SA companies that want to succeed in the offshore market for software integration and development services should focus on offering scarce, niche skills, and a high quality of service, rather than trying to compete solely on the basis of cost. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Bytes People Solutions, a division of Bytes Technology Group SA (BTG SA), has successfully piloted a learnership model for educators in schools. The model is to be rolled out by the Khanya project, a Western Cape Department of Education programme, to more schools in the Western Cape. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Business Connexion says that its strategy to meet client needs has seen it invest R85m in upgrading its next generation network (NGN). This infrastructure is intended to position the company to provide network services that include voice, data, video and broadcasting to the market. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
A World Wide Web concept introduced by Pam Golding Properties (PGP) now enables property buyers to literally map out the most convenient routes to visit show-houses and apartments on show days with an online visual suburb street map. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
While most attention has been focused on building and upgrading of stadiums and other infrastructure for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, one of the biggest requirements will be to ensure that there is sufficient telecoms capacity to handle the expected influx of visitors. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Nandos has revamped its ICT infrastructure and restaurant connectivity after incorporating a Linux-based solution and connectivity across its network. The restaurant chain outsourced the project to Synaq, a provider of managed Linux services and Open Source software. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
The convergence of mobile and GPS devices has become a must-have for many users, and, as a result, it is believed to have given way to a more sophisticated marketplace. In this light, Rectron has announced the availability of Mio Technology's recently released GPS/mobile devices to the local user marketplace. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Avaya sub-Saharan Africa has announced the immediate local availability of Avaya Voice Portal, a platform that aims to combine Web Services and IP telephony (IPT) to deliver speech and touch-tone self service solutions quickly and with great flexibility. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Absa Electronic Banking, together with its Self Service Channel (SSC), claims that it now makes easy access to prepaid electricity a reality for SA's people. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Habitaz Global Workspaces has released a range of products designed to provide small businesses, mobile workers and professionals with facilities and productivity services normally only found in their big business counterparts. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Absa has warned ATM users against card-skimming syndicates, as more ATM users throughout the country are falling victim to these criminals. Customers of all major banks have been targeted. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Johannesburg can boast a greater pool of internationally accredited contact centre agents, thanks to the success of a skills development pilot initiated by the City of Jo'burg and supported by Merchants, a Dimension Data Group company. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Small businesses in this country are struggling to get to grips with advanced new mobile technologies, despite the advantages they offer, according to the latest findings of the Mobility 2006 research project. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Atio recently launched a Linux version of CyberCall, an intelligent call routing solution on an open source platform. The demand for the CyberCall solution was said to be in response to local market demand for a cost-effective and scalable enterprise solution. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)
CA caused some headaches recently after its anti-virus software inadvertently flagged part of the Windows OS as malware. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau)
Sun Microsystems and Unisys have jointly filed a lawsuit against several major computer memory chip makers, seeking compensation for alleged price fixing. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Ben Ames, IDG News Service (Boston Bureau)
Continuing his quest to stop a slide in profits, Intel chief executive, Paul Otellini, has announced layoffs of about 7 500 more people. Together with previously announced layoffs of middle management executives, and the sale of two business units in recent months, the actions will reduce Intel's workforce by a total of 10 500 people by 2008 - about 10% of the entire company. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Michael Malakata, IDG News Service (Lusaka Bureau)
Ethiopia, SA, Ghana and Mauritius will be the initial countries for the Indian government's $1bn Pan Africa E-network project, a joint initiative with the Africa Union (AU). [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service (Singapore Bureau)
The number of worldwide cellular phone connections is on track to hit three billion by the end of next year, according to a forecast by the GSM Association and market analyst, Ovum. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
The number of households subscribing to Television via Internet Protocol (IPTV) services offered by telecom carriers in Western Europe will reach 3,3m this year, and 16,7m in 2010, according to forecasts from Gartner. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) is to revise the launch date of its PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system in the PAL territories of Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia from 17th November, as previously announced, to March 2007. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
NDS, a provider of technology solutions for digital payTV, is to demonstrate a live payTV broadcast over WiMAX, in co-operation with Intel and Modern Times Group's Viasat Broadcasting (Viasat), a digital satellite payTV broadcaster in the Nordic region. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Ellen Messmer, Network World (US online)
VeriSign last week announced an expansion of its log-management service beyond firewalls, operating systems and intrusion-detection systems to collecting log data related to applications and databases. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Following the release of Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1), Microsoft has announced plans to make RC1 available for broad customer and partner testing. The announcements signal a major step for the technology industry toward the final availability of Windows Vista, currently targeted for volume licence customers in November and general availability in January next year. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Miami Bureau)
