Scott Ferguson

Microsoft finally put weeks of rumors to rest and confirmed on July 21 that it is preparing to compete with Apples iPod and iTunes music service. The question Microsoft will now have to answer is whether Zune, the companys upcoming digital music player, software and music content service, will be good enough to become an […]

Apples big bet on Intel chips is paying off big time. That appears to be the consensus of analysts following Apple Computers fiscal third-quarter earnings, July 19. The Cupertino, Calif., company announced its second best quarterly results ever, with net income of $472 million and earnings of 54 cents a share. Those numbers were well […]

AOL has launched its much-anticipated AIM Pro service—and the company is offering it for free with an eye toward capturing a bigger piece of the business market. In the new instant messaging service, the company is offering its popular IM client software combined with WebEx Communications collaboration tools in order to appeal to a broad […]

Strong sales of Intel-powered Macintosh computers and iPods helped Apple Computer report third-quarter net income of $472 million and earnings per share of 54 cents on revenue of $4.37 billion. Officials of the Cupertino, Calif., company said that with revenue up 48 percent from a year ago in 2005, Apple was able to report the […]

Distributor Tech Data has begun offering its Apple solution providers a new program to help more profitably develop, sell and support Apple-based products for businesses. The program, AppleAdvantage SBU (Specialized Business Unit), officially started in June and can be used as a resource for Apple VARs that need technical assistance, sales support or product management […]

ExtraQuest is no more. The company announced that it has rechristened itself as the StrataVia Corporation on the same day that the Denver-based database administrative service provider introduced the new Data Palette 3.0. StrataVia has been using Data Palette, formerly known as RoboDOVC, in its managed service business for the past three years, and has […]

Roger Burkhardt, who helped lead the technology recovery at the New York Stock Exchange following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has been hired as president and chief operating officer of open-source database company Ingres, the company announced on July 11. In his new role, Burkhardt, 45, will oversee worldwide sales, marketing, global development and engineering […]

IT operational budgets, as a percentage of company revenues, are at their highest levels since the late 1990s, but that increase comes as large enterprises continue to outsource IT work, according to a recent survey by research firm Computer Economics. The survey, “IT Spending, Staffing and Technology Trends,” found that median operational budgets across the […]

In the past year, 84 percent of enterprises, as well as state and local governments, reported some type of security breaches, according to a new survey released by Computer Associates International. The survey also found that security breaches have increased 17 percent in the last three years, according to the survey released by the Islandia, […]

Wireless broadband company Clearwire said on July 5 that Intel Capital, Motorola and Motorola Ventures in total have agreed to provide $900 million in financing to help the company develop and deliver mobile WiMax networks. WiMax is an IEEE standard, supported by the WiMax Forum, which was started in 2001 to promote the IEEE 802.16 […]

Is your Mac “phoning home”? Thats the question some Apple users are asking after installing an updated version of the companys Mac OS X—Version 10.4.7—that aims to help authenticate desktop widgets. According to at least one blog, Apples efforts to help identify and validate end users desktop widgets may have also introduced a new privacy-related […]

Apple Computer announced July 5 that it will offer a new 17-inch iMac for $899, which will replace the older eMac model. The iMac, which will feature a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor, a video camera and the iLife 06 software suite, will be marketed toward students and teachers, according to the company. With a […]