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10 tech and startup companies hiring actively in Asia this week

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 04:21:00 +0000

Each week, Tech in Asia Jobs brings you some of the most popular jobs around Asia. Here, we round up 10 companies that are actively hiring across various regions and job functions on Tech in Asia Jobs. If you see a company or job role you’re interested in, be sure to click in and find out more about what it’s like to be working with them!

If you’re hiring, you can post your jobs for free here.

Indocyber Global Teknologi

Indonesia

IT & Cybersecurity

We provide solutions on the digital marketing and IT side. With state of the art technology to provide new ease and breakthrough.

Hiring:
Data Scientist, Bootcamp IT Consultant (Fresh Graduate), Graphic Designer Internship, and 14 more…

Kurio

Indonesia

Digital Media, Artificial Intelligence

Kurio is a content aggregator that uses machine learning to provide users a new way to discover, explore, and consume information from all over the world.

Hiring:
Data Analyst, Flutter Engineer, Project Manager (Endeus.tv), and 7 more…

Agate

Indonesia

Games

Agate Studio is a game developer based in Bandung, Indonesia that focuses on entertainment games and serious games. We aim for our crews to reach their fullest potential without ignoring their feedback for improvements. We'll make sure that your talent won't go to waste, and perhaps even help you learn talents you may never even realize you had.

Hiring:
Junior Gamification Programmer, 3D Artist, Technical Artist, and 19 more…

Snaphunt Pte Ltd

Singapore

Human Resource

Snaphunt is a specialist recruiting platform that takes the pain out of hiring and job searching. We help people find jobs they love and companies hire employees who stay longer. Looking for a new role? Submit your CV on https://snaphunt.com Now live in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.

Hiring:
Partnerships & Business Development Executive, Product Manager (EdTech Startup), Lead Data Scientist, and 347 more…

Aspire

Singapore

Lending, loans, and credit

Headquartered in Singapore, ASPIRE is a technology organization that serves small businesses with convenient & inclusive financial services across SEA. We built Aspire from the ground with one thing in mind- serve small business owners with speed and simplicity. Aspire is backed by Y-Combinator - #1 startup incubator in the world - and has raised to date USD 41.5M by some of the world best VCs

Hiring:
Senior UI/UX Designer, Credit Risk Analyst, Customer Success Lead, and 10 more…

AiChat

Singapore

Artificial Intelligence, Marketplaces (general)

AiChat is South East Asia fastest growing Conversational AI company, providing chatbot-as-a-service platform for companies to manage chatbots on popular messaging apps for customer service, ecommerce, marketing, CRM & data analytics.

Hiring:
Junior A.I Engineer (Fresh graduates are welcome to apply), Junior Developer (PHP), Junior Marketing Executive / Internship, and 12 more…

theAsianparent

Singapore

Digital Media

theAsianparent is a reproductive health-tech company that reaches out to 30 million mothers every month through our parenting website and app. Our vision is to improve the overall health of pregnant women and families in South East Asia by helping them navigate their most important moments with data-driven solutions in the form of content, community and physical products.

Hiring:
Strategy and Financial Planning Analyst, Research Manager, Regional Finance & Operations Manager, and 5 more…

Ematic Solutions

Singapore

Email Marketing, SaaS

Ematic Solutions helps brands turn their email channel into an ROI machine - with AI.

Hiring:
Senior Graphic Designer, Senior Social Media Manager, Account Manager, and 14 more…

CreITive

Singapore

Creative Development, Web Development

We love helping companies to design, build, launch, and maintain bespoke web&mobile digital products. CreITive is a global technology partner for companies needing rapid innovation to differentiate from their competition. We combine our tech background with creativity to tailor smart web and mobile solutions that solve real life problems.

Hiring:
Solution Architect, Data Engineer, and Senior UX/UI Designer.

barePack

Singapore

Service Providers

barePack is developing a reusable container lending service to help busy foodies who are looking for convenient alternatives to single-use plastics with an app enabled lending platform.

Hiring:
Fleet Operations Specialist.

This listicle is brought to you by the Tech in Asia Jobs team. Don’t see a job you’re interested in? Search for 4,000+ more jobs here. Or if you’re hiring, you can post a job for free here.

Source: techinasia.com

Indonesian rental marketplace Cumi banks seed funding from East Ventures

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 07:15:00 +0000

Indonesia-based rental marketplace Cumi has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from East Ventures to speed up its growth in the country.

From left: Cumi founders Pandu Wirawan (COO), Christian Sugiono (CEO), and Yazid Faizin (CMO) / Photo credit: Cumi

First launched in May 2018, Cumi’s platform aggregates vendors from 12 categories, including automotive, fashion, pocket wifi, cameras, toys, books, and gadgets, among others.

The company requires merchants to pass identity checks using phone numbers, bank account information, and ID cards as part of its selection process.

“The trend of sharing economy has long shifted the behavior of the generation today. Now enforced with the influence of social media and access to information, we witness a fast-growing demand from millennials today to publish themselves even more and have as many experiences as they could while keeping them on budget,” said Cumi co-founder and CEO Christian Sugiono.

Cumi stands for cuma minjem, or “just renting” in the Indonesian colloquial language. With the fresh funds, the company aims to expand its user base, acquire more talent, and extend its footprint in Indonesia.

Pandu Wirawan, the startup’s co-founder and chief operations officer, said that Cumi aims to become the top destination for all rental items not just in Indonesia, but also in all of Southeast Asia.

The startup said it has positioned itself as a contender in Indonesia’s burgeoning sharing economy, which is projected to grow to US$335 billion in 2025 from US$15 billion in 2014.

Cumi claims to have 5,000 users and 500 verified vendors from various locations across the Jakarta Metropolitan Area, Surabaya, and Bali.

Source: https://www.techinasia.com

Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Google announced its open source Chrome OS last July and it has been a little more than a mystery to the wondering public since that time. Now, an official first look is mere hours away.

At 10:00 am PST (1:00 pm EST), Google will present a live webcast of Chrome OS, the search giant's attempt to "rethink what operating systems should be." Speakers this afternoon will include Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management and Matthew Papakipos, Engineering Director for Google Chrome OS.

Besides finally getting to see just how Chrome will be laid out, we will get an overview of the underlying technology and find out about the operating system's 2010 launch schedule.

What we know about Chrome OS already:

* It will be free and open source
* It is built on the Linux Kernel but has a totally new windowing system.
* It will support both x86 and ARM architecture.
* It will run Web apps as if they're native desktop apps.
* It is not a handset OS like Android, but there will be "overlap" in functionality
* Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba have all voiced support for Chrome OS.
* Chrome OS Director Matthew Papakipos is director of the HTML 5 Open Web Platform efforts at Google.
* The underlying security architecture of "standard" operating systems is being completely redesigned.

Until today, these facts have only raised more questions. Far too many to even list here. Hopefully, once the Webcast gets rolling, we'll be able to finally put the most basic of these questions to rest.

Will Firefox beat IE9 to Direct2D rendering?

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:42:00 +0000

It was a principal element of the Day 2 keynote at Microsoft's PDC 2009 conference last week in Los Angeles: an early demonstration of code being worked into Internet Explorer 9 that replaces the browser's outdated reliance upon the (very) old GDI rendering library, with new code utilizing Direct2D -- a library that borrows processing power from the GPU. But with the project only having begun last October, it could still be several months before Microsoft creates still more features to make IE9 worthy of a point-release.

By that time, Mozilla could very well have absorbed Direct2D capability into Firefox, if it accepts the contribution of engineer Bas Schouten. By modifying a recent daily build of the organization's "Minefield" track for Firefox 3.7 Alpha 1 for Windows, Shouten was able to graft Direct2D support onto the browser, which also usually relies on the old GDI library. The results were Web pages that were as instantaneous to the eyes as the demos we saw of Direct2D rendering on IE9 test code last week.

