Sheridan Jones, the director of business-strategy in Microsoft's Kinect for Windows division, said the company has had more than a half-million downloads of a software-development kit that it made available to developers about a year ago.

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Citrix, one of the primary cloud vendors, has discontinued contributing software projects to OpenStack, the open-source software foundation for cloud development, of which it had been one of the founding partners.

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The principal activities being moved overseas are IT services, software development, call centers and back-office work.

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Building on the successful TSS library, it offers a comprehensive solution with complementary licensed software and cost-effective development tools.

ENGADGET: Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

As illustrated with the Amtrak example, in order to have a multi-device solution, it requires even more time and resources for software development and hardware.

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Take OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital fund that got started in September 2006.13 It invests in small to medium sized software development firms, and provides operational assistance to those firms.

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It leverages Apple's iOS operating system and its corresponding SDK (Software Development Kit) to provide a two-way communication interface between apps and connected accessories.

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Rather, in archetypal Microsoft fashion, it is first consolidating its grip on game development through its control of the underlying software, a series of low-level programs that go under the rubric of DirectX.

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