IBM Acquires Sterling Commerce From AT&T For $1.4 Billion

IBM is acquiring Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. Sterling Commerce applications streamline the commerce lifecycle from selling to fulfillment to payments. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2010.

IBM says the acquisition of Sterling will expand its ability to help organizations connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models.More than 18,000 customers use Sterling Commerce offerings.

This year, IBM bought up cloud computing company Cast Iron, health care data management firm Initiate and Intelliden. Last year, IBM acquired six companies, including Guardium, RedPill Solutions, SPSS, Ounce Labs, Exeros and Outblaze.

Information provided by CrunchBase


The List Of Startups Launching At TechCrunch Disrupt

We are only a few hours away from kicking off the first ever TechCrunch Disrupt conference and we are thrilled to announce the 20 startups that were chosen out of hundreds to present their applications over the next few days. We will also hear pitches from the two StartupAlley companies that receive the most votes over the next two days.

These startups will battle it out over three intense days, with one of these startups eventually taking home $50,000.

Audioo: The Audioo platform allows users to auto-stream, publicly share, and store voicemails from handsets and services including Google Voice.

Appbistro: Appbistro is an application marketplace for Facebook pages.

Art.sy: Art.sy is the destination to discover and share original fine art online.

Betterment: Betterment is intended to be a replacement for your savings account, allowing you to invest in two portfolios.

ChompOn: ChompOn allows any business to run its own social flash sales.

Compass Labs: Compass Labs is a social e-commerce ad network for Twitter.

Fluidinfo: FluidInfo is a Wikipedia of databases – a shared online always-writable cloud database.

Geotoko: Geotoko is a promotional campaign management platform for geo location based services.

Keenkong: Keenkong is a social media monitoring engine that extracts why people are talking, what are they talking about, who they are and then segments messages accordingly.

Live Matrix: Live Matrix is a guide to video events and streams taking place on the web.

Movieclips.com: Movieclips.com is an online database of movie clips.

NoiseToys: NoiseToys is a software company uses games and competition to encourage users to share and discover music.

Off & Away: Off & Away is an online travel site that offers exceptional travel experiences in fun and unique ways.

Publish2: Publish2 allows newspapers to create a comprehensive, customized newswire for print.

Soluto: Soluto’s software aims to detect PC users’ frustrations, reveal their cause, learn which actions really eliminate them and improve user experience.

Textingly: Textingly provides a texting address, a web management console and apis for businesses to create immediate, two-way dialog with their customers.

Tickreel: Tickreel is a web filter that makes the web less of a black box and significantly improves how users consume the web.

UJAM: UJAM is a cloud-based platform that allows users to create new music or enhance their existing musical talent and share it with friends.

VideoGenie: VideoGenie allows companies to customer-source video testimonials.

WeReward: WeReward is a mobile incentive platform that rewards consumers for check-ins or performing tasks.


“Evil” App Displays Cell Numbers Of Unwitting Facebook Users

Back in the early cretaceous period – ok, make that 2006 – users of Facebook thought they were using a private social network. As a result they did all sorts of things which they probably wouldn’t have made public. Of course, now we know that Mark Zuckerberg believes that “if people share more, the world will become more open and connected”. In plain English that means Facebook wants to open up much of your data to the outside world, assuming you haven’t gone through your privacy settings with a fine-toothed comb. And as we all now know “Public” on Facebook effectively means “On Google”. Now, London-based developer Tom Scott has created a Web app called, simply, Evil which randomly displays the private phone numbers of unsuspecting Facebook users.


TechCrunch Disrupt: The Whole Event (And More) Streaming Live On TC

The waiting – as they say – is almost over.

In a few short hours the starting gun will be fired for the very first TechCrunch Disrupt conference. Over 1500 attendees have registered to join us in New York for a three day program of keynotes and panels featuring some of the most disruptive names in technology, plus the startup battlefield where 22 would-be disruptive companies will compete head to head for the Disrupt Cup (and $50k in cash). The buzz on Twitter speaks for itself – #tcdisrupt is the conference that everyone is talking about.

But if you can’t make it to NYC, we have some great news: we’ll be live streaming the entire event right here, beginning at 8:30am Eastern (5:30am Pacific).

But at Disrupt, ‘live streaming’ doesn’t mean we’re just pointing a camera at the stage. Oh no. For a start, there will be three cameras broadcasting all the action from the main stage. But also, during the gaps between sessions, and over the lunch and coffee breaks, our own Evelyn Rusli will be hosting a series of exclusive backstage interviews with judges, speakers, panelists and contest participants. We’ll also be covering all the action from start-up alley and the conference hallways, plus highlights of the after-parties and a few extra surprises that are too awesome to spoil here in advance. Joining Evelyn, expect to see a star-studded line-up of TC writers and editors on screen throughout the day(s).

All in all, that’s nine hours of live and uninterrupted Disruption each day, for three days.

In fact we’re expecting the live stream to be so great that even those lucky enough to be at the conference will still want to watch the coverage back when they get home. Which luckily they will be able to do as every single panel, keynote, start-up battlefield session, backstage interview and awesome surprise will be available to watch again on demand, minutes after each one ends. AND for those of you who aren’t on Eastern Time, we’ll be re-running the best of the conference overnight too.

Of course, all of this impressive programming requires some equally impressive technology. And for that we’re eternally grateful for the support of our broadcast partner, Livestream. Livestream has sent a full crew – plus a ton of technology – to Disrupt to ensure that you don’t miss a moment of the action. We couldn’t have done any of this without them, particularly CEO Max Haot and Head of Production, Otto Cedeno.