In a personal blog post Sunday, Schouten discussed some of the difficulties he faced in working Direct2D rendering capabilities onto Mozilla's "Cairo" graphics engine -- difficulties peculiar to Firefox that IE9's developers may not be troubled with: "Direct2D has been implemented as a Cairo backend, meaning our work can eventually be used to facilitate Direct2D usage by all Cairo based software. We use Direct3D textures as backing store for all surfaces. This allows us to implement operations not supported by Direct2D using Direct3D, this will prevent software fallbacks being needed, which will require readbacks. Since a readback forces the GPU to transfer memory to the CPU before the CPU can read it, readbacks have significant performance penalties because of GPU-CPU synchronization being required. On Direct3D10+ hardware this should not negatively impact performance, it does mean it is harder to implement effective D2D software fallback. Although in that scenario we could continue using Cairo with GDI as our vector graphics rendering system."

Although the improvements in on-screen rendering are not something our Betanews CRPI JavaScript performance suite would be able to track, those performance hits Schouten mentioned are indeed something we could see. In tests this morning on Windows 7 RTM using last night's private build of Firefox 3.7 Alpha 1, versus Schouten's remodeled build, the Mozilla build posted a CRPI 2.2 score in Windows 7 of 13.88 -- the best score turned in by a Mozilla browser to date -- versus 12.31 for Schouten's version. At least for now, the rendering improvements come at a cost.

But can those improvements more than make up for the implementation cost, which at the moment Betanews estimates to be about 12.8%?

Betanews tests this morning revealed the answer, quite surprisingly, to be no. Compared to the current daily Firefox 3.7 Alpha 1 build, timing the page loads for 28 major Web sites on Windows 7 RTM, the Schouten build with Direct2D installed only rendered pages about 5.2% faster than the Mozilla build, according to a geometric mean of the differences in render times. The Schouten build only renders 7.3% faster overall than Internet Explorer 8 by that same formula, which is not even close to the speed gains we saw on Microsoft's own in-house tests of Direct2D on IE9 code last week.

Where the Schouten build did see gains was on very content-rich sites such as the Chinese Web portals, such as qq.com and xunlei.com. But that build also crashed for one of those sites -- sina.com.cn -- and it also crashed for plain old, American aol.com, for reasons we couldn't ascertain. (Perhaps it doesn't like the new branding campaign either.) For content-light pages such as Google and Ask.com, the Schouten build was measurably slower than both the Mozilla build and IE8. It's worth noting here that IE8 is very competitive against Firefox in render times for sites with moderate content, and even on a few sites with heavy content (the Chinese portals, for instance). However, when the content load gets great or when content may be composited from multiple sources (as appears to be the case with Blogger.com), IE8 becomes exponentially slower, with some load times exceeding one minute.

Your eyes may tell you the Schouten build renders faster -- as ours did right at first -- but that conclusion may derive from the feeling of speed you see from a page appearing all at one time. The test build may actually be much faster at snappy rendering, but that's not the entire job; in fact, the page loading portions of our CRPI tests indicate that the test build may actually be slower at that part than the Mozilla build.

Integration is the key to making Direct2D work in place of GDI in the browser; and if this early test build is any indication, Microsoft could be further along in this process than Mozilla after all.

Windows 7 Family Pack priced at $150

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:49:00 +0000

Microsoft has placed a $149.99 price tag on the Windows 7 Family Pack, which lets as many as three PCs in a single household upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium edition. Users in Canada will pay $199.99.

Microsoft's official blogger Brandon LeBlanc confirmed the three-license pack last week, but did not include the price.

"We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs," LeBlanc wrote. "I'm happy to confirm that we will indeed be offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) which will allow installation on up to 3 PCs."

Prior to LeBlanc's announcement, the three-license pack was rumored due to terms discovered in a leaked version of Windows 7 Home Premium Edition.

The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available on October 22, the same day the operating system is released to the public.

Additionally, Microsoft has announced Windows 7's Anytime Upgrade pricing, the scale for users who purchase machines with Home Premium or Starter Editions and wish to upgrade.

# Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium- $79.99
# Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Professional- $114.99
# Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Ultimate- $164.99
# Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional- $89.99
# Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate- $139.99
# Windows 7 Professional to Windows 7 Ultimate- $129.99

AMD claims six-core Opteron performance lead over Intel Xeon

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Just last month, AMD began shipping its first 6-core, 45 nm Opteron server CPUs with "Istanbul" architecture, with the top-of-the-line 2.6 GHz, 4- and 8-way 8435 SE selling for $2,649 in 1,000-unit quantities ("trays"). Perhaps ahead of schedule, yesterday AMD cut the tape for a 2.8 GHz 4- and 8-way model 8439 SE model that one-ups its own June release. Its tray price: $2,649.

And while a new entry on the high end usually triggers a price drop for existing models, it may yet be too soon for AMD to drop the price of the 2.6 GHz model below its June price. In an interview with Betanews, AMD's Opteron product manager Steve Demski said that won't be much of a problem, since in this economy and with the current state of data center architecture, high wattage and higher performance are less of a factor than ever before.

"In general, I won't say that the SE is a dying breed, but it's a small percentage of our overall business. We still do have some of these high-profile customers that do want that extra performance, and they're willing to pay more for it. But as a percentage of our business, I want to say it's less than five percent," admitted Demski. "Not to say that it doesn't matter to the people who want that performance; it does."

AMD's strategy, revealed last May, is to address what it believes to be four market segments: a mainstream and three offshoots. The high-performance and low-power divisions are obvious, but then AMD is gambling on a lower power market segment, for server farms that are truly dedicated to "going green." Yesterday's releases address the "very high performance" and the "generally lower power" shades of these two more obvious market sub-segments, with the 2.1 GHz six-core, 4- and 8-way, low-power 8425 HE priced at $1,514. Using AMD's Average CPU power metric (ACP), the 8425 HE is AMD's 55W part, while the 8439 SE runs at 105W ACP.

In the two-socket bracket, AMD introduced a high-performance 2439 SE, which has the same power and performance profile as the 8439 SE, only priced at $1,019. The 8425's counterpart on the 2-socket side is the 2425 HE priced at $523, followed even lower down by a 2.0 GHz 2423 HE priced at $455. Meanwhile, the "older" 2.2 GHz 2427 HE remains at $455.

There might not be much cause for complaint here, however. Competitor Intel's most recent price list (PDF available here) continues to show not one six-core processor in its Xeon 7400 series lower in tray price than $2,301.

In SPECpower_ssj_2008 benchmark tests AMD conducted on the standard six-core 2.6 GHz 75W Opteron 2435 introduced last month and the 2425 HE 55W at 2.1 GHz introduced yesterday (again using AMD's metric, which doesn't align with Intel's Thermal Design Point or TDP), both processors yielded the same score of 1228 at 100% load point. "But the power consumption of the HE system is 49 watts lower [221W versus 270W] than the power consumption in the standard system," remarked Demski. "This is the exact same platform; we swapped CPUs and took the measurement again.

"So you're saving 49W per 2P system. Let's do some math here: If you've got 49W of system [savings] and you have a rack of servers, you've got 42 1U servers in that rack, that's over 2,000 watts of power you're saving by going to the HE model. If your cost per watt is $5 -- which I would argue is conservative -- you're saving $10,000 a year on that one rack. And you can imagine the cloud guys -- they don't build by rack, they build by container, which has 5,000 or more servers per container."

On the other side of the equation, server admins and IT professionals will be watching the benchmark charts to see if AMD's latest claim is proven and officially filed. Though the SPEC organization does not show an official claim this afternoon, AMD is claiming that a four-way Tyan Transport TX46 server with 64 GB of RAM, loaded with four 2.8 GHz Opteron 8439 SE CPUs, posted a peak performance SPEC_int_rate2006 score of 417.

