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| 301 | PetSitting.com is a new matchmaking site for finding local pet care service providers. These include everything from dog trainers, dog walkers, and pet waste removers to pet boarders, pet groomers and doggie daycare facilities. Read more Learn more about PetSitting.com in Dataopedia.com Find out how much PetSitting.com is worth with Stimator.com killerstartups.com » | | 302 | In a move to bolster the tools offered to broadband service providers, Cisco Systems said Wednesday it acquired ClearAccess, which provides cloud-based management for home networks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The management and software capabilities of the ClearAccess 2.4 platform will become part of Cisco's network management software portfolio, which is known as Cisco Prime.
"We acquired ClearAccess to enable service providers to better manage the multitude of connected devices," a Cisco spokesperson said Wednesday. "Mobile is part of that equation, but not the entire story."
"ClearAccess provides a critical technology that will advance Cisco's mission to offer service providers a complete set of tools to manage their networks, within the home and across any connected device, amid the ongoing proliferation in network traffic," said Cisco Systems Vice President Jamie Lerner.
ClearAccess' technology is expected to help Cisco Systems to accelerate the company's development of software architectural advancements in the areas of mobility, cloud and managed devices, and video.
Reducing Mobile Traffic
One acquisition aim is to offer broadband service providers a complete set of tools for managing the connected home -- including monitoring and managing bandwidth usage, parental controls, diagnostics and analytics. Another goal is to help mobile network operators reduce data traffic congestion.
ClearAccess' software technologies are expected to complement Cisco's Videoscape architecture for mobile devices, which is designed to help service providers deliver the video resolution and frame rate that best matches the particular mobile device destined to receive it.
"By reducing the traffic at the edge, it helps to relieve some of the congestion going through the network," said Cisco SP Mobility Marketing Manager Jim O'Leary.
For service providers, the traffic reduction capabilities of mobile management architectures such as Videoscape will grow even more important over the next few years. According to O'Leary,... newsfactor.com » | | 303 | Cowboys need broadband, too. Internet providers that beam broadband connections to rural America via satellites are expanding their services as the need for faster video and downloads is becoming universal.
ViaSat and HughesNet are launching new satellites that take up the slack of lagging landline-based services and promise to increase capacity and delivery speeds. "If there is broadband wireless or wired connection, that's going to win every time," says Chris Baugh, an industry analyst at research firm NSR. "But unserved customers (are) a sizable market."
The companies have traditionally marketed to non-urban regions too far out for cable and DSL providers. But rural satellite service has remained a limited slice of the business because DSL and cable companies have expanded. Costly pricing, data-consumption caps and slow transmission speeds have also limited their growth.
But with satellite technology improving, the companies are hoping to attract customers who receive slow DSL service -- 15 million to 20 million, according to a ViaSat estimate -- to consider switching.
But persuading this market to try satellite service will be a challenge, Baugh says. "There is a market there, but it's a secondary market. They have DSL and, if they are to switch, they have to buy satellite equipment. It's not free."
The satellite companies also face competition from wireless carriers that are rolling out faster 4G service that rivals landline broadband in speed.
ViaSat. The California company bought WildBlue, a satellite broadband provider, in 2009 with plans to broaden coverage. But hampered by the old satellite's limited capacity and slow transmission speed, WildBlue's growth stalled at about 400,000 customers. "It wasn't a service we were proud of," says ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg.
With a new satellite launched last year, ViaSat began selling the new service in January under a new brand, "Exede." The download speed will increase to about 12 megabits... newsfactor.com » | | 304 | Throw away all those soy sauce-stained takeout menus. Online deals site LivingSocial is unveiling an Internet food-ordering service. Hungry customers will be able to use it to order tacos, burgers or Pad Thai from participating restaurants over the Internet for pickup or delivery.
Aptly called "Takeout & Delivery," the service replaces LivingSocial's instant-deals site, which offered real-time discounts with tight time constraints. LivingSocial says that service was a testing ground for its new, food-focused offering.
The service is launching Thursday in 26 U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco. The two largest, Los Angeles and New York, are coming later, along with the rest of the markets that LivingSocial serves.
LivingSocial will compete with Seamless.com and others that let people place food orders online and avoid the phone. Demand for such services has grown as people conduct more of their lives online.
Greg Mazanec, general manager of LivingSocial's new service, described phone takeout orders as a "sometimes painful experience" that requires fishing for a menu in a drawer, giving out credit card information and often getting put on hold and speaking to someone who is distracted.
