Yearly Archives: 2020

Business

Discovering AWS Outposts with Paul Chen

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This interview transcript is intended as a supplement to our editorial – AWS Outposts – Empowering Innovation & Low Latency Connectivity

AWS recently announced the availability of it’s new AWS Outposts solution in Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries. To find out more about the new service, we recently had an email interviews with Mr. Paul Chen, the Head of Solutions Architect for ASEAN at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Paul Chen is the head of Architecture for Amazon Web Services ASEAN, Paul is responsible for managing a regional team of Solutions Architects, creating architectural best practices and working with customers on how they use the cloud for business transformation.

He has 30 years of pre-sales leadership and solutions experience in the IT Industry, with 15+ years in technical management across ASEAN and Asia Pacific. His breath
of technology experience includes cloud architectures, application solutions development, database platforms, web-based applications, networking, enterprise mobility solutions, virtualized unified communications and customer experience platforms.

Can you briefly explain AWS Outposts?

AWS Outposts is here to support your applications that have low latency or local data processing requirements on premise. These applications may need to make near real time responses to end user applications or need to communicate with other on-premises systems or control on-site equipment. These can include workloads running on factory floors for automated operations in manufacturing, real time patient diagnosis or medical imaging, and content and media streaming. You can use AWS Outposts to run applications that need to access data stores that will continue to remain on-premises.

Businesses in Malaysia are stuck somewhere in between when it comes to could computing and going digital. Can AWS Outposts help them accelerate their digitisation? How can they benefit from it?

We continue to believe that in the fullness of time, the vast majority of companies will run almost all of their IT workloads in the cloud. It is today and always has been a priority for us to make it easy for customers to run AWS as a seamless extension of their existing on-premises infrastructure. However, we have many customers who are going to be running on-premises data centers alongside AWS for many years to come and at varying paces. These customers are looking to us to help ensure that they have seamless integration between these two environments. That’s why we have been investing so much in hybrid capabilities over the past several years.

AWS offers the broadest and deepest hybrid capabilities including data integration and transport services, integrated and dedicated networking services, and identity and access management solutions fully integrated with the on-premises environment. Today, customers can take the tools they have from VMware and use them to run their workloads on AWS. This partnership makes it easy for customers to run in a hybrid mode between AWS and their VMware-based on-premises deployments using the same VMware tools and skillsets they have today. And with the availability of AWS Outposts, customers can now use the same AWS APIs, control plane, tools, and hardware on-premises and in the AWS cloud to deliver a truly consistent hybrid experience.

Why choose Outposts instead of using the AWS’s pre-existing cloud infrastructure?

AWS Outposts is designed for several different uses cases where workloads need to run on premises due to latency requirements, like:

  1. Manufacturing automation—operating manufacturing process control systems and automated plant assembly lines
  2. Health care—delivering real-time medical diagnostics and imaging to physicians
  3. Telecommunications—building new network services and deploying virtual network functionality
  4. Media & entertainment—delivering live event streaming, real-time gaming, rendering, and VFX
  5. Financial services—developing low latency trading platforms in a secure environment
  6. Retail—delivering real-time interactive retail services and unifying apps across environments

With Outposts, customer can benefit of running low-latency workloads, processing data locally and be able to harness the innovative services available on the AWS cloud. This can mean advanced analytics to monetize data or adding machine learning and artificial intelligence services such as Amazon Rekognition, Amazon Personalize and Amazon Comprehend.

Customers should run AWS Local Zones when they need to run their applications with single-digit millisecond latencies close to end users, but they don’t want to build and operate a datacenter or co-location facility.  They can run the parts of their application in the Local Zone that requires ultra-low latency and connect back to the rest of their application and the full range of services running in AWS.

Customers should run AWS Wavelength when they want to build an applications that require single digit millisecond latency to mobile and connected devices over the 5G network. A range of emerging applications like machine learning inference, industrial IoT, and AR/VR require ultra-low latency to serve mobile users and connected devices, ad developers can place the parts of their application that require single-digit millisecond latency at the edge of the 5G network and then connect back to the rest of the application and the full range of services in AWS.

During the launch at AWS Re:invent last year, AWS announced that it was partnering with Verizon in the US. Why launch with a telco provider?

Amazon is partnering with Verizon to incorporate AWS WaveLength technology into parts of its wireless network. Amazon is also working with other global partners, such as Vodafone, KDDI and SK Telecom to provide this capability. This capability will result in fewer disruptions and shorter lag times when streaming videos, among other applications.

Who are your partners in rolling out Outposts in Malaysia? What are the roles that they are playing in providing the service to customers?

One of the partners in Malaysia is Maxis where they will incorporate Maxis cloud offerings and professional services to incorporate hybrid cloud and technologies to address edge computing.


We also have InfoFabrica who will be working with us to help outfit interested customers with Outposts.

We operate on a few models; customers will come directly to us or work with partners with Malaysia. Marketplace model – direct from us. Reseller model – contact reseller and work with the customers on the Outposts. – NSI model – customer work through NSI.

AWS Partner Network (APN) Partners provide technology and consulting services to help customers migrate, build, and run applications using AWS services.

APN Consulting Partners around the globe can help you with strategy and technology advisory services to migrate your on-premises applications onto Outposts as well as a variety of installation and maintenance options. You can also use Outposts validated technology partner solutions to build and run your applications on Outposts.

More information on AWS Outposts Partners

Does Outpost require a stable internet connection to operate? Can customers use Outpost offline? What happens to workloads if internet connection is lost suddenly?

To provide a consistent user experience, AWS advises customers to have 1GB internet over direct connect or VPN. The rack only needs 10MB to run but AWS recommends a default of 1 GB to be safe.

An AWS Outpost relies on connectivity to the parent AWS Region. AWS Outposts are not designed for disconnected operations or environments with limited to no connectivity. We recommend that customers have highly available networking connections back to their AWS Region. If interested in leveraging AWS services in disconnected environments such as cruise ships or remote mining locations, learn more about AWS services such as Snowball Edge.

If connection is lost suddenly, EC2 instances and EBS volumes on the Outpost will continue to operate normally and can be accessed locally via the local gateway. Similarly, AWS service resources such as ECS worker nodes continue to run locally. However, API availability will be degraded, for instance run/start/stop/terminate APIs may not work. Instance metrics and logs will continue to be cached locally for a few hours and will be pushed to the AWS Region when connectivity returns. Disconnection beyond a few hours however may result in loss of metrics and logs. As Route53 DNS will not resolve when disconnected, an on-premises DNS resolver should be used if network disconnections are expected. If you expect to lose network connectivity, we strongly recommend regularly testing your workload to ensure it behaves properly in this state when an Outpost is disconnected.

woman holding laptop beside glass wall
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

AWS Outposts are a managed service according to your website. What does “Fully Managed” mean? What does this entail?