Compare this against the 274 score that AMD's quad-core "Shanghai" series 3.1 GHz quad-core Opteron 8393 SE posted, and you might file these results under "D" for "Duh." Here, 150% the processor provides 150% the performance -- what's new with that? The first bullet point this 417 score (if it holds up) should provide is the fact that the 8439 uses the 8393's same power envelope; you can swap out the quad-core with a six-core and not suffer a power cost.

But bullet point #2 has a lethal tip to it, and again if the score holds up, it will be extremely impressive news, and the first time in years that AMD can submit a performance score to SPEC without accompanying it with lower-power explanations and best-case-scenario apologies. According to SPEC's latest list of official scores, a four-way IBM System x 3850 M2 loaded with four 2.66 GHz Intel Xeon X7460 processors -- Intel's highest performer in its six-core line, selling for $2,729 -- posted a 294 peak score on the same test. That's the highest-performing X7460 in the list; a Dell PowerEdge R900, a Fujitsu Siemens Primergy RX600 S4, and an HP ProLiant DL580 G5 with a quartet of X7460s all posted peak scores of 291.

Maybe the Opteron SE series only sells to less than 5% of AMD's customer base, according to Steve Demski. But whenever AMD boasts a performance lead (and it's backed up by independent tests, which have yet to be revealed), it always manages to make a dent in 100% of Intel's customers' minds.

Firefox 3.6 needs more, better features to compete against Chrome 3

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Last April, Mozilla gave the first public indication of the feature set it was planning for the version of Firefox that could be released in the fall of this year. Among them were the following: a thumbnail preview mode for tab switching using Ctrl+Tab; an integrated, if limited, version of the Ubiquity command line tool; live theme changes without reboots; a new and more fully loaded "New Tab" feature; a complete status window that answers to the URL about:me; and integration of the desktop Web application platform Prism.

But in releasing the first public edition of the Firefox 3.6 alpha, code-named "Namoroka," general testers will find none of these features -- at least, not yet. Only in the private nightly builds may some testers begin to see features including Ctrl+Tab preview, but now it's believed that integrated Prism and other features will not make it into the final release.

According to Mozilla's official schedule, whatever front end enhancements the organization will end up making to this particular release, will have to be ready for Beta 1 sometime next month. Meanwhile, testers will have to deal with a 3.6 platform that's slightly faster than Firefox 3.5.2 in some respects, but noticeably slower in others, most likely due to developers' error control code as indicated by Betanews performance tests.

What Firefox aficionados say they love most about the browser compared to Google Chrome -- currently its biggest competition as an alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 -- is its rich feature set and customizability. Chrome, by contrast, is fairly bare-bones, although its bare chassis can now claim to be nearly twice as fast as Firefox 3.5.2 on Windows XP SP3, the fastest (though arguably the least secure) of Microsoft's three modern operating systems. Although Chrome has demonstrated some fancy windowing functionality, probably as a show of Google's prowess in producing something more resembling an operating system; and last week it adopted something that could be laughably described as "themes", Google's developers are finding buckets full of performance for Dev channel editions on an almost daily basis.

Since Betanews' tests just last Friday, Chrome 3 has clinched nearly one point of performance, and on our Windows XP SP3 physical test platform is now flirting with 20 times the performance of IE7 on Vista, now at a record 19.90 on our XP index. This while Mozilla's public release of Namoroka Alpha 1, on our Windows 7 RTM index slips almost one full point over Mozilla's final Namoroka release candidate, due mainly to visibly slower scores in the general math departments. The latest private daily build of Firefox 3.5.3 "Shiretoko," however, gained back some ground to pull just ahead of the stable 3.5.2.

First Google Chrome 4 reveals the beginnings of cloud synchronization

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:42:00 +0000

With Google, one tends to learn the meanings and intentions behind the many events in its development programs pretty much as they happen. For example, the distinctions between what goes on in the Chrome browser's development channel ("Dev") and what happens in the beta channel, have frequently been explained to us after the fact.

Today, we learned one new fact about the Dev channel: It's where the company will be rolling out its integration between the browser and other services -- potentially even with Google Apps. Square one begins with the Bookmarks synchronization service that comes as part of Google Accounts. That service makes its first appearance today with the first Dev build of the browser to bear the number "4." The announcement that Google's open-source Chromium team had developed a library for hooking into Google Bookmarks came just two weeks ago.

Of course, that "4" is not supposed to mean anything specific. Like a child who finishes cleaning his room the moment he shouts, "I'm finished," there's no specific reason for us to assume that Chrome 3, the subject of both the Dev and beta channels, will necessarily drop into the Stable channel anytime soon. When that happens sometime this week or this year, Chrome 2 users will wake up one day and find Chrome 3, which Betanews tests show should be a faster browser than version 2 by as much as one-third.

For now, the first Chrome 4 bears little difference from the previous developer build 3.0.197.11 except for continued acceleration (more on that in a moment) and the option to enable Google Bookmarks for testing. It requires a command line launch, as in chrome --enable-sync (Windows XP users can invoke Run from the Start menu); from there, the Sync my bookmarks command appears on Chrome 4's Tools menu.

In typical Google fashion, the program ascertains as much as it can without asking the user what she wants. All the tool requires is the user's account name and password. If bookmarks already exist in the account, then Chrome 4 imports them; if they don't, the browser exports the bookmarks that already exist, into that account.

Once again, Google is demonstrating how it's tailoring its browser to netbook users. They won't be using their portable netbooks full-time, and Chrome may or may not be the browser they use on their PCs. Currently, the Google Toolbar on Internet Explorer and Firefox are capable of performing browser synching functions, provided you save your bookmarks in the Toolbar and not the browser (or import them into the Toolbar from the browser). Typically, these users will prefer to use the same brand of browser on their netbooks as on their main PCs, though an easy method to sync bookmarks between the two browsers automatically could compel netbook users to try Chrome instead.

In initial tests of the first Chrome 4 on our physical Windows XP SP3-based test platform, the browser scored a record 20.09 on our Betanews performance index, representing over 20 times the speed of Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista, running on the same machine. Improvements in JavaScript execution this round were only minor, but rendering speed continues to improve, although the latest Apple Safari 4 browser remains the fastest renderer in our test suite (4.53 versus 4.48).

The Chrome browser continues to lack some of the other features found in Google Toolbar, such as language translation and AutoFill for forms. However, we get the impression that we may start to see more of those features creep into the new Chrome 4 development track, whenever Google gets around to it.

Windows 7 upgrades, Family Pack will come to Europe after all

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:40:00 +0000

On September 1, Microsoft announced this morning, it will be making upgrade editions of Windows 7 available to European customers, as originally planned, apparently with Internet Explorer 8 included. These editions will be publicly available on the originally planned global availability date of October 22, although pre-orders will begin September 1.

This leaves a one-week window in which European customers may continue to pre-order full versions of Windows 7 Home Premium at the upgrade price, which is currently €119.99 for most European customers, £79.99 in the UK. While we do know that €119.99 will be the upgrade price for Home Premium from September 1, and that the full version price will be somewhat higher, we do not know as of yet the specific breakdown for the upgrade prices for the Professional and Ultimate SKUs. These prices did not yet appear on Microsoft's online retail sites in foreign countries, as of 12:15 pm EDT Monday afternoon.

European customers may also expect pre-order availability of a three-license Family Pack version of the Home Premium SKU, though prices there have also not been released. Versions without Windows Media Player, marked with a prominent "N" and a big red box, will also be available for all SKUs in both full and upgrade editions, but for no discount off the regular price.

