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Google's Chrome OS: Will you give up desktop apps?
Google revealed a bevy of noteworthy developments for its Chrome OS. However, the success or failure of the Chrome OS will ride on whether users will give up desktop applications.... Continued »
Category: Web Technology
November 20th, 2009
Mozilla: Still too dependent on Google for revenue; Can it diversify?
Mozilla reported its 2008 audited financials and the organization behind the Firefox browser delivered consolidated revenue of $78.6 million, up 5 percent from 2007. And the revenue picture looks even better if you exclude the $7.8 million loss in Mozilla’s investment portfolio. The worry: Google, now a competitor, is still bankrolling Mozilla.
Mitchell Baker, chairman of the Mozilla Foundation, outlined the financial picture on her blog. There’s a lot of good stuff in there.
To wit:
- Mozilla funds 200 people working full or part-time on Mozilla.
- The company has outposts across the globe and Firefox comes in 70 languages.
- Mozilla is launching messaging software.
- And Firefox has 110 million daily users as of November.
The worry for me as a Mozilla fan: The foundation’s financial stability depends on Google. Baker noted that Mozilla is diversifying its revenue base somewhat, but not enough in my view. She notes on her blog the majority of Mozilla’s revenue “is generated from the search functionality in Mozilla Firefox from organizations such as Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, and others.”
A trip to the actual audited PDF of Mozilla’s financial results and a note on “concentrations of risk” reveals:
Mozilla has a contract with a search engine provider for royalties which expires in November 2011. The contract was recently amended and extended to November 2011. Approximately 91% and 94% of Mozilla’s revenue for 2008 and 2007, respectively, was derived from this contract. The receivable from this search engine provider represented 80% and 86% of the December 31, 2008 and 207 outstanding receivables, respectively.
Obviously that search provider is Google. Simply put, Mozilla needs to diversify that revenue base from Google, which funds the foundation, but is increasingly a competitor. Having a rival fund your operations isn’t comfortable for any organization. Mozilla’s current situation is like Oracle accounting for the bulk SAP’s revenue. Or Microsoft providing most of Red Hat’s revenue. Or MySpace accounting for the majority of Facebook revenue. You get the idea.
Baker notes in her blog:
The past few years have seen an explosion of innovation and competition in web browsers, demonstrating their critical importance to the Internet experience and marking the success of our mission. In 2008 not only did Microsoft and Apple continue developing their web browsing products, but Google announced and released a web browser of its own. Competition, while uncomfortable, has benefited Mozilla, pushing us to work harder. Mozilla and Firefox continue to prosper, and to reflect our core values. We expect these competitive trends to continue, benefiting the entire Web.
Can Mozilla realistically diversify its revenue base away from Google? That’s unclear on many fronts. Google has the dominant market share in search. Yahoo is a non-factor. And Microsoft has the Bing search engine, but isn’t likely to support Firefox, a browser that competes (and often wins) against the software giant’s Internet Explorer.
Given that landscape Mozilla needs to get creative about that lucrative search box. Of Mozilla’s revenue generating partners only Amazon and eBay have the heft to really help diversify the foundation away from Google. Instead of a search box, perhaps Firefox needs a commerce box that would allow eBay and Amazon to pick up some of the revenue slack.
How do you think Mozilla can diversify away from Google?
November 19th, 2009
Google's Chrome OS: Will you give up desktop apps?
Google on Thursday revealed a bevy of noteworthy developments for its Chrome OS. The company released the Chrome OS to the open source community, laid out its security vision and promised to deliver a simple operating system. However, the success or failure of the Chrome OS will ride on whether users will give up desktop applications.
Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management, outlined the Chrome OS, noted that “there’s a paradigm shift in computing” presumably to netbooks and noted:
“Every application is a Web application. There are no conventional desktop applications.”
And there’s the rub.
November 19th, 2009
AOL: Will Armstrong get any honeymoon?
AOL will lay off a third of its workforce once it is spun off as a public company. The company’s ad business is a wreck. And the best thing AOL has going for it is a subscription model (read dial-up) that’s also in decline. Welcome back to the big leagues where there may be little to no honeymoon for AOL Chief Tim Armstrong.
When Armstrong took over at AOL I figured it was a good risk-adjusted career move. AOL was a mess. Armstrong could swoop in with his Google Web cred and either fix it or say there’s only so much one guy can do.
