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  • Disk Storage System Sales Badly Impacted By Economy


    Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues fell 13.6 per cent year-on-year to USD $4.2 billion in the first quarter of 2009 (1Q09), according to IDC.

    For the quarter, the total disk storage systems market declined to USD $5.6 billion in revenues, an 18.2 per cent decline from the prior year’s first quarter.

    Steve Scully, research manager, Enterprise Storage at IDC, said the results were driven by continued weakness in server systems sales.

    He said total disk storage systems capacity shipped reached 2,146 petabytes, growing 14.8 per cent year over year.

    "The disk storage system vendors are really seeing the impact of the global economic downturn in the first quarter revenues," he said.

    "However, while total revenues declined year over year, the overall storage capacity shipped continued to grow.

    "These contrasting results are due to a combination of currency implications, lower overall sales, shifts in product mix, and aggressive pricing actions."

    Liz Conner, research analyst, Storage Systems, said that although the economic crisis was fully realized by the enterprise storage systems market in the first quarter of 2009, the quarter wasn’t without its bright spots.

    "Entry-level price bands ($0K – $14.99K) showed 9.9 per cent year-over-year growth and the midrange price band ($15K – $49.99K) was flat year over year," she said.

    This supported IDC’s belief that storage products are still in demand, according to Conner, adding that customer spending was trending towards more modular, price point options.

    "In addition, the high-end price band ($300K-499.99K) saw a 14.5 per cent year-over-year growth as vendors discounted their very high-end products, shifting the ASV’s into lower price bands in order to meet the demand for high-end storage while accounting for reduced IT budgets," she said.

    EMC maintained its lead in the external disk storage systems market with 20.7 per cent revenue share in the first quarter, followed by HP and IBM in a statistical tie for the second position with 11.5 per cent and 11.3 per cent revenue share, respectively.

    Dell and Hitachi finished the quarter in a statistical tie for fourth place with 9.8 per cent and 9.4 per cent revenue share respectively.

    The total network disk storage market (NAS Combined with Open SAN) had year-over-year growth of minus 12.5 per cent in the first quarter with more than USD $3.1 billion in revenues.

    EMC continues to maintain its leadership in the total network storage market with 26.0 per cent revenue share, followed by NetApp with 12.0 per cent revenue share.

    In the Open SAN market, which declined 14.3 per cent year over year, EMC lead with 21.9 per cent revenue share.

    The NAS market declined 6.7 per cent year over year, led by EMC with 39.0 per cent revenue share and followed by NetApp with 28.7 per cent share.

    The iSCSI SAN market continued to show strong momentum, posting 40.5 per cent revenue growth compared to the prior year’s quarter.

    Dell led the market with 36.4 per cent revenue share, followed by EMC with 15.8 per cent.

    Natalya Yezhkova, research manager, IDC Storage Systems, said price sensitivity was a big factor in the healthy growth of iSCSI SAN.

    He said that was the only installation environment segment that ended the quarter in positive territory.

    "While still a relatively small segment of the market, iSCSI SAN is the bright spot for end users and for vendors, as it helps end users to deploy network storage, often with enterprise-class functionality, at a lower price point than traditional FC SAN, and, thus, creates more selling opportunities for vendors," he said.

  • NetApp Awaits EMC Response to Data Domain Bid


    The bidding war for Data Domain stepped up this week after NetApp raised the stakes with rival EMC by making a new cash and stock offer of USD $1.9 billion.

    It came two days after EMC’s offer of USD $30 per share in a deal worth about USD $1.8 billion – around 20 per cent over the original USD $1.5 billion offered LINK last month by NetApp.

    Data Domain, a market leader in data deduplication technology, manufactures a series of storage appliances that tightly integrates its dedupe technology with dedicated storage capacity.

    It also offers software for data replication and virtual tape libraries.

    Both EMC and NetApp currently offer data dedupe technology.

    The increased offer from NetApp means that, if accepted, its offer would use up almost all it’s US cash balance of USD $1.26 billion.

    However, EMC is widely expected to counter with an all-cash offer.

  • Sony Ericsson Drops Proprietary Memory Cards For Standard MicroSD


    Sony Ericsson is to stop using its proprietary memory card format in favor of the standard and more popular MicroSD.

    The change will will make moving content between the mobile handsets and PCs easier.

    Among the first Sony Ericsson products to make the shift from Sony’s own Memory Stick Micro cards will be the Satio, Aino and Yari announced last week.

    Sony’s memory cards are a bit narrower and longer than the standard ones made by SanDisk and other companies – making it impossible to insert it into a computer’s built-in memory card reader.

    A user was required to connect their phone to the computer using a cable to transfer music, photos and other content between the two devices.

    While that’s standard practice for many phones, including the iPhone, having standard components makes it easier if not also cheaper.

  • Infortrend Offers First 8g Fc Storage With Comprehensive Form Factor Choices


    Infortrend has announced the addition of 2U and 4U models to its EonStor G6 8Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) SAN solutions.

    The move by the networked storage expert to provide additional form factors is intended to help more users meet their application requirements.

