Gooer announced a mobile phone service that enables customers to access their remote PC using mobile phones or PDAs. Unlike other service providers, Gooer does not need the remote PC to have a public IP or route configuration. Customers can access their PC behind NAT or firewalls without any configuration to their network.

QSound Labs announced that its mQFX and QSurroundMobile technologies will be made available on Symbian OS as a reference component. mQFX, for 3D stereo audio enhancement effects, and QSurroundMobile, the multichannel audio virtualization technology, will be available in Symbian OS developer and customer kits and can be used for test and demonstration purposes. QSound's mQFX and QSurroundMobile will provide extended functionality for Symbian OS mobile phones, delivering a superior listening experience for all types of multimedia content.

Apple has finally bought PA Semi, the fab-less low-power PowerPC start-up that supposedly swooned when Apple switched from the PowerPC Intel. What Apple's going to do with it now become fodder for the speculators. The iPhone uses an 32-bit ARM-derived chip that Intel would love to displace with its newfangled Atom processor.

While SCO is only days away from a court appearance in Utah that's supposed to determine how much money it owes to Novell, a necessary step before it tries to get all legal decisions related to Novell overturned, it's cut a revenue-sharing deal with FranklinCovey that will put the mobile widgetry it's developed for FranklinCovey on BlackBerries, Windows Mobile smart phones and PCs.

An on-the-beach IT executive who's been watching a lot of political coverage lately called to ask what cabinet post Carly Fiorina was likely to get if John McCain is elected because Carly, now the so-called 'victory chairman' of the Republican National Committee, has become McCain's Siamese twin - in every shot, he said.

Nuance Communications announced that Avaya has selected speech solutions from Nuance to enhance the employee productivity and collaboration options of its unified communications offering. As part of the agreement, Nuance speech recognition will ship as a standard component of Avaya Modular Messaging 4.0, with the inclusion of Avaya one-X Speech. Avaya one-X Speech is a 'hands-free' user interface enabling users to access, interact with and manage email and voice mail, tasks and calendaring, and calling and conferencing capabilities - all via speech commands from any telephone.

Zimbra announced the availability of its ZimbraME (Java Mobile Edition) client and source code for businesses. Users of any Java-enabled mobile phone will have access to the complete collaboration solution. The ZimbraME client provides Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) Open Source and Network Edition users worldwide with free access to the Zimbra experience with e-mail and calendar on mass-market Java-enabled mobile phones. This extends Zimbra's reach of services to the broadest range of devices available in the market and builds on Yahoo!'s standing in e-mail and mobile Web services and as a key starting point for consumers.

Curl announced the beta release of Curl Nitro, the code name for an extension of the Curl Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform which offers enhanced desktop capabilities required by today's enterprises. The Nitro extension simplifies the process of installing and managing Curl applications accessed via a browser as well as directly from the desktop. Curl Nitro is the only platform for both traditional RIA and Desktop RIA that provides enterprise-level security, high performance and support for large data sets.

Fortress Technologies announced that it has been selected to assist in the development and delivery of a prototype mobile ad hoc wireless network for deployment in the wireless tactical battlespace. Partnering with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dam Neck - a component of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) - Fortress will execute the delivery of the prototype protocol system, which includes a complete mesh network, under the $1.4 million grant program titled 'Secure, Robust Tactical Wireless 'Mesh' Network.'

Motorola, which needs all the help it can get, has invested some undisclosed amount of money in VirtualLogic, the company that can put multiple operating systems concurrently in embedded devices like cell phones and infrastructure equipment complements of real-time virtualization. Cisco, Intel and Texas Instruments as well as Atlas Ventures and DFJ Esprit have also invested in the start-up.

kannuu announced the kannuu Developer Network (kDN). kannuu unveiled its network with SDKs, which will boost content discovery, in multiple environments. Expected to drive a needle moving advancement, kannuu's Developer Network provides SDKs, empowering effective application development for indispensable services to consumers, developers, and publishers.

