Streaming Magazine » Technology

Google strikes back

Rob — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:26:10 +0000

Microsoft has had a long history of trying to do everything and being able to throw enough money at it to get its way.

Microsoft single-handedly took over the personal computing market many years ago with a DOS system to compete with Apple’s Macintosh. Microsoft built such a dominance over Apple that even with Apple’s recent popularity since the iPod, they still hold a minuscule amount of PC marketshare.

Microsoft also jumped into the console gaming market with the Xbox, waging war against Sega, Sony and Nintendo. Sega, already beaten up from contending with the PS2, collapsed into a software company, and Nintendo shifted focus to less expensive systems and more hand-held devices.

Sony held strong until the release of the Xbox 360, and Microsoft put the nail in the coffin with strong business moves and successful promoting (and pricing) of its system over the Sony PS3.

And last week, Microsoft and Yahoo agreed to a deal that allowed Microsoft to gain significant marketshare in the Internet-software industry, which now stands as Google’s biggest threat.

Google, a company known for its explosive growth and pushing new modes of computing such as cloud computing, has decided it’s time to do something it rarely does: advertise.

Google’s billboard ad campaign is in a few major cities and will tell the story of an IT manager who is frustrated with his company’s software (most businesses run Windows and all Microsoft software titles) and eventually switches to Google Apps. Google has also taken to Twitter to promote itself to get the message out and try to take the fight to Microsoft.

Both companies have a lot of money to throw around, but with Google’s history of software screwups this year and Microsoft’s seemingly restored ability to market after the Vista flop, Google may have its work cut out for it.

Microsoft, Yahoo vs. Google

andrea — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:00:17 +0000

It’s easy to say “I’ll just Google it!” It’s even easier since every Internet browser has a Google toolbar.

Any Google competitors would have a difficult time rising above. Still, that is exactly what Microsoft and Yahoo hope to do with their recent partnership.

On Wednesday, Microsoft and Google announced that they’ve finally agreed to work together in an attempt to overpower their search engine superior. According to the Washington Post, Google owns 65 percent of Internet search advertising while Microsoft and Google (combined) bring in about 28 percent.

So basically, it’s going to be a long and hard fight.

Their plan is for Microsoft to power Yahoo’s search results while Yahoo will be responsible for both of their advertising. The deal has yet to be approved by the government, but is expected to come into fruition in early 2010.

The plan has to be approved by the Justice Department’s antitrust regulators or by the Federal Trade Commission. Sen. Herb Kohl told the Washington Post that there will be “careful scrutiny” because they are “concerned about competition issues in these markets because of the potentially far-reaching consequences for consumers and advertisers.”

This concern is a nice thought but there are few who actually think that “Microhoo” won’t be able to give the beloved Google a run for their money. With the recent arrival of Microsoft’s Bing, they are becoming more popular than they were with Live Search but it’s debatable if that will be enough.

Old habits die hard and Google is one strong habit for Americans.

Bill Gates has too many friends

Rob — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:00:46 +0000

Facebook supports athletes and movie stars with their fan groups and friends who hang on every word, and every update from their favorite stars. Within minutes of an update from Dwight Howard on his Facebook page or his twitter feed, hundreds of comments pour into the Web stream. It’s crazy the kind of attention we spend on people who don’t really (or shouldn’t) matter a whole lot outside their sport. But everyone’s got fans.

Even Bill Gates who was forced to give up Facebook because he had too many friends.


He tried it out and got annoyed not being able to figure out and sort through who he really knew and who he cared to be friends with, eventually sitting at his 1000" monitor and wiggling his fingers at it in frustration, causing the Internet to cower in fear of the Wizard Gates and his blue screen of death spell.
In reality, our society idolizes everyone for pretty much anything.  Even the King of Geeks has an army of digital followers willing to pretend to care about the guy simply for who he is.  
Bill Gates in some ways is very deserving of the attention.  After all, he was the driving force in technology throughout the world, as can be seen by how dominating Windows has become in every office and home, far surpassing the Apple and Linux alternatives.
But even if I can respect the man for what he did to help push technology forward, I don't know if I'd openly admit to being a Facebook friend of the Microsoft Man.



“Sprite ad” banned, what a joke
Brittany — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:00:40 +0000
First the news came that Coca-Cola put a ban on a recent ad for one of its products, Sprite, due to explicit content.

