Technology Product Reviews, Mobile News and Prices

Clean energies need detailed legal frame to develop, experts say

2011-04-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Vietnam has a significant source of renewable energies, but fails to exploit the clean energies due to a shortage of detailed legal frame and mechanisms, experts say.

“Only 1.2 megawatts were generated from wind power at rural areas. There were investors importing 20 wind turbines with an output of 1.5 megawatt for each. They have connected to the national electricity grid since 2009,” said Le Tuan Phong, deputy head of the Energy Department, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

“Wind power needs supports from the government. Thus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted a mechanism to develop this renewable energy,” Phong noticed.

There were many investment projects on wind power at the central provinces of Ninh Thuan, Binh Dinh and Gia Lai, where have strong winds.

However, the cost remains very high, reaching nearly US 10 cents per kWh. Electricity generated from solar power, meanwhile, costs the most, ranging from 30 to 40 cents per kWh.

The government has set up preferential mechanisms for investment projects on renewable energies, including tax exemptions, low land rentals and price subsidization.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is setting up plans on developing renewable energies in order to meet the target of generating an amount of electricity from the energies, which will make 5 percent out of the country’s output in 2020.

Dr. Hoang Van Huan, vice chairman of the Foreign Investment Business Association, complaint there was a lack of a detailed legal frame for the renewable energy development.

“To meet the 5 percent target in 2020, the Energy Institution has proposed to set up a fund for renewable energy development. The Ministry of Industry and Trade also proposed to train human resources for renewable energy producers,” said Nguyen Duc Cuong, Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Clean Development Mechanism.

Vietnam is one of 14 countries around the world having a potential of hydropower, with more than 120,000 hydropower plants producing the total output of 300 megawatts.

David Jozefy of the Czech-based wind turbine producer KV Venti said researches all showed Vietnam had profuse sources of renewable energy, of which the heat energy can generate 200 megawatts in 2020.

The energy sources can generate a great amount of electricity for a strongly growing Vietnam, said David.

Solar energy in an average of 2,000-2,500 hour per year sunlight can release around 150 kilocalories per square centimeter of heat, which is equal to an annual average output of 44 billion tons of oil. A kilocalorie per square centimeter is 42 million kilograms per square second.

The wind power source of Vietnam is also abundant, with an expected output of around 1,400 kilowatt per hour (kWh) on a square meter in a year at islands.

Statistics, however, show that the amount of electricity produce from the renewable sources remained very low, making only around 2.1 percent of the country’s total output. The domestic electricity consumption increased by an average of 17 percent per year, nearly double of the economic growth rate.

The Southeast Asian country is expected to import coal and crude oil to meet the power demand in the next five years. Therefore, renewable energies are the best solutions to curb the issue, analysts said.

Source: SGGP

So easy to buy fake hi-tech goods in VN

2011-03-02T19:04:00.001-08:00

The Dong Kinh Market, the biggest and most bustling market in the border province of Lang Son, is considered the “paradise” of prohibited hi-tech goods, where imitated products are dirt cheap.

Those who have cars, would be interested in GPS (global positioning system) devices. However, if they do not want to spend money to buy genuine software Vietmap which is priced at no less than 4-6 million dong (US$200-300), they can use the imitated Vietmap sourced from China.

GPS devices have been available at Dong Kinh Market in large quantities. At all the kiosks here, people can easily find the imitated digital map which has the surprisingly low price of one million dong integrated in a device with unfamiliar brand “LLC”. The device uses 12V electricity sourced from the built-in lighter. It has a 3.5-4 inch color touch screen with instructions in English, Chinese and Vietnamese.

At Dong Kinh Market, the “floor price” for GPS device with 3.5 inch screen integrated with Vietmap software 2007 version. The same device with Vietmap software 2009 version is 300,000 dong more expensive. “The products do not allow updates If you purchase the product priced at 1.3 million dong to install in your car, it can get the signals emitted from the police’s speedometer from the distance of one kilometer,” a seller tried to persuade a man to purchase the products.

In fact, no one knows for sure about the real quality of the products; however, the surprisingly low prices can easily persuade people. The goods are so cheap that buyers would not regret much if they can use them for some time even if they have to throw them away later.

Besides GPS devices, high-tech buyers can also find eye-catching mobile phones which have been designed with the inspiration from super cars such as Porscher Lamborghini, or Hummer.

Most of super car-styled mobile phones have 2.2 inch touchscreen with 65,000-256,000 colours, and 2.0-12.0 megapixel camera. The mobile phones allow the user to listen to MP3 music, watch MP4 film… and have the price of two million dong on average. However, the mobile phones which allow two-wave simcard (both CDMA and GSM networks) are priced at 2.5 million dong.

In fact, such mobile phones are also available in Hanoi. They are much cheaper, by hundreds of thousands dong per product, than at Dong Kinh market.

However, the biggest problem here is that buyers at Dong Kinh Market cannot use the warranty services, while they can do if purchasing products in Hanoi. In fact, some sellers offer warranty services in order to attract more buyers. But buyers would have to go back to the market, 150 kilometers far from Hanoi.

The noteworthy thing in the market is that prohibited goods are displayed openly. The “black technology” products, such as cameras, or key hooks with eavesdropping devices, are available at all electronics kiosks.

Most of these products are as small as matchboxes. The products use 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz band of GSM network and they have installed the MiniSIM of mobile phone in order to be used as sound recorders.

In February 2011, according to Buu dien, as the supply is profuse, the devices are selling very cheaply, at 500-650,000 dong. The products with more complicated functions which allow to automatically call those, who want to eavesdrop, would be 100,000 dong more expensive.

The currently valid Government’s Decree No. 59 stipulates that all eavesdropping equipments are listed as prohibited goods. However, at Dong Kinh Market and other markets in the border provinces, such as Tan Thanh, Dong Dang in Lang Son province, Coc Leu in Lao Cai, the laws have been “ignored”. In fact, the market management taskforce has turned a blind eye to the products.

Source: Buu dien

Vietnam lost 5900 billion dong in 2010 due to computer viruses

2011-03-01T17:35:00.001-08:00

An independent survey conducted by BKAV (Bach Khoa antivirus) in January 2011 shows that computer virus infections in 2010 were not considerably improved, and computer viruses still caused a big loss of 5900 billion dong to users.

The losses have been calculated based on the income of computer users and the duration when their work was interrupted due to the viruses. On average, every computer user in Vietnam lost 1,192,000 dong in 2010. With at least five million computers in regular use across the country, the total losses caused by computer viruses in 2010 might have reached 5900 billion dong.

