Yearly Archives: 2022

PR Newswire

FPT Software: How to Turn Dreamers into Doers & Harness the Power of Intrapreneurship

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Intrapreneurship is always welcomed by tech giants, where innovations are greatly valued, going way back from when Gmail was born out of Google’s famous 20-percent rule. Mr. Dang Hoa Tran – COO of FPT Software shared his take on making intrapreneurship the key to growing global IT business.

HANOI, Vietnam, April 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — In Vietnam, FPT Software is one of the biggest names in paying close attention to intrapreneurs. Many notable solutions stemmed from this approach: akaBot, akaChain, akaVerse, Deep Clinics and Codelearn…. The reason this global tech firm focuses on building an internal “incubator hub” comes naturally: out of 20 years in the tech business, while they provide service according to the clients’ requests, new ideas always come up in the process in order to do a better job.

“If we pass the chance to transform an idea into a living, breathing product, we lay waste to our own mind,” said Mr. Dang Hoa Tran – the Chief Operation Officer of FPT Software, sharing his thoughts on intrapreneurship.

Tran Dang Hoa - COO, FPT Software
Tran Dang Hoa – COO, FPT Software

“In my 18 years working at FPT Software, I’ve witnessed many colleagues, my mentees, wanted to leave due to their unfulfilling desire to create their own products. And we had to choose, either to offer a way for them to come up with new things, what they want to do, or watch them go. Intrapreneurship is our way to create both challenge and motivation, pushing our staff to be more creative in the tech playground,” Mr.Hoa continued.

The COO is fully committed to boost the startup aspiration, since you can hardly find such a boiling excitement, stand-up-after-failure and never-sleep-on-success attitude in any other place. The youthfulness and dynamic energy swirling within a new startup have always amazed the veteran COO.

In a large company, it is a must to constantly encourage employees’ commitment and increase their enthusiasm. FPT Software took it to heart, weaving it into their human-centric approach of a unique culture. In the middle of it, the potential intrapreneurs are like intense fire: emitting both light and heat, they attract more and more like minded people.

To accompany the intrapreneurs on the bumpy road of startup, FPT Software developed an entire ecosystem of supports, including all the processes that might take up a large portion of your product fit time – which is the most important step at the beginning. If the product does not suffice, you already set yourself back a few steps in the race to get customers and investors.

Hoa further explained FPT Software approach on building the intrapreneurship: “The teams within our “incubator hub” get consulted by the top industry experts – either it’s finance, insurance, aviation, energy, or healthcare – so they get the best insights on any industry’s pain points. Besides horizontal consulting, in-depth, we have no lack of veteran tech experts who have over 20 years’ experience with international customers, for direct advice on the products.”

From his operation view, Hoa assessed that the most adoptable products are the ones that can solve the global pain points for companies of all sizes. The incubator group should exercise unbound creativity but shouldn’t fill in too big shoes like those of Google or Facebook.

“We train our intrapreneurs by letting them participate in large-scale “battles” with highly difficult customers as well as joining the major tech markets like The US, India or Europe,” Hoa explained.

The incubator is full of room to grow, for teams to mature through constant adjustment according to the customer or end-user request. Reality proves that an RPA-based product – akaBot by FPT Software – has made robotic automation the new breakthrough for banking service, liberating human effort by completing millions of repeated tasks. At the same time, the same technology can be applied to virtual bots for tasks automation, processing automatic invoice or virtual stakeholders meeting. This was especially effective during lockdown, when it helped various businesses operate without interruption on a large scale.

akaBot is also the RPA-based solution which has been ranked in Gartner’s top lists of outstanding RPA solutions multiple times, within the last 3 years since its birth.

“You see, a startup which constantly upgrades and transforms, both in quantity and quality of service, with actual feedback  from end-users, together with direct consulting, can have such an explosive potential. But that is just the first step in the process, the product fit as I mentioned earlier. Naturally, operating a startup requires the founders to be fluent in a lot more other management spectrum,” he shared.

It is not easy for any startup to work on all aspects at once, from technology and the human resource, to marketing, sales and branding.

Should founders be able to overcome the beginning period, they would gradually gain more technical and managerial knowledge, which is, according to Hoa, something people must not take the shortcut through.

It takes a lot for a startup to spin off from their native company and break out into a unicorn, Hoa pointed out, in which luck plays no small part. The key to success, however, is that people must have all the elements at the right place: technical power, strong will and flexibility to adapt to any situation, making the impossible possible while keeping the solution’s unique features.

