Wayne Williams

Google has introduced Street View into its web app, bringing back one of the most sorely missed features lost when Apple swapped Google’s popular mapping app for its own much poorer solution in iOS 6. I’m sure you’re more than familiar with the whole sorry tale that led Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue an apology, and our own readers saying they wouldn’t be buying an iPhone 5 because of it, so I won’t dwell on the subject here.

If you followed my advice and added a shortcut to Google’s web app, you’re all set to start using Street View. Its rollout seems to be complete, so you should now have access to it, wherever you happen to live.

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You know what’s cooler than 500 million Facebook users? One billion. That’s the number of people Facebook says are now using the social network every month. It reached that magical milestone on September 14 at 12:45 PM Pacific time, so it’s probably one billion and a bit, by now.

To celebrate, Mark Zuckerberg posted a little thank you and a fact sheet about the news, which contains some interesting key metrics, including that there have so far been 140.3 billion friend connections, and over 1.13 trillion likes since that feature launched in February 2009. There are 219 billion photos currently on the site, not including deleted ones, which Facebook says totals around 46 billion.

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The way some people covet the new iPhone 5 you’d think it was made out of solid gold rather than glass and aluminum. Of course if it was available in that precious metal you’d have to pay quite a bit more than $399 for a 64GB model. Somewhere in the region of $35,411, in fact.

If you’re wondering how I arrived at that figure, the answer is that’s how much British designer Stuart sells his limited edition 18ct gold iPhone 5s for. Yes, that’s right -- targeting the "more money than sense" market, Stuart has decided to create a new solid gold chassis for the phone, hand-finishing it, and adding an apple logo made out of 53 diamonds (amounting to 1ct) for good measure.

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If you live in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, you’ll soon be able to access free WiFi through cafés, restaurants, hotels and shops, courtesy of Skype and wireless provider Wicoms.

The new WiFi network initiative, called Free Skype WiFi, will be available to all Skype users and accessed using the free Skype WiFi app. This already allows users to connect to over a million hotspots around the world, but for a fee. Users who don’t currently have a Skype account will be able to sign up on the spot by entering their email address.

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The office workplace is continually evolving. New technologies and trends -- like cloud computing and BYOD schemes -- are becoming more and more popular, but not every firm is willing to embrace the future, and many are stuck firmly in the past.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest social network for professionals, surveyed more than 7,000 members across the globe and asked them which of the current office tools and trends they expect to be extinct in five years’ time, combining the answers to produce the following top 10:

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Cloud computing is finally beginning to mature to the point where it’s an attractive proposition for an increasing number of enterprises and small businesses, but even so many firms are still very hesitant to make the move online.

A new study jointly undertaken in the second quarter of 2012 by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and ISACA identifies 10 key concerns perceived to limit acceptance and reduce the benefits of cloud computing. The Cloud Market Maturity study, which can be read in full here, surveyed more than 250 cloud users, providers, consultants and integrators from nearly 50 countries, and highlightes the following points as being the areas where confidence is weakest:

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Although there are downsides to the latest version of iOS 6, it’s mostly a welcome improvement, with of course the notable exception of the new maps feature that is a poor substitute for the Google app it replaced.

If you’re unhappy with the poor-quality cartography, incorrect place names and dodgy and potentially dangerous driving directions that seem to be the app’s stock-in-trade, don’t worry -- there’s a quick fix available that should tide you over until Google releases its sorely needed-new Maps application.

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Modern cameras come with all sorts of useful features to help ensure you get the best shots. They can identify faces, detect smiles and even blinks. OMG’s new Autographer camera goes a step further by actually doing away with the need for a human photographer, deciding for itself when to start snapping.

Described as the world’s first intelligent, wearable camera, that enables users to "see the unseen", the Autographer employs five in-built sensors (light, color, motion, direction and temperature) and Microsoft ‘SenseCam’ technology to choose the best moments to take a picture. All you have to do is wear the camera and make sure the wide-angle lens is facing forward at all times.

