Saturday, January 15, 2011

2011 will be the year of the 'superphone'



from www.mobile-ent.biz:

>>3D, haptics, gesture and context-aware interfaces will transform the mobile experience, says Fjord's Christian Lindholm.

This vision of a new generation of ultra-smart smartphones is one of a bunch of predictions for 2011 being made by the award-winning digital agency. Here are some highlights from the report. The see them all click here.

* Superphones

"Many Superphones in 2011 will boast dedicated graphics chips and new sensors enabling novel experiences that may approach the feel of artificial intelligence. These ‘4D’ experiences will rely on gestures, haptic feedback and artificial intelligence to simplify mobile life.


http://www.fjordnet.com/fjord-thoughts/fjord-trends-2011

NXT changes name to HiWave Technologies

NXT, the pioneer of flat speakers and haptic touch technology, has changed its name to HiWave Technologies.

"In today’s world of converged consumer electronics and control systems, end-users need to employ all their senses to optimise the experience," says james lewis, HiWave CEO, "audio cues, voice prompts and tactile feedback each enhance the user’s productivity. Consumers also deserve the best in audio entertainment, and HiWave’s technology enables compelling user-experience at an affordable price."

The change reflects the company’s transition to be a developer and vendor of components and modules that exploit its patented Bending Wave Technology.

HiWave is targeting the markets requiring a high quality human interface - including hand-held computing and telecommunications, computer-centric music, automotive entertainment and control systems, and industrial and home automation.

The company has appointed a new non-executive chairman Dr David Bramwell.

Analysts' Best Stock Picks For 2011

from www.marketfolly.com:

>>Raymond James is out with its Analysts Best Picks for 2011 report.

...

Equinix (EQIX): This tech name is intriguing because it saw some volatility last year. And as we detailed in our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter months ago, a large shareholder (Shumway Capital) was reducing its position size and could be partially responsible for the volatility. Raymond James likes the company's dominant market position in the colocation market and data center industry.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Symantec.Cloud

Symantec.Cloud is the Software-as-a-Service arm of Symantec.

We scan email, web and IM traffic for malware and apply content policy. We are very interested in peering with content hosting and access providers in any of the locations we are present.

Public Peering Exchange Points
Exchange Point Name ASN IP Address Mbit/sec
Equinix Ashburn 26282 206.223.115.39 1000
Equinix New York (was: PAIX) 26282 This Year... 1000
Equinix San Jose 26282 This Year 1000
Equinix Sydney 7583 202.167.228.77 1000

How does Equinix command a premium in an commodity Internet Data Center market?

>>How does Equinix command a premium in an otherwise commodity Internet Data Center market?

The short answer is population and stickiness.

...

Colocation Stickiness is proportional to the degree of dependence on the colocation interconnections.

Nothing is better than a full mesh of interdependence at an Internet Exchange Point – there is so much value derived from participation there, no one would leave! It is this aligned mutual self-interest that leads to value creation and the ability to command a premium in an otherwise commodity Internet Data Center market.

Hi-tech tumour centre planned in Bahrain

from www.tradearabia.com:

>>A high-tech centre treating all types of tumours is to be established in Bahrain by the end of March, it emerged yesterday.

It will specialise in non-invasive robotic radiation therapy for cancer and neurosurgery, said officials.

The CyberKnife surgery technology is designed to treat tumours anywhere in the body with pinpoint accuracy.

It uses a high level of radiation and there is no need for incision or anaesthesia, treating all types of tumours including ones that have previously been diagnosed as inoperable.

The centre will be run by Health Care Global, which is based in Bangalore, India.

It has 1,550 beds in 22 centres in South Asia and has been using the technology for the last 18 months, but CyberKnife technology has been used in the US for the past 11 years.

Equinix will be attending CTIA Wireless 2011 in March

The International CTIA WIRELESS® show is the premier wireless event representing a $1 trillion global marketplace that brings together wireless and converged communications, wireless broadband, mobile web.

Equinix will be located in Meeting Room 413.