We’ll see how all that goes after a few earnings conference calls as a public company. Simply put, the odds may be stacked against Armstrong and AOL’s success. Meanwhile, these questions about AOL will be raised quickly if shares swoon. How many Time Warner shareholders are really going to hold AOL shares after the Internet company is spun off? And will there be buyers of AOL shares on the other side of the transaction? Add it up and you have all the ingredients for a rocky road once AOL is spun off Dec. 9.
Let’s check out recent events (Techmeme):
November 18th, 2009
Yahoo's dwindling search share: Time to panic?
Microsoft’s Bing search engine continues to grab market share from Yahoo in a perverse dance before these two companies partner in an attempt to conquer Google.
The latest comScore stats tell the tale. Simply put, Microsoft has nearly garnered 10 percent market share as Yahoo gives ground monthly. Google continues to gain share.
Now compare this to the picture at the end of 2008:
The twisted part: Microsoft and Yahoo are future partners on search (assuming regulators play along). 
The companies announced in late July that Yahoo would outsource search to Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz looked like long lost college pals.
Since then, Microsoft has systematically grabbed share from Yahoo. It appears that Microsoft will grab its search share with or without Yahoo. And if Microsoft acquires Ask.com, which may be on the block, the software giant picks up more share. Bottom line: Microsoft
has played the Bing marketing game well. By portraying Bing as a rival to Google it has crowded out the No. 2 player—Yahoo.
Is it time for Yahoo to hit the panic button? Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay addresses the issue in a research note Wednesday.
At a high-level Lindsay reckons:
- Since the Yahoo-Microsoft deal was negotiated Microsoft has grabbed 130 basis points of U.S. search queries.
- 18 percent market share for Yahoo is an unprecedented low.
- Each 100 basis points of share loss equals a penny of earnings per share.
- Yahoo’s 18 percent market share in search is worth $6 per share to investors.
- Yahoo’s search share could fall nearly 4 points before the deal closes.
Lindsay writes:
The deal structure gives Microsoft a perverse incentive to try and gain search share from Yahoo! rather than Google. As Microsoft cranks up its marketing engine to promote trial of Bing, the player it seems to be hurting most is Yahoo! followed at some distance by AOL. Whether this is a deliberate tactic by Microsoft (which we think unlikely) or not, the 130 bps of search share lost by Yahoo! to Bing we estimate has already cost Yahoo! shareholders $0.40/per share.
Even with all of those moving parts, Lindsay says that the financial impact isn’t as severe as some folks fear. Yahoo’s owned and operated sites carry the day. Simply put, Yahoo is more destination than search player.
Nevertheless, Yahoo is in a dangerous limbo here. Yahoo’s search team is more likely to be focused on sending resumes than advancing the ball. Advertisers are holding out for the deal to close before picking sides and they’re likely to go to the alpha male in the Microhoo deal—Microsoft.
And the biggest problem: Google isn’t standing still. Google is ramping up its mobile features and adding features and functionality at a rapid clip.
Also: Yahoo, Microsoft extend negotiations for search pact
- Yahoo: Major businesses have stabilized; update on Microsoft deal
- Yahoo pays its ‘technical debt’ with IT overhaul
- Yahoo’s search strategy: We’re not fighting “the megawatt war”
- Yahoo-Microsoft deal: Details from the SEC filing
- Ballmer on the Microsoft-Yahoo deal: ‘Nobody gets it’
- Microsoft-Yahoo: Gauging the IT integration risks
- It’s official: Microsoft-Yahoo ink 10-year search pact; Regulator scrum begins
November 16th, 2009
Citrix adds integrated audio to GoToMeeting
Citrix said Monday that it is adding integrated toll-free audio services to its GoToMeeting Corporate and GoToWebinar services.
In a nutshell, customers that establish meeting via GoToMeeting will be able to choose toll-free, a toll number or Voice over IP audio to go with their meetings. Each user will be able to accept an audio option along with Web conferencing.
Citrix said in a statement that GoToMeeting will have one-click recording, subscription based pricing and scheduling tools.
The audio integration makes a lot of sense and is likely to signal more collaboration tools integrating voice. For instance, I fully expect that Skype will enter the collaboration market to give Cisco’s WebEx and GoToMeeting a run.
GoToMeeting’s voice services are provided by Citrix Online Audio, a unit of Citrix.
