Mobile by entelechyasia

Worldwide PC, tablet, ultramobile, and mobile phone shipment to grow 7.6% this year

GartnerGlobal shipment of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles, and mobile phones) are projected to reach 2.5 billion units in 2014, a 7.6 percent increase from 2013, according to Gartner.

Among the operating system (OS) market, Android is on pace to surpass one billion users across all devices in 2014. By 2017, more than 75 percent of Android’s volumes will come from emerging markets.

“The device market continues to evolve, with buyers deciding which combination of devices is required to meet their wants and needs. Mobile phones are a must have and will continue to grow but at a slower pace, with opportunities moving away from the top-end premium devices to mid-end basic products,” said Ranjit Atwal, Research Director at Gartner. “Meanwhile users continue to move away from the traditional PC (notebooks and desk-based) as it becomes more of a shared content creation tool, while the greater flexibility of tablets, hybrids and lighter notebooks address users’ increasingly different demands.”

Continue reading Worldwide PC, tablet, ultramobile, and mobile phone shipment to grow 7.6% this year

Gadgets by entelechyasia

New alliance formed to bring Android to automobile

A coalition of auto and technology companies have formed a new industry alliance to bring the Android platform to a device that’s always been mobile: the car.

Audi, GM, Google, Honda, Hyundai, and NVIDIA have joined together to form the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA), a global alliance of technology and auto industry leaders committed to bringing the Android platform to cars starting in 2014. OAA is dedicated to a common platform that will drive innovation, and make technology in the car safer and more intuitive for everyone.

OAA is aimed at accelerating auto innovation with an approach that offers openness, customization and scale, key tenets that have already made Android a familiar part of millions of people’s lives. This open development model and common platform will allow automakers to more easily bring cutting-edge technology to their drivers, and create new opportunities for developers to deliver powerful experiences for drivers and passengers in a safe and scalable way.

Continue reading New alliance formed to bring Android to automobile

Mobile by entelechyasia

NVIDIA unveils revolutionary Tegra K1 super chip for mobile platform

NVIDIA Tegra K1NVIDIA unveiled at CES the Tegra K1 mobile processor, a 192-core super chip featuring the same NVIDIA Kepler architecture that powers the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti. For the first time, next-generation PC gaming will now be available on mobile platforms.

The Tegra K1 processor sets new mobile standards by supporting the latest PC-class gaming technologies, enabling it to run sophisticated gaming engines like Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. It delivers advanced computation capabilities to speed the development of applications for computer vision and speech recognition. And its extraordinary efficiency delivers higher performance than any other mobile GPU at the same power level.

 

“Over the past two decades, NVIDIA invented the GPU and has developed more graphics technologies than any other company,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and CEO, NVIDIA. “With Tegra K1, we’re bringing that heritage to mobile. It bridges the gap for developers, who can now build next-gen games and apps that will run on any device.”

Continue reading NVIDIA unveils revolutionary Tegra K1 super chip for mobile platform

Telecommunications by entelechyasia

IMS deployments to reach US$4b by 2017

abi researchIMS Core Network deployments are edging up as operators put the necessary infrastructure and capacity in place for planned 2014 VoLTE launches, according to ABI Research.

Spending for the core network products (HSS, CSC, Media Controllers and Gateways, MSF, IBCF, SBC and P-CSCF) integral to a functioning IMS network will reach US$4 billion by 2017. “We see increasing IMS Core Network revenues through 2017, after which IMS revenues will flatten and reflect capacity expansion,” said Joe Hoffman, Research Director of ABI Research.

IMS spending for mobile 4G markets follows the LTE deployments, as operators seek to get their network coverage in place, stabilised, and compatible mobiles for VoLTE become available. The leading LTE market, North America, will peak 2015 to 2016, while the largest market, Asia-Pacific shows continued growth into the foreseeable future.

Continue reading IMS deployments to reach US$4b by 2017
Gadgets by entelechyasia

Gartner: 26b Internet of Things units by 2020

GartnerThe Internet of Things (IoT), which excludes PCs, tablets and smartphones, will grow to 26 billion units installed in 2020, representing an almost 30-fold increase from 0.9 billion in 2009, according to Gartner.

Gartner said that IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding US$300 billion, mostly in services, in 2020. It will result in US$1.9 trillion in global economic value-add through sales into diverse end markets.  The verticals that are leading its adoption are manufacturing (15 percent), healthcare (15 percent) and insurance (11 percent).

IoT is the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external environment.

Continue reading Gartner: 26b Internet of Things units by 2020

Telecommunications by entelechyasia

Telecom New Zealand launches ultra mobile 4G LTE network

Telecom NZTelecom New Zealand has launched a new 4G LTE network that can provide speeds of up to 150 Mb/s to mobile subscribers in parts of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The telco has made access to the 4G network free for all of its current subscribers who have 4G-capable devices. It recognises that the network’s faster data will quickly become the “new normal” for New Zealanders who have embraced smart devices.

According to Tim Miles, CEO of Telecom’s enterprise business arm Gen-i, 4G would help to feed growing demand for new applications which leverage the high speeds, while the seamless integration of the 4G network with 3G, fibre and Wi-Fi into a single platform for mobility would deliver a superior overall experience for customers.

