ANC CONFERENCE A SIGN OF A MATURING DEMOCRACY

Brand South Africa today congratulated President Jacob Zuma at his re-election to the helm of the ANC and his newly elected senior executive committee members at the ANC’s 53rd elective conference in Mangaung.

Brand South Africa is confident that the return of Jacob Zuma to the helm of the ANC’s bodes well for the country’s future. “It creates a better sense of certainty and continuity,” said Brand SA chairman Chichi Maponya.

In his report, President Zuma reiterated the ANC Government’s commitment to five priority areas - education, health, rural development and land reform, the fight against crime and job creation.

He described the launch of the National Development Plan this year as a major achievement for his government, adding that the plan was a “comprehensive” response for tackling “problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment, infrastructure, education and skills development, small business development, education and the national health insurance.”

Maponya said “It is also pleasing to see the return of businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, who as Zuma’s deputy, will help solidify the ANC presidency and improve investor and local business confidence.”

Maponya said she looked forward to the outcome of deliberations at the conference, and hoped that South Africa’s socio-development agenda would be enhanced further.   

She was pleased that although an estimated 30 000 people are currently in Mangaung, the elective conference was largely peaceful and orderly.

“Robust debates and the contestations that characterised the conference is yet another sign that South Africa’s democracy is resilient and maturing. As Brand South Africa we look forward to an acceleration of policy implementation,” said Maponya.

Ms.Chichi Maponya is Chairperson of Brand South Africa.

Epson - L200 Multifunction Inkjet Printer

Epson L200 is an innovation from Epson which introduced the system of printing infusion ink. With 4 tanks measuring 70 ml CYMK ink, the ink is claimed capable of printing thousands of sheets, more than other inkjet devices. Similar to L100, L200 is also equipped with a feature FIT (Fast Ink Top-Up Technology). You'll get the convenience when refilling the ink so that it can be used optimally.

This Epson L200 printer comes with detachable original ink tanks, is ideal for bulk printing. The integrated design minimises print head clogging and keeps your work space clean with filters and tank caps to control airflow and to ensure minimal ink wastage from moisture evaporation. The four control buttons are - one Power On/Off button, Cancel Button that also cleans the print head if pressed for 3 seconds, and two buttons for colour and monochrome prints.

The choke valve allows users to conveniently cut off ink supply from the ink tanks temporarily to prevent backflow of inks during transportation of the printer. The Epson super high capacity ink comes with a unique code that ensures its authenticity, and a cap for easy storage of any unused ink. The Epson FIT (Fast Ink Top-up) tanks are custom designed to fit neatly in the printers chassis and can be conveniently detached.

Effortlessly place this Epson L200 printer in your office or home, as this user-friendly printer comes with dimensions of 508 x 304 x 151 mm and weight of 4.3 kg. The input tray has a handling capacity of 100 A4 plain sheets, while the output tray can hold 50 sheets of A4 size for all your printing needs. This Epson printer supports A4 size paper and can print a maximum media size of 8.5" x 44".

Performance

This Epson printer has a speed of up to 27 ppm (pages per minute) for monochrome drafts and for colour draft this Epson L200 printer has a maximum output speed of 15 ppm. This printer has a print speed of 66 seconds for a 4 x 6 inch photo draft. Using variable sized droplet technology, the Epson L200 can print with a maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi.

Scan and Copy

The flatbed scanner is tucked under the covering lid of this Epson - L200 All-in-One Printer. The flatbed Contact Image Sensor (CIS) scanner housed in this All-in-One printer is capable of optical scan resolution of up to 600 x 1200 dpi with depth colour of 48-bit and 24-bit for colour scan and a depth colour of 16-bit and 1-bit for monochrome scan. The scanning speed for colour drafts in this Epson printer is 5 milli seconds. With a copy speed of 1.5 cpm (copies per minute) for colour copies and 5.4 cpm for monochrome copies, the copy function can make up to 20 copies in a single copy operation run.