Speaking of people we couldn’t have done this without – this seems like a perfect time to give credit to producer Sophia Kittler who will be coordinating over 27 hours of video over the next three days, and also to Evelyn Rusli who will be in the studio for most of that time. Sophia and Evelyn have been working their assess off these past days and weeks, in addition to their day jobs preparing for the imminent launch of TechCrunch TV. I’m nominally the ‘creative director’ – whatever that means – of the on-screen programming, but really it’s Sophia and Evelyn who have done all of the hard work – both creatively and logistically. Kudos to them both.

One final thing: you too can be part of the Disrupt TV action simply by ensuring that you use the hashtage #tcdisrupt when you tweet about the event. We’ll be picking our favourite tweets and scrolling them across the bottom of the screen throughout the conference. We’ll do our best to read some of them out on air too.

Ok – that’s all until 8:30am. Stay tuned!


Printing Objects Is A Snap With MakerBots (Video)

Now, for under $1,000 you can print your own objects in 3D. Just take a look at how it’s done in this video, which I took over the weekend before Disrupt got started. We had a Hackathon with about 300 engineers who came to cobble together software and hardware products in 24 hours. Among them was Zach Hoeken of MakerBot Industries. His MakerBot is making an open-source toilet holder (which may not be something the world really needs, but it sure does look cool).

The MakerBot can print almost any small object from a design file on your computer: open-source toilet holders, open-source bottle openers, human figurines. It prints it out in layers of plastic. The designs are open-source, allowing anybody to manufacture them without paying a royalty. People share their 3D designs on Thingiverse. Come on, you know you want one.


Three Quick Snacks That Keep You Productive

If you’re looking for snacks that keep you going – and going in the right direction – during your day, there’s a few choices that will help you “keep your steam” throughout the day.  While there are more out there, here’s three that I keep handy that will get you started:

Almonds
Quick and easy brain food.  Keep these at your desk and you’ve got a healthy – and helpful – snack in the palm of your hands.

Cucumbers
When it comes to the movement of eating alkaline-rich foods, this one is a good starting point.  Acidic foods are said to lower energy and alkaline foods are said to create energy as it keeps us pH balanced.  While you may not be into all that, there’s no doubt that they’re healthy, bite-sized and chock-full of water.

Water
In order to keep moving (both physically and mentally) you need ot be hydrated.  Drink plenty of it and you’ll get plenty done.

Keep these three snacking options at the ready and you’ll be on your way to a more productive day!

Osborne gives £6.2bn cuts detail

Chancellor George Osborne and Treasury Chief Secretary David Laws

The government is to spell out where it will cut £6bn in spending this year, saying immediate action is needed to start rectifying the UK’s finances.

Conservative Chancellor George Osborne and his Lib Dem deputy David Laws will outline cuts across all departments.

Budgets for IT, property, advertising and recruitment are expected to be cut, while some quangos could be abolished.

Ministers admit the cuts will be "painful" and Labour say they are a step too far.

Monday’s announcement is the first step in the coalition government’s attempt to eliminate the bulk of the UK’s record peacetime deficit – likely to total £156bn this year – over the next five years.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said its decisions will be "unpopular and controversial" but the government must "hold its nerve" and tough decisions will help maintain spending in key areas.

Austerity measures

Some of the £6bn will be reinvested into schemes for employment and economic growth as the UK emerges from recession.

The move comes ahead of the government’s emergency Budget on 22 June and its autumn review of long-term departmental spending when the full scale of future austerity measures will become clearer.

During the election, the Lib Dems and Conservatives disagreed over the need for cuts this year but those differences were put aside as both sides made compromises in their coalition deal.

They agreed to speed up action on the deficit, warning that Greece’s debt crisis and the wider financial instability across Europe highlight the dangers of putting off action any longer.

Monday’s focus will be on "non-priority" areas, with ministers insisting they are clamping down on waste and that services on which the most vulnerable in society rely will be untouched.

But BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said people would still feel the impact of the decisions, and jobs would go in some areas.

The chancellor is expected to announce a saving of £163m from restraining recruitment, including a recruitment freeze across the civil service.

Savings from discretionary spending, which includes consultancy, travel, office furnishing and advertising, are expected to reach more than £1bn and £10m will be saved from cracking down on first class travel for civil servants, our correspondent added.

Budgets of so-called quangos are set to fall by more than £500m, with bodies such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency – which oversees the national curriculum – and the Young Persons Learning Agency facing big cutbacks or even closure.

The Tories say quango spending has risen by nearly £10bn in the past few years and many decisions should be taken by ministers instead.

Recent figures show the number of quangos fell by 60 between 2007 and 2009 but staff numbers rose from 95,000 to 110,000.

‘First test’

The budget of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is set to fall by £700m, with "significant cuts" to regional development agencies in the south of England and further savings on the universities budget.

Spending across Whitehall on travel, equipment and consultancy services is likely to be slashed, IT projects put on hold, procurement contracts re-negotiated and government buildings rationalised.

There is also likely to be tighter control over hiring across most departments, with a recruitment freeze in some areas.

Cuts of £6bn would amount to a 1.5% fall in central departmental spending and a 0.8% reduction in overall government expenditure, according to figures in Labour’s last Budget in March.

The coalition has ordered an audit of all spending commitments approved since the start of the year, saying ex-ministers were guilty of profligacy and making pledges they knew they could not meet.

Labour have said Monday’s announcement will be the "first test" of the government’s priorities and argue it will expose their claim to be able tackle the deficit without harming the economic recovery.

They believe cuts should be delayed until the economy is stronger.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.