The percentage of virus infected computers decreased slightly in 2010

In 2010, 93 percent of computers in Vietnam were infected with viruses at least once during the year. The figure showed an improvement in comparison with the previous years (97 percent), but the improvement was significant. More than 1/3 of the computers (36 percent) were infected with viruses at least one time a month.

USBs remain the most popular source of viruses. 96 percent of polled computer users said their USBs were infected with viruses at least one time last year.

2010 was the year when awareness of computer security issues was improved. 93 percent of polled people said that in order to effectively fight against viruses, they need to use copyrighted antivirus software. If they use illegal software, they will be vulnerable when troubles occur, because they cannot ask software producers to offer consultancy or give technical assistance.

In 2010 when meeting troubles with computer viruses people’s actions were also quite different from that in 2008. 49 percent of computer users said they would ask antivirus software producers to give assistance when meeting troubles, while the figure was 34 percent only in 2008. As such, now people know how to protect themselves from viruses and know to use supporting services.

A good thing that BKAV’s report has pointed out is that computer users are now vigilant about links sent via emails or messenger clients. Only 10 percent of people would click on a strange link.

According to Nguyen Minh Duc, Network Security Division of BKAV, said that 67 percent of polled people said they would track down the origins of the links sent to them, and they would ignore the links sent to them by strangers. “This is the advisable treatment in these cases,” he said.

Computer users have good awareness, but don’t take actions

While passwords can open the “world” of a person, including a personal computer or email, 53 percent of people still do not undertake necessary measures to protect passwords.

“Computer users need to create strong passwords in order to avoid the risks of having passwords stolen. Strong passwords are the passwords which have at least nine characters with numbers, lower-case letters, block letters and symbols such as @#$%^&*. One must not provide passwords to anyone and should change passwords regularly,” Duc said.

A simple solution which people can use to protect their computers is to lock the computers when they do not use them. However, 63 percent of computer users said they never lock their computers before leaving desks, even though the action is simply done by pressing “Windows + L”.

Tuyet Ngan

Vietnam, Japan cooperate in core technology development

2011-02-24T18:02:00.001-08:00

The Vietnam National Institute of Software and Digital Content Industry and the Core Technology Development Centre of Japan’s Panasonic System Networks Co. Ltd. will cooperate in the development of core technology.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to the effect was signed in Hanoi on Feb. 22.

At the signing ceremony, Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop said that Vietnam is carrying out synchronous measures to implement a project to turn Vietnam into a strong nation in information technology-communications.

The project aims to develop IT production, including software, digital content and hardware, said the minister, adding that the signing of the MoU is a move to implement the task.

Head of the Institute Hoang Le Minh said that under the MoU, both sides will jointly research, design as well as transfer and apply a number of the latest sourcing and core technologies in the coreless computer network.

Source: VNA

Local telecoms hook into global market

2011-02-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

Military-owned telecom operator Viettel has said investment in foreign markets is a vital task. Last month the company received a licence to operate in Peru, its fifth foreign markets after Cambodia, Laos, Haiti and Mozambique.

Viettel plans to invest US$400 million in 10 years in the South American country and hopes to become one of the top three service providers there in two to four years.

This year it will set up more than 4,000 transceiver stations outside Vietnam to serve its 100 million foreign customers. Viettel's revenues from its overseas operations are expected to be two or three times that of its local revenues by 2020.

The Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), which operates the MobiFone and Vinaphone networks, has also invested abroad, focusing on mobile phone and broadband services.

It has signed a contract with Myanmar 's Yatanarpon Teleport to provide telecom services, build a factory to manufacture telecom equipment, and distribute telecom products in that country.

The VNPT will also increase its investment in Venezuela for manufacturing telecom devices and set up a Post Office Protocol (POP) to provide voice, data transmission and other value-added services in Cambodia and Germany .

The Vietnam Television Corporation has gone international by supplying digital content. In 2009 it established companies in Cambodia , Indonesia , the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Laos .

It has also opened branches in China, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and the US and hopes to double its turnover to US$10 million from foreign markets this year.

Source: VNA

Consumers complain about mobile service quality

2011-02-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

mobile phone subscribers are not only disturbed by advertisement SMSs, but also when a they are woken up at night just because service providers inform them that the money left in their accounts is 28,000 dong.

Lap, a subscriber of MobiFone complaines that every day since January he has been receiving two messages from the operator informing him how much money is left in his account. The worst thing is that these messages are always sent at midnight when he is deep asleep.

“Sometimes the messages are sent at 3 am”, said Lap. All say the same” “The money left n your account is 28,000 VND…” and “You have just added three messages to your SMS account…”.

“I have reported the problem to MobiFone, but until yesterday nothing has changed”, says Lap.

some subscribers of Viettel also complain they often receive the operators’ messages at inappropriate times.

Thinh, a customer at Viettel, said that three months ago, he downloaded eight songs to his mobile phone. When a song was successfully downloaded, he received three messages. And when the time-limit for these songs ended, another three messages was sent to his mobile phone to inform him.

Thinh’s mobile phone even broke down once when it received 24 messages at a time. The messages came at 12 pm when he was taking a nap. This continued on the following day and annoyed me very much”, he adds.

Thuy, a Vietnamobile subscriber, complains that she receives about 15 advertisements a week. Though she found it very troublesome, she does not use the block-message service,afraid that she would miss some important ones.

Viettel’s representative said that Viettel has received complaints from its customers about messages sent at inappropriate times. “Every time we receive complaints from consumers, we check the system and fix the problem”.

As for Lap’s case, Mobifone says that they have checked and solved the problem already. “We made an apology to the customer”, said one of the managersof MobiFone.

A Viettel customer, Long, complaines that he had been charged a roaming fee to China during his trip to Phanxipan Mount, despite the fact that he hadn’t left Vietnamese territory.

When he climbed to the mountain top, he discovered that the domestic mobile phone signal was intermittent while the foreign mobile operator’s signal – China Unicom – was very strong. Long’s mobile phone was set on the automatic roaming mode, so it caught the signal of China Unicom, instead of Viettel or other domestic Operators.

Long noticed this, but he ignored it since he was still on Vietnamese territory and couldn’t be charged roaming fee.

