The school which is located at Nungua in the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipality in the Greater Accra Region is one of the best private schools in the vicinity.

Addressing teeming parents and pupils, the proprietor of the school Mr Awuah Gyimah narrated the success story of the school.

He said a school that started with six children can now boast of nearly thousand pupils.

“I and my wife co-founded this school on 29^th September 1992 with only six children in our living room. Through thick and thin, the school has progressed over the years from the lower nursery to JHS three. Currently, we have a student population of over seven-hundred students,” he added.

He also craved the indulgence of parents to support the development of their children, and assured parents of the school’s commitment towards the welfare of the pupils.

On his part, the headmaster of the school, Alhaj A.B. Adams said the teachers will continue to offer their best to ensure the sterling performance of the school in the Basic School Certificate Examination (BECE).

He, however, called on the parent to ensure prompt payment of their fees and other commitment to facilitate efficiency.

Speaking on the theme for the celebration: Education a Shared Responsibility, an astute educationist, Kate Banaman advocated for proper dialogue between parents and school authorities as a common platform for addressing child welfare issues.

AWARDS

A number of pupils who distinguished themselves were also awarded at the ceremony.

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By: Anass S. Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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SEWA announced a new special price offer for two of its models under the Galaxy range; the Galaxy Ace 3 and Galaxy Trendlite with new prices of GHS 279 and GHS 349 respectively. Jaspreet said this is a step in the right direction towards Samsung’s goal at ensuring everyone has access to good quality Smartphone at an affordable price.

“We have realized that now Ghanaians are living on the go and the Smartphone has become an integral part of everyday life. Everybody is now on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. This special price offer is to allow as many people as possible to be a part of the evolving world of innovative technology and to grant them access to Samsung’s top of the range devices.” Jaspreet said.

With its 4” screen display, Dual SIM Active capability, 3.0 MP Camera, 3G, Bluetooth, USB and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Galaxy Trendlite offers unlimited entertainment in the palm of your hand. The Smartphone which weighs just 126g, enables users access to various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, ChatOn, WhatsApp among others ensuring they live in the present.

Customers who purchase the new Galaxy Trendlite are in for exciting value offers as Samsung has partnered with MTN to give away free 60mins airtime and 150MB data every month for 6 months. Customers will also get a free protective flip cover for each purchase as well.

The affordably priced Galaxy Trendlite and Ace 3 are currently available at all authorized Samsung dealer shops nationwide. Consumers are however advised to register their Samsung Smartphones on e-warranty to ensure their products are genuine as well as enjoy an unprecedented 24 month warranty.

–

Source: Samsung

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According to the Director for Mobile at Samsung Electronics West Africa, Jaspreet Singh,  the special price offer is to allow as many people as possible to be a part of the evolving world of innovative technology and to grant them access to Samsung’s top of the range devices.

“We have realized that now Ghanaians are living on the go and the Smartphone has become an integral part of everyday life. Everybody is now on WhatsApp and other social media platforms. We want to give everyone the opportunity to live a smarter life and be part of the fast-growing digital community by providing them with good quality Smartphones at affordable prices.”

Customers who purchase the new Galaxy Trendlite are in for exciting value offers as Samsung has partnered with MTN to give away free 60mins airtime and 150MB data every month for 6 months. Customers will also get a free protective flip cover for each purchase as well.

With its 4” screen display, Dual SIM Active capability, 3.0 MP Camera, 3G, Bluetooth, USB and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Galaxy Trendlite offers unlimited entertainment in the palm of your hand. The Smartphone which weighs just 126g, enables users access to various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, ChatOn, WhatsApp among others ensuring they live in the present.

The affordably priced Galaxy Trendlite and Ace 3 are currently available at all authorized Samsung dealer shops nationwide. Consumers are however advised to register their Samsung smartphones on e-warranty to ensure their products are genuine as well as enjoy an unprecedented 24 month warranty.

–

Source: Samsung

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The new Galaxy Note 4 features a crisper, 5.7-inch display in a metal frame, reflecting Samsung’s latest design strategy to keep pace with rivals including Apple Inc, which is expected to launch its first large-screen phones next week.

