Yearly Archives: 2020

Android, Mobile, News

Motorola Announces A New Flagship: the Motorola Edge+

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It’s been a while since there was any news on a Motorola flagship. It’s last big flagship was the MotoMods touting Moto Z4. Since then, the company has been invested in their mid-range offerings with the Moto G series, which got a stylus in one of the more recent releases; and it’s Motorola One series. The last Motorola branded smartphone to reach Malaysia was the Motorola One Power which was sold through online shopping platform, Shopee.

This year, the now Lenovo owned Motorola Mobility looks to be reentering the flagship race with a new contender: the Motorola Edge+. If you’re asking where’s the “Moto” brand, it seems like the new flagship will be leaving the moniker behind. However, it’s also taking specs and features more seriously than any other Motorola flagship in recent years.

Built to Impress: The Motorola Edge+

The new Motorola Edge+ doesn’t hold back when it comes to specifications. It packs the cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor with 12GB of DDR5 RAM and 256GB of internal storage. They’re using the UFS3.0 for internal memory. The combination makes the Motorola Edge one of the most powerful flagship devices on the market. Coming equipped with 5G connectivity, the Edge+ is Motorola’s first 5G smartphone.

The display on the Edge+ comes with a curved, 6.77-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution of 2340×1080 pixels. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio and a refresh rate of 90Hz. The display is also HDR10+ certified. Their Endless Edge display wraps nearly 90-degrees around the long sides of the device. Their display is also one of the cornerstones of the their new MyUX experience which allows users to customize how they are able to interact with their phones. From gestures to pull down the notification shade by swiping and even lighting up for notifications, Motorola is looking to make a large device more functional with one hand.

A Camera Experience That Makes Sense

The Motorola Edge+ comes with the same camera 108-megapixel module that we’ve seen in recent flagships including the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Xiaomi Mi 10. It has the quad pixel technology that we’ve been hearing about. In essence, this technology combines 4 pixels to increase the amount of light being captured. This is complemented with an 8-megapixel sensor with a telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom; a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens with a 117° field of view; and a time of flight sensor.

Cameras on the Motorola Edge+ will be able to shoot 6K video video footage. Users will also be able to take 20-megapixel pictures while shooting video. The camera array also has dual OIS on the main and telephoto lenses to minimise shaking. Motorola is touting that the Edge+ comes with the most advanced stabilisation which combines OIS and EIS for superior video stabilization. The front camera is a 25-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/2.0.

Motorola is looking to give one of the most well rounded experiences on a smartphone with the Edge+. To that end, the company has said that it has equipped the smartphone with the loudest, most powerful dual speaker setup and a 3.5mm jack. The sound experience on the Edge+ also calibrated by GRAMMY Award winning company, Waves.

The Edge+ comes with Bluetooth 5.1 LE, NFC and WiFi 6 connectivity. Also along for the ride is a USB Type C (3.1) connection. It is equipped with an on-screen fingerprint sensor. It is also touting a 5000mAh battery which has support for 18W fast charging, 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse charging. The Edge+ is also rated IP68 for dust and water resistance.

Scaled Back for Affordability: the Motorola Edge

Along with the Motorola Edge+, the company announced a scaled back version called the Motorola Edge. While the phone keeps the ethos of the new flagship device, the company has scaled specifications back a little bit to keep the price more affordable.

The Motorola Edge will be coming with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor paired with 6GB of DDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS2.1 on-board storage. It also has a smaller battery at 4,500mAh which has support for 15W fast charging. However, it will not support wireless and reverse charging.

The camera module on the Edge is a triple sensor setup with a smaller 64-megapixel sensor. It also lacks the time of flight sensor from the Edge+. The phone also doesn’t support WiFi 6. Instead, it supports WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. It also comes with a USB Type C (2.0) instead and is only rated IP54 for dust and water resistance.

However, both versions will be coming equipped with Android 10 with Motorola’s near stock experience.

Pricing & Availability

The Motorola Edge will be available in Europe starting in May, 2020 for €699 (USD$767/MYR3,298). It will be making its way to markets in Latin America, Asia Pacific and the United States shortly after. It will be available in Solar Black and Midnight Magenta.

The Motorola Edge+ will be heading to the U.S. on May 14, 2020. It will be retailing at USD$999 (MYR4,354). The Edge+ will be available in Thunder Grey and Smoky Sangria. It is confirmed to be heading to India and select Latin American markets.

No news just yet on the Edge and Edge+ coming to Malaysia.

