AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, technology briefs

Source: AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesSept.儲存 05--IBM ACQUIRES CLOUD COMPUTING FIRM: International Business Machines (IBM) has announced its acquisition of provider of virtualisation management technology, CSL International, to boost its cloud capabilities, New York Business Journal has reported. The deal improves the consolidation and cloud storage capabilities of its zEnterprise mainframe server system by it simpler to set up and manage. CSL's CSL-WAVE software allows clients to monitor and manage their systems using a drag-and-drop interface, said IBM. The software will become part of the IBM zEnterprise portfolio in early 2014, it added.ICT FIRMS MULLING QUITTING JORDAN OVER 'UNFAVOURABLE ENVIRONMENT': Jordan Gaming Task Force has said a major international digital game firm is set to shut down its offices in Jordan to move to Turkey or Dubai, Jordan Times has reported. The decision was taken by the unnamed company due to the "unfavourable environment governing the ICT sector," Nour Khrais, chairman of the task force, told the daily. "The government is taking measures that are destroying the environment of the gaming and content development industry," Khrais said. Last year, around 30 ICT firms, including gaming and content development companies, closed their offices and left the kingdom, he said. The government's intention to increase IT companies' income tax from 14 percent to 25 percent is harming the digital gaming and content development industry, Khrais noted. "International companies used to view Jordan as an ICT hub, but nowadays, we are seeing companies leaving the Kingdom and others that have decided against opening offices here," he added.GOOGLE VENTURES INTO WEARABLES TECH WITH WIMM BUYOUT: Google Inc. has acquired smartwatch manufacturer WIMM Labs, in what analysts said was part of an effort to boost its own plans for wearable devices, Cnet has reported. WIMM Labs, which was incubated around five years ago by Pillar Ventures, first developed an Android-based developer platform for wearable displays, and then followed up in late 2011 with its own, developer-centric smartwatch dubbed the WIMM One.IDC LOWERS 2013 TABLET SALES ESTIMATE: IDC has lowered its tablet shipment forecast for 2013 and beyond, and said that competing technologies, including larger-sized smartphones, and futuristic wearable computing devices will steal some dollars that would have gone to tablets, TechHive has reported. The global market research firm trimmed its 2013 tablet shipment expectations by 1 percent from 229.3 million units to 227.4 million. The change also affected forecasts IDC has made for the period between 2014 and 2017. Global tablet shipments in 2017 will almost reach 407 million, nearly 1 percent less than a May estimate of 410 million, said IDC.SAMSUNG SDS EYES SAUDI ICT-BASED MEDIAL TOWN: Samsung SDS is pushing for a "smart town" project in Saudi Arabia after the South Korean firm recently announced a plan to downsize its business in Korea to focus on the global market, Korea Herald has reported, citing an industry source. "Samsung SDS is eyeing an ICT-based medical town in Saudi Arabia, as part of its new smart town project," said the source. "The company is to provide IT solutions to connect hospitals, hotels, schools and parking lots in the medical complex," he said. "Solutions to be applied are hospital information systems and electronic medical records for health care, a smart learning platform, automatic fare collection, and digital space convergence."SERVER SHIPMENTS TO EMEA FELL 5.9 percent IN Q2: According to a report by Gartner, server shipments in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) fell 5.9 percent to 550,000 units in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year. "All three EMEA sub-regions saw server revenue decrease in the second quarter of 2013. In Western Europe, revenue declined 1.6 percent; in Eastern Europe it fell 17.9 percent and the Middle East and Africa region decreased 9 percent," said Adrian O'Connell, research director at Gartner. "In addition to weak demand, established vendors are increasingly challenged by relatively-new vendors such as Cisco, Asia/Pacific-based suppliers such as Lenovo and Huawei, and original design manufacturers selling directly to large end-users," he added.1,000 OMANIS TO BE TRAINED ON BASICS OF COMPUTERS, INTERNET: Oman's Information Technology Authority (ITA) has announced plans to launch a number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training programmes to be conducted through the Community Knowledge Centres (CKC) in the governorate of Dhofar this year, Muscat Daily has reported. The authority aim is to train more than 1,000 Omanis in 2013 on the basics of computers and internet, as well as conduct sessions on eGovernment services, said the ITA. "Every year we select areas that do have access to the existing CKCs in Dhofar. In these remote locations, we offer alternative ICT training opportunities in cooperation with various educational institutions," it said.GOOGLE GIVES IRANIANS ACCESS TO 'PLAY STORE' : Google Inc. became the first company to extend technology services to Iranians under an authorisation issued by the US Treasury Department last May, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The company told developers they can make their Android phone apps available in Iran. However, the distribution option is only available for free apps, and not for apps for purchase or those that use in-app billing, said Google.OASIS500, MERCY CORPS TO ACCELERATE GAZA TECHNOLOGY START-UPS : Oasis500 and global humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps are planning to jointly to accelerate up to six technology start-ups this fall in the Gaza Strip, Jordan Times has reported. Starting from October, start-ups will be invited to participate in the Oasis500 acceleration process, spending two months each in Jordan and Gaza. Each start-up team will receive $14,000 of working capital from Oasis500, as well as advanced technical an新蒲崗迷你倉 business training and access to a global network of mentors to help them refine their business plans and investor presentations. Oasis500 will take a 10-15 percent equity stake in each company, and Gaza Sky Geeks will receive a 50 percent equity stake at the time of exit to cover future operating expenses.GOOGLE ACQUIRES WEARABLE TECH PATENTS: Google Inc. has acquired patents from Foxconn, a primary Apple manufacturer, in a likely bid to boost its Glass eyewear, PC Magazine has reported. Taipei-based Foxconn said the portfolio comprises Head Mounted Display (HMD) tech, which is commonly used in aviation and tactical/ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming and video devices, and training and simulation tools. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.MICROSOFT'S BALLMER TO RETIRE: Microsoft Corp's chief executive for the past 13 years, Steve Ballmer has unexpectedly announced his retirement, ending a controversial 13-year reign in which the world's largest software company lost its position as the dominant force in computing, Reuters has reported. The company said it had engaged an executive search firm and would consider both internal and external candidates to succeed Ballmer. "We are well down the path in the search," said board member John Thomson, who is leading a search committee that also includes Gates.OMANI REGULATOR URGES BUSINESSES TO USE CCTLD TO PREVENT CYBER THREATS: Oman's Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRA) has urged firms in the country to opt for domain names with .om in place of .com, as they are less prone to cyber attacks and spam, Muscat Daily has reported. "Though we have companies in Oman that have .om as domain names, there are still many who opt for .com. Such domains are more vulnerable to threats. At our stall we will showcase the different threats," said media and consumer services manager at the TRA, Hilal al Siyabi.HP MAY SEAL ACQUISITION DEALS FOR UP TO $1.5BN: Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) has said it views acquisitions as part of the PC maker's future and it could do deals up to $1.5bn, Reuters has reported. "We have our eye on a number of areas," said HP chief executive Meg Whitman, noting that the company could do deals in the $100m to $300m range.INTEL TO LAUNCH NEW TABLET CPUS: Intel is set to start rolling out new tablet platforms in the second half of next year, Digitimes has reported, citing industry sources. The chipmaker's Cherry Trail and Willow Trail processors will arrive in the second half of 2014, with initial sample shipments of Cherry Trail to customers expected to commence at the end of 2013. The company is already set to unveil its 22nm Bay Trail-based processors with the Silvermont architecture at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) from September 10-12 and will later release its Bay Trail-T processors for tablets, supporting both Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2, the sources said.SONY TO LAUNCH PS4 ON NOVEMBER 15: Sony has set November 15 as the launch date for its PlayStation 4 game console in North America, after which the PS4 will be launched on November 29in Europe, Cnet has reported. The console would launch in 32 countries overall in time for the holiday season, the company said without specifying other dates worldwide.60 percent OF LENOVO NOTEBOOKS TO BE PRODUCED IN-HOUSE NEXT YEAR: Chinese PC maker Lenovo is planning to produce 60 percent of its notebooks in-house in 2014, Digitimes has reported, citing sources from the upstream supply chain. The firm will cut outsourcing to Compal Electronics to 30 percent of total shipments from the previous 50 percent, and Wistron's share to 10 percent from 20 percent. The in-house production for 2014 will mainly take place at Lenovo's joint venture with Compal in Hefei, China. For 2013, Lenovo outsourced 75 percent of its notebook production to Taiwan-based ODMs, handling only 25 percent in house.MOZILLA TO RELEASE TOUCH-READY BROWSER FOR MS WINDOWS 8: Mozilla plans to roll out Firefox for Microsoft's Windows 8 "Modern" user interface in mid-December, more than a year after the operating system's launch, PC World has reported. The touch-ready browser, dubbed the "Preview Release," will be packaged with Firefox 26 for the Windows desktop. Firefox 26 is slated to ship on December 10.DELL'S QUARTERLY PROFIT DOWN 72 percent: Dell Inc. has posted a 72 percent drop in quarterly earnings, as PC sales extended their downward spiral, Reuters has reported. Dell is increasingly resorting to price cuts to soothe customers nervous about its future and to spearhead a late foray into the enterprise computing market. "It was predictably bad. It's not a big surprise that margins compressed to the degree that they did, when they're prioritising sales volume over profitability," Morningstar analyst Carr Lanphier said. "You have to offset that uncertainty somehow."JORDANIAN IT FIRMS MAY MOVE OUT IF TAX INCREASE APPROVED: Representatives of IT companies in Jordan have said that if a proposed income tax law is endorsed, they will be forced to move their headquarters out of the kingdom, Jordan Times has reported. "The situation is worrying and intolerable," Fadi Qutaishat, vice president for sales and marketing at Globitel, said at a gathering of ICT firms held last week to discuss the latest issues and challenges facing the sector. "The solution will be for all IT companies to act together and move their offices from Jordan to avoid the possible increase in income tax and other rising costs," Qutaishat said.MICROSOFT TO ROLL OUT WINDOWS 8.1 UPDATE NEXT OCTOBER: Microsoft has announced it will start rolling its much-anticipated Windows 8.1 update in October 17, USA Today has reported. Consumers can download the free update through the Windows Store. It will also be available at retailers and on new devices on October 18, said Microsoft.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at .ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage