CONTENTS

Apple iMac

Apple has introduced an all-new iMac featuring a much more compact and remarkably thin design, enabled by the M1 chip. The new iMac offers powerful performance in a design that’s just 11.5 millimeters thin, with a striking side profile that practically disappears. Available in an array of vibrant colors to match a user’s personal style and brighten any space, iMac features a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, and over a billion colors, delivering a brilliant and vivid viewing experience.

The new iMac also includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, studio-quality mics, and a six-speaker sound system — the best camera and audio ever in a Mac. Also, Touch ID comes to iMac for the first time, making it easier than ever to securely log in, make purchases with Apple Pay, or switch user profiles with the touch of a finger. Combining the power and performance of M1 and macOS Big Sur, apps launch with blazing speed, everyday tasks feel incredibly fast and fluid, and demanding workloads like editing 4K video and working with huge images are faster than ever. The new iMac joins the incredible family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, marking another step forward in Apple’s transition to Apple silicon. Customers can order the new iMac beginning April 30 and will be available in the second half of May.

Fitbit Luxe

Fitbit has announced Fitbit Luxe, a new fashion-forward fitness and wellness tracker designed to help you take a more holistic approach to your health and wellness. Luxe offers the motivation and support you need to stay healthy in today’s world with everything from stress management tools to automatic activity and sleep tracking – all in an effortlessly chic bracelet design. Luxe also gives you insights into your wellbeing through the Health Metrics dashboard in the Fitbit app to help you identify changes, which could be caused by increased stress or fatigue. With Luxe, you’ll get a six-month trial to Fitbit Premium for added support and deeper analysis of your data. Luxe is a beautiful, sleek tracker with a color touchscreen and up to five days of battery life that is versatile for any occasion and comfortable for all day and night wear. It can be paired with a wide range of new stylish accessories, including a modern luxury bracelet from gorjana.

D-Link Vigilance Series

D-Link has released its new lineup of Vigilance Solutions including a network video recorder and six outdoor surveillance cameras. Providing advanced features such as high-resolution video, storage efficiency, high flexibility, and simple management, these solutions are suitable for enterprises of all sizes and every business vertical.

D-Link’s JustConnect H.265 PoE Network Video Recorder (DNR-4020-16P) delivers powerful, professional-grade surveillance with 16 PoE ports, a 120W power budget, and a Gigabit Ether-net port to ensure sufficient bandwidth and reliability. Users can simultaneously stream from 16 channels in real time, as well as record and play back footage anytime, anywhere. With support for ultrahigh-definition 4K, the DNR-4020-16P ensures viewing experiences of the highest qual-ity. The DNR-4020-16P also features H.265 (High Efficiency Video Coding) for improved effi-ciency, saving up to 50% more storage compared to previous standards. As businesses have increasing demands for more cameras and higher-quality footage, storage can be expanded up to 16 TB with its two 3.5” SATA ports. The JustConnect+ mobile app allows for on-the-go view-ing and management. This network recorder is also ONVIF compliant to support D-Link cameras and rack mountable for easy installation anywhere.

Featuring a 2, 4, or 8-megapixel progressive CMOS sensor, each vigilance series camera delivers superior quality video and is IP66 weather resistant to sustain any outdoor environment. Wide Dynamic Range ensures that imaging is clear in high contrast lighting conditions, and 3D Noise Reduction allows the camera to capture clearer videos in poor lighting conditions. With a 30M IR illuminator, the camera can see in complete darkness at night time. Additionally, Corridor Mode provides vertically oriented streaming for maximized field of view when users need to monitor areas such as hallways, staircases, tunnels, etc. Users can also block out sensitive areas with the Privacy Mask feature.

Z BY HP

Bringing new levels of power previously only available in high-end desktop workstations, at NVIDIA’s GTC 2021, HP has announced significant GPU performance improvements to its entry Z by HP desktop lineup, including HP Z1 Tower G8, HP Z2 Small Form Factor G8, and Z2 Tower G8. Additionally, in order to democratise 3D for entry workflows and bring advanced visualisation to the masses, Z offers the latest technology from NVIDIA and Samsung.

