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March 11, 2010

Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight

Ready to graduate from DJ Hero? Got a house payment handy? Then Pioneer would like to show you the way to the pros. Say hello to the DJM-2000, a four-channel digital mixer built around a 5.8-inch multitouch screen and sporting enough knobs, buttons and sliders for a NASA launch sequence. Designed to play nice with the matching CDJ-2000 players Pioneer released last year, the unit features an integrated audio effects suite with six dedicated processors and several intriguing modes for multitouch music control. While the mixer has the traditional crossfade slider that allows DJs to assign a certain percentage of the output to channels on the left and right, the DJM-2000 debuts with “frequency mix,” a mode that lets DJs assign within seven narrow frequency bands as well by manipulating virtual sliders on the touchscreen, and a “sidechain remix” mode that uses the screen to apply custom effects in real time. Yeah, it’s not as wild as some other touchscreen DJ rigs we’ve seen, but at least this one’s for sale: Pioneer says the mixer will retail for $3000 this June. Droolworthy video demonstrations after the break.

Continue reading Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight

Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola partners with Microsoft, will use Bing search and maps on Chinese Android phones

Uh, whoa. When we heard Google’s threatened pullout of China had prompted Motorola to seek out an alternative search provider for its China-bound handsets, we can’t say we were expecting a partnership with Microsoft to result. But here we are, staring at a press release announcing the Bing search and Maps will be the default on Moto’s Chinese Android phones starting in Q1 — and the partnership is described as “global,” so there’s a chance it could spread. That’s just one more slap in Google’s face from Moto, following the release of the Yahoo-powered AT&T Backflip — and another step away from the tight relationship that produced the Droid. And does this mean Motorola might yet build a Windows Phone 7 Series device, despite a very public commitment to Android? We’d say Eric and Sanjay have some unresolved differences to work through.

Motorola partners with Microsoft, will use Bing search and maps on Chinese Android phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CA-Nimsoft: A $350 Million Wake-up Call for VARs, Microsoft

wake-up-call-300x274The VAR Guy suspects most CA employees — and most VARs — had never heard of Nimsoft before today. But CA’s $350 million buyout of Nimsoft represents a dramatic wake-up call for channel partners and big software companies (um, did somebody say Microsoft?) across the globe. Here’s why.

Nimsoft is part of a small but thriving managed services software ecosystem. Over the past five years or so, thousands of VARs and MSPs have embraced remote monitoring tools from Nimsoft, Kaseya, Level Platforms, N-able and various upstarts. Also, big distributors like Ingram Micro have set up divisions (like Ingram Micro Seismic) to help transform VARs into MSPs. (Seismic, by the way, has relationships with both CA and Nimsoft.) That reseller-to-MSP transformation involves building recurring revenue models with customers.

Meanwhile, SaaS-centric MSP tools have been getting acquired left and right. Recent deals involved:

Educated Guesses

How big is the MSP market? The VAR Guy’s best guess goes something like this…

  • Let’s assume there are about 80,000 to 120,000 solutions providers in North America
  • Roughly 10 percent to 20 percent (8,000 to 24,000) of those VARs now offer managed services
  • But only about 10 percent of those MSPs (800 to 2,400) are really, really good at their craft

So is the glass half full — or half empty? The MSPmentor 100 survey, conducted annually since October 2007, proves that top MSPs remain in growth mode.

But here’s the strange part: Most of the world’s largest software and hardware companies — Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, etc. — have largely overlooked the MSP opportunity. Fact is, the giants just don’t get it. They’re so busy trying to retrofit traditional IT offerings for SaaS and cloud, that they overlooked the IT channel’s fastest growing community — managed services providers (MSPs).

This Stuff Ain’t Easy

Since around January 2008, The VAR Guy has been waiting for big IT companies to wake up to the MSP opportunity. It’s finally starting to happen. A few key examples:

Can CA Change?

So, big companies are finally waking up to the MSP opportunity. But can they cash in on the MSP channel? During a conference call with media and Wall Street today, CA CEO William McCracken essentially conceded that CA has failed to master the MSP market. He’s hoping the Nimsoft deal will change that.

At the same time, CA’s R&D teams have been working to reinvent on-premises products (such as CA ARCserve) for cloud, SaaS and MSP environments.

But most of all, CA will need to retrain its existing channel to understand new MSP opportunities. That journey begins today with the Nimsoft buyout. Are other software companies — such as Microsoft — paying attention?


Follow The VAR Guy via his Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.


