Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • Akamai Brings HDTV-Like Experience Online

    Akamai Technologies has launched the Akamai HD Network, its next generation video delivery offering and the first platform to deliver HD video online to viewers using Adobe Flash technology, Microsoft Silverlight, and to the iPhone, at broadcast-level audience scale.

    The new HD Network combines Akamai’s patented HD EdgePlatform, adaptive bitrate streaming and DVR technology. It supports live and on-demand HD streaming.

    It was designed as one, comprehensive HD network reaching multiple playback environments and devices (including Flash, Silverlight, and the iPhone) especially for large-scale broadcasters and film distributors.

    According to the press release, the network leverages the following functionalities:

    • Adaptive Bitrate Streaming – a streaming process that is designed to enable uninterrupted playback at HD bitrates that seamlessly adjusts to fluctuations in available bandwidth
    • Instant Response – Immediate response to viewer interactions with the video player, including sub-second time-shifting (such as pause, rewind, seek and play commands) video startup times, and seamless stream switching
    • HD Video Player – Open, standards-based video player for faster time to market
    • HD Player Authentication – Authenticates player for all three environments ensuring only authorized players access content

    What makes this new HD network unique is that it delivers video from HTTP servers located closest to end users (over 50,000 in 900 networks in 70 countries) minimizing packet loss and maximizing streaming.

    “We’re entering a different online world, where many content owners and publishers need to deliver HD-quality video to a much wider online audience, with a higher level of interactivity for consumers. Delivering ‘web-quality’ content to ‘web-sized’ audiences is one thing, but delivering HD-quality content to broadcast-scale audiences is another," said Paul Sagan, President and CEO of Akamai.

    The firm says, two key trends have made it necessary to now evolve how streaming media is delivered on the internet. First, online audiences have grown to broadcast scale. Second, those viewers are demanding higher quality content. Studies show that when higher quality video content is offered, viewer engagement time increases. According to Jupiter Research, 60% of regular online video users are less likely to return to a site for video content if the viewing experience is poor.

    Supporting this level of traffic requires a global network that can manage millions of simultaneous users streaming very high bitrate content, they claims.

    "We are excited to see Akamai’s commitment to HTTP adaptive streaming as the future of online video delivery, as we have worked closely over the past year to build a robust end-to-end media delivery platform with IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight," said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp.

    "Together, we’ve proven that these true HD experiences can dramatically increase online viewing times for broadcasters,” he added

  • Dataram Unveils XcelaSAN Storage Optimization Appliance

    Dataram has introduced the XcelaSAN storage optimization appliance, as the company claims – the industry’s first solution to seamlessly deliver up to 30x performance improvement to existing applications.

    The XcelaSAN storage optimization appliance augments existing storage systems by transparently applying caching algorithms that serve the most active block-level data from high speed solid state storage, creating an intelligent, virtual solid state SAN.

    According to Dataram, by accessing under-utilized disk capacity and optimizing data performance of existing storage systems, XcelaSAN eliminates the need for additional hardware to increase application performance – providing investment protection by extending the life of the existing infrastructure and lowering the overall cost of storage ownership for organizations.

    In addition, as the customer’s storage infrastructure changes or consolidates, those new components will automatically benefit from the XcelaSAN storage optimization technology, the company says.

    “The XcelaSAN is an innovative solution which enables mid-sized organizations to seamlessly increase the performance of their existing business-critical applications within an hour of installation. These gains come without making changes to the customer’s existing storage systems, servers or applications," said John Freeman, Dataram’s President and CEO.

    XcelaSAN connects to a storage network using eight 4Gb/s Fibre Channel ports and can connect to the storage switch fabric or directly to back-end storage. It transparently installs in about an hour with no new host software required. The system is managed through a web-based browser for user-friendly operation.

    "It is now well understood that the benefit of a solid state infrastructure for compute-intensive environments is higher application performance with less equipment and lower operational costs," stated Jason Caulkins, Dataram Chief Technologist.

    "The question is no longer ‘How can I benefit from solid state storage?’ but ‘How do I best implement solid state in my existing infrastructure?”

    The XcelaSAN begins shipping during Q4 in the United States and in 1H 2010 throughout Europe and Asia. Pricing starts at $65,000.

  • Panasonic Develops 50-inch Full HD 3D PDP

    Aiming to bring Full HD 3D TVs to the market in 2010, Panasonic steps up its efforts in developing the related technology. The company has just developed a 50-inch Full HD 3D compatible plasma display panel (PDP) and high-precision active shutter glasses that enable the viewing of theater-quality, true-to-life 3D images in the living rooms.

