HP demonstrated an example of the Vertica appliance
Hewlett-Packard, which has been in the data analytics business literally for generations, is reinventing itself in this fast-developing enterprise IT segment.
Vertica, which HP acquired in February 2011 to compete with IBM, Oracle's Exadata and EMC Greenplum, on June 20 launched Vertica Analytics Platform 5.0, a major release that enables an IT system to analyze more than 1 petabyte of data in real time.
Vertica 5.0 enables users to analyze and manage their business information by providing a real-time parallel processing engine for large workloads and a software development kit (SDK) that provides the ability to customize and insert customer- and use case-specific query logic into the Vertica database for fully parallel execution.
Part of Vertica's secret sauce, HP Vertica Vice-President of Product Marketing Scott Howser told eWEEK, is that it can process more information in a smaller physical footprint than its competitors can.
"Based on the way we store, encode, compress, and operate on the data, and also upon our native columnar architecture, we're capable of up to 30:1 compression ratios on raw data that we write down to disk," Howser said. "We do all of our analytics on the data in its reduced form."
Howser said that Vertica in 2008 was the first analytics company to provide a cloud-based service, through its partnership with Rightscale. "We have a fair number of customers who actually run their analytics in the cloud," Howser said.
Howser said Vertica 5.0 provides:
- An SDK to write custom methods for analyzing data directly in the Vertica database. Users can implement MapReduce and other user-defined functions through standard SQL queries;
- Enhanced Native In-Database Analytics, which include advanced native SQL analytic functions such as Geospatial, Event-Series Pattern Matching, Event-Series Joins, and Advanced Aggregate Statistical and Regression;
- Performance improvements in areas such as subqueries, database statistics, lifecycle management, query optimization, data resegmentation and join filtering;
- Manageability enhancements, including expanded backup capabilities with greater operational flexibility;
- Cluster Cloning, which are capabilities for on-demand creation of Vertica databases for any workload with auto-sizing and auto-tuning across different topologies and physical designs. This allows users to quickly spin off subsets of their databases for analytical sandboxes or focused analysis of complex data.
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Vertica Now a Strategic Asset for HP
HP is putting a lot of importance on this market. The company wasted no time introducing Vertica to the media and to its partners and customers March 14 in San Francisco, only a month after the acquisition was announced.
HP demonstrated an example of the Vertica appliance, the size of a small refrigerator, running on the event stage. The Vertica Analytics Appliance is a fully integrated technology stack housed on HP Converged Infrastructure, including hardware, management software applications, consulting and HP Solution Support services.
CEO Léo Apotheker said the system would deliver "real-time analytics for the next generation of business intelligence." The system would provide "limitless scaling" along with "load and go simplicity" for such tasks and Website traffic analysis, retail sales trend analysis or for pharmaceutical research, Apotheker said.
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Microsoft launched a mobile IE9 testing site to test the HTML5 abilities of Windows Phone Mango
Microsoft kicked off a mobile HTML5 performance war back in April.
The software giant demonstrated a Windows Phone Mango device against an Android and iPhone 4. Windows Phone came out on top but it hasn’t taken Apple long to respond. The latest iOS 5 beta reaches 31 FPS on the site, greater than existing Windows Phone devices with Mango loaded. Joe Belfiore, Director of the Windows Phone program, demonstrated Internet Explorer 9 mobile against the iPhone 4 as recently as May for the company’s Mango VIP event. The device reached around 25 FPS. Microsoft may need to be careful using the demo again as the latest beta builds of iOS 5 show a dramatic performance increase for HTML5 content, above and beyond Microsoft’s own demos.
Microsoft recently launched a mobile IE9 testing site that allows web developers to test the HTML5 abilities of Windows Phone Mango:
- Audio Player
- Geolocation
- Border Radius
- DOM Local Storage
- Scalable Vector Graphics
- CSS3 Media Queries
- DOMContentLoaded
- FishIE Tank
- Speed Reading (from MIX11)
- Animated Text
- HamsterDance Revolution
- Business Charts
- IE Logo
- Video Panorama
- Browser Control Theming
Apple has yet to talk about how it plans to use HTML5 hardware acceleration for Safari. The company has clearly made some dramatic improvements since iOS 4.3 and these are clear in Microsoft’s test pages. Internet Explorer 9 mobile will ship as part of Windows Phone Mango, available in the fall this year.
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AMD new Llano chip will help it steal orders from Intel
AMD said its new Llano chip will help it steal orders from Intel Corp. (INTC) in laptop computers by delivering longer battery life than its rival’s products for the first time.
