Microsoft May Release Windows 7 Beta at Show

I was just looking for something new on tech… while reading a got a piece of information. It was all about Microsoft, Microsoft products and Microsoft support. There are rumors in the market that Microsoft may release its new Operating system… Microsoft Windows 7 in the next month at Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Microsoft once announced at Professional Developers Conference in Los Angles in October that it would release the beta early in 2009. Though nothing has been confirmed. CES is scheduled for January 8-11. It’s not just announcements from Microsoft‘s side, it has also mentioned it on their blogs and on All about Microsoft that it would be releasing its beta version any day.

Microsoft wrote on a Web site for its Microsoft Developer Network Conferences (MDCs) that attendees of those conferences, some of which are scheduled for mid-January, can expect a Windows 7 beta DVD.

Microsoft expects to release Windows 7 in early 2010, although some industry observers expect it may be out by the end of 2009 as Microsoft Windows Vista was unable to get many users. Microsoft Windows XP is a much preferred Operating system for the users than Windows Vista.

Hmmm Sounds we will be using Microsoft Windows 7 very soon. Can’t wait to explore it.

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Google teams with Norad to track Santa on Christmas Eve

Google frees Chrome from Privacy Concerns

Ready to tackle Google- Microsoft’s Online services President

Yahoo and MSN Makes Sense

Google teams with Norad to track Santa on Christmas Eve

Track Santa not only on Web but also on Your Mobile Phones this year.

This year special gift for everyone from Google, You can track Santa Claus this year… With the help of Google Earth and Norad. You can Track where Santa has been and where he is and where he will be going to next.

Google has teamed up with Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. On Tuesday afternoon Google announced that this year everyone can track where will be able to track St. Nick's journey around the world using Google Maps and Google Earth.

 Stacia Reddish, a Norad Tracks Santa program manager said,

"The partnership between Google and Norad to bring the Norad Tracks Santa Program to children around the world has been a perfect fit, Google has the server power needed for the program, and the fabulous people required in the mapping arena to ensure children know where Santa will be as he makes his trek around the globe."

This won’t be the first time when people can track Santa, but this year they can tr4ack him on their mobile phones by  using Google Maps. And in twitter as well by adding @nordsanta.

Brian McClendon, an engineering director at Google writes in his blog, “I always thought Norad's Santa Tracker was a great holiday tradition, but I felt like it could have been even better if people could visualize exactly where Santa was on Christmas Eve, We're hoping this version of the tracker will be the best yet. In addition to our "Santa Cam" footage, geo-located photos from Panoramio will be viewable in Google Maps for each of Santa's stops that don't include video."

The tracking begins at 6 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve. Google noted that a Google Map with Santa's current location will appear at this Web address -- www.noradsanta.org -- and will be updated as his journey progresses. And people can track Santa in 3-D in Google Earth by downloading a special Norad Tracks Santa KML at this Web site. Google added that they will have hi-resolution Santa Cam videos of the jolly man flying by different locations around the world.

Track Santa here - http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Google frees Chrome from Privacy Concerns

Google Chrome has always been appreciated for its lightweight look and for its lightning speed of JavaScript engine.  With the market share of near about 1% , Google chrome is lacking behind in the race because it lacks add-ons , extensions and RSS feed. And the other important thing is Google has removed the beta tag from Google chrome may be it’s a move that was probably made in preparation for Google's upcoming bundling deals with PC manufacturers.

As most of us know that Google can track our data… there are few users which are still uncomfortable with that. But don’t worry Google have an answer for that and we have solution to your browser problems as well. And luckily Google has provided 3 options for that.

1. Chrome Privacy Guard

Google has provided chrome with an option called Chrome Privacy Guard. With this tool you can automatically delete the unique Client ID that Google assigns to your Chrome installation. This tool automatically deletes unique ID before each run of Chrome. To use Chrome Privacy Guard, you launch an executable file ChromePrivacyGuard.exe instead of launching the browser itself. The tool cans the "Local State" file inside the Chrome directory and removes all information regarding the Client ID. It then automatically starts Chrome.

2. UnChrome

The way Privacy guard removes the unique ID from the browser. In the same manner UnChrome removes the unique ID form the browser. The only difference is that this option of UnChrome removes the unique ID forever by running this tool just once. After you download and run the tool. You will see a pop up advertisement for the developer's other applications, but again, it's only a one-time thing. Afterwards, your browser will forever have the unique ID removed.

