Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » International Business Machines

IBM Does Not Want Employees To Use Siri At Work

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:51:38 +0000

If you have an iPhone 4S and work for IBM, you may want to avoid using Siri. Siri is the virtual assistant built into the iPhone 4S. Siri transmits everything you say to a data center in Maiden, North Carolina. IBM CIO Jeanette Horan said that Siri has been banned because “the company worries that the spoken queries might be stored somewhere.” Apple primarily collects all of this information to help improve responses by Siri. Recently I wrote a list of the funniest Siri responses, which clearly shows how inaccurate the virtual assistant can be to search queries. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a warning a couple of months ago because some of the data that Siri collects can be very personal.

Edward Wrenbeck, the lead developer of the original Siri app disagrees that people should be worried about the virtual assistant service. “I really don’t think it’s something to worry about,” he said in an interview with Wired. “People are already doing things on these mobile devices. Maybe Siri makes their life a little bit easier, but it’s not exactly opening up a new avenue that wasn’t there before.” One of the reasons why IBM does not ban Google is because the company anonymizes search results, which makes it difficult to trace back to an individual user after 9 month.

“We strike a reasonable balance between the competing pressures we face, such as the privacy of our users, the security of our systems and the need for innovation. We believe anonymizing IP addresses after 9 months and cookies in our search engine logs after 18 months strikes the right balance,” says Google in their policies and principles page.

IBM Reports $24.7 Billion In Q1 2012 Revenues

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:42:09 +0000

IBM has reported their first quarter results for 2012. The results were mixed with a 7% increase in net income, but their revenues were flat. Net income for Q1 was $3.1 billion compared to $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2011, which is a gain of 7%. Non-GAAP net income was $3.3 billion compared to $3 billion in the year before. Total revenue for the first quarter was $24.7 billion, which is up 1% from the year before.

“In the first quarter, we drove strong profit and earnings per share growth,” stated IBM president and CEO Ginni Rometty. “We delivered another excellent software performance, expanded services margins, and continued the momentum in our growth initiatives. Our investments in growth market countries continued to generate strong revenue growth across software, hardware and services while contributing to the company’s ongoing margin expansion. Based on this performance, we are raising our 2012 full-year operating earnings per share expectations to at least $15.00.”

In the Americas region, IBM made $10.5 billion, which is a 1% increase. The EMEA division brought in $7.6 billion, which is down 2%. The company’s “growth markets” increase in revenue by 9% and 40 countries hit dougle-digit growth. Revenues in Brazil, India, Russia, and China increased 10%.

IBM Building A $43 Million Computer For Largest Radio Telescope In The World

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:21:03 +0000

IBM is building a super-computer for the world’s largest radio telescope called the Square Kilometer Array. When the telescope goes online, it will use 1,000,000 terabytes per day of data. IBM is building a computer that can handle that much data processing. The Square Kilometer Array will have 15,000 small antennas and 77 larger stations. Scientists are hoping that this telescope will help with producing more information on the origins of the Big Bang. IBM is spending $43 million into building the super-computer and it will have nanophotonics, 3D chip stacking, and phase change memory.

Facebook Buys 750 IBM Patents

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:54:28 +0000

According to a source with Bloomberg, Facebook has acquired 750 patents from IBM. The patents include software and networking technologies. Facebook is currently facing a patent lawsuit that was filed against them by Yahoo! This acquisition would strengthen their portfolio of at least 56 issued patents and 503 filed U.S. patent applications.

Yahoo!’s lawsuit against Facebook involves patents that include Internet privacy, ads, and information sharing. Yahoo! is asking for an order that bars Facebook from infringing upon 10 patents and is seeking triple damages.

IBM is not the only company that Facebook has acquired patents from. Facebook also bought patents from Friendster.com and Hewlett-Packard.

Facebook filed for an IPO last month and revenues for the company last year was nearly $4 billion. Earlier this month, they secured a credit line of $5 billion.

