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Is Google Chromebook the ultimate Cloud laptop?

So the next obvious question to be asked is – why would you want a Chromebook running a Chrome OS rather than an Android tablet or iPad for that matter? Furthermore, if the Chrome browser is becoming Android‘s default browser in version 4, as has been hinted, it puts an even bigger question mark behind the Chromebook, doesn‘t it? Not so according to Google, which rightly point to competitors that also maintain two OS’s, including Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone 7. Apple has Mac OS x and iOS.

Google Cloud Drive Storage Rumoured

Search giant Google is reportedly working on a new cloud-based storage platform called Drive which will aim to go toe to toe with rivals like Dropbox and even Apple`s iCloud.Google has been a major proponent of cloud computing services and it is hoping that Drive will allow it to expand in this market, offering users an alternative to the established platforms on which they can deposit files and folders to retrieve at a later date.

Mobile Cloud Computing Will Skyrocket in 2012

It’s no surprise that many cloud experts predict that mobile cloud computing will become increasingly important in 2012. Given the numbers of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices shipped every day, more and more users are relying on the cloud as the main driver for satisfying their computing needs, whether it is data storage, applications or infrastructure.

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9 reasons why VPNs are the next big IT trend

Virtual Private Networks act as a secure tunnel that safely connects the user to a remote network across a public network.

  • Thanks to VPNs and the abundance of cheap Internet bandwidth, companies no longer have to lease dedicated lines to connect 2 remote locations. Instead, they can establish a secure encrypted channel which can safely transfer data between both locations across the Internet.
  • Another common use for VPNs would be for laptop users who want to connect to corporate systems from remote networks. These can include coffee shops, airports, hotels and other places where network security might not be the most reliable. In order to gain secure access to servers on the internal network, these employees will need to install VPNs onto their laptops.
VPNs are not a new technology. But I strongly believe that this security tool is still very under-used, and that we should soon expect to see a boom in the use of Virtual Private Networks by both companies and individuals alike.

Cloud Computing and QoS Compatibility for Business Video Conferencing

Interesting overview of business video conferencing in the cloud:

The widespread adoption of cloud computing in business-critical applications such as storage and CRM has set the stage for conquering another, video conferencing cloud computing offers compelling, fundamental advantages in this product category: lower cost, automated fail-over, and much easier to scale versus video-specific routers, multipoint control units (MCUs) and other infrastructure hardware solutions.  But as experienced IT managers know, there’s more to video conferencing than meets the eye, literally.  What about bandwidth consumption and manageability?

Future of cloud-based music

"ABI predicts a compound annual growth rate of 95 per cent, leading to 161 million subscribers by 2016. Services companies such as Spotify and Rhapsody are poised to scoop the spoils. However, creators will find it tough."

I addressed the future of cloud-based music streaming in a recent post. I'ts future certainly seems rosy, but will the artists themselves lose out?

"The new UI is the social network"

It's evident that communication service providers (CSPs) are currently pondering on how to approach the changes in usage behavior that social networking, especially Facebook, is bringing. CSPs are concerned that Facebook and the likes will hurt their current revenue streams from voice, text messaging and other services. From a new ReadWriteWeb article:

It's a logical conclusion that Facebook will extend its messaging platform to voice and other communications. That realization is forcing the telecommunications providers to respond. Facebook is moving into telco territory.

 Whether CSPs manage to adapt to the ongoing challenges remains to be seen. However, becoming active participants and embracing cooperation opportunities with social networking providers seems to be the only viable long-term strategy in my opinion. CSPs should be in a very good position to enable and create added value to social networking services.

Why are companies not moving to the Cloud?

Not all companies are willing to move to the Cloud for various reasons, some of the listed below

Security--customers want physical control of their data and still don't trust it off site.
Unapproachable--moving applications to the cloud seems complicated and abstract.
Proprietary--it's too hard to move data among systems.
Rearchitecting current applications is time-consuming and complicated.
All or nothing--you're either cloud or on-premise, but not both.
Do-it-yourself--support isn't a big priority for some cloud computing vendors.

These are taken from Rackspace CTO, John Engates, in his speech at the Web 2.0 Summit 

For his part, Engates defined cloud computing as being similar to hosting, but with much greater flexibility thanks to the use of virtualization to create and break down applications quickly. VMWare, Microsoft, and Amazon would probably all agree with that definition. Then they can get to work solving the other problems.