United News of Bangladesh

Walton has received the "President's Award for Industrial Development 2019" for contribution to the private sector, employment generation and economy of the country. Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited got the prestigious award as the top organisation in the high-tech industry category this year. On Thursday, the award was handed over at a programme in the capital. Nineteen industrial units under six categories, including Walton, received the awards. Read: Walton Director Tanna gets JCI Young Entrepreneur Award President Abdul Hamid was virtually present as the chief guest. Planning Minister MA Mannan, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun and State Minister for Industries Ministry Kamal Ahmed Majumder were present as special guests. Golam Murshed, managing director and chief executive officer of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited, received the award on behalf of Walton. The award was introduced by the Ministry of Industries in the name of the president to encourage the creativity of the private sectors. Each organisation was given a crest and a certificate as a reward. Read 'Golden Jubilee Bangladesh Concert' held at MSG in association with Walton Golam Murshed said: "Bangladesh is now a manufacturing and export-oriented country in the electronics sector with Walton having exported goods worth $14 million this year. We have set a target of exporting electronics products worth $1 billion by 2025."

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Monday announced the toppers of its Seeds For The Future 2021 Bangladesh programme from eight universities. Seeds For The Future is Huawei's flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students worldwide and was launched in Bangladesh in 2014. This year, the University of Dhaka (DU), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) and East West University (EWU) joined the event. Read Huawei BUET ICT Academy to develop talent ecosystem More than 600 students from these eight universities rolled in the selection phase. And from there, 16 toppers, one male and one female student from each university, were selected based on their academic record, spot-exam, presentation skill and innovative thinking. The 16 students are Imtiaz Ahmed, and Syeda Fatima Fayruj from BUET; Sumayya Rahman, and Mehedi Hasan from KUET; Nahian Rifaat, and Nazifa Rahman Adhora from RUET; Aninda Nandy, and Fatema Islam Tania from CUET; Syed Doha Uddin, and Nishat Tasnim from the DU; Seeamoon Hasiba Reza, and Mohtasim Tasnim Zaman from EWU; Kazi Arham Kabir, and Sadia Karishma Kabir from AUST; AKM Rakib, and Ramisha Raida Karim from IUT.  Traditionally, the selected students go to China for a study trip. However, due to Covid-19, the training has been shifted to an online programme. Read 5G Quiz campaign: Huawei announces winners "As Bangladesh is progressing fast and digital transformation will determine our future growth, we are in dire need of skilled young people. So, Huawei' Seeds For The Future will yield positive outcomes not only for the future leaders but also for the country," Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury said at the event. "We started this programme in Bangladesh seven years ago, and the response has been phenomenal. Huawei considers the youth as of today's seeds, which must be facilitated with proper care so that they can prove to be assets in the future," said Zhang Zhengjun, CEO of Huawei Technologies Bangladesh.   "Today's youths are the future of tomorrow. Huawei, through the Seeds for the Future Programme, is supporting Bangladesh's emerging ICT talent and future ICT leaders by broadening their knowledge and equipping them with skills that will be useful and relevant to them both in their professional careers as well as lives as responsible global citizens," Beatrice Kaldun, Unesco representative to Bangladesh, said. Read Huawei Bangladesh for collaborative efforts to widen digital education, online learning scopes "This programme has been an excellent opportunity for our students to develop skills and learn so many things firsthand from experts and Huawei engineers," BUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Satya Prasad Majumder said. 

