In mid-January, Sun Microsystems surprised the high-tech communities by announcing its intent to purchase MySQL AB for one billion dollars. The original announcement was an informal blog post, but it was almost immediately followed by a formal press release the following day. Regardless, the end result is the same. MySQL, one of the most popular platforms for building networks will soon be owned by Sun, and the MySQL developers are thrilled.

On January 14, 2008, My SQL’s Vice President for Community Kaj Arno posted on the company’s blog that Sun was in the process of buying the company. Arno went on to explain his feeling on the acquisition which were overwhelmingly positive despite apparently also feeling anxious.

It appears that his high regard for Sun Microsystems was well founded. In continuing entries on his blog, Arno has explained in great detail what is happening with the acquisition and tries hard to put the anxious minds of employees, customers and investors at ease. In his latest entry dated January 31, Arno expounds on what will happen to MySQL as closure to the sale is negotiated by the heads of the commercial firm noted for selling enterprise database products. (more…)

There isn’t much that’s sacred from spam and commercials these days, and it looks as though there is one less safe zone in the works. Internet phone and wireless calls are now considering selling in call advertising. This means that you’ll now be able to listen to a brief advertisement while waiting for the company to connect your call.

Opt-in?
The service will allegedly be opt-in with credits offered for participating callers that will help to offset phone bills. But even if the service is opt-in initially, it is highly likely that these short ads are a vision of what is to come. Internet phones are getting more popular and advertisers are working every way they can to reach customers. If it means annoying you while making you wait to talk to Grandma just to get a line of marketing in, that’s what they’ll do. After all, there is a great deal of money involved for companies and advertisers.

Targeted Ads
The best part, of the worst depending on how you look at it, is that the ads you’re likely to be hearing will be targeted directly to you. Much in the way Google targets ads to related content, your phone advertisements will be targeted to the types of phone calls you make. For example, if you frequently call New York, you may be privileged to enjoy commercials for new flights to New York or New York accommodations.

A Cutting Edge Industry
In call advertising is a relatively new field, but it is already being used by at least one internet phone service and has been a standard practice on calling cards for some time. When a calling card user uses a card to call friends or family in another country, they are subjected to advertisements through a company called VoodooVox.

VoodooVox runs on approximately thirty percent of calling cards and had revenues of $4 million dollars in 2007. While that number may not be overwhelming, the revenues from in call advertising in 2008 are expected to grow ten times over. VoodooVox and others already working to establish the in call advertising practices are well situated to take home a substantial part of the revenue from their brainstorm. (more…)