Intel Provides Researchers with Open Access to New PlatformTo Address 3 Million People Afflicted with Motor Neuron Diseases, Quadriplegia
By January 2015, Intel will provide customizable solution to researchers and technologist replacing Professor Hawking’s decades-old communications system, he can better communicate, has increased ease of use for his daily routine, empowered with continued independence.
The Intel-created advanced communications platform can be adapted for 3 million people afflicted with motor neuron diseases and quadriplegia.
By studying the acute needs of Hawking, and the very specific relationship between this man and his machine, Intel has delivered a tailored solution – called ACAT (Assistive Context Aware Toolkit) – that result in improved communication for Hawking with the world. It has the potential to become the backbone of a modern, customizable system other researchers and technologists can use to benefit those who have motor neuron diseases (MND) and quadriplegia.
Hawking has an MND related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a condition that has progressed over the years. He is almost entirely paralyzed and communicates through technology.
“Medicine has not been able to cure me, so I rely on technology to help me communicate and live,” said Hawking. “Intel has been supporting me for almost 20 years, allowing me to do what I love every day. The development of this system has the potential to improve the lives of disabled people around the world and is leading the way in terms of human interaction and the ability to overcome communication boundaries that once stood in the way.”
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Intel Labs has been working for three years with Hawking to replace his current communications system with modern technology. Hawking was instrumental in the design process, providing ongoing feedback, to help Intel improve the system with every iteration.“Professor Hawking uniquely used technology to master communicating with the world for decades, but his old system could be likened to trying to use today’s modern apps and websites with a computer without a keyboard or mouse,” said Wen-Hann Wang, Intel vice president and Intel Labs managing director. “Together we’ve delivered a holistically better communication experience that contributes to his continued independence and can help open the door to increased independence for others.”
Similar to the parts of an engine interacting smoothly to run a car, the Intel-created software user interface enables existing and new technologies to efficiently work with each other. The result: Hawking’s typing speed is twice as fast, and there is a 10x improvement in common tasks, such as easier, more accurate and faster browsing, editing, managing and navigating the Web, emails and documents; opening a new document; and saving, editing and switching between tasks.
Quadriplegia and MND affect over 3 million people worldwide. MND impacts voluntary muscle activities, like speaking, walking, swallowing and general movement of the body. Progressive in nature, it causes increasing disability and eventually death.
The new toolkit created by Intel can be customized and changed to suit different users. The Intel-created system is a modern software interface for researchers and technologists to create customized solutions enabled by touch, eye blinks, eyebrow movements or other user inputs for communication.
With the platform being accessible and free, Intel and Hawking envision that research and technology communities – such as those focused on sensing, text prediction, context awareness and user interface design – will build upon and bring new and improved solutions to market.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Intel Acquires PasswordBox, an Award-Winning Digital Identity Manager
Acquisition Adds Convenient and Secure
Digital Identity Solutions for Consumers to Intel Portfolio
Intel Corporation has announced the acquisition of PasswordBox, an award-winning provider of a cross-platform identity management service that gives users a convenient way to log into all of their websites and applications from any device without having to type or remember passwords. As a result of this acquisition, PasswordBox will become a part of the Safe Identity organization within Intel Security Group. The Safe Identity organization is committed to delivering solutions that reduce the pain of passwords, simplify and strengthen security, and provide consumers with easy access to their digital lives.
Secure passwords are essential to protecting sensitive personal data. According to a recent report by consulting firm Deloitte, more than 90 percent of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking, citing that the 10,000 most common passwords could access close to 98 percent of all accounts. Together, Intel Security and PasswordBox will work to eliminate password problems.
“Everyone can relate to password fatigue,” said Chris Young, senior vice president and general manager of Intel Security Group. “The PasswordBox service has already brought relief to millions of consumers who now enjoy simple, instant login. Intel Security and PasswordBox share the same goal of improving digital identity protection across all devices and platforms. We believe we have the technology, expertise and reach to bring simple, secure access to consumers worldwide.”
Intel Security will incorporate PasswordBox’s current and future technologies to deliver a lot of benefits to consumers including reduced password fatigue, simplified security, and next generation solutions, all in a bid to solve the challenges in today’s digital security. These solutions will help provide users with peace of mind by knowing they can access their content more simply and securely.
Daniel Robichaud, CEO and co-founder of PasswordBox said “PasswordBox has spent the last two years building a product that people love, trust and use around the world every day,” “We share Intel Security’s vision of simple, secure access and identity protection across all platforms and devices. Together, we believe we can offer our customers world-class technology, expertise and support to bring such access anywhere – all backed by Intel.”
Digital Identity Solutions for Consumers to Intel Portfolio
Intel Corporation has announced the acquisition of PasswordBox, an award-winning provider of a cross-platform identity management service that gives users a convenient way to log into all of their websites and applications from any device without having to type or remember passwords. As a result of this acquisition, PasswordBox will become a part of the Safe Identity organization within Intel Security Group. The Safe Identity organization is committed to delivering solutions that reduce the pain of passwords, simplify and strengthen security, and provide consumers with easy access to their digital lives.
Secure passwords are essential to protecting sensitive personal data. According to a recent report by consulting firm Deloitte, more than 90 percent of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking, citing that the 10,000 most common passwords could access close to 98 percent of all accounts. Together, Intel Security and PasswordBox will work to eliminate password problems.
“Everyone can relate to password fatigue,” said Chris Young, senior vice president and general manager of Intel Security Group. “The PasswordBox service has already brought relief to millions of consumers who now enjoy simple, instant login. Intel Security and PasswordBox share the same goal of improving digital identity protection across all devices and platforms. We believe we have the technology, expertise and reach to bring simple, secure access to consumers worldwide.”