Saint Francis gets state's second CyberKnife

from www.semissourian.com:

>>Saint Francis Medical Center's Cancer Institute recently received approval from the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee to acquire the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System. This is the second system of its type in the state and will give patients with tumors a new treatment option.
...
The CyberKnife system will be located in the new Heart Hospital and Cancer Institute, opening in July of this year.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

benefit of Cyberknife Treatment for Liver Cancer

"One sure-fire benefit of Cyberknife Treatment for Liver Cancer is that it doesn’t result in complications, unlike the more common open surgery. The treatment also ensures that patients will have an unchanged quality of living while under treatment and after the completing the treatment."
http://healthroot.us/2011/01/cyberknife-treatm...ent-for-liver-cancer/

Cyberknife Treatment for Liver Cancer The Creekside Cancer Care Center in Lafayette, Colorado recently acquired a modern and most advanced radio surgery...

Brigantine Advisors Maintains a 'Hold' on Immersion (IMMR)

from www.streetinsider.com:

>>Brigantine analyst says, "IMMR’s innovative haptics technology, recent design wins and new partnerships has brought attention to its differential and advanced idea of human interaction with machines. While we are still in the midst of the touchscreen evolution, credibility from Samsung, LG, and Nokia model wins are fueling IMMR’s growth story. While we believe that the Company’s growth prospects are high, we believe it is still a wait and see story (watching for sustainable execution, design win activity and cost control). Consequently, we remain on the sidelines and maintain our Hold rating."

MarketPrizm Hosts Financial Trading Infrastructure at Equinix London Data Center

Equinix today announced MarketPrizm has deployed an access node for its trading network and infrastructure service at Equinix’s LD4 London International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center. MarketPrizm is a comprehensive trading infrastructure for European trading participants.

Trading infrastructure service now available to financial customers at Equinix LD4

LONDON, UK — January 13, 2010 — Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), a provider of global data center services, today announced MarketPrizm has deployed an access node for its trading network and infrastructure service at Equinix’s LD4 London International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center. MarketPrizm is a comprehensive trading infrastructure for European trading participants.

MarketPrizm was developed to meet the challenges facing the trading world, as companies seek to compete in a market heavily reliant on complex, high-end technology. As a managed trading infrastructure solution, MarketPrizm offers participants a service encompassing connectivity to Europe’s trading venues, as well as access to market data, hosting options, applications and services designed to support electronic trading. Optimized for latency-sensitive applications, MarketPrizm is a trading ecosystem underpinned by PrizmNet, the company’s dedicated 10Gbps network for high-speed access to financial markets.

“In our decision to work with Equinix, we are confident that we chose a data center provider we can trust to deliver market-leading resilience and low-latency connectivity,” said Nicolas Levy, managing director of MarketPrizm. “Also important to our decision is the ability to reach new clients within Equinix’s financial customer base. Equinix’s impressive global footprint and capacity will ensure we can meet our plans for expansion.”

By hosting its trading infrastructure at the LD4 IBX data center, MarketPrizm joins the global electronic trading community in the Equinix data center campus located in Slough. MarketPrizm and its partners are now able to cross-connect to one another, effectively controlling bandwidth costs even if bandwidth requirements increase over time. Equinix also provides secure and resilient colocation services, as well as a scalable environment to meet MarketPrizm’s growing business.

“Equinix is delighted that MarketPrizm is hosting in the LD4 IBX data center,” said Robin Manicom, Director of Business Development, Financial Services at Equinix, Europe. “Equinix data centers are engineered to provide premium service and meet the strict demands of financial services customers. This deployment is evidence of Equinix’s strength in meeting the needs of key players in the electronic trading community.”

About MarketPrizm

MarketPrizm® is a fully-managed, flexible service providing a pan-Europe trading ecosystem designed to power the trading activities and client service strategies of market participants, including those conducting latency-sensitive strategies such as high frequency and algorithmic trading. See further details at www.marketprizm.com

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Interxion IPO: Is a $780M Market Cap Reasonable?

At Seeking Alpha:

>>Colocation contracts with customers are typically for three to five years, however it is interesting to note that about fifty-three percent of Interxion’s Monthly Recurring Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2010, was generated by contracts with terms of one year or less remaining.

This may be considered both as a red flag (more than half of its recurring revenues will be due for renewal in the next few months, which is a risky situation especially for a business whose average contract is supposed to be 4 years) or as an opportunity, as a strong market might allow renewing rates at higher prices. As usual, the market will decide, and the success of the IPO may be seen as a vote of confidence toward this aspect.

