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Google Apologizes for Latest Gmail Outage By Adam Dickter December 11, 2012 10:42AM     "The shift toward embracing cloud-like services such as Gmail often happens without much consideration of its long-term implications for critical communications functions," said analyst Charles King. "Will Google Drive eventually crash? Probably....The trick lies in determining how you can garner the benefits of that service while also mitigating the risk."   Related Topics Google Email Cloud Gmail Outage Google Drive Google Apps Latest News What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz Soundbars Up the Ante on TV Sound Google Glass Raises Privacy Concerns Pentagon Gives iOS 6 Security OK For the third time in five months, potentially millions of Gmail users were unable to access their accounts in some parts of the world due to an unexplained outage. The e-mail blackout occurred about 2 p.m. EST Monday. According to some published reports the outage also affected other Google services such as Google Drive, the new cloud -based storage system, Google Docs and Google Play, the mobile apps and content store. Google did not acknowledge the issue on its own official blog but added its symbol for "service disruption" with Monday's date on the dashboard for Google Apps under Google Mail, Google Drive and Admin control panel/ABI. Sorry About That In a later statement published by some media, Google said "we are currently experiencing an issue with some Google services. For anyone who is affected we apologize for any inconvenience you may be experiencing." Using a New York-based account on Monday we experienced no issues with Gmail, but sporadic reports suggested an authentication issue, particularly when used with Google's Chrome browser. According to October figures from research firm comScore, Gmail is the world's top e-mail provider, with 287,913,000 unique visitors that month, compared with 286,238,000 for Microsoft 's once dominant Hotmail and 281,722,000 for Yahoo! Mail. The figures were for worldwide users. "Google's service has become so broadly and commonly used -- partly due to the success of Android phones -- that any problem becomes immediately, often overly amplified," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Could frequent outages hurt Gmail's market share? "Over time, I don't see the situation changing much -- though it could worsen if continuing growth results in more outages," King told us. "However, I doubt it will materially impact the company's success or position in this market." He noted that users of e-mail as opposed to texting, instant messaging or other options tend to be older than the "youthful, free-spending consumers sought after by most vendors." And anyway, how much can people complain about kinks in a free service? But losing access to e-mail seems less of a serious issue than the potential loss of documents, photos or other data placed in the trust of Google via Drive. Backing Up Is Essential "The shift toward embracing cloud-like services such as Gmail often happens without much consideration of its long-term implications for critical communications functions (like e-mail)," King said. "Will Google Drive eventually crash? Probably -- that's the nature of the IT beast. The trick lies in determining how you can garner the benefits of that service while also mitigating the risk." King added that in a world of increasingly multi-dimensional digital communication, its a mistake for users to entrust communication to a single technology, provider or outlet. "That way lies almost certain -- eventually, anyway -- failure."   Based on your interest in this article, here's something that may be of interest to you also: (Why?) This article relates to the following term(s) that also match our recommendation: Google. (Close) Recommended Reading: Search & Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google Inc. Synopsis: This is the other side of the Google story. In Search & Destroy, Google expert Scott Cleland, shows that the world's most powerful company is not who it pretends to be. Google pretends to be a harmless lamb, but chose a full-size model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex as its mascot. Beware the T-Rex in sheep's clothing. Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: DEAN: Posted: 2012-12-13 @ 7:31am PT I bought the nexus7 for its bluetooth ability and it was great. Then the update made that feature the worst part of the tablet. My question is: did anybody think to try out bluetooth during the update process (engineers,software developers,etc.)? For at least 30 seconds? …and what does this say about Googles' future updates. I've been a mac user for over 30 years and I have never seen such a blatant oversight such as this in their products. The least I would expect is an acknowledgement of the problem with a small apology and an assurance the problem is being addressed. t.russell Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers are engineered to withstand drops, spills, dust and grime, and to perform in the harshest environments. Rugged reliability, low cost of ownership and accolades from reviewers are just a few of the reasons why Toughbook computers keep winning over the world's toughest users. Click here to learn more.  Digital Life 1.   What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? 2.   Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz 3.   Soundbars Up the Ante on TV Sound 4.   Sonic the Hedgehog Hits Nintendo 5.   Pentagon Gives iOS 6 Security OK Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz But reality-TV fame does have a price. Average Rating: Soundbars Up the Ante on TV Sound Fixes poor sound, wire tangle issues. Average Rating: Pentagon Gives iOS 6 Security OK But only for devices issued by govt. Average Rating:

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

U.S. Defense Department Gives iOS 6 Security OK In a vote of confidence for Apple's iOS devices, the Defense Department has given the all-clear for employees to use iPads and iPhones for work. But only those running iOS 6, and only if issued by the government.   Cisco Surges After Profit Exceeds Analysts' Estimates Networking equipment giant Cisco's net income jumped 14 percent in the latest quarter as revenue at all four of its divisions rose for the first time in a year and a half, as tech spending increases.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? There's been talk recently that Apple's products are beginning to coast on their glorious past. So, with Apple's big Worldwide Developers Conference opening next month, speculation about iOS 7 is heating up.   Google Glass Raises Congressional Privacy Concerns The buzz around Google Glass continues, but it's not all good. Some in Congress have questions. "We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of average Americans," their letter to Google says.   Windows Phone Now No. 3 in Market, BlackBerry No. 4 Has Microsoft Phone moved into a coveted though distant third place for smartphone platforms behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS? A new report says yes, while BlackBerry has slipped to No. 4.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

U.S. Could Use Cyberattack on Syrian Air Defenses The Pentagon has cyberattack capabilities that allow the U.S. military to help blind Syrian air defenses without firing a shot -- abilities central to a debate over whether to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.   Cloud Computing Gains Another Competitor with Google Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure now have a full-on rival in Google, with its I/O announcement that it is opening its hosted Compute Engine environment for virtual machines to all comers.

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