The best deal we’ve seen with the BlackBerry PlayBook thus far, but nonetheless, it makes owning the highest capacity version very easy going on the wallet. Just before the new year, RIM had a special sale going on for its line of PlayBook tablets.

This time around, the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions of the PlayBook, essentially all models, are now priced at $299 through RIM’s Shop BlackBerry store online. Of course, $299 for the 16GB and 32GB versions is higher than the prices we’ve seen flaunted of late, but the 64GB one is priced considerably lower than before.

The 16GB and 32GB versions, even more when they’re all priced uniformly at $299. Moreover, RIM has decided to really lengthen this promotion more than its last one, seeing that it’s going on well throughout the month and into February  with it ending on February 4th to be exact.

Shipping is included with the purchase, but as it currently stands, they’ll ship within 7 to 14 business days from the time they’re purchased. Either way, you can bet that a lot of people are going to gravitate towards the 64GB model above all.

Mozat Pte Ltd, a leading mobile social platform for operators, today announced that it has made this year’s Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in the APAC region.

Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over three years.

Through MOZAT, its mobile social platform, it is now serving 16 million subscribers worldwide, with strong presence in the Middle East and is now widening its footprint in the Asia Pacific.

Mozat’s CEO, Dr Michael Yin, credits product innovation, key partnerships with telecom operators and new market penetration with the company’s significant growth over the past three years.

He said, “This recognition is testament to our commitment in enriching people’s lives by driving mobile innovation.

We continuously improve and strive for excellence in providing a mobile social platform that places operators at the centre of the mobile ecosystem, helping them expand their market share.”

At present, Mozat has 15 telco partners, including Vodafone in Egypt, STC in Saudi Arabia, Viva Telecom in Kuwait and Bahrain, Umniah Telecom in Jordan, among others.

Its mobile social platform supports more than 600 types of devices from major mobile platforms (Android, BlackBerry, iOS, J2ME, Symbian and soon, Windows Phone 7).

“Because Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific measures sustained revenue growth over three years.

Being one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Asia Pacific is an impressive achievement,” said Yoshitaka Asaeda, partner in charge of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific program.

”Mozat deserves a lot of credit for its remarkable growth.”

Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific selection and qualifications

The Technology Fast 500 list is compiled from the Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology Fast 50 programs, nominations submitted directly to the Technology Fast 500, and public company database research.

To qualify for the Technology Fast 500, entrants must have had base-year operating revenues of at least US$ 50,000.

Entrants must also be public or private companies headquartered in Asia Pacific and must be a “technology company,” defined as a company that develops or owns proprietary technology.

That contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues; or manufactures a technology-related product or devotes a high percentage of effort to the research and development of technology.

Using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify.

About Mozat Pte Ltd

Mozat Pte Ltd is a leading mobile social platform for operators worldwide. Mozat’s award-winning mobile social platform envisions connecting mobile communities for long-term brand loyalty and engagement.

It enables integrated social networking, communication tools and multi-player gaming on a single application.

It supports over 600 different handsets across all popular mobile operating systems, such as Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, iOS and J2ME.

Serving over 16 million mobile users worldwide, Mozat is building the “social hub” for the world’s top telecommunications operators.

Mozat is backed by JAFCO Asia and seed-funded by Singapore investment funds BAF Spectrum Pte Ltd, Symphony Investments Pte Ltd, SPRING SEEDS Capital Pte Ltd and NUS Enterprise Pte Ltd.

For more information, please visit http://www.mozat.com.

The email app has a standard appearance, with a list of messages on the left, a preview pane on the right, and an additional toolbar on the far right.

Six months after launch, RIM’s tablet the BlackBerry PlayBook still lacks a native email, calendar and contacts application.

This is about to change soon, though, judging from a video presentation shown at the BlackBerry Innovation Forum on Wednesday.

The calendar also doesn’t stray too far from the norm, but has some nifty features under the hood for example, on a busy day the calendar date gets bigger, offering a quick overview of your schedule.

Unfortunately, the release date is not exactly around the corner; rumor has it that all of this will launch at February 17.

Finally, the contacts app is powered by Gist, an app known to many BlackBerry users.

It offers a ton of additional info for your contacts, including related news, tweets and blog posts.

BlackBerry smartphones are a staple of mobile communications for many businesses, but some of the key productivity features have not been available to small and medium businesses.

