Nova Scotia Seeks World's Best Clean Technology Start-Ups


Nova Scotia Seeks World's Best Clean Technology Start-Ups

HALIFAX, Sept. 29, 2011 /CNW/ - The search is on for the world's best clean technology start-ups, and the goal is to bring them to Nova Scotia.

The province, through Innovacorp, launched the Nova Scotia CleanTech Open this week. The international competition is designed to find and fund high-potential, early-stage clean technology companies. It will also put a spotlight on Nova Scotia as an ideal location for these companies to grow.

"Clean technology is one of the world's fastest growing industries. Knowledge-based companies like those in the clean technology sectors create good jobs and are vital to Nova Scotia's future prosperity," said Percy Paris, Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism. "This competition supports the innovation and competitiveness priorities of jobsHere, our plan to grow the economy."

The winner receives $100,000 in cash, a $200,000 negotiable seed investment, mentoring, and in-kind business building services, including one-year free rent of turn-key space at the Innovacorp Enterprise Centre in Halifax. At the time the prize is awarded, the company is to be incorporated in Nova Scotia, with the intent to build the business here.

"Nova Scotia has a lot to offer emerging clean technology ventures, from clean energy resources to a supportive business and policy environment," said Clifford Gross, president and CEO of Innovacorp. "Now we're adding venture capital coupled with business support services to help accelerate growth and market success for these companies."

Entrepreneurs have until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, to submit their entries. The judging panel will select a short list that will be invited to move on to round two of the competition. The short list will be announced on Dec. 15. The winner will be announced in April 2012.

Submissions can be made online at www.novascotiacleantech.com.

Innovacorp, Nova Scotia's technology commercialization agency, manages a venture capital fund that invests in early stage, high-growth companies. Target industries include clean technology, information technology, and life sciences. Seed and venture capital investment is a critical part of Innovacorp's business model, which has earned international recognition as a best practice approach to accelerating the growth of technology companies.

Image with caption: "President and founder of Halifax-based CarbonCure Technologies Inc., Robert Niven, explains the technology used to make their concrete blocks to Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter (CNW Group/InNovaCorp)". Image available at:

For further information:

Stephanie Shaw
Innovacorp
T 902.424.8670 ext. 1160
M 902.220.3686
sshaw@innovacorp.ca
www.innovacorp.ca


ViewSonic’s New Ultra Portable LED Projector Line Means Business; Delivers Ultimate Combination of Power and Mobility

ViewSonic’s New Ultra Portable LED Projector Line Means Business; Delivers Ultimate Combination of Power and Mobility

ViewSonic’s powerhouse WXGA PLED-W200 and PLED-W500 LED projectors pack 20,000-hour long lamp life in the palm of your hand

Monday, September 26th, 2011

WALNUT, Calif. – ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today unveiled its brand new LED projector line, including the availability of the PLED-W200 and PLED-W500.

Ideal for the business traveler or on-the-road presenter, this ultra portable and energy-efficient projector line features miniature form factors and 20,000-hour long-life LED light source. Both the PLED-W200 and PLED-W500 come 3D-ready with 120Hz frame rates for immersive 3D visuals. In addition to being stylish and lightweight, the PLED line doesn’t skimp on any features. In fact, these short throw projectors feature WXGA widescreen resolutions for large screen HD projection in compact spaces. Paired with USB port and HDMI connectivity (only available on the PLED-W500), Microsoft® Office® viewer functionality and an SD card reader, for a versatile assortment of ways for users to display documents, PDFs, videos, photos and other multimedia files without a PC. For additional multimedia file storage, the PLED-W500 also offers 1GB of internal memory.

At less than one pound for the PLED-W200 and less than three pounds for the PLED-W500, these palm-sized projectors are ideal for slipping into a briefcase, laptop bag or purse for convenient presentation and transportation. Both projectors deliver brilliant color with high native WXGA resolutions ideal for 720p HD viewing, and 250 ANSI lumens on the PLED-W200 and 500 ANSI lumens on the PLED-W500.

Teamed with integrated speaker and an assortment of connectivity options, users can present and enjoy everything from image slideshows to presentations in a PC-less, cordless setup. The PLED-W500 kicks connectivity up a notch with HDMI 1.3 support for simple connectivity to a Blu-ray® DVD player, tablet or other HD media device for a widescreen gaming or home theater experience.

The PLED-W200 and PLED-W500 will be available in North and Latin America in mid-October with leading three-year limited warranties for respective ESPs of $499 and $699.

Quotes

“Mobility and energy efficiency are two main trends in the projector market,” said Roger Chien, projectors product manager, ViewSonic. “The PLED series transforms the projector from a cumbersome gadget to an incredibly lightweight, compact device that can be carried anywhere to meet all your projection needs. With a mercury-free LED light source and power consumption of less than 50 watts, these pico projectors are as eco-friendly as they are portable, making for powerhouse business solutions.”

About ViewSonic

ViewSonic® Corporation is a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions. ViewSonic develops, markets and supports a broad range of innovative products, including LCD TVs, computers, LCD monitors, projectors, digital photo frames, digital signage displays and digital media players. For further information, please contact ViewSonic Corporation at 800.888.8583 or 909.444.8888; or visit ViewSonic.com .

ViewSonic’s Finch Club offers resellers an opportunity to benefit from specialized product training and discounts. To sign up, please visit FinchClub.com.

ElcomSoft Recovers BlackBerry Device Passwords


ElcomSoft Recovers BlackBerry Device Passwords

MOSCOW, Sept. 29, 2011 /CNW/ - ElcomSoft Co. Ltd. updates Phone Password Breaker, adding the ability to recover BlackBerry device passwords if the user-selectable "Security Password" option is enabled to encrypt media card data. By analyzing information stored on encrypted media cards, Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker can try millions of password combinations per second, recovering a fairly long 7-character password in a matter of hours. With the ability to recover the device password, ElcomSoft does what's been long considered impossible, once again making Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker the world's first.

Phone Password Breaker provides forensic access to encrypted information stored in Apple and BlackBerry devices. By recovering the original passwords protecting information stored in compatible devices, the tool opens access to SMS and email messages, call history, contacts and organizer data, Web browsing history, voicemail and email accounts and settings.

Background

Information stored in BlackBerry devices is securely protected with an individual security password requested every time the device it being turned on, or after a certain timeout. Information in the BlackBerry smartphone is wiped clear after ten unsuccessful attempts to guess a password. This security feature is one of the hallmarks of BlackBerry security model. Until today, the common belief was there's no way around it.

ElcomSoft proved this belief wrong. If an option to encrypt the contents of a removable media card is selected, the original device password can be derived by analyzing information stored on the media card without the BlackBerry device itself. A typical 7-character password takes less than an hour to recover.

While media card encryption is disabled by default, ElcomSoft estimates up to 30 percent of BlackBerry users to enable the extra security.

Pricing and Availability

Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker is available immediately. Pro and Home editions are available to North American customers for $199 and $79 respectively. Local pricing may vary.

About ElcomSoft Co. Ltd.

Founded in 1990, ElcomSoft Co.Ltd. develops computer forensics tools, provides computer forensics training and consulting services. Since 1997, ElcomSoft has been providing support to businesses, law enforcement, military and intelligence agencies. ElcomSoft tools are used by most of the Fortune 500 corporations, multiple branches of the military all over the world, foreign governments, and all major accounting firms.

Phone Password Breaker supports Windows NT4, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, 2003 and 2008 Server. More information at http://iphone.elcomsoft.com

For further information:

ElcomSoft Co. Ltd.
http://www.elcomsoft.com
info@elcomsoft.com
Tel: +7(495)974-1162


Gartner Identifies 10 Key Actions to Reduce IT Infrastructure and Operations Costs by as Much as 25 Percent

Gartner Identifies 10 Key Actions to Reduce IT Infrastructure and Operations Costs by as Much as 25 Percent

Infrastructure and Operations Strategies to Be Examined at Gartner Data Center & Operations Summit, November 28-29 in London, and at the Gartner Data Center Conference, December 5-8 in Las Vegas

STAMFORD, Conn., September 28, 2011— 


       As many IT organizations are under intense pressure to continue to implement cost-cutting initiatives, Gartner Inc., has identified 10 actions that can reduce IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) expenses by 10 percent in 12 months, and as much as 25 percent in three years.

"I&O represents approximately 60 percent of total IT spending worldwide, so with IT budgets remaining tight, it's no wonder that I&O cost-cutting pressure continues to be intense," said Jay Pultz, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "When it comes to I&O cost reduction, there is no 'magic bullet,' but best results can be achieved by implementing as fully as possible the 10 key cost reductions we have identified."

Gartner analysts said that due to priority conflicts and resource constraints, few I&O leaders said they have implemented 50 percent or more of the total cost reduction opportunities these 10 key actions offer. However, depending on where an organization is now, fully implementing these 10 cost-cutting suggestions can provide significant savings.

The 10 key actions to implement to reduce IT I&O costs include:

Action 1: Defer Noncritical Key Initiatives
I&O leaders need to re-examine their key initiatives to determine which ones to focus on as near-term priorities. In doing so, there are three major questions to ask: Does the I&O key initiative strongly support a high-priority business initiative that needs to be completed in the near term? Does the I&O key initiative lower the I&O cost structure in the time frame required? Does the I&O key initiative lower risk by upgrading I&O to prevent major outages or severe performance deterioration?  