Mazanec said restaurants won't have to pay to join LivingSocial's service, but they will give LivingSocial an unspecified cut of the revenue they bring in through the site. Mazanec said the amount is negotiated with each restaurant.
People using the takeout and delivery service must have a LivingSocial account, which is free to set up. That's because they will pay with a credit card on file. They don't have to sign up for the company's daily deals emails.
Jesse Mencow, manager of a Tex-Mex restaurant called California Tortilla, said the service helps simplify ordering for takeout and deliveries. The Tex-Mex restaurant has been testing the service along with other restaurants in Washington D.C., where LivingSocial is headquartered. Mencow said... newsfactor.com » | | 305 | Google has not confirmed the existence of Drive, the rumored cloud storage system that could integrate many of its services. But the latest rumor is that the much anticipated service will draw users in with 5 gigabytes of free storage, and could debut as soon as April 16.
A supposedly "leaked screenshot" posted by the Web site Talk Android shows a dialog box for the beta version of Google Drive For Windows that prompts the user to "Download Now," promising that you can access documents on mobile phones, desktops, tablets or at drive.google.com, an address that currently does not function. Editing documents on any one device will automatically update the documents accessed elsewhere.
Google Drive, whose name suggests a virtual hard drive maintained for you by the search giant, would offer an initial 5 gigabytes that could be upgraded later, presumably with a higher class of service at a cost.
'No Comment On Rumors'
When contacted by e-mail on Friday, a Google spokesperson would not confirm or deny the reported leak, saying only "We do not comment on rumors or speculation."
The service would compete with others that sell virtual closet space for data, including Google's own Managed Storage, which allows Google Apps customers to save up to 16 terabytes of data without new software or hardware.
User Managed Storage is intended to appeal to consumers and businesses alike, with the cost to save 20 GB of data only $5 a year and the maximum cost for the 16 TB limit is $4,096 a year.
Cloud storage is becoming increasingly popular, which is somewhat counter-intuitive given the growth of easily affordable storage solutions like flash drives and external drives with terabytes of space.
Last year, one storage company, Mozy, stopped offering unlimited backups for $4.99 per month and instead offers a range of limited plans.... newsfactor.com » | | 306 | Adding more appeal to the Nokia Lumia brand, the Finnish handset giant has confirmed rumors that the devices will soon be able to stream TV shows from what broadcasters call "catch-up services." The service will initially debut in Finland.
The service will be a "signature hub" on the Windows Phone 7 devices, meaning that users can touch a tile on the home screen to access the service and be directed to programming offered by major broadcasters online after they have aired on TV, without any registration or log-in.
Supporting Broadcasters
"With Nokia TV we are bringing existing services in Finland together in a convenient way," said Mika Suomela, head of TV and video at Nokia, on the company's Conversations promotional blog. "We're making it easier for people to find and watch TV, while supporting broadcasters' existing Internet TV business models."
"Finland is the ideal country in which to introduce this service due to its advanced mobile user base and great existing broadcaster catch-up TV services."
Nokia did not say whether the service will be offered for users in other countries, and our e-mail seeking comment did not generate a response in time for publication.
SlashGear reported that the service may soon be available in the U.K. or other countries that offer catch-up services, but a U.S. debut is uncertain.
Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told us that Nokia TV could add value to the Lumia brand, but it was less important than increasing the number of available applications in Microsoft's Marketplace for Windows Phone. He said the catch-up hub is actually catching up to existing services.
"There are so many other streaming sites including Netflix and Amazon and you can get streaming with your cable service now," Dulaney said, referring to services like Cablevision's Optimum and Time Warner. "And of course there is always Slingbox. [This is] just... newsfactor.com » | | 307 |  NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Tom LaScola received an unsolicited message on Twitter from TD Ameritrade about the problems he was having setting up an online brokerage account, he was pleasantly surprised.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 308 | The number three wireless carrier is working hard to catch up to its rivals in offering high-speed, long-term evolution (LTE) data transfer for its devices, and service is already up and running in some small markets.
But analysts say it will be some time before LTE becomes standard for high-speed data on smartphones.
"LTE is going to take some time to fully get into customer use," William Ho of Current Analysis told us. "Carriers are using handsets as the means to transition users to the more efficient LTE network."
Small Town Testing
Large-scale LTE service will roll out for Sprint Nextel customers around mid-year, with service in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Baltimore and Kansas City, ultimately covering 120 million people by year's end. But service is already active in some very small markets.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Kanakee, Illinois, a town of 27,537, located 60 miles from Chicago, is one such market where Sprint is ironing out the LTE kinks.
