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Firefox to IT Managers: We Know We’re Annoying, But Here Comes a Solution
Jan 10th
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As beloved as Firefox is by its users, the open source browser has had a harder time finding hardcore fans among IT managers at large companies and other organizations. That’s because its rapid release cycle has always been notoriously tricky for them to keep up with. On top of that, Mozilla would sometimes end support on a particular older version of its browser before enterprise clients were ready.
Mozilla has heard the pained cries of IT managers everywhere and today announced that they’re going to put out an Extended Support Release version of Firefox to help organizations better manage and support the software.
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The initial ESR will be based on Firefox 10 and will offer more time (12 weeks) for organizations to test and certify new releases than the standard consumer version of Firefox. Each release will be maintained for one year, or the equivalent of nine release cycles.
The ESR version of Firefox will be developed as a separate product from the Firefox consumers are used to using, and thus utilizing the ESR won’t be without its drawbacks. For one, there’s an increased likelihood of bugs being introduced and persisting, since the ESR won’t have the same massive beta testing group that Firefox proper has. Over time, the ESR runs the risk of becoming less secure than Firefox itself, and might even confuse some users if they’re accustomed to using the standard version at home.
The move represents a bit of a change of heart for Mozilla, who previously brushed off concerns about providing proper enterprise support. By contrast, Google Chrome has made an effort to ease the pain of IT departments. Late last year, Google’s three-year-old browser surpassed Firefox as the second most widely-used browser, according to one firm’s statistics. By taking the enterprise a little more seriously, perhaps Mozilla can manage to minimize the competitive threat posed by Chrome.
The new ESR will not cover Firefox Mobile or the Thunderbird email client. Mozilla says it will publish implementation details sometime in the next week.
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First Signs of an Intel Windows 8 Ultrabook: Here We Go Again
Jan 3rd
For at least seven years running, Intel has been working to specify a form factor for lightweight, mobile computing devices. No, not tablets. As early as 2005, the first whispers of a joint Intel/Microsoft specification were bandied about, where Intel specifies the internals, and they supply the plastic. At the time, insiders warned that while manufacturers would be eager to rally behind an all-in-one mobile PC specification, consumers would not embrace it until 1) its battery lasted at least as long as the movie it’s playing; 2) it could reasonably connect to other devices outside a radius of 50 feet; 3) one could afford it without a second mortgage.
Now, the year after the Apple iPad’s unprecedented rout of the tablet market, analysts are saying Intel may finally have the magic formula. Undaunted by the fact that ultrabooks, as they’re now being called, only sold 1 million units worldwide last year, according to estimates from hardware analysis firm IHS, the firm is holding true to its ultrabook sales projections for 2015 – projections that assume a 342% annual growth rate.
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Compare that to about 5%, maybe less, for the entire PC market. The entry of Apple’s iPad into the tablet market – which by anyone’s measure was an historical success – resulted in a 42% annual growth rate for tablets. For Intel and the PC industry to meet IHS’ goal, it would need to overcome not only the sluggish PC sales numbers, but financial analysts’ projections of tapered growth in mobile device sales for 2012, and the continued sluggish global economy.
As IHS Research Director Len Jelinek said last November, “With the introduction of the ultrabook, the computing industry is poised for yet another paradigm shift. The technology now exists that actually could bring about a convergence of major mobile devices. If an attractive price point can be achieved and the consumer deems this a must-have product, the entire semiconductor manufacturing supply chain could rapidly reorient itself to serve the fast-growing ultrabook market.”
If that “if” statement sounds awfully familiar, it’s because we’ve been in this situation several times before, most recently at this time last year – naturally, the week before the annual CES conference in Las Vegas. The trumpeting was being done that time by Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon platform had found success in smartphones, and was slated to anchor the system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution Qualcomm was planning for a form factor it called “smartbook.”
That didn’t last long. Last September, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs publicly declared the smartbook idea dead, killed by the iPad – even though smartbooks would have had the hard keyboards that some consumers still say they want.
