Week In Review: Week ending on Saturday, the 7th of June, 2008
June 9, 2008
Boy what a week this has been! Everything but the kitchen sink and lota seemed to be getting thrown at the local sector! Companies in the Evacuee Trust Complex in Islamabad received eviction notices the board, which asked all companies to clear the premises within seven days. The notice, which was sent on 23rd of May, was received by all the companies on the 27th of May, when all hell unleashed in Islamabad.
IT sector discouraged this act and called it illegal. The building had been officially designated as an IT Park in 2001. P@SHA and other companies arranged meetings with government secretariat but the problem has not resolved itself yet.
The Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology was informed that the Ministry of Science and Technology would get a share of 3,015 million rupees for 146 projects that have been planned for the year 2008-09. This was announced at a presentation given by the ministry at committee meeting held with Chairman Rozina Alam Khan. [Read more]
Pakistani IT Company Powers Ghana Stock Exchange!
March 15, 2008
Turnkey projects are an integral part of any country’s technology industry. These projects lay the groundwork for further development of that country’s local industry, as well as being a major milestone for the organizations involved. A leading system integration company from
The project is the Automation of The Ghana Stock Exchange and is being undertaken by the InfoTech, and is a landmark for
Pakistan’s License to Export Software!
January 23, 2008
A look at
“This is
world wide, with projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Can software exports ever actually have an impact on the GDP of a country? Of course. It is the development and export of intellectual capital; takes a smaller amount of physical and financial investment than, for example, an industry, contributes towards the building of the skillset of a population and has a growing demand for such virtual commodities, around the world.
In the case of
Pasha Launches IT&ITeS Portal
January 2, 2008
The Pakistan Software Houses Association has finally unveiled their web portal, making it a reliable platform for news and updates about the local industry, companies and updates. You can visit this portal at: www.pashanews.org -
Keeping in line with the new trends and styles coming up in web development, the portal will be more interactive and easier to navigate through, pulling in videos that talk about the sector and providing companies a place to publicize their efforts and achievements.
Jehan Ara, President of PASHA comments, “”P@SHA has felt for a long time that communication was our weakest link. Our industry is full of innovation and the successes are many. We hope that these vehicles will help us highlight the stature of the Pakistan IT & ITES industry and will provide a new medium for our members to air their views and interact with each other, and for our customers and partners to keep abreast of what we are up to.” [Read more]
PASHA Selects New CEC Members
December 16, 2007
The Pakistan Software Houses Association, more affectionately known as PASHA, has announced the results of their newly selected Central Executive Committee.
The members and positions are as follows:
Faisal Qureshi - Chairman
Zia Imran – Vice Chairman
Sultan Hamdani – Treasurer
Jehan Ara - President
For more details or how your company can be a part of Pasha, please visit the Pasha website:
Websense Named Top Software Company in San Diego County
November 7, 2007
Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) today announced that the San Diego Business Journal has named Websense the number one software company in San Diego County.
The San Diego Business Journal ranked local companies by 2006 San Diego County revenue, which, for Websense, was $178 million, an increase of 20 percent from 2005 ($148 million). Last year, Websense was also ranked number one on the list and was ranked number two in 2005.
“We’re honored to be named the top software company in San Diego County for the second year in a row,” said Leo Cole, vice president of marketing, Websense. “San Diego has a fast-growing technology community, and Websense is proud to be part of that community.”
Websense has received numerous other awards and accolades, including being named to the Forbes “Top 25 Fastest Growing Technology Companies” for the fifth consecutive year. Websense was also named one of Business 2.0 Magazine’s “100 Fastest Growing Technology Companies” for two consecutive years. For the fourth consecutive year, IDC named Websense the market share leader in the Web filtering software segment of secure content management market (SCM), and Frost and Sullivan named Websense the Web filtering market share leader for 2006 with 40.2 percent total market share through combined shares of Websense and SurfControl.
About Websense, Inc. Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) protects more than 42 million employees from external and internal computer security threats. Using a combination of preemptive ThreatSeeker(TM) malicious content identification and categorization technology and information leak prevention technology, Websense helps make computing safe and productive. Distributed through its global network of channel partners, Websense software helps organizations block malicious code, prevent the loss of confidential information and manage Internet and wireless access. For more information, visit www.websense.com.
Websense and Websense Enterprise are registered trademarks of Websense, Inc. in the United States and certain international markets. Websense has numerous other unregistered trademarks in the United States and internationally. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
MEDIA CONTACT:Cas PurdyWebsense, Inc.+1 858 320 9493cpurdy@websense.com
INVESTOR CONTACT:Kate PattersonWebsense, Inc.+1 858 320 8072kpatterson@websense.com
Not one gPhone, but ‘a thousand’
November 6, 2007
GOOGLE TO GIVE AWAY SOFTWARE FOR CELL PHONE FIRMS TO BUILD ON
Google, already the fifth-most valuable company in the United States thanks to search ads on personal computers, has a plan to move up the ranks: It wants to be the Microsoft of mobile communications.
The Mountain View behemoth announced new software Monday morning dubbed “Android” that provides everything a manufacturer needs for a cell phone. Google intends to give away the code for free, and it has put together a broad alliance of industry heavyweights to help with the effort.
The announcement surprised gadget junkies who had been hoping Google was going to unveil a cool new gPhone to rival Apple’s iPhone. But it cheered investors who see mobile devices as mother lodes of untapped Internet advertising wealth.
“Imagine not just one gPhone, but a thousand gPhones,” Schmidt said during a conference call.
