Blog

Big-name cloud service providers capture the tech-press headlines day after day, but lesser-known players might deserve more recognition, at least based on new benchmarks out from Compuware.

The company found that, although Rackspace and Windows Azure were consistently fast in taking an application request, processing it and delivering it back, a handful of competitors are actually faster and more consistently so, while other providers are available more often. The figures from Compuware represent the average response times over a year of monitoring performance on 38 cloud facilities, as part of Compuware’s normal Global Provider View cloud-benchmarking application.

Comparing average response time, consistency (as a standard deviation of response time) and availability, Compuware has found that three of the top five data centers are run by Layered Tech (in Illinois, Missouri and Texas). There’s also Qube with its New York data center and Connectria’s Missouri data center. Altogether, Connectria came out looking the best. It ranked fourth for speed, eighth in consistency and second in availability.

Cloud providers ranked from left to right, when factoring in average response time, consistency (standard deviation of response time) and availability. Source: Compuware Global Provider View

Rackspace took sixth place, while Azure was No. 9. As for Amazon Web Services, its EC2 service from Northern California and Northern Virginia data centers came in 26th and 29th overall, respectively.

Benchmarks don’t guarantee that companies will get the same results. Far from it — application type, price and other variables are in play, and interested parties would do well to run their own tests, as my colleague Derrick Harris explained in a 2011 GigaOM Research article that explores similar benchmark reports (subscription required). Another moving part is the number of features available in each cloud. AWS, for example, has DynamoDB, Redshift, CloudFront and others, which makes it more like platform than just a bunch of servers to use.

Even with these variables, Stephen Pierzchala, application-performance management technology strategist at Compuware, drew some insight from the data analysis. “If you’re just looking at pure performance, you can look at other vendors, rather than simply the names that you know,” Pierzchala said. “There are other cloud providers that seem to be delivering a standard application with pretty good performance, and it may fit into our budget, or may fit into our business needs a little bit more in terms of delivery.”

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• A near-term outlook for big data
• NewNet Q2: Google closes the quarter with a bang
• From car to cloud: the future of the in-vehicle app landscape

Today’s set-top boxes do not all come from the cable or satellite provider and they frequently contain much more functionality than those that do come from the big providers. One is Roku, a company that has been innovating and upgrading at a rather quick pace recently, having only just released the Roku 3 with added functionality.

Now the company rolls out version 2.2 of its mobile apps for both the Android and iOS platforms. Roku promises that this latest update addresses feedback received from users.

Indeed, there are a number of additions in this latest release. Deep scanning is added to look for Roku players on your network using multiple methods. If the first scan does not succeed, just tap “Try again” and give the app another shot. Users can also enter the Roku player’s IP address to connect manually and automatically pair with a Roku when that device is the only player associated with a particular Roku user account.

According to Roku’s Tom Markworth “version 2.2 adds the ability to play photos and music simultaneously in Play On Roku without pre-selecting music in slideshow settings. Simply start photos, then music. Or vice versa”.

Roku is an excellent alternative to mainstream TV providers and this functionality only adds to the tiny device’s ability to take over your living room. However, until the company integrates a browser, I will stick with Google TV. This is nothing personal — I just need that functionality.

Nettwerk Music Group Inc. has raised US$10.25 million in growth-equity financing, which includes an investment from HBC Investments. Existing shareholders Beedie Capital Partners and Nettwerk’s four founding partners – Terry McBride, Ric Arboit, Dan Fraser and Mark Jowett – also participated in the transaction. Beedie Capital Partners is a Vancouver-based private equity firm.

PRESS RELEASE

Nettwerk Music Group Inc., a privately held independent music company focused on building successful artists by offering a unified set of management, marketing and publishing services, today announced that it has raised $10.25 million in equity growth financing.

The equity financing includes investments from HBC Investments, as well as participation from existing shareholders Beedie Capital and Nettwerk’s four founding partners: Terry McBride, Ric Arboit, Dan Fraser and Mark Jowett. Nettwerk will use the proceeds of the financing to invest in new and existing artists under development. Nettwerk will also continue to be an active acquirer of catalogue music rights for which it is uniquely positioned to create and expand value.