November 16th, 2009
Professional Web video comes of age with Brightcove upgrade
The interest in professional online video used to be limited to the big companies who were integrating video clips into their marketing or social media campaigns. Today, the interest has broadened to companies of all sizes, including the small business owners who would like to use video for promotional efforts but found the offerings from companies such as Brightcove to be too much - and too expensive - for their needs.
Recognizing that, Brightcove today is announcing Brightcove 4, a major upgrade to its existing product that includes, among other things, an “Express” edition that’s targeting customers of all sizes. The product starts at $99 per month. In a statement, Brightcove chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire said:
As video becomes pervasive on the Web, publishers face increasingly complex and demanding requirements that often span multiple use-cases and devices. Brightcove 4 provides a powerful and extensible suite of new services that make it easy or customers to execute three-screen strategies and generate additional value from online video through new distribution and monetization opportunities.
The company said the Express product is designed to integrate easily with ad networks, Web analytics data and content management systems such as Wordpress, TypePad and others, enabling both large and small Web site owners to embed professional video clips into their sites.
Among the other features of Brightcove 4:
- New cloud services, SDKs and options for publishers that allow for, among other things, easier branding and in-player design elements without the need for Flash programming.
- Features that address new use-cases and offer advanced monetization capabilities, social sharing tools and support for live streaming.
- New capabilities such as the ability to delivery content over the most appropriate protocol for the viewer, whether PC, mobile, connected TV or set-top box.
November 12th, 2009
Can Google make the Web SPDYer? Maybe, with your help
A team of software engineers at Google who are working on a project known as SPDY - and pronounced Speedy - are reaching out for some input from engineering types. The early-stage research project, which has only been tested in labs so far, is working to speed up the Web.
This project is way deeper into the weeds of technology than I am, so I leave it to the engineering types to explain it. From the blog post:
SPDY is at its core an application-layer protocol for transporting content over the web. It is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression. We started working on SPDY while exploring ways to optimize the way browsers and servers communicate. Today, web clients and servers speak HTTP. HTTP is an elegantly simple protocol that emerged as a web standard in 1996 after a series of experiments. HTTP has served the web incredibly well. We want to continue building on the web’s tradition of experimentation and optimization, to further support the evolution of websites and browsers.
The team says the initial results are encouraging as they’ve seen a “significant improvement in performance,” with web pages loading 55 percent faster over a simulated home network connection. Still, the team acknowledges that it still has a lot of work to do to evaluate SPDY in real-world conditions.
The company says it’s at a point where it can benefit from feedback and assistance from the Web community. Those interested are encouraged to review the early stage documentation, look at the current code and offer your two cents through the Chromium Google Group.
October 29th, 2009
With Chargify, Web 2.0 and SaaS businesses can bill with ease
If you’re a small Web 2.0 business, you shouldn’t have to build an application from scratch to properly bill your customers.
That’s the thinking behind Chargify, a billing and subscription system by TechCrunch50 startup Grasshopper. The company’s API and hosted payment solution makes it easy to integrate the system into an existing website, allowing businesses to charge customers on a recurring basis, manage subscriptions, comply with PCI regulations and intelligence from billing.
I spoke with Grasshopper CTO and co-founder David Hauser about how his solution is different from FreshBooks, Zuora, Vindicia, MoneyBird and other competitors.
I also spoke with lead developer Michael Klett about how the system actually works.
October 28th, 2009
Interactive media is about to hit the gym: Great, just great
Netpulse, a company that aims to transform fitness equipment into an interactive social entertainment experience, landed $3.1 million in venture funding. Oh the promise of a treadmill that allows you to use Twitter.
Excuse me while I sprint away from this idea. Why?
My workout is one of the last places where I don’t have to be social. Do I really want mile 5 tweeted? The tweet could look like this: Larry just tweaked his hamstring. Tweet: Larry’s really struggling. Tweet: He’s hanging over the treadmill again and doesn’t look so good. Who are these people that can get a real workout while engaging with Netpulse’s “interactive entertainment platform?”
Here’s the Netpulse vision from a statement:
October 27th, 2009
Amazon launches relational database service: Think MySQL in the cloud
Amazon on Tuesday launched a public beta of a service dubbed the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS). The main appeal: Allow customers to operate and scale database clusters while leaving pesky tasks like patching and administration to Amazon Web Services.
