Thailand needs a modern telecommunications infrastructure not for the sake of any telecommunications company or vendor, but for Thailand's own sake in competing with other countries in the region in being a destination for investment and business. For telecommunications giant Ericsson, that means gigabit fibre to the home, fast 21 MBPS 3G in 850/2100 MHz flavours and a bit of fixed WiMAX on the side.
POLICING 2.0
Web 2.0 is changing the world and for law enforcement agencies, Web 2.0 poses many challenges with false information and data theft as well as many new opportunities in surveillance and in reaching out to the public and gathering intelligence.
LUXURY RESORT PLUGS IN HIGH END IT FACILITIES
Technology and the environment have become green companions at the Six Senses Hideaway on Koh Yao Noi, between Phuket and Krabi, which offers Internet connectivity in each of its 56 bungalows.
SAP CERTIFICATION
SAP has teamed up with Genovate to provide a global certification programme via an e-Academy, enabling Thai professionals to become certified SAP consultants.
NEW DELOITTE DIRECTOR
Former global chief architect at GE Money headquarters Axel Winter has joined the Deloitte Consulting Financial Service team as director, the company announced. He will be based in Bangkok and specialise in "lean IT", service oriented architecture and technology innovation.
NEW USB TECHNOLOGY
Compro Technology has introduced the VideoMate Vista U890F TV Stick, an analogue USB TV module that plugs into the USB 2.0 port of your desktop or laptop to provide analogue TV and FM radio. A bundled remote and MPEG-2 encoder can directly support analogue TV watching and recording in the Windows Media Center of Vista Premium/Ultimate.
FESPA WORLD EXPO 2008
HP last week announced its participation at the upcoming inaugural Fespa World Expo Asia Pacific 2008 from Friday to Sunday this week at Bitec, an exhibition dedicated to screen and wide-format printing technologies, where HP will launch its latest super-wide-format printing solutions. HP has the most comprehensive portfolio of large-format solutions to meet the specific needs of signage and display print service providers, said VS Hariharan, vice-president of graphic solutions business, HP imaging and printing group for Asia Pacific and Japan.
EX tensions
The latest MacBook Pro was in my hands for two weeks and I gave it a reasonable workout. Compared to my own MacBook Pro (2.16GHz) it has a stellar performance and scored higher in every aspect using standard XBench tests. I would not hesitate to change to this model if had the cash. Part of that performance comes from the 2.53GHz processor and the standard 4GB RAM (now rated at 1066MHz). It is lighter than my current Mac at 2.49kg compared to 2.54kg. However, one or two things do need addressing.
Apple inaugurated an online shop for the Land of Smiles on November 11. This has been long-overdue for Thailand. http://store.apple.com/th
A "broadband boom" is just beginning and will be "the next big wave that will hit the market in Thailand", said Ovum principal consultant Leith Campbell, who also observed that the current financial crisis has not had a great effect on the telecommunications industry.
OPEN Thought
It took a bike ride in one of the world's most orderly cities to make me realise the power of freedom and that it is only by giving freedom and guidance that a society can truly become strong and resilient to change.
FROM THE BACK OFFICE TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Manufacturing 1.0 involved applying enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the back office while Manufacturing 2.0 is all about linking ERP to the supply chain - which is where Thailand is now gradually moving to, according to Cisco Systems, which recently presented its vision for next-generation manufacturing with its Connected Manufacturing solutions.
ON Computers
Anyone who has looked at the night sky has wondered about what they see. It would be nice to know if that bright star is Betelgeuse, in the belt of Orion the Hunter, or Polaris, the North Star that has guided so many travellers for thousands of years. In fact, most of us haven't a clue.
Techno BUDDY
I am more thrifty these days. I buy bulk coffee beans instead of the Starbucks ground coffee I once used. I've cut back on restaurant meals. And I wash and iron some clothes that once were sent to the dry cleaners.
RANDOM Newsbytes
Print technology is rapidly evolving, and if you want a peek at what the future has to offer then you should head on over to Bitec later this week for the Fespa World Expo Asia-Pacific 2008. There, from Friday to Sunday, you'll be able to see and touch some examples of textured images "printed" on paper where you can feel how realistic an image of cornflakes or of bare skin can be or see how other images respond when encountering the warmth of your hand.
COMPUTER Currents
With the global financial crisis motoring along at full swing, it's time to start considering how to save a few pennies on that next computer purchase. The good news for local buyers is that the baht is remaining strong against other currencies, so prices should not change all that much or will even lower.
HOME Builder
In past articles we have examined the importance of keeping your web site up to date. If, for example, you are selling something you will want to let your customers know what new items you may have for sale or what new services you may have to offer.
SLOAN Ranger
One of the best things about Windows Vista is the "Start" orb as they call the button, and there are two main reasons for this.
HELP Desk
I read your article about Shoutcast and thought I'd give it a try.
APP Shot
TrayEverything is a program primarily for fairly serious computer users who pretty well always have a lot of programs open.
HOME REVIEW
Economy czar Olarn Chaipravat ordered your TOT and your CAT Telecom to restructure; the deputy prime minister informed the boards of the state enterprises that the economy is faltering and their incomes will drop - plus they are far too dependent on skimming concession fees from real companies; he said he expects to hear soon that the companies both have new business plans involving more products, more services and, well, more income.
WORLD REVIEW
Tech story of the week, compressed into a concise newspaper lede by Ashlee Vance of the New York Times: In the span of just a few weeks, orders for technology products have collapsed and companies have begun laying off workers. Chicago consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas said the technology industry will lose about 180,000 jobs this year, the most since 2003; from July through September, for example, 69,654 were told not to bother coming to work tomorrow.