“We are pleased to welcome our new shareholder to Nettwerk as we continue to expand the reach and success of our clients. We are also very grateful for the ongoing support from our existing investors,” said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk. “We plan to utilize these funds to create and grow success for our current and future artist clients through true partnerships that value the creative process and long-term patience and planning.”

Peter Brodsky, HBC Investments, added, “HBC is excited to be a financial and strategic partner of Nettwerk. The Group is a known leader in recognizing and leveraging the opportunities that arise from technological disruptions and industry shifts. Nettwerk has emerged as a successful and thriving music company that is uniquely positioned to create long-term value in its clients’ musical works and content. The investment comes at the perfect time where the music industry is experiencing a resurgence with explosive growth in monetization opportunities across diverse worldwide retail and distribution models.”

“Our involvement with Nettwerk, which began in 2006 with a focus on catalogue acquisitions, has shown that the Group’s capabilities and platforms are also effective at driving growth in established works,” said Ryan Beedie, President of Beedie Capital Partners. “We are excited to add HBC to the team in order to continue to grow Nettwerk’s catalogue acquisition and new artist development projects.”

The past year has been an exciting one for Nettwerk Music Group across all divisions of the company. Highlights include management client fun., who broke out with their smash single “We Are Young feat. Janelle Monae” from sophomore album Some Nights (Fueled By Ramen), which is now certified Platinum. The band was nominated for six Grammy Awards®, and took home two: Song of the Year and the coveted Best New Artist. Internationally, Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Wanting saw her debut album, Everything In The World, explode in and around China, going Triple Platinum in China and Hong Kong and Platinum in Malaysia and Taiwan. Wanting, who is also a label and publishing client, is nominated for 10 Chinese Music Chart Awards, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year and Singer/Songwriter of the Year.

LA-based band Family of the Year, who sits on Nettwerk’s management and label rosters, saw a local buzz early last year grow into full-fledged national acclaim. Stand-out track “Hero,” from Nettwerk debut album Loma Vista, recently claimed the #1 spot on the Triple A Top 30 Chart, following the band’s appearances on national late night television shows Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Conan, and Last Call With Carson Daly, as well as major support from MTV, MTV2, CMT, and national print publications like USA Today and Entertainment Weekly. Family of the Year, who in the past has supported artists like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Mumford & Sons, Good Old War and Milo Greene, is in the midst of selling out their first headline tour of North America. This summer, the band will appear at various festivals, including Lollapalooza, Summerfest and Kanrocksas.

Label artist Passenger’s debut Nettwerk album All The Little Lights has lived on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart for 34 consecutive weeks and counting. The UK troubadour has been touring the world, selling-out nearly every headline show across North America, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, as well as supporting his friend Ed Sheeran in these territories. The video for lead single “Let Her Go” exploded on YouTube and now has more than 22 million views, while the single itself has reached #1 in ten countries so far. iTunes UK named All The Little Lights the “Best Singer/Songwriter Album of 2012,” while iTunes US and Canada featured the album as a 2012 Chart Topper. Passenger will return to North American for a major headline tour this summer.

Recent label signings include the much buzzed about Swiss/German female duo BOY, Australian indie folk quintet The Paper Kites, Brooklyn fantasy pop duo Savoir Adore and Canadian gritty rockers The Pack A.D.

About Nettwerk Music Group Inc.
Nettwerk Music Group (NMG) is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Producer Management and Nettwerk One Publishing. Nettwerk connects music fans with music makers. From launching the careers of Sarah McLachlan and Coldplay and developing artists like fun., Old Crow Medicine Show, Morgan Page, Passenger, Family of the Year and Wanting to working with a roster of top-flight producers and mixers like Chris Lord-Alge, Ron Aniello, Howard Benson and Bob Clearmountain, Nettwerk continues its over 25 year history of tenacity, innovation and ingenuity. As a worldwide organization, NMG offers its clients a wide range of services in the business of music while ensuring the artist remains the creative centre.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Nettwerk Music Raises $10.25M appeared first on peHUB.

