Intel has teamed with French-Italian semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics to form a new flash memory company in Switzerland to create memory for consumer and industrial devices. As part of the deal, Intel will sell all of its NOR flash resources to the newly formed company while STMicro will contribute its NAND (define) and NOR (define) flash assets.
"The new company will be positioned to service customers with all of the elements necessary to deliver current and next-generation non-volatile memory technologies, while allowing STMicro to redefine its participation in flash memory," said Carlo Bozotti, STMicro president and CEO, in a statement Tuesday.
NOR-based flash is considered slower but has better read/write capabilities than NAND and is used for executing applications in place, rather than loading them into main memory. NAND is faster and more popular as a means of data storage.
Under the terms of the agreement, Intel (Quote) will receive a 45.1 percent equity ownership stake and a $432 million cash payment at close of the deal for its flash assets, while STMicroelectronics will receive a 48.6 percent equity ownership stake and a $468 million cash payment at close.
Francisco Partners L.P., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm, will invest $150 million in cash for convertible preferred stock representing a 6.3 percent ownership interest. The two companies estimate that between the two of them, flash products brought in $3.6 billion in sales last year.
The new, as-yet unnamed company will be set up quite nicely, with a $1.3 billion term loan and $250 million line of revolving credit. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in the second half of 2007.
In other Intel news, the company found a new way to go green. In addition to its ongoing efforts to cut power consumption, Intel announced it plans to make its entire line of 45nm "Penryn" processors entirely lead-free when manufacturing begins in the second half of the year.
The processor chip doesn't have any lead in it, but the motherboards do. The company will replace lead used in motherboard attachments with an alloy made of tin, silver and copper. The company will make its 65nm chipsets lead free beginning next year as well. Intel said there will be no impact on performance or reliability by the metal switch.
The disposal of old computers has become an increasing problem as more computers have gone into the marketplace, more have eventually ended up in landfills, and chemicals used in building the computers are found to be toxic.
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3679326
Friday, June 1, 2007
Alcatel-Lucent 'Guardian' Locks Up Your Data
LAS VEGAS -- Less than a week after admitting that a disk with sensitive employee information was lost or stolen, Alcatel-Lucent (Quote) today introduced a networking card designed to lock in data on laptops.
Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian at the 2007 Interop networking show in Las Vegas, though the company first previewed the product at the Demo show in February.
The Guardian is a Linux-based notebook PC card loaded with security software that checks against a remote server to validate that the notebook hasn't been reported lost or stolen.
Unlike local PC-based solutions, which rely on a client PC stored encryption key, OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is controlled by a remote server that is accessed by either wired LAN (define), WLAN (define) or a wireless 3G connection.
OmniAccess
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent officials argue this approach provides remote-user, data-loss prevention by locking notebook data as soon as a notebook is lost, stolen or otherwise unaccounted for.
"What the product does is it solves what CIOs often refer to as the mobile blind spot... as soon as I unplug my laptop and leave the enterprise there really is a lack of visibility and control," Dor Skuler, general manager of enterprise security products at Alcatel-Lucent, told internetnews.com.
"The way the solution works is its based on a PCMCIA card with a hardened version of Linux, its own battery and a 3G modem. The benefits enterprises get are the ability to have notebook visibility and control anytime anywhere."
For the card to work, users install the Guardian and turn the notebook on. The card negotiates with the central server to identify the notebook and unlocks user data and access. In case the notebook is reported lost or stolen, the central server administrator can revoke the notebook's certification and encryption keys.
At that point, the notebook's data is encrypted and the data is secured. The encryption keys don't exist on the local PC and only exist on the server, making it nearly impossible for an unauthorized entity to access the data.
Skuler explained that as long as the card is plugged in users can still log into their machines. But there is a timer-based system on the card so the user needs to connect to the central server at regularly specified times, which are defined by the IT organization.
