DreamWorks Executive Joins GridIron Software Board of Directors

John Batter Brings Animation and Digital Content Industry Expertise to Leading Provider of Workflow Solutions for Creative Enterprises

OTTAWA, Oct 12, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- GridIron Software, Inc., a leading provider of workflow and performance tools for creative professionals, today announced the appointment of John Batter to the company's Board of Directors. John Batter currently serves as Co-President of Production for DreamWorks Animation SKG. Mr. Batter joined DreamWorks Animation SKG in January 2006. From January 2000 until January 2006, Batter was with Electronic Arts Inc., serving in a variety of capacities including Group Studio General Manager and General Manager of EA Mobile. From 1995 until 2000, Batter worked in a variety of positions with DreamWorks Studios, including serving as Chief Financial Officer of DreamWorks Interactive (a joint venture between DreamWorks and Microsoft Corporation) and as Chief Financial Officer of the Company's PDI/DreamWorks unit.

"John Batter is a seasoned executive who has long been at the juncture of technology and entertainment with a proven track record of leading some of the most successful and innovative projects in the industry," said Udo Eberlein, CEO of GridIron Software. "His experience at DreamWorks and Electronic Arts provides unique perspective into the creative process and project management challenges in the media and entertainment industry."

"GridIron Software is an impressive company that has been innovative in addressing the workflow management needs of creative enterprises. Their understanding of the media industry needs and workflow of creative professionals has led to the development of GridIron Flow 2.0 Project Operating System, a new category of technology for efficient project and resource management," said John Batter. "I look forward to working with Udo and the team at GridIron to bring this groundbreaking technology to market."

GridIron recently unveiled its strategy for a Project Operating System, a new category of technology designed to help creative enterprises solve a variety of problems inherent to creative workgroups that lead to non-creative work, lost productivity and profits. These problems have afflicted the media creation industry for years and extend to all creative industries including advertising, animation, digital gaming and film production. GridIron's new Flow 2.0 product line, based on a SaaS model, addresses these problems with technology to track productivity by automatically tracking files, users, project relationships and their dependencies.

GridIron Flow 2.0 will be available in Q4 2010.

About GridIron Software

GridIron Software is the leading provider of workflow and performance tools for creative professionals. Founded in 2002, the company's mission is to enable creative industries to work more productively and more profitably in servicing their customers. In late 2010, GridIron will launch its Flow 2.0, an innovative Project Operating System for creative enterprise. Currently, GridIron Software's products include GridIron Flow, a visual workflow manager that keeps creative professionals and workgroups streamlined and informed. GridIron Software's product line also includes GridIron Nucleo and GridIron Nucleo Pro 3; tools that help users manage their After Effects workflow. For more information on the company, please visit www.gridironsoftware.com and subscribe to the GridIron Software newsletter.

Copyright 2010 GridIron Software Inc. All Rights Reserved. GridIron, GridIron Flow, Nucleo, Nucleo Pro, and GridIron Software are trademarks owned by GridIron Software Inc.

source: www.marketwatch.com

BlackBerry Torch gets software update

Add caption

A software update is now available for the RIM BlackBerry Torch, and it should bring improvements to the overall performance of the smartphone.

The update (Release bundle v6.0.0.695, Platform v6.4.0.105/Application v6.0.0.246) will pushed out to users over the next week and a half and includes the following enhancements:

Quicker page loading and panning in the Webrowser

Improved responsiveness after unlocking the phone
*

Faster launching, switching, and exiting of applications
*

Smoother transitions when switching between home screen panels
*

Faster rendering of thumbnails in the photo gallery
* Improved audio quality
*

Smoother scrolling in message lists and when reading e-mail

Torch owners will receive a notification on their phones when the update is available for download, but if you don't feel like waiting, you can get the software now from BlackBerry's support site.

souece: /www.cnet.com

RIM on the Future of BlackBerry Software

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) held its third annual BlackBerry Developer Conference (DevCon) in San Francisco this week, and BlackBerry enthusiasts of all kinds, including developers, analysts, media and other mobile-industry-watchers, showed up in droves to see what RIM has in store for the coming months and years.

CIO.com was lucky enough to get a sit-down with RIM's BlackBerry App World Senior Product Manager Alex Kinsella, and the App World staffer shared a number of interesting details, including information on the next version of the company's mobile app store, BlackBerry App World v2.1, the new BlackBerry platform development features and services he's most excited about--and why you should be too--as well as what the company is doing to ensure mobile malware doesn't find its way into App World and onto unsuspecting users' devices.

