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Tag: Innovation

  • Microsoft opens IoT innovation center in Taiwan

    Microsoft opens IoT innovation center in Taiwan

    Microsoft has opened its first IoT Innovation Center for the APAC region in Taiwan.

    The center aims to offer cross-discipline technology transfer, strategic alliances, business model transformation and innovation opportunities. Taiwan was chosen because of its renowned high-tech and hardware manufacturing sectors.

    The center will act as a link between regional IoT partners and the world, covering R&D project integration, technology development, and international collaboration.

    As IoT solutions will need to be tested, verified, and improved via actual clients’ projects, the Innovation Center will also include an IoT Community Lab that provides partners with IoT technology training, professional consultation, and three IoT Scenario Labs, delivering tailor-made services, such as technology development, architecture design, and business consultation.

    “The Microsoft IoT Innovation Center in Taiwan is our starting point for capturing the booming IoT opportunity in Asia,” Microsoft Cloud Enterprise GM Chris Phillips said during the Microsoft IoT Expo held in Taiwan.

    “We aim to do this by accelerating the collaboration between Taiwan-based companies and global partners. We are already collaborating with close to 50 companies at the Innovation Center and based on the initial interest, we expect to have many more join us before the end of the year.”

    Microsoft’s regional ecosystem consists of 370 partners from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Philippines, India, Japan, Korea and China and encompasses industries including manufacturing, healthcare, transportation and retail.

    The company has been investing in growing the IoT ecosystem in Asia. About 50% of all companies that are Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT exist within the region.

    Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on IoT with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) in Taiwan last October, Microsoft has actively promoted several IoT related industry and talent development programs. For example, the first DevDays Asia took place in Taiwan last April with presentations from over 10 scientists and architects.

  • India and Singapore to collaborate on innovation

    India and Singapore to collaborate on innovation

    India and Singapore have signed an agreement to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement in both markets.

    According to the official statement released, “The MoU will enhance bilateral cooperation activities in the arena of industrial property rights of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. It is intended to give a boost to innovation, creativity and technological advancement in both regions.”

    The agreement covers intellectual property cooperation between DIPP and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. The MoU was signed during the visit of Singapore’s Prime Minister to India last week.

    The key initiatives under the pact will be exchange of best practices, experiences and knowledge on intellectual property awareness among the public, businesses and educational institutions of both countries.

    Both the countries will also exchange experts in the field of intellectual property; dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP with the industry and universities.

    The MoU will enable India to find out about best practices in the innovation and IP ecosystems that will substantially benefit entrepreneurs, investors and businesses on both sides.

    “The exchange of best practices between the two countries will lead to improved protection and awareness about India’s range of intellectual creations,” the release mentioned.

    It adds that the collaboration is a step forward in India’s journey towards becoming a major player in global innovation and will further the objectives of the National IPR Policy.

  • Sharp innovation gap seen between advanced, emerging Asia

    Sharp innovation gap seen between advanced, emerging Asia

    Pay-TV providers in advanced economies in Asia are focused on improving existing product suites, while investment in emerging economies is being used to create new solutions to boost subscriber growth, according to NAGRA and MTM.

    Across advanced economies in the region, 97% of pay-TV providers offer IP connected set-top boxes, compared to only 42% in emerging markets.

    The latest paper from the Pay-TV Innovation Forum research program shows that there are also noticeable differences in operator provisioning of other features. 4K availability within the region varies, with 50% of providers in advanced economies offering this service, versus only 6% in emerging ones.

    There is also significant variation in the availability of TV Everywhere services, with 53% of emerging providers offering it compared with 80% in the advanced economies.

    These differences underscore that providers are focusing on varying and diverse innovation initiatives over the next five years which will be directly linked to their economic circumstances.

    In emerging markets, service providers are expected to concentrate their efforts on delivering core valued-added propositions, including HD video and a transition to hybrid STBs.

    Operators in advanced markets that already offer these services are expected to focus on developing seamless video experiences across devices, based on IP, cloud and data technologies to make content discovery as easy as possible.

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  • Tablet sales slow down

    Tablet sales slow down

    Demand for tablets will continue to be slow in 2015, with sales reaching 233 million units for the year, or only an 8 percent increase from 2014, research firm Gartner said.

    Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said global sales have been growing in double digits prior to 2014.

    “The steep drop can be explained by several factors. One is that the lifetime of tablets is being extended – they are shared out among family members and software upgrades, especially for iOS devices, keep the tablets current. Another factor includes the lack of innovation in hardware, which refrains consumers from upgrading,” he said.

    The Tablets category includes devices such as, iPad, iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Nexus 7 and Acer Iconia Tab 8. Other Hybrids/Clamshells include devices such as HP Pavilion 11, Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and Dell Inspiron 13.

    At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, Gartner analysts expect the vendors in the devices space to announce new partnerships that lead to innovative apps that use personal data to tailor the user experience.

    Meanwhile, the mobile phone segment is on pace to grow 3.7 percent in 2015 and reach two billion units in 2016.

    In the operating system (OS) market, Android surpassed a billion shipments of devices in 2014, and will continue to grow at a double-digit pace in 2015, with a 26 percent increase year over year.