Business Technology
Intel Corp to invest in Lanka soon
Surekha Galagoda reporting from Shanghai, China
[email protected]
Intel Corporation is planning to invest in Sri Lanka very soon, said
Managing Director, Asia Pacific Region Intel Capital, Cadol Cheung.
Addressing the international media on the eve of the Intel Developer
Forum (IDF) in Shanghai, China he did not elaborate on the investment
and added that it will be soon and everything will be announced at the
right time.
Cheung said that they are planning for worldwide growth with an
emphasis on emerging markets and enhancing knowledge based technology.
Intel Capital is interested in investing in mobile internet client
technology, software solutions as well as manufacturing memory. Intel
capital has invested US$ 7.5 billion in about 1000 companies and 45
countries since its inception in 1991.
Speaking of future plans, he said, that Intel Capital’s objective is
to be the premier global investment company in the world by capitalising
on the differentiators, building the company and naturing the
entrepreneur.
The tradition of risk taking, innovation and excellence together with
vast access to capital has made Intel Capital one of the best companies
in the world.
Tomorrow’s mobile experience
Intel Senior Fellow , director communications Technology Lab Kevin
Kahn speaking on the new mobile research effort of Intel Carry Small
Live, Large (CSLL) said that Intel researchers are leading a vision of
tomorrows mobile experience to be smaller and efficient mobile devices
that leverage other resources around them to provide a more personalised
user experience.
It will focus on achievements in small form factor and improved power
efficiency, personalisation that anticipates user needs, more mobile
devices that leverage and interact with technology in the environment
and standardisation.
He said that Intel is researching techniques for mobile devices of
the future to have a great awareness of the user’s preferences and
deliver new services and capabilities to satisfy the preferences using
sensors, context framework, web based services as well as privacy and
security for user data protection.
They are also looking at how tomorrow’s mobile devices will easily
operate beyond their own form factor or built in capabilities by
leveraging the power and capabilities of nearby wireless devices
including display, storage compute and user interaction.
He said at present incompatibilities are a barrier to expanding the
capabilities of mobile devices and the mobile computing eco systems.
Therefore, Intel is working with standardisation bodies and various
partners to develop standards that will help make the CSLL vision a
reality.
Intel Vice President Corporate Technology Group and director Intel
Research Andrew Chien outlined the CSLL research effort which is to have
technology that is more intutive and aware of the surrounding
environment.
Computer systems will have to be more aware of their users and
context in everyday activities and environments with sensors and
inference. Sensors can provide massive amounts of data but the challenge
is to accurately interpret and understand the data to use it
effectively.
Intel Mash Maker beta
He said beware of the physical and personal environment including
items such as activity, mood, recognising physical items, location air
current state and using that understanding to direct actions of the user
or the mobile device.
He said that Intel will unveil Intel Mash Maker beta, a browser
extension at the Web 2.0 conference on April 22. It includes support for
Internet Explorer and FireFox with advanced widgets and visualisation
capabilities. It lets users create client side mashups as they browse
the web. It provides users with a new level of capabilities and
intelligence to the internet experience. It delivers personalised multi
content information users want the way they want it.
Intel Fellow Corporate technology Group Krishnamurthy Soumyanath
speaking on the significant milestones in developing low cost digital
multi radios, said that in the future this technology will allow small
devices to handle a mixture of wireless radio technology standards from
just one chip that consumes less power than today’s bulky analog
versions.
General Manager and Vice President China Intel Corporation Ian Yang
presenting the Intel China overview said that China’s PC market is
growing at 50 per cent per year which is considered the fastest growth
in the world in any consumer product. He said that the PC penetration in
1995 was less than one per cent but last year it was 21 per cent which
shows that there is tremendous growth. It is the world’s largest
emerging PC market. Intel entered the Chinese market in 1985.
The company has been concentrating on sales, marketing, research and
development as well as manufacturing from the time Intel entered the
market. Earlier, China was classified as a APAC country together with
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but two years ago China was established as
a separate country due to the high growth it experienced.
Since Intel entered China the company has invested over US$ 4 billion
and employs a staff of over 7,000.
US Cellular selects Valista’s Operator Payments Service
Valista (www.valista.com), the leading provider of digital commerce
software and managed services, said that US Cellular, a leading US based
provider of wireless services, has selected Valista’s Operator Payments
Service to enable its off-deck premium content business.
Through Valista’s Operator Payments Service, US Cellular customers
will now have greater access to mobile content and be able to fully
participate in many interactive activities such as text-in media voting
for popular television shows.
Valista’s Operator Payments Service supports a wide range of mobile
payment options, providing consumers with greater choice in the
purchasing process. In addition, the service provides support for post
purchase operations such as refunds and credits and allows for
end-to-end visibility of transactions.
Valista’s Operator Payments Service acts as a bridge between external
aggregators, content providers and US Cellular’s internal
infrastructure. It is offered as a managed service, allowing US Cellular
to maintain core focus and improve the time to market of their off-deck
premium content business. The service utilises Valista’s industry
leading payments technology and its advanced revenue sharing and
settlement solution (ValistaPlus 4).
A key feature of Valista’s Operator Payments Service is the Campaign
Manager Module, which manages the lifecycle of off-deck mobile campaigns
across the operator, aggregators and content providers.
It enables the submission, approval and launch of campaigns proposed
by content providers or aggregators to operators such as US Cellular.
This process enables US Cellular to protect their customers from
inappropriate content and rogue services by allowing them to accept
reject or ask for a revision of proposed content and services, ensuring
only content and services which meet US Cellular’s criteria can be used
by US Cellular customers.
