Friday, December 31, 2010

Notice of Intention to Nominate Individuals for Election as Directors at the 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Immersion Corporation

The undersigned stockholder, Dialectic Capital Partners, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Dialectic Capital Partners” or the
“Nominating Stockholder”), a stockholder of record of 1,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Shares”) and with its
affiliates the beneficial owner of an additional 947,261 of the Shares of Immersion Corporation (the “Company”), hereby furnishes notice to
the Company of Dialectic Capital Partners’ intention to nominate the two persons named in Annex I hereto (the “Nominees”) for election as
directors at the Company’s 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (including any adjournments, postponements, reschedulings or continuations
thereof, the “Annual Meeting”), or any other meeting of stockholders held or any actions taken without a meeting in lieu thereof.

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/IMMR/979590510x0xS1144204-10-69013/1058811/1144204-10-69013.pdf

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Immersion Corp Climbs 11.1% (IMMR)

from Benzinga:

>>Shares of Immersion Corporation are currently up 11.1% at $6.32 per share during Thursday afternoon trading.

Today's trading range for shares of Immersion Corporation has been between $5.50 and $6.29 per share.

The consensus price target of analysts covering the company's stock is $7.50 per share.

Volume of 1.3 million shares is far above the daily average volume of 152,000 shares.


Equinix Upgraded to Outperform

We recently upgraded our long-term rating on Equinix Inc. (EQIX), a leading provider of data center solutions, to Outperform from Neutral. The rating was upgrade on the back of third-quarter 2010 earnings results, which were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The upgrade was driven by strong demand across international markets, especially in the global data center services segment, encouraging fourth quarter and fiscal 2010 guidance and continuous efforts to expand the current facilities.

Read more at: http://wallstreetpit.com/55107-equinix-upgraded-to-outperform

Pinnacle to debut bladeless “knife” to fight cancer

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** Pinnacle's CK is Pennsylvania's 4th, not 3rd. PA's next CKs are Bucks County Specialty Hospital in Bensalem and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85595&catid=34&Itemid=16

CPBJ Daily
December 28, 2010
By Paula Holzman

Harrisburg-based PinnacleHealth System is slated to become only the third facility in the state to offer a new type of cancer treatment.

The device, known as the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, will debut when the PinnacleHealth-Fox Chase Cancer and Imaging Center opens, slated for early April.

Argentina's 1st Cyberknife

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** translated from Spanish **

Noticias (Argentina magazine)
Society | Health & Technology
Dec 2010

In addition, the country became the first team of radiosurgery-ray that can treat tumors located anywhere in the body. Although the name would suggest that the surgery is not what CyberKnife (cyber knife in Castilian) ago. In reality, the system tumors bombarded by radiation and sub-millimeter accuracy. For that is equipped with a small particle accelerator and a robotic arm that manages power anywhere in the body and from any direction.

...


"Currently there are 200 CyberKnife installed worldwide, 110 in the United States and 41 in Japan, 2 in Venezuela, describes Vosen. The rest is in various countries and is expected to arrive soon to Argentina.

Entrants Flood Race to Rival iPad



from WSJ:

>A race to respond to Apple Inc.'s hit iPad gadget enters a new phase next week, as a host of companies use a Las Vegas trade show to talk up a broad array of tablet-style devices.

Companies expected to introduce touchscreen tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show include big names such as Motorola Inc., Dell Inc. and Acer Inc., as well as smaller manufacturers. Trying to stand apart, the devices will offer displays of various sizes and different operating systems. Some will have two built-in cameras; others none.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A FiberLight Q&A on Metro Ethernet

from www.tmcnet.com:

>>What products does FiberLight provide for the Metro Ethernet market?

FiberLight offers a full suite of Metro Ethernet services over our fiber optic network. FiberLight offers E-Line, a point to point offering leveraging our core fiber networks. FiberLight offers an E-LAN any to any or one to any Ethernet offering and FiberLight offers an E-Tree offering for its wholesale customers looking to extend their reach within our markets from a single or redundant POPs. FiberLight has also participated in several of the carrier Ethernet exchange services, extending our presence through Equinix and Telx today, and soon additional interconnection points will be added.

Samsung to Unveil Music Player in January to Take on Apple's iPod Touch

from www.bloomberg.com:

>>Samsung Electronics Co. said it will unveil a digital music player in January.

The “Galaxy Player” will use Google Inc.’s Android software, Samsung Electronics said in an e-mailed statement today. The device will go on sale in South Korea by the middle of next month, Nam Ki Yung, a spokesman for the Suwon, South Korea-based company, said in a separate phone interview.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Equinix Prepays $100M Mortgage on Beaumeade Business Park in Ashburn

from dcrealestate.citybizlist.com:

>>Equinix has prepaid a mortgage of approximately $100 million secured by the 32-acre Beaumeade Business Park in Ashburn, VA.

...

The Mortgage was prepaid to the Lender and its assignees for an amount equal to 105% of the then outstanding principal balance of the Loan, plus interest and other charges, totaling approximately $93,813,270.

---

from the analyst day:

DEBT RESTRUCTURING TO BE CONSIDERED:
Ashburn mortgage repayment (LTV 12% and inflexible debt structure)

Accuray Inc. CEO Euan Thomson: uncertainty in the medical device space will likely remain a constant in 2011.

from www.massdevice.com:

>>Euan Thomson is CEO of Accuray Inc., maker of the CyberKnife radiosurgery system. The device, which uses a highly focused beam of X-ray energy to blast tumors in hard-to-reach places, recently won 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration for its Lung Optimized Treatment. We asked Thomson to characterize 2010 in terms of the economic climate for medical capital equipment and what developing technologies get the juices flowing at Accuray.

I would say that the word “uncertainty” would characterize 2010. For those of us selling medical capital equipment, it was a year when the environment was fast-changing, with many overlapping variables. The entire year was dominated by uncertainty over whether we were exiting the recession and if so, how fast? Assuming the impact of the recession was diminishing, there was further uncertainty over how soon that would impact access to capital and the capital spending plans of hospitals and other customers.

Samsung confirms Galaxy Player, will showcase at CES 2011

from www.samsunghub.com:

>>Samsung has announced a new Android-based Galaxy Player that will be showcased next week at the CES 2011. Samsung says the new music player takes inspiration from its successful Galaxy S phone and is spec’d similarly sans the cellular connectivity.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Tennessee's 4CK installed at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** Saint Francis Hospital and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis are interested to acq a CK. TN's health board allowed Saint Francis's purchase in Jul 2008 but nothing has happened yet. Baptist Memorial filed a letter of intent to the board in Oct 2010. **

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_191077.asp

Erlanger Managers Achieve Performance Goals
December 23, 2010

The Erlanger Health System management team received incentive payouts this week for achieving fiscal year 2009-10 performance goals set by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority Board of Trustees.

....

Erlanger Board Chairman Dr. Dan Quarles said “At a time when many hospitals across the state and nation are struggling to break even, Erlanger achieved a strong financial performance. This accomplishment, particularly for a safety net hospital like Erlanger, allows us to reinvest in our employees, as well as our facilities and cutting-edge technology.”

