In a move that stunned many in the tech circles, Oracle pulled a trigger on Google with a lawsuit alleging that the Android platform and devices infringe one or more Java patents and copyright.

Oracle claims that Google has been aware of Sun’s patent portfolio, including the patents at issue, since the middle of this decade, when Google hired certain former Sun Java engineers.

The lawsuit leads one to question the intentions of Oracle’s latest lawsuit and its commitment to open source. Java has been covered by the open source General Public License since 2006, way before Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems was completed in January 2010.

In a turn of affairs, SAP announced this week that it would not contest the liability of TomorrowNow for downloading proprietary, copyrighted software products and other confidential materials used by Oracle’s support organization.

In 2007, Oracle filed a lawsuit against TomorrowNow, a now defunct SAP subsidiary that offered maintenance and support services for Oracle software at a much lower cost than that provided by Oracle. SAP had said then that it will aggressively defend the claims made in the lawsuit.

On Thursday, SAP said that it will accept financial responsibility for any judgment awarded against TomorrowNow, despite the fact that SAP was not involved in TomorrowNow’s service operations and did not engage in any of the copying or downloading alleged in Oracle’s complaint.

From July 13, Microsoft will end its support for Windows 2000 and XP Service Pack 2, according to a media statement Monday.

Specifically, users of these two operating systems will not receive security updates or non-security hot fixes, free or paid assisted support, the option to engage Microsoft’s product development resources as well as
updates to online content (KB articles, etc.)

Microsoft customers are “highly encouraged” to migrate to the latest supported service pack which is the latest and most secure version of their product. Staying on a supported service pack is the only way to ensure continued access to security updates and the ability to escalate support issues within Microsoft.

To ensure that customers understand exactly what end of support means, Microsoft has put together a list of questions customers might ask about end of support. In addition, Microsoft has guidance for customers to understand what version of Windows they’re using today and how to upgrade their PCs to the version that’s right for them.

Launched in February 2000, Windows 2000 promises to build on the security and stability of its predecessor, Windows NT. Targeted largely at business users, Windows 2000 came in various flavours including Windows 2000 Professional for enterprise desktops and Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server on corporate servers.

With folks like Sony Ericsson and Nokia doing their thing outside of CommunicAsia, what new gadgets can you see at this year’s show?

Well, Samsung seems to be the brightest light at the show here. I’m particularly intrigued by the Galaxy Beam, which looks a little like a Galaxy S with a bit more heft in the shape of a small projector. Yes, you heard right, this little guy doubles up as a projector to screen your presentations.

Back to life with the Android Xperia X10 and X10 mini launched early this year, Sony Ericsson has just unveiled the Xperia X8, an “in between” member of the Android Xperia family that it promises to be “affordable”.

The “mid-tier” touch-screen device looks essentially like a smaller X10. It has a 3-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera and 3.5mm audio jack – all the basics of a multimedia phone for youngsters.

Out in selected markets in Q3 this year, the X8 comes in five colours, including white and pink

Nokia gave the media a first-hand look at the upcoming Nokia N8 this morning, as it kicked off its usual pre-CommunicAsia show this morning with its Connections event.

After playing with the phone briefly at the media event, I’d say my impression of this nifty little number hasn’t changed from when it was unveiled two months ago.

Without a doubt, the hardware and multimedia are great, but the Symbian OS, even in its latest version, is not as attractive as Android or iPhone OS.

Trust Adobe to hold a regional briefing on Flash on the day the Apple iPhone 4 was launched. The date, of course, had added significance now that Steve Jobs and co. have decided not to support Flash at all in any of its iPhones or iPads.

Despite that, Adobe predicts that 53 per cent of the more than 300 million smartphones to ship by 2012 will sport its Flash software to show off multimedia websites on the small screen. Currently, only 9 per cent of the less than 50 million smartphones have Flash.

This is a daring prediction, given that only a small number of Android Froyo 2.2 handsets – mainly the Google Nexus One – support Flash on the go. Other Android handsets such as the Motorola Droid/Milestone and HTC Desire are being updated in the coming months.

Every good story needs a hero and a villain.

In Salesforce.com’s case, that villain is Microsoft, who is the poster boy for enterprise software.

Or so that is the narrative that Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff wanted to keep forefront and centre during his excellent presentation at the Cloudforce Tour 2 event in Singapore today.

It is a story of how traditional on-premise software behemoths — e.g. Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, IBM — are going to have their lunch eaten by nimbler Internet companies who started from the cloud, i.e. the Salesforce.coms, Amazons and Googles of this world.

Well, I’m glad I did not wait for the HTC Desire to come to Singapore!

The twin of the highly-successful Google Nexus One is hitting shops here only at the end of this month, killing earlier rumours that it was going on shelves this weekend.

I say I’m glad I didn’t wait because I would have enjoyed my Google Nexus One (which is made by HTC as well, for those who don’t know) for almost half a year before the HTC Desire comes to town.

Still, for those who wait, there are rewards for your patience. Topmost is the fact that the Desire will be sold through telecom operators, which means discounts for signing up a subscription plan.

Net surfers heading to Asiaone, the Singapore Press Holdings site offering a lot of the publishing company’s newspaper articles, were prevented from entering the news site in the past two days, as it was hit by a “malicious malware attack“.

The news portal acknowledged the problem on Wednesday, saying that users faced error messages on their browsers, which prevented them from entering the site.