    The enhancements to the EonStor G6 family mean four new models – S12F-R1840/ S12F-G1840 and S24F-R1840/S24F-G1840.

    Thomas Kao, product planning director at Infortrend Technology, said that to safeguard cached data during power outages, Infortrend has introduced our new CacheSafe technology for the EonStor G6 offerings.

    This ensures that during a power failure the Cache Backup Module (CBM) will write all cached data to the flash backup module (FBM).

    Kao said the Battery Backup Unit (BBU) will automatically supply power for this purpose. Once power is restored, the data in the flash module is written back to the storage system which ensures no data loss.

  • Hosted VoIP Solutions Provider Aptela Works with ClearSight to Resolve Network Issues


    Hosted VoIP solutions provider Aptela has announced that its working with ClearSight Networks’ Network Time Machine (NTM) to diagnose problems on customer and carrier networks.

    Matt Smith, vice president of technology and client services at Aptela, said the solution allows them to quickly and easily maintain network uptime and stave off unexpected outages.

    Since Aptela works with so many customer and carrier networks in addition to its own network, it used to be nearly impossible to pinpoint specific issues and their origins.

    He said NTM works like a metal detector for finding needle-in-a-haystack problems across all points within the network.

    "Now, with ClearSight’s NTM, we can take retroactive network data, pull up metrics on any call, and identify the source of the problem.

    "We are able to resolve issues and performance bottlenecks for our customers and carriers faster, more accurately and with less overhead."

    As a hosted-PBX and VoIP service provider, Aptela routes customers’ voice and data traffic via the Internet.

    For SMBs with limited IT resources and budgets, this method provides the benefits of a scalable and powerful VoIP system without the associated price tag.

    However, it also means that Aptela does not have visibility into the network hardware at each customer location. Smith said that using ClearSight’s NTM and pre-established metrics, the company now has greater insight and better visibility into any VoIP call, fax, email or phone registration over the network—and may quickly identify possible causes of latency, jitter and other call quality problems.

    Hosted VoIP services are on a strong growth trajectory, with a recent Infonetics Research report showing that the VoIP services market grew 33 per cent to USD $30.8 billion in 2008.

  • Fine Point Acquires VoIP Gateway Seller Sonic


    Fine Point Technologies has agreed to buy the German software and systems integration service provider Sonic Telecom.

    Sonic has been an authorized reseller of Fine Point’s device management technologies since 2005 – but also selling VoIP gateway systems and services.

    Fine Point says the deal will broaden its reach in European markets and offers it the potential to sell its software solutions to more communications providers.

    The NYC-based company will retain Sonic’s engineering and sales staff who are already knowledgeable in selling and supporting Fine Point’s products.

    Fine Point will also maintain Sonic’s existing facility in Germany, and rename the entity Fine Point Technologies, Inc.

    Financial terms for the transaction were not disclosed.

  • Palm Pre Passes First Hurdle – "iPhone Competitor"


    Palm’s Pre smartphone has received a pre-launch boost with a succession of (mostly) favorable reviews.

    And, in what must be the ultimate accolade in the highly competitive smartphone market, the device has even been described as a tough competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

    The handset, which goes on sale in the US on Saturday, was praised for features such as its removable battery, physical keyboard and the Web OS software.

    One of the key features coming in for criticism was the Pre’s apparently poor battery life.

    Also mentioned is state of Palm’s app store, which doesn’t have much in the way of applications to offer yet.

    That comes as little surprise since the company has yet to make an SDK widely available.

    Among the reviewers were Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times.

    Sprint,the operator with exclusive US rights to the Pre, even came in for some praise for the speed of its network.

    Dan Hesse, the CEO of Sprint, has said it will take around three months for the carrier to know how well the Palm Pre is doing in the market.

    He predicted it would sell "like crazy" initially but the real test would come after the initial euphoria.

    Palm and Sprint are under intense pressure to succeed – and with Apple expected to announce a new version of the iPhone on Monday, that will be no easy thing.

  • Mobile TV "Reaching Tipping Point": MobiTV


    MobiTV has added two million new subscribers in less than six months, taking its total to more than seven million.

    The company says that better viewing experiences, advances in technology and higher awareness are all helping boost adoption levels.

    Charlie Nooney, chairman and CEO of MobiTV, described the figures as a milestone for its live mobile television and video-on-demand service, which he said now streams billions of minutes a year.

    "We are clearly seeing an increase in mobile television consumption," he said.

    "We are about to hit the tipping point for mobile media, one that will move it from a novelty to the mainstream."

    Available on more than 350 handsets across 20 carrier networks, including Sprint, AT&T and Alltel in the US, MobiTV launched in November, 2003.

    Nooney attributes the latest subscriber spike to intense interest in first-of-its kind, interactive mobile content, personified by its "tournament pass" application that brought March Madness to the iPhone in partnership with CBS Sports this spring.

    Capturing top-seller status in the iTunes store, he said the application underscored the increased consumer appeal of innovative mobile television entertainment.

