BEIJING, Dec. 11, 2021 — Pintec Technology Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: PT) ("PINTEC" or the "Company"), a leading independent technology platform enabling financial services in China, today announced that it received notification from NASDAQ Listing Qualifications ("NASDAQ") on December 9, 2019 that it is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Listing Rules for continued listing on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange as the closing price of the Company’s ADSs have been less than US$1 over a consecutive 30-trading-day period.
In accordance with Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has a period of 180 calendar days from the date of notification, being until June 6, 2022, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price. In order to regain compliance, the Company’s ADSs must have a closing bid price of at least US$1 for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days. In the event that the Company does not regain compliance during the first notice period of 180 calendar days, or by June 6, 2022, the Company may be eligible for additional time to regain compliance or may face delisting from the exchange.
The Company is currently in compliance with all other NASDAQ continued listing standards. The NASDAQ notification does not affect the Company’s business operations or its Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this announcement, as well as PINTEC’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. PINTEC may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Such statements are based upon management’s current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company’s limited operating history, regulatory uncertainties relating to the markets and industries where the Company operates, and the need to further diversify its financial partners, the Company’s reliance on a limited number of business partners, the impact of current or future PRC laws or regulations on wealth management financial products, and the Company’s ability to meet the standards necessary to maintain the listing of its ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Market, including its ability to cure any non-compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing criteria.Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
About PINTEC
PINTEC is a leading independent technology platform enabling financial services in China. By connecting business and financial partners on its open platform, PINTEC enables them to provide financial services to end users efficiently and effectively. The Company offers its partners a full suite of customized solutions, ranging from digital retail lending, digital business lending, robotic process automation, to wealth management and insurance products. Leveraging its scalable and reliable technology infrastructure, PINTEC serves a wide range of industry verticals covering online travel, e-commerce, telecommunications, online education, SaaS platforms, financial technology, internet search, and online classifieds and listings, as well as various types of financial partners including banks, brokers, insurance companies, investment funds and trusts, consumer finance companies and other similar institutions. For more information, please visit ir.pintec.com.
PARIS, Dec. 11, 2021 — The idea of buying an artwork collectively goes back a long way and has been entertained in various schemes and formats. But the problem of how to resell your ‘shares’ was always a complicated obstacle.
However, according to Artprice, this problem has finally found a solution with NFTs. Anonymous artist Pak put "mass units" up for sale on Nifty Gateway for 48 hours. The final work, titled The Merge, is made up of 266,445 "units" that can be sold separately and instantly on the blockchain.
Invader – Rubik Mona Lisa (2005), sold for $520,000 by Artcurial on February 23, 2020
thierry Ehrmann, CEO and Founder of Artmarket.com and its Artprice department: "
Blockchain and NFTs have at last made it possible to design properly effective forms of securitization on the art market. Non-fungible tokens open up endless possibilities for the acquisition of shares in a work, as Pak has demonstrated with this extraordinary sale. This represents a veritable paradigm shift for the art market".
28,000 collectors
From now on, the unknown factor is no longer the sale price (fixed in advance) but rather the number of units purchased. Moreover, Pak and Nifty Gateway developed a whole strategy to boost demand during the 48 hours that the sale lasted:
initial price of $299 for loyal collectors of Pak and $400 for new entrants
increasing price by $25 every six hours
for 10 units purchased an eleventh is free; for 1,000 units purchased 300 more are free
a continuous real-time ranking of the best buyers (under pseudonyms)
the work Alpha Mass offered to the largest buyer
In total, 266,445 "mass units" were purchased for $91.8 million by 29,000 different buyers. This makes an average price of $316 per unit and an average of 9 units acquired per buyer. According to Artprice by Artmarket, the result is a genuine ‘community’ that the artist has brought together to create a gigantic and dematerialized work, in which everyone is free to resell their shares at any time.
Typically, works of art are auctioned off as one-offs rather than as a series. Jeff Koons’Rabbit sculpture (1986) made Koons the most expensive living artist in 2019 when it sold for $91.12 million.
One or more works?
