Archive for the ‘events’ Category

Cisco upgrades Cisco Spark and launches Cisco Spark Board

Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

Cisco Spark is the company’s cloud-based, unified communications platform, while the Cisco Spark Board is an interactive electronic whiteboard for the future workplace. Prices below.

Cisco showcased its upgraded Cisco Spark – the company’s cloud-based, all-in-one messaging, meetings, calls and conferencing platform designed for the workplace of the future.

The new version of its flagship collaboration solution includes a simplified user interface, more features, and seamless linking to Cisco’s wide portfolio of corporate phone systems, WebEx meeting and video conferencing technologies.

The launch was held at the Impact Hub Singapore, a coworking community with over 670 members comprising both ideation stage startups to billion-dollar “Unicorn” ventures.

Cisco also launched for Asia its Cisco Spark Board, a new plug-and-play, all-in-one device for team collaboration that lets users wirelessly present, whiteboard, and video or audio conference whether you are in the physical conference room or not. (Prices below.)

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Opening: Hubtricity – StarHub’s new innovation centre & converged operations cockpit

Sunday, March 19th, 2017

StarHub supports Singapore’s Smart Nation vision with the new 58,000 sq ft Hubtricity (创星之城) in within STT MediaHub in one-north. It went fully operational in December 2016.

“With Hubtricity, StarHub is investing in capabilities that will enable it to innovate and develop new digital products, services and solutions with partners across industries. Hubtricity will add to Singapore’s position as the Digital Capital of Asia and will create exciting jobs in Singapore in areas such as cyber security and social media analytics,” said Kiren Kumar, assistant managing director at EDB. Photo credit: Cassie Fong, StarHub.

“With Hubtricity, StarHub is investing in capabilities that will enable it to innovate and develop new digital products, services and solutions with partners across industries. Hubtricity will add to Singapore’s position as the Digital Capital of Asia and will create exciting jobs in Singapore in areas such as cyber security and social media analytics,” said Kiren Kumar, assistant managing director at EDB. Photo credit: Cassie Fong, StarHub.

The new facility acts as a foundation to accelerate service innovation and co-creation with partners and customers.

In so doing, StarHub hopes to transform Singapore into a vibrant and connected Smart Nation, enhancing people’s everyday lives, strengthening enterprise capabilities and deepening Singapore’s international connectivity.

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New arrival: Ban Leong introduces UBTECH Jimu robots in Singapore

Saturday, March 18th, 2017

The Jimu range of robots are designed to nurture kids and teens with an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics). There are five kits available. Prices below.

UBTECH’s Jimu Robot is an interactive robotic building block system that lets kids easily Build, Program and Share their robot creations:

The five kits are made of lego-like components that can be assembled into different robots.

The various Jimu robot kits on display during the launch in Singapore by Ban Leong Technologies.

The five Jimu robot kits available (with prices) in Singapore are:

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New arrival: Ban Leong introduces UBTECH Alpha1 Pro robot in Singapore

Friday, March 17th, 2017

The Alpha1 Pro humanoid robot is designed to delight both children and adults and serve as a companion and member of the family. Available now in Singapore: S$899.

The Alpha1 Pro interactive consumer robot is made by UBTECH Robotics, a global industry leader in artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics.

Alpha1 Pro is a household programmable humanoid robot that can be used for education and entertainment.

It is designed with 16 high-precision robotic servo motors.

The UBTECH Alpha1 Pro was launched in Singapore together with the company’s Jimu range of robots, seen here on display together with the Alpha1 Pro.

The robot comes with 3D visual programming software and PRP (Pose, Record & Playback) function which is controlled in one app.

The UBTECH Alpha1 Pro is available now in retailers such as Tangs Orchard, Robinsons Heeren, Harvey Norman, Nubox Stores, Changi Airport Terminal 1, 2 & 3, Analogue+, hachi.tech (Online) Courts (Online), and authorised UBTECH retailers in Singapore.

UBTECH is exclusively distributed by Ban Leong Technologies Limited in Singapore.

Below are more details from the press release.

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Interview: What does a career in Big Data Geo-Analytics look like?

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

Get the scoop from Chandra Sekhar Saripaka, who is a Senior Data Engineer at DataSpark.

