Stories by Clare Haney

Analysts: Ballmer's Ascendancy to CEO Expected

Steve Ballmer's promotion to Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer today didn't come as a surprise to industry analysts, although the timing of the announcement raised a few eyebrows.

Cisco to buy up 20 to 25 companies, not all US

Cisco Systems plans to buy between 20 and 25 companies over the next year, and potential acquisition targets are located around the world, not just in the US, the company's head confirmed on Friday. The networking vendor is also likely to make further minority investments, he added.

Report: MS/DOJ: Talks due Tuesday with mediator

Microsoft and the US Department of Justice (DOJ), are reportedly to begin talks behind closed doors Tuesday with the recently appointed court mediator concerning their ongoing antitrust lawsuit.

Guest column: Can't we have a brighter IT future, please?

The IT future doesn't look bright; it appears downright nasty. Take virtually any movie about technology in the future and you can predict the scene: it's dark and raining, the quality of life sucks and someone is always watching you.

AP IT SUMMIT: Industry to sell leaders on E-ASEAN

Representatives of the private-sector IT industry are to get their first opportunity to meet with the leaders of the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries at the end of this month.
In an hour-long session on November 28, the IT representatives will introduce the politicians to the concept of E-ASEAN, a way to electronically bring together the 10 very different nations and sell them on the concept of electronic commerce as a way to enhance their level of global competitiveness.

AP IT SUMMIT: China's CNCC gets into IP gear

The way ahead for China's full-service telecom carriers is IP networks, according to the head of the country's newest entrant to the market, China Network Communication (CNCC).
Within seven years, the country's telecom market will be larger than that of the US and India, the CNCC head added.

Sybase chief touts mobile push

Sybase, despite its current dominance in the market for mobile databases, is readying itself for further competition in the mobile arena, according to John Chen, Sybase's chairman, CEO and president. The US company aims to keep ahead of the game by increasing its support for embedded applications, he added.
In a recent interview with Clare Haney, Chen explained how he believes his company can maintain its competitive edge in the mobile world and touted the development of Sybase's EIP (enterprise information portal) products and services. He also tackled the thorny topic of lack of support for SAP AG's R/3 ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications in Sybase's high-end relational databases, as well as his company's own move into the applications business

Global Forum: 3Com to become e-networks supplier

January's planned spin-off of Palm Computing should not only enable 3Com Corp to refocus its operations squarely on the networking technology arena, but also to evangelise the concept of intelligent networks, 3Com's chief executive said.

Intel to take over Olicom's development group

US chip giant Intel will absorb the development group of networking equipment maker Olicom A/S, Olicom announced yesterday. The move continues the planned sell-off of Olicom's assets amid deep financial losses at the Danish company.

Microsoft Adds to Unix Interoperability Skills

Microsoft Corp. has scooped up Unix/Windows NT interoperability company Softway Systems Inc., the software giant announced late Friday. The move advances Microsoft's recent efforts to better interoperate its Windows NT with the rival Unix operating system.

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