    The new PDP and glasses evolved from Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theater System that was developed in 2008 and comprised of a 103-inch PDP and a Blu-ray Disc player. The prototype PDP has a 50-inch screen, which is expected to become the most popular size for home theaters.

    This 50-inch PDP uses Panasonic’s newly-developed high-speed 3D drive technology that enables rapid illumination of pixels while maintaining brightness. The panel also incorporates a crosstalk reduction technology allowing for minimizing double-image (ghosting) that occurs when left- and right-eye images are alternately displayed.

    As PDPs are self-illuminating device with full motion-picture resolution, they offer fast response time and are suitable to display fast-moving images. The high-speed 3D drive technology involves the development of new panel materials and LSIs that accelerate the pixel illumination while maintaining brightness.

    Panasonic also developed the crosstalk reduction technology using phosphors with short luminescence decay time and illumination control technology to reduce double-images that occur when left- and right-eye image are alternated on the panel. This technology contributes to achieving high-quality clear pictures with high-contrast and accurate color reproduction. As the new technologies can also be applied to improve the quality of 2D images, they have expanded PDP’s potentials for further evolution.

    To reproduce 3D images, Panasonic uses the Full HD x 2 frame sequential method that displays time sequential images, alternately reproducing discrete 1920 x 1080 pixel images for the left and right eyes on the display frame by frame. The frame sequential method is widely used in showing Hollywood 3D movies in theaters.

    The active shutter glasses employ Panasonic’s technology that controls the timing of opening and closing the shutter in synchronization with the left- and right-eye images alternately shown on the PDP. According to the company, this technology enables significant reduction of crosstalk that degrades the image resolution in 3D display. The glasses are designed to fit for a wide range of users from children to the elderly.

    Panasonic has been working to develop its original Full HD 3D technology to create synergy between PDPs, which excel in moving picture resolution and color reproduction, and Blu-ray Disc players, which are able to faithfully reproduce high quality Hollywood 3D movies.

    The company continues to work on developing 3D products, targeting to launch the products in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. in 2010.

    Prototype Full HD 3D TV and glasses will be displayed at CEATEC JAPAN 2009 to be held from October 6 to 10 in Chiba City, east of Tokyo.

  • NETXUSA Expands Provisioning Capabilities of BroadSoft Service Providers


    NETXUSA    , a VoIP distributor and a BroadSoft partner, releases version 4.0 of their Provisioning & Professional Services (PPS) software.

    The company says this “major release” provides the solutions to manage a greater number of device types and options for deployment.

    Version 4.0 makes this possible by including a new configuration management system, which allows customers to manage an unlimited number of device configurations and device options for all customer-premises equipment (CPE).

    Through this solution, BroadWorks-powered service providers can make more product options available to their customer base, thus lowering cost of installations and reducing turn up times, NETXUSA claims.

    Unlimited network CPE support for configuration has been added with NETXUSA’s in-house proprietary software. Certified-CPE include routers, switches, IADs, gateways, ATAs, wireless and IP phones.

    Through BroadWorks Device Management, BroadSoft is believed to solve one of the most complex and time-consuming phases of delivering VoIP services – provisioning and configuring end devices. BroadWorks Device Management enables service providers to pre-configure end-user access devices at the customer site.

    A simple login process is used to retrieve the appropriate user-specific files directly from BroadWorks, and then providers manage and control all aspects of device configuration centrally in the network.

    According to Rick Boone, president of NETXUSA, this release as a “major milestone simplifying the service delivery for the BroadSoft channel.”

    “As a recognized BroadSoft partner we have kept the BroadWorks–powered service provider in mind with our seamless support for BroadWorks Device Management and our continued development to further integrate our solutions for a plug-n-play experience,” he said.

    David Bukovsky, vice president of products, BroadSoft, stated that the new features and back-office applications make Version 4.0 an attractive reseller recruitment tool for the BroadWorks-powered provider.

  • IFA 2009: The Clarity of Sound by Harman

    Biz-News.com interviewed Jurjen Amsterdam, Category Manager for Home Electronics for Harman International. He introduced to us Harman International and the brands under the umbrella of the company, a company that aims improve the listening experience of homes around the world.

    Jurjen gave us a live demonstration on Harman-Kardon’s newest product; the AVR 760 High Quality AV Receiver. The system supports various Dolby formats such as the innovative Dolby Volume technology which automatically adjusts volume levels when you switch between sources and channels.

