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BetaNews.Com (10 non lus)

Google calls Gmail outage 'minor issue', but thousands beg to differ

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 11:50pm CEST par Nate Mook

By Nate Mook, Betanews

Has Google issued an apology about today's Gmail outage, or is the company trying to downplay the issue?
We're not really sure.
In a blog post this afternoon, Google engineering director David Besbris wrote, "We know many of you are having trouble accessing Gmail right now -- we are too, and we definitely feel your pain. We don't usually post about minor issues here (the Apps status dashboard and the Gmail Help Center are usually where this kind of information goes). Because this is impacting so many of you, we wanted to let you know we're currently looking into the issue and hope to have more info to share here shortly."
"We feel your pain" seems to be a new recurring Google slogan. It's the same exact thing the company said one year ago when Gmail went down for 15 hours.
But more disconcerting is Google's remark that "we don't usually post about minor issues." To tens of thousands of Gmail users who immediately took to Twitter, Facebook and blogs to express their frustration, no such outage would be considered minor. E-mail remains a crucial artery in which most important communication flows around the Internet.
Although it was only down for two hours, the Gmail outage -- and Google's response -- highlight the problems of migrating critical services to the cloud, and raise questions of what level of service should be expected. Most users do not pay for Gmail or Google Apps, but they still rely entirely on Google to keep the services up and running. Are we asking too much?
As we continue marching toward cloud-based applications, these questions will be at the forefront of the industry. If Google can't stop their hosted apps from breaking, then nobody can.
Will companies be willing to switch to Web versions of Microsoft Office, Photoshop, or other important tools when a multi-hour outage could literally halt work right in the middle of the day?
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Gmail is back up after two-hour outage

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 10:29pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

After refusing connections all morning, Gmail officially went down for the count this afternoon. For more than an hour the service was completely gone, but Google has returned Gmail's status to a "Service Disruption."
This morning, a notice from Google was sent out to users which said, "Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change."
However, later in the afternoon, a further message was sent out, saying "We're aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 1:53:00 PM PDT detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change."
But the status definitely changed for the worse. The Google Apps Status Dashboard went from reporting a Gmail "Service Disruption" earlier this afternoon to a complete "Service Outage."
Google's last update said "We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by September 1, 2009 6:13:00 PM UTC-4 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Users can access their email via IMAP or POP. You can find instructions for how to do this here. Also, at this time, Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook (applies only to Google Apps Premier and Edu customers) is not available."
Confused users catapulted "Gmail" to the top trend on Twitter this afternoon, and frustrated users have taken the subject up on Facebook as well. What else are you going to do when you can't email your complaints to anyone?
The trend on Twitter actually grew so quickly that the microblogging service's search function was bouncing queries for the term "Gmail."
Interestingly, this outage comes close to being exactly one year after the last major Gmail service outage, which lasted 15 hours. When this happened last year, Google issued an apology and attributed the downtime to "a temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Clear WiMAX launches in 10 new markets, adds new cities to plans

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 10:05pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Clear 4G WiMAX has come to ten more cities, just as Clearwire promised in the beginning of August.
Well, it's really like two cities and sporadic chunks of the biggest state in the contiguous United States. Bellingham, Washington and Boise, Idaho were the standalone cities that got switched on today, and the Texas cities launched today were Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls.
These new markets join Portland, Oregon, Baltimore, Maryland, and Atlanta Georgia, and Las Vegas, Nevada in Clearwire's coverage roster, and brings the company to 14 markets in total. Next year, the goal is to have coverage in as many as 80 U.S. markets, including Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington D.C.
Also Clearwire today announced that it has applied for "a modest amount" of broadband stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bring Clear 4G WiMAX to underserved areas not on its initial roadmap: Detroit, Puerto Rico and five additional states which it did not name today. The stimulus-related plans are completely separate from the regular WiMAX buildout.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Major wireless companies want old cell phone tax abolished

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 8:07pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last June, the IRS began to investigate the 20-year old tax law that treats work-issued mobile phones as a fringe benefit that is subject to income tax. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman called the law "Obsolete...burdensome, poorly understood by taxpayers, and difficult for the IRS to administer consistently."
At the time of the Listed Property rule's enactment in 1989, it was seen as "a tax on CEOs and rich people." But now that workplace communication has evolved to the point where practically everyone has a cellular phone, the law needs to be updated and simplified.
Under the rule, employees are required to maintain logs detailing their business use on a mobile device for tax purposes. When expensing a mobile phone call, the employee is expected to keep track of the total amount of the expense, the time and place of the use of the device, the business purpose of the expense, and the business relationship to the taxpayer of the persons using the device.
While the IRS proposed its own solutions to the problem, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John Ensign (R-NV), and Representatives Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) presented the MOBILE Act (S. 144/H.R. 690) to Congress to fix this complicated rule.
Today, CTIA- The Wireless Association, an industry group consisting of all of the major U.S. network providers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, etc.) threw its support behind the legislation; dismissing the IRS' proposed alternatives as "either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements."
"Instead, CTIA and the wireless industry support the MOBILE Act, which would remove mobile devices from the listed property rule and accomplish Secretary Geithner's and Commissioner Shulman's goal of repealing a burdensome and poorly understood tax rule," CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent said today. "There is broad, bi-partisan support for this legislation and we urge the Congress to act on it this year."
The IRS hoped to make the rule easier to follow, but the bill in Congress seeks to completely remove mobile phones from the IRS' list of taxable workplace properties.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Nintendo Wii's Opera browser gets update, too

