Ever since watching the children’s cartoon, The Jetsons as a child, I have always wanted a video phone. (Truth be told, I have always wanted my own robot and flying car that folded into a suitcase too.) We have been living and working with video phones for quite a while now in the form of video conferencing units and, of course, 3G video capable mobile phone.
As much as spin doctors at Apple Inc. would like us to believe otherwise, we have had the option of video calls on our mobile phones way before the iPhone 4. While the iPhone video call is undoubtedly better quality than a 3G video call, the iPhone actually cheats and places the call over any available local wireless access point and the internet. Essentially the iPhone is a hand held video conferencing unit.
We were recently testing dedicated video conferencing units at the TestLab. The reason we spend large sums of money on such technology is that there are sound business reasons for doing so. We would not go to the great trouble of face to face meetings if there was not such value in the relationship, in the expression and in the nuances that face to face conversations convey.
There is simply no way most of us would negotiate a pay rise, undertake a job interview or purchase a new house over the phone. Why? Simple because we are at a great disadvantage if we cannot be there to read the relationship we carry out with the other party.
Coincidentally, while musing over such drivers of video phone calls, there was quite a stir in the media regarding the wearing of religious garments in public, in particular the Burqa. The French were discussing the possibility of banning the garment and a similar debate emerged Australia concerning the moral, religious and security issues of the veil. I was fascinated by the arguments for and against the Burqa. They range, of course, across religious, cultural, sexual and individual grounds, but the one most relevant to this particular discussion was about its impact on a security-minded world. The argument follows that if you have to remove a motor cycle helmet in the bank or airport (it is a form of disguise concealing the identity) the Burqa, religious ramifications aside, also plainly hides the wearer’s identity in much the same way.
It’s not my place to decide on what is appropriate. But it does amuse me somewhat that my dream of a The Jetsons-esque science fiction future, one that is becoming a fantastic reality through high quality video conferencing technology, is still impacted by thousand-year old culture and tradition. Even so, I’m confident that video communication with, or without a Burqa, is still a science fiction milestone.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
UK EMEA Lab Notes - December 2010 - Ian Hyndman
Even More Reason to Get Protection
Most modern day cyber attacks tend to target organisations and governments with the explicit purpose of stealing information and causing disruption. As a consequence, governments have had to reassess their stance on cyber crime, and many are attempting to tackle the problem directly.
In the latest budget, the UK government announced an estimated £500 million will be made available to help fight the war on cyber crime. This is a substantial allocation, suggesting that cyber crime is a bigger problem than the average person might be aware of. It is refreshing to see that the threat is being taken seriously.
Recently, Symantec and Websense (among many others) have announced they expect an increase in attacks in during 2011. This has been backed up with the UK’s intelligence centre (CESG) saying that it has seen a massive rise in the number of attempts made to infiltrate UK government and industrial targets over the past year.
The types of attacks occurring are very advanced, with viruses/worms such as Zeus, Aurora and Stuxnet deliberately targeted at infiltrating businesses and key infrastructure.
These malware are specifically designed to hide from detection devices and software, making them significantly harder to manage. They also mutate into different strains, allowing them to survive far longer in the wild. The Stuxnet worm is said to be one of the most advanced pieces of malware seen to date. Iit is a sophisticated worm that has the ability to actually change its code and hide these changes afterwards. Currently, this type of technology infects thousands of computers worldwide. It is the sort of cyber-attacks seen in sci-fi films through the 80’s and 90’s, they really may be becoming a reality.
Last month (November 2010) the UK Intellectual Property Office was hit by a cyber attack which took down its website and services for several days. It was almost certainly a targeted attack due to the ferocity and damage it caused. And this is but one of the many attacks that take place worldwide on a daily basis.
Most of the current targets are generally big business and government - organisations that hold information worth a lot of money. But, as this kind of malicious technology spread, my fear is that it will begin to be used against any company holding useful data – big or small. Even a list of email addresses can be valuable to the right customer.