Currently, pre-orders for the full edition of the Windows 7 Professional SKU are selling for €285 / £189.99, and the Ultimate SKU for €299 / £199.99. Microsoft's Web site does show the non-UK prices to be limited time discounts, however, which suggests that on September 1 their prices may climb to €309 and €319 (the UK site does not show full pricing as presently discounted).

The summer recess has precluded the European Commission from issuing an opinion on Microsoft's decision three weeks ago to reverse course on offering "Windows 7 E" without Internet Explorer 8 pre-installed. It therefore appears that, for now, the distribution of Windows 7 worldwide will go forward precisely as originally planned.

However, Microsoft is not saying at this time whether Windows 7 SKUs being prepared for October shipment are being pre-equipped with the ability to offer the "ballot screen" -- the ability for customers to select the Web browser of their choice, download it, and install it. Technically, it's possible for Microsoft to deploy a kind of hotfix that's downloaded during the latter stages of the installation process, containing the instructions necessary to bring up the ballot screen -- this way, the company would not need to issue recalls on box shipments that have already been made, or to have OEMs undo Windows 7 installations that are already present on new PCs.

But for Microsoft's proposal to work completely as it has planned, the manufacturers of the alternate browsers listed -- Mozilla, Apple, Google, and Opera Software -- would have to be on board. Specifically, they would need to be able to provide users with destinations for the ballot screen to download and install browsers, in accordance with the Windows 7 installation instructions. Objections already lodged by Opera's and Mozilla's chiefs suggest that at least some would not be on board with this idea; and that even if the EC gives the go-ahead to the browser screen, the Windows 7 installer might not be able to make the necessary handshakes to enable alternative browsers.

Open source project makes ADO.NET data accessible with PHP

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Microsoft's most recent Web-driven database technology is ADO.NET, although only the first three letters of its name have been a throwback to its predecessor: There's nothing "ActiveX" about ADO.NET whatsoever. Up to now, its purpose has been to expose data through HTTP Web services that can be utilized by JavaScript clients (read: common Web pages) as well as by .NET applications including Silverlight.

But that fact has kept the pairings of ADO.NET with ASP.NET, and PHP with MySQL, separate and distinct from one another.

So with PHP being the more popular language, known to and practiced by an estimated 9.4% of the world's developers -- making it the #4 language in the world behind Java, C, and C++, according to standards group TIOBE -- that pairing works against Microsoft, and keeps MySQL in the driver's seat for as long as Oracle wants to keep it there.

This time around, Microsoft has decided its way out of that tangle is to let others solve the problem, and then to endorse (and, when warranted, to fund) the result. An independent, Pune, India-based firm called Persistent Systems, Ltd. Has spearheaded an open-source project to develop a kind of command-line re-interpreter, whose purpose is to make ADO.NET data accessible through PHP. It's called PHP Toolkit for ADO.NET Data Services, and its setup is deceptively simple. ADO.NET already generates XML code in Atom format that specifies the formats of Web-addressable resources.

At design time, the PHP Toolkit re-interprets this schema and produces a series of proxy classes, which the Web developers then explicitly includes in his PHP code. The classes behave like objects, with members pointed to like columns in tables.

So for instance, in classic fashion, you can create a loop clause that iterates through each member of a table, and then prints (or, more accurately, echo-es) the contents of members of that table into slots in the PHP code. The XHTML produced for the client contains those contents. It's all done with very minimal adjustments in the way PHP would normally handle tables; all it really needs is to include the proxy classes generated by the Toolkit, using the keywords require_once and define.

ADO.NET Data Services is supported by Service Pack 1 of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 as well as by the latest Expression Web 3, and will be a key component of Visual Studio 2010.

Seven Painful Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:08:00 +0000

Technology is a wonderful thing. It means we don't have to spend our lives toiling over rows of potatoes just for a shot at keeping our families one step ahead of starvation. But while many of us work in near-virtual worlds dominated by Outlook and also work out at gyms, pain remains wrapped up in everything we do--even when we're grunting off a few pounds or puffing our way through a bit of harmless paperwork from the central office. Here's a look at some technologies that have both helped and hurt us.

StairMaster
It's hard to imagine a better workout than the StairMaster. A good treadmill can make your lungs heave. And any weight set can make your muscles ache. But nothing makes those legs burn like climbing steps. And while this has been a staple of a good workout since your high school football coach sent you up and down stairs two decades ago, the limited numbers of stairs meant he could only send you up and back so many times before the whole exercise seemed too ridiculous even for a man wearing nylon pants. The StairMaster has no such qualms. And if you want real pain, you can watch your investments evaporate on CNBC while you sweat.

Outlook
Outlook is hardly the worst e-mail client out there (that would be Lotus Notes). Outook's problem is that it's so capable, it can be addictive. It can keep you on top of everything, including your calendar, your contacts and your e-mail, if you're willing to put in the time at the computer keyboard. The problem is sitting at the keyboard for hours on end can lead to back and neck pain if you're not careful. Of course, programs like Word and Excel can do the same. The difference is that by storing your appointments and e-mail so diligently, Outlook offers an almost unlimited bucket of work. The solution? If you're on a major Outlook bender, be sure to get up, stretch and walk around regularly.

Phone Handset
Yet another praiseworthy technology that can cause tremendous pain when overused. The venerable telephone handset has been with us for more than a century. And it has served us well--some of us, too well. Used for hours on end, it can turn into a veritable torture device for the neck and shoulders. The best solution? Run off into the woods to live with the bears, which have no use for either telephones or pants. Got a mortgage to pay? In that case, buy a headset: $89 spent on a simple, corded headset from Plantronics can save you thousands in chiropractic fees.

Pepper Spray
Here's a technology where it's hard to argue that pain isn't put to excellent use. While law enforcement officers and civilians in the U.S. have long carried handguns in self-defense, things can quickly turn lethal. Moreover, the careful storage, proper training and regular maintenance needed to own a gun is a serious responsibility. Pepper spray, by contrast, is a point-and-spray alternative that provides a nonlethal option that gives a cornered police officer or a distressed civilian an option that doesn't involve sending bodies to the morgue.

Computer Keyboard
If you're a touch typist, the online world of modern work gives you the ability to do a huge portion of your job without ever leaving your desk. The problem is that hunching over a computer keyboard for hours on end can create aches and pains in your upper back. It can even lead you to overdevelop those muscles, throwing off your sense of balance when tackling other tasks. The solution? Don't just give yourself breaks in between keyboarding bouts; spend $50 for an hour every month on a personal trainer, who can help you create a workout that will keep all those muscles moving in the right ways.

BlackBerry
You've got to appreciate Research in Motion's lovely little gizmo. There's no purer expression of the power of modern messaging systems than a company-issued BlackBerry. With great power, however, comes additional responsibility. Knowing you can answer a critical note from the boss from anywhere in the world can free you up to spend more time with your family. However, it's also lured the irresponsible into texting while driving, a habit that has resulted in too many painful accidents.

Online Slide Show
The slide show is a staple of online media. And in some sense, it's a reader-friendly one, serving up bite-sized morsels of content to readers who are often distracted by real work. The pain? If there's a bit of insight that you really need to get to--now--you've got to click through all those slides to reach the end in order to find it. Meanwhile, your friendly Web site publisher is racking up the page views. The result: The slide show isn't news you can use; rather, it's news that uses you.

