No matter which universe you are from, Mothers are the true and actual GOATs, what is a GOAT you might be thinking and asking? GOATs stand for (Greatest of All Time) and it’s time for you to show your love for GOATs Mother! Beyond giving them flowers to show your love, why not give a token of love that blooms perennially? What better way to give this love through the gift of great-sounding earbuds that will nurture your Mother’s passion for music, just like the sunlight to a budding flower?

While attending exclusive concerts is enjoyable, owning a high-quality sound experience should be accessible to everyone. For this Mother’s Day 2024, let’s ensure our GOAT Mothers have the best, right at their fingertips. Beside giving flowers to your Mother, gift them the music that never ends, that are in tune with their enduring and remarkable love, with the Jabra Elite 10: A Symphony of Style and Sound or Jabra Elite 8 Active: For the Unstoppable Mum.

Jabra Elite 10: A Symphony of Style and Sound

If you are caught up in the recent amazing international performing singers/artists performing in Singapore, you would be continuing to bask in the afterglow of the post-Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Singapore. Although these once-in-a-lifetime musical experiences are rare, we don’t have to end our enjoyment of music here. Give your Mum the Jabra Elite 10, let her continue her concert experience, anywhere with its lush and great Dolby Atmos spatial sound experience! This would be the sound choice for the GOAT Mother in your life, with the Jabra Elite 10 earbuds, you can ensure that she enjoys the post-Taylor vibes every day.

Why does the GOAT Mum needs an Jabra Elite 10?

• Understated elegance: With warm, neutral colours that reflect her timeless elegance, these earbuds are as much a fashion statement as they are a tech accessory.
• A concert hall in your ears: With its 360° sound experience, Dolby Atmos turns every listen into an extraordinary event, adding depth, clarity, and a richness that makes her feel like she’s at a live concert.
• Worthy of an encore: Advanced active noise cancelling (ANC) and transparency mode shut out and allow background sounds at her discretion. At the same time, the semi-open design relieves sound pressure on the ears for comfort when wearing them all day.

Jabra Elite 8 Active: For the Unstoppable Mum

Just as Taylor Swift faced and handled our tropical humidity hair-on, the Jabra Elite 8 Active stands resilient against sweat and water. With its secure grip ensuring nothing slips – not even in the most humid conditions. For the GOAT Mum who’s always in motion, taking care of the whole family, the Jabra Elite 8 Active ensures that she stays in tune even when life gets fast-paced.

Why does the GOAT Mum needs an Jabra Elite 8 Active?

• Stylish and resilient: Unlike Taylor’s hair department, your mum will never have a moment of anxiety when using the stylish Elite 8 Active. With its robust IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, these earbuds will never return to factory settings in the face of sweat, dirt and humidity.
• The soundtrack to her life: The unique Jabra ShakeGrip material ensures that she’ll never shake it off, even during workouts, making it the perfect earbuds for every occasion.
• She’ll feel like she’s there: A wide, spacious soundstage immerses her in her favourite tunes, ensuring an intense, concert-like experience during every run, workout, and moment.
• Goes longer than any concert: The long 8-hour battery life with ANC on, along with an additional 24 hours from the charging case, ensures that she’ll never run out of power, even when she forgets occasionally.

Where can I buy Jabra Elite 10 or Jabra Elite 8 Active?

As you celebrate Mother’s Day with Jabra, there are exclusive deals that make Jabra Mother’s Day Gifts even sweeter. The promotions will start on 1st May 2024 and run till 19th May 2024.

Jabra Elite 10 promotion price – $248 (RRP: $382)

Buy it from Shopee or Lazada.

Jabra Elite 8 Active promotion price – $228 (RRP: $312)

Buy it from Shopee or Lazada.

Happy Mother’s Day 2024!

Wishing all Mothers and those who play the Motherly role a Happy Mother’s Day 2024 in advance! Happy Mother’s Day shopping with Jabra!

* Information and pictures courtesy of Jabra and Gloo *

The post Jabra Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024 appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

Samsung’s year 2024 lineup kicks off the Samsung AI screen era through the induction of a next-generation AI processor that is poised to redefine the perception of smart display capabilities. More than just bringing improved picture and sound quality, the new AI TV line-ups provide consumers with AI-powered features focusing on inspiring and empowering individual lifestyles.

“We are entering a new era of AI, with the technology bringing great potential to improve and add value to our daily lives in both simple and useful ways,” said Steven Koh, Senior Director, Consumer Electronics Business (TV/AV), Samsung Electronics Singapore. “We are excited to wow our consumers with our most cutting-edge TVs, now enhanced with AI, which will not only deliver amazing visual and audio quality for consumers to better enjoy the content that they all love but will also be the ideal centrepiece in consumers’ homes, connecting all compatible devices to offer users a smart and seamless living experience.”

Expect More Wow with Samsung’s New 2024 AI TV Line-up

Samsung is introducing AI technologies to its Samsung TV line-up for 2024, delivering elevated enhancements for consumers’ home entertainment setups.

