Computerworld Oracle News

Apple ships first Leopard security update in nearly a year

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:47:00 GMT

Apple on Monday issued its first security-related update for OS X 10.5, or Leopard, in nearly a year, to disable long-outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player.

HK firm ensures toy safety with PLM tool

(Sheila Lam) — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:27:00 GMT

Toys are fun to play with, but making them is serious business. Hazardous toys from Greater China make great headline-material for US media, so regional toy manufacturers must make extra efforts to ensure that both their materials and finished products are safe.

Inside the Google v. Oracle courtroom drama

(Ryan Francis) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:04:00 GMT

The trial pitting Google vs. Oracle on the claim of intellectual property infringement by Google in Android has reached almost a tabloid like feel. Outside the courtroom feels like the red carpet as tech giant after tech giant emerge from limos and town cars to testify. Insider (regisration required)

Apple patches Safari, blocks outdated Flash Player

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:09:00 GMT

Apple on Wednesday patched four security vulnerabilities in Safari and blocked outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player from running in its browser.

Judge declines to eject Google's 'fair use' defense from Android trial

(James Niccolai) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:40:00 GMT

Oracle was dealt a minor setback in its lawsuit against Google on Wednesday when a judge denied its motion to toss out one of Google's key defenses against copyright infringement.

Salesforce.com's Heroku rolls out new cloud database options

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:36:00 GMT

Salesforce.com's Heroku division this week rolled out two entry-level tiers for its Postgres-based cloud database service, hoping to cater to applications with lower data-volume requirements as well as helping startup developers make an easier jump into production.

Android developers ignored Sun patents, Google exec testifies

(James Niccolai) — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:51:00 GMT

Google's engineers never studied other companies' patents while developing Android for fear of allowing those patents to influence their design decisions, Google's Android chief Andy Rubin testified on the stand Wednesday.

Google files for new trial on copyright claims in Android suit

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:02:00 GMT

Google is seeking a new trial on copyright claims in Oracle's intellectual-property lawsuit against it over the Android mobile OS, according to a filing made late Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google infringed Java copyrights in Android, jury finds

(James Niccolai) — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:00:00 GMT

A jury has found that Google infringed Oracle's Java copyrights in Android but could not decide unanimously if the the infringement was protected by "fair use."

Google, Oracle battle over Lindholm, Schwartz testimony

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:39:00 GMT

Oracle and Google have each tried to jettison potentially damaging testimony in their intellectual-property dispute over Android, as a jury deliberates over Oracle's copyright allegations and prepares to move on to the patents part of the case.

Most Oracle users prefer Fusion in the cloud

(Chris Kanaracus) — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Most of the 250 customers that have licensed Oracle's recently-launched Fusion Applications to date have chosen a hosted deployment model, according to a senior executive at the software vendor.

Jury nears verdict in Oracle-Google trial over Android

(James Niccolai) — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:56:00 GMT

The jury has reached a partial verdict in the copyright phase of Oracle's intellectual property dispute with Google, and the judge has given them one more day to try to resolve the remaining issue.

Oracle wants ex-Sun CEO Schwartz's testimony barred in Google suit

(Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:44:00 GMT

Oracle has asked a judge to bar Google from using some testimony given by former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz in the companies' intellectual-property suit over the Android mobile OS, saying it has "no legal and factual predicate."

Investors are pouring funds into big data

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:05:00 GMT

Surging enterprise demand for big data tools that can manipulate and analyze massive volumes of structured and unstructured data has caught investor attention in a big way.

Oracle, SAP fight over 'hypothetical license' damages

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:20:00 GMT

Oracle and SAP are at odds over whether the concept of "hypothetical" software license fees can be factored into damages in the upcoming retrial of Oracle's intellectual-property lawsuit against SAP, and the outcome could sharply affect the scope of any judgment in the case.

Developers fear they'll be stifled if Oracle wins copyright case

(Paul Krill) — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:11:00 GMT

Oracle's argument about copyrighting APIs would be a problem for the entire industry, observers say

Java creator: Fears over consequences of possible Oracle trial win may be overblown

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:56:00 GMT

Should Oracle prevail in its intellectual-property lawsuit against Google over alleged Java patent and copyright violations in the Android mobile OS, it shouldn't result in the "industrial meltdown" some observers fear, Java creator James Gosling said in a blog post late Tuesday.

