We’ve been struck by some of the recent announcements surrounding activity in various “Labs” run by the luminaries of Search, Cloud Computing and IP-Telephony. The spate of announcements may have been triggered by Google’s announcement of “Chrome OS”, which some have looked at as a “Microsoft Killer”, but we prefer to think of as a browser that is more closely linked to a Linux kernel and the Google cloud. At any rate, Google’s activity has raised the profile of a project at Microsoft called “Gazelle”, which this post by Ryan Paul in Ars Technica casts as a “browser prototype” that enhances security and stability while trying not to be a complete resource hog. Paul not only spells out the strengths and weaknesses of Gazelle, he states that it is definitely not the analogue to Chrome OS. Still it is worthy of note.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, this post by PC World’s Steve Lawson shows how far up the stack Cisco is moving with its EOS Media Platform. From Cisco’s perspective this is the only platform media companies should need to store, manage, distribute and track “media” of all kinds, but especially video. Lawson notes, however, that Cisco is primarily selling “the tools to deliver promotional content and generate fan excitement.” A far cry from (but closely linked to) sales of big honker routers, switches and gateways. It’s unfair to call it a product of the labs. After all, the company reported that Warner Music is already using the platform. Still it won’t be until “late next year” that the platform will be open for global customers.

Innovations on the client side (browsers with their own operating systems) and inside the cloud (especially the handling and routing of multiple media) are the topics we will be tracking while we wait for the summer warmth to thaw the global economy.

Categories: Articles

Tags: Microsoft, Recombinant Telephony, Cisco, Cloud-based telephony