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  • Texas Memory Systems Sets New SPC-1 Records for Flash Storage Performance

    Texas Memory Systems announced that its RamSan-620 Flash Solid State Disk (SSD) has submitted a record setting SPC-1 Result.

    Launched in August, the RamSan-620 produced 254,994.21 SPC-1 IOPS with Average Response Time of 0.72 milliseconds all from a 2U rack-mount chassis.

    The RamSan-620 delivers its performance at a cost of only $1.13 per SPC-1 IOPS. That SPC-1 Price-Performance is better than any competing RAID solution or Flash solution, as the company claims.

    According to the firm, Texas Memory Systems now holds the top 3 positions for storage price-performance as well as Average Response Time.

    "Texas Memory Systems is to be congratulated for producing an SPC-1 Result that demonstrates excellent performance with outstanding response time," said Walter E. Baker, administrator of the Storage Performance Council.

    The Storage Performance Council     (SPC) is a vendor-neutral organization that establishes storage benchmarks and disseminates objective, verifiable storage performance data.

    SPC-1 is a sophisticated performance benchmark for storage subsystems. The benchmark simulates the demands placed upon storage in a typical server-class computer system. SPC-1 provides measurements in support of real-world environments and is designed as a source of comparative storage subsystem performance information.

    The RamSan-6200 is a scaled up system that combines twenty RamSan-620 solid state disks in a single datacenter rack and uses Texas Memory Systems’ TeraWatch software to provide unified management and monitoring from a single GUI console.

    The system utilizes enterprise grade Single Level Cell (SLC) Flash as well as multiple levels of RAID and advanced Flash management algorithms.

    A single RamSan-620 unit provides 5TB of SLC Flash with 250,000 sustained IOPS for random reads and random writes. Each RamSan-620 unit can support 2 to 8 Fibre Channel or up to 4 InfiniBand links.

    The company says the falling cost of high speed SSD now makes it cost-effective to replace racks of hard disk drives. For example, a single 5 terabyte RamSan-620 can outperform a 500 drive RAID at a fraction of the cost, power requirement, and data center space,” the company says.

    “The RamSan-620 established new Flash records using off-the shelf servers and systems that can be reasonably purchased, rather than multi-million dollar, limited environment supercomputing class systems that do not reflect typical data center capabilities,” according to Texas Memory Systems. .

  • Netflix Coming to PlayStation3

    Sony and Netflix – the two of the fastest growing home entertainment brands in the U.S. – are joining forces to make movies and TV episodes from Netflix available to be streamed instantly to TVs via the PlayStation3.

    The streaming via the PS3 system will begin next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system.

    Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members.

    The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray’s BD-Live technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

    The disc will be required for streaming at least until a PS3 software update sometime in late 2010.

    Netflix members slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. They can use the Netflix Web site or navigate directly on their PS3 systems to add movies and TV shows to their Queues.

    PS3 system enables consumers to play high-definition games, watch Blu-ray movies, listen to music, view photos, browse the internet, and download content from PlayStation Network.

    Netflix, one of the world’s largest online movie rental services, enables to stream movies and TV episodes to a TVs and computers via Netflix ready devices (such as the PS3) and delivers DVDs to homes.

    According to the companies, the PS3 system’s installed base has reached close to 9 million units in the United States, and Netflix recently reported 11.1 million U.S. subscribers as of September 30.

  • Application Stores as a Great Opportunity for Mobile Navigation


    Application stores are presenting a new, significant channel for the promotion and distribution of mobile applications in EMEA. In recent report Canalys analyzes how important will this channel become for navigation applications, and what opportunities does it present.

    “Turn-by-turn navigation is one of the few types of mobile application that consumers have shown a willingness to pay a valuable premium for. In part, this is because these solutions replicate the dedicated, portable navigation device (PND) proposition that consumers are used to associating with a price tag of up to €250 – and even more for some specialist niche products,” says Canalys.

    But, encouraged by existing application stores, there is an expectation that the applications found in app stores are cheap or even free: certainly Apple has seen mostly free applications downloaded from its store.

    Navigation offerings therefore need to be priced competitively to succeed, while preserving sufficient margins for developers.

    Canalys anticipates that as perpetual solution prices inevitably fall, vendors will look to subscription business models, at least for additional premium content, to deliver higher returns from their customers.

