April 27, 2011
Five Questions VARs Must Consider for Cloud Success
The VAR Guy
Michael Houghton shares five questions to ask when looking for a partner in the cloud services business.
“When choosing a partner to help you establish sales in cloud services, ask yourself these questions: 1) How can I learn to develop a strategic plan for cloud sales? 2) How do I position cloud to a customer? 3) Where can I turn for sales and technical cloud education? 4) Who can help me evolve my technical capabilities? 5) How can I leverage the capabilities I have now, but fill in gaps as needed?”
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 confirmed, faster-charging integrated battery detailed
Engadget
Vlad Savov writes about Lenovo’s upcoming ThinkPad X1 notebook featuring RapidCharge technology.
“The X1’s ‘slice’ battery won’t be user-replaceable, but what you lose in flexibility will be made up for in sheer performance gains, as Lenovo is touting it’ll last three times as long as a normal battery and will recharge 2.5 times faster than previous ThinkPad cells. That’s thanks to some fanciness named RapidCharge that will revitalize the X1 to 80 per cent within 30 minutes. The presentation slides show the X1 right alongside Lenovo’s latest Edge models, the E420s and E220s, as part of ‘a new generation of ThinkPads,’ and given that both of those are now shipping, the ultraslim, but still unannounced, X1 can’t be far behind.”
Sony to join tablet fray with dual-screen Honeycomb clamshell
Ars Technica
Casey Johnston writes about two new tablets from Sony.
“Codenamed the S1 and S2, both tablets (from Sony) will be WiFi-, 3G-, and 4G-capable, and their unusual form factors will be hitting markets in the fall of this year. The S2 is the far more unusual-looking model. Two narrow 5.5-inch screens are arranged on two sides of a clamshell, like a lovechild of the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. According to Sony, the screens will be able to be used separately or combined to use as one large display (though there is still a seam down the middle). The S1 looks more like a standard tablet, with a 9.4-inch screen and a piece of molded plastic that swoops down the back of the device at an angle, like a permanently folded-back cover-presumably to help keep the device propped up.”
