Qualcomm Establishes Integrated Circuit Design and Engineering R&D Centre in Singapore

Expanded Presence Facilitates Powerful, Innovative Chipset Designs

MALAYSIA — March 30, 2012 — Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) recently announced plans to establish an Integrated Circuit (IC) Design and Engineering R&D centre in Singapore. Qualcomm also will manage certain strategic business planning and development, sourcing, procurement and distribution, as well as other marketing and administrative functions, from Singapore for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, the Company’s chipset division.

The new IC Design and Engineering R&D operations will focus on chipset design and development – including analog and power design; mixed signal design; digital design; mask layout design; and pre and post silicon verification.

“We are delighted to expand our Singapore operations by establishing a world-class IC Design and Engineering R&D facility. This facility will deliver powerful and innovative chipset designs that will continue to improve the mobile experience for consumers,” said Jim Lederer, executive vice president and general manager for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

“Electronics is one of the largest industries in Singapore. We are excited that Qualcomm, the world’s largest fabless semiconductor company, is setting up an IC Design & Engineering R&D Centre in Singapore, further establishing Singapore as an international hub for its chipset business. This is a significant addition to our electronics semiconductor ecosystem. It affirms Singapore as the choice location in Asia for companies to drive global operational efficiency and conduct R&D,” said Mr. Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State for Trade and Industry.

The new IC Design and Engineering R&D centre aims to tap into local Singapore and regional talent to develop a wide range of hardware and software-related design support solutions, as well as augment Qualcomm’s existing product test centre in Singapore.

“Singapore is an important strategic hub for the Asia Pacific region and among the most vibrant and highest growth areas for the wireless and semiconductor industries in the world,” said John Stefanac, vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm Southeast Asia and Pacific. “The expansion of our presence in Singapore demonstrates Qualcomm’s deepened commitment to the Asia Pacific region and builds on more than a decade of successful operations here.”

Singapore has held a strategic importance to Qualcomm since 2000 when the Company set up its chipset distribution centre in the country. In 2008, Qualcomm established its first test development centre outside of the United States, enabling Singapore to become Qualcomm’s development hub for the Asia Pacific region.

Dell Expands Services Warranty Options for Purchase at Retail Outlets with the New Dell Service Card

Malaysia, March 30, 2012 - Malaysian consumers can now enjoy the convenience of extending the warranty on their Dell systems at authorized retail stores nationwide. Dell’s pre-packaged Dell Service Card for retail offers owners of any Inspiron, XPS or Alienware products a variety of warranty upgrade options to protect their investments for up to three years.

“Today’s consumer demands outstanding service and support for their technology products. With the new Dell Service Card, they now have the choice and convenience to extend the warranty on their Dell systems hassle free at retail stores,” said Khoo Teng Guan, General Manager, South Asia and Korea, Dell Services. “Dell Services plans offer customers a choice of options so that they can not only get exactly the level of service and protection that they need but enjoy peace of mind that their service and support needs will be taken care of.”In addition to the basic service cover for selected products in Dell’s consumer range, the new Dell Service Card gives purchasers the option of extending the type of service or the length of coverage (up to three years), depending on the system. Types of service that can be upgraded include Carry In Service, In-Home/On-Site Services and Premier Service. The warranty upgrade cost ranges from RM149 to RM599 depending on the type of services purchased.

Dell Service Cards can be purchased for all upcoming and existing Dell Inspiron, XPS and Alienware systems at Dell Direct Stores or Dell authorised retail outlets at any time before the expiration of the standard first year warranty that comes with these systems.

Rotary International Transforms IT with EMC

Humanitarian Service Organization Transforms 90% Virtualized IT Infrastructure to Manage 400% Data Growth; Reduces System Management Time by 25%; Improves Backup Time 32X

KUALA LUMPUR – March 29, 2012 – EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) today announced that Rotary International, a leading global humanitarian service organization, has transformed its IT infrastructure and standardized on EMC storage and backup and recovery technologies. With 90% of its IT environment virtualized, Rotary has built a solid foundation for improving the availability of its mission-critical applications including Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, SharePoint, Oracle PeopleSoft, SAP business intelligence and Avectra netFORUM customer relationship management (CRM), while boosting the performance, efficiency and scalability of its IT infrastructure.

Rotary has implemented EMC® VNXe™, EMC Isilon®, EMC Avamar® and EMC RecoverPoint™ as well as VMware vSphere™ and is using a VCE™ Vblock™ Infrastructure Platform that integrates EMC VNX™ unified storage, VMware vSphere virtualization and cloud technologies and Cisco networking and Unified Computing System (UCS) technologies. Rotary is using its Vblock platform for its mission-critical applications and primary storage, while leveraging a VNXe storage system at a second facility to replicate data.

Customer Benefits:

• Simplified Management—Rotary has reduced everyday system management time by 25% since transforming its IT infrastructure.
• Strengthened Data Protection—With EMC Avamar, Rotary has eliminated tape and reduced the window for full backups from 72 hours to just two hours, a 32X improvement in time to backup.
• Predictable Performance—Rotary’s “FLASH 1st” strategy using EMC’s FAST™ (fully automated storage tiering) Suite on its Vblock platform ensured that the most utilized data was stored on the highest performing media, including flash drives.
• Improved Efficiency—After transforming its IT infrastructure, Rotary reduced time to deliver new projects to its internal clients from days to hours, enabling IT staff to be more proactive in supporting Rotary’s overall humanitarian mission.
• Managing Digital Assets – EMC Isilon scale-out NAS delivers increased performance, capability and scalability for Rotary’s growing digital assets.

Customer Challenges and Solution:

With greater use of digital media in its program promotion and demand for speedier grants’ management, Rotary saw its data volume grow approximately 400% in just 18 months. To handle this massive data growth, Rotary’s lean IT staff needed to simplify manageability while enabling cost-effective scalability and maintaining high performance.

A long-time EMC and VMware customer, Rotary decided to transform its IT environment in the second quarter of 2011. Rotary selected EMC Isilon during the second quarter of 2011 to better manage its growing digital assets to complement its existing EMC Avamar solution back- up its entire IT infrastructure, having eliminated all tape from its IT environment.

The final stage of Rotary’s transformation included the adoption of a fully integrated converged infrastructure. Their VCE Vblock platform brings together leading storage, networking, server and virtualization technologies to support mission-critical workloads with the highest levels of performance, availability and simplified management of the infrastructure. To maximize the performance of its applications, Rotary is using the EMC FAST Suite on its Vblock to employ a “FLASH 1st” strategy, ensuring that the most important, active data is stored on Flash drives for maximum performance, while older, inactive data is stored on inexpensive, high capacity drives for optimal total cost of ownership.

Customer Quotes:

Jon Shulda, SAN and VMware Administrator, Rotary International

On IT Transformation:

“We needed to transform our IT infrastructure and processes to better support our strategic goals of increasing visibility of the Rotary brand. Leveraging EMC, VMware and VCE, many of our internal IT resources have transitioned away from an operational role to focus more on delivering new projects to our internal and external clients. Time to deliver underlying infrastructure for new projects has been reduced from a couple days to just a few hours in most cases; allowing us to be more proactive to the needs of organization . We’re also able to ensure our mission-critical applications like SQL Server, SharePoint and Oracle are well-protected and scale to new data loads.”

On its Storage Environment:

“The VNXe was a breeze to implement. We were out of the box and production-ready in about two hours. EMC Unisphere™ allows us to manage all our resources with a single interface. We can easily manage our infrastructure on a daily basis and leverage Unisphere’s features when performing system upgrades.”

“Provisioning storage on the Vblock platform has improved greatly after implementing a ‘FLASH 1st’ strategy because EMC FAST VP automatically distributes data onto the right tier of storage and expands and contracts virtual storage pools as needed. As a result, we’ve reduced the time we spend on day-to-day system management by 25%. Despite our IT infrastructure growing by 400% in the past 18 months our IT staff has remained the same size and can manage the growth easily with our EMC infrastructure.”

“EMC’s close partnership with VMware, Cisco and VCE ensures all products are working in harmony. We know EMC will stand behind the entire solution. We rely on the Vblock platform to support our mission-critical applications and we have complete confidence in its ability to meet our strict SLA’s.”

“We also rely on EMC Isilon to provide high-performance, low-latency storage to meet our multimedia initiatives need. Isilon integrated seamlessly into our environment and has proven to be a reliable solution to manage our multimedia files, allowing us to grow seamlessly as our multimedia assets grow.”

On Backup and Eliminating Tape

“In addition, EMC Avamar continues to be a key part of our infrastructure and has been for a number of years. Before we implemented Avamar, our full tape backups would run for more than 72 hours and often included failed backups. Now, after completely eliminating tape from our environment and with Avamar, we have achieved 92% data deduplication with Avamar, and most of our backups complete in just two hours.”

THE CAPITAL – MALAYSIA’S ALL NEW 24/7 BUSINESS CHANNEL LAUNCHED

Malaysian Business TV for the Malaysian Business Community

March 29th, Cyberjaya – The Malaysian business community will now have a new platform to get the latest updates on business and finance news with the launch of Malaysia’s first local business television channel, Capital TV today. The first of its kind, this 24-hr daily business channel will be broadcasted in full HD exclusively on HyppTV Channel 127. , HyppTV is the latest pay TV service, powered by TM through its high speed broadband service, UniFi.

