Web Apps

Dropbox Hits Biz Market With New 'Teams' Edition
October 27, 2011

Dropbox, a cloud service that lets users store and share documents and media files over any device, has introduced a paid version of its product aimed at businesses. Known as "Dropbox for Teams," this comes with new administrative controls, centralized billing and phone support and, of course, more storage. It's priced at $800 a year for five users and $125 for each additional user.

LA's Google Apps Rollout Hits the Skids
October 20, 2011

Google Apps seems to have stubbed its toe in providing services to the 30,000 employees of the city of Los Angeles. Google and Computer Sciences Corp., which had contracted to implement Google Apps in the city's IT infrastructure in 2009, have apparently failed to meet security requirements as promised, and the city is out for blood.

Oracle Brews a Stronger Cup of Java
October 07, 2011

Oracle this week made a slew of announcements around the programming language and computing platform Java, which it acquired when it purchased Sun Microsystems in 2009. At the JavaOne conference, Oracle disclosed a road map for Java Standard Edition on Mac OS X. The company also announced that it's working on Java SE 8, which it will release in the summer of 2013.

For Fast, Light Web Browsing, Dillo's No Dallier
October 05, 2011

Sometimes you find good things in small packages. At least that has been my experience with picking through the wares often buried in directories of open source software that feeds my Linux OS passion. Dillo, a little-known tiny Web browser, was an unexpected find. This baby browser has a very small footprint and is lightning fast. How fast, you say? It loads in under a second and renders just as quickly.

The Kindle Fire's Browser: Mostly Smooth as Silk
September 30, 2011

The Kindle Fire made its big debut this week as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the tablet along with other new members of the Kindle family on Wednesday. The Fire's been touted as a challenger to the Apple iPad, but the real threat to Apple's iconic tablet may come from the Silk browser that will run on the Fire.

Facebook's Latest Work: One Too Many Facelifts?
September 23, 2011

Pity the Facebook user. The social networking giant's constantly making changes to its website, forcing its subscribers into new usage habits. Some of these changes, especially when they relate to privacy, have triggered calls from privacy advocates for regulatory intervention and led users to start organizing groups criticizing the alterations.

Adobe Aims to Keep Flash Shiny With New Version
September 21, 2011

Adobe on Wednesday announced its Flash Player 11 and Air 3 packages. These have a heavy focus on games and online video across multiple devices and platforms. Those platforms include Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Mac OS X, Windows and connected TVs. Flash Player 11 and Air 3 let game publishers deliver console-quality 2D and 3D games over the Internet to PCs and many other devices, Adobe stated.

Flash's World Gets a Little Lonelier
September 15, 2011

Adobe is putting on a brave face in the wake of Microsoft's announcement Tuesday that the Metro version of Internet Explorer in Windows 8 -- the one intended for tablets -- will eschew plug-ins like Flash and instead use HTML 5. The problem with Flash, as Apple has discovered, is that it makes too many demands on both processor power and battery power to work well on mobile devices, said Yankee Group's Carl Howe.

Mozilla Targets Tablets With New Browser Designs
September 02, 2011

The Mozilla Foundation is enhancing the tablet version of its Firefox browser. It's leveraging Android Honeycomb but retaining familiar visual elements of Firefox such as the signature big back button and distinctive tab shape, according to a blog post by Ian Barlow, who works on Mozilla's mobile user experience team.

Kindle Cloud Reader Takes Web Apps to New Heights
August 16, 2011

It's been a really long time since I've used a Web app on iOS. Before the App Store was launched, that used to be the only way to use anything resembling third-party software on an iPhone. In Year 1, nobody but Apple could develop directly for iOS, so the best anyone could do was build a site that fit nicely on a 3.5-inch screen.

The Patent World War
August 13, 2011

Even though Google lawyer David Drummond laid into Apple, Microsoft and Oracle in his public critique of their anti-Android patent lawsuits, it was Microsoft that really ended up tussling with the search giant on open ground. But that doesn't mean Apple and Oracle are easing up their own patent battles; so far, they're just saving their arguments for the courtroom.

Kindle Cloud Reader Rains on Apple's In-App Fee Parade
August 10, 2011

Amazon unveiled a new HTML5 Kindle Web app on Wednesday. Kindle Cloud Reader, which is already up and running, provides access to books offline and online via a Web browser with no download or installation needed. Without leaving the app, customers can start shopping in the Kindle store, giving Amazon a way to circumvent Apple's stiff commission policy for in-app purchases.

Apple Names Prices for Seats in Its iCloud
August 02, 2011

Apple has disclosed the pricing for iCloud storage and launched a limited beta version of iCloud for developers. Users of iCloud storage get the first 5 GB free, as stated when Cupertino announced iCloud in June. Additional storage will cost $2 per GB. Meanwhile, a preview of iCloud's suite of Web apps seems to be available for a select few developers.

Adobe's Edge Lets Devs Wedge a Foot in HTML5 Door
August 01, 2011

Adobe on Monday announced the first public preview release of its Edge HTML 5 Web motion and interaction design tool. This lets Web designers add animation to websites using standards such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS in much the same way they do with Flash Professional, Adobe said. It's adopting an open development methodology for Edge because of rapid changes around HTML 5.

Luminate Appifies Web Images
July 27, 2011

Luminate, formerly known as "Pixazza," has unveiled a new platform for image apps. The apps available on the Luminate platform will allow consumers to conduct activities such as shopping, sharing, commenting and navigating directly from the image. The platform can also facilitate new services made possible by the development of apps specifically for images.

Labs Go Dark as Google Puts Away Childish Things
July 21, 2011

In a continuing effort to streamline product development, Google announced Wednesday the company will be shutting down its Google Labs project. The Google Labs initiative was the tech giant's testing facility, where employees and engineers were given creative freedom to tinker with experimental projects that perhaps didn't necessarily fall within their job descriptions.

Google's Social Blowout
July 02, 2011

Google made a very socially awkward move with its rollout of Google Buzz last year. It was Google's attempt to build a social network in part by stringing together various existing pieces of its infrastructure -- your contacts from over here, your Gmail account over there, Google Reader if you use it, so on. The problem with Buzz was that certain wires had a way of getting crossed.

Gmail Goes Under the Knife, Other G Products Next in Line
July 01, 2011

Google is making over the interface on its Gmail email service as part of a larger overhaul of the look and feel of all its offerings. The renovation project will be ongoing over the next several months, according to Chris Wiggins, creative director of digital at Google. Google's emphasis in the redesign will be on focus, elasticity and effortlessness.

Google Enters the Ring for Social Smackdown, Round 2
June 29, 2011

Google took a second stab at social networking Tuesday with the launch of Google+, a program designed to interactively connect users and challenge worldwide social networking king Facebook. The search engine giant failed with its first attempt at an online social network, last year's Google Buzz.

Microsoft Battles for Sky Supremacy With Office 365 Launch
June 28, 2011

Microsoft on Tuesday launched its newest cloud service, Office 365, in 40 markets. The service consists of online versions of Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Lync. Microsoft's building up an ecosystem around the service, and more than 20 service providers around the world have announced they'll offer Office 365 to customers this year.