Action 2: Re-examine Networking Costs
When it comes to I&O spending, the data center and the network claim the lion's share of costs. Because nearly half of the network expenses go to telecom service providers (TSPs), network managers need to continue to renegotiate contracts with these vendors to ensure that their contracted rates are market-based. Substantial steps can also be taken to optimize network costs by refining the design and sourcing of their networks.

Action 3: Consolidate I&O
I&O consolidation is closely related to standardization, integration and virtualization. In the past, the rise of distributed computing and other trends drove the decline of large data processing sites. Now, however, data centers are rising in importance, and Gartner expects this trend to continue throughout this decade, as server rationalization, hardware growth and cost containment drive the consolidation of enterprise data processing sites into larger data centers.

Action 4: Virtualize I&O
Servers run at very low average utilization levels (less than 15 percent). Virtualization software increases utilization typically by fourfold or more, which means for a given workload that can be virtualized, a company can typically reduce the number of physical servers by fourfold. Conservatively, this means hardware and energy costs are each reduced by more than 50 percent. As with consolidation, virtualization can be applied to many I&O platforms: Unix servers, storage, networking and client computing.

Action 5: Reduce Power and Cooling Needs
In the past, newly built data centers often opened with huge areas of pristine white floor space, fully powered and backed up by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), water- and air-cooled, and mostly empty. With the cost of mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as the price of power, this model no longer works. New design approaches can result in data centers that utilize significantly less power, take up less space and cost much less.  

Action 6: Contain Storage Growth
Compute, networking and storage capacity are all growing at annual double-digit rates, with storage growing the fastest by far. Gartner predicts that, by 2016, enterprises will install 850 percent more terabytes than they have installed in 2011. Throwing terabytes at the problem is no longer a viable solution. With capacity growth far outstripping cost declines, tighter control is required. Multiple approaches need to be adopted — including the use of storage virtualization, automated tiering and storage resource management (SRM) tools.

Action 7: Push Down IT Support
Support for end users and the enterprise typically is about 8 percent of total IT spending, and most I&O organizations have at least four tiers of support, each with a different cost point and level of expertise. To reduce costs, organizations need to drive those support calls down to the lowest tier that can satisfactorily resolve users' issues.

Action 8: Streamline IT Operations
I&O accounts for approximately 50 percent of the total enterprise IT head count, and most of the I&O staff is involved in operational processes of a day-to-day and tactical nature. To contain head count and associated costs, these processes need to be streamlined and as efficient as possible. This typically entails implementing ITIL, the de facto standard framework in IT operations. The principal goal is to improve service management and quality, but ITIL has been known to reduce operating expenses as well.

Action 9: Enhance IT Asset Management (ITAM)
ITAM by itself doesn't reduce I&O costs; however, it is a very effective tool to identify and assess cost reduction opportunities. ITAM can help determine the life of certain assets, defer upgrades and eliminate or combine software licenses, as well as replacing certain maintenance service contracts with a time-and-materials approach. IT asset repositories are generally the most effective tools to help in this endeavor. These tools can maintain dates, manage changes to assets and send out reminder emails to ensure that the life cycle process is proactively managed.

Action 10: Optimize Multisourcing
Sourcing is perhaps the most strategic decision facing I&O leaders today. The decision is not as simple as whether to outsource or insource all of I&O. IT leaders can make separate sourcing decisions for virtually any I&O component, system or function. The key decision criteria are controlling those aspects that are of strategic and critical importance to the business, playing to the strength of available staff, defining clear lines of demarcation, keeping the number of vendors involved to a small, manageable number and determining what makes solid financial sense.

Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Ten Key Actions to Reduce IT Infrastructure and Operations Costs" at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1744215.

Mr. Pultz will provide additional insight on I&O technologies and strategies at the Gartner Data Center & IT Operations Summit, November 28-29 in London and at the 30th Annual Gartner Data Center Conference, December 5-8 in Las Vegas. These events deliver a wealth of strategic guidance and tactical recommendations on the hottest issues, including next-stage virtualization, the impact of cloud computing, mobility, servers, storage, facilities, business continuity and disaster recovery.

Members of the media wishing to register for the Gartner Data Center & IT Operations Summit in London can register by contacting Laurence Goasduff, Gartner PR at laurence.goasduff@gartner.com. For further information on the Summit, please visit http://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/emea/data-center/index.jsp.

More information on the Data Center Conference in Las Vegas is available at www.gartner.com/us/datacenter. Members of the media can register for the event by contacting Christy Pettey at christy.pettey@gartner.com.

Additional information from the event will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc and using #GartnerDC.