The new model offers accessories designed to attract gamers and an improved pen stylus and related software as a handwriting alternative to typing on a keyboard. It boasts easier to use multi-tasking features that take advantage of its large screen.

The Note 4 is key to a recovery by Samsung Electronics, which faced initial derision at the idea of callers holding elephantine screens up to their ears. Since the Note’s introduction in 2011, it has made 5-inch and larger screen sizes the standard for high-end phones as usage shifted overwhelmingly to reading and writing texts and emails or documents, using apps, watching movies or playing games rather than calling.

Mobile phone analysts said that, while packed full of hundreds of features and many of the latest hardware specs, there is little in the Note 4 to excite new users.

“I think this is mostly an incremental change,” Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said. “What is missing is a total experience on top of the device to really differentiate in the interchangeable Android device ecosystem,” he said, referring to the closely coupled software and services Samsung needs to distinguish its devices from dozens of cheaper rivals.

Samsung Electronics’ operating profit fell to a two-year low in the second quarter as it lost market share, despite still shipping nearly a third of all smartphones worldwide.

Research firm Canalys says Samsung lost its title as No. 1 smartphone player in China, the world’s biggest market, to Xiaomi Inc during the April-June quarter. It continued to lose market share in other emerging markets, analysts say, undercut in part by rivals producing increasingly attractive products at much lower prices in the lower end of the market.

Part of the blame goes to the Galaxy S5, which is seen widely as a disappointment since its global launch in April. Research firm Counterpoint estimates the flagship premium phone was outsold by the much older Apple iPhone 5S in May, and analysts say it failed to deliver major improvements from its predecessor.

Needing A Big Hit

While the new Note device appears to meet expectations on key features such as the quad high-definition display and a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, the improvements are incremental and suggest further struggles ahead for Samsung to differentiate its product, especially with large-screen iPhones on the way.

“It is an acknowledgement that Samsung took a wrong turn with the move into plastic cases and that its designs didn’t move fast enough to keep pace with many competitors,” said Ben Wood, a mobile industry analyst with UK-based CCS Insight.

“The importance of metal cases is that it directly translates into bigger, edge-to-edge screens,” he said.

Samsung also showed off a limited-edition version of the Note with a curved edge screen on one of the phone’s sides, helping users to stay focused on their main screen without having to respond to calendar reminders or incoming emails.

It demonstrated a Virtual Reality headset that turns the Note 4 into the sort of immersive gaming platform once confined to consoles.

The Korean electronics giant says it will get more aggressive on pricing and focus on a narrower set of products for its mid-to-low tier products. The moves could help Samsung staunch a loss of market share but would inevitably undercut profit margins.

Mean estimates from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 40 analysts tips Samsung’s third quarter operating profit to slide to 7 trillion Korean won ($6.86 billion), the weakest since the second quarter of 2012 and all but guaranteeing the company’s first annual profit decline in three years.

–

Source: Reuters

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Samsung has announced a new smartphone with a metal frame that is smaller and thinner than its flagship model.

The South Korean company describes the Galaxy Alpha as representing a “new design approach”.

The firm has previously been criticised for the plastic feel of its handsets at a time when other firms have opted to use materials marketed as having a “premium” feel.

Samsung Electronics saw a 20% year-on-year drop in its last quarter’s profit.

It blamed “slow global sales of smartphones”.

The company recently lost its status as China’s bestselling smartphone-maker to Xiaomi, a local rival, according to the research group Canalys.

Xiaomi’s latest handset, the Mi 4, also features a metal-framed build.

“This is a clear acknowledgement by Samsung that it needed to address some of the criticism that it faced on the Galaxy S5 and deliver a more premium feel,” Ben Wood, chief of research at the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight, told the BBC.

“To actually make these devices in the kind of volumes that Samsung needs to deliver them across all its markets is a real challenge, so it’s quite remarkable that it’s been able to turn this product around so quickly.

“The challenge will be marketing it without cannibalising sales of the S5.”

‘Missed opportunity’

The new handset has a 4.7in (11.9cm) screen, making it slightly smaller than the Galaxy S5.

Its camera also has a lower specification of 12 megapixels, but it benefits from being nearly a fifth slimmer, measuring 6.7mm (0.26in) deep, and is also lighter, weighing in at 114g (4oz).

