DataFluidics, Intel and Mellanox to complete integration of Reflex and VMA technology, deliver trailblazing performance

USA: DataFluidics, the innovative provider of ultra-low latency technology announced its flagship product Reflex has introduced compatibility with Mellanox’s VMA, a leading kernel-bypass technology.

“The outstanding performance results achieved from the joint collaboration of Intel, Mellanox, and DataFluidics show how innovative leaders can join forces to deliver the cutting-edge stack that the industry is calling for,” says Daniel Kopko, CEO, DataFluidics. “We are committed to continue our efforts of delivering the best-in-class pure-software low latency solution for reactive data processing.”

With this new feature, Reflex has been measured to have achieved best-ever latency performance of under 2 microseconds, with full results and test description available on its website.

Integration and tests were realized in May 2013 at Intel’s fasterLAB in Winnersh, UK, a cutting-edge test facility for premier hardware products.

Reflex can be licensed stand-alone or through OEM agreement as embedded technology to enable ultra-low latency trading decisions. The technology can also be purchased or distributed by third-party firms.

GreenPeak to speak at Internet of Things conference

THE NETHERLANDS: GreenPeak Technologies, a leading low power RF-semiconductor company, announced that Cees Links, CEO and founder of GreenPeak Technologies, has been selected to speak at The Internet of Things event in Cambridge, UK on June 27.

The Internet of Things 2013 event (IoT13) connects companies building their business on the Internet of Things and focuses on the commercial prospects of IoT by sharing real life experiences of products and services that use connected devices IOT13 looks at where the investment is going, how the supply chain and ecosystem is developing, and which business models will emerge as winners.

Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak Technologies, will be participating as a speaker in the Smart Homes and consumer products session and explain how Multi-Service Operators (MSOs) are driving this new market segment, how these new services will generate new business opportunities, and how Smart Home services will bridge to the IoT in the near future.

“GreenPeak believes that Smart Home applications are the crucial enabler for the development of the Internet of Things.” says Cees Links of GreenPeak Technologies, a market leader for ZigBee silicon for wireless sensor communication. “ZigBee, the communication technology behind Smart Home applications, offers a low cost and low power complement to WiFi.”

Only sensor applications that operate under industry standards will enable devices from different vendors to interoperate, an essential feature for  Smart Home and IoT applications.

The Smart Home will accelerate the use of sensor applications beyond the home: in building automation, for utilities and the smart grid, and from there in industrial, logistical and agricultural applications. Cees says, “The Internet of Things will quickly change our world in ways we cannot even imagine yet.”

MicroStrategy and Hortonworks to advance big data analytics

USA: Hortonworks, a leading open source contributor and provider of enterprise Apache Hadoop, and MicroStrategy Inc., a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence (BI) and mobile software, are joining forces to usher in the next-generation of big data analytics.

MicroStrategy has certified the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) 1.3 with MicroStrategy 9.3.1 in order to provide a solution that enables business users to quickly and easily leverage Hadoop data sources and perform advanced analytics that improve decision-making. HDP 1.3 incorporates the most recent advances from the open source community allowing customers to leverage the latest enterprise-focused Hadoop innovations and optimizations.

Hortonworks also joined the MicroStrategy Technology Partner Program in order to have access to MicroStrategy technology, technical resources, marketing and sales support to further accelerate Hadoop as the next-generation data platform.

Eurocopter and Ramco sign partnership agreement to offer cloud-based maintenance information systems for helicopters

FRANCE: Eurocopter announced its global partnership with Ramco Systems, the global Aviation Software provider on cloud, mobile and tablets. Both companies will join forces to offer state-of-the-art helicopter maintenance software which will ease the life of operators and maintenance centers.

This partnership agreement, formally signed at the 2013 Paris Air Show, enables Eurocopter and Ramco Systems to offer additional mobility and functionality for the collection and treatment of MRO-related data, thereby providing highly effective and cost-efficient fleet management services that are affordable and user friendly for all operators – including those with smaller numbers of helicopters.

“Ramco’s cloud-based maintenance software solution is an outstanding addition to our service offering,” said Matthieu Louvot, senior VP of Support and Services. “The partnership will bring us closer to our customers’ maintenance operations, enabling us to offer them the best quality of service.”

P. R. Venketrama Raja, vice chairman and MD, Ramco Systems, said “The strength and capability of our Aviation solution gets a global endorsement with Eurocopter, the number one civil and parapublic helicopter manufacturer, choosing Ramco for its functionality, cloud-based solution with mobility, new user interface and role-based WorkSpaces. Ramco Aviation on Cloud is modular which makes it user friendly for small and large operators.”

With tens of thousands of parts in an aircraft, tracking and managing each stage of maintenance work would become unmanageable without a user friendly and comprehensive M&E/ MRO solution. The Ramco-Eurocopter cloud based MRO software addresses the unique needs of smaller Operators, MROs and CAMOs, which until now had to either run on disparate point solutions or operate manually using paper/ excel to track maintenance and manage safety and regulatory compliance.

ThousandEyes launches performance management for cloud era

USA: At Structure 2013, ThousandEyes emerged from stealth mode and launched a new product that, for the first time, provides detailed visibility into the performance of cloud applications and helps IT teams resolve performance problems quickly. ThousandEyes' customers include members of the Fortune 500, Equinix, Evernote, Priceline, ServiceNow, Twitter, Zendesk and Zynga.

ThousandEyes also announced $5.5 million in funding from Sequoia Capital and angel investors:

"Performance management products have not kept pace with the innovation in cloud services. Legacy products are ineffective in solving problems enterprises face today, creating migraines for IT," said Mohit Lad, co-founder and CEO of ThousandEyes. "We have built a product from ground up for the cloud era to help companies get the best performance out of their cloud applications."

As they adopt cloud applications such as Salesforce and WebEx, enterprises are becoming more reliant on networks outside of their control, including the service providers' data centers and the public Internet. Existing performance management products are blind to service issues beyond the corporate network perimeter and when cloud applications are slow or unavailable, IT teams have no idea where the problem lies. This is further complicated when troubleshooting involves distributed teams across different organizations, causing outages to last longer than they should, negatively impacting user productivity and business revenue.

ThousandEyes has developed an innovative new technology that correlates different layers involved in the delivery of applications and pinpoints the source of a problem, whether it is inside or outside an organization. ThousandEyes also makes it easier for people in different places -- or even at different companies -- to work together to fix problems in real time through a built-in collaboration platform that enables issues to be resolved in minutes and eliminates finger-pointing.

May large-sized panel shipment surged 4 percent MoM on inventory replenishment and new model shipment

TAIWAN: According to the latest shipment report of WitsView , the display research division of the global intelligence provider TrendForce , the large-sized panel shipment in May 2013 reached 67.65 million units, surging 4 percent MoM.
 
As China’s subsidy policy ended, panel makers lowered prices in May to stuff shipments of specific sizes to certain clients to maintain the high utilization, especially the 32”. The LCD TV panel shipment increased 4.8 percent MoM in May to 20.35 million units, and the monitor panel shipment surged 5.3 percent to 14.58 million units as downstream brands’ orders heated up.

The 10.1” and above NB panel shipment attained 16.83 million units, growing 20% MoM, as brands lifted demands in response to the H2’13 new model launches. For the tablet panels, the shipment dropped to 15.88 million units, trimming 11 percent MoM, as the 7.9” panel shipment continuously declined and the demand in the white-box market eased.

WitsView’s research manager Jeffy Chen said that the sales during China’s May 1st holidays grew 18.1 percent from the same period last year, and the ending subsidy policy stirred consumption significantly, indicating the demand for LCD TVs has been brought out in advance and the risk China’s H2’13 LCD TV panel demand softens surges largely.

However, panel makers were encouraged by the evidently improving profits in Q1 and had to maintain the utilization elevated to lower costs and further drive up profitability. In addition, the continuously improving material costs and largely dropping yen would expectedly contribute to panel makers’ profitability, implying the demand turns soft and panel makers’ ability to endure panel price drops strengthens largely.

Chinese brands will slightly adjust panel procurement before the Oct. 1st Golden Week, driving down the panel shipments in June and July. Panel makers start to lower prices to secure shipment to ensure orders, significantly depressing panel prices and reflecting the demand in the second half of the year in advance.

Besides, the economic indicators show the sluggish 2013 economic outlook in main markets globally, and the excessively aggressive production strategy delays quarter by quarter the digestion of the inventory accumulated in the previous periods and postpones the demand-and-supply balance in the second half of this year.

Based on WitsView’s forecast, the June large-sized panel shipment grows 2-3 percent from May. The TV panel shipment drops 3-4% MoM, while the demand for the 7” and below tablets and smart phones heats up and constrains some IT panel capacities, especially the monitor panel is deeply impacted, declining 3-4 percent MoM. The NB panel shipment continues to surge 3 percent, and the demand for tablet panels grows more than 10 percent from May as all brands’ demands for panels increase.

BenQ intros 24” professional BL series ergonomic, flicker-free monitors

INDIA: BenQ announced the launch of its professional series monitor BL2411PT, tailor made for working professionals to deliver exceptional screen performance with minimized total cost of ownership and maximized staff productivity.

The 24inch monitor features 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio offering 1920x1200 maximum resolutions, reproduces 100% sRGB color, upgraded to eliminate flickering at all brightness levels through its – automatic eye protector sensor, anti- glare display, supported with Senseye Reading Mode.

Designed with Slim Bezel for Multiple Displays, touch control key and seamless DP connectivity, the monitor has a stand-by power consumption rate of 0.3W and Windows 8 and Windows 7 compatible.

