changes

Google Apps: Now for early and late adopters

It's hard to strike the right balance in the technology business between change that's too fast or too slow--in part because different customers prefer different paces. To try to better match those preferences, Google Apps now will come in two varieties.

The "rapid release" track will get new technology into customers' hands as soon as it's passed quality-assurance testing. The "scheduled release" track will issue updates once a week, with at least a week's notice to let administrators learn about the upcoming changes, Google announced today.

The dual-track approach applies to Gmail, … Read more

Can any tablet challenge the iPad?

As the iPad juggernaut continues with today's launch of the iPad 2, can any other tablet maker truly compete with Apple?

The odds seem to be against it, at least according to the results of a survey released yesterday by ChangeWave Research. Questioning more than 3,000 consumers last month, ChangeWave found that 27 percent of them plan to buy a tablet, 2 percentage points more than a similar poll found last November.

Among those eyeing a tablet, 82 percent said they'll opt for an iPad. That number compares with 4 percent looking into a Motorola Xoom, 3 … Read more

iPhone 5 to look more like iPad 2?

With the iPad 2 launch in the rear-view mirror, we're back to the iPhone 5 rumors, and this week starts with one out of China by way of Taiwan's Economic Daily News and the Japanese blog Makotakara.

The gist of the talk is that Apple will be abandoning the glass back for an aluminum one, as well as ditching the external antenna, which has been a source of problems for Apple and forced the company to issue free "bumper" guards to prevent signal loss when the iPhone 4 was gripped very tightly.

The loose translation goes … Read more

Republicans launch bill to ax EPA carbon rules

Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a bill today that would permanently stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating emissions blamed for warming the planet.

President Barack Obama would veto a bill that permanently blocks the agency from tackling climate change, administration officials have said. Obama has pledged to the world the United States will cut greenhouse gases to about 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the bill, called the Energy Tax Prevention Act.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a climate skeptic who is writing … Read more

States in CO2 pact invest $404 million in efficiency

Ten eastern states in a greenhouse gas reduction program have invested more than half of their carbon permit auction proceeds, or about $404 million, in energy efficiency, the group said today.

New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, and seven other states on the East Coast belong to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which aims to trim carbon dioxide output from the area's power plants 10 percent by the end of 2018.

To meet that goal, RGGI holds quarterly auctions of permits that let the plants emit carbon dioxide. Some investors also buy the credits in the cap-and-trade program, believing … Read more

Governments to debate Kyoto climate dilemma

Governments are looking at ways to keep the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol going beyond 2012 in some form to defuse a standoff between rich and poor nations that threatens efforts to tackle global warming.

Negotiators from almost 200 nations will meet in Bangkok from March 3-8, after side-stepping the Kyoto issue at their last meeting in Mexico in December.

"There is some creative thinking going on" about Kyoto's future, said Jennifer Morgan, director of the climate and energy program of the Washington-based World Resources Institute.

The Kyoto Protocol obliges almost 40 industrialized nations to cut greenhouse … Read more

Microsoft fills top spot in server and tools unit

Microsoft today announced 19-year company veteran Satya Nadella will replace Bob Muglia as head of its server and tools business.

Nadella, who had previously headed up research and development for Microsoft's online services division, was also the lead for the company's business solutions team and a lead engineer in its server group. Microsoft says Nadella's new role as president of the server and tools business is to "oversee the overall strategy, engineering, marketing and product development for Microsoft's server, tools and cloud platform efforts."

The news comes a month after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer … Read more

Report: Microsoft management changes in the works

Microsoft is said to be on the brink of another shuffle among its senior management.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plans to make changes to the company's senior management in order to improve the company's competitive edge in Web services, smartphones, and tablet computers, according to a Bloomberg report that cites unnamed sources.

Those changes, Bloomberg says, will be announced "this month."

What remains unclear is whether the changes will bump out any of the existing division heads, in place of talent from within or outside of the company, versus changing the number of business units and … Read more

Amazon adding 'real' page numbers to Kindle

Last week, we wrote a story asking whether Amazon should change how the Kindle's pages are numbered and close to half of CNET readers who responded said it should. Well, now Amazon has made a change.

As part of an upcoming update to the Kindle, Amazon is adding "real" page numbers to its e-books. In a blog post previewing the update (version 3.1), Amazon writes:

Our customers have told us they want real page numbers that match the page numbers in print books so they can easily reference and cite passages, and read alongside others in … Read more