Healthy Blog Reviews

Ok, so you were once one of the dominant names in computing with your innovative way of putting together computers to customer specs. You had happy customers and made a serious dent in established computing giants market share. Then batteries started to catch on fire, “Dell hell” became part of the online lexicon and the world has started to wonder how much they will need desktops or laptops in the future. So what’s next? Well, it can’t hurt to connect yourself with a proven innovator and a leader in the Internet space right? That may be why Dell is talking to Google about its Chrome OS. Reuters reports Dell Inc is in talks with Google Inc over the use of the Chrome operating system on its laptops, a top company executive said on Monday. “We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this,” Amit Midha, Dell’s president for Greater China and South Asia told Reuters in an interview. “There are going to be unique innovations coming up in the marketplace in two, three years, with a new form of computing, we want to be on that forefront … So with Chrome or Android or anything like that we want to be one of the leaders,” Midha said, adding that there were no firm announcements to be made but talks were underway. So where is this ‘news’ probably of great interest? In Redmond, WA one might suspect. While not said directly, it is certainly implied in the Dell executive’s remarks that Google’s Chrome OS and its cousin Android are of interest to Dell because it is trying to look into the future. One has to wonder that when Dell looks into its crystal ball are there still Microsoft products being considered as part of the “new form of computing”? While Microsoft will not be likely to just “go gentle into that good night” it’s not in the middle of many discussions about the future for computing these days is it? How do you see this playing out in the future? What will the role of Microsoft and Google be 10 years from now and is there anyone on the horizon that can be added to the mix?

Tags: chrome, computers, Dell, future, greater-china, industry, innovative, internet, marketplace, Microsoft, online, said-on-monday
Posted June 21, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Google seems to be like a business “shopaholic” these days. Unlike those who shop to feed an addiction though Google shops with intent. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that have enough money to buy most anything at anytime. The latest appetizer sized company that has been swallowed whole by the Google is Bump Top. Bump Top was part of Microsfot’s BizSpark program which provided free software to start ups. I guess it didn’t have any small print about not being acquired by a mortal enemy. Of note, both Agnilux and DocVerse who are recent Google acquisitions were part of the program as well. I wonder if Mr. Schmidt sends thank you notes to Mr. Gates in those circumstances? Anyway, Bump Top helps to organize a computer desktop more like a real desktop by allowing piles and the like through making the desktop a three dimensional space. Venture Beat ventures a guess at what Google may have in store for the technology. What’s Google going to do with BumpTop? The search giant hasn’t said anything about the deal yet, either on the main Google blog or in response to VentureBeat’s email requesting comment. The most likely area seems to be its Android operating system for smartphones and (eventually) other devices, such as tablet computers. Some of these ideas and technologies might give the Android interface a leg up over Apple’s iPad and iPhone. Google is also developing the Chrome operating system for netbooks, but BumpTop seems less relevant there, since the Chrome OS is all about the web browser. I think the concept can be very useful on the smaller screens of mobile devices. I am a little suspect of being able to create piles of things which are just like those on my own desk. Some of those piles become black holes so having them in a virtual sense may end up being more trouble than it’s worth. I have not played with the technology though so I am only speculating here. Another day, another Google acquisition. Who’s next?

Tags: Apple, bumptop-desktop, chrome, cloud-computing, cloud-hosting, desktop, Local/Mobile, phone-google, program-as-well, such-as-tablet, technology, venture-beat
Posted May 3, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

I will file this under “I didn’t know that although I am not even close to surprised” for obvious reasons. Google gets to make a claim about its Chrome browser that others like Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 and Apple’s Safari can’t. That claim is that it survived the Pwn2Own 2010. Forbes tells us a little more The Pwn2Own competition in Vancouver is a yearly demonstration of the software industry’s utter inability to keep its products safe from determined hackers. This year, researchers cracked Firefox, Internet Explorer 8, and Safari in minutes, winning $10,000 each, bragging rights and the hardware those applications were running on. But more notable is the one survivor of the competition’s browser category: Google’s Chrome. For the second year in a row, Chrome has left the Pwn2Own competition unscathed even as all of its competitors have been compromised. In a world where security and privacy are more desired but maybe less available than ever this kind of competition is interesting. We all know there are folks out there who are interested in compromising Internet systems for monetary gain and many other times just for sport. We as end users know it exists and cross our fingers hoping it doesn’t happen to us. While Google can talk about its victory here there is some skepticism among the researchers who participate in this competition as to just how secure Chrome really is. Apple hacker Charlie Miller was able to win for the third year in a row with his efforts to compromise the Safari browser. He also wonders about Google supposed invulnerability. Miller argues in an email to us that Google isn’t necessarily more secure than its competitors–just that hackers hack the applications they use themselves. “Researchers tend to just pick on their favorite browser,” he writes. This is the second year in a row that the Chrome browser was unscathed but there is plenty of speculation that this will not last. Why? As something gets a reputation of being impenetrable it gets the blood of any good researcher / hacker or whatever boiling. Also, there is $10,000 on the line each year at this competition. Which pays better than Google apparently because they have $1,337 limit on payment for security bugs. So what is Google take on this? Of course, they have a better mousetrap Google, for its part, would argue that Chrome simply has better security features, namely “sandboxing,” which drastically limits the privileges of a Web site to access your computer’s hardware. Google bought at least part of that sandboxing ability with its acquisition of software firm GreenBorders in May of 2007. Check out its comic book illustration of how sandboxing works. Now that Google has put a bullseye on Chrome we’ll see just how long this streak will last.

Tags: Charlie Miller, chrome, competition, firefox, green, internet, Microsoft, pwn2own, safari, Vancouver
Posted March 29, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media