IT News Week 2 Jul 2016

For IT News Week 5 Jun 2016

For this week / last week, here are / were the biggest news.
  • PR - Jul 14, 2016 - Penang - HP Opens New Ink Supplies Manufacturing Facility in Malaysia
  • PR - Jul 13, 2016 - Red Hat Cloud and Containers
  • PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Travel stimulates higher-risk behavior online among consumers, says Kaspersky Lab report
  • PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Acronis Backup Cloud Extension for Microsoft Azure and Azure Stack
  • PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Brother Monochrome Laser Series Engineered for Businesses
  • Mergemarket - Jul 12, 2016 - Technology, Media & Telecommunications(TMT) report for H1 2016
  • PR - Jul 11, 2016 - Sophos Named a Visionary in Gartner Magic Quadrant Report for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites Three Years in a Row
  • PR - Jul 7, 2016 - BIOSTAR Announces TB85 Motherboard, Made for Mining
  • Schroders - Jul 7, 2016 - EM and Brexit: should we worry?
  • PR - Jul 5, 2016 - Colour Your World With The HTC Desire 830 Dual Sim
  • PR - Jul 4, 2016 - Shenzhen, China - Huntkey Launches the First Tea Maker
  • PR - Jul 4, 2016 - Oracle Delivers the Power of Engineered Systems to Organizations of All Sizes
  • PR - Jun 22, 2016 - Hitachi Data Systems Announces New Converged and Hyperconverged Solutions
  • PR - Jun 20, 2016 - Transcosmos Increases its Stake in UNQ, the Leading E-Commerce Distributor in China
  • PR - Jun 17, 2016 - Oracle and Snapchat measure impact of snap ads on sales in stores


PR - Jul 14, 2016 - Penang - HP Opens New Ink Supplies Manufacturing Facility in Malaysia


HP Inc. today opened a new facility in Malaysia that will contribute to the production and supply chain management of high-quality ink print supplies for consumers.

“This new HP facility will incorporate a significant amount of patented HP technology in wafer fabrication and circuit integration. This operation will help to up-skill technical and engineering talent as well as local suppliers of advanced materials, thereby contributing to the eco-system and industry in Malaysia,” said Kym Lim, Managing Director, HP Malaysia.

HP New Ink Supplies Manufacturing Facility, Penang, Malaysia


HP is committed to sustainability and will manufacture ink supplies that have closed loop recycling for plastic. Solvents used in wafer fabrication manufacturing are recycled. Other green building design features include LED lighting and smart building management systems to lower energy use and increase water recycling.

PR - Jul 13, 2016 - Red Hat Cloud and Containers

At the recent Red Hat Summit, Red Hat made enhancements to its container portfolio, which highlights how important the company believes this area to be. Some of the developments in the area include the introduction of the next generation of Red Hat Insights, which delivers actionable intelligence across Red Hat environments. New improvements include risk assessment and remediation planning capabilities for virtualization hosts, containers, and OpenStack-based private clouds.

In addition, Red Hat also placed itself firmly in the market of hybrid cloud, by revealing the latest version of its award-winning open hybrid cloud management solution, CloudForms 4.1. With support for Google Cloud Platform, Red Hat CloudForms 4.1 now supports greater choice and flexibility for customers who want to run hybrid cloud workloads on Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. As a result, Red Hat provides flexibility to its customers – and providing them with a wide reaching range of connections to the largest public clouds in the market.

CloudForms is an advanced open source management platform for physical, virtual, and cloud IT environments, supporting both virtual machines and containers.

Red Hat CloudForms 4.1 is immediately available for customers with a subscription to download.

PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Travel stimulates higher-risk behavior online among consumers, says Kaspersky Lab report

The latest research from Kaspersky Lab shows that consumers are endangering themselves and their data because they are letting their guard down abroad. From using risky Wi-Fi connections to handing their smartphones over to strangers, the research highlights the perils of consumer traveling habits, with two fifths (42%) admitting they are less secure in how they connect on holiday, compared to how they connect when they travel for business.

The research shows many of us are careless with our connected devices abroad. A quarter (28%) have left them unsupervised (such as on a table or in a meeting room), and one in five (19%) have left them with hotel concierges – rising to as many as two in five Americans on both scores. Photo opportunities also drive such risky practice, with 18% of us – and one in four under-25s – more likely to hand our smartphones over to passing strangers when abroad, to take a photo.

The report findings suggest that when we are in ‘holiday mode’, our behavior is often erratic, and highly risky. Many say they are more likely to contact people they don’t know (18%), and engage in ‘sexting’ (6%) while abroad. The survey also finds 15% drink more when abroad, rising to 29% of Brits.

PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Acronis Backup Cloud Extension for Microsoft Azure and Azure Stack

Acronis has just announced its new Acronis Backup Cloud Extension for Microsoft Azure and Azure Stack, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Canada.

The new offerings enable Microsoft Cloud Services Providers (CSPs) to easily provision and manage a highly flexible range of backup services across physical and virtual environments, while supporting the broad range of devices in use by businesses today. By plugging Acronis Backup Cloud into Azure or Azure Stack environments, Microsoft CSPs have a new and simple option to add increased value to their offerings by selling more complete backup and data protection services to customers.


