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Tag: Singapore

  • Reebok Releases First of Its Kind Sports Bra Featuring New Reactive Technology

    Reebok Releases First of Its Kind Sports Bra Featuring New Reactive Technology

    Global fitness brand Reebok makes waves in the sports bra industry with the unveiling of the Reebok PureMove Bra: a first of its kind, technologically advanced sports bra that uniquely responds and adapts to movement to provide women with a customised amount of control and support, exactly where and when they need it. Just over forty years after the first sports bra came to market, Reebok is proud to debut a first of its kind product featuring the brand’s new proprietary Motion Sense Technology.

    Treated with STF (Sheer Thickening Fluid), a gel-like solution that takes a liquid form when in a still or slow-moving state and contrastingly stiffens and solidifies when moving at higher velocities, the fabric technology adapts and responds accordingly to the body’s shape, velocity of breast tissue, and both type and force of movement. The end result is a sports bra that does it all – one that stretches less with high impact movements, while providing the comfort and light support that is desirable during rest and lower intensity activities.

    To celebrate one of Reebok’s most anticipated product launches in 2018, the PureMove Bra is brought to life through powerful campaign imagery featuring a team of Reebok’s most formidable female partners including Gal Gadot, Gigi Hadid and Nathalie Emmanuel.

    Some key performance features of the PureMove Bra in addition to the reactive fabric technology include: 

    • Responsive Support: Revolutionary fabric that reacts to your movement for absolute control and support.
    • Minimalist Construction: Comprised of only 7 unique pieces of fabric that mould to the body for a seamless fit, the end result is a second-skin like design that creates a barely-there feel.
    • Natural Shaping: Moulded front panel and free cut edges for a minimalistic, second-skin fit so you can move freely without distractions.
    • Breathable Perforations: Perforations in front and back to keep you cool and comfortable, no matter the physical activity.

    The Reebok PureMove Bra will be available in Singapore from 27 September 2018. It will retail for S$79, in sizes XS, S, M and L. It will be available at all Reebok Fit Hub stores and selected Royal Sporting House stores.

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  • NEC launches Open Innovation Centre in Singapore

    NEC launches Open Innovation Centre in Singapore

    NEC Corporation announced the opening of the NEC Open Innovation Centre (OIC) in Singapore which forms a part of the wider NEC innovation eco-system, and reaffirms NEC’s commitment to foster open innovation and partnerships with private and public sectors.

    Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the OIC is part of NEC’s $100 million investment over the five years from 2017 in research and innovation in the Asia Pacific region.

    The Centre, operated by Global Safety Division, is NEC’s first of its kind facility outside Japan which infuses market-leading NEC technology and a deep partner ecosystem to offer cutting edge solutions in areas such as public safety, transportation and aviation.

    The Centre provides a platform where solutions can be translated into realistic and relatable use cases. It houses various revolutionary thematic zones which allow an immersive experience in AI and biometric solutions within the context of daily life. For example in the “home” zone, visitors will be shown how our face can be utilized as a powerful and trusted digital identity to securely access government and commercial services with NEC’s Trusted Digital Identity solution.

    NEC is also at the forefront of advanced ICT solutions for safety, security and efficiency in air travel. With more people flying today as well as heightened security threats, passengers are asked to go through more checks and screenings. All this leads to earnest needs of frictionless travel experience.

    NEC One ID-Single token technology takes travel experience to new heights by providing integrated identity management across the travel process that allows passengers to authenticate their identity online or in person for all stakeholders, ensuring an efficient flow within the airport.

    “We are delighted that NEC has chosen Singapore to establish its first Open Innovation Centre outside of Japan. Singapore’s strong base of enterprises, partners and digital talent offer NEC an ideal location to forge collaborations and translate its strong biometric identification technology into new applications for public safety and commercial domains for Singapore and beyond,” said Ms. Lily Phua, Director of New Businesses, EDB.

    Mr Vinoop Goel, Regional Director in Asia-Pacific from International Air Transport Association (IATA), comments, “With the number of travelers expected to double in 20 years time, the use of technology will be critical for increasing passenger throughput in the existing airport terminals. NEC’s OIC is a good showcase of the technologies that can make air travel more efficient, including IATA’s OneID initiative, and we look forward to implementations of these technologies to improve the passenger experience and enhance the efficiency of airline and airport operations.”

    “The vision of the Open Innovation Centre is to orchestrate a smart and safer city in collaboration with governments and businesses. With a digitally disruptive team at the heart of OIC’s operations, new ideas of approaching public safety can be prototyped and launched within the centre and further deployed in global markets. This is only possible with strong support from our industry partners who are already on board the OIC ecosystem,” said Mr Tan Boon Chin, Managing Director, Global Safety Division, NEC Corporation. “We believe that a trusted digital identity based on biometrics such as facial recognition technology can transform businesses so as to provide secure and frictionless experience across home, city and aviation.”

