CloudComputing
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Apple has the "least green" data centers
Apple has come in last place among a list of tech companies in the latest Greenpeace tech report How Dirty is Your Data? [PDF]. While Apple has made some pretty big strides over the last few years in trying to eliminate environmentally unfriendly chemicals from its products, Apple placed last in this list due to its heavy reliance on coal power at its data centers. The report compares energy consumption and sources made by Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Akamai, Amazon and Yahoo. In it, Greenpeace points out that Apple's new North Carolina data center, which is set to open this year and will supposedly be primarily used for cloud-based computing services, will triple Apple's energy usage and use the same amount of energy as 80,000 US homes. Of that energy, 62 percent will be provided by coal (one of the dirtiest energy sources), and 32 percent of it will be provided by nuclear power. This isn't the first time Greenpeace has expressed concern over Apple's energy footprint regarding cloud computing. In March of last year, Greenpeace also expressed concern about the North Carolina data center that runs on "dirty coal power."
PogoPlug Video and Buffalo CloudStor now shipping, streaming your stuff all over the place
Yes, you've seen these guys before, and now the latest PogoPlug offspring are ready to ship. Both PogoPlug Video and its storage-sporting cousin, the Buffalo CloudStor, put their own unique twist on the firm's remote access service. As you might recall, PogoPlug Video, which is now available exclusively from Best Buy for $200, allows you to hook up your external hard drives and share streaming video, music, and images to devices anywhere with internet access. Buffalo's CloudStor, on the other hand, provides the same cloud-based access, with a little something extra. It's the first PogoPlug branded gadget to sport integrated storage, and comes in three iterations, ringing in at $150 for 1TB, $210 for 2TB, and $250 for the 2TB Pro version. Now you can share all your favorite kitten clips, without ever uploading them to YouTube. Isn't that precious?
Google Docs now on Jolicloud Desktop, Joli OS
It already has one of the cutest names in cloud computing, and now it has Google Docs, too. Following up on its integration of Dropbox, Jolicloud just added support for the online office suite, which means you can access and edit all of your important missives and memos via the Jolicloud Desktop or Joli OS. Setting it up is as simple as clicking a button to link the two accounts -- after that, you can browse, edit, and do whatever you do in Google Docs, and because it's all stored in the cloud, you can pick up on one device where you left off on another. Sound familiar? For complete instructions, follow the source link below.
Amazon.com lets you play with an Android virtual machine, try apps before you buy them
When Amazon's Appstore rolled out last week, we glossed over one detail that merely seemed neat. Today, we're inclined to say that Test Drive may be the most significant part of Amazon's announcement that day. Basically, Test Drive allows US customers to take apps for a spin at Amazon.com, with all the comfort that their tried-and-true desktop web browser brings -- but rather than sit you down with a Flash-based mockup of the app, Amazon is giving you a taste of bona fide cloud computing with an Android virtual machine. In other words, what you're looking at in the screenshot above isn't just a single program, but an entire virtual Android smartphone with working mouse controls, where you can not only try out Paper Toss, but also delete it, browse through the device's photo gallery, listen to a few tunes, or even surf the web from the working Android browser -- as difficult as that may be without keyboard input. Amazon explains: Clicking the "Test drive now" button launches a copy of this app on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), a web service that provides on-demand compute capacity in the cloud for developers. When you click on the simulated phone using your mouse, we send those inputs over the Internet to the app running on Amazon EC2 - just like your mobile device would send a finger tap to the app. Our servers then send the video and audio output from the app back to your computer. All this happens in real time, allowing you to explore the features of the app as if it were running on your mobile device. Today, Amazon's Test Drive is basically just Gaikai for mobile phones -- its purpose is simply to sell apps, nothing more. But imagine this for a sec: what if you could access your own smartphone data, instead of the mostly blank slate that Amazon provides here? %Gallery-119809% [Thanks, Ryan]
Microsoft unites with former exec in building a 'smart city' in Portugal
If you want better cities, goes the theory herein, you'll have to start at their very foundations. Steve Lewis, ex-Microsoftie and current CEO of Living PlanIT, has a vision for how to make our cities smarter and more sustainable, and it starts literally at ground level, with the installation of smart sensors into buildings as they're being built. The appeal of his company's ideas has already attracted some tech luminaries as partners, Cisco being among them, and now Microsoft has also been signed up -- to provide the cloud framework required to keep all those sensors talking with its Azure platform. Paredes, a Portuguese municipality, will play host to one of the first such projects, eventually providing homes for nearly a quarter of a million people and costing a staggering €10 billion ($14.1b) to complete. To understand the synergistic benefits of having your life monitored by an omniscient Urban Operating System sentinel, skip past the break for a press release and explanatory video.
