Hong Kong virtual bank launches cross-border QR payment solution

Hong Kong’s lifestyle-driven virtual bank livi has launched livi QR Payment for the mainland Chinese market. The technology allows its customers to make cross-border payments in mainland China and other travel destinations such as Japan, South Korea and Thailand. 

The first cross-border QR payment solution launched by a Hong Kong virtual bank, livi QR Payment integrates with UnionPay’s payment and merchant network. It allows customers to pay securely at merchant outlets that display the UnionPay QR label using the livi app. 

“With the easing of border restrictions, our customers are keen on going to the mainland to visit their families and friends, conduct their business or go on an adventure. Livi QR Payment is simple, fast and seamless – customers can simply present or scan their QR code to complete the payment,” said livi Chief Product Officer Carol Hung.

“Livi QR Payment addresses customer concerns about handling fees and the trouble of managing cross-border payments on multiple platforms or e-wallets. We are delighted to introduce another secure payment experience together with UnionPay as we advance our payment offerings.”

Users of the app can:

· Activate mainland QR payment by: 

- Logging into the livi app and clicking “Pay”

- Selecting “Mainland China” at the top

- Tapping “Activate now” to enable “Outside Hong Kong QR Payment”

- Tapping “Confirm”. 

Once on the mainland, they can click ‘Pay’ in the livi app, and the Mainland QR code will automatically be presented for payment.

· All spending with livi QR Payment is settled in Hong Kong dollars at UnionPay’s exchange rates, with no handling fee incurred and no charge on currency exchange.

· Users can set a valid period for using the service, and can turn it off at any time.

· All transactions can be tracked, and customers will receive instant notifications.

· Customers can enjoy ‘shake shake’ rewards after paying with livi QR Payment - shaking the phone triggers the reward.

From now until 31 March 2023, livi customers who pay via livi QR payment will be entitled to shake and earn up to 100% Shake Shake Rewards. Rewards can be redeemed on the next purchase, and customers can enjoy rewards up to HK$500 per calendar month.

Business of Design Week 2021 accessible to anyone around the world

Source: HKDC. Officiating guests join Business of Design Week 2021’s opening ceremony.

Business of Design Week (BODW) 2021, an annual Asian event on design, innovation and brands organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) since 2002, has kicked off its 19th edition. The week-long summit features a lineup of cross-disciplinary speakers and TV sessions around the theme Global Design Reset. 

The hybrid event is simulcast online, on ViuTV, and at partner locations including the PMQ venue in Hong Kong, making the summit accessible to viewers all over the world. 

The Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Guest of Honour for BODW 2021, stated in a speech that the Hong Kong government is honoured to be the lead sponsor for BODW through the CreateSmart Initiative, a dedicated funding scheme for the creative sectors. 

"With a new HK$1 billion injection into the CreateSmart Initiative earlier this year, we will continue with our efforts to assist the trade in talent nurturing, capacity building and skill upgrading, with a view to enhancing the long-term competitiveness of our trade under the ‘new normal’,” she said. 

In his welcome remarks, Professor Eric Yim, Chairman of HKDC said: “After this turbulent period all over the world, a new chapter awaits us all. Business of Design Week 2021 revolves around one word: 'Reset'. It’s all about rethinking and resetting our world and the way it works, hence our theme: Global Design Reset. 

"As we reimagine our collective future, we’ll need big ideas, collaborative creativity, decisive leadership, and plenty of wisdom. We hope BODW can show us how we can thrive amid crisis, and create a meaningful and sustainable future together through design and technology.”  

Details: 

In addition to being livestreamed online, key sessions from BODW 2021: Global Design Reset will be aired on ViuTVsix every night from 1 to 4 December at 20:00 GMT+8.  

Register to attend

Keppel Land adds virtual show suites to marketing arsenal

Keppel Land is the first developer in Singapore to create 360-degree immersive virtual reality (VR) show suites leveraging Oculus Rift technology for its Highline Residences property. Two off-plan* virtual suites have joined the three physical suites at the Highline Residences showroom in Singapore.

Developed jointly by Keppel Land and visualisation firm VMW Group, the new VR platform features both the Highline Residences show suites showcasing newly-released units as well as a virtual exploration of key landmarks in the trendy Tiong Bahru neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located.

Visitors can experience 360-degree virtual immersion where cutting edge displays and optics, high refresh rates and a low-persistence display work hand-in-hand to provide a new level of visual fidelity and a wide field of view.

