Mcobject Embedded Database Newsletter, January 2011

To spur development on Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Phone 7 (WP7), McObject has changed Perst embedded database licensing and distribution. For a limited time, Perst is available for use in commercial applications on WP7 for a one-time charge of $395 per developer, with no run-time royalties. McObject has also temporarily lowered Perst’s price to $495 for use in a commercial Silverlight application that runs on a PC. Read about the new licensing.

McObject also launched an on-line store for Perst WP7 and Silverlight editions, with payment by credit card or other convenient means. Check out the new "Buy Now" options.

In two recent, related blog posts, McObject CEO explores two types of software often viewed as “free.” On September 30, Steve looked at in-house (aka self-developed or “homegrown”) solutions, analyzing their development, support and maintenance burden with help from academic research on software defect costs.

Steve’s December 20 post explores the cost of open source software. Open source solutions range from hobbyists’ projects to code around which an entire economy has sprouted (Linux is about the only example of this) to dual license products such as McObject’s Perst embedded database. “At the end of the day, using open source software is going to cost you something,” Steve notes, and he offers criteria to help assess how much.

Multi-Core & Embedded Software: Optimize Performance by Resolving Resource Contention

Deployment on multi-core CPUs can actually decrease application speed, because parallel processes must contend for system software resources. For programming techniques to avoid this bottleneck, attend our January 20 Webinar, Multi-Core & Embedded Software: Optimize Performance by Resolving Resource Contention. The presenter, McObject CEO Steve Graves, examines solutions that build on well-established techniques as well as more novel approaches. Register now and jump start your development on multi-core.

Social network myYearbook has expanded its use of the 64-bit eXtremeDB-64 in-memory database system (IMDS) from McObject. It now incorporates eXtremeDB as a key component of many of its social games and applications including its location-based, real-time Feed, a feature it has positioned as a critical driver of its growth and financial success. In addition, myYearbook has recently expanded its business relationship with McObject. Get details.

Azuray Technologies, an emerging leader in solar power electronics, will include McObject’s eXtremeDB Fusion embedded database in its communications gateway, a Linux-based device for solar power optimization.  Azuray’s solar DC to DC converters for “smart” solar panels make solar power generation more cost-effective by increasing energy harvest up to 25 percent.  McObject’s database plays key roles in this yield enhancement and in the device's safety and user interface features. Azuray's VP of Engineering states: “We saved time and money by choosing eXtremeDB Fusion.” Get details.

Baltic Information Systems (BIS), provider of safety-related IT systems for nuclear power plants, has developed a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) product called BISMARC that relies on the eXtremeDB In-Memory Database System (IMDS). BIS reports saving 6 programmer months by using eXtremeDB. A major BISMARC deployment at the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia illustrates the performance and reliability gained with eXtremeDB. Read more.

McObject’s revamped licensing of Perst for WP7 drew significant media attention, including an article in this UK-based science and technology pub.