Sprint is no doubt feeling the heat to have the network ready in time for the next iPhone release from Apple, expected this summer. The new version is widely believed to be LTE-capable since the latest iPad tablet, released last month, is also LTE-equipped.
Sprint is also promising enhanced 3G service to prevent speed degradation when customers leave 4G-enabled areas with LTE devices.
"Sprint is investing in its CDMA network," said Bob Azzi, Sprint senior vice president for Network in a recent statement. "We continue to deploy multi-mode base stations across Sprint's nationwide cell sites and are expecting improvements in voice quality, signal density and data speeds."
Sprint already uses a slower standard, WiMax, which it also calls 4G for some devices like HTC's EVO 4G LTE, shown above. The new phones that will be LTE-enabled include Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and LG's Viper.... newsfactor.com » | | 309 | Who's next? The ink is barely dry on Facebook's $1 billion deal to buy photo-sharing service Instagram, yet the latest parlor game in Silicon Valley is who might be next on Facebook's shopping list.
The short list is a hodgepodge of familiar names and up-and-coming start-ups, ranging from music service Spotify to voice-over-Internet-protocol firm Insta Telecom, according to tech executives, analysts and venture capitalists.
Paddy Power, Europe's largest betting company, has gone so far as to lay odds. It has check-in service Foursquare at 4-to-1, followed by note-taking app Evernote (9-to-2) and consumer cloud-computing service Dropbox (5-to-1).
Social-sharing site Pinterest, a digital pin-up board, is down the list because, as analyst Jonathan Yarmis points out, it doesn't have nearly the loyal customer base as Instagram and could face issues over intellectual property.
Facebook, which is expected to start trading on Nasdaq in May, had no comment.
Facebook's buying spree -- it has scooped up a handful of small start-ups in the past year -- underscores the pressure it's under as it nears what is expected to be the biggest Internet public offering and its rivalry with Google intensifies.
"Facebook is taking two simultaneous paths," says Brandon Lee, co-founder and CEO of Social Stage, a Facebook app for small and midsize businesses. "Keep customers coming back, and fill in gaps in its product portfolio."
For that reason, Facebook may eye video-sharing service Vimeo, just as Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, Lee says.
Instagram signifies a change in direction from Facebook's previous strategy of buying, at bargain-basement prices, small-staffed companies with smart founders that are on the "downslide," says Teresa Caro, vice president of social marketing at Engauge, a digital-marketing agency.
After getting location-based service Gowalla and acquiring social-networking patents from Friendster, "Facebook decided to spend a lot more for a stronger mobile presence -- and Instagram helps,"... newsfactor.com » | | 310 | Wal-Mart Stores Inc. previewed its "Disc to Digital" service for converting DVDs into an online library on Wednesday. Based on my experience, I'd give it a six out of 10.
That's the number of discs I was able to convert from a completely unscientific sampling of my personal DVD library.
The new service allows movie fans to walk into any Walmart, where they can present their old DVDs and get permanent access to an online version of each movie that can be streamed from a home computer or a mobile device. The DVDs are stamped with a special ink to prevent further conversion. The DVDs, however, can still be played. Each DVD conversion costs as little as $2.
Three of my four failed conversions were no surprise -- two were obscure documentaries, and one was a film from The Walt Disney Co., which is not participating in the service. One was a bit puzzling: "Water for Elephants," a fairly successful romance released last year by 20th Century Fox, one of the studios that is partnering with Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart's category director for movies, Louis Greth, said the retailer hasn't yet cleared the rights for all the titles from participating studios. That will result in some titles not being available. Some actors and directors have not agreed to sign over digital rights to movies they took part in. In the case of director George Lucas, that includes all six "Star Wars" movies.
Fox confirmed that the digital rights for "Water for Elephants" have not been cleared.
Still, with 4,000 titles available for digital conversion when the service launches nationwide on Monday, the retailer hopes to give U.S. customers another reason to come into stores. Wal-Mart also wants to take part in the shift in the way people watch movies. More and more people are choosing to watch on... newsfactor.com » | | 311 | First it was street-corner phone booths and home delivery of telephone books. Now, land lines are on their way to becoming part of American telecommunications history.
As consumers continue to move to wireless, states are passing or considering laws to end the requirement that phone companies provide everyone land-line service.
Indiana and Wisconsin are the two most recent states to end the requirement, and many others -- including Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio -- are considering it.
Bill sponsors and phone companies including AT&T say deregulating land-line phone service will increase competition and allow carriers to invest in better technology rather than expand a dying service. Some consumer organizations fear the change will hurt affordable service, especially in rural areas.
