A new horizon for Cloud Computing [Science Daily]

I just came across this interesting article from Science Daily. I've highlighted some interesting trends mentioned in the article:

The outlook is bleak for laptops, hard drives and desktops – clouds are on the horizon and could change the way we use computers forever. [...] What seems certain is that cloud computing has the potential to bring about irreversible changes in the way computers are used around the world.

 “[...] the ultimate aim of cloud computing will be to mix and manage applications intelligently: for example, to create software that monitors the response of a machine or appliance in real time and controls its power supply, which would optimize energy consumption and save companies money”.

 “It's like three passengers sharing a taxi but not knowing that they're sitting next to one another: you effectively get three times the service but only need the energy for one journey”.

 “The cloud computing phenomenon is more than just another technological fad – it combines the benefits of outsourcing and pay-per-use and provides companies with a springboard for further innovation”

Read the full article from Science Daily here.

Onlive: real games running in the cloud

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Although it was not released yet (it is supposed to be available in the winter), Onlive created a lot of buzz on the gaming community by announcing a service where you can run sophisticated games without needing the computing power on your machine, since the processing is done on their servers. All you need is a good broadband connection.

The service will be compatible with Mac and PCs, and there will also be a simple console available if you want to play in your TV. No word on pricing yet, but some say it will probably be a montly fee.

This is a great milestone for the industry and a big step towards consolidating the role of cloud computing. Hopefully ISPs will be reasonable in their decisions around bandwidth caps, enabling other services like Onlive to be viable in the near future.

Check their website here.

CloudBerry Explorer: freeware to manage Amazon S3 files

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Since early 2006, Amazon S3 has been enabling companies of all sizes to take advantage of Amazon's infra-structure through affordable pay as you go storage solutions.

The service has been an important catalyst for the development of new web based solutions, and is also attracting other companies that aim to offer a better experience to S3 users. CloudBerry Lab is one of them.

As you can see in the video, the CloudBerry Explorer (Windows only) makes it dead simple to move files around, and you can go wrong, since it's free. You might also want to sign-up for being a beta tester of their Online Backup software that provides a new way of exploring your S3 account.

Download CloudBerry Explorer here.

VCASMO: Mix Video and Slides to promote your presentation online

As described on their website:

VCASMO is a multimedia presentation solution for personal photo-video slide show, business presentation, training, academic teaching, sales pitching, seminar, conference, press release meeting, live event.

The solution is free and offers a variety of features. You can mix several file types, add subtitles, receive comments from users, define who can access your presentation and can even download an offline version if you are interested in burning a CD-rom.

Try VCASMO here.

Dropbox: drag-and-drop online storage that feels local

There are many different good online storage solution around nowadays. What makes Dropbox different is its total simplicity. The drag-and-drop interface makes you feel as you are moving files in your computer.

Available for Mac, Linux and Windows, its effective syncing capabilities makes your files available from any computer linked to your account. You can also use the web interface in case you need to access your files while away from your computers. Apparently there is no mobile interface available for now.

Dropbox also offers good sharing solutions, so you can colaborate on a project or share your videos and photos with friends. Speaking about photos, it automatically generates a gallery whenever your drop pictures on a shared folder.

Dropbox offers a free 2 Gb plan. There is also the Pro account, which costs USD $9.99/month or $99/year and you get the same features plus a 50 Gb virtual drive.

Create your free account here.

Short on ideas for your next business document? Try Google Docs Templates

In case you haven't noticed, when you create a new document using Google Docs you can choose to work on a pre-defined template.

 

You can browse the available options by type (Presentations, Spreadsheets, Documents, Forms) or by category (Letters & Faxes, Personal Finance, Holiday, etc..). You can also sort them by Ratings and number of users for each template.

The page offers a mix of templates created by Google and selected partners. As of today, there are 435 templates available.

Take a look here.

 

Larger screen netbooks on the horizon [ChannelWeb]

When the first eee PC 700 launched in 2007, it was a consensus that 7-inches was not a good screen size. The industry quickly moved to 8.9-inches and then to 10.1. When everyone thought this was the sweet spot, apparently the major players are indicating that 11.6-inches might be the next industry standard.

According to this article at ChannelWeb:"...Asus President Jerry Shen considers the 10.1-inch netbook the "mainstream specification" for this year. Shen also believes that while 10.1-inch netbooks will account for 50 percent of his company's total shipments in 2009, the 11.6-inch Eee PC will account for 30 percent of the company's shipments."

The article also mention some impressive forecast for netbook sales:".. J.T. Wang, chairman of Acer [...] predicted that the netbook market will hit about 50 million units in 2010, with Acer's market share being between 40 to 50 percent."

Read the ChannelWeb article here.

 

Evernote: more than an online notebook - my digital brain

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I have tried many different online notebooks: Google Notebook, reQall, Pogonotes, Springpad, to name a few. However, I always get back to Evernote and realized I can live without it.

Why? I believe the main benefit I see is the very smooth integration between platforms. Evernote uses very well the usage of client software combined with online storage and a smooth sync.

I use a PC at work, a Mac at home, and an iPod touch when I'm far from my machines. I have Evernote installed everywhere, and the experience is always a pleaseant one. This doesn't mean you have to install a software: they also offer a web and a mobile version (if your are a Linux user or doesn't have an iPhone).

The great thing about Evernote is that you can dump whatever you want there for later access: a shopping list, passwords, an image from the web, a voice note, or pictures taken from the iPhone. Here are some ideas listed on their site:

  • Tasks and to-dos
  • Notes and research
  • Web pages
  • Whiteboards
  • Business cards
  • Scribbles
  • Snapshots
  • Wine labels
  • Even Twitter messages

Another great feature is the ability to search for texts inside images, using text recognition tehnology. Remember that sketch you drew on the restaurat's napkin? Photograph it and create a note from it.

Evernote is free if you are fine with 40 Mb of storage (~20 K text notes). If you chose the pro version (USD $4.99 per month), you get 500 Mb, stronger security and the ability to store and sync any type of file.

Try Evernote here.

P.S.: At this moment, I'm writing this post on the iPod Touch and later I'll get it on the computer.

Huddle: Project Management + Collaboration tools = Online Workspaces

Huddle is a British company that provides online collaboration, live conferencing, online project management and document sharing on an unified package. It is 100% web-based and is available for small groups or companies of all sizes.

These are some of the features offered:

  • Discussions: Don’t ‘reply all’. Use Discussion forums to brainstorm ideas.
  • Document creation: Create and edit Word and Excel documents online.
  • Storage: Store, share and manage your files 1GB+.
  • Project alerts and notifications: Assign tasks, auto reminders and iCal integration.
  • Whiteboards: Or wiki, share ideas, comments, etc.
  • Document management: Automated versioning, audit trails and approval workflows.
  • Custom branding: Customise your dashboard, homepage, emails, own URL.
  • Notifications: Via dashboard, email, and RSS.
  • Security: 128 bit SSL, control over who can see and read documents.

The price plans vary from USD $20 to USD $98 per month, with main differences on the number of workspaces (5-20) and the storage available (2.5Gb-20Gb). There is also an enterprise version and a free account. Since the free option only allow 1 workspace, I'm assuming its purpose is to offer a way for someone on the team to evaluate the service before making a decision. Other than that, I don't see why one would collaborate with oneself. ;-)

Huddle also offers an interesting integration with LinkedIn providing an application for you to collaborate with your LinkedIn contacts.

Try Huddle here.