Blackberry and apple crumble?

Could Google's Android be a rival contender to the Blackberry and iPhone?
In modern businesses we are increasingly relying on smartphones to track our e-mails, appointments and phone calls. And to support our need, there is a host of different operating systems for mobile devices, each incompatible with the others! Among the established systems, Apple iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile and Symbian are all in competion with each other.
BlackBerry has dominated but maybe for not much longer. Its handheld devices offer near-perfect secure synchronisation with work e-mail, and QWERTY keyboards for ease of typing. They are however not sleek! Last year’s iPhone update is sleek and brought Microsoft Exchange integration. Interestingly, Standard Chartered, a British-based international bank, announced last week that it will allow thousands of employees to trade in their BlackBerrys for iPhones.
So is the future Apple-shaped? Maybe not. Google’s Android mobile operating system, provided free to manufacturers, integrates with all Google’s online services, and with Microsoft Exchange. HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Samsung already make phones running Android, which offers comparable functionality in a similarly friendly package to the iPhone.
The expectation is that in five years’ time Android will be the world’s dominant mobile platform, just as Google dominates internet search!
So is it a case of Google's Android being a BlackBerry and Apple crumble?

You Tube 5th Birthday!

YouTube, that household name for broadband videos, has recently reached its fifth birthday. That’s right – it has only been a mere five years since the birth of YouTube and no doubt you’re wondering what you used to do, to while away the hours before it.

To celebrate its birthday, YouTube has just announced a major new milestone: it’s streaming a whopping two billion views per day.
To help commemorate the occasion, YouTube is also launching a new channel of videos called “My YouTube Story”, which includes a collection of clips featuring people around the world talking about how YouTube has changed their lives. The initial batch of clips were filmed by documentary filmmaker Stephen Higgins, and some of them are quite touching. YouTube users can upload their own video stories as well; YouTube will be plotting these videos on a global map, and will also offer an interactive timeline of clips.

For the entire history of YouTube and its evolution over the past five years, check out the YouTube channel.

Office 2010

Choose the software that goes everywhere you go.

Office 2010, the next version of Microsoft's successful office programs suite, has now been launched for business use.

At the office or on the go, your life never stops moving. Microsoft® Office gives you smart, simple, timesaving tools to help you keep up with it. Now you can express ideas, solve problems, connect with people and create amazing results — wherever life takes you. Along with the traditional desktop applications, the new Office features Web-based versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
The latest version of the software has a free online component - called Office Web Apps.

Analysts believe the web offering is a response to Google, which has been encroaching on Microsoft's core business with its free online tools.

Crucially, Microsoft will also offer its online office suite to all users of one of the world's most popular social networking sites, Facebook.