Saturday, July 26, 2008

Navisite - colocation in London

An older blog post, related to the state of the colocation market in the UK and London:

>>The demand for premium data center and scalable network capacity in the European market is the main catalyst for NaviSite’s expansion plans in the UK colocation market. Gartner research says that some UK colocation providers are experiencing annual increases in demand of 30% or more. Gartner further estimates that in high-demand areas like London, if significant new data center space is not brought on-stream, there will be no free space left by the end of the decade. In fact, this rising demand and limited supply is what is allowing providers to continue to increase pricing. The UK colocation pricing is the highest in Western Europe and would continue to rise at rates higher than inflation for the next couple of years.

Furthermore on current trends it’s predicted that by 2009, 15% of all shopping in the UK will be done on the internet.

So in this world of e-opportunities, the colocation space continues to thrive. And NaviSite continues to lead and redefine this space with its managed data center solutions that are flexible, reliable, and robust - be it utility computing platforms, secure back-up services, on-demand storage, virtual servers, network security solutions, and cloud computing.

Navisite - Going beyond the ‘Green’ talk

A new blog post by Navisite:

>>
We at NaviSite are keeping pace with the green momentum through multiple initiatives. We are a part of The Green Grid – the global consortium of leading IT companies dedicated to raising energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. Our data centers use the equipment and proprietary monitoring software that cuts the energy consumption needed for cooling by more than 20% over conventional methods. We use virtualization and cooling technologies to offer a more energy-efficient, green environment to customers.

While going green has an attached cost, it is believed the long-term dividend you reap is worth much more than the spend.
In today’s downturn economy, are the enterprises willing to pay this premium for ‘Green IT’?

Equinix's new dealmaker arrives with colorful resume

An interesting comment on Marc , the new Equinix chief development officer, comes from TheDeal.com:

>>Adams comes to Equinix with a colorful resume that reflects a wide range of deal experience. A few highlights: He founded the wireless infrastructure startup Mspect, which he eventually sold to Telephia. As vice president of business development at Adaptec, Adams facilitated the spinout of digital music provider Burningpoint.com, of which he became CEO. And, Adams did time as an executive at General Electric Capital and a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co.

It isn't clear how Equinix plans to put all that deal experience to work. Other than the IXEurope deal, the company hasn't been particularly acquisitive of late, picking up just a few data centers in the U.S. and Asia over the past 18 months. But as demand for Internet and networking services increases in Europe and Asia, so too will the need for the data center services Equinix provides. So that could change.

WBS Connect, LLC - Equinix L.A. and S.V.

Company Information
Company Name WBS Connect, LLC
Also Known As
Company Website http://www.wbsconnect.com/
Primary ASN 19080
IRR Record AS-WBS
Network Type NSP
Approx Prefixes 450
Traffic Levels 20-50 Gbps
Traffic Ratios Balanced
Geographic Scope North America

Public Peering Exchange Points

Equinix Chicago 19080 206.223.119.111 1000
Equinix Los Angeles 19080 COMING.SEP.08 1000
Equinix San Jose 19080 COMING.AUG.08 1000

Friday, July 25, 2008

New logo

Our new logo, courtesy of effe66

CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS: MARKET OVERVIEW SUMMER 2008

Tier 1 Research has published its CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS: MARKET OVERVIEW SUMMER 2008.

From the introduction, available at http://www.t1r.com/

>>The report examines whether the CDN industry is yet seeing the effects of a recessionary economy. While the evidence we present suggests that the impact has yet to be felt, T1R also believes that growth won't come as easy for vendors in 2008. We examine several areas of focus for vendors, including the role of advertising in online video services and the role of enterprise video in driving video traffic. The prospect for continued growth extends beyond video, though, and we look at e-commerce traffic, and a look at how Akamai is tapping into the software-as-a-service market.

uWink at Hollywood & Highland

Los Angeles Times has an article on the new Uwink location:

>>
The mastermind behind uWink is Nolan Bushnell, who, as the founder of both the Atari Corp. and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, is a bona fide gaming and interactive dining legend.

"I wanted to create a place where people could enjoy each other's company, facilitated by technology," says Nolan, adding, "I believe in social game play." He uses the example of pre-computer-era board games like Monopoly, which brought families together around the table.

"I really thought video games had taken that away and I just wanted to give that back," he says.

This sentiment is most apparent in Nolan's favorite uWink game, the group trivia. At allotted times, diners at all tables are asked via their consoles if they'd like to join the game and, before you know it, a lively competition is happening between groups all over the room with questions and answers displayed on large screens above the tables.