Supported by the world’s third largest panel manufacturer in design, R&D and manufacturing of TFT-LCD, BenQ BL Series is designed keeping computer ergonomics in mind to add comfort and flexibility to your everyday work with boosting productivity and efficiency simultaneously.

Market for hard drives in video surveillance to hit billion-dollar mark by 2017

USA: The market for hard disk drives (HDDs) used in video surveillance will hit the billion-dollar level in less than five years, as safety concerns and the requirement for higher image quality spur demand for more data storage, according to a Storage Space Market Brief from information and analytics provider IHS.

Revenue for both internal and external HDDs in video-surveillance applications will rise from $638.7 million this year to $1 billion by 2017, a remarkable 57 percent increase. Growth this year alone is forecast to reach 23 percent from 2012 revenue of $521.1 million, and double-digit-percentage revenue expansion will ensue each year for the next four years.

The revenue figures translate to 7.3 million units in shipments by 2017, up from 2.4 million units in 2012 and a projected 3.5 million units this year.

“The HDD industry as a whole will reap the benefits of a fast-growing video surveillance industry that requires ample storage, with the need for higher-quality video, network connectivity and cloud storage also driving the market,” said Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at IHS. “At present, internal HDDs that combine storage capacity with the recording system in one unit have a larger market than external HDDs in which the drive is separate. Shipments of HDDs for internal storage were higher than those for HDDs in external storage during 2012—a feat that will be replicated this year.”

Products on the market today that use internal HDDs for video surveillance include internal direct attached storage (DAS), enterprise digital video recording (DVR), box appliance network video recorder (NVR) and PC-based network video recorders.

Next year, however, the tables get turned permanently as external storage HDD shipments take the lead. From a 48 percent share of the market in shipments last year of the total HDD space for video surveillance, external HDDs leap over internal HDDs in 2014 with a slight majority of 51 percent share of the market. And while internal HDDs continue to retain a viable portion of the market, external HDDs will keep gaining in the market with their share hitting approximately 54 percent by 2017.

Internal vs. external storage
While internal storage is a cost-effective way of storing video data, external storage boasts larger capacities that can be added flexibly to a system as the need arises.

External storage also has more versatile applications as it can be connected or viewed anywhere, such as in the cloud, where the potential for external storage is plentiful and abundant. The capability of external systems to scale and accommodate large amounts of video data is one reason why more hard disk drives will be needed in the coming years, pushing both shipments and revenues up. Another reason is that high-quality video itself will demand more storage space, which also will help boost HDD use in video surveillance.

All told, total HDD shipments for video surveillance will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29 percent from 2012 to 2017, with revenue likewise increasing at a lower but still-solid rate of 14 percent during the same period.

61 percent of small firms at risk through insecure iOS devices

USA: With more and more employees using their own devices to remain active and connected while out of the office, IT management has become more complicated than ever. Large organizations may enforce all sorts of systems on their employees, but among small businesses the situation is dire.

Among small business employees who use their iPhone to access work email, 37 percent don’t even have a basic passcode on their device (according to a survey of Soluto customers). Furthermore, most or all of the employees at 61 percent of small businesses with in-house IT, don’t have proper security settings configured on their iPhones (e.g. not allowing simple passcodes like “1234”).

The situation is even worse among small businesses that use an external IT services provider, where at 78 percent of them most or all the employees are lacking such proper security settings.

Soluto, maker of the popular IT management service used by millions, has introduced its iOS management solution for small businesses, allowing every small business IT and IT service provider to protect and improve the mobile device experience of their employees and co-workers. The new service enables remotely securing devices, wiping devices in case of theft, installing applications, configuring roaming settings and more.

National policies for protecting critical infrastructure to drive billions in cyber security spending

ENGLAND: Cyber security for critical infrastructures has become an issue of primary importance to nation states. Policy is playing an increasingly important role alongside the deployment of technical measures.

The cornerstone of implementing a viable digital society relies heavily on the concept of ensuring trust in the underlying infrastructure. Energy, telecoms, healthcare, and transport systems and other critical sectors are making use of Internet connectivity and next generation technologies to boost productivity and improve efficiency. Protecting these networks from cyber threats requires a national approach.

Governments have a duty to ensure the digital security of critical infrastructures. This requires accompanying technical efforts with policies in order to implement a coherent cyber security strategy across all sectors. From national defense through to water management, all connected networks require strategic planning and organization to achieve an acceptable level of cyber security.

Currently, few nation states are prepared to counter a full-scale cyber-attack on their critical infrastructure. And there is no doubt that online threat agents are growing in number and in skill.

Getmapping 2013 imagery of London now available

ENGLAND: Getmapping has released the most up to date aerial imagery of London captured during April 2013, before trees had fully developed their summer foliage.

The imagery covers all of central London and stretches out to cover the whole of the area within the M25. The imagery was captured at 10 cm resolution enabling identification of a multitude of street furniture features on the ground. This makes it ideal for use by local authority planners, blue light services, architects, engineers, asset managers and map makers.

London is one of the most surveyed cities in the World, a reflection of its importance as the capital city and the constant change that it undergoes. The Olympic Park for example is again undergoing major transition, moving on to the next stage of its evolution. All the imagery is captured in ‘stereo.’ This enables sophisticated post-capture processing to determine accurate building heights and provide the basis for accurate 3D modelling projects.

London imagery is in daily use by the Emergency Services and Local Authorities where it is used to reveal the true nature of the built and natural environment in conjunction with traditional maps. Aerial imagery is a vital component of command and control for incident mobilisation, crime investigation and analysis. Local authorities extensively use aerial photography to collect information to inform the planning process.

Much of this work used to require specific site surveys which can now be carried out without leaving the office. Armed with up to date imagery it is possible to check anything from a Tree Preservation Order to an illegally built extension.

$1.26 billion revenue from commercial fleet telematics in government sector by 2018

ENGLAND: ABI Research forecasts that the total revenue, comprising hardware shipments, and service subscriptions, for commercial fleet telematics in the government sector will increase from a total of $618 million at the end of 2012 to $1.26 billion globally by the end of 2018.

In the current economic climate, government and public sector agencies are under relentless pressure to reduce costs whilst at the same time maintain service levels, and are looking at ways of improving the utilization of their vehicle fleets and ensuring that these fleets comply with new regulatory and environmental legislation.

“The main market drivers behind the adoption of telematics in government fleets are government mandates designed, for example, to lower fuel consumption and gas emissions or to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles,” comments Gareth Owen, principal analyst at ABI Research.

The US government is promoting the adoption of telematics in federal vehicles by simplifying the purchasing process. Federal agencies can ‘add’ appropriate telematics solutions to vehicles leased from GSA Fleet—the vehicle leasing arm of the federal government—and add the cost of the telematics to their monthly leasing plan. Key providers with pre-qualified Blanket Purchase Agreements to offer services in this way include NetworkFleet, Trimble, and Drivecam. There are similar purchasing initiatives at state and local levels.

Telematics providers who have developed specialized applications to meet such requirements include Teletrac and Sprint (with partner Geotab) in the United States and Masternaut and Digicore (via its Ctrack brand) in Europe.

Vivante expands presence in Korean CE market

USA & SOUTH KOREA: Vivante Corp. announced it has retained mRukh, Inc. as its local technical representative to support its rapidly growing customer base in the Korean CE market.

With recent design wins with two of the major global Korean OEMs, the company strengthens local support and allows for further smartphone, tablet and TV market penetration.

"2013 has been a marquis year for Vivante, surpassing GC core shipments beyond 120 million units and powering products from many of the world's leading global manufacturers and expanding its local presence in leading markets like Korea," said Wei-Jin Dai, president and CEO of Vivante.

"By partnering with John Oh and his company mRukh, we can more effectively support our leading Korean CE OEMs customers and take another major step in our corporate growth strategy."

John and his team understand the details of Vivante's technologies and the challenging demands of GPU IP selection. With over 30 years of experience working for Samsung, MIPS, Quram, and others, John brings a combination of business and technical acumen to the table.

Entropic's MoCA 2.0 solution central to NETGEAR line of home networking gear

USA: Entropic announced that its Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) 2.0-based silicon and software powers the NETGEAR WM2500RP MoCA-to-WiFi extender, which boosts whole-home video and data coverage.

NETGEAR's MoCA-to-WiFi extender uses Entropic's EN2710 MoCA 2.0 silicon and software, which is the industry's most mature MoCA 2.0 solution.

The device delivers more than 400 Megabits per second (Mbps) of usable Medium Access Control (MAC) throughput; providing operators the wired backbone they need to distribute Ultra High-Definition (UHD) media and Internet bandwidth throughout the home -- seamlessly and reliably.

As with the success of MoCA 1.1 to enable whole-home DVR, MoCA 2.0 is the ideal networking solution to stream IP-based video to client set-top boxes throughout the home or to mobile devices.

New software simplifies data logging with NI CompactDAQ hardware

USA: National Instruments has announced Chameleon for NI CompactDAQ, a software package developed by NI Gold Alliance Partner PVI Systemsand available on the LabVIEW Tools Network, to create turnkey systems for NI data acquisition hardware that are simple and intuitive to set up and operate.

These scalable systems can span to a large number of channels, yet still be managed within a configuration-based environment without programming.

The combination of Chameleon and the NI CompactDAQ platform is ideal for a variety of structural test and monitoring applications, including pressure and strain measurements for jet engine testing, transportation shock load measurements, strain acquisition for vehicle-to-structure impact testing and vibration measurements for marine structures and aircraft.