    NEC has been developing biometric identification technologies for more than 40 years, and systems using NEC’s Bio-IDiom biometrics have been introduced through more than 700 systems in 70 countries and regions around the world. Moreover, earlier this year, NEC’s iris recognition was named the world’s most accurate by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has also recently named NEC’s face recognition and fingerprint recognition technologies as the most accurate.

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  • Qnect rebrands to Get and raises $2.5m

    Qnect rebrands to Get and raises $2.5m

    Singapore-based campus social marketplace Get has closed a US$2.5 million funding round led by Vertex Ventures, the VC arm of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek. Existing angel investor Click Ventures also joined in. Get will use the funds to further develop its product, build teams in the city-state, Hong Kong, and Australia, as well as expand to other markets. Launched in 2017, the app facilitates payments for stuff like merchandise, memberships, and events by university clubs and societies. More than 400 organizations with 220,000 members use Get across its three markets.

    The app has undergone a rebranding exercise – it was previously known as Qnect. The name change brings the startup “closer to its mission of helping students get their hands on the things they want,” says 23-year-old co-founder and CEO Daniel Liang.

    “Often, the things they want are heavily inspired and dictated by the actions of their peers, which is why the social aspect underpinning this platform is so important,” he adds.

    Vertex Ventures’ managing partner Joo Hock Chua believes Get’s social element is the missing gap in the online marketplace space.

    He says: “The younger [consumers] are inherently social, and Get is one of the few services that leverage this insight as the basis for a payments platform. This generation wants to buy what their friends are buying, and being able to provide that level of transparency on a scalable digital platform is incredibly powerful.”

  • New crypto-exchange lets you convert Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia currencies

    New crypto-exchange lets you convert Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia currencies

    Singapore-based fiat-crypto exchange EurekaPro, led by a team consisting of Junus Eu, Douglas Gan and Lau Kin-Wai, today announced its entry into the Southeast Asian blockchain market. EurekaPro offers Asian-wide fiat-to-cryptocurrency support, allowing holders of the Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit, Indonesian rupiah, and other Asian fiat currencies to transact on the EurekaPro exchange.

    EurekaPro has already launched an open public beta, in which over 8,000 users have signed up in its first week.

    Eu, the exchange’s CEO, was previously the investment manager of zVentures, the venture capital arm of US- and Singapore-based gaming hardware and software firm Razer. Before that, she was an investment manager at VC firm Jafco Asia.

    On the other hand, Gan and Lau co-founded iFashion, a holding firm that invests in various fashion ecommerce sites. Gan also started beauty services marketplace Vanitee and subscription ecommerce business Vanity Trove. Lau set up FatFish Internet Group, a startup accelerator.

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  • CSA, partners launch call for innovation on security threats

    CSA, partners launch call for innovation on security threats

    The  Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and partner TNB Ventures have launched a Cybersecurity Industry Call for Innovation inviting industry providers to develop solutions for specific cybersecurity challenges. The initiative is being conducted in collaboration with five participating organizations – Ascendas-Singbridge Group, PacificLight Power, Singapore LNG Corporation (SLNG), SMRT Corporation (SMRT) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). The Call for Innovation consolidates and articulates the cybersecurity needs of these organizations into challenge statements that industry solution providers are invited to address through innovative solutions.

    There are two categories of challenge statements. The first category is “Advanced Protection and Detection” to help end-users avoid, defend against, and detect cyber attacks. This includes intelligent solutions that are able to detect intrusions into Operational Technology (OT) systems.

    The second category is “Advanced Security Operations” to help end-users reduce their vulnerabilities through better management of their systems. This includes solutions to increase the efficiency of patch management processes and management of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Cloud systems.

    The submission period for the Call closes on 18 December 2018. Solution providers whose proposals are shortlisted will be invited to discuss their proposals in greater depth with the participating organizations for potential co-innovation, adoption and test-bedding.

    Selected solutions that fulfill the eligibility criteria may also be awarded with POC funding of up to S$500,000 ($363,000) under CSA’s Co-innovation and Development Proof-of-Concept Scheme.

    Teo Chin Hock, Deputy Chief Executive (Development), CSA said: “The cyber threat landscape is evolving rapidly. To build our cyber defenses and at the same time grow the industry, innovation is important. We are glad to have our partners on-board our first Cybersecurity Industry Call for Innovation. We hope to help them strengthen their cyber resilience, and at the same time, provide opportunities for solution providers to catalyze cutting-edge solutions here for commercial adoption.”