PR Newswire

CHiQ Announced New Series of 5G+8K TVs at Its Global Conference

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MIANYANG, China, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CHiQ 5G+8K Global Conference, hosted by Changhong (Shanghai: 600839.SS), has announced the new series of 5G+8K TVs and opened a new era of smart household appliances. At the global conference, CHiQ introduced the full series of 8K TV products with built-in 5G module and 8K image quality bringing consumers excellent experience, and the products have been highly recognized by the industry and our consumers.

CHiQ 5G+8K Global Release Conference
CHiQ 5G+8K Global Release Conference

On January 15, with the smooth finish of the first CHiQ 5G product from production line, CHiQ “5G+industrial Internet” the smart television mass customization production line was officially put into operation in Mianyang, China. This is the first “5G+industrial Internet” production line in China, and also the most advanced mass customization production line of smart TV in Asia. Supported by 5G technology, the CHiQ 8K series has been upgraded and strengthened in terms of hardware configuration and production function interaction, and it presents excellent performance in image quality, operating speed and capability.

In the “5G+8K Global Conference” it announced five series of new products, which included the 110″ huge screen, it breaks the traditional limit in the TV appearance. Another new product is the first 8K TV of CHiQ which achieves 5G technology, and it contains three advantages of high-speed rate, large capacity and low time consumption.

During the conference, as a long-term partner of CHiQ Michael Demeyer the vice president of Dolby Laboratories said: “you can experience Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on CHiQ TVs, and it create a high dynamic vision effect and produces breathtaking sound quality.”

The “5G+8K Global Conference” is available globally in the form of a live stream broadcast and is connected with the European local guests so they can experience world-famous attractions and explore historical scenery with 8K technology. This is the first transnational live stream broadcast of 8K TV product Conference in China. Through the interaction with the audience, the display of 5G network speed and the 8K high dynamic range image, it brings a brand-new vision experience to the consumers.

CHiQ is a new generation of high-end smart home appliances from Changhong, including a full set of home Internet consumer electronics, such as TV sets, refrigerators, air conditioners, and small home appliances. With the advent of the 5G era, the global interaction mode will be upgraded again with the help of CHiQ.

http://www.chiq.com/

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200422/2783511-1?lang=0

PR Newswire

The 7th Global New Material Startups Contest kicks off in Ningbo, China

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NINGBO, China, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The 7th China-Ningbo Global New Material Startups Contest will formally commence in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on April 23, 2020.

Given the rapid emergence of a new round of innovation in science and technology as well as ongoing transformation across all industries, Ningbo National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (also known as New Materials Science and Technology Park) has hosted the Global New Material Startups Contest for six consecutive years, attracting high-level talent projects in a number of sectors, including new materials, life science, high-end equipment, new energy and automobiles.

The final of the 7th China-Ningbo Global New Material Startups Contest will be held in September 2020. Targeting cities in China as well as around the world that have taken the lead in new materials, the smart economy as well as intelligent technologies, this year’s event will adopt an innovative approach to the online + offline model as a vehicle for attracting talents and introducing intellectual resources. The contest will consist of three online qualifying heats and field tryouts which will be held in Xi’an and Shenzhen. Finally, 40 outstanding projects will be selected to participate in the final competition and compete for the top ten positions. The organizer will launch an official website for the contest, helping participants and investors as well as creative talents and entrepreneurs gain an in-depth understanding of the event, while giving them access to important resources, including Ningbo National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone’s talent recruitment policy and project docking roadshows.

This year’s event will provide direct benefits for high-level talents and outstanding projects as part of the Hi-Tech Zone’s talent policy, with the top five projects qualifying for grants of up to approx. US$5.6 million (40 million yuan).

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PR Newswire

Pantum Introduces Easy Printing for Home Working and Schooling

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ZHUHAI, China, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The global outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted workplaces on a massive scale as countries around the world mandate people to work from home to contain the spread of the virus. Pantum, a developer and manufacturer of laser printers and printing solutions, is bringing its compact yet powerful laser printers to help workers and students keep productive in the current strain of the new coronavirus.

“As office workers and students start to work from home, they need an easy-of-use, affordable and reliable printing solution to ensure a stress-free work-at-home routine,” said Michael Qin, Sales Director of Pantum. “To address this challenge, we are introducing our cost-effective, M6502NW and P2500W models, to provide high-quality, trouble-free and economical printing solutions for homes.”

Ever Easier with Pantum

With the rise of remote working situation in India, many in-office workers and students will experience their first foray into at-home work. To get started, users simply need to install the driver downloaded from Pantum website or extracted from the disc. Once the driver file is initiated, users just need to follow the instruction to connect and finish installation with one click. Coupled with Pantum APP, users can realize fast and easy printing right from mobile phone or tablet without any additional set-up or direct contact.