Chameleon has a strong track record of success with military accounts, such as Northrop Grumman and Raytheon BBN Technologies.

Small businesses store valuable data, but are less prepared for data breach

USA: CSID, the global leader in identity protection and fraud detection technologies and solutions, recently conducted a survey to determine how small businesses under 100 employees are responding to the unique cyber security risks they face, what types of valuable data they store, and what challenges they face when it comes to implementing a plan for breach preparedness.

The survey results demonstrate a lack of action to protect against security risks, despite large amounts of personal employee and customer data being stored. Most notably, the survey revealed:

* Only 12 percent of small businesses have a data breach preparedness plan in place or are currently working on one.

* More than half (55 percent) of the small businesses surveyed store Social Security Numbers, 80 percent store email addresses and phone numbers, and 70 percent store home addresses for employees, customers and/or partners.

* Nearly 25 percent of small businesses stated that budget was a main obstacle for focusing on cyber security, while 43 percent of survey respondents were already comfortable with their current cyber security measures.

Are your printed materials cut from same cloth? Or shall we say paper?

USA:  Printing materials for marketing is something most businesses and organizations must do on a regular basis. In office spaces everywhere, it would not be uncommon to hear the phrase "find a printer" when it comes to getting important projects completed.

Some companies choose printers at random, while others may have a local printer whose services they utilize for specific projects. The most desired result from marketing efforts; however, is brand recognition. Therefore, utilizing services from one source, even when one has different printing projects they need completed, is often an important step for achieving this goal.

Using multiple printers for different projects can lead to lowered brand recognition because different providers use different products that may or may not gel well with one another when the finished materials are put on display. One's materials may end up looking like they each came from different companies, which is not helpful in unifying branding efforts.

Whether one needs post card printing, business card printing, magazine printing, brochure printing, or another printing service, it is good to rely on a one stop printing resource to get the job done. An online printing company like Print Pelican has multiple specialties and can ensure that consistency in quality and brand building features is seen with all finished materials.

China leads growth in LCD TV shipments in Q1’13

USA: Global LCD TV shipments grew 4 percent Y/Y in Q1’13 to 44.8 million sets, led by strong growth in China, according to the NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

The improved growth is largely the result of timing of the Chinese New Year; in 2013 the holiday fell in February, rather than in January, so TV shipments were skewed more into the first quarter, resulting in a strong 28 percent Y/Y increase in China.

“Excluding China, worldwide LCD TV growth was actually down almost 4 percent from to the previous year, demonstrating how important China has become to the global TV industry,” said Paul Gagnon, Director of Global TV Research for NPD DisplaySearch.

The growth of LCD TV shipments worldwide has not been strong enough to offset the decline in plasma and CRT TV shipments, particularly in emerging markets. Overall CRT TV shipments fell 57 percent in Q1’13.

While this decline in shipments has accelerated significantly during the last few quarters, LCD TV prices are still too high to be competitive with similar CRT TVs for Asia Pacific, Latin America, and other emerging regions. Plasma TV demand has declined as well, with all brands outside of China reporting decreased sales volume, as the category slowly winds down.

As Samsung continues to lead, TCL becomes first Chinese brand to reach top three
Samsung remained the top global flat-panel TV brand, on both a unit and revenue basis, and its global revenue share remained stable at about 28 percent. Samsung was the top-ranked manufacturer for both LCD and plasma TVs. LGE remained in the second-ranked position, but the company improved its revenue share to 16.6 percent of flat panel TVs, with revenue up 4 percent Y/Y.

TCL was the first Chinese TV brand to break into the top three on a revenue and unit basis, after entering the top five during Q4’12. This rise is the result both of the increased share that China has gained in the global market and of TCL’s strong share within China.

Although Sharp and Sony rounded out the top five brands on a revenue basis, all major Japanese brands lost market share compared to the previous year. Sony’s global flat-panel TV revenue share fell most sharply, from 9.1 percent a year ago, to 5.1 percent in Q1’13.

Visure Solutions delivers requirements management for complex and regulated systems

USA: Visure Solutions, the market leader in Requirements Management, will demonstrate the HP-certified integration of Visure Requirements with HP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)  at HP Discover in Las Vegas from June 11–13, 2013.

Visure Requirements  is a process-oriented architecture that enables organizations to deal with the increasing complexity and criticality of systems. Visure Requirements facilitates requirements gathering, analysis, and management  that aids communication and collaboration between business and IT departments to establish a reusability model for product variants. Its open architecture extends collaboration to other commercial databases and eases exchange of requirements information with other tools following standard formats.

“Organizations face increasing pressures to deliver quality products on time and within budget—a challenge that can seem insurmountable when tackling complex IT systems and software development,” said Joe Cisneros, CEO, Visure Solutions. “Requirements are the most critical element to help solve this challenge. With Visure’s integrated platform, organizations increase productivity and quality while reducing development costs and time to market.”

The integration between Visure Requirements and HP ALM  provides teams a seamless Requirements Engineering and Test Management platform where changes in the requirements and test phases are automatically synchronized and tracked to provide end-to-end bidirectional requirements traceability. Such transparency breaks down communications barriers, giving all stakeholders insight into requirements information, results, and comments of all players for problem resolution, project status, and change impact analysis.

Apple iOS and OS X updates put Bluetooth Smart Ready at center of accessory connectivity

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2013, USA: From its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple announced unprecedented integration of Bluetooth technology into its operating systems - a move that sets the bar for Bluetooth integration and benefits developers by simplifying the creation of apps and products relying on Bluetooth connectivity.

Apple revealed iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks will natively support the latest version of the Human Interface Device (HID) profile for Bluetooth Smart, Air Drop, which uses Bluetooth Smart technology to securely discover and connect devices for file sharing, and its Application State Preservation and Restoration services and Apple Notification Center Service for Bluetooth Smart accessories.

These updates show Apple’s commitment to building an OS for its developers that works seamlessly with Bluetooth Smart, giving them the freedom to focus on the design and functionality of their app rather than device integration and plumbing.

Apple highlighted the benefits of its updates in five main categories: Healthcare, Sports and Fitness, Security, Entertainment, and Proximity. The adoption of HID and Alert Notification Services will immediately benefit developers in the Security, Entertainment, and Proximity markets.
For Security, Apple called attention to partner companies like UniKey, Lockitron, and August for the work they are currently doing with Bluetooth Smart. A native implementation of the latest HID profile means consumers can expect ultra-power efficient Bluetooth Smart game controllers and keyboards to last years without changing batteries.

The inclusion of Application State Preservation and Restoration services makes it possible for developers to create apps that reliably run in the background, exchanging data with Bluetooth Smart peripherals without the need for user intervention. This enables a Bluetooth Smart device like a wearable health monitor to send data to an application on an iPhone or iPad without the user having to press any buttons or open up the application.

Ceiba leads tablet initiative with Intel and Microsoft

USA: As mobile technology infiltrates every aspect of the enterprise, end users and IT professionals in the life sciences are searching for powerful new ways to unite lab-oriented work with tablet technology.

To this end, Ceiba Solutions, Intel and Microsoft have come together with representatives from leading pharmaceutical companies to drive a fully integrated discussion about the mobile lab of the future. This unique collaboration is designed to identify tablet use cases in the laboratory R&D environment and provide solutions based on Intel-powered devices, the Microsoft Windows 8 operating system and Ceiba software.

The collaborative effort has kicked off with the distribution of Intel-powered devices to key early adopters in the pharma space to experiment with potential uses for tablets in the lab. The Windows 8 devices are pre-loaded with two mobile software products from Ceiba designed to streamline activities and expose greater data insights on projects.

Ceiba’s applications include:
* Helium, a self-service analytics tool that integrates various databases across an enterprise to present available data consistently and serve as a single source repository.
* Labtrack, a feature rich portal that provides users with the power to manage lab equipment maintenance.

Wibu-Systems integrates CodeMeter in smart factories

GERMANY: At the Hannover Messe 2013 Wibu-Systems has shown with its security solution CodeMeter how to effectively protect production processes in the Age of Industry 4.0.

Within the framework of the BMBF project RES-COM, a mobile demonstration plant for the factory of the future has been developed. Named "SmartFactoryKL" by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH), it has been equipped with CodeMeter as the security component meant at protecting the transport algorithms.

The SD card form factor of CodeMeter, namely "CmCard/SD", is plugged into the smart and mobile carrier that transports the product across the different manufacturing workstations. Upon removing the CmCard/SD, the mobile workpiece stops and the production process interrupts for safety reasons.

The CmCard/SD contains two components: the CodeMeter functions which are enabled through a smart card chip, and an industrial flash memory that holds the boot image of an operating system or configuration data. For encryption, decryption and electronic signature operations, algorithms such as AES 128, RSA 2048 and ECC 224 are used.

The increasing interconnectivity of machinery, plant and equipment in production requires special security mechanisms. Wibu-Systems has expanded its CodeMeter technology in view of the Industry 4.0 needs. It includes in fact embedded software protection from copy and reverse engineering, through the encryption of source code.

In addition, the electronic signature of code and a certificate verification chain allow CodeMeter to protect the individual machines from tampering. Furthermore, digital authentication certificates can be stored in the protected memory of the security hardware.

The CodeMeter product family has become a complete platform that, through a hardware device, i.e. a USB dongle, SD card, micro SD card, CF card, prevents production deviations in volume and quality. All available form factors from Wibu-Systems are suitable for the factory life; they have in fact been certified to withstand ample temperature and humidity ranges, be fully operative even in case of strong electric and magnetic fields, and easily retrofitting into existing systems.

