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Enterprise licence renewal requires strategic planning: you re under pressure to save money but the sales rep doesnt want to lower the standard price. One potential negotiating tactic? Ask for free tickets for the provider s conference and training events.

Conference picture from Shutterstock

University of Pennsylvania senior IT director Donna Manley recommended the technique during a session at Data Center World in Las Vegas. When negotiating with large providers, ask for free education credits or registrations at conferences, she said. It s a great way to incent your staff members to get more education at a lower cost to you.

Manley used the technique in negotiations with Software AG. We got a couple of gratis admissions into their conferences, and we also negotiated a firm discount on any professional services activity.

Be sure to note any such savings when you re reporting on your budget. When we do that, we capture that as savings maybe not for the current year, but for the years when they re actually used, Manley said.

The savings might be relatively small (conference registration typically runs at between $1000 and $2000) but every cent can help. Those discounts are more likely if you send in a team to discuss pricing. Never negotiate by yourself, Manley said. Always get the good cop and the bad cop.

Lifehackers World Of Servers sees me travelling to conferences around Australia and around the globe in search of fresh insights into how server and infrastructure deployment is changing in the cloud era. This week, Im in Las Vegas for Data Center World, looking at how the role of the data centre is changing and evolving.

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Negotiating New Software Licences? Ask For Free Conference Tickets

The Nook HD and HD+ may not be fully 'open' Android tablets, but they're now much more open

Bowing to market pressures and customer demand for access to the full breadth of Android apps, Barnes & Noble has made the bold move of adding the Google Play store to its two latest tablets, the Nook HD and Nook HD+. The free software update, which also includes the Chrome Web browser, doesn't turn the company's tablets into true "open" Android devices, but it does make them much more open. It will be available today to download from bn.com and will be rolled out to devices in the coming days via an over-the-air WiFi update.

Despite positive reviews for its tablets, in recent months Barnes & Noble has encountered fierce headwinds as Apple, Amazon, and Google released well-regarded tablets of their own in advance of the 2012 holiday selling season. From a hardware and price standpoint not much separates the products, but Barnes & Noble's app offerings have lagged behind the competition, even as it worked hard to expand its app store. Such a drawback can give consumers a reason to pause before buying.

Real Racing 3 on the Nook HD+ (click image to enlarge).

I got an early preview of the software update on a Nook HD+ and what's a little bit surprising is that Barnes & Noble hasn't held anything back from the Google Play store -- it's as you would expect it to appear on any open Android device, complete with apps, music, movies, games, and yes, even e-books.

Not often is it that you see a company place a direct competitor on its device after investing so much in its own store. But that's what Barnes & Noble has done, giving customers the option of buying apps, books, and movies from the Nook Store or the Google Play Store a few swipes away.

Google video offerings will go head-to-head against the Nook Store's.

If you're wondering whether you can add the Kindle app to the Nook, the answer is yes. Kobo, too. But more importantly, Nook owners can also grab the HBO Go app that has been missing from the Nook Store. Or any number of games and apps that also aren't there.

Barnes & Noble reps said that the Nook Store would continue to coexist side-by-side with the Google Play store and users will be able to import their bookmarks from the Nook's old browser to the new Chrome browser. With the Nook HD and HD+ you can also create separate profiles for different users, and parents will have the option of giving their kids access to the Google Play Store -- or not.

To distinguish apps that you've bought in the Nook Store, a small "n" will appear as part of its icon in the navigational carousel at the top of the screen. Content bought in the Google Play store, such as movies, music, and e-books -- will be accessible through Google's "players," not Barnes & Noble's.

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Barnes & Noble adds Google Play store to its tablets

Software Eases Use of Fully Integrated Ambient Light and Proximity Sensors in Devices Running Android 4.0.1 or Higher

MALVERN, Pa. Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH) today announced the availability of free Android software designed to simplify the use of the company's VCNL4020 and VCNL3020 integrated proximity and ambient light sensors in any mobile device running Android 4.0.1 software or higher. The VCNLx020 Android software significantly reduces the time needed to program an Android device for use with the VCNL4020 and VCNL3020, eliminating the need for debugging and simplifying the overall adoption of Vishay's digital IC-enabled optical sensors.