Capital TV was launched by Y.B. Dato’ Joseph Salang, Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Culture. Also present at the event were Dato’ Capt. A. Sufian, Chairman, Online Dynamics, Noor Azman Yusof, CEO of The Capital and Jeremy Kung, Executive Vice President, New Media, TM.(From left to right:) Dato' Joseph Salang, Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Noor Azman Yusof, Chief Executive Officer, The Capital and Jeremy Kung, Executive Vice President, New Media, TM, at the recent launch of HyppTV’s latest channel, Capital TV.

The Capital has been on air since its soft launch in December 2011 focusing on in-depth and balanced coverage of all aspects of the business and financial world in Malaysia and the region.

According to Noor Azman Yusof, the channel is a niche channel for individuals of all ages who are interested in the business and financial industries, both locally and regionally.

“The Capital offers business insights and independent market analysis that are more relevant to the local audience in its news and magazine programmes, targeted to reach the underserved Professionals, Managers, Executives and Businessmen (PMEB) segment of the market and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) audience,” said Azman.

“The Capital is a channel that suits Malaysians who are interested to stay tune with the local and regional business and financial industries. As the first of its kind, we fully support and excitedly look forward to the performance of The Capital. We hope that this will provide not only updated information to Malaysians who are already involved in the business world, but also to educated the masses who may be interested in venturing into business or finance,” said Y.B. Dato’ Joseph Salang at the launch.

Commenting on the new channel, Jeremy Kung said, “TM’s symbiotic relationship with Capital TV is very much in line with the new economic model of the Malaysian Government where the private sector is to be the driving force of the country’s economy. Through this relationship, TM is providing the avenue for content providers to benefit from the platform offered by TM under HSBB project. We are developing a content eco-system platform that would assist local content providers to bring to market their respective content and applications. This platform would also come with systems and backroom support. In fact, we welcome and encourage content providers, particularly the small homegrown ones, to come and talk to us about collaboration on the HSBB service. TM, as the operator of an IPTV service – HyppTV – provides the platform to broadcast Capital TV. With this, HyppTV is able to provide in-depth and balance coverage of Malaysian business and financial market, including news, issues and happenings in the country to complement the international business news made available through other news channels readily available on HyppTV.”

The Capital’s anchor programme is its news content called Capital Update which provides the latest market update live everyday at 6PM. The Capital also produces several magazine programmes in-house such as Enterprise, Business Game, MoneyTalks, Persona and BrainStorm. (see brief overview of programmes below)

The channel is produced and owned by Online Dynamics (M) Sdn Bhd, a bumiputera media group that has been in operation since 2001.

“We are not here just to give the audience our news. We understand that in today’s internet age, news can be obtained from whole range of sources. Our programmes are well-researched, in-depth and functions as a platform for discussions on the latest issues affecting Malaysian businesses and investors,” said Azman.

Azman also said that the channel’s objective is to provide a balanced and unbiased coverage of all sectors in the business and financial industries whilst providing its extremely hard-to-reach and busy audience a unique opportunity such as investment and financial tips, which in turn will make decision making more creditable and reliable.

“And this is how we see ourselves setting apart from the other TV channels. The Capital aims to help you recognise patterns of opportunities,” said Azman.

The Capital is optimistic of grabbing a percentage of the pie, targeting managerial people, executives, financiers, and capital market and also business owners.

The Capital is available in full HD on HyppTV Channel 127 as one of its Premium Channel offerings. The channel can be purchased on an ‘ala carte’ basis at RM3 per month.

Current Season Magazine Programmes Overview
1. Enterprise - The road to success is not always rosy. Get to know the creation of a successful entrepreneur. Their highs and lows behind their success and invaluable insights to turn a small medium business to a money making machine.
2. Business Game - We look at how today sports industry is becoming fast growing industry in Malaysia. Discussing a host of topics comprising ticket sales, marketing, social media, corporate sponsorship, fan loyalty, brand management, sports media.
3. MoneyTalks - Your personal finance at its best. Gain tips and knowledge of how best to manage your personal finance. Start from diversifying your investment portfolio and learn best practices for prudent decisions.
4. Persona - Captains of the industry at your doorstep. Get up close and personal with business figures and see beyond their personality as an icon that make everyday headlines. Find out about their favourite hobbies, hangout spots and what they do in their past time.
5. BrainStorm – This program dissects and makes you think out of the box, bringing clarity to a number of issues within the same scope of topic every week. It is a must watch for industry stakeholders and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Autodesk Connects Desktop to Mobile and Cloud with Design and Creation Suites 2013

Expanded Toolsets and Automated Workflows Help Solve Design Challenges; Autodesk 360 Adds Enhanced Cloud Rendering, Simulation and Analysis Services

Malaysia, March 29, 2012 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) launched the company’s 2013 portfolio of design, engineering and entertainment software, including the latest design and creation suites. The suites provide expanded toolsets and new automated suites workflows for building, entertainment, engineering, construction, infrastructure, product, plant and factory design. The 2013 design suites connect the desktop to Autodesk 360, a cloud computing platform that enables customers to dramatically improve the way they work by providing the ability to store, edit and share their designs and access virtually infinite computing power anytime, anywhere.

“Last year, we introduced Autodesk design and creation suites and cloud services, and have seen a tremendous response from our customers. The 2013 suites are a major step forward to a cohesive and interconnected product family,” said Andrew Anagnost, Autodesk senior vice president of Industry Strategy and Marketing. “The tools in the suites now work more seamlessly with each other and with the cloud, offering tremendous value by opening new ways for our customers to solve their most complex design and engineering challenges.” Autodesk Building Design Suite 2013 3ds Max Design Visualizations

The new Autodesk 2013 design and creation suites feature in-product, customizable one-click workflows and improved interoperability, making it much easier to connect design and visualization tasks. This gives users the ability to better communicate their design intent visually. In addition, the 2013 suites offer a consistent user experience across the software in the suite and in Autodesk 360 -- making it easier to learn new tools and services, and adopt them in the design workflow.

“The advantage of using an Autodesk design suite is that it offers us a variety of tools, and we can pick and choose the most appropriate solution for the project and for the client,” said Phillip Ra, senior designer, Cannon Design.
Autodesk Building Design Suite 2013 with Autodesk Revit 2013

Autodesk 360 (formerly known as Autodesk Cloud) is a cloud computing platform that provides all Autodesk customers with free* access to 3GB cloud storage, file viewing and sharing capabilities. Autodesk Subscription customers gain even more cloud benefits, including additional cloud storage and access to powerful cloud services for rendering, simulation, design optimization and energy analysis. Subscription customers now have up to 25 GB of storage and between 100 and 500 Autodesk Cloud Units per seat to access and use Autodesk 360 cloud services, based on the product or suite edition they purchased. Combining the power and capability of Autodesk 360 with the enhanced workflows of Autodesk design suites give customers a competitive edge to respond to changing business requirements.
Autodesk 3DSMax 2013 with Active Shade

Autodesk 2013 Design and Creation Suites
Autodesk design and creation suites offer an economical way for users to access their primary design and creation software, including AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya software, plus an expanded toolset of complementary software and cloud services.
The 2013 family of Autodesk design suites includes:
• AutoCAD Design Suite
• Autodesk Building Design Suite
• Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite
• Autodesk Factory Design Suite
• Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite
• Autodesk Plant Design Suite
• Autodesk Product Design Suite
Autodesk Maya 2013 with Viewport Enhancements

The Autodesk Exchange Apps store is expanding to include apps for multiple products, including Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk 3ds Max software. Autodesk Exchange Apps are companion apps that help design professionals find and immediately download solutions to some of their most pressing design challenges. Customers will now be able to access Exchange Apps both directly via the web and from within Autodesk products.

Autodesk also announced the 2013 versions of software for the building design, infrastructure and construction industries (see separate release), manufacturing (see separate release) and media and entertainment (see separate release). Full details about the 2013 products are now available at http://www.autodesk.com/.

Availability
Product availability varies by country. Purchasing a design suite with Autodesk Subscription helps customers stay current and connected with access to the latest workflows on desktops, mobile devices and in the cloud. See details and purchasing options at http://www.autodesk.com/purchaseoptions.

* Free products and services are subject to the terms of use that accompany them.

Google Maps Turns on Traffic and Transit for Malaysia

Bahasa Malaysia user interface also officially available

Kuala Lumpur, March 29, 2012: Google Malaysia today introduced three major enhancements to Google Maps that allow Malaysian commuters to better plan their journeys and to look up real time information: two new layers — Traffic and Transit — and a Bahasa Malaysia interface. All of these are available on the desktop and mobile versions of Google Maps.

First, the Traffic on Google Maps provides data on real time road congestion right on the map. By turning on the Traffic layer on Maps, users can quickly see whether roads are congested or flowing freely based on colour coding — red for choc-a-bloc, yellow for slow moving, and green for smooth flowing. Drivers that are fairly well-versed with the roads can also use the information to plan alternative routes to their destination.Sajith Sivanandan, Country Head Google Malaysia

Next, Transit provides information on travel via the Malaysian public transportation system on Google Maps. Now, in areas with available transit data, whenever a user selects directions, say, from A-to-B, there is a third new option in addition to the familiar walking and driving directions. Maps users can view the step-by-step public transportation information which includes bus, LRT, monorail and Komuter travel options. Users can also see where bus stops and train stations are located.