Robi ended the third quarter of the year with a profit after tax (PAT) of Tk86.5 crore. The company's PAT grew 85.4 per cent compared to the last quarter. Compared to the same quarter last year, Robi's PAT grew 122.3 per cent in Q3 of 2021. In comparison to the first nine months of last year, Robi's PAT for the first nine months of this year grew 44.3 per cent. Read BBS partners with Robi to deliver Bangladesh's 1st digital census data Supported by steadily rising revenue, and efficient cost management, the company's PAT for the first nine months of the year reached Tk167.4 crore. Robi's financial results for Q3 were released Sunday at a virtual press briefing event. Compared to Q2 '21, Robi's 4G subscriber base grew 12.7 per cent in Q3 '21; compared to the same quarter last year, its 4G subscriber base grew 51.1 per cent. Out of a total subscriber base of 5 crore 30 lakhs, 2 crore 24 lakhs are 4G subscribers. Besides, 74 per cent of the company's subscribers are now data users.  Read Robi launches iftar distribution programme for underprivileged children outside Dhaka Although the subscriber base grew 5.8 per cent compared to the same quarter last year, Robi's subscriber base grew 2.3 per cent in Q3 '21. Robi’s subscriber market share stood at 29.5 per cent at the end of Q3 '21. Robi's revenue reached Tk2,085 crore in Q3 '21 following a rise of 2.7 per cent compared to the last quarter. Compared to the same quarter last year, Robi's revenue rose 7.8 per cent. In the first nine months (January to September) of this year, Robi's revenue reached Tk6,097 crore. Read Robi wins silver at ICMAB Best Corporate Award Robi's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in Q3 '21 stood at Tk861.2 crore, following a rise of 0.8 per cent compared to the last quarter, compared to the same quarter last year, EBITDA grew 9.3 per cent. EBITDA margin at the end of Q3 '21 stood at 41.3 per cent. The company's earnings per share (EPS) in Q3 '21 was Tk0.17; in Q2 '21 the EPS was Tk0.09, and in Q3 '20 it was Tk0.08. However, for the first nine months of this year (January to September), the EPS was Tk0.32. Including a capex investment of Tk650.7 crore in Q3 '21, the total capex investment in the first nine months of the year reached Tk1,386 crore. Robi paid Tk1,119 crore to the government exchequer in Q3 '21, which was 53.7 per cent of its revenue for the quarter. Read Robi partners with Green Delta to provide health insurance package The total amount paid to the government exchequer during the first nine months of this year reached Tk3,373 crore, which is 55.3 per cent of the company's total revenue for this period. The company had 14,466 sites at the end of Q3 '21. Robi's Acting CEO and CFO M Riyaaz Rashid said: "We are very happy to see our profit rising steadily every quarter this year. However, it is very disappointing to note that our PAT in the first nine months could have been Tk289.3 crore, instead of Tk167.4 crore, had we not been subjected to a further 2 per cent minimum turnover tax. Our shareholders are certainly being deprived of the value they deserve for their investment in the company due to this reason." Read Victory Day celebration: Robi to recreate 'Purbo Digonte Shurjo Utheche'

Global technology company SHAREit Group Saturday announced that its file-sharing, content streaming and gaming app SHAREit has been recognised among the top 10 fastest growing apps globally due to a high volume of downloads during Q3 2021. The rankings of the Top Breakout Apps in Q3 are provided by App Annie, which is the industry's most trusted mobile data and analytics platform. READ: Banglalink wins CSR award for 'Empowering through Employment' initiative with Kormo In the recently released edition of the Performance Index report by AppsFlyer, SHAREit ranked highly across multiple categories and regions, spotted fourth globally after Google, Facebook and TikTok in the non-gaming volume rankings for IAP index across all categories. SHAREit also emerged as the fastest-growing publisher in North America and second in Latin America, after TikTok. "The pandemic pushed consumers around the globe to spend more time on their mobile phones, where they have been looking for entertainment and gaming options. This has sparked SHAREit's usage in newer markets and accelerated its adoption in the existing ones," Karam Malhotra, partner and global vice-president of SHAREit Group, said. "Specifically, in the emerging markets like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where consumers do not have a steady internet connection, SHAREit, through its offline capability, has been making digital content more accessible by enabling them to share apps, music, videos and games with their peers." "We are excited to be amongst the top 10 fastest-growing apps in the world and our two recent major achievements have well highlighted the growth rate and value of our products and marketing platform services globally, which have been widely recognised by our users and partners," Karam said. READ: Short film 'A Happy Man' shot entirely on vivo X70 Pro 5G SHAREit's primary feature is the near distance peer to peer files transfer, allowing users to share pictures, music, and more, with other devices without using an active internet. It has also established itself as a one-stop digital content platform, providing users with gaming, content discovery and consumption services.