Chandra is an experienced software engineer with more than 10 years in the IT field that included stints in major banks.

Chandra is an experienced software engineer with more than 10 years in the IT field that included stints in major banks.

An aspiring Big Data scientist should look no further than Chandra Sekhar Saripaka.

As a Senior Data Engineer with DataSpark, he was one of two speakers from the company who participated in Strata + Hadoop World 2016 in Singapore, a conference which attracted the top minds around the world working on Big Data and analytics.

Chandra spoke on how to go “from telco data to spatial-temporal intelligence APIs”, by “architecting through microservices”.

He explained in detail the production architecture at DataSpark and how it works through terabytes of spatial-temporal telco data each day in PaaS mode.

Chandra also shared with fellow data scientists attending his talk how the platform operates in SaaS mode.

Chandra’s in-depth knowledge of Big Data makes him the best person to give pointers to an aspiring IT engineer in the field.

I’ve asked Chandra to share his valuable insights on carving a career in this intensely competitive arena.

What must today’s IT worker do to get a foothold in Big Data?

Chandra: There is a paradigm shift in the way traditional software is being transformed into data-driven software.

With the rise of many small and medium startups in the market, various cloud-ready tools – in terms of storage, compute, processing and visualisation – have emerged.

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Riding the Big Data wave: Interview with Ying Shao Wei, COO, DataSpark

Thursday, March 2nd, 2017

Ying Shao Wei – Chief Operating Officer, DataSpark – was one of the distinguished speakers in Strata + Hadoop World Singapore to helm a session attended by fellow data scientists and C-suite leaders as he shared his insights into the analysis of “mobility as a vital sign of people and the economy”.

Strata + Hadoop World Singapore 2016 saw the congregation, in Singapore, of thought leaders in the Big Data analytics and insights arena, enabling practitioners to learn through the sharing of experiences and exchange of ideas. It also provided participants the opportunity to network for future collaboration.

Strata + Hadoop World Singapore 2016 saw the congregation, in Singapore, of thought leaders in the Big Data analytics and insights arena, enabling practitioners to learn through the sharing of experiences and exchange of ideas. It also provided participants the opportunity to network for future collaboration.

To understand more about Big Data and where it is heading, I sat down with Ying to tap his insights into the trends and prospects of Big Data in this fast-paced sector.

Big Data is the buzz word in the world of Enterprise IT. However, to the man in the street, how does Big Data affect them in their daily lives?

Ying Shao Wei: There are significant ways in which Big Data is already benefiting the man in the street.

Big Data enables the huge amount of customer feedback – through online reviews and social media – to be processed so that companies have a better chance of responding to and acting quickly upon such feedback.

So with Big Data, customers are more likely to have their preferences addressed.

When you visit an e-commerce website, you will be provided more relevant recommended products and services, thanks to recommendation systems enabled by Big Data.

Because of Big Data, I am able to see and sense my surrounding environment with better clarity than ever before.

When I use online maps to navigate or plan for a journey, I am using Big Data to save tremendous time and effort in getting from one place to another.

With Big Data, mobile subscribers are also now getting better network experiences when they use their mobile broadband connections.

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DataSpark: Setting the stage for Big Data Analytics

Wednesday, March 1st, 2017

DataSpark is a Big Data company that is part of Singtel, Asia’s leading communications group. The company participated in Strata + Hadoop World 2016 in Singapore with two speakers and an exhibition booth.

Strata + Hadoop World is one of the world’s leading conference on big data, featuring some of the most progressive leaders in the industry, delving into areas that include Big Data in telecommunications and finance; smart cities and urban automation; IoT and intelligent real-time applications; data science and advanced analytics; chat, machine learning, and AI; security, governance and ethics; as well as the issues involved in becoming a data-centric company. Other topics include design, visualisation, and VR, Hadoop use cases, Hadoop internals and development, production-ready Hadoop, Spark and beyond.

Strata + Hadoop World is one of the world’s leading conferences on big data, featuring some of the most progressive leaders in the industry.

Strata + Hadoop World first came to Singapore in 2015 with DataSpark participating as an exhibitor.

The sold-out conference also featured two speakers from DataSpark covering how the telco landscape could be invigorated by using data assets to create new applications, as well as the use of telco data to monitor traffic in Singapore.

