Archive for the ‘Figures’ Category

Dash for Gold at London 2012 Olympics

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

Dash for Gold is a free and interactive online app that provides intuitive dashboards to analyse past and present medal counts to enable anyone to predict outcomes at sports competitions.

Try out Dash for Gold to predict the results of events in the London 2012 Olympics.

Try out Dash for Gold to predict the results of events in the London 2012 Olympics.

Dash for Gold is the result of collaboration between Actuate and KXEN.

Actuate produces Business Intelligence software while KXEN is its Big Data partner provides predictive analytics software for business users.

Dash for Gold enables users to leverage Business Intelligence and predictive analytics to discover hidden trends that can be used to help predict performance and outcomes in sports competitions.

The app includes predetermined dashboards but allows users to perform their own analytics.

The app can be used by everyone to analyse competition results (not just the Olympics) since 1900 against 52 years of world statistics to hypothesize which statistics are determinants of medal success.

Dash for Gold, which covers sporting history for every competing country, is available as a mobile app, with a comprehensive browser version in English, French, German and Simplified Chinese.

People using Dash for Gold will be able to analyze massive data sets, via an intuitive user interface and also have the ability to share and publish their findings. No prior experience with analytics is necessary to find answers to questions such as:

  • Which country has won the most medals in your favorite sports?
  • Does the host nation have a home field advantage?
  • Does your country send better men or women to major global sporting competitions?
  • Does per capita wine consumption affect who stands on the podium?

Apple misses analysts’ predictions amid wait for iPhone 5

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Apple has just announced its financial results for its fiscal 2012 third quarter ended 30 June, 2012. Profits missed analysts’ predictions.

“Shares of the world's most valuable technology company shed more than 5 percent of their value after Apple - which beats Wall Street expectations with near regularity - reported its second quarterly miss on results in less than a year,” Reuters reported.

Major news agencies reacted negatively towards Apple’s quarterly results.

Compared to analysts’ predictions for a profit of $10.37 a share on revenue of $37.2 billion, net income was reported as $9.32 a share on sales of $35 billion.

“Apple’s profit and sales fell short of analysts’ projections for only the second time since 2003 as customers held off on iPhone purchases while waiting for a new model to be introduced later in the year,” reported Bloomberg today.

The major news agencies don’t seem to have taken the results in positive light.

The consensus seems to be that customers are holding off on iPhone purchases in anticipation of a new model, which is expected to be introduced later this year.

Shares fell some 6 percent in late trading.

This is the first full quarter of sales for Apple’s latest iPad, which was released in March.

Note the 84% growth in iPad sales over the same quarter last year.

Some 17 million iPads were sold in the quarter alone!

Sales growth this quarter
Device Number of units sold Compared to year-ago quarter
iPhone 26 m 28%
iPad 17 m 84%
Mac 4 m 2%
iPod 6.8 m -10%

It’s interesting to note the 10% decline in iPod sales.

It is an indication that it may be made redundant by the proliferation of smartphones which can fulfil the functions of a mobile personal music player cum entertainment device.

On the other hand, Sony is still launching new models in its rejuvenated Walkman media players cum entertainment devices.

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock.

“Apple disappointed analysts despite reporting profits up 21% year-on-year to $8.8bn (£5.6bn) and revenues up 23% to $35bn, after missing targets that Wall Street had forecast,” Guardian reported.

The dividend is payable on August 16, 2012, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 13, 2012.

This continues Tim Cook’s announcement in March to pay dividends – something that Apple had not done in 17 years until then.

The dividends are estimated to cost Apple about $10 billion a year.

Apple has around $100 billion in cash which many investors have called over the years to be returned to investors.

Executive briefing: IBM X-Force on emerging threats in 2012

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

CIO Asia magazine organised the half-day event at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Due to the overwhelming response, the invitation-only briefing was extended from a 10-pax roundtable to a five-table seminar.

IBM X-Force Executive Briefing on Evolving Threat.

IBM X-Force Executive Briefing on Evolving Threat.

IBM promised that attendees would leave the briefing better prepared to protect their organisations against evolving threats in the security landscape.