....

Among the more notable business partnerships and accomplishments this year were the announcement of Erlanger at Volkswagen Drive, the health system’s sixth campus serving Volkswagen employees, their families, as well as the surrounding community; acquisition of a CYBERKNIFE, the region’s first and most advanced non-invasive device for treating inoperable tumors.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Kaspersky launches Sydney-based hosted security

from www.crn.com.au:

>>Partners with local data centres, disties and resellers.

Security vendor Kaspersky Labs has quietly launched a hosted security service from two Sydney data centres which offers email and web threat protection as a hosted service.

Kaspersky Hosted Security Services has been running for select customers from a cluster of servers located in two Sydney data centres since mid-October.

The vendor has kept mum on which data centres are hosting the service, saying only that the “two biggest data centre providers in Australia” have signed on to run the cluster.

By that rationale, the hosters are likely to be Global Switch and Equinix.

Peak Web Hosting Offers a Solution to Holiday Server Slowdowns

Press Release, from Benzinga:

>>MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Peak Web Hosting, the pre-eminent managed hosting and private enterprise cloud provider, announces its expansion into the Equinix Washington DC (DC5) International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center campus to optimize the performance of online shopping during the peak holiday season.

The holiday season online traffic peak brings with its celebrations much higher system loads and server errors, network slowdowns and occasional outages. The problems always seem to arrive when traffic is at its highest and staff is on vacation. The surge in e-commerce traffic bogs down countless online retailers and reveals shortcomings in back-end infrastructure and system redundancy. By leveraging bi-coastal data centers with multiple ten-gigabit connectivity options, Peak Web Hosting provides its customers with the redundancy and capacity to accommodate the largest swings in network traffic.

“We take uptime seriously,” explains CEO Jeffrey Papen. “Since its inception, Peak Web Hosting has delivered the scalable, redundant solutions critical to the capacity planning requirements of enterprise production environments, especially at this time of year.”

Despite the recent and challenging economic times, Peak Web Hosting has continued its North American expansion to satisfy customer needs. The clients moving into new datacenters are looking for enterprise-class services to provide their organizations flexibility, capacity, and a 100%-uptime commitment. Having access to fully managed hosting and private enterprise cloud environments on both coasts allow clients to take advantage of mission-critical services where uptime and performance are priorities. Peak Web Hosting employs a highly redundant local computing architecture that is easily deployed in multiple data centers.

State-of-the-art treatments to commence in Jan 2011 at the Brunswick hospital in Georgia

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/12/23/5211271.htm

Dec 23, 2010 (The Brunswick News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

The CyberKnife, a radiotherapy robot that administers high-dose radiation with pin-point accuracy, will begin treating cancer patients at the Brunswick hospital of Southeast Georgia Health System next month.

The state-of-the-art equipment arrived at the end of November and required two weeks to be installed in the health system's Cancer Care Center.

The CyberKnife will be used to treat its first patient Jan. 17, said Timothy Jamieson, radiation oncologist and medical director for the CyberKnife program.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

President of Equinix Europe Wins Datacenter Leaders Award

Eric Schwartz Named 2010 Business Leader of the Year

LONDON, UK — December 23, 2010 — Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data center services, has announced that Eric Schwartz, President of Equinix Europe, won Business Leader of the Year at the 2010 Datacenter Leaders Awards. The accolade reflects Equinix’s success in offering a global data center platform where customers can quickly reach new markets.

The Datacenter Leaders Awards recognize innovation and leadership across the European data center industry. The judging panel is comprised of reputable industry experts, including data center owners, operators, vendors, consultants and media from across Europe.

The Business Leader of the Year category recognizes individuals who have successfully built a business case for the data center to key stakeholders. Schwartz has been instrumental in driving Equinix’s growth in the region. His vision is to deliver business value by helping companies speed time to market and achieve growth by accessing a global platform of high quality, interconnected data centers.

This year, Equinix executed its most comprehensive expansion program in Europe to date, with eight International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center openings in the region. Equinix’s IBX data centers are where customers connect to a robust industry ecosystem to ensure fast, reliable delivery of their content and applications to their strategic partners.

In addition, Equinix launched and expanded its European Carrier Ethernet Exchange service that enables local, regional and global carriers offering Ethernet-based services to easily interconnect to offer services on a global scale. For financial customers, Equinix’s collaboration with Deutsche Börse, one of the world’s leading stock exchanges and electronic trading platforms, helped create a roadmap for establishing, building and operating a global, state-of-the-art financial trading hub at Equinix’s Frankfurt (FR2) data center.

“It is a great honor to receive this award from such a prestigious organization,” said Eric Schwartz, president of Equinix Europe. “This is a credit to our entire European team, which has worked tirelessly to redefine the value proposition of the traditional data center. It is by moving beyond localized services and demonstrating how a single, global data center platform can enable organizations to scale their operations globally that Equinix has truly excelled in its field. Judged by some of the biggest names in our industry, we are delighted to have been recognized in this way.”

VoIP KB will host its first official FreeSWITCH training in Sydney

from www.itwire.com:

>>VoIPkb is offering the first "official" FreeSWITCH training in Sydney, Australia.
The FreeSWITCH Training Bootcamp is a full 3-day intensive training providing in-depth coverage of FreeSWITCH installation, configuration, maintenance and programming. You will learn, step by step, how to configure, manage and program the FreeSWITCH telephony soft switch in great detail. Tips and tricks in debugging and optimizing FreeSWITCH are also taught.
January 17th - 19th, 2011Sydney, Australia
www.voipkb.com
Location: Equinix is located in Unit B, 639 Gardeners Road Mascot, Sydney, NSW 2020. There is abundant parking available at the facility. Equinix is 2.2 km from the airport and 6.2 km from Sydney CBD
These courses are official FreeSWITCH training courses. This course will be taught by Darren Schreiber, one of the co-authors of the new FreeSWITCH book.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Touch panel supply to be tight in 2011, says Cypress

from www.digitimes.com:

>>Despite that first-tier touch panel makers are all actively expanding their capacity and are expected to double in 2011, Cypress Semiconductor expects touch panel supply to be short of overall demand due to demand from smartphones and tablet PCs, according to Andy Chin, managing director of Greater China region of Cypress.

Chin indicated that smartphone market demand growth in 2010 was better than expected, and the speed of capacitive touch replacing resistive touch in the market was also fast. Resistive touch accounted for 70% of the total touchscreen handset market in 2009 and dropped to about 30% in 2010, which means a 70% market share for capacitive touch panels. All touchscreen handset products are expected to adopt capacitive touch technology in 2011, Chin noted.

For tablet PCs, Chin added that with the whole industry maturing and the peak seasons in Europe and the US in the second half of 2011, tablet PC shipments are expected to increase significantly.

The tablet PC market was lead by iPad in 2010 with around 10 million units in shipments. Shipments of iPad in 2011 are expected to reach 25 million units, while the global tablet PC market is expected to reach 50-60 million. Due to the tight supply of touch panels in 2010 and shortage of touch control ICs in the third quarter of 2010, even if suppliers are able to double their capacity in 2011, expansion will not be able to reach the growth in demand, Chin said.