Information, Communication and Technology, ICT Creates New Opportunities For Women

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:59:00 +0000

Jakarta (VOI-News) - To strengthen the south - south cooperation among developing countries, which Indonesia is one of its, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with The State Ministry of Women Empowerment and also Information and Communication Ministry hold an International Workshop on Women Empowerment in Information Technology from March 23 to 28, 2009 in Jakarta. Indonesian Women Empowerment Minister, Meutia Hatta Swasono in her speech today said that based on the commitment in Tunis, in the world summit on the Information Society 2005, Indonesia is fully aware that the benefits of the information technology revolution is unevenly distributed between the developed and developing countries and within societies. According to her, Indonesia is committed to turning the digital divide into a digital opportunity for all, particularly for those who risk being left behind and being further marginalized. Therefore, Indonesia recognized that ICT had created a new opportunities for women.

"we also recognized that ICT had created new opportunities for women and contributed to knowledge sharing, networking and electronic commerce activities. We acknowledged that poverty, lack of acces and opportunitie, illiteracy and language barriers prevented women from using ICT, including the internet. Steps were proposed to ensure that women benefited fully from ICT, including equal access to ICT - related education, training and entrepeurship opportunities and equal access as producers and consumers of ICT through public and private partnership", she said.

Meanwhile, this workshop are followed by 16 participants from 9 countries such as Bangladesh, Philippines, India, Iran, Cambodia, Myanmar, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and 8 participants from Indonesia. It is hope that from this workshop all participants can formulate the action programme to increase the rule and women in information technology at each countries.

Microsoft and Gecad Technologies Announce Exchange ActiveSync Patent License Agreement

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:41:00 +0000

Gecad's AXIGEN Mail Server offering featuring Microsoft's leading technology is being made available today.

REDMOND, Wash. and BUCHAREST, Romania, March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Gecad Technologies today announced a patent licensing agreement to implement Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync on Gecad's AXIGEN Mail Server offering. The agreement allows AXIGEN e-mail servers to directly synchronize e-mail and data between mobile devices utilizing Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync technology. The Exchange ActiveSync protocol enables mobile client devices such as Windows Mobile-based smartphones to synchronize e-mail messages, calendar items, contacts, task lists and other mailbox data with AXIGEN Mail Server.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

Gecad also announced that the product kits for AXIGEN Mail Server version 7.0 featuring Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync are available for download today at http://www.axigen.com.

"This agreement enhances the ability for AXIGEN e-mail servers to directly synchronize with various mobile devices, including those using Windows Mobile, that utilize Exchange ActiveSync," said Oana Bornaz, chief executive officer of Gecad Technologies. "During tough economic times this agreement makes good business sense, as it will allow AXIGEN to further differentiate itself from its competitors in the business messaging solutions marketplace, in a cost-effective manner."

While Microsoft has been licensing the Exchange ActiveSync protocol for mobile devices since 2003, Gecad Technologies joins a growing number of companies licensing the Exchange ActiveSync patents for implementation on a server.

"Gecad came to us a few months ago because it recognizes, like so many technology companies across Europe, that a way to spur growth in our industry is to license patented technology for mutual benefit," said David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property Licensing at Microsoft. "People -- and companies -- want to know their communications foundation is secure, reliable and accessible across many mobile devices, from PDAs to smartphones. And Microsoft has been helping companies overcome those challenges through our Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync licensing program."

This agreement extends the collaboration between the two companies, as AXIGEN recently became a member of Microsoft's Empower initiative for independent software vendors. More information is available at http://www.gecad.com/press/read.php?NID=89.

Microsoft's Commitment to Licensing Technology

The licensing agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant IT ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 500 licensing agreements and recently announced an expansion of its Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync IP licensing program. These licensing efforts help make it possible for customers, partners and competitors to access its IP portfolio. The program was developed to open access to Microsoft's significant research and development investments and its growing, broad patent and IP portfolio.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has entered into Exchange ActiveSync licensing agreements with Apple Inc., Big Bang System Corp., DataViz Inc., Google Inc., Helio LLC, IXI Mobile (R&D) Ltd., Nokia Corp., Palm Inc., Remoba Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Symbian Software Ltd. and Xandros Inc.

More information about Microsoft's licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing.

About AXIGEN and Gecad Technologies

Established in 2001, Gecad Technologies SA, member of the GECAD Group, is the vendor of AXIGEN, a messaging solution for professionals that ensures an efficient and secure worldwide communication environment and business growth for both service providers and companies of all sizes. Currently, AXIGEN is distributed internationally by over 170 partners from 80 countries and manages email traffic for more than 11,000 companies with 6 million end-users.

Our team of seasoned professionals, with 15 years of experience in messaging and IT security delivers cutting-edge products, by developing an innovative carrier-class technology based on proprietary architectures such as AXIGEN GrowSecure(TM), AXIGEN SmartProcessing(TM) and AXIGEN UltraStorage(TM). Learn more at: www.axigen.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Hitachi Unveils Compact Enterprise Hard Drive

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:34:00 +0000

Hitachi (NYSE: HIT) on Tuesday introduced a compact enterprise hard drive for rack-mounted servers and networked storage arrays.

The 10,000 revolutions per minute Ultrastar C10K300 is a 2.5-inch design offered in 147 GB and 300 GB capacities. The disk drive ships with a dual-port 6 Gbps Serial Attached SCSI, or SAS, interface.

The drives occupy 70% less physical space and consume 65% less power than a similar 3.5-inch drive, according to Hitachi. The Ultrastar C10K300 is the first Hitachi enterprise-class drive to include the company's power management technology that provides IT managers with multiple options for setting power modes. Such features were only available before with Hitachi's Deskstar family of products. The new drive consumes 3.4 watts at idle and 6.1 watts when active.

"Space constraints and low power considerations in data centers have driven the transition to blade servers that rely on small form factor enterprise hard drives," Brendan Collins, VP of Product Marketing at Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, said in a statement. "The Ultrastar C10K300 is positioned to capitalize on and accelerate this trend."

The drive has an average seek time as low as 3.9 milliseconds and an average latency time of 3 milliseconds, Hitachi said. Its overall speed and response time makes it well-suited in a range of applications, such as online transaction processing, real-time business analytics and delivery of data-intensive content-on-demand, such as multiple channels of streaming video.

The drive also includes technology to protect the drive against vibrations commonly found in multi-drive configurations.

The Ultrastar C10K300 is available worldwide. Pricing was not disclosed.

Syniverse: Beating Expectations

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Syniverse Holdings, Inc. (SVR) was hit brutally in the fourth quarter after the Sprint / Alltel (S) merger caused the company to lose one of its largest customers. In just one day, the stock lost more than 40% of its value as investors grappled with the reality of this loss of revenue.

But in the four months or so since this announcement, the stock has regained nearly the entire loss and appears to be trading in a relatively healthy manner. In February, the company issued its fourth quarter announcement which sowed pro-forma earnings of $0.39 per share - an increase of 25.7%. The company benefited from ongoing growth in the mobile industry despite significant weakness in economic conditions.

Syniverse is largely a technology company whose primary service is to offer “interoperability” to various mobile telecom providers. There are various other offerings such as Network Services and Number Portability, but the majority of revenue comes from the Technology Interoperability segment. This service is especially critical for smaller mobile companies who need their technology to be able to communicate with larger providers.

Last year the major news was that Sprint/Alltel would insource this function and investors quickly began to worry that other large customers would make the same move. However, most recently, Synverse signed a long-term contract with Verizon to continue offering the technology. While the terms were a bit lower than the previous contract (which has cut into SVR’s gross margins), the fact that this large customer will be around for the next three years is definitely reassuring.

Looking forward to 2009, the company has issued what appears to be relatively conservative guidance. The expectation is for revenue of $460-480 million which is actually below 2008 levels. But the company made a point of noting that they were able to add 100 new customers in the past year and are currently experiencing a 98% retention rate. So there seems to be little evidence that any other customers will take the same path as Sprint.

In a research report, Barclays noted that SVR’s visibility is better than other companies within the industry because of the long-term contracts and recurring format of the company’s revenue stream. While most of the business comes from North America (US and Canada), operations are becoming diversified with customers in the Asia / Pacific region, Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe / Middle East / Africa (EMEA).

