As president of Microsoft’s server and tools division, a $19 billion-a-year business devoted to databases, servers and other software products, Satya Nadella has a predictable cast of competitors to worry about. There is Oracle, VMware, SAP and a bunch of other makers of highly technical products that make everyday services like banking and airline reservations work, even if the software running them is invisible to most consumers.
But one of Mr. Nadella’s competitors – Amazon – is not like the others.
The Internet retailer is beloved by consumers for its seemingly infinite online selection of merchandise available for one-click purchasing, speedy delivery and Kindle e-readers. Out of view of most of the public, though, it has transformed itself into a huge player in the field of cloud computing. By renting capacity on the industrial-strength servers and beefy Internet connections in its data centers to anyone willing to pay for it, Amazon has become the virtual landlord of choice for technology start-ups, including the likes of Instagram and Foursquare.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Microsoft Takes Aim at Amazon With a New Cloud Service
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Who’s really winning between iOS and Android?
This is one of the silliest questions that constantly gets asked on tech blogs and is often answered by infographics. The truth is this: nobody really cares. It’s a personal choice. Some are extremely loyal to the brand or operating system that they prefer. Most are open to whatever makes the most sense to them.
Still, the question will be asked and blogs will attempt to answer it. Which major mobile operating system is winning the war, iOS or Android? Here’s another shot at answering the question, looking at some of the important numbers including activations, fragmentation, and owner satisfaction. Will these numbers sway you or anybody else? Probably not. Are the good to use as justification for one or the other? Probably so.
Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5: Which phone should you buy?
How do you choose between the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4? On the one hand, the iPhone 5 is an entirely known entity that just works. You might not be getting the most exciting or feature-rich smartphone, but at least you know exactly what you’re getting. Samsung’s Galaxy S4, on the other hand, is world’s apart from the iPhone 5: It’s huge, and massively powerful, and it has a ton of features that might be awesome or gimmicky, depending on your point of view.
The best bet, if you need help choosing between the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4, is for us to start at the beginning: the hardware. We’ll then work our way up through the software, first- and third-party support, and other features that might break the tie.
To Compete With Amazon, eBay Debuts Free Listings And Simpler Fee Structures For Sellers
eBay is debuting a new fee structure and incentives for sellers today in an effort to remain the most competitive commerce platform next to e-commerce marketplace Amazon. For the first time, eBay is launching free listings for both non-stores and stores on the platform, as well as simpler pricing.
Non-stores previously had fixed-price listings that charged $0.50 insertion fees, and then various “tranches,” or levels, of final value fees, depending on the amount of the item. Fixed-price, non-store, final-value fee tranches didn’t have a cap, either. Now, non-store pricing has one, flat final-value fee rate of 10 percent capped at $250. So the max that any non-store seller will pay is 10 percent of the transaction. Non-store consumer sellers are also allowed 50 free listings (no insertion fees) if they list auction-only or buy-it-now items. After 50 listings, sellers will be charged $0.30 per listings.
For merchants with storefronts on eBay, listing fees were previously required in addition to the monthly subscription charge. That’s changed with today’s announcement. Sellers get a discount for yearly subscriptions, and they also get up to 2,500 free listings per month with a choice of buy it now or auction depending on store level. Previously there were no free listings available to stores.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
How Samsung is out-innovating Apple
There's no arguing that Apple set the standard for modern mobile devices with the iPhone and the iPad. It didn't take long after those two products launched for competitors to rush out their own copycat devices.
Even then, it took another few years before Android was good enough to go toe to toe with iOS, Apple's mobile operating system.
But it's no longer about being just as good as Apple. You have to be better. Competitors have built upon the foundation Apple laid in mobile and are now leapfrogging it with bunch of useful features you can't find on iPhones and iPads.
The evidence is everywhere, but it's most apparent in products made by Apple's biggest mobile rival, Samsung.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Why BlackBerry Will Beat Windows Phone: It's Cool Again!