Competition, in the meantime, will certainly be looking at this information with interest.

Cloud Host GoGrid Expands Hybrid Cloud to VA Data Center

from www.thewhir.com:

>>Cloud hosting provider GoGrid (www.gogrid.com) announced on Wednesday it has expanded its hybrid cloud capabilities, enabling customers to deploy its hybrid cloud solution at any of its two data centers.

In June 2010 GoGrid opened its second data center, which located in Ashburn, Virginia run by data center operator Equinix.

The announcement coincides with the effective phasing out of its two-year old "Cloud Connect" service, which combines virtual and physical servers within its public cloud service.

Interxion Plans to Launch IPO on NYSE

>>Interxion’s SEC filing gives us an opportunity to dig into its financial performance. Here are a few highlights for our readers: Interxion supports over 1,100 customers through 28 data centers in 11 European countries. The average data center in Europe is usally smaller than in the USA, and Interxion’s centers range from as little as 500 square meters (5,400 sqft.) to 6,400 square meters. (68,900 sqft.). The company houses more than 350 carriers and Internet service providers and 18 European Internet exchanges.

Read more at Data Center Knowledge

Visteon touch panel

from today's investors presentation:

Interxion Announces Commencement of Initial Public Offering

AMSTERDAM 12 January 2011 – Interxion Holding N.V., a leading European provider of colocation data center services, announced today that it has commenced an initial public offering of 18,550,000 ordinary shares. Interxion is offering 16,250,000 ordinary shares and certain selling shareholders are offering 2,300,000 ordinary shares. The estimated price range for the initial public offering is $11.00 to $13.00 per ordinary share.

Interxion has applied to have the ordinary shares approved for listing on The New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "INXN." The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase from certain selling shareholders up to an additional 2,782,500 ordinary shares.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi and Barclays Capital will act as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. The offering of these securities will be made by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained by contacting:

  • BofA Merrill Lynch, 4 World Financial Center, New York, NY 10080, Attn: Prospectus Department or email dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com;
  • Citi, Brooklyn Army Terminal, Attn: Prospectus Dept., 140 58th Street, 8th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220. By telephone: (800) 831-9146 or by email at batprospectusdept@citi.com; or
  • Barclays Capital, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Ave. Edgewood, NY 11717. By telephone at (888) 603-5847 or by email at barclaysprospectus@broadridge.com.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

The preliminary prospectus is also available at www.sec.gov

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any such offer or solicitation or any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Milan and Amsterdam trading hubs now linked via Interoute’s European low-latency network

Direct connectivity gives financial institutions access to the largest high frequency trading footprint in Europe

London, 11 January 2011 Interoute, owner operator of Europe’s largest next-generation network, has completed two new high speed connectivity routes directly into the major financial hubs of Amsterdam and Milan. Financial institutions can now benefit from the fastest, most direct routes between 24 of Europe’s most significant stock exchanges and multilateral trading facilities (MTF).

Low latency connections between financial trading hubs are essential to high frequency trading (HFT), which enables financial institutions to increase trading volume, source better price discovery and improve market efficiency. With the largest financial footprint in Europe, Interoute Fast Trade is guaranteeing round trip delay times between 28 European countries, including direct connectivity into 24 of the major stock exchanges and MTFs.

“Taking the advantage in the financial sector has moved beyond milliseconds to microseconds, making fast connections between key financial hubs imperative,” said Lee Myall, UK Regional Director at Interoute. “We are committed to supporting the financial sector as it moves towards a reliance on high frequency trading. By connecting Milan and Amsterdam via our Fast Trade product we are providing financial institutions with the highest trading speeds between the most important financial hubs in Europe.”

