Terrific Technology

Logitech Sets its Sights on Night Vision with New Indoor Master Security System and Add-On Camera

2012-05-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

Easy-to-Install Smart Camera with Wide-Angle Night Vision Provides Everything You Need to Help Protect What's Important

NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) expanded its Logitech® Alert™ lineup by introducing the Logitech® Alert™ 750n Indoor Master System, a complete video security system in a box that enables you to be there — even when you're not. Easy installation, wide-angle night vision, powerful PC software and a free remote viewing account let you rest at ease whether at home or away, with peace of mind that your property and loved ones are safe.

Logitech Alert 750n Indoor Master System (Photo: Business Wire)

For expanded security coverage, Logitech also introduced the Logitech® Alert™ 700n Indoor Add-On Camera. This stand-alone night-vision camera is easy to add to your existing Logitech Alert Master system so you can see what's going on in other rooms or locations.

Thanks to HomePlug® networking, installation for both the system and add-on camera is easy, and there's no need to run wires or bother with tricky network configuration. Simply plug your camera into a wall power outlet, and HomePlug uses your electrical wiring and outlets to connect your camera to the network and transmit video securely.

The Logitech Alert 750n Indoor Master System and the Logitech Alert 700n Indoor Add-On Camera both offer high-quality HD video (960 x 720@ 15fps), a 130-degree wide-angle and powerful night vision that delivers up to twice the viewing area compared to standard cameras. This makes it easier to recognize people and other objects more clearly, day or night. You can see up to 50 feet in complete darkness with high-powered illumination, so you'll never again find yourself afraid of the dark.

"By bringing our night vision capabilities to indoor cameras with the Logitech Alert 750n Indoor Master System and the Logitech Alert 700n Indoor Add-On Camera, you get a premiere security system package," said James Lopez, general manager of digital video security at Logitech. "The wide angle lens gives you the ability to see up to twice as much viewing area, even in complete darkness. And if there is motion on your property, its automatic alerts let you know about it in an instant — even if you're out of town."

Additionally, the system and add-on camera have motion-triggered recording, which automatically triggers video recording and can be set up to send notifications to your e-mail address and mobile phone, keeping you informed. You can even specify 16 motion-detection zones within the frame.

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech Alert 750n Indoor Master System and Logitech Alert 700n Add-On Camera are expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in May 2012, for a suggested retail price of $299.99 and $229.99, respectively. For more information please visit www.logitech.com or our blog.

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).

Logitech, the Logitech logo, and other Logitech marks are registered in Switzerland and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information about Logitech and its products, visit the company's website at www.logitech.com.

(LOGIIR)

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50270738&lang=en

Logitech

IBM Social Sentiment Index: More People Feeling Optimistic About Travel, Spending This Memorial Day Weekend

2012-05-24T16:30:00.001-07:00

“Desire Ratio” skyrockets, heralding robust weekend sales
Consumers upbeat about air travel and gas prices

ARMONK, N.Y. - 24 May 2012: An IBM (NYSE: IBM) analysis of social media sentiment indicates that Americans are increasingly upbeat about their plans for the Memorial Day weekend, with a huge increase this year in the amount of people talking about traveling and spending compared to last year. In particular, the “Desire Ratio” – the proportion of positive versus negative comments about shopping – increased by a factor of five for this Memorial Day compared with last year.

The IBM Social Sentiment Index, which uses analytics and natural language processing technologies to aggregate and gauge consumer public opinions from Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media, shows a 46 percent increase in the amount of conversations about Memorial Day travel compared to 2011. This signal suggests travel providers and transportation officials could see a boost in demand and traffic during the holiday weekend.

Upbeat Discussion of Air Travel and Gas Prices

The Index also shows a large increase in social chatter about flying, with mentions jumping 65 percent compared to last year, while references to driving increased 13 percent.

Surprisingly, sentiment on the topic of gas prices, which have only recently gone down from their highest prices of the year, is considerably more positive than last year, with a 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative mentions in 2012 compared to a 1 to 1 ratio in 2011.

These combined trends may indicate that people are feeling better this year about their finances going into the Memorial Day holiday.