Computers built on the new chip -- a combination of a graphics chip and microprocessor -- will be available this month, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said today. In addition to touting the chip’s battery performance, AMD is trying to convince consumers they need the graphics capabilities Llano offers.
While sales of laptop computers are growing faster than those in the overall personal-computer business, AMD’s market share in notebook computers is smaller than its slice of the desktop PC market. The company is aiming to catch up by emphasizing Llano’s improved battery life, a feature that has hobbled its past attempts to challenge Intel.
“We expect that we will lead Intel in battery life in every notebook form factor,” AMD marketing executive John Taylor said in an interview. A computer using AMD’s new chip is capable of playing two full movies using the highest-quality DVD video on one battery charge, the company said.
The graphics power of the new chip is better than some dedicated graphics cards sold into desktop PCs today, Taylor said. The company purchased ATI Technologies Inc. in 2006 to gain access to a graphics-chip maker.
AMD says Llano’s ability to let users watch and edit high- quality video, play computer games and use multiple programs at the same time is more important than running office software quickly -- where Intel’s chips shine.
AMD fell 5 cents to $7.54 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 7.8 percent this year.
The company held 13.4 percent of the market for laptop processors at the end of the first quarter, compared with 19 percent of the total PC-chip market, according to researcher International Data Corp. Intel controls more than 86 percent of the laptop market and 81 percent in overall PCs, IDC said.
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RIM admitted delays in revamping an aging smartphone lineup
The BlackBerry maker's shares plummeted below $28, hitting the lowest level in almost five years, after the company missed some of its own limp forecasts and reported a drop in profit.
It was RIM's sharpest one-day decline since September 2008 in trading volumes among its heaviest ever. The shares are down more than 60 percent since February, wiping billions off its market value.
Even more worrying, some of the company's largest shareholders are showing signs of bailing out.
One of RIM's biggest investors, Jarisloswky Fraser, has already cut its stake in half, according to Bloomberg.
Another gave RIM six months to get its house in order.
"I think in the next six months we'll have a much better idea of where we stand," said the head of a fund with a major stake. "They've laid out a business strategy and we're measuring their ability to execute."
LOWER TARGETS
At least 14 analysts lowered their price targets for RIM, most of them highlighting what appears to be a once-dynamic product development pipeline that's running dry.
RIM admitted delays in revamping an aging smartphone lineup and slashed what most analysts viewed as an unattainable full year earnings outlook. It also said it planned to cut an unspecified number of jobs.
"Bottom line, we believe RIM has no short-term fixes to improve product portfolio, brand perception, to reinvigorate share gains, revenue growth and profitability," Citi's Jim Suva wrote in a note to clients.
RIM's difficulties bear a striking resemblance to recent troubles at Finland's Nokia, another struggling national technology champion blindsided by the roaring success of Apple's iPhone and handset makers using Google's Android software.
Some analysts drew comparisons between RIM and Nortel Networks, the once-mighty Canadian equipment maker that went into bankruptcy and is selling its final assets.
RIM's co-chief executives both sounded contrite on a conference call with analysts. But analysts said neither appeared to fully comprehend the challenges that lay ahead.
"The company is facing its greatest challenge, maybe in its history, and each CEO continues to believe there is unprecedented interest in their products," Deutsche Bank's Brian Modoff wrote as he cut his price target to $20 from $45.
JP Morgan downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight".
"Until we see some evidence that product development is on track and visibility is returning we would advise investors to find other places to invest," its analyst Rod Hall said.
RIM's delay launching a touchscreen version of the Bold model and at least one other device, now due by late August, threatens its hard-won relationships with North American and European carriers, which expected the phones in July.
"We are concerned that RIM may have given them overly optimistic launch timetables, which may end up alienating" them, said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst from MKM Partners.
Cellular-enabled versions of RIM's PlayBook tablet, which would give carriers a reason to push the iPad competitor, aren't expected until autumn, from a prior summer timeframe.
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LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS
The dim results and outlook also fanned questions about RIM's co-chief executives.
Deutsche's Modoff was disappointed that neither Mike Lazaridis nor Jim Balsillie described the planned job cuts as a reorganization -- which he would view as a positive.
Both brushed off criticism of RIM's dual chief structure with what seemed "more of a staged piece of theater than a serious answer to a serious strategic question," Modoff said.
RIM has cut staff before, in a 2002 move still known around its Waterloo, Ontario, headquarters as the "10 percent purge." That followed a dip in revenue and spiraling costs as it started selling its early BlackBerry phones via carriers.