Then Coca-Cola freaked and blew a cap (no pun intended, especially if you’ve seen the video), and for understandable reason, and now the blame’s being directed at a director, a New York City-based filmmaker by the name of Max Isaacson. Apparently, Isaacson put the almost 30-second video together all on his own, with absolutely no association with Sprite or Coke, well, just for fun. 
Fun really did a flip on this one, as just about everybody and (especially) their mother is up in arms over it. (If you still haven’t seen it for yourself, just go ahead and get it over with and watch it before going another word further. All of my silly innuendos and poor attempts at joking about this thing will make more sense. You know YouTube will have something on it. Go now!)
I honestly don’t know what everyone’s getting their panties (if they’re even being worn anymore) in a bunch about. Obviously this thing would never actually go on public television, again, obviously. I just can’t see why anyone believed in the first place, as so many apparently did, that this was even for real as a piece of advertising. 
Just goes to show that once the media, especially that wondrous branch known as the Internet, gets involved in something like this, it just takes off, and all truth, all rationally blows on by with it (again, no pun intended…okay, maybe just a little bit).
I personally find the video to be, well, funny (just don’t tell my mother), if you really want to know. If people would just get their heads out of their behinds for a minute and loosen up, maybe we’d all enjoy ourselves just a little bit more. 



Apple nips Palm in the USB socket
Rob — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:00:37 +0000
The Palm Pre, launched from as Sprint’s iPhone-esque device, is capable of everything and more.  As it has been in the past, nothing exactly branded as an iPhone killer has actually done anything other than fall flat on its back, scaling the mountain casting the smartphone shadow.

The Palm, though, does a lot of things better than predecessor phones, and in some cases, better than the iPhone.  It runs applications in the background and offers the ability to seamlessly transition between them, something the iPhone does not do.  It’s the one area that the newest incarnation of the iPhone is lacking, and Palm has capitalized on it some.  It can also sync with iTunes, offering the same music playing ability as the iPhone, supposedly leveling the playing field.
Except in mid-July, Apple cut compatibility with the Pre device with iTune update 8.2.1.  It is one of the few times Apple has gone out and struck against another device maker (outside of Microsoft) and it may inconvenience the current users but potentially dissuade those on the fence between using Sprint’s superior network to AT&T.  
If Apple had played its cards right and used either Verizon or Sprint for the iPhone service, there would be no competition and the iPhone would reign supreme.  AT&T benefited tremendously from the exclusive contract, and even with an inferior network, 3G dead zones and sporadic issues with call handling, Apple has made steady gains in market share.



Laptop wars
Rob — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:00:56 +0000
The last several months have seen Microsoft and Apple launching creative ad campaigns that have heated up the rivalry between the two giants.  Apple’s commercials launched after the horrible failure that was Windows Vista and showed Apple to be the easier, more user-friendly choice for laptops and computers based on operating system alone.  Apple has strong advantages in several categories, from a much better operating system and more efficient machines in general.
But with the recession in full swing, Microsoft has played its cards well, and after its initial “I’m a PC” campaign, their new laptop hunters ad campaign has Apple rocked back on its heels.  

The ad campaign shows customers walking into various electronic stores hunting for a laptop on a strict budget, with the customers often walking up and testing the Apple machines and deciding that for the money, they weren’t worth it.
In truth, Apple has overpriced machines.  The only thing Apple has ever made that was easily affordable was its iPod Shuffle.  
Apple also lacks in innovative technology, where the PC market has flourished and Apple only offers a few models for their systems and configurations where literally anything is possible on the PC front.  Microsoft’s ad campaign capitalizes on these points of interest and draws focus on the cost of what the customer is getting.  
Yes, Apple makes better quality software and has a much stronger operating system design, but the question Microsoft is asking in their ads is simple: Is Apple’s user-friendly nature worth the extra $1,000 over a PC that sports hardware that eclipses anything Apple can do with a laptop currently?



Facebook 750 million away from one billion
Rob — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:00:56 +0000
Facebook has gained a lot of popularity and has picked up steam as it competes with Myspace for online social networking supremacy.  Unlike Myspace however, Facebook’s quarter billion proclamation (with Myspace boasting similar numbers) is more substantial than Myspace’s because Facebook has long been tied to more actual users instead of pop-up spam accounts that litter the Myspace Web.

The biggest increase in total users for Facebook was not within the United States.  As countries around the world have started to grow and get wired, an explosion in usage occurred in the social networking site.  More and more people from the global community are now linking in, finding friends and sharing interests through online sites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.  Each site has its own preferred fanbase; musicians and music enthusiasts to Myspace, college and professions to Facebook, and everyone who feels their opinion should be heard by the world every 10 seconds via tweet to Twitter.
With something for everyone, social networking sites have taken off and constantly grow.  The former college-only site now takes the best from Myspace and Twitter, adds in Facebook’s blend of personality and comes off as a substantial and complete product with very few complaints.  
In an age where people prefer to communicate by text, e-mail or social networking sites over face-to-face interaction, these sites flourish and will continue to do so.



Google’s new grill: Chrome is in
Rob — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:00:32 +0000
Google announced last year that Android would be revolutionary in the way that operating systems worked, and with its phone release, it showed promise.  
It seems that even with the warm reception, Google has gone with the majority of the population in saying, So what?  As a results, Android has become a thing of the past, in some ways, but does share some responsibility for Google’s next big project: Google’s ambitions in Chrome OS.

