looksoftware next month is expected to deliver a new “solution pack,” called “snap for mobile front-ends,” that will enable users to access i OS server-based applications from the new generation of mobile devices, including the newest Apple iPhone. While customers today can use look products to deliver 5250 applications to iPhones, which have full Web browsers, the new look solution pack will streamline the integration process and take advantage of the latest iPhone features, the company says.

There is no denying the success of the latest iPhone from Apple, which sold more than 1 million iPhones during the first weekend

Is your credit card data safe? That’s the question millions of people are asking themselves following the recently exposed international identity theft ring that allegedly stole more than 41 million credit card numbers. While security is a relative term, experts in the field of electronic payment systems, including Ira Chandler of i5/OS payment card software developer Curbstone, say the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) provides good protection of sensitive data. Unfortunately, not everybody is following PCI DSS to the letter.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced indictments on 11 people from the U.S., Estonia,

Original Software recently launched a new release of its TestBench for iSeries software. With version 6.3, the English software company has included a new report compare feature that should dramatically speed the analysis of test results and improve test quality, the company says. Original also launched a new test-asset management portal for heightened collaboration among testers, and released a new version of TestBench for Oracle databases.

The new report compare feature of TestBench for iSeries version 6.3 will enable customers to compare a new version of a test result against a previously validated baseline version, according to Original Software. In

Business Computer Design Int’l last week unveiled WebSmart PHP 2.0, the latest version of its PHP development environment for the System i and other platforms for running PHP code. With version 2, BCD has enhanced the tool’s PHP code generation wizard with the addition of programmer prompts. It also introduced new template customization capabilities that make it easier for programmers to copy elements of existing PHP applications in the creation of new ones.

WebSmart PHP is a new development tool that BCD modeled after its popular RPG ILE code generation environment, WebSmart ILE. The software, which was first announced in

If you’ve ever looked for encryption software for the i OS (formerly OS/400 and i5/OS) operating system, you’ve probably heard of Patrick Townsend and his software company, Patrick Townsend & Associates. At some point over the last few months, the company changed its name to Patrick Townsend Security Solutions, or PTSS, as part of a Web site overhaul. The company also launched a new file encryption management solution for Windows Server.

According to Patrick Townsend, president of PTSS, the name change reflects the evolution of the Olympia, Washington, company from a pure-play i OS software vendor to a company

Quadrant Software recently unveiled a new release of Formtastic, its electronic document management offering for i OS servers. With Formtastic version 5.4.2, the company has added new features in the area of spool file processing, image capture, error reporting, and file naming, and added support for i OS 6.1.

Formtastic is a suite of software products that make spool file output from i OS applications more attractive and more flexible in our online world. The software includes a Windows form design tool, templates for specific documents such as tax forms or MICR checks, a runtime engine that merges i OS

More than 150,000 developers and designers have registered to download the latest release of XAware‘s graphical open source data integration software, the company recently announced. Along with the user update, XAware unveiled version 5.1 of its software, which delivers XML and DB2 enhancements, among other features.

XAware has been riding the open source software wave since it started allowing anybody to license its software for free under the GPL in November 2007. Since then, the company has been creating a niche for itself at SourceForge, the popular repository for open source development projects, and an online community

With the onslaught of identity theft and the increase in instances of corporate data loss these days, forensics is becoming a word more IT administrators are becoming familiar with. In the world of log management solutions, however, most vendors make users choose between speedy log collection and the capability to forensically mine for important system events. With the addition of “forensics on the fly” to its Security Information Event Management (SEIM) system, ArcSight claims users can now do both without compromise.

ArcSight sells several inter-connected products that make up its SIEM platform. It sells an Enterprise Security Management (ESM) product

Investment Systems Company (ISC) will modernize its i OS-based suite of portfolio management applications using LANSA‘s RAMP (Rapid Application Modernization Process) solution set, the companies announced yesterday.

ISC is a Moreland Hills, Ohio, software company that has been providing the investment community with i OS-based portfolio management applications since it was founded in 1984. The company offers three main products–including Portfolio Accounting System, Shareholder Accounting System, and Bonds Payable System–to a range of organizations, including banks, mutual fund companies, professional investment houses, asset managers, and housing authorities.

To remain competitive, ISC needed to revamp the interfaces of its offerings.

Lawson Software announced that PHS Group, one of England’s largest workplace service providers, recently licensed M3, its Java-based ERP suite most commonly deployed on i OS. PHS will install M3 on an i-based Power Systems server and utilize it as the new backbone of the company.

PHS Group is a diverse company with a diverse set of services. Its 30 business units across five divisions offers services ranging from cleaning bathrooms and collecting waste and recycling to storing documents and providing personal protective equipment.

A growth surge in the last five years that has increased PHS’s revenues by an average