TechTouch Asia

Source: KT. Visitors watch the 5G-powered AI robot cafe b;eat2E in action. The cafe was co-developed by KT and Dal.Komm Coffee, and went live at MWC 2019. KT Corporation and Dal.Komm Coffee, Korea's first robot café franchise, showcased b;eat 2nd Evolution (b;eat2E), the second generation of the AI robot cafe at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 last week.  "We will continue to apply our GiGA Genie solution to a variety of businesses and develop more convenient and innovative services," said Kim Chae Hee, head of KT's AI business.  B;eat2E , which is backed by KT's 5G network, uses a robot arm that autonomously provides 47 tailored drinks. This is an example of how 5G could change our lives. The second-generation smart robot barista, supported by KT's AI solution, GiGA Genie, can communicate directly with customers, take voice orders, recommend drinks, answer questions and even wave at passers-by.  In contrast, Dal.Komm's original b;eat c...

The Huawei Consumer Business Group has announced that the global launch of its high-end Huawei P30 Smartphone Series will take place in Paris, France on March 26. Singapore customers can now register their interest online to receive the latest updates and information of the launch. The Huawei P series represents the brand’s finest in professional photography and design. Through its collaboration with Leica, Huawei aims to take its artificial intelligence (AI) photography capabilities of smartphones to the next level, with never-before-seen features to boot. Since its release in March 2018, the P20 series has reigned top in the DxOMark Mobile list. The P20 series is also popular, shipping over 16 million units worldwide since its launch. According to the 2018 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard , Huawei ranked 5th in its global R&D investment in 2018. This substantial investment has contributed significantly to breakthroughs in the user experience, photography and co...

- Telstra study finds business leaders lean too heavily on technology in digital transformation decisions - Singapore companies cite gap between digital transformation priorities and performance - Digital transformation driven financial rewards difficult to show - Businesses need whole-of-business approach for digital transformation success Source: Telstra. Cover for the report. The success of digital transformation initiatives undertaken by organisations in Singapore fall short of expectations due to their heavy emphasis on technology and lack of focus on people and processes. This was a main finding from Telstra’s Disruptive Decision-Making research, which surveyed 3,810 senior decision-makers from 12 industries in 14 markets around the world to uncover insights into strengths and weaknesses around their digital transformation programmes. When rating decision-making across four factors for success – people, processes, technology understanding and partnerships – busin...

- New platform combines intelligent connectivity and cloud capabilities for Internet of Things (IoT) to accelerate enterprise digital transformation - Insights-driven artificial intelligence (AI) provides performance-based metrics for informed business decisions Singtel , in collaboration with Microsoft , has announced plans to launch an AI-powered IoT network over Microsoft Azure – a unified and programmable platform that combines intelligent connectivity with the cloud for IoT. Through integrating Singtel’s IoT network functions into Microsoft Azure’s core cloud capabilities, IoT applications can flexibly migrate from devices, to networks and to clouds seamlessly. This collaboration overcomes traditional constraints, empowering enterprises to lower costs, improve performance, and accelerate digital transformation. With computing powered by Microsoft Azure, the platform will also tap into Azure’s cloud services including IoT Hub, IoT Edge and other machine learning and cognit...

Cisco has announced details of its innovation blueprint with Rakuten Mobile Network (RMN) to build the world's first end-to-end fully virtualised, cloud native mobile network, ready for 5G. RMN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rakuten, a global player in Internet services and soon to be operator of Japan's newest mobile network, announced on February 12 it plans to launch commercial services via its new mobile network in October 2019 with a cloud-native architecture that is fully virtualised from radio access to core, with end-to-end automation for both network operations and services. The foundation of the new Rakuten Mobile Network architecture and telco-cloud will use Cisco software and services, and routing and switching hardware. Cisco delivered technology from its cloud, IT and service provider businesses, as well as engineering, multivendor system integration, security and operations expertise from Cisco Customer Experience to deliver in record time what was considere...

Source: Microsoft. Nadella onstage at MWC . At Mobile World Congress (MWC), Microsoft announced the HoloLens 2 intelligent edge device in addition to making several other launches. HoloLens 2 is more immersive and comfortable than the previous model, and is built to accelerate time-to-value. The new visual display system still runs on low power while doubling the field of view; there is a more balanced centre of gravity, with light carbon-fibre material incorporated. Thermal management has been improved. There is also a Microsoft HoloLens Customization Program for customers and partners which need to customise HoloLens 2 to fit their environmental needs. The Azure Kinect Developer Kit combines the company's artificial intelligence (AI) sensors in a single device, while Dynamics 365 Guides is a new mixed-reality app that empowers employees to learn by doing. Guides provides step-by-step instructions that direct employees to the tools and parts they need and how to u...

To support industry transformation, Singapore plans to build deep enterprise capabilities, deep worker capabilities and encourage strong partnerships, within the country and across the world. In his Budget 2019 speech, Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat shared new ways that Singapore would help the more than 200,000 enterprises in the country thrive, beginning with helping startups scale. Deep enterprise capabilities Startups received a boost two years back with Startup SG to provide holistic support for startups and entrepreneurs, from co-investments and proof-of-concept grants, to mentorship and physical space. "Our startup ecosystem is flourishing," Heng said. "There are now over 220 venture capital deals per year in Singapore, worth close to US$4.2 billion 1 . This is a significant rise from the 80 deals worth US$136 million in 2012. "Today, more than 150 global venture capital funds, incubators, and accelerators are based in Singapore, suppor...