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In the summer of 2008, Hewlett Packard launched a 40-foot, 22 rack portable data center that sold for $1.2 million dollars, something that was beyond the reach of most enterprise clients.

HP is back again with a smaller scale portable data center or Performance Optimized Data Center (POD). The new data center is half the price ($600,000) and half the size (20-feet) of its big brother. The fully enclosed POD comes with 10 50u racks, air, water and power hookups and can house up to 5,000 large form factor hard drives or 1,500 computing nodes. Each POD is made to order with delivery occurring about six weeks after HP receives a purchase order.

POD technology is being targeted towards government agencies, institutions and large enterprises that would benefit from using portable data centers that are linked together. The advantage of this architecture is scalability as PODs could be added or swapped out as needed to improve an organizations computing performance.

It should also be noted that the $600,000 HP price tag only covers the POD itself. All network and server hardware as well software and other related IT costs would be additional and above and beyond the initial layout.
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IBM announced Wednesday that it plans to buy MDM (master data management) vendor Initiate Systems. Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the first quarter, were not disclosed.

Master data refers to classes of information such as products or suppliers that are common to a number of systems and applications within a company. MDM software is used to make sure master data entities are kept consistent and accurate.

Vendors have been moving to add MDM capabilities to their lineups. Just last week, IBM rival Informatica announced the acquisition of Siperian. IBM’s move was not unexpected. Altimeter Group analyst Ray Wang recently predicted Big Blue would buy Initiate as a response.

One MDM competitor responded quickly to IBM’s announcement Wednesday.

“By acquiring a niche vendor like Initiate, they bolster their portfolio of industry-specific tools that help integrate data, but do little to provide a stronger information management platform for their customers,” Kalido CEO Bill Hewitt said in a statement. “This acquisition will be delivered like so many others; with dozens of IBM global services consultants to ‘knit’ the patchwork of tools together.”

IBM executives are expected to discuss the deal further during a conference call Wednesday.
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IBM Research has unveiled and demonstrated a carbon-based transistor that could render silicon-based CMOS chips obsolete over the next 10 years, according to Smarter Technology.

Carbon nanotubes, nanowires, and quantum dots are already in the works. But  “pure crystalline sheets of carbon” called graphene are the closest substitute yet for silicon sheets, the report said. Why bother? Because silicon chips generate more and more heat as manufacturers shrink the chips and speed them up.

Carbon, at least in labs, seems to reverse the effect using quantum effects, and actually consume less power as researchers shrink the chips. In addition, graphene sheets can carry electrons faster with the same voltage, the report said. The trick has been improving the “on-to-off current ratios,” which IBM has done via a “bi-layer construction method for graphene transistors.”

Sounds complex–but as Moore’s Law threatens to run out of steam, this could be our next best bet.

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A redesigned IBM exhibit called “Smarter Planet” opened at Walt Disney World near Orlando, bolstering IBM’s 14-month-old campaign to rebrand itself as a company that provides global software solutions as well as its traditional hardware and technical services.

“Smarter Planet is our way of describing what the possibilities are in the more intelligent, interconnected world,” said IBM spokesman Clint Roswell.

The “Smarter Planet” exhibit, located in the Innoventions pavilion of the Epcot theme park, offers park guests a peek at an energy-efficient IBM data centre that, according to IBM, reduces energy costs by up to 25%.

The data centre will power the exhibit, service 200 clients outside of Disney property and donate unused computing capacity to the World Community Grid, which offers excess capacity to medical, humanitarian and environmental research projects, according to Roswell.

Guests also will be invited to create avatars of themselves which become players in a video game based on IBM’s history of computing achievements. Other kiosks ask guests to consider how technology can help solve complex world problems.

IBM unveiled its Smarter Planet brand in November 2008 to reflect the company’s evolution from primarily a hardware seller to a supplier of software to provide solutions to such problems as traffic congestion and inventory control.

Roswell would not provide figures on the cost of redesigning the 13-year-old IBM exhibit. A Disney spokesperson said about 50% of Epcot guests visit the Innoventions pavilion, but would not provide overall attendance figures for the theme park.

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Toshiba Corp., Japan’s biggest memory-chip maker, fell to the most in nine months in Tokyo trading, after the company cut its annual revenue forecast.

The shares lost 6 percent to 467 yen at 10.15 a.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, their steepest decline since Apr. 28. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.5 percent.

Toshiba on Jan. 29 cut its annual sales forecast 5.9 percent, citing a global recession that’s more “persistent” than the company had anticipated.

“The market was hoping for an upward revision and strength in NAND flash but clearly that’s not been as fast as people expected,” said Damian Thong, a Tokyo-based analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. NAND flash memory stores data in devices such as mobile phones and digital cameras.

Revenue will be 6.4 trillion yen ($71 billion) in the year ending March 31, said the Tokyo-based company. That compares with the 6.8 trillion yen it had previously predicted. Toshiba maintained its projections for an annual net loss of 50 billion yen and an operating profit of 100 billion yen.
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Toshiba Computer Systems, a division of Toshiba Europe GmbH, announces the Qosmio F60 – Toshiba’s slimmest multimedia laptop, designed for those who want a high performing yet portable laptop with advanced features. Truly an entertainment powerhouse, it offers individuals the chance to really stand out from the crowd with its eye-catching design. The Qosmio F60 will be available during the first quarter of 2010 throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The “Slim look” enters the multimedia class
“The slim design used to be a distinct attribute reserved for ultraportable laptops, however, Toshiba now brings this feature into the multimedia class devices,” says Santosh Varghese, Regional General Manager, Computer Systems Division of Toshiba Gulf.

