February 19, 2010
Expanding the Network Often Requires Help from Third Parties
Network World
Robin Gareiss writes about the role MSPs play in the IT infrastructure space.
“About 63 per cent of distributed enterprises use Managed Service Providers to help with at least some part of their IT infrastructure-most commonly to manage routers, desktops, and IP telephony, according to Nemertes’ research data. Moving forward, we expect IT staffs to outsource the “nuts and bolts” tactical pieces of the network (ie, areas such as carrier services, routing and switching, Tier 1 support, basic security functions, and basic telephony functions). What’s more, as companies want to link their networks and applications to business partners, a third-party (particularly a carrier) may be the best choice for making that happen via network-to-network interfaces.”
Television Will Soon Watch You (for Instructions)
Wired
Eliot Van Buskirk writes about a new gesture recognition technology that helps television viewers.
“The days of rifling through couch cushions for a television remote could be coming to an end, as 3-D gesture-recognition technology finds its way into set-top boxes following a deal between Intel and Softkinetic-Optrima. Like a hyperevolved descendant of The Clapper, the devices will let television viewers navigate menus and control volume by moving their arms in a predefined patterns. n addition to a partnership with EA Sports for games, Softkinetic-Optrima plans to apply gesture recognition to the lean-back television experience, allowing people to turn up the volume by moving their hand in a circle, switch the channel by swiping to the right, pause by extending their hands in a ‘stop’ gesture, and so on.”
Adobe to Bring AIR to Smart Phones
The VAR Guy
Matthew Weinberger writes that Adobe’s AIR software will soon be coming to smartphones.
“Adobe AIR is a platform-independent software development environment that’s positioning itself as the successor to Java. And like Java, AIR is moving into the mobile phone market, adding support for Android, BlackBerry, and, yes – iPhone. Here’s why independent software vendors (ISVs) should take note. The importance of platform independence can’t be understated for small, cash- or time-strapped developers. In theory, it means that you can write a program once and have it work across any device that supports the AIR standard, saving a lot of efforts and enabling you to sell to markets that might have otherwise gone untapped.”
