Apple catches up to some must have Android featured and a little extra

Note: The following impressions are from an early developer build, and may not represent the final version of iOS 5.

Apple has added some huge new additions to its iOS platform yesterday with the introduction of iOS 5. 

Activation without a computer.
You will no longer have to sync your phone with iTunes to activate your iPhone. This scan all be done via their new cloud service called iCloud. This has been an issue for users that don’t have a computer but may still want a smartphone.

Far better notifications along with Twitter integration
Anyone who has used both Android and the iPhone know the current way the iPhone does notifications is lacking. The current bubble popups have a tendency to interrupt if you are working on something. Android has seemed to have a better solution for this by storing all its notifications at the top of the phone where they can they be pulled down to check and access those apps. Apple seems to have adopted this same UI concept which will greatly help eliminate clutter and interruptions on the iPhone. Apple is also added Twitter integration directly into the phone allowing you to tweet an image right from the Photos app and add a contact’s Twitter handle and directly tweet to them from the contacts menu. This is integration that Android has had for a long time that was much needed in iOS.

Addition of Newsstand app, iMessage, and Reminders
A couple of cool additions her on the built in app side. Reminders is a built in To Do app where you can add To Dos and check it off when completed. iMessage is which will be a take on RIM’s awesome Blackberry Messenger. This should be a really cool feature. There is also The Newsstand app, but as of right now you can’t get into the store to download magazines or newspapers.

Photo editing from the photo app
Apple has included four new editing tools; rotate, crop, auto-enhance, and red eye.


These are just what we thought were the big and much needed additions. For a full look, Engadget has a great write up. Have a look over at Engadget.com  

Microsoft In the Cloud

Small businesses often face a sobering reality: They know there are technology applications that could make their business more efficient, but the cost of implementing and maintaining new hardware and software can be prohibitive. That's where cloud computing can actually bring a sunny forecast.

Shifting your IT infrastructure and management burdens to a third-party, cloud-based provider can get you enterprise-class technologies for less than you'd expect.

Take a look at Microsoft in the cloud:


Technitive is proud to be a Microsoft Certified Partner and is actively helping Small Businesses to migrate their data to the cloud.

Cloud computing allows for data that is always available with an internet connection anywhere in the world, migrates your IT costs from a capital cost to on operational cost, and is an excellent product for business continuity; allowing your staff to work no matter where they are, even in disaster scenarios.

Take a look at at how Microsoft is building out this massive infrastructure HERE.

Microsoft's guide to Speed up your PC

Has your PC become sluggish over time? Here are some common causes of PC slowdown and easy tips to give your PC a spring makeover.

Turn off visual effects

“Pretty is as pretty does,” my grandmother used to say. Maybe she wasn't referring to computers, but the principle still applies. Windows includes some stunning effects, but they're not necessary if you value speed over eye candy. Go ahead and disable them:

1. Click the Start button , and type Performance Information and Tools in the search window. Select it from the list of results.
2. Click Adjust visual effects

3. On the Visual Effects tab, choose Adjust for best performance (more drastic) or Let Windows choose what's best for my computer (less drastic), and then click OK.

Limit how many programs run at startup

There are a lot of programs that load automatically when you boot up your PC—which can really hamper performance. To manage these programs like a pro, learn how to get a comprehensive view of what's running:

1. Click the Start button , and type System Configuration in the search window. Select it from the list of results.

2. Select the Startup tab. The files set to run at startup are indicated with a check mark. You can uncheck nonessential programs—but make sure you only disable programs you're familiar with. When in doubt, leave it checked.

Delete, delete, delete

A clean machine is a fast machine. That means your best option is to uninstall all the programs you don't use. Delete things like trial software, limited edition versions, and anything else you're never going to use. Anti-virus software? Just testing. You always want your security program—but make sure you're only running a single, up-to-date program. To uninstall software:

1. Click the Start button and select Control Panel.
2. Underneath Programs, click Uninstall a program. (If you don't see this page, change the View by option in the top right-hand corner to Category.)

3. Select the program you want to delete and click Uninstall.

Run fewer programs at the same time

If your PC bogs down while you're working, check to see how many programs you have running. All programs take up system memory, which can have a huge impact on performance. In some cases, having multiple instances of a program (such as several open e-mail messages) or multiple versions of a program type (more than one anti-virus program) can use up memory. Respond to and close your messages right away and keep open only the programs that are necessary for the work you're currently doing—and you'll see a boost in speed.