Foo lists the advantages of creating a virtual reality experience.

Albert Foo, GM of Marketing at Keppel Land, noted that going the VR route is more economical than building a new physical show suite, and has the added advantage of being portable, easily edited, and quicker to create.

He said, “In line with our brand philosophy of Thinking Unboxed, Keppel Land is constantly exploring new ways to provide our customers with an enhanced experience. Harnessing Oculus Rift VR technology, we are now able to showcase different configurations and apartment types without having to create the physical show suite, which is a more efficient solution especially in land-scarce cities such as Singapore. This ‘portable’ technology also enables us to reach out to customers overseas more effectively.”

Lee lists the advantage of the Oculus Rift.

According to Foo, building a physical suite would have required permits to be processed and physically constructing the building, a process which would have taken six months or more. The virtual versions took two months to complete.

Lee Hon Kit, MD, VMW, said, “Each VR show suite was created in great detail, aligning strictly to the actual size of the unbuilt units and integrated with the unit plan overlay for orientation and navigation. Users will be able to experience a comprehensive view of everything including the high-end interior finishes and fittings, with future iterations of the technology allowing users to change materials and fittings they would like to explore for their future homes.”
 
"It is not about being the first in the market to do something," Foo added. "The whole purpose of doing show suites is for our customers have the experience of the development, to give them a very good idea of how the apartment will turn out."

While Keppel Land has supported augmented and virtual reality, the company had not felt that the experience would be immersive enough until seeing work made for the Oculus Rift VR headsets about four months ago. "We couldn't tell if (the content) was real or a computer rendered image," he said. "After testing we are convinced that the experience is indeed immersive and that you really can't tell what is real and what is not real any more."

No detail too small.

Foo added that authenticity had been a focus for the project, with four iterations required just to ensure that the toilet paper looked exactly like the real thing.

"In future we expect to have both physical and virtual show suites," he said, noting that requests to change the decor or the layout of a unit can be accommodated more easily virtually.

Highline Residences comprises a total of 500 homes ranging from one- to four-bedroom units, dual key apartments as well as penthouses, spread across three residential towers and four low-rise blocks. Approximately 88% of the 320 launched units have been sold as at end-September 2016.

Keppel Land has two virtual reality walkthrough stations with swivel chairs for ease of exploration. Prospective customers can wear the Oculus Rift headset and navigate with the help of a handheld one-button cursor control. The images delivered to the left and right eyes can be viewed on dual screens. Lee stands behind a volunteer to explain how the walkthroughs work.

Keppel Land is recognised for its portfolio of residential developments and investment-grade commercial properties with Singapore and China as its core markets, as well as Indonesia and Vietnam as its growth markets. The Asian property developer has a pipeline of about 70,000 homes in Singapore and overseas. It is behind prime office space such as the Marina Bay Financial Centre, Ocean Financial Centre and One Raffles Quay.

The showroom also boasts an interactive video board with a three-panel display that allows visitors to explore landmarks, shopping, dining and transport options in the neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located. Landmarks can be tapped on for deep-dives.

The showroom also boasts an interactive video board with a three-panel display that allows visitors to explore landmarks, shopping, dining and transport options in the neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located.

Interested?

The virtual show suites can be experienced at the Highline Residence Sales Gallery at Kim Tian Road (entrance roughly opposite Block 123) from 15 October between 10am to 6pm daily.

A bedroom in one of the physical show suites. There are a lot of textures to digitise.

Hashtags: #HighlineResidences, #ThinkingUnboxed

*Off-plan properties are those which do not yet have a physical representation, and are only available as plans.

Syfy's HALCYON VR murder mystery to be available on the Samsung Gear VR

Source: Syfy. HALCYON investigates a VR murder.

Syfy, the destination for imagine-based entertainment, will premiere its original hybrid virtual reality (VR) series, HALCYON, on 22 September at 10pm. The series is produced by Secret Location, a multi-Emmy and Cannes Lion Award-winning content studio specialising in emerging platforms.

HALCYON is set in 2040 and follows Julie Dover, a detective in the Virtual Reality Crimes Unit, as she investigates the first real-life murder to take place within virtual reality – a crime that shouldn’t even be possible – and the conspiracy she discovers behind it. Directed by BAFTA-nominated Benjamin Arfmann (Random Stop), HALCYON provides cliff-hangers across TV, online and VR platforms that will move viewers to find out what will happen next.

