Now, read comics on your mobile phone

New Delhi: Comics' publishers, once lamenting dropping sales as youth turn to the internet and other media for entertainment, are now laughing all the way to the bank after providing their works on mobile phones to attract the generation on the move.

According to industry estimates, two major comics publishers - Amar Chitra Katha and Raj Comics - are between them raking in Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 700,000 per month from m-comics and with a third player, Diamond Comics, set to join the fray, the figure can only climb higher.

Says Rushabh Sanghvi, Marketing Head of Amar Chitra Katha: "After attaining unmatched reach in all corners of India, we could not stay away from launching m-comics as that's the future."

They, in fact, were the first to launch m-comics in India last January.

"We have a market in 30 cities and to compete with the high-tech entertainment possibilities available, we have launched m-comics with the support of all the leading service providers. We are happy with the result," Sanghvi told IANS.

Several service providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Docomo, Idea and BSNL have developed m-comics platforms, some using Java-based applications which have to be first downloaded to the mobile before the comics can be viewed. Others are using Multi-Media Messaging and WAP subscriptions to deliver the comic strips.

Compatible with all GPRS or WEP-enabled handsets, customers are charged Rs.10-25 per week for 10 or more for the comic strips, depending on the service provider. And, with the launch by private operators of 3G services in September, the quality of the content is bound to improve.

Raj Comics is another big name in the industry. Since its inception in 1984, it has created some of the most popular characters like "Nagraj" and "Super Commando Dhruv".

According to Sanjay Gupta, studio head of Raj Comics, it launched m-comics seven months ago as sales were down and youth were found to be distancing themselves from comics and turning to the internet for recreation.

"We have comics for all tastes. The variety is a big reason why we have a huge readership, he added. Diamond Comics is now planning to enter the fray.

"The world is turning high-tech and so are we. If we want to reach everybody, we have to be everywhere. We are already leading in print. And we now are in the process of launching m-comics also," Gulshan Rai, managing director of Diamond Comics, told IANS.

He said the company is working on the project with many service providers. "We would be on air in July for sure," he added.

All this is good news for youngsters. "I am happy that my favourite comics characters are available on my mobile phone," said 17-year-old Sudesh Srinivas.

"Travelling will be fun now," said 30-year-old Rachit Tyagi, who is a sales agent with a private company and travels a lot.

This is perhaps why new content providers are jumping on to the bandwagon. One of them is Level10 - the comic JUMP - and it is targeting grown-ups as well.

Shrayas Srinivas, the creator of the brand, is very sure about the success of his m-comics.

"We are new in the market, but we have lots of hope. Comics are the best source of passing the time. With m-comics, one can read them any time, anywhere. Just imagine all the fun," he said.

