Is Google GDrive any better than Microsoft SkyDrive?

Google 的貼牌冰箱（Google refrigerator） (Photo credit: Aray Chen)

So what really makes Google GDrive better than Microsoft SkyDrive? Probably not a whole lot; in terms of drive space. However what Google is achieving is synergy between all of its offerings. With the introduction of Google GDrive you can, in a sense, really live online. Of course there is the issue of privacy and trust, but it seems that people really don’t care. GDrive is available on all devices, with the nagging exception of the Blackberry; which I am blogging from at the moment. With GDrive live will ChromeOS take hold? What does this mean for Apple? Will Dropbox or Box.net get bought out? How about Facebook? The next few months will be interesting indeed!

Related articles

• Thanks Google, It Only Took You Six Years (techcrunch.com)
• The GDrive Plot Thickens: Google Docs Users Now Have 5GB Of Space (techcrunch.com)
• SkyDrive storage space land grab for grandfathers (sciencetext.com)
• Google ‘to launch GDrive cloud storage next week’ (digitalspy.co.uk)
• Thinking about GDrive for online backup? Consider YouSendIt instead (yousendit.com)

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Where does Google Chrome the OS fit in?

So far Google Chrome has not seen much traction. With a new version of Windows coming out soon, Google will need to somehow pull itself from obscurity. I have always thought that the problem is the price point and applications. With so much focus on Android, how does Chrome fit in? Chrome, the browser, is already doing well. But will Chrome, the OS, ever get any headway? http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/255604/scitech/technology/is-google-chrome-looking-more-and-more-like-windows

A house once divided is back together again — Linux and Android Merge

Well to the delight and absolute glee of many followers Android has come back to the Linux fold. To much fanfare, with the release of Linux 3.3, Android is now back in the fold. Many years ago Android forked, causing a rift between the two kernels. Google initially took Android in a different direction. Now that Android is back on the Linux track it will be interesting to see what happens and how Linux evolves over the next few years. Hoping myself that it is all positive and we will see great things to come from Linux.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QA8tpls62I’%5D

Related articles

• Linux.org guru: re-merging of Android into kernel eases sysdev a bit (zdnet.com)
• Linux 3.3 integrates Android kernel code (fiercedeveloper.com)

Overview of the Open Platform for the PLAYSTATION®3 system

Thought I would re-post a soon to be non-existent feature of the original PS3.

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Original PS3 - Open Platform System

There is more to the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system than you may have assumed. In addition to playing games, watching movies, listening to music, and viewing photos, you can use the PS3™ system to run the Linux operating system.

By installing the Linux operating system, you can use the PS3™ system not only as an entry-level personal computer with hundreds of familiar applications for home and office use, but also as a complete development environment for the Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell/B.E.).

There are many flavors of Linux available, which are developed, managed, and distributed by the respective companies and development communities.

As Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) does not develop or directly support a version of Linux for the PS3™ system, SCE is pleased to provide links for the following Linux distributions that support the PS3™ system:

• Yellow Dog Linux
• OpenSUSE
• Fedora
• Ubuntu

Read more at the link below, before its gone for good!

http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html

Free Software Will Kill Redmond

Keith Curtis, author and former Microsoft programmer, makes no bones about his view that open source puts the software giant’s wares to shame. In this interview, he discusses what’s wrong with Microsoft programming, what’s behind all those bugs, and what’s shaping his former employer’s grim future.

Linux changes how people think about their computer. Microsoft has no response for this.

In addition, proprietary software hurts Microsoft. Google writes mostly proprietary software, but quietly leverages a lot of free software that is a key to its success.

What can Microsoft do to curb the threat of free software, and what do you think it will be willing to do?

Other than adopting Linux, there is little Microsoft can do. Even if they did embrace it, not only would it hurt their profit margins, they’d be forced to explain to customers why they should continue to pay for Office if the company believes the free OpenOffice is good enough.

Microsoft has created Web sites where developers can use free code and collaborate, and the latest is called CodePlex. While it shows that Microsoft understands the benefits of free software, this site mostly contains tiny add-ons to proprietary Microsoft products.

Microsoft has also released some software it wrote under various open licenses. While it is good PR for Microsoft, this software is being absorbed by the outside community. This doesn’t actually curb the threat; it increases it.

So I don’t really know what Microsoft can do. While the company says it doesn’t like piracy, it does allow itself to compete on price with free software. As Bill Gates wrote: “It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.”

Read more…

Google Chrome Browser Or Cloud Operating System?

By most accounts, the Google Chrome development team has dramatically achieved its goal of building a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the Web faster, safer, and easier.
Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, who has been testing Google’s Chrome browser for a week next to the latest version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, concludes “With the emergence of Chrome, consumers have a new and innovative browser choice, and with IE8, the new browser war is sure to be a worthy contest.” Many cloud computing enthusiasts are overjoyed with Chrome and call it the first cloud browser or even the basis for a cloud operating system.

So says Nick Carr:

“To Google, the browser has become a weak link in the cloud system — the needle’s eye through which the outputs of the company’s massive data centers usually have to pass to reach the user — and as a result the browser has to be rethought, revamped, retooled, modernized. Google can’t wait for Microsoft or Apple or the Mozilla Foundation to make the changes (the first has mixed feelings about promoting cloud apps, the second is more interested in hardware than in clouds, and the third, despite regular infusions of Google bucks, lacks resources), so Google is jump-starting the process with Chrome.”

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KDE or Gnome? Some advice for those new to Linux

KDE or Gnome? This is the killer question that can be quite difficult to answer and there appears to be very little information available on the first couple of pages of search engine results for the new Linux user. Which one is faster? Which is more stable? Which one looks better? Some simple information for the new user on a blurry topic.

