News Briefs

Computerworld -

AOL Probes Release Of Data on Searches

AOL LLC confirmed that it publicly released details of Internet searches done over a period of three months by about 658,000 users. The data was made available for use by academic researchers and didn't include any personal information, an AOL spokesman said. But he described the release as "a screw-up," and said AOL is investigating how the data was posted online without undergoing required privacy reviews.

Microsoft to Bundle Speech Technology

At the SpeechTek 2006 conference in New York, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to integrate Speech Server 2007, the next version of its voice-response software, into the Office Communications Server 2007 release due in next year's third quarter. Microsoft said it will continue to sell the existing Speech Server 2004 until the end of next year and support its users through 2014.

IBM Tests Tool for Verifying Caller IDs

In advance of SpeechTek, an IBM executive said the vendor is testing speech-recognition technology that can verify the identities of telephone callers. Speakers would provide voice samples, which a company could use to authenticate them as customers. Brian Garr, IBM's director of enterprise speech, said the technology should find its way into products within the next year.

Short Takes

Rod Massey, who oversaw a rollout of SAP AG's ERP software as CIO of Clark County in Nevada, was named to head SAP's global public-sector business unit. ... Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said its IT unit has achieved Level 2 and Level 3 certifications under the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model Integration program.