Iomega Screen Play Plus 500Gb Multimedia Drive

Product Description:
The Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia USB hard drive is a high quality multimedia player plus a high capacity storage device for your media library.
Enjoy the convenience of watching digital files on your home theatre or TV without being connected to the computer! The Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive is a cost-effective, high quality multimedia player plus a high capacity storage device for your media collections of photos, videos, and music files. In a compact, sleek black style to complement your home entertainment system, the ScreenPlay Multimedia Hard Drive includes an HDMI connection and is compatible with the latest media formats such as MP3, AC3 (Dolby Digital Encoding), WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DiVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x/XViD) and JPEG.
Product Features:
- Convenient - Enjoy watching digital files on your home theatre or TV without being connected to the computer - Cost Effective - Multimedia player plus hard drive storage device - Large Capacity - For photos, video or music files - Compact - Slim enclosure to complement your home entertainment environment (remote control slides into bottom of drive) - HDMI connector - PAL/NTSC - 480i/480p; scalable to 720p/1080i - WMA and OGG Vorbis playback - Playlist manager - Music playback during slideshow - Audio Formats - MP3, AC3 (Dolby Digital.Encoding), WMA, WAV, OGG - Video Formats - MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), .MPEG-4 (AVI/DiVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x/XViD) - Photo Formats - JPEG - AV connections: SCART (RGB); HDMI.Composite video and audio R/L. Component video: Y, Pb, Pr; Coaxial S/PDIF output
Technical Specifications:
Media Formats
- Audio Formats - MP3, AC3 (Dolby Digital.Encoding), WMA, WAV, OGG - Video Formats - MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), .MPEG-4 (AVI/DiVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x/XViD) - Photo Formats - JPEG - PAL/NTSC - 480i/480p; scalable to 720p/1080i - AV connections: SCART (RGB); HDMI.Composite video and audio R/L; .Component video: Y, Pb, Pr; Coaxial S/PDIF output - Hard drive format: NTFS - Resolution: PAL/NTSC - 480i/480p; scalable to 720p/1080i
Interfaces
- USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 backwards compatible) - AV Connections: - Composite video and audio R/L - Component video: Y, Pb, Pr (480i/480p) - Coaxial S/PDIF output - SCART (RGB) - HDMI
Supported File System
- NTFS (default) - FAT32 - One-year limited warranty
What You Need
PC Users
- 350MHz Pentium class processor or higher - Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, XP Home/XP Professional/XP Professional x64, Windows Vista - 64MB RAM - USB 1.1/2.0 equipped - CD-ROM or DVD drive
To View User's Manual:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher or Netscape 6.1 or higher
Dimensions
5.0" H x 2.3" W x 7.7" L
Weight
2 pounds
Package Contents:
- Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia 500GB Drive - One remote control - One power supply - One USB cable - One composite video cable - One component video cable - One Solutions CD containing: - HTML User Manual and Help Files - Playlist Manager software - Quick Install Guide - Three year limited warranty

Garmin Fishfinder 160C

Product Description:
The Fishfinder 160C is a rugged, affordable color sounder for recreational anglers who fish primarily in freshwater lakes.
Product Features:
See Fish in Bright Color
Fish returns and bottom information are clearly shown on the unit’s bright, sunlight-readable color display, making it easier for you to scope out your fishing grounds.
Pinpoint Your Next Catch
Fishfinder 160C's included dual-beam transducer provides excellent shallow-water performance, and the wide viewing angle lets you see fish even off the sides of the boat. The 160C also offers Ultrascroll, which refreshes the screen with lightning speed so you always see the most up-to-date information. You can manually adjust the gain or set to Auto Gain, which adjusts the level of detail you see automatically.
Other features:
- Automatic display re-scaling on range change (no more vertical lines with range changes) - Power output: 150 watts (RMS), 1200 watts (peak to peak) - See-Thru technology shows weak and strong returns simultaneously - Unit remembers user settings when it is turned off - Whiteline shows you how thick the bottom is - 2X and 4X automatic and manual zoom - Alarms available for fish size, shallow water, deep water and low battery - Battery voltage indicator - NMEA output
Product Specifications:
Physical & Performance:
Unit dimensions, WxHxD:	6.1" x 4.9" x 2.9" (15.5 x 12.4 x 7.4 cm)
Display size, WxH:	3.2" x 3.2" (8.0 x 8.0 cm)
Display resolution, WxH:	128 x 128 pixels
Display type:	16-color CSTN
Weight:	17.6 oz (499 g)
Waterproof:	yes (IPX7)
Other Features:
Frequency:	80/200 kHz (dual beam)
Transmit power:	150 W (RMS), 1200 W (peak to peak)
Voltage range:	10-18 VDC
Maximum depth:	900 ft
Cone angle:	45° or 15° (dual beam)
Features:
Audible alarms:	yes
Dual-beam sonar capable :	yes
Ultrascroll (displays fish targets at higher boat speeds):	yes
See-thru technology (exposes fish hidden in cover):	yes
Fish Symbol ID (helps identify fish targets):	yes
AutoGain Technology (minimizes clutter, maximizes targets):	yes
Whiteline (indicates hard or soft bottom):	yes
Water temperature log and graph:	yes
Water speed capable (displays speed on water):	yes
What's in the Box:
Fishfinder 90 Transom-mount transducer with power cable Mounting bracket Owner's manual
Warranty: 1 year manufacturer.