BlackBerry Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365 is acloud-based service hosted by RIM that extends the capabilities of BlackBerry smartphones by connecting to andintegrating with Office 365.

Mobile users will be able to connect with the Microsoft Exchange Online data such as email, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes from their BlackBerry smartphones.

Organizations with the resources to deploy and manage a BlackBerry Enterprise Server infrastructure have always been able to take full advantage of what BlackBerry has to offer while also tying in with backend servers like Microsoft Exchange Server.

However, small and medium businesses typically lack the IT skills and resources necessary to support a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and end up relying instead on consumer-grade BlackBerry services.

Executives from both RIM and Microsoft praise the new service as an easy, cost-effective means for small and medium businesses to take advantage of what both Office 365 and BlackBerry smartphones have to offer.

For organizations that depend on BlackBerry devices, RIM and Microsoft promise this new service will enable users to have a consistent messaging and productivity experience from their PC, or from their BlackBerry smartphone while they are on the go.

Microsoft Office 365 customers can sign up for the BlackBerry Business Cloud Services beta at www.blackberry.com/beta/businesscloud. The cloud based service is available for no additional charge to Microsoft Office 365 Midsized Businesses and Enterprises plan subscribers and works with BlackBerry smartphones on business or consumer data plans.

Given the recent outage of BlackBerry services, customers may be reluctant to subscribe to a cloud-based service hosted by RIM.

But, organizations that are already invested in BlackBerry smartphones, and already subscribe to Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 service should definitely take a look at this service and how it might improve communications and productivity.

Apple’s latest smartphone free software update launch  Friday 14 October.

The iPhone 4S, which will also run on the next generation OS.

The iPhone 4S has been packed with improvements such as an eight-megapixel camera with a backside illuminated CMOS sensor for better low light performance.

Eight hours of 3G talktime, six hours of browsing, nine hours of Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music.

iPhone 3GS and above, iPad and iPod touch will be able download the new software and upgrade their OS to iOS 5 and benefit from the 200 or so new features added.

New features include a BlackBerry Messenger-rivaling free messaging app, iMessage, a location-aware Reminders app, Notification Centre, Newsstand and wireless synching.

150,000 residents in the East Coast of Sabah enjoy full suite of Maxis services with new Maxis Centre in Sandakan.

150,000 residents in the East Coast of Sabah may now enjoy the full suite of Maxis Berhad’s (“Maxis”) services with the new Maxis Centre in Sandakan, including paying bills over the counter or via 24-hour payment kiosks, registering for new services, subscribing to value-added services as well as experiencing the latest smartphones and tablets.

Maxis, Malaysia’s leading integrated communications service provider, has enhanced its distribution channel in Sabah to reach out to customers in Sandakan as well as the surrounding towns of Beluran and Telupid.

The new Maxis Centre, which is located at Prima Square in Sandakan, is the first store built to serve customers in the East Coast of Sabah.

With the addition of this new store, Maxis continues to expand its presence in Sabah, adding on to its two existing Maxis Centres in Kota Kinabalu, as well as five Maxis Exclusive Partners (MEPs) and over 1,200 Hotlink dealers across Sabah.

Maxis is also providing more value to its customers in Sabah by introducing a new prepaid wireless broadband package, which allows customers to surf the internet instantly by just purchasing the Prepaid Internet Starter Kit at a very special price of RM99 (retailing nationwide at the regular retail price of RM138).

The starter kit comes with a Maxis modem and a broadband data SIM card preloaded with 700 MB of data and 30-day access.

This special prepaid broadband promotion, which was launched last month, is currently ongoing and exclusive to Sabah customers only.

Anthony Ho, Maxis’ Head of Sabah Region, said, “We are committed to the community in Sabah and on enriching their lives with the latest in communications offerings.

With the opening of this new Maxis Centre, we continue to reach out to more Maxis customers in Sabah, especially to the communities in Sandakan, and surrounding towns of Beluran and Telupid, providing them with added ease and convenience in accessing our communications services on seamless high speed networks. On top of that, we are providing better value to customers in Sabah with our exclusive prepaid broadband offering, bringing them connectivity at an affordable price, wherever they are.”

“Like all our Maxis Centres, this new outlet in Sandakan is equipped with an extensive range of Maxis products and services.

Most importantly, with the opening of this new store, we are fully committed to building a relationship of trust with customers by delivering great customer experiences.

