Informal Brain

Norton releasing a security app for your smartphone OS can’t be a good sign?

Shawn Smith — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:03:30 +0000

Norton releases Smartphone Security beta app for Android – Android and Me.

The fact that Norton has just released a security application for the Android OS can’t be a good thing. Doesn’t this clearly point out that Android isn’t delivering all the security features consumers and for that mater enterprises demand?

Filed under: 365

Privatization Reaches New Frontiers

Shawn Smith — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:36:13 +0000

SpaceX this week proved they could develop and launch a privately founded space vehicle capable of putting large payloads and even astronauts into orbit.

For a long time it was assumed space flight was one of those untouchable things only governments with large pockets could afford to do. I think this is one of those big bets that proves that putting objects into Earth orbit has now been commoditized to the point where private companies can do this cheaper, faster and better than NASA.

It is time for NASA to move on to bigger and better things, such as travel to MARS.

Filed under: 365

The Early Edition For iPad

Shawn Smith — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:16:32 +0000

The early edition from glass house is a game changing way to read RSS feeds. The app creates a news paper like experience on the iPad. Look for a future update which will sync with google reader. That will make it perfect.

Filed under: apple Tagged: apple iPad RSS

CISCO ships new FLIP … Snore.

Shawn Smith — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:21:58 +0000

Sorry Cisco, this thing is all but irrelevant day 1 since nearly every new cell phone can shoot HD video….

Latest Flip Camcorder Unveiled: Touchscreen and Slide-Up Design

[From Latest Flip Camcorder Unveiled: Touchscreen and Slide-Up Design]

Filed under: 365

Microsoft vs Apple (Cool Shootout)

Shawn Smith — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:20:01 +0000

The Microsoft crew did a nice job today at Mix showing off their new tools, but they just can’t seem to find the “cool” factor for their presentations. First never up-stage your technology with your shirt… I will let the pictures below tell the rest of the story.

You decide….

Filed under: apple, windows phone 7 Tagged: apple

Windows Phone 7 Development @ Mix

Shawn Smith — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:06:08 +0000

Just finished watching the keynote. I must admit Microsoft looks like they have really thought through the entire integrated platform on this one. They are finally demoing applications which run across the PC, Phone and XBox. That is a really great story and will give Apple a run for their money related to the ObjectiveC nature of the iPhone Platform.

Watch it here. http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/KEY01

Filed under: microsoft, windows phone 7

The Panic Team’s Status Board as a Collaboration Tool

Shawn Smith — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:04:51 +0000

The Panic Guys build an amazing project status board using CSS/HTML and display a bunch of internal stats about each project. They reported that it provided an amazing degree of collaboration they never had before because all the information was always in view and held each team accountable. Some of the the most important numbers are at the top where the support queue depths are displayed at all times. The middle shows project due dates and currently assigned members. The bottom shows key metrics and bus schedules when it is time to go home. A very nice idea!

[From Panic Blog » The Panic Status Board]

Filed under: 365 Tagged: collaboration

Apple Plans To Run iPhone OS On New Platforms; Any Guesses?

Shawn Smith — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:47:20 +0000

I only have one…. Apple TV.

I bet a dollar we will see an iPhone OS driven Apple TV platform within the next year. It is logical to consolidate to OSX (full Mac) and iPhone OS for their embedded products eliminating the Apple TV OS variant.

You could also bet we would then see the custom UI evolve on the Apple TV to be more like an iPad, and also support all the applications including Games on the Hi-Def TV.

[From Apple Plans To Run iPhone OS On New Platforms; Any Guesses? - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com]

Filed under: apple, iPhone Tagged: apple, apple tv, AppleTV, iPhone, osx, TV

It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility

Shawn Smith — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:51:15 +0000

Wired Top Stories

via It’s Official: Google Can Sell Power Like a Utility.

It’s official. Google is on its way to being Enron…

Filed under: 365

I hate to say it, but Microsoft has been doing some great things lately….

Shawn Smith — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:06:14 +0000

I must admit I have not been a big fan of Microsoft for some time now. They just haven’t been creating much innovation in my mind.

But in the past couple of months I have seen some real innovation out of the software giant:

Take Windows 7 Phone:

“A phone is just not a PC. It’s a smaller, more intimate device.”

[From The Official Microsoft Blog – News and Perspectives from Microsoft : Weekend Reading for Feb 20/21: Windows Phone 7 Series called, and the world said…..]

Take the Unified Access Gateway:

A really nice multi function smart proxy, SSL VPN concentrator and the connection point for Direct Access. The best feature is Direct Access which lets your remote PCs act like part of your domain even when a user is not logged into the console. Have you ever dreamed of pushing software updates to a phone sitting on a remote worker’s desk over the internet? Now you can…

Take the Outlook Social Connector:

Done right, the Outlook Social connector might just change the way we share and discover information in the enterprise. Think of a way to quickly discover details about that person who was CC’d on that email you just received, or learn more about that person who just joined your project team. Cool…

Take Exchange 2010:

Real high availability solutions packaged in a way which make them easy to deploy without a bunch of complex configuration, and to top it all off it works across data centers too! Whoa?

Filed under: 365 Tagged: microsoft, uag, windows