How Google+ is built ,Facebook killer

 

If you’re curious about all things Google+, you’re in luck. The project’s technical lead, Google engineer Joseph Smarr, is currently hosting an online question and answer session about the service — and he has already shared a number of details about Google+’s development, technology, and plans for the future.

On Monday, Smarr opened himself up for questions on Q&A website AnyAsq.com, a Y-Combinator-backed site reminiscent of Formspring.me where users can invite others to “ask me anything.” People sign in to post questions on AnyAsq through their Twitter accounts, but a host’s responses can be longer than 140 characters.

Smarr has already answered 270 queries, and as of press time, his AnyAsq page is still open for questions. Here’s some of what he has revealed so far:

• Google+ fast tracked its development from the start
  “We put extra emphasis on engineering speed/agility–we try to release code updates on a daily basis while still keeping quality/stability/latency as high as you’d expect from Google.”

• New features are absolutely on the way
  “…Personally I’m eager for many of the features other Google+ users have asked for recently: smarter ranking/collapsing/filtering in the stream and notifications… integration with more Google products… and an API so I can start hacking on cool uses of circles, etc.”

• Hashtags are on Google+’s radar
  In response to a question about adding hashtags to help filter Google+ posts, Smarr responded: “Personally, I want this too.”

• There was some fancy footwork on the programming front
  “A couple nifty tricks we do: we use the HTML5 History API to maintain pretty-looking URLs even though it’s an AJAX app (falling back on hash-fragments for older browsers); and we often render our Closure templates server-side so the page renders before any JavaScript is loaded, then the JavaScript finds the right DOM nodes and hooks up event handlers, etc. to make it responsive.”

Although none of Smarr’s responses have been shockingly revealing, the AnyAsq activity is just the latest example of how Google has worked hard to project an air of openness throughout the entire Google+ launch. Where the now-defunct Google Wave was developed with an air of secrecy that ultimately confused users as to its purpose, Google’s strategy with the Plus project has been one of transparency and agility — a “done is better than perfect” attitude. So far, it’s been a refreshing approach. The challenge for the future will be maintaining that flexibility as Google+ grows.

HPS décroche un important marché en France

Le groupe HPS renforce son activité à l'international. L'entreprise spécialisée dans les solutions monétiques vient de signer une convention avec le Cedicam en France. Il s'agit d'un groupement d'intérêt économique (GIE), filiale du groupe Crédit Agricole France. Une plateforme technique traitant l'ensemble des flux monétiques pour le compte de 39 caisses régionales du Crédit Agricole, du Crédit Lyonnais ainsi que trois banques à l'international (Grèce, Italie et Pologne). En termes de volume, le Cedicam a traité, en 2010, plus de 1,44 milliards de demandes d'autorisation. Ce qui représente près de 35% de parts de marché en France et fait du Cedicam, le numéro 1 de l'activité d'acquisition des commerçants en France. C'est en août 2010 que le Cedicam avait passé commande pour la solution PowerCard de HPS pour remplacer la solution qui était installée au niveau de ses caisses régionales. Le contrat vient d'être signé entre Mohamed Horani, président du groupe HPS et Bernard Noe!, DG du Cedicam. «D'un montant de 5,3 millions d'euros, le projet consiste en une refonte globale de toute l'activité back-office commerçants et automates du Cedicam, qui à terme, pourra disposer d'une plateforme d'acquisition la plus aboutie de toutes les grandes banques européennes», explique Horani. Après la réception de la commande, le groupe HPS a procédé au benchmark de la solution PowerCard dans les laboratoires d'IBM à Montpellier. Une étape importante avant la livraison du produit fini. « Des tests de performance ont été effectués pour qualifier la, robustesse et les capacités de notre solution quant à la gestion des gros volumes. Les résultats ont été probants», ajoute-t-on auprès de HPS Group. La solution s'est révélée en mesure de gérer 350.000 commerçants avec 3.000 utilisateurs simultanés et un pic on-line de 250 transactions par seconde. Autre performance de la solution, des traitements batch de 6 millions de transactions par heure et un historique de 6 mois, soit un total de 1,2 milliard de transactions. « La qualité de ces résultats a conforté le choix de la solution PowerCard par le Cedicam, une plateforme reconnue parmi les meilleures solutions de paiement électronique au monde par le Gartner, leader américain dans le domaine des études IT », poursuit Horani. Après la phase tests, des workshops ont été organisés avec l'ensemble des acteurs du Cedicam. L'objectif était de définir leurs besoins métiers ainsi que les meilleures solutions pour y répondre. «Cette importante étape a été clôturée avec succès et célébrée lors de la cérémonie qui a eu lieu le 26 mai pour sceller le partenariat entre le Cedicam et HPS Group», conclut le président du groupe HPS. Aujourd'hui, le spécialiste marocain de la monétique démarre la phase d'intégration de la solution au niveau du système d'information du Cedicam et la reprise de l'ensemble de l'activité back-office commerçant sur la plateforme PowerCard.