Make ReadyBoost your friend

It's all very well to advise you to close programs you're not using—but just because you're not using it now doesn't mean you won't be using it in 10 minutes. The answer is ReadyBoost, a super helpful feature that can use the extra space on a flash card or USB storage device to speed up your PC. Plug in a compatible storage device and click Speed up my system when you see the AutoPlay dialog box.

Troubleshoot

If your PC was whizzing along merrily and then suddenly started lagging, run a virus scan. Viruses and malware can really bog you down. Clean bill of health? Try a troubleshooter:

1. Click the Start button , and select Control Panel
2. In the search box, type troubleshooter. Click Troubleshooting.
3. Under Systems and Security, click Check for performance issues.

4. Run the Performance troubleshooter by clicking Next in the lower right hand corner.

Restart often and clean your hard disk

The more you use your PC, the more applications you use and the more services you're running. Closing an application doesn't always close the service. That's why rebooting fixes so many problems; it clears out the memory. Restart at least once a week. Your best bet? Turn off your PC every night. Not only will you clear out your memory, but you'll save energy to boot.

You should also make a habit of cleaning your hard disk to remove temporary files, emptying the Recycle Bin, and getting rid of system files you don't need any more:

1. Click the Start button , and type Disk Cleanup in the search window. Select it from the list of results.
2. After the utility runs, you'll see how much disk space you can free up.
3. Click OK, and then click Delete Files.

Check your hardware

Is your PC still slow? Take a look at the Windows Experience Index, a method of rating your PC on five key components. Depending on your particular hardware, you might need a new PC or some hardware upgrades. To see your Windows Experience Index:

1. Click the Start button , and type Performance Information and Tools in the search window. Select it from the list of results.
2. Click Re-run the assessment at the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
3. Check out your base score. If your score is lower than 3, it might be time to consider a new PC.

Keep your PC up to date

One of the best things you can do to protect your PC is also one of the easiest: Make sure you are set up to get automatic updates from Microsoft. If you use Windows and other Microsoft software, such as Microsoft Office or Windows Live Essentials, then you should use the Microsoft Update service. You'll also get notices about new Microsoft software that you can download for free.

So how do you turn on automatic updates? Simple: Go to the Microsoft Update Web site. If you don't have automatic updates turned on, we'll help you through the process.

About this author:

Zia Munshi is a freelance writer and copywriter who has written for a wide variety of publications and companies, including Microsoft and MSN. She especially loves writing about technology because it gives her an excuse to purchase all the latest gadgetry and software. She lives in Seattle with her husband and her dog.

Full Microsoft article is HERE

Has your hard drive become too small?

If so Lifehacker as a great step by step on how to image your current hard drive and install a new one and move all of your data and programs back just the way it was on your old hard drive. 

This is a very easy exercise and is a good start for someone who wants to start to get involved in upgrading there computer. At Technitive we have found that Windows 7 runs great on older hardware that maybe vista would have been slow on. With a couple of cheap tweaks like installing more RAM and a maybe a new hard drive you should be good to go installing windows 7 on a computer from 2 or 3 years ago.

Excerpt from the Lifehacker article:

 









For the purpose of this article, we're going to start after the point at which you've physically installed the hard drive—there's just a couple of screws and a cable, after all, but if you still need some help you can check out our guide to installing a hard drive for a primer on the basic technique.

Below, we'll highlight a few tools that can help you clone your old hard drive to a new one (and choose a favorite we'll use), detail a few of the finer points for getting started on a laptop or desktop computer, then guide you through the cloning and upgrading process.

Options for Cloning Your Drive
To upgrade your hard drive without reinstalling everything, you'll need to use a utility to make an exact copy, or clone, from the old hard drive to the new one. A number of commercial tools will do this for you, and even some free Windows utilities can make a copy of your drive while your PC is running. For example, see our guide to using DriveImageXML to hot image your PC's hard drive, which is an excellent tool for making a backup. The problem, however, is that it doesn't create a true clone of the drive, since you'd still have to reinstall the Windows bootloader using a repair CD if you wanted to boot into your cloned drive.