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PlayStation Move first hands-on

At last, we’ve felt Sony’s long awaited motion controller, now at last officially known as “PlayStation Move,” in our unworthy, sweaty hands. We have a bunch of videos on the way, along with some impressions to share, but for now you can revel in our first close-ups of the controllers in the gallery below. Here are some of our initial thoughts:

  • The controllers are light. Much more akin to the DualShock3 than the Wiimote in heft, and we’re guessing that’s due to Sony’s continued love of rechargeable battery.
  • The main controller does have some subtle vibration (not DualShock or Wiimote level, but present), but we’re not sure yet about the subcontroller.
  • We hate to say this about “pre-alpha” software, but we’re feeling lag. An on-rails shooter we tried out, dubbed The Shoot, was discernibly inferior to shooting experiences we’ve had on the Wii, both in precision and refresh rate of the aiming cursor.
  • The gladiator game is about as fun as it looks, we’ll have video after the break momentarily. Unfortunately, while it’s less of a defined experience than something like the sword game on Wii Sports Resort, you’re still working through a library of sensed, pre-defined actions instead of a true 1:1 fighting game with simulated physics. Not that it isn’t possible with PlayStation Move, just that it’s not this.
  • The lightness of the controllers means we might be feeling less of that Wiimote fatigue, always a good thing! There’s an aspect of the controller that feels a little cheap, but at the same time we wouldn’t call it fragile.

Developing…

PlayStation Move first hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Flip cams to launch in early April?

The details are slim to none on this one, but we’re all about a good pocket cam rumor. According to the usually-reliable Business Insider Cisco will launch a new set of Flip camcorders around the NAB show which runs from April 12-15, but we don’t have any specs yet. Come on Cisco, now you’ve got us guessing not only about the future of the Internet, but also if your newest Flip will support 1080p. Told you we didn’t know much, but we’ll obviously be keeping an eye out for more.

New Flip cams to launch in early April? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CA and Nimsoft’s Gary Read: Colorful Combo

When CA acquired Nimsoft today for $350 million, it set the stage for some sweeping changes in the managed services market. But this is more than a technology story, folks. CA also gains a colorful executive — Nimsoft CEO Gary Read (pictured) — and a Nimsoft management team that thrives on social media and disrupting competitors. Here’s the scoop, as only The VAR Guy can spin it.

The VAR Guy first met Read about a year or two ago, during a conference call involving Nimsoft making a small acquisition. Read is colorful and outspoken. Consider this line from Read’s latest blog entry, about the CA-Nimsoft deal:

“When CA first suggested a conversation, I admit I had a brief moment of hesitation, but I quickly realized that this could be the perfect partner for Nimsoft and our customers. CA is making a commitment from the highest level of the organization to be the leader in cloud management. They recognize the importance of Service Providers and Emerging Enterprises to this new world, and they are an important focus of CA’s growth strategy. They made it clear that they want us to innovate and pioneer and add resources to accelerate those efforts.”

Frankly, it would have taken CA about a month to write, edit and publish the paragraph above — assuming CA’s legal team gave it approval. Still, the paragraph above does have some added polish. Perhaps Read did give CA a peek before posting? Hmmm…

Regardless, Read has a habit of shooting from the hip — in real-time — on his blog. He has taken shots (regularly) at BMC, IBM Tivoli, HP OpenView and even CA from time to time. Read doesn’t apply many artificual filters, which means the blog is filled with honest opinions  — a worthy read for customers, competitors and even bloggers like The VAR Guy.

Cast and Crew

Also of note, Read has surrounded himself with people who take action. The VAR Guy doesn’t know everyone at Nimsoft, but some of the characters worth tracking in the weeks ahead include…

  • Phil LaForge, VP of Service Providers: LaForge came to Nimsoft from CDW. He understands the managed services market — a key business sector that CA has so far failed to master.
  • Ken Vanderweel, a marketing director who asks questions. Lots of them. Then foll0ws-up. Regularly. The net result? Vanderweel has a knack for making sure Nimsoft is on message as the company engages MSPs and enterprise accounts.
  • Todd McKendrick, a sales pro who previously held managed services positions over at Do IT Smarter and Dell. McKendrick was the very first person The VAR Guy ever really “interviewed” and “quizzed” about the managed services market. The random conversation occurred inside a Kinkos in San Jose back in September or October 2007.

The big question: Can these fast-thinking (and sometimes outspoken) Nimsoft personalities blend in with CA’s more conservative corporate culture? The VAR Guy will be watching and listening for clues.

The Road Ahead

In the meantime, CA and Nimsoft are busy briefing the media about their joint plans to serve managed services providers and emerging enterprises, while promoting a cloud monitoring strategy along the way. The CA-Nimsoft combo certainly sounds serious about managed services. The VAR Guy wonders: How will MSPs react? Our resident blogger is reaching out to sources for answers.

