EdgeConnex, a data center operator that specializes in edge data centers, has landed Comcast as their anchor tenant for a new center opening in Jacksonville, Florida. Due to Comcast’s new streaming services, on-demand programming and extensive nationwide network, they are a perfect customer for EdgeConnex and their edge services, allowing Comcast to keep content close to consumers without having to build their own dedicated data centers. This should also help EdgeConnex in bringing new clients to the Jacksonville area, which has seen significant growth in the quantity of tech companies opening up in that region.
With 85% of top brands and over 400 million monthly active users, Instagram is one of the most prolific social media platforms available, and now Proofpoint has launched the industry’s first Instagram security solution. Most security solutions are blind to images and generate too many false threats when filtering through Instagram posts, but Proofpoint SocialPatrol has launched a new system unique to the site with the ability to simultaneously analyze text and images, while comparing them to over 100 algorithmic classifiers to notify the user of discernible threats.
Proofpoint also offers advanced solutions for protecting branded social media accounts across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube, helping to report fraudulent accounts, stop hackers, remove malicious content and prevent unauthorized publishing workflow, which is of the utmost importance given the impact social media has on branded content.
Today Nissan announced that they have chosen Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform to power Connect Telematics Systems (CTS) in all Nissan LEAF and Infiniti models across Europe. In partnership with Azure, these Nissan vehicles will now offer remote connection to the car from the owner’s mobile phone with interactive features to enhance safety, adjust climate controls, and set charging functions on electric vehicles remotely, even when the car is powered down. As automakers like Nissan continue to implement connective features on their vehicles, companies like Azure and Ericsson, bringing cloud based platforms and Wi-Fi to cars, open themselves up for a whole new market of opportunity.
Bit9 Carbon Black, the market leader in Next-Generation Endpoint Security (NGES), has partnered with Blue Coat, a leader in advanced enterprise security, to offer comprehensive cyber security within the same platform. The integration now allows Carbon Black to automatically send unknown files to Blue Coat’s Malware Appliance for analysis. In exchange, Blue Coat now enables users to check for endpoint security threats through Carbon Black, helping to broaden the security spectrum for administrators without having to purchase separate systems.
Alcatel-Lucent continues their expansion of ultra-broadband across the European market, meeting a year-end goal set by Swisscom to reach 1 million homes and business in Switzerland. Alcatel-Lucent helped to replace the existing infrastructure that offered 100mbps speeds with ultra-broadband that now offers 1gbps speeds to 30 percent of the country, the highest figure out of any European nation to date. This expansion has helped Swisscom take measurable steps towards their goal of providing ultra-broadband to 85 percent of Switzerland by 2020.
The news of Alcatel-Lucent’s success in Switzerland is marked by further good news as the French Financial regulator AMF has published Nokia’s public exchange offer of 15.6 billion-euro for Alcatel-Lucent’s securities. With the deal closing up, the two telecom companies are expected to begin combining their operations next week with Nokia officials citing a “swift” move after garnering control of Alcatel-Lucent. Together, the former competitors are now in a prime spot to continue working on expanding telecom infrastructure, not only throughout Europe, but the globally as well.
Ericsson and AT&T Drive announce solutions to improve connectivity for products and applications powered by Ericsson Connected Vehicle Cloud, which offers drivers and passengers access to in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspots. Upon implementation, car owners will be able to activate a hotspot, buy a data plan, and manage Wi-Fi accounts all from a screen in their vehicle, as well as perform maintenance checks, interact with the dealer, and set-up appointments all through the car’s cloud service.
The market for connected cars has recently expanded with a global study performed by AT&T and Ericsson showing that 62 percent of US respondents are aware of the connected car, and 75 percent of global respondents consider in-vehicle connectivity an important feature of their next car purchase. This puts Ericsson at the top of the market with their Connected Vehicle Cloud revolutionizing demands for scalability, security and flexibility in the upcoming movement by automakers to produce the Wi-Fi connected car.
Ending a big year of expansion with new data centers across six continents, CloudFlare has opened their 74th data center in Cairo, Egypt, making this their third African data center after Johannesburg and Mombasa. After implementing this new data center, CloudFlare is reporting a measured reduction in latency to Egypt’s largest network, Telecom Egypt, with performance doubling across the board. CloudFlare continues to compete with Akamai in global reach, further expanding their infrastructure into the African market with this announcement coming just weeks after they opened two new sites in Germany and Bulgaria, localizing the European Internet traffic. This expansion into Egypt will also help reduce European traffic, as websites in Northern Africa no longer have to divert traffic through PoP’s in Europe, with CloudFlare only citing more expansion to come in 2016.