  • Garuda to open direct route from Singapore to Belitung Island’s Tanjung Pandan

    Garuda to open direct route from Singapore to Belitung Island’s Tanjung Pandan

    National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has strengthened its regional network by introducing a new direct route from Singapore to Tanjung Pandan on Belitung Island, according to a press release. Set to begin on Oct. 29, the flight will be available four days a week, using the Bombardier CRJ-1000 with 96 economy class seats. Garuda Indonesia commercial director Pikri Ilham Kurniansyah said the new service is aligned with the airline’s commitment to help develop tourism in Indonesia. Moreover, the new route is to support Indonesia’s 10 priority destinations aside from Bali, which includes Tanjung Kelayang on Belitung Island.

    “The direct flight is part of the company’s strategy to expand its international network, as well as an effort to strengthen connectivity in Southeast Asia,” Pikri was quoted as saying.

    He went on to say that Singapore is one of the busiest international hubs and also close to Indonesia.

    “With a less-than-an-hour direct flight from Singapore, Belitung is a perfect short getaway destination,” said Pikri.

    He is also confident that the new route would improve the growth of trade and business in Tanjung Pandan and its surroundings, especially since it is a special economic zone and one of the 10 priority destinations.

    Tanjung Pandan is said to have beautiful beaches and being developed to be the “next Bali”.

    Garuda’s Singapore-Tanjung Pandan route will depart from Singapore’s Changi Airport at 5:20 p.m. local time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A Sunday flight from Changi is also available, which departs at 5:30 a.m. Arrival time at Hanandjoeddin International Airport in Tanjung Pandan is 5:50 p.m. for Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 6 p.m. for Sunday.

    Meanwhile, all flights from Tanjung Pandan to Singapore depart at 2:50 p.m. and arrive at 4:20 p.m. local time.

    Garuda Indonesia now serves 84 flights every week to and from Singapore to Indonesian cities. Singapore-Jakarta flights are available nine times every day, the Singapore-Surabaya route has one flight daily and Singapore-Denpasar has two flights daily.

  • Discounts and free gifts with the launch of MR DIY e-store on Shopee

    Discounts and free gifts with the launch of MR DIY e-store on Shopee

    Hardware and home improvement retailer Mr DIY has launched an e-store on Shopee. Mr DIY’s head of marketing Andy Chin said Shopee has grown tremendously in the past year, and is quickly becoming the online shopping destination of choice for shoppers in Malaysia and across the region.

    “We are excited to bring even more exciting deals and promotions for our launch and 10.10 Festival, and we are confident that it will be a great success.”

    Discounts and promotional gifts are being offered to mark the launch, which coincides with the first anniversary of the e-commerce platform.

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  • Furla growth report slowing down

    Furla growth report slowing down

    Italian handbag label Furla has posted a 5.8 per cent rise in sales for the first half of the year, down from 23.5 per cent growth during the same period last year.

    Furla sales growth in Asia has similarly slowed, showing a 27 per cent growth in the Asia-Pacific region as opposed to last year’s 63 per cent increase. Furla recently assumed direct control of retail distribution in the greater China region.

    Furla generates 23 per cent of its sales in Japan against 7 per cent in the US. Revenue growth for Japan was 9.5 per cent, while growth for the US market was 24.2 per cent. E-commerce sales are up 24.1 per cent.

    Furla’s GM Alberto Camerlengo said: “For us, 2018 is a year of consolidation.” He described the firm’s plans to strengthen its delivery organisation via the adoption of a more advanced IT system as better suited to the company’s increased size.

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  • Singtel and Starhub to offer Google Pixel 3 in Singapore

    Singtel and Starhub to offer Google Pixel 3 in Singapore

    The local telcos will include Google merchandise as part of their promo. Both Singtel and Starhub will offer Google’s flagship phone Pixel 3 as it launches in Singapore. Google itself will sell the handset through its online store starting 1 November.

    With price ranging from $1,249 for its 5.5-inch model and $1,399 for the 6.3-inch XL model, Google’s flagship will be sold in three colours including Just Black, Clearly White, and new colour Not Pink which will be sold exclusively by Singtel.

    Those who will buy from Singtel will also get a free Google Pixel Stand worth $119 when they additionally purchase certain data subscriptions. Meanwhile, those who will buy from Starhub will get Google Assistant worth $189 as a freebie.

    “Pixel users can gain an edge while streaming high-definition videos and chatting with the Google Assistant,” Starhub vice president of segment and marketing Donovan Kik said.

    Singtel launched the phone for pre-orders on 10 October.

