Playstation®4 Design and Price Unveiled For U.S., Europe

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., has announced that the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) (CUH-1000A series) computer entertainment system will come in “Jet Black” color and will be available this holiday season in North America and Europe at a recommended retail price of US$399, Canada $399, €399, and £349. The prices for the rest of the world has not yet been made available.

The design of PS4 made its public debut at the PlayStation® press conference on June 10, 2013, which kicked off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. PS4 will also be displayed this week at the Sony Computer Entertainment America booth at E3, one of the world's largest video game exhibitions.

The internal design architecture of the PS4 system, from the optical drive and power supply unit to the cooling mechanism, has been pursued to keep the body as slim and light as possible to dramatically enhance the flexibility of the design.

The PS4 features a simple but modern design accentuated by its linear flat form factors. The surface of the PS4 body is subdivided into four sections, as if four blocks are stacked together making one figure, with disc slot, buttons, power indicator and vent placed within the slim interspace created between the sections. The power indicator designed atop the body will glow in a PlayStation blue color when the power button is turned on. 

The foreside and backside of the body is slightly angled; it not only gives users easy access to the power button and disc slot when placed either horizontally or vertically but also helps conceal the connected cables. The black-themed color along with the matte and gloss finish adds a sophisticated look to the PS4 system as the next generation entertainment system and will fit perfectly wherever it is placed.

PS4 peripherals include the stand-alone Wireless Controller for PlayStation®4 (DUALSHOCK®4) and PlayStation®Camera, which will be available at launch for RRP of US$ 59, Canada$ 59, € 59 and £ 54, and US$ 59, Canada$ 59, € 49 and £ 44 respectively. Both accessories will come in “Jet Black” color.

The upcoming software lineup for PS4 from software developers and publishers will include Destiny™ from Bungie, Inc., in partnership with Activision Publishers, Inc., Diablo® III from Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., KINGDOM HEARTS III and FINAL FANTASY® XV from SQUARE ENIX, Assassin’s Creed® IV Black Flag™ and Watch_Dogs™ from Ubisoft Entertainment, NBA® 2K14 from 2K Sports, The Elder Scrolls® Online from Bethesda Games Studios and Mad Max ™ from Warner Bros. 

Interactive Entertainment, totaling more than 110　titles. PS4 has earned great support from a wide variety of game publishers, including many indie developers. Since February 2013, the number of developers joining has increased from 126 to 505.

Furthermore, from SCE Worldwide Studios, more than 30 titles, including 12 brand new IP, are under development, including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, inFAMOUS: Second Son, #DRIVECLUB and The Order: 1886.*1 Out of over the 30 titles under development, 20 titles will be available within a year from the PS4 launch. SCE will vigorously promote PS4 towards the launch as the next generation computer entertainment platform through further introduction of peripherals and attractive software lineup.

Main One win awards at Ghana Telecoms Awards...moves into manufacturing sector with enhanced solutions

Main One, West Africa’s leading wholesale communications services company has for the second consecutive year, received the Telecom Wholesale Provider of the Year award at the 2013 Ghana Telecom Awards. Main One beat Vodafone Wholesale and Glo 1 to emerge Wholesale Carrier at the 3rd Ghana Telecoms Awards 2013 organised by Mobile World magazine, which held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra.

In a statement from Main One, Ghana Country Manager, Joseph Odoi, said “Receiving the Telecom Wholesale Carrier of the Year award is truly an honor. It means a great deal to us that Main One continues to be recognized for our innovation and leadership in the telecommunications industry, as we make strategic investments to enhance our network infrastructure and extend our capabilities and reach across West Africa.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Main One, Funke Opeke, was also awarded “African Telecom Personality of the Year”, in recognition of her vision to improve telecoms infrastructure on the continent and Main One’s consistent efforts in extending broadband connectivity across West Africa.

The Telecommunications Award, which began in 2011, celebrates and recognizes the enormous contributions and achievements made by service providers and individuals in the Ghanaian telecom sector.  The awards which had 22 different award categories, is annually organized by Mobile World, a magazine with special focus on telecommunications, and seeks to reward excellence in the industry.

Main One is a wholesale communications services company delivering connectivity services to institutions across West Africa. Since its market launch in 2010, the company has grown to become the largest wholesale Internet provider in West Africa and has deployed a world class IP NGN backbone network that is peered with major Internet exchanges globally.

Main One delivers communication services to Telecom Operators, Internet Service Providers, Governments, Large Enterprises and Educational institutions with requirements across the region.  Leveraging on a growing regional terrestrial network, world class data centre facilities, a partnership with Tier 1 upstream carriers and various Internet exchanges, Main One ensures reliability and affordability of its services and has become the preferred wholesale communications service provider in West Africa.

