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  • US Operators Planning Real-Time Mobile Video Services


    Global IP Solutions (GIPS) has released a survey showing that US mobile operators and equipment vendors are supportive in the drive toward real-time video.

    The provider of IP multimedia processing solutions found that over 50 per cent of US wireless operators interviewed plan to launch, or increase access to, real-time video services over the next 2 years.

    GIPS believes mobile video will make the shift to the mainstream in the US market over the next few years.

    The study, carried out for GIPS by Ovum, questioned most of the top US mobile operators, smaller/regional wireless carriers and mobile application developers.

    It also found that in order to compete with larger players, smaller operators are offering more Internet access and are pursuing flexible IP communication applications from 3rd parties.

    Almost half of operators surveyed expressed enthusiasm for delivering "open platforms" for 3rd party software developers.

    Mark Radoff, of Ovum, said the study’s findings showed that real-time video is coming to the forefront for mobile operators.

    "Both the small and large operators are keen to launch these services and determine ways to productize real-time video, to differentiate their services and potentially increase ARPU," he said.

    While only AT&T Wireless has so far launched a video conferencing service, most carriers indicate the service is coming.

    The study found that operators launching video conferencing applications would likely provide opportunity for software vendors.

    While operators have growing confidence in their networks, respondents indicated that optimization is still an issue, as well as usable applications and integration with social networks.

    GIPS pointed out that more than half of the respondents showed enthusiasm for open platforms, whereby software vendors can launch real-time video applications on an operator-approved handset.

    Emerick Woods, CEO of GIPS, said most US mobile operators are running what is classified as a 3G network or 3.5G or equivalent network, which allows them to ensure high quality VOIP and video-based services.

    "Now, with 4G and sophisticated WiMax networks beginning to emerge, there are fewer barriers to offering quality, real-time video and VoIP on mobile phones and networks," he said.

    Woods said the study confirms GIPS’ belief in the accelerating movement toward mobile video adoption and validates the activities from mobile operators and device manufacturers in making it a reality in the next few years.

    We’d be interested in hearing your view on this. Will real-time video go mainstream in the next couple of years?

  • Motorola Unveils First WiMAX Outdoor CPE With Integrated VoIP


    Motorola has introduced the wi4 WiMAX CPEo 450 – the first WiMAX outdoor CPE with integrated VoIP.

    Built from the ground up, the CPEo 450 has been designed to minimize the time, effort and cost of bringing broadband and voice services to new subscriber locations.

    By integrating VoIP functionality directly into the unit, Motorola said the need for multiple boxes is eliminated.

    Other features include integrated pole mounting brackets for convenience in installation, visual signal quality indicators for reliable device orientation, and a new high-performance antenna and radio design for interference mitigation and increased service coverage.

    Charles Riggle, senior director of strategy and business development, WiMAX devices, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, said the CPEo 450 offered best-in-class performance with both voice and data capabilities in a compact outdoor form factor that is easy to install and reduces support costs.

    "Motorola’s CPEo 450 demonstrates once again that a superior performing CPE provides greater wireless coverage, increased throughput and network capacity, and higher service availability," he said.

    "These attributes translate into lower capex and operating cost for carriers, a faster ROI, lower churn and greater customer satisfaction."

    The CPEo 450 consists of an outdoor subscriber unit with integrated antennas and an indoor power adaptor incorporating an RJ45 Ethernet port and two RJ11 voice ports.

    All network configuration parameters come pre-loaded. When turned on, the network will automatically detect the CPEo 450 and perform all necessary authentication processes, allowing subscribers to immediately begin using voice and data services.

    The wi4 WiMAX CPEo 450 will be commercially available for shipments beginning in Q2 2009 for the 3.5 GHz band with support for 5, 7, and 10 MHz channel bandwidths.

  • StarWind Software Announces Appoints New CEO and Opens US Headquarters


    StarWind Software has appointed Zorian Rotenberg as chief executive officer and announced the opening of its US headquarters.

    The storage software provider’s move to its new HQ near Boston, Massachusetts, comes shortly after the announcement of its spin-off from Rocket Division Inc and the investment, led by ABRT Venture Fund, meant to accelerate sales and assist in marketing efforts.

    StarWind provides small and midsize company storage solutions and is expanding its operations, marketing and product offerings.

    Its flagship product, StarWind Server is an iSCSI Target software that installs on any industry-standard Windows Server and converts it into a reliable, powerful and affordable IP SAN.

    Rotenberg will focus on continuing to build StarWind’s storage software market and will be responsible for global operations including sales, marketing, strategic alliances, and customer programs.

    He has a strong background in high-tech as well as financial markets, and most recently served as the vice president of corporate and business development at Acronis Inc.

    He worked directly for the CEO of Acronis during a period when the company grew rapidly over a period of a few years from about USD $20 million to over USD $100 million worldwide.

    Previously, Rotenberg worked at Merrill Lynch & Co. in the Investment Banking Division focusing on mergers & acquisitions and financing transactions, at NeoCarta Ventures focusing on investing in technology companies and at IBM in the Software Sales Division.

    A graduate of Lehigh University, he has a degree in finance and with minors in applied mathematics and computer science. He took an MBA at Harvard Business School.