    In a separate announcement, MobiTV said it has been shortlisted for an award in the best TV & video category at the 2009 Meffys Mobile Entertainment awards.

    The prestigious Meffys awards hosted by the Mobile Entertainment Forum, focuses on a wide range of different categories that provide a cross section of the latest trends and innovations in mobile media and entertainment.

    MobiTV is among the list of finalists in the TV & video category which also includes the BBC’s iPlayer service.

    The awards coincide with the Mobile Entertainment Forum’s official annual conference, Mobile Entertainment Market.

    The winners will be announced at a special gala dinner that will take place in London, on June 23.

  • ADVERTORIAL: WiMAX Forum MENA '09 – Explore and Resolve the Commercial and Strategic Challenges


    Operators in Middle Eastern and North African markets are starting to make progress with acquiring spectrum and finance for WiMAX networks.

    At the same time they are beginning to encounter challenges associated with identifying profitable business models and the practicalities of operating a WiMAX network.

    So it’s a crucial time for the region’s operators – which makes attending this year’s WiMAX Forum MENA on 23-24 June in Dubai all the more essential.

    This highly commercially-focused two-day event has been thoroughly researched to address the key strategic and technical issues that are pertinent to all Middle Eastern and North African operators investing in WiMAX in 2009 and beyond.

    Top industry experts, including 20 leading regional operators and vendors, are among the 30 plus speakers.

    Attendees will be able to hear keynotes and take part in discussions on a wide range of topics, including the business case for WiMAX and assessments on the technological roadmap for WiMAX.

    This year, the conference features a number of leading speakers from North Africa, including Mohsen Ebeid, Director of implementation, Egynet, and Kai Wuff, CEO, Kenya Data Networks, Kenya, as well as Jatem Bamatrof and Dr Ahmed Abbas Sindi, CEO, GO Ethiad Atheeb Telecom ( Saudi Arabia) who will share their experiences and insight with the participants.

    Helen Ponsford, conference manager for the WiMAX Forum Congress Series, said that, as in other emerging markets, the low level of fixed-line broadband penetration in the MENA region provides a strong opportunity for WiMAX.

    Informa forecasts that there will be 1.85 million portable WiMAX subscriptions and 650,000 mobile WiMAX subscriptions in the MEA region in 2012.

    There are now over 12O 802.16d and 16e based WiMAX networks deployed or in planned deployment across the Middle East and Africa regions.

    "Informa Telecoms & Media are bringing together regional representatives of the whole WiMAX community to explore and resolve the commercial and strategic challenges that lay ahead at this year’s WiMAX MENA event," she said.

    "This event is sure to provide a much needed forum for regional operators, regulators, investors and equipment vendors to come together to share experiences, formulate strategies to support the commercial launch of services, plan for network infrastructure evolution and exchange valuable new contacts across the industry."

    WiMAX Forum Mena is the only event supported by the WiMAX Forum, dealing with WiMAX deployment realities and allowing delegates to learn from the most advanced operators in the Middle East, North African and Persian Gulf region.

    Among the many issues being discussed this year are the commercial imperative to launch WiMAX sooner rather than later in MENA, the impact the global credit crisis having upon an operator’s ability to secure funding for WiMAX, and optimising all elements of a go to market strategy.

    There will also be panel discussions of issues such as what rollout strategy makes the most sense for WiMAX operators and the lessons that have been learnt about delivering indoor coverage in different environments.

    Full details on the conference and how to register are available here.

    WiMAX Forum Mena
    23-24 June 2009, Movenpick Bur Hotel, Dubai
    Day 1: 9 – 5.30pm
    Day 2: 9 – 4.45pm

  • Growth in HDTVs Driving Demand for HD STBs


    Shipments of set-top boxes are expected to peak this year, at least in mature markets, and then commence a gradual decline.

    However the rolling series of analog TV shutoffs in countries around the world, combined with the strong uptake of HDTV sets, mean that HD STBs will form a growing fraction of the total market, according to ABI Research.

    HD STBs are expected to account for about 30 per cent of all STB shipments as soon as 2010.

    Michael Inouye, ABI Research industry analyst, said this will be accompanied by a progressive movement from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 for content delivery.

    He said a growing affinity for HD boxes over SD is closely related to MPEG-4.

    "As more HDTVs find their way into homes, the demand for HD content grows in kind," he said.

    "Anticipating this demand, some countries and operators have elected to support the more efficient standard up front or to begin deployments of upgraded CPE."

    Inouye said the price points of boxes are converging.

    So much so that he said MPEG-4 and in some cases HD are getting sufficiently inexpensive that some operators will be providing them to their customers by default.

    While some STB vendors feel that demand for standard models will be around for a long time, reports from infrastructure vendors suggest a push towards MPEG-4 encoders, according to Inouye.

    So he said vendors will have to support MPEG-4.

    In markets primarily served by digital terrestrial broadcasts where most sales of STBs are retail, especially those with a large MPEG-2 installed base, this means that vendors will have to encourage consumers to switch by reducing the prices of upgraded boxes.