Zimbabweans no longer need passports

Mobile users wait to take photos at a Vinaphone service store in Hà Nội in April 2018. — Photo vietnamnet.vn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) has suggested lifting a controversial requirement for mobile phone users to register their photos in a stunning policy turnaround just six months after the regulation was put into force. The MoIC, under the leadership of new acting minister Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, released a draft decree to terminate the regulation which required all mobile phone users to register a portrait photo to their service providers by April 24, 2018. The idea was meant to help the Government manage mobile users, said the MoIC at the time, despite mounting criticism of personal invasion and concerns of personal information leaks. However, there seems to have been a u-turn. It said in the draft decree that in order to guarantee the personal information provided by users, there should be an information cross-check … [Read more...] about Mobile users no longer need to register profile pics: MoIC

Visitors to S.Korea face longer visa application processing time By Dao Loan Tourists ask for tour programs at a travel company in HCMC. The longer visa processing time has affected many tour operators who received a high number of tour bookings for South Korea this summer – PHOTO: DAO LOAN HCMC - Vietnamese applying for a South Korean tourist visa now have to wait longer than usual due to the overwhelming number of five-year visa applications pending. Many local tour operators told the Saigon Times that companies accredited by South Korea to filter out visa applications typically need up to five days to receive visas for their customers, but it now takes up to eight days. Many travel firms in Hanoi have even had to wait more than two weeks to complete visa procedures, while tourists applying for the visa themselves have had to wait up to three weeks. The surging number of five-year visa applications by individual tourists has extended the time needed to … [Read more...] about Visitors to S.Korea face longer visa application processing time

AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content. USB-C is the future of computer connectivity, but there is a great deal of confusion over USB-C, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and what any given cable with USB-C connectors is capable of. AppleInsider breaks it all down. Apple introduced USB-C to its user base with the retina 12-inch MacBook. At the time, it was a fancy USB port limited to USB 3.0 speeds of 5Gbit per second, and was officially called USB 3.1 Type-C Generation 1. The same physical port was used in the 2016 MacBook Pro refresh, offering a faster, more capable Thunderbolt 3 port with the same USB-C physical connector. The Thunderbolt 3 protocol allows for 40Gbit per second — assuming the cabling for it is right. But, right now, confusion reigns — and a simple choice that Apple made in the 2016 … [Read more...] about PSA: Thunderbolt 3 cables longer than 0.5m generally don’t support USB 3.1 speeds

Feature AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content. With the varieties of USB and Thunderbolt terminology floating about, as well as new versions being adopted by Apple and other device producers, sorting out the mess can be a problem. Here's what you need to know about USB 3, USB 4, Thunderbolt 3, and Thunderbolt 4. For most users, there are two general families of multi-purpose connections: USB and Thunderbolt. Both have their benefits and their foibles, as well as sharing many characteristics, but the two technology trees are, largely, quite different. If you don't read any further, here's your main takeaway: The term "USB-C" by itself doesn't specify anything for data, charging, or video beyond the physicality of the connector. But, as you might expect, there are a lot of details behind USB … [Read more...] about USB 3, USB 4, Thunderbolt, & USB-C — everything you need to know

Feature AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content. Apple has decisively transitioned its new MacBook Pros to use the slim, unidirectional new USB-C port first introduced on the Retina MacBook a year and a half ago. Its latest MacBook Pro machines not only supply more connectors, but also support the enhanced new USB 3.1 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 3 protocols for blazing fast wired connectivity and high resolution displays. Flex your power Like the Retina MacBook, the new MacBook Pro models no longer use MagSafe, Apple's quick release magnetic plug for delivering power. Power is now delivered via USB-C, which fits snuggly enough to pull your laptop off the edge of a table if something inadvertently tugs the cable hard enough. While many are weeping over the death of their beloved MagSafe, I've … [Read more...] about Everything you need to know about USB-C & Thunderbolt 3 on Apple’s new MacBook Pro