For example, if the user is in the mountains without any access either by wired, wireless or cellular 3G beyond the preset time period, the timer will lapse and the notebook will be locked. The user would then have to call their IT department and let them know and they need to reset in order to regain access.
In addition to the lock-down benefits provided by OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian, the card also provides improved security overall for remote users.
Instead of connecting to the public Internet over an unsecured connection, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian provides an automatically established VPN (define) tunnel back to the enterprise so all data transport is encrypted and secured by an enterprise's existing security policies and infrastructure.
While VPN usage is often associated with reduced-access speeds, Skuler noted that with the Alcatel-Lucent solution the notebook user's performance is actually improved.
"We're taking away processing time from the notebook, with VPN tunnel processing all done on the card," Skuler said. "There is also a hardware accelerator both on the card and on the hardware appliance to compress traffic."
Though the hardware side of the equation is obviously a key part of the Guardian, software plays a key role, too. While the card is intended to run on Windows PCs, the card itself runs Linux.
Skuler declined to comment on which particular vendor of version of Linux Alcatel-Lucent was running on the card other than to say it's from a major Linux vendor.
He also noted that Alcatel-Lucent hardens the Linux operating system on the card and does not allow it to run any executables other than control functions from the central server.
That said, the card is running a fully featured version of Linux and runs the application and personal firewalls, IPsec VPN (define) client, encryption-key functionality and Web proxy as part of the solution.
In combination with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniAccess Safeguard product, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian can also be brought into full compliance with a NAC (network access control) policy.
"We can enforce NAC policies at the notebook level making sure that they are always enforced regardless of the network," Skuler said. "We're calling that LAC -- local access control."
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is expected to be generally available later this year.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3679026
Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian at the 2007 Interop networking show in Las Vegas, though the company first previewed the product at the Demo show in February.
The Guardian is a Linux-based notebook PC card loaded with security software that checks against a remote server to validate that the notebook hasn't been reported lost or stolen.
Unlike local PC-based solutions, which rely on a client PC stored encryption key, OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is controlled by a remote server that is accessed by either wired LAN (define), WLAN (define) or a wireless 3G connection.
OmniAccess
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian.
Source: Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent officials argue this approach provides remote-user, data-loss prevention by locking notebook data as soon as a notebook is lost, stolen or otherwise unaccounted for.
"What the product does is it solves what CIOs often refer to as the mobile blind spot... as soon as I unplug my laptop and leave the enterprise there really is a lack of visibility and control," Dor Skuler, general manager of enterprise security products at Alcatel-Lucent, told internetnews.com.
"The way the solution works is its based on a PCMCIA card with a hardened version of Linux, its own battery and a 3G modem. The benefits enterprises get are the ability to have notebook visibility and control anytime anywhere."
For the card to work, users install the Guardian and turn the notebook on. The card negotiates with the central server to identify the notebook and unlocks user data and access. In case the notebook is reported lost or stolen, the central server administrator can revoke the notebook's certification and encryption keys.
At that point, the notebook's data is encrypted and the data is secured. The encryption keys don't exist on the local PC and only exist on the server, making it nearly impossible for an unauthorized entity to access the data.
Skuler explained that as long as the card is plugged in users can still log into their machines. But there is a timer-based system on the card so the user needs to connect to the central server at regularly specified times, which are defined by the IT organization.
For example, if the user is in the mountains without any access either by wired, wireless or cellular 3G beyond the preset time period, the timer will lapse and the notebook will be locked. The user would then have to call their IT department and let them know and they need to reset in order to regain access.
In addition to the lock-down benefits provided by OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian, the card also provides improved security overall for remote users.
Instead of connecting to the public Internet over an unsecured connection, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian provides an automatically established VPN (define) tunnel back to the enterprise so all data transport is encrypted and secured by an enterprise's existing security policies and infrastructure.
While VPN usage is often associated with reduced-access speeds, Skuler noted that with the Alcatel-Lucent solution the notebook user's performance is actually improved.