After the trip, Long received a message from Viettel i that his roaming fee to China was 20,000 dong. Although surprised and annoyed, but since the charge was not high,he decided not to complain to the mobile service provider. He said: “Lucky for me, I just received short phone calls. If I kept boasting about getting to Phanxipan’s top, I would have died because of thei phone bill now”.

A source f information from Viettel explained that for some kinds of cell phones, foreign mobile phone signal is stronger than domestic ones. If the phone is set on the roaming mode, it will automatically catch the stronger signal.

C. V

Support needed to develop green urban power projects

2011-02-15T18:20:00.001-08:00

Binh Thuan Wind Energy Plant in southern Binh Thuan Province's Tuy Phong District. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The development of green energy to replace hydro- and thermal power requires strong policy backing, experts have said.

Though HCM City is sunny all year around, it has only one solar power plant that was set up in Can Gio District last month, according to Huynh Kim Tuoc, director of the HCM City Energy Conservation Centre.

The VND14.8 billion (US$708,000) plant built by the HCM City Electricity Company supplies electricity to 172 out of the existing 204 local households.

Viet Nam has exhausted its main energy source, hydro-power, which also causes destruction of forests and erosion of land, according to Tuoc.

The country's other power sources like coal and petroleum are limited.

"With HCM City being one of the cities most at risk from climate change in Southeast Asia, research and development of environmentally friendly power has become more necessary than ever," he added.

Phan Minh Tan, director of the city Department of Science and Technology, said while solar and wind energy were more eco-friendly than conventional sources, they also cost much more to produce.

Only some developed countries like Germany had the financial capability to make extensive use of these renewable energies, he said.

"It costs Germany 22 euro cents (29 US cents) to produce 1kW of solar power but government support enables electricity companies to sell at half the price," he explained.

"Though Viet Nam has plenty of sources of green energy, the developing country does not have the ability to turn them into electricity."

Last month a US firm that manufactures low-cost solar cells received a licence to set up a plant in HCM City.

Instead of the commonly used silicon solar cells that cost $6 – 7 for a panel, this unit will produce polymer solar cells at $1.

However, the cost of energy produced using them will still not be lower than that of hydro-electricity.

"The Department of Science and Technology is going to get wind-energy-technology from Russia."

It needs a wind of just 1.5 metres per second instead of the usual 15–20 metres.

"Though it is the latest technology, the project needs support from the government," Tan said.

Hoang Huu Than, director of the Electric Power Consulting and Development Center, also said the city needs a long-term strategy on using renewable energy.

The demand for electricity in the dry season this year is expected to increase by 14 per cent year on year.

However, according to Electricity of Viet Nam, supply is likely to be lower due to the lack of water in reservoirs and delay in construction of several thermal plants. — VNS

Could smartphones go stupid?

2011-02-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

Smartphones are rapidly becoming ubiquitous, but they risk becoming a victim of their own success, so clogging networks they are unable to do many of the smart applications that fuelled their sales.

Analysts warn that the mobile industry soon faces growing pains, with congestion choking service at peak times and locations, and operators forced to hike prices and capping or slowing data use.

In either case many popular services that have driven smartphone sales could suffer.

Mobile industry leaders recognise this threat and it will be one of the key questions they address this coming week at their annual gathering.

More than 50,000 people from over 1,300 companies are set to attend the four-day Mobile World Congress opening Monday in Barcelona, including executives from dozens of top firms.

Sales of smartphones have rocketed over the past few years -- nearly 470 million of them sold in the past two years according to Gartner market research firm -- and developing nifty applications for them has become a major industry in itself.

But with each smartphone generating as much as 24 times as much data traffic as a regular mobile phone the volume of network traffic has exploded, with the network firm Cisco forecasting it to grow 26-fold by 2015.

Mobile operators have been hard pressed to keep up.

"The explosion in data traffic and the strain on networks is beginning to show with service quality already suffering," Torbjoern Sandberg, chief executive of Birdstep mobile connectivity firm, said in a recent statement.

While spectacular overloading of networks such as with AT&T in the United States and 02 in Britain in December 2009 -- which the carrier linked to smartphone use -- is rare, users more often encounter dropped calls and slower service at rush hour or in crowded public transport.

"Bandwidth congestion will continue to be a serious problem for operators, especially in the most populated areas during peak usage times," said Merav Bahat of Flash Networks, a company which helps operators improve network performance.

"It will not render smartphones dumb, but it will frustrate users who expect a wireline-like experience on their mobile device," she added.

Congestion hits first the bandwith-hogging and most popular smartphone application -- video.

Video streaming already accounts for 37 percent of mobile data traffic, according to the latest Mobile Trends Report by Allot Communication, and Cisco expects video to account for two-thirds of traffic by 2015.

But frequent interruptions would render video streaming nearly unusable at peak traffic times.

Video calls on mobiles, which may finally take off this year, would also suffer, as would voice calls on alternative services such as Skype.

E-mail and web browsing would continue to function, but at slower speeds.

Operators have already begun put smartphone users on a data diet, either limiting use or slowing data speeds after a certain volume has been reached.

"Unlimited data has already come to an end because most operators realise there isn't sufficient capacity available in the network," said Coleago Consulting CEO Stefan Zehle.

But expensive data diets stunt the development of the market, Magnus Rehle of Greenwich Consulting noted, leaving operators with the early adopters which are heavy data users rather than a mass subscriber base with different usage patterns.

Mobile operators are also scrambling to add more capacity, but according to recent calculations by network optimization firm Tellabs, they could run themselves into the red in three years trying to build to meet forecast data growth.

"Carriers can spend themselves bankrupt well before users run out of hunger for capacity," said Tellabs chief executive Rob Pullen.

A recent report by the A.T. Kearney consulting firm calculated that at current trends mobile operators will end up 21 billion euros ($28.5 billion) short of the amount needed over the next four years to expand their networks to keep up with forecast data growth.

A number of firms such as Flash Networks and Tellabs say that the problem is not smart phones but dumb networks, and offer technology that promises to create intelligent networks that optimize the flow of data, allowing operators to do more with less.

But as the A.T. Kearney report noted, improving networks and hiking fees for consumers is unlikely to be sufficient without addressing the video streaming sites who are paying almost nothing to pump huge amounts of data across networks to consumers and have few incentives to compress data.

The consultancy concluded there are "clear structural problems in the economic model" of the fixed and mobile Internet "making it increasingly inefficient and ultimately unsustainable as traffic growth continues..."

VN had unusually high numbers of shark attacks?

