R&D throughout the industry has led to significant steps in innovation this year. VARBusiness Tech Innovator Awards recognize the most innovative of these offerings from several different sectors.
Vendors submitted hundreds of entries for the 2008 VARBusiness Tech Innovator Awards, but only a handful emerged as purveyors of unique, groundbreaking products. Here's a look at the winners.
HP's first touch-screen notebook for consumers has plenty of options for work and play.
Inside This Issue: July 2008
Cover Story
NAC Grows Up
When building out network security, there's plenty to take into consideration. These three solutions provide VARs with both access and ease of security.
>> Getting Started: NAC
>> Handling Objections: NAC
>> The Key Players In NAC
Bake-Off
WAN Traffic Cops
With more businesses opting to place employees in home offices and the constant demand for network efficiency, the Test Center looks at three WAN optimization offerings.
Reviews
Office By Any Other Name
The test Center reviews OpenOffice.org 3.0 and finds its assortment of programs comparable to Microsoft Office.
Business Continuity
In the season of brownouts, surges and blackouts, APC's AP 7750 ATS offers a form of redundancy when power issues are a concern.
Solutions That Work
Custom Gaming Rigs
VARs are catering to the fast-growing market of online gamers by building to customer specs.
Departments: Too New To Review
Sun Intros First JBOD To Mixed Channel Reaction
Sun Microsystems Inc. this month unveiled its first JBOD storage appliances, calling them an expansion of its Open Storage initiative.
Lenovo, Fujitsu, Toshiba Bolster Notebook Offerings With SMBs In Mind
Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. launched a bevy of new notebook PCs this month, including the LifeBook E8420.
Keeping Security Threats In Check
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. recently expanded its lineup of UTM-1 Total Security products with two new appliances, including the 1070 and 2070 models. Both combine firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, SSL VPN, antivirus, antispyware, Web filtering, Web security and antispam into one centrally managed box. The 1070 provides 1,800-Mbps firewall throughput, three managed sites and six ports, while the 2070 offers 2,800-Mbps firewall throughput, five managed sites and eight ports. UTM-1 Total Security pricing starts at $4,800.
Voice Valley
Unison Technologies LLC, a start-up that's taking an open-source path to unified communications, is prepping the channel for the launch of its flagship offering by unveiling pricing and its partner program. The Unison unified communications suite, slated to launch this quarter, combines an IP-PBX system, e-mail server, instant messaging, contacts and calendar into a single server and desktop client aimed at customers with 20 to 1,000 users. The company said it plans to offer its Linux-based software for $50 per user, per year; it will also make available a perpetual license option at a per-server price of $36,000 with no user limits.
Nth Degree
3Com Corp. jumped into the high-speed wireless game with the launch of several new products, including the AirConnect 9550, a dual-radio Power over Ethernet access point for SMBs that offers simultaneous operation in both the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz 801.11n bands. The AirConnect 9550 is available now for $499.
PREVIOUS ISSUES
These articles were mentioned in this issue of CRNtech.
• Video: The Lenovo ThinkPad X200
• Video: Asus P5Q3 Deluxe Motherboard
• Slide Show: An SMB Notebook Monsoon From Lenovo, Fujitsu And Toshiba
• Slide Show: A Sneak Peek At HP's Container-Based Optimized Data Center
• Review: Apple Blows Its Chance With MobileMe
• Review: A Build-It-Yourself 'Solid-State Drive'
• Review: Microsoft Expression Studio 2 Shows Key Improvement
• Review: And The Hits Just Keep On Coming From Lenovo
• Review: Hassle-Free Honeypot: KFSensor