Connectivity and other features

This economical Epson L200 printer comes with a maximum power consumption of 12 W in active mode and 3.5 W in standby mode. This printer supports PCs loaded with Windows XP, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating system. The USB 2.0 port makes it easy to connect this Epson printer to your PC. Increase efficiency and productivity with Print, Scan and Copy features of this L200 All-in-One printer.

Specifications Epson L200

Printing technology                         inkjet color

Number of ink   tanks                     (black, cyan, magenta, yellow)

Max resolution.                                5760x1440 dpi

Paper capacity (input / output) 100/50 sheets

Type of paper                                    Plain / glossy / premium / matte

SCANNER

technology                                         flatbed

optical resolution                             600x1200 dpi

depth of color                                   36-bit/output 24-bit input

COPIER

Attenuation / zoom                        None

Resolution (max.)                            600x1200 dpi

copy facilities                                     Standard copy mode

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS          

connection                                         USB2.0

Support memory card                    None

operating system                             Windows XP / XP Professional x64 Edition/Vista/7

weight                                                  4.3 kg

Dimensions (plt)                               50.8 x15, 1x30, 4 cm

consumption of power

(off / sleep / ready / active)        0.6 / 1.7 / 3.5 / 12 watt

                                                

LG L-SERIES REPORTS 10MILLION HAPPY CUSTOMERS

LG Electronics (LG) announced today that sales of its Optimus L-Series smartphones have exceeded 10 million units, marking a modest milestone for LG and its mobile devices business. The success of L-Series in recording eight figures in sales is proof that many consumers want attractive smartphones with distinctive -- not “me too” -- styling. 

L-Series handsets -- Optimus L3 (3.2-inch display), Optimus L5 (4.0-inch display), Optimus L7 (4.3-inch display) -- were first introduced at the 2012 Mobile World Con-gress (MWC) with the unveiling of LG’s new design philosophy and followed by the most recent Optimus L9 (4.7-inch display). L-Style incorporates timeless design with fine details that further differentiates LG’s mobile devices from the competition. This design philosophy is comprised of five aesthetic elements: Modern Square Style for a comfortable grip, Floating Mass Technology for a slimmer look, Seamless Layout for a more intuitive arrangement of keys, Harmonized Design Contrast utilizing metallic accents and Sensuous Slim Shape that draws one’s gaze to the unique form factor. 

“This milestone demonstrates the importance of delivering smartphones with stylish design, comparative size of display and enhanced UX features,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “Whereas other manufacturers are putting all their eggs into a one-size-fits-all phone, our strategy is to develop mobile products for all types of customers according to their individual needs and lifestyles.”

The L-Series lineup of handsets also offered large displays and LG’s proprietary UX features such as QuickMemo and QTranslator. QuickMemo allows users to capture and share a note with others using just a fingertip while QTranslator instantly and accurately translates words as well as entire sentences into 64 foreign languages. 

All the models in the L-Series -- Optimus L3, Optimus L5, Optimus L7 and Optimus L9 -- are available in over 50 markets worldwide.

# # #

About LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company
The LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company is a global leader and innovator in mobile communications. With its breakthrough technologies and innovative designs, LG continues to establish a number of benchmarks in the smartphone market, while also helping create a better lifestyle for consumers by delivering a wholly enhanced smartphone experience. As a leader in 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, LG continues its commitment to developing groundbreaking LTE technologies and fulfilling consumer demands with differentiated LTE devices of the highest quality, all of which are based on the company’s wealth of LTE patents and technical knowledge. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.

Procter & Gamble Opens P&G Purifier of Water Plant in Singapore

                  Scaling up Production to Save One Life Every Hour

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) has announced the opening of its P&G Purifier of Water plant in Singapore, which will enable the Company to produce enough of its water purification technology to save one life every hour by 2020. The powder purification technology that will be produced at the site has allowed P&G to share over 5 billion liters of clean drinking water globally, helping save nearly 30,000 lives.

“For the past 175 years, P&G has been focused on improving lives through innovative solutions that address everyday needs,” said P&G CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board, Bob McDonald. “We’ve taken that same innovation power and focused on one of our world’s biggest challenges, clean drinking water, a lack of which takes the lives of thousands of children every day. Knowing this innovation helps save lives, we’ve set our sights on a commitment to Save One Life Every Hour by 2020.”

