I know, this edition of the INFONETICS Update newsletter has been a long time in coming. We took a six month sabbatical from publishing so that we could focus our resources on some enormous projects underway here in the R&D labs at INFONETICS.
Since our last newsletter in February, we’ve jumped on an opportunity to host a Webinar in conjunction with the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA). Record setting attendance, both at our Dallas INFOGROUP users group meeting and on the teleconference yielded hundreds of participants from dozens of companies. The teleconference focused on our RITA+VPN technology, which has been rewriting the way computers in branch stores communicate with the main office at significant cost savings over traditional leased lines.
That same week, we successfully launched beta testing of our newest software release; Version 2.20. And if that wasn’t enough, the next full-year update to iCat, our Internet Catalog, hit the streets in March. This month’s newsletter revisits this exciting product and what it can mean to your web site. It’s a great time to jump into more web content, as the next update to iCat just went live in mid-September.
Progress with the new Version 2.20 software release went so well that it’s now available for full distribution. This is our first major software release in almost three years (although we add minor software features and enhancements almost daily), and incorporates a number of significant enhancements throughout the software. Look for a full expose in an upcoming newsletter.
Version 2.20 also marks the completion of our port to the newest, latest, server operating system of choice — RedHat Linux. Linux, as a replacement for the venerable SCO Unix, is proving to be everything we hoped for; Internet secure, modern, fast, reliable and affordable.
Linux also is the basis of a new generation of hardware for use as our server; Intel’s Pentium 4, running at 3 Gigahertz and featuring new “Hyper-Threading” technology. This speed-demon is an order of magnitude faster than our most recent server and means a 10-fold performance increase for CPU and disk-intensive applications.
All three of these significant new pieces of R&D are up and running in INFONETICS offices today, and are ready for rolling out to customers. So give us a call if you’d like to be an early adopter of one or more.
Next month, we’ll introduce a new class to our INFOGROUP curriculum; PC For Beginners. Give us a call right away if you’d like to send one or two of your staffers “back to school”.
Finally, we have numerous new customers to welcome;
Advanced Gas Products in Huntington Beach, CA; Frank, Mike & Cynthia.
Mid City Welding Supply in Silsbee, TS; Lester, Elaine & Marlon.
A-L Compressed Gases in Nashville, TN; Richard, Kathy, Ricky, Wade, David, Phil & Michele.
Ann Arbor Welding Supply in Ann Arbor, MI; Mitch, Dutch, Laura & Jackie
ETOX in Tyler, TX; John, Bob, Dee & Connie.
–David J Frea
Whew! Welcome one and all!