Samsung 2024 Neo QLED 8K and 4K TV 

Samsung’s newest Neo QLED 8K and 4K TV line-up are equipped with technology that delivers lifelike picture quality and premium audio experiences. For the 2024 Neo QLED 8K range, the top model QN900D features Samsung’s latest and most innovative TV processor yet – the NQ8 AI Gen3, which has a neural processing unit (NPU) that delivers unprecedented performance upgrades by utilising 512 neural networks, versus 64 neural networks on last year’s 2023 flagship model.

The Neo QLED line-up brings a suite of picture quality and design enhancing features, including 8K AI Upscaling Pro (1), which leverages NQ8 AI Gen3 for enhanced 8K upscaling, sharpening low resolution content so that it is displayed in ultra-high resolution.

There is the AI Motion Enhancer Pro that solves common issues in fast-paced sporting contents – such as ball distortion – by streaming high-resolution sports matches through this feature (2) powered by NQ8 AI Gen3. The feature automatically detects the sport type and uses deep learning to properly detect the type of ball and enhances the visual accordingly.

For consumers who like watching high-adrenaline action content, Real Depth Enhancer Pro adds details to fast-moving scenes with the help of AI to control precision of the mini-LEDs by detecting the part of a scene that the human eye would naturally focus on, bringing it to the foreground. In this way, the images are more lifelike as there is more depth to the onscreen content.

There is also the Infinity Air Design that complements Neo QLED 8K’s impeccable picture quality with a screen only 12.9mm in depth (3). This would allow an immersive viewing experience that focuses on high resolution and outstanding sound quality. This feature also offers a unique mirror effect in which the TV appears to hover in its surroundings.

With Samsung’s Q-Symphony, the Neo QLED 8K line-up offers exceptional audio quality, allowing users to connect multiple wireless speakers and a sound bar to a TV or projector for perfect audio synchronisation across shows, movies, and playlists (4).

Users can take advantage of the Active Voice Amplifier Pro, a proprietary AI dialogue booster that utilises exclusive deep-learning technology to significantly enhance dialogue and voices on screen.

Samsung 2024 OLED TV

For Samsung 2024 OLED TVs, they are built on the legacy of 2023 models, with the S95D offering sizes of up to 77-inches for high-detail, high-frame rate, and intense vibrant video.

There is a new OLED Glare Free’ technology (5) – specifically designed for 2024 OLED screens. This preserves colour accuracy and reduces reflections while maintaining image sharpness to ensure an immersive viewing experience, even in daylight.

The OLED-optimised, low-reflection coating overcomes the trade-off between gloss and reflection, thanks to a new, specialised hard-coating layer and surface coating pattern.

This year 2024 OLED display is 20% brighter than previous models, with deep and rich blacks, and AI-enhanced colour accuracy so pure that it is Pantone Validated. Not only are they Samsung’s brightest OLED screen yet, they now also features high refresh rates of up to 144Hz for more seamless motion and crystal-clear action on their screens. There are also more price friendly options, the S90D series, which will be available in various sizes, from 48” to 83”.

New Samsung flagship Q Series sound bar

There is also a new Samsung flagship Q Series sound bar, the HW-Q990D, that completes your Samsung home entertainment audio experience. This delivers an 11.1.4-channel sound experience with True Dolby Atmos sound at 4K 120Hz, tapping on AI to optimise sound for the perfect experience, whatever is your preferred media content.

Samsung partners National Heritage Board to bring a part of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV

Samsung partners National Heritage Board to bring a part of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV. With this announcement, the Samsung Art Store will see the addition of 10 artworks from Singapore’s National Collection. This will be a great news for art and heritage lovers, they will be offered the opportunity to enjoy a curated collection that showcase the changes in Singapore’s physical and urban landscape through the years, as well as selected master works of Asian painting traditions.

More information can be found on my TGH Photography and Travel portal/blog article – Samsung partners National Heritage Board to bring a part of Singapore’s Cultural Heritage to Samsung The Frame TV.

For more information on Samsung’s new 2024 AI TVs and sound systems

For more information on Samsung’s new 2024 AI TVs and sound systems, pricing and availability, please visit Samsung website https://www.samsung.com/sg/

Notes:

1. 3333QN900D only. 8K AI Upscaling for other models.
2. Viewing experience may vary according to types of content and format. Upscaling may not apply to PC connection and Game Mode.
3. 12.9mm in depth only applies to 65” QN900D.
4. Q-Symphony is compatible with select Samsung TVs. Requires HDMI, Optical or Wi-Fi connection to TV.
5. UL’s verification validates the ‘OLED Glare Free’ claim by assessing the products against Unified Glare Rating (UGR) testing standard set by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) and testing standard set by the International Organization for Standardization.

The post Samsung Electronics unveiled 2024 line-up of new AI TVs and sound systems appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

The Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research is based on responses from 6,600 IT and business decision makers across 40 countries, of which 200 of those responded are from Singapore. Although this Dell research suggests that while there is broad optimism for AI and GenAI, how well the organisations are prepared for the rapid pace of change coming from AI and GenAI, that’s another story.

87% say they are well position competitively and have a solid strategy. At the same time, over a third (36%) of the respondents are uncertain what their industry will look like in the next 3 to 5 years and nearly half (43%) report struggling to keep pace. They cite data privacy and cybersecurity concerns (44%), lack of right talent (38%), and outdated technology environments (28%) as challenges the organisations face in driving digital innovation and digital transformation.

