GSA Technology Council

Sun Microsystems, Inc., Canonical Ltd. and Red Hat, Inc. today announced the inclusion of OpenJDK-based (http://openjdk.java.net) implementations in Fedora 9 and Ubuntu 8.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Server and Desktop editions, furthering the promise of Sun’s open source Java technology initiative.

In addition, the NetBeans 6.0 Integrated Development Environment (IDE) (http://www.netbeans.org) is being delivered as part of the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS release and Canonical has certified Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition on several Sun x86 systems.

With this announcement, developers using Fedora 9 or Ubuntu 8.04 LTS can now count on free software implementations based on Java technology as a standard element of an open source developer stack that they can leverage to build the next generation of web-based applications for both consumers and enterprises. In addition this announcement opens the door for numerous Java technology-based offerings to be included in the core of these GNU/Linux distributions.

“Open sourcing Java under GPL v2 has always been about bringing the power of Java technology to new markets, and enabling new innovations. With an OpenJDK-based implementation included in both Fedora and Ubuntu, developers can now rely on a stable, open source Java as an integral part of these GNU/Linux distributions,” said Jeet Kaul, vice president of the Client Software Group at Sun.

“Sun and Canonical have been working closely together since 2006, when the first Sun systems were certified for Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. Now Ubuntu makes an OpenJDK based implementation available in Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, targeted at enterprises,” said Mark Murphy, global alliances manager at Canonical LTD. “We look forward to Java technology helping to expand the growing ecosystem of Ubuntu-based applications that serve businesses of all sizes.”

“Thanks to Red Hat’s expertise on the Classpath and GCJ projects, Red Hat has been contributing significant engineering effort to the OpenJDK and IcedTea projects. Red Hat was one of the first Linux providers to join the OpenJDK community, sign the OpenJDK Community TCK License and bring a stable, free software implementation based on OpenJDK,” said Sacha Labourey, CTO of Middleware, Red Hat. “Having an OpenJDK implementation as part of Fedora 9 is a major milestone. It is great news for Red Hat’s customers, who can look forward to a superior Java technology implementation on which to deploy their mission-critical applications.”

via Sun Microsystems

Clemson University — Clemson University astronomy researchers will collaborate with South Carolina State University (SCSU) to build and reinforce a program of forefront astronomy research at SCSU as part of a $2 million-plus National Science Foundation award to expand the program. For its part, Clemson will receive $319,000 of the award.

“Our goal is to pave a pathway for SCSU’s students and for those from other predominantly minority colleges and universities to Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy at Clemson and elsewhere,” said Mark Leising, astrophysics professor and principal investigator on the project at Clemson. “These students are hugely underrepresented among doctoral students in the physical sciences.”

Leising says Clemson’s role is to collaborate with SCSU, provide research projects and observing opportunities for their students and prepare and mentor those who come to graduate school.

“There are bright students interested in science at universities like SCSU, but few go on to get doctorates and become leaders in the physical sciences. Our experience is that students who get the chance to participate in forefront research, discovering new knowledge rather than just reading about it, are more likely to pursue a career in science,” said Leising.

Clemson will offer the expertise of its astronomy faculty and access to observing facilities, including its part of the 36-inch diameter SARA telescope along with some of its time on the four-meter diameter Mayall telescope, both on Kitt Peak in Arizona. Students will research the largest explosions in the universe, the production of the elements in stars, the formation of solar systems and exotic double-star systems.

via Clemson

AT&T Inc., Microsoft Corp., HTC Corp., and I-play announced today the creation of the AT&T Game Development Contest for Windows Mobile to discover the next breakthrough mobile game. Windows Mobile games represent a fast growing segment of the AT&T gaming business. The AT&T Game Development Contest, launching May 1, is truly unique as it represents the first time all members of the mobile gaming ecosystem are collaborating in an effort to inspire the developer community to take mobile gaming applications to the next level.

In a May 2007 research report, Gartner Inc. forecast worldwide mobile gaming end-user revenue to reach $9.6 billion in 2011 — up significantly from the $2.9 billion realized in 2006. Gartner attributes this projected growth in mobile gaming to consumer awareness and the increase in content being developed by gaming publishers. AT&T, which has the broadest portfolio of Windows Mobile phones of any U.S. carrier, currently offers more than 2,300 on-deck mobile games and is always evaluating innovative and entertaining gaming options to offer its 71 million-plus mobile customers.