Pantum user-friendly design
Pantum user-friendly design

Safety Net Offered by Dedicated Service Team

Even though the new stay-at-home rule results in restrictions, Pantum remains to make sure users who are unable to leave their homes during the pandemic still enjoy dependable after-sales service through virtual guide. The Company continues to set up a national free hotline and online service center on its Facebook page, Pantum India, to provide customers troubleshooting solutions and free to-door repair service (After Lockdown) for products under the one-year warranty period.

Simple but Mighty

Designed to meet the daily printing needs in the home scenario, the single-functional laser printer P2500W is capable of printing 2,000 pages monthly. With sleek design and compact size, P2500W fits any desktop and prints with speeds up to 22ppm.

Pantum P2500W & M6502NW
Pantum P2500W & M6502NW

Also, with printing, scanning and photocopying combined into a compact and elegant metal structure, the three-in-one M6502NW seamlessly integrates paper and digital workstream for various home working and learning scenarios from scanning and printing business files to submitting homework.

Go Green at Home

With the compatibility of refillable toner cartridges, users can replenish the printers with toner with easy-to-use refill kits. It not only reduces the after cost but also mitigates the negative impact of manufacturing cartridges on the environment.

About Pantum

Founded in 2010, Pantum is a printer manufacturer, with its business covering printers, printing materials, and printing solutions and services. In 2011, Pantum began its overseas expansion with current global footprints in more than 50 countries and regions, including China, the US, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa. Driven by its patented technology, Pantum is continuously innovating its office products to meet the evolving needs of customers, offering economical, user-friendly, and energy-efficient products as well as reliable printing solutions. Today, Pantum is now also bringing greater value to Indian customers through its cost-effective products, premium services.

To purchase, please searches on Amazon:

P2500W: https://amzn.to/2mAY9qj 
M6502NW: https://amzn.to/2kgGljs

Or Contact:

Mr. Abhra Das
Pantum India Sales Head
Mobile: +91 9831849971
Email: Abhra.das@pantum.com
Website: www.pantum.in  
Facebook: Pantum India
Service hotline: +91-1800-419-3160

Mr. Aaron Zhao
Asia-Pacific Sales manager
Mobile: +86 18928036307
Email: Aaron.zhao@pantum.com

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200422/2783647-1-a?lang=0
Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200422/2783647-1-b?lang=0

PR Newswire

DevOps Enterprise Summit London Announces Virtual Conference Plans, Speakers from Global 2000 Companies

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The virtual conference takes place 23-25 June and is focused on bringing technology leaders from large, complex organizations together from around the world while delivering its coveted networking and immersive learning experience

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — IT Revolution, the industry leader for advancing DevOps, today announced the DevOps Enterprise Summit London 2020 will be going virtual (https://events.itrevolution.com/virtual/). The scheduled dates and times for the summit will remain the same, 23-25 June during British Summer Time to closely match the schedule of previous live conferences. In addition, IT Revolution has announced the next round of confirmed speakers for London, including technology leaders from adidas, IBM, Lufthansa, Maersk, Microsoft, Nationwide Insurance, Standard Bank, Swiss Re, and Verizon.

Learn more about the virtual DevOps Enterprise Summit in Gene Kim’s community letter: (https://itrevolution.com/devops-enterprise-summit-london-is-going-virtual-a-letter-from-gene)

Amidst growing concern surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, IT Revolution has updated registration deadlines and cancellation policies accordingly. Registration ($480) will be limited to 3,000 attendees to ensure the Slack channels for the event do not become overwhelmed. Those who register within the first two weeks will receive a 50 percent discount, bringing the price down to $240.

To secure the best registration price for the three-day, immersive learning virtual event for technology and business leaders practicing DevOps transformation, visit: (https://events.itrevolution.com/virtual/)

Newly confirmed speakers for DevOps Enterprise Summit London 2020 include:

  • John Allspaw, Principal/Founder, Adaptive Capacity Labs
  • Kolton Andrus, CEO and Co-Founder, Gremlin
  • Kira Barclay, Director, Analytics, John Deere
  • Jill Campbell, Principal Group Program Manager, Edge, Microsoft
  • Craig Cook, DevOps Coach, IBM
  • Fernando Cornago, Senior Director, Vice President, Platform Engineering, adidas
  • Tim Dempsey, Delivery Director, Coats PLC
  • Daniel Eichten, Head of Enterprise Architecture, adidas
  • Bryan Finster, Delivery Systems Engineer, Walmart
  • Ann Marie Fred, DevOps and Security Lead, IBM
  • Sam Guckenheimer, Product Owner, Azure DevOps, Microsoft
  • Rasmus Hald, Head of Cloud Center of Excellence, Maersk
  • James Head, Founder, Rebellion Consulting
  • Suzette Johnson, Northrop Grumman Fellow, Northrop Grumman
  • Christopher Kistasamy, IT Executive Head, Engineering Practices, Standard Bank
  • Rusty Lewis, IT Auditor, Nationwide Insurance
  • Thomas Limoncelli, SRE Manager, Stack Overflow
  • Rene Lippert, DevOps Evangelist, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co
  • Clarissa Lucas, Audit Director, Nationwide Insurance
  • Stephen Magill, CEO, MuseDev
  • Guillermo Martinez, Head of DevOps, Accenture
  • Victoria Mayo, Head of Compliance- iptiQ EMEA P&C, Swiss Re
  • Jeff McAffer, Senior Director of Product, GitHub
  • Paul McMahon, Global Director of Technology and Innovation, Coats PLC
  • Stacie Peterson, Vice President, US Bank
  • Corey Quinn, Cloud Economist, The Duckbill Group
  • Rosalind Radcliffe, Distinguished Engineer, Chief Architect for DevOps for Enterprise Systems, IBM
  • Mark Schwartz, Author, War and Peace and IT: Business Leadership, Technology, and Success in the Digital Age
  • Roger Servey, Senior Manager, Systems Engineering, Verizon
  • Richard Vodden, Platform Infrastructure Lead, Babylon Health
  • Nate Vogel, VP Data Platforms, Charter Communications
  • Robin Yeman, LM Fellow, Lockheed Martin

“The DevOps Enterprise community has demonstrated over and over its skills of overcoming unforeseen challenges. They will certainly continue to be a force for good in helping organizations cope with the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19. We are excited to further the work of this amazing community, whose mission goes on,” said Gene Kim, founder of IT Revolution, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Unicorn Project, and co-author of The Phoenix Project, The DevOps Handbook and Accelerate.

“In response to COVID-19, to serve the best interest of our attendees, speakers, and the greater DevOps community, we will be moving the London summit to a virtual setting and remain focused on carrying out the mission of our amazing community. I am fully aware that achieving the type of magic that occurs at a physical conference is difficult to do in a virtual format, but I’d like to set your expectations that this event will be, if not the best, as close to as awesome of an experience as the previous DevOps Enterprise Summits we’ve run.”

DevOps Enterprise Summit is a conference for technology leaders and practitioners at large, complex organizations implementing DevOps principles and practices. The event programming emphasizes the next-generation operations and infrastructure needed to lead widespread change efforts in large organizations.

The virtual London event features keynotes, panels, breakouts, a community space for spontaneous gatherings, and other networking and collaborative activities to enhance the virtual learning experience for attendees. Sessions will be led by leaders who are pioneering these practices in large and complex organizations across a wide range of industries.

About IT Revolution
IT Revolution (https://itrevolution.com/) assembles technology leaders and practitioners through publishing, events, and research. Our goal is to elevate the state of technology work, quantify the economic and human costs associated with suboptimal IT performance, and to improve the lives of technology professionals.

Contact:
Jeremy Douglas
Catapult PR-IR
303-581-7760, ext. 16
jdouglas@catapultpr-ir.com

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PR Newswire

Gridsum Receives NASDAQ Notice Regarding Non-Compliance with Minimum Bid Price Requirement

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BEIJING, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Gridsum Holding Inc. (“Gridsum” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:GSUM), a leading provider of cloud-based big-data analytics and artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions in China, today announced that on April 17, 2020, it received a letter (the “Nasdaq Letter”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”), indicating that for the last thirty consecutive business days, the bid price for the Company’s American depositary shares (the “ADSs”), each representing one Class B ordinary share of the Company, had closed below the minimum $1.00 per ADS required for continued listing under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

The Nasdaq Letter has no immediate impact on the listing of the ADSs on Nasdaq. Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been granted a 180-calendar day grace period to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. The continued listing standard will be met if the closing bid price of the ADSs is at least $1.00 per ADS for a minimum of ten consecutive business days during such compliance period.

The Nasdaq Letter further indicated that Nasdaq filed an immediately effective rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 16, 2020. Pursuant to the rule change, Nasdaq tolled the compliance period for bid price and market value of publicly held shares requirements through June 30, 2020. As a result, the 180-day compliance period will be reinstated on July 1, 2020, and expire on December 28, 2020. Accordingly, if at any time during the tolling period or the 180-day compliance period the closing bid price of the Company’s ADSs is at least $1.00 per ADS for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, the Company will regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), and Nasdaq will provide the Company with written confirmation of compliance.

