LG unveils hotel TV solutions

LG Electronics (LG) announced today its new Bluetooth stereo headset, the LG TONE+™ (HBS-730). This feature-packed new model is the worthy successor to the LG TONE (HBS-700) which was a top-seller for popular online retailers such as Amazon.com. The LG TONE+™ not only provides a richer and clearer all-round audio experience, but also supports VoLTE (Voice over LTE) calls, enabling the user to hold conversations in High Definition (HD) sound between VoLTE-capable devices.

“LG was the world’s first company to demonstrate VoLTE technology and announce a VoLTE smartphone,” said Paul Bae, Vice President of Marketing Center of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “And today, we are still at the forefront of efforts to advance the commercialization of VoLTE as a follow up to the global expansion of LTE. In order to provide our customers with a superior user experience over 4G networks, LG will continue to raise the bar on all its mobile products, including accessories that support LTE and VoLTE.”

The LG TONE+™ offers enhanced audio quality with a number of improvements over its predecessor. The extended bass register of the LG TONE+™ effectively increases the available sound range, providing a perceptibly improved audio experience that will please even the most demanding audiophile. The LG TONE+ also adopts a professional grade audio codec, the aptX which is used by discerning music studios, broadcasters and manufactures around the world and is favored for its ability to deliver CD-quality sound by automatically fitting high capacity audio data to the available bandwidth while transmitting.

Improving value to the consumer, the LG Tone+™ is equipped with an array of handy features. Thanks to a clever Bluetooth Multi-connection function, the LG Tone+™ can be instantly connected to two smartphones or to smartphone and other multimedia device. The Audible Pairing Assistance feature reveals the connection status when another device is connected, while Vibrating Call Alert notifies the user of incoming calls. Two other features, the Audible Battery Status Alert and Mic Mute, have also been included to maximize convenience. Finally, BT Reader, one of LG’s own Android applications, monitors incoming SMS and reads them out to the headset, meaning users can stay informed without taking their smartphone out of their pocket.

The talk and standby times of the LG TONE+™ have been extended to 15 and 500 hours, respectively. Its sleek, behind-the-neck design ensures user comfort and fashion credentials at the same time. The LG TONE+™ will be available in Korea, the United States and China by the end of this month in blue-black and white-pearl color options.

Emirates Flies into Network-wide Fare Promotion

 

Best Available Fares for ‘Early Bird’ Bookings

Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, is revving up for a network sales push, inspiring a new wave of travel around the world.

In the slipstream of recently announced half year profits of AED 2.1 billion (US$ 575 million), Emirates is driving forward by offering attractive prices on Economy fares over a 10-day period.

The special network-wide promotion launches Friday 23rd November and runs to 2nd December for travel between 21^st January and 10th June 2013. Customers are being encouraged to plan ahead and book early to enjoy the greatest reductions.

“Emirates is already known for providing superb value for money. This network-wide initiative pushes the value bar a notch higher, making it even more attractive to embark on that trip of a lifetime, visit a relative or friend, or explore a new market for business,” said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide.

“No other airline squeezes as much product and service into the ticket price. We are product and value driven. These are the guiding principles of what we do and passengers who book early will be rewarded with the best discounts through this exciting promotion,” said Mr Antinori.

The raft of savings mean that passengers can fly, for example, from Nairobi to Dubai and Middle East from US$533. Prices to Europe start at USS851, to China from USS1000, fares to North America begin at US$1268, India can be visited from US$1044, the South East Asia from US$738, South America from US$1727, while Australia can now be reached from US$1959.

Emirates Holidays, the airline’s tour operating arm, is offering great savings on all land arrangements including tours and excursions, hotels, transfers and car-hire for bookings made during the promotion period. The Emirates Holidays offer is for travel out of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries to over 100 destinations.

“We know some countries have not traditionally been early booking markets, but under this ‘Early Bird’ offer, booking early will pay dividends and enable us to give unprecedented fares to our loyal customers,” added Mr Antinori.

 

Emirates operates flights to 126 destinations in 74 countries and 2012 has seen a burst of new destination activity. So far this calendar year, Emirates has started services to Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, Lusaka, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon, Washington DC and Adelaide. Still to come in 2012 are Lyon and Phuket. Warsaw and Algiers will follow in the months to come.