Transit provides a more sustainable option for Malaysians looking to reduce traffic congestion and get around town by using public transportation. Users can also plan ahead by setting their departure time to make sure they get back at a specific time.

Finally, Google Maps is now available in Bahasa Malaysia, giving Malay native speakers better accessibility and the option of interfacing and navigating with Google Maps using the language they are most comfortable with. With 60 per cent of Malaysians using Bahasa Malaysia as their primary language and with over 90 per cent proficiency in the language nationwide, this localisation initiative should make it easier for Malaysians to get the most from Maps.

“Malaysians commute a lot, and these enhancements add a new level of usability to Google Maps for Malaysians, making it easier to look up information, move around the country, and get from point A to B quickly and with minimum hassle and fuss,” said Google Malaysia country manager Sajith Sivanandan. “The new enhancements also go hand in hand with Google’s mission to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful while enhancing, improving and localising our products and services.”

Traffic and Transit for Maps data comes from a variety of sources, including government departments of transportation, private data providers, and users of Google Maps for mobile who contribute anonymous speed information through Google’s traffic crowdsourcing feature.

Launched in 2009, Google Maps has been helping Malaysian users find local geographic information – online maps, topographical information, satellite imagery, driving directions, addresses and businesses listings – on their desktop, tablets and mobile phones.

To plan your journey and and get ahead in your travels, go to maps.google.com.my.

SKALI RECORDS RM7.2 MILLION PROFIT FOR 2011 Top Three Most Profitable Malaysian ICT Company

SKALI 2011年盈利达720万令吉
排行第三盈利最更高的科技公司

（吉隆坡29日讯） 电子政府和电子商务推手SKALI集团在2011年12月截止的财政年，无审计营运盈利创下有史以来的 新高，报720万令吉。

这表示，2011年的营运盈利，比2010年的552万7000令吉，涨30%。2011年财政年的收入，从前年的5656万2000令吉，涨至6766万6000令吉。SKALI集团首席执行员Tengku Farith Rithauddeen表示，该公司强劲的表现，主要源自于该集团推介的SKALI云端服务。Skali是本区域首个推介公共云端服务的公司，该服务至今获得500间来自美国、越南和布鲁塞尔等海外私人企业和政府机构的采用。

他补充：“SKALI透过各种服务，如互联网方案、数据中心、推介Liferay Enterprise CMS，以及为政府机构和企业提供各种培训课程，以招揽新客户。”

这些表现让SKALI成为在上市的科技公司中，盈利最高的佼佼者之一。

根据股票交易所最新的资料显示，只有两所上市的科技公司即eBworx控股和世纪软件控股有限公司所创下的 盈利，比SKALI微高。

Tengku Farith 指出：“SKALI和这两间上市公司，是盈利最高的科技公司。虽然两者都是活跃于科技领域的公司，但是他们并非SKALI直接的竞争对手。”

相比之下，SKALI的财政表现比同行的Heitech Padu、TMS、Opensys、Technodex, Patimas、Formis Resources和其他上市的科技公司为佳。

他说：“这促使SKALI成为最大的网络服务供应商，提供软件、硬体（管理服务和云端服务）和培训客户。”

在2012年，SKALI放眼20%至30%成长，为了达至此目标，SKALI有意提高服务，包括把营运扩张至海外。

“目前，我们正处在扩张和改善硬体设施的阶段，现有的公共云端服务预计将在今年第二季度完成。”

“我们将把业务专注在汶莱、印尼和中东市场，同时，在越南、印度和中国的新兴市场设立区域中心和伙伴关系。”

Tengku Farith披露：“截止今年2月为止，我们经已达至79%的目标，我们有信心在今年12月的财政报告的 盈利，超越所预定的目标。”

SKALI近期稳固了其在市场地位，成为人力资源发展基金(Category A)旗下，获认证的培训公司，提供各种Liferay 网站管理, Liferay 资料管理, 网页设计, Microsoft Word 2007、 Microsoft Power Point 2007 和 Microsoft Excel 2007等培训课程。

New Intel Server Technology: Powering the Cloud to Handle 15 Billion Connected Devices

New Intel Xeon® Processor E5-2600 Product Family at Heart of a Flexible, Efficient Data Center

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
• New Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 product family is built to scale to meet the demands of an increasingly connected world.
• New server processors deliver up to 80 percent1,2 improved performance compared to the prior generation.
• New Intel® Integrated I/O with PCI Express* 3.0 can up to triple3 the movement of data into and out of the processor so information can be made available faster than ever to support data-hungry applications.
• Best data center performance per watt with over 50 percent1,4 gain on SPECpower_ssj*2008 plus extends platform power control with Intel® Node Manager and Intel® Data Center Manager.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar. 29, 2012 – Addressing the incredible growth of data traffic in the cloud, Intel Malaysia today launched the record-breaking Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family. These new processors deliver leadership performance, best data center performance per watt1,4, breakthrough I/O innovation and trusted hardware security features to enable IT to scale. These processors are not only at the heart of servers and workstations, but will also power the next generation of storage and communication systems from leading vendors around the world.

Forecasts call for 15 billion connected devices5 and over 3 billion connected users6 by 2015. The amount of global data center IP traffic is forecasted to grow by 33 percent annually through 2015, surpassing 4.8 zetabytes per year, more than 3 times the amount in 20116. At these levels, each connected user will generate more than 4GB of data traffic every day – the equivalent of a 4-hour HD movie. This will increase the amount of data that needs to be stored by almost 50 percent per year7. ¬ In order to scale to meet this growth, the worldwide number of cloud servers is expected to more than triple by 20158.
Left to right: Prakash Mallya (Country Manager for Sales & Marketing, Intel Malaysia) and Uday Marty (Director, Intel South East Asia) with the new Intel Xeon E5 Processor

“The growth in cloud computing and connected devices is transforming the way businesses benefit from IT products and services,” said Uday Marty, Director, Intel South East Asia. “For businesses to capitalize on these innovations, the industry must address unprecedented demand for efficient, secure and high-performing datacenter infrastructure. The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family is designed to address these challenges by offering unparalleled, balanced performance across compute, storage and network, while reducing operating costs.”

The key requirements to enable IT to scale are performance, energy efficiency, I/O bandwidth and security. With the best combination of performance, built-in capabilities and cost-effectiveness, the new Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product families are designed to address these requirements, and become the heart of the next-generation data center powering servers, storage and communication systems.

Leadership Performance with Best Data Center Performance per Watt
Supporting up to eight cores per processor and up to 768GB of system memory, the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family increases performance by up to 80 percent1,2 compared to the previous-generation Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series. The family also supports Intel® Advanced Vector Extension (Intel® AVX) that increases the performance on compute-intensive applications such as financial analysis, media content creation and high performance computing up to 2 times9.

Additional built-in technologies such as Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel® Virtualization Technology provide IT with flexible capabilities to increase the performance of their infrastructure dynamically. These performance advances have led the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family to capture 1510 new dual socket x86 world records.

Modern data centers must improve the raw performance they deliver, but also do so efficiently by reducing power consumption and operating costs. The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family continue Intel’s focus on reducing total cost of ownership by improving energy efficient performance more than 50 percent1,4 as measured by SPECpower_ssj*2008 compared to the previous generation Intel Xeon processor 5600 series. These processors offer support for tools to monitor and control power usage such as Intel® Node Manager and Intel® Data Center Manager, which provide accurate, real-time power and thermal data to system management consoles. In addition, Intel’s leadership performance allows IT managers to meet their growing demands while optimizing software license and capital costs.

I/O Innovation and Network Capabilities
With the unprecedented growth in data traffic it is essential that systems not only improve computational abilities, but also enable data to flow faster to support data-hungry applications and increase the bandwidth within the data center. The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family meets these needs with Intel® Integrated I/O (Intel® IIO) and Intel® Data Direct I/O (Intel® DDIO). Intel® DDIO allows Intel Ethernet controllers and adapters to route I/O traffic directly to processor cache, reducing trips to system memory reducing power consumption and I/O latency. The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family is also the first server processors to integrate the I/O controller supporting PCI Express* 3.0 directly into the microprocessor. This integration reduces latency up to 30 percent11 compared to prior generations and with PCI Express* 3.0 can up to triple3 the movement of data into and out of the processor.

The high-performance processing power along with Intel® Integrated I/O and advanced storage features such as PCIe* non-transparent bridging and asynchronous DRAM refresh, makes the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family also an ideal choice for storage and communications solutions.

Increasing bandwidth demands driven by server virtualization and data and storage network consolidation have led to strong growth in 10 Gigabit Ethernet deployments, with adapter port shipments exceeding 1 million units in each quarter of 201113. Today’s announcement of the Intel® Ethernet Controller X540 demonstrates Intel’s commitment to driving 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the mainstream by reducing implementation costs. This industry-first single-chip 10GBASE-T solution is designed for low-cost, low-power LAN on motherboard (LOM) and includes flexible I/O Virtualization and Unified networking support at no additional cost.