Located in Tuas, the new P&G Purifier of Water manufacturing plant is designed to maximise limited space with vertical design and increase productivity by 67% with an innovative precision dosage technology. More than 200 million sachets are expected to be produced a year in Singapore by 2020, making more than two billion litres of clean drinking water accessible to children and families around the world through the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program.

“P&G has been a committed partner of our disaster relief efforts in the region,” added James Quek, Executive Director of World Vision Singapore, “The P&G Purifier of Water sachets are a life-saver because they are small, portable and simple to administer through our field staff.”

The powder technology produced at the Singapore plant comes in small packets, and when stirred into 10 liters of dirty water, causes heavy metals, dirt, and parasites to pull together, then fall to the bottom of the container. This water can be strained through a filter cloth and after 20 minutes, the disinfectant in the powder leaves the water clean enough to drink. Since 2004, P&G has worked with more than 120 organizations to provide these packets in more than 65 countries, raising awareness of this significant global issue and stepping up to help solve the complex problem through innovation. The new manufacturing plant is expected to produce more than 200 million sachets a year by 2020, preventing 80 million days of illness and saving more than 10,000 lives every year. 

About Procter & Gamble and the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program
P&G serves approximately 4.6 billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Fairy®, Gain®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun®, Fusion®, Ace®, Febreze®, Ambi Pur®, SK-II®, and Vicks®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 75 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

The P&G Children's Safe Drinking Water Program (CSDW) is a non-profit initiative that has provided 5 billion litres of clean drinking water to people in need since 2004. CSDW has partnered with a diverse network of organizations to help distribute water purification sachets in developing countries. To learn more about the P&G CSDW Program, and see how the water purification sachets work, please visit www.csdw.org

Nokia Siemens Network introduces a 1GBperday$ innovative approach to maximize consumers’ mobile broadband usage at a lower cost

As the burden on local mobile broadband networks continues to increase, with an ever growing number of users expecting higher speeds and demand for capacity more than doubling every year, global infrastructure provider Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is introducing new solutions that will help deliver services and content fluidly across a network and ease network congestion while bringing the focus of mobile networks on customer satisfaction.

According to the company, the growing importance of mobility in both developed and emerging markets is driving a massive shift in mobile broadband. The global proliferation of smart end-devices and the increased adoption of cloud computing has made mobile broadband the key enabler of these usage patterns.

Speaking during the launch of the new solutions, Nokia Siemens Networks Head of Sales for Africa Ranjith Cherickel noted that as the demand and adoption of mobile devices and services continues to grow in Kenya, the content and services that can be accessed on the move becomes the central value proposition of mobility, not the ability to merely connect to the Internet.

“This means that mobile network operators need to start moving to a model that supports connectivity which allows users to pay for what they consume and not necessarily how they consume it. This has a significant implication on current network resources and infrastructure, and also impacts on the established revenue streams of mobile network operators because, as demand grows, revenue per bit can fall,” he said.

However, Nokia Siemens Networks believes that with the right technology and network architecture mobile network operators can improve network resource efficiency, drive down opex and create a profitable business model. Its mobile broadband development activities are based on a view of the world where in 2020 1 Gigabyte of personalized data is delivered to consumers at a cost of about US1 dollar per day (#1GBperday$).

To achieve this, Cherickel said greater end-to-end intelligence and real-time monitoring capabilities needed to be built into the network to efficiently deliver a superior broadband experience. The capabilities make the network continuously aware of user traffic demands, service needs and the resources available to serve those demands. This enables the network to recognise where demand is coming from and use traffic and content management to adapt itself to cater for traffic fluctuations.

Some of the products the company is introducing include the Liquid Radio WCDMA software suite which boosts performance of existing WCDMA networks. Building on the capabilities of Liquid Net, the advanced software combines three powerful and complementary features to deliver faster data uploads and extract the full benefit from network resources and smartphone capabilities. The feature set therefore helps operators improve customer satisfaction and cut churn while increasing revenue from greater 3G availability.