Rocketmiles said Monday it raised $2 million in funding led by Atlas Venture. Other participants include Link Ventures, and Peterson Ventures and several angel investors in the travel and loyalty industry. Chicago-based Rocketmiles is a hotel booking site.

PRESS RELEASE

Chicago-based Rocketmiles (www.rocketmiles.com) today announced that is has raised $2 million in funding led by Atlas Venture. Founded in 2012, Rocketmiles is a hotel booking site geared toward travelers who want to stockpile miles for dream vacations, from an anniversary trip to Paris to a family spring break getaway to Key West. The company made its public debut earlier this month following a successful two month beta.

The $2 million convertible note financing is the first round of external fundraising for Rocketmiles. Participants include Atlas Venture, Link Ventures, and Peterson Ventures and several angel investors in the travel and loyalty industry.
“Until now, the easiest way for travelers to earn reward miles was from flights and credit cards. Rocketmiles was created to offer travelers a lucrative new option that allows them to stockpile miles when booking hotel rooms so they can save up for free vacations faster,” said Jay Hoffmann , CEO and Cofounder of Rocketmiles and former Managing Director at Mileage Plus. “Rocketmiles customers can book rooms at desirable premium hotels for similar rates as found on popular online travel agencies, and at the same time earn an average of 3,000 reward miles per night. For the frequent traveler, that adds up to 90,000 extra miles per year that they can use to fly nearly anywhere in the world.”
“Rocketmiles has developed a creative new way to add value to online travel, the largest e-commerce category. The unique business model and experienced founding members are impressive and we are very excited to be part of this team,” said Ryan Moore , Partner, Atlas Venture.
Rocketmiles will use the funding to invest in marketing and customer acquisition as well as to expand its airline and hotel partnerships.
About Rocketmiles
Rocketmiles was founded in 2012 to allow frequent fliers to earn previously unheard of quantities of frequent flier miles and points when booking rooms at high-quality hotels. For consumers, Rocketmiles makes saving up for incredible vacations faster and easier. For hotels, Rocketmiles means being able to offer high-value customers inventory that would have otherwise gone unsold — without weakening the brand through public discounting. Based in Chicago and backed by top-tier strategic venture firms, the company is founded by travel and loyalty veterans Jay Hoffmann , Bjorn Larsen , and Kris Helenek . For more information, visit www.rocketmiles.com and follow on Twitter @rocket_miles.

The post Rocketmiles Raises $2 Mln appeared first on peHUB.

Google recently held its Test Automation Conference (GTAC), and Facebook was among the attending companies discussing developer strategies.

Facebook’s Simon Stewart gave a 45-minute presentation on how Facebook tests Facebook for Android. He discussed how Facebook manages its code, its approaches to testing, and of course, dogfooding.

You can see the slides from his presentation here.

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks at the White House Forum on Military Credentialing and Licensing, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium, April 29, 2013. The First Lady announces the IT Training and Certification Partnership, a new public-private partnership that will enable thousands of service members to earn industry-recognized information technology (IT) certifications before they transition from military service.

(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

In the ongoing effort to help our servicemembers and veterans transition from active duty service to the civilian job market, the White House today invited leaders from the private sector, the military services, industry trade associations, unions, educational institutions, state legislatures, veteran service organizations, and state licensing boards for a forum on military credentialing and licensing.

At the event, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the launch of the IT Training and Certification Partnership, a new public-private program that addresses an issue that can prevent our troops from gaining employment in the private sector: Active military personnel typically do not have the industry-recognized certifications that reflect the IT skills and expertise they gained through their military service.

Today’s announcement is the second major partnership developed through the Military Credentialing and Licensing Task Force, which was established last June by the Department of Defense at President Obama’s direction. The new Partnership will provide opportunities for up to 161,000 service members to gain industry-recognized, nationally portable certifications necessary for 12 high-demand technology professions, including computer programmers, quality assurance engineers, and IT security analysts. The targeted professions are expected to generate more than 1.8 million job opportunities by 2020, and have an average annual salary of more than $81,000. Their high-quality military training assures that our veterans have the skill sets that employers demand to fill these positions

read more

The “Ponytail Stunt Death”, as it’s being called, occurred over the weekend when a Guinness record holder attempted a dangerous stunt over the River Teesta in West Bengal, India.

