DAVE - Digital Audio Video Experience

Just two weeks after unveiling what might very well be the fastest hard drive on the planet, Seagate has navigated into new waters with the introduction of a storage device called DAVE, short for Digital Audio Video Experience.
The portable, 2.5-ounce drive, which boasts up to 10 GB of storage, uses either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to stream content to mobile phones, operating as a kind of pocket-sized digital hub for users whose smartphones are bursting at the seams with pictures, music, and other digital data.
Seagate is hoping the new format will revolutionize storage for mobile phones, but analysts are predicting a tough sell.

DAVE's Details
Phones can connect wirelessly to the diminutive device from up to 30 feet away -- allowing users access to anything stored on it. In terms of battery life, Seagate says the device can handle 10 hours of media streaming, and two weeks operating in the standby mode.
Industry experts are applauding Seagate's efforts, but feel it might not be smooth sailing. It's an interesting product concept flying into strong headwinds.
Seagate is testing the waters, veering away from the traditional strategies of mobile phone companies. Mobile phone operators have invested heavily in high-speed networks hoping to sell a lot of data over those networks. In this sense DAVE is a challenging concept to sell.

Vonage's USB V-Phone

Vonage's V-Phone is a curious device. You plug a headset microphone into the bullet-shaped memory stick. You then plug that memory stick into any Windows personal computer that is connected to the Internet and use an on-screen soft phone and your mouse to take and make calls to any phone number around the globe.
It's that simple, and a great way for frequent travelers to make relatively cheap calls without the fuss of carrying around cellular modems and the like.
Calls sounded fine in the earbud headphones that came with the memory stick, though people on the other end complained my voice sounded far away until I placed the microphone on the wire directly in front of my mouth.
On the screen, you get nice features such as call waiting, call forwarding, and caller ID, and can redial numbers quickly thanks to onboard memory that saves the most recent calls even after you unplug the device from the computer.

Pricey and PC-Fettered
Try as I might, though, I have a tough time figuring out the long-term usage model for the V-Phone. Pay-as-you-use services like Skype let you do the same thing, delivering much the same sound quality, and don't require what can amount to an expensive annual bill.
With the V-phone, you must first pay $40 for the USB stick, then pay either $15 a month for 500 minutes, $25 for unlimited residential use, or $35 for unlimited business use. By way of comparison, an unlimited calling plan on SkypeOut will cost you just $30 for a full year.
But say you love Vonage. I have the service at home and think it's pretty good. But there, I don't want to be chained to a PC while talking on the phone and use a voice-over-IP phone adapter for my cordless products around the house.
Why not allow current customers to use the V-Phone as a virtual phone or extra line when you're traveling for an additional $5 a month? That would be a truly great way of taking your phone with you, but Vonage does not allow for it.
Until it does, the V-Phone seems to me to be a great device with a very limited market.

IE 7 Phishing Bug For Windows XP Appears Early

Microsoft released a non-security update for Internet Explorer 7 two weeks before the next patch day, and urged Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users to download and install the fix if they notice the browser mysteriously slowing down while surfing.

Earlier this week, the Redmond, Wash. developer pushed several updates to Windows Vista users, the new operating system that launched to consumers on Tuesday, including one to fix performance problems with IE 7's anti-fraud filter. The update has also been posted for IE 7 on Windows XP and Server 2003.

"Some users [have experienced high] CPU usage when they are navigating a page that contains multiple frames or when multiple frames are navigated simultaneously," said Steve Reynolds, an IE 7 program manager, on the group's blog. "This occurs when the phishing filter evaluates the page for each navigation, resulting in multiple simultaneous evaluations for the same page."
The XP and Server 2003 IE 7 anti-phishing filter fix will be included in the Feb. 13 updates, but users can download the patch manually from the company's support site.

Microsoft Launches SSL VPN Software

Windows Vista might be robbing the spotlight, but Microsoft has moved forward with other new product launches this week. On Thursday, Redmond announced new software that aims to make servers more secure.
Dubbed the Intelligent Application Gateway 2007, or IAG 2007, the software combines Microsoft's own Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) server with a firewall product that Microsoft obtained when it acquired Whale Communications last summer.
IAG 2007 offers secure sockets layer virtual private networking (SSL VPN) capabilities along with several management tools. Microsoft disclosed that it has struck deals with two appliance manufacturers -- Celestix Networks and Network Engines -- which means the software will be available soon as part of hardware appliances.

