Oracle targets Red Hat

In its latest competitive move, Oracle will introduce a support service package aimed at winning customers away from Red Hat, which offers support services to businesses using the Linux open source operating system, reports SFGate.com.

Making the announcement at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco, CEO Larry Ellison said Red Hat Linux customers now had a choice: "You can very easily switch from Red Hat support to Oracle support. We will fix the bugs."

Ellison defended the move by saying the aim was not to kill Red Hat, but to speed up the adoption of Linux by making all versions better through making bug fixes immediately available to anyone who wants them. The service will be available in 145 countries and 27 languages.

PC manufacturers will not receive the final version of Microsoft`s Windows Vista operating system on schedule, reports PC World.

According to the report, a last minute bug took the Vista team by surprise last week and is expected to delay the delivery of the operating system by a week. Microsoft now says Vista will be released to manufacturing only on 8 November.

The business release of Vista, which Microsoft recently said was on track for release next month, is now expected to be released only near the end of November.

T-Mobile in the US has officially rolled out its HotSpot @Home dual-mode cellular/WiFi service in Seattle that enables users to switch from cellular calls to VOIP in wireless hotspots.

IP Communications says the new wireless service enables subscribers to make free phone calls using their @Home WiFi network or from any of the public WiFi hotspots which have been set up throughout the city, providing they have dual-mode phones.

The service provides "seamless handover" between cellular and WiFi networks using Unlicensed Mobile Access technology. The advantage of the service is that it allows subscribers to conserve their cellphone minutes and enables downloading of content faster than 3G cellular networks.

IBM researchers have developed a system that squirts water over the surface of a processor to cool it, promising huge benefits for server farms, reports News.com.

The solution is described as a "chip cap" that is filled with a network of channels that can help capture the heat generated by microprocessors and other semiconductors and transport it somewhere else.

So far, the researchers have demonstrated how the cap can help spread thermal grease more evenly, but the team also plans to experiment with ways of squirting water through the channels. Some server chips have included liquid-filled pipes placed near microprocessors to cool off chips.

The code that prevents music downloaded from Apple`s iTunes store being played on any portable player other than an iPod has been "cracked", reports BBC News.

Apple has not commented on claims that Jon Lech Johansen has "reverse engineered" the FairPlay system, but he has made a name circumventing software used to restrict the use of digital media and says he plans to license the code to other digital music player manufacturers.

The report says Johansen`s new "workaround" could help companies sell iTunes compatible products that could start to erode iPod`s dominance of the digital music market.