You know, sometimes, multiple versions of five mainstream browsers just isn’t enough. Step forward RockMelt— a startup founded by Eric Vishria and Tim Howes. They intend to launch a new and improved web browser into an increasingly-crowded market.

What makes RockMelt different (and news-worthy) is that it’s been backed by Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape developed the Internet’s first graphical browser and introduced millions of people to the early web in the mid-1990s. Although Netscape was trounced by Microsoft in the first browser war, Mr Andreessen has moved on to become a prominent Silicon Valley financier.

Mr Andreessen has stated that RockMelt will offer a different browsing experience. He suggests that most other browsers have not kept pace with web evolution, and remain based in the realms of static web pages rather than complex networked web applications:

There are all kinds of things that you would do differently if you are building a browser from scratch.

Although he doesn’t elaborate on what those different things are, there has speculation that the new browser could offer tighter integration with social networks such as Facebook.

Currently, RockMelt is pure vaporware — although it does have a lovely logo. Only time will tell if it can offer anything over and above the existing browsers. For now, there are two conclusions we can make:

1. Browser competition is a good thing. We should never return to the monopolistic days of IE6.
2. If your daily job involves web application testing, it’s about to become even more secure!

Can RockMelt offer anything new? Will it be more than a nice logo? Are multiple browsers a help or a hindrance?

Inter-bank exchange via SMS

Nokia is about to launch its own money transfer system, Nokia Money, providing the convenience of banking services to the developing world as well as cashless transfers for everyone else.…

The power of collaboration within unified communications

Amazon has launched a new endeavor that integrates traditional IT infrastructure with its EC2 cloud service. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud allows IT to connect to an isolated set of AWS resources to a data center using a VPN connection. Minus all the acronyms, that means that Amazon has created a hybrid cloud that can work securely for the enterprise, balancing the need for encryption with the low cost and scaling power that the cloud provides.

Amazon VPC provides an avenue for enterprises to more comfortably link up their infrastructure with the cloud. For Amazon, it's an endorsement of the hybrid approach, but it's also meant to combat the growing interest in private clouds. VPC is currently in limited beta (you can apply here) and doesn't work with the S3 cloud storage service or any other parts of AWS.

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The Specs

In a blog post about VPC, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels admitted the problems the company has faced when it comes to enterprise adoption of their cloud services. VPC is clearly an attempt to dispel the very legitimate fears that exist when it comes to the cloud. Here's how it works in practice:

First a VPC is created and assigned an IP block, one which allows only those addresses that your enterprise wants to use to access. The VPC is divided up into subnets, with the maximum being 20 unless you request more.

Next a VPN connection is made between the gateway and an IPSec-based router you host. Traffic is then configured to flow so that the IP block is applied to the VPN connection. Once you've got a VPN with an IP block up and running, any AWS resources assigned will be subject to regular enterprise firewall and routing policies.

Attacking the Private Cloud Head-on

Vogels spent more than little effort in his post attacking the idea of the private cloud. Before he even got into how VPC worked, he paused to assert that private clouds lack the elasticity of Amazon's services, bluntly declaring, "I don't think of them as true clouds."

Amazon would surely have worries without the idea of private clouds being shopped about, but it definitely doesn't help for enterprises to throw up their hands in vain and try to create their own miniature versions of public cloud computing services. VPC is really a compromise for Amazon that acknowledges the attraction that private clouds have for the enterprise.

A Hybrid Cloud

Amazon is basically creating a hybrid cloud, one that uses some of the standard enterprise encryption methods. It seems they're not alone either. Recently many companies have been testing the waters when it comes to this approach, with Microsoft and EMC partnering as well as IBM with Juniper Networks.

There have even been companies that have attempted to beat Amazon to the punch by offering VPN overlays to EC2, such as Cohesive's VPN-Cubed. It seems that Amazon has seen the light when it comes to enticing enterprises to the cloud. VPC is recognition that a mixed strategy that improves security, not a miraculous shift in enterprise IT culture, is the way forward.