This week began with a database vendor making a lot of noise about the communications industry. We're talking about Oracle of course, and in fact these days Oracle is anything but a database vendor. The company continues to expand massively in numerous tech directions, and it just so happens that one of those directions includes providing a major platform technology for the communications industry. It is now a major Oracle offering.
Whether through internally built software or through large scale acquisitions, Oracle has managed to pull together a communications platform that is impressive in its scope. This week it added to that scope when it announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Tekelec. Why exactly is it that Oracle needs Tekelec - or for that matter Acme Packet?
There was more big news within the communications industry this week. T-Mobile, which has locked in its acquisition of MetroPCS and which has made bold plans to become the 'Un-carrier" - as the company has been saying since the MetroPCS purchase deal became public - has now made good on its un-carrier promise. This means a no-hassle, contract-less wireless data plans, and unsubsidized and unlocked smart mobile devices that subscribers can purchase. T-Mobile will of course help to finance your device purchase. All that's left is to do the homework and make sure it’s the right deal for you.
And by the way, T-Mobile is also getting the iPhone - finally!
Also on the telecommunications front this week, API (application programming interface) management-centric vendor Apigee, which helps developers and enterprises to manage and provide references for the APIs developers use to build mobile apps (we're greatly simplifying - Apigee does much more than this) has added a new plank to its API platform. It has announced that it is now making available what it calls the Apigee API Exchange, an ambitious effort to provide a clear order and management capability over APIs that are used throughout different industries.
The first industry or vertical to benefit from this attempt at API organization is the telecommunications space. The scope of the project is impressive - and can prove an enormous boon to mobile app development.
This week, BlackBerry reported both its fiscal 2013 Q4 and full-year earnings. BlackBerry of course has had a terrible time of it over the last few years, but a much smaller and far more humble BlackBerry now looks to have stabilized itself. In fiscal Q3 2013, the company managed to turn a $9-million profit, and for the just reported Q4 it's managed to do 10 times better, announcing a profit of $98 million. It has also managed to sell a million Z10s since the new device launched on January 30, 2013. That number does not reflect a different one million Z10 number BlackBerry had earlier reported, when it announced that a customer had made a one-million device purchase that isn't quite what it seems.
If you were among those who purchased a Z10, it's worth knowing that iFixit has deemed the Z10 a highly repairable device.
That said, the company also strongly suggests that you do not drop it!
Are you a Flipboard user? We are. In fact most mornings we begin our day by grabbing our iPhone or iPad and firing Flipboard up and diving into a ton of content that would otherwise be extremely hard for us to gather up and sift through. In our line of work this is a huge benefit. Now, Flipboard has delivered a major new release, and as hard as it might be to think of what Flipboard could have added to its platform to make content gathering even easier, well, it has indeed managed to do so.
Happy Easter (if you celebrate) and have a great weekend!
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