If the Company does not regain compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2) by December 28, 2020, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180-calendar day compliance period. To qualify, the Company must submit to Nasdaq an application to transfer its Nasdaq listing from the Nasdaq Global Select Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market. Additionally, the Company would be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for the Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the bid price requirement, and would need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period by effecting a reverse stock split if necessary. However, if Nasdaq concludes that the Company will not be able to cure the deficiency, or if the Company determines not to submit a transfer application or make the required representation, Nasdaq would notify the Company that its securities will be subject to delisting. In the event of such a notification, the Company may appeal Nasdaq’s determination to delist its securities, but there can be no assurance that Nasdaq would grant any request for continued listing.

The Company intends to monitor the bid price of its ADSs and consider available options if its ADSs do not trade at a level likely to result in the Company regaining compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) by December 28, 2020. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to regain compliance or that Nasdaq will grant the Company a further extension of time to regain compliance, if necessary.

This announcement is made in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b), which requires prompt disclosure of receipt of a deficiency notification.

About Gridsum

Gridsum Holding Inc. (NASDAQ: GSUM) is a leading provider of cloud-based big-data analytics and AI solutions for multinational and domestic enterprises and government agencies in China. Gridsum’s core technology, the Gridsum Big Data Platform and the Gridsum Prophet: Enterprise AI Engine, is built on a distributed computing framework and performs real-time multi-dimensional correlation analysis of both structured and unstructured data. This enables Gridsum’s customers to identify complex relationships within their data and gain new insights that help them make better business decisions. The Company is named “Gridsum” to symbolize the combination of distributed computing (Grid) and analytics (sum). As a digital intelligence pioneer, the Company’s mission is to help enterprises and government organizations in China use data in new and powerful ways to make better-informed decisions and be more productive.

For more information, please visit http://www.gridsum.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to” and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to general economic conditions in China, unexpected difficulties in pursuit of our business strategy, unpredictable demand for solutions we have developed, difficulties keeping and strengthening relationships with existing customers or expanding our customer base, availability of additional capital when needed, uncertainties associated with our repayment of indebtedness and our ability to maintain listing for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market, and uncertainty about the Proposal. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Gridsum’s annual report on Form 20-F and other reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Gridsum undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

Investor Relations

Gridsum
ir@gridsum.com

Christensen

In China
Mr. Christian Arnell
Phone: +86-10-5900-1548 
Email: carnell@christensenir.com

In U.S. 
Mr. Tip Fleming 
Phone: +1 917 412 3333 
Email: tfleming@christensenir.com

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Source: Gridsum Holding Inc.

PR Newswire

Icelandic Genomes Elucidate Neanderthal Heritage of Europeans

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Archaic genetic fragments comprising nearly half the Neanderthal genome are circulating in the European gene pool today

The average European carries more than 500 such archaic fragments, including SNPs linked to prostate cancer risk, iron retention, blood clotting speed, and height

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Scientists at deCODE genetics and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute and universities in Denmark and Iceland today publish in Nature the first study to use whole-genome sequence data from across a population to shed light on the present-day legacy of interbreeding between modern and archaic humans more than 50,000 years ago. In general terms, the findings support previous estimates that most people outside of Africa have approximately 2% archaic ancestry, predominantly the result of repeated contact and interbreeding between groups of Homo sapiens and multiple Neanderthal individuals. The results also show more significant than expected genomic fragments from Denisovans, another archaic human species that interbred with both Neanderthal and Homo sapiens.

Yet the principal significance of this study lies in the unprecedented magnitude of data that was used to understand the nature and impact of this archaic legacy. In its first phase, the study utilizes whole genome sequence (WGS) data from 28,000 Icelanders, nearly ten percent of the entire population, and 286 sub-Saharan Africans in the 1000 Genomes project. A limiting factor in previous studies has been an overreliance on searching modern genomes for sequence fragments derived from just three archaic individuals for whom we have good quality sequence data: two Neanderthals and one Denisovan. The authors here turn this approach on its head, using the African sequences as a baseline for Homo sapiens with no introgression from Neanderthals, and against which they compared the Icelandic sequence data. The resulting chromosomal fragments found in Icelanders but not shared by Africans comprise a vast catalogue of 15 million putative archaic fragments.