BravoPro Xi-Series: The Fastest, Most Rock-Solid Disc Publishers

The main goal for the new BravoPro Xi-Series was to maximize throughput. All parts of the process were carefully analyzed, including robotics, disc picking and software. All have now been optimized for the fastest possible production speeds.

The most significant change has been to the disc transport robotics. Instead of a lead screw, the robotic arm is belt-driven by a microprocessor-controlled stepper motor. Belt drives are capable of much faster throughput – in this case, about 300% faster!

Precise Disc Picking
Primera’s AccuDisc™ picking technology has always been the best in the business. It uses patented, precision mechanics and software to know that it has picked just one disc at a time. This prevents misfeeds and double discs which can not only interrupt operation but can even damage recording drives.

Now in its seventh generation, AccuDisc has been further optimized for speed. As a result, disc picking is up to 200% faster than before.

Professional-Grade Printing
The built-in, high-resolution inkjet printing is powered by Lexmark^®, a world leader in printing technology. With up to 4800 dpi quality, it has the highest printing resolution available from any manufacturer of disc publishers – in fact, almost four times higher print resolution than a leading competitor.

BravoPro Xi-Series: The Fastest, Most Rock-Solid
Disc Publishers

Primera’s BravoPro, the world’s best-selling two-drive, 100-disc capacity disc publisher, has now become the BravoPro Xi-Series.

This re-designed and re-engineered range of disc publishers is faster, more efficient and even more reliable than ever before. It’s the perfect choice for producing quantities of professional-quality burned and printed discs – automatically and hands-free.

Three BravoPro Xi models are available:

* BravoPro Xi AutoPrinter – 100-disc capacity, print-only version with no drives;
perfect for side-by-side use with tower-style disc duplicators.

* BravoPro Xi Disc Publisher – 100-disc capacity with one recording drive.

* BravoPro Xi2 Disc Publisher – 100-disc capacity with two recording drives.

BravoPro Xi and Xi2 may also be ordered with the latest-generation Blu-ray Disc™ recordable drives. With Blu-ray Disc drives you’ll be able to record high-definition video as well as perform back-ups of files, photos, video and more. Both 25GB single-layer and 50GB dual-layer discs are supported.
The main goal for the new BravoPro Xi-Series was to maximize throughput. All parts of the process were carefully analyzed, including robotics, disc picking and software. All have now been optimized for the fastest possible production speeds.

The most significant change has been to the disc transport robotics. Instead of a lead screw, the robotic arm is belt-driven by a microprocessor-controlled stepper motor. Belt drives are capable of much faster throughput – in this case, about 300% faster!

Precise Disc Picking
Primera’s AccuDisc™ picking technology has always been the best in the business. It uses patented, precision mechanics and software to know that it has picked just one disc at a time. This prevents misfeeds and double discs which can not only interrupt operation but can even damage recording drives.

Now in its seventh generation, AccuDisc has been further optimized for speed. As a result, disc picking is up to 200% faster than before.

Professional-Grade Printing
The built-in, high-resolution inkjet printing is powered by Lexmark®, a world leader in printing technology. With up to 4800 dpi quality, it has the highest printing resolution available from any manufacturer of disc publishers – in fact, almost four times higher print resolution than a leading competitor.
Getting the Discs Out
In some applications such as medical imaging and video/audio-on-demand it is imperative that discs can be dispensed out the front of the unit. On BravoPro Xi-Series, it’s an automatic, built-in feature. On some competitive units you have to manually open a door or a drawer every time – a huge inconvenience if you’re doing it all day long.

BravoPro Xi-Series also has two software-selectable input bins. This means you can put 50 CDs on the left and 50 DVDs on the right. Or put 50 DVDs on the left and 50 BD-Rs on the right. Whatever combination works for you, you’ll save the time and trouble of switching out media when a different type is required for a particular job.

Award-Winning CD and DVD Duplicators

Primera Technology is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of automated DVD, BD and CD duplication and printing systems. Primera is well known for its award-winning Bravo-series Disc Publishers.

Primera's DVD / BD / CD duplication and printing equipment is used by more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies as well as companies and organizations in over 85 countries. List of companies.

