New tech on the block: Cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, climate tech, IT, cloud, streaming & CCaaS

The Tech Panda takes a look at recent tech launches.

Cryptocurrency: The world’s first perpetual trading platform designed for Bitcoin Ordinals & Inscriptions

NFTFN, a Web3 company that makes infrastructure for NFT Perpetual, unveiled a groundbreaking development for the Bitcoin ecosystem and web3 traders – the introduction of what they claim is the world’s first perpetual trading platform designed for Bitcoin Ordinals and Inscriptions.

Abhishek Kumar Gupta, Co-founder of NFTFN, shares his excitement about the platform’s potential: “We recognized the explosive potential of Ordinals right from their inception. With the Ordinals market expected to boom to $4.5 billion, our platform is meticulously crafted to harness this growth and spearhead innovation in the digital asset space.”

This marks a pivotal juncture in the evolution of digital assets, blending the steadfast permanence and authenticity of Bitcoin’s blockchain with the dynamic world of digital artefacts akin to NFTs, offering traders, collectors, and enthusiasts a new realm of trading possibilities.

The Why

The vision of NFTFN extends beyond today’s launch. With future plans to introduce RWA Perp and Crypto Perp, the company is positioning itself as a comprehensive ‘Trade Everything Perps’ platform, offering a wide array of investment opportunities in the digital asset sphere.

Features

The NFTFN Ordinals Perp platform is a game-changer, allowing users to leverage long or short positions on a variety of Ordinal assets with the security and transparency of Bitcoin’s blockchain. It’s designed to cater to both experienced traders and those new to the digital asset space.

Cybersecurity: Zscaler Zero Trust SASE, an industry first, single-vendor SASE solution to help organizations reduce cost & complexity

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), a cloud security platform, announced Zscaler Zero Trust SASE, an industry first, single-vendor SASE solution built utilizing Zscaler Zero Trust AI to help organizations reduce cost and complexity while implementing Zero Trust security across users, devices, and workloads. Additionally, Zscaler announced general availability for its Zero Trust SD-WAN solution and portfolio of plug-and-play appliances to help customers modernize secure connectivity for branch offices, factories, and data centers while also eliminating the need for ineffective firewalls and VPNs.

“Users and organizations want a café-like branch experience to empower hybrid work,” said Naresh Kumar, VP, Product Management, Zscaler. “Employees expect the same seamless and secure access they would have in an office setting, whether they are at home or on the go, without having to access their applications over a slow, cumbersome VPN. Zscaler Zero Trust SD-WAN will connect and secure users, devices, sites, and workloads using our single-vendor SASE platform, without the cyber risks of traditional SD-WAN.”

The Why

The new Zscaler solutions are built on a Zero Trust architecture, where business policies determine user and device access. Legacy network and firewall architectures introduce risk and complexity, and enable lateral threat movement which is often exploited by ransomware attacks. Zero Trust SD-WAN provides secure inbound and outbound connectivity while reducing business risk and network complexity.

By connecting users, locations and applications through the Zero Trust Exchange™ Platform, this solution extends zero trust beyond users and protects device and server traffic at branches, warehouses and factories. Zscaler is also employing its adaptive AI engine to continuously assess risk for users, devices, destinations, and content, incorporating telemetry from 500 trillion daily signals with third-party risk intelligence.

With this new approach, Zscaler is delivering Zero Trust SASE, bringing together its industry-leading AI-powered SSE platform and its new Zero Trust SD-WAN solution to enable a hybrid workforce spanning all locations as well as an organization’s remote users. Zero Trust SD-WAN secures inbound and outbound Zero Trust connectivity in a single device. This approach requires no overlay routing complexity, no additional firewalls, and no separate policies for sites and users.

Features

• Plug-and-play appliances: In addition to the virtual appliance already available, Plug-and-Play appliances deliver zero touch provisioning and integrated gateway capabilities to eliminate the needs for additional routers or firewalls at branches.
• Integrated SSE: Zero Trust AI cyberthreat and data protection capabilities, including integrated FWaaS, SWG, CASB, and DLP services
• Centralized management: Cloud-based management console with integrated policy management across users, locations, and clouds.

Cybersecurity: Content Protector, a product that stops scraping attacks without blocking the good traffic

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), a cloud company announced the availability of Content Protector, a product that stops scraping attacks without blocking the good traffic that companies need to enhance their business.