2011-02-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

A Wednesday article by Live Science magazine reporting that Vietnam recorded unusually high numbers of shark attacks in 2010 is unreliable, said a local expert.

The magazine said that Vietnam suffered from one of the most recorded attacks in the world last year.

It said that unprovoked assaults by sharks last year include six in Vietnam, 14 in Australia, eight in South Africa and six in Egypt.

It also quoted George Burgess at the University of Florida in Gainesville, curator of the International Shark Attack File as saying Vietnam and Egypt had “unusually high numbers of attacks in 2010”.

However, he did not explain why Vietnam had such a sudden increase in attacks.

According to Deputy Professor Nguyen Tac An, former director of the Vietnamese National Institute of Oceanography (VNIO), this information needs to be verified.

Dr. An noted that the magazine’s article could negatively impact Vietnam’s marine tourism.

According to him, the statistics of shark attacks released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) itself is reliable but it has yet to release its statistics for last year.

An said there are only around 10 – 20 cases of shark attacks in the world on average each year.

“Vietnam is not the center point of shark attacks on humans. On the contrary, sharks are an essential element of oceanic ecosystems, so they need to be protected here,” he said.

Some subtropical and tropical beaches in Australia, South Africa, and Panama - home to many kinds of sharks - are yet famous tourism destinations.

There around 50 out of 250 kinds of sharks able to attack humans.

In Vietnam, sharks are often sighted in coastal areas in Con Dao, Phu Quy, Cu Lao Xanh, Hon Me islands, among others, said An.

41 kinds of sharks including whale shark, small dwarf lantern shark, tiger shark, and the hammerhead need to be protected to cope with the fact that there are around 2 million tons of sharks hunted every year worldwide, he added.

Last June, Thanh Nien reported 17 year-old Huynh Nhu Hoang, a local tourist, was attacked by a shark when he was swimming a few dozen meters off the central province of Binh Dinh’s Quy Nhon Town.

Hoang is the latest of several victims of shark attacks at Quy Nhon beaches since July 2009.

To prevent and protect sharks

Local scientists have called for more research into preventing similar attacks in the future.

VNIO has conducted a research on 70 chemical substances used in driving sharks away. However, the most effective method in Vietnam now is planting a large net to surround a swimming area at beaches to shield sharks out in case they come.

A “shark task force” should be also set up to alert and rescue tourists.

According to Live Science, scientists last year investigated 115 alleged incidents of struggles between humans and sharks worldwide and confirmed that 79 of these were unprovoked shark attacks on live humans.

Sharks (superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body.

The earliest known sharks are dated to more than 420 million years ago.

Since that time, sharks have diversified into 440 species, ranging in size from the small dwarf lanternshark (Etmopterus perryi) to the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), which feeds only on plankton, squid, and small fish by filter feeding.

Well-known species such as the great white shark, tiger shark, and the hammerhead are apex predators, at the top of the underwater food chain.

Their extraordinary skills as predators fascinate and frighten humans, even as their survival is under serious threat from fishing and other human activities.

As cited by Telegraph, the first recorded victim of a shark attack is British merchant sailor Brook Watson who was swimming in the harbor of Havana in 1749 when a shark attacked him.]

Source: Dat Viet/Tuoi Tre

Q-Mobile sets ambitious 2011 target

2011-02-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Local mobile phone maker ABTel has said it plans to overtake Nokia and achieve local market domination this year, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

Nokia, the world's biggest cellphone maker, now leads the Vietnamese market with a share of between between 48 and 52 percent. ABTel's brand Q-Mobile accounts for 20 percent, compared to 14 percent in 2009.

In an interview published by the Vietnam News Agency on Saturday, ABTel director Nguyen Quang Minh said he was not satisfied with the current market share.

"Q-Mobile has been the No.1 cellphone company in the mid-price segment. This year we will enter other segments including 3G phones and smartphones," Minh said, adding that there are plans to roll out cheap products in partnership with Indian companies.

He said his company has inked a deal with Yahoo to launch a new product line focusing on mobile applications.

While ABTel plans to expand its business to Myanmar, where the telecommunications market is still in its first stage of development, the company will continue to focus on the Vietnamese market, Minh said.

"You have to own your home market first if you want to be successful in foreign areas," he said. "Our goal is to surpass Nokia."

Answering a question concerning the "Made in China" label found on products sold by Vietnamese phone makers, Minh said where a product is manufactured was not important.

Technology ownership and branding play a more important role, accounting for 80 percent of the product value, he said.

Vietnam sends seeds into space

2011-02-10T17:55:00.001-08:00

Vietnam has successfully sent flower seeds into space for scientific research.

The project, "Space seeds for Asian Future 2010-11 (SSAF 2010-11) " was organized in cooperation with space and scientific agencies from Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam .

The seeds of three species of flowers were carefully selected by Professor Duong Tan Nhut, a leading expert in flower research in Vietnam , and then sent to Japan to be processed before they were sent into space.

The species of flower seeds that made the trip are ‘pure' Vietnamese and were selected because of the relatively short period the flowers require in order to blossom.

"If there are any changes or mutations that occur it should be easily noticed after these seeds return to Earth," said Nhut.

Together with plant seeds from other partnering countries, the seeds were successfully carried by a Japanese missile on January 22 to "KIBO," one of the key components of the International Space Station (ISS).

The seeds will be retrieved in the middle of April by Space Shuttle Endeavour, said Dr Nhut.

Nguyen Huu Diep, from Space Institute said during the two-month-tenure in space, these seeds would be tested for their ability to survive space conditions including radiation rays, temparatures extremes and the void of gravity.

After returning to Earth, the seeds will be studied to see if any gene mutations or sprouting occurred during their tenure in space. This is the first time Vietnam has carried out such research.

In Vietnam , the programme is being managed by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Central Highlands Institute for Biology.

The programme hopes that the results of the experiment will inspire students across Asia and help them have new perspective about space science and boost interest in science.

The project is being funded by Japanese investors. Japan is one of the few countries that have invested in intensive research concerning flora and fauna mutation.

Source: VNA

Social networks will boom in Vietnam in 2011?

2011-02-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

The bright success of the social network Facebook has forced Vietnam’s social networks to rethink their strategies. Experts believe that 2011 will be a year with splendid breakthroughs by Vietnam’s social networks.

Following Facebook’s move

Born six years ago in 2004, Facebook has attracted 500 million regular users and become the biggest social network in the world. The success of Facebook has forced the social networks in Vietnam which want to continue existing to follow the road paved by the giant.

