The world’s largest PC maker said fourth-quarter revenue rose 27% to $21.6 billion for the period ended March, beating analysts’ expectations of $18.7 billion. Profit attributable to shareholders climbed 479% to $521 million, above forecasts of $271 million.

Its shares jumped 15% on Friday, making it the biggest gainer on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.

Lenovo’s biggest business unit, which covers PCs, tablets and smartphones, recorded a 24% increase in revenue. The company said it was the division’s strongest quarterly growth in five years.

The results came as PC makers are currently dealing with high memory prices and supply shortages. Lenovo had earlier warned that the shortage could affect shipments across the industry. The company has also raised prices on some PCs to manage higher component costs.

“Supply (of memory chips) is in heavy shortage, and the cost is growing faster,” Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing told Reuters on Friday.

He added that Lenovo’s wider supplier network, including Chinese memory chip producers, helped reduce pressure on the business.

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies recently identified Lenovo as one of its major customers in a prospectus filing. The chipmaker also reported more than 700% growth in first-quarter revenue as memory prices surged.

According to forecasts, memory chip prices doubled in the first quarter and could rise by as much as 63% this quarter. Demand from data centres has tightened supply for laptops, smartphones and cars.

Lenovo said its PC shipment growth outpaced the market by nearly six percentage points during the quarter. Research firm Counterpoint Research said global PC shipments rose 3.2% in the first quarter to 63.3 million units, while Lenovo’s shipments increased 9% to 16.5 million units. That gave the company a 26% share of the global market.

The company is also expanding its server business. Lenovo said its infrastructure solutions group, which includes its server operations, posted 37% revenue growth in the quarter, the fastest among all its business units.

It added that its server order pipeline had reached $21 billion as demand for data centre equipment continued to grow.

The new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, and IdeaPad Pro 5i are Intel Evo laptops powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors and Windows 11 that deliver optimal power efficiency, performance, and immersive experiences.

Dedicated AI acceleration support will help users embrace new experiences and enhance efficiency in work and play, including capabilities enabled by Copilot in Windows.

Whether for business or leisure, these Lenovo laptops are amongst the first that are driving an AI PC revolution that will fundamentally change how people create, collaborate, and interact with PCs.

Designed to offer users the most comprehensive PC experiences yet, ThinkPad X1 and IdeaPad Pro 5i will help users embrace a new generation of AI computing.

Ready for the Next Wave of Business Computing

The next wave of business computing is here. Lenovo laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors are ready for the future of business computing.

They have three compute engines: CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and NPU (Neural Processing Unit), that can handle AI PC tasks efficiently and smartly.

Offloading compute tasks to the NPU and/or GPU improves efficiency and performance and delivers better power management.

Users can enjoy higher quality free flowing workstreams in supported software applications such as Zoom (for which the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 are the only certified laptops), Microsoft Teams, Studio Effects, Adobe Lightroom, and many more.

Characteristics like text predictions, background blur, meeting transcripts, and summary emails improve productivity, while digital content tools maximize creativity without impacting overall system performance.

With Copilot in Windows, the things users do every day are made easier, faster, and more effortless. New features will help summarize web pages, compose an email, change settings, and enable new experiences in apps including Paint, Snipping Tool, and more.

Lenovo is transforming its PCs and other devices to deliver personalized AI solutions. Working together with strategic partners, Lenovo has a shared vision to lead this transformative shift in personal computing.

Additionally, Lenovo announced the expansion of its hybrid cloud portfolio, powered by the next generation of Intel Xeon Scalable Processors.

It delivers a new AI-ready platform with improved performance, the latest accelerators, and new Lenovo Professional Services for AI as a critical next step for enabling a dynamic hybrid AI approach across public, private, and foundational models.

Uncompromised User Experiences Need Relentless Innovation

Lenovo’s Product Diversity Office seeks to integrate inclusion and feedback from diverse user segments early on in product development. This inclusive customer experience has always been the key focus for ThinkPad innovation.

Tactile markings have always been part of ThinkPad design since 1992 to aid users who are visually impaired to navigate the keyboard.

In 2021, Lenovo through its Product Diversity Office established a partnership with the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina in the US to better understand how visually impaired users interact with their PCs. Lenovo is the first laptop manufacturer to integrate additional tactile cues that increase accessibility.

Lenovo is aligning these changes with Microsoft’s Accessibility Team as it works toward new industry standards in keyboard design. The results of this collaboration are visible with new tactile markings on the keyboard.