"Wireline service is really a lifeline," said Coralette Hannon, senior legislative representative with AARP. "The rush to pass deregulation (legislation) is concerning." Hannon said legislation has been proposed recently in at least 15 states.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, signed a bill Feb. 22, set to take effect July 1, that removes a carrier's obligation to provide service where at least two other companies provide voice service, whether it's wired phone, Internet services such as Skype, or mobile access.
Last year in Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a law removing phone companies' obligation to provide land-line service anywhere in the state after April 2013.
On April 3, the Alabama Legislature sent a similar bill to Republican Gov. Robert Bentley, which awaits his signature. Legislation in Ohio and Kentucky is stalled in the Statehouse and Senate, respectively.
"This bill levels the playing field for traditional land-line providers in a competitive environment," Billy Linville, spokesman for AT&T, said of the Kentucky bill. "Relief of these regulations encourages additional investment in the new technologies that customers are demanding."
Andrew Melnykovych, public information officer for the Kentucky Public Service Commission, said the... newsfactor.com » | | 312 | Verizon Wireless is expanding its Private IP services for businesses, by combining it with its 4G LTE network. The company said the new offering will provide a widely available, highly secure, broadband platform for companies.
The new Private IP Wireless, available from Verizon's Enterprise Solutions division, is targeting the delivery of corporate access and applications to mobile workers, and is intended to support the growing needs of machine-to-machine communication. Targeted markets include health care, energy, and public safety systems.
'New Connected Enterprise'
Kerry Bailey, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Enterprise Solutions, said in a statement that the "new connected enterprise" could use the Private IP services as a "reliable backup solution for ATMs or as a primary network solution for mobile video collaboration."
Verizon said it was working with strategic partners to develop industry-specific applications for machine-to-machine communications, also described as the "Internet of things."
The company pointed to possibilities in the transportation sector, where its private network can help trains run safely and maintain their schedules with minimal human oversight, or where cars can become traveling communications centers for their occupants.
In the media and entertainment industries, broadband private network apps include what the company described simply as "new remote broadcasting opportunities," as well as a new era of connected and engaging digital signage.
Retailer applications include functioning as transactional support and as a backup for distributed locations. For companies with vending machines, the machines could use the Private IP network to alert distributors when they're out of products, as well as transmit data about customers' choices.
'Backup, Not as a Primary Service'
Current Analysis' Larry Hettick said he expected businesses would look to the Private IP wireless service "as a backup, not as a primary service," primarily because of the cost structure.
He also noted that this kind of service will help to... newsfactor.com » | | 313 | Verizon Wireless is expanding its Private IP services for businesses, by combining it with its 4G LTE network. The company said the new offering will provide a widely available, highly secure, broadband platform for companies.
The new Private IP Wireless, available from Verizon's Enterprise Solutions division, is targeting the delivery of corporate access and applications to mobile workers, and is intended to support the growing needs of machine-to-machine communication. Targeted markets include health care, energy, and public safety systems.
'New Connected Enterprise'
Kerry Bailey, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Enterprise Solutions, said in a statement that the "new connected enterprise" could use the Private IP services as a "reliable backup solution for ATMs or as a primary network solution for mobile video collaboration."
Verizon said it was working with strategic partners to develop industry-specific applications for machine-to-machine communications, also described as the "Internet of things."
The company pointed to possibilities in the transportation sector, where its private network can help trains run safely and maintain their schedules with minimal human oversight, or where cars can become traveling communications centers for their occupants.
In the media and entertainment industries, broadband private network apps include what the company described simply as "new remote broadcasting opportunities," as well as a new era of connected and engaging digital signage.
Retailer applications include functioning as transactional support and as a backup for distributed locations. For companies with vending machines, the machines could use the Private IP network to alert distributors when they're out of products, as well as transmit data about customers' choices.
'Backup, Not as a Primary Service'
Current Analysis' Larry Hettick said he expected businesses would look to the Private IP wireless service "as a backup, not as a primary service," primarily because of the cost structure.
He also noted that this kind of service will help to... newsfactor.com » | | 314 | A new Google online storage service will launch next week, according to a variety of unconfirmed reports on the Web. The service is expected to offer 5 GB of free storage, and possibly will emerge as a cloud storage platform rather than a simple online locker.
Reportedly, Mac and Windows users will see a Google Drive, or GDrive, icon on their desktops, and will be able to use the Google service as they now use such online services as Dropbox. Files will also be available through a Web browser.
GDrive Partnerships
Some of the leaks include screenshots of what appear to be Google-generated steps for using the service. There's also a leaked screenshot that purports to come from Lucidchart, a maker of online diagramming tools. The Lucidchart screenshot is headlined Google Drive Integration.
