From our consumer desk...

Garden Furniture Gives Nature a Helping Hand

New Kura Outdoor Range To Launch: Tardis Structures announces the launch of a brand new range of garden furniture made from Kura – the world’s first eco-friendly hardwood.


Following its UK debut in Spring 2005, Kura (already available as stair parts, flooring and mouldings) has proved a popular choice with both architects and domestic consumers, thanks to its versatility and competitive pricing. Now Tardis Structures Director Kevin Fraser is anticipating a big response to the new garden selection:

“Kura has all the durability of any hardwood - even teak - with graining and colouring that gives all our products a great look,” Kevin explains. “And as it’s made from a base of fast-growing softwood, it doesn’t threaten the future tropical forests or the wildlife that lives in them.”

For pictures, interviews or further details about Kura or Tardis Structures, please contact: tardispr@mccint.com

Press Release: Allied Telesyn Ranked Number One By Heavy Reading

...IMAP 9000 Family Ranked Top IP DSLAM...

Heavy Reading’s ‘IP DSLAMS’ report has revealed that Allied Telesyn International, a global provider of end-to-end IP/Ethernet carrier and enterprise solutions, is a top supplier in the IP DSLAM sector. Allied Telesyn’s MiniMAP 9100 was ranked number one in the small OSP (Outside Plant) IP DSLAM market ahead of Siemens, Paradyne and Corecess. Allied Telesyn’s iMAP 9700 was graded second best in both the Central Office (CO) and large OSP-based IP DSLAM product categories, achieving a higher rating than the traditional suppliers including Alcatel, Ericsson, Lucent, Siemens, Nokia and Huawei. This follows substantial independent research and thorough analysis of the IP DSLAM market and the respective products from industry’s leading vendors.

Heavy Reading discovered that the MiniMAP 9100 has six times the switching capacity of Pannaway, ranked second, and twelve times more than Paradyne, ranked third. The MiniMAP 9100 is a wire-speed multiservice device that combines IP multimedia access (copper and fibre), aggregation and transport in one unified box. It is the ideal platform for forward-thinking PTTs, Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECS) and alternative operators wishing to offer revenue-generating value-add Broadband IP Triple Play services. Operators deploying fibre deeper in the access to shorten copper loop lengths for higher speeds over DSL, while reducing the number of lines served per node for more resilience, would find the MiniMAP 9100 the ultimate remote node solution in the industry.

Further information: email MCC International via alliedtelesynpr@mccint.com

From our colleagues at DivX...

Press Release: Pavilion Technologies Announces 2005-2006 Customer Advisory Council

...Forum of Industry Leaders to Drive Pavilion Strategy to Maximize Customer Value...

Pavilion Technologies, a world leader in advanced process control (APC) and environmental compliance solutions, today announced the members of its 2005-2006 Customer Advisory Council (CAC). The council was created last year to provide customers with a forum to share their needs and influence Pavilion’s solutions and product roadmap. The new Pavilion8™ integrated process modelling, analysis, monitoring, control and visualisation software suite was the result of direct council input, feedback and testing. The Customer Advisory Council underscores Pavilion’s commitment to deliver significant, demonstrable value to leading manufacturers worldwide.

The 2005-2006 CAC is composed of representatives from a diverse group of industry-leading companies including ALCOA, Capitol Cement, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Fonterra, NOVA Chemicals, SABIC and Sterling Chemicals. Members participate for a term of one year and meet regularly to help shape the future direction of Pavilion’s solutions. In exchange for providing feedback and ideas, members have the opportunity to preview new products and services.

Editorial contact and further information: MCC International via pavilionpr@mccint.com.

Press Release: Innos Supports Liverpool & Southampton Universities to Realise Low-Cost Manufacture Of High Performance MOSFETs

...Inexpensive Transistors Could Play Role In Future Of ‘Ambient Intelligence’...

