sunday star, 19 june 2016

special

tech World

Evolution in productivity

Offices have become more efficient and mobile with the aid of office solution tools and applications.

2 tech worldSUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

MALAYSIAN offices have come a long way since their early days. Technology in the work environment has not only aided in making work processes more streamlined and efficient, it has helped to save people’s time and get them connected.

The modern working environment has now grown beyond the confines of an office space to become a mobile platform.

Technological advancements in the working environment have further enhanced the use and productivity of current mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops to fulfil more diverse functions.

A big portion of creating office solutions begins with optimising mobile devices to replace conventional office equipment through mobile tools and applications.

There is a plethora of office solution tools or applications available both for free and a fee. When deciding on which ones suit you best, it is important to understand how you would like to improve your work productivity and the tools that can work together cohesively.

Office solution tools and applications have been advantageous for many companies, especially those that are just starting up as these tools and applications help simplify their work processes and keep everyone in check.

“One of the biggest hurdles faced by companies is delay in the distribution, dissection and execution of information among team members. These services make communication happen much faster,” says Kenneth Ho, founder of Gaption, a social media platform where you can monetise your content.

The mobile work spaceThe best way you can make full

use of office solution tools and applications is to research the services that are currently available and sign up for their free trials to see if such tools or applications match your needs and sync with your pre-existing office solution tools and applications.

Here is a quick look at the evolution of office productivity and some office tools you can start off with to improve productivity in your office.

Work, manage and collaborate

Up in the clouds

Communication is key in ensuring the effective management of a task or business. Though many office tools do offer means of communication integrated into their system, it is often necessary to contact a person quickly and directly.

Social messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Google Hangouts and Telegram have been optimised to meet the needs of private business communications even though they began as casual messaging applications.

WhatsApp recently introduced one-on-one chat encryption between two communicators to ensure confidentiality and safety of information in conversations. As a result, regular users have adopted the application for professional use in the office.

You can now also take your meetings wherever you go. Skype and even Google Hangouts are great video chatting services that can help you conduct meetings even when you are not physically available to attend one.

This allows more people to conduct meetings on schedule, make quick decisions and proceed with completing tasks without wasting time in planning a face-to-face meeting with a quorum.

Keep connected

Cloud storage is the storage of data online, accessible from multiple distributed and connected resources through an Internet connection. These networks of resources and virtual drives are called clouds, hence how the technology got its name.

“The biggest benefit of using a cloud software is access anywhere, anytime. With frequent travelling, we get to access it wherever and whenever we want.

“This feature has enabled us to operate efficiently and also provide our services to our clients, thus increasing the level of services provided,” says Cheah Chun How, managing director of High Pines Training and Consultancy Sdn Bhd, a Goods and Services Tax training and advisory firm for small businesses and individuals in Malaysia.

Cloud storage undoubtedly offers a great opportunity for

businesses to store information with as little cost as possible or even for free as purchasing and maintaining a private server is a lot more expensive.

In addition to it being universally accessible, cloud storage services have secondary functions and features that make them a popular choice for many offices nowadays.

Cloud storage services such as Google Drive not only allow you to store up to 15GB worth of data for free and share documents with other people but also allow document co-editing via Google Docs.

This allows users to not only edit a particular document in real time but also work on a document with collaborators simultaneously.

Google Docs allows you to track changes made by you and other individuals who share the same file and comes with a built-in photo, PDF and video viewer.

Cloud storage has changed the way we store, share and co-edit files and documents in the office.

task management tool that helps you keep track of your and your team members’ task progress.

Asana allows users to communicate with team members and transfer files between one another, making communication far more seamless than using e-mails to get information and documents across.

Tan Wen Dee, co-founder and managing director of startup GuestReady Malaysia & Singapore, finds Asana useful in creating to-do lists and keeping track of her team members’ task progress.

“Asana is a great tool for a startup company, especially

when you are required to wear many hats and get many tasks done. It’s like a paper and pen to-do list but on your

laptop and even on your mobile phone,” she says.

Collaborative tools allow users to keep track of their tasks while staying connected with colleagues.