Continue reading Telecom New Zealand launches ultra mobile 4G LTE network
Mobile by entelechyasia

nubia nabs 2.5m orders for Z5S and Z5s mini smartphones

Nubia Z5SZTE’s boutique smartphone brand nubia has received 2.5 million orders for the Z5S and Z5S mini on JD.com as consumers in China.

The response to Z5S, priced at RMB1,999, and Z5S mini, priced at RMB1,499, surpassed a sales record previously set by Xiaomi. The two new smartphones were designed using consumer feedback garnered by nubia and JD.com in a C2B (consumer to business) approach to deliver a customer-defined user experience. Z5S and Z5S mini take nubia’s strengths in smartphone photography to a new level, becoming the first phones in China to offer the optical image stabiliser feature.

The new NEOVISION 3.0 system on Z5S and Z5S mini bring the feature of independent white-balance to smartphone users in China for the first time, after nubia pioneered independent focus and independent light-metering. The advanced imaging technology offered on Z5S and Z5S mini have earned the new handsets the moniker of “Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) Smartphones.” In addition, nubia’s industry-leading photography technology is now available for beta downloads (nubia Camera) by users of other handset manufacturers.

Continue reading nubia nabs 2.5m orders for Z5S and Z5s mini smartphones

Mobile by entelechyasia

1O1O and one2free launch first VoLTE network in Hong Kong

1010 and one2free VOLTE-1O1O and one2free have turned on the first VoLTE (Voice over LTE) network in Hong Kong powered by Hong Kong’s Trusted Network. The full commercial launch is expected to take place in the first half of 2014, in line with projected device maturity in the market.

CSL’s VoLTE offers clearer voice, instant connection, and better quality video calls enabled by ZTE’s IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) solution. Customers will experience a clearer voice and richer multimedia experience, with a distinct improvement in video call quality with VoLTE.

VoLTE also allows 1O1O and one2free to achieve better spectral efficiencies and will increase network capacity and subsequently enhancing the 4G LTE experience.

Continue reading 1O1O and one2free launch first VoLTE network in Hong Kong

Desktop by entelechyasia

ViewSonic VX52 series entertainment displays deliver ultimate gaming experience

ViewSonic 52ViewSonic has launched the VX52 series of entertainment displays, which includes the 24-inch (23.6-inch viewable) VX2452mh and 22-inch (21.5-inch viewable) VX2252mh.

The new displays feature Full HD resolution and ClearMotiv II technology that delivers 2ms ultra-fast response times for blur-free, detailed images. Paired with an ultra-high 50M:1 MEGA Dynamic Contrast Ratio and dual built-in 2W stereo speakers, the VX52 series’ sharp, crisp color performance and immersive sound make it perfect for extreme gaming and multimedia entertainment.

The series also features ViewSonic’s proprietary Game Mode technology, which enhances visibility and detail by brightening the dark scenes of video games for the ultimate gaming experience.

Continue reading ViewSonic VX52 series entertainment displays deliver ultimate gaming experience

Enterprise by entelechyasia

Worldwide server market revenue down 3.7% in Q3

IDCThe server market continued to decline for the third consecutive quarter. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market decreased 3.7 percent year over year to $12.1 billion in Q3.

Server market demand remained soft ahead of a forthcoming refresh cycle, which is expected to emerge in early 2014. After increasing modestly in Q2, server unit shipments were flat year over year in Q3 with 2.3 million units shipped worldwide.

On a year-over-year basis, volume systems experienced 3.5 percent revenue growth. At the same time, demand for midrange and high-end systems experienced year-over-year revenue declines of 17.8 percent and 22.5 percent respectively in Q3. The midrange and high-end segments were impacted by difficult year-over-year compares and continued weakness in Unix demand while volume demand was helped by solid x86 server demand.

Continue reading Worldwide server market revenue down 3.7% in Q3
Mobile by entelechyasia

SEA smartphone sales up 61% in first three quarters

gfk_logoSoutheast Asia consumers bought 41.5 million smartphones, spending US$10.8 billion in the first three quarters of this year, according to GfK Asia.

Indonesia led the way with sale of 14.8 million smartphones worth more than USS3.33 billion. Thailand and Malaysia were next with 7.2 million and 6.4 million units sold respectively. However, in terms of smartphone sales revenue, the ranking of these two countries are switched with Malaysia garnering US$2.25 billion while Thailand raked in US$1.96 billion in January to September.

“The increasing affordability of smartphones, particularly in the developing markets is helping many consumers in these countries make the switch from their basic feature phones to own their very first smartphone,” said Gerard Tan, Account Director for Digital Technology of GfK Asia. “It is worth highlighting the significant milestone of September being the month whereby sales penetration reached the halfway mark; where one in every two mobile handsets purchased in the region is now a smartphone.”

Continue reading SEA smartphone sales up 61% in first three quarters
Enterprise by entelechyasia

Red Bull builds global B2B portal with hybris

Red BullRed Bull has implemented a new global B2B order management portal based on the hybris B2B Commerce solution. Known as the SOET 2.0 Solution, the portal provides a highly flexible solution for quick and easy order entry for global retailers and distributors placing orders with the beverage brand across multiple channels.

