Author: Danielle

If you decide to dabble in the stock exchange you can simply buy shares directly through your bank. Alternatively, you can engage a dedicated broker who can negotiate better prices for you and make sure you’re getting the best deal possible.

Cloud brokers operate in a similar way. Instead of stocks and bonds, they trade in measuring the performance of various cloud services and negotiating the very best rates. They can also assist with integration, which is very useful if you manage a large organisation.

In this guide you’ll explore some of the very best cloud brokers on the market today. All of these can help you to list and manage existing cloud services and explore integration with new ones.

• Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line. 

1. AWS Service Broker

AWS Service Broker is part of Amazon Web Services. 

The solution is open source which allows AWS services to be exposed directly through third party applications such as Red Hat OpenShift. 

The AWS Service Broker integrates AWS services directly into AWS Network Partners’ solutions.

The benefits of this are a unified interface where users can manage all their applications and resources. Users can manage infrastructure, resources and build logic through AWS CloudFormation templates. These contain a set of both strict and customizable parameters that implement production, tests and develop environments. They also interact with applications through endpoints and credentials. These can be stored as OpenShift binding. 

AWS Services Broker is integrated into the Red Hat OpenShift Platform on AWS QuickStart. OpenShift manages master instances, etcd instances and node instances in popular configurations.

In order to utilize the service broker users need to have an account with Amazon web Services.

AWS has three different pricing models; ‘Pay as you Go’, ‘Save when you reserve’ and ‘Pay less using more’. To get prices for all these you need to contact Sales directly.

However, AWS provides a free tier. This offers users certain services for 12-months. After that you have to choose to sign up for any of the plans above or to cancel your AWS subscription.

2. IBM Cloud Brokerage Managed Services

IBM may offer its own cloud platform, but they also offer managed cloud brokerage services to allow you to bring together cloud services from multiple suppliers under one roof.

With the IBM Cloud Brokerage Managed Services you can play, design, and manage all cloud models from a single platform, while still ensuring compliance. Though the migration of apps and optimization across all your services you should be able to minimize costs. 

A key aim it to help allow managers and executives bring their IT infrastructure under control in a single cloud platform to reduce hybrid sprawl, especially when different departments may have their own cloud operations for CRM, sales, or ecommerce, which can otherwise complicate the overall IT environment.  

While initial costs may be initially higher, operational savings should easily outweigh these. Additionally, IBM provides cost management tools with built-in analytics to help improve efficiency further.

Bringing together all your IT needs onto a single platform should provide added benefits in terms of easier management, not least having a clearer idea of needs, services, and costs, and being better able to balance these, without having to drop needed tools and processes.

Overall, IBM expect that half of all enterprises will move into cloud brokerages over the coming years, not least the better balance the interests of developers, line-of-business executives, and IT administrators.

3. Cloudmore

Cloudmore is a Swedish company with offices in Estonia, the UK and US. They were founded in 2007. The solution works to bring all cloud-based IT services together into one unified platform.

Cloudmore is delivered as a SaaS service. There is no hardware to buy or initial set-up costs. Everything you need from a brokerage solution is available from the get-go except for add-ons you might decide to include as you progress.

The interface is simple to use and easy on the eye. It is intuitive ensuring usability for all clients. 

Cloudmore’s Brokerage platforms is based on a pay-as-you go pricing structure. The solution charges for the management of services which are usually paid for by the vendor. Users also have the option to purchase add-ons.

Cloudmore’s API’s easily integrate into your systems. This allows for end-to-end automation. Microsoft Online Services is part of their many integrations. 

Users need to contact Cloudmore directly for more information and a quote.

4. Jamcracker Cloud Services Brokerage

Jamcracker Cloud Services Brokerage also offers organizations the opportunity to manage diverse cloud services from a single platform. This brings with it the ability to unify public, private, and hybrid cloud operations and deliver them both across departments and also to customers.

This can involve unifying SaaS, Paas, and IaaS needs, along with any other virtualizations, and Jamcracker provides support for multiple languages, currencies, and time zones.

As above, the expectation is that simplifying cloud IT infrastructure should result in positive cost and efficiency savings, but by being a cloud services broker (CSB) companies can look to not simply apply these benefits internally but also resell their own value-added services – something Jamcracker is keen to develop with its customers as required.

Overall, Jamcracker has positioned itself as a key provider for unifying cloud operations and management, while also being able to offer cloud brokerage services that enterprise business can take in house and repackage for use among its own clients or suppliers.

5. Dell Boomi

Dell Boomi is a business unit acquired by Dell in 2010. It specializes in cloud-based integration, API management and Master Data Management.

Major clients include Micorsoft Azure, MapAnything and Novartis.