To combat such attacks, all businesses have to enforce strict security policies. That isn’t to say they need to have expensive equipment, but they do need to ensure that all employees are being vigilant. A good security policy should contain instructions on acceptable internet use along with guidance on the correct use of memory sticks and personal equipment brought in to the work place. Nothing should be plugged in to a PC that hasn’t been virus checked.
One of the most important defences against attack is to ensure that all PCs, workstations and servers are fully patched with the latest security updates (operating system and anti-malware solutions). Usually, it is vulnerabilities in operating systems and security that most attackers look to exploit.
Even though malware is becoming more advanced, the best ways to combat it continues to be much the same. It is probably true that the Stuxnet worm outbreak was cause by unchecked laptops and memory sticks being used on the corporate network.
If a user is vigilant (scan all files before opening, don’t open email attachments from unknown senders, and keep your anti-malware solution up to date) you are about as safe as you can be whilst still being connected to the internet.
Just like anything in the world of IT, malware is evolving. It is always up to users to ensure they take the precautions necessary to safe guard themselves until anti-malware vendors catch up with what’s being found in the wild.
Most modern day cyber attacks tend to target organisations and governments with the explicit purpose of stealing information and causing disruption. As a consequence, governments have had to reassess their stance on cyber crime, and many are attempting to tackle the problem directly.
In the latest budget, the UK government announced an estimated £500 million will be made available to help fight the war on cyber crime. This is a substantial allocation, suggesting that cyber crime is a bigger problem than the average person might be aware of. It is refreshing to see that the threat is being taken seriously.
Recently, Symantec and Websense (among many others) have announced they expect an increase in attacks in during 2011. This has been backed up with the UK’s intelligence centre (CESG) saying that it has seen a massive rise in the number of attempts made to infiltrate UK government and industrial targets over the past year.
The types of attacks occurring are very advanced, with viruses/worms such as Zeus, Aurora and Stuxnet deliberately targeted at infiltrating businesses and key infrastructure.
These malware are specifically designed to hide from detection devices and software, making them significantly harder to manage. They also mutate into different strains, allowing them to survive far longer in the wild. The Stuxnet worm is said to be one of the most advanced pieces of malware seen to date. Iit is a sophisticated worm that has the ability to actually change its code and hide these changes afterwards. Currently, this type of technology infects thousands of computers worldwide. It is the sort of cyber-attacks seen in sci-fi films through the 80’s and 90’s, they really may be becoming a reality.
Last month (November 2010) the UK Intellectual Property Office was hit by a cyber attack which took down its website and services for several days. It was almost certainly a targeted attack due to the ferocity and damage it caused. And this is but one of the many attacks that take place worldwide on a daily basis.
Most of the current targets are generally big business and government - organisations that hold information worth a lot of money. But, as this kind of malicious technology spread, my fear is that it will begin to be used against any company holding useful data – big or small. Even a list of email addresses can be valuable to the right customer.
To combat such attacks, all businesses have to enforce strict security policies. That isn’t to say they need to have expensive equipment, but they do need to ensure that all employees are being vigilant. A good security policy should contain instructions on acceptable internet use along with guidance on the correct use of memory sticks and personal equipment brought in to the work place. Nothing should be plugged in to a PC that hasn’t been virus checked.
One of the most important defences against attack is to ensure that all PCs, workstations and servers are fully patched with the latest security updates (operating system and anti-malware solutions). Usually, it is vulnerabilities in operating systems and security that most attackers look to exploit.
Even though malware is becoming more advanced, the best ways to combat it continues to be much the same. It is probably true that the Stuxnet worm outbreak was cause by unchecked laptops and memory sticks being used on the corporate network.
If a user is vigilant (scan all files before opening, don’t open email attachments from unknown senders, and keep your anti-malware solution up to date) you are about as safe as you can be whilst still being connected to the internet.
Just like anything in the world of IT, malware is evolving. It is always up to users to ensure they take the precautions necessary to safe guard themselves until anti-malware vendors catch up with what’s being found in the wild.