GenAI Significant Potential – Moving from Ideation to Implementation

What is GenAI significant potential – Moving from Ideation to Implementation? 49% of the respondents cite GenAI’s transformative or significant potential to improve IT security posture. 48% of the respondents on streamline processes through improving customer experience, and provide productivity gains or ability to do more (47%).

They are also aware of challenges to overcome: 66% fear GenAI will introduce new security and privacy issues and 77% agreed that their data and IP is too valuable to be placed in a GenAI tool where a 3rd Party may have access.

From a broad perspective coming out from the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research, the responses suggest that organisations are working through GenAI practicalities as they are transiting from ideation to implementation. 47% said that they have begun implementing GenAI.

As organisations increase adoption, concern centres around understanding where risks reside and who is responsible for them. 81% agree that the organisation, rather than the machine, the user or the public, is responsible for any AI malfunction or undesired behaviour.

“Singapore stands out as a prime location for AI adoption and development. Its leading role in the global AI landscape, coupled with the government’s strong commitment and investment, creates a fertile ground for innovation. Many businesses are taking action to harness the transformative potential of technologies like GenAI and bringing AI to their data to unlock value and drive growth,” shared Andy Sim, Vice President and Managing Director, Singapore, Dell Technologies. “Seizing the opportunity requires a strong ecosystem of trusted partners to create secure and scalable technology foundations for innovation, designed with sustainability in mind. In Singapore, success, innovation, and progress are intertwined.”

Cybersecurity – How are organisations rising to the challenge of current Threat landscape 

In a broad context, organisations continue to find cybersecurity to be a pain point for them. These concerns are well-founded, as 75% of respondents say that have been impacted by a security attack in the past 12 months. Majority of the respondents (88%) are pursuing a Zero Trust deployment strategy and 80% say they have an Incident Response Plan in place to recover from a cyberattack or data leakage.

The top 3 cited issues included phishing, data breaches and malware. On the issues with phishing, they are indicative of a wider problem highlighted in the report, which is the role employees play in the threat landscape. For example, 75% of respondents believe some employees go around IT security guidelines and practices because they delay efficiency and productivity, and 68% say that insider threats are a big concern. This indicates a need to focus on training as employees are the 1st line of defence.

Having Right Technology Infrastructure will help Organisations to Succeed

Having Right Technology Infrastructure will help Organisations to Succeed. From this Dell Technologies Research, it reveals the critical role of modern data infrastructure especially as GenAI gather pace and data volumes increase. This was cited as the no. 1 area of improvement for businesses to accelerate innovation – Adopting a data-driven approach to capture and realise innovation projects across the organisation.  Most IT decision makers (81%) say they prefer an on-premises or hybrid model, to address the challenges they foresee with implementing GenAI.

A key part of the digital innovation puzzle cited by the respondents, with close to 1 in 3 (32%) – The ability to share data across the business. They can turn data into real-time insights today to support innovation efforts. However, responses from the respondents suggest that organisations are acting on this challenge, with 91% saying that the data is the differentiator and their GenAI strategy must involve using and protecting that data. Almost half (51%) also claim that they anticipate that the bulk of their data will come from the edge in the next 5 years.

Other research findings include:

• Skills: Three-quarters (75%) claim there is currently a shortage of talent required for innovation in their industry. Logic, critical thinking & complex decision-making, learning agility and desire and AI fluency rank as the top skills and competencies for the next five years.
• Sustainability: 33% believe “driving environmentally sustainable innovations” is an important improvement area. Energy efficiency is high on the agenda, with 82% experimenting with as-a-Service solutions to manage their IT environment more efficiently and 81% using alternative cooling solutions to reduce energy use in data centres.
• Making IT a strategic partner: Currently, 77% of business decision makers have reasons to exclude IT decision makers from strategic conversations, yet both departments ranked a stronger relationship as the second most important improvement area.

Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research

The Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research was conducted by Vanson Bourne, commissioned by Dell Technologies. This study surveyed 6,600 respondents from organisations with more than 100 employees from across North America, LatAm, EMEA, APJ and Greater China, ranging from private and public sectors.

If you like to know and read more in-depth on Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst Research, please visit https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/perspectives/innovation-catalyst.htm

* Information courtesy of Dell Technologies and BCW *

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Introducing Jabra Elite 8 Active – World’s toughest earbuds

A short introduction to Jabra Elite 8 Active, this new wireless earbuds will set a new standard for durability and fit.

World toughest earbuds

They are great and ideal for those with an active sporting lifestyle, thanks to the durability. The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds pass all the required tests for US Military Standard for Ruggedised Electronics (810H).

What does that mean for users with an active sporting and outdoors lifestyle? The Jabra Elite 8 Active are completely watertight when submerged up to 1.5m, they are IP68 rated, that would mean that they are fully dust and waterproof. AS for the charging case, it is IP54 rated to be dust and splash proof.

Dolby Audio

The Jabra Elite 8 Active is tough and they are proud of it, yet that doesn’t mean they give up and compromise on sound quality and aesthetics. One of the new features is Dolby Audio, it’s powering the Jabra Elite 8 Active, delivering lifelike, clear sound for a longer and comfortable listening experience, complementing your sporting and active lifestyle.