    “Vendors must also watch closely how free or very cheap basic navigation applications, such as Nav4All, AndNav2 and Roadee, perform. Though lacking brand recognition and usually based on community-generated maps of questionable and varying quality, such as those from the OpenStreetMap project, consumer expectations of these solutions are low and relatively simple to exceed,” analytics say.

    Canalys claims if these applications can give a user experience good enough for basic use cases, reviews and ratings and viral promotion could see them taking customers away from established vendors.

    App Marketplace

    Application stores, meanwhile, are already establishing themselves as consumers’ first port of call when looking for mobile applications or device personalisation and enhancement options.

    According to the report, technological and optimisation barriers to mass-market uptake of phone-based navigation in EMEA are continually being eroded. Of the 26.1 million smart phones that shipped in EMEA in H1 2009, 22.6 million (86.7%) had application-accessible integrated GPS chipsets, compared with just 36.0% for the same period in 2008.

    In H1 2009, 42.3% of GPS-integrated smart phones that shipped in EMEA used a touch-screen as the primary input method. Meanwhile, Nokia continues to bundle free periods of turn-by-turn navigation with the vast majority of its S60 smart phones and to offer navigation-focused devices or SKUs, such as the 6710 Navigator and the 5800 Navigation edition, respectively.

    Other handset vendors, such as HTC and Samsung, as well as some operators, have also now finally started to not just pre-install, but actively promote navigation solutions, usually powered by third-party software.

    “All this has helped create a market environment, certainly in the developed markets of Europe, where consumers are now well aware that they can use mobile phones for satellite navigation,” says Canalys.

    Combined with growth in mobile application marketplaces and the accompanying consumer interest in browsing and discovering applications, the EMEA market for phonebased navigation offers exciting growth potential.

    Canalys forecasts that the user base for phone-based navigation in EMEA will grow by 40% year-on-year to 6.3 million in 2009, and by 54% to 9.7 million in 2010.

    How to exploit the new opportunity?

    With June’s iPhone OS 3.0 launch, Apple allowed turn-by-turn navigation applications to be developed for the iPhone and sold via the App Store. Navigon quickly got its MobileNavigator application into the store, beating TomTom, which had already shown its application at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, analyzes Canalys.

    Navigon evidently saw a first-mover advantage and quickly became a leading application on the German and UK stores, where its brand is established, priced at €99.99 for European map coverage, or €50 to €70 for a single country or group of countries.

    The Navigon application, and the similarly priced TomTom solution that followed just over a month later, were positioned as premium applications at price points comparable to entry-level PNDs.

    “ALK, however, took a different approach, quickly placing its perpetually licensed CoPilot Live applications in the store at the much more competitive, affordable prices of €33.99 for specific groups of European countries (eg, the German-speaking DACH countries or Benelux), or €79.99 for Europe-wide coverage.”

    The research says ALK, with a considerably less well-known brand than TomTom, has managed to become a strong contender among turn-by-turn apps on the App Store through being competitive, and now has the highest grossing paid-for application in the UK.

    TomTom’s approach, meanwhile, has been less hurried, for better or worse, and has relied on its brand strength to deliver results and elevate it above a need to enter into a price war. It is also focused on delivering a PNDlike experience as far as possible.

  • IP Becomes More Attractive to SMB's: Interview with Jeff Howe, President of Allworx

    In the world of communication services and VoIP technology there are a lot of companies out there providing services to large businesses and enterprises to help streamline their communication needs and offer them money saving options that will benefit the enterprise and help increase profits.

    What seems to lack is the company that serves the SMB‘s as a provider of similar services in both an easy to use and affordable package.

    Of the few companies out there, Allworx is dedicated to offering a seamless, easy-to-use service that extends the benefits of a VoIP and an integrated communication infrastructure that SMB’s can focus their attention on doing what they were set up to do, focus on the business.

    In a conversation with President of Allworx, Jeff Howe, he explains why they’ve focused on the SMB market,”If you look at IP as an industry all together there are a lot of moving parts right now. For example, from a pure industry perspective, a lot of the key features for the SMB space from a lot of our other competitors are typically missing.”

    The missing part is what he hopes Allworx is able to fulfill for their clients. He notes that many companies have older communications systems in place that make it difficult to to integrate from a TDM to VoIP.

    Integration and Use

    Despite the complexity what Allworx has determined is that companies are looking for mobility and flexibility, along with scalability with their systems.

    Whether a phone call needs to ring on multiple lines, a call needs to be forwarded to another extension or another phone, or if a customer needs the use of a remote phone, these services are vital for a VoIP communications company and necessary to thrive in today’s fast paced industry.