Retailers also could see a jump in consumer spending over the holiday. The Index, which looked at online conversations from January 1 to May 16 in 2012 and 2011, reveals an upward trend in positive sentiment toward Memorial Day spending. The ratio of positive to negative comments about shopping and Memorial Day travel – which IBM calls the Desire Ratio -- is 6.5 to 1 this year compared to a ratio of 1.3 to 1 in 2011. During the same period, negative sentiment around the topic of budgets decreased by 50 percent year over year [10.5 percent in 2011 versus 4.9 percent in 2012].

“When analytics are applied to social media conversations, it identifies more than what people are talking about. This is valuable insight into people’s preferences and attitudes about a product or a service and helps us understand why people do what they do,” said Marty Salfen, IBM general manager, travel & transportation. “Being able to predict, plan or act on sentiment around Memorial Day travel in real-time can be an opportunity for businesses to capitalize on fast-moving trends. An airline could offer fliers different, more specific services or deals, transportation officials could provide more alternate routes, retailers could staff up for the long weekend.”

The wealth of online content around travel -- from traveler review sites to public conversations on Twitter and Facebook -- has become very influential in how people determine their travel plans. Understanding the positive, neutral and negative nuances of their conversations and who is influential can help airlines, hoteliers and other travel service providers better market products and services to their customers, strengthen brand loyalty and respond in real-time.

About the IBM Social Sentiment Index

The IBM Social Sentiment Index uses advanced analytics and natural language processing technologies to analyze large volumes of social media data in order to assess public opinions. The Index can identify and measure positive, negative and neutral sentiments shared in public forums such as Twitter, blogs, message boards and other social media, and provide quick insights into consumer conversations about issues, products and services. Representing a new form of market research, social sentiment analyses offer organizations new insights that can help them better understand and respond to consumer trends. For more information about IBM Business Analytics, please visit: www.ibm.com/analytics.

To download the IBM Social Sentiment Index for Memorial Day travel infographic, please visithttp://bit.ly/LrPXJh.

To join the conversation, follow the hashtag #IBMIndex

Lenovo Previews Next-Gen Business Ultrabook; Announces Latest Powerful ThinkPad Laptops

2012-05-17T12:32:00.001-07:00

Debuts New ThinkPad Precision Keyboard and Performance Features Across Family RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – May 15, 2012: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today at its Accelerate Channel Partner Conference in Las Vegas previewed the upcomingThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop, the lightest 14-inch Ultrabook™ in the industry.1 With an amazingly thin and extremely powerful design, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon shatters the mold of traditional laptops. Also today, Lenovo announced a new portfolio of ThinkPad laptops in the T, X, L and W Series built to power small businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and large corporations. The laptops range from models designed for extreme portability to mobile workstation performance.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon: The Lightest Professional Ultrabook

Created for those who demand the highest levels of performance, mobility, entertainment and design, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon exceeds Ultrabook™ specifications by using a premium carbon fiber rollcage to create a durable UltrabookTM weighing less than three pounds. Other premium features include 3G connectivity for anywhere anytime access, Lenovo RapidCharge for a near-full battery charge in 30 minutes, and Intel vPro technology for manageability.

“We crafted the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with premium carbon fiber material in order to make it incredibly thin and light, yet durable,” said Lu Yan, senior vice president, Think Product Group, Lenovo. “Our new ThinkPad laptop portfolio embodies much of the innovative thinking exemplified in the X1 Carbon, such as a backlit keyboard, super-bright high definition display, Dolby® Home Theatre® and rich communications features that balance business performance with personal use.”

ThinkPad Portfolio: Class-Leading Laptops

The new ThinkPad X, T, W, and L Series models include a platform of innovations that respond to key business needs. Featuring 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processors andLenovo Enhanced Experience 3.0 (EE 3.0) with RapidBoot technology, the laptops boot 40 percent faster than a typical Windows® 7 computer.2 Also the new ThinkPad Precision Keyboard extends across the new lineup and features a backlit option and modern, clean design. For a clear and rich audio-visual experience, the laptops include Dolby audio and super-bright 300 NIT HD+ panels. Communication becomes simple with the introduction of 4G long term evolution (LTE)/mobile broadband on select ThinkPad laptop models and the introduction of Lenovo’s upcoming contract-free mobile broadband. The new ThinkPad laptop family consistently exceeds military specifications giving mobile professionals the confidence to work anywhere under almost any condition.