Internap Japan Co.,LTD.

searching through AS17675 - AS-PNAPTOK Internap Japan Co.,LTD. - a couple of interesting customers:

    AS18143         DCSNET Diamond Computer Service Co.,Ltd.
AS17937 NDMC NIKKEI ADVANCED SYSTEMS INC.
AS27281 QUANTCAST - Quantcast Corporation
AS23830 GAITAME Gaitame.com Co.,Ltd.
AS23940 THOMSON-FINANCIAL-TOKYO THOMSON FINANCIAL. Financial Content provider.Tokyo
AS6303 LEHMAN - Lehman Brothers, Inc.
AS38240 CALYONFINANCIAL-AS-JP Calyon Financial, Inc.
AS17695 MLJS MLJS
AS24273 CANON CANON INC.
AS17523 AOYAMA Aoyama Gakuin University
AS23764 KBC-SECURITIES-AS-JP KBC Securities Japan, AS,
AS3762 INSINET INSTINET GLOBAL SERVICES
AS21551 HIGHBRIDGENY - Highbridge Capital Management, LLC.
AS151 IND-NTC-AS - Hewlett-Packard Company

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Saint Francis Hospital gets approval for Cyberknife

from Memphis Commercial Appeal

>>A state board's decision means Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis on Park Avenue can pursue a $6.7 million project to buy a big radiation surgery system and construct space to house it.

"We are extremely pleased," Saint Francis spokeswoman Marilynn Sasportas Robinson said. "We think it's a wonderful outcome for the citizens in Memphis and this region in terms of having another option that's noninvasive for treatment."

Today, Accuray also issued this P/R:

>>
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital to Add CyberKnife System to Treatment Offerings

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY - News), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, today announced that St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston has purchased a CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System to further expand treatment offerings for its nationally recognized NeuroScience Center program. The CyberKnife System will be installed in a newly constructed facility designed to expand the hospital's radiation oncology facility.

St. Luke's has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation's top 50 hospitals for a number of specialties, including neurology and neurosurgery. It is the only hospital in Houston, and only one of four hospitals in Texas, to be named a Neuroscience Center of Excellence by NeuStrategy, Inc.

complete product portfolio need

This comment from Ike Elliott's Telecosm is interesting as more networks might find it necessary to get into CDN services:

>>CEO James Crowe answered by saying that Level 3 is seeing "no slowdown in aggregate demand," and suggested that competitors that are reporting a slowdown have product portfolios that are too narrow. Level 3, with a broader product portfolio, is seeing cross-product substitution, such as content delivery networks substituting for dedicated Internet access, or private line services substituting for VPNs, etc. Crowe was suggesting that companies that don't offer a complete product portfolio stand to lose market share when customers substitute one product for another. He was also suggesting that companies that don't offer a complete product portfolio are unreliable measures of aggregate network services demand, because these narrow product portfolios don't capture this substitution effect.

Equinix 2Q 2008 results - solid numbers

Equinix reported 2Q 2008 results last night.

As we had forecasted (see the previous Seeking Alpha article), numbers were pretty solid, the Company exceeded revenue expectations for the quarter and lifted the outlook for the full year 2008, both for revenues and EBIDTA (as a reminder, Equinix had increased expectations the previous quarter, too).

Let's go through some of the metrics we usually follow for this Company, which all look very healthy:

  • net cabinets addition in the USA and Asia, for the 2Q 2008, was 1,600, compared to 1,500 cabinets for both the 1Q 2008 and the 4Q 2007 and 1,300 cabinets for the 3Q 2007;
  • cash gross margins were 62%, ahead of expectations, and a very healthy 69% in the USA, the market where Equinix is benefiting the most from its strong interconnection business (as a reminder, Asia and Europe are now following the same trend of stronger cross connection adoption, but these two region are historically behind the USA a few quarters as to this aspect of the business);
  • Churn is in line with the forecasted 8% for the year, and there has also been, in the quarter, some proactive churn by the Company aimed at maximizing the utilization of space available;
  • the number of multi region, multisite deployment from multinational customer increased, showing strong signs of synergy since the European acquisition of IX Europe;
  • a record 114 10 gigabyts per second Ethernet ports, compared with 102 in the 1Q 2008 and 87 in the 4Q 2008 (with half of the increase coming from Asia this quarter, a strong sign of the increase of the interconnection business there);
  • MMR per salable cabinet increased to $1,650 from $1,603 in the 1Q 2008 (as a reminder this datum is for USA and Asia only);
  • significant demand for the financial exchange service, in spite of a weakening economy, as proved also by two new wins in the quarter (NASDAQ and Chicago Board of Options Exchange) and the announcement of a phase 2 expansion in New York;
  • 144 new customers in the quarter, compared with 160 in the 1Q 2008 and 123 in the 4Q 2007 (this number excludes about 450 smaller customers coming on board from the Virtu acquisition in Holland);
  • Secaucus phase 2 officially announced, due to the strong performance in the New York metro area;
  • both Chicago and New York expansions, opened in the Q4 of 2007, cash flow positive by the end of 2Q 2008, well ahead of expectations, and the two data centers together doubled revenues to $ 6.3 million in the quarter reaching approximately $ 29 million when annualized at the June '08 exit rate;
  • record bookings in the quarter in the USA, and strong bookings across the other regions (quote: "just over two times the level of new customer bookings in the previous quarter").
More important, Equinix opened all the expansions forecasted for the quarter on time (Silicon Valley 2 phase 2, and DC5 in the USA, Tokyo 2 phase 3, and Paris 2 phase 3 in Europe. London 4 phase 3 actually came on line ahead of expectations, as it was due for the 3Q 2008). An expansion tracking sheet is available on the Equinix I/R site at this link.