Last week, in an attempt to get the contacts on my old Android transferred to the new BlackBerry Z10, I stopped at my local AT&T store to see if they could transfer them. It was like a rock star just walked into the room.
The rock star wasn’t me. I am not that cool. It was the Z10.
The AT&T employees (who couldn’t actually transfer the contacts since BlackBerry 10 is so new) fawned over the device like it was a favorite cousin come home after years lost at sea. They took pictures of it and sent them to a friend. They bet each other they could figure out how to use the gesture-based navigation. The reaction was a little surprising.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sorry Apple, the BlackBerry Z10 Is Hotter Than the iPhone
I've always hated BlackBerry phones. Disgracefully ugly bricks they were—until BlackBerry 10. The BlackBerry Z10 is hot. Truly beautiful, elegant hardware. If the OS is as nice as it seemed at CES, I will totally snatch one up.
These BlackBerry Z10 vs iPhone 5 comparative renders by our friend Martin Hajek are great. Not only because they show off just how beautiful a phone RIM has built, but because they demonstrate why we should still care about BlackBerry. With hardware as lovely as this, it may still have a chance at coming back with a vengeance.
The comparative images were made by Martin using leaked physical data and pictures which are believed to be the real thing. I love that is has zero buttons. It does it all through the screen's touch abilities, and that's all you need.
Facebook Has Opened Up A New Front In Its War With Google For The Future Of Advertising
The cash register rings. Who gets the credit?
That's the crucial question in advertising these days—particularly in Internet advertising, where it's easy to track clicks and links but often hard to pin down exactly which view of an ad drove a sale.
Now Facebook is making it easier to show that an ad displayed on the social network led to a sale—even an ad seen days or weeks ago.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Coca-Cola Vs. Pepsi Timeline
Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been battling each other for more than a century.
In fact, it's one of the legendary brand rivalries in the business world.
The fight has often gotten personal. Most recently, Pepsi went after Coke's famed mascots: the polar bears and Santa. The feud has even been transplanted into outer space.
How did it end up this way?
CnnTees put together an infographic entitled "The Soda Wars" that includes everything you'd ever want to know about the history of the Coke vs. Pepsi.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Infographic: Can Google Play Beat iTunes and Amazon?
Could social sharing through Google+ and the rise of the Android give Google Play an advantage over iTunes and Amazon?
This infographic breaks down the online music market with a side-by-side comparison of the leading app stores.
Even with 500 million members, Google’s social network is still a limited playing field for Google Play, when Amazon and iTunes both link to Facebook, which has more than one billion users.
However, Google customers can share entire tracks with their friends on Google+, while iTunes and Amazon users can only “like” a track or share a link on Facebook.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Google Apple Amazon Facebook At War
Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are at each other’s throats in all sorts of ways.
It is an epic story of warring factions in a strange and changing landscape, a tale of incursions and sieges, of plots and betrayals, of battlefield brilliance and of cunning with coin.
The sequence of doorstop fantasy novels that George R.R. Martin began with "A Game of Thrones", and which HBO has now turned into a hit television show, provides the sort of immersive experience of an alien world that has always been popular among techies.
But these days the escapism they offer may be tinged with an eldritch sense of recognition. Silicon Valley offers few dragons or direwolves, but Mr Martin’s tales of a world that has lost its king echoes the reality of today’s technology industry, where the battle lines between the four large companies seen as dominating the consumer internet — Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — are in furious flux.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Why Is Microsoft Trying To Stir Up Trouble For Google?
Microsoft's Bing opted out of embracing the holiday spirit and is launching a series of Google attack ads on NBC, CNN, and Fox News tomorrow.
The search engine is even trying to coin a new phrase, warning consumers, "Don't get Scroogled."
The commercials call out Google for its months old decision to make merchants pay to show up on Google Shopping results.