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The end run around the OS is underway

The operating system may be losing its luster. In fact, you could argue that the operating system–Linux, OS X and Windows–will become an application that just happens to boot first. And hardware vendors are on to the OS’s diminishing importance.
Let’s connect a few dots:
• On Tuesday, Dell rolled out a new line of laptops and one of the best features was the ability to get your email, contacts, calendar and other items without booting the operating system, a process that can take awhile (at least on my system).
• On Thursday, Intel talked up software that can wake a system out of sleep mode to take a PC phone call. It’s probably a security disaster waiting to happen, but it’s handy for PC calls via the Internet.
The common thread: These efforts from Dell and Intel are arguably taking away some of the tasks that the operating system would normally do. My working theory: The OS is being slowly downplayed as hardware vendors and Web developers grab more control over the user experience. The OS will never be totally irrelevant, but it will be increasingly less important. It’ll be plumbing. Simply put, the OS is being squeezed between hardware vendors that are cooking up their own applications to handle key tasks and the so-called Webtop, which will deliver programs through the browser.

read more | digg story

Linux’s Market Share: Is There Any Way To Know?

One thing many of us would like to know, I am sure, is how many people out there use Linux? The usual numbers, those from Net Applications, would indicate that less than 1% of people use Linux. More recently, though, there have been some more optimistic numbers. Canonical is claiming that 11% of businesses use Ubuntu. (If that is the case, just imagine how many use Red Hat or Suse.) Gartner says that Linux’s market share is 4%, putting it about even with the Mac. And Context says that almost 3% of PCs sold in the UK have Linux pre-installed.

While none of those numbers are huge, they mean the difference between Linux and Mac OS X being about equal and Linux being a speck of dust in the sea. The fundamental problem is that it is really, really hard to know how what the marketshare of Linux, or any open-source software, is. After all, one download might never be used, or only be used for a short time, and another might be used to install Linux onto 100 computers.

read more | digg story

Are instant on notebooks the future

Dell has previewed a new instant on technology that allows users to carry out basic tasks on their notebooks without having to boot up into Windows. Is this the future for notebooks?

laptop_latitude_e4200_overview3.jpgThe technology, called Dell Latitude ON, will feature on the Latitude E4200 and E4300 in the next few months. It will allow users to have near-instant access to a Linux-based environment that offers email, calendar, attachments, contacts (yes, these are going to have to be cloud computing-based since you’re not going to want to have to reenter the same data more than once) and a web browser, all without ever needing to boot into the main operating system. An added advantage of Dell Latitude ON its that it extends the battery life from hours to days. Sweet.

Instant on technology isn’t a new thing. Dell Latitude ON is similar to ASUS’ ExpressGate or Voodoo’s IOS technologies which are powered by Splashtop.

Instant on technologies have a number of potential upsides for the end user. Speed of boot-up (near instant) and increased battery life are two obvious benefits, but there are others. Having your browsing and email isolated from the main bulk of your data is highly desirable (as is browsing within a secure environment that’s resistant to malware such as keyloggers), as is having access to an environment that’s resistant to being crippled by a dodgy driver or misbehaving software could be very useful at times.

read more | digg story

No retail channel for laptop Linux

Tommy visited chain stores in Atlanta and Columbus, as well as a small Atlanta retailer, and drew all the blank looks I expected.

One Geek Squad member suggested he go online, and said Dell is selling kit. An H-P representative he happened upon admitted they got nothing.

This is why Linux remains, in the desktop and laptop space, a hobbyist market. It only exists through the online channels hobbyists use.

This is true even though Linux is lighter in its use of system resources than Windows, and many popular applications come in Linux versions.

Of course, when Wal-Mart offered bargain Linux boxes last year they flew off the shelves. It’s not a question of demand.

It’s a question of supply. Retailers insist on higher-priced goods for the sake of their margins. Microsoft’s policies push manufacturers into putting Windows on everything they push down the channel.

Yet I’ve seen how Value-Added Resellers can up-sell hardware and capture niches for Linux, in areas like retailing and education.

For most consumers, however, there’s still a big gap between them and a Linux laptop. Stores.

read more | digg story

Did the big boys really kill OLPC?

The UK’s Timesonline is running a story today showing us that, despite internal strife, questionable morals and ideals, and now, the inclusion of Windows XP on a computer that was supposed to embody all that was good in open source, OLPC remains a media darling.

The article is heavy on drama:

Microsoft, makers of most of the computer software in the world, tried to kill it with words, and Intel, maker of most computer chips, tried to kill it with dirty tricks. Of course, they don’t admit to being attempted murderers. And when I introduce you to Intel’s lovely spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, you’ll realise how far their denials go. But the truth is the two mightiest high-tech companies in the world looked on Negroponte’s philanthropic scheme and decided it had to die.

Well, of course Microsoft and Intel wouldn’t take the project sitting down. Are they the real reasons behind it’s inflated price tag and lagging orders? Or was it unrealistic expectations from Negroponte, with his millions of expected sales in the first year? Or was it simply the wrong audience? Negroponte courted Microsoft for a long time and repeatedly talked about Windows support on the XO, only to have Microsoft spokespeople say, “Sorry, not yet.”

Intel targeted communities in which some degree of infrastructure and a reasonable educational facilities already existed; Negroponte wanted everyone to have an XO, regardless of whether their basic needs were being met. Intel partnered with local OEMs to create jobs and customize their Classmates for specific regions. OLPC tried to compete with the Dells and HPs of the world.

Did Negroponte create an exploding market and inspire powerful companies to address unmet needs? You bet. Did the big boys really do him in or did the XO simply fall prey to bad management and a flawed strategy?

read more | digg story