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Investment Banker Appointed CEO of Australian Health Tech Start-Up Sonoa Health

Sonoa Health, a health tech startup based in Melbourne, Australia, has developed an innovated consumer health portal, Health&, which brings together data from online health records, medication prescriptions, wearable devices and more.

Yesterday, the Company appointed investment banker John Stewart as its CEO. Stewart brings to the table more than 18-years experience in investment banking and corporate advisory, which has included working closely with the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

Sonoa Health was officially founded four years ago and ramped up production for its consumer health portal early last year with more than 50 handpicked recruits. The portal will be launched later this year.

Health& portal is designed to provide an intelligent interface between doctors and consumers, which displays consumer health information in one place and helps them to proactively manage illness. It is supported by a search engine containing animated, illustrated and written health content, which is derived from evidence-based resources and designed to boost health literacy.

The unique algorithms at the core of Health& power a reasoning engine, which brings the logic of a doctor’s brain online and delivers truly individualised health information to consumers.

The company has engaged nine medical professors, who are all members of the Order of Australia, to head its Medical Advisory Board. In-house, there is a young team of doctors, writers, developers, animators, illustrators and an entrepreneurial leadership team too.

April 1, 2015
Speedflow Releases Updated CallMax Solutions
Speedflow announced the availibility of a new version of the CallMax Solution. According to the company, CallMax v. 3.4.1 has been designed to make the Solution more convenient for end-users. The subscribers can now easily manage their accounts, review statistics having personal web access to the system.

The optimized release contains the following additional features:
- New notifications for subscribers
- Aggregated CDRs
- Updated user-friendly interface
The new version of the platform is said to allow VoIP companies to provide “high-quality, efficient, and competitive” IP PBX, Prepaid Card and Call Shop Services to their subscribers.

CALLMAX SOLUTION ADVANTAGES:
- Handles 500 concurrent calls per server
- Unlimited number of subscribers and levels of resellers
- Role-based permissions / access rights for users
- Feature-rich multilingual web-interface
As usual, new CallMax release is available as a free update for all existing customers.

Learn more about CallMax.

Also check out: Speedflow – Company Profile
March 30, 2015
Akamai Expands Business Operations in Canada

Akamai, one of the world’s biggest providers of Content Delivery Network (CDN) services, is expanding its business operations in Canada. The company has just announced the opening of its Toronto sales and services office. The new office will support employees focused on sales, services, engineering, and security, and will complement Akamai’s existing Ontario location in Ottawa.

Akamai’s growth in Canada has expanded in the areas of financial services, media & entertainment, manufacturing, health care, public sector, and commerce, with Ontario being the province with the Company’s largest customer base.

Akamai is hiring in both Toronto and Ottawa for engineering roles in the areas of Web Performance and Enterprise solutions.

Canada boasts 33 million internet users, with nearly 95 percent of its total population being internet-connected. Over the last five years, the country’s high broadband (connections greater than 10 Mbps) adoption rate has increased by 589 percent. During that same period, Canada’s 4K readiness rate (connections greater than 15 Mbps) has increased by 710 percent.

Akamai is currently serving and protecting the online presence for the six largest banks in Canada, many ofCanada’s most successful retailers, and has served as a force behind major online events for several of the national media broadcasters such as CBC/Radio-Canada during the Olympics, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, and for the upcoming 2015 Pan Am games in Toronto.

SHOP.CA is becoming Canada’s leader in online shopping, providing “a unique Canadian experience that combines an authoritative selection of products, unparalleled service and a social loyalty program that rewards members on every purchase.” Launched in July 2012, SHOP.CA has become the fastest growing retail site in Canada and a top 10 most-visited, Canadian-owned ecommerce site.

March 30, 2015
Survey: Website or App for e-Commerce? Depends on Your Nationality
Different nationalities have different preferences in their method of online shopping – website/mobile site vs. mobile application, according to a survey conducted by OHT-Mobile.

The survey, conducted in February 2015, was jointly carried out with Google Consumer Surveys based on a representative sample of 800 respondents – 100 each from the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan.

58% of all respondents worldwide answered that they prefer shopping using a website. In Canada 67% still prefer to shop using a website or mobile site but in the UK, only 49% express the same preference.

In Germany, more than half (51%) responded that they prefer either an app or have no preference – meaning that those who prefer to shop on websites (44%) are in the minority.

The full results are as follows:
- USA (65% prefer web or mobile site; 21% app; 10% no preference)
- Canada (67%; 15%; 13%)
- UK (49%; 23%; 23%)
- Australia (58%, 11%, 29%)
- Germany (44%; 22%; 29%)
- Italy (61%; 16%; 21%)
- Netherlands (62%; 14%; 22%)
- Japan (56%; 16%; 23%)
“The preference for shopping on websites is still strong, but there is a growing trend for app shopping. What’s more is that we are seeing variation between nationalities,” said Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Translation. “Online retailers should be aware of the different preferences of the audience in each region and be sure to localize their mobile sites and applications to suit accordingly.”