Silverlight 2.0 is a freaking phenomenal RIA development environment and I would actually, at this point, put the development experience in Silverlight 2.0 above and beyond Flex. I can do more faster and have it look better and run more efficiently in Silverlight 2.0 than I can in Flex. BUT, when you're looking for case studies, look for ones where the person or organization who adopted Silverlight did so of their own volition, without being approached by Microsoft. I'm interested in hardcore, unbiased opinions from people who have been in the trenches doing their own coding, not watching Microsoft consultants do the coding for them. There are plenty of case studies like that out there, you just have to look past the shiny bouncing balls that are the Olympics and the Oscars and all the other crap that probably cost Microsoft a hojillion dollars in marketing funds and incentives.

Seagate Technology, the disk drive biggie, sued STEC, the solid-state memory comer, on Monday charging it with infringing four of its patents and raising fears in some corners that solid-state innovation could suffer. The suit is first time a hard drive maker has gone after a solid-state company and was lodged as STEC has started going after Seagate's core server, PC and laptop business rather than just phones, cameras and MP3 players.

The SCO Group announced the availability of a new release of its HipCheck solution, version 1.1. HipCheck sets triggers for real-time event alerts and the ability to respond to alerts by viewing critical parameters and executing system commands from the convenience of a mobile phone. These new enhancements provide system administrators with monitoring and intervention features, and provides support on a wider variety of smart phones, including BlackBerry, Nokia, and Samsung models. HipCheck is a mobile administration solution that combines system monitoring and alerts with secure mobile intervention. HipCheck allows IT managers to use Windows Mobile or Java-capable mobile phones to monitor Windows or UNIX systems or other UNIX variants.

Siemens Communications introduced the OpenScape Contact Center, a comprehensive voice, unified communications and customer interaction software solution designed to work with virtually any existing telephony environment. It is based on Siemens' OpenScape Unified Communications (UC) Server, which removes the artificial legacy barriers between separate voice, video and unified communications systems to enable a comprehensive suite of UC applications.

Apatar announced the CDYNE Phone Verification connector for the Apatar Open Source Data Integration toolset. The new connector determines the validity of any U.S. or Canadian phone number using CDYNE Web services, all without coding. Now Apatar enables any business user to verify and filter customer phone numbers extracted from databases (such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL, Oracle), files (Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, CSV/TXT files), applications (Salesforce.com, SugarCRM), and the top Web 2.0 destinations (Flickr, Amazon S3, RSS feeds).

Microsoft unveiled Microsoft BizTalk RFID Mobile - a lightweight platform for a variety of mobile devices, which simplifies the development of mobile applications that expose relevant, real-time business information. BizTalk RFID Mobile enables delivery of relevant information from mobile devices to core business processes. Microsoft made available a private beta with general availability expected in late 2008.

Sigma Resources & Technologies announced that the company grew its customer base in key verticals by 250 percent in 2007. Companies who bought Sigma's flagship product SigmationTF, an automation framework for testing TCP/IP-based network products, and/or Sigma's professional services include Motorola, NetXen and Supermicro.

Fiorano Software announced that ThirdScreenMedia, a software company dedicated to advertising on mobile devices, selected FioranoMQ to increase its throughput from 30 million messages per day (MPD) to 100 million MPD. Mobile advertising is a guerilla type venture to an evident market in a cost effective manner but both time and accuracy are very critical. FioranoMQ allows ThirdScreenMedia to connect their native C++ applications to their mobile advertisement platform enabling them to reliably manage the rapid increase in traffic from 1 million MPD to 100 million MPD.

Cisco announced new solutions that further optimize branch offices of all sizes, allowing companies to customize branch networks to meet their unique business needs. By opening its Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR) and Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) platforms to customers and third-party application developers, Cisco enables its customers to optimize the branch infrastructure while extending their accessibility to business resources. It also provides Cisco channel partners with new opportunities to deliver differentiated solutions and services that better align with customers' business needs.

