Dropbox to host first-ever developers conference this summer
What better way to draw developers to your platform than by hosting a developers conference? That’s exactly what Dropbox is going to do. Read more »
EMC plots software-defined data center journey from ViPR storage virtualization base
photo: EMC Corp.
EMC says ViPR will abstract out a company’s storage and automate how it gets divvied up by the workload. The company will roll out its software-defined data center plan this week. Read more »
Amazon offers cloud certifications; more proof that AWS is all grown up
photo: Mega Pixel
Amazon is following the lead of its IT elders by rolling out technology certifications for developers, solution architects and admins. Read more »
Ring, ring! Skype video calls arrive in the browser … with Outlook.com
Skype in the browser is finally arriving, but there’s a bit of a catch: The service is fully integrated with Microsoft’s Outlook.com email service. It’s a smart move by Microsoft to integrate the service, which will require a browser plug-in. Read more »
Say what? Microsoft Azure’s a $1 billion business?
Microsoft says it’s sold a billion dollars worth of cloud services. But as is usually the case, the value of cloud sales depends on what your definition of cloud is. Read more »
UK prepares for white space broadband rollout in 2014
photo: Flickr / Cillian Storm
The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced an industry pilot of the long-range broadband and M2M technology later this year, in order to make sure everything works properly ahead of a likely national deployment next year. Read more »
Can Pivotal really offer cloud nirvana?
photo: Albert Chau
Will Pivotal’s corporate overlords let Paul Maritz do as he pledges — offer a cloud-agnostic operating layer? I’m sure business customers hope so. Read more »
Why it’s time for Twitter to add two-factor authentication
photo: alexmillos/Shutterstock.com
As the stakes rise for Twitter when it comes to the security and monetary risks surrounding tweets, it’s time for the company to consider stepping up its security practices to keep accounts safer from hacks. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Sector RoadMap: Social customer service in 2013
“Social customer service” refers to those services that provide customer support via social media channels. Providing such services is no longer merely a niche or specialty sideline. Challengers, or disruptors who were early with the new technology, are working to expand and integrate their offerings into enterprise systems and processes. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Zombies vs. Lazarus: The digital resurrection of canceled television
It’s now common practice for canceled shows to find their way to fans via digital means, but there’s a big difference between uploading unaired episodes and truly coming back to life. Read more at paidContent »
Microsoft earnings: Windows wasn’t as bad as expected but it wasn’t good either
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Despite flat year-over-year WIndows revenue, Microsoft logged a 19 percent profit year over year. Not too shabby for the much maligned company. Read more »
Google’s infrastructure spending spree continues; $1.2B in Q1
photo: Google
Google spent $1.2 billion on property and equipment in the first quarter of 2013, nearly doubling last year’s first quarter. Read more »
Dell mistakenly sees hope in Windows RT where others don’t
Among Microsoft’s hardware partners few are publicly backing Windows RT after low sales and demand. Dell is standing out from the crowd here, likely in an attempt at relevancy in the mobile market. But it’s not a good bet on Dell’s part. Read more »
Don’t hold your breath for a Microsoft Surface Windows Phone
There’s really no need for Microsoft to build its own Windows Phone 8 hardware since partners are offering solid handsets, says Microsoft’s Terry Myerson. Maybe hardware isn’t the problem. Read more »
At long last, Microsoft is ready to compete head on with Amazon Web Services
Microsoft Windows Azure GM Bill Hilf calls Amazon a competitor, a partner and a neighbor: But that won’t stop Microsoft from launching an IaaS price war against Amazon Web Services. Read more »
Suppliers say Microsoft planning a smartwatch: It’s almost past time
Microsoft suppliers say the company is considering a touch-face smartwatch. If true, it won’t be the first time the company offered such a device, but the time to market is critical. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Connected consumer first-quarter 2013: Analysis and outlook
Many long-standing legal rules of engagement between publishers and consumers tilted the playing field in unexpected ways in the first quarter. The period also saw a major expansion in the amount and quality of original productions for web-based video platforms and a major move by chipmaker Intel to stake a claim in the digital living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Amazon takes another step to suck up more enterprise data
Amazon Storage Gateway can now run in Microsoft Hyper-V as well as VMware ESXi (and of course Amazon EC2) environments. Welcome to the world of blurred boundaries. Read more »
Microsoft brings 3D maps to Excel users
photo: Microsoft
Microsoft has rolled out a new visualization feature for Excel called GeoFlow. It’s definitely pretty, and if you’re using Windows and trying to track activity over space and time, it might be useful, too. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Social first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook
Social business technologies remain in the foreground of discussions about business transformation, but the events of the first quarter of 2013 raised as many questions as they answered, or more. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Cloud adoption: It’s not about the price, stupid
photo: Corbis / Don Mason
Remember when the decision to go to Amazon Web Services was all about saving dough? Smart consumers now know that’s not the real reason to move workloads to the cloud. Read more »
With a 7-inch Surface tablet, Microsoft can finally deliver on its UMPC concept
Reports indicate Microsoft is planning a smaller Surface tablet for later this year. It won’t be the first though: Remember UMPCs? The idea was sound, but the interface and hardware weren’t; two things that Microsoft can easily fix now. Read more »
Microsoft takes hits after bad PC numbers
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
With Q1 PC sales breaking records — and not in a good way — Microsoft is taking heat with two analysts downgrading its shares. Read more »
Really, Microsoft? Your vision for the future of TV is… an HDMI cable?