As a short summary, these are the expansions foreseen for the remaining of 2008 and the first part of 2009:

  • Frankfurt 2 (phase 2b) expansion due to open beginning 3Q 2008 + 840 cabinets
  • HK1 (phase 2) expansion due to open 3Q 2008 + 550 cabinets
  • SG1 (phase 3) expansion due to open 4Q 2008 + 300 cabinets
  • SY2 expansion due to open 4Q 2008 + 650 cabinets
  • L.A.4 expansion due to open 2Q 2009 + 1,700 cabinets
  • NY4 expansion due to open 2Q 2009 + 1,100 cabinets
The new Amsterdam data center is now open, adding capacity (1,120 cabinets) in one of the most interesting European markets. During the conference call Equinix anticipated "a high reserve rate by the end of the quarter" (see Seeking Alpha transcripts) for this data center due to a strong sales pipeline.

Going back to the new USA openings, Equinix has added cabinets both in the Silicon Valley and in the Washington DC metro area, two of its strongest markets (a total of 2,750 high power cabinets in these regions combined, with a potential, at a mid point of $ 2,000 per cabinet/month, in eccess of $ 65 million in revenues at full occupancy), with the new Chicago and New York IBXs showing signs of acceleration in revenues in the 3Q, due to a strong pipeline, and good capacity still available in L.A..

Right now, it looks like the Company has put in place expansions capable of sustaining their strong growth in all their major markets, with the only exception of Dallas, where Equinix is at full occupancy, as it is considered a secondary market.

It is still a little bit more difficult to do a proper modeling of the potential developments in Europe, as the Company hasn't disclosed the same amount of data/details for this market, but bookings are confirmed to be strong and a lot of room has been/is being deployed. Margie Backaus confirmed there is no slowdown in London for Equinix, in spite of recent comments by some analysts, as reported here by Data Center Knowledge.

Generally speaking, Equinix disclosed that they "expect to see a significant ramp in revenue and EBITDA in these markets by year-end which would translate into strong contribution to our 2009 results in Europe", with strong pricing experienced in most markets.

It is very interesting that Equinix announced, during the quarter, the expansion of its Equinix Exchange™ service to the company’s Zurich Internet Business Exchange™ (IBX®) center. The service does incorporate what was previously branded as The Internet Exchange (TIX), the largest exchange in Switzerland with over 60 members.

The Company also disclosed that the same service was launched in the Paris market with several initial customers.

As to the London Market, LINX will be expanding to the new London 4 IBX.

With this strategy in place, Equinix can offer interconnection and peering services to customers in all five of the countries in the Europe where the Company operates. It is very important as the
interconnection service, which enjoys margins as high as 90%, can certainly push profits positively. (Europe cash gross margins are now 47% compared with 57% in Asia and 69% in the USA).

As a related example, it was a great sign that half of the new customers signed for the 10 gigabyts per second Ethernet ports were in Asia, where this service seems to follow the path of the USA. Customers requiring these services are, for example, Google and Akamai or Limelight Networks in Tokyo (info available on www.peeringdb.com).

Given the high margins and the cost of a port (we speculate around $ 180.000 per year in the USA), 114 ports do represent an interesting number contributing strongly to revenues and especially to the bottom line.

Quite a lot of the analysts' attention was devoted to questions linked to the Equinix financial Exchange, and its performance given the general market conditions.

Equinix Europe has just published its Summer Equinix EF-eXchange Newsletter which adds color to the discussion - among the additional news you can find, a description of Equinix unique financial market service offering, and information about the new customers joining the service recently, like Merrill Lynch launching a proximity hosting solution at the Equinix Frankfurt datacentre, or CJC and QuantHouse.

A few quotes from the call:

Stephen M. Smith -

  • "with outstanding bookings and an increasing share of our growth coming out of the financial sector especially with important new wins such as the NASDAQ and the CBOE"
  • "we made a decision to move forward with New York 4 Phase 2 to support the significant demand we continue to experience with our financial exchange service"
  • "from our perspective no let up in demand in that segment, no signals really at all"

As Rob Powell summarized in his Telecom Ramblings blog post after the results, Equinix 2, Economy 0.

Now, some less positive considerations.