Australian Lab Notes - November 2010 - Steve Turvey
In my last Lab Notes we discussed testing of 50-ton cranes and electric buses. This time I’m reporting on another batch of testing that falls beyond traditional IT categories - car stereos.
In this month’s example, our customer, a large car accessory store, was investigating opportunities to purchase a new line of car stereos from China to rebrand and sell through their local stores. While many of the respected industry brand names already hale from Chinese production lines, the units on this particular shortlist were completely unknown in the West.
The questions the Lab was tasked to solve were simply: “Is the audio quality up to scratch?” Are these units going to be reliable on Australian roads”?
Testing of the audio quality is not complicated, although the units required DVD video, SD cards, USB thumb drives and MP3 CD media options to be tested.
In the past, we’ve evaluated players that are capable of playing MP3s from various media, but at times the navigation ranged from poor to “the unit completely ignores any music that is not sitting in the root of the device or disc”. Happily all these stereos were very capable, both in terms of audio quality and the ability to correctly read different media formats.
Testing for reliability, including how these devices behave on rough roads, including corrugated, outback dirt roads was not such a simple task. We considered purchasing an off–the-shelf vibration table - but what fun is that? We also really preferred to test vibrations in all three axes to truly simulate a car jolting around - I had some truly terrible stretches of road in mind.
Fearlessly, or perhaps recklessly, we therefore embarked on constructing our own test custom vibration test rig. This rig consisted of several large concrete blocks (foundations) a sub-woofer amplifier, a Jaycar Response Power Bass Rocker (PBR) and other ancillary bits and pieces. If you’re not familiar with the PBR, it’s an interesting device which began as an early, but unsuccessful, gaming accessory. The PBR was originally an integral part of a shock vest, worn when playing a video game. Each contact or shot that hit a player triggers a thump in the chest from the vest.
In effect, the PBR is a heavy duty speaker, but instead of the beefy voice coil being connected to a paper cone to produce sound, it is instead connected to a large slug of metal that produces substantial vibrations as it is driven back and forth.
Jaycar, the distributors of the technology, suggest you attach a couple of the units to the underside of your lounge chair, hook them up to your cinema sound system so that any sound produced by your sub-woofer is also translated as a vibration through your chair.
In our custom made, fully controllable, measurable, triple-axis vibration rig, we mounted the car stereos into a cradle connected directly to the PBR. The PBR was hooked up to a 150W sub-woofer amplifier which, in turn, was linked to a programmable audio frequency generator. This enabled us to simulate a vast range of vibration frequencies.
I have to admit we thought the rig would destroy the car stereos, particularly when playing back CDs. To our amazement, all-but-one of the units performed perfectly - without a single glitch or stutter. Only one unit experience any problems at all, skipping just three times. The vibrations it was managing were the most violent we could produce.
We shook the living daylights out of those stereos. It is, when you think about it, a touch ironic - we shook them all night long.
In this month’s example, our customer, a large car accessory store, was investigating opportunities to purchase a new line of car stereos from China to rebrand and sell through their local stores. While many of the respected industry brand names already hale from Chinese production lines, the units on this particular shortlist were completely unknown in the West.
The questions the Lab was tasked to solve were simply: “Is the audio quality up to scratch?” Are these units going to be reliable on Australian roads”?
Testing of the audio quality is not complicated, although the units required DVD video, SD cards, USB thumb drives and MP3 CD media options to be tested.
In the past, we’ve evaluated players that are capable of playing MP3s from various media, but at times the navigation ranged from poor to “the unit completely ignores any music that is not sitting in the root of the device or disc”. Happily all these stereos were very capable, both in terms of audio quality and the ability to correctly read different media formats.
Testing for reliability, including how these devices behave on rough roads, including corrugated, outback dirt roads was not such a simple task. We considered purchasing an off–the-shelf vibration table - but what fun is that? We also really preferred to test vibrations in all three axes to truly simulate a car jolting around - I had some truly terrible stretches of road in mind.