“FPT Software was once a startup too, 23 years ago. At that time, when no one in Vietnam did BPO with foreign partners or even thought of going past the border, we started it. You can say it was not all but being persistent, we faced various failures and must stand up again after each fall. Our people’s startup spirit is forever. Even the engineers, the experts within FPT Software have always nurtured their ideas, shaping and molding them into real-life products, even if the time can be measured by dozens of years,” Hoa proudly shared.

FPT Software also spent 8 years incubating to be the first company to design and produce “Make In Vietnam“* IC – Integrated Circuit. Today, the company is taking its first steps to realize this dream: they have founded FPT Semiconductor – the first fabless company under the FPT Software umbrella, and the first hardware product by FPT Software.

From their design house in Vietnam, the company sends the IC designs to its fabrication factory in Korea, where they produce and package the final products then send it straight to clients in Australia. By July 2022, FPT Semiconductor is expected to deliver its first unit, growing to 25 millions units in the next two years, catering to different needs from IoT, power energy, and so on. “I am extremely proud that the entire R&D process takes place right in Vietnam by our very top engineers at FPT Software,” Hoa expressed.

“Why do we join this market? You know, there are only a handful of companies producing IC worldwide, and the need always surpasses supply. On average everyone owns at least one IC, and this number can grow 3 to 10 fold in the future,” he stressed.

“The key to how we can harness the power to fulfill this dream is the startup spirit, forging our people through the years. We chose the right moment, at our best performance, to bring forward a new change, reigniting the flame in the heart of our organization, pushing forwards for ever growing operation,” FPT Software representative concluded.

Note:
* “Make In Vietnam” is a government program to accelerate technology innovation by local businesses.

Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Spotify Greenroom is No More, Spotify Live is Here!

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The race to create a competitor or a likeness to the wildly successful Clubhouse app has just sort of faded into obscurity. It is not because Clubhouse is not doing well, it still is doing good enough. There are still plenty who remained on the platform and there are still plenty of good conversations happening on the platform. The hype for that sort of thing has died down quite quickly though.

The rush to create a completing platform has spawned a few unsuccessful projects from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. But it also has spawned a successful one from Spotify, the Greenroom. Perhaps that should have come as less of a shock that it is. Spotify, after all, is one of the largest platforms for podcasts from all over the globe. It is not hard to see why a conversation based social media platform will not work in Spotify’s favour.

Greenroom, however, was in some ways an experiment for Spotify. It was a test platform to see if such things could work and if anyone that is already on their platform was open to the idea of Spotify themselves being a social media company. It was also especially telling that Spotify themselves are ready to become more of a social media platform than anything else. In that sense, the move to open Greenroom is sort of a natural progression for Spotify anyway, especially with all the new social features they have been introducing on their main app.

However, in the dawn of the Super App (a do-everything app), multiple apps from a single developer could be seen as clunky. People want to be able to access a single app and have access to all the services available from that developer from that one touch. Spotify had to adapt to that.

It was less than a month ago that Spotify expressed their interest in integrating Spotify and Greenroom in a single Spotify app. We thought that it would be inevitable, just not this soon. They have also changed the Greenroom name to Spotify Live now. That does not mean that Greenroom is not an app on its own though, it is still an independent app that you can use separate from the main Spotify App. That has also been rebranded to Spotify Live.

The Spotify Live app itself will retain all the qualities of the old Greenroom app. It is still an audio based social media platform. Anyone of the platform can create chat rooms and host the chats in those rooms. Any user on the platform will have access to all listed shows on Spotify Live platform. Users will have the ability to also interact within the show in Spotify Live app.

The function of Spotify Live on the main app is completely different. Spotify Live on the main app will only feature select Spotify Live shows on the main app. Of course, the show must be on-air at the moment of feature. If you are accessing the Spotify Live chatrooms on the main Spotify app, you also do not get to interact with the creator or hosts of the room. You are just a plain audience; you do not even get to raise your hands.

That also means that Spotify Live has now become a Live Podcast show that can be featured on Spotify. Spotify Live creators now gets access to the full range of Spotify’s global user base that numbers at 406 million people currently.

For now, only Spotify’s own original shows will get airtime in the Spotify Live section on their app. Obviously as Spotify Live makes progress, more shows will be added to the featured section in the main app. There are also planned events already for the rest of April and May for you to discover the new section on Spotify.

PR Newswire

CGTN: What’s high on China’s agenda for development?

