IT News

IT News

Coming soon: SP1 RFID sled by DENSO (Wed, 29 Sep 7660)
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is delivering a boost in sales for retailers by an average of 1.5 to 5.5 percent, while increasing inventory accuracy by about 20 to 30 per cent, according to the study “Measuring the impact of RFID in Retailing: Key lessons from 10 case-study companies”, which was conducted by Adrian Beck, an emeritus professor at the University of Leicester.
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RFS and ANSYS lay foundation for 5G-ready antennas (Wed, 29 Sep 7920)
Cutting-edge 5G antennas pioneered by Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) will soon connect people, machines and devices more reliably and faster than ever with the help of ANSYS.
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UHF DLR-PR001 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Portal Reader: The Scanning System of the future by Datalogic (Wed, 29 Sep 3700)
Datalogic, the automatic data capture and process automation solutions provider, has introduced the UHF DLR-PR001 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) portal reader, a product designed to complement and extend the capability of Datalogic RFID product family.
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Zaya sells data centre business zColo to DataBank (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Zayo has agreed to sell its data centre unit zColo to DataBank. The deal gives DataBank 44 data centres in more than 20 markets across the US and Europe. DataBank will own and manage the sites, where Zayo will remain an anchor customer to provide network connectivity services for its customers.
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Orange launches Sanza Touch smartphone in Africa (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Orange has announced the launched of the Sanza Touch to Africa. The smartphone aims to improve mobile internet access and is supported by Google, building upon efforts since the launch of Android Go edition in 2018. The device will retail at around USD 30, which is intended to make it the most accessible on the market. 
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French operators start bidding in 5G spectrum auction (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The final stage of the French 5G tender will be starting on 29 September, Arcep president Sebastien Soriano confirmed to national radio. The process is resuming after the delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and follows the completion of the first phase of the tender, in which Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR each acquired a 50 MHz block of 3.5 GHz spectrum.
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BT selects Nokia to replace Huawei as 5G network equipment vendor (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Nokia has signed a contract to deliver 5G network equipment to BT, making Nokia BT's largest infrastructure partner. The contract supports BT's commitment to the UK government around the use of High Risk Vendors (HRVs) in network infrastructure, which resulted in the ban of Chinese technology company Huawei. 
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McAfee files for IPO (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are acting as lead book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters for the offering. TPG Capital BD, BofA, Citigroup, RBC Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank, HSBC and Mizuho Securities will also serve as joint-bookrunning managers, with Evercore ISI, Piper Sandler and Stifel acting as co-managers.
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Microsoft collaborating with Samsung and other partners on 5G rollout (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Microsoft announced plans to collaborate with telecommunications companies on the rollout of 5G networks with a view to bringing cloud and edge technologies closer using Azure. In a blog post, Microsoft Azure executive vice president Jason Zander said Microsoft intends to help operators unlock the potential of 5G by enabling them to offer a range of new services such as "ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing and highly scalable IoT applications."
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NTT launches JPY 4.25 trillion buyout offer for mobile unit Docomo - report (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Japanese operator Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) plans to take its mobile business NTT Docomo private, according to multiple media reports. The deal is worth around JPY 4.25 trillion (approximately USD 40 billion). NTT will launch a tender offer for the 34 percent stake in NTT Docomo that it does not already own, at JPY 3,900 per share. 
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NTT launches JPY 4.25 trillion buyout offer for mobile unit Docomo (Tue, 29 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Japanese operator Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) plans to take its mobile business NTT Docomo private. Docomo confirmed it supports the offer of JPY 3,900 per share for the 34 percent of the company NTT does not already own, after receiving an independent fairness opinion. The offer is a significant premium on Docomo's last closing share price, of JPY 2,775. 
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Kioxia postpones USD 16 bln IPO amid pandemic, Huawei woes (Mon, 28 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Kioxia, the Japanese memory-chip maker formerly known as Toshiba Memory, has postponed its initial public offering, originally planned for 6 October, citing continued market volatility and ongoing concerns about a second second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it will "continue to evaluate the appropriate timing for its offering" and that it is not "in a rush" but reports said the delay may be indefinite. The Wall Street Journal reported that the decision comes amid US export restrictions on Huawei, affecting Kioxia's business.