Performance is critical for creators to speed up the conversion of ideas into designs and their needs continue to grow with real time engines as design cycle times are reduced. As companies migrate to a more hybrid work model, 77 per cent of IT decision makers agree that this means an increase in security vulnerabilities. The Z entry desktop lineup offers advanced security features, equipping IT departments the ability to keep devices, data, and identities protected.

NVIDIA’s new NVIDIA RTX A4000 and RTX A5000 provide HP Z2 Tower G8 customers the option to configure their Z desktop with the latest generation RT cores, Tensor Cores, and CUDA cores to deliver a powerful desktop experience for designers, engineers, and artists to create the future, without limits. Z by HP is also adding additional Ampere graphics options to the performance desktop line, including the Z4, Z6, and Z8 desktop workstations, for improved performance across segment workflows.

A NEW DIGITAL AGE FOR BANKING

SUNIL PAUL, MD OF FINESSE, WELCOMES THE LONG-AWAITED TRANSFORMATION IN BANKING

Have you groaned at the idea of making a trip to the bank and been put off at the thought of long queues, filling forms, getting shuffled from counter to counter? Well, good riddance to these woes because today we are in the era of full-scale digital banking.

Many traditional banks in the country have opened their digital banking arms and already supported digital channels for transactional banking activities well before the pandemic. For example, EmiratesNBD had launched its digital-and-mobileonly bank Liv. in 2017. However, the adoption rates and the customer demand for digital banking have accelerated in today’s socialdistanced reality, making it a necessity and transforming the banking sector forever. Digital-only banks blend advanced technology into all levels of the financial lifecycle and will redefine the way funds are managed, stored, distributed and controlled.

This month two digital-only banks have made the headlines. Al

Maryah Community Bank is the first licensed full-scale digital banking entity to receive the green signal from the UAE Central Bank to launch operations in the country. Emaar

Properties founder and former chairman Mohamed Alabbar has also announced plans to open an independent digital-only bank in the

UAE called Zand, which is currently awaiting regulatory approvals.

Last year it was reported that Abu

Dhabi’s ADQ, one of the region’s biggest holding companies with direct and indirect investments in more than 90 organisations, is also expected to launch an online-only banking institution with an initial capital of Dh2 billion.

These digital-only banks offer a host of advantages to customers and the banks themselves. With 100 percent of the banking services online or through applications, customers can easily transact end-to-end anytime, anywhere, literally with just a few taps on their devices. It is convenient, easily accessible, instant, and offers enriched customer experiences. They can avoid the hassles of dealing with paperwork, bank tellers and not waste any time travelling to physical locations and waiting in long queues. Customers will also benefit from better financial returns as these online-only banks can afford to offer lower or zero account maintenance fees and higher interest rates as there are no brick-and-mortar branches to manage. It can also provide superior banking privileges and other perks. Digital banking complements customers’ increasingly digitalpowered lifestyles.

From the bank’s perspective, digital-only banks are much more cost-effective and offer the ability to provide customers with enhanced and direct banking experiences. They can also capitalise on advanced technologies and employ open architectures to scale and offer streamlined services.

Legacy banking establishments must integrate easily accessible technologies and services, keeping the customer at the heart of its operations; or massively transform the way they operate if they wish to stay in the game. They must invest in technologies such as Open APIs, Cloud, AI & Chatbots, Machine Learning, RPA, Customer Experience Mangement and more to appeal to the demands of digital customers. Recently, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) conducted a survey to examine the evolving customer sentiment and behaviour in the UAE’s banking sector. It revealed that 76 percent of respondents were keen to switch banks, and 70 percent actively look for new bank offers. It also discovered that 87 percent would be willing to open an account with branchless digital-only banks. According to the consulting firm, the finding reinforces its global benchmark, which saw over 53 percent of UAE banking customers doubling down on their mobile app usage for banking during the pandemic and more than 50 percent who enrolled in digital banking for the first time as a result of the crisis.

Driven by customer demands, digital acceptance, technology advancements, easy setups, and current market conditions, we can expect to see more digital-only banks coming up in the region in the near future.