Best browser: which should you be using?
Competition among browsers is more fierce than ever. Chrome and Firefox release 72 new versions every week, Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer to make it finger-friendly, and as we all race to tablets and smartphones we're being tempted with all kinds of alternatives to systems' stock browsers.
But which is the best browser for you and your hardware? Let's find out.
We tested the latest official releases of the big browsers - Internet Explorer 10, Firefox 19, Safari 5, Chrome 25 and Opera 12 - on a Core i5 PC running Windows 8 Pro. It's worth noting that Safari on Macs running OS X Mountain Lion is at version 6, but the PC version and older Mac versions are one behind. Read more...
Mozilla and Google blast IE-only Windows on ARM
Mozilla and Google are crying foul over Microsoft restrictions blocking rivals from Windows 8 on ARM, due later this year.
Firefox-shop Mozilla has branded Microsoft's restrictions a return to the digital dark ages "where users and developers didn't have browser choices".
Harvey Anderson, Mozilla general counsel, accused Microsoft of restricting user choice, reducing competition and chilling innovation by only allowing Internet Explorer to run on Windows RT – unveiled last month by Microsoft as the new name for Windows on ARM (WOA). He said:
Only Internet Explorer will be able to perform many of the advanced computing functions vital to modern browsers in terms of speed, stability, and security to which users have grown accustomed. Given that IE can run in Windows on ARM, there is no technical reason to conclude other browsers can't do the same. Read more...
Google reportedly to release Android 5.0 ‘Jelly Bean’ by June 2012
Before Ice Cream Sandwich has managed to reach more than 1% of Android devices, reports are suggesting that its successor, Android 5.0 ‘Jelly Bean’, could launch as soon as June.
The news comes in the form of a Digitimes report, which is known for being hit-and-miss with its accuracy, but cites supply chain sources that state the search giant will seek to release its new Android platform to provide competition to Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system, which will debut in the third quarter.
With Android 5.0 thought to deliver yet more features for tablet devices, Taiwanese suppliers are already to deliver dual-OS tablets and notebooks, which will be able to instantly switch between Google’s and Microsoft’s mobile-friendly platforms. Read more...
Google+ ups competition with Facebook by including teens
Google is widening the potential user base for Google+ by lowering the age requirement from 18 to 13 years old -- a move that could help it grow in Facebook's shadow.
Last week, Bradley Horowitz, vice president of product at Google+, announced the change in a blog post. He noted that Google wants to help teens share with their friends, while also helping them keep from over-sharing, especially with strangers.
"Teens and young adults are the most active Internet users on the planet," wrote Horowitz. "And surprise, surprise: they're also human beings who enjoy spending time with friends and family. Put these two things together and it's clear that teens will increasingly connect online."
Teens were allowed onto the site immediately. Read more...
Tech that should be on your radar for 2012
There are a variety of new technologies advancing in 2012 that you should investigate, if you aren't already doing so, to give your small business a leg up on the competition. These recent technologies are beginning to be widely adopted and will continue to drive business forward.
1. Tablets
Tablets are highly visible, and many users want them, if only to read books and consume media. However, from a business perspective, replacing notebook computers with much lower-cost tablets may have a double benefit of reducing capital expenditures as well as increasing user satisfaction. Security can be an issue, both protecting company data and keeping malware and other threats out. Fortunately, both encryption providers and antivirus vendors are busily creating business-focused products that can help ensure security.
Like previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 will probably not be widely adopted in any great hurry. However, the intriguing capabilities of Windows 8 -- especially with Windows Mobile 8 and Windows Server 8 to create an easy-to-use, fully capable unified communications environment -- could mean rapid adoption for highly-mobile organizations that can benefit from the access-anywhere model. Read more...
Insurance and IT firms agree rules on sharing price details
Six insurance companies and two IT software and service providers have agreed to change the way price information for motor insurance is shared following concerns that previous practices were violating competition laws.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that the insurers shared price details about future motor insurance price intentions with brokers who in turn used a software company, SSP Ltd, to share the data on an information exchange service. Insurers could use the information exchange, provided by Experian, to check their prices against competitors' and meant they had the potential to use the software to "prevent, restrict or distort competition" through coordinated price setting agreements, the OFT said. Read more...