3. Iron

Iron is a fork of Chrome's Chromium core, the open source project behind Google Chrome. Developed by a German software company, Iron goes even further than the above tools to protect your privacy. Where the other tools simply remove the unique ID from Google's version of the Chrome browser, Iron is actually its own, separate browser. In addition to removing the unique ID, Iron also makes sure that no user-specific info is sent to Google, including crash reports. When you enter in a URL incorrectly, Iron does not present any alternative error messages like Chrome does.

Seems Google has started working on its shortcoming… which is really great. Chrome has the features of a good Browser but lack of add-ons and extensions are its obstacles … which hopefully Google is going to face and solve them.

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Google is not one of the MOST trusted sites

Microsoft denied the deal with Yahoo

Next-generation IT for HP

Microsoft VS Google

Google is not one of the MOST trusted sites

Recently I read about  a survey was done by the Penemon Institute and Truste surveyed near about 6, 500 users about which company they felt is most secure, trustworthy  protected their private data and their information online. After surveying consumers they published the list of top 20 companies which they feel are most secured. Along with the security of the data, users are now concerned about their computer security as well.

Now, it seems users are more concerned about their privacy and data, they are aware and have followed the Privacy group’s suit. This year Google is not in the list of most secured companies. Last year, it was on 10^th position, this year it didn’t even make to the list. Even Microsoft is not on the list. In a article, a spokesperson for the Ponemon Institute said "Google (and Microsoft) suffer from big company syndrome. People figure that if you're big and collecting data, there must be an issue."  But that doesn’t explain the reason of Google’s dropping off the list.

I have read somewhere that even installing a Google toolbar on your PC helps Google to take your half of the information.  And Google Chrome helps it in getting near about 90% of you data.

American Express is on the top of the list, it’s second in the row for them, followed by eBay at second position and IBM on third. Than it was Amazon who was able to make it for fourth position. Other high-tech companies on the list include Hewlett-Packard (number 6), Apple (number 8), WebMD (number 13), Yahoo (number 14), Facebook (number 15), AOL (number 16), and Dell and eLoan (tied for number 20).

The thing is that Google collects more information about users than any other company and they are not comfortable or feel unsecured about their data, which may be is possible that it get used in a wrong way. Finally Google has to work on its privacy policies.

Let’s see when Google gets into action to resolve the issue…

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Microsoft denied the deal with Yahoo

Next-generation IT for HP

Microsoft VS Google

AVG Claims: Microsoft is copying us

Ready to tackle Google- Microsoft’s Online services President

Dr. Qi - Lu, the newly named president of Microsoft's Online Services Group, did something that many Microsoft executives have typically avoided even mentioning. He mentioned Google by name. He was asked a question on his website where he answered-

"I think Google is a very, very powerful company, they are definitely ahead in the search space. There are a lot of challenges ahead. We've got our work cut out for us."

Lu was former executive vice president of engineering for the Search and Advertising Technology Group at Yahoo is the latest in a series of several high-profile Yahoo search executives who've left the struggling search giant for Microsoft.

When Lu joins Microsoft on Jan. 5, he'll join a third-place search market player that has had trouble gaining share from its more entrenched rivals. In October, Google had 63.1 percent of the U.S. search market, followed by Yahoo with 20.5 percent and Microsoft with 8.5 percent, according to comScore.

But despite Microsoft's trailing position in search, Lu seems optimistic about the software giant's future search prospects. Not only is Microsoft's search product quality improving at "a very fast rate," Microsoft is also focused on building a powerful advertising platform, Lu said in the Q&A.

"The advertising we see today will be very different in the future because of new platforms for it. Ads will be truly relevant and useful, and the experience will be compelling," Lu said in the Q&A.

Microsoft has been experimenting with a variety of tactics for getting more users to use its Live Search, including agreements with Dell and HP to include the Live Search Toolbar on new PCs, and the much-ballyhooed Live Search Cashback, which gives Web users rebates for purchasing products from participating Microsoft vendor partners through the Live Search site.

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Microsoft denied the deal with Yahoo

Yahoo and MSN Makes Sense

Microsoft VS Google

AVG Claims: Microsoft is copying us

Microsoft denied the deal with Yahoo

Microsoft’s Chief Executive, Steve Ballmer, cleared the air on Friday that the company might still be interested in buying Yahoo, setting off a 13 percent decline in Yahoo’s share price. Yahoo shares dropped $2.20 to a paltry $9.35 in afternoon trading. The news also sent Microsoft shares down 57 cents to $19.02 and is just above a ten year low of $18.74 which it reached last week. 

