GSA Technology Council

The 3G BlackBerry Tour  from Research In Motion (RIM) will be available Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on July 12. Verizon Wireless has announced that customers can pre-order the BlackBerry Tour for $199.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement online at www.verizonwireless.com/tour.

The BlackBerry Tour joins the BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Curve 8330 (available in either silver or pink), BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 and BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphones in the Verizon Wireless portfolio. The BlackBerry Tour is a 3G world phone, giving customers the option to make phone calls in 220 countries and to access e-mail and Internet in any of the 175 countries where Verizon Wireless provides data roaming services. It is also packed with features customers expect from industry leaders, including RIM’s popular push-based mobile solution for e-mail; messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking; a 3.2 megapixel camera with geo-tagging and video recording; advanced multimedia capabilities; built-in GPS; full HTML Web browsing; and support for Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Broadband Connect tethering service. It supports Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Music with Rhapsody and VZ NavigatorSM services. BlackBerry Enterprise customers will find the stylish BlackBerry Tour has all the BlackBerry security profiles that make this an efficient business tool. A model of the BlackBerry Tour without a camera will also be available.

Customers can purchase either the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphone or the BlackBerry Curve 8330 for $49.99 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement for a voice plan with e-mail feature or an e-mail plan. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 and BlackBerry Storm 9530 are available for $79.99 and $149.99 respectively after $70 mail-in rebates with new two-year customer agreements for a voice plan with e-mail feature or an e-mail plan. Customers receive rebates in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

via Verizon Wireless

Yahoo! Inc. has announced that Penny Baldwin has been appointed to senior vice president, global integrated marketing and brand management. She assumes this newly created position immediately and reports to Yahoo!’s chief marketing officer, Elisa Steele.

Baldwin will lead the company’s global brand efforts, and is responsible for developing and executing Yahoo!’s brand marketing approach including brand management, corporate messaging, integrated marketing and advertising.

“One of Yahoo!’s greatest assets is its brand,” said Steele. “Our integrated, global approach is critical to our success and we have a deep business commitment to fulfill our promise to our users, customers and partners. Penny is uniquely qualified to lead the effort and her leadership, experiences, knowledge and skills are excellent additions to the Yahoo! marketing team.”

She is a 20-year veteran of global brand strategy development and execution across all internal and market-facing touch points. Most recently, Baldwin served as Managing Partner of Young & Rubicam Brands, Y&R Advertising and Wunderman Direct Marketing. As agency leader and manager, she was responsible for leading the efforts of large global teams across industries. Her experiences span technology, retail, packaged goods, finance, travel, gaming, wireless communications, entertainment, healthcare and sports marketing.

Baldwin has worked with several Fortune 500 brands including Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, AMD, NetApp, Hitachi Data Systems, Siebel Systems and Hewlett-Packard, among others. She has also worked with leading brands including Cadbury, Schweppes, Foster Farms, Jacuzzi, Wells Fargo, DHL, AT&T and Palm.

“This is a seminal moment for the Yahoo! brand and for the business overall,” said Baldwin. “I am delighted to be part of the leadership team that will take Yahoo! to the next level as we evolve our brand strategy worldwide.”

via Yahoo!

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Telecommunications Industry Association held a virtual press conference last week on the business sector’s perspective on the national broadband strategy.

Representatives from each organization previewed their FCC national broadband plan NOI filings and discussed the need for continued network expansion noting that network investment creates jobs, helps businesses stay competitive and drives economic growth.

“Broadband is essential for job creation and economic growth,” said Jason Goldman, counsel for telecommunications & e-commerce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “To ensure that our nation realizes the full benefits of broadband, federal policies must not deter private-sector investment in broadband infrastructure, which totaled $60 billion last year.”

Organizations also noted that the policies that create government regulations should not be a part of national broadband plan.

“Broadband helps small businesses expand, create jobs and fuel economic growth,” said Marc-Anthony Signorino, director of technology policy, National Association of Manufacturers. “Manufacturers believe the government’s role in a National Broadband Plan should be to simplify, deregulate and incentivize wherever possible.”