Four manufacturers in the alliance - Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC - are expected to begin selling phones featuring the new software during the second half of next year.
Eight carriers said they will carry the phones, including Sprint and T-Mobile in the United States and China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier by subscribers.
Android, which was named after a mobile-phone software company Google bought in 2005, includes an operating system based on Linux, applications like Google maps and a customizable user interface.
It is essentially the equivalent of a cellular embryo, needing only a screen, some semiconductors and other hardware to spring to life.
Unlike Microsoft Windows or Internet Explorer, the mobile operating system and browser built by Google will not carry its brand. Indeed, it’s possible that people who buy the new phones will have no idea that Google is behind their gadgets.
Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms, said the company hopes to make money by increasing the number of people who are exposed to its Internet advertising. Currently there are about 1.5 billion people in the world who can see Google’s advertising on personal computers. In comparison, an estimated 3 billion people use mobile phones.
“We are talking about a market that is twice the size,” Rubin said. While few mobile phone customers use their devices to search the Internet, Google wants to change that by making the experience much easier and more similar to using a PC.
Rubin said the new mobile browser can display content from regular Web pages, rather than just the pages specifically customized for mobile gadgets. And, he said, Google’s ads, which run alongside its search results and on Web pages, will appear in exactly the same way on the new mobile phones as they do on PCs.
In a research note published Monday, Sandeep Aggarwal, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., said that within a few years Google could begin earning $2 to $4 for every phone that carries its mobile advertising. Forrester, a research consultancy, estimates that mobile advertising will grow to $2.8 billion in the United States by 2012, and Google clearly wants a piece of that.
Google’s stock jumped 2 percent Monday to close at $725.65. It has risen nearly 40 percent in the past two months, as rumors of a gPhone release reached fever pitch.
Of course, Google is not the only company hoping to profit from mobile advertising.
“I think mobile advertising is going to be a great revenue source for all of us,” Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at a recent industry conference.
Scott Horn, general manager of Microsoft’s mobile communications business, said Google could face a steep learning curve. He said it took Microsoft five years to grow its mobile operating business into a significant industry force.
Today, Microsoft’s software is used by 48 manufacturers and approved by 160 carriers around the world, with 20 million Windows-equipped phones expected to ship this year. Analysts estimate that Microsoft earns as much as $500 million from licensing its mobile phone software.
Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Nokia, the world’s largest maker of cell phones but not part of the alliance, said open platforms and large alliances are not new to the cell phone industry. “Openness and choice are what it’s all about,” she said.
Armstrong said Nokia sold 40 million devices last year based on its s60 software platform and the Symbian operating system. Symbian is jointly owned by Nokia, Ericsson, Matsushita (Panasonic), Siemens, Samsung and Sony Ericsson (a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson).
Meanwhile, more than a billion cell phones are built on Sun Microsystems’ Java Mobile Edition, the most common platform in the mobile industry. In a blog post, Sun Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz said Google’s announcement was a “massive endorsement of two of the industry’s most prolific free software communities, Java and Linux.”
Software exhibition from today
November 3, 2007
KARACHI (November 03 2007): A software exhibition will be held at the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, University of Karachi, from November 3.
This was announced by the director of the centre in a statement on Friday. The Vice-Chancellor of Karachi University, Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, will be the chief guest at the inaugural session.
Get free software and save a fortune
November 2, 2007
Though the most popular open- source package is ubuntu, funded by local entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, South African business is generally paying dearly for its ignorance of free software, says a study by international market research firm Frost and Sullivan. The report, South African Open Source Market, said allegations by large developers, led by Microsoft, and the Business Software Alliance, of piracy and copyright violations have cast a shadow over the legitimacy of free software.
“Open-source software provides South Africa with an alternative to the costly applications of proprietary software vendors,” said Frost and Sullivan’s industry analyst, Lindsey McDonald. “The latest desktop operating system could cost as much as R1500 and that could end up being a fortune for a cash- strapped organisation that has to purchase a licence for each user,” McDonald said. The Go Open Source campaign, which came to an end yesterday, was established by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Hewlett Packard, and the Shuttleworth Foundation to stimulate the use of free software such as Ubuntu and other Linux distributions.
“Over the past two years, the Go Open Source campaign distributed over 200000 CDs to everyone — from home users to companies and government departments,” said the Shuttleworth Foundation’s project manager, Hilton Theunissen. Some of the biggest misconceptions, according to McDonald, were that open-source software was hard to use and that it was not compatible with other software. “One of the provisions of the free open-source software policy is that the software has to be completely compatible,” she said. “The best thing about it is that, unlike proprietary software, the source code is freely available.”
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. to Present at the BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference
November 2, 2007
About Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a global developer, marketer, distributor and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PlayStation® game console, PlayStation®2 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox® and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, Wii™, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™ and Game Boy® Advance.
The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play; and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary. Take-Two’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com. All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The statements contained herein which are not historical facts are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to them. The Company has no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
Actual results may vary significantly from these forward-looking statements based on a variety of factors. These risks and uncertainties include the matters relating to the Special Committee’s investigation of the Company’s stock option grants and the restatement of our consolidated financial statements. The investigation and conclusions of the Special Committee may result in claims and proceedings relating to such matters, including previously disclosed shareholder and derivative litigation and actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or other governmental agencies and negative tax or other implications for the Company resulting from any accounting adjustments or other factors.
Other important factors are described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2006, and in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the third quarter ended July 31, 2007 in the section entitled “Risk Factors.” ContactTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc.Corporate Press/Investor RelationsMeg Maise, 646-536-2932meg.maise@take2games.com