In less than two years since its official launch in May 2005, instant messaging service, MXit, has reached the three million mark in its registered user base. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Computer Software Consultants uses HEAT
Computer Software Consultants SA (CSCSA), a supplier of credit card and related terminals and software, has implemented HEAT, the service management solution from FrontRange Solutions, aiming to improve service delivery and management of service level agreements (SLAs). [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Government partners with Sahara to develop ICT skills
The Vodacom Group claims 28,2m customers across its networks operating in SA, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, reflecting a 9,5% increase in the three months since September 30. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Unit researches using IT to address under-development
The SAP Meraka Unit for Technology Development, a partnership between SAP Africa and South Africa's Meraka Institute, supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), will begin research this year into the use of ICT to alleviate local under-development and poverty. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
VoIP yields over 50% saving for e-Centric
Following the legalisation of VoIP telephony in SA in February 2005, call centre specialist, e-Centric, knew that the technology could offer substantial cost savings over its existing combination of Telkom lines and a cellular least-cost routing (LCR) system. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
SA Funeral Homes rolls out call centre solution
SA Funeral Homes, a wholly owned black franchise in the funeral and burial industry, has implemented Xpresso, an out-of-the-box solution for small and mid-size call centres, which is sold and supported by African Call Centre Solutions, a Total Call Centre Technology (TCT) Group company. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Microsoft launches Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007
Today, what is claimed to be the most significant product launch in Microsoft's history culminates in the general availability of the Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Office 2007. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
African broadband expected to reach over 7m connections by 2011
African ICT market research and analysis firm, BMI-TechKnowledge, has announced the publication of its latest report, entitled 'Africa's emerging wireless access and broadband markets'. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
IS workshop to apply global ideas to local issues
Business information dissemination company, Knowledge Up-Grade Management (KUGM) is hosting the inaugural Information Security Practice Workshop from February 12 - 13 at the Glenhove Conferencing centre. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
The operations at Discovery Health, which is said to be the largest medical scheme in SA, with about 1,9m lives, depend to a large extent on the effectiveness and flexibility of its IT infrastructure. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
R20m warehouse for Computer Corporation
Five-year-old franchise IT retailer, Computer Corporation, has confirmed that it will be opening a new warehouse in the second quarter of the year, at an estimated cost of R20m. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Spescom DataVoice announces improved Avaya recording support
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau)
The first retail copies of Microsoft's Vista operating system were sold in New Zealand as the clock turned midnight on Monday night. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
IBM advancing global-based software development
Paul Krill, InfoWorld (US online)
Building on its Jazz strategy for collaboratively building software, IBM Rational will offer versions of its products geared toward global co-operative development with an eye toward boosting SOA during this year. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Vodafone's emerging markets drive growth
Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau)
Vodafone Group PLC had almost 200m customers by December 31, but continues to face challenges in the competitive and saturated European market. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Michael Dell back in charge as Rollins exits Dell
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)
Two and a half years after handing the chief executive title to his hand-picked successor, Kevin Rollins, Michael Dell is again running the company he founded, Dell. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
'Huge progress with 3G evolution in 2006'
New research by GSA - the Global Mobile Suppliers Association, on the evolution of 3G mobile networks confirms the huge progress made in 2006, ushering in an era of mobile broadband enabled by WCDMA-HSDPA and GSM/EDGE. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Francisco Partners offers R1,85bn for Mincom
Mincom, a global software and services provider to asset-intensive industries, and Francisco Partners, a global technology-focused private equity firm, have entered into an implementation agreement. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
HP to help companies with enterprise SOA strategy
HP is to offer services to support an enterprise service-oriented architecture (Enterprise SOA) blueprint from SAP, aiming to help customers to achieve better integration and alignment of people, information and business processes across business and technology. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Motorola makes TETRA ready for take-off at Munich Airport
Motorola has won a contract to supply a TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA) digital radio system to Munich Airport, the second largest airport in Germany. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, an Alcatel-Lucent company, has announced that market research firm Gartner, has placed Genesys in the leaders quadrant of its new report, Magic Quadrant for Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems and Enterprise Voice Portals, 2006 published December 5, 2006, and authored by Steve Cramoysan, Bern Elliot and Drew Kraus. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service (New York Bureau)
Companies have completed the first phase of a Microsoft-sponsored project to create software that can convert Microsoft Word documents between Open XML and Open Document Format for Office Applications file formats. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Oracle has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platform report. Gartner defines leaders as performing well, having a clear vision of market direction and actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Older people can remain independent for longer - Intel
To address the growing wave of ageing citizens in Europe and around the world, Intel, in conjunction with the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Ireland, has announced a multi-million-dollar research initiative aimed at developing innovative technologies that will help people 'age in place' from wherever they choose to live. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Adobe to release PDF spec for industry standardisation
Adobe Systems intends to release the full Portable Document Format (PDF) 1.7 specification to AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, for the purpose of publication by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Fewer qualified security experts puts businesses at risk - McAfee
