collaboration
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Nokia's marginalization of MeeGo came as a surprise to Intel
Yesterday's announcement by Nokia that it's switching to Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone platform has already had, and will continue to have, great repercussions for plenty of parties besides the Finnish company and its new best bud Microsoft. One of the biggest effects of that deal was that Nokia now no longer considers MeeGo -- the open-source OS it was co-developing with Intel -- an item of priority, classifying it as a "learning project." No prizes for guessing Intel's nowhere near happy about that, but would you have also guessed Nokia kept Chipzilla in the dark about its new direction until the day it announced it to the world? Such is the word from TechCrunch's well placed sources, who also say that Nokia dedicated only a three-man external team to the development of UI customizations for MeeGo. Not exactly the hugest investment in the world, we'd say, and when you consider Nokia and Microsoft already have concept devices drawn up, you've got to think plans to abandon MeeGo as a sincere flagship strategy were materializing in Espoo a long time before this event. It would probably have been nice to tell Intel, though, just to be classy. Hit the source link for more detail, including confirmation that Nokia's N9-00, its first planned MeeGo device, was canned -- apparently due to complaints from operators about its hinge.
Google Art Project offers gigapixel images of art classics, indoor Street View of museums
Google's been hard at work over the past 18 months on something not many of us have been paying attention to lately: art. Specifically, the search giant has hooked up with 17 art museums around the world to offer tours of their internal galleries, using its familiar Street View tricycles, while also doing high-res images of 1,061 artworks that may be viewed on the newly launched Art Project web portal. Also there, you will find 17 special gigapixel images -- 7,000-megapixel versions of each participating venue's proudest possession. The resulting level of detail is nothing short of astounding and we've got videos of how it's all done after the break.
Lenovo and NEC partner up to become Japan's biggest PC vendor
Lenovo's insatiable ambition for growth has taken another boost today with the news that China's best-known computer maker is partnering up with NEC for a "strategic alliance" in Japan, the world's third biggest PC market. Under the terms of the deal, a new NEC Lenovo Japan Group will be formed, wherein Lenovo will benefit from 51 percent of the shares and NEC will own 49 percent plus the choice of first CEO, for which it's selected its own Hideyo Takasu. Lenovo will also pad NEC's pockets with $175 million of change and contractual formalities are expected to be completed by the end of June this year. Sadly, specifics on how this will benefit consumers are light on the ground -- both companies will continue to sell products under their respective brands and there's only general talk of collaboration, economies of scale, harnessing operational synergies, and leveraging each company's strengths. At least you'll know your computer's been made in the spirit of fraternal cooperation. Full PR after the break.
Intel hires Will-i-am as 'director of creative innovation,' whole world is nonplussed
You know a job title is tenuous when even the guys who announce it have to put it in quotation marks -- Intel's just signed up the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am as a "director of creative innovation." The hip hop star responsible for flooding CES 2010 and every BlackBerry event since with an irritatingly cheery tune (which we're sure we don't have to name) is about to commence a long-term, "hands-on" collaboration with Intel on its development of "new technologies, music and tech advocacy." Basically, it sounds like he'll act as an ambassador for the chip company, who'll in turn pretend to listen to his zany ideas about mega-giga-bass. Then again, Lady Gaga's similar partnership with Polaroid produced these glasses, so what the hell do we know?
Google Spaces shows us where Wave went
So it's safe to say that Google Wave didn't really make one upon the tech world as a whole, but it certainly was a neat idea. While Wave itself now lives with the Apache Software Foundation, the core concept, easy and direct collaboration with anyone, has new life with Google Shared Spaces. The Wave gadgets have been given a standalone home here, the idea being that you create a Space, invite some people, and then do -- well, whatever it is you need to do. It's basically just a more task-focused version of Wave, and maybe that's all the service really needed. Direction. Right now there are just shy of 50 such gadgets for you to try, but anyone with a little JavaScript know-how can whip up their own in a jiffy, though sadly there's no interactive gadget-creation Space. Now that would be something. [Thanks, Hassan]
Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video)
You have a lot of documents you've acquired over the years, hundreds or thousands in some semblance of order thanks to folders and whatnot. Now, imagine taking the output from hundreds or thousands of others, all with their own ideas about organization, and finding only those pages relevant to a certain topic. That's what legal aides have to do in cases where a major corporation is being investigated, and we're thinking that's a major target market for Xerox's Smart Document Review. It's a prototype touchscreen table that enables users to collaboratively filter documents, starting by indexing a giant pool and then allowing for the creation of "magnets" that contain keywords or other heuristics and dynamically pull out matches, all happening courtesy of animations that look only slightly less sophisticated than those seen in Hackers. Search results can then be dumped to a thumb drive. The prototype table dates back to earlier this year, but Xerox is now making them available as part of a pilot program exclusively for trendy law offices with unisex bathrooms. [Thanks, Pradeep]
Skype said to be prepping 'deep' Facebook integration for version 5.0
The Skype 5 beta might have already wowed us with its crazy 10-person videoconferencing, but apparently there's even more in the company's bag of new tricks. Sources intimate with the matter are reporting that Skype's planning on deploying Facebook Connect in the next version of its software -- meaning you won't need a Skype ID to get your internet telephony on -- while also enabling SMS messaging and voice or video calls to your Facebook contacts. You have to admit, whether you love or loathe either platform, this is an extremely sensible move for both companies to make: Facebook stretches its tentacles out even further, while Skype develops a significant presence on the world's biggest and baddest social network. We're sure there's a good side to this for the user as well.
