Netflix Cloud Prize offers over $100,000 in rewards to cloud computing gurus

Netflix Cloud Prize offers over $100,000 in rewards to cloud computing gurus

Netflix has a vested interest in fostering cloud computing -- after all, that's increasingly the company's core business. Accordingly, it's not going to just sit around and wait for a breakthrough. The subscription service is kicking off its Netflix Cloud Prize competition in the hopes that developers can move technology a little faster. Programmers who build upon Netflix's open-source code before September 15th can win from a pool of $100,000 spread equally among 10 categories, ranging from performance improvements to what has to be our automatic favorite: "best new monkey." Each winner also gets $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credit, flights to Las Vegas and a spot at Amazon's user conference this November. The challenge won't completely make up for the end to Netflix's public API, but it does show that at least some tinkerers are welcome in the streaming video giant's world.

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Source: Netflix (GitHub)

Hewlett-Packard creates Converged Cloud unit, gets serious about the internet

Nearly a year after HP announced its cloud computing plans, it has finally gotten serious about the internet by creating a specialized business unit around it, according to AllThingsD. Dubbed the Converged Cloud unit, it'll be headed by Saar Gillai who has been promoted to senior VP. The unit will manage all things cloud, from hardware and services to its marketing and networking partners. Judging from its recent financial woes, perhaps this renewed gamble on internet services will push it further into the black.

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Source: All Things D

NVIDIA details the Grid, a card built for powering cloud computing

NVIDIA's CES 2013 press conference is still ongoing, but the chipmaker is already unveiling something we've only seen teased before: the NVIDIA Grid, a card used for cloud computing across PCs, smart TVs, and smartphones. CEO and founder Jen-Hsun Huang detailed the new card on-stage, which you can see above in a rack of 20 grid servers. Huang says the rack pushes out roughly 240 NVIDIA GPUs worth of power, or about 200 teraflops -- equivalent to approximately 700 Xbox 360s. The Grid was given a tease earlier this year; the card will assist in pushing serious horsepower to the cloud, so that gaming over the air, across multiple devices becomes a less complicated reality.

During an on-stage demonstration, NVIDIA showed Frozenbyte's Trine running on various devices, all powered by the Grid system. Beyond just looking great, it carried over seamlessly between multiple devices. Huang also detailed NVIDIA's first partners for Grid: Agawi, Cloudunion, Cyber Cloud, G-cluster, Playcast, and Ubitus. Apparently biggies like OnLive and Gaikai are already all set? We'll be sure to get a closer look in the coming days as CES rages on.

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Microsoft to provide cloud services for city of Chicago in four year deal

Microsoft to provide cloud services for city of Chicago in four year deal

There's a cloud hanging over the second city and it belongs to Microsoft. In a release issued today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans to migrate the city's 30,000 civil servants to a cloud-based solution for email and all desktop applications. Apart from the $400,000 the four-year deal is projected to save taxpayers annually, the move to Microsoft's cloud computing for government platform will also help to bolster efficiency and streamline communication internally, as the city goes from three conflicting email systems to just one. According to the city's Department of Innovation and Technology, this department-wide transition should reach completion by the end of 2013. It's not the Windy City's first big leap into remote storage -- its hosted Department of Aviation data there for some time -- but it does mark Emanuel's commitment to modernization. Hit up the break for the city's official PR.

[Chicago photo credit: Nimesh M / Flickr]

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Source: The Official Microsoft Blog

Samsung gives its Series 3 Chromebox a facelift, hardware remains unchanged

DNP Samsung gives its Series 3 Chromebox a facelift

Keeping the Chrome OS party going, Samsung released an updated model of last year's Series 3 chromebox. Gracefully named the XE300M22-B01US, this cloud-based workstation features the same 1.9GHz Intel Celeron B849 processor, 4GB of RAM, six USB 2.0 ports and 16GB SSD as its predecessor. The only real change here is the system's appearance, which is now a sterile white plastic shell with a latch covering its front-facing inputs. The computer recently went on sale in the UK for 279 GBP ($453.50) with Samsung remaining mum on stateside release plans. However, if patience isn't your strong suit and you've gotta have this machine now, you can pick up last year's model (virtually the same hardware) for around $329 or less.

