services

With every Google enterprise announcement Microsoft must hear the war drums beating.

Sure, Google owns the search market. And, as a result, the company is the online advertising leader. But Microsoft has all those Windows desktops out there, and owns the corporate market, right?

Well, maybe not for long.

Sure, software as a service and cloud computing don't sound as sexy as free e-mail and pay-per-click, but they are the wave of the future, experts say.

On Thursday, Google unveiled a re-branded Web Security for Enterprise based on the Postini technology it acquired last year. The Web-hosted service protects … Read more

An unexpected bump in the head landed yours truly in the emergency ward recently, and when they wheeled me up to the CAT scan, I handed over my cell phone.

"Oh, we don't need that," the attendant told me. "We only take iPhones."

Wow, I thought. Of all places to land a scoop!

"You mean there's something about the device that interferes with the picture process?"

"No," the attendant laughed. "We're just looking for iPhones, not that other stuff."

Just around the same time, Consumer Reports announced … Read more

When Robert Pedersen's Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop went on the fritz, he naturally assumed the 5-year Next Day service warranty he purchased would get him instant help from the company's customer service staff.

That was April 18. By May 4, he still had yet to have his guaranteed next-day in-home repair appointment scheduled. And it wasn't for lack of trying. He sums up his frustration on his blog: "Close to a month, 37 different communications, a Certified letter to the CEO of Dell Computers, Inc, and 29 actual hours working directly with Dell Computers, Inc in … Read more

For something so focused on navigation and geography, it's a bit ironic that location-based social networks have to work their way through such a jungle: carrier partnerships, handset compatibility, creepy privacy concerns, and what-have-you. But one small New York start-up, Socialight, says it's found a route: developers, developers, developers.

Socialight, which focuses on user-created city maps and whose founders insist that location-based mobile services can have functions other than stalking your friends, announced Wednesday that it has opened its application program interface (API). This will let developers mesh Socialight into applications for mobile platforms like Apple's iPhone, … Read more

Yesterday I was in Internet purgatory. Today I'm back in the land of the living.

The occasion? Cable installation--an activity on par with going to get fillings at the dentist. It's time consuming, and often a learning experience about the quirks of wherever you're living. When my wonderful technician was done, I had play-off basketball and what I thought was a working pipe into the Web. However, I learned soon after that, Comcast had changed its system for getting customers online since the last time we had leased a modem.

The latest system requires you to install … Read more

No, you haven't travelled back in time: this is a PDA. It might not do futuristic things like make phone calls, send text messages or take pictures, but if you're not bothered by those fancy features then this might be right up your street. It's called the Socket SoMo 650-M and costs around $670--which we think is ridiculous.

Aimed at the service industry, this rugged Windows Mobile 5 PDA looks retro, but it's extremely sturdy and boasts a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an Intel processor running at 624MHz, and an SD and CF slot with … Read more

Too often we choose a security program based on the reputation of the vendor. That's why I was happy to learn that the results of recent tests of antivirus software conducted by AV-Test.org found several with near-perfect virus-detection rates, including Avira's free AntiVir Personal.

The tests didn't distinguish between antivirus programs that reside on your PC and virus scanners that run in a browser. I wasn't able to find any test results specifically for online virus-scanning services, though the same handful of names popped up repeatedly: Secunia Software Inspector, Trend Micro HouseCall, Kapersky Online Scanner, … Read more

The other day, Kitty Kilobyte called up Power Downloader with a pressing concern. Was there an easy way to tell if Microsoft had pushed Windows XP Service Pack 3 to her computer yet?

Some of you may laugh at Kitty, but besides displaying terrible social skills, Microsoft updates are no joking matter. Sure, Power knows that they may not always be released as planned, like with XP SP3 or Vista SP1 earlier this week, but when they do get downloaded to your machine they're important. Patching security holes and performance enhancements can make the difference between running a healthy … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission capped a subsidy program that helps fund cell phone coverage in rural areas.

In a 3-2 vote on Thursday, the FCC said it would limit payments to wireless carriers seeking funds from the Universal Service Fund to help subsidize the cost of providing cell phone service in rural areas. The USF, which is supported by a tax on long-distance and regular subscriber line charges paid by wireless, Internet, and traditional phone customers, has been temporarily capped after the program paid nearly $1.12 billion last year to phone companies operating in rural areas. In 2001, the … Read more