Microsoft Archives • Dzhingarov

Google to open retail stores this year

Dzhingarov — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:25:49 +0000

According to a bevy of outlets including the Wall Street Journal and 9to5Google, our favourite Californian search company may soon be opening their own brick-and-mortar retail stores. Google’s stores would compete against similar stores from Microsoft and Apple, offering a range of hardware devices and accessories for consumers to come in and try out.

What would be sold in these stores? Well, Google have rather quickly become a hardware company in addition to their traditional software efforts.

Google stores could carry Chromebooks, including lower end models and the new premium Chromebook Pixel, and other Chrome OS devices. Android smartphones and tablets would also be a no-brainer, most notably the Nexus line, including Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Google has also started making media devices like the Nexus Q media streamer, and that would make sense too. Google would also be able to provide Nexus 4 cases and other accessories, in the same manner as Apple stores do.

Finally, there are a lot of future Google products that would be best served by a place to see them in action, like Google Glass and self-driving cars. The former would be particularly cool to see in stores, as while Google’s videos are cool it’d be best to try it for yourself to get the full effect of wearing Google Glass.

Of course, these stores could be a good place for Google to show off their software offerings as well – the Chrome Browser, Gmail, Drive and plenty of other services will no doubt have a place in the stores as well. Google are serving up a whole ecosystem, and having a retail store would be a good chance to underscore just how wide that ecosystem is.

While Google has operated pop-up shops for Chromebooks before, opening permanent retail stores is another thing entirely. Both Microsoft and Google have also put a lot of thought into the design and construction of their stores, and no doubt Google will want to do the same, with inspirational architecture that’ll set them apart fromt he crowd. There’s also the ‘Genius’ element to consider – Google may want to staff these stores with Android and Google experts in order to solve customer’s problems in a way that goes beyond what’s possible in a purely online arena.

Thankfully then, they’ve still got some time to get everything sorted – both outlets are reporting that these stores won’t go live until the holiday season this year. A good time for the announcement to be made might be at the Google I/O conference in May, but we’ll have to wait and see – a late breaking Mobile World Conference announcement or leak may still be on the cards.

I’ll be pretty thrilled if these reports are accurate – it’ll mean that finally there’ll be a good place for Android enthusiasts like me to get jobs! What are your thoughts on Google retail stores? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.

Author: William Judd – Follow him on Google+.

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Microsoft Office 365 Vs Google Docs

Dzhingarov — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:00:30 +0000

As cloud computing becomes an increasingly popular choice for business users, it can easily be difficult to know which software is the best for your business. As with any type of innovation, there are a number of different options available on the market for anyone who is looking to make a move into the cloud, and two of the main competitors in this arena are Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs.

Both backed by massive corporations, and both designed to work specifically with businesses, these two major players offer a whole host of benefits to anyone who chooses to use them – but at the end of the day you need to work out which is best suited to your business. It’s hard to say that one is better than the other, as both are designed to meet the needs of a range of different businesses – and the one that suits you best will most likely be very business specific.

Here are some key features and disadvantages of each to let you make up your own mind.

Microsoft Office 365

Advantages

Familiarity – many of us have grown up using the Microsoft Office suite and are therefore familiar with many of its popular programs (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc…) so no further learning is required
Ease of use – easy to set up and easy to use,Office 365 requires very little installation time and doesn’t require any additional hardware. It can be downloaded straight from the cloud and you can be ready to go in a matter of minutes
Technical support – Microsoft provides 24/7 technical support to its Office 365 users, ensuring that you constantly have a helping hand on the other end of the phone – thus helping to decrease any down-time for your business.

Disadvantages

Customisation – Office 365 doesn’t have the same scope as Google to customise their applications to suit a clients’ need which can be a disadvantage if the Office suite doesn’t directly meet the needs of the client
Office 365 does require installation on your computer, whereas Google Docs runs in the cloud. The addition of software and add-ons can potentially cause software conflicts, making it slightly harder to set up than its Google counterpart.