Fearlessly, or perhaps recklessly, we therefore embarked on constructing our own test custom vibration test rig. This rig consisted of several large concrete blocks (foundations) a sub-woofer amplifier, a Jaycar Response Power Bass Rocker (PBR) and other ancillary bits and pieces. If you’re not familiar with the PBR, it’s an interesting device which began as an early, but unsuccessful, gaming accessory. The PBR was originally an integral part of a shock vest, worn when playing a video game. Each contact or shot that hit a player triggers a thump in the chest from the vest.
In effect, the PBR is a heavy duty speaker, but instead of the beefy voice coil being connected to a paper cone to produce sound, it is instead connected to a large slug of metal that produces substantial vibrations as it is driven back and forth.
Jaycar, the distributors of the technology, suggest you attach a couple of the units to the underside of your lounge chair, hook them up to your cinema sound system so that any sound produced by your sub-woofer is also translated as a vibration through your chair.
In our custom made, fully controllable, measurable, triple-axis vibration rig, we mounted the car stereos into a cradle connected directly to the PBR. The PBR was hooked up to a 150W sub-woofer amplifier which, in turn, was linked to a programmable audio frequency generator. This enabled us to simulate a vast range of vibration frequencies.
I have to admit we thought the rig would destroy the car stereos, particularly when playing back CDs. To our amazement, all-but-one of the units performed perfectly - without a single glitch or stutter. Only one unit experience any problems at all, skipping just three times. The vibrations it was managing were the most violent we could produce.
We shook the living daylights out of those stereos. It is, when you think about it, a touch ironic - we shook them all night long.
Australian Lab Notes - August 2010 - Steve Turvey
If I was asked when I first began the Lab way back in 1989 what we do, my answer would have been very simple, I could have rattled off an explanation of what we do and test in well under 30 seconds. We tested PC’s, portable PC’s (some as big as sewing machines and a lot heavier), servers, laser printers (expensive and as yet no inkjet printers) and various peripherals such as hard drives and 2400 baud modems.
It was easy to manage a Lab and a small team of techies back in those days but more than 21 years later is it anything but easy. Don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not complaining, the work is certainly far more interesting, it would have to be as I’m still here, oh and I also wanted to see the fledgling Lab “grow up”.
Even if we look under just the IT banner there is such a wide range of technology that we now test with the likes of Smartphones, Tablet PCs, MP3 players, VoIP phones, Video Conferencing, Broadband, 3D TV, Video Games, Blue Ray, Alarm Systems and the list goes on. Not only has our range of IT testing expanded it has been accompanied by an increase in the range of test categories here at the Lab.
To be fair some of the categories we have plucked out of the general buzz of IT so we can concentrate expertise and resources to these niches such as Security and Penetration testing, Software testing, Usability and Accessibility testing to name just three. However we have also headed into new territories with our Gaming, Wagering, Lotteries and Casino testing, arguably this has to some extent grown out of the IT sector but I have left the best for last.
Physical and materials testing, and boy does this category cover a lot of ground. We have built test rigs to measure the brittleness and drawing life of Crayons, a Passport wear testing rig, Vibration rigs to test Alarm sensor and car radio susceptibility to vibration, we have tested 50 ton mobile cranes in China for a client in the Middle East but one of my favourites, I have to admit, is testing buses in China.
Not just any old bus of course, no diesel engines in these vehicles, instead an obviously grunty electric motor and a large bank of batteries. The aim is to determine if the eBus really does meet the needs of a typical diesel bus fleet and when you stop to think about it there is more to it than reaching acceptable speed and passenger loads.
With any electric vehicle there is the general concern – where do we charge it? Although this is a lot easier for a suburban bus company as their buses plie known routes and return back to base at the end of each day where a dedicated charger at the Depot can feed them over night.
But what about a tour bus? It can be called upon to go just about anywhere and you can be quite certain that at the end of each day it will probably be a long way from the Depot. So at the end of a Tour bus’s day it must at least be able to plug into a conventional electrical outlet and charge fully in eight hours or less. A plainly impossible task as any back of a dinner napkin quick calc shows that on a 15Amp feed it would take around 6 full days to charge. So I guess a tour bus role is out of the question until dedicated charging stations are available country wide – a long way off.