Prior to that, when Y!360 shut down, experts said that the time of Vietnamese social networks had come. Many domestic networks were established, including Zing Me, GoOnline, Yume, tamtay.net, or CyberWorld. Creating content themselves (sharing pictures, videos or writing blogs) was the main trend of the social networks. And then Facebook appeared, a website where interaction is the main feature, and quickly attracted a lot of Vietnamese users. Users can create personal profiles, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics.

The success of Facebook has forced other social networks in Vietnam to rethink their strategies. Yume, for example, has shifted to update friends’ information like Facebook, while FPT Online has launched the beta version of banbe.net network. The version has core functions like Facebook in connection and information sharing.

Experts said that nearly all the social networks in the world are following the model of Facebook, from Russian vkotakte.ru to Chinese renren.com, kaixin001.com and Vietnamese Zing me, Go online.

“This is a global trend,” said Pham Quang Hung, Managing Director of TCV Media and social advisor of FPT Online and Banbe.net project.

Vietnamese social networks will be the new choice?

According to Google Ad planner, in 2010, Zing Me led social networks in Vietnam with 4.6 million users, followed by Facebook, while Yahoo and Yume ranked the third and fourth. By December 2010, Facebook reached 1.1 billion pageviews in Vietnam alone.

According to Vuong Quang Khai, Deputy General Director of VinaGame, if calculating the number of used minutes on every website, the three new-generation networks Zing Me, Facebook and GoOnline are leading the market (Zing Me got 1 billion minutes, and Facebook 880 million). Meanwhile, the three first-generation social networks, namely Yahoo, Yume and TamTay have a low number of used minutes.

According to Pham Quang Hung, in 2011, old-generation networks such as Yahoo, Tamtay, Yume will still have their positions on the blog market, but their positions will be weaker. Meanwhile, new networks will meet many challenges in “conquering” users. With the decline of the global Yahoo, Vietnam’s social network market in 2011 will see a main rivalry between Zing Me and Facebook.

However, if Vietnamese social networks can develop sustainably remains a question. Experts say that Vietnamese companies are still weak at technologies, and they lack long term investment and vision. They also still do not well understand the culture and social life of Vietnamese people.

“Maybe users would be very eager to join the networks, but they may not stay. Even if they stay, this will not help the social networks to develop. The number of Zing Me’s users still hovers around 500-600 million pageviews, Go Online 200-300 million, Yume 20-30 million,” Hung said.

Source: VnMedia

Businesses asked to complete ICT strategy

2011-02-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

Students of Ha Noi's Dong Da Secondary School surfing the internet. Some 25,000 kindergartens and schools, or about two-thirds of schools nationwide, had free internet access in the 2009-10 academic year. —VNA/VNS Photo Bich Ngoc

HA NOI — The Ministry of Information and Communications has asked businesses to give priority to Viet Nam's ICT development plan to 2010 with a vision to 2020, called "Planning on Development of Information and Communication Technology", during the 2011-15 period.

Under the draft, five businesses, including the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT), the military-run telecom group Viettel, the Viet Nam Multimedia Corporation (VTC), the FPT Trading Group and CMC Corporation, would increase investments for ICT development, expand their shares of the world market and improve their research capacity.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has said the success of the strategy depends on the State's management together with co-operation between the Government and businesses. He said Viettel had provided free internet access to the country's education and training institutions to demonstrate public-private partnership (PPP).

He added that the country had been praised for its IT developments in the education and training sector thanks to this programme, while Viettel, in turn, had strengthened its brand.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, general director of CMC Group, said the company was also seeking to implement internet and email services under the PPP form.

"We would ensure that the service would be launched in about 2,000 locations in the country within 12 months of receiving permission and another 5,000 in the next two years," Chinh said.

He said businesses needed support to become more competitive.

"ICT enterprises need capital and should take part in key national projects as well as research new ICT products," Chinh said, adding that capital support should be tax exempt.

A VNPT representative, sharing the ideas, said the firm planned to invest VND63 trillion (US$3.1 billion) to implement 12 projects under the strategy, but needed capital from the State budget.

Nguyen Truong Tung, principal of FPT University, said the school would train at least 20 per cent of the country's high quality human resources to fulfil the development plan. He also suggested that preferential policies be applied to organisations that want to join the ICT initiative. — VNS

Made-in-Vietnam SmartHome to debut in 2011

2011-02-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

The Hanoi-based software developer Bkis this year is preparing for the debut of a high-advanced technology named “SmartHome”, which is expected to enable users to control their house remotely.

The idea has come to Bkis’ general director Nguyen Tu Quang since he was getting to know that the US’s billionaire Bill Gates owned a modern villa, which can automatically control multimedia equipments and lights.

The Smart Home Company, a subsidiary of Bikis, has been founded since 2004 to make that idea come true.

In 2009, it introduced some high-tech electrical home appliances, including smart light switchers, hand dryers and taps.

Smart Home focused on finalizing the core of the SmartHome technology during the period between 2008 and 2010, developing controlling software and designing sensor systems, smart lights and alarm systems.

The SmartHome comprises of latest data transmission technologies including Powerline Communication and the wireless technique Zigbee. They will offer users many themes for their house.

With SmartHome, users can either set time to turn off lights or control the fish tank, television and gas via their mobile phone.

Source: SGGP

Mobifone looks for steady growth

2011-01-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

Mobifone has announced its performance results for 2010 with a revenue growth rate of 31.5 per cent. The revenue was valued at VND36 trillion ($1.8 billion), making up around 35 per cent of its parent VNPT Group’s total revenue last year.

The operator reportedly earned pre-tax profits of VND5.8 trillion ($290 million), a year-on-year increase of 6 per cent against figures in 2009. The profit accounted for 52.3 per cent of its parent VNPT Group’s pre-tax profit in 2010.

MobiFone signed in 5.95 million new mobile subscribers generating revenue for the operator, lower than both other rivals Viettel and VinaPhone. However, productivity of MobiFone staff was ranked the highest in Vietnam’s mobile sector, standing at VND6.5 billion ($325,000) per staff member a year, lagging far behind the country’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscriber numbers, Viettel, valued at VND3.9 billion ($195,000) per staff member a year.

Nguyen Dinh Chien, deputy director of MobiFone, said the operator had set a modest target for this year with five million new mobile subscribers generating a revenue of VND39 trillion ($1.95 billion) and pre-tax profit of VND6.1 trillion ($305oo million).

