Sometimes Windows is just what the doctor ordered, and with OnLive’s new Desktop app for iPad, I suspect it’ll be the prescription I’m looking for much more often. Here’s a look at what the fresh new Windows virtualization app for iPad offers. Read more »
Up-and-coming Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider Tier3 has made a significant contribution to the Platform-as-a-Service world by releasing a .NET implementation of the Cloud Foundry PaaS project. A fork project called Iron Foundry will serve as the primary source of .NET development within Cloud Foundry. Read more »
Microsoft added fuel to speculations about its consumer-business prowess on Tuesday with the preview of its forthcoming Windows Store that will accompany Windows 8, but there’s a more fundamental issue facing Microsoft than whether consumers will buy Windows 8 devices. Will it have developers? Read more »
Interest in Microsoft Windows 8 tablets is waning, says Forrester, with nearly half of those who wanted such a device at the beginning of 2011 no longer interested. Time is against Microsoft, but there’s still some hope for success due to both hardware and software strategies. Read more »
Tablets began outselling netbooks earlier this year, but the small laptops still have their fans. One person created a list of 101 things a netbook can do and it’s a great read. But I’d argue that most consumers are moving away from such traditional computing activities. Read more »
Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest PC maker, has cycled through a flurry of client device strategies in the past year. Those changes, including the discontinuation of the TouchPad, bred confusion not only about HP’s hardware roadmap but also about its ability to drive future cloud services. Read more »
Opscode has brought it cloud-configuration-management technology, Chef, to Microsoft Windows environments. Chef lets users create “recipes” for configuring and managing infrastructure in an automated and scalable manner, which has made it popular for a variety of complex use cases such as cloud computing and scale-out clusters. Read more »
I last looked at Windows gaming options on OS X in 2010; the choices haven’t gotten any better. However, Parallels 7 was recently released and boasts improved Windows performance in a virtualized environment, so it’s time to take another look. Read more »
Microsoft sees the torrent of email newsletters and daily deal updates as an opportunity to differentiate its Hotmail service by providing a host of new tools to help manage this “gray mail,” part of an ongoing attempt to make Hotmail more competitive against Gmail. Read more »
Skype released a new beta for Mac users on Thursday, which features Facebook integration. You can now chat directly with your Facebook friends, check your news feed and update your status. But it comes at a cost: This beta also introduces ads for nonpaying Skype users. Read more »
Not one to be left behind for long, VMware has introduced the new version of its Fusion virtualization software. Fusion 4 lets you install and run a second OS, including Windows, Lion or Snow Leopard in a virtual machine that integrates completely with your desktop. Read more »
Despite OpenStack’s continued growth, a combination of product updates and acquisitions from Citrix, Eucalyptus, Red Hat and VMware over the past week demonstrate that the race to become the dominant private cloud provider, as well as win over the enterprise, is far from over. Is one of ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After months of getting its teeth kicked in by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, things appear to be looking up for Research In Motion. All Things D claimed this week that RIM is “on the rebound,” thanks to a new pair of handsets running BlackBerry 7. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Thanks to content and applications, iOS and Android will remain at the top of the tablet heap until at least 2017, a new report claimed Monday. Trends indicate that iOS and Android tablet devices will make up 90 percent of the market six years from now. Read more »
Viewsonic launched its ViewPad 10pro tablet, a unique slate supporting both Google Android and Microsoft Windows 7. Android apps run in a unique virtualization mode, so there’s no need to shut down Windows to use mobile apps. But at this price, the display resolution is lacking. Read more »
Google rocked the mobile world on Monday, August 15, with the news that it will buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, marking a 63-percent premium for the handset manufacturer. It’s a move that ushers Google into the exclusive club of companies that control both the hardware and software elements of their smartphone offerings, and it will enable Google to design handsets that are more closely integrated with Android. However, the deal doesn’t come without its risks, and it remains to be seen just how it will affect other handset makers, competition from Microsoft and the crucial patent issues currently surrounding Google. Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Millennials — workers between the ages of 20 and 29 who grew up with ubiquitous cell phone and Internet availability — are now a dominant force in today’s enterprise. Is your company ready for them? This report, the second in a two-part series, examines the tensions ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung continues to find success overseas with bada, its platform targeted at budget-conscious consumers who want a solid mobile data experience. The manufacturer could duplicate that success in the U.S., and prepaid would be an ideal way to bring the platform to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Fujitsu is launching a smartphone that doubles as a handheld Windows 7 computer. While the idea of a full computer in your pocket sounds attractive, this device strikes me as the worst possible combination of brands for a mobile device that runs for two hours. Read more »
Lenovo today introduced a trio of new tablet computers, two running Google’s Android 3.1 operating system and the third powered by Microsoft Windows 7. Netflix certification and pen support are nice features, but those alone aren’t enough. For the same cost, consumers are opting for iPads. Read more »
The second quarter of 2011 in mobile was all about smartphones, thanks to Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS and mobile data consumption ramping up. In the tablet space, the iPad lacked any real competition, though that dominance will surely fade as more and more alternatives — from Cisco, HP and others — emerge. Elsewhere, location-based marketing finally made some headlines, and the groundwork for near-field communications looks to be finally falling into place. Additional companies in this report include Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Research In Motion. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Cloud computing has grown from a pie-in-the-sky vision to a major IT movement over the past few years. As its promise has grown, though, so too has its scope. This report covers six key sectors in cloud computing: commodity Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), enterprise IaaS, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud storage and private clouds. We highlight the current state of each and provide informed insights into where they — and cloud computing in general — are headed. Much like any market in a still-evolving state, the infrastructure of the cloud-computing transition is still being built by startups, practitioners and even a big-name company or two. Companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Amazon, Nasuni, Terremark and Heroku. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tablets have gone mainstream, and now those devices — from the iPad to Research in Motion’s new PlayBook — are headed to the enterprise. This trend is largely driven by end users who prefer to bring their own devices to work, which is creating a fruitful marketplace for both hardware manufacturers and app developers. This report examines the current state of tablets in the enterprise, from use cases to market drivers, and analyzes which players will be worth watching in the coming months. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Google, Samsung and Nokia. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Skype added deeper Facebook integration to its latest software for Windows, bringing instant messaging, the ability to “like” a Facebook status from Skype and improved contact integration. This is just the start for a stronger partnership between the two and it doesn’t end on the desktop. Read more »
