tech-news
Huawei organizes Asia-Pacific Higher Education Innovation Forum on smart education tools
Huawei organized recently the Asia-Pacific Higher Education Innovation Forum through live streaming with the theme Embracing the New Era of Intelligent Education.
The forum invited industry experts from UNESCO ICHEI, NUS, Open University, Thammasat University, National University of Malaysia, and PwC, including 450 informatization directors, partners, and business luminaries.
The forum focused on topics such as smart campus, online education, and smart classroom and discussed the development trend of education ICT and the challenges and opportunities for education informatization in the post-pandemic era.
READ: Huawei's largest cybersecurity, privacy protection transparency centre launched
At the opening ceremony, Nicholas Ma, President of Huawei Asia Pacific Enterprise Business Group, shared Huawei’s understanding of ICT development in higher education in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as its vision of smart higher education in the future.
Professor Zhao Jianhua, Senior Specialist of UNESCO ICHEI, shared his insights on the exciting new trends in education. According to Prof. Zhao, today’s education industry is being shaped by five major digital technologies: AR, personalized hybrid learning, gamification, AI, and IoT. What’s more, there will be five new applications in the education industry: a more efficient learning system, mental health monitoring, personalized distant education, automated data processing, and personalized collaborative education.
Read Women continue making amazing contributions in STEM fields: US
The recent disruptions to the world in the last 18 months have severely affected university education around the world. Many teachers and students can no longer go to school like they used to. During the panel session of this forum, the panellists explored how universities in the Asia-Pacific region use ICT to offset this impact, what plans and visions they have for future teaching and management models, and how to accelerate the digital transformation of universities.
Assoc. Professor Dr. Nurhizam Safie (Deputy Dean (Networking & Alumni), IST Faculty Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) stressed that the critical success factor for digital transformation in higher education is to embrace the new online pedagogy and it’s really about effective change management and managing the transition to online learning.
Read Huawei brings financial aid, free service for Asia-Pacific SMEs
Many universities are facing similar problems, such as a lack of teacher-student-classroom interaction, the insufficient sharing of education resources, difficult management due to scattered school services, high energy consumption, and low decision-making efficiency. It has become a priority for education administrators and teachers to tackle such challenges.
At this forum, Shi Ri, Huawei APAC, introduced the Huawei Smart Campus Solution and Smart Classroom Solution designed for higher education.
Huawei has been working in collaboration with industry-leading partners and is leveraging its cloud platform to provide E2E smart education solutions that cover smart devices, converged networks, and teaching and management applications for university customers in multiple countries, including South Africa, Italy, and UAE.
READ: Huawei joins Responsible Business 2021
Critical entities targeted in suspected Chinese cyber spying
A cyberespionage campaign blamed on China was more sweeping than previously known, with suspected state-backed hackers exploiting a device meant to boost internet security to penetrate the computers of critical U.S. entities.
The hack of Pulse Connect Secure networking devices came to light in April, but its scope is only now starting to become clear. The Associated Press has learned that the hackers targeted telecommunications giant Verizon and the country’s largest water agency. News broke earlier this month that the New York City subway system, the country’s largest, was also breached.
Security researchers say dozens of other high-value entities that have not yet been named were also targeted as part of the breach of Pulse Secure, which is used by many companies and governments for secure remote access to their networks.
It’s unclear what sensitive information, if any, was accessed. Some of the targets said they did not see any evidence of data being stolen. That uncertainty is common in cyberespionage and it can take months to determine data loss, if it is ever discovered. Ivanti, the Utah-based owner of Pulse Connect Secure, declined to comment on which customers were affected.
Read: Huawei's largest cybersecurity, privacy protection transparency centre launched
But even if sensitive information wasn’t compromised, experts say it is worrisome that hackers managed to gain footholds in networks of critical organizations whose secrets could be of interest to China for commercial and national security reasons.
