Friday, 29 April 2011
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Google Apps For Business To Go Paid From May 10 In India
Google Apps for Business, the browser-based office suite that revolutionised the way start-ups and SMBs use e-mail and productivity applications at work, will soon go paid for any business with more than 10 users in India.
Google Apps offers online solutions for e-mail, document editing, spread sheets and calendar management and collaboration with Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs and Sites. These web-based tools are hosted by Google itself and help streamline setup, minimise maintenance and reduce IT costs. Google claims that over three million businesses run Google Apps today.
Earlier, Google Apps for Business offered business users 100 e-mail IDs for free. Now, business users signing up for Google Apps for the first time after May 10, 2011 will be asked to use the paid Google Apps product if they have more than 10 e-mail accounts.
The website has not yet announced the change, but an e-mail message sent by the Google Apps Teamreads: “We recently announced upcoming changes to the maximum number of users for Google Apps. As of May 10, any organisation that signs up for a new account will be required to use the paid Google Apps for Business product in order to create more than 10 users.”
Existing businesses will be able to continue to use Google Apps without being charged. Think of it as a bonus for adopting the cloud service first.
Globally, Google Apps for Business announced that it was going paid in 2009. It charged an annual fee of $50 per user, according to this pricing chart.
How does Google Apps differ from Google Apps for Business? While the former is a free service that allows anyone to activate up to 50 accounts and offers messaging apps, customised e-mail accounts for domains, Google Calendar and mobile access to the services, Google Apps for Business offers an additional set of security and support services.
Features such as Google Video for Business and Google Groups for Business are offered on Google Apps for Business. It also provides 25 GB e-mail storage per user, as well as enhanced support and security features. For example, with more administrator controls, you can enforce SSL, which means when you connect to your e-mail and data which are hosted online, the connection is always secure and hackers or IP thieves will not be able to access and steal company information. Various banks currently use SSL to secure online banking transactions.
By setting the required custom password strength, you will be able to ensure that employees’ e-mail inboxes are protected against information theft.
Google also offers 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee and 24/7 support, besides interoperability for Blackberry and Microsoft Outlook users.
A direct competitor to Google Apps for Business is Microsoft’s Office 365 and the tech giant had recently launched a public beta in India. Office 365 is Microsoft’s online productivity suite, which combines Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online into a cloud service.
Office 365 is a paid service for an average of Rs 270 per user, per month, starting at Rs 90 per user, per month for instant messaging and presence applications. And more than 150,000 organisations have signed up to test it so far, the company has revealed.
Mozilla Firefox Add-Ons for Social Networking
Internet browsers have gone a long way from being a simple interface. While Add-Ons for Mozilla Firefox are not the latest fad, they have expanded in number and variety. One look at the Add-Ons page and you’ll see add-ons for Alerts and Updates, Language Support, Shopping and many more categories. Today we’ll take a look at add-ons meant for Social Networking. All of them are not necessarily helpful but it can be a lot of fun trying them out. After all, social networking is all about fun, isn’t it? Facebook Toolbar  Work and Facebook... A nice feature for those who just love whiling away time on Facebook. It also makes sense if you want to stay updated on what’s happening, but are busy on some other website. This toolbar has a search box, quick links for Profile, Inbox and more. Plus there are buttons for pokes, notifications, messages, events and friend requests. The search box is more like a quick access to a friend’s profile and all the buttons will bring you to your Home page on Facebook. It might add some clutter to your browser, but the toolbar certainly makes Facebook-ing convenient. HootBar (formerly TwitterBar)  Hoot's the way... Just like Facebook Toolbar is for Facebook, this one is a toolbar (more like a tool button!) for Twitter. If you find an interesting page you want to tweet about, you can do so by simply clicking on the twitter icon at the end of the address bar. Once you download HootBar, you also have access to a feature called Hootlet which lets you post on other social networks as well. If you append commands like post or hoot, your message will be posted directly on Twitter. Other commands like “options” is meant to open a new window with posting preference options and more. Facebook Dislike  Although I don't understand, I STILL Dislike Now this add-on doesn’t really need an introduction. Many of us Facebook people have been literally cribbing for a dislike button. There are a thousand (okay a million) status messages, photos, videos and more where we’re left searching for that thumbs down! Our prayers have been answered. Well not officially by Mark Zuckerberg, but a developer has come up with this unique add-on which once installed, ensures that users now have a fair say! There’s one obvious glitch though. Even if you do dislike something, your friends or others cannot see it till they themselves have installed this add-on. So to up the fun factor, suggest this to your friends as well! Facebook Chat History Manager A nice way of checking what you last spoke with your friends. There are times when you must have missed contact numbers, addresses or other such important details. Instead of going through the grind and asking people all over again, you might as well check your Chat History. For those with restricted Internet access, this add-on also lets you access your chat history even when you are offline. Yoono  a nice all-in-one app, you know! An add-on meant to access all your social networking sites from one application, Yoono lets you access your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Gtalk accounts from a panel that opens up on your left. Honestly, it doesn’t have the most intuitive interface out there, but nevertheless it’s a convenient application to use. Users can do everything, right from updating their status messages to sharing images, links and videos. To conclude with, these are some add-ons that you can download for your Firefox web browser. For one, Facebook Dislike cannot be classified as a utility but is definitely worth a try. The others make social networking a lot more convenient. Give them a try and let us know what you felt about them. |
HTC to Launch the Wildfire S in India Next Week
The HTC Wildfire S was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, along with the Incredible S and the Desire S. Both of the aforementioned phones have made it to India already, so it was only a matter of time before the Wildfire S landed on our shores too. If OnlyGizmos are to be believed, that will happen next week.
