Tech Five: Technology Headlines for June 9 2011 ( Thursday ) !!
1. Citigroup is the latest high-profile victim of a hack attack. The bank says that digital invaders breached its security and gained access to the credit card data for around 200,000 customers in North America. Names, contact numbers, and account details were accessed but more personal ID data, including the CVV codes of cards weren't compromised. Citi is contacting customers and won't say much more, but it's being argued it's an unforgivable breach.
2. The app patent suing round has taken an interesting turn, as ForSee Results has taken patent sue-rs Lodsys to court to invalidate its patent claims--in a Michigan court (far from patent-friendly Texas). Apple seems to be playing a careful legal role in the affair, and is seeking more data from affected developers. Meanwhile it's also bowed to pressure from U.S. politicians to bar DUI checkpoint apps from the App Store.
3. Coupons.com, the largest provider of digital coupons, just revealed it's raised around $200 million in investment cash based on a valuation figure of $1 billion. Institutional investors seem to be behind the money, implying they feel Coupons has a long term business strategy, and could pave the way for an IPO next year--yet more proof that the digital discount/coupon economy is flourishing like a weed on a sunny wet day.
4. Oracle has said it wouldn't support Intel Itanium processors, designed for servers, any longer in its software offerings. A simple enough decision you'd think, although we're not privy to the business plans. HP, on the other hand, is...via a pre-existing agreement. And now HP is demanding, on behalf of its enterprise customers, that Oracle reverse its decision--alleging it's a move to force Oracle customers onto Oracle hardware. Expect billion-dollar lawsuits if this goes wrong.
5. Salesforce.com, already a giant in cloud-based enterprise software, has no plans to sit contentedly still with its successful business, and has just bought the "data.com" domain name for "significantly" more than $1.5 million--placing it probably into the top 20 most expensive domains ever sold. We're not sure if it hints at a new service coming from Salesforce, or if it's a defensive purchase. But it's big money.
( Source: Fast Company )
1. Citigroup is the latest high-profile victim of a hack attack. The bank says that digital invaders breached its security and gained access to the credit card data for around 200,000 customers in North America. Names, contact numbers, and account details were accessed but more personal ID data, including the CVV codes of cards weren't compromised. Citi is contacting customers and won't say much more, but it's being argued it's an unforgivable breach.
2. The app patent suing round has taken an interesting turn, as ForSee Results has taken patent sue-rs Lodsys to court to invalidate its patent claims--in a Michigan court (far from patent-friendly Texas). Apple seems to be playing a careful legal role in the affair, and is seeking more data from affected developers. Meanwhile it's also bowed to pressure from U.S. politicians to bar DUI checkpoint apps from the App Store.
3. Coupons.com, the largest provider of digital coupons, just revealed it's raised around $200 million in investment cash based on a valuation figure of $1 billion. Institutional investors seem to be behind the money, implying they feel Coupons has a long term business strategy, and could pave the way for an IPO next year--yet more proof that the digital discount/coupon economy is flourishing like a weed on a sunny wet day.
4. Oracle has said it wouldn't support Intel Itanium processors, designed for servers, any longer in its software offerings. A simple enough decision you'd think, although we're not privy to the business plans. HP, on the other hand, is...via a pre-existing agreement. And now HP is demanding, on behalf of its enterprise customers, that Oracle reverse its decision--alleging it's a move to force Oracle customers onto Oracle hardware. Expect billion-dollar lawsuits if this goes wrong.
5. Salesforce.com, already a giant in cloud-based enterprise software, has no plans to sit contentedly still with its successful business, and has just bought the "data.com" domain name for "significantly" more than $1.5 million--placing it probably into the top 20 most expensive domains ever sold. We're not sure if it hints at a new service coming from Salesforce, or if it's a defensive purchase. But it's big money.
( Source: Fast Company )
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