The event will be held from Friday to December 31 at True Branding Shop ICONSIAM, the company said in a press release issued on Friday.

Vichaow Rakphongphairoj, True Corporation president, said: “TrueMove H, in partnership with our global partners including leading manufacturers of telecommunication devices, has succeeded in developing and demonstrating continuous trials of 5G technology since late 2017. “Currently, TrueMove H was granted permission from the NBTC to undergo a demonstration of our 5G technology using the 28-GHz spectrum which is considered an important stepping stone in connecting Thais to the digital world, changing people’s daily lifestyles and, most importantly, revolutionising industrial operations through a more concrete and sustainable approach.

As the leading mobile network provider in Thailand, TrueMove H operates diverse frequencies, ranging from 850/900/1800 to 2100 MHz.”

“We strongly believe that we are ready to lead the Thai people towards a complete digital lifestyle in the 5G era through our demonstration of 5G performance in a real-world environment at this event,” he added.

“We aim at convincing people that this event is the ‘Bestination’ that provides the best opportunity for everyone to learn and experience our various advanced technologies that meet all types of interests and content ranging from entertainment, sports, model cities and future transport systems as well as robotic and automated technologies, which are expected to reshape Thai people’s lifestyles and revolutionize future operation systems.”

The enhanced Inspiron laptops and 2-in-1s are built with a combination of beautiful designs, superior materials and top performance dedicated to deliver a device for every function and user, Dell said in a press statement.

Dell’s commitment to thoughtful design and truly immersive cinematic experiences on the PC continues with this generation of products. Launched at CES 2018, Dell Cinema is the combination of several cutting-edge technologies all working in concert to give the viewer an immersive, captivating experience on their PCs. Dell Cinema is available across the new Inspiron products.

Every Dell Consumer PC also comes with Dell Mobile Connect , which allows users wireless access to their smartphones on their Dell PCs. The software brings a new level of smartphone-to-PC integration beyond text messages and phone calls to include integration with Android and iOS apps notifications, such as WhatsApp messages, calendar reminders and more.

“We pride ourselves in always bringing the latest innovation to consumers and iterating when new advancements are made available and we are very excited with the updated design, cinematic experiences and better performance that our new Inspiron 5000 laptops will bring for them,” said Anothai Wettayakorn, Vice President, Dell EMC Indo-china. “Consumers today want products that are easy to set up and ready to use once it is out of the box. They want to create and share content between devices regardless of operating system or form factor with ease. At Dell, we strive to help customers interact with what matters most to them to meet the performance needs of today and tomorrow.”

Inspiron 5000 2-in-1s and laptops – flexibility and function at incredible value

The Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 (5482) boasts many of the top line enhancements of the 7000 series, including thermal routing and narrow borders. This product offers new Intel 8th Generation U Series processors, choice, flexibility and value to fit the varied needs of today’s consumers. It also includes a USB Type-C port with power delivery and display support, for the first time standard in the Inspiron 5000 series, and an optional NVIDIA® GeForce® MX130 discrete graphics card.

The new Inspiron 14-inch laptop (5480) is available in silver color and a three-sided narrow border completes the stylish look. A USB Type-C port provides power delivery and display support, and an optional fingerprint reader is available on the power button. This product boasts a wealth of features, such as storage options including SSDs and dual drives, optional discrete graphics up to NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 Graphics, and an optional backlit keyboard.

Pricing & Availability

The new Inspiron systems are now available through Dell and its authorized partners:

MAJOR changes are on the way for the auto mobility industry, as it goes through more shifts and trends in the next decade than were experienced in the past three. BMW is an interesting case study of a century-old company transforming itself into a hi-tech company.

Hildegard Wortmann, senior vice president, Asia-Pacific region, BMW Group, says the brand’s approach shows how a more than 100-year-old company can transform into a new and exciting entity. And its success at transformation is a testament to the company’s strong leadership and brand vision, made real through a strong strategy.

“We came from a long legacy – the BMW brand is over 100 years old. Now we are transforming into a hi-tech company, and the transformation is really exciting. BMWi, launched in 2012, reflected a strong visionary view on what needed to be done, what needed to be explored. It shows what the premium brand should be – it is not just a product, but also about the leadership and strategy,” said Wortmann.

The key strategy driving BMW’s transformation is to stay relevant, and that means to have a really good understanding of where the market is going and what most customers want, what is the trend and what needs to change, she says.

“Importantly, it needs to have the strong capability to reflect on yourself, your business, your product portfolios and adapters. It takes a lot of conscious decisions and courage, because sometimes you have to let go. And a heavy financial investment, several billion euros every year spent in research and development into future technologies,” said Wortmann.

Electrification was the first recent major disruption, said Wortmann, and BMW has become a pioneer in electric mobility.

For example, it launched the BMWi3 in 2012, and now has 200,000 customers driving electrified BMW’s – either all-electric vehicles or plug-in-hybrids.

“In Thailand, our electrification share is also about 20 per cent, and that is a very good share. By the year 2025, you will see 25 per cent driving electrified BMWs, so that is strong commitment to electrification,” said Wortmann.

“The whole of Asia Pacific is a fantastic region for BMW, it is very promising in terms of growth and business development. And when we look specifically at Thailand, we have seen a fantastic growth rate here for us, an over 20 per cent increase from last year.

“I am confident that my team will continue this growth rate throughout the year.”

Another area of technological disruption is autonomous driving, where the company is developing a variety of technologies. There are many steps to get to totally autonomous autos, Wortmann added, but already there are autonomous functionalities found in their cars.

“It is not yet completely autonomous, but a lot of driving assistants systems allow you to take your hands off, your eyes off, and you can already drive and park on autonomous.

For driving fully autonomous – it will take a little more time. But it is not so much, because the technologies can be developed and our engineers are on top on this. But of course, you need a lot of frameworks to go with that, such as regulations and insurance,” said Wortmann.

Ramping up investments

BMW has just opened a large campus north of Munich, with over 3,000 specialists to develop autonomous driving, a heavy investment in speeding up the future of mobility.

The company sees a future that incorporates many new mobility functions into autos.

“I do not believe that the car will go away, I do not believe that individual mobility would go away, but rather it will remain important. People love to own their own cars, but they can choose now. They can drive their own car or use a rental car; they can use ride sharing – whatever they want. It is just the pressure of more choices,” said Wortmann.

For example, the BMW Drive Now, which has gone through testing, can already boast a million customers worldwide. Meanwhile, Charge Now, is the largest infrastructure of its kind with 118,000 charging stations already.

“We are continuing in our development work,” she said.

DriveNow is a flexible car-sharing service from the BMW Group, giving customers the opportunity to rent cars spontaneously when and where they need them.

“Currently, we have this service in 13 cities worldwide. We are looking into all the different markets worldwide to explore further,” said Wortmann. Successful cities must meet the company’s criteria.

“When we looked to launch Drive Now in Munich, one of the most important things was to negotiate with the city’s government for parking space.

“To give customers really good service, we need for the whole city to have free parking available. You need infrastructure and parking and operating licences and so on. There are a lot of things to be considered,” said Wortmann.

She said she sees a big opportunity for BMW in the Drive Now ride-sharing service, because it is the perfect way to get new customers to try a certain model. For example, some people might not have been thinking about the BMWi3 at all, but because they book a car-share, they get into a BMWi3. It becomes like a test drive, in which people can try out a model, and that presents BMW with an excellent opportunity.

“Customer can enjoy our brand and we can convince them to get into the brand. They might be young customers who might not have money yet to buy one, but they might go for some car later on. It is about the brand, that we really want to show that we are up to date and understand what customers really want to have.

Mobility service is a customer demand for BMW, and we have to deliver the services,” said Wortmann.

Partnerships

A lot of the key factors that BMW builds into their cars come from the larger high-technology environment.

The carmaker cooperates with others, such as Mobieye, Delphi and Intel. It needs to partner with tech companies in order provide customers with a great in-car experience, for example on the displays, connectivity and connected services in the car.

