Biz tech

New technology to meet customers’ needsP:

HP takes innovation, design to greater heights

Dudley Jansz in Beijing, China

HP unveiled a series of innovative technologies and designs-HP Mini 110, HP Pavilion MS 200, HP dx 2810 special edition PC and HP 5730w, Thin Client alternative desktop PC at the HP “Touch the Future. Now” media event in Beijing.

Seventy journalists from 16 countries attended the media summit in Beijing, China from May 27-28.

Senior Vice President, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan See Chin Teik said digital lifestyles and micro-segmentation of consumers and their needs will not be addressed by a single capable device with multi-functions, but by many of these multi-functional devices that an end-user will come to expect to complement their needs and usage scenarios.

Vice President, Mobile Business Unit, Personal Systems Group HP Asia Pacific and Japan, Chua Hwee Koon said the new HP Mini 110 and HP pavilion dv 2 with Dual-Core Processor are part of the company’s strategy to deliver superior value and personal experiences to consumers.

She said when we look at today’s market for portable devices, it’s not about merging multiple consumer products into single point solutions, but rather the development of a continuum of devices that meet consumers’ unique needs, whether for personal or business use. That’s why we’re excited about how the new products we’re unveiling for the first time globally in Beijing deliver a breadth of choice and value that consumers today crave and appreciate.

Chua said the HP Mini 110 weighs a mere 1.06 kilos and is available in pink chic, Black Swirl or White Swirl protective HP Imprint finishes.

HP also introduced and demonstrated for the first time in Asia Pacific, the HP SkyRoom technology, a professional - quality visual collaboration and conferencing solution that enables real-time communication through the desktop. With HP SkyRoom, it will be easier for business professionals to meet and collaborate virtually anytime, anywhere.

Vice President and General Manager Desktop Systems Unit PSC HP Asia Pacific and Japan Dennis Mark said, in today’s environment, customers are looking for cost effective, hassle free alternatives to business travel and face-to-face meetings. As an innovative technology industry leader HP is best positioned to drive ground-breaking new technologies that meet the evolving needs of these customers.

HP also ushered the next generation of family computing experiences with the launch of an all - new continuum of desktop products designed to address the needs of the evolving digital home. Among the recently unveiled products were three newly designed desktop PCs, five monitors and a breakthrough All-in-One desktop PC.

Sala launches Gaoxinqi

Dual Sim Mobile

Gaoxinqi unveiled the Gaoxinqi M8 in a brand new design.

This sleek phone enables the user to carry two SIM (Dual SIM) cards where two mobile connections could be used.

The advantage of a dual SIM phone is, when in areas where there is a signal drop, the other operator could be used.

Sound also plays an important part of the experience include an exclusive soundtrack of graphic grooves.

Also with it’s built in MP3 and MP4 players the user can enjoy quality music or videos.

Touch screen capabilities and 1.3 megapixel auto focus camera adds value to the GAOXINQI M8. Having GPRS and MMS built in Data or pictures could be transmitted or received.

The address book could store 500 entries and you would have a choice of over 64 melody polyphonic ringtones.

GAOXINQI is a leading professional manufacturer of mobile telephones and telephones.

Oracle grabs Highest Possible Rating

Gartner Inc. has given a Strong Positive rating to Oracle in its report “MarketScope for Supply Chain Planning: Process Automation, 2009.

Gartner defines a Supply Chain Planning (SCP) suite as “a multiproduct SCP software application that includes at least four of the following key functional areas: demand planning, inventory planning, replenishment planning, Available To Promise (ATP), manufacturing planning and scheduling, and collaborative planning.”

“Today, companies require solutions that align their business operations with their strategic goals, improve profitability and customer satisfaction,” said Oracle Group Vice President, Nadeem Syed.

“Relying on Oracle Value Chain Planning applications, companies are better equipped to effectively respond to demand while minimizing inventory levels and achieving their operational goals. We are pleased that Gartner has rated us Strong Positive in this MarketScope,” he said.

According to Gartner, “SCP for process automation denotes part of the market that uses SCP technology for best practices that streamline and make more efficient the SCP business processes.

This differs from SCP for process innovation, which seeks to change or evolve specific SCP business processes for unique competitive advantages.”

Across industries, Oracle Value Chain Planning applications are enabling companies to achieve real economic benefits and a fast return on their investment.

With these best-in-class solutions, customers are equipped to improve cash flow, profitably balance capacity and supply to drive profitability and transform cost centers to profit centers.