Many offices now invest in creating a collaborative working environment for their employees. This is particularly true in new age corporations and startups with a more relaxed and casual working environment.

One of the challenges in a collaborative working environment is to track work that has been generated from a previous collaboration or discussion.

There are many collaboration management applications that can help teams and corporations keep track of ideas and the work flow of a certain task.

One such application that has garnered attention is Asana, a project and

SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

tech world 3

Empowering enterprisesLENOVO has a broad portfolio offering computers, storage, networking and services capabilities, data centres and mobile devices, coupled with strong industry partnerships that bolster these offerings to meet diverse business needs.

As a leading enterprise solutions provider, Lenovo understands the challenges faced by different enterprises.

To address these challenges, Lenovo offers end-to-end purpose-built products and tailored solutions to create an entire ecosystem.

Lenovo’s alliances with leading software and hyperconverged players such as Red Hat, Juniper, SAP and Nutanix ensure that it is ready to turn organisations into digital enterprises and create value in the digital economy.

Customers will also be able to leverage hyperconvergence, the next big technology disruption in the enterprise market, to lower costs and get more value from their information technology (IT) infrastructure.

Lenovo’s current enterprise portfolio represents the evolution of enterprise computing in a way that delivers cloud-like economics and agility, but with the security and reliability of on-premise solutions.

What is more, its robust and cutting-edge solutions are delivered on top of Lenovo’s

leading range of workstations and enterprise-grade devices.

As the world’s No.1 PC provider, Lenovo is a long-time specialist in products that are designed to help customers do more, better.

Different and betterThe latest X1 series from Lenovo

is proof that Lenovo makes devices that help you to do more with ease and assurance.

The series is made up of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, ThinkPad X1 Tablet, and ThinkCentre X1 AIO. The series

made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016, where it received positive critical reception.

Designed to be light and portable, the ThinkPad laptops offer cost-effective performance for businesses both big and small. ThinkPad laptops have 16% lower failure rate compared with similar devices available in the market offering above-standard reliability.

Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops are engineered to help boost output and reduce expenses with easy-to-service and upgradable designs.

By combining superior

computing power with an elegant design that is built to last, ThinkCentre desktops also offer outstanding reliability, with a documented failure rate 28% lower than competing brands.

Moreover, Lenovo’s long-term investment in research and development as well as attention to reliability and durability ensure lower repair rates.

With Lenovo’s ThinkPad and ThinkCentre product lines, businesses can benefit from very low ownership cost across the lifecycle of the PC, while significantly improving and achieving sustainable return on investment.

Top-of-the-line serversYou can also consider Lenovo’s

x86 entry servers for easy deployment and management, even with limited IT expertise and experience.

All x86 servers come with exclusive System x Trusted Platform Assurance, safeguarding your IT ecosystem from malware attacks.

The x86 servers undergo stringent development processes

to ensure security and reliability, alongside all of Lenovo’s enterprise portfolio.

Now featuring the latest Intel Xeon series processors, Lenovo servers have achieved six performance world records in the areas of virtualisation, database, high-performance computing, and high-frequency trading workloads.

In addition, Lenovo continues to be recognised as the No.1 x86 server vendor for reliability in the Server OS Reliability Report and for customer satisfaction in the latest Technology Business Research Customer Satisfaction Survey.

As IT decision-makers and technology leaders across the Asia Pacific look to invest in data science/big data, Internet of things/sensor networks, enterprise mobility and cloud-based business in the next five years, Lenovo will continue to deliver “new IT” comprising best-in-class computing, storage, networking, partnership solutions and services to help you grow your business.

n For more information, visit www.lenovo.com.

Lenovo ThinkCentre X1 AIO.

4 tech world SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

Modern tech, classic design THE Huawei P9 is in a class of its own. Measuring just 6.95mm, the Huawei P9 now stands as one of the slimmest phones among those with the Android operating system, and is furnished with premium aerospace-grade unibody aluminum exterior and Gorilla glass screen to ensure quality and durability.