Syniverse has been aggressively cutting costs to maintain its margins and is currently on-track to recognize $12 million in synergies from its acquisition of BSG last year. The balance sheet is relatively healthy with $165.6 million in cash, although the debt burden is $584.8 million. This should be manageable with the strong cash flow, but obviously the current economy creates more risk for companies with high debt levels.

In short, the stock is still trading at an attractive multiple even given its recent rebound. Currently the stock is roughly 11 times current earnings and the company is expected to resume earnings growth in 2010. The technology is a needed service in the industry, and SVR is well known for offering a strong solution and I would expect further contract wins in coming quarters.

China Issues 3-G Licenses to Three Domestic Firms

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:07:00 +0000

BEIJING -- China issued third-generation mobile licenses to the country's three telecommunications operators, China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp., the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

The ministry issued a license to China Mobile to offer services based on Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, a homegrown third-generation technology, said spokesman Wang Lijian.

Mr. Wang said the ministry has issued China Unicom a license to offer services based on the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access technology widely used in Europe and Japan, and China Telecom a license to offer services based on the CDMA2000 technology used in the U.S. and South Korea.

China Mobile said it will expand its network coverage and increase the variety of mobile services. State radio reported the company plans to expand its network to cover all of China's cities by 2011, citing Chief Executive Wang Jianzhou.

The report also cited China Telecom Vice General Manager Zhang Jiping as saying the company aims to "have the capacity" to offer 3G services in all Chinese cities within the next three months, and expand the services to all counties within six months.

China Unicom Vice President Li Gang said in the report the company hopes to launch 3G services "as soon as possible," but didn't give a timetable.

Analysts said the issuance of 3G licenses would allow the local carriers to offer services such as Web browsing and video conferencing, which could push up average revenue per user in the long term. But they said the huge initial network investments required will likely lead to large depreciation charges, which could pressure profit in the year or two ahead.

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong said in December the carriers would invest 280 billion yuan ($41 billion) in developing third-generation networks over the next two years. In late May, the Chinese government unveiled a telecom sector restructuring that merged the country's six telecom operators into three full-service providers.

The 3G licenses will likely be a boon for telecom equipment vendors as the operators' hefty spending on network equipment should help boost orders and sales.

American Technology Announces $2.7 Million in New LRAD(R) Orders From U.S. Navy

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:00:00 +0000

American Technology Corporation (ATC) (NASDAQ: ATCO), a leading provider of directed sound products and technologies, announced today it has received two new LRAD® orders totaling $2.7 million from the U.S. Navy. The orders were received late last quarter (fiscal Q1) and are scheduled to ship in fiscal Q2.

The first order, totaling $2.3 million, includes LRAD 500X(TM) systems for deployed security forces and enhanced LRAD 500® systems for force protection and anti-terrorist applications. LRAD 500X is the only acoustic hailing device (AHD) that meets the U.S. Navy's intelligible voice transmission, size, power, and weight requirements. This is the third major order secured through maritime security representative, Anchor Innovation.

"Recently, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army conducted extensive operational testing of the LRAD 500X," remarked Tom Brown, president and CEO of ATC. "The testing was conducted in an extremely harsh waterside environment. Despite crosswinds and headwinds at speeds of 20 knots sustained, gusting to 35 knots, the LRAD 500X exceeded expectations. The successful testing, along with the positive experience of the Navy with previously deployed LRAD systems, paved the way for this order."

The second order, totaling approximately $400,000, is the fifth delivery of LRAD 1000X(TM) systems under the Shipboard Protection System, Block 0 contract awarded to ATC by the U.S. Navy in October 2007. Under the contract, ATC is supplying LRAD 1000X systems to the 270 ships that comprise the Navy's large vessel fleet. LRAD 1000X is the only AHD that meets the Navy's voice intelligibility and range requirements for large vessel anti-terrorism applications and force protection.

"Crew feedback has been extremely positive regarding LRAD 1000X's broadcast capability and robust construction," commented Scott Stuckey, ATC's vice president of business development. "Our LRAD 1000X systems feature composite and stainless steel construction that can withstand even the harshest maritime environment."

ATC developed its proprietary LRAD product line to assist military and security forces in determining the intent of potential threats at safe distances, providing authorized personnel time and distance to scale their response based on a threat's actions. LRAD is highly effective using directionality and focused acoustic output to clearly transmit critical information, instructions and warnings at distances in excess of 1000 meters. LRAD can be manually operated or integrated into a remotely controlled security network's command and control center. Through the use of powerful voice commands and deterrent tones, LRAD can create large safety zones, resolve uncertain situations, and potentially save lives on both sides of the device.

"We're off to a strong start in the first half of fiscal 2009 with over $5.5 million in new orders received in our first quarter, of which approximately $2.5 million were shipped, with the balance scheduled to ship in our second quarter," Brown added. "We're on course to surpass fiscal 2008 revenues as we expect to receive, announce and ship further directed sound orders this quarter."

About American Technology Corporation

American Technology Corporation is Shaping the Future of Sound® by providing directed audio solutions that place clear, highly intelligible sound exactly where needed. ATC's Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD®), HyperSonic® Sound, and SoundSaber® product lines make up the core of an expanding portfolio of directed sound products and technologies. For more information about ATC and its directed sound solutions please visit the company's web site at www.atcsd.com.

Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. We base these statements on particular assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience, the stage of product and market development as well as our perception of historical trends, current market conditions, current economic data, expected future developments and other factors that we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the performance of our management team, market acceptance of our directed sound technologies and products, entry of competitors, the possibility our intellectual property protections will not prevent others from marketing products similar to or competitive with our products, potential technical or manufacturing difficulties that could delay product deliveries or increase warranty costs, and other risks identified and discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are based on information and management's expectations as of the date hereof. Future results may differ materially from our current expectations. For more information regarding other potential risks and uncertainties, see the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. American Technology Corporation disclaims any intent or obligation to update those forward-looking statements, except as otherwise specifically stated.

Technology Helps Seniors Live At Home Longer

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Many older adults want to remain active and independent for as long as possible. Seniors want to age in their own homes and avoid moving to institutions or nursing homes. University of Missouri researchers are using sensors, computers and communication systems, along with supportive health care services to monitor the health of older adults who are living at home. According to the researchers, motion sensor networks installed in seniors’ homes can detect changes in behavior and physical activity, including walking and sleeping patterns. Early identification of these changes can prompt health care interventions that can delay or prevent serious health events.

As part of the "aging in place" research at MU, integrated sensor networks were installed in apartments of residents at TigerPlace, a retirement community that helps senior residents stay healthy and active to avoid hospitalization and relocation. MU researchers collected data from motion and bed sensors that continuously logged information for more than two years. The researchers identified patterns in the sensor data that can provide clues to predict adverse health events, including falls, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

"The ‘aging in place’ concept allows older adults to remain in the environment of their choice and receive supportive health services as needed. With this type of care, most people wouldn’t need to relocate to a nursing home," said Marilyn Rantz, professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. "Monitoring sensor patterns is an effective and discreet way to ensure the health and privacy of older adults."

In recent evaluations, the sensor networks detected changes in residents’ conditions that were not recognized by traditional health care assessments. MU researchers are perfecting the technology infrastructure at TigerPlace as a model, so these technologies and supportive health care services can be made available to seniors throughout the country.

"Our goal is to generate automatic alerts that notify caregivers of changes in residents’ conditions that would allow them to intervene and prevent adverse health events," Rantz said. "Additional work is underway to establish these health alerts, improve the reliability and accuracy of the sensor network, implement a video sensor network, and refine a Web-based interface to make it even more user friendly and meaningful to health care providers."