    Jeff Howe

    Jeff Howe makes sure to point out during our discussion that he is currently communicating with me on an Allworxs phone that he simply plugged into a public internet connection with a unique IP that taps into a remote phone application.

    Excited at this prospect Jeff shares his enthusiasm,”So we give them exactly everything they have today but we’re going to give them all the flexibility that VOIP brings to them to enhance their productivity and allow them to be more flexible as they are becoming more of a mobile environment.”

    Making the Switch

    It’s not uncommon for a company to be uncertain when making a large adjustment to existing standards that perhaps have been in place for a long time. Especially difficult, technology is something many fear, and making the switch sometimes takes some convincing. Two of the key factors that become a selling point for VoIP is the ease of use and, secondly, the cost savings.

    Allworx President, Jeff Howe, breaks it down in simple terms, “An Allworks system is really a server and phones. Within that server you have all the capabilities that you’d normally need.”

    He goes on to include, “We talk about the fact that it’s easy to install, simple to install, very simple to maintain because in a server environment, certainly with remote access, the customer doesn’t have to wait for the service trucks so to speak. With remote access I would say that 90% of the issues that arise are all handled remotely and then certainly for the server there are no blades, there are no gateways, everything is right within the Allworks server so its very very simple.”

    In terms of value to the customer, Jeff feels that the packages that Allworx offers are surprising to many because they are robust. Offering many things that competitors typically charge extra for.

    An extra added value for Allworx is their continued success in award winning products from their equipment to their handsets that have been repeatedly awarded for their sound and durability. Jeff truly believes because of the quality of service and quality of product, this helps keep Allworx a viable solution in the SMB market.

    Industry Musings

    When asked about the industry as a whole, Jeff was quick to note that adoption of VoIP technology is still fairly knew for many SMB’s so he’s not seen a tidal wave of new entrants in the market. He does note that with the status of the economy, he’s noticing that the integration into the IP industry is starting to crest, more so than in “normal” times.

    Specifically discussion adoption rates of SMB’s, Jeff Howe says, “I think initially there is a bit of a resistance to migrate to an IP based service for customers right now because at the end of the day it involves investment in the infrastructure with significant capital and then compared to all of the competitors out there, whether its the capable companies or other providers, there tends to be an initial reduction in overall margin.”

    He notes that customers are now being forced to look into options, and IP is becoming more and more attractive to many SMB’s worldwide.

    A transition to new services can actually save enough money that those savings can be added to a company’s bottom line as opposed to being spent on service visit fees.

    In response to whether technology is moving faster than the customers needs, Jeff notes that he does believe this is the case, but it does not necessarily represent a bad thing.

    “I think its just a matter of time before the customers either take on the adoption rate as to what the technologies are. There just seems to be a lot of technology being developed in a lot of different ways,” Jeff notes.

    He continues, “There’s a lot of technology being developed and I think it just depends on what the customer is looking for and for them to pick and choose which technology meets their particular needs.”

    Like any other industry in the market, Allworx is no stranger to conferences. They will be speaking and displaying at the Comptel Plus Fall 2009 Convention & Expo.

  • Mobile Internet in Africa: Interview with Jose Henriques, Vodacom

    Mobile internet is no longer luxury in Africa as it has become a valuable tool of global development, this according to Jose Henriques, Vodacom executive head of internet services.

    Henriques was speaking to Biz-News.com in Johannesburg last week during the Mobile Web Africa conference whose focus was looking at ways of harnessing the potential of internet and applications on mobile devices.

    “It is amazing how such a luxury item has quickly become a valuable tool of global development, shifting from being held to the ears to being held by hand, and becoming an instrument of promoting economic growth,” Henriques said.

    “Mobile phones are the advance guard for mobile broadband networks and at the same time they are promoting economic benefits and providing a basic tool of education, for instance helping parents to afford to educate their children.”

    Jose Henriques

    The conference, organised by All Amber and which was attended by over 150 local and international delegates, heard that Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa (fourth position), Sudan, Algeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe are the top 10 countries in terms of internet penetration on PC,
    while only 3.3% of Africans have access to internet via their mobile phones.

    These top 10 countries make up of 85% of all internet users market in Africa, according to recent statistics.

    South Africa has over 4.5 million PC internet users and close to 10 million mobile internet users expectation is to have at least 15 million mobile internet users by 2013.

    Mobile penetration

    Henriques explained that despite the limitations of opportunities of fixed-line internet in Africa and the unstoppable rise of mobile revolution and its socio-economic advantages, countries such as Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria are working hard to push for mobile penetration, especially in rural areas.