Adaptive Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

The Jabra Elite 8 Active is powered by Jabra’s Adaptive Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), this automatically optimises the ANC performance to the environment that you are in. The Wind Neutralizing HearThrough (TM) technology also muffles any wind interference without blocking out traffic. This ensures your safety while you are listening, without compromising on steady sound.

My Review, Thoughts and Views of Jabra Elite 8 Active

First and foremost, let us take a walk back in time looking at Jabra’s 7 generations of superior true wireless earbuds (and still counting)

1. Elite Sport
2. Elite 65T / Elite Active 65T
3. Elite 75T, Elite Active 75T
4. Elite 85T
5. Elite 5, Elite 4 Active, Elite 4, Elite 3,
6.  Elite 7 Pro, Elite 7 Active
7. Elite 8 Active, Elite 10

I started covering Jabra’s earbuds from Elite Active 65T till date. I previously had been using Jabra Elite 85T, it was my favourite and also my main wireless earbuds even when I had other earbuds brands with me (I eventually gave the rest away over time). Most recently, I retired my Jabra Elite 85T as my backup when the  Jabra Elite 8 Active took over as my main wireless earbuds.

Here are my key thoughts and views of Jabra Elite 8 Active:

• Audio Quality – Jabra is a world leader in personal sound and hybrid work solutions. The audio quality is never in doubt, clear, crisp and clean, excellent when on call and chats.
• For the Audiophile – More than just a personal sound solution for everyday use, the Jabra Elite 8 Active is an entertainment/lifestyle wireless earbuds too. For those audiophile, there is the Jabra+ app that allows you to customise with six music presets and music equaliser, you can customise it further if you like to do so.
• Dolby Audio – A most welcome new and exciting feature for Jabra true wireless earbuds, giving them the entertainment/fun/lifestyle element boost, whether you are listening to your favourite songs on Spotify or watching your favourite movie/drama series.
• Jabra Sound+ App – A useful and handy Jabra app that allows you to customise your Jabra device to suit your setup.
• Spotify Tap – For Spotify users, you can get straight to your music with Spotify Tap feature on Jabra Elite 8 Active. Double press the left earbud to get Spotify playing right away. You can double press again to browse Spotify content just for you.
• Adaptive Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) – Jabra’s ANC is great, blocking out unwanted noise/sounds from the background. Sometimes, I don’t even realise that somebody is talking to me or calling out to me. If you wish to hear surrounding sounds (e.g. when walking or exercising) while you are wearing them, you can choose to activate Jabra HearThrough and customise this feature.
• Lighter, Tougher and more Durable – The Jabra true wireless earbuds are light and tough. In this Jabra Elite 8 Active model, it got even lighter in weight, yet getting tougher and more durable.
• Better and more Comfortable Fitting – One of the most underrated features of Jabra’s true wireless earbuds, the amount of R&D they gathered from users over the years. The Jabra Elite 8 Active wireless earbuds for me have an even more improved and more comfortable fitting, as compared to my Jabra Elite 85T wireless earbuds (the fitting was pretty good at that time in my personal humble opinion) that I had been using prior to the change in earbuds.

The Jabra Elite 8 Active is a trustworthy and reliable wireless earbuds, that suits users with an all rounder/active lifestyle, they strike a good balance for those with active sporting lifestyle and outdoors, while also taking care of your fun lifestyle/entertainment needs, powered by Dolby Audio. Last but not least, not to forget Jabra’s clear, crisp and clean sound quality that you would need in your daily communications in work and daily life.

The post Jabra Elite 8 Active Review appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

YouApp – Blending ancient wisdom with modern personality insights powered by modern AI technology

YouApp blends ancient wisdom with modern personality insights powered by modern AI technology. Now, you don’t have to spend hours consulting masters and going through endless personality assessments to check if you are compatible with a potential match. YouApp, the AI-powered dating app does all the work for you, calculating with the information from Chinese, Indian and Western star charts and personality insights from Myers-Briggs – in seconds!

YouApp feeds compatibility predictions by masters in their respective fields into an AI that has been learning for over a year using data and matching results from the app’s 20,000+ active user base in Asia.

Key features of the app include:

• Daily star chart readings predict a user’s luck in terms of career, love, wealth, health, mood, and social aspects. It also provides detailed readings for horoscopes, Bazi, and Numerology and lucky item tips like numbers, food, beverages, clothing, and more.
• Users get ten matches daily for free with premium membership (USD$19.90/month) offering unlimited likes, visibility of who liked them, and chats with anyone, along with premium content and advanced match preferences.
• Strict NRIC registration for identity checks deters scammers, with an update to enable Singpass verification coming by the end 2024.
• Besides romantic connections, users can also choose to match for professional networking, friendships, activity partners, and travel companions.
• In-app chat offers real-time translation with seven languages supported at launch.
• Scan QR codes in person to connect or share them through messages.

Douglas Gan, Founder & CEO of YouApp, said: “YouApp is founded on the vision of making deep, meaningful connections accessible through a blend of ancient wisdom and modern technology. By incorporating insights from astrology, zodiac, numerology, and personality analysis, we offer our users a unique platform to find compatibility in various aspects of life. With only 0.15% chance to get a >90% match, we make the user’s world smaller by meeting compatible people from anywhere in the world. We’re dedicated to expanding our reach, particularly in the Asia region, starting with Singapore. As we incorporate more philosophies to enhance compatibility matches, we remain committed to helping users understand themselves better and implement stringent safety measures to prevent love scams. Looking ahead, YouApp aims to redefine the landscape of social connections, making every match a step towards discovering genuine compatibility.”

