2/26/2008
Bungee Labs last week rolled out the full public beta of a hosted service designed to provide a complete Web-based application development environment. The new Bungee Connect service includes development tools and staging platforms for creators of browser-based business apps.
2/25/2008
The University of Pittsburgh has signed on with Alloy Software to automate technical support across multiple departments. The deal equips the university's Financial Information Systems (FIS) department with Alloy Navigator, which provides a centralized platform for IT service management. It replaces the department's previous home-grown system.
2/25/2008
The University of Oregon has joined the fast-growing nanotechnology industry with the dedication last week of a new science and technology research complex. The new underground Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories building is a signature research center associated with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a consortium that includes the University of Oregon, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and the region's high-technology companies.
2/25/2008
In a move that will let Web developers use their existing skills to build rich Internet applications for the desktop, smart clients and browsers, Adobe Systems Monday released the first version of its widely anticipated AIR cross-operating system runtime, along with updates to its Flex framework for Windows and Mac OS X platforms.
2/25/2008
Unify Corp. has released the next version of its rich Internet application (RIA) development and portal integration platform. The product, NXJ 12, is based on Java 1.5. It includes enhancements designed to speed application deployment and better integrate with third-party application servers, according to the company's Web site.
2/22/2008
Blackboard has prevailed in an e-learning patent dispute against Desire2Learn. A federal jury in Lufkin, TX made the determination Friday afternoon, following a two-week trial. Blackboard was seeking $17 million in lost revenue, as well as an injunction against the company, which is based in Canada.
2/22/2008
The University of Arizona (UA) has completed two major phases of its wireless LAN deployments for voice and data, according to the company managing the project. Today, UA's wireless network--dubbed UAWiFi--spans more than 7 million square feet, 4,500 wireless access points, and 22 buildings. Upon completion, the initiative, which is being managed by systems integrator NEC Unified Solutions and using Cisco equipment, will comprise more than 6,000 access points and 12 million square feet on two campuses.
2/22/2008
McLean, VA-based Advanced Modeling Concepts recently released a Java security tool designed to help developers add security to existing Java applications. The product adds role-based access control (RBAC) security via a tool called AfterthoughtSoft-Secure.
2/22/2008
Earlier this month, NetBeans announced its Innovator Grants program designed to award "ideas on how to improve the NetBeans Project."
2/22/2008
GenevaLogic this week released an update to Print-Limit Pro, the company's system for managing the use of printers in K-12 schools and higher education. The new version 8.0 adds native support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and includes expanded management and administrative functionality.
2/22/2008
Education consulting firm ASR Analytics has debuted a new suite of services focused on the reporting and analysis of accountability data in colleges and universities. The new Accountability Framework for Higher Education (AFHE) is designed to provide a "sustainable reporting foundation for decision making" using BI methodologies.
2/22/2008
Rave Wireless this week introduced an upgraded version of Rave Guardian, a personal safety system designed for college and university students. The forthcoming update, due this spring, expands cell phone and carrier options at participating universities.
2/21/2008
In a major shift in its business model, Microsoft Thursday said it is placing a significant emphasis on standardization and interoperability, saying it will share its APIs and release extensive documentation of its protocols. The company is also promising not to sue open source developers who use Microsoft's patented protocols for non-commercial implementations.
2/21/2008
Concordia University Texas is working with Intelliworks' Orion software service to manage its admissions programs. Concordia said it plans to use the solution to manage online event registration and prospect inquiries, track interactions with prospective students, and create targeted e-mail marketing campaigns.
2/21/2008
As part of its broad Oslo initiative, Microsoft is developing a new declarative programming language, code-named "D," that is expected to serve as a textual modeling language that will let business managers and non-technical stakeholders manipulate digital assets.
2/21/2008
The first public beta of Silverlight 2.0 is expected from Microsoft in the next few weeks. By all accounts, those that have seen the private beta report that the features outlined by the General Manager of Microsoft's Developer Division, Scott Guthrie, in a November blog posting are pretty much on track.
2/21/2008
Ingres Corp. and Pentaho Corp. formed a partnership this month to address market demands for open source business intelligence (BI) products and services.
2/21/2008
Last week Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat announced that its new JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform will debut by the end of February.
2/20/2008
The American University in Dubai has deployed ImageNow, an enterprise document management program from Perceptive Software, to streamline its business processes.
2/20/2008
Non-profit certification group (ISC)² Wednesday kicked off its 2008 information security awards program with plans to hand out $100,000 for post-graduate information security research projects. Scholarships of up to $12,500 will be given out to eight full-time students pursuing a master's degree in information security at an accredited university.
2/20/2008
A fully baked beta release of Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 is now available for testing. Microsoft released the "feature-complete" community technology preview (CTP) of the new SQL Server Tuesday, Feb. 19.
2/20/2008
Migration to the Windows Vista operating system apparently isn't generating much enthusiasm among IT personnel in the enterprise. A survey conducted in November of last year by market research firm King Research supports that notion. The study found that "90 percent of participants have concerns about the migration to Windows Vista."
2/20/2008
Free DNS service provider OpenDNS has launched its new, free Web filtering solution targeted toward education. The service taps into the expertise of IT professionals to create categories of Web sites that can be blocked by administrators with the click of a button (or two).
2/20/2008
Apple this week released an update to Xsan, the company's 64-bit storage-area network solution designed to allow workstations and Xserve systems to share RAID storage over Fibre Channel networks. The new version adds workflow enhancements across the board and also introduces a new feature called MultiSAN.
2/19/2008
Microsoft has announced a software giveaway program targeted to college and high school students. "DreamSpark" makes available, at no charge, a number of development and design programs for download. The program is now available to more than 35 million college students in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the United States.