Poland's 1st CK installed in Gliwice, three more CK coming

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** translated from Polish **

=========================================
http://extrapolska.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7671:nowoczesna-metoda-radiotera
pii-w-gliwicach&catid=428:extra-wiadomoci&Itemid=347


Dec 22, 2010
Modern methods of radiotherapy in Gliwice

CyberKnife is a radiation-the-art method, which allows for precise treatment of cancer. It was presented today at the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice. Thanks cybernetycznemu knife radiotherapy may take place a few weeks, 5 days. It is the only such facility in Poland. Its cost is 20 mln zł.

....

It is planned to create four centers equipped with such devices. Programme "Cyberknife in Poland" will be covered but also in Gliwice Warsaw, Krakow and Poznan.

=========================================
http://www.tvs.pl/informacje/31918,nowoczesny_robot_chirurgiczny_ma_pomoc_w_walce_z_nowotworami.html

2010-12-21
Modern surgical robot to assist in the fight against cancer

Radiotherapy shorter by a few weeks? This is possible thanks to the so-called. Its effect was presented today at the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice. With it you can treat tumors very precisely. This is the first of its type in Poland. Hand in hand with the money for equipment, but do not go the money for his use. Therefore, the queue instead of decreasing, is increasing.

It is precise and very radical in the fight against cancer, and by the way saves the patient a lot. This is the first cyber knife in Poland. For 20 million Gliwice clinic has gained a robot like no other, is able to fight cancer and its metastases.

...

Launched in Gliwice CyberKnife is the first of four which are to operate in Poland.

=========================================
http://polskalokalna.pl/wiadomosci/swietokrzyskie/news/cybernetyczny-noz-szybciej-leczy-nowotwory-w-gliwicach,1574332,3286

Dec 21, 2010
Cyber knife faster cure cancer in Gliwice

CyberKnife - a cyber knife, which is state of the art method of radiotherapy, which allows very precise cure cancer - were presented Tuesday at the Institute of Oncology in Gliwice. The device can reduce the amount of radiation a few weeks to up to 5 days. This is the first of its type in Poland, costing 20 million zł.

...

It will be in four cities

- The provision of such equipment had not yet been measured. Agency for Health Technology Assessment valued service to the specified equipment to a specific method - that is more modern than its predecessors. It is certainly the hope of introducing it to the basket of benefits - told reporters.

Ministry of Health has accepted the program "Network Cybeknife in Poland." You have chosen four centers - radiotherapy centers possess a certificate of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna as to ensure high quality services, using this method. In addition it is Gliwice Warsaw, Krakow and Poznan.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Apparatus and method for radiosurgery

United States Patent 7,853,313
Thomson December 14, 2010

Apparatus and method for radiosurgery

Abstract

A method and system is presented for treating moving target regions in a patient's anatomy by creating radiosurgical lesions. The method includes determining a pulsating motion of a patient separately from a determining of a respiratory motion, and directing a radiosurgical beam, from a radiosurgical beam source, to a target in the patient based on the determining of the pulsating motion. Directing the radiosurgical beam to the target may include creating a lesion in the heart to inhibit atrial fibrillation. The method may further include determining the respiratory motion of the patient, and compensating for movement of the target, due to the respiratory motion and the pulsating motion of the patient, in the directing of the radiosurgical beam based on the determining of the respiratory motion and the determining of the pulsating motion.


Inventors: Thomson; Euan (Los Gatos, CA)
Assignee: Accuray Incorporated (Sunnyvale, CA)
Appl. No.: 11/638,337
Filed: December 12, 2006

CyberKnife media reel

CyberKnife media reel highlighting a few broadcast clips, print coverage, social media posts, awards, advertising, patient and clinicians testimonials, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9oZn9BqNCo

CFN, Essex to Provide Unified Communication and Dark Fiber Colocation Infrastructure

from tmcnet.com:

>>As a leading provider of ultra-low latency networking, network design, and managed services, CFN Services teamed up with Essex Radez as its North American market data partner. Through its Velcitick subsidiary, Essex Radez delivers all North American exchange feeds and allows its clients to co-locate any number of servers in any of its five data centers such as Equinix Secaucus, Savvis Weehawken, NASDAQ Carteret, Equinix Chicago, and CBOE Chicago.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Pinching kilowatts adds up to big savings for Equinix Read more: Pinching kilowatts adds up to big savings for Equinix

from www.bizjournals.com:

>>This isn’t your grandfather’s server farm.

When data center operator Equinix Inc. opened a new facility in San Jose last month, it also revealed the latest in technology that aims to reap as much power as possible from every last watt.

“In terms of our other data centers, this will be one of the more efficient in the world,” CEO Steve Smith said.

The effort isn’t just about being green for green’s sake. The Foster City-based company expects to save around $1 million a year in utility costs

...

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Nexus S


http://www.google.com/nexus/#/tech-specs

Vice President of Marketing for Europe

Equinix today announced that Dick Theunissen has joined the company as its Vice President of Marketing for Europe. Theunissen will spearhead Equinix marketing in Europe, focusing on how organizations in the region can rely on Equinix’s global platform of high performance International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers and services to expand geographic reach and improve application performance.


Dick Theunissen Joins Equinix as Vice President of Marketing for Europe

Tech 2011 outlook: Cloudy, chance of takeovers

from www.marketwatch.com:

>>“The data center market did well in 2010, and I certainly expect it to an area of significant focus and investment next year, as well,” said Erik Suppiger, managing director of Signal Hill Capital Group. “There’s a growing need for work-related applications and a growth in dynamic, bandwidth-intensive content that’s driving content providers to think about where to invest for their needs.”

One of the companies that Suppiger is high on for next year is Equinix Inc., a provider of data-center operations that companies often use for hosting their applications and information in a so-called “cloud” environment. On Oct. 6, Equinix shares plunged more than 33% after the company issued revenue warnings for its third quarter and entire fiscal year. That warning took down many other data-center operators along with Equinix. However, Suppiger said he believes the selloff was overdone. “The [stock] pullback made them even more attractive,” Suppiger said. “Right now, a lot of investors are trying to determine whether the market is reaching maturity. We believe the demand is still there and there will be a need for more data center capacity.”

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Accuray Up 10% After Receiving FDA Clearance

from Benzinga:

>>Shares of Accuray Incorporated are up almost 10% this morning, after the company received FDA clearance for its CyberKnife® System's lung optimized treatment.

Analysis: Dude, where's my save?

from www.gamepro.com:

>>As General Manager at Equinix and a former PC gamer himself, he's one of few people who actually knows which companies databank with him -- most companies like Zynga won't make that information public. To them, it's a security risk because they don't want people trying to physically assault their servers (which can happen the way it went down with Lineage II); but to OnLive, announcing that they databank with Equinix encourages user trust -- because no datacenter sounds safer than Equinix's.

