Libya starts Internet reconnections
Libya's Internet connections appear to be slowly coming back online, after a six-month blackout, reveals the BBC.
The state-run Internet service provider carried a message on its Web site that said: “Libya, one tribe.”
However, local people have reported patchy reliability with connections coming and going. Internet traffic in Libya dropped to almost nothing in early March, when Colonel Gaddafi's government pulled the plug in an attempt to suppress dissent.
Oracle planning HP takeover?
Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) 20% nose-dive in stock price last week has stirred up rumours that Oracle may be considering moving in, according to Digital Trends.
The rumours seem to stem from a New York Post article published over the weekend. The Post says HP's $10 billion decision to buy UK software company Autonomy “puts the world's largest tech company in a vulnerable position and may make it an Oracle takeover target”.
An unnamed source told the Post Oracle's move would be inevitable if the stock continues its descent, and that Larry Ellison and former HP CEO Mark Hurd are “ready to pounce”.
Skype acquisition to rival BBM
Skype has revealed plans to acquire group messaging firm GroupMe to extend its cross-platform communications portfolio to cover voice, video and text, reports V3.co.uk.
GroupMe allows subscribers to message multiple contacts for free, akin to the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), and works on iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Skype CEO Tony Bates explained that GroupMe is a good fit with the firm's existing offerings, and will give customers a more complete communications experience.
Social media boosts employee productivity
IT leaders who restrict employee access to social media sites are not doing their employers any favours, according to new research, says Computing.co.uk.
An experiment by the National University of Singapore found that workers who are allowed access to social media sites are 39% more productive than those who are not.
They were also less mentally exhausted and bored, and more psychologically engaged, the research found.
Share