Serendipity Technologies has announced the debut of the world's first secure RSS reader. The reader, for the first time ever, will allow information workers to receive updates of protected data currently lost within their information systems.

Early in 2006, before the general Internet-using public was aware of what I began referring to ­in editorials, blog entries, and SYS-CON's Internet TV Webcasts ­as 'The AJAX Moment,' there was a strong sense among industry insiders that AJAX-like approaches, if not actually AJAX itself, were a shoo-in as the new paradigm for the development of Web 2.0 and the fulfillment of the software development community's long-held dream of complete freedom from operating system or runtime environment ­dependent technologies.

Microsoft today announced the official release to Web of ASP.NET AJAX 1.0. This tool provides Web developers with the essential tools to simplify building next-generation, AJAX-style Web applications through what it calls 'seamless integration with the .NET Framework and Microsoft platform.'

At Lotusphere today, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announcedthe planned availability of the IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino 8 publicBeta starting this February. This is the final beta phase before theproduct's target ship date of mid-2007, concluding the most collaborativesoftware review program in Lotus' history.

ActiveGrid, which bills itself as a Web 2.0 company and offers open source software to the Global 2000 in place of .NET and Java widgetry in developing rich interactive web applications, has switched CEOs. Founder Peter Yared is now CTO replaced by Christopher Keene, the founder of Persistence Software. Persistence, which specialized in managing data in high-transaction banking and communications systems, went public in 1999 and was sold to Progress Software in 2004. Keene, a McKinsey graduate, left Persistence in 2005 to work and teach in France.

Early in 2006 there was a strong sense among industry insiders that AJAX-like approaches were a shoo-in as the new paradigm for fulfilling the software development community's dream of freedom from OS or runtime environment dependent technologies. Was the early optimism borne out by subsequent events? I'll say!

In this comprehensive article Wei re-examines Web 2.0, in contrast to the common consumer-centric point of view, by looking at its technology stack and impact on enterprise computing. Wei establishes a Web 2.0 technology stack that forms the foundation of a paradigm shift he calls the 'architecture of partition.'

Gomez Inc., the leader in web application experience management, today announced a reseller partnership with Limelight Networks, the high performance content delivery network for digital media.

Even though I write for SYS-CON, I've never publicly complimented them. But this time they really deserve a credit. SYS-CON will present the AJAXWorld 2007 Conference & Expo 2007 East in March. Usually, attendees have very limited access to speakers during conferences, and SYS-CON Events came out with a simple but smart idea - yesterday they have created an Ask The Faculty Forum, where anyone can post questions to the conference speakers and faculty. And you do not even have to attend the conference to participate in this forum. It's a very nice idea, or rather 'Idea 2.0' Speakers should visit the forum and answer the questions to promote their sessions, and software developers will have a chance to correspond with well known people in the industry. Yours truly will run Adobe Flex Hands-on Workshop during this event, so feel free to post relevant questions - it does not matter if you are planning to be there or not. I'm sure, other event organizers will start copycatting SYS-CON, which is a win-win situation for everyone.

Nexaweb Technologies, Inc., provider of theleading standards-based platform for building and deploying Enterprise Web2.0 (EW2.0) applications, today announced availability of the latestversion of Nexaweb Studio. Nexaweb Studio 3.0 is an Eclipse-basedIntegrated Development Environment (IDE) that offers enterprise Webdevelopers, AJAX, J2EE(TM)/Java(TM) developers and software engineers astandards-based, visual design environment for creating EW2.0 applications.

Just as 2006 was the year of streaming video and the birth of 'Internet TV,' 2007 is going to be the move beyond infancy toward the long-awaited and complete convergence of television and the Internet. Now that broadband is available to more than100 million households worldwide, every corporate Website and every media company will now provide video content, not to mention live and interactive video Webinars and on-demand Webcasts, in order to remain competitive.

Understanding the complexity of AJAX at the browser level is critical to refining and debugging rich AJAX applications that leverage Web technologies such as JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and XMLHttpRequests. Adding a third-party AJAX runtime heightens the complexity and sufficient browser tooling becomes critical when attempting to build a rich Internet application around existing libraries. The Eclipse AJAX Toolkit Framework (ATF) provides both a multi-faceted set of browser tooling features as well as support for integrating and building on existing AJAX runtimes.

