Readers chime in on Microsoft's mad grab for all patents related to Android:
My comment: I am sick and tired of all the patent lawsuits! I do not claim to know anything about patent laws but it seems something is seriously wrong with the process, implementation or enforcement. Can we just get back to creativity and imagination? As soon as a cash cow is spotted all the cowboys come riding in claiming it has its brand on it.
-Alan
We definitely need to revise our patent laws, especially for computers/OS-UI/web/smartphone/tablets/etc. So many of the design choices are intuitive and are not some amazing innovation. Things like the argument of Android using MarketPlace for its apps store. How can that be patented? It's absolutely ridiculous.
-Anonymous
Android is said to be based on Linux. Linux is covered under the GPL, which requires all derivative work to be free of licensing fees. This means that any software added to Linux to make Android must be distributable free of licensing fees.
My questions:
1) Is Google giving away Android, in compliance with the GPL?
2) There was a time when software developers were isolated from the code they wanted to emulate in order to avoid infringement. Has Google taken these precautions?
3) Has Google applied for patent protection for its Android code?
Clearly, the patent system is broken, and Microsoft is not above inconveniencing a competitor, but, if Microsoft believes its IP has been infringed upon, it has the right to seek relief.
-Marc
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/28/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Number One OEM HP (it is bigger than Big Blue and twice the size of Dell) has a relatively new CEO: the previously mentioned Meg Whitman. Meg is already shaking things up, reversing her predecessor's decision to bail out of the PCs, laptop and tablet business.
I, like the HP, thought this idea of Lou Apotheker was indeed dumb enough to get him fired. And Meg's decision to stay in PCs makes total sense. Why else would HP buy Compaq in the first place? For some buildings and workers in Texas? Compaq defined the high-performance, thoroughly compatible PC clone market.
I'd say Whitman is off to a good start. Let's hope she can avoid the scandals that felled those that preceded her.
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/28/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
I like Citrix. Maybe it's because its executives and PR folks have been so nice to me. Or maybe it is because it pretty much invented desktop virtualization over 22 years ago. And you thought virtualization was new. Fact: IBM invented virtualization for mainframes in the '70s.
Citrix may not rule server virtualization as VMware does, but I'd venture to say it still dominates desktops and apps. Now it wants to deliver virtual desktops not just from in-house servers, but out-of-house clouds. That was the message given at the company's recent Synergy conference, which packs in thousands every year.
Citrix is in the process of buying App-DNA, which assesses how ready you are to move to either virtual desktops or newer versions of Windows (such as Windows 7).
Citrix, on a bit of a spending spree, also picked up RingCube. Its business is focused on creating "personal vDisks" for end users that hold data, personalization settings and apps.
On the cloud front, Citrix bought ShareFile which lets you keep your stuff in the cloud -- much like SkyDrive and other services.
Finally, Citrix is pushing out tools to help IT manage how data is stored and accessed on the cloud.
Am I too kind to Citrix or has this pioneer not be given enough credit? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/28/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
I never heard of Virginia Rometty before she was named as the new CEO of IBM. She replaces Sam Palmisano, who ran IBM for a decade.
Rometty is a bit of an IBM lifer -- she joined the company in 1981. Virginia moved up from a systems analyst to launching IBM's Global Business Services.
There are too few female tech CEOs, and many don't last that long. Carly Fiorina was an HP short timer and later lost a California Senate race. Meg Whitman ran eBay and later lost a California governer's race. Diane Greene ran VMware, quite well I'd say, but was eventually deposed.
Who is your favorite female technology leader? Vote at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/28/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Android may have been built by Google, but that isn't stopping Microsoft from cashing in. Redmond lawyers are going after anyone even remotely affiliated with Android, squeezing out royalties like a Chief Jay Strongbow sleeper hold.
So far half of Android manufacturers have caved into Microsoft patent demands. And it is not just Android -- Microsoft has successfully argued that Chrome (the OS, not the browser -- I know, it is confusing) also violates Microsoft intellectual property.
The problem for me is that Android is open source, so OEMs have to pay Microsoft royalties on free software. How long can open source operate under these challenges?
Not all vendors are caving in so quickly. Barnes and Noble and Motorola are both putting up a fight.
Does Microsoft deserve Android dollars, or should we revamp our patent laws? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/26/2011 at 1:18 PM6 comments
Oracle, SAP and Saleforce.com get all the attention when it comes to CRM. But Microsoft is also in this game, offering cloud and on-premise versions.
The software was updated yesterday in the form of a service pack that is all about social media and close Office 365 interaction. Dynamics CRM can link to Windows Phone 7 devices, SharePoint, Lync and the Outlook Social Connector.
This offers users the ability to connect with customers in the way the customer chooses --and this communication is more real-time and ad hoc.
This is a great option but sometimes constant communication is more an annoyance than business enabler.
