashup  in 2007, IBM  announced a deal with Google […]

Microsoft  is one step closer to having its Office Open XML (OOXML) format adopted as an international standard in short order. Ecma, the standards body pushing OOXML on behalf of Microsoft, confirmed to internetnews.com that it made today’s deadline for responding to comments on its initial application for fast-track approval to the International Standards Organization […]

NEW YORK — Salesforce.com  CEO Marc Benioff today articulated the company’s new platform strategy at a press and partner event here, and stressed Google is more of a friend than foe in the software market. Benioff also officially introduced a new wealth management edition (WME) application developed specifically for the financial services market, and explained […]

Microsoft  said today that it will acquire medical search vendor Medstory for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, announced at the Health Information and Management Systems Society Conference in New Orleans, represents a strategic move for Microsoft in the health care arena. This market is getting renewed attention this year thanks to state and federal government […]

UPDATED: Salesforce.com  will announce a new customer relationship management (CRM) application tomorrow specifically tailored for the financial industry, according to company spokesman Gordon Evans. The leading vendor of on-demand CRM applications is also set to announce that the first customer for this product will be the private client division of Merrill Lynch, which reportedly will […]