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BEIJING, April 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China has entered a stage of high-quality development, and the southern province of Hainan is spearheading the country’s efforts to balance environmental protection and development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been in Hainan since Sunday, placing ecological conservation, rural revitalization and food security high on the agenda during his inspection.

National park system

When inspecting a section of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park on Monday in the city of Wuzhishan, President Xi stressed the importance of boosting national park development in Hainan.

He also highlighted the need to fully understand the strategic significance of Hainan’s national park development to the country, and urged continuous and solid efforts in this regard.

Following the principle of “ecological protection first,” China in 2017 unveiled the overall plan for establishing its new national park system in an effort to promote human-nature harmony, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Last year, the Chinese leader announced the official designation of the country’s first group of national parks when delivering a keynote speech via video link at the leaders’ summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park is one of them.

The national park spans nine cities and counties, covering a total area of over 4,000 square km. It is home to the most concentrated and well-preserved tropical rainforests in China and the only habitat for Hainan gibbons, the world’s rarest primates.

Unlike ordinary national parks, the designated national parks are part of the country’s “red line” strategy for ecological conservation and subject to the strictest possible protection measures.

With the national park system taking shape in the world’s most populous country, China has taken a solid step toward a future where all beings can live in harmony and flourish through a system of protected areas with national parks as the mainstay.

Rural revitalization in full swing

During his inspection tours across the country, the Chinese president always stopped to chat with rural families. On Monday, he walked into the homes of local ethnic Li people in Maona, a village in the city of Wuzhishan, and had cordial exchanges with local officials and villagers.

In Maona’s public square, the locals extended a warm welcome to Xi.

“We have attained a moderately prosperous society in all respects and are marching toward modernization and promoting common prosperity,” Xi said, urging solid efforts to consolidate poverty alleviation achievements and align them with the full advancement of rural revitalization.

China is continuing efforts for rural development, with the Report on the Work of the Government released in March emphasizing boosting agricultural production and promoting all-around rural revitalization in 2022.

Xi also called on Party officials to make “every possible effort” to ensure that people can live happy lives, saying Party officials should not harbor any selfish interests, and they should devote themselves to the improvement of people’s lives.

“What the Communist Party of China cares about is how to make sure the lives of Chinese people of all ethnic groups are getting better every day.”

‘Chinese seeds’

China’s food security can only be safeguarded when seed resources are firmly held in our own hands, President Xi said while inspecting the city of Sanya on Sunday, calling for working toward food self-sufficiency and advancing the country’s seed sector.

“To ensure that China’s seed resources are self-supporting and under better control, self-reliance must be achieved in seed technology,” he said.

However, Xi acknowledged that the process would take time. “It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword,” said Xi, quoting a Chinese saying.

Highlighting the strategic significance of the related work, he called for carrying forward the spirit of scientists and researchers of the older generations, including Yuan Longping (1930-2021), who was known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s and staving off hunger for millions.

In the newly-unveiled “No. 1 Central Document,” the first policy statement released by China’s central authorities this year, the country has outlined seed industry development as one of its policy priorities, with specific moves such as implementing an action plan on the seed industry, promoting germplasm collection and enhancing intellectual property protection in the sector.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-04-12/Xi-inspects-Wuzhishan-in-Hainan-19aEjvCVVzG/index.html

PR Newswire

First-of-its-kind study reveals gaps in knowledge and attitude to conquer supply chain complexities

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HAMBURG, Germany, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — End-to-end digitization is a top priority for supply chain professionals, according to the Körber Supply Chain Benchmarking Report 2022 to examine industry best practices to advance operational performance.

Digitization and process automation is the highest priority for 84% of all businesses.
Digitization and process automation is the highest priority for 84% of all businesses.

Awareness of the external factors driving supply chain complexity is high. Yet, there is room for improvement in implementing measures to increase customer satisfaction, labor efficiency, or process automation. This is the conclusion of Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking Report, according to which a majority of businesses struggle with the rapid expansion of e-commerce and increasing interconnectivity of the global economy.

The results, based on a representative survey among more than 200 companies, shed unparalleled insight into key challenges in the industry, as well as best practices to improve supply chain performance and operation. The survey found that digitization is a strategic priority for 84% of surveyed businesses; however, only a minority uses automated, paperless end-to-end processes throughout their supply chain. Displaying the relevance of (cross-site) management software, employee engagement tactics (e.g. voice), or sustainability concerns, the report serves as an important resource for supply chain professionals to identify where they are performing well – and where there is greatest potential for improvement.

