Will Microsoft be the latest Internet company to buy fuel cells from Bloom Energy to provide power for its data centers? Microsoft says it is looking for backup power sources that could use natural gas and could replace its diesel generators. Read more »
New updates to Alfresco’s content management system and Box’s cloud sync service renew questions about whether these file-share-and-sync services are best offered as part of a larger, legacy product or by an independent provider that specializes in this technology. Read more »
In the five years since the iPhone hit the market, Apple and Google have delivered more than 40 billion cumulative downloads of apps. Other sources predict the app marketplace will swell to surpass 66 billion downloads in 2016, a growth fueled by tablet, entertainment, and enterprise apps. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Finnish firm’s founders are moving to New York to cash in on heavy U.S. demand, they say, while also revealing the opening of a Singapore office. Read more »
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the social network is already handling a billion search queries per day, and that it is interested in launching a social search engine powered by the activity of its users — something that could turn out to be Google’s worst nightmare. Read more »
In-Q-Tel which finds and vets strategic technology for use by the CIA and other intelligence agencies, has given a boost (and some money) to Huddle, the UK provider of cloud collaboration services. Together they”re working on a version for use by US government entities. Read more »
It used to be iPhones at every turn, but now there are plenty of Android sightings. That makes sense since there are now 500 million Android devices activated since 2008. That’s more than total iOS devices, however, Google hasn’t yet monetized its broad Android base. Read more »
Owners of older Nokia Lumia smartphones may be missing out when Windows Phone 8 arrives, but Nokia is bringing some new innovation to the old models. City Lens, an augmented reality application, is now freely available for the Lumia 710, 800 and 900 smartphones. Read more »
As the volume of connected devices increases, so too will the probability of hackers targeting these systems to exploit networks, steal data, hijack systems, and compromise workflows. Security specialists recognize the potential risks and are already developing technologies and methodologies for hardening M2M systems from attack. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Although Nokia did not detail release dates when it unveiled new Windows Phones this week, reports suggest a November timeframe. Coming after the expected next iPhone, that makes Nokia’s sales challenge that much tougher, regardless of how nice the new Lumias look. Read more »
Just when we think we’ve maxed out the amount of cloud-based storage the world can consume, there’s data to prove us wrong. IHS iSuppli research shows that cloud storage subscriptions will grow at double-digit rates til 2017 when they’ll hit 1.3 billion Read more »
Microsoft has spent billions to make Bing a search contender against the heavyweight champ Google. Now it’s inviting users to judge for themselves with an online contest. Check it out and let us know how it goes. Read more »
With new Lumia handsets, Nokia’s transition plan is effectively complete. While the company worked hard to get here — and it shows in the new hardware and software — the road ahead is still long as Nokia asks consumers to switch away from iOS and Android. Read more »
Nokia’s second Windows Phone 8 device is the Lumia 820, a smaller companion to the 920. It will offer a smaller screen, exchangeable covers and wireless charging. Read more »
As expected, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 920 smartphone Wednesday in New York. The Windows Phone 8 device will lead Nokia’s comeback fight and will be in key in Microsoft’s bid for relevance in the smartphone market. Read more »
Does it make good business sense for Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon (or any high tech company) to make its employees use its products alone? The great dogfooding debate rages on anew in the bring-your-own-device era. Read more »
Frustrated by a lack of hardware innovation, gaming fan favorite Valve Software is taking matters into its own hands and is seeking industrial engineering expertise. That could mean that the rumored Valve Steambox is on its way. Read more »
Sometimes stodgy and stable is good. That is certainly the case for enterprise technology buyers. While the product news out of VMworld 2012 this week wasn’t earth shattering, what the company is doing bears study if you’re an IT person. Read more »
Well into the cloud computing era, the definitions of what constitutes an “open cloud,” and how to select the right technology are still a mystery to potential users. And, consumers are still in the dark when it comes to the concept of cloud. Read more »
ZTE and Motorola indicated that they are making Intel-powered smartphones. Samsung announced the Microsoft Windows 8 powered ATIV-S phones, beating Nokia to the punch. These are first signs of PC-business behemoths trying hard to find relevance in a mobile-first world of Apple, Google and Qualcomm. Read more »
