Posts Tagged ‘Software’

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Google Offers Mobile Chrome Browser for New Android Software

February 9th, 2012
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Google Inc., seeking to get more of its desktop-computer software onto mobile devices, introduced a test version of its Chrome Web browser for the latest Android operating system.

The browser, first unveiled in 2008, will be available on tablets and mobile phones using the company’s “Ice Cream Sandwich” Android software, Sundar Pichai, a senior vice president in charge of Chrome and applications, said in a blog posting. The company aims to improve the speed of mobile browsing by preloading top search results and enabling users to get the same tabs and bookmarks they have on their desktops.

“Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices,” Pichai said. The software is “focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized Web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.”

Google’s Android software has taken the lead in the market for smartphone operating system, topping Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Microsoft Corp.’s mobile software. Android handsets accounted for 48 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in the fourth quarter, while the iPhone had 43 percent, according to NPD Group Inc. Almost three in five first-time smartphone buyers chose Android, NPD said.

Shares of Mountain View, California-based Google fell less than 1 percent to $606.77 today. The shares have declined 6.1 percent this year.

Source:http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LZ1AVV6K50XW01-7QOKAI2JVVKUUKTB73IE8AOHV3

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Autodesk Alias Software Helps Volvo Car Corporation’s Vision of Luxury and Good Design

February 9th, 2012
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Volvo Car Corporation (Volvo) one of the global car industry’s strongest brands, has revealed that Autodesk design and visualisation software was key to the successful design of its Concept You car. The fully-functional concept model was unveiled to great critical acclaim at the Frankfurt Motor Show last autumn.

Following the earlier success of Volvo’s Concept Universe at the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2011, the Volvo design team was under extreme pressure to further refine its ideas and produce a working model with full interior in a matter of months, in time for Frankfurt. Both concepts were created to demonstrate Volvo’s vision for the future of luxury cars under its new ownership.

Using Autodesk Alias software, the concept modelling team was able to quickly create digital prototypes from the designer’s initial sketches. This enabled the team to quickly hone and test the design on screen, helping to save time and maintain the original design integrity behind the concept. As a result, designers were able to get to the best option with the technical surfacing and visualisation of the car as quickly as possible without having to start from scratch with every iteration.

Although the Volvo team was working under a particularly tight deadline, timescales such as this are becoming typical in such a competitive industry. Cars are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated with a high technical content, yet manufacturers are under pressure to design them faster, while incurring lower costs. Like Volvo, a growing number of manufacturers are using Autodesk Alias to accelerate the entire design process from concept to class A modelling.

As part of the design workflow, Volvo also used Autodesk Showcase software for advanced visualisation of its ideas. This enabled the concept to be quickly communicated to the design management team and board so that they could easily understand what was being created. Despite the punishing time-frame, Volvo’s new concept was ready in time to create a real talking point at the show. The automotive press was full of accolades, describing the car as, “beautifully done”, “a much-needed tonic” and simply “stunning”.

A long-term user of Autodesk software, Volvo has recently become a Platinum Support customer which gives it direct access to Autodesk experts, promoting a two-way dialogue to help influence future development of Alias and other products.

Source:http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120208005540/en/autodesk/manufacturing/technology

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BMC Software Sells $500 Mln 10-Yr Bonds at 4.316%

February 9th, 2012
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BMC Software Inc. (BMC) completed a $500 million sale of 10-year bonds in the U.S. credit markets Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The 4.25% coupon bonds were priced to yield 4.316%, or 235 basis points over Treasurys.

Standard & Poor’s rated the senior unsecured notes BBB-plus on Wednesday. They are expected to be rated Baa2 by Moody’s Investors Service. The bonds are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The software, cloud-computing and information-technology management solutions company is raising funds for general corporate purposes, which could include repurchasing common stock or acquiring assets and businesses.

The bonds feature a change of control provision allowing investors to redeem the bonds at 101 cents on the dollar should the company be acquired. The provision safeguards investors from a leveraged buyout. An investor may also redeem the bonds if they are downgraded below investment grade.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan are leading the sale.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120208-714430.html

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Latitude Software and PaymentVision Offer Integrated Debt Collection and Electronic Payment Solution

February 9th, 2012
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Latitude Software, an Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. company (Nasdaq: ININ), and PaymentVision have partnered to offer an integrated debt collection and electronic payment solution.

The integrated solution was designed to help customers reduce costs, more quickly receive settlements, and increase compliance.

“Before we deployed the integrated Latitude and PaymentVision solution we were doing everything manually,” said Western Mass. Credit Corp.’s president and CEO, Linda Lata. “Following deployment, we immediately saw an increase in collections. There’s no longer a bottleneck at our credit card and Web terminal, our IVR captures calls that would have been lost to disconnections, and we are now PCI-compliant. Overall this has been a great experience for us.”

Latitude provides debt collection software and services for collection agencies, first-party creditors, debt buyers, and law firms. Its software suite, which can be delivered via a premise or hosted model, manages all pre- and post-charge-off accounts and the entire collection workflow process. The software suite’s open architecture was designed to help customers improve communications and account tracking for more effective debt recovery.

“Our partner mission is to deliver the most feature-rich solution that streamlines the payment collection process, boosts productivity, and increases PCI compliance,” said PaymentVision CEO, Robert Pollin. “Latitude’s offering perfectly supports this mission by giving our joint customers added value through a flexible, easy to use, yet comprehensive solution.”

The PaymentVision solution enables customers to accept ACH, check, and credit or debit card payments by phone or through Internet channels. PaymentVision’s electronic payment services give customers reduced administrative overhead, additional payment channels, and PCI compliance advantages. The company’s “no hold, no reserve” feature offers flexible settlement options so that customers can leverage their current banking relationships, thus eliminating hold requirements and accelerating funds receipt.