Adam Selipsky, vice president of Amazon Web Services (AWS), said the goal was to make it easy to scale MySQL clusters. He noted that “MySQL code and developer tools today will work with RDS.”
The RDS will round out Amazon’s SimpleDB service and other plans where you bring your own database to the company’s cloud (AWS blog, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels). What remains to be seen is the level of data that gets pumped into Amazon’s RDS. Selipsky said the service is “suited for anything you’d put into a MySQL database” and that Amazon has “taken great pains to make sure it is highly secure.”
Selipsky said that RDS came about because Amazon’s SimpleDB is optimized for index and query functions not relational functions. Most enterprises mix and match these database types. Adobe is one of the customers taking RDS for a spin. Nevertheless, enterprise customers are likely to take their time moving sensitive data into Amazon’s RDS effort. “We’re highly confident that RDS can hold a wide range of data sensitive or otherwise,” said Selipsky.
To ride shotgun with the RDS rollout, Amazon also unveiled a new family of Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) services. The latest family is for high CPU and memory usage. Things like running demanding databases, rendering and caching will operate better with a high-memory EC2 service. Selipsky noted that EC2 has three EC2 families in multiple sizes.
And finally, Amazon is dropping prices across all of its EC2 instances. For instance, the smallest Linux-based EC2 instance runs 10 cents an hour, but will now go for 8.5 cents. In general, the price cut is 15 percent across Linux instances. Microsoft is also dropping the price of Windows EC2 instances.
More:
- Amazon Web Services rolls out Virtual Private Cloud: Enterprise customer tipping point on deck?
- BMC to link up with Amazon Web Services for hybrid cloud deployments
- Comparing infrastructure as a service providers: Amazon, Rackspace emerge
- Rackspace lays out its cloud computing roadmap: Think hybrid
- Amazon tweaks EC2 pricing; Takes next step in its enterprise evolution
- 10 things you still have to worry about until cloud computing becomes reality
- Long live the Sneakernet: Computing’s most resilient network
- Amazon beefs up cloud visibility and monitoring tools
- Migrating to Amazon Web Services: The blueprint
October 22nd, 2009
How to know when to send your email to the cloud
Email will ultimately move to the cloud/software as a service model, but the math may not add up for larger companies. How do you know when to make the jump?
Gartner analysts Matthew Cain and James Lundy went through the cloud vs. on-premise email conundrum, but what really made the presentation was a series of charts that serve as decision grids for making a move.
I’ve talked to a bunch of IT executives at the Gartner IT Symposium in Orlando and many of them were at least pondering moving email to the cloud. Gartner reckons that 20 percent of email seats will have a SaaS or cloud model by 2012. In addition, smaller companies will lead the cloud email charge, but large enterprises will tag along. Bottom line: Cloud email costs will be 50 percent less than their on-premise counterparts in 2012.
Here’s the comparison:
Lundy and Cain said that email will move to the cloud for the following reasons:
- Hosted models can deliver significant economies of scale. Most organizations don’t scale past tens of thousands of users, while hosts will ultimately provide services for millions of users.
- Browser-based email will lower costs.
- Storage will be cheaper for cloud email providers.
- And the offline access problem will be solved. Gartner expects hosts like Microsoft and Google to offer offline email access in a browser with a 30-day cache.
Nevertheless, cloud email won’t be for everybody. Enter the second useful chart from Lundy and Cain.
The big takeaway is that you have to consider cloud-based email in long-term planning. The challenge is that there are multiple players. Gartner also expects that Cisco will enter the hosted email game to join Google, Microsoft, IBM and a bevy of others.
October 21st, 2009
Google's Schmidt makes enterprise app case as consumer, corporate lines blur
In a room full of chief information officers, Google CEO Eric Schmidt made his case for the search giant’s enterprise products adding that the boundary between a corporate user and a consumer “is becoming less and less.”
Speaking at the Gartner IT Symposium 2009 in Orlando in a Q&A with analysts Whit Andrews and Hung LeHong, Schmidt added the consumer and enterprise application market are increasingly merging.
“We don’t distinguish between enterprise and non-enterprise (customers). We assume that boundary is becoming less and less,” said Schmidt, who added that applications will span consumers and businesses. “We’ll keep coming up with ways to span the bridge between the consumer and business.”
