Lenovo released its Smarter Data Management Technology Playbook for Asia Pacific CIO insights 2023

Lenovo debuted its first-ever “Smarter Data Management Technology Playbook,” which compiles insights from more than 550 CIOs in Asia Pacific. The IDC-led report highlights the current status of the data management landscape, digital maturity, and the preparedness of CIOs to meet current and future data challenges and priorities.

The IDC study, which was commissioned by Lenovo, offers crucial insights on infrastructure readiness, data innovation, sustainability, and choosing the right storage partner.

Digital Maturity

Businesses in AP anticipate that 52% of their revenue will be generated digitally by 2027, yet only 39% are at Stages 3/4 of Digital Maturity. A well-defined multi-year execution roadmap is indicative of Stages 3 or 4 for an organization.

With 48% of enterprises in India at Stage 1 of digital maturity, India lags behind. The transformation voyage is hindered by the absence of competitive pressure and cultural resistance to change.

Digital Infrastructure Readiness

The majority of AP businesses (84%) view digital infrastructure as mission–critical or essential to accomplishing business objectives. Nevertheless, only 38% are exceptionally or adequately prepared to maintain standard service levels, security, and cost-optimization in the face of unforeseen business demands.

Nigel Lee, Director of Storage – Asia Pacific at Lenovo ISG, stated, “Data innovation serves as a compass for CIOs, guiding them to uncover new business opportunities and achieve digital success. By leveraging the power of data, businesses can obtain valuable insights to boost productivity and remain competitive. Open, dependable, and secure infrastructure solutions from Lenovo assist clients in modernizing their data management infrastructure.

In India, where digital infrastructure is either mission-critical or vital for 87% of businesses, but only 33% are exceptionally/sufficiently prepared, we observe a similar pattern. To achieve stage 3 or 4 of digital maturity, organizations must implement future-proof IT powered by Hybrid Cloud platforms in order to utilize real-time business insights that result in investment-focused outcomes.

Data Innovation

Innovation driven by data is essential for digital success and generating an array of business outcomes. However, a lack of cyber resiliency, increasing AI/ML workloads, and limited data mobility in hybrid cloud inhibit data innovation.

33% of the 36% of AP organizations that drive data innovation strategically or relatively strategically invest in it to enhance supply chain operations. India’s top two investment priorities are product & service engineering (39%) and promoting competitive differentiation in products & services (37%).

In the next two years, 97% of Indian CIOs intend to accelerate their data-innovation initiatives. CIOs will need to accelerate IT modernization and transformation in order to become digital natives. This also addresses the main challenges associated with data security and cyber resiliency, the expanding mix of AI/ML-powered high-performance, and the energy costs required to support the data explosion.

“It is interesting to see that the majority of CIOs in India are committed to accelerating their data innovation journey over the next two years,” said Amit Luthra, MD – India, Lenovo ISG. It presents a tremendous opportunity for Lenovo to provide the finest data management systems and solutions to assist organizations in becoming digital natives and achieving investment-focused results.”

Information Administration

Increasing deployment options, whether they are public, private, hybrid, or multi-Cloud, have caused issues with data stored in silos. Investments in data storage and information management technologies for Hybrid cloud, Public cloud, and Software-defined storage are substantial in AP.

53% of CIOs across all AP geographies rank Data Management platform for hybrid/multi-cloud as their top investment priority, with the exception of India, which follows the opposite pattern.

52% of Indian enterprises plan to invest in software-defined storage solutions, 44% in public cloud for data backup & business continuity, and 42% in data management platform for hybrid/multi-cloud.

Unified Data Administration

Unified Management Platform is essential for achieving competitive advantage. Only 16% of AP organizations have a unified data management platform, according to the survey. IDC opines that 29% of organizations have successfully reduced the number of data management platforms and made significant progress.

Only 18% of businesses in India have managed to consolidate multiple Data Management platforms into a handful. Nearly fifty percent of organizations continue to use multiple data management systems to independently manage block, file, and object data types, with limited data mobility between public and private clouds and the edge.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a priority for 93% of AP’s organizations. As the younger generation becomes much more concerned about climate change, 35% of respondents anticipate a significant impact on brand reputation.

In India, 94% of enterprises have incorporated sustainability into their business agenda. Key business drivers of the sustainability agenda are now regulatory and compliance requirements, improved resource utilization, and attracting and retaining talent.

Amit Luthra added, “As Lenovo advances its efforts toward a more sustainable world, we are pleased to see the growing significance and emphasis on sustainability in business priorities.”

