Cloud: October 2011 Archives

To accelerate the development of HTML5 tools, Sencha, a provider of HTML5 frameworks and tools for desktop and mobile application developers, has completed a $15 million series B round of funding. Sencha raised $14 million funding in June, 2010. Additionally, the company also announced the public beta launch of Sencha.io, its new HTML5 mobile cloud service. The service will allow Sencha app developers to build “shared experiences” in the browser, without having to write server code or manage hosting. http://www.sencha.com/

Box.net announced it closed $81 million in funding from a mix of investors including NEA, Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce.com, SAP Ventures and existing investors. As revealed on their company blog, Box has aspirations to compete with Microsoft's Sharepoint. Box is currently available on most mobile platforms, while SharePoint is currently tied to Windows Phones. Yet Box also lacks the full array of content management features that an enterprise user may currently need/use from Sharepoint. http://box.net/

Texthelp Systems, provider of literacy software solutions, today announced the release of their new Suite of Web Apps. The Texthelp Web Apps work within browsers on iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, and other mobile devices as well as PCs and Macs. The Apps include: Read&Write Web, eBook Reader for Bookshare eBooks, Speech, and Dictionary. With the proliferation of iPads and other mobile devices, schools and colleges are looking for Assistive Technology (AT) solutions that allow their students to use these devices at school and at home to access digital content. Read&Write GOLD users can now benefit from access to familiar support features, including Read Aloud with dual color highlighting, Dictionary, Translator, and Study Skills. http://www.texthelp.com/

The recently launched 3M Cloud Library now uses the 3M Cloud-ID, for its login process. The 3M Cloud-ID uses a patron's existing library barcode and PIN to authenticate the patron and allow checkout of eBooks from the 3M Cloud Library, as opposed to using a library ID/PIN for authentication and a separate third party ID/PIN as used by existing eLending providers. 3M Cloud-ID streamlines the user experience by leveraging the credentials a patron already has from the library, making it simple for library patrons to navigate the system, typically with minimal to no assistance from library staff. The 3M Cloud Library offers a growing catalog of material, with new publishing agreements signed with ABC-CLIO, Baker Publishing Group, John Wiley & Sons, Quayside Publishing Group (Fair Winds Press, Quarry Books, Zenith Press and other imprints), Skyhorse Publishing and Workman Publishing. To date, more than 40 publishers have joined the system including HarperCollins, IPG and Random House, bringing the total 3M Cloud Library offering to more than 100,000 titles. The 3M Cloud Library has also added four new beta sites in recent months, with library staff soon to begin training on the system. http://www.3m.com/

eFileCabinet, Inc., a global provider of enterprise content management solutions (ECM), announced the release of eFileCabinet Online, a Cloud-based version of its document management solution. Document management seekers can now select how they would like the product delivered: client/server based or the new Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Like eFileCabinet Desktop, the document management solution parallels the physical file cabinet in digital format and provides users with a central repository to capture, manage, protect and share their business files. Since eFileCabinet Online is a SaaS model, users are not tethered to their local network and can access all of their files anywhere they have an Internet connection. http://www.efilecabinet.com