Amazon: The Microsoft of the cloud
Is there a cloud market, or is there an Amazon market?
Even as the cloud market booms, it's an open question whether there is room for anyone besides Amazon to benefit. Even as Microsoft dominated desktop computing over the past two decades, Amazon seems set to own the public cloud for years to come, notwithstanding attempts to circumvent its hegemony. With the next generation of startups building on Amazon, the industry is "Amazon all the way down", and perhaps for a very long time.
So should we love or hate Amazon?
Mark Suster, an investor with GRP Partners, believes Amazon has been a godsend to the startup world, in particular. As he writes, "Where open-source computing gave us a 90 per cent reduction in our software, Amazon gave us a 90 per cent reduction in our total operating costs." This isn't just a money thing, either: Amazon has made it dramatically easier to launch a service and to scale it. Read more...
Price of new Amazon tablet could be big attraction
Amazon.com Inc is expected to launch its long-awaited tablet computer on Wednesday, sporting a low-enough price to give Apple Inc's iPad some serious competition for the first time.
At a news conference Wednesday morning in New York, Amazon will likely unveil a seven-inch tablet that will let users read e-books, download digital music and video games and stream movies and TV shows.
Analysts expect the tablet to be priced around $250, roughly half the price of Apple's dominant iPad, which starts at $499. Read more...
iPad Success Floating Other Tablets To Sales Boom, IDC Says
Could Apple's utter domination of the tablet market actually be good for the competition in the long term?
Market research firm IDC believes so, raising its forecast of tablet shipments for the year to 62.5 million units, up from 53.5 million units, based on global media tablet shipments rising 88.9 percent on a sequential basis and 303.8 percent year over year in the second quarter to 13.6 million units.
That demand was heavily fueled by the release of Apple's iPad 2 in February, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million units, or a whopping 68.3 percent share of the worldwide market, up from 65.7 percent the previous quarter. Read more...
Amazon competition to highlight cloud usage among startups
Amazon Web Services has opened the fifth annual AWS Start-Up Challenge, a contest that aims to recognize innovative uses of its cloud computing platform, the company said on Monday.
Cloud services are a good fit for startups. They have leveled the playing field as smaller companies gain the resources to compete in ways that were very expensive and often cost-prohibitive in the past, according to Amazon.
This year the competition has expanded its footprint and is open to entries from the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The first prize is $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in service credits, premium support services for and technical mentorship from Amazon Web Services for one year, as well as a possible investment offer from Amazon, the company said in a statement. Read more...
Big business in big push for cloud computing standards
The rise of cloud computing has led to a strong push from the IT leaders at many major companies for cloud standards around such things as security and data portability.
But the early push for standards is beginning to resemble a NASCAR race -- everyone is is driving on the same track, but are sitting in different cars.
Multiple organizations are in pursuit of the same checkered flag, a set of standards that will facilitate the adoption of cloud computing technologies.
The latest standards group group, the IBM-backed Cloud Standards Customer Council, announced its steering committee this month. Read more...
Nokia to transfer 2,800 staff to Accenture
Nokia Corp. said Wednesday it has completed a deal to outsource Symbian software development to Accenture, including the transfer of 2,800 workers to the global management-consulting firm.
The announcement came two months after Nokia disclosed the plan as part of its aim to cut costs by $1.5 billion (euro1 billion) by 2013, including 7,000 global layoffs, and catch up with top rivals in the tough smartphone market.
The Finland-based company faces strong competition from Research in Motion's Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, as it continues to see market share fall. Last month it issued a big profits warning.
Nokia's share price has plunged in recent months and was trading near multi-year lows of euro4.23 ($6.08) in early afternoon trading in Helsinki — almost unchanged from Tuesday's closing rate. Read more...
Nokia to launch Microsoft platform phones in 2011
Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. plans to introduce its first mobile phones using the Microsoft Windows operating system this year, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.
Nokia is facing steep competition from competitors in several products. At the top end of the market it is struggling against smartphones such as Apple's iPhone, Research in Motion's Blackberry as well as Android, and on the lower end against emerging market phone makers who are dropping their prices.
Nokia will start to deliver the Windows-based mobile phones in bulk next year, CEO Stephen Elop said in a speech at a technology trade show in Singapore. Read more...