Archive for PC

RB | May 4, 2011
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Another Go at Virtualization

VirtualizationA New York start-up called NeverWare is trying to break the Microsoft (MSFT) upgrade loop. Each time a new version of Windows is released, many computer users find that their hardware is suddenly outdated. NeverWare is targeting cash-strapped schools who cannot afford to upgrade to the latest hardware with each major Microsoft software release. NeverWare is offering a possible solution a virtualization server that lets even decade-old PCs upgrade to the latest Windows 7 operating system reports MIT’s Technology Review.

NeverwareTechnology Review says that the NeverWare  server, called the JuiceBox a100, does the hard work of running the latest operating systems for many aging computers on the same network. To users of those old computers, it will feel as if the PCs are running the latest version of Windows, when in fact they are accessing it over the network. Their typing and mouse commands are sent to the software on the server, and the imagery for their display is sent back. This is called virtualization.

Once connected to a JuiceBox virtualization server, a PC doesn’t even need a hard drive, or any local software at all according to the article. NeverWare’s founder, Jonathan Hefter, says a 10-year-old desktop computer running Windows 98 would work just fine. He’s targeting the U.S. education market and institutions in the developing world with the technology. “Schools can’t afford to upgrade PCs, and developing countries can’t afford PCs, so if we can use the power of the cloud, we can move to a more efficient model of computing, Mr.  Hefter says. Several New Jersey schools. are testing JuiceBox servers to power networks of desktops in two

NComputingAnother company, NComputing, also uses servers to offer “virtual desktops” to multiple users, and supplies its technology to some schools around the world. Mr. Hefter says in the article that, NComputing’s approach requires a new device that links a user’s keyboard, mouse, and monitor to a distant server over the Web. He claims that one NeverWare JuiceBox is larger than an NComputing device, but then it only takes one JuiceBox to “upgrade” a network of tens of computers.

Joyojeet Pal, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, thinks NeverWare’s approach has potential. “What this project seems to offer is an alternative to an online operating system like Google’s (GOOG) Chrome OS,” Mr. Pal says. Google’s approach requires users to use Web versions of software packages, rather than providing access to traditional software. However, Mr. Pal says, the cost of maintaining an outdated machine could still be considerable due to the need for repairs and labor, for example.

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Mr. Hefter is right with his comparison of US education and third wold education. The way the Republicans are attacking teachers and ravaging budgets the third world nations will soon be better off.

Thin clients and virtual desktops have been around for a long time. It may stick this time because the economics are right and the technology is adequate.

What do yo think?

Has the time of virtual desktops finally arrived?

Is it because of the technology? The economics?

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RB | April 25, 2011
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IDC Predicts MSFT Smartphone Comeback

The prognosticators at research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) have looked into their crystal-ball and predicted that by 2015 Microsoft (MSFT) will take second place to Google’s (GOOG) Android in the smartphone market. TechEye points out in their indubitable way:

For that to happen, Apple followers will have to suddenly have a realisation that Jobs’ Mob’s walled garden of delights is not all it’s cracked up to be and would have to defect to the arch-enema of the Apple cargo cult – Steve Ballmer.

IDCIDC claims that in 2015, Windows 7 will pass Apple (AAPL) iOS as the alternative operating system to Android. Android will have about half the market and what is left will be divided between Research In Motion’s (RIMM) Blackberry and Apple.

IDC Smartphone Market Share Predictions

20112015
Android 39.5 %Android 45.4 %
Symbian 20.9 %Windows 7 / Windows Mobile 20.9 %
iPhone 15.7 %iPhone 15.3 %
Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry 14.9 %Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry 13.7 %
Windows 7 / Windows Mobile 5.5 %Others 4.6 %
Others 3.5%Symbian 0.2 %

Steve Ballmer Microsoft MSFTThe latest stats show how far Ballmer’s Boys have to go to meet IDG‘s projections. MSFT has 5.5 percent of the market, apparently IDG believes that all the Symbian market will blindly follow Nokia to MSFT because the firms made a billion dollar deal. Sometimes it is also about functionality, copy and paste, multitouch.