“A strong, properly implemented National Broadband Plan will improve lives, enhance innovation, and help restore America’s long-term prosperity and reassure its global competitiveness,” said TIA Vice President for Government Affairs Danielle Coffey. “We applaud the Commissioners for taking on this serious and urgent task and we thank the FCC, Congress and President Obama for identifying broadband as a top priority critical to our nation’s infrastructure. We look forward to advising the FCC on behalf of the Internet Communications Technology industry on shaping a broadband strategy and defining its goals.”

via: US Chamber of Commerce

PTG, a Microsoft Certified Partner and VMware Enterprise Partner recently implemented a project management solution for the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) in Durham, North Carolina.  Faced with limited resources within a small organization, the DCVB needed a solution for effectively communicating project updates and the ability to keep executive management apprised of project progress in a timely manner.  Through a referral source, PTG was brought in and immediately addressed the situation with a solution proposal for integrating SharePoint Server with Microsoft Project.

To implement a cost-effective solution, PTG included a detailed project plan and timeline of how SharePoint would work for the DCVB.  A custom-developed online tutorial provided by PTG gave the entire DCVB staff access to the new system in a simplified, easy to follow format.

Transition to the new system was seamless and quick.  The DCVB team can now monitor and manage projects effectively while measuring progress through visually informative key performance indicators (KPI’s).  Team members and executive management are able to see the status of any project at any time.

“PTG listened to us and didn’t force us into a solution that we really didn’t need,” says Keeci Tobias who was the Senior Project Manager for the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.  “They heard our concerns, interpreted exactly what we needed and delivered a solution that was a perfect fit for the DCVB culture.  PTG went beyond the call of duty to ensure a successful transition for us in a professional, timely and caring manner.”

via PTG

Fluor Corporation has announced the formation of a dedicated business line within its Power Group to focus on global renewable energy needs specifically for clients in the solar, wind and biomass sectors. Fluor’s additional Power business line is a perfect complement to its existing nuclear, gas fueled, solid fueled and air quality control offerings.

The renewables business line is led by Brad Friesen, a Fluor executive with 32 years of experience and former head of the company’s gas fueled business line. Friesen reports directly to Dave Dunning, president of Fluor’s Power Group. The company will utilize its Irvine, Calif. and Asturias, Spain offices to address client needs around the world.

At the World Economic Forum earlier this year, the International Energy Agency urged world leaders to invest in energy efficiency and clean technologies to bolster economic recovery and achieve climate change policy objectives. Wind, solar and biomass power generation needs are among the fastest growing sectors of the new-build global energy market. For example, installed global solar capacity is expected to grow by 30 to 35 percent a year—from a total of 10 gigawatts today to 200 to 400 gigawatts by 2020, according to McKinsey & Company research.

“The global power market is changing rapidly as increased focus is placed on using renewable sources of energy to meet growing energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dave Dunning, president of Fluor’s Power Group. “By bringing all these renewable-related resources under a single offering, we will be able to provide a comprehensive range of solutions to clients in the solar, wind and biomass markets.”

“Fluor has designed and built renewable energy projects for more than 20 years and we will leverage that expertise for the benefit of our clients,” said Brad Friesen, vice president of Fluor’s renewables business line. “Our experience in the field is diverse and includes solar generation work as well as several geothermal and biomass projects throughout the world. Fluor is perfectly positioned to address the needs of our clients on a global basis.”

Fluor’s experience in the renewable sector has been ongoing over the last three decades and dates back to the mid-1980s when the company provided engineering, procurement and construction services for what was then the world’s largest photovoltaic power facility in Carrisa Plain, Calif. Today, Fluor is designing and building polysilicon production plants in China, Norway and the United States, a solar panel manufacturing plant in Singapore as well as leading the design and build efforts for the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom.

via Fluor

Yahoo! Inc. has announced that Jeff Russakow will join the company on April 24, 2009, as senior vice president of customer advocacy. In this role, Russakow will have global responsibility for all of Yahoo!’s customer support functions, including audience, small business, ad operations, and search network quality. Russakow will report to Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz.

