Grazed from Mashable. Author: Chris Taylor.

The tech pundit jury has apparently reached a solemn, sober verdict on the Chromebook Pixel laptop Google launched Thursday. And the verdict is … "Oh my God, look at the sticker price!" (Tech pundits faint with shock.) This rush to judgment, most of it without so much as seeing the device, is a great pity. I’ve been using the Pixel all day, and it’s one of the most gorgeous pieces of hardware I’ve picked up in a while.

The Pixel is a pleasure to use, with a screen that’s just as eye-poppingly beautiful as a Macbook Retina — except you can navigate it by touch like a retina-display iPad. (And if you don’t want to touch the screen, the giant glass trackpad on the keyboard is just as awesome.) The i5 chipset is incredibly fast. A great deal of thought went into every aspect of its construction, from the click of the keyboard to the solid car-door clunk of the magnetic latch…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Lucas Mearian.

Calling it the biggest news since its creation, VCE today added two low-end models to its line of Vblock pre-configured, cloud-computing systems. VCE also announced it is teaming with SAP AG to add the SAP HANA database to its Vblock system. Models prequalified to work with the in-memory database software are called Vblock specialized System SAP HANA.

The new Vblock System 100 and System 200 models join the System 300 and System systems. Additionally, VCE unveiled a new software management application said to give users a single view of their entire Vblock environment. The new software, called VCE Vision Intelligent Operations, allows the preconfigured systems to be managed in a "much simpler converged way," said Nina Hargus, VCE’s chief marketing officer…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Juan Carlos Perez.

Google has launched fee-based support services for customers of its cloud platform and infrastructure products, like App Engine, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, and Big Query. Google, often criticized over the years for having weak technical support both for consumers and enterprise customers, rolled out a four-tier support program specifically for customers of its Cloud Platform services.

"Support is as important as product features when choosing a platform for your applications. And let’s face it, sometimes we all need a bit of help," wrote Brett McCully, from the Google Cloud Platform Team, in a blog post on Thursday. The Bronze tier, which is free, includes access to online documentation, community forums and billing help. Building on those services, the Silver tier, which costs $150 per month per account, adds the ability for customers to ask the Cloud Platform support team questions via email related to product functionality, best practices and service errors…

Grazed from HispanicBusiness.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Business advisory company PwC US on Wednesday announced the publication of a new book titled Business Models for the Social Mobile Cloud: Transform Your Business Using Social Media, Mobile Internet, and Cloud Computing by Ted Shelton, a managing director in its US Advisory practice. 


The effects of social media, the mobile Internet and cloud computing technologies on business are all examined in the book, which offers advice on how to use those technologies in support of business objectives for innovation and growth.

Shelton’s title is published by John Wiley & Sons Inc and is available in both print and all e-book formats.

Grazed from InfoSecurity. Author: Steve Durbin.

The benefits of cloud computing services are now well established; however, uncertainty still surrounds several of the inherent risks. The ISF’s Steve Durbin examines what organizations can do to realize the benefits of the cloud, while avoiding the information security bear-traps that exist

According to a recent report from the Cloud Security Alliance and ISACA, which examined enterprises’ attitudes toward cloud computing, the market has reached a new level of maturity at which enterprises can benefit greatly from adopting cloud infrastructure, platform or software service offerings. Nevertheless, issues around regulations, international data privacy and exit strategies top the list of concerns that undermine confidence in cloud computing…

Grazed from FierceGovernnment IT. Author: Greg Slabodkin.

The intersection of cloud computing and big data gives government agencies opportunities in areas such as DNA sequencing and national security, said speakers at a National Institute of Standards and Technology workshop.

Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said that the federal government in only at the "tip of the iceberg" in its use of cloud and big data. The government is sitting on a "treasure trove" of data that could open up opportunities for scientific discovery and entrepreneurship, he said…

Grazed from SCMP. Author: Bien Perez.

Microsoft has teamed up with Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) to bring the "cloud computing" version of its Office productivity software to millions of households across the city. The two companies yesterday jointly introduced Office 365 Home Premium software as a service, which allows consumers to subscribe for as low as HK$2 a day, less than the cost of a tram ride. Horace Chow Chok-kee, the general manager at Microsoft Hong Kong, said the partnership with HKBN will soon be expanded to include support for small and medium-sized companies in the city.

Cloud computing enables consumers and companies to buy, lease, sell and distribute a range of software, business systems, data and other digital resources, including storage, as an on-demand service, just like buying electricity from a power grid. "Cloud" refers to the internet. Office 365 Home Premium, which had its global launch last month, is available in 162 markets in 21 languages. It includes the latest set of Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD) is rolling out the next incremental version of its virtual Whitewater appliance. Whitewater Operating System (WWOS) 2.1 introduces larger virtual appliances than were previously available, but the biggest news is that Whitewater now supports Amazon Glacier archival storage.

Jerome Noll, director of products and marketing for the Whitewater product family at Riverbed Technology, told Talkin’ Cloud that the company has been gaining a lot of interest from customers, who now number in "the triple digits." And what’s happening, he said, is customers are going to Riverbed and its VARs to buy one appliance, and then later beefing up their systems with additional appliances…

Grazed from Windows IT Pro. Author: Tony Redmond.

John Rhoton, someone who has held senior positions for cloud computing at HP and Symantec, has released the “Cloud Computing Protected: Security Assessment Handbook”. Jan De Clercq (who writes frequently about security for WindowsITPro.com) and David Graves, an HP Distinguished Engineer who specializes in cloud services, also contribute to the book. John’s previous books in the series are Cloud Computing Explained and Cloud Computing Architected, both of which are good reads for anyone who needs to understand the basic concepts that underpin this mode of computing. Given the rush to embrace the cloud as the preferred platform for a range of applications, it’s a good time to release a book to remind those considering the transition to the cloud that some work is necessary to ensure that data and access remains secure.

One aspect of migrating to a multi-tenant cloud platform is that you cede operational control over your data. Consumers have been doing this for a very long time. It’s always interested me that people are quite happy to upload some of their most precious memories to online photo sites like Snapfish.com without any knowledge of who now has access to their photos, where the photos are actually stored, and what the long-term future of the site might be. In effect, consumers transfer control over their data without batting an eyelid…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Juan Carlos Perez.

Yammer plans to roll out an integration with the SkyDrive Pro cloud storage product and the Office Web Apps Web-hosted productivity application suite this summer. The initiative is part of Yammer’s ongoing push to deepen and extend the integration of its cloud-hosted enterprise social-networking software with products from Microsoft, which acquired Yammer last July for $1.2 billion.

SkyDrive Pro, an enterprise version of the consumer SkyDrive cloud storage service, will become Yammer’s underlying file-storage platform for Yammer, Microsoft said on Wednesday. The link with Office Web Apps, a browser-based version of the Office suite, will let Yammer users preview and edit documents from applications like Word and Excel right from within the Yammer activity stream interface…