In April 2021, Pak organized a sale with Sotheby’s called The Fungible Collection. For three days, for only 15 minutes each day, anyone could acquire "cubes" at a fixed price:
1st day: 19,737 cubes sold at $500 = $9,868,500
2nd day: 3,268 cubes sold at $1,000 = $3,268,000
3rd day: 593 cubes sold at $1,500 = $718,500
While the cubes in each buyer’s wallet were linked, the 23,598 cubes did not make a total work per se: each purchaser acquired his own set of cubes with an average purchase price of $587. Similarly, Beeple’s The first 5,000 days (sold at Christie’s in March 2021 for $ 69.4 million), is theoretically made up of 5,000 full works, the average price of which is therefore around $14,000.
By way of comparison, the sale of the Macklowe Collection on 15 November 2021 at Sotheby’s New York raised $676 million from 35 works; that’s an average value of $19.3 million per lot. The comparison doesn’t make a lot of sense except from the point of view of the homogeneity of the works and their securitization. Imagine you’d been given the opportunity of acquiring a share in Mark Rothko’s No. 7 (which entered the Macklowe Collection in 1987) for $500. After its sale for $82.5 million, you would own a 165,000th part of the painting.
However, Pak’s approach is the opposite since the work, The Merge, did not yet exist at the time of the sale. No-one knew what it was going to look like. By buying a part of this unknown work, each collector contributes to it. Encouraged by a low starting price but also encouraged to acquire the largest number of units in order to receive a reward, The Merge is a game that brings together technology buffs, cryptocurrency and NFT devotees and art enthusiasts increasingly fascinated by this universe.
Artists have now moved into the primary position around which the art market revolves.
According to Artmarket.com, NFTs represent a genuine grassroots movement that has created its own ecosystem, with a virtuous economy and exponential growth potential.
Indeed, the turnover generated by NFTs so far this year (to 9 December 2021) – as measured by ERC 721 and ERC 1155 Ethereum smart contracts relating to the art market and collections – is 26.9 billion dollars (source Chainalysis).
Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann. Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987.
Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures, its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than 770,000 artists.
Artprice by Artmarket, the world leader in information on the art market, has set itself the ambition through its Global Standardized Marketplace to be the world’s leading Fine Art NFT platform.
Artprice Images® allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians.
Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 5.4 million (‘members log in’+social media) users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace® to buy and sell artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article L 321.3 of France’s Commercial Code).
Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label "Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art.
WUXI, China, Dec. 10, 2021 — On December 8th, the 10th Wuxi International Sister Cities Forum and 2021 Wuxi International Industrial Cooperation Conference was held in Yixing, known as the Capital of Ceramics.
The 10th Wuxi International Sister Cities Forum
Nearly 100 guests, including ambassadors, consuls, and representatives of chambers of commerce from nearly 30 countries on five continents, gathered together to explore new areas of exchange and cooperation and make new friends in the field of business around the new theme of "industrial cooperation", according to Foreign Affairs Office of Wuxi.
Zhao Jianjun, Acting Mayor of Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, said that Wuxi sincerely hopes to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the people of sister cities in broader fields and at a higher starting point. "We will strengthen the alignment of policies, industries, and projects, promote the upgrading of two-way economic, trade and investment cooperation, and will tap into complementary advantages and achieve win-win cooperation." Focusing on industrial development, scientific and technological innovation, green low-carbon, urban construction, and other areas, the event intends to explore new models of capital, technology, and talent cooperation.
At the conference, the "Closer Cooperation, Forever Friendship" international industrial cooperation platform and the "Sino-Dutch Big Data Industrial Platform" were officially launched, helping Wuxi to further deepen its global industrial cooperation. The international cooperation projects of various cities (counties) and districts were unveiled at the conference one by one, covering 14 countries and regions around the world, including people-to-people exchanges, personnel training, artificial intelligence, green environmental protection, and other fields. It shows the sufficient strength and fruitful results of Wuxi’s implementation of the cooperation plan for international exchanges.
