By Hazel Butters

August 23rd, 2010

Why did chipzilla buy McAfee?

Why did chipzilla buy McAfee?

Last week chip-making heavyweight Intel splashed out $7.6 billion for security security and anti-virus vendor McAfee. McAfee will become a subsidiary of the Intel Software and Service Group (yes, that’s right Intel has a software division).

This is a fascinating purchase. Intel is famous for the whole ‘Intel Inside’ and making users care about the brand of a component that they once never really knew existed.  Will Intel do the same with security?

Well, when it comes to security software and engineering clout, McAfee with its 6,100 employees and 2009 revenue of $2 billion has just that. And if you wanted to look at a vendor that had hardware embedded across billions of devices, look no further than Intel.

The big question is how will it play out? Well, I can imagine the possibilities of chip-level security, along the lines of ‘Security Inside’ (you heard it here first).

But it goes further: look at Intel’s other recent purchase – the cable modem business of Texas Instruments. Now consider the possibilities of combining security software and hardware for content and services delivered over cable. I think this has the potential to be a real market changer, and look forward to seeing what chipzilla does next as it tears its way through the market.

By Max McConnell

August 13th, 2010

Big isn't always better, but it's fun to experiment

Big isn't always better, but it's fun to experiment

Video is on our minds this week. We’ve just announced working with Aruba on video case studies and last month YouTube announced support for 4k video which we covered in our weekly newsletter (what? You haven’t signed up yet?) and it got me thinking. 4k on the internet is a gimick and not a practical service in any way. To film at 4096 pixels you need very expensive state-of-the-art equipment, the end quality is really limited by the codec used to compress the video (all web video has to be lossy compressed) and at the end of the day no-one has display devices with 4096 pixels so all that hard work goes straight out the window—unless you have an IMAX cinema in the basement.

The thing is, anyone can create 4096 pixel content using video editing tools – for example, stiching a montage of four 16:9 HD video feeds would produce a 16:9 4k video. Or, by using motion graphics software, one can choose any pixel resolution one wishes. Compress it, and stream it—it isn’t unique to YouTube.

Generally, the size of the file produced is not dependent on the pixel dimensions because compression works in the spatial frequency domain – sure, more pixels mean the *possibility* of higher frequencies, but they aren’t necessarily present, and if they are, the codec just filters them out to get the filesize small enough to stream over the internet. High quality web video is *not* about pixel dimensions, it is about optimisation: What are people viewing your video on, what internet connections do they have, what streaming media and codec settings are ‘best’ (but dont start me on that…).

We’re just finishing a video project for a client, but when that is clear I’ll post up some links to Prompt’s 4096 service, so check back here next week and let me know what you think—and what you are viewing it on!

By newswire

August 12th, 2010

Prompt delivers video production services to Aruba Networks

Prompt delivers video production services to Aruba Networks

Video case studies increase awareness and generate sales for Aruba Networks

London, UK – 12 August 2010 – Prompt Communications today announced that it is working with Aruba Networks to deliver video case studies and production services.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Aruba Networks is the global leader in distributed enterprise networks. The company’s award-winning portfolio of products helps businesses such as BAA and KPMG to simplify operations and secure access to corporate applications.

Prompt is a digital PR and communications consultancy with offices in London, Boston and San Francisco, and a network of partner agencies across EMEA. With a strong technology practice that has provided PR, copywriting and other sales‐focused activities for large and small vendors such as Oracle Corporation, Openbravo and the Sogeti division of Cap Gemini, Prompt helps companies gain thought leadership and improve brand recognition to drive sales.

Prompt’s production of customer video testimonials for Aruba Networks are optimised for Web distribution and local HD playback, to complement the company’s sales activities across UK and EMEA. The scope of work includes on-location HD filming, comprehensive editing, intro and closing sequences, sound engineering and optimising the final video content.

The first video case study showcases how Aruba Networks delivered a vast Wi-Fi network to BAA for Terminal 5 London Heathrow Airport. The video shows how Aruba delivered over a thousand access points throughout the Terminal 5 and its corporate offices, delivering to BAA a flexible, secure enterprise scale network that meets the current and future requirements of Terminal 5.

Roger Hockaday, EMEA Director of Marketing for Aruba Networks, said: “We believe that video case studies be an outstanding marketing tool. Prompt has demonstrated a deep understanding of our industry, as has a strong track record of leading successful marketing and communications campaigns. We are very pleased with our first video case study, and are confident that Prompt’s work will drive business.”

Hazel Butters, CEO, Prompt Communications, said: “Video case studies are a fantastic way for companies to demonstrate their proposition with real world examples. Our video case studies draw a spotlight to our customers’ success stories driving interest from potential customers and the media alike.”

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About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba is the global leader in distributed enterprise networks. Its award-winning portfolio of campus, branch/teleworker, and mobile solutions simplify operations and secure access to all corporate applications and services – regardless of the user’s device, location, or network. This dramatically improves productivity and lowers capital and operational costs.

Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.

About Prompt Communications
Founded in January 2002, Prompt Communications is a PR and digital communications agency with European offices in Chiswick, London and US offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California.

Prompt offers expertise across all marketing disciplines, teaming its consultants’ extensive knowledge of start-ups, technology market with experience of pan‐European and American media, analyst and marketing campaigns. Using highly targeted marketing, PR, analyst relations, social media and corporate copywriting initiatives, Prompt helps its clients gain the visibility they need to achieve their business objectives, from increasing sales to enhancing reputation with stakeholders. The company has five business divisions: PR, Analyst Relations, Copywriting & Creative, Marketing Services and Social Media.

Prompt’s current and former technology clients include Adobe Systems Incorporated, ApacheCon, Aperture, Barros Technologies, BMC Software, Colosa, Concursive, Corizon, Foviance, Genesys Telecommunications, GenSight Group, Hippo, IBM, KANA, Openbravo, Oracle Corporation, smartFOCUS and Webtide.
For more information, visit www.prompt-communications.com.