Launched in March, the global roll-out was completed in June  and 79 countries are now using Red Bull’s order management portal utilizing hybris’ B2B Commerce solution.

Founded by Dietrich Mateschitz in the mid-1980s and inspired by functional drinks from the Far East, Red Bull is currently available in more than 165 countries.

Continue reading Red Bull builds global B2B portal with hybris
Mobile by entelechyasia

Lower-priced models drive explosive smartphone growth in India

IDCIndia’s smartphone market grew an astounding 229 percent year-on-year in Q3. According to IDC’s APEJ Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 12.8 million smartphones in Q3 compared to 3.8 million units in the same period of 2012. Q3 also saw an increase of 28 percent over Q2.

The 5.0- to 6.99-inch screen size smartphones continued to show sustained growth, contributing 23 percent of the overall market in terms of volume.

The overall mobile phone market (feature phones and smartphones) had a 12 percent growth year-on-year and a seven percent growth quarter on quarter with the share of feature phones sliding further to make 81 percent of the total market in Q3 despite the feature phone market growing at three percent growth over the previous quarter.

Continue reading Lower-priced models drive explosive smartphone growth in India
Mobile by entelechyasia

Yippee, no more spam calls!

No need to hang up the phone anymore to avoid unwanted calls.
No need to hang up the phone anymore to avoid unwanted calls.

In the technological era, one of the most irritating things about being easily reachable is being easily reachable — by people you don’t want to talk to.

What compounds it is if you are travelling overseas, maybe halfway around the world, and you get a call in the middle of the night. Thinking it must be something important, you pick it up and get a pitch on credit line, loan, property, or investment. It’s a real head banger!

The Do-Not-Call (DNC) registry could not have come any sooner in Singapore. From today, those who want to stop getting unwanted calls can list their numbers on the national DNC registry. The registry will block calls, SMSes and fax messages from January 2 next year.

Continue reading Yippee, no more spam calls!
Mobile by entelechyasia

Huawei turbocharges LTE speed and revenue

XL Axiata representatives demonstrating Turbo Button. Inset: The Turbo Button mobile app.

Huawei has demonstrated a Turbo Button solution for dramatically boosting delivered LTE speeds with a simple push of a button on a mobile app.

Turbo Button allows mobile subscribers to easily accelerate their data speeds on demand from 1 Mb/s up to 70 Mb/s over a set period of time with just one touch on a downloadable app. The service is especially useful for improving the experience of high-speed web surfing, online gaming, large file uploads and downloads, and HD video streaming among other bandwidth intensive services.

The demo was conducted by Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata at the recent 2013 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Indonesia and made exclusive use of Huawei’s Networker solution for LTE. XL

Continue reading Huawei turbocharges LTE speed and revenue

Uncategorized by entelechyasia

Taxi booking app targets Hong Kong expats and tourists

TaxiwiseHong Kong startup Taxiwise Company Limited has introduced a taxi booking mobile app for expats and tourists in Hong Kong.

Called Taxiwise, the app provides passengers with an easy way to book taxi service in English or Chinese language.  For drivers, they get more quality orders without language issues, as the app automatically translates orders from English to Chinese.  Venues can book and manage multiple taxis for their clients with an easy-to-use dashboard.

The idea came about when founder Jean Marc Ly had an unpleasant experience while trying to hail a taxi. He was rejected  nine times as taxi drivers were either busy or did not understand English well. It inspired him and his two co-founders to develop a taxi booking mobile app with built-in translation, advanced booking and order matching functions.

Continue reading Taxi booking app targets Hong Kong expats and tourists
Mobile by entelechyasia

Smartphone shipment up 40% while average price drops 12%

IDCWorldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass one billion units in 2013, representing 39.3 percent growth over 2012, according to a recently published mobile phone forecast from IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

Despite a number of mature markets nearing smartphone saturation, the demand for low-cost computing in emerging markets continues to drive the smartphone market forward. By 2017, total smartphone shipments are expected to approach 1.7 billion units, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4 percent from 2013 to 2017.

While shipment has gone up, the average selling price (ASP) has seen a steady decline. Android has enabled a number of new manufacturers to enter the smartphone market supported by a variety of turnkey processing solutions. Many of these handset vendors have focused on low-cost devices as a way to build brand awareness.

Continue reading Smartphone shipment up 40% while average price drops 12%
Mobile by entelechyasia

Half billion LTE connections in Asia in 2017

GSMAThe uptake of 4G-LTE is expected to grow to pass one billion by 2017, according to a new study by GSMA Intelligence. This translates to one in eight of the more than eight billion total mobile connections forecast by that point, up from 176 million LTE connections at the end of 2013. And around half of these are expected to be in Asia.

Nearly 500 LTE networks are forecast to be in service across 128 countries, roughly double the number of live LTE networks today.