The conference played a series of videos showing achievements of the international sister city industrial cooperation projects, which demonstrates the great charm of "Humanistic Wuxi", "Intelligent Wuxi", "Open Wuxi" and "Innovative Wuxi" from four aspects: people-to-people connection, industrial cooperation, platform interconnection and resource sharing.
The project "See Sister Cities in the Cloud" was also launched at the conference, and promo videos from 24 countries and 29 international sister cities will be displayed on outdoor screens such as airport and Nanchang Street, as well as subway, bus and other mobile terminals, so that citizens can have an "international trip" without leaving home at any time.
The smartphone market’s mid-range segment has been growing rapidly. Within the past year, we’ve seen more than 50 devices in the segment from big names alone. However, with many choosing to iterate rapidly with minimal updates, we’re looking at a segment that is quickly becoming overly saturated with choice but not much substance.
OPPO is one of the biggest contributors to the mid-range. However, it’s been hit and miss when it comes to their devices. In fact, just a few months ago, we reviewed the A74. Now, we’re looking at another mid-range offering from OPPO – the A95. Is OPPO hitting the correct notes when it comes to the OPPO A95? Is it their must-have mid-range hero? We’re looking to answer those questions in our in-depth review.
Design
The design on the OPPO A95 is – for lack of any other term – uninspired. The design is similar, if not the same, as all the mid-range smartphones we’ve seen from OPPO this year. To be honest, OPPO isn’t the only one guilty of being uninventive and drab in their midrange lineup. It wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that if the OPPO A95 was released a little bit earlier in the year, it would have made a little more of an impression when it comes to design.
Aside from the overarching lack of inspiration, the OPPO A95 does come with a design that does look nice. It’s also available in a striking “Glowing Rainbow Silver”. The iridescent colour is one that pops and changes colour depending on the lighting and angle you look at the phone. You can see the difference in our hands-on video. It’s also one of the only highlights when it comes to the design of the phone.
Barring that, the phone comes with a camera hump that we’ve come to expect from nearly every smartphone this year. The large, black rectangular hump is the only design accent on the back of the phone; without it, the smartphone has a plain, uninteresting back. The metal frame also outlines the phone’s silhouette.
However, we applaud OPPO for sticking to a more ergonomic design. The back of the OPPO A95 tapers into its metallic bezel making it easier to use in one hand. The slight taper makes all the difference when it comes to holding the phone and even wrestling it from a tight pocket. But that’s about it when it comes to the design of the midranger.
Hardware
OPPO is trying to supercharge the A95 when it comes to hardware. They seem to be focusing on raw power. The total package may seem very basic and uninteresting, however, with OPPO’s RAM expansion, it can take on some of the better specc’d mid-range smartphones out there. Of course, as always, the main focus when it comes to hardware for OPPO is the smartphone’s camera. It’s no surprise that OPPO has kitted the A95 with high-resolution sensors.
The OPPO A95 comes with ColorOS 11.1 – one of the latest and greatest from OPPO. It’s not running on Android 12. However, with OPPO’s recent commitment to Android updates, we won’t be surprised if it gets the update in the coming weeks.
That said, the interface brings what OPPO has become known for – customizability and self-expression. While the Android 12 does take self-expression and customisability to a whole new level, OPPO’s ColorOS has a level of customizability that made OPPO devices different from the get-go. OPPO has cultivated a community of developers and users that have thrived with its customizability ecosystem. There are few other companies that allow the level of customizability or the variety that comes with ColorOS.
Like OPPO flagships, the OPPO A95 comes with a highly customizable interface – everything from icons to fonts can be customised natively. The theming ecosystem gives a plethora of options. If you can find one that is just right for you, you can even mix and match to get the style you really want.
Navigation on the A95 is also seamless. Users can choose between gesture navigation or the traditional three buttons. This allows you to choose the style you’re most comfortable with. The same goes for choosing between having an app drawer or just having multiple home screens. OPPO has also baked in options for scaling icons and font size that we don’t see in many other manufactures. Each OPPO device can have a totally different experience thanks to this.