KonnectUs cloud-based software makes easy cross-platform sharing a reality, we swoon (video)
Last year, we expressed a yearning for something we called the Continuous Client that would allow us to pick up on one device where we left off on another, and in less than a year we saw the advent of HP's "Touch-to-share" technology, but our dreams weren't fully fulfilled -- we longed for a platform that would offer seamless sharing across all of our devices. Well, it's like we rubbed a bottle and KonnectUs popped out. The cloud-based software is a collaborative effort between Sensus and Open Exhibits that enables you to transfer files and information across platforms -- including Windows, iOS, and Android -- with a simple swipe of your finger. As it turns out, KonnectUs was built with museums in mind, but the company is offering APIs for integration into third party applications -- so maybe the perfect world isn't that far off after all. Oh, that's right -- we still don't have a robot to shake our martinis after a hard day at the office. Video after the break.
VMware View brings virtual desktops to iPad with touchscreen-friendly controls (video)
Remote controlling your personal desktop from an iPad is one thing, but today VMware is offering something a little heftier -- a streamlined app to connect to enterprise-class virtual desktops. Like Citrix Receiver, the idea is that you'll get the iPad client for free, and hopefully pay to have the cloud computers served up, but instead of streamlining applications for tablet use, VMware's app hands you customizable PC-like controls. There's a handy-looking virtual touchpad you can use for fine control over the mouse cursor if your fingers prove too pointy, a set of Windows shortcut keys at the top of the virtual keyboard, multi-finger gestures and more -- but why not just watch the video after the break to see what's in store?
Gaikai beta goes live, brings Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Sims 3 and Second Life demos to your browser window
Remember Gaikai, the cloud computing service that lets you demo video games in your browser window without downloading a thing? It's live, meaning it's no longer just us tech journalists that get to give it a thorough try. Provided you have a blazing fast internet connection and both Flash and Java installed, four streaming game demos are a just a click (and possibly a survey, or a short wait) away, including three EA titles (Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, The Sims 3) and Second Life. As we discovered in our initial hands-on, it's not a flawless experience even with a fantastic internet connection, but it's not meant to be -- the entire point is to allow you to adequately sample a game right before making a purchase decision. It's also a free taste of the future, and you don't see those every day.
Gmail accidentally resetting accounts, years of correspondence vanish into the cloud? (update)
If you've got a working Gmail account, you might want to back it up every so often -- as many as 500,000 Gmail users lost access to their inboxes this morn, and some of them are reporting (via Twitter and support forums) that years worth of messages, attachments and Google Chat logs had vanished by the time they were finally able to log on. While we haven't experienced the issue personally, we're hearing that the bug effectively reset some accounts, treating their owners as new users complete with welcome messages. For its part, Google says that the issue "affects less than .29% of the Google Mail userbase," engineers are working to fix the issue right now, and that missing messages will be restored as soon as possible. We'll soon see if this is a momentary setback... or a lengthy wakeup call. Update: No fix yet, but Google's revised its estimate as to how many users might have been affected by the issue -- "less than 0.08%" -- which means we're probably looking at closer to 150,000 individuals, rather than 500,000. We're assuming that the revised estimate means that the initial count wasn't precise, and not that customers are ditching Gmail in droves. Update 2: Google's provided promising but terribly vague guidance on when the situation will be resolved: "Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change." Update 3: One-third of users have now had their account access restored, according to Google. Read all about it here. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
MobileMe boxed copies going away
Apple is reportedly informing third-party resellers that boxed versions of MobileMe are now discontinued. Retailers can continue to sell their existing inventory, but supplies will not be replenished. This latest information falls in line with earlier rumors that suggest Apple may offer MobileMe as a free service with cloud-based digital lockers for music, photos and videos. In this scenario, Apple may briefly move to a digital-only sales model to let retailers sell their existing stock. Once the standing inventory is depleted, Apple will transition MobileMe to a free service in the upcoming months. Adding fuel to the fire of these rumors, Apple has removed the paid version of MobileMe from its online store, offering the service as a free 60-day trial. During its annual shareholders meeting on February 23, the Cupertino company also confirmed that it is getting ready to flip the switch on its North Carolina data center. The $1-billion center is rumored to serve as the hub for its free MobileMe service and possibly a cloud-based version of iTunes.
