Steve Staso - Computing Solutions Strategist

News Analysis: Apples Ping is now available in iTunes. But whether or not it will become the vibrant community of music lovers the iPod maker hopes for remains to be seen. - When Steve Jobs took the stage on Sept. 1 and started talking about Ping, the companys new music-based social network, some wondered exactly how it would be implemented. After all, there are several social networks already in the wild. As Apple has shown time and again, iTunes is a place to buy ...

A new Vlingo feature lets users check in to Foursquare by speaking into a smartphone running Android 2.0 or later. - Vlingo is finding new ways to differentiate its software for smartphones based on Google's voice search application. The company Sept. 2 released a new feature for its Vlingo for Android application that lets users check in to Foursquare simply by speaking into their smartphone running Androi...

To help drive home its point that IBM is serious about cloud computing, Big Blue hosted an event at the US Open to show its cloud prowess in action. Cloud computing is a key IBM growth initiative through 2015. - NEW YORK – To help drive home its point that IBM is serious about cloud computing, Big Blue hosted an event at the US Open to show its cloud prowess in action. IBM has long been a partner of the US Tennis Association (USTA) in handling all the IT operations behind the US Open and other Gran...

Amazon.com is getting ready to offer a video streaming service and when it does a major market battle may develop between it and Google. - Amazon.com is making plans to add a subscription-based video streaming service to its list of offerings and is trying to drum up support for it among media companies, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. The publication said that the service would compete quite well with Netflixs Instant Stream...

When it comes to voice and video, Google should think collaboration and not competition. - As it currently stands, Googles recent addition of Public Switched Telephone Network voice calling to Gmail is much ado about nothing. While the feature works well enough and Google enjoyed a nice burst of voice traffic right after launch, I can only hope the move is the first s...

Running on VMware's bread-and-butter vSphere platform, the new management controls include general management, security, data center services and outside consulting services. - SAN FRANCISCO VMware pulled the wraps off a series of new products and services Aug. 31 at its VMworld 2010 expo and conference here at the Moscone Center, all with the purpose of helping VMware users gain better control of their cloud computing deployments. In fact, by using these new assets,...

VMware vCloud Director lowers the barrier to creating private and hybrid cloud offerings by enabling IT to offer a virtual data center as a service catalog offering. vCloud director puts an easy access interface on compute, storage and network resource pools and wraps policy around deployment options to maintain separation and security. - VMware gave me a sneak peek at vCloud Director, which leads me to think that the company is about to set a new benchmark for virtualized IT. What's new is that vCloud Director, which VMware released last week at VMworld in San Francisco, enables IT to combine pooled compute, network and stor...

VMware announces a new Cloud Application Platform that leverages Spring and the company's new vFabric application services. - VMware has announced its new Cloud Application Platform, which capitalizes on some of the company's key acquisitions and combines the Spring Java development framework with VMware's new vFabric application services. The announcement comes out of VMware's VMworld conference in San Francisco, whe...

RSA Solution for Cloud Security and Compliance is aimed at managing security, risk and regulatory compliance of cloud infrastructures--multitenant or otherwise. - On Day One of VMworld 2010, EMC's RSA security arm on Aug. 30 introduced a new integrated security and compliance package designed expressly for multitenant cloud computing. RSA Solution for Cloud Security and Compliance is aimed at managing security, risk and regulatory compliance of cloud ...

Microsoft renames Windows Live Sync, its cloud-syncing service, Windows Live Mesh. The service's cloud storage has been expanded from 2GB to 5GB. - Microsoft has decided that Windows Live Sync, its cloud-syncing service, will receive a name change actually, make that a name reversion to Windows Live Mesh. In addition, the service will now offer 5GB of free cloud-storage space, up from 2GB, and the ability to sync hidden files. The company ...

Cloud computing is currently one of the hottest topics in the IT industry due to the legitimate benefits of the cloud. At issue, however, are ways to secure data in the cloud. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Taher Elgamal explains how organizations can leverage existing "command and control" IT investments while taking advantage of cloud computing's benefits. - For the most part, current IT investments have been ignored as part of the cloud security equation, amounting to years of wasted budget. This is especially true with policies and directories that pertain to keeping the data secure, with only the right people accessing it quot;command and control qu...