Organised by CIO Asia magazine at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.Key personnel from the new Security Systems unit in IBM updated CIOs and key IT managers on the numerous reports of data leaks, Denial-of-Service attacks, and social Hacktivisim in 2011.

The pace of such attack have continued into 2012.

Traditionally, IBM as well as other large companies have already incorporated security considerations in individual solution domains.

However, IBM has taken the additional step to adopt a holistic approach towards ensuring security for all of their solutions.

Its acquisition of Q1 Labs has provided the tools that integrated the security needs and considerations across the hitherto siloed domains.

This security layer straddles the various siloed domains and serves as the bedrock upon which the domain solutions are built.

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Key findings from RSA Archer GRC Executive Forum

Friday, July 20th, 2012

RSA, The Security Division of EMC, recently released key findings from the RSA Archer GRC Executive Forum held in June, during which governance, risk and compliance (GRC) leaders from 34 leading corporations discussed enterprise risk management strategies and best practices.

Key Findings of the RSA Archer GRC Executive Forum

Key Findings of the RSA Archer GRC Executive Forum

Top executives say GRC Programs must better align to strategic priorities to meet board needs. The results affirm the earlier Carnegie Mellon CyLab 2012 Governance Report.

Some key findings

  • Mounting and multiplied business risks due to growing regulatory requirements and greater business complexity.
  • The need to align GRC to business priorities to get organizational leaders on board.
  • Moving away from a siloed GRC program to one which is unified to make enterprise-wide risk assessment.

It was noted that the shift towards increased regulatory and compliance requirements is being observed across Asia Pacific and Japan as well, with organizations looking to better calibrate their risk assessment frameworks and set guidelines for assessing organisation risks.

The need for business continuity management programs is also gaining traction, with the occurrence of natural disasters in Japan and Thailand prompting organizations to reassess their risk environment.

Read the press release below for more details.

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Dell offers end-users power to do more

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Dell tackles current trends of workforce mobility and consumerisation of IT by offering a complete end-to-end ecosystem of end-point devices, solutions and services – to bestow maximum productivity to end-users in our fast-paced environment.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

I was invited by Dell to listen to how the computer maker envisages the technology landscape and how it plans to cater to different end-users with very different needs.

Slide 1: Changing technology landscape and end-user profile.

Slide 1: Changing technology landscape and end-user profile.

Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell, gave a quick rundown of how the technology landscape and user profile are trending (see Slide 1).

Slide 2: Transformation of computing

Slide 2: Transformation of computing.

As a result of the changing landscape, work computing is undergoing transformation from the traditional highly-controlled and rigid framework – to one in which employees are given much more flexibility in terms of the devices they can use, the level of access, and the ability to access corporate IT anytime, anywhere (see Slide 2).

The organisational challenges to change and adapt current entrenched enterprise IT frameworks and practices are giving many a CIOs sleepless nights, worrying about potential security compromises on the road to recent phenomenons such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices).

Organisational challenges facing the CIO.

Slide 3: Organisational challenges facing the CIO.

Chue sees two main tracks in tackling these organisational challenges – managing technology and managing people (see Slide 3).

Chue’s vision for Dell end-user computing

“End-user computing is about delivering open, capable and affordable solutions for an evolving workforce,” says Chue Chee Wei, Marketing Director, South Asia and Korea Marketing for Dell.

To help enterprises and end-uses surmount these challenges, Dell is also placing much emphasis in enabling this transformation.

The company has taken on a customer-inspired design approach across a complete portfolio of systems, services and solutions.

It strives to ensure a seamless experience across multiple devices, operating systems and applications.

And it aims to provide tailored solutions optimised for management, security and productivity.

Simplify technology & people management, improve productivity.

Slide 4: Simplify technology & people management, improve productivity.

As a result, technology and people management are simplified while productivity is improved (see Slide 4).

Chue emphasised that Dell does a lot more than making computers.

Dell’s solution continuum.

Slide 5: Dell’s solution continuum.

It delivers a solution continuum that spans desktop virtualisation, mobility & collaboration, management, security and cloud, service and support (see Slide 5).

Some of these are provided by companies that were – leaders in their areas of expertise – that Dell has acquired over the years.

Dell’s updated line-up.

Slide 6: Dell’s updated line-up.