Protecting Endpoints
Remote access is becoming ubiquitous for companies large and small. With the need to provide access from diverse endpoints to multiple applications, it is imperative that enterprises have remote access solutions that can meet expanded connection and security needs, noting that Microsoft's IAG offers the functionality companies need while incorporating Microsoft's standard licensing model.

The new product is good news for Microsoft server customers, Microsoft's history in terms of securing its servers has not been sterling, Integrating Whale's solution makes the product comprehensive.
Indeed, with the addition of IAG 2007, Microsoft's server application suite covers several platforms -- from handheld devices to desktop PCs -- and also offers robust application protection.
I don't believe Microsoft can claim a substantial advantage over other vendors' SSL VPN solutions, Most vendors offer similar features. The real value for Microsoft customers is access to a stronger solution. Juniper Networks, OpenVPN, and Cisco offer similar software.

All-in-One Pricing
Microsoft also is attempting to provide value with a new pricing model. Microsoft unveiled an all-in-one pricing and licensing model designed to make SSL VPNs more affordable for small businesses.
The pricing includes the gateway, and all network connectors and security modules developed for client-side and application-layer security policies. Client access licenses will now be based on the number of authenticated users or devices connecting to IAG rather than on concurrent users.

Salesforce.com's planning to build Platform

Salesforce.com wants to be the next Internet. No, that's not the way the company describes its plans. But a year ago, Salesforce rolled out AppExchange, a Web site for on-demand applications built by other vendors but running on top of Salesforce's own software.
Recently, the company launched a preview version of Apex Code, a Java-like language for building those apps. Salesforce executives say they want Salesforce to be a platform, not just a software-as-a-service product.
How serious are they about this? Serious enough to cannibalize Salesforce's own hosted applications business. If someone else builds a better Salesforce on top of the Salesforce platform, that'll be fine -- or so the company says.

That's a little tough to believe. IBM wasn't willing to do that when its mainframes ruled the I.T. landscape. Microsoft makes sure its own Windows applications always have an advantage over those of other vendors.

There's lots of money in applications. That's how Salesforce has built everything it has. Why would Salesforce risk a profitable and growing business just to turn itself into a platform and let others make money with it? Why would Salesforce do anything differently from IBM and Microsoft?

Why?
See, in the mainframe world, you leased everything -- hardware and software, from the infrastructure on up to the applications (which you leased or built). So IBM wanted to lease you as much of that stack as possible.
In the PC world, you buy everything -- hardware and software, from the infrastructure on up through the apps. So Microsoft wants to sell you as much of that stack as possible.
But in the Internet world, you don't buy or lease the infrastructure. Somebody else owns and runs that. And somebody else owns and runs most of the software in the middle, whether that means Salesforce, eBay or a Web-hosting Internet service provider.
You can buy a piece of that infrastructure and run your own Web servers and online applications. But however much you buy, it'll only be the tip of the Internet iceberg. Nobody owns the whole stack. In fact, you can get by with owning just the tiniest sliver, only the part that's unique to your business, and leasing the rest -- most of it indirectly. And the money? You pay at the top, and it trickles down to everyone who owns a piece of the Internet stack.
That's Salesforce's dream. Salesforce figures if it can build a broad enough platform, with enough on-demand software providers stacked up on it, then lots of that money will trickle down to it from end-user customers that Salesforce never acquires, never sees, never has to fight for. And Salesforce will collect revenue every time those indirect customers use someone else's application built on the Salesforce platform.

So in theory, Salesforce doesn't need the IBM or Microsoft own-the-stack model.
In practice? Well, revenue is revenue. Ultimately, Salesforce isn't likely to walk away from that lucrative CRM money.
But Salesforce's platform dream still matters. Why? Not because the world needs more CRM, but because of all the interesting on-demand application ideas that would never see the light of day if they couldn't be piggybacked on Salesforce's platform -- ideas Salesforce would never come up with but might help along if the Salesforce platform makes the required sliver small enough.
Most of them may be junk, or at least useless to you. Some of them may show some value. One or two might even fundamentally change the way you do I.T.
That's makes Salesforce a lot more valuable to corporate I.T. as a platform -- and as an idea incubator -- than as an application.
No, Salesforce won't become the next Internet.
But the closer it gets to that model, the more useful it will be for the rest of us.