“The research demonstrates that companies recognize increasing supply chain complexities and are acting to leverage the potential of the digital era. There is a growing awareness that many challenges can be overcome, and a competitive advantage gained, with supply chain technology. 35% identified as leaders perform outstandingly well through investing in employee engagement, concrete implementation plans for sustainable practices and through advanced levels of digitization with consistent process automation,” says Rene Hermes, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Körber Supply Chain – Software.

Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking Report 2022 was divided into six operational areas: Labor engagement, efficiency and safety, end customer experience, sustainability, agility and resilience, digitization and process automation and facility optimization. Based on this, participating companies were grouped into the following maturity levels: leader, advanced, developing and initiating. Of this, 35% were identified as “leaders” (top performers), differentiated with future-proof processes.  

Key results from the Körber Supply Chain Benchmarking Report 2022:

  • Two thirds of supply chain executives are not satisfied with their staffing levels. As a result, gamification and other technologies to increase employee engagement are being deployed on a wider scale among 73% of leaders.
  • 92% of respondents see a direct influence of customer satisfaction on supply chain performance. This explains why order management systems (OMS) are on the rise. These solutions directly impact the accuracy, speed and cost of fulfillment. All leaders in this category use an OMS, whereas this is the case for just more than half of advanced businesses.
  • Sustainability is especially important – a top priority for 89% of businesses. Leading companies are three times more likely to shift to more sustainable packaging materials and four times more likely than advanced companies to implement circular economy projects.
  • Digitization and process automation is the highest priority for 84% of all businesses. Within this operative area, 59% of leaders can implement projects with in-house resources compared to just 23% of advanced businesses.

“While the industry agrees that supply chain complexity is real and growing, there is often no clear understanding of its underlying causes and of suitable initiatives that can improve performance in today’s challenging and ultra-volatile markets. Everyone is looking for agility and resilience, but there is none of that possible without identifying the true levers within your own global supply chain operations. The benchmarking survey we conducted on behalf of Körber is the first to leverage the key factors driving complexity to answer these questions and determine what practices distinguish leading organizations,” adds Sebastian Feldmann, Partner and global Co-head of the Supply Chain & Logistics COE at Roland Berger Management Consultants.

The survey questioned more than 200 companies in North America and Europe with at least 500 employees and is part of a broader research initiative in cooperation with leading international analysts. Full findings are available at benchmarking.koerber-supplychain.com. The site also offers a rapid self-assessment to provide visitors a first view into the maturity of their own supply chain operations.

About the Körber Business Area Supply Chain

Supply chains are growing more complex by the day. Körber uniquely provides a broad range of proven, end-to-end supply chain solutions fitting any business size, strategy or appetite for growth. Capable of delivering software, automation, voice, robotics, and materials handling – plus the expertise to tie it all together. We are a global partner not just for today, but also as the needs of supply chains continue to evolve. Conquer supply chain complexity – with Körber. The Business Area Supply Chain is part of the global technology group Körber. Find out more on www.koerber-supplychain.com  

Contact:

Heather Smith

Director Corporate Communications

Körber Supply Chain

Heather.smith@koerber-supplychain.com

T +1 800 3283271
News

Dell Showcases its Commitment to Sustainability with New Product Materials & Packaging

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Dell’s commitment to the environment is not something it has pulled out of thin air. The company was one of the first to commit to lowering its carbon footprint and becoming carbon neutral. In fact, they’ve been one of the most consistent for more than a decade. This year, the company is upping the ante when it comes to sustainability with new materials and new packaging that will take them to the next level.

The New Dell Latitude 5000 Showcases Years of Research & Development for Sustainability

Earlier this year, Dell announced Concept Luna where they were experimenting with recycled materials in creating new laptops. That was the latest in a growing number of efforts to be more environmentally responsible and explore renewable materials for their products. Their latest product, the new Dell Latitude 5000 series, is the first product to showcase the many years of research and development. It boasts one of the highest proportions of renewable materials thus far.

Dell Sustainability 2022 01

The new Dell Latitude 5000 series showcases a laptop lid made of 71% recycled and renewable materials. The lid itself is made of a three major components: a tree-based bioplastic upcycled from the paper making industry; reclaimed carbon fibre and post consumer recycled plastics. According to Dell, it chose to start with the laptop lid as it is the second heaviest part of the laptop which allows the company to make a larger impact on sustainability.

The Latitude 5000 series is also helping Dell reduce its reliance of petroleum based materials. The base of the laptop is made of 20% reclaimed carbon fibre. Dell also uses a new bio-based rubber for its rubber feet. The fan housing used in the laptop series boasts an impressive 23% reclaimed ocean bound plastics in its build.