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US govt puts export restrictions on SMIC (Mon, 28 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The US government has decided to restrict exports to China Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), saying there is an "unacceptable risk" as equipment supplied could be used for military purposes in China, Reuters reported, citing a letter from the Commerce Department. The move means US companies wishing to sell equipment to SMIC will have to apply for a licence. US companies such as Lam Research, KLA Corp and Applied Materials, which supply chipmaking equipment, may need to get licenses to ship certain goods to SMIC. 
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Dimension Data set to launch data centres in South Africa (Mon, 28 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Dimension Data, in partnership with parent company NTT, is set to open data centres in South Africa, ITWeb reported. Dimension Data founder and executive chairman Jeremy Ord and CEO Grant Bodley said they see a huge demand for data centre capability in Africa. Ord said the actual launch of the new data centres that DiData is building in Johannesburg is imminent. 
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US judge stops TikTok ban from taking effect (Mon, 28 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) A federal judge in the US has blocked the government's ban on TikTok from taking effect on 27 September. TikTok's lawyers argued President Donald Trump's order to remove the app from app stores infringed on free speech and due process rights. Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the District of Columbia responded by halting the ban, which was set to kick in at midnight, NPR reports. 
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Amazon introduces new Fire TV sticks, updates Fire TV interface (Fri, 25 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The latest-generation Fire TV Stick, priced at USD 39.99, features an enhanced 1.7 GHz quad-core processor that Amazon says makes it 50 percent more powerful than the previous generation. The system delivers streaming in 1080p at 60fps with HDR compatibility while the dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi supports 5 GHz networks. The new stick also features Dolby Atmos for immersive sound with compatible content and speakers, and an Alexa Voice Remote. Finally, the device consumes 50 percent less power than the previous generation. 
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Vodafone negotiating EUR 6 bln acquisition of Spain's Masmovil - report (Fri, 25 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Vodafone has begun talks to acquire Spain's Masmovil with the three private equity funds who have just taken it over, according to unnamed sources cited by business daily El Economista. The transaction values Masmovil at around EUR 6 billion, including EUR 2 billion in debt, and would result in Spain's third largest operator acquiring the country's fourth. Market sources consulted in the report said a consolidation of Spain's leading operators is "inevitable" in view of an increasingly crowded market that expanded to 5 nationwide domestic operators earlier this year with the launch of Euskaltel's Virgin Telco brand.
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Amazon introduces USD 6 a month cloud gaming service Luna (Fri, 25 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Amazon has unveiled a new cloud gaming platform called Luna, its rival to Microsoft's xCloud, Sony's PlayStation Now and Google's Stadia. The service takes the subscription model of Prime Video combined with the scale of Amazon Web Services, allowing subscribers to instantly play more than 100 Luna games on their favourite devices without lengthy downloads or updates, expensive hardware or complicated configuration. It will be available in the US from next month at an "introductory price" of USD 5.99 a month on Fire TV, PC, and Mac as well as on web apps for iPhone and iPad, with Android coming soon. Early access invites are already open.
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Digital Goodie and Maginus merge to form Naveo Commerce (Fri, 25 Sep 2020)
Naveo Commerce has launched as a new company, following the merger of operations between Digital Goodie and Maginus.
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ScanSource expands partnership with Chief, delivers complete AV solutions to partners in Benelux (Fri, 25 Sep 2020)
ScanSource, Inc., the global provider of technology products and solutions, has announced a European territory expansion with Chief, a division of Legrand, and a provider of mounts, racks and accessories for televisions, displays, projectors and other AV components.
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Cyfrowy Polsat to consider sale of telecom infrastructure (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Polish company Cyfrowy Polsat announced a review of various strategic options regarding the potential sale of telecom infrastructure belonging to the Polsat Group and owned by Polkomtel Infrastruktura, a subsidiary of Cyfrowy Polsat. The idea behind the review to support the Polsat Group's long-term strategy.
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Orange Romania unveils 'Yoxo' digital mobile subscription (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Orange Romania started offering Yoxo, a digital mobile subscription managed entirely through a mobile application. Yoxo comes with competitive prices in RON and customers can reconfigure their monthly subscription according to their needs, with no minimum contract period. 
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Swisscom runs 5G Start-up Challenge with Ericsson, Qualcomm (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Swisscom said it has partnered with Ericsson and Qualcomm to pick start-ups to develop 5G applications through the 5G Start-up Challenge competition. The winners of the competition can test their applications in March 2021 at Swisscom's 5G laboratory or other locations and regions and even on trains, with the support of Ericsson, Qualcomm, Venturelab and Swisscom. The winners will be able to visit innovation facilities such as the Federal Institute of Technology and the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne.
