pure

Enterprise storage gets interesting again

After nearly 25 years of relative consistency and market dominance by the likes of EMC and NetApp, there's been a recent flurry of activity in the storage industry. In the past few weeks, Fusion-io was valued at nearly $1.95 billion after its first day of public trading and next-generation storage start-ups Pure Storage and Tintri each closed sizable new funding rounds ($28 million for Pure Storage, $18 million for Tintri).

Spurred by the rise of technological innovations like cloud computing and virtualization, storage is undergoing a major transition--the likes of which it hasn't experienced since the rise … Read more

Why Cisco killed the Flip mini camcorder

It's easy to understand why Internet infrastructure giant Cisco Systems needed to get out of the consumer electronics business, but did it have to send a popular product, like to the Flip camcorder, to an early grave?

Cisco on Tuesday announced that it will stop making the Flip camera, a popular pocket-sized video camera it bought only a couple of years ago from a company called Pure Digital. The reason? The company said it is strategically realigning its business to focus on selling its core products.

"We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support … Read more

Cisco gives Flip video biz the boot

The first cuts to Cisco Systems' business have been announced, and the Flip video camera is among the first items to go.

Cisco announced today that it will exit parts of the consumer electronics business as it strategically realigns its business to focus on five main areas: core routing; switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video. One of the first casualties of this plan was the Flip video business, which Cisco bought from Pure Digital two years ago for $590 million.

Cisco said in the press release that it will "support current FlipShare customers and partners with a transition … Read more

Nokia unveils new typeface, Pure

Nokia Sans, one of the most familiar typefaces worldwide and a brand recognition money can't buy, is about to become irrelevant. The world's largest phone maker has unveiled a new font dubbed Nokia Pure for mobile and digital environments.

"Logically enough, the starting point for our brand new typeface, Nokia Pure, was also on-screen legibility at small sizes--although now we're talking about the pin-sharp color screens of contemporary smartphones," Nokia said in a blog post on its Brand Book site. "At the same time, we also needed a recognizable corporate typeface, versatile enough to work well in all manner of different environments--from other screen-based formats, to a whole host of printed materials."

Based on the concept of a seamless and fluid motion, the Nokia Pure typeface comprises rounded letters without serifs that "flow into each other" to create an impression of forward movement.… Read more

Crave giveaway: Pure Oasis Flow

For this week we've got another audio-themed giveaway, a versatile Wi-Fi Internet Radio from Pure--the Oasis Flow.

Here's what Pure has to say about the Oasis Flow:

With its weatherproof and splash resistant case, rubber seals and cast aluminum framework, Pure's Wi-Fi-based Oasis Flow most rugged, Internet-connected radio on the market and is perfect playing outdoors or in moist environments like the bathroom. Teamed with an integrated rechargeable ChargePak battery and built-in handle, you can enjoy up to 10 hours of continuous audio entertainment (it also has an FM radio) on a single charge. Enjoy thousands of … Read more

Pure takes Kaspersky's security to the next level

A laundry list of features new to Kaspersky debuts today in a new home security suite, Pure Total Security. Originally announced earlier this month at CES 2011, Kaspersky Pure Total Security takes the highly regarded set of features offered in Kaspersky Internet Security and mixes in some extras that are designed to appeal to people who have more complicated, multi-machine setups at home.

Most notable among these new features is centralized home network security management. It allows users to control the security settings of the other computers within their home LAN that are also running Pure, and it will work … Read more

Firefox ad-blocking, new security, and multimedia streaming

In its quest to continually improve Firefox, Mozilla has added a new do-not-track tool that will help users better thwart ads. With Mozilla's do-not-track technology, network data packets from the browser would signal to a Web site that a person doesn't wished to be tracked. Of course, the company still has to get the sites to cooperate with the new feature.

In security news, Kaspersky is taking its offerings to the next level with Pure Total Security. A laundry list of features new to Kaspersky debuted this week in the new home security suite. Originally announced earlier this … Read more

Rocket scientist converts stereo into 3D sound

Edgar Choueiri is a professor of applied physics at Princeton University, where he is the director of the Engineering Physics Program and the chief scientist of the university's laboratory for advanced spacecraft propulsion (the Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Lab). Right, he's a rocket scientist, but he's also an audiophile.

Professor Choueiri's Pure Stereo system is a "Revolutionary Technology for Audiophile-Grade 3D Audio." I was treated to a demonstration in Professor Choueiri's lab in Princeton, so I can tell you it really works. The professor played a variety of commercial classical and rock recordings, including Led Zeppelin, over a pair of closely spaced speakers (see photo). The sound spread to the full width of the room, and projected sound forward. He also played recordings he made, including a "haircut" with the sound of "scissors" snipping away all around my head. Professor Choueiri's 3D claim is no hype; Pure Stereo sounds amazing.

The technology can be used with any stereo system, and can operate in any resolution, including high, 192-kHz sampling rates, at 32-bit resolution. Pure Stereo is also compatible with analog sources like turntables and FM radios. Professor Choueiri doesn't equate Pure Stereo (two speakers only) with surround-sound systems that produce envelopment from multichannel music or movie soundtracks from five or more speakers. Pure Stereo's goal is to create more accurate spatial reproduction from two-channel recordings.… Read more

Get in sync

Syncing can be a useful feature in a variety of contexts. People sync files between computers and USB drives for easy portability, between computers and external hard drives to create backups, and between cameras and computers so that images can be edited and shared. PureSync is a full-featured program that helps users sync data among a variety of sources and destinations. It's one of the most useful and well-designed programs we've seen in a while.

PureSync's interface is attractive and intuitive, with a wizard dialog that helps users set up and save synchronizations. The four different options … Read more