Comitting to 100% Recyclable Packaging

In addition to increasing the amount of sustainable and recycled materials in its laptops, Dell is also taking a close look at its packaging. The company is comitting to creating packaing which is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable.

Dell Sustainability 2022 03
Dell Sustainability 2022 04
Dell Sustainability 2022 02

To achieve this, its substituting a lot of the materials we’re used to seeing in laptop packaging with paper alternatives. Plastic bags are being substituted with more sustainable materials. Dell is even opting to change to their box with a more sustainable corrgate shipping box with an inner tray made of sustainably sourced bamboo and sugarcane fibres. Tape is also being replaced with a paperbased alternative. This new packaging will be seen with the new Latitude series, Precision mobile workstations and XPS devices.

This is only the beginning, Dell chose the Latitude line up as it is their highest volume product. This will, according to the company, allow it to make a more impactful step in sustainability. However, it’s not forgetting its other lineups. The Precision 3000 mobile workstations, Precision workstations and OptiPlex Micro desktops will also feature some of the sustainable materials mentioned. Of course, Dell is also bringing these materials to its EcoLoop Pro backpacks, sleeves and briefcases.

Android, Mobile, News

vivo Joins the Fold-able Scene with vivo X Fold and vivo X Note in China

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When Samsung and HUAWEI captured the world with their folding smartphones a few years back, they opened an entire can of worms. Samsung stuck to their original design with multiple displays on offer and they made it stick with their second and third iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold as they call it today. Their form factor also became the de facto foldable smartphone layout; just look at the OPPO Find N.

OPPO and HUAWEI are not the only smartphone manufacturers that wants a piece of the foldable smartphone pie with Samsung’s designs. Companies like OnePlus and even Google themselves have expressed interests in building their own version of a smartphone with one folding display and another solid display out front. Now vivo has beaten them both and introduced their own vivo X Fold.

vivo, to be fair, did not just launch the X Fold in China. They also launched their largest smartphone to date – the vivo X Note. In this case, before we talk about the foldable, we do have to at least talk about the vivo X Note.

vivo X Note

VIVO X NOTE
source: vivo

It is vivo’s most powerful candybar smartphone to date. It packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for everything that Android 12 needs on the device. For photography, it packs vivo’s own developed V1 chip. That V1 chip powers a 50-Megapixel main camera that is flanked by an 8-Megapixel 5x telephoto camera, a 12-Megapixel 2x telephoto camera, and another 48-Megapixel ultrawide camera. Of course, the new vivo X Note is capable of recording videos at 8K. For selfies, you get a 16-Megapixel front-facing camera sitting in a punch hole in the display.

Speaking of display, it is an expansive 7-inch display that boasts 2K 1440p. It is an LTPO AMOLED display capable of up to 120Hz in refresh rate and down to 1Hz if need be. The brilliant display also offers HDR10+ in colour and contrast which also means watching Netflix or Prime Video on it should be a rather enjoyable experience.

For memory and storage, you get up to 12GB in RAM and 512GB in built-in UFS 3.1 flash module. Right beneath the display is also a large under-disply optical fingerprint sensor for faster and better fingerprint sensor coverage. To keep all of that running an entire day and more is a 5,000mAh battery that is also capable of 80W charging speeds. They say that the vivo X Note can fully charge (from 0%) within 32 minuttes.

vivo X Fold

VIVO X FOLD
source: vivo

The star of the show is vivo’s first foldable device, the vivo X Fold. While you may expect the vivo foldable device to have more in common to its cousin over from OPPO, the X Fold has more in common with Samsung’s Foldable. It is a larger device that the Samsung though.

For starters, the secondary outer display measures 6.53-inch compared to Samsung’s 6.2-inch. Unfold the device and an 8.03-inch display greets you. The outside display is an excellent AMOLED display that boasts Full HD+ resolutions at 21:9 aspect ratio. It is also a speedy display at 120Hz.

The larger main display boasts even more pixels than the outer display, which is quite expected. You get 1,916 by 2,160 pixels from the 8-inch flexible AMOLED panel. It boasts HDR10+ in colour contrast for the best display experience you can get for smartphones currently. It is also an LTPO display, which means that it goes down to 1Hz refresh to extend your battery life.

It shares some similarities with the vivo X Note too. It packs a 50-Megapixel main camera flanked by the same 5x telephoto, 2x telephoto, and high-resolution ultrawide cameras. There is only one front-facing camera though, unlike some of the foldables that we have seen. The 16-Megapixel front-facing camera sits in a punch-hole on the outer display.