“Since the launch of the first commercial 4G-LTE networks in late 2009 we are seeing deployments accelerate across the globe,” said Hyunmi Yang, Chief Strategy Officer of GSMA. “Our new report highlights a number of factors that are driving LTE growth: the timely allocation of suitable spectrum to mobile operators; the availability of affordable LTE devices; and the implementation of innovative tariffs that encourage adoption of high-speed data services. Mobile operators in both developed and developing markets are seeing LTE services contributing to a significant increase in ARPU.”

Continue reading Half billion LTE connections in Asia in 2017

Mobile by entelechyasia

Tablets to account for half of PC market in 2014

 Source: Canalys

Tablets will almost out ship all other PC form factors combined, forming almost 50 percent of the total client PC market (desktops, notebooks, and tablets) in  2014, according to Canalys.

The worldwide client PC market grew 18 percent in Q3, despite desktop and notebook shipments continuing to decline. Tablet PC shipments accounted for 40 percent of PC shipments in Q3, less than half a million units behind global notebook shipments.

Tablet domination is set to continue, with Canalys forecasting 285 million units to ship in 2014, growing to 396 million units in 2017. Apple and Samsung are expected keep ahead of their competitors in the medium term, but there could be challenges for both vendors as competition in the tablet market continues to heat up.

Continue reading Tablets to account for half of PC market in 2014
Telecommunications by entelechyasia

ZTE partners NGMN on converged network management services

ZTEZTE has announced a strategic commitment to provide enhanced converged operations capabilities as a member of the Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN). ZTE is collaborating with both its customers as well as NGMN, an alliance led by 22 of the largest international mobile network operators, via its Next Generation Converged Operations Requirements (NGCOR) project in order to meet and exceed current industry needs.

ZTE’s goal in the partnership is to help eliminate technical barriers caused by vendor incompatibilities, reduce network complexity, and minimize operations and maintenance costs.  Based on years of system analysis, ZTE has planned a set of unified OSS platforms with unified interface standards to support converged network management. Once the platform is established, ZTE estimates the unified and centralized database will decrease the number of interfaces by 80 percent.

“ZTE is proud to be working with the NGMN and our key customers to advance these converged operations solutions,” said Sun Zhenge, Vice President of ZTE. “ZTE’s commitment is aimed at improving efficiency and quality of converged solutions, while also decreasing the time and cost involved.”

Continue reading ZTE partners NGMN on converged network management services
Enterprise by entelechyasia

hybris announces B2C Commerce Accelerator for China

hybris SAPhybris has announced the coming availability of hybris B2C Commerce Accelerator for China. As businesses move from a single channel, such as print catalogues, to multiple channels — including online, mobile, print and call centers, complexity increases.

Founded on hybris Commerce Accelerator, hybris B2C Commerce Accelerator for China has been specially configured and equipped with functionalities specifically to address Chinese e-commerce needs.

Adapted expressly for the Chinese market, it comes with pre-configured page templates that are designed to suit the highly characteristic ‘click’ culture and specific shopping atmosphere enjoyed by Chinese consumers, providing big product images, larger merchandising bars and a very visual user experience.

Continue reading hybris announces B2C Commerce Accelerator for China
Enterprise by entelechyasia

Power limiting progress in mobile devices

Neil TrevettPower is a big limitation in mobile devices despite improvements in battery power, according to Neil Trevett, Vice President Mobile Content of NVIDIA.

“Power is the new performance limiter. Developers need to use acceleration to preserve battery life and high performance,” he said at NVIDIA Tech Talk at SIGGRAPH Asia in Hong Kong.

On the other hand, advanced mobile GPUs and new sensors are combining to make vision processing the next wave of mobile visual processing. NVIDIA is building a stack of advanced silicon, APIs and libraries to enable advanced mobile vision applications.

Continue reading Power limiting progress in mobile devices
Enterprise by entelechyasia

IBM and NVIDIA to supercharge data centre applications

NVIDIAIBM logoIBM and NVIDIA plan to collaborate on GPU-accelerated versions of IBM’s wide portfolio of enterprise software applications — taking GPU accelerator technology for the first time into the heart of enterprise-scale data centres.

The collaboration aims to enable IBM customers to more rapidly process, secure and analyse massive volumes of streaming data.

“Harnessing GPU technology to IBM’s enterprise software platforms will bring advanced, in-memory processing to a wider variety of new application areas,” said Sean Poulley, Vice President of Databases and Data Warehousing at IBM. “We are looking at a new generation of higher-performance solutions to help data center customers overcome their most challenging computing problems.”

Continue reading IBM and NVIDIA to supercharge data centre applications

Enterprise by entelechyasia

New NVIDIA Tesla K40 speeds up supercomputing and big data analytics

NVIDIA Tesla K40The NVIDIA Tesla K40 GPU accelerator is arguably the world’s highest performance accelerator ever built. It is capable of delivering extreme performance to a wide range of scientific, engineering, high performance computing (HPC), and enterprise applications.

Providing double the memory and up to 40 percent higher performance than its predecessor, the Tesla K20X GPU accelerator, and 10 times higher performance than the fastest CPU, the Tesla K40 GPU is the world’s first and highest-performance accelerator optimised for big data analytics and large-scale scientific workloads.