Facebook expects patent lawsuits against them to only grow. “We expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow,” said Facebook in a document that was written on February 1st. “We may introduce new products, including in areas where we currently do not compete, which could increase our exposure to patent and other intellectual property claims.”

Facebook spent $51 million on acquired patents in 2011, which is up from $33 million in 2010. For the last 19 years, IBM has been the top U.S. company on the list of most patents received with 6,180 patents last year alone.

IBM Secured 6,180 Patents Last Year

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:39:52 +0000

IBM has secured the most number of patents in a single year for the 19th year in a row. Microsoft, the only other U.S. company in the top 10, fell from third place to sixth place according to IFI Claims Patent Services. IBM secured 6,180 patents in the last year, which is up about 5% from 5,896 in 2010. In second place, Samsung received 4,894 patents in 2011. The rest of the top 10 include Canon (2,821), Panasonic (2,559), Toshiba (2,483), Sony (2,286), Epson (1,533), Hon Hai Precision (1,514), and Hitachi (1,465). [PCWorld]

IBM Acquires Supply Chain Analytics Company Emptoris

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:42:22 +0000

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has recently acquired supply chain analytics company Emptoris shortly after acquiring DemandTec for $440 million. Emptoris is cloud and on-premise analytics software that is used for procurement and retail supply chain operations. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Emptoris’ software allows companies to maximize their financial performance and helps optimize commercial risk. It is often times used for supply chain and inventory management, procurement, sourcing, and retail environments. Emptoris has over 350 customers in 75 countries.

[TechCrunch]

IBM Acquiring DemandTec For $440 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:22:59 +0000

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has made an agreement to buy DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMAN) for $440 million. DemandTec is a company that helps businesses adjust promotions based on buying patterns. This all-cash transaction amounts to $13.20 per share. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2012. This is IBM’s largest transaction since the company acquired analytics company Netezza Corp. last year for around $1.7 billion. DemandTec will be rolled into IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative. DemandTec is based in San Mateo, California and employs about 350 people. They have about 450 customers worldwide including Best Buy and Target. [BusinessWeek]

IBM Acquiring Algorithmics For $387 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:11:59 +0000

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired Toronto-based analytics software company Algorithmics for $387 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of October.

“We see risk analytics as a critical component of that analytical insight, driven by market factors and events over the last 10 years since Basel II (banking regulations) and over the last three or four since the financial crisis,” stated IBM head of business analytics for financial services Laurence Trigwell. “(Alogrithmics’) heritage in helping banks produce risk models is incredibly important to help respond to regulatory pressures.”

In the past five years, IBM spent over $14 billion on 25 acquisitions that is focused on analytics. IBM expects revenue from business analytics to hit $16 billion. About 900 Algorithmics employees will be joining IBM’s software groups. Algorithmics generated $163.7 million in 2010 revenues.

[Reuters]

IBM Acquiring Government Software Company i2

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:52:47 +0000

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired i2, a company that develops analytic software for local and state governments. Corporate security departments and law enforcement agencies uses i2 software to discover illegal activity on operational data logs.

i2′s Analyst Notebook digital forensic software can display a visual diagram of people and places showing how parties are linked. i2 has 4,500 customers across 150 countries. Twelve out of the top 20 retail banks uses i2′s software. i2 products will be rolled into IBM’s own software.

i2 currently has 350 employees based in Cambridge, England. The U.S. headquarters of the company is in McLean, Virginia. The deal is expected to close at the end of 2011. i2 is not affilated with supply chain software company i2 Technologies.

[PCW]

IBM Acquires Real Estate Management Software Company Tririga

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:35:48 +0000

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has acquired real estate management software company Tririga. The financial details of the deal was undisclosed. Tririga’s software allows clients to make decisions about real estate initiatives, space usage, and analyzing environmental impact investments.

IBM said that Tririga’s software helps companies cut real estate expenses, which is generally the second largest expense on a company’s income statement. Tririga’s software is used by over 200 clients, including over one-third of the Fortune 100 corporations and 15 federal departments of the U.S. government.

[TechCrunch]