The New BlackBerry Payment and Analytics Services

On Monday, RIM unveiled a variety of new and improved developer tools and services, including the new BlackBerry Payments Service, which offers developers more ways to sell their applications and reach more potential customers. The service also relieves many of the financial headaches associated with selling mobile applications, because it manages all the technical and financials of payment so developers don't have to waste time managing relationships or business terms with payment providers and coding for integration into each of those providers' unique products.

For example, developers who use the BlackBerry Payment Service can offer "in-app payment services" to let customers purchase applications they like after free-trial periods expire or unlock additional application content, like new levels or functionality in games or advanced application features, without ever leaving the app.

Kinsella is particularly excited about the new Payment Service. Creating engaging BlackBerry applications is the best way for developers to build their customer bases, but that's really just the first step, according to Kinsella.

"That's the foot in the door," he says. The BlackBerry Payment Service is really about maintaining customers' attention, according to Kinsella.

The BlackBerry Payment Service will help developers keep their customers engaged by offering new content within their apps, which helps to ensure those apps are "fresh." And that's a good thing for developers, who are ultimately trying to profit from their apps, and BlackBerry users, who want quality mobile applications with evolving functionality.

Kinsella also says he's excited about RIM's new, free BlackBerry Analytics Service, which it announced at DevCon along with Webtrends, a Web metrics firm, to give commercial BlackBerry developers greater insight into who's using their applications, when, how and for what specific purposes.

BlackBerry Analytics Services will help to better educate developers on how their apps are being used, and it should improve their ability to target new types of customers and geographic areas, since they'll be able to see the people and locations in which their apps are used most frequently, among other metrics, Kinsella says.
source: www.networkworld.com

SANpulse launches SAN migration software

By Dave Simpson

According to survey results from Bloor Research, enterprise storage migration and data center consolidation projects have a success rate of only 16%, where “success” is defined as being on time and on budget.

That’s the problem that SANpulse hopes to solve with the introduction of its first licensed software product. Dubbed SANatomy, the software enables IT organizations to assess a SAN environment during the planning phase of a data/storage/SAN migration project.

Prior to the introduction of SANatomy, SANpulse was primarily a professional services organization focused on storage migration services for large enterprises. SANatomy is based on technology that SANpulse has been using for those services since 2005.

The reason for the low success rate of storage migration projects is that IT organizations don’t fully understand their SAN environments or the risks associated with guesswork in a migration project, which can lead to financial loss in the tens of millions of dollars, according to Marie-Pierre Belanger, SANpulse’s vice president of product management.

The financial loss comes from the need to maintain two sets of storage environments and to pay multiple vendors during the delay that occurs from a stalled migration project.

Storage migration initiatives typically involve switching array vendors or refreshing arrays from the same vendor, and major driving forces behind migration projects include data center consolidation, technology refreshes, virtualization, cloud computing, compliance and “green” initiatives, according to Belanger.

SANatomy provides a SAN assets discovery engine that generates detailed, migration-related information about a SAN infrastructure, including disk arrays, switches, servers and HBAs. The information is delivered as reports that can be housed in a SANpulse cloud or in an internal private cloud.

“The primary goals are to reduce the risks associated with data migration and to provide faster implementation,” says Belanger.

SANatomy provides an alternative to internally-developed software and vendor-specific tools from third parties or the equipment manufacturers.

“We overlap a little with SRM tools from a discovery perspective,” says Belanger, “but we’re focused on migration, not monitoring and performance management. Our primary competition is home-grown tools.”

After using SANatomy in the information-gathering stage of a migration project, IT organizations can perform the actual migration themselves or contract with SANpulse or other third-party data migration services providers for the design, implementation and execution phases of the migration process. And after the migration project is completed, IT organizations can use SANatomy on an ongoing basis for decision making in the storage lifecycle management process.

Pricing for the agent-less SANatomy software is based on the number of servers, rather than capacity. Prices start at $22,000 per year for 50 to 250 servers, and range up to $200,000 for more than 5,000 servers. After the first year, the software is available on a subscription basis, with per-month subscriptions ranging from $1,000 for 50 to 250 servers up to $10,000 for more than 5,000 servers.

source: www.infostor.com

Enterprise Software Spending to Rise 4.5 Percent This Year

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The global enterprise software market is on the rebound this year after taking it on the chin thanks to the Great Recession last year. According to the analysts at Gartner, worldwide software sales across all categories will come to $232 billion in 2010, up 4.5 percent from last year's spending levels.

Gartner is projecting that software spending will rise even faster in 2011, up 6.3 percent to $246.6 billion, and is projecting for sales to hit $297 billion by 2014. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent over the six years running from 2009 through 2014.