Emirates, winner of more than 500 awards for products and service, most recently picked up Airline of the Year at the Arabian Business Achievement Awards in Dubai and has won the prestigious Airline of the Year 2011 award by Air Transport World.

Aboard modern aircraft, gourmet–chef-prepared meals are served in all cabin classes by highly trained, multi-national and multi-lingual cabin crew.

For families on the move, the airline provides dedicated children’s menus and activities, and ice, Emirates’ award winning entertainment system, offering up to 1,400 channels of on-demand entertainment in every seat.

Luggage allowances are amongst the most generous in the industry with 30kg of check-in baggage permitted in Economy. 

 

Emirates, now flying under the “Hello Tomorrow” banner, operates a fleet of 188 aircraft, including the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s, the airline’s giant, but environmentally sensitive flagship aircraft.

 

For more information on Emirates, including how to book and a complete list of terms and conditions, contact your travel agent or visit: emirates.com

Terms and Conditions Apply.

 

Epson’s large format printers help preserve Africa’s prehistoric rock paintings

Large format printers donated by Epson are playing a key role in a world heritage project in Tanzania concerned with preserving hundreds of unique rock paintings. Printed reproductions of the paintings are helping to raise awareness locally and internationally, create jobs and foster a sense of ownership and pride among the local community.

 

 

 

 

First documented by anthropologist Mary Leakey in her 1983 book Africa’s Vanishing Art, the paintings are found in their hundreds around the Kondoa province of central Tanzania, part of the Kondoa UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The paintings are some of the world’s earliest examples of rock art, and are estimated to date back as far as 29,000 years. They feature humanoids, animal insect hybrid creatures, semi-realistic animals and geometric motifs, thought to be illustrations of a parallel supernatural universe experienced by Sandawe Bushman shamans in trance states.

Unfortunately, the paintings are deteriorating through the effects of natural weathering, and from acts of vandalism that range from casual graffiti to uncontrolled dynamiting in search of fabled treasure.

The Rock Art Conservation Centre (RACC) in Arusha came about in 2009 through the efforts of Finnish paper-maker Seppo Hallavainio, who has lived in Tanzania for more than a decade.

 

“The project started from a discussion with photographer and digital printing professional Gary Wornell, who had worked closely with Epson on several occasions,” said Seppo. “The plan was to make these little-known supernatural paintings known to the public.

We started activities within the community, to educate them about what they have around them and how they might benefit from it, as it is they who should be the guardians of the rock art.”

The central idea was to establish a sustainable and self-supporting large-format printing facility for the reproduction of cave and rock paintings. Epson came on board and installed two printers: an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 and an Epson Stylus Pro 3800, which print at up to 44 and 17-inch widths respectively, enabling prints to be made. This has played a big role in generating revenue through sales of prints to tourists and other visitors to RACC in order to fund the protection and further study of the art.

 

Mukesh Bector, Regional Sales Manager for Epson East Africa says the rock art preservation initiative has given the company the opportunity to help preserve the planet’s heritage while, at the same time, establish potential future tourist attractions and revenue-earners for the local population.

“Epson’s products are engineered to reduce impact on the environment at all stages of the product lifecycle. But as well as helping to protect our planet’s future, these printers are preserving its past,” said Michael Hunt. “At Epson, we believe in giving back to the communities that support us,” he noted.

The sustainability aspect of the programme revolves around the use of hand-made papers manufactured from readily-available local vegetation, such as mulberry, cotton and fig. Seppo, who is highly respected as a paper-maker in his native Finland, is teaching his skills to local women’s groups.

 

Gary Wornell has put his years of expertise in coating and printing on a wide variety of media using Epson printers to use by ensuring the papers and printer work together reliably. Gary visited Tanzania to run a series of photography and print workshops in February 2012 for local schoolchildren, paper-makers associated with the centre, and both professional and amateur artists and photographers.

“With the support of Epson and its versatile large format printers, we have made it possible to print reproductions of these remarkable images on locally-made paper - an innovative and exceptional use of technology in a developing region,” Gary said.