"We're taking away processing time from the notebook, with VPN tunnel processing all done on the card," Skuler said. "There is also a hardware accelerator both on the card and on the hardware appliance to compress traffic."
Though the hardware side of the equation is obviously a key part of the Guardian, software plays a key role, too. While the card is intended to run on Windows PCs, the card itself runs Linux.
Skuler declined to comment on which particular vendor of version of Linux Alcatel-Lucent was running on the card other than to say it's from a major Linux vendor.
He also noted that Alcatel-Lucent hardens the Linux operating system on the card and does not allow it to run any executables other than control functions from the central server.
That said, the card is running a fully featured version of Linux and runs the application and personal firewalls, IPsec VPN (define) client, encryption-key functionality and Web proxy as part of the solution.
In combination with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniAccess Safeguard product, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian can also be brought into full compliance with a NAC (network access control) policy.
"We can enforce NAC policies at the notebook level making sure that they are always enforced regardless of the network," Skuler said. "We're calling that LAC -- local access control."
OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian is expected to be generally available later this year.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3679026
Supercomputer Center Gets Super Storage Needs Met
When it comes to demand for data storage, it's hard to top the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). With archived data stores doubling every 14 to 16 months since 1997, it's no surprise that IT decision makers there were once again on the hunt for additional storage infrastructure. At the end of the day, they turned to Brocade Communication Systems for SAN switches and services.
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
Supercomputer Center Gets Super Storage Needs Met
When it comes to demand for data storage, it's hard to top the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). With archived data stores doubling every 14 to 16 months since 1997, it's no surprise that IT decision makers there were once again on the hunt for additional storage infrastructure. At the end of the day, they turned to Brocade Communication Systems for SAN switches and services.
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
A user of Brocade SAN solutions for almost five years, SDSC saw no need to change the relationship. In fact, the supercomputer center expanded it by contracting for technical support services too.
"We have 15 Brocade directors and quite a bit of complexity in our SAN," said Brian Bannister, manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Our issues are so unique that working with multiple vendors, as we had in the past, doesn't work. Working directly with Brocade, we get a faster response to our problems."
The SDSC storage infrastructure consists of more than 500 storage devices, including midrange arrays from IBM and Sun Microsystems, Brocade switches with 1,500 ports, and a DataDirect Network Silicon Storage Appliance (S2A).
A world-renowned research center that supports engineering discoveries, 22-year-old SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources. SDSC also serves as the data-intensive site lead in the NSF-funded TeraGrid, a multi-year effort to build and deploy the world's first large-scale and production grid infrastructure for open scientific research in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines.
SDSC hosts a 4.4 teraflop IA 64 Linux cluster, 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archival storage, 220 terabytes of General Parallel File System mounted across the TeraGrid, and is connected to other national TeraGrid partners by a 20 Gbps cross-country backbone.
Full Speed Ahead
Along with the NSF-funded TeraGrid came a vastly growing need for storage at SDSC. "A single simulation could take one to two weeks of compute time and result in 100 terabytes of output," said Bannister.
Not only did the supercomputing center require additional storage to hold the output from simulations, but also important data collections, such as oceanic information, seismic studies and astronomy information, including sky surveys.
"We already had a petabyte of storage from a mix of IBM and Sun storage," said Bannister. "But now we're allocating storage space to national researchers for databases, data collections, and for large compute platforms."
About a year ago, SDSC purchased the DataDirect Network S2A 9950 storage system with one petabyte of capacity. Before that, the SDSC had 200 terabytes. To that the center connected 4Gb 48000 director switches from Brocade into the existing SAN fabric. The S2A is housed in the San Diego data center and serves a shared file system across the WAN to partner sites worldwide.
Nine sites make up the TeraGrid. Three of the sites have access to the SDSC production compute systems. The remainder will have access some time in the near future, according to Bannister.
The Brocade Director 48000 and 4Gb Director Class Switches, or Brocade SAN fabric, create pooled storage for file servers and the archive. The new Brocade addition improves SAN capacity and data transfer speed for the center's IBM storage system.