You might think the role as a suburban route bus is right up the alley of an eBus, at least the bus returns to the Depot for the high powered charger. But did you realise that many route buses are out for 19 to 20 hours a day before they return to the Depot, it’s a big ask for a battery powered bus to last this long on a charge and then it may only have 4 hours to recharge at the depot.
It was easy to manage a Lab and a small team of techies back in those days but more than 21 years later is it anything but easy. Don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not complaining, the work is certainly far more interesting, it would have to be as I’m still here, oh and I also wanted to see the fledgling Lab “grow up”.
Even if we look under just the IT banner there is such a wide range of technology that we now test with the likes of Smartphones, Tablet PCs, MP3 players, VoIP phones, Video Conferencing, Broadband, 3D TV, Video Games, Blue Ray, Alarm Systems and the list goes on. Not only has our range of IT testing expanded it has been accompanied by an increase in the range of test categories here at the Lab.
To be fair some of the categories we have plucked out of the general buzz of IT so we can concentrate expertise and resources to these niches such as Security and Penetration testing, Software testing, Usability and Accessibility testing to name just three. However we have also headed into new territories with our Gaming, Wagering, Lotteries and Casino testing, arguably this has to some extent grown out of the IT sector but I have left the best for last.
Physical and materials testing, and boy does this category cover a lot of ground. We have built test rigs to measure the brittleness and drawing life of Crayons, a Passport wear testing rig, Vibration rigs to test Alarm sensor and car radio susceptibility to vibration, we have tested 50 ton mobile cranes in China for a client in the Middle East but one of my favourites, I have to admit, is testing buses in China.
Not just any old bus of course, no diesel engines in these vehicles, instead an obviously grunty electric motor and a large bank of batteries. The aim is to determine if the eBus really does meet the needs of a typical diesel bus fleet and when you stop to think about it there is more to it than reaching acceptable speed and passenger loads.
With any electric vehicle there is the general concern – where do we charge it? Although this is a lot easier for a suburban bus company as their buses plie known routes and return back to base at the end of each day where a dedicated charger at the Depot can feed them over night.
But what about a tour bus? It can be called upon to go just about anywhere and you can be quite certain that at the end of each day it will probably be a long way from the Depot. So at the end of a Tour bus’s day it must at least be able to plug into a conventional electrical outlet and charge fully in eight hours or less. A plainly impossible task as any back of a dinner napkin quick calc shows that on a 15Amp feed it would take around 6 full days to charge. So I guess a tour bus role is out of the question until dedicated charging stations are available country wide – a long way off.
You might think the role as a suburban route bus is right up the alley of an eBus, at least the bus returns to the Depot for the high powered charger. But did you realise that many route buses are out for 19 to 20 hours a day before they return to the Depot, it’s a big ask for a battery powered bus to last this long on a charge and then it may only have 4 hours to recharge at the depot.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A Tender Farewell to 2010
Welcome to 2011, and it’s already looking frenetic. Enex TestLab finished 2010 with a flurry of tenders and 2011 has started much the same. Governments and Commercials are ramping up contracts and Enex TestLab is right in the thick of them all. “The end of the year has been all about tenders, tenders and more tenders,” says Matt Tett, Director, Enex TestLab. Of particular note has been a contract signed between Enex TestLab and the Department from Broadband, Communcations and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) establishing a standing agreement for Enex TestLab to provide technical advice and support to the department. This is a critical alignment, Enex TestLab’s vast technical experience and independent perspective will provide continued valuable support for the department’s decision making process.
2011 also welcomes the prospect of the first major project for Enex TestLab to be undertaken with its China-based affiliate. Digital broadcasting is an exciting emerging area for us to be working in – more news will follow.