Vendor polarization between cloud-based and on-premises solutions is undermining the value of both infrastructure models. To reap the most benefits, organizations need to look for solutions that seamlessly and transparently support both cloud-based and on-premises deployment. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Ed Harnish explains why organizations should leverage both cloud-based and on-premises approaches to meet their evolving business needs. - From data backup technologies to antivirus solutions, vendor polarization between on-premises and cloud-based solutions is forcing organizations to make difficult and unnecessary choices. On-premises solutions should not just be limited to organizations with great in-house resources, nor should busi...

Red Hat announces updates to its Cloud Foundations portfolio with a focus on openness and portability. - Red Hat announced updates to its Cloud Foundations portfolio and moved to deliver a cloud strategy the company described as the ultimate in openness and choice. In a broad-based Webcast, Red Hat laid out its cloud road map, defining its Cloud Foundations strategy as one that promotes consisten...

Hewlett-Packard will offer what it calls a cloud computing boot camp for customers at VMworld and will have a team of advisers on hand to talk to businesses about making the move to the cloud. - Hewlett-Packard is looking to make it easier for businesses to deploy private cloud computing environments. HP officials on Aug. 25 announced the creation of an assessment program designed to help enterprises determine how prepared they are to make the jump to private clouds. The vendor is also ...

Microsoft July 19 released Windows Phone 7 to technical preview, with smartphones based on the platform due in October. Since that time, reviewers have pored over the highly anticipated mobile operating system, comparing and contrasting it with Apple's iPhone and smartphones based on Android and Research In Motion's BlackBerry platform. Microsoft has also made sure its other divisions are working to fit their apps to the platform. Bing, for example, looks sweet on Windows Phone 7. Of course, the Bing team doesn't want to miss out on the traffic it could get from Apple's iPhone. Not everyone wants to use Google on their iPhones, so Microsoft is betting Bing will be a viable option on them. To wit, Bing Highlights is an extension that promises "intelligent, contextually sensitive information& for Web pages on Safari. Here, eWEEK tours Bing's capabilities in this slide show. - ...

Platform computing delivers a low-cost, entry-level solution including software, support and services, for enterprises looking to set up private cloud solutions. - Platform Computing, a provider of cluster, grid and cloud management software, has announced a new entry-level offering for enterprises who want to launch private cloud systems. Platform Computing, a provider of cluster, grid and cloud-management software, has announced a new entry-level off...

A 17-page AFCOM position paper, Guiding Data Centers to Cloud Computing, presents concepts and issues that the industry association recommends that enterprises evaluate before they invest in public, private or hybrid cloud computing. - Data center industry association AFCOM Aug. 23 announced the availability of a position paper containing concepts and issues the organization recommends that IT managers consider before beginning the move to public, private or hybrid cloud computing. The 17-page paper, Guiding Data Centers to C...

Open-source projects are helping to drive adoption of cloud computing, according to a recent study by Black Duck Software. - Open-source projects are helping to drive adoption of cloud computing, according to a recent study by Black Duck Software, a provider of products and services for automating the management, governance and secure use of open-source software. Indeed, open-source projects aimed at enabling enterpr...

Gartner Research analyst Jeffrey Mann Aug. 18 conducted a Webinar on the enterprise social software market, at which he said Microsoft has made significant improvements to its business social software capabilities in SharePoint 2010. This refreshed enterprise collaboration suite blends search, social software and content management in a way that Gartner believes makes it a solid rival to IBM, Jive and others in the market for workplace social software. Mann also covers the EFSS (externally facing social software) and social CRM segments. In this slide show, eWEEK walks through Mann's points. - ...

The cloud is still in its early days as a computing environment, with new technologies and vendors evolving rapidly to address the many issues involved in the migration and connectivity between traditional environments and cloud services. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Ellen Rubin discusses five best practices enterprises should follow before they can safely move their applications to the cloud. - Before moving enterprise applications to the cloud, you need to be sure that your expectations are realistic and your objectives match what the cloud can deliver. The following are five best practices based on my experiences working with enterprise customers from their initial exploration of cloud p...