Beyond social branding and regulatory compliance requirements, CIOs and lines of business (LOBs) must collaborate to develop a set of discrete business outcomes in order to maintain and enhance sustainability goals. Here is how India’s businesses view infrastructure and data management technology investments as a means of promoting sustainability:

• Management, provisioning, and orchestration software based on AI/ML to increase storage capacity utilization
• Inline compression and dedupe technologies to reduce storage capacity needs
• Private cloud storage should be used to consolidate departmental and workgroup storage

Lenovo offers Data Management systems, platforms, and software solutions that enable clients to effectively manage their data and information assets, from the edge to the central data center, as well as across a variety of cloud deployments.

Lenovo’s Data Management solutions support data mobility across the wide expanse of heterogeneous IT infrastructure, enabling next-generation data and AI/ML-powered enterprise applications.

The Smarter Data Management Playbook surveyed over one hundred Indian IT and business decision makers (ITBDMs).

End-to-end supply chain technologies 2023

For businesses to succeed in today’s competitive market, effective supply chain management is essential. It entails managing the flow of products and services from the origin point to the consumption point. One of the most important aspects of supply chain management is downstream fulfillment, which can only be accomplished through effective planning and execution upstream.

This means that if the upstream portion of the supply chain is not operating efficiently, it places enormous pressure on downstream operations to deliver on time, resulting in delivery delays and decreased customer satisfaction.

The significance of complete supply chain solutions

To overcome this obstacle, businesses must develop supply chain solutions that encompass both upstream and downstream operations. Upstream activities include procurement planning, production planning, dispatch allocation planning, and resupply planning. In contrast, the downstream section entails logistics management activities such as warehouse management, transportation management, packaging, and final-mile distribution.

While there are numerous downstream logistics technology solutions available on the market, there are few upstream solutions. A comprehensive comprehension of the supply chain and end-to-end operations is required to develop effective upstream technology solutions.

It also necessitates the investment of time and resources to acquire a thorough understanding of the customer’s problems that the technology solution is intended to solve.

Holisol’s strategy for upstream planning and implementation

Holisol, one of India’s leading providers of end-to-end supply chain solutions, recognized the significance of upstream planning and execution and resolved to concentrate on developing supply chain technology to aid customers in better planning and execution of their supply chains.

It provides numerous technological solutions, such as forecast-based production planning, procurement planning, production planning and scheduling, finished goods dispatch allocation, demand-driven replenishment planning, network optimisation, warehouse management systems (WMS), transport management systems (TMS), and last-mile delivery systems (LMS).

Complex planning problem resolution

These technological solutions are developed using AI/ML/big data and employ complex mathematical modeling to make it simpler to solve complex planning problems requiring the analysis of billions of data points. In addition, Holisol’s automated end-to-end control structure ensures a minimal variance between planned and actual execution of the entire supply chain.

By providing end-to-end solutions, businesses can establish a substantial moat and distinguish themselves in the crowded logistics market. Holisol’s emphasis on upstream planning and execution has allowed them to develop a strong relationship with their customers and offer competitive, rapidly deployable solutions.

Conclusion

To effectively manage the flow of products and services, businesses must invest in technology-enabled, end-to-end supply chain solutions that encompass both upstream and downstream operations. Effective planning and execution upstream are essential for administering downstream fulfillment and guaranteeing customer satisfaction.

Research on Technology and Resilience 2023

BCI presented its inaugural Technology in Resilience Report. It discusses the market and the drivers and constraints to companies using cloud storage, drones, predictive analytics, and AI for resilience.

Cloud, virtual training and exercising, predictive analytics, IoT, and user experience personification receive the most investment.

Over the past four years, augmented reality, user experience personification, and drones have become increasingly popular. The paper suggested that each of these has a resilience use, and as these technologies mature, their use will rise over the next five years.

A BCI poll found that most workers have adopted new tech.

The paper said AI benefits some BC managers. AI is helping resilience professionals improve risk assessment, decision-making, information sourcing, and controls management. Most study respondents are wary about predictive analytics, especially computer-generated reasoning like ChatGPT’s. They worry about data integrity and ethics.

The analysis indicated that most survey respondents utilize tech for training, with little over one in four still using classrooms. Augmented and virtual reality exercises are becoming more popular. The analysis claimed that a well-designed 30-minute simulation can engage top managers and motivate them to take time off work.

