The Test Center highlights noteworthy PC components that came through the lab so far this year. Manufacturers' ability to build components that support both quad- and dual-core hardware platforms continues to impress us.
Acer's latest Aspire Gemstone laptops come just in time for the holiday shopping blitz, targeting consumers with a range of entertainment-focused models.
It's been a busy quarter for shakeups in some of the industry's top channel companies. Here we look at several channel executives who have come and gone in the last few months.
No Static At AllGood news on the internet radio front: The Senate's passage of the "Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008" will likely save many Internet radio "stations" from going the way of the dinosaurs." Since our parent company unveiled our shiny (and noisy) new cubicle-based workspace a couple months ago, I've become quite a fan of internet radio, including 'eclectic' rock station Radio Paradise, and the spacier sounds of Groove Salad and Space Station Soma on Soma.fm for when I'm concentrating. (Web Worker Daily looked at music for productivity a little ways back. Their advice still sounds good.) Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:31 AM, October 3, 2008 RSS Feed UpdatesI recently received an email from the folks at Fixed Bid Consulting, regarding the ThreatWatch series of articles from our Channel Test Center: "Is there any way I can receive each new post in an email message?" While we are evaluating some 'narrowcast' newsletter options, none are on the immediate horizon. But as I thought about it, I realized there was another way we could easily honor the request -- with a custom RSS feed. On our RSS Feeds Page, you may subscribe to our 'standard' news and blog feeds, but we've also made it possible for readers to roll-their-own feeds based on one or more technology topics, or on individual keywords you're interested in... a company or product name, or even the name of a series of articles. Here's ThreatWatch in RSS feed form, for instance: http://www.crn.com/rss/custom/threatwatch/customFeed.xml I'm happy to report the folks at Fixed Bid liked it, too. Speaking of the RSS Feeds Page, we've just updated it to to give you one-click access to call up our most popular feeds in the most popular feed readers. You'll still find the tools for customized topic feeds and keyword-specific feeds, as well as more general information on using RSS. My slide show on The Best RSS Feed Readers has some more ideas. Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:41 PM, October 1, 2008 Chaos Is Good (Except When It Isn't)Keep your head in the game when others are panicking, and something good is bound to happen. Solution providers interviewed for VARBusiness's report, How To Sell IT In Tough Times say they're still seeing strong customer demand and looking to grow their businesses: "Some VARs say a sagging economic climate can actually spur IT sales, especially if you can prove a quick return on investment or increase operational efficiencies for customers." Don't miss 10 Ways To Survive And Thrive In A Downturn. So what could go wrong? One possible monkey wrench would be if customers were willing to buy, but unable to obtain the necessary credit. As banks fail and get swallowed up, It's a real concern: "Romi Randhawa, president and CEO of HPM Networks, a solution provider in Fremont, Calif., said he expects lending institutions to tighten up their lending practices in the wake of the financial debacle, especially to those VARs that sell a lot of hardware... Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:37 PM, September 29, 2008 State of Technology: SecurityFour times a year, the VARBusiness State of Technology report examines how solution providers are finding opportunities in key technology specialties. In the latest installment, Security Stays Strong, more than half the solution providers we spoke to expect IT spending on security solutions to contine to grow in the next 12 months: "A number of factors are spurring sales of high-end solutions, said solution providers, including customers' desire to avoid data breaches and malware attacks, and regulatory compliance requirements." Other opportunities profiled include access control, perimeter security and managed security services. One slide show breaks out the key research findings; while a second identifies the 10 Biggest Security Threats Of The Future. Posted by Joe Caponi at 01:08 PM, September 26, 2008 Getting To Know Fake Steve JobsAttending any trade show on the last day is usually an exercise in solitude. This past Friday, with the show floor already closed, I wasn't surprised to find New York's cavernous Javitz Center nearly empty as I arrived for the Web 2.0 Expo. Much to my surprise though, the spacious keynote hall downstairs was standing room only for a series of quick addresses, highlighted by a talk by Dan Lyons, author of the hit blog The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. I've posted my take on Fake Steve (as he's come to be known) over at our Channel Wire blog. In part: "Prodded by "fear and bordeom," Lyons decided to hone his new media skills by launching an anonymous blog, parodying such CEO blogs as Jonathan Schwartz's at Sun. He chose as his protagonist the CEO of Apple, a person with a unique role in modern technology as well as, 'a tiny bit of an ego.'" The web development sessions I attended after Lyons' talk -- including one featuring Brendan Eich, the creator of Javascript -- were also crowded, and more importantly, well worth the trip. More about those later...