Banglalink has won the corporate social responsibility (CSR) award in the financial inclusion category for its "Empowering through Employment" initiative with Kormo Jobs by Google. Jointly presented by The Daily Star and CSR Window Bangladesh, the award recognises corporates for their innovative and world-class CSR initiatives, social projects and programmes implemented for sustainable impacts in the society. Erik Aas, chief executive officer of Banglalink, received the award at a ceremony. Read Banglalink's digital services marketplace AppLink launched Banglalink partnered with Kormo Jobs, a job-matching app by Google that specialises in entry-level jobs, to set up dedicated Kormo Jobs Kiosks in selected Banglalink outlets, where Kormo representatives assist job-seekers in finding employment opportunities and accessing learning resources through the Kormo Jobs app. As a strategic partner of Kormo Jobs, Banglalink also works with Kormo Jobs to jointly hold virtual career development sessions, job fairs and other events aimed at boosting youth employment. From five finalists for the award, Banglalink was selected as the winner for playing an exemplary role in empowering the youth through this CSR project. Read Ookla Speedtest Award: Banglalink ranked fastest mobile network for 4th time Erik said: "We are delighted and proud of receiving this prestigious award, which is a testimony to the role Banglalink has been playing as a socially responsible corporate organisation. There are so many talented people in our country, and our key objective behind the partnership with Kormo Jobs is to facilitate youth employment through the use of our service points and multiple digital initiatives." Bickey Russell, co-lead of Kormo Jobs and director of operations at Google's Next Billion Users initiative, said: "Our partnership with Banglalink has enabled the Kormo Jobs app to reach thousands of job-seekers quickly and help them find career opportunities." Read Banglalink skill development programme: 'Digirevolution' Season 1 ends

Smartphone Brand ‘realme’ launches Cardless EMI facility exclusively on trending e-Commerce platform ‘Salextra’. People who do not haveCredit card, can easily avail the offer on Salextra’s Official Website and its facebook page, said a press release. The companies have announced the exclusive campaign jointly with a view to promising superiorexperience to Tech lovers. Read:' Youth-centric strategy made realme a top smartphone brand in Bangladesh' The Customers can enjoy 0% EMI for purchasing any realme Smartphone in this campaign without using Credit Card. Any salaried person with a minimum earning of 20,000 BDT will be considered eligible in this Campaign. The whole process is very simple. The customer can orderany realme Smartphone through https://www.salextra.com.bd/realme and follow the procedure. realme offers wide range of Smartphones considering features and budget it promises. The newly launched realme GT Master Edition is also available in the campaign, along with realme 8, realme 8 5G, realme C25s (4/128) and realme C21Y (4/64). Read: Realme GT Master Edition at 12-month EMI facility in Daraz It has been observed that many people cannot buy high-end smartphones because they don’t have credit cards. Taking the necessity of such smartphone users into account, youth-centric brand realme has collaborated with Salextra, it said. realme is developing a diverse portfolio of 5G products with an aim to offer 100 million 5G phones in the next three years to the young users. Besides affordable 5G phones, realme will also bring more AIoT products to young consumers as realme has entered AIoT 2.0 development phase with its advanced ‘1+5+T’ strategy. According to Canalys, realme became the top 1 smartphone maker in Bangladesh during Q2, 2021. realme has also become a top 6 smartphone vendor in the global rankings, according to Counterpoint research. Read Realme narzo 50, C31 available across Bangladesh

