Technology

Intel launches fastest Processor

Intel Corporation launched its most advanced desktop processor ever the Intel Core i7 on Tuesday in Sri Lanka a few hours after its worldwide launch.

Country Business Manager Intel EM Ltd Sri Lanka Liason office Indika de Zoysa said the processor was introduced by Intel to cater to the growing segments of gaming, entertainment and music which require high processor speeds. This segment of people are very demanding as they require superior performance on time.

It is the first processor in a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximise data throughput.

The score i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.

The Intel (R) CoreTMi 7 processor holds a new world record of 117 for the SPECint base rate 2006 benchmark test that measures the performance of a processor. This is the first time ever for any single processor to exceed a score of 100 points.

The Core i7 is a revolution in terms of technology and performance while its development is a huge step forward within the industry and an absolute boon for users guaranteeing an unparalleled experience.”

Intel’s unique Turbo Boost Technology accelerates performance to match a computer user’s needs and workloads. Through a sophisticated on-die power control unit and using new “power gate” transistors based on Intel’s advanced 45 nanometre, high-k metal gate manufacturing process, Turbo Boost automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single-and multi-threaded applications to boost performance, without increasing power consumption.

The Core i7 also has the latest Intel powersaving technologies, allowing desktops to go into sleep states formerly reserved for Intel-based notebooks.

SLT in partnership with APNIC launches I-Root server

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) launched the Asia Pacific I - Root Server at its Corporate Customer Forum.

Tilak De Silva	Champika Wijeyatunga

It was launched in partnership with the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), Netnod and Autonomica, the latter being responsible for the installation of the I-root server.

There are 13 root servers the world over, a spokesman for SLT said.

The spokesman said SLT takes great pride in being selected as the host for the I-Root server in Sri Lanka.

It is a reflection of the expertise available within the company and the state of the art Data Centre (SLTiDC) infrastructure and unparalleled internet connectivity which has helped to make it a success.

Root server installation is set to further facilitate the increase in the performance of the DNS server systems in Sri Lanka and around.

The root server is connected to all ISPs in Sri Lanka which are connected via SLT internet Exchange (SLTIX) strengthening its commitment to further enhance the country’s internet infrastructure.

SLTnet, the internet arm of SLT recently announced its international internet backbone upgrade to 3 Giga bits per second (Gbps) facilitating Sri Lankan internet users to experience high quality and super fast internet service.

Tilak De Silva, Chief Global and Networks Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom said, “Being the premier telecommunications service provider in the country, we would like to welcome all the local ISPs, business customers and all internet users in the country to experience the enhancement.

ISPs in Sri Lanka are privileged to obtain their root domain name resolution process locally.

SLT is continuously looking forward to enhance the quality of all the services and the deployment of the root server in Sri Lanka.

I believe this initiative, enables the objective of internet services for all users in Sri Lanka to improve their internet experience.

Kapruka.com caters to two million Lankan expatriates

By Surekha GALAGODA

[email protected]

Gift giving is fast catching up globally and it is no exception in Sri Lanka. the sender will not think of the cost involved but will want to give the best to his or her loved ones back home whatever the occasion or whatever the gift may be ranging from cakes to flowers or from electronic items to fruit baskets - the choice is all yours.

This was all made possible as the brainchild of young Dulith Herath by launching the largest Sri Lankan e-commerce website known the world over to expatriates as kapruka.com in 2002.

Chairman Kapruka.com Dulith Herath said that the website launched six years ago caters to two million Sri Lankan expatriates living around the globe. At present Kapruka handles over 8,000 orders a month while bringing in foreign revenue in excess of over US$ 2 million this year to Sri Lanka.

"Two months ago we opened the website to Sri Lankans as well and we are doing great." When the site was first launched we were focused on serving only Sri Lankan expatriates. Besides our pricing model was not made for Sri Lanka. Another reason for holding off the opening to Sri Lanka was the high volume of credit card fraud emerging from Sri Lanka, said Herath. But today, I think Sri Lanka is ready for it. Full fledged ecommerce is not new to Sri Lanka anymore.