A Road Warrior’s Dream – ThinkPad X230 Ultraportable

Designed for business professionals on-the-go, the ThinkPad X230 laptop delivers top performance with an amazing 24 hours of battery life packed into a compact, lightweight form.3 Despite its small size, the laptop’s ergonomic design with the optional Precision Backlit Keyboard makes the laptop comfortable and easy to use. A road warrior’s dream weighing less than three pounds, the ThinkPad X230 laptop features a super-bright 12.5-inch, 300 nit IPS wide-viewing display. Its 4G mobile broadband, a first for ThinkPad laptops, delivers blazing fast wireless connectivity.

Flexible and Powerful – ThinkPad X230t Ultraportable Tablet

The ThinkPad X230t convertible tablet with pen combines the functionality and performance of a 12-inch ultraportable laptop with the mobility and flexibility of a tablet computer. In addition to many of the same features as the X230, the X230t also has a convenient optional touch screen and is complemented by adding the optional ThinkPad laser mouse.

Uncompromised Power and Performance – ThinkPad T430/430s/530

Lenovo’s T Series laptops offer ThinkPad’s best combination of mobility and performance. Work endlessly with up to 32.5 hours of battery life on some configurations and perform at the highest levels with features like optional NVIDIA® discrete graphics.4 The T430s is the ThinkPad line’s lightest 14-inch laptop featuring docking and vPro. The Series’ best-selling T430 also has a very compact form. For users who want a larger screen size in a thin light form factor, the T530 offers a 15-inch full HD display with a 95 percent color gamut. Other performance and mobility features on the T Series laptops include USB 3.0, Lenovo RapidCharge and 4G mobile broadband.

Mobile Workstation Made Easy – ThinkPad W530

Packed with strong laptop performance, the ThinkPad W530 is an independent software vendor (ISV)-certified workstation for those who require extreme processor and/or graphic performance combined with mobility. The full HD, 270 nit wide-viewing angle display meets intensive GPU requirements with its 95 percent color gamut and a built-in color calibrator. Up to four additional displays can be connected when paired with the ThinkPad Dock. Ideal for designers who need a bright, clear and colorful screen that shows true color consistency, this mobile workstation also includes NVIDIA® Quadro® mobile graphics processors with second generation Optimus™ power management technology. The ThinkPad W530 comes ready to handle out-of-the-box with multiple professional applications such as CAD/CAM, GIS and 3D modeling.

True to the Core – ThinkPad L430/530

Combined with the great features of the ThinkPad portfolio, the ThinkPad L430 and L530 laptops provide business users with an affordable PC without sacrificing performance. With a thinner and lighter design over its predecessor, the new L Series offers a high definition (HD) screen in either a 14-inch or 15-inch option.

Super Speed Docking – ThinkPad Series 3/USB 3.0 Dock
Users can maximize the power of the latest ThinkPad laptops with improved ThinkPad docking solutions. Lenovo enhanced the ThinkPad Series 3 docking stations with a USB 3.0 port that delivers 10 times the performance of USB 2.0. As the most compact USB 3.0 docking solution, the all new USB 3.0 Dock also packs in five SuperSpeed USB 3.0 data ports, dual beyond-HD video out, gigabit Ethernet and always-on mobile device charging. With common ThinkPad docking solutions, batteries, and power supplies, IT managers can swap hardware among employees to maximize their resources and minimize cost.

Industry Leading Services and Support

All ThinkPad laptops include Lenovo worldwide service and support including local language tech support. Lenovo offers a wide range of solutions for large businesses that help save IT departments time and money including transition services, accidental damage protection service and priority support. Additionally, Lenovo is offering a new option for Onsite Technician Installation of Customer Replaceable Units (CRUs) for ThinkPad laptops, which includesmemory modules, optical drive, power supply, PCI cards, fan assembly and hard disk drive. This upgraded warranty option provides an authorized repair technician to install a part onsite to help less technical customers or those located away from company IT support desks.