AWS Outposts is the only fully managed offering available to customers today. AWS delivers, installs, and maintains the infrastructure the same way as we do in our data centers. Competitive offerings do not address key customer pain points in a production grade hybrid environment. They require customers to build against a limited set of services and APIs, forcing them to write custom software that quickly becomes inconsistent and incompatible with cloud services. It requires customers to set up and manage different operating environments for each site, resulting in duplicate effort, higher complexity, and increased risk. Customers must also manually manage, upgrade, and patch software themselves, and risk dropping out of compliance if they fail to upgrade. Customers also have to purchase hardware from third party vendors, who are responsible for providing the first line of customer support, making it administratively difficult to debug and resolve their issues.

How secure is AWS Outpost? Are there built-in redundancies when it comes to preventing data loss and data security?

Each AWS Outposts rack has a built-in tamper detection and a lockable door. AWS engineered a capability in a form of security key that looks like a screw specifically made for the chip. To remove the hardware from the rack, you must use the screw and turn it and it will crush the security chip key and once its crushed, the server and the data is protected. It is also encrypted by default.

AWS Outposts builds on the AWS Nitro system technologies that enables AWS to provide enhanced security that continuously monitors, protects, and verifies your Outpost’s instance hardware and firmware. With AWS Nitro, virtualization resources are offloaded to dedicated hardware and software minimizing the attack surface. Finally, Nitro System’s security model is locked down and prohibits administrative access, eliminating the possibility of human error and tampering.

AWS Outposts have an updated shared responsibility model underlying security. AWS is responsible for protecting Outposts’ infrastructure similar to how it secures infrastructure in the cloud today. Customers are responsible for securing their applications running on Outposts as they do in the Region today. With Outposts, customers are also responsible for the physical security of their Outpost racks, and for ensuring consistent networking to the Outpost.

Securing data

  • Data-at-rest: Data is encrypted at rest by default on EBS volumes on Outposts.
  • Data-in-transit: Data is encrypted in transit between Outposts and the AWS Region.
  • Deleting data: All data is deleted when instances are terminated in the same way as in the AWS Region.
  • AWS Outposts have been out for more than half a year now. How many countries is the service available in?

Outposts can be shipped to and installed in the following countries

  • NA – US, Canada, Mexico
  • EMEA – All EU countries, Switzerland, Norway, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Israel, South Africa
  • APAC – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India
  • SA – Brazil

Support for more countries is coming soon.

Have there been any particular segment of customers that have adopted Outposts more than others? Do you see an opportunity for other segments to take advantage of Outpost?

There has been broad interest in AWS Outposts from both enterprise and start up customers, across a range of industries including financial services, e-commerce, healthcare and manufacturing.

With AWS Outposts infrastructure, customers in manufacturing can AWS services to run manufacturing process control systems such as MES and SCADA systems and applications that need to run close to factory floor equipment. These on-premises applications can integrate with services running in the AWS Region for centralized operations.

Healthcare customers can apply analytics and machine learning AWS services to health management systems that need to remain on premises due to low latency processing requirements. This will enable rapid retrieval of medical information by storing data locally on Outposts.

At the launch, Andy Jassy mentioned that the launch of AWS Outposts is step in providing services for edge computing.  How does Outposts do this?

One common scenario for AWS Outposts is running applications that need single-digit millisecond latency to end-users or onsite equipment. Customer may want to run graphics-intensive applications such as image analysis that need low-latency access to end-users or storage-intensive workloads that collect and process hundreds of TBs daily. Others may need to run compute-intensive workloads on their manufacturing factory floors with precision and quality. Customers want to integrate their cloud deployments with their on-premises environments and use AWS services for a consistent hybrid experience. Outposts is both a way to deploy an AWS-centric hybrid-cloud and an edge computing approach.

How do you see the landscape changing with the introduction of AWS Outposts?

With the introduction of AWS Outposts, customer from a broad array of industries can bring the benefits of cloud computing right to their business door-steps. Business solutions requiring low latency performance can seamlessly be integrated to the cloud and deployed to provide a truly hybrid experience. Customers that have large amount of on-premise data can also process these sets of data in more meaningful ways to monetize the data assets. In this AWS hybrid-cloud approach, you use the same AWS application programming interfaces (API), tools and infrastructure both on your premises and the AWS cloud. Outposts bring native AWS services, infrastructure, and operating models to virtually any data center, co-location space, or on-premises facility.

With Malaysia’s big move into supporting and growing its tech space, particularly its animation and game development segment, where do you see AWS Outposts fitting in?

In the gaming industry, the applications tend to be very sensitive to latency and require considerable processing resources to provide rich animation and customer experience.

With AWS Outposts, gaming developers will have access to the latest GPU innovations on premises for graphics processing, audio and video rendering, and for running other media applications. Support live and real-time event streaming applications that require low latency by running those applications in on-premises locations close to end users.

Business, Editorial

AWS Outposts – Empowering Innovation & Low Latency Connectivity

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The world is quickly changing and technology is moving forward at a pace which hasn’t been seen before. The main impetus behind the progress which we experience is the internet. The internet has changed the way we communicate and experience things. In fact, it’s made the world even smaller. However, the way we connect to it needs to continue evolving to keep up with the pace of innovations. We’re talking about low latency connectivity and processing.

woman holding laptop beside glass wall
Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Over the years, we’ve managed to push the current connectivity to the edge when it comes to connectivity. With the advent of 5G and more importantly, the Internet of Things (IoT), there is an increasing demand for greater compute power and quicker outcomes. This is where Amazon Web Services (AWS) has stepped up with their new AWS Outposts technology. While Amazon isn’t the first name you’d necessarily think of when it comes to internet technologies, the are one of the foremost companies in the world when it comes to providing cloud infrastructure.

Opening Up New Possibilities with Low Latency Hybrid Computing

AWS Outposts allows users and developers to have low latency or local data processing on premises. This enables companies to have near real time responses when using or interfacing with AWS’s many services. It also bridges the lag in communications when the service needs to rely on the cloud. This also opens up larger possibilities to automate and regulate processes in new places such as the factory floor or in production outfits that require low latency. AWS Wavelength further strengthens the low latency with single digit latencies and enables 5G connectivity.

The near instantaneous latency between data lakes and data points on premise allow companies to adapt and react to situations better. Take for instance in the case of healthcare and medicine, having AWS Outposts on site would allow real time diagnostic data to be communicated to physicians for them to be better informed when they make critical treatment decisions. It can also open avenues for real time robotics in surgery. Perhaps more relevant to us as consumers, AWS Outposts also allows more seamless setups when we look into things like streaming (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video) or event real-time cloud gaming. Even AR and VR will expand with the advent of such a powerful architecture. Effectively, the availability of these hybrid cloud solutions will effectively open new doors in every industry.