Standardisation Law needed to boost quality of development (23-02-2006) Lang Son Province’s Department of Standards, Quality and Measuring has this year tested 2,287 measuring items to help standardise exchanges and commercial activities in the provincial market. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Tuan HA NOI — The State can no longer manage the overall quality of tens of millions of items under existing standardisation-management legislation, said Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Van Phong. He made the comment yesterday in Ha Noi during a discussion of the draft Law on Standardisation with the participation of full-time National Assembly deputies. Over the past 40 years, Viet Nam has established over 8,000 State-level standards, 3,000 standards of industries, and tens of thousands of grassroots-level standards, most of which have addressed the issues they were designed to tackle, Phong said. However, he suggested these standards no longer met the needs of a … [Read more...] about Standardisation Law needed to boost quality of development

Vietnam needs to embrace technology to escape middle-income trap: PM The Saigon Times Daily Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a speech at the National Forum on Developing Vietnam Technology Companies in Hanoi on May 9 – PHOTO: VNA HCMC – It is essential that technology be regarded as the crucial factor that could take Vietnam out of the middle-income trap and turn it into a developed country, stated Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a technology forum in Hanoi today, May 9. The inaugural national forum on developing Vietnam’s technology companies kicked off earlier today. Themed “Aspiration, vision and strategy for a prosperous Vietnam” and with the action motto of “Make in Vietnam,” the forum acts as a catalyst for the development of a community of Vietnamese technological companies. The forum brought together some 1,000 delegates representing the Government, ministries, agencies and localities, along with hundreds of locals, foreign experts and … [Read more...] about Vietnam needs to embrace technology to escape middle-income trap: PM

Việt Nam needs to develop a legal framework and feasible roadmap to turn its wind energy potential into reality, which will help to meet the country’s rapidly rising electricity demand. – Photo qdnd.com.vn HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam needs to develop a legal framework and feasible roadmap to turn its wind energy potential into reality, which will help to meet the country’s rapidly rising electricity demand, experts have said. Tobias Cossen, head of GIZ’s project on supporting the up-scaling of wind power said that Việt Nam has great potential to develop wind power as the country possesses around 3,000 km of coastline with excellent wind conditions. The Vietnamese government has approved several programmes to encourage the development of renewable energy in the country. As many as five wind farms with total capacity of almost 200MW are currently in operation. More than 50 other projects are in the construction and planning phase. However, a number of regulatory and market barriers … [Read more...] about Legal framework, roadmap needed for Việt Nam’s wind power

VND39 billion needed to pay MAUR staff By Le Anh Two MAUR executives at the construction site of Phuoc Long station of the metro line No. 1 project - PHOTO: LE ANH HCMC – The Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCMC (MAUR) has once again proposed the city government advance VND39 billion (US$1.7 million) from the city’s budget to pay employees their salaries and allowances. MAUR stated in its proposal that it had submitted a similar proposal in November last year. Since January 31, employees of the authority have received two months’ basic salary only. The money was sourced from the capital advanced from the city’s budget last year. Without sufficient salary payments, MAUR staff cannot meet their basic daily needs or properly contribute to fulfilling MAUR’s assignments. Meanwhile, the authority is striving to stabilize personnel and rebuild the confidence of the investors and contractors of the first metro line project in the city to finally put the line … [Read more...] about VND39 billion needed to pay MAUR staff

Farmers need assistance to cope with changing farming landscape The Saigon Times Daily Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will have a direct dialogue with farmers soon following a proposal by the Vietnam Farmers’ Association. The Government Office in a dispatch last Friday said the farmers’ association is assigned to work with Can Tho City and other ministries and agencies to arrange the meeting, where the Government leader is expected to look into problems faced by the country’s agriculture to make coping policies. Challenges for farmers abound, both short-term and long term. These include repetitive gluts of farm produce since China as Vietnam’s biggest buyer has now changed its import requirements, placing emphasis on quality and traceability; falling prices of key stable commodities like pepper, coffee, rubber and even rice as global supply has far outpaced demand; the frequent occurrence of diseases devastating the husbandry sector; and the failure to participate in global … [Read more...] about Farmers need assistance to cope with changing farming landscape