The device is powered by the best that the industry has to offer currently, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 system on a chip (SoC). Supporting the powerful SoC is up to 12GB in RAM. You also get up to 512GB of storage for good measure.

Instead of a side mounted fingerprint sensor though, vivo has employed the use of their large under-display optical fingerprint sensor. They have also installed not one, but two fingerprint sensors (one outside, one inside) for maximum convenience for users. vivo also produced their own unique hinge for the folding display that is supposed to minimise the crease of the folding display with a rising aluminium plate supporting the flexing part of the display. It could also help in durability and reliability of the folding display too.

To keep everything happy and running an entire day or more is a 4,600mAh battery pack within its body. It does not charge at 80W like the X Note though. Still 66W charging speeds should bring it from 0% to a full charge in about 37 minutes, which is still rather impressive.

All these things do make it a little heftier than the even the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3. It weighs just over 300g. To be specific, it weighs 311g, 40g heavier than the Samsung. Considering all that it packs though, that is not too big of a weight increase.

Price and Availability

For now, the vivo X Note and X Fold will only be available in China. There are no mentions when vivo will bring the device out of China. Then again, there are no confirmations on whether vivo will be selling the device outside of China. Remember the OPPO Find N? While that was showcased in Malaysia, the device never made it to Malaysia officially.

The vivo X Note will come in three storage and RAM offerings. It starts at 8GB + 256GB configuration at CN¥ 5,999 (MYR 3,990*) and tops out at CN¥ 6,999 (MYR 4,650*) for a 12GB + 512GB configuration.

The vivo X Fold will also be offering in a variety of storage options. It starts from 12GB + 256GB option at CN¥ 8,999 (MYR 5,960*) and tops out at 12GB + 512GB configuration at CN¥ 9,999 (MYR 6,620*).

* Approximation by Vivo Malaysia

PR Newswire

TBSI at Tsinghua SIGS published an important research review on the technological breakthrough in on-chip LIDAR systems on Nature

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SHENZHEN, China, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, Associate Professor Hongyan Fu from Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS) was invited by the international journal “Nature” to publish a critical analysis and review of on-chip LiDAR imaging systems. The paper summarizes and discusses the key technologies currently used in on-chip LiDAR systems, and specifically addresses the on-chip integrated focal plane switching array technology. The performance of the system is also analyzed in the context of the important demands of future consumer electronics and smart cities for the LIDAR systems, and future directions for the development of this technology area are proposed.

The article focuses on two current integrated beam-steering devices for on-chip LIDAR: the optical phased array (OPA) and the focal plane switching array (FPSA). The working mechanism of OPA is analyzed and the article identifies the reasons that make them difficult to integrate densely on a single chip on a large scale. In contrast, FPSA uses a camera-like optical system to map each angle in the field of view where the target is located to each pixel in the focal plane behind the imaging lens. The article suggests the possibility of integrating a large array of antennas on a single chip. The article further reviews the work of Ming C. Wu’s group at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, published in the same issue of “Nature” on a MEMS-based large-scale FPSA LiDAR system. The article presents the problem of insufficient lateral resolution in FPSA-based LIDAR systems and offers a solution to improve the performance by reducing the size of the optical switches. Finally, the article comments that further miniaturization and improvements in performance will make FPSA a promising technology for applications including megapixel 3D lidar and optical communications with the mature of processing technologies.

About:

Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI) is jointly established by Tsinghua University and University of California, Berkeley under the support of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Especially, Data Science and Information Technology, full-English program, has dual degree for master of Tsinghua University and Master of Engineering at University of California, Berkeley.

Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI)
Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI)

How to Apply?

THU Online Application System http://gradadmission.tsinghua.edu.cn/

Select “Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School”

Choose Program “Data Science and Information Technology”

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PR Newswire

Creality 8th Anniversary — With You, We Spark Creativity

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SHENZHEN, China, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Creality celebrated its 8th anniversary on April 9th, 2022. Just like the theme “With You, We Spark Creativity”, Creality fully delivered its user-centered philosophy from five aspects, including communication mechanism, new website and official store, Creality Cloud 4.0, eco-system strategic layout and new products, such as Creality HALOT-ONE PRO & PLUS.

Communication Mechanism Reconstruction

Creality is inclusive and devotes to building user communities. Making source codes available on GitHub for modification, and redesigning UI for CR-10 Smart Pro with key user Sebastiaan Dammann, Creality aims to improve user experience via further communication and interactions. In addition, Creality awarded users with “Person of the Year” so as to show respect and encourage more engagement.

