Information Technology News

Bungee Labs announced federated hosting to expand adoption of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) among enterprises and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers. Organizations developing interactive applications on the Bungee Connect PaaS can now elect to host those applications on self-managed infrastructure running the new Bungee Application Server, or on the multi-tenant Bungee Grid at datacenters in the United States, Europe, and on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). Beginning in June, organizations will be able to self-designate the hosting location for their Bungee-powered applications from within their online Bungee Connect development and management account. Development, testing and deployment of non-production versions of Bungee-powered applications are free. Fees begin only after a deployed Bungee-powered application is used by end users. Bungee-powered applications deployed on the Bungee Connect multi-tenant grid in the United States, European Union and at Amazon EC2 are billed at an aggregate rate of US$0.06 (six U.S. cents) per user-session-hour rounded down to the nearest second per user-session. During the Bungee Connect public beta, there are no fees for these options. Federation pricing for the self-hosted Bungee Application Server starts at a flat monthly subscription license fee of $500 per month, per server. Bungee Labs also announced plans to make community source code available for the Bungee Application Server under several software source code licenses. http://www.bungeelabs.com

Posted by NewsShark at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Bungee Labs, PaaS, SaaS, software infrastructure, Web 2.0
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Curl, Inc. announced the beta release of Curl Nitro, the code name for an extension of the Curl Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform which offers enhanced desktop capabilities. The Nitro extension simplifies the process of installing and managing Curl applications accessed via a browser as well as directly from the desktop. Curl Nitro is a platform for both traditional RIA and Desktop RIA that provides enterprise-level security, and support for large data sets. Nitro offers the essential capabilities of the Fit Client such as support for rich user interfaces, complex application logic, and agile development. Curl applets can be installed on the desktop for online and offline operation in a secure sandbox. The installer creates shortcuts on the desktop and start menu with customizable icons and a skinnable user interface. Nitro enables developers to build applications with local databases using SQLite combined with Curl techniques for data presentation and manipulation. Curl's initial Nitro Beta demos include a Salesforce.com Dashboard and a Social Network Visualization application. Desktop applications use the same security model as Curl applets. They run in a secure sandbox with local data access but limited system privileges. Curl applications can also be fully privileged applications, which require a standard digital signature provided by an established certification authority. Nitro supports Windows platforms as well as Linux and Mac. The public beta of Curl Nitro is currently available for download with the full release scheduled to be available later in the year. http://www.curl.com

Posted by NewsShark at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Curl, developers, rich internet applications
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Curl, Inc. announced it has joined the Eclipse Foundation, a not-for-profit, member-supported corporation that helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services. In conjunction with joining the Foundation as an Add-In Member, Curl released details of its plans to base the next phase of its enterprise Rich Internet Application (RIA) development tools on the Eclipse framework. As part of its Eclipse strategy, Curl will replace the current Curl IDE development environment, with a new one based on the Eclipse framework. This will include a set of plugins called the Curl Development Tools for Eclipse (CDE). The current IDE, renamed as the Curl Classic IDE, will coexist with the CDE through at least the first release of the new tool. The first CDE release will include all the functionality of the Curl Classic IDE, including the Curl language sensitive editor, debugger, search, deployment capabilities, Visual Layout Editor and more. Future releases of the CDE will integrate the Curl Visual Layout Editor into the Eclipse framework as a Design Perspective, and improve other programming productivity features such as error highlighting in the source-code editor, language sensitive navigation, refactoring and code assistance. The CDE is currently in alpha form, with the public beta expected to be available in mid-2008. http://www.curl.com