Report on technology and resilience

The report argues that in a post-covid world, the workplace has changed drastically to hybrid and virtual working patterns, making technology key; knowledge sharing becomes increasingly important and must be embedded into technology design and use to reduce “information silo” culture.

The report was launched last week with a webinar chaired by Rachael Elliott, Head of Thought Leadership at the BCI, with Terry Downing, Head of Operational Resilience, Mastercard; Leon Israel, Director of Operations, at the report sponsor, iluminr, a platform; and Christopher Glennie, Global Head of Business Continuity, Arm Ltd.

“The report clearly demonstrate that COVID-19 has moved technology from being a ‘nice to have’ in resilience settings, to one which is quickly becoming the enabler of resilience in organizations,” stated Rachael Elliott.

Compared to the BCI Disruptive technology Report 2019, artificial intelligence and drone utilization in resilience settings have surged by 550 percent and 236 percent, respectively, indicating how quickly enterprises are adopting new technology.

Cyber resilience and data security are still problems, but most resilience professionals are welcoming the changes: more than four in ten would like to see some degree of automation in the BIA process, something that was hardly addressed four years ago.

“In the face of rapid and disruptive change, technology has emerged as a critical enabler of resilience,” said iluminr founder and CEO Joshua Shields. Technology helps organizations proactively detect weaknesses, implement training and exercise programs, develop agility, and improve flexibility through continuous learning and improvement, as seen in this Technology in Resilience Report.

“AI, augmented reality, and blockchain will play a bigger role in resilience in the future. An organization’s capacity to proactively navigate change and thrive in today’s dynamic business climate depends on its resilience technology adoption strategy.

With the “complex queries” capability, Google Photos’ search bar is improving 2023

Google Photos has become one of the most popular cloud storage options for photos and videos, particularly among Android users, over the years. While millions of people around the world use the mobile app, the Google Photos website has a number of intelligent features that make it easy to use on any platform.

While the existing search functionality in Google Photos was already excellent, it is now even better with the addition of support for more complex queries. According to 9to5Google, the Google Photos website is displaying a new pop-up that encourages users to “Try a more powerful search.”

Google explains how to use more complex search terms, such as ‘colorful sunset,’ via the ‘Learn more’ link within the pop-up bubble.

Its AI-powered search tool lets users find images by content rather than name.

The longer search terms will enable users to specify precisely what they are searching for in their collection without having to wade through a large number of generic search results.

Google Photos will present online results in a new “Most relevant to your search” section organized by relevancy if a query doesn’t return any photos from the user’s collection.

The new feature will also enable users to search for individuals at a specific location, such as “Mark at the Statue of Liberty.” A Google spokesperson told 9to5Google that the company is “constantly experimenting with new methods to help people find and relive their photos and videos.

This experiment allows users to search with more complex queries, allowing them to discover photos and videos more easily. The feature has just begun spreading out to a small number of users, and it is currently unknown when it will be available to everyone.

Moto Watch 70 and Watch 200 announced Launched 2023

The Moto Watch 70 and the Moto Watch 200 are the most recent additions to Motorola’s lineup of smartwatches, which were both recently revealed. The first option is an affordable smartwatch that focuses on the standard health and activity tracking functions, while the second option provides a few extra high-end features, such as an AMOLED display and Bluetooth calling.

The former option is the more affordable option. Although Motorola has not yet disclosed pricing or availability information, the official website for the company says that both watches will be available “soon.”

This is a Moto Watch 200.

The AMOLED display of the Moto Watch 200 is 1.78 inches and is housed in a 45 mm metal casing. The watch is equipped with a heart rate monitor, SpO2 meter, accelerometer, and altimetry, and it is waterproof to a depth of 5 ATM. You receive activity tracking for more than 28 different sports, as well as an integrated GPS. Your data may be synchronized with Google Fit and Strava using the Watch 200.

The Watch 200 boots Moto Watch OS and includes a microphone and speaker for making and receiving calls while they are being made on the device.

There is a 355-milliampere-hour battery that, according to Motorola, can last for up to 14 days even with regular use. In addition to having the capability to pair with your phone using Bluetooth 5.3 LE, the watch also has fall detection warnings.

The Watch 200 boots Moto Watch OS and includes a microphone and speaker for making and receiving calls while they are being made on the device.

There is a 355-milliampere-hour battery that, according to Motorola, can last for up to 14 days even with regular use. In addition to having the capability to pair with your phone using Bluetooth 5.3 LE, the watch also has fall detection warnings.

