We made it this far, and my feet are killing me, but DAC has been incredible for us this year!

We’ve had back-to-back meetings all week and the reception has been great - we had no idea there were so many companies that have been considering moving their tool or hardware to Xuropa for pre-sales evaluations or training.  Most of all, companies are looking to leverage all year-round the time and effort of creating DAC demos.

The economic climate, market dynamics, and the availability of the Xuropa Platform have really got the creative juices of customers flowing!  Some very cool and unique ideas are coming out to leverage a Xuropa Lab and differentiate their company’s go-to-market strategy and better serve their customers.

Cadence were making good use of their Online Labs during their VIP 100 Portfolio presentations in the ChipEstimate booth (#1100).  And this was a very good sight to see:

If you click on the image you’ll see that all of the Cadence Xuropa Labs are being used except one.

Back to it for the last day!  See you on the floor!

Posted under Xuropa, industry, marketing

Design and Verification Engineers Can Test-Drive More Verification Solutions Online

San Francisco, California – July 28, 2009 – Xuropa^SM Incorporated today announced that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) has increased the number of products available within Xuropa Online Labs.

 

Users can run simulations and employ this verification IP on example circuits at their convenience from their desktop. With only a web browser, approved visitors to Xuropa Labs™ can now access the Cadence Incisive® verification IP components for the protocols listed below.

 

AMBA VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
AMBA AHB, AXI and APB UVCs

USB VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
USB 1.1 and 2.0 UVC

PCI Express VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
PCI Express 1.1 and 2.0 UVC

OCP VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
OCP 2.2 UVC

SATA VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
SATA I and II UVC

Ethernet VIP with Compliance Management System (CMS)
Ethernet 802.1 and 802.3 UVC

 

The service is free to Xuropa Community members and dramatically simplifies the process of evaluating EDA software products.  Users can begin to test drive applications in minutes vs. the days or weeks it used to take to get agreements signed, software downloaded, and keys installed.

 

The Xuropa Online Community presents networking and learning tools in a professional environment and is dedicated to electronic design. 

 

Lowering the Cost of Customer Engagement

 

“Xuropa Labs enable customers to move beyond the marketing collateral and actually test-drive the technology themselves – at their desktops, and at their convenience,” said Susan Peterson, Verification IP Marketing Director at Cadence.  “With no installation headaches to deal with, the evaluation process and customer training becomes more efficient and effective for us and our customers.”

 

Face-to-face meetings are always going to be important, but as design teams are now global, companies need cost effective alternatives to reduce the number of flights while accelerating the engagement process.

 

“Xuropa has reinvented the front end of the customer engagement process with a web platform that lowers the cost of sales, training and support.”  Xuropa CEO and founder James Colgan explained. “Xuropa Labs provide engineers on-demand hands-on access to technology to learn about it before a purchase is made.”

 

Availability

Xuropa Online Labs featuring Cadence Incisive Verification IP Products are  accessible at no cost to authorized Xuropa members.  Go to www.xuropa.com and sign-in for access.  For information about how to create your own Online Lab, or any of the other Xuropa community products, please contact Xuropa at the address below.

 

 

About Xuropa Incorporated

Xuropa^SM Incorporated was founded by veterans from the internet, IT, and electronics industries.  With the goal of reinventing business processes to lower sales costs and increase revenues for software companies, a Xuropa Lab™  bridges the gap between traditional client-installed and Software-as-a-Service business and distribution models.  Xuropa’s current area of focus is the electronic design industry. http://www.xuropa.com/

 

Contact:

sales@xuropa.com

+1 (415) 727-5741

 

 

Posted under News

I’m sure there are very few people in EDA marketing departments with the time to read blogs this week, never mind write one - about 96 hours from now the show floor of DAC will open in San Francisco and all their work for the past six months will be front and center.  (No one really thinks about DAC seriously until January is out of the way.)

Anyway, the pressure is off Xuropa.  Being online and available globally 24/7 definitely has its advantages

We won’t have a booth, but we will be there walking the floor talking to vendors and users about what we could do to help their business or experience on the Xuropa Platform.  If you see me walking the floor I’d love to hear your feedback - it’s a great opportunity to meet people that have a passion for EDA, SaaS, and the future of the business of the semiconductor design industry.

If we don’t bump into each other on the exhibition floor (or at the Denali Party), stop by the ChipEstimate booth (#1100) at the below times.  The Cadence Verification IP team will be presenting their products and providing attendees the ability to use the products for themselves on the show floor - using their Xuropa Online Labs.

They haven’t had to worry about installing PC’s and testing them just before the exhibit opens.   Everything is all ready to go and sat up on the Xuropa Platform.  They’ll be using the ChipEstimate PCs with just a browser on the day.  Of course, once the show is over the demos will still be available 24/7 for anyone in the world to continue to go into the Lab and trial Cadence products - a beautiful thing.

So, here are the times.  Susan Peterson will be presenting and I’ll be stood in the wings to answer any questions and get feedback during the demo sessions.

• Monday at 2pm
• Tuesday at 2pm
• Wednesday at 1pm
• Thursday at 10:30am

Enjoy the show, and hope to see you there!

