Archive for the 'High Tech & Media' Category

With $50M raised, Nicira disrupts Cisco and Juniper Networks with network virtualization

Published on February 6, 2012 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: .

Network virtualization start-up Nicira is coming out of stealth mode today and it has an impressive set of customers who evidently believe that it can disrupt the likes of Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. The idea is to become a company that can offload data networking demand as needed in the age of cloud computing. If it lives up to its billing, as some of its customers say it does, it can save tens of million of dollars in spending on data centers and network infrastructure.

It’s a new version of virtualization, but one for the whole network. With virtualizaiton software like VMware, a single computer can use translation software to behave as if it were dozens of different computers at once. Each “virtual machine” is a compartment within the computer that serves a particular user. But that user isn’t using the computer, the computer can be rededicated to serve other users. It’s a more efficient way to use computers and serve users. The virtual machines can be created as needed to serve the demands of users within minutes.

Nicira’s network virtualization works in the same way, but serving the owners of huge networks instead. Service providers like AT&T often have to add new network capacity when they are overloaded. Nicira steps in as a kind of middleman, providing the network capacity as needed in an on-demand fashion. This gives networks a lot more flexibility [Source].

A New Net

Published on February 6, 2012 in High Tech & Media and Real-Time Web. 0 Comments Tags: .

A startup called Nicira is launching a product today with the audacious goal of making all Internet services smarter, faster, and cheaper. With his startup, Nicira, Martìn Casado intends to make Internet services slicker by rewriting some of the rules of computer networking.

The crux of that supposedly unworkable idea was to take away the stubborn independence of the network hardware. All those routers and switches would take orders from one central piece of software; a single command could then reconfigure every piece of a network.

Casado’s PhD thesis showed that it was possible. By writing software that could reprogram routers and switches, he was able to turn computer networks into the secure channels that he had been asked for back in 2003. A different intelligence agency put up the money for further trials of the technology, and in 2007 Casado, McKeown, and Berkeley professor Scott Shenker founded Nicira. Rich entrepreneurs and two of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital funds soon put in money of their own [Source].

Technology 2012: Virgin territory

Published on December 5, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In some parts of the new digital world, it is obvious who is in charge. Google rules in search; Facebook in social networking; Amazon in retail. These territories are still being fought over: Microsoft’s Bing is attacking Google in search, Google is attacking Facebook in social, and so forth. But these are all large, relatively mature fields.

During 2012 the more interesting battles will be those taking place on the smaller, lesser-known territories on the fringes of the technology world, in areas such as mobile payments, location and augmented reality.

They may seem marginal fields now, but it is worth remembering that social networking went from obscurity a decade ago to being used by hundreds of millions of people today, accounting for more time online than any other activity, according to a survey of American internet users by Nielsen, a market-research firm. Like search, social and online retail, these promising new territories have the potential to transform people’s lives, but have yet to be conquered [Source].

The Personal Computer Is Dead

Published on November 30, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Power is fast shifting from end users and software developers to operating system vendors.

The PC is dead. Rising numbers of mobile, lightweight, cloud-centric devices don’t merely represent a change in form factor. Rather, we’re seeing an unprecedented shift of power from end users and software developers on the one hand, to operating system vendors on the other—and even those who keep their PCs are being swept along. This is a little for the better, and much for the worse [Source].

The transformation is one from product to service. The platforms we used to purchase every few years—like operating systems—have become ongoing relationships with vendors, both for end users and software developers. Jonathan Zittrain wrote about this impending shift, driven by a desire for better security and more convenience, in my 2008 book The Future of the Internet—and How to Stop It.

What Is Sony Now?

Published on November 18, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

At 69, Sir Howard Stringer’s time as CEO of the unwieldy electronics giant is running out. Can he and heir apparent Kazuo Hirai turn it around?

Sony has been trying to adapt to the Internet Age for at least a decade, yet remains a gargantuan and unwieldy manufacturer, with 168,200 employees, 41 factories, and more than 2,000 products from headphones to medical printers to Hollywood-grade 3D movie production equipment [Source].

Consumers should expect to hear more about Sony Entertainment Network, the company’s most ambitious effort yet to connect all of its devices with all of its content. In addition to movies and music delivered through the disaggregated magic of the cloud, Hirai, who’s overseeing the project, is pushing his team to create additional services and exclusive content. That could include everything from Sony-produced TV shows to extended scenes from movies such as The Amazing Spider-Man and Arthur Christmas.