Trusted Security
The Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family reaffirms Intel’s commitment to providing a more secure hardware foundation for today’s data centers. Intel® Advanced Encryption Standard New Instruction (Intel® AES-NI13) helps systems to quickly encrypt and decrypt data running over a range of applications and transactions. Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (Intel® TXT14) creates a trusted foundation to reduce the infrastructure exposure to malicious attacks. These features in partnership with leading software applications will help IT protect their data centers against attack and scale to meet the demands of their customers.

Extensive Industry Support
Starting today, system manufacturers from around the world are expected to announce hundreds of Intel® Xeon® processor E5 family-based platforms. These manufacturers include Acer*, Appro*, Asus*, Bull*, Cisco*, Dell*, Fujitsu*, HP*, Hitachi*, Huawei*, IBM*, Inspur*, Lenovo*, NEC*, Oracle*, Quanta*, SGI*, Sugon*, Supermicro* and Unisys*.

Product, Pricing Details
The Xeon processor E5-2600 product family will be offered with 17 different parts which range in price from $198 to $2,050 in quantities of 1,000. Additionally three single-socket Intel Xeon processor E5-1600 parts will be offered for workstations which range in price from $284 to $1,080.

1 Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more information go to www.intel.com/performance

2 (Generational Performance) Source: Performance comparison using best submitted/published 2-socket server results on the SPECfp*_rate_base2006 benchmark as of 6 March 2012. Baseline score of 271 published by Itautec on the Servidor Itautec MX203* and Servidor Itautec MX223* platforms based on the prior generation Intel® Xeon® processor X5690. New score of 492 submitted for publication by Dell on the PowerEdge T620 platform and Fujitsu on the PRIMERGY RX300 S7* platform based on the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2690. For additional details, please visit www.spec.org. 15.

3 (I/O Bandwidth) Source: Intel internal measurements of maximum achievable I/O R/W bandwidth (512B transactions, 50% reads, 50% writes) comparing Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2680 based platform with 64 lanes of PCIe* 3.0 (66 GB/s) vs. Intel® Xeon® processor X5670 based platform with 32 lanes of PCIe* 2.0 (18 GB/s). Baseline Configuration: Green City system with two Intel® Xeon® processor X5670 (2.93 GHz, 6C), 24GB memory @ 1333, 4 x8 Intel internal PCIe* 2.0 test cards. New Configuration: Rose City system with two Intel® Xeon processor E5-2680 (2.7GHz, 8C), 64GB memory @1600 MHz, 2 x16 Intel internal PCIe* 3.0 test cards on each node (all traffic sent to local nodes).

4 (Energy Efficient Performance) Source: Performance comparison using best submitted/published 2-socket single-node server results on the SPECpower_ssj*2008 benchmark as of 6 March 2012. Baseline score of 3,329 ssj*_ops/watt published by Hewlett-Packard on the ProLiant DL360 G7* platform based on the prior generation Intel® Xeon® processor X5675. Score of 5,093 ssj*_ops/watt submitted for publication by Fujitsu on the PRIMERGY RX300 S7* platform based on the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2660. For additional details, please visit www.spec.org.1,15.

5 (Connect devices) Source: “Worldwide Device Estimates Year 2020 - Intel One Smart Network Work” forecast

6 (datacenter traffic forecast) Source: Cisco® Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology 2010 – 2015. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns1175/Cloud_Index_White_Paper.html

7 (Data Storage) Source: “IDC Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems 2010-2014 Forecast”

8 (Cloud system) Intel internal projections of cloud market growth between 2011 and 2015

9 (AVX) Source: Performance comparison using Linpack benchmark. Baseline score of 159.4 based on Intel internal measurements as of 5 December 2011 using a Supermicro* X8DTN+ system with two Intel® Xeon® processor X5690, Turbo Enabled, EIST Enabled, Hyper-Threading Enabled, 48 GB RAM, Red Hat* Enterprise Linux Server 6.1. New score of 347.7 based on Intel internal measurements as of 5 December 2011 using an Intel® Rose City platform with two Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2690, Turbo Enabled or Disabled, EIST Enabled, Hyper-Threading Enabled, 64 GB RAM, Red Hat* Enterprise Linux Server 6.1. 15.

10 (World Record Performance) Source: Best available submitted/published performance benchmark results on 2S x86 server platforms as of 6 March 2012. For a full summary of world record performance results, please visit www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/benchmarks/server/xeon-e5-2600-summary.html. For additional details, please visit www.spec.org, www.sap.com/solutions/benchmark, www.vmware.com/a/vmmark, and www.tpc.org.

11 (I/O Latency) Source: Intel internal measurements of average time for an I/O device read to local system memory under idle conditions comparing the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600 product family (230 ns) vs. the Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series (340 ns). Baseline Configuration: Green City system with two Intel® Xeon® processor E5520 (2.26GHz, 4C), 12GB memory @ 1333, C-States Disabled, Turbo Disabled, SMT Disabled. New Configuration: Meridian system with two Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2665 (2.4GHz, 8C), 32GB memory @1600 MHz, C-States Enabled, Turbo Enabled. The measurements were taken with a LeCroy* PCIe* protocol analyzer using Intel internal Rubicon (PCIe* 2.0) and Florin (PCIe* 3.0) test cards running under Windows* 2008 R2 w/SP1.

12 (PCIe* 3.0) Source: 8 GT/s and 128b/130b encoding in PCIe* 3.0 specification enables double the interconnect bandwidth over the PCIe* 2.0 specification (www.pcisig.com/news_room/November_18_2010_Press_Release/ ). Intel internal measurements of maximum achievable I/O R/W bandwidth (512B transactions, 50% reads, 50% writes) using Xeon® processor E5-2680 based platform. Configuration: Rose City system with two Intel® Xeon processor E5-2680 (2.7GHz, 8C), 64GB memory @1600 MHz, 2 x16 Intel internal PCIe* 3.0 test cards on each node (all traffic sent to local nodes).

12 (10GBe) Crehan Research: Server-class Adapter and LOM Market 4Q10

13 (AES-NI) Intel® AES-NI requires a computer system with an AES-NI enabled processor, as well as non-Intel software to execute the instructions in the correct sequence. AES-NI is available on select Intel® processors. For availability, consult your reseller or system manufacturer. For more information, see http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-advanced-encryption-standard-instructions-aes-ni/

14 (TXT) No computer system can provide absolute security under all conditions. Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (Intel® TXT) requires a computer with Intel® Virtualization Technology, an Intel TXT-enabled processor, chipset, BIOS, Authenticated Code Modules and an Intel TXT-compatible measured launched environment (MLE). Intel TXT also requires the system to contain a TPM v1.s. For more information, visit http://www.intel.com/content/www/xa/en/data-security/security-overview-general-technology.html

15 Intel does not control or audit the design or implementation of third party benchmark data or Web sites referenced in this document. Intel encourages all of its customers to visit the referenced Web sites or others where similar performance benchmark data are reported and confirm whether the referenced benchmark data are accurate and reflect performance of systems available for purchase.

i2O Water helps to cut water leakage in Malaysia

28 March 2012 – i2O Water’s cutting-edge technology to reduce water leakage is making a massive difference to water supplies in Malaysia. Southampton-based i2O Water is helping SYABAS, Malaysia’s largest water utility company, to save 40 million litres of water per day in the state of Selangor - enough to provide water for 180,000 people. So far, i2O Water, the leading provider of new technology for monitoring and controlling water networks, has installed more than 200 of its innovative pressure management systems across SYABAS’s water distribution network.

i2O Water has been working with SYABAS and its local partner, non revenue water specialist company Jalur Cahaya Sdn Bhd (JCSB), since 2010.

SYABAS is the largest water company in Malaysia. It supplies water to 7.3 million people across the state of Selangor and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. As well as reducing leakage and saving massive amounts of water per day, i2O Water has also helped to reduce pipe bursts by 40%. In turn, this has substantially reduced the disruption caused by roads being dug up to find leaks and repair burst mains, thereby reducing companies’ operating expenses. It has also cut energy costs and improved levels of customer service.

Sheikh Mazlan Sheikh Hassan, managing director of Jalur Cahaya Sdn Bhd, said: “We are always looking for new technology to assist in non revenue water reduction works and our investment in 200 i2O systems since April 2010 has given us 40 MLD (megalitres per day) additional leakage savings to date. The i2O systems are also helping us to reduce our operating cost in terms of leak repairs by as much as 40%.”

Adam Kingdon, co-founder and CEO of i2O Water, commented: “We are delighted to be working with SYABAS and Jalur Cahaya, and very proud that our technology is making such a major contribution to Selangor’s water resource issues. Not only that, the i2O pressure management system can be implemented within months, whereas building a new treatment plant would take years.”

The World Bank estimates that every year a staggering 32 billion cubic metres of treated water are lost from urban water supplies around the world. In the developing world, the average non revenue water loss approaches 50% of the water actually produced. Any significant reduction in this figure could give millions more people access to clean running water.

China Telecom and Nokia Launch First CDMA Windows Phone in China

Stunning new Lumia smartphone, Nokia 800C, makes everyday moments extraordinary for China Telecom subscribers

Beijing, China – March 28, 2012 – Today China Telecom and Nokia announced the Nokia 800C, the first CDMA Windows Phone in China and Nokia's first Lumia phone for the world's largest smartphone market. The Nokia 800C combines head-turning design and the fastest way to connect to the people, places and things that matter most, in an experience uniquely tailored for people in China on the country's leading 3G network.

