New Products

James Gray

Issue #258, October 2015

OPSWAT's Metascan

For years companies have been using Metascan from OPSWAT to catch threats reliably on files entering their organizations. Metascan, whose latest release also nabs threats to Linux systems, is a multi-scanning solution for ISVs, IT admins and malware researchers that detects and prevents known and unknown threats. The multi-scanning feature consists of multiple anti-malware engines from vendors like Bitdefender, ESET, Threat Track and others, a technology that increases detection rates for all types of malware without the hassle of licensing and maintaining the multiple engines. Myriad 64-bit Linux distributions are supported, including Debian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Ubuntu. As part of its enhanced scalability, Metascan for Linux provides load balancing for high-volume scanning and can be used in high-availability deployments. Another important enhancement is the flexibility of the scan workflows, allowing different scan options by file type and source to offer increased security and threat prevention.

www.opswat.com

Opera Software ASA's Opera Browser

The most significant advancement in Opera 31, the updated, multiplatform browser from Opera Software ASA, is its startup time. Opera for computers now starts up to 70% faster compared to previous versions. This is especially important and helpful for devices with slower, traditional hard drives. Opera's developers also redesigned pages in the browser to make everything look sleek. In complement, Opera's Discover, a feature that serves users the most recent local content, has been given a makeover and now can be customized based on topic category and location. Finally, synchronization across devices also has been expanded and improved, allowing users to access their bookmarks, Speed Dial sites and tabs from anywhere.

www.opera.com

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

Giving a boost to both the Linux platform in general and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications specifically is new functionality to support IBM Power Systems running the SAP HANA platform. SUSE Linux customers now can take advantage of IBM's recently introduced series of Power Systems Solution Editions for SAP HANA, which can be tailored to meet enterprise-customer requirements for mission-critical, real-time analytics with high reliability, availability and serviceability. Customers seeking the business benefits of running in-memory databases like SAP HANA now can take advantage of the faster throughput, increased bandwidth and enterprise-grade reliability of IBM POWER8. Business users take in massive amounts of data and get vital, actionable information out in real time. The relevant version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications is version 11 Service Pack 4.

www.suse.com

Brian P. Hogan's Exercises for Programmers (The Pragmatic Bookshelf)

One of the best ways to learn a programming language is to solve real problems with it. That's what Brian P. Hogan's new book Exercises for Programmers: 57 Challenges to Develop Your Coding Skills is all about. Instead of questions rooted in theory, this book from Pragmatic Bookshelf presents problems readers encounter in their day-in-day-out software development. These problems are designed for people learning their first programming language and also can provide a learning path for experienced developers to learn a new language quickly for their next important gig. The 57 exercises in Hogan's book start off simply and conclude with larger programs that synthesize everything. Each problem includes constraints and challenges to push readers further and force them to come up with the solutions. After learning one new language, readers later can work through the book again, using new approaches to solve familiar problems.

www.pragprog.com

David Cook's Robot Building for Beginners, Third Edition (Apress)

In the third edition of his popular book Robot Building for Beginners, author David Cook distills a lifetime of tinkering with robots so that his readers can get a head start on the fun, fulfilling process. Robot Building serves up essential, practical knowledge on getting started in amateur robotics and offers a mix of content from serious reference tables and descriptions to personal stories and humorous bits. The autonomous robot that readers build in this book is battery powered and the size of a lunch box. The book is broken up into small chapters, suitable for bedtime reading. The characteristics and purposes of each major component (resistor, transistor, wire and motor) are described and followed by a hands-on experiment to demonstrate. A section demonstrating how to “print” certain parts of the robot with a 3D printer also is included. Because robot building involves soldering, electricity, light machining and some cash, the writing is targeted toward individuals with those capabilities.

www.apress.com

AdaCore's GNAT Pro for Wind River VxWorks

AdaCore is taking good care of its GNAT Pro development environment users on the Wind River VxWorks RTOS. The new GNAT Pro for Wind River VxWorks 7, which was developed in close collaboration with Wind River, offers full support for both Ada and the latest version 7 of VxWorks and provides more seamless integration with Wind River Workbench. AdaCore engineers ensured that GNAT Pro will support both single- and multi-core systems and other architectures and added enhancements, such as a completely re-engineered open-source debugger protocol, support for VxWorks 7 kernel modules and real-time processes, and the ability to handle both all-Ada and multi-language applications. AdaCore notes that AdaCore's GNAT Pro is well established among users of Wind River platforms, especially in the aerospace and defense markets.

www.adacore.com

ScriptRock

ScriptRock asserts that the update to its eponymous solution for unified integrity “gives everyone involved in the application development, release, and maintenance lifecycle the ability to answer complex questions faster than ever”. ScriptRock provides validation of integrity at all phases of the continuous release cycle, automating the discovery, testing and monitoring of applications, systems and infrastructures for vulnerabilities and inconsistencies. In essence, devs, testers and administrators can maintain a grip on what's changing, what's different and what they have. Highlights of the updated ScriptRock's new features include powerful new search capabilities; more intuitive visualizations of scans and node changes; node group comparisons; dynamic node classification; actionable, streamlined scan navigations and interactive scan results that allow for active search filtering and manipulation of visualizations.

www.scriptrock.com

Zappix Visual IVR

Zappix's development of its Visual IVR customer service app is informed by research showing that 72% of customers prefer self-service options when resolving support issues. Zappix is a self-help, highly intuitive, Visual IVR app for Android, iPhone and Web that integrates voice and non-voice visual content with customer service channels—for example, phone/voice, Web, mobile on-line forms and multimedia resources. An updated version of the app adds new self-service features that are available while on hold for customer service and even after a session with a customer service representative. With these new capabilities, says Zappix, the app reduces support ticket volumes and the burden on a company's customer service team. This solution enables a smooth customer-service experience by answering customer-service issues as quickly as possible. The self-service technologies benefit both customers and companies, sayeth Zappix, with companies gaining a cost-effective alternative to live agent support and customers empowered to solve problems effectively on their own.

www.zappix.com