Guardforce AI Announces Two New Appointments to its Board of Directors

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2021 — Guardforce AI Co., Ltd (OTC Pink: GRDAF) ("Guardforce AI"), an integrated security solutions provider in Asia, announced today the appointment of two independent board members, John Fletcher and David Ian Viccars, to its Board of Directors, effective February 1, 2021. The two board members will also be serving on the Company’s newly established audit committee, with Mr. Fletcher being appointed as the Chair of the committee.

Mr. Fletcher brings a wealth of investment banking and finance experience to the Company. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Pluris Capital Group, Inc., a registered broker/dealer and the Chief Financial Officer at Rebus Capital Group, LLC, a financial consulting firm. With extensive experience in equity and debt financing, as well as M&A and advisory work, Mr. Fletcher has successfully completed more than 100 transactions, raising billions of dollars for numerous companies.

Mr. Fletcher has previously served as the Managing Director at Maxim Capital Group, LLC, where he was responsible for transactions associated with the global energy sector. Before that, he was a Managing Director, and co-head of Investment Banking, at Brean Capital, LLC, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s investment banking operations.

Mr. Viccars joins the board of Guardforce AI with over 20 years of senior-level experience in the security industry within the APAC region. His most recent appointment was as the lead Asia Region Security Consultant at Vinarco International, working with leading telecoms providers, oil and gas, and logistics companies such as DHL. Prior to that, he was a Director at Securitas Asia where he led the regional business expansion team in providing tailored services for global contracts. At Securitas Asia, he also led the acquisitions team working on major M&A deals throughout Asia.

Mr. Viccars’ previous experience includes the launch of Securitas Thailand, where he was a General Manager and Managing Director. Before that, Mr. Viccars was a General Manager and Managing Director at Chubb Thailand and Chubb Philippines, as well as Director of Manpower Services at Chubb Singapore. Before moving into commercial security, Mr. Viccars had a successful career in the British Army with the Royal Tank Regiment completing his service in Hong Kong where his primary role was liaising with the Government.

Terence Yap, Chairman at Guardforce AI, commented: "We are pleased to welcome both John and David as independent members of our Board. Their extensive knowledge and expertise of the finance and security industries, as well as regional insights and skills in operations and leadership will be vital to our business as we continue to grow and provide innovative solutions to our clients. John’s track-record in investment banking and David’s strong experience with security systems will be of significant importance. I look forward to working with both of them as their continued enthusiasm will help us to further develop and customize our solutions for clients across the region."

About Guardforce AI Co., Ltd.

Guardforce AI Co. Ltd. is a leading integrated security solutions provider that is trusted to protect and transport the high-value assets of public and private sector organizations. Developing and introducing innovative technologies that enhance safety and protection, Guardforce AI helps clients adopt new technologies and operate safely as the Asia Pacific business landscape evolves.

For more information, visit www.guardforcecash.co.th.

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "will" or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on reasonable assumptions we have made in light of our industry experience, perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read and consider this press release you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties (many of which are beyond our control) and assumptions, including the risks described in the reports and other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove incorrect or change, our actual operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Related Links :

http://www.guardforcecash.co.th

CHiQ Awarded Top Accolade by Canstar Blue

The brand was awarded the top-spot in Canstar Blue’s 2020 refrigeration category

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 1, 2021 — International designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and home appliances, CHiQ has been awarded the top spot in Canstar Blue’s 2020  "Most Satisfied Customer – Refrigeration" category. 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.

CHiQ AWARDED TOP ACCOLADE BY CANSTAR BLUE
CHiQ AWARDED TOP ACCOLADE BY CANSTAR BLUE

In the annual market survey conducted by Australian consumer tracker Canstar Blue, CHiQ topped the list of best refrigeration brands earning five stars in criteria categories: food freshness, design, quality of fittings, overall satisfaction and more.

David Esler, General Manager of Sales and Marketing at CHiQ says that the award is a testament to the brands leading innovation and quality at an affordable price point, adding:

"We are delighted to be recognised as number one in Customer Satisfaction and attribute this to the CHiQ methodology of creating human-centric appliances." says Esler.

CHiQ has 40 SKUs in its growing fridge and freezer portfolio including Retro Fridge, hybrid fridge-freezer models, side by sides, top and bottom mount configurations, a range of chest-freezer models and bar fridges.

CHiQ is adding to its growing catalogue of product innovation in 2021 with plans to add a selection of laundry products and computer monitors during the year.

ROG Masters Asia Pacific eSports Tournament Goes Online for 2021 Season

ASUS kicking off a region wide eSports Tournament called the ROG Masters Asia Pacific eSports Tournament which will see eSports athletes from the region compete for a grand prize of USD$10,000. The tournament kicks off in March 2021 with matches happening throughout until the finals in April 2021. Given the current global situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament will be held entirely online.

ROG Masters APAC 2021 Teaser Video | ROG

This year, the game of choice is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). The competition will involve 15 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. It’s open to enthusiasts, amateurs and professionals across the region. All you have to do is register at rogmasters.gg. Registration opens on February 8 2021.

The competition will be held in three stages over the two months. Kicking off the competition is the Country Qualifiers which will see all the registered teams face-off for a shot in the Country Finals starting on the first week of April 2021. The Country Finals will see professional teams from each country seeded into the battlefield allowing enthusiasts and amateurs to climb further up the ladder. Teams in the Country finals will then stand a chance to head to the Regional finals where they will battle it out for the grand prize.

Matches for the Country finals will be streamed on ASUS ROG’s official YouTube and Facebook pages. The Malaysian Finals will be live-streamed on 4 April 2021. The APAC Finals will be live-streamed at the end of April 2021.

Teams that rise above the rest in the Malaysian Finals will stand to win USD$800 for first place and USD$400 for second place. These prizes also include ASUS ROG Swag. Teams in the APAC finals will then be vying for the USD$10,000 grand prize. The top 3 teams will be awarded USD$10,000 for the grand prize, USD3,500 for the runner up and USD$1,500 for third place.

Get to registering fast for your chance as registrations close on 28th February 2021.

Acer’s TravelMate P4 Makes its Way to Malaysia

Acer’s TravelMate P4 is making its way to Malaysian consumers! The new offering from Acer brings the best of durability and specifications to meet the rigours of the current work from anywhere culture. Equipped with military standard toughness, the TravelMate P4 is made to accompany users where ever they may decide to work. It even comes with features to ensure that critical information is secured.

The TravelMate P4 is equipped with Intel’s 11th generation Core i3, i5 and Core i7 processors. These processors come with performance enhancements that not only make them perform better but also make them even more power-efficient. This allows users to enjoy a whopping 15-hours of battery life. If you require more power in the graphics department, there are options which include the NVIDIA GeForce MX350; otherwise, the laptop comes built-in with the Intel IRIS Xe which should be just as powerful as the MX350.

On the connectivity side of things, the TravelMate P4 comes with support for WiFi 6 (802.11ax) which allows stable, high speed connectivity for your work needs. It also supports Bluetooth 5.1. The webcam on the P4 is a standard 720p HD webcam which is complemented with Acer Purified Voice technology for all your video calling needs.

The display on the TravelMate P4 is a Full HD IPS display which should give you enough visual real estate to complete any task. It has up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.

Pricing & Availability

The Acer TravelMate P4 is available in stores now. It will set you back MYR4,999 for the version with the Intel Core i7 and MYR4,099 for the one with the Core i5.

Purchases made between 1st January to 31 March 2021 will be entitled to redeem MYR80 Touch ‘n Go eWallet or Boost eWallet credit.

Megaport Adds IT Sales Veteran Rodney Foreman to the Executive Team as Chief Revenue Officer

Rodney Foreman joins Megaport as Chief Revenue Officer after senior leadership roles at IBM Corporation, Nutanix and Cobalt Iron

BRISBANE, Australia, Feb. 1, 2021 — Megaport (ASX: MP1), a leading global Network as a Service (NaaS) provider, announced today the addition of Rodney Foreman to the executive team in the newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer. Foreman will lead Megaport’s global sales organisation and have responsibility for all revenue generating programs.