“The plan is to bring everything under the Sony Entertainment Network umbrella,”

Hirai says, including the PlayStation Network and its 45 million unique users. He adds that only now has hardware become powerful enough to deliver Sony content across all four screens of TVs, smartphones, tablets, and computers [Source].

Russian internet biggest in Europe; will earnings follow?

Published on November 14, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The moment Mail.ru and Yandex investors have been waiting for has arrived: Russia, at long last, has finally surpassed Germany to become the largest internet market in Europe.

According to comScore, the research firm, Russia had 50.8m internet users in September versus 50.1m users in Germany. And, luckily for those who bought into Russian internet stocks such as Mail.ru and Yandex at sky-high valuations, the market still has a lot of growth left.

With broadband penetration set to reach 60m people in Russia this year – a third of the population – there is still a large swath of the country where the internet revolution has yet to take hold [Source].

HTC’s Anti-Apple Strategy Wins U.S. Market

Published on November 10, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

HTC has become the top seller of smartphones in the U.S. with a strategy that’s precisely the opposite of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s. Where Apple is secretive, HTC is open. Where Apple is exclusive, HTC works with all carriers. Where Apple is proprietary, HTC is collaborative. Where Apple customizes for no one, HTC customizes for everyone. It’s the anti-Apple and, so far, it has worked.

By quickly incorporating the latest technologies and customizing phones for customers, Chou has forged ties to more than 100 wireless operators on six continents. The company has climbed to the No. 4 position in smartphones globally, behind Samsung, Apple and Nokia.

The question is whether HTC can stay on top. Chou has benefited as people trade in traditional phones, used primarily for voice calls and texting, for smartphones, which can download apps and surf the Web. Carriers scrambling to keep up with demand such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint turned to HTC for smartphones that use Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software during the almost four years AT&T had exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone [Source].

For Google, a New High in Deal-Making

Published on October 31, 2011 in High Tech & Media and Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

With 57 completed deals under its belt this year, Google has already smashed its 2010 record of 48 acquisitions — and it is only October.

According to a filing submitted on Wednesday, Google announced it had spent $1.4 billion in the first nine months of 2011 on acquisitions.

That tally includes its $151 million purchase of Zagat, the online restaurant reviews site, $114 million for Daily Deals and $676 million for ITA Software, the travel software company.

Beyond those three transactions, Google largely focused on completing smaller transactions of $10 million or less. The remainder of its deals, 54 in all, accounted for about [Source].

Related stories: Google Cranks Up M&A Machine; Inside Google’s M&A machine: 3 months, $145 million, 9 deals; Google M&A boss presides over record year.

Samsung’s new phones will have flexible screens

Published on October 30, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Samsung‘s new mobile device lineup will feature flexible screens starting in 2012, the company announced today.

In its quarterly earnings call, Samsung’s vice president of investor relations, Robert Yi, told investors, analysts and press, “The flexible display we are looking to introduce sometime in 2012, hopefully the earlier part. The application probably will start from the handset side.”

After flexible-screen mobile phones roll out, the company plans to introduce the same technology for tablets and other devices.

In January 2011, Samsung purchased Liquivista, a strategic acquisition that will allow it to produce the kinds of displays that were announced today. Liquivista made electrowetting display technology, which is used to create mobile and other consumer electronic displays that are bright, low-power, flexible and transparent [Source].

That was fast: Samsung topples Apple as top smartphone maker

Published on October 29, 2011 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Samsung has now become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, leaping past Apple, which held the title for just one quarter.

For Samsung, success not only came from Android, but also from Bada, its platform for inexpensive smartphones. In August, Bada appeared to be selling better than Windows Phone worldwide. Those numbers will only continue to rise for Samsung.

In July, we reported that Apple’s smartphone sales surpassed those of Nokia, the former leader, making it the No. 1 smartphone maker for several months. But Apple’s lead slipped due to the delayed launch of the iPhone 4S and the introduction of strong Samsung entries like the Galaxy S II.

Overall, global smartphone shipments grew 44 percent over last year to reach 117 million units. Samsung saw the biggest growth over the past year — it only shipped 7.5 million smartphones last year — while Nokia, unsurprisingly, fell the most, from 26.5 million smartphones shipped last year to 16.8 million this year [Source].