According to Nokia Siemens Networks, another key aspect that is central to differentiation in a commoditised mobile broadband market is customer service. The CEM for Liquid Net provides insight into the experience of people using a mobile network and converts that into specific investment and network optimisation projects using the company’s Liquid Net software portfolio.

“The approach extends traditional network and operational approaches by directly linking customer and revenue insights to improving network performance. This also helps operators to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between the network performance on record and service quality customers experience in reality,” Cherickel said.

The global infrastructure company has also launched a Service Operations and Management solution. The solution combines insights related to service performance with operations functions to manage mobile broadband services and tackle service degradation before subscribers experience poor quality. Together they help bridge the gap between network operations and service provisioning so that operators can provide subscribers with the best quality of service.

Cherickel noted that final technological element that can help boost network efficiency in an effort to reduce opex and drive down broadband costs are small cell products and services. These packages offer the most profitable blend of macro and small cells to help operators expand their coverage in areas like the home or small office, allowing more capacity to flow through networks. This further boosts customer experience and provides mobile operators with the best return on investment.

He said that all the technologies being introduced will allow operators to optimise their investments in high-quality mobile broadband access, improve the customer's experience at a lower cost. “This is the future of mobile broadband and operators need to start planning network upgrades along these lines if they wish to remain relevant in the next three to five years. There is little doubt that the mobile broadband usage paradigm is shifting in a market that is now, more than ever, driven by end-user demand. And what end-users are demanding is access to low cost mobile broadband that will allow them to benefit from all the promise and functionality that true mobility offers,” Cherickel said.

Ends.......

Procter & Gamble Bets on Feminine Hygiene Education to Grow Market Share in the regional sanitary pads industry

Procter & Gamble is looking at increasing its market share in the East African region by focusing on feminine hygiene education targeting women under 30 years.

The global consumer goods company currently controls 54 per cent of the sanitary pad market in Kenya. 

The company hopes that the allocation by the government of KES 300 million for the 2012/2013 financial year to providing sanitary towels to girls from poor families will provide an avenue to pass feminine hygiene education to Kenyan girls.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, more than one in ten school girls in Sub-Saharan Africa skip more than a day when menstruating due to lack of awareness on how take care of themselves.

Through the Always School Education programme, Procter & Gamble has been providing puberty education that empowers girls to stay in school during their period. The programme also aims to raise the girls’ self-esteem to ensure they are better placed to further their education and gain employment.

Communications Manager Salome Mwaura said that the company is providing the school girl with a free educational programme to equip them with sound knowledge and guidance on the physical and emotional changes experienced during puberty as well as to ease any concerns or confusion around this challenging phase.

“We hope that our programme will empower school girls to stay in school by providing them with puberty education and sanitary protection during menstruation,” says Ms. Mwaura.

In 2001, the Rockfeller Foundation funded a study that revealed that over 500,000 girls in Kenya miss at least four days of school every month as they are unable to afford sanitary pads. This is between 10 -25 % of their time in school thus creating a disadvantage on them over their boy counterparts. The study which was carried out by FAWE also found out that girls lack information on puberty and menstruation and this in turn affects their performance especially during the onset of adolescence. With this backdrop, P&G pledged to provide 3.2 million free sanitary pads to over 15000 teenage girls from poor families for a period of two years at a total investment of over $250,000 under the ‘Always Keeping Girls in School – AKGS. The AKGS program provides girls with three packets of Always pads during every school team. Using trained nurses, Always also educates the girls on issues of feminine hygiene puberty and menstrual protection. Today, the Always Puberty & Hygiene program educates over 300,000 11-13 year olds girls annually.  Always Keeping Girls in School program is a partnership with the Ministry of Education touched lives of over 85,000 girls so far.

In the East Africa region, Kenya is leading with 35 per cent market penetration with Uganda and Tanzania having 22 and 16 per cent penetration respectively. Sanitary pad market penetration is relatively low due to lack of awareness of affordable pads in the market as well as feminine hygiene education. This means that many women still use clothing, tissue and cotton wool to manage their menstrual flow exposing them to health threats.

