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Convergence is again a hot topic. In the past, it described how voice and data traffic would eventually coexist on IP networks. Now it frequently refers to the trend of integrating information security functions into traditional corporate risk management organizations. There are good reasons for doing this, but the risks may ultimately outweigh the rewards...

Open source CRM vendorSugarCRM is adding service-related capabilities into its product line now that it has solidified its hold on marketing and analytics The firm just released Project Management for its Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise product lines. In April, it will be announcing the availability of a self-service portal and a knowledge ...

Even though interest in server-side Linux has been steadily growing in enterprises and organizations around the world, desktop and laptop-based Linux solutions have faced a steady series of uphill climbs For starters, demand for end-user and consumer Linux operating systems is sporadic at best, partially because most of the people who want Linux on...

Last week Apple TV launched, and it appears Apple is following a similar script to what made the iPod a success -- but will it work this time? With the U.S. primaries coming up, and the incredibly well done remake of the famous 1984 Apple Ad playing a big role, I thought it would be good to remind you that not everything you are likely to read or s...

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI) launched in September as a joint venture between Visa International, MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Financial Services, JCB and American Express to continuously improve the data security standard The group couldn't have appeared at a better time. Media reports of credit card data storage br...

I'm not sure I get the follow-through of Sun wooing mashup artist start-ups. If anything, by Sun trying to appeal to these types of low-capital spending firms shows Sun's latest quandary -- it waited too long to compete with its customers Microsoft has rarely passed up the opportunity to compete with its customers, yet another swell benefit of its...

On his drive into work at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Trevor Pavey can stop at any number of restaurants and retailers where he can use his cell phone to pay for his purchases. Once he gets to work, he can use his cell phone to buy lunch in the company cafeteria or even from the vending machines in the hallway Pavey's new payment form comes courte...

Nokia has started shipping its first phone with built-in GPS (global positioning system) capabilities and a host of other applications The Finnish company said the N95 mobile phone, now available in Europe and Asia, is a slider-type device with a 5 megapixel camera for shooting photos and 30 frames-per-second video....

The less-than-stellar sales for Sony's next-generation video game console PlayStation 3 (PS3) continued Thursday as the platform was made available in Europe According to reports from around Europe, the scene bore little resemblance to the frenzy that greeted the release of the PlayStation 2 console in 2000....

A 1998 law designed to block children from viewing pornography on the Web was overturned this week by a federal court, setting up a possible showdown between free speech advocates and the U.S government Judge Lowell Reed of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law claiming provi...

In a widely expected but potentially devastating development, a federal judge Friday issued a permanent injunction barring VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) firm Vonage from using technology that a jury last week found was first developed and patented by Verizon Communications Judge Claude Hilton said he issued the injunction after finding that i...

The industry-rocking news that NBC and News Corp. plan to start their own video broadcasting Internet site -- which will include partnerships with AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo, not to mention Fox, which is owned by News Corp. -- has the potential to radically reshape the online video world The yet-to-be-named site will compete with Google's immensel...

Borders Group is severing its alignment with Amazon.com and will be unveiling its own book-selling Web site as part of a major company restructuring designed to "revitalize, refocus, and ultimately reinvent the company." Borders' arrangement with Amazon, initiated seven years ago as a seemingly good way for the company to add an Internet presence a...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appears poised to halt a lengthy review that could have ended the ban on mobile phone use during airline flights FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin has begun circulating a motion to full commission that calls for the idea of expanding use of cell phones on planes to include the time planes are in the air to be ...

Imagine a scene from a never-ending story, where stern men in heavy cloaks glide down endless halls and gather in huge dark chambers, where false grins mask unspoken hostilities. The wizard of the century enters, pauses, strikes a pose, and then sharply raises his voice and addresses the chamber: "Sires, your children are in trouble, failing in edu...

The popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and user-generated content sites like YouTube are inducing traditional news organizations to rethink their approach to the Web Outfits like Fox News, CNN, USA Today and MSNBC have begun to incorporate social networking tools into their sites, as well as actively soliciting content from their us...

Telecommunications giant AT&T is betting US$4.6 billion that there is a big future in selling video services over the Internet The San Antonio-based company will offer its own version of cable television and high-speed Internet services under its "U-verse" brand, which is expected to be made available to 19 million households across the United Stat...

A federal judge has overturned the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, a 1998 law that was designed to keep children from viewing pornographic materials on the Internet. Although it was signed by President Clinton, it never took effect In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a temporary injunction against the law based on the expectation that it w...

NBC and News Corp. -- which owns Fox -- plan to take on Google's YouTube by forming their own Web-based video outlet to gain exposure for their deep wells of content and partnering with a host of Google competitors to make it happen The two media giants say their site will instantly be the largest Internet video distribution network on the Web. AOL...

Yahoo has become Oracle's first big Linux client, Larry Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle, announced this week during a conference call with analysts on the company's third-quarter financial results Though his company is still in its early days with its Linux support offering, Ellison said Oracle was off to a strong start. However, his com...