Posted by NewsShark at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Curl, Eclipse, IDE, rich internet applications
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Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced the availability of Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex 3 software, adding to the Adobe technology platform for rich Internet applications (RIAs). Adobe AIR bridges the real-time, dynamic capabilities of the Web with the computing power and data capabilities of the desktop. Businesses that leverage the Web as a platform can use the latest Adobe RIA technologies to build and deploy more engaging applications across browsers, desktops and operating systems. Adobe is also delivering new applications built with Adobe Flex and deployed on Adobe AIR, such as Adobe Media Player, as well as Buzzword, an online word processor that has built-in collaboration capabilities. Adobe AIR enables developers to create RIAs on the desktop using the skills and Web technologies - such as HTML, Ajax, PDF, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex - they already employ. Applications deployed on Adobe AIR have the advantages of browser-based RIAs, such as speed of development, ease of use, and access from virtually anywhere. Yet they also have the benefits of desktop applications, such as the ability to read/write local files, work with other applications on a user's computer and maintain local data storage on the desktop. Flex is a free, open source framework for building RIAs. Adobe Flex Builder 3, an Eclipse based development tool, accelerates Flex application development and includes new capabilities for deploying RIAs on Adobe AIR. Adobe Flex Builder 3 integrates with Adobe Creative Suite 3 software making it easy for designers and developers to work together. Major portions of Adobe AIR, such as the WebKit HTML engine, Tamarin ActionScript Virtual Machine, and SQLite local database functionality, are open source. Adobe AIR and the Adobe AIR SDK are available immediately as free downloads in English and offered for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Upcoming versions are expected to be available for Linux and other languages. The Adobe Flex 3 product line is available now in English and Japanese, and offered for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. The open source Flex 3 SDK is available free of charge and a beta version of Adobe Flex Builder 3 for Linux is freely available on Adobe Labs. Adobe Flex Builder 3 is available as a standalone product or Eclipse plug-in, with the Standard edition priced at US$249 and the Professional edition at US$699. http://www.adobe.com

Posted by NewsShark at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Adobe, AIR, rich internet applications, web technology
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Clickability, Inc. launched the Clickability On Demand WCM Platform and three new product packages tailored specifically for the company's media and publishing customers, Fortune 500 enterprises, and SMB clients. Clickability's on demand WCM platform combines Software as a Service (SaaS) with "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)". With this combination, Clickability platform users can leverage Clickability's multi-tenancy IaaS solution. With just-in-time scalability, the IaaS solution "spike proofs" companies from brownouts during peak Web site usage, resulting in and consistent Web page delivery. The Clickability On Demand WCM Platform is available immediately in three editions. A single code base across all editions creates an easy, cost-effective upgrade path that scales with a company's growth. Clickability Express Edition: For basic departmental or SMB sites. The Express Edition offers five seats, one domain, 1GB of storage, 250,000 page views and 25,000 email newsletters per month. One-time implementation fees range from $15,000 to $20,000, with a $2,999 per month subscription fee. Clickability Professional Edition: For mid-range sites such as enterprise intranets and interactive marketing sites. The Professional Edition features ten seats, five domains, 2GB of storage, 500,000 page views, and 50,000 email newsletters per month. One-time implementation fees range from $30,000 to $75,000, with a $4,999 per month subscription fee. Clickability Enterprise Edition: For global publishing and complex enterprise marketing sites, as well as global intranets, enterprise e-business, multi-channel, and multi-lingual publishing sites. The Enterprise Edition features 15 seats, unlimited domains, 5GB of storage, 1,000,000 page views and 100,000 email newsletters per month. One-time implementation fees range from $75,000 and up, with a $7,999 per month subscription fee. http://www.clickability.com

Posted by NewsShark at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Clickability, content management, SaaS, WCM
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Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, an open source icon and developer of open source databases for approximately $1 billion in total consideration. The acquisition accelerates Sun's position in enterprise IT to now include the $15 billion database market. With millions of global deployments including Facebook, Google, Nokia, Baidu and China Mobile, MySQL will bring synergies to Sun that will help drive new adoption of MySQL's open source database in more traditional applications and enterprises. The integration with Sun will extend the commercial appeal of MySQL's offerings and improve its value proposition with the addition of Sun's global services organization. MySQL will also gain new distribution through Sun's channels including its OEM relationships with Intel, IBM and Dell. MySQL's open source database is the "M" in LAMP - the software platform comprised of Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Perl. Sun is committed to enhancing and optimizing the LAMP stack on GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows along with OpenSolaris and MAC OS X. The database from MySQL, OpenSolaris and GlassFish, together with Sun's Java platform and NetBeans communities, will create a Web application platform across a wide range of customers shifting their applications to the Web. Following completion of the proposed transaction, MySQL will be integrated into Sun's Software, Sales and Service organizations and the company's CEO, Marten Mickos, will be joining Sun's senior executive leadership team. In the interim, a joint team with representatives from both companies will develop integration plans that build upon the technical, product and cultural synergies and the best business and product development practices of both companies. MySQL is headquartered in Cupertino, CA and Uppsala, Sweden and has 400 employees in 25 countries. As part of the transaction, Sun will pay approximately $800 million in cash in exchange for all MySQL stock and assume approximately $200 million in options. The transaction is expected to close in late Q3 or early Q4 of Sun's fiscal 2008. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. The deal is expected to be accretive to FY10 operating income on a GAAP basis. http://www.mysql.com, http://sun.com

Posted by NewsShark at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: acquisition, databases, MySQL, open source, Sun
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