It also makes sure that it has all the hi-tech equipment in the car that customers expect.

Partnership are also important locally, with BMW Group Thailand having set its sights on another milestone in this country’s journey towards a future of electro-mobility. BMW is involved with a local high-voltage battery production facility, comprising the battery modules and the battery itself. Production begins in 2019 at a new production facility in WHA Chonburi Industrial Estate 2.

The company has 30 plants in 14 countries and has a strong commitment to production in Asia region, said Wortmann.

“The ultimate goal is always to keep maximum capability with flexible costs and labour force capacity. We maximise the production network in order to make sure we can have flexibility, but also to optimise for the best tech benefits through incentives and opportunities. For example, we use our plant in Rayong to support the China market.”

Christian Wiedmann, president, BMW Group Thailand, said that together, BMW Group and Draxlmaier plan to invest over Bt400 million to establish a new beacon for e-mobility innovations in Thailand and the region.

“For BMW Group Thailand, we have already planned and been approved for government incentives by Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) to further invest over

Bt700 million for more BMW Plug-in Hybrid models to come,” Wiedmann said.

Gautam Talwar, managing director for Spotify, Southeast Asia, said that since the service’s launch, Thai users have spent 81 million hours streaming on Spotify.

“As one of the key markets for us here in Southeast Asia, Spotify is committed to ensuring that fans are enjoying their streaming experience on Spotify,” Talwar said.

As part of this commitment, it recently introduced Spotify On Stage, which the company describes as “a true celebration of voices and stories” behind the most streamed playlists in Thailand.

 “Here at Spotify, we see that music has no borders. With our premier concert, we see this concept coming to life as we bring together music fans with their favourite artists in Bangkok,” said Talwar

The company said it aims to improve the lives of artists, creators, and music lovers in Thailand with Spotify. The company also wanted to continue being relevant and innovative as the platform of discovery for both users and artists.

“We are excited to see more and more Thai users turn to streaming for their music needs. We believe there is a huge potential for the music industry to grow,” said Talwar.

As the penetration into society of smartphones and Internet connectivity continues to progress, this provides a great opportunity for streaming music. Streaming has become the industry’s fastest-growing revenue source, growing at 41.4 per cent year on year.

According to the IFPI Report 2018, music streaming is now the single largest revenue source for the industry worldwide. with digital income accounting for more than half of all revenue (54 per cent) for the first time.

In Thailand, 81 per cent of recorded music revenue comes from the digital segment. Based on a 2016 report by Nielsen, 88 per cent of Thais consume music via applications, and music streaming has emerged as the main channel for Thais.

“We believe that music streaming will continue to grow, just like content on demand services grow globally, with users’ behaviour and expectations changing to cater for their ‘then and there’ customised needs,” said Talwar.

Thai market In focus

Thailand is one of the key markets for Spotify in Southeast Asia.

He said every market is unique, as streaming or listening to music is a personal experience. Thais love music, especially if it is on a service able to bring people and communities together.

Thais also have among the highest mobile phone penetration rates.

“By combining the two, we believe we have a service that make it easy for fans to listen to the music they love. From a vast variety of music genres to collaborative playlist functions, we offer users the best features and content; both international and local,” said Talwar.

He said there are many factors that have contributed to the growth of music streaming globally.

“Users today no longer want to be told what to listen to; they want the ability to choose and express themselves through music,” he said. “Music discovery is a key feature that would continue driving fans to music streaming platforms such as Spotify.

“Apart from that, as mobile penetration continues to grow, and the Internet infrastructure continues to improve, fans are demanding that their music be available anytime and anywhere. And as wearables continue to grow as a trend, the need for ubiquity amongst devices would be key.

“Music streaming is revolutionising the experience of the music fan and transforming the recording industry. Connected, on-the-move, music fans are dictating the pace of change.”

He claims that Spotify is the largest global music streaming subscription service, with over 180 million users.

