Photo: TAKA@P.P.R.S / Flickr

Not mincing any words, a recent IDC report has come out and said what many people have been wondering all year: ‘The PC centric era is over’. The report basically offers that the age in which the personal computer was the undisputed king of the tech world is about to end, and that within 18 months, non-PC mobile computing devices, such as smartphones and tablet will outsell the personal computer.

The cloud, the social, the mobile

The IDC report says that, starting next year, cloud computing services, social networking and mobile computing ‘will mature and coalesce into a new mainstream platform for both the IT industry and the industries it’.

And smack bang at the centre of this revolution will be smartphones and tablets, as many has been predicting in the last 18 months.

The biggest loser

IDC also points out that the company which stands to lose the most from this transitionary period is Microsoft, who were the undoubted leader in the PC era, but are struggling in a mobile era where no one platform owner has an unchallenged monopoly. With formidable challengers in the form of Google with their Android OS platform, as well as album and its iOS platform, Microsoft finds itself in the uncharacteristic position of being the underdog.

The biggest winner

The IDC report claims that Microsoft’s loss will be Google’s gain, citing Google’s myriad of services like Gmail, maps functions, and search, of course. In addition IDC suspects that Google’s many cloud services – Google docs being the most notable presently – are likely to succeed, too.

What about Apple?

IDC does not feel Apple, a company that is currently one of the big players in mobile computing, is poised to win, though it should do well. Citing Apple’s non-presence in cloud computing and search, the research firm cannot see how the iPhone and iPad maker will be able to rival Google in the long term.

What do you make of the IDC report? Are they onto something, or are they way off the mark?

Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft realises that its future lies in two key areas – cloud computing and smart devices, most urgently smartphones. As such the company is dedicating significant resources to both markets, with an internal email indicating every Microsoft employee will receive a Windows Phone 7 Series device.

Unprecedented

Naturally, this unprecedented move has garnered loads of attention for Microsoft, who really are throwing the kitchen sink at mobile and Windows Phone 7 Series. Andy Lees, mobile chief at Microsoft, wrote in an internal memo that he is ‘thrilled to announce that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world.’ Generous.

He continued, explaining the first thing he expected Microsoft employees to do upon receipt of the phone was to use it. ‘The experience of Windows Phone 7 is special and a big step toward our future in the mobile phone business. We’d love all of you to love it as much as we on the team love it. To do that we need to you to use your phone and find the things that make it personal and valuable to you,’ he continued.

But why? What’s your motivation?

Photo: Rebecca McAlpin / Microsoft

Before we credit Microsoft with undue benevolence, what is the true motivation behind this? Product evangelism and app development? Yes on both counts. Andy Lees encourages employees to ‘understand the unique value of Windows Phone 7 and evangelize to your customers, partners, friends and family! Windows Phone 7 is a different kind of phone, designed to bring together the things you care about most.’

He then encouraged MS employees to be Windows Phone 7 app developers, either in their personal capacity or on Microsoft’s time. He adds that ‘[they’ve] introduced a new employee developer program which makes it much easier for you to develop apps for Marketplace in your spare time.’

Whether this, like other MS initiatives, will drive Microsoft employees to become serious Windows Phone 7 app developers remains to be seen. And, more importantly, is whether this will help Microsoft achieve its mobile phone ambitions, because Google and Apple seem intent on running away with this generation’s smartphone spoils.

Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 SP 1 is now available in public beta form, bringing minor updates to consumer PCs, but representing a major operating system stepping stone for enterprise users.

It’s all about the cloud

Accompanying Windows SP 1 is the update to Windows Server 2008R2. Herein is where the bulk of the effort was put in for the service pack. A few months ago, when Microsoft first indicated they planned July as the release window for this service pack, the company said, ‘The new virtualisation tools in SP1 will help Windows Server 2008 R2 users prepare for cloud computing, Remote FX provides rich 3D graphical experience for remote users, and Dynamic Memory enables more control to adjust memory usage without sacrificing performance.’ In effect, Microsoft was reaffirming its widely stated commitment to the cloud, where the company is said to be ‘all in’.

Minor updates for Windows 7 users

For Windows 7 users, the updates are quite minor, with the bulk of the fixes included in the service pack having previously been released in Windows updates. With a large portion of Microsoft’s user base now being web-connected, the need to wait lengthy periods for service packs like Windows 7 SP1 has been negated. Where these software packages matter most is for enterprises and retailers.