AccuWeather.com announced that their Zumobi weather has ranked in the top three most downloaded Tiles since its launch in January 2008. 'Zumobi widgets for your mobile phone have revolutionized the way our users access, retrieve, and share mobile data, but in order to fully realize the value to the user, that data has to be relevant to the user's needs,' Eric Hertz, CEO of Zumobi said. 'We are happy to work with content partners like AccuWeather.com to provide content that is truly localized, timely, and personalized to the user experience.'

Opera Software announced that the Opera Mini browser for mobile phones is available for the Android platform. This technical preview release is available at labs.opera.com, inviting the Android development community to test the fresh build and share feedback with Opera for the forthcoming beta. Opera Mini for Android makes the company's fast-performing and device-adapting Web experience available to any range of handset built on Android.

The mouse was the original idea of Doug Engelbart who was the head of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute. Engelbart's philosophy is best embodied, in my opinion, in the design of another device that he invented, the five-finger keyboard - with keys like a piano, used by one hand. The problem was, Engelbart's five-finger keyboard and mouse combination was very difficult to learn.

Now, what Google announced is really exciting! I'm not kidding. It's even better than I hoped. Yes, it's only Python, but IBM's PC-DOS was only BASIC and Pascal when it first came out, and it didn't matter. Yeah, I preferred C, but I coded in Pascal because that's what you had to do to get an app running. What you're going to see here that you've never seen before is shrinkwrap net apps that scale that can be deployed by civillians. That's a mouthful, but that's what's coming. Why? Because here is a standardized platform that can be stamped out in the billions of units. Maybe Google can't do it, but the perception is that they can. Who is willing to stand up and say Google hasn't nailed scaling? What PCs did in the 80s, Google is doing now. PCs took the black magic out of owning a computer.

Told ya Adobe was gonna reorganize and put its mobile/devices operation in with its platform operation in the name of moving to a single technology platform and runtime for PCs, handsets and consumer devices. Adobe's new CTO Kevin Lynch, the creator of AIR, is basically in charge of the whole magilla now. Gary Kovacs, VP of product management and marketing for the mobile and devices business, will be general manager of the unit, reporting to Lynch, replacing Al Ramadan, who is leaving.

Airwide Solutions announced version 5.0 of its AirGate products. AirGate is an advanced application and traffic management platform for delivery of third-party applications and value-added services across multiple delivery channels - SMS, MMS, WAP and the Web. The latest version reduces the time to launch innovative services from days to minutes, and enables operators to define new business models and adapt to changing technology.

Fortress Technologies announced that it has been selected as part of the Telos Corporation team to support the U.S. Army's Combat Service Support Automated Information System Interface (CAISI) program. Under the terms of the agreement, Fortress will provide its ES520 Secure Wireless Access Bridges as part of the overall implementation. Telos will deploy the Fortress component as the anchor of the solution, creating the CAISI Bridge Module that the Army will use to provide connectivity from soldiers on the battlefield to their logistics networks.

You're going to be 20 minutes late for a final review sales meeting. Traffic is slow, but moving, so you don't want to risk sending a text message to your contact and get in an accident. You know she's in a meeting so you don't want to call her cell phone either. What do you do? Until a couple of years ago, you'd have to either call or dial the main number and leave a message with the receptionist. The recent emergence of voice SMS has provided a more palatable alternative. You simply record a message that you'll be late into your cell phone, and press send to deliver that message to your contact. She'll see that she has a message, and will press a button when she's ready to access it.

Intel introduced five versions of its new Atom chip and the Atom Centrino platform, once code named Menlow, at its Developer Forum in Shanghai Wednesday, the stuff of its so-called life-altering Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and newfangled embedded solutions. Four years in the making, the widgetry includes the Atom processor, a k a Silverthorne, and a single low-power chip with integrated 3D graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub that's supposed to enable the promised PC-like capabilities and long battery life in gismos that slip in your pocket.

Rumor has it that in the next few weeks Adobe is going to 'reorganize' its Mobile and Device business unit where its Jobs-criticized Flash Lite lives and send the engineers to go work with the larger platform effort and Flash proper, which Jobs has also criticized. Presumably, Adobe is going to do what it takes to appease Jobs. It does want to be on the iPhone and needs Apple's help.