Overall, the tweaks that come with ColorOS atop Android allow you to have the experience you want when it comes to your smartphone. OPPO’s features have been thoughtfully updated to ensure it doesn’t take away from the overall experience. In fact, it’s one of the most fluid interfaces we’ve had the chance of reviewing to date.
Performance
As mentioned in the hardware section, the OPPO A95 comes with a sharp focus on getting the most out of the hardware it has. While it’s not the greatest and latest from chip manufacturers, OPPO’s optimisations have allowed the smartphone to contend with some of the best performers out there. However, the smartphone isn’t without its flaws – particularly when it comes to a few software hiccups which can be addressed with an update. Hardware performance is – of course – limited to the hardware design but OPPO is inching towards eking every drop of performance from the hardware it has with its software.
Multitasking & Productivity
Multitasking has become a must for any “smart” device out there. We expect to be able to use more than 1 app and get more things done in a shorter amount of time. That said, the OPPO A95 tries to be a multitasking king but is let down by software issues and even limitations in RAM.
During our review period, we were able to use apps like Google Keep, Gmail, Spark Email and Microsoft Office 365 in tandem with each other. Getting simple tasks like word processing, emails and even excel sheets done on the A95 was snappy and seamless.
However, the phone seemed to struggle with more complex apps like video and photo editors. While it didn’t come to a halt, the phone did slow down – using these apps in split-screen was a task in itself as it would bog the A95 down. Then again, we don’t usually do this when we’re editing. This could have been due to the limitations on the RAM, but we expected a little bit more from the RAM expansion that OPPO has been touting. Some native apps also had issues with multitasking.
Aside from the performance issues – which we are certain OPPO can address in an update – the OPPO A95 is packed with features that allow it to multitask with ease. OPPO has simplified a lot of the multitasking in ColorOS. You can drag notifications to get a PIP window for you to respond to messages or urgent emails. A simple swipe and hold up brings up the multitasking view or swipe and hold back to jump to the previous app. The latter needs to be activated in the settings manually.
Call Quality & Connectivity
The OPPO A95 doesn’t’ come with 5G connectivity. But to be honest, you won’t be needing or using 5G anytime soon – in the Malaysian context at least. While it would have added an additional layer of futureproofing, it’s not a game-changer or deal-breaker.
The smartphone does very well when it comes to connectivity. Speeds on 4G LTE were pretty fast. In fact, we were getting anywhere between 2 to 4 Mbps download speeds. The A95 even outclasses some of the older flagships like the Galaxy Note10+ when it came to 4G reception. In certain areas where the former had 3 bars of connectivity, the A95 has 4 to 5 bars. This was a welcomed surprise as we’ve rarely seen network performance like this from mid-range smartphones.
When it comes to call quality, the smartphone didn’t have much to make up for either. Most of the time, people on the other side of the call could hear me loud and clear. However, when it came to slightly more noisy areas, the microphone struggled with noise suppression and even voice pick up. It could have been a little irritating if the call was urgent. Aside from that, the audio on the earpiece was consistent and clear. It could be a little tinny but nothing jarring. People on the other end could hear us well – when pick up wasn’t an issue.
Gaming
Gaming on the A95 was pretty enjoyable. It’s also one of the things that baffled me when it came to performance. The A95 was better able to handle heavy games like Genshin Impact and Shadow Fight than it could with multitasking. We’ll just have to chalk this up to OPPO’s gaming optimisations in Game mode.
That said, the smartphone was able to handle pretty long bouts of gaming. I was easily gaming on games like Genshin Impact and Shadow Fight for an hour. While the games weren’t setting on maximum settings, the graphics were good enough not to take away from the gaming experience. Of course, the audio was pretty solid too for a mid-range smartphone. Visuals were relatively crisp with not too many bouts of lag and screen tearing during gameplay. The only times when there was slight screen tearing or lag was in more graphically intense situations. The phone was also notably warmer during these instances and during prolonged sessions.
