Contractor Portal v2.0 From Dotted Eyes

Worcestershire, UK-headquartered Dotted Eyes Ltd has announced the launch of the next version,v2.0, of their software product called “Contractor Portal”.

This software makes it possible for local government agencies to share with each other, data generated by them internally. The data that can be shared includes third party datasets which has been licensed under Collective Purchase Agreements, such as from Ordnance Survey and other data suppliers. It also enables contractors to submit their own digital data to the agency.

The way the software has been architected, an automated and audited workflow is set up between the stakeholders which streamlines the entire licensing and ordering process seamlessly. A real-time console in the agency’s main office allows the authorities to manage their data distribution.

The idea is for the agencies to provide a responsive service to their stakeholders, including staff, partners and contractors, in the form of data sharing in a secure environment. This leads to cost reduction, reduced paperwork and elimination of avoidable contact.

Contractor Portal has been developed on the FME platform developed by Safe Software. It is available as a hosted or installed solution.

Read more about this latest collaboration tool for sharing data between government agencies, here.

IE9 Beta To Launch September 15th

Redmond, Washington-headquartered Microsoft Corporation has scheduled the launch of the beta version of its Internet Explorer browser 9 for 15th September 2010, at an event called the “Beauty of the web”. The event will take place at the Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco, California.

The first hint of a new version of their browser being in the offing came in November 2009, during the Professional Developers Conference held in Los Angeles.

The new browser is expected to leverage the power of the underlying graphics and other processors that make up the hardware to boost its speed. There will be stronger support for HTML5 than what has been possible in IE8 releases. The new browser is also likely to run only on Windows 7 or the higher versions of the Vista operating system. This means that users with XP or below will be required to upgrade their machines if they want to enjoy the new browser.

While IE8 scored a measly 20 out of 100 on the ACID 3 test, the IE9 has leapfrogged to 32 out of 100. Still, that makes it far behind Firefox version 3.xx which has managed to score an impressive 96.

Read more about the newest version of the internet browser from Microsoft, here.

New Services For MagCloud Platform From HP

Hewlett-Packard Development Company has announced a new set of services for its self-publishing web platform, MagCloud.

These new services include:

- shipping to destinations around the world, which means that a customer now has the option to order a single issue of any publication on MagCloud.

- new options for binding hard copies, which means that magazines with pagecount more than 300 can be printed with perfection.

- and an application that enables consuming digital material on the iPad, which is available for free from App Store. There is also an option to buy a hardcopy version of the content. This implies that any publisher can now offer content in both digital and print format to iPad users, using the MagCloud platform.

The MagCloud publishing ecosystem provides facilities to publishers who want to save on preproduction costs or the hassle of minimum print runs. Because the market is moving towards more and more niche, targeted readership, the platform provides people to experiment with their chosen target with minimal investment.

The platform also creates a level ground for new and novice publishers who may have little experience, little or no reach and minimal capital.

Read more about how a SaaS platform is being ramped up to prove more useful for its users, courtesy HP, here.

Photoshop Lightroom 3 From Adobe

A new version of Photoshop Lightroom, version 3, has been launched by San Jose, California-headquartered Adobe Systems Inc. The product is immediately downloadable from Adobe’s website for USD 299 for new users, and USD 99 as upgrade. The software is compatible with Windows and Macintosh.

Lightroom is a digital photography workflow solution that allows users to manage their images from a single application. The software has inbuilt facility to hold and organize image libraries, and it has the tools to reduce noise and sharpen the images very seamlessly.

Lightroom 3 has the additional capability to operate in 64-bit environment, and it supports DSLR video files and tethered shooting in select cameras from Nikon and Canon. Improvement over the previous versions include a more intuitive importing option, added previews and default selections which enable photographers to access and sort images and search for specific images. Another useful feature in this version is the Automatic Lens Correction, which provides the facility to apply profiles to correct for undesirable geometric distortions, chromatic aberrations and lens vignette effects.

The product also comes with plug-ins to connect with online sharing sites in a seamless fashion.

Read more about the latest version of a digital media software product from Adobe, here.

New Beta AIX From IBM For Power7 Servers

A new version of AIX in its beta state has been released in the market by IBM Corporation. AIX 7, as it is called, is an open standards-based UNIX operating system owned by the company.

The entire series of AIX is designed for optimal performance on IBM’s POWER servers. The new version of AIX is now optimized for the latest generation of POWER servers known as POWER7. At the same time, AIX 7 is backward compatible, so users may port it on earlier generations of processors such as POWER6, POWER5 and POWER4. Concurrently, applications developed on earlier versions of AIX, such as AIX 6, AIX 5 and even 32-bit apps can run on AIX 7 without having to go through the time-consuming process of recompiling.

The company has also provided a new facility to install an entire older AIX version into a Workload partition on AIX 7. This is like running an operating system within an operating system. The advantage to the user is that they can buy POWER7 servers with AIX 7 running on them, and quickly move their entire older software to the new hardware with minimal effort.

Read more about the new beta version of open-source UNIX launched by IBM for its latest server system, here.

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