“As a platform that is truly ubiquitous, fans will be able to stream music seamlessly through various devices. From your mobile phone to your desktop to your car, Spotify allows you to engage with your music beyond any app,” said Talwar.

“With access to over 40 million tracks and 3 billion playlists, from the best in Thai music to the latest international hits, Spotify users have the opportunity to enjoy a personalised way to discover artists and listen to what they love for free.”

From Discover Weekly to Daily Mix to Release Radar, each of these playlists are specifically curated for each individual user.

No one user will have the same playlist as these are curated based on the music fan’s listening habits.

“The company monetises its service through both subscriptions and advertising. The premium service and ad-supported service live independently, but thrive together,” Talwar.

“To enhance the experience even further, music fans can decide to enjoy Spotify for free or stream without having to listen to ads via Spotify Premium. Spotify Premium is like Spotify’s free service, only better.

“You are able to take your music offline. Play any song, anytime. No skip restrictions. No ads.

“Spotify Premium is also seamlessly available through carrier billing programmes we have with AIS and DTAC. Our ad-supported service serves as a funnel, driving more than 60 per cent of our total gross added premium subscribers since we began tracking this data in February 2014.”

The Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission — named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology — launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the southwestern Xichang launch centre at 2:23 am (1823 GMT), according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The blast-off marked the start of a long journey to the far side of the moon for the Chang’e-4 mission, expected to land around the New Year to carry out experiments and survey the untrodden terrain.

“Chang’e-4 is humanity’s first probe to land on and explore the far side of the moon,” said the mission’s chief commander He Rongwei of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the main state-owned space contractor.

“This mission is also the most meaningful deep space exploration research project in the world in 2018,” He said, according to state-run Global Times.

Unlike the near side of the moon that is “tidally locked” and always faces the earth, and offers many flat areas to touch down on, the far side is mountainous and rugged.

It was not until 1959 that the Soviet Union captured the first images of the heavily cratered surface, uncloaking some of the mystery of the moon’s “dark side”.

No lander or rover has ever touched the surface there, positioning China as the first nation to explore the area.

“China over the past 10 or 20 years has been systematically ticking off the various firsts that America and the Soviet Union did in the 1960s and 1970s in space exploration,” said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“This is one of the first times they’ve done something that no one else has done before.”

Next up: humans

It is no easy technological feat — China has been preparing for this moment for years.

A major challenge for such a mission is communicating with the robotic lander: as the far side of the moon always points away from earth, there is no direct “line of sight” for signals.

As a solution, China in May blasted the Queqiao (“Magpie Bridge”) satellite into the moon’s orbit, positioning it so that it can relay data and commands between the lander and earth.

Adding to the difficulties, Chang’e-4 is being sent to the Aitken Basin in the lunar south pole region — known for its craggy and complex terrain — state media has said.

The probe is carrying six experiments from China and four from abroad.

They include low-frequency radio astronomical studies — aiming to take advantage of the lack of interference on the far side — as well as mineral and radiation tests, Xinhua cited the China National Space Administration as saying.

The experiments also involve planting potato and other seeds, according to Chinese media reports.

Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans to the moon.

The Chang’e 4 mission is a step in that direction, significant for the engineering expertise needed to explore and settle the moon, McDowell said.

“The main thing about this mission is not science, this is a technology mission,” he said.

– ‘National pride’ –

Chang’e-4 will be the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu (“Jade Rabbit”) rover mission in 2013.

Once on the moon’s surface, the rover faces an array of extreme challenges.

During the lunar night — which lasts 14 earth days — temperatures will drop as low as minus 173 degrees Celsius (minus 279 Fahrenheit). During the lunar day, also lasting 14 earth days, temperatures soar as high as 127 C (261 F).

The rover’s instruments must withstand those fluctuations and it must generate enough energy to sustain it during the long night.

Yutu conquered those challenges and, after initial setbacks, ultimately surveyed the moon’s surface for 31 months. Its success provided a major boost to China’s space programme.

Beijing is planning to send another lunar lander, Chang’e-5, next year to collect samples and bring them back to earth.

