Smart Office

Atdec's New Funky Wall Mount

LCD mounts from Australian designer and manufacturer Atdec are growing in range.

The latest is the Visidec wall mount for use in a range of home, office and commercial applications. “It is so versatile you can use it virtually anywhere,” said Atdec’s Managing Director, Steve Crozier.

“Just affix it to a wall and you can have TV in the kitchen, bedroom or any other room of the home. It’s ideal for retailers who want to display advertising messages at eye level without cluttering shelf space, or for mobile roadshows who need flexibility with their promotional monitors and stands. Schools can use Visidec Wall Mount where desk space is at a premium; so can call centres, internet cafes, banks, hotels and fast-food outlets.  The list goes on,” he said.


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The Visidec has a simple design in polished silver which is fixed to a timber stud or masonry wall and is suitable for supporting displays up to 6kg in weight.

The system features an adjustable monitor mounting plate that suits 75mm x 75mm and 100mm x 100mm VESA-compliant Flat Panel display mounting interfaces.  The mount offers an adjustable tilt of +/- 30 degrees, adjustable pan of +/- 30 degrees and portrait/landscape mode adjustment.

Priced at just $69.99 RRP, the Visidec Wall Mount is available from resellers and major commercial furniture companies such as Thinking Ergonomix and CEDIA members as well as retailers including Harvey Norman and Domayne.

Atdec’s Australian State distributors are: Ground Floor Marketing (Vic and Tas), Debetrek (Qld and NT), Sylex (WA), Greg North (SA) and Corporate Express; New Zealand distributors are Sylex and Metrolink.

www.atdec.com

 

Booming Intel Hits Record Quarter

Intel had a record quarter for revenue reaching just shy of US$10 billion in sales for the three months ending 30 September.

Net income worked out to US$2 billion, up 5 percent year-over-year and down 2 percent sequentially, but operating income was US$3.1 billion, which is up 31 per cent year-on-year and 17 per cent sequentially. Revenues were US$9.96 billion for the third quarter, up 18 percent year-over-year and up 8 percent sequentially.

The company would have been even closer to the US$10 billion had it not been for a patent infringement settlement with MicroUnity Inc. which cost the company US$300 million – recording a preliminary $140-million charge to third-quarter cost of sales, which reduced earnings per share by approximately 2 cents.

The remaining $160 million represents the value of intellectual property assets that are expected to be amortized over approximately 10 years.

“In the third quarter, we achieved all-time records in company revenue and unit shipments across all of our major product lines,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. “Execution remained solid as we launched our new dual-core server platform ahead of schedule and began shipping microprocessors built on our industry-leading 65nm process technology. The combination of our 65nm manufacturing network, broad range of new dual-core processors and unique ability to provide platform solutions positions us well for continued growth.”

See all the results here.

Grundig Launches Compact & Portable HD/DVD TV

The Grundig Misuro HD, with integrated High Definition DVBT and DVD is designed to be the complete television package.


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The Misuro HD is designed for those looking for a stylish and compact TV and don’t want to fuss with installation, extra cables or equipment. 

These televisions, screens are HD ready, negating the need to purchase an additional set top box or DVD player. 

With High Definition the resolution and picture quality is exceptionally sharper than standard definition television and with an in-built DVD player and high quality speakers the Misuro HD is designed to provide value for money.
 
Consumers can also choose a model to complement their d_cor as the Misuro HD comes in a choice of a smart high gloss white or piano black finish.  
 
Simple to use with an automatic set up, they come complete with the latest quality LCD display, 2 x 3W speaker output and remote control.   It is also wall mountable and comes with a 12 V adaptor, making it suitable for use in caravans and boats.  
 
The Grundig Misuro HD range is available in two sizes. The 19″ GLCD1906HDV (black) and GLCD1906HDVW (white) are priced at $749.00 and the 22″ GLCD2206HDV (black) and GLCD2206HDVW (white) are priced at $899.00.

 

Automated SMB Storage From Tandberg

The Tandberg Data StorageLoader LTO with fourth generation LTO Half Height tape drives (LTO-4 HH) is an entry-level automated backup solution, offering good storage performance and capacities in a compact 1U form factor.


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The device is available with a choice of LTO-1, LTO-2, LTO-3 and LTO-4 Half-Height drives offering compressed storage capacities up to 12.8TB and transfer rates up to 576GB/hr.  It is also available with LVD SCSI or SAS connectivity.

The introduction of LTO-4 HH within the StorageLoader LTO doubles the storage capacity and the increased performance reduces backup and restore times.  It boosts the capacity of a 1U tape autoloader to 12.8TB. The LTO-4 HH offers hardware encryption, using the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), giving users the highest level of encryption capability ensuring data privacy and regulatory compliance.

The device reduces the cost of storage for small and medium businesses. The increased capacity, performance and security of LTO-4 HH give customers real choices and a future-proof solution.

The StorageLoader LTO is designed for maximum performance and reliability, delivering the lowest storage costs of any 1U tape automation product. The tape drive, power supply and fans are all field replaceable, without having to remove the autoloader from the rack.

RRP:  From $A5750.00

See:  www.tandbergdata.com/apac

New Search Engine Service Launched Today

Fairfax Digital and Melbourne IT have combined to form a new joint venture called Advantate, designed to give the SME market in Australia and New Zealand simple, cost-effective access to search engine marketing services.