You’ll see you’re in very good company when you purchase Primera’s best-selling DVD / BD / CD duplicators, CD / BD / DVD printers and CD / BD / DVD copiers! Read what users are saying about Primera's CD / BD / DVD duplicators.

LG launch LG-OLED

LG Display strengthen their OLED business and will launch an patent administrator called LG-OLED!
This workgroup jointly financed by LG Electronics, LG Display, and LG Chem launched before the end of this year.
The launch of LG OLED is interpreted as LG Group's strategy to intensively foster its OLED business as a next-generation growth engine. By converging LG affiliates' OLED patents and technologies-ranging from material and panels to sets.

LG OLED is the strongest candidate for the name of an OLED patent administrator, which will acquire all the OLED patent assets owned by Kodak, and sign contracts with LG affiliates to share patents with them.

LG chems want to entry in to the OLED lighting business and want to start mass production in 2011.

LG Display roll out the largest OLED-Television device this year in Korea. This 15-inch panel is the largest commercial available OLED Display.
LG Display sell the 15-inch Panel in South Korea for 3 million won per unit that are about 2.500.- Dollar.

LG OLED(tentative name), an OLED(organic light emitting diode) patent administrator, jointly financed by LG Electronics, LG Display, and LG Chem., is schedule to be launched, hopefully before the end of thi year. The launch of LG OLED is interpreted as LG Group's strategy to intensively foster its OLED business as a next-generation growth engine. By converging LG affiliates' OLED patents and technologies-ranging from material and panels to sets.

In particular, a full-throttle battle for market share is expected to arise. Samsung already armed with Samsung Mobile Display (SMD, Samsung's OLED unit founded in Jan. 09) and LG group's LG OLED. According to industry insiders, LG Group, which has recently announced it decision to acquire Eastman Kodak Company's OLED business, is well positioned to establish an OLED patent administrator- jointly invested by three LG affiliates- by the end of this year.

LG OLED is the strongest candidate for the name of an OLED patent administrator, which will acquire all the OLED patent assets owned by Kodak, and sign contracts with LG affiliates to share patents with them. In addition, it will also take over the job of managing partnership and licensing contracts owned by Kodak.

LG Chem's strategy for its OLED business has, also drawn attention since it is keen on developing OLED panels for lighting -which are slated to be produced on a mass scale in 2011- along with OLED materials. As a result, LG is expected to ratchet up its offensive to seize the market for OLED displays as well as for OLED lighting.

OLED TV న్యూస్ The Television of the Future OLED-TV Pictures, Videos Infos and History

Plasma, and LCD televisions will soon be a thing of the past, imagine a television screen as thin as a piece of paper that weighs no more than a few ounces. Or, so flexible it could be worn around your wrist and is virtually indestructible.
The primary benefit of OLED displays over traditional LCDs is that OLEDs do not require a backlight to function, and consume less power during operation. OLED displays are expected to be more efficiently manufactured than LCDs and plasma displays.

The AMOLED technology have full layers of cathode, organic molecules and anode, the anode layer overlays a thin film transistor (TFT) array that forms a matrix. The TFT array itself is the circuitry that determines which pixels get turned on to form an picture.
The fledgling technology of making ultra-thin displays using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) is starting to bear fruit finally with Sony, Samsung SDI and other makers introducing new applications.
Sony says that it is going to sell 11-inch OLED TVs for the first time in the world this year. Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, LG Electronics, LG.Philips LCD and Neoview Kolon are also investing in the technology, which should replace the current LCD and plasma screens panels in the long term, becoming the norm for digital displays.

Samsung Electronics Digital Media President Park Jong-woo said that organic displays can be a breakthrough in its TV business, as the competition for creating bigger screens now does not carry much meaning to consumers.