“Content scraping brings serious harm to businesses,” explained Rupesh Chokshi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Application Security, at Akamai. “This includes competitors undercutting your offers, slower sites that lead customers to get frustrated and leave, and brand damage from counterfeiters passing off subpar goods as your legitimate merchandise. Content Protector helps demonstrate the direct business value of security while enabling business leaders to grow their digital businesses.”

The Why

Scraper bots are a critical and often productive part of the commerce ecosystem. These bots search for new content, highlight products in comparison sites, and gather updated product information to share with customers. Unfortunately, scrapers also get used for harmful purposes such as competitive undercutting, surveillance before inventory hoarding attacks, and counterfeiting goods and websites. Scrapers also ping sites 24/7 unless stopped — so they can degrade site performance, which in turn frustrates consumers and causes them to abandon their visits. In addition, scrapers have become much more evasive and sophisticated over the past few years.

Akamai Content Protector helps detect and mitigate evasive scrapers that steal content for malicious purposes. It facilitates significantly better detections and fewer false negatives without increasing the rate of false positives. The product is designed for companies that need to protect their intellectual property, reputation, and revenue potential.

Features

• Protocol-level assessment: Protocol fingerprinting evaluates how the client establishes the connection with the server at the different layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model — verifying that the parameters negotiated align with the one expected from the most common web browsers and mobile applications.
• Application-level assessment: Evaluates if the client can run some business logic written in JavaScript. When the client runs JavaScript, it collects the device and browser characteristics and user preferences. These various data points are compared and cross-checked against the protocol-level data to verify consistency.
• User interaction: Analyzes human interaction with the client through standard peripherals like a touch screen, keyboard, and mouse. Lack of interaction or abnormal interaction is typically associated with bot traffic.
• User behavior: Monitors the user journey through the website. Botnets typically go after specific content, resulting in significantly different behavior than legitimate traffic.
• Risk classification: Provides a deterministic and actionable low-, medium-, or high-risk classification of the traffic, based on the anomalies found during the evaluation.

Climate tech: An open source India-specific landslide tracker tool

Climate Software Lab (CSL), the climate technology arm of GPS Renewables, a full stack clean fuels company, launched a Landslide Risk Assessment model that can map landslide risks for susceptible areas in the Indian subcontinent covering nearly 40 lakh people. This tool is a free open-source software that uses a host of local factors such as slope, local relief, forest loss and tree canopy height to map an area’s susceptibility.

Nipun OS, Chief Sustainability Officer, GPS Renewables, said, “With our new open source tool, our aim is to address a critical gap that currently exists in landslide risk assessment models. During our research, we found that many states in India depend on old and low-resolution susceptibility maps to draw up landslide prediction models. CSL’s tool addresses this gap by providing high-quality risk visualizations that would enable policy makers to develop local-level disaster response strategies. The tool is free and open-access, making climate-related data more accessible to more people.”

The Why

Landslides continue to pose a significant threat to large parts of India including areas like Himalayas, North-Eastern hill ranges, Western Ghats, Nilgiris, Eastern Ghats, and Vindhyas. A report by Indian Academy of Sciences indicates that annually about 500 lives are lost due to landslides and the damage to property is estimated to be about Rs 300 Crore. Unlike other natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, it is difficult to predict when and where landslides will occur; rain is often a trigger event for a landslide. Hence, the task before policy planners, scientists, and administrators is to use the latest technology for mitigation strategies. CSL’s Landslide Susceptibility Model was developed with an aim to address the above need.

Features

Developed by a team of AI experts and scientists at GPS’ Climate Software Lab, the tool uses data on local conditions, including tree height and its rate of change, soil clay content, human modification, as well as Geological Survey of India’s (GSI) dataset, which contains information about past landslide locations. Further, CSL’s tool customizes NASA’s existing Landslide Hazard Assessment for Situational Awareness (LHASA) model to suit Indian conditions and provide better spatial resolution to enable policy-makers and administrators to plan local interventions for vulnerable populations and important assets.

IT: A series of exciting new solutions on the Cisco Observability Platform

Cisco announced a series of exciting new solutions on the Cisco Observability Platform. With applications acting as the front door for nearly every business the latest enhancements will help customers deliver secure and performant user and application experience.