Innos, the UK’s leading research and development company delivering expertise in silicon, MEMS and nanotechnologies, today announced its involvement in an EPSRC-funded project collaborative between Liverpool and Southampton Universities, which has demonstrated how high performance MOSFETs used in radio frequency applications can be manufactured at a low cost. The advance could enable more small to medium sized businesses to enter the radio frequency applications market and be used as part of a sensor network within ‘ambient intelligence’ systems.

The research conducted at Liverpool and Southampton Universities shows how the adoption of vertical MOS transistors could enable a route to ultra-short channel MOS transistors using relaxed (hence cheaper) lithography rules and a reduced footprint. Classically, such devices are lateral but expensive lithography is required to achieve the ultra short channel lengths which are easily achieved with a vertical approach. The shortcomings of vertical transistors have been addressed by a number of novel solutions to drastically reduce parasitic effects generated by the geometric configuration of the device.

Editor’s contact and further information? Email MCC International via innospr@mccint.com.

MCC Goes To Hungary

MCC's EEMA PR team is off to Budapest this week, to run the press room for ISSE 2005 - Europe's most respected computer security event.


As well as the organisers, MCC is representing all speakers and sponsors, including Microsoft, Verisign, Symantec, and SAP.

Since 1987, EEMA has been Europe's leading independent trade association for e-Business, "working to further e-Business technology and legislation with its European members, governmental bodies, standards organisations and e-Business initiatives".

ISSE - Information Security Solutions Europe - brings together renowned security experts from across the globe to Budapest for a three day conference with over 80 speakers and presentations looking at key issues including identity management, web services, mobile and wireless security, privacy & data protection, compliance, biometrics and many other areas.

Press Release: Innos Supports Liverpool & Southampton Universities To Realise Low-Cost Manufacture Of High Performance Mosfets

...Inexpensive Transistors Could Play Role In Future Of ‘Ambient Intelligence’...

Innos, the UK’s leading research and development company delivering expertise in silicon, MEMS and nanotechnologies, today announced its involvement in an EPSRC-funded project collaborative between Liverpool and Southampton Universities, which has demonstrated how high performance MOSFETs used in radio frequency applications can be manufactured at a low cost. The advance could enable more small to medium sized businesses to enter the radio frequency applications market and be used as part of a sensor network within ‘ambient intelligence’ systems.

The research conducted at Liverpool and Southampton Universities shows how the adoption of vertical MOS transistors could enable a route to ultra-short channel MOS transistors using relaxed (hence cheaper) lithography rules and a reduced footprint. Classically, such devices are lateral but expensive lithography is required to achieve the ultra short channel lengths which are easily achieved with a vertical approach. The shortcomings of vertical transistors have been addressed by a number of novel solutions to drastically reduce parasitic effects generated by the geometric configuration of the device.

“We investigated the limits of using a vertical transistor and created new solutions in order to benefit fully from this approach,” says Professor of Electrical Engineering at Liverpool University, Stephen Hall. “We collaborated with Professor Peter Ashburn of Southampton University to research the device designs, processes and technologies to realise a viable route to high performance MOSFETs that can be manufactured at low cost.”

For more info contact MCC International: innospr@mccint.com

Press Release: DIY Data Backup For IT Dealers

...DataFort Provides Dealers with the Ability to Deploy Their Own Full-Scale, Profitable Off-site Backup Service...

DataFort, the leading UK provider of off-site data backup, today announced the launch of its ‘Self Billing Dealership’ programme – allowing channel businesses to create their own branded backup service, removing the increased risk and decreased profit of setting up an in-house service or outsourcing to a third party. The service has a potential of turning offsite backup into a service with a profit potential of up to 300%.

“Growth in broadband and the increasing socio-economic need for secure backup of business data has lead to a boom in dealers/resellers/system integrators setting up their own off-site backup services,” explains Gavin Smith, Founder & CEO of DataFort. “But capital expenditure and ongoing manpower and maintenance costs make it tremendously difficult for them to turn a profit from such a service.”