Sony Picks Palm OS

Sony unmasked plans yesterday to build new hand-held gadgets that could allow people to view videos, listen to music and organize information - without the help of the Windows operating system.
The Japanese consumer electronics giant instead chose the Palm operating program to run the basic functions of the devices, advancing the 3Com Corp. unit's bid to spread its software into the far reaches of lightweight computing.
Sony Corp. is betting the popular Palm will help further its ambitions to expand its leadership in consumer electronics into computing. Importantly, 3Com agreed to adapt the Palm operating system to Sony's Memory Stick removable storage medium, which Sony is fighting to get widely accepted for storing and transferring data, sound and images among a variety of gadgets and computers.This announcement gives the Palm OS even more legitimacy/cachet than it already has. It currently is the dominant player in the palmtop market, although Windows CE OS has made some inroads in recent years. Spurred by Microsoft's pushing, Windows CE has been trying to catch the Palm OS for some time, but the world does not seem to be willing to help. This event, coupled with the recent announcements by Everex to drop its Windows CE-based palmtop series, and Nokia to use Palm in its forthcoming "smart" telephones, negatively impacts Redmond's designs to capture the palm market. We expect that Microsoft will use Internet "appliances" as its fallback position for CE. We do not believe CE will disappear on palmtops, but Microsoft will need to adjust their strategy yet again if they want to own this market.
In general, this announcement will not lead to market consolidation, because the two main players will only see migration from one to the other. However, we believe it will lead to market growth as new types of devices become available from Sony. We expect to see new hardware from Sony within 18 months, maybe even in time for Christmas, 2000.

Plumtree Fuels Growth With New Corporate Portal Product

Corporate portal vendor Plumtree Software, Inc. has enjoyed extremely high revenue growth in its first two years of operation. The recent release of Corporate Portal 4.0 is sure to support further growth as corporate portal technology captures the attention of the Global 2000, and as products in this market support a larger number of business applications.
Corporate Portals DefinedTEC describes corporate portals
Both the business constituents and the data sources can be internal or external. The typical portal technology consists of; middleware, a personalization engine, security, and automated Internet search agents. Other servers and data stores may fall between the data sources and the portal technology.
Middleware is a key component to the portal because it provides the links between the numerous data sources and the user's web page. Plumtree calls its middleware components "gadgets," and there are over 250 gadgets commercially available with the release of Corporate Portal 4.0. The gadget is responsible for providing the user with a carefully chosen subset of the functionality of a specific business application. A Plumtree representative told TEC that 90% of users typically use only 5% of the functionality provided by a business application. The gadget provides that 5% of the functionality through a browser. Figure 2 is a screenshot of the list of gadgets in a user's portal web page. The gadgets are the sub-windows titled, "Threaded Discussion," "Task List," "Document Management," "Plumtree Telephone List," etc.
Plumtree's extensive gadget development is made possible by partnerships with business application vendors and content providers. Plumtree remains independent of any particular vendor. Over 20 technology partners have entered into agreements with Plumtree, including the likes of Siebel, Onyx, Microstrategy, IBM, and iSyndicate. Plumtree also has over 25 channel partners that provide custom gadget development and implementation services in addition to co-marketing Corporate Portal 4.0.
Another feature of Plumtree Corporate Portal 4.0 is syndication over Plumtree's Portal Network. Syndication allows gadget output to be distributed outside the organization or to other web platforms. This technology can be used to distribute gadget content to wireless devices or to a partner's intranet. Plumtree software does not need to be installed on recipients' systems for them to receive syndicated content. The Portal Network is a virtual space for customers and partners to share information regarding Plumtree product development, implementation tips, usage tips, or other related information.

USB Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touchpad

# Features: Full-featured RF keyboard with Touchpad
# 48 keys QWERTY format handheld style keyboard
# 2.8" (7cm) touchpad with left and right mouse buttons
# 2.4GHz radio frequency, up to 30 feet effective working range
# Backlight keyboard for convenient operation in darkness
# Built-in rechargeable battery
# On/Off button
# Support Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000
# Support Mac OS
# Support Sony Playstation 3
# Dimension: 126 x 83 x 9mm (approx.)
# Weight: 66g

Contents:
# USB Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touchpad
# User manual
# USB receiver
# USB charging cable

iXtreme Amplified Speaker

The iPod (or any other MP3/portable media player for that matter) is great if you’re one who loves keeping yourself entertained whenever you wait for the next bus or train or even across a trans-Atlantic journey, but will it be of use when you host a party? Well, there are iPod speaker docks for those, but there is also another solution in the form of the iXtreme Amplified Speaker.