Samsung replaced the head of its mobile design team in May, when Lee Min-hyouk took over the role from Chang Dong-hoon.

The move followed several reviews that had praised the Galaxy S5’s capabilities while criticising its feel.

Other manufacturers that had already shifted to offering part or full-metal bodied phones at the time included HTC, Huawei, Apple and Sony.

One expert, who tested the Galaxy Alpha before it was formally announced, has doubts about the new device.

“The back is still a plastic cover and it doesn’t do enough to compete with the look and feel of the HTC One, for instance,” said Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile devices analyst at the research firm IDC.

“This was an opportunity for Samsung, and it’s missed it again.

“Unless the Alpha is made very affordable and put in a mid-tier price band, it may have difficulty as the materials don’t feel as premium as some of its competitors.”

A spokeswoman for Samsung said it would announce the device’s price and shipping date at a later stage.

The company is expected to unveil the Galaxy Note 4, its latest large “phablet” handset, in Berlin on 3 September ahead of the start of the Ifa tech show.

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It expects to make an operating profit of 7.2 trillion won ($7.1bn; £4.2bn) in the April-to-June period, down from 9.5 trillion won a year ago.

Its operating profit has now fallen for three straight quarters.

Samsung is the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones and the handset division accounts for the bulk of its profits.

The South Korean firm said it “witnessed a slowdown in the overall smartphone market growth and saw increased competition in the Chinese and some European markets” during the period.

Meanwhile, a stronger Korean currency also hurt Samsung’s earnings during the period.

The Korean won rose more than 11% against the US dollar and nearly 7% against the euro between July 2013 and end of June this year.

A strengthening currency hurts profits of firms such as Samsung – which rely heavily on exports – when they repatriate their foreign earnings.

‘Golden era’

Samsung’s growth in recent years has been powered mainly by its mobile phone division.

The success of its Galaxy range of smartphones, coupled with a growing global demand for such gadgets, saw it displace Nokia as the world’s biggest mobile phone maker in 2012.

However, the pace of growth of the smartphone market has been slowing down and the competition in the sector has also increased, forcing manufacturers to cut costs of their devices in an attempt to attract consumers.

Analysts said that profit margins in the sector are likely to fall even further.

“The golden era of high-end smartphones is clearly over. Those were the handsets that helped firms such as Samsung make healthy profit margins,” Ajay Sunder, a vice president specialising in the telecoms sector with consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.

Over-dependence?

“Now it is all about high-volume and low-margin handsets. And on that front the competition is getting fiercer with each passing day.”

Various other smartphone makers including China’s Xiaomi, Huawei and ZTE have been increasing their market share steadily.

Mr Sunder said that given the slowing growth and increased competition in the smartphone market, Samsung needed to look at boosting its presence in other sectors if it wanted to sustain high growth rates.

“Its over-dependence on the mobile phone division needs to go,” he said.

For its part, Samsung has said it “cautiously expects a more positive outlook in the third quarter”.

Source: BBC

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It said falling demand meant it would instead focus on producing curved and ultra-high-definition (UHD) TVs.

“We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their need,” Samsung told the CNET website.

Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Pioneer have also pulled out of the sector in recent years. And, according to the Tech Radar website, LG is expected to follow suit soon.

Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gases, are often applauded for their brightness, deep blacks, and high frame rates, considered ideal for watching sport and films.

But they tend to use more electricity and are considerably bulkier than the now more popular liquid-crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode (LED) TVs.

Stylish tellies

TrustedReviews website editor Evan Kypreos said: “It’s not at all surprising that Samsung has dumped plasma.

“The main issue is that it’s very tricky to make [UHD] plasmas, and [UHD] is the future of big TVs.

“While plasma is a lot better than LED/LCD TVs in terms of image quality, such as contrast ratio, and motion handling, it has a few drawbacks.

“Plasma TVs can’t be made a thin as LEDs, for example. People like stylish tellies.”

With the introduction of increasingly advanced organic LED TVs, which arguably have better black levels, brightness and colour gamut than plasmas, there was little reason to continue manufacturing plasma screens, Mr Kypreos said.

“Home-cinema connoisseurs will always have a soft spot for plasmas, but they have simply been technologically superseded,” he said.

