India unveils a $35 prototype of a touchscreen tablet PC.

Since Apple introduced the iPad about three months ago and given the huge success that followed, computer and smartphone makers everywhere have been scrambling to catch up, trying to come up with a tablet of their own. But this week, a new entrant has created a big splash with the unveiling of a prototype of a touchscreen tablet PC with very unique features.
But above all, it's the entity behind the project that first draws attention. The entity in question is the Indian Government. People who have first account of the device, describe it as impressive with a very innovative approach. For a starter, the device runs on a variation of Linux, and use a memory card as storage unit. It also come with a built-in word processor, video conferencing capabilities and a Web browser. That's not all: It can run on solar power.
But as the commercial would say, wait, there is more; the tablet is set to sell for $35 a piece, PCWorld said. Right now, the Indian Government is looking for manufacturers who can bring the device to market at that price point or even lower because the device primary target market is low Indian low income families.

For more, see pcworld.com

Microsoft Office Suite 2010 is released for businesses customers..

Microsoft started selling its Office Suite 2010 to businesses customers with the noticeable inclusion of Web friendly features of the main components of the software.
That constitutes a radical shift from the software giant company which is being forced to jump unto the new trend of releasing applications on the Web instead of having people install them on their machines. But don't hold your breath yet since Microsoft foray into cloud computing as that new technical trend is called, is very tentative for now. Unlike Google Docs, Google competing document editing software entirely based on the Web, Microsoft is not giving away its cash caw that accounted for close to 60% of its operating profit during the last fiscal year.
Even thought Office Suite 2010 for for businesses contain a Web version of Excel, Word and others Office applications that will reside in users' browsers instead of their machines allowing them to collaboratively edit documents, the bulk of the program will still need the traditional machine installation. One of the components of the program that will fall in that category is a new Outlook email feature that can access information from Facebook and others social networks to give users a glimpse of what their email recipients are up to online, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The paid version of Office Suite 2010 for businesses will run from $100 to several hundred per users per year and usually require the purchase of additional software to enable collaboration between users.
For consumers, Microsoft is giving away a free Web lite version of Office Suite 2010 that contains advertisements, the Wall Street Journal notes.

For more, see WSJ.com

Pogoplug.com is a combination of onsite and cloud storage.

As trends go in the technology world, it is hard right now to find one hotter than the term "cloud computing." The terms describe the phenomenon of accessing information from anywhere with an Internet connection and storing back the information in far away servers. The key with cloud computer is that instead of storing data on their own devices, users rely on a third party storage servers. Nowadays almost every day activity involves some form of cloud computing, from social networks, photos sharing sites, online e-mail programs etc.
With those services, the decision to house the data in the clouds is not the user's, but the provider's. But today, any individual can take the initiative to have his or her data stored in the clouds with different providers. Most providers package their services starting with some level of free storage for a limited data; after that, the amount paid varies with the amount of data and the payments can be monthly or yearly. For instance, ZumoDrive.com offers 2 gigabytes of storage free and charge annual fees ranging from $30 for 10 gigabytes to $800 fir 500 gigabytes, according to the Wall Street Journal. SugarSync.com, another cloud storage service offers a free 2 gigabyte program and charges from $50 to $250 a year for 30 to 250 gigabytes, still according to the Wall Street Journal.
But despite all these offerings and the many options that they offer, cloud storage has not took off with consumers worried about having their data stored in someone else servers hundred or thousand of miles away. That's where a new product called Pogoplug comes to play.
Pogoplug available at Pogoplug.com was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year and is from a San Francisco based company called Cloud Engines Inc. It is a combination of an onsite storage and a cloud storage.
The system involves the Pogoplug device which the company sells for $129 and a storage device of the user's choice. Three cables attached to the Pogoplug are to be plugged to the electric outlet, a router and the chosen storage device respectively. From there, "the Pogoplug runs as a mini computer with its own processor that sends files out to the cloud for streaming whenever you want to see them" said the Journal.
The Pogoplug device acts like a projector, streaming to the company own website, any data stored in it. It allows data sharing with others it you choose so, and more importantly, sharing between computers using a button at the bottom of the device. The device works with both PC and Mac computers and some mobile apps for iPhone, Palm Pre and Google's Android phones are available.
One of the Popoplug most appealing characteristics is that beside the initial investment in the hardware, there is no more fees associated with the use of the device, the Journal reports.

For more, see WSJ.com

Google Chrome operating system is unveiled.

Last Thursday, Google unveiled the underlying of its much anticipated Chrome operating system and the early reviews are generally good. According to the New York Times, the new operating system takes its clues from Google recently released Web browser by the same name. For that reason, it will not reside in users computers but rather in the "clouds", the catch name giving to the Internet in such cases. Already, most Internet users rely on cloud computing as the whole concept is called, to access a lot of things like e-mails, photo albums, maps etc. The Google Chrome operating system that was unveiled last week is an early version running on a netbook rather than more powerful PCs. It is at least a year from being offered to the public, and when that happens, it will certainly be restricted to the netbook category for a while. Regardless, the test version unveiled last week, showed an impressive boot time of seven seconds and according to the New York Times, people at Google are promising an even faster start up time once it goes in production. But for now, Google is not saying which PC manufacturer plan to built machines with the Chrome operating system.

For more, see NewYorkTimes.com

Scaled down Microsoft Office to be offered free Online.

The ever going battle between Microsoft and Google has reached a new phase with the software giant planning to offer a free Online version of its most prized possession, Office software. Even though the version being considered is a scaled-down of the original one, it is still a significant development in the evolution of Microsoft who until now has resisted the latest fade known as "Cloud Computing" which consits of offering entire applications via the net instead of having them hosted in users' PC.
But with the search giant Google entering the office productivity field with its free Online application called Google Docs, Microsoft recognized the potential for further erosion in its core business as more people become more comfortable with Web-based applications.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Office's free Online version is expected to be available to the general public, in the first half of 2010.

For more , see WSJ.com