The survey results follow similar results of a One Hour Translation survey completed in Q4 of 2014 with 2,000 participants from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada. According to that survey, 83% of Italians prefer to buy goods and services online in their native language, compared with 80% of Germans, 65% of the Dutch, 74% of the Canadians, and no less than 90% of Japanese people.

Image: Jason Howie
March 26, 2015
Speedflow releases MediaCore 4.5

Speedflow has just released a new version of its MediaCore Class 4 Solution. Available starting today, MediaCore v. 4.5 is said to work faster and be “more flexible than ever.” Having implemented a new calculating algorithm, the developers claim to have ensured that financial summary report is generated significantly faster. Users can now review the most important statistical information in a quick and convenient format.

Other important updates and new features in the new release include:

– New dynamic routing algorithm with profit control
– Brand-new financial report with an interactive map
– Updated spam-calls algorithm on termination point
– DLR (delivery report) in the SMS Solution
– Optimized responsive interface

The new release also includes a whole range of minor optimisations.

The update is free of charge for all existing MediaCore customers.

You can find more details on the new version of MediaCore on the company’s website.

Also check out: Speedflow’s COMPANY PROFILE

March 23, 2015
Security Study Shows Canadian Businesses Not Prepared For Security Threats
According to new research from Cisco, Canadian businesses are not equipped to respond to security threats within their networks. The study, which combines the views of Canadian businesses and consumers about security at work, also found there are discrepancies between the preparedness of large and small businesses.

Respondents were asked questions about security policies, practices and recent cyber-attacks at their business, including their security preparedness for new IT consumption models such as mobile and cloud-based applications.

Cisco’s findings indicate many Canadian businesses operate without any security strategy for their network, leaving them woefully underprepared to take advantage of new opportunities created by the Internet of Everything (IoE) and making them highly susceptible to threats such as data loss or theft.

With IoE driving the connection of people, processes, data, and things, the number and type of attack vectors will continue to increase exponentially, driving the mandate that security must become top of mind for businesses in today’s connected world.

Key Findings

Canadian businesses are unprepared for future security threats.
- 6 out of 10 businesses either do not have a security strategy in place, and/or are unsure whether their security strategy accounts for an evolving data centre and IT consumption model, or do not have a strategy to prepare for these changes.
- Nearly one in 10 (8%) of Canadian businesses overall are still unsure whether they experienced a security threat, attack or breach on their network in the last 12 months.
- 15% of Canadian businesses still do not have a security strategy in place.
- 1 in 5 (22%) Canadian businesses report they have experienced a threat, attack or breach in the last 12 months.
- Canadian businesses with less than 100 employees are the most likely to not have a security strategy (26%), while mid-sized businesses are the least likely to have a strategy in place for changing IT consumption models (25%).
- One in three (31%) of Canada’s largest companies are unsure whether their IT security strategy accounts for evolving data centre and IT consumption models.
Canadian businesses are slow to protect company data on employee-owned devices.
- Less than 60% of Canadian businesses have IT solutions in place to protect company data on employee-owned devices.
- Nearly a quarter (24%) of employed Canadians use a personal device for work despite being employed by a company that does not allow this practice. Another 11% do so without knowing if it is allowed by their employer or not.
- The Canadian businesses most prepared to protect company data on employee-owned devices are those with more than 1000 employees (64%). Those least prepared are businesses with less than 100 employees (44%).
- Almost half (48%) of employed Canadians believe they are allowed to bring and use personal devices on the corporate network, while 57% of Canadian businesses believe they have IT solutions in place to protect data on employee-devices.
Source: Cisco
March 20, 2015
You can now store up to 50,000 songs with Google Play Music

Google is now offering an additional space to accommodate 30,000 more songs and that is on top of the already subscribed for 20,000 song capacity. This is a free upgrade that is available to all Google Play Music subscribers. You can easily subscribe to the service by following the steps here and that is if you are not a member yet.

In case you want to listen to the music offline, then you can download your music to an iPad, iPhone or Android device. You can also access all your music via a computer on the web and the great thing about the service is that even when you upgrade to a new phone or computer, you will still be able to access all your stored music.

Though trends are showing a significant shift from downloading of music (moving towards streaming), there is a population that is unwilling to let go of their massive music collection and these are some of the people that Google is hoping to attract.

For easy use of the service it is best you use Chrome as it is already optimized for the service.

March 19, 2015
Motorola Releases Moto E 2nd. Gen. Budget Smartphone

In recent years, Motorola has taken up making of budget smartphones that are still as good as many other smartphone out there. In 2014, the Chinese-owned company released the Moto E smartphone. The Moto E has enjoyed so much success and this has of course led to the release of the improved Moto E version with 4G capabilities.