Renowned filmmaker Vicky Zahed recently teamed up with vivo to creatively showcase the futuristic concept X70 Pro 5G has to offer. Together with vivo, he created the short film "A Happy Man," shot entirely on the X70 Pro 5G. Making the best use of various shooting techniques like pan, dolly, tilt, and zoom, it depicts the life of an ordinary man who loses his job and finds joy in the little things life has to offer. The story highlights various aspects of a man's life, including his responsibilities towards family, work, and society. Read Vivo iQOO Z6 Review: The Budget Vivo for Camera Enthusiasts Starring Khairul Basar and Rukaia Jahan Chamak, the film was broadcast on five leading television channels along with vivo's official Facebook page. Vicky encouraged young filmmakers to experiment with filmmaking techniques using capable smartphone cameras like the ones on the X70 Pro 5G as they offer more flexibility and help users discover new ideas and novel ways of shooting. The smartphone features an Ultra-Sensing Gimbal Camera, which uses a vivo-customised version of the Sony IMX766V sensor for improved low-light performance. Read Vivo redefines smartphone charging capabilities through Fast Charge Technology With the inculcation of the new and improved Gimbal Stabilisation 3.0, the camera delivers a fast, accurate focus for steady videos in dynamic motion, no matter how challenging the lighting conditions are. The gimbal stabilisation can be best used with VIS 5-Axis Ultra Stable Video in X70 Pro 5G, which supports video stabilisation with 5 axes, making video creation fun and easy. This breakthrough innovation integrates enhanced OIS with EIS to transition the X/Y-axis with Z-axis rotation for better stability. It combines the gimbal camera with an improved stabilisation angle to capture faraway subjects and stabilise frame size by cropping and shrinking (keeping the original frame size wider). Read Vivo brings Baishakhi offers ahead of Pahela Baishakh Also, the Pro Cinematic Mode of X70 Pro 5G maximises the control and adjustment of various parameters, allowing users to shoot cinematic-grade professional videos with higher controllability.

The Facebook Papers project represents a unique collaboration among 17 American news organizations, including The Associated Press. Journalists from a variety of newsrooms, large and small, worked together to gain access to thousands of pages of internal company documents obtained by Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager-turned-whistleblower. A separate consortium of European news outlets had access to the same set of documents, and members of both groups began publishing content related to their analysis of the materials at 7 a.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 25. That date and time was set by the partner news organizations to give everyone in the consortium an opportunity to fully analyze the documents, report out relevant details, and to give Facebook’s public relations staff ample time to respond to questions and inquiries raised by that reporting. Each member of the consortium pursued its own independent reporting on the document contents and their significance. Every member also had the opportunity to attend group briefings to gain information and context about the documents. Also read: In the middle of a crisis, Facebook Inc. renames itself Meta The launch of The Facebook Papers project follows similar reporting by The Wall Street Journal, sourced from the same documents, as well as Haugen’s appearance on the CBS television show “60 Minutes” and her Oct. 5 Capitol Hill testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee. The papers themselves are redacted versions of disclosures that Haugen has made over several months to the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging Facebook was prioritizing profits over safety and hiding its own research from investors and the public. Also read: Facebook froze as anti-vaccine comments swarmed users These complaints cover a range of topics, from its efforts to continue growing its audience, to how its platforms might harm children, to its alleged role in inciting political violence. The same redacted versions of those filings are being provided to members of Congress as part of its investigation. And that process continues as Haugen’s legal team goes through the process of redacting the SEC filings by removing the names of Facebook users and lower-level employees and turns them over to Congress. The Facebook Papers consortium will continue to report on these documents as more become available in the coming days and weeks.

