Category: BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases

XPRT Women Code-a-Thon: Make your voice heard and win a cash prize

on March 1, 2016

DURHAM, NC –(Marketwired – March 01, 2016) – The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community and ChickTech are co-hosting the XPRT Women Code-a-Thon on March 12-13 in Seattle. The code-a-thon encourages Seattle software programmers to create small apps, or “workloads,” that mimic actions they take on their devices every day.

The top three participants or teams will receive cash prizes of up to $2,500, and all participants’ workloads will be considered for inclusion in future versions of the BenchmarkXPRT tools, or XPRTs. Any programmer familiar with Web development or Android development is encouraged to participate.

The XPRTs are apps that empower people all over the world to test how well devices handle everyday activities. They do this by running workloads that simulate common tasks – just like the workloads code-a-thon participants will be building.

“We want the XPRTs to reflect how people actually use their technology every day,” said Jennie Faries. Faries is one of the code-a-thon’s judges and a developer at Principled Technologies, which administers the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community. “By gaining the perspectives of this group of women, we’re making the tools stronger and more realistic. And when the tools we use to measure technology get better, the technology itself gets better too.”

All participants will receive a t-shirt and locally sourced breakfast and lunch on both days of the code-a-thon. The event will include time for networking and conclude with a talk from a special keynote speaker.

Add your voice to the tools that measure today’s hottest tech. Register today at facts.pt/XPRTcodeathon2016_registration, learn more at facts.pt/XPRT codeathon2016, and get all the details at facts.pt/XPRTcodeathon2016_FAQ.

About ChickTech

ChickTech envisions a safe, inclusive, and innovative technology future that includes equal pay, participation, and treatment of women. It is dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers. For more information, please visit http://chicktech.org

About the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community

The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community is a forum where registered members can contribute to the process of creating and improving the XPRTs. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com/benchmarkxprt

About Principled Technologies, Inc.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of technology marketing and learning & development services. It administers the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, in NC’s Research Triangle Park region. For more information, please visit www.PrincipledTechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Jennie Faries
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road, Suite #300
Durham, NC 27703

Posted in Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, Performance benchmarking, Press Releases, Principled Technologies, WebXPRT, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

TouchXPRT and WebXPRT benchmarks now available!

By Eric Hale

on February 28, 2013

The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, which Principled Technologies (PT) administers, is pleased to announce the release of the TouchXPRT 2013 and WebXPRT 2013 benchmarks.

TouchXPRT 2013 is a benchmark for evaluating the capabilities of Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. TouchXPRT runs tests based on five user scenarios (Beautify photo album, Prepare photos for sharing, Convert videos for sharing, Export podcast to MP3, and Create slideshow from photos) and produces results for each of the five test scenarios plus an overall score.

WebXPRT 2013 is a browser-based multi-platform benchmark that uses representative Web-user scenarios to compare the performance of almost any Web-enabled device. It contains four HTML5- and JavaScript-based workloads: Photo Effects, Face Detect, Stocks Dashboard, and Offline Notes. Because the workloads are all HMTL5 based, they run on a wide variety of devices and operating systems—from iPad tablets to Android phones to Windows computers. In addition to scores, WebXPRT 2013 gives a report on the HTML5 capabilities of a device.

The benchmarks are now available to all from http://www.TouchXPRT.com andhttp://www.WebXPRT.com. Prior to today’s public release, the benchmarks were available exclusively to members of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community and were used in multiple media reviews to evaluate a wide range of devices.

Members of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community significantly influenced the development of the benchmarks by providing feedback on the initial design specifications and participating in beta testing. To learn how you can participate in the development of future versions of our benchmarks and stay up to date on the latest information, visit our Web site or look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community
The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community is a forum through which interested parties can contribute to the ongoing evolution of the BenchmarkXPRT suite of benchmarks. Community members play a vital role in ensuring that benchmarks such as HDXPRT, TouchXPRT, and WebXPRT incorporate the latest in the field of user-experience benchmarking and meet the needs and interests of a range of individuals and organizations.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.
Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of fact-based marketing and technology assessment services. The founders, Mark Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked together in technology assessment for over 25 years. As journalists, they published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects. They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which developed such industry-standard benchmarks as Ziff Davis Media’s Winstone and WebBench. They have also co-founded or led several other technology testing firms, including ZD Labs, eTesting Labs, and VeriTest.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Eric Hale
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703
ehale@principledtechnologies.com
www.principledtechnologies.com

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, Press Releases, TouchXPRT Press Releases, WebXPRT Press Releases |

New benchmark to evaluate smartphone performance

By Eric Hale

on February 25, 2013

Principled Technologies (PT) and the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, which PT administers, are pleased to announce a new a benchmark, PhoneXPRT 2013.