In a string of announcements, we are also proud to confirm our affiliation in
Enex TestLab Gaming, Wagering, Lotteries and Casino Testing Division has been a major source of activity through 2010. We have recently completed our ISO 17025 gaming accreditation, meaning that Enex TestLab can now be an Accredited Test Facility (ATF) for the UK Gambling Commission, adding this jurisdiction to an already impressive list of licences held by Enex TestLab including all of Australia, New Zealand and Macau. Enex TestLab had a significant presence at the AGE (Australian Gaming Expo) held in Sydney in Q4 2010, and marks our aggressive growth in this market. Enex TestLab is bringing a welcome increase in choice, value and independence to this industry. You will see an ongoing ramping up of our presence and activity in this sector for 2011.
As we mentioned briefly last newsletter Matthew Hackling has joined Enex TestLab as General Manager of our Australian Security testing division. Matt is the first of what will be a number of management announcements for Enex TestLab. We look forward to revealing a number of new additions in 2011. With the expansion of our physical and materials testing division, and our ever growing work in media and communications, new additions to these will see Enex TestLab’s local senior headcount rise significantly.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Telling the Enex TestLab Value Story
Enex TestLab has always been prepared to walk the walk. We’re comfortable letting the value we deliver to customers, be the face of our business.
Nevertheless, Enex TestLab is a rapidly growing business – one of the fastest in Victoria and Australia. We’ve been growing year on year for some time now and reflecting this, as well as the increasing complexity and capacity of our services, Enex TestLab is refining its marketing and communications products. We’re working to ensure clear and relevant information is available to our customers, highlighting the value of Enex TestLab’s diverse portfolio of testing services and products.
In addition to a suite of engagement products, revised global websites will offer an increasing level of insight into our work, our value proposition and more detail about the innovative ways we’ve worked with customers. Enex TestLab delivers independent testing into so many different and exciting technologies and industry sectors that our website is becoming a major channel for customers to understand our business.
Our work for Q3 2010 certainly reflects a growing level of innovation and the application of testing by customers. We’ve recently completed an interesting project for an importer of car audio units. The results enabled the retailer to select the best value product to add to its range with confidence that the product had sufficient quality to add their own branding and reputation to; it would impact positively on its bottom line, and have confidence in the warranty and support they would offer.
Interestingly, during testing of the car audio devices, Enex TestLab was pleased to discover that the units achieved an impressive standard of audio quality and shock protection. You’ll hear them on streets around the country soon.
Our work for a number of government departments procurement continues, we’ve been busy evaluating desktops, notebooks, monitors, projectors and even smart tables and interactive whiteboards to ensure that product value is maximised. We’ve also completed WLAN load and performance testing for a government agency.
The AGE (Australian Gaming Expo) was held in Sydney during August. Enex TestLab hosted an exhibit, introducing a number of new clients to Enex TestLab’s range of services dedicated to the gaming and wagering sector. We’re an ATF in quite a number of global gaming jurisdictions seeing a lot of growth in our business in this sector.
As we continue to build our headcount, Enex TestLab is pleased to announce Matthew Hackling as our new Divisional Head of Security Testing in Australia. Matthew brings a wealth of security experience and will be a key part of our security market expansion.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Bigger is Better, Digital TV, Gaming, and an Electric Bus
Bigger is Better: In recent newsletters Enex TestLab has made announcements about its growth; and this quarter is no different. We’re getting bigger and we’re getting better. Enex has been aggressively growing its headcount and expanding into new territories for over four years now. On the back of expansion in the UK and China, we’re delighted to be formalising our operations in Hong Kong. In June, Enex registered its business and offices in Fo Tan, and this is already providing useful support to operations throughout the region, including Macau and southern mainland China.
In Europe, Enex UK operations have finished an impressive year. Software testing and security testing were delivered for some high profile clients. The UK is a mature market in terms of testing services and many organisations engage Enex TestLab for highly strategic purposes - seeking assurance and value from vast investments in their applications and systems. As a result, we’ve been actively building out our operations in the UK to service this market. We have also conducted testing in several European countries this past quarter.
