Stories about: Excel

Adobe Systems, whose roots are in the media and publishing industries, is pushing deeper into the enterprise by promoting its Flash platform as a way to improve the stodgy user interfaces that come with most business applications.

By the first half of 2009, Citrix will make its XenDesktop and XenApp client and server software for remote access to Windows applications available for the iPhone.

Microsoft clarified this week that the upcoming Office Web -- a lightweight version of its Office suite that runs as an online service -- will be available to users running Mac OS X and Linux, as well as from Apple's iPhone.

Microsoft is offering smaller businesses the same kind of Windows Mobile push services that enterprises get with new versions of its server software, expected to be launched on Wednesday.

A startup called Ntractive believes so strongly in the growth of Macintosh use among businesses that it has based its CRM (customer relationship management) product on Apple technologies.

Microsoft integrator Avanade has developed a tool that will assist organizations looking to measure the ROI (return on investment) that can be achieved when optimizing their data centers.

Microsoft has given a preview of its forthcoming Office online product to delegates at its Professional Developer Conference.

After teasing the market multiple times, Microsoft plans to finally confirm that it's bringing its most money-making desktop software franchise online and to smart phones.

Microsoft said via a company blog Wednesday that Service Pack 2 (SP2) of Office 2007 will ship between February and April of next year.

At first glance, the T-Mobile G1 (US$179) doesn't seem to merit much attention. It looks like just another bland, HTC-manufactured phone. But use the G1--the first phone to run Google's Android operating system -- for 5 minutes, and you'll start to see why it's one of the best-designed phones you can buy. Not only is the G1 intuitive to use, but its customization options (via Android) makes it a tweaker's delight.

eBay, which runs a gigantic data warehouse for internal business intelligence (BI) analytics, is considering taking it outside its firewall and offering it as a Web service to interested companies.