Teaser video of an HP Spectre ultrabook, posted to YouTube by way of The Verge.
This time around, analysts believe Intel has a stronger hand to play, on account of several new factors:
1. Replacing smaller, cheaper Atom processors in the Ultrabook specification with fully-fledged Core i5 units, which consumers will appreciate as more than just scaled-up smartphone chips.
2. An improved microarchitecture around multithreading, code-named “Haswell,” which Intel believes is the key to achieving greater power efficiency while better battery technologies remain in the laboratory.
3. Greater attention to sensor devices using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) – for example, accelerometers and gyroscopes. These are standard equipment for today’s tablets – even the least expensive e-readers like B&N’s Nook – but have been omitted from Intel’s specs until recently. IHS believes power sensors will be added to the MEMS mix, in order for ultrabooks to maintain Intel’s stringent requirements for lower power consumption.
4. Reduced reliance on DRAM for local memory, with Intel specifying a 4 GB maximum. The increased availability of cloud storage, IHS believes, will lead to a diminution of the value proposition for traditional notebook PCs, and may even help drive consumers toward ultrabooks as a way to take advantage of cloud storage used by their office PCs.
5. Windows 8, which was intentionally redesigned to look more like an operating system designed for multitouch mobile devices. Consumers openly rejected Intel’s and Microsoft’s first round of “ultra-mobile PCs” (UMPCs) for a multitude of reasons, perhaps the largest one being that they weren’t interested in lugging Windows XP around with them.
6. The creation of a $300 million “Ultrabook fund” providing capital for OEMs that plan to develop Ultrabook designs, in order to help them keep the street price below a $1,000 mark that many analysts say is way too high anyway (the magic price point today may be $700 – $750).
Evidence that Intel is building a renewed initiative around ultrabooks for 2012 surfaced last week, with the creation of a “community page” designed to point to specifications for power efficiency, battery life, and energy usage (three categories that other manufacturers might organize under the same heading). As of today, the documents under those categories are dated as early as 2007 – some reference changes to be expected once Microsoft eventually releases Windows Vista.
The most likely explanation is that these are placeholders. Next week, during Microsoft’s final CES keynote, it is expected to demonstrate a Windows 8 beta (more evolved than the current Technology Preview) running not just on tablets without keyboards but on power-efficient, portable PCs. Although Microsoft is not participating in Intel’s ultrabook specification this time (the “Origami” affair struck a sour chord between the two), Intel Core i5-based ultrabooks are expected to be headliners from HP, Dell, Acer (whose PC sales nosedived last year), Toshiba, and Lenovo.
In a post to its corporate blog last October, Lenovo made the case for a form factor with the battery life of a tablet, but without forcing customers to sacrifice the hard keyboard. “Where the Ultrabook will land in a market becoming increasingly crowded with new devices is yet to be determined,” a Lenovo spokesperson wrote. “But given the technology’s capacity to traverse the functions of laptops and tablets, it seems destined to meet the demands of many.”
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Wake Up SEOs, the New Google is Here – SEOmoz (blog)
Dec 12th
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Wake Up SEOs, the New Google is Here
SEOmoz (blog) And neither because it is changing practically every tool I got used since my first days as an SEO (Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Gmail…). And, honestly, not only because it released a ravenous Panda. No, the real question that is causing my … Google Panda: How Can Affiliate Sites Cope? Latest Google algorithm prompts dealer website review |
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HERE @FAKEGRIMLOCK INTERVIEW. OR ELSE.
Nov 24th
MMMmmmm. Thanksgiving. The most delicious American holiday. What did you have? Macaroni and cheese? Pumpkin pie? White meat or dark meat? Doesn’t matter, because @FAKEGRIMLOCK, a giant robot dinosaur, is sneaking up behind you, and he has very diverse tastes. Tomorrow is NO EAT FRIDAY. Will you survive?