Dell’s updated computing line-up

Dell also set up and briefed on its updated line-up of computers (see Slide 6). These comprises a whole range of notebooks and desktops that cater to the computing needs of different end-users.

Of note is that Dell is positioning its high-end XPS ultrabooks – which has traditionally been targeted towards consumers – to attract corporate users looking to use their personal high-spec’ed notebooks for work as well.

This is indeed a shrewd cross-over move by Dell to exploit the BYOD phenomenon.

(Slides provided by Dell. Click to enlarge.)

Numbers from Apple’s WWDC 2012

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

As usual, Apple has revealed a slew of statistics to illustrate how it is leading the field. Here are some of the more interesting numbers from WWDC 2012.

Apple and WWDC 2012 in numbers

Apple and WWDC 2012 in numbers

There are now  650,000 apps in the App Store, out of which 225,000 are specific to the iPad.

In its four years of existence, 30 billion apps have been downloaded from Apple’s App Store, with US$5 billion for all app sales.

There are 400 million iTunes accounts with credit card. 140 million iMessage users send > 1 billion messages a day.

There are 365 million iOS devices out there, with 80% of these on the current latest iOS 5.

Apple contrast this with the Android’s profile, where slightly less than three-quarters of Android devices are still on Android 2.3.

To date, 26 million copies of Lion OS have been sold. Overall, there are 66 million Mac users.

Lady Gaga reigns supreme while Barcelona FC pips Manchester United

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Who is the most popular celebrity in the world? And which is the most popular sports team or film in the social space? starcount.com trawls 11 top social networks to bring you the vote of 1.5 billion fans.

www.starcount.com is the latest social aggregation site that was launched in Singapore last night. Check out the leaderboards of leading celebrities in the social space.

www.starcount.com is the latest social aggregation site that was launched in Singapore last night. Check out the leaderboards of leading celebrities in the social space.

At the global launch of starcount in Singapore last night, guests invited to Pangaea in Marina Bay Sands checked their own favourites against what the social aggregation engine discovered in the social space on the Internet.

Here are the winners of the Social Star Awards 2012 for the various categories:

R&B Star Rihana
Sportsperson Christiano Ronaldo
Sportsteam Barcelona FC
Game Angry Birds
TV Show The Simpsons
Film Harry Potter
Film Star Selena Gomez
Asian Star Jackie Chan
Social Star Ray William Johnston
Singapore Stefanie Sun
Politician Barack Obama
Almighty Lady Gaga

As part of the inaugural Social Star Awards 2012, tweets were sent to the most popular personalities and entities on the social media scene from within starcount.com to congratulate them in winning the various categories.

Christiano Ronaldo pipped Lionel Messi to win the Sportsperson Award 2012, while “angry” Diablo 3 fans were disappointed that the Game Award 2012 went to Angry Birds.

Not surprisingly, Lady Gaga won the Almighty Award, as the most popular person on Earth – as at 31 May 2012. Coincidentally, she was performing live at her Born This Way concert in Marina Bay Sands.

Stefanie Sun was the most popular person in Singapore, while Jackie Chan was the most popular person in Asia and Hong Kong.

There were some surprises. Ray William Johnston, who won the Social Star Award, drew many blank looks from the guest present. The Film Star Award went to Selena Gomez. Perhaps thanks to her boyfriend?

You can check out your own genres and leaderboards on www.starcount.com.

Event: Global starcount launch in Singapore at Pangaea, Marina Bay Sands

Friday, June 1st, 2012

I attended the launch of the latest social aggregation website on the scene last night. It’s a website with leaderboards of the most prominent celebrities being followed in the social space.

Drew Thomson, Chief Executive Officer, All The Worlds Entertainment, bringing guests through the starcount website.

Drew Thomson, Chief Executive Officer, All The Worlds Entertainment, bringing guests through the starcount website.

Who is the most popular artiste in the world today?

No prizes for guessing that it’s Lady Gaga, who happened to be performing live in Singapore at that time – almost directly above the venue for the launch of starcount at Pangaea in Marina Bay Sands.

But which is the most popular football (as in soccer) club in the world?

There were equally riotous calls for Manchester United and Barcelona among the guests at the launch event.

Well, starcount says it’s Barcelona FC.