"After declining 2.6 percent in 2009, the worldwide market for enterprise software is recovering well with signs of continuing growth on the horizon," said Joanne Correia, a managing vice president at Gartner who tracks software spending, in a statement accompanying the projections. "Aging systems, as well as greater demand for security and aligning software with business requirements, are key decision factors for end users increasing their spending within the infrastructure software market."

Gartner reckons that enterprise software spending in North America will rise by 8.5 percent, to $110.8 billion, this year and will continue to grow through 2014 until it hits $143.6 billion. Software sales in the United States and Canada were front-loaded, showing pent up demand in 2010 and growth is expected to slow in the second half of the year. (The PC market had the same ricochet curve and I suspect the server racket will eventually follow a similar curve once the virtualization boom goes bust.)

Software sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are still not out of the woods and are projected to fall by 3.4 percent, to $64.5 billion; sales are nonetheless expected to eventually recover and hit $76.2 billion by 2014. Western Europe is finding its legs in terms of enterprise software spending, but Eastern Europe is volatile, according to Gartner. Germany and France are leading a recovery in spending for software, with the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries doing alright, but Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain--the so-called PIGS--are struggling. Sometimes Italy is thrown into the mix to make the PIIGS.

The Asia/Pacific region, which includes China and India but not Japan, is expected to grow 13 percent, to $22 billion, this year, balancing out some of the decline in Europe but clearly, for all its growth, the AP region is a lot smaller than the EMEA region when it comes to enterprise software and is utterly dwarfed by North America.

source: www.itjungle.com

Apple Intercepts 27-inch Cinema Display Orders with Software Update 1.0

Cupertino has issued the first software update targeting its new LED Cinema Display. The Apple online store lists shipping times between one and two weeks for the product, with the Display officially becoming available on September 17th. The first people who ordered the product are only now receiving their units.

A note on the Support / Downloads section of Apple’s web site says that the  LED Cinema Display Software Update 1.0 provides support for the 27-inch LED Cinema Display.

For more information about the update, Apple directs customers to a knowledge base article where it explains that this software updates the System Preferences pane where customers can change Ambient Light Sensor settings.

To do this, users must enable the option "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" to turn the ambient light sensor on and off.  A slider is there so that customers can adjust the brightness level to suit their needs.

“Additionally, this software update includes a modification to Sound preferences pane that will allow you to select the LED Cinema display as your audio output,” Apple notes. “You can also control the left and right balance using the slider,” the Mac maker adds, and posts relevant imagery as an example.

Checking with Apple’s Support document HT4293 is important, as it includes the proper instructions for installing this software update.

Updates such as these - adding support for new hardware - must be done exactly as instructed, otherwise there will be compatibility issues. The instructions are provided as follows.

(The downloadable LED Cinema Display Software Update 1.0 can be found at the bottom of this article)

1. Connect your Mac to your LED Cinema Display (27-inch).

2. Your computer and display power cords must be connected and plugged into a working power source.

3. Save all open documents and quit all other applications.

4. Download the update.

5. If you downloaded the disk image using Safari, Safari will notify you that an application is in the image.  Click OK to continue.

6. The downloader will place the disk image with an installer in your Downloads folder or in the location specified in the General tab under Safari > Preferences.

7. If "Open safe files after downloading" is enabled in Safari preferences, the disk image file will mount by itself.  If that preference is not enabled in Safari, double-click the disk image to mount it.

8. Double-click LEDCinemaDisplaySoftwareUpdate1.0.pkg.

9. Click Continue.

10. A license agreement appears.  Click Continue to proceed.

11. Click Agree to accept the terms of the license agreement.

12. Select a destination to install the software.  The destination will be highlighted by a green arrow.  Click Continue.

13. To install the software, click Install.

14. Enter the computer administrator's password and click OK.

15. A dialog appears, indicating that this software will require a restart to complete the installation process.  Click Continue Installation.

16. An "Installation was successful" dialog appears.  Click Restart.

Apple Intercepts 27-inch Cinema Display Orders with Software Update 1.0

Cupertino has issued the first software update targeting its new LED Cinema Display. The Apple online store lists shipping times between one and two weeks for the product, with the Display officially becoming available on September 17th. The first people who ordered the product are only now receiving their units.

A note on the Support / Downloads section of Apple’s web site says that the LED Cinema Display Software Update 1.0 provides support for the 27-inch LED Cinema Display.

For more information about the update, Apple directs customers to a knowledge base article where it explains that this software updates the System Preferences pane where customers can change Ambient Light Sensor settings.