Microsoft has long owned the operating system industry with Windows being the OS of choice in the vast majority of homes running PC’s.  Even many Mac users have boot-camped a version of Windows to run on their systems as well as OS X.  While both OS X and Windows have their differences, they also share a lot of similarities that make choosing between the two not a terribly important choice.  Windows compatibility or OS X’s efficiency.
Google now wants to throw in the fight between the two companies that are in the OS business (and Linux is used by such a small version of mainstream society, so it doesn’t count…yet).
Google Chrome OS is built on Linux (yay Linux), and is taking operating systems a completely different route.  The idea is, people have these systems with computers that have way more muscle than needed, like using a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito.  Google wants to create an OS that takes the most common usage, such as e-mail, social networking and word processing, make it extremely efficient, and throw it into a browser package to streamline everything, removing the load times from various applications and the need to transfer files here and there.  Files can be stored on your home device, as well as retained on a cloud computing drive cluster where they can easily be sent anywhere, from anywhere, without the source needing to be in your hand.
Whether or not this ambitious design will succeed is all up to how well it functions.  If efficiency in an office increases simply by removing painstaking load times, allowing more work to get done in a shorter time, offices will find it a lovely alternative to Windows.  If it can play games and have widespread compatibility with entertainment software, then it will be an interesting year for Microsoft and Apple.



Irony at its finest: Get $105 off an iPhone via Microsoft
Rob — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:00:01 +0000
BING!
Microsoft can do it all, from crushing Sony in a console battle, waging a successful ad campaign against Mac computers, and even generating some interest in its attempt at redemption with Windows 7 after Vista flopped tremendously and sank CompUSA with it. Microsoft’s new attempt at owning the world through stealing Google’s share of the wealth has brought back a thing that was thought to be dead.
Welcome the Microsoft’s Cash Back Incentives.

Ironically, through this program, Microsoft will pay you 35 percent to buy an iPhone by using the AT&T premier shop through Bing.
Taken from Modmyi.com:
As per this new incentive program, buyers get a 35 percent cash back guarantee if they buy from AT&T using Bing, though you have to go through some additional steps to save the bucks.
Quote: HOW TO GET PREMIER + CashBack (New Contracts Only):

Visit the AT&T Wireless Web site and validate your e-mail address with Premier.

Check your e-mail and click the link to your AT&T Premier Store.

Open a new tab with the same browser that your AT&T Premier Store is open in.

Go to Bing.com in the new tab and search “att wireless.”

Click the 35 percent CashBack Sponsored Link.

Sign into your CashBack account and get redirected to the main AT&T Wireless page.

In the top right, enter the term “Premier” into the search bar.

Click the first link that reads “at&t premier login.”

You will get directed to the same Premier store you have open in the original tab.

Congratulations, you are in the Premier store under the CashBack AT&T Site
So, buying from the Premier Store gets you an iPhone plus a rebate (takes a few weeks to get it back), courtesy of Microsoft.
When Apple has a product that Microsoft simply can’t compete with, Microsoft is smart enough to take advantage of the situation and spin it toward bringing interest in Bing, simultaneously stabbing into Google’s support base.
Microsoft is simply doing what it does best: taking other people’s ideas, making them better, throwing in some spice, and riding on the back of that other idea and deploying a diabolical plan so intricate and wise, Bill Gates can giggle a maniacal laugh all the way to the bank.



Apple iPhone apology and $30 credit for delays
Brittany — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:00:02 +0000
With the brand new iPhones out just days ago, along with long lines trailing out Apple stores’ doors, iPhone 3G S users are continuing to experience delays in activating their new phones. But Apple’s not looking to let go of any customers any time soon (even though it’s got the hottest cell phone on the planet right now, and has had it since it first came out two years ago), so it’s promising to make it up to its customers. 

Apple starting sending out notification e-mails to customers experiencing this little technical difficulty it termed “system issues,” yesterday, saying it’s mostly due to “high activation volumes,” as reported by cnetreviews.com.  
In acknowledgment and apology for the delays, Apple also noted in the same e-mail that it plans to offer a $30 iTunes Store credit. 
This is exactly what the e-mail reads: 
Dear Apple Customer, 
Thank you for your recent Apple Store order. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delay in your iPhone activation. 
We are still resolving the issue that was encountered while activating your iPhone with AT&T. Unfortunately, due to system issues and continued high activation volumes, this could take us up to an additional 48 hours to complete. 
On Monday, you’ll receive an email from Apple with an iTunes Store credit in the amount of $30. We hope you will enjoy this gift and accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this delay has caused. 
Thank you for choosing Apple. 
Sincerely,

Apple Online Store Team
It’s definitely a nice gesture, but let’s not forget the power of the iPhone, selling more than 500,000 just this past weekend. Kind of makes you wonder if the e-mail and the credit will make much of a difference in the long run.