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Well good for IDG, TechEye says they failed to see the rise of the iPhone or Android in 2006. History says that a full-frontal assault on a firms core business is not effective. MSFT has to create a market to make iPhone and Android irrelevant. I think the MSFT for MSFT sake opportunity is long gone.

What do you think?

Is IDG dreaming?

Can Windows Phone 7 reach second place on the market by 2015?

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RB | April 22, 2011
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Tablet Notes

Forrester Report Casts Doubt on iPad Competitors

ForresterThe New York Times cites a recent Forrester (FORR) report on the state and near future of the tablet marketplace titled “iPad Challengers Have Flawed Product Strategies.”

The report’s main conclusion was that Apple (AAPL) iPad competitors have not addressed pricing, distribution and product differentiation adequately to make a case to consumers.

  1. The new tablets are too expensive.Apple has, unexpectedly, kept iPad prices comparatively low.The Motorola (MMI) Xoom starts at $100 more than the iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab can be had for $250, but that does not include a two-year contract with a mobile carrier. Someone should be coming in to undercut this market, but that has proved harder than it looks.
  2. The new tablets are sold through the wrong stores. Forrester’s research shows that one of the least-desirable places to buy a tablet is at a cellphone store. But many tablet makers continue to rely on wireless carriers as a primary retail channel, which Forrester’s report concludes is a bad bet.
  3. The new tablets are not distinguished enough.  The average users does not care about specs because it’s about the apps that run on these toys.
  4. The new tablets are not Windows. Forrester’s survey said the N0. 1 operating system people want on a tablet is Windows. If Microsoft (MSFT) is not going to release a true tablet-ready OS until late-summer 2012, those who want a Windows tablet may have to wait two generations of tablets.

Forrester speculates that an Amazon (AMZN) tablet could change the market. Amazon could offer more attractive terms to media partners than Apple. It already has scads of credit-card numbers for easy one-click app purchases. It has media offerings like streaming video. It now has some experience designing, marketing and selling its own hardware with the Kindle.

Cisco Cius

CiscoDoes anyone remember Cisco’s Cius? In case you don’t No Jitter has an article from June 2010 by Zeus Kerravala of the Yankee Group. The Cius was purported to be a tablet that can dock into a base station and can act as video phone. When undocked the device operates as a tablet computer that can be carried around and shared between workers.

Mr. Kerravala says the Cius tablet isn’t really meant to be a replacement for a laptop or an Apple (AAPL) iPad type of tablet. It’s a communications-centric tablet that can provide an easy interface into vertically specific applications, make videoconferencing portable and create a new way for people to interact with one another. The Cius will be centered on visual communications and not productivity applications like word processing and spreadsheets.

The Cius uses  Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system, perhaps to attract developers. The article says the Cisco (CSCO) of the few years ago would the company have chosen to build its own interface. Android is a key to the success of Cius. The likelihood of developers building applications for an Android-based Cisco device is higher than developers creating applications for a Cisco operating system.

According to the article, the Cius is to be priced under $1,000, comparable to a high-end Cisco IP phone. While no network operator partners were announced at the time, Cisco said that the device was WiFi, 3G and 4G capable.

Are the End Days Nearing for PCs (and Macs)

Apple iPad 2 GigaOm‘s Ryan Kim recently wrote that the glory days of the PC’s are fading with the rise of more nimble smartphones and tablets. Wi-Fi provider JiWire confirmed this trend over the Christmas holidays. JiWire, which operates 35,000 public Wi-Fi hot-spots in the U.S., saw new iPad connections increase by 33.8 percent and new Android (GOOG) users were up 47.9 percent while new Mac users were down 28.1 percent and new PC connections were down 12 percent over the Christmas holidays. Mr. Kim writes that this trend marks people’s dependence on computers is waning as they find more utility and portability in smartphones and tablets.

This trend is shaking up the computer world according to GigaOm. Gartner (IT) recently predicted that PC sales would decline 10% in the face of increased tablet sales. And as mobile networks ramp up to 4G and Wi-Fi usage grows, it’s only fueling the interest in mobile devices. This is a major shift that is forcing all the big players to adjust. The author points out that:

  • Microsoft (MSFT) re-entered the smartphone game at CES 2011 with Windows Phone 7 with Windows OS on ARM (ARMH) designed chips.
  • Intel (INTC) is working hard to get its chips to run on mobile devices though it’s still an uphill battle displacing ARM-designed chips.
  • HP (HPQ) bought Palm last year and is prepping a line of WebOS tablets and smartphones.

