Software : Virgin TV customers will get access to Sky Sports and Movies apps next month

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• Virgin TV customers will get access to Sky Sports and Movies apps next month
• IBM revenues down despite booming cloud and mobility business
• Apple iTunes Pass presses play 'round the world

Virgin TV customers will get access to Sky Sports and Movies apps next month Posted: Virgin Media television customers who subscribe to the Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels through their cable service will have the added bonus of on the go viewing from this August. Virgin customers paying for Sky's premium content will be able to log into the Sky Sports Mobile TV and the Sky Movies apps for iOS next month using their existing Virgin account details. As well as live action in time for the start of the Premier League season, they'll also be able to tap into to the on-demand content from within the apps. There's a host of additional content through the iPad app. Just like Sky TV customers, Virgin-ers will be able to log in on two Apple devices, but there's no access for Android customers as yet, according to a post on the Virgin community forums Common enemy Virgin Media customers are already able to access 7 Sky channels (from farther down the trough) through the Virgin TV Anywhere apps for iOS and Android. Earlier this week the company also announced the arrival of the Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports 4 and Sky Sports Formula 1 channels in HD. It seems, through this latest alliance, Sky and Virgin have resolved to unite against the threat posed by BT's television and broadband offerings. Earlier this week Sky announced a new Sky Sports 5 channel which will show the Champions League coverage next season. Virgin customers will have access. BT's will not. As the old saying goes: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

IBM revenues down despite booming cloud and mobility business Posted: IBM revenue for the second quarter of 2014 decreased 2% to $24.4 billion (about £14.26 billion, AU$26 billion) compared with the same quarter last year. However, the company's mobility and cloud businesses doubled 100% and 50% respectively. Second-quarter net income increased 28% to $4.1 billion (about £2.41 billion, AU$4.37 billion) compared with the second quarter of 2013. IBM's services division revenues decreased 1% to $13.9 billion (about £8.12 billion, AU$14.82 billion). The business services unit, more specifically, saw revenue decrease 2% to $4.5 billion (about £2.5 billion, AU$4.77 billion). IBM software The company's software division generated a revenue increase of 1% to $6.5 billion (about £3.80 billion, AU$6.93 billion). Revenues from middleware products, including WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Workforce Solutions and Rational products, were up 1% to $4.3 billion (about £2.45 billion, AU$4.53 billion). Business analytics and security revenues increased 7% and 20%, respectively, during the quarter. IBM recently announced a partnership with Apple that will reap big rewards for the business application developer. The exclusive partnership will infuse IBM's data and analytics tools into the iPhone and iPad. IBM hardware woes Revenues from IBM's hardware segment decreased 11% to $3.3 billion (about £1.93 billion, AU$3.52 billion) for the quarter. IBM recorded a 1% decrease in revenues for its System z mainframe server products. Revenues from Power Systems were down 28%, as was System x and System Storage, which witnessed a 3% and 12% decrease, respectively. Flash storage grew more than 100%. IBM recently said it would invest $3 billion (about £1.75 billion, AU$3.20 billion) over the next five years in research and development to "push the limits of chip technology with a clear focus on big data and cloud computing." The company loses $1.5 billion (about £880 million, AU$1.6 billion) each year on its chipmaking business. IBM is looking to move away from hardware. The company recently sold its low-end server unit to Lenovo, a deal that is currently being reviewed by the federal government. IBM is also reportedly nearing a deal to sell its chip-making unit to GlobalFoundries. IBM cloud, security and mobility The company has been active in bolstering its cloud business. IBM recently released an upgrade to its Connections cloud and on-premise software designed to aid organizations in internal and external collaboration. In March, IBM acquired database-as-a-service provider Cloudant. IBM's security and mobility services have also taken on a bigger role. In May, BlackBerry teamed up with IBM to allow IBM to directly manage devices running the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Earlier this year, IBM launched QRadar Incident Forensics, a tool designed to help security professionals retrace the steps of cyber criminals. What are IBM's predictions for 2016?

Apple iTunes Pass presses play 'round the world Posted: Inputting long codes off the backs of iTunes gift cards will soon be a thing of the past. Apple has debuted iTunes Pass allowing United States and Australian iTunes users to pour money into their accounts using the Passbook app. This lets customers refill their iTunes account balance without needing to buy physical gift cards or giving their credit card info over to Apple. Users can start using iTunes Pass by adding it to the Passbook app on their iOS device. Once activated, users can visit their local Apple retail store and inform a store employee they want to add credit to their account. The store employee will then scan an iTunes Pass generated code to deposit money into the account. The Cupertino company first debuted the program in Japan on July 14, but now it's making its way to more locations around the globe. According to iPhone Hacks, iTunes Pass has also gone live in a number of other countries including Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. Mobile monies As Apple moves away from gift cards, iTunes Pass seems like a logical progression. The feature could also be part of Apple's larger goal to create its own platform for mobile payments. A report from the beginning of the year found Apple was looking into allowing iOS users pay for goods and services using their Apple ID. A few days later Apple CEO Tim Cook also hinted that mobile payments could eventually be connected to mobile payments via Touch ID, Apple's fingerprint sensing technology which debuted on the iPhone 5S. Will Apple become future of health with the iWatch?

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