Samsung is showing more love for Microsoft, debuting the world’s first Windows Phone 8 device, the Ativ S. The device, similar to the Galaxy S III, gives Windows Phone 8 a strong flagship phone as it goes up against Android and iOS. Read more »
While cloud, mobility, social, and analytics have been driving demand for IT products and services in 2012, the worldwide IT spending picture has become dimmer as the year has progressed: We’re looking at 5.1 percent worldwide IT spending growth in 2012. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google is rolling out business-friendly features for its Google+ social networking service. That paves the way for a paid-version next year or beyond and escalates the battle between Google and Microsoft for the corporate desktop. Read more »
Already, workplaces are changing because of trends like BYOD and gamification. But other emerging technologies are also altering what our workspace looks like and how we collaborate. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft is joining several startups in trying to entice developers to use its cloud as a specialized backend for their mobile applications. Microsoft’s Windows Azure Mobile Services joins offerings from Parse, Kinvey and Apigee in trying to establish a new infrastructure for the growing mobile ecosystem. Read more »
Nearly all the news out of VMworld 2012 shows a company in flux. With a new CEO and its core server virtualization market commoditizing, VMware continues to push into new areas — end user computing, open source — where it is not a leader. Read more »
First up in this week’s audio podcast: Apple’s landslide court victory over Samsung and what it could mean to Android. Next, some impressions of the Galaxy Note 10.1 and thoughts on some upcoming events and potential device announcements, plus the slick features in Sony’s new Reader. Read more »
As VMware transitions from CEO Paul Maritz to CEO Pat Gelsinger and keeps pushing beyond its server virtualization roots, there are a lot of questions about where the company is headed. Here are 6 key issues the company should address at VMworld. Read more »
The new car year is fast approaching but not every model is ready to be produced. That presented a problem for Nissan and its 2013 Pathfinder. The solution? Use the designs to create a virtual reality experience of the vehicle with Microsoft’s Kinect as the interface. Read more »
After mainly sitting out from offering cutting-edge Windows Phone handsets, Verizon Wireless appears to be ready to help Microsoft and Nokia: The largest U.S. carrier is expected — possibly in a few weeks — to launch a Nokia smartphone running the newest version of Windows Phone this year. Read more »
A number of new data markets have emerged in the past few years that provide access to data for decision making. It’s early days, however, with plenty of kinks to work out on both the technology side and with business models. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft invested $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s Nook business. As the following chart shows, that probably wasn’t a great idea: Production problems, slowing ebook sales and other factors are contributing to the Nook’s troubles. Read more at paidContent »
Barnes & Noble will sell its Nook e-readers in the UK starting this October, but at the beginning they will only be available through a website, nook.co.uk. B&N says it will announce partnerships with “leading retailers” soon. Read more at paidContent »
Buying IT services should be the opposite of how you buy produce: “No you don’t want to consume your IT locally. Trust us,” says Google’s Peter Magnusson. That’s because products like Google’s platform as a service App Engine are energy efficient and carbon neutral. Read more »
Microsoft released Windows 8 to hardware makers but you can get your own free copy. Don’t get too excited: This is an evaluation copy that lasts for 90 days and can’t be upgraded. I’m going to take it for a spin on a Windows 7 slate. Read more »
Smartphones can enable an amazing level of connectivity, but they can also allow that activity to be monitored and used in controversial ways. But for mobile marketing to realize its full potential, consumers may need to sacrifice their privacy to one degree or another. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
No surprise, SkyDrive in its newest incarnation is starting to look an awful lot like Windows 8. Also new, an Android app joins existing Windows Phone and iPhone versions. Microsoft SkyDrive competes with Apple iCloud and Google Drive for consumers’ digital content. Read more »
Microsoft announced four initial hardware partners for the first Windows RT slates. Of the four, two have some solid tablet experience while another showed promise with early smartbook designs. The last one, however, is a dark horse, as it has limited success with consumer electronics devices. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: revelations about Apple and Microsoft’s licensing agreement, the super-secure iPhone, signs point to a September iPhone launch, the mythical Apple television, and the death of optical drives. Read more »
While computing in the cloud can cost less than running servers in your enterprise data center, the question of how much less isn’t an easy one to answer. The cloud will get cheaper in the future, but not before these challenges are addressed and overcome. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