Foreman brings more than 20 years of expertise and leadership in product management, direct sales, and channel sales to Megaport. As Vice President of Worldwide Cloud Channel and Mid-Market Sales at IBM Corporation, he led a global sales team that consistently overachieved on annual revenue targets of over one billion US dollars. Most recently, Foreman was the Chief Revenue Officer of Cobalt Iron, a data protection and security SaaS provider, where he spearheaded the company’s transformation to a channel-based business. He also launched successful channel sales programs at Nutanix and Informatica.

"We are excited to bring Rodney’s deep expertise and track record in leading global sales organisations to Megaport," said Vincent English, CEO of Megaport. "With the coming launch of Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE), which will enable the hosting of Network Function Virtualization (NFV), such as SD-WAN capabilities, Megaport has never been in a better position to maximise the revenue opportunities of a tailored and robust channel programme."

"With our increasing focus on the systems integrator market as well as our excellent momentum in the data centre partner space, the timing for Rodney coming onboard could not be better," English continued. "His experience with product and managing scalable direct sales programs will help us further our capabilities with direct-to-customer sales while also creating even better customer and partner experiences."

"I am delighted to join Megaport at an exciting time for the company," Foreman said. "As an established leader and innovator in the cloud connectivity and NaaS space, Megaport has a huge opportunity to put their industry-changing solution in the hands of more customers and partners around the world. I look forward to working with our global teams to capture greater market share and advancing Megaport’s mission to transform the way businesses, data centres, systems integrators, and managed service providers build agile networks in the cloud."

Based in Austin, Texas, Foreman will report to English.

About Megaport

Megaport is a leading provider of Network as a Service (NaaS) solutions. The company’s global Software Defined Network (SDN) helps businesses rapidly connect their network to services via an easy-to-use portal or our open API. Megaport offers agile networking capabilities that reduce operating costs and increase speed to market compared to traditional networking solutions. Megaport partners with the world’s top cloud service providers, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as the largest data centre operators, systems integrators and managed service providers in the world. Megaport is an ISO/IEC 27001-certified company.

Garmin Announces the Garmin Lily, A Smartwatch for Women

Smartwatches have always been seen as gender neutral in design. However, when it comes down to it, the design and finish of any given watch can leave an impression. So far, we’ve only seen designs that versatile and are adaptable to both feminine and masculine styles. However, Garmin is paying close attention to women in it’s newest line up – the Garmin Lily.

The Garmin Lily comes with a sleek, fashion-forward design which looks to keep its users looking sharp while keeping up with their fitness goals. The smaller, 34mm smartwatch comes with a monochromatic, liquid crystal touch display with 14mm straps brings a refined sense of femininity that other smartwatches on the market are lacking. Garmin says that the Lily is inspired by the jewellery-like design of timepieces which are designed for smaller wrists. The Lily classic comes with straps made of Italian leather while the Lily Sport comes with a sweat-proof silicone band.

The Garmin Lily doesn’t skimp on the health features even in its petite form. It is capable of measure blood oxygenation, stress, hydration, sleep and heart rate continuously. It also has a Body Battery energy monitoring feature which will help users monitor their energy levels and plan activities like workouts and rest times. Being made for women, the Lily also comes equipped with software features like menstrual cycle tracking and pregnancy tracking to help women stay in tune with their body and wellness via the Garmin Connect app.

Aside from the software features, the smartwatch comes with connectivity features that we see in all smartwatches including WiFi and GPS connectivity via your smartphone. It also comes with smart notifications for you to keep focused while you’re out and about. It also boasts a 5-day battery life.

Pricing & Availability

The Garmin Lily will be available in Classic and Sports editions. The Garmin Lily Classic will be retailing for USD$249.99 (MYR1,010.60) while the Garmin Lily Sport will be retailing at USD$199.99 (MYR808.47).

Facebook News Hits the U.K., More Countries Coming

Facebook’s recent woes with misinformation surrounding not only the U.S. Elections but also the COVID-19 pandemic have led the social media platform to look for more viable ways to serve news and content. The company initially rolled out its News Tab in the U.S. back in 2019. Now, the feature is making its way to users in the United Kingdom.  The Facebook News feature filters out content based on user interest and publisher reputation.  