Intel Security will incorporate PasswordBox’s current and future technologies to deliver a lot of benefits to consumers including reduced password fatigue, simplified security, and next generation solutions, all in a bid to solve the challenges in today’s digital security. These solutions will help provide users with peace of mind by knowing they can access their content more simply and securely.
Daniel Robichaud, CEO and co-founder of PasswordBox said “PasswordBox has spent the last two years building a product that people love, trust and use around the world every day,” “We share Intel Security’s vision of simple, secure access and identity protection across all platforms and devices. Together, we believe we can offer our customers world-class technology, expertise and support to bring such access anywhere – all backed by Intel.”
Microsoft Mobile Expands Smartphone Portfolio with Lumia 730, Lumia 830
In a bid to create an exciting holiday season for its numerous customers across Nigeria, Microsoft Group, has announced the launch of two new Lumia smartphones into the Nigerian market; the Lumia 730 and Lumia 830 smartphones.
The Lumia 730 also known as Microsoft’s first selfie Smartphone comes with a full High Definition 5megapixel front facing camera for users to take perfect selfies and share quickly and easily on their social networks, while the Lumia 830 with its sleek and elegant look, brings Microsoft’s flagship style and performance to more people with integrated Microsoft experiences and superior PureView imaging.
Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Mobile, West and Central Africa, Olumide Balogun, explained that that Lumia 730 combines a slim, vibrant style with powerful performance to create an uncompromised smartphone experience. Alongside Dual SIM 3G support, the Lumia 730 provides outstanding personalization brought by Windows Phone 8.1 to deliver seamless experiences to users.
“One distinct feature of the Lumia 730 smartphone is the full HD 5MP front facing camera that not only takes unbeatable selfies but also make video calls on Skype through the wide-angle lens that lets you capture as many family and friends as you can. Both the Lumia 730 and 830 come with our signature Lumia applications and Microsoft services which makes these devices work and play tool. Users can make anything happen with any of these devices as they can start their work anywhere using the Microsoft OneNote or Microsoft Office tools which they can upload to OneDrive and download anywhere and anytime for continuity.” he said.
Balogun added that “with these devices we’re enabling people to easily capture and share more of what they want through unique Lumia innovation and the best Microsoft experiences as well as be the best they can be at their work place. Our PureView imaging, wireless charging and wealth of other great features, both devices will deliver the best innovations and experiences from our flagship smartphones at a more affordable price, underscoring Microsoft’s commitment to offer a competitive Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone for everyone.”
“Following the recent launch of the most affordable Lumia 530, we are positive that these devices will offer our customers another unique Windows Phone 8.1 experience with even more innovation, most importantly at an affordable price. The Lumia 830 combines high end style and performance in a sleek design. Add to that industry leading Microsoft experiences and superior PureView imaging and it makes the Lumia 830 an attractive proposition for those customers who demand the best experiences at more affordable prices.” Balogun added.
These devices allows for seamless integration with Microsoft services such as Skype and Microsoft Office, with Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint available out of the box for leading productivity on the go. 15GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive to sync, store, access and share content like photos online.
Both devices come in a range of attractive colours and are available in authorised retail and wholesale outlets across Nigeria.
The Lumia 730 also known as Microsoft’s first selfie Smartphone comes with a full High Definition 5megapixel front facing camera for users to take perfect selfies and share quickly and easily on their social networks, while the Lumia 830 with its sleek and elegant look, brings Microsoft’s flagship style and performance to more people with integrated Microsoft experiences and superior PureView imaging.
Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Mobile, West and Central Africa, Olumide Balogun, explained that that Lumia 730 combines a slim, vibrant style with powerful performance to create an uncompromised smartphone experience. Alongside Dual SIM 3G support, the Lumia 730 provides outstanding personalization brought by Windows Phone 8.1 to deliver seamless experiences to users.
“One distinct feature of the Lumia 730 smartphone is the full HD 5MP front facing camera that not only takes unbeatable selfies but also make video calls on Skype through the wide-angle lens that lets you capture as many family and friends as you can. Both the Lumia 730 and 830 come with our signature Lumia applications and Microsoft services which makes these devices work and play tool. Users can make anything happen with any of these devices as they can start their work anywhere using the Microsoft OneNote or Microsoft Office tools which they can upload to OneDrive and download anywhere and anytime for continuity.” he said.
Balogun added that “with these devices we’re enabling people to easily capture and share more of what they want through unique Lumia innovation and the best Microsoft experiences as well as be the best they can be at their work place. Our PureView imaging, wireless charging and wealth of other great features, both devices will deliver the best innovations and experiences from our flagship smartphones at a more affordable price, underscoring Microsoft’s commitment to offer a competitive Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone for everyone.”
“Following the recent launch of the most affordable Lumia 530, we are positive that these devices will offer our customers another unique Windows Phone 8.1 experience with even more innovation, most importantly at an affordable price. The Lumia 830 combines high end style and performance in a sleek design. Add to that industry leading Microsoft experiences and superior PureView imaging and it makes the Lumia 830 an attractive proposition for those customers who demand the best experiences at more affordable prices.” Balogun added.
These devices allows for seamless integration with Microsoft services such as Skype and Microsoft Office, with Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint available out of the box for leading productivity on the go. 15GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive to sync, store, access and share content like photos online.
Both devices come in a range of attractive colours and are available in authorised retail and wholesale outlets across Nigeria.