"We're excited to introduce our first Lumia smartphone, the Nokia 800C, to this important market with our exclusive launch partner, China Telecom. Working closely together, we've created a compelling, locally relevant experience on the Nokia 800C especially tailored for people in China," said Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia.

Wang Xiaochu, Chairman of China Telecom, expressed his enthusiasm for Nokia Lumia: "This grand launch for China's first CDMA Windows Phone represents our optimism and excitement for the future of Windows Phone and Nokia Lumia in China."

The partnership between China Telecom and Nokia extends beyond the Nokia 800C with the addition of Nokia's most affordable Lumia smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 610 also arriving in a CDMA variant to China Telecom's portfolio in Q2 2012. The Nokia 610C is targeted at a more youthful audience and provides a perfect introduction to Windows Phone with access to the same core signature experiences as the rest of the Lumia range in a package optimized for quality.Nokia 800C
The Nokia 800C makes it easy to stay in touch with the people that matter most, get instant access to the Web and all the top applications in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Offered by China Telecom in black and cyan, the Nokia 800C features a reduced body design flowing seamlessly into the 3.7" AMOLED ClearBlack curved touchscreen display. With a 1.4 GHz processor, hardware acceleration and a separate graphics processor, it also features an instant-share 8 Mpx camera with exclusive Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and SkyDrive storage for accessing pictures and files from anywhere.

The Nokia 800C brings signature Nokia experiences optimized for Windows Phone and available only on Lumia:

- Nokia Maps, providing quick-access, superior, three-dimensional maps in China and over 190 countries worldwide, as well as the ability to discover the top places nearby with local content support from Fantong, Jiepang, Ctrip, Qunar and Soufun. People can easily click on the places to see photos, recommendations and information and quickly dial restaurants to make a reservation.

- Nokia Drive, which delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device with free, voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation for over 100 countries including China, a dedicated in-car user-interface, free offline navigation and speed notifications.

- Nokia Music which offers a single hub experience for discovering the latest music, including unlimited free music for 12 months for consumers in mainland China. It also includes MixRadio, a free, global, mobile music-streaming application that delivers hundreds of channels of locally-relevant music, including the ability to listen to music offline and build personalized mixes for listening to favourite music from any location.

Exclusive applications and services for a uniquely local experience
China Telecom and Nokia have worked closely together to bring integrated China Telecom services that target young people including music, games, videos, and integrated reading apps right onto the Nokia 800C home screen. To reach this target market, the Nokia 800C will be featured prominently in Tianyi FlyYoung shops, a distribution arm and new, youth-centered sub-brand of China Telecom.

People purchasing Nokia Lumia smartphones in China will have access to exclusive applications such as magazines from Trends and special offers for free downloads of popular gaming titles such as Fruit Ninja and PVZ.

- Trends, a provider of highly interactive fashion magazine applications, will launch Cosmopolitan first forNokia Lumia smartphones and provide people using a Nokia Lumia phone with free access to For Him Magazine (FHM), Harper's Bazaar and Esquire magazines in Marketplace, opening today.

- As an added incentive for people using a Nokia Lumia smartphone in China, Nokia will soon offer 100,000 free downloads of the hit gaming titles Fruit Ninja and PVZ through the Nokia Collection in Marketplace.

Nokia and Microsoft also announced the Be Top program, which is designed to encourage and support developers in creating great new applications on Windows Phone specifically for people in China.

These exciting offers and the BeTop development program illustrate Nokia's commitment to the local ecosystem of application developers and service providers. Through joint innovation with leading local providers, Nokia is able to offer Lumia users access to all major Internet services in China including Sina, SOHU, Tencent and Renren. When paired with the choice of nearly 20,000 apps available for download through Marketplace, people using a Nokia Lumia smartphone in China can create a truly personalized and locally relevant experience on their device.

Availability and Pricing
The Nokia 800C will be available for purchase in April through Tianyi FlyYoung shops, a distribution channel of China Telecom; Nokia brand stores; China's top chain electronics stores including Suning, Gome, Funtalk, D.Phone, and CentreYou, as well as regional channels and online shops such as 189.cn and hicdma.com. The Nokia 800C is offered without contract for 3599 RMB.

NEXTNATION ACQUIRES 5.9 ACRES OF PRIME COMMERCIAL LAND FOR RM18.52M WITH A POTENTIAL GDV OF UP TO RM500M

Part of Group’s plans to build cloud and cache business capacities to serve the Asian markets

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 March 2012 – ACE-market listed mobile applications and platform provider Nextnation Communication Berhad ("Nextnation") announces that it has today signed a Letter of Offer with Cyberview Sdn Bhd, a Federal Government owned company and landowner of Cyberjaya, to purchase a vacant enterprise lot in Cyberjaya from the latter, known as Lot P58, held under H.S.(D)7817 PT42830 measuring approximately 5.906 acres located at Mukim Dengkil, Daerah Sepang, Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan for a cost of RM18.52 million (hereinafter referred to as "the Acquisition").

Nextnation's spokesperson, Mr. Augustone Cheong comments that the acquisition is consistent with the group's business expansion plan which includes the recently secured outsourcing sales contract ("Outsourcing Agreement") from an international client, PT Inovisi Infracom, Tbk.

"The Acquisition is in line with the expansion plan of the core business activities of Nextnation and its subsidiaries ("Nextnation Group”). The management is planning for the next 5 years of internal consumption, which includes development of office space and facilities, such as a data center, R&D labs and incubation campus on the land for internal use. We are also looking to provide commercial investment opportunities for MSC companies and multinational corporations to invest in this project. Based on initial studies by our consultants, we are targeting a gross development value of between RM400m-RM500m. Some of our multinational
corporate clients have shown interest in our facilities." says Cheong.

Cheong is not naming the clients yet as the discussions are still preliminary at this stage. "All we can say is that the demand is promising, and the move is part of the group's 5 year Greater Asia Mirror Interchange (GAMI) Project, which is to build the cloud and cache business capacities to serve the Asian markets.”

The Acquisition has no immediate financial impact over the next 12-18 months, but it is expected to contribute to the medium and long term profitability and growth of the Nextnation Group, in parallel with its core business growth.

We will need to deliver our current contracts and grow our capacity accordingly, before expanding this project to include external tenants or joint venture partners. Although we have been discussing with experienced property developers and project management companies, property development is not intended to be our core business, at least for the near term", adds Cheong.

Financing for the said acquisition shall be from the proceeds of a proposed private placement with free warrants exercise ("Proposed Private Placement"), internally generated funds and/or bank borrowings. Nextnation is still in the initial stage of exploring various solutions to fund the development of the land, including the possibility of such development being financed in phases by off-taker/tenants or with a combination of internal funds and/or borrowings.

According to MSC Malaysia's website, Cyberjaya is home to 30 multinational corporations and 457 MSC companies. The recent shift of population and business activities towards Cyberjaya has encouraged more companies to set up their operations in this area. According to the SmartData Collective website, major growth in Internet service demands and companies to expand or build new data centers around the world. The diagram below depicts data center expansion investment plans by IT giants such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook and IBM:For example, Google is targeting to invest over US$900 million in energy-efficient cloud computing data centres, while Microsoft's planned investment is US$850 million and even Facebook is investing US$450 million into their first data centre.

Nextnation's extensive investment internet technologies has recently put the company in the forefront of technological evolution. The shift of mobile services to mobile Internet, in particular, the social networking boom (Facebook and Twitter) and the proliferation of mobile apps on Apple's IPhone/IPad and the various Android devices is providing large economic impetus for a mobile platform and utility player such as Nextnation.

Tests Demonstrate Fortinet Delivers Industry-Leading IPS Performance

Performance Evaluation Tests Performed on the FortiGate-3950B Using BreakingPoint Security Testing Products and NSS Labs Methodology

MALAYSIA - March 28, 2012 - Fortinet, a world leader in high-performance network security, today announced that it delivers the highest level of combined intrusion prevention system (IPS) performance and catch rate of the industry. Those results were achieved with the FortiGate-3950B, Fortinet’s next-generation firewall appliance for large enterprise and data center environments, and are based on tests performed using BreakingPoint security testing products and NSS Labs test criteria methodology.

BreakingPoint security testing products are used throughout the world to harden networks and data centers in the face of escalating application loads and attacks. Those compact devices create high-performance application and attack traffic from hundreds of real-world applications, load from millions of users, and broad security coverage that includes tens of thousands of current attacks and malware, as well as obfuscation and evasion techniques. Each BreakingPoint product features built-in automation to produce a standardized Resilience Score to measure network and data center performance; security and scalability; the performance of massive virtualized infrastructures in the face of peak user loads and attacks; and to validate the accuracy and performance of Lawful Intercept and Data Loss Prevention systems.

Following the NSS Labs IPS testing methodology, two L4 and L7 tests were conducted on the Fortigate-3950B appliance, one with IPS optimization enabled and the other without. The traffic setup was unidirectional and a large number of IP addresses were used on both the client and server sides to provide the most realistic testing conditions that reflect the largest number of devices present on a network.