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Let's be honest, the news that Myspace is being revamped probably doesn’t have you jumping for joy and punching the air. In fact, I expect your response is probably similar to mine -- a little bit of interest mixed with a lot of "so what?" Myspace was the number one social network in the days before Facebook and Twitter, but now it’s a faded and largely forgotten web presence used by people who should have let go and moved on a long time ago.

But before you dismiss the revamp entirely, as I nearly did, it’s at least worth watching the teaser video Myspace just released because, as it turns out, the completely rebuilt service is beautiful, glossy and -- rather surprisingly -- it might just have you wanting to try it out. I know. Using Myspace! What's next, lobbying Yahoo to bring back GeoCities?

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As Microsoft’s recent $1.2 billion Yammer acquisition proves, there’s a growing demand for enterprise social networks at the moment. Big name firms like Citrix and SalesForce have invested heavily in the popular communications trend, and Bitrix24 has seen some 10,000 SMBs sign up to use its cloud-based service since the May launch -- helped in no small part by the fact it’s entirely free for companies with 12 or fewer users.

Buoyed by its growing user base, Bitrix24 now targets startups with a $2.4 million program designed to popularize social intranet use at firms that might consider it out of their reach for one reason or another. The company plans to do this by giving away a thousand one-year subscriptions to its flagship Professional Intranet plan (worth $2,400 each) and all companies need do to be considered for one of these grants is to fill out the short application form on the company’s website.

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I spent a long time chatting with prospective iPhone 5 purchasers at my local Apple store at the weekend. I wasn’t queuing up with them, just getting feedback on why they were so keen to buy a handset that isn’t, frankly, the most amazing or revolutionary device Apple has ever produced. The reasons I received ranged from: "I’m out of contract and need a new phone" to "I buy everything Apple makes".

I also got a lot of the "iPhone is the coolest phone", responses. Even when Apple messes up, people still love the company. Its phones may no longer be the fastest or arguably the best, but they still have a magical "cool" quality about them, as does Apple itself.

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If you have a newish iOS device -- whether it’s iPhone, iPad or iPod touch -- there’s a good chance you have already upgraded to iOS 6 and are using it now. According to a study by Chitika some 15 percent of users with a compatible device upgraded in the first 24 hours, and that figure will likely have at least doubled by now, a couple of days later.

Apple says iOS 6 has 200 new features, and while some of them are very useful inclusions, such as Facebook integration throughout, and Shared Photo Streams, iOS 6 isn’t the dream operating system it could have been. In fact, it’s hard to imagine Steve Jobs would ever have allowed it to have been released if he were alive today. Here, in no particular order, are the areas where I feel Apple could have tried harder. Yes, based on my real-world experience, and regretful iOS 6 upgrade.

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What? You're looking for iPhone 5 stories, since it launches today. I want to break with the pack, and write about something else. Shocking, isn't it? Windows tablets is worthy topic.

While you can expect many different Windows 8 or RT tablets next month, Microsoft's own Surface is the trailblazer. I've got some concerns, which apply to other tabs running the new OS -- five big barriers I think Surface will face at launch.

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I upgraded one of my Apple devices to iOS6 last night and the first thing I did, once finished setting it up, was to launch the new Maps component. This, as you’ll no doubt be aware, replaces the aging Google Maps app. I knew from other articles I’d read previously that Apple’s own mapping service wasn’t going to be as good as the old Google one. After all, Apple is new to this mapping lark, and the search giant has years of experience in the field. But I was prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt, and forgive any minor problems. After all, how bad could it be?

I started, as I am sure most people do, by typing in my address. Well, actually as I live in the United Kingdom I typed in my post code. Apple found my road, Prince’s Drive, but decided it was called Princess Drive. Not the most auspicious of starts.

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Kent Christensen, Datalink's Virtualization practice manager, spoke to me recently and offered some tips for any companies thinking about moving to the cloud.

Datalink provides datacenter services and solutions for mid-sized to enterprise organizations and consults, designs, integrates, implements, and supports and manages solutions from leading manufacturers like Cisco, EMC, NetApp, VMware and others. This encompasses both private cloud solutions and public/hybrid cloud solutions.

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