"They're basically maintained as anonymous sites, and most often where we do development we do them in warehouse areas," Poole says, giving us a verbal tour of our OnLive saved games' home. "So from the outside, they're indistinguishable from any other warehouse. There is no marking, we don't put our logo on the outside of the building. If you were just to walk up to it, the only thing you might notice are all the closed circuit cameras that look at the outside. To get in, you would need a code to get into the security lobby. Once you're in there, that's where the security guards are, and then there is a mantrap layer between the security lobby and the regular lobby. Where you have to go through a biometric security check."

IPC extends collaboration with Equinix to Frankfurt and London

from www.automatedtrader.net:

>>IPC Systems has announced that it has extended its collaboration with Equinix to two of Equinix's European data centres in Frankfurt and London Slough.

"The Equinix global platform effectively serves its financial market participants with a direct connection to its partners," said John Knuff, general manager of Global Financial Services at Equinix. "IPC provides our financial partners and customers with a reliable and scalable option for their trading connectivity requirements. IPC has a global footprint and depth of experience that makes it a high quality connectivity choice for our financial communities in Frankfurt and London Slough."

"ECS is a compelling connectivity choice for members of the electronic trading community operating within Equinix's financial ecosystems in the London Slough and Frankfurt IBX data centres," said Dave Brown, IPC Senior Vice President of Global Network Operations. "We represent a strong choice, especially for firms looking to trade across multiple regions, in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as expanding financial services markets in the Asia-Pacific region."

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Morgan Stanley Jacks Christmas Smartphone Sales Expectations

from www.businessinsider.com:

>>Morgan Stanley just jacked its Q4 smartphone forecast to 99.4 million units, up from its previous estimate of 88.2 million units, analyst Ehud Gelblum writes in a note.
  • Also in the note, but not a new estimate: Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty thinks Apple will sell 16 million iPhones in the December quarter, up from the firm's previous estimate of 13.2 million, and up from 14 million shipments last quarter.
  • Gelblum also expects Nokia to ship 31.1 million smartphones, up from his previous estimate of 28.9 million, and up from 26.5 million last quarter.
  • He expects 28 million Android devices sold in Q4, up from 5.2 million in Q1.
  • Gelblum expects 112 million Android shipments in 2011, versus 47 million iPhones, and 28 million Windows Phone units.

Gelblum thinks the smartphone market will grow to 297 million devices next year, up 62% year-over-year.


Another Reason To Get The C7: Enhanced Haptic

not sure this is correct, though... see the comment section

from thenokiaguide.com:

>>Still can’t decide between the N8, C7 or E7? Take a look at our handy comparison, which might make the decision making process a bit easier.

If you’ve looked at that chart closely, you’d notice that the C7 has one feature that both the N8 and E7 lack: Enhanced haptic. What’s strange about this is that it isn’t mentioned in the C7’s specs and the Product Manager didn’t really talk about. It wasn’t until I used the C7, did I notice that there was something different about it compared to the N8. While typing with the virtual QWERTY keyboard I noticed that the haptic feedback was much better.

When I asked the Product Manager, he confirmed that indeed the C7 was using a newer generation of haptic feedback. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it’s as if each single key vibrated separately, instead of just the entire device vibrating to simulate a single key press. It’s as if they placed individual tiny motors beneath each key on screen, which of course is impossible. The general idea behind this on previous devices was to give you some tactile feedback, the sensation that you actually pressed a physical button. On all previous devices like N900, 5800, N97 and even the N8, it did give you feedback, but it wasn’t really like pressing a single, isolated button, it was more like: Oh, the entire phone vibrated.

On the C7 they’ve done an amazing job, creating a very effective and elegant effect that actually feels like pressing a key. The way each key vibrates separately without affecting other areas needs to be felt to be appreciated. It’s a very sophisticated process with subtleties that takes this to another level and that works beautifully on the C7. What makes this even more surreal is when you realize that your touching a piece of glass and that this is coming from a device that seems impossibly thin. This time Nokia got that just right.

Did you like or noticed the Nokia C7’s enhanced haptic?

Haptics Explained by an Expert

Interactive Data Extends to Equinix Data Centres in Tokyo and London

Further extends global presence to enable faster trading for financial market participants

LONDON and TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, and Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data centre services, today announced that Interactive Data has extended its presence in Asia and the UK by adding Equinix Tokyo-2 (TY2) and London-4 (LD-4) International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centres to its existing presence with Equinix in Hong Kong, Sydney, Chicago, New York and Frankfurt. The new data centres are integral to Interactive Data’s global expansion programme for its real-time market data and trading solutions, by further extending the Company’s capabilities to key financial markets across the globe.

“Our joint financial clients can greatly benefit from the services of Interactive Data to make secure and direct connections to multiple partners simultaneously inside Equinix data centres around the world.”

By expanding the Interactive Data 7ticks low-latency trading infrastructure to new major money centres, clients can gain direct access via a single service provider to regional multi-asset markets, as well as to Interactive Data’s low-latency, consolidated global datafeed, PlusFeedSM.

“Equinix has been our valuable provider over the years and we are excited to be expanding with them in the Tokyo and London markets,” said Joe Bigane, managing director for Interactive Data 7ticks. “Our objective in the real-time market space is to provide best-in-class value. These expansion efforts are only a few of many that we are undertaking to meet the growing needs of our trading clients. Equinix’s global platform, rich network density and expertise in the financial services industry helps ease our expansion efforts to offer ultra-low latency access with ongoing technical support and monitoring solutions.”

“We are very pleased to extend the relationships with Interactive Data, enabling its offering of ultra-low latency proximity services to the financial services community on our global platform,” said John Knuff, general manager of Global Financial Services at Equinix. “Our joint financial clients can greatly benefit from the services of Interactive Data to make secure and direct connections to multiple partners simultaneously inside Equinix data centres around the world.”

Interactive Data now has a presence or connectivity in locations across the globe. This broadening of connectivity venues and hosting capabilities is helping Interactive Data to advance its strategy for meeting the evolving needs of its growing institutional customer base for electronic trading. The Company continues to build out its global ultra-low latency trading network infrastructure, which can support a broader range of high-quality direct exchange access and consolidated datafeed services.

Monday, December 13, 2010

New Cyberknife at Bucks County Speciality Hospital in PA

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** The CK is owned by Bucks County Specialty Hospital in Bensalem, PA and managed by Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center.

http://www.philadelphiarecruiter.com/job_display.php?alpha=2821708&searchstring=&category_alpha=0


Cyberknife Program-RN Coordinator
Company: Bucks County Speciality Hospital
Location: Bensalem
Posted on: December 2, 2010

Bucks County Specialty Hospital is a single-specialty surgical hospital in Bensalem, Pennsylvania....

We have immediate opening for a Cyberknife Program, RN Coordinator.