"Brocade is the best solution for the number of ports we need to support storage and file servers, and gives us seamless integration with the existing SAN fabric," said Bannister. "We looked at other solutions, but when it comes to interoperability, Brocade works best."
Use of the 1,500 Fibre Channel ports is divided equally among compute systems, storage systems and for interconnecting the switches.
It appears there's no end in site to the center's data storage needs. According to Bannister, SDSC currently has 5 petabytes of stored data in its archives. "In a year and a half, that will double to 10 petabytes," he said. The same doubling of storage holds true for online Fibre Channel and SATA, he added.
Supporting It All
Given the complexity in SDSC's SAN infrastructure and the fact that all of the center's computer systems connect to the SAN, it was an easy decision to partner with Brocade for Direct Support services, according to Bannister. "They've always given us good support," he said.
The Direct Support plan includes round-the-clock technical phone support from engineers located at the vendor's San Jose, Calif., facility. The plan also gives SDSC access to new product features and enhancements.
SDSC called in Brocade for initial deployment of the 48000 Director and today utilizes the service for standard support calls.
http://www.internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3680026
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Microwave oven mkt heating up
KOLKATA: The country’s booming microwave oven market is expected to ring in good times in calendar 2007 as well. Consumer electronic majors like LG, Samsung, Whirpool and Haier, among others are targeting growth in sales numbers of anything between 10-65% over last year.
They are, in fact, looking at this segment, and in particular, the convection microwave oven category, as a major growth-driver this year. According to industry estimates, the projected size of the microwave oven market for 2007 is around 7.8 lakh units, up 25% from 6.25 lakh units in 2006.
In 2008, the market size is expected to go up further to 9.5 lakh units. Speaking to ET, Mr Girish V Rao, V-P, LG Electronics, said: “We are expecting a 30% growth from our microwave business this year, from around 2.25 lakh units last year to 3 lakh units this time around. While the numbers are getting driven by the solo range, the value growth will come in from the convection category.”
“Growing awareness on cooking benefits of microwave ovens rather than the mere reheating function coupled with growing affordability, have contributed to the growth of the convection category, specifically as the baking function is being increasingly used by consumers,” said Ravinder Zutshi, deputy MD, Samsung Electronics.
For Samsung, the contribution of convection microwave ovens to total Samsung sales was 27% last year and is likely to grow to 29% this year. Haier India, on its part, is expecting a 50%-plus growth from the convection category as well.
“We are looking at increasing our sales to 50,000 units in 2007, up from 28,000-30,000 in 2006. With the increasing shift towards the higher-end models, we are looking at a turnover of Rs 35 crore from the microwave category in 2007,” said Haier India COO Pranay Dhabai. Whirlpool of India is a new entrant in this burgeoning market.
“We are a small player now. In the last two years, the segment witnessed a lot of price competition. This year, the market has stabilised and we plan to beef up marketing strategies to make our presence felt. We are aiming at a 10% marketshare,” said Tamal Kanti Saha, V-P, sales, Whirlpool.
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Microwave_oven_mkt_heating_up/articleshow/2067978.cms
They are, in fact, looking at this segment, and in particular, the convection microwave oven category, as a major growth-driver this year. According to industry estimates, the projected size of the microwave oven market for 2007 is around 7.8 lakh units, up 25% from 6.25 lakh units in 2006.
In 2008, the market size is expected to go up further to 9.5 lakh units. Speaking to ET, Mr Girish V Rao, V-P, LG Electronics, said: “We are expecting a 30% growth from our microwave business this year, from around 2.25 lakh units last year to 3 lakh units this time around. While the numbers are getting driven by the solo range, the value growth will come in from the convection category.”
“Growing awareness on cooking benefits of microwave ovens rather than the mere reheating function coupled with growing affordability, have contributed to the growth of the convection category, specifically as the baking function is being increasingly used by consumers,” said Ravinder Zutshi, deputy MD, Samsung Electronics.