“The threat actors were able to get access to some really high-profile organizations, some really well-protected ones,” said Charles Carmakal, the chief technology officer of Mandiant, whose company first publicized the hacking campaign in April.
The Pulse Secure hack has largely gone unnoticed while a series of headline-grabbing ransomware attacks have highlighted the cyber vulnerabilities to U.S. critical infrastructure, including one on a major fuels pipeline that prompted widespread shortages at gas stations. The U.S. government is also still investigating the fallout of the SolarWinds hacking campaign launched by Russian cyber spies, which infiltrated dozens of private sector companies and think tanks as well as at least nine U.S. government agencies and went on for most of 2020.
China has a long history of using the internet to spy on the U.S. and presents a “prolific and effective cyber-espionage threat,” the Office of the Director of the National Intelligence said in its most recent annual threat assessment.
Six years ago Chinese hackers stole millions of background check files of federal government employees from the Office of Personnel Management. And last year the Justice Department charged two hackers it said worked with the Chinese government to target firms developing vaccines for the coronavirus and stole hundreds of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and trade secrets from companies across the world.
Read:Attacks on individuals fall as cybercrime shifts tactics
The Chinese government has denied any role in the Pulse hacking campaign and the U.S. government has not made any formal attribution.
In the Pulse campaign, security experts said sophisticated hackers exploited never-before-seen vulnerabilities to break in and were hyper diligent in trying to cover their tracks once inside.
“The capability is very strong and difficult to defend against, and the profile of victims is very significant,” said Adrian Nish, the head of cyber at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. “This is a very targeted attack against a few dozen networks that all have national significance in one way or another.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, issued an April alert about the Pulse hack saying it was aware of “compromises affecting a number of U.S. government agencies, critical infrastructure entities, and other private sector organizations.” The agency has since said that at least five federal agencies have identified indications of potential unauthorized access, but not said which ones.
Verizon said it found a Pulse-related compromise in one of its labs but it was quickly isolated from its core networks. The company said no data or customer information was accessed or stolen.
Read:Hack against US is 'grave' threat, cybersecurity agency says
“We know that bad actors try to compromise our systems,” said Verizon spokesman Rich Young. “That is why internet operators, private companies and all individuals need to be vigilant in this space.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people and operates some of the largest treatment plants in the world, said it found a compromised Pulse Secure appliance after CISA issued its alert in April. Spokeswoman Rebecca Kimitch said the appliance was immediately removed from service and no Metropolitan systems or processes were known to have been affected. She said there was “no known data exfiltration.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York also said they’ve not found evidence of valuable data or customer information was stolen. The breach was first reported by The New York Times.
Nish, the BAE security expert, said the hackers could have broken into networks but not stolen data right away for any number of operational reasons. He compared it to a criminal breaking into a house but stopping in the hallway.
“It’s still pretty bad,” Nish said.
Read: UK government sets up cyber unit to fight coronavirus-related fake news
Mandiant said it found signs of data extraction from some of the targets. The company and BAE have identified targets of the hacking campaign in several fields, including financial, technology and defense firms, as well as municipal governments. Some targets were in Europe, but most in the U.S.
At least one major local government has disputed it was a target of the Pulse Secure hack. Montgomery County, Maryland, said it was advised by CISA that its Pulse Secure devices were attacked. But county spokesman Scott Peterson said the county found no evidence of a compromise and told CISA they had a “false report.”
CISA did not directly respond to the county’s statement.
The new details of the Pulse Secure hack come at a time of tension between the U.S. and China. Biden has made checking China’s growth a top priority, and said the country’s ambition of becoming the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world is “not going to happen under my watch.”
Oppo fans can win F19 posting favourite moments with friends, family
Global smart device brand Oppo has come up with an activity where the users and fans will have to capture the surprising and funny moments with friends and family with their F19 Pro.
After creating both single and dual-view videos, the participants will have to post the video or the link of the video in the comment section with the hashtag #ShareYourFunMoments.
