Business News Holding

Tag: software

  • Dell's Smartphone Preparations Gain Pace


    Dell’s plans for entering the smartphone market have gained some more meat.

    The world’s second largest PC brand is working with two companies to develop software and hardware for new mobile devices.

    Accel’s Jim Breyer join Dell’s board

    Chi Mei Communications – an unlisted unit of Taiwan’s Hon Hai – is involved with the hardware, while China-based Red Office is engineering the operating system, according to Reuters.

    The outcome is expected to be the launch of multiple smartphones in the Chinese market before the end of the year.

    If all goes well, the US and Europe would then get the PC maker’s devices.

    Dell’s move into the smartphone market – and China, where China Mobile is seen as the favored operator – could be part of the reason why it has appointed Jim Breyer, of Venture firm Accel Partners, to its board.

    Already on ten boards, including Facebook, Etsy, Wal-Mart and Marvel, his company launched a USD $250 million fund in China in 2005.

    Breyer’s experience of finding the right partners and market could be important to Dell as it prepares new devices.

  • Back Office Software is "Bottleneck" Preventing Telecom Service Providers From Competing


    Telecom service providers are competing in saturated markets and many are experiencing flat or declining margins in the economic downturn.

    That’s the opinion of Jim Messer, CEO of Transverse, who said legacy back office software is often what keeps them from being agile in the marketplace.

    He was speaking after Transverse was named in the "Cool Vendors in Telecom Operations Management (TOM) 2009" report by Gartner.

    In the report Transverse is identified by Gartner as one of four TOM vendors worldwide who they consider to be at the cutting edge of telecom business support systems and operations support systems.

    The report features an analysis of the company and its Business Support Solutions (BSS) solution blee(p).

    It introduces a new way to deploy and manage back office functions and is aimed at helping service providers reduce the financial risks associated with rolling out new business models by aligning back office infrastructure with business goals.

    Messer said a technology refresh of legacy, back-office systems was long overdue for many service providers.

    He said Transverse’s state-of-the-art open source approach made it easier and more cost effective for service providers to take advantage of new business models.

    "We’re pleased that Gartner has identified Transverse as a Cool Vendor. We’re a company that can uniquely have an impact in addressing this industry-wide problem," he said.

  • Samsung Selects Streamezzo For Its Rich Internet Portal


    Steamezzo has announced that Samsung has selected its software products and professional services to develop, deploy and run its Rich Internet mobile portal.

    The French company’s Mobile Open Development Platform is already certified on hundreds of handsets and compatible with all mobile operating system.

    By using the paltform, Samsung hopes to encourage the usage of its mobile services as well as to accelerate their deployments on the largest range of devices.

    The Rich Internet application, natively embedded on multiple Samsung devices, allows subscribers to access to a large variety of free and premium services such as news, ringtones, music, video-on-demand, and games.

    Special announcements or latest news from Samsung are also directly accessible from this portal. The service offering is continuously extended and provisioned over the air, without requiring any software upgrade on the devices.

    Dr Anthony Park, director business development at Samsung Telecommunication Europe, said the technology opens up attractive business models that end users will really get excited about.

    "Mobile users want everything perfectly adjusted to the mobile device here and now," he said.

    "And that is precisely what Rich Internet applications are all about."

    The first releases of the Rich Internet Portal were in Russia, Germany and United Kingdom. Several other countries are planned to be rolled-out in the coming months.

  • Broadcast International and Fixstars Develop Software-based H.264 Real-time Encoder


    A PC-based H.264 software encoder that offers advanced encoding solutions has been developed by Broadcast International and Fixstars Corporation.

    The CodecSys CE-100/200 has been designed to improve the productivity of IPTV content creation in areas like Blu-ray disk authoring, digitization of video archives and large scale surveillance camera networks.

    Rod Tiede, president and CEO of Broadcast International, said the availability of the CE-100/200 is significant because it fills a "huge void" in terms of solving the global bandwidth crisis.