Understanding the complexity of AJAX at the browser level is critical to refining and debugging rich AJAX applications that leverage Web technologies such as JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and XMLHttpRequests. Adding a third-party AJAX runtime heightens the complexity and sufficient browser tooling becomes critical when attempting to build a rich Internet application around existing libraries. The Eclipse AJAX Toolkit Framework (ATF) provides both a multi-faceted set of browser tooling features as well as support for integrating and building on existing AJAX runtimes.

At the end of each year, when SYS-CON informally polls its globe-girdling network of software developers, industry executives, commentators, investors, writers, and editors, our question is always the same: where's the industry going next year?

News Corp, Viacom, CBS and NBC Universal parent General Electric are reportedly trying to gang up on YouTube with a video-sharing YouTube-like site of their own, according to Monday's Wall Street Journal, even if - illegally poached videos to one side - CBS and NBC have not-very-successful relationships with Google's $1.6 billion acquisition, even if News Corp already owns the competitive MySpace, and even if CBS is trying to cut a radio advertising deal with Google. If the unnamed site gets off the ground - and the Journal expressed lots of doubts - it would show TV clips and sell ads.

12 percent of content is viewed at university locations, while only 6 percent of page views at Yahoo! Sites occur at university locations.

Nexaweb Technologies, Inc., provider of theleading standards-based platform for building and deploying Enterprise Web2.0 (EW2.0) applications, today announced the availability of NexawebPlatform 4.5. Version 4.5 builds on the success of earlier editions bydelivering the industry's first EW2.0 solution in compliance with Section508 Accessibility, the only universal client framework supporting both Ajaxand Java, and enhanced integration support with data services andrelational databases.

Is this really the way forward? A tree-based object model accessed by an interpreted scripting engine tacked onto a specification designed for static read-only documents?

Pegasystems , the leader in unified process and rules technology, today announced that eWEEK Labs has named Pegasystems latest version of SmartBPM 5.1 to its List of Top Products for 2006.

MetaMatrix announced the Defense Logistics Agency's Integrated Data Environment (DLA IDE) program is the latest United States Department of Defense (DOD) program to select the MetaMatrix suite of data-integration products to help implement their data strategy and transformation efforts.

Nexaweb Technologies, provider of the standards-based platform for building and deploying Enterprise Web 2.0 (EW2.0) applications, today announced that Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest bank, has migrated its client/server-based institutional foreign exchange system to an integrated Web-based application.

New research findings from STL, an analyst firm specialising in the Telecoms industry, has found that the vast majority of telecoms industry professionals lack confidence that Telcos are set up to cope with the threat from new internet and IP-based services. Over 550 telecoms industry insiders expressed their concerns in the survey, part of a new market study ?Telco 2.0TM - How can telcos make money in an IP-based world??

Infosys Technologies today announced that the company will be added to the NASDAQ-100 index, effective with the market opening on Monday, December 18, 2006. The NASDAQ-100 index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks on the NASDAQ Stock Market in terms of market capitalization. Infosys Technologies is the first Indian company to be added to the NASDAQ-100 index and is the only Indian company to be part of any of the major global indices.

AccuWeather, The World's Weather Authority, announced that it will soon deliver mission-critical weather information via IBM's emerging Web 2.0 technology, QEDWiki enterprise mashup maker, to businesses and markets worldwide.

ShoZu announced that its free Share-It one-click image uploading application for camera phones now can transmit images to Pikeo, the new photo sharing community recently unveiled by Orange. Pikeo offers photo storage, tagging and sharing capabilities as well as geotagging that enables members to associate their photos with online maps to show where they were taken.

Orb Networks today announced the public release of Orb MyCasting 2.0, a free service that transforms the personal computer into a personal broadcasting system by unlocking all of the digital media people have on their personal computers. Orb MyCasting is available for free at www.orb.com and works on any Internet-enabled device with a streaming media player without the need for additional software or add-ons.

S.P.I. Dynamics, a leading provider of Web application security testing software and services, today released research from its SPI Labs division predicting the top Web application security threats for 2007. The research found that software developers who embrace Rapid Application Development (RAD) to bring solutions to market faster will only add to the growing number of application security defects hackers can target unless security is embedded in key phases of the application development lifecycle.