Google plans to enhance its Google News service with a feature designed to let users find articles with historical information on events and people. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Clickatell, a global mobile messaging operator, has offered its customers wide global coverage for their mobile and multimodal messaging requirements. The company's messaging gateway now connects to 578 networks in 192 countries. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Paul Krill, InfoWorld (US online)
A standard mechanism for managing resources such as memory and network bandwidth in Java applications is advancing through the Java Community Process. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) recently replaced all of its HP Alpha servers with Sun Microsystems Fire servers. The institute will be using the servers to conduct complex molecular research, and says that it can achieve this with improved energy efficiency, reliability and performance thanks to the Sun Fire servers. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Nokia and Siemens have recently announced the business unit and regional leadership team for Nokia Siemens Networks. These appointments will be effective when the new company starts operations, which is expected to be by January 1, 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals, etc. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Sun Microsystems has announced a storage product line in the StorageTek modular storage family. The Sun StorageTek 6140 and 6540 arrays are claimed to deliver twice the density and performance of products from the nearest competitor. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Axis Communications Africa Region and Axiz Distribution have announced that Axiz will be distributing the Axis Communication product range. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
ICT World exclusive
Mobility is driving development in the hard drive industry, and Western Digital has announced that it is in volume production of next-generation WD Scorpio 2,5-inch hard drives. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
PandaLabs says that it has detected a spam message that uses subliminal advertising techniques. The advertisement, which gives users the opportunity to buy financial stock online, features a sequence of images featuring the word "Buy" displayed extremely rapidly. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Hewlet-Packard (HP) has announced additions to its x86 server line-up that are powered by Dual-Core Intel Xeon 7100 series processors. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Storage, often touted as a grudge purchase, is an essential component of any business, ensuring continuity in the event of a disaster. It is further propelled up the chain of the CIO's priorities by the demands of corporate governance, which can specify the retention of data for up to 20 years. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
According to HP, one-hour photo shops will soon become a thing of the past, thanks to the company's line of Photosmart products, which is being distributed locally by Rectron. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
New Dawn Holdings is executing on a plan to capture market share in the ERP environment through a wholly owned subsidiary focusing on German software maker, SAP. Dubbed New Dawn Spectra, the company has been in operation since December 2005, and has experienced substantial and sustained growth. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Gestetner has announced the P7535n - aiming to enable cost-effective black and white laser printing for office workgroups of between 10 and 20 users. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
A new variant of a Trojan Downloader is actively exploiting a recently found vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, claims MicroWorld Technologies. The malware infection is said to be caused when the victim opens an infected Word 2000 file in Windows 2000. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Intel has introduced vPro technology, a package of hardware and software that is claimed to mark a major change in what businesses can expect from their PCs, and to provide IT workers with higher levels of computing performance and more proactive control of security and costs. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Chief among Metrofile's demonstration at Futurex & Equip Cape will be its Metrofiler e-Records. While Metrofiler looks after physical records management needs, Metrofiler e-Records is designed to do the same for electronic records. Futurex & Equip Cape Town will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from September 27 - 29. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
BiTMICRO Networks, a maker of intelligent flash solid-state disks (SSD) and Kilopass Technology, a provider of semiconductor-based non-volatile memory (NVM) intellectual property, recently signed a corporate licence agreement whereby BiTMICRO will integrate Kilopass' XPM non-volatile memory technology in its next-generation system-on-chip (SoC) devices and large capacity E-Disk flash SSDs. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
The local office of international security vendor, Panda Software, has recently launched an 'all-in-one security' appliance, designed to protect against all types of threats. The GateDefender Integra is claimed to complete the company's range of perimeter security solutions. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
'Ilkeston Today' in the UK reports that Internet paedophile, Adrian Ringland, forced a Canadian schoolgirl to send him explicit photographs of herself, after infecting her computer with a Trojan backdoor. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Business Connexion has signed an agreement with UK IT group, Northgate Information Solutions, that will see Business Connexion's HR and Payroll division, Q Data DynamiQue, market the Northgate ResourceLink solution in SA and other selected African countries. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Christo van Staden, director at Carrick Holdings
The growth of the Internet, and online communication capability, has given rise to a form of digital interaction called social networks. As with most other captivating technology-based social developments, there is likely to be ongoing debate as to the related pros and cons. However, security has to be at the top of the list of issues. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
The modern workplace comprises far more than a maze of workstations, the buzz of staff members regulated by set working hours, staff canteens, board room meetings and coffee carts. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Interested in a 23% increase in salary, and a successful career as an enterprise architect? Then equip yourself with The Open Group Architecture Framework (Togaf) certification. This is the word from Ian Prinsloo, training manager at Real IRM, the local representative of The Open Group. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
Andre Hurter, presales product manager, Channel Data
The response of some sections of the IT industry to the growing challenge of malicious software (malware) demonstrates that even leading players in the technology space have a tendency to lag current business realities. [Issue:Two hundred and two (4/9/06 - 8/9/06)]
