The Industry Standard - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Apple, Cisco, Dell unhappy over alleged NSA back doors in their gear

  Germany's Der Spiegel reports that the NSA has compromised a wide range of hardware for years to enable its spying

• Oracle's 'reshape' deal with Microsoft just a certification deal

  Oracle Database, WebLogic Server, and Java now certified for Windows Azure and Hyper-V

• Google agrees to not abuse mobile patents, search ads, or search results

  To close a federal investigation into possibly anticompetitive business practices, Google agrees to a slew of changes

• Survey: Google Play gains on Apple App Store

  But iOS app sales still outpace Android app sales 4 to 1

• Windows 7 savior, Windows 8 champion out at Microsoft

  Steven Sinofsky leaves Redmond weeks after Windows 8's launch, but the Metro UI chief takes his place

• After drama, HP to keep its PC business after all

  Hewlett-Packard isn't going out of the PC business after all. Today, CEO Meg Whitman announced the company would continue to make and sell PCs, <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/t/data-discovery/what-it-means-if-hp-dumps-its-pc-business-170226">reversing a decision </a>made by her predecessor Léo Apotheker in August -- a decision that riled investors and employees and<a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/hp-board-ousts-apotheker-whitman-in-ceo-173762"> led to his ouster</a> in late September. Since the August announcement, <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/the-sharks-are-circling-hp-can-anyone-save-it-170747">HP's future has been repeatedly questioned</a>, as has the competence of its senior management. The appointment of board member Whitman as CEO <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/hps-meg-whitman-new-ceo-same-old-strategy-173792">added to the criticisms</a>.

• Steve Jobs' fierce life and legacy

  was a polarising force that reshaped the tech industry several times

• Java founder Gosling leaves Google for startup

  After only a few months at Google, Java founder James Gosling has left the search engine giant to go to a small startup company specializing in ocean-based robotics.

• Steve Jobs' fierce life and legacy

  Apple co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, has resigned as CEO from Apple today, after a remarkable career. (He will continue with Apple as chairman of the board.) Jobs is that rare person who truly has transformed an industry -- several times, in fact -- and in many ways changed the daily activities of people throughout the world. He is also a controversial man, reviled by many, loved by many, admired by many, and criticized by many.

• A consultant responds to '7 dirty consultant tricks'

  With more than 30 years in technology consulting, I feel I can safely make a few observations about the field. The first is, alas, I'm growing old with the industry. The second is that I've had quite a lot of experience with customer/consulting relationships over the years, both good and bad, from my early days in statistical consulting to my current position in professional services management at OpenBI.

• Users rule in smartphone picks, but IT has a big hand in tablets

  Mobile device management provider Good Technology's latest quarterly survey of the devices its thousands of customers manage through Good's tool shows clearly that users -- not companies -- select their own smartphones, a strong confirmation that the "bring your own device" (BYOD) trend is not just a temporary trend but is becoming the norm. (Good says the majority of its customers have already adopted BYOD.)

• McNealy: Sun could have won out over Linux

  Sun Microsystems' mishandling of Solaris on the Intel platform left an opening for Linux to&amp;nbsp;become established, when the company's Solaris OS could have won out instead, Sun co-founder and former CEO Scott McNealy said when interviewed Thursday evening by former Sun President Ed Zander at a Silicon Valley business and technology forum.

• Red Hat, Google challenge software patents

  Red Hat, Google, Dell, and several other companies have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging "poor quality" software patents, Red Hat said on Thursday.

• How to get tough with your tech vendors

  Planning a purchase from a major IT vendor? In this still-tough economy, negotiating pros recommend being aggressive and creative, as well as analyzing your requirements first so that you don't buy more than you need and know where you can compromise.