Apple issues survey to MacBook Air owners, mentions 3G
Apple is sending out surveys to MacBook Air owners that hint at 3G connectivity and other hardware changes for its popular notebook. The survey queries current owners about their interest in wireless 3G connectivity as well as the customer's usage of web-based data storage services on the MacBook Air. The survey also addresses the issue of USB ports, keyboard function keys and the use of external hard drives with the portable computing device. There is little doubt the latest MacBook Air is a step forward for Apple. The diminutive notebook merges the portable size of a tablet device with the power of a full notebook. The questions within this survey suggest Apple recognizes this mobility and may be looking to add a 3G radio to the notebook, a move that would pit the Air directly against the 3G iPad. Other questions hint at cloud-based services, which could suggest Apple is moving forward with the technology it acquired from its purchase of LaLa. The use of surveys by Apple is a relatively common occurrence. Apple used a similar survey to tweak the Apple TV, which is slowly changing from a "hobby" to a viable media playback device. If you were Apple and had the power of Steve Jobs in your hands, how would you tweak the MacBook Air to make it even better than it already is?
Apple working on major revamp of MobileMe, could be free
On the eve of the start of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, the Wall Street Journal online tech section ran a short post discussing a new, less-expensive iPhone that is apparently in the works (and all but confirmed by the Wall Street Journal). The timing of the post was impeccable -- by "leaking" this information on Sunday, the WSJ and Apple ensured that the iPhone will be the major topic of discussion at MWC without Apple having to exhibit or even attend the conference. In order to achieve a low price point that would make iPhones even more ubiquitous than they already are, the post speculated that MobileMe would become a free service that purchasers could use to contain their music, photos, and videos. The result? The new iPhone wouldn't need as much storage to hold all of those memories and tunes, so the price would drop. According to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, the new MobileMe service could make it to iOS devices by June depending on the outcome of licensing talks. WIth the new service, your iPhone or iPad would have access to your iTunes library wirelessly. No syncing to your Mac or PC would be required, nor would you need to have massive amounts of memory to store the music and video files locally. To paraphrase the Microsoft ads that are currently making the rounds, "To the cloud!" The Journal went on to say that the service would probably be backwards-compatible with the iPhone 4. As with all rumors, remember that despite the source, this may be well-meaning fiction. We'll see for sure as 2011 progresses. In the meantime, what do you think about a free MobileMe? Do you think it will happen this year? Leave a comment below.
Neverware's Juicebox 100 squeezes new life into aging school computers (video)
Your typical school computer is probably not a machine you'd like to use on a daily basis -- perennially behind the curve in terms of technology, since educators can't afford smokin' hot video cards and primo processors year after year. Budgets and the resulting reluctance inevitably lead to stale hardware which then goes obsolete... but a tiny startup called Neverware thinks it can end the cycle of woe with virtualization technology. Its single product, the Juicebox a100, can serve up one hundred Windows 7 virtual desktops to existing hardware, pretty much regardless of its age -- all computers need is a working LAN jack, a 500MHz processor and 128MB of memory, so schools could keep their beige boxes and just upgrade the Juicebox instead. Founder Jonathan Hefter doesn't have pricing worked out yet -- and his tiny company only has three of the boxes working at present -- but he's piloted the technology in a pair of schools and is planning a beta soon -- all the while dreaming about how our mountains of e-waste could be transformed into useful computers for the poorer nations of the world. Good luck, dude! Video after the break.
Lenovo setting up a specialist unit for tablets and smartphones
How far we've come. It was only a couple of years ago that Lenovo was closing a deal to sell its mobile phone business, but a quick re-acquisition in late 2009 and some recent heavy flirtation with the tablet form factor have led to the creation of a whole new unit in the company's hierarchy, one dedicated to the development of smartphones, tablets, TVs, and other internet-connected devices. Headed up by Liu Jun and working out of Beijing, this squad of designers and engineers will focus on harnessing the "tremendous growth potential of the mobile internet." Cloud computing will be a major feature of Lenovo's plans moving forward, which places its goals for the future right in line with just about everyone else's. Still, it's good to see one of the big desktop computing players diversifying its portfolio with gusto.
Dropbox celebrates version 1.0, throws selective sync into the mix
If you're like us, you've probably come to rely on Dropbox quite a bit in your day-to-day activities. Hell, our crowd-sourced fan sequel to The Social Network about that "Tom from MySpace" guy would never have got off the ground without it! Well, if you're as enthusiastic about cloud storage solutions as we are, you'll be more than excited to know that Dropbox 1.0 has just been announced. Among the new features that we're most looking forward to putting to the test are Selective Sync (choose which folders get downloaded to which computers) and Extended Attribute Sync (improved support for Mac apps like Quicken and Quark whose resource forks bedevil most sync applications and corrupt data in the process). But that ain't all! Hit the source link to get started.