For Samsung, the contribution of convection microwave ovens to total Samsung sales was 27% last year and is likely to grow to 29% this year. Haier India, on its part, is expecting a 50%-plus growth from the convection category as well.
“We are looking at increasing our sales to 50,000 units in 2007, up from 28,000-30,000 in 2006. With the increasing shift towards the higher-end models, we are looking at a turnover of Rs 35 crore from the microwave category in 2007,” said Haier India COO Pranay Dhabai. Whirlpool of India is a new entrant in this burgeoning market.
“We are a small player now. In the last two years, the segment witnessed a lot of price competition. This year, the market has stabilised and we plan to beef up marketing strategies to make our presence felt. We are aiming at a 10% marketshare,” said Tamal Kanti Saha, V-P, sales, Whirlpool.
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Microwave_oven_mkt_heating_up/articleshow/2067978.cms
Microwave oven mkt heating up
KOLKATA: The country’s booming microwave oven market is expected to ring in good times in calendar 2007 as well. Consumer electronic majors like LG, Samsung, Whirpool and Haier, among others are targeting growth in sales numbers of anything between 10-65% over last year.
They are, in fact, looking at this segment, and in particular, the convection microwave oven category, as a major growth-driver this year. According to industry estimates, the projected size of the microwave oven market for 2007 is around 7.8 lakh units, up 25% from 6.25 lakh units in 2006.
In 2008, the market size is expected to go up further to 9.5 lakh units. Speaking to ET, Mr Girish V Rao, V-P, LG Electronics, said: “We are expecting a 30% growth from our microwave business this year, from around 2.25 lakh units last year to 3 lakh units this time around. While the numbers are getting driven by the solo range, the value growth will come in from the convection category.”
“Growing awareness on cooking benefits of microwave ovens rather than the mere reheating function coupled with growing affordability, have contributed to the growth of the convection category, specifically as the baking function is being increasingly used by consumers,” said Ravinder Zutshi, deputy MD, Samsung Electronics.
For Samsung, the contribution of convection microwave ovens to total Samsung sales was 27% last year and is likely to grow to 29% this year. Haier India, on its part, is expecting a 50%-plus growth from the convection category as well.
“We are looking at increasing our sales to 50,000 units in 2007, up from 28,000-30,000 in 2006. With the increasing shift towards the higher-end models, we are looking at a turnover of Rs 35 crore from the microwave category in 2007,” said Haier India COO Pranay Dhabai. Whirlpool of India is a new entrant in this burgeoning market.
“We are a small player now. In the last two years, the segment witnessed a lot of price competition. This year, the market has stabilised and we plan to beef up marketing strategies to make our presence felt. We are aiming at a 10% marketshare,” said Tamal Kanti Saha, V-P, sales, Whirlpool.
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Microwave_oven_mkt_heating_up/articleshow/2067978.cms
They are, in fact, looking at this segment, and in particular, the convection microwave oven category, as a major growth-driver this year. According to industry estimates, the projected size of the microwave oven market for 2007 is around 7.8 lakh units, up 25% from 6.25 lakh units in 2006.
In 2008, the market size is expected to go up further to 9.5 lakh units. Speaking to ET, Mr Girish V Rao, V-P, LG Electronics, said: “We are expecting a 30% growth from our microwave business this year, from around 2.25 lakh units last year to 3 lakh units this time around. While the numbers are getting driven by the solo range, the value growth will come in from the convection category.”
“Growing awareness on cooking benefits of microwave ovens rather than the mere reheating function coupled with growing affordability, have contributed to the growth of the convection category, specifically as the baking function is being increasingly used by consumers,” said Ravinder Zutshi, deputy MD, Samsung Electronics.
For Samsung, the contribution of convection microwave ovens to total Samsung sales was 27% last year and is likely to grow to 29% this year. Haier India, on its part, is expecting a 50%-plus growth from the convection category as well.
