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  • Mobile Security Solutions: Interview with Alain Rollier, President of AXSionics

    A paradigm shift in information communication technology is set to address security threats and concerns in Africa and the world at large, a senior official has said.

    In an interview, AXSionics founding president, Alain Rollier, said his company was bringing a new innovative security system aimed at addressing insecurity in technological business with respect to mobile phones, computing and financial sector (banking).

    “The system we are bringing to the market is a paradigm shift in security – it reduces cost for all service providers while increasing security to a level where attacks become unattractive to cyber-criminals.

    “In addition, it has an attractive business model. For the user it is very convenient. For once we have security implemented in a way that makes life easy for the users! As always with anything new, there is a certain time required to get the message across.

    Alain Rollier

    “We are happy with the progress we have made and more importantly so are our customers who benefit from our solutions and are our greatest advocates,” said Rollier.

    While installation of mobile security product appears to be more vital, Rollier said his main concern, particularly in the use of smartphones, was the issue of data held within the phone.

    Rollier cited examples of enterprise data such as e-Banking, commerce transactions, identity data and the whole host of username/password combinations that are available and which could be accessed and used by cyber-criminals, as areas of concern.

    Admittedly, mobile security product, according to Rollier, was one part of the solution to fears of insecurity on these new technological devices.

    Rollier said smartphones had all the issues around security that a pc or laptop has, adding that a couple more came from the additional interfaces such as SMSes and SIM cards.

    “By nature, having a lot of interfaces is not helping to secure devices. One challenge is to have two independent channels on the same device – internet browser and communication.

    “I think a shift in thinking is required. The smartphone, laptop or pc will always be impossible to fully secure. The question we have to answer is ‘how do we make sure that identities and transactions are always secure when this is the case’.

    “This is what has driven our thinking at AXSionics, and we have developed a solution that provides this security regardless of how insecure all the elements in the chain are,” said Rollier.

    However, Rollier was boastful about the new technology security software system, saying his company – AXSionics – had recently won several awards for its innovation, concept and design.

    Among the top technology and innovative awards were the Red Dot Design Award, the Red Herring Hot 100 Europe Award and the European Innovation Award in Identity Management.

    “Despite our newness, it is currently in use in a number of high security areas including defence and in volume use in retail banking.

    “It has many innovations built in to ensure it is scalable, easy to use and convenient…as well as ensuring the smartphone, laptop or pc is highly secure for security conscious transactions, regardless of how hostile the overall environment might be,” said Rollier.

  • AFCOM Survey: Most Data Centers Not Ready for Cyberattack

    Significant findings of AFCOM’s 2009/2010 Data Center Trends survey reveal that though threat of cyber terrorism is real, it is not being adequately addressed by the world’s keepers of the most confidential financial, military and personal data.

    Survey also reveals that despite hype around cloud computing, only 14.9 percent of data centers have deployed cloud solutions to date – and it shines a new light on the fate of mainframes.

    In addition, it reveals the government is behind its private industry counterparts in terms of greening initiatives.

    Meanwhile, it shows that the mainframe may be losing its place in worldwide data centers, as servers become more capable.

    And cloud computing, despite the hype, hasn’t pushed beyond 15 percent acceptance at this point. In comparison, 73 percent have implemented virtual processing.

    Data center greening

    The survey re-iterates that greening of the data center is no longer just a concept – it is actually taking place, and on a large scale, with 71.3 percent of all respondents indicating they are actively engaged in greening initiatives at this time.

    And while 71.3 percent are, in fact, engaged in greening, only 42.2 percent have a “formal” greening initiative.

    According to respondents, the most important results they have experienced as a result of implementing green measures are in power efficiency, 60.8 percent report they are using less power and 51.4 percent have implement cooling efficiency strategies. In addition to power and cooling efficiencies, 11.5 percent also report a significant savings in water usage.

    Data centers & cyber terrorism

    Data center professionals must be well-equipped to handle and respond to cyber terrorist attacks, but according to AFCOM’s survey, there’s considerable room for improvement.

