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  • Matze Appointed To New Role Within Hifn


    Hifn has named storage pioneer John Matze as its Vice President and Chief Technical Officer.

    Matze first joined the storage and networking company in 2007 as its Vice President of Business Development after the acquisition of Siafu Software, where he served as CEO.

    At Siafu, Matze developed iSCSI storage solutions that offered security and enterprise-level functionality for small- to medium-sized businesses.

    The technology was incorporated into Hifn’s product line to deliver storage solutions to its customers.

    Matze previously served as Vice President and CTO at Overland Storage, Director of Software at Veritas Software and the principal architect at STAC Inc.

    John Matze, VP and CTO Hifn

    Matze the author of several storage patents is also credited as one of the original authors of the iSCSI protocol.

    Over the past 15 years he has created a series of successful products including the award winning Overland Storage REO VTL appliances and the award winning STAC Replica Disaster Recovery for NetWare.

    In 2003 he was named one of the "Top 25 Innovators" by Computer Reseller News, and is a frequent author and speaker at storage industry events.

    Albert E. Sisto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hifn, said Matze offered the ability to provide hands-on leadership in an ever-evolving industry.

    "He also has a keen ability to take technologies and simplify them for broader deployment and acceptance," he said.

  • WD Readies New My Book World Storage Device


    Western Digital has redesigned its My Book World Edition to target consumers with multiple computers on a home network.

    The company says the new device simplifies the tedious task of backing up an entire household’s files.

    The network storage device comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities and has both DLNA 1.5 and UPnP certification to allow for streaming with a variety of devices.

    It also has a single USB port to let you turn any other USB drive into a network drive.

    Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups, said the My Book World Edition drive simply had to be plugged into a network router, a few buttons had to be clicked and it backed up the files from all the PCs and Macs on the network.

    Any changes to the files are automatically and continuously backed up to the drive.

    The new hard drives are available now in the 1 TB capacity and expected later this month in the 2 TB capacity (USD $230 and $450 or GBP 168.99 and GBP 369.99 respectively).

  • Swiss GSM Carrier in&phone Buys Blueslice's SDM Platform


    Blueslice Networks has sold a SIP-enabled ngHLR, HSS and AAA, bundled into one fully integrated solution, to Unify Mobile.

    The SDM platform is to be used by in&phone, one of its mobile operations in Switzerland.

    Montreal-based Blueslice’s CSP 3000 includes the ngHLR and its Advanced Low Cost Roaming solutions – giving in&phone the ability to offer subscribers new roaming features.

    It also means roaming charges can be significantly reduced or even eliminated.

    Blueslice said its patented Multi-IMSI will allow end-users to have a single subscription in the ngHLR containing multiple identities (IMSIs) in several countries or area codes.

    in&phone’s subscribers will be seen as "local" by the network and can roam across borders on multiple networks without paying roaming surcharges.

    Carel Begeer, founder and chief development officer of Unify Mobile, said the deal provided Unify with the tools to have multiple access technologies in multiple territories under a single user profile.

    "Cost and quality have been the main driving forces for our customers," said Begeer.

    "They want to use their mobile phone without the fear of paying huge roaming fees."

    Begeer, said in&phone, like many carriers, is faced with the challenges of modernizing aging networks while maintaining a high level of service at value prices.

    in&phones’ subscribers will be able to roam between GSM/UMTS and IP networks thanks to Blueslice’s ngHLR-based Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solution.

  • Economy To Slow VoIP Growth in US Business Markets


    The struggling economy will slow the growth of VoIP, but deployments remain wide-ranging at mitigated levels.

    So says In-Stat in a report that also found just over a third of US businesses that have deployed VoIP use it exclusively.

    Many more businesses use VoIP as a partial voice solution – and they are also beginning to embrace voice-enabled IM capabilities, particularly among younger workers.

    David Lemelin, In-Stat analyst, said IP continues to be a partial voice solution for most businesses with VoIP, particularly among larger businesses.

    "Therefore, there is significant room for growth even among businesses that have already adopted it," he said.

    Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

    • 32 per cent of Enterprise size businesses say the economic situation has slowed their VoIP deployment plans.
    • Broadband IP Telephony remains the most common carrier-based business VoIP solution with revenues exceeding USD $1.1 billion in 2008, compared to USD $857 million for hosted IP Centrex service within the US.
    • Adoption varies significantly by size of business, with Enterprise businesses preferring a partial deployment, while SOHO businesses are more likely to go IP-only.
    • 13 per cent of US businesses use both carrier-based and premises-based IP solutions.
    • Digital visual interface (DVI) and high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), are related, high-bandwidth, unidirectional, uncompressed digital interface standards.

  • JAJAH Announces Advanced Solutions for WinMo, BlackBerry and Symbian


    JAJAH is to offer new services enabling VoIP calls to be made either via WiFi or over the cellular network for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Symbian users.

