Archive for February 10th, 2012

Akamai acquires Blaze

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Akamai has acquired Blaze Software Inc, a provider of frontend optimization (FEO) technology. This will complement Akamai’s site acceleration solutions with technology designed to optimize the speed at which a web page is rendered, regardless of end user device.

Akamai announced today that it has acquired Blaze.

Akamai announced today that it has acquired Blaze.

The synergy derived from the combining Blaze’s FEO and Akamai’s site acceleration solutions will improve the performance of customers’ web sites and applications

“We believe Blaze has developed a powerful solution for frontend optimization, and that its cloud-based services approach is synergistic with Akamai’s offerings,” said Rick McConnell, executive vice president of Products and Development, Akamai.Akamai is also in the process of acquiring Cotendo – a company that offers an integrated suite of Web and mobile acceleration services – in an effort to help accelerate its pace of innovation in cloud and mobile optimisation.

With the rapid adoption of rich Internet applications and the increase in mobile browsing, new performance bottlenecks are emerging.

Websites are becoming richer and more complex, with more compute requirements built into a single page, impacting performance in the browser or client device.

As a result, content providers are faced with a growing set of challenges in maintaining a high-performing site and assuring a superior end-user experience.

“Our technology is aimed at reducing the number of requests required to load a page, reducing the size of each request, and improving the browser rendering experience for our customers,” said Michael Weider, CEO of Blaze.Blaze provides technology designed to automatically optimize the code on a web page during the delivery process to ensure faster transmission of content and a faster rendering of the page, regardless of whether it is served to a PC, tablet or smartphone.

As a cloud-based service that requires no software or code changes by the customer, Blaze’s offering is designed to work with any web site.

Akamai plans to integrate the technology into its global cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.

Getty Images Creative Grants

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Getty Images announced today the rebranding of the Grants for Good as Getty Images Creative Grants. Two grants of $15,000 are up for grabs. Applications close on 1 March.

Getty Images Creative Grants - applications end on 1 March.

Getty Images Creative Grants – applications end on 1 March.

The rebranded Getty Images Creative Grants will increase emphasis on the innovative use of creative and conceptual imagery and film.

“Nonprofits need compelling creative content to effectively tell their stories and stand out from the documentary style traditionally associated with the nonprofit sector,” said Andrew Saunders, Senior Vice President of Creative Content for Getty Images. “Together with creative agencies and content creators these organizations can leverage innovative conceptual imagery to raise awareness around critical world issues.”Fostering the collaboration between photographers and filmmakers with agency creatives and nonprofits, the grants will fund the creation of a compelling visual campaign that promotes positive change.

In addition to the cash prize, the winning photographer-agency or filmmaker-agency team will have the opportunity to leverage the expertise of Getty Images’ art directors, photo editors and producers to execute the project.

Online applications can be made at the website of Getty Images Grants.

The grants will be awarded by independent judges, each selected by Getty Images based on their  industry standing and experience.

Applications will be evaluated against criteria which include the strength and concept of the portfolio imagery as well as the level of collaboration between the creative communications agency and the nonprofit, to create a compelling visual narrative.

Winners will be announced in June at the 2012 Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.

Dell delivers new data solutions

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Dell improves Fluid Data architecture for more flexibility in meeting the changing demands of organisations, and for increased automation for management of primary, backup and archive data.

Dell has a range of data solutions for SMBs and large enterprises.

Dell has a range of data solutions for SMBs and large enterprises.

Enhancements include new storage backup, application and networking solutions to help SMBs and large enterprises.

“With Dell‟s new primary, archive and backup storage solutions, the Dell Fluid Data architecture delivers the storage intelligence customers need to deal with a sea of constant IT change without driving up costs, wasting time or continually replacing infrastructure.”Dell’s Fluid Data architecture is designed to enable customers to manage more information more effectively.

Specifically, the enhancements include the following:

  • Dell‟s first deduplication backup appliance that integrates intellectual property from the Ocarina acquisition
  • a major software release for Compellent storage arrays
  • a new storage optimization solution for Microsoft SharePoint
  • broader support for Dell Force10, PowerConnect and Brocade storage networking solutions

The solutions are listed below:

  • New Dell DR4000 Storage Platform with Deduplication and Compression
  • New Dell Compellent Storage Center 6.0
  • Dell Compellent VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration
  • Dell Compellent Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) for Site Recovery Manager 5
  • Dell Compellent vSphere 5 Client Plug-In and Enterprise Manager-vSphere 5 Integration
  • Expanded Support for Dell Force10, Dell PowerConnect and Brocade Storage Networking Solutions

DellAvailability

Currently available:

  • The Brocade 6510 and Brocade DCX 8510 data center switches will be available in January.
  • The Dell Force10 S4810 10Gb Ethernet switch and the deep-buffer S60 1Gb/10Gb Ethernet switches for EqualLogic are currently available.
  • The Dell PowerConnect 8024 10Gb switches and M8024-k Blade IO modules are currently available.

First quarter 2012:

  • The Dell DR4000 disk-based backup appliance with deduplication will be available in Q1.
  • The Compellent Storage Center 6.0 software will be available in Q1.

Detailed descriptions of the solutions can be found in the press release below.

(more…)