Even though this has been around since May, Microsoft decided to launch its ad campaign now to take advantage of the holiday shopping rush.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Microsoft Vs. Apple: A Tale of Two Stores
In the University Village outdoor shopping mall nestled in the shadow of the University of Washington, two stores less than a football field away from each other are in the middle of an epic battle. The Apple store and the Microsoft store face each other. Only a few rows of cars and the heavy Seattle weather come between the glow of the white Apple logo and the colorful Microsoft logo.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
iPad mini vs. Nexus 7: Which should you get?
Apple has introduced their lighter, thinner, more "concentrated" iPad mini but they certainly weren't first-to-market with a small tablet. Most recently, Google and their partner, Asus, launched the Nexus 7, the best Android tablet to date.
Still, the Nexus 7 hasn't really caught on beyond Android aficionados and gadget geeks. And that's despite it's decent build quality, ultra-modern operating system, and the full-on Google support only Nexus-class devices enjoy. It remains to be seen if Apple's small tablet will fare any better in the thus-far completely big iPad dominated market, but if you're looking for an alternative, there's very few other places to look.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Windows 8 vs. Windows 7
Microsoft is releasing a new operating system, Windows 8, October 26th. There have been many changes, and many backend improvements, as well as a huge buzz on the Internet. But how well does the new operating system hold up?
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Marvel vs DC at the Box Office [Infographic]
</p> <p>DC vs Marvel - The longtime showdown heads to the silver screen and this infographic compares just who wins in this battle of the superhero movies.</p> <p>From FancyDressCostumes.co.uk via Visual.ly.</p> <p> </p> <p>Tons of excellent infographics in one place.</p> </div></blockquote> DC vs Marvel - The longtime showdown heads to the silver screen and this infographic compares just who wins in this battle of the superhero movies.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
There's A War Inside Apple Over The Direction Of Its Design
Apple is known for its great design, but inside the company, there is a growing divide over the direction of its software design, Austin Carr at Fast Company reports.
Carr says the evolution of Apple's software design, which continues to emphasize skeuomorphic design, is causing embarrassment within the company.
Skeuomorphic design is a fancy way of describing when Apple replicates physical products with its software designs. For instance, when you use Apple's "notes" app, it looks like a fake legal pad. When you look at the Newsstand app, it has fake wooden shelves.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Star Wars vs. Star Trek [Infographic]
At first look, this infographic paints a pretty bleak picture of the Star Trek universe. Do you agree with the data that’s in there? Are you more of a Star Trek or Star Wars fanboy/girl? Let us know in the comments section below!
The Great Tablet War Of 2012
Make no mistake: There's a full-blown battle on for the future of computing.
Forget all the fragmentary skirmishes for your pocket, for your set-top, for your living room, and for your desk.
It's become increasingly clear that the tablet is the defining device of the next couple decades of computing, as the PC was in the '80s.
Handheld touchscreen devices are the key way we'll consume content and buy things.
So that's extremely interesting to anyone who makes devices, serves up content, or sells things.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Native apps vs. web apps: The martial epic has found its end
he burning debate between native apps and web apps that became the present-day martial epic – seemingly neverending – has finally found its end.
Fred Cavazza said “it’s complicated“. Matthew Baxter-Reynolds said that HTML5 might replace native apps. Brad Frost said “native vs web is total bullshit” and that we should “embrace the advantages of both native and web to create more holistic mobile experiences”. Cavazza added to the heat of the debate and provided an inspirational mobile strategy. Reynolds made it a little HTML5 oriented. Frost averred that this shouldn’t be a debate at all and perhaps suggested that we should move towards hybrid apps – which encompass the features of both web and native apps. All of them have solid points, I enjoyed reading them and you must go through them once as well.
This post is not about taking you a decade ahead and predicting the winner, but it’s designed to give you a good overview of native apps and web apps so that you can write your own ending to this martial epic and call off this (apparently age-old) debate – right here, right now!