The VAR Guy

Corporate America has had a love-hate relationship with all-in-one computers – although they love the idea of the small footprint of the all-in-one, they hate the fact that traditionally the machines are more expensive, difficult to service and don’t support additional monitors.

Time again for the weekly distribution roundup news. This week, Tech Data’s offering new monitors and all-in-one computers, Avnet and Ingram Micro are planning their upcoming fiscal announcements and Synnex is focusing on mobile e-commerce. The VAR Guy has all the sweet distribution details coming up. All you have to do is click that link…

Former Autotask CEO Bob Godgart has launched ChannelEyes, positioned as a FaceBook-type social network for channel partners. Godgart is attending the SMB Nation conference to evangelize ChannelEyes, which claims to be “the first free and secure social network to aggregate Channel Program information.” The goal is to enhance communications between channel partners, integrators, dealers and agents. The big question: Do channel partners have time for yet another social network?

Canonical’s “Ubuntu Friendly” hardware-validation program, which officially debuts next month along with Ubuntu 11.10, should make life a little easier for people with computers that don’t get along so well with Linux. But what if your computer is designed from the ground up to run Linux flawlessly? I recently got a chance to speak with ZaReason CEO Cathy Malmrose, whose company has been shipping Linux PCs for years, about precisely that question. Here’s what she had to say.

Following up its recent survey showing SSD love is on the rise, a new report from IBM says mobile security problems are rising, too. Read on for the facts, figures and highlights with the all-important channel perspective. Opportunity abounds …

Reports are coming in that the BlackBerry PlayBook may be kicking the bucket sooner rather than later. Best Buy has dropped the price of the PlayBook considerably, and some reports say RIM may be looking to leave the tablet scene altogether. Here’s the scoop …

Did you know Microsoft gets a nice slice of Android pie every time a handset or tablet maker ships and sells an Android device? Thanks to Microsoft patents, by the end of Microsoft’s 2012 fiscal year it stands to make about $444 million in revenue just from royalties. Microsoft essentially makes money simply by letting HTC, Samsung and other companies churn out Android phones. But are manufacturers now looking to switch to Windows Phone 7 as a way to avoid the Microsoft patent royalties and better compete in the marketplace? Possibly, at least with HTC. Here’s what we know …

Oracle President Mark Hurd offered some hybrid cloud computing teasers ahead of Oracle OpenWorld 2011 during a phone call with The VAR Guy today. Among the highlights: Hurd compared Oracle’s best-of-breed integrated stack strategy to the Apple iPad, insisting that corporate IT departments want simplified offerings that they don’t need to integrate on their own.

There’s no denying the open source world lags far behind the proprietary universe when it comes to tablets and touch-enabled devices. But as ZaReason CEO Cathy Malmrose explained recently, that may soon change, as she and her employees are working hard to release a Linux-friendly tablet. Here are the details.

Microsoft and Samsung have partnered to bring cross-licensing of each company’s patent portfolios for use in mobile device development. Microsoft is making every effort to ensure Windows Phone 7 is successful in the marketplace. Here’s a breakdown on the latest mobile moves …

Intel has decided to support Tizen, another open source platform, and dropped MeeGo, its mobile open source OS baby. Partner this latest news with Intel’s ambiguous support of Android, the question begs to be asked: What is Intel’s intention? Here’s the breakdown on Intel’s lack of mobile monogamy and the details on just what Tizen means for you in the channel …

In April 2011, TalkinCloud detailed M-Files’ love for Azure as it launched the first document management platform on Microsoft’s cloud. Now, The VAR Guy is giving you the details on M-Files’ latest push in the post-PC cloud world. The launch of M-Files 8.0 is bringing mobile device access to document management and a whole lot more. Read on for the rundown …

Amazon has finally launched its long-rumored and -speculated tablet, and delivering on all expectations. Lightweight, small, affordable and loaded to the gills with content, the Kindle Fire may be the hottest non-iPad tablet to ever hit the scene. Here’s why …

ReiJane Huai, 52, founder of the Long Island-based storage company FalconStor, died Sept. 26, 2011, following a gunshot wound to the chest, which authorities believe was self-inflicted. Huai’s apparent suicide occurred roughly one year after he resigned from his CEO position at FalconStor amid a federal inquiry involving accounting questions.

The times they are a changin’, and VMware is making good on its promises to keep up. The company is making the most of the social media and cloud-based productivity technology it has gained through various acquisitions to build a “a more agile, product and connected enterprise.” Read on for its latest moves and the channel implications …

The Building Windows 8 blog has a lengthy update detailing all the neat features of using a Windows Live ID with Windows 8, but The VAR Guy, will give it to you short and sweet: Windows 8 with Windows Live ID integration will give you your Windows experience wherever you are, whenever you want it. Here’s the scoop on Windows 8′s cloud details …

You’re looking at the “Let’s Talk iPhone” invite sent ’round the world to those lucky enough to be welcomed to Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., campus Oct. 4, 2011. Apple has a long history of offering hints inside its invites, so what can we expect from deconstructing this these four little icons? You’d be surprised …

In my June post, I mentioned information volumes grew 62 percent to 800,000 petabytes last year. This means that protecting, storing and managing all of this information is becoming an even greater challenge for your customers. Some companies approach the issue of information management indiscriminately, with no organization and little thought for what should be kept and what needs to be thrown away. But given the current emphasis on compliance and risk reduction, we’re seeing businesses become increasingly concerned about their level of preparation for eDiscovery (electronic discovery) requests.

Remember when the Motorola Xoom was going to be the first and hottest Honeycomb tablet of 2011? Almost a year has passed since we first got word of the potential iPad killer and about six months since it was released. Now comes round two — er, Xoom 2, with leaked images of the latest version flooding the web. If you’re interested in where the world of Android tablets is headed, read on.

Active Directory integration company Centrify, which just released a complete overhaul to its product lineup with Centrify Suite 2012, has gained FIPS 140-2 Level 1 Compliance certification. In plain old English, it means Centrify’s lineup complies with security standards needed by government agencies and large enterprises alike. Read on for the details …

Currently, Google Android has the leg-up in the voice-command department. Android offers a near system-wide access to spoken commands, texts and searches for instant transcription. Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, has very basic voice-command support and certainly doesn’t support transcription, yet. But a new report claims Apple’s big new announcement won’t be about new hardware, but rather some groundbreaking features in iOS 5.

Dell is showing the love for its European customers by offering multi-vendor PC support, expanding the services benefit it U.S. customers currently enjoy. The VAR Guy sees the move as an attempt by Dell to streamline its customers’ services by offering one-stop shopping, so to speak. If you live in Europe and you use a non-Dell PC, Dell will now support that hardware to make your life, or your IT admin’s life, much easier. Read on for the quick rundown on Dell’s lovefest with competitors’ products …

Ever heard of a Network Block Device? Neither had I until recently, when I found myself searching for creative ways to install an operating system without boot media. It turns out, however, that this obscure Linux tool can do pretty cool things — particularly in the era of the cloud, where it offers fascinating functionality for the open source ecosystem. It’s also fun just to play with. Here’s a look: