Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at Oracle conf (RJM)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed the pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in a surprise appearance at the Oracle OpenWorld Conference in San Francisco today.
Schwarzenegger appeared onstage at the Moscone Center with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to congratulate him and Sun chairman Scott McNealy on bringing together “two of California’s greatest success stories,” he said.
Oracle, of Redwood Shores, is still awaiting European Commission approval of its planned $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun, of Santa Clara, even though it has already received clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Schwarzenegger, whose appearance was not listed on the program, said Oracle and Sun are two of many California companies that have made it a powerhouse of technological innovation.
“Combined, these two companies will hold more than 11,000 patents and they employ 60,000 people in California and 150,000 people worldwide,” he said.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, touted other California companies that have fostered innovation in high tech, biotech and energy conservation, including Tesla, a maker of all-electric cars, and California Edison and PG&E, electrical utilities that have developed “smart grid” technology for more efficient use of electricity.
In a tease of his wife Maria Shriver, the governor told his techie audience “some day in the future you will be developing technology so that we can have a hands free cell phone.” The First Lady has been caught on camera this week using a cell phone while driving herself even though her husband signed a hands-free phone law that took effect July 1, 2007.
“Can you believe that she was called out … for holding a cell phone in her hand like in the stone age?” he asked, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Oracle OpenWorld is an annual event that draws thousands of Oracle employees, customers, partners and other tech experts to the Moscone Center in San Francisco (see RJM photo, left).
During his keynote, Ellison touted new technology combining Oracle software and Sun hardware, even though their merger hasn’t been approved. He unveiled the Exadata Version 2, which is billed as the first online transaction processing (OLTP) machine. Ellison billed it as the fastest computer for OLTP and data warehousing.
The Exadata V2 is a follow-on to the Exadata Version 1, which Ellison and Sun’s McNealy discussed during an opening keynote Sunday to the annual conference.
“Exadata Version 1 was the world’s fastest machine for data warehousing applications,” said Ellison. “Exadata Version 2 is twice as fast as Exadata V1 for data warehousing.”
It’s also faster than similar technology from Oracle’s chief rival, IBM, he claimed. In fact, he offered $10 million to anyone who could show that an IBM machine meets higher performance benchmarks than the Oracle-Sun machine.
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