cloud computing

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has agreed to pay Amazon $600 million over the next ten years. However, the CIA isn't purchasing books or DVDs -- instead, it's buying access to Amazon's massive, private data system. The deal is with Amazon's ... Web Services department, which already offers cloud computing to individuals and businesses. Cloud computing doesn't simply mean offering online storage, but also online data processing. The Amazon cloud service works on a pay-as-you-go basis. This makes it ideal for organizations that need data processed intermittently rather than all the time. ... (view more)

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Woz) sees trouble ahead for cloud computing. The legendary computer pioneer predicts that the idea will encounter "horrible problems" in coming years. Wozniak, now 61 years old, founded Apple alongside Steve Jobs in ... the 1970s. Today he often publicly discusses his experiences at the iconic Cupertino, California-based company. At a presentation following the Washington performance of the show "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," Wozniak voiced his opinion of today's "next big thing" -- the cloud. (Source: adelaidenow.com ) Cloud Computing Becoming a ... (view more)

A Microsoft executive has jumped ship to the company's bitter rival, Apple. Kevin Timmons, general manager of Microsoft's Datacenter Services unit, has reportedly announced plans to leave the Redmond-based firm with rumors suggesting he'll soon take ... a similar position at the Cupertino, California competitor. "Kevin Timmons, general manager of Datacenter Services, has decided to pursue other career opportunities and is no longer working at Microsoft," a Microsoft representative noted in an April 15 email to tech blog, eWEEK. "We appreciate the contributions he made to Microsoft during his time ... (view more)

Microsoft has formally unveiled the most comprehensive online version of its MS Office software to date. "Office 365," as it's called, is currently being beta tested in 13 countries and it's expected to be publicly available in 40 countries next ... year. MS Office 365 Uses Cloud Computing Technology The idea behind Office 365 is that it uses cloud computing technology. It's a service that allows businesses to access Office tools over the Internet, rather than have to physically install the software on a per-machine basis. The concept also means employees can access Office from any ... (view more)

High-profile executive and software visionary Ray Ozzie has announced he is leaving Microsoft. It's a move that has prompted great speculation in the tech industry, including whether or not the company will remain effective in its plans for online ... computing. Ray Ozzie a Key Figure of Microsoft Ozzie was Microsoft's Chief Software Architect. That's not a precisely defined term, but one could draw conceptual parallels with the work of a traditional architect: a software architect makes the key design decisions about how software should be built and how it will operate. Given Microsoft's line of ... (view more)

A public beta of Microsoft's highly-anticipated Windows Live Essentials will be made available today, and promises to lure many curious onlookers with Office Web Apps and new social networking and media sharing options. Many of the programs which ... were part of Windows XP have been taken out of Windows 7 and re-branded into Windows Live Essentials. Programs included are: Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Movie Maker, Writer, Family Safety, and Toolbar, plus Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, Office Live Add-in, and Microsoft Silverlight. (Source: microsoft.com ) Windows Live Internet Integration ... (view more)

Microsoft has assured users that it will strive to give cloud computing customers the same privacy commitments given to those using desktop software. But it warns that this could be limited by government regulations, particularly where data is ... transferred across international borders. Cloud computing is a broad term, but generally refers to set-ups where data, an application, or even an operating system is stored on, and operative from, a remote server rather than a user's computer. As Microsoft notes, it's not a new idea: Hotmail is an example of a cloud-based service, with the emails and ... (view more)

Cloud computing or cloud services is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Examples of cloud computing include Google Apps which provide common business ... applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers. The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or ... (view more)

In the technological world, few other phenomena are receiving as much attention as "cloud computing". The concept pertains to files and programs that are stored in places beyond the hard drive, existing exclusively in the air around us (or in ... "clouds"). In actuality, this secured data is stored on some kind of encrypted Internet server. All of us have had at least one previous experience with cloud computing. Anytime you use an Internet-based backup service, an online word processor, or send an email using Windows Live Hotmail you are clouding. Microsoft has been staying ahead of their ... (view more)