The network extension connects into the Italian derivatives exchange in Milan, Borsa Italiana, as well as the financial ecosystem located inside the Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centre in Amsterdam.

http://www.telecomramblings.com/newswire/2011/01/milan-and-amsterdam-trading-hubs-now-linked-via-interoute%E2%80%99s-european-low-latency-network/

OpenNet Pte

Equinix has been appointed by OpenNet Pte Ltd, Singapore’s Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) Provider, to support its deployment of an open, high-quality OSS/BSS platform, enabling the delivery of an ultra-high-speed broadband network.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Algorithms take control of Wall Street

Interesting article at arstechnica.com (HT to Telecom Ramblings):

>>Last spring, Dow Jones launched a new service called Lexicon, which sends real-time financial news to professional investors. This in itself is not surprising. The company behind The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires made its name by publishing the kind of news that moves the stock market. But many of the professional investors subscribing to Lexicon aren't human—they're algorithms, the lines of code that govern an increasing amount of global trading activity—and they don't read news the way humans do. They don't need their information delivered in the form of a story or even in sentences. They just want data—the hard, actionable information that those words represent.

..

For individual investors, trading with algorithms has been a boon: today, they can buy and sell stocks much faster, cheaper, and easier than ever before. But from a systemic perspective, the stock market risks spinning out of control. Even if each individual algorithm makes perfect sense, collectively they obey an emergent logic—artificial intelligence, but not artificial human intelligence. It is, simply, alien, operating at the natural scale of silicon, not neurons and synapses. We may be able to slow it down, but we can never contain, control, or comprehend it. It's the machines' market now; we just trade in it.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Visteon


http://www.visteon.com/innovate/growthmarket/index.html

http://www.visteon.com/innovate/c-beyond/pdfs/reconfigurable_touch_panel.pdf

DIALECTIC CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

As of the date hereof, the Investment Manager may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of 1,467,861 Shares, constituting approximately 5.2% of the Shares outstanding.

The aggregate purchase cost of the 1,467,861 Shares beneficially owned in the aggregate by DCP, DOF, DAP, DAO and DL2 is approximately $8,004,641. ($5.45 per share)

To that end, the
Reporting Persons have had several communications between October 29, 2010 and December 29, 2010 with the Issuer’s Chairman, Jack
Saltich, regarding the Reporting Persons obtaining representation on the Issuer’s board of directors. No agreement was reached between the
Reporting Persons and the Issuer as a result of such communications.
On December 30, 2010, the Reporting Persons delivered a letter to the Issuer (the “Nomination Letter”), notifying the Issuer that the
Reporting Persons intend to appear at the Issuer’s 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and any adjournments or postponements thereof (the
“Annual Meeting”), in person or by proxy, to nominate and seek to elect two individuals as members of the board of directors of the Issuer (the
“Solicitation”). The two individuals named as nominees in the Nomination Letter are Kenneth Potashner and John Fichthorn (each a
“Nominee” and collectively, the “Nominees”). The Reporting Persons intend to file a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and solicit proxies on behalf of the Nominees.

Wellington Management Company, LLP

Wellington Management Company sold out most of its position.

Now owning 28,467 shares only -

previous filing on 10/12/10 - 2,334,757 shares (5.12%)

touch panel market

from www.digitimes.com:

>>As mobile phones and other portable products have switched en masse to touchscreens, and sales of tablet devices have taken off in 2010 under the influence of Apple's iPad, the touch panel market is expected to exhibit rapid growth over the coming years, with annual growth approaching 20% expected through 2013.

colocation long term fundamentals

Ken Baudry started an interesting serie of articles about the long term potential of the colocation sector at http://datacenterpractice.com.

Here are a few quotes from the first two articles:

>>There isn’t a single “data center market”.
There are multiple submarkets. Each submarket must be analyzed separately. An illustration is probably in order; Suppose that I told you that the average price of a new car was $30,000 and that I could buy a new car for $45,000. Is my $45,000 deal a good deal. Well, if I’m buying a $70,000 Mercedes then yes it is. But if I’m buying a $16,000 Hundai than I’ve kind of screwed myself looking at averages.

...

What all the analyst, investors, brokerage industry have tried to do is to say is that “its all one big market”. This is a big mistake that leads to poor investment decisions.

...

There are colo providers that sell plain old rack space, QTS. Providers that sell cross-connects; Telx and Equinix, Providers that sell managed service, etc. Don’t expect to buy whole space in Telx or Equinix, or in a managed services facility or in a retail colo facility at a competitive price, its not what they sell. Different target markets. Yes both WalMart and Saks are both retailers. No they do go after the same customers. Can you comparre them? Yes? Do they respond the same to changing economic conditions. NO!

...