In addition to its sleek design, the Huawei P9 comes with a 5.2-inch IPS-NEO LCD capacitive touchscreen paired with 16-megapixel colours. The P9 also boasts 423ppi resolution and has a multi-touch feature – Emotion UI 4.1 – integrated into an ultra-compact body.

The Huawei P9 runs on the Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) operating system with the HiSilicon Octa-core Kirin 955 chipset, which consist of a quad-core 2.5GHz Cortex-A72 processor and a quad-core 1.8GHz Cortex-A53.

This hardware ensures that the device delivers the best in terms of performance, efficiency in productivity as well as responsiveness to functions and applications.

The phone comes with two internal memory options of a 32GB memory paired with a 3GB RAM. In addition to this, users can expand phone memory via an additional microSD card slot with a maximum extended memory of 128GB.

Double the funWhat makes Huawei stand out

among its competitors is the dual-lens rear camera function. With the growing trend of capturing and sharing memorable

moments, cameras are now essentials in every smartphone and Huawei is leveraging on this aspect by partnering with Leica following an agreement of a long-term partnership announced in February. With more than a century’s history and experience, Leica excels in the art of monochrome photography.

The strategic partnership between the companies, many aspects of the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus camera such as optical design, imaging quality, image data processing, optimisation and the mechanical construction of the camera module to graphic user interface.

This helps to produce superior image with the stunning dual-lens camera.

“With more than 90% of consumers identifying cameras as a key purchase factor, it is no longer about taking photos. The P9 delivers on the sophisticated needs of consumers in capturing moments and improving the lives of their loved ones,” said Luke Au, Southern Pacific Handset Production marketing director of Huawei at the Huawei’s Consumer Business Group’s inaugural Southern

SINCE its inception, Huawei has been striving to constantly produce innovations and meet the requirements of the growing market for smart devices.

Last month at its Consumer Business Group’s inaugural Southern Pacific Brand Conference in Bali, Indonesia, Huawei’s regional executives cited this as one reason for the company’s stellar first quarter performance growth this year.

“We will do so by sharpening our focus, persevering with R&D and achieving breakthroughs to arrive at smart devices that are intelligent in function and beautiful in form. We will continue to listen to consumers and deliver beyond their expectations.

“By identifying their needs, our devices will deliver the necessary benefits to improve their lifestyles,” said Peter Tong, President of Huawei Consumer

Business Group Southern Pacific Region.

Huawei has also partnered with different industries such as entertainment, arts and sports and brought new perspectives to its mobile devices to drive the new choice for consumers.

Leading Hollywood actors Henry Cavill and Scarlett Johansson are the Huawei P9 global product ambassadors for the device series and are stars of the campaign as well.

Both the actors are joined by world-renowned photographers Mary McCartney and National Geographic World Press Photo Award-winning photographer David Guttenfelder.

Earlier this year, Argentine and FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi was also unveiled as a global ambassador for Huawei.

Head over to your closest Huawei Authorised Outlet and experience the P9 for yourself.

Breaking boundaries

Pacific Brand Conference in Bali, Indonesia.

The dual-lens camera feature provides superior digital picture quality that makes it great for picture-editing and sharing your memorable moments with friends and family.

The camera works in a way where the two sensors in the P9 capture the image. The device also allows users to take photos in RAW format – a feature that is available in professional DSLR cameras that provides more editing options for users.

The RGB sensor is dedicated to capturing colour images, ensuring the vivid and colourful details of the photo are captured.

In addition, the device comes with a sensor dedicated for monochrome images where it is able to capture higher resolution, finer details and more light.

Images from both sensors will be combined to give users the best in photo quality.

Paired with the dual-lens camera feature and sleek design, the Huawei P9 will capture the hearts of trendsetters and those with a keen eye for photography.

Raising the barThe Huawei P9 also protect

users’ privacy and information with Huawei’s world-leading

The Huawei P9 comes in three different colour variants: Titanium Grey, Mystic Silver and Prestige Gold.

Huawei and Leica collaborated to create a stunning dual-lens camera in the P9, which captures more light for better clarity in photos and videos.