Earnings per share were impacted by a $3.1 million adjustment just for the two founders of IX Europe that recently left the Company. This amount was supposed to be spent over a 15 month period, so we might expect stock option costs to go back to the forecasted numbers. From the Seeking Alpha 4Q 2007 conference call transcript:

Keith Taylor - Chief Financial Officer

"Looking forward, we expect stock-based compensation expense to approximate $55 million in 2008.

In 2008, we'll continue to shift our compensation plans to be more cash based for the majority of our employees, as it is our intention to continue to reduce the level of dilution attributed to our equity compensation plans. Our net dilution rate has steadily declined over the past years, with our 2007 dilution rate net of forfeitures approximating 5%, which reflects the equity issue related to our IXEurope acquisition, while we target our 2008 net dilution rate to be less than 2%."

A negative 3 million quarter-over-quarter swing attributed to currency fluctuation as Equinix remeasures foreign denominated assets and liabilities also impacted the quarter, although we still believe that at this stage Equinix has to be evaluated for its EBIDTA and cash flow potential, rather than earning per share.

U.S. interconnection service revenues were 19% of U.S. recurring revenues for the quarter, which is a slight decrease from the previous level (20% in the 1Q 2008 and 4Q 2007 and 21% for the full 2007). It is a datum that might suffer from some large deployments (anchor tenants) or even by the consolidation in the sector, but a number we like to monitor in the future to see if it is a trend or just a result of the fast growth experienced by the Company (customers tend to add additional cross connects at a later stage after deployment). We believe management is also checking this aspect and probably fine tuning the deployment of new customers.

Equinix Chief Business Officer, Margie Backaus, will be leaving the Company at the end of the year. Like all the members of the original management team, she has led the Company through the very difficult post-bubble times and gave a great contribution to establishing Equinix as the leader in its sector. In particular, she also built a very successful communications and investor relations program, which we believe had an important role in the success of the Company. We think that, as happened in similar occasions recently, Equinix will be able to find a proper replacement for her role and the Company will continue to execute well in the future.

Paolo Gorgo' - Nortia Research

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Equinix has opened Amsterdam's newest high power density datacenter

Equinix has opened Amsterdam's newest high power density datacenter, providing an advanced technical environment for organisations requiring a high performance datacenter solution.

The datacenter delivers 3,000m2 of network neutral colocation space with 2 kVA m2 power density. It is located in a prime commercial location and offers direct access to AMS-IX, the largest internet exchange in Europe.

Equinix is the leading global provider of network-neutral datacenters and internet exchange services, providing access to a global network of 40 datacenters across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

We set the industry standard for secure and reliable colocation services. This means larger facilities, unrivaled physical security, all the top networks, a robust power architecture, maximum infrastructure flexibility and first- rate customer support. Our uptime availability makes us one of the most reliable providers in the industry.


Ten great reasons why...
Highest level of security and optimal operating conditions
Direct access to AMS-IX peering fabric
Industry-leading 99.999% availability
Designed to 2 kVA m2 power density
Robust cooling infrastructure with high density configurations

including closed cold corridors
N+1 redundancy power and cooling
Network neutrality and diversity
Unparalleled performance, reliability and scalability
Best customer service in the industry
Business continuity office space


For further information please contact us on +31 20 753 7950 or at netherlands@eu.equinix.com

No-compromise datacentres

Oxygen Founder’s New Global Bandwidth Exchange

from Giga OM, a new Global Bandwidth Exchange:

>>the launch of his new startup,
BuySellBandwidth.com, through which carriers around the globe are able to buy, sell and swap capacity. You’re probably saying to yourself, “Haven’t I heard of this before?” Indeed, even Enron tried to start a bandwidth platform. But BuySellBandwidth.com is more akin to private exchanges or ECNs on the stock market, where membership is by invitation only.

...

So far a dozen carriers — including PCCW, KPN, PLDT, Globe Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Reach and Tata Communications — have signed up with Tagare’s exchange, which at this point is free. Bandwidth brokers, by comparison, currently perform this service at 10 to 15 percent of the sale price. “Over time I will charge a small membership fee,” Tagare told me. He’s hoping each transaction will be worth millions of dollars.

Data center's size doubles

a short article from the Houston Chronicle:

>>The 15,000-square-foot center will eventually have space for 120 companies.

Currently, 60 businesses, including ContentActive, Goodman Manufacturing and Prudential Real Estate Services Co., share space in the building at Polk and Fannin.

Immersion medical mention

Figure 1: Five points along the anterior (a1-a5) and posterior borders (p1-p5) of the anterior bundle of the medial ulnar collateral ligament
Figure 1: Five points along the anterior (a1-a5) and posterior borders (p1-p5) of the anterior bundle of the medial ulnar collateral ligament (AMUCL) were used as landmarks to measure the length with the Microscribe 3DLX (Immersion Corporation, San Jose, California) using points 1-5 and the Video Digitizing System (Motion Analysis Corporation, Santa Rosa, California) using points 2-4 for the midsubstance.

