TechBlog.TheVanguard.Org

NetworkWorld has an interesting article about Apple’s prospects in corporate America. Recent architecture changes, virtualization, clustering, storage networks, interoperability hooks and the price of upgrading hardware for Windows Vista all put Macs under the microscope for careful consideration as replacements to existing Windows and Linux machines.

As has been the case in the past, Apple is not defining a clear course for going after corporate business (the article points this out). Apple’s rebellious, anti-corporate attitude continues in 2007. However, innovative new technologies like Parallels, which allows users to run Microsoft Windows from within Mac OS X on a Macintosh computer are likely to make corporate moves to Mac OS X more likely.

Broadband Reports is reporting/commenting on a story wherein the RIAA discovered that it is hard to track down file-sharers who use public wi-fi.  They want to hold the account holder responsible.  In other words, the RIAA wants to destroy open wi-fi all together.  There’s no way your local coffee shop or airport is going to allow themselves to be held responsible for every one of your actions while using their Internet connection.

One of two things will happen as a result of all this:

1. The RIAA wins their court case and wi-fi as we know it is dead forever;
2. The RIAA loses their court case and their ability to continue their scorched-earth tactics.

Regardless, the entertainment industry is about to change.  Stay tuned.

Google today announced a new suite of professional office applications that are entirely web-based and hosted by Google.  The search giant already had an advertising-based service for non-enterprise users.  The office suite competes directly with Microsoft Office.  Here’s a rundown of the features included with the “Premier Edition” of Google Apps:

• 10 Gigabytes of storage per user
• $50/year/user
• API Customization
• Guaranteed 99.9% reliability
• Mobile Gmail for Blackberry (versions already exist for Windows Mobile)
• Browser-based collaberation

Google isn’t likely to start stealing away users from Microsoft left and right.  What they are likely to do is peel off users who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford Microsoft products or are simply served by far fewer features than MS Office provides.  University students are bound to jump right on this bandwagon.  With the proliferation of bandwidth, we’re likely to finally see the thin-client model really start to take hold, at least for applications (NOT the OS) for the first time.

Realizing the huge untapped pool of people downloading legal iTunes music on the web these days, a resident of the Philippines named Terence Pua is offering a backup service that is fully automated.  Because most people are too lazy or unknowledgable to backup their music to DVD or external hard drives, Pua plans a hosting service that backs up the track as soon as it is downloaded from the iTunes music service.  The service is called Bandwagon, and it’s getting attention from sites like CNet and TechBlog.

Here’s to hoping that music downloaders understand the importance of backing up their precious data with their own resources or an online service…

From time to time we have the opportunity to review a truly great piece of software, and Microsoft OneNote shows why Microsoft is so dominant in the Office productivity market, despite the fact that there are free alternatives.  I’ve become accustomed to using Microsoft OneNote, a great tool for note-taking, Microsoft Outlook integration, shared meeting spaces, and a great place (in Office 2007) to accumulate notes from mobile devices, meetings and other applications such as Internet Explorer.

I especially liked the drag and drop interoperability with Office 2007, and the ability to link OneNote documents to Outlook appointments.  I can now open my notes from my calendar, without sacrificing all of the features that are found in OneNote.

You can read about it and download a free trial from the Microsoft website.

TechBlog.TheVanguard.Org predicted it, and it is now a matter of fact: Apple and Cisco settled out of court, and both companies will be allowed to use the iPhone name.  This ends several weeks of predictions and Internet rumor that led some to speculate that Apple would be forced to change the name of the iPhone before it starts shipping this summer.  The Apple iPhone lives!

With the explosive popularity of smartphones among ordinary people comes quite a few questions.  One that was asked of me recently is “how do I browse all these java-laced web forums to view content?”  Windows Smartphones sometimes have problems where the PDAs don’t.  The culprit is Internet Explorer.  There is a better way, however.  Opera Mini is a handy Internet Explorer alternative that works fine on the Blackjack and the Q for this purpose.  It is a free web browser that works on many platforms including Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition.  Until the iPhone comes out (which will have a fully-featured version of Safari) we’ll all have to make do.  By the way, Java is pretty corny on the Blackjack.  You might want to install IBM’s version to get rid of annoying messages that popup when running Opera Mini.

