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Mobility Solutions for Microsoft Online Services (BPOS)

Access Microsoft Online Services, Exchange Online and SharePoint Online with your smartphone; almost any smartphone that is, including the BlackBerry.

For “pushmail” (email, calendar, contacts, tasks) with Exchange Online there’s a great overview of the different vendors supporting Exchange Active Sync (including Nokia, Apple and SamSung)

… In an increasingly mobile world, more employees need seamless access to more types of communications and collaboration information—including e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and shared content—from virtually anywhere, at any time. Microsoft Online Services includes two services which can be accessed through mobile phones: Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online. Both Exchange Online and SharePoint Online can be accessed through a variety of devices: Windows Mobile 6.0+ devices, Exchange ActiveSync devices, and RIM BlackBerry devices.

See solutions for each device type:

• Windows Mobile devices
• Exchange ActiveSync devices
• RIM BlackBerry devices

For detailed information on solutions for each device type, download the Mobility Solutions Description (Word). …

Source: Microsoft Online Services

Microsoft Office 2008 gets Mac-Windows collaboration capabilities

Very good move to bridge the MAC OS and Windows platforms …

January 6, 2009 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. today said it would launch new Macintosh software later this year that will let Office 2008 for Mac users collaborate with people running the Windows version of the application suite.

The company made the announcement at the Macworld Conference & Expo, where Apple Inc. delivered the keynote for the last time, without CEO Steve Jobs, a longtime fixture at the event.

Document Collaboration Companion will be released to a small number of beta testers next month, said a Microsoft spokeswoman in an e-mail today. However, Microsoft would not commit to a definitive final release timetable, saying only that it would deliver the software "later this year."

The spokeswoman said that the program will make it easier for users to download and upload documents to enterprise servers running SharePoint, Microsoft's browser-based collaboration platform, or to Office Live Workspace, the free online service that offers similar functionality. Document Collaboration Companion also will provide Mac-based tools to let Office users check shared documents in and out.

Microsoft touted the upcoming software and a planned makeover of Entourage -- the e-mail client for Office 2008 for Mac -- as its first moves toward providing some of the same kind of services to its Mac customers that those running Windows already enjoy.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Wow this is really revolutionary .. Apple takes innovation to the next level …

 

(kudos to Maarten)

Apple suggests Mac users install antivirus software

sign of the times …

… Apple is recommending that Mac users install antivirus software.

But don't read this as an admission that the Mac operating system is suddenly insecure. It's more a recognition that Mac users are vulnerable to Web application exploits, which have replaced operating system vulnerabilities as the bigger threat to computer users.

On November 21 Apple updated a technical note on its Support Web site that says: "Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult." …

Read on : Cnet.com

The Mobile Application Rush: Is the iPhone Really Leading the Way?

The iPhone is a very good example of software + Services. A connected smartphone with a lot (or shoudl I say a huge number of) local applications. Over 50% of the iPhone users use 11+ apps …

The Apple iPhone’s Application Store is considered an innovative step forward in creating a true convergence device. Although mobile apps are not new, from the T-Mobile G1 to the Blackberry Bold, everyone is hopping on the bandwagon.

But are iPhone owners really interested in mobile applications any more than other Smartphone users, or is it just hype? To find out, I looked at some survey data from Compete’s new Smartphone Intelligence product.

Source: Smartphone Intelligence

• Smartphone owners are more likely to bypass applications altogether: 34% of Smartphone owners have not added an application to their phone, versus just 7% of iPhone users.
• iPhone users are more likely to have added a number of different applications to their device: 72% had more than five applications on their phones, compared to only 23% of other Smartphone owners.

Source: The Mobile Application Rush: Is the iPhone Really Leading the Way?

iPhone drukt winst T-Mobile Nederland

Interessant die keerzijde van het succes, geen “win-win” situatie

De introductie van de iPhone heeft voor T-Mobile ook een keerzijde. Het telecombedrijf zag het aantal klanten groeien door de veelbesproken telefoon van Apple, maar moest ook meer geld uitgeven om klanten voor de telefoon binnen te halen.

Source: iPhone drukt winst T-Mobile Nederland

Komt Apple met netbook?

