Stories by Ephraim Schwartz

RFID gets active and smart

WhereNet Corp., a wireless location and communications company, will unveil later this week WhereSoft Vehicle, a VTMS (vehicle tracking and management system) that will for the first time marry RFID and business rules to automate workflow.

PeopleSoft inks deal with Perfect Commerce

Looking to simplify the use of its procurement offerings for suppliers, PeopleSoft announced on Tuesday a deal with Perfect Commerce to bundle access to its Open Supplier Network as part of the PeopleSoft Enterprise eProcurement suite.

Applications, supplied on demand

To hear John Dillon tell it, "the enterprise software model is prehistoric and outdated." Dillon, the former chief exectuive of Salesforce.com, is currently chief executive and president of Navis, a supply chain distribution and logistic software vendor. And he's a big supporter of software as a service.

Wal-Mart promises RFID will benefit suppliers

Wal-Mart Stores wrapped up its three-day RFID event for suppliers this week with additional RFID product tag compliance dates for tier one and tier two suppliers and some optimistic words about the benefits of RFID for its supplier network.

Microsoft wades in BI waters

Microsoft inched closer to the BI applications space on Wednesday with the release of two BI accelerators for SQL Server 2000 and SharePoint Portal Server.

Supply chain by numbers

Long the exclusive domain of AI (artificial intelligence) research, statistical probability analysis got its real start during World War II, when military intelligence wanted a way to predict possible outcomes. Throughout the 1950s, the field was continued by mathematicians such as John Nash, and now this complex discipline is becoming the stuff of ordinary business applications.

MasterCard launches spend analysis tool

Hoping to capitalize on the sorry state of the enterprise to view it own spend data, MasterCard Advisors the professional services division of MasterCard International Inc., will launch this week Purchase Logic, an enterprise spending analysis tool.

Students uncover new Wi-Fi vulnerability

Students at the Queensland University of Technology Information Security Research Centre in Australia have uncovered a flaw in an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) protocol that allows attackers with a simple Wi-Fi-enabled handheld device to effectively shut down a wireless local area network.

Microsoft unveils final Longhorn roadmap

With rumors rampant over the release date and what's inside of Microsoft's next major OS release, Longhorn, company executives launched a full-court press on the tech media Wednesday, laying out a timetable for its upcoming OS releases and providing more details about Longhorn's features.

Wi-Fi security standard to require new hardware

In June the IEEE is expected to finally ratify the 802.11i security standard that uses for the first time AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) technology, a powerful 128-bit encryption technology.

E-marketplaces make a comeback

Quadrem International Ltd., a global marketplace for industrial MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) products for the mining and metal industry, announced this week that it expects a 100 percent increase in revenues and a doubling of the number of transactions over 2003.

Wi-Fi, wide area switching arrives

After two years of promises from the wireless industry, Broadbeam appears to be the first player to deliver seamless switching between wide area and wireless local area (Wi-Fi) networks.

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