No speaker on the market packs such a powerful punch. Operatingthe same way as a quality subwoofer, a secret resonating chamber amplifies the speaker output through a patented expander tunnel. Deep bass and rich sound fill the room. Who knew such a rich sound could be produced from such a tiny device. Built-in rechargeable Lithium ion batteries allows you to play music louder and for longer than when using a speaker that pulls power from your player. This party is getting started.

Makes us wonder just how far your $29.95 will bring you audio-wise with the iXtreme Amplified Speaker. I must say, I do have my reservations about its capability of pumping out room shaking sound.

USB Flexible Keyboard

Water-resistant and virtually indestructible keyboard.
No chemical smell.
Roll it up and bring it everywhere.

Features & Specification:

Flexible/foldable, soft touch, virtually silent operation while typing.

Manufactured of high-quality silicone.

Water-resistant and dust-proof

Acid and alkaline-proof.

Washable and hygienic.

Soft-touch, quick tactile key action, more comfortable than traditional hard plastic keyboards.

Fits easily in your briefcase, backpack or notebook carrying bag and you don't have to worry about any sharp edges.

Weight: (Mini sized - 85 keys), 243gm / (Full sized - 109 keys), 349gm

Color: Translucent blue

Support: Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000, 98

Supoort: USB or PS/2 port

Models:

Mini sized (85 Keys)

Full sized (109 Keys)

The Flexible Keyboard is sort of an odd, yet very interesting gadget. Just like the name says it is a flexible keyboard which can easily be rolled up and carried with you.

The keyboard is perfect for portability and it’s also incredibly durable. It is constructed of high quality silicon which makes it very flexible yet tough enough to be shoved into a laptop bag so you can always have a good keyboard with you if you can’t stand the flat keys on laptops.

The keyboard features all the standard keys of a regular keyboard. The keys are also very well designed as they have soft touch technology which makes your typing silent so you can use it anywhere and not disturb anyone. This also makes it much more comfortable than tapping away at traditional keyboards.

Also since it will most likely be carried around with you it is dust and moisture proof so you don’t even have to keep your backpack or bag clean to carry it ;) . It’s also perfect for laptop use as it plugs into your USB port if you don’t have a PS/2 port.

This handy gadget is available for just £12.95 from The Gadget Store.

Epicor 9: Delivering What Oracle and Others Are Yet to Achieve? – Part 1

Therefore, Epicor 9 is also touted as the best of both worlds, i.e., a converged uber-product on one side (a la Oracle Fusion Applications), while on the other side offering the “protect, extend, and converge” approach of catering to its existing client base on current individual product lines, without forcing a wholesale “big bang” upgrade. “Protect” denotes continued investment in current products and solutions (in terms of periodic enhancements), while “extend” means standardization of key solutions and infrastructure (e.g., enterprise portal, enterprise performance management [EPM], workflow automation, Microsoft Office integration) across all existing product lines.

“Protect and extend” together mean that existing users of any of Epicor’s mature systems (e.g., Epicor Enterprise, Epicor Avante, or Epicor iScala) will be looked after in terms of support, regulatory upgrades, and system performance enhancements. These users can already, for example, leverage the consituent Epicor Productivity Pyramid tools: Epicor Information Worker, Epicor Portal, and Epicor Service Connect.

This three-part user experience (UX) solution will be detailed in a separate article, but for now it suffices to say that the Productivity Pyramid provides business users (managers and information workers) with opportunities to get more out of their core ERP data and processes (without the help of the IT department), by also enabling collaboration and business process automation (BPA).

Thus, the first two parts of Epicor’s three-prong approach somewhat resemble Infor’s “extend, enrich, and evolve” or “Three E’s” approach). Having already mentioned the similarity with Oracle’s fusion strategy on one hand, Epicor’s evolutionary principle of protecting customers’ existing assets is along the lines of Oracle’s Applications Unlimited pledge (of each existing principal ERP and CRM product being continually enhanced in the future) on the other hand.