“The strict competition makes us well prepared to boost our sales through distribution channels right from the beginning of this year,” said Chien.

The country’s third largest mobile operator, VinaPhone, announced it gained 10 million new registered mobile subscribers in 2010, raising the number of total subscribers to 35 million by the end of 2010.

VinaPhone is aiming to serve over 40 million activated mobile subscribers this year along with promoting internet mobility services through its 3G network along with boosting the investment for its 3G network.

Source: VIR

Mobile virtual network operators breaking promises

2011-01-26T17:42:00.001-08:00

Both the mobile virtual network operators Dong Duong Telecom and VTC still cannot officially provide services, even though they received operation licenses more than one year ago.

In early 2010, when signing the strategic partnership agreement with the Electricity of Vietnam EVN, VTC announced that it would begin providing services in June 2010. At that time, Nguyen Hoang Phong, Director of VTC Digicom, a subsidiary of VTC, which is in charge of implementing the agreement signed between VTC and EVN also affirmed that VTC would develop creative content services in order to be able to compete with the service providers with network infrastructure.

However, until now, the promise by VTC has not come true.

Meanwhile, when Dong Duong Telecom got its operational license in August 2009, it also promised that it would begin providing services in the first quarter of 2010. However, to date, customers still cannot use Dong Duong Telecom’s services. Dau tu newspaper has quoted its sources as saying that Dong Duong Telecom will only be able to launch its services by mid 2011.

One of the biggest problems that forced MVNOs to break promises is that the need to reach agreements on sharing wireless network infrastructure with the service providers with network infrastructure. Dong Duong Telecom will share the same wireless network with Viettel, while VTC with EVN Telecom.

However, insiders believe that the most important factor that led to the tardiness is that the new service providers still cannot identify specific services to develop. This means that they need to focus on certain groups of clients and pay attention to and take care of clients. A service provider with network infrastructure, who asked to be anonymous, said that in order to compete with service providers with network infrastructure, ss need to find suitable market segments to develop. If MVNOs, the newcomers on the market, cannot find the things which differentiate them with other service providers, and continue to have to “live on” the network infrastructure of other service providers, they will not have many opportunities to exist or develop.

By the end of 2010, Vietnam’s mobile telecom market had had 154 million subscribers. 90 percent of the subscribers are clients of Viettel, MobiFone and VinaPhone. As such, the door of the mobile telecom market is just narrowly open for MVNOs. Analysts comment that MVNOs cannot follow Beeline or Vinamobile by launching shocking service packages with surprisingly low charges. The mobile service fees at this moment are dangerously close to production costs. MVNOs also cannot quickly develop the number of pre-paid subscribers because of the limited repository of numbers.

Dong Duong Telecom, for example, has been allowed to develop subscribers’ numbers with the prefixes of số 0998xxxxxx and 0999xxxxxx. This means that it can develop two million subscribers at maximum. Moreover, the average revenue per user ARPU of prepaid subscribers is much lower than post-paid subscribers.

As mobile service providers who do not have their own network infrastructure, MVNOs will operate by sharing infrastructure with service providers who have a license to set up telecom network infrastructure. MVNOs will buy the capacity of service providers with network infrastructure at wholesale and then retail to clients. MVNOs are allowed to issue their simcards, build up the systems to calculate charges, to manage clients and build up value added services under their brands.

In related news, Buu dien newspaper has announced the result of a survey on 3200 mobile phone subscribers in Hanoi and HCM City. MobiFone is considered the service provider who can provide the best quality service with 3.92/5 marks, while Viettel 3.85 and VinaPhone 3.83 marks. Smaller networks Beeline got 3.75, S-Fone 3.75, Vietnamobile 3.73 and EVN Telecom 3.32 marks.

Source: Dau tu

Red alarm rung about computer viruses

2011-01-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

In 2010 alone, 58.6 million computers in Vietnam were infected with viruses. This means that 160,000 computers were infection a day. Network security experts believe that it is time to ring the alarm bell over the virus infections in Vietnam.

Red alarm about computer viruses

Experts said that 57,835 types of virus appeared in 2010. However, the type of virus which has been spreading the most is an old virus - W32.Conficker.Worm. This kind of virus once was very famous in 2008. After that, people thought that it had disappeared. However, according to BKAV Network Security Company, 6.5 million computers were infected with Conficker in 2010.

Metamorphic viruses have been among the top three types of viruses which were spread in 2010 and it became an obsession of computer users in Vietnam. With the capability of “disguising themselves”, the two types of viruses Vetor and Sality were spread to 5.9 million computers.

In the report updating data on computer virus infection released in late 2009, network security experts once warned that 2010 would be the year that witnessed a sharp increase of fake anti-virus programs (FakeAV). And this happened in reality. In 2010, 2.2 million computers got infected with the viruses forged as anti-virus programs, or 8.5 times higher than 258,000 computers in 2009.

Enticing computer users to the fake virus-scanning websites in order to install malicious codes on computers is the common feature of FakeAVs. The main reason that it fools a lot of computer users in Vietnam is because of the habit of using unlicensed software products. Computer users, though having been warned by network security experts, still click on the links given on a webpage, even though they do not know where the links will lead them.

Besides, 1.4 million computers have been found as infected with the viruses that faked folders, image files, word or excel files. By using icons to disguise themselves, the implemented files of the viruses looked like folders or image, word or excel files. This helped easily deceive computer users, including experienced experts, and made them open the virus-infected files. This explains why this new type of virus can still spread rapidly.

DDoS attacks warned

In 2010, many big websites in Vietnam suffered from DDoS (distributed denial of service attack) attacks,a problem that has caused worry to society.

Experts found out that some groups of hackers installed viruses which then penetrated the network in Vietnam and stole valuable information from institutions. Besides, they also could control the websites that specialize in downloading software, in order to install viruses onto computers downloading software from the websites. This allowed them to manage bonnets to carry out DDoS attacks on big networks in Vietnam.

Experts have warned that this is really a serious problem because not only can big networks be attacked but tens of thousands of computers nationwide can be regulated by hackers, which will affect national security.

Computer users have been warned to be very cautious when downloading software to their computers. They also need to regularly update antivirus software in order to timely prevent viruses.

Experts say be careful with mobile phone network

Network security experts have warned that there will be many attacks on mobile phone networks in 2011. Malicious codes will be spread on mobile phones.

Rootkit may become a new trend when it becomes more popularized, not only the “tool” of experienced hackers. Metamorphic viruses will use new techniques to spread themselves having effects which may last many years.

