The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy is nearly ready to unplug for the extended New Year holiday weekend. But before our resident blogger disappears for a little rest and relaxation, here’s a look at the top channel partner conferences for Q4 2012.

HTC fans, geeks, nerds and hackers across the world, rejoice! If you’re the owner of an HTC phone from Setpember 2011 onwards, you are now being offered  an official unlocked bootloader from HTC. Why the change of heart? Here’s the scoop …

On the heels of Intel’s latest attempt at Atom CPU proliferation in phones comes its latest Atom CPU development, codenamed “Cedar Trail.” These Atom processors are outfitted with new features for tons of channel-ready markets. Read on for the feature list and implications …

The “year in review” pieces that proliferate old and new media alike around this time of year get tedious pretty fast. But because I’ve yet to see a good compilation of the major developments — and there were plenty of them — that affected desktop Linux in 2011, I couldn’t think of any better topic for my last post of the month. That may make me a hypocrite, but if you can forgive a personal flaw, keep reading for a look at how the Linux world has evolved in the last 365 days or so.

For a change The VAR Guy is not procrastinating. Our resident blogger is planning his 2012 travel schedule to a range of VAR and MSP conferences. continues to plan his travel schedule for 2012. Want to potentially meet on the road? Here’s a look at the top channel partner conferences for Q1 and Q2 2012. And below, you’ll find a list of the top Q3 2012 channel partner conferences.

What’s next after Windows Phone 7 Mango? And what’s next after that? Microsoft’s roadmap has been leaked on the web for all to see. Here’s the scoop on Microsoft’s new phone strategy …

If you could really use a hug, look no further than Samsung’s latest Android-powered robot that gives out — you guessed it — free hugs. Designed specifically for the Holiday season, Samsung calls the robot “Galaxy X’MAS Hugs.” Does such a robot actually have real world implication? It could …

The VAR Guy, continues to plan his travel schedule for 2012. And you can, too. Each day this week The VAR Guy shares his list of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012. Today’s blog entry covers Q2 2012.

Lots of open source projects solicit code contributions, and others ask for money. But 0 A.D., the cross platform RTS game under development at Wildfire Games, is setting a new example by seeking cash to pay programmers. How is this strategy paying off? Read on for details, along with some updates on the project’s progress.

Apple iOS 5.01 users can finally enjoy the jailbreak lifestyle, thanks to the intrepid efforts of the iPhone DevTeam. What’s more, iPhone 4 users can now use Siri, 100 percent functional, but there’s yet another snag. Read on for the deets …

Not too long ago we covered Red Hat’s Q3 2011 earnings, which was cause for concern for some. Despite the company meeting or exceeding its financial predictions, Red Hat’s stock price took a dip. But there is some good news: Red Hat’s positive earnings have earned the company a corporate credit rating bump. How big of a bump? Read on …

The VAR Guy, at last, has finalized his list of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012. You can view the list in multiple formats. Check out the in-depth calendar, which lets you sort by month or by extended description. Or check out a simple bullet list, which lets you see all of the Top 100 Channel Partner Conferences of 2012 on a single page. Now, here’s a closer look at the Q1 2012 events that demand your attention…

It’s no secret that Canonical’s Ubuntu One file-syncing service faces stiff competition from better entrenched rivals such as Dropbox. But recent signs indicate Ubuntu developers may be taking the service in a different direction by adding developer APIs. Will this be enough to differentiate Ubuntu One from competitors? Here are some thoughts.

Value added distributor Jenne Inc. is adding ADTRAN Bluesocket to its lineup of networking solutions. You may remember Bluesocket was a recent ADTRAN acquisition, so how can Jenne boost ADTRAN’s ambitions? Read on …

The latest Apple news is that iPad 3 production is being ramped up in anticipation of Steve Jobs’ birthday Feb. 24, 2011. But can an iPad 3 be delivered on time in such short notice? Maybe. Here’s why …

We’re no strangers to virtualization trends, and neither is NComputing CEO Raj Dhingra. So when he sat down and talked with The VAR Guy about what his company sees in store for 2012, it wasn’t a surprise virtualization would be top of mind.

Just a day after questioning whether multiple monitors are really necessary, I learned the design team at Canonical had purchased not two but six monitors to attach to a single computer. Fortunately, this seeming excess should benefit Ubuntu users — if not me personally — by improving the multi-monitor experience in Ubuntu. Here’s a look at these efforts so far, and how they fit into the larger open source picture.

If you’re like me, unplugging during the holidays isn’t an easy task. Between my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AppleTV, Boxee Box, Playstation 3 and Amazon Kindle, there’s almost always a connected device no more than 3 feet away from me. But is it possible to let go of the e-mails, apps, games and endless supply of stupid YouTube videos? Maybe.

If “Black Friday” is an indication of how the retail industry is going to fare in 2012, we all have reason to be optimistic. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), sales were up for both brick and mortar stores and online merchants. NRF President and CEO, Matthew Shay, said the results were a promising sign for the economic recovery.

We cover a lot of Apple Mac-related news here on The VAR Guy, especially when it comes to management of Apple computers and devices. And while companies such as Centrify, Sophos and Dell KACE have been at the forefront of device management, it looks as though a new challenger has appeared: Google. As unlikely as it may seem, Google has actually stated it is developing some Mac management software internally …

The MIT Technology Review recently got its hands on some new Intel “reference design” mobile Android devices running Intel’s Atom CPUs. Could these devices mark Intel’s first successful entrance into the mobility market, and what are the benefits to having Intel CPUs in phones? I have a few ideas …

When Autotask sold VARStreet back to VARStreet’s employees today, The VAR Guy reached out to VARStreet to learn how the company plans to march forward in 2012. Shiv Agarwal, VP of sales at VARStreet, says 2012 plans call for a new online store; stronger integrations with ERP systems; and a push into Canada. Here’s the update.

The VAR Guy has been bulking up for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks — eating far too much during the holidays. (Munch, munch, munch.) If your waistline also is in expansion mode perhaps it’s time for some motivational reading. One story worth tracking: Channel coach Stuart Selbst has dropped nearly 150 pounds in 2011. Big numbers for a shrinking guy. Selbst claims the weight loss has changed his life in multiple ways. Here’s the tale of the tape…