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Tid-bits
12/21 - Almost half of employees spend at least one hour a workday on personal business, throughout the holidays. About one fifth, three hours a day. To top it all off, the majority of workers "Have No Plans to Give Their Boss a Holiday Gift".
Tickets issued for the Tennis Master Cup 2005 (in Shanghai) used RFID (radio frequency identification) technology from Texas Instruments. A wave of a ticket verified that the ticket was authentic. Staff also carried handheld RFID readers. Next year's attendees will "pay for refreshments and merchandise using an RFID tag".
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin has implemented Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions from IBM and Dassault Systemes for the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter military aircraft. The Product Lifecycle Management implementation is a collaboration of three companies; the Joint Strike Fighter is an aircraft for multiple countries—U.S., U.K., and allies; and the aircraft is multifunctional—it can hover—and replaces multiple machines. The Joint Strike Fighter program is the largest defense contract ever. With the Product Lifecycle Management solutions in place, Lockheed Martin will collaborate and work more efficiently, both within the company and with "suppliers and partners".
So the rumors about Google and AOL are true. The relationship deepens. The couple originally hooked up three years ago. Now they plan to expand the alliance. Google derives much revenue from AOL advertising. Highlights of the new deal include collaborating on video search and forging better interoperability between AIM (AOL Instant Messaging) and Google Talk. In addition, Google shall invest alot in AOL, giving Google a say-so in AOL's future. Question. How much of AOL's parent company Time Warner does investor Carl Icahn own? The Google investment in AOL is just the sort of thing that investor did not want, since it will make it more difficult for Time Warner to sell AOL, should Time Warner wish to do so. Permission will have to be obtained from Google. The plot thickens. Google will now have customary minority shareholder rights, "including those associated with any future sale or public offering of AOL".
STMicroelectronics has joined the consortium for accelerating the development of 802.11n—next generation wireless Ethernet—and is working to incorporate the standard into handheld devices. ST is focusing on Wi-Fi/Cellular phone convergence. The Enhanced Wireless Consorium (EWC) was formed in October, 2005 to expedite work in 11n. The 802.11 Task Group N is developing the spec. 802.11n shall provide greater throughput, range, and "improved power management for handheld devices".
Companies seeking to implement or upgrade wireless networks can check out a new business-class wireless access point from NETGEAR. The access point is designed for maximum performance, with high interference. It features WPA2-Enterprise (WiFi Protected Access 2) and 802.11i and incorporates Power over Ethernet (PoE). The WAG102 is ideal "for deploying video, audio and voice applications".
Business leaders might appreciate "Let Go to Grow", a book by an IBM executive. The book teaches to collaborate in order to innovate and drive sales. Products and services of companies can become commodities. Traditional approaches to competition are not enough any more. Companies perform core processes called components. Businesses can zero-in on their own core components and team with other companies whose strengths complement their own, "allowing for collaboration both across and between enterprises".
Toshiba has gone from bundling McAfee software to pre-installing it. Notebooks are to be released December 28. The pre-installation "evolved from a former arrangement in which McAfee's products were bundled".