Intel reports its fourth quarter results on Tuesday and the consensus seems to be that first quarter targets are going to come down amid slowing PC demand and higher inventory levels.
For the record, Wall Street is expecting Intel earnings of 40 cents a share for the fourth quarter on sales of $10.8 billion, according to […]
Update: I’m listening to this Intel earnings conference call and it’s hard to justify the pessimism with what management is actually saying. I’ll have more tomorrow after I mull this over. But Intel isn’t saying the sky is falling–far from it. Then again, 75 percent of Intel’s revenue is international so maybe it’s insulated from […]
It’s been a busy day for the Apple tribe. Steve Jobs announced the thinnest notebook in the universe (I’m not sure that’s what the universe needs, but he is at least pushing lowly competition to innovate more) and updates for the iTunes, iPhone, iTouch, AppleTV and Time Capsule wireless backup (check out our full coverage). […]
Notable headlines:
Macworld coverage:
Ed Burnette: Time Capsule works with PCs too
Garett Rogers: New iPhone update will confuse and upset many Gmail users
Larry Dignan: Steve Jobs’ performance: The big takeaways
Apple delivers iPhone, iPod touch and QuickTime fixes with Macworld updates
Jason O’Grady: Live: Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld 2008
David Morgenstern: A tale of two keynotes
Dan Farber: The […]
VMware said Tuesday that it has acquired application virtualization company Thinstall in a move that will broaden the company’s desktop capabilities.
Privately held Thinstall delivers application virtualization to the desktop and doesn’t require preinstalled software and deployment infrastructure. What’s curious about the deal is that Thinstall is a partner with Citrix, which is increasingly becoming a […]
The clumsy courtship between Oracle and BEA Systems is over. Oracle said Wednesday that it will acquire BEA for $19.375 a share in cash.
The offer puts the value of BEA at roughly $8.5 billion.
On a conference call–where Oracle wasn’t taking questions–Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said the deal will offer “greater value to our customers than […]
We announced big news today - our preliminary results for our fiscal second quarter, and as importantly, that we’re acquiring MySQL AB.
If you’re interested in the financial details for the quarter, tune in to our conference call (see details on sun.com) today - we’ll obviously have more to say as we release our formal results on January 24th.
But the biggest news of the day is… we’re putting a billion dollars behind the M in LAMP. If you’re an industry insider, you’ll know what that means - we’re acquiring MySQL AB, the company behind MySQL, the world’s most popular open source database.
You’ll recall I wrote about a customer event a few weeks ago, at which some of the world’s most important web companies talked to us about their technology challenges. Simultaneously, we gathered together some of the largest IT shops and their CIO’s, and spent the same two days (in adjoining rooms) listening to their views and directions.
Both sets of customers confirmed what we’ve known for years - that MySQL is by far the most popular platform on which modern developers are creating network services. From Facebook, Google and Sina.com to banks and telecommunications companies, architects looking for performance, productivity and innovation have turned to MySQL. In high schools and college campuses, at startups, at high performance computing labs and in the Global 2000. The adoption of MySQL across the globe is nothing short of breathtaking. They are the root stock from which an enormous portion of the web economy springs.
But as I pointed out, we heard some paradoxical things, too. CTO’s at startups and web companies disallow the usage of products that aren’t free and open source. They need and want access to source code to enable optimization and rapid problem resolution (although they’re happy to pay for support if they see value). Alternatively, more traditional CIO’s disallow the usage of products that aren’t backed by commercial support relationships - they’re more comfortable relying on vendors like Sun to manage global, mission critical infrastructure.
This puts products like MySQL in an interesting position. They’re a part of every web company’s infrastructure, to be sure. And though many of the more traditional companies use MySQL (from auto companies to financial institutions to banks and retailers), many have been waiting for a Fortune 500 vendor willing to step up, to provide mission critical global support.
So what are we announcing today? That in addition to acquiring MySQL, Sun will be unveiling new global support offerings into the MySQL marketplace. We’ll be investing in both the community, and the marketplace - to accelerate the industry’s phase change away from proprietary technology to the new world of open web platforms.
The good news is Sun is already committed to the business model at the heart of MySQL’s success - first investing to grow communities of users and developers, and only then creating commercial services that attract (rather than lock in) paying customers. Over the past few years, we’ve distributed hundreds of millions of licenses and invested to build some of the free software world’s largest communities. From Java to ZFS, Lustre to
Glassfish, NetBeans to OpenOffice.org and OpenSolaris, we’ve been patient investors and contributors, both. Free and open software has become a way of life at Sun. MySQL’s has similarly driven extraordinary adoption of their community platform, with more than 100 million downloads over the past 10 years. Their users, as with Sun’s, run MySQL across every major operating system - Linux, Windows, Solaris and the Mac; and every major system platform, from IBM, Intel, AMD, Dell, Sun and HP.
Not coincidentally, those companies are exactly the companies with whom Sun has signed OEM relationships - so the integration of MySQL into Sun’s ecosystem and channels will be exceptionally straightforward.
So how do we plan to go after this new opportunity? In a few fundamental ways.
We’ve historically worked at arm’s length to optimize MySQL on Sun’s platforms. Just as we did for Oracle in their early days, our performance engineering teams will sit (virtually) with their counterparts in MySQL and in the community, leveraging technologies such as ZFS and DTrace (which we didn’t even have in the Oracle era) to ensure Sakila flies - along with the rest of the LAMP stack (from memcached and php, to the broader ISV community around MySQL). MySQL is already the performance leader on a variety of benchmarks - we’ll make performance leadership the default for every application we can find (and on every vendor’s hardware platforms, not just Sun’s - and on Linux, Solaris, Windows, all). For the technically oriented, Falcon will absolutely sing on Niagara… talk about a match made in heaven.
Second, I’ve asked our team to negotiate an arms’ length commercial transaction, prior to closing, that allows us to provide Global Enterprise Support for MySQL - so that traditional enterprises looking for the same mission critical support they’ve come to expect with proprietary databases can have that peace of mind with MySQL, as well. This gives traditional enterprises a world of new choices and competition. As I said, if there’s one item customers have been asking from us for years it’s more innovation in the database marketplace - we’re now in a position to respond.
Third, we’ll be announcing some exceptionally attractive platform offerings, leveraging the success Lustre and ZFS, along with new systems platforms (like the new 48TB Thumpers and 64 thread Niagara2 machines) to deliver eye popping price performance. Ultimately, that’s what customers want - real value, supported globally, with quality and performance. Most importantly, MySQL’s partners are going to be the centerpiece of our solutions and offers - just as we’ve done with Solaris and Java, we’re going to work very hard to make our ISV’s wildly successful as we broaden the market. It takes decades to build a broad partner portfolio, and they are an enormous part of the value customers see in Sun, and we certainly see in MySQL.
And finally, this acquisition will kickstart a new set of investments Sun will be making into the academic community. Why universities? As we continue to invest in open source software development across the world, it’s apparent that nearly all roads lead to academic environments - and it’s high time we (as an industry) started watering the trees at their roots. It’s one thing to say you’re committed to education, it’s another to put your money where your mouth is. Within the next 60 days, Greg will be announcing a new set of global research fellowships designed to advance the state of engineering on the internet. (Stay tuned on this blog, and on Greg’s, for updates.)
So why is this important for the internet? Until now, no platform vendor has assembled all the core elements of a completely open source operating system for the internet. No company has been able to deliver a comprehensive alternative to the leading proprietary OS. With this acquisition, we will have done just that - positioned Sun at the center of the web, as the definitive provider of high performance platforms for the web economy. For startups and web 2.0 companies, to government agencies and traditional enterprises. This creates enormous potential for Sun, for the global free software community, and for our partners and customers across the globe. There’s opportunity everywhere.
To the folks at MySQL, from employees to customers and partners - welcome, and we’re thrilled to join you. This acquisition spells the beginning of a new era on the internet.
Starting with the letter M.
Cowen & Co. outlined its top 10 potential technology surprises for 2008 and a slowdown in software as a services is front and center on the list. There are also a few wild-cards such as Google Apps adoption and AMD giving up on the market share war.
Cowen ranked its surprises based on events most likely […]
IBM was so happy with its fourth quarter results that it couldn’t wait three days to report them.
On Monday, IBM (all resources) released its preliminary fourth quarter results. The company is expected to release its official results on Thursday.
Big Blue said it expects earnings of $2.80 a share from continuing operations for the quarter ended […]
Notable headlines:
Mary Jo Foley: About-face: Microsoft makes new Vista SP1 test build public
Christopher Dawson: Hands on with the XO Sugar OS. Gallery (left). OLPC America
David Morgenstern: Apple walks on water and WiMax Mobile. Jason O’Grady: MWSF08: ‘Something in the air’ banner spotted.
Garett Rogers: iGoogle for iPhone released, and it’s pretty good
Eco-Patent Commons shares earth-friendly […]
Google confirmed Monday what most watchers of the search giant have known for weeks if not months–the company is doubling down on the iPhone.