The new smartphone features 4.5 inches display, a 5 megapixel camera, and a front facing camera with autofocus. Moto E runs on Android 5 Lollipop and unlike other manufacturers, like Samsung, that modify the operating system, Motorola uses the Android system as it is.

Seang Chau, a software engineer at Motorola, believes that there is no reason to modify the system by slowing it down. Chau also believes that leaving the software in its original state allows for quick updating of the software.

The phone weighs only 145 grams and comes with a non-removable battery. It also comes with 8 or 16 GB storage capacity. You can also find the MicroSD card slot under the colored band that is also removeable and customiseable.

According to the Motorola, the phone can last a whole day when well charged. Moto E is also water and scratch resistant.

The phone was recently released in UK and costs £109, which is an increase from its predecessor’s price that was going for under £90. The increased price may or may not affect its sales volume as this directly depends on whether the budget-conscious consumers will opt for budget phones from other manufacturers, or not.

March 16, 2015
Vodafone and Dropbox Team up on Cloud Storage

Vodafone and Dropbox are partnering to provide the telco’s Android and iPhone users with free cloud storage for a year.

Starting this month, new Vodafone users will have 25 GB of cloud storage space on Dropbox. This service will be available to Vodafone’s Android and iPhone users. A majority of Vodafone’s Android phones will come preloaded with the Dropbbox app.

What’s the implication? Well, Vodafone users can now count on extra space that can also make switching over to a new phone a much easier process as all you have to do is save all your videos, photos, and all your files on your old phone to Dropbox and then just sign in to your Dropbox app in your new phone and all your files will be there waiting for you.

Vodafone also said that it will use Dropbox as its platform for its Backup+ service that allows Vodafone users to backup messages, multimedia content, and contacts on the cloud. The Backup+ service will start rolling out by the end of March, 2015 and will be ready for use over the coming months.

The partnership between Dropbox and Vodafone is not entirely a new concept as just last year around October 02 entered a partnership with Box to resell the cloud storage service to SMEs.

March 12, 2015
Apple Watch Full Specification, Availability and Prices Announced
We’ve all been waiting for the launch of the Apple Watch since September, and just a few weeks before it hits the retail stores, Apple has released its full specifications together with its prices.

The Apple Watch is the newest device to be added to the Apple family. According to Apple, the watch is designed to cater to a variety of personal styles and preferences since they believe that what you wear is an expression of who you are. That said, you can get the watch in a variety of designs and they include: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, and Apple Watch Edition.

Looking to get fit?

The Apple Watch is your comprehensive fitness companion as it will allow you to measure your day’s activity with a simple 3-ring graphic. The watch will tell you exactly what you need to do so as to keep fit. For instance, sit less and move more often blah blah… The watch will also suggest at the beginning of the week what you need to do more so as to achieve your fitness goals.

Other than time-keeping, fitness, and being your smart partner, the watch also hosts lots of great apps. The Apple Watch app is now available on iOS 8.2 for download. This is how you connect the watch to the phone. With this app you can choose what notifications you want to receive.

What about the battery?

Well, Apple has used state-of-the-art battery that is able to last up to 18 hours on a typical day. Charging the watch is a breeze, you will only need to attach a magnetic charger at the back.

Availability

Apple says that the Watch will be available for pre-order starting 10^th of April, 2015. It will also start shipping on the 24^th of April and will at first be available to a select few countries US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Hong Kong, China, Germany, and Japan, with more to follow.

Prices

The Watches will all sell at different prices with the cheapest being the Apple Watch Sport (tailored for athletes) and it will start selling at $349.

The more fashionable stainless steel Apple Watch will cost between $549 and $1,040 for the smaller version and between $599 and $1,099 for the larger version.

The price range for each will depend on the band. The 18-karat Apple Watch Edition is the most expensive of all starting at $10,000.

Other Products/News
- Welcome HBO NOW for Apple TV
With Apple TV you can now get all the best programs from the best provides, HBO included. With HBO NOW you do not need to have a satellite or cable subscription as you can now watch all on Apple TV. This service will be exclusively available in the U.S. only starting April. It is set to cost $14.99 a month.

Read more about HBO NOW on Apple TV.
- The thinnest MacBook yet released
Apple has also announced a new MacBook laptop that weighs just 2 pounds and 13.1mm at its thickest point and according to Philip Schiller (Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing) says that this is the thinnest MacBook that Apple has ever created.

The MacBook is fitted with a trackpad with sensors that will detect just how hard you are pressing. For example, a soft-click on the forward button on a video will forward the video slower and a hard click will forward it faster.

The MacBook also comes with a revolutionary new port – the USB-C that allows you to do 5 things in one! For instance, you can use the port for hooking up a USB device, plug a video monitor, or use it for charging.

The MacBook like the new iPhones is available in dark gray, silver, and gold and it will retail at $1,299 and shipping starts on April 10.
March 10, 2015