Industry’s Highest Performance IPS services and Best Catch Rate

An inline network device such as an IPS system needs to provide as a minimum requisite sufficient throughput and low latency. Throughput provides the necessary performance when transferring large volumes of content across a corporate network, while the latency level is important to ensure that latency-critical network applications, such as VoIP and video, work seamlessly. By using the BreakingPoint Enterprise Application Mix test and the high medium and critical IPS signature, the FortiGate-3950B provided a throughput of 16.9 Gbps. Such level of throughput is necessary to deliver the advanced IPS services required to detect and block incoming threats without affecting network performance. The tests also showed that the FortiGate-3950B’s IPS technology achieved a latency level as low as 12.5 microseconds. With such results, Fortinet’s IPS technology offers the best performance available in the industry today.

Another key parameter for today's systems is the ability to accept and process new connections every second. Tested using BreakingPoint security testing products, the FortiGate-3950B showed that the TCP traffic rate could support up to 100,000 new TCPs per second with IPS activated. Note that this result is 2.5 times higher in a pure firewall mode.

At last, the FortiGate-3950B appliance achieved a 91% IPS Attack Catch Rate while being subject to the enterprise traffic mix test, making it one of the best catch rates under load in the network security industry today. Equally, the zero failure rate recorded in the tests for application transactions and cumulative TCP connections, even at full CPU utilization, demonstrates the appliance’s ability to effectively intercept malicious traffic without packet loss.

“Beyond marketing claims, we believe that it is essential to validate the performance of our network security solutions using metric-based, rigorous real-world testing,” said Patrice Perche, Senior Vice President of International Sales & Support at Fortinet. “By leveraging BreakingPoint’s security testing products, we prove once again Fortinet’s strong foundation of high-performance security and real-time network protection to our customers.”

Fortinet’s FortiGate-3950B

The FortiGate-3950B next-generation firewall appliance offers unmatched levels of performance, scalability, and security for large enterprise networks and managed service providers. Purpose-built by Fortinet, the FortiGate-3950B features custom FortiASIC processors, layered multi-threat protection from the FortiOS operating system, and a flexible, modular architecture. The FortiGate-3950B provides up to 120 Gbps of firewall throughput and features a modular, space-saving 3-RU form factor, with five Fortinet Mezzanine Card (FMC) expansion bays.

The FortiGate-3950B's performance provides the power to detect, block or prevent threats in real time. The appliance leverages the relevant IPS signatures from Fortinet's customizable database of thousands of known threats to stop attacks that evade conventional firewall defenses. Fortinet's anomaly-based detection enables the appliance to recognize threats even when no signature has yet been developed. New attack signatures are delivered 24/7 from the award-winning FortiGuard Intrusion Prevention Service to provide automatic, real-time updates and keep organizations ahead of the latest threats. The combination of high performance interlaced with the Fortiguard team's known and unknown threat prevention, plus tight integration with other Fortinet security technologies, enables the FortiGate-3950B to stop the most damaging attacks at security check points regardless of whether the network is wired or wireless, or the IPS is located at the network core or perimeter.

Opera Mini 7: The must-have app for Android available today

At last! The wait for Opera Mini 7 is over.
Added support for hardware acceleration and Android Beam Support

Oslo, Norway — March 28, 2012. Taking a page from Etta James, Opera Mini 7 is “a thrill to press your cheek to” for Android users. Today, Opera Software launched the Opera Mini 7 web browser in a final version for the Android platform.

This must-have app is your web surfing soulmate. 160 million monthly users of Opera Mini already know that this must-have app makes web browsing on your phone faster and can help save costs. If you’re watching your mobile data diet, now’s the time to go download the Opera Mini 7 app from the Android Market.
What’s new, Stu?

Glad you asked, Max! Opera Mini 7 for Android makes browsing faster and panning around sites smoother, thanks to improved hardware acceleration.

Feeling boxed in by only nine favorite Speed Dial sites on the Home Screen? With Opera Mini 7, you get as many Speed Dial buttons as you’ll ever want. Add all the sites you want to see right from the moment you start up your browser. No more messing around with fiddly mobile keyboards or bookmarks.

Also, we have added Android Beam Support (NFC) in Opera Mini 7!

Perfect travel companion

Ever needed to look something up online when you’re away from your home mobile network? Using the web while traveling can turn into an expensive adventure ... unless you’re an Opera Mini user on Android. Opera Mini 7 compresses, squeezes and jams webpages from the network into your phone.

Up to 90% of the original data gets cut out, so not only do you use less data, but you also get where you want to go on the web even faster. You’ll also save time on slow networks. It’s the must-have web-travel companion!

Download Opera Mini 7 from Android Market or m.opera.com.

Explore the world of ‘The Hunger Games’ Movie with Internet Explorer 9

“The Hunger Games” fans can visit the fictional nation of Panem and immerse themselves into its futuristic Capitol city by visiting a new Internet Explorer 9 website powered by HTML5.

KUALA LUMPUR — March 28, 2012: The pages of the bestselling trilogy “The Hunger Games” introduced readers to a captivating set of characters living in a post-apocalyptic world, and today the movie adaptation of the first book will bring that world to life. Now, thanks to a partnership between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team and movie studio Lionsgate, fans can also dive in and experience a stunning virtual tour of Panem’s Capitol city, powered by HTML5 on Internet Explore 9.

The “game-changing” Web experience brings visitors into the world of The Hunger Games from the moment they step off their train in the Capitol city. From there, visitors can do things like tour the Capitol, visit the Avenue of Tributes, and even listen to an address by President Snow.

“We wanted to make a breakthrough online experience for fans. We are so excited about what we were able to create with the team at Microsoft by tapping into the power of Internet Explorer and the investments they’ve made in their product to bring Web content to life.,” said David Hayes, vice president of digital marketing for movie studio Lionsgate. “We’re thrilled to show off the Capitol Tour to Hunger Games fans around the world.”

The site, powered by HTML5 and CSS3, is animated, colorful and true to the style of the movie and the book, explained Danny Ong, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer, Microsoft Malaysia: “Visitors will see the city’s iconic skyline, with a breathtaking level of detail down to the twinkling stars and drifting clouds. They’ll see the highly fashionable Capitol citizens out and about in the city, and even cross paths with some of the iconic characters from the books and movie.”

“Visitors will be also be able to look at items, rotate them, and see information about how they were used and what they do. It’s what a museum of the future will look like. It’s the perfect opportunity for uber-fans of the book series to go geek out on the history of the Hunger Games,” he added.

The sheer scale and complexity of the project required an intelligent team of creative and technical experts, including special effects experts from Lionsgate, members of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team, and creative experts from digital agencies Ignition Interactive and The Nerdery.

A “game-changing” breakthrough with HTML5
Evan Dehaven, president and executive creative director of Ignition Interactive, said his company appreciated the opportunity to work on a project that is a true breakthrough for designing in HTML5.

“It’s such a great thing that Microsoft has fostered, through Internet Explorer 9, the idea that its on the Web is beautiful!” said Dehaven, who is currently working on Web experiences for nearly 30 films. “They want to bring things to life and allow people to tell stories through technology rather than telling people to live within these boxes and these rules while they’re making something. Now we’re just looking forward to fans and the world seeing what we’ve created.” Dehaven hopes the Hunger Games site’s creative use of HTML5 will be a trendsetter for movie and television experiences online.

Microsoft approached Lionsgate last year about creating a “game-changing, one-of-a-kind” website for the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the bestselling book. “Through this partnership we have the opportunity to dig into the universe of the Hunger Games and fundamentally change how people perceive what’s possible on the Web, all of which is best experienced in Internet Explorer 9,” explained Ong.

Typical movie websites mainly exist to house associated content – movie trailers and film clips, photos and electronic press kits. If there’s anything more, it’s usually an interactive game or social media connection. Most movie websites are also designed using Adobe Flash, which means they can’t be accessed by people using other platforms and devices. “This time around the team set out to design the site using HTML5 and CSS3, which means the content is more broadly available across platforms, devices and browsers without the need for plug-ins,” added Ong.

Along with the Capitol Tour and the other Hunger Games experiences that launch today, the team will be adding even more in the weeks to come, including a training center where visitors can see Hunger Games competitors exercising and preparing for the games, and a memorabilia center where visitors can explore artifacts and weapons used in previous Hunger Games.

Check out the Capitol Tour http://thecapitoltour.pn/ via IE9 today to enjoy the full experience of The Hunger Games. To receive notifications about Hunger Games content updates, users should pin the site to their Internet Explorer 9 toolbar.

Gartner Says Worldwide Software-as-a-Service Revenue to Reach $14.5 Billion in 2012

Analysts to Reveal Latest Global IT Spending Forecast on April 5

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28, 2012 — Worldwide software as a service (SaaS) revenue is forecast to reach $14.5 billion in 2012, a 17.9 percent increase from 2011 revenue of $12.3 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. SaaS-based delivery will experience healthy growth through 2015, when worldwide revenue is projected to reach $22.1 billion.

"After more than a decade of use, adoption of SaaS continues to grow and evolve regionally within the enterprise application markets," said Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner. "Increasing familiarity with the SaaS model, continued oversight on IT budgets, the growth of platform as a service (PaaS) developer communities and interest in cloud computing are now driving adoption forward."

Although growing interest has been observed in vertical-specific software, the most widespread use is still characterized by horizontal applications with common processes, among distributed virtual workforces and within Web 2.0 activities.