 

Contacts:

Christy Pettey
Gartner
+1 408 468 8312
christy.pettey@gartner.com

Holly Stevens
Gartner
+44 0 1784 267412
holly.stevens@gartner.com


About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is a valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,500 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,500 associates, including 1,250 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

Panasonic Drives Sustainability and Gains Efficiencies While Meeting Environmental Compliance With Recycling Management Solution from SAP

Panasonic Drives Sustainability and Gains Efficiencies While Meeting Environmental Compliance With Recycling Management Solution from SAP

SAP NEWSBYTE - September 26, 2011 - Manufacturers are seeing a rapid expansion in the number and scope of regulations around product and packaging recycling, such as the European Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) is helping Panasonic comply with these worldwide product end-of-life regulations and retailer mandates with the SAP Recycling Administration application. In addition to compliance, the application helps Panasonic to be more efficient and reduce both recycling and operational costs. The use of the software drives excellence in recycling and reuse, which is an important aspect of any customer's sustainable supply chain and products business case — with the ultimate goal of protecting the brand while designing, manufacturing and distributing innovative, safe and compliant products.

Panasonic uses SAP Recycling Administration to classify recyclable materials by type, weight, usage, destination, brand and category. The software is tightly integrated with the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP ERP to support countries with different and evolving compliance requirements, and to offer a central data repository to address regulatory requirements. Panasonic is continuing to roll out the application throughout its European offices and is currently using it for 50 various compliance schemes.

"With SAP Recycling Administration, we could improve the recycling data management process significantly - representing a 50 percent time savings across 18 countries and 50 different compliance schemes," said Thomas Knopp, environmental project manager, Panasonic Europe. "The application also allows us to generate more accurate calculations of product net weight, the basis for recycling charges per the WEEE directive, and consequently has reduced recycling costs by 15 percent, which adds up to millions of dollars every year."

More than 30 U.S. states and Canadian provinces employ legislation for e-waste recycling, and large retailers are mandating that manufacturers report detailed information about the sustainability status of their products and packaging on a regular basis in order to show improvements over time. As such, many consumer electronics manufacturers plan to roll-out SAP Recycling Administration to address these emerging global issues in the North American market. Failure to meet the requirements could lead to severe consequences, including costly fees, competitive disadvantage or brand damage.

The cost, time and complexity of meeting these various requirements can be a burden for many companies. SAP Recycling Administration enables Panasonic to not only meet regulatory requirements and reduce the risk and cost of environmental reporting, but is also an important component of its corporate strategy to become the No. 1 green innovation company in the electronics industry by 2018.

For more information, visit the Sustainability newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

Media Contact:
Robin Meyerhoff, SAP, +1 (650) 440-2572, robin.meyerhoff@sap.com, PDT
Evan Welsh, SAP, +1 (610) 203-9742, evan.welsh@sap.com, EDT
Bettina Wunderle, SAP, +49 (0) 75 44-97 05 38, bettina.wunderle@sap.com, CET

Want to learn more? Contact SAP Media Relations.

IBM Global Parking Survey: Drivers Share Worldwide Parking Woes

 

IBM Global Parking Survey: Drivers Share Worldwide Parking Woes

 

·         8,042 commuters in 20 cities on six continents surveyed

·         Parking elusive worldwide; Over half report abandoning search for parking spot

·         Chicago reports the least amount of tickets for illegal parking; Bangalore tops the list

·         Drivers in New Delhi, Bangalore, Nairobi and Milan argue most over parking spaces

 

ARMONK, N.Y., 28 Sept. 2011 – IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) first parking survey released today found that drivers in 20 international cities face a daily struggle in finding a parking space.  In the past year, nearly six out of 10 drivers have abandoned their search for a space at least once, and more than a quarter have gotten into an argument with a fellow motorist over a parking space.

In addition to the typical traffic congestion caused by the daily commute and gridlock from construction and accidents, reports have estimated that over 30 percent of traffic in a city is caused by drivers searching for a parking spot. Not only do inefficient parking systems result in congestion and increased carbon emissions, they also waste commuters’ time, lead to lost productivity and economic opportunities and can lead to inefficient city services.


Interestingly, IBM’s global parking survey showed that drivers in both developed and emerging economies face many of the same parking frustrations, regardless of where they live or their ranking in the recently released
Commuter Pain Index. Drivers in Nairobi averaged 31.7 minutes in their longest search for a parking spot, and commuters in Bangalore, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Mexico City, Paris and Shenzhen all reported means significantly above the worldwide average. Seventeen percent of drivers in Milan and Beijing and 16 percent of drivers in Madrid and Shenzhen spent 31 to 40 minutes looking for parking.