Users can build on-premise to on-premise, cloud-to-cloud and hybrid integrations. The interface gives you access to the tools needed to build end-to-end workflows. 

Dell Boomi has a handy drag and drop feature which makes integration simpler. It is an enterprise integration Platform as a Service. Users can build, deploy and manage all integrations seamlessly. 

Boomi ‘Suggest’ allows users to show others in the community ideas for integrations and receive feedback.

Users can submit data on integration processes to ‘AtomSphere’ to test against future changes. Boomi is a multi-tenant platform which manages all your data management software. They have connections to multiple providers such as MailChimp, GoogleCloud and Slack.

Some reviewers have noted Boomi has a steep learning curve, so it may not be suitable for absolute beginners.

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April and Autumn in general aren’t usually the best time of year for finding discounts, but we’ve got a ripper for you today on the excellent Google Home Mini smart speaker.

You can get Google’s cheapest Google Assistant-powered speaker for just $59.95 at Mobileciti, saving you $20 on the normal price. Mobileciti has both the chalk grey and anthracite black models in stock as things stand.

And with the Black Friday deals being so far away at this time of year, this might be your best bet if you want Google’s smart speaker sooner rather than later. We wouldn’t hold out much hope for a deal on Amazon Prime Day 2019 around July either as Amazon is still having a feud with Google, meaning the store doesn’t stock Google Home products and prefers to push its own Amazon Echo Dot instead.

Google Home Mini deal of the week

The Google Home Mini voice-activated smart speaker offers fantastic value even at the standard $79.99, so we’re all over the $59.95 offer. You can use the Home Mini to ask Google anything you can think of and the enormously powerful Google search-engine will usually come up with an answer that’s read back for you. Footy and cricket scores, the weather, language translations, Spotify playback, local news, add things to your shopping list, set reminders – it’s absolutely chockers with talent.

Pair the speaker with other smart home tech though and you can really get things going. Got some smart lighting like Philips Hue bulbs? You can ask Google to turn them on, dim them or even change the colour. Smart plugs are an increasingly popular pairing too as you can effectively make any electrical item smarter by adding a voice command to power it on.

We’ve covered the bigger and screen-enabled members of Google’s smart speaker family too in our full Google Home deals and prices guide.

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When we reviewed the Asus Rog Strix Radeon RX 580 Gaming OC Edition two years ago we loved everything about it…except the $300 price tag. Prices have dropped since then, but today Newegg’s selling this graphics card for a cool $180Remove non-product link after a $30 mail-in rebate. This is a great time to get this triple-fan beast of a GPU, which excels at 1080p gaming with few visual compromises. Newegg’s sale ends on Monday, April 15.

The Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 580 Gaming OC Edition is built with heavy metal and extra features missing from standard RX 580 cards. Its fan blades feature IP5X dust protection and shut down completely when you aren’t running graphics intensive workloads, while Asus FanConnect II headers can tie your case fan speeds to the GPU’s temperature. There’s also an massive heatsink below the the fan trio, and a serious metal backplate rocking an RGB Strix logo. No joke: This is the sort of cooling solution you typically see on $500+ graphics cards. The result? This card runs frigid—and utterly silent.

Be warned: While it’s fancy, this card is gigantic for a Radeon RX 580 and will require at least a mid-tower case if not a full tower.

As for performance, the ROG Strix offers fantastic 1080p performance at Ultra settings and even some pretty good 1440p action if you don’t mind tinkering with lower levels of eye candy. If you’re looking for 4K, however, this is not the card for you.

[Today’s deal: Asus ROG Strix RX 580 Gaming OC Edition for $180 at Newegg.Remove non-product link]

Brad Chacos/IDG

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At its special March event, Apple announced Apple TV Plus, a new streaming service from the maker of the iPhone and iPad that, according to its CEO Tim Cook, “is unlike anything that’s come before”. 

The streaming service will offer exclusive shows, movies and documentaries from acclaimed filmmakers like JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg and M. Night Shyamalan.

It’s also been announced that Oprah and Prince Harry will be teaming up for a mental health docu-series, which will come to Apple TV Plus in 2020. 

In a statement posted to Instagram, Prince Harry said “our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening and inclusive – sharing global stories of unparalleled human spirit fighting back from the darkest places, and the opportunity for us to understand ourselves and those around us better.”

The launch event also saw the announcement of an Apple credit card (Apple Card), a magazine and news subscription service called Apple News Plus, and a gaming streaming platform called Apple Arcade – but it was the TV Plus platform that drew the most interest.

The service will include shows like Amazing Stories and The Morning Show, and stars like Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell and Jason Momoa are signed up to be involved. There’s even a show for the preschool crowd called Helpsters.