It is among a slew of ambitious Chinese targets, which include a reusable launcher by 2021, a super-powerful rocket capable of delivering payloads heavier than those NASA and private rocket firm SpaceX can handle, a moon base, a permanently crewed space station, and a Mars rover.

“Our country’s successful lunar exploration project not only vaults us to the top of the world’s space power ranks, it also allows the exploration of the far side of the moon,” said Niu Min, an expert on China’s space programme.

The project, he said in an interview with local website Netease, “greatly inspires everyone’s national pride and self-confidence”.

For the fourth edition of the fellowship, the Thais joined with participants from 11 Asian countries, as 38 participants from across South and Southeast Asia were selected from over 300 applicants to take part in the intensive 14-day bootcamp.

The Fellowship aims to help bridge the digital divide and enable young entrepreneurs with the right skills for their businesses, and encourages them to share their newly acquired knowledge with the communities they operate in.

The graduation of the fourth eFounders class means Alibaba is on target to fulfil the pledge made by Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, in his capacity as the UNCTAD Special Adviser for Young Entrepreneurs and Small Business. UNCTAD is the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The commitment seeks to empower 1,000 entrepreneurs in developing countries by creating champions for inclusive and sustainable economic development through the digital economy over the next five years.

“This initiative amplifies many of the efforts made by the international community to support digital transformation and innovation for inclusive and sustainable development,” said Arlette Verploegh, UNCTAD eFounders Fellowship programme coordinator.

“Investing in youth entrepreneurship can inspire other entrepreneurs in their endeavours and help create awareness about challenges they face and the opportunities the modern economy offers.”

The participants from Thailand had founded logistics, fintech and tourism startups. The graduates are Nithipont Thaiyanurak, CEO of Box24, a network of 24/7 smart lockers available in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia; Supichaya Surapunthu, CEO and founder of Piggipo, a credit card management application; Nithi Satchatippavarn, managing director of MyCloudFulfillment, a one-stop order fulfillment for e-commerce and omni-channel businesses; Sittisak Wongsomnuk, CEO and co-founder of GIZITX, an online marketplace of logistics services for businesses to compare logistics prices and book services instantly; and Sipavich Dhumrongvaraporn, co-founder of Bellugg, a company providing on-demand luggage delivery service between the airport and hotel.

PaymentS giant Visa has launched what it calls its future security roadmap for Thailand, while taking steps to keep its lead in the payment industry. Joe Cunningham, the company’s head of risk for Asia Pacific, said the future of payment lies in new kinds of experiences as a constant stream of innovations impact the relationship between cardholders and merchants.

One of the most interesting developments in payment has been the huge explosion in the kind and numbers of devices that can be used by consumers, such as mobile phones, the Internet of Things and wearables, Cunningham says.

Visa boasts over three billion cards worldwide, a figure it expects will multiply by 10 times over the next decade, even as their form increasingly shifts from a card to other payment devices, including wearables and the Internet of Things.

On the merchant’s side of the counter, Visa also foresees a mirrored explosion in the “ways to pay” as merchants and commercial enterprises join in disrupting the traditional payment system, and also traditional financial services.

The result is a very interesting time in the payment industry, Cunningham says. But the company will continue to lead the payment industry in partnership with its clients, who serve the millions of merchants around the world that accept the billions of Visa cards carried in customer wallets, along with mobile phones, every day.

“One of the most important things as we think about the future, is that Visa must maintain its focus on security,” says Cunningham. “It is one of the most important priorities of our cardholders – they need feel that they have confidence and trust in electronic payment. It is a very important part of Visa’s strategy.”

Visa has developed principles that it tries to enforce within the industry: to innovate responsibly, with all innovations based on “security by design.”

“We drive security across the payments ecosystem. We are guided by the principle of responsible innovation through optimising the balance between risk and innovation,” says Cunningham.

Visa has launched a “future of security roadmap” for Thailand, a plan that parallels similar roadmaps around the world.