AtTask has announced the availability of @task version 4 release 3, which sets a new standard for Web-based applications, from its customizable presentation and workflow, to its ability to optimize personal productivity and enhance project success. @task v4 r3 includes the latest Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technologies to enhance usability and flexibility, as well as expanded collaboration and accountability features, which help produce better business results.

IBM today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Consul risk management, a privately held software company headquartered in Delft, Netherlands, with a principal office in Herndon, Virginia. Financial details were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close in the first quarter of the 2007 calendar year. Upon approval, Consul will become part of IBM's Tivoli software unit.

IBM has announced that the IBM System Storage DS8300 Turbo, introduced on August 22, 2006, is the fastest enterprise class storage system in the industry as measured by the Storage Performance Council's SPC-1 Benchmark, outperforming the previous DS8300 SPC-1 Results by 22 percent.

IBM has announced that Gartner has positioned IBM in the Leaders Quadrant in its November 22, 2006 report, 'Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools, 2006.' According to Gartner, 'Leaders' are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction, and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

Unica announced the latest version of its web analytics solution, Affinium NetInsight 7.1. Innovative capabilities in Affinium NetInsight 7.1, including real time visual exploration capabilities, will enable online business marketers to optimize web sites and Web 2.0 applications with broader, more comprehensive analysis of customer behavior.

At the Gartner Application Integration and Web Services Conference, Kapow Technologies, the provider of mashup solutions for the enterprise, unveiled openkapow, the industry's first software service and developer community designed to accelerate mashup adoption and industry best practices in mashup design.

This week at ITU Telecom World 2006, Microsoft is showcasing for the first time its full portfolio of solutions and services developed specifically for the global telecommunications industry. In its exhibit presence and participation in ITU Telecom World, Microsoft is highlighting the broad range of voice, video, data and mobile solutions it delivers to leading service providers today, as well as unveiling new products and initiatives designed to help operators create revenue-generating offerings for businesses and consumers, now and in the future.

DHI Technologies, developer of advanced tools for JavaScript programmers, announced the release of JavaScript Reporter, a Javascript development tool.Reporter provides unparalleled assistance for building interactive Web 2.0 and AJAX applications.

The WildTangent Games Network (WGN), the fastest growing online games network in North America, today announced the release of the first ever 'Web 2.0' video game, BlasterBall 3. In a first for gamers worldwide, WildTangent Studios, the production arm of the WildTangent Games Network, has launched a simple to use level editor empowering users to build their own BlasterBall 3 levels from within the game itself and to post them to the gaming community on the BlasterBall 3 website.

XandMail, announced it was chosen by Alcatel for the provision and integration of its e-mail software to Alcatel?s Voice Messaging Services (VMS) and Video Mail Box (VMX) platforms. Alcatel selected XandMail?s Web 2.0 Communication and Mobile Communication Solutions after a rigorous and objective evaluation process; the enhanced functionality, the ergonomic, feature-rich interface and the multi-device access ranked high among the criteria Alcatel considered when choosing new providers to enrich their video and voice messaging platforms.

Sun Microsystems, creator of the open source Solaris OS, announced the launch of The Big Mashup, a unique online experience examining how the world of entertainment and news gathering is rapidly changing as the network blurs the line between audience and entertainer, viewer and newscaster, fan and producer. With Internet technology -- music and movies, broadcast news and blogs, entertainers and audiences -- can all converge and mix online.

CollabNet unveiled openCollabNet, a new online community based on Web 2.0 principles and built around Subversion and CollabNet solutions. Developed as an extension to CollabNet's products, the new site connects the 1.5 million users of CollabNet and Subversion, allowing them to share innovations and software development best practices whether they?re applied to open source projects or to tightly protected enterprise and government intellectual property.

Reality Digital, dealing in user-generate content (UGC) and video sharing for businesses, has announced partnerships with international technology resellers, Germany's ISC Opcorner AG [www.opcorner.com] and Italy's Bitage [www.bitage.it]. The resellers will add Reality Digital's user-generated video and social networking platform, Reality Digital Opus, to their list of technology solutions for the enterprise.