Launch of New Global Website and Official Store

Getting users’ voices heard, Creality notices that model acquisition, slicing and quality printing are the main pain points. To provide better service, Creality added Creality Cloud’s entrance on the top and bottom navigations, product page, and information downloading page, where global users can access the model library and conduct slicing online. Creality’s new global website is a DTC website redesigned based on consumers’ needs, where users can obtain products’ basic information, relevant services, accessories and recommended filaments, etc.

For the celebration, Creality is offering a 15% off discount for products in the official store. The activity will go on till April 11th. Get surprises here: https://bit.ly/37Ft6Br. It also has “Buy More Save More” coming right after the 15% off discount flash-sale: https://bit.ly/3O5F73B.

Eco-system New Products – CR-Scan Lizard & CR-Laser Falcon

Creality’s new 3D scanner—CR-Scan Lizard delivers up to 0.05 mm precision, introducing the industrial-grade accuracy into desktop-grade. The new 3D engraver & cutter – CR-Laser Falcon allows users to create artwork on multiple materials, such as the high-hard matte stainless steel, general hard PVC and flexible paper. Furthermore, Creality prioritizes healthiness. The optimization of the smoke and dust filtration system enables users to create their masterpieces in a healthy environment.
https://bit.ly/3utzggJ

Announcement of Creality HALOT-ONE PRO & PLUS

The new resin 3D printers Creality HALOT-ONE PRO & PLUS meet the demands of high precision printing. Being more accurate, more intelligent and more easy to use, Creality HALOT-ONE PRO with 7.04” 3K mono LCD, and Creality HALOT-ONE PLUS with 7.0” 4K mono LCD are able to print 0.01 mm micro-pore and micro-column, and restore anime’s details with high fidelity.
https://bit.ly/3KzWbwA
https://bit.ly/3rg2YE5

Brand New Creality Cloud 4.0

Creality Cloud is the world’s first all-in-one 3D printing platform that offers model downloading, cloud slicing, and remote control, making 3D printing easier and smarter for over a million makers.
https://bit.ly/3vaBMI4

Apart from all these, the following 3D printers will impress users under different scenarios.

Ender-3 S1 & S1 Pro are rated as BEST 3D PRINTER UNDER $500. Designed with “Sprite” dual-gear direct extruder, they are very skillful when printing with diverse filaments and can maintain their excellence in 300°C high-temp printing with PA, TPU, etc. To print or restore an auto tyre is not a challenge at all.
https://bit.ly/3LYNFaT 
https://bit.ly/3Joklc9

CR-10 Smart Pro has enhanced intelligence to a higher level. Connect to Creality Cloud—the model library via Wi-Fi, users can print and monitor anytime and anywhere.
https://bit.ly/3KqIKPs

Sermoon V1/ V1 Pro featured by assembly free and leveling free has a fully-enclosed structure, which is safe to use at home or school. With sound exposure lower than 45db, Sermoon V1/ V1 Pro achieves silent printing, and it’s a perfect partner.
https://bit.ly/3xiWsAk

Getting voices heard and making continuous efforts, Creality is building up its brand image. Creality’s CEO Mr. Ao extended gratitude to users for their trust on the 8th anniversary celebration and he hoped that every user who encountered Creality could reap value beyond expectations and enjoy the convenience and fun brought by 3D printing. As always, Creality will stick to the user-oriented philosophy, introduce 3D printing and bring benefits to thousands of households.

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/creality-8th-anniversary—-with-you-we-spark-creativity-301522933.html

PR Newswire

China Online Education Group Announces Management Change

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BEIJING, April 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China Online Education Group (“51Talk” or the “Company”) (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, announced that Mr. Liming Zhang has tendered his resignation as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer due to personal reasons. His last day with the Company will be May 15, 2022.

The Company greatly appreciates Mr. Zhang’s significant contributions to the management of the Company’s operations as well as his role as the co-founder of the Company, and sincerely wishes his continued success in his future endeavors.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements which are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to,” and similar statements. 51Talk may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 51Talk’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 51Talk’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 51Talk does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company’s mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company’s online and mobile education platforms enable students to take live interactive English lessons on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.  

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-online-education-group-announces-management-change-301522544.html

Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Lifestyle

Robot Vacuums Just Got a Whole Lot Better – The ECOVACS DEEBOT X1 Series is Officially in Malaysia!