PR - Jul 12, 2016 - Brother Monochrome Laser Series Engineered for Businesses

Brother International Malaysia, a leader in business IT peripherals that focuses on the ‘Customer-First’ approach, introduced 5 monochrome laser models for Malaysian businesses, with the aim to optimize the business productivity and enhanced security.

The new mono laser series delivers high reliability, value and productivity for businesses. Designed and produced in Japan, the five models comprise two mono laser printers and three Multi-Function Centres serving high print volume office environments.

MFC-L6900DW

50/52 ppm (A4/letter) print speeds
Up to A4 automatic 2-sided printing
Default input tray accepts up to 520 sheets
Dual CIS Automatic Document Feeder for easy multi-paged copy, scan and fax (80 sheets)
NFC and Wireless network connectivity
Large 12.3cm TFT colour LCD display
Flexible paper handling with manual bypass slot

RSP: RM 3,999.00
Availability: June 2016

Mergemarket - Jul 12, 2016 - Technology, Media & Telecommunications(TMT) report for H1 2016

During H1 2016, 1,363 deals worth US$ 223.1bn represented a 41.6% decrease in value compared to H1 2015 (US$ 382.3bn, 1,580 deals), and the weakest H1 deal value and count since 2013 (US$ 173.5bn, 1,056 deals).



Reflecting this low activity, no megadeals (< US$ 10bn) took place within the sector during H1 2016, compared to a record nine during the same period in 2015, with the highest valued deal of H1 – Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holding’s acquisition of Finland’s online gaming editor Supercell – valued at US$ 8.6bn.

Please find the public link here to see the full TMT report.

PR - Jul 11, 2016 - Sophos Named a Visionary in Gartner Magic Quadrant Report for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites Three Years in a Row

Sophos, a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced that Gartner, Inc. has named Sophos a Visionary in the Magic Quadrant Report for Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Suites for the third year in row. With its Sophos Mobile Control product, Sophos is the only endpoint and network security-focused vendor placed in this year’s EMM Magic Quadrant.

As a comprehensive enterprise mobility management solution, Sophos Mobile Control is easy for IT administrators to set up, configure and manage. The product features secure and encrypted containers that separate business and personal data, protecting company information and personal privacy, which is important for both corporate and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) scenarios.

PR - Jul 7, 2016 - BIOSTAR Announces TB85 Motherboard, Made for Mining

BIOSTAR is proud to announce the release of the latest motherboard intended for people pursuining cryptocurrency mining. The new BIOSTAR TB85 motherboard features multiple expansion slots to allow usage of multiple cards simultaneous for maximum efficiency for cryptocurrency mining.The board supports Intel 1150 processors and features the B85 chipset. The MSRP for the BIOSTAR TB85 motherboard is $69.99 giving it a quick and high ROI.

The BIOSTAR TB85 supports 4th-generation Intel processors and allows home users, gamers and businesses to take advantage of its wide feature set for work or play. Support for Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) for fast boot-ups and application load times, and Intel® Small Business Advantage (Intel® SBA), which delivers business-centric security protection, such as after-hours virus scans and data backup, and blocks recognition of unwanted USB drives. With up to 6 PCI-e slots, you can maximize this motherboard for cryptocurrency mining and earn back your investment quickly.

Biostar TB85 Motherboard


The BIOSTAR TB85 is made to last featuring X.D.C. solid capacitors with a VRM heatsink installed for more efficient cooling of the motherboard components. The board features Intel Small Business Advantage allowing users to monitor the status of their motherboard as well other security features to protect their mining investment.

Check out full specifications.

Schroders - Jul 7, 2016 - EM and Brexit: should we worry ?

By Keith Wade, Chief Economist and Strategist

In any discussion of the economic and market outlook, even for Emerging Markets (EM), it is difficult to escape the pervasive influence of Brexit. The market reaction to the referendum vote suggested a degree of exposure for EM, as the MSCI EM index sold off along with global equity markets, falling around 3.5% on the day after the vote (though note that this was a smaller fall than the overall developed market or European indices). Currencies also weakened slightly, though these losses have begun to retrace. While it seems unlikely that EM economies will be anywhere near as badly impacted as the UK or even Europe, it is possible to envisage a few channels through which this could affect them.

Check out details.

PR - Jul 5, 2016 - Colour Your World With The HTC Desire 830 Dual Sim

HTC today announced the HTC Desire 830 Dual SIM; combining vibrant, high-contrast colour and good looks with powerful specs, in a phone that truly stands out from the crowd. Striking colour combinations and a HD display encase a speedy octa-core processor, and HTC’s award-winning BoomSound™ audio profile to deliver a complete package that is as stylish as it is entertaining.

The HTC Desire 830 Dual SIM will be available in three exquisite colour combinations, Cobalt White, Sunset Blue and Black Gold. HTC Desire 830 Dual SIM is retailing at RM1,099 in all key retailers and HTC stores from July onwards.