Featuring intelligent NVIDIA GPU Boost technology, which converts power headroom into a user-controlled performance boost, the Tesla K40 GPU accelerator enables users to unlock the untapped performance of a broad range of applications.

Continue reading New NVIDIA Tesla K40 speeds up supercomputing and big data analytics

Mobile by entelechyasia

GSMA and ITU to drive mobile broadband in APAC

GSMAGSMA is collaborating with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in a new programme to encourage the development of mobile broadband in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new “m-Powering for Mobile Broadband” campaign will facilitate the exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices in specific policy areas with the goal of encouraging investment in mobile broadband infrastructure, instilling consumer confidence in mobile applications and supporting the long-term growth of the sector.

“Mobile is a transformative technology that has had a significant economic and social impact not only in Asia, but on a global basis,” said Irene Ng, Head of GSMA Asia. “Mobile provides access to healthcare where there are no doctors, access to education where there are no teachers and access to financial services where there are no banks. GSMA is pleased to be working hand in hand with ITU to accelerate the widespread adoption of mobile broadband in Asia and the Pacific, and in turn, to enable new opportunities for economic growth, technological innovation and social development.”

Continue reading GSMA and ITU to drive mobile broadband in APAC
Gadgets by entelechyasia

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids available in Singapore

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 KidsParents in Singapore have another possible Christmas gift to buy for their young children. The new Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids is a tablet built specifically for kids with the educational tools and safety features parents want.

It comes with a slew of pre-loaded content including educational, games, entertainment and e-book apps such as Toca Hair Salon 2,  Pettson’s Inventions 2, Kids WORLD, Farm 123, and Skoolbo Core Skills.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids is available at S$388 at Toys”R”Us, Popular book stores, major consumer electronics and IT stores, and Samsung Experience Stores.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids available in Singapore
Gadgets by entelechyasia

ViewSonic introduces wireless presentation gateway for sharing of multimedia content

Viewsonic WPG-370One major bugbear for using tablets is the difficulty in using it for presentations. It often involves setting up adapters and cables. ViewSonic has the answer for that with the new Miracast and Intel WiDi optimised ViewSync WPG-370 gateway solution.

Ideal for enterprise, SMB, and education environments as well as AV installers, the WPG-370 provides advanced universal wireless connectivity for any new or existing projector, monitor, TV, or large-format display.

Whether projecting from Windows, Mac, iOS or Android platforms, this solution makes it easy to wirelessly push content onto the screen without cords and wires.

Continue reading ViewSonic introduces wireless presentation gateway for sharing of multimedia content
Enterprise by entelechyasia

Alibaba breezes through China Singles’ Day online traffic with ZTE technology

AlibabaAlibaba Group handled a record-breaking surge in online shopping traffic on China Singles’ Day on November 11 , the busiest day of the year for Internet retailers in China.

China’s largest e-commerce company broke its one-day sales record by more than 80 percent. ZTE’s ZXONE 8700 optical transport network system carried 90 percent of Alibaba’s operating data traffic that day, as online shopping orders pushed Alibaba’s peak data traffic to almost 300 Gbits per second, sustained for a period of seven hours.

For the 24-hour duration of China Singles’ Day, ZTE’s OTN systems deployed by Alibaba delivered excellent network performance and fault-free reliability, with no malfunction warning reported.

Continue reading Alibaba breezes through China Singles’ Day online traffic with ZTE technology
Uncategorized by entelechyasia

NVIDIA Tegra Note 7 in time for Christmas

NVIDIA Tegra NoteFirst spotted at Computex, the NVIDIA Tegra Note is set to hit the shelves in Asia in December, with end November a possibility.

EVGA is already availing the EVGA Tegra Note 7 through NewEgg for just US$199 in the US. In the UK, ADVENT has started pre-orders for its Tegra Note 7.

From industry sources, Asia does not have to wait much longer — with late November and early December targets from different vendors, including HP and Gigabyte.

Continue reading NVIDIA Tegra Note 7 in time for Christmas
Mobile by entelechyasia

Your smartphone will be smarter than you by 2017

GartnerIn four years’ time, your smartphone may be smarter than you. It will be able to predict your next move, next purchase or interpret actions based on what it knows, according to Gartner. This insight will be performed based on an individual’s data gathered using cognizant computing — the next step in personal cloud computing.

“Mobile phones have turned into smartphones thanks to two things: technology and apps,” Carolina Milanesi, Research Vice President of Gartner. “Technology has added features such as cameras, locations and sensors, while apps have connected those to an array of functions that, for the most part, add and improve our day to day life from a social, knowledge, entertainment and productivity point of view.” 

What smartphones can do through apps has improved and broadened thanks to the personal cloud. “We assume that apps will acquire knowledge over time and get better with improved predictions of what users need and want, with data collection and response happening in real-time,” she added.

Continue reading Your smartphone will be smarter than you by 2017

Enterprise by entelechyasia

Customer experience management is top IT priority for telcos in 2014

ovumCustomer experience management (CEM) has emerged as the top driver of telco IT investments in 2014, according to Ovum’s ICT Enterprise Insights. Telco IT spend is expected to reach US$60.7b by 2017, with investments geared towards telecoms infrastructure (cloud platforms, server virtualisation and BSS/OSS systems to support LTE implementations) and online channels to support customers’ increasingly digital lifestyles.

