oracle

Oracle-Google patent trial starts today

Oracle's patent infringement lawsuit against Google is finally set to go to trial at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco today, but there are certainly plenty of questions looming as to where this will end up.

The fact that these two Silicon Valley giants will finally have a trial under way is fairly incredible (and slightly unbelievable), given how much back-and-forth there has been over the last two years since Oracle initially filed suit in August 2010.

Since then, there have been numerous delays with potential start dates assigned for October 2011, January 2012, and March 2012. … Read more

Oracle and Google will go to trial

It's on: Google and Oracle are set to go to trial two weeks from today now that a last-ditch attempt at a settlement has failed.

Last week, Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal asked both parties to give settlement talks another chance, with a decision required by April 9. Even though they had another week, it must have been clear that a settlement just isn't in the cards.

Google did propose an offer that included a cut of Android's revenue stream through 2018, which was a stipulation for damages if (and only if) Oracle prevails on patent infringement.… Read more

Oracle rebuffs Google settlement offer

After a magistrate court judge tried to bring Oracle and Google back to the negotiation table again to work out a potential settlement for their ongoing legal battle, it almost looked like there could have been a deal on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, that April 16 trial start date at the U.S District Court of Northern California is looking more and more likely.

Google reportedly proposed an offer to Oracle that consisted of the following points, according to Reuters.

First, Google offered to pay Oracle up to $2.8 million in damages over two patents in question. Furthermore, Google also offered … Read more

Judge still wants Google and Oracle to settle Android lawsuit

The drawn-out, patent infringement battle between Oracle and Google finally seems to have a clear path now that there is an official trial start date slated for April 16.

Nevertheless, it looks like higher legal powers still want to give the possibility of a settlement another chance. Lawyers from both sides have been ordered to propose potential dates for a conference settlement to take place before April 9.

This comes after the necessity for a trial became plainly clear as even dragging in CEOs Larry Page and Larry Ellison to court last September couldn't bring about a settlement.

Magistrate … Read more

Oracle posts improved fiscal Q3 earnings

After falling short last quarter, Oracle had its work cut out for it when presenting its Q3 FY2012 earnings statement on Tuesday.

Oracle reported a third fiscal quarter net income of $2.5 billion, or 49 cents a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were 62 cents a share on a revenue of $9.1 billion.

Wall Street was looking for third quarter earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $9.02 billion.

Ahead of the earnings announcement, analysts were debating whether or not Oracle's acquisition strategy is going to work with the cloud as it did for on-premise … Read more

Why technology companies loathe dividends

Ask a technology company about the prospects for a dividend and publicly, you'll probably get a boring boilerplate answer about timing, the right use of cash, and its commitment to honoring fiduciary duties.

Inside, however, that company is probably snickering and dismissing the idea completely.

Why are technology companies--even major bellwethers sitting on a lot of cash--reluctant to pay a dividend? The short answer: it's uncool.

For most companies, paying a dividend is the ultimate admission that the growth phase (also known as the fun period) is over. Dividends are more associated with safe industries like utility companies, … Read more

Google's Oracle court battle over Android set for April 16

After nearly two years of saber rattling, Google and Oracle will finally have their chance to battle it out in a federal court.

U.S. District Court judge William Alsup ruled yesterday that both Oracle and Google would need to be ready to argue their cases in a San Francisco federal court on April 16. The judge said that he expects the trial to last approximately eight weeks.

Oracle sued Google in 2010, claiming that Android violates patents Oracle holds related to the Java programming language. Google has denied those claims, saying that the lawsuit is "without merit" … Read more

Install Windows 8 virtually with free software

Don't have a dedicated PC on which to install Windows 8? No problem. Just install the OS virtually on an existing PC using a free virtual machine utility.

Various VM applications will let you install an operating system in a virtual environment on your Windows desktop or laptop. But not all are free and not all support the latest Windows 8 beta.

A product such as VMWare Workstation 8 supports Windows 8 but costs $200. Microsoft's own Windows Virtual PC is free but won't accept Windows 8 as a guest.

Instead, you can use Oracle's VirtualBox … Read more

CIA said to be planning new software acquisition strategy

The Central Intelligence Agency is changing how it buys software, according to a new report.

The agency's top technology decision-maker, Ira "Gus" Hunt, told software vendors yesterday that it's transitioning to a pay-as-you-go purchasing model, according to Reuters. Previously, the CIA entered into licensing agreements with vendors, like SAP and Oracle, to acquire new software.

The move might not make those companies too happy, since they currently have the CIA locked into deals that competitors can't encroach on. With its new policy, however, the CIA has the ability to get what it wants, when it … Read more