They include:

• Volume up / down: Audio is crucial to users who are visually impaired. The F2 and F3 will include tactile markings, making it easier to distinguish between volume up and down.
• Insert key: Insert and Delete keys often sit side-by-side on keyboards and can result in time-wasting and document-ruining problems. Too often, users have deleted or inserted content when they meant to do the opposite. The tactile mark on the Insert key will make it easier to tell the difference between the two keys.
• Function key: The Fn key is essential for individuals using screen readers. Located next to, and the same size as the CTRL key can often be a source of frustration.
• Enter key: While this seems an obvious addition, Enter keys can vary in size by keyboard and language.

More user-centric innovations enhance device interaction on ThinkPad X1. A larger 120mm TrackPad with physical buttons improves pointing accuracy and one-handed use with the integrated TrackPoint.

A new feature to ThinkPad X1 allows users to customize common features from a list of options by double-tapping the TrackPoint to open a TrackPoint Quick Menu.

A glass Haptic TouchPad is an optional input method for the first time on ThinkPad X1. The ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 also has a larger magnetic pen for a better stylus experience.

The new ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 have improved thermals and power consumption management, and Computer Vision features in Lenovo Commercial Vantage.

They include wake-on-approach with face sensing, and supports adaptive dimming on external monitors adding extra security and power savings.

ThinkPad X1 has always excelled in display options and camera features. Lenovo View provides video enhancing tools for the camera including a new Low Light Enhancer that can brighten and denoise video in low light environments.

The software runs on the NPU to save power and processor load when running unified communications applications such as Teams or Zoom.

ThinkPad X1 will include an optional 8MP camera within its unique Communications Bar that can deliver excellent video conferencing quality.

Content becomes even sharper and smoother on the latest optional 120Hz OLED display. The Communications Bar also enables improved usability in the redesigned chassis with narrower bezels that deliver higher screen-to-body ratio, and easy one-handed opening.

Next-generation business laptops not only need to deliver on better user experiences, but also continue to improve their contribution to a circular economy.

The development of revolutionary supply chains, services, product design, and materials have enabled Lenovo to shift to a circular model of “design, use, return.”

These latest ThinkPad X1’s continue to adopt the use of recycled materials, PCC (Post-Consumer Recycled Content) plastics and plastic-free bamboo and sugarcane packaging to minimize the use of virgin materials and increase use of post-industrial recycled content (PIC) plastics.

Lenovo is working closely with Toray Industries, Inc., who has been supplying Lenovo with carbon fiber material, supported by Toray’s relationships with Boeing, to also build into ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 recycled carbon fiber material recovered from carbon fiber composites used in Boeing 787 wing production.

The latest ThinkPad X1 Gen 12 and X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 create a breakthrough moment in premium laptop computing with new AI PC features and customer-centric innovations designed to transform user experiences.

Through its focus on constant innovation in design, materials, and usability, and strong collaboration with leading industry partners, Lenovo has delivered new business laptops ready to fulfil its promise of AI for All.

“AI PC innovation has become our passion. We don’t just make PCs, we make experiences using diverse design brilliance, more sustainable materials, and revolutionary AI computing technologies to deliver the future of business computing,” said Jerry Paradise, Vice President, Commercial Portfolio and Product Management, Lenovo Intelligent Devices Group. “The latest Lenovo ThinkPad X1 laptops will transform user experiences in work and interaction through new AI speed and intelligence powered by Intel Core Ultra processors.”

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Now cybercriminals can use compromised Wi-Fi routers in cafes, airports hotels and other public places to potentially infect more Android smartphones with the Wroba.o malware.

ALSO READ: Top Internet Service Providers in Nigeria 2023

At the moment, the new technique targets users in South Korea, but it can be soon implemented in other countries as well. 

Roaming Mantis (a.k.a Shaoye) is a cybercriminal campaign first observed by Kaspersky in 2018. It uses malicious Android package (APK) files to control infected Android devices and steal device information.

It also has a phishing option for iOS devices and crypto-mining capabilities for PCs. The name of the campaign is based on its propagation via smartphones roaming between Wi-Fi networks, potentially carrying and spreading the infection.

New DNS changer functionality to attack more users via public routers

Kaspersky discovered that Roaming Mantis recently introduced a domain name system (DNS) changer functionality in Wroba.o (a.k.a Agent.eq, Moqhao, XLoader) – the malware that was primarily used in the campaign. DNS changer is a malicious program that directs the device connected to a compromised Wi-Fi router to a server under the control of cybercriminals instead of a legitimate DNS server. On the malicious landing page, the potential victim is prompted to download malware that can control the device or steal credentials.