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Via: TG Daily

Source: Samsung

Jolicloud Open Platform arrives, lets developers put most any cloud service into one hub

Jolicloud Open Platform arrives, lets developers put any cloud service in one hub

Jolicloud has portrayed itself as a sort of one-stop shop for cloud services and web apps, where a single sign-in keeps us on top of everything. It's mostly been limited to big-league content as a result, but that's changing with the new Jolicloud Open Platform. Developers now just have to build JavaScript-based Node.js components that hook their own apps, media and storage into the same central Jolicloud repository we'd use to manage Instagram and Tumblr. More details and full documentation are forthcoming, although the "open" in Open Platform leads us to think there won't be many technical (or financial) barriers to entry.

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Jolicloud Open Platform arrives, lets developers put most any cloud service into one hub originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Box announces new features: improved search, file editing and a more social UI (video)

Box announces new features: improved search, file editing and a more social UI (video)

Skydrive, iCloud and Amazon Cloud Drive users have all been treated to upgrades recently, and now Box has announced a bunch of improvements are coming to its cloud platform for businesses. The portal header has been redesigned with a focus on searching and navigating quickly, and you can find other users at your company that bit easier, too. Additionally, Box Edit is ready to drop its beta suffix and, as long as you've got the relevant program installed, you can create files, edit them and save right back to the cloud from within the system. And, if you didn't think the whole experience was social enough, an added 'like' feature for files will help you keep up with the latest trending process docs. The updates are due to roll out "over the coming weeks," but until then, why not let an extremely sincere Box rep walk you through them in the video below.

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Box announces new features: improved search, file editing and a more social UI (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple extends iCloud storage upgrade for MobileMe users another year

Apple extends iCloud storage upgrade for MobileMe users another year

Apple's done its level best to lure help you over to iCloud from MobileMe, and it looks like it's not quite done yet. We're seeing reports from users who have received messages advising that the additional storage offered to ease the transition has been extended for another 12 months, sans cost to you. Whether a charge will kick in right away when that period ends, and at what price isn't made clear. But if you like to drag your data heels, or want to take your sweet time deciding if the new service is for you, it looks like luck is on your side.

[Thanks, Jonathan C]

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Apple extends iCloud storage upgrade for MobileMe users another year originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 00:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Synology launches DiskStation DS413j NAS server for your own private cloud

Synology launches DiskStation DS413j NAS server for your own private cloud

If you like your data local, but crave remote access, you've now got options like Synology's new DiskStation DS413j -- a network-attached storage (NAS) server for your own private cloud. The feature-packed box has four drive bays for a total of 16TB storage, and you can mix and match HDDs of different sizes without losing the comfort of RAID. Along with what you'd expect from NAS, its media server will stream content to your console or TV via DLNA or UPnP and push tunes to your stereo, with iOS and Android apps for couch DJing. The server will sync your files across computers if you wish, and give you access to all that data on the move via the internet or mobile apps. And, if you need more files, you can download directly using your favorite protocols -- it'll even automate them if you trust RSS feeds to make recommendations. All this can be yours for around $380, depending on the retailer, but don't forget to budget for drives to fill those empty bays.

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Synology launches DiskStation DS413j NAS server for your own private cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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webOS team becomes Gram, isn’t heavy on mission statements

webOS team becomes Gram, isn't heavy on mission statements

HP's webOS team has been keeping busy with its open source project, but it's time for a new challenge in the form of Gram: a fresh HP-funded offshoot focused on "software, user experience, the cloud, engineering, and partnering." We're not quite sure where that list could lead, but webOS, Enyo and cloud services are all expected to play a role in future endeavors. Judging from the fancy flyer after the break, a lot of energy is going into brand-building right now, along with a dose of secrecy, but hopefully some more concrete details will happen along soon.

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webOS team becomes Gram, isn't heavy on mission statements originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 06:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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