Tech News Week ending 05/15/11, Cloud Worries, Devices

What Microsoft's online outage says about its cloud strategy
Last week, Microsoft had four separate issues that knocked its cloud-based e-mail services offline for up to 9 hours. Those incidents highlight the most important thing to keep in mind when buying any cloud service ..

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/what-microsofts-online-outage-says-about-its-cloud-strategy/3308

Microsoft beefs up Office Web Apps

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20062609-75.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Pyramid: Why Windows Phone will beat Android

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20061820-75.html#ixzz1MQMsTXJa

Amazon cloud used in PlayStation Network hack

This isn't the first time that Amazon's EC2 service has been used by a third party for shady purposes. A German researcher showed earlier this year that one could use EC2 to launch brute-force attacks against a WPA-ASK-protected wireless network. For the grand cost of $1.68 and twenty minutes of time, Thomas Roth successfully forced his way into the secured network without issue. A brute-force attack isn't the most sophisticated of techniques, but it's certainly cheap, easy, and successful: Roth estimates that he'd be able to cut the time down to six minutes.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/mapping-babel-10017967/amazon-cloud-used-in-playstation-network-hack-10022454/

Chromebook, Netbook, or iPad: Which to spend your $500 on?

 

http://news.cnet.com/chromebook-netbook-ipad-which-would-you-rather-spend-$500-on/8301-17938_105-20062229-1.html

Are Leaked iPhone 5G Cases a Sign Apple is 'iPad-izing' the iPhone?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385405,00.asp

Microsoft Office 365 Public Beta available

Office 365, Microsoft's offering of cloud based services for small business is now available for testing via a public beta.  This is a wonderful opportunity for enhancing the way you conduct business.  It replaces many of the tools required for sharing data, remote desktop access, online meetings and data security.  Your data is protected by Microsoft Forefront Data Protection.
The product includes support for Safari, Mozilla and with support for Google Chrome in the not distant future.  It will work from almost anywhere and get automatically updated email, calendar, and contacts on the devices you use most, including PCs, Macintosh computers, iPhone, Android phones, Blackberry smartphones**, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phones*.

The product offering begins with a plan for Professionals and small businesses up to 25 users for $6 a month per user (25x6=$150 max).  For organizations with larger needs there are Enterprise plans.

Office 365 for professionals and small businesses includes:

Email & Calendar

Office Web Apps powered by Microsoft SharePoint Online.  It includes Office 2010 versions of Word, Excel, OneNote and Powerpoint.

Websites & Collaboration powered by Microsoft Sharepoint Online.  This allows one to share large files inside and outside your organization.  This is great for professionals who need to collaborate on projects with others in distant locales without the hassles of dropbox, FTP sites and large-email attachments work arounds. 

IM & Online Meetings powered by Mircosoft Lync Online.  This allows you to find and connect with associates via instant messaging (IM), Lync video calls or online meetings.  You can even share your desktop.

You must sign up for the beta and wait for approval so sign up today to test drive the cloud. Click on the link below to get started.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx



Driving Force Spring 2011 SPECIALS

DF Value line of Desktops, Intel Core i3 and i5

Dell Vostro 3500 Notebook $579