“These latest innovations further boost the core capabilities of the Cisco Observability Platform, empowering our customers with better visibility, insights and actions across domains than ever before,” said Ronak Desai, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco AppDynamics and Full-Stack Observability. “Cisco is uniquely positioned to deliver all the benefits of observability in a unified platform to support our customers’ digital ecosystems.”

Features

• Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) for greater visibility and insight into user behavior: With application experience expectations at an all-time high, technologists can now leverage new Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) capabilities for both hybrid and cloud environments. The new DEM application includes Real User Monitoring (RUM) and Session Replay modules for deep insights into browser and mobile applications performance and efficient resolution of session-level issues. In addition, integrations with Cisco ThousandEyes and Cisco Accedian empower applications and network teams with the insights into service delivery required to identify whether the root cause of impacted digital experience is the application, network or cloud infrastructure.
• Observability for Kubernetes workloads, powered by extended Berkeley Packet Filters (eBPF) technology: Cisco offers observability for Kubernetes workloads on the Cisco Observability Platform, using the powerful, lightweight Linux kernel utility, extended Berkeley Packet Filters (eBPF). Operating at the kernel level allows operators access to granular visibility into network activity, resource utilization, application dependencies and misconfigurations impacting network performance, without the need for multiple tools, cross-team collaboration and manual dependency mapping.
• Unified Observability Experience for increased application insights: Cisco is delivering a unified experience across its observability portfolio, with new capabilities across Cisco AppDynamics and the Cisco Observability Platform. Using a single account and shared context, the unified observability experience arms operators with capabilities including Log Analytics, to search with context and improved log storage; and Core Web Vitals, providing front-end application owners the golden signals to keep their web pages from being de-ranked for poor user experience.
• Natural Language Interface, powered by Generative AI: As part of Cisco’s continued expansion in innovations powered by Generative AI, the Cisco Observability Platform now offers a natural language interface for troubleshooting. Operators can use conversational dialogues instead of a structured query language to perform common tasks during troubleshooting, thereby increasing productivity.
• Cisco AIOps for Cisco Full-Stack Observability for actionable insights that improve IT operations: The new Cisco AIOps application simplifies real-time business health monitoring and significantly reduces noise from events and alerts to automate IT processes and keep operations teams productive and responsive. The application unifies data from Cisco AppDynamics, Cisco ThousandEyes, Cisco DNA Center, VMWare, Zabbix and ServiceNow (ITSM, ITOM and CMDB). It is uniquely positioned having been built on the Cisco Observability Platform, which supports logs in addition to alerts, events and metrics. It also provides dynamic thresholds-based alerting on metrics and events and multiple anomaly-detection approaches.
• Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Observability: The introduction of Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Observability to Cisco’s Business Risk Observability solution delivers real-time and automated data discovery, classification, policy definition and compliance visibility for sensitive data, in addition to visualizing and prioritizing attack surface.
• New Partner Modules: Continuing the momentum of creating an observability ecosystem with its global partners across categories including AIOps, MLOps, networking, infrastructure observability and business insights, Cisco unveiled a series of new partner modules on the Cisco Observability Platform:

o             Aporia – Machine Learning Monitoring.

o             CloudFabrix – Asset Intelligence, Operational Intelligence and Infrastructure Observability.

o             Komodor – Kubernetes Change Management.

o             Perform IT – AS400 Monitoring and I4Cube business performance.

o             SoftServe – Operational Intelligence for Oilfields.

Cloud: Panta Rhei, a single, centralized, cloud-based platform to reform the audio-visual ecosystem experience

Kramer, an audio-visual experiences company, launched Panta Rhei, a single, centralized, cloud-based platform designed to reform the audio-visual ecosystem experience. Panta Rhei encompasses the entire audio-visual lifecycle, offering an unprecedented suite of services for System Integrators, IT/AV managers, and end-users.

“Panta Rhei reflects Kramer’s deep commitment to our customers and the entire audio-visual industry. This platform is the result of two years of intensive development, leveraging our four decades of expertise in the audio-visual sector. With Panta Rhei, we’re embracing a significant shift from hardware-centric solutions to a more software-driven approach, signaling a new era in audio-visual technology. This evolution is just the beginning. We’re dedicated to continually expanding Panta Rhei, introducing more services and capabilities to ensure our customers are equipped with the most advanced and efficient tools to meet their evolving needs,” says Gilad Yron, Kramer’s CEO.