After combining identical and overlapping fragments, the authors identified more than 50,000 distinct archaic fragments covering 38-48% of the readable genome. These contain nearly 400,000 single-letter sequence variants, that are absent from the African samples. Intriguingly, in the Icelandic samples the authors identify nearly 300 “archaic deserts” where there are no archaic fragments; these cover nearly 25% of the genome, including the entire X chromosome.

To better understand the phenotypic impact of the archaic variants, the deCODE team examined them for association with 271 phenotypes in whole-genome data on 210,000 Icelanders. After winnowing suggestive associations in order to eliminate those driven be nearby non-archaic variants, they identified five archaic variants with genome-wide significant associations. One has previously been linked to decreased levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and risk of prostate cancer, but was not known to be of archaic origin; two decrease levels and mass of hemoglobin; a fourth increases the time it takes for blood to clot; and the fifth decreases height.

“Whether individually or collectively, our genome enables us to learn more about who we are by telling us where we come from. This paper is a kind of ancestry report for one branch of our species, and it’s telling us that in this particular neighborhood we are not just Homo sapiens but also the descendants of ancient archaic humans – cousin species whose lineage is thus not entirely extinct,” said Kari Stefansson, CEO of deCODE and a senior author on the paper. “We are scratching the surface of what this hybrid legacy means. What we know is that in the 50,000 years from their time to this, our adaptability and diversity have enabled us to mix and move, settle and thrive in every corner of the planet as they did not. In these dark days we would do well to remember that our differences are literally the mark of our success, and so to help each other as best we can.”

Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, deCODE is a global leader in analyzing and understanding the human genome. Using its unique expertise in human genetics combined with growing expertise in transcriptomics and population proteomics and vast amount of phenotypic data, deCODE has discovered risk factors for dozens of common diseases and provided key insights into their pathogenesis. The purpose of understanding the genetics of disease is to use that information to create new means of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease. deCODE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN).

Contact:
Thora Kristin Asgeirsdottir
+354-894-1909
Thora.Asgeirsdottir@decode.is

The Neanderthal In All Of Us - Dr. Kari Stefansson and Dr. Agnar Helgason
The Neanderthal In All Of Us – Dr. Kari Stefansson and Dr. Agnar Helgason
PR Newswire

Baidu Announces New Steps to Safeguard Biodiversity Through Technology Solutions

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BEIJING, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) today launched several biodiversity protection initiatives that will leverage the company’s leading positions in online content, mobile, and AI to promote scientific knowledge about wildlife protection and fight against illegal online marketplaces for wildlife products.

Baidu has partnered with China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to disseminate authoritative information about biodiversity to netizens and promote sustainable lifestyles. Experts at these partner organizations have provided Baidu high-quality content about wildlife conservation, which Baidu is now using to optimize search results on its information-centered platforms, including Baidu App, Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia, and others. For example, in response to a search query about selling wildlife, Baidu will display an explanation of the relevant Chinese legal provisions that prohibit selling wildlife in most circumstances. On Baidu App, if a user searches what happens to elephants that lose their tusks, the top result will be a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW that explains the vital importance of tusks for elephants. On Baidu Knows, if a user asks “can I eat Chinese alligator?”, the top result will be a response from NFGA explaining that the Chinese alligator is a first-class protected species in China and cannot be eaten. Baidu also launched the Earth Diversity Nature Archive (Earth DNA), an online library for scientific knowledge about wildlife protection, which will include content co-developed by Baidu and its partners.                                    

On Baidu App, in response to a user’s query about elephants losing their tusks, a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW appears as the top result. It explains the types of elephant tusks and why tusks are so important for elephants’ survival.
On Baidu App, in response to a user’s query about elephants losing their tusks, a Baidu Knows entry from IFAW appears as the top result. It explains the types of elephant tusks and why tusks are so important for elephants’ survival.

By increasing access to authoritative information about biodiversity, Baidu’s aim is for more users to make environmentally-friendly decisions. As the world’s largest Chinese language search engine, and with an expansive mobile ecosystem of information and knowledge-centered platforms, Baidu is uniquely positioned to encourage netizens to adopt greener lifestyles and promote a more harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Due to the harmful impacts of humans on the environment, one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, according to a May 2019 report from the United Nations on the global state of biodiversity. As the human population and resource consumption continues to grow, safeguarding biodiversity will require concerted efforts from companies, governments, organizations, and individuals around the world.

In line with this vision, Baidu, CWCA, and IFAW launched an initiative calling on individual users and peer technology companies to contribute to wildlife protection. The initiative urges users to adhere to laws that protect wildlife, respect nature, and develop green consumption habits. It also calls on technology companies to co-operate to develop AI-powered applications that protect wildlife, and to eliminate illegal wildlife trade on their online platforms.