It appears to allow the user to automatically sync documents created in Lucidchart with the Google Drive account, which would then make them file-synced with other devices that the user owns, such that updates in a file will automatically be updated on the same file on other devices. Lucidchart's CEO is a former Google executive.
Many observers expect the Google Drive announcement to be accompanied by a declaration of partnerships by companies that have integrated their wares into the Google Drive environment. This suggests that GDrive will be positioned more as a cloud storage platform than a simple file storage service.
There's also an expectation that the GDrive app will offer the ability to edit documents in the cloud service. In one of the released screens that appears to be from Google, the software giant notes that "editing documents in the Google Drive Android app requires ongoing syncs to update your documents, which can increase your bandwidth usage."
Integration with Google Docs?
The screenshot advises the user to "keep this in... newsfactor.com » | | 315 | You almost can't be a major technology company these days without having a cloud service. Now, new reports indicate that Samsung is getting ready to take that plunge.
According to the South Korea-based Maeil Business publication, Samsung will launch its S-Cloud service on May 3 at a London press event. That date has already been scheduled by the company for press to "come and meet the next Galaxy" smartphone, according to the invitation.
Five Gigabytes?
The event, called Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012, is expected to feature the launch of the Galaxy S III smartphone, and now it appears that the new device will be accompanied by a cloud service. Maeil Business bases its report on a purportedly leaked plan from the company.
The report on Maeil Business indicates that five gigabytes might be offered as an initial free offering, which would match the free storage amount that is expected to be available in the coming Google Drive cloud service. Some observers are suggesting that Samsung might allow unlimited storage for content purchased through its cloud, thus echoing Amazon and Apple in providing storage for media purchased through its channels.
Maeil said that S-Cloud will be available to a wide range of Samsung devices, and will offer access to TV shows, movies, and music on both a paid and a free basis. Samsung is said to have partnered with Microsoft in order to have the infrastructure for offering this service globally.
The report about Samsung's new service comes a few days after reports that Google will launch an online storage platform and service next week, called Google Drive or GDrive.
Other Cloud Services
Those reports were based on allegedly leaked documents, including a screenshot from Lucidchart, a maker of online diagramming tools that is expected to be one of many Google partners in the effort. Other screen shots appear... newsfactor.com » | | 316 | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is preparing to roll out a service to let consumers store photos and other content online, a source familiar with the matter said, pushing into a market now dominated by the likes of Dropbox and Box.
Reuters: Internet News » | | 317 | After months of consultations with Israeli security officials, Google has launched its popular Street View service in the country's three largest cities.
The new Street View provides images of ordinary life, contested areas and religious sites in the Holy Land. Due to security issues, areas around several sensitive sites, such as the military headquarters in Tel Aviv and the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, are blurred out.
Google Street View is available in more than 30 countries. It was held up in Israel by concerns that images of its streets could be used by terrorists. The Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza, for instance, has boasted that it used Google Earth, which gives birds-eye views and some street-level pictures of sites around the world, to aim rockets at Israel.
Last August, after a panel of government ministers met for six months to draft security guidelines, Israel announced it had reached an agreement with Google.
The service was quietly launched late last week and officially unveiled Sunday. The images are obtained by specialized cameras mounted on vehicles.
Israel is the first Middle Eastern nation to display its cities and streets online. Iraq's National Museum is also available on Street View.
Pictures online Sunday showed typical street scenes -- bicycles chained to the gates of apartment gardens in Tel Aviv, tourists sunbathing on Haifa's beaches, and the crowded cobblestone Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus is said to have walked before his crucifixion in Jerusalem's Old City.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai brushed off security concerns about Tel Aviv, a city that was hit hard by suicide bombings on buses and in restaurants during the Palestinian uprising a decade ago.
He said militants know the city well enough without the Google service. "Tel Aviv-Jaffa is a target anyway," Huldai said Sunday.
He noted that other urban military installations, like the Pentagon... newsfactor.com » | | 318 | Google is already facing spasms of suspicion and confusion as it tries to persuade people to entrust their personal documents, photos and other digital content to the company's new online storage service.
That became apparent shortly after Tuesday's release of the long-awaited Google Drive service. Before the day was over, technology blogs and Twitter users were picking apart a legal clause that made it sound as if all the users' content stored in Google Drive automatically would become the intellectual property of Google Inc.
That could have meant authors writing their next novels and employees collaborating on spreadsheets with confidential data would find all that suddenly belonging to Google.
As it turns out, the worries are probably unfounded.