Case in point: Google Wave. Schmidt said he doesn’t think of Google Wave “as a consumer app at all.” Wave is a new way to collaborate, said Schmidt and its features are “applicable to the corporation.”
Schmidt encouraged corporate buyers to be skeptical about Google’s offerings and hold the search giant accountable. He told IT buyers to evaluate the products and if there are problems to let Google know. Schmidt said Google was determined to get where enterprises needed it to go.
Schmidt thinks that the enterprise business for Google can be a multi-billion dollar one—actually “humongous”—just behind the display ad business. That’s some heady growth considering that Gartner calculated that for every dollar Google makes, about 3 cents come from enterprise buyers.
Among other topics:
October 21st, 2009
TR Dojo: Five must-have Firefox add-ons
Bill Detwiler demonstrates five free Firefox add-ons that can make your browsing experience easier, faster, and more secure. Once you’ve watched this TR Dojo video, you can find a link to the original TechRepublic article and print the tip from our TR Dojo Blog.
October 20th, 2009
The business-to-business of Gist
Gist, an online service that integrates your social stream with tools like Microsoft Outlook and Salesforce.com, recently launched its public beta to bring in individual users, but is wasting no time spreading its B2B wings. Gist will ride shotgun with Microsoft’s launch of its new CRM software and tag along with Exchange. And the company is talking with potential partners like SAP and IBM’s Lotus unit in upcoming weeks.
Those tidbits emerged from a conversation I had with Gist CEO T.A. McCann and Robert Pease, vice president of marketing. Gist had a presence at the Gartner IT Symposium as it went about educating CIOs and tech executives about its service.
Gist already has a strong following among sales types because its algorithms can surface important contacts and flag folks they should be in touch with. It’s pretty clear that McCann and Pease get the business market and how it could be a handholding service to enterprises that still aren’t sure what to make of social networking. Gist’s pitch to the CIO types could be: You don’t have to Twitter, but you need to follow it. That’s where Gist comes in.
The Gist service analyzes your activity stream—think Outlook, Twitter and Facebook—and uses its importance algorithm to highlight and organize contacts. There’s an obvious business case if Gist can save people time and help close sales. “Business professionals will trade money for time and insight,” says McCann. Read the rest of this entry »
October 12th, 2009
Yahoo plots app mall, app portability through its properties
Yahoo has been busy rolling out new features—new home page, revamped My Yahoo, Mail and Messenger overhauls—that come courtesy of its infrastructure revamp a few years in the making.
Among the most promising efforts by Yahoo are its homepage applications. Open to all third parties and self serve for about two weeks or so, Yahoo is allowing anyone to develop apps that can gain traffic from the home page. Why wouldn’t third parties give Yahoo a whirl?
However, Yahoo is likely to run into a problem pretty quickly. It’s going to have too many apps to navigate. Enter an app marketplace—actually more like a browsing mall—from Yahoo. Cody Simms, senior director of product management for Yahoo Open Strategy, acknowledged the potential navigation problem and said there will be better discovery tools coming later this year or early 2010.
October 8th, 2009
Information workers loaded with tech they don't use, need
Forrester Research has published a set of workplace benchmarks that reveal what workers generally need—and don’t. The big takeaway: Workers have too much technology and software licenses when they’d really be happy with just a browser, email and a few handy social networking tools.
In a report—the inaugural Workforce Technographics survey—that is designed to reveal the state of the workforce, Forrester details PC usage, mobile tools and what software and Web 2.0 technologies are actually being used.
The theory here is that IT managers should follow the workers lead when it comes to plotting a budget. For instance, does every worker need full-blown Office? Does everyone need a laptop? Are you licensing more software than is actually used?
Among the takeaways from Forrester’s survey of 2,001 U.S. information workers:
October 8th, 2009
Engine Yard raises $19 million in VC funding
Engine Yard, a Ruby on Rails developer, raised $19 million in a third round of venture capital.
The company, which has raised $37 million to date, received funding from DAG Ventures, Bay Partners and Presidio Ventures. Benchmark Capital, Amazon and New Enterprise Associates—all previous investors—also participated in the latest round.
Engine Yard is worth watching. Ruby on Rails is a rapid development framework that underpins many next generation companies such as Twitter. However, Engine Yard is aiming to take Ruby on Rails deeper into the enterprise. It launched a cloud computing platform and is partners with the likes of Amazon Web Services.