SONY OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES VAIO E AND S SERIES IN KENYA

Sony fuses speed, portability and functionality with new VAIO series 

Leading consumer electronics brand Sony has launched a new line-up of its VAIO laptops in the Kenyan market. With two new models namely the VAIO S and VAIO E Series, Sony plans to tap into the growing market for high performance, portable laptops that transition easily from office to home, providing consumers with top range performance in a stylish yet functional package.

Built with the consideration that consumers are increasingly leading their lives on the go, the new line-up fuses speed with sleek high-end designs to present a sturdy easy-to-carry laptop ideal for business, on-campus and on-the-move use.

Both series in the new line-up come equipped with the latest Windows® 8 64-bit Operating System and 3rd generation Intel® processors, with the VAIO S Series featuring an Extended Battery and slot-in optical drive, which not only achieve the beauty of the full flat slim design and increase the rigidity of the frame, but allow consumers to use the laptop for extended periods when there is no power or power source.

“We appreciate that in a market where the pace of life is increasing, consumers need their laptops to be fast, functional and easy to carry, which is why these series are designed to provide powerful computing performance that essentially makes them full-featured mobile PCs with all the technologies needed for full mobile computing,” says Shibuya Akira, Senior Manager, VAIO Marketing, Sony Middle East and Africa.

At a time when more people are choosing to use laptops over PCs whether in the workplace, home or school, the new VAIO models strive to meet rising consumer expectations in an increasingly competitive market.

Says Mr. Akira: “Not only do consumers want laptops that work; they want laptops that are designed with them in mind, which is why in addition to being powerful, fast, portable and sleek, our laptops also come with features that enhance the Sony VAIO experience.”

The new VAIO line-up offers features that cover both work and play, with the “xLOUD” and “Clear Phase” technologies cancelling out distortion caused by boosting volume levels to give clear sound necessary for movies and games

Add to that the built-in HD web camera, PlayMemories Home photo editing feature and a dedicated ‘ASSIST’ button that provides one-touch access to VAIO Care for basic maintenance services, and consumers have a laptop built for work, school, on-the-move and all the work and play in between.

The Sony VAIO S Series and E Series are now available across authorised outlets countrywide with one year local warranty provided by Redington and Anisuma Traders.

 

Nokia Asha 308 now available in Kenya

A full smartphone now available for purchase as a music and entertainment bundle 

 

 Nokia today announced that the Nokia Asha 308 is now available for purchase in Kenya at an estimated retail price of KES10,500. The phone is the newest addition to the Asha Touch range and is Nokia's most affordable capacitive touchscreen device to-date.

The dual SIM Nokia Asha 308 gives consumers a smarter Internet experience thanks to Nokia Xpress Browser, which enables up to 90 percent more efficient mobile browsing and faster access to rich web applications compared to conventional browsers.

The new device offers a fluid 'swipe' user interface and an open environment for third-party application development, characteristics that have earned the complete Asha Touch range full smartphone classification from global market research firm, GfK.

 

The Nokia Asha 308 allows users to enjoy a host of mobile entertainment options with just a simple swipe: 

·         Customers can enjoy a huge selection of free-to-download* games, including the exclusive-to-Nokia offer of 40 free games from EA, featuring titles like Tetris®, Bejeweled®, Need for Speed(TM) The Run and EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA 12

·         Standalone Facebook and Twitter clients, in addition to the Nokia Messaging Service, allow consumers to stay in constant contact

·         For the first time within the Asha Touch range, users can stream video through the browser from sites like YouTube

•        The new Nokia Nearby web app helps people discover new places and things to do, by searching nearby locations and reviewing the options on a map

The Nokia Asha 308 is a 2G-enabled device featuring a 3.0'' WQVGA capacitive display, multiple home screens, stereo radio, loud speakers and up to 32GB microSD card support. The phone boasts great battery life and is available in the colours Black and Golden Light.

"Our innovative Asha Touch family of devices is designed for people who want a great smartphone experience with lower running costs," said Bruce Howe, General Manager for Nokia East Africa. “These devices build on the existing Asha range and our ongoing commitment to connect the vibrant Kenyan youth market”.

 

For the East African market, the Nokia Asha 308 will be retailed as an entertainment pack and will come bundled with a free 2GB memory card and earphones in the pack. The estimated retail price for this introductory offer is KES10,500.   

