InformationWeek Full Nelson Weblog

Build A Web App in 5 Minutes, With No Code (ReviewCam)

Fritz Nelson — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:46:02 -0500

Building simple, rich web applications still takes some programming effort, but Alpha Software's Alpha Five promises to let non-programmers tackle the effort quickly and without writing a single line of code. "Codeless Ajax," Alpha calls it. We put this to the test, asking if one of Alpha's development partners could build us a quick application in five minutes.

Survey Analytics Links to SalesForce, Omniture, Google, Twitter (ReviewCam)

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:55:21 -0500

Survey Analytics, a competitor to tools like Survey Monkey, claims to offer more complex survey types, and better integration with third-party reporting tools and CRM systems. We spent some time working through this with the company's CEO and founder, Vivek Bhaskaran.

Else Smart Phone UI Inventive, Stunning (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:45:22 -0500

Before I heap my endless praise for the most inventive user interface I've seen at Mobile World Congress, like some drunken barfly lavishing compliments at a cocktail waitress at 2 a.m., it's worth saying that Else must be prepared to out-scream and outperform a well-established A-list of smart phone platforms. I don't see how it can. I also think the company must all be right handed; but more on that later.

Windows Phone 7: A Big Bet

Fritz Nelson — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:06:55 -0500

"Maybe we'll get lucky with this number seven." It was a throw-away comment from a refulgent Steve Ballmer at the end of Microsoft's standing-room-only press conference here in Barcelona, an apt epilogue on the world's worst kept secret, the official unveiling of Windows Mobile 7 (sorry, that's Windows Phone 7 Series; is it WinPho now?). Unveiled, but with too much left veiled. These are leaky times, though, and Microsoft was right to do it in this seemingly fecund soil of mobile platforms. Now it has made its bet, and it is a big one, a departure for all the marbles.

The Fritz & David Show: Data Centers, Mobile World Congress, Buzzzz

Fritz Nelson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:24:33 -0500

This week, my colleague, David Berlind and I talk about the Data Center, some of the upcoming announcements we expect to see at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, and we rant about all of the social platforms that continue to sprout like nasty weeds (this week's culprit: Google Buzz).

The Fritz & David Show: TPM Danger, Google's Mobile Mgt Play & Mudslingers

Fritz Nelson — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:21:35 -0500

No high-flying Apple iPad type news, but the implications of some of this week's news could weigh heavily (good and bad) on enterprise IT managers. On today's Fritz & David Show Podcast, my colleague David Berlind and I discuss news of a successful Trusted Platform Module hack, as well as a Black Hat researcher's prediction of the end of anti-virus as an effective tool. We also discussed some significant news coming from Google, and we ranted about some of the recent mudslinging between Apple and Adobe.

The Fritz & David Show: What a Week! Apple, Oracle, Rant

Fritz Nelson — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:20:04 -0500

January 2010 won't go quietly, nor will Techweb's Chief Content Officer, David Berlind and I in our second podcast version of The Fritz & David Show where we give some of our final thoughts no the Apple iPad, and summarize the announcements coming from Oracle this week.

Live Blog From Apple's iPad Launch

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:37:00 -0500

Being one of the lucky few to have scored a press pass into Apple's highly secretive launch event today, I will be live blogging the announcement with text and photos as it happens. So, starting at around 11:30 AM ET, be sure to refresh this blog entry (and refresh often) as I frantically attempt to bring you all there is to know about Apple's tablet (or whatever it is) in real time.

Qualcomm's FloTV Is Addictive (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:56:09 -0500

We are a TV nation, but all of the action seems to be around eReaders. Next week's Apple press event is expected to reveal a device that is SmartPhone/Tablet PC/eReader. But Qualcomm's FloTV is unmatched, and yet virtually unrecognized. Perhaps, then, we are not yet doomed; or maybe FloTV, despite its exquisite quality, just isn't there yet.

The Fritz & David Show: Apple Tablet Cometh? Inside Google/China, Dell, And More

David Berlind — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:30:25 -0500

From separate coasts, InformationWeek editorial director Fritz Nelson and I have been trying to launch the video version of the Fritz & David Show for what seems like forever. But technology has conspired against us. We're close, and we'll keep trying. But in the meantime, we've decided to offer the audio version of the weekly program that gives you a peek at how we talk about latest technology news and buzz amongst ourselves here at InformationWeek.

Mayor Gavin Newsom: Role of Social in Govt (Part 3)

Fritz Nelson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:15:05 -0500

In the final part of this three-part video interview series with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, we talked about the role of social networking, not just in winning a political race, but in ongoing government -- in building participation among citizens. He talks about his successes and failures, and what he's learned along the way.

