'Continuous Data Protection'

Background:
Continuous Data
Protection (CDP) is an
emerging field which
targets a growing
segment of the $2.6
billion backup and
archive software
market. Some of the
CDP vendors include
Storactive of Marina
del Rey, California,
and startup Lasso Logic
in San Francisco. In
addition, Symantec's
Backup Exec (formerly
from Veritas) will be
extended to
incorporate a CDP version before the end of this year. It is currently
available via its public beta program under its code name of 'Panther' and
can be downloaded from BackupExec. Continuous protection technology
will mean an organisation need never lose data again. It will help towards
achieving regulatory compliance through ensuring all data is protected
and therefore retained. It will significantly reduce the time and cost
associated with restoring end user files, through its simplicity and
ease-of-use.

Now Comes IBM: Next month IBM will release new software for
automatically backing up files on laptop computers. The product will be
aimed primarily at mobile workers and is intended to protect data in the
event that files are accidentally deleted or become corrupted. It will be
called Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files. The software creates a
local backup copy of files each time changes are made. When the laptop is
connected to a network--via a Wi-Fi connection, for example--the software
also backs up the data to a remote server and so data will be protected
even if the laptop is stolen or lost. The software will be available on
September 16 and sell for $35 per laptop or desktop and $995 per server
processor.

The software will be available initially for Windows, with Unix versions to
follow within about six months, IBM says. The company will translate the
software into other languages besides English later in the year. And Yes it
supports double-byte character sets. Despite the availability of such
softwares from other vendors, IBM claims its product is a novel one. Some
other systems require a dedicated server to monitor and store file
changes, the company notes, while others back up files only periodically
--every hour or so--rather than continually.

Google talk

Step by Step ... Google is
further expanding beyond
its roots in Internet search
delivering newer and newer
product lines. This time
Google introduces software
that lets people send instant
messages and make
telephone calls with their
computers, matching
products from Microsoft
Corp., Yahoo! Inc. and Skype
Technologies SA.

The new program, Google
Talk, will compete against
similar free services offered
for several years by AOL,
Microsoft and Yahoo. All are
vying to increase their
presence on PCs to boost
online ad revenue and
name recognition.

The launch was due to come
2 days after Google unveiled
another free program
Desktop2 that aggregates information on a computer desktop. As a
newcomer to messaging, Google could face an uphill battle. AOL's
messaging program has 41.6 million U.S. users, followed by Yahoo
Messenger with 19.1 million and MSN Messenger with 14.1 million.
The top instant messaging services still do not communicate with each
other and usually nobody switches unless their friends also switch.

Google based its software on open standards, so it will work with smaller
networks that are based on the same technology. Text messages can be
exchanged with users of Apple Computer's iChat, Cerulean Studios'
Trillian and the open-source Gaim program.

For more details, visit Google Talk.

AMD goes to War

This posting is not Technology-related ...
may be War-related but we feel our readers
may find this story interesting to read.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) ridiculed
Intel's move for power-efficient chips
(see our last posting) :
"[The new micro-architecture] is taking the
Pentium 3 architecture and using that in the
desktop space. By calling it next generation,
they are trying to put the best coat of paint
on it that they can."

AMD's attempts to win customers out from under Intel have gotten nastier
of late. It filed an antitrust lawsuit in June alleging that Intel engages in
anti-competitive behavior designed to lock AMD out of market for PC and
server microprocessors. Intel has a formal legal response due in early
September.

Today AMD took out full page ads in national newspapers to challenge
Intel to a "dual core duel" to see whose chips are faster. Meanwhile,
Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO declining the opportunity to attack, simply said,
"I think that companies and products are best judged in the marketplace."

Intel's Power Play

We reported on August 12 that Intel was
planing to unveil a new mobile processor
that will dramatically cut power consumption.
Today Intel chief executive Paul Otellini used
the opening keynote of Intel Developer Forum
in San Francisco to give a first public
demonstration of the next generation
low power micro-architecture.

Heat production is a major issue in processor
chips. It prevents computer builders to create small form factor, fan-less
computers. For enterprises, heat production in servers requires
enterprises to invest in extensive cooling systems for their server rooms.

The technology is set to dramatically cut power consumption for both
server, desktop and laptop processors and over time the technology
should allow for a new kind of ultra low power portable computer that
offers all day battery life.

Chips based on the new technology are due out in the second half of next
year. The chips are codenamed Merom for mobile devices, Conroe for
desktops and Whitefield for servers. The chips will offer two cores and
support 64 bit instructions. They will however lack support for hyper
-threading, at least initially. A micro-architecture sits one layer below the
chip architecture such as the IA-32 that is used in today's Pentium and
Xeon chips. It allows software to interact with the chip architecture.

Google Desktop 2

Google has updated its software for searching PC hard drives and the
internet, giving the free program a new look and adding tools that deliver
personalised information based on a user's web surfing habits. Google
Desktop 2, available today as a public beta test, is the company's latest
volley against Microsoft and Yahoo as all three race to expand their
presence on PC desktops.

The software works on computers running Windows 2000 or Windows
XP. Mac OS X is not supported. The latest Google offering includes several
twists. Beyond providing search results, it monitors the user's behavior
and presents relevant information in a resizeable and moveable vertical
window called the Sidebar.

One module aggregates email messages from a variety of accounts,
including Google's Gmail service or the user's internet provider. Others
display stock prices, personalised news headlines, weather reports and
what's popular on the web. Another module pulls Really Simple
Syndication feeds from websites that have been visited and offer that
service. Unlike other feed aggregators, the user need not take any action
to add a feed.

The program has several tools for finding information buried on local and
network drives as well as the internet. The Sidebar has its own search
box and it adds a new toolbar to Microsoft's Outlook email program for
quick access to mail messages. After the initial indexing of all content on a
drive - a process that takes place when the PC is not being used,
subsequent indexing takes place in real time. That means a file can be
found as soon as it has been saved to the disk.

Google Desktop 2 also offers the ability to encrypt - or scramble - the
index to protect it from being read by unauthorised parties.

Intel: 90nm dual-core Xeons

Intel plans to bring forward the release of dual-core
Xeon processors. Last night the chip giant announced
that 'Paxville', the 90 nanometer dual-core Xeon MP
part will ship later in 2005 instead of 1st quarter of
2006, as originally planned. Intel also said that it
would ship a Xeon DP part based on Paxville later
this year too. The Xeon DP line was scheduled to go
dual-core sometime in 1st half 2006 with the release
of 'Dempsey', the first 65nm Xeon chip.

Intel, however, expects that Paxville will attract mostly early adopters.
The technology is expected to reach a broader audience with the
introduction of the Xeon "Bensley" for servers and "Glidewell" workstation
processors in the 1st quarter of 2006. These chips are expected to be less
expensive. Paxville is expected to be branded the Xeon 7000 line, while
Paxville DP will presumably ship as the Xeon 5000 series, as Dempsey is
expected to be.

The dual core Xeon processors will use 65 nanometre technology. This
requires new chip manufacturing facilities that Intel currently is building
in Oregon and Ireland. Neither Intel nor AMD really want to push dual
core processors until 65 nanometre. If they are producing those on the
same process as the single core, they have a much higher cost.

The decision to shoehorn in a 90nm dual-core Xeon DP part suggests
that Intel feels it needs to deliver dual-core server parts sooner and can't
really afford to wait for the arrival of 65nm technology, if it wants to have
a competitive edge against AMD's successful dual-core Opteron launch.
Intel wants to get product out there to ensure that IT managers evaluating
dual-core server products don't have only AMD kit to look at.

TiVo Broadband Download

TiVo is planning to allow users to
download programmes to their
set-top boxes over the internet
in a new trial service. The digital
video recorder company has
written to subscribers saying
that they will be introducing
a number of broadband features
in the autumn, including download
delivery of selected television
programmes, games, streaming
radio and podcasting.

The current trial will involve
three programmes, around an
hour in total, which users can opt
to download. It requires a TiVo
Series2 model with a USB
network adapter and a
broadband internet connection.

TiVo has confirmed that it has a deal
with the Independent Film Channel
(IFC) to offer a number of
programmes to customers before
they air on the cable channel.
IFC is a producer and theatrical distributor of independent films and
provides the Independent Film Channel on cable television.

It follows reports that satellite broadcaster DirecTV is planning to cease
marketing TiVo to its customers as it promotes its own product, developed
by NDS. Many enthusiasts have pointed out that they are already able to
download television programmes using various software and devices to
receive both legal and illicit programming.

Netflix is also supposed to start testing their Internet Movie Download
service. Netflix does not have a box in the living room yet, so it will be
harder for them to gain customers.

For more details, visit www.tivo.com and www.ifc.com .

Intel's New Mobile Processor

In 2 weeks' time Intel plans to unveil
a new mobile processor that will
dramatically cut power consumption.
The chip will be released at Intel
Developer Forum to be held between
23-25 August in San Francisco.

Reducing power consumption has been
a major theme in chip design for
several years. A more power-efficient
chip not only allows mobile battery
-powered devices to last longer, but
cuts the heat production of servers in
enterprises and inside the case for desktop computers.

Intel's current mobile Pentium M is
based on the technology from the
Pentium desktop processor. As the new
chip has been designed from the ground up with energy-conservation in
special consideration, the project could finally succeed to offer additional
power savings.

The move to dual-core processors for mainstream PCs was fuelled in
part by the need to increase processing power without increasing power
consumption. Multi-core processors were traditionally found only in
high-end systems.

Studio 8 from Micromedia

Macromedia has updated its market leading Web
design and development tool. Dreamweaver 8
provides updated visual layout tools, application
development features and code editing support,
which should help designers and developers to
create standards-based sites and applications
more quickly and efficiently. The software is
available as a stand-alone product or as a
component of Macromedia's Studio 8, which
also includes Flash Professional 8, Fireworks 8,
Contribute 3, and FlashPaper 2.