“AT&T has a strong commitment to deliver more wireless choices to our customers — in terms of products, services and applications,” said Mark Collins, vice president, Consumer Data, for AT&T’s wireless unit. “One way we reinforce this commitment and demonstrate that we are open to innovation is by working closely with the developer community so that we can bring visibility to their creativity, while ensuring that our customers have access to the most advanced, compelling and fun products and services — now and in the future.”

“We are happy to support this contest and encourage developers to take full advantage of our powerful, flexible platform, providing AT&T customers with new applications that can enhance their mobile experiences,” said Scott Horn, general manager of the Mobile Communications Business, Microsoft Corp. “With such a broad portfolio of AT&T devices, Windows Mobile is ripe for developers looking to reach a mass audience with their products.”

Beginning May 1, gaming developers can fill out the online entry form to submit their Windows Mobile compatible game. All game entries submitted during the next three months will be reviewed and judged based on the following criteria: game-play value and quality, game uniqueness and creativity, and marketplace potential. One grand-prize winner will receive a mobile game developer contract with I-play, prime placement of the finished game on the game portal on AT&T MEdia Mall and a cash prize of $25,000. Prizes will also be awarded to three finalists and 10 semifinalists. For complete contest details, contest entry and prize structure, visit http://developer.att.com/gamescontest. The deadline to submit an entry is July 31, 2008. The winner will be announced at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2008 in San Francisco. 

via AT&T

DoubleClick, a Google owned provider of digital marketing technology and services, today announced that DoubleClick Mobile, the company’s advertising delivery system for mobile devices, is integrating with mobile ad networks including AdMob, Google’s AdSense for mobile content, and Millennial Media’s premium MBrand network as well as its Decktrade performance network. This upgrade helps mobile publishers fill more of their available inventory and ultimately earn more revenue.

“This integration is a great example of how DoubleClick is working with key industry players to bring value to publishers by enhancing the liquidity of mobile display inventory,” said Ari Paparo, group product manager for DoubleClick products. “We believe that the ability to sell mobile inventory directly and indirectly will provide mobile advertisers with more options, ultimately leading to better monetization for publishers.”

Now, publishers using DoubleClick Mobile can sell mobile display inventory indirectly, through automated access to one or more networks of mobile advertisers. Publishers can continue to sell directly as they have always done. DoubleClick Mobile provides an accurate view of what inventory is available to sell, what has been sold directly and what has been filled by ad networks. By managing inventory across direct and indirect channels, DoubleClick Mobile helps publishers better monetize their mobile web content.

DoubleClick Mobile is part of the DoubleClick Revenue Center, which enables media sellers to manage their display campaigns in tandem with emerging platforms, such as mobile advertising, in a single location.

“Both brand and performance advertisers are using our MBrand and Decktrade networks to reach their mobile advertising goals,” said Paul Palmieri, president and CEO of Millennial Media. “Our integration with DoubleClick Mobile makes it possible for publishers to accept ads from Millennial Media’s deep roster of leading advertisers while preserving their ability to sell directly.”

“AdMob is always eager to extend our engineering investments in mobile advertising relevance and optimization to new platforms,” said Omar Hamoui, AdMob’s founder and CEO. “We are excited that DoubleClick’s clients will now be able to join over 4000 existing AdMob publishers in leveraging AdMob’s ad liquidity and mobile specific ad serving technologies.”

via Google

Greg Dixon, CTO of Scansource will present the keynote speech at the Acumen Tech Demo Day on Friday, May 2, 2008. Dixon will talk about how ScanSource approaches IT. Through special arrangement with Acumen, members and readers of the GSATC are invited. There is no charge for this event. Seating is Limited. RSVP is required.

RSVP at Acumen.

Infineon Technologies, Intel Corporation, Panasonic and Texas Instruments today announced the creation of HomeGrid Forum, which aims to promote and influence a single, next-generation worldwide standard for networking digital content, such as movies, music and pictures, over home wiring.

The forum will be a companion to ITU-T G.hn working group, supporting the interests of service providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, PC OEMs and other networking companies to create a single MAC and PHY protocol for transporting multimedia across a home’s existing wiring to include coaxial cable, power lines and phone lines. HomeGrid Forum is contributing next-generation technology requirements to ITU-T G.hn, quickly developing consensus around one worldwide standard. ITU-T is the standardization sector providing global telecommunication standards in the International Telecommunication Union.