Features

• Setup & Management: Quickly build, configure, and manage audio-visual environments, either remotely or on-site, thereby reducing time and resources required.
• Monitor & Support: Enables effective tracking, monitoring, and health reporting of audio-visual environments to boost uptime and utilization. The platform’s integration with IT support systems and remote troubleshooting capabilities expedites support resolution, enhancing user satisfaction and operational efficiency.
• Analytics: Gain actionable intelligence on meeting technologies, devices, and spaces usage, allowing for better planning, budgeting, and optimization of audio-visual resources.
• Session Manager: Combining VIA and Quicklaunch, the Session Manager Service/Application facilitates easy initiation and management of sessions, ensuring a consistent user experience across all audio-visual spaces.
• AVoIP Manager: An innovative cloud-based manager supporting multiple AVoIP technologies, seamlessly integrated within the Panta Rhei ecosystem.
• Administration: Manage multiple users and customer relationships effectively, with flexible permissions and services for all levels.

Insurtech: Claims Tracker, a digital-first solution to help members overseeing reimbursement claims in real-time

Onsurity, an Indian monthly subscription-led employee healthcare benefits provider, has launched “Claims Tracker”, a digital-first solution that will help its 10,00,000+ members in effortlessly overseeing their reimbursement claims in real-time.

The Why

According to IRDAI’s latest annual report, during 2022-23, insurers settled 2.36 crore health insurance claims of which 42% were reimbursement claims. Unlike cashless claims that don’t require the policyholder to pay out of pocket at the hospital, reimbursement claims are like getting a refund for your medical expenses. You pay for the treatment upfront, submit the bills to your insurer, and they repay you according to your policy coverage.

The most significant challenges in filing health insurance claims often revolve around a customer non-centric claims process, where the system may not be designed with the policyholder's needs in mind. The absence of real-time updates on the status of claims exacerbates the issue, leaving policyholders uncertain about the progress of their claim. This lack of information can add to the emotional and financial burden that policyholders may already be dealing with.

With its real-time claims tracker, Onsurity is solving for exactly this. The company is leveraging advanced digital solutions to streamline and simplify the often-convoluted procedures, offering its members a more user-friendly and efficient experience.

Features

• Transparency in claims process: Onsurity’s primary goal is to bring in transparency to the claims process. This feature ensures that members have immediate and clear insights into the status and progress of their claims.
• Efficient and streamlined communication: The feature facilitates efficient and streamlined communication between Onsurity and the customer.
• Reduced member inquiries: One of the key issues in traditional claims procedures is the influx of customer inquiries seeking updates on their claims. The claims tracker significantly reduces the need for such inquiries by providing policyholders with instant access to the information they seek. This not only saves time and effort for customers but also streamlines processes and makes the entire journey efficient for Onsurity and the insurance partner.

Streaming: KDS-17 and KDS-100 to provide high-performing solutions for diverse AVoIP streaming needs

Kramer, an audio-visual experiences company, expanded its AVoIP portfolio at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2024. This expansion features the introduction of two innovative products – KDS-17 and KDS-100 – designed to provide high-performing, scalable solutions for diverse AVoIP streaming needs.

The AVoIP solution portfolio includes a full array of decoders, auto-switcher encoders in various form factors, and a dedicated cloud-based device manager. These versatile solutions cater to enterprises, educational institutions, homeland security, military, and government applications, allowing for flexible deployment in any quantity.

Dorit Bitter, Kramer’s EVP of Product and Technology, comments: “The expansion of our AVoIP portfolio with KDS-17 and KDS-100 represents a pivotal step in our ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence. These products exemplify our dedication to providing intuitive, scalable, and secure solutions. Our unique technological approach has successfully decoupled high latency from open standards, allowing customers to enjoy the benefits of the 264/265 codec without compromising on performance. With these additions, we are setting new standards in the AVoIP domain, ensuring our customers have access to the most advanced technology, easy to deploy and manage, regardless of the scale or complexity of their needs”.

Features

KDS-17

The KDS-17 offers ultra-high performance and scalability, utilizing JPEG2K-like compression for superior video and audio streaming over 1GE networks. Ideal for spaces requiring 4K60 4.4.4 video quality with minimal latency, it supports up to 1,000 video sources, making it suitable for command centers, meeting rooms, digital signage, and more.