(Source : L'Economiste) 06/06/2011

L’Iphone bientôt chez Meditel – Meditel to sell Iphone

 

 

Ce n’est plus qu’une question de jours. Méditel vient de décrocher le contrat de commercialisation de toute la gamme iPhone d’Apple, notamment l’iPhone 4.

Cette nouvelle serait le fruit  delongues négociations directes avec la firme américaine et avec le soutien de son partenaire industriel, France Telecom.

Pour Méditel c’est une nouvelle phase commerciale stratégique qui s’ouvre, d’autant plus que les conditions du contrat lui conféreraient, en tout cas dans un premier temps, une sorte d’exclusivité. Ainsi, pour ratisser large, Méditel promettrait des offres commerciales alléchantes, incluant des formules à zéro dirham.

Gulf countries welcome bid fromJordan, Morocco to join GCC bloc

 

• Image Credit: WAM
• The news of the Kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco possibly joining the Gulf Cooperation Council states was met with shock and awe amongst users of social media networks within minutes of its announcement. Shaikh Mohammad leads the UAE delegation at the annual Consultative Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on Tuesday. Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Abdul Latif Al Zayani, GCC Secretary General, also attended. The developments in Yemen and the GCC mediation, the situation in Libya and Syria were on the summit’s agenda.

Manama: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) could be the umbrella for all the monarchies in the Arab world after the six-member alliance on Tuesday welcomed bids by the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco to join it, its secretary general Abdul Latif Al Zayani said.

The foreign ministers of the six countries were tasked to start negotiations with their Jordanian and Moroccan counterparts to complete the required procedures, according to media reports from Riyadh where the leaders of the GCC states held their one-day annual advisory council.

The summit has no specific agenda, unlike the official annual rotating summit, usually held in December.

Deep impact

The membership of Jordan and Morocco would also have a deep political, social, economic, security and defence impact.

Jordan is geographically linked to Saudi Arabia and both kingdoms share terrestrial borders that stretch more than 700km.

Yemen has often said since the 1990s that it wanted to join the alliance, but several factors have hampered a positive response to its requests.

The Gulf Cooperation Council includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Bloc of monarchies

The bloc of monarchies was created in 1981 to coordinate political and economic policies. Following a meeting Tuesday in Riyadh, Gulf Arab leaders welcomed Jordan's request to join.

A statement on the Jordanian news agency said Jordan is seeking a free trade agreement with the GCC.

The six countries are seen as among the most influential of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' members.

They have relied on their oil wealth to secure political and economic clout. Last month the GCC sent troops into Bahrain, which is facing a rebellion against its monarchy.

Why Microsoft Is Buying Skype for $8.5 Billion

 

 

Skype CEO Tony Bates

Updated at 12 midnight. Microsoft has bought Skype for $8.5 billion, in an all-cash deal. The deal closed a few hours ago. is close to finalizing a deal to buy Skype for between $7 billion to $8 billion. The Wall Street Journal confirmed  the news after we had first reported it yesterday. The announcement is likely to come out later today or tomorrow morning, according to several reports. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, is said to be a big champion of the deal, the largest in the history of the company. Ballmer and Skype CEO Tony Bates will host a press conference in a few hours.

Skype has been up for sale for some time, thanks to some very antsy investors. My sources indicated both eBay and Silver Lake Partners have been getting nervous about the delayed initial public offering and have been pushing for a sale of Skype. Facebook and Google were said to be earlier dance partners for Skype, and Microsoft was a late entrant and is now close to walking away with the prize.

It won’t surprise me if Microsoft comes in for major heat on this decision to buy Skype — and the software company could always botch this purchase, as it often does when it buys a company. The Skype team is also full of hired guns who are likely to move on to the next opportunity rather than dealing with the famed Microsoft bureaucracy.

I also don’t believe Facebook and Google were serious buyers. Google, with its Google Voice offering, doesn’t really need Skype. In essence, I feel Microsoft was bidding against itself. Even then, I personally think this is a bet worth taking, especially for a company that has been left out in the cold for so long.