    Respondents revealed that 60.9 percent of all data centers worldwide officially recognize cyber terrorism as a threat they need to deal with, but only a little over one-third (34.4 percent) have included it in their disaster/recovery plans, which would include their best defense plans if attacked.

    Only one in four, or 24.8 percent, has addressed cyber terrorism in their policies and procedures manuals and only 60.2 percent have a written policies and procedures manual.

    Meanwhile, less than one in five, or 19.7 percent provide any cyber terrorism employee training. On the positive side, however, 82.4 percent report that they do perform background security checks on all potential new employees, another solid defense against cyber terrorists.

    Data center consolidation

    As the economy suffers, more companies have traditionally looked to consolidation as a method of saving money. The economic downturn we are experiencing today is no exception, with 62.1 percent of all respondents either already in the process of consolidating one or more data centers, or seriously considering it.

    More than half of respondents (52.1 percent) plan to relocate their newly consolidated data center to another existing facility, or build an entirely new one to accommodate the additional requirements.

    Emerging technologies

    According to the survey, the technologies with the highest levels of adoption in today’s data centers are: virtual processing, implemented by 72.9 percent of all respondents, Web applications (70.4 percent), automation (54.8 percent) cluster computing (50. percent), and cloud computing (14.9 percent).

    Surprisingly, in addition to the slim 14.9 percent who utilize cloud computing, this technology has been considered by an additional 46.3 percent, but never implemented.

    “Our analysis shows that data center managers need to develop more comprehensive cyber terrorism policies, and get more aggressive in greening, particularly in government agencies where greening lags behind private industry. Finally, it’s time to decide where the mainframe is still viable and needed, and where high-end servers can do a more efficient job,” said Jill Eckhaus, CEO of AFCOM.

    AFCOM is the data center association that represents both the IT and facilities side of the data center. Respondents, part of AFCOM’s 4,500 member data center sites, represent 27 countries, 83 percent in the U.S. and 17 percent overseas; 60 percent are responsible for Information Technology, 31 percent Facilities and 9 percent represent other roles in the data center

    AFCOM 2010 Data Center World will take place March 7-10, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN.

  • HDI 100-inch Laser-Based 3D HDTV Reached the Manufacturing Stage

    HDI‘s September announcement of their potential new standard for switchable 2D/3D television technology came on the same day several major manufactures announced plans to release new plasma televisions with 3D capabilities via shutter glasses.

    HDI was the first to announce it has entered into a manufacturing agreement to mass produce 100-inch Laser-Driven 2D/3D Switchable Dynamic Video Projection Televisions.

    HDI’s 2D/3D switchable system delivers 2D image with a 50% greater resolution than today’s digital cinemas, and derives its “greater-than-high” definition stereoscopic 1920 x 1080p "3D" image quality from two RGB laser-illuminated Liquid Crystal on Silcon (LCOS) micro display imagers.

    At full 1080p HD, the HDI screen refreshes at 360 fields per-second on each eye, the fastest refresh rate on any mass produced television or projector, as the company claims.

    HDI says they have completely eliminated the adverse effects, such as migraines, dizziness, nausea, and motion sickness, long associated with inferior and expensive shutter glasses and substandard 3D technology.

    HDI says their displays draw 80% less power than existing 2D plasma displays of the same size, offer a 95% reduction in manufacturing pollution, and a 100% reduction in harmful chemicals and radioactive components currently used in existing televisions.

    At 10-inches thick, HDI’s 100-inch diagonal display weighs 75% less than equivalent Plasma and LCD displays, and is anticipated to have a street price potentially 60% less than current 2D flatscreen Plasma and LCD displays.

    According to HDI co-founder Ingemar Jansson, "The first production-run of 100-inch HDI Ltd. 2D/3D switchable displays should quickly put product into a multitude of B2B and public demonstration venues."

    He’s mum as to when leading American retailers will be able to put units into homes, but stresses that the simplistic and inexpensive design and manufacturing techniques required to produce HDI Ltd. televisions, "will have product in the marketplace faster than one would expect," and adds, "either with the HDI logo or that of another leading manufacturer."