HTC Desire 830 Dual SIM


The HTC Desire 830 Dual SIM features an advanced 13MP camera with Optical Image Stabilization technology, which detects hand movements within 0.125 milliseconds, and compensates by adjusting the lens in real time. The ƒ2.0 front camera with its wider lens lets you capture more scenery, or friends, in your selfies.

PR - Jul 4, 2016 - Shenzhen, China - Huntkey Launches the First Tea Maker

Huntkey, a leading global power solution provider, is releasing its first tea maker. The advent of the tea maker declares that Huntkey is making its inroad into the appliance industry.

China is the birthplace of tea, and tea is also a representative of Chinese culture. The origin of tea can be traced back to the ancient times, and it flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, then it spread out to other countries. Now tea has become one of the most popular drinks in the world. In recent years, many researchers suggested that tea can offer protection against many diseases.

Tea Maker

The tea maker is an auto tea station that is dedicated to making tea that tastes good and is packed with nutritious properties. Tea can be washed, cooked, brewed and poured automatically by the tea maker by one press. And, the brewing time and temperature can be set different according to different teas such as green tea, black tea and dragon well tea to keep the tea delicious and packed with nutrients. Once brewed, the tea can be kept at 80 degrees Celsius to keep the good taste.

PR - Jul 4, 2016 - Oracle Delivers the Power of Engineered Systems to Organizations of All Sizes

Oracle announced two new models of its Oracle Database Appliance (ODA), bringing all of the performance and reliability of Oracle's Engineered Systems to small and mid-sized businesses for the first time.

Additionally, organisations that are seeking opportunities to transition to the cloud will be glad to know that Oracle’s new database appliances provide a bridge between on-premise systems and the cloud. This means that businesses that plan to connect their ODA to the Oracle Cloud can seamlessly back up their data automatically.

Central to these new versions of the ODA is support for the Oracle Database Standard Edition 2 and Oracle Database Enterprise Edition.

The Oracle Database Appliance is designed to run single-instance databases, database consolidation of multiple databases, and high-availability designs.

Added features include:
  • Starting price of $18,000 for new, entry-level database appliance for single or small database instances;
  • Reducing time to value, customers can deploy in as little as 30 minutes;
  • NVMe Flash drives for ultimate performance and reliability;
  • Integration to Oracle Cloud, allowing businesses to backup and archive their critical data as well as migrate workloads to the cloud when ready.

PR - Jun 22, 2016 - Hitachi Data Systems Announces New Converged and Hyperconverged Solutions

As digital transformation puts data at the center of business strategy, converged infrastructures become a more critical element of corporate success. They provide the fastest way to deploy infrastructure that supports virtualized environments, giving IT leaders the flexibility to manage costs, enhance service delivery, meet evolving business expectations and increase revenue.

Hitachi Data Systems today announced the Hitachi Unified Compute Platform 2000 (UCP 2000) converged system and UCP HC V240 - which is the first member of the new Hitachi Unified Compute Platform HC (UCP HC) line of hyper-converged solutions. Both systems are flexible, agile and scalable for enterprises on their digital transformation journey. Built on proven Hitachi technology, these solutions reduce cost and risk to data availability while alleviating complexity and accelerating time to value.

“The Hitachi Unified Compute Platform (UCP) is effectively, a managed, on-premises cloud-in-a-box providing single system order numbers (SKUs) for a wide range of configurations, with UCP for VMware vSphere, Microsoft Private Cloud, SQL Server, SAP HANA with both scale-up and scale-out versions, and for Oracle Database (RAC and single instance versions). The entire stack – Hitachi server, Hitachi storage, IP and SAN networks are pre-integrated by HDS. The network switches can be either Brocade or Cisco. HDS also offers VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V and the SAP HANA platform licenses. All other application software is sourced by customers directly from the vendor or through their partners," said Wee Kai Teck, Managing Director of Hitachi Data Systems Malaysia.

PR - Jun 20, 2016 - Transcosmos Increases its Stake in UNQ, the Leading E-Commerce Distributor in China

Transcosmos inc. entered into a definitive agreement with UNQ (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shanghai, China; CEO & Founder: Wang Yong; hereafter, UNQ) to make additional investment in UNQ and enhancement of capital and business alliance with the company.

Transcosmos is the second largest shareholder after Wang Yong, President & Founder of UNQ. With this additional investment, transcosmos’s ownership ratio in the company increases from 26.3% to 39.9%.

As an E-Commerce distributor mainly for Japanese brands such as SHISEIDO, KOSE, SUNSTAR, unicharm and Calbee, UNQ operates wholesales and sales promotional activities for Chinese major online retailers including JUMEI, The Store and JD.com, with official sales representative rights.

PR - Jun 17, 2016 - Oracle and Snapchat measure impact of snap ads on sales in stores

Oracle and Snapchat announced a partnership to measure the impact of its ads offline. By analysing the impact of campaigns on in-store sales, Oracle Data Cloud will help consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertisers quantify and improve their ongoing marketing efforts on Snapchat.

Also, early research carried out using Oracle Data Cloud looked into Snapchat’s pushes for leading brands in various industries revealed that 92 percent of Snapchat campaigns drove a positive lift across in-store sales.

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