Battery Life
If there’s one thing we can rely on when it comes to OPPO, it’s battery life. Their track record of squeezing every ounce of battery life from their devices has been commendable so far. It’s no different when it comes to the A95. The smartphone was able to last about 7 hours on a single charge when used intensively and more than 10 hours when used normally. In fact, I went about a day (~20 hours) on a single charge when it was used only for texting and calls with light Sudoku in between.
Display
The OPPO A95 comes with an AMOLED display and it’s all the better for it. The display is vibrant and has pretty good colour accuracy depending on the mode that you set it on. For most of our review period, we had the display calibration set on Vivid.
In vivid mode, reds and yellows were more brilliant. The colour reproduction seemed a little more pleasant and realistic on this mode. On Gentle mode, the colours were less saturated and felt a little washed out. That said, it was a little more realistic as well. In either mode, the display had deep blacks which we’ve come to expect on an OLED panel.
That said, the display was pretty good when it came to watching videos. The colour of the videos was vibrant and the screen size was immersive. Watching an episode of Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) on the go was enjoyable. The only nitpick that we have with experience is the speakers would tear when there were explosions. However, this was easily remedied with a pair of Bluetooth earphones.
Cameras
Being an OPPO smartphone, it comes as no surprise that the main focus of the smartphone is its camera. The OPPO A95 comes with a 48-megapixel main sensor complemented with a 2-megapixel macro and 2-megapixel depth sensor. The combination of the three sensors allows the smartphone to have enough flexibility when it comes to shooting modes.
Unlike the A74 we reviewed previously, the OPPO A95 cameras perform better. The resulting photos seem to be better in both resolution and detail. The main sensor produced pretty commendable photos when in a well-lit situation. The resulting photos had detail and remained relatively clear even when zoomed in. However, in low light situations, the camera struggled to perform. Night mode helped with getting more detail but there is only so much that can be done when it comes to software. The front camera was more of the same. The camera performed relatively well for its class. Selfies in bright situations were impeccable. However, low light selfies struggled with details and were grainy.
That said, the A95 comes with some of OPPO’s better AI camera features including their Portrait mode. The smartphone has nearly the full complement of AI features that we see in OPPO flagships and that’s the main boon of the smartphone. With the AI features, we were able to get some pretty decent photos, some were even Instagram worthy without the need to edit.
Nevertheless, OPPO does need to improve the implementation of its hallmarks when it comes to its mid-range and entry-level smartphones. There seems to be a gap between the photos flagships like the Find X3 Pro are able to produce versus the photos from phones the A95. With the focus of competitors turning to the mid-range the company will need to push harder to differentiate its offerings further and their camera technology has always been a step ahead of the game.
OPPO’s Best Offering for Mid-range with a Room for Improvement
OPPO’s entry-level and mid-range smartphones continue to be hit or miss with the OPPO A95 and that’s a problem in our books. The company has been able to differentiate itself with camera technology and approaches that were fresh and exciting in the past. However, while that may be the case for its flagships, their midrange is still starved for that X-factor that makes it a must buy.
The OPPO A95 is by no means a bad smartphone. In fact, we wouldn’t hesitate to say it’s one of the best mid-range smartphones out there but it suffers from being lost in the crowd. While it comes with top-notch performance, it also suffers from a lack of identity and drowns into the crowd. Unlike some of its competitors which have brought flagship features to a more affordable price range, the OPPO A95 iterates on a formula we’ve seen before. It has all the makings of a genuinely great mid-range offering which is held back by the lack of software features that make it an immediate go-to.
The smartphone is a step in the right direction when it comes to performance. Being able to handle multitasking and even some heavy gaming without choking is impressive. However, we know OPPO is more capable when it comes to cameras. They’ve proven it time and time again with their flagships and while we would like to say this is the one, OPPO needs to look at how they can bolster their mid-range and entry offerings with the same.
Integration offers media buyers and planners automated campaign across IAS Signal and Mediaocean Prisma buyer workflow
MUMBAI, India, Dec. 10, 2021 — Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS), a global leader in digital media quality, today announced an advanced integration with Mediaocean, providing a new level of automated campaign management. Now media buyers and planners can seamlessly set up, launch, and adjust their digital campaigns within Mediaocean buyer workflow (Prisma) and automatically populate this information within IAS Signal. Initially available to select advertisers, this enhanced integration will launch globally in early 2022.