HUAWEI AIMS TO EXPAND ENTERPRISE BUSINESS WITH NIGERIA PARTNERS
Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, announced the expansion of her cooperation with her Nigerian partners, to integrate ICT products and solutions, to enable the rapid growth of enterprises business at the E-Nigeria Summit 2014 in Abuja.
The E-Nigeria Summit is the National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA) annual flagship awareness campaign on the diffusion and deployment of Information Technology in Nigeria. With the theme of "Creating Market Opportunities for Indigenous ICT Products and Services", NITDA collaborated with relevant stakeholders from the private and public sector, as well as non-governmental organizations, to create ICT awareness, develop appropriate framework, and to set goals for best practices, in order to encourage the right positioning of Nigeria in the global information society.
Huawei's Enterprise Business Group, one of Huawei’s major Business Groups, is growing steadily, allowing Huawei to solidify her position as the leading ICT solutions provider in the industry. The enterprise business also remains a key strategic direction for Huawei’s overall growth plans, with four major product lines namely: UC&C Product Line (i.e. Telepresence, Video Conferencing, Contact Center), IT Product Line (Servers, Storage, Cloud Computing & Data Center), Networking Product Line (Switches, Routers, WLAN) and Energy Product Line (UPS, Solar ).
To support these products and solutions, Huawei has set up sales and technical service platforms, to further establish her commitment in the Enterprise market, and also to support enterprise business operations in Nigeria. With a firm dedication to customer-centric innovation, Huawei Enterprise caters to customers from the government and public sector, financial institutions, transportation, energy industries, oil & gas sector, hospitality, education and SMEs.
Upholding the business strategy, Huawei focuses on strategic and committed cooperation and integration with Enterprise Channel Partners, and the firm implementation of a transparent and stable channel policy. Huawei strives to share benefits with partners, and works hard to build a harmonious ecosystem for win-win partnerships which have yielded significant milestones in winning and co-deployment of so many projects in Nigeria with the channel partners. For example, Huawei and her partners in Nigeria have deployed ICT solutions for six universities (education sector), solutions for six of the top ten Nigerian Banks (Financial Services sector), and solutions for four Oil & Gas Companies, among other industries.
As part of her Channel strategies, Huawei provides Channel Partners with free pre-sales and post-sales training to their engineers, so as to improve their technical capabilities on Huawei Enterprise solutions and products. Also Huawei offers free certification exams to Channel Partners. This is a major requirement for Tier 2 partnership.
Huawei equally encourages and motivates her Channel Partners to attain great heights of success in the enterprise market through promotional incentives like the Deal Registration Reward (DR). The Deal Registration Reward encourages Channel Partners to register proposed projects. When a project is won, the incentives then go to the sales person as a bonus reward.
“Huawei welcomes the Nigerian partners to integrate our world class ICT products and solutions to serve Nigeria. Huawei has Sales Performance Incentive Fund (SPIF); the SPIF is used to motivate the employees or teams of Channel Partners that have made outstanding contributions to Huawei's sales, to encourage the Client-Facing Tier (CFT) to promote Huawei's products more proactively. Salespersons are granted bonuses or gifts based on their sales bonus points, this bonuses are redeemed from Huawei Distributor - Technology Distributions (TD). Huawei also participates in a Joint Marketing Fund (JMF), for Partners who showcase Huawei Solutions or products at various events.
Huawei is committed to serving as the most innovative and optimal ICT Technology partner for global enterprises, accelerating ICT development and improving operational efficiency in Nigeria. Huawei will work with our Channel Enterprise Partners to jointly embrace the challenges brought about by ICT transformations, build a favourable industry ecosystem, and promote the sound development of the ICT industry and society at large, so as to ensure customer satisfaction.” Mr. Richard Cao, the Vice President of Huawei West Africa, stated.
Mr. Peter Jack, Director General of NITDA said, “I congratulate Huawei for entering Interbrand's Top 100 Best Global Brands List, and being named one of Thomson Reuters’ top 100 Global Innovators of 2014 recently. I expect Huawei to do more investment in Nigeria, and I welcome your Win-Win business partnership with Nigeria ICT companies.
The E-Nigeria Summit is the National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA) annual flagship awareness campaign on the diffusion and deployment of Information Technology in Nigeria. With the theme of "Creating Market Opportunities for Indigenous ICT Products and Services", NITDA collaborated with relevant stakeholders from the private and public sector, as well as non-governmental organizations, to create ICT awareness, develop appropriate framework, and to set goals for best practices, in order to encourage the right positioning of Nigeria in the global information society.
Huawei's Enterprise Business Group, one of Huawei’s major Business Groups, is growing steadily, allowing Huawei to solidify her position as the leading ICT solutions provider in the industry. The enterprise business also remains a key strategic direction for Huawei’s overall growth plans, with four major product lines namely: UC&C Product Line (i.e. Telepresence, Video Conferencing, Contact Center), IT Product Line (Servers, Storage, Cloud Computing & Data Center), Networking Product Line (Switches, Routers, WLAN) and Energy Product Line (UPS, Solar ).
To support these products and solutions, Huawei has set up sales and technical service platforms, to further establish her commitment in the Enterprise market, and also to support enterprise business operations in Nigeria. With a firm dedication to customer-centric innovation, Huawei Enterprise caters to customers from the government and public sector, financial institutions, transportation, energy industries, oil & gas sector, hospitality, education and SMEs.
