ShadowRAM: October 15, 2007

Hold All Your Calls Folks, We Have a Winner
• Sometimes, when you write about the channel, it's not the easiest job to describe to the relatives at family reunions. But, thanks to solution provider Stratix, we now have the perfect way to bring them into the conversation.

Stratix put together a mobile solution for Limited Brands so one of its companies could load a bus up with its wares, some of its representatives and travel across the land from special event to special event and promote its product line. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention: The product line was Victoria's Secret. Stratix, of Norcross, Ga., delivered a Motorola solution and equipped the bus with wireless POS devices and other enterprise-ready technology so its representatives could deliver lingerie to even the remotest areas of the country.

(A recent gig included a pajama party in Chicago, we hear.)

SEEN AND HEARD
• The latest rumor: Michael Dell is going to buy Lexmark.

Or, rather, Dell's company is. Because Dell can never have enough low-margin, legacy hardware lines of business, apparently.

We don't believe the Dell-Lexmark rumor. Lexmark was such an unattractive takeover target, not even Lenovo's Bill Amelio wants it. And Amelio wanted to buy Packard Bell, folks. So do the math.

We're actually much more intrigued by what's been lighting up the Yahoo message boards on a recent, $93 million U.S. Navy contract that was awarded to Xerox last week. Word on the cyberstreet was that Lexmark went after the deal hard and might have actually even thought it was in the bag, but Lucy pulled the ball away from Charlie Brown at the last second.

• Steve Ballmer was in the U.K. earlier this month, giving a speech to a small gathering, and blurted out that "Google reads your e-mail" (but Microsoft doesn't).

No. Microsoft just sends out Windows updates ad nauseam and forces you to reboot your system in the MIDDLE of writing your e-mail.

Anyhoo, Apple VARs are excited about some little-reported features in the forthcoming Leopard server from Apple—which will provide calendaring and other functions some believe could help it supplant Exchange accounts. The rumored release date for Leopard: Oct. 26.