Samsung expands Galaxy upcycling program
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced the expansion of its Galaxy Upcycling program with Galaxy Upcycling at Home, an initiative that gives new life to older Galaxy smartphones by converting them into a variety of IoT (Internet of Things) devices through a simple software update.
Samsung has implemented the beta service for Galaxy Upcycling at Home in the US, the UK and Korea today. With Galaxy Upcycling at Home, users can easily turn their old Galaxy devices into smart home devices like a childcare monitor, a pet care solution and other tools that meet individual lifestyle needs.
The Galaxy Upcycling at Home program provides enhanced sound and light-control features, by repurposing built-in sensors. Users can transform their old devices through SmartThings Labs, a feature within the SmartThings app.
Using an improved artificial intelligence (AI) solution, Galaxy devices can more accurately distinguish sounds in everyday surroundings, and users can choose to save certain sound recordings. For example, if the device detects sounds such as a baby crying, dog barking, cat meowing, or a knock, it will send an alert directly to the user’s smartphone and the user can listen to the recorded sound.
Devices can also be used as a light sensor to measure the brightness level of the room. Users can easily set the device to automatically turn on the lights or the TV through SmartThings if the room becomes darker than the preset standard of light.
For a device to continuously detect sound and light, it needs to be actively operating for long periods of time. For this reason, Samsung equipped the Galaxy Upcycle at Home upgrade with battery optimization solutions to minimize battery usage. Devices will also be able to connect effortlessly to SmartThings, allowing them to interact with countless other IoT devices in the SmartThings ecosystem.
“Smart home devices are a fast-growing trend for consumer electronics, and we believe that Galaxy devices currently not in use can play an important role in turning every home into a smart home,” said Jaeyeon Jung, VP & Head of the SmartThings team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.
PLDT Enterprise continues free fiber upgrade
PLDT Enterprise, the B2B arm of the largest integrated telecommunications company in the Philippines PLDT, has announced its continued commitment to service customers’ growing digital needs through fiber upgrade program at no added cost to its subscribers.
With its target to fully migrate copper-based services to fiber by the middle of 2022, the service improvements aim to provide a more reliable connection as businesses continue to further leverage on digital solutions to support their operations.
“The PLDT Group has been heavily investing in our fiber infrastructure which now spans to over 400,000 kilometers nationwide, and we continue to expand this as we believe that fiber is the future of enterprise. This fiber upgrade program is a reinforcement of our unbreakable commitment in serving our customers better, in line with our mission to make a positive impact on every single business,” Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups said.
The migration from copper to fiber was started by PLDT Group in September 2020 as part of its 18-month modernization program to boost both PLDT Home and Enterprise customers’ internet service. Its fiber optic network has the most extensive digital data infrastructure in the Philippines, spanning a total of 429,000 kilometers.
The demand for fast and reliable internet connectivity is escalating, especially with the continued government-mandated lockdowns brought about by the global health crisis. FVP & Head of PLDT Enterprise Core Business Solutions Jojo Gendrano assured that “migrating to fiber means better service and more productive industries and its workforce. The possibilities to take advantage of digital solutions and cloud-based services are much better, but the best part is we will enable all loyal copper-based customers with the upgrade for free.”
“Having a fast and reliable internet has become essential especially during this time to help businesses sustain their operations. To meet the higher demand of our subscribers for more reliable bandwidth, we’ve consistently pushed for this free fiber upgrade program that will allow for increased resiliency and better uptime,” PLDT Enterprise Vice President & Head of Fixed Core Business Solutions Gary Ignacio concluded.
Fivetran grows global footprint with Singapore expansion
Fivetran, the leader in automated data integration, today announced the opening of a new office and cloud region in Singapore, continuing the company’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. The Singapore opening follows the launch of its APAC HQ in Sydney in May 2020, and enables Fivetran to provide 24/7/365 customer support across all regions.
