on-demand

Oracle on Tuesday announced new on-demand CRM software aimed squarely at Salesforce.com.

The new software, Oracle CRM on Demand 15, is a revised version of a product acquired via Oracle's purchase of Siebel Systems in 2005.

Oracle's on-demand software, designed to help companies manage customer resources, will include a browser-based interface and can be customized to run on mobile devices such as BlackBerrys, and included in personalized Google and Yahoo pages.

Another aspect of the release is the inclusion of what Oracle calls "Social … Read more

If you've got a song stuck in your head, this is the place to get it out (or make it worse through repeated plays). Go to Songerize, select a song name, artist, and hit play. That's it. No confusing interface, no sign-in screen, no extraneous information, no ads.

It doesn't find everything--in my quick tests, it had about a 50% success ratio, and completely failed on PiL and Jane's Addiction. But it found just about every pop and classic rock radio title I could think of.

If there are lessons to be learned about the need for big companies to create platform-agnostic services, the BBC's iPlayer project may be one of the most shining examples.

Since the launch of the iPlayer, the BBC has been under fire not only from its viewers, but also members of the British Parliament. Parliament members have come down on the broadcasting corporation for its lack of support for open standards, and soaring costs in the development of the Windows-only software whose cost is estimated to be close to ?6 million pounds (nearly $11 million dollars).

We've blogged about … Read more

Renting movies on DVD could soon be a thing of the past, as cable operators experiment with new ways to get movies and even TV shows to viewers quicker, using their video-on-demand platforms.

On Monday, Comcast announced that it would provide some Hollywood hit movies on its video-on-demand, or VOD, service the same day they're offered on DVD. It also announced that some new television series will premiere on its VOD service at least one week before airing on regular TV.

Time Warner Cable started experimenting with a similar program in March 2007 in Austin, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio. … Read more

Like most online radio stations, Last.fm has been forced by music copyright owners to behave more or less like a traditional radio station. A highly customizable radio station--users could enter a favorite artist and Last.fm would pick a song by that artist, then add in songs from similar artists--but a radio station nonetheless. Content was pushed, not pulled. Users who wanted to pick songs to play on demand either had to download them from a service like iTunes or pay for a subscription service like Rhapsody (which does let you stream 25 songs a month for free).

Today, … Read more

The long-anticipated set-top box from Netflix is headed toward your living room this summer, according to several major news providers including the Associated Press, The New York Times, and Reuters. The good news is that unlike the optical supremacy battle going on between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, the capability to tap into Netflix's movies-on-demand service could become a standard option on many upcoming consumer-level DVD players and set-top boxes as an added feature--not the sole purpose. Boxes equipped with the Netflix service (including the purported next revision of LG's flagship BH series of dual HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players) will … Read more

NetSuite's IPO auction has apparently attracted strong interest from investors, as the company prepares to set the final IPO price after market close Wednesday.

The on-demand enterprise applications company, backed by Oracle's Larry Ellison, has raised its pricing range by 46 percent from its initial pricing range of $13 to $16 a share that was announced on December 5.

The range was raised Tuesday to $16 to $19 per share. And it was raised a second time Wednesday to $19 to $22 a share, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

NetSuite could begin trading as early … Read more

We bet you know someone who does everything online, from banking to making friends, to kicking back. If you're stuck trying to find great gifts for the constant blogger, video vulture, or online socialite in your life, take a look at this virtual gift guide that shows you get it, and you care.

Larry Ellison's on-demand applications company, NetSuite, is getting ready to hit the road with its story for investors. The company set its initial pricing range on Wednesday, noting it hopes to raise up to $99.2 million.

NetSuite set an initial range of $13 to $16 a share for the 6.2 million shares it plans to release in its IPO, according to NetSuite's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The stock is slated to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol "N."

NetSuite's IPO is currently planned for December … Read more