According to a statement, Engine Yard will use the funding to build out its cloud platform to “meet enterprise requirements” and build out its development teams.
Also:
October 7th, 2009
Google: Aiming for 99.99 percent uptime with business Gmail
Google executives addressed recent Gmail outages and noted that the company is currently running at a 99.9 percent reliability rate. The goal: Be at 99.99 percent by the end of the quarter.
Speaking at a powwow with reporters, Google Sergey Brin spent a bit of time talking about the search giant’s enterprise efforts. Last week, IBM launched a rival to Google Apps for business that undercuts Google on pricing and promises more reliability.
Brin said that Google was farther ahead on email and collaborative document editing and is adding features for the enterprise. Brin also added that Google was focusing on not just its outages, but the response to them.
For instance, one outage could have been resolved in five to 10 minutes, but the company made errors that extended recovery time to an hour. Brin said the company is also working to group customers so one outage has a limited impact.
October 6th, 2009
The FTC's guidelines raise ruckus, but are (mostly) unenforceable
The Federal Trade Commission published controversial guidelines for bloggers and Facebook and Twitter users, but they are largely unenforceable.
The FTC’s rules are an encroachment on free speech, absurd in parts and far reaching. On the surface, the FTC’s laws boil down to disclosure:
October 5th, 2009
Adobe has the iPhone surrounded with Flash, but security headaches loom
Adobe’s announcements that a full version of Flash is coming to every smartphone not named Apple iPhone leave me conflicted. Full-blown Flash can be a boon to the mobile Web, but has the potential to become one huge security headache.
First the happy talk (Techmeme, Adobe statement): A public beta of Flash Player 10.1 will be coming to Windows Mobile and Palm’s WebOS later this year. Next year will bring Flash betas to Google Android and Symbian phones. Research in Motion is also working with Adobe. Multi-touch Flash, accelerometer perks and other mobile goodies abound.
And from an tech vendor art of war perspective, Adobe’s news that full Flash capabilities are coming to Windows Mobile phones, Palm, RIM and Google Android phones is very interesting. Apple is the last mobile handset holdout when it comes to Flash adoption. Sure, the two parties are kind of sorta talking about Flash on the iPhone—and have been for months—but the effort isn’t going anywhere. Can Adobe force iPhone adoption by delivering up a Flash-powered mobile utopia on the small screen?
And then you trip over the big honking negative: Security. From a user perspective, Flash your mobile phone may be nice, but can also be a big drag. The patches, the vulnerabilities, the frequent upgrades and the potential monoculture headaches. Monoculture for our purposes refers to one dominant technology that pervades multiple fronts. Windows is a monoculture. Flash is a monoculture. Anything that’s a standard is a monoculture. The problem with monocultures: You can attack them and cause a lot of collateral damage because there’s no diversity.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes nails it when he handicaps Adobe’s Open Screen Project that will be bringing full Flash to a mobile phone throughout 2010.
Flash Player is an absolute security nightmare on desktop PCs, and requiring endless updates. I’m not sure how thrilled I’d be to be faced with Flash Player updates on my smartphone every time I was to go browsing. If I’m paying per MB, on a dodgy connection (and chances are that one, if not both of these factors will come into play), I’d be even more upset. I know that the modern web relies heavily on Flash, but this announcement worries me because it’s creating a huge tech monoculture that’s ripe for attack. Unless Adobe is planning on beefing up security, this could be one of the worst things to happen to smartphone users.
Don’t believe Adrian. Check out the Flash vulnerability fiesta from Ryan Naraine and Dancho Danchev. Flash remains unpatched by most users, is frequently open to attack and outfits like Mozilla Firefox are trying to push folks to patch Flash for the greater good.
How many of you have bothered to patch anything on your mobile phone? Thought so.
And now we’re taking Flash to every screen. For Adobe, full-featured Flash on every mobile phone is huge. The rest of us may not be as thrilled about today’s happenings once the mundane processes such as frequent Flash patches take over.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.
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- Doc is an enigma. Born to a Russian ballerina and a German electrical engineer, he grew up in various locations in the United States. He’s seen the insides of more brands, versions, and generations of printer and printer-related hardware than almost anyone.
- To learn more about this mysterious figure check out his blog on ZDNet and his Workspace on TechRepublic. You’ll be glad you did.
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