First Cyberknife installed in Poland

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** translated from Polish **

Gazeta, Poland
Judith Watoła
2010-12-07

Robokop vs. cancer. In Gliwice, Poland is already a reality

Strike with precision and cancer from all sides at once - it's possible! Oncology Centre in Gliwice in Poland as the first camera to starts the-art CyberKnife radiation. When the former are like children's toys Robokopie - said prof. Bogusław Maciejewski, head of the center

New CK installed in 2011-Q1

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>There are 9 new CK installed in Q1 (USA-3, Canada-1, Europe-4, Japan-1):

USA (3)
- Oakwood Hospital, Dearborn MI
- Christus Spohn Cancer Center, Corpus Christi TX
- Pinnacle Health System, Harrisburg PA

INTERNATIONAL (Canada-1, Europe-4, Japan-1)
- Ottawa General Hospital, Ottawa, Canada
- Vicenza Hospital, Vicenza, Italy
- Izmir Ataturk Training and Research Hospital, Aegean, Turkey
- Instituto Madrileno de Oncologia (Madrid Institute of Oncology), Madrid, Spain
- Burnazyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia
- Sendai Radiation Oncology & Imaging Clinic, Miyagi, Japan

Bulgarian PM Inaugurates Top-of-Line Diagnostic Ward

from www.novinite.com:

>>The Health Ministry is expected to issue by Wednesday a permit for the University Hospital to install the most modern apparatus for tumor treatment – the so-called cyber knife. Currently, such treatment of Bulgarians in need of it is done in neighboring Turkey while the State pays for the services of Turkish hospitals.

Introducing Digital Realty Trust’s New 370,500 sq ft Singapore Data Center

http://info.digitalrealtytrust.com/Virtual-Tour-Video.html

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Harbour IT Expands Cloud Services Offering with Equinix

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — December 9, 2010 Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data centre services, today announced that Harbour IT, a leading information technology services company providing infrastructure, managed services, and cloud computing solutions, is expanding its presence within Equinix’s Sydney International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centre to satisfy increasing customer demand for its cloud offering.

“We made the decision to increase our cloud capability due to growing demand,” said Adam Simpson, national cloud services manager at Harbour IT. “Harbour IT offers customers a choice - a reliable cloud-based Infrastructure as a Service as well as support for stand-alone systems and equipment on a cloud platform.”

Harbour IT selected Equinix because of its reliable and secure data centre facilities that enable the delivery of highly available services to end-users.

“Harbour IT’s presence within our cloud ecosystem, including more than 50 networks and interconnection services in Sydney, optimises performance and creates opportunity to sell their solutions to a diverse range of Equinix customers,” commented Darren Mann, managing director, Equinix Australia. “Platform Equinix provides the global presence, network density, and direct marketplace community that delivers an optimised end-user experience.”

Cloud Service Provider Cyso Consolidates Data Center Operations at New Equinix Data Center in Amsterdam

Amsterdam9 December 2010 Equinix, a provider of global data center services, today announced that Cyso, a Dutch provider of cloud services, has moved its operations into Equinix’s fourth International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the Netherlands (AM2). The IBX data center officially opened today at the company’s grand opening event.

Cyso, one of the first ISPs in the Netherlands, recently decided to move its data center operations into Equinix’s state of the art AM2 IBX data center to expand its offering to encompass cloud services. Cyso selected Platform Equinix to offer its services on a global scale, allowing it to meet the needs of customers, no matter where they reside.

“The advantages of relocating to Equinix go way beyond access to highly resilient data center services, for example, the real Equinix value-add comes from its global footprint of data centers,” said Paul Bankert, Manager Business & Software Development at Cyso. “We have aggressive plans to expand internationally and are now confident we are best positioned to support this growth.”

In addition to global reach, Cyso can optimize the delivery performance of its cloud services with access to more than 45 carrier networks, as well as direct access to AMS-IX the world’s largest single metro area Internet exchange. Through the Equinix ecosystem, Cyso can cross-connect to these carriers in just a matter of hours, enabling it to grow its network quickly and easily to match customer demand.

“We continue to experience strong demand for our data center services in Amsterdam and we are pleased to meet the needs of Cyso’s expansion into cloud services,” said Michiel Eielts, General Manager of Equinix, Netherlands. “Through our unique global platform, our customers have access to rich ecosystems of potential partners and customers, enabling them to connect with other leading companies and maximize their business opportunities.”

AM2 is Equinix’s fourth data center in the Netherlands, the second phase of which was completed in Q3 2010.

Remodel on extensive optical data process center – Equinix El Segundo CA.


http://precisetakeoff.com/2010/12/equinix-project-2/

Benchmark Sees Strong Outlook On Equinix

from www.benzinga.com:

>>Benchmark has published a research report on Equinix Inc. as the company has a solid growth outlook and rising sector values, according to Benchmark.

In the report, Benchmark writes "Equinix has a recurring revenue model with solid prospects for sustained growth. Equinix' communications real-estate service enables its customers to save money while outsourcing the location of their servers and related equipment. In addition, Equinix offers efficient connectivity with its tenants' operating partners. We forecast 2011 revenue of $1.5 billion for 16% y/y organic growth. Our EBITDA projection of $678 million reflects 19% organic growth. Management has consistently invested in data center builds citing strong demand trends. 2011 capex guidance, however, indicates a slowing in build plans and could unlock free cash flow. Our current estimates of 2011 recurring and after all capex FCF are $8.86 (10% yield) and $1.70 per share."

Benchmark maintains its Buy rating and $95 price target.

we're back

Due to a short trip abroad, the blog was quiet in the last few days. Back to normal.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Activ to open ticker plant at Equinix Toronto data centre

Activ Financial, a global provider of fully managed low-latency market data solutions, today announced the launch of its low-latency ticker plant at Equinix's TR1 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center on Front Street in Toronto.

"The Toronto market has seen great growth over the past few years, and expanding our presence in this important market is the next logical step for ACTIV," said Frank Piasecki, President and Co-Founder of ACTIV Financial. He continued, "We have seen strong demand for lower latency feeds from our Toronto-based clients, and we are opening this new direct ticker plant to service the growth in feed requests in this marketplace."

ACTIV clients in Toronto will have access to ACTIV low-latency consolidated global feeds coming in from 20+ data centers around the world, as well as access to direct Canadian ATS feeds, including TMX, MX, Alpha, Chi-X, Omega, and Pure. The service also offers a powerful API, as well as more than 50 existing ISV partners.

Mr. Piasecki said, "ACTIV always seeks to give customers a range of connection options through co-location to direct connections at cost effective price points. Partnering with Equinix in Toronto will allow us to bring our exemplary offering to our clients in Canada as well as other clients looking to leverage collocation to the Canadian markets. We look forward to continuing to expand our Canadian operations while maintaining our level of unmatched client service."

Equinix's Brown: Where You Store Your Cloud Data Matters

from www.tmcnet.com:

>>At the recent Cloud Expo 2010 in Santa Clara, Calif., TMC’s Erin Harrison had the opportunity to interview Equinix’s director of vertical marketing, Darryl Brown.

The company considers itself an enabler in the cloud space. Brown noted that the company is “the world’s largest data center provider,” saying that they facilitate their customers by allowing them to build their clouds in data centers. This “puts them close to the carrier backbone, which basically gets them much closer to their end users, improving the performance of their cloud,” and it puts them closer to any partners they may have for mashups.

Pihana's lawsuit



from www.staradvertiser.com:

>>Two years ago, former Gov. George Ariyoshi and others filed a lawsuit seeking as much as $725 million for what they said was an invalid 2002 merger involving the high-technology company Pihana Pacific.