Upgrade already

For those stragglers still hanging onto Windows XP after having been burnt by Windows Vista, we can safely say it is now time to move on. Windows 7 is the very best Windows OS Microsoft has released in ages, adding stability Vista never had while removing Vista’s constant hyper-paranoid security prompts. And consumer response has shown that Microsoft has hit a home run with the OS, selling seven copies per second since release to top the 150 million sold mark.

That’s something to certainly brag about, and brag Microsoft does. Windows 7 SP1 is available today in beta form from Microsoft’s download center.

Photo: OnLive

Having covered cloud gaming company OnLive frequently – and doubted its viability, too – the company’s product finally went live to its first batch of US home users. Verdict: people really like it, with some reservation.

First things first: does it work?

The good folks over at Gizmodo managed to get an account to try it out from the co. Running on a very fast Internet connection with a downstream speed of 16.11mb and upstream speed of 3.84mb (way more than the average speed most have), play tests showed almost no latency or lag from button press to on-screen feedback, which is quite remarkable.

The cloud gaming service’s streaming video is reportedly compressed so high that the graphics look extremely fuzzy, taking one out of the experience. For PC gamers who value decent graphics (read: most gamers), this does not sound like the solution for you. For those of us who own Macs or PCs that fall over at the sight of any graphics-intense games, this is a decent work-around.
Still not sold, all things considered

We have admitted many times that we believe that this is the future of gaming. It’s by far the best solution for mitigating piracy and once broadband technology gets to where it needs to be, the value of cloud gaming will become as evident as that of cloud computing.

But (and you knew there was a ‘but’ coming), with E3 2010 being the unbelievable show it was, we can’t help but feel it will take sometime for OnLive to be a superior solution to console gaming, let alone replacing it. We all knew 3D gaming could be the killer app for 3D TV, so to speak, but what Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 showed off was mind blowing. And, if those demos and other demos were anything to go by, gamers still care a great deal about, urm, great graphics. OnLive can’t do 3D, and even if it tried, it would look decidedly jarring, if current video performance is anything to go on. Add to that it would probably require even more broadband, meaning reducing the potential user base even more. Not good for business.

Photo: MKicrosoft

Add to that the motion-controlling potential (we haven’t been wowed, yet) of the Playstation Move and Microsoft Kinect to the mix, the cloud gaming company seems to drop more and more in the feature set stakes, as if the (massive) graphical short comings isn’t a big enough deal yet.

So we wait

In case our position is mistaken, we’re optimistic about companies like OnLive because we believe this is where things are heading anyway. Much like it took time for cloud computing to really catch on, it will take time for cloud gaming, too.

Perhaps we’re missing something, and if we are, we’d love to be corrected, so let us know in the comments section. As soon as BT launches it here in the UK, we’ll put it through its paces ourselves and let you know how it performs. For now, we’re quite happy with our Xbox 360, PS3s, and genuine gaming PCs.

Photo: Dell

Dell, the world’s second biggest computer manufacturer, has indicated it intends on making a big push in the cloud service for enterprises business.

Enterprise server and data businesses

This push come off the back of acquiring service-focused Perot Systems, and the service is set to launch with data centre hardware being deployed at Dell data centers, and the software to manage them being made available to the enterprises who sign up.

The target enterprises are medium to big, said Dell at a San Francisco press conference, scaling up to 5,000 employees.

Photo: Oracle

The point, said Dell, citing an insurance company as an example, is that data requirements are not static and enterprises need solutions that are easily adaptable. It would cost these enterprises much more money if they had to make physical adjustments in their own data centers, as opposed to siphoning the service off to an independent company. This way, explained Dell, they would mitigate costs for their clients.

Hedging bets

Photo: Dell

As Dell makes its push into the cloud service industry, putting it in direct competition with Salesforce and Oracle, the company is facing increasing pressure in its key business – computer manufacturing. A recent iSuppli report indicate Dell, who were the number one computer manufacturer in the world until 2004, may fall even further down to third, with Acer displacing them. Acer has seen strong sales, especially in the netbook and notebook segments, whereas Dell’s Inspiron and XPS line had particularly soft sales during the recession.