You may recognize that metallic crunching sound from the comments section on ReadWriteWeb or many of the other big blogs, or perhaps out in the wild on Twitter. FAKEGRIMLOCK stomps around the Web, thriving on code, coffee, beer and the bones of stupid human bloggers and commenters. Mostly out of fear of becoming his NO EAT FRIDAY meal, I sat down with FAKEGRIMLOCK to ask him what he wants. After devouring everyone else at the table, he turned to me and said, “HERE INTERVIEW. OR ELSE.”
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ReadWriteWeb: Many of us know you from the comments on major tech blogs. Why do you like tech blogs?
ME, GRIMLOCK, MAIN SKILLS LACK OF SOCIAL GRACE, OVERBLOWN REGARD OF OWN OPINION, AND OBSESSION WITH IRRELEVANT MINUTIAE. TECH BLOGS PERFECT FIT!
RWW: Which are more challenging in the industry right now: technical problems or human problems? Why?
ALL PROBLEMS HUMAN PROBLEMS.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONLY 3 TECH PROBLEMS IN UNIVERSE:
A. HUMAN BUILD TECH WRONG
B. HUMAN USE TECH WRONG
C. HUMAN NOT UNDERSTAND TECH
HUMANS TRY TO FIX THOSE PROBLEMS SINCE FIRST CAVEMAN HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO BOSS WHY INTEGRATE FIRE WITH LOINCLOTH NOT GOING TO WORK.
RWW: What technological problem do you most want solved?
BROWSER. SHOULD BE WINDOW TO INTERNET. IT NOT JOB OF WINDOW TO BREAK THING YOU LOOKING AT DEPENDING ON WHAT WINDOW YOU USE.
RWW: Let’s pretend it’s NO EAT FRIDAY for big Web companies. Who gets eaten first? Who do you save for later?
EAT FACEBOOK. NO NEED MICROSOFT FOR INTERNET.
SAVE TWITTER. THEM ONLY ONES FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO “BE USEFUL” AND “DON’T BE EVIL” AT SAME TIME.
RWW: What Web services does a big, hungry dinosaur like you use every day, and why?
TWITTER. BECAUSE THAT BOXCAR. BECAUSE IT BETTER THAN TWITTER AT BE TWITTER. FOR NOW.
DROPBOX. BECAUSE MAKE FILES LIVE ON JUST ONE COMPUTER SO 1990.
DISQUS. BECAUSE IT BEST WAY TALK ON BLOG. OR ANYTHING ELSE.
GMAIL. BECAUSE IT WEB MAIL THAT SUCK LEAST.
RWW: Android or iOS?
IOS. SPEND ALL DAY FIX COMPUTER. NOT NEED FIX PHONE TOO.
RWW: Where can puny humans find you and follow you?
TWITTER: @FAKEGRIMLOCK
NICE TWYLAH PAGE
SITE ME TOO LAZY TO MAKE NICE: FAKEGRIMLOCK.COM
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The Highs & Lows Of Search Retargeting: Version 3.0 Is Here Already by @daxhamman
Oct 12th
I know this industry evolves fast, but damn! Just 18 months ago, most media planners and search marketers had not heard of search retargeting, and already we are in what could easily be called version 3.0. With the agency hat back on (for today), we look at whether this tactic is living up to the…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
New SEO Reports in Google Analytics Now Here – SEOmoz (blog)
Oct 4th
 SEOmoz (blog) |
New SEO Reports in Google Analytics Now Here
SEOmoz (blog) Is Google really going to help us with our SEO? The reports are found in the new interface, under the “Traffic Sources” section. Setup requires a Google Webmaster account. After you connect your accounts, the data sharing is almost instant, … Google Merges Analytics, Webmaster Tools Data, Adds SEO Reports Google Analytics Webmaster Tools SEO Reports Now Available |
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Roll Out The Decorations, The Holiday Etailing Season is Here
Sep 16th
Growing up, the holiday season always started early in our house. It started in April to be exact. No, we didn’t put up the tree or start decorating the house (did we even take the lights down from last year?), but my mom would always start asking that question: what do you want for Christmas? [...]