    "We’ve seen over and over that the biggest technology problem the world will face in the coming years with regards to video content is video compression and making more bandwidth available to accommodate the popularity and demand for more online video," he said.

    CodecSys CE-100/200 is comprised of Broadcast International’s ultra-high speed video compression software running on IBM’s BladeCenter QS21 server, powered by the Cell/B.E. processor.

    It was originally developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba to provide the computing power for cutting-edge gaming applications.

    Tiede said the the Cell/B.E. processor on the QS21 helps CodecSys AVC set a new standard for H.264 encoders.

    He said it gave the broadcast industry the ability to handle a high volume of premium quality video and a large number of video channels.

    The CE-100/200 is available immediately.

  • Three Quarters Of Organisations To Increase Cloud Computing Security


    A survey by Infosecurity Europe of 470 organisations has found that 75 per cent intend to reallocate or increase budgets to secure cloud computing and software as a service within the next 12 months.

    However, interviews conducted with a panel of 20 chief information Security Officers (CISOs) of large enterprises also found concerns about availability and security aspects of software services in the cloud.

    They were especially concerned about the lack of standards for working in the cloud, SAAS and secure internet access, all of them said that they would welcome the development of guidelines in this area.

    Tamar Beck, group event director of Infosecurity Europe, said cloud computing and SAAS have a pivotal role to play in today’s evolving environment.

    CIOs are being challenged to add value to the business and CISOs required to ensure that new services are reliable and secure.

  • LG Broadband HDTVs To Stream Netflix Movies


    LG Electronics has announced the first broadband-enabled HDTVs with Netflix streaming software embedded directly in the set.

    The new LCD and plasma “broadband HDTVs” will be able to show Netflix’s library of movies, TV episodes and HD content directly on the set without needing an external device.

    The HDTVs will join the Korean companies LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, the first high-def format player to stream movies instantly from Netflix.

    LG is also preparing five new models of Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems for 2009.

    Netflix members pay from USD $8.99 per month for unlimited instant streaming and unlimited DVDs from a catalog of more than 100,000 DVD titles in more than 200 genres.

    LG Electronics and Netflix will demonstrate the broadband HDTVs this week at the CES in Las Vegas.

  • Vyke Launches Mobile VoIP For Blackberry


    Vyke has released a beta version of its Mobile VoIP software and service for Blackberry devices using RIM software.

    The addition of the Blackberry software now means Vyke’s VoIP solution is available on the three most used mobile operating systems in the enterprise market – Symbian, Windows Mobile and RIM.

    Vyke says its Blackberry solution is unique as it uses a variation of VoIP which enables users to make VoIP calls over the Vyke network at any time their phone has GSM coverage, not only when the phone is in range of Wi-Fi or 3G mobile data coverage.

    The software supports most Blackberry devices dating back as far as 2003.

  • IBM Buys Transitive To Cut Customer Costs


    IBM is to to buy Transitive in an acquisition intended to help its customers cut costs.

    Once the deal is completed, IBM is expected to move the virtualization software company’s California personnel to one of IBM’s local sites.

    Research and development staff located in Manchester, UK, will remain at their current facilities.

    IBM has been using Transitive’s technology in its IBM PowerVMTM software, which consolidates customers’ Linux workloads onto IBM systems, since January .

    Transitive has sold more than 10 million copies of its cross-platform virtualization technology and has 48 patents.

    Its product, QuickTransit, allows software applications that have been compiled for one operating system run on systems with different processors or operating systems without modifications.

    Transitive’s technology is based on research developed at Manchester University in 1992. The company was founded five years later by Alasdair Rawsthorne, a computer-science lecturer, and a team of his graduate students to bring QuickTransit to market.

    In 2005 the company signed Apple as its first major customer.

    Apple and Silicon Graphics, along with IBM, are Transitive’s OEM customers. The company has been providing QuickTransit technology to run Apple’s Rosetta translation software and the product is shipped on all of Apple’s Intel-based computers.

    No price has been released for the purchase.

