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.
Google has today revealed that in mid-December, they, along with a number of other large companies in the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors, were targeted in a sophisticated cyber-attack. This attack on their infrastructure originated in China, and resulted in the theft of intellectual property.
Google's analysis of this attack suggests that the aim was to access Gmail accounts of a number of Chinese human rights activists, but they believe the attempt failed. Only two accounts were successfully accessed, and the only information viewed included the creation date of the accounts, and subject lines, not the contents, of messages.
As part of the investigation, Google has uncovered that dozens of US, European and Chinese human rights advocates have also had their accounts accessed routinely by third parties. These accounts appear to have been accessed through phishing scams, rather than a security breach at Google themselves. As always, up to date anti-virus and anti-malware software is the best solution to protect against this.
Google has already used information from this attack to make security enhancements to their infrastructure to better protect users in the future, and have taken the unusual step of sharing this information both due to the security and human rights aspects, but also as part of a wider debate on China and free speech.
Due to this attack, and the background behind it, Google is now taking a second look at their operations in China, particularly Google.cn, where they currently offer censored search results as part of an agreement with China's government. Google is now taking a big step by informing the government of China that it is no longer willing to provide censored results, and will be entering into discussions regarding how it can do this without breaking Chinese law. Should Google find themselves unable to reach an agreement, they may shut down Google.cn, and close their offices in China.
This move has been driven by key executives at Google in the United States, who have been monitoring the human rights and freedom of speech situation in China carefully since they launched Google.cn in 2006.
At the time of writing Google shares are down 1.9 percent at $579 while Chinese rival Baidu rose 6.8 percent to $413 on the news.
Research firm iSuppli reports Google's Nexus One smartphone is built with hardware totaling approximately $174. Manufactured by HTC but sold under the Google brand name, the Nexus One is priced at $529 without a service contract or $179 with a two-year agreement from T-Mobile. The iSuppli teardown did not factor in manufacturing or licensing costs, therefore decreasing the profit margin.
The Bill-of-Materials breaks down as follows:
$30.50 for the Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
$20.40 for the Samsung DDR Multichip Package
$8.20 for the Broadcom Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver
$2.50 for the Qualcomm Power Management IC
$2.50 for the Qualcomm RF Transceiver
$2.20 for the 4 Power Amplifier Modules
$1.20 for the Texas Instruments Power Management & Li-ion Charger
$23.50 for the Samsung Display
$17.50 for the Synaptics Touchscreen
$16.30 for Miscellaneous Electronic Components
$12.50 for the 5MP Camera
$8.50 for the 4GB MicroSD card
$7.50 for Miscellaneous Electromechanical Components (Connectors, Acoustics, etc.)
Qualcomm leads all other suppliers with 20.4% of the Nexus One's BOM. The Snapdragon processor is the most expensive single component with the 3.7-inch OLED display coming in second. iSuppli found the Nexus One to be the most "Apple-like" product to date, with a unibody design similar to that of the iPhone.
Kevin Keller, Senior Analyst at iSuppli, states, "With the Nexus One, Google has taken the most advanced features seen in recent smart phone designs and wrapped them up into a single sleek design. Items like the durable unibody construction, the blazingly fast Snapdragon baseband processor and the bright and sharp Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AM-OLED) display all have been seen in previous phones, but never before combined into a single design. This gives the Nexus One the most advanced features of any smart phone ever dissected by iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service - a remarkable feat given the product's BOM is similar to comparable products introduced during the past year."
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.
On the 
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.
Research firm