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  • New 70-Inch Aquos Sharp Ultra HDTV Gets a $500 Trim


    Sharp's spokesperson has indicated that there has been a $500 reduction on its price. The 70-inch Ultra High-Definition TV has not been released yet. However, its new retail price tag is set at $7,499, down from $7,999. Its new unilateral retail tag also has a $2000 and it is now set at $5,999.

    Previously, Sharp had indicated that there will be an adjustment of the UPP from $7,999 to $6,999. A further $1,000 has been reduced on the UPP which now stands at $5,999.

    The UPP represents the lowest minimum price that Sharp allows retailers to sell its products. There will be a national retail launch on September 15th in various Sharp retail stores. The company is also collaborating with Amazon, major regional retailers as well as other national specialty retailers.

    The Sharp Aquos Ultra LC-70UD1U is set to be the first THX-4K-certified display in the world. Its key features include built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, Flash-enabled browser, LED-backlighting Sharp’s Remote Control, and 3,840 by 2,160 Ultra HD resolutions. It will also feature Sharp’s proprietary DuoBass audio technology.

  • Chinese Cloud Service Provider Kanbox Purchased by Alibaba


    E-commerce titan Alibaba has fully purchased Kanbox, which is a leading cloud storage provider in China, for an undisclosed sum.

    Reports reveal that Alibaba stated that Kanbox users are now able to integrate their accounts on Alibaba related services.

    Kanbox has been having a healthy growth since it was launched in 2010. It has accumulated over 15 million users, with 3 million of those accessing it from mobile. The company is also offering special accounts for Taobao sellers.

    The acquisition comes at a time when Alibaba is continuing to cement its position in both mobile and cloud storage services and also venturing into web services that are consumer oriented, especially smartphones.

    Alibaba released Aliyun OS that was developed using JavaScript and HTML5 in 2011. This project was not successful after Alibaba got a run in with Google after reports that it has developed an OS that is incompatible with android. This halted the upcoming launch of Acer device and the Aliyun OS did not get a large phone maker partnership. The stand alone Aliyun cloud storage is now used by businesses as opposed to average consumers.

    After the acquisition, Alibaba and Kanbox are offering 10TB of free storage. The impact of Kanbox’s acquisition on Alibaba’s Aliyun project is not yet clear. However, the purchase confirms Alibaba’s push to integrate cloud storage infrastructure into its services.

  • Cisco maintains its lead on the Enterprise Session Border Controller Market

    Market research firm Infonetics Research released its Enterprise Session Border Controllers report for the 2nd quarter of 2013 (2Q13). This report tracks the eSBC session shipments and vendor revenue.

    The research company indicated that Cisco has capitalized on its premier position in the market in gateways, routers and IP PBXs in selling its SBCs. The report indicates that Cisco led the eSBC market with 27% of worldwide revenue.

    According to the market highlights, the Enterprise SBCs are set to replace the VoIP Gateways, PBX vendors, routers and spurring gateways as the next generation border elements to integrate SBC technology.

    Infonetics estimates that 2012 and 2017, there will be a 17% market growth in the global enterprise SBC.

    The major market of enterprise SCB today is North America. However this is projected to change as other regions increase the adoption of SIP trunking, IP call centers as well as unified communications.

    Small and large businesses are making use of SCBs to enable interconnect disparate systems, SIP trunking as well as enhanced security in their voice networks.

    Infonetics quarterly SCB report captures the worldwide market size, 2017 forecast, market share and enterprise SCB revenue. The research focused in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America and Latin America.

    The companies that were tracked include Edgewater, Oracle, AudioCodes, Cisco, Dialogic, Adtran, Avaya, Siemens Enterprise, OneAccess, Ingate, Edgewater and Sonus Networks.

  • Smartphone with Curved Displays to Be Released By Samsung


    Samsung has indicated that it is going to release a smartphone with curved displays in October. This is a revolutionary invention that is meant to segment its lead in the increasingly saturated market.

    The curved display is at the nascent stage that is shifting towards flexible displays that can even be folded. In January, Samsung released a prototype of products with flexible screens. However, it is faced with tremendous challenges in making other handset components such as batteries which can bed with the rest of the gadget.

    Curved displays are available in large screen televisions released by companies such as Samsung and LG. They are set to offer immense viewing but come at a significantly higher cost.

    In its quest to break new ground, Samsung early this month released the galaxy gear smart watch. It can take photos, and videos, check emails as well as make calls.

    The next frontier in consumer electronics is meant to be wearable computing, which includes goggle’s smart glasses.

    Samsungs watch received some scathing reviews and complains such as it only works together with the oversized Samsung Galaxy note III. However, Samsung is confident that critics will be won over when the gear and Galaxy note III are released in at the end of October.

    Image: IBTimes

  • New Desire 601 and Desire 300 Smartphones Released By HTC


    In its quest to bring better features to the mid range and entry-level market, HTC has unveiled two smartphones. These are the entry-level HTC Desire 300 and the mid-range HTC Desire 601.

    The new HTC Desire 601 borrows a lot of design features from the dual-SIM HTC Desire 600 that was previously announced. These features include 960×540 resolution screen and 4.5-inch size. The phone has a single sim slot and its actual dimensions are 134.5×66.7×9.88mm. It weighs 130 grams and it is slightly thicker than the Desire 600. However, it has a much better 2100mAh battery; Adreno 305 GPU paired up with 1GB of RAM as well as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with dual-core 1.4GHz CPU part.

    The Desire 601 also supports Video Highlights features as well as HTC Zoe. These features were available in the high end HTC One series smartphones. The phone also features 8GB internal memory, 5 megapixel rear camera as well as Bluetooth and 4.0 802.11bgn WiFi connectivity.