Motorola Watch Model 70

The curved 1.69-inch LCD will be housed in a 43mm zinc alloy casing on the Moto Watch 70. The wristwatch has a water resistance rating of IP67 and comes equipped with a temperature sensor as well as a heart rate monitor.

You receive over one hundred different watch face selections in addition to the standard activity and sleep tracking included on the Watch 200.

The Moto Watch OS is loaded on the wearable, which links using Bluetooth 5.0 LE. There is a 355 mAh battery that has a life expectancy of 10 days with regular use. The Moto Watch 70 is only available in a single color, Phantom Black.

Anker targets Apple HomePod 2 with a cheaper Spatial Audio Bluetooth speaker 2023

At this time of year, box-fresh Bluetooth speakers flood TechRadar, but not all deserve a news piece. Why is it different? Is it comparable to top Bluetooth speakers?

Not always. Anker is better renowned for power banks than speakers, but its Soundcore 2 was disappointing.

Introducing the’sky driver’ inexpensive portable speaker.

The new Anker Soundcore Motion X600 is not a smart speaker. It has a “sky driver” for upward firing Spatial Audio compatibility and LDAC (from an Android device), Sony’s wireless audio codec that transmits three times more data than Bluetooth. If you pair the speaker with a device that supports either codec, this resolution is closer to CD-quality audio than lossless. They’re special here.

Why? due to cost. Our Apple HomePod 2 review shows that Apple’s Spatial Audio-capable speaker costs $299 / £299 / AU$479 (the Apple HomePod mini doesn’t support Dolby Atmos, LDAC, or Spatial Audio), while the Sonos Era 300, which has an upfiring driver like the Anker, costs $449 / £449 / AU$749. My model cuts $100 off the HomePod and $250 off the Sonos—or more if you get a deal.

The Motion X600 is Anker Soundcore’s most premium-looking loudspeaker, with a metal grille, a handle, and a simple yet elegant design, but it’s what’s inside that’s fascinating.

Anker Soundcore has a winner if the Motion X600 sounds as excellent as its specs.

Two woofers, two tweeters, and one full-range, upward-firing Sky Driver comprise this speaker. This unique speaker array and Soundcore’s audio algorithm create a portable, high-fidelity audio experience.

The Motion X600, the brand’s first speaker to accept and decode Hi-Res LDAC sources (Android only), has a nine-band custom EQ accessible via the Soundcore app (iOS and Android).

For a richer stereo soundstage, you can wirelessly pair two Motion X600 speakers. Its 6400 mAh (7.2v) internal battery provides up to 12 hours of playback (at 50% volume) and is IPX7 waterproof.

The Anker Soundcore X600 is available in Polar Gray, Aurora Green, and Lunar Blue for $199.99 / £199.99 / €199.99 and $269.00 (CAD) on Amazon.com (AU$299.99) via soundcore.com(opens in new tab) and other retail partners on May 6.

Pre-ordering saves $50 if you’re serious. The Motion X600 may be pre-ordered on Soundcore’s website until May 9 for $149.99, £149.99, €149.99, and $199.99 CAD in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada.

Since March 2022, when Astell&Kern debuted the BE100, the world’s first LDAC and aptX HD Bluetooth speaker, I haven’t seen anything as exciting in Bluetooth. That speaker cost $499/£449/AU$549.

The $150 Anker Soundcore X600 with Spatial Audio and LDAC may be a hit. If it’s any good, Apple, Sonos, and JBL should be worried—or busy building a new competitor.

How to permanently wipe YouTube and Google search history 2023

Many people value online privacy, and many internet users would prefer that their search history remain private.

Google and YouTube, however, retain your search history even if you eliminate it from your browser. The only way to prevent this is to make an essential configuration modification.

We have created a guide on how to adequately delete your internet search history. Even though it is still possible that records of your search history exist, taking these measures will provide additional privacy protection.

How to delete your mobile device’s YouTube search history

According to the Daily Star, there are a number of ways to clear your YouTube search history.

In the app, you can delete individual search queries. This is accomplished by launching the YouTube app, tapping the search bar, and clicking and holding any of the suggested search results that have the History icon (a clock) next to them. You can then select ‘Remove’ from the subsequent pop-up menu.

However, you can also modify your app settings to prevent YouTube from storing your search history. Simply pick your profile picture, navigate to Settings, and then click Manage all history. Once you locate the option Saving YouTube history, deselect “Include your YouTube searches.”

How to clear Android’s Google search history

The Google search app is one of the most convenient features of Android, as it allows users to rapidly obtain search results by tapping the Home Screen’s search bar.

