software

A start-up company called Tapulous has turned a simple game for the iPhone into an Internet-age mobile stage for musicians.

"Tap Tap Revenge," a free game that challenges players to keep up with catchy tunes by tapping in the right spots on the phone's screen, was available in Apple's iPhone application store when it opened in July.

It quickly climbed the store's charts. More than three million downloads later, Apple declared it the most popular free iPhone game of the year.

During the tech industry's last big slump, software and hardware vendors were slow to cut costs as falling demand pummeled profits.

This time around, Oracle isn't taking chances. Oracle, the world's No. 2 software company, hit Wall Street's earnings target when it reported fiscal second-quarter results on Dec. 18, by aggressively cutting research and development, travel, and other costs as its customers curtail spending.

Microsoft on Saturday officially launched its first application for Apple's iPhone. The app, called Seadragon Mobile, is free for users who want to browse ultra-large pages on the iPhone's 3.5-inch touchscreen.

The goal of Seadragon is to change the way consumers use screens -- from wall-sized displays all the way down to cell phones -- so that graphics and photos are smoothly browsed, regardless of the amount of data or bandwidth on the network.

Microsoft is giving startup software companies an early holiday gift by offering access to Microsoft software and development tools, marketing and technical support, and industry experts.

Microsoft launched its BizSpark program to help early-stage companies that need software and server products -- such as Windows Server 2008 or SQL Server Enterprise -- but don't yet have the capital to purchase it. Microsoft also launched BizSpark DB, a Web site where it will promote startups working on innovative software, the company announced at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Apple is taking some shots at Microsoft by launching its own series of commercials. It didn't take long for the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant to poke fun at Microsoft after it launched a $350 million advertising program with a series of "I'm a PC" and Jerry Seinfeld commercials.

One commercial, the bean counter, features an accountant sitting at a desk with two piles of money. The accountant is dividing the pile into two, with one pile for Windows Vista advertising dollars and the other to be used to fix problems with Vista.

When David Teater's 12-year-old son, Joe, was killed in 2004 by a driver who was talking on a cell phone, he tried to cut back on his own habit of driving and talking. It turned out to be very difficult.

"You have to remember to turn the phone off ... which you never remember to do. Or you have to ignore a ringing phone, which is incredibly hard," Teater said. "We've been conditioned our entire lives to answer ringing phones."

Teater became an advocate for curbing what he calls "driving while distracted," and now, he's part of a company with a technology that can help.

In a nod to how finicky people have become about the gadgets they use, software company Citrix Systems Inc. is rolling out a new program for its workers: BYOC -- Bring Your Own Computer.

TNC, a Korea-based software company also known as Tatter and Company, has been Googled, according to Chang Won-Kim, TNC's cochief executive.

Chang announced Google's acquisition of TNC, which occurred Friday, in his personal blog.

Chang, who shares the CEO title with TNC's founder, Chester Roh, said he believes the reason for the acquisition is because Google has very little market presence in Korea and Asia.

"We will commit ourselves to increasing Google's market share in Korea," Chang wrote.

Adobe Systems chief executive Shantanu Narayen wants to make it easier for people to watch online videos, play games and use other sophisticated Internet applications on a variety of cell phones and other mobile devices.

And he'd be extremely happy if they were doing that with the help of Adobe's software. Narayen stressed the need for industry collaboration to create a better mobile Web experience in a keynote speech Thursday at the Wireless IT and Entertainment trade show in San Francisco, sponsored by the wireless industry association known as CTIA.

As part of its new $300 million marketing campaign and image makeover, Microsoft Corp. plans to deploy its own customer-service representatives at retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City to help people with their PC purchases.

The world's largest software company plans to have 155 "Microsoft Gurus" in U.S. stores by the end of the year, and expand based on the project's success, Microsoft's general manager of corporate communications, Tom Pilla, said Friday.