Robert J. Mullins

About

Robert Mullins is a writer for eWEEK who has covered the technology industry in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. He has written for several tech publications including Network Computing, Information Week, Network World and various TechTarget titles. Mullins also served as a correspondent in the San Francisco Bureau of IDG News Service and, before that, covered technology news for the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Back in his home state of Wisconsin, Robert worked as the news director for NPR stations in Milwaukee and LaCrosse in the 1980s.

VMware Repositions Socialcast as Enterprise Social Networking Tool

VMware is repostioning Socialcast as an enterprise social networking platform with what the virtualization company considers a competitive pricing system. Specifically, VMware customers will get a full-featured version of the product free for up to 50 users. With this new go-to-market approach, introduced on June 6, VMware is looking to compete in the expanding field […]

Google Maps Upgrade Debuts, but Its Future on Apple Devices Remains Unclear

SAN FRANCISCO €” Google unveiled new features of Google Maps June 6. But during a demonstration of the new Maps features at a media briefing here, a Google executive deflected questions about Google Maps’ future on the Apple iOS mobile operating system. New features that are coming include 3D maps of major cities, a version […]

Google, Facebook, Microsoft Among Big Web Powers Joining IPv6 Day Push

The IT industry is drawing attention to the transition of computer networks from the IPv4 standard to IPv6, declaring June 6 as IPv6 Day 2012, but a new survey shows that North America is behind other parts of the world in IPv6 adoption, though it’s poised for more robust growth soon. More than 2,000 organizations […]

Google Acquires Quickoffice to Challenge Microsoft Office

Google announced on its blog June 5 the acquisition of Quickoffice, a maker of office productivity applications, a move that’s intended to give Google an edge over Microsoft in the mobile computing space. Quickoffice apps enable users to view, create, edit and synchronize documents on devices using any of the leading mobile operating systems on […]

Oracle Adds Collective Intellect to Its Social Media Portfolio

Oracle is acquiring Collective Intellect, a company offering a cloud-based social intelligence application, which helps companies understand and respond to consumers’ conversations on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The Collective Intellect acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, will become part of Oracle’s software as a service (SaaS) products and Social Platform […]

Salesforce to Buy Social Media Marketing Firm Buddy Media for $698 Million

Software as a service provider Salesforce.com announced plans June 4 to acquire Buddy Media, a provider of a social media marketing platform, for $698 million in cash and stock, but a stock analyst warns that Salesforce faces formidable competition when Oracle unveils its cloud service offering later this week. The Buddy Media platform allows customers […]

Windows 8 on x86 Devices, Not ARM Best Choice for Enterprises: IDC

If enterprises are going to embrace the coming Microsoft Windows 8 operating system, especially for use on tablet computers, they should strongly consider buying tablets built on the Intel x86 processor architecture rather than on the ARM architecture because x86 would be more compatible with their existing Windows environment, an enterprise software industry expert says. […]

Microsoft’s Windows 8 Release Preview Shows Improvement, but More Is Needed

Microsoft seems to have smoothed out some of the glitches in the Metro user interface in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, but a look at the Release Preview version of the operating system, unveiled May 31, shows some work still needs to be done before the general availability release, analysts say. Microsoft unveiled the […]

Windows Server Sales Flat in Q1, Compared With Linux Models: IDC

Sales of servers running the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating system grew a scant 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012, dwarfed by the 16 percent jump in sales of Linux OS servers based on revenue, according to a report from IDC. An IDC analyst says the difference may be due to a couple […]

Windows XP: Is It Finally Time to Upgrade to Windows 7?

This reporter drives a 2001 model car and recently visited the dealer to get a new floor mat to replace one that wore through on the driver’s side. He was told the dealer stopped carrying that model floor mat in its inventory as of April 24. Microsoft Windows XP was released the same year that […]