Box.net's iPad project at D7 Consulting: How the iPad works at work
Here's another update from the folks at Box.net on how the iPad deployment at D7 Consulting is going. Through TUAW, Box.net found a company to give 20 free iPads to. Box.net helped D7 set up a workflow that's built and run around Apple's tablet and their service. The first fruits of that collaboration are starting to grow, and as you can see in the video above, Box.net is getting some solid feedback from D7. Box.net is looking at using that feedback to develop future features for their software, including some methods for offline access. Another exciting forthcoming feature concerns more ways to share not only text and documents but also "rich content," including drawings and audio notes about those documents. CIO magazine talked to D7's president Joseph Daniels, who described five lessons he's learned in implementing the project so far. There's a lot of good stuff in there, especially if you're considering using iPads on your job. For the rest of us, what's probably most surprising is that iPads can take all kinds of abuse without having issues. The one problem D7 has had so far is overheating; on a job in the deserts of Las Vegas, an iPad did overheat on them after being in the sun. But 20 minutes in the AC got it back up and working just fine. Another problem is a lack of enterprise support from Apple directly. Don't forget that, while it has a lot of applications on the job, the iPad is still a consumer-targeted device, and D7 has bumped up against that designation a few times already. It's very interesting stuff. It looks like this collaboration is paying off for all involved, including those of us who are just watching to learn from the sidelines. We'll continue to watch how the project is going, and we'll provide you with another on-location look at the project here in a while. In the meantime, if you have questions for Box.net or D7, post them in the comments below. If Sean Lindo (of Box.net) or Terrell Woods (of D7) don't reply directly, we'll make sure to ask in the future.
TI picks up first license for ARM's Eagle CPU core, mass market devices still a couple of years off
The mythical next generation of ARM's Cortex-A series, the Eagle, has made a reappearance in the news this week, but much of the mystery remains. Texas Instruments has now revealed itself as the first licensee of the new core, while also waxing poetic about its deep involvement and collaboration with ARM on its design and particular specifications. No, nobody was kind enough to let us in on what those specs might yet be, but since -- technically speaking -- the Eagle CPU hasn't even been announced yet, that's probably fair enough. For its part, TI expects to be first to market with its OMAP systems-on-chip integrating the latest Cortex core, but that won't be happening for a good while yet, as most projections peg the Eagle's landing to be no sooner than 2012. Guess we'll just have to make do with some dual-core Snapdragons until then.