Like many companies in trouble before it, Facebook is changing its name and logo. Facebook Inc. is now called Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, to reflect what CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday is its commitment to developing the new surround-yourself technology known as the “ metaverse.” But the social network itself will still be called Facebook. Also unchanged, at least for now, are its chief executive and senior leadership, its corporate structure and the crisis that has enveloped the company. Skeptics immediately accused the company of trying to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, the trove of leaked documents that have plunged it into the biggest crisis since it was founded in Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room 17 years ago. The documents portray Facebook as putting profits ahead of ridding its platform of hate, political strife and misinformation around the world. Also read: Facebook froze as anti-vaccine comments swarmed users The move reminded marketing consultant Laura Ries of when energy company BP rebranded itself to “Beyond Petroleum” to escape criticism that the oil giant harmed the environment. “Facebook is the world’s social media platform, and they are being accused of creating something that is harmful to people and society,” she said. “They can’t walk away from the social network with a new corporate name and talk of a future metaverse.” Facebook the app is not changing its name. Nor are Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The company’s corporate structure also won’t change. But on Dec. 1, its stock will start trading under a new ticker symbol, MVRS. The metaverse is sort of the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. Zuckerberg has described it as a “virtual environment” you can go inside of, instead of just looking at on a screen. People can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices. Also read: Facebook dithered in curbing divisive user content in India It also will incorporate other aspects of online life such as shopping and social media, according to Victoria Petrock, an analyst who follows emerging technologies.   Zuckerberg’s foray into virtual reality has drawn some comparisons to fellow tech billionaires’ outer space adventures and jokes that perhaps it's understandable he would want to escape his current reality amid calls for his resignation and increasing scrutiny of the company. On Monday, Zuckerberg announced a new segment for Facebook that will begin reporting its financial results separately from the company’s Family of Apps segment starting in the final quarter of this year. The entity, Reality Labs, will reduce Facebook’s overall operating profit by about $10 billion this year, the company said. Other tech companies such as Microsoft, chipmaker Nvidia and Fortnite maker Epic Games have all been outlining their own visions of how the metaverse will work. Zuckerberg said that he expects the metaverse to reach a billion people within the next decade and that he hopes the new technology will creates millions of jobs for creators. The announcement comes amid heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny of Facebook in many parts of the world because of the Facebook Papers. A corporate rebranding isn't likely to solve the myriad problems revealed by the internal documents or quiet the alarms that critics have been raising for years about the harm the company's products are causing to society. Zuckerberg, for his part, has largely dismissed the furor triggered by the Facebook Papers as unfair. In an interesting twist, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization run by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, bought a Canadian scientific literature analysis company called Meta in 2017. By Thursday afternoon, though, its website Meta.org announced that it will “sunset" at the end of March. The Meta.com domain, meanwhile, redirected to the former Facebook's rebranded corporate site. At headquarters in Menlo Park, California, the iconic thumbs up sign that has long been outside was repainted to a blue, pretzel-shape logo resembling an infinity symbol. Some of Facebook’s biggest critics seemed unimpressed by the name change. The Real Facebook Oversight Board, a watchdog group focused on the company, announced that it will keep its name. “Changing their name doesn’t change reality: Facebook is destroying our democracy and is the world’s leading peddler of disinformation and hate," the group said in a statement. "Their meaningless name change should not distract from the investigation, regulation and real, independent oversight needed to hold Facebook accountable.” In explaining the rebrand, Zuckerberg said the name Facebook no longer encompasses everything the company does. In addition to the social network, that now includes Instagram, Messenger, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more. “Today we are seen as a social media company,” Zuckerberg said. “But in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people.”

Global tech brand Oppo and the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) recently announced that it will take up a position on the Alliance's board of directors with immediate effect. As part of its new role, Oppo will become a core member of the Alliance, where it will take a leading role in the development of industry-unifying Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity protocol, Matter, and lead the promotion of the protocol in China. Developed and maintained by the CSA, Matter is the foundation for connected things, offering a simplified user experience for connecting different IoT devices. Read: OPPO launches all-new ColorOS 12 operating system "We are delighted and honoured to join the CSA board of directors to drive the development of Matter and create enhanced user experiences for our IoT products," said Neil Yang, director of the standards research department at Oppo. "Together with the CSA and its members, we will shape the future of the IoT alongside our commitment to building IoT products that deliver better services to all users." "With Oppo on our board of directors, the unprecedented collaboration between our two sides will be a driving force in our mission to build a more intuitive, imaginative, and useful world," said Tobin Richardson, president and CEO of CSA. Read: OPPO kicks off campaign “Dream to the World Cup, Buy OPPO & Win Trip to Dubai” Formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance, the CSA was established in 2002. As the foundation and future of the IoT, its wide-ranging global membership is made up of over 400 companies and 22 board members. For almost two decades, the CSA members have been working together to simplify and increase compatibility in the IoT through technology standards. Among these, Matter is a unified and secure IP-based connectivity protocol built on proven technologies, helping connect and build a reliable, secure IoT ecosystem, and achieve seamless connectivity among a wide range of smart devices. Read Huawei recognised 2022 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for 3rd straight year