The language is actually standard legalese to give Google the licensing rights that it needs to deliver on the services that users request.
The way that Google keeps documents in its data centers requires the company to obtain a license to "host, store (and) reproduce" the files. When a co-worker needs to read a document in a different language or even make minor revisions, Google needs the rights for "translations, adaptations or other changes."
Even the everyday occurrences such as someone watching a video or pulling up a text file at an Internet cafe requires Google to retain permission to "publicly perform" or "publicly display" such content.
That doesn't mean Google will take a screenwriter's work in progress and produce a movie off it, even though the legal language might make it seem as if Google could.
"Our terms of service enable us to give you the services you want -- so if you decide to share a document with someone, or open it on a different device, you can," Google said in a Wednesday statement.
The hubbub still may do some good by prodding more people to read the rules... newsfactor.com » | | 319 | And now it's LG's turn. The electronics giant has confirmed that it is joining other technology companies in providing its own, branded cloud service.
Beginning May 1, the LG Cloud will be released in beta form in some parts of the U.S. and in South Korea. It will be available through the LG Cloud Web site, or through applications on its smartphones running Android 2.2 or higher, PCs with Windows XP or Windows 7 32-bit, or LG Smart TVs with Netcast 2.0 or higher.
'Real-Time Streaming'
LG said in a statement that a key difference for its service is its "Real-time Streaming Transcoding technology." It added that any "conversion happens on the server in real time, not on the device," meaning a user will not have to worry, for instance, about codecs or converters in order to watch a video across various devices.
Users get 5 GB of free storage. If you own an LG smartphone or Smart TV, you can get up to 50 GB for as much as six months, and a structure for paid plans will be announced soon. Content automatically will be synced across registered devices, so that, for instance, videos uploaded to the cloud from a smartphone will be available in the most recent form to the user's LG TV.
It's getting to the point that every respectable technology company now has a cloud service. Recently announced clouds from device makers, for instance, include Acer's AcerCloud, and Apple's iCloud.
Samsung is said to be readying its S-Cloud service, with an announcement anticipated on May 3. There's also Amazon's Cloud Drive, cloud services from HTC and Asus, and a variety of major companies have indicated their support for the open-source cloud operating system, OpenStack.
Google Drive, OneCloud, Dropbox...
On Tuesday of last week, Google announced its Google Drive, followed a couple... newsfactor.com » | | 320 | Cisco has completed the acquisition of ClearAccess, a company that offers telco management software that competes with legacy systems in an age of mobile video. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ClearAccess provides software to service providers for the provisioning and management of residential and mobile devices. Cisco picked up the software and the talent, which is being integrated into the Cisco Network Management Technology Group.
As Cisco sees it, service providers are faced with growing network complexity, exploding video and data traffic, and an increasing number of devices connected to their networks. With the proliferation of these devices, Cisco has noticed a clear trend: Service providers are looking for ways to immediately lower operating expense while delivering and enabling new services.
Beefing Up Cisco Prime
Jamie Lerner, vice president and general manager of Cisco Network Management Technology Group's Service Provider Applications division, said the ClearAccess acquisition will accelerate Cisco's software architectural advancements in mobility, cloud and managed devices, and video.
"ClearAccess provides a critical technology that will advance Cisco's mission to offer service providers a complete set of tools to manage their networks, within the home and across any connected device, amid the ongoing proliferation in network traffic," he explained.
Cisco believes ClearAccess' management and software capabilities will augment Cisco Prime -- Cisco's network management software portfolio -- by offering service providers a set of tools for managing the connected home, including monitoring and managing bandwidth usage, parental controls, diagnostics and analytics.
Driving Network Visibility
We caught up with Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, to get his take on how important Cisco's latest acquisition is in the grand networking scheme. He told us that with the impending mobile traffic tsunami, it's vital for operators to have a clear understanding of what is going on in their network.
"The first step... newsfactor.com » | | 321 | Downloading and uploading documents from cloud-based services to view and use them in local apps may have taken another step into oblivion. A new startup is offering an expanded version of its technology for businesses, so that Microsoft Office documents and PDFs can be viewed and used in a browser or directly on a mobile device.
The startup, called Crocodoc, launched Tuesday an enterprise version of its HTML5 document embedding service, which is currently used whenever someone views a Microsoft Office document or PDF in Dropbox, Yammer, LinkedIn, or SAP. The company said that its technology is enabling companies such as Dropbox, to compete with Google Drive, which currently allows users to work with documents online.