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  • Singtel, StarHub and M1 must keep innovating to stay in the game

    Singtel, StarHub and M1 must keep innovating to stay in the game

    Signs have not been good lately for Singtel, StarHub and M1, the country’s three large telecommunications companies. Technological innovations, as well as changes in regulations, have sent shock waves through the big three companies, and virtual mobile telcos such as MyRepublic, Zero1 and Circles.Life have also posed a threat to the larger players.

    But with new kid on the block, TPG Telcom, set to launch later this year, the question remains whether there is still a place for one more large telecommunications company in an already crowded market.

    The existing telcos say that since the country is small and has a mature mobile market with very high rates of penetration, perhaps three’s a company, but four would be a crowd.

    In other places such as Germany, Denmark and the UK there is consolidation of only three mobile network operator (MNO) providers. Indonesia, whose population of 250 million is huge, compared to Singapore’s 5 million, is also leaning toward consolidation.

    Three years ago, the  Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) asked whether expanding mobile services in the country is a viable option. Today, opinions still are divided as to whether or not there is room in Singapore for a fourth telco.

    One concern is that tougher competition will lead to fewer revenues in the mobile sector, which would in turn discourage service innovation, and even investments as well.

    On the opposite side is the IDA, which has evolved into the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), says that there is space for telcos to innovate their services, as well as room for more competition in the market.

    When a new MNO enters the market, this may also spur existing ones to further invest in innovating their networks in order to stay competitive.

    TPG Telecom, which is based in Australia, is already making quite a splash in Singapore, with a special offer for seniors, an audience not often catered to by telcos. TPG is giving a fee mobile plan for people aged 65 and above, complete with a SIM card, 3GB of data and unlimited mobile calls.

    Other telcos are greeting TPG’s launch as a splash of cold water on their faces, to get them to innovate their strategies. The telco industry is marked by both competition and innovation, and companies have to work hard to keep up. Their strategies must remain both quick and agile to remain enticing to existing customers as they attract others.

    For example, telcos have been threatened by over the top (OTT) voice, text and messaging options that only require WiFi for consumers to make calls and send messages. This has meant that telcos can no longer rely on old revenue streams that depended on subscription plans, infrastructure and bandwidth, as consumers ceased to need them as much.

    Big players in the tech market such as Apple, Amazon and Google offer such OTT services merely using data connections, which removes the need for additional infrastructure.

    Industry experts predict that WhatsApp, Skype and different OTT applications will cause telcos the loss of around US$400 billion in revenue for this year alone.

    How then can telcos, which have invested millions on infrastructure, secure their future despite fewer returns on those investments, or else, face the possibility of growing redundant in the industry.

    Perhaps the bigger question here is not whether there is room in the country for yet another mobile telecommunications company, but to ask whether the existing companies are doing enough to innovate in order to maintain relevance in a quickly evolving industry.

  • Singpost Links up With Axa Insurances

    Singpost Links up With Axa Insurances

    AXA Insurance and Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) have announced the launch of a pilot for AXA@POST Virtual Assist, a digital sales advisory service that virtually connects SingPost customers with AXA Financial Consultants who can provide high quality advice and services. This is the first advisory service in Singapore that provides financial advice to customers remotely, coupled with the ease and convenience of online application for insurance solutions for their car, home, family, travel, business, savings, health, and life protection and investment needs.

    With AXA@POST Virtual Assist, SingPost customers will receive end-to-end sales advisory services via a live, interactive video feed – from having their financial needs and goals ascertained, to receiving advice on insurance solutions based on suitability, and completing the entire insurance application online in one sitting. Onsite SingPost Financial Services Ambassadors (FSAs) will guide customers to the AXA@POST Virtual Assist booth, where they will begin their discussion with an AXA Financial Consultant via a video interface.

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  • Optus Business expands managed solutions portfolio

    Optus Business expands managed solutions portfolio

    Australia’s Optus, through subsidiary Optus Business, has expanded its line-up of fully managed ICT solutions for enterprises.

    The operator has added contact center, security and storage solutions to its Optus GO portfolio of managed services.

    Optus GO Contact Centre provides cloud based contact center capabilities including management of inbound and outbound calls, chat and email. Optus GO Security includes email and web protection based on cloud security architecture, and Optus GO Storage provides as-a-service flash storage for data centers.

    The Optus GO managed ICT solutions suite, which launched in February, already included connectivity, collaboration and cloud services for businesses of all sizes.

    “The Optus GO solutions were created in response to our customers who are looking for the benefits of ICT solutions without the cost or burden of ownership and management,” Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis said.