Apple (AAPL) is forcing these changes on the industry according to Mr. Kim. the iPhone and the iPad made mobile computing more user-friendly. Apple CEO Steve Jobs predicted that overall PC usage would decline and suggested that lightweight devices like the iPad would do most of the tasks people needed. GigaOm says that companies that embrace this new reality, are the ones best positioned for the future. The new iFuture means PC manufacturers will have to accept that the switch to mobile devices may come at the cost of traditional computer sales. The article concludes that manufacturers can let someone else lure their PC customers away with a tablet or smartphone or they can build one themselves.

Tablets Are Hammering The Notebook Market: Acer Sales Off 10%

AcerThe BusinessInsider reports that Acer (ACEIY) has warned that its 2011 Q1 sales will be off 10%. The Taiwanese PC maker is blaming Apple’s iPad and it tablet cousins for devastating its key netbook business.

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RB | April 18, 2011
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MSFT Struggles – Exchange Next Cash Cow?

The Royal Pingdom reports that Microsoft’s Windows 7 has just overtaken Windows XP as the top operating system in the US. The article cites stats from StatCounter that say as of April 7, Windows 7 reached a 31.71 percent of share, while Windows XP held a 31.56 percent share.

Win 7 overtakes Win XP in US

On a global scale, StatCounter reports that Windows XP still enjoys a significant advantage of 16.1% over Windows 7.

The Business Insider noted that investor Roger McNamee a man who Bill Gates credited as a sounding board for his 1994 book “The Road Ahead” told CNBC that Microsoft’s Windows is a dying business.

“I think Microsoft Windows, this is the cycle where it stops growing… The availability of iPads and smartphones is allowing corporations to trade down and eliminate the thousand dollars per year of supporting a Windows desktop. And this is the year where Windows has fallen below 50% of internet connected device down from 97% a few years ago.”

 

Despite this, Mr. McNamee would still buy Microsoft (MSFT) because of the company’s strong position in email.

When you’re a monopolist in an important category — and they are for sure a monopolist relative to email with Exchange — they’re going to be able to crank prices on Exchange. I actually think Microsoft is a buy.

Mr. McNamee is a smart guy who took an early huge stake in Facebook for Elevation Partners. However, the Business Insider thinks that Exchange as a replacement for the Windows business is bizarre for a bunch of reasons:

  • Market share. Exchange Server has majority market share — most estimates put it above 70%, and higher in larger enterprises. But it doesn’t have the 90%+ share that Microsoft has enjoyed with Windows for the last 20-plus years.
  • Sales. Windows had about $18 billion in sales last year. The last time Microsoft revealed Exchange numbers was FY’07, when it had sales of $1.5 billion projecting forward, Exchange would have had $2.8 billion in sales in FY’10.
  • Margins. Windows has one of the greatest operating margins of any legal business in history – up to 80%. Exchange sells in lower volumes, faces more competition, and requires longer and more personalized sales cycles, which almost certainly means it’s got lower margins.
  • Competition. Older messaging systems like Lotus are slowly dying, but Exchange faces serious price pressure from Web-based email providers, particularly Google’s Gmail. Microsoft has responded with Exchange Online, its own hosted service, but it’s already had to lower prices on the service once.
  • Gates and Ballmer

    But Mr. Gates Sir, If I could just get my hands on Jobs, I'd ....

    Strategy. Windows pulls through sales of Office and other desktop software, which in turn pulls through sales of business servers (including Exchange). Its ubiquity helps Microsoft sell Windows Server and other enterprise software. Its huge margins allow Microsoft to pour money into projects like search and Xbox, which pressure the competition.

  • If Windows dies, Microsoft will have to do a lot more than monopolize email to replace it.

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MSFT has had a ;pmg struggle to get Windows XP out of the enterprise, and with PC sales dipping the MSFT recovery will be harder thanks to the rise of the iPad. I would rather put my money on the Ballmer Boys to stage a spectacular comeback with Windows Phone Windows 8 than to turn Exchange into a cash cow like Windows.

