Posts Tagged ‘technology’

NEC Asia Pacific showcases innovative display technologies in Singapore

Friday, October 10th, 2014

The company also introduced during the NEC Technology Showcase its 4K Ultra High Definition Videowall solutions and NEC Laser Hybrid projector for the first time.

NEC 4K Ultra High Definition Videowall solution.

NEC 4K Ultra High Definition Videowall solution.

The NEC Technology Showcase event is the inaugural product display for NEC in Singapore from 8 to 10 October 2014.

Flat table-top touch-panel used as retail display.

Flat table-top touch-panel used as retail display.

The event saw the powerful NEC Laser Hybrid projector using solid state technology showcased for the first time within Asia Pacific, as well as the NEC 4K Ultra High Definition Videowall solution with patent-pending frame compensation technology.

The showcase provided an interactive experience for attendees with set-up scenarios for various sectors.

It included digital signage solutions enabling content creation on the cloud, as well as solutions with innovative energy saving features utilising human sensors.

Highlights also included interactive and collaborative solutions such as wireless presentation software, advanced interactive whiteboard applications with finger touch functionality, and interactive table displays for education, retail and hospitality sectors as well as for enterprise use.

Below are more details about the two highlights.

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Tech focus: StitMe – keeping your phone numbers private

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Our phone numbers are something we hand out readily to our contacts, yet we would like to protect them from misuse. StitMe is a service that enables users to control who can call you and when, without divulging your real number.

StitMe allows you to keep your mobile number private and control who can call you and when.

StitMe allows you to keep your mobile number private and control who can call you and when.

I was having tea the other day with Gurtaj Singh and he caught my interest with this app that he had launched just recently in the US.

It’s called StitMe and is not available outside of US yet but it sounded like it had great potential to solve one of the biggest dilemmas of the modern age.

You want as many friends, colleagues and potential contacts to be able to contact you, but you don’t want to receive calls from unwarranted telemarketers because your telephone number had been harvested and compiled in some call list that are being sold or circulated without your consent.

Worse still, in the US, anybody can use your telephone number to do a reverse number lookup (the equivalent of a Whois query) and get personal information about you like your residential address etc.

This is where StitMe comes in – users of the free service need not hand out their real telephone numbers anymore.

Between two StitMe users, all you give out is your StitMe User ID.

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313@somerset road tests beacon-based indoor positioning technology for retail

Monday, August 11th, 2014

313@somerset is the first mall in Singapore to road test the mobile technology to help connect customers to relevant content and promotions in real-time at participating retailers in the shopping mall.

Screenshots of the Tring 313 mobile app when the user receives a notification, and the promotion on offer.

Screenshots of the Tring 313 mobile app when the user receives a notification, and the promotion on offer.

313@somerset has its eyes set on Beacon-based Indoor Positioning,the latest in retail innovation that enable shoppers to receive hyper-targeted messages, deals and other content based on their proximity to the offering retailer inside the mall.

As a forerunner in the adoption of new and emerging technologies, 313@somerset is set to pave the way by being the first commercial outlet in Singapore to test out the potential of Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) Beacons for retailers, including messaging targeted at specific mall and store locations, analytics and potentially payments.

In partnership with technology partner Sprooki, the mall conducted test trials in the form of short experiential tours around the mall and exclusive test groups were invited to take part in the trials.

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Singapore Science Festival 2014 is back (18 Jul – 3 Aug)

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

The Singapore Science Festival (SSF) is back for the fourteenth year, bringing back crowd favourites such as X-periment!, the Singapore Mini Maker Faire and the STAR Lecture, alongside several celebrity science performers and exciting new events.

The Singapore Science Festival (SSF) runs from tomorrow till 3 August, 2014.

The Singapore Science Festival (SSF) runs from tomorrow till 3 August, 2014.

Opening tomorrow, the yearly celebration of everything science and technology, co-organised by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Science Centre, is set to continue rocking young minds and pushing further the buttons of curiosity.

Associate Professor (A/P) Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive, Science Centre Singapore - Co-Chairperson of Singapore Science Festival.

Associate Professor (A/P) Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive, Science Centre Singapore – Co-Chairperson of Singapore Science Festival.

This is in line with Singapore’s increasingly broad-based approach towards the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

A deep interest in STEM motivates thinking, curiosity and innovation, principles that will help the adults of tomorrow navigate and adapt to a rapidly changing world.

With an aim to cultivate and groom the next generation of STEM practitioners in Singapore, SSF 2014 aims to bring STEM subjects to life through interesting and fun play, observation and hands-on experiences.

Differentiating itself from previous editions, this year’s SSF will take on a fresh theme – You Can be a Rock Star with Science.

Introducing the Rock Star Scientists of Singapore Science Festival 2014

The festival will celebrate scientists who are rock stars in their own right, making a difference to the world we live in, and changing the way we learn science.

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Philips partners Green Sense Farms for LED-based indoor farming

Sunday, May 11th, 2014

These indoor farms grow vegetables sustainably and locally in areas where traditional field farming is not possible. The lighting system uses 85% less energy than traditional systems.

Update (15 November, 2021):

Seven years on, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) is launching its first global virtual horticulture COE for Singapore and Asia.

Feeding the growing population with Philips city farming.

Feeding the growing population with Philips city farming.

Royal Philips has partnered with Green Sense Farms (GSF), a Chicago-area commercial grower, to develop one of the largest indoor commercial farms using LED grow lights tailored to their specific crops.

6525 Daniel Burnham Cir Unit B Portage, IN 46368 United States

“By growing our crops vertically, we are able to pack more plants per acre than we would have in a field farm, which results in more harvests per year. We produce little waste, no agricultural runoff and minimal greenhouse gasses because the food is grown where it is consumed,” said Robert Colangelo.

This innovative farming model allows them to harvest 20-25 times a year by using ‘light recipes’ optimised for their produce, using 85 percent less energy.

The result will be an increase in crop yields and reduced operating costs, while providing consumers with locally grown, fresh vegetables throughout the year.

GSF is located in a small town called Portage, which is very close to Chicago.

GSF has invested millions of dollars to renovate and equip a million cubic foot indoor growing area consisting of fourteen 25 foot tall growing towers in two climate-controlled grow rooms.

These rooms use Philips energy-efficient LED solutions tailored to their specific crops.

This method also eliminates the need for harmful pesticides, fertilisers or preservatives, resulting in produce that is organically grown and virtually chemical free.

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IT Trends: Dell shares its technology outlook for 2013

Monday, January 7th, 2013

What are Dell’s foci for 2013. Transforming, Connecting, Informing and Protecting – says Ng Tian Beng, Managing Director, Dell South Asia & Korea.

Ng Tian Beng, Managing Director, Dell South Asia & Korea

Ng Tian Beng, Managing Director, Dell South Asia & Korea

Based on feedback from his customers, Tian Beng highlights two common issues that keep  them awake at night.

  1. Firstly, businesses are spending too much of their IT budget on powering their datacenter and not powering their business.
  2. Secondly, customers want solutions that are help them innovate rather than merely keep the lights on.

Ng anticipates that, in 2013, the technology priorities of Dell’s customers along 4 key themes – Transform, Connect, Inform and Protect.

Below are the details of the four themes.

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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.)