He sees a big future for what he called "virtual close" -- the ability of companies to assess their own financial health on a daily basis using Web-based applications.

CNN: Cisco head sees e-learning as next wave

The name GrandCentral originally belonged to a service that offered to help businesses use so-called "Web services"--applications that can be accessed using Web-friendly Internet protocols.

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Driven by GCN Architecture, AMD Radeon HD 8000 Series graphics come fully equipped with AMD App Acceleration to provide a rich Windows 8 experience and enhanced performance when using everyday applications like web browsers and productivity suites4.

ENGADGET: AMD Radeon HD 8000 series GPUs official for laptops, desktop series now shipping to OEMs

So Web pages and videos can be viewed, or applications launched using one half of the screen, at the same time as the other half is used for writing or sketching ideas with the S Pen.

ENGADGET: Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 coming worldwide this month, UI shown off on YouTube

"Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications, " wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the time.

WSJ: Design Freedom Eludes Mobile Web

For all of OLPC's brilliant bells and whistles, the nonprofit has created a closed platform that isn't capable of using Windows programs--not to mention a constantly evolving ecosystem of Web applications.

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Anyone using the handset for anything more than the built in applications, some light web browsing, and a few pictures while out and about is going to realise the HTC 8S falls far short of the standard of the HTC 8X and many other Windows Phone 8 devices.

FORBES: Why Did HTC Cripple The HTC 8S Budget Windows Phone?

But instead of using Google's Gears, Jolicloud relies on Mozilla's Prism and Firefox to run various web-based applications.

ECONOMIST: Google goes in search of an instant operating system