If you bought a Samsung Blackjack before they started shipping with extended batteries, you can go to this site to get a free one from Cingular.

(1) Your IT department is fighting a never ending battle;
(2) Their main goal is to allow every legitimate email to pass through;
(3) And block as many spam messages as possible.

That said, some spam will always come through.  Every now and then, a legitimate email will be blocked.  The technology that blocks spam isn’t perfect — and the minute companies that fight spam figure it out, spammers find a way around their technology.  Spamming is big business and the bad guys are willing to go to great lengths to get their Viagra ads to your mailbox.  Be patient with your IT department.  They’re fighting a never-ending battle.  Oh, … and no amount of money will ever end it.  Just because they spend $30,000 this year doesn’t mean they won’t need to spend $50,000 next year just to maintain the status quo.

Here at Techblog.TheVanguard.Org we had the chance to review the Treo 750 from Palm.  The 750 runs Windows Mobile and functions on the Cingular network in the U.S.  It is a GSM world phone, email device, broadband Internet browser and fully-functioning PDA.  Perhaps the biggest draw of the new Treo 750 is its Windows Mobile 5 Operating System.  Windows Mobile 5 allows hundreds of applications to be run on the device while providing enterprise-class push email for customers with Microsoft Exchange.  We tried the Treo 750 on Cingular’s 3G (WCDMA 1900) network. 

Industrial Design
The Treo 750 is a class-leader in terms of design.  Its weight is comparable to most PDA Phones, it easily fits in the palm of your hand (pardon the pun) and its screen is nice.  It’s not as bright as some smartphones, including the Blackjack and the Q.  We were surprised that it isn’t as vivid as the Cingular 8525 PDA Phone, either.  That said, the elimination of the antenna (its predecessor, the Treo 650, had one) makes it much easier to carry.  The keyboard is spacious and crisp.  Keys respond well.  The only design problem we found was its thickness compared to the Blackjack and the Q.  Understandably, the Treo is a fully-functioning PDA and requires more battery and more components.  That said, it’s almost impossible to place in jeans pockets. 

Call Quality
The Treo is unbeatable in terms of call quality.  Palm scored another homerun with the model 750.  The call quality on the Treo was better than the Blackjack, and comparable to many flip-phones.  The speakerphone was nice, though it’s no better than other PDA/Smartphones on the market, though much better than the Cingular 8125.

Email
The Treo has Microsoft Outlook Mobile.  What more needs to be said?  It’s better than every other email platform for smartphones including Blackberry.  It takes a bit of getting used to, especially for Blackberry users.. but, this does not mean it is inferior.  We were especially impressed with ActiveSync, which allows for free push email for Exchange users.  Our contacts, calendar events and tasks were synchorized along with emails.  This makes synching with a PC almost unnecessary (a good thing for Mac users who don’t want to shell out the dough for a copy of The Missing Sync).

Software
This is where the Treo really excels.  Because it has Windows Mobile 5, it includes Microsoft Office programs including Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile (along with the aforementioned copy of Outlook Mobile).  Palm plans to release an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 when it is available as well, which provides a neater user interface and HTML email.  The ability to open and edit attachments is a huge improvement over other platforms.  It is also a nice add-on if you’re used to Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition, which does not include the ability to EDIT office documents.  The Samsung Blackjack and Motorola Q both use Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition.

Overall, we were impressed with the Treo but were discouraged by its price tag ($500 with a $100 mail-in rebate).  We think this will prevent it from ending up in the hands of a lot of business users, who rely on budgets and departmental appropriations for their devices.  Since the fastest growing smartphone market is for working professionals, Palm may see more territory go to RIM as a result.

The Treo is an enterprise class PDA and cell phone.  Let’s hope they come down on the price tag a bit, though.