    Offering a thought on the fact that California appears poised to be the first state to ban power-guzzling big-screen TVs, Jansson states, "In light of the energy efficient products emerging from companies such as Apple, the lobbying efforts of the Consumer Electronics Association strikes me as almost criminal in promoting antiquated technologies that the ‘Grid,’ and the planet, simply cannot sustain."

  • Apple Updates Apple TV with 3.0 Software: More HD Content to Be Sold

    After months of speculations whether Apple will release completely new Apple TV device making it a high-end media center for our living rooms or rather leave it, more or less, as it is (means without all the latest true HD capibilities, IP streaming, Blu-ray, live TV ability, HD recorder, 1080p support, etc.)… we still don’t know the answer.

    The company introduced new Apple TV 3.0 software witch gives us not more than a redesigned main menu – that is said to give a faster access to the content, possibility to watch iTunes Extras and enjoy iTunes LP in fullscreen and listen to the internet radio (including stations in high-quality HE-ACC formats).

    Adding only cosmetic changes to a device with such a huge potential doesn’t mean Apple gave up developing Apple TV and converting it to a set’top box with all the capabilities offered by the HD market, but it gives a next signal that the company will do nothing that would pull people away from iTunes.

    On-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes Store give Apple millions. According to the company, Apple TV gives direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 films on iTunes including over 2,000 in HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes. Renting a movie in iTuens runs from $3 to $5, buying would costs us $14,99. And there are 65 million users of iTunes out there.

    “HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV,” confirmed Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services.

    Adding anything that would take Apple from iTunes revenue (like additional drive – Blu-ray or, at least DVD, IP streaming or live TV) wouldn’t have any sense from the economical point of view. The only thing can happen is that Apple will add to the Apple TV an access to App Store to maximize revenues from the application market.

    Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicts that Apple will sell 6.6 million AppleTV units this year.

    ***
    The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners. Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for $229.

    Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV.

    Apple has also released iTunes 9.0.2, adding support for Apple TV 3.0.

  • Intel and Numonyx Announce a Breakthrough in PCM Technology

    Intel and Numonyx, a provider of memory technologies, announced a key breakthrough in the research of phase change memory (PCM), a new non-volatile memory technology that combines many of the benefits of today’s various memory types.

    For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a 64Mb test chip that enables the ability to stack, or place, multiple layers of PCM arrays within a single die.

    These findings pave the way for building memory devices with greater capacity, lower power consumption and optimal space savings for random access non-volatile memory and storage applications, the companies announced.

    The achievements are a result of an ongoing joint research program between Numonyx and Intel that has been focusing on the exploration of multi-layered or stacked PCM cell arrays.

    Intel and Numonyx say their researchers are now able to demonstrate a vertically integrated memory cell – called PCMS (phase change memory and switch). PCMS is comprised of one PCM element layered with a newly used Ovonic Threshold Switch (OTS) in a true cross point array.

    The ability to layer or stack arrays of PCMS provides the scalability to higher memory densities while maintaining the performance characteristics of PCM, a challenge that is becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain with traditional memory technologies.

    Memory cells are built by stacking a storage element and a selector, with several cells creating memory arrays. Intel and Numonyx researchers were able to deploy a thin film, two-terminal OTS as the selector, matching the physical and electrical properties for PCM scaling.

    With the compatibility of thin-film PCMS, multiple layers of cross point memory arrays are now possible. Once integrated together and embedded in a true cross point array, layered arrays are combined with CMOS circuits for decoding, sensing and logic functions.

    "We are encouraged by this research milestone and see future memory technologies, such as PCMS, as critical for extending the role of memory in computing solutions and in expanding the capabilities for performance and memory scaling," said Al Fazio, Intel Fellow and director, memory technology development.

    Greg Atwood, senior technology fellow at Numonyx, added that the results show the potential for higher density, scalable arrays and NAND-like usage models for PCM products in the future.

    “This is important as traditional flash memory technologies face certain physical limits and reliability issues, yet demand for memory continues to rise in everything from mobile phones to data centers" he said.

