Toshiba and Kioxia (previously Toshiba Memory) have announced the first of its kind HACKcellence Fest, enhanced by Middlesex University Dubai and conceptualised and engineered end to end by ISD Global Dubai. Where students from the Middle East, Levant, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent are encouraged to Dream and Dare in a first-of-its-kind Hack Festival that has been established to discover solutions that can solve the real-life problems of the day.

“The incredible potential that lies kinetic within the student community around the region is beyond doubt. In the context of age,10 is indeed the new 20, and 20 is the new 40. That has been established beyond doubt. To facilitate and harness such vast potential within the student community, Toshiba and Kioxia (previously Toshiba Memory) are pioneering a first of its kind HACKcellence Fest in association with Middlesex University Dubai, and branding agency ISD Global, where students are encouraged and mentored to find hacks and solutions that will solve real-life problems that humanity is grappling with. Hackathons are happening all over and all the time,” explained avered Santosh Varghese, Vice President, Toshiba Gulf FZE.

“Our endeavor (and the notable distinction) with the HACKcellence Fest is to ensure that game-changing hacks and ideas find appropriate competent suitors, get the encouragement and the mentoring/guidance, the financial and management wherewithal to bring their solutions to the real world. In that respect, the HACKcellence Fest is an end-to-end platform that begins with the generation of a stack of hacks or ideas and finds them getting their due place and recognition in the market/s that need them,” Varghese added.

The HACKcellence Fest is open to school pupils from Grade 8 and above and students from Colleges and Universities across 26 countries. Participating teams are being encouraged to think big and use their creativity when coming up with their hacks and ideas, with suggested focus areas including but not limited to Data Storage and Privacy, Robotics and AI, Edge Computing and IOT, Digital Health, Digital Humanism, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Smart Cities, Transport and Mobility, and Education.

“What makes this initiative unique is the fact that students are not limited by the guidelines we have put in place, but encouraged to break them and think beyond. We believe that challenges come with opportunities, and the HACKcellence Fest is a fantastic opportunity for students to make an impact and find solutions to the major issues affecting the global community,” added said Dr. Cedwyn Fernandes, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University and Director of Middlesex University Dubai.

“We are providing participants with an open platform to submit ideas inspired by any topic that interests them. We are looking for their wildest, brightest hacks. As a leading UK university in Dubai at the cutting edge of future-forward education, we at Middlesex University Dubai are best placed to unlock the skills, ideas, and innate ability that the region’s student community can offer the world. As proud partners with Toshiba and Kioxia and ISD Global, we look forward to launching the HACKcellence Fest and provide students with this platform to make their ideas a reality,” Dr. Fernandes explained.

Submissions for hacks and ideas are open until mid-July 2021, after which a panel of jury will shortlist candidates to progress through to the next stage. Those who make it through will gain access to exclusive personalised mentoring sessions and workshops over an 8-week period that will provide them with expert guidance as they bring their idea to fruition. “At Toshiba, we turn on the promise of a new day. Guided by the essence of Toshiba, we harness our knowledge and experience in the areas of energy, social infrastructure, electronics devices, and digital solutions to help communities thrive. We achieve our common purpose together but each in our own different ways,” said Varghese.

“At ISD Global we always walk the walk on the power of cooperative marketing and the collaborative advantage energy that it releases for all stakeholders involved. As brand builders and new business and market enablers working with top-of-the-line brands across 4 continents over the past almost two decades, the ethos we practice at ISD Global is that of being counterintuitive and disintermediating,” Suresh Dinakaran, Chief Storyteller, ISD Global Dubai. “Our idea with the HACKcellence Fest is to unleash a committed, purpose-filled visionary foray into the ecosphere and to establish a Davos for the student universe in the Middle East, the Levant, Indian Subcontinent, and all of Africa, a virtual meeting of young, bright minds coming together to discover tangible solutions to solve real-life problems.”

The HACKcellence Fest will have its grand finale in the form of an Awards Ceremony in Dubai in October 2021. Students are competing to win a range of exciting awards, including cash prizes of more than $10,000, University Scholarships, Entrepreneurship Training, Start-Up Mentoring, Data Storage and Incubation Facilitation, Electronic Gadgets, and much more.

MSI has announced a range of new devices at Computex 2021, including new laptops, desktops, parts, and peripherals. The devices extend across of wide range of lines from MSI, including its Creator, Stealth, Raider, and Leopard devices.

Creator Series Laptops
MSI announced new laptops from its Creator, Raider, Stealth, Leopard, Sword, Pulse, and Katana lines. The over a performance increase of up to 30%, thanks to their 11th Gen Intel H series processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptops GPUs.

The Creator Z16 has a 16:10 display and thin bezels to help creators maximize screen real estate on the go. Its display is available with up to QHD+ resolution with 110% DCI-P3 color coverage. It runs on up to an RTX 3060 laptop GPU and an 11th Gen Intel CPU. Alongside the Creator Z16, MSI announced the new Creator M16 and Creator M17, which have a 16:10 QHD+ display and 4K Mini LED display, respectively.

Gaming Series Laptops
On the gaming side of things, MSI announced quite a few laptops. The GE76/66 Raider, GS76/66 Stealth, and GP76/66 Leopard series laptops focus on speed, with support for PCIe Gen4, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 6E. Display options for the gaming laptops include up to 360Hz or QHD at 240Hz.

The GE76 and GE66 Raider feature NVIDIA RTX 3080 graphics with TGP up to 165W. The Pulse GL76/66, Katana GF76/66, and Sword 17/15 are more budget-friendly gaming laptops. The more affordable options have NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics.

Monitors
MSI announced that it’s sold over 3 million monitors worldwide. It hopes to increase that number with its newly announced Optix MEG381CQR Plus monitor. It has a 2300R IPS curved panel and supports MSI’s Steelseries GameSense function. It’s the first monitor from MSI to support G-Sync Ultimate, which helps reduce tearing.