In the largest survey of senior IT executives ever conducted, Ovum reveals a long-term shift in spending towards customer-oriented systems and on improving customer satisfaction within the telecoms industry.

Survey respondents identified multi-channel integration and service personalisation as top areas of focus in the next 18 months, with 67 percent and 61 percent planning to increase spending in these two areas, respectively. Elsewhere, business intelligence and advanced analytics (predictive or big data analytics) will be key for operators — more than 80 percent of respondents will deploy these at the network level in an attempt to offer an enhanced connected experience with predictable, consistent, and relevant services at each point of interaction in the customer lifecycle.

Continue reading Customer experience management is top IT priority for telcos in 2014
Mobile by entelechyasia

Samsung drives road safety campaign in Singapore

Pledge your attentionDrive without mobile distractions — that’s the message from Samsung’s “The Road Comes First” campaign targeted at Singapore road users to promote the responsible use of mobile phones on the road.

Endorsed by the Traffic Police and Singapore Road Safety Council, the campaign aims to address the increasing problem of illegal mobile phone use among drivers. The number of summons increased 46 percent, from 1,169 between January to June in 2012 to 1,705 over the same period in 2013.

A Samsung-commissioned survey found that a large majority of 83 percent of the Singapore drivers surveyed admitted to using their mobile phones, without a hands-free kit, while at the wheel in the last 12 months. They were most likely to be using GPS or map applications, checking their mobile phone screens, and texting.

Continue reading Samsung drives road safety campaign in Singapore

Mobile by entelechyasia

Large screen smartphones gaining popularity

CanalysThe numbers are clear. Big is getting more popular. Large screen smart phones (five-inch and above) accounted for 22 percent of the quarter billion smartphones shipped in Q3. This is the highest number ever and translates to a staggering 56 million units.

Samsung is the dominant player in the large screen segment. Breaking this down further, 66 percent of the 56 million smart phones had a five-inch display, 31 percent had screens between five and six inches while just three percent had six-inch or larger screens.

According to Canalys, the smartphone market grew 44 percent year-on-year in Q3. The top two vendors, Samsung and Apple, maintained their positions, with market shares of 34 percent and 15 percent respectively. Huawei, Lenovo and LG completed the top five.

Continue reading Large screen smartphones gaining popularity

Desktop by entelechyasia

NVIDIA fights back in battle of the GPUs with GeForce GTX 780 Ti

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780TiAMD fired the first salvo after a long period of silence to reignite the GPU battle. But, NVIDIA has hit back immediately and regained the crown with the GeForce GTX 780 Ti. Besides sheer performance, NVIDIA’s armoury also includes G-SYNC, GeForce Experience and ShadowPlay.

The new card delivers smooth frame rates at extreme resolutions for the latest and hottest PC games, including Assassin’s Creed IV — Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Batman: Arkham Origins. It also this with cool, quiet operation that is critical to providing an immersive gaming experience.

Powering the GPU is the NVIDIA Kepler architecture, which provides an advanced, low-thermal-density design that translates into better cooling, quieter acoustics and record-breaking performance.

Continue reading NVIDIA fights back in battle of the GPUs with GeForce GTX 780 Ti

Social computing by entelechyasia

Target: Silver surfers

GartnerThe Baby Boomer generation is unlike any other. More technologically advanced, savvy and adaptable, they have been blessed with a slew of technologies and are not afraid to use them — for work and play.

Such is their influence that Gartner has note that silver surfers represent a more important technology market than Generation X and Generation Y.

Gartner Vice President and Fellow David Furlonger pointed out that with an aging population in many mature and emerging markets, technologists, designers and marketers must refocus to seize this crucial opportunity.

Continue reading Target: Silver surfers

Mobile by entelechyasia

Apple to dominate smartphone-integrated vehicle infotainment market

abi researchApple’s “iOS in the Car” will lead the market for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems equipped with smartphone integration technologies, according to ABI Research.

It predicts that the market will grow substantially during the next five years to reach 35.1 million units globally by 2018. Of these, 49.8 percent will be equipped with Apple’s “iOS in the Car”, 43.6 percent with MirrorLink and 28.2 percent with other technologies.

Developments in the smartphone world are revolutionising consumers’ in-car expectations. Besides Internet connectivity itself, the ability to select apps whenever they choose is probably one of the IVI features that consumers value the most.

Continue reading Apple to dominate smartphone-integrated vehicle infotainment market
Mobile by entelechyasia

Global video game market to reach US$93b

GartnerThe worldwide video game marketplace, which includes video game console hardware and software, online, mobile and PC games, will reach US$93 billion in 2013, up from $79 billion in 2012, according to Gartner.

Driven by strong mobile gaming and video game console and software sales, the market is forecast to hit US$111 billion by 2015.

Mobile games are the fastest-growing segment of the market, with revenue set to nearly double between 2013 and 2015 from US$13.2 billion to US$22 billion.

Continue reading Global video game market to reach US$93b

Mobile by entelechyasia

Touch-enabled notebooks top wish list

IDCTouch is in. Beyond touch screen phones, users in Asia-Pacific want touch-enabled notebooks.