Source: BBC

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Apple had been seeking damages of $2.2bn after accusing Samsung of copying five patents including the “slide to unlock function”.

The US company also filed a permanent injunction to prevent Samsung using the patents it was found to have infringed.

Samsung filed court documents too but the contents have not been made public.

During the original trial Apple had accused Samsung of “systematically” copying features distinctive to its iOS software. Samsung denied that it had copied Apple patents and said it was Apple who was doing the copying.

The jury found that Apple had infringed some Samsung patents and awarded $158,000 in damages to the South Korean firm.

“Litigation fatigue”

Although the jury found in Apple’s favour in respect of two of the patents, the damages awarded were much lower than the company had been seeking.

The verdict would have been a blow for Apple said the BBC’s North America technology correspondent Richard Taylor, speaking at the time.

“The figure would appear to reflect the jury’s belief that Apple’s settlement claim was unfairly inflated. Samsung argued all along that it should be far lower than the $2.2bn sought, not least because some of the patents were never even incorporated into the iPhone’s software,” he said.

This latest legal step is an attempt by Apple to have its damages award increased but it would require a new trial.

Intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller thinks any new trial is unlikely to happen before an appeal of the original ruling.

“The judge may make some minor amendments to the verdict but then she’ll let the parties appeal the unfavourable parts of the ruling to the Federal Circuit. Thereafter, there may be a retrial.” he said.

These requests by Apple mark the latest instalment in a series of legal battles over intellectual property that the world’s top two smartphone makers have been fighting for years across many countries.

Two years ago, a separate jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $930m after finding it had used Apple technology. That verdict is still being challenged by Samsung.

But Mr Mueller thinks Apple may be suffering “litigation fatigue”, he pointed out that Apple has not filed a US case against Samsung in more than two years.

Apple recently settled a patent row with Google. The two companies had filed several lawsuits against one another but they agreed to dismiss these cases and said they would work together in “some areas of patent reform”.

Source: BBC

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The company issued its first apology in a long-running dispute and withdrew from a legal bid to avoid paying out.

It brings the conflict one step closer to resolution only a month after talks appeared to have stalled.

But Samsung’s chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun stopped short of admitting a direct link between working at the firm and developing leukaemia.

Mr Kwon said: “Several workers at our production facilities suffered from leukaemia and other incurable diseases, which also led to some deaths.

“We should have settled the issue earlier, and we are deeply heartbroken that we failed to do so and express our deep apology.”

At a press conference, he said Samsung hoped to “resolve the issue with sincerity and earnestness”. In a statement, he added: “We will make due compensation to the victims and the families.”

‘Another Promise’

Mr Kwon said that Samsung had failed to pay “careful attention to the pain and difficulty” of the victims and their families.

An independent adjudicator would be set up in order to decide how to deal with each case with fairness and objectivity, with consent from the victims and the families, and Samsung would follow the compensation guidelines determined by it, Kwon said.

The world’s top chip and smartphone maker did not say how many people might be compensated. But, according to Agence France-Presse, about 40 employees have filed claims with the state Korean Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service in the past six years.

Previously Samsung has pointed to independent studies that found no link between its workplace environment and employee illnesses, and there was no admission of a direct link in its statement on Wednesday.

The cases of two of the workers who developed leukaemia were made into films recently, and the families of those affected have been fighting Samsung in the courts.

One of the films, called Another Promise, tells the story of Hwang Sang-ki and his daughter Yu-mi, who died after working for Samsung for four years. The film was crowd-funded and the Korea Herald called its production a “meaningful achievement in Korean cinema”.

Yu-mi’s father insisted her death was a result of her being exposed to dangerous chemicals while working for Samsung at the chip factory in Giheung, just south of Seoul.

The case of Hwang Yu-mi, who died in 2007, brought to light what has become a major controversy for Samsung. The family has been fighting a legal battle against the company since her death.

For legal reasons, Samsung was not named in the film but the title alluded to one of its well-known slogans: “Another Family”.

In 2011, the families who joined the battle were given a boost when a Seoul court said toxic chemicals “had caused, or at least expedited” Yu-mi and one other worker’s condition.

Source: BBC

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