Actors Henry Cavill and Scarlett Johansson are the Huawei P9 global product ambassadors.

biometric fingerprint recognition technology.

The enhanced fingerprint sensor allows users to personalise and safeguard their devices by significantly lowering the possibility of fraudulent or accidental device access, while ensuring quick and secure access

to their smartphones. The sensor can not only unlock

your device, it can also be used to answer calls, snooze the alarm, access the notification panel and take photos.

n For more information, visit www.consumer.huawei.com.

5SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

6 tech world SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

Timepiece for the global citizenON March 16, Casio Computer Co Ltd announced the release of a new addition to its Edifice line of watches – the EQB-600D.

This latest line joins more than 200 others in the Edifice series of high-performance watches that combine dynamic styling with cutting-edge technology for enhanced aesthetics and function.

There are two models in this line – the EQB-600D-1A and EQB-600D-1A2. While these watches sport powerful and bold designs, they are only 13.33mm thick, which contributes to their sleek look without compromising the comfortable fit to the wrist.

Classic with a modern edge

Being able to link to your smartphone, the watches in the Edifice EQB-600D line can set the time for approximately 300 cities across the world.

This is executed using Casio’s Global Time Sync concept, which drives the development of analogue watches to match the global needs of watch aficionados today.

Using this concept, Casio previously developed G-Shock and Oceanus watches with GPS Hybrid Wave Ceptor technology.

Watches with this technology receive both GPS satellite and radio wave time calibration signals to accurately tell the time at your specific location.

On top of that, the Dual Dial World Time function enables the watch to simultaneously display the current times in two different locations.

Users can set Home Time and World Time as well as swap their positions on the watch face. It comes as no surprise that models applying Casio’s latest technology are gaining acclaim for their ability to deliver accurate time anywhere in the world, and the EQB-600D line is set to follow suit due to its application of modern time keeping systems in classic pieces.

Accuracy around the world

This latest offering from Casio also features a 3D Globe Dial – a novel multidimensional inset dial designed to look like a sleek miniature planet earth. A polarised deposition finish makes the colour of this globe change at different viewing angles, adding a refining touch to the elegant timepiece.

The finely detailed dome-shaped motif displays world time in an imaginative and aesthetically pleasing way, made with the advanced molding techniques at Casio’s production base in Japan, Yamagata Casio Co Ltd.

This 3D Globe Dial works in conjunction with the world time shown on the inset dial at the eight o’clock position, gradually rotating once every 24 hours just like the Earth. The curved inset dial hand indicates the time zone that the watch adheres to.

On top of the time-zone specific time indication, the 3D Globe Dial also provides a visual distinction between day and night.

When the inset dial hand is in the upper half of the 3D Globe Dial, it indicates that it is nighttime

(between 6pm and 6am) in that particular time zone.

When it is in the lower half of the miniature motif, it means that it is daytime (between 6am and 6pm) in the time zone.

The EQB-600D watches also link with the Casio Watch+ smartphone app, which incorporates the Accurate Time System developed by Casio to extend the time-setting features of your watch.

This system connects to Internet time servers to obtain time data and proceeds to match the data to a proprietary map database to obtain accurate times by extracting time zone data in the current location as well as daylight-savings data.

In this manner, the EQB-600D automatically syncs local time settings in your smartphone four times a day and updates time settings accordingly.

Wirelessly linking the watch to your phone will also allow you to use your phone to perform a range of functions on the watch, including adjusting hand positions and setting alarm times.

With all these features coming together seamlessly in the Casio EQB-600D line, the watches deliver accurate time with innovative features that evoke the unceasing flow of time around the world. Purchasers of these new models will experience the harmonious combination of sleek design, elegant detail and hi-tech functions that make the EQB-600D watches top-of-the-line modern timepieces.

n For more information, visit www.casio-intl.com.