Our frontline staff will continue to adopt good customer service practices that are very much embedded in the Maxis culture, enabling us to better meet the ever-changing communication needs of our customers,” Anthony added.

In addition to opening the new outlet in Sandakan, Maxis has also invested in several customer service centre facelifts to enhance the overall customer service experience in Sabah.

It has renovated the Maxis Centre in Warisan Square, Kota Kinabalu to enable the delivery of more efficient services, leading to less waiting time, and to enable Maxis’ new devices to be better showcased.

Maxis has focused its initial efforts on Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, two key towns in Sabah, as they have the highest population figures within the state.

Maxis is also continuously looking into ways to provide more value to its customers in Sabah through localised promotions, product offerings and targeted customer service innovations. In addition to its new prepaid wireless broadband package, Maxis is now offering its Sabahan customers affordable Internet SIM packs as well as attractive Hot Ticket top-up options; for use with PCs and various mobile devices.

About Maxis Berhad

Maxis Berhad with its consolidated subsidiaries (together, ‘Maxis’) is the leading integrated communications service provider in Malaysia with 12.8 million mobile subscriptions as of 30 June 2011.

Since 1995, Maxis’ Malaysian business has been providing a full suite of communication services on multiple platforms to satisfy the needs of individual consumers, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations in Malaysia.

Maxis has pioneered and led the Malaysian market in providing innovative mobile products and services.

It was the first to launch 3G services, Maxis3G, in March 2005. In September 2006 it was among the world’s first to use HSDPA, a high-speed upgrade of the 3G network.

In December 2009 it was first to introduce to Malaysia, HSPA+, the latest advancement in 3G/HSPA network capabilities, to further enhance its wireless broadband services.

Maxis is a leading regional content player with 42.7% of non-voice revenue as part of mobile revenue and with over 50% or 7.7 million of its customer base being active mobile internet users.

It continually explores global and local best partnerships with partners such as Western Union and PayPal to bring the latest relevant content first to customers.

Maxis actively builds a local content ecosystem with partners to forward the Malaysian content industry.

It was also the first telecommunication service provider to bring the BlackBerry™ and Apple iPhone™ smart phones to Malaysia. The company in April 2009 unveiled the first-in-the world commercial near field communication service, which enables customers to use their phones for wave and pay transactions.

Maxis’ growth and strong track record of enabling innovation, excellent customer experience and value to stakeholders have won the company numerous awards over the years which include Asia’s Best Employer Award 2010 from Singapore’s Employer Branding Institute.

Maxis was nominated as Best Mobile Operator in 2010’s World Communication Awards for leadership in service innovation.

Maxis’ vision is to bring advanced communications services to enrich its customers’ lives and businesses, in a manner that is simple and personalised, by efficiently and creatively harnessing leading edge technology, and delivering a brand of service experience that is reliable and enchanting.

Maxis has also been active in carrying out Corporate Responsibility programmes to serve the communities.

Since 2002 Maxis has been dedicated to working in unison with the Ministry of Information Communications and Culture Malaysia (‘KPKK’) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (‘SKMM’) on the Bridging Communities corporate responsibility programme to increase Malaysian access to the digital platform.

Asia Pacific Correspondent : Rani Wemel

LTT Global Brands   |  14 Jalan SS3/33, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DE,  Malaysia

T: 03-7877 7023       |    F: 03-78777806   |

email: rani@LTTCOM.com / rani@techistan.com

Maxis has reduced 16,000 tonnes of CO2 emission in 2010 through green initiatives, on the way to meeting target of 27,000 tonnes in 2011.

As part of its initiative to offset the carbon footprint created by its base stations, staff of Maxis Berhad (Maxis), Malaysia’s leading integrated communications service provider, today took part in a tree planting programme organised by Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA).

The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS), Sathya Sai Organisation, Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and the Forestry Department of Selangor.

About 80 Maxis staff and their family members participated in the tree planting session which took place at the Sungai Renggam River Bank in Section 15, Shah Alam.

Today’s event marked the third and final tree planting session as part of the “Shah Alam River and Trees for Life” campaign.

The previous two sessions were held on 26 June and 24 July at the Sungai Damansara River Bank in Section 13, Shah Alam.

Overall, Maxis staff have planted 7,500 trees; 1,500 trees were planted last year at the Raja Muda Musa Peat swamp and 6,000 trees were planted in the last three tree planting sessions in Shah Alam Mark Dioguardi.

