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PR Newswire

Boqii to Hold Extraordinary General Meeting on September 11, 2023

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SHANGHAI, Aug. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Boqii Holding Limited (“Boqii” or the “Company“) (NYSE: BQ), a leading pet-focused platform in China, today announced that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting (the “EGM“) on Monday, September 11, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. (China Time) / 3:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) at the offices of Building 9, No. 388, Shengrong Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, 201210.

The board of directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on August 14, 2023 (Eastern Time), as the record date (the “Record Date“) for determining the shareholders entitled to receive notice and to attend and vote at the EGM or any adjourned or postponed meeting thereof pursuant to the memorandum and articles of association of the Company currently in effect. Holders of record of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares or Class B ordinary shares at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to notice of, to attend and vote at, the EGM or any adjournment or postponement thereof. Holders of the Company’s American Depositary Shares (the “ADSs“) who wish to exercise their voting rights for the underlying Class A ordinary shares must act directly through the depositary of the Company’s ADS program, The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Depositary“), if the ADSs are held by holders on the books and records of the Depositary or indirectly through a bank, brokerage or other securities intermediary if the ADSs are held by any of them on behalf of holders. The resolutions put to the vote at the EGM will be decided by poll.

The notice of the EGM, which sets forth the resolutions to be submitted to shareholder approval at the meeting, is available on the Company’s website at http://ir.boqii.com.

The Company expects to continue implementing additional further funding options, including issuances of equity securities, in the foreseeable future, to optimize its business and seize opportunities to grow and to create greater value for shareholders.

About Boqii Holding Limited

Boqii Holding Limited (NYSE: BQ) is a leading pet-focused platform in China. We are the leading online destination for pet products and supplies in China with our broad selection of high-quality products including global leading brands, local emerging brands, and our own private label, Yoken, Mocare and D-cat, offered at competitive prices. Our online sales platforms, including Boqii Mall and our flagship stores on third-party e-commerce platforms, provide customers with convenient access to a wide selection of high-quality pet products and an engaging and personalized shopping experience. Our Boqii Community provides an informative and interactive content platform for users to share their knowledge and love for pets.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential,” “continue,” “is/are likely to” or other similar expressions. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Further information regarding such risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law. 

For investor and media inquiries, please contact: 

Boqii Holding Limited
Investor Relations
Tel: +86-21-6882-6051
Email: ir@boqii.com

DLK Advisory Limited
Tel: +852-2857-7101
Email: ir@dlkadvisory.com

PR Newswire

Why green has become the theme color for China-hosted sporting events?

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BEIJING, Aug. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on the green sporting events that China hosts:

In the blazing summer heat, a gentle breeze will greet you as you walk into the delegation service center of the Chengdu FISU Games’ Village. However, such coolness does not come from air conditioning. Architects drew experience from China’s traditional architectural design “leng xiang,” meaning “cold alley”, and designed the hall into a semi-open passage that features two wide ends and a relatively narrow corridor in the middle. Such layout channels in natural wind which accelerates ventilation and cools down the environment. This smart design could save electricity enough for up to twenty households to live a year.

At the currently ongoing Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games, there are more designs that embody the same philosophy as the cold alley. For example, in the water polo venue — the Xiangcheng Sports Center, roofs, pavements and landscaping are all designed to help gather rainfall into the underground collector, where the rainwater could be processed and reused for watering landscaping. This process can save as much as 3,000 tons of water per year. In Dong’an Lake Sports Park, a “forest” of submerged plants that are hardy and alkaline tolerant thrive at the bottom of the lake. These plants supply enough oxygen in the lake, which helps with the biodiversity in this underwater ecosystem. With better water quality and improved ecology in the lake, freshwater jellyfish, a rare animal that demands premium water bodies, were spotted in the lake.

While “green” is the theme color of these grand designs, the philosophy of low-carbon and eco-friendly are also reflected in many details: The blue and white “low-carbon magic cubes” allow people to trade in recyclable waste like empty bottles and used paper cups for “carbon credits,” which could be exchanged for gifts once a certain threshold is hit, an act that incentivizes people to lead a low-carbon life. On the bottled water provided to all the athletes and staff, a special “mark-up” area was printed on the labels, to prevent water waste resulting from people not knowing which bottles belonged to them and throwing them away.

What’s worth noting is that, the 300 or so chairs in the press release rooms of the Universiade’s Main Media Center went through a long journey — they are rented from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics MMC. This low-profile interaction of the two sporting events echoes again with the buzzwords “green” and “sustainable,” principles adhered to by China for years when hosting sporting events.

Last year, the Beijing Winter Olympics achieved 100% carbon neutrality, where all venues were powered by 100% renewable energies; during the preparation for the games, the valuable wildlife leopard cats were captured multiple times in the Alpine Skiing Center, bearing proof to the fruit of the eco-environmental protection efforts. The upcoming Asian Games will also see this green trend live on.

Hosting “green games” has become a natural undertaking for China’s event committees. Innovative technologies empower sustainable development, which guarantees the consistent application of low-carbon philosophy in day-to-day life, not just during sporting events. With sporting events as platforms, sustainable and environment-friendly facilities are in place, which encourages citizens to continue low-carbon lifestyles. A single event can spearhead a city, sometimes even a country in becoming “greener.”

As more sporting events are hosted in China under the theme of “green,” the philosophy of harmony between humanity and nature is becoming the status-quo bit by bit.

China Mosaic 
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
Why green has become the theme color for China-hosted sporting events?
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-08/04/content_98502229.htm

PR Newswire

CGTN: Chengdu Universiade unites world with sports

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BEIJING, July 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The 31st International University Sports Federation (FISU) Summer World University Games officially opened in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on Friday night, as declared by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Postponed twice due to COVID-19 concerns, the Summer Universiade is currently at the center of global attention.

The event, which runs from July 28 to August 8, has attracted around 6,500 athletes from over 113 countries and regions to participate across 18 disciplines. It is not only a sports event for young people around the world, but also an important platform for cultural exchanges.

Care for young people

President Xi, who believes that young people are “the future of our nation and of the world,” has expressed his care for them on many occasions.

“For the Party and the country, young people deserve the best protection and bear our highest expectations. They are like the young trees thriving on Earth that will eventually grow into towering trees to provide shelter for those in need,” he said at a ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Youth League of China in 2022.

When meeting the country’s county-level officials in 2015, he advised young people to avoid staying up late or becoming too stressed at work.

For many young people, Xi