Water resistance 10 bar

Communication specifications

Communication standard

Signal range

Bluetooth Smart

Up to 2m (may differ depending on surrounding conditions)

Watch functions

Dual time

Other features

Home city time swapping

Mobile Link Functions (world time: more than 300 cities, auto-time adjustment,

One-Touch Time Adjustment, Phone Finder); full auto calendar; day and date display; low

battery alert

Accuracy at normal temperature 15 seconds per month (when never connected to a smartphone)

Power source Tough Solar power system (solar-charging system)

Continuous operation

About 19 months with the power-saving function turned on after a full charge (hands stop to save power when the

watch is left in the dark)

The most notable features of the EQB-600D watches are the Dual Dial World Times function and the 3D Globe Dial.

3D Globe Dial colourModel

EQB-600D-1A2

EQB-600D-1A

Blue

Black

Even with a bold and powerful design, EQB-600D watches are only 13.33mm thick and are comfortable on the writst.

The EQB-600D watches come with a Bluetooth Smart communication system with a signal range if up to 2m.

The EQB-600D-1A (bottom left) comes with a black 3D Globe Dial while the EQB-600D-1A2 (top right) comes with a blue 3D Globe Dial.

7SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

8 tech world SUNDAY STAR, 19 JUNE 2016

More mobility and flexibility FUJI Xerox Asia Pacific (Malaysia Operations), the world’s leading provider of total document solutions, presents its latest series of multifunction devices (MFD) engineered to deliver a combination of enhanced information security, mobile technology and cloud solutions.

These devices were designed to offer greater convenience as well as improve productivity and cost effectiveness for business operations.

Smart card solutionCard access control systems are

one of the most common and effective solutions used by companies to control access into a secured area such as buildings and offices.

With Fuji Xerox’s Smart Card Solution, users can leverage on the existing card access system to register from any MFD connected within the same network without deploying a server.

Users can then control and prevent private and confidential documents from being leaked or retrieved by unauthorised personnel on MFD.

Mobility solutionFuji Xerox recognises the rising

adoption of mobile users and plays a significant role in revolutionising the way businesses are conducted.

Fuji Xerox solutions allows you to conveniently access wireless printing from iOS and Android mobile devices such as AirPrint, Print Utility for iOS/Print Utility for Android, Google Cloud Printing, and Mopria Print services.

Fuji Xerox’s MFD can also connect to the network with an optional wireless LAN converter, which means users can print directly using MFD without interrupting the office’s LAN network through the Fuji Xerox Wi-Fi Direct.

Cloud solution As technology is transforming

business processes rapidly, corporate organisations and businesses continue to seek the most cost-effective resources.

Fuji Xerox minimises time consumed in managing documents, lowering maintenance cost while increasing business productivity and providing better reduction of

total cost of ownership.

Document digitisationThe demand for instant access to

information and instant collaboration across numerous devices out of office will require the digitisation of many things, which can be affordably and securely done with the innovative Working Folder service from Fuji

Xerox Cloud Solution. Whether it is to provide access to

stored material, collaborate on documents or capture and instantly digitise inbound paper transmissions such as faxes, Working Folder is an effective, affordable and secure way to take analogue paper processes into the digital era.

Language translation With the current fast-paced and

competitive economy, many are expanding their businesses to other countries to maintain competitiveness in the market. These companies are often faced with the challenge of communicating in different languages.

Fuji Xerox Scan Translation Service is a cloud-based translation service that helps overcome language barriers.

It allows users to translate documents directly from MFD while maintaining the layout on

paper or electronic format. This helps speed up business

productivity as users are not required to redo the layout. Languages supported are English, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Bahasa Malaysia.

Cloud reportingMany companies are unaware of

their office’s hidden expenses such as print wastages.

Fuji Xerox’s Device Log Service is a cloud service that allows you to tally and view device usages via a web browser and on MFD’s user interface panel.

It presents results, tallies and colour-coded reports in table and chart form, which can be printed out.

This also helps reduce the company’s total cost of ownership.

n For more information, visit www.fujixerox.com.my.

Fuji Xerox’s Cloud Solution provides a seamless platform for document management, shared document collaboration, mobile workflow ease and integration of paper-to-cloud workflow.

Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific’s latest series of multifunction devices delivers enhanced information security, mobile technology and cloud solutions.