In fact, over half of all drivers in 16 of the 20 cities surveyed reported that they have been frustrated enough that they gave up looking for a parking space and simply drove somewhere else. For example, nearly three out of four commuters surveyed in Shenzhen (80 percent), Beijing (74 percent), Nairobi (76 percent), Singapore and Mexico City (73 percent), and Madrid (69 percent) reported not reaching their intended destination because they gave up looking for parking. Conversely, respondents in Chicago (63 percent), Stockholm (62 percent), Montreal (58 percent) and Toronto (57 percent) rarely experience this frustration.


IBM compiled the results of the survey into its first-ever Parking Index that ranks the emotional and economic toll of parking in a cross-section of 20 international cities with the highest number being the most onerous. The Index reveals a wide range in the parking pain experienced from city to city. Chicago had the least pain when it comes to parking in the cities studied, followed by Los Angeles and Toronto. Here’s how the cities stack up:


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The IBM Parking Index is comprised of the following key issues: 1) longest amount of time looking for a parking place; 2) inability to find a parking place; 3) disagreement over parking spots; 4) received a parking ticket for illegal parking and 5) number of parking tickets received. The cities scored as follows: New Delhi: 140; Bangalore 138; Beijing 124; Moscow 122; Shenzhen 122; Paris 122; Milan 117; Nairobi 111; Madrid: 104; Singapore 97; Mexico City: 97; Stockholm: 90; Johannesburg: 87; London: 86; New York City: 85; Montreal: 85; Buenos Aires: 80; Toronto: 77; Los Angeles: 61; and Chicago: 51.

“Clearly, drivers worldwide are facing frustration and pain, not only during the daily commute, but also when searching for a parking spot,” said Vinodh Swaminathan, director of intelligent transportation systems, IBM. “It’s easy to see how this parking ‘pain’ can impact productivity of citizens and economic opportunities in a city. The ability to combine transportation information being collected with a better understanding of their citizens’ parking needs can help cities not only better match parking supply with demand from commuters, but also better anticipate and avoid gridlock as well as make significant inroads to reduce congestion.”

Survey Snapshot

·         Globally, one in four (27 percent) respondents self-reported being involved in an argument with a fellow driver over a parking space within the last year. Drivers in New Delhi (58 percent), Bangalore (44 percent), Nairobi (43 percent) and Milan (37 percent) were the most vocal with each other over a specific parking spot.  The survey indicates that the most mild-mannered drivers, at least when it comes to avoiding arguments about parking, are in Chicago (89 percent), Los Angeles and Stockholm (87 percent), Montreal (85 percent) and Singapore (83 percent).

·         Nine in ten respondents in Madrid and Johannesburg reported that they had not received a ticket for parking illegally within the last year, significantly above the global average. Chicago, Los Angeles and Nairobi closely followed them.

·         Even though the majority of drivers in Bangalore (70 percent), Moscow (69 percent) and Paris (62 percent) said they had not received a ticket in the last year, they still managed to, on average, rack up the most illegal parking tickets -- 9 (Bangalore), 8.5 (Moscow) and 7 (Paris).

·         Globally, drivers have spent an average of nearly 20 minutes in pursuit of a coveted spot. African drivers averaged both the shortest and longest times searching for parking in the last year when compared to the other 18 cities -- Johannesburg averaged 12.7 minutes and Nairobi averaged 31.7 minutes.

Thirteen percent of drivers in Nairobi reported driving around for more than one hour for a parking spot within the last year. On the other end of the spectrum, citizens in Chicago (28 percent), Montreal (24 percent) and Stockholm (24 percent) fared much better, finding a spot in less than five minutes.

About the IBM Parking Survey

The IBM global parking survey, which surveyed 8,042 commuters in 20 cities around the world, is part of IBM’s annual Commuter Pain survey, conducted to better understand consumer attitudes around traffic congestion, as the issue reaches crisis proportions around the world, and higher levels of auto emissions stir environmental concerns. These events are impacting communities around the world, where governments, citizens and private sector organizations are looking beyond traditional remedies like adding roads to reverse the negative impacts of increased road congestion.

Findings from the Commuter Pain survey are used to assess citizen concerns about parking, traffic and commuter issues; enhance smarter transportation solutions such as traffic prediction, intelligent tolling systems, road user charging, advanced traffic and parking management and integrated fare management; and serve as a basis for pioneering new approaches to improving transportation.

IBM works with cities, governments and others around the world to make their transportation systems smarter. Smarter transportation systems can help traffic and public transit systems flow more smoothly, anticipate and improve congestion in advance, reduce emissions and increase the capacity of infrastructure.  

To join in the conversation on Smarter Transportation, join us on LinkedIn and Twitter.  

Visit here for more on IBM and Smarter Traffic.

See the results of the 2011 Commuter Pain survey here.