“The Qosmio F60 carries a broad range of premium multimedia features into a slim form factor, offering a really sleek design,” adds Gargarella.

The Qosmio F60 measures only 29.1mm in thickness and weighs only 2.7 kg . For individuals with an eye for something a little different, the Qosmio F60 comes with a striking high-gloss red cover with the silver coloured Qosmio lettering. This fashionable design is complemented by an elegant black interior featuring a silver line design on the palmrest and a stylish black speaker grill.

Premium multimedia functionality
The Qosmio F60 really stands out from the crowd – not only in its design but also in its performance. It provides all the features which users look for in a multimedia laptop: an impressive 15.6” (39.6 cm) TruBrite HD display with LED backlighting powered by a high performing graphics processing unit; a Blu-ray rewritable drive that also supports DVD media or a DVD-SuperMulti (DL) respectively ; the Toshiba upconversion software Resolution+; an integrated analogue and digital (DVB-T) Hybrid TV Tuner supporting the most popular TV broadcasting formats; an HD web camera, and high end Harman Kardon stereo speakers providing vibrant audio.

Sustainable and eco-friendly
As a responsible global corporate citizen, Toshiba ensures that all laptops are fully compliant with European WEEE and RoHS directives, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances. Additionally the Toshiba Eco utility helps to reduce power consumption, and makes users aware of the power their laptop is using. The Toshiba Qosmio F60 is ENERGY STAR 5.0 qualified.
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Taiwan based Acer, who are currently the world’s second largest computer maker, have announced plans to introduce some major new products later in the year.

According to Jim Wong, Acer’s global president of IT products and services, we can expect to see an online apps store as well as the company’s first ever e-reader and netbook and maybe even a tablet too.

Acer is hoping the new products will boost the company’s income margin to 3 percent over the next couple of years.

You never know, if they get this right they may even manage steal the top slot from Hewlett Packard.

So what do we know so far? As it turns out, not much, but what we do know is worth knowing.

First the apps store. This is expected to launch towards the end of June and will have hundreds of downloads available initially which will be based on a variety of different operating systems.

The Acer eReader is also expected to launch in the summer but only in five European countries and Asian markets to start with.

We have very few details but apparently it will feature a 6 inch monochrome screen and obviously it will be competing with Amazon, Barnes & Noble as well as Sony.

Acer are currently talking to a number of different publishers, magazines and newspapers with a view to providing content for the eReader device although they didn’t reveal who any of them might be.

“Amazon, Barnes & Noble; they are U.S.-centric. In Western Europe and Asia-Pacific we have publishers to work with, and most of them are content owners,” Wong said.

So what about the Netbook? Well it is expected to launch some time in the 3rd quarter and will run on Google’s Chrome operating system. There is some speculation that it might also have dual boot functionality.

However, Wong said in an interview with Bloomberg that he expects that 12 million of the 15 million netbooks Acer is expected to sell in 2010 will feature Chrome.

“For Chrome, we’re aggressively pursuing to become one of the first, so there’s a change to the Microsoft-Intel environment,” Wong said.

As for the possibility of an Acer tablet, looks like they’re waiting to see what happens with the Apple version first so we basically know nothing other than it’s on Acer’s agenda.

This looks like it’s all happening at Acer this year.

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Fujitsu workers in Belfast who are members of the trade union, Unite, are to take further strike action.

The workers at the Japanese electronics giant are involved in a dispute with the firm over job cuts, a pay freeze and pension changes.

Fujitsu employs around 11,500 people in the UK and has about 400 staff in Belfast and 100 in Londonderry.

The union said about 70 people were at risk of compulsory redundancy across the UK.

The company has said it was disappointed that industrial action was being taken.

Earlier this month, shoppers in Belfast city centre were leafleted by striking workers.

They protests outside Marks and Spencer as well as other firms which use Fujitsu as their IT provider.

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A panel of the Court of Appeal of Ontario has dismissed two appeals brought by Dell Inc. seeking to enforce a consumer arbitration clause and prevent a class action lawsuit from proceeding.

Computer maker Dell is being sued by a class of 119,000 Canadians who bought Inspiron laptops between 2003 and 2005. The suit claims the computers were defective.

Dell sought to stop the lawsuit by pointing to an arbitration clause in the buyer’s agreement. In a decision issued Thursday, the court held that it’s unreasonable to expect that individual buyers would pursue the arbitration process in pursuit of small amounts of restitution.

A call to the Round Rock, Texas-based computer manufacturer for comment was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.
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Industrial services company Harsco Corp. said it has selected IBM as its consulting partner for a business transformation initiative designed to create significant operating and cost efficiencies throughout Harsco’s global supply chain.

“The intelligent supply chain of the future aligns perfectly with our One Harsco objectives for creating long-term strategic advantage as a more globally integrated and optimized enterprise,” said Harsco Chairman and CEO Salvatore D. Fazzolari. “Working with IBM gives us access to one of the premier leaders in this field. Moreover, when completed at the end of 2010, we expect this project to improve our Return on Invested Capital and also contribute to Harsco’s Economic Value Added (EVA) growth.”

According to a release, IBM will perform an analysis to determine where improvements in Harsco’s supply chain can be made. IBM will then develop the roadmap for a fully integrated supply chain that encompasses sourcing, procurement, logistics, planning (demand and supply), inventory and order management, and cash management. Work is scheduled to begin this month with IBM teams in place at Harsco’s headquarters, the companies said.

“The supply chain is at the heart of Harsco Corp.’s global, diversified businesses,” said Michael Laroche, global supply chain strategy leader, IBM. “By creating an intelligent business ecosystem that supports the company’s growth objectives while reducing bottlenecks and lead times, Harsco will increase its flexibility and responsiveness in the global marketplace.”
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