McAfee has revealed findings which show that businesses have reached a compliance breaking point and that organisations are finding themselves more vulnerable to reputation risk due to new compliance-related legislation being rolled out around the world. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
PSA Peugeot Citroen chooses SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
PSA Peugeot Citroen, the second largest automobile manufacturer in Europe, and Novell have signed a multi-year contract allowing the deployment of up to 20 000 Linux desktops plus 2 500 Linux servers from Novell. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
New Zealand continues passport system overhaul
Rob O'Neill, Computerworld New Zealand
The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs has taken another step towards overhauling the country's passport system. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Sophos Application Control now blocks Windows games
IT security firm Sophos has announced that its Application Control software has been extended to give businesses the ability to control and block Windows computer games, including Solitaire, Minesweeper and FreeCell - some of the most popular games in the world. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Compuware OptimalJ 'enables software factories'
Compuware has announced the availability of OptimalJ version 4.2, which aims to help Java developers to ensure successful enterprise application development, from initial architecture all the way to deployment. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Dell launches semi-ruggedised notebook in EMEA
Dell has introduced the Latitude ATG D620 (All-Terrain Grade), its first semi-rugged notebook computer, which is targeted at customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) who work in tough environments. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Xerox, distributed to 24 sub-Saharan countries by Bytes Document Solutions, says that it has launched its fastest desktop multifunction device to date, targeting SMEs with a device claimed to be capable of 45 pages per minute (ppm) print speeds and simultaneous job processing for increased productivity. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
HP has announced a refresh of its popular Pavilion entertainment notebook PC range, with the most notable addition being Genuine Windows Vista Home edition. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Vista Malware Protection has potential weaknesses
Webroot Software, a provider of security software for the consumer, enterprise and SME markets, says that it has unveiled evidence of potentially ineffective blocking capabilities in Windows Defender, slow definition updates, and weak anti-virus capabilities in the default anti-spyware and anti-virus components of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Live OneCare suite. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Transistor technology breakthrough represents change for chips
Intel says that it is using two materials to build the insulating walls and switching gates of its 45nm transistors. Hundreds of millions of these microscopic transistors - or switches - will be inside the next generation Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Quad and Xeon families of multi-core processors, the company says. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Cash-rich in a niche market
In the world of enterprise business solutions there are local companies who have built a very successful business on international trade. One such company is said to be PereSoft Software, a provider of cash management solutions for Accpac ERP business applications. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Unisys expands OASIS suite
ICT World exclusive
Unisys has announced four enhancements to its Unisys open and secure integrated solutions (OASIS), the company's portfolio of integrated, certified open source software suites. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
VIA announces chipset support for Vista
VIA Technologies, a developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, has announced a range of core logic solutions for Vista-based systems across all the major processor platforms for motherboard, PC, server and device manufacturers. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Acer Windows Vista notebooks land in SA
Acer SA has announced the immediate local availability of its first notebooks preloaded with the next-generation Microsoft operating system, Windows Vista. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Enhancements to mySAP All-in-One 'make it more affordable'
Enhancements made by global business solutions giant, SAP AG, to its suite of industry-specific SAP All-in-One solutions are intended to make them all the more affordable for the mid-size organisations for which they have been specifically developed. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Phoenix launches Acronis True Image Home 10
Acronis True Image Home 10 aims to give users more control in protecting favourite files. It is designed to back up music, photo or application files without imaging an entire disk. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
In an ideal world, motherboards would be like the Rolling Stones; still able to perform after countless years of abuse. Unfortunately, motherboards tend to be more like Right Said Fred; good for a couple of hits, after which they quickly burn out and fade away. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Pinnacle introduces f/1.2 standard lens from Canon
Local distribution houses, Pinnacle Micro and Workgroup, have announced the availability of a compact, multi-featured dual stick gamepad - the GM-1500. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Resellers are poised to get more from their networking sales with the announcement that D-Link is extending its rewards programme across more of its networking products. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
While buggy software and applications that miss the mark in terms of business expectations seems to be the norm in commerce today, there are some industries in which poor quality software is unacceptable because of the severe impact of downtime on their business. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Parallels' universe
Jason Snell, Macworld (US)
If I needed an indicator that this whole Intel-Mac thing is opening new doors for Apple, I couldn't have asked for a better one than my Uncle Jim. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Oliver Fortuin, head of services, HP SA
Distances are shrinking, markets are globalising rapidly and businesses today need to operate at Internet speed. To compete successfully in the new world, companies are looking for ways to better align business and IT, standardise and streamline business processes, mitigate risk and reduce costs across the board. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Vista is more secure than ...
Mark Hall, Computerworld (US)
Vista shows better security than ...... Mac OS X does. That is the view of Max Caceres, director of product management at Boston-based Core Security Technologies, which develops network-penetration testing software called Core Impact. [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
Guarding employee privacy
Companies make use of telephone management systems to help to cut costs on telecoms spend. However, what happens when the privacy of your employees is compromised by these systems? For example, HIV help centres. You advocate the use of them, but you may be inadvertently monitoring staff members who call them... [Issue:Two hundred and twenty (29/01/07 - 2/2/07)]