    The African mobile internet market continues to grow dramatically, staying slightly behind the Middle East (fastest-growing region), with pages viewed having increased by 422% between April 2008 to April 2009, and Google being the number one and Yahoo in third in each of the top 12 countries striving intensively on software development.

    The top 12 countries include SA, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Zambia and Tanzania.

    However, Henriques warned that he said the only way companies will succeed to advance the mobile internet cause is to give a decent access experience to the user, get their price right and affordable and provide content adaptation.

    “One must ensure that the internet is accessed in any phone with cost-effective rates and the possibility to get any big website into a small screen,” he explained.

  • Web & Mobility Summit – Debate the Hot Issues and Network with VCs, Business Angels and Europe’s Top 25 Start-ups

    ADVERTORIAL

    The top three hot issues being debated on the web and mobility scene today are:

    • The European venture capital funding model under revision – how will that effect web and mobility start ups?
    • Constantly evolving media channels.
    • Advertising revenues and payment for content.

    The second Web and Mobility Summit, (Montreux, 18-19 November) will attack those issues with a series of panels and keynotes, while the 25 top European web and mobility start-ups will be there to present to VCs and business angels. A hand-picked delegation of industry leaders, service providers and academics will also attend.

    Register now!

    The 25 selected Start-ups, to be announced at the Summit itself, will come from some of the strongholds of the European scene, such as mobile social networks, mobile publishing, adserving and gaming, as well as Ecommerce, E-business, payment and billing.

    The Start-Up Selection Process

    Companies based or incubated in Europe, Israel and Russia are eligible to participate in the Summit. They submit a full company profile and their latest business plan as well as a draft presentation. Each submission is then reviewed by two members of the selection committee, comprised of 20 senior-level business leaders from various backgrounds including venture capital, technology, research and economic promotion.

    Summit President

    The Web & Mobility Summit President (also CEO of Result), Robert Lang commented, “Europe has been a powerhouse of ideas and concepts for a very long time, but many ideas have been slowed down by small home markets or lack of entrepreneurial spirit. In the field of mobility particularly, there are still many hidden gems in Europe who work in one market and are just waiting to be released worldwide.”

    Summit Organisers

    European Tech Tour     (ETT), is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which recognises that continued prosperity in Europe lies in its ability to transform today’s innovative projects into tomorrow’s global technology leaders. Its goal is to promote European entrepreneurship and provide a platform for entrepreneurs and investors to meet, ideally leading to funding or facilitation of high technology companies looking to expand internationally.

    The Association organizes four country specific tours per year to identify the best emerging companies in a geographical region, as well as two vertical industry events to capture the most innovative European companies in a specific industry segment, such as Semiconductor, Cleantech, Medtech and Web & Mobility.

  • iSuppli Reports Strong DRAM Market Growth

    The DRAM industry in the second and third quarters of 2009 posted the strongest sequential growth in revenue and pricing seen in at least five years, indicating that the recent market rebound is real and is likely to continue into 2010, according to iSuppli.

    Global DRAM revenue rose by 35 percent in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, according to a preliminary estimate from iSuppli. This follows a 34 percent increase in the second quarter.

    The revenue rise in the second quarter brought an end to a three-quarter losing streak that began in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue had fallen by 19 percent in the first quarter of 2009, plunged by 38 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and decreased by a moderate 1 percent in the third quarter of 2008.

    Meanwhile, global DRAM Average Selling Prices (ASPs) rose by 21 percent in the third quarter compared to the second, following a 19 percent rise in the second quarter.

    Pricing declined by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009. The second quarter marked the first sequential increase in DRAM pricing since the fourth quarter of 2006.

    “Third-quarter results from major suppliers show that the DRAM industry recovery is no mirage,” said Mike Howard, senior analyst, DRAM, for iSuppli.

    “The continued increase in prices comes as another indicator that the DRAM market is emerging from what has been a long and painful slump.”

    iSuppli says the global DRAM market has been declining on an annual basis since 2007. Revenue decreased by 7.5 percent in 2007 and plunged by 25.1 percent in 2008.

    Despite the strong recovery in the second and third quarters, extremely weak conditions in the first quarter mean that global DRAM market revenue is set to decrease by 12.9 percent in 2009, according to the company’s preliminary estimate.

    The market’s strong performance in the second and third quarters likely presage continued strength in the DRAM market.

