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Software News

• QAD shares slide after 4th-quarter revenue drops (AP)

  AP - Shares of QAD Inc. sank Friday after the business software provider reported a drop in fourth-quarter revenue and predicted another drop for the first quarter.

• Microsoft Xbox 360 Leads Gaming Sales in February (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - Microsoft's Xbox 360 video-game console moved to the top of the U.S. market in February. The software giant's console had been number two behind the Nintendo Wii for nearly three years.

• Adobe CEO 2009 pay package down 68 percent (AP)

  AP - Shantanu Narayen, the president and CEO of software maker Adobe Systems Inc., was awarded compensation valued at $5.2 million in fiscal 2009, a 68 percent decline in a year that saw the recession weaken demand for its products.

• Digital River up on possible McAfee deal (AP)

  AP - Shares of Digital River Inc., which provides technology and services for companies that sell products online, got a boost Friday after an analyst said McAfee Inc. may be testing out its e-commerce technology.

• BioShock 2 Cleans Up, Xbox 360 Overtakes Wii in February Game Sales (PC World)

  PC World - Down again overall, with upticks in Xbox 360 and PS3 sales and BioShock 2 ruling the software roost, that's February's US video game narrative in a nutshell courtesy NPD Group's retail industry figures. Overall video game industry sales slumped 15 percent, falling from $1.48 billion to $1.26 billion, raising year-to-date sales to just $2.42 billion, a 14 percent deficit against last year's $2.82 billion for the same period.

• Opera Mini 5 Beta Released for Android Phones (PC World)

  PC World - Do you want to try a different browser on your Android phone? The folks at Opera Software announced a beta version of the Opera Mini 5 browser that provides a PC-like browsing experience on smartphones and other handheld devices that run on the Android platform.

• Summary Box: Video game sales drop 15 percent (AP)

  AP - THE GAMES: Video game software sales dropped 15 percent in February compared to a year ago to $624.4 million. "Bioshock 2" from Take 2 Interactive, which launched in February, and "New Super Mario Bros." from Nintendo were the top two sellers.

• SkillSoft 4Q net income falls 16 pct (AP)

  AP - SkillSoft PLC, an education software company that has agreed to be taken private, said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income fell 16 percent from a year earlier, when it benefited from a tax windfall.

• New iPhone OS Rumored To Finally Allow Multitasking (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - Version 4.0 of the operating system for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and the forthcoming iPad will represent a major overhaul of the software and will feature a "full-on solution" to one long-standing gripe about Apple's devices -- their inability to multitask.

• RadiSys acquires Pactolus; terms not disclosed (AP)

  AP - RadiSys Corp., a maker of servers that support wireless phone networks, said Thursday it acquired privately held Pactolus Communications Software Co. Terms were not disclosed.

• OnLive taking videogames into the Internet "cloud" (AFP)

  AFP - California startup OnLive plans a June 17 launch for a service that streams videogames over the Internet, meaning players can avoid buying expensive consoles or packaged software.

  
  

• Motorola to add Microsoft's Bing to smart phones (AP)

  AP - Motorola Inc. said Thursday that it will add Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search and map functions to its smart phones that use Google Inc.'s Android operating software.

• Opera Mini 5 Released for Android-Powered Smartphones (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - Opera Software launched an Android version of the company's Opera Mini 5 mobile browser Thursday that promises to significantly improve page loading and speed on compatible smartphones. The beta release continues the company's campaign to increase the visibility of its browser on a global basis.

• No Camera on Apple's iPad, After All? (PC World)

  PC World - Apple's latest iPad software development kit nixes references to video calling and chatting, creating uncertainty about the chances of a camera coming to the iPad.

• CA Expands Cloud Services with $350M Nimsoft Purchase (NewsFactor)

  NewsFactor - IT software behemoth CA has acquired yet another company as it moves to provide its emerging enterprise customers and managed-service providers with cloud-computing support. CA acquired Redwood City, Calif.-based Nimsoft, its fourth acquisition in the cloud-computing space, in a cash purchase valued at $350 million, CA announced Wednesday.

• Summary Box: Huge 'botnet' only slowed by takedown (AP)

  AP - BOTNET AMPUTATED: An Internet provider thought to be helping spread malicious software was taken down, apparently cutting criminals off from millions of personal computers under their control.

• Opera rolls out mobile browser for Android (Reuters)

  Reuters - Opera Software unveiled on Thursday a version of its Mini mobile browser for use on cellphones running on Google's Android software.

• Hands On with Opera Mini for Android (PC Magazine)

  PC Magazine - Norway's Opera Software on Thursday launched the latest beta of its Opera Mini browser, Opera Mini 5, for the Android platform. We got our hands on the new beta and took it for a test drive.

• Huge 'botnet' amputated, but criminals reconnect (AP)

  AP - The sudden takedown of an Internet provider thought to be helping spread one of the most promiscuous pieces of malicious software out there appears to have cut off criminals from potentially millions of personal computers under their control.

• Motorola, Microsoft in deal to put Bing on phones (Reuters)

  Reuters - Motorola Inc has reached a deal with Microsoft Corp that will put Bing search and mapping services on its phones that use Google's Android operating system.