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courtesy: www.attentiongrabbers.co.uk

Advantate is designed to provide SMEs with a single point of access to search engine marketing services from a range of leading providers including Google, Yahoo Search Marketing, Ninemsn and Fairfax Digital networks. The company will initially focus on reselling pay per click (PPC) advertising, and will manage these PPC campaigns on behalf of its SME customers.

According to IAB Australia’s Online Advertising Expenditure Report released in February 2008 by PricewaterhouseCoopers, online advertising in Australia for the 12 months to December 2007 was worth almost $1.3b, with year on year growth of 34.5 per cent. Search marketing and directories advertising experienced more than 56 per cent growth for the same period, to $622m.  

Advantate is expected to launch its services by the end of May 2008.

PR Consultancy Launches Iceberg

The Blackie McDonald Communications Group has spun off a new venture with the launch of Iceberg Communications.

Iceberg Communications Asia Pacific is being set up as a separate business venture with independent management and employees to provide a wider range of services to Australian corporates.

“There has been a shift in the services Public Relations agencies are required to provide and we recognise the demand for integrated Communications services. Iceberg Communications will draw on BMcD’s strong experience and extensive client base but will also serve as an independent company to ensure client integrity for new PR clients,” said Tony Blackie, CEO of the Blackie McDonald Communications Group.

“Today’s business environment is extremely challenging and you need employees and partners to be supporting your strategy every step of the way,” added Tony Blackie.

“The focus on employee engagement and building a positive organisational culture and external brand is a growing trend for many organisations. We can support them through our significant experience and capability in this area.”

Iceberg offers the full spectrum of services for employee and corporate communications including strategic advice and support for key internal campaigns and major announcements.  Iceberg also specialises in project communications for major ICT and business initiatives, corporate restructures and change management communications. Experienced communications consultants can work in-house or externally with project teams providing expertise to companies seeking to build engagement and acceptance of major changes.

Iceberg Communications is already providing communications expertise on major IT Infrastructure Upgrades for two major Australian companies.

ACS Favours Corp Express

Corporate Express has secured a deal as ‘preferred supplier’ to the Australian Computer Society.

The deal will see the 14,000 members of the ACS get a 10 per cent discount on purchases made while Corporate Express will also donate a percentage of revenue directly to the ACS for industry development.

Jo Cass, Software and Licensing Manager NSW/ACT for Corporate Express, said “We are very confident that this partnership will prove successful for both parties and will drive great benefits through value and efficiencies through the ACS membership.

“Our mission is to provide a single source supply solution to make it easier and more cost effective for our customers to do business. The offer is beneficial to members because by consolidating suppliers they are increasing efficiencies around the procurement and the administration process,” she said.

“We are also providing bi-monthly offers on a variety of products, unique to the ACS membership and will be a significant reduction on current market pricing. Also, by spending with us, members will be putting money back into the IT industry, as a percentage of all ACS membership spend will be donated to the ACS foundation to drive IT apprenticeships,” she said.

Simon Kwan, Marketing Manager for the Australian Computer Society, said they chose Corporate Express due to the demand of their members’ requirements for IT products and services. “We came to the conclusion that the best partner was Corporate Express because it is a reputable organisation and they offer nationwide service.

www.ce.com.au

 

Emerson Takes Lovelace With Account

Emerson Network Power Australia has appointed Steve Lovelace to the position of New South Wales Channel Account Manager.

Lovelace joins Emerson following a three-year spell at Ingram Micro where he was responsible for managing the Liebert product portfolio. He has total of seven years experience in the Australian IT channel.

The appointment follows Emerson’s decision to move its national distribution from Ingram Micro to LAN Systems, a move Lovelace says is consistent with the company’s current channel direction.

Lovelace will be responsible for all channel activities in NSW for Emerson’s Liebert range of Micro Uninterruptible Power System (UPS) products, assisting resellers with a range of services including technical support and bid preparation.

“LAN Systems is widely regarded as a channel leader for Cisco, and given our close engineering partnership with Cisco the move to LAN is a logical one for us,” said Lovelace. “It’s also consistent with our focus on power protection for newer technologies like IP telephony, where Liebert has developed Cisco-compatible products for mission-critical applications in the SMB space.”

“We’re delighted to have Steve on board full time,” said Bob Daniel, Managing Director, Emerson Network Power Australia. “Steve’s experience in the channel is second-to-none, and he’s already proven his proficiency with Liebert during his time at Ingram. I personally look forward to Steve’s input in growing our channel presence in the region.”

Residential VoIP Takes Off

VoIP application software provider BroadSoft says ASX-listed ISP iiNet – new owner of OzEmail – is signing around 1000 subscribers a week to its residential VoIP service, and now has more than 10,000 subscribers. IiNet launched iinetphone three months ago.

VoIP application software provider BroadSoft says ASX-listed ISP iiNet – new owner of OzEmail – is signing around 1000 subscribers a week to its residential VoIP service, and now has more than 10,000 subscribers. IiNet launched iinetphone three months ago.

“We have the largest customer base of high speed ADSL users in Australia, so it was a natural progression to use some of that bandwidth for VoIP services. The adoption rate of the VoIP service is tremendous, especially as the product has been launched only recently,” said Greg Bader, chief technology officer, iiNet.