Got a technical briefing on Live Mesh today in Redmond, and I’m impressed – particularly by the demonstrated commitment to interoperability through adhering to web standards – and the very cool Live Desktop giving you remote access to all your files and folders from any device (work computer, home laptop, mobile phone) with the new Microsoft Device Connectivity Service.
This is what will bring Cloud Computing down to earth.
The innovation was getting heavy buzz for the last month or so just based on rumors and intuitive reporting, like at ReadWriteWeb or InternetNews or LiveSide, and I must say it’s neat to see Microsoft lighting up the blogosphere, that’s becoming more common 🙂
The marketing line is:“Imagine all your devices—PCs, and soon Macs and mobile phones—working together to give you anywhere access to the information you care about.”
The service is being launched in limited release today at the Web 2.0 Conference, so other bloggers will begin writing about it pretty quickly, and within time it will be opened up more broadly. But you can get on the waiting list at this URL, as well as read more about this neat service.
[Update Wednesday 4/23: Last night the Live Mesh dev team did in fact release more info, which I’m happy to pass along, in a lengthy blog post I recommend by team leader Amit Mital.]
This makes even more real the interoperable world of web services and Cloud Computing, as Microsoft will essentially be providing individual users or groups a generic P2P setup with all their devices talking together. Cool!
Filed under: innovation, Microsoft, R&D, Society, Technology | Tagged: Amazon Web Services, atom, AWS, bloggers, blogging, blogosphere, blogs, cloud computing, computer, computers, Google App Engine, google cloud, grid computing, innovation, InternetNews, IT, Live Labs, live mesh, LiveSide, Microsoft, Microsoft Live, Microsoft Mesh, network, networks, news, R&D, ReadWriteWeb, saas, SOA, social networks, software, ssl, tech, Technology, utility computing, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 conference, Web 3.0, web services, windows live |
Shepherd's Pi 
Ok this is really cool. The big concern is going to be security, I think. I’ll dive in and assess what I can there, but I imagine the security community, including the cottage industry that makes a living out of finding weak links in security chains, will be all over this, and they will find issues I’m sure.
Just a thought: Right now a virus or other malicious code that attacks my PC does not impact my phone. If I install the Live Mesh does that give the code a path? Is the answer “not yet” or “I don’t know.”? If so, I’ll probably experiment with this using a dummy account and an old PC I don’t have any personal info on.
Cheers,
Bob
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Trust a cybersecurity guru to come up with a cybersecurity angle. And it’s a good question Bob. The answer is “no,” to the degree that every communication between any of the clients and the cloud is encrypted, and also relies on certificate security passing. There’s also user authentication (LiveID) and the team’s working on further pieces of security as the technology preview (pre-beta program, essentially) continues for the next few months.
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That’s why it’s important to stick to fundamentals, like land. Anything can be taken in cyberspace. These guys at FDP Capital really have a hands on feel for getting grounded deals to the next level. Thanks FDP for being in the forefront of innovation and success.
G. D.
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