But now Ariyoshi and his fellow plaintiffs, including the University of Hawaii, must pay $3.4 million in fees and costs to the attorneys who represented the companies named in the suit.

..

Although the civil defendants deny wrongdoing, the merits of the lawsuit were not litigated because Judge Trader dismissed the case. He essentially found that the suit, filed six years after the merger, came too late under the statute of limitation laws of Delaware, where Pihana was incorporated.

Immersion Corporation Three Year Forecast

One of the most entertaining exercises we enjoy every year around this time is to look back at our previous modelings for Immersion Corporation (IMMR).

Just referring to our Seeking Alpha articles, we started covering Immersion back in 2009 with the article “Immersion Q1 Forecast: Can It Bring Great Potential into Actual Revenues?”.

We are obviously still waiting for the Company to reach its inflection point, but nevertheless we decided to share with you our new forecast, so that, at least, as readers you can also enjoy the fun of looking back, in a few years, and say: “how wrong those guys were” (more seriously, we still believe Immersion could eventually turn into a decent investment, especially since the Company moved to a licensing model only. Realistically, it looks like it will take a few more years to reach a revenue level translating into good profits, assuming decent execution by management and increased adoption of haptic by new sectors/licensees).

A quick look at past performance:


For Q4 2010 we used the mid point of Company's guidance, although we believe Immersion could achieve a better result than forecasted.

What the chart seems to suggest is that Immersion can not be really considered a growth story, and that revenues are actually declining in 2010, after a good start in Q1.

Those of you who know the Company understand that Immersion moved to a different business model in 2010, so that a better view of its performance is given by this chart:


Q1 is usually a stronger quarter, due to seasonality, and Q2 2010 saw some additional revenues as gaming licensees adjusted their royalty reports.

Year-to-date, Immersion's royalty business has grown about 75%, compared to 2009, while the discontinued product business has decreased by more than 30%, putting a large shadow on the Company's overall performance.


Going forward, there are a few positive trends that should allow Immersion to keep growing its revenue stream nicely.

The high adoption rates of smart phones worldwide will certainly represent the key driver for the Company's growth in the short period, given the relationships with Samsung (SSNLF.PK), Nokia (NOK) and LG (LGERF.PK), just to mention some key licensees. Tablets, like Samsung's GALAXY Tab, will add an additional revenue stream soon, as well casino gaming, as 3M (MMM) recently started, for example, producing a haptic roulette.


We also expect royalties from semiconductor partners - Companies like Atmel (ATML), Cypress semiconductor (CY) and IDT (IDTI) - to reach a decent level going forward, and longer term the Automotive sector should start benefiting from the implementation of haptics into several new models through the Visteon (VSTO.PK) partnership (2012, at least).

It is interesting to turn our attention to the latest investors presentations made by Immersion. We refer, in particular, to the sheet highlighting the long term business model.


This sheet is taken from Immersion's August presentation to investors.

We highlighted two data: 2010 Revenue and 2012 Adjusted EBITDA (forecasted).

The Company recently announced that it will most probably exceed the high range of its annual guidance, so that revenues for 2010 are expected to be around $ 31 Million (assuming the midpoint of Q4 guidance).

It's more interesting to look at what the Company was forecasting for adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues (10% to 20%).

If we just turn to the same sheet on the November presentation, the Company seems comfortable in providing better numbers to investors:


As you may notice, Immersion is now forecasting Adjusted EBITDA to reach 30% to 35% of revenue in 2012, and Net Income of 5% to 20%.

Forecasts certainly don't commit management to achieving success, but we like to read into these improved numbers a deeper analysis of Immersion's cost structure, that should remain quite stable going forward, given the business model, and some improved expectations on the revenue side.

After all, Immersion has been growing since it was founded, although it hasn't been able, so far, to turn its intellectual property (IP) into a profitable Company, something that a licensing model, with 95% margins and growing revenues for improved adaption of haptics, might allow, within a couple of years.


Time to polish off our crystal ball – unfortunately the same that has been wrong so many times in the past about this Company.

Assuming Immersion achieves about $31 Million in revenue for 2010, the portion attributable to royalties, and products sales related to reference and design packages, demo solutions, etc. should be roughly around $ 27 Million.

While we do not believe that Immersion can keep growing royalties at a 75% rate in 2011, we think (hope) that a possible target to achieve in 2011 could be around $ 35 Million, with the increase driven by mobility, with tablets playing an interesting additional revenue stream in the category, chip partnerships, and a full year of medical simulators royalties.

Growth would still be a two digit number, compared to 2010, something Wall Street would appreciate, and such a sustained organic growth would nicely position the Company for 2012, when we hope that additional revenues might mature from other verticals, especially automotive, where just a few model wins could insure good royalties, and from increased royalties per unit in mobility (wider implementation of HD haptics effects).

Here is a quick look at our forecast for revenue (in $ Million):


It's probably useless, at this stage, to try to calculate what this could mean in terms of Adjusted EBITDA or profit in the next few years, as the main question with Immersion is and has always been if the Company can achieve a sustained revenue growth through adding new licensees/verticals, and by getting higher royalties per unit.

Any multiple used in this positive scenario would probably show that there is room for achieving a two digit stock price.

Our capacity to forecast short term action is even worse than our long term modelings. In line with the purpose of the article (let you have fun on our back in the future), we will also add that there seem to be a ceiling on the value of Immersion's stock, at the moment, at about $6.

Ramius, an activist fund that now owns about 13% of the Company, has recently been a seller above this limit, cutting its stake by a few percentage points in the last few months.

With a cost basis of about $4, it makes sense to take a 50% profit, although we believe that there might be another reason for this behavior.

Ramius has recently taken positions in a few turn around stories, like Immersion, mostly to obtain seats in the Board of Directors and push for a sale of the Company.

This hasn't really happened with Immersion, and we speculate that the BoD might prefer to try execute on the existing business plan, in order to maximize long term shareholder value, rather than position the Company for sale.

Assuming our view is correct, time will tell if this behavior does represent another sign that Immersion may be finally close to turning the corner.

NYSE Euronext 2011 Frankfurt Networking Event

For our 5th anniversary, we - and our sponsors Equinix and RTS - are proud to once again invite all of you to our now well known NYSE Euronext 2011 Frankfurt Networking Event!

Invitation extends to all market professionals in Fixed Income, Equity and Commodity Derivatives as well as Cash Equities (Fund Managers, Traders, Brokers, Sales, Equity Analysts, Back Office, Clearing, Risk Management, IT functions and Service Providers).

Please inform colleagues and business partners, also from outside Germany to make this the most diverse and valuable event possible for you and them.

Format is as follows:
- 11:00 - 18:30 : various sponsor and product presentations (tbd)
- 18:30 - 03:00 : networking cocktail, exclusive show and party

Please register via Xing, LinkedIn or mail, and forward us details of colleagues and clients you wish to bring along.