"The top issues encountered when deploying SaaS vary by region," Ms. Mertz said. "Limited flexibility of customization and limited integration to existing systems are the primary reasons in North America. In EMEA, network instability is the issue most frequently encountered, whereas longer-than-expected deployments are the top issue in Asia/Pacific. Vendors are more aggressively pursuing SaaS buyers outside traditional markets by offering local-language availability, forming alliances and constructing data centers to accommodate local requirements."

North America, specifically the U.S., currently represents the largest opportunity for SaaS, and it is the most mature of the regional markets. SaaS software revenue is forecast to total $9.1 billion in 2012, up from $7.8 billion in 2011. Consistent with other regions, North America shows the highest SaaS deployments in expense management, financials, email and office suites. Use of Web conferencing is higher in North America than in other regions, in part because of a highly distributed workforce.

In Western Europe, SaaS revenue is forecast to surpass $3.2 billion in 2012, up from $2.7 billion in 2011, while SaaS revenue is Eastern Europe is projected to reach $169.4 million, up from $135.5 million last year. Gartner analysts said SaaS adoption in EMEA is currently running at two speeds. In Western Europe, the most developed subregion, SaaS offerings and adoption rates are rapidly increasing as North America-based SaaS vendors further penetrate the region and the number of local European SaaS vendors increases. In Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa, which are small and emerging markets overall, the potential opportunity for SaaS is more in the medium to long term due to ongoing infrastructure challenges that vendors need to overcome if they are to be successful in these regions.

SaaS revenue in Asia/Pacific is on pace to reach $934.1 million in 2012, up from $730.9 million in 2011. Overall, SaaS adoption in Asia/Pacific has been fragmented. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) is a combination of mature markets, such as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, and emerging markets, including China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. SaaS financial (accounting) applications are most popular, particularly in China and India. The next-highest SaaS usage is for ERP functions — such as expense management and employee performance management — followed by office suites, email and the CRM sales function.

While the Japanese economy is still struggling and IT budgets are limited, the demand for SaaS solutions is increasing due to their lower implementation costs and faster deployment times. SaaS revenue in Japan is forecast to reach $495.2 million in 2012, up from $427 million in 2011. Gartner forecasts that growth of the SaaS market in Japan through 2015 will be led by CRM and email/groupware, which already have actual demand. Users have found that using SaaS reduces the burden of application management, increases the ease and agility of deployment, and reduces initial costs of implementation. In addition, since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, users have looked to SaaS adoption as a defense against future power outages and disasters. However, many companies are still concerned about SaaS-related issues, such as data security risk, true cost-effectiveness and the difficulty of linking with other systems.

SaaS revenue in Latin America is forecast to total $419.7 million in 2012, up from $331.1 million last year. In Latin America, SaaS has become most popular to deploy in the areas of email, financial management (accounting), sales force automation and customer service, and expense management. While regional adoption will be positive, it is fully expected that Brazil and Mexico will drive a majority of adoption and revenue opportunities. In the next two years, buyers are most likely to purchase SaaS solutions in packaged CRM, procurement and ERP applications.

Gartner defines total software revenue as revenue from new licenses, subscriptions, and software maintenance and technical support services that include license sales to update/upgrade an existing license to a new version, telephone support and on-site remedial support. SaaS is primarily a software delivery and management approach that exists in established markets, such as CRM or ERP.

Additional analysis is available in the Gartner report "Forecast: Software as a Service, All Regions,
2010-2015, 1H12 Update." The report is available at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1949616.

Gartner analysts will announce the latest overall worldwide IT spending forecast on April 5. The findings will be available on the Gartner Quarterly IT Spending Forecast site at www.gartner.com/quarterly-it-forecast. The forecast will include a breakout of IT spending by hardware, software, services and telecom.

Nimsoft Helps P2J Asia Tech Bring Cloud-Based IT to Malaysia

ITMaaS Solution Helps Leading Regional MSP Fulfill SLA Commitments

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA – March 28, 2012 – Nimsoft today announced that P2J Asia Tech, a leading Malaysian services provider, will use Nimsoft Unified Manager to monitor and measure the performance of its clients’ IT environments to support its delivery of IT as a cloud-based service.

“There is strong, rapidly growing demand for cloud-based IT in our regional market,” said CK Teh, CEO of P2J Asia Tech. “By providing us with a unified service desk and monitoring solution, Nimsoft is enabling us to cost-efficiently satisfy this market demand with highly reliable value-added cloud services.”

Nimsoft Unified Manager is a multi-tenant IT Management-as-a-Service solution that combines industry-leading infrastructure monitoring and ready- to-use ITIL®-based service management. It features comprehensive infrastructure coverage, streamlined automation, and easy integration with third-party tools. It also provides a configurable portal that allows MSPs like P2J Asia Tech to offer clients visibility into the health of their managed environments.

Nimsoft provides visibility into diverse infrastructures via integrated dashboards, enabling P2J Asia Tech to better understand the user experience, establish and meet service-level agreements, proactively detect issues and quickly resolve problems.

“Nimsoft allows solution providers like P2J Asia Tech to improve their competitive position by cost-effectively delivering comprehensive, highly reliable cloud offerings to clients,” said Chris O’Malley, Nimsoft CEO. “With Nimsoft Unified Manager, P2J Asia Tech will gain broader visibility into their clients’ IT infrastructures so it can consistently meet or exceed client service-level expectations.”

Canon Launches First IXUS Compact Cameras With Built-In Wi-Fi and Photo-Sharing Capabilities For Sharing On the Go

Canon Also Announces the Extension of Penny Tai’s Brand Ambassadorship with Canon Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 March 2012 – Canon Marketing (Malaysia) today unveiled the new range of IXUS cameras - the IXUS 510 HS, IXUS 500 HS, IXUS 240 HS, and IXUS 125 HS all equipped with exciting new innovations. Wi-Fi and photo-sharing capabilities, New Face ID functions, Full HD recording and intuitive controls make IXUS the compact of choice. In conjunction with the launch, the event also witnessed the esteemed Brand announcing the extension of Penny Tai’s ambassadorship with Canon Malaysia for 2012. Simon Wong, Director of the Imaging Communication Products Division of Canon Marketing (Malaysia) presented Penny the coveted Canon EOS 5D Mark III, much to the delight of Penny, who is an ardent fan of Canon.

In conjunction with Penny’s “On The Way Home” Malaysia Album Tour 2012, Penny is back in her home country to perform live showcases in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and also Johor Bharu. She will also be giving away three brand new Canon IXUS 240HS to lucky fans during these performances. That’s not all, Canon also organized a “Bare Foot” Photography contest on Canon Camera’s Facebook page and saw one of the lucky fans winning a 4 days 3 nights all expenses paid trip to Melbourne for two plus two tickets to Penny’s Melbourne showcase on the 20th of April! (From L-R): Penny Tai and Simon Wong, Director of the Imaging Communication Products Division of Canon Marketing (Malaysia)with the new IXUS Cameras

“We are happy to have Penny on board with us as our brand ambassador for another year and we are proud to see a home grown talent going places as an artist and growing in her skills as a photographer. The proliferation of sharing photographs, videos and information via social media channels inspired us to create a compact camera that allows one to easily share thoughts, emotions, and memories while on the move,” said Simon Wong, Director of the Imaging Communication Products Division of Canon Marketing (Malaysia). “We are very excited about the new range of IXUS this year with the Wi-Fi feature built into a dedicated compact camera, users can be assured that shared photos and videos are of excellent image quality, without having to compromise convenience.”

Leading the pack are the IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 240 HS, which have built-in Wi-Fi capability, allowing one to share photos and videos through social media features, such as Facebook, easily and speedily while on the move. Long known for combining style and substance in a digital compact camera, the IXUS series revisits the past by modeling the IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 500 HS after Canon’s very first digital IXUS launched in 2000, using the golden ratio of 1:1.618.
Canon IXUS 510 HS

Share photos and videos on the move via Wi-Fi
The new IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 240 HS allow users to easily transfer images or videos to smart phones*. This bypasses the usual process of downloading media from the camera to a computer before uploading them to online platforms. Media transferred from the camera to a smart phone via the Canon’s Camera Window app can then be uploaded to online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, or email, in the presence of Wi-fi, internet connection or 3G. With higher quality images taken directly from a dedicated digital compact camera, users need not compromise image quality for the convenience of updating their families and friends on events and happenings in real-time.

A classic design revisited
The IXUS series first launched more than 10 years ago, has created a strong following among those seeking a sleek and stylish camera with excellent image quality. The latest successors to the IXUS range, the IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 500 HS, have adopted the design philosophy of the original Digital IXUS camera, by making use of the Golden Ratio of 1:1.618, found in famous buildings and artworks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Venus de Milo and The Parthenon. The Golden Ratio has been celebrated long throughout human history, and has a reputation of being the most stable and beautiful proportion in architectural design. The touch panel at the back of the IXUS 510 HS further eliminates operating buttons for a cleaner look.
With its sleek, ultra compact design, the IXUS 500 HS is also the world’s thinnest** 12x zoom compact camera at 19.2mm.
Canon IXUS 240 HS

Excellent Image Quality and New Face ID Function
All four new IXUS cameras runs on Canon’s High Sensitivity (HS) system which combines the merits of the high-sensitivity CMOS sensor (usually found in EOS DSLRs) and DIGIC 5 image processor to achieve superb image quality.