Apple teased the next installment of OS X, 10.7 Lion, again at WWDC on Monday, and set its release for July. But this upgrade might leave a lot of users cold, even as it paves the way for wider adoption of OS X down the road. Read more »
Being able to work online has its benefits, such as having the flexibility to work nontraditional hours with clients from countries around the world, but it’s also easy to get distracted. Fortunately, there are several tools available to help improve concentration and productivity. Read more »
It’s being rumored that Windows 8 could make its debut next week, even though release isn’t actually slated to occur until 2012. Here’s a list of the features that are likely to be included in Windows 8 that I’m most looking forward to seeing: Read more »
Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Skype is the largest the company has ever made, and it’s raised many questions in the process. This research note examines Skype’s overall value and where it fits strategically into the world of Microsoft. From Office 365 and Bing to Xbox Kinect and Windows Phone, there are numerous ways in which Microsoft can leverage the functionality of its newest addition — and numerous risks it could incur in the process. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Cisco, Panasonic and Google. For a full list of companies and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Hunch.com offers a great visual snapshot of Mac users and their PC counterparts over on the site’s blog today. As you can see for yourself below, at least a good portion of the results are pretty much in keeping with prevailing stereotypes. Read more »
Two markets stand out above all else when looking at the first quarter of 2011: infrastructure as a service (IaaS) — the epitome of cloud computing — and big data. Amazon Web Services continues to lead the IaaS space in terms of customers and innovation, while Rackspace, buoyed by momentum around OpenStack, will be its primary competitor for mainstream customers. In the big data space, there are so many players and terms floating about it’s difficult for outsiders to get a handle on who’s who and what’s what, though such activity validates the technologies. Other developments this quarter included HP’s impending presence in the cloud computing and big data spaces and the realization that Intel won’t be left to die if low-power servers based on x86 processors catch on like the buzz late last year suggests they will. Additional companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Microsoft, Cloudera, SeaMicro and Facebook. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Cloud computing, a surge of smartphone growth and increased wireless connectivity have created an ideal environment for the introduction of the media tablet — a consumer-grade device best suited to leisure-based computing activities such as gaming and social networking. This report forecasts the media tablet market, which is expected to grow at a 54 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years. We forecast revenues and regional growth, including China’s growing importance in the market, and provide a competitive analysis of tablets from Cisco, Research in Motion, Apple, HP and others. Additional companies in this report include Samsung, Dell, Microsoft and Motorola. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
If you don’t like having to switch to the Google Docs website to monitor your account to see whether any new documents have been shared with you, check out Google Docs Notifier, a simple Widows taskbar utility that displays unread Docs. Read more »
Within the next five years, smartphones will account for more than one-third of all handsets sold worldwide, thanks largely to platforms like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. This research covers the global handset platforms market for the period between 2011 and 2015. We first examine the factors contributing to this worldwide growth, from a slowly recovering economy to the rise of technologies like 4G and LTE. Regional factors affect growth, too, and our research includes a forecast for the following areas: the Americas; Europe; the Middle East and Africa; and Asia-Pacific. Forecasts are on a global and regional basis for the most important platforms: Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Google, Nokia, Research in Motion and Microsoft. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As mobile apps become more sophisticated, they can be preferable over their desktop counterparts: fully functional, but faster and easier to use. Two major computer makers recognize what this means: the potential for huge disruption through a subtle merger of traditional desktop computing and mobile platforms. Read more »
Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect accessory might have the spotlight when it comes to gesture technology, but it’s not the only game in town. EyeSight is bringing its software and algorithms to camera-enabled Android tablets and Windows computers for remote controlling applications with the wave of a hand. Read more »
With nearly 100 new or updated tablets shown last week at CES, the show was unofficially nicknamed Tabletpalooza. But how to keep track of all those gadgets and which ones really matter? Don’t even try. Here are 10 that stand out from the crowd. Read more »
ASUS kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show with four new tablet computers, ranging in size from 7-12 inches. Three of the Eee Pads will use the Honeycomb version of Android and dual-core processors while the fourth is an Intel-powered Microsoft Windows 7 slate. Read more »
In the game of mobile musical chairs, Microsoft and Intel are about to be left standing when the music stops. But now that Microsoft is reportedly bringing Windows to ARM processors, it appears that Microsoft has a seat, leaving Intel to fend for itself with Nokia. Read more »
Usage of mobile applications continues to skyrocket, and end users are increasingly dictating which handsets they use for work. So the use of consumer apps on enterprise devices is a growing concern for IT departments who are already struggling to cope with mobile security ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
In my 6 month check-in documenting my move to Mac, I mentioned some of the general usability issues that I was still experiencing. My last post garnered a lot of comments in response, with some great tips from readers I thought I would share with you. Read more »