Pricing and Availability5
Models of the ThinkPad X230 laptop will start at approximately $1,179.

Models of the ThinkPad X230T convertible tablet will start at approximately $1,479.

Models of the ThinkPad T430 laptop will start at approximately $879.

Models of the ThinkPad T430s laptop will start at approximately $1,399.

Models of the ThinkPad L430 and L530 laptop will start at approximately $879.

The ThinkPad W530 mobile workstation models will start at approximately $1,529.

The above referenced laptops will be available starting in early June.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook™ will be available starting this summer.

The latest ThinkPad Series laptops will be offered through business partners andwww.lenovo.com.

For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter andFacebook.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR:LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company – and the second largest PC company in the world, serving customers in more than 160 countries. 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 centres in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see www.lenovo.com.

IBM Expands Global Cloud Capabilities with Advanced SmartCloud Services and New Customer Adoption

2012-05-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Cloud Services Focus on Choice, Security and Control for Enterprise computing

ARMONK, N.Y. - 17 May 2012: As businesses embrace the transformative power of cloud computing to gain a significant advantage, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled advancements to its SmartCloud Services and announced new customers and partners that demonstrate IBM SmartCloud is a leading enterprise cloud platform for business.

IBM has seen rapid adoption of its SmartCloud portfolio as customers and partners move to the cloud. IBM manages massive amounts of data and client transactions in its cloud environments, including:

· 1 million enterprise application users working on the IBM Cloud

· More than $100 billion in commerce transactions a year in the cloud

· 4.5 million daily client transactions conducted through the IBM Cloud

Customers and partners are increasingly choosing IBM SmartCloud services, software and hardware to expand into new markets, enable their mobile workforces and develop enterprise applications more efficiently.

“Companies are starting to understand that cloud is more than just about gaining efficiencies and cost savings, it’s about driving the kind of fundamental innovation that provides lasting marketplace advantage,” said Paul Loftus, general manager, IBM Global Technology Services. “We are helping all kinds of clients manage enterprise applications and processes in the cloud as well as leverage new cloud centric applications while meeting their unique requirements for governance, security and portability.”

Open Innovation in the Cloud

TopCoder®, Inc., the world’s largest Open Innovation Community of digital creators, is moving its global community of more than 400,000 developers - the largest community of its kind – to IBM SmartCloud Enterprise. These developers help organizations succeed by efficiently and effectively supporting their entire innovation process—from ideation, software engineering and analytics to implementation, testing and support.

TopCoder provides high quality application development, mobile development, user experience and graphic design, and big data project work through this competitive, multi-disciplinary, global community of developers.

SmartCloud for SAP Applications

Ogilvy & Mather, an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency, also turned to IBM to solve its critical business need to upgrade their IT environment. The IBM team is in the process of migrating Ogilvy from its current hosted environment to the SmartCloud for SAP Applications hosted in IBM's state-of-the-art, green Smarter Data Center in Raleigh North Carolina.

The Ogilvy solution includes the latest infrastructure technology, full SAP service and is pre-built, pre-configured, requiring minimal client resources to maintain their entire production SAP landscape. IBM’s SAP Cloud solution also offers Ogilvy the benefits of solution scalability, and the ability to add resources for development projects with a short term commitment.

“Given the attention to cloud-based solutions, it's easy to be overwhelmed with comparisons and multiple options. However, when it comes to critical applications like SAP, we were looking for a mature model that could scale and cater to our unique prerequisites,” said Yuri Aguiar, Senior Partner and CIO, Ogilvy & Mather. “The SCE+ offering fit this need very well and had the backing of a reliable global partner.”

Smarter Marketing in the Cloud

OTRUM, a leading provider of interactive TV solutions and content to the hospitality industry, utilizes the Cognos analytics tool from IBM to handle marketing campaigns and highlight repeat behavior patterns associated with guest interaction and purchasing. This solution leverages Cognos on SmartCloud Enterprise to deliver custom analytics to over 500 hotels.