 

LG Electronics Canada and the National Film Board of Canada Partner on LG Smart TV app

 

Skype, karaoke and thousands of movies added to LG’s Smart TV

 

LG expands its popular Internet-enabled TV system to include four new app partnerships

 

Toronto, ON - September 27th, 2011 – In line with their continued commitment to expand premium content available through their Internet-enabled LG Smart TV, LG Electronics Canada today announced four new partnerships for its Smart TV ecosystem designed to entertain the whole family: Skype™, The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), The KARAOKE Channel and Ameba.

 

Users with LG Smart TV products will not only have easy, on-demand access to online digital content right on their television through a simple home interface, but in keeping with LG’s strong support of Canadian innovation, three of the applications: NFB, The KARAOKE Channel and Ameba, have been designed by Canadian organizations.

 

“Continued expansion in LG Smart TV content empowers Canadians to change the way they interact with their TV by connecting it to the Internet,” said Eric Agius, President & CEO, LG Electronics Canada. “With these new partnerships, the continued expansion of available premium and Canadian content through LG’s award-winning Smart TV user interface assures that LG remains a leader in Internet-connected TV in Canada.”

 

Skype

Making Skype available on new LG Smart TVs will help bring families together even when they are provinces or continents apart, connecting from the comfort of their couches through their Internet-enabled TVs. LG’s Smart TV technology and partnerships now makes friends and family into stars in your life, by bringing them right onto your TV screen.

 

 

The National Film Board

Unlimited access to the country’s 2,000 best films is now just a remote control click away with the new National Film Board app channel on LG’s Smart TV.

 

“This new app was created in partnership with LG, who are leaders in connected TV development,” said Tom Perlmutter, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson. “It represents an important step forward for the NFB—our first application beyond mobile and tablet platforms. Over the past three years, the National Film Board of Canada has established itself as a leader in the digital realm, pioneering new ways of delivering its historic collection of ground-breaking documentaries and animation on viewers’ platform of choice, while developing the interactive art and entertainment forms of the 21st century.” This app was created by the NFB and the content is available in both English and French.

 

The KARAOKE Channel

The KARAOKE Channel highlights how LG’s Smart TV ecosystem changes the traditional television experience by turning your TV into a personal karaoke machine right in your living room. Also Canadian-designed and with a library of 8,000 songs in languages including English, French and Spanish, LG Smart TV and The KARAOKE Channel will provide endless interactive fun for family and friends.

 

"Stingray is pleased to partner with LG to offer The KARAOKE Channel App for LG Smart TVs", says Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital, owner of The KARAOKE Channel. "LG Smart TV owners will be among the first to experience the best karaoke experience of both Internet and TV worlds: HD karaoke videos displayed on large screen TVs combined with the catalogue, features and convenience that Internet streaming allows."

Ameba , Smart TV for Children

Rounding out the new additions, the Ameba app provides access to the leading digital service focused solely on children’s television programming. With over 2,000 episodes in their video library, Ameba TV app brings on demand access to a wide variety of entertaining, educational and enriching children’s titles. With shows available in English, French, Spanish and Mandarin, it provides excellent value for parents and a vast selection of programming for kids two to twelve years of age.

 

"Joining forces with LG to offer Ameba on the Smart TV platform makes it easy for parents to access quality children's programming on the devices they already own," said Ameba President Tony Havelka. "With direct access to Ameba now embedded in LG Smart TVs,  with a simple click of a button, parents can offer their children instant access to a growing library of great children's programming all presented in a safe viewing environment."

 

These apps will be available immediately and pre-loaded on new LG Smart TV’s, and for those not yet in the market for a new TV, the NFB, The KARAOKE Channel and Ameba apps will all be available later this year on the LG Smart TV Upgrader and Smart TV Blu-ray devices.

 

About LG Canada, Inc.

The LG brand was established in 1995. The company is a global leader in electronics, information and communications products, with more than 82,000 employees working in 77 countries around the world, and annual worldwide revenues of more than US $40 billion. LG Canada is comprised of five business units - Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Home Entertainment, Business Solutions and Commercial Air Conditioning. The company has offices in Toronto and Vancouver. LG Canada is focused on delivering award-winning products known for blending style and technology. These innovative products include cell phones, flat screen TVs, laptop computers and home appliances. For more information please visit www.LG.com.

 


 

Canada’s Inaugural National IT Day Scheduled for November 2, 2011

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Canada’s Inaugural National IT Day Scheduled for November 2, 2011

 

·         Visit http://www.nationalitday.ca/ to add your name to the National IT Day petition

·         Join thousands of other Canadian IT professionals to campaign for a national day of recognition for IT workers

 

Tweet This:  Support the campaign for a National IT Day http://www.nationalitday.ca/   #NationalITDay

 

 

TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2011Dell Canada and Intel Canada today announced that Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011 has been selected as the date for the inaugural Canadian National IT Day. Moving forward, this day of recognition for IT practitioners is slated to take place on the first Wednesday of November each year, within National Technology Week.  

