Nokia reduces R&D operations in Japan

Posted by Mico Santos On 4:03 AM View Comments
Tokyo, Japan - As part of its global efforts to align its research and development (R&D) operations to be in line with its focused portfolio of future products, Nokia will be reducing its R&D activities in Japan.  As previously announced last week, Nokia plans to reduce some of its R&D activities in Finland and Denmark.
 
Today's announcement will impact approximately 220 employees in Japan. The total number would represent slightly more than 1% of Nokia's R&D personnel globally.
 
Nokia will continue its significant sourcing activities in Japan. Japanese manufacturers are important partners who play a critical role in Nokia's global supply-chain strategy and with whom Nokia continues to develop its world-class logistics operations. 
 
The Japanese operation of Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia's network infrastructure business, is not affected by this announcement and continues uninterrupted.
 
Vertu, Nokia's exclusive line of handcrafted mobile phones for the luxury market, will also continue operations in Japan unaffected by today's announcement.

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Nokia continues to streamline its R&D operations

Posted by Mico Santos On 11:48 AM View Comments
Nokia plans to align its research and development (R&D) operations in Finland and Denmark to be in line with the company's focused portfolio of future products. The planned changes are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia's Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia's Copenhagen site. The total number would represent approximately 2 % of Nokia's R&D personnel globally.
 
Nokia aims to support the employees with alternative solutions, such as finding new positions within the company for as many employees as possible. Nokia will begin consultations with employee representatives about these plans where voluntary severance packages among other topics will be discussed.
 
Nokia maintains a strong R&D presence in both sites; the company has over 2 000 employees in Oulu and over 1 000 employees in Copenhagen. Overall, Nokia has more than 17 000 people employed in its research and development activities.

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Google released Chrome OS source code

Posted by Mico Santos On 8:41 AM View Comments


Google just announced that Google Chrome OS source code will be available to public and Chrome for Mac will be ready next year.


The announcement  during the Google  Chrome OS press event today.

According to Caesar Sengupta ,Google Group Product Manager, today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS.They doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers.

Sengupta said as with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free.

 "We want to take this opportunity to explain why we're excited about the project and how it is a fundamentally different model of computing." He said.

First, it's all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.

Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code. If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. While no computer can be made completely secure, we're going to make life much harder (and less profitable) for the bad guys. If you dig security, read the Chrome OS Security Overview or watch the video.

Most of all, He added,we are obsessed with speed. We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds. Our obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal. We are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS.

Sengupta said ,there is still a lot of work to do, and we're excited to work with the open source community. We have benefited hugely from projects like GNU, the Linux Kernel, Moblin, Ubuntu, WebKit and many more. We will be contributing our code upstream and engaging closely with these and other open source efforts.

Google Chrome OS will be ready for consumers this time next year. Sign up here for updates or if you like building your operating system from source, get involved at chromium.org.

Lastly, here is a short video that explains why we're so excited about Google Chrome OS.



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Flickr selects Snapfish by HP as its partner for photo printing

Posted by Mico Santos On 2:48 AM View Comments




As Flickr announced it is partnering with Snapfish by HP to provide Flickr members worldwide with a wider range of photo printing and gift creation options.

For Flickr’s New Zealand members, this announcement means that they can now use Snapfish to bring their photos to life.

“We are thrilled to bring the Snapfish service to Flickr’s member community. Not only can they buy prints from as low as 15 cents per print, they can create a range of photo products using the Snapfish site, including beautiful canvas prints, coffee table-quality photo books, calendars, mugs and a range of Christmas gifts and decorations,” said Verity Batchelder, Country Manager, Snapfish Australia and New Zealand.

When Flickr users select the option to print photos on the Flickr site, they will be asked to choose their country. Once they choose New Zealand, they will be taken to the Snapfish New Zealand site, where orders will be fulfilled within New Zealand and customers can pay in local currency.

Purchasing through Snapfish will offer Flickr users more options for receiving their photos and photo gifts. Snapfish not only delivers anywhere in New Zealand, it also allows you to collect your purchases from one of its partner retailers. Customers can choose to collect from any Kmart outlet and hundreds of pharmacies countrywide


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New Zealand HP customer listed in Top 500 supercomputing list

Posted by Mico Santos On 12:11 AM View Comments




HP solidified its position on the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers with the HP BladeSystem c-Class and HP ProLiant blade servers dominating competitive installations for the third consecutive year, which includes New Zealand customer WETA Digital.


HP remains the leader with a total of 208 (42 percent) of the top 500 systems built on HP ProLiant architectures. Of those, HP BladeSystem c-Class servers power 203 entries, 40.6 percent of the total units.
 
Blade servers enable customers to increase computing performance within existing physical data center space. HP industry-standard blade servers lead the supercomputing market by easing the management of these large and complex systems while managing system energy efficiencies.
 
On the other hand,HP today announced the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute for Advanced Computational Research (MSI) has chosen HP blade servers for a new high-performance computing system to power research across a broad range of disciplines, including life and physical sciences and engineering.