According to an IDC Asia-Pacific end user survey, 82 percent of respondents prefer a touch-enabled notebook for their next purchase.

The annual survey that studies end user behaviour and usage on client devices. The usage explosion of smartphones and tablets, where touch screen is a prominent feature, is a key driver of taking these screens to the personal computer. The study also finds that the majority of PC users today, even in emerging markets, own a smartphone, especially for 26-35 year olds at 87 percent. 

Continue reading Touch-enabled notebooks top wish list
Mobile by entelechyasia

Mobile device platforms move towards more integration

abi researchSeveral trends are affecting the market for mobile device semiconductors. Two have been the shift towards multi-core application processors and the addition of x86 and MIPS to what used to be purely an ARM play. Two newer trends are the addition of heterogeneous processing functionality and 64-bit processors for mobile devices, according to ABI Research.

The trend towards more integrated platforms is the most crucial because the revenue of standalone components is folding into integrated platforms and the revenue for mobile device semiconductors lie with the higher cost components – mostly the application processor.

While the shift from standalone components to integrated platforms is drastic over the next five years in terms of shipments, this shift is even more radical in terms of revenue. From 2013 to 2018, the share of integrated platforms compared to all application processors in terms of shipments will jump from 46 percent to 79 percent while the revenue shares of the same will be higher. Smartphone application processor (integrated and standalone) revenue as a percentage of total mobile device semiconductor revenue for the major components will increase from 71 percent in 2013 to 89 percent in 2018.

Continue reading Mobile device platforms move towards more integration
Enterprise by entelechyasia

Cloud Computing to account for most of IT budget by 2016

GartnerCloud computing adoption is growing and will form the bulk of new IT spend in 2016. According to Gartner, 2016 will be a defining year for cloud as private cloud begins to give way to hybrid cloud, and nearly half of large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017.

Gartner describes cloud computing as a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered “as a service” using Internet technologies. It heralds an evolution of business in positive and negative ways. It has also become a hot industry term that has been used in many contradictory ways.

“Overall, there are very real trends toward cloud platforms, and also toward massively scalable processing. Virtualisation, service orientation and the Internet have converged to sponsor a phenomenon that enables individuals and businesses to choose how they’ll acquire or deliver IT services, with reduced emphasis on the constraints of traditional software and hardware licensing models,” said Chris Howard, Research Vice President of Gartner. “Services delivered through the cloud will foster an economy based on delivery and consumption of everything from storage to computation to video to finance deduction management.”

Continue reading Cloud Computing to account for most of IT budget by 2016

Enterprise by entelechyasia

RTT acquires Bunkspeed

RTTProfessional high-end 3D visualisation solution provider RTT has acquired Bunkspeed, which develops visualisation software and services for design, engineering, and marketing.

Traditionally, RTT has provided enterprise solutions and services for OEMs that employ digital product pipelines. Los Angeles-based Bunkspeed represents a well-established company with a focus on design visualisation tools and is recognised for its affordable range of powerful, easy-to-use software products. The acquisition extends RTT’s services to agencies and designers by offering this lightweight yet robust design tool.

“The addition of Bunkspeed’s specialty services and footprint will allow RTT to provide a broader range of capabilities to our customers,” said Peter Stevenson, CEO of RTT USA.

Continue reading RTT acquires Bunkspeed
Gadgets by entelechyasia

New Apple hardware? OK, but free OS and apps sound really good!

OSXApple’s fall event early this morning (Singapore time) was about thinner, lighter and more powerful products. Yes, these are improvements but not something that would get me excited to lay my hands on one.

After all, having gone through two iterations of the iPad and other Apple products, the new announcements seem to be marginal improvements. OK, the new iPad Air is lighter and thinner but hey, I’m already used to having the New iPad (or at least, that’s what it was called at launch). However, what kept me awake (remember, it was in the wee hours) was the announcement that users can have the latest Mac operating system, OS X Mavericks, for free. Now, this has the potential to be a game changer especially in its battle with Windows. How often have we heard of free Microsoft products? If at all…

According to Jan Dawson, Chief Telecoms Analyst of Ovum, the changes to Apple’s software licensing for Mac OS X, iLife and iWork is also important, not least for Microsoft.

Continue reading New Apple hardware? OK, but free OS and apps sound really good!
Enterprise by entelechyasia

Cisco and NetApp expand FlexPod portfolio

NetApp cisco Cisco and NetApp have broadened the FlexPod portfolio with new validated designs across the entire portfolio, highlighted by the introduction of FlexPod Select for dedicated data-intensive workloads.

The FlexPod portfolio now includes FlexPod Datacenter (formerly FlexPod) for core enterprise data centres and service providers, FlexPod Express (formerly ExpressPod) for medium-sized businesses and FlexPod supports the growing need to tie storage, networks, applications, and analytics (such as big data) into a more automated, responsive system that increases efficiency and lowers operational expense.

The new offerings build on the joint vision and strategy of Cisco and NetApp to unify branch offices, core data centers, service providers, and dedicated application infrastructures.branch offices, and FlexPod Select for data intensive workloads. FlexPod Select is the first family in the FlexPod portfolio to address targeted workloads, such as high-performance applications.

