I see articles about e-readers all over the web. I have never had the urge to buy one. Sony’s new e-reader may just give me a reason… at least to start thinking about it.
Sony will have a new wireless e-reader available in December. The Sony Reader Daily Edition will be priced at $399 and will have a 7-inch touch screen. Free 3G data connectivity via AT&T will allow access to Sony’s online library. Amazon’s Kindle also has wireless, enabling its users to download books directly from Amazon.
But the Daily Edition boasts something unique –access to libraries via a joint marketing agreement with Overdrive, the leading global distributor of eBooks and audio books to libraries. With a valid library card, users will be able to download books from the library for free, keep them for the time the library specifies, and then they just expire. No late fees!
I find the library feature pretty cool, and as more books become available in electronic format in libraries, the Daily Edition looks even better. What’s Amazon’s next move?
Denver, Colorado, August 18, 2009 -- Inc. magazine has ranked WBS CONNECT number 108 on its 28th annual Inc. 500, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. Additionally, they ranked 6th in their category, IT Services. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, Intuit, GoDaddy, Under Armour, Jamba Juice, American Apparel, Oracle, and hundreds of other powerhouses gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500.
“If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500,” said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. “These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation, the ones finding innovative solutions to problems, creating smart systems, and inventing products we soon discover we can't live without. The Inc. 500 list is Inc. magazine’s tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition.” The WBS Connect services portfolio includes high speed Internet access, point-to-point data networking, Content Delivery Network (CDN) services, data center colocation, network consulting services, and cloud computing. In addition to its extensive technology framework built throughout North America, Europe, and now Asia, WBS Connect has partner relationships with over 35 major carriers across the globe. "We are excited and honored at being selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation. Being placed in the top 500 is a direct result of the hard work and commitment of our very talented team. We strive to keep our customers connected to their worlds," said Mike Hollander, WBS Connect Managing Partner.
Inc. 500 Methodology The 2009 Inc. 500 measures revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2008. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2005 is $200,000; the minimum for 2008 is $2 million. About Inc. Magazine Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,961, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at Inc.com. About WBS Connect Founded in 2002, WBS Connect is a provider of global technology services. They leverage multi-gigabit commitments with IP transit carriers to offer high bandwidth Internet connections and data transport services worldwide. WBS Connect also offers data center colocation, expert managed network services, business video communications services, and cloud computing services. They have a presence in over 60 carrier-neutral data centers across the world, and have access to over 70,000 network nodes. For more information, visit www.wbsconnect.com. ###
New York, NY (August 11, 2009) – Telx, one of the largest North American interconnection and colocation data center operators, announced today that it has forged a broad-ranging, global alliance with Tata Communications, a leading wholesale and enterprise communications services provider. The relationship will leverage each company’s colocation space in their respective countries of operation, allowing Telx customers requiring colocation space in India, EMEA, Asia and specific U.S. sites to obtain space in a Tata Communications data center with Telx acting as the single point of contact for contractual arrangements.
Conversely, Tata Communications customers requiring U.S. data center space or access to the Telx Internet Exchange (TIE) can do so in Telx facilities using their Tata Communications account management team as facilitators. The companies will also work together to package joint solutions, including Tata Communications managed security, data center services, and transformation services to enhance capabilities offered to their shared clients.
“This agreement enables Tata Communications to leverage its position of strength in the global communications market while extending its reach in the U.S. through the local facilities of Telx ,” said Vinod Kumar, President and COO of Tata Communications. “Telx, with its local market expertise and densely populated colocation facilities, matches our commitment to deliver market-leading solutions to customers in the United States.”
“Telx clients have long enjoyed the simplicity of a one-stop-shop when it came to serving their colocation and interconnection needs in the U.S., but the company’s domestic focus prevented us from solving the global needs of customers,” said Eric Shepcaro, CEO of Telx. “We continually strive to partner with well established providers. By forging this strategic alliance with Tata Communications, we’re able to better serve our clients with additional footprint options and a broader services mix that are critical to their businesses.”
Tata Communications and Telx share positions of strength in their respective markets and share a similar resolve to meet customers’ needs and deliver industry-leading services around the world.