But it's been all growth since then, with RIM now boasting more than 17,000 employees, up from 14,000 a year ago.
Panasonic Toughbook Tablet will be coming
Panasonic joins the long list of notebook manufacturers getting into the tablet game. The company announced it would release its Toughbook Android tablet later this year. What's interesting about Panasonic's offering is that it comes from the Panasonic Solutions Company, a division that focuses on government and enterprise technology. Panasonic bills the tablet as "enterprise-grade Android" and plans for a fourth-quarter release.
The announcement was light on what, specifically, Panasonic would bring to the enterprise side, but it did note that the Toughbook Tablet would be a "purpose-built business solution" with an emphasis on security and durability. The company also talked directly to the tablet addressing the needs of goverment, field forces, and small and medium businesses.
Also notably absent: Details on any hardware specs. Panasonic made no mention of operating system, CPU, memory, or storage configurations. What the company did say was that the tablet will have a 10.1-inch XGA multi-touch matte display with an active stylus pen; GPS; and 3G/4G connectivity. Security will be embedded at the hardware level, presumably akin to the level of security found on self-encrypted hard drives and flash drives today.
Panasonic Solutions Company, whose focus is on building rugged IT solutions for government and commercial enterprises, said it is building its Android-based Toughbook tablet to sell to enterprises in the fourth quarter of this year.
Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android-based tablets such as the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are intended to facilitate consumer media consumption.
The Toughbook is targeting government personnel, mobile workforces and "security-conscious IT managers and bottom-line-focused CFOs," Panasonic said in a statement June 16.
Indeed, the Toughbook's 10.1-inch display won't feature a glossy front screen that beckons users to watch YouTube videos or play games. These screens tend to be hard to read outdoors in the bright sunlight.
The Toughbook's XGA screen will boast high brightness, suitable for viewing in the daylight. This will allow corporate road warriors to use their tablets regardless of the lighting differentials in their travels.
The slate will also feature a stylus to facilitate signature capture similar to the way customers currently sign for FedEx or UPS packages. The idea is to appeal to sales, customer service and other fleets where sales transactions are the norm.
These business traits might put the device more squarely in competition with the 7-inch PlayBook, which has sold hundreds of thousands of units as a blend of corporate messaging slate with video chat capabilities and a consumer-friendly gadget with Facebook and other applications.
It will be interesting to see what Panasonic delivers. The company is no stranger to the tablet market, having come up with ruggedized tablet PCs in the past. But those tablets ran Windows, and were targeted at vertical markets. I continually hear of a need for tablets that are appropriate for the enterprise market, but I've yet to see much that tablets from disruptive diversion to deployable tool. Emphasis on the yet.
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WWDC 2012 tentative dates June 10th through 15th
The 2011 edition of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) just wrapped up a few days ago, but some attendees may already be looking forward to next year in hopes of penciling in dates so that they are ready to go when tickets go on sale and potentiallysell out within hours. So those planning on attending WWDC 2012 may want to take renewed note of a multi-year calendar from the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau that was discovered last year, a document that listed June 10th through 15th as the tentative dates for WWDC 2012, with the actual conference presumably kicking off with a keynote on Monday, June 11th.
Tentative WWDC Dates:
2012: June 10th - June 15th
2013: June 9th - June 14th
2014: June 1st - June 6th
2015: June 7th - June 12th
That document did accurately reflect the 2011 conference dates, but was not correct about the 2010 dates, emphasizing the tentative nature of the information. But adding some fuel to the speculation is the Moscone Center's event calendar, which currently shows a generic "Corporate Meeting" listed running from Sunday, June 10th through Friday, June 15th next year.
Such generic listings "Corporate Event" and "Corporate Meeting" frequently appear as placeholders for WWDC well ahead of time, although they are of course not exclusive to Apple and are used whenever booking entities do not wish to publicly disclose their identities.
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Even if the "Corporate Meeting" listing does refer to WWDC, Apple is certainly capable of adjusting its schedule, although busy conference schedules can make it difficult to do so as things begin to book up. Consequently, it seems reasonable to speculate that Apple and the Moscone Center have at least penciled in the June 11th-15th dates for next year's WWDC, but we'll certainly be keeping our eyes on the schedules to see if anything changes, as they have on occasion in the past.
Only Apple wouldn't advertise the dates of it's next year conference at the end of its current one.
Must be nice to be in a situation you know attendees will come no matter what. Most other conferences start advertising the following year dates and location during the current one!
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