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PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game

Filed under: Cool Gadgets, news — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — ChicagoMicro @ 12:06 am

No surprise here: Sony just officially announced the PlayStation Move motion controller at GDC 2010, calling it the “next generation of motion gaming” because it’s so precise — latency is about the same as the DualShock 3. As expected, it uses the PlayStation Eye camera to track the controller, and Sony says it becomes an “extension of your body.” The plan is not only to engage casual gamers, but to use the precision of the controller to create “new experiences for core gamers” — many of the demo videos we saw involved using a controller video in each hand, and there were quote a few demos of action / RPG games. We also saw a demo of Move Party, which uses the camera to do augmented reality gaming and video chat. The demos are pretty impressive — Sony’s not kidding when it says the Move is incredibly precise. There’s also going to be a secondary “subcontroller” with an an analog stick for shooters — you can play all the way through SOCOM4 with just the Move and the sub-controller. (Yes, it’s just like the Wii Nunchuk, only wireless.)

You’ll be able to get Move in three ways: in a bundle with a PS3, standalone, and in a starter kit targeted at “under $100″ with the PS Eye, a controller, and a game. That’s all the pricing info we have right now, but it certainly sounds aggressive — Sony says they’re treating this like a major console launch, so expect to see this everywhere when it launches around the holidays. Video after the break.

Check out our hands-on right here!

Continue reading PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game

PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live from Sony’s ‘PlayStation Move’ motion controller event

We just got underway at Sony’s PlayStation Move motion controller event. Sure, they haven’t called it “Move,” just yet, but we just saw the “Move” moniker on a demo screen at the side of the stage, so we’re feeling pretty confident at this point.

Continue reading Live from Sony’s ‘PlayStation Move’ motion controller event

Live from Sony’s ‘PlayStation Move’ motion controller event originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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March 10, 2010

Motorola i1 gets clearer: 5 megapixel cam, Opera Mini default browser?

Filed under: Network, Power, news — Tags: , , , , , , — ChicagoMicro @ 11:38 pm

We’ve been slipped some additional information on Motorola’s imminent Android-powered i1 for iDEN networks today — actually, one correction and one interesting note. First, the correction: we’re now being told (by the same tipster as before) that it’s actually got a 5 megapixel camera on board, a nice upgrade from the 3 we’d previously been told to expect. More interestingly, though, we’re also hearing that Opera Mini has been tapped as the i1’s default browser — a move that Moto is more than welcome to make since this is a Blur-powered, non-”Google Experience” device. It’s also a possible admission that third-party Android browsers are currently outperforming Google’s own, something Microsoft has long dealt with on Windows Mobile as companies like HTC ultimately ended up bundling Opera Mobile with virtually every model they sold. So, Sprint Direct Connect and Boost Mobile customers, you getting excited about this thing or what?

Motorola i1 gets clearer: 5 megapixel cam, Opera Mini default browser? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback — and changes color

The JooJoo tablet’s launch date might have been pushed back a month while Fusion Garage sorts out issues with the capacitive touchscreen, but it looks like the extra time has given the company a chance to tweak the interface and add in some features. Obviously the most noticable change is the revised homescreen, which has gone from line art on a garish solid color background to a nicely rendered icon grid over a high-res customizable wallpaper, but Fusion Garage has also ditched the confusing pinch-to-go-back gesture and replaced it a vertical swipe that brings down a status bar containing the home button, status indicators, browser navigation controls, and a combination address bar / search field. Scroll behavior has been revised as well, with two separate behaviors: a two-finger scroll that works like a scroll wheel, and a single finger “pan” that works like a mouse arrow. That’s so you can move around sites like Google Maps, which have different interface elements mapped to each control — CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan pointed out to us that devices like the iPhone avoid the issue by using dedicated apps, but Fusion Garage wants to deliver the “full web experience.” It’s an interesting solution and a clever spin on things, but we’re waiting to try it out for real before we pass any judgment.

What else? The text-entry situation has been improved: there’s now both a smaller keyboard designed for one-handed operation that can be moved around the screen so it doesn’t obscure content, and a full-screen multitouch keyboard that does chording so it recognizes more than one key at a time. There’s no auto-correction or prediction, though. Flash is now fully working, and YouTube videos can either be played back using Flash or the custom H.264 HD breakout player we’ve already seen; that player supports a range of codecs and can also be used to play videos stored on a USB thumb drive. And finally, and perhaps most oddly, the JooJoo has changed colors. Instead of black, the back casing is now a “champagne” color, a picture of which you can see below — Chandra told us that unhappy preorder customers can just have their $499 refunded if they desperately wanted black instead. All we desperately want to do is get a review unit and tell you what the JooJoo is actually like to use — if all of these promises hold up, it could be very intriguing indeed.

Continue reading JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback — and changes color

JooJoo revamps interface ahead of launch, adds local video playback — and changes color originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Checking schedule at 11/03/1010 10:41:20