Google Docs

Advantages

Back-up – in general when you use Google Docs you are saving your information onto their servers, so even if your computer crashes or has a problem, you will still be able to retain your information
Sharing – Google Docs allows you to easily share your documents with friends and co-workers. This means that a number of people can access one document at the same time, allowing for increased efficiency
Price – although many other companies charge for this type of service, Google Docs is entirely free and allows you to perform a wide range of tasks that you would have to otherwise pay for.

Disadvantages

Lack of control – if you are a business which relies heavily on business then you won’t like the idea of your information being stored on an external server which could potentially be accessed by someone else
Google access – by storing your information on Google you are potentially allowing the company access to your important information. This means that Google Search could find information about you – such as where you work and what industry you are in – in addition to being able to find your email address and other information.

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Google Rolls Out Private Channels for Google Apps Customers

Dzhingarov — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 11:01:34 +0000

Android devices are proving to be worthy competition for Apple’s lineup of chart topping gadgets. A big part of their success can be attributed to the app craze that has become popular with consumers and businesses alike. On that note, savvy IT departments are starting to learn that apps not only provide a way to connect with customers, but streamline an array of internal processes as well. All Android users have been missing is a reliable way to distribute those applications to the internal parties that need them.

Google Play, Google’s online marketplace for Android apps, is growing by leaps and bounds. The latest growth spurt came in the form a new service that allows businesses to distribute their
apps directly to employees. Called Google Play Private Channel, this addition acts as an internal solution organizations can use to provide team members with convenient access to mission-critical applications. The new service should come in handy for companies with reporting tools and other apps that call for employee participation.

The Google App Connection

Google Play Private Channels are directly connected to Google App. In fact, an organization must be set up with a domain on Google Apps for Business, Education, or Government in order to use the service. Apps administrators have full control as they are responsible for activating the Google Play Developer Console, which lets registered employees start publishing and using apps internally. Administrators also have the power to use the Private Channel in Google Play to download apps to internal systems.

According to Google the new Private Channels has no affect on existing Google Play features. And the addition of new features gives this service even greater value to businesses. The most notable enhancements were made on the security front. Google Play Private Channels are equipped with the ability to detect viruses and other malware as well as user authentication. Other noteworthy features include device targeting and a user rating system.

Drawbacks to Consider

The new Google Play service is a tremendous luxury for businesses that collaborate through apps, but there are some limitations. For instance, organizations are only permitted to have one private channel. The channel must have the same name as the name connected to the organization’s Google Apps domain. Another limitation is that there is currently no way to distribute apps to specific groups, which are common in many companies. However, availability can be filtered by country or device model via the Google Play Developer Console.

It is also important to note that Private Channels are not accessible through a web browser. At the moment, they are only visible on Android devices. Once apps have been uploaded via the Google Play Developer’s Console, employees can access them by using the email address associated with their Google Apps account and use their Android device to navigate to the channel and access the application. While the service does not currently support web browsing, this could change with future updates.

The Growing Demand for Internal Apps

More organizations are looking at internal apps as a way to bolster their mobile operations. The concept really became attractive when companies began to realize that creating a solid app doesn’t require a Fortune 500 IT budget. Whether it’s through the work of internal development resources or third-party developers, it is very possible design in-house programs that are tailored to meet the specific needs of the mobile workforce and the company as a whole. The biggest problem with this concept has been having a secure way to share these apps internally.

With the Private Channels feature in Google Play, Google is giving Apps customers a way to publish and distribute their applications in secure fashion. Having to make an internal app publicly available is risky business due to the fact that it exposes an organization to malware, hackers, and various other security threats. Unfortunately, this is what companies using Android devices previously had to deal with. Thanks to Private Channels, they no longer have to worry about such security and privacy concerns.

What Google is doing with Google Play Private Channels isn’t exactly new territory. In fact, Apple has been giving its developers the ability to distribute apps internally for years. Microsoft also did something similar when it began selling apps for the Windows 7 platform. Regardless of who is the real innovator, Private Channels is a nice touch for organizations looking for a more secure way to share apps on the inside.

Author: Aidan Hijleh – Follow him on Google+.

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