Engadget has a lengthy interview with Skype co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennström about the future of voice communication, using Skype through wi-fi handhelds, and the coming death of the telecom dinosaurs. (A reminder of what Skype is – free software that lets you make free phone calls from your computer to other Skype users anywhere […]
Category: Computing
No real alternatives to Microsoft Office
Reuters: Office, Microsoft Corp.’s collection of programs for business documents and tasks, is fast becoming a software platform unto itself. A growing number of software developers are creating programs that run on top of Office, in the same way that Office and thousands of other applications run on Microsoft Windows. […] It was the vast […]
Interesting developments with Skype
I’m a big fan of the Skype internet phone service, as I’ve written about many times previously (here and here, for instance). I use it a great deal, both for business and personal use. The free service is obviously good from a cost point of view. But it’s the paid service (SkypeOut) that is most […]
New computer magazine publishes only online
Could this could be the new model of what the technology press should be doing – publishing only online, not in print? In November, UK publisher Cranberry Publishing Ltd launched Home Computer Magazine as a free magazine designed specifically for online publishing: Unlike some other emagazines you might have seen, this one is not a […]
Skype to introduce voicemail
Skype, the company behind the flourishing internet telephony network, has begun to experiment with a voicemail service, hoping to introduce new paid offerings to capitalize on its success, eWeek reports. The company confirmed on Tuesday that it was testing voicemail, which a spokeswoman said was scheduled to be rolled out in the first half of […]
Linux: A very different business model
For its 31 January edition, Business Week has an intriguing story online about Linus Torvalds, the Finnish creator of the Linux Unix-like operating system. The story has insight commentary on how the Linux open-source developer community works in conjunction with big-name ‘establishment’ companies, and the real threat Linux presents to Microsoft and its Windows family. […]
Maybe this is the future of search
Yesterday Microsoft announced the release version of its new MSN Search tool, and, as reported by CNet News, gears up for a marketing and advertising blitz to imprint its offering in consumers’ minds: As expected, MSN, a unit of the software giant, has taken its Web search technology out of the laboratory, and placed it […]
Shel’s offline but still doing business
Having a RAID hard disk setup on your server would usually be good insurance in case of some kind of system failure, hardware or otherwise, where if one drive goes down the other one has a mirror of everything. Unfortunately, not in Shel Holtz’ case last night. Shel has experienced the worse-case situation where both […]
Switching to a Mac isn’t for everyone
Ever think about dumping your Windows-based PC and buying a Mac? Perhaps one of those gorgeous-looking G4 PowerBooks? I know I have, usually at times when some inexplicable problem happens with some app on my primary Windows PC, a customized Toshiba Satellite laptop. While that machine’s getting a bit long in the tooth now, it […]
A mobile device wish list
Reuters via eWeek: Sony Corp. said on Wednesday it would stop making personal digital assistants for Japan in July, completing its withdrawal from a market hit by multi-functional cellphones and casting a shadow over the tools’ growth potential. The move was widely expected after the electronics and entertainment conglomerate said last year it would stop […]
PDAs will become irrelevant
InternetWeek: PDAs are moving toward irrelevance, a new study by In-Stat released this week says. […] The devices are entering a stage of serious decline. In-Stat reported that PDA shipments in 2004 were only 8.7 million, compared to 10 million in 2003. The study predicted a negative annual growth rate of 21.5 percent through 2009. […]
Hardly a gap between Windows and Linux
Most US businesses say there is very little difference between the cost of maintaining a Windows versus a Linux-based corporate computing environment, according to a new study from IT industry analysts, the Yankee Group. A Reuters report via eWeek quotes Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio saying that the main cost difference is determined by the […]
More Skype and more MSN
Internet phone service provider Skype has released a new update to version 1.2 of its desktop application for Windows. The new version offers enhanced user benefits including a centralized contacts list (meaning you can access your list of contacts from any computer you use to connect to Skype, not just the one you usually use), […]
The consequences of email blacklisting
During last weekend, Shel and I learned that the domain of For Immediate Release, our podcast blog, was included in a couple of email blacklists. These are databases that include the addresses of domains known to be the source for spam email. And on Monday, I learned that my domain, the domain of this blog, […]
Microsoft really embraces RSS
Lots of buzz in the blogosphere and in mainstream media about the news today that Microsoft will be building support for RSS into Longhorn, the next release of the Windows operating system due in late 2006, and not only in the next version of Internet Explorer. Business Week Online has a good summary of today’s […]
Explaining it simply: Microsoft and RSS
Nearly all the reporting I’ve seen in blogs and mainstream media during the past 24 hours about Microsoft’s support for RSS has tended to be rather techie in its focus, including my own post. Here’s all most people really need to know about it, from a BBC News report last night: Microsoft’s next version of […]
So much innovation
> A British startup wants to give more consumers more chances to hear about what’s in the paper. Otodio bills itself as the “universal, eyes-free document delivery standard.” Just as companies like Audible.com enable radio listeners to hear audio versions of best sellers and any number of other books in their car, Otodio plans to […]
Does Europe need an EFF?
If we don’t let the politicians know what we’re worried about, we’ll inevitably end up stripped of the rights we presently have, says Nicole Simon. Prompted by a call for support for a UK-based tech/civil liberties organization by Cory Doctorow, Nicole has just launched a pledge to garner support for establishing such an organization at […]
Virtual Earth first looks
Wow! Virtual Earth is impressive. I just went to the website, clicked on the ‘Locate Me’ button, told it to find me using my computer’s IP address, and it did just that in less than three seconds. What is Virtual Earth? From the FAQ: Virtual Earth is a new map and search system soon to […]
Anti-piracy measures now include Windows Update
BBC News: Microsoft has stepped up its fight against software piracy by requiring users to verify their copies of the Windows operating system. Anyone downloading updates for Windows XP will be required to check that their operating system is genuine. This validation process is in place right now as I discovered when I visited the […]