The new office extends staff across several key departments, including sales, marketing, partnerships and customer support, allowing Fivetran to better serve customers and partners in whatever regions they do business. With the launch of this new cloud region in Singapore – adding to cloud regions in the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia – Fivetran provides a global, highly available service infrastructure for customers requiring locally delivered data pipelines in accordance with data residency and data sovereignty laws.
The new region enables Fivetran to comply with the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA), a law that governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal data by all private organizations. If a Singapore business is not PDPA-compliant, the Personal Data Protection Commission may impose a financial penalty of up to $1 million, as well as other sanctions.
Fivetran is a cloud data integration service that manages data pipelines for enterprises and midsize organizations, automating the delivery of data to leading cloud data stores. Organizations no longer need to devote valuable engineering resources to building and maintaining data pipelines. Fivetran provides prebuilt, zero-configuration pipelines that deploy in minutes and automatically adapt to changes in source APIs and schemas. This frees businesses to refocus on revenue-impacting data analysis.
“Fivetran has taken a methodical approach to its growth, ensuring that we have the resources and infrastructure in place to support our customers in each region before we enter that market,” said T.J. Chandler, APAC Managing Director at Fivetran. “I’m proud of the team we’ve built and continue to grow, and the work of our engineering team – many of whom are located here in APAC – to help our customers reliably move data with speed at scale.”
“Fivetran works hard behind the scenes to pipeline your data into a single warehouse,” said Ken Tabuki, Chief Product Officer at Zipmex. “With Fivetran, our engineers can focus on developing products with the data rather than wrangling data.”
The Fivetran customer roster features more than 120 APAC companies spanning Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its APAC customers include Afterpay, BigHit, Cars24, Neat and FoodPanda. Overall, Fivetran serves thousands of customers and hundreds of leading brands across the globe, including ASICS, Autodesk, BJ’s Restaurants, Conagra Brands, DocuSign, Forever 21, Lionsgate, Square, Strava, Urban Outfitters and Ziff Davis.
For more information about the company’s expansion into Singapore, please visit the Fivetran blog.
Get free Apple AirPods from Moneymax, Citibank promo
How exciting is it to receive a gift when you get a credit card?
And how awesome is it when you can experience this without having to go outside? Moneymax, together with Citibank, has made this possible with the Moneymax x Citi Apple AirPods promo. Everyone who applies and gets approved for a Citi credit card through the Moneymax website will receive Apple AirPods. Get the Right Citi Card and Free Apple AirPods Offered to new Citibank credit cardholders, the Moneymax x Citi Apple AirPods promo runs from April 23 to May 5, 2021.
The promo is open to everyone currently residing in the Philippines, allowing more people to get a credit card and enjoy the free gift. Apart from giving away free Apple AirPods, Moneymax will also take care of shipping so that approved Citi credit card applicants can sit back and relax at home.
With eight Citi credit cards on the Moneymax website (Citi Simplicity+, Citi Cash Back, Citi Rewards, Citi Grab, Citi PremierMiles, Citi Prestige, Mercury Drug Citi, and Shell Citi Card), users can conveniently compare cards and apply for the one that best suits their needs. Doing this is absolutely free, and the application process takes less than five minutes.
Munmun Nath, Co-General Manager of Moneymax shares: “Having a credit card in these times empowers you to fulfill all your daily needs digitally. I am excited that Moneymax can enable Filipinos not only to avail the best credit card for themselves but also have a chance to get a free gift with our exclusive partnership with Citi.”
Previously, Moneymax has given away free GrabPay, GCash, and Foodpanda vouchers to approved Citi credit card clients. This is the second run of Moneymax’s Apple AirPods promo, with the first one launched last February. One of the hundreds of Apple AirPods shipped by Moneymax The Moneymax x Citi Apple AirPods promo was also made in partnership with Power Mac Center.
The promo was reviewed and approved by the DTI. Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-117634. Series of 2021. Don’t miss your chance to get this exciting gift from Moneymax!