    They are being offered as white label solution to enable carriers and non-carriers to launch the service under their own brand.

    The new services follow JAJAH’s recent release of a solution for the iPod Touch, which enables it to be used for phone calls.

    JAJAH said its platform has everything a company would need to launch the service immediately under their own brand.

    This includes the application itself, plus the entire suite of management services, from termination of the calls and quality control, right through to billing and processing payments in 200 countries around the world.

    For BlackBerry users, the application adds ‘JAJAH Call’ to the phonebook menu.

    JAJAH for Symbian gives anyone with a phone running Symbian s60 the ability to choose whether international calls route over the JAJAH IP network or the standard cellular network.

    The application automatically detects the presence of a WiFi network and offers the choice to use JAJAH when a long distance phone number is dialed (either manually or via the address book).

    With Windows Mobile, JAJAH is a full SIP over HSDPA/WiFi mobile VoIP solution. Currently deployed by eMobile, one of the leading operator’s in Japan, it turns any device into a VoIP phone.

  • Spitfire SIP Trunking Completes Panasonic Testing


    Spitfire has completed interoperability testing and accreditation for its SIP Trunking service with the Panasonic range of phone systems.

    This includes Panasonic’s next generation phone system, the KX-NCP (Network Communications Platform).

    The voice and data solution provider’s SIP Trunking has been designed as an ISDN30 and ISDN2 replacement to give business quality secure telephony.

    Spitfire says its typically costs a third less than the monthly rental cost of an equivalent ISDN service.

    Tom Fellowes, Spitfire’s sales director, said interoperability testing was completed for both Panasonic and Avaya phone systems.

    He said its SIP service on Asterisk and a number of other SIP systems had also been tested and approved.

    "Providing the IP circuit ourselves allows us to control the quality of service delivery to the customer," he said.

  • Indian Satellite TV Is Propelling Worldwide Market


    The worldwide market for pay-Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television rose significantly in 2008, with an estimated 18 per cent rise in subscriptions, reports In-Stat.

    It suggests the primary reason for this increase was strong growth in the Indian market, which more than doubled to about 9 million subscribers at the end of 2008.

    Mike Paxton, analyst with the high-tech market research firm, said India now has five pay DTH satellite providers with a sixth expected to enter the market early in 2009.

    "Additionally, in the Asia/Pacific region, China is likely to introduce a pay DTH satellite service in 2009 or 2010, which will help sustain strong growth in Asia," he said.

    Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

    • There will be nearly 200 million DTH pay-TV subscribers worldwide by 2012.
    • Worldwide revenues will eclipse USD $142.7 billion by 2011.
    • Eastern Europe had the strongest regional subscriber growth rate in 2008, with an increase of 63.5 per cent over 2007.
    • Subscribers in Russia more than doubled from year-end 2007 to Mid-2008 to nearly 3.8 million.
    • Digital visual interface (DVI) and high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), are related, high-bandwidth, unidirectional, uncompressed digital interface standards.

  • On2 Technologies 1080p Video Encoder Improves Image Quality and Compression Performance


    On2 Technologies has announced a 1080p video encoder aimed at improving image quality and compression performance in battery operated devices and consumer electronics.

    The new hardware design, the Hantro 8270, supports H.264 Baseline, Main and High Profile video along with 16Mpixel JPEG still images.

    Mika Hakala, SVP and general manager(Embedded Solutions) at On2 Technologies, said it incorporates proprietary technologies for video stabilization and automatic scene change detection.

    With a minimal clock frequency requirement – less than 250MHz needed for 30fps 1080p video – Hakala said the Hantro 8270 is highly suited for low powered chipsets and is intended for wireless, consumer and surveillance applications.

    The technology is designed to improve the viewing experience for transcoded content such as movies and TV shows, and consolidated streams from multiple cameras typical to surveillance systems and live event coverage.

    The video stabilization feature improves the quality of captured video by counteracting the effects of camera shake.

    Analyzing each frame of raw video, undesired movement is removed by cropping and re-positioning the frame. The process is executed prior to encoding, and thereby increases overall compression efficiency.

    "With power consumption a critical design issue for semiconductors, maintaining a low overall clock frequency is an imperative," said Hakala.

    "A key challenge in designing a 1080p encoder is the transfer and encoding of the data needed with a clock frequency acceptable to the chip manufacturer.

    "Through efficient pipeline utilization and smart parallelism for key functions, we have not only met, but exceeded our customers’ expectations for 1080p video."
    The Hantro 8270 will be available for licensing from March.

  • Samsung Leading Global TV Brand, Full HDTV Sets Now Fifth of Market


    Samsung has maintained its place as the world’s biggest TV brand for the third year running.

    With a 21.9 per cent market share, the South Korean electronics manufacturer is some way ahead of second placed Sony, according to DisplaySearch.