“Jeff has a tremendous track record as a transformational leader, and we’re very excited to have him joining Yahoo! in this critical new role,” said Bartz. “We need to do a better job of listening to Yahoo!’s users and advertisers and incorporating their feedback into our products and processes. Jeff will develop and lead initiatives to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, and he’ll ensure that we’re laser-focused on the needs of all our users and advertisers at every level of our company.”

Before joining Yahoo!, Russakow served in executive management roles at Symantec, including leadership of global enterprise support services, global services product management and solutions engineering, and corporate strategy. While at Symantec, he helped increase customer support satisfaction to record levels. Prior to Symantec, Russakow was vice president of worldwide sales operations and customer support at Adobe Systems. Before that, he served as vice president of strategy and field operations at SAP America. Russakow began his career at McKinsey & Company.

“Yahoo!’s community of users is one of the largest and most engaged in the world, and we have an incredible opportunity to transform their Yahoo! experience,” said Russakow. “I’m excited to join Carol’s management team and I look forward to working with the company’s leaders to unlock all of Yahoo!’s amazing potential.”

Russakow holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University and master’s and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

via Yahoo!

RadioShack Corporation has announced preliminary net income for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, of $43.1 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared with net income of $38.8 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Operating income for the first quarter increased 25 percent to $80.1 million, or 8.0 percent of sales, compared with $64.2 million, or 6.8 percent of sales, last year.

Total net sales and operating revenues were up 5.6 percent to $1,002.1 million compared with $949.0 million for the same period last year. Comparable same-store sales for company-operated stores and kiosks increased 5.0 percent during the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2008.

Commenting on the financial results, RadioShack’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Julian Day said, “We are very pleased with the results we reported today. An eight percent operating margin is the strongest first quarter performance we have achieved since 2004. Of particular note were strong performances in our wireless business and digital converter boxes.”

RadioShack generated $86.1 million in net cash from operating activities during the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 compared with $7.4 million during the same period last year. Capital expenditures during the first three months of the year totaled $26.2 million and RadioShack is estimating capital expenditures for 2009 to be in the range of $75 million to $100 million.

“Our disciplined approach to working capital management has again resulted in further strengthening our balance sheet and we continue to believe that a strong balance sheet is important in trying economic times,” Day said.

Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2009 were $873.2 million, an increase of $403.9 million compared with the first quarter of last year. Inventories of $575.8 million at the end of the first quarter of 2009 were $87.6 million lower than the first quarter of last year.

First Quarter Results

Net Sales and Operating Revenues

Total net sales and operating revenues in the first quarter of 2009 increased $53.1 million to $1,002.1 million compared with $949.0 million for the same period last year. The 5.6 percent increase was attributable to a 5.5 percent increase in the sales generated by U.S. company-operated stores; a 10.0 percent decrease in kiosk sales; and a 23.9 percent increase in other sales. The decrease in kiosk sales was primarily due to fewer Sprint kiosks, which was partially offset by an increase in the sales generated by Sam’s Club kiosks. Other sales were up for the quarter primarily due to the addition of sales generated by RadioShack de Mexico acquired in December 2008 and a 27.6 percent increase in online sales, which were partially offset by a 7.9 percent decline in dealer sales during the first quarter.

First quarter 2009 comparable same-store sales for company-operated stores and kiosks increased 5.0 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008. The increase was primarily attributable to the strong performance of digital converter boxes, postpaid wireless and flat-panel televisions, which was partially offset by a decline in GPS, wireless accessories, digital cameras and digital music players.

The first quarter of 2008 had one additional selling day compared with the first quarter of 2009. The Company is estimating that comparable same-store sales would have been 6.3 percent after adjusting for the additional day.

RadioShack sold over one million digital-to-analog television converter boxes during the quarter, which generated approximately $70 million in sales. The company is estimating that converter box sales negatively impacted the gross profit rate during the first quarter by approximately 1.3 percent.

via: Radio Shack

At the 2009 NAB Show, Adobe Systems Incorporated announced a new software framework for building media players that extends the capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform. Code-named “Strobe,” the framework will help establish an open industry standard for media players and offer production-ready software components to streamline the development of custom media players, reducing the time content publishers spend creating their own playback technologies. The framework will enable developers using Flash technologies to quickly and easily add rich functionality—such as advertising, user measurement and tracking, and social network integration—into new custom players that can be branded for individual content owners.