    “Third-quarter earnings from Samsung, Micron and the Taiwanese DRAM manufacturers point to increasing sales and further progress toward profitability,” Howard said.

    “Samsung achieved profitability during the third quarter, while Micron’s results indicate the company is on its way back to the black. Recent sales results from the Taiwanese DRAM companies are also positive for DRAM. Collectively, the five Taiwanese DRAM suppliers—Inotera, Nanya, Powerchip, ProMOS and Winbond—saw monthly revenues increase rise by 15 percent per month for the last three months.”

    iSuppli expects supply levels to remain fairly consistent in the fourth quarter. DRAM demand is expected to improve in 2010 in concert with the general global economic recovery.

  • Research Forecasts Flat Panel Display Industry Slowdown in Q4, Recovery in 2010

    According to the latest DisplaySearch Quarterly Worldwide FPD Forecast Report, global flat panel display revenues for 2009 will be $87.6B, down 15% Y/Y from 2008.

    The major reason for the decline is erosion in large-area TFT LCD panel prices compared to 2008, despite the fact that the TFT LCD market started to recover in Q2’09.

    Despite the gloomy forecasted results for 2009, the market is expected to recover in 2010 with a 5% compound annual growth rate and revenues of $93.3B, the research shows.

    According to David Hsieh, vice president of DisplaySearch, 2009 represents a “drastic change” for the whole FPD industry.

    “The industry faced many critical challenges in the end of 2008 due to the global economic recession and the resulting drop in demand. However, as the market demand began to recover in early 2009 and the global economic situation is expected to continue to improve, we believe that the worst time for the industry has passed and the FPD market will experience growth after 2009,” he said.

    a-Si TFT LCD continues to be the largest segment in all FPD technologies. However, AMOLED shows the strongest compound annual growth rate, 179% from 2008 to 2012, as suppliers solve technical and financial problems.

    DisplaySearch says there are currently eight drivers for FPD growth in the next ten years: new applications and markets, new entrants and processes, new concepts and specifications, as well as new business and practices.

    Many of these are inspired by the downturn in the FPD industry in late 2008 and early 2009, which stimulated the FPD industry to find different strategies, markets and solutions.

    Other research from iSuppli says small and medium LCD suppliers are preparing for a Q4 slowdown.

    “Small/medium display panel vendors are prepping for what they believe will be a deceleration in demand in the fourth quarter – traditionally a slower period because of the end of the holiday buying rush,” says iSuppli.

    Furthermore, Tier-1 OEMs in the third quarter pulled in orders for the holiday season and the Chinese Golden Week. This allowed panel suppliers to achieve 93 percent of their third-quarter 2008 shipment levels in the first two months of the third quarter of 2009 alone.

    iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal claims suppliers are planning to reduce capacity utilization in anticipation, but the decline in capacity will allow the industry to better manage price declines.

  • Phillips Launches Wireless HDTV Box in the U.S.

    Philips confirmed U.S. retail availability for its much-anticipated Wireless HDTV Link, introduced in September at IFA 2009 in Berlin.

    The device is currently available for purchase at amazon.com and dell.com with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $799, and will be sold at other online stores beginning November 2009.

    HDTV Link uses innovative technology to wirelessly deliver high-definition TV picture quality (up to 1080p) without ruining the aesthetics of the home.

    It transmits HD signal up to 75 feet away from the TV without signal loss or degradation, making it possible e.g. to stream devices like a Blu-ray player to a TV from the other side of the room.

    The Link allows to connect four AV devices to a TV. It also has two digital HDMI connections and two component connections, allowing to switch between devices (TVs, DVDs, games consoles) without having to change cables and plugs in between uses.

    The receiver has been specially designed to fit behind standard TV wall mounts so that it is out of sight.

    In July Belkin said it will not be releasing its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory because of the current state of the economy.

  • Nokia Sues Apple for Infringement of Nokia GSM, UMTS and WLAN Patents

    Nokia announced that it has today filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware, alleging that Apple’s iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards.

    Nokia says the ten patents in suit relate to technologies “fundamental” to making devices which are compatible with one or more of the GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA) and wireless LAN standards.

    “The patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007,” according to press release.

    There ware no more details given to the public.

    "The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Legal & Intellectual Property at Nokia.

    "Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation."

    Nokia informed the company has already entered into license agreements including the patents in suit with approximately 40 companies, “including virtually all the leading mobile device vendors, allowing the industry to benefit from Nokia’s innovation.”