Source: VnMedia

Red alarm rung about computer viruses

2011-01-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

Red alarm about computer viruses

DDoS attacks warned

In 2010, many big websites in Vietnam suffered from DDoS (distributed denial of service attack) attacks,a problem that has caused worry to society.

Computer users have been warned to be very cautious when downloading software to their computers. They also need to regularly update antivirus software in order to timely prevent viruses.

Experts say be careful with mobile phone network

Network security experts have warned that there will be many attacks on mobile phone networks in 2011. Malicious codes will be spread on mobile phones.

Source: VnMedia

Vietnam to invest more on hi-tech development

2011-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Vietnam will focus on developing hi-tech industries such as information and communication technology (ICT), biotechnology, automatic technology and new material technology.

The programme, entitled “Developing High Technology Till 2020”, has been approved by the government.

Under the programme, the country by 2020 will have some 500 enterprises specialising in producing hi-tech products and supplying hi-tech services, and about 200 agricultural entities applying high technologies operating in key economic zones.

The programme is also aimed at raising the proportion of hi-tech value in the industrial production to 30 per cent by 2015, and 40 per cent by 2020, and doubling that value in the agricultural production by 2015.

Regarding ICT, the programme focuses on microchips, basic software and technologies that ensure the setting up of modern telecommunications infrastructure, and new-generation internet.

For biotechnology, the programme focuses on gene technologies which will be applied in the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of diseases, and production of recombinant vaccines and protein, genetic modified plants, and microorganisms that have high economic value.

Implementing the programme, 500 leaders of hi-tech production projects, 10,000 engineers and researchers will be trained intensively, while 500 voluntary foreign experts and 1,000 overseas Vietnamese experts will be called for.

Source: VGP

Bluefone enters the market

2011-01-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

On January 12, CMC Distribution unveiled the company’s first series of locally-made mobile handsets under the brand-name Bluefone, which is aimed at the medium- to low-end market segment in Vietnam.

The five models are E151, E161, U121, U122 and U123 and vary in price from VND890,000 to VND1.3 million ($44.5 to $69.5). The products are assembled abroad and distributed nationwide through CMC Distribution’s network.

Of these, the U121 and U123 handset are being integrated with four SIM cards at a price of $44.5 each and the E161 is being integrated with three SIM cards at a price of $64.5.

Pham Hong Hai, general director of CMC Distribution, said the new phones benefited from mass and low-cost production from original equipment manufacturers in the world so as to provide local customers with a low price phone.

CMC Distribution is now also distributing Sony Ericsson mobile handset in Vietnam. With Bluefone handsets, CMC Distribution now joins domestic rivals such as ABTel company with QMobile handset and FPT with Fmobile who are competing for the medium- to low-end mobile market segments in Vietnam.

Source: VIR

Made-in-Vietnam robots dream of going further into the world

2011-01-12T18:44:00.001-08:00

The year 2010 witnessed an important milestone in Vietnam’s robot industry, when a made-in-Vietnam robot was warmly welcomed in the world market.

Being flexible in operation, doing things quickly and exactly, being able to work in the noxious environment and do everything to replace people all have been cited as the outstanding features of robots. That explains why many countries and enterprises have spent a lot of money to design and manufacture robots.

Vietnam has also encouraged the design and manufacturing of robots by launching scientific research projects to discover ideas and talents for the robot industry. Especially, it has been annually organizing ROBOCON in order to discover a high quality labor force to prepare to help develop the industry in the future.

Ho Vinh Hoang, General Director of TOSY Robot Joint Stock Company, the person who has brought made-in-Vietnam robot to the world, is the designer who has “grown up” from such ROBOCON competitions

To Automatica, the world’s biggest exhibition in this field held in Germany in June 2010, TOSY brought TOPIO, the robot which can play ping-pong. And the appearance of TOPIO immediately caught the special attention from the exhibition’s attendants, because the excellent product comes from Vietnam, a country that has never been known as the robot manufacturer.

Besides TOPIO, TOSY also brought more than ten models of robots which can work in industries and the service sector. TOPIO Dio, the small service robot, which was introduced for the first time, was highly appreciated, because it can operate everywhere thanks to an integrated camera and impediment-inductor.

The exhibition’s attendants were really attracted by the robots made in Vietnam. Many attendants expressed their surprise when hearing that the robots, which have a high efficiency and impressive operation, were made in Vietnam, a country that has never been a big name among the biggest robot manufacturers. Even the “big guys” in the robot industry in the world were also surprised with the robots from Vietnam, because the robots have the quality that is par with the robots made by modern countries in the world. Meanwhile, the prices of the robots made in Vietnam are just equal to half the price of the robots with the same functions in the market.

Explaining the low production cost, which is considered the most outstanding feature of TOSY-made robots, Hoang said that TOSY undertakes every phrase of the manufacturing process, from setting ideas, designing to carrying out production. A lot of important parts of robots, including the control unit and management software, have been designed and manufactured by TOSY itself. Besides, TOSY also does not have to pay large amounts of money for labor.

The low prices have helped TOSY to sign a lot of valuable contracts.

“It is very difficult to successfully manufacture high-quality and low-cost robots, but it is even more difficult to persuade clients to trust the Vietnamese brand,” Hoang said.

Also according to Hoang, the robots manufactured by TOSY have to satisfy a lot of requirements in quality in order to be distributed by big partners from the US, Japan and Germany.

In its development plan TOSY is considering a lot of factories in the near future that will serve the manufacturing and testingcof new products. “We will not only manufacture industrial robots, we are planning to bring service robots to every family and help improve the life of people,” Hoang said.

Source: Nguoi lao dong

Violent online games: a many-headed Hydra?

2011-01-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

After five months of tightening control over online games, HCM City authorities have banned 20 games, said an official during yesterday’s conference on online games management.

Most of the suspended games are violent, including three most popular gun games -- Sudden Attack, Special Force and Cross Fire -- provided by Vinagame, FPT and VTC Intercom, respectively.

These games had been licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), said Le Manh Ha, director of HCMC Information and Communication Department.

The Department has requested nine online game operators and providers to remove violent assault and combat from 29 of their kungfu games. So far, Saigontel and Netgame have complied in 6 games while FPT, VTC and Asiasoft have pledged to do the same for 14 games prior to April 1, 2011, he said.

The director also said the department would take tough action against Vinagame since the company had yet to delete violent scenes from eight of its games.

