Open-source software has been on the rise at many businesses during the extended economic downturn, and one of the areas where it is starting to offer companies a lot of flexibility and cost savings is in cloud computing. Cloud deployments can save money, free businesses from vendor lock-ins that could really sting over time, and offer flexible ways to combine public and private applications. The following are 11 top open-source cloud applications, services, educational resources, support options, general items of interest, and more. Continue »

The rich mobile carriers got a little richer in the third quarter, as the nation’s top two operators increased their leads over the rest of the field. Verizon Wireless added a million subscribers and posted revenue of $15.8 billion, up 24.4 percent year-over-year, while AT&T reported 2 million net adds — thanks largely to the iPhone — and $13.65 in revenue, up 8 percent over the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the increasingly heated prepaid space took its toll on Leap Wireless and MetroPCS, as both service providers saw customer growth slide in the third quarter.  Continue »

Google evangelist Vint Cerf, who many people think of as one of the fathers of the Internet, has his eyes on some interesting Earth-based applications that can work with his long-standing interplanetary extensions of the Net. He announced at the Open Mobile Summit this morning a software stack that sits on top of the open-source Android operating system that could strengthen wireless network communications through his DTN (Delay Tolerant Netorking) Interplanetary Net protocol.

Cerf has been working with NASA since 1998 to develop DTN as a way to overcome limitations in the TCP/IP protocol when fast, one-to-one communications aren’t possible, especially over long distances. NASA has already show DTN to be effective for communications between Earth-based networks and outposts in deep space.  Can the protocol greatly increase the coverage and service reliability of our mobile networks and devices? Continue »

The final results are in: eBay and private investors led by Silver Lake Partners have struck a deal with Skype founders and JoltID, the technology company controlled by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. They are also transferring the ownership of intellectual property needed to make sure that Skype works as an Internet telephony service. More than 500 million Skype subscribers can breathe a sigh of relief. Skype founders will be making an investment in the new entity and will get a 14 percent stake in the company. The deal is likely to close in the fourth quarter. Those are the facts. Below the fold you can read my winner-and-loser scorecard on this deal. Continue »

Earlier this decade, when cable companies started their foray into the phone business, not many gave them much of a chance to succeed. Sure, they could sell a lot of broadband connections, but no one thought they would be players in telecom services such as voice. Fast-forward to today, and the situation is entirely different. During the first half of 2009, cable companies across the globe generated about $30 billion in telecom service revenues, according to Telegeography, a market research company. Voice, in fact, has become the secret weapon for cable companies around the world. Continue »

We’re only a few hours into the official Droid era, but already it appears that Motorola’s bet on Google’s mobile OS was a good move. The first Android 2.0 device is conjuring memories of the iPhone’s debut, prompting techies to line up by the dozen in Manhattan, inspiring a tweeting frenzy on Twitter and helping to boost shares of the Schaumburg, Ill.-based phone manufacturer. But to fully leverage all the hype, Motorola should invest in ads that push its brand and increase consumer awareness. Continue »

“Remember the scene in the movie “Minority Report” where Tom Cruise uses hand gestures instead of a mouse to interact with a computer screen displayed on the wall? The idea isn’t really that far-fetched, and software developer Pranav Mistry has been working on making it a reality.”

Mistry has created SixthSense, writes Lisa Hoover on OStatic today, a wearable gesture interface that uses a camera and mini projector to display data and information onto surfaces, walls, and even your hand. Customized fingertip sensors let you manipulate the data and use your hands to interact with it. The Ph.D. student announced plans during a presentation at the TEDIndia conference this week to release SixthSense under an open-source license in the coming months. You can check out a video of SixthSense here, and more photos here. And, find out more about the accelerating gesture control space here.