Google has announced on the Official Gmail Blog that they have begun rolling out default https settings to all Gmail accounts. For users that don't want this setting, or if it causes some sort of connectivity issues through someone's firewall, the feature can always be disabled. Here's how it will work…

"If you've previously set your own https preference from Gmail Settings, nothing will change for your account. If you trust the security of your network and don't want default https turned on for performance reasons, you can turn it off at any time by choosing 'Don't always use https' from the Settings menu."

Google is doing this to protect people's private data from being sniffed by third parties. If someone is using a public Internet connection, they are at risk having their traffic monitored. The reason this was not enabled by default, up until now, is that https slows down data transmission. This is due to the fact that the information must be constantly encrypted and decrypted. Google, however, after much research into the issue, feels that https doesn't really cause any significant slowdown from a user's standpoint. They concluded that the security benefits outweigh the slight performance hit that some users may notice.

Google notes that the enabling of https may cause problems with offline Gmail, if you currently use the feature over http. As well, many commenters have pointed out that the iGoogle email widget is not compatible with https.

AOL is to shut down many of its European offices after failing to cut a third of its international workforce through voluntary redundancy. Although 1,100 of the company's staff have taken voluntary redundancy, a further 1,000 cuts are expected across the US and Europe.

The company announced plans late last year that it would be cutting 2,500 jobs worldwide as it attempted to save $300 million a year, but the Guardian reports that the shortfall on those taking up voluntary redundancy means more jobs will have to be cut.

Although AOL UK would not detail how many jobs would be cut, but it did say would be closing its offices in Spain and Sweden, as well as four German offices. AOL's operations in France have yet to decide whether they will be closing their Paris office.

Over the pond in the USA, the company said that it will "begin notifying a limited number of individuals impacted by the involuntary lay-off... with the majority of notifications taking place in the USA on 13 January." AOL added that "for many of the employees impacted in the USA Wednesday will be their last day in the office." The Seattle office, home of some of AOL's mobile operations, will also be closed and centralised in California.

A spokesman for AOL said, "We have looked at every aspect of this business. We evaluated our competitive position and product portfolio in every market, and we asked the hard questions about areas that were no longer core to the strategy and our profit profiles in the businesses and countries where we operate."

The spokesman also stressed that the offices of successful divisions, such as AdTech, would be unaffected by the restructuring.

Microsoft and HP both announced a joint deal today that will see the software and hardware giants collaborate on future engineering road maps to eliminate the complexities of IT management.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, HP chairman and CEO Mark Hurd, held a joint teleconference call this morning to announce the agreement. According to Ballmer the agreement, that spans both hardware, software and services, "will transform the way large enterprises deliver services to their customers, and help smaller organizations adopt IT to grow their businesses." Microsoft and HP believe a combined effort will offer a lower total cost of ownership for business customers.

Microsoft is using the tag line "simplify technology environments for businesses of all sizes" to describe the new deal. In short it appears Microsoft and HP will share ideas and technologies based on Microsoft's Cloud infrastructure and virtualization efforts. The deal isn't cheap and 250 million incremental dollars will be invested into the initiative. The two companies will also partner on some support solutions and marketing campaigns. During the joint teleconference call Ballmer stated "we're able to build on our incredible 25 year partnership of the two companies put together to drive things forward."

On the Official Google Docs Blog, Google has announced that over the next few weeks, they will be rolling out the ability for users to store all types of files in the cloud. Before this, you could only store Google Docs and PDFs (in addition to photos in Picasa). Now, you will be able to upload any file to the cloud, assuming it's less than 250MB. The advantage of such an offering is the ability to access those files from any PC with an Internet connection.

Google is giving 1GB of free storage for any files that are not converted into the Google Docs format. You can also purchase additional space for $0.25 a GB/year, making it a very compelling alternative to other cloud storage solutions. The space that you purchase will work across all Google Apps (including Picasa). People who currently use Google Docs seem like the ones who are most likely to take advantage of this new storage system. However, as it stands, it seems unlikely that it will be able compete with Microsoft's 25GB SkyDrive, or Dropbox's 2GB offerings.

Unfortunately, as much as the above sounds like the infamous GDrive that the world has been patiently awaiting, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington has written otherwise. "'This is not GDrive' said Google Docs product manager Vijay Bangaru yesterday while showing me something that sure does look exactly like the fabled GDrive. 'How is it different,' I asked. 'That's hard to say, because GDrive doesn't exist.'"

It's unclear what Google plans to accomplish with this new service. The only thing that makes sense is to say that this is some sort of test run for a future GDrive. Rest assured, there are sure to be third-party applications in the near future (such as Memeo Connect) that will allow users to interface with this new bit of cloud storage, and when they do become available, expect "GDrive," or whatever this thing is, to gain popularity.

The Zune HD is, as you'll know, Microsoft's answer to the iPod. As such, they put a fairly hefty amount of work into making it as impressive as can be; this, of course, includes firmware updates. The next Zune HD upgrade will bring XviD and Smart DJ support.

According to CNET, the update will be hitting sometime this Spring, and noted that whilst XviD support is in, DivX support is unlikely. On the bright side, the new format will support the HD AV dock accessory, though Microsoft wouldn't clarify the official resolutions supported. The other main feature is, of course, Smart DJ, currently only found in the Zune software for PC. When this feature debuts, it'll mean that if a user has a Zune Pass, and is on the same wireless network as the PC in question, then any Smart DJ playlists they create will include music streamed directly from the Zune Marketplace, as well as content already found on the device. A rather handy feature, to say the least.

As mentioned, the update will come sometime during Spring. Microsoft employees also reminded CNET that Facebook for the Zune HD will be arriving early this year, with the promised Twitter app already available on the device. If there are any other features due in the firmware update that are announced at a later date, you'll be able to read about them on Neowin.