SMB IT | Curtis Franklin » June 2007

June 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 6/13

TAGS: SMB Tech News Today

* Glitz comes off the iPhone. Well, maybe maybe not. Jobs told programmers at Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference that as far as mobile applications were concerned, the iPhone is a mobile Safari browser. Sounds cool when you mumble AJAX and Web 2.0, but Tom Yager makes some really salient points as to why it might truly and bodaceously suck (think 'no SDK'). Bottom line: Not enough info to truly pan it, but it's definitely not looking as cool as it was just two weeks ago. (Source: InfoWorld)

* More iPhone bummers: iTunes required. Yeah, that's right. Even though it's got a full OS X install running, you're not given free choice in music players. Or maybe you are, but you'll still need an iTunes account to activate the device. What the hell are they thinking in Cupertino?! (Source: PC World)

* Microsoft clarifies virtualization licensing. Important for SMBs considering a virtualization solution other then Redmond's. A new whitepaper details licensing with third-party virtualizing apps, but it's probably only good until Server 2008 hits the shelves. (Source: ComputerWorld)

* EC proposes unused TV spectrum for WiMax. Gotta love it when government and the phone companies actually work together to make things better. EC is proposing using ultra-high frequency spectrum swaths for WiMax since they're largely unused by the TV industry for which they're presently allocated. Could speed WiMax deployment. Though not on this side of the Atlantic. (Source: CNet)

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 13, 2007 10:41 AM

June 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 6/12

TAGS: SMB Tech News Today

* Senators looking to block patent overhaul. A group of senators (republicans) backed by a few large tech vendors are looking to delay a bill that would rework the much-maligned US patent system. Legal pending? (Source: InfoWorld)

* AVG mobile AV comes to Symbian. Usually the more reclusive of the cell phone operating systems, Symbian now has some malware protection from AVG. Released in beta. (Source: PC World)

* IBM shows off Cheetah. Code name for version 11 of its venerable Informix database. This one is notable because it's got all the advanced features but overlays that with a hands-free administration system. (Source: InformationWeek)

* TheStreet.com cancels investing contest. In case you were participating in TheStreet.com's $100K investing contest, you can stop. Seems some players cheated by taking advantage of the system, so contest one is canceled and its prize money will go to increase the purse in the [more] secure contest 2. (Source: CNet)

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 12, 2007 11:02 AM

June 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)

InfoWorld LIVE! Episode 14

TAGS: Podcast

After two weeks of reruns due to vicious evil scheduling problems, we managed to get another original episode in the can. This time we're talking about SMB backup trends as they pertain to online backup services. There's been an explosion in these services over the last year --does this spell the end of tape for SMBs? We answer that with interviews with the CEO of BitLeap and the Sr. VP of Product Development for eVault.

You can download this week's episode by clicking on this link:   Listen!

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 8, 2007 10:35 AM

June 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 6/8

TAGS: SMB Tech News Today

Sitting in an APC conference room listening to electrical engineers talk about power and cooling. Another hour of this and I'm going to peel my face off.

* Parallels Desktop goes to version 3. Now that the Mac is back, maybe I'll install this. Big news is that it's supposed to be 3D-graphics capable. Unfortunately, I drove over to APC with Sasquatch Venezia who tested this thing last night and while it'll play solitaire smoothly, it's still not enough juice to run Vista's Aero interface. Awwww. He's supposed to have a review up soon. (Source: InfoWorld)

* New H1-B immigration bill does face plant in the Senate. Lots of controversy on this bill. New cap of about 115,000 H1-B visas under the new law and a point system that was supposed to free these workers from the employers who bring them in. Gotta say, I'm not sorry to see it go because it read more than a little funny. (Source: CNet)

* More new software: new version of Ad-Aware. I've liked this spyware hunter-killer since it came out for two reasons: First, it's good; second, it's available in a free version. Updated personal privacy features, but the downside is that no Vista-compatible version will be available until August at the earliest. (Source: PC World)

* MIT shows off WiTricity. It's Friday so we end on a semi-weird one. Someone else in Philly talked about wireless electricity in the recent past, but the geeks from MIT just demoed it, lighting a lightbulb without cabled electricity. Also dubbed the name WiTricity. Wonder what they'll call the tumors this'll cause. (Source: InformationWeek)

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 8, 2007 10:10 AM

June 04, 2007 | Comments: (0)

SMB Tech News Today; 6/4

TAGS: SMB Tech News Today

UNBELIEVABLE!!!! How many articles have I written about the importance of *regular* backups?! Then I buy a new MacBook Pro with a piece of #$%^% Fujitsu hard disk and I don't back it up for four weeks straight because I'm waiting for a new storage toy from NDA-vendor-X. Now I've lost a month worth of emails, articles and BitTorrent music. Just enough to be really annoying, but not enough to warrant the $1000 it would cost for bit-by-bit disk recovery. There are days when you just feel like kicking your own butt.

Rant over. SMB news like this:

* Yahoo opens Panama ad platform. Yahoo started its Google-competing ad platform, codenamed Panama, back in February. But it just went live to third party. Yahoo's being a bit more open in how Panama works than Google is with its AdSense. They're also basing ad results on other things besides bid price--like search relevancy. Sounds like more targeted advertising for your SMB marketing buck. (Source: CNET)

* Intel provides sneak peek at 2008 laptops. At its recent developer conference in Beijing, Intel showed off next year's trends in mobile computing. Top of the list was mobile quad-core. Want one of THOSE! (Source: PC World)

* There *is* money in open source. According to a new market research study, open source software revenue topped $1.8 billion in 2006--and that's supposed to go up to $5.8 billion by 2011. Certainly something to think about for SMB development houses. (Source: Techworld)

* Xandros joins Novell in MS deal. Could be good news for SMBs using Linux, especially Xandros' new SMB server package. They've now entered into the same kind of joint licensing deal with Microsoft as Novell. Should cut down on any upcoming IP litigation nonsense for those users. (Source: InfoWorld)

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 4, 2007 10:16 AM