Facebook News allows users to access news and articles based on categories such as business, entertainment, sport, and even the top news or stories of the day. Using the feature, Facebook will provide the news digests which summarize the developments during the major events, like the COVID-19 pandemic or the U.S. Elections. In addition to aggregation, the content collated in the Facebook News Tab will be ranked based on authoritative sources and original reporting. This will help users discern credible sources before sharing.  

The introduction of Facebook News also comes in the shadow of Australia implementing legislation that will require organizations such as Facebook and Google to pay content and news companies for using their content in news feeds. Considering this, Facebook claims that they are going to paying UK news organizations for the use of their articles and cooperate with more news organizations so that users can access more information.   

To date, the news organizations involved in the partnership include The Guardian, The Economist, Channel 4 News, Daily Mail Group, and others.  The roll out in the U.K. seems to be the first in a more global roll out of the feature. Facebook mentioned that they are dealing with the publisher in France and Germany to bring the news tab features to their country. The company also announced that the features will launch in India and Brazil in the future.   

ECXX and UOB Kay Hian collaborate to offer Securitised Token Offerings

  • This collaboration brings ECXX technology platform to UOB Kay Hian’s large pool of investors in Asia.
  • ECXX’s digital platform was an early pioneer RMO offering securities in Fintech Sandbox Express approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
  • Robust and exciting pipeline of deep-tech start-ups to be marketed to the accredited investors of both parties.

SINGAPORE, Feb. 1, 2021 ECXX Global, a pioneer in operating digital asset exchange using blockchain technology, announced today that it has entered into an important collaboration with regional brokerage UOB Kay Hian to bring in deep-tech start-ups to their network and offer them the opportunity to list via Securitised Token Offerings (STOs) to raise growth capital.

Under this collaboration, both companies will facilitate tokenization projects and tap on UOB Kay Hian’s large pool of investors to market and distribute tokens to potential investors.

They will comply with regulations for token issuance and they will provide investor education and analysis on tokenization and tokens investment.

"We are excited by the opportunities arising from this collaboration with UOB Kay Hian.

They are one of the leading regional brokerage out there and we believe that we are able to address their large list of accredited investors who are interested in token investment. In addition, the synergy from this collaboration will create more opportunities for investors to tap into digital assets and the blockchain space," said Mr Branson Lee, Chief Executive Officer of ECXX.

With Singapore currently being Asia’s highest-ranking fintech city and seeing a growth of 30% of fintech funding over the past few years from 2015 to 2019[1], this collaboration presents great opportunity for UOB Kay Hian to expand their business into the fintech sector, growing their already well-established presence in the banking and finance sector.

ECXX is also able to leverage on this collaboration and accelerate the development and expansion of their fintech business.

ECXX had already previously secured admission from the Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") to the Fintech Sandbox Express under a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) regime.

This makes them an early pioneer RMO offering securities in Fintech Express Sandbox approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to be integrated with MyInfo, the one-stop Singapore government identity platform.

Mr Esmond Choo, Senior Executive Director of UOB Kay Hian, said, "The ECXX platform is designed to be very versatile and will serve the fast growing digital asset space. UOB Kay Hian is very happy to work with ECXX, a company which has a strong domain knowledge in STO offerings matched by a robust pipeline of rapid growth technology-based companies. We believe that this collaboration will allow us to leverage our respective strengths to grow our presence the fintech sector."

About ECXX

ECXX is a premier Digital Securities Exchange made in Singapore with a global reach, allowing users to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Its platform is dedicated to offer unique experiences regardless whether you are a professional or institutional trader. It is a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) offering Digital Securities In MAS Fintech Sandbox Express. ECXX is the 1st Exchange to be approved and the only private company to be onboarded for MyInfo Business.

For more information, please visit https://www.ecxx.com/

About UOB Kay Hian

UOB-Kay Hian Group is a regional financial services group headquartered in Singapore. It is a widely recognised brand in every jurisdiction in which it has operations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, London, New York and Toronto. In Singapore, it is the largest domestic broker based on the number of registered trading representatives employed. In addition to its broking agency services in equities, bonds, CFDs, DLCs, Robo, LFX and commodities, it provides high value-added services in corporate advisory and fund raising, leveraging on its wide network of corporate contacts and deep distribution capabilities to execute IPOs, secondary placements and other corporate finance and investment banking activities. Our regional distribution footprint now spans regional financial centres.

