GOOGLE: Malaysia’s Top 10 Fastest Rising Searches on Google

BY:NEWS STRAITS TIMES

SYAHRINI

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1. VEENA MALIK
The Pakistani actress filed a suit against FHM magazine in India, claiming that it had altered her picture to show her in the nude.

2. SYAHRINI
Malaysians couldn’t get over this Indonesian singer kissing football star David Beckham and then proudly showing off his autograph on her breast in a tight tee.

3. JOHOR PREMIUM OUTLETS
Malaysians are excited over the opening of Johor Premium Outlets, a shopping haven project under the Economic Transformation Programme, which has more than 80 designer and brand names confirmed.

4. NATIONAL SERVICE
Trainees for the new term of National Service are required to register to determine their placement.

5. MALAYSIA VS BAHRAIN
The Harimau Muda were defeated by Bahrain 2-3 in an Olympic qualifying match recently.

6. OMBAK RINDU MOVIE
This romantic movie starring Maya Karin, Aaron Aziz, Bront Palarae and Lisa Surihani was a box office hit, collecting RM4 million in ticket sales after four days of its release.

7. SAMSUNG GALAXY Y
Samsung launched its Galaxy Y smartphone at a retail price of RM499. It comes in five back covers of pearly white, dark black, fruity orange, bubblegum pink and silver platter and is only 11.5 mm thin.

8. UMNO
Umno’s 65th annual general assembly, themed Umno Championing Transformation, ended Dec 3.

9. PC FAIR
All kinds of tech products and services as well as bargains, activities, games and lucky draws marked the final leg of this annual event, held at the KL Convention Centre from Dec 2-4.

10. MAYAKKAM ENNA
The latest Tamil hit about the life of a freelance photographer (played by Dhanush) was released in local cinemas Dec 2.

Gadgets that won't make it for 2012

BY: STAR NEWSPAPER

SHOCK RESISTANT: The flexible screen technology used in smartphones such as the Nokia Kinetic, a prototype which was previewed at Nokia World 2011, may help to make future smartphones 'smashproof.' - Relaxnews

Looking forward to seeing smashproof smartphones, indoor location mapping, the launch of the Sony PlayStation4, and 3D taking over the world in 2012? It's not going to happen says market analyst ABI Research.

The technology industry may have high hopes for the arrival of cutting-edge technologies in 2012 but ABI believes that many of these innovations will take much longer to reach mass market penetration than others are predicting.

Years ago mobile phones used to be robust and could withstand falls from over two meters but that was before smartphones and their large glass displays replaced the polycarbonate plastics found in feature phones.

While there have been significant improvements in glass technology since the first range of smartphones arrived on the market, ABI believes consumers won't find smashproof phones on the market in 2012 - mobile manufacturers beg to differ.

There are a number of "life proof" shock-resistant smartphones available on the market today including the Motorola Defy+, the Motorola Titanium, the Samsung Galaxy Xcover, the Casio G'zOne Commando and the Sony Experia

Active and smartphone makers are experimenting with new technology too that will make these handheld devices even more indestructible.

Consumer electronics companies such as Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have already shown off early prototypes of smartphones with flexible displays that can be twisted and bent without breaking.

Samsung is bullish on the technology and says it will have Tablets and smartphones with flexible screens ready by 2012.

Smartphones and Tablets have been a closely watched point of interest throughout 2011 with many high-profile launches (and a number of high-profile failures).

Many people around the world have grown to love their Tablet devices but despite their increased importance within the computing market, Tablets are still not capable enough to become a mass-media solution, insists ABI.

"With WiFi being the predominant form of Internet connectivity, media Tablets tend to stay at home during work and school hours along with the family pet. As an incremental device being used alongside laptops and smartphones, the use case to replace these existing devices has yet to materialise," comments Jeff Orr, group director, mobile devices, ABI.

Likewise, people will not rely on their mobile phones for Internet access in 2012 - or ever, predicts Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst, consumer mobility at ABI. He believes an influx of cheaper laptops and Tablets will keep consumers connected to the Internet into the future.

In November Google opened the front door to indoor maps, taking searchers inside shops, airports and malls.

Nokia, CSR, Ericsson, Mexens Technology and NextNav have also provided solutions for indoor mapping, but these technologies - along with relevant indoor location-based marketing - will not reach critical mass for a few more years.

"What we will likely see in 2012 are isolated mobile applications and services around individual high-traffic public areas like airports and malls.

The benefits are two-fold, with a new way to engage with the end user and improve their experience, while also providing key analytics on user behavior within these buildings," forecasts Patrick Connolly, senior analyst, telematics and navigation at ABI.