Demand for IT, BPO services increases during recession:

High standards in IT education essential

Anjana Samarasinghe

It is important to maintain high standards in IT education to produce highly qualified IT professionals to the industry said CEO/Director eBuilder Technology Centre (Pvt) Ltd Michael Medin.

IT and the BPO industry will be one of the main foreign exchange earners in the country. The country needs high skilled IT professionals to compete in the international market and it is important for Sri Lanka to maintain high standards in IT education, he said.

“We have noticed that many local IT professionals migrate to other countries and the country needs to establish a program to keep these professionals in Sri Lanka for the betterment of the industry, he said.

“We believe that agencies such as ICTA and SLSSCOM are doing a great job for the development of the industry”, he said. eBuilder is a global company with half a million users in over 50 countries. The company optimizes and automates administrative processes for corporations and public sector agencies through IT-based business process outsourcing.

“In 2003 we commenced our operations in Sri Lanka and recently we relocated our office to increase our capacity for facilitating our growth.

During the recession the demand for the IT and BPO services increased as most companies focus on cost cutting in the international arena. The company had tremendous growth last year”, he said.

Now we are hoping to make Sri Lanka our hub in Asian market due to the geographical location of the country.

The company also expects to invest heavily on its infrastructure facilities to strengthen their operations, he said.

As Web communication shrinks, so do links

On the short-messaging service Twitter, space is at a premium: You’ve got 140 characters to make your point, and you probably don’t want to waste half of it on a super-sized link to your latest YouTube obsession.

There’s an increasingly popular quick fix: a free URL shortener. On one of these Web sites, you can plug in a long Internet address, known as a URL, and it will assign you a much shorter one that is easier to post in e-mails, on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else. Some link-shrinkers let you personalize the new address with a unique phrase such as your name, or show you how many people click the link after you’ve posted it.

This convenience may come at a cost, though. The tools add another layer to the process of navigating the Web, potentially leaving a trail of broken links if a service suddenly closes shop. They can also make it harder to tell what you’re really clicking on, which may make these Lilliputian links attractive to spammers and scammers.

URL shorteners have been around for several years to offer alternatives to long Web links that were too unwieldy to paste into e-mails. Perhaps the oldest and most popular is TinyURL, a free service started in 2002 by Kevin Gilbertson, a unicycle enthusiast from Blaine, Minn., who was tired of seeing URLs get split up in e-mails related to his online unicycle forum.

Link compression is just the beginning. More and more of these allow users to see all sorts of details like where a link is showing up around the Web and where the people clicking on it are located.

AP

eSenze HR solutions at ODEL

Greenwich Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, (GLPL), a fully owned subsidiary of PCH Holdings is a foremost provider of IT infrastructure solutions and consultancy services. Operating for more than a decade, GLPL has provided e-HR solutions to many of Sri Lanka’s top ranked companies through eSenze, GLPL’s e-HR solutions brand. eSenze specializes in recruitment, training and development, performance management, employee data storage and personnel file management, time attendance, payroll and online requests for leave.

ODEL’s requirement provided eSenze with an opportunity to tailor a solution aimed at managing all the areas of HR management for the store, enabling a user-friendly system for the management to oversee the employees.

COO ODEL Arjuna Samaratunga, said “The ease of operations since implementation is significant. Our main concern was to obtain a fully integrated system to facilitate the expansion of the company’s business activities, whilst maintaining simplicity and user friendliness and we are happy to have achieved this objective through the eSenze solution.”

Director of GLPL Thariq Sanoon said that he has every confidence in eSenze’s ability to not only benefit customers by simplifying their HR management systems, but enhance the overall employee performance of the organization through effective management of the human resource aspect.

“We are very content about delivering the project to the expectations of ODEL. Swift adaptability to client requirement was the key reason for our success and apart from the comprehensive solution, our commitment and flexibility helped us provide ODEL with exactly what they were looking for,” he said.

Since eSenze specializes in tailor-made solutions and with both GLPL and ODEL’s small HR team working cohesively, the object of automating the innovative HR practices of ODEL became a reality through the cost effective eSenze brand of solutions.

eSenze’s provision of a highly flexible option, leaving space for potential add-on’s of modules that may become necessary in the future provided ODEL with a continuously developing system for their HR management needs.

GLPL believes in not only, providing its customers with quality management solutions, but in following them up with the additional developments that inevitably become necessary as an organization grows. This attribute will benefit the relationship between ODEL and GLPL in the future.