Garett Rogers has been keeping tabs on Google’s iPhone efforts with the most recent item being the addition of iGoogle. In addition in recent weeks Google has tied together Search, Gmail, Calendar […]
Guest post: Chris Matyszczyk follows on my review of Nick Carr’s new book with the saga of his own trying exegesis of the text.
“You’re obsessed with sex,” said my ZDNet handler, looking angrier than a caucuser who had just switched his vote from Chris Dodd to Hillary.
“But sex gets page views. And you […]
MagicDisc is freeware. It is very helpful utility designed for creating and managing virtual CD drives and CD/DVD discs. For anyone who deals with CD-based programs – it is a MUST. MagicDisc allows you to use almost all CD/DVD image without burning them onto CD or DVD in order to easily access your favorite games, music, or software programs —- It works like a real CD/DVD-ROM: You can run programs, play games, or listen to music from your virtual CD-ROM. Allowing you to run your game images…(read more)
Guest post: Chris Matyszczyk takes a look at ScientificMatch, a site that claims it will find you that special someone with the help of a test tube.
I have friends who tried match.com. They met people who frightened them. And only sometimes because they looked nothing like their picture.
My friends tried eharmony.com. And met people […]
Google is hiring an “investigator/threat analyst” in what could be an indicator that it is worried about insider threats.
The job posting, pointed out by Barry Schwartz at SearchEngineLand, outlines the following role:
Working with the Director of Corporate Safety & Security, the Investigator/Threat Analyst will be responsible for investigating deviations from company policies or acts against […]
Facebook Mark Zuckerberg will appear on “60 Minutes” and talk the Beacon advertising scheme and how it’s a great idea that just needs a little work.
Every once in a while a “60 Minutes” appearance goes well for the subject. Other times you get an appearance like Roger Clemens’ stint last week where he’s shifting […]
Gizmodo turns off a bunch of TVs at CES to liven the joint up and you’d think that their scribes lit Bill Gates on fire for the page views.
The angst over Gizmodo’s hilarious prank is borderline ridiculous:
Judie Lipsett at Gear Diary calls the prank “total and utter crap.”
Webware’s Rafe Needleman worries about blogger access at […]
Update: Countrywide Financial is being acquired by Bank of America and when the deal closes the second largest Web advertiser will disappear. It’s highly unlikely that Bank of America will spend so lavishly on online advertising.
Most folks know that mortgage giant was on the ropes. Bankruptcy rumors and persistent worries about the company’s health never […]
AMD on Friday confirmed that it will delay its quad-core Phenom 9900 and 9700 chips that were expected in the first quarter. These chips will be pushed into the second quarter, but AMD will deliver an energy efficient Phenom and triple core offerings on time.
An AMD spokesman confirmed reports (News.com and Ars Technica) about the […]
Nick Carr, the Paul Revere of utility computing, blogged about HP reducing its data centers from over 80 to 6 and Sun’s effort to shut down all its internal data centers by 2013.
To achieve even greater efficiency will require a higher level of consolidation - across companies rather than within them - and that […]
Notable headlines:
Larry Dignan: Why Google, Yahoo and Microsoft should worry about Countrywide’s takeunder
Mary Jo Foley: Juniper Networks exec to succeed Microsoft Business Division President Raikes. Another of the Microsoft old guard moves on.
Dennis Howlett: Netsuite nightmares: part deux
Larry Dignan: Another QuickTime code execution flaw surfaces. Oracle plans 27 security fixes for Jan. 15.
Garett Rogers: See […]
Verizon chief operating officer Dennis Strigl said the company’s main business hasn’t been hampered by the economy.
Strigl’s comments, delivered at the Citigroup Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications conference via Webcast, came a few days after AT&T spooked the industry by noting that its wireline customers weren’t paying the bills.
Strigl said he wasn’t sure what the “hubbub” […]
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and Privacy International just published its 1,000-page “Privacy and Human Rights Report,” which assesses the state of surveillance and privacy protection in 70 countries.
Following are the key findings from the report. Needless to say, privacy is eroding in most parts of the planet. The lowest ranking countries included Malaysia, Russia […]
Notable headlines:
Mary Jo Foley: Microsoft releases another Vista SP1 refresh to 15,000 testers
Ed Bott: Microsoft extends the reach of Media Center
David Morgenstern: Will virtualization be king at Macworld Expo? Robin Harris: ZFS beta now on Mac OS X Leopard. Larry Dignan: A tale of two statements: Apple and the EU on iTunes pricing. Best Buy […]
If you didn’t make it the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (consider yourself lucky), there are plenty of sites that allow you to experience the event vicariously, without the smoke, congestion and acres of products that seem like the same ones on display as last year.