Teradata to buy marketing tool maker eCircle

(Chris Kanaracus) — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:53:00 GMT

Teradata is planning to acquire digital marketing software maker eCircle in order to augment the capabilities it gained through its 2010 purchase of marketing management vendor Aprimo.

IBM set to replace Siebel with open-source SugarCRM

(Derek du Preez) — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:17:00 GMT

IBM is planning to replace its Siebel-based customer relationship management (CRM) products with software owned by open source software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor SugarCRM, according to The Wall Street Journal.

SAP's Sikka fires back against Oracle's 'falsehoods' about HANA

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:31:00 GMT

SAP's technology chief has given a strong rebuttal to a recent presentation by an Oracle executive that was critical of SAP's HANA in-memory database, saying it is full of "falsehoods."

Flashback gang could be making $10K a day off infected Macs

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:11:00 GMT

The Flashback malware that's infected hundreds of thousands of Macs may be generating more than $10,000 a day for the hackers who made the Trojan horse, Symantec said.

Jury begins deliberations after Oracle, Google attorneys debate fair use

(James Niccolai) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:48:00 GMT

The jury began its deliberations Monday in the copyright phase of Oracle's lawsuit against Google over Android.

AT&T, Google among top lobbying spenders in Q1

(Grant Gross) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:13:00 GMT

AT&T spent nearly $7.1 million on lobbying Congress and President Barack Obama's administration in the first quarter of 2012, making it the leading corporate spender on lobbying, with Google, Comcast and Verizon Communications also making the top five.

Snow Leopard users most prone to Flashback infection

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:41:00 GMT

Of the Macs that have been infected by the Flashback malware, nearly two-thirds are running OS X 10.6, better known as Snow Leopard, a Russian antivirus company said.

Researcher misinterprets Oracle advisory, discloses unpatched database vulnerability

(Lucian Constantin) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Instructions on how to exploit an unpatched Oracle Database Server vulnerability in order to intercept the information exchanged between clients and databases were published by a security researcher who erroneously thought that the company had patched the flaw.

Oracle upgrades standard Java, JavaFX

(Paul Krill) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:58:00 GMT

Enhancements include first delivery of SDKs for Mac OS X, along with garbage collection and virtual machine boosts

Ex-Sun boss McNealy sides with Oracle in Google dispute

(James Niccolai) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:02:00 GMT

Former Sun boss Scott McNealy sided with Oracle on Thursday in its dispute with Google over Android, testifying in court that companies needed a license to use Sun's Java programming interfaces.

Oracle loses bid to assert third patent in Google trial

(James Niccolai) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:26:00 GMT

Oracle has lost its bid to assert a third patent in its trial against Google, with a favorable decision from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office coming "a few days too late," a judge ruled on Thursday.

Most initial Oracle Fusion Applications customers going with cloud deployment

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:02:00 GMT

Most of the 250 customers that have licensed Oracle's recently launched Fusion Applications so far have chosen a SaaS deployment model instead of running it on-premises, a senior executive said this week during the Collaborate user group conference in Las Vegas.

Schmidt testifies Android did not use Sun's IP

(James Niccolai) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:07:00 GMT

Google developed its Android smartphone software without using Sun's intellectual property and its use of Java in Android was "legally correct," Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, testified in court Tuesday.

New, sneakier Flashback malware infects Macs

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

A new, sneakier variant of the Flashback malware has been uncovered by the French security firm Intego.

Users: Oracle Exadata's speed comes with a cost

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:33:00 GMT

Few Oracle products in recent years have received as much hype as the Exadata database machine, with the vendor attempting to use it as a standard-bearer for a series of appliances that combine its software with storage, networking equipment and Sun servers.

EMC gives Oracle admins backup control, deduplication

lmearian@computerworld.com (Lucas Mearian) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

EMC has announced a new Data Domain Boost integration with Oracle Recovery Manager, offering data deduplication on database servers and for Oracle administrators to have direct control of Oracle backup and disaster recovery operations.