Q2 global LCD TV shipment growth barely passable

TAIWAN: According to the latest“global LCD TV brands’shipment report” and “quarterly downstream report” released by WitsView, the display research division of the global market intelligence provider TrendForce, the 2013 LCD TV shipment is revised down to 208.8 million units from earlier-projected 215.5 million units, seeing an only 1.1 percent growth YoY.

Overall, the Q1 global LCD TV shipment was 45.2 million units, dropping 26.7 percent QoQ, and the Q2 shipment is expected to surge around 5-6 percent QoQ and grow slightly 2.5 percent from the same period last year.

The H1’13 shipment performance is only can be described as barely satisfactory. Looking ahead to the traditional peak season in H2’13, the LCD TV shipment growths for Q3 and Q4 will be 10-12 percent and 15-17 percent, respectively.

WitsView research director Burrell Liu said that the reasons for the waning set demands are:

1. unclear global economic outlook, especially for the European market; 2. ending subsidy policy in China;
3. Japanese brands try to boost profits instead of market shares;
4. the demand for the large sizes grows, leading to drops in set shipments and surges in shipment area”

Chinese brands’ Q1 shipment continued to grow, TCL and Hisense landed as the worldwide No.3 and No.4, while No.7 Skyworth was challenging the No.6 place. With the support of China’s subsidy policy, the LED LCD TV penetration rate is expected to reach 91.4 percent for entire 2013, while that for 3D is 26.4 percent.

In view of sizes, the 39”and above will account for 52.7 percent of the market in 2013, growing 12 percent from 2012. The proportion for the 50”and above will rise 5.8 percent to 12.8 percent as large-sized TVs gain traction among clients.

Besides, Korean brands’ 2013 shipment growth is around 8.5 percent with a market share of 35 percent, which reached 33.3 percent in Q1. The annual growth for China's top six brands comes to 8.5 percent and their market share grows to 26.7 percent, attaining 28 percent in Q1.

Japanese brands’ market share continue to decline, with the annual growth expectedly trimming 9-10 percent, market share dipping to 19.5 percent for entire year, and Q1 market share attaining at 18.8 percent.

Korean brands’ use proportion of in-house panels attained 72.3 percent in Q1 and the procurement proportion from Taiwanese makers was 14.7 percent, that from Chinese makers was 9.2 percent, and that from Japanese makers was 3.8 percent.

Korean brands are expected to use Sharp’s panels from Q2. Japanese brands’ procurement proportion from Korean makers reached 55.8 percent, that from Taiwanese makers was 43.7 percent. Chinese brands’ procurement proportion from Taiwanese makers reached 47.6 percent, that from Korean makers was 31.5 percent, and that from domestic makers was 20 percent.

WitsView indicates that the path to global economic recovery is rough, damping the growth in demands, besides, the dropping of China’s energy-saving subsidy policy adds uncertainties to the peak season in the second half of the year.

Currently, the demand-and-supply situation of panels is loosening, and brands maintain a healthy level of inventory after the continuous inventory adjustment in Q1. Downstream clients hold advantages as their bargain power surges when they face panel makers with aggressive attitude on shipments and high utilizations.

Kingston joins Open Data Center Alliance

USA: Kingston Technology Co. Inc. has joined the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), an independent consortium comprised of global IT leaders working together to define and deliver a unified set of common standards and the highest level of interoperability for data centers and cloud computing.

Founded in 2010, the ODCA is made up of over 300 worldwide member companies, representing over $100B in annual IT spending. The consortium is led by senior IT executives from some of the world’s most recognized organizations including BMW, China Unicom, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, Terremark, Disney Technology Solutions and Services and UBS.

“ODCA is the global organization where hundreds of IT experts from around the world are working together to develop requirements for enterprise cloud and big data implementations that are open, interoperable and secure,” said Marvin Wheeler, executive director, Open Data Center Alliance. “We welcome the expertise Kingston brings to ODCA as a solutions provider member and as a sponsor contributing to the success of Forecast 2013.”

HPC server market grows 5.3 percent in Q1 of 2013

USA: Worldwide factory revenue for the high performance computing (HPC) technical server market increased 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13) to reach $2.5 billion, up from $2.4 billion in the same period of 2012, according to the newly released International Data Corp. (IDC) Worldwide High-Performance Technical Server QView.

Shipments of 33,511 units in 1Q13 jumped 16.4 percent from the prior-year first quarter, primarily due to increased sales in the Departmental, Divisional, and Workgroup segments.

Revenues for the high-end Supercomputers segment (systems sold for $500,000 and up) declined to $861 million in 1Q13, a -10.9 percent drop year over year. Overall, 2012 was an exceptionally strong year for the Supercomputers segment, which grew 29.6 percent over full-year 2011 due to the acceptance of several very large supercomputers. IDC anticipates that through the rest of 2013, the Supercomputers segment will see increased growth driven by the acceptance of additional large systems across the world.

Last year, IDC said it expected the Divisional, Departmental, and Workgroup segments to rebound as the global economy recovered. Revenue numbers reported by major vendors confirmed that this rebound was under way in 1Q13. IDC corroborated the vendor-reported trend with global field research.

In the first quarter, the Divisional segment for HPC systems (priced from $250,000 to $499,000) grew 21.3 percent over the prior-year first quarter, while revenues for Departmental systems (priced $100,000 to $249,000) expanded 10.8 percent year over year and Workgroup revenues (systems priced below $100,000) advanced 15.6 percent over the first quarter of 2012.

EMCORE intros 4K ultra HD ready optical extension cards

USA: EMCORE Corp. has introduced the Opticomm-EMCORE OTP-1DVI2A1UKM 4K Ultra HD Ready Optical Extension Cards for the Professional Audio/Visual (Pro AV) and Broadcast markets.

These new 1080p Ultra HD video cards with Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) extension will be demonstrated at InfoComm 2013, June 12-14 in booth 3525 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

The OTP-1DVI2A1UKM was designed to quickly convert, scale and send secure HD video and audio over fiber within government, or commercial facilities that require the highest-quality video to be displayed. This transmitter/receiver pair is ideal for applications such as large multi-screens, JumboTron, digital signage, VIP suite broadcasting, medical imaging, movie editing, drafting, animation and secure video conferencing.

They transcode DVI to and from VGA / RGB / RBGHV / YPbPr with EMCORE's proprietary Intelli-scale technology and can instantly scale to the native resolution of any display up to 1920x1200, all in a compact one-slot transmitter/receiver. The OTP-1DVI2A1UKM provides seamless transmission of DVI, VGA or component video, audio over fiber and analog stereo audio, plus provides USB KVM for control of peripherals over long or short distances from 0.5 to 25 km.

Power-One announces open-frame products for industrial and medical apps

USA: Power-One Inc. announced the expansion of ABC and MBC families of open-frame products, adding 10 new models to the portfolio.

The ABC family of industrial open-frame power supplies is now available from 40W to 400W and offers high convection ratings and industry-leading power density. With single and multiple output voltages ranging from 5 to 48Vdc, the ABC products cover a wide variety of applications targeted for process control, factory automation, test and measurement, and other Industrial markets.

The MBC family of medical open-frame power supplies is now available from 40W to 300W and offers 3rd edition medical approvals and 2xMOPP isolation. The broad offering includes class 1 and class 2 models and are ideal for drug pumps, ultrasound equipment, monitoring equipment, home health-care equipment, and many more medical applications.

Vidyo selected by CERN to connect 20,000 scientists

USA: Vidyo Inc. announced it was selected by CERN to support global, large-scale, real-time collaborative video conferencing among a community of 20,000 scientists from over 600 institutes collaborating with the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

CERN’s Vidyo infrastructure has the scalability and capacity to hold collaboration sessions with hundreds of participants in a single video conference. Scientists around the world use Vidyo’s products to collaborate on Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments, whose research includes the study of the Higgs boson.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centers for scientific research. On any given day, 3000 CERN-related video connections may occur over Vidyo; some of the meetings are hosting hundreds of users in a single call joining from a variety of personal desktops, mobile devices and room systems.

The infrastructure is also being used by more than 300 H.323 room systems either at CERN or in partner institutes. With peaks of up to 750 concurrent users, the traffic is spread over 20 servers worldwide that automatically cascade to enable network efficient mega conferences in one of the largest private Vidyo conferencing deployments in the world.

Seagate NAS storage delivers industry’s highest capacity and best performance

USA: Seagate Technology took the wraps off its new Seagate NAS HDD – a cutting-edge drive custom-built for always-on, one- to five-bay network attached storage (NAS) systems.

Engineered with performance and reliability in mind, the new drives are available in multiple capacity points including a 4TB option – the industry’s highest capacity NAS hard disk drive (HDD) solution available – and strong industry support from nine NAS system partners.

“Today about 50 percent of NAS arrays are sold diskless meaning that customers are challenged with identifying and installing the right storage for their system. By developing a drive like NAS HDD, we’ve taken the guesswork out of it and made it easy for customers to identify the right drive for their system,” said Scott Horn, Seagate VP of marketing. “By collaborating closely with a variety of partners who specialize in NAS systems, we’re making what was a confusing effort into a plug-and-play one.”

Featuring up to 4TB of storage the drive now enables NAS systems, such as those utilized in homes and small to midsize businesses (SMB), to provide up to 20TB of data in a five-bay NAS array. And with over 30 percent capacity improvement over competitive offerings, the NAS HDD 4TB drive delivers the highest capacity available on the market.

Cost effective drives built specifically for NAS solutions, the 4TB option has the capacity to store over 819,000 photos, 1 million songs or nearly 500 hours of high-definition (HD) video content – more than enough space for the average household.  It is also ideal for small businesses with large enough capacities to support CAD files, medical images and databases.

iFrogz Advantage mobile gaming controller compatible with Apple iOS 7 API

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2013, USA: The Caliber Advantage from iFrogz, a ZAGG Inc brand (NASDAQ: ZAGG), is a combination mobile gaming controller and protective case for Apple devices that incorporates the newly announced iOS 7.

Unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference, the iOS 7 Game Controller API (Application Program Interface) will allow both large and independent developers to utilize standard access to game controller functionality on Apple’s portfolio of mobile devices, including the iPhone 5.

Previewed at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Caliber Advantage was created to address growing demand for the ability to develop and play more immersive games on Apple’s operating system, iOS, and will soon be able to give gamers and developers full console-style gaming in the palm of their hand.

Compatible with the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch, the Caliber Advantage provides 360-degree motion control with viewing options in both portrait and landscape position. Gaming action is made possible through left and right slide-out analog controls that feature responsive keys for an accurate, high-quality gaming experience. Available this fall for $59.99, the Caliber Advantage will also feature an integrated lithium polymer battery offering 10-12 hours of continuous play without the need for a charge.

VESA announces first DisplayPort authorized test center in Japan

USA: The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA has announced Allion Japan Inc. has been approved to offer compliance testing for the DisplayPort standard.

With this approval, Allion becomes the first DisplayPort authorized test center (ATC) in Japan, and the tenth DisplayPort ATC worldwide, further expanding compliance testing of the standard globally.

VESA’s DisplayPort standard is the new digital video interface being widely adopted by personal computers, mobile devices, and displays. It is a high-bandwidth video interface that enables features not available with other electronic connections, delivering true digital imaging and audio through a single cable. DisplayPort is the only video interface that supports multiple displays and Ultra HD (4K) at 60 frames per second from a single video output.

With the introduction of DisplayPort testing service to its Japan lab's service portfolio, Allion now has four VESA authorized DisplayPort world-wide test centers. Allion opened the first authorized DisplayPort test center in Taiwan in 2008.

Protochips ships 100th in situ electron microscopy system

USA: Protochips, maker of in situ electron microscopy, shipped its 100th system: a Double Tilt Aduro 300 was sent to Dr. David Muller, co-director, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. Muller uses the system to further his research on ferroelectric materials.

“This is our second system from Protochips after our productive experiences with the Poseidon Electrochemistry system,” Muller said. “The image stability and resulting resolution is unparalleled.”

In addition to image and data quality, researchers appreciate that the Aduro and Poseidon technologies allow imaging in real time at temperatures up to 1200 C. Protochips’ technology now enables scientists to complete real-time, dynamic thermal studies at extremely high resolutions up to the atomic level, which solves two problems:

Plasma-Therm and Smoltek commit to carbon-based technology development

USA & SWEDEB: Plasma-Therm and Smoltek have entered a partnership to develop carbon-based growth and device technologies.

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) have been demonstrated as having applications for micro-bumps, enhanced thermal interface material and layer-to-layer micro-vias. Each of these applications addresses important needs in evolving semiconductor chip fabrication and packaging, provides specific advantages over existing technologies, and is CMOS-process compatible.

New applications such as CNF-enhanced electrodes for supercapacitors, on-chip signal filtering capacitors, and antireflective films for optical uses are also emerging as the CNF technology develops.

Over the last eight years Smoltek has built a strong IP portfolio available for licensing, providing a platform technology to enable controlled growth of substrate-based nanostructures and their related implementation in devices. By joining with Plasma-Therm, a leading semiconductor plasma processing equipment supplier, R&D efforts will accelerate, and more importantly, begin transferring the technology to an industrial platform.

Abdul Lateef, Plasma-Therm CEO, noted: “This relationship provides an important integration step that links fundamental material science and device-related structures with an accepted plasma processing platform. We are excited to make this investment and commitment in a technology that has such capability to change our industry.”

“Working closely at this stage with an equipment supplier is an industrial confirmation of our IPs and enables us to continue to secure development contracts with existing and new customers,” commented
Anders Johansson, Smoltek CEO. “Our CNF-based technology has the potential to open our participation in a variety of very large markets. Having the appropriate processing hardware in this phase is highly valuable.”

Bloom.fm responds to Apple's iTunes Radio announcement

UK: With the recent announcement of Apple's iRadio service, Bloom.fm, the world's first £1 a month music subscription service responds with CEO and co-founder Oleg Fomenko's thoughts:

"After listening to this evening’s much anticipated launch of Apple’s new iTunes Radio service, here are a few thoughts on what it really means for our industry and UK consumers.

"We all love Apple; their devices are amazing and they have changed the way we all think about and interact with the digital world. What they have achieved through creating a vibrant & successful music download market through iTunes is also to be hugely admired. However, is iTunes Radio really going to be a game-changer?

"Streaming radio is not a new concept and, as expected, it’s an ad-funded model. Apple’s vast user-base will undoubtedly guarantee healthy traffic and as such the service will be an attractive proposition for advertisers, but will this create significant and sustainable revenue for rights holders and artists? We’ve heard talk of the major labels securing attractive deals and healthy revenue shares from Apple but the stand-alone viability of an ad-funded model still remains to be proven.

"Everyone agrees that the £1 per download model is in-decline and that £10 per month streaming subscriptions have failed to gain mass-market traction. Streaming radio, expensive on demand subscriptions and paid for downloads do not reflect how people consume music today. They want total control over what they listen to at an affordable price. The combination of restricted streaming radios and paid for downloads doesn’t satisfy this need, neither does the standard £10 per month on-demand services.

"Apple has avoided the potential cannibalization of its iTunes sales with this new offering. iTunes Radio might well be a useful tool to maintain iTunes download volumes but there is nothing new for consumers here. This is all about selling more downloads and more devices, which is perfectly fine but let’s not kid ourselves that it will change consumer habits or the fortunes of the industry.

"The £1 per track download model has driven many to music piracy and a reliance on free on-demand sources of music like YouTube. We believe that owning music is actually an inconvenience and we want to get more people paying for music again. For £1 on Bloom.fm you can get our entry-level monthly subscription, which gives you access to 20 songs of your choice, to enjoy and swap when you fancy something new. It’s a much more natural way to enjoy music.

"On a positive note Apple’s marketing muscle will raise the visibility of streaming radio and although it is not introducing anything new, we welcome the role it will play in education. It looks like the true innovation in digital music will have to continue coming from young companies that don’t have a legacy business to protect. At Bloom.fm we’re focused purely on giving music fans the best possible music experience on their phone and creating an attractive proposition for mass-market consumers, rights owners and artists."

Sagemcom joins MoCA

USA: International set-top box and broadband gateways vendor Sagemcom has joined MoCA as an Associate member.

As a global player and European leader servicing over 50 operators worldwide, Sagemcom offers an extensive range of solutions: Digital STBs and DVR for all transmission media, xDSL/FTTH/cable gateways and multimedia home gateways.

"Integrating MoCA into our products will enable service providers to deliver a highly reliable in-home backbone for extending and enhancing existing Wi-Fi networks and providing the Quality of Experience that
consumers have come to expect. With a MoCA-based network, consumers can move an ever-expanding range of media content around the home quickly and easily," said Ahmed Selmani, Deputy CEO of Sagemcom Broadband.

"Their strong heritage in in-home Triple Play distribution and increasing reach in EMEA, South America and North America, makes Sagemcom a natural fit for MoCA as the world's service operators recognize MoCA technology as an important component in their connected home strategies," said Charles Cerino, MoCA president.

MoCA technology supports multiple streams of video-based content, including HDTV, 3D, gaming, and OTT - via an IP-over-coax connection to numerous in-home devices, including HDTVs, game consoles and PCs. MoCA is included in the DLNA stack and IEEE 1905.1 specification.

Visitors packed floors of COMPUTEX TAIPEI!

TAIWAN: For five incredible days, visitors experienced the future of ICT at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013. Being the strength behind COMPUTEX TAIPEI, visitors once again proved COMPUTEX TAIPEI to be the best platform for ICT procurement.

This year, COMPUTEX TAIPEI attracted 38,300 international buyers from 173 countries, a 6 percent growth. The top 10 nations ranked are Japan, USA, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Germany.

There were notable increases in visitors from Indonesia (46.4 percent growth from last year) and UAE (36.5 percent growth). It is estimated the total visitor count for all five days will reach over 130,000.

By region, more than 60 percent of visitors came from Asia and about a quarter of them came from Europe and North America.

Highlights of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 
Hot topic of cloud technology and services were a highlight at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013. Acer presented its personal cloud storage system - Orbe; WD launched its 5mm super thin hard drive; and as for MiTAC, high performance computing server.

As for mobile communications trend, top Taiwanese maker, Acer, premiered industry’s first 8-Inch Windows 8 tablet. The Acer Iconia W3 is the only tablet pre-installed with Microsoft Office. Acer also announced its first phablet with a large 5.7" HD screen and the launch of the new 13.3" Aspire S3 Ultrabook. Gigabyte presented its P35K light and thin gaming notebook. And for the very first time, MiTAC presented the smart watch that enhances healthier and smarter lifestyles.

ASUS spot-lighted its touch applications. Launched products include Transformer Book Trio, FonePad Note FHD 6 and VivoOunse which combines wireless mouse with touch panel.

