The collaboration between SAP and Bayantrade is expected to have a signification impact on the drive for global competitiveness as Philippines-based companies gain more access to global best practices in strategic sourcing and supply management using SAP technology.

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SMART Stages 2nd SWEEP Award

Following the success of the first run of the SWEEP (Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program) Innovation and Excellence Awards last year, Smart staged the second year of this nationwide search for the most innovative wireless applications designed by student-faculty teams under the program.  First prize winner gets PhP300,000.00 while the second and third prize winners will get PhP200,000.00 and PhP100,000.00 respectively.

The awards program requires teams of students, mentored by a faculty member to develop wireless applications that will benefit their institution and/or the communities they serve.  These applications must be accessed via the SMART network using any or all of the following technologies like SMS, WAP, GPRS, voice and Bluetooth.

The objective of the SWEEP Awards is to give engineering students the opportunity to shine by recognizing their technological know-how and creativity and at the same time foster the culture of excellence and innovation among SWEEP partner schools.

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(APC) InfraStruXure to Enhance SC Data Center

The Supreme Court of the Philippines acquired American Power Conversion’s (APC) InfraStruXure solution as part of the judiciary branch’s IT infrastructure enhancement plan. 

According to Petrita C. Arguelles, Asst. Chief of the Management Information Systems Office of the Supreme Court, the hefty investment is expected to pay off for the organization in the long term. "With the level of investment that we’ve pumped in, we needed a reliable data center and power management solution partner. APC came into play because of its long-standing reputation and InfraStruXure’s modularity, scalability and manageability."

APC’s InfraStruXure is on-demand architecture for Network Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI). The InfraStruXure design, which integrates power, cooling rack, management and services, allows the selection of standardized components to create a solution through modular and mobile configurations.

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Yahoo and AOL to Charge for Emails

Yahoo and AOL is reportedly implementing a new system that will charge its users for using their email service.  The decision is to carve out spams, scams and other unwanted emails.  Non-paying senders will still be accepted but paying users will be given first priority.

Analysts are quick to say that the decision might disappoint current users of Yahoo and AOL.  Once users failed to receive their emails, there is a big possibility that users will transfer to other free web based email like Gmail.

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Oracle Buys Siebel

Oracle Corporation announced the completion of its acquisition of Siebel Systems, Inc. for approximately .85B .  Former Siebel stockholders electing to receive Oracle common stock will receive a combination of stock and cash because the stock portion of the consideration was oversubscribed.  Former Siebel stockholders not electing to receive Oracle common stock will receive .66 per share in cash.

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WinAMP Player Flaw Discovered

Security service provider Secunia recently issued an advisory indicating some vulnerabilities have been reported in the popular media player - WinAmp, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system.  Users are strongly urged to update their software to WinAmp version 5.13.

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Security Vendors Team Up on Spyware Standards

McAfee, Inc., Symantec Corp., Trend Micro Incorporated, ICSA Labs and Thompson Cyber Security Labs announced an agreement to create identification and testing methodologies for spyware mitigation technologies. As a result of this collaboration, enterprise and consumer customers will be able to make better informed anti-spyware technology decisions, with product tests based on standardised third-party evaluation criteria and with common standard samples used in detection and testing environments.

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Announcement: Attend the Powertips 2006 "Security Secrets and Strategies" conference on March 16, 2006 at the Grand Ballroom of Dusit Hotel Nikko.  Tickets are available at all SM TicketNet outlets or call 911-5555.  You can also register online at www.infochat.com.ph

For your questions, comments, suggestions, press releases and stories, simply e-mail techtvhost@yahoo.com or visit www.infochat.com.ph for more news.  God Bless us all!!!

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