- James

Posted under Xuropa, business, industry, marketing

(It’s been too long since my last post (we’ve been *really* busy at Xuropa), but this is too big…)

There has been buzz about a Google OS for a while, but it’s now official - Google is getting into the OS business.

It’s been something that has been begging to be done for years - a fast, light, and secure OS that gets you onto the web “immediately”.  Back in 2001I even batted around the idea (Linux with an Opera browser) at Merinta (R.I.P.)  as a way to turn that company around (not enough gas).  In ‘95 Ellison had the idea of the Network Computer and announced it at Comdex of that year.  This was while I was at National Semiconductor working on x86-based set-top-boxes and the beginnings of what became to be Internet Appliances.  As with everything - the first goes around never make it, especially when they’re this revolutionary.  The first attempts, ideas, and runs at the problem spur the industry, the environment, the infrastructure, and the thinking of the day to lay the ground work for “the one” to make it happen.  All the pieces are in place for this to be a great success.  Exciting times.

I particularly appreciate in the Google blog post the statement that the OS is a “natural extension of” the browser.  The reversal of the exact position Microsoft took in defending its bundling of the browser with Windows when it first released IE to kill Netscape.  Sweet irony.

But to my point about it being bigger that it initially appears.  For example, Michael Arrington’s post on TechCrunch misses the mark.  He states that “The browser is the platform.  The browser is the UI.”  He’s only half right and is really missing the bigger picture.  The correct interpretation of the announcement, IMO, is “The Cloud is the Platform.  The browser is the UI”.  And it’s not just Microsoft that should be worried, but Amazon, all other cloud computing providers, and subsequently telecoms companies.

I expect to see a plethora of cloud-based services and a Chrome-based API to access them to come along with the Chrome OS.  The first obvious service is storage, but in terms of applications the sky’s the limit.  In fact, combining the OS with the browser not only gives Google a competitive position against Microsoft, it significantly strengthens their position against Amazon and other Cloud vendors.  It’s another choke hold on access to services that will be too sweet for developers to pass up.  Before you know, there will be services and applications built upon the Chrome OS/Browser API’s and a whole infrastructure put in place before Microsoft and Amazon can say “Department of Justice”.

I’ve always said that people were spending too much time talking about Microsoft’s monopolistic position and not looking at Google enough.  But just like the advent of other standard platforms (eg. the IBM PC and Windows), this is going to open up tremendous opportunity for industry growth…and mass schizophrenia.

Posted under business, industry

This day has been a long time coming - we can now officially announce that the Cadence MIPI Verification IP Online Labs are up and running!  This is a real vote of confidence in the platform from Cadence, and we’re looking forward to announcing more activity in the coming weeks.

Below is the full press release.  (Yes, the press release is trailing reality…but that’s the web for you.)

Online Community Lowers Cost of Sales, Enables Effective Leverage of Field Resources Globally

San Francisco, California – July 2, 2009 – Xuropa^SM Incorporated today announced the opening of the first Xuropa Online Lab featuring technology from Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS).

With only a web browser, approved visitors to Xuropa Online Labs can access the Cadence Incisive® MIPI verification IP Components. Users can run simulations, employing them on example circuits at their convenience.

The service is free to Xuropa Community members and dramatically simplifies the process of evaluating EDA software products. Users can begin to test drive applications in minutes vs. the days or weeks it used to take to get agreements signed, software downloaded, and keys installed.

The Xuropa Online Community presents networking and learning tools in a professional environment and is dedicated to electronic design.

Addressing a Dynamic and Global Marketplace

“The better educated customers are about Cadence products the more likely they are to call us. Having our technology available through Xuropa Online Labs enables customers to move beyond the datasheet to view presentations and videos, and actually use the technology themselves – at their desktops, and at their convenience,” added Susan Peterson, Verification IP Marketing Director at Cadence. “With no installation headaches to deal with, the evaluation process becomes more efficient and effective for us and our customers.”

Physical trade shows and conferences present engineers with the opportunity to try out new technologies and discuss them with experts. The Xuropa community complements these events by providing the tools and the experts online all year round, accessible from all over the world.

“Generic online communities are generally consumer-centric and electronic design companies tend to get lost in the noise,” Xuropa CEO and founder James Colgan explained. “The electronics industry focus of Xuropa brings resonance and helps electronic design companies connect with their customers. The Xuropa Online Lab, featuring the Cadence VIP, exemplifies our goal – to economically bring technology to engineers so they can make better purchase decisions faster.”

Availability

Xuropa Online Labs featuring Cadence Incisive MIPI verification IP are accessible at no cost to authorized Xuropa members. Go to www.xuropa.com and sign-in for access – Cadence MIPI CSI VIP Online Lab or Cadence MIPI DSI VIP Online Lab. For information about how to create your own Online Lab, or any of the other Xuropa community products, please contact Xuropa at the address below.

About Xuropa Incorporated

Xuropa^SM Incorporated was founded in 2007 by veterans from the internet, IT, and electronics industries. With the goal of economically and effectively bringing together the constituents of different industry verticals to accelerate business processes, Xuropa offers a unique environment that integrates professional networking, collaboration, marketing, and product evaluation tools. Xuropa’s current area of focus is the electronic design industry. http://www.xuropa.com/

Posted under News, Xuropa, business, industry