Google’s rules for Android partners are unlawful, says Harvard professor. 10 Great Google Apps Tips (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Google’s claims in regards to the openness of Android has been called into question by Harvard Business School associate professor Benjamin Edelman, who asserts that the company’s Mobile Application Distribution Agreement suppresses competition and harms consumers. In 2010, Andy Rubin, then head of Android, tweeted his definition of open: the commands essential to fetch the Android source code from its online repository and compile it. While which will qualify as open within the context of open-source software, it only refers to a part of Android, and it fails to explain contractual terms that Google imposes on companies looking to distribute Google’s popular mobile applications on Android hardware. “If you want to obtain key mobile apps, including Google’s own Search, Maps, and YouTube, manufacturers must conform to install each of the apps Google specifies, with the prominence Google requires, including setting these apps as... Read More »

Pew Research Center finds reason to believe that American journalism has a future — and social media will play a key role. 7 Facebook Wishes For 2014 (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) In its 2014 review of the state of the media industry, the Pew Research Center finds reason to believe that American journalism has a future — something that hasn’t been obvious after years of belt tightening, layoffs, technological changes, and newspaper closures. New digital media companies have arisen and thrived, many with assistance from talented people from traditional media organizations. Entrepreneurs comparable to Jeff Bezos, John Henry, and Pierre Omidyar are bringing needed investment and the attitude of outsiders to the industry. And there’s evidence that social media are getting a meaningful channel to achieve the young audience essential to sustain the inside track industry because the newspaper generation ages. But the will for revenue has brought change that challenges traditional media practices. Pew’s report finds that “the overlap between public... Read More »

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will face stratospheric expectations Thursday when he makes his first public appearance since succeeding Steve Ballmer. Here is what we wish to know. On Thursday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will make his first public appearance since succeeding Steve Ballmer in early February. Microsoft has confirmed only that Nadella will address the intersection of cloud and mobility, but several reports claim the brand new Microsoft leader will make his mark by introducing a product on which his predecessor often perceived to waver: a version of Microsoft Office for iPads. Given that this kind of product is both a multibillion-dollar revenue opportunity and a possible death blow to Microsoft’s Surface line, Nadella will face enormous expectations when he is taking the stage. But that might was true even supposing commentators weren’t predicting an enormous product announcement. [Is Office 365 Personal best for you? Read Office 365 Personal: 5 Questions Answered.] Nadella was selected after a six-month search during which numerous candidates were briefly reported as... Read More »

With the cost of SSDs rapidly declining, it’s tempting to position them in every new server or storage system. Not so fast. Silicon is the darling of the storage world: Out with spinning disks, in with flash chips. There’s a lot to love about solid-state storage. It offers faster I/O, lower latency and gear consumption, and instant-on from sleep states for lightning-fast access to cold data, all from smaller components easily adapted to a lot of form factors. Indeed, flash memory’s miniscule use of space and tool are a key enabler of mobile devices and the explanation SSDs are displacing HDDs in most laptops. But in datacenters, where storage requirements are measured in petabytes, not terabytes, flash should be used opportunistically. Despite the claims of a few solid-state proponents, the all-flash datacenter remains to be years from becoming a reality, as described in InformationWeek’s 2014 State of Storage report. However the price per bit differential between flash and disk is narrowing, albeit from a terribly... Read More »

Microsoft touts sales of greater than 200 million Win 8 licenses. Listed here are 5 reasons to not be impressed. 7 Mistakes Microsoft Made In 2013 (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Microsoft sold greater than 200 million Windows 8 and eight.1 licenses throughout the controversial OS’s first 15 months, Tami Reller, the company’s executive VP of selling, revealed Thursday at a Goldman Sachs technology conference. Sounds impressive, right? Not exactly. Sure, 200 million is a huge number — that’s about one license for each 35 people on this planet, a degree of ubiquity most companies would kill for. But Microsoft isn’t most companies. Put into historical or aspirational context, Windows 8 and eight.1 have underwhelmed. Not convinced? Listed here are five reasons to not be impressed. 1. Windows 8 sales can’t keep pace with Windows 7’s precedent.In January 2013, Reller, then CFO of the Windows division, said Windows 8 had sold greater than 60 million licenses since launching the former October. She said the... Read More »