First Service Flash-Based
Crocodoc CEO and founder Ryan Damico has told news media that, while Google Docs offers a similar functionality, the results there are not as true to the original as what his company offers. This lower quality, he said, is fine with the consumers who are the primary market for Docs, but not for businesses.
Aside from the purported clarity, the Crocodoc service, which can be embedded into Web apps, also allows the user to highlight or write comments, and share those annotations with others. The new service from Crocodoc can be embedded into Web apps and used without plugins or additional software, so that it is transparent to the user.
The first service by Crocodoc, released in 2010, was Flash-based, consumer-oriented, and intended to provide a way for users to upload a PDF and then view it in a browser, along with such functions as highlighting and commenting.
In 2011, Crocodoc released an HTML5 version of the same technology, for use with mobile devices. The new service that it is releasing Tuesday is an update of the HTML5 approach, and can be embedded through JavaScript or... newsfactor.com » | | 322 | Salesforce.com hopes to cozy up with the government with its latest solution: Government Cloud. The customer relations management cloud computing company rolled out its latest product to help government hasten its move to the so-called social era.
As its name suggests, Government Cloud is designed for the unique -- and the social -- needs of government agencies. The customized Software-as-a-Service product will offer dedicated, multi-tenant instances of Salesforce.com's cloud infrastructure. That approach paves the way for U.S. federal, state, and local agencies to deploy the latest social and mobile technologies in compliance with Federal Information Security Management Act requirements.
"The bureaucracy of legacy government IT is preventing agencies from embracing innovative technologies that deliver immediate value," said Vivek Kundra, executive vice president of emerging markets at Salesforce.com. "We must end the era where government spends millions of dollars and waits years for IT projects that never work."
Welcoming CRM?
Salesforce.com is making a bold move with its Government Cloud. Certainly, government agencies are not known for strong customer service. But will governments invest in the technology it takes to meet the demands of customers who are increasingly used to social and mobile customer service? That's what we asked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"The difficulty with government is the lack of funding right now to make changes. Right now, a lot of the agencies are just treading water," Enderle said. "Having said that, probably the only way government agencies can do deployments right now is through some sort of Software-as-a-Service capability. From that perspective, this solution is well timed."
As Enderle sees it, a social and mobile CRM solution in the government would drive higher citizen satisfaction rates and could streamline customer service. Still, he said, getting the government to implement CRM would be an amazing accomplishment.
AppExchange for Government
Salesforce.com is working to... newsfactor.com » | | 323 | Salesforce.com hopes to cozy up with the government with its latest solution: Government Cloud. The customer relations management cloud computing company rolled out its latest product to help government hasten its move to the so-called social era.
As its name suggests, Government Cloud is designed for the unique -- and the social -- needs of government agencies. The customized Software-as-a-Service product will offer dedicated, multi-tenant instances of Salesforce.com's cloud infrastructure. That approach paves the way for U.S. federal, state, and local agencies to deploy the latest social and mobile technologies in compliance with Federal Information Security Management Act requirements.
"The bureaucracy of legacy government IT is preventing agencies from embracing innovative technologies that deliver immediate value," said Vivek Kundra, executive vice president of emerging markets at Salesforce.com. "We must end the era where government spends millions of dollars and waits years for IT projects that never work."
Welcoming CRM?
Salesforce.com is making a bold move with its Government Cloud. Certainly, government agencies are not known for strong customer service. But will governments invest in the technology it takes to meet the demands of customers who are increasingly used to social and mobile customer service? That's what we asked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"The difficulty with government is the lack of funding right now to make changes. Right now, a lot of the agencies are just treading water," Enderle said. "Having said that, probably the only way government agencies can do deployments right now is through some sort of Software-as-a-Service capability. From that perspective, this solution is well timed."
As Enderle sees it, a social and mobile CRM solution in the government would drive higher citizen satisfaction rates and could streamline customer service. Still, he said, getting the government to implement CRM would be an amazing accomplishment.
AppExchange for Government
Salesforce.com is working to... newsfactor.com » | | 324 | | | 325 | The phrase "Can you hear me now" has entered the jet age. Passengers on certain Virgin Atlantic flights are now able to use their cell phones to make and receive phone calls at 35,000 feet, the airline announced Tuesday.
The British airline's new service could be a blessing for business travelers who want to stay connected during eight-hour flights across the ocean. It could also be a nightmare for the passenger sitting next to them.
"I suspect most passengers, like myself, would prefer not to listen to somebody on the phone for what might be hours," said airline analyst Robert Mann.
Only six passengers at a time will be able to use the system, which the airline says is intended "for use in exceptional situations." Passengers will be able to send text messages, make a call or access email on mobile devices. The airline won't charge extra for the service but cell phone users will be charged their carrier's international roaming rates.