Mayor Gavin Newsom on Digital San Francisco (Part 2)

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:12:35 -0500

In the second part of our three-part video interview series with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, we talked about the role technology can play in the transformation of a city, including addressing the growing digital divide, the progress on STEM in San Francisco, and the role the Bay area will play, as a hub of technology innovation, in helping lead the way to economic recovery.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom on Open Govt (Part 1)

Fritz Nelson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:03:05 -0500

In a wide-ranging interview with InformationWeek, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom talked about DataSF.Org, the role of social networking in politics and running his diverse city, and the role of San Francisco in the digital world. In the first of three in this video series, Newsom discusses how his city has embraced the "open and transparent government" concept.

Open Government: A San Francisco Treat

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:14:07 -0500

DataSF.org is San Francisco's major foray into open and transparent government; it is the city giving its vital data back to its citizens. We talked with the city's mayor, Gavin Newsom, several members of his technology team, led by CTO Blair Adams, and some of the early developers who have already built applications around the data. We've captured all of this in a new video documentary.

Pre-Beta: SAP Expands BI On Demand (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:56:33 -0500

It's exciting to see this part of SAP: nimble, open, swift, even on demand. Last week, the company began showing pre-beta versions of several new software as a service technologies, code named 12 Sprints and Kona, one meant to provide a collaborative decision-making environment, the other to provide users with an on demand BI experience. We got an up close look, and filmed it, ReviewCam style, and even took a glance at SAP's newest BusinessObjects Explorer.

Atigeo's Smarter Social Profile (video)

Fritz Nelson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:15:22 -0500

The World Wide Web is becoming the World Wide Watch -- a creepy place where people talk about behavioral targeting and learning your intent. The goal is less nefarious, because implied in that is the ability to offer consumers more meaningful content. Startup Atigeo promises to make this all palatable by giving users access to their social profiles, including how that profile is acted upon.

Wells Fargo's Innovation Balancing Act

Fritz Nelson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:21:44 -0500

Wells Fargo's Executive Vice President of Information Services, Wayne Mekjian faces all of the challenges most bank IT executives face, like an increasing focus on security and privacy and a move to consumer friendly services like mobile banking. But he's also had to digest the integration of acquisitions. And yet, the bank still manages to focus on innovation. Mekjian shared some of his challenges and innovations in a video interview.

Windows 7 Photo Gallery & Movie Maker (video)

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:00:01 -0500

Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker come with Windows 7, but are free to download and will make working with your photo images insanely easy. Movie Maker is also a pretty nifty tool -- and one that should make YouTube happy, because I can see many families posting simple slide shows from this tool.

Windows 7 Taskbar & More (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:47:19 -0500

Windows 7 is being hailed as the operating system that Microsoft finally got right. Time will tell of course, but there's sure a lot to like at first glance. We got some demonstrations of a few of the end user productivity enhancements from Microsoft. In the first part of our video demonstration, we'll look at the new Taskbar and similar features.

How To Scale Apps The Facebook Way (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:13:00 -0500

As critical and operational applications drive today's business, one of the biggest challenges most organizations face is how to scale those applications (especially as they become distributed) and their data. Facebook is a great example of one of the most distributed, massive applications around. At Web 2.0, Facebook's VP of Engineering, Mike Schroepfer, talked about how they tackle this challenge.

Web 2.0 Summit: HP's MagCloud Unveiled (Video)

Fritz Nelson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:53:12 -0500

HP unveiled its MagCloud offering at Web 2.0 Summit this week. It's an impressive service that gives would-be publishers a cost-effective and cost-predictable way to easily publish content, all on-demand. We got a hands-on demonstration.

Web 2.0 Summit: WOWD -- New Way To Search

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:58:57 -0500

WOWD is a new search engine that made its debut at Web 2.0 Summit this week. Mark Drummond, WOWD's CEO provided an explanation and demonstration on stage. (Video included.)

ReviewCam: LendingClub's Online Financing

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:38:03 -0500

LendingClub offers an online service that lets borrowers borrow, and lets investors invest in that borrowing. We sat down with LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche to get a demonstration of this fascinating model.

Web 2.0 Summit: Twitter CEO Zips Beak On Revenue Model

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:21:30 -0500

At the Web 2.0 Summit this week, Evan Williams, CEO of the ever-popular Twitter, danced lithely around the question of his company's future revenue model -- a question that continues to dog the industry, but doesn't seem to faze Williams much at all. (Video clip included.)

Comcast CEO on Fancast and Net Neutrality

Fritz Nelson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:05:36 -0500

Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts got the Web 2.0 Summit started this week talking about everything from its beta Fancast service to net neutrality and bandwidth capping to social networking. The only thing he couldn't talk about was its rumored work on acquiring NBC, but he did discuss the company's broader push into the content business.