At the moment, the threat actor behind Roaming Mantis is exclusively targeting routers located in South Korea and manufactured by a very popular South Korean network equipment vendor. To identify them, the new DNS changer functionality gets the router’s IP address and checks the router’s model, compromising targeted ones by overwriting the DNS settings. In December 2022, Kaspersky observed 508 malicious APKs downloads in the country.

An investigation of malicious landing pages found that attackers are also targeting other regions using smishing instead of DNS changers. This technique employs text messages to spread malicious links that direct the victim to a malicious site to download malware onto the device or steal user info via a phishing website.

According to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) statistics in September – December 2022, the highest detection rate of Wroba.o malware (Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Wroba.o) was in France (54.4%), Japan (12.1%) and the U.S. (10.1%).

“When an infected smartphone connects to ‘healthy’ routers in various public places like cafes, bars, libraries, hotels, shopping malls, airports, or even homes, Wroba.o malware can compromise these routers and affect other connected devices as well. The new DNS changer functionality can manage all device communications using the compromised Wi-Fi router, such as redirecting to malicious hosts and disabling updates of security products. We believe that this discovery is highly critical for the cybersecurity of Android devices because it is capable of being widely spread in the targeted regions”, says Suguru Ishimaru, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky.

In order to protect your Internet connection from this infection, Kaspersky researchers recommend the following:

• Refer to your router’s user manual to verify that your DNS settings haven’t been tampered with or contact your ISP for support.
• Change the default login and password for the admin web interface of the router and regularly update your router’s firmware from the official source.
• Never install router firmware from third party sources. Avoid using third-party repositories for your Android devices.
• Further, always check browser and website addresses to ensure they are legitimate; look for signs such as https when asked to enter data.
• Consider installing a mobile security solution, such as special security solution, to protect your devices from these and other threats.

In classrooms and lecture halls, lessons have increasingly been complemented by digital tools and platforms. Technology can and must be used to provide opportunities for all and bring about a future that is better and brighter than today.

The rapid shift to digital teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a lot of opportunities for innovation and creativity.

This isn’t to downplay experiences of disruption and hardship, but the acceleration of technology and the rise of digital learning have brought positive changes within education.

Improved availability and quality of information

Technologies impact is perhaps best visible in the learning process. Not only is it easier to find any information online, but the information now comes in different formats.

In addition to e-books and websites, podcasts, photos, infographics, videos, and even video games can be very useful.

All these educational formats are available online, but also in traditional classrooms thanks to teachers who use technology to considerably improve their lectures.

We have seen a significant digital upskilling of both students and staff. With technology, educators are no longer limited to textbooks or traditional ways of face-to-face learning.

By using other resources such as video, audio and interactive learning, students have many different ways to learn.

Teachers can create digital teaching materials, videos, and slide decks, then provide access to students and caregivers to review on their own time.

Since the start of lockdowns, Microsoft Teams itself has undergone several enhancements to enrich the student learning experience.

In the same way, teams within organisations collaborate using the platform, key features were incorporated into the educational version to empower the same collaboration among students and teachers. For example, educators were able to organise their students into assignment groups so they can work together on the same work and experience the power of teamwork first-hand.

What digital tools are needed?

What we have learned was that the critical ingredient to successful hybrid and remote learning was having the right technology in place.

Laptops, PCs, mobile devices, webcams, headsets, and other software solutions are just some of the tools that have supported learners throughout this period.

Thoroughly considering why technology should be chosen and how it integrates with learning can help parents choose which technology is most valuable or crucial to teaching and learning.

When selecting hardware, one crucial decision is choosing between a hand-held or portable device, such as a tablet or a laptop computer. Likewise, schools that have used Google Workspace for Education or other educational platforms will benefit from devices and software that is compatible with them.

Building on our digital investment

Technology within the educational ecosystem can provide opportunities for children to improve their digital literacy.

Building towards a strong foundation of digital literacy will help students succeed in the classroom throughout their schooling and readies them for the digital economy regardless of the career journey they take.

The introduction of technology in schools and at home to complement learning will be important to closing the gap between our current situation and where we need our future graduates to be.

The world of technology was already changing, with the World Economic Forum estimating that 65% of children entering primary school today will end up working in completely new jobs that do not yet exist.

It is essential to continue our investment in people so that their confidence and digital literacy continue to grow.

This exposure to technology and growing digital literacy can lead to future careers in artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and other professions that do not exist today.

With the current accelerated shift towards digitisation, it’s amazing to think about what the education of tomorrow will look like.

Technology may not replace traditional learning methods, but it does have its place in modern-day education and should be included as much as possible.