Unlike the basic package of Hulu, Apple TV Plus will be ad-free from the start, and will be available in 100-plus countries through a section of the Apple TV app. It will be available starting in autumn 2019 (September through November) on smart TVs, MacOS and iOS.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A rival streaming service that Apple will place its own content on, among other titles. 
• When will it be released? Autumn 2019 (September through November) 
• How much will it cost? That’s still, irritatingly, to be confirmed. 

In addition to Apple TV Plus, Apple introduced Apple TV Channels, which combines cable subscription services and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video into the Apple TV app. (Unfortunately, however, Apple TV Channels doesn’t incorporate Netflix.) 

Apple TV Channels will be incorporated into the Apple TV app on iOS starting in May, and on MacOS later in the year, but will sit outside Apple TV Plus’ purview.

So Apple TV Plus is like Netflix?

So here’s where things get a bit nebulous. On stage, Cook made it very clear that Apple TV Plus isn’t Netflix – at least not yet. While the service will offer original content by the boatload, Apple TV Plus won’t offer licensed content – syndicated shows like The Big Bang Theory, Mr. Robot or Seinfeld. 

For now, you’ll still have to buy those shows a la carte through iTunes or via your terrestrial cable app in Apple TV Channels.

There’s also the question of availability. Cook named a number of major TV manufacturers who will offer the new Apple TV app in his keynote, but never came close to mentioning all the platforms where Netflix is available, like Android TV, PC desktops and laptops, and non-Apple tablets. 

How much will Apple TV Plus cost?

That’s another mystery, as Tim Cook ended the keynote without divulging how much Apple TV Plus will set you back every month. 

The chances are very good, however, that the service will cost something – as talent on this scale doesn’t come cheap.

The silver lining to Apple creating its own content, though, is that the service could be relatively cheap – only a few dollars / pounds per month. As we know from Netflix, licensing syndicated content isn’t cheap, and those contracts eventually end and must either be renewed or dropped altogether.  

Apple TV Plus: the launch as it happened

We live -blogged the whole Apple event, and if you’re wondering how Apple brought to life this new TV Plus service, here are all the details:

All times US Pacific Time (PDT)

11:46 – Oprah is off, Tim is back. Looks like we’re wrapping up, which is great for my fingers. This is been a long one and I’ve needed the toilet for a long, long time. 

And yep – that’s it. He’s done. And with no hands on reviews to be done with the services, this seems like a much easier ride for your favorite TechRadar folk. 

Except for the fact we’ll now be noodling away at the big news, features and analysis on what’s just been announced. Apart from that.

11:43 – She’s making one of the biggest book clubs on the planet, Oprah and the author streamed to every device and Apple Store. To connect everyone with books, is Oprah’s dream.

11.41 – Oprah has joined forces with Apple – to create meaningful ways to initiate positive change.

She has two documentaries in the works – Toxic Labor (talking about the scourge and toll of sexual harassment in the workplace), and an unnamed one that focuses on mental health and how scenarios that cause problems decimate life. She wants to replace stigma with compassion and honesty… lofty goals there.

11.39 – Oprah just came on stage (possibly) clutching vouchers for cars. iPrah in the offing?

She’s talking about the way we all crave connections. How we want to be heard but also need to listen. 

If she announces the Airpower mat I’ll be impressed.

11:37 – There’s no word on pricing yet – that’s a real shame. It’s a huge part – but Tim says ‘this is just a sneak peek’ as he wanders back on stage.

Wait, there’s one more ‘remarkable story teller’.

11:36 – Apple TV+ will come across all your Apple devices and smart TVs. It’s an ad-free subscription service, on demand and coming this Fall with new additions every month, focusing on Apple Originals.

11:33 – Original shows and movies will be coming to the Apple+ platform. ‘To brighten our day and make us think that anything is possible.’

The message, again, is about quality. When will it be coming, and how much though?

11:29 – Sara Bareilles and JJ Abrams are on stage, talking about their new project: Little Voice, a romantic comedy about what’s ‘wonderful and transformative’ about someone having to find their way through their voice. 

Sara is having a sing of theme tune for us now. It’s a nice time to try and rest the fingers and tidy up this blog… no, she’s just finished! SING MORE DO AN ENCORE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. 

Nope, it’s too late.

11.26 – I’m watching Sesame Street for work. I never knew this day would come, but suddenly it’s here. There’s a new pre-school show called Helpsters, with a little muppet called Cody. And it’s about coding! 

This is related to Apple’s Swift Playgrounds, you just watch. 

11.25 – There’s a lot about worthy storytelling here. Apple has been making a big, big push about quality elements today, that there’s some gravitas to everything that it’s doing. 

AS I WRITE THAT BIG BIRD COMES ON STAGE. Thanks Apple.

11.24 – He’s going to be pushing a program called Little America, with small stories from immigrants – and the directors are either immigrants or children of immigrants. 

