Software

Innovative work being done by 54 Canadian graduate students in the area of robotics and intelligent systems just got a huge boost. The students' projects will be funded to the tune of $405,000 by Ottawa-based non-profit company Precarn Inc.

Microsoft can register top-level Internet domains. Last week, the company was added to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) list of accredited domain name registrars. This means that Microsoft can now add new top-level domains to the databases used by computers on the Internet.

In yet another sign that Web 2.0 technologies are finding their way from the consumer space into workplace settings, Intel is spearheading the assembly of a software suite that includes blogging, wiki, and content syndication software.

Microsoft will release a new version of its Dynamics CRM (customer relationship management) software with functions that mesh with its forthcoming Vista OS and Office 2007 software, the company said.

The entire concept of making code freely accessible for others to view, use and even modify would appear to clash totally with the commercial software strategy of SAP AG. So why is the world's largest vendor of business software so interested in open source?

Adobe Systems will contribute source code to the Mozilla Foundation as the two organizations aim to establish a standard scripting language that developers can use to create interactive applications for Adobe's Flash Player and Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Companies that still haven

Dave Duffield, the co-founder of PeopleSoft has announced the availability of the first of four planned suites from his new on-demand ERP software company Workday Inc.