Seamless Integration with the Cloud

AWS Outposts doesn’t necessarily work alone. In fact, the service will allow companies to quicken their eventual move to the cloud. AWS believes that even with the hybrid computing approach now, “in the fullness of time, the vast majority of companies will run almost all of their IT workloads in the cloud“. With that in mind, they’ve designed AWS Outposts to work seamlessly with their existing cloud services. Companies are able to adapt and experiment with workloads on the cloud and over Outposts for the best outcomes. What’s more, the AWS Outpost rack can be customised to meet the unique needs of the customer – this includes the recently announced AMD EPYC powered instances.

What is an AWS Outpost Rack?

Even when it comes to the user interface, AWS Outposts share the same interface with AWS cloud services. Users won’t need to relearn a new interface to take advantage of AWS Outposts. In fact, they can use the exact same interface for both on-premises and cloud. This also applies to services that are running atop AWS such as VMWare’s on premise solutions. The only difference would be that they will still be able to access their on-premises AWS Outposts server even when internet connectivity goes down. This also serves as a redundancy that will keep local workloads running. Once internet is available again, the servers will seamlessly synchronise with the cloud where necessary. Prolonged outage, though, may cause some data loss.

That said, Outposts doesn’t require the fastest internet to be able to function. In fact, AWS states that the minimum required is a 10Mbps connection. However, they advise to have 1Gbps for better performance.

Innovating Securely & With Peace of Mind

Bringing AWS Outposts to your premises can be daunting when you think of it; you’ll be having a server rack in house. So what happens if something goes awry? Well, first off, you can bring down your blood pressure a little bit as AWS Outposts is a fully managed service which means that AWS will come and service the hardware on a regular basis just like they would any of their own data centers. It also means that if anything goes awry – you can simply call AWS and they’ll get it sorted for you.

Servicing and maintenance aside, with the Outposts possibly handling a large amount of sensitive data, it wouldn’t be surprising to worry about data security. AWS reassures us that the AWS Outposts is safe. In fact, their approach to security starts with the rack which comes equipped with built-in tamper detection and a lockable door. The door is outfitted with a special key that, when tampered with, automatically encrypts the data within the server; making life a miserable mess for anyone who tries to take it.

On top of that, AWS Outposts builds on AWS Nitro – a security system for AWS which continually monitors, protects and verifies the hardware and firmware of the setup. It also secures and locks down instances running on the Outpost to ensure that human error is reduced. However, AWS does stress that the security of AWS Outposts as a whole is a shared effort where it can only secure the hardware and instances being run; but when it comes to the applications and software being developed on the platform, it needs to be secured by the developers.

That said, AWS Outposts is an impetus that could lead to further developments that will spur more advancement. It brings the power of the AWS cloud on-premise for corporations needing low latency connectivity to their compute and also bridges the transition for companies which are still struggling to adopt the cloud fully.

This article was written based on an interview with Paul Chen, Head of Solutions Architect for ASEAN at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

PR Newswire

Azeus Takes Lead in Redefining The Future of e-AGMS by Enabling The Borderless Intertwine Between Physical and Virtual AGMs

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  • Azeus’ latest e-AGM solution drives strong advocacy for all shareholders to exercise their rights amid the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Robust take-up in latest offering demonstrates urgent demand by companies to effectively meet shareholders’ needs in a ‘new normal’ environment
  • In the month of June, some 60 customers conducted their AGMs using Azeus’ e-AGM solution
  • e-AGM solution is now being marketed and expanding internationally

HONG KONG, Aug. 12, 2020 — Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd. ("Azeus" or the "Group") a leading provider of IT consultancy services based in Hong Kong, has taken a leadership role in redefining the future of electronic annual general meetings ("e- AGM") by enabling the borderless intertwine between physical and virtual AGMs. Riding on the back of this vision, Azeus recently launched its e-AGM solution which was largely conceptualised around the urgent need to drive a strong advocacy for all shareholders to exercise their rights, even with the restrictions and constraints brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Group’s latest service offering has elicited very encouraging response from listed companies, enterprises, business associations and non-profit organisations. This underpins an inherently strong demand for a solution that continues to meaningfully and safely engage stakeholders despite the constraints of the pandemic.

In the month of June alone, Azeus ran virtual AGMs for some 60 customers comprising listed companies, enterprises, business associations and non-profit organisations. Riding on the strong reception for its end-to-end e-AGM solution in Singapore, Azeus has started to market internationally, adding customers from the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Authorities across the world have imposed a wide range of containment measures, primarily involving social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Amid the ongoing situation, where companies face challenges in organising AGMs, the authorities have also made changes to allow AGMs to be conducted through virtual means.

Mr. Lee Wan Lik, Managing Director of Azeus, said, "Virtual AGMs are relatively new and have come to the fore because of the virus fallout. Azeus’ range of products have been designed to enable businesses and organisations to conduct remote meetings in line with industry best practices. We will continue to refine our latest e- AGM solution to break the barriers between physical and virtual AGMs. Our overarching objective for e-AGMs is to provide the same opportunities which a physical AGM offers, by protecting shareholders’ rights while facilitating the interaction between shareholders and the panel."

Just as the COVID-19 situation accelerates digitalisation, security is also a growing concern due to the increase in data vulnerability. As a CMMI Level 5 company, Azeus is recognised at the highest level possible internationally for software development capabilities and software integration. The Group’s software services, including the latest e-AGM solution, feature a high level of security. Data is stored in secure hosting facilities audited under international standards, and protected with complex encryption algorithms to ensure data security. In addition, Azeus’ e-AGM solution features a two-factor authentication for added security and verification, as well as a digital proxy form submission for the convenience of shareholders.

About Azeus Systems Holdings Ltd.

Established in 1991, Azeus is a leading provider of IT consultancy services. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Azeus has presence in the United Kingdom, the Philippines and China. Besides designing as well as implementing a wide range of IT software and systems to fulfil the outsourcing needs of customers, Azeus also provides maintenance and support services. The Group has won the first business processes outsourcing project from the Hong Kong Government, covering IT consulting, IT maintenance and support, as well as office operations and support services.

Azeus is appraised at the highest level of the CMMI-SW model, endorsing its commitment to delivering high quality work. Its emphasis on consistently high quality solutions has enabled the Group to build a solid track record of over 100 projects for many government departments and over 15 projects for the commercial sector in Hong Kong. Azeus has also developed several world class software products and has achieved an international customer base spanning over 70 countries in both the public and commercial sectors. In recent years, the Group has also expanded its operations into the UK, and established a growing track record of public sector projects for UK government bodies.