Next year is building up to be a big year for the gaming market with a number of long-awaited game releases on the horizon but consumers who are hoping to get their hands on next-generation game consoles such as the Microsoft Kinect 2 or the Sony PS4 will probably have to hold on until at least 2013.

There was a big push to make 2011 the year of 3D but even with a notable list of 3D film releases, the arrival of 3D-only TV stations and lots of new 3D TVs making their way into the market, consumers were not overly enthusiastic about the trend.

ABI says consumer attitudes towards 3D technology will be much the same in 2012. So what will be on the cards in 2012? A study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) predicts that wireless and mobile devices will be the feature of this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

According to the study Tablets are hot and cloud computing is still popular. Chipmaker Intel says super-thin, ultra-light, high performance laptops called ultrabooks will be the star of 2012.

The company has said it will focus on bringing a new range of touchscreen, Windows 8-based ultrabooks to market. - Relaxnews 2011

GPS with SEA maps

BY:NEWS STRAITS TIMES

Navigation solutions TomTom

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PROVIDER of in-car location and navigation solutions TomTom has unveiled five new GPS models for Malaysian and regional consumers.

The Via 220, Via 260 and Via 280 offer hands-free calling, integrated mount with flip screen and touchscreen. Other common features in all three models are Spoken Street Names, Advanced Lane Guidance and TomTom Map Share.
Via 220 and Via 260 (at RM499 and RM599 respectively) come with 4.3-inch touchscreen, while the Via 280 (RM699) has a 5-inch touchscreen.

Meanwhile, premium models TomTom GO 2050 and TomTom GO 2050 World come with a 5-inch Fluid Touchscreen, Easy Click magnetic mount and onboard speaker for clear audio delivery. The latter also features maps of 66 countries.
GO 2050 retails at RM999 while the top of the line GO 2050 World is RM1,249.

The new models offer TomTom’s Latest Map Guarantee service, which ensures that if a new map becomes available within 90 days of use, users can update their device using the MyTomTom software for free.
TomTom also adds value to each purchase with a bonus 12-month Map Update Service which entails users getting four bonus maps without any charge in the first year of driving.
TomTom’s Map Share feature, available on all the new devices, allows users to make changes to their maps whenever they stumble upon a new route, and to share their discoveries with other TomTom users.

HP Envy 110 e-All-in-One printer

1. This quiet beauty churns out photos at 25 pages per minute with HP ePrint technology, which lets you e-mail material to the printer from any mobile device — the BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and any smartphone with WiFi support. Price: RM899.

TomTom Via 220

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Sony Ericsson Xperia ray

2. Enhanced with an aluminium frame and 3.3-inch screen, this thin and lightweight communications sidekick offers Reality Display with Mobile Bravia engine, an 8.1-megapixel camera and pre-loaded Facebook inside Xperia app. In black, gold, white or pink chasis. Price: RM1,279.

Logitech K750 wireless solar keyboard

3. Especially for your favourite tree-hugger, this desktop peripheral does away with batteries and derives power from the sun. Comes with a three-year warranty. Price: RM189.

Belkin N300 wireless N router

4. This sleek router comes with MultiBeam technology to bring connection speeds of up to 300Mbps and coverage for everyone gathered at home during this festive season. Price: RM119.

Bone Collection Snow Man Flash Drive Set

5. Snow in Malaysia? Why not? With the Snow Man Flash Drive Set, you get an anti-dustproof, bio-degradable 4GB flash drive that works with Windows, Mac and Linux machines with ease. Price: RM79, at www.youbeli.com.

TomTom Via 220

6. This elegant navigation solution offers maps of seven Southeast Asian countries, with a 4.3-inch touch screen, Advanced Lane Guidance and TomTom Map Share features. Price: RM499.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z370

7. Wearing pop colours on its exterior, the IdeaPad Z370 offers a 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16:9 high-definition widescreen display and Dolby Advanced Audio for those who love music and movies. Price: RM1,899.

Toshiba Regza AT100 tablet computer

8. This Android-based tablet encapsulates Regza TV technology in a smaller, 10-inch form factor, plus 1GB DDR2 RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth and HSPA+(3.5G) support, 5-megapixel rear and two-megapixel front cameras, and GPS feature. Price: RM1,599.

Panasonic Lumix GF3

9. With a 14-42mm lens, 8GB SD card and a carrying case, this value-for-money 12-megapixel camera will make a budding photography buff happy as it can deliver high-resolution photos and AVCHD motion images. Price: RM1,999.

iPhone 4S

10. This gift will likely get you elected as the recipient’s favourite relative! Incorporating the new A5 chip, an 8-megapixel camera and IOS 5, the iPhone 4S’ recommended retail price is RM2,290. But you can get more value if you buy it with telco packages (details at Celcom, DiGi and Maxis websites).