The 10.1-megapixel IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 500 HS come with 12x optical zoom and new 28mm lens, while the 16.1-megapixel IXUS 240 HS and IXUS 125 HS come with a 5x optical zoom and a wide-angle 24mm lens.

All four models are also equipped with the new Face ID and Intelligent IS (Image Stabiliser) functions. Intelligent IS automatically adjusts brightness levels, and selects an appropriate form of image stabilisation for clearer pictures. The new Face ID function allows users to register up to twelve faces, with five different profiles for each face. During photography, the camera can detect up to three of the registered faces. In the event that there is more than one registered face in the same photo, priority would be given to the youngest face.

In addition, the Smart Auto function can detect up to 58 scenes such as Sunset, Movement, and select one best suited to the camera’s eye. This minimizes the need for user to adjust the camera modes to suit the different situations.

Full HD Video Recording
The four new IXUS cameras are able to record Full HD video at 1080p. They are also equipped with the Movie Digest feature, which can be used while recording in 720p resolution, allowing sound and movements to be recorded simultaneously with stills in a single press of the shutter. In addition, the camera is able to pre-record 4 seconds of video footage before the shutter is pressed.

Price & Availability
The IXUS 510 HS is available in black at the recommended retail price of RM1,299 while the IXUS 500 HS is available in silver and red at RM1,199. The touch-panel IXUS 240 HS is available in silver, red, blue and black RM1,099, while the IXUS 125 HS is available in silver, green, blue, pink, red and black at RM949. Both the IXUS 510 HS and IXUS 500 HS uses the micro SD card.

Synology Launches RackStation RS812+ and RS812RP+

Robust and scalable with optimized server reliability

Taipei, Taiwan—March 27, 2012—Synology® today announced RackStation RS812+ and RS812RP+, expandable 4-bay rackmount NAS servers bringing high performance, scalability, and reliability to small and medium businesses.

“Synology RS812+ and RS812RP+ are built to address the needs of businesses that require high performance and maximum system uptime to run mission-critical applications,” said Peter Chen, Product Manager of Synology Inc. “They ensure business continuity with an array of redundancy and availability features,” added Chen.

Both models feature a passive CPU cooling technology, a fan redundancy mechanism, and dual LAN network failover support to eliminate a single point of failure and maximize system uptime during malfunction. Redundant power supplies in the RS812RP+ further assure uninterrupted service. To reinforce system availability and maintenance efficiency, the hot-swappable hard drives and easily accessible circuit boards are designed to be user-replaceable.

Powered by a 2.13GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM, the RS812+ and RS812RP+ achieve read and write speeds at 202.31 MB/sec and 175.11 MB/sec respectively in RAID 5 configuration with Link Aggregation enabled. When businesses grow, they can leverage the expansion capability of a Synology RX410 to scale up the total storage space to 8 hard drive bays and upgrade system RAM to 3GB in tandem with their expanding workloads. With comprehensive iSCSI support, the RS812+ and RS812RP+ provide seamless storage solutions for major virtualization servers, including VMware® vSphere™, Citrix® XenServer™ and Microsoft® Hyper-V™.

Synology RS812+ and RS812RP+ run on DiskStation Manager 4.0 (DSM 4.0), the operating system of every Synology DiskStation and RackStation. DSM 4.0 provides rich features to boost users’ productivity and simplify their tasks, all on a sleek user interface optimized for multitasking. Synology RS810+, the predecessor of the RS812+ and RS812RP+, has received numerous media accolades, including the “Editor’s Choice” award from Digital Reviews Network, Australia.

Visit http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=RS812%2B for more product information.

Availability

Synology RS812+, RS812RP+, and RX410 are now shipping globally.

HP Helps Enterprises Enhance User Experience with New Application Transformation Solutions

Integration of traditional application solutions with mobile enterprise applications drives user engagement

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27, 2012 – HP today announced new Application Transformation solutions designed to help enterprises drive an enhanced user experience by integrating mobile-based enterprise applications into the traditional computing environment.

The growing adoption of smartphones and mobile applications is changing the way enterprises create value and drive competitive differentiation. In fact, the economic survival of enterprises now depends on their ability to respond to customer and citizen demands, generated through enterprise applications as well as social applications such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The expanded HP Applications Transformation solutions portfolio enables clients to design, build and manage applications that drive interaction between people and enterprises while optimizing traditional application environments to deliver an improved user experience.

“Modern enterprise applications require a different approach to design and testing than traditional applications,” said Chew Kai Peng, country manager, HP Software, Malaysia. “HP ensures that enterprise applications provide the highest level of quality, availability and scalability while elevating the user experience to an entirely new level.”

New software products for IT management and social collaboration
The enhanced HP Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI) improves collaboration among delivery teams and reduces cycle times by offering real-time visibility and traceability of activities across the application life cycle.

As part of HP’s IT Performance Suite, HP and Perfecto Mobile, a provider of cloud-based testing and automation solutions, have extended HP Unified Functional Testing to support multifunctional applications by allowing developers to emulate and test the user experience of mobile applications across devices and networks.

Additionally, new software offerings from HP complement the agile development of mobile applications and drive social collaboration:

— HP Anywhere increases productivity and facilitates faster decision making by enabling clients to manage IT on the go. New mobile-based applications perform operations such as portfolio request management, defect tracking, service health monitoring and the composition of an Executive Scorecard.

— HP Enterprise Collaboration enhances knowledge sharing and accelerates application development through a social collaboration environment that enables real-time, context-based conversations traced back to actions and work items.

New services to design, deploy and manage mobile applications
The HP Application Transformation solutions portfolio of software products is complemented by new services to meet the quality demands of enterprise applications. The HP Mobile Application Services portfolio now includes:

— HP Testing for Mobility Services accelerate time to market of mobile applications by reducing test cycles and automating testing across multiple devices with market-leading solutions from HP Software and Perfecto Mobile.

— HP Enterprise Mobility Services for SAP® Applications improves employee efficiency by allowing mobile users to obtain data from mission-critical SAP applications. By extending its mobile solutions to the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform and the Sybase® Unwired Platform, HP now offers an end-to-end enterprise mobile solution that enables clients to access key enterprise information.

A fundamental component in the development of an application strategy, the HP Applications Transformation Experience workshop offers enhanced capabilities to exploit new enterprise mobile applications and cloud computing technologies.
HP’s premier client event, HP Discover, takes place June 4-7 in Las Vegas.

Groupon Malaysia raised over RM90, 000.00 in 12 days for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

8, 500 women and children in Asia to be nourished

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 March 2012 – Groupon Malaysia today presented a cheque worth RM 92, 320.00 to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) following their recent ‘Groupon for Women’ initiative which was launched on International Women’s Day.

The unique partnership aimed to raise awareness and support for WFP’s nutrition work among pregnant or nursing mothers and their children in Asia, through the ‘Groupon for Women’ initiative for WFP’s Mothers-to-Mothers campaign. Television celebrity Marion Caunter also supported the campaign.

“We are elated that we managed to gain the overwhelming response from Groupon subscribers, which was three times more than the earlier goal. We are touched to know that so many people have come together in this way and showed their support to women and in shaping the future of Asia,” said Joel Neoh, CEO of Groupon Malaysia. “The business model of Groupon emphasizes on collective buying power which benefits our consumers in many ways. For the ‘Groupon for Women’ initiative, the similar approach was adopted to make a difference in the lives of the mothers and children in Asia to ensure that they have the chance to live life to their fullest potential.”

Groupon is Malaysia’s leading online group buying destination, and generated over 9,000 individual contributions over 12 days from Malaysians. Funds raised will be channeled to WFP nutrition work in Asia, and will mean at least 8,500 mothers and their children will receive vital food support.
Mr. Joel Neoh presents the cheque to Mr. Belkacem Benzaza, WP’s Head of UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) – Malaysia accompanied by Marion Caunter during the cheque presentation ceremony.

"By empowering women with food and good nutrition, Groupon Malaysia has made it so simple for Malaysians to join us in the fight against hunger and under-nutrition in Asia,” said Monica Marshall, WFP’s Deputy Director and Global Head of Private Partnerships for WFP. “For many mothers and their children across Asia, nutritious food is the building block and catalyst of theirs and their family’s future. For 50 years, WFP programmes have helped women across Asia break out of the cycle of hunger and poverty. "

Since its launch in January 2011, Groupon Malaysia has rapidly grown to become the national market leader, attracting over 1.2 million subscribers. The company has successfully established itself as a shaper of social e-commerce as more and more businesses adopt collective buying as instrumental features of their business models.
Mr. Joel Neoh, Mr. Belkacem Benzaza and Marion Caunter together with the office members of Groupon

“One year on, the power of Groupon has gone beyond the ability to just deliver amazing deals with exceptional value for money. The group buying phenomenon now empowers individuals to become a significant force collectively, and to achieve great things. This partnership with WFP is a demonstration of what can be achieved and moving forward, we at Groupon aim to do even more with WFP to ensure that we support the future of Asia,” said Neoh

Through this partnership with WFP, Groupon Malaysia has taken social e-commerce to a new level by not only providing its customers with the best life experiences possible, but also by creating a platform through which they can contribute to a worthy cause and change the lives of mothers and children in Asia with just one click.
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For further details on:
‘Groupon for Women’ initiative, visit http://wfp.groupon.my
Groupon Malaysia, visit www.groupon.my