The bigger problem, particularly if you're upgrading a laptop, is that you need to have a copy of Windows already running for most of the free utilities to work; most laptops can only have one drive hooked up at a time. In this case, your best free option is the Linux-based Clonezilla Live CD, which streamlines the process of imaging your drive to an external drive or even a shared folder on another PC.


Have a look at the rest of this great step by step over at Lifehacker.

How Microsoft is creating the Cloud

Microsoft has been working hard on cloud computing from a software perspective trying to catch up to Google. But the one area where they are beginning to dominate is in server hardware, Data center optimization, data center logistics, and the connection of all that data into one solid mesh or Cloud.

Google is years behind on the hardware portion of Microsoft’s build out and Apple is not even a real player in the cloud space right now so it’s unclear how far behind they are.

Take a look at this video from MS about how they organically grow the cloud:



Find out more over at Microsoft Data Center Blog

Cisco promises to forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments

Cisco Systems announced today the next-generation Internet core router, the CRS-3, with about three times the capacity of its current platform.So the Technitive crew had tune in to the company's webcast to find out what it was all about.

Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers said during the webcast that "The Internet will scale faster than any of us anticipate."

At full scale, the CRS-3 has a capacity of 322T bits per second, roughly three times that of the CRS-1, which was introduced in 2004. It also has more than 12 times the capacity of its nearest competitor, Chambers said.

The CRS-3 will help the Internet evolve from a messaging to an entertainment and media platform, with video the emerging "killer app," Chambers said.

Using Cisco's new CRS-3 router, every person in China, which has a population just over 1.3 billion, could participate in a video phone call at the same time. It could transmit the whole printed contents of the U.S. Library of Congress in one second and every movie ever made in four minutes, according to Cisco.

"This is the heart and brains of the next-generation Internet," said Suraj Shetty, vice president of worldwide service provider marketing.

Also, AT&T announced it has been using the CRS-3 to test 100G bps data links on a commercial fiber route in Florida and Louisiana. The router will be available in the third calendar quarter this year.

So whats this all mean? Well the backbone of the internet will become stronger and faster. The new Router is also very Green and uses less power than competing routers which will be huge for large data-centers that currently drink power off the grid. It may not change the world today but it shows promise as our day to day lives start to revolve around the Internet. Now its just up the the service providers like Verizon and AT&T to increase the our bandwidth and network efficiency.

Have a look at Cisco's CRS-3 video below:



Here is a link to Cisco's CRS-3 Introduction

RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express for Free

Research in Motion (RIM) just launched its BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software for all to have. The download is free and BESx lets businesses keep all of their email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, and more in sync. It also features IT management and support, as well as advanced security features. Essentally its a slimmed down version of Blackberry Enterprise Server for the Small Business space.
>BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express runs on Microsoft Exchange and Windows Small Business servers. The software is available on
RIM's website. 

BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express offers these benefits, and more:

• Freedom to connect personal owned BlackBerry smartphones to your deployment for no additional software or licensing costs
• Easy to deploy and simple to manage
• Full email/PIM integration
• Works with any Internet-enabled BlackBerry data plan
• Runs on the same physical server as Microsoft® Exchange Server v2003, v2007, and v2010 or Windows® Small Business Server 2003 and 2008

 

ZDnet has a great look at the features HERE

"Like BES 5.0, BES Express has a web-based user interface, and its own Apache-based Java web application server to handle integration with the BlackBerry. That means your best option is to install it on a server that’s not running IIS. The two can run together, but you will need to change the secure HTTP ports used for the administration and user web front-ends. Again like BES, you get the option of installing different components on different servers — but as BES Express is intended for SMB users, it’s probably best to stick with the default single server installation.

BES Express has many fewer user policies than its more enterprise-focused sibling. That’s not a problem — the key policies you’ll need are here, from managing password rules to ensuring that users can’t fill their business phones with games and other downloads. You can also turn off cameras and control the attachments users can download. You can deliver different policies to different users (or specific policies to specific groups of users), as BES Express uses Active Directory to manage users, groups and roles."

This is a great push by RIM to try to fight back the ActiveSync platform from Microsoft. ActiveSync is the software that most smart-phones are now using to link to the businesses Exchange Server.