"Since launching IAS Signal, we’ve accelerated our product innovation and expanded critical partnerships, including our work with Mediaocean, to give advertisers the latest tools to manage digital media quality," said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. "Speed is critical in our business, and this integration will be transformational for advertisers looking to launch campaigns faster while aligning to media quality standards."
Now advertisers working with both IAS and Mediaocean can quickly and easily activate their campaigns, all in one place. Within the Mediaocean platform, advertisers can:
Use automatic campaign creation tools to enter information just once, launch faster, and focus more time on optimization.
Maintain and easily adjust campaign settings, such as media partners or run dates, while in-flight to appear in both platforms.
Reduce time spent on campaign launch and billing from days to minutes.
"We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with IAS, making it even easier for our joint customers to manage their campaigns," said Ben Kartzman, COO, Mediaocean. "With this integration, we’re continuing to help advertisers control their marketing investments and optimize business outcomes."
With more than $200 billion in annualized media spend managed through Mediaocean, the integration with IAS Signal means advertisers can manage their investments more efficiently.
About Integral Ad Science
Integral Ad Science (IAS) is a global leader in digital media quality. IAS makes every impression count, ensuring that ads are viewable by real people, in safe and suitable environments, activating contextual targeting, and driving supply path optimization. Our mission is to be the global benchmark for trust and transparency in digital media quality for the world’s leading brands, publishers, and platforms. We do this through data-driven technologies with actionable real-time signals and insight. Founded in 2009, IAS works with thousands of top advertisers and premium publishers worldwide. For more information, visit integralads.com.
New App Allows Employees to Communicate Content Created in X2O Platform Through Microsoft Teams
MONTRÉAL, Dec. 10, 2021 — X2O Media, a global provider of unified visual communications solutions, today announced the launch of X2O for Microsoft Teams, a new application designed to connect employees by supporting effective internal communications. X2O for Microsoft Teams offers a consistent and dynamic way of sharing business information with employees through various channels within X2O Media’s core visual communications software, X2O Platform. X2O Media, part of the STRATACACHE family of technology companies, provides turnkey digital workplace solutions that enable employees to collaborate for better decision making.
The X2O for Microsoft Teams application is quick and easy to install; it allows for multiple channels of content to be created and communicated directly to all employees on the devices they use the most. Employees can visualize real-time data from multiple internal and external sources. As the hybrid workplace continues to evolve, the app gives employees the freedom and flexibility to access their information anywhere, anytime across multiple devices and locations.
"Organizations are planning their recovery strategies, everyone is rethinking how and where work gets done, and remote work will remain a cornerstone of the post-pandemic world. More than ever, there is a need for easy-to-use tools to support a seamless flow and sharing of information regardless of whether the employee is working in the office, at home or on the road. X2O Media is focused on helping organizations to transition to a hybrid workplace and will continue to develop additional features for the X2O for Microsoft Teams app," said Mansour Brek, President of X2O Media.
Microsoft Teams is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The X2O app is not affiliated or otherwise connected to Microsoft Corporation. For more information about the new X2O for Microsoft Teams application click here.
About X2O Media X2O Media provides unified visual communication and collaboration solutions for higher education and corporations across the globe. The award-winning X2O Platform represents a new category of communication tools that improves how enterprises and learning institutions engage with their employees and students. X2O OneRoom collaboration technology has been installed worldwide at many learning institutions and corporations. X2O Media is part of the STRATACACHE family of digital media/marketing technology companies and is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. For information, contact X2O Media at sales@x2omedia.com and follow X2O Media updates on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About STRATACACHE STRATACACHE provides scalable customer experiences, empowering retailers to learn deeply about their customers’ shopping preferences and behaviors, allowing for personalized shopper interaction. Our solutions deliver consumer activation at the point-of-decision, generating new sales opportunities and enhanced retail profitability. With 3.3 million+ software activations globally, we power the biggest digital networks for the world’s largest brands. Across the STRATACACHE family of complementary digital media/ad tech solution companies, we have the technology, expertise and track record to bring retail innovation that delivers results. Learn more about the STRATACACHE family at www.stratacache.com on LinkedIn and Twitter.
vivo took centre stage to announce their new midrange offering the vivo V23e 5G. The new smartphone is the first in the V23 lineup to make its debut. It brings along an interesting combination of specifications focused on photography and affordability.
