Gates slams Google

Google really does not understand the special needs of businesses, as its model is based around consumer search, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told attendees at the 2008 SharePoint conference yesterday, reports eWeek.

Answering a question about Google's competitive threat to SharePoint, Gates said: "Its [Google's] productivity tools do not have the features and responsiveness of ours. In terms of Google tools, the day they announced them was their best day, really. Remember Google Talk? I can hardly remember its name. It was going to change the world," Gates said, to much laughter and applause.

In contrast, SharePoint was about end-users and the ability to get things done, he said. In response to a question about Microsoft's possible acquisition of Yahoo and the impact that could have on SharePoint going forward, Gates said such a deal would have little effect on SharePoint, but did reflect how serious Microsoft was about consumer search.

In a half-step into the growing realm of Web-based computing, Microsoft is announcing a service that allows users to extend their use of the company's dominant Office software into the online world, says Washington Post.

With some fanfare, the software giant said it was opening to the public a test version of its "Office Live Workspace", a service that allows users to save Office documents such as memos and spreadsheets online so that they may be accessed by other users connected to the Web.

"We are responding to the most urgent needs of the 500 million Office users. They want to access their documents anywhere," said Guy Gilbert, a senior product manager for Microsoft.

Portable disk storage drive maker Iomega has introduced its latest and most capacious REV backup product, the REV 120GB Backup Drive, positioning it squarely at small and medium businesses and remote work groups, says eWeek.

The new drive represents the third generation of the company's REV technology, which divides its components into a drive bay and a low-cost removable disk. The sensitive drive heads and electronics reside in the REV drive bay; a hard disk and fluid-dynamic bearing motor are located in the ruggedised REV disk.

The announcement was made at Cebit 2008, the international technology tradeshow.

Financial services organisation HSBC will continue to invest in technology, despite total impairment losses hitting $17.2 billion due to exposure from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, reports Computing.co.uk.

Despite the weak performance of the bank's US business, pre-tax profits totalled $ 24.2 billion for 2007, up from $22.1 billion in 2006.

Operating expenses, which included technology spending, were 16% higher than in 2006. Last year, the bank focused on investment in processing technology that allows customers to purchase products online, while eliminating errors caused by human intervention.