37signals buys Ember, kindles an official Campfire iPhone app
Campfire, from 37signals, is a web-based group chat tool that uses secure chat rooms to allow groups to collaborate from wherever they are. A little over a year ago, the developers at Overcommitted came out with an iPhone client for Campfire. That app, Ember, cost $9.99, and was an excellent tool for remotely joining a Campfire group and getting work done on the road. Well, the app was so good that 37signals announced today that they've purchased the app from Overcommitted, renamed it to Campfire for iPhone, and they're giving it away for free in the App Store. According to the 37signals blog, the company was so impressed with Ember that they approached Overcommitted about purchasing it, and the developer was happy with the idea. A deal was cut, a few changes were made to the app, the app made it through the Apple vetting process, and as of yesterday, Ember is known as Campfire for iPhone. If your team uses Campfire for collaboration and file sharing, be sure to grab Campfire for iPhone as soon as possible. The app works on devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later, although it is not optimized for iPad. [via Mashable]
What could your business do with 20 iPads? Box.net & TUAW want to find out
The application period for the Box.net iPad offer has ended. Stay tuned for more on the progress of the experiment soon! There are plenty of cloud storage and collaboration services that sound good in an elevator pitch or seem promising when sketched on the back of a napkin; precious few ever really get working at a scale and sophistication that truly can make a difference for the vast majority of users. One service that has the track record to claim that crown (not to mention a long list of happy customers) is Box.net, which has been pushing bits and making friends since 2005. Beyond the web-centric file storage and laundry list of distributed applications that Box offers, there's an item of keen interest to iPhone and iPad users: the new and improved Box.net app, which gives you easy and rapid access to your entire file library on the go. You can also find Box.net API support in apps like Goodreader, giving you plenty of options when it comes to getting at your stuff. With all this mobile support in place, it's interesting to think about the usage scenarios and new solutions that businesses could devise ... if only they had some iPads, and some help. Wouldn't it be exciting to experiment? And wouldn't it be that much more exciting if, say, the iPads were free? The hunt begins for one fortunate firm that's ready to answer the question "Is the iPad ready for business?" Box.net is offering 20 iPads and a Box business account to the company that comes up with the best fit and workflow for how your business would take advantage of the iPads and the collaboration tools. In 200 words, in the widget below, upload a text or Word file with your rationale, and put your contact info/company name in the description field. If your story resonates, your shop may benefit. The Box account lasts a year, and the iPads are yours to keep. Meanwhile, TUAW will be checking in with the winning firm frequently through the course of the program, sharing the lessons learned and the experience gained with other would-be iPad adopters in the business world. We'll be chatting by video, visiting the office (geography permitting), and helping share your stories during the year to come. Full details and FAQ are here. Give it a shot -- you could find yourself sitting atop a stack of 20 iPads. Disclaimer: Box.net is the sole administrator of the iPads for Business program and will determine all the conditions and requirements of participation. TUAW is not responsible for the iPads for Business program and cannot answer questions or provide support for any device or application on the iPads. No advertising contract or financial relationship exists between TUAW and Box.net.
Macworld 2010: Microsoft's MacBU talks Office for Mac 2011
The next version of Microsoft's Office suite, slated for arrival during the fourth quarter of 2010, has a new name, enhanced functionality, and even a more streamlined look. TUAW met with members of the Microsoft Mac Business Unit (MacBU) on Thursday to hear how the developers of Office for Mac are responding to requests from users to make it easier to work on documents across platforms. Some of the most welcome additions to the suite from an author's point of view are the co-authoring tools (see below). These tools enable Mac users to work on Office documents across platforms and locations, eliminating issues with version control. Office for Mac 2011 will have a Presence Everywhere feature providing status updates on who is working on a document at a particular time. The suite will also connect to Microsoft Office Web Apps (currently in beta) so that any Office documents can be shared or accessed from any Internet-connected computer. Microsoft has taken a cue from the "tool ribbon" in the existing Windows Office applications and changed the Office for Mac user interface to be familiar to Windows users, yet intuitive to Mac users. The team noted that more than 80 percent of the features used most by Office users are now located in the tool ribbon so that the users don't have to dig around to find tools. The MacBU had previously announced that the Office 2008 collaboration application, Entourage, would be replaced by Outlook for Mac. According to the team, Outlook for Mac utilizes the Exchange Web Services protocol and is a Cocoa app, providing not only additional Exchange compatibility but also better integration with Mac OS X. Many Microsoft customers had requested that Outlook for Mac have the ability to import .PST files from Outlook for Windows, and that wish has been granted. The single database used in Entourage is being replaced with a high-speed file-based database that works well with Spotlight and Time Machine. If you need to make sure that sensitive documents or information are not spread outside the confines of your company's email system, Information Rights Management is now built into Outlook for Mac. That essentially puts a lock on sensitive information, insuring that it isn't readable by non-authorized personnel. Microsoft's MacBU wants to hear from you! The team has a Twitter account (@OfficeforMac), a Facebook page, and a blog, and they'd love to hear your input about this application suite. We'll be sure to keep you updated as we get closer to the release date.