NEW YORK, August 11, 2009 – The International Securities Exchange (ISE) and Direct Edge today announced that they have jointly selected Telx to provide disaster recovery data center services as part of a comprehensive new data center strategy program. Working together, ISE and Direct Edge will offer their member firms access to a robust and secure data center capable of managing the complex technology environment of ISE’s options exchange and Direct Edge’s two equity trading platforms. Furthermore, this initiative leverages the facilities management agreement between the two firms and provides additional synergies from the unique partnership between ISE and Direct Edge. Direct Edge is the fastest growing marketplace in the U.S. equities space, having recently become the third largest stock market in the country. ISE operates the world’s largest equity options exchange.
“Telx offers a multitude of network and connectivity options that will provide flexibility for both ISE’s and Direct Edge’s member firms. With their exceptional customer service and state-of-the art technology, we are confident that Telx’s customer-oriented approach will meet the unique needs of our customers,” said Daniel Friel, ISE’s Chief Information Officer.
“Telx understands our customers’ need for low-latency connectivity,” said Steve Bonanno, Chief Technology Officer at Direct Edge. “The numerous connectivity choices Telx offers will help expedite the customer migration to the disaster recovery data center, which we want to have happen swiftly and smoothly.”
“Telx is extremely pleased that we were able to satisfy ISE and Direct Edge’s substantial infrastructure and performance requirements. ISE’s and Direct Edge’s selection of Telx validates our focus and growth in the financial services vertical as well as in proximity hosting in key markets such as the New York/New Jersey metro region, Chicago, and San Francisco," said Eric Shepcaro, Chief Executive Officer of Telx.
ISE will be building out the Telx site over the coming eighteen months in order to ensure a smooth migration for member firms to the new Global Trading System platform in late 2010. Direct Edge plans to launch its Telx-based disaster recovery site in the second quarter of 2010, with customer migration expected to begin early in the first quarter of 2010.
ISE Background The International Securities Exchange (ISE) operates the world’s largest equity options exchange and offers options trading on over 2,000 underlying equity, ETF, index, and FX products. As the first all-electronic options exchange in the U.S., ISE transformed the options industry by creating efficient markets through innovative market structure and technology. Regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member-owner of The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), ISE provides investors with a transparent marketplace for price and liquidity discovery on centrally cleared options products. ISE continues to expand its marketplace through the ongoing development of enhanced trading functionality, new products, and market data services. As a complement to its options business, ISE has expanded its reach into multiple asset classes through strategic investments in financial marketplaces that foster technology innovation and market efficiency. Through minority investments, ISE participates in the securities lending and equities markets.
ISE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurex, a leading global derivatives exchange. Eurex itself is jointly owned by Deutsche Börse AG (Ticker: DB1) and SIX Swiss Exchange AG. Together, Eurex and ISE are the global market leader in individual equity and equity index derivatives. For more information, visit www.ise.com.
Direct Edge Background Direct Edge is the third largest U.S. equities marketplace, offering the next generation of displayed markets. With U.S. cash equities volume routinely exceeding 2 billion shares per day, Direct Edge uses multiple ECN and exchange platforms and unique order types to match complementary forms of liquidity based on sensitivity to transaction cost, fill rate, fill speed, and contra-side sophistication, while maintaining high execution quality and low latencies. Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Direct Edge is owned by a consortium that includes the International Securities Exchange, Knight Capital Group, Inc., Citadel Derivatives Group, The Goldman Sachs Group, and J.P. Morgan. More information about Direct Edge is available at http://www.directedge.com.
NEW YORK (August 11, 2009) – Telx, one of the largest and fastest-growing domestic interconnection and colocation data center operators, today announced that it has become the first colocation and interconnection provider to offer a virtual private network-network access point (VPN-NAP) that is optimized for video transmission. Branded as the Telx Video Xchange, the new interexchange service enables customers to deploy and use video conferencing or Telepresence equipment with other entities on different networks. The new service solves the critical inter-enterprise video issues that have hindered the adoption of such technology to date, such as mis-matched QoS, addressing conflicts and asynchronous security, for carriers, enterprises, and systems integrators.