OTRUM has now fully migrated all digital signage clients to the IBM SmartCloud Enterprise, a move that eliminates the need for hundreds of physical servers at customer sites. As well as reducing hardware, the cloud increases efficiency by allowing for central management and distribution of data.

Expanding IBM Platform-as-a-Service

Launched as a platform-as-a-service beta program in October 2011, IBM’s SmartCloud Application Services (SCAS) is expanding to a full pilot with new customers such as CLD Partners, a leading provider of IT consulting services with a particular focus on cloud computing.

“We share IBM’s vision for how enterprise customers can achieve huge productivity gains by embracing cloud technologies. SCAS allowed us to utilize world class software in a managed environment that greatly reduced the complexity of the deployment while also providing for future scalability that our customers only pay for when they need it,” said Steve Clune, Founder and CEO of CLD Partners. “Ultimately, traditional infrastructure planning and configuration that would have required weeks was literally reduced to hours. And future flexibility as infrastructure needs change is virtually limitless.”

Connected Healthcare in the Cloud

IBM is helping improve healthcare delivery in Haiti through its collaboration with ‘Colleagues in Care’ Global Healthcare Network. Colleagues in Care is using the IBM SmartCloud for Social Business to virtually connect medical workers and volunteers from around the globe. Using the IBM SmartCloud, the volunteers and those on the front lines taking care of patients are armed with an online medical knowledge system that includes treatment options, clinical pathways, and best practices specific to the situation in Haiti.

The network consists of approximately 200 doctors, nurses, and business professionals coming together virtually from all around the globe including Canada, China, Haiti, France, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

To learn more about the work in Haiti, see the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWvcg08-h-w

For additional details about the project, read the following press release:http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37743.wss

Additional new clients, including RICOH Company, Ltd., Neiman Marcus, University of Texas El Paso, Hindustan Motors, Bonduelle and Apave have chosen IBM's SmartCloud to help drive social business adoption across the enterprise. Using IBM social networking tools in the cloud, these organizations are seamlessly collaborating and sharing information and ideas, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity in a security-rich and cost-effective environment.

For these social businesses, IBM is also introducing IBM SmartCloud Archive Essentials, a cost-effective email archiving solution. IBM SmartCloud Archive Essentials provides customers with the confidence of knowing their email is archived continuously and securely, while making the data accessible for compliance and e-discovery requirements in the IBM SmartCloud.

Ready for IBM SmartCloud Services

Launched in February, IBM’s Ready for IBM SmartCloud Services validation continues to grow with over 30 new Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and partners, making it easier for clients to quickly find technology from Business Partners that are validated for IBM SmartCloud Services. In the new online directory, certified Business Partner technologies are divided into categories such as business applications, collaboration, development and test tools, infrastructure services, and security and monitoring.

New ISVs and partners include AppZero, Cloud Prime, Cohesive FT, Convertigo, Corent, Jaspersoft, NViso, SOASTA, Sproxil, SugarCRM, Vacava, Vision Solutions, Zementis, among many others.

Additionally, IBM is announcing new and expanded capabilities to its SmartCloud portfolio, including:

SmartCloud Enterprise 2.1

· Offering new and enhanced functionality in a simple to deploy, robust infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS) for building and deploying innovative applications that can optionally integrate with private cloud and traditional IT elements.

· New service level agreement (SLA) of 99.9% SmartCloud Enterprise gives clients confidence in factoring cloud-centric applications for a broad array of workloads.

· Two new Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.8 will add new and improved functionality for enhanced performance, flexibility and security while Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 delivers improvements in virtualization, resource management and high availability, and offers new features in storage, file system performance and identity management.

· Upgrades to the persistent storage system, enabling increased speed and performance, and upgrades to embedded KVM hypervisors providing greater security and performance improvements.

SmartCloud Enterprise +

· Now available in North America and Europe with plans for additional global roll-out in 3^rdquarter 2012.

· Unprecedented support for both x86 and P-Series - running operating systems including Windows, Linux and AIX on top of either VMWare or PowerVM hypervisors, and delivered with the proven expertise of IBM services.