Azeus was listed on the Main Board of SGX-ST in October 2004.

PR Newswire

IBM Takes the Lead in ABI Research’s Industrial Blockchain-as-a-Service Competitive Assessment

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OYSTER BAY, New York, Aug. 12, 2020 — Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) is a type of cloud-based solution for the development of blockchain applications. BaaS serves as a launchpad for broader blockchain technology adoption, effectively providing developers with a functional environment in which to build, test, and run new blockchain applications without having to worry about building the infrastructure from scratch or hosting and managing it. The Industrial Blockchain-as-a-Service competitive assessment examined companies offering BaaS solutions catering to industrial blockchain applications, including construction, pharmaceutical and life sciences, utilities, manufacturing, automotive, distribution, energy, and agriculture.  Global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, has found that IBM and Microsoft are the clear leaders in industrial blockchain-as-a-service offerings.

Using ABI Research’s proven, unbiased innovation/implantation criteria framework, the Industrial BaaS Competitive Assessment analyzed and ranked six industrial BaaS vendors, namely Alibaba, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. For this competitive assessment, innovation scores examined industrial POCs, industrial internet integration, ecosystem support, current roadmap, and geographic reach. Implementation criteria focused on platform choice, developer resources, integration with legacy industrial, management tools, and pricing.

"Both the BaaS markets and the digitalization of industrial markets are fairly nascent phenomena. Often, the intersection of blockchain and industrial service offerings are only within the remit of large technology providers with mature cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings. As a result, only large companies play in the BaaS market, and all have varying levels of service offerings," says Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research.

Overall, IBM comes out on top, leading on both the innovation and the implementation front. The firm’s platform is open to a broad range of industrial verticals and has run a significant number of pilots and PoCs in the last five years, making it by far the most prominent BaaS provider in the space.  It also offers a broad range of platform choices and provides multi-cloud integration, above and beyond the other offerings.

Microsoft was ranked second, as a mainstream vendor, due to its resource-rich, flexible development and management infrastructure for its BaaS offering. Oracle comes in a solid 3rd, also as a mainstream vendor, with good industrial ecosystem support and comprehensive management tools. SAP, Amazon, and Alibaba have robust BaaS platforms, but with a more limited industrial play than the Assessment leaders.

These findings are from ABI Research’s Industrial BaaS Competitive Assessment report. This report is part of the company’s Digital Security research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Competitive Assessment reports offer comprehensive analysis of implementation strategies and innovation, coupled with market share analysis, to offer unparalleled insight into a company’s performance and standing in comparison to its competitors.

About ABI Research
ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research’s global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors. 

ABI Research 提供开创性的研究和战略指导，帮助客户了解日新月异的技术。 自1990年以来，我们已与全球数百个领先的技术品牌，尖端公司，具有远见的政府机构以及创新的贸易团体建立了合作关系。 我们帮助客户创造真实的业务成果。 

For more information about ABI Research’s services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: 

Global                                                             
Deborah Petrara
Tel: +1.516.624.2558
pr@abiresearch.com                                                    

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PR Newswire

Tagzthai: Create a Social Circle for Top Traffic Traders

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GUANGZHOU, China, Aug. 12, 2020 — In August 2020, TagzThai entered into Thailand from Guangzhou, China. Tagzthai is dedicated to providing software platform for delivering value-added services (VAS) for users such as mobile operators, telecom operators, service providers, government informatization, large and medium-sized enterprises and others.

Tagzthai’s goal is to create a social circle for top traffic traders, including education, e-commerce, retail, offline, and services to the entire industry. The goal is to realize a substantial-high-quality social network resource library, a resource matrix gathered by traffic owners, brand owners, supply chains, service providers, platform parties, and various traders.

Tagzthai provides brand case planning services, to meet the needs of different customers.

1. Brand case planning service takes the product as the basis and brand as the core to comprehensively adjust the planning activities of enterprise and market operation, including brand plans, product plans, new product listing plans and others, and be responsible for the implementation.

2. Brand project module service defines the service content according to the project module, designs and formulates plans under the guidance of consultants, and conducts publicity and counseling to corporate personnel.

3. The annual brand consulting service focuses on the year according to the time and scope of service content. The enterprise team is the main body, and the consultant provides guidance and reference advice within the prescribed scope.

Since 2003, the company has obtained the Software Function Maturity Model 5 (CMMI5) certificate recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense in the United States and was selected as a model enterprise "Innovation Pilot Enterprise" in 2011. Founded in 2000, Tagzthai is a service organization focusing on media marketing. Its R&D center and management headquarters are located in Guangzhou. It is known as the software industry base under the attention of Guangzhou Tianhe Software Co., Ltd. Our company is a leading provider of IT solutions and professional services with 20 years of experience. It is recognized as a critical software enterprise in the national planning layout, a national high-tech enterprise, a backbone enterprise in Guangzhou Tianhe Software Park, and a federal computer information system integration level 4 Qualified enterprise, a trustworthy enterprise, etc. Broadening the boundaries of leading technology and innovation, Tagzthai continues to shape the future of advanced technology Internet.

Website: http://www.tagzthai.com 

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PR Newswire

Planet Exceeds Business Targets, Advancing Through 2020 with Momentum

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2020 — Planet, operator of history’s largest commercial fleet of satellites, today announced that they doubled the amount of new business booked in the second quarter of 2020 (Q2), compared to the same period a year ago. They’re seeing an increase of inbound interest and results indicate that remote sensing data is critically important to industries when in-person travel is limited and personnel health and safety is a top priority.

In the first half of 2020, Planet increased first-time customers by 21 percent, compared to the same period in 2019. They saw over 100 percent year-over-year growth across all product lines, with SkySat tasking achieving more than a 200 percent increase. Planet is experiencing huge demand for their data by users in civil government, forestry, the U.S. federal government, academia, and international government. These customers are using Planet’s data to remotely and safely monitor infrastructure, enforce code and permitting regulations, and track assets. They also expanded their partnership with Esri, enabling users of the market-leading GIS platform to purchase and access Planet’s data directly.

Planet’s teams have grown to support increased demand and they’ve welcomed talented new leaders to the company, including Ashley Johnson as CFO, Rosanne Saccone as CMO, and Wendy Tan White to their Board of Directors. Recognizing their role in helping to stop social injustice, they’re doubling down on efforts to make Planet a diverse and inclusive environment. And on the space and product side, they’ve launched three more SkySats and released a suite of new capabilities to their market-leading high-resolution product line.