Tiger II, a 22-unit addition to TigerPlace, opened on Jan. 1. TigerPlace community residents receive health and wellness services through TigerCare, a service of the Sinclair School of Nursing. Residents receive care and services when they need them and where they want them - in the privacy of their apartments.

Through its university affiliation, residents can participate in a number of educational, cultural and research projects both on site and on campus that are conducted by the College of Engineering, School of Nursing, Health Professions, and Medicine at MU.

The study, "Using Technology to Enhance Aging in Place," was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Smart homes and health Telematics. It was funded by a grant from the U.S. Administration on Aging and the National Science Foundation ITR grant.

China 3G Licenses May Spark $41 Billion of Investment

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- China issued licenses for high-speed mobile-phone services today, clearing the way for as much as $41 billion of spending on so-called third-generation networks as the government seeks to bolster the slowing economy.

The 3G licenses were granted to China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom Ltd. and China Telecom Corp., Wang Lijian, a Beijing-based spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said by telephone. Services based on 3G allow faster downloads of Web pages, videos and music to handsets.

The government in China, home to more handset users than the total population of Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., projects its carriers will invest 280 billion yuan ($41 billion) to provide 3G services, bolstering an economy where growth has slowed to a five-year low. The spending would also benefit companies such as Ericsson AB and ZTE Corp., whose equipment powers the networks.

“The need to stimulate the economy is the main driver” for issuing licenses now, said Francis Cheung, head of Asian telecommunications research at CLSA Ltd. in Hong Kong. “If not for the economy, licensing could have dragged on for years.”

The decision came from the government’s top administrative body. Premier Wen Jiabao chaired a Dec. 31 meeting of the State Council, the nation’s cabinet, that gave the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approval to issue the licenses.

Stimulate Consumption

The State Council said in a Dec. 31 statement about the decision that it expected 3G to stimulate domestic consumption. All three of China’s telephone carriers are owned by the state.

China’s economy expanded 9 percent in the third quarter of 2008, the slowest pace since 2003, as the global financial crisis eroded demand for its exports of electronics, toys and shoes. In November, the World Bank forecast the Chinese economy will grow 7.5 percent this year, the slowest in almost two decades.

Economic growth of less than 8 percent would fuel social unrest in China as the nation fails to create enough jobs for the 20 million people joining the urban workforce annually, according to economists including Societe Generale SA’s Glenn Maguire.

The government has announced a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package, cut taxes and increased rebates for exports to spur growth.

Li Yizhong, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said last month he anticipates carriers will spend 280 billion yuan on 3G networks and services in 2009 and 2010. Total spending by all companies for 3G products and services may be 2 trillion yuan over three years, the China Securities Journal reported Jan. 5, citing Chen Jinqiao, deputy chief engineer of the regulator’s telecommunications research institute.

3G Standards

China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless-phone company by market value, will operate services based on the domestically developed time division synchronous code division multiple access technology known as TD-SCDMA, Wang said. Unicom will offer services based on wideband CDMA, or W-CDMA, while China Telecom will operate CDMA2000 services, he said.

Ericsson AB, the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone equipment, expects “a good year” in China in 2009, Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric Svanberg said in October, citing the country’s plans to roll out 3G services.

“The biggest winners are the equipment makers,” CLSA’s Cheung said. “Foreign vendors are going to get the most contracts in dollar terms.”

China Mobile and China Unicom may each invest 100 billion yuan to build their 3G networks, while China Telecom may spend 80 billion yuan, Cheung said.

NTT DoCoMo

Faster 3G services in other markets have at the same time failed to boost the profits of the carriers that introduced them. NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s biggest mobile-phone company, offered the world’s first 3G service in 2001. The Tokyo-based carrier failed to meet its target for subscriber additions in the first year after a delay in handset deliveries.

3 Group, which offers 3G services in seven markets in Europe and Australia, has failed to turn a profit since starting services in 2003, dragging down profit at parent Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

China may have 103 million 3G users by the end of 2011, about 11 percent of the country’s total of mobile-phone subscribers at that time, according to Tim Smart, Hong Kong-based regional head of telecommunications research at Macquarie Group Ltd. The nation had 633.8 million mobile-phone users at the end of November, according to government data.

Vicor Technologies CEO David Fater Discusses Company's Diagnostics Development Strategy With CEORoadshow.com in Exclusive Online Audio Interview

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Vicor Technologies, Inc. today announced that David Fater, its president and CEO, is presently featured in an online audio interview at www.CEORoadshow.com. Vicor Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VCRT) is a development-stage biotechnology company focused on the commercialization of innovative non-invasive diagnostics using its patented, proprietary PD2i algorithm.

In the interview, Mr. Fater shares news of Vicor's recent receipt of FDA 510(k) approval to market its PD2i Analyzer, the company's plans to commercialize the PD2i Analyzer, the status of clinical trials in collaboration with the U.S. Army for its PD2i VS (Vital Sign) to risk stratify trauma victims, and the status of clinical trials for its PD2i CA (Cardiac Analyzer) which identifies patients at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death.

"The non-invasive technology underlying all Vicor diagnostics is our patented, proprietary PD2i algorithm. The point correlation dimension algorithm -- PD2i -- is a deterministic, non-linear measure that analyzes ECG data to risk stratify target populations as to future life threatening or fatal event," stated Mr. Fater. "The PD2i has already proven accurate in identifying those in need of immediate life saving intervention and those at risk of sudden cardiac death within a six to 12 month time frame. We anticipate additional applications employing the PD2i to enable early detection and risk stratification for a variety of other disorders and diseases," Mr. Fater continued. "During the past 12 months, we've made significant strides toward implementing our strategic plan and are pleased to have this opportunity to share our accomplishments with CEORoadshow," Mr. Fater concluded.

CEORoadshow.com, a multimedia platform and website powered by Interactive Entertainment Group Inc., is the leading online destination for original and syndicated streaming broadcast interviews of CEOs, CFOs, and analysts of publicly traded companies on the NYSE, AMEX, Nasdaq, and other exchanges. All CEORoadshow programming and news is copyrighted and distributed to millions of on-line investors and more than 300 financial web sites, as well as thousands of buy side analysts, hedge funds, and investment banking institutions.

About Vicor Technologies, Inc.

Vicor is a development-stage biotechnology company creating innovative diagnostics employing its patented, proprietary point correlation dimension algorithm (PD2i.) The PD2i is a deterministic, non-linear measure that analyzes electrophysiological potentials to predict future pathological events with high accuracy in target populations.

Vicor currently has three products employing the PD2i algorithm. The PD2i Analyzer, now in commercialization, measures heart rate variability. The PD2i VS (Vital Sign), in clinical trials under a collaborative effort with the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research (http://www.usaisr.amedd.army.mil/), risk stratifies combat and civilian trauma victims. The PD2i CA (Cardiac Analyzer), in a multi-site, multi-year trial (the VITAL Trial) being conducted by the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, identifies patients at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death.

Vicor anticipates additional applications employing the PD2i to enable early detection and risk stratification for a variety of other disorders and diseases. Additional information is available at www.vicortech.com.

The appearance of name-brand institutions or products in this media release does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or the U.S. Government of the information, products or services contained therein.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current plans and expectations that are subject to uncertainties and risks, which could cause our future results to differ materially. The following factors, among others, could cause our actual results to differ: our ability to obtain FDA approval of the PD2i VS for military and civilian applications and the PD2i Cardiac Analyzer, our ability continue to receive financing sufficient to continue operations and complete the critical clinical trials; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to successfully develop products based on our technologies; our ability to obtain and maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for our products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our ability to receive regulatory approval for our products; the ability of third-party contract research organizations to perform preclinical testing and clinical trials for our technologies; the ability of third-party manufacturers to manufacture our products; our ability to retain the services of our key personnel; our ability to market and sell our products successfully; our ability to protect our intellectual property; product liability; changes in federal income tax laws and regulations; general market conditions in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries; and other matters that are described in Vicor's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of the press release, and we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements or the reasons why actual results could differ.