“HomeGrid Forum was created to support the development of a single standard for transmitting multimedia over coax, power and phone lines,” said Matthew Theall, president of HomeGrid Forum. “The forum will promote HomeGrid-certified products and ensure interoperability.”

“A single, unified technology for multimedia networks over power lines, coaxial cable, and phone lines has the potential to enable a simple, easy-to-use means of networking devices together in the home,” said Kurt Scherf, analyst with market analyst firm Parks Associates. “We believe today’s announcement is an important step towards eliminating fragmentation in the industry, and achieving the vision of a networked home.”

Three work groups have been established – an ITU-T G.hn contribution work group, a compliance and interoperability work group to ensure that any product with a HomeGrid logo will work reliably in customers’ homes, and a marketing work group to promote HomeGrid-certified products worldwide.

“EchoStar is eager to see HomeGrid Forum accomplish its goals. One standard to transfer HD video over a home’s cable or power lines will make installations much easier for service providers,” explained Michael Hawkey, vice president of sales, EchoStar.

HomeGrid Forum has 11 founding members. Infineon, Intel, Panasonic and Texas Instruments will serve on the board of directors. Aware Inc., DS2, Gigle Semiconductor and Pulse~LINK will serve as promoters; and Ikanos Communications, Inc., Sigma Designs and Westell will serve as contributors.

HomeGrid Forum is recruiting additional members from leading silicon providers, service providers, CE companies, PC companies and others. To join, please visit www.HomeGridForum.org/join.

via HomeGrid Forum

In a move to create a technically flawless event and engage more people in the Convention experience using cutting-edge technology, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced that Microsoft Corporation has been named as the Official Software and HD Web Content Provider for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, to be held August 25-28 in Denver.

“Microsoft’s standing as an industry leader in software development makes them an ideal partner for the DNCC,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “From voting to nominate the next President of the United States to adopting a national platform, there is a significant amount of important Party business that goes on at each and every Convention. Microsoft’s pioneering technology will play an integral role in powering the business of the Party in Denver.”

As the Official Software and HD Web Content Provider, Microsoft will provide the DNCC with technologies and applications to enhance engagement with Web viewers, delegates, members of the media and other Convention guests and to support delegate tracking, voting and the management of credentials.

A cornerstone of the DNCC’s technologically-savvy event will be the delegate voting system. During the nomination process, Microsoft technology will support a voting system that will provide up-to-the-minute delegate vote totals electronically to the Office of the Secretary of the Democratic National Committee, allowing timely reporting of vote tallies as compiled by each delegation’s Chair.

The DNCC will utilize Microsoft software to support the delegate tracking system to gather and manage a multitude of information about Convention participants. In addition, Microsoft technology will support the creation of a software platform to support the DNCC’s credentialing operation, facilitating the management and distribution of credentials for the event.

And in a first for a political Convention, Silverlight, Microsoft’s platform for interactive Web applications and HD video, in conjunction with the Level 3 Communications network, will bring live, gavel-to-gavel Convention video coverage of the highest quality to a worldwide audience via the DNCC’s Web site at DemConvention.com.  Silverlight multimedia applications will provide an all-access pass for the Convention’s online audience, offering an unprecedented opportunity for viewers to individually tailor their Convention experiences. 

“Microsoft is proud to be a technology partner for the Democratic National Convention through our donation of software, technology services and content,” said Brad Smith, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Microsoft. “Technology is playing an increasingly critical role in the electoral process, and contributing to the Convention allows Microsoft to help ensure that the Democratic Party, its delegates as well as voters watching in their homes and on the Internet are able to take full advantage of the benefits.”

In addition to custom development, Microsoft is providing the DNCC with the latest in industry-leading software including business productivity, email, content services and real-time collaboration applications.