    Rotenberg said he was looking forward to building and growing Starwind’s business globally.

    "This is a great company with excellent technology and a very talented, accomplished team," he said.

    "We have an extraordinary opportunity to develop new solutions for our customers and be a leader in the rapidly growing storage software market."

  • Virtualisation Provides Effective Disaster Recovery Solution


    SecurStore has warned that companies need to ensure a reliable IT disaster recovery plan is in place when times are tough.

    The online, automated and managed data backup and recovery specialists said that the current economic difficulties meant that customer service is going to be the all important differentiator throughout 2009.

    It said the list of what can go wrong in the working environment is extensive, so it was essential to ensure that services ccould still be provided to clients in the event of power failures, natural disasters or sabotage is paramount.

    Alexander Eiriksson, COO of SecurStore, said many companies were living dangerously, operating without a reliable backup and recovery plan, which he described as a major risk.

    He said companies that are using 30-year old tape backup technologies are just as insecure since tapes notoriously suffer from reliability issues.

    Virtualisation technology is increasingly being seen as a cost-effective and immediate disaster recovery plan.

    Using Virtualisation, companies need fewer servers leading to a reduction in hardware maintenance and reduced IT employee working time.

    It also simplifies IT management, minimises space and saves power, all leading to reduced costs.

    "Gartner recently published a report that ranked Virtualisation as third in a list of 10 technologies that CIOs will focus on to realise value from existing assets," said Eiriksson.

    He said specialists such as SecurStore offered simple, cost effective agent-less, online backup and recovery solution that enabled organisations to maximise their virtualisation strategy while achieving superior data protection and recovery management without performance degradation.

  • Intel To Invest $ 7 Billion in US Manufacturing


    Intel is bucking current trends and investing USD $7 billion in upgrading three of its US factories over the next two years.

    The computer chipmaker said the investment is its largest on new manufacturing and represents 7,000 high-wage jobs.

    Based in Santa Clara, California, Intel said its upgrade plans were for existing facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon to manufacture its 32-nanometer products.

    Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel, said the investment decision was to ensure Intel and the US remained at the forefront of innovation.

    He said the manufacturing facilities would produce the most advanced computing technology in the world.

    Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini

    "The capabilities of our 32nm factories are truly extraordinary, and the chips they produce will become the basic building blocks of the digital world, generating economic returns far beyond our industry," he said.

    While more than a third of Intel’s sales are from outside the US, the company does 75 per cent of its semiconductor manufacturing and research-and-development spending in the US.

    Chips makers such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have experienced a decline in demand as global computers sales wither in the face of the economic crisis.

    Last month, Intel announced the closure of manufacturing sites in California and Oregon, and test facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines, resulting in 5,000 to 6,000 job losses.

  • SanDisk Develops Tech That Allows 64GB Flash


    SanDisk has announced plans to ship an ultra-dense form of NAND flash memory that could herald a breakthrough in storage.

    Called X4, the technology uses a special memory controller that maintains data traffic speed while still fitting four bits of data per cell.

    The method allows SanDisk – and Toshiba – to place 8GB of memory on a single chip, twice as much as before.

    It does this while still maintaining a transfer speed of 7.8MB per second.

    Since it is common to find four of these chips stacked together in a single package, the technology potentially doubles the amount of storage available on a high-end flash memory die to 64GB.

    But it should remains small thanks to SanDisk’s more recent 43 nanometer manufacturing process.

    Toshiba began making 32GB packages at the end of last year.

    SanDisk expects the first X4-based products to be available in the first half of 2009, with memory cards being the most immediately recognizable offerings.

    It’s not clear if the technology will be adopted in third-party products containing the larger-capacity flash.

    Toshiba has supplied Apple with memory for the iPhone and iPod touch as well as other competing device makers.

  • NEC Develops 3D Chip-stacked Memory for SoCs Hardware


    NEC Corporation has announced the development of chip-stacked flexible memory, which can be used to achieve a new system-on-chip (SoC) architecture.

    The new SoC’s architecture consists of separate logic (excluding embedded memory cores) and memory chips (chip-stacked flexible memory) that are closely stacked by using a three-dimensional packaging technology.

    NEC developed both a reconfigurable-memory technology that enables the memory chip to change its configuration flexibly, in addition to a memory-data transmission technology that reduces chip-area and latency caused by memory reconfiguration mechanisms.

    The memories of conventional SoCs are categorized into two types; embedded memory, such as embedded SRAM or embedded DRAM, which is integrated with logic circuits in an SoC chip; and the second type, general-purpose memory, such as DRAM or Flash memory, which is placed outside of an SoC chip.

    The chip-stacked flexible memory developed by NEC is a third kind of memory that features both fast access in the embedded memory and large memory size in the general-purpose memory.

    It also enables dynamic memory allocation during LSI operation that is effective in SoC’s multiple functional IP-cores (functional blocks), which reduces SoCs’ design and fabrication costs.

    NEC is targeting large-scale SoC or high-performance tiled core designs, such as those found in Terascale and even GPU-like designs.