Zimbra announced the availability of its ZimbraME (Java Mobile Edition) client and source code for businesses. Users of any Java-enabled mobile phone will have access to the industry's most complete collaboration solution. The ZimbraME client provides Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) Open Source and Network Edition users worldwide with free access to the Zimbra experience with e-mail and calendar on mass-market Java-enabled mobile phones. This extends Zimbra's reach of services to the broadest range of devices available in the market and builds on Yahoo!'s e-mail and mobile Web services and as a key starting point for consumers.

Adobe has put an alpha pre-release of AIR for Linux up in hopes, it says, of getting feedback from the community, not to mention winning adherents. It's English-only. The company also joined the Linux Foundation to encourage the growth of RIA technologies on Linux, it said. The company says Linux developers can use HTML, AJAX, Flash and Flex to build rich Internet applications (RIAs) that deploy to desktops across operating systems.

If you're like me, you've probably been spending every waking moment you have eating, living, and breathing the iPhone SDK. Since March 6th, that's pretty much all I can think about once I get home. So, what do you do if you want to learn how to write iPhone apps, but you want to become a pro at iPhone SDK programming? Its one thing to read the SDK, page-by-page until your eyes bleed (what I do for fun), but most people like to hang out with other developers, get hands on, do labs, see demos, and generally get their hands dirty.

Mobyko has announced the launch of its web 2.0 online photo, video and text galleries, providing a way for mobile users to manage their social media. The galleries provide a desktop application experience on the web. The implementation and depth of functionality provides a seamless user experience. The galleries feature AJAX to provide the smooth transitions and special effects that have traditionally only been available in flash applications. Mobyko users are able to store, manage and share their mobile content for free.

The City of Augusta, Ga., announced that it is ready to proceed with its plan to implement a wireless broadband internet network by the end of this year. The second largest city in Georgia and home to the PGA's Masters Tournament will be releasing its Request for Proposal (RFP) within weeks.

Greenlight Wireless announced the release of the Skweezer Application Programming Interface (API), which assists developers with integrating Skweezer's content mobilization technology into new applications. Skweezer, a Web-based service that compresses desktop Web content for use on cell phones, has been integrated into a wide range of applications since its release in 2003. Installed mobile browsers, mobile Web site directories, and even Apple widgets are just a few ways that Skweezer has been integrated into the latest wave of Web application mashups.

'Unlocking content to be remixed into new business value' is the driver of Web 2.0 in the enterprise, says Rod Smith, IBM VP of Emerging Internet Technologies, in this Exclusive Q&A with Jeremy Geelan on the occasion of IBM's release of a new technology created by IBM researchers, codenamed 'SMash' - short for Secure Mashup.

Outbid by Verizon Wireless in the great American airwaves auction last week, Google plunked a six-page letter on the Federal Communication Commission's desk asking the government to make the 'white spaces' - the airspace between TV channels - available for unlicensed wireless data use by mobile devices. The notion is backed by Microsoft, Intel, HP, Dell and the North American arm of Philips Electronics, a k a the White Space Coalition, and opposed by broadcasters on the theory that it's going to interfere with TV reception.

'With Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, we are fundamentally changing the way consumers use the Internet on their mobile phones,' said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! as the search giant unveiled Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, a new version of its award-winning mobile search service. At launch, Search Assist is available for the iPhone and is expected to become available on additional AJAX-compatible devices.

Innaworks announced version 2.1 of alcheMo for BREW, the automated Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) to BREW porting solution. This new version of alcheMo is a product that targets the needs of the mobile application industry. alcheMo for BREW version 2.1 is capable of porting a broad range of standard Java ME mobile applications to BREW. alcheMo for BREW version 2.1 introduces support for the HTTP/HTTPS and File Connection APIs (JSR-75). In addition, alcheMo for BREW version 2.1 includes pre-production support for sockets and TCP, Location Based Services (JSR-179) and Personal Information Services (JSR-75).