48-year old Sailendra Nath Roy was performing his infamous stunt, which involved him hanging from a zip line by his hair some 600 feet in the air, when there was a snag on the line and he got caught. Roy flailed about in the air for several minutes, but no one could reach him to help. Authorities say he died of a heart attack.

“He was desperately trying to move forward. He was trying to scream out some instruction. But no one could follow what he was saying. After struggling for 30 minutes he became still,” said Balai Sutradhar, a photographer covering the event.

Tragically, Roy allegedly told his wife that the stunt would be his last, as she was greatly concerned for his safety. Officials say there were no emergency caregivers on the scene, and that Roy was in the air for over 45 minutes before he was taken to the hospital.

Image: Balai Sutradhar

Netflix uploaded a trio of behind-the-scenes videos for its new show Hemlock Grove to YouTube. If you’re a fan of the show, check them out:

Netflix said last week that Hemlock Grove attracted more debut weekend subscribers than even the -popular House of Cards, though reviews haven’t been quite so favorable.

Apparently, the idea of sitting down and grabbing a cup of coffee is so damn exciting that someone decided to use a stolen credit card to try and make it happen.

I’m sure you’ve been following the escalation of a particular charity auction on the site Charitybuzz – the one that offers a 30 minute to an hour-long coffee date with Apple CEO Tim Cook for the winner and a friend. Tim Cook is giving all of the money generated from the auction to the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with auctioning yourself for charity. It’s admirable, actually, and it has the ability to generate a game-changing amount of funding for the center.

The big surprise here is just how much people are willing to bid for the date.

Charitybuzz placed an estimated value of $50,000 on the date, but zealous bidders have eclipsed that mark – and then some. The bid topped $50,000 very quickly, and then exploded as the bidding reached $605,000 by last Friday night. Yep, you read that right. $605,000 for a short break with Tim Cook at Apple HQ in Cupertino.

Well, it turns out, there was something off about that $605,000 bid. Fortune noticed that this morning, the bid had fallen to $600,000. Why did it fall? Was it a glitch?

Nope. Charitybuzz confirmed that the top bid was removed when it was found out that it was placed with a stolen credit card.

But the fact remains, there is a legitimate $600,000 bid that’s currently winning this thing. And there are still 15 days left to go in the auction. To put this all in perspective, Charitybuzz’s previous record for something like this was set back in 2011 when someone paid $255,000 for some time with former President Bill Clinton.

The U.S. launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is imminent and Android fans are clamoring to get their hands on the Korean manufacturer’s latest flagship Android device. Anyone hoping to use the phone to store pictures, audio, and video, however, had better have an SD card handy.

Geek.com got its hands on an S4 this week and are now reporting that the smartphone will come with over 7GB of Android and Samsung software pre-installed. For perspective, that’s nearly half of the storage found in the 16GB version of the S4.

It’s been clear for a while that Samsung has been focusing its development and advertising on software. The company is trying to differentiate itself from other smartphone manufacturers now that Android device hardware has caught up with, and in some cases exceeded, Apple’s iPhone. Eye-catching software is a way to do that, but with it comes software bloat and apps that seem nice but are rarely used in practice.

The good thing is, Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones are also popular among the Android modding community. Modders have already rooted some versions of the Galaxy S4 and are working to unlock the bootloader for versions of the phone that are locked by U.S. carriers (such as AT&T). Once rooted, Samsung’s Galaxy devices have access to a wide variety of roms to choose from that do not come pre-loaded with crapware.

Samsung’s latest flagship device – the Galaxy S4 – must have went through the same rigorous testing process that Samsung’s other devices go through. That being said, I’m pretty sure Samsung never tested to see if its lastest device was bulletproof.

YouTube personality raredrr saw this glaring hole in Samsung’s testing regimen and took matters into his own hands with his latest test to see if the S4 can survive being shot with a 50 cal sniper rifle. Short answer – no. Long answer – don’t expect the Galaxy S4 to stop incoming bullets.