In devices such as smartphones, ambient light sensors optimize the visibility of the LCD display by allowing the backlight to adjust its brightness automatically based on surrounding light levels. The proximity sensor is used to turn off the backlight of the display and disable the touch functionality when the phone is brought next to the user's ear, preventing his or her cheek from ending a call accidentally. Both types of sensors are designed to reduce power consumption and extend battery life in mobile electronics. For these devices, the Vishay Semiconductors VCNL4020 and VCNL3020 are fully integrated solutions, containing an infrared emitter and photo detector for proximity sensing, an ambient light sensor (VCNL4020), and signal processing, all in a single surface-mount package.

The VCNLx020 Android software package includes the documentation, source code, and patch files required to allow an Android-based platform to communicate with the VCNL4020 or VCNL3020. This communication follows the standard Android sensors framework. The supplied Android VCNL4020 driver consists of two parts: the kernel module responsible for the data control and acquisition from the VCNL4020 and the subsequent HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) module to link the kernel to the main Android framework, allowing the information supplied by the sensor to be used by Android applications. To demonstrate this, a demo Android app is included (VCNL40x0-DemoApp.apk), along with its associated source code, which can serve as a base for building user-specific Android applications.

The VCNLx020 Android software package can be downloaded for free, after registration on Vishay's website, by clicking on the Android robot at http://www.vishay.com/optical-sensors/.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., a Fortune 1,000 Company listed on the NYSE (VSH), is one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors (diodes, MOSFETs, and infrared optoelectronics) and passive electronic components (resistors, inductors, and capacitors). These components are used in virtually all types of electronic devices and equipment, in the industrial, computing, automotive, consumer, telecommunications, military, aerospace, power supplies, and medical markets. Vishay's product innovations, successful acquisition strategy, and "one-stop shop" service have made it a global industry leader. Vishay can be found on the Internet at http://www.vishay.com.

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

http://twitter.com/vishayindust http://www.facebook.com/VishayIntertechnology

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Vishay Intertechnology's Free Android(TM) Software

Lakeway Publishers of Florida, Inc. and Independent Publications, Inc. today jointly announced the acquisition and sale of Sun Publications of Florida, Inc. Sun Publications has owned and published newspapers and shoppers in central Florida for 10 years.

Newspapers or shoppers included in the transaction are the Osceola News-Gazette in Kissimmee, Clermont News Leader, Four Corners News Leader, The Triangle News Leader, The Sumter Shopper and the Pasco Shopper. Sun Publications also publishes the Poinciana Pioneer and Harmony Notes, in conjunction with the homeowners associations in their respective communities and specializes in off set web printing for numerous customers throughout the region.

Lakeway Publishers, Inc. publishes newspapers, magazines, and specialty publications in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia. R. Jack Fishman, president of Lakeway said, We are pleased that Independent Publications, Inc. selected our company to continue the traditions of community journalism in these communities. Each of the papers is dedicated to providing quality coverage of news and events that their readers are interested in. We hope to build on this record of success both in print, on the web and on mobile over the next few months. We believe people are what matter and we feel that the excellent staff at each of the properties is committed to this cause.

Dennis Wilkinson, vice president of Sun Publications said, We are excited about being a part of Lakeway Publishers. We look forward to growing and expanding under the Lakeway Group. It is important for us to continue our local coverage for our readers, and we think that this move will enable us to continue our progress.

Dennis Wilkinson will become vice president of Lakeway Publishers of Florida; Tom Kirk will continue to serve as publisher of the Osceola News-Gazette; Jodi Marano will continue to serve as publisher of The Clermont papers; Chris Tiffer will continue as financial controller of the Group; and Lisa Taylor will continue as human resource director.

Cribb, Greene & Associates of Bozeman, MT, and Charlottesville, VA, represented IPI in the sale.

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Lakeway Publishers, Inc. acquires Sun Publications of Florida Inc.

Students from Jefferson Middle School in Champaign created a project using Etoys, a free software program, and presented their projects at the Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Students also saw a presentation of 3-D visualizations at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and participated in a CS Unplugged activity.

Jefferson students at NCSA and Siebel

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Nick Cole, a seventh-grader from Jefferson Middle School in Champaign, tries to grab objects on the screen during a presentation of 3-D visualizations at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The students also participated in a CS Unplugged activity at the Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Students created a project using Etoys, a free software program, and presented their projects at Siebel.

Jefferson students at NCSA and Siebel

Photographer: Robin Scholz

Wearing special glasses, students from Jefferson Middle School in Champaign watch a presentation of 3-D visualizations at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The students also participated in a CS Unplugged activity at the Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Students created a project using Etoys, a free software program, and presented their projects at Siebel.

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Jefferson students at NCSA and Siebel