Also, they will be able to win a brand new Oppo F19 Pro and other gifts such as Oppo Band Style and OPPO Enco W11 headphones.
Also read: Oppo offers 30% off and lots of surprises for users
Interested people can participate in this activity based on three themes – fun moment with a friend, fun moment with friends and family and fun moment with family.
In the first theme, the participants will have to create videos capturing fun moments with friends. This activity will continue from June 8-14.
The second theme is meant for friends and families. This will continue from June 15-19.
Also read: Oppo launches swap deal
The third theme is dedicated to family. In this category, the users can share fun moments with family from June 20-27.
Oppo F19 Pro is a mid-range phone with Dual-View Video and AI Color Portrait Video, new crystal silver design with Reno Glow Effect, 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 and Game Focus Mode. Owing to a fusion of hardware performance and software capability, F19 Pro offers immersive gaming.
Read Tecno Spark 7 review: The entry-level gaming phone of 2021
Realme GT 5G's global launch set for June 15
Global smartphone brand realme is all set to introduce its flagship phone – realme GT 5G – to the global market on June 15.
Realme CEO Sky Li will deliver the opening speech at the global launch event whereas Madhav Sheth, VP and CEO of India and Europe, realme, will talk about the company's business strategy.
Also read: 5G phone: Realme targets 100 million youth customers by 2024
The event will come to a close with the unveiling of realme's new AIoT products.
Inspired by the slogan "sheer speed flagship," realme GT is an amalgamation of cutting-edge design and technology. The phone has captured the original essence of the Grand Touring (GT) experience for young users.
Also read: Realme to bring Snapdragon 778G 5G, Android 12 Beta 1-equipped smartphone
Apart from the flagship launch, realme will also unveil its new AIoT strategy and a new line of products labelled under realme TechLife. After the launch of realme GT 5G in the global market on June 15, the flagship phone will be released in the local markets.
Grameenphone receives Asian Leadership Awards 2021
Grameenphone has been recognised as the best organisation for workplace and people development in the Organisational Awards category of Asian Leadership Awards (ALA) 2021.
The 19th Edition of the prestigious award ceremony took place Thursday.
Grameenphone's efforts to ensure employee wellbeing during Covid-19, focus on nurturing an inclusive workplace, digitalisation of human resource (HR) services, and a unique approach in fostering a learning culture and upskilling effort were commended at the event.
Also read: FinanceAsia Awards: SCB Bangladesh wins Best International Bank
The ALA is recognised in the industry for patronising and promoting the value of business leadership in Asia. Since 2011, the award has been inspiring hundreds of organisations and professionals to go the extra mile to ensure the healthy and consistent growth of the workforce.
This year, the program was held virtually, where the seasoned jury council of the ALA recognised Grameenphone's effort.
Also read: Grameenphone announces 15,500 4G towers in country
Syed Tanvir Husain, chief human resource officer of Grameenphone, said: "As a connectivity partner to digitalisation journey of Bangladesh, we have been continuously putting our efforts to innovate and build future-fit skills at Grameenphone while keeping our employees wellbeing, inclusive culture, project automation, digitally-operated HR on the top in our agenda."
"We feel honoured to have been the recipient of the Asian Leadership Award 2021, and we dedicate this achievement to all the employees of the Grameenphone family."
Read Korvi honoured with "Commonwealth Point of Light Award"
Oppo offers discounted prices on Reno5, A15s
Global smart device brand OPPO has slashed the price of its two phones – Reno5 and A15s.
Buyers can now get Oppo Reno5 at Tk32,99 and A15s at Tk12,990.
Reno5 has a 64MP quad rear camera with AI Mixed Portrait and Dual-View video. Also, the phone comes in Fantasy Silver, which projects thousands of different colours sparkling distinctively, creating a Reno Glow effect.
Also read: Oppo offers 30% off and lots of surprises for users
With a 50W flash charge of Reno5, the users can charge 80% of its 4,310mAh battery within just 31 minutes. Powered by an 8nm Snapdragon 720G chipset, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage and 90Hz refresh rate, this phone delivers a smoother performance.
