Business Tech

Oracle to acquire Relsys

Oracle on Monday announced plans to acquire Relsys, which develops drug safety and risk management applications.

The acquisition, which is expected to close by June, is designed to bolster Oracle's Health Sciences Global Business Unit, formed last summer. Health sciences is one of a number of industry sectors into which Oracle is delving via a buying spree.

Relsys develops applications designed to aid drug, biotech, and medical-device companies in streamlining their operations, adhering to regulatory compliance and improving the safety of their products.

With the acquisition, Oracle aims to provide its customers with the ability to identify safety risks … Read more

Intel chip flaw--but what of it?

Some researchers claim that Intel has a serious chip bug on its hands. But that all depends.

Security experts who are into the arcana of chip security may find "CPU cache poisoning" riveting and serious stuff. Others, however, may simply scratch their heads and move on.

But let's not move on too quickly. First, a quote from an abstract of the paper (PDF) that has some of the chip world abuzz. "In this paper we have described practical exploitation of the CPU cache poisoning...This is the third attack on SMM (system management mode) memory our … Read more

Skype targets businesses with new service

Skype is going after business customers with a service designed to help cash-strapped companies reduce communications costs.

On Monday, eBay-owned Skype will announce a new version of its Internet calling service that allows companies to use their IP-enabled corporate telephone systems to make Skype calls using regular office phones instead of using a headset that plugs into a PC.

The new service called Skype For SIP allows companies to use the Skype service with their IP-enabled PBX's, which use an open standard called SIP or Session Initiation Protocol. Companies using the service can make phone calls from their office … Read more

Report: IBM combs through Sun contracts

IBM is reportedly wading through Sun Microsystems' contracts and documents for potential conflicts or problems, as it works its way through the due diligence process toward a merger, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal.

IBM's attorneys have been poring over Sun's documents for at least the past several days, if not longer, according to the Journal.

And while the due diligence process is not anticipated to lead to any nixing of a deal, IBM is seeking a clear understanding of where Sun stands with its complex cross-licensing agreements and other contracts, according to sources … Read more

Week in review: Dialed in on iPhone OS 3.0

All eyes were on Apple at the beginning of the week, due to the company's much-anticipated launch of iPhone 3.0, its third-generation operating software for the popular smartphone. And the company delivered, with improvements like a cut-and-paste feature and improved search capabilities.

Microsoft, meanwhile, mixed things up midweek at its so-named Mix confab for Web designers by launching Internet Explorer 8 and talking up the next version of its Flash rival, Silverlight. Talk of IBM possibly acquiring Sun Microsystems also made for some big headlines.

Improving iPhone Apple on Tuesday unveiled the next version of its iPhone operating … Read more

Chrome begins RSS support, solidifies extensions

Google has begun work on one much-requested feature of its Chrome browser, the ability to detect when a Web page offers a subscription service through RSS or Atom technology.

Google programmer Finnur Thorarinsson formally marked the RSS support issue as "started" on Wednesday, though the feature is disabled for now.

"The first part of this has been implemented and checked in," Thorarinsson said, referring to the part that discovers when RSS feeds are available on a Web site. The feature is disabled for now, though, because the second part, which will produce a page that lets … Read more

Is Cisco really going to take on Apple? Not quite

Cisco Systems' acquisition of Pure Digital Technologies, maker of the Flip camcorder, has sparked a lot of discussion about the networking giant's intentions. One theory is that Cisco is looking to compete with Apple--especially in the digital living room.

Ben Worthen at The Wall Street Journal surmises:

It isn't a big leap to see Cisco developing a home-media hub that cobbles these pieces together--some sort of device that allows people to upload and watch videos and listen to music throughout their homes. In fact, it looks like a next logical step. Apple has a similar device called Apple … Read more

National Semiconductor acquires Act Solar

National Semiconductor on Thursday announced that it has delved deeper into its energy efficiency efforts with the acquisition of Act Solar.

National Semi, which expanded into the solar business last year, plans to use the privately held company's technology for monitoring solar arrays with its SolarMagic product line.

Under the deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Act Solar's business for monitoring technology, which is designed to improve the efficiency of solar panels by balancing, or recirculating energy, will be folded into National Semi's SolarMagic business.

Power efficiency is an issue with electronic devices, given that it … Read more

Cisco's consumer electronics dream

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Cisco's yearly earnings.

If you haven't noticed, Cisco Systems, whose products have been used to build the Internet for 20 years, has spent the past 6 years becoming a big player in the consumer electronics market.

While Cisco still generates the bulk of its nearly $40 billion in yearly revenue from selling routers and switches to large companies and Internet service providers, the company has also been pushing into new markets, such as consumer electronics, over the past several years.

Still, most consumers probably have no idea who Cisco is or what it does. Sure, they may have seen those cute "human network" commercials on TV. But other than that, I'd guess the average Joe has no clue what Cisco does.

Some might be familiar with the Linksys brand, which has traditionally sold home networking gear. But Cisco executives say they are on a mission to make Cisco a household name. Not only is the company making a bigger effort to brand its products as Cisco, but it's also busy developing a slew of new products for the consumer market.

And on Thursday the company announced its most aggressive play in the consumer market to date with the $590 million acquisition of Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the popular Flip Video mini camcorders.

But Pure is by no means the only major acquisition Cisco has made in the consumer market. In fact, the company so far has pretty much built this part of its business through acquisitions. In 2003, it got its start in the competitive CE market with the $500 million acquisition of the home-networking equipment maker Linksys. Then in 2005, it bought Scientific Atlanta, a quasi-consumer electronics company, for $7 billion. Scientific Atlanta makes set-top boxes that Cisco sells to subscription TV providers.… Read more