DataFort offers an alternative that puts profit back on the agenda - by providing dealers with a complete backup service, with a brandable front end. It removes all of the considerable set-up costs for dealers moving into backup, such as:

· Licensing software
· Buying servers
· Selecting and installing firewalls
· Selecting a secure facility

...and replaces them with instant access to the business benefits of working with a market leader in the backup marketplace, namely:

· Award-winning client software
· Unlimited end-user licenses
· A web-based customer management tool
· Second-tier support
· Product development
· Sales manual and technical training

“It is often the case that data backup software providers charge resellers additional costs for web management tools and maintenance contracts,” concludes Smith, “but with DataFort there are no additional charges. We are offering resellers an established, high-performance solution that will strengthen and lengthen their relationships with their end-users.”

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact MCC International: datafortpr@mccint.com.

Press Release: Ipswitch Unveils WS_FTP Data Management Suite

...Data Transfer Market Leader Offers Data Management Capabilities Designed For SMEs...

Ipswitch, Inc., the leading developer of network management, messaging and file transfer solutions, today announced the immediate availability of the Ipswitch WS_FTP® Data Management Suite. The new offering delivers workflow-enabled data management with Ipswitch’s trademark security and ease of use by combining the world’s most popular FTP products: WS_FTP Professional 2006, WS_FTP Server and WS_FTP Secure Software Development Kit (SDK).

Unlike complex enterprise data management tools, which require extensive programming, WS_FTP Data Management Suite enables everyone in the organisation to set up and manage reliable and secure data movement and transfer work. End users can use the extensive automation capabilities built in to WS_FTP Professional 2006 to schedule and manage recurring data management applications. Non-programmers can build sophisticated applications using the automatic synchronisation and scheduling features of WS_FTP Professional 2006. With the Workspace capabilities of WS_FTP Professional 2006, end users can save and recall any mix of local and remote locations for bi-directional secure transfers.

Review copies, interviews, screen shots and information for all Ipswitch products are available from MCC International: ipswitchpr@mccint.com.

Home Media Networks Urges Government To Provide Households With Free Digital Set Top Boxes

...Company Argues That Money From Licensing Off Airwaves Should Be Put Back Into Helping UK Consumers Make The Digital Switch...

In response to Media Secretary Tessa Jowell’s recent announcement, Home Media Networks Ltd, the leading developer of media center software – ShowShifter, backs the Government’s desire to offer support to turning the UK on to digital transmission, but thinks that it should go one step further to provide households with free set top boxes.

Home Media Networks Ltd CTO Colin Tinto comments: “One of the main reasons the Government want to switch everyone to digital is to free up the radio spectrum, as digital TV takes up less 'space' on the airwaves. As soon as the space is free, this will allow the government to look into ways, as they did with 3G, in which it can license this ‘space’ off - making billions for the treasury.”

More info and editorial contact: hmnpr@mccint.com

WiredRed Announces Next Generation VOIP Technology For Multiparty IP Conferencing

...WiredRed’s Technology Brings Skype-Style IP Communications To ISVS And OEMS...

WiredRed, the leader in enterprise-scale real-time communication software, today announced the availability of its next generation software engine for PC desktop multipoint VoIP. The next generation VoIP application-programming interface (API) delivers the audio clarity and fluid experience of point-to-point communications available in consumer services, such as Skype, to commercial vendors that seek to include the same capabilities in commercial-grade products and services. WiredRed’s new API provides highly scalable multipoint capabilities, security, and the ability to dynamically connect corporate and government users that are typically behind their own firewalls. It also includes options for data collaboration and multipoint video that are generally not available in consumer services.

“The Skype acquisition by eBay, Inc., has made the fast growing adoption of desktop VoIP impossible to ignore,” said WiredRed UK MD Tom Sloan. “As adoption of consumer and point-to-point VoIP grows, so will the need for multipoint conferencing. That’s where we come in. WiredRed is among the few vendors that can deliver multipoint VoIP and video capabilities to OEM manufacturers and online service providers.”

Interviews, photography and an expanded case study are available from wiredredpr@mccint.com.

