Archive for July, 2011

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Wind River broadens portfolio of Android device test software

July 29th, 2011
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Wind River, a leader in embedded and mobile software, introduced an Android test development kit designed to assist in the validation of the device user experience by reproducing human interactions to test user interfaces. Wind River UX Test Development Kit is an Eclipse-based test-authoring environment enabling the rapid creation of automated test scripts for Android devices, applications and browser-based web content. The automated execution of these real-world tests can replace a significant amount of manual testing and reduce testing time.

UX Test Development Kit automated tests manipulate the device like a real-world user by interacting with applications through the user interface. For example, a quality assurance engineer can automate scenarios to test the user experience when interacting with graphic interface elements such as dragging items or typing entries on a physical or virtual keyboard. Unlike legacy user interface testing solutions, the same test script can be used for Android devices with different hardware characteristics, allowing the quality assurance team to maintain the same test-case database whether the device under test is a smartphone, tablet or any other Android device. Test scripts authored using UX Test Development Kit are fully managed and automatically executed using Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, a comprehensive automated software testing solution for Android-based devices.

UX Test Development Kit includes abstract tests for standard Android applications such as browser, camera, contacts, media player and e-mail as well as sample test scripts for Android Market applications such as Google Maps, Facebook and Twitter. UX Test Development Kit also allows the rapid creation of test scripts that interact with HTML5 applications and web pages through the native Android browser. To facilitate troubleshooting, UX Test Development Kit tests also run an advanced debugging mechanism to track and more readily identify software issues.

Source:http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Wind_River_broadens_portfolio_of_Android_device_test_software-nid-87410.html

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HR software firms log gains in shifting job scene

July 29th, 2011
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The U.S. job market may be going through choppy times, but it has been a heady ride for companies that make software to help corporations hire, train and retain employees.

Companies such as SuccessFactors Inc, Taleo Corp, Kenexa Corp and Cornerstone OnDemand Inc are all set to gain in a market currently worth about $3 billion.

Independent market research firm Bersin & Associates expects this market to grow by 12-15 percent, or even more, this year.

Shares of some of these companies have powered up through the downturn, with SuccessFactors growing more than two-fold in the last three years. The broader Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose roughly 20 percent in the same period.

Job volatility — rather than actual job numbers — is the primary driver of business for these software makers.

The average amount of time an employee spends with an employer has not changed post recession — it’s still under 5 years, said Taleo’s CEO Mike Gregoire.

Dublin, California-based Taleo, valued at about $1.4 billion, has seen both revenue and market value nearly double in the last three years, and expects to grow sales by 26-28 percent this year.

As more and more younger people enter the workforce, the churn is only set to increase, boding well for these software makers.

“Millennials are expected to engage in 4-7 different careers — not jobs — in their lifetime,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Mark Murphy, referring to the 15-25 year age group.

Source:http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Developer/News-Reports/HR-software-firms-log-gains-in-shifting-job-scene/152831/0/

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China cracks down on WiFi in public spaces

July 29th, 2011
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China has ordered public spaces offering WiFi web access to install costly software to enable police to identify people using the service, state media said.

The software, which also gives police a list of all websites visited by an online user, costs between 20,000 yuan ($A2824) and 60,000 yuan ($A8472), the China Business News said on Thursday.

As a result, many establishments such as bars, restaurants, cafes and bookstores have decided to stop providing wireless internet to their customers despite its popularity, to avoid paying the money, the report said.

In Beijing, cafe and restaurant owners have been told they face a minimum fine of 5000 yuan if they continue to offer wireless without installing the software, it said.

“In serious cases,” offenders could see their internet cut off for up to six months, the report said.

Cafe owners in Shanghai and in the eastern city of Hangzhou contacted by the official China Daily newspaper said they had also been notified of the new measure, which other reports have said is being rolled out nationwide.

The software is purportedly designed to supervise “illegal activities,” the report said.

“It’s a requirement of the public security organs. Why should we pay the fees?” Yang Xiaowen, manager of UBC Coffee in Beijing, told the China Daily.

“For a reason that everyone is aware of, we are temporarily stopping our wi-fi service,” announced the Beijing-based Kubrick bookstore, according to the China Business News.

The report also raised questions about ties between police and the software maker Rainsoft, a company founded in 1998 that reportedly collaborates with public security organs in many Chinese provinces.

China – which has the world’s largest online population with 485 million users – constantly strives to exert its control over the internet, blocking content it deems politically sensitive as part of a vast censorship system.

In one high-profile case in 2009, it ordered computer makers to addan internet filter software to all new personal computers sold in the country, saying it would shelter children from pornographic and violent web content.

