Google may float paid YouTube streaming subscription
Google wants to be your go-to guy for online media, and is inching closer to the launch a paid YouTube subscription service, according to reports.
But can YouTube, which has mostly been free and fed by advertising dollars, function as a pay service? And can Google acquire content rich enough to compete with Amazon, Netflix, and others?
Google Apps plug-in injects the cloud into Office
Google’s latest effort to lure business customers away from Microsoft Office to Google Apps comes in the form of a plug-in for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The plug-in essentially syncs Office files with an online counterpart that lives in Google Docs, which allows users to always see the most recent version of a file, whether they’re viewing it in a browser, in an Office app or even on a mobile device.
Which Cloud API Do You Prefer Today?
The OpenNebula Team has just announced the availability of a Sunstone Cloud Testbed. Sunstone is offered on top of the OpenNebula Cloud, which offers a virtual computing environment accessible through two different remote cloud interfaces, OCCI and EC2, and now through a web interface, OpenNebula Sunstone.
SpotCloud Explores the Cloud’s Utility Computing Future
Parallels Launches Hosted PBX, Cloud Infrastructure Services
Hosting and cloud services specialist Parallels announced the introduction of cloud infrastructure and hosted PBX platforms, as well as support for
Dissecting the New SGI’s Plan for Profitability
Microsoft strikes 14 new cloud services deals with state, local organizations
Microsoft said it has signed new contracts with 14 state and local government organizations for cloud computing services, including the cities of Alexandria, Va.; Chicago; and Virginia Beach, Va.; and the state departments of labor in Colorado and Idaho.
The new deals, signed in the past several weeks, bring the total to 190 state and local government organizations now using Microsoft cloud solutions, company officials said. Altogether, more than 3 million government employees are using the company’s online business services, they added.
Software Licensing Is Sticking Point for Cloud Adoption
Ask folks about barriers to the cloud and you’ll get a very familiar list: security concerns, performance issues and a niggling fear of giving up control. What you don’t often hear about is licensing costs, which could prove to be a pretty big hurdle.
The Chinese Dragon And Cloud Computing
China may not have India’s expertise in software, but it does have expertise in the other half of the cloud computing equation – hardware. With a state-controlled economy that determines whether the nation’s resources are to be directed, it is not surprising that China will dedicate itself towards its area of expertise – manufacturing – and proceed towards building a “city-sized” cloud computing complex in the Hebei province in northern China.