cloud computing

Microsoft is moving its Office applications including Outlook email, Excel spreadsheets and SharePoint collaboration tools into the online sector. Now consumers may use them from wherever they can access the Internet.

"It's obvious that Microsoft has to do this if they're going to remain competitive with Google," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of money manager YCMNET Advisors. "It's something they have to do."

Apple made a statement that it will not give access to its iCloud services to users of aging Windows XP platform. Apple said that users will need a PC running Windows Vista or Windows 7 to access the cloud computing service.

To access contacts and calendars users are encouraged to have Outlook 2010 or 2007.

Basing on the latest figures on the usage of operating systems it may be said that the bar means half of all PC users will be blocked from accessing iCloud.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc, announced cloud services this week at Worldwide Developers' Conference on Monday. The services are meant to help customers store more of their photos, music and other data online. Jobs showed off new Apple products for consumers to keep their iPhones, iPads and computers in sync.

"We're going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud," Jobs said. "Everything happens automatically and there's nothing new to learn. It just all works."

Amazon has unveiled a new online service to allow users to securely store and access their music via smartphones or PCs.

The move is a part of a broader trend seen today in the technology sector where all companies try to deliver better entertainment features online.

With Amazon Cloud Service users can securely store music on the company’s servers instead of local hard drives.

Amazon said early on Tuesday the new service would allow customers to play music on any Android, Windows and Apple devices.

Resuming the year events and developments Andreas M. Antonopoulos, NetworkWorld, noted that the reality is going weirder than fiction as the world was told about the operation Aurora, the first national-industrial sabotage attack with Stuxnet and in the end we see how “Wikileaks [is] about to become a constitutional crisis between the First amendment and a 1917 espionage law” Talking further on security in 2011 Antonopoulos has made the following predictions.

Oracle Corporation unveiled a new all-in-one product to help companies manage so-called "cloud" computing. The company CEO Larry Ellison opened Oracle's annual technology and user conference on Sunday by revealing Exalogic, which combines server, storage and networking technology with Oracle's software, that companies will use to run their business applications.

Ellison attempted to wrest control of the term "cloud," a word that's meaning is the subject of much debate, as he described Exalogic as a "cloud in a box."

IBM is establishing a consortium in association with the European Union and a number of universities to conduct a research into new cloud-computing models in a move to reduce costs for hosting and maintaining Internet-based services.

Earlier this week at GigaOM’s Structure 2010 event in San Francisco, Zuora unveiled its Z-Commerce for the Cloud solution. The company believes that Z-Commerce for the Cloud creates more business models based on cloud computing that enterprise customers now demand. The new solution is the result of 12 months of development with cloud leaders including Cloud Central, EMC, IC&S, Nu-b, Sun, Tata, and Zetta.

Industry Leaders and Partners Endorse Zuora’s Vision for the Cloud

Several weeks ago Google a little lifted a veil on its new project that should compete with Apple iTunes being a part of the Android Market. TechCrunch has unearthed new details on that. It has found the name of the service through a new logo that is hosted on Google’s domain: Google Music.

Addressing Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco, California, Microsoft's server and tools chief Bob Muglia criticized Oracle for peddling a return to "1960s computing,” as the rival company goes against industry trends and backs obsolete technologies.

Having intrigued the public for some time yesterday Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co at last unveiled their partnership for providing cloud computing services to companies. The two companies will integrate their software and hardware offerings for companies looking to move their applications and data online.

 Intel Corporation demonstrated a concept chip from its Tera-scale Computing Research Program. The processor contains 48 cores on a single silicon chip.

Researchers at Intel view the multi-core chip as the future of cloud computing. Such a technology could make cloud computing less expensive and more portable as all 48 cores of this postage stamp-sized chip use 125 watts at their maximum performance.

As the chip features the rapid processing of images users may interact with their computers with a camera, rather than with keyboards or mice.

Last week at the Black Hat Security Conference security experts warned companies against hidden vulnerabilities of cloud computing that is getting increasingly popular among businesses who want to save more costs in a current recession environment. Startups and small firms are using virtual machines on the Internet while larger companies are pushing applications such as customer relationship management to the likes of Salesforce.com.