Lights, Camera, Action! For Hampshire PR Company

MCC International Chosen To Promote Local Company Set To Revolutionise Business Interaction

Award winning media and marketing consultancy MCC International Ltd today announced that it has been hired by WiredRed to develop the company’s brand in the UK, and promote the relevance of collaborative interaction and working to UK organisations. As the global leader in enterprise-scale real-time communication software, WiredRed is at the forefront of software development for businesses that want to negate expensive travel costs. Its solutions allow organisations to undertake high quality ‘face to face’ videoconferences online.

“Recent increases in broadband speeds in the UK mean that many business leaders have realised the true value of web-based video conferencing,” explained WiredRed Managing Director Tom Sloan. “No longer is there the archaic need to travel great distances, at the expense of both time and money, to meet with colleagues where a simple web-based conference would suffice. It may come as a shock to the ‘air mile brigade’ but employees rarely need to undertake meetings in the same locale now that Internet connections are powerful enough to handle streaming video and other parts of collaborative working.”

Business class flights from Heathrow to New York typically cost £4,000, leading to a huge outlay for those multinational companies with offices based in the south of England. For a fraction of this cost, businesses can still have important interaction with their colleagues from across the Atlantic, via a standard broadband Internet connection and software from WiredRed – with SSL/TLS security built-in.

“WiredRed has a compelling solution that is relevant to all businesses, whatever their size or offering,” explained MCC International Director Ian Peel. “The Internet has lead to the globalisation of business with the knocking down of economic boarders, but is still not embraced to its fullest. Our aim is to educate the market and position WiredRed as a key driver to web-based collaborative working.”

“It is great that a PR agency of MCC International’s profile will be handling the promotion of WiredRed’s solutions, and the surrounding issues to UK businesses,” added Sloan. “Its expertise and knowledge of the market were obvious, as was the enthusiasm with which the agency pitched its campaign ideas and strategies.”

Editorial Contacts
Interviews, photography and an expanded case study are available from wiredredpr@mccint.com.

DivX Ultra Certification Program Launched With Support From Leading Consumer Electronics Companies

...New Certification Program Offers Ability to Playback DivX Media Files With Advanced Interactive Features...

DivX, Inc. today announced the launch of the DivX Ultra Certification program for consumer electronics devices. The DivX Ultra Certification program will bring consumers a fully interactive, cutting edge digital media experience by enabling next generation consumer electronics devices to support the advanced features of the DivX Media Format.

The new DivX Media Format, introduced in June and supported by leading software companies including InterVideo, Sonic, CyberLink, Pinnacle, Magix and more, enables even novice users to create rich multimedia files with a host of interactive features. Key elements of the DivX Media Format supported by DivX Ultra Certified products include interactive video menus, multiple subtitles, alternate audio tracks, video tags and chapter points.

New DivX Ultra Certified devices will enable anyone to seamlessly playback DivX Media Format files created on a PC, providing an advanced interactive media experience in a highly compressed file 7 to 10 times smaller than MPEG-2. DivX Ultra Certified devices will support playback of all versions of DivX video, including DivX video-on-demand titles, while offering the premium, interactive experience enabled by the advanced features of the DivX Media Format. The first devices bearing the DivX Ultra Certified logo are expected to hit retail shelves in late 2005.

A number of existing DivX Certified partners from across the digital media industry are working with DivX to create DivX Ultra Certified consumer electronics solutions, including:

Consumer Electronics Manufacturers: • Cyberhome: Leading manufacturer of consumer electronics devices will sell DivX Ultra Certified devices in the European market. • LG Electronics: Global manufacturer of electronics products will add DivX Ultra Certification to a variety of products. • Samsung Electronics: A leading manufacturer of consumer electronics will add DivX Ultra Certification to a line of DVD players. • Thomson/RCA: A leading provider of technology, systems and services to the media and entertainment industries will add DivX Ultra Certification to line of DVD players on display at the IFA electronics show in Berlin, Germany. • Vestel: Leading European consumer electronics company will create DivX Ultra Certified DVD player and DVD recorder devices. • Zoran: A leading provider of solutions for applications in the digital entertainment and digital imaging markets adds DivX Ultra Certification to their line of DVD chipset solutions.