But it was forced to back down on the plan just ahead of the deadline after an outcry in China and abroad.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/395404/china_cracks_down_wifi_public_spaces/?fp=4&fpid=18

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CAD software ‘does not aid mammogram accuracy’

July 29th, 2011
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Using computer-aided detection (CAD) software does not improve the accuracy of mammograms, according to a new study.

CAD software is commonly used to identify patterns associated with breast cancer and detect potential abnormalities to be considered by the radiologist.

Research published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, discovered that CAD was associated with more false positive diagnoses and did not improve the detection of invasive cancers.

In addition, the cancers identified using the software were not more likely to be smaller, at a lower stage of have less lymph node involvement that those detected not using the technology.

Authors wrote: “CAD appears to increase a woman’s risk of being recalled for further testing after screening mammography while yielding equivocal health benefit.”

In another breast cancer study, women whose breast appear dense on mammograms were seen to have a higher risk of developing the condition than those with less dense breasts.

Risk of breast cancer was seen to increase progressively with increasing breast density.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute also found that dense breasts were linked to certain aggressive characteristics of the cancer.

However, authors noted that this association could be due in part to a masking effect.

“Masking of a tumor can occur because cancerous tissue and mammographically dense tissue have similar x-ray attenuation, allowing tumors to go undetected on screening mammography examination and progress to a more advanced and aggressive stage before detection,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins scientists investigated why some breast cancer cells become resistant to medication tamoxifen.

According to the paper in journal Human Molecular Genetics, the increased activity from the RET gene in breast cancer cells is linked to more aggressive and tamoxifen-resistant forms of the disease.

The authors believe these findings could have implications for usage of the drug among breast cancer patients.

Source:http://www.mediplacements.com/article-800638132-cad_software_does_not_aid.html

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Android giving away most software but Apple selling most smartphones

July 29th, 2011
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The results, tabulated for June 2011 by Nielsen, show widespread use of Android by HTC, Motorola, Samsung and other smartphone makers, whose combined use of Android makes it the largest smartphone platform in the US.

Adding in Apple’s other mobile devices, including the iPad and iPod touch, continues to leave iOS as the largest mobile platform in the country and globally, particularly given the poor showing for Android-based tablets and other non-smartphone devices compatible to Apple’s iPod touch.

Google’s free-to-implement Android platform has largely replaced the use of other smartphone platforms based on Linux, Java and Flash, which historically have served as the mainstream platform for mobile devices prior to iPhone.

Even so, despite being the largest smartphone platform, Android, like Sun’s Java ME before it, has failed to attract the same kind of attention from developers and buyers as Apple has cultivated for iOS though its App Store, instead developing a reputation for Android as a platform where there is little money to be made because nobody wants to pay for commercial Android software.

The Also Rans

Microsoft’s share of smartphones in the US has plummeted from a share once similar to Apple’s current slice to a narrow 9 percent, split between HTC, Samsung and other Windows Phone 7 licensees. Adding HTC’s Android business with its WP7 market results in giving that manufacture a position roughly tied with RIM as the second place US smartphone maker, at 20 percent of all devices sold in the country.

Motorola and Samsung both make up 10 to 11 percent of US smartphone sales, and when combined with all other Android and WP7 licensees apart from HTC, amount to a share about equal with Apple’s iPhone sales.

Apple’s ability to continue to command a leading share of the US market four years after the launch of iPhone is difficult to fathom given the company’s late entry into what was assumed to be a crowded, mature, and highly competitive market. Apple is also limited to the two major carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, preventing iPhone from being able to reach a significant portion of US market.

Other companies with a much longer history in the mobile business have failed to put even a dent into the US smartphone market, including Nokia’s tiny 2 percent share with its Symbian based phones (long a global leader outside the US), and HP’s 2 percent share from its acquired Palm WebOS business.

Despite its distant manufacturing lead in the US, Apple’s iPhone fortunes are largely tied to international sales, where iPhone growth has occurred even faster, leaving US sales to amount to just 30 percent of the company’s smartphone sales.

Source:http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/28/android_giving_away_the_most_software_apple_still_selling_the_most_smartphones_in_us.html

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Expanding Microsoft Software Donations to More Nonprofits

July 29th, 2011
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Today we are making a number of updates to our global software donations program designed to give more nonprofit organizations access to the technology they need, when they need it. We’re currently reaching more than 40,000 organizations around the world each year — translating into over $3.9 billion of donated software since 1998 — but we know there’s a great opportunity to reach even more nonprofits and communities.

The updates to the program are part of our commitment to bring the benefits of software to more nonprofits to support positive social and economic development in local communities around the world. Every day we see first-hand how software is helping nonprofits reduce their costs, boost productivity, raise more funds, and ultimately deliver new and improved services in their local communities.