GNU founder Richard Stallman and Gmail creator Paul Buchheit hate on Chrome OS
There are a lot of things to like about Google's prototype Chrome OS machine, the CR-48, not the least of which its name that makes it sound like a relic from the future. Indeed that's what Google wants it to be, a sort of beacon of our instant-on, cloud-based tomorrow, but that's rubbing a few industry pioneers the wrong way. One is Friendfeed creator and former Google employee Paul Buchheit, aka the dude who created Gmail. He's a bit confused about the overlap between Android and Chrome OS, as indeed many of us are, saying flat out that "Chrome OS has no purpose that isn't better served by Android" -- or, at least, it won't when Android gets some tweaks to make it work better in a traditional laptop-style environment. Meanwhile, GNU founder and free software pioneer Richard Stallman is lashing out a bit more strongly, calling cloud computing "careless computing" because it causes users to give up rights to their own content: The police need to present you with a search warrant to get your data from you; but if they are stored in a company's server, the police can get it without showing you anything. They may not even have to give the company a search warrant. As we've recently learned that is at least not the case for e-mail, but what about Google Docs and browsing history and all those private musings you made on Google Buzz? Will ease of access trump data security fears? Will Cara on All My Children ever stop having flashbacks about Jake? Important questions, these.
OnLive demos Windows 7 on an iPad and Galaxy Tab, launches cloud computing tablet app
Flash on an iPad? No problem, and neither is QuickTime on a Samsung Galaxy Tab -- assuming you're running both from a virtualized Windows 7 PC using OnLive's new app. OnLive may have originally pitched itself as a streaming games service, but founder Steve Perlman revised his ambitions at the D: Dive into Mobile conference today, showing off a host of Windows 7 programs (including 3D modeling software Maya, above) running on the pair of ARM-based tablets. Like always, OnLive requires a nearby server and fast internet connection to function adequately, and the apps themselves would need touch controls, but Perlman said it's actually easier to deliver apps than games since they're less sensitive to lag. OnLive didn't provide a date when we can expect full cloud functionality, but you can get a sneak peek at a pared-down version right now -- the brand-new OnLive Viewer app, which lets you spectate games in progress (and will eventually let you play them) is now available for iPad.
GameString demos its streaming, custom World of Warcraft UI by raiding on an HTC Desire (video)
We're still not ready to apply the label "Gaming 3.0" here (or to anything, for that matter), but despite its boasts, GameString's making a compelling case for cloud-based play time. We've already seen the company bring World of Warcraft to Google TV, but now the company's showcasing its take on a challenge we've seen a few times before -- streaming a playable version of WoW to a mobile phone. (Gotta get 'em out of the house somehow.) The trick here is a streamlined UI overlay that makes for a every touch-friendly experience; there's translucent "thumbstick" spots and larger buttons for spells. The setup in question here is its Adrenalin Host Server from approximately 80 kilometers away (geographically) and an HTC Desire running over a home network that's 2Mbps down / 2Mbps up. And while there's some notable lag and parts of the interface that's still too tiny to really use, it's still an Alpha build that seems functional for all but the most intense of moments. See it for yourself after the break.
Jolicloud Jolibook review
The Jolicloud Jolibook. Oh yes, it's sounded like a made-up device ever since the pictures of it started to leak out, but the netbook centered around the Jolicloud Linux operating system is indeed a real product. So real that we've been using the Atom N550-powered system over the past few days. Sure, we've gotten looks in public because its cartoon-covered lid, but the £279 ($443) machine isn't meant for "grown-ups" -- it's intended for a younger set, or those between the ages of 15 and 25. You know, those that tend to live in the Cloud. So, does the netbook have appeal beyond the young'uns? And is the social, app-based Jolicloud 1.1 OS, which is built on Ubuntu and HTML 5, robust enough to take you away from Windows or another flavor of Linux? We've got the answers to those questions and so much more in our full review. %Gallery-108243%
Analyst: The Mac isn't done growing yet
Granted, I probably could have told you this news without hiring a think tank, but now we know for sure; there is still plenty of room for Apple to continue to grow. With Apple's market cap now larger than Walmart's and market research firm IDC reporting that growth continued to expand in 2009, this latest report from The Toffler Associates says that Apple is poised to grab 10% more of the computer market than they already have, which currently stands at around 10% in the U.S. and 5% worldwide. With a projected one billion more computer sales over the next 4 years or so, Macs could see their market share grow quite nicely, thank you very much. The study determines that companies will "increasingly follow the Apple/iPhone model of creating value, not by creating products, but by hosting the marketplace and charging to connect consumers to producers," so the growth of apps, streaming video, and cloud computing should continue to expand to more and more users around the world. Onward and upward!