• Skype gives Microsoft a  boost in the enterprise collaboration market, thanks to Skype’s voice, video and sharing capabilities, especially when competing with Cisco and Google.
• It gives Microsoft a working relationship with carriers, many of them looking to partner with Skype as they start to transition to LTE-based networks.
• It would give them a must-have application/service that can help with the adoption of the future versions of Windows Mobile operating system.
• However, the biggest reason for Microsoft to buy Skype is Windows Phone 7 (Mobile OS) and Nokia. The software giant needs a competitive offering to Google Voice and Apple’s emerging communication platform, Facetime.

Guess Who’s the Big Winner

The biggest winner of this deal could actually be Facebook. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking giant had little or no chance of buying Skype. Had it been public, it would have been a different story. With Microsoft, it gets the best of both worlds: It gets access to Skype assets (Microsoft is an investor in Facebook) and it gets to keep Skype away from Google.

Facebook needs Skype badly. Among other things, it needs to use Skype’s peer-to-peer network to offer video and voice services to the users of Facebook Chat. If the company had to use conventional methods and offer voice and video service to its 600 million plus customers, the cost and overhead of operating the infrastructure would be prohibitive.

Facebook can also help Skype get more customers for its SkypeOut service, and it can have folks use Facebook Credits to pay for Skype minutes. Skype and Facebook are working on a joint announcement, and you can expect it shortly.

Why Did Skype Want To Sell?

Skype had filed for an IPO, was going to do about a billion dollars in revenues, and was on its way to becoming profitable. So why sell? Silver Lake and eBay were both getting impatient and wanted to lock in their profits. Some sources also believe Skype’s revenues had stalled.

The company had bet heavily on is video sharing service. The premium version of video calling and sharing was a way for Skype to increase its average revenue per user and move into the enterprise market. However, given Skype’s DNA is that of a consumer Internet company, the challenges aren’t a surprise.

So Who Made What?

• Using the $8.5 billion price as the likely sale price, eBay gets $2.55 billion for its 30-percent stake in Skype. So in the end, eBay did make money on the Skype deal.

  

  The Skype Founders

• Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the co-founders, with their 14-percent stake, take home about $1.19 billion. Damn, these guys know how to double-dip!
• Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) own 56 percent of the company, and that stake is worth $4.76 billion.
• Andreessen Horowitz had three percent of the deal and made $205 million profit on their $50 million initial investment.

Oracle vs HP : Affaire Itanium : les clients HP montent au créneau

 

La décision d'Oracle de lâcher Itanium provoque l'ire des clients de HP. Le club d'utilisateurs Connect fait savoir son mécontentement dans un communiqué et interpelle la firme de Larry Ellison, lui demandant de reconsidérer sa position.

Les clients d'Oracle et de HP tout à la fois ne sont pas contents. Dans un communiqué publié vendredi le club Connect, qui revendique 52.000 clients du constructeur, dénonce l'abandon d'Itanium par l'éditeur.

« Le matériel HP occupe la deuxième position sur le marché Unix, devant les équipements d'Oracle Sun, avec des milliers de clients ayant investi des milliards dans les systèmes HP Integrity fonctionnant avec HP-UX et des logiciels Oracle. La décision d'Oracle d'arrêter ses futurs développements sur la plateforme Itanium coûtera à ces clients des millions en perte de productivité, bloquera une concurrence équitable et étouffera l'innovation dans l'industrie », peut-on lire sur le document.

On y découvre par ailleurs quelques propos bien sentis de clients mécontents. Et tous anglo-saxons..

« Vous n'avez pas à utiliser la coercition pour tenter de faire quitter à vos clients une plateforme robuste et éprouvée », s'emporte le responsable business développement de l'intégrateur Gibraltar Solutions.

« Obliger les clients à changer de plateforme impactera notre stratégie et nos partenariats. Nous sommes reliés à HP et à Oracle qui sont des partenaires significatifs de notre activité. Que l'un de ces partenaires dicte notre stratégie en matière de plateforme est inimaginable », fulmine le vice-président et responsable technique du bijoutier Suttler.

« Nous sommes actuellement en train de migrer une application vers OpenVMS I64 V8.4, utilisant Oracle 10g2R. L'annonce d'Oracle nous oblige à explorer d'autres options en matière de base de données », menace la SSII Computer Consulting System Services.

Le communiqué, qui pointe par ailleurs vers un certain nombre de témoignages vidéos d'intégrateurs et de revendeurs consternés, encourage les membres de Connect impactés par l'abandon d'Itanium à transmettre leurs doléances au club utilisateurs.