Baidu also launched the “AI Guardian of Endangered Species”, an AI-powered tool to identify online images of products related to endangered wildlife, which will empower organizations to monitor and crack down on the illegal wildlife trade. Jointly developed by Baidu’s open source deep learning platform PaddlePaddle and IFAW, the tool has obtained a 75% accuracy rate at recognizing images of products made from elephant ivory, pangolin scales and claws, and tiger teeth, skin, and claws. During a five month testing period, the tool recognized 3,348 images of illegal wildlife products that were being traded on Chinese internet platforms. In recent years, the illegal wildlife trade has shifted to online platforms, with sellers relying on images and other techniques to advertise their products while avoiding detection. Baidu will open source the tool’s identification model on PaddlePaddle so that other developers can build AI applications for combatting the illegal wildlife trade.              

Through these initiatives, Baidu hopes to safeguard biodiversity by delivering high-quality content to users, halting the illegal trade of wildlife online, and making the protection of wildlife a core business purpose, strengthening its existing commitment to biodiversity, according to a Baidu spokesperson.                                                                                         

The participation of technology companies in environmental governance is increasingly important because they can implement innovative, high-tech solutions at a global scale, said the IFAW China director, adding that environmental initiatives form a foundation for sustainable and successful business operations.

This past year, Baidu partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to optimize search results about endangered species. Meanwhile, Baidu has cleaned up more than 260,000 damaging pieces of online information related to wildlife and blocked information promoting the illegal wildlife trade 1.4 million times. Moving forward, Baidu will continue to ensure that its technology is a force for safeguarding biodiversity.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. is a leading search engine, knowledge and information centered Internet platform and AI company. The Company’s mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu’s ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BIDU”. Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

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Source: Baidu, Inc.

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Hong Kong stock trading feature added to TradeUP’s web platform

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NEW YORK, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TradeUP, the fintech-powered commission-free trading platform, announced today that it is offering Hong Kong stock trading on its web platform. U.S. investors can now gain exposure to one of the world’s most dynamic economies not only on their phones, but from any browser.

TradeUP launched the Hong Kong stock trading feature three weeks ago on its mobile platform, which enables users to invest in U.S. and Hong Kong stocks from an integrated account with no hidden fees or minimum deposits. This feature was well-received by customers seeking to diversify their equity portfolios and manage market volatility for long-term growth, especially since U.S. stocks have been swinging wildly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Diversification may help to reduce volatility. Some may suggest that risks associated with investing only in domestic stocks may be very similar to foreign securities due to the growing integration of different capital markets. However, a large number of studies still argue – because economic conditions may vary among countries, thereby implying an imperfect correlation between stock markets of different countries – the benefits of international diversification remain evident.

Ryan Song, director of TradeUP, said, “TradeUP aims to offer investors a channel where they can easily extend to a wider investment horizon and take advantage of opportunities beyond geographical borders at a lower cost.”

TradeUP has been upgrading its web-based platform to help users make more intuitive and efficient trading decisions. That includes features such as the heatmap where users are able to clearly view the market data at-a-glance with a self-explanatory visual colormap. TradeUP’s heatmap displays symbols in color-coded blocks, where shades of red signify a downward stock price movement and shades of green show an increase in the stock price. The size of each block is relative to the company’s market cap. TradeUP provides heatmaps of different time cycles ranging from one day to one year.

“Heatmaps convert numerical data into easy-to-read graphs, allowing users to easily identify the performance of stocks according to their colors. Stocks are also organized by sectors, which gives users a snapshot of buying or selling sentiment of that particular market segment. This can then be utilized to help users determine the trend of the overall market,” said Song. “We aim to simplify the trading experience for our clients by providing them with smarter tools. We will continue to introduce more features to our platform to provide convenience and agility.”

Currently, TradeUP has several promotions. Clients who sign up and fund a TradeUP Live Account are eligible to receive cash equivalents of stocks worth up to $1250 in total. Moreover, clients with an initial qualifying deposit of $1000 or more can receive extra cash bonuses up to $400.

For more information about the promotion please visit: https://tradeup.marsco.com/activity/market/deposit-award/#/award

Commissions Disclosure
Zero-fee or commission-free trading means $0 commission trading on self-directed individual cash or margin brokerage accounts that trade U.S. exchange-listed stocks and ETFs online. A $0.65 per contract fee applies to options trades. TradeUP also charges commission on Hong Kong stock trading. For more information, see our full pricing details: https://www.itradeup.com/pricing/commissions-us.