...

Elbow flexion angles were set with the 3-dimensional coordinate measuring device
(Microscribe 3DLX, Immersion Corporation, San Jose, California) and were confirmed visually with a goniometer. The accuracy of the Microscribe 3DLX was determined to be 0.30 mm.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Internap - Houston data center

Just putting some data together:

Houston Colocation

Learn more about Internap’s Houston Colocation services

Building Specifications

  • Premier data center address in downtown Houston
  • 17 miles from George Bush Intercontinental Airport
  • 26,500 square-foot facility offers 20,000 square-feet of colocation floor space

Connectivity (Available Carriers)

  • AT&T
  • El Paso Networks
  • Looking Glass Networks
  • MCI
  • OnFiber
  • Phonoscope
  • Qwest
  • SBC
  • Time Warner
  • XO Communications
Internap Brings High-Tech to Houston through Data Center Expansion

This expansion nearly doubles the existing site, creating 15,000 square feet of usable space designed for high power density installations, energy efficiency and redundant power. Internaps expanded Fannin Street data center will power global technology initiatives for local companies and attract new businesses to Houston as an extension of their IT operations.

Internaps carrier-neutral data center features one of the most robust, power-dense infrastructures in Houston, offering customers 150 watts / square foot of conditioned power.

InvestorVillage

(Which is why) we are happy to announce that we are currently in negotiations with several private parties interested in funding us through our next phase of growth. And part of that next phase involves particular emphasis on upgrading servers and doing all the tech-related things behind the scenes that will make the time you spend on iV more efficient and enjoyable.

from a letter received from an InvestorVillage Administrator.

We believe IV is hosted by SoftLayer.

DiscountASP.NET

DiscountASP.NET Expands Global Reach for ASP.NET Web Hosting Services with European Data Center

July 22, 2008 - DiscountASP.NET, an innovative windows hosting leader, announces their global expansion into Europe with a new datacenter location in London, UK. Advanced Windows 2008 hosting, Windows 2003 hosting, and SQL hosting are available in the new Europe-based datacentre.

"We have a large European customer base and we wanted to address their concerns of website latency issues due to data transport over long distances," said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing at DiscountASP.NET. "Our global expansion is a strategic move for us, and now, with our ASP.NET hosting infrastructure available in the UK, we can better serve our international customers."

For this new location, DiscountASP.NET partnered with Equinix for state-of-the-art datacenter infrastructure services in London, UK. The ASP.NET hosting infrastructure solution is powered by DELL servers, NetApp SAN storage solutions, and VMware virtualization solutions.

"For a seamless experience, customers can select the data center location where they desire to host their website as part of our online ordering process and after successful order submission, the website account will be instantly setup. And we did not leave out our existing customers; we have a team ready to assist in datacenter location migration," added Takeshi Eto. "Our team worked hard for the past year on this project and we are extremely proud to officially announce our European expansion is open for business."

another Apple - Immersion speculation... again and again...

from a couple of sources, McDailyNews and Gizmodo quoting McDailyNews:

>>
Think MacBook screen, possibly a bit smaller, in glass with iPhone-like, but fuller-featured Multi-Touch. Gesture library. Full Mac OS X. This is why they bought P.A. Semi. Possibly with Immersion's haptic tech.

MacDailyNews Note: This is a rumor. We have no other information. We cannot confirm this information independently at this time, but felt it plausible enough to bring to your attention.

We are working to develop new products that contains technologies that our competition will not be able to match. I cannot discuss these new products, but we are very confident in our product pipeline. - Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, during Apple's Q308 Financial Results Conference Call, July 21, 2008

>>Those clamoring for an Apple tablet may finally get what you've been waiting for. According to a MacDailyNews source who leaked wireless iTunes a week before its official announcement, we can expect a sort of "MacBook touch" in October. And the source wasn't light on the details, either

UPDATE: A post over at AppleInsider might have some more light to shed on the story. At the recent earnings talk, Apple promised a product transition by the end of September with "technologies and features that others can't match" at a profit margin that no one else can approach (read: cheaper stuff). The plot thickens!

Immersion Launches Kit for Designing Touch Feedback Into Small Touchscreen Products

P/R from Immersion:

Gives Designers the Fastest Way to Prototype Immersion Touch Feedback in New and Existing Products


SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR - News), the leader in developing and licensing touch feedback technology (http://www.immersion.com/corporate/), announces the immediate availability of the TouchSense® Design Kit for Small Touchscreens. The new kit, with preloaded touch feedback effects and easy-to-integrate hardware, enables innovative and creative product designers to rapidly prototype touch feedback in products with touchscreens of up to 6 inches (diagonal).