With the resounding response during the inaugural conference in Singapore, DataSpark participated again in this year’s Strata + Hadoop World 2016, as an exhibitor with a booth in the Sponsor Pavilion.

As a thought leader in its mobility intelligence, two speakers from DataSpark were also showcased in the conference.

Mobility as a vital sign of people and the economy

Ying Shao Wei, Chief Operating Officer, spoke on “mobility as a vital sign of people and the economy”.

The audience learnt how telco-enabled insights could provide deep, refreshing and actionable perspectives on the health of urban infrastructure such as road and train systems; the economy, in terms of trade activities and major tourism events; as well as the general well-being of the populace.

Ying Shao Wei, Chief Operating Officer, DataSpark, spoke on how real-time insights from DataSpark’s software help the organisers and public authorities better understand how crowds build up and disperse and detect anomalies in the flow of people, enabling a better marshalling of ground resources to ensure public safety.

Ying Shao Wei, Chief Operating Officer, DataSpark, spoke on how real-time insights from DataSpark’s software help the organisers and public authorities better understand how crowds build up and disperse and detect anomalies in the flow of people, enabling a better marshalling of ground resources to ensure public safety.

These telco-enabled insights were gleaned from the software platforms and data science engines that DataSpark has built to make sense of the interconnected world of digital devices and more than two hundred million users across Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The company has successfully applied data science methodologies and techniques, such as data mining and machine learning, to make discoveries about the interactions between users and their increasing number of devices, from mobile phones and tablets to TV set-top boxes and broadband devices.

With their expertise and developments in Big Data and analytics, DataSpark is well-positioned to ride the wave of Big Data adoption that the industry and governments are looking to embrace.

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New arrival: Wacom launches 2017 lineup of graphics tablets & stylus in Singapore

Tuesday, February 28th, 2017

The new slew of graphics tablets and stylus include the Bamboo Fineline Stylus, Bamboo Slate smartpad, Bamboo Folio smartpad, Intuos Pro and Cintiq Pro 13 & 16. Prices below.

Anti-clockwise from top right (not to scale):

  • Bamboo Fineline smart Stylus (S$89)
  • Bamboo Slate Smartpad (A5: S$199, A4: S$229)
  • Bamboo Folio Smartpad (A5: S$229, A4: S$299)
  • Intuos Pro Paper Edition (medium: S$579, large: S$799)
  • <Not shown here – Intuos Pro (medium: S$499, large: S$709)>
  • Cintiq Pro 13 (S$1,499) & 16 (S$2,199)

The new lineup caters to a whole range of users, from professional graphics artists requiring high performance and precision, to the man in the street, looking for user-friendliness and enhanced productivity.

Below are the models that were launched in Singapore and their prices.

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Opening: Thomson Reuters Data & Innovation Lab in Singapore

Tuesday, February 21st, 2017

Thomson Reuters continues expansion of its global labs network by opening its sixth in Singapore. Its first lab in Asia, the Singapore Data and Innovation Lab will serve customers across the Asia Pacific.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at Monetary Authority Singapore (MAS) officiating the opening of the new Thomson Reuters Lab in Singapore. In addition, Kiren Kumar, Assistant Managing Director, Infocomms and Media, Singapore Economic Development Board commented, “We welcome Thomson Reuters into our fast-growing digital innovation ecosystem, and are glad that the Singapore Data and Innovation Lab is collaborating with various partners to create new products for the region and beyond. We are also pleased that the Lab presents exciting career opportunities in data science, software development and user experience design.”

The Thomson Reuters Lab in Singapore will collaborate with the government, customers, tech startups and universities to build partnerships and create innovative products and solutions for professional markets throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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N.E.mation! 11: Competition results at Awards Ceremony

Sunday, February 19th, 2017

Cedar Girls’ Secondary School snatched the two top positions in this year’s Total Defence animation competition, with Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School clinching the third place. Results listing below.

A post shared by John Tan (@tech4tea) on

Congratulations to the winners of N.E.mation! 11: “MADEit” from Cedar Girls’ Secondary School!

The Awards Ceremony was held at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium at National Gallery Singapore.

Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of Education Dr Janil Puthucheary was the Guest-of-Honour.

Detailed results below.

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