This benchmark, which the community will be developing, will evaluate the capabilities of small form-factor devices. “We’re excited to be announcing this exciting new initiative during Mobile World Congress 2013,” said Bill Catchings, Chief Technology Officer of PT. “As popular as smartphones already are, the market is still developing, and today’s offerings differ widely in performance and responsiveness. The new benchmark will provide a fair and consistent basis for comparing the growing range of smartphones on the market.”

Community feedback will shape the new benchmark. Like all the BenchmarkXPRT benchmarks, PhoneXPRT 2013 will be based on real-world user scenarios and provide user-relevant metrics and results. The first operating system it will support is Android, but the intent is to support additional operating systems in the future.

“We invite all interested parties to participate in the creation, evaluation, and testing of this new benchmark,” Catchings said. Anyone can participate in the Development program by registering as a member of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community. Community members have the opportunity to help shape future versions of the benchmarks. To register for the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community and begin participating in the creation process of the new benchmark, go to http://www.benchmarkxprt.com and follow the instructions in the ‘Join us’ section of the right-hand navigation menu.

To see the latest information on the benchmark’s development, visit http://www.phonexprt.com.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.
Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of fact-based marketing and technology assessment services. The founders, Mark Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked together in technology assessment for over 25 years. As journalists, they published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects. They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which developed such industry-standard benchmarks as Ziff Davis Media’s Winstone and WebBench. They have also co-founded or led several other technology firms including ZD Labs, eTesting Labs, and VeriTest.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Eric Hale
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703
ehale@principledtechnologies.com
www.principledtechnologies.com

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, MobileXPRT Press Releases, Press Releases |

BenchmarkXPRT Development Community Releases Source Code for HDXPRT 2012

By Eric Hale

on February 7, 2013

The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, which Principled Technologies (PT) administers, is pleased to announce the availability of the source code for the HDXPRT 2012 performance test tool.

HDXPRT 2012 is a benchmark for evaluating the capabilities of PCs in performing a wide variety of common consumer digital media tasks. Members of the development community have significantly influenced this version of the benchmark by helping to prepare its design specification and by beta-testing release candidates.

The release of the source code for a widely available application-based benchmark such as HDXPRT marks a milestone in the benchmark ecosystem. By opening the benchmark’s source code to its members, the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community is hoping to increase the transparency of the benchmarking process and to stimulate the participation of industry players and the public in the definition, development, understanding, and auditing of the benchmark.

Community members can download the benchmark’s source code directly from the official benchmark Web site, http://www.hdxprt.com. Any non-members who would like the source code can join the community for a very modest fee by going to http://www.benchmarkxprt.com.

In addition to downloading the source code of the current version of the tool, BenchmarkXPRT Development Community members can influence the design of future versions of HDXPRT and other benchmarks. They can even participate in the coding and development of these benchmarks. Membership in the community also keeps you up to date on the latest information. To learn more, visit the official BenchmarkXPRT Development Community Web site,http://www.benchmarkxprt.com, and look for the community’s presence on Facebook and Twitter.

About HDXPRT
HDXPRT, the High Definition Experience & Performance Ratings Test, is a software tool for evaluating the capabilities of PCs at handling real-world digital media scenarios involving common consumer applications. It
includes tests for popular consumer usage models such as high-definition video transcoding, and high dynamic range
(HDR) photo manipulation.

About the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community BenchmarkXPRT Development Community is a forum through which interested parties can contribute to the ongoing evolution of the BenchmarkXPRT suite of benchmarks. Community members play a vital role in ensuring that benchmarks such as HDXPRT, TouchXPRT, and WebXPRT incorporate the latest in the field of user-experience benchmarking and meet the needs and interests of a range of individuals and organizations.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Eric Hale
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703
ehale@principledtechnologies.com
www.principledtechnologies.com

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, HDXPRT Press Releases, Press Releases |

HDXPRT 2012 Media Benchmark Now Available

By Eric Hale

on July 27, 2012

The HDXPRT Development Community, which Principled Technologies (PT) administers, is pleased to announce the release of the HDXPRT 2012 benchmark.