· Migration Services for SmartCloud Enterprise+ with patented tools and methods to help clients speed up transition from traditional outsourcing to cloud is projected to be available in 3^rd quarter 2012.

· SCE+ is designed to support different workloads and associated technology platforms including a new System z shared environment that will be available in the U.S. and U.K. later this year.

SmartCloud Application Services

· IBM’s platform-as-a-service (PaaS) will now be more widely available to select customers moving from beta to pilot stage. Customers will be able to take advantage of both Application Workload Service as well as Collaborative Lifecycle Management Service to develop and deploy applications on top of SmartCloud Enterprise to jump-start their SmartCloud Application Services (SCAS) projects.

· While in the pilot phase, customers will be able to use SmartCloud Application Services at no charge, except for the underlying IBM SmartCloud Enterprise infrastructure used by the SCAS pilot services.

· Available in English around the world, the SmartCloud Application Services pilot will run from May 15th until general availability projected for 3^rd quarter 2012.

· As part of the broader IBM SmartCloud family, SmartCloud Application Services are compatible with the newly announced IBM PureSystems family. For example, through SmartCloud Application Services clients can rapidly design, develop, and test their dynamic applications on IBM's public cloud and deploy those same applications on a private cloud built with PureApplication Systems, or vice versa.

Across both IBM SmartCloud Enterprise and Enterprise+, IBM now supports Microsoft License Mobility program. Offering new flexible options for deploying Microsoft applications, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Microsoft SQL Server on IBM's SmartCloud Enterprise, customers can choose between deploying Microsoft applications on premises or on IBM's SmartCloud leveraging the value of volume licenses with Microsoft's Software Assurance. This option can help customers lower operating costs using IBM's SmartCloud shared infrastructure.

Financing provided by IBM Global Financing, the lending and leasing arm of IBM, helps credit-qualified clients make the transition to cloud computing with low-rate financing for cloud solutions and zero percent loans for IBM software. Financing helps clients accelerates their cloud project’s cash flow break-even point by spreading upfront costs over time, enabling them to utilizing cash reserves for other strategic investments.

For more information on IBM’s cloud financing options, visit: http://www-03.ibm.com/financing/us/cloud/

About IBM Cloud Computing

IBM has helped thousands of clients adopt cloud models and manages millions of cloud based transactions every day. IBM assists clients in areas as diverse as banking, communications, healthcare and government to build their own clouds or securely tap into IBM cloud-based business and infrastructure services. IBM is unique in bringing together key cloud technologies, deep process knowledge, a broad portfolio of cloud solutions, and a network of global delivery centers. For more information about IBM cloud solutions, visitwww.ibm.com/smartcloud. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ibmcloud and on our blog at www.thoughtsoncloud.com.

VMware Advances Cloud Application Platform with VMware vFabric™ Suite 5.1

2012-05-17T12:27:00.002-07:00

Automated Deployment, Enterprise Open Source Support, and SQLFire In-Memory Database Deliver “Cloud Ready” Environment for Modern Apps

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 15, 2012 – VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced VMware vFabric™ Suite 5.1. With new capabilities that automate the deployment and management of complex applications on VMware cloud infrastructure and the introduction of an in-memory distributed SQL database, VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 will provide the core application services required to build, run and manage Java Spring applications whether on-premise or in the cloud.

“The cloud era is driving a transformation in applications. Today, most are built with open source development frameworks, deployed on lightweight application containers, run on virtual infrastructure and are data intensive,” said Jerry Chen, vice president, Cloud and Application Services, VMware. “This is driving a real transition in the type of technologies our customers are using to build, run and manage these new applications. Since introducing the vFabric Suite a year ago we have seen remarkable adoption amongst our customers, helping our Cloud Application Platform business to nearly double in year over year growth in 2011.”

The VMware vFabric Suiteseeks to address the complexity and cost of traditional Java platforms, providing a simple, lightweight development and runtime optimized for VMware cloud infrastructure. By combining the market-leading Spring development framework, the latest generation of vFabric application services and a per-VM licensing model, vFabric Suite 5.1 will provide the core application platform for building, deploying and running modern applications.