    To provide more information about the memory cell, cross point array, experiment and results, Intel and Numonyx will publish a joint paper titled "A Stackable Cross Point Phase Change Memory,” which will be presented at the 2009 International Electron Devices Meeting in Baltimore on Dec. 9.

  • Gladinet Launches Cloud Gateway for Cloud-Hosted Desktop

    After pioneering the concept of integrating a wide range of cloud services on a PC desktop with its introduction of Cloud Desktop earlier this year, Gladinet, the ubiquitous cloud storage client, rolled out Gladinet Cloud Gateway v1.0 and Cloud Desktop v1.3.

    The company says both new products are designed to meet the cloud computing needs of small and medium-sized businesses – a category that until now was underserved by cloud service providers.

    If Cloud Desktop turns the Internet into a virtual PC, Cloud Gateway is its file server. Built on the same open platform as Cloud Desktop, teh Gateway connects individual desktops to cloud storage through one access point.

    "Cloud Gateway acts as a liaison between Cloud Desktop and cloud storage," explained Gladinet co-founder Jerry Huang.

    "Before, if a company had 100 employees using Cloud Desktop, they needed 100 connections to Amazon S3, Google Docs or whatever services their employees were using. With the Gateway, that’s all changed. Now SMBs only need Cloud Gateway to connect to cloud services, regardless of how many different interfaces or accounts they may have. The Gateway acts as a file server to the Desktops, which simply connect to it over their LAN."

    According to Huang, allowing one server to support many individual desktops, the application gives SMBs the freedom to scale back their own data storage capacity while providing centralized administration and backup capability.

    “Files stored at various offsite data centers are as easy to access as if they resided on the user’s hard drive. Thanks to Cloud Gateway’s use of smart caching, copies of files stored with cloud services are quickly accessible on local desktops – eliminating the problem of lost data in the event of cloud service business closures,” he said.

    Gladinet assures that once configured by an administrator, Cloud Gateway is available to every Cloud Desktop user in a company and requires no account information to be entered by individual users, no matter how many different cloud services they’re using.

  • Google Enters Navigation Market

    It is now official and will completely change the mobile and PND navigation market. Google announced Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 devices.

    It comes with 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting, but unlike most navigation systems, the Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of the phone’s internet connection, as Google claims.

    The features possible because Google Navigation is connected to the internet are:
    • recent map and business data: phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps — there is no need to buy map upgrades or update the device;
    • search by voice: searching destinations using google voice search (speak your destination instead of typing);
    • traffic view: live traffic data over the internet (a traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along the route);
    • search along route: searching for a specific business along the route (you can also turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking);
    • satellite view: the same satellite imagery as Google Maps on the desktop;
    • Street View: shows the turn as you’ll see it, with the route overlaid (Navigation automatically switches to Street View as you approach your destination).

    There is also car dock mode available for certain devices – placing a phone in a car dock activates a special mode (new user interface with, e.g. much larger iconography) that makes it easy to use the device at arm’s length.

    The first phone to have Google Maps Navigation is Motorola’s Droid. It hits the U.S. market next week (Nov. 6th) for $199 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate) and will be available from Verizon with voice plan starting at $39 and a web and email plan for $29 per month.

    Like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free.

    Here is the official Google video

  • OSRAM Sets a Milestone in Developing OLED Technology

    OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has set an important milestone in developing OLED technology. The OLED prototypes that OSRAM has developed as part of a research project are large transparent light sources only a few hundred micrometers thick.

    Thanks to new technology these organic light emitting diodes do not need separate encapsulation and can be made incredibly thin in any layout.

    The company informed that the transparent test samples have a luminous area of 210 cm² and are already showing the enormous potential of OLED light sources.

    “They offer a tantalizing glimpse of the extraordinary lighting applications that may one day become reality,” the company says.

    According to OSRAM even the 17 x 17 cm² OLED panels provide a clear indication of the direction that the OLED lighting market is taking. The demand is for large low-profile transparent light sources.

    The test samples were developed as part of the TOPAS research project funded by the Germany Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The aim of the project is to produce 1 m² large transparent OLED modules and will run until 2011.