The vivo V23e 5G comes equipped with the octa-core Mediatek Dimensity 810 system on a chip (SoC) which supports 5G connectivity. The regular V23 comes with a Mediatek Helio P69. This is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. You can also expand the amount of storage with a microSD card however, this would entail sacrificing dual 5G standby. On the display side of things, the vivo V23e comes with a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display.
Like other vivo smartphones, the V23e’s hallmark feature is the camera setup. It comes with a triple camera setup on the back and a single selfie camera on the front. The main triple camera setup has a 50-megapixel main sensor complemented by an 8-megapixel ultra-wide and 2-megapixel macro sensor. The main attraction comes in the form of the front-facing camera which is a 44-megapixel sensor. Of course, vivo’s many software enhancements such as night shot and portrait selfie. The triple camera setup on the regular V23e is a 64-megapixel main sensor complemented by an 8-megapixel ultra-wide and 2-megapixel macro sensor.
Both come with support for Bluetooth and WiFi 5 connectivity. They are powered by a 4,050mAh battery with support for 44W fast charging.
Pricing & Availability
The vivo V23e 5G will be available in Sunshine Coast and Midnight Shadow. It will be priced at MYR1,599.
The regular V23e will be priced at MYR1,399 and will be available in Black and Aurora.
The devices are now available for pre-order until 17th December 2021. Pre-orders are entitled to freebies worth MYR559 for the V23e 5G and MYR459 for the regular V23e. Pre-orders of the V23e 5G made a vivo Concept Stores will be entitled to a Bluetooth Speaker LED Alarm clock, Tumbler, a 1-month subscription to Viu, 1 year extended warranty and 1 year screen crack protection worth MYR559. The regular V23 will be entitled to a backpack, 1 year extended warranty and 1-year screen crack protection worth MYR459.
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 9, 2021 — AI FOR PET will participate in ‘CES(Consumer Electronics Show)’, the world’s largest technology exhibition held in Las Vegas from Jan. 5 (THU) to Jan. 8 (SAT) 2022.
AI FOR PET has developed an AI technology-based total pet healthcare app service, TTcare. Users only need their mobile phone and the TTcare app to take care of their pets’ health. When a user takes a picture of their pet’s eyes or any part of their body with a smartphone, the artificial intelligence will inform them whether or not there are any potential eye or skin disease-related symptoms. In addition to diagnostic features, there is weight management, behavior analysis, and other features. These features allow users to manage their pet based on breed, age and disease history.
TTcare will be introduced at CES
AI FOR PET began developing TTcare based on a research study "CNN-based diagnosis models for canine ulcerative keratitis" published in the 2019 Scientific Report journal. By learning major body parts such as the eyes, ears, feet and other parts of pets, the algorithm automatically detects and optimizes the areas to analyze. It crops them and determines whether they may have a potential disease using various neural network algorithm-based ensemble models.
TTcare is the first smartphone application in the world to determine whether a disease exists by using pictures of pets’ eyes or skin. TTcare is also the first product to be officially approved by the Korean government for "Artificial Intelligence-based medical device software for animals" rather than a general pet service. By being selected as a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree, TTcare’s technology and innovation has received validation.
TTcare was selected as a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree
TTcare prevents disease deterioration and health complications in pets, thus reducing medical expenses due to unnecessary hospital visits. It will also recognize and manage neglected diseases in advance as most pet owners do not have an expertise in pet diseases.
The CES Euna Huh said, "Our app supports the identification of diseases and periodic health care from the comfort of the user’s home, so that pets and pet owners can live a healthy life together for a long time."