FlexiKnob paddle controllers are perfect for playing your old Atari Breakout ROMs
Spend any time in a audio or video editing suite of applications and you'll find yourself overwhelmed by a selection of on-screen controls that have absolutely zero relevance to your on-desk controls -- keyboard and mouse don't really equate to slider and dial. FlexiKnobs bridge that gap, and allow collaborative work too. A project by researchers at the University of Applied Sciences, they're little wooden mice of a decidedly non-ergonomic shape, but they allow you to move cursor (shown after the break) over on-screen control, then click in the wheel and spin it to adjust the value. The cursor changes depending on whether it's locked on or floating free, and each bears the color of the FlexiKnob it is associated with. Up to 250 of the things can be paired with a computer at once, which sounds like heavenly pandemonium to us. [Thanks, Sam]
Zimbra and VMWare get married, cloud-shaped kids expected
In the world of Mac email and collaboration servers, there are some big names -- Apple (of course, with Mac OS X Server's mail and calendaring features), Kerio, and Zimbra. Zimbra Collaboration Suite is a popular and powerful email server and shared calendar for Linux and Mac OS X. The features of ZCS rival and in most cases surpass those of Microsoft Exchange, and did I mention that it runs on Macs? VMWare announced on Tuesday that they are acquiring Zimbra from Yahoo! Inc. The maker of the popular VMWare Fusion virtualization software for Mac OS X, VMWare has been moving in the direction of providing cloud solutions, and the acquisition of Zimbra fits those plans perfectly. According to Brian Byun, VP and General Manager of Cloud Services for VMware, "Zimbra is a great example of the type of scalable 'cloud era' solutions that can span smaller, on-premise implementations to the cloud. It will be a building block in an expanding portfolio of solutions that can be offered as a virtual appliance or by a cloud service provider. We are excited to welcome the Zimbra team and community to the VMware family." The press releases from both companies note that the free Open Source Edition of Zimbra Collaboration Suite will continue being developed in the future.
MindMeister for iPhone, mind map in the cloud!
I've mentioned some options for iPhone-based mind mapping before, but I'm pretty excited to let everyone know about the release of MindMeister for iPhone (iTunes Link). MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping application with excellent import and export features for most major formats. They've been focused on collaboration from the beginning, allowing realtime editing of mind maps by multiple participants, and including Skype integration. The iPhone version allows you to download your maps from your account (or start from scratch) and sync changes back to your maps, share maps, and export as MindManager, Freemind, Word, PDF or image files. MindMeister for iPhone (and iPod touch) is an evolution of the MindMaker application, which was acquired by MindMeister. While the online version of MindMeister allows for a range of icons, images and metadata on each node, the iPhone version currently lacks a lot of this functionality. However, it provides a fast, simple way to edit the text of nodes, adding to existing maps or creating new ones on-the-go. The navigation is an intuitive pan-and-zoom, tap-to-edit interface which is pretty standard among iPhone mind-mapping apps. It also incorporates the GeistesBlitz feature of MindMeister, which allows you to instantly add ideas to a default map, or create a basic map from scratch, through email or a variety of other methods (there's a REST API available if you feel like adding your own points of access). As an aside, I'd like to point out that the online version has some cool tricks. For example, you can import a tab-indented outline from a text file and turn it into a map automatically (just go to "Import Mindmap" and select a text file). Also, if you're editing a map, select a node and then click the image or note button ... not the dropdown menu, just click the button. It will do a quick search of Google Images or Wikipedia, respectively, and insert the results. Don't like the image it found for your text? Click again. Try it, it's fun. While I'm not completely sold on iPhone mind-mapping (paper is pretty fast), the syncing, sharing, rapid-entry features of MindMeister make it my top pick. It's not just about device portability, it's about data portability; with MindMeister, my maps can end up in just about any format I want them to, and I can share them directly and get feedback instantly. MindMeister for iPhone is currently $6.99 in the App Store. If you're a MindMaker user, it's a free upgrade. The MindMeister.com online service has plans ranging from free to $6/month, with a $15/year academic option.
Kerio MailServer 6.6 takes another swing at Exchange
Kerio has released version 6.6 of Kerio MailServer, another push forward in their campaign to take a bite out of the Microsoft Exchange market. We mentioned the ActiveSync capabilities of Kerio MailServer in July, and have noted the expanding capabilities of the 6.x releases as an increasingly viable alternative to Exchange. Version 6.6 encompasses a variety of improvements, including expanded features for mobile and iPhone users. Two items which stand out prominently are the addition of resource scheduling and the Exchange Migration Tool. Resource scheduling allows shared company resources -- anything from conference rooms and projectors to company cars -- to be scheduled and reserved using MailServer's shared calendars. Access controls can be specified by administrators for each resource, and a "Reservation Manager" can be assigned with add/edit/delete priveleges. Mac users can access the resource schedules through Entourage or iCal (although Kerio is less thrilled with the inelegance of the iCal solution and its LDAP dependencies). PC users have access through Outlook, and everyone can schedule resources through Kerio Webmail, which is fully compatible with Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. The Kerio Exchange Migration Tool is provided free of charge to Kerio 6.6 users, and is designed to take a lot of the fear out of making a transition from Exchange to Kerio. It runs on a Windows box (works fine with virtualization) between the Exchange and Kerio servers and, in about 4 clicks, transfers all of the existing Exchange data, users, etc. to Kerio MailServer. Additional features in 6.6 include improved iPhone support (with HTML email and attachment viewing), and an iCal auto-configuration script which is generated by the server for each Mac user. The auto-configuration sets up CalDAV and LDAP to work with Kerio, handling all of the details without requiring the user to know anything more than their own machine's administrative password and their Kerio MailServer login information. The new version maintains the same prices, starting at $499 for 10 users ($599 with McAfee Anti-Virus) and add-on packages for additional users starting at $120 (+5 users). Current users with a subscription can, as far as I can tell, upgrade for free.