Yahoo's stock, which jumped on the company co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang's departure from his position at the helm, opened the door to the renewed speculation that a Micro-hoo deal might be back on the cards, was brought crashing back down to earth in mid-day trading on Wednesday.

Some analysts said that Ballmer is still interested, but that the public disinterest is a duplicitous tactic to purposefully drive down Yahoo's value. Microsoft had offered $47.5 billion or $33 a share back in May, which must seem like light years away for throngs of irate Yahoo shareholders.

“We moved on,” Mr. Ballmer told a business luncheon in Sydney on Friday, when asked for the company’s plans after a possible Web search advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google fell through this week.

Mr. Ballmer said Microsoft made several attempts to reach a deal with Yahoo but that they failed. “We are not interested in going back and relooking at an acquisition. I don’t know why they would be either, frankly,” Mr. Ballmer said. He added that he thought there were still opportunities for some kind of partnership around search engines. No news on the replacement for Mr Yang, which is expected to take anywhere up to 12 weeks.

With an additional 1,500 layoffs announced by Yahoo scheduled for January, a failure to close a shared advertising revenue deal with rival Google, an inability to come to terms with Microsoft, a drop in profits and the stock in the proverbial toilet, the future is looking less than peachy for the struggling web giant.

Just as with the new appointment to the White House commencing in January will face unprecedented economic hardship, certainly in more than a generation, the victor taking on the leadership duties at Yahoo will no doubt feel a similar strain.

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Yahoo and MSN Makes Sense

Next-generation IT for HP

Microsoft VS Google

AVG Claims: Microsoft is copying us

Yahoo and MSN Makes Sense

Yahoo should call Microsoft’s bluff. That may sound like a churlish suggestion given the software behemoth’s apparent disdain for its onetime Internet sweetheart. But everyone continues to lose ground to Google in search. Yahoo says it could put an end to that if it just had scale. It should put its money where its mouth is and offer to buy Microsoft’s MSN unit with a public bear hug.

Yahoo has little to lose. Its stock is trading at a third of Microsoft’s February bid of $31 a share. Its proposed partnership with Google was dropped by the search company a few weeks ago, and Microsoft’s chief, Steve Ballmer, continues to publicly spurn reconciliation attempts. This disappointment led to Jerry Yang’s recent resignation and the Yahoo board’s search for a new leader.

Meanwhile, Google keeps gobbling up market share in search. The latest figures show it has a dominant 63 percent share of the United States market, an 8 percent increase over last year, according to comScore. Yahoo has been one of the biggest losers. Its share is now just 20 percent.

Yahoo says it can reverse this with greater scale. That’s because the more searches a particular engine attracts, the more effective its search algorithm becomes, it says. In turn, the more accurate search results bring even more activity, creating a virtuous cycle.

If Yahoo believes its own story, it should try to incorporate Microsoft’s MSN unit. The online and search division is equally challenged by Google and has just 8.5 percent of the market, giving it even less scale than Yahoo. And many Microsoft shareholders would love to see the company jettison a business that has been a management distraction and a money-loser.

What’s it worth? One guide is Google’s market capitalization, which assigns about $1.4 billion of value for each percentage point of market share. Discount that by a third to reflect Google’s dominance, and MSN might be worth $8 billion. With Yahoo valued at near twice that, it could offer to take MSN off Microsoft shareholders’ hands for stock, giving Microsoft a third of the combination and exposure to any value created.

There’s another benefit to Yahoo of going on the offensive. By forcing Microsoft to defend its search position, Yahoo might get its rival to admit that its bigger worry is the threat of so-called cloud computing, where rivals like Google offer Web-based versions of Microsoft’s core software business, free.

Since dropping his offer for Yahoo, Mr. Ballmer has been able to depress Yahoo’s stock just by opening his mouth. A public offer for MSN could give Yahoo similar power. And there’s always the chance that Microsoft will try to squelch its rival with a bid.

 Source - nytimes

Next-generation IT for HP

The HP IT organization now operates under a strategic framework in which teams are deployed to deliver more business innovation through a smaller number of global and common applications. These applications are running in the next-generation data centers, where the technology is constantly refreshed in modular-designed white space.

By creating global and common applications, HP IT is able to focus on new capabilities and devote 80 percent of IT employees to innovation that is aligned with business strategies and future growth opportunities.

The company's own HP Neoview implementation is the single enterprise data warehouse with current users exceeding 32,000 HP employees - a number that is expected to top 50,000 next year. HP believes its Neoview installation is one of the largest enterprise data warehouses in the market today.