Source: Immersion Corporation

· View Multimedia Gallery

Globally, use of touchscreens is growing dramatically because they provide intuitive operation, software flexibility, and space and cost savings. In the Touch Screens 2008 report, senior analyst of iSuppli Corporation, Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, forecasts that market size for small touchscreens (under 9.9 inches) will grow 25% annually from 2007 to 2013, exceeding 780 million units by 2013.(1) With the TouchSense Design Kit, designers now have a solution that can capture the benefits of touchscreens without loss of user productivity or satisfaction. The problem is that with the change from mechanical keyboards to virtual keypads, the loss of touch feedback creates higher input error rates and user dissatisfaction. However, research proves touch feedback in touchscreens solves these problems. It reduces error rates and makes user experiences more satisfying and productive and products easier to use.(2)

Delivering user experiences that differentiate and sell products is an imperative for innovative product designers around the world, said Chuck Joseph, senior vice president and general manager of Immersions Touch Interface Products group. Our TouchSense design kits make it easy for manufacturers to capture the value of touch feedback for new products and product refreshes. Using this new kit, customers have proven that most product prototypes can be completed within just a few days.

Tens of millions of consumer devices, including mobile phones and personal navigation devices, are using Immersions touch feedback technology to restore the familiar experience of operating mechanical controls, like pressing a button. Further, the technology can scale to enliven a variety of applications, including simple one-touch confirmations to more complex interactions, such as scrolling, zooming, and locating buttons by feel. Touch feedback is changing the consumer electronic device user experience and setting expectations for all touchscreen products.

The new TouchSense kit includes circuit boards, firmware, a touch feedback effects library, electromechanical components, and documentation to speed the design process. These components can be used to prototype touch feedback in many types of products, such as personal media players, personal navigation devices, desktop phones, multifunction printers, and handheld data collection devices. A TouchSense design kit for larger touchscreens (up to 36 inches) used in machine controls, ATMs, kiosks, healthcare, and many other types of equipment is already available.

With over 15 years experience in creating and delivering touch feedback, Immersion also provides design and best-practice consulting services for its customers around the world.

(1) iSuppli Corporation. 2008. Touch Screens. www.isuppli.com/rptviewer/default.asp?a=41865&cmd=inline

(2) Immersion Corporation. 2007. The Value of Haptics: A summary of recent independent published findings on the value of haptic feedback in human-computer interaction. http://www.immersion.com/valueofhaptics.php

Equinix EF-eXchange News (Europe)

The Summer 2008 newsletter is out today - some highlights:

>>Since the last issue of our quarterly EF-eXchange newsletter, we’ve seen a number of major organisations sign up with Equinix and join our Financial eXchange community. Recent successes include Chi-X Europe, which has selected our new London datacentre to provide a scalable platform to support its pan-European equity multi-lateral trading facility (MTF). Additionally, several major exchanges and trading platforms have partnered with Equinix in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York.

>>And because Equinix is the only major financial datacentre operator that’s working across all of the world’s top ten financial centres, we’re proving increasingly attractive as a network connectivity venue for exchanges that need to reach their base both within and outside of their regions. Because of this, we’re finding that organisations are no longer prepared to limit themselves by aligning with more traditional hosted data locations.
Instead they’re choosing Equinix enhanced colocation and network connectivity that can improve the ‘vascular’ performance of their electronic order flow and remove the constrictions that result from the limited carrier and network connectivity.
We’re excited that our Financial eXchange offering is at the heart of this drive, and that each new member of our global community is bringing further value for existing members. We hope you find this second issue of EF-eXchange News useful. If you’d like to contribute to our next issue – or would like to comment on anything you’ve read here, feel free to contact us at
efx@eu.equinix.com

>>New PartnerS

Merrill Lynch have launched a proximity hosting solution at the Equinix Frankfurt datacentre, addressing the need for ultra low latency connectivity to exchanges. Merrill Lynch are offering unparalleled direct market access to the Eurex and Xetra exchanges for the Equinix Financial eXchange clients. The latency improvement over a London access point is in excess of 30%, with simple connectivity options allowing quick start up. This execution capability forms part of Merrill Lynch’s overall offering with financing and clearing services for exchange members and non-exchange members alike. If there are any questions please contact eurodma@ml.com.

QuantHouse is an independent global provider of end-to-end systematic trading solutions. This includes ultra low latency market data technologies, algo-trading development framework, infrastructure and professional services to help hedge funds, proprietary desks as well as low latency sensitive sell side firms trade ahead.

Founded in 1999, CJC is a leading consultancy operating exclusively in the market data sector. Their expert team has more than 250 years experience working with all market data systems, which they deploy on behalf of clients and vendors. Through strategic partnerships, CJC support client operations across all time zones, delivering 24-hour, ‘follow the sun’ technical services that meet the needs of today’s always-on financial markets.

Internap Houston Data Center Expansion

It looks like this expansion is opening according to the schedule previously announced:


Internap Network Services Corporation (NASDAQ: INAP - News), a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, announced today the availability of 7,000 square feet of new enterprise data center space at its Fannin Street facility in Houston, Tex. This expansion nearly doubles the existing site, creating 15,000 square feet of usable space designed for high power density installations, energy efficiency and redundant power.

Internaps carrier-neutral data center features one of the most robust, power-dense infrastructures in Houston, offering customers 150 watts / square foot of conditioned power.

Internap will host a grand opening reception on Thursday, July 24 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm CDT to provide current and potential customers guided tours of the new facility.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Verizon will enter the CDN market this year

a comment by Dan Rayburn to the article: Which Network is ‘Best’ and CDN Implications on Telecom Rumblings:

>>
Verizon will enter the CDN market this year with a delivery offering, but it won’t be by themselves and will be in conjunction with another company. I will post all the details about it when I am allowed.

IBM: Containers Will Provide Instant Capacity

An interesting comment by IBM, in a Data Center Knowledge article about data center containers:

>>On June 11 IBM unveiled its "data center family" of modular systems, including the Portable Modular Data Center (PMDC), a container product that can ship with compute capacity only, or as a self-contained data center with complete physical infrastructure including UPS, cooling systems, batteries, fire suppression and remote monitoring.

....

But the larger market will be for enterprise customers that have run out of data center space - or power and cooling - and need additional capacity in a hurry. Cefola noted projections that 80 percent of data center operators will need to expand their facilities in the next two years.

"Nine out of 10 of our clients say they can't build a data center fast enough," said Cefola. "We see that it's a tremendous opportunity."

AccuStream Research: CDN Revenue Climbs to $950 Million in ’07

AccuStream Research: CDN Revenue Climbs to $950 Million in 07, $1.25 Bil. Forecast in 08; Entertainment at 44% Share

SALINAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) generated $947 million in account revenue in 2007, forecast to grow by 32% in 08.

Commercial market value (transit, retail, self-hosted delivery) for audio, video, streaming advertising, progressive download, Podcasting and download entertainment was worth $589.1 million in 2007, according to the multi-year sector analytics report CDN Market Growth 2006 2009, published by AccuStream Research.

CDN delivery contracts for audio and video generated $404.1 million (retail and transit); media and entertainment captured 42.7% of that vertical.

CDNs handled 68.8% of total professional video in 2007, 28% of Internet music ratio listening hours and 40% of UGV.

Patrick Swayze looking great, tells photographers “I’m a miracle, dude.”


55 year-old Patrick Swayze has put on some weight and is looking good as he battles pancreatic cancer. He has undergone experimental “cyberknife” surgery and was thought to be gaunt and just hanging in there but these latest photos may prove the speculation wrong.

From: Cele|bitchy- a gossip and entertainment blog

Don't Fear The Bandwidth Apocalypse

From Broadband reports, an opinion on the potential "Internet congestion":

>>A good rule of thumb: when someone claims the Internet is facing bandwidth armageddon,
it's usually because they're in the business of designing and selling traffic shaping hardware, trying to justify new and frequently unjustifiable broadband pricing models, or trying to scare politicians into doing what they want. The guys actually working in the network operation centers will generally tell you that congestion can almost always be handled with smart design and capacity upgrades.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Equinix 2Q 2008 results forecast

First of all, let's have a look at the outlook given by Equinix

>>Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2008, the Company expects revenues to be in the range of $169.0 to $171.0 million. Cash gross margins are expected to range between 60% and 61% and includes incremental costs from expansion IBX centers opening in the quarter. Cash selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to be approximately $37.0 million. EBITDA for the quarter is expected to be between $65.0 and $68.0 million. Capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2008 are expected to be $100.0 to $110.0 million, comprised of approximately $20.0 million of ongoing capital expenditures and $80.0 to $90.0 million of expansion capital expenditures.

For the full year of 2008, total revenues are expected to be in the range of $685.0 to $700.0 million. Total year cash gross margins are expected to range between 60% and 61%. Cash selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to be approximately $143.0 million. EBITDA for the year is expected to be between $270.0 and $280.0 million. Capital expenditures for 2008 are expected to be in the range of $365.0 to $380.0 million, comprised of approximately $60.0 million of ongoing capital expenditures and $305.0 to $320.0 million of expansion capital expenditures. Expansion capital expenditures are for the announced expansions in the Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. Markets.

In the P/R announcing the 2Q 2008 conference call, Equinix said:

>>The company will discuss second quarter results for the period ended June 30, 2008, and outlook for the third quarter and full year 2008.

This is somehow interesting, as the Company has never mentioned, in the past, giving outlook for the full year, unless they were announcing 1Q results. We speculate there will be an update on full year 2008 forecast. (as a reminder, Equinix had already increased yearly outlook the last c.c.)