Planet is focused on finishing 2020 strong. They’ll be hosting their second user conference, Planet Explore, continuing their work with journalists, researchers and academia, and launching more satellites on multiple rockets. You can expect to see more product enhancements that help users capitalize on their capabilities and data.

This year will be hard for all, but Planet hopes that by supporting each other and continuing to deliver for their users, they might be a bright spot in a bleak landscape, and play some small part in bringing about a better future.

About Planet

Planet is the leading provider of global, near-daily satellite imagery data and insights. Founded in 2010 by NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of satellites, and provides the online software, tools and analytics needed to deliver data to users.

Sarah Bates
sarah.bates@planet.com 

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PR Newswire

Funding Societies and SMU collaborate to develop a case on P2P Lending for Small Businesses

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SINGAPORE, Aug. 12, 2020 — Funding Societies, Southeast Asia’s largest digital financing platform, and Singapore Management University (SMU) have come together to develop and publish a case study explaining the role of FinTech and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending for small businesses. This is the first such case covering a P2P lender that SMU has developed, and involved in-depth research into the industry and the workings of the homegrown FinTech.  

Funding Societies and Singapore Management University collaboration
Funding Societies and Singapore Management University collaboration

The case is authored by faculty members of SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), which has been enhancing its course offerings and teaching material in Digital Business, as part of its aim to better equip students for the digital transformations that are occurring in the business world. It comes at a timely juncture as the P2P industry is expanding steadily, making competition fiercer than ever before. In recent years, several platforms similar to Funding Societies have entered the market while others are now being acquired by larger companies.

Authored by Associate Professors of Marketing Hannah Chang and Michelle Lee, and produced by the University’s Centre for Management Practice, the published case titled Using Fintech to Support Small Businesses in Singapore examines how FinTech companies can stand out in the trade with an innovative service, and how they can, through careful market segmentation and targeting, gain a competitive edge in acquiring and retaining customers. It focuses on Funding Societies’ innovative use of technology to reduce customer pain points, and also analyses the FinTech’s outreach efforts employed to educate the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) segment on how its products can close financing gaps unserved by traditional financial institutions.

An excerpt from the case hints at the added value that FinTech platforms like Funding Societies bring to this overlooked segment through the use of technology:

Debt crowdfunding, also referred to as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, represents an alternative source of loans for businesses to borrow money. P2P companies are different from banks in that they operate through online platforms, utilise data analytics and algorithms for credit risk assessment, and have much shorter turnaround times for loan approvals than the banks. Moreover, while banks lend money to companies using customer deposits, P2P companies play the part of a matchmaker by enabling individual investors to put money directly towards funding a particular loan.

In just five years, Funding Societies has disbursed over S$1.5 billion in funding across more than 2.6 million business loans across Southeast Asia. Back in the day as one of the industry’s pioneers and offering only one product out of Singapore, Funding Societies has today flourished into the only homegrown P2P lender with multiple SME financing products and licensed in three countries – Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The company has also been shortlisted for the Singapore digital wholesale banking license in a consortium with AMTD, Xiaomi, and SP Group.

"While relatively young in Singapore, P2P lending has become a major form of alternative financing for SMEs and alternative investment for the public, because of its accessibility and convenience. As it continuously evolves, we believe it will become mainstream finance, attracting and nurturing more local talent, and further contributing to the local FinTech space as a whole," said Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and Group CEO of Funding Societies.

Associate Professor Michelle Lee, who is also Associate Dean (Undergraduate Matters) at SMU LKCSB, said, "P2P lending is a burgeoning area within FinTech and every business student ought to have some understanding of the industry. This case provides them with that understanding and prompts them to think deeply about how a company in that space can compete effectively. It sharpens their thinking about a firm’s value proposition vis-à-vis direct and indirect competition, as well as how a competitive advantage can be sustained."

"Since its inception, SMU has held to the principle of preparing students well for industry and this has meant ensuring the currency of its curriculum and teaching material. This case is one example of how that is brought about," she added.

The case is available here: https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/4406*. Other financial institutions which SMU has published cases on include Ant Financial, Nium, and DBS.

*Note: A complimentary copy of the published case is available to the press upon request. Kindly note that the copy is strictly for internal use only and not for further dissemination.

About Funding Societies

Funding Societies | Modalku is the largest SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia. It is licensed in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and backed by Sequoia India and Softbank Ventures Asia Corp amongst many others. It provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is crowdfunded by individual and institutional investors. In 5 years, it has helped finance over 2.6 million business loans with over S$1.5 billion in funding. It was given the MAS FinTech Award in 2016, the Global SME Excellence Award at the United Nations’ ITU Telecom World in 2017, Brands for Good in 2019, recognised by IDC as amongst the 5 fastest growing FinTechs in Singapore, and the Stevie® Award in 2020.

Read our company story here: https://blog.fundingsocieties.com/our-story/

About Singapore Management University

A premier university in Asia, the Singapore Management University (SMU) is internationally recognised for its world-class research and distinguished teaching. Established in 2000, SMU’s mission is to generate leading-edge research with global impact and to produce broad-based, creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy. SMU’s education is known for its highly interactive, collaborative and project-based approach to learning.

Home to over 10,000 students across undergraduate, postgraduate professional and postgraduate research programmes, SMU is comprised of six schools: School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law, and School of Social Sciences. SMU offers a wide range of bachelors’, masters’ and PhD degree programmes in the disciplinary areas associated with the six schools, as well as in multi-disciplinary combinations of these areas.

SMU emphasises rigorous, high-impact, multi- and inter-disciplinary research that addresses Asian issues of global relevance.  SMU faculty members collaborate with leading international researchers and universities around the world, as well as with partners in the business community and public sector.  SMU’s city campus is a modern facility located in the heart of downtown Singapore, fostering strategic linkages with business, government and the wider community.  www.smu.edu.sg

About SMU Centre for Management Practice

The Centre for Management Practice (CMP) was established to position SMU as a university that collaborates closely with industry, to inform and learn from the world of management and practice. This is accomplished by furthering the case methodology to enrich education at SMU and other organisations across the globe, and translating selected academic outputs to practice-oriented knowledge that can be consumed by a non-academic audience.

Case Writing Initiative

The Case Writing Initiative (CWI) was set up in August 2011 with the ambitious goal of filling a critical need to develop business case studies based on an Asian setting for use in international curriculums. Business cases provide both research and learning opportunities to faculty members, students and those in industry. The process of working collaboratively with businesses on case studies enables faculty members to be grounded in both theory and practice. They develop a richer understanding of the business context in their subject matter and its application to real world situations. The cases developed by faculty members are used in class to illustrate key theoretical concepts and frameworks. From the students’ perspective, they provide an opportunity to make decisions that require critical thinking and debate. From the corporate perspective, they present a contribution to management education and allow for a different perspective on existing business issues.