AI FOR PET launched TTcare in late 2020 in Korea and plans to launch an English service in the first half of 2022 to service pet parents around the world.
Google’s year in search has always provided a unique insight into the state of mind of countries and even the world. Topics and trends are indicative of the time and age we live in. In fact, if there was an indicator on the state of mind of the world during the past two years it would have been the searches that were done throughout the period.
Malaysia has had a unique experience during the pandemic having cycled through three governments in the short period and dealing with the yo-yoing policies which followed. However, it seems like politics are no longer top of mind for the nation as the country’s top searches indicate that the people are looking for aid and relief in the wake of the pandemic. The top search for the year – iSinar – was a relief measure by the government to allow people to withdraw monies in their Employee Provident Fund (EFP/KWSP) to be used. Other related searches were i-Citra and Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat – all efforts to provide some monetary relief.
Source: Google
That said, the stresses of the pandemic are still not gone. Malaysia’s year in search also highlighted that Malaysians still show concern surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the concern did not surround information on the virus itself, instead, it would seem to indicate a nation yearning to return to some semblance of normalcy. Google search terms like “COVID Vaccine Near Me” and “CIMS 3.0” are indicative that Malaysians are trying to put the pandemic behind them and return to making ends meet. It would seem like Malaysia is moving towards being – as popular Doctor Youtuber, Dr Mikhail Varshavski, put it – “Alert and not anxious” when it comes to dealing with the pandemic.
The Year in Search was all about the pandemic though. Malaysians were also googling for things like “Popcat” and “Euro 2021”. The PopCat phenomenon is one that provided some much-needed relief from the stresses of working from home and dealing with day to day realities as nations suddenly found themselves uniting to rank top in the leaderboard. Of course, the competition didn’t end there. With many sporting events resuming, we saw Malaysians search, not only for leagues and competitions but also athletes. National athletes took centre stage when the Olympics and other international competitions were underway. Athletes like national shuttles, Lee Zii Jia and Aaron Chia, national track cyclist, Azizulhasni Awang and national gymnast Farah Ann found themselves at the top. International footballer, Christian Eriksen was also among the top athletes searched for.
In addition, the Year of Search on Google also saw Netflix’s popular drama – Squid Game – become one of the most searched terms. The series became an international sensation following its debut and spawned, not only a cult following but also popular social media challenges. Keeping a close second was another K-Drama: True Beauty while Marvel’s The Eternals rounded up the top 3.
All in all, Malaysia’s year in search shows a country that is longing for a return to normalcy. This comes as no surprise as the country has been in prolonged lockdowns and people haven’t seen loved ones in more than 2 years. However, it also highlights the fatigue and burnout of the country when it comes to politics and the pandemic. More importantly, it also shows the many brief but wonderful glimpses of a country that is resilient in searching for a silver lining and in its solidarity.
Sunway Pyramid isn’t so ancient! It’s getting a greener, more connected upgrade to deal with shitty situations in their toilets. The mall is being equipped with what they call the “Internet of Toilet” allowing them to be more pre-emptive to situations that may arise in the restrooms.
The management of Sunway Pyramid is working together with Singapore-based Rigel Technology. Their partnership will see the rollout of a smart toilet system which will allow the maintenance department to better maintain the amenities for a better customer experience.
The new Internet of Things (IoT) system equips toilets in the mall with sensors that detect the state of equipment as well as the state of the toilet overall. These sensors include ones that detect garbage levels, air quality and humidity, faucet condition, soap levels and more. The data from these sensors will be fed into a user-friendly dashboard which will be monitored by maintenance supervisors. Using this data, they will be able to deploy personnel to ensure the items in the toilet are fully functional or to deal with any unpleasant situation that may arise.
The deployment of the IoT system is the latest step in Sunway Pyramid’s digitization efforts and a first in Malaysia. The system has, so far, only been deployed in Singapore. The mall implemented a ticketless parking system back in 2019 as a means of being more energy efficient and carbon neutral. This effort joins the Sunway Smart Parking system and their Customer Engagement Hub as part of a larger digitisation plan for the Mall.