Continue reading Cisco and NetApp expand FlexPod portfolio

Mobile by entelechyasia

Lower-priced products to drive devices growth in 2013

GartnerLower-priced devices are driving the growth of worldwide combined shipments of PCs, tablets and mobile phones in 2013, according to Gartner. The global devices market is expected to hit 2.32 billion units, a 4.5 percent increase from 2012.

Worldwide shipments of traditional PCs (desk-based and notebook) are forecast to total 303 million units in 2013, an 11.2 percent decline from 2012, and the PC market, including ultramobiles, is forecast to drop 8.4 percent. Mobile phone shipments are projected to grow 3.7 percent, with volume of more than 1.8 billion units.

Tablet shipments are expected to grow 42.7 percent this year, with shipments reaching 184 million units. Premium tablets are faced with continued price decline in the 7-inch form factor as a larger number of consumers prefer smaller form factors when it comes to content consumption.

Continue reading Lower-priced products to drive devices growth in 2013

Enterprise by entelechyasia

NVIDIA GRID brings visual computing capabilities to Australia

NVIDIABusinesses across Australia can now deploy graphics-accelerated virtual desktops to their employees – cost-effectively, anywhere and on any device – with the adoption of NVIDIA GRID technology by leading technology partners.

Servers from Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM and others are now incorporating NVIDIA GRID into their desktop virtualisation solutions. Combined with enterprise virtualisation software from Citrix, Microsoft or VMware, these solutions can deliver GPU-accelerated applications and desktops to engineers, designers, architects, product design teams and special-effects artists throughout Australia.

Melbourne-based Xenon Systems was appointed as the first NVIDIA GRID Demo Centre for Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. 

Continue reading NVIDIA GRID brings visual computing capabilities to Australia
Enterprise by entelechyasia

ANZ WLAN market boosted by increase in devices

IDCThe wireless local area network (WLAN) hardware market in ANZ continued to grow for the third consecutive quarter, according to IDC.

While enterprises remained the largest users of wireless infrastructure, the consumer space gained share from enterprise over the year. This means that more consumer wireless routers were sold, thanks to an increased number of devices in households during the period.

Service Provider (SP) WLAN deployments differed between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand SPs embraced 3G/LTE offload via WLAN infrastructure while Australia SPs preferred to rely on available spectrum to support mobile connectivity. Overall, SP contribution to the WLAN market remained minuscule in the region despite having the strongest growth. Table 1 shows growth for the three main segments quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and year-on-year (YoY):

Continue reading ANZ WLAN market boosted by increase in devices
Gadgets by entelechyasia

Microsoft Xbox One tops ABI Research’s Game Console Competitive Assessment

Microsoft Xbox One consoleThe gaming console market is highly competitive with Microsoft just edging Sony for the top position in ABI Research’s game console Competitive Assessment, based on expectations for the impact of Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One game consoles.

ABI Research evaluated a number of companies across three device categories: game consoles, smart set-top boxes, and TVs/Blu-ray players. Several factors were used to score each company based on two main axes of Innovation and Implementation. The assessment provides deep insight into consumer electronics ecosystems and modern video experiences in the connected home.

Sony fell to second in the game console assessment in part because key PlayStation 4 (PS4) differentiators such as cloud gaming are still untested (and won’t be fully available at launch), but largely because Microsoft has shown more features on the broader entertainment front (eg hybrid premium/OTT services). Nintendo secured the third position but a significant gap remains between it and market leaders.

Continue reading Microsoft Xbox One tops ABI Research’s Game Console Competitive Assessment
Mobile by entelechyasia

Huawei launches evaluation platform for mobile app developers

HuaweiHuawei has announced MBB Insider Online, a cloud-based mobile platform for evaluating mobile broadband (MBB) app network friendliness.

Developed by mLAB, Huawei’s wireless network innovation lab, MBB Insider Online allows app developers and other third-party MBB ecosystem companies to take unique advantage of evaluation tools that accurately determine the impact their services will have in terms of consumption of traffic, signaling, device power and delivered user experience when installed on a smart device connected to a live mobile network.

These developers can then better fully utilise network resources to considerably enhance their delivered service experience. MBB Insider Online also provides app optimisation recommendations to improve delivered user experience and optimise utilisation of network resources.

Continue reading Huawei launches evaluation platform for mobile app developers
Events by entelechyasia

NVIDIA believes that PC gaming is thriving

thriving

Think that PC gaming is on the wane? NVIDIA certainly doesn’t think so and has brought a group of top journalists to Montreal to deliver this message.

“Some of the season’s most anticipated PC games have been built with technology developed by NVIDIA,” wrote Tony Tamasi, Senior Vice President of Content and Technology of NVIDIA, in a blog post (http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2013/10/17/twimtbp/).

“We have a proud heritage on the PC platform, delivering amazing performance and advanced technologies for gamers. Technologies developed as part of our The Way It’s Meant To Be Played programme are among the most deployed in the industry,” he added.

Continue reading NVIDIA believes that PC gaming is thriving