To give viewers the ultimate experience, Syfy Asia has teamed up with Samsung for the series to be available on the Samsung Gear VR. Sporting an ergonomic design and ultra-high resolution display, the Samsung Gear VR allows users to enjoy HALCYON episodes in a truly immersive and cinematic manner. Episodes will alternate between short-form and VR to showcase a next-level entertainment experience that combines the immersive nature of VR with the narrative arc of a linear TV series.

While HALCYON’s story can be understood from its linear episodes alone, watching both linear and VR episodes will allow viewers a more enriched experience. For viewers who only watch the linear episodes, a short recap of the previous VR episode will be played before each linear episode begins, to ensure that they will be able to follow the complete storyline.

Interested?

The 15-episode series consists of 10 x 5-minute linear episodes available to binge-watch on TV (Syfy – StarHub Channel 517), online and on VR (Samsung Gear VR).

TV viewers can catch the first episode of HALCYON on the Syfy channel (StarHub channel 517) on 22 September, Thursday at 10pm

Episodes will be available online anytime from 22 September

In addition to the 10 episodes, viewers will also be able to enjoy five special episodes that will be available exclusively via the HALCYON VR app, which can be downloaded from the Oculus store for US$4.99 from 22 to 25 September and for US$9.99 from 25 September on the Samsung Gear VR.

CyberLink PowerDVD now supports 360 degree video

Source: CyberLink. Couple exploring part of a 360 degree-compatible video.

CyberLink, the consumer multimedia software company, has updated its flagship media playback software PowerDVD with features that enable users to watch 360 degree video.

When playing a 360 video using PowerDVD, users can pan and rotate the perspective to watch content from different angles, immersing themselves into the environment. “Three hundred and sixty-degree video is an ideal medium to introduce people to the immersive world of virtual reality,” said Dr Jau Huang, Chairman and CEO of CyberLink. “However, consumption is just one side of the equation, and CyberLink will be making some very exciting announcements in the coming weeks regarding immersive content creation.”

Interested?

Owners of PowerDVD 16 Ultra can download and install a free update providing 360-degree video support. Subscriptions, perpetual licenses and upgrades are available at the following prices:

• PowerDVD Live: US$44.99 per month for 12 months or US$14.99 per month for three months PowerDVD 16 Ultra: US$99.95
• PowerDVD 16 Pro: US$79.95
• PowerDVD 16 Standard: US$59.95
• Upgrades start from US$44.95.

Etihad releases VR film starring Nicole Kidman

Source: Etihad website. Kidman in the video.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has released a 360^o virtual reality (VR) film starring Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman. This marks the first time that a Hollywood actor has ever starred in a fully immersive virtual reality movie.

The five-minute feature, titled Reimagine, immerses viewers in an experiential journey following Kidman through one of its new Airbus A380s flying between New York and Abu Dhabi. The airline has used cutting-edge technology and multidisciplinary mediums in the feature to bring to life its acclaimed guest experience and hospitality story by engaging the consumer in various sensory interactions onboard the virtual flight. Each scene in the film takes on a theme intended to stimulate the senses of light, sound, motion, and conversation.

Kidman, who is also Etihad Airways’ brand ambassador, said: “The film is a culmination of Etihad’s vision to tell the airline’s story in an extremely innovative way and a commitment to engaging with the public as has never been attempted by an airline before. It was a great challenge but one which has definitely paid off and it was great to be part of such an exciting project.”

Throughout the experience, the viewer meets and engages with a number of characters including the actress herself, her film director, an opera singer and even an Emirati guest with a falcon in First Class. The journey also provides personal interactions with the Savoy-trained Butler in The Residence, the airline’s luxurious private three room cabin, the in-flight Chef in First Class, the Food and Beverage Manager in Business Class, and the Flying Nanny, trained by the Norland College in the UK.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “We want to share Etihad’s story in a completely new way, using technology to make our consumers a part of the narrative and to experience an Etihad Airways A380 flight first-hand, from anywhere.

“The film demonstrates how, as an innovative brand, we continue to break down the barriers of convention and lead the way in intelligent communication and best practice not just within the aviation industry, but across the fields of marketing, communication and technology.”

The adventure takes the viewer through the twin-decked aircraft and covers its luxurious interiors including Economy Class, Business Class, and First Class, before concluding with a focus on Kidman enjoying The Residence.

