Cloud

Vote for the Next Book

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:06:00 +0000

Getting a bit ahead of myself, but what the heck

With the end finally in sight for Windows Phone Book, I’ve started thinking a bit about what comes next. Sure, I’ve got a lot of work to do on the current book, on both the writing and publishing sides, but I want to keep moving forward. And since I’m hoping to charge for the next book, I’m curious which topics are of the most interest to actual readers.

Short Takes: May 17, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:28:00 +0000

An often irreverent look at this week's other news, including Google and Microsoft find some common ground in an unexpected place, Microsoft renews campaign to kill off its best-selling product ever, Dell tanks while Carl Icahn tries to rob its corpse, Gates is ironically number one again thanks to monopoly busting, the DOJ details its evidence against Apple in e-book price-fixing case, and Apple responds by pointing in the other direction.

Open In New Window: No

New Video Parodies Google Chrome Ad

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:17:00 +0000

It's not clear which one is creepier, the original ad or the parody video

A purported Microsoft internal video parodies Google’s “Now Everywhere” ad for the Chrome web browser, noting that Chrome is, in fact, tracking you and targeting you with ads to monetize your personal info … now everywhere. Regardless of the source, it’s actually pretty brilliant.

Larry Page Blames Microsoft for Rift with Google

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:37:00 +0000

Google CEO Larry Page got tripped up by a bit of hypocrisy during his appearance at his firm’s annual Google I/O developer conference. At an event at which the firm didn’t announce a single product or service that runs natively on Microsoft’s Windows platforms, Page complained that Microsoft recently added support for Google Chat to Outlook.com without enabling the reverse.

Open In New Window: No

Google I/O 2013, Day One: A Flood of New and Improved Google Services

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:57:00 +0000

Google turns on the fire hose. This is how you hold a tech conference, folks

Google--Microsoft’s biggest platform competitor—launched its annual Google I/O developer show today and as usual the firm made a number of fascinating announcements that had absolutely nothing to do with developers. Google I/O always presents a fascinating peek into what Google is doing at this moment in time, and this year’s show hasn’t disappointed so far. Indeed, it’s almost overwhelming.

Microsoft is Adding Google Chat to Outlook.com

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:58:00 +0000

Just the latest in a long series of updates to Outlook.com

Microsoft revealed today that it is adding yet another new feature to Outlook.com: Google Chat compatibility. Soon, you’ll be able to chat with your Google friends in addition to those with Skype and Facebook.

City of Boston Drops Microsoft for Google

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:40:00 +0000

Last week, the City of Boston announced that it was making "a move to the cloud" by adopting Google Apps for all city workers and schools. Google Apps will replace "multiple aging on-premises email systems currently in use"—read: "Exchange Server"—and will even save the city money each year, it's claimed. This is disappointing, and I think that the City of Boston is making a huge mistake.

Open In New Window: No

Samsung Claims 5G Wireless Technology Breakthrough

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

Samsung this week claimed to have made a technological breakthrough that will enable true 5G wireless networks with speeds “several hundred times faster” than today’s wireless networks. The catch? It won’t be commercially available until as late as 2020.

Open In New Window: No

Did Google Just One-Up SkyDrive for Free Storage?

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:27:00 +0000

Google gives away more storage for free, unifies storage across three services

Google today announced that users of its free Gmail, Google+ Photos and Google Drive customers will receive a combined 15 GB of storage which they can split as needed between the three services. This offering somewhat exceeds the 7 GB of free storage that Microsoft provides to SkyDrive users. Did Google just one-up Microsoft?

Microsoft Improves the SkyDrive Photos Experience

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:39:00 +0000

SkyDrive keeps getting better

Microsoft today announced several new features for SkyDrive that make it easier for users to upload and manage their photos in the cloud storage service. The improvement comes a week after the firm revealed that over 250 million people actively use the service.