To date, CWI has published over 285 cases, with another 50 in the pipeline. These cases have won several prestigious international awards, and been adopted by leading universities and corporates schools worldwide. The cases are distributed by the Case Centre and Harvard Business Publishing. 

Media Contacts

Funding Societies

Glennice Yong

Senior PR & Communications Executive

glennice.yong@fundingsocieties.com

+65 9155 4662

SMU

Huang Peiling

Snr Associate Director, Corporate Communications

plhuang@smu.edu.sg

+65 6828 0964 / +65 9845 3361

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200811/2882095-1?lang=0  

PR Newswire

Singapore employees return to a changing workplace as COVID-19 accelerates greater collaboration between humans and technology, says GlobalData

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  • Employees empowered with new digital skills as COVID-19 accelerates greater collaboration between humans and technology
  • Advances in mobile technologies and applications is driving a collaboration boom as businesses adopt video conferencing and wearables as AI platforms
  • COVID-19 fueling automation of supply chains across different industries

SINGAPORE, Aug. 12, 2020 — As the economy re-starts in Singapore, workers are returning to a changing workplace as COVID-19 accelerates greater collaboration between humans and technology, empowering employees with new digital skills, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Various technologies are transforming ‘The future of work’ in Singapore including video conferencing and other collaboration tools, communication between smart objects, supply chain automation and digital twinning to provide virtual presentations.

Collaboration becomes an AI platform

The rapid advances in mobile technologies and applications has driven a collaboration boom since the pandemic started as businesses adopt video conferencing as AI platforms. OCBC Bank Singapore introduced a mobile app to launch ‘HealthPass’ which enables patients to book video consultation appointments with over 100 general practitioners. The use of wearables is also accelerating as mobile and wireless technologies support positive health outcomes through m-health. One example is ‘smart rings’ which provide advance warning of infections with a 90% accuracy.

Access agnostic connectivity

The seamless communication between smart objects over the internet is also proving to be transformative in the changing work landscape. Singapore-based telecom provider M1 has been working with regulator IMDA and airline manufacturer Airbus to trial unmanned aerial vehicles using 5G technology for the Singapore Port and Maritime Authority to use as part of its incident management response and the running of its general operations.

Automation

One of the biggest changes COVID-19 has brought is the automation of the supply chain with several industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and aerospace now embracing 3D printing. Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found a method of producing nasopharyngeal COVID-19 testing swabs using 3D-printing and injection molding providing local production capability which will ease global shortages.

Data visualization, interpretation

Advanced digital technologies are also providing analytics tools and insights for line-of-business users. Several of Singapore’s capital-intensive industries including construction which has been one of the hardest hit, are investing in digital twinning to create virtual representations of processes and physical objects.

Dustin Kehoe, Head of Technology Research for Asia-Pacific at GlobalData, says: "One of the biggest challenges facing Singaporean businesses in the short-term is in HR. Employees will need a lot of reassurance and support to embrace the changing future of work and acquire the skills they will need to adjust to new ways of working, as work flows move from physical locations and rigid hierarchies towards peer-to-peer collaboration in virtual teams."  

Please contact the GlobalData Press Office for comment, analysts available for interview at +91 40 6616 6809/ +44 (0) 207 936 6400. Email: pr@globaldata.com.

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PR Newswire

Qualcomm Announces Pricing Terms of Its Cash Offers for Four Series of Notes Open to Retail Holders Only

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SAN DIEGO, Aug. 12, 2020 — Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced today the pricing terms of its four separate offers to purchase for cash (each, a "Cash Offer," and collectively, the "Cash Offers") any and all of the outstanding notes listed in the table below (collectively, the "Old Notes"), on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated August 5, 2020 (the "Offer to Purchase" and, together with the certification to participate in the Cash Offers, the instructions for such certification and the notice of guaranteed delivery, the "Cash Offer Documents"). The Cash Offers are subject to an aggregate maximum condition as set forth below.

The Cash Offers will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time today, August 11, 2020 (such date and time, as may be extended or earlier terminated by Qualcomm, the "Cash Offer Expiration Date"). The "Cash Offer Settlement Date" will be promptly following the Cash Offer Expiration Date and is expected to be August 14, 2020.

Only holders who are not "qualified institutional buyers" and who are not non-U.S. persons (other than "retail investors" in the European Economic Area or in the United Kingdom and investors in any province or territory of Canada that are individuals or that are institutions or other entities that do not qualify as both "accredited investors" and "permitted clients") are eligible to participate in this transaction, as more fully described below. Qualcomm also announced today the pricing terms of its transaction to exchange such four series of notes pursuant to private exchange offers (each, an "Exchange Offer" and collectively, the "Exchange Offers"), which are open only to Ineligible Holders (as defined below).

The following table sets forth, for each series of Old Notes, the yields and the Tender Consideration (as defined in the Cash Offer Documents) for each $1,000 principal amount of such Old Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the Cash Offer Expiration Date and accepted by Qualcomm:

Title of Series of
Old Notes to be
Purchased

CUSIP/ISIN

Reference U.S.

Treasury Security

Reference Yield(1)

Fixed Spread

(basis points)

Yield(2)

Tender Consideration

3.000% Notes due 2022 ("Old 2022 Notes")

747525AE3;

US747525AE30

1.750% U.S. Treasury Notes due May 15, 2022

0.176%

15

0.326%

$1,047.06

2.600% Notes due 2023 ("Old 2023 Notes")

747525AR4;

US747525AR43

2.125% U.S. Treasury Notes due December 31, 2022

0.176%

15

0.326%

$1,053.82

2.900% Notes due 2024 ("Old 2024 Notes")

747525AT0;

US747525AT09

2.125% U.S. Treasury Notes due March 31, 2024

0.216%

15

0.366%

$1,090.54

3.450% Notes due 2025 ("Old 2025 Notes")

747525AF0;
US747525AF05

2.000% U.S. Treasury Notes due February 15, 2025

0.264%

20

0.464%

$1,133.31

(1)

Represents the bid-side yield on the Reference U.S. Treasury Security calculated as of 2:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 11, 2020, in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

(2)

Represents the bid-side yield on the Reference U.S. Treasury Security plus the applicable Fixed Spread, calculated in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Cash Offer Documents, Eligible Holders (as defined below) who (i) validly tender and who do not validly withdraw Old Notes at or prior to the Cash Offer Expiration Date or (ii) deliver a properly completed and duly executed notice of guaranteed delivery and all other required documents at or prior to the Cash Offer Expiration Date and tender their Old Notes pursuant to the Cash Offers at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the second business day after the applicable Cash Offer Expiration Date pursuant to guaranteed delivery procedures, expected to be August 13, 2020, subject in each case to the delivery of the certification to participate in the Cash Offers and tendering the applicable minimum denominations, and whose Old Notes are accepted for purchase by Qualcomm, will receive consideration in the Cash Offers equal to the applicable Tender Consideration.