For media queries, please reach out to:

Ashley Tan
FPR
E: ashley@financialpr.com.sg
T: (+65) 6438-2990

Related Links :

https://www.ecxx.com/

Twitter Looks to Diversify with Acquisition of Revue

Twitter seems to be on a diversifying binge with the acquisition of podcasting platform, Breaker, earlier this year and now the acquisition of Dutch newsletter startup, Revue. The company looked to the acquisition of Breaker as a strategic move to help develop their Twitter Spaces feature. With their acquisition of Revue, they are looking to make the platform more interactive and profitable for content publishers. 

The acquisition of Revue doesn’t change anything when it comes to the platform. It will continue to function as an independent service and app under Twitter. However, the company will be leveraging on the know-how and experience of the Revue team to develop and enhance their social media platform when it comes to discoverability and content. To this end, Twitter has decided to expand the team further, hiring for key roles such as engineering, design, data science, and others to produce more features. The move to acquire Revue comes as a boon to Twitter as it acquires crucial insights and talent when it comes to empowering publishers on the social platform. 

With this move, the company looks to increase the exposure of the content publishers to a more wide-reaching network and global audience. In addition, the Revue acquisition will allow Twitter to enable a more interactive relationship between publishers and their audiences. As Twitter grows into a channel for publishers to build their audiences, the company is also looking to provide users with more creative and meaningful content.  

Beeper Brings Together Your Chat Apps Under One Roof

Nowadays, most of us use a smartphone to communicate. One of the ways we do this is via communication apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger, Skype, among others. Most of the time, these apps are free of charge and come with features that make communicating easier. However, we are at a point where there are way too many apps offering users different kinds of communication styles and experiences. This had led to a conundrum where users have become overwhelmed by messages leading to some messages being missed or overlook. Seeing that reality, Eric Migicovsky, the founder of the now Fitbit-owned Pebble, has unveiled a new, universal communication app, Beeper, which unify up to 15 chat networks.   

Source: beeperhq.com

Beeper brings all the widely used chat applications under one roof. This allows users to not only be on multiple platforms at the same time, but also have one screen to rule them all. It offers users the option to reply messages in a fast and convenient way while being platform agnostic. The new app supports 15 chat networks including Apple’s iMessage. Beeper is available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux.  

Users can enjoy all the features offered by their multiple apps such as unified search, snooze, and archiving messages on Beeper. However, supporting Apple’s iMessage is a little trickier. To allow Android, Windows, and Linux users to use Apple’s service on Beeper, the Migicovsky and his team had to find a workaround. This involves using Apple’s own devices for some digital trickery. The company is using an always on Apple device as a bridge to enable iMessage on Beeper. If you don’t have an Apple device to use as this bridge, the company will send the user a jailbroken iPhone with the Beeper app installed; otherwise, it’s as simple as downloading the app on your Mac or iPhone to enable the service. 

Source: beeperhq.com

The platform is built on an open-source platform called Matrix. The platform is run as a non-profit by the Matrix.org Foundation like Mozilla. It offers a set of APIs and SDKs for developing and running chat platforms. It enables decentralized, secure communication on these platforms with end-to-end encryption. This also means that larger adopters of Beeper have the option to run the application on their own servers for additional security and peace of mind.  

Source: beeperhq.com

It’s pretty hard to imagine that Beeper would be available for free given the elaborate lengths the creators have taken to enable all the services. For those interested in using Beeper, it come with a monthly subscription fee of USD$10 (MYR40.43) for the app. If you need the jail-broken iPhone the fee is not included in the subscription. 

Beeper is hardly the first app on the market that aggregates chat platforms into a single app. There are apps such as Franz and Rambox which are available on the internet without the support for iMessage. That said, Beeper holds much promise when it comes to having literally all your messaging platforms under one roof.  There will be more chat networks for users to enjoy soon with night mode coming in the next version.