“Our mission is to offer flexible and complete solutions that give our customers a competitive edge,” said Latitude president, Carl Harkleroad. “PaymentVision helps us deliver on that mission by adding powerful automated payment features to our suite, such as its unique ‘no hold, no reserve’ capability. We’re proud to partner with PaymentVision to give our joint customers an even greater competitive advantage.”

Source:http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120208005555/en/debt-collection-software/accounts-receivable-management-software/electronic-payment-solution

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Callidus Software Slips To Wider Q4 Loss

February 9th, 2012
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Callidus Software Inc. (CALD) reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.6 million or $0.11 per share, wider than last year’s loss of $1.5 million or $0.04 per share.

Results include $3.4 million of stock-based compensation expense, $513,000 of restructuring expense, $716,000 amortization of acquired intangible assets, $810,000 convertible note related items, $369,000 patent litigation cost, $517,000 acquisition related expense and a tax benefit of $2.4 million

Last year, results included $1.4 million of stock-based compensation expense, $35,000 of restructuring expense, $157,000 of amortization of acquired intangible assets, $160,000 for impairment of an acquired intangible asset, and $94,000 of patent litigation cost.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter, excluding the one-time items, was $0.3 million compared to $0.4 million last year. Adjusted earnings per share remained flat at last year’s $0.01.

Total revenues for the quarter increased 18 percent to $22.5 million from last year’s $19.1 million in the same quarter.

On average, 5 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.01 per share on revenues of $22.32 million for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The company reported 42 percent year over year growth in SaaS revenue and 41 percent year over year growth in SaaS billings.

Gross margin for the period was consistent from the year-ago quarter at 45 percent. Non-GAAP gross margin increased to 52 percent from last year’s 46 percent.

Leslie Stretch, president and CEO, said,” We achieved sequential increases in total revenues for the eighth consecutive quarter and non-GAAP profitability for the sixth consecutive quarter. We met our targeted 60% Non-GAAP gross margin and gained a record number of 103 new customers in the fourth quarte

Looking forward to the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the company expects total revenue to be between $22.0 million and $23.0 million. Analysts expect revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 to be $22.95 million.

Source:http://www.nasdaq.com/article/callidus-software-slips-to-wider-q4-loss-20120208-01862

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Kenya unveils a software certification program

February 9th, 2012
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In order to mediate the software skills gap, the Kenya ICT Board is partnering with local and international universities to ensure companies have an easy and reliable way to identify skilled software developers in Kenya.

Chipuka will be the first “authentic” examination that would be attuned to the needs of the industry in general and incorporate a broad selection of professional tools.

A pilot exam will be ready by March 2013; the certification should be fully operational in Kenya by October 2013.

The Kenya ICT Board has introduce a certification program for software developers in Kenya. Dubbed ,Chipuka, (Swahili word for Emerge), the program will offer credential examination for software developers and would help employers to easily identify software developers that have the skills necessary to carry out IT jobs to a professional and world class standard.

The move is informed by a study carried out in 2011 by the Kenya ICT Board and IDC which revealed a software skills gap in Kenya. “Although there is a high demand for software development in Kenya, few companies source these skills locally. At least a quarter of companies surveyed said they were not satisfied with the quality of IT professionals in the local market. As a result, nearly a third, plan to contract external providers,” partly reads a statement by the Kenya ICT Board.

The survey predicts that the demand for software developers will grow by 135 per cent between 2011 and 2013.

“In order to spur innovation in ICT, we need our youth to be equipped with marketable skills,” said Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Communications, “This certification will help us market our talent and grow the job market for young developers.”

Localized cross-vendor certification

The Kenya ICT Board recognizes that there are a number of certification programs for software engineers available in Kenya.

But many of those programs only test for general knowledge of software, rather than actually requiring someone to write software. Others certify competence for only certain software environments or only a certain vendor’s tool set.

Chipuka will be the first “authentic” examination that would be attuned to the needs of the industry in general and incorporate a broad selection of professional tools.

A pilot exam will be ready by March 2013; the certification should be fully operational in Kenya by October 2013.

Source:http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate+News/-/539550/1321846/-/sp445v/-/

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SAP to upgrade its business suite software

February 9th, 2012
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Aims to deliver incremental updates without interrupting customers’ business, says the company

SAP has said it will updrade its business suite software to allow the delivery of incremental updates without interrupting customers’ business, driven by business needs, not technical requirements.

The SAP Business Suite software upgrades will include new user experiences for professional and casual users, such as landing pages and side panels with integrated analytics.

SAP will upgrade its Supply Network Collaboration (SAP SNC) application to improve analysis of suppliers’ performance and drive increased adoption within a partner ecosystem.

In another upgrade, a new user interface (UI) will be developed which the company says will allow users to compile target groups for marketing campaigns from multiple high-volume data sources.

The company is planning to introduce a new UI into SAP Enterprise Asset Management (SAP EAM) offering to enable maintenance workers to carry out their daily tasks more easily and efficiently.

SAP Travel Management application is also planned to simplify receipt management and accelerate reimbursement processes for business travelers.

In addition, the company will provide side panels with contextual information, such as notes, attachments, analytical and Web content, in order to improve the user experience for professional finance users.

With enhancements to batch handling, cost planning, and label printing in SAP ERP, manufacturers will gain the ability to increase their operational efficiency in production, said the company.

SAP AG Line of Business Solutions general manager and head Peter Maier said SAP customers change and evolve their business models for sustainable growth.

“Better and more flexible software solutions are critical to stay competitive. The innovations we outline today do not disrupt our customers’ business with big upgrades, and give them the tools they need to run better in an ever-changing global market,” said Maier.

Source:http://enterpriseapplications.cbronline.com/news/sap-upgrades-its-business-suite-software-070212

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