There are a number of updates we’re announcing today, including:

* Increasing the allotment of different Microsoft software products that can be requested by each nonprofit from six to 10 titles, enabling nonprofit organizations to get the software they need such as Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Sharepoint 2010, etc.

* Adding three new categories of nonprofit organizations eligible for software donations (assuming they have proper nonprofit status as defined in their countries), including: medical research organizations, private foundations and amateur sports and recreational organizations.

* Including a new Get Genuine offering so nonprofits can ensure their existing computers are running genuine versions of Microsoft operating systems to help keep their software up-to-date and secure.

In addition to these changes which apply to over 100 countries, we are also adding additional changes for the 35 countries who are served by the TechSoup Global Network including Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Rep., Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, and the United States:

* Nonprofits can now request a software donation from Microsoft through the TechSoup Global Network whenever they need it instead of the previous limit of only one request per year.

* Nonprofit organizations ordering their donations through the TechSoup Global Network can now easily get key donations details in one place with the Microsoft Donation Center, a new section of the TechSoup Web site where organizations can review their donation history and identify products their organization can request.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akhtar-badshah/expanding-microsoft-softw_b_910740.html

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Analysis: HR software firms log gains in shifting job scene

July 29th, 2011
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Companies such as SuccessFactors Inc (SFSF.N), Taleo Corp (TLEO.O), Kenexa Corp (KNXA.O) and Cornerstone OnDemand Inc (CSOD.O) are all set to gain in a market currently worth about $3 billion.

Independent market research firm Bersin & Associates expects this market to grow by 12-15 percent, or even more, this year.

Shares of some of these companies have powered up through the downturn, with SuccessFactors growing more than two-fold in the last three years. The broader Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose roughly 20 percent in the same period.

Job volatility — rather than actual job numbers — is the primary driver of business for these software makers.

The average amount of time an employee spends with an employer has not changed post recession — it’s still under 5 years, said Taleo’s CEO Mike Gregoire.

Dublin, California-based Taleo, valued at about $1.4 billion, has seen both revenue and market value nearly double in the last three years, and expects to grow sales by 26-28 percent this year.

As more and more younger people enter the workforce, the churn is only set to increase, boding well for these software makers.

“Millennials are expected to engage in 4-7 different careers — not jobs — in their lifetime,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Mark Murphy, referring to the 15-25 year age group.

IT organizations are beginning to funnel more money into talent management software as they increasingly recognize employees as assets rather than resources, Murphy added.

A recent Bersin report said most companies spend $800-$1,700, or more, to hire and train each recruit.

“Talent management software is now becoming a mandatory part of corporate human resource (HR) infrastructure, and companies are slowly starting to unravel 20-plus years of investment in now-obsolete HR management systems,” the research firm said.

Most talent management product vendors now offer their software as a service, hosted in the cloud. This makes them cheaper, quicker to deploy and easier to use unlike the cumbersome, expensive products offered by traditional vendors like Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) and SAP AG (SAPG.DE).

The cloud-based products are upgraded every 1-2 years, while those of the bigger companies are not due to their bulk and complexity, said Canaccord Genuity analyst Richard Davis.

EMPLOYEES DRIVE CHANGE

With recovery looking weak, companies are trying to optimize with the staff they have and are looking for products that will help raise employee satisfaction and retention.

“We are seeing a change in the sort of demand that the customer is making from us and it is driven by the employees themselves,” Taleo’s Gregoire said.

Young employees work in a completely different way from those of the baby boomer generation, SuccessFactors President Doug Dennerline said.

“At work, they expect experiences they get from the Web, like Facebook or Youtube, and not the experience of using enterprise software.”

So vendors are offering easy-to-use products that are often linked to social networking sites, or have apps for mobile devices, letting young employees take to them easily and have fun doing career advancement courses.

Piper Jaffray says a quarter of the U.S. working population is set to retire in the next two decades, and companies want to plan ahead, boosting demand further for HR software and services.

“Many companies are now saying, what’s our workforce going to look like 5 or 10 years from today and where do we need to go to in terms of skills,” SuccessFactors’ Dennerline said.

Revenue at San Mateo, California-based SuccessFactors, valued at about $2.3 billion, grew more than 3-fold in the last three years and is expected to grow by a third this year.

The talent management software space has seen its share of acquisitions in the last two years, with the economic challenges putting pressure on smaller, less-capitalized vendors.

Larger companies and private equity firms have rich pickings in a market that is heavily fragmented.

Market research firm Gartner said it expects more acquisitions as vendors look to buy additional market share, or fill out their product suites.

“People are realizing that this is a serious market and we have shown the market that we have an appetite for acquisitions,” SuccessFactors’ Dennerline said.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-talentmanagementsoftwaremakers-idUSTRE76R5R520110728

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