HDXPRT 2012 is a benchmark for evaluating the capabilities of PCs in consumer digital media usages.

Because people use their systems so differently, HDXPRT 2012 lets you look at your system’s performance for a number of different uses. While HDXPRT 2011 combined all media creation into a single score, HDXPRT 2012 expands that to five use cases: Media Organizer, Media Creator, Photo Blogger, Video Producer, and Music Maker. The HDXPRT 2012 design document on our Web site explains these in detail. There is also a total score that combines all of the five cases to give an overall measure of the system’s speed.

HDXPRT 2012 includes more applications than HDXPRT 2011. The four new applications are Audacity 2.0, CyberLink PowerDirector 10, GIMP 2.6.11, and HandBrake/x264 0.9.5.

PT will ship the release discs to all registered HDXPRT Development Community members. Because of its large size, the benchmark is not available for download. Instructions for obtaining the benchmark are at http://www.hdxprt.com.

Members of the HDXPRT Development Community significantly influenced the development of the benchmark by providing feedback on the initial design specifications and participating in Beta testing.

Visit the official HDXPRT Development Community Web site, http://www.hdxprt.com, to learn how you can participate in the development of future versions of HDXPRT and stay up to date on the latest information regarding the benchmark. The Community also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter.

About HDXPRT
HDXPRT, the High Definition eXperience & Performance Ratings Test, is a software tool for evaluating the capabilities of PCs at handling real-world digital media scenarios and common consumer applications. It includes tests for popular consumer usage models such as high-definition video transcoding, high dynamic range (HDR) photo manipulation, as well as mixing and editing music.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.
Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of technology marketing and assessment services. The founders, Mark Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked together in technology assessment for over 25 years. As journalists, they published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects. They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which developed such industry-standard benchmarks as stone and WebBench. They have also co-founded or led several other technology testing firms including ZD Labs, eTesting Labs, and VeriTest.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Eric Hale
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703
ehale@principledtechnologies.com
www.principledtechnologies.com

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, HDXPRT Press Releases, Press Releases |

New benchmark to evaluate touch-based devices

By Eric Hale

on January 5, 2012

Principled Technologies (PT) and the HDXPRT Development Community, which PT administers, are pleased to announce a new touch computing benchmark.

This benchmark, which the community will be developing, will evaluate the capabilities of touch-based computing devices. “As popular as touch-based devices already are,” said Bill Catchings, Chief Technology Officer of PT, “the market is still in its infancy, and today’s offerings differ widely in performance and responsiveness. The new benchmark will provide a fair and consistent basis for comparing tablets and other touch devices.”

Community feedback will shape the new benchmark. The first operating system it will support is Microsoft Windows 8 with Metro, so the development lifecycle of the initial version will be on a fast track. The benchmark’s public release will coincide with the launch of Windows 8.

“We invite all interested parties to participate in the creation, evaluation, and testing of this new benchmark,” Catchings said. Anyone can participate in the Development program by paying a nominal fee ($20) to register as a member of the HDXPRT Development Community. Community members have the opportunity to help shape future versions of both benchmarks. To register for the HDXPRT Development Community and begin participating in the creation process of the new benchmark, go to http://www.hdxprt.com/ and select ‘Register for HDXPRT’ in the right-hand navigation menu.

You can learn more about the new benchmark and the HDXPRT Development Community by visiting with us at CES. Bill Catchings will be at the show from Tuesday, January 10 through Friday, January 13 and is available for meetings. For more information or to set up an appointment with him, email us at hdxprt_CES@principledtechnologies.com.

To see the latest information on the benchmark’s development, visit http://www.hdxprt.com/touch.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.
Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of fact-based marketing and technology assessment services. The founders, Mark Van Name and Bill Catchings, have worked together in technology assessment for over 25 years. As journalists, they published over a thousand articles on a wide array of technology subjects. They created and led the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, which developed such industry-standard benchmarks as Ziff Davis Media’s Winstone and WebBench. They have also co-founded or led several other technology firms including ZD Labs, eTesting Labs, and VeriTest.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Eric Hale
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27703
ehale@principledtechnologies.com
www.principledtechnologies.com

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, HDXPRT Press Releases, Press Releases, TouchXPRT Press Releases |

Category: BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases

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