The starcount website is all about popularity.

It crawls the top 11 social networks on the Internet everyday to mine what 1.5million people are saying and sharing about celebrities or things (from sports clubs to musical instruments).

Based on the amount of buzz in the social space, each celeb is allocated a starcount score which is used in ranking them in all manners of leaderboards that users of the website can view.

Based and nurtured in Singapore, www.starcount.com looks set to tap and unlock the trove of opinions and sentiments swirling within the top 11 social networks on the Internet.

There are preset leaderboards in the usual categories (such as best films, most popular singers) for users to browse, or they can create their own charts (such as who serves the best macaroons in Tanzania).

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Arruda suggests 9 activities to advance your career

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Personal branding expert William Arruda advocates that by spending just 9 minutes a day, you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and successful career. Here are 9 activities you can do during those 9 minutes.

William Arruda, personal branding expert

William Arruda, personal branding expert

Arruda suggests the following activities that professionals can do 9 minutes a day in order to maintain a healthy and successful career.

  1. Build your network – building and maintaining relationships are a major component of a successful career.
  2. Maintain relationships by recommending and congratulating others in their careers – everyone enjoys being recognised and LinkedIn provides an easy way to do this.
  3. Request recommendations from your network as credibility is critical.
  4. Document achievements and wins on your LinkedIn profile to stay current and relevant.
  5. Update your status every day and make sure your profile and photo is current.
  6. Expand on your thought leadership – lead a forum or LinkedIn group; publish an article; start a blog; speak publicly or recommend books on the Amazon LinkedIn app.
  7. Use the power of video and create a video bio of yourself for your LinkedIn profile.
  8. Source staff – one of a manager’s hardest jobs. If you build your brand community, you’ll create fans who want to work for you.
  9. Research – Make an effort to get to know more about your clients or partners and competitors. LinkedIn is a great place to start.

LinkedIn Research: 9 minutes a day for a healthy, successful career

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

LinkedIn research reveals the majority of the Singaporean workforce over-estimate the time required per day to further their career.

Expert reveals that 9 minutes a day is all it takes to maintain a healthy, successful career.

Infographic of LinkedIn research conducted by IPSOS Mori and Catalyst

Infographic of LinkedIn research conducted by IPSOS Mori and Catalyst

Over 81% of Singaporean professionals believe that the ideal amount of time spent daily on progressing your career should be in excess of 30 minutes, according to the research.

“Fitting 9 minutes of career management into your daily schedule is all it takes without adding stress or pressure,” says Arruda, who partnered with LinkedIn to identify the optimum amount of time to spend daily on what he has termed ‘continuous career management’.The research was undertaken by IPSOS Mori and Catalyst and involved 3,200 working professionals worldwide, including 400 in Singapore.

World leading personal branding expert William Arruda instead presents a far more appealing and realistic time commitment.

He advocates that by spending just 9 minutes a day you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and successful career. Here are 9 activities that he suggests you can do during those 9 minutes.

“9 minutes is the optimum amount of time recommended, because it also gives you complete focus, and educators to psychologists agree that the ability to focus one’s attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one’s goals,” Arruda elaborated.The public perception of 3.5+hrs per week is a stark contrast to Arruda’s recommendation of 45 minutes per week.

Other results reveal that – given an hour – 95% believe it’s more useful to spend time keeping in with the boss (making them tea) than spending time building their network or finessing their CV.

Here are some other results from the research:

  • Given an hour – 95% believe it’s more useful to spend time keeping in with the boss (making them tea) than spending time building their network or finessing their CV.
  • Men perceived as better networkers than women. 42% of the population think that men are better than women at networking, versus only 9% believing women were better.
  • Nine in 10 professionals agree that having a professional network of connections is crucial during economic uncertainty.

IPSOS MORI is part of the IPSOS Group, a leading market research company in the UK and Ireland.

Professionals deemed to be the most effective networkers:

46% Marketing
17% Sales
15% Bankers & Stockbrokers
1-2% Nurse, Teachers, Legal and Retail

In Singapore and Australia, the research was conducted by Australian research firm Catalyst Consultancy & Research.

The research asked 3,200 working professionals globally about their daily work habits, with markets being the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Singapore and Australia.