We also intend to pay in cash accrued and unpaid interest on the Old Notes accepted for purchase from the last applicable interest payment date for the Old Notes to, but excluding, the Cash Offer Settlement Date (the "Accrued Coupon Payment").

Terms of the Cash Offers

The complete terms and conditions of the Cash Offers are set forth in the Cash Offer Documents, each of which have been distributed to Eligible Holders in connection with the proposed Cash Offers. Each Cash Offer is subject to certain conditions, including (i) the timely satisfaction or waiver of all of the conditions precedent to the completion of the corresponding Exchange Offer for such series of Old Notes (with respect to each Exchange Offer, the "Exchange Offer Completion Condition") and (ii) that the aggregate principal amount of cash payable by Qualcomm to Eligible Holders participating in the Cash Offers is no greater than $300 million before giving effect to the Accrued Coupon Payment (the "Aggregate Maximum Cash Offer Condition"). The Exchange Offers are subject to certain conditions, including that the aggregate principal amount of New 2028 Notes to be issued under the Exchange Offers must be equal to or greater than $500 million (the "New 2028 Notes Minimum Condition") and that the aggregate principal amount of New 2032 Notes to be issued under the Exchange Offers must be equal to or greater than $500 million (the "New 2032 Notes Minimum Condition," and together with the New 2028 Notes Minimum Condition, the "Minimum Condition Requirements"). Qualcomm will terminate a Cash Offer for a given series of Old Notes if it terminates the Exchange Offer for such series of Old Notes, and Qualcomm will terminate the Exchange Offer for a given series of Old Notes if it terminates the Cash Offer for such series of Old Notes. The Exchange Offer Completion Condition may not be waived by Qualcomm; however, Qualcomm reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to waive the other conditions, including the Aggregate Maximum Cash Offer Condition and either Minimum Condition Requirement. If (i) the New 2028 Notes Minimum Condition is not satisfied, Qualcomm will not accept any Old 2022 Notes or Old 2023 Notes in the Exchange Offers and will terminate the corresponding Cash Offers for such notes and (ii) the New 2032 Notes Minimum Condition is not satisfied, Qualcomm will not accept any Old 2024 Notes or Old 2025 Notes in the Exchange Offers and will terminate the corresponding Cash Offers for such notes, in each case unless Qualcomm waives the applicable Minimum Condition Requirement. If the Aggregate Maximum Cash Offer Condition is not satisfied or waived, Qualcomm will terminate the Cash Offers and the Exchange Offers.

Only holders of Old Notes who are not (i) "qualified institutional buyers" within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and who are not (ii) non-U.S. persons (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) located outside of the United States within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act, other than "retail investors" (as defined below) in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, are eligible to participate in the Cash Offers. For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC (as amended, the "Insurance Mediation Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation"). Holders of Old Notes located or resident in a province or territory of Canada will only be eligible to participate in the Cash Offers if they are (i) individuals; or (ii) institutions or other entities that do not qualify as both "accredited investors," as such term is defined in National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106") of the Canadian Securities Administrators or Section 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and "permitted clients," as such term is defined in National Instrument 31-103 – Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations ("NI 31-103") of the Canadian Securities Administrators. We refer to holders who meet the foregoing criteria in this paragraph as "Eligible Holders." Qualcomm refers to holders of Old Notes who are not Eligible Holders as "Ineligible Holders."

Only Eligible Holders who have delivered a certification to Global Bondholder Services Corporation, certifying that they are Eligible Holders, will be authorized to participate in the Cash Offers.

Holders are advised to check with any bank, securities broker or other intermediary through which they hold Old Notes as to when such intermediary needs to receive instructions from a holder in order for that holder to be able to participate in, or (in the circumstances in which revocation is permitted) revoke their instruction to participate in the Cash Offers before the deadlines specified herein and in the Cash Offer Documents. The deadlines set by each clearing system for the submission and withdrawal of tender instructions will also be earlier than the relevant deadlines specified herein and in the Cash Offer Documents.

This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. The Cash Offers are being made solely by the Cash Offer Documents and only to such persons and in such jurisdictions as is permitted under applicable law.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. are acting as the Joint-Lead Dealer Managers for the Cash Offers, and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Blaylock Van, LLC and Loop Capital Markets LLC are acting as Co-Dealer Managers for the Cash Offers. For additional information regarding the terms of the offer, please contact Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC at (800) 828-3182 (toll free), (212) 902-6941 (collect) or GS-LM-NYC@gs.com or Barclays Capital Inc. at (800) 438-3242 (toll free), (212) 528-7581 (collect) or us.lm@barclays.com. Global Bondholder Services Corporation will act as the tender agent and information agent for the Cash Offers. Questions or requests for assistance related to the Cash Offers or for additional copies of the Cash Offer Documents may be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation at (866) 470-3900 (toll free) or (212) 430-3774 (collect). You may also contact your broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee for assistance concerning the Cash Offers.

The Cash Offer Documents can be accessed at the following link: http://www.gbsc-usa.com/QUALCOMM/.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch and expansion of 5G. When we connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. We bring the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.

Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Additionally, statements regarding the rapid, global spread of the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and its potential future impact on the global economy, including the potential for a global recession; economic uncertainty and consumer and business confidence; demand for devices that incorporate our products and intellectual property; our and the global wireless industry’s supply chains, transportation and distribution networks and workforces; 5G network deployments; and our business, revenues, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; as well as statements regarding our planning assumptions, workforce practices, the duration and severity of the pandemic, and government and other actions to mitigate the spread of, and to treat, COVID-19 are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements further include but are not limited to statements regarding industry, market, business, product, technology, commercial, competitive or consumer trends; our businesses, growth potential or strategies, or factors that may impact them; challenges to our licensing business, including by licensees, governments, governmental agencies or regulators, standards bodies or others; challenges to our QCT semiconductor business; other legal or regulatory matters; competition; new or expanded product areas, adjacent industry segments or applications; costs or expenditures including research and development, selling, general and administrative, restructuring or restructuring-related charges, working capital or information technology systems; our financing, stock repurchase or dividend programs; strategic investments or acquisitions; adoption and application of future accounting guidance; tax law changes; our tax structure or strategies; U.S./China trade or national security policies; or the potential business or financial statement impacts of any of the above, among others. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions or variations of such words, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements in this press release. These statements are based on Qualcomm’s current expectations or beliefs, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological, strategic and/or regulatory factors, and other factors affecting the operations of Qualcomm. More detailed information about these factors may be found in Qualcomm’s filings with the SEC, including those discussed in Qualcomm’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in any subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, each of which is on file with the SEC and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. SEC filings for Qualcomm are also available in the Investor Relations section of Qualcomm’s website at www.qualcomm.com.