Netbook zijn volgens mij eenvoudige en vooral kleine laptops die qua prijs aan de onderkant van de markt worden gepositioneerd, zoals de Asus EEE PC’s bijvoorbeeld. Blijkbaar houdt Apple ook in dit segment vast aan haar strategie dat hun laptops gemiddeld 2x zo duur zijn vergeleken met Windows gebaseerde laptops / Netbooks … (maar wel mooi :-) )

De vaste herfstaankondiging van Apple's nieuwe producten, ditmaal op 14 oktober, is altijd aanleiding voor nerveuze geruchten: komt Apple ditmaal met een netbook? En wat is waar van berichten dat Apple met notebooks komt die niet meer dan 800 dollar gaan kosten?

Source: Komt Apple met netbook?

SaaS vs S+S : Apple's MobileMe mail, Google's Gmail go dark

An article on the Computerworld website triggered me due to a funny comment quoted in there. The article was about the issues both Apple and Google experienced with their services over the last week or so :

… Both services have been restored, companies claim, but continuing problems anger users

August 11, 2008 (Computerworld) Apple Inc.'s MobileMe and Google Inc.'s Gmail online e-mail services suffered hours-long outages Monday, leaving millions of users unable to access their accounts.

Google restored service within about two and a half hours, but it took Apple approximately seven hours to restore full access to its online mail service.

Apple users first reported trouble accessing the service's servers from their desktop mail clients around 2 p.m. Eastern time, and in the next several hours, posted several hundred messages on the MobileMe support forum about the outage. …

The comment was a big apology to Microsoft Outlook :-)

… But Owen Schultz had one of the best takes of any user. "Dear MS Outlook," Schultz started, "I am so sorry about our breakup several year ago. I have been thinking about you a lot since then. Will you please consider taking me back? Just one more chance? I'm sorry about all the horrible things I said about you and your operating system. You were the best I ever had! MobileMe and I are finished!" …

Source: Computerworld

Webcam broke :-)

Macbook Air vs Lenovo X300 :-)

New Mac Messenger for OCS

The MS Exchange Blog (not the official Microsoft Exchange team blog) reports on the upcoming MAC Messenger for OCS currently in beta ...

... According to Eric Swift, Senior Director of the Office Communications Group at Microsoft, they are working on a new Messenger client for Mac with a beta coming later this year.

The new Mac Messenger (Office Communicator for Mac?) may not have feature-parity with its Windows-based counterpart, but it will have peer-to-peer video and audio conferencing, rich presence, GAL search and dual sign-on. Your Mac clients will be able to integrate with your Office Communications Server 2007 as well. ...

New Mac Messenger for OCS

Report: Microsoft fastest to issue OS patches, Sun slowest

Bink.nu posted an interesting piece published ny Symantec comparing the speed of OS pathces between Apple, Sun, HP, Red Hat and Microsoft ...

... Symantec's comprehensive security report on the malware industry from July 1 to December 31, 2007, is now available (PDF) in its 100+ page glory. While some parts of the report simply reiterate data we're well aware of—it's no surprise to read that the majority of malicious activity originates in the US—there's also a great deal of new information here that we'll examine below.

OS/software vulnerabilities

Symantec broke down information on patch development time by operating system and by the type of vulnerability encountered. Surprisingly, Microsoft had the shortest time-to-patch over both halves of 2007. In the first part of the year, Microsoft released 38 patches (two of which involved third-party applications) with an average deployment time of 18 days. From July to December, Microsoft released 22 patches with an average patch time of six days. ...

Report: Microsoft fastest to issue OS patches, Sun slowest

Microsoft patcht sneller dan Apple

For the record ...

Critici beschuldigen Microsoft vaak van traagheid als het aankomt op het uitbrengen van patches voor kritieke beveiligingsgaten. Apple zou het veel beter doen. Een Zwitsers onderzoek wijst nu het tegendeel uit. ...

Source: Microsoft patcht sneller dan Apple

Alles komt samen ... McVista :-)

Apple iPhone and Exchange ActiveSync

Endgadget reports live from the Live from Apple's iPhone SDK press conference

Picture say more than words ...

Macbook AIR - battery

Short clip of one very brave person who took his Macbook Air apart .. wow ..

I needed some AIR ...

This speaks for itself ... if not stay tuned ...