Analysts estimates, according to Yahoo:

Earnings Est:

Current Qtr

Avg. Estimate 0.14

No. of Analysts 13

Low Estimate 0.02

High Estimate 0.29

Revenue Est

Current Qtr

Avg. Estimate 169.97M

No. of Analysts 14

Low Estimate 169.10M

High Estimate 170.79M

EPS Trends

Current Qtr

Current Estimate 0.14

7 Days Ago 0.13

EPS Revisions

Current Qtr

Up Last 7 Days 2

As you may notice, two analysts updated recently their forecast for the quarter.

According to a few posts on the Yahoo MB, both Smith Barney and Citigroup are quite positive on the Company getting into the second half of 2008:

>>Smith Barney analyst has revised his 2008, 2009, and 2010 earnings estimates upward

>>Citigroup Global Markets analyst says his newest analysis shows potential for upside revenue guidance from the company for 2008. His target price remains at $120/sh.

>>Asia Offers Upside to 2Q Consensus and Guidance - We are raising our near-term operating forecasts to reflect incremental strength, principally from Asia, based on our revised bottoms-up revenue analysis, supporting upside potential to FY08 revenue guidance and the '09 revenue consensus. Our 2Q revenue forecast increases to $170.8 mil., while our bottoms-up revenue analysis still implies further upside potential to our forecast by up to another $1.6 million.
Expect Strong Demand to Be Emphasized in NYC Metro, DC & London - We expect favorable demand trends to be emphasized on its 2Q call set for 7/23, as we expect EQIX to remain bullish on trends in DC; formally announce the build out of Secaucus phase II, which is already built into our capex forecasts, with the possibility of Phase I being sold-out before the new expansion comes on-line; and strong demand in London, which may facilitate another expansion.
European Bookings Remain Well Ahead of Billing - We are encouraged on the potential upside from its European portfolio contribution as booking levels were at 87% exiting 4Q, while we believe revenue billings as of 1Q were only around 53%, and we believe both demand and pricing trends remain favorable.
Reit. Buy on EQIX - We recommend Buying EQIX with a target price of $120 on the recent pull-back, as our revised bottoms-up revenue analysis suggests room for further upside potential to our upwardly revised forecasts that are above FY08 revenue guidance and consensus 2008 - 2010.

Let's have a look at the expansions forecasted for 2008:

SV2 (phase 2) expansion due to open Mid 2Q 2008 + 1,100 cabinets

DC5 expansion due to open end 2Q 2008 + 1,650 cabinets

TY2 (phase 3) expansion due to open April 2008 (+ 400 cabinets? speculation)

Paris 2 (phase 3) expansion due to open 2Q 2008 + 1,000 cabinets

Amsterdam 1 opening due mid 2008 + 1,120 cabinets

Frankfurt 2 (phase 2b) expansion due to open beginning 3Q 2008 + 840 cabinets

HK1 (phase 2) expansion due to open 3Q 2008 + 550 cabinets

London 4 (phase 3) expansion due to open 3Q 2008 + 1,600 cabinets

SG1 (phase 3) expansion due to open 4Q 2008 + 300 cabinets

SY2 expansion due to open 4Q 2008 + 650 cabinets

Resuming: 4,150 cabinets (the number includes 400 cabinets in Tokyo, our speculation) should have been added in the 2Q 2008, 1,120 cabinets will be added once Amsterdam is open, 2,990 cabinets will be added in the 3Q 2008, and 950 cabinets in the last quarter (total for all regions).

Equinix opened the 1Q 2008 with a saleable capacity of 30,100 cabinets in the USA and Asia, and closed the 1Q with 30,300 cabinets (with approximately 23,500 cabinets or about 78% of saleable cabinets billing, and 1,500 cabinets billing added in the quarter) At the end of the 2Q 2008, the total number for USA and Asia should jump to 33,450 cabinets saleable, giving the Company more room, in strategic markets, for further expansion. Europe too will benefit from added cabinets.

Our research and channel checks seem to indicate strong demand for the Company, so that we will not be surprised to hear that the high end of expectation for the quarter (revenues of $ 171 million) has been reached or exceeded, and that the high end of expectations for 2008 ($ 700 million) becomes the mid target for Equinix in 2008.

We do also expect an announcement for the build out of the second phase of Secaucus, with the first phase sold out well ahead of expectations. Confirmation on the opening of Amsterdam with some numbers on bookings / expectations from this market.

Most new European and Asian expansions are fully booked, so, unless there is a slow down by some customers, because of the weak economy, forcing them to re-negotiate the space booked, we believe that, with the strong track record of execution by the Company, results should be very good in these regions. Also looking forward to more clarity on Europe (number of cabinets available and billing, average rental per cabinet/month, increase in cross connects, margins, etc.).

Paolo Gorgo'