Similarly to YouTube, you can press and hold on to particular search results to remove them from your phone’s history.

To completely remove these, however, you must expunge your Search history from your Google account by following these steps:

• Launch the Google app on your Android device, then tap your profile photograph to access your search history.
• To delete your entire search history, select Delete > Delete forever.
• Simply tap Delete > Delete custom range to delete queries from a specific time period.

You can also modify your Settings to automatically delete your Search history. Return to the Search history menu and select Controls. Find the ‘Web & App Activity card’ and toggle Auto-delete (On) to the on position.

Your Google account’s search history should now be removed.

This 2TB SSD for $75 is one of the best SSD discounts we’ve seen 2023

Buckle up, friends: This is the best deal I’ve ever seen on a 2 terabyte NVMe solid-state drive offered for sale. Amazon is currently offering the Silicon Power Gen3 SSD with 2 terabytes of storage for only $75.

Do you remember when a solid-state drive (SSD) that cost 10 cents per GB was considered an excellent value? So, that comes out to about four cents per gig, doesn’t it?

The drive manufactured by Silicon Power will not set any new performance records. It used the more antiquated PCIe 3.0 interface (we are now using PCIe 5), and it is one of the new generation of “Host Memory Buffer” solid-state drives, which do away with onboard DRAM to assist in bringing down the cost of the product. (It worked wonderfully for us.)

The Silicon Power Gen3 2TB SSD costs about $75 on Amazon.

In spite of all of this, the triple-layer cell drive that you have will allow you to boot into Windows and will run your programs and games at the lightning-fast rates that are the hallmark of solid-state drives.

You shouldn’t use it with a PlayStation 5 because that console does not support HMB technology, and it will be slower than newer-generation drives if you frequently make huge file transfers, but this is an absolutely incredible price if all you want is a big and quick SSD to put your PC games and files on.

In addition to that, it is not the only one. B&H Photo is currently offering an Intel 670p SSD with 2 terabytes of storage space for $80. This model is suitable for use with a PlayStation 5.

Pick your poison—but don’t miss out. These jaw-dropping bargains are incredible opportunities to significantly increase the amount of storage you have without completely busting your wallet. Four cents per gig.

Godfather of AI quits Google for its dangers 2023

US media on Monday stated that cognitive psychologist and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, who is frequently referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” recently resigned from his position at Google and issued a warning to the world about the potentially negative impacts of artificial intelligence technology.

Despite the fact that Hinton is now claiming that developments in the field pose “profound risks to society and humanity,” it has been reported that he was the one who developed the foundational technology for AI systems.

The “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, resigned and warned of AI’s risks.

It is difficult to imagine a way to stop dishonest people from taking advantage of it for unethical purposes. Utilize the distinction and carry it forward in your thinking. “That is terrifying,”

He also stated that because of the competition between the world’s largest technology companies, sophisticated AI models are being deployed at unsafe rates without proper due diligence, which not only puts jobs at risk but also spreads misinformation.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT became one of the most widely used AI chatbot technologies in 2022. Soon after, Google launched its interactive chatbot Bard, and other internet titans followed suit, resulting in an intense race amongst the businesses to emerge victorious in the “AI war.”

Clearing Android cache 2023

The term “cache” refers to the temporary files that applications store during the course of their lifetime. Your applications will load more quickly and operate more smoothly thanks to the data that is cached. This data is useful.

Naturally, it is possible to have an excessive amount of a pleasant experience. If you’ve had the same phone for a significant amount of time, it’s probably time to give it a thorough cleaning. This is due to the fact that the size of cached data can swell with time, eating up important storage space in the process.

Android users may easily clear app caches:

Begin by opening the “settings” app on your mobile device. From this point, you should go to the “apps” category.

You will initially be presented with a list of all the applications that you have installed, arranged in alphabetical order. First select the “storage” submenu, then select the “clear cache” option.

And that wraps things up! You can erase the cache of any app that you have installed on your Android by following the same procedure. You will not have any of your user data lost, nor will you be logged out of any of your accounts.

It is important to keep in mind that the procedure could possibly be carried out significantly differently depending on the Android phone that you are utilizing. Different smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung and OnePlus, have a propensity to shuffle around the order in which the settings are presented on their products.

If you’re using an iPhone, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Apple doesn’t make the process nearly as simple on that device. However, the vast majority of apps do not include the capability to clear cache within the “settings” app.

If we’re really lucky, maybe the functionality may be incorporated in the next update for iOS 17, which is scheduled to be released soon.