But the crux of the matter here is the convergence of Epicor products into a next-generation product suite, or “fusion” in Oracle’s lingo. Logically, “converge” stands for the ongoing evolution of applications to a superset product, offering the best of all Epicor solutions within one suite. The users who want to upgrade to Epicor 9 (i.e., according to the “converge” part) will be able to harness as little or as much of the new system’s footprint as required. They will be able to expand or change the functional scope as the need arises, with a system configuration agility and flexibility tantamount to selecting a tick in the box.

To recap, in addition to protecting users’ investments and extending their systems’ functionality through enhancements and new tools, there is also now a user-friendly convergence path in Epicor 9. For example, existing users of Epicor’s Vantage ERP products that are on active maintenance contracts can upgrade, at their discretion, to Epicor 9’s equivalent functional footprint (which incorporates all of the existing Vantage functionality and more, given the underlying modernized technology and tools) free of charge. Some differential license fees might still be applicable in cases of a customer deciding to use significant new functionality or new modules in Epicor 9 (which the current product in use has never had), on an individual case by case basis.

I should also note here that Epicor 9 does not currently entail Epicor Retail Management solutions. This is a division within Epicor (contributing to about 30 percent of the company’s revenues), and its product portfolio is on a slightly longer-term development track to convergence. For more information on Epicor Retail, see my previous three-part blog series entitled “Is Epicor Poised to Rule the Mid-Market Retail Sector?”

Infor Strikes Again (at Long Last): Getting “Soft” While Flexing Its Muscles? – Part 2

But I will still go out on a limb here and say that SoftBrands’ manufacturing products mentioned in Part 1 might have the best chances of being brought back to life under Infor. To be fair, Infor has breathed more than one breath of fresh air into some long-written-off enterprise resource planning (ERP) products. Think of Infor ERP LN (formerly Baan) or Infor ERP Adage (formerly SCT Adage) and how much these products have been bolstered via Infor’s “Extend, Enrich, and Evolve” or “Three Es” approach and accompanying product delivery.

To that end, I am not sure how neglected and technologically far behind the “classic” Fourth Shift product is at this moment in order to be fully service-oriented architecture (SOA)-enabled within the Infor Open SOA framework. But the least Infor can do is to offer the “evolve” components like Infor MyDay or Infor Business Information Services (BIS) to legacy Fourth Shift customers.

Offering Infor MyDay on top of all of its ERP assets is a great way to entice customers to use Infor’s unified user interface (UI) and then eventually swap out the antiquated underlying systems. Part of the strategy for Infor MyDay is to layer it on top of all underlying enterprise systems and eventually have it become the main UI that Infor customers will use to access enterprise information.

However, from my understanding of Infor’s current sales strategy, the vendor really needs to focus on the plethora of its existing solutions. SoftBrands will certainly add an inevitable distraction in the short term, and at least it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Enter Infor Flex

This brings me to an even more recent announcement about Infor Flex, a well-thought-out program that was devised to give customers on active maintenance contracts a clear, fast, and cost-effective path to adopt Infor’s latest product innovations.

While the entire press release can be found here, and there is also an Infor Blog entry with a video message from Infor’s chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Schaper here and a Flex Overview Presentation here, the gist of the matter can be found in the following excerpt from the PR:

“…Through a package of software, services and financing, Infor Flex gives customers compelling, low-risk options to upgrade to the latest version of their existing Infor products or exchange to another Infor product, on a like-for-like basis. The decision to upgrade or exchange is completely in the hands of customers based on the needs of their business. Infor Flex minimizes license and/or transaction fees and offers significant benefits, such as a fast, reduced-fee implementation methodology and incentive pricing on additional users, modules or complementary solutions…”

A week before announcing Infor Flex, Infor also announced Infor Financing, which, for a limited time, offers qualifying customers a zero-percent financing option so they can immediately improve their competitiveness through software that’s available at flexible and favorable payment terms. Infor Financing is also available as part of the Infor Flex program for qualifying customers.

As with the SoftBrands acquisition coverage, there is little I can add to the opinions of Ray Wang, Frank Scavo, and ZDNet’s Dennis Howlett in their respective blog posts. My understanding on the Infor Flex program is that Infor has either removed or dramatically reduced and simplified pricing along with providing special incentives for customers to get access to new product releases in order to encourage customer upgrades.

