Oracle on Wednesday extended its million-dollar challenge -- through which it will give $US1 million to anyone who can disprove that its 9i Application Server and 8i database will run a Web site three times faster than with IBM or Microsoft software -- to companies that use BEA's application server.
IDG: What is driving database vendors to shift toward providing e-business platforms? Chen: I think it's simple. In the past the accumulating of data was important. Now, the business technology and sophistication have gotten to the point where the movement of the data is more important.
Looking to remain viable in the highly competitive market for application development tools, Borland plans to branch out into the hosting business, beginning with the acquisition of ASP Bedouin.
Not many Web sites issue APIs. But online auction house eBay on Monday launched a developer program, complete with an API that the company claims will enable developers at other companies to build applications based on eBay technology.
Microsoft took the wraps off of a new initiative and partnerships designed to help companies establish a multi-channel sell-side business presence and conduct commerce over the Internet at a gathering here on Monday.
IBM, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and Hyperion Solutions are co-developing a Java-based, platform-independent specification for creating and managing data in OLAP (online analytical processing) servers.
Microsoft last week announced a new object-oriented programming language dubbed C#, pronounced C sharp.
Progress Software on Wednesday said it was starting a new company called NuSphere to offer services and support for the MySQL database.