Innovation center gets $25,000 for technology

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:11:00 +0000

Wells Fargo presented the Arizona Center for Innovation with a donation of $25,000, which will be used to provide business development assistance for technology start-up companies in Southern Arizona.

Programs include one that provides early stage entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their business concept to a panel of business experts and another that takes early stage companies through a structured six-week business development program.

“Wells Fargo has been supporting the Arizona Center for Innovation since we opened our doors in 2003,” says Marie Wesselhoft, director of the Arizona Center for Innovation. “The company’s continued investment in the development of technology companies is vital to the center as well as the community.”

Innovation center gets $25,000 for technology

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:11:00 +0000

ICO finds Triangle’s terrain a fitting lab for auto technology

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:27:00 +0000

RALEIGH – Executives with a Virginia satellite communications company have picked the Triangle as a testing ground for a technology they believe can do for television what satellites have done for radio.

Shortly after New Year’s Day, sport utility vehicles will fan throughout the region testing Reston, Va.-based ICO Global Communications’ service – real-time television, navigation and emergency signals delivered by satellite to consumers in their cars. The company, which trades on the Nasdaq stock market, already has set up some equipment in the Triangle for the test.

CEO Tim Bryan was unavailable for comment. Spokesman Chris Doherty says ICO chose the Raleigh-Durham area because it has been a useful test area for other telecom companies. He says the Triangle’s gently rolling hills and tree cover, which are similar to those found in many other East Coast markets, will help the company measure signal strength. Like satellite radio providers, ICO will use towers on the ground to carry signals around buildings. ICO has installed 14 of these “repeaters” around the Raleigh-Durham area.

ICO also will test in Las Vegas, which offers a more urban setting, along with mountains and desert. Between the two cities, Doherty says, ICO can model how the service will work in most of the country. The company wants to tap the market that embraces satellite radio, which is offered under two brands, Sirius and XM, which are now owned by the same company.

“They have 20 million customers, which is nothing to sneeze at,” Doherty says of Sirius and XM.

Technology research firm ABI Research projects that mobile TV subscribers will grow worldwide to 462 million in the next five years. In a report, research director Mike Wolf says consumers are attracted by the improving video experiences coming from larger, more powerful screens.

ICO has signed deals with companies including NBC Universal and Viacom to provide television content. ICO’s satellite covers most of North America, but the company is licensed for service only in the United States. ICO still awaits approval of a license to offer service in Europe.

In-Stat analyst David Chamberlain says ICO isn’t exactly a newcomer. ICO started in 1995 with the aim of using satellites to provide voice and data services globally. The company was saved from bankruptcy in 2000 by an investor group led by telecom veteran Craig McCaw, who had founded the cell phone carrier that became AT&T Wireless.

For most of the last five years, ICO has been in litigation with The Boeing Co. over the aerospace giant’s failure to build and launch 12 ICO satellites. In October, a jury awarded ICO $371 million in the case.

While satellite radio points to a potential market for ICO, it also offers reason for caution, Chamberlain says. The merged Sirius XM Radio has a long way to go before it becomes profitable. And unlike satellite radio, ICO won’t be the only mobile television satellite player. Chamberlain says Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, which delivers video to wireless devices, is expected to expand its geographic reach by using spectrum newly available after broadcast television becomes all digital Feb. 17.

Chamberlain says ICO can distinguish itself with its navigation and communication features, though he notes that global positioning systems and cell phones offer similar functions.

Hutchinson Technology Announces Restructuring Plan

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:24:00 +0000

HUTCHINSON, Minn., Dec 9, 2008 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Hutchinson Technology Incorporated today announced a restructuring plan that includes a 20-25% reduction of its workforce, which totaled approximately 4,500 at the end of November. The company estimates that its financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter ending December 28, 2008 will include a charge of $12 million to $16 million related to severance costs. In addition, the company will be implementing a 5% pay reduction for all employees not affected by the workforce reduction. The workforce and pay reductions are expected to be complete by the end of January 2009 and are part of the company's strategy to manage its cash and balance sheet and reduce its overall cost structure by approximately $65 million to $80 million on an annualized basis. The company's plans also include reducing its fiscal year 2009 capital spending from $60 million to $40 million.

Wayne M. Fortun, Hutchinson Technology's president and chief executive officer, said the restructuring is necessary due to the changing and uncertain market and economic conditions. "Over the last month, the suspension assembly demand outlook for fiscal year 2009 has weakened significantly," said Fortun, noting that the company now expects its fiscal first quarter shipments of suspension assemblies to decline more than 20% sequentially. "In response, we are restructuring our business in order to reduce our expected loss in fiscal year 2009, preserve cash and position ourselves for improved financial results when suspension assembly demand improves."
The company has already taken a number of steps to lower its operational expenses in response to lower demand in its fiscal first quarter, including use of mandatory time off and implementing a two-week shutdown during the upcoming holidays. The shutdown will occur over the last week of the company's fiscal first quarter and the first week of the company's fiscal second quarter.

The company also announced that it has repurchased, on the open market, approximately $60 million par value of its 2.25% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2010 for approximately $48 million in cash, including accrued interest. "The repurchase of our notes reduced our debt on terms that we believe are favorable to our shareholders while maintaining an adequate level of cash," said John A. Ingleman, the company's chief financial officer. "As a result of this transaction, we will recognize a gain of approximately $12 million in our fiscal 2009 first quarter."
Fortun said that the company is confident in its ability to address the current economic challenges. "We are aggressively managing our cost structure and cash position to ensure that we will meet our debt obligations while preserving the ability to make investments that will enable the company to respond to customer requirements and achieve long-term profitable growth."
The company's fiscal 2009 first quarter results announcement and conference call are scheduled for January 27, 2009, at which time the company will discuss its financial results for the first quarter and provide further details on the changes to its overall cost structure.

About Hutchinson Technology
Hutchinson Technology is a global technology leader committed to creating value by developing solutions to critical customer problems. The company's Disk Drive Components Division is the leading worldwide supplier of suspension assemblies for disk drives. The company's BioMeasurement Division is focused on bringing to the market new technologies and products that provide information clinicians can use to improve the quality of health care and reduce costs.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding the company's financial results, capital spending, debt obligations, balance sheet, cost reduction efforts and results, severance costs, investments and overall demand and shipments for disk drives and suspension assemblies. These statements involve risks and uncertainties. The company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of changes in market demand and market consumption of disk drives or suspension assemblies, the company's ability to fully realize anticipated cost reductions, the company's ability to manage its cash and balance sheet, the company's ability to produce suspension assemblies at levels of precision, quality, variety, volume and cost that its customers require, changes in product mix, changes in required investment to develop process capabilities, changes in expected data density and other factors described from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

Technology Brings Families Together

noreply@blogger.com (administrator) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:44:00 +0000

A new study has found that technology is helping families maintain social ties — and families use technology more than others.

Families and technology go together, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that took information from 2,253 Americans.

In fact families are among the most eager users of technology, with Web browsing popular, as 51% of parents browsing online with their kids.

More traditional nuclear families tend to have no technology in the home than other groups, the survey found, with 66% having a broadband connection (compared to the national average of 52%), and 89% having multiple cell phones. 70% of couple with cell phones use them daily, and 42% of parents contact their children by cell every day.

53% of people agree that new technology has increased their contact with distant family members and 47% say it has improved the interactions among those they live with. Family together time can often be an online experience, with a drop in television viewing.