Brokerage services in TradeUP are offered by Marsco Investment Corporation. Download TradeUP in the Apple App Store or Google Play for free. For more information, please visit TradeUP’s website: https://www.itradeup.com/

About Marsco Investment Corporation

Marsco Investment Corporation is a registered brokerage firm at SEC (CRD:18483; SEC: 8-36754), a member of FINRA/SIPC and a member of DTC/NSCC, regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Risk Disclosure:

All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance of a security, market, or financial product does not guarantee future results. Electronic trading poses unique risk to investors. System response and access times may vary due to market conditions, system performance, and other factors. Market volatility, volume, and system availability may delay account access and trade executions. The contents of this article shall not be considered a recommendation or solicitation for the purchase or sale of securities, futures, or other investment products.

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COVID-19 Pandemic Impact: 80% Surge in Wi-Fi Upload Traffic Reaffirms Need for Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, and Wi-Fi Mesh Adoption

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ABI Research whitepaper identifies the short-and long-term impacts the global pandemic will have on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Wireless Connectivity

OYSTER BAY, New York, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — COVID-19 has had an immediate impact on Wi-Fi infrastructure, proving existing infrastructure is inadequate. Wireless networks are now facing a higher capacity with more traffic and users are finding their existing home Wi-Fi network, and the wider broadband infrastructure, is inadequate or incapable of supporting the recent 80% increase in upload traffic, states global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.

“The outbreak of COVID-19 is creating a need for flexibility that will fuel the future of connectivity,” says Andrew Zignani, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. Many users are still likely to be using outdated Wi-Fi equipment with legacy Wi-Fi standards, such as 802.11n, rather than the latest Wi-Fi 6, which has specifically been designed to deal with better provision in more crowded networks. “There will be renewed incentive for mesh Wi-Fi that can provide sufficient high-speed coverage to multiple users throughout the home,” Zignani explains. At the same time, companies will need to ensure they have the right infrastructure in place so large numbers of employees can concurrently connect to company Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Many companies may not have VPNs at all, while capacity limitations could put companies at further risk of security breaches or slow down productivity further.

“The hope, of course, is that the impact of COVID-19 will be very short lived, and that people will be able to return to work, school, and normality as swiftly as possible. In the longer term, today’s necessities could lead to an increased desire and testbed for flexible and remote working and learning in the future, while companies may shift marketing and business resources away from conference-centric approaches toward new online and virtual marketing tools, particularly as additional concerns grow over the impact of climate change via international travel,” says Zignani.

“In the longer term, it could lead to a reassessment of how many modern workplaces and working relationships are structured, reducing the impact of long commutes and travel, enabling more flexible working and remote collaboration. In order to achieve this, additional resources will need to be devoted to VPNs, secure home networking, and remote working/conferencing software,” Zignani recommends. “Alongside this, further investment will need to be made to ensure home broadband infrastructure can support high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access.” Education will need to be provided on how to optimize and get the best out of home Wi-Fi networks. Employees will need to be equipped with equipment that can support robust, efficient, and low latency Wi-Fi standards, while various organizations around the globe will need to open up additional spectrum, such as 6 Gigahertz (GHz) to ensure the capacity of Wi-Fi networks can meet a global increase in demand for video, collaborative tools, and other data-heavy traffic going forward.

However, all these longer-term transformations require a deep understanding of the need for high-speed, highly secure wireless infrastructure to and within the home. “This could lead to greater incentives being placed on rolling out high-speed fiber or last-mile networks, better awareness of the need for robust whole-home connectivity via mesh systems, and the adoption of 6 GHz Wi-Fi and the latest Wi-Fi standards. In addition, it could lead to greater home Wi-Fi security, improved cybersecurity education, and a better understanding of the need for additional Wi-Fi capacity in the years to come,” Zignani concludes.

For a clearer picture of the current and future ramifications of COVID-19 across technologies and industries, download the whitepaper Taking Stock of COVID-19: The Short- and Long-Term Ramifications on Technology and End Markets.

About ABI Research
ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research’s global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors.

ABI Research提供开创性的研究和战略指导，帮助客户了解日新月异的技术。 自1990年以来，我们已与全球数百个领先的技术品牌，尖端公司，具有远见的政府机构以及创新的贸易团体建立了合作关系。 我们帮助客户创造真实的业务成果。 

For more information about ABI Research’s services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: 

Global                                                             
 Deborah Petrara                                                           
Tel: +1.516.624.2558                                                    
pr@abiresearch.com

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