What do you think?

Will MSFT be able to continue its hold on the corporate desktop?

Can Exchange become the next great money maker for MSFT?

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RB | March 26, 2011
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iPad Notes

Researchers Outline iOS Attack to Access Stored Passwords in Six Minutes

Apple ComputersFierceCIO reports that researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology say (PDF) they can break into an Apple (AAPL) iOS device (iPhone or iPad) to extract stored passwords in just six minutes. The attach requires physical access to the iOS device. Once boosted, large swaths of the iOS file system could be swiftly pried open by hackers.

Data that can be exploited includes account passwords for MS Exchange ActiveSync, LDAP, VPN and Wi-Fi. A successful attack starts with a jailbreak, followed by installing an SSH server to load a script to get access to the keychain entries which contain the passwords.

Based on this weakness, the author says that iOS needs work, “… a proper implementation of security using best practices could require a rewriting of key security components in Apple’s iOS.” He concludes that, “… organizations deploying the iOS hardware at the moment might find it prudent to perform encryption at the app level instead of relying on the iPhone’s or iPad’s broken passphrase system.”

iPhone Password Hack Shows Flawed Security Model

Ars Technica has different article on the latest iOS vulnerability. Ars argues that the attack isn’t entirely new, and is actually a product of Apple’s “DRM approach” to security. Forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski told Ars that similar exploits have been around since Apple introduced the iPhone 3G. According to Mr. Zdziarski,

The real problem is that Apple hasn’t yet fully implemented a truly secure environment for iOS. Apple has … been relying on their DRM know-how, and just erasing the label that says ‘DRM’ and calling it ‘security. The problem with this is that DRM only makes things a little more difficult for hackers.”

“Real security relies on the strength of the key, and the secrecy of the key,” Mr. Zdziarski continued. “And as long as the keys are all stored on the iPhone and don’t rely on a user password, they can easily be compromised.”

The Ars article says that while Apple has continually improved the iDevices information security , they all have the same flaws. Mr. Zdziarski told Ars he believes Apple is pushing to make iOS devices compliant with the FIPS 140-2 (PDF) security standards. However he warns that. “… at the end of the day … Apple will need to abandon their DRM approach if they want true security, as opposed to just some fancy marketing strategies.”

VMware Unleashes Virtual Desktops for Apple iPad

VMware for iPadNetwork World is reporting that VMware (VMW) has released VMware View Client for iPad to the Apple App Store. “We’ve been working on it since the middle of last year,” says Pat Lee, director of end-user computing clients at VMware.

VMware said it had trouble making Windows work as a virtual desktop on the iPad. “Windows really isn’t touch-savvy,” Lee says. VMware tried to adapt the iPad experience to Windows. “We spent a lot of time building custom gestures to make sure it blends into the iOS experience,” Lee says.

VMware created a virtual trackpad that can appear on the screen. “We want it to be as logical as possible,” Lee says. VMware promised “instant-on” access to Windows desktops from the iPad, as well as support for Bluetooth keyboards. VMware is using  PCoIP to deliver the remote desktops and says the client will offer a secure connection to server-hosted desktops.  The View client for iPad will be free for existing users, who are charged either $150 or $250 per seat.

The VMware announcement comes after Citrix (CTXS)  released Receiver for iPad, and Parallels developed Parallel’s Mobile, an iPad desktop application.

Contracts HD for iPad: Give Contracts the Finger

Hat tip to AppScout for finding Contracts HD for iPad. They say that it  is one of those apps that is breathing life into the existence and usefulness of the tablet device. Contracts HD is designed to allow any Apple (AAPL) iPad user to create, collaborate, sign, and email completed contracts using iPad’s dynamic touch-screen interface. The app also provides a database of contract templates for which anyone can add an addendum to all existing contracts, auto-fill appropriate fields within the contract with your exact information, and allows both parties to sign contracts safely and securely by using a fingertip.

Once the contract is signed, and all parties have received their PDF copies via email, you can save contracts to a secure archive for easy access later. Contracts HD also has a little brother app for iPhone that enables you to synchronize contracts between devices.  Contracts HD for iPad is $9.99 in the iTunes App Store ($4.99 for the iPhone version).

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