 

Since the National IT Day campaign began in fall 2010, the petition for a national day of recognition for IT professionals has already received close to 7,000 signatures. To seek government recognition for an official National IT Day, the petition campaign is looking to attract at least 10,000 names. 

 

“We are looking forward to our first national day of recognition for IT professionals on November 2, 2011 -- a day when we hope Canadians will find a way to show their appreciation for our dedicated IT workers who work long and hard to keep our computers and IT infrastructure working safely, securely and smoothly 24/7,” said David Miketinac, vice president and general manager, SMB, Dell Canada.

 

“The future success of Canada’s economy is driven by technology and the great professionals that work in the field of IT,” said Elaine Mah, Business Marketing Manager for Intel Canada. “The passion for technology and innovation starts at a young age, so it’s important to foster, mentor and recognize that talent in order to build a strong and vibrant IT community.”

 

To add your name to the petition for National IT Day, visit the link at http://www.nationalitday.ca/. While there you can also take part in online discussion boards or enter contests to win great prizes.

 

About National IT Day

By celebrating National IT Day on the first Wednesday of November (beginning Wednesday November 2, 2011) Canadians will have a way to celebrate IT achievements and raise awareness for the services provided by IT professionals and the industry. IT professionals take on many roles in their organizations, but often garner little recognition or appreciation for their responsiveness, long hours and dedication to ensure our computer systems are up and running night and day. National IT Day provides this much needed day of recognition and appreciation.

 

 

What you can do on National IT Day

 

Show your appreciation: It’s easy to say ‘thank you’. If you know an IT professional, thank them for the hard work and long hours they put in to make sure your computer system and the company network is working safely and securely 24/7. Everyone wants to feel valued and the simple act of saying ‘thank you’ can have a big impact on these often un-sung IT Heroes. Of course a gift certificate, pizza lunch or coffee and donuts will also work well!

 

 

Mentor: Mentorship is an important way you can help attract and build the careers of the next generation of young IT professionals.  On National IT Day consider reaching out to a budding IT practitioner with the offer of becoming their mentor and offering help and guidance.  

 

 

About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. For more information, visit www.dell.ca.

 

About Intel

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com

 

Media Contacts:

Janet Fabri

Dell

416.758.3398

Janet_fabri@dell.com

 

Andrea De la Cuba

Cohn & Wolfe

647-259-3332

andrea.delacuba@cohnwolfe.ca

 

Melissa Lee

Cohn & Wolfe

647-259-3266

melissa.lee@cohnwolfe.ca

 

 

LENOVO TO EXPAND PC PRODUCTION CAPACITY THROUGH COMPAL JOINT VENTURE

LENOVO TO EXPAND PC PRODUCTION CAPACITY THROUGH COMPAL JOINT VENTURE

Companies will open new manufacturing center in Hefei, China
HEFEI, China – September 27, 2011: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) and Compal Electronics, Inc. today announced an agreement to form a joint venture company that will build and operate a new manufacturing center in Hefei, China. In combining with Compal, one of the world’s leading original design manufacturers (ODMs), Lenovo will add production capacity needed to sustain rapid growth that has seen the Company become the PC industry’s fastest-growing major supplier for seven consecutive quarters, while strengthening its ability to deliver innovative products, faster, on a global scale.

The two companies will invest US$100 million initially, followed by an additional $200 million in the next 18 months subject to business conditions and capacity expansion, to start up the new company and construct the facility. Lenovo will hold a 51 percent stake in the joint venture and Compal 49 percent. 
 
The Hefei facility is scheduled to begin full-scale manufacturing by the end of 2012, at which time it will produce a range of Lenovo laptop and “All-in-One” desktop PCs. The joint venture will operate as a stand-alone supplier, providing Lenovo exclusively with finished systems for sale around the world. It will integrate both companies’ advanced engineering and manufacturing expertise with the objective of more rapidly delivering innovative technologies that surpass customers’ requirements for design, performance and functionality, while meeting their budgets.   

The Hefei facility will extend Lenovo’s efficient global manufacturing network, which leverages a mix of in-house factories and outsourcing partners, including Compal, to deliver all products worldwide. The joint venture will serve a portion of Lenovo’s expected future growth, while existing in-house facilities and Original Design Manufacturer relationships also support expansion.
 