Upholding the business strategy, Huawei focuses on strategic and committed cooperation and integration with Enterprise Channel Partners, and the firm implementation of a transparent and stable channel policy. Huawei strives to share benefits with partners, and works hard to build a harmonious ecosystem for win-win partnerships which have yielded significant milestones in winning and co-deployment of so many projects in Nigeria with the channel partners. For example, Huawei and her partners in Nigeria have deployed ICT solutions for six universities (education sector), solutions for six of the top ten Nigerian Banks (Financial Services sector), and solutions for four Oil & Gas Companies, among other industries.
As part of her Channel strategies, Huawei provides Channel Partners with free pre-sales and post-sales training to their engineers, so as to improve their technical capabilities on Huawei Enterprise solutions and products. Also Huawei offers free certification exams to Channel Partners. This is a major requirement for Tier 2 partnership.
Huawei equally encourages and motivates her Channel Partners to attain great heights of success in the enterprise market through promotional incentives like the Deal Registration Reward (DR). The Deal Registration Reward encourages Channel Partners to register proposed projects. When a project is won, the incentives then go to the sales person as a bonus reward.
“Huawei welcomes the Nigerian partners to integrate our world class ICT products and solutions to serve Nigeria. Huawei has Sales Performance Incentive Fund (SPIF); the SPIF is used to motivate the employees or teams of Channel Partners that have made outstanding contributions to Huawei's sales, to encourage the Client-Facing Tier (CFT) to promote Huawei's products more proactively. Salespersons are granted bonuses or gifts based on their sales bonus points, this bonuses are redeemed from Huawei Distributor - Technology Distributions (TD). Huawei also participates in a Joint Marketing Fund (JMF), for Partners who showcase Huawei Solutions or products at various events.
Huawei is committed to serving as the most innovative and optimal ICT Technology partner for global enterprises, accelerating ICT development and improving operational efficiency in Nigeria. Huawei will work with our Channel Enterprise Partners to jointly embrace the challenges brought about by ICT transformations, build a favourable industry ecosystem, and promote the sound development of the ICT industry and society at large, so as to ensure customer satisfaction.” Mr. Richard Cao, the Vice President of Huawei West Africa, stated.
Mr. Peter Jack, Director General of NITDA said, “I congratulate Huawei for entering Interbrand's Top 100 Best Global Brands List, and being named one of Thomson Reuters’ top 100 Global Innovators of 2014 recently. I expect Huawei to do more investment in Nigeria, and I welcome your Win-Win business partnership with Nigeria ICT companies.
NOKIA LUMIA 530- PORTABLE SMARTPHONE FOR EVERYDAY USE
Lumia 530 is a smart, portable but yet a powerful device that comes with Lumia signature apps and Microsoft services such as Skype and Microsoft Office, Instagram, WhatsApp and others.
Lumia 530 smartphone which is the most affordable in the Lumia portfolio, Microsoft has extended its innovations to more users across the world. Good value means never compromising. That’s why the Nokia Lumia 530 comes with a quad core processor, the latest version of Windows Phone and the best new apps.
Dual SIM 3G variant allows for easy switching between two SIM cards and helping people manage their data costs. The Lumia 530 gives yet another edge which is smooth performance with signature Lumia apps such as Creative Studio and Glam Me, which help people take quality voice-guided selfies with the 5MP rear camera.
Use OneDrive to store and sync your important files across multiple devices. Your pictures, videos and documents are ready to go – anytime, anywhere. And with 15GB of free storage, you have enough space for everything you need. Editing and sharing is easy too – the Nokia Lumia 530 comes with Microsoft Office so you will be ready to take care of business wherever you are.
Windows Phone 8.1 is equally responsive and makes the Lumia 530 much easier to use than its predecessor. You can now swipe down from the top of the screen to open up the Action Centre notification bar, and you can add a third row of Live Tiles to the home screen to fit in more apps. You can also set a background image of your choice which then permeates through the home screen's Live Tiles, making Microsoft's operating system feel much more personalized than before.
The Lumia 530's 5-megapixel rear camera is a cut above most other budget cameras. In our outdoor shots, colours were rich and detailed even in cloudy, overcast weather, and there was only a very small amount of focus deterioration toward the edge of each frame.
It comes with the Nokia's Smart Sequence feature as well. This takes a series of photos every time you tap the shutter button and you can use this sequence to create a variety of different images from within the app. For example, Best Shot selects the best picture from the entire sequence, while Action Shot combines several shots together to show how an object moved through the scene. When taking portraits or group shots, you can also pick and choose from a variety of faces, just in case someone blinked, while Motion Focus blurs the background to emphasize the object's movement.
4GB on-board memory that comes with it that is expandable with SD cards of up to 128GB, and an additional 15GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive that lets people sync, store, access and share files between Lumia 530 and computers, laptops and tablets.
The Lumia 530 comes with changeable cover shells in bright orange, bright green and stylish neutrals dark grey and white and is available in all authorized retail outlets in Nigeria.
With a quad core processor, the Nokia Lumia 530 easily handles the most demanding apps – get ready for some serious speed.
The Bad a surprisingly slippery body makes you a constant butterfingers and typing is tough on the small screen. The fixed focus camera would not take close-up shots.
The bottom line since specs are decidedly basic, its low price is the major reason to seek out the Nokia Lumia 530.
Lumia 530 smartphone which is the most affordable in the Lumia portfolio, Microsoft has extended its innovations to more users across the world. Good value means never compromising. That’s why the Nokia Lumia 530 comes with a quad core processor, the latest version of Windows Phone and the best new apps.