“Delivering excellent customer service is a hallmark of Southwest, so it's important to us that our customers have a seamless shopping, booking, and travel experience. We have a number of strategic initiatives underway at Southwest Airlines, and a core component in supporting these critical operations is ensuring an agile, flexible delivery of technology to all parts of the company,” said Bob Young, Chief Technology Officer, Southwest Airlines. “By partnering with VMware, for example, we were able to streamline the way we deliver and deploy applications across platforms, without compromising our service-centered approach.”

Optimized for Spring, Optimized for VMware vSphere®

The VMware vFabric Suite provides a complete set of runtime services to build, run and manage modern applications in distributed, cloud environments. The new capabilities in vFabric Suite 5.1 will allow customers to:
Automate application deployment for operational efficiency –To drive greater efficiency and better performance, vFabric Suite will include vFabric Application Director™ and vFabric Application Performance Manager. vFabric Application Director automates the deployment of applications through easy-to-use blueprints with standardized templates, component libraries and workflows. vFabric Application Performance Manager provides comprehensive monitoring of end-user transactions, Java code, middleware servers, and VMware vSphere hosts, enabling customers to proactively manage application performance, find and fix problems quickly, and meet SLAs.
Maximize data scalability – Many of today’s mobile and web-oriented applications must support highly variable access patterns, putting pressure on any database-only approach to data management. To support this evolution, in-memory databases have emerged as a standard component of the core technology stack developers use today. VMware vFabric SQLFireis an in-memory distributed SQL database built on the strength of vFabric GemFire®,which is used by many of the most demanding applications in the world. vFabric SQLFire delivers dynamic scalability and high performance for modern, data-intensive applications all accessible through a familiar SQL interface.
By pooling memory, CPU and network resources across a cluster of machines, vFabric SQLFire eliminates the main performance bottleneck in traditional databases – disk access. vFabric SQLFire can manage data across geographies, accelerating application performance, minimizing latency and increasing reliability. vFabric SQLFire Professional will be included in the vFabric Suite 5.1.
Reduce database total cost of ownership –To reduce database costs and increase agility vFabric Suite 5.1 will include vFabric Postgres, a VMware-optimized relational SQL database. vFabric Postgres is fully compatible with open source PostgreSQL, enabling customers to leverage existing standard PostgreSQL tools. vFabric Postgres comes in a virtual appliance and has virtualization optimizations such as elastic database memory to share database memory pools and smart configuration to reduce tuning time after resizing virtual machines.
Provide enterprise support for popular open source technologies – The VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 will include support for the open source runtime components most frequently used in production deployments of Spring applications, including Apache Tomcat, Apache HTTP Server and RabbitMQ® messaging. This greatly simplifies the adoption path of vFabric technologies for those organizations using these open source components today.
"From the increasing number of programming languages used to the heterogeneous nature of today's hybrid infrastructures, application development is changing quickly," said Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst with RedMonk. "Faced with such diversity, enterprises are increasingly turning to lightweight application containers to ease the pains of deployment."

vFabric Suite 5.1 will also be uniquely packaged and licensed to allow enterprises to purchase application infrastructure software based on virtual machines, rather than physical hardware, and to pay only for the average number of licenses in use. This model eliminates the decades-old need for organizations to purchase excess software in anticipation of peak loads, incurring significant costs and allowing software licenses to sit dormant outside of peak periods.

Pricing and Availability
VMware vFabric Suite 5.1 is expected to be available in Q2 2012. It will be licensed per VM with prices starting at $1,500 per VM.

VMware vFabric SQLFire is currently available, and is licensed per VM with prices starting at $2,500 per VM, when purchased as part of VMware vFabric Suite Advanced.

Additional Resources
See industry comments on the VMware vFabric Suite
Visit the online press kitto learn more about the VMware vFabric Suite 5.1
Read “Introducing the vFabric Suite 5.1 and vFabric SQLFire”blog post by Jerry Chen, vice president, cloud and application services, VMware
Learn more about how Southwest Airlines is transforming IT
Visit the VMware vFabric blog
Visit the VMware vFabric Suite product pages

About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 350,000 customers and 50,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.