“With Strobe, we’re delivering an open framework that enables media companies to focus on their core competency, creating great content that people want to see, instead of developing their own video players from scratch,” said Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager of Dynamic Media at Adobe. “Adobe is committed to driving Web innovation and now with Strobe, we are helping to create an open framework for media players, enabling developers and media companies to focus on developing, delivering, and monetizing content so they can extend their online media efforts.”

Defining Media Player Standards

Strobe extends Adobe’s continued support for open access to Flash Platform technologies and will accelerate the creation of media players by enabling developers to assemble plug-and-play software components from Adobe and third-party developers. The open, extensible framework, which will be incorporated into Adobe’s standard set of development tools, allows developers in the Adobe Flash Platform ecosystem to use components in media players that add rich functionality such as advertising, user measurement and tracking, and social network integration. Because Strobe takes advantage of the Flash Platform, content owners can be sure that programming will reach the largest possible online audience, as they bring their Strobe-based video players to market. The new Strobe framework builds on the vision of the Open Screen Project, a broad industry initiative to deliver a consistent runtime environment across desktops, televisions, mobile phones, and consumer electronics.

“Akamai has always believed in the need for open standards around the video player application to make it easier for content owners to quickly and seamlessly develop, distribute and monetize online video,” said Tim Napoleon, chief strategist for Akamai. “Since bringing the Open Video Player initiative to the community last year, we have seen enormous adoption of the player. Adobe’s Strobe compliments these efforts and will strengthen the industry shift toward open standards. The combined initiatives of Akamai and Adobe will only support the scale and growth of the Open Video Player community.”

“Omniture continues to see growth in our customers’ use of rich media. Along with that growth has come the desire to better understand how rich media affects return on investment. Our customers are asking us about how to optimize the use of rich media, and our relationship with Adobe helps us answer those questions,” said John Mellor, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Omniture. “Adobe’s Strobe allows Omniture to enable key functionalities, such as in-depth analytics, indicating how consumers interact with content. With this understanding, we can help our customers create relevant and personalized experiences on this exciting new platform.”

Strobe further broadens the reach and capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform, the No. 1 technology for video on the Web. According to comScore Media Metrix, approximately 80 percent of online videos viewed worldwide are delivered using Adobe Flash technology. Adobe Flash Player—already installed on 98 percent of Internet-connected desktops—gives viewers access to rich content without having to download additional software.

via Adobe

US business and government purchases of IT goods and services will decrease by 3.1 percent in 2009, compared with the 1.6 percent annual increase previously projected by Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). With the US economy dropping at an annual rate of 6.3 percent in Q4 2008 and most professional economic forecasters reducing their predictions for 2009 US real GDP growth, Forrester has revised its forecast for technology spending in the US to reflect these changes. Forrester expects growth in IT investment will resume in Q4 2009 and gather strength in 2010.

“In many ways, the biggest factor affecting the tech market is not the recession but the breakdown of the financial system,” said Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst. “The credit crunch is still causing companies to dramatically cut back on all forms of capital investment, including many IT goods and services, and this will affect 2009 revenues for most IT vendors.”

Forrester uses several metrics to determine the health and size of the IT market on a quarterly basis. The data in the new Forrester forecast report focuses on IT purchasing — how much computer and communications equipment, software, IT consulting and integration services, and IT outsourcing businesses and governments buy from technology vendors. It is one of the most important metrics for evaluating the health of technology vendors.

2009 US IT Spending Outlook By Sector

The new Forrester forecast report makes the following predictions:

Computer equipment will fall even more in 2009. Forrester expects that US business and government purchases of computer equipment will drop by 6.8 percent in 2009, on top of a 4 percent decline in 2008. However, growth is expected to bounce back in 2010 to 7 percent.