Regarding online games that can be accessed from overseas servers, Ha said he had requested Internet service providers to take measures to prevent the penetration of unlicensed games.

The department is preparing a list of unlicensed online games and will ask online games providers not to provide those games to users, he told the conference.

To minimize the negative effects of online games on users, especially students, a representative of District 2’s Cultural and Information Office proposed that online games be restricted from 6 pm to 7 am, the time when parents can exercise effective control over their children’s activities.

Impediments that only the Ministry can overcome

The city department has asked online game companies to close their services to 352 Internet cafes located within 200 meters of schools, said Ha. However, several district officials at the conference said many of those cyber cafes still offered online games to their clients.

It is not legally allowed to turn down applications for setting up Internet cafes near schools, said Nguyen Ngoc Hung, head of the Cultural and Information Office of Tan Phu District. “All we can do is to put on the business license we granted, in parenthesis, ‘not allowed to provide online games’”.

Officials from the Cultural and Information Office of other districts confirmed the difficulty of managing internet cafes, saying they could only issue warnings or penalties to violators but could not revoke their business licenses.

To eliminate violent online games, HCMC’s Department has proposed the Ministry of Information and Communication establish clear criteria for assessment of violence levels of online games and conduct an overhaul of all the licensed games, but the ministry has yet to respond to the proposal, Ha said.

In addition, the department also recommended that online game companies control the ages of game users and shut down online-gaming servers from 10 pm to 8 am, but the ministry did not reply to that either, he said.

The Ministry has taken some measures to improve management over online games, but it has yet to do what is most essential: to eliminate violent online games, Ha told Tuoi Tre. “The ministry has the full authority and ability to do this,” he added.

Source: Tuoi Tre

VietNamNet newspaper attacked again

2011-01-06T19:10:00.001-08:00

As of January 4 afternoon, the traffic to VietNamNet online newspaper has suddenly risen by dozens of times, resulted in the overload of servers.

According to technicians, the unexpected increase of traffic to VietNamNet (http://vietnamnet.vn) originated from many Internet protocols at home and abroad. They defined this as a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, which aimed to prevent access to the site because of overload.

As the attack came from many IPs, it is very difficult for technicians to differentiate between normal access from readers and DDOS access.

As the website is overloaded, the access to our website becomes very slow. Sometimes readers will be unable to open the site.

Our technicians work with relevant agencies and Internet service providers to prevent the next attack.

We hope for our readers’ understanding and that they will remain side by side with us.

A distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. There are two general forms of DoS attacks: those that crash services and those that flood services. Attacks can be directed at any network device, including attacks on routing devices and web, electronic mail, or Domain Name System servers.

In November and December 2010, VietNamNet newspaper was attacked by hackers twice. In the first attack, hackers changed the homepage and deleted the entire data on VietNamNet’s servers. In the second attack, hackers broke into the newspaper’s content management system and changed the content of some articles.

2011: Vietnam’s market still has room for desktop computers

2011-01-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Experts all say that the golden age of desktops is over, not only in Vietnam, but in other countries aroundthe world as well. This is the anticipated tendency. However, this does not mean that desktops will disappear from the modern world.

Laptop gradually replacing desktops

Vietnam’s computer market has been witnessing the domination of laptops over desktops. This explains why in the last several years, the growth rate of the laptop market in Vietnam has been beyond all expectations and forecasts. In 2009, the laptop market obtained an impressive growth rate of 70 percent, and laptops were the top choice for people who sought to purchase computers for work.

According to the representative of a computer supermarket in Hanoi, there are many reasons behind the rise of laptops. Since desktop producers do not introduce many new models to customers, several new laptop models have been marketed, thus stimulating the demand for these products. In particular, the laptops have applied new technology and have integrated different features.

As such, a laptop not only has all the features of desktop, but also allows people to work everywhere and at any time and access Internet everywhere and at any time thanks to broadband services. Hence it has become the ideal choice for customers. That explains why desktop has gradually lost its position on the market.

But there’s still room for desktops

Though admitting the domination of laptops on the market, experts still believe that desktops will still have their functions. That explains why computer companies have launched many new desktop models recently, including Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and ThinkPad.

A representative from HP admitted that the pressure of the competition has been put on desktops. Therefore, in order to maintain market shares, enterprises need to find solutions to improve traditional desktops so that they still can be put on desks at offices and enterprises.

The first thing that computer companies need think about is simplifying desktops in order make customers change their mind. Desktops should be simple and light, but they still have enough functions.

The line “all in one” of HP is an example. The computer only includes one super-thin screen, a light keypad and optical mouse. Meanwhile, the traditional computer comprises a CPU and loudspeakers, which makes it more bulky.

HP Pavilion MS200 is one of the first computer models with simple design launched into the world’s market. A special characteristic of the computer is that it has a sharp 21.5 inch screen integrated with BrightView technology which protects the computer users’ eyes.

According to technology experts, simple computers integrated with many functions will not only help desktops continue existing, but also develop in accordance with wireless technology. Simple desktop models are believed to attract customers due to reasonable prices which are lower than laptops.

After HP, other computer brands like Toshiba, Acer and Lenovo, have also been trying to maintain their market shares in Vietnam by applying different policies. Specifically, they have been trying to improve the designs and functions of desktops so that desktops can fit the life and the needs of Vietnamese people. The producers are making every effort to prove that in 2011 and the next many years desktops will still exist.

Source: VnMedia

HCM City engineer makes emotion analyzing robot

2011-01-04T19:13:00.001-08:00

An expert from the HCM City Polytechnic University has engineered a robot which can recognize a human being’s emotions.

Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh from the Electrics-Electronics Faculty is the engineer of that robot.

The robot works automatically with three parts. Its head is the control center, with two camera and an engine to move the cameras. The body has three layers that carry the mainboard and other components. The base has three engines and a gear-box.

The robot can recognize people around by its cameras, which take pictures of around faces and sends the images to the internal computers for analysis and to determine whether the persons are happy, sad, surprised or angry. The robot will react depending on their emotion. If the person in front of it is sad, it will move closer to console him, otherwise it will step back.

Dr. Thanh said that his robot was designed based on the algorithm that realizes and classifies man’s feelings through facial expressions. The accuracy of this algorithm is approximately 90 percent.

Dr. Le Hoai Quoc, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Science and Technology, said that this is highly practical for industry, security and aviation. The work should be further researched and perfected to apply in daily life.