“We are looking at increasing our sales to 50,000 units in 2007, up from 28,000-30,000 in 2006. With the increasing shift towards the higher-end models, we are looking at a turnover of Rs 35 crore from the microwave category in 2007,” said Haier India COO Pranay Dhabai. Whirlpool of India is a new entrant in this burgeoning market.
“We are a small player now. In the last two years, the segment witnessed a lot of price competition. This year, the market has stabilised and we plan to beef up marketing strategies to make our presence felt. We are aiming at a 10% marketshare,” said Tamal Kanti Saha, V-P, sales, Whirlpool.
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/Microwave_oven_mkt_heating_up/articleshow/2067978.cms
Game Boy Evolution: Rumour Rundown
As you may be aware, a war has begun in our industry. Our friends in the East have decided to take up their system of choice, as our American cousins have chosen their allegiance. With only weeks remaining prior to the launch of both the NintendoDS and Sony PSP in the UK, it’s time to look to the future! “You what?” I hear you cry… but I ask you to send your mind travelling back a year and two days, to January 21st 2004, and that original NintendoDS statement: “The NintendoDS is not the successor to the Game Boy Advance, but an entirely new concept; a third pillar in our strategy”.
NintendoDS(Istelf)45.JPG (11325 bytes) So with all the hype surrounding the NintendoDS, that screen, the launch, it seems that Nintendo have managed to sweep over what was actually the bigger revelation – that the successor to the Game Boy Advance is well into development, and we could be seeing it a lot sooner than expected. Now a lot of you will have read my article: NintendoDS: The Rumours Vs. the Facts and I should warn you; my evidence is even less concrete is this instance and although, for the best part, all the facts and figures pointed me in the correct direction most of the time during that piece, this article is different. This article is about sifting through the rumours to end up with a practical belief of what the successor to the Game Boy Advance SP could be, as opposed to reporting the stated press releases and analysing the contents. But that’s not an excuse. Read on - and find out that I still know what I’m talking about!
Upon deciding to write this article I began searching all my usual information alcoves, and, much to my disgust, could not find any direct news, quotes, press releases or even rumours surrounding the next Game Boy iteration with exception of the above NintendoDS statement. Delving deeper into the information abyss, I found that it was neither the fans concerned with the next console, as they had the NintendoDS and PSP to swoon over, nor the development community as they’re as busy as bees on the two systems also, but it was the outer circle of the industry. It’s the publishers, retailers, journalists and marketers that have been caring for this one, and they’ve already given it a name; Game Boy Evolution.
SPpink(Item).jpg (6422 bytes) It appears that, within these circles, it is the belief that the Game Boy Advance and its shinier brother the Game Boy Advance SP were in fact never supposed to see shop shelves. The rumour states that the Game Boy Advance was developed as a back-up machine, very quickly, as work on the Game Boy Evolution was not progressing quite as desired, and there were suggestions that Sony’s challenger was not too far off. With the PSP being considered a portable PlayStation2, Nintendo must have realised that launching a very similar product in a very similar timeframe (originally believed to be early 2004 in the east, reaching UK shores by Christmas 2004) would be a bad idea, and the Game Boy Advance was kicked out in 2001as a “stop-gap” for consumers, and a way to exploit the dual-console link plans that Nintendo had developed, and thought would be very successful (as we can see the dual-screen idea fused into the NintendoDS today). It is also believed that the design of the Game Boy Advance SP is actually the prototype design for the Game Boy Evolution, and Nintendo used this to house the Game Boy Advance technology soon after the original launch and saw it as a commanding opportunity.
