Lotus looks to cloud

International Business Machines, the world's third-biggest software maker, will release an online version of its Lotus programs, a bid to attract new customers by tapping into so-called cloud computing, reports Bloomberg.

LotusLive will allow users to create networks with business partners and customers, IBM said in a statement.

The software is delivered through the Internet, which is represented as a cloud on network diagrams, hence the term. That frees customers from having to store programs on their own computers.

Citrix Systems is working with Intel to develop a "bare metal" hypervisor for client PCs, which proponents say could broaden the use of desktop virtualisation by overcoming some of the technology's shortcomings today, writes PC World.

Citrix plans to deliver the hypervisor in the second half of the year with the first release of a new product, code-named Project Independence, which Citrix says will make it easier to create and centrally manage virtual desktop images for PCs used in the workplace.

A bare metal hypervisor should improve on today's desktop virtualisation by providing better security, because the hypervisor runs independently of the client OS, and better performance for end-users, because it allows applications to run on the local client instead of a remote server, the companies said.

Cisco's CTO said in her blog Monday that Cisco is looking at ways to develop a common data centre architecture, indirectly confirming rumours that the networking vendor is entering the server business, says ChannelWeb.

The blog was written in response to speculation that Cisco is entering new markets, including the server business, as first reported by Channelweb in late December.

Padmasree Warrior, Cisco CTO, wrote on Monday that Cisco is developing technology based on an architectural approach the company calls unified computing.