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| Issue #24, November 2010 |
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Welcome to our November 2010 Newsletter!
This month we have some stories that may be of interest to you and your colleagues at the office. We have updates from Daniel’s latest trip to the VMWorld conference in San Francisco as well as an internal IT Associates review of the iPhone 4. We also have information about our new range of Cloud Computing technologies as well as our new client portal; which allows you to log tickets and see the status of any service requests. It's simple, quick and we've done a 'How to' video for you and the employees at your office to follow.
A welcome to Dennis Sussens, our new Business Development Manager who will soon be meeting you if he hasn’t already done so. Also welcome to Lana Sciasci who will be working with us a couple of days a week as our Marketing and Administration Assistant. As you know, Daniel returned from the United States last month with some valuable resources; he reports on his trip below. Also, remaining on the topic of the United States, Wayne has recently returned to Brisbane from a holiday and to attend a partner summit in the States. We will discuss updates of Wayne’s travels in next month’s newsletter. What is Cirrusphere?
Traditionally most computing power was delivered through having your own server’s located onsite in your office. As the complexity of business computing needs continue to increase, along with the growing availability of internet services, it is now possible to deliver the computing power your business needs from a variety of large scale server farms, via the internet, to your computer device. IT Associates has been working with a number of global partners over the last few years to develop a professional Cloud Computing platform that today is called Cirrusphere. This Cloud Computing model leverages efficiencies, by ensuring you only pay for what you need and use. For more on Cirrusphere please click here.
Improvements at IT Associates
Often, a few minutes on the phone with a trained engineer can resolve your problem then and there. If an issue cannot be resolved within 30 minutes, it will go through an internal escalation process to ensure that you have the most suitable engineers working to help you to continue being productive in your business. As always, we welcome your feedback to help us to continue to provide an efficient service. If you would like to express any feedback, please fill out our Client feedback form.Daniel Whittaker attends VMWorld Conference in San Francisco:
Last month one of our system engineers, Daniel Whittaker, from IT Associates travelled to San Francisco to attend the VMWorld, a global conference for virtualization and cloud computing, hosted by VMWare. Presented and demonstrated at this conference were new products and studies in the field of human-computer interfacing. This is the attempt to evolve the current standard inputs of keyboards, mice and touchscreens to allow a more intuitive use of digital media and data in the real world. One of the most exciting technologies presented at the conference was the Emotiv EPOC headset, a consumer device allowing the wearer to control their computer with only their thoughts or bodily movements. This device was given to a general member of the VMWare executive team who, with only one quick 15 second training session, was able to control the movement of the cursor on screen by his thoughts, showing exactly how simple the device is to use. This device is now a retail product which is available for only US$299! This therefore means that anything you do with a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen could be scripted onto your device with a simple thought. Anyone can start controlling their PC with their mind whether it is for fun, work, research or development purposes. Unfortunately, the EPOC headset is currently only available in the United States, so we are hoping it comes ‘Down Under’ sometime soon, as this device is the future of computer interfacing! For more information visit: www.emotiv.com The iPhone 4, does it stand up to the hype?
As most of you will be well aware, the iPhone 4 was recently released and we’re all wondering whether or not it is living up to Apple’s reputation. Patrick Heyn at IT Associates gives us his review of how this new device compares. You have probably heard many people comment on the iPhone4’s new high resolution screen. I can confirm that the screen is significantly better than any of the previous iPhones (2G, 3G & 3Gs). If you refer to the picture of the maps application below from an iPhone 3Gs (on the left) and an iPhone4 (on the right), you will notice just how much better the screen on the iPhone4 really is!
The other significant improvement on the iPhone4 is the quality of the camera. The camera has gone from 3.15 Megapixels on the 3Gs (2MP from my old 2G iPhone) to now 5 Megapixels and also offers for the first time HD 720P video recording!
Overall, I have to admit that I am hooked on this phone. All the features that my old iPhone 2G and 3G had plus a vastly improved screen and camera among other things, I would easily recommend this phone to anyone who wants a device that really is an office in your pocket”. – Reviewed By Patrick Heyn, August 2010 Client Portal ‘How to’ video:
IT Associates now have a client portal that allows you access to lodge tickets and see the status of these requested services. We have made a quick and simple ‘How to’ video for you and your employees to follow. |
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Time seems to have gotten away from us again with our monthly newsletter but there’s been so much happening that we just have not had time to put pen to paper or in this situation finger to keyboard. 
IT Associates has launched a new range of Cloud Computing technologies into our product offerings. Cloud Computing is the delivery of modern computing technologies via the internet. 
IT Associates is always looking for ways to improve its performance. Last month we have made some changes to internal systems to make sure that you, our valued client, can always speak to an engineer when calling requesting help. 
