azure

While Amazon is still king in the cloud computing world, it appears that Microsoft's Azure software is on the up and up. Not only have Azure subscriptions risen 48 percent over the past six months, but Azure and related Microsoft cloud service software earned $1 billion in revenue over the past year for the first time ever, according to Bloomberg.

Making the "billion-dollar club" is pretty significant -- considering the slumping PC market. Microsoft revealed these new performance details to Bloomberg in an interview on Monday.

Twenty percent of companies use Azure, while 71 percent go to … Read more

In a break from the past, Microsoft's Office team has begun working much more closely with other groups, especially the Windows Azure, SQL Server, and Windows Intune teams -- all of which are part of another business unit, Microsoft's Server and Tools Business.

"Before, we had to land in very complementary dates," explained Jeff Teper, corporate vice president of Office Servers and Services. "But now, if Azure has a new feature, we can say we'd like to do work around it." With services, "there's no magic date when a computer has … Read more

Microsoft wants the world to know it is ready to go head-to-head with Amazon Web Services on both features and price.

As expected, Microsoft today announced that its Linux and Windows Server virtual machines (VMs) on Windows Azure are now generally available and ready for deployment. These are the persistent VMs that Microsoft publicly unveiled last June, and which provide users with a way to run existing Linux and Windows Server apps in the Azure cloud without having to completely rewrite them.

Microsoft announced last year that these persistent VMs will allow users to run Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows … Read more

Microsoft announced today that it had acquired MetricsHub, a cloud monitoring startup that automates cloud performance management.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based company, which was a participant in Microsoft's three-month-long Accelerator program, helps customers interpret application data points to determine how and when to scale their application. Financial details of the acquisition were not revealed.

Microsoft's program provides 10 startups developing in the cloud with a $20,000 investment, office space, technical training and support, and mentorship from entrepreneurs. At the conclusion of the program, participants have the opportunity to pitch their product to Microsoft executives, investors, and the … Read more

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about AV receiver feature glut. Today's receiver manufacturers put an inordinate amount of time and money into designing feature-laden receivers, and feature glut might be part of the reason why today's receivers don't sound as good as receivers did in the 1980s. I get it, today's consumers rarely compare one receiver's sound with another receiver, but they can count HDMI connections, so that's where the money goes.

It's not that Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer, Sony, and Yamaha aren't trying to make great-sounding receivers, … Read more

Microsoft is informing customers of its Windows Azure cloud that it is rebranding many, if not all, of the component services in a way that eliminates the "Azure" name on its billing portal.

"Windows Azure Compute" will now be known simply as "Cloud Services," according to the Microsoft officials. SQL Azure is now known as "SQL Database." Here's the full list of what's being rechristened:

(click on the table above to enlarge)

A Microsoft spokesperson responded with this statement: "Microsoft continues to invest in the Windows Azure brand and … Read more

Microsoft is playing nice with startups in its new Windows Azure Accelerator.

The company announced recently that the accelerator, which will rely heavily upon Microsoft's Azure cloud service, will be a four-month program designed for early stage startups "doing big things in cloud, Web, and mobile." Microsoft says that it'll provide the companies with mentors, development tools, and other key elements to help attendees grow their businesses. The accelerator will be held at Microsoft's Israel Research and Development Center.

"Microsoft will provide the participating companies with support at unprecedented scope and quality," Nir … Read more

Recently, I've noticed a meme spreading through Silicon Valley that questions whether Amazon Web Services' (AWS) current dominant position will hinder the cloud. The short answer: not at all.

I was in a venture capital meeting last week where we were told by one prominent VC that, "Two years ago Amazon was a blessing to startups. Today it is neutral. In two years it may well be a curse." How so? By building up Amazon Web Services to include many services currently offered by other vendors.

And while Amazon does continue to roll out new services, it'… Read more

Ford is partnering with Azure Dynamics on a five-seater station wagon version of its Transit Connect all-electric vans.

Both companies announced the project Wednesday in time for the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Ford Transit Connect Electric Wagon will be available in North America immediately, with plans to eventually sell it in Europe as well.

The Transit Connect vans, which went into production in 2010, are already in the fleets of AT&T, DHL, FedEx, and Post Norway, to name a few. The vehicle won the 2010 North American Truck of the Year award, to the surprise of … Read more