Short takes on this week's news
Move to hybrid drives for Vista, laptop users
urged
Microsoft has urged laptop users planning to run the Windows
Vista operating system to switch to emerging hybrid hard drives,
which combine spinning discs and flash memory. The company said
that hybrid drives with a minimum 50Mbyte cache for Windows’ use
would be required for optimum performance. Samsung and Seagate are
currently developing hybrid drives.
Scotland signs public sector data sharing
deal
Public sector bodies in Scotland will have a standard means of
sharing data electronically after the Scottish Executive signed a
deal with software supplier Anite. Nine Scottish local councils
that use Anite as their social care IT provider and can now work
towards a standardised means of sharing information.
Mexx deploys global merchandising system
Fashion retailer Mexx is deploying Torex Retail’s Lucas Planning
global merchandising and assortment planning system. Mexx which has
more than 400 stores in 15 countries, had used different systems in
different geographical regions. The new system will be used to
manage all planning and allocation activity across all stores.
PC builder goes into administration
PC manufacturer Elonex has gone into administration with debts
of £7m. Three companies are believed to be bidding to buy Elonex’s
assets, with IT service provider Centerprise confirming that it has
lodged a bid. In January, the Housing Corporation terminated a
controversial £17m contract with Elonex.
Getronics consolidates data with BI system
IT services firm Getronics aims to help staff manage customer
contracts more efficiently by adopting business intelligence
platform BusinessObjects XI Release 2. The business intelligence
software will let the company consolidate business-critical
information. More than 600 Getronics employees worldwide will use
the platform to access information from Oracle Peoplesoft CRM 8.9
and other systems.
Siebel CRM to be heart of Oracle Fusion
platform
Siebel CRM will be the foundation for the planned Oracle Fusion
customer relationship management platform. Oracle is linking all
the CRM systems that it has developed or acquired through takeovers
into a web services-based platform.
Microsoft malware tool finds 16 million
infections
Microsoft’s Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool has found 16
million instances of malware on 5.7 million devices over the past
15 months. The tool has been used about 2.7 billion times on at
least 270 million devices, said Microsoft.
Capita awarded £11.7m motor registration
deal
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has awarded a
contract worth £11.7m over five and a half years to Capita IT
Services for the development and management of a motor vehicle
registration information system.
FBI’s VoIP tapping move ‘dangerous’, warn
experts
The FBI’s move to give police the authority to tap VoIP calls
has been criticised as “simply dangerous” by nine internet experts.
The experts, who include Google’s Vint Cerf, warned that mechanisms
to tap VoIP could be used by people other than law enforcement
authorities.
US mandates track and trace on
pharmaceuticals
The US Food and Drug Administration is forcing pharmaceuticals
companies to track their products electronically. The move is
likely to encourage more companies to use radio frequency
identification technology to monitor products along the supply
chain, said industry analysts.