Communications equipment demand will shift from 2008 growth to a big cut in 2009. A mixture of enterprise demand for videoconferencing and mobile technologies and telco demand for 3G wireless and broadband equipment kept purchases growing by 3.7 percent in 2008. Both factors will erode in 2009, leading to a 7.8 percent decline, but growth will revive modestly in 2010 to 4.8 percent.

Software purchases will decline slightly in 2009, with license revenues falling. Since about half of software purchases each year are maintenance fees and subscription fees that grow at relatively constant rates, the flat growth of total software purchases means that license revenues will continue to fall in 2009. The picture will improve in 2010, with growth of 6.3 percent.

IT consulting and systems integration services will slip in 2009. Cutbacks in the project portfolio of most companies will lead to a decline of 2 percent in 2009 for IT consulting and systems integration services. The outlook for 2010 remains positive, with 7.4 percent growth expected in 2010.

IT outsourcing growth will remain moderate in 2009 and 2010. IT outsourcing turned out to be weak in 2008, with 2.8 percent growth as economic uncertainty froze potential clients, increased competition and smaller-scale projects cut prices, and the recession caused prospects to wait to see if prices would get even lower. These same forces will continue through the first half of 2009, with revenues starting to improve in the second half of 2009 and in 2010. Growth in 2009 will be small but positive at 2.1 percent, improving to 6.8 percent in 2010.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel — demand has been delayed but not cancelled,” said Bartels. “Growth will come back strong once the recession and tight credit conditions start to ease, so IT Vendor Strategy professionals should get prepared by investing in research and development and focusing on building the proof points, case studies, and success stories about how their technology solutions have helped businesses.”

via: Forrester

Google Inc. has announced a new version of Google App Engine, furthering its goal of making Google’s scalable infrastructure available to all developers – from those in startups to those working in enterprise IT departments.

New features include:

• Cron support. Developers want the flexibility to run tasks on a regular basis, without the need for labor-intensive monitoring and maintenance. Starting today, App Engine developers can automatically run and schedule jobs using cron.
• Database import and export. Developers want the freedom to move around application data in lockstep with business needs. Starting today, App Engine developers can batch transfer gigabytes of data into App Engine using a new import tool. Export capabilities will be available within the next month.
• Access to firewalled data. Enterprise developers want the security of firewalled data and the ease of web app deployment, but applications in the cloud can’t generally access on-premise datastores. To address this challenge Google is launching the Secure Data Connector, which enables centrally-managed access to on-premise data from Google Apps™, including App Engine- and gadget-based solutions.

In conjunction with today’s news, we are also giving developers an early look at App Engine’s support for the Java programming language. Limited to the first 10,000 sign-ups, this early look is intended to gather feedback from the Java developer community. Important highlights include:

• Standards-based. App Engine’s use of standard Java APIs and libraries enables developers to work with the Java tools and frameworks they’re already familiar with, and ensures the easy deployment of their Java code to all standard J2EE servlet containers, including IBM WebSphere, Tomcat and others.
• An end-to-end solution. App Engine’s early look at Java language support includes a Java runtime, integration with the new Google Web Toolkit 1.6, and a Google Plugin for Eclipse. Together these tools provide a unified development experience for writing AJAX applications in a single language, from client to server.

“In making Google’s infrastructure broadly available, App Engine has helped over 150,000 developers focus on designing and launching great products, without the usual scale and maintenance headaches,” said Andrew Bowers, Product Manager at Google. “Today – with newly-launched features, and an early look at Java language support – we’re making Google App Engine a viable deployment option for more and more application developers.”

Google has worked in coordination with Oracle, IBM, Appirio, Cast Iron, Panorama, PivotLink, Sword Group, ThoughtWorks, Cloud Sherpas and PingIdentity, on this launch. These companies have developed applications and gadgets using the App Engine features premiering today.

To learn more about Google App Engine, and to watch the video of tonight’s Campfire One announcement, visit http://code.google.com/appengine. Additionally, the App Engine team will be on-hand at the Google I/O conference in May (http://code.google.com/events/io) to engage in product discussions with the larger developer community.

via Google