VPN-NAPs are network exchange facilities that securely connect networks for private, private to private, and/or public communications. Using this architecture for the Telx Video Xchange provides a secure business-to-business video exchange that enables a customer to connect to their customers, suppliers, and partners who are operating on different private networks. Standards-based addressing, security and quality of service (QoS) transliteration are handled in the Telx Video Xchange, ensuring quality transmission of video for customers.
“Telx provides extensive secure space for customer equipment, such as video bridges. Also our carrier-neutral colocation environment allows cross-connections with a global marketplace of more than 600 service providers. This makes Telx an excellent provider to offer a video exchange,” said Rose Klimovich, Vice President of Product Development and Product Management for Telx. “Leveraging our network neutral environment, customers can enable use of enterprise video across private networks by in building cross-connects. Telx provides the previously missing component in the exploding world of enterprise video communications.”
The Telx Video Xchange will be powered by IP V Gateways’ Connectivity+ platform, a robust video telecommunications software platform that enables videoconferencing, as well as integrated audio, desktop conferencing systems, and Web-enabled devices, across carrier and private network boundaries. The platform solves the problem of maintaining quality across carrier networks while enabling systems to interoperate.
“We are extremely pleased to be working with the premier interconnection and colocation company in the United States,” said Pat Montani, CEO of IP V Gateways. “Our company sees huge advantages for our current video service provider and carrier customers, as well as for Telx’s customers in moving to a real and ubiquitous interexchange environment where quality and security are paramount.”
Telx’s first Video Xchange will be located in the company’s facility in 60 Hudson Street in New York City.
NEW YORK (August 5, 2009) – Telx, one of the largest domestic colocation and interconnection data center operators, announced today that it has expanded its downtown Chicago colocation and interconnection capabilities by adding 15,000 additional gross square feet and 10,000 available sellable square feet in its facility at 350 East Cermak Street. The additional space, which was assigned to Telx by another tenant within the facility, provides additional space for financial services customers and other enterprise verticals that require ultra low latency connectivity and interconnections to the widest variety of networks, and financial and information exchanges available in the marketplace. The facility also houses Telx’s Financial Xchange, offering direct connections to more than 30 of the industry’s leading exchanges, trading platforms, and financial service companies. This second expansion for Telx approximately doubles its square footage and available cabinet equivalents at 350 Cermak.
“Low latency connectivity and high-volume high performance interconnection remain in strong demand, especially in major financial hubs such as Chicago,” said Chris Downie, President and CFO of Telx. “We remain committed to serving customers with proximity hosting and access to the fastest connectivity providers available in the U.S. today.”
Driving growth in Telx’s Chicago facility has been the Telx Financial Xchange. Participating exchanges, trading partners and financial services businesses leverage the lowest latency connectivity solutions available on the market today, as well as one of the most densely populated interconnection facilities in the Chicago region.
“Proximity hosting and low latency connectivity is critical to businesses in the financial service sector, and has been a key to our continued success in the market,” said Wilson Collazo, Chief Technical Officer for TJM Brokerage. “The density of connectivity within 350 Cermak is unmatched in the marketplace, and this latest expansion offers businesses in financial services and other vertical enterprises additional opportunities to connect to the widest possible variety of exchanges and trading partners in order to be successful.”
“Telx and Digital Realty Trust have a long-standing valued relationship as the MMR operator in ten of our Internet Gateways,” said Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President at Digital Realty Trust. “With the growing data center demand and diminished supply available in downtown Chicago, Telx is well-prepared to serve customers requiring quick deployment and dense interconnections in the premier data center facility in Chicago.”
Global Telecom & Technology (GTT) is a new breed of telecom company - the technology and global network integrator. As the
telecommunications management specialists, GTT can provide custom-fit solutions for wide area network services or enterprise mobility solutions. GTT brings telecommunications management with a consultative approach, and over 10 years of experience to back it up.
Throughout our company history, our ultimate goal is to give you leading-edge technology solutions that will help propel your business forward. We also promise to stay on-top of the latest connectivity solutions and keep you in the loop with un-biased guidance.
Get ready, the best is yet to come. www.wbsconnect.com