Discover self, discover friends – More than just a dating app

YouApp is more than just a dating app, they want to help you better understand yourselves, guiding personal development. This AI-powered app uses up to 16 characters assessment tools (1), infused with ancient wisdom from Chinese, Indian, & Western beliefs to evaluate traits, such as personality and aptitude, which is then used to predict matches with other users.

YouApp gives you daily start readings that predict your luck in career, love, wealth, health, mood and social aspects. They also provide comprehensive information on your horoscopes, Bazi, and numerology to help you know more about yourself and ignite your journey of self-discovery. YouApp provides auspicious data like lucky numbers, food, beverages, clothing etc. Users can also look for partners and “like” up to 10 matches daily.

You can contact and communicate with your match if at least one party has a premium account. For matches that are below a compatibility score of 75, both parties can chat without a premium account.

Open doors with a premium account

At USD19.90/month (SGD 26.80/month), the YOU+ premium subscription adds many features. Users gain the ability to see whom they liked and who liked them, an unlimited number of ‘likes’ to give, the ability to initiate a chat with any user, along with other premium in-depth personality and character analysis, and advanced preferences to fine-tune searches and matches.

In addition to romantic partnerships, YouApp lets users find matches for different aspects of life, including friends, business partners, travel buddies, and activity partners.

Stringent verification, break down barriers, keep out scammers

Worried about love scams operating on the platform? YouApp has stringent verification to prevent that. They verify a user with an identification card and authenticate with a selfie photo. By the end of 2024, YouApp will implement Singpass verification, making it one of the first dating apps to do so.

The app also makes it easy for people to connect: Users can instantly share their personalised QR to match with others, skipping the match queue and knocking on more doors to happily ever after. Once the users are ready to mingle, the app helps break down barriers by offering suggested topics based on shared interests and providing live in-app translation for up to seven languages (2).

YouApp – More than just a dating app 

YouApp is more than just a dating app, it can be your social circle or business networking app as well, on top of knowing yourself better and personal development features. By getting to know yourself better, expanding your social circles before entering into the dating circle might be the ideal route to embark on in our modern world of dating and social media, powered by AI technology to help you.

Notes:

• (1) At launch, the complete set of tools are: Astrology, Tarot, Big 3 Signs, Horoscope, Sayana, Feng Shui, Numerology, I-Ching, BaZi, Zodiac, Purple Star, Vedic, IKIGAI, MBTI, DISC and GAT.
• (2) English, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia will be available for live translation.

* Information and pictures courtesy of YouApp and Gloo *

The post Predict if stars are aligned before you match with AI-powered dating app appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

Technology

First up would be my photography sector, my regular and usual approach from both enterprise/B2B and consumer perspectives.

Consumer technology

Along with the usual regular consumer technology media news coverage that I have been covering for the past decade, I would be looking at getting back to doing consumer technology gadgets review for Year 2024, one area that I had slowed down in previous years.

Other key areas of interest would be on the impacts and potentials of AI on consumer technology, from the gadgets to the apps and the human side of using AI technology on the ground level.

Enterprise / B2B technology

I foresee more coverage and writing on the enterprise / B2B technology sector in Year 2024 with Q1 2024 getting off to a good start in this area attending enterprise / B2B technology conference/media events in-person/online.

This enterprise / B2B technology sector for me is still a work-in-progress, building up and growing at a slow and steady pace. In my short learning and growing years writing enterprise / B2B technology topics (as compared to my consumer technology side of things).

2024 is Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Year 2024 is the Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI), that is the theme/motto for many technology brands for Year 2024. From an enterprise/business B2B to consumer B2C technology industry, we have already seen how much and how far they are investing into AI.

As I mentioned earlier on my TGH Technology and Business website, I am kickstarting my TGH Technology Research/Learning Series on AI for 2024, continuing where I left off in 2023. I feel that is a lot more work, learning, education and outreach needed to be done by technology brands and technology writers.

Business / Digital Marketing

The economy is facing poor sentiments and uncertainties ahead, making it challenging and difficult for business and digital marketing. From my interactions and networkings with friends from various industries, marketing budgets have been cut without them saying much at all. You just need to look at what some of the companies are doing on their social media platforms, where they are concentrating on, there seem to be lesser product launch or delayed product launch, indirectly pointing towards a reduction in marketing budget.

Meanwhile, other business ideas/collaborations are always on my cards amidst the networkings and plannings. Should something materialises and bear fruits from those discussions/ideas/collaborations, I would share when the time is ripe.

Personal / Social Media

The social media can get really narcissistic and showing off at times. I wasn’t into them, that might have caused me lost opportunities, even though I do use social media quite a lot, to be fair. Probably age has caught up, I just don’t wish to get involved in narcissism and showing off, I just want to continue my craft (photography and visual storytelling), my writing and passion.

Yes, I am still using and leveraging on social media platforms, I would be more selective on what and where I share my things/articles/thoughts on social media.