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Cleaning up at home is a tedious job. While you should allocate a single day for a major clean up operations at home, there are certain things that you should also consider doing consistently to ensure that your living space is livable until those major cleaning days. One of which is to keep your floor properly clean, very important in Asian homes where shoes are not allowed indoors. You want a smooth, clean floor for that.

The introduction of robot vacuum cleaners are a blessing and a little bit of a curse. They are mighty convenient to work with. At a touch of a button, or tick of a timer, the robot vacuums start its own cleaning routine without too much of a fuss, do a round around your space, and goes back to its own little corner. It is perfect for smaller spaces, thus making it the perfect home cleaning companion when you live alone in a single-storey apartment.

A lot of them were not very good though. Because they were not very big, you still want to ensure that they are not exposed to large chunks of debris. While they were advertised to be “smart cleaners”, they were not very clever sometimes. They tend to fall off ledges, trip over cables, gets themselves stuck transitioning from regular flooring to carpet, and sometimes they are not able to comprehend that there are a lot more floors than what they are cleaning. You still must do some regular maintenance cleaning on the robot vacuum itself, because it has a small stomach. If your robot has mopping functions, you must ensure you top the water up, or replace the murky water after every vacuum session. You also want to make sure your mopping attachment is clean all the time. In conclusion, having a robot vacuum cleaner can be more hassle than it is marketed to be.

Now though, ECOVACS is here to save the day with the DEEBOT X1 series of robot vacuum cleaners.

ECOVACS DEEBOT X1 Family

Ecovacs X1 Family Product
Source: © ECOVACS

ECOVACS, if you have not heard yet, is one of the leading brands when it comes to home service robots, especially robot vacuum cleaners. They were one of the first in the industry to push an AI powered vacuum robot that uses various sensors to map out your entire floor plan it can access, understand the surfaces it is exposed to, and run more efficient cleaning programs for itself the next time it goes around.

There was still another problem to solve. The maintenance of the robot vacuums themselves. At least that was a problem until now.

The DEEBOT X1 family of products looks rather sophisticated. All it is, in essence anyway, is an ECOVACS DEEBOT robot vacuum with a large docking station that also acts as its bin, and refilling tank. The DEEBOT X1 robot vacuum itself also has mopping functions, which explains the refilling part.

The robot vacuum itself comes with ECOVACS’ state-of-the-art vacuum technologies. It is powered by a powerful 5000Pa suction mechanism. Of course, being a premium product, ECOVACS also ensured that it maps your floor plan as accurately as possible with their proven AIVI 3D and TrueMapping 2.0 technologies. There is even a clever AI voice assistant YIKO. You can interact with YIKO, which could be fun. At the same time, they have also fitted the OZMO Turbo 2.0 Rotary Pressure Mopping System for the most advanced robot mopping experience you can get in the current market.

DEEBOT X1 OMNI

Ecovacs X1 Omni Top
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Omni Base Station
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Omni Open Flap
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Omni Robot in Base Station
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Omni with Base Station
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Omni Front
Source: © ECOVACS

The highlight of the DEEBOT X1 family though is their docking stations. There are two on offer: the OMNI, and the TURBO. The OMNI would be the flagship model with a 4L water tank for both clean and dirty water to ensure that the robot has fresh water supply for its own cleaning and the mopping programs. All the cleaning and refilling happens automatically. All you need to do to for maintenance is to ensure that dirty water is disposed, and fresh water is topped up periodically.

The docking station is also where the DEEBOT X1 dumps its vacuumed load to ensure that its bowels are empty again for its next vacuum station. Like the 4L water tank, all you need to do is to replace the vacuum bag within the housing periodically, or when it gets full.

DEEBOT X1 TURBO

Ecovacs X1 Turbo base station
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Turbo Flap Open
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Turbo Front
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Turbo Side
Source: © ECOVACS
Ecovacs X1 Turbo Top
Source: © ECOVACS

For the TURBO model, the docking station acts only as a cleaning station for the DEEBOT X1 after every vacuum and mopping session. That means you need to still replace the filter bags and water supply of the robot vacuum itself. The cleaning station on the TURBO docking station, like the OMNI station too, ensures that the mopping pad is cleaned and dried removing any bad odours that might come from the pads.

Price and Availability

The DEEBOT X1 is now available on both Shopee and Lazada. The DEEBOT X1 OMNI will set you back MYR 7,999. The DEEBOT X1 TURBO will retail for MYR 6,999, a whole MYR 1,000 less than the OMNI. While both models do sound premium, it does cut out a lot of cleaning work for yourself. Just think about how much time you save on cleaning and the price will make a lot more sense.