Shane O’Hare, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Marketing, said: “In December 2014 we completely reimagined the travel experience with the launch of our new A380 fleet, setting a new standard in innovative design, service and technology. This was followed in 2015 by a tremendously successful adverting campaign starring Nicole Kidman.

“This immersive VR film is a massive step-change in the way we present the Etihad Airways brand and product to the consumer using highly innovative new mediums. Based on the success of our recent campaign with Nicole, the decision to take this partnership to the next level was an obvious one.”

The film, which took more than six months to produce, was filmed exclusively in Abu Dhabi. An Etihad Airways A380 was used for three days and fully customised prior to filming; overhead lockers, seats and other sections of the aircraft’s interior were removed to allow for the installation of Red Dragon cameras, which were used to perfectly capture the actress’ movement through the aircraft. Hundreds of individual lights were required to ensure smooth and uninterrupted shots.

Etihad Airways collaborated with the Barbarian Group, a subsidiary of Cheil Worldwide, and the creative digital production company MediaMonks to produce the film. The feature was directed by husband-and-wife directing duo Anthony Atanasio and Valerie Martinez. The film used pioneering filming techniques to ensure a seamless production with no warping or stitches, achieving unrivalled VR results.

Ola Björling, MediaMonks’ Global Director of VR, said: “As the most multidisciplinary medium there is, virtual reality relies more heavily on craft and execution than anything that has gone before it. We believe the display of artistry in every facet of this production is setting a new benchmark for live-action VR.”

Interested?

Watch Reimagine. An updated version in stereoscopic sound will be released on 17 June. To guarantee the full experience, download the Oculus VR app and view the film using a VR headset, such as Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard.

Tags: Etihad, aviation,marketing, VR, virtual, reality, interactive, video, celebrity, A380,Airbus,travel

Bank Simpanan Nasional introduces virtual teller machines in Malaysia

Bank Simpanan Nasional has become the first bank in Malaysia to introduce virtual teller machines (VTMs), which allow bank tellers in one location to serve customers in multiple locations in Malaysia remotely, via a live virtual banking operation.

BSN was inspired by kiosk banking, which has been implemented in European countries, China, Canada and the US, to adopt VTMs. The project involves a strategic collaboration between BSN and Vastcomp to build a custom system combined with video conferencing telepresence technology from Cisco that complies with the bank's security requirements. BSN also partnered with Telekom Malaysia as the network service provider.

“The VTM balances the workload between branches, enabling customers in busy branches to perform transactions assisted by tellers in less busy branches nationwide. Customers can now enjoy counter transactions without geographical limitations and experience a more comfortable and personalised professional financial services,” said BSN Chief Executive Datuk Adinan Maning.

Transactions that can be carried out via VTM include balance enquiries, deposits and withdrawals, intra/inter-bank fund transfers, inter-bank GIRO transfers, bill payments, loan and credit card repayments and Sijil Simpanan Premium* (SSP) savings. For security purposes, all transactions require the customer to insert their MyKad (ID) into the Multi-Link Queue Management System (MLQMS) or VTM and have their thumbprint verified, while the transactions are recorded.

Datuk Adinan added, “In total, BSN is investing RM30 million to roll out the VTM that provides more than 80% of counter services, and is an improvement over current automated teller machines (ATMs) and cash deposit machines (CDMs). In the near future, VTM will also be offering additional services including account opening and issuance of debit cards, customer information management and bill payments. The VTM can also allow extended banking hours with the placement of VTMs at public locations, if necessary.”

Speaking at the launch, Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, “The technology is rapidly changing. To keep well abreast and continue to evolve with the advent of technology, it is important that banks innovate and provide the latest financial technology to consumers. I commend BSN on its concerted effort in optimising technology to provide smart, efficient and interactive face-to-face banking services via a technological system. It is an excellent tool to offer a combination of technology and human touch banking experience.”

Interested?

BSN's 9.1 million+ customers can enjoy the new banking service in 31 branches, with 93 VTMs already operational. BSN currently has 401 branches, 870 ATMs, and 387 CDMs across Malaysia. The system currently involves a total of 450 BSN tellers as virtual teller agents nationwide. Read the list of virtual teller services

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about Cisco's involvement in the VTMs

*SSP savings are a type of savings which do not accrue interest. In lieu of interest, SSP account owners are entered in weekly lucky draws and stand to win prizes

Have laptop, Internet and headset, will travel

Jabra, a company which provides headsets, headphones, speakers and speakerphones, notes that employees working anywhere and anytime will be the norm in 2015.