  • Security Boost to TiVi Phone Mobile VoIP Software


    Tilts Visiem (TiVi) says it will be offering an “unbreakable” level of caller authentication and voice and video encryption in its mobile VoIP software client "TiVi Phone" after linking up with Philip R Zimmermann’s Zfone Project.

    The newer versions of TiVi Phone have a Phil Zimmermann’s ZRTP software library built in upon a commercial licence agreement between Tilts Visiem and Zfone.

    TiVi said this meant users enjoyed better privacy when using the mobile version of the software.

    The SIP-based application is downloadable from TiVi.com and usable in a 3-day trial mode, however permanent activation of the encryption feature requires purchasing a software key.

    Ivo Kutts, CEO and co-founder of Tilts Visiem, said TiVi Phone bundled with ZRTP was unique for several reasons.

    • it’s inexpensive in comparison to all known alternatives and older technologies
    • it’s easy to install and run by any smartphone owner
    • it’s one of the first encrypting VoIP applications for mobile phones.

    Kutts said that, in addition, ZRTP cryptography offered the ultimate protection against eavesdropping and identity spoofing during a VoIP call.

    "Zfone is the leading light in today’s secure VoIP communications because its algorithms and source code – developed by Phil Zimmermann and his colleagues – are publicly available and open to peer review,” he said. “This contrasts with the unverifiable security claims by Skype."

    Tilts Visiem’s VoIP/messenger products first appeared on the international market in 2003 in the PC version.

    In 2006, the company added mobile VoIP clients for Symbian, Windows Mobile and Pocket PC platforms, already including free, IP-based video calling.

    The TiVi VoIP solutions, intended for next-generation networks, are sold to integrators and competitive carriers in Europe, Asia and North America.

    The ZRTP protocol has some cryptographic features lacking in many other approaches to VoIP encryption.

    Although it uses a public key algorithm, it avoids the complexity of a public key infrastructure (PKI).

    It uses ephemeral Diffie-Hellman, and allows the detection of man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks by displaying a short authentication string for the users to verbally compare over the phone.

    The TiVi team had been looking for an industry-leading cryptography solution for several years before it met PGP’s author Zimmermann at San Jose’s VON 2007 event.

    Specialists in proprietary and interoperable VoIP billing solutions and end-user software, they said they were particularly aware of the imminent switchover to internet telephony and the proportionally growing demand for secure VoIP communications.

    This meant that more and more businesses and individuals realise the need to protect their legitimate interests and privacy, since unencrypted voice or video calls transmitted over the public internet can be intercepted by a variety of third parties.

    Phil Zimmerman said that as users transitioned from traditional phones to VoIP, there was a dramatically increased risk of being wiretapped by just about anyone, including criminals who seem to have their way with the rest of the Internet today.

    “TiVi Phone can protect individuals, companies, and government officials from eavesdropping by criminals,” he said.

  • Symbian Foundation support continues to grow


    A further nine companies have thrown their weight behind the planned Symbian Foundation.

    Last week Nokia announced it had reached an agreement with Samsung to buy the remaining share in Symbian, clearing the way for the completion of the plans outlined in June.

    The new companies are Acrodea, Brycen, HI Corporation, Ixonos, KTF, Opera Software, Sharp, TapRoot Systems and UIQ.

    As well as comprising some well known Symbian names, the newcomers represent device manufacturers (in the form of Sharp and KTF) and a strong showing of software engineering and middleware companies.

    Since June, 40 companies have confirmed commitment to the initiative, including the ten initial board members: AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung Electronics, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.

    Mats Lindoff, Sony Ericsson’s chief technology officer, said: “We are happy to see that so many developers and partners in the industry have expressed their support for the plans for the Symbian Foundation, as this will help drive the next level of innovation needed to deliver new user experiences on mobile phones."

    Bob Bicksler, CEO of TapRoot Systems, said: “We’re excited about the plans for the Symbian Foundation and believe it will increase the proliferation of innovative products and services to mobile consumers.”