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Forrester declares iPhone wrong for enterprise users
CIO magazine recounts a Forrester Research report from last week on "The iPhone is Not Meant for Enterprises," a $280 piece of critical business intelligence that tells IT departments something they a) wanted to hear and b) already knew: the iPhone is not a Blackberry (quel suprise!). Without key features such as remote kill, data encryption, and full Exchange support, Forrester says the iPhone is DOA in BigCo environments; despite this, IT folk need a strategy for handling the iPhones that make their touchable way in the revolving doors.Nobody expects IT to embrace the iPhone with both arms, but the tale of the numbers suggests that the warmth of the welcome may be irrelevant: the iPhone is here in a big way. With sales data suggesting that the iPhone has passed Windows Mobile in share, vendors like Visto promising full Exchange integration, and an SDK around the corner for blessed development, corporate technologists may have to settle for a policy of benign discontent as the shiny pretty things invade.Update: Some well-phrased and funny debunking of Forrester's stance by the Macalope and John Welch.[via Macworld]
Pano Logic's Pano: virtual XP or Vista in a box
Check it CIOs, Pano Logic just announced their new Pano virtualization device which brings XP and Vista to your users without the need of a PC. According to the feisty startup, their new virtualization solution can cut your Total Cost of Ownership by 70% for a promised savings of $3,200 per desktop over three years. While you can ace the desktop PC, you'll still have to make the initial investment of $20 per month per device (one per user) with perpetual licenses available. The Pano device has no CPU, memory, operating system or drivers -- at least not in the way those items are typically perceived by your IT staff. A "Pano Logic chip" manages the virtualization. In other words: no client-side malware or hiccups for fewer deskside visits -- everything is managed centrally from your VMWare Server installation. The device does pack the required jacks for a VGA display (up to 1600 x 1200 pixels supported), USB keyboard and Mouse (3x total USB), 10/100Mbps Ethernet, and a pair of mini-jacks for audio in/out. Of course, the system is entirely dependent upon lickity quick, uncongested pipes so if you're sporting a latency above 5-ms, you can forget about Pano's virtualization. Check out the business minded, ass-end of the Pano after the break.[Via PCMag]
Heroic gamer breaks up robbery
When we think of gaming heroes, dudes who can rock a Pac-Man or create some of the industry's greatest games come to mind. That's all changed now, thanks to the heroic, selfless sacrifice of Adam Mapleson, a 24-year old IT consultant and avid gamer. Yesterday, at a train station, Adam sprung into action as two armed thugs robbed a female security officer.Diving to tackle the escaping men, Adam was shot in the chest at very close range. Laying there helpless and in dire need of aid, he was eventually brought to the hospital, where he now resides under the status of "serious but stable." Even though Adam failed to stop the robbers, who got away from the scene, Adam risked his own life to ensure that no one else was injured.Our thoughts are with you, Adam, so rest up and get better.[Via Joystiq]
John Welch's 22 underappreciated Mac apps
Like They Might Be Giants, the Mac blogosphere has two big Johns: Gruber and Welch. While both are highly informative/informed and entertaining writers, there are some key differences. Welch's blog has to be described as Not Safe For Work. Still, he cleans up right nice. His recent Top 22 Mac Products article for InformationWeek was a considered, cogent and eye-opening take on the "software you can't live without" story. As we've noted for the past couple of weeks, thanks to writers like Welch, Tom Yager, Seth Weintraub and Ryan Fass, there's more and more rosy Mac coverage in the IT industry trade publications. From the perspective of Mac-centric IT folk like yours truly, this is definitely a Good Thing.
Network World and Computerworld: Mac OS X love in IT/SMB markets
Last week was a good week for Mac press in the IT weekly trades. Over at ComputerWorld, Ryan Fass chimed in with an opinion piece on how OS X is ideal for small business.Meanwhile, John Fontana in Network World had a long article about how IT pros are beginning to "discover Mac platforms that are being transformed into realistic alternatives to Windows and Linux." With the Intel platform switch, Boot Camp and virtualization options, a Mac purchase is more flexible and futureproof than ever before.Sure, it's not news to us, but as the costs associated with this upgrade cycle to Vista are coming into clearer focus, it's an opportunity for Apple (and for Linux vendors) to make inroads with an alternative to Microsoft Everywhere. Obstacles to this vision of happiness? Well, aside from FUD and inertia, both writers point out that Apple's support and sales infrastructures are not really oriented towards the needs of the enterprise... yet.[via MacFixit]
NYU shows its stuff at the Winter 2006 ITP
When hordes of folks gather 'round to show off various forms of gadgetry or design-influenced niceties, we can't help but stare, and while we weren't able to attend NYU's Winter 2006 ITP show like we were last year (and the year before), we were there in spirit, and now we're bringing you the pics. While there's far too much to cover here, a few highlights included the solar (iPod-charging) bikini, which gave the fellas an excellent excuse to gander at such a fanciful article of clothing, the "Botanicallss" plant that lets you know when it needs some lovin', a 3D display known only as the "Orb," and a MIDI-enabled guitar pick. Of course, the LED-infused stones that lit up differently based on arrangement, child-proof rendition of the iRocker music chair, and the motion-activated lamps were all showstoppers as well. So if you're craving a glimpse into the hereafter, be sure to hit the links below to see just how bright (and zany) the not-so-distant future is.[Via MAKE]
Could new Intel-based Xserves tip the IT scales for Apple?