A15s has bigger storage (64GB) and a screen (6.52" with a screen ratio of 88.7%). The phone's AI Triple Rear Camera setup enables the user to capture picture-perfect photos with the help of different modes such as AI Beautification, night mode, panorama mode and portrait mode.
Also read: Oppo launches swap deal
The phone is also powered by a 4230mAh large battery, read a press release.
Huawei's largest cybersecurity, privacy protection transparency centre launched
Chinese telecom giant launched its "largest" Global Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection Transparency Center in South China's Dongguan Wednesday.
"Over the past few years, industry digitalisation and new technologies like 5G and AI have made cyberspace more complex than ever, compounded by the fact that people have been spending a greater portion of their lives online throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. These trends have led to a rise in new cybersecurity risks," Huawei's Rotating Chairman Ken Hu said at the opening ceremony.
Huawei's Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Center is designed to demonstrate solutions and share experience, facilitate communication and joint innovation, and support security testing and verification.
Also read: Huawei joins Responsible Business 2021
It will be open to regulators, independent third-party testing organisations, and standards organisations, as well as Huawei customers, partners, and suppliers.
To further a unified approach to cybersecurity in the telecoms industry, organisations like GSMA and 3GPP have also been working with industry stakeholders to promote NESAS Security Assurance Specifications and independent certifications.
Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, said: "The delivery of existing and new services in the 5G era will rely heavily on the connectivity provided by mobile networks and will fundamentally depend on the underlying technology being secure and trusted."
Also read: Huawei to invest $220 million in cloud ecosystem for 2021
"Initiatives such as the GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base, designed to help stakeholders understand and mitigate network risks, and NESAS, an industry-wide security assurance framework, are designed to facilitate improvements in network equipment security levels across the sector."
At the event, Huawei also released its Product Cyber Security Baseline, the culmination of over a decade of experience in product security management, incorporating a broad range of external regulations, technical standards, and regulatory requirements.
"This is the first time we've shared our security baseline framework with the entire industry, not just core suppliers," said Sean Yang, director of Huawei's Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Office. "We want to invite all stakeholders, including customers, regulators, standards organizations, technology providers, and testing organisations, to join us in discussing and working on cybersecurity baselines."
Some advanced tech skills for a sustainable career in 2022 and Beyond
With the evolving of the world, one thing has become certain – technology is the future. If you have good enough skills in any advanced technological aspect, you definitely hold an edge over many prospective job candidates. Forget about 9 to 5 regular jobs! Knowing advanced tech skills will set you up for a proper freelancing career as well where you will be able to take it up as a full-time profession. Let's have a look at some of the top advanced tech skills that you should learn to build a sustainable career.
Some of the Most Valuable Career Skills in 2022 and Beyond
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is on top in LinkedIn’s emerging jobs of 2020 list. Needless to say, AI is on the rise and with the pandemic in effect, the need to automate business processes and activities is a top priority. It's clear that AI will dominate the coming decade with the need for people skilled in NLP and ASR automation, both of which are an integral part of a large business corporation. The horizon for AI is widening and so is the job market. Having AI skills will perfectly set you up for both tech-based companies as well as businesses looking to automate and manage their processes.
Read: Oppo offers 30% off and lots of surprises for users
Machine Learning
Machine Learning is a more narrowed-down scope within AI. Machine Learning is still in its early days as the report shows that almost 49% of tech companies, as well as businesses, are exploring the prospect of incorporating Machine Learning into their system. With car automation, chatbots, as well as AI assistance usage, rises, the demand for Machine Learning will simply go up. Currently, the average industry salary for machine learning skills is 150K dollars. If you are someone who’s planning to start off from the scratch, we suggest you check out the ML courses offered by Coursera and Codecademy as they will set you up nicely for the advanced level.