We expect to be fully booked and will filter entries so don't wait till the last minute...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Equinix controls the VAST majority of the IX traffic in the US

from Nanog:

>>Uhh... Reality check, with the S&D acquisition Equinix controls the VAST
majority of the IX traffic in the US. The only other IX's doing anything
even approaching interesting traffic are NOTA (in Miami), NYIIX (in New
York), SIX (in Seattle), and the former AtlantaIX (now Telx TIE) in
Atlanta. All are regional players, with very incomplete coverage of the
important regions in the US, so if you're peering in the US you're
almost guaranteed to be dealing with Equinix. Nobody else is even
noteworthy, you can probably do more traffic than the "other" IX's by
leaving a bit torrent client running overnight.

Anyone can throw a Linksys switch in their basement and call themselves
an exchange point, but that doesn't mean anyone is going to show up and
peer there.

--
Richard A Steenbergen

>>Woops, yes I forgot Any2 (how'd that happen? :P). Like Telx they've
recently deployed a bunch of new exchanges "all over", but there is
really only the one that does any traffic. :)


I don't think the combined Equinix / S&D numbers are published publicly
anywhere, but I'm sure it's north of a terabit. :)


Richard A Steenbergen

>>Even combined, no. It's north of 700 Gbps though. I am assuming they have combined S&D into the graph, though:


Given that Any2 is in the 200 range, Equinix is clearly more - more than all four combined.

But all the traffic on every Equinix and PAIX switch combined, is still lower than the traffic on any one of the three
large exchanges in Europe. It really is all about the PNIs.

--
TTFN,
patrick

Asymco: Half of the U.S. will use smartphones by the end of 2011

from tech.fortune.cnn.com:

>>

Source: Asymco.com

The data at left show phones in use (not phones sold) and come from Nielsen Co. The data at right are the projections of Asymco's Horace Dediu. If his forecasts are correct -- and they've been pretty good so far -- 50% of the U.S. population will be using smartphones by this time next year, up from less than 30% today and 18% a year ago.

differences between the CyberKnife and the Gamma Knife

Interested in learning about the differences between the CyberKnife and the Gamma Knife? Check out the latest CK Cam video discussing how the two systems vary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wJ2z_RXc8
www.youtube.com
Overview of the similarities and differences between the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System and the Gamma Knife.

Interview With The Chief Marketing Officer Of Equinix, Inc.

from www.twst.com:

>>TWST: Would you discuss some of the recently announced expansions or openings? There have been a few in Tokyo, Hong Kong and here in the States - Atlanta, D.C.

Mr. Appleby: Yes, I've just described the breadth of our global footprint and how we continue to invest in growing markets in support of our customers. Our recent growth has been accomplished both organically and through M And A.

Last year we added capacity in all of the major markets across Europe. This year we have also focused on our expansion throughout Asia-Pacific, specifically Tokyo and Hong Kong and mainland China. This year we also grew our presence across North America to 22 markets with the acquisition of Switch And Data. The acquisition also added needed capacity in markets where IBX campuses already existed.

The remainder of this 43 page Data Hosting Centers & Data Storage Report can be immediately viewed by purchasing online.

UK's 6th CK at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth open late next year

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>** UK's 3rd CK at Mount Vernon, 4th CK at Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, 5th CK at St James Hopsital in Leeds & 6th CK are under NHS (National Health Service). Raising awareness among patients force the UK government to consider the acquisition of more CK. **

http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/8715570.Breakthrough_for_cancer_campaigner_Ruth_Peberdy/

Breakthrough for cancer campaigner Ruth Peberdy

Bridgwater Mercury
3rd Dec 2010
By David Hemming


A SEDGEMOOR campaigner for revolutionary cancer treatment says one of her husband's dying wishes has at last been fulfilled.

The Mercury has reported how Ruth Peberdy has been tirelessly calling for a Cyberknife system to be brought to Bridgwater Hospital since her husband Ron's death of pancreatic cancer in 2005.

NHS Somerset says the non-invasive treatment, which uses high-density radiation beams to kills cancer cells, is too expensive.

However, patients here WILL at last have the chance to access it.

Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has become the first NHS hospital to fully fund a Cyberknife centre, which should open late next year.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Samsung Galaxy Tab Sales Pass 1 Million

from www.informationweek.com:

>>Samsung announced that it has sold more than one million Android-based Galaxy Tabs. The company believes it can sell another 500,000 by the end of 2010.

In less than two months from launch, Samsung says it reached 1 million units sold of its Galaxy Tab tablet computer. Samsung doesn't specify if that figure means the number of actual devices delivered to end users, or the number of devices that are in the channel. Either way, it's a significant milestone for what some analysts branded a failure.

It was only 11 days ago that Samsung announced 600,000 Tabs sold. The launch of the holiday sales season apparently gave Tab seekers an incentive to buy.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Weborama soutient ses projets d’expansion avec Equinix

from www.globalsecuritymag.fr:

>>Weborama a retenu un business suite de 40 mètres carrĂ©s au sein du datacentre phare International Business Exchange (IBX®) d’Equinix Ă  St Denis en rĂ©gion parisienne, PARIS 3 (PA3). Cette suite rĂ©pond aux besoins de Weborama en termes d’espace, de fiabilitĂ© d’infrastructure et de sĂ©curitĂ©, et sera la pierre angulaire du Cloud privĂ© qui vient d’ĂŞtre rĂ©cemment dĂ©ployĂ©.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Real Story Behind the Comcast-Level 3 Battle

Dan Golding at GigaOm:

>>Let me offer a different, and perhaps, unpopular take on the current Comcast/Level 3 imbroglio.

Macro-Processing: Why Neutral Data Centers Are the Key to Electronic Trading Infrastructure

from www.wsta.org:

>>By John Knuff, General Manager, Global Financial Services, Equinix

Micro-processing may have changed the world of trading forever, but on a macro scale, neutral data centers have emerged as the cornerstone of the ever-expanding world of financial markets.

Neutral data centers are owned and operated independently and therefore do not compete with the networks, managed service and other offerings offered by the companies who locate within those data centers. This neutral stance is attractive to a wide range of networks and financial services companies, all of whom benefit from the extensive connectivity options available inside the data center, as well as the close proximity to one another. The resulting financial ecosystems inside these neutral facilities act as macro-processing hubs, solving for the combined issues of complexity, bandwidth, and throughput demands which were toppling the distributed model that preceded them.

Exetel signs NTT bandwidth deal

from www.itnews.com.au:

>>Diverse routes into Asia.

ISP Exetel has signed a deal with NTT Communications to boost its international bandwidth capacity into Asia and beyond.

The company told customers in its December newsletter that NTT would reduce latency on Asian and European routes and allow Exetel to diversify its international routing suppliers.

...

The ISP also said it was adding a fourth point-of-presence in Sydney within Equinix' data centre "to further add to the 'disaster protection' aspect of our business and residential networks."

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Generali France Puts Equinix at the Heart of its Business Continuity Plan

Press Release:

Operational excellence and dense connectivity ensure optimum availability and performance for France’s second largest general insurance company

PARIS, FRANCE, November 25, 2010 – Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a provider of global data center services, today announced that Generali France, the second largest general insurance company in France, has chosen Equinix as an essential component of its business continuity plan. By extending its infrastructure into Equinix's flagship Saint-Denis campus in Paris, Generali will benefit from Equinix’s industry leading operational excellence and dense operator ecosystem- for optimum uptime and performance for its customers.