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Spotify, Epic Games help set up Coalition for App Fairness lobby group (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) A group of popular app providers has formed to lobby against unfair commercial terms on app stores. The 'Coalition for App Fairness' includes companies already fighting Apple's App Store policies, such as Spotify and Epic Games, as well as Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer, the European Publishers Council, Match Group, News Media Europe, Prepear, Protonmail, Skydemon and Tile. CAF said it will advocate for legal and regulatory changes that ensure a level playing field for app and game developers that rely on app stores and other gatekeeper platforms to reach customers.
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3 UK invests GBP 100 million to boost 4G, 5G network coverage (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) 3 UK has announced a GBP 100 million infrastructure investment agreement with SSE Enterprise Telecoms to boost connectivity across 250 UK towns and cities. The agreement will deliver 3 UK's 5G network to hundreds of locations, as well as improving the 4G service to provide increased capacity and reliability. 
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US justice dept proposes law to reform social media content liability (Thu, 24 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The US Department of Justice has proposed legislation on behalf of the Trump administration to reform the legal immunity provided to internet platforms distributing third-party content. This follows an executive order from President Trump in May calling on regulators to look at ways to make social media companies more responsible for content on their platforms. 
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Samsung releases more affordable S20 5G 'Fan Edition' smartphone (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Samsung is releasing a more affordable version of its flagship S20 smartphone with 5G. The new 'Fan Edition', which comes with some of the favourite features of the S20, is available for USD 699, compared to the launch price of USD 999 for the standard edition. 
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UK govt confirms membership of new Telecoms Diversification Task Force (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The UK Government has confirmed the appointment of former BT CEO Ian Livingston as chair of the new Telecoms Diversification Task Force, which is being set up to help diversify the UK's telecoms supply chain and reduce the country's reliance on high-risk vendors.
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Tablet market forecast to show first growth in 6 years with 1% increase in shipments in 2020 (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) The tablet market will return to growth this year, with an expected increase of 1 percent to 160.8 million units, Strategy Analysts predicts. The fastest growth in six years is driven by more work, learning and entertainment occurring at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. 
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GSMA swaps MWC21 Barcelona and Shanghai dates (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Mobile industry association GSMA has decided to reschedule the dates of its Mobile World Congress (MWC) shows in Barcelona and Shangai to contend with the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement, the GSMA said MWC21 Shanghai will now take place from 23 to 25 February 2021, with MWC21 Barcelona scheduled for 28 June to 01 July 2021. The aim is to hold the GSMA's biggest event – MWC21 Barcelona – as a physical event, albeit with "virtual elements to complement the overwhelming demand to convene physically," said the industry body.
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Rackspace Technology and M1 finance accelerate fraud detection (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
Rackspace Technology, the end-to-end multicloud technology solutions company, has announced that it brought expanded Amazon Web Services (AWS) capabilities to M1 Finance, a Chicago-based online financial services company. This has helped M1 Finance accelerate fraud detection and enable real-time dynamic data querying through an efficient data pipeline.
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Vodacom South Africa in talks to buy Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa - report (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Vodacom South Africa is in discussions with Remgro to acquire Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), which owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), reports MyBroadband citing sources. Remgro said it does not comment on speculation. CIVH acquired 34.9 percent of Vumatel for an undisclosed amount in June 2018 and the remaining 65.1 percent in May 2019.
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AMP Capital agrees to buy majority stake in VX Fiber (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) AMP Capital has announced an agreement to buy a majority stake in Swedish-based VX Fiber, which has operations in South Africa and the UK, and is targeting opportunities in Belgium, Austria and Germany. VX Fiber builds and runs Fibre-To-The-Premise (FTTP) open access networks and has developed a proprietary software platform running on third parties' passive infrastructure as a fibre operator. The network is remotely run from a network operations centre (NOC) in Umea, Sweden.
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KDDI, Samsung demo network slicing in 5G standalone network (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Japanese operator KDDI, in cooperation with Samsung, has demonstrated network slicing in a 5G standalone network (5G SA). KDDI says this is "the world's first successful demonstration of the generation of end-to-end network slicing where the RIC defined by the O-RAN Alliance is used to control network slicing".
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Dutch FMC revenues up 15% in Q2 as subscribers pass 3 million (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Over 4 in 10 Dutch multiplay subscribers now take fixed and mobile services from the same provider, according to Telecompaper's Dutch Multiplay Market report for Q2 2020. FMC's share of revenues on the multi-play market is even higher, at over 54 percent. In Q2, fixed-mobile subscriptions generated EUR 705 million in revenues, up 15 percent year-on-year.