Maxis’ Chief Technology Officer, presented a mock cheque representing Maxis’ contribution of RM90,000 to YBhg.

Dato’ Hj. Mohd Jaafar bin Hj. Mohd Atan, Mayor of Shah Alam. Commenting on Maxis’ participation in this tree planting initiative, Mark said, “At Maxis, we have always been conscious about the need to care for the environment and to do our part in reducing our carbon footprint.

Maxis’ involvement in this tree planting programme is just one of the many green initiatives we have undertaken to give back to the environment.

We have met our target of reducing at least 16,000 tonnes of CO2 emission in 2010 through our green initiatives and are on our way of meeting our target of 27,000 tonnes in 2011.

We will continue to be a responsible corporate citizen when conducting our business operations.”

In addition to participating in this tree planting initiative, Maxis has taken various other steps to reduce its impact on the environment.

The Company modernised its end-to-end network equipment for better energy efficiency and through its network transformation programme, Maxis replaced key network elements with best-in-class technologies which are energy-efficient at the same time, such as 3G single radio access network and (Single RAN) and the Mobile Soft Switch (MSS) system.

Maxis also adopted more energy efficient DC rectifiers and outdoor shelters which are innovative systems to manage heat in existing shelters and to drive down energy deployment.

It has also drawn on renewable energy solutions such as solar to replace diesel powered remote base stations and advocated network-sharing, with over 54% of its base station sites shared with other operators.

Maxis Berhad with its consolidated subsidiaries (together, ‘Maxis’) is the leading integrated communications service provider in Malaysia with 12.8 million mobile subscriptions as of 30 June 2011. Since 1995, Maxis’ Malaysian business has been providing a full suite of communication services on multiple platforms to satisfy the needs of individual consumers, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations in Malaysia.

Maxis has pioneered and led the Malaysian market in providing innovative mobile products and services.

It was the first to launch 3G services, Maxis3G, in March 2005.

In September 2006 it was among the world’s first to use HSDPA, a high-speed upgrade of the 3G network. In December 2009 it was first to introduce to Malaysia, HSPA+, the latest advancement in 3G/HSPA network capabilities, to further enhance its wireless broadband services.

Maxis is a leading regional content player with 42.7% of non-voice revenue as part of mobile revenue and with over 50% or 7.7 million of its customer base being active mobile internet users.

It continually explores global and local best partnerships with partners such as Western Union and PayPal to bring the latest relevant content first to customers. Maxis actively builds a local content ecosystem with partners to forward the Malaysian content industry.

It was also the first telecommunication service provider to bring the BlackBerry™ and Apple iPhone™ smart phones to Malaysia.

The company in April 2009 unveiled the first-in-the world commercial near field communication service, which enables customers to use their phones for wave and pay transactions.

Maxis’ growth and strong track record of enabling innovation, excellent customer experience and value to stakeholders have won the company numerous awards over the years which include Asia’s Best Employer Award 2010 from Singapore’s Employer Branding Institute.

Maxis was nominated as Best Mobile Operator in 2010’s World Communication Awards for leadership in service innovation.

Maxis’ vision is to bring advanced communications services to enrich its customers’ lives and businesses, in a manner that is simple and personalised, by efficiently and creatively harnessing leading edge technology, and delivering a brand of service experience that is reliable and enchanting.

Maxis has also been active in carrying out Corporate Responsibility programmes to serve the communities.

Since 2002 Maxis has been dedicated to working in unison with the Ministry of Information Communications and Culture Malaysia (‘KPKK’) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (‘SKMM’) on the Bridging Communities corporate responsibility programme to increase Malaysian access to the digital platform.

For more information, please visit: maxis.com.my

Fujitsu introduced one of the world’s smallest document scanners.

The new, ScanSnap S1100 scanner transfers printed, drawn, or written information to a PC or Mac computer and also supports direct interface to Google Docs, Evernote and other cloud applications.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 thus enables customers to easily manage documents on their desktop, in popular offsite offerings or both.

Users can facilitate access for themselves or others anytime.

Anyplace via a device platform of their choice be it PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Blackberry, or Windows and Android Smartphones.

ScanSnap S1100 provides an intuitive mobile document-capture concept that is consistent with every member of the ScanSnap family.

The intelligent ScanSnap software (included) ensures a seamless electronic workflow by generating searchable PDFs, images, e-mail or contact data, as well as editable Microsoft Office files for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 captures up to eight A4 pages per minute and can also scan embossed plastic cards, ID cards, business cards or A3 documents without a hitch.