    The desire 300 is a standard entry Smartphone with 5-megapixel auto-focus rear camera and 4.3-inch 800×480 displays. It has a 4GB internal memory with room for expansion.

  • The New Sharp’s 70-Inch THX 4K-Certified Ultra HD TV Hits US Market At $7.5k

    In June, Sharp ventured into the 4K market with the release of the new AQUOS 4K Ultra HD TV. This was the world’s first officially THX-Certified Ultra HD TV. The release of this HDTV was a huge deal for sharp, although it was delayed for some few weeks.

    THX 4K Certification means that sharp’s new LC70UD1U is the first UHDTV to go out of its way to integrate ultra high-definition (UHD) with amazing picture quality. Sharps entry into the 4KTV is looking as promising as Samsung, LG, and Sony.

    The Company has a revolutionary technology that converts HD content into 4K resolution. The TV also features other amazing features such as WiFi connectivity, dual-core processor, as well as Sharp’s SmartCentral smart TV platform. This platform allows users to stream directly from services such as YouTube, Hulu Plus, Netflix and Pandora.

    Other amazing features of the new AQUOS 4K Ultra HDTV include a split-screen function which allows users to access the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. It also has an on the screen function for services such as Twitter, Facebook and Skype. The HDTV also has six-speaker sound, as well as Sharp’s proprietary DuoBass subwoofer system, which releases 35 watts of sound.

    The LC-70UD1 also has features such as AquoMotion 240 technology, wallpaper mode, two USB ports as well as an inbuilt SD card reader.

  • Z30 – Blackberry’s New Flagship Smartphone


    Blackberry has launched the Z30 as its flagship smartphone as it tries to capture back market share amid an uncertain future. Blackberry was once a pioneer in the smartphone arena but it has now indicated that it is weighing its options.

    The much anticipated Z30 is poised to take the crown from the previous Z10 as Blackberry’s top of the line device. It was launched at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The touch screen device features a five inch display as well as a 1.7 gigahertz processor. It is set to compete with the iPhone 5C, Samsung galaxy S4 as well as other android powered devices. 

    Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um has indicated that the success of the Z30 will be based on the pricing, carrier ability as well as the pace of consumer adoption. Blackberry has for long been targeting to make Blackberry 10 the 3rd most popular operating system. However, Microsoft’s windows phone platform is poised to clinch this position.

    Although Blackberry’s new devices have received a good reception from consumers, many analysts think that it does not have the financial heft to fight off competition from the industry giants.

    Blackberry has indicated that the new Z30 smartphone will be available in stores in the UK and Middle East within the next few weeks. It will go on sale in selected retailers in other regions within the year.

  • Bentley Walker Soon to Cover Libya


    Bentley Walker is planning to extend its service coverage to Libya. The company will make use of the Ka-band VSAT broadband platform provided by Newtec. The MDM2200 IP Satellite Modem will be used to deploy the services.

    The new high speed broadband service is expected to be commissioned on 26th September. It will provide high speed broadband Internet across Libya through the Newtec IP Broadband HUB (Sat3Play), which is installed in Cyprus at the Makarios Teleport. It will also utilize the Avanti’s HYLAS 2 Ka-band capacity that was launched in August 2012.

    Poor terrestrial infrastructure, compounded by complex geography has meant that satellite based broadband internet is the only source of high speed solution in Libya. The region has a promising opportunity since it is covered by HYLAS 2.

     The new high speed internet is designed for consumers as well as SME and B2B. The service is 2 way and the high throughput terminals are able to support a wide range of IP based services.

    Serge Van Herck, CEO of Newtec indicated that the company is pleased to work with Bentley to deliver the new service for the region. He also intimated that Newtec’s VSAT terminals have the capacity of reducing costs while maintaining high quality and enhancing the optimal links for the end users.

  • RightScale to Control Virtual Networks after Expansion Drive


    RightScale is a gateway tool that allows users to use a single console to spin up storage and computing resources from multiple providers. The company has announced that it is planning to integrate an advanced networking control feature.

    Carl Brooks of the 451 Research Group indicated that the network manager is a natural advancement of the company’s product strategy. It can also be termed as a significant advancement in easing the process of creating cloud computing features. He indicated that network configuration needs an automation since it has been a largely hand driven process.

    Brooks indicated that networking is extremely hard compared to virtual machines that can be scaled up or down, stopped or paused. Many providers give public or private IPs to customers and a VPN tunnel. However, the process of deployment and management varies from one provider to the other. Some providers make use of APIs while others need a manual setup. Brooks indicated that a system that can sit between this complexity and the customers is very much welcomed.

    RightScale says that the network manager will provide an abstraction of network constructs across the clouds. It will provide a common user interface to access the different resources for Amazon, Google, Microsoft and CloudStack.

    RightScale has indicated that the initial release will be for Amazon web servers, which has the largest market share in cloud provision. The company is hoping to add the network manager in other providers.

  • Samsung Unleashes its 55-Inch Curved OLED TV on European Market for 7999 Euros


    Tech giants Samsung and LG are at their usual sparring again. As expected, Samsung was not one to trail behind LG for long in terms of its curved OLED debut in Europe.

    As of yesterday, anyone in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Belgium, Austria or Switzerland can now take home the 55-inch flawless curved OLED screen for only 7,999 Euros. This is about $10,697 and a full grand less than the similarly-sized though not flat display recently launched by LG.

    Samsung Electronics is aiming for a full-scale market penetration of its premium TV. The OLED TV boasts a state-of-the-art performance and perfect picture quality, so it will be bringing both future HDTV technology and artistic flair to consumers. The product is set to be launched at major electronics consumer events across Europe, one of the most prominent being the Trade IFA 2013 held in Berlin, Germany.

    As the Samsung screen hits the stores, it should give LG a fair running for its domination with its 55-inch OLED TV.