In Australia, for many of the same reasons as in the UK, we’ve continued to take on more staff, with particular focus on providing these highly integrated services. Many of our customers (for example) are seeking independent testing that evaluates their software applications and security infrastructure in a more seamless and holistic way. Industries such as financial services are quite enthusiastic about this kind of service. The market appetite for more sophisticated and cross category testing has enabled us to create a key sales role around this, in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Only Enex TestLab can deliver to this level of sophistication. Due to our experience, size and diversity we’re able to provide a far more integrated and cross-organisational evaluation. It’s a key part of Enex’s go-to-market offering, and a great competitive differentiator for our business - complete, professional, supported and managed testing services.
Digital TV: Enex has taken a proactive role in the growth of digital television services across Australia. In the past we’ve tested many TVs and digital tuners, and have written numerous media articles and reviews on the products available. It seems logical then that we support the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy by sitting on the supplier evaluation panel for digital TV products. Through this Enex TestLab provides independent assessments for the certification of products and services introduced to the Australian market. It will help regulate the industry and provide consumers with constancy and assurance when purchasing their digital TV products.
Gaming: Enex Gaming, Wagering, Lotteries and Casinos Testing division has had a huge year already. We’ve had an active presence in many of the global gaming hot spots, and as part of our commitment to the gaming industry Enex TestLab will host a stand at the Australasian Gaming Expo in August. This is a key event on the international gaming industry calendar, attracting the world’s leading machine and gaming system vendors.
The Enex TestLab stand will not only provide a detailed insight into our gaming systems testing, certification and security services, but also provide a welcome opportunity to showcase our seven other testing divisions and enjoy the razzle-dazzle of the more glamorous side of technology.
Electric Bus: The sheer diversity of how Enex TestLab services are being used is as eye opening to us, as it is to anyone else. It serves as a reminder that extra value can be found anywhere, if you are prepared to evaluate the product carefully. Last year it was cranes, millions of dollars worth, and Enex was able to save our client a bundle as part of the process.
This quarter Enex is testing and evaluating electric buses in China. You’d be impressed to know what can be discovered about a bus when you put some solid testing behind the purchasing decision. We expect to save our client another bundle on this occasion as well. We can only imagine what product we’ll strike next.
With processors, speed cameras, car stereos, and more broadband testing all scheduled for the next few months, the diversity of Enex TestLab services looks likely to continue. Our focus, as always, remains as clear as ever –independence, rigor, and a high-quality scientific process.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Enex Turns 21: Crayons, Cranes and The Big Kahuna
A significant milestone was achieved in January, the TestLab turned 21! We think this is an impressive feat in such a cut-throat sector; we’ve outlasted some big names and helped some even bigger ones stay competitive. For over 21 years, Enex TestLab has independently and scientifically sifted through the hype, technicality, broken promises and complexity of the global ICT industry. Today, Enex is renowned for speaking the truth about technology – enabling our customers to make informed decisions, save money and deliver success.
Our founding member, Steve Turvey, is still with us as lab manager. For 21 years he’s been the cornerstone of the organisation (some say mascot as well). Back when Steve set up the lab it was the commercial testing arm of RMIT University, and there were just four staff. Today we have operations globally, cover 92 industry sectors with 8 separate specialist testing divisions. Enex has become one of the fastest growing businesses in Australia.
Over the years we have tested just about every conceivable technology and system, but it has been the more unconventional tests are the most memorable. For example;
· One of our Middle Eastern clients wished to purchase a number of 50 tonne cranes from a vendor in China. Enex was contracted to undertake testing to ensure they were in acceptable condition. Amazingly, Enex discovered that in most cases, the cranes were copies!
· Despite our suspicions that in the real world crayons would be eaten well before they ran out, one European manufacturer wanted to know absolutely, which of its colours would wear out first. So now it’s official, yellow is the most durable colour – but there is no accounting for taste.
· Recently, Enex tested a range of portable promotional bars. One of the criteria was to test its support for a 100kg person. Yep, a bar tested for dancing!
· In addition to testing their built-in security features, Enex batch tested passports for wear and tear. The test ran for over 12 months (exceeding 1 million page turns).
Considering all that’s happened so far, Enex is very excited about its next 21 years. And secretly, we’re all hoping we’ll get to test robots and jet packs sooner rather than later.
Back in the present, in addition to a huge birthday party, Q1 2010 was as busy as ever. Our eMetric products have been a major focus, with a number of broadband performance testing projects happening across metropolitan, regional and rural Australia. At the same time, Enex has been working closely with a group of network service providers and vendors to better develop the capabilities and functionality of the eMetric hardware device. We are also negotiating with a number of networking equipment vendors to embed eMetric code into their Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) enabling ubiquitous testing of broadband. The possibilities are looking very exciting.
Global expansion has also been a feature of the period. Enex is currently in the process of establishing Hong Kong operations in Fo Tan. This provides an ideal base to link with nearby geographies; Southern China, Macau, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. It will also support our existing operations in Shanghai.
European operations have had a great start to 2010. Increased local headcount will drive software testing for a number of large clients, as well as promoting broadband performance testing using eMetric.
Building on the last two years of gaining licences to operate as an Accredited Test Facility in key global jurisdictions. Enex has now been investing heavily in its domestic gaming, wagering, lotteries and casinos division human resources, with the core team now fully resourced. Enex is in a position to consolidate its place in the market, delivering experienced and cost effective services to this sector in a timely manner.
Enex media and communications is delighted to confirm the continuation of an 18 year relationship with CBS owned ZDNet (and its predecessors), and the consolidation of our 2009 relationship with Choice Magazine. A new publisher, IDG has also been added to our customer list. Our media business has come a long way over those 18 years. One of the most amusing anecdotes from our early years of publishing describes how Steve Turvey once announced the invention of the World Wide Worm in his monthly column. In fairness, that was many years ago – before the term Web had been coined.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Internet Special: Media, Minister’s and Metrics.
The Internet Special: Media, Minister’s and Metrics.
The Internet dominated Q4. Enex TestLab were right in the thick of it – testing as always.
In December Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy announced that the Federal Government intends to pursue mandatory internet content filtering at the ISP level. The announcement quickly made headlines, not only in
Enex (in partnership with ISPs) conducted the content filtering technical trial for Department. Our wholly independent findings were considered in the Government’s assessment of feasibility for the program. Our report was detailed, scientific, and impartial. It provided a clear indication of the technical challenges and impacts such a policy would elicit.
Enex’s openly published results were subject to intense analysis and assessment by the world media – not to mention stakeholders, pundits, industry experts and analysts. Amid all of the controversy and the debate over the issue, Enex’s role, our report and results, our methodology, our transparency and our process were consistently recognised to be reliable and thorough. Whatever your views – Enex delivers facts! You can access the report at: http://www.dbcde.gov.au/.
The Internet Industry Association’s (IIA) Family Friendly Filter program continued on in the latter half of 09. Enex conducts all accreditation testing on behalf of the IIA. A good many Filters have now completed testing and amid all of the December Christmas parties, certificates were presented to successful filter vendors afloat on
December also was occasion for a new product (also highly relevant to the internet). For some time now Enex has been developing a tool known as eMetric – designed to measure and report on networking performance, and in particular broadband speeds. Through the latter half of 09, in partnership with the Department for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Enex has commenced an exciting pilot program to test a compact, hardware version of eMetric with 40 participating ISPs. This unit is the world’s first mass-producible, independent, broadband performance testing device, and it has been very positively received.
Enex is preparing to take eMetric further to market and has introduced the product to a number of organisations both locally and internationally. A number of major telecommunications companies in
In the
During Q4 ‘09 Enex
Q1 ’10 is the start of an exciting phase for
2010 is already looking busy and as we move through Q1, building our gaming/wagering team and expanding our software testing division remains a focus. Also worth noting is that by Q2 our long established media and communications division may also be making new noises, but more on that next time.
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