KDS-100

The KDS-100 leverages the H.264/265 open standard for efficient bandwidth usage and interoperability. Its dual streaming capabilities make it perfect for environments requiring live recording. Suitable for operations rooms, university auditoriums, and command centers, the KDS-100 provides high-quality 4K60 4:2.

CCaaS: Redesigned and upgraded intelligent agent console, Intello

RADIUS-Omnichannel Interaction System, a provider of Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions introduced the newly redesigned and upgraded intelligent agent console, Intello.

“As a niche player in the industry, we firmly believe in the power of integrating customer feedback with the comprehensive research of our team. With this symbiotic approach, we prioritize a customer-centric focus to drive innovation and stay ahead in the market. This not only addresses current user needs but also anticipates future demands, ensuring our application's functional superiority, user satisfaction, and sustainable business growth,” said Chief Architect of RADIUS-OIS Suman Subudhi.

Features

The next-generation agent console elevates the customer experience with its powerful and sophisticated features, including an intuitive interface with breezy navigation and a customizable dashboard with diverse themes for personalization. It allows seamless switching between various interactions and channels, enhancing communication and productivity. Core features include integrated AI tools for deeper insights, audio and video capabilities via WebRTC, and a multi-feature-single window interface for streamlined access to multiple functions. Moreover, its robust integration with Data and Information Management Systems puts essential information readily at agents fingertips.

Cloud: A suite of hybrid cloud services to address data management challenges

Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure, and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), announced the next evolution of its partnership with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), introducing an innovative suite of hybrid cloud services designed to address ongoing data management challenges faced by modern enterprises. The joint offering, Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud, is unique because it integrates automation solutions and predictive analytics to give organizations a future-proof portfolio for advanced infrastructure management, cost efficiency, and operational effectiveness.

“According to a recent survey, nearly half of businesses are struggling to navigate complex cloud landscapes,” said Kimberly King, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partners and Alliances, Hitachi Vantara. ”Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud is a strategic response to modern enterprise needs. Our ability to deliver both through our partners and Cisco’s network directly tackles the complexity challenge by providing strong IT operational capabilities that can be scaled based on customer data management needs. This partnership enables businesses to establish a robust data foundation today so that they are prepared for future innovation.”

The Why

While companies are increasingly relying on hybrid cloud environments to modernize their current infrastructure, they also face tightening budgets, rising costs, and heightened demand for innovation. A recent study indicates that these factors have pushed more than 70% of global leaders to embrace consumption-based models such as IT as a Service (ITaaS) to help them combat ongoing modernization issues – a trend that’s expected to rise. According to Gartner®, by 2028, consumption-based Storage as a Service (STaaS) will replace over 35% of enterprise storage capex, up from less than 10% in 2023.

Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud is purposefully crafted to confront these challenges head-on. By combining Hitachi Vantara’s proficiency in storage, infrastructure, managed services, and hybrid cloud management with Cisco’s expertise in networking and computing, the comprehensive offering provides a consistent experience whether used on-premises or in the cloud.

Features

Available in various levels of customization and through Hitachi Vantara’s partner ecosystem, it offers complete flexibility with a support and consumption-based model that delivers cost efficiencies through pay-per-use pricing and resilient, scalable solutions without requiring upfront investment. The diverse portfolio includes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), STaaS, Containers as a Service (CaaS) data protection, managed operations services, professional services, and learning services, among others.

Additionally, the offering brings together several key capabilities:

HIOaaS and Intersight: Hitachi Infrastructure Orchestration as a Service (HIOaaS) and Cisco Intersight® offer full observability, delivering cloud-like management for on-premises and cloud environments, enabling strong performance analytics, hybrid cloud observability, and efficient automation.

Managed Services Operating Model: Leveraging extensive experience from numerous implementations, the managed services operating model ensures seamless operational transitions, informed decision-making, and expedited provisioning without the need for dedicated IT staff. Typically, Hitachi Managed Services has reduced customer total cost of ownership (TCO) by 30-50%.

Hitachi EverFlex Consumption Model: Hitachi Vantara’s elastic consumption model ensures flexible, pay-per-use solutions for hybrid cloud and on-premises environments.

Hybrid Cloud Acceleration: Seamlessly facilitates a hybrid cloud environment, enabling data storage and processing across diverse locations.

Efficiency through Automation: Automates routine tasks, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing human errors through IaaS.

Security and Compliance: Implements comprehensive security strategies and compliance measures, ensuring data encryption, access controls, and threat prevention.