Some software companies charge for each new release, but Infor does not seem to be one of these (“out of touch”) vendors. The new license revenue stream is always appealing, but that policy does make licensees seriously consider the cost before an upgrade. There simply are cases where upgrades induce major underlying platform changes that have, historically, incurred costs. Infor pledges to leave no stone unturned, however, in finding ways to eliminate or reduce these.

I can only speculate on whether there has been considerable customer resistance recently, which has then pushed Infor to this new program. In other words, it is difficult for the cynic in me to think that any vendor does anything for the customer out of the goodness of its heart. But in any case, what Infor is doing here will be beneficial if it moves more clients to the latest releases at a cost-effective price. My hunch is also that the focus is on leveraging Infor Open SOA and Infor MyDay.

But the “catch 22″ here is in how many of Infor customers are on the latest product release to be able to take advantage of these new “evolve” products. Not too many, I guess, and there Infor might be facing a real problem. There is a significant investment in this new technology, but if Infor Flex cannot build a lasting success in its install base, the company will ultimately fail.

I believe this initiative to get customers to upgrade or migrate will be the vendor’s focus (and a litmus test of a sort) for the next year or so. It is a good idea to get customers in a position so they can take advantage of these new innovations. But with a customer base of 70,000, the vendor cannot do this with a sporadic win here and there. Infor needs to show proof points and mass adoption relatively swiftly.

Nothing Without Intelligence and Performance Management

Epicor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is Epicor’s end-user-driven, search-enabled, and role-based delivery of in-context business insight. The new real-time and contextual BI platform includes an operational data store (ODS) for storing summarized data, a data warehouse for storing analytic data, and an online analytic processing (OLAP) cube builder called Epicor Cube Connect.

Epicor 9 moves online transaction processing (OLTP) data over to an ODS using Microsoft SQL Server Information Services (SSIS), which in turn populate a data warehouse within Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). Epicor EPM Server then pre-populates OLAP cubes based on Epicor 9’s functional suites.

Epicor Cube Connect is then used to let end users (as opposed to IT staff) use a wizard to step though and create their own views and key performance indicators (KPIs) based on understandable business entities. Users can then deploy these KPIs and OLAP cubes wherever they want (on Microsoft SharePoint pages, on a mobile device, and, more importantly, within the ERP application).

Epicor Cube Connect ships with around 500 predefined KPIs to help users mange their business, without the requirement of any knowledge of data warehousing or OLAP design techniques. The graphical visualization of these KPIs is based on whatever tool the user wants, such as Microsoft Excel Pivot Tables.

In addition, Epicor offers Epicor Performance Canvas. The Canvas is a Web 2.0-based (includes search capabilities and offers publish/subscribe services for creation of in-context business insights) OLAP visualization tool for creating and viewing KPIs and assembling role-based scorecards (i.e., heads-up graphics).

Epicor Performance Canvas is an intuitive and easy-to-use environment for building, deploying and consuming analytical insights enterprise wide. The environment enables seamless deployment to Windows desktops, Web, and mobile devices (via Epicor Mobile EPM).

Dashboards and Trackers

Epicor Dashboards is a combination of multiple different capabilities such as inquiries, ad hoc reports, workbenches, graphical analyses, trackers, alerts, and business activity monitoring (BAM), all in a single view. Dashboards are role-based and pre-packaged (there are around 100 provided), yet personalizable and extensible. They provide interactive drill-around secure access to all parts of the application, thus keeping users better informed and more productive.

All of Epicor’s integral and extensible role-based dashboards can run as smart clients, disconnected clients, or Web clients, and are refreshed in real-time using the abovementioned Epicor Everywhere Framework. The Epicor Dashboards feature comes as part of the application without any additional cost, which is different from most competitors’ offerings.

Another closely related nice-to-have feature is Epicor Trackers, which are system-wide interactive inquiries. Trackers provide a snapshot view of everything users may need to know about customers, orders, etc., and provide access to details and application-specific data as required.