It will be interesting to see how big cloud service will be for Dell, who have relied on their computing business to put up the bulk of its sales. This move into a new segment follows in the wake of Dell’s swing at the mobile phones market as well as its upcoming tablet device.

Photo: Microsoft

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, has said the company will move more and more of its business to cloud computing as time passes, so much so that their new tagline for the service is ‘we’re all in’.

90% of mental focus, physical effort

Speaking at the University of Washington for the first time ever and amidst much anticipation by the college’s students, Ballmer said that a full 70% of Microsoft’s current workforce is focused cloud computing related work. By the end of next year, he expects 90% of the company’s workforce to be involved in cloud related work.

To put that figure into perspective, with respect to how much engineering talent and man power Microsoft is throwing at the problem, the company employs
93, 000 people around the world. Ballmer’s most acute quote to describe how big of a deal this is was, ‘we’re all in’ and ‘this is the bet for our company’.

A different side to Ballmer

Given Microsoft has been uncharacteristically consistent across the board with how good their work has been of late, it should come as little surprise to hear Ballmer say uncharacteristic things. Never one to disappoint, Steve Ballmer praises Apple and Google both, unarguably the two biggest competitors the company has.

Photo: Apple

Speaking of Apple, he said that they’ve done a ‘nice job’ with their iPhone companion in the form of the app store, suggestive that he would like to replicate what’s good about it with Microsoft cloud computing initiatives as well as Windows Phone Series 7. And in answering a question on whether this newfound business focus is more reactive than proactive, he readily admits the company is following Google’s lead in a market that Google themselves didn’t exactly create, but certainly trailblazed.

Interesting strategy

Photo: gynti_46

Given anecdotal evidence, this may seem premature. Microsoft has just sold 90 million copies of Windows 7 in under six months, making it the fastest selling operating system of all time, suggesting their business that isn’t cloud computing-related is still doing well. Then again, though, it’s probably best that the company kills its own cash cow than someone else doing it, as the competitive space in technology evolves rapidly and, it seems, Steve Ballmer is not ignorant of this.

Photo: Microsoft

The Internet is the battleground of the future, to paraphrase Bill Gates, when he decided to make the web one of Microsoft’s key focuses. Late to the party, Microsoft has never been able to dominate the Internet the way it dominated desktops, but Bill Gates’ prediction has been proven correct. Cloud computing is, in many areas, replacing desktop applications.

Productivity applications

In the productivity space, once Microsoft’s exclusive domain, several services have made inroads against the Redmond-based company:

Google Docs, the search giant’s web application consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet application and a presentation tool, is the most prominent rival in this space. Google’s service, which is comparable to Microsoft’s in many ways, is completely free and allows users to share documents more easily than their desktop counterparts.

Photo: Google

Gmail, which has quickly risen to prominence, building a user base of over 176 million users, has all but replaced contemporary desktop mail applications like Outlook and Mail.app through its ease of use and being highly customisable. Furthermore, the ability to import mail from other non-Gmail mail servers – i.e. yourname@companyx.com – has been a boon for the service.

Google, in fact, is probably the most prominent company in this realm, with Salesforce.com being the dominant company in the enterprise space.

Services

Cloud computing replaces not only software tasks, but hardware tasks as well. Amazon’s popular hosting service is one of those. Whereas in the past web hosting for resource-intensive apps required expensive hardware solutions, Amazon’s service allows organisations to buy partitions of space on its comparatively inexpensive service.

Data storage

Photo: Dropbox

Web applications like Dropbox and Apple’s MobileMe have transferred data storage and data backup from physical disks to services in the cloud. If a user’s data speeds are decent, this is an inexpensive alternative to storing all of your files on expensive terabyte drives. These services are even handier in that these files are accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.

Time Management and collaboration

Photo: Basecamp

Outside of webmail, time management and project collaboration applications are most user’s first exposure to web applications, mostly because the benefits over desktop equivalents are immediately noticeable. Basecamp and RescueTime are examples of popular apps that let users in remote locations collaborate and that also work as time tracking applications.

The web app revolution

Proponents of cloud computing and mobile applications believe all software can and will eventually be hosted on web servers, however the reality is a bit more measured than that. What is likely to happen is several sub-genres of computing will shift completely to the web, while some applications will always be the domain of the desktop.