March 23, 2006

Comparing Vista and PS3 delays, Sony has more to lose than Microsoft

The tech world has been abuzz with the announcement and the speculation of the causes and impact of two high-profile product delays. Sony announced that the Playstation3 (PS3) would finally ship in early November of this year; a week later, Microsoft announced that the first edition of its updated operating system, Windows Vista, would not ship until November (with consumer versions to ship in January of 2007.Both of these products are critical to their respective...

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Posted by TomR at 04:06 PM |

March 21, 2006

All things Vista: Keeping tabs on the next Microsoft operating system

It's hard to keep the details straight when discussing Microsoft's next version of its client operating system (OS). But given some recent announcements, we thought we'd give an update of the current landscape for anyone who hasn't updated their Vista fact and trivia spreadsheet.You should know that:Longhorn is Vista and Vista is the new XP. The history of Vista is really the history of Longhorn, the former code-name for the operating system update. But last...

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Posted by TomR at 04:11 PM |

March 20, 2006

Built with SOA: i2's Agile Business Process Platform

The core principles of service-oriented architecture (SOA) -- standards-based interfaces and reusable services -- and its benefits -- system reuse, incremental adoption, and multi-vendor support -- are impossible to ignore for organizations with tight budgets and the need to adapt their systems to a dynamic business environment. The SOA marketplace is full of solutions that will help organizations service-enable their existing apps, build new services, and tie services together into an orchestrated composite app. But...

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Posted by TomR at 11:38 AM |

March 13, 2006

Consumer tech and digital content: Rough times ahead before a more rational, simplified future

Two changes in how consumers use, access, and consume entertainment technology and content are already well under way, particularly in affluent, tech-aware households. They are:The adoption of monitors for computer and TV use. The TV-versus-PC debate was never worth the amount of time spent on it. Years ago, back when "conversion" was still a hot topic, we talked about how TVs were becoming monitors and that with high resolution, content could be viewed anywhere. In...

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Posted by TomR at 04:25 PM |

Get over tech zealotry: Ignore the noise, find the value

What is the big deal with so-called technology zealots? No public online discussion can occur without accusations of zealotry, without posters labeling each other "trolls," "fanboys," or other terms. While perusing forums, blogs, and article comments can be informing, annoying, and entertaining, why has it become such an issue that there are zealots on the Web? Why are people so quick to make an issue of and condemn so-called zealous behavior? It is now very...

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Posted by TomR at 04:19 PM |

March 09, 2006

Origami = UMPC: A new acronym but still the same old tablet story

Microsoft officially announced its latest tablet PC effort today. For the past year, the latest iteration of its tablet PC dream had been known by the project's code name: Origami. In Germany at the CeBIT technology show, the vendor finally brought the project out into the light.It's called UMPC, or Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer. What's a UMPC? According to Microsoft it is "a new category of mobile computing devices that features small, lightweight, carry-everywhere hardware designs...

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Posted by TomR at 04:28 PM |

March 08, 2006

Microsoft and Origami: A tablet PC love affair

Bill Gates and, by extension, Microsoft, have really wanted the tablet PC to make it big. Right now, a relatively few number of people use them as mobile clipboards and form-filling devices, such as insurance adjusters and doctors. But Microsoft still believes that the tablet PC can and will become a mainstream computing device. This dream has been going on for years but with little market success despite improved batteries, cheaper screens, low-power processors, and...

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Posted by TomR at 04:31 PM |