So, on to the actual information about the system. Remember, all that follows is based on rumours, information leaks and a solitary press release; but sometimes, that’s all you’ve got. The processing unit is believed to be rather simple. Not simple as far as the technology it houses, but in the fact that it is simply a miniaturised version of the 485MHz IBM Gekko processor housed within the GameCube. Strangely enough, the Game Boy Advance SP is the correct width to allow a solitary disc to be inserted, should a slot be provided. gamecubedisc.jpg (6522 bytes)By now, you’d have guessed that it appears that Nintendo’s statement committing them to GameCube development long after the launch of the Revolution was no accident, and was again a hint at this technology. It seems more than feasible, as with Sony’s PSP touting the possibility (although we are yet to see it appear in any titles) to play a game on your PlayStation2, then take the save data onto your PSP to continue playing, that the Game Boy Evolution should allow for a similar principle, however with the reliability of Nintendo and Panasonic’s Proprietary 3-inch Optical Disc Technology, the same disc may be used for both systems, without the fear of freezing games or extended loading times etc. while the system is in motion.
The memory cards would obviously be directly compatible, but could also be the reason behind the development of the ill-fated Panasonic SD FLASH Adapter for the GameCube, as the Game Boy Evolution could have been originally intended to use SD FLASH cards. It’s known that Nintendo have been increasing research into control for some time and as leaders of the field it comes as no surprise to learn that Nintendo have been working away on some new analogue features. Rumours suggest “bubble”-esque analogue pads akin to roll-balls for PCs and some strange retro-feeling touch-panel D-Pad effects. We’ve already seen L and R triggers and the NintendoDS’s versions could obviously hold up to the GameCube’s.
With the PSP being a slightly less competent machine than the PlayStation2 in terms of effects (while the polygon count actually appears higher than that most commonly seen on the PlayStation2) it’s more than likely that Nintendo have been able to develop the exact chipset within the GameCube on a much smaller scale, and would be able to bring this to market at a sub-£100 price point already, given the current price of the GameCube and the fact that Nintendo are still making money on each unit sold.
The major problem would be the conflict with the NintendoDS. With such a recent launch the quick up-takers of the new system may already feel that their technology is out of date, no matter how much Nintendo insist they are different “pillars”. More time spent with the system only convinces you that it’s aimed squarely at the hardcore market and makes the recent sales rush even more astonishing. In order to convince the public, the Game Boy Evolution would have to launch with a retail price lower than the NintendoDS.
There is no solid evidence currently of what this system will be, but it is known that development is at the final stages, and has been for some time. With Nintendo still showing no signs of slowing down (contrary to popular belief) their expansion over the last five years has been tremendous and puts little doubt in my mind that they would be able to support three systems in this way, given the extensive back catalogue of GameCube games already available. Only time will tell for the story of Nintendo’s Game Boy franchise, but what rumblings are happening over at Kyoto internally right now is, as ever, anyone’s guess.
http://www.electronictheatre.co.uk/articles/archive/2005/gameboyevolution/
NintendoDS(Istelf)45.JPG (11325 bytes) So with all the hype surrounding the NintendoDS, that screen, the launch, it seems that Nintendo have managed to sweep over what was actually the bigger revelation – that the successor to the Game Boy Advance is well into development, and we could be seeing it a lot sooner than expected. Now a lot of you will have read my article: NintendoDS: The Rumours Vs. the Facts and I should warn you; my evidence is even less concrete is this instance and although, for the best part, all the facts and figures pointed me in the correct direction most of the time during that piece, this article is different. This article is about sifting through the rumours to end up with a practical belief of what the successor to the Game Boy Advance SP could be, as opposed to reporting the stated press releases and analysing the contents. But that’s not an excuse. Read on - and find out that I still know what I’m talking about!
Upon deciding to write this article I began searching all my usual information alcoves, and, much to my disgust, could not find any direct news, quotes, press releases or even rumours surrounding the next Game Boy iteration with exception of the above NintendoDS statement. Delving deeper into the information abyss, I found that it was neither the fans concerned with the next console, as they had the NintendoDS and PSP to swoon over, nor the development community as they’re as busy as bees on the two systems also, but it was the outer circle of the industry. It’s the publishers, retailers, journalists and marketers that have been caring for this one, and they’ve already given it a name; Game Boy Evolution.