>>Is there a danger of technical changes making today’s collocation facilities obsolete? Yes! But the bigger probablity is that changing technology will make office buildings obsolete! But let us put this in prospective.

...

Companies that exist on the internet, those that must be collocated with a major peering point or immediately adjacent to it are probably running close to the 5MW/Cab level, will continue to do so and perhaps exceed these densities.

...

Today only 20%+/- of all data center needs are being met by colo facilities. The rest being are located in single tenant owned or leased facilities. The power density in these centers average around 2kW/Cab (80 W/sf). Which brings me to my next point.

The colo industry has been very successful at attracting the “early adopters” and companies who don’t have the capital to invest. I believe that the lack of activity from enterprise customers, those not providing internet services, is largely due to fears about the economy but also because the colo industry has built a product that doesn’t fit the remaining 80% of the market. So in that sense, these facilities are already obsolete.

The threat to colo isn’t technolgy change (virtualization) or obsolesence . It is the failure to understand that this isn’t a one size fits all industry. To be wildly successful, the industry will need to do a better job at attracting the 80% that are currently on the sidelines.

...

To conclude, changing technologies will not make facilities obsolete, if management understands the concepts of submarkets and how to reposition the assets. On the other hand, changing technologies might make some management and colo operators obsolete.

Spread Networks Introduces the Lowest Latency Fiber Network Connecting Carteret and Equinix Data Center in Secaucus

Ridgeland, MS and Redwood Shores, CA – January 10, 2011Spread Networks, LLC, a privately owned telecommunications provider, today announced it will connect Spread Networks Low Latency Metropolitan Dark Fiber Network to Equinix’s New York (NY4) International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Secaucus, NJ.

Spread Networks, which provides the lowest latency route between New York and Chicago, has now complemented that route with the new Low Latency Metropolitan Dark Fiber Network. The new route was trenched between Carteret, NJ and the Equinix NY4 IBX data center in Secaucus, NJ.

The dark fiber network offers a managed and secure point-to-point service with a round trip latency that sets the new standard connecting these two financial centers. Each customer receives a dedicated fiber pair on the advanced dark fiber network and the capacity to light up as many wavelengths as needed on their own private fiber. Customers can either use that route for metro-NJ only communications, giving them the fastest path between Carteret and Secaucus, or they can combine it with Spread Networks current Chicago to Carteret route to achieve the shortest route from Chicago to Secaucus.

The Equinix NY4 IBX data center in Secaucus hosts many financial market participants including the Boston Options Exchange and Direct Edge, and improves network availability through interconnection to strategic financial partners that require optimized network routes.

“Spread Networks is committed to bringing premium connectivity to enterprise customers of all kinds. We literally built a brand new dark fiber network from the ground up to raise the standard for speed, diversity security and reliability between New York and downtown Chicago. By working with Equinix we can now provide customers with connectivity between Carteret and Secaucus at the lowest possible latency,” said W. Brennan Carley, SVP Product Marketing, Spread Networks.

John Knuff, general manager for Equinix Global Financial Services, said “We’re delighted to collaborate with Spread Networks on this initiative. Low latency is critical to electronic trading and the availability of Spread Networks’ new service at our NY4 IBX data center presents an attractive value proposition for our customers.”

Spread Networks inaugurated its private dark fiber network in August 2010, establishing the benchmark for ultra low latency connecting New York and Chicago. Together with its certified network equipment providers, Spread Networks offers a comprehensive solution that provides customers with infrastructure, equipment and services needed to run their own private network—the best way to manage consistent low latency and network security. Without the drag of traditional telecommunications offerings, Spread Networks provides its customers with a private network to achieve a 'clean speed,' allowing data to run as close as possible to the true speed of light through fiber.

Spread Networks worked closely with optical equipment manufacturers in search of the lowest-latency solutions. These network equipment providers include ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena® Corporation and Infinera.

About Spread Networks

Spread Networks, a privately own telecommunications provider, built a new fiber network from the ground up, connecting New York and Chicago to set a new standard for latency. Without the drag of traditional telecommunications offerings, Spread Networks provides its customers with a state-of-the-art diverse and secure fiber optic network to allow data to run as close as possible to the true speed of light through fiber. www.spreadnetworks.com