As a bonus, here’s ratedrr shooting the Galaxy S4′s main competition – the iPhone 5 – with a 50 cal rifle. It holds up a little better:

[h/t: Kotaku]

KPS Capital Partners said Monday that it promoted Bruce Curley to Partner – Operations Group. Curley lead the firm’s operations group, KPS said.

PRESS RELEASE

KPS Capital Partners, LP (“KPS”) announced today the promotion of Bruce Curley to Partner – Operations Group.
Mr. Curley leads the KPS Operations Group, a growing team of ten professionals with significant manufacturing and operations experience. The KPS Operations Group works with the KPS portfolio companies to create a culture of continuous improvement and to make their businesses better.
Mr. Curley has been affiliated with KPS since 2000, first as Chief Executive Officer of a former KPS portfolio company, and then beginning in 2005 as Managing Director and head of the KPS Operations Group. Prior to his involvement with KPS, Mr. Curley held management positions with International Paper, Boise Cascade and Mead. Mr. Curley received a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.A. in Business from Central Michigan University. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
Michael Psaros and David Shapiro , Co-Founders and Managing Partners of KPS, said, “We are proud to announce the promotion of Bruce Curley to Partner – Operations Group. Bruce is an important member of the KPS team and has contributed enormously to the success of our firm for over a decade by working with our portfolio company management teams to drive operational excellence. We have built a world class team of operations focused professionals under Bruce’s leadership and we expect to continue to grow our operations team in the coming years.”
On April 15, 2013, KPS announced the first and final closing of its fourth fund, KPS Special Situations Fund IV, with $3.5 billion in investor capital commitments.
About KPS Capital Partners, LP
KPS Capital Partners, LP is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of private equity funds with $6.0 billion of assets under management focused on constructive investing in restructurings, turnarounds and other special situations. The KPS investment strategy targets manufacturing and industrial companies with strong market positions that are going through a period of transition or experiencing operating or financial difficulties. For over two decades, the partners of KPS have worked with the management teams and associates of its portfolio companies to improve operating and financial performance by focusing on cost reduction, efficiency, operational excellence and strategic growth initiatives. KPS Portfolio Companies, as of December 31, 2012, have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $6.8 billion, operate 85 manufacturing plants in 25 countries, and employ over 29,000 associates, directly and through joint ventures worldwide. The KPS investment strategy and portfolio companies are described in detail at the firm’s website: www.kpsfund.com.

The post KPS Capital Promotes Curley to Partner appeared first on peHUB.

Google Tech Talks always cover come interesting topics. This time, it’s the Virtual Brain – a project that involves the construction of a simulation of the human brain.

The jury may be out on whether Messrs. Abe and Kuroda will succeed in cajoling the Japanese economy from its decades-long funk but the cash is betting they will. Domestic and foreign investors have stampeded for Tokyo equities, and Morgan Stanley has been crunching the numbers.

Since 2005, Japanese investors built up a 14 trillion yen (over $140 billion) portfolio of foreign equities. But between January-March 2013, they offloaded a third of this — about $39 billion.  Going back to July 2012 when they first started bringing cash home, the Japanese have sold $53 billion in foreign equities, or 36 percent of equity holdings.

If one were to include all foreign portfolio investments, they sold a net $74 billion worth of assets in the first three months of 2013. Morgan Stanley says this is the the most since 2005. You can see their graphic below (click on it for a bigger version).

Not surprising then that the Nikkei has been on a roll with returns of  34 percent this year. Aside from the Japanese money, foreign cash has also flooded in — foreigners have bought $23 billion worth of Japanese equities in the first two months of 2013, according to Japanese government data.  Broadly, that is a 7 percent rise in cumulative holdings. Asian investors’ holdings alone have jumped 26 percent.

So what now? Morgan Stanley’s survey of Japanese funds revealed that most had higher allocations to local equities than usual. While only around 5 percent said they would increase their weighting, half  of those surveyed intended to keep the current position.

“This data supports our view that further upside for the Japan equity market is data and policy dependent,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.