Services

The services offered by us can be categorised into four areas which includes gift delivery, exporting Sri Lankan merchandise such as handicrafts and boots . Gift delivery includes delivery of flowers, cakes and food items. Since flowers account for about 30 per cent of the gift delivery volume we opened an independent department and handle the flower production on our own now.

Customers order cakes from kapruka (where we specialise in 3D and birthday cakes),Hilton, Trans Asia or Fab.

Customers can also order food items from Flower Drum, Pizza Hut, Fab Pastry, Amrith or Eastern Dragon and we do the delivery. For areas such as Negombo, Gampaha, Kandy and Jaela the customers can also send gift vouchers.

In addition you can send gift vouchers from Odel, Hameedias or Nolimit to buy clothes while there are Salons, Bookshops, Jewellery stores, Prepaid phone cards as well as stationery items, soft toys and electronic toys exclusively for children listed on the website.

Under merchandise expatriates can order CDs, VCDs as well as movies from Torana, Singlanka and M entertainment, Batik items, Sri Lankan cricket items as well as Masks Sinhala books and Sri Lankan handicrafts made of wood and straw.

Personal touch

He said that there are 80 persons working on a 24 hour operation but deliveries are done only between 7am and 9pm.

Cakes fresh flowers and hampers are delivered in Colombo, Kandy, Matale, Gampola, Puttalam, Kurunegala, Kuliyapitiya, Matara and Balangoda.

Recently we extended our delivery to the liberated Eastern Province too. Items delivered to this area are still limited due to complications in logistics, but we will offer all our 5,000 plus choices of gifts to all parts of the island as soon as the ongoing civil war comes to an end.

Herath said there are many unique gift delivery features in Kapruka, thanks to its high use of today's web technologies. For example, we send a bar coded card with each gift delivery where the gift recipient gets to write a personal message by hand.

This card gets scanned into our system at the end of the day, converted into a JPEG image and sent back to the gift sender the very next day. It's a huge personal touch! to our customer to actually see the recipient's "hand written" message as a token of thanks.

Future plans

Speaking of future plans, he said that they will launch a medical service together with Medichecks in the coming weeks where any one in the world can order a medical checkup online for their loved ones in Sri Lanka. Medichecks specialise in mobile medical labs and Kapruka is keen on offering their services to its customer base this month.

In addition the company is planning to add more vendors and specialised services as well. At present Kapruka has five branches which includes three branches in Sri Lanka, one in USA and one in UK while plans are afoot to expand the branch network into the Middle East and Australia in 2009.

If I had to name the top three reasons for our success, its the high use of today's web technologies, an excellent core group of team members and managers and finally our friendly corporate attitude within the organisation, said Herath. Nishantha Weerasinghe, a founder and Managing Director also plays a key role.

 

STC opens Technomart
 

The State Trading General Corporation has opened a showroom/sales outlet for Information Technology Equipment at its premises at Nawam Mawatha.

The main objective of opening this outlet is to provide information Technology equipment for schoolchildren, University students and public servants at affordable prices.

The STC partnered by Sala Enterprises will showcase state of the art Computers, Communication Appliances and other accessories required for IT with STC warranty and after sales service.

The new showroom was opened by Minister of Trade, Marketing Development Cooperative and Consumer Services Bandula Gunawardena. Chairman STC Pradeep Gunawardena and Managing Director Sala Enterprises Chinthaka Wijewickrama were also present.

The STC Chairman said that the Upahara Package launched by the STC with Mobitel is very popular and that his intention is to provide high quality services to the people at affordable prices.

He said that plans are under way to introduce several new products under the STC label in the near future.

Silver medal for Golden Key Software Solutions

Golden Key Software Solutions Ltd (GKSS) was awarded a Silver Medal by the Sri Lanka Chapter of the prestigious Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) in the category of 'Application Security' for its new TEF Workflow Solution, for the year 2008. A Gold Medal was not awarded in this category for 2008.

Weeks after, the same TEF Workflow Solution also won a Silver Medal at the National Best Quality Software Award (NBQSA) organised by the British Computer Society, Sri Lanka Section in the Security Category for the Year 2008 and was chosen to represent Sri Lanka at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA), scheduled to be held this month in Indonesia.