Dual SIM 3G variant allows for easy switching between two SIM cards and helping people manage their data costs. The Lumia 530 gives yet another edge which is smooth performance with signature Lumia apps such as Creative Studio and Glam Me, which help people take quality voice-guided selfies with the 5MP rear camera.
Use OneDrive to store and sync your important files across multiple devices. Your pictures, videos and documents are ready to go – anytime, anywhere. And with 15GB of free storage, you have enough space for everything you need. Editing and sharing is easy too – the Nokia Lumia 530 comes with Microsoft Office so you will be ready to take care of business wherever you are.
Windows Phone 8.1 is equally responsive and makes the Lumia 530 much easier to use than its predecessor. You can now swipe down from the top of the screen to open up the Action Centre notification bar, and you can add a third row of Live Tiles to the home screen to fit in more apps. You can also set a background image of your choice which then permeates through the home screen's Live Tiles, making Microsoft's operating system feel much more personalized than before.
The Lumia 530's 5-megapixel rear camera is a cut above most other budget cameras. In our outdoor shots, colours were rich and detailed even in cloudy, overcast weather, and there was only a very small amount of focus deterioration toward the edge of each frame.
It comes with the Nokia's Smart Sequence feature as well. This takes a series of photos every time you tap the shutter button and you can use this sequence to create a variety of different images from within the app. For example, Best Shot selects the best picture from the entire sequence, while Action Shot combines several shots together to show how an object moved through the scene. When taking portraits or group shots, you can also pick and choose from a variety of faces, just in case someone blinked, while Motion Focus blurs the background to emphasize the object's movement.
4GB on-board memory that comes with it that is expandable with SD cards of up to 128GB, and an additional 15GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive that lets people sync, store, access and share files between Lumia 530 and computers, laptops and tablets.
The Lumia 530 comes with changeable cover shells in bright orange, bright green and stylish neutrals dark grey and white and is available in all authorized retail outlets in Nigeria.
With a quad core processor, the Nokia Lumia 530 easily handles the most demanding apps – get ready for some serious speed.
The Bad a surprisingly slippery body makes you a constant butterfingers and typing is tough on the small screen. The fixed focus camera would not take close-up shots.
The bottom line since specs are decidedly basic, its low price is the major reason to seek out the Nokia Lumia 530.
Intel Reveals Details for Future High-Performance Computing System Building Blocks as Momentum Builds for Intel® Xeon Phi™ Product
Discloses Future Generation Intel Xeon Phi Processor and New Performance and Architectural Details for Intel® Omni-Path Fabric Interconnect Technology
Intel Corporation has announced several new and enhanced technologies, bolstering its leadership in high performance computing (HPC). The new technologies include the future generation Intel Xeon Phi Processor, called Knights Hill, and Intel Omni-Path architecture, a new high speed interconnect technology optimized for High Performance Computing deployments.
Intel also announced new software releases and collaborative efforts designed to make it easier to extract the full performance potential from current and future Intel Industry- standard hardware.
This new innovation will help to address the dual challenges of extreme scalability and mainstream use of high performance computing systems while providing the foundation for a cost-effective path to superb computing.
The new Intel Xeon Phi Product family, Knights Hill, will be built using Intel’s 10mm process technology and integrate Intel Omni- Path Fabric technology. Industry investment in Intel Xeon Phi processors continues to grow with more than 50 providers expected to offer systems built using the new processor version of Knights Landing with many more systems using the coprocessor PCle card version of the product.
Intel equally disclosed that the Intel Omni-Path Architecture is expected to offer 100 Gbps line speed and up to 56 percent lower switch fabric latency in medium-to-large clusters than InfiniBand alternatives. The Intel Omni-Path Architecture will use a 48 port switch chip to deliver greater port density and system scaling compared to the current 36 port InfiniBand alternatives. Providing up to 33 percent more nodes per switch chip is expected to reduce the number of switches required, simplifying system design and reducing infrastructure costs at every scale.
Charles Wuischpard, Vice President, Data Center Group, and General Manager of Workstations and High Performance Computing at Intel says “Intel is excited about the strong market momentum and customer investment in the development of High Performance Computing systems based on current and future Intel Xeon Phi processors and high-speed fabric technology. The integration of these fundamental HPC building blocks, combined with an open standards-based programming model, will maximize HPC system performance, broaden accessibility and use, and serve as the on-ramp to exascale.”
The expected benefits of the system scale include up to 1.3x greater port density than InfiniBand – enabling smaller clusters to maximize single switch investments. Use up to 50 percent fewer switches than a comparable InfiniBand-based cluster of medium- to large-size and up to 2.3x higher scaling in a two-tier fabric configuration using the same number of switches as an InfiniBand-based cluster – allowing for more cost-effective scaling for very large cluster-based systems.
Recent high-profile Knights Landing deals include the Trinity supercomputer, a joint effort between Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and the Cori supercomputer, announced by The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. Additionally, DownUnder GeoSolutions a geosciences company, recently announced the largest commercial deployment of current-generation Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors, and the National Supercomputing Center IT4Innovations announced a new supercomputer that will become the largest Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor-based cluster in Europe.
Dr. Matt Lamont, managing director, DownUnder GeoSolutions “The combination of Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors with our proprietary software allows us to provide our customers with one of the most powerful geo-processing production systems to date,” said. “Our Intel Xeon Phi powered solutions enable interactive processing and imaging from each of our geophysicists’ individual computers. A testing regime that once took weeks can now be achieved in days. We’re thrilled with the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and look forward to evaluating the next-generation product.”