Are you bogged down by e-mail, the phone (cell and landline), IM and social media, or does all this make you more efficient? Fire up the communication client of your choice and share your views at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/26/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Last week Steve Ballmer made fun of Yahoo. Reports of a Microsoft takeover of Yahoo went viral in 2007, before the Wall Street and banking meltdown: "You ask any CEO who might have bought something before the market crashed in 2008, 'Would you be glad that you didn't buy something'? Hallelujah! Everything else aside, the market really kind of fell apart. If you think about the timing, if Yahoo had accepted our bid...we would have closed post Lehman Brothers."
Those sentiments aside, it appears that Microsoft may once again be interested in the former search giant (since Yahoo search is actually powered by Bing, I'd put Yahoo's search share at zilch).
Now reports are surfacing that once again that Redmond is knocking at Yahoo's door.
But not so fast. Apparently Google is also yearning for Yahoo and is trying to put a group of companies together to buy it, much like how AOL and Sun bought Netscape years ago.
I'm not sure what is left of Yahoo -- search is gone but there is still news, IM, mail and some voice.
In the end it is all about market share. Yahoo still has eyeballs and registered users that equal money in the bank.
Google and Microsoft would both run into an antitrust backlash -- though I'm not sure which company the government would go after the hardest.
What is your take? Spill at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/26/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
Readers respond to the report of the Commodore 64 being relaunched:
Unfortunately these are simply 'all-in-one' PCs, and not really leveraging the things that made them stand out as awesome the time. Even for an all-in-one, these are crazily overpriced for the less-than-awesome keyboards they bring -- really, their only draw is for nostalgia. The Vic20 and C64/128 were pretty much just simple.
CPU/RAM/video/audio/keyboard boxes; low ram, slow processors, big keyboards. The 'OS' was really a basic console, as was the early Apple desktop. What set the Commodores apart was the cartridge storage, which is really unnecessary now, but does offer a unique method of piracy prevention. The Amiga, though, was a unique and only recently realized vision of co-processing and real multi-tasking. The OE for Amiga is available through a few look-like and act-like projects. While a real leap forward at the time, it would unfortunately take a passionate group to bring it back to a competitive state today.
-Anonymous
I had a good read of their products months ago and nearly screamed 'f*** -- have you seen the price of these things ?!' I'm not going to touch this product until the prices have dropped dramatically -- there is no reason at all to charge the public this amount of money. How is the company going to gain any market share when the computers it sells cost so much?
-TC
If you read their product specs all the way through, you will see that it's a PC in a box that looks like the C64 and it has a C64 emulator. Other than that, it's a fully functional PC that can and does run Windows. I personally am not interested in such a boxy looking computer but I can understand the appeal.
-Charles
This won't work for the sole reason that the company has an animated GIF at the bottom of its Web page.
-Bryan
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/24/2011 at 1:18 PM2 comments
A month or two back I asked you, the loyal Redmond Report readers, what you wanted to see from Windows 8. You gave me an earful -- well, it was more of a screenful. I put it all together my latest Barney's Rubble column. Here are a few highlights for those that don't to read the full version found here:
The main wish is for it to be reliable. Oh, and being secure is another great idea. This means truly isolating apps from core OS components -- at least that's one reader's idea.
Some want a hot new UI while others don't want to relearn what they already know.
The idea I agree with the most is to slim down the OS -- something the tablet version might bring about.
What have I missed? Your thoughts welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/24/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
If I was still a technology news reporter (instead of a hack commentator) I'd be mad as all get out at The Onion. This Web site finds stories no one can crack.
Latest example? A startup called OutKube. I'm not sure if this is venture capital-backed or privately funded, but it is truly onto something and could even be the next Myspace, ur, I mean Facebook (if anyone still used Myspace confess your sin to [email protected]).
So what is OutKube all about? The site is designed to lure Internet jerks away from mouthing off on your social network page and have their flames wars on OutKube instead.
OutKube draws jerks in "with several witless and profanity-laden comments specially designed to incite retaliatory remarks." These losers will be so busy battling on OutKube that they'll leave your site alone.
In case you don't know The Onion, the story is purely farcical.
The coolest part of this whole satire? The Onion created an actual Web site where flamers can mouth off. It's pretty dang funny.
Most stories on the site are reportedly preloaded "with several witless and profanity-laden comments specially designed to incite retaliatory remarks."
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/23/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
I've gotten fake lottery e-mails from Nigeria, Microsoft and a myriad of other tech companies. Now the BlackBerry Lottery organization tells me I won $300,000 (this is far less than the Nigerians always offered). All I have to do is give the London-based outfit all my contact info and then get in touch with one of their agents.
What's your advice? Should I go for it? Answers welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/23/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
When I first heard about Microsoft Intune I thought it was some sort of music software that Apple would be going after for trademark infringement in no time. But Intune has nothing to do with rock, folk, country or jazz. It is all about keeping PCs working properly.
Think of Intune as a lower-end version of System Center. And instead of loading management software on a spare server, Intune runs as a service.
The second release of Intune is due to replace the current one by the end of this year. The earlier version is little more than a six months old -- still a baby. Maybe the quick update is because there are so many new features that should have been in the first release. These include:
- Remote Tasks (such as system restart and virus scans)
- Software Distribution
- Remote Installation on now-powered PCs
- License Management
Are you tuned into Intune? Share your reviews at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 10/21/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments