AMD Announces the First AMD Fusion Center of Innovation

AMD Announces the First AMD Fusion Center of Innovation 

New technology center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to promote entrepreneurship, commercialization and start-up creation for Heterogeneous Computing


SUNNYVALE, Calif. —1/17/2012 

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the first AMD Fusion Center of Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,  to focus on the innovative developer environment and software performance advancements enabled by heterogeneous computing. The center will fund, mentor and promote new commercial enterprises emerging from the vast intellectual property and research expertise in the University of Illinois community. The University has been a hotbed of new start-ups since the creation of the first widespread web browser – Mosaic – developed by Marc Andreessen in 1992. Through access to AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology and platforms, the AMD Fusion Center of Innovation will help bridge access to new AMD heterogeneous computing technology with the innovative spirit stimulated and nurtured on campus.  

To kick-off the AMD Fusion Center of Innovation, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is offering a course aimed at kindling the spirit of entrepreneurship by bringing a mix of expert speakers to cover the specifics of AMD heterogeneous computing technology, while also providing invaluable, how-to background on entrepreneurship, commercialization and start-up creation. This course will be offered by the university’s College of Engineering, Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC), as “ENG/TE 360/460: Lectures in Engineering Entrepreneurship AMD section.”

At the completion of the course, students will submit projects, which will be evaluated for potential funding opportunities through the AMD Fusion Fund and IllinoisVENTURES. Computer science and engineering students are encouraged to share their best ideas for new software or web-based start-up companies.

“Through their involvement with the Technology Entrepreneur Center, companies like AMD are helping to further develop the Illinois entrepreneurship ecosystem here in the Midwest,” said Andrew Singer, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director, Technology Entrepreneur Center, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Offering the latest, innovative computing hardware and software technologies and bringing them into the classroom, where students can apply their ideas and form new ventures will be a great advantage for the generation of new innovative ideas that can be commercialized through the AMD Fusion Center of Innovation.”

Rob Schultz, senior director of IllinoisVENTURES and a partner of the Illinois Emerging Technologies Fund said, “We are encouraging the university community to think big about what’s possible through software and web services by focusing on the creative aspects. The AMD Fusion Center of Innovation will provide a spark for new software and web ideas as students receive hands-on access to AMD APU technology and learn how-to enable richer, user experiences using heterogeneous computing.”

AMD APU technology combines a multi-core CPU and discrete-level GPU and other hardware accelerators on a single power-efficient chip enabling user interface innovation, vivid HD entertainment and content creation, blazing-fast Internet browsing and accelerated media applications. Consumers can enjoy rich, smooth performance, skip-free HD playback and discover impressive speed and performance in everyday applications on their PC when using AMD APU technology.

“The AMD Fusion Center of Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides the perfect environment of academia and software development,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “We believe heterogeneous computing will be the enabler for innovative user interfaces and immersive computing experiences, which will ultimately be driven by aspiring and audacious students. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will serve as a model for future AMD Fusion Centers of Innovation around the world.”

Resources

About AMD

AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD’s server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD’s superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

Global IT Survey Highlights Enthusiasm over Tablets in the Enterprise, Shows Customization, Collaboration and Virtualization as Key Features

Global IT Survey Highlights Enthusiasm over Tablets in the Enterprise, Shows Customization, Collaboration and Virtualization as Key Features

IT managers express concerns over security and application access

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jan. 24, 2012 – Cisco today announced findings from a global survey of IT managers' perceptions about tablet form-factor mobile devices in the enterprise.

Cisco commissioned Redshift Research to survey 1500 IT managers and executives in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain to assess attitudes, fears and hopes for tablet form-factor mobile devices ("tablets") in the workplace. Still a nascent market, 2012 is seen as a year in which enterprise-grade tablet computing will undergo significant change.

Redshift polled IT managers and executives in a wide variety of global companies of all sectors and sizes.  All respondents are either primary IT decision makers or play a key role in the decision process for all IT products. Sole proprietors were excluded from the study. Field work was conducted in late 2011.

Key findings include:

Tablet Demand

•       Tablets vs. smartphones: which win?  Globally, IT departments report employees place one tablet request for every three smartphone requests today.

•       Which countries lead? Of the countries surveyed, the US and France are tied for tops—each report a tablet is requested by 21% of the workforce. Senior executives are most likely to be issued a tablet in the US (38%) and least likely to be issued one in the UK (27 percent)

•       Who's most excited? Spain tops the list, with 90% of IT managers believing the tablet will become more popular in the next two years.

•        "Uber-connected sales guys". Tablets are significantly more prevalent among salespeople in Germany (31%) than in all other countries (21% on average).


Fears And Wants

•       Tops in security concerns? The U.S., the country with the most experience managing tablets, also ranks #1 on the "security issue": 75% of US IT managers said new rules must be established around security and device usage.

