Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the enterprise security software and services company BlackBerry Limited has announced the launch of BlackBerry Advanced Technology Development Labs (BlackBerry Labs). The company’s new business unit will be focusing on research and development (R&D) in the cybersecurity space, using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. According to a statement, BlackBerry chief technology officer (CTO) Charles Eagan will lead this initiative, which will include a team of over 120 software developers, researchers, system architects, product lead and security experts. These communications professionals will work together to identify, explore and create new technologies to ensure BlackBerry is on the cutting edge of security innovation. The company stated that the initial projects from BlackBerry Labs will focus on machine learning approaches to security, in partnership with BlackBerry’s existing Cylance, Enterprise and QNX business units. “The establishment of BlackBerry Labs is the latest in a series of strategic moves…
GSMA creates largest IoT community in APAC The GSMA has announced the expansion of its Asia-Pacific IoT Partnership Programme to 31 mobile operators across 15 countries. According to GSMA Intelligence, the Asia Pacific region (APAC) has the largest IoT market in the world and is expected to reach 11 billion connections by 2025 and be worth $386 billion. The programme brings together operators and partners including developers, manufacturers and system integrators, to share best practice, discuss challenges and review progress on the development of IoT across APAC. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yyjsllya Nokia brings 5G lab to Europe Nokia has opened a new lab at its global headquarters in Espoo, Finland, that will help demonstrate the full range of its 5G equipment, software and services. The “5G Future X Lab” will enable telecom operators, enterprises and infrastructure providers “to learn and understand the techno-economic power of a 5G end-to-end network to…
SES Networks, a provider of global connectivity and managed data services through the only multi-orbit satellite-enabled network and wide-ranging infrastructure on the ground, has announced that it will deliver dedicated, private network connectivity from any vessel, airplane, enterprise, energy or government site in the world to Microsoft Azure using its satellite systems. According to the announcement, SES is able to provide connectivity services across its global fleet of 50 Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 20 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. The company’s 20 O3b MEO satellites are able to deliver MEF-certified data connectivity with low latency via Azure’s global gateway network and earth-bound network infrastructure, resulting in services that are suitable for edge computing. As the first Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute services partner with a cloud-scale satellite network, SES Networks will offer Azure customers the ability to leverage their satellite-enabled managed services to connect locations and sites in remote and…
Samsung Electronics has officially revealed the first 5G smartphone in its mid-range Galaxy A series. The announcement comes just a few weeks after launching the company’s flagship Galaxy S10 5G and Galaxy Note 10 5G devices. The new Galaxy A90 with 5G connectivity offers near flagship-grade hardware and includes some impressive features like Samsung DeX support, “Desktop Experience” software for mirroring the phone’s screen and apps on a PC or TV, and Game Booster for enhanced gaming performance. DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT and Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, said, “We’re excited about the success of the Galaxy A Series – a generation of smartphones built for the new Era of Live that focuses on essential features people want the most, including a high-quality camera, long-lasting battery and immersive display. Samsung has worked tirelessly with our partners in the 5G ecosystem to bring 5G to as…
Theatro, a Dallas based SaaS company, has announced that it has secured a strategic investment from Cisco Investments and Honeywell Ventures for its voice-controlled mobile platform that connects hourly employees to each other and to essential enterprise information. The world’s first voice-driven Intelligent Assistant platform is being offered as a ”hardware-enabled” software as a service solution, and is designed to provide deskless employees a “heads up and hands-free” connection to their corporate systems and management teams. Chris Todd, President and CEO of Theatro, said, “We are proud to have Cisco Investments and Honeywell Ventures join us in our journey as investors. Companies across a wide variety of industries are recognizing the significant customer experience and productivity benefits of a connected and engaged workforce. Our collaborations with Cisco and Honeywell ensure that Theatro will remain at the cutting edge of both networking and mobile standards and help us bring these…
The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has unveiled their brand-new Artificial Intelligence (AI) chipset Ascend 910 at its Shenzhen headquarters, together with the accompanying AI computing framework, MindSpore. The company claims this chip to be the world’s fastest AI processor ever with the greatest computing power available on a single chip, and optimized for AI applications. “We have been making steady progress since we announced our AI strategy in October last year,” said Eric Xu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman. “Everything is moving forward according to plan, from R&D to product launch. We promised a full-stack, all-scenario AI portfolio. And today we delivered, with the release of Ascend 910 and MindSpore. This also marks a new stage in Huawei’s AI strategy.” Huawei originally announced the processor’s planned specifications last year at its Huawei Connect flagship event in Shanghai. After a year of intense development, test results reveal that the Ascend 910…
Uniphore Software Systems Pvt, a global conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology startup based in Chennai, India and Palo Alto, California, has announced that it has raised USD 51 million in Series C funding led by March Capital Partners. The latest round was reinforced by Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), Sistema Asia, CXO Fund, ITP, Iron Pillar and Patni Family, amongst others. Uniphore’s new round is their largest funding so far, and marks “one of the most substantial funding rounds in the conversational AI sector.” This Indian startup promotes the use of the AI in call centers to bridge the gap between people and machines through voice, and aims to substantially innovate customer service, a market that is valued at USD 350 billion. According to the statement, the funds will be used to accelerate Uniphore’s go-to-market in North America, invest in research and development for the next wave of improvements…
We live in a world of increasingly complex telecom and VoIP services, with subscribers having access to an abundance of cutting-edge products. The fierce competition in the field of communications demands an excellent customer experience in order to attract and retain customers, and to reduce churn. With so many choices on offer, the power has shifted to customers – if faced with a problem, they have come to expect an immediate resolution. Unfortunately, the surveys of customer experience in the telecommunication world reveal that, in general, consumers have a very low opinion of the telecoms industry and are dissatisfied with the support that they receive from their providers. It seems that the reason for this deficiency may be found in the mindset of telecom operators, who devote most of their time and effort to building and managing their VoIP networks, rather than indulging their customers. Satisfactory customer experience in…
The San Francisco-based cloud giant Salesforce has reached an agreement to buy Tableau Software Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at $15.7 billion. By acquiring Tableau, which provides easy-to-use tools for data visualization and management, Salesforce has positioned itself as the latest major technology company to play an important role in helping enterprises analyze data, make smarter decisions, drive intelligent, connected customer experiences, and facilitate innovation. “We are bringing together the world’s #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform. Tableau helps people see and understand data, and Salesforce helps people engage and understand customers,” stated Marc Benioff, chairman and co-CEO, Salesforce. “It’s truly the best of both worlds for our customers – bringing together two critical platforms that every customer needs to understand their world. I’m thrilled to welcome Adam and his team to Salesforce.” Currently, Tableau has more than 86,000 business customers around the world, including Charles Schwab,…
China’s Huawei Technologies has launched new database and storage products with the aim of redefining its data infrastructure and strengthening the global presence of its cloud business. The world’s first AI-native database GaussDB supports differentiated scenarios such as private and public clouds and data services in the finance, internet, logistics and automotive sectors. Huawei’s FusionStorage 8.0 is claimed to be the industry’s best-performing distributed storage solution for supporting enterprise applications. “Humanity is entering the age of an intelligent world,” said David Wang, Huawei Executive Director of the Board and President of ICT Strategy and Marketing. “Data is the new factor of production, and intelligence the new productivity. Heterogeneous, intelligent, and converged databases will become the key data infrastructure of the financial, government, and telecoms industries.” With this new database management product, the Shenzhen-based company marks its official entry into the database field and places itself in direct competition with…