Will this news spread like Wildfire?
The Wildfire S is a rather modest device and will be the cheapest Gingerbread smartphone to release here. Check out the specifications:
- 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen at 320x480, encased in Gorilla Glass
- 600MHz Processor, 512MB RAM
- Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense UI
- 3G, HSDPA 7.2Mbps support
- WiFI b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP + EDR
- 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
- Stereo FM Radio with RDS
- 1230mAh battery
The HTC Wildfire S is expected to cost around Rs. 15,000 - Rs. 16,000 at launch.
Sony Evaluating Compensation for PlayStation Network Downtime
Sony said in a Friday blog post that it is considering how to "show appreciation" for its customers' patience in dealing with the ongoing PlayStation Network outage.
Sony Online Entertainment also said that it will be holding "special events" for subscribers to its "DC Universe Online" and "Free Realms" massively multiplayer online games.
Sony's online network has been down since April 20, when the company took down the PlayStation Network and the related Qriocity cloud music service due to a external intrusion, or hack into the network. Sony has since been sued over the hack, accusing the company of failing to adequately protect, encrypt, and secure its customer data. The suit seeks damages for the data loss and PlayStation Network downtime.
That may have been on Sony's mind on Friday, when the company's latest blog post addressed what will happen to customer's saved games, data, and other aspects of game play.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of information is listed at the bottom, however: "Will there be a goodwill gesture for the time we haven't been able to utilize PSN/Qriocity?" the blog's FAQ asks. "We are currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online."
The blog also addresses the two MMOs.
"What if we have a subscription to PS3 MMOs DC Universe Online or Free Realms? Will we get compensation for that?" it asks.
"From Sony Online Entertainment: 'We apologize for any inconvenience players may have experienced as a result of the recent service interruption,'" the FAQ states. "'As a global leader in online gaming, SOE is committed to delivering stable and entertaining games for players of all ages. To thank players for their patience, we will be hosting special events across our game portfolio. We are also working on a "make good" plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Details will be available soon on the individual game websites and forums.'"
Sony also goes on to say that download lists, friends history, and settings will not be affected, and that trophies (Sony's version of the Xbox "Achievements") will also be intact and sync with the server when the PSN is restored. Cloud saves will also be "retrievable," Sony said.
Sony has also said previously that its credit-card data has been encrypted, theoretically preventing it from being stolen. Still, it said, it cannot rule out the possibility that it was obtained by the hackers.
On Friday, reports circulated that the credit-card information had in face been obtained and was being circulated by hackers.
Android 2.3.4 Available for Nexus S Now
Google’s Android has many different features and powers an immense amount of different phones. However as with any other piece of software Android is not perfect which means that periodically, it’s going to need an update. Luckily, Google is well aware of this as they have been known to release an update to the platform at various times throughout the year.
The latest rumblings over an Android update focus on the 2.3.4 update. The biggest feature said to be included in this update is a native version of Google Talk which includes the ability to video chat – kind of like the iPhone’s FaceTime. Unfortunately the only thing we’ve heard in terms of a release date was that it will be out sometime in the next few weeks.
Well, if you’re of the impatient type and have a Nexus S you’re in for a treat. Just today it was announced that a manual download is now available for the Nexus S Android 2.3.4 update. Head here for more information.
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