photo: digitpedia
Microsoft is reportedly looking to closely integrate its upcoming Xbox successor with live television – but it’s using a very cumbersome way to do so. Read more »
This might be the best thing anyone can do with data
photo: Shutterstock / Karuka
After hearing about the applications of big data for better ads, song recommendations and social media analysis, nothing makes me happier than hearing about technologists coming together with non-profits to use data to fight human trafficking. Read more »
Dropbox adds single sign-on support to woo more business users
In a bid to make itself more palatable to IT, Dropbox will add single sign-on, SAML support to its business edition. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Mobile first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook
The mobile platform wars escalated once again in the first quarter of 2012 as BlackBerry finally took the wraps off its much-anticipated new operating system. Meanwhile Android continued to build on its dominance both worldwide and in the U.S., cementing a two-horse race with Apple. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google could face Android antitrust investigation in Europe, after Microsoft complains
photo: Image Credit: Louis Gray
Not satisfied with targeting Google over its search practices, Microsoft and its allies have complained to EU competition authorities over the way Google services are bundled with Android. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Cloud and data first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook
Cloud computing is finally starting to add value to business, as those in charge of cloud within enterprises are moving from talking to doing. That much was very evident in the first quarter of 2013. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft hopes to sell its Mediaroom IPTV platform to Ericsson
The rumored deal will become a reality later this year, assuming there are no regulatory problems. It would give Ericsson a market share of over 25 percent in IPTV and multi-screen systems and services. Read more »
Can big tech overcome its love-hate relationship and destroy patent trolls once and for all?
Almost every tech company claims to hate patent trolls, but they certainly don’t always back up their words with actions. Recent patent activity around the Hadoop big data platform might show how companies can effectively battle trolls — if they really want to. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Flash analysis: smart watches
With the continued miniaturization of technology, the rise of flexible software frameworks, and the growing interest in technologies such as biomonitoring and location-based services, the smart watch is fast becoming technology’s next big thing. We asked GigaOM readers to weigh in on the future of the device. Here are the results. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Amazon is the cloud to beat, but Google has the cloud to watch. Here’s why.
So who will be number two in public cloud after Amazon Web Services? Smart money is now on Google Compute Engine. With caveats, of course. Read more »
Ericsson is angling for Microsoft’s Mediaroom IPTV package, report claims
A Bloomberg report claims Microsoft wants to focus more on IPTV delivery through the Xbox platform. Ericsson already provides other IPTV services to hundreds of telcos, so Mediaroom may be a good fit for its portfolio. Read more »
Survey: Tell us your thoughts on the future of the smart watch
With the smart watch making many headlines these days, we ask GigaOM readers to weigh in with their thoughts on the device: which features they want, how much they would pay, and which company will rule this market. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Content monetization: News licensing and syndication still need marketplaces and infrastructure
Publishers’ lack of strategic focus on licensing and syndication today is matched by nearly equal indifference from software developers, entrepreneurs, and investors. To change this, they must structure their repositories of content so it can be searched, sorted, customized, repackaged, and accessed in real time via standardized APIs. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Want a better/greener/more agile data center? Use the data.
photo: Albert Chau
Want to see big data in action? When it comes to planning out data center capacity, data can influence everything from the power usage to planning for disasters. Read more »
Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself
photo: Dano
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Google may think it can waltz into a market that Evernote and others have staked out, but I’m not going to dance. Read more »
Microsoft buys into multi-lingual social analytics with Netbreeze acquisition
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Netbreeze promises to bring multi-lingual access and analysis to Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube streams via Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Read more »
Make sure you look good: Skype for Windows Phone 8 gains HD video calling
Microsoft’s purchase of Skype is starting to benefit the Windows Phone 8 platform: The newest preview version of Skype for Microsoft smartphones is the first to offer HD video on mobiles. Read more »