    Even though the modules will have to be made larger, they already have many of the properties that distinguish OLEDs from other light sources. They are extremely slim and no longer need expensive encapsulation.

    Their thickness is now defined only by the substrate as the carrier material – at present this is between 300 and 700 µm. OSRAM promises further development work will lead to an even thinner carrier material and therefore even thinner OLEDs.

    “These low-profile OLED modules will be even easier to use in all kinds of applications. They can be made in any shape, take up very little space and can be integrated so discreetly that they are only noticed when they are switched on,” said Dr. Karsten Heuser, head of the OLED division at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors

    The OLED panels can be made transparent without any detracting structures. This is thanks to new developments in electrode design, a special component architecture and a new approach to thin-film technology.

    Without any additional conductor path structures on the light-emitting surface, the current is distributed evenly over the active surface, which in turn leads to uniform luminance.

    The new technology also simplifies the manufacturing process, whether OLEDs are produced on a small molecule or polymer basis. Irrespective of the material of the active layers, the technology can be used for colored, warm white and cold while OLEDs.

    Heuser says the next stage is to integrate the processes into a stable manufacturing operation.

  • Sipera SLiC Makes Smartphone VoIP and UC Secure and “Business Ready”

    After demonstrating how easy it was to eavesdrop and record VoIP calls made over an unsecured WiFi network on the iPhone using open source software called UCSniff, Sipera Systems, which offers real-time Unified Communications (UC) security, released the Sipera Secure Live Communications (SLiC) mobility solution.

    As the smartphone market has exploded, hundreds of communication applications have been introduced that take advantage of WiFi and data services such as 3G, GPRS and other technologies.

    But these applications do not natively integrate into the enterprise security infrastructure, making it difficult for communications security managers to ensure communications privacy, data integrity, and other critical security requirements.

    As a result, employees are using unauthorized VoIP or other UC applications on their smartphones and violating privacy mandates and confidentiality rules, exposing themselves to eavesdropping, and increasing information security risks.

    Sipera claims SLiC solves the smartphone security challenge by “integrating the smartphone into the enterprise communications security infrastructure”.

    “The solution automatically authenticates the smartphone back into the enterprise PBX or call manager, ensures encryption of IP-based communications, enforces security policies in real-time and blocks threats or blacklisted callers,” the company says.

    According to Sipera, “delivering breakthrough enterprise-class communications privacy and security for Voice-over-IP and UC on smartphones, Sipera SLiC makes smartphone VoIP and UC >business ready<.”

    The company states SLiC is the industry’s first security solution enabling enterprises to “tame” the smartphone, permitting employees to use VoIP, UC, cloud telephony, and other low-cost and feature-rich communications applications on mobile devices with complete security and privacy.

    Sipera SLiC enables smartphone VoIP to include smart-card card authentication for accessing enterprise resources, providing unparalleled access control and communications privacy. It uses two-factor authentication with smartphone VoIP for enhanced access control.

    “Secure unified communications on the smartphone will revolutionize enterprise communications, dramatically improving company agility and employee responsiveness,” said John Lochow, President and CEO of Sipera Systems.

  • Interview with Robert Lang of TechTour Web & Mobility Summit

    The European Tech Tour Association launched the first vertical Summit in 2006 (Semiconductor Summit) in a series of vertical events that will gather the best emerging European companies in a given industry sector.

    This initiative sprouted from the need to identify and showcase European technology start-ups in a vertical industry segment to professionals investing or working within this industry. The concept is to structure a best of best startup track along side an innovative industry specific initiative.

    Based on the words from the website, it appears that the growth of the TechTour has been both expected, but the rate at which it’s grown has been surprising. The concept of being able to highlight some of the most innovating, ground breaking ideas in the industry on various topics has worked well for the last four years and has no signs of going weak.

    The Event Itself

    TechTour is nonprofit organization that puts on many events and they either have a country focus or they are industry focus, but both welcome investors, startups, and innovators to come together. Each of them repeat themselves every 3 or 4 years providing a cycle between each event and summit.