Initially, the service -- which utilizes a satellite connection -- will only be available for customers of European cell phone providers O2 and Vodafone and U.S. carrier T-Mobile.
The service debuted Tuesday on the airline's new Airbus A330-300 planes flying between New York and London. It will expand to nearly 20 planes by year-end, from a handful now.
Dubai-based Emirates became the first carrier to allow passengers to use their personal cell phones back in 2008. A handful of other airlines in the Middle East including Oman Air and Royal Jordanian now have similar services.
Passengers today already wrestle for control of the armrest and the few precious inches of personal space they have. It isn't clear how the flying public will react to phone calls mid-flight.
George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog, says Virgin will have to restrict times of day when passengers can make calls... newsfactor.com » | | 326 | In January, Oracle acquired RightNow, a leading cloud-based customer service solution, adding it to the Oracle Public Cloud suite of integrated services. On Thursday, the company announced that the RightNow CX Cloud Service customer experience suite will be integrated with its Fusion CRM Sales.
Fusion Customer Relationship Management is part of Oracle Fusion Applications, which also includes Fusion Middleware and Oracle Database. Among other features, Fusion CRM provides a single view of customers across the enterprise, optimizes sales territories and sales incentives, and centralizes order and fulfillment systems.
Customer Interaction = Opportunity
The combination of RightNow with Fusion, the company said, combines service interactions from RightNow with sales predictions and segmentation capabilities from Fusion Sales. This will help businesses generate cross-channel customer interactions and increase opportunities for revenue and efficiencies.
Among other things, the company noted that the integration will allow sales personnel to review service histories as preparation for sales calls, and can provide information about buying habits of customers. Through the integration, products and services can be better matched to customers' service history, customer interactions can be better targeted, and new purchasing opportunities for customers can be more readily identified, the company said.
David Vap, Oracle group vice president, said in a statement that every customer interaction is an opportunity to grow the business. He added that "customer trust provides an opportunity to increase customer product adoption and to reduce the cost of customer acquisition," which can increase profitability.
Web, Social, Contact Center CX
According to an annual survey conducted by RightNow, 86 percent of customers choose not to do business with a company because of a bad experience. A cloud-based solution such as RightNow, according to Oracle, can result in a reduction of up to 30 percent in labor costs, as well as increased customer retention and acquisition.
RightNow combines Web, social, and... newsfactor.com » | | 327 | Comcast has suspended its 250 GB monthly data usage threshold for its Xfinity broadband customers and plans to begin trials of new multi-tiered Xfinity data service featuring a minimum data allotment of 300 GB per month in selected U.S. markets.
The nation's largest broadband service provider said the change is being driven primarily by a dramatic rise in demand for data-intensive content such as high-definition video streaming.
Comcast said it was immediately ceasing enforcement measures associated with the Xfinity service provider's current 250 GB data usage cap. In other words, excessive data users no longer face having their accounts suspended if they repeatedly exceed their monthly data caps -- at least with respect to the duration of Comcast's coming multi-tier trials.
"We've never had any intention to limit the lawful use of the Internet or restrict our customers' ability to view online video," said Comcast Executive Vice President Cathy Avgiris in a blog post Thursday.
"The purpose of the usage threshold was simply to ensure that all of our customers were treated fairly and had a consistent and superior experience while using our high-speed data service," Avgiris said.
Piloting Two Approaches
Comcast said it was still determining trial locations and expected to share more details soon.
"We'll be piloting at least two approaches in different markets, and we'll provide additional details on these trials as they launch," Avgiris said.
The new trials are expected to offer usage allowances that incrementally increase the user's allotment for each tier of high-speed data service. The new base plans in trial markets will start at 300 GB of data usage per month -- with higher tiers in 50 GB blocks costing an additional $10 per block.
Offing more flexible data usage management approaches will "ensure that all of our customers enjoy the best possible Internet... newsfactor.com » | | 328 | Приветствую!
Сегодня я решил поведать Вам мой способ организации activity-service interaction в Android приложениях. Мотивирован топик тем, что достаточно часто можно встретить приложения, в которых, скажем, поход на сервер организовывается внутри активити в AsyncTask. При этом часто встречается верная мысль, что это надо делать в сервисах, но нигде в оф. документации нет ни слова об организации правильной архитектуры двустороннего взаимодействия между ними.
Поэтому я методом проб и ошибок пришел к архитектуре, лично для меня покрывающей все необходимые вопросы.
Об этом методе я буду рассказывать далее.
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