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 7:28pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Opera 10 isn't the only news today from Norwegian company Opera Software. Today, the Nintendo Wii's "Internet Channel" browser based upon Opera 9 received a couple of serious updates: It has gone from Adobe Flash 7 to Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, and now it is totally free to download.
Early adopters got a crack at the Internet Channel had access to a trial version from December 2006 to April 2007, and then a free full version from April to June 2007, but after that period, it has cost 500 Wii Points (5 USD). For users who actually purchased the browser, Nintendo will be offering "refunds" in the form of a free game at the end of October.
With the upgrade to Flash Lite 3.1, many of the issues with Flash 7 have been alleviated, and media sites requiring Flash 8 are now viewable on the console. Unfortunately, during our tests this afternoon, popular Video site Hulu --which had more than 38 million views in July-- is still incompatible. As are the players for NBC, CBS and Fox streaming videos. Support for YouTube, thankfully, has improved, but the "high quality" option is not available.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Sony Vaio: first to come with Google Chrome

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 6:45pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google representatives confirmed yesterday that Sony will be bundling the Chrome browser into its Vaio line of notebook computers along with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. This is the browser's first bundling partnership, and follows earlier statements from Google which said that a leading computer manufacturer would ship Chrome.
Sony, however has not made any confirmatory remarks.
In the single year that Chrome has existed, it's garnered a 2.6% share of the global Web browser market thanks to the favorable reviews it has received and its improved performance on platforms such as Windows XP. If Google secures a deal with one of the top five PC manufacturers (HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba: IDC, July 2009), it could easily push up its market share to third place, behind Firefox, and ahead of both Opera and Safari.
Neither the financial terms of Sony and Google's partnership, nor the global availability of Chrome-equipped Vaios have yet been announced. We've contacted Sony for comment.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Napster: no streaming to mobile just yet

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 4:35pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Hoping to capitalize on the media frenzy surrounding the Federal Communications Commission's investigation into the iTunes app store approval policies, RealNetworks announced that it had submitted a Rhapsody iPhone app to Apple for review.
The Rhapsody app has not yet been approved, but one of its principal competitors in the subscription music space, Napster today discussed the difficulty of bringing a streaming music app to the iPhone, as it unveiled the beta of a new mobile Web interface at m.napster.com where its subscribers can browse, search, preview and buy songs, but not stream them.
"One of the most common questions Napster receives is, 'When will you offer an iPhone app?' Well, Napster has created an iPhone application that allows subscribers to stream music on-demand to their iPhone??"including personal playlists, albums and radio stations. You can imagine the company is also looking at streaming applications for several other mobile platforms as well (Blackberry, Android). However, due to the high licensing fees for streaming to a mobile phone, Napster has not yet submitted the iPhone app to Apple for approval or attempted to bring the application to market."
"iPhone users can use m.napster.com and song credits to purchase songs, but the songs purchased are sent to the PC only, as Apple does not allow 3rd parties to download songs 'over the air' to the iPhone," the company said today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
eBay sells 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 4:23pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

eBay has announced that it has sold most of its stake in VoIP messaging software platform Skype for $1.9 billion in cash plus a $125 million note. eBay will retain a 35% stake in Skype, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The investor group which bought out eBay's share is being led by private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, and includes venture capital firms Andreesen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Egon Durban, managing director at Silver Lake, said, "Skype is an innovative, next-generation company that has changed how people and businesses communicate with each other. This transaction benefits all parties involved and will allow Skype the opportunity to accelerate the growth of its business by harnessing the deep technological and company development expertise that resides within the investor group. Josh Silverman has done a strong job leading the company and we look forward to working with Josh and his team to grow the Skype franchise."
This transaction fulfills announcements made earlier this year by eBay President and CEO John Donahoe who pointed out that Skype really didn't fit in with eBay's portfolio as it re-evaluates the direction of its business.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Opera 10 Final released, bringing back 'turbo' mode

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 3:49pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Download Opera 10 for Windows from FileForum now.
Debuting in a rather comprehensive alpha nine months ago, and in beta at the beginning of the summer, Opera 10's final version has been officially released today.
With a new interface, new "turbo" compression technologies, an improved email client, and even a new desktop icon, Opera 10 has received a thorough makeover.
Since being made available early this morning, the demand for Opera 10 has been extremely taxing on Opera's servers, the team says they're working hard to fix that. In the first couple of hours alone, the new browser was downloaded more than 200,000 times.
In addition to being available as a Web download, Opera 10 is also available through FTP.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009
Windows Phones are coming October 6th

Publié: septembre 1, 2009, 3:40pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft has at last announced the availability of Windows Phones with Windows Mobile 6.5.
Though the precise phone models were not announced today, Microsoft announced the carriers and handset manufacturers we can expect to find on October 6.
In North America, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus will have phones from HP, HTC, LG, Samsung and Toshiba; while in Europe Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone will have devices from Acer, HTC, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba.
Asia will be supported by the same manufacturers as Europe, but the mobile operators will include: NTT DoCoMo, Softbank, SK Telecom, Telestra, and Willcom inc.
Latin America so far only has support from TIM Brazil, but that carrier will have phones from HTC, LG, and Samsung.
Stephanie Ferguson, General Manager of Business Experience on Microsoft's Mobile team this morning said, "You'll see new Windows phones designed for a variety of tastes, needs and price points - with or without keyboards, with or without touch screens, as well as your choice of GPS, accelerometer and high resolution camera. There are a lot of great options and we can't wait to show them to you. Until then, keep an eye on our partners as they announce details on new Windows phones and where you can find them this fall."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009