“The ScanSnap S1100 smart design allows for quick processing of documents on a conference table, at a client’s desk, or forwarding notes to anyone from a car, train or plane.

Two intelligently designed flaps offer the option of straight feed or automatic reverse for scanning both sides.

Closed, they protect the robust device during transport as does its hard finish casing.

Users on the go need not worry about power cords and international plug adapters because the device does not require any one USB cable is all that’s needed.

The smallest and lightest member of the Fujitsu ScanSnap family weighs a mere 350 grams and measures just 273 x 47 x 34 mm, making it compact enough to fit in almost any notebook bag,

GITEX-2011,week was start y esterday at the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre, opened by His Highness Shaikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Muhammad was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, and Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group.

Also attending were Shaikh Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

Shaikh Majid Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, and Helal Saeed Al Merri, Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai World Trade Centre.

At the stall of etisalat, Shaikh Muhammad was given demonstrations on new services such as eLife and ePlus, and he also visited Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority prior to stopping at other booths by exhibitors such as Avaya and NEC.

Officials with the Tele-communications Regulatory Authority (TRA) gave Shaikh Muhammad a personal demonstration at their large display of the new Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) tools.

One of the last stops was at Research in Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of the popular BlackBerry mobile phone where Shaikh Muhammad was greeted by RIM chief executive Jim Balsillie.

“We are honoured to have His Highness Shaikh Muhammad open the 31st anniversary of Gitex Technology Week,” said Helal Saeed Al Merri.

“[The event is] the lynchpin of the technology industry in the Middle East and a crucial event for the leading decision-makers who are either based in the region or looking to enter one of the fastest growing ICT markets in the world,” he said.

Hundreds of visitors packed two major conferences, the Global Leaders Summit and the new Cyber Security.

GITEX, which opened Sunday, has a different challenge a lack of space due to the huge number of participants and professional visitors.

The largest information and communication technology (ICT) trade fair in the Middle East occupied the entire 14 halls of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre in the heart of the sheikhdom.

Some 3,500 exhibitors from 57 countries and regions display the latest cry of modern PC office and mobile technology, hard  and software and all kinds of related accessories. Over 130,000 visitors are expected to visit the ICT congress.

Kazakhstan, Latvia, Malta, and Morocco participate for the first time. Besides, well-known giant brands such as Huawei, Intel, Microsoft or Blackberry, hundreds of small and medium enterprises participate this year.

The annual ICT spending in the Gulf Arab region alone is expected to grow by 15 percent and to reach 180 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

We are exhibiting for the second time here. It is worth coming, said Dr. Andrej Vckovski, CEO of Swiss enterprise software producer netcetera from Zurich. We already won a contract from the Health Authority in Abu Dhabi and we plan to expand to Qatar.

The fair has also a lot of firsts on its agenda. Nokia launches the N9 mobile phone in the region for the first time.

Research in Motion or RIM from Canada shows its new Bold 9900 Blackberry smart phone. Panasonic showcases its planned solar-energy run community for 3,000 citizens in Fujisawa near Tokyo.

While e-users still have to wait for Windows 8 from Microsoft, Huawei Technologies demonstrates its latest Cloud Computing solutions. Cloud Computing describes the process where many firms share the same server simply through software, instead of running expensive independent servers at their premises.

We plan to finish construction and launch this full-fledged Green Community in 2018, when Panasonic will celebrate its 100 years anniversary, said Muneo Yamamoto, Technical Manager Systems Solutions at Panasonic.

A parallel Gitex conference hosts leading experts from the ICT industry for presentations and discussions around the latest trends and challenges.

For retail consumers, the Gitex Shopper Fair at the Dubai Airport Expo offers everything from laser printers to iPads, from Smart Phones to CD.

Due to the discount sellers offer at the Gitex Shopper, the consumer fair is a popular hub for bargain hunters.

Symantec launches Endpoint Protection 12, Cloud Security software.

Security is currently the top priority for organizations across the Middle East, explained Bulent Teksoz, Chief Security Strategist for Emerging Markets at Symantec.

According to the NASDAQ-listed software provider, 76 percent of United Arab Emirates residents have fallen victim to Cyber Crime in 2010, and Saudi Arabia remains the most spammed country in the world, with a spam rate of 84 percent, albeit global spam is decreasing.