  • Scott Cleland to Lead Worldwide Marketing Efforts for Adaptec-branded Products


    Adaptec has appointed Scott Cleland as its director of marketing.

    With nearly 25 years of storage experience and nearly 10 years of senior-level marketing experience, Cleland will lead Adaptec’s global marketing activities for the company’s Adaptec-branded products.

    Prior to joining Adaptec, Cleland served as the director of worldwide marketing for AMCC’s storage division, 3ware.

    At 3ware, he was responsible for coordinating and leading comprehensive global inbound/outbound product marketing and channel marketing efforts.

    He served as the primary product and technology evangelist to customers, industry press and analysts.

    Cleland was a key contributor in 3ware achieving the number one serial storage channel vendor status for two consecutive years.

    Before joining AMCC, Cleland was director of product marketing and technical marketing for IBM’s Mylex storage division, and previously held marketing positions at Archive, Exabyte, BusLogic, and Conner Peripherals.

    Vipul Mehta, vice president of marketing for Adaptec, said extensive storage industry experience and a strong track record of conceiving and executing successful marketing programs made Cleland an ideal candidate to lead global marketing efforts for Adaptec.

    "As Adaptec continues to provide high-performance, innovative solutions to leading channel partners, OEMs, system builders and IT integrators, his industry knowledge and proven leadership will be instrumental in Adaptec’s ongoing success," he said.

  • Overland Storage Launches Tape Libraries With Embedded Functionality


    Overland Storage has announced the availability of the first models in its next-generation NEO SERIES line of scalable, automated tape libraries.

    The NEO E-Series libraries, which provide embedded functionality, are geared at meeting a wide range of demanding data protection and long-term archive requirements.

    According to Overland, the new NEO E-Series enables embedded SCSI, FC and SAS connectivity, easing installations while ensuring connectivity with future interface technologies. Other embedded capabilities include:

    • Improved performance and feature support with enhanced processing power,
    • Further investment protection via Integrated partitioning,
    • More efficient data access due to improved mailslot functionality,
    • Ease of management via remote diagnostics with proactive monitoring,
    • Superior reliability and serviceability through the use of enhanced robotics, more efficient power supply and innovative library/drive interface.

    The new NEO E-Series has been designed t integrate easily with Overland’s REO SERIES of disk-based backup and recovery VTLs, Snap Server NAS appliances, ULTAMUS RAID SAN storage as well as other disk-based products.

    Ravi Pendekanti, VP of worldwide sales and marketing for Overland Storage, said the latest enhancements to the NEO tape family provided mid-range customers with affordable, scalable end-to-end data protection solutions.

    "Over the past decade, the NEO tape libraries have proven themselves as important assets in our customers’ end-to-end data protection and archiving strategies," he said.

    "Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to add new features and functionality while leveraging NEO’s highly regarded and trusted tape technology and proven product architecture."

    The NEO E-Series adds support for LTO HH tape drive technologies and direct-connect interfaces, which Overland said lowers initial expenditures and enables customers to add new capabilities over time while protecting their investments in tape-based backup and recovery.

    Overland’s NEO 2000E scales from 30 to 240 cartridges per module while the NEO 4000E scales from 60 to 240 cartridges.

    NEO2000E and 4000E can be scaled with each other in an almost limitless combination, providing a variety of capacity points to meet end user needs.

    Both tape library models are available now from Overland’s channel partners worldwide with a starting MSRP of USD $12,333.

    Robert Amatruda, research director at IDC for tape and removable storage, said the mid-range tape automation market is expected to exceed USD $1 billion in annual sales, with more than 100,000 units shipped in 2008.

    "The majority of companies still depend on tape for long-term archive and disaster recovery," he said.

    "Overland’s new NEO E-Series, with its increased functionality, should integrate well with a company’s existing disk-based solutions, and help companies meet recovery time and recovery point objectives (RTO/RPO) in both SAN and NAS environments."

  • Growth of Mobile Content and Services Sector Threatened


    The UK’s mobile content and services market could be in for tough times if research from mobile research and analyst house Direct2 Mobile bears out.

    Its survey found that over 7 per cent of consumers have stopped, or intend to stop, their spend on content and services until better economic conditions emerge.

    D2M said that figure represents 3.96 million users – or almost 50 per cent of the existing mobile content and service user base.

    Nearly a fifth of respondents (17.8 per cent of men / 16.3 per cent of women) – or around 10 million users – said they will not subscribe to mobile content and service subscriptions, such as mobile Internet access, mobile TV and mobile music services, until the economic environment changes.

    Nick Lane, chief researcher at D2M, said the glass is half full for the mobile operators and half empty for the mobile content and service industry.

    "As almost half the advanced data users are reverting to talk-and-text only usage, the mobile entertainment companies should remain vigilant for the foreseeable future," he said.

    "And with 20 per cent of the UK’s mobile population unlikely to subscribe to mobile data subscription services during the recession, it threatens to seriously impact on growth in the mobile content and services sector."

    The UK mobile entertainment market was worth approximately UKP£505.8 million in 2008, according to D2M.

    The survey, conducted by Lightspeed Research, asked a representative sample of 1,000 UK consumers about their changing spending attitudes and habits on mobile.