    He also gave us insights into their new website – to be launched soon – where users can investigate in detail the company’s products.

    IFA 2009 has turned out to be a great event for the company whose stand this year was located at the Berlin Radio Tower – one of Berlins’ protected monuments.

  • Motorola Introduces MOTOBLUR – the New Vision of Android Phones

    We have saved the date for long-expected Motorola’s big event, but instead of rumored two phones – Sholes and Morrison – the company introduced just one handset – CLIQ and the new custom Android UI – the MOTOBLUR.

    “Your entire social life now in a single streem!” – announced Motorola at GigaOM’s Mobilize ‘09 conference, unveiling the company’s first Android phone, “the first phone with social skills”. But all that buzz was not much about the new device, it was more about the new innovative interface solution.

    Developed by Motorola, MOTOBLUR is a solution that manages and integrates communications: it syncs contacts, posts, messages, photos, etc. – from sources such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, e-mail – and automatically delivers it to live widgets on the home screen. There is no need to open and close different applications or menus.

    According to the company, MOTOBLUR is also easy to set up and secure – all contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages are backed up on the MOTOBLUR secure server. Lost or stolen phones can be found with integrated A-GPS from the online owner’s portal, and data can even be wiped clean.

    “With MOTOBLUR we are differentiating the Android experience for consumers by delivering a unique mobile device experience designed around the way people interact today,” said Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola.

    “MOTOBLUR helps us to create phones that are instinctive, social and smart,” he added.

    This new solution will be available first on Motorola’s new device, called Motorola CLIQ in the U.S. and Motorola DEXT elsewhere around the globe.

    In the U.S., CLIQ will be available exclusively to T-Mobile customers later this fall in two colors — Titanium and Winter White.

    DEXT will be available with Orange in the United Kingdom and France, Telefonica in Spain and America Movil in Latin America.

    The first Motorolas’s 3G Android-powered device features include a 3.1-inch HVGA touch-screen display, a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with video capture and playback at 24 frames per second, a 3.5mm headset jack, a music player with pre-loaded Amazon MP3 store application, Shazam, iMeem Mobile, and a pre-installed 2GB microSD memory card.

    This QWERTY slider comes with thousands of applications and widgets from MOTOBLUR, Android Market or pre-loaded Google mobile services, Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, YouTube and Picasa.

  • T-Mobile and Orange Merge to Create the UK's Largest Mobile Carrier

    Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom are planning to merge T-Mobile UK and Orange UK. The companies have entered into exclusive negotiations to combine T-Mobile and Orange in a new 50:50 joint venture company.

    If the negotiations are successfully accomplished (the deal is expected to be completed by the end of October), the new joint venture will create the UK’s leading mobile operator. It will have a combined mobile customer base of around 28 million, representing approximately 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers.

    The companies assure that this combination will result in expanded network coverage and better customer proximity through a larger network of own shops.

    Obviously, the other aim of the new enlarged business is to compete more effectively with the other two large UK operators – O2 and Vodafone.

    “By combining our operations in the UK, we anticipate the long-awaited consolidation in one of Europe’s most competitive markets. This will reinforce fair competition and will provide strong benefits for our customers through improved coverage, quality of service and an enhanced capacity to develop new services and technologies,” said Gervais Pellissier, CFO of France Telecom.

    “Our shareholders will benefit from higher profitability and an immediate cash flow per share accretion without impacting the overall indebtedness of the parent companies.”

    The business will have pro forma 2008 revenues of approximately £7.7 billion. The merger and integration of the operators should generate estimated synergies with a net present value in excess of £3.5 billion, as the companies claim.

    Estimated opex-based synergies should reach an annual run rate of over £445 million from 2014 onwards.

    The operators predict that the key areas for the opex synergies of the joint venture will be network & IT – large-scale site rationalisation leading to savings notably in site rental expenses, network operations and maintenance expenses – and distribution and marketing – higher proportion of sales through own shops, resulting in lower distribution costs and savings in marketing costs primarily post roll-out of a new branding strategy.

    “We will become market leader,” stated Timotheus Höttges, CFO of Deutsche Telekom.

    “Our customers will benefit in many ways, for example from the best mobile broadband offer in Britain. In the second-biggest market in Europe, which is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most competitive, we are giving T-Mobile UK a clear and strong future.”

    The joint venture expects to invest £600 to £800 million in integration costs over the period from 2010 to 2014. Those costs would primarily relate to the decommissioning of mobile sites, the rationalisation of the network of retail stores and the streamlining of operations.