    The findings are published in the researchers latest Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

    They also show that the 1080p share of global TV shipments exceeded 20 per cent of units for the first time in Q4 of 2008.

    China remained the largest market for TVs on a unit basis, accounting for just over 19 per cent, followed by Western Europe and North America at just less than 19 per cent.

    However, on a revenue basis, North America remains the world’s largest TV market despite strong quarter-on-quarter (Q/Q) revenue growth in Western Europe.

    LCD TV picked up market share in every region, with especially strong share gains in China and Eastern Europe.

    As the brand leader, Samsung remains clear at the top, holding its revenue share nearly unchanged at 21.9 per cent, more than 7 share points higher than second placed Sony.

    Sony, however, enjoyed the strongest share growth and Q/Q revenue growth among the top five.

    Samsung was also the overall unit shipment leader and was in the top three rankings in each technology category (except OLED) and led LCD TV shipments.

    Sony enjoyed strong Q/Q revenue growth, but its year-on-year (Y/Y) revenues declined by 7 per cent due to ASP erosion. LGE rounded out the top three TV brands worldwide at 11.5 per cent revenue share.

    It also maintained a very slight advantage over Samsung in the high growth emerging market segment.

    The report also showed that despite the difficult economy and concerns about consumer spending, demand for larger screen sizes grew during Q4 2008.

    The share of TVs shipped at 40"+ screen sizes reached an all-time high of 23 per cent, up from 19 per cent in Q3 2008 and 18 per cent in Q4 2007.

    This was largely the result of significant discounts by manufacturers and retailers, both hoping to avoid excessive inventory after the holidays.

    The volume weighted average price for 32"+ TVs fell 19 per cent Y/Y during Q4 2008, while under 32" was unchanged from a year ago.

    Global TV shipments fell more than 5 per cent Y/Y in the last quarter of 2008 to 57.7M units from more than 60M units a year earlier.

    This is the first Y/Y decline in total TV shipments for more than two years.

    Due to ASP declines, total TV revenues fell even more, declining by 7 per cent to just over USD $30 billion despite flat panel technologies picking up more than 10 per cent unit share.

    Combined flat panel TV revenues — which includes LCD, plasma and OLED technologies — posted the first annual decline in a given quarter, falling 3 per cent Y/Y despite 17 per cent growth in unit volume with falling prices affecting revenues.

    Globally, flat panel TV share surged from 57 per cent in Q3 200808 to 66 per cent in Q4 2008 as rapidly falling LCD prices stimulated a shift from CRT to LCD, especially at smaller screen sizes under 40".

    Annual LCD TV shipment results for 2008 as a whole were 105M units, up 33 per cent Y/Y.

    DisplaySearch said the positive results also pushed LCD TV past CRT TV worldwide for the first time on an annual basis and mark significant progress in the transition from tube to flat panel technologies.

  • Sony's New BRAVIA WE5 Cuts Power Use by 50%


    Sony is making some impressive ‘green’ claims with its new BRAVIA WE5 series of Full HD LCDs.

    Dubbed the "eco TV", the electronics giant says that the WE5 is equipped with the first-ever micro-tubular HCFL backlight. It claims this is the key to its ability to cut power consumption by more than 50 per cent.

    The WE5 is the flagship of the new BRAVIA line-up, which Sony says consumes an average of 20-30 per cent less power than last year’s range.

    Among the WE5’s other energy saving innovations is an intelligent Presence Sensor that detects the body heat and movement of anyone sitting within normal range of the screen.

    Sony says that if the viewer leaves the room – to answer the door or during a commercial break – the sensor activates an energy-saving ‘picture off’ mode, while leaving TV sound on.

    The picture turns back on as soon as the viewer re-enters the room. If no movement is detected in the room – perhaps when the viewer has fallen asleep in front of the screen – the set automatically switches to standby after 30 minutes.

    The new BRAVIA also has an Energy Saving Switch that is able to cut electricity bills even further, the electronics company claims.

    It says that other televisions draw a small amount of power when they’re in standby or even when switched off.

    Flipping a conveniently-placed switch on the WE5 will turn the set off completely. Switch back on again and the TV returns immediately to its previous state.

    It’s intended as a smarter, more convenient alternative to manually unplugging the TV when it’s not in use.

    Obviously, Sony is keen to stress that the WE5 can deliver in terms of picture quality as well.

    Aside from its eco credentials, the Full HD 1080p LCD panel has Sony’s new BRAVIA Engine 3 and Motionflow 100Hz technology with Image Blur Reduction.

    The new BRAVIA line-up is due for release in the spring. The BRAVIA WE5’s other green credentials include:

    • Full HD 1080p (40, 46-inch) LCD TV
    • Smart Presence Sensor switches off picture when set is not being watched
    • Energy Saving Switch reduces power consumption to zero
    • Easily accessible, energy-saving ‘Eco settings’
    • Reduced energy consumption
    • Space-saving design cuts transportation carbon emissions