Briefs: December 19, 2005

ORACLE 2Q EARNINGS DROP; ADOBE TO CUT UP TO 700 JOBS

Oracle shares were trading at $12.18 last Friday morning, down 65 cents, or 5 percent, from Thursday&'s close after the company earned $798 million, or 15 cents per share, during its second fiscal quarter. That represented a 2 percent decrease from $815 million, or 16 cents per share, at the same time last year, said CEO Larry Ellison.

Revenue for Oracle&'s second fiscal quarter totaled $3.29 billion, a 19 percent increase from $2.76 billion at the same time last year. The difference largely reflects gains from several acquisitions that Oracle completed during the past year, most notably its $11.1 billion takeover of PeopleSoft.

Meanwhile, Adobe Systems posted higher fourth-quarter earnings last Thursday but said it expects to cut 650 to 700 jobs as it folds recently acquired rival Macromedia into its operations.

The 11 percent to 12 percent workforce reduction will cut overlapping positions, help the company focus on growth areas and help it achieve its 2006 financial targets, said Murray Demo, Adobe&'s CFO. Employees from both companies will be affected.

In the three months ended Dec. 2, Adobe earned $156.3 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with a profit of $113.5 million, or 23 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Sales jumped 18.8 percent, to $510.4 million, from $429.5 million last year.

ISV SAYS MICROSOFT VIOLATED MOBILE PUSH E-MAIL PATENTS
ISV Visto last week filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Texas accusing Microsoft of violating three mobile e-mail patents related to synchronization and security of push e-mail technology.

Visto also announced that it has joined forces with NTP, the company that successfully sued Research In Motion (RIM) for violating its patents. As part of the agreement, Visto licensed NTP patents and NTP has taken an equity stake in Visto.

Some partners are worried that the patent-infringement case could delay the market release of Microsoft&'s Windows Mobile 5.0 “BlackBerry killer” technology.

A smartphone that uses Windows Mobile 5.0 and add-on Messaging and Security Feature Pack with Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 promises up-to-date, direct push delivery of e-mail, contact information and calendar information.

Smartphone and PDA vendors Motorola and Palm are planning to deliver their respective Q and Treo devices based on Windows Mobile 5.0 in the first quarter of 2006. Any company that uses these smartphones and has Exchange Server installed would get out-of-the-box push e-mail, negating the need for third-party middleware such as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Visto and IntelliSync platforms.

The NTP case against RIM threatened to shut down the BlackBerry service after a court recently rejected a settlement deal between the two companies. During a conference call last week, Visto executives said they received $70 million in funding earlier this year and have ample cash flow to see the case to the end.

Microsoft issued a statement that read, “Until we have an opportunity to review this complaint and investigate Visto&'s allegations, we&'re not in a position to comment specifically on them.”

WESTCON GROUP ADDS BRAXTEL CALL CENTER APPLICATIONS
Westcon Group is now distributing call center applications from Braxtel Communications, according to both companies.

Braxtel&'s applications are compatible with Cisco Systems, Avaya and Nortel Networks platforms and initially will be offered through Westcon&'s Voda One division, according to Paul Cunningham, vice president of Westcon&'s Technology Solution Group (TSG).

Braxtel also has been named an Affinity partner in Westcon&'s TSG unit, which was created last year to help solution providers integrate convergence, security and mobility solutions with specific business applications.

Braxtel&'s Fluency applications include automatic call routing and a predictive dialer engine that automatically adjusts inbound and outbound dialing algorithms to match the actual pace of a given campaign and ensure compliance with industry regulations, according to the company.

Depending upon the customer&'s requirements, the products can be purchased as a suite or added on a modular basis as needed.

ACCESS DISTRIBUTION CARRIES BLUESOCKET WIRELESS SECURITY
Access Distribution has signed a deal to carry Bluesocket&'s wireless security and management solutions, according to both companies.

Under the agreement, Access Distribution will offer Bluesocket&'s BlueSecure Controllers, BlueSecure Access Points, BlueSecure Intrusion Protection System for centralized and distributed RF sensing, Bluesocket&'s BlueView Centralized Management System and the Bluesocket Wireless LANPlanner. The products will be part of Access Distribution&'s network security practice, according to Grant Hunter, vice president of the Enterprise Solutions Group at Access Distribution.