Moving Forward in Q2 and beyond in 2024

The uncertainties, poor economic sentiments and a slowdown in the world economy can and have already been felt on the ground level. The challenges and constraints would still be ever present, moving forward in Q2 and beyond in 2024, I would continue to work smart, be strategic and work extra hard.

Q2 2024 has just begun, time to take on the challenges ahead, moving forward in Q2 and beyond on 2024.

The post Reflecting Q1 2024 (Technology | Business | Personal) appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

Tech Mahindra  x IBM Synergy Lounge in Singapore 

The best practices gained here in Singapore will be shared with Tech Mahindra’s existing Synergy Lounge in Bengaluru and other Centres of Excellence to co-innovate and co-develop unique enterprise offerings and solutions.  This is built on the Hex-I concept, consisting of six stages: Ignite, Inspire, Ideate, Innovate, Infuse and Implement. The Synergy Lounge will feature different experience zones focusing on various technologies that will help enterprises solve complex business problems, improving customer experiences, reducing operational costs, and enhancing workforce efficiency.

Kunal Purohit, Chief Digital Services Officer, Tech Mahindra, said, “We believe in infusing AI and GenAI into every aspect of businesses and democratizing it responsibly. In our continuous endeavour to help customers embrace a digital-first future, the Synergy Lounge will function as a co-innovation and co-development center specifically focusing on AI, GenAI and next-gen technologies.”

The Synergy Lounge will be open to enterprises and businesses worldwide to explore joint solutions, testing out prototypes and proof of value (PoV) designed to drive innovation in various industries, such as communication, media and entertainment, automotive, manufacturing, transportation, banking and financial services and utilities, and healthcare, among others.

Chetan Krishnamurthy, Vice President, Ecosystem and Digital Sales, Asia Pacific, IBM, said, “Building on the success of the Synergy Lounge in Bengaluru and driven by our common vision to bring advanced technology like watsonx AI and data platform to solve complex business challenges, the opening of the new Synergy Lounge in Singapore will continue to help companies  improve productivity and competitiveness while bringing together the right talent, technology, and best practices for clients in Asia Pacific.”

There will be a dedicated team working out of the Synergy Lounge to maximise synergies between Tech Mahindra and IBM. They will be developing unique solutions based on both organisations’ strengths to drive technological innovation in APAC. The Synergy Lounge aligns with Tech Mahindra’s continuous endeavour to transform enterprises with advanced next-generation led offerings and solutions.

* Information and picture courtesy of Tech Mahindra and IBM Singapore *

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Singtel Disney+ Premium promotion for its mobile, TV and broadband customers

This Singtel Disney+ Premium promotion for its mobile, TV and broadband customers, is bundled with Singtel’s 5G mobile postpaid plans and SIM Only Plus plans so customers can enjoy a smooth viewing experience on Singtel’s ultra-fast and low latency 5G network, with Disney+ Premium (with a retail price of $15.98 per month) supporting 4K UHD and HDR video playback on supported titles. Customers will also be able to catch their favourite shows on up to four devices at the same time, allowing families or people in the same household to enjoy a seamless viewing experience on the popular streaming service.

Mobile customers currently enjoy complimentary lifestyle and education content packs for CAST, Singtel’s video streaming app, depending on the type of SIM Only Plus plans they have opted for, while all postpaid plans come with at least one month of Spotify, Entertainer, and Straits Times One Digital subscriptions. From 7 March, new and re-contracting mobile subscribers will also get Disney+ at no additional cost. This promotion will be progressively extended to broadband and TV customers, and all customers will be able to subscribe to Disney+ directly through Singtel in the future. Details will be announced later.

Ms Jennifer Ng, Vice President, Customer Value, Fixed Broadband and Content Marketing, Singtel Singapore, said, “We know how much people enjoy watching videos on the go, whether they are at home or on the move. Our mobile customers can enjoy high-quality streaming on Singtel’s ultra-fast 5G network, while customers at home can enjoy the service on their big screens in 4K, without lag – made possible by our reliable and secure network. With Disney+, customers can catch Disney’s incredible blockbusters, reminisce over animated classics with their children or discover new Disney+ Originals with their friends.”

Mr Vineet Puri, Vice President and General Manager, The Walt Disney Company SEA, said, “We are pleased to enhance our engagement with Singtel and bring Disney+ to their subscribers. With Singtel’s extensive reach, we look forward to delivering quality entertainment and a century of content from our iconic brands and franchises to even more consumers in Singapore, adding to our strong fan base on Disney+.”

Key Highlights of Disney+ Originals and Exclusives 

Highlights include Disney+ originals and exclusives such as Marvel Studios’ X-Men -97 (from 20 March), Star Wars: The Bad Batch from Lucasfilm; Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Taylor Swift | The Eras Tours (Taylor’s Version) on Disney, Emmy Award® nominated and winning series Abbott Elementary, Grey’s Anatomy, Dopesick, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, Welcome to Wrexham and more.

Fans of Korean and Japanese content can look forward to captivating dramas such as Blood Free (from 6 April), Wonderful World, Shogun, the highly anticipated anime Fable (from 7 April), as well as Light Shop and Uncle Samsik in late 2024.