Posted by Joe Caponi at 12:17 PM, September 23, 2008 85 New Products For The ChannelAs fall approaches, vendors are out with new products vying for the attention of solution providers. To get up to speed, check out our slide shows, including 36 Midmarket Products we love right now; 25 Must-See New Products at Interop NY; 12 Mobile Devices from CTIA Wireless, and our own Channel Test Center's Notebook Product Guide. Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:30 AM, September 18, 2008 Go Green, Earn Green. TomorrowHelping clients put a chain saw to their energy costs can be a money-maker for solution providers, and is the subject of our next Virtual Trade Show: Capitalizing On Going Green, taking place tomorrow. The live, free event features a keynote panel hosted by Everything Channel President Robert Faletra; insights on products from Intel, IBM, VMWare, HP and others; a Channel Test Center roundup of green office solutions; and chats, giveaways and more. Check the schedule and register now! Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:19 AM, September 17, 2008 Weathering The Financial StormEconomic turmoils come and go. This one, though, may be here for awhile. Some perspectives: How did we get here? At Forbes, Barry Ritholtz puts the blame on Alan Greenspan and a culture of over de-regulation: "Too many people forgot that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Reasonable capital requirements? Who needs 'em! Leverage limitations? Forget it! Enforcement of lending standards? Not here in America! And all these misguided attempts at allowing the markets to police themselves have come home to roost. The clean-up for this is going to be expensive. We still have no idea how many trillions--yes, that's trillions with a "T"--this is going to cost." While Larry Kudlow credits Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for restoring some sanity: "Last March, acting in conjunction with Fed head Ben Bernanke, Paulson safeguarded the banking system and the whole global financial structure by backstopping a JPMorgan-Chase deal to acquire the ailing Bear Stearns with $29 billion of loan guarantees. The action succeeded in stabilizing markets, but it put U.S. taxpayers on the hook big-time. Closer to home, Dell sees global IT demand "softening", while HP plans a massive layoff. But at bMighty, Fred Paul is looking at the glass as slightly full: "Historically, smaller companies are the first to take advantage when the economy begins to recover, and that's likely to be the case again. But trying to time the recovery and jump in at the last minute is a fool's game. If you want to be there for the upswing, you have to weather the troubles." Posted by Joe Caponi at 11:26 AM, September 16, 2008 Dell Buys Dell, Big TimeGive Michael Dell credit for putting his money where his mouth is: "Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc., bought about $100 million of the computer maker's stock last week, his second such buying spree in the past three months." Emphasis mine. He'd made a similar buy back in July. Dell shares dropped on August 29, following a weak earnings report, and Dell pounced. It's nice when you can do that. He may be optimistic on the prospects for the new Mini 9, or on Dell's cost-cutting plans, or their evolving channel strategy. But if I were Mark Hurd, I'd definitely be curious... Posted by Joe Caponi at 10:44 AM, September 9, 2008 Seinfeld's Microsoft Ads: A Circus of ShoesMicrosoft's much anticipated $300 million Vista campaign is here. Our Brian Kraemer has taken a look, and says it was kind of odd: "Microsoft's ad was thin on substance, message or even branding. But over at InformationWeek, Paul McDougall eviscerates the whole idea: "How much does Google spend on TV advertising? If you said "fifty bucks", you'd be wrong by fifty bucks. In fact, have you ever seen a Google ad, anywhere? Also at InformationWeek, Dave Metvin concludes, "So we've finally found something that's much worse than Vista: Vista commercials." Judge for yourself. Jerry's clearly working hard. Let's see where this goes... Posted by Joe Caponi at 03:00 PM, September 8, 2008 Browser SeasonMicrosoft offers its second beta preview of Internet Explorer 8 (though heed the XP warnings); Mozilla is prompting users to upgrade to Firefox 3; and wait, what's this? Google Chrome, a new browser in beta from Google. All these updates stress their privacy and security features. This will be an exciting fall for web developers (and readers). Posted by Joe Caponi at 09:54 AM, September 2, 2008 Labor Day LinkfestHere's hoping we all get the opportunity for some rest and relaxation, as we reach the unofficial end of summer. But don't take your eye off your labors for too long--here's some top links to enjoy this weekend: Continue reading "Labor Day Linkfest" Posted by Joe Caponi at 02:44 PM, August 29, 2008 |
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