Business Tech

Around four years ago, I got a call from some of the original founders of a small network identity and authentication company that eventually evolved to become Identity Engines. In simple terms, the company built an enterprise-class Radius server that greatly enhanced the intersection between networking, identity, and security.

From my first meeting with two or three people, ID Engines raised a few rounds of financing, hired some really smart folks, and developed a product. The company also was able to ride the momentum of an IEEE protocol named 802.1x for authentication. Geeky? Yes, but 802.1x is slowly … Read more

Despite an economic crisis and volatile stock market, Intel copped an upgrade Tuesday.

Shares of the world's largest chipmaker rose 1.46 points, or 8.45 percent, Tuesday to $18.73.

At least some of this uptick can be attributed to investment bank Piper Jaffray, which raised its rating on Intel to "buy" from "neutral" on Tuesday. Piper Jaffray analyst Auguste Richard said in a research note reported widely on Tuesday that Intel should make its third-quarter earnings numbers and that checks show that Intel is running its factories nearly flat out, which should favorably … Read more

Yahoo's Zimbra software now can work hand-in-hand with other server software for e-mail, calendar, and contacts, including Microsoft's widely used Exchange.

Zimbra Collaboration Suite, an open-source software package, now has an "open extension framework," and the first extension works with Exchange 2003, Yahoo said Tuesday. The company is leaving it to others to develop extensions for other software, such as IBM's Lotus or Novell's GroupWise.

Integration with Microsoft's dominant Exchange is a major requirement for many companies. Yahoo got it working by using existing Microsoft Exchange APIs (application programming interfaces), said John Robb, … Read more

Not everyone loves cloud computing. Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the GNU operating system, says cloud computing is "stupidity" that ultimately will result in vendor lock-in and escalating costs.

"The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do," Stallman said, in a report posted by The Guardian on Monday.

Cloud computing, the latest marketing description for a notion put forth by computer industry companies in recent years, moves most of the computing power--and sometimes data--to servers maintained by companies … Read more

AMD said Monday it is set to roll out its next-generation "Shanghai" chip--minus the mistakes of the last generation.

The No. 2 processor maker wants to make one thing crystal clear: Shanghai is not Barcelona. The latter chip was rolled out in September 2007 to great fanfare only to be delayed a whopping eight months (or more, depending how the delay is calculated) due to production glitches and bugs. The chip was also hampered by speed (core clock frequency) limitations. This gave Intel an opportunity to regain ground it had lost to AMD in the server chip market.

"We had some mis-starts in getting Barcelona to market and wanted to bring as much velocity to Shanghai as possible. Learn from our mistakes and, as a company, never do that again," said Pat Patla, general manager of AMD's server and workstation chip business.

Shanghai--a quad-core product targeted at servers--will be AMD's first 45-nanometer processor. (Barcelona is 65-nanometer.) Typically, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. Intel has been shipping 45-nanometer processors since last year and these processors now make up most of Intel's offerings.

AMD needs Shanghai to succeed. It is reeling from a string of losses and is on the verge of announcing a major restructuring. "To bring it back to profitability the execution of the server product line is absolutely critical," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at investment bank Collins Stewart. "That is really their only profit pool."… Read more

A crucial undersea fiber-optic cable that will provide more Internet capacity between the U.S. and China was completed Monday, according to news reports.

Six of the world's largest phone companies have finished building an 18,000-kilometer "Trans-Pacific Express" cable that will link the U.S., China, South Korea, and Taiwan, according to the Dow Jones news service.

The high-speed link will provide more capacity for the region, which is currently served by a single low-capacity cable that provides connectivity between mainland China and the U.S. Most Web traffic between the U.S. and China goes … Read more

I'm going to try to briefly accomplish in a few paragraphs what it seems to me our government has completely failed to do in this financial crisis.

No, I don't have $700 billion of my own to shell out. But to me, Congress' failure came not today on the House floor, but over the past week as both elected officials and members of the administration failed to translate the crisis into terms that have meaning for everyday Americans.

I've heard the phrases "Main Street" and "Wall Street" a lot, but what I haven't heard is plain explanations of what credit really means and how essential it is to our system of doing business.

Here goes.

If the credit markets should freeze up--which many say is happening and will continue without massive intervention--everyone that borrows money will face a cash crunch. That means companies that take advantage of short-term loans to get by won't be able to buy raw materials or make payroll. Even businesses that don't need short-term capital may defer purchases to preserve capital.

If even banks are having a hard time getting money, what does that say for the small and midsize business? The Wall Street Journal had a story on Monday on how companies like McDonald's may face a squeeze as their franchisees are unable to get loans to purchase or upgrade stores. I suspect that is just one visible example of a growing issue for businesses across the country.

We are stuck trying to move forward with new loans--essentially to keep the economy moving--while dealing with clearly bad ones of the past. While much of the attention has focused on concern over home loans, there are also construction loans and business loans that are at risk of default, risks that grow as those businesses find themselves essentially shut off from getting any new capital, extending the vicious circle.

You don't have to take it from me.

Here's C.H. Low, CEO of social-networking software start-up Orbius and a serial entrepreneur.

"When financial markets don't function well, the ramification is broad," he said in an e-mail interview on Monday. He said he is disappointed that the bailout is so misunderstood. Even the term bailout, he said, is a misnomer.

"This is an asset purchase, not a 100 percent bailout expense to taxpayer," he said. "There is risk but also possibility of making a profit. Government's main function is to do things that private sector cannot handle. This Market Stabilization Bill...is as necessary as having an Armed Forces to defend the country."

Low noted that the main beneficiary is not Wall Street. … Read more

Intuit shared details of bookkeeping app QuickBooks 2009 on Monday. With this release, the company aims to broaden the focus beyond the ledger book, providing a management center for small businesses that includes expanded online banking, support for transactions in more than 100 currencies, and 12 months of free Web hosting.

The applications are set to arrive in stores October 8.

The 2009 release targets businesses that do work globally, whether that means say, shipping vintage Disney toys to eBay buyers in Japan or employing basket weavers in Uganda. At least 30 percent of QuickBooks users handle international transactions, according … Read more

This post was updated several times throughout the afternoon with more details and comments, and to reflect market changes.

Shares of technology companies took a beating on Monday as the House of Representatives failed to pass a bailout plan for the financial sector.

The House voted down the $700 billion plan, 228 to 205, with two-thirds of Republicans and a significant number of Democrats casting "no" votes.

When the dust settled at the end of the trading day on Monday, the Dow Jones index was down more than 777.68, a record point decline, with the index down … Read more