    The Board of the new joint venture company will have balanced representation from both firms. The management team would be led by Tom Alexander, currently CEO of Orange UK, as CEO and Richard Moat, currently CEO of TMobile UK, as COO.

    The T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months after completion of the transaction.

  • Skype for Asterisk Now Available


    Digium, the Asterisk Company, and Skype announced the general availability of Skype for Asterisk.

    Skype for Asterisk is an add-on channel driver for Asterisk-based PBX systems. The software is compatible with the free and open source Asterisk versions 1.4, 1.6 and AsteriskNOW, as well as the commercially licensed Asterisk Business Edition.

    It enables multiple concurrent Skype calls from a single Skype account, and supports both G.711 and G.729a calling.

    According to Digium, with the new software, customers can:

    • Manage business Skype accounts with the Business Control Panel
    • Get low Skype global rates on outbound calls (as low as 2.1US¢ per minute)
    • Receive inbound calls to online numbers
    • Route calls according to Skype profile fields, online status and privacy settings
    • Streamline customer contact by allowing Web site visitors to place free Skype calls directly to their business with global click-to-call buttons

    The companies promote the software as a solution for connecting Asterisk-based business phone systems to Skype.

    “We created Skype accounts such as Digium Sales and Digium Support—a convention I suspect many companies will quickly adopt. Now, our customers all over the world can call us for free using Skype and our Asterisk PBX processes the inbound call just like it would a normal call,” said Danny Windham, CEO of Digium.

    “Skype for Asterisk allows businesses to access the 400 million community of people communicating over the Internet, natively encrypts all voice calls and lets companies manage their Skype user accounts via Skype’s Web-based Business Control Panel,” the company says.

    Businesses already using an Asterisk-based phone system can add Skype as another complementary form of communications by downloading Skype for Asterisk, without additional costly hardware.

    Skype for Asterisk is available to download for $66 per concurrent call. It comes with 90 days of installation support from the time of purchase.

  • IFA 2009: Philips Launches Wireless HDTV Link


    Today at IFA 2009, Philips presented Wireless HDTV Link that allows to connect TV to set top box and AV components without any cable.

    Wireless HDTV Link transmits 1080p/30 HD signal up to 20 meters, making it possible e.g. to stream devices like a Blu-ray player to a TV from the other side of the room.

    The device has two digital HDMI connections and two component connections, allowing switching between devices (TVs, DVDs, games consoles) without having to change cables and plugs in between uses.

    Philips admitted that there are products already available that can wirelessly replace cables but, as they claim, their Wireless HDTV Link is the only that doesn’t deteriorate the picture quality “allowing you to enjoy the same high standard of picture quality without wires.”

    HDTV Link allows connecting all major brand (CEC) HDTVs with audio and video. Compliance to the HDMI CEC standard will allow devices to seamlessly work together.

    The receiver has also been specially designed to fit behind standard TV wall mounts so that it is out of sight and won’t ruin the aesthetics of the room.

    It looks as if there was some more room for a device like that on the market, after Belkin has said in July this year it will not be releasing its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory because of the current state of the economy.

    We can understand the move of Philips even in the time of a crisis, as its Wireless HDTV will cost €599.99, while the Belkin’s device had an expecteds retail price of USD $1,499.

  • DataCore Now Supports Fibre Channel over Ethernet

    DataCore announced support for native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity for its its SANmelody and SANsymphony storage virtualisation solutions.

    The company has added the Emulex and Brocade FCoE converged network adapters (CNAs) and Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches to its FCoE-qualified support list.

    FCoE software drivers are currently available for Microsoft Windows and VMware ESX/vSphere.

    FCoE is a new way of using Ethernet in data centres. It is primarily used to consolidate back-end cables in a data centre – enabling network administrators to use the Ethernet infrastructure for FC and IP protocols. What is needed to make it work is a converged network adapter (CNA), which serves as an FCoE card, along with a network switch.

    According to DataCore, their customers can now transition to an FCoE infrastructure while still supporting existing Fibre Channel investments.

    Customers can run both FCoE and IP traffic through the same port and on the same wire, eliminating the need and expense for separate SAN and LAN adapters and cables.

    The ability to run FC protocol over existing Ethernet cabling is significant for network administration, the company claims. It means that administrators do not need to have a separate network for running Fibre Channel protocol.

    Augie Gonzalez, director of product marketing in DataCore stated that their customers can take advantage of FCoE in their “highly scalable, non-stop storage pools without having to replace or modify their existing back-end storage, which may well include DAS, iSCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces.”