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Sony FX6 camera

Sony Middle East & Africa has launched the FX6 (model ILME-FX6V) camera, the latest addition to Sony’s Cinema Line, a series of products that brings the company’s expertise in imaging technology to a broad range of filmmakers and content creators.

Sony’s Cinema Line, which also includes the VENICE and FX9 cameras, delivers a coveted filmic look cultivated from extensive experience in digital cinema production, as well as enhanced operability thanks to an innovative body design, extensive durability and intuitive customisability.

As part of the Cinema Line, the all-new FX6 incorporates Sony’s core technologies of image sensor, processing engine, and AF (autofocus) performance. FX6 is also compatible with the wide range of Sony E-mount lenses for creative flexibility.

The new camera features a 10.2 MP full-frame backilluminated Exmor R CMOS sensor that delivers a 15+ stop wide dynamic range with high sensitivity and low noise. FX6’s base sensitivity is ISO 800 with an enhanced sensitivity setting of ISO 12,800 - expandable to 409,600 - for shooting in low and very low light conditions.

BENQ EYE CARE MONITORS

BenQ has rolled out its latest Eye-Care monitors GW2480T and GW2780T along with a Monitor Light ScreenBar. GW2780T is the 27inch edition of its smaller forerunner, GW2480T, the 24-inch monitor, featuring the latest eye-care technologies and height adjustment stand. These monitors are complemented by the BenQ ScreenBar e-Reading Monitor Lamp, which is an intelligent clip-on monitor light with advanced sensors and dimmable features designed for consumers’ viewing comfort.

BenQ GW2480T and BenQ GW2780T Eye-Care Monitors are one of the very first monitors that have been designed especially for vision health, including BenQ’s Brightness Intelligence Technology (BI) that automatically scales screen brightness according to the ambient light of the surroundings and enhancing dark areas on the display screen without overexposing bright regions to reduce eyestrain.

HONOR WATCH ES

HONOR, has recently launched the HONOR Watch ES with a large HD display, long lasting battery and a diverse library of watch faces.

Created to offer bigger space for a more comfortable and clear viewing experience, the HONOR Watch ES features a large 1.64-inch AMOLED display with 280x456 resolution. The watch offers a stunning screen-to-body ratio of 70%, which is on the high end of the entire smartwatch spectrum. Clocking in at 326 PPI pixel density and 16.7 million colors, the HD display assures exceptional readability in a sophisticated and futuristic rectangular case. What’s more, the display is capable of adjusting brightness automatically depending on the user’s ambient light levels.

Made to go with your daily grind, the HONOR Watch ES weighs only 21g and measures at 10.7mm in thickness with a 30mm-wide watch frame. The slim and lightweight design, along with the silicon strap and curved edges, brings a high level of comfort for all-day wear. With a long lasting battery, wearers never have to worry about missing a step. Driven by the preferred choice of young people, the HONOR Watch ES offers three vibrant color options – Meteorite Black, Coral Pink and Icelandic White.

Acer projectors

Acer has introduced new LED and laser projectors for business and commercial use. These new models include a best-in-class wireless LED 1080p projector with 3,000 lumens of brightness and also high energyefficiency laser projectors that reach 3,100 lumens.

The VD6510i is a wireless 3,000 lumens LED 1080p projector that delivers ultra-smooth 1080p 120Hz projections for action movie excitement. 125% coverage of the Rec. 709 color gamut provides excellent color saturation and vivid images, enhanced by 16x sequential display speed that minimizes rainbow effect, while 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness enables the projector to produce a crystal clear image even for large screens or in a room with the lights on.

Using only 143 watts of power, the Acer XL series (XL1220/XL1320W/XL1520) contain some of the most energy-efficient 3,100 lumens laser projectors in the world. The XL series of projectors are reliable devices that deliver stunning image quality of up to 1080p and are priced for the mainstream market, making them perfect for use in medium-sized meeting rooms.

SEAGATE 18TB SKYHAWK HARD DRIVE

Seagate Technology is shipping 18TB SkyHawk Artificial Intelligence drives in volume. SkyHawk AI is the world’s first purpose-built hard drive for artificial intelligence (AI)enabled Surveillance solutions, enabling quicker and smarter decisions. The new drive supports deep learning and machine learning workload streams for Edge applications with ImagePerfectAI.

The capacity to retain more data over time is required for deep learning systems to become smarter and more accurate in their predictive analysis, and behavior analysis requires significantly more data than traditional video capture. SkyHawk AI simultaneously sustains 32 AI streams alongside 64 video streams and supports multi-bay NVR and AI-enabled NVR. SkyHawk AI offers a 550TB/year workload rate, more than 3× the workload rate of standard surveillance hard drives in order to manage data deluge in complex video security system environments without sacrificing performance. This drive intelligently adapts between traditional video workloads and video+AI workloads.