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New Zealand’s Datamail Group Orders Two HP Indigo W7200 Commercial Digital Presses

Posted by Mico Santos On 12:08 AM View Comments


In a first for the South Pacific region New Zealand’s largest communications management group, Datamail, has placed an order for two customised HP Indigo W7200 Commercial Digital Presses.

The two new HP Indigo W7200 presses will be installed in February at the company’s new purpose-built Auckland facility and will be used in the production of millions of transactional mail items printed by Datamail on a daily basis.

Until now Datamail has overprinted on transactional shells. But with the installation of the HP Indigo W7200 presses the company will be able to print the entire job – the base stock and variable data content – at the same time in full colour achieving the offset quality its clients expect at increased production speeds and with greater cost efficiencies.

“For twenty years we have been the major player of outsourced transactional and direct marketing communications,” said David Allen General Manager – Product Management, Datamail.  “Ultimately we see the transition to full colour digital print as an extension of our commitment to leadership in communication management. In choosing the HP Indigo presses we are doing more than just replacing offset shells, we are expanding our ability to rethink the documents themselves and the communication they contain.”

“The HP Indigo W7200 adds value to our existing offer. This platform opens up opportunities to enter new vertical markets and for example to expand what we are already doing in the transpromotional (TransPromo) space.” TransPromo combines transactional documents (eg; billing) with targeted promotional offers/messaging.

Troy Wood from AM International, HP Indigo’s distributor in New Zealand, said “In addition to transforming the way transactional statements are printed in New Zealand, HP Indigo’s unique ability to produce custom spot colours with genuine offset quality will allow Datamail to explore major growth opportunities not only in TransPromo, but also in direct mail and many other variable data printing applications”.

Datamail turns over in excess of $NZ200 million per annum and employs 1800 people. The company’s offer features a range of Communications Management and Business Process Re-engineering services as well as being the on-line enabler for many clients.

Shane Lucas Director HP Graphic Arts South Pacific commented on the sale, which is the first HP Indigo commercial web press order of its kind for the region. “This purchase is reflective of the convergence of TransPromo concepts with the business and technology enablers that deliver cost benefits and time efficiencies. We look forward to working with Datamail in ensuring a smooth transition to this exceptional platform.”

The new twin-engine, continuous feed HP Indigo W7200 Digital Press clearly raises the bar for digital productivity delivering outstanding offset quality. Building on the success of the HP Indigo press W3250, the new HP Indigo W7200 Digital Press includes features requested by existing commercial web customers and is capable of handling high volume, variable data production runs.

In conclusion Allen said, “With the purchase of the HP Indigo W7200 presses we are re-engineering our very selves not just buying equipment. We are rethinking how we might work with clients to enhance the communication they will have with their customers. These two new presses will allow us to build knowledge and create client confidence that the journey is a stable one. This purchase is just the entry point”.

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Invizimals is here: master the monsters!

Posted by Mico Santos On 11:52 PM View Comments

 
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has issued the monster-hunting challenge of a lifetime: starting today, can you hunt down and capture over 40 weird and wonderful monsters in your own home or garden? 
 
There’s a catch, though: you can only see these monsters - the Invizimals™ - with the help of your trusty PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and its camera. Arriving in stores today, Invizimals is a handheld game with a difference: it uses the PSP camera to reveal virtual monsters in your own home as you wander the house, pointing the camera under sofas, into corners and behind curtains on your hunt. 
 
And that’s just the half of it, once you’ve found and caught your Invizimals, you can battle them against your friends - with the aim being to win them all!

Finding Invizimals is half the fun. Look into your trusty PSP, which will show you the world through its camera – only this time, with Invizimals included. Listen to the Invizimals detector: a gadget in your PSP that clicks when these weird creatures are nearby. Use your PSP to look under things; behind things; high and low – until you’ve spotted your quarry. 
 
You can find monsters wherever you are – at home, in the park or even on holiday! When you spot one, creep up to it and place your Invizimals magic card next to it. It’ll attract the Invizimal onto it so that you can make your capturing move. 
 
Your PSP will tell you what to do next – you might need to grab it, tickle it, lure it or clap your hands to capture the Invizimal and add it to your collection.

Once you’ve caught a few, it’s time to challenge a friend to a fast and fun battle! Place your magic cards together and summon the Invizimal of your choosing. Each creature has different powers and attacks – so choose carefully and get battling.
 
When the fight is on, you can help your Invizimal with special moves: blow onto the camera to create a hurricane; shake your PSP to start an earthquake; cast a shadow over the battlefield to deploy a lightning strike. 
 
You’ll have to think fast to win the day and your opponent’s Invizimal to add to your collection. Don’t worry if you lose, there are plenty more Invizimals to hunt down and collect. Where will you find the next one?

In stores today, Invizimals is a game that’ll put whole army of strange and wonderful monsters in your hands and let you have great fun battling them with your friends. Are you ready to master the Invizimals? Find out more at www.playstation.co.nz


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