Dell Bolsters Global Services Capabilities

Businesses relying on Dell server and storage products in Australia, New Zealand and South Asia will benefit from enterprise service delivery provided by a Dell enterprise command center that opened last week in Penang, Malaysia. As with its counterparts in the United States, China, Ireland and Japan, the Dell Malaysia Enterprise Command Center is based on best practices of crisis management centers and is part of the company’s global effort to provide real-time tracking of customer issues, technicians and service parts.

Dell’s command centers provide business customers better and timelier integration of service delivery than previously available. For example, by managing field and logistics real-time and proactively monitoring complex factors such as weather and traffic patterns, teams of trained problem solvers can make service delivery more consistent, accurate and efficient.

BlackBerry Launchedin Sri Lanka

Research in Motion (RIM) has been caught up in lawsuits in the United States but that isn’t keeping it from expanding globally. Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile telecom operator, has launched RIM’s BlackBerry wireless platform in Sri Lanka. With BlackBerry, Dialog Telekom’s corporate customers will be able to easily access e-mail, phone, text messaging, Internet, organizer and corporate data applications from a single, integrated device.

Dialog Telekom now offers the BlackBerry 7100g and the BlackBerry 7290, both of which are designed for the needs of mobile professionals. The two wireless handhelds feature an easy-to-navigate user interface, quad-band functionality, 32MB of memory and Bluetooth support. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server tightly integrates with Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based, wireless access to e-mail and other corporate data.

SRAM Chips Produced Using 45nm Process

Intel has become the first company to reach an important milestone in the development of 45 nanometer (nm) logic technology. Intel has produced what are believed to be the first fully functional static random access memory (SRAM) chips using 45nm process technology, its next-generation, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing process.

Achieving this milestone means Intel is on track to manufacture chips with this technology in 2007 using 300mm wafers and continues the company’s focus on pushing the limits of Moore’s Law, by introducing a new process generation every two years.

Intel’s 45nm process technology will allow chips with more than five times less leakage power than those made today. This will improve battery life for mobile devices and increase opportunities for building smaller, more powerful platforms.

The 45nm SRAM chip has more than one billion transistors. Though not intended as an Intel product, this SRAM demonstrates technology performance, process yield and chip reliability prior to ramping processors and other logic chips using the 45nm manufacturing process. It is a key first step in the march toward high-volume manufacturing of the world’s most complex devices.

In addition to the manufacturing capabilities of its D1D facility in Oregon, where the initial 45nm development efforts are under way, Intel has announced two high-volume fabs under construction to manufacture chips using the 45nm process technology: Fab 32 in Arizona and Fab 28 in Israel.

Worldwide Wi-Fi Hotspots Hit the 100,000 Mark

The number of worldwide Wi-Fi hotspots has surpassed the 100,000 milestone according to recent numbers released by JiWire. A hotspot is a physical address where people can connect to a public wireless network, such as a cafe, hotel or airport.

JiWire’s “Top 10” lists count the number of verified public hotspots in cities and countries around the world, serving as a dependable indicator of local Wi-Fi adoption. Seoul (2,056) tops JiWire’s list of WiFi friendly cities list for having the greatest number of hotspot locations, followed by Tokyo (1,802) and London (1,627). The top US Wi-Fi cities are San Francisco (801), New York (643) and Chicago (501). For a full listing of the Top 10 Hotspot Cities and Top 10 Countries, go to www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm.

Key growth milestones from January 2005 to January 2006:

• The number of worldwide hotspots grew 87 percent, from 53,779 in 93 countries to 100,355 hotspots in 115 countries.

• The Top 3 Wi-Fi cities in January 2005 were London, New York and Paris, whereas in 2006 the Top 3 cities are Seoul, Tokyo and London.

• The Top 3 Wi-Fi countries in January 2005 were the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, whereas in January 2006 the Top 3 countries are the United States, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

Pop-Up Ads Worththe Free Content

Consumers find that free access to online news and reports is worth the use of pop-up advertisements, according to a recent survey commissioned by VitalStream, Inc. The November 2005 poll of 740 Internet surfers, conducted by online survey software company Zoomerang, indicates that 87 percent of respondents don’t mind banner, Flash and pop-up ads appearing on their screens if it means online content doesn’t come with a price. The survey found that these website distractions are actually quite effective, with over one-third, or 37 percent, of respondents admitting that they have purchased a product or service online because of an Internet ad.

Web-based ads will continue to grow, according to Jupiter Research, which forecasts that online advertising will remain the main money-spinner for web media outlets, with Internet ad spending predicted to reach $14 billion in 2007.