 “This joint venture will help us further optimize our manufacturing network, increase production capacity and satisfy rapidly growing demand for our offerings. Based on our deep understanding of customer requirements, it will also help us provide innovative products to our customers in a faster and more efficient way, while enhancing our integrated innovation capability." Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said.  "As the fastest growing major PC company in the world, Lenovo is fully committed to the PC industry for the long term and we are very optimistic about its future, while making significant long-term investments in the mobile internet.  We have the right strategy, a successful business model and innovative products. These key elements of our core competitiveness will help us to continue winning. ”
 
The agreement with Compal is the latest move by Lenovo to sustain the rapid growth that has enabled the company to outperform its top five industry rivals for nearly two years. Earlier this year, Lenovo began a PC joint venture with NEC in Japan and later acquired Medion, a major personal technology company based in Germany.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world’s third-largest PC vendor.  Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services.  Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones.  Lenovo, a global Fortune 500 company, has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.

Oracle Introduces Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center to Support Industry Transition to Personalized Medicine

Oracle Press Release

Oracle Introduces Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center to Support Industry Transition to Personalized Medicine

PRIX GALIEN, New York – September 27, 2011

News Facts

To support more personalized, value-based healthcare, Oracle today announced the introduction of Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center, a platform that facilitates the secondary use of healthcare data for both clinical and research organizations.
Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center enables pharmaceutical and biotech companies, contract research organizations, as well as academic research organizations to normalize, aggregate and analyze data from numerous internal and external sources to identify new predictive biomarkers, best practices for diagnosis and treatment and more effective and safe therapies for individuals.
A key component of the solution, Oracle Health Sciences Cohort Explorer, helps identify and aggregate patients with similar clinical attributes and puts powerful and easy-to-use analytics directly in the hands of researchers and clinicians, enabling them to be self-sufficient and timely in their analyses, while ensuring a secure foundation that delivers high levels of access control and traceability to support security and regulatory compliance requirements.
To speed time to value and reduce IT complexity and cost, the fully integrated solution is built on Oracle’s proven life sciences and enterprise healthcare analytics solutions. These include Oracle Healthcare Data Warehouse Foundation, a comprehensive and detailed healthcare data model that ensures high quality clinical data is readily accessible to researchers, and Oracle Health Sciences Clinical Development Center, which provides detailed traceability of analysis processes, as well as comprehensive audit capabilities to facilitate regulatory compliance.
The initial release focuses on enabling the aggregation, normalization and analysis of clinical information, such as electronic health record data. It will help health sciences organizations gain insights into how specific patient populations respond to treatments with:
Support for more than 300 search criteria, such as patient demographics, diagnosis, and medication
Flexible, real-time queries that enable iterative hypothesis testing essential for translational research
37 pre-built operational reports to increase efficiency
Seven pre-built dashboards and a flexible and extensible data model that enables rapid development of additional reports and views
A standardized framework that integrates and manages disparate pre-existing command-line applications, scripts and algorithms commonly used in translational research
To ensure that the new platform meets the needs of health sciences organizations, Oracle worked closely with numerous development partners, including Merck, Roche, Erasmus University Medical Center, Inova Health System, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute.
The solution has been benchmarked on millions of patient records – demonstrating scalability for large-scale applications.

Supporting Quotes

“Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center, developed in cooperation with leading healthcare organizations, academic research centers, and biopharmaceutical companies, is a productized, ready-to-deploy system to help enable effective personalized healthcare,” said Neil de Crescenzo, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Health Sciences. “It offers an integrated solution, built on a proven, scalable and secure platform, that enables all key stakeholders – including researchers, physicians, other clinicians and biostatisticians – to optimize each of their unique roles in the translational research continuum.”
“Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center will support health sciences organizations, like the Knight Cancer Institute, as we collectively work to ensure that the patient remains at the center of research and care,” said Brian Druker, M.D., director of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. “The ability to aggregate data, normalize it, and most importantly, effectively analyze it to yield previously unavailable insight is essential to unlocking the potential of personalized medicine.”
“Scientific discovery in healthcare continues at an unprecedented pace, and we find ourselves on the cusp of enabling full-scale translational medicine.  At Moffitt we created the foundation for this through our Total Cancer Care™ program which combines one of the largest cancer biorepositories with the collection of longitudinal clinical data. The key is mining this data for insight, putting the power to do so in the hands of the researchers who are closest to the work – and doing this in a cost-effective manner,” said Mark Hulse, R.N., vice president of Information Services and chief information officer of Moffitt. “Oracle has been a key partner with us in this effort and we believe that Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center will further advance the ability to deliver on these requirements.”

Supporting Resources

About Oracle

Oracle is the world's most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems company.  For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

Trademark

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Disclaimer

THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND MAY NOT BE
INCORPORATED INTO A CONTRACT OR AGREEMENT.

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Contact Info

Greg Lunsford
Oracle
+1.650.506.6523
greg.lunsford@oracle.com

Mary Tobin
O’Keeffe & Company
+1.503.658.7396
mtobin@okco.com