Research and Markets: Malaysia Information Technology Report Q3 2011 - Market has strong growth fundamentals

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/10d8ba/malaysia_informati) has announced the addition of the "Malaysia Information Technology Report Q3 2011" report to their offering.

Malaysian IT spending is expected to grow to U$4.9bn in 2011, from US$4.5bn in 2010, when the market stabilised. IT spending should be boosted by ICT-friendly 2011 budget measures and growing interest in cloud computing, but much will depend on confidence in a sustainable economic recovery. There will be increasingly attractive opportunities in the IT services area as the government implements measures to make Malaysia a regional services hub. The government has a number of initiatives with favourable implications for demand for IT products and services, including computers for education programmes.

The IT market overall has strong growth fundamentals and key sectors will include government, telecoms and finance, including Islamic banking. The National Broadband Initiative has the potential to boost demand across all IT market segments.

Industry Developments

Malaysia's 2011 budget contained a number of measures to boost the IT industry and help stimulate ICT adoption in the country. Key measures included a two-year extension on import tax and sales tax exemption on broadband equipment, and the establishment of the MY Creative Content programme to encourage the development of local content. The tax exemption should stimulate the purchase of various types of connectivity devices, including notebook PCs.

In H111, the Malaysian government announced a new initiative to provide every adult in the country with a free Web-based email account. The Malaysia Email' initiative, which will enable the government to deliver tax returns, court documents and other official notices online, is expected to provide a major boost to e-government development. The government will spend US$16.6mn setting up the service. Malaysia named cloud computing as the most important of its top 10 strategic technology priorities for 2010. The government hopes that adoption of cloud computing, building on the National Broadband Initiative, could accelerate Malaysia's development into an advanced economy.

BIOMASS ENERGY TECHNOLOGY IN MALAYSIA – ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Hoi W.K. and Koh M.P.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, 52109 Kuala Lumpur
Email: hoiwk@frim.gov.my

Biomass energy is highly emphasized in the 9th Malaysian Plan. There are currently many incentives given to the promotion on the use of renewable energy from biomass in Malaysia. The biomass technologies ranged from the conversion of biomass into solid fuel such as briquettes and charcoal production to the direct combustion of biomass for use in the palm oil, rubber and brick making industries and the commercial use of biomass energy through the Small Renewable Energy Program.

Certain amount of biomass is converted into liquid fuel by pyrolytic process to manufacture bio oil. Part of this paper is allocated to the development of bio diesel in Malaysia. For gaseous fuel, some biomass is converted into biogas through fermentation and also through gasification.

This paper reviewed the current status of the technologies used in Malaysia, with special emphasis given to environmentally clean and economically viable systems. A number of environmental issues related to volatile emissions were highlighted together with numerous industrial applications of biomass energy.

A detail techno-economic analysis of the technology were highlighted. Issues related to labor cost and availability of raw material were also given prominence. Cogeneration technologies from biomass energy were given special focus in the paper especially towards an environment friendly system that will produce high quality fuel from a number of different types of biomass (with special emphasis to the use of waste from the oil palm industries) as well as producing high grade fuel from low quality waste such as feedstock.

A lot of emphasis were given a cost efficient preventive pre-treatment of these low-grade solid multi fuels by low temperature pyrolysis in downsized reductive environment for removal of hazardous air pollutants prior burning to improvement of burning efficiency of the revitalized solid fuel power plant-CHP up to 300 MW capacities.

This technology has been developed to meet the open – liberalized energy and cogeneration market demands. The paper concluded with the need for a good commercialization plan that will decrease the risk and maximize the chances for success for biomass energy in Malaysia. A model framework to develop suitable commercialization programs will also be highlighted.

Information Technology | Certification Intelligence

IT is the area of managing technology and spans wide variety of areas that include computer software, information systems, computer hardware, programming languages but are not limited to things such as processes,and data constructs. In short, anything that renders data, information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via any multimedia distribution mechanism, is considered part of the IT domain. IT provides businesses with four sets of core services to help execute the business strategy: business process automation, providing information, connecting with customers, and productivity tools.

IT professionals perform a variety of functions (IT Disciplines/Competencies) that ranges from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as management and administration of entire systems. Information technology is starting to spread further than the conventional personal computer and network technologies, and more into integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones, televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for such jobs.

In the recent past, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and the Association for Computing Machinery have collaborated to form accreditation and curriculum standards^[3] for degrees in Information Technology as a distinct field of study as compared^[4] to Computer Science and Information Systems today. SIGITE (Special Interest Group for IT Education)^[5] is the ACM working group for defining these standards. The Worldwide IT services revenue totaled $763 billion in 2009.^[6]