According to Mark Leigh, President, Asia Pacific, Jabra, 35% of the workers today are mobile and this percentage is expected to shoot up to 75% by 2017. "The traditional office has been replaced with a laptop, Internet connection and headset, enabling the employee to work wherever they can get online," he said.

This technology has enabled employees to work easily whether they are on business travel or even make a lifestyle choice to be based in a different geographical location. "Employers have to provide a more flexible work environment for employees so they can be productive no matter what zone they’re in," Leigh said.

Even if the employee does not travel and goes to the office every day, globalisation has meant that workers may have conference calls at any time of the day, including taking calls from home. "By ensuring that the last 3 feet of communication is of top quality, knowledge workers can be assured that they can take their office anywhere they go," he added.

ACCA to hold Accounting for the Future virtual conference from 15 to 18 September

Source: ACCA website.

Corporate culture, sustainability and global business service models are the burning issues up for discussion at the sixth annual Accounting for the Future global virtual conference, to be held by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global body for professional accountants.

Four days of video and audio webcast content, on a range of subject matter involving the future of the accountancy profession, will be streamed live and on-demand for the conference from 15 to 18 September 2014:

15 September 

Risk and culture: how much does corporate culture influence effective risk management and governance? 

16 September 

Investors and reporting: a new reporting framework. 

17 September 

Tomorrow's world: how are changing economies going to impact on finance professionals? 

18 September

The smart finance function: how can finance teams work smarter to become the drivers of success with a business? 

Key highlights to look out for during the conference include a panel on culture and channelling corporate behaviour on the first day. Based on a report to be released in September 2014 in collaboration with UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), this session looks at recent scandals in the banking sector and at hospitals where the blame has fallen on "poor corporate culture". As a result of this, the Financial Stability Board expects more awareness of risk culture and that boards of financial institutions will be asked to judge their own organisational culture.

On the last day of the conference, a live audio webcast will cover talent transformation in Asia. A cross-discipline panel will look at available, established and emerging and converging technologies, and the ways in which they could potentially impact on the profession over the next five to 10 years. They will consider new technologies, their potential impact, the role that accountants can play and new  opportunities that will be created. 

Faye Chua, ACCA's Head of futures research, said: "The finance profession is ever-changing, especially with the rapid advancement in technology we have seen in recent years. We need to keep up-to-date with the changes and see how beneficial they are to our work and to the profession as a whole. Of course everyone wants to be ahead of their competitors too, so this would be another incentive to keep up with change, as well as to build a stronger and sustainable economy."

Register for the conference here. The agenda is here. ACCA members can receive CPD points that count towards their training and education.

Learn more about Wireshark from the original author of the source code

Riverbed Technology, which provides application performance infrastructure, will host a “Troubleshooting with Wireshark” Virtual World Tour with Gerald Combs, Director of open source projects at Riverbed, and the original author of the Wireshark source code, and Laura Chappell, Wireshark expert, educator and author. 

Wireshark sees more than 500,000 downloads per month. A Facebook page lists more than 13,000 likes. Created by Gerald Combs under the original name Ethereal, Wireshark is maintained today by a dedicated group of core developers and sponsored by Riverbed through its 2010 acquisition of CACE Technologies. As the sponsor, Riverbed is committed to maintaining the strong, independent, community-driven nature of Wireshark.

The tour will present the latest Wireshark tips and tricks to audiences in Dubai, Singapore and Sydney among other cities on using the free network analyzer solution to quickly detect network and application delays and errors. The tour is open to anyone interested in Wireshark, including users and developers, network and application engineers, network analysts, protocol analysts, software developers, software engineers and IT professionals. 

Guests are welcome to attend a presentation in one of six time zones over the course of three days. Registration is available here. Dates and times for the sessions in Asia Pacific and the Middle East are:

 

• February 26, 10:00 a.m. in Dubai (GST)
• February 28, 10:00 a.m. in Singapore (SGT)
• February 28, 10:00 a.m. in Sydney (AEDT)

Topics to be covered during the one-hour live sessions include:

·         How to use Wireshark to quickly detect network and application delays and errors

·         How to customise Wireshark for faster problem identification

·         Identifying network problems 

The Virtual World Tour coincides with the release of Laura Chappell’s newest book in the Wireshark Solution Series, Troubleshooting with Wireshark: Locate the Source of Performance Problems. This new 408-page book provides instruction on how to use Wireshark to identify the key causes of poor network performance, is now available in paperback and Kindle format.