SPpink(Item).jpg (6422 bytes) It appears that, within these circles, it is the belief that the Game Boy Advance and its shinier brother the Game Boy Advance SP were in fact never supposed to see shop shelves. The rumour states that the Game Boy Advance was developed as a back-up machine, very quickly, as work on the Game Boy Evolution was not progressing quite as desired, and there were suggestions that Sony’s challenger was not too far off. With the PSP being considered a portable PlayStation2, Nintendo must have realised that launching a very similar product in a very similar timeframe (originally believed to be early 2004 in the east, reaching UK shores by Christmas 2004) would be a bad idea, and the Game Boy Advance was kicked out in 2001as a “stop-gap” for consumers, and a way to exploit the dual-console link plans that Nintendo had developed, and thought would be very successful (as we can see the dual-screen idea fused into the NintendoDS today). It is also believed that the design of the Game Boy Advance SP is actually the prototype design for the Game Boy Evolution, and Nintendo used this to house the Game Boy Advance technology soon after the original launch and saw it as a commanding opportunity.
So, on to the actual information about the system. Remember, all that follows is based on rumours, information leaks and a solitary press release; but sometimes, that’s all you’ve got. The processing unit is believed to be rather simple. Not simple as far as the technology it houses, but in the fact that it is simply a miniaturised version of the 485MHz IBM Gekko processor housed within the GameCube. Strangely enough, the Game Boy Advance SP is the correct width to allow a solitary disc to be inserted, should a slot be provided. gamecubedisc.jpg (6522 bytes)By now, you’d have guessed that it appears that Nintendo’s statement committing them to GameCube development long after the launch of the Revolution was no accident, and was again a hint at this technology. It seems more than feasible, as with Sony’s PSP touting the possibility (although we are yet to see it appear in any titles) to play a game on your PlayStation2, then take the save data onto your PSP to continue playing, that the Game Boy Evolution should allow for a similar principle, however with the reliability of Nintendo and Panasonic’s Proprietary 3-inch Optical Disc Technology, the same disc may be used for both systems, without the fear of freezing games or extended loading times etc. while the system is in motion.
The memory cards would obviously be directly compatible, but could also be the reason behind the development of the ill-fated Panasonic SD FLASH Adapter for the GameCube, as the Game Boy Evolution could have been originally intended to use SD FLASH cards. It’s known that Nintendo have been increasing research into control for some time and as leaders of the field it comes as no surprise to learn that Nintendo have been working away on some new analogue features. Rumours suggest “bubble”-esque analogue pads akin to roll-balls for PCs and some strange retro-feeling touch-panel D-Pad effects. We’ve already seen L and R triggers and the NintendoDS’s versions could obviously hold up to the GameCube’s.
With the PSP being a slightly less competent machine than the PlayStation2 in terms of effects (while the polygon count actually appears higher than that most commonly seen on the PlayStation2) it’s more than likely that Nintendo have been able to develop the exact chipset within the GameCube on a much smaller scale, and would be able to bring this to market at a sub-£100 price point already, given the current price of the GameCube and the fact that Nintendo are still making money on each unit sold.
The major problem would be the conflict with the NintendoDS. With such a recent launch the quick up-takers of the new system may already feel that their technology is out of date, no matter how much Nintendo insist they are different “pillars”. More time spent with the system only convinces you that it’s aimed squarely at the hardcore market and makes the recent sales rush even more astonishing. In order to convince the public, the Game Boy Evolution would have to launch with a retail price lower than the NintendoDS.
There is no solid evidence currently of what this system will be, but it is known that development is at the final stages, and has been for some time. With Nintendo still showing no signs of slowing down (contrary to popular belief) their expansion over the last five years has been tremendous and puts little doubt in my mind that they would be able to support three systems in this way, given the extensive back catalogue of GameCube games already available. Only time will tell for the story of Nintendo’s Game Boy franchise, but what rumblings are happening over at Kyoto internally right now is, as ever, anyone’s guess.
http://www.electronictheatre.co.uk/articles/archive/2005/gameboyevolution/
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