Data Science and Data Analytics
Big Data has taken up considerable space in modern business as well as tech scenarios. With an annual turnover of over 5 billion in 2018, the curve is set to go up by over 19 billion by the end of 2026. As a result, Data Science and Data Analytics are some of the emerging tech skills which will be highly valuable in the coming times. Almost every sector starting from banking to manufacturing to service needs data analytics. The key point of data science is to enable business and tech companies to make decisions faster based on the validated numerical figure. With more and more companies showing interest in its scope, it can be said for sure that you can expect a high reward for this specific skill set. To get started, we suggest you check out big data specialization courses on Coursera.
Read: Apple previews new software for iPhone, other gadgets
Data Visualization
What actually Big Data really is! Well, it's really big and complex to understand. Data science and data analytics help to sieve down the data to a fathomable concept but even that is hard to grasp for an average mind. That is where data visualization comes in. A data visualizer essentially converts the boring crunched data into graphs and charts making it easy to understand and put into a certain context. The demand for ‘data visualization’ is on the rise and as companies and businesses have started incorporating data science into their processes. As a beginner, you can start your data visualization journey through data visualization for all on Edx.
Cybersecurity
As more and more companies are looking to automate their processes and taking their business to the online platform, it is also increasingly becoming the target of malicious attacks. Hackers try to infiltrate the sensitive information from the website by exploiting any existing or creating new loopholes. To counter that, companies need cybersecurity experts and the demand for them is on the rise. As a cybersecurity expert, you need to have an in-depth knowledge of the website -- its construction and the platform it is hosted on. Basically, your job would be to deter any sort of incoming threat to the business profile and ensure prolific security. In 2020 alone, the demand for cybersecurity experts rose by about 132%. To get started on cybersecurity and network security, you can start by Essentials of Cybersecurity on Edx.
Cloud Computing
As internet access becomes more and more universal, companies are now moving beyond the usual data storage systems. Cloud computing is becoming more and more relevant as companies are going digital with their services. What cloud computing does is basically uses the cloud storage platform to solve customer queries without having to connect to a local database. More and more companies are opting to directly build their platforms and services on the cloud itself. Currently, Amazon web services hold the helm of the cloud computing world with more than 150 services offered through their platform. The demand is set to rise for cloud engineers, architects as well as system administrators to maintain and operate the cloud services. You can start with a cloud computing specialization course on Coursera.
Read: German ambassador visits Walton Hi-Tech Park
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Get this, the VR and AR market cap is predicted to rise to about 133 billion dollars by the end of 2022. Needless to say, this is one of those platforms which will need skilled people in the coming years. Not just for entertainment purposes, VR and AR are having significant contributions in data visualization, medical science as well as digital marketing. With such a wide foray of prospects, getting skilled in AR and VR would be a sure-fire way to secure a stable career in tech. to get the basics of AR and VR, you can check out the Extended Reality courses on Udemy.
UI/UX Design
Are you someone who has a knack for creativity? Then this is where you shine. The UI/UX design as a career has been on the rise for quite some time now. And as the trend for new websites grows, so does the demand for them. UI/UX design is already in steady demand on various freelancing platforms, but as things stand companies will soon need full-time UI/UX designers as they continue to grow and scale up the business. This is an excellent opportunity for creatives as you can play with your creativity to make websites and user experiences more seamless and fun. And if you are into analytical stuff, the UX design fits perfectly for you as you get to test out how the design layout or service works. To get started on UI and UX design, you can check out the User Experience Design Fundamentals on Udemy.
Read:5G phone: Realme targets 100 million youth customers by 2024
Bottom Line
The tech world is dynamic as ever and you need to adapt yourself to the changing scenario. These are some of the crucial tech skills that you should develop to stay relevant in the coming times and ensure a sustainable career for yourself.
Oppo offers 30% off and lots of surprises for users
Leading global smart device brand OPPO is all set to hold Service Day with myriads of surprise services for the users and fans on 10th June at all the authorized service centers located throughout the country.
