Two U.S. private equity firms have bought online advertising company DoubleClick for $1.1 billion, DoubleClick announced Monday.
The firms, Hellman and Friedman and JMI Equity, expect to complete the deal in the third quarter. JMI Equity, which focuses
on the software and business service industries, will hold a minority interest. Hellman and Friedman sees the acquisition
of DoubleClick as an opportunity to extend its online advertising and marketing and data businesses, in part though the recognizable
DoubleClick brand as well as utilizing its experienced staff, the company said. DoubleClick stockholders will receive $8.50
for each share of DoubleClick common stock. The company's board of directors has approved the deal, which is still subject
to shareholder approval and other closing conditions. The company's core business is serving ads to Web sites, a market that
has become increasingly competitive with Yahoo, Google (Profile, Products, Articles), and others entering the fray to drive down prices.
Microsoft (Profile, Products, Articles) aims for students in
Africa
,
Middle East
April 25,
6:20
a.m. PDT
Microsoft is hoping to indoctrinate new technology users in the Middle East and Africa with the introduction of three new
localized education initiatives. The programs, which encompass learning portals, technology curriculum, teacher resources,
and grants, were unveiled Monday by CEO Steve Ballmer at the company's two-day Government Leaders' Forum in Dubai. The first
initiative is an information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum of 520 lesson plans for teaching IT skills to children
in grades one through 10. The curriculum is localized in Arabic and is being developed in partnership with the Jordanian government
for schools across the region. For more advanced students, the software maker launched a Learning Gateway for Higher Education,
regionalized in Arabic. The gateway is an e-learning portal offering Web-based collaboration, communication, and content delivery
services to lecturers and students. The company is also offering a free online network containing a virtual library with a
database of teaching, training, and subject materials. The company is also offering cash through the introduction of seven
new grants to organizations across Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco.
Fourteen vendors collaborate on WS-Security OASIS InterOp
April 21, 8:10 a.m. PDT
Fourteen organizations teamed up at the Gartner Application Integration and Web Services Summit in Los Angeles Wednesday to
demonstrate interoperability of the WS-Security standard. WS-Security was developed by OASIS to deliver a foundation for implementing
security measures such as integrity and confidentiality in messages using Web services applications. WS-Security allows security
methods such as authentication and access control to be reliably associated with SOAP messages. The OASIS InterOp at the Gartner
Summit demonstrated the exchange of messages protected by WS-Security using the X.509 Token Profile.
Amacom
launches high security portable hard drives
April 21,
8:10 a.m. PDT
Amacom Technologies has released a new range of high-security portable hard drives. The Encryp2disk encrypts and decrypts
the entire volume of a hard drive with real time performance, meaning there is no possibility that data can be left unprotected
on the hard drive and there is no need to establish an encrypted folder. Encryp2disk provides two "Secure Keys" that protect
the encrypted password required to access the drive's contents. Without inserting the correct Secure Key into the drive's
port, both the Encryp2disk and its data are invisible to the OS. Encryp2disks are available in two configurations. The 2.5-inch
drive has a capacity of up to 100GB, and the 3.5-inch drive has a maximum capacity of 400GB. Encryp2disks are also available
with varying levels of encryption, in 40-, 64-, 128-, and 192-bit key lengths. Prices start at $189 for a 40GB 2.5-inch drive
with 40-bit encryption.
Microsoft names new
Japan
chief
April 21,
8:10 a.m. PDT
The Japanese unit of Microsoft announced a new president and chief executive officer on Wednesday. Darren Huston, currently
corporate vice president of Microsoft's U.S. small and mid-market solutions and partners unit, will take up the position from
July 1. Huston joined Microsoft in September 2003. Prior to that he was a senior vice president at Starbucks Coffee, where
he is credited with developing and rolling out the Starbucks Card and Wi-Fi wireless Internet access in stores. Before that
he worked at McKinsey & Co. Microsoft's current Japan president and CEO, Michael Rawding, will return to the U.S. and take
charge of global sales and marketing for Microsoft's MSN business. Rawding became president of the Japan unit in July 2003
and in addition assumed the CEO position in October of the same year.
PowerBasic
makes upgrade offer to Visual Basic developers
April 20, 6:50 a.m. PDT
PowerBasic, a provider of enterprise programming tools, is offering a competitive upgrade offer to Visual Basic developers
who may feel abandoned by Microsoft's decision to discontinue support for Visual Basic 6 and earlier versions. To ease their
migration to the Basic platform, PowerBasic is offering Visual Basic developers
special discount pricing on select PowerBasic tools. The company is offering the PowerBasic Power Migration Pack, which includes the PowerBasic 8
Compiler for Windows and PowerBasic Forms visual designer, for an upgrade price of $248, a savings of $50 off the regular
price. Also on offer at a special discount is the PowerBasic PowerMigration Bundle, which includes the PowerMigration Pack
as well as the PowerBasic Console Compiler, for an upgrade price of $387, an $80 savings off the regular price. To qualify,
VB developers must provide their original VB registration code or a scanned copy of their original VB installation CD.