Intel-based systems account for 86 percent of all supercomputers and 97 percent of all new additions, according to the 44th edition of the TOP500 list announced today. In the two years since the introduction of the first-generation Intel Xeon Phi product family, these many-core, coprocessor-based systems represent 17 percent of the aggregated performance of all TOP500 supercomputers. The complete TOP500 list is available at www.top500.org.
Intel Corporation has announced several new and enhanced technologies, bolstering its leadership in high performance computing (HPC). The new technologies include the future generation Intel Xeon Phi Processor, called Knights Hill, and Intel Omni-Path architecture, a new high speed interconnect technology optimized for High Performance Computing deployments.
Intel also announced new software releases and collaborative efforts designed to make it easier to extract the full performance potential from current and future Intel Industry- standard hardware.
This new innovation will help to address the dual challenges of extreme scalability and mainstream use of high performance computing systems while providing the foundation for a cost-effective path to superb computing.
The new Intel Xeon Phi Product family, Knights Hill, will be built using Intel’s 10mm process technology and integrate Intel Omni- Path Fabric technology. Industry investment in Intel Xeon Phi processors continues to grow with more than 50 providers expected to offer systems built using the new processor version of Knights Landing with many more systems using the coprocessor PCle card version of the product.
Intel equally disclosed that the Intel Omni-Path Architecture is expected to offer 100 Gbps line speed and up to 56 percent lower switch fabric latency in medium-to-large clusters than InfiniBand alternatives. The Intel Omni-Path Architecture will use a 48 port switch chip to deliver greater port density and system scaling compared to the current 36 port InfiniBand alternatives. Providing up to 33 percent more nodes per switch chip is expected to reduce the number of switches required, simplifying system design and reducing infrastructure costs at every scale.
Charles Wuischpard, Vice President, Data Center Group, and General Manager of Workstations and High Performance Computing at Intel says “Intel is excited about the strong market momentum and customer investment in the development of High Performance Computing systems based on current and future Intel Xeon Phi processors and high-speed fabric technology. The integration of these fundamental HPC building blocks, combined with an open standards-based programming model, will maximize HPC system performance, broaden accessibility and use, and serve as the on-ramp to exascale.”
The expected benefits of the system scale include up to 1.3x greater port density than InfiniBand – enabling smaller clusters to maximize single switch investments. Use up to 50 percent fewer switches than a comparable InfiniBand-based cluster of medium- to large-size and up to 2.3x higher scaling in a two-tier fabric configuration using the same number of switches as an InfiniBand-based cluster – allowing for more cost-effective scaling for very large cluster-based systems.
Recent high-profile Knights Landing deals include the Trinity supercomputer, a joint effort between Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and the Cori supercomputer, announced by The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. Additionally, DownUnder GeoSolutions a geosciences company, recently announced the largest commercial deployment of current-generation Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors, and the National Supercomputing Center IT4Innovations announced a new supercomputer that will become the largest Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor-based cluster in Europe.
Dr. Matt Lamont, managing director, DownUnder GeoSolutions “The combination of Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors with our proprietary software allows us to provide our customers with one of the most powerful geo-processing production systems to date,” said. “Our Intel Xeon Phi powered solutions enable interactive processing and imaging from each of our geophysicists’ individual computers. A testing regime that once took weeks can now be achieved in days. We’re thrilled with the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and look forward to evaluating the next-generation product.”
Intel-based systems account for 86 percent of all supercomputers and 97 percent of all new additions, according to the 44th edition of the TOP500 list announced today. In the two years since the introduction of the first-generation Intel Xeon Phi product family, these many-core, coprocessor-based systems represent 17 percent of the aggregated performance of all TOP500 supercomputers. The complete TOP500 list is available at www.top500.org.
World Pneumonia Day
Debunking some common misconceptions around cloud computing by Richard Edet, Managing Director, SAP Nigeria.
Although cloud computing is touted as being one of if not the most disruptive technology of the information age, it has yet to hit mainstream enterprise and SME adoption within Africa. According to Richard Edet, Managing Director: SAP West Africa, the African market is still in the Slope of Enlightenment phase of Gartner’s Hype Cycle that describes the phases of adoption for an emerging technology.
Amongst other indicators, the Slope of Enlightenment phase is characterised by more enterprises funding pilot cloud projects, while conservative companies remaining cautious about the cloud. For the African market to catch up to other regions such as the US and Europe and reach the Plateau of Productivity phase, which is characterised by cloud technology’s broad market applicability and relevance clearly paying off, certain misconceptions and falsehoods about the technology have to be dis-proven.
Cloud is only for small businesses
The root of this myth lies in the fact that early SaaS (software as a service) vendors opted to focus their sales efforts upon smaller companies. This was because smaller firms are often less complex than large organisations. However, some industries are also often more complex than others, irrespective of the company size. These differences have led to differentiated deployment footprints between On-Premise, Cloud, Managed Cloud as well as Hybrid landscapes.
The entire SAP cloud portfolio has been designed to serve small to medium businesses and large enterprises. Moreover, this portfolio is designed to enable SAP to serve large customers in the cloud with the same completeness and sustainability as clients making use of On-Premise solutions. This has resulted in a more than 70 000 customer cloud installed base, of which around 60% are classified as large enterprise.
Companies have to stay on premise OR move to the cloud
In the modern business world, companies need a clear strategy that encompasses cloud as well as other solutions such as on premise or mobile and landscapes. To arrive at that juncture with the least amount of disruption to its operations, businesses expect the freedom of choice from a single provider. SAP is the only vendor today that delivers cloud (SaaS) solutions plus integration tools along with integration content and an extensibility platform (PaaS – platform as a service) as a unified solution approach.