    “We designed Optus GO to save our customers time and money by simplifying technology, delivering connectivity and ICT as an end to end solution in a secure and managed environment.”

    He said Optus GO aims to provide enterprise customers with the core computing foundations to support the business opportunities that will be afforded by emerging technologies including IoT, advanced analytics, AI and 5G.

    Optus is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Singtel Group.

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  • aCommerce Forms Strategic Partnership with Fluent Commerce to Advance Omnichannel Strategy

    aCommerce Forms Strategic Partnership with Fluent Commerce to Advance Omnichannel Strategy

    aCommerce, Southeast Asia’s leading brand ecommerce enabler, and Fluent Commerce, the cloud-native order management company that allows omnichannel retailers to out-convenience competitors and offer their customers flexible fulfillment options, have signed a strategic partnership to bring together the best of ecommerce and omnichannel order operations.

    Under this partnership, Fluent Commerce will provide the smart omnichannel management and unified ecommerce that retailers and brands are looking for. aCommerce will act as a system integrator for retailers and brands in Southeast Asia, enabling them to provide a seamless experience to their consumers, regardless of online or offline channels.

    “The relationship with aCommerce is an acknowledgment of the imperative for retailers to provide an innovative experience for their ever more sophisticated customers, such as same-day delivery and collect in store options,” said Jamie Cairns, Channel Sales Director at Fluent Commerce. “By working together we’ll grow and unlock new opportunity for our clients by enabling them to rapidly deploy an end to end, unified commerce strategy. We’re certainly very excited by this combined proposition, which is unique in the region.”

    “Despite the ample growth of ecommerce in the region, Southeast Asia’s retail scene is largely happening offline. Combining the strengths of aCommerce and Fluent Commerce enables us to help retailers and brands execute New Retail strategies by leveraging technology to digitize and connect offline stores,” comments Mandy Arbilo, Group Director of Direct-to-Consumer Ecommerce at aCommerce. “By partnering with Fluent Commerce, we will be able to provide convenience, choice of delivery or pickup, return anywhere options, and up-to-the-minute inventory visibility.”

    Currently, aCommerce is working with leading Singaporean retailers to expand omnichannel and New Retail capabilities. The Southeast Asian leading ecommerce enabler will offer this service in Malaysia by March 2019.

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  • CapitaStar Singapore unveils new promo event with big prize

    CapitaStar Singapore unveils new promo event with big prize

    Calling all shoppers in Singapore! CapitaLand’s multi-store, multi-mall rewards programme, CapitaStar presents a month-long celebration filled with hundreds of attractive deals for members to enjoy across 15 CapitaLand malls in Singapore. CapitaStar fulfils the ultimate shopping fantasy with the inaugural SuperStar Shopper Challenge, where participants can embark on a S$1,000 shopping spree and stand to win the grand prize of 10 million STAR$® (worth S$10,000).

    CapitaStar SuperStar Shopper Challenge Qualifiers: 5 to 21 October 2018 | Finals: 10 November 2018 Flag-off Location: Bugis+, L2 Atrium

    Join the CapitaStar #SuperStarShopper Challenge and be one of the 20 finalists to go on a S$1,000 shopping spree across participating CapitaLand malls using the CapitaStar App

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  • Katrina acquires Japanese cuisine F&B business for S$1.0 million

    Katrina acquires Japanese cuisine F&B business for S$1.0 million

    Katrina Group Ltd. (“Katrina” or the “Group”), an established and recognised Food & Beverage (“F&B”) group specialising in multi-cuisine concepts and restaurant operations, has announced its acquisition of 100.0% of Tomo Izakaya Pte. Ltd. for approximately S$1.0 million.

    Tomo is a company incorporated in Singapore on 23 May 2008. It is principally engaged in the F&B business and currently operates two restaurants serving Japanese cuisine in Singapore, one in Clarke Quay and another in Esplanade Mall.

    The Purchase Price of approximately S$1.0 million comprise the Initial Purchase Price of S$0.6 million and the estimated net tangible assets value of Tomo as at 30 September 2018 of S$0.4 million, as determined from the unaudited management financial statements of Tomo as at 31 August 2018 and mutually agreed between the parties.

    The Purchase Price was derived on a willing-buyer and willing-seller basis and is to be satisfied in cash. The acquisition will be funded through internal resources.

    Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Alan Goh, Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Katrina said, “The acquisition is part of a larger strategy to diversify the Group’s revenue stream across businesses, markets and segments. Sustainable growth is what we hope to achieve and this acquisition is a step in the right direction for us to extend our market reach locally.”

    The acquisition increases the number of restaurants in Singapore operated by the Group to 40 from 38, and the types of cuisines served by the Group to eight from seven.

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