Today’s topics include Microsoft and Google ending their patent rivalry, Stagefright 2 exposing another billion Android phones to risk, IBM launching its BlueMix Local and Microsoft unveiling ExpressRoute for Office 365.
Microsoft and Google have buried the hatchet. Bloomberg reported Sept. 30 that the technology giants have settled the long simmering dispute over patents concerning mobile phones and Microsoft’s Xbox console.
As part of the agreement, the companies have dropped approximately 20 lawsuits in the United States and Germany. The terms of the deal, monetary or otherwise, have not been disclosed. The companies did however hint at a more amicable relationship concerning intellectual property going forward.
On Oct. 1, Zimperium announced a pair of new Android software flaws, dubbed Stagefright 2.0.
The latest flaws include one vulnerability in the Android libutils library and another in the libstagefright media library. The flaws in libutils are part of code that has been in every Android device released since 2008, potentially exposing more than 1 billion users to risk.
While Android is at risk, Zimperium has yet to see any evidence to suggest it is being exploited in the wild.
IBM officially launched its Bluemix Local service, bringing it out of preview. Big Blue debuted Bluemix Local at its InterConnect 2015 conference last February and on Oct. 1 accelerated the company’s hybrid cloud capabilities by delivering this cloud platform that enables enterprises to quickly and securely build apps and deploy them across public, private and on-premises environments.
According to Steve Robinson, general manager of Cloud Platform Services at IBM, the company now has the broadest spectrum of hybrid cloud capability in the industry with the delivery of Bluemix Local.
Office 365 melds Microsoft’s productivity software suite with an array of cloud services aimed at improving collaboration and expanding mobile access to Office content, but in a post-Snowden world, organizations remain leery about entrusting the cloud with their valuable data.
To ease its customers’ concerns, last year Microsoft launched Azure ExpressRoute, a service that provides a private and secure link to the software giant’s Azure cloud services by way of partner data center and network services providers.
Today, businesses can use the technology on their Office 365 deployments.