“SAP’s cloud portfolio has been designed to serve the hybrid cloud reality, as we bring SaaS, PaaS and integration content together to ensure interoperability for our customers. This helps deliver the freedom to pick and choose whatever creates value for the customer, independent of the technology stack. Cloud computing will simply become an additional option in a heterogeneous, but integrated landscape,” explains Edet.
Running mission critical systems in the cloud is not secure
SAP ensures that it handles data with the utmost discretion and continually strives to deliver services and support that allow business critical processes to run securely. The company has been used to work with sensitive customer data for more than four decades now.
“Data security and data privacy stays part of our DNA. We protect our customer data with an in depth strategy where all layers are secured,” adds Edet.
Cloud is hype within consumer-oriented industries only
In order to bring the pace back to business that is required to stay competitive, SAP provides a simplified consumption model that comes with a great user experience. The organisation understands that each industry possesses its own business priorities and moves at its own pace when it comes to the adoption of new, innovative technologies.
Based on public cloud and managed cloud environments, SAP is discovering that companies of any size and within any industry are moving their differentiating and non-differentiating processes to the cloud. These businesses also gain individual advantages with a significantly simplified consumption of services.
“True choice in where and how to adopt cloud based solutions that compliment new processes or innovate existing processes is what separates SAP from competing cloud players. We offer customers the freedom to do this in a non-disruptive way, which creates new opportunities for all our customers and helps grow our cloud community every day,” concludes Edet.
Amongst other indicators, the Slope of Enlightenment phase is characterised by more enterprises funding pilot cloud projects, while conservative companies remaining cautious about the cloud. For the African market to catch up to other regions such as the US and Europe and reach the Plateau of Productivity phase, which is characterised by cloud technology’s broad market applicability and relevance clearly paying off, certain misconceptions and falsehoods about the technology have to be dis-proven.
Cloud is only for small businesses
The root of this myth lies in the fact that early SaaS (software as a service) vendors opted to focus their sales efforts upon smaller companies. This was because smaller firms are often less complex than large organisations. However, some industries are also often more complex than others, irrespective of the company size. These differences have led to differentiated deployment footprints between On-Premise, Cloud, Managed Cloud as well as Hybrid landscapes.
The entire SAP cloud portfolio has been designed to serve small to medium businesses and large enterprises. Moreover, this portfolio is designed to enable SAP to serve large customers in the cloud with the same completeness and sustainability as clients making use of On-Premise solutions. This has resulted in a more than 70 000 customer cloud installed base, of which around 60% are classified as large enterprise.
Companies have to stay on premise OR move to the cloud
In the modern business world, companies need a clear strategy that encompasses cloud as well as other solutions such as on premise or mobile and landscapes. To arrive at that juncture with the least amount of disruption to its operations, businesses expect the freedom of choice from a single provider. SAP is the only vendor today that delivers cloud (SaaS) solutions plus integration tools along with integration content and an extensibility platform (PaaS – platform as a service) as a unified solution approach.
“SAP’s cloud portfolio has been designed to serve the hybrid cloud reality, as we bring SaaS, PaaS and integration content together to ensure interoperability for our customers. This helps deliver the freedom to pick and choose whatever creates value for the customer, independent of the technology stack. Cloud computing will simply become an additional option in a heterogeneous, but integrated landscape,” explains Edet.
Running mission critical systems in the cloud is not secure
SAP ensures that it handles data with the utmost discretion and continually strives to deliver services and support that allow business critical processes to run securely. The company has been used to work with sensitive customer data for more than four decades now.
“Data security and data privacy stays part of our DNA. We protect our customer data with an in depth strategy where all layers are secured,” adds Edet.
Cloud is hype within consumer-oriented industries only
In order to bring the pace back to business that is required to stay competitive, SAP provides a simplified consumption model that comes with a great user experience. The organisation understands that each industry possesses its own business priorities and moves at its own pace when it comes to the adoption of new, innovative technologies.
Based on public cloud and managed cloud environments, SAP is discovering that companies of any size and within any industry are moving their differentiating and non-differentiating processes to the cloud. These businesses also gain individual advantages with a significantly simplified consumption of services.
“True choice in where and how to adopt cloud based solutions that compliment new processes or innovate existing processes is what separates SAP from competing cloud players. We offer customers the freedom to do this in a non-disruptive way, which creates new opportunities for all our customers and helps grow our cloud community every day,” concludes Edet.
Microsoft Lumia 535: “5x5x5” Innovation With An Affordable Price Tag
Lumia 535 features five free, integrated Microsoft experiences, a spacious 5-inch display and a 5 MP front facing camera.
Microsoft Corp. announced today the Microsoft Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM smartphones running the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, bringing the latest Microsoft experiences to more affordable price levels.
Offering five great integrated Microsoft experiences, a wide-angle 5 megapixel front facing camera, and a spacious 5 inch display - all for an affordable price - Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM help people do more of what they want, for less.
The following are benefits of the device:
· -Make memorable Skype video calls and seamlessly switch between voice and video with built-in Skype integration.
· -Access, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and OneNote notebooks wherever you are, with the pre-installed Office suite.
· - Save and sync photos, videos and Office documents securely with 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage.
· -Experience Cortana, a truly personal virtual assistant that anticipates people’s needs and makes tailored suggestions.
· -Connect with work and personal e-mail while on the go, with Microsoft Outlook built-in.
· -Showcase photos and videos or get even more productive with Office on the large, 5 inch qHD display.
· -Fit more memorable backgrounds or add more friends into Skype video calls and selfies with the 5 MP wide angle front facing camera.