Andy Rubin spars with Oracle attorney over old emails

(James Niccolai) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:55:00 GMT

Andy Rubin, the head of Google's Android development team, took the witness stand for the first time Monday in Oracle's lawsuit accusing Google of patent and copyright infringement in its Android OS.

Oracle scores Java patent win

(Mikael Ricknäs) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:06:00 GMT

Oracle scored a victory in its battle with Google, as the US Patent and Trademark Office decided to uphold a Java patent it had previously rejected, according to a court filing.

Workday update pushes it deeper into Oracle, SAP's turf

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:03:00 GMT

Workday is rolling out version 16 of its cloud-based ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to customers this week, an update that includes upgrades to the financials component that could help it steal away deals with large enterprises from the likes of Oracle and SAP.

Oracle quietly plotting ambitious cloud computing plan

(Brandon Butler) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:39:00 GMT

During a series of analyst briefings this week, Oracle has provided additional details of how it plans to play in the cloud moving forward.

Larry Page tells jury he doesn't recall details of Java negotations

(James Niccolai) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:51:00 GMT

Google CEO Larry Page told a jury on Wednesday that he remembers little about Google's attempts to negotiate a Java license from Sun, during 40 minutes of tense questioning in Oracle's lawsuit against Google over Android.

Oracle considered buying RIM and Palm, Ellison says

(James Niccolai) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:13:00 GMT

Oracle considered buying Palm and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion as part of an aborted effort to build its own smartphone, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said in court Tuesday.

Twitter touts patent policy meant to give its employees more rights

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:59:00 GMT

Twitter on Tuesday unveiled a proposed patent assignment framework that seeks to give employees who create works more protection over how their inventions are used.

Google says it had Sun's full support in building Android

(James Niccolai) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:03:00 GMT

Google built Android using parts of Java that didn't require a license and it had the full support of Sun Microsystems in doing so, a lawyer for Google said in court Tuesday.

HP: Oracle executives believed Sun acquisition was a mistake

(John Ribeiro) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:01:00 GMT

Oracle decided on an aggressive strategy against Hewlett-Packard's Itanium servers after sales of competing Sun's Sparc servers had been in a free fall, and Oracle's executives stated internally that the company's 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems was a mistake, HP said in a filing in its dispute with Oracle over the porting of its software to the Itanium platform.

Oracle says Google knowingly 'broke the rules' with Java

(James Niccolai) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:14:00 GMT

Oracle and Google kicked off a high-stakes jury trial in San Francisco on Monday, with Oracle arguing that Google ran roughshod over its intellectual property rights because the search giant was scared of getting left behind in the mobile advertising business.

Oracle to issue 88 security patches on Tuesday

(Chris Kanaracus) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:02:00 GMT

Oracle is planning to release 88 patches on Tuesday, covering vulnerabilities affecting a wide array of its products, according to a pre-release announcement posted to its website on Thursday.

Oracle previews MySQL 5.6

(Joab Jackson) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:05:00 GMT

Offering a glimpse of the new features some database administrators will be working with before too long, Oracle has posted a preview version of the next MySQL relational database management system.

Apple promises Flashback malware killer

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:39:00 GMT

Apple for the first time publicly acknowledged a malware campaign that has infected an estimated 600,000 Macs, and said it would release a free tool to disinfect users' machines.

SAP lays out plans to become big player in databases, mobile

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:47:00 GMT

SAP made a series of announcements on Tuesday as part of its bid to become a high-profile player in the database market alongside the likes of Oracle and IBM.

Oracle attacks tape management with analytics software

(Stephen Lawson) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:46:00 GMT

Tape-storage administrators will be able to get performance information and immediate directions to prevent data loss in new management software, called StorageTek Tape Analytics, that Oracle introduced on Monday.

Twitter releases its MySQL scalability tweaks

(Joab Jackson) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:57:00 GMT

Twitter has released some of the tweaks it has made to MySQL, potentially bringing greater scalability to the open-source relational database management system.

Oracle CSO trashes PCI rules

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:58:00 GMT

Oracle chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson is calling on vendors of payment application software to join the company in opposing certain security vulnerability reporting requirements of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.