 

P&G’S CHILDREN’S SAFE DRINKING WATER PROGRAM WINS ECONOMIST INNOVATION AWARD

Named One Of The World’s Most Impactful Innovations 

Calling it an innovation “beyond inspiration,” a panel of global judges named the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program one of the world’s most impactful developments, presenting it with the 2012 Economist Social Innovation Award.

 

“As a Company, we are both honored by the recognition and inspired by our employees and global partners who have worked to deliver more than 5 billion liters of clean drinking water to families in developing countries, helping save nearly 30,000 lives,” said P&G CEO, President and Chairman of the Board, Bob McDonald.

 

The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program works with partners in more than 65 countries to share its P&G Purifier of Water packets, which contain a patented powdered technology that transforms dirty and contaminated water into clean, drinkable water.

 

The award was presented during The Economist’s 11^th Annual Innovation Award gala at the NAFTA Center in London and attended by global leaders in business, academia, research and development and government. Winners were named in eight categories, including bioscience, energy and the environment, social innovation and computing/telecommunications. The awards celebrated the innovators behind the scenes: “the dreamers and the doers whose innovations transform the world we live in.”  This year’s winners included Google, Garmin, GeneTech and MIT. For a full list of winners and their categories, click here.

 

Receiving the award for P&G were Dr. Phil Souter and Dr. Greg Allgood.

 

Souter, a P&G Research & Development Section Head with the Company 15 years, invented the powder technology that when mixed with water removes dirt, cysts and pollutants, while killing bacteria and viruses. Souter first began working on the innovation when he was a research scientist, studying the possibility of recycling laundry water to help with water shortages.  At the same time, personal travels took him to South East Asia where he saw a broader need: clean drinking water globally. When he changed assignments, Souter took his new passion with him. And when asked to focus on developing new products, he requested for and won funding to do still more research on making safe drinking water.  Working alone at first, he went from an idea to a product within two years.

 

“I started to think about whether the bigger opportunity might be to clean up water people were drinking to make it safe to use. Combining the technical insights from the wash water recycling with the consumer insights from my travel experiences lead me to believe that I might have found an opportunity where I could actually make a difference,” Souter said.

 

Now called P&G Purifier of Water, the powder comes in small packets, and when stirred into 10 liters of dirty water, causes heavy metals, dirt, and parasites to pull together, then fall to the bottom of the container and can be strained through a filter cloth. After 20 minutes, the disinfectant in the powder leaves the water clean enough to drink.

 

“My work on this project has been a source of both personal pride and humble understanding, as I’ve come to realize that every once in a while, life puts us in a position – opens to us a door -- to make a difference,” Souter said. “Sometimes it’s luck, sometimes it’s fate that enables us to recognize that opportunity, and then tap the needed resources and our own skills to find a way through the open door. I am humbled that our innovation has helped so many. I share the celebration of this award with countless others who continue to work on the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program.”

 

Allgood, a 26-year P&G employee, has served as Founder and Director of the non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program since 2004, helping take Souter’s innovation to families and children around the world. The Economist called Allgood’s work the second innovation in the story, creating new distribution strategies with global organizations to help distribute the packets where they are needed most and innovating to find ways to scale-up the program, through partnerships, enabling P&G to deliver more than it could alone. 

 

“This award recognizes the people behind the innovation, those who implement an idea to improve the world,” said Economist Editor Tom Standage. “This innovation and the work of (the Children’s Safe Drinking Water) program is saving lives.”

 

Asked to share his “eureka moment” – when he knew that this program had both his personal and professional commitment, Allgood said: “It was 2004…. I was sharing our water purification packets with villagers in western Kenya, where villagers collect drinking water from shallow ponds they share with livestock. As we were preparing to leave, a woman grabbed my arm and dropped to her knees. She begged me for more packets for her children, as someone had stolen the bucket of clean water I’d given her earlier.  I knew without a doubt that I had to find a way to keep the program alive, and growing.”

 

“This is a true honor – and one that I accept on behalf of P&G employees and our many safe drinking water partners around the world who have helped us build and expand this program. It’s unacceptable that more than 2,000 children die every day from unclean drinking water,” Allgood said. “P&G is more committed than ever to scale up the program to reach our goal of saving one live every hour by providing 2 billion liters of clean drinking water every year by 2020.”