· - Never miss a call or text, and be reachable on both SIM cards at any time with Smart Dual SIM for maximum flexibility.
Speaking on this, Jo Harlow, Corporate Vice President for Phones at Microsoft said “Lumia 535 comes with our “5x5x5” proposition, “Innovation should be available to everyone, and we are doing this through the very best integrated Microsoft services free and out-of-the-box, a 5 MP wide-angle front-facing camera and a spacious 5 inch, qHD screen – all at an affordable price.”
Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM will begin rolling out to key markets in November, and will be available in bright green, bright orange, white, dark grey, cyan and black. Pricing for Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM will vary by market and operator, but is estimated to be around 22,000 Naira (110 Euros) before taxes and subsidies.
Microsoft Corp. announced today the Microsoft Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM smartphones running the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, bringing the latest Microsoft experiences to more affordable price levels.
Offering five great integrated Microsoft experiences, a wide-angle 5 megapixel front facing camera, and a spacious 5 inch display - all for an affordable price - Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM help people do more of what they want, for less.
The following are benefits of the device:
· -Make memorable Skype video calls and seamlessly switch between voice and video with built-in Skype integration.
· -Access, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents and OneNote notebooks wherever you are, with the pre-installed Office suite.
· - Save and sync photos, videos and Office documents securely with 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage.
· -Experience Cortana, a truly personal virtual assistant that anticipates people’s needs and makes tailored suggestions.
· -Connect with work and personal e-mail while on the go, with Microsoft Outlook built-in.
· -Showcase photos and videos or get even more productive with Office on the large, 5 inch qHD display.
· -Fit more memorable backgrounds or add more friends into Skype video calls and selfies with the 5 MP wide angle front facing camera.
· - Never miss a call or text, and be reachable on both SIM cards at any time with Smart Dual SIM for maximum flexibility.
Speaking on this, Jo Harlow, Corporate Vice President for Phones at Microsoft said “Lumia 535 comes with our “5x5x5” proposition, “Innovation should be available to everyone, and we are doing this through the very best integrated Microsoft services free and out-of-the-box, a 5 MP wide-angle front-facing camera and a spacious 5 inch, qHD screen – all at an affordable price.”
Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM will begin rolling out to key markets in November, and will be available in bright green, bright orange, white, dark grey, cyan and black. Pricing for Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 Dual SIM will vary by market and operator, but is estimated to be around 22,000 Naira (110 Euros) before taxes and subsidies.
Etisalat Launches Cliqhub in UNILAG
…On-Campus Experience Centre Offers Free Wi-Fi, Exclusive Services to University Community
Nigeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunications company, Etisalat, has launched a new Experience Centre tagged Cliqhub at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, to take its services directly to existing and potential subscribers within the campus community.
Cliqhub is a full-fledged Etisalat Experience Centre located at student convergence spots in major Nigerian Universities. It will serve as a youthful touch point for the university community to enjoy Etisalat services in close proximity to their halls of residence and lecture theatres.
According to the Head, Youth Segment, at Etisalat, Elvis Daniel, the dedicated experience centre will strengthen Etisalat’s relationship with its existing and potential subscribers.
“At Etisalat, we are passionate about all our subscribers, especially the youth, and we are committed to making communication accessible and more affordable for them.” Daniel noted.
“What we are doing with Cliqhub, is creating an avenue for students and other members of the campus community to experience Etisalat’s unique services in the form of exclusive offers on phone sales, free Wi-Fi access, weekly promotions and excellent customer service, without leaving the campus,” he disclosed.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Professor Abayomi Akinyeye described Cliqhub as a welcome addition to the institution’s infrastructure, which would increase access to quality telecommunications services and aid learning.
“I am sure the Cliqhub will go a long way to help everyone within our university community to acquire knowledge. Etisalat has proved to us once more that they are looking out for Nigeria’s young people.” He said.
The launch of Cliqhub at Unilag kicks-off the first phase of a series of campus activations which would see similar on-campus experience centres opened at Bayero University, Kano; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Port Harcourt; and Rivers State University of Science & Technology in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Nigeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunications company, Etisalat, has launched a new Experience Centre tagged Cliqhub at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, to take its services directly to existing and potential subscribers within the campus community.
Cliqhub is a full-fledged Etisalat Experience Centre located at student convergence spots in major Nigerian Universities. It will serve as a youthful touch point for the university community to enjoy Etisalat services in close proximity to their halls of residence and lecture theatres.
According to the Head, Youth Segment, at Etisalat, Elvis Daniel, the dedicated experience centre will strengthen Etisalat’s relationship with its existing and potential subscribers.
“At Etisalat, we are passionate about all our subscribers, especially the youth, and we are committed to making communication accessible and more affordable for them.” Daniel noted.
“What we are doing with Cliqhub, is creating an avenue for students and other members of the campus community to experience Etisalat’s unique services in the form of exclusive offers on phone sales, free Wi-Fi access, weekly promotions and excellent customer service, without leaving the campus,” he disclosed.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Professor Abayomi Akinyeye described Cliqhub as a welcome addition to the institution’s infrastructure, which would increase access to quality telecommunications services and aid learning.
“I am sure the Cliqhub will go a long way to help everyone within our university community to acquire knowledge. Etisalat has proved to us once more that they are looking out for Nigeria’s young people.” He said.
The launch of Cliqhub at Unilag kicks-off the first phase of a series of campus activations which would see similar on-campus experience centres opened at Bayero University, Kano; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Port Harcourt; and Rivers State University of Science & Technology in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
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