Intel presented the all new Haswell CPU while Microsoft gave a peep preview of its Windows 8.1 and Nvidia showcased a series of GeForce graphic cards.

FORUMS for the ICT future
This five-day show featured 162 speeches and forums on the latest and future ICT trends. In total, 11,340 people attended these forums and conferences.

The outstanding line up of the SUMMIT FORUM include Steve Mollenkopf, president and COO of Qualcomm; Benjamin Ho, CMO of HTC; Ian Drew, CMO of ARM; Arun Bhikshesvaran, CMO of Ericsson; and Been-Jon Woo, senior director of TSMC put on great presentations on Jumping Generations - Visionary Technology for the Future. This session alone attracted more than 550 attendees, including Dr. Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC.

Other industry forums were led by top executives from ARM, eBay, Ford, Groupon, IBM, Intel, Oracle and NXP with hot topics such as cloud, M-commerce and smart living.

Top innovations @ COMPUTEX TAIPEI d&i awards pavilions
The top of the top most coveted awards are the COMPUTEX d&I gold awards. A total of 5 companies were awarded: ASUSTEK Computer Inc for its TAICHI Ultrabook with dual screens; Conary Enterprise for its iPin laser presenter mobile accessory; HTC for the NEW HTC ONE smartphone; OAXIS Holdings for the OAXIS LOOP android TV box; and Silverstone Technology Co. for the Air Penetrator AP123 computer fan.

Other winning products include a wireless hard disc drive by ASUS, mobile scanner by Avision Inc. and Pebble - the Smart Watch by Foxlink. More awards winners included POS terminals and systems as well as accessories.

A total of 90 winning products were chosen for the awards from 250 product entries. The growing recognition for the Awards attracted more than 20,000 visitors to COMPUTEX TAIPEI d&i awards pavilions displayed at NANGANG Exhibition Hall and TICC during the show.

With added success and growth of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013, even more new innovations will unfold from June 3-7 at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2014.

Event cinema market takes off in Europe

USA: Enabled by digital projection technology, non-film programming such as opera and ballet increasingly is being shown on movie screens in Europe and around the world, driving the growth of a lively market for alternative content or event cinema (EC), according to an IHS Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Report.

Across Europe, opera was the genre most heavily dominant on cinema screens in 2012, averaging 36.7 percent of all event cinema performances in a sample covering eight countries, as seen in the attached figure.

“The market for non-film content in cinema has developed as the digitization of cinemas has progressed,” said David Hancock, senior principal analyst for Cinema at IHS. “Globally 78 percent of screens are now digitized, and digital cinema projectors are able to show a wide range of content previously not possible with the 35-millimeter format. The new event market aims to help fill cinemas in off-peak times and make the business model more efficient.”

Cultural cinema
Big cultural brands such as the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet and the UK’s Royal Opera House still tend to drive content for the event cinema space, but the type of content and the institutions interested in this particular revenue window are expanding.

For example, a new type of event will appear in cinemas in June this year, with the British Museum coordinating a show on the ancient city of Pompeii and its destruction, to be screened live into a planned 250 movie theaters. And in another sign that the sector is maturing, the market now even has its own trade body in the form of the Event Cinema Association, a forum for discussion and a lobbyist for issues unique to the event cinema industry.

The highest-grossing event cinema show in Europe to date is a concert by French comedienne Florence Foresti, which attracted 87,000 visitors and grossed 1.2 million euros.

Live events are in the minority in most markets compared to recorded—live in Russia takes up only 20.0 percent—compared to the growing number year-on-year for recorded in many places.

Nonetheless, a business model seems to exist for both types. Live events fit into the whole notion of an “event,” a one-off special driven by scarcity and a shared temporal experience. On the other hand, the motivation and business model for recorded is fueled more by cinema exhibitors and the flexibility of programming that digital allows.

Cultural cornucopia
At its peak, opera made up 56.9 percent of the shows in Russia, while at its lowest accounted for 24 percent in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, ballet represented 13 percent as an average in all countries, and was especially strong in France at 24 percent.

At the other end of the cultural continuum, popular music took an average of 11.3 percent, peaking at 17.1 percent for the Dutch market. Classical music, in comparison, is far less prevalent, making up only 5.0 percent across all territories. Theatre as a genre is hit-or-miss at the moment with an average of 7 percent of events across Europe, but not available at all in two of the eight countries covered.

The United Kingdom was the most advanced event cinema market in Europe, with 131 shows screened in UK cinemas last year, up from 109 events in 2011; estimated gross revenue for the events amounted in 2012 to £12.5 million (about $19.1 million). After the UK, the Netherlands was the most active European market with 129 events; followed by Ireland with 87. Other European markets within the sample included France, Russia, Germany/Austria and Sweden, each with more than 35 screened events in 2012.

All told, the data is the first presented for a range of European countries outside of the UK.

Including Europe, event cinema is now available in well over 50 countries globally, present also in such countries like the United States, Japan, Israel and Mexico.

electronica India and productronica India to take place from Sept. 4-6 2013

INDIA: Alternating between North and South India each year, the 14th edition of India’s leading trade fairs on electronics components and production technology takes place in New Delhi in 2013.

The second edition of Surface Mount and Light Emitting Diodes conference (SMALED), powered by industry leaders will take place concurrently with the trade fairs.

Besides this, conferences on LED technologies, automotive electronics, SMT and EMS will provide the industry with a platform to interact between buyers and users, also providing visitors the latest information on the industry trends.

The current edition of electronica India will have participation from industry leaders and visionaries from electronic components segment. Key players like Brady Corp, Chugai, Componix, Diotec, Epitome, Fairchild, , Giantlok, Hirose, Inde, Jergens, Millenium, Naina Semi, Onyx,  , Rohm, RS Components,  STMicro,  Semikron, Syratron, Seoul Semiconductor, Unified and others will present their latest technologies and product solutions.

As the industry’s most important gathering, productronica India will take visitors into future technologies, industry trends and rapidly growing markets. It will display cutting-edge technologies in cable processing, dispenser, EMS, materials, SMT, coil winding, ESD, clean room, test and measurement  and component manufacturing and more.

Global leading players and local pioneers such as ASYS, Bergen Systems, Bergen Associates, EMST, Essemtec, Frontline, Fuji, iNETest,  ITO Precision, IMC, Leaptech, Kaynes, Komax, MyData, Maxim SMT, NMTronics, Sumitron, Transtec, Weller and others will be presenting their latest products.

ACCESS, Entropic to enable US cable operators to meet FCC IP connectivity mandate

GERMANY & USA: ACCESS Co. Ltd, a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, today announced it is integrating its Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) Technology Component and HTML5 Browser software solution with the latest set-top box (STB) chipset solution from Entropic, a world leader in semiconductor solutions for the connected home.

This collaboration will enable cable operators to meet the FCC mandate for cable STBs to include an industry-standard IP interface port, and provide DLNA Commercial Video Profile (CVP) functionality.

ACCESS and Entropic cooperated to develop a complete, robust and fully hardware-accelerated Premium Video and HTML5 solution, running on Entropic's EN7588 high-performance STB System-on-a-Chip (SoC) platform. ACCESS' NetFront Living Connect DLNA software combined with its NetFront Browser NX 3.0 HTML5 software enables operators and device manufactures to quickly implement compelling STB-centric services that can support DLNA guidelines on consumer electronic (CE) devices.

Additionally, with hardware acceleration, the solution achieved more than six-fold performance improvement by leveraging Entropic's dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor with NEON extension.

INSIDE Secure and CPI Card Group announce Mastercard M/Chip Advance in US

FRANCE & USA: INSIDE Secure and CPI Card Group (CPI) announced that two new jointly developed M/Chip Advance EMV card products have been approved by MasterCard.

The two products offer capabilities specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of the US market. In support of issuers wishing to use these products, Datacard Group is offering complete turnkey hardware and software personalization solutions, as well as personalization scripts.

EMV is a standard for globally interoperable secure payments, and its coming deployment in the US represents a significant move towards an enhanced payment ecosystem.

FEI and University of Oklahoma begin collaboration research agreement

USA: FEI and University of Oklahoma (OU) have commenced a research collaboration agreement to establish an oil and gas center of excellence, the "FEI-OU Pore Scale Characterization Laboratory," at the OU Mewborne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering (MPGE).

The research will focus on the development of routine quantitative methods to classify shales in the economic assessment of tight oil and gas plays. Through the collaboration FEI seeks to further develop its position as the leading supplier of high-resolution imaging solutions to the oil and gas industry by better defining and expanding its role in the characterization of unconventional reservoirs.

The collaboration agreement includes FEI's Helios NanoLab 650 DualBeam and QEMSCAN automated mineralogy tool. The DualBeam uses a scanning electron microscope (SEM), to provide high-resolution
imaging, and a focused ion beam (FIB), to remove thin slices of the sample, allowing the reconstruction of a high-resolution 3D model of the pore network.

The QEMSCAN combines SEM and X-ray spectrometry to automatically analyze mineral content, lithology (rock type), and various other petrographic characteristics.

Vicor accelerates business growth in India

USA & INDIA: Vicor Corp. announced the strategic expansion of its sales and support network in India via a partnership with leading sales representative CoreEL Technologies and the opening of a Vicor Technical Support Center in Bangalore.

With these initiatives, Vicor is making a significant investment in the high-growth Indian market and strengthening its relationships with customers and distributors across key regions of the country.

CoreEL Technologies, a leading provider of technical design and support services in India, will represent Vicor via local offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune. Distinguished for its role as a key regional representative for premier semiconductor companies including Xilinx and Cavium, CoreEL gives Vicor greater access to the burgeoning communications infrastructure market in India.