‘We hope Little America will help people to understand there is no other, there is only us’.

11:20 – Kumail Nanjiani is on stage, the actor from Silicon Valley. He’s just chatting about his life now, making some jokes. This is a very different Apple event, to be honest.

11.16 – Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard are on stage to talk up the new programming where the world is blind after a virus wipes out sight and most of the human race, in ‘See’, a new show coming to Apple TV+.

11:15 – This trio will be the main characters in the show – the characters with which the issues are lensed. ‘Shining a light on the fault lines in our society’.

11:14 – Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are now on stage – they’re doing ‘The Morning Show’ on Apple TV as well. An insiders view into the lives of the morning newscaster. An ‘honest look’ at the complex relationship between women and men.

Steve Carrell just wandered late on stage. He’s making jokes about not knowing whether it’s his turn.

11.11 – The video is over, the audience has gone crazy to Steven Spielberg to come on stage. He likes Apple, apparently.

He’s, once again, talking up how important storytelling is. Spielberg is going to be resurrecting ‘Amazing Stories’ for Apple TV.

11:08 – The video is still going on, the normal Apple ‘enchanting’ video, where the world of creativity, the wonder it presents, makes the viewer want to be part of it. To want to be involved in the Apple world.

11:07 – Actors are talking about how they ‘imagine’ what the character would be thinking when they embody them. Thanks for that.

11:06 – Spielberg is talking about how stories are so important. ‘The best stories have come to me when I least expected them.’

11:04 – The power of stories is important. ‘Here at Apple we know incredible stories begin and end with the artists that create them’.

We’re going to meet some of them. This service is dedicated to ‘the best stories ever told’. This sounds interesting… the ‘art of great storytelling’.

11.03 – And here’s the big news: Apple TV+. Everyone has lost their minds suddenly here. 

• Disney Plus: the Disney streaming service to take on Netflix (and Apple)

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Samsung Galaxy event live blog

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Astronomers are just minutes away from revealing the first images of a black hole (or, more accurately, the area immediately around it, since the hole itself pulls in all light and matter). 

The pictures, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, will show the black hole at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and will be shown in a press conference beginning at 9am ET (2pm BST) today, April 10.

When the conference begins, you will be able to watch the live stream below.

The black hole, Sagittarius A, is 26,000 light years away from Earth and shrouded in dust and gas. Until now, our knowledge of it has been based on inferences rather than direct observation.

Despite its name, the Event Horizon Telescope is actually a collection of eight radio telescopes located around the world, precisely co-ordinated using highly accurate atomic clocks. Together, they effectively creating a global observatory.with the power to let us observe Sagittarius A for the first time.

Groundbreaking

This will be a groundbreaking moment for the scientific community, testing predictions based on the Theory of General Relativity.

Matter pulled in by the black hole is believed to settle in a disc-like formation (the accretion disc), moving faster and becoming hotter as it draws closer to the event horizon, creating light. This light is expected to bend around the event horizon to create a lopsided, glowing ring, which researchers are hoping to see for the first time.

Via GeekWire

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After its debut during MWC 2019, HMD Global’s penta camera phone – the Nokia 9 PureView is all set for its launch in UAE. The company announced today that the phone will be available from May onwards, priced at a very respectable AED 2,299.

With the Nokia 9, HMD Global brings back Sony’s Carl Zeiss optics and tops it up by adding Light’s lux capacitor for image processing. Hence, there are some big expectations tied to the camera prowess of the Nokia 9.

Nokia 9 specifications

The phone features a 5.99-inch POLED display with QHD (2880 x 1440 pixels) resolution and is layered with Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection. In addition, the display on the Nokia 9 PureView is HDR10 compliant which makes it one of the better phones to watch content.

Nokia 9 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset with an octa-core CPU, coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The phone runs on Android 9.0 Pie and is part of Google’s Android One program. 

The five cameras on the phone consist of 12MP snappers optimized by Carl Zeiss. Two of those sensors are RGB while the other three are monochrome which works simultaneously to capture a frame. Additionally, there’s a Time of Flight (ToF) camera as well which assists in depth sensing. On the front lies a 20MP camera for selfies.

The fingerprint sensor is embedded into the display itself and there is a 3,320mAh battery to boot which supports both 18W fast charging and 10W fast wireless charging.

The company also announced other Nokia phones which will be releasing the UAE as follows:

• Nokia 4.2 will be available in the UAE from May for a retail price of AED 579.
• Nokia 3.2 will be available in the UAE from May for a retail price of AED 599 (3GB/32GB) and AED 399 (2GB/16GB).
• Nokia 1 Plus is available the UAE for a retail price of AED 299.
• Nokia 210 is available in the UAE for a retail price of AED 99.

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