Read:Oppo launches swap deal
The moment users will enter the centres on OPPO Service Day, they will be served special drink to make them relaxed so that they can open up about the services they need to the staff, said a press release.
In addition to this, OPPO staff at the service centers will be ready to provide users with basic services and new added activities.
OPPO users will be able to enjoy special discount on themaintenance expense, ranging from 10-30%. So, it’s an exciting opportunity for the users to get their phones thoroughly checked to ensure longevity of their smartphones.
Read: PMCC: Oppo brings 'Guess & Win' offer for gaming fans
There is something for the buyers as well. Anyone interested in buying phone accessories can enjoy 10% discount while you can have 5% discount on IoT devices on the monthly Service Day.
The pampering does not end here. OPPO will offer multiple free services on this particular day for OPPO fans. The users can avail free labor cost, free protective film and free software upgrade at the service centers on June 10th, 2021.
Taking the pandemic situation into account OPPO has also included phone disinfect service in the list. As the users find it quite difficult to disinfect their smartphone after a hectic schedule and many do not really feel the urge to do it, OPPO will provide disinfect service free of cost so that the users remain safe and can keep the virus at bay in this troubled period.
Read:Oppo F19 hits the sweet spot between powerful hardware, stylish appearance
OPPO does not only sell smart devices, rather they want to add value to the users’ lifestyle in every way possible. That’s why OPPO organizes Service Day on every month so that their users can enjoy the rights of service every month. So, jot down your necessities and be prepared to get it solved on OPPO Service Day. For more information, please visit @OPPObangladesh.
Apple previews new software for iPhone, other gadgets
Apple kicked off its second annual all-virtual developer conference with a keynote that outlined new updates to its software for iPhones and other devices. The presentation highlighted more privacy options for paid iCloud accounts and a “Find My” service that helps find errant AirPods, but included no major product announcements.
The latest renovations in Apple’s $2 trillion empire come at a pivotal time for the Cupertino, California, company. Apple is facing legal and regulatory threats to its control over its App Store, a so-called “walled garden” that produces substantial profits for the company.
Read: Apple CEO faces tough questions about app store competition
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, and other executives outlined updates to software for Apple’s many devices including its MacBooks, iMacs, iPhone, iPad and Watch.
Apple’s new MacOS software, dubbed Monterey, supports what Apple calls “universal control,” which lets people use one mouse and keyboard to control an iMac desktop computer, MacBook laptop and iPad at the same time.
Forrester analyst Julie Ask said the improvements Apple showed off, like the “universal control,” play to Apple’s strengths in blending its products and services.
“The news today was nothing ‘new new,’ like holy cow how did they make that happen,” she said. “But each of us picks up our phone 100 or 200 times a day, and they’re making 100 little moments a day better, more seamless, and easier.”
Read:Apple brings CEO Tim Cook to court in defense of app store
She pointed out Apple’s plan to support digital IDs including drivers licenses and state IDs from “participating U.S. states” in its digital wallet, as another example. Apple did not identify which states that will include.
“They have an army of people trying to get these deals signed,” she said. “Apple gets a lot of criticism for being so controlling. But they can do things other big brands struggle to do.”
A “Live Text” feature in iOS 15 will let you highlight text in photos and copy and paste it or look it up online. It will also integrate Air Pods into its “Find My” service, which helps people find lost or misplaced Apple products.
Apple is introducing more privacy features to its paid iCloud plans, including a way to hide your email address, encrypt video, and a “Private Relay” feature of Safari that encrypts data from the web browser similar to a VPN.
Read: Apple’s app store goes on trial in threat to ‘walled garden’
Paid plan pricing isn’t changing. Users pay for any iCloud storage above the free 5GB storage users get for free. In the U.S., those plans start at $1 a month for 50GB of storage.
Apple didn’t announce when iOS 15 will be available, but the company traditionally releases the free updates to all compatible iPhones in September.