CoreEL will work closely with Vicor's distributors in India -- Future Electronics, SM Creative and Powertec -- to facilitate end-to-end sales and technical support that meets local customers' unique power management requirements, from AC to the point of load.

Further expanding its business presence in India, Vicor has also opened a new Technical Support Center in Bangalore. The new office is designed to provide expert technical counsel and support to key customers in the region.

Vicor's resident power management architects can help system designers achieve new levels of power system efficiency and density utilizing Vicor's full portfolio of power solutions, including its forthcoming line of ultra high density Converter housed in Package (ChiP)-based components.

Lockheed Martin completes functional testing of first GPS III satellite bus electronic systems

USA: A Lockheed Martin-led industry team has completed successful functional integration tests of the spacecraft bus and network communications equipment on the first satellite of the next generation Global Positioning System, known as GPS III.

The recent testing of GPS III space vehicle 1 (SV 1) bus – the portion of the space vehicle that carries mission payloads and hosts them in orbit – assured that all bus subsystems are functioning normally and ready for final integration with the satellite's navigation payload.

Systems tested included: guidance, navigation and control; command & data handling; on-board computer and flight software; environmental controls; and electrical power regulation.  The SV 1 satellite's network communication equipment subsystem that interfaces with the ground control segment and distributes data throughout the space vehicle also passed all tests as expected.

This milestone follows February's successful initial power-on of SV 1, which demonstrated the electrical-mechanical integration, validated the satellite's interfaces and led the way for functional and hardware-software integration testing.

GPS III SV 1's navigation payload, which is being produced by ITT Exelis, will be delivered to Lockheed Martin's GPS Processing Facility (GPF) near Denver later in 2013. The hosted nuclear detection system payload has already been delivered and mechanically integrated.  The satellite remains on schedule for flight-ready delivery to the U.S. Air Force in 2014.

GPS III is a critically important program for the Air Force, affordably replacing aging GPS satellites in orbit, while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users. GPS III satellites will deliver three times better accuracy and – to outpace growing global threats that could disrupt GPS service – up to eight times improved anti-jamming signal power for additional resiliency. The GPS III will also include enhancements adding to the spacecraft's design life and a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems.

Lockheed Martin is currently under contract for production of the first four GPS III satellites

Flexible display market to reach nearly 800 million unit shipments by 2020

USA: Demand for flexible displays is set to undergo massive growth during the next seven years, with a broad variety of applications—ranging from smartphones to giant screens mounted on buildings—driving a nearly 250 times expansion in shipments from 2013 through 2020.

Global shipments of flexible displays are projected to soar to 792 million units in 2020, up from 3.2 million in 2013, according to a new IHS report entitled “Flexible Display Technology and Market Forecast.” Market revenue will rise to $41.3 billion, up from just $100,000 during the same period.

“Flexible displays hold enormous potential, creating whole new classes of products and enabling exciting new applications that were impractical or impossible before,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, director for mobile and emerging displays and technology at IHS. “From smartphones with displays that curve around the sides, to smart watches with wraparound screens, to tablets and PCs with roll-out displays, to giant video advertisements on curved building walls, the potential uses for flexible displays will be limited only by the imagination of designers.”

Generation flex
IHS classifies flexible displays into four generations of technology. The first generation is the durable display panels that are now entering the market. These panels employ a flexible substrate to attain superior thinness and unbreakable ruggedness. However, these displays are flat and cannot be bent or rolled.

Second-generation flexible displays are bendable and conformable, and can be molded to curved surfaces, maximizing space on small form-factor products like smartphones.

The third generation consists of truly flexible and rollable displays that can be manipulated by end users. These displays will enable a new generation of devices that save space and blur the lines separating traditional product categories, such as smartphones and media tablets.

The fourth generation consists of disposable displays that cost so little that they can serve as a replacement for paper.

Starting small
With their thin, light and unbreakable nature, flexible displays initially are expected to be used in smaller-sized products, such as mobile phones and MP3 players. However, once large-size displays are available, flexible technology will be used in bigger screen-size platforms, such as laptops, monitors and televisions.

The largest application for flexible displays during the next several years will be personal electronic devices. This segment will be led by smartphones, with shipments climbing to 351 million units by 2020, up from less than 2 million this year.

Flexible stars at SID
Flexible displays were a major topic at the Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week event in Vancouver in May.

During an SID keynote address, Kinam Kim, president and CEO of Samsung Display Co., discussed his company’s flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology. Kim said that the technology will be suitable for wearable electronics devices like Google Glass.

Also at SID, LG Display showed a 5-inch OLED panel constructed out of plastic that was both flexible and unbreakable.

Furthermore, Corning at SID showed its Willow Glass, which can be used as with both OLEDs and liquid-crystal displays (LCD) in mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets and notebook PCs. Because of its thinness, strength and flexibility, Willow Glass could enable future displays to be wrapped around a device or a structure.

IHS predicts OLEDs will be the leading flexible display technology during every year for the foreseeable future, accounting for 64 percent of shipments in 2020.

Research brings new results in the domain of identity-as-a-service

GERMANY: The research project "eID Connect", led by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology under the registration number 2076918ED, adds security and usability to all OpenID based web services.

"Identity-as-a-Service" is the main delivery concept which has been selected to manage digital identities. Rather than the traditional identification with username and password, the authentication method is strengthened by the introduction of an additional factor: the new electronic identity card (nPA) or a hardware security token, like the CmDongle.

After a development stage of 16 months, the FZI Research Center for computer science along with the companies CAS Software AG, fun communication GmbH and WIBU-SYSTEMS AG – all located in Karlsruhe – have announced a first prototype. The outcome of the research is a complete infrastructure based on the OpenID standard: tamperproof virtual identities prove for instance useful for verifying the age of website users when it is about restricting on-demand video streaming or other contents download to a certain portion of the population only.

The architecture is offered in the SaaS modality by the provider for mobile computing applications. The prototype is available for testing purposes upon request.

Via an OpenID server, users can create their digital identity themselves, which can then be supplemented with data from the new ID card or a CmDongle. The user receives digital identity credentials, which he can use in combination with the real electronic identity card, the matching CmDongle or the pair of username and password. The infrastructural design was developed in a way that information such as name, age, address, and therefore the transgression of a certain age, can be verified.

MACOM’s RoadScape allows vehicles to predict future

USA: M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. (MACOM), a leading supplier of high performance analog semiconductor solutions, has introduced RoadScape at the Telematics Detroit Show in Novi, Michigan.

RoadScape, MACOM’s innovative technology, provides highly accurate position, direction, and time information, enabling a new era of location and situational awareness for the automotive and transportation industry – allowing industrial and commercial vehicles to “predict the future.”

By providing detailed Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) data such as road slope, curvature and height to vehicle control systems, RoadScape enables OEMs to develop end user powertrain applications that enable dramatic fuel savings and CO2 reductions that were previously unachievable.

For example, by identifying the slope and curvature information early, RoadScape can aid in shifting of multi-speed transmissions, resulting in fuel savings and CO2 emission reductions. The same road curvature information can be compared to the vehicle's speed, providing the driver with an early warning for dangerous road segments.

RoadScape-generated ADAS messages can predict the slope of the road ahead, and using this information, power management can be programmed to turn off fuel burning accessories such as air conditioning for a short time until the road levels out.

Skyworks captures strategic automotive design wins

IMS2013, USA: Skyworks Solutions Inc. announced that an increasing number of its products are enabling telematics and infotainment systems in the automotive market.

Telematics is the term used to describe the integrated use of computers and electronic technology in automobiles for wireless communication applications such as cell phones, the Internet and GPS receivers.

Skyworks’ industry-leading SOI switching technology is already being utilized by global car manufacturers for seamless low noise and broadband handoffs between audio, Blu-ray/DVD, navigation, cell phone and vehicle security display inputs.

Skyworks has now secured multiple RF and analog design wins with Novero, a key worldwide automotive supplier. Skyworks’ devices are enabling Novero’s on-board communication systems being deployed by several car manufacturers including a large, tier-one German company.

Advantest develops terahertz wave spectroscopy and imaging analysis platform

JAPAN: Advantest Corp. has developed a terahertz wave spectroscopy and analysis platform, a new entry in the company’s line-up of non-invasive analysis equipment utilizing terahertz waves.

By breaking out the terahertz source and detector into modules connected to the mainframe by optical fiber cables, the new product enables free layout of the area to be measured, greatly expanding the applications of the technology. As an instrument for terahertz research and development of new applications, it brings new possibilities for terahertz technology within reach. The product is scheduled to ship in October 2013.

Terahertz technology is a pioneering approach to measurement and analysis that has drawn attention and investment across a range of fields. Because substances reflect or absorb terahertz radiation differently, according to their unique fingerprint spectra, it is ideal for spectroscopic analysis and non-invasive imaging applications.

Advantest launched its first terahertz analysis system—the TAS7000 3D imaging analysis system—in April 2010, and now leads the industry in practical applications for terahertz technology, with a line-up of non-invasive analysis systems targeting various markets, such as pharmaceutical products.

Meanwhile, cutting-edge research employs terahertz analysis technology in combination with other lab equipment, such as cryostats and heaters, in the development of new materials and physical analysis. Laboratories require measurement equipment that is both highly accurate and easy to use. Advantest’s new terahertz wave spectroscopy and imaging analysis platform meets these requirements, and is positioned to help researchers make gains in accuracy and R&D efficiency.