Pricing and further information

For new sign-ups or re-contracting customers from 7 March 2024 (1)

For more information on Singtel’s entertainment offerings, visit Singtel TV entertainment or Disney+ on Singtel.

Notes:

1. Singtel may alter or change the terms of the promotion any time.
2. Customers will continue to be billed for the Disney+ Premium subscription if not cancelled prior to the end of the no-additional-cost subscription period.

* Information and picture courtesy of Singtel *

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“Nothing brings people closer together than travel, trade, and a legendary sport like football,” said Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International. “For European businesses, global enthusiasm over UEFA EURO 2024 brings not only international tourism revenue, but also the opportunity to grow their customer base. Through Alipay+, large and small European merchants can connect to Asian travellers through seamless, efficient digital payments and marketing offers enabled directly on their mobile phones. Ant International is also excited to work with leading mobile payment partners from around the world to boost their users’ travel experience in Europe.”

Enjoy seamless travel in Germany, Europe with Alipay+

If you are travelling to Germany and Eruope for UEFA EURO 2024, you can now enjoy a more seamless and convenient travel in Germany, Europe with Alipay+. They are expanding its cross-border mobile payment acceptance and merchant coverage by enabling more payment partner apps to be accepted across Germany and other popular European destinations.

Alipay+ will connect users of 13 international e-wallets and bank apps to sone of Europe’s largest tourist markets in Germany and beyond. These digital payment solutions include: Alipay (Chinese mainland), AlipayHK (Hong Kong, SAR), MPay (Macao, SAR), Touch ‘n Go eWallet and MyPB by Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Hipay (Mongolia), GCash (Philippines), Changi Pay and OCBC Digital (Singapore), TrueMoney (Thailand), and Kakao Pay, Naver Pay and Toss Pay (South Korea).

These mobile payment apps, who partner with Alipay +, will be accepted at tens of thousands of merchant stores across Germany, including in popular districts like Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, and Hofbräuhaus and Maximilianstraße in Munich. At top retailers like KaDaWe in Berlin, Oberpollinger in Munich, Galeria Kaufhoh department stores across Germany, and convenience stores, airports, F&B outlets and attractions, Alipay + users can simply pay with their home payment app, enjoying not just convenience, but also special deals and competitive foreign exchange rates. On match days, fans can use their Alipay+ payment partner apps from home to make payment at the host stadiums.

Alipay+ is the exclusive Official Payment Partner of UEFA EURO 2024.

Easy travel in Europe with Alipay+

The upcoming UEFA EURO 2024 is expected to attract around 650,000 overseas fans, according to the Halle Institute for Economic Research, resulting in additional tourism revenue of Euros$250 million. For travellers and tourists who plan to travel beyond Germany around Europe, they will also find Alipay+ is accepted in popular destinations including the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain. Merchants that accept Alipay+ span from luxury and casual retail brands to vending machines, F&B and transportation.

Alipay+ now connects over 88 million global merchants cross-border in 57 markets to 1.5 billion accounts on over 25 leading e-wallets and payment apps. International travellers may pay conveniently with their home payment app, while merchants can utilise Alipay+ to reach more customers with more effective engagement.

Alipay+, Antom and WorldFirst encourage fans to #GoalBeyond

For users of AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, TrueMoney, GCash and DANA, Alipay+ has launched an in-app UEFA EURO 2024 fan zone exclusively for them! In addition to themed quizzes and global merchant vouchers, more fan engagement activities such as interactive football mini games will also be introduced. Users can access the Alipay+ powered fan zone directly within these participating apps.

For all other fans, Antom, a leading provider of payment processing services to merchants worldwide, will work with partners in online retail, travel and digital services to offer each fan a chance to win exclusive prizes, including trips to the event. Users will also enjoy exclusive promotions by these top merchants, such as foodpanda, iQIYI, Spotify, Apple and many more. Through Antom, these top merchants can accept a variety of payment methods, including Alipay+, which are catered to each local markets’ preference.

Globally, online and offline payment and merchant partners of Alipay+ and Antom will run UEFA EURO 2024 campaigns, offering not just promotions, but also giving fans more opportunities to celebrate the sport and win tickets to the event.

Likewise, WorldFirst will hold a lucky draw for global SMEs to celebrate and enjoy the game. WorldFirst was established to help small and medium-sized businesses overcome the complexities of international payments while doing global business.

* Information and pictures courtesy of Ant International *

The post Ant International Launches Global Campaign for UEFA EURO 2024 appeared first on TGH Technology and Business Portal/Blog.

Impact of Cybersecurity and AI on the 2024 election season

A survey “Impact of Cybersecurity and AI on the 2024 election season”, were recently announced by Yubico, the leading provider of hardware authentication security keys, and Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a nonprofit and nonpartisan organisation committed to bringing free cybersecurity tools and resources to federal election campaigns.

This survey is conducted by OnePoll, a leading provider of international market research and data communication solutions, this survey polled 2,000 registered voters in the U.S. to better understand how voters perceive cybersecurity ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the concerns they have about the cybersecurity of political campaigns, regardless of party affiliations.