It is Procter & Gamble’s hope to reach about 10 million school girls by end of 2020 with the feminine hygiene message.

Ends.....

Nokia Siemens Network introduces a 1GBperday$ innovative approach to maximize consumers’ mobile broadband usage at a lower cost

 As the burden on local mobile broadband networks continues to increase, with an ever growing number of users expecting higher speeds and demand for capacity more than doubling every year, global infrastructure provider Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is introducing new solutions that will help deliver services and content fluidly across a network and ease network congestion while bringing the focus of mobile networks on customer satisfaction.

According to the company, the growing importance of mobility in both developed and emerging markets is driving a massive shift in mobile broadband. The global proliferation of smart end-devices and the increased adoption of cloud computing has made mobile broadband the key enabler of these usage patterns.

Speaking during the launch of the new solutions, Nokia Siemens Networks Head of Sales for Africa Ranjith Cherickel noted that as the demand and adoption of mobile devices and services continues to grow in Kenya, the content and services that can be accessed on the move becomes the central value proposition of mobility, not the ability to merely connect to the Internet.

“This means that mobile network operators need to start moving to a model that supports connectivity which allows users to pay for what they consume and not necessarily how they consume it. This has a significant implication on current network resources and infrastructure, and also impacts on the established revenue streams of mobile network operators because, as demand grows, revenue per bit can fall,” he said.

However, Nokia Siemens Networks believes that with the right technology and network architecture mobile network operators can improve network resource efficiency, drive down opex and create a profitable business model. Its mobile broadband development activities are based on a view of the world where in 2020 1 Gigabyte of personalized data is delivered to consumers at a cost of about US1 dollar per day (#1GBperday$).

To achieve this, Cherickel said greater end-to-end intelligence and real-time monitoring capabilities needed to be built into the network to efficiently deliver a superior broadband experience. The capabilities make the network continuously aware of user traffic demands, service needs and the resources available to serve those demands. This enables the network to recognise where demand is coming from and use traffic and content management to adapt itself to cater for traffic fluctuations.

Some of the products the company is introducing include the Liquid Radio WCDMA software suite which boosts performance of existing WCDMA networks. Building on the capabilities of Liquid Net, the advanced software combines three powerful and complementary features to deliver faster data uploads and extract the full benefit from network resources and smartphone capabilities. The feature set therefore helps operators improve customer satisfaction and cut churn while increasing revenue from greater 3G availability.

According to Nokia Siemens Networks, another key aspect that is central to differentiation in a commoditised mobile broadband market is customer service. The CEM for Liquid Net provides insight into the experience of people using a mobile network and converts that into specific investment and network optimisation projects using the company’s Liquid Net software portfolio.

“The approach extends traditional network and operational approaches by directly linking customer and revenue insights to improving network performance. This also helps operators to bridge the gap that sometimes exists between the network performance on record and service quality customers experience in reality,” Cherickel said.

The global infrastructure company has also launched a Service Operations and Management solution. The solution combines insights related to service performance with operations functions to manage mobile broadband services and tackle service degradation before subscribers experience poor quality. Together they help bridge the gap between network operations and service provisioning so that operators can provide subscribers with the best quality of service.

Cherickel noted that final technological element that can help boost network efficiency in an effort to reduce opex and drive down broadband costs are small cell products and services. These packages offer the most profitable blend of macro and small cells to help operators expand their coverage in areas like the home or small office, allowing more capacity to flow through networks. This further boosts customer experience and provides mobile operators with the best return on investment.

He said that all the technologies being introduced will allow operators to optimise their investments in high-quality mobile broadband access, improve the customer's experience at a lower cost. “This is the future of mobile broadband and operators need to start planning network upgrades along these lines if they wish to remain relevant in the next three to five years. There is little doubt that the mobile broadband usage paradigm is shifting in a market that is now, more than ever, driven by end-user demand. And what end-users are demanding is access to low cost mobile broadband that will allow them to benefit from all the promise and functionality that true mobility offers,” Cherickel said.

Ends......