Featuring terahertz source and detector modules connected to the mainframe by optical fiber cables, the new platform enables free layout of the area to be measured. The platform may also be connected to other lab equipment, supporting a broad variety of R&D projects utilizing terahertz radiation.

With this new product, Advantest confirms its position at the forefront of applied terahertz technology and R&D.

Huawei launches MediaPad 10 Link – “the mini theatre”

INDIA Huawei, the world’s 4th largest smart-phone maker (IDC, 1Q’13 report), announced the launch of its much awaited tablet - MediaPad 10 Link, a sleek and light tablet that offers stunning display, with full HD video playback, super-fast processor, and extremely long lasting battery.

Running on Android Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system, the most attractive feature of the MediaPad is its 10.1 inch full HD IPS display and is a delight to both the viewers and users and can be easily termed as “the mini theatre”.

 The MediaPad is a super-fast device to work on as it comes with the mighty 1.2 GHz Quadcore Hi-Silicon Processor added to the 16 Core GPU functionality. Decked with 1280*800 pixel HD display, it takes the user through a visually stimulating experience.

The MediaPad is equipped with 6600 mAh battery, which ensures continuous upto 6-hour gaming or 8-hour video playback. Powered by Dolby Surround Sound technology the MediaPad 10 Link provides crystal clear sound and enhances the overall experience of music and movies. The MediaPad 10 Link comes with 16 GB ROM and is expandable up to 32 GB.

WHIPTAIL delivers new level of performance for partners servicing SMB markets

USA: WHIPTAIL, the data storage innovator powering faster and more energy-efficient computing for today’s global businesses via flash storage, announced the WT-1100, the newest addition to the company’s portfolio of flash-based silicon arrays.

Designed for small and medium businesses (SMBs) or companies with branch offices, this addition gives customers the highest levels of choice and flexibility to scale up or scale out their application-intensive environments.

This low-profile, high-performance 1U solid state storage array features an installation wizard that speeds deployments, making it ideal for turnkey implementations focused on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), email and databases.

The WT-1100 runs WHIPTAIL’s RACERUNNER operating system, which optimizes the write performance of NAND flash. The product will be sold through authorized WHIPTAIL partners alongside other WHIPTAIL products like ACCELA and INVICTA. The array will begin shipping in Q3 2013.

Altair finalizes global partnership with Fujitsu

USA: Altair, a leading global provider of simulation technology and engineering services, announced that Fujitsu will resell Altair's market-leading workload management software product, PBS Professional, as a component of Fujitsu's recently announced high-performance computing (HPC) cluster software stack.

A leader in worldwide information and communication technology, Fujitsu is now an Altair global authorized reseller and will offer PBS Professional on all Fujitsu PRIMERGY HPC computing systems. Fujitsu has also selected PBS Professional as the default workload manager for its Fujitsu Software HPC Cluster Suite (HCS) Advanced Edition, which includes such extended features as large cluster support and high availability, as well as support for multiple clusters at a single site.

The integrated solutions will improve productivity for users seeking practical and efficient HPC solutions.

Panasonic intros LED LRU60 series HDTVs for hospitality and digital signage

USA: Panasonic announced a new line of high definition LED LCDs for hospitality and digital signage, the LRU60 Series.

Available in 32”, 39”, 42”, 50” and 65”, Panasonic’s new LED line of high definition hospitality TVs delivers exceptional picture quality with the industry’s lowest power consumption among comparable hospitality HDTVs in its class.

With energy-saving technology top of mind in the hospitality industry, Panasonic designed the Energy Star®-rated LRU60 Series with innovative functions that greatly reduce power consumption while ensuring optimal performance. The LRU60 Series features a built-in ambient light sensor feature, C.A.T.S. (Contrast Automatic Tracking System), which automatically adjusts the television's screen brightness and contrast to suit the lighting of the room.

This feature not only optimizes picture performance, but it also helps to keep power consumption low, enhancing image performance while saving on energy costs. With these advancements, the LRU60 Series consumes up to 20 percent less power than similar competitive LED TVs, and up to 50 percent less power than previous Panasonic CCFL LCD models.

Classic VoD vendors risk losing half VoD market by 2018

USA: The shift of video consumption to tablets and smartphones is causing operator requirements for video on demand (VOD) systems to change as vendors struggle to keep up with current generation needs.

Equipment and system vendors, such as Arris (including Motorola Home), SeaChange, Cisco, and Ericsson are expected to lose ground to cloud-oriented companies such as thePlatform, Synacor, and KIT Digital (expected to emerge from bankruptcy as Piksel).

VOD vendors will see less than 30 percent growth over the next five years, while content management system (CMS) vendors will capture the market and see nearly 100 percent growth to seize half of the total VOD management markets.

Classic VOD back-office systems are built around delivery to the TV via a set-top box, leveraging a single video format, a managed network, a modest number of business models (free, packaged, and pay per view), and a standalone hierarchical architecture.

“VOD Equipment and system vendors have adapted their systems to work on commoditized IT-grade hardware and are enabling multiscreen IP delivery to sit alongside classic set-top box delivery,” comments practice director, Sam Rosen. “However, they have failed to adapt to syndicated workflows.”

Video content management systems, which resemble premium online video platforms (OVPs), have been used in a number of high profile operator multiscreen initiatives, including Comcast’s X1 project, Liberty Global’s Horizon architecture, and Telefonica’s new Global Video Platform.

Accell’s Powramid offers advanced power protection for electronic devices

USA: Accell, a provider of premium power products, computer and mobile device accessories, announced the addition of its new Powramid Power Centers to the company’s ever-expanding product line.

Ideal for use on a desktop or in a conference room, all Powramid models provide complete product safety and fire protection. Typical surge protectors continue to supply power even after they are no longer providing surge protection, exposing connected devices to potential damage.

Equipped with Power Stop technology, Accell’s Powramids automatically stop conducting power once the absorption has reached capacity. In addition, the Powramids provide 1080 Joules of surge protection and feature patented X3 MOV fireproof technology for maximum fire safety.

Arrow expands ArrowSphere cloud solutions into North America

USA: Arrow Electronics Inc. officially announced the North American launch of the ArrowSphere cloud service brokerage and aggregation platform that was established in 2012 and is currently available in five countries across Europe.

In addition, Arrow unveiled a suite of services to assist the service provider community in building and scaling cloud practices.

The ArrowSphere cloud services platform centralizes the billing and provisioning of a rapidly growing array of leading-edge cloud services delivering storage and servers on demand, security-as-a-service, software-as-a-service and unified communications. Solution providers can sell the services via white-label webstores they create and manage through the platform, thereby maximizing their sales and marketing activities.

Tools, services and training designed to help solution providers build demand, enable onboarding and proficiency, enhance the brand footprint and grow revenue also are available through the ArrowSphere program. ArrowSphere business services leverage industry best practices to speed market entry by taking much of the guesswork from building a cloud business.

The Electronic Transactions Development Agency of Thailand joins OSPT Alliance

GERMANY: The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance announced that the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (Public Organization) or ETDA has joined the OSPT Alliance as an associate member.

Established to develop, promote and support electronic transactions in Thailand, the ETDA sees the CIPURSE open security standard as a key component in providing the industry with an open, vendor-neutral standard that can be used to develop a country common transportation ticketing system over the next four years.

“The Thai Common Ticket Project is a very important part of the strategic mission of the government of Thailand to improve the transportation infrastructure throughout the country, and the goal is to have this implemented to follow the plan of Thailand 2020,” said Surangkana Wayuparb, CEO of the ETDA. “Through the support and cooperation offered by the OSPT Alliance, we can provide the transportation industry in Thailand with the flexibility of an open security standard they can use instead of proprietary solutions and avoid vendor lock-in as they implement this national infrastructure.”

The Thai Common Ticket Project will allow commuters to carry one ticket for access to transportation systems through Thailand.  The government of Thailand has targeted public transportation improvement as one of its primary missions for the upcoming Thailand 2020 Project. The creation of a transportation infrastructure investment plan is an important part of this project, and will result in greatly expanded service.

Rail transportation in Bangkok, for example, will be increased within seven years from 4 lines with a total distance of 80 km to 10 lines with a total distance of 410 km. When considering a common ticketing technology for this expanded transportation infrastructure, it will be important to ensure that the migration from the current fare collection scheme to a new one maintains interoperability.

5th Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup started June 1, 2013

USA: According to Transparency Market Research, the wearable technology market was worth more than $2.5 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 17.7 percent to over $8 billion by 2018.
The WT Innovation World Cup sponsored by title sponsor STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments (TI), AiQ, C. Schneider—New Solutions, and VARTA Microbattery, recognized the importance of wearable technologies early on.

Since 2009, the world’s leading wearable technologies competition has been looking for innovative ideas, products, apps, small electronic devices, and prototypes. As in the previous years, every submission will get the chance to win prizes worth a total of $200,000. Participation is free of charge.

Wearable technologies are becoming more prominent and useful every day. Start-ups and big companies alike are jumping on the wearable technologies bandwagon by announcing or releasing wearable devices. Who hasn’t heard about Google Glass, Apple’s plans to “explore” the wearable tech market, or seen the smart watches from Pebble? The potential for wearable computers and small electronic devices is huge, and business leaders are considering it to have at least as much impact as the Internet had.

For the fifth time, since June 1, 2013, the WT Innovation World Cup is looking for the best and most innovative new wearable solutions. Contestants can submit their product or solution until November 30, 2013 in the categories: Sports & Fitness, Healthcare & Wellness, Security & Prevention, and Gaming & Lifestyle.