“Given the sudden advancement and uncertainty of AI technology, it’s not surprising that over 78 percent of respondents are concerned about AI-generated content being used to impersonate a political candidate or create inauthentic content, with Democrats at 79 percent and Republicans at 80 percent,” said David Treece, vice president of solutions architecture at Yubico. “Perhaps even more telling is that they believe AI will have a negative effect on this year’s election outcomes (42 percent Democrats and 49 percent Republicans).”  

Key Findings from Impact of Cybersecurity and AI on the 2024 election season

What are some of the key findings from the survey of “Impact of Cybersecurity and AI on the 2024 election season”? What roles could AI play in this 2024 election season?

The threat of AI and deep fakes spreading misinformation is present, 85% of respondents don’t have a high level of confidence that political campaigns effectively protect their personal information.

Cybersecurity is now a top focus, if not campaigns run the risk of being breached, exposing personal data, experiencing a financial impact and more, all of which could have a negative effect on the entirety of the election campaign.

42% of those who have donated to a campaign said their likelihood of donating again would change if the campaign was hacked and 30% report his would even change the likelihood of a candidate receiving their vote.

“Campaigns are the heart of our democracy and every campaign must adopt basic cybersecurity protections. This year’s election is particularly risky for cyber attacks directed at candidates, staffers, and anyone associated with a campaign,” said Michael Kaiser, president and CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns. “Having the right cybersecurity in place is not an option — it’s essential for anyone running a political operation. Otherwise, campaigns risk not only losing valuable data, but losing voters.”

Additional key findings

• 43 percent of respondents believe that AI-generated content will negatively affect the outcome of the 2024 elections.
  • When an audio clip with an AI voice was played, 41 percent believed the AI voice was authentically human.
• 52 percent of respondents have received an email and/or text message appearing to be from a campaign that they suspected was actually a phishing attempt.
• From a data security perspective, 85 percent of respondents don’t have a high level of confidence that political campaigns effectively protect the personal information they collect.
• Registered voters would like to see campaigns and candidates:
  • Take precautions to prevent their websites from being hacked (42 percent)
  • Use strong security measures like multi-factor authentication (MFA) on their accounts (41 percent)
  • Have policies in place and train staffers and key volunteers on cybersecurity for the campaign and protecting personal information (38 percent)
• Over a quarter of respondents (26 percent) indicated they have not completed a transaction making a campaign donation because of concerns about the security of the transaction or how their personal information would be handled.

Importance of cybersecurity and authentication security

“Because campaigns are built on trust, potential hacks like fraudulent emails or messages sent out impersonating them via their social media accounts, where they are directly interacting with their audience, could be detrimental to campaigns,” added Treece. “It’s imperative that candidates take proper steps to protect their campaigns and more importantly, to build trust with voters by adopting modern cybersecurity practices like phishing-resistant authentication. Adding a layer of protection with a physical hardware security key, like a YubiKey, to online accounts is a crucial component to ensuring that campaigns remain secure.” 

Since 2020, Yubico has donated tens of thousands of security keys to DDC on behalf of its philanthropic initiative–Secure it Forward–where the company donates YubiKeys to journalists, human rights activists and organisations that work to preserve democratic integrity, further diversity in tech and protect human rights.

“Collaboration is one of the most important ways to strengthen cybersecurity,” said Kaiser. “At DDC we are extremely grateful for our partnership with Yubico, whose generosity allows us to provide free security keys to campaigns, enabling them with the strongest account protection possible. The keys allow a computer user to protect cloud, social, and financial accounts on the campaign, as well as personal accounts and all primary targets of bad actors.”  

What can election campaigns do to protect themselves and build trust with voters?

2024 election season is underway, what can election campaigns do to protect themselves and build trust with their voters?

Even though cybersecurity attacks are becoming more sophisticated with tools like AI, there are simple ways to help mitigate these risks, including using strong, unique passwords and storing them in a password manager, along with enabling multi-factor authentication whenever possible using physical security keys like those available from Yubico and the DDC.

DDC, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organisation, is committed to bringing free cybersecurity products, services, training, and information to federal political campaigns and committees and down-ballot candidates in a growing number of states. It has an extensive network of partners and resources to prepare political campaigns with the tools they need to stay secure. In partnership with Yubico, they provide YubiKeys at no cost to political campaigns regardless of party affiliation.

What would be the impacts and changes that AI is going to bring in 2024 and beyond?

Part of my ongoing TGH Technology Research/Learning Series on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that I started in 2023, I am have recently kickstarted my AI research/learning series for 2024. From the technology side of things, to the hardware powering AI, I am now entering into how AI comes into play into our society and daily life, beyond Generative AI powered apps/software answering your queries.

Although the AI threat to election is a U.S context, other countries holding elections this year 2024 and beyond 2024 will definitely study and observe how the power and impacts of AI could be on elections in their home country. There are still a lot of lessons and experiences that need to be learn, understand, review, tweak and improved for the future of AI technology, whether it’s in elections, or machines, devices, software and in our daily work and living.

As more AI related technology is launched, more hardware and gadgets using AI technology, the world might just be starting on a new journey ahead on utilising the full potentials and impacts of AI.

In my personal opinion, we still have a lot to learn about using and implementing AI. This elections season in 2024 is just one of the many real life scenarios to come that we can and must learn on implementing and using AI, as well as the good and bad of using AI technology.

* Information courtesy of Yubico *

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