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Microsoft introduces Azure communication, satellite, IoT services at Ignite (Wed, 23 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Microsoft is expanding in the communications market with a range of new services for its Azure cloud platform. Azure Communication Services is a fully managed communication platform to help integrate calls, chat and SMS into business organisations and their applications. At its Ignite developers conference, Microsoft also introduced new IoT, satellite and edge services available with communication service providers. 
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HMD Global launches new entry-level Nokia smartphones, global Sim service for businesses (Tue, 22 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) HMD Global has introduced two new Nokia smartphones for the entry-level market. The company is also expanding its product range with accessories like its own portable wireless speaker and wireless earbuds and moving into the enterprise segment with a global Sim management service for businesses. The announcements come as its long-awaited Nokia 8.3 5G phone, a premium device with a tie-in to the new James Bond film, goes on sale. 
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Swisscom revamps TV offer with launch of blue TV, Teleclub rebranding (Tue, 22 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Swisscom has confirmed a rebranding of its TV services and cinemas under the name blue. The operator announced the launch of the new TV offer 'blue TV' with its Swisscom Box. The service will also be available over the top through apps, and as a premium service on other networks, under the name blue+. 
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Intel granted US licence to continue supplies to Huawei (Tue, 22 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Intel has received licences from US authorities to continue supplying certain products to Huawei, an Intel spokesman tol Reuters. This follows new curbs coming into force 15 September in the US, prohibiting chipmakers from supplying or servicing Huawei. 
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Telia Norway signs up NextGenTel as wholesale customer for wireless broadband (Tue, 22 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Telia Norway has announced an agreement running for several years to enable NextGenTel to offer wireless broadband to its private and business customers. Both parties aim to convert customers currently getting their internet service via the legacy copper network and hope to reach tens of thousands of subscribers over the next few years.
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Veon eyes acquisition of OTT video service Megogo - report (Tue, 22 Sep 2020)
(Telecompaper) Veon is considering an acquisition of the OTT video service Megogo, reports Rbc.ru citing four undisclosed sources.
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Walmart and Schneider Electric announce collaboration to help suppliers access renewable energy (Thu, 17 Sep 2020)
Walmart Inc. and Schneider Electric have entered into a new collaboration that will provide increased access to renewable energy for Walmart’s US-based suppliers, enabling them to lead on climate action.
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AGL Automation Ltd partners with Epson to offer manufacturers AR smart glasses for technical support (Thu, 17 Sep 2020)
AGL Automation Ltd, a specialist organisation that provides process automation solutions, has partnered with Epson to introduce augmented reality into their portfolio using Epson’s Moverio BT-350 smart glasses.
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insightsoftware acquires France-based financial software provider Viareport (Wed, 16 Sep 2020)
insightsoftware, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for the Office of the CFO, has acquired Viareport, a financial software provider that delivers cloud-based financial consolidation, lease accounting, reporting, and forecasting solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Sectigo and Trustify announce strategic partnership to deliver next-generation web security solutions across Europe (Tue, 15 Sep 2020)
Sectigo, provider of automated digital identity management and web security solutions, and Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) Trustify, have partnered to deliver advanced web security solutions to companies of all sizes across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Digital future beckons for manufacturing business (Tue, 15 Sep 2020)
Sheet metal firm Salamander Fabrications has partnered with Siemens Mobility and The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) to undergo an environmentally friendly project that will transform its operations to become entirely paperless.
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Uberall and tech giant Huawei announce partnership, integrating Uberall’s global platform with Petal Search (Tue, 15 Sep 2020)
Uberall, provider of ‘Near Me’ Brand Experience marketing solutions, has announced its partnership with Huawei. The Chinese tech giant is launching ‘Petal Search’, its own search engine engineered with multiple partners, which is now preloaded on all new Huawei smartphones and available in AppGallery on existing smartphones.
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Government publishes new strategy to kickstart data revolution across the UK (Thu, 10 Sep 2020)
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden has launched a National Data Strategy and set out the action the government will take to support the use of data in the UK.
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Make UK launches HR package to help businesses (Wed, 09 Sep 2020)
Make UK Legal Services has launched a new suite of downloadable toolkits to support organisations to adapt and future-proof their business in this volatile working environment. 
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