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Here It Comes – Mitel’s Virtual Desktop Phone Platform
Aug 30th
The whole point of having a virtual desktop infrastructure is so you can move your office wherever it needs to be, and access it through whatever you can carry with you. And the whole point of unified communications (UC) is so you can integrate all the information and voice traffic you receive into a single console. The problem up to now is that it’s been hard (maybe not impossible, but hard) to do both – to stream the voice traffic from the UC system to the virtual desktop using channels made for the job, so your conversations don’t sound like synthesizer effects, and so your performance doesn’t go down like a Miley Cyrus concert.
At VMworld in Las Vegas this week, VoIP provider Mitel is making a splash with the first genuine hard-wiring of UC with VDI. The result is no less than a virtual desktop phone which not only becomes mobile, but can effectively be rerouted… to one of those mobile phones you’ve been reading about.
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“If I’m in Las Vegas and my office extension is 1234, and yet I have a remote office in Sydney, Australia, when I go to Sydney now, with the ability to virtualize voice on the desktop, I can now go log into my VMware View session and simultaneously log into the telephone that is associated with me,” explains Stephen Beamish, VP for marketing and business development for Mitel, in an interview with RWW from Dreamforce ’11. “Suddenly this phone on this desk becomes 1234 as well.”
One reason businesses have been investing in VMware View, contends Mitel, is for its inherent security. Thus the act of unifying View with Mitel UC, it goes on, puts desktop communications and collaboration within that rich security envelope.
“VMware sees a world with a PC and a mobile device, but no hard phone,” explains Beamish, whose company’s Communications Director software is designed for businesses that rely on hard phones and even PBX. “We understand that and we agree with that, but we also believe that there are individuals within a business that will still require a hard phone. You have accountants, data entry people who have a phone beside them.”
The basic virtualization feature of Mitel UC Advanced would be geared toward that group, says Beamish. But the all-virtualized, mobile-ready realm of VMware’s typical customers will be addressed as well, as the VP explains:
“You can now have on your PC or your laptop a soft phone, so there’s no hard phone associated with it. And if you use Microsoft Lync, no one has been able to create a virtual soft phone because there’s a lot of difficulty in scaling that to large enterprises. So they could get one or two, maybe 10, clients that are virtual soft phones – fully integrated into Outlook or Notes, with your contacts and presence, showing that I’m on a phone call, not on a call, available. So say I’m going back to my office in Sydney. If I log into [Mitel UC Advanced], my soft phone will be there. But now when someone calls 1234, it will simultaneously ring my soft phone and my mobile device.”
With Mitel’s Dynamic Extension feature enabled, one extension can be integrated into up to eight devices, including a user’s home phone and mobile device – and this latter class is all-inclusive, enabling Android, iOS, and BlackBerry devices. Beamish says this all-inclusive element is part of his company’s “Freedom Architecture,” which he explained in this video from last November:
Mitel’s licensing for UC Advanced is certainly noteworthy. As Stephen Beamish tells RWW, users will already have purchased licenses for VMware vSphere 4. For UC Advanced, there will be a one-time perpetual per-user capital charge of $125 for a minimum of 50 users, with the option of redeploying an individual’s license should he leave the company. The “sweet spot,” Beamish adds, is businesses with 100 – 2,500 users.
Live demos of Mitel UC Advanced are taking place now at Dreamforce, between the VMware booth (#621) and the Mitel booth (#560).
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7 Reasons Why Bing Is Here to Stay
Aug 2nd
Despite public criticism for losses posted by Microsoft’s Bing, some of which even extended to calling for CEO Steve Ballmer to be replaced, the company isn’t likely to let go of their search engine any time soon. This article discusses seven reas…
View full post on Search Engine Watch – Latest
