Digital Collaboration Guide, a SharePoint Architect's view

A week ago the Emerging Business Team at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus hosted a SharePoint 2010 competition titled “SharePoint 2010 SocialFest” where seven startup companies were given one week to develop an application on SharePoint 2010. During the week long event activities such as talks from developers, SharePoint engineering and product management teams, and venture investors were done. By Friday, the contestants presented their applications to a panel of judges which included Charles Schwab & Co. and McKesson. The winner of the competition was Huddle, which was basically synching up external team sites.

The rest of the application developed are the following:

1. Calinda MindUP – presents email interactions into visual maps which help create conversations between groups enhancing collaboration.

2. Confer – is simply twitter on SharePoint 2010 for both internal and external employees.

3. Cortex Intelligence – is an intelligent RSS tools which is presented via webparts fpr discussion, sharing, etc.

4. Leverage Software – makes your email thread into on-deman social workspace for sharing with others.

There have been so many reports during the course of CES that Microsoft is not interested in Zune hardware anymore given that there isn’t going to be a Zune Phone as cleared by Steve Ballmer and that Microsoft is focused on creating software for seamless integration with different services. Speculation quickly went around that Microsoft has finally decided to throw up the towel in it’s bid for Zune hardware to take over iPod.

Today, Microsoft has issued an official statement that Zune hardware was very much in their strategy. In short, Zune hardware is alive and kicking.

In an excerpt:

Basically, what happened last week, Steve [Ballmer] said a couple of things about the category," said Adam Sohn, head of Microsoft’s Zune marketing division, causing speculation that Microsoft would stop making Zunes. However, he clarified, "we’re not getting out of the hardware business at all," adding that Microsoft is "deeply committed" to continuing to its Zune hardware strategy.

Still, he told us about some other interesting twists and turns in Microsoft’s roadmap for Zune, possibly including Zune music apps for non-Windows-Mobile phones. He didn’t mention iPhone or Android by name, but made it clear that the company is ruling nothing out in its plans for a "multi-tuner" world in which music collections are less tied to specific devices.

"The other thing Steve said, which is spot on with our strategy—and unfortunately I think a lot of people we haven’t talk to sort of took it and ran in the wrong direction—is that we do think the Zune device is not the only place you will access the Zune experience," said Sohn. "A lot of people jumped to an ‘either/or,’ when in fact it’s a ‘both/and’ situation."

Continue reading here.

As I have written about Palm Web OS, the operating system was demoed using their upcoming device called Palm Pre (see image below).

According to reports, the device would be released in the second half of 2009 and based on initial user testing, the device is easy to use and fun. The touch-screen device combined with the operating system allows for smooth transition and movement. The price is said to be higher than iPhone’s $199 USD because Palm contends they have a significantly better product, I agree.

Here are the specs so far:

• Sprint-bound EVDO Rev A
• GPS
• 8 GB storage
• 802.11b/g WiFi
• Slideout QWERTY keyboard
• 3.1″ inch touchscreen, 320×480 display
• Accelerometer, Proximity, and Ambient light sensors
• 3.5mm jack
• Removable battery
• 4.8 ounces
• MicroUSB connector
• Mass storage support

iPhone vs Palm Pre? I would go with Palm pre.

More articles on Palm Web OS.

The Palm Mojo Application Framework

The Palm Mojo SDK

The Palm App Catalog

Palm Pre

iPhone vs Palm Pre

Go ahead and make your Palm Pre review here.