To do this, users must enable the option "Automatically adjust brightness as ambient light changes" to turn the ambient light sensor on and off. A slider is there so that customers can adjust the brightness level to suit their needs.

“Additionally, this software update includes a modification to Sound preferences pane that will allow you to select the LED Cinema display as your audio output,” Apple notes. “You can also control the left and right balance using the slider,” the Mac maker adds, and posts relevant imagery as an example.

Checking with Apple’s Support document HT4293 is important, as it includes the proper instructions for installing this software update.

Updates such as these - adding support for new hardware - must be done exactly as instructed, otherwise there will be compatibility issues. The instructions are provided as follows.

(The downloadable LED Cinema Display Software Update 1.0 can be found at the bottom of this article)

1. Connect your Mac to your LED Cinema Display (27-inch).

2. Your computer and display power cords must be connected and plugged into a working power source.

3. Save all open documents and quit all other applications.

4. Download the update.

5. If you downloaded the disk image using Safari, Safari will notify you that an application is in the image. Click OK to continue.

6. The downloader will place the disk image with an installer in your Downloads folder or in the location specified in the General tab under Safari > Preferences.

7. If "Open safe files after downloading" is enabled in Safari preferences, the disk image file will mount by itself. If that preference is not enabled in Safari, double-click the disk image to mount it.

8. Double-click LEDCinemaDisplaySoftwareUpdate1.0.pkg.

9. Click Continue.

10. A license agreement appears. Click Continue to proceed.

Publish Post

11. Click Agree to accept the terms of the license agreement.

CID to install new software for fighting vehicle theft

The Criminal Investigations Department computer system will soon be linked with Kenya Revenue Authority for easy and fast delivery of service, CID Director, Francis Muhoro has said.

Muhoro said they plan to install high-tech computer system at the CID headquarters and Flying Squad offices in Pangani and link them with KRA for fast reference and action information.

"We want to be at par with other agencies in investigations and other criminal matters. This will be done soon," he said.

Registrar of motor vehicles, which has records of all vehicles in the country is under KRA. Most thieves steal and tamper with vehicles’ records to avoid detection.

New software

Muhoro said they intend to install software that will enable detectives deliver services faster to the public.

He cited investigations on stolen cars, which sometimes take longer than intended arguing, the software to be installed will enable a detective know ownership of a particular car at touch of a button.

"We will know who owns a car at any point and when we want. What I ask officers and public is to be patient," he said.

He made the remarks at the Flying Squad headquarters offices when he made an impromptu visit.

Muhoro said the department’s demand of working tools will be fully addressed as police reforms roll out slowly.

Mohoro said the government has documented all the tools and equipment that the department requires to effectively deliver to the public.

Sh81billion

He said the Sh81 billion budgeted for the police reforms may address some of the pressing needs and urged for patience.

"Even if we are given all the money now we can not be able to buy all the tools today. This is a process that will be achieved in the end," he said.

Muhoro also made a surprise visit to the Central police station later in the day.

He said he had visited various police stations across the country and seen what the officers there need for efficiency.

Said he: "I believe there is goodwill from the government and other partners to address these needs."

Police reforms will cost Sh81 billion to be implemented in four years. The proposed reforms demand that the CID be semi autonomous.

Muhoro is barely a month old in the CID after his appointment from the police reforms committee at police headquarters.

Meanwhile, a team of detectives has left for Uganda to pursue several vehicles that have been stolen in the country.

New CAM software blog kicks off at IMTS

Sescoi, makers of CAM Software for 2 through Simultaneous 5-Axis programming has launched a blog to coincide with IMTS 2010. The goal of his new CAM blog, which can be found on http://blog.sescoi.com, is to share opinions and comment across the community of CNC machining operators, programmers and professionals.

Jeff Jaje, Marketing & Business Development Manager at Sescoi Inc, will manage the blog. Jeff says, “The timing is right for a CAM related blog. It seems that there are plenty of CAD bloggers out there, but virtually nobody is blogging about CNC programming, machining topics or best practice on a regular basis. My aim is to change that and, because CNC programming is much more than just CAM software, We’ll be covering milling machines, mill controllers, cutters, CAM tips, and much more”.

Experienced programmers, industry experts and representatives from complementary technologies are invited to share blog links and post their comments on Jeff’s blog.

Jeff, who holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University (U.S.A.), and has been involved in the CAM software field since 1990 and has been a speaker on 5-axis CNC machining at industry shows in Japan and the U.S. Meet Jeff on the Sescoi booth (E-3936) at the IMTS show in Chicago on September 13-18 and attend his free seminar on “Utilizing New Software Algorithms to Improve CAM programming, Shorten Mill Times and Increase Security” on September 14.