Acer is to launch its first smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. "Now Acer enters the Smart Handheld market with an exciting range of easy to use devices designed to offer phone capability, simple one hand usability and complete connectivity," according to the company’s exhibitor page on the Mobile World Congress website. The notice suggests that Acer may unveil more than one model and that the phones may use multiple kinds of networks, such as Wi-Fi and mobile.
In the opinion of some industry pundits, Google’s decision to add offline functionality to Gmail amounts to a validation of Microsoft’s "software-plus-services" strategy, which advocates a mix of on-premise and cloud-based software as the best future computing model. Microsoft has for the past couple of years stressed the importance of building an offline experience into cloud applications, and claims that software-plus-services is something the entire industry will eventually embrace. Cynics believe Microsoft’s embrace of software plus services is just an attempt to remain relevant in the age of cloud computing, and to maintain revenue from on premise software.
Content network Glam Media announced on Thursday that it has acquired AdaptiveAds, a company specializing in the targeting and optimization of display ads. Glam Media claims that its acquisition of AdaptiveAds will help it solidify its offering in the advertising market. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Glam did say disclose plans to open an office in Mumbai, India, as part of the acquisition.
With each passing day, the moments when I’m disconnected from the Internet become fewer and fewer. For me, one of the last meaningful barriers began to fall with American Airlines’ announcement last year that they would be offering in-flight wi-fi service. Though wi-fi is being offered by more airlines, there are still plenty of flight routes where Internet isn’t an option, at least for now. And this poses a problem for those of us who get a lot of our work done online.So what can you do the next time you’re bracing yourself for that long flight? Well, we’ve been cooking up a feature in Gmail Labs, our testing ground for Gmail features, that should help: offline Gmail. If you enable offline access, Gmail will load in your browser even when you don’t have an Internet connection. You can read messages, star, label and archive them, compose new mail and more. Messages ready to be sent will wait in your Outbox until you’re online again.
offline access in Gmail Labs
Could These Features Make Their Way to Chrome?
Google has highlighted a few Firefox add-ons that could be of great use to AdSense publishers. These include:
"Do you regularly work with your webpages and AdSense implementation, tinkering with HTML or PHP and creating images and code on the fly?" asks Laura Prado of the Inside AdSense Team. "If you do, Firefox add-ons can help streamline the process of creating webpages
REDMOND, Wash., and BANGALORE, India — Jan. 29, 2009 — Helping manufacturers manage their increasingly complex global supply chains, Microsoft Corp. and Infosys Technologies have forged a new go-to-market alliance around improving supply chain visibility and collaboration. The two companies today are jointly launching a set of solutions, services and a center of excellence to help manufacturers build next-generation supply chains with improved performance and better visibility across their enterprises and trading partners.
Review – Chicago (IL) – A little over a month ago we were able to publish some information and benchmarks on Microsoft’s first Internet Explorer 8 RC1 (IE8) build – that was released to the firm’s closest partners. This week, however, Microsoft released a public build of the RC1 browser and our initial question was: If the build number is higher, has the performance also improved? Let’s find out.
If we look back at the past year and the dramatic improvements in browser technology we have seen recently, then we still believe Microsoft has been run over by a train, one the company had no idea was coming. The current market share losses Microsoft is experiencing can be directly tied to much better browsers released by Mozilla, Google and Apple – especially when it comes to speed. IE is presently at a substantial disadvantage, and while Microsoft continuously accelerated IE8 since the first beta release in March of 2008, the company also realizes its rivals are playing in an entirely different league.
Review: Internet Explorer 8 improves with age
It may seem like the last thing you want to do in the midst of tough economic times is invest in new hardware. But IT consultant Erik Eckel suggests that trying to coast on failing or outdated equipment will cost you more in the long run.It’s no secret. Many organizations curtail all possible spending in a recession. Budgets are cut, staffs are reduced, and new hardware purchases are often eliminated. During difficult economic periods, cost-cutting measures are prudent, even necessary for companies struggling to survive. But suspending hardware investments can prove shortsighted. Eliminating system replacements and PC upgrades may well worsen an organization’s predicament. Here are 10 reasons new hardware purchases shouldn’t be delayed — even during a recession.
Researchers are already developing tools that allow users to, among other things, measure the speed of their connection, run diagnostics, and attempt to discern if their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications. These tools generate and send some data back-and-forth between the user’s computer and a server elsewhere on the Internet. Unfortunately, researchers lack widely-distributed servers with ample connectivity. This poses a barrier to the accuracy and scalability of these tools. Researchers also have trouble sharing data with one another.
M-Lab aims to address these problems. Over the course of early 2009, Google will provide researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe. All data collected via M-Lab will be made publicly available for other researchers to build on. M-Lab is intended to be a truly community-based effort, and we welcome the support of other companies, institutions, researchers, and users that want to provide servers, tools, or other resources that can help the platform flourish.
Introducing Measurement Lab
Europe’s largest chipmaker, STMicroelectronics, has reported a $366 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2008, and has said it will lay off as many as 4,500 jobs in a cost-cutting drive.The results for the European firm were released on Tuesday. The fourth quarter of the previous year saw a net income of $20 million. It is not yet known how many of the layoffs will take place in the UK–STMicro employs just over 430 employees in the UK, with a sales office in Marlow and research and development sites in Bristol, Edinburgh, Fleet and Daventry.
Source : STMicro reports quarterly loss, lays off 4,500