Apple, of course, boasted how fantastic of a deal they're offering on stage with these new Xserves, but it's always prudent to hear it from the actual community these products are targeted at. Fortunately, reader Jonathan Fingas pointed us towards just such an article from IT Jungle that analyzes the offering and opportunities of new 64bit, Intel-based Xserves that can run Not only Mac OS X and Linux, but now Windows as well. They do their own price breakdown between other Enterprise server software offerings, as well as a hardware match up with a (somewhat) comparable HP server. They conclude that Apple has quite a killer offering on the table, no matter how you slice it.Check out the IT Jungle article for yourself, and since most of us aren't exactly Enterprise gurus, keep tips like this rolling in, as they're a great window into how this particular community is reacting to Apple's big changes.
HP dons white hat to hack customers' servers
Usually the term "hacking" has some rather negative connotations, so it almost seems counterintuitive to pay someone good money for breaking into your system, but that's exactly what HP is offering to do for its corporate customers with a new service called HP Active Countermeasures, or HPAC. As you'd imagine, HP's hackers won't do anything malicious once they break into a client's server -- propagating a worm, for instance, would seem to be bad for business -- but they will use a combination of buffer, heap, and stack overflows to exploit a system in much the same way that black hatters cause Internet terror on a daily basis. Specifically, the company will employ one of its own servers to launch attacks using eight to ten scanning clients for every 250,000 devices that are part of the program, and offer customers a temporary patch until they're able to hire a dedicated security firm for shoring up any vulnerabilities. Pricing is promised to be "aggressive," with firms using less than 20,000 IP addresses expected to pay only a few dollars per user per year for the privilege of learning how shoddy their security really is.[Via The Inquirer]
Ungenius - the other side of the Genius Bar
Beyond a doubt, Apple's retail stores have been and still are making headlines of all kinds - from business magazines hailing the stores' sleek design, to consumer reviews giving the stores high marks for their unique and (ideally) helpful Genius Bar feature. However, as some of you may know - not everyone's trip to the genius bar wraps up with a happy ending, and I'm not just talking about the customers; the Geniuses don't always have it so peachy-keen either.Hence, Ungenius - a blog by "JC" who apparently has some stories to tell of his adventures "aton[ing] for the sins of a multinational corporation during nearly four years as a Mac Genius". JC delves into all sorts of topics surrounding the world of the Genius including QA, the obvious defects that have made headlines as of late, and even some thoughts as to why Class Actions might be bad for consumers.Whether you've made a shrine for the last Genius who helped you out of a pickle or you're putting the finishing touches on a Genius Voodoo doll as you read this, Ungenius might be an interesting read from the other side of the cheery Apple retail store fence.
Toshiba releases business-minded Tecra A8 laptop
Toshiba has gone a bit "lappy happy" this week, announcing yet another 15.4-inch machine to join the two new notebooks and nine new configurations of current models that we spotted earlier. This time around, the company is targeting corporate IT buyers looking for durability on the cheap, playing up the new Tecra A8's suite of EasyGuard technology -- which features the same hard drive and keyboard protection, biometric security, and one-touch presentation button found in the consumer-level LifeSmart package. As far as specs go, you can choose from among a number of setups sporting either Celeron M or Core Duo processors, 512MB or 1GB of RAM, between 60GB and 100GB worth of storage, CD/DVD combo drive or DVD SuperMulti drive, and 802.11b/g WiFi from Atheros or 802.11a/b/g from Intel. Available immediately, these models range from $700 for the Celeron M config to $1,349 for a rig packing a T2400 CPU and that dual-layer burner.[Via Mobile Tech Review]
Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m reviewed
Ok suits, listen up. It's time to pilfer the IT budget 'cause the business-class, Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m just pulled a stellar review over at NotebookReview. This Core Duo beast boasts a titanium lid which makes it, dare we say, attractive in that sisterly kind of way, but she's all ThinkPad underneath. The 15.4-inch widescreen model under review featured the 2.0GHz Core Duo T2500, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 5400RPM 100GB SATA disk, and a 128MB ATI x1400 graphics card which allowed the reviewer to blast through the performance tests and should keep Vista's GUI puttering along for at least the terms of your lease. Meanwhile, that 6-cell battery eked out a respectable 3 hours 20 minutes while under a typical workday load -- you know, bidding on eBay auctions, checking stocks, and hunting down ex-lovers all google style. Sure, it's built "like a rock" coming in a bit too heavy and thick for the reviewers liking, but your wage monkeys won't complain will they mister boss-man?