While providing valuable technological tools in the lead up to and during the Convention, Microsoft will also contribute to the DNCC’s “greening” efforts by tracking the company’s carbon footprint for Convention-related energy consumption, including all trips, deliveries, shipping transport of goods and staff air and ground travel. The DNCC aims to make this year’s Convention the most environmentally-sustainable event of its kind by applying sustainable planning principles to every decision in the lead-up to the four-day event.

via Microsoft

JAJAH, a global communications company, has been selected by Yahoo! as the outsource partner for its voice service. The “Phone In” and “Phone Out” service will enable consumers to make high-quality, low-cost PC-to-phone and phone-to-PC voice calls over the JAJAH network to more than 200 countries using Yahoo! Messenger, a leading instant messenger application in the United States with nearly 97 million users worldwide (comScore, February 2008).

The partnership leverages JAJAH’s open, next-generation communications platform to support the existing Yahoo! Messenger voice offering beginning in the third quarter of this year. Through this collaboration and managed service offerings, JAJAH will provide Yahoo! Messenger users with an instant Internet telephony network, merging the best of traditional and IP telephony.

“The seamless integration of web and voice interaction is clearly important to our strategic partner, Yahoo!,” said Trevor Healy, JAJAH CEO. “We are honored to be selected by Yahoo! to meet their voice needs. Through this relationship, we have the opportunity to extend our innovative global calling services with an industry leader that can leverage the power of our platform and network.”

“This partnership with JAJAH will help Yahoo! continue to provide a great communication experience to our millions of Yahoo! Messenger users,” said Sabrina Ellis, vice president of Yahoo! Messenger. “Yahoo! Messenger is one of the first communication tools consumers see and use when they turn on their computers, so it is critical that our partner mirror our commitment to our users, and JAJAH’s reliable VoIP network and proven customer- and carrier-friendly experience make it an ideal solution.”

Since 2006, Yahoo! Messenger users have been able to use “Phone In” and “Phone Out” to make and receive voice calls on their PC to and from landline and mobile phones. With low rates and premium voice quality, users can talk for hours and save on their phone bill. This deal means JAJAH will take over the provision of the telephony infrastructure, payment processing, and customer care for Yahoo!’s premium voice users who make and receive voice calls through Yahoo! Messenger.

via Jahah

Infor today announced that B&D Industrial, a distributor of industrial equipment to mining, manufacturing, engineering, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies, has selected Infor ERP A+, a System i-based solution built specifically for distributors, to automate integral business processes such as order management, sales and accounting. With Infor ERP A+, B&D Industrial can electronically coordinate and monitor inventory, customer service and the supply chain, enabling the company to gain greater visibility across its growing enterprise and further enhance customer satisfaction.

As B&D Industrial integrated, repackaged and redesigned business components from recent acquisitions, the company recognized the need for a single solution that would enable it to easily store, retrieve and share data, such as customer and financial information, throughout the organization. With a legacy ERP solution that could no longer serve the distributor’s growing needs, the company chose Infor ERP A+ to enhance productivity, lower operating costs and streamline the collection of business-critical information.

“Being able to monitor the complete supply chain process allows us to more efficiently ensure on-time and accurate delivery, which gives us a competitive advantage,” said Andy Nations, CEO of B&D Industrial. “With Infor, we have found a long-term business partner who understands the unique requirements of our industry and a software solution that can support us as our business changes and grows.”

The company anticipates a quick return on investment with the creation of a paperless environment, which is expected to dramatically reduce operational costs and enhance responsiveness to customer requests. From order entry and sales analysis to electronic payments, A+ will provide the company with built-in, business-specific functionality to help optimize performance across the enterprise and drive bottom line growth.

“As consolidation within the distribution industry continues, companies benefit from a holistic view across the organization, realizing greater operational efficiencies, decreasing redundancies, and securing their place in the global market,” said Thad Zylka, Infor’s vice president, Distribution and Supply Chain Group. “With Infor ERP A+, industrial distributors like B&D Industrial can merge information from multiple locations, enabling them to deliver on their commitment to customer service and cost-effectively run their end-to-end operations.”

via Infor

Were you at April’s Tech After Five at Barley’s Taproom? Each month we get a bigger crowd making more connections (and seeming to have an even better time!) Be sure to check out April’s photos, which we have courtesy of Adam Gautsch. Tech After Five is the GSA Technology Council’s monthly, after hours networking event of Upstate South Carolina’s creative class (and digerati) at Barley’s Taproom. Be sure to register in advance, May’s registration is now open. (RSVP) April and May Ta5 sponsored by Keymark.