Dreamweaver 8 has features like enhanced support for XML and
Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformations (XSLT), drag-and
-drop integration of XML data feeds, CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) layout
visualization and easier incorporation of Flash Video content.

Flash Professional 8 includes features such as; script editor, new
animation controls, new graphics effects capabilities, flash video features,
workflow integration, FlashType font rendering engine, support for
building content for mobile devices, new custom easing tool etc.

Fireworks 8 allows developers and designers to create over 25 new blend
modes and interactive CSS pop-up menus, plus facilitates integration with
Flash Professional 8 and Dreamweaver 8. Macromedia has also
announced the availability of the beta of Macromedia Flash Player 8,
which is the next version of the Flash Player client runtime. Macromedia
Studio 8 is expected to ship in September, at $999 for a full license and
$399 for an upgrade.

For additional information, visit www.macromedia.com/software/studio .

IBM: Open Source Search

Simple but powerful keyword searches have revolutionised the way
internet users locate and retrieve information. The advertising world got
completely transformed by this concept. But IBM is looking to bring in
another path-breaking method that office workers may use to sift
through the piles of data stored inside organisations.

IBM plans to give away key corporate data search technologies that use
concepts and facts instead of simpler keywords. Via an open source
model, IBM plans to openly offer other software developers its
Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA), a
technology that can analyse text within documents and other media to
understand latent meanings, relationships and facts. Some 15 companies
plan to use UIMA as a framework for search and text analysis of
unstructured data, IBM said.

IBM is also offering its webSphere OmniFind software for helping users
search unstructured data in a variety of formats or languages, be they
located in databases, email files, audio recordings, pictures or video
images. UIMA will allow many different suppliers of software used in
knowledge management, search, business intelligence and text analytics
to work with one another.

A decade ago many database developers said their database management
systems were close to solving the unstructured data issue. Yet some 85%
of corporate data still sits in unstructured form outside of databases.

UIMA technology is expected to be made available through open-source
software site SourceForge by the end of 2005. The UIMA framework can
currently be downloaded free of charge from IBM AlphaWorks at www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/uima/.

Audio Search Engine!

Yahoo today introduced a new Internet search service that allows users
to find downloadable songs, podcasts to interviews and newscasts.
The free service, which is still in its testing Beta period, is called Yahoo
Audio Search and can be found at Yahoo Audio Search (Beta).

The audio search feature for the first time breaches the barriers between
the various online music services, providing access to more than 50 million
digital recordings. It allows anyone to look for an individual song within the
digital collections of 16 different services, including the iTunes, Napster,
Rhapsody.

Yahoo Audio works much like the company's video and image services.
Users type in words or phrases and are returned a list of audio files that
they can click on and play. The company has integrated Yahoo Audio
Search with its video search service and has invited people to submit
videos and music through Media Really Simple Syndication, so it can be
found by the new audio search engine.

It has also integrated tools from its comparison shopping search engine,
which helps users find CD prices and make purchases from a variety of
retailers.

Apple's Mighty Mouse

For a long time PC users have been making fun of Mac users for only
having a single mouse button but that time has come to an end. Apple
today announced the Mighty Mouse which has not 1 or 2 buttons, but 4
programmable buttons plus the clickable Scroll Ball, making for a total of
5 buttons. The mouse still uses the 1-piece design of previous Mac mice
but is touch-sensitive in that it'll detect which area of the top shell was
clicked.

The Scroll Ball is the Mighty Mouse's most unique feature. Rather than
using a wheel like conventional PC mice have used for some time, the
Mighty Mouse has what amounts to a small mouse ball where a scroll
wheel would normally live. The Scroll Ball allows users to not only scroll
up and down but side to side, and do so simultaneously. Scrolling from
the top-left to the bottom-right of a document can be done in one quick
motion, and users can even circulate in a 360 degree fashion around a
document. Plus, you can click it too.

The Mighty Mouse is available now for $49 from Apple outlets or from
Apple.com. It will work for Windows 2000 or XP users as well.

Cheaper AMD Athlon 64 X2

AMD has broadened its dual-core technology base with the addition of
the new, cheaper dual-core CPU - the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, which
enables users to experience dual-core computing on their desktop PCs at
mainstream prices.

AMD's Athlon 64 X2 processors considerably enhance the power of the
desktop by employing dual-core technology. The new AMD Athlon 64 X2
will provide users the ability to multi-task efficiently, so that they can
write e-mails, listen to MP3s and create digital content simultaneously in
a shorter span of time. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 will also facilitate superior
performance through the spread of multi-threaded applications, from the
server to consumer and client markets. In effect, the new processor from
AMD will offer users excellent dual-core computing capacities across
wider ranges of performance and price.

The new AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor 3800+ is currently
priced at $354 per unit for 1,000 units.