•       What about app access? Nearly half (48%) of all IT managers surveyed agree that access to company applications should be restricted for all employees. Canada and UK were the top countries in wanting to see restricted access on tablet form-factor devices (55% and 56 %, respectively).

•      Custom apps? IT managers universally agree that custom tablet applications would benefit their business.

•       Top "want list" features? Globally,three-quarters of IT managers indicated email and document sharing are "must haves". About half agreed or strongly agreed that these are desirable: video conferencing, IM, access to company databases and seamless synchronization with other business devices.

"BYOD"

•       Turning a blind eye to BYOD. Globally, 48% said their company would never authorize employees to bring their own devices (BYOD), yet 57% agreed that some employees use personal devices without consent.

•       51% of the respondents reported the number of employees bringing their own devices to work is on the rise.

•       Using personal devices without consent was highest in the US (64%) and lowest in Germany (49%).

•       Access to company servers was highlighted as a "huge problem" of the "bring your own device" to work phenomena as was lost/stolen devices (64% globally).

•       Globally, 44% say that handling BYOD issues diverts IT attention from other important projects.  

Supporting Quotes

Tom Puorro, director of product management, IPCBU, Cisco Systems

"Mobile workers and virtual workspaces are here to stay—but so are the demands on IT to continue to ensure enterprise-grade security, manageability and interoperability.  2012 promises to be an exciting year and IT leaders are a critical component in unleashing innovation and enabling organizations to take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity. Cisco is keenly focused on helping its customers navigate the post-PC era and transform their business."

Additional Resources:

Technorati Tags:

Cisco, Cisco Cius, business tablet, mobile collaboration device, tablets, technology trends, cloud computing, BYOD

About Cisco Collaboration

From award-winning IP communications to mobility, customer care, Web conferencing, messaging, enterprise social software, and interoperable telepresence experiences, Cisco brings together network-based, integrated collaboration solutions based on open standards. These solutions offered across on-premise, cloud-based or virtualized platforms, as well as services from Cisco and our partners, are designed to help promote business growth, innovation and productivity. They are also designed to help accelerate team performance, protect investments, and simplify the process of finding the right people and information.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

# # #

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

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Logitech Introduces Next Generation of Webcam Technology for Business

Logitech Introduces Next Generation of Webcam Technology for Business

 

New 1080p webcam offers more life-like experience, easier installation and lower PC processor burden for enhanced desktop videoconferencing and unified communications

FREMONT, Calif. — Jan. 18, 2012 — Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) is introducing the next generation of webcam technology for business with full 1080p HD video, onboard H.264 compression, USB Video Class (UVC) driver-less install and other premium features that enhance enterprise videoconferencing and unified communications.

In collaboration with Skype™, Logitech is the first to offer true 1080p videoconferencing at a maximum 30 frames per second for a more life-like experience with fluid motion and vivid colors, overcoming the barrier to acceptance for unified communications (UC) solutions when video quality is too low to keep employees engaged.

Advanced H.264 hardware encoding manages video compression inside the webcam, when paired with a compatible H.264 videoconferencing client, rather than slowing down the PC’s processor. This can significantly increase the ability to multi-task during video calls, by running several programs simultaneously during collaborative projects such as creating presentations or revising spreadsheets. Because of the reduced CPU load, H.264 webcams better enable videoconferencing on older and low-end PCs – a major cost-savings for businesses that want to move to UC without worrying about sluggish performance from legacy hardware. Also, because video is captured natively in the H.264 format, there is no extra compression step when sharing video clips – reducing upload time.

The UVC standard from the USB Implementers Forum, which Logitech helped develop, allows for driver-less plug-and-play installation – slashing deployment time in large enterprises that may need to simultaneously install hundreds or even thousands of webcams.

“We believe the combination of 1080p, H.264 compression and UVC driver-less install will help accelerate adoption of videoconferencing and UC in enterprises of all sizes,” said Eric Kintz, vice president and general manager of Logitech for Business. “It’s never been easier for video communications and collaboration to become part of everyone’s work life, whether connecting with colleagues down the hall or partners on the other side of the world.”

Logitech is bringing these ground-breaking technologies to market with the Logitech® HD Pro Webcam C920, expected to be available later this month worldwide, priced at $99.99 in the United States. The technologies will also be included in new video communications products for business that Logitech anticipates introducing later this year.

The Skype-certified Logitech C920 offers a range of additional premium features, including a razor-sharp Carl Zeiss® glass lens, 20-step autofocus, a wide 78-degree field of view for a true 16:9 HD image, dual microphones for uncompromising audio quality and Logitech RightLight™ 2 technology for clear images in poorly lit environments. The Logitech C920 is compatible with all major videoconferencing and UC software clients.

To enable full 1080p HD videoconferencing with the Logitech C920, users will need to download and install the latest version of Skype – Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows

More information on Logitech webcams and other products for business is available at www.logitech.com/business.

About Logitech

Logitech is a world leader in products that connect people to the digital experiences they care about. Spanning multiple computing, communication and entertainment platforms, Logitech’s combined hardware and software enable or enhance digital navigation, music and video entertainment, gaming, social networking, audio and video communication over the Internet, video security and home-entertainment control. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

Avaya Flare now available on iPad

Image002

 

Avaya Accelerates Mobile Collaboration for Enterprises with

Avaya Flare® Communicator for Apple iPad* Tablets

 

·         Avaya launches secure, next-generation mobile collaboration for consumer devices with Apple iPad application - now available through Apple App Store

·         Avaya Flare Communicator enables enterprise-class voice, instant messaging, presence with email integration over wi-fi and 3G networks

·         Customers -- like Emory University – adopting  Avaya Flare Communicator as a cost-effective, easy-to-use means to support BYOD and consumerization strategies

 

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Basking Ridge, N.J.– Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services, today announced the availability of Avaya Flare® Communicator for iPad tabletsAvaya Flare Communicator broadens the next-generation user experience of the Avaya Flare Experience currently delivered on the Avaya Desktop Video Device, to include the market-leading consumer tablet. Avaya Flare Communicator provides mobile workers with secure, next-generation, unified communications and collaboration capabilities over both Wi-fi and 3G networks.

Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad tablets is enabled by the Avaya Aura® unified communications architecture, which delivers integrated applications to a broad range of fixed and mobile devices. Today, Avaya takes secure mobile collaboration a step further by making the Avaya Flare Communicator a download from the Apple App Store, with plans to extend to additional consumer devices and operating systems later this year. 

Avaya Flare Communicator provides employees and their companies with the following capabilities and benefits: 

·         View the availability of enterprise associates from the contacts card and simply tap a single location to launch an instant message (IM), voice call or email

·         Manage two simultaneous voice calls using the iPad while mobile

·         Multi-task on the iPad tablet while communicating, e.g. read email, attend a web conference and use the iPad browser, and attend a voice conference call and IM, or use other productivity applications

·         Search the corporate directory and add associates to the Avaya Flare Communicator contacts fan for easy access

·         Engage in secure communication and collaboration remotely using wi-fi hotspots or 3G connectivity

·         Reduce mobile expenses by using the data channel and avoiding roaming charges while traveling across different cellular networks

 

Big Savings for Advanced Collaboration

The Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad tablet application is a free download for users from the Apple App Store. Businesses with Avaya Aura 6.1 or later can obtain up to 50 Avaya Aura client access licenses at no cost to connect users to Flare Communicator during an introductory offer from January 24 through April 30. 

 

Customers with Avaya Aura 6.1+ can also take advantage of a new Executive User Add-on promotion that enables power mobile collaborators to have consistent access to all of their real-time communications as their day-to-day needs change. The promotion offers 60 percent savings on the regular US list price and includes: Avaya Aura, Avaya Aura Conferencing, Avaya Flare Experience on the Avaya Desktop Video Device, Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad and services. The promotion is available from February 6 through September 30.

 

Finally, for businesses that want to move quickly to provide advanced mobile collaboration capabilities on older or other vendor systems, the Avaya Mobile Collaboration Pack is a turnkey mobile solution package that includes Avaya Aura, Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad for 50 users, Avaya one-X® Mobile for 50 users plus implementation, training, along with 1 year support and upgrade subscription.

 

The Avaya Flare Experience and ADVD recently received the 2011 Product Innovation Award for Global Videoconferencing Endpoints from Frost and Sullivan.

Quotes:

“Avaya Flare Communicator combines Avaya's software engineering expertise with all the strengths of the iPad tablet. The result is great voice quality, high reliability and a beautiful user interface that looks like it was built for how we work today. It’s the only ‘phone’ I have on my desk right now. “ 

Dr. Richard Mendola, Vice President, Information Technology & CIO, Emory University

 

“With Avaya Flare Communicator on iPad, enterprise users have a seamless mobile collaboration experience that integrates various methods of communication all at their fingertips. As the mobile workforce continues to grow, applications like Flare Communicator ensure that the tools they use simultaneously provide the consistency and flexibility needed for these workers to be truly effective.”
Rich Costello, Senior Research Analyst, Unified Communications, IDC

Additional Resources:

Avaya Flare Communicator for iPad Apple App Store download: http://bit.ly/rLU0tG

Brochure: http://bit.ly/zqlXnw

Demo: http://bit.ly/yEdnY0

Fact Sheet: http://bit.ly/zaIPM4

Photos: 

 

 

Joyent Cloud Partners with NodeFly to Deliver First Node.js Application Monitoring Tool in the Cloud

Joyent Cloud Partners with NodeFly to Deliver First Node.js Application Monitoring Tool in the Cloud

NodeFly integrates analytics data via Joyent Cloud Analytics API to help companies monitor and optimize performance of Node.js apps in real-time

San Francisco and VancouverJanuary 19, 2011—Joyent Cloud, the highest performance public cloud, and NodeFly, an innovative provider of cloud application and infrastructure monitoring services, today announced a partnership to offer Node.js analytics services to Joyent Cloud customers. NodeFly is the first monitoring services company to integrate Node.js analytics into its offering.

NodeFly CTO Eugene Kaydalov and his team developed the analytics service by pulling data from Joyent Cloud Analytics, a unique analytics technology leveraging DTrace, to provide latency and performance measurements in real-time on production applications. NodeFly’s Node.js analytics package only works for applications running in the Joyent Cloud.

“We use Joyent’s new Cloud API to extract highly granular information and give users running Node.js a complete, single-pane monitoring solution,” explains Kaydalov. “Because so many companies interested in running fast, dynamic applications are turning to Node.js, we were very eager to fulfill their needs with a breakthrough product.”

As part of the partnership, Joyent Cloud customers receive a free Standard subscription to NodeFly.

The partnership delivers numerous benefits to Joyent Cloud customers, including:

  • Unique capabilities to monitor and visualize Node.js apps in real-time in per second increments
  • Ability to simultaneously monitor the latency of the same application running in multiple clouds
  • Automated discovery of new cloud services, which are auto-populated in the NodeFly dashboard
  • Simple deployment of NodeFly with a single line of code

Joyent Cloud’s parent company, Joyent Inc., is the corporate steward of the Node.js open source project– the fastest growing programming language and the most followed code repository on GitHub.

“The combination of NodeFly and Joyent Cloud Analytics provides our customers running Node.js apps an extremely powerful analytics combo,” says Steve Tuck, General Manager of Joyent Cloud. “We share with NodeFly a belief that anyone running cloud applications should have complete and total transparency into any process in their architecture, from the vCPU to the kernel to the database to the web server.”

NodeFly’s monitoring service complements Joyent Cloud Analytics, a free analytics package available to Joyent Cloud customers that allows users to troubleshoot sources of latency with point-and-click ease. NodeFly users can identify latencies in their applications, then use Joyent Cloud Analytics to dig deeper into specific processes and identify problems across multiple types of operations.  Joyent Cloud’s four-dimensional heat maps highlight outlying bottlenecks that are usually hidden in line graphs that display averages.

To learn more about Joyent Cloud and NodeFly, please visit: www.joyentcloud.com/nodefly

About Joyent

Joyent is a global cloud computing software and service provider that offers an integrated technology suite designed for enterprises, developers and service providers. Joyent Cloud delivers public cloud services to some of the most innovative companies in the world, including LinkedIn, Gilt Groupe and Kabam. Joyent licenses its cloud software to service providers that include Dell, First Server, MiTAC, XYBASE, Libero, NavLink and Uniserve. Joyent is the corporate steward of and provides cloud computing based on Node.js, the open source server-side JavaScript development environment that has been embraced by enterprises around the world, including Microsoft and LinkedIn. Joyent is also the key contributor to and sponsor of Joyent SmartOS, an open source project dedicated to the complete, modern operating system. A global ecosystem of leading technology partners assists Joyent in enabling customers to leverage the performance, scalability, reliability and security inherent in the company’s cloud solutions. For more information, visit http://www.joyent.com.

About NodeFly

NodeFly, based in Vancouver BC, is a new breed of real-time monitoring and workload management tools developed to address the fact that you can’t manage what you can’t see. Focused on simplicity, NodeFly features Active Discovery, which proactively finds all your available services, sets up monitors, and gathers data. Multiple views allow you to easily add, remove, and monitor servers with the click of a mouse. Users can view all their nodes in one place, and use smart tags for better aggregate views. NodeFly checks whether these nodes are active and functioning. In the event of a problem, alerts are sent via email, SMS, or postback.

Joyent Cloud Media Contact
Scott VanSickle
The Hoffman Agency
+1- 408-975-3084
svansickle@hoffman.com

Lenovo and Polycom to Deliver RealPresence Video Software and Voice Communications to PCs and Mobile Devices

Lenovo and Polycom to Deliver RealPresence Video Software and Voice Communications to PCs and Mobile Devices

Polycom® RealPresence™ HD Video and HD Voice™ to Be Embedded Across Range of Devices

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., and PLEASANTON, Calif. - Jan 19, 2012 : Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) and Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC), today announced an agreement to deliver Polycom® RealPresence™ HD video and HD Voice™ solutions on Lenovo laptops and tablets. The two companies will develop innovative solutions that optimize and embed Polycom RealPresence video collaboration solutions on Lenovo laptops and tablets to deliver high-quality collaboration experiences to end-users from any location. Polycom and Lenovo are ensuring a number of devices – including select laptops in the ThinkPad T, X, L, and W Series – are Polycom-ready, providing certification and assurance that the device will perform optimally with Polycom solutions.

Lenovo is the first PC manufacturer to announce plans to deliver Polycom-ready products. Additionally, the companies are planning to deliver Polycom-powered solutions that embed select Lenovo desktops, laptops, and tablets with Polycom RealPresence HD video and HD Voice collaboration software. Lenovo will also resell Polycom's personal and group communication accessories worldwide to help customers achieve a complete communications solution.

In the first half of 2012, Lenovo will offer select ThinkPad tablets and laptops that are certified Polycom-ready, specifically for Polycom® RealPresence™ Mobile and Polycom® RealPresence™ Desktop software.The companies are also working to embed Polycom-powered software on Lenovo products to extend powerful HD video collaboration beyond the conference room.

With a simple click of a mouse, RealPresence Desktop makes it easy for companies to drive video collaboration and content sharing via video more broadly throughout the organization and also across firewalls in B2B and mobile videoconferences. RealPresence Mobile, a free-to-download software application, is the first enterprise solution for tablets that extends HD video collaboration beyond traditional office boundaries with the same enterprise-class security and legendary experience Polycom customers expect in a conference room. Polycom's mobile video collaboration solutions are powered by the Polycom® RealPresence™ Platform.

"Our customers choose Lenovo computing products as part of a complete technology solution, and by embedding Polycom RealPresence video collaboration software in our devices, we're delivering extra value to customers by allowing them to easily collaborate face-to-face with anyone from anywhere," said Rich Cheston, distinguished engineer and master inventor, Lenovo. "Both Lenovo and Polycom are committed to delivering the latest innovations that enhance productivity."

"Working with Lenovo, the world's second-largest PC maker, further accelerates our vision to make video collaboration ubiquitous by expanding the reach of Polycom RealPresence HD video and HD Voice – powered by the RealPresence Platform, the most comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video collaboration – to an even broader range of devices, from desktops to laptops to tablets," said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, chief development officer, Polycom. "Embedded delivery of Polycom video collaboration software on industry leading devices, such as Lenovo, adds a new and critical route to market for Polycom. This collaboration underscores Polycom's focus and commitment to deliver the most advanced and innovative unified communications and video solutions to enable employees to collaborate with colleagues, customers, experts, and partners from wherever they work or travel."

"The powerful combination of Lenovo's computing technology and Polycom's unified communications and video collaboration solutions represents a growing sales and services opportunity for our channel partners," said Kirk Robinson, vice president and general manager, Ingram Micro Commercial Markets, U.S. "As a preferred distribution partner for Lenovo and Polycom, Ingram Micro is pleased to play an integral role in the go-to-market strategy for these collaborative, all-in-one solutions."

Availability
Lenovo's ThinkPad T, X, L, and W Series laptops are currently being tested to be Polycom-ready with additional devices, such as the ThinkPad Tablet, expected in 1 H 2012. Polycom and Lenovo will work to embed Polycom software on Lenovo devices in 2012. Select Polycom communications solutions, including the award winning Polycom® Communicator C100 PC speakerphone and other group and personal video collaboration accessories, are currently available for purchase through Lenovo. For more information, please visit www.lenovo.com.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world's second-largest PC vendor. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo's business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com

About Polycom
Polycom is the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC) solutions for telepresence, video, and voice, powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform. The RealPresence Platform interoperates with the broadest range of business, mobile and social applications and devices. More than 400,000 organizations trust Polycom solutions to collaborate and meet face to face from any location for more productive and effective engagement with colleagues, partners, customers and prospects. Polycom, together with its broad partner ecosystem, provides customers with the best TCO, scalability, and security – on-premises, hosted or cloud delivered. Visit www.polycom.com or connect with Polycom on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Polycom UC Solutions and Polycom RealPresence Platform
Polycom UC solutions create a highly collaborative environment that significantly improves overall productivity and efficiency. Offerings include HD video and voice solutions for personal, mobile, group, and immersive telepresence experiences. The Polycom RealPresence Platform is the most comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video collaboration, and delivers the industry's only universal bridging software that supports up to 75,000 device registrations and 25,000 concurrent sessions. With a broad ecosystem of partners, Polycom provides the most comprehensive, reliable, and scalable collaboration platform for delivering UC solutions to employees, partners, and suppliers.

NOTE: The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and related specifications referenced herein are not guaranteed and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

© 2012 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom "Triangles" logo, and the names and marks associated with Polycom's products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Contacts

Juniper Networks Introduces Innovative Partner Marketing Programs at Global Partner Conference

Juniper Networks Introduces Innovative Partner Marketing Programs at Global Partner Conference

LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - Jan 17, 2012) - Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today unveiled a new suite of social, co-branding and mobile marketing programs and tools aimed at empowering partners to differentiate their business and expand their reach. The announcement is part of Juniper's first annual Global Partner Conference, kicking off today, welcoming more than 1,000 partners in Las Vegas from key regions across the globe.

Click to Tweet: Juniper Networks Introduces Partner Marketing Programs at Global Partner Conference http://bit.ly/JNPRnewz

News Highlights:

  • Juniper Networks unveils new social, co-branding and marketing tools and training to over 1100 partners at its first annual Global Partner Conference.
  • Juniper Networks' Mobile App for the iPad transforms how partners interact with customers, providing instant, on-the-go access to interactive marketing content such as data sheets, videos, images and case studies.
  • Juniper's New Marketing Concierge Platform provides partners with customized content and 24x7 access to Juniper's marketing experts.
  • Thought-Leadership and Education Platform InnoVAR helps partners expand their expertise, and become more efficient and effective marketers during quarterly sessions offered by Juniper Networks Partner Organization.
  • Conference hosted by key Juniper executives -- CEO Kevin Johnson, CMO Lauren Flaherty, EVP Bob Muglia, EVP Stefan Dyckerhoff and partner executives SVP Emilio Umeoka and VP Luanne Tierney.
  • Juniper Networks Unveils New Partner Advantage Program at first annual Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas; more than 1,000 partners converge on Las Vegas.

Supporting Quote

Juniper Networks
"The collaboration and support of our partners is crucial to helping Juniper win and lead in both the enterprise and service provider markets. When I joined Juniper Networks a year ago, my goal was to push the limits of traditional marketing and provide partners with instant access to interactive and targeted marketing resources. A year later, I'm thrilled to unveil a suite of marketing tools that will give partners instant access to all that Juniper Networks has to offer and promises to promote a more interactive and profitable relationship between partners and their customers."
-- Luanne Tierney, vice president, global partner marketing, Juniper Networks

Additional Resources:

About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers, Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net).

Juniper Networks and Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The Juniper Networks and Junos logos are trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Mozido and T4G look to bring m-wallet to Canada

23 January, 2012
www.finextra.com/News/Announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=42756

Mozido and T4G look to bring m-wallet to Canada

Mozido and T4G working together in the Caribbean to roll out a multi-channel transaction services platform, have entered into a strategic partnership to grow Mozido's mobile wallet services platform in Canada.

Mozido's mobile payment network provides every mobile consumer the ability to enter into the global financial ecosystem to seamlessly send money, pay for goods and services, and buy airtime using most wireless devices including iPhone, Android, Blackberry and others.

"For the past year we have been working with T4G to deliver the Mozido platform which enables consumer mobile payment services in the Caribbean. Now it's time to offer Canadians greater consumer convenience and a mobile electronic payment network that is secure, economical and reliable," said Michael Liberty, Founder, Mozido LLC.

"Our strategic partnership with T4G is a key relationship for us to advance our global plans to provide a broadly-based mobile payment platform. T4G's depth of experience in working with leading retailers, financial services firms and mobile network operators was proven to us time and again over the past year. When you add T4G's experience in security, infrastructure and development, it made selecting our Canadian partner to help us build out our Canadian eco-system an easy decision," Rick Braddock, Chairman, Mozido LLC.

T4G President Geoff Flood believes that the mobile wallet is a natural high-growth area in the wireless marketplace and he is delighted that Mozido would choose T4G to help build its business in Canada.

"Mobility means convenience, whether it is a keystroke enabling us to send money to our children or paying the water bill," Mr. Flood said. "We think Mozido's technology is a proven winner and we look forward to bringing Canadian mobile users into the modern global financial ecosystem with leading Canadian companies including banking service providers. Mozido is a foremost provider of mobile multichannel transaction services for wireless phone service providers, financial institutions and retailers."

Waterloo Region Tech Sector Ecosystem Continues to Thrive With 450 Startup Jobs Created, 300 Companies Founded During 2011

Waterloo Region Tech Sector Ecosystem Continues to Thrive With 450 Startup Jobs Created, 300 Companies Founded During 2011


WATERLOO REGION, ON, Jan. 23, 2012 /CNW/ - Tech sector momentum continues to grow in Waterloo Region, as Communitech reports that 450 startup jobs and 300 new companies emerged in the Region during 2011, along with continued hiring in established companies. Companies working with the Communitech startups team raised over $70 million in funding from venture capitalists, angel investors and government incentive programs to spur on innovation during 2011.

The 2011 figures bring results for the past three years to a total of 1,441 new startup jobs and 531 new companies in Waterloo Region. In addition to startup growth, another 1,000 new jobs were created in medium to large tech companies.

"These figures are truly remarkable in view of global economic challenges," said Iain Klugman, CEO of Communitech, the organization representing 800 tech companies in Waterloo Region. "The growth trajectory demonstrates that tech innovation is thriving here, with the support of the tech community and specialty programs that help companies of all sizes get a toe-hold and grow."

Along with growth comes demand for specialized talent. Desire2Learn, a learning software company, currently has over 200 job openings to fill; there continue to be approximately 1,300 tech job openings overall in the Region. Communitech frequently stages job fairs - anywhere from the local community to as far away as Vancouver -- to help attract needed talent to the area.  A Waterloo TechVibe recruiting event planned for Tuesday, January 24th in Waterloo will include more than 30 hiring companies.

The 30,000 square foot Communitech Hub, which houses digital media initiatives, is already bursting at the seams and is completing a 15,000 square foot addition to meet demand - a success story that has unfolded in The Hub's first 18 months of operation. Built with support from the private sector, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada, The Hub has been a catalyst for 165 startup companies to date. There are more than 400 active startups in the Region making Waterloo Region on a per capita basis, the startup capital of Canada, Klugman said.

"And this is not only a great place to start a company -- it's a great place to evolve and grow a company at any stage of an enterprise's lifecycle," said Klugman.

Many established tech companies in Waterloo Region have had a year of growth through acquisitions, such as Descartes Systems Group which acquired InterCommIT and Telargo;  Google which acquired PostRank and PushLife; Parametric Technology Corp. (now PTC) which acquired MKS; and Teledyne (now Teledyne DALSA) which acquired DALSA; to name just a few.  And new companies have located in Waterloo such as Electronic Arts (EA), attracted by the strong tech labour pool and quality of life in Waterloo Region. OpenText's new CEO Mark Barrenechea is relocating to Waterloo Region from Silicon Valley to lead Canada's largest software company which is headquartered here.

2012 promises to continue the growth trend for Waterloo Region with the completion of the Hub expansion next month, ongoing hiring into the 400 startup companies that will translate into many more jobs in the Region, and great things on the horizon for established companies, many of which are also hiring, said Klugman.

Communitech's newest initiative to attract U.S. companies to the Region is a 'soft-landing' program to enable smooth transitions into the Waterloo Region tech ecosystem which will seed further growth and job opportunity.

Communitech offers programs ranging from ensuring high school students are exposed to the possibility of pursuing a math and science track at university, to executive coaching for early-stage companies, to its LevelUp management development programs for small to medium-sized enterprises. In a recent survey, 91 percent of tech companies rated at least one program or service offered by Communitech to be "very or extremely important to them".

About Communitech
Founded by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs in 1997, Communitech is the regional hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies supporting and building a Southwestern Ontario tech cluster of more than 800 companies that now generates more than $25B in revenue.  Communitech supports tech companies at all stages of their growth and development - from startup companies, to rapidly growing SMEs, to large global players - to create greater numbers of successful global businesses for Ontario and for Canada.

For further information:

Media Contact
Shelley Grandy, Sr. PR Advisor, Communitech, 905-866-2656 or segrandy@communitech.ca


Research In Motion Names Thorsten Heins President and CEO

January 22, 2012

Research In Motion Names Thorsten Heins President and CEO

- Board Acts on Recommendation of Co-CEOs to Implement Succession Plan

- Mike Lazaridis Named Vice Chair of the Board

- Jim Balsillie Remains a Director

- Barbara Stymiest Named Independent Board Chair

- Prem Watsa Named Independent Director

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 22, 2012) - The Board of Directors of BlackBerry(R) maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-Chief Executive Officers to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Heins was also appointed to RIM's Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Mike Lazaridis, former Co-Chair and Co-CEO, has become Vice Chair of RIM's Board and Chair of the Board's new Innovation Committee. As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.

Mr. Heins said he looks forward to continuing to work with Mr. Lazaridis, globally recognized as a technology pioneer. He said, "Mike created a whole new way of communicating and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration."

On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, "There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now. With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond. Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins."

Jim Balsillie remains a member of the Board. "I agree this is the right time to pass the baton to new leadership, and I have complete confidence in Thorsten, the management team and the company," he said. "I remain a significant shareholder and a Director and, of course, they will have my full support."

Mr. Lazaridis said that he decided to move from Co-Chair to Vice Chair of the Board in order to return the public's focus to what is most important: "the great company we have built, its iconic products, global brand and its talented employees."

Mr. Lazaridis added, "Thorsten has demonstrated throughout his tenure at RIM that he has the right mix of leadership, relevant industry experience and skills to take the company forward. We have been impressed with his operational skills at both RIM and Siemens. I am so confident in RIM's future that I intend to purchase an additional $50 million of the company's shares, as permitted, in the open market."

Mr. Heins said he believes that RIM has tremendous potential. He joined RIM from Siemens Communications Group in December 2007 as Senior Vice President for Hardware Engineering and became Chief Operating Officer for Product and Sales in August 2011.

"Mike and Jim took a bold step 18 months ago when RIM purchased QNX to shepherd the transformation of the BlackBerry platform for the next decade," Mr. Heins said. "We are more confident than ever that was the right path. It is Mike and Jim's continued unwillingness to sacrifice long-term value for short-term gain which has made RIM the great company that it is today. I share that philosophy and am very excited about the company's future."

Mr. Heins said that RIM has a strong foundation on which to build. "We have a strong balance sheet with approximately $1.5 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter and negligible debt. We reported revenue of $5.2 billion in our last quarter, up 24% from the prior quarter, and a 35% year-to-year increase in the BlackBerry subscriber base, which is now over 75 million."

Mr. Heins said, "BlackBerry 7 has been well received. We are very excited about PlayBook 2.0 and BlackBerry 10. The reception of our products at this year's Consumer Electronics Show was encouraging."

He continued, "RIM earned its reputation by focusing relentlessly on the customer and delivering unique mobile communications solutions. We intend to build on this heritage to expand BlackBerry's leadership position."

Mr. Heins said that RIM has grown quickly. "As with any company that has grown as fast as we have, there have been inevitable growing pains," he said. "We have learned from those challenges and, I believe, we have and will become a stronger company as a result.

"Going forward, we will continue to focus both on short-term and long-term growth, strategic planning, a customer- and market-based product approach, and flawless execution. We are in the process of recruiting a new Chief Marketing Officer to work closely with our product and sales teams to deliver the most compelling products and services."

Barbara Stymiest, who formerly served as a member of Royal Bank of Canada's Group Executive and has been a member of RIM's Board since 2007, has been named the independent Board Chair. John Richardson, formerly Lead Director, will remain on the Board. Prem Watsa, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings, also was named to the Board, expanding it to 11 members.

Speaking on behalf of the Board, Ms. Stymiest said: "We believe that Thorsten is the right executive to succeed Mike and Jim. He has 27 years of telecommunications experience, including four years at RIM in senior management positions. As a Board, we have been impressed with his outstanding management skills, his leadership and his accomplishments within the company."

Ms. Stymiest also expressed the Board's respect and admiration for Messrs. Lazaridis and Balsillie, the company they built, and the steps they have taken to position RIM for the future.

"They created RIM, nurtured it, and in the process not only built an iconic brand, but literally pioneered the smartphone industry," she said. "It is Canada's largest tech company and one of the largest in the world."

Conference Call and Webcast

A conference call and live webcast will be held beginning at 8 am ET, January 23, 2012, which can be accessed by dialing 1-800-814-4859 (North America), (+1)416-644-3414 (outside North America) or through your personal computer or BlackBerry(R) PlayBook(TM) tablet at www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml. A replay of the conference call will also be available at approximately 10 am ET by dialing (+1)416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4509630#. A replay of the webcast will be available on your personal computer or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet by clicking the link above. This replay will be available until midnight ET, February 6, 2012.

About Thorsten Heins

Thorsten Heins, 54, is a respected business leader with 27 years of broad experience and expertise in wireless networks and consumer electronics devices. Mr. Heins has a global reputation for his organizational and leadership skills and his ability to build successful organizations that deliver on their commitments. Prior to today's announcement, Mr. Heins was one of RIM's two Chief Operating Officers and, before that, Senior Vice President for the Handheld Business Unit. He played key roles in the creation of RIM's product portfolio. Mr. Heins came to RIM in December 2007 from the industrial conglomerate Siemens AG. He joined Siemens in 1984 after graduating from the University of Hannover in his native Germany. At Siemens, Mr. Heins rose through the ranks of R&D customer service, sales and product management positions. After serving as Chief Executive Officer of various business divisions in the communication business, Mr. Heins moved to Chief Technology Officer and member of the Group Board of the Siemens Communications Group. He came to RIM after being impressed by the level of innovation displayed by founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. Mr. Heins is married with a daughter and a son. Away from RIM, he is usually outdoors bicycling, motorcycling, skiing or hiking.

About Barbara Stymiest

Barbara Stymiest has served as a director of RIM since March 2007. She has an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and an FCA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Ms. Stymiest joined Royal Bank of Canada in 2004, where she served as a member of RBC's Group Executive, which is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company. Prior to that, she held positions as Chief Executive Officer at TSX Group Inc., Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at BMO Nesbitt Burns and Partner of Ernst & Young LLP. Ms. Stymiest is currently a Director of George Weston Limited, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Royal Ontario Museum.

About Prem Watsa

Prem Watsa is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a financial services holding company whose corporate objective is to achieve a high rate of return on invested capital and build long-term shareholder value, since 1985. He is also Vice President of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd. since 1985. Mr. Watsa formerly served as Vice President of GW Asset Management from 1983 to 1984 and in various positions, ultimately as a Vice President, with Confederation Life Investment Counsel from 1974 to 1983.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry(R) solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ:RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:RIM). For more information, visit www.RIM.com or www.BlackBerry.com.