Intel NUC M15 Laptop Kit

Intel launched the Intel NUC M15 Laptop Kit (formerly code-named “Bishop County”). The NUC M15 brings Intel’s technical expertise to the whitebook market, with the goal of providing Intel’s channel customers with a premium, precision engineered laptop kit.

The Intel M15 Laptop Kit includes an 11th Gen Intel Core mobile processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics and is designed to exceed the stringent requirements of the new Intel Evo platform brand. Ultimately, the Intel Evo platform brand is earned by each channel partner, but the M15 offers the right foundation for our channel partners to build an Intel EVO-qualified laptop.

The Intel M15 Laptop kit has a sleek, modern design with a premium CNC anodized aluminum chassis that measures just 14.9mm thick and weighs in at 1.65kg. Built with an 11th generation Intel Core processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics, the NUC team has taken advantage of over 50 years of Intel innovation and expertise to create a laptop kit that makes the most of our new CPU architecture.

THE RACE TO CURE COVID-19 SUNIL PAUL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FINESSE, ON HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN FAST-TRACK COVID-19 VACCINE ADMINISTRATION AND DELIVERY

Recently the news of two experimental vaccines that appear to offer a high degree of protection from the novel coronavirus has caught the world’s attention. Biotechnology company Moderna and pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer, in partnership with

German biotech firm BioNTech, are the two leading candidates in this race, and both the experimental vaccines are based on genetic technology mRNA.

The two vaccines display efficacy rates of above 90% as per the interim findings of its Phase 3 clinical trials.

While the two vaccines are diffusing optimism all around and are already under FDA review, efforts by other companies also continue. In fact, at the time of writing this, the UK is the first country to approve the use of Pfizer-

BioNTEch’s COVID-19 vaccine with immediate plans for mass inoculations.

This means we can expect not only an approved FDA vaccine but also a global deployment soon. This is a positive and significant step towards developing a new framework of life post the pandemic.

Once a vaccine is globally approved and ready for use, the biggest priority will be ensuring it is delivered to the masses, especially the elderly and healthcare workers, as soon as possible. An effective way to efficiently achieve this objective is by leveraging technology. According to

Pfizer-BioNTEch, when its vaccine is approved for widespread use, then as many as 50 million doses could be available this year itself, with a capacity for 1.3 billion more to be produced in the new year. Right from the onset of the pandemic, technology plays a central role, whether for contact tracing, transforming business models overnight to suit the new environment, or now for quick and optimised delivery of vaccines. Currently, the vaccines that are being developed or in the process of approvals are ones that require two doses per person. Imagine carrying out vaccinations of two doses at different intervals of time for every person in the world – the magnitude of the process though intimidating can be enhanced through innovative technologies such as AI, automation, mapping tools, location intelligence, big data, IoT, security, blockchain and so on.

The maintenance requirements such as temperature, packaging, storage specifications etc., will vary for different vaccines that will get approved, and it will be a challenge in terms of logistics. The vaccines will also become the most sought-after medicines, which means ensuring its security while being shipped is another concern to keep in mind. Blockchain technologies have the potential to help with supply chain integrity and tracking purposes while also being useful for maintaining vaccine records. Location intelligence and mapping tools can help to identify those with the highest risk of infection, such as nursing homes and health clinics, so that these areas can be prioritized. Different platforms and apps created on cloud and smart technologies, not to mention all the intelligence from the data collected, will also play a role in expediting the distribution process. For example, in the United States, Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a public–private partnership, led by the Department of Health and Human Services and the DOD, plans to deliver 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics to treat the virus. OWS utilises a data platform called Tiberius from data analytics company Palantir, to analyse and visualise data across the whole operation. The platform, loaded with data from many different sources, assimilates the information regarding manufacturing, clinical trials, supply chain allocation, state and territory planning, delivery and administration and so on, without retaining any personal information within its system. Tiberius offers a unified view of the whole country to help make decisions regarding vaccine distribution optimally. These kinds of technology innovations will help achieve the daunting task of ensuring widespread administration as we step into 2021, which will undoubtedly be the global vaccination year.

With the ongoing positive developments on the vaccine front, there is a sense that we might be able to bring back glimpses of our old lives after all. It has never been more critical for the tech community to come together and collaborate to form meaningful alliances to fuel innovations in the fight against COVID-19.