Articles by Kelly Shermach

The Food and Drug Administration recently green-lighted a product called VeriChip, a coded radio chip that, when picked up by a radio-frequency reader in an ambulance or hospital emergency room, yields a code that unlocks a patient's medical stats from a central database Unsurprisingly, the chips, produced and marketed by Applied Digital Solutions ...

Large software developers and end users have softened their former staunch insistence that software had to be either purchased from an external vendor or created in-house The build vs. buy debate has evolved into a shinier, happier present moment in which the super-sized software development firms like Microsoft and Best Software construct their of...

Samsung has introduced a new product to the South Korea market: a 5 megapixel camera phone with video-recording and MP3-playing capability, a 24-bit color LCD display and shutter speeds as fast as 1/1000 of a second For U.S. camera phone users, who by and large own sub-1 megapixel handsets, buying a Samsung SCH-S250 would be like going 0 to 100 in ...

Unisys has been receiving a lot of attention lately, including accolades from IDC and Frost & Sullivan and a spot in the most recent edition of the book CRM at the Speed of Light But there's been bad news as well. The company posted lower-than-expected third-quarter profits. Nearly a week ago, the company announced earnings down more than 50 percen...

Symbol Technologies has leveraged its experience in developing rugged personal digital assistants (PDA) and other mobile devices in the creation of its newest product, the MC50 enterprise digital assistant Priced from US$925 to $1,200 and based on Microsoft Windows' Mobile 2003 platform, the device offers built-in WiFi for phone, walkie-talkie and ...

US Airways and United Airlines are already under bankruptcy protection, and Delta Air Lines is skating dangerously close. Consumer members of frequent-flier programs are not considered creditors, but to many, they might as well be "Consumers are absolutely, unquestionably concerned, and anyone who says differently is blowing smoke," said Tim Winshi...

NetSuite today announced the availability of its version 10, a unique hosted solution that links the company's proprietary CRM, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and e-commerce applications in a single Web-based architecture for small and mid-sized businesses ...

A version of the popular "Halo 2" video game for Microsoft's Xbox platform has appeared online in an act of digital piracy While games figure as the least pirated digital entertainment medium, falling far below music and movies, "there was going to be piracy, no matter what," Yankee Group senior analyst Mike Goodman told TechNewsWorld....

A recent Gartner report predicts a 50 percent failure rate for radio frequency identification projects implemented between now and the end of the year. However, those involved in industry alliances and manufacturer projects that pull together best-in-class vendors proclaim that RFID is more than a solution looking for a problem -- it's a significant improvement in tightening the supply chain and giving product manufacturers better communication with everyone from their materials suppliers to their customers...

Consumer and business product manufacturers are challenged to form and maintain relationships with their end users. One-off promotions like contests or sweepstakes can help to supply manufacturers with some contact information for their customers, but most times, not much else Unless there is a point-of-sale system in place that refreshes point acc...

Siebel Systems launched what it calls an "end-to-end enterprise business intelligence (BI) solution." The product recognizes a need for analytics that can compile many sources of information into a single data warehouse At its "User Week" in Los Angeles, Siebel announced BI applications for financials, the supply chain, the workforce and customer a...

A new report on the loyalty of companies to their IT suppliers might change what goes on inside some of the world's IT innovators From its survey of 51 brands, Walker Information of Indianapolis, Indiana, concluded that customer satisfaction does not equal customer loyalty. Suppliers' interactions with clients in the past do not predict the strengt...

Oracle will enter a Delaware court this week to request an order for dissolution of PeopleSoft's customer assurance program and poison pill "The poison pill is designed to make it more difficult for Oracle to take over the organization. The customer assurance program is designed to compensate customers should there be a takeover. It's a financial l...

For companies that don't rank among the Fortune 500, an incremental approach to CRM often feels most comfortable These smaller companies get their feet wet with sales force automation software or call center and customer care solutions. They build or buy these applications to handle discrete parts of their businesses, the parts in which problems po...

With a front-office firing, a rosy earnings report and a renewed court battle against Oracle, PeopleSoft continues to keep industry watchers busy After the announcement Friday that PeopleSoft CEO and President Craig Conway had been fired, many observers assumed that the move was related to Oracle's hostile takeover bid. But now analysts suggest tha...

IBM recently announced that it will pour US$250 million into thedevelopment of radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor networktechnology over the next five years In addition to developing hardware,including the wireless tags and readers, IBM also plans to providesoftware and integrated support systems that will allow vendors to trackgoods ...

PeopleSoft shocked the business world this morning by announcing that it had fired Craig Conway as president and CEO, effective immediately Dave Duffield, the company's founder, stepped into the CEO position, and the presidency will by shared by two men, Kevin Parker and Phil Wilmington....

Customer retention has always been an important issue for wireless operators, and they acquired a new problem earlier this year when users gained the right to take their mobile phone numbers with them to a new carrier In their efforts to retain customers, most focus on services and products. "There is a big customer retention effort. But it focuses...

Almost one-third of the world's financial institutions have outsourced work overseas, and the practice has spawned consumer and political backlash. But according to many analysts, the benefits outweigh the negative publicity incurred by financial services giants such as American Express and Discover. Offshoring not only will continue, but it will grow...

While American minds may be opening to various self-help pharmaceuticals, from Viagra for erectile dysfunction to Wellbutrin for depression, American feet aren't equally comfortable walking the aisles of brick-and-mortar drugstores to get the goods, some studies show Enter Drugstore.com, a site launched in 1999. Not only does it offer privacy in pe...