Also Main One, recently announced its strategic entry into the nation’s manufacturing sector with bespoke connectivity offerings targeted at FMCGs, manufacturing companies and other businesses resident in the Ikeja, Agbara and Apapa industrial locations in Lagos and its environs.

Main One’s expansion into the manufacturing industry is driven by the sector’s growing demand for reliable connectivity solutions, increased need for virtual private networks between company branches, as well as increased security challenges faced by conglomerates, a trend that affords huge market opportunities.

At various breakfast seminars organized for Heads of IT and IT Managers in Agbara Industrial Estate, Ogun State, and Ikeja and Apapa business zones, Main One showcased the value that its world-class broadband solutions and innovative product offerings brings to manufacturing concerns in driving down costs and increasing productivity and output .

Speaking at one of the Breakfast sessions, Main One’s Head, Enterprise Sales, Olubunmi Ogun said “High capacity and reliable connectivity solutions are essential for any successful business in Nigeria today. This is the reason we have sought to distribute more of our capacity inland in order for our enterprise customers to have better access to our superior connectivity solutions. ” Ms. Ogun added that the session was in line with Main One’s commitment to assisting enterprises in their stride for growth, and expediting the speed of broadband penetration across Nigeria.

“Our product offering now includes high speed and highly secure lease circuits based on Metro Ethernet technology   for creating virtual networks between two or more customer locations ”, she said.

Main One continues to expand its network in Nigeria and throughout West Africa both organically and through strategic alliances.  Main One currently has a growing list of major customers in Nigeria, Ghana and other parts of West Africa which cuts across various industries.

CA Technologies Named Leader in IDC MarketScape...Completes Layer 7 Acquisition

CA Technologies has announced that it has been named a Leader in the “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Infrastructure Management (DCIM) 2013 Vendor Analysis*” for the second consecutive year. IDC said “one of CA Technologies key strengths is its ability to innovate like a small company, yet it has the marketing, service, and sales organization of a large company.

The IDC report focuses on providers in the worldwide DCIM market, a rapidly growing and evolving space which involves capabilities including visibility, control and analysis of both facilities and IT infrastructure.

CA Technologies was named a leader based on an evaluation of current DCIM capabilities and future DCIM strategies. According to IDC, “CA Technologies has the existing IT presence and surrounding solutions to reach the right people with the right message for DCIM. The company's well-developed sales and marketing channels, legacy of hardware-agnostic solutions, and ability to converse with C-level decision makers will drive continued growth in DCIM adoption by its existing customer base and new datacenter customers.”

The report also says that “CA Technologies is able to tie pricing to power capacity, something that is especially relevant in very large datacenter environments.”

“IDC’s analysis of CA Technologies does more than just validate the quality and value of CA DCIM,” said Terrence Clark, general manager, DCIM, Energy and Sustainability solutions, CA Technologies.  “It also underscores the broader transformation that’s been taking place in CA Technologies as we’ve become more responsive to our customers and have demonstrated real market-driven agility.”

Entel, Chile’s major telecommunications provider and a major MSP, recently selected CA DCIM to manage its critical data center infrastructure. “Maintaining the efficiency and performance of our data center infrastructure is of major importance to our business,” said Gino Bernucci, who leads strategic initiatives at Entel. “We decided to deploy CA DCIM because it helps us monitor and manage our data center environment, and can provide our external data center customers with an integrated view across our facilities and IT systems.”

CA Technologies and diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton recently announced an agreement to deliver a robust data center monitoring, management and control solution in North America that will empower data center managers to increase operational efficiency, mitigate risk and enhance performance. In addition, CA Technologies and RF Code recently announced the integration of RF Code’s asset and environmental management solutions with CA DCIM, helping customers gain greater business returns on their investments in data center infrastructure.

Also CA Technologies announced it has completed the acquisition of privately-held Layer 7 Technologies, a leading provider of Application Programming Interface (API) security and management.

The acquisition of Layer 7 will enable CA Technologies to provide leading security and management technology to the API marketplace that complements its Identity and Access Management suite, including CA SiteMinder®, as well as solutions focused on DevOps including the CA LISA® suite. The combination of CA Technologies and Layer 7 solutions will help customers better secure and manage APIs and deliver confidently and quickly the cloud, mobile and composite applications that run today’s business services.

“Just as the Web created business opportunities by redefining how companies interact with consumers and employees, APIs are driving new opportunities by accelerating the shift to mobile apps, cloud services and the Internet of Things. Those opportunities, however, don’t come without risk,” said Mike Denning, general manager and senior vice president, Security, CA Technologies. “The addition of Layer 7 and the synergy across our identity and access management and data protection technologies helps protect our customers’ sensitive and proprietary data so they can take advantage of these new forms of online business.”