Qualcomm is not obligated to update, or continue to provide information with respect to, any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Qualcomm Contacts:

Pete Lancia
Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com

Mauricio Lopez-Hodoyan
Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
email: ir@qualcomm.com

Information Agent Contact:

Global Bondholder Services Corporation
Phone: 1-866-470-3900 (toll free)
1-212-430-3774 (collect)

Related Links :

http://www.qualcomm.com/

Computers, News

The New ASUS ZenBook 13 & ZenBook 14 Lands in Malaysia! Prices start from MYR3,999

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ASUS’s ZenBook series has always been the company’s foremost when it comes to delivering solutions for workers on-the-go. The company has revitalised the line up with features that make working on-the-go easier, more ergonomic and less of a hassle. This year is no different with the new ASUS ZenBook 13 (UX325) and the ZenBook 14 (UX425).

The two new entries into the ASUS ZenBook line up make up the new ZenBook Classics line up which hold fast to the original ZenBook’s ethos of being portable and fitted for productivity. The ZenBook 13 and ZenBook 14 come with the 10th Generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors with Intel IRIS Plus Graphics which allow them to be more power efficient and more powerful – allowing on-the-go workers to get more done and keep up with the increasing demand for processing power. Paired with 8GB of RAM, the ZenBooks will be able to handle most anything you can throw at the laptops.

The new line is the lightest and most compact line up of ZenBooks ever. The 13.3-inch ZenBook 13 comes in at only 1.07kg and is an astounding 13.9mm thin. The ZenBook 14 maintains the thickness but gets a little bump in weight, coming in at 1.13kg. Both laptops come with Full HD LED displays with 1080p resolution. The slim bezels around the screen allow for up to 90% screen to body ratio for a more immersive experience when you’re consuming your multimedia while maintaining the compact size.

Built for Productivity

Keeping with their productivity focus, the laptops come equipped with The ZenBook 13 and ZenBook 14 come with a 512GB NVMe PCIe 3.0 solid state drive (SSD) for quick read and write performance. The SSD also allows you to boot into Windows in less than 10 seconds. In addition, ASUS NumPad 2.0 which turns the touchpad into a fully functional NumPad for all your number crunching needs. Together with NumPad 2.0, ASUS has also optimised the ergonomics of the laptop with it’s now ubiquitous ErgoLift hinge. The hinge raises the laptop slightly and angles the keyboard for a more natural typing experience and better cooling.

The new ASUS ZenBook Classic entries are not only optimising hardware for productivity, it also ensures that you don’t need to live the dongle life. The ZenBook 13 and ZenBook 14 both come with a full array of ports to make sure you’re ready to connect. It comes with two USB-C port complete with Thunderbolt 3 technology and ASUS EasyCharge. Also on the laptops is a USB Type A port, a HDMI port and a microSD card reader.

In addition to the numerous ports, the new ASUS ZenBooks also come equipped with WiFi 6 compatibility. The new WiFi technology allows up to three times more data to be communicated through WiFi for quicker data speeds and better latency. Your data isn’t the only thing that will be quicker than usual, you’ll also be able to login in a snap with the Windows Hello thanks to the IR webcam on the new ZenBooks.

Keeping productive can be a little bit frustrating at times, but the ZenBook 13 and 14 are tough with MIL-STD 810G ruggedness. So, you won’t need to worry about things getting a little bit rough with the laptops. This is complemented by up to 22 hours battery life thanks to it’s large 67Wh battery.

Pricing & Availability

The ASUS ZenBook 13 and ZenBook 14 will be available starting on August 11, 2020 for MYR3,999 (USD$953.25) for the version with the Core i5 and MYR4,699 (USD1,120.15) for the one with the Core i7.

Official Specifications

ASUS ZenBook 13 (UX325)

CPUIntel Core i7-1065G7 processor
Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor
Display13.3” LED-backlit FHD (1920 x 1080)
450 nits
Slim 2.9 mm bezels with 88% screen-to-body ratio
Operating systemWindows 10 Home
Office SoftwareOffice Home & Student 2019 included
GraphicsIntel® Iris® Plus Graphics
Main memory8GB 3200 MHz LPDDR4x onboard
Storage512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
ConnectivityWiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth® 5.0
CameraHD infrared (IR) webcam (supports Windows Hello)
I/O ports2 x Thunderbolt™ 3 USB-C® with ASUS USB-C® Easy Charge
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A;
1 x Standard HDMI 2.0;
1 x MicroSD card reader
TouchpadASUS NumberPad 2.0
AudioCertified by Harman Kardon
ASUS SonicMaster stereo audio system with surround-sound; smart amplifier for maximum audio performance
Array microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support
Battery67 Wh lithium-polymer battery up to 22 hr battery life
AC adapter65-watt power adapter
Output: 20 V DC, 3.42 A;
Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
Dimensions304 x 203 x 13.9 mm
WeightApprox. 1.07 kg
ColorPine Grey
Retail Pricing (MYR)RM 3,999 (i5-1035G1)
RM 4,699 (i7-1065G7)

ASUS ZenBook 14 (UX425)

CPUIntel Core i7-1065G7 processor Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor
Display14” LED-backlit FHD (1920 x 1080)
400 nits
Slim 2.5 mm bezels with 90% screen-to-body ratio
Operating systemWindows 10 Home
Office SoftwareOffice Home & Student 2019 included
GraphicsIntel® Iris® Plus Graphics
Main memory8GB 3200 MHz LPDDR4x onboard
Storage512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
ConnectivityWiFi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth® 5.0
CameraHD infrared (IR) webcam (supports Windows Hello)
I/O ports2 x Thunderbolt™ 3 USB-C® with ASUS USB-C® Easy Charge
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A;
1 x Standard HDMI 2.0;
1 x MicroSD card reader
TouchpadASUS NumberPad 2.0
AudioCertified by Harman Kardon
ASUS SonicMaster stereo audio system with surround-sound; smart amplifier for maximum audio performance
Array microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support
Battery67 Wh lithium-polymer battery up to 22 hr battery life
AC adapter65-watt power adapter
Output: 20 V DC, 3.42 A;
Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
Dimensions319 x 208 x 13.9 mm
WeightApprox. 1.13 kg
ColorPine Grey
Retail Pricing (MYR)RM 3,999 (i5-1035G1)
RM 4,699 (i7-1065G7)