Computer Software

September 5, 2008

VCs Back Tools to Look Inside the Cloud

Enterprise software, which has gone from running on the computer to being hosted in a corporate data center, is now moving out to nebulous pools of servers called ...

September 5, 2008

HP's 'End Run' Around Windows

The carefully crafted ecosystem of tech companies built around Microsoft's Windows operating system is showing signs of strain. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), a longtime ...

September 3, 2008

Google's Browser Puts the Cloud to Work

It was nearly a decade ago when a then-young Marc Andreessen, the wunderboy founder of Netscape Communications, first talked about the concept of the browser pushing ...

September 3, 2008

Microsoft Will Cut Xbox Prices in the U.S.

Microsoft (MSFT) thought it would steal a march on the competition when it launched its Xbox 360 video-game console in late 2005, a year before rivals could get out ...

September 2, 2008

Will Google's Browser Hurt Firefox?

In response to the news that Google (GOOG) is releasing its own browser, code-named Chrome, I decide to call John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, the folks behind the ...

August 29, 2008

Making Software Demos Productive

Here are a few things, in no particular order, that this small business owner (and die-hard Phillies fan) would rather do than sit through a software demo: Shave my ...

August 28, 2008

Cell Phones Make Headway in Education

Cell phones have long been anathema in the classroom, banned as a potential distraction, at best, and as a possible vehicle for cheating, at worst. But lately, ...

August 25, 2008

Trulia's New iPhone House Finder

House hunting? Forget the listing agents and classified ads. Now you can find homes for sale with a few taps on a smartphone. Trulia, one of the Web's most visited ...

August 19, 2008

Workday: The Next Software Power?

Ever since veteran software entrepreneur Dave Duffield launched his new startup, Workday, a year and a half ago, people have wondered if it could become the next ...

August 18, 2008

Open Source: An Open Question for Red Hat and Others

Software supplier Red Hat is racking up growth figures that much of techdom might envy. Sales rose 32%, to $157 million, in the quarter ended May 31, and profits ...

August 11, 2008

Will Cisco Take on Google and Microsoft?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter 2008 financials last week, but while the San Jose (Calif.)-based networking giant beat Wall Street estimates, ...

August 11, 2008

How to Make Money off Free iPhone Games

Can developing free software for mobile phones be a business? It can if you're Illusion Labs, a fledgling company in the Swedish port city of Malmö. Illusion Labs was ...

August 4, 2008

Enter the Cloud with Caution

Managing computer systems distracts attention from your real business. Computers crash, and you fume helplessly as the IT staff restores your ordinary workflow. Just ...

August 4, 2008

Cloud Computing: Small Companies Take Flight

When hurricanes Katrina and Rita passed over Schumacher Group's multimillion-dollar data center in Louisiana in 2005, Doug Menefee, the company's chief information ...

July 31, 2008

Google, Symbian: Cooperation Needed

When it comes to cell-phone software, open is the new black. In less than two years, no fewer than three coalitions have formed with the intent of building mobile ...

July 25, 2008

Microsoft: What Web Strategy?

Microsoft (MSFT) has all but shut the door on the prospect of resuming talks to buy all or part of Yahoo! (YHOO). Speaking at the company's annual meeting for analysts...

July 25, 2008

VCs Have Their Heads in the Clouds

When was the last time you bought software that came in a box, an actual CD you put into your disc drive? It's probably been a while, since most applications are now ...

July 24, 2008

Beware the Hype for Software as a Service

Time to dispel a few popular myths. SUVs are not cool. They never were. You Hummer guys were drawing snickers a few years ago. Now, with the price of gas nearing $5 a ...

July 24, 2008

Microsoft's Online Chief Signs Off

With its bid to acquire part or all of Yahoo! (YHOO) looking less likely, Microsoft (MSFT) announced July 23 that one of the top executives who pushed the deal will ...

July 24, 2008

Ballmer's Letter to Microsoft Employees

From: Steve Ballmer Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4:30 PM To: Microsoft - All Employees Subject: FY09 Strategic Update With FY08 complete, I want to discuss my ...

July 18, 2008

Venture Capital Loves Virtual

Startups selling virtual goods and offering virtual experiences are raking in the venture capital these days. Perhaps it's the fact that virtual gifting hit the ...

July 18, 2008

Investors Pummel Microsoft; IBM Impresses

Just as Microsoft allayed one set of fears with its fourth-quarter earnings results on July 17, it inflamed a new one. Wall Street headed into the report fretting that...

July 11, 2008

Numenta Is Imitating Your Brain

Through his development of the Palm (PALM) Pilot and Treo smartphone, Jeff Hawkins helped change the way people access information computers. Now he may have come up ...

July 11, 2008

Aping the iPhone App Store

Consumers are rushing Apple stores and mobile-phone outlets from Seattle to Sydney on July 11 in hopes of being among the first to get hold of the iPhone 3G. The ...

July 8, 2008

Unlocking Cell Phones May Get Easier

Unlocking a cell phone is something of a Houdini-esque exercise. Sure, it's possible to tweak a handset so it works on a network other than the one for which it was ...