Frost & Sullivan Award Underlines Xcerion's Outstanding Product Innovation Capabilities

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2008 Frost & Sullivan European Product Innovation Award in the emerging field of Cloud Computing goes to Sweden-based Xcerion, for developing the icloud cloud operating system (OS). Xcerion's free, icloud OS service represents a major advancement in the transition from traditional desktop-based computing to computing in the cloud of the Internet. Through this novel innovation, Xcerion has successfully replicated the power of a desktop OS in a cloud-based OS.

"Although the concept of cloud-based operating systems has been floating around the industry for several years, no company has hitherto been able to develop a comprehensive cloud OS that can mimic the capabilities of a traditional desktop OS," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Achyuthanandan Sampath. "Xcerion, with its innovative icloud OS, has achieved this feat, at a time when several leading companies in this space are still experimenting with the concept. Due to its desktop OS-like abilities and the wide gamut of applications offered, Xcerion's innovative cloud OS has already captured the attention of the Internet community and is set to emerge as the world's leading Internet-based OS."

Xcerion's icloud OS, developed around the Internet at its core, enables users to store their desktop, applications, and files securely on icloud's data centers and easily access them from any computer equipped with an Internet connection and a Web browser. Xcerion has focused on enabling social networking and instant collaboration by integrating these concepts into the core of the icloud thereby making all icloud applications collaborative.

Xcerion's icloud is the only cloud OS in the world that features a client XML virtual machine. The client virtual machine facilitates the execution of the various icloud applications at the client side itself, obviating the need for server round trips.

"The most innovative feature of the icloud is its visual application creation tool that enables icloud developers to visually develop and modify applications without having to know either programming or XML," remarks Achyuthanandan Sampath. "Another important benefit is its ability to work offline, which enables the user to store files and run applications on a virtual hard disk. Moreover, the icloud provides users with the flexibility to store files locally behind a firewall instead of in the cloud."

Another noteworthy aspect of the icloud is its robust security. As icloud runs in a virtual environment where the code can be executed without risk to computing resources on the outside, it is impregnable to malware attacks. Furthermore, all icloud applications are also capable of working on mobile devices such as cell phones and smart phones without having to rewrite them as long as the XML virtual machine is available for the device.

"In summary, the icloud OS service offers the full power of a complete desktop OS with several applications, advanced files system, process handling, multiple application instances, full programming API's and a visual integrated development studio," states Sampath. "At present, there are over 15 icloud applications available, and it is equipped with a visual drag and drop application designer that enables end users to modify, copy, and alter the applications."

Xcerion has recently deployed a word processor, money manager, instant messenger, calendar, e-mail with Internet message access protocol (IMAP) synchronisation, balanced scorecard, community, browser, media player, several widgets, portable document format (PDF) viewer, flash viewer, image viewer, XML Editor, and more into the icloud. In fact, the company is planning to launch a total of 50 applications, similar to the world's 50 most popular applications before the end of 2009.

The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation is presented each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in new products and technologies within its industry. The recipient company has shown innovation by launching a broad line of emerging products and technologies.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Xcerion

Founded in 2001 by Daniel Arthursson, Xcerion AB provides icloud, the worlds leading "Cloud OS" as a Web 2.0 service.

icloud is a social Cloud OS for sharing experiences with friends. It is secure, social and always accessible from any computer or device. Applications on icloud include office productivity, development tools, photo sharing, music player, radio and widgets.

Xcerion is based in Linkoping, Sweden, privately held and venture funded by Northzone Ventures. Investors include Lou Perazzoli, one of the original architects of Windows NT and former General Manager of the Microsoft Core OS group, John Connors, former CFO and CIO of Microsoft, and Terry Drayton, founder and former CEO of HomeGrocer.com.

Jonas Thornholm, CFO, Xcerion, pr@xcerion.com, P: 0046 (0) 709 991680, http://www.icloud.com

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership(TM) empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

Ciara Jamie Connolly, Senior Events & Promotions Executive, EMEA, Best Practices, Frost & Sullivan, ciara.connolly@frost.com, P: 0044 (0) 207.915.7868, F: 0044 (0) 207.730.3343, http://www.frost.com

© PR Newswire Association LLC. All rights reserved.