Three new flat gaming monitors from the Optix line were also announced; the Optix MPG341QR, Optix MPG321QRF-QD, and Optix MPG321UR-QD, the last of which supports HDMI 2.1 and 4K resolution at 144Hz.

MSI’s new Summit MS321 UP monitor is designed for eyecare while also delivering accurate colors. The monitor has a 4K display that can be ergonomically adjusted. It also supports the MSI Intelligence App, including the KVM function, which lets people toggle between two computers with a keyboard and mouse while using the same monitor.

New Desktops
Moving over to gaming desktops, MSI announced the MAG Infinite S3. It features front panels with an asymmetrical design that includes MSI mystic light. It runs on an 11th Gen Intel Core processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics card. The MAG Infinite S3 supports NVIDIA Resizable BAR technology, which brings a 10% performance improvement to games.

The MPG GAMING MAVERIK is a bundle kit from MSI that features an Intel Core i7-11700K CPU, MPG CORELIQUID K360 SP, MPG Z5900 GAMING EDGE WIFI SP, and MPG VELOX 100P AIRFLOW SP. It also features Trident Z Maverik memory. The core frequency of the MPG Gaming MAVERIK can be boosted from 3.6GHz to 4.8GHz for all cores. The Creator P50 desktop is a compact PC built for creators.

MSI also announced the SUPRIM 35th Anniversary Limited Edition graphics card today. The graphics card is built on the SUPRIM series foundation, and MSI states that it “retains all the same key features.” In addition to the new GPU, MSI announced the X570S MAX Series motherboards. They feature fanless cooling for silent performance.

Accessories
To go along with all the new PCs, MSI announced a couple of accessories. The IMMERSE GH62 WIRELESS EARBUDS are the first set of wireless earbuds from the company. They deliver “accurate audio reproduction, clear voice recording, low-latency responsiveness, and low maintenance,” according to MSI.

MSI unveiled the CLUTCH GM41 LIGHTWEIGHT WIRELESS gaming mouse as well. It’s a symmetrical gaming mouse that connects through a 2.4GHz signal. The mouse has a latency of just 1ms and is designed for FPS players. It weighs 74g, so you should be able to scoot it around the best desk mousepads quickly.

MSI has not shared pricing or availability for the new devices at this time.

COMPUTEX kicked off this year’s month-long #COMPUTEXVirtual on May 31 with James Huang, TAITRA Chairman, highlighting the not-to-be-missed events. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer, discussed accelerating digital transformation and how to release a new era of innovation when the world is most looking forward to innovation. On the same day, Arm CEO Simon Segars discussed the role of technology in the post-pandemic. Using examples from Arm’s ecosystem partners, Segars demonstrated how technology could be a remarkable force for good that will be critical to the world’s recovery and create a more sustainable and secure future. Breaking away from traditions, COMPUTEX 2021 Virtual is an all-virtual exhibition, using AI platforms and leading the way to create a prosperous technology ecosystem.

“COMPUTEX was born in the 1980s when the technology industry took off. At that time, together with entrepreneurs from around the world, Taiwan pursued disruptive innovation and created an industry supply chain that paved the way for the Internet and digital economy that we have today. It has been one year into the pandemic, and we continue to push forward with innovation and navigate in the new normal. As Taiwan stands at the center of the global technology ecosystem, we will never cease to build, connect, integrate, innovate, and push forward with the latest technologies. Today, I am honored to announce the opening of #COMPUTEXVirtual. No matter where we are, let COMPUTEX connect us for a better future,” said James Huang, TAITRA Chairman.

COMPUTEX 2021 Opening Keynote by Intel is led by Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Michelle Johnston Holthaus with the theme of “Innovation Unleashed”. Intel talks about sustainability awareness of enterprises under the raging global pandemic and how we continue to work with global partners to promote digital transformation; Intel not only response to the global market demand quickly and flexibly with the IDM 2.0 business model, but it also continues to promote innovation with 5G and its Open Architecture. We will also unveil new products leading in performance and enrich people’s user experience.

Arm CEO Simon Segars’ keynote titled “Sparking the World’s Post-Pandemic Recovery” demonstrated how technology can be a remarkable force for good that will be critical to the world’s recovery and create a more sustainable and secure future. The combination of computing in the age of AI will accelerate how we tackle complex challenges surrounding climate change, security, and equitable access to technologies and connectivity. Segars indicated that long-term investments in research and development are the key to shaping that future. Arm has invested significant resources in its next-generation architecture. Armv9 will enable partners to solve hard problems in the next decade of compute related to security, compute efficiency, and AI-enabled services, all while fighting climate change at the same time.

A Variety of Events for an All-New Virtual Experience

COMPUTEX 2021 Virtual offers live demonstration of the latest solutions on 5G, AI & IoT, Edge Computing, High-Performance Computing (HPC), Gaming, and Innovations and Startups. The month-long online exhibition also includes a variety of events, including the #COMPUTEXVirtual online exhibition, COMPUTEX CEO Keynote, COMPUTEX Keynote, COMPUTEX & InnoVEX Forum, and COMPUTEX Matchmaking, giving attendees direct access to the leading tech manufacturers and the latest technology trends. The exhibition also enables the exhibitors to effectively seize business opportunities through the online matchmaking platform.

The #COMPUTEXVirtual online exhibition features Tech Insights, Virtual Displays, Matchmaking and Networking, and Hyper-Personalized Recommendations. #InnoVEXVirtual, the exclusive exhibit for startups, offers vibrant synergy on the other hand. #COMPUTEXVirtual is now open until June 30 midnight. Register now for free at: https://virtual.computextaipei.com.tw/