Applications - Infoworld

Four crazy tech ideas from Google's Solve for X project

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:41:43 +0000

Google promised radical technology proposals would be a part of its Solve for X project, and its initial offerings so far haven't disappointed.

Google ships Chrome 17, touts more malware alerts and page pre-loads

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:18:37 +0000

Google today patched 20 vulnerabilities in the desktop edition of Chrome and added new anti-malware download warnings to version 17.

The company called out a pair of new features in Chrome 17, including the expansion of anti-malware download warnings and pre-rendering of pages suggested by the address/search bar's auto-complete function.

Appeals court denies Google bid to keep email out of Oracle trial

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:24:26 +0000

Google has failed in its latest attempt to keep a potentially damaging email out of the lawsuit Oracle filed against it over alleged Java intellectual-property violations in the Android mobile OS.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday denied Google's petition over the email, which was written by Google engineer Tim Lindholm, according to information on the court's website. The text of the court's decision was not immediately available.

Salesforce.com launches Desk.com help-desk service

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Salesforce.com today unveiled a new SaaS (software as a service) help-desk application called Desk.com that can reach users through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Desk.com, which is based on Salesforce.com's recent acquisition of Assistly, can be deployed

Google, what happened?

Eric Knorr — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Google, it used to be I couldn't wait to see your cheery face in the morning. Now I'm not sure I can even get a straight answer from you.

When you first showed up out of nowhere, I was charmed like everyone else. You dressed simply. There was nothing artificial about you. You just did what you did better than anyone else. You were so low-key about it that I never would have guessed you'd become rich and famous.

FBI seeks Big Brother-'Minority Report' hybrid

InfoWorld Tech Watch — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:42:47 +0000

Recognizing just how powerful a tool social networking sites have become in orchestrating protests, rallies, and riots in the United States and beyond, the FBI is in the early stages of designing a complex system for monitoring tweets, Facebook status

6 Google Chrome remixes worth trying

Doug Dineley — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Once upon a time there was a browser named Firefox -- an open source project that many people happily picked up and spun off into their own versions with names like Iceweasel and Pale Moon. Now the same thing has happened with Google Chrome. Its open source incarnation, Chromium, has become the basis for a slew of spinoffs, remixes, and alternative versions.

Technology's role in fighting fires and saving lives

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:55:57 +0000

Fire trucks remain the iconic image of any fire department, but firefighters -- like all other workers -- are relying on more technology than that to be effective on the job. Certainly, IT will never replace water hoses when it comes to dousing a blaze, but computers are increasingly being deployed on the scene, too. That's certainly the case at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), one of the largest fire departments in the world. Here, Deputy Commissioner of Technology and Support Services John A.

8 steps to building and maintaining an infrastructure road map

Matt Prigge — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

An outside observer might imagine that just about every IT department would have some kind of technology road map. After all, without one, how could you avoid costly mistakes such as overspecifying or underspecifying new infrastructure hardware purchases? But all too often that documentation simply doesn't exist for one very simple reason: How can you possibly build a coherent technology plan in the face of immediate and constant change?

BYOD movement is forcing IT to adapt

Paul Krill — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

IT departments in the age of mobile computing must adapt to newly empowered users who select not only their own devices but their applications as well. This adapation -- as difficult as it may seem -- has a strong benefit: Enabling a modern workforce, said Maribel Lopez, president of Lopez Research at the AppNation conference last week in San Francisco.

The year's best hardware, software, and cloud services

Doug Dineley — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Was it the philosopher George Santayana who said, "Those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it?" Did he offer any hints for those of us who want to repeat the past, especially the successes? We're beyond the teary elegies of 2011 and deep into making resolutions for 2012. If we're going to stand half a chance of creating something great this year, it only makes sense to pause and celebrate what went right in 2011.

Picking the top technologies in a wild year

Eric Knorr — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Whenever someone asks me how InfoWorld differs from other IT publications, I cite two facts off the bat: Most of our articles are written by experienced, working IT people -- and we're one of the few publications that still does real enterprise product reviews.

Mozilla to launch enterprise Firefox this month with 7X slower pace

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:54:12 +0000

Mozilla yesterday said it will kick off a slower-paced Firefox release schedule for enterprises at the end of this month.

The new version -- Firefox ESR, which stands for Extended Support Release -- is Mozilla's response to backlash earlier this year against its scheme to ship a new edition of the browser every six weeks.

Microsoft aims Windows 8 storage at enterprise data centers

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:11:39 +0000

Windows 8 includes a storage scheme suitable for business deployment that can treat hundreds of disks as a single logical storage reservoir and ensures resiliency by backing up data on at least two physical disks.

Called Storage Spaces, the feature sets aside a designated storage area -- known as a space -- for a defined category of data within the entire available disk capacity -- called a pool.

Oracle users worry upcoming support site upgrade will be another 'fiasco'

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:26:40 +0000

Oracle's impending upgrade to its support portal promises to deliver a "next-generation" experience, but some users are worried they'll endure another "fiasco" of the sort that occurred when Oracle revamped the site in 2009.

Software whiz Ray Ozzie re-emerges with startup Cocomo

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:15:29 +0000

Lotus Notes creator and former Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie is coming back with a startup named Cocomo that seems to be focused on mobile communication.

Judge rules on contested evidence in Oracle-Google case

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:03:11 +0000

Oracle and Google have both won and lost in a number of their efforts to keep evidence out of the upcoming trial in Oracle's lawsuit against Google over the Android mobile OS. At issue is whether Google has infringed on Oracle's intellectual property rights by using Java without properly licensing it.

Google acquires more IBM patents

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:17:10 +0000

Google has acquired more IBM patents, adding more than 200 to approximately 2,000 patents it had previously bought from IBM.

The move, first reported by the blog SEO by the Sea, was confirmed by a Google spokesman who didn't immediately comment on why the company is interested in these particular patents and on how they may benefit Google products and its customers.

10 biggest ERP software failures of 2011

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

With the year drawing to a close, one thing seems abundantly clear: There are still an awful lot of ERP and other software projects running off the rails out there.

Software project failures are no fun for anyone involved. They lead to piles of wasted money and effort, heaps of accusations and recriminations, and even to lawsuits. Here's a look at some of the highest-profile problem projects to surface this year.

Tech stories of 2011: Jobs, Android, and Anonymous rank in top 10

admin — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

In 2011, the increasingly mobile and socially networked world of technology became more intertwined than ever with politics and the law. Patent wars shaped competition in tablets and smartphones, hacktivists attacked a widening array of political and corporate targets, repressive regimes unplugged citizens from the Internet, and the U.S. government moved to block the giant merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. With the passing of Steve Jobs, the world lost a technology icon who redefined the computer, entertainment and consumer electronics industries.