Egnyte 1.5, cross-platform file collaboration
Egnyte, another entry in the list of "cloud storage" applications, has updated to version 1.5 with some valuable new features. Geared toward organizations and businesses needing centralized document storage, it provides a cross-platform solution for uploading, storing, sharing and collaborating on files. The latest version of Egnyte features: Shared and private folders File versioning A tagging system for non-hierarchical file organization Readily-available previews of compatible image formats Folder export with zip archiving/compression WebDAV support and an accompanying Mac desktop application Continuous backup of local files Cross-platform compatibility Per-folder access control Egnyte 1.5 has become a viable FTP replacement for medium to large organizations with multiple, project-specific FTP repositories. A new drag and drop interface allows any user to upload multiple files of any size, and provides in-memory compression for faster transfers. A "Hot Sharing" feature quickly generates public URLs for hosted files, allowing easy collaboration with users outside of your Egnyte account without requiring a login. Pricing begins at $15/month per "Power User" (administrative users) and includes unlimited access for "Standard Users" (everybody else). Standard Users don't get the desktop access (WebDAV) or its related ability to automatically back up local files to the Egnyte server; add $15/mo for each user who will require those capabilities. Special pricing is available for non-profits and academic institutions. See the Egnyte homepage for more information.
Officers' Quarters: My pre-Wrath rant
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Bleak is the word I would use to describe the current situation for raiding guilds. For many guilds, activity and recruitment are at all-time lows. It's becoming harder and harder to cobble together enough people to run anything these days. Must we simply endure? Is there no hope for us until Wrath launches? Will we officers respond to this crisis with moral fortitude -- or weakness? Will I actually use boldface to call out our officer community on their behavior? Find out after the break! But first, the author of this week's e-mail relates his own guild's experiences. Hi Scott, My name is Dmitry. [My guild is] a casual raiding guild made up mostly of people over 20, who either go to school, or work, or both, many of whom have kids. This is all taken into account and we have a very strong RL-before-WoW stance. Unfortunately the past month or two has been really hard for us. Our MT was gone for 3 weeks because of a new job, lots of people went on vacation because of the summer, others stopped playing as much to spend more time with their kids, etc. After having guild firsts on Mag, Hydross, and Lurker in 3 weeks in June our guild has started to go backwards, having trouble taking down Gruul some nights.
Collaborative development within Sony may mean new opportunities for SOE
Times they are a-changing at stuffy old Sony Corporation, and the replacement to longtime SCE Worldwide leader Phil Harrison is making sure we know about it. Shuhei Yoshida stepped up to talk with the unofficial Sony blog ThreeSpeech recently, and offered up the view that internal development of games is going to become a lot more coordinated moving forward. SCE Worldwide Studios includes the London studio, Foster City, Sony Santa Monica, Bigbig Studios, Evolution Studios, Polyphony Digital, Zipper Interactive, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, and Sony Online Entertainment. It's this last that sees us wondering about this new development alignment here.Given the movement of SOE underneath SCE proper for the first time in the subsidiary's lifetime, can it be too long before we see cross-pollination between the 'zen garden' of Sony's MMO wing and the other development houses? Perhaps EQ-themed sackboy avatars for LittleBigPlanet? "Because we know that is the trend, we, as a company, can invest in our first-party studios; in terms of exclusive titles, our role becomes more important."[Via]
The Daily Grind: Do MMO leadership skills scale?
According to this article from the India Times, there is a direct correlation between the kinds of skill needed for leaders to excel in an MMO, and the skills required for success in the real world. Namely, these skills break down to "Collaboration is key", "Vision is important", and "Information gathering and synthesis generate results".However, while it all sounds great on paper, there is a literal world's difference between decisions that affect the outcome of a game, and choices that determine the fate of a business. This is not to say that games can't be a testbed for quality decision-making behavior, but it takes real ingenuity to directly apply game experience to the real world and have corresponding value. What do you think? Do gamers make better leaders?