    Robert Lang

    More specifically, the Web & Mobility Summit, which takes place on November 18-19, 2009. It is during these events that we pull together a committee from the industry, venture capitalists, and business angels.

    As companies are encouraged to apply, they are responsible for reviewing all the companies in order to determine which will ultimately present. Not all companies will apply. Some companies have enough money to grow their business, so don’t feel the need to present before venture capitalists.

    After selection is completed, the committee will have approximately 200 companies in the database and from there will break down to 25-30 companies that will ultimately be invited to present at the summit. In attendance will be approximately 100 to 150 delegates mainly from the investor side and private equity industry. Some are just looking for innovation and what’s happening in a specific sector.

    “All the CEO’s will have 20 minutes to present their company and in turn the delegates will walkway with a USB stick of the presentations. The pre-selection process involves one screener and one reviewer, so in the end each company has been looked at twice by a qualified group of people,” says Robert Lang, President of the TechTour Web & Mobility Summit.

    This tight screening ensures the highest quality and most thorough review of all companies presenting. Each CEO has roughly 30 min. time to present and a summarized version is provided in a nice binder. It’s also available on a USB stick that screeners will be able to carry wherever they go. Naturally you still get to meet everyone and carry great conversation.

    Selection of Topics

    Summits have a “topic” or industry focus – the geographic Tech Tours are based on a range of industries from the region.

    “As you go from country to country you get different topics, different verticals, and there’s a lot of interest in all sorts of topics,” says Robert.

    In some cases, without a specific focus on a sector, the event becomes too broad and risks not being appealing for someone in the US for example. But if a vertical is selected for example, Clean Technology, then chances are you’ll draw many more people from all over to hear what’s happening in that specific industry.

    When asked how long it had been since a Web & Mobility Summit, Robert says, “The last mobility summit was in 2007, but now we’re doing it again.”

    The Takeaway

    When it comes to participation, Robert comments that man ask the question, “why should I apply?” If you were a company that had a chance to present before 100 VC’s, it acts as a strong introduction for the company, especially if you’ve been pre-screened and preselected. The companies that apply would be looking for expansion capital, startup capital, or go beyond seed money.

    There are other companies that do not make it past the selection committee. Still, these companies will get exposure just from the selection committee alone. So while some companies may not have been a good candidate for the event, the screeners will remember particular companies and keep an eye on them or they themselves might provide capital if they feel the company is strong enough.

    With regards to the kinds of deals this companies can make, Robert Lang says, “Lots can happen behind the scenes from those that didn’t make it but still seem a viable opportunity.”

    In the end, Robert says that every company involved should hopefully takeaway the opportunity for an investor to be interested enough to help the company break through.

    Partner Assistance

    Because it’s a nonprofit, each event lives off delegate fees and their sponsors. Since it’s moving around to many countries, VC’s are regular supporters who will do at least one tech tour a year. There are many other sponsors who become partners by offering meeting rooms and other amenities that help make it a success. Mostly it’s companies looking for innovation that help sponsor these events.

    “There’s quite a mixture of partners, but the identification of being with the TechTour is becoming substantial on it’s own and there are benefits to be had by participating,” Robert says confidently when asked about the direct benefits to the partners.

    The VP and President of the events are selected differently every year as the tour moves providing experience and an opportunity to be a part of this event. It also attracts new faces based on those individuals personal networks and the reach of the conference can grow exponentially.

    Robert Lang is happy to have sponsors and states, “If we didn’t have sponsors we could not run the event.”

    2009 Expectations

    Robert notes that in this time of crisis, he’s looking forward to seeing well trained, well disciplined companies who have not gotten any funding for a while that are going to be more fine tuned and well developed. Many are looking forward to the dinner in the Olympic museum over looking Lake Geneva. It’s important to note that the combo of doing great business and dealings mixed with fine dining and mingling at a great venue is a sure fire way to keep the interest.

    “If events are not interesting people leave and aren’t inspired to be there, but this event is sure to keep people motivated and engaged,” Robert Lang comments.

    To get more information on how you can be a part of this event, either as an investor or as a presenter, or even if you’re just looking forward to attending, be sure to visit the site for more information.