“As we think about the future of payment and the number of innovations taking place in payment, we need to make sure that all stakeholders make the right investments to ensure they protect cardholders, removing any sensitive data from the payment system, and having a balance between security and convenience, between security and innovation,” says Cunningham.

“In order to do that, Visa has been working with clients in Thailand – the Thai Bankers’ Association and Bank of Thailand – to get their endorsement of the plan for the market,” says Cunningham.

Visa is undertaking four security initiatives. First is to devalue data by removing sensitive data from the ecosystem and making stolen account details useless. Second is to protect data by implementing safeguards to protect personal data as well as account details. Third is to harness data by identifying potential fraud before it occurs and to increase confidence in approving good transactions. Fourth is to empower everyone, including account holders, third-party providers and merchants, to plan an active role in securing payments.

“We intend to do those four things over the next couple of years,” says Cunningham, “creating a strategy of payment security. We want to eliminate sensitive data. The 16-digit number on the card would not be stored anywhere by the merchant, bank or payment facilitator/processor. The sensitive data in the 16-digit number would be removed and replaced by something that would be worthless if the number was stolen.”

There are two important aspects of this “transaction control,” he says – making sure that the cardholder becomes part of the solution over the long term, and giving cardholders more effective control and management over their accounts and their Visa card.

The vast of majority of Visa-card fraud in Thailand, the Asia Pacific and all around the world, now takes place on e-commerce. Because most countries around the world, but especially in Asia Pacific have implemented the EMV chip, limited fraud now takes place in the physical world. Fraud has moved to e-commerce.

“The focus of our roadmap for the future is very much on e-commerce. How to protect e-commerce and how to make sure e-commerce will be safe, continue to be convenient and secure. The best way is to make it easy for merchants and the banks to share data at the time the transaction is occurring. The aim is less fraud and a seamless transaction,” says Cunningham.

The first stage is to remind stakeholders what they need to do today, including to apply a global security standard. The time frame for the future of the security roadmap is the next three years, 2019 to 2021.

By 2019 end, all debit-card issuers will have completed the EMV chip migration. In Thailand, all debit cards will by 2019 have to include a chip. And, by end of next year, all issuers will have adopted digital transaction controls enabling cardholders to control their card usage.

By 2020, all issuers must implement the new standard for e-commerce, called 3-DS version 2.0, with effect from April 2020. All high-risk merchants, such as airlines and online travel agents, must support 3DS 2.0 from then. It will help support the rapid growth of e-commerce, increased convenience for merchants, and at the same time increased security confidence by cardholders.

The next important thing is “credential on file tokenisation”. By 2020, the acquirers must use payment gateways that support EMVCo tokens, and all new point-of-sale terminals deployed after the end of 2020 are recommended to be capable of supporting PCI point-to-point encryption.

“We want merchants to adopt this standard of token to replace sensitive data, to devalue data by removing sensitive data. It is the major piece of the roadmap,” says Cunningham.

By 2020, Visa will encourage specific large merchants to adopt the credential on file tokenisation, and by 2021 all merchants must tokenise.

For the large number of people who have never had traditional credit card and debit card products, there is a need for innovation to take place. Mobile is a very important part of that solution, with the new acceptable standards such as the QR code standard, for example, offering very inexpensive ways for merchants to accept electronic payments as compared to POS devices of the past.

The traditional debit card and credit card may not be relevant for these newcomers. They may access the storefront through mobile phones, as well as join the formal financial system.

“Our role is to facilitate the standard, making sure that innovation can continue to evolve and to offer new services and experiences delivered to these people,” he says.

“The standard and the infrastructure will go with it. We will continue to maintain a secure system, which is the important part of the innovation agenda of responsive innovation and security by design.

“We are delighted to take the lead in championing security for Thailand, making sure Thailand stays head. Thailand traditionally has a very strong reach, leading in payment security, and we are delighted that Thailand is committed to being there, and closing any gaps and to never be the weak link in payment security.

“We look forward to conversations with all partners in Thailand to make sure they do the right things to protect anybody on the ecosystem and to maintain trust in electronic payment, as it is the most important aspect of the success over time for commerce and payment.”