Based in Paris, Generali France insures more than six million clients, including 560,000 companies and professionals. As the insurer continues to expand and grow its customer base, the need to enhance service and uptime levels has become increasingly important, particularly in such a competitive market. Generali decided to look for a new data center provider that would become an integral part of the company’s business continuity plan and be interconnected with Generali’s other hosting providers in the Paris metro.

Following a thorough market review, Generali chose Equinix based on the skill and expertise of its teams and the technical superiority of the Saint-Denis campus, which meets the strict power capacity and redundancy criteria stipulated by the group. Equinix's expanding global footprint was also a decisive factor as it is ideally positioned to support Generali’s own growth.

"As we are focused on business continuity, we were very sensitive to certain technical criteria, particularly those linked to capacity, power management and redundancy,” said Marie-Christine Moullart, Manager of the Operations department at Generali France. “The first-class Equinix data centers will protect our infrastructure and ensure that it operates efficiency. The technical team has also been very receptive to our needs and is currently developing a reporting system that will provide detailed insight into energy and bandwidth use. This will enable us to closely monitor and optimize our infrastructure. Finally, we have been able to enhance performance even further by interconnecting with our operator of choice located at the Equinix Saint-Denis campus.”

Generali’s infrastructure is being installed in phases at Saint-Denis. Once the installation has been completed, the 200m2 business suite will be connected by fiber to Generali’s other IT rooms hosted in Paris, and a data replication process will begin.

"As IT performance is now so closely linked to a company’s ability to operate efficiently and profitably, we are very much aware of the importance of maintaining rigorous standards that meet the service level and business continuity requirements of large enterprises,” explained Michel Brignano, General Manager of Equinix France. “We are committed to improving these standards on a continuous basis so that market leaders such as Generali can be confident that their infrastructure is secure, allowing them to focus on their core business duties. As a business partner, we look forward to supporting Generali in both its current and future projects.”

Accuray Lowered to Underperform

>>We downgrade our recommendation for leading radiosurgery systems maker Accuray Incorporated (NasdaqGM: ARAY - News) to Underperform following the company’s lackluster first-quarter fiscal 2011 results and a tepid outlook. The first quarter loss per share of 8 cents was higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 7 cents and the year-ago loss of 6 cents.

Read more at this link.

Center's CyberKnife to be installed

from www.thebrunswicknews.com

>>The CyberKnife, a state-of-the-art treatment for cancerous tumors, will be installed today in the Cancer Care Center at Southeast Georgia Health System's hospital in Brunswick.

The technology is expected to be in operation in January.

The Brunswick hospital will be only one of two health care facilities in Georgia to offer the technology. The other is in Marietta.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Dr. Rachelle Lanciano explains CyberKnife radiosurgery

Dr. Rachelle Lanciano explains CyberKnife radiosurgery:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2010/11/19/philly-cyber-knife/
philadelphia.cbslocal.com
You’ve certainly heard the stories, if you haven’t experienced it yourself, cancer surgery and the dreaded side effects: pain, infection, need for extended hospitalization, loss of work, and the list goes on. A new treatment [...] News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of Philadelphia

Sunday, November 28, 2010

How many tablets in 2011?


from tech.fortune.cnn.com:

>>Sales estimates range from 35 million to 100 million, with the biggest slice going to Apple

In his debut performance in this week's Barron's, where he replaces the venerable Eric Savitz (now at Forbes), Tiernan Ray provides a useful round-up of Wall Street tablet sales estimates for 2011.

Only trouble is, the estimates vary so widely you don't whether to laugh or cry.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

NYSE Euronext Using New Hubs to Create 'Global Community' of Traders

from www.securitiestechnologymonitor.com:

>>NYSE Euronext said it was creating a global network of as many as 40 "liquidity hubs" in data centers around the world.

The "hubs" will be located in facilities operated by data center specialists such as Savvis, Equinix and Telx, according to Stanley Young, the chief executive of NYSE Euronext’s technical services arm, NYSE Technologies.

The exchange operator and supplier of exchange technology said it did not plan to build more large data centers like those it has just opened in Mahwah, N.J., and Basildon, England. Those two facilities, which it considers to be its “anchor hubs,’’ have cost NYSE Euronext more than a half-billion dollars to build.

The new "hubs" for providing market access, market data and risk management services to banks and trading firms will be radically smaller. Each is likely to require less than 1,000 square feet of space at the start, Young said.

By contrast, the Mahwah facility, built from scratch, spans 400,000 square feet. Each of its operating "pods" are 20,000 square feet.

Expansion of each “liquidity hub” will be determined by customer demand for services, which eventually is likely to include the co-location of trading firms’ and vendors’ servers in the space.

About 20 of these hubs will be set up in the next two years, Young said, and as many as 20 more by the end of 2013.

In the first quarter of next year, liquidity hubs will be set up to serve banks, brokerages and trading firms in Frankfurt, Lisbon, Paris and Milan, Young said. Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Toronto, Canada, are coming in the second quarter. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore are all potential second quarter startups as well.

"Each of the hubs will have their own communities attached to them, depending on what the local need is. Those local communities will link together to be a global community,’’ Young said.

There is already precedent for NYSE Euronext to use facilities managed by outside hosting services. The company, for instance, already operates an access point to its Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure at an Equinix facility in Chicago. This site will become a liquidity hub, Young said, as will other access points in New Jersey and elsewhere.

...

The overall investment by NYSE Euronext also will be small. The initial capital investment in each “liquidity hub’’ is likely to be on the order of $50,000 to $100,000.

That puts the cost of 40 such hubs at under $4 million – compared to $250 million a copy for each of the “anchor” hubs in Mahwah and Basildon.

Savvis, Telx or Equinix already host exchange operations or backup facilities for Direct Edge and BATS Exchange, upstart rivals to NYSE Euronext. Nasdaq OMX Group operates its national market in a facility operated by Verizon, the large communications firm.

The deployment of the liquidity hubs was first reported by Dow Jones.

NYSE uses colo to spread trading footprint

from www.datacenterdynamics.com:

>>Plans to set up as many as 40 new small data centers in financial hubs

NYSE Euronext said it will set up as many as 40 small data center facilities inside colocation centers in key financial centers around the world to increase its market connections and its technology services offered to local banks and trading firms.

It will locate space in data centers run by colocation players including Equinix, Savvis and Telx Group, removing the need to build out its own facilities.

Its large data centers in Basildon in the UK and Mahwah in the US will be used as models for the smaller colo set-ups, according to NYSE. Called ‘liquidity hubs’, these centers will follow patents used for NYSE’s two main data centers, which currently house its main trading systems.

A report by Dow Jones Newswires listed Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Hong Kong as locations that have been earmarked by the exchage.

...

Where NYSE already has arrangement with colo players it could look to expand, according to Young. Chicago, Singapore and Brazil were named as locations earmarked for growth.

NYSE’s data centers in Mahwah, New Jersey and Basildon, just east of London were opened this year. Their construction allowed NYSE to consolidate 1- data centers to four.