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Broadcom WICED Sense Boosts IoT Development Ecosystem
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Broadcom WICED Sense Boosts IoT Development Ecosystem

The Internt of Things (IoT) revolution is in the process of taking off in a big way with the rising popularity of wearables and home automation platforms. Different vendors have placed their bets on different radios / protocols for IoT. For example, Sigma Designs is heavily promoting Z-Wave, while Freescale and some other vendors are pushing 802.15.4 (ZigBee). Broadcom’s play in the IoT market is the WICED (Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) platform. The strategy involves a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with Bluetooth being the primary focus.

The WICED platform has been around for some time now. A couple of days back, Broadcom announced an update in this category by launching a new development kit, the WICED Sense. In addition to the BCM20737 Bluetooth SiP, the kit also integrates five different MEMS sensors (gyroscope, accelerometer, e-compass, barometer and humidity/temperature measurement).

The kit is already FCC certified. It has a micro-USB connector for simplified application development. Apps exist for both iOS and Android. iBeacon support is also touted. Best of all, this kit is available for around $20, enabling enthusiasts and developers to economically develop and prototype their IoT product concepts.

Along with the product announcement, Broadcom also let us in on a select list of IoT products with communication enabled by their silicon.

The above list includes some of the hottest IoT products in the market right now. Z-Wave and ZigBee have been around for a long time. But, it is Wi-Fi which is helping IoT products reach out to a larger market. Bluetooth support enables a different kind of IoT use-case where the device is better off communicating with a smartphone or similar mobile device directly. Broadcom seems well set to target this market with a comprehensive solution set for all kinds of IoT developers (from the enthusiast in his garage to companies delivering high-volume products).

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AMD Radeon R7 SSD (240GB) Review

In 2011 AMD took the first step in expanding the Radeon brand and partnered with Patriot and VisionTek to provide AMD branded memory. With the launch of the Radeon R7 SSD AMD is continuing this strategy by jumping into the SSD market. Just as they did with memory, AMD is partnering with a third party that handles the development, manufacturing and support of the product, which in the case of the R7 SSD is OCZ. Based on OCZ’s Barefoot 3 controller, the R7 is positioned between the Vector 150 and ARC 100 with its four-year warranty and 30GB/day endurance. Read on to see what AMD’s first SSD adds to the market.

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AMD Radeon R7 SSD (240GB) Review

In 2011 AMD took the first step in expanding the Radeon brand and partnered with Patriot and VisionTek to provide AMD branded memory. With the launch of the Radeon R7 SSD AMD is continuing this strategy by jumping into the SSD market. Just as they did with memory, AMD is partnering with a third party that handles the development, manufacturing and support of the product, which in the case of the R7 SSD is OCZ. Based on OCZ’s Barefoot 3 controller, the R7 is positioned between the Vector 150 and ARC 100 with its four-year warranty and 30GB/day endurance. Read on to see what AMD’s first SSD adds to the market.

PROMISE FileCruiser: A Private Dropbox-like Solution for SMBs and SMEs
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PROMISE FileCruiser: A Private Dropbox-like Solution for SMBs and SMEs

PROMISE Technology launched a private Dropbox-like cloud storage solution for enterprise file synchronization and sharing last week. Dubbed ‘FileCruiser’, this is a comprehensive solution targeting SMBs and SMEs (particularly those who still rely on FTP as a mode of data exchange between users).

As the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend proliferates, mobile apps become an essential part of the enterprise file sharing solution. FileCruiser’s apps provides access and sync capabilities across a variety of devices (Android / iOS, Mac / Windows). The IT administrator can set limits on file types and sizes that users can upload to the FileCruiser storage. The platform also provides support for team collaboration, link sharing with password protection and expiry dates. Data security is also important in this market segment. In addition to the standard 256-bit AES encryption, we also have two-factor authentication for mobile apps, audit trail and remote wiping capabilities for lost devices. The FileCruiser app also supports streaming of media files. This avoids the need to download the complete stream to the mobile device prior to playback.

FileCruiser can be implemented on multiple hardware platforms, but PROMISE also provides dedicated SKUs combining both hardware and software. The specifications of the FileCruiser VA2600 and VR2600 are presented below.

PROMISE FileCruiser: A Private Dropbox-like Solution for SMBs and SMEs
  • Comments are Closed

PROMISE FileCruiser: A Private Dropbox-like Solution for SMBs and SMEs

PROMISE Technology launched a private Dropbox-like cloud storage solution for enterprise file synchronization and sharing last week. Dubbed ‘FileCruiser’, this is a comprehensive solution targeting SMBs and SMEs (particularly those who still rely on FTP as a mode of data exchange between users).

As the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend proliferates, mobile apps become an essential part of the enterprise file sharing solution. FileCruiser’s apps provides access and sync capabilities across a variety of devices (Android / iOS, Mac / Windows). The IT administrator can set limits on file types and sizes that users can upload to the FileCruiser storage. The platform also provides support for team collaboration, link sharing with password protection and expiry dates. Data security is also important in this market segment. In addition to the standard 256-bit AES encryption, we also have two-factor authentication for mobile apps, audit trail and remote wiping capabilities for lost devices. The FileCruiser app also supports streaming of media files. This avoids the need to download the complete stream to the mobile device prior to playback.

FileCruiser can be implemented on multiple hardware platforms, but PROMISE also provides dedicated SKUs combining both hardware and software. The specifications of the FileCruiser VA2600 and VR2600 are presented below.