Campaign Manager also supports customer care by providing detailed
information in the event of a customer inquiry, complaint, request for a
refund or cancellation of a service, ensuring full customer
satisfaction.
Valista’s Operator Payments Service increases the percentage of
successful purchases and reduces service costs through authentication
and authorisation, subscription licence and refund management and
automated contract mediation.
It also provides comprehensive settlement and reconciliation services
allowing automated, accurate settlement calculations with all partners
and automatically reflects refunds in settlement statements.
According to Chief Operating Officer at Valista Craig McDonald,
“Operators need the ability to quickly adapt to the ever-changing
dynamics of the global payments market.
Understanding the growth of off-deck content, Valista’s solutions
have been built to manage scalable volumes of transactions and enable
carriers to future proof their evolving payment strategies.”
Valista has a proven track record in providing managed services on
behalf of such key customers as Cricket Communications. Valista’s
Operator Payments Service is based on the award winning Valista payments
and settlement platforms, which are in use by some of the world’s
largest mobile operators including Vodafone UK, NTT DoCoMo, France
Telecom’s w-HA and Orange.
Eurocenter DDC attains Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Status
Eurocenter DDC achieved the status of Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner, as a result of its success in delivering Microsoft-compatible
solutions to enterprise customers.
From left: Subky Hussain, Business Development, Eurocenter DDC,
Mano Sekaram, CEO of Eurocenter DDC being presented the
Microsoft Gold Partner Certification award by Sriyan de Silva
Wijeyeratne, Country Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Alanzo
Doll, Partner Account Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka. |
Microsoft Gold Certified Partners are the elite Microsoft Business
Partners who earn the highest customer endorsement.
They have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to help implement
technology solutions that match the exact business needs.
They are the elite few who have passed the highest level of
requirements from Microsoft and have demonstrated their capability to
implement the most robust, efficient and scalable implementations of
Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners receive a rich
set of benefits, including access, training and support, giving them a
competitive edge in the marketplace.
“We’re very excited about our partnership with Microsoft and honoured
to be selected by Microsoft as a Gold partner, we know that earning the
distinction of being a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner is due to the
excellent work of our staff and providing solutions that work for our
customers. I want to thank our customers for providing references that
helped us move into this highest partnership level.
We are determined to take full advantage of this new partnership
level to provide an even better service to our customers with the
benefits offered within this partnership program.
Since our customer base is predominantly in Europe, this
certification has further enhanced our capabilities in delivering
solutions based on Microsoft technologies.” said Chief Executive Officer
of Eurocenter DDC Mano Sekaram, commenting on their achievement.
With a large resource pool of Microsoft Certified System Engineers,
Eurocenter has grown rapidly in the last few years and this
certification validates Eurocenter’s commitment to raise the bar on IT
service delivery.
Microsoft’s recognition opens a new level of client opportunity by
aligning Eurocenter’s core competencies with the most recognised and
respected partner accreditations.
“Today’s customers demand to be up-to-date on the latest technology
and how it works.
We need strong companies with a proven track record of using
Microsoft products and technologies and illustrate a strong commitment
to progressing industry standards and meeting customers’ demands.
Obtaining Gold Partnership takes this to a new level of excellence.
Eurocenter is predominantly a Microsoft operation with over
two-thirds of their developments on Microsoft tools and technologies for
their customers across Europe.
Eurocenter DDC have demonstrated such capabilities and, while we have
an excellenent engagement with them already, Microsoft Sri Lanka
welcomes them warmly to the Gold Partner program, said Country Manager
of Microsoft Sri Lanka, Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne.
Children flock to social networks
More than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds who are online in the UK
have a profile on a social network, research shows. Most sites, such as
Bebo, MySpace and Facebook, set a minimum age of between 13 and 14 to
create a profile but none actively enforce the age limit. Ofcom’s survey
of 5,000 adults and 3,000 children found 49% of those aged between eight
and 17 have a profile.
Ofcom says parents need to keep an eye on what their children do
online.
The Ofcom report looks into the impact of social networks on people’s
lives in the UK as part of a wider media literacy campaign and surveyed
5,000 adults and more than 3,000 children. Its statistics suggest that
around 19% of all UK youngsters have a presence on a social networking
site.
“Social networks are clearly a very important part of people’s lives
and are having an impact on how people live their lives,” said director
of market research James Thickett, at Ofcom.
He said, “Children’s lives are very different from what they were 20
years ago. Social networks are a way of creating a social bond.” The
Home Office has been working with social networking firms and is
expected to publish a set of guidelines for the sites around best
practice, security and privacy on Friday.
The report is expected to recommend that profiles created by children
are set to private by default or are only viewable by friends nominated
by the user.
It also suggests that social sites maintain a distinct contact page
listing contact numbers, such as 999, children can use to get help.
The three leading social networks, MySpace, Bebo and Facebook, all
say they remove profiles of users that are found to be too young on
their sites. But at present no technology is used to actively verify the
age of users.
The Home Office guidelines are set to encourage social networking
sites to investigate age verification technologies and to give better
signposting to users about privacy settings, and warnings about the
implications of posting personal details.
One solution to this problem would be for schools to set up sites of
their own that could be grouped by age.
Courtesy BBC
Computers to merge with humans
By 2020 the terms ‘interface’ and ‘user’ will be obsolete as
computers merge ever closer with humans.
It is one of the predictions in a Microsoft-backed report drawn from
the discussions of 45 academics from the fields of computing, science,
sociology and psychology.
It predicts fundamental changes in the field of so-called
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
By 2020 humans will increasingly interrogate machines, the report
said. In turn computers will anticipate what we want from them, which
will require new rules about our relationship with machines.
Courtesy BBC |