CNET.com came up with the Best of Show picks […]
During a panel discussion at CES, Owen Van Natta, chief revenue officer at Facebook, said, “We believe that social network is not building a new niche or vertical but it will permeate everything on Web and unlock things we don’t do today.” All roads lead to the social Web.
Over the last few years, the Web […]
Take an industry that’s worried about future demand (technology). Add in a bunch of geeks drunk in Las Vegas (CES). And what do you get? More merger rumors than you can handle–and most of them include Microsoft buying a company.
On Thursday, Microsoft is reportedly buying most of the technology sector–or at least pondering it. First, […]
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, ZDNet director Josh Taylor looks at the latest iteration of Microsoft’s surface computing platform, which includes applications for drawing, interacting with media, and manipulating photos that are instantly taken from a digital camera. It’s cool and will be available in the spring. Everyone should have one […]
During a presentation at the Consumer Electronic Show this afternoon, One Laptop Per Child’s Nicholas Negroponte didn’t address the recent rift between Intel and his organization.
Nicholas Negroponte and his baby, the OLPC
Intel recently unhooked itself from the OLPC board of directors, and Negroponte was not shy about blasting the chipmaker last week:
Despite OLPC’s best efforts […]
In July 2008, Bill Gates officially hands off the sceptre of Microsoft church of software to Ray Ozzie (chief software architect) and Craig Mundie (chief research and strategy officer).
The transition has been underway for 18 months, and I wouldn’t expect any bumps in the road other than those that already exist for Microsoft. Ozzie, Mundie […]
Mozilla Corp., the for-profit subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, has named chief operating officer John Lilly as CEO. Former CEO Mitchell Baker will remain chairman.
The duo outlined the move in separate blogs. For her part, Baker said on her blog that she will focus on issues like standards, interoperability and data management. Specifically, she wants […]
Hewlett-Packard said Tuesday that it is aiming to cut the energy consumption of its desktops and notebooks by 25 percent by 2010.
The HP announcement, delivered at the Consumer Electronics Show, almost reads like it comes from an auto manufacturer trying to cut the miles per gallon requirements of its fleet.
Technology vendors are increasingly using their […]
Microsoft said Tuesday that it will offer $1.2 billion in cash for Fast Search and Transfer (FAST), a big player in the enterprise search market.
The move is sure to shake up the enterprise search market, which thus far has been dominated by a series of smaller players like FAST, Autonomy and Vivisimo. Google has made […]
Intel CEO Paul Otellini used his CES keynote to describe the future of the Internet as bringing the information and tools users need at any given time for any given personal situation and to rock out with Smash Mouth.
The next phase of the Internet is beyond push media and RSS, and more proactive, predictive […]
Apple on Tuesday unveiled its latest Mac Pro, which the company claims is its fastest ever with eight processor cores standard.
The Mac Pro definitely sounds like it pops a wallop. Here are the details:
Two Intel 45 nanometer quad core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 Ghz–each processor has 12 MB of L2 cache;
Up to 4 […]
Intel on Monday launched its first Centrino chips based on its 45 nanometer manufacturing process.
The lineup, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show, features 16 processors. Intel has touted its 45 nm chips as a way to cut power consumption by increasing speed.
Of the 16 processors launched, 12 are designed for desktops and notebooks with the […]
The One Laptop Per Child foundation said Monday that it raised $35 million from its Give One Get One campaign that just ended.
The campaign, which ran from Nov. 12 to Dec. 31, sent 100,000 XO laptops to locales such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mongolia and Rwanda.
Given that the OLPC program was a give one […]
Notable headlines:
Larry Dignan: Mozilla names Lilly CEO; A look at his early priorities
CES coverage:
Robin Harris: Cool storage at CES - part 1
Dan Farber: Jerry Yang offers sneak peak of Yahoo’s future: Life!
Intel’s Paul Otellini touts the ‘personal’ Internet and Smash Mouth
Josh Taylor: CES: My day one highlight? A surge protector
Ed Burnette: Alienware shows […]
I’m on the endless BlogHaus media bus ride from Silicon Valley to CES in Las Vegas, organized by PodTech and Valerie Cunningham. We left Mountain View just after 1:00 PM PST and we’ll arrive at around 2:00 AM (we took a splendid dinner break at the Harris Ranch restaurant in Coalinga, CA).
I was accompanied by […]
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