More info and editorial contacts: divxpr@mccint.com

Consult Able To Work On The Move Thanks To Datanet

...Award Winning Business ISP Enables Recruitment Agency To Work Out Of Virtual Offices

Datanet, the UK’s leading Business ISP today announced a new agreement with Consult Ltd – a specialist Human Resource recruitment consultancy. Datanet has implemented and is now managing a secure virtual private network (VPN) for Consult Ltd, allowing employees to access its system both in the office and remotely.

Consult Ltd, based in a 200 year-old listed building in rural Hampshire has clients including Pepsi Co, Royal Bank of Scotland and London Transport. In addition to the 13 who work out of its headquarters, the company employs consultants nationwide.

Recruitment agencies are bound by the Employment Agencies Act to make a declaration to all candidates that they will be prudent with the candidate’s information. “Ensuring that the data is held securely is absolutely essential in our business as we are dealing with confidential and personal information,” said Consult’s IT Director Alan Shields.

Due to the often-sensitive nature of the business, contact with clients and candidates occur in a variety of locations such as hotel lobbies and private meeting rooms. In locations such as these, consultants access the office’s network through wireless access points.

All of Consult’s offices are connected via a wide area network with the remote working consultants having broadband access at home allowing them to connect to the office via a secure virtual private network (VPN). “We are very much a virtual workforce,” explains Shields. “Consultants can log into email and access a comprehensive database which is updated in real time.”

Consult used to be with big name ISP, PIPEX but decided that it was beneficial to go with a smaller provider who could better understand its needs as a company. It turned to Datanet for a solution, which has now installed 2 Mpbs ADSL broadband in Consult’s offices and 512 kbits broadband at our consultants’ home offices. To ensure a secure connection it has firewalls on both the entry to the office network and on the consultant’s laptops themselves.

Datanet's broadband service, DataDSL, is a fully firewall secure multi-user service for the business user, who requires high-speed broadband connectivity offering industry-leading speeds of connection to suit the individual needs of its customers.
“Consult’s business processes is built firmly upon the need for its consultants to gain access to its servers wherever their location,” said Datanet MD Conleth McCallan. “Datanet has enabled this through the implementation and management of fast and secure broadband connections throughout its offices.”

“When we call Datanet it instantly knows who we are and is responsive to our needs,” added Shields. “The technical support personnel are second to none and show a great understanding of the importance of the infrastructure to our bottom line.”

Editorial Contacts

Interviews, photography and further information are available from datanetpr@mccint.com.

DivX Enables Powerful Video Compression And High Definition Features In Roxio Toast 7

...Leading Mac CD & DVD Burning Software First Third-Party Application to Support DivX 6...

DivX, Inc., the company that created the revolutionary, patent-pending DivX® video compression technology today announced that Roxio Toast 7 from Sonic breaks new ground by becoming the first third-party software to include comprehensive support for DivX 6 and enable users to encode, decode and playback content using the latest in innovative video compression technology. Support for DivX 6 also provides Mac users with the ability for the first time to turn iMovie HD and Final Cut HD projects into true High Definition DVDs that they can enjoy in the comfort of their living room on their DivX HD-enabled DVD player. Toast 7 is the latest product from Roxio to support DivX technologies, which are also integrated into Roxio's award-winning Easy Media Creator 7.5.

"DivX is the clear industry leader and the creator of the most widely adopted and utilized video format of its kind," said Roxio VP product marketing, Vito Salvaggio. "DivX 6 is an important part of an extremely compelling product release that's packed with innovative features and Mac platform firsts."

Using the latest in video compression innovations, DivX 6 is also the first choice of filmmakers who are able to output movies in a wide range of bitrates and resolutions, from those suitable to portable devices all the way up to stunning High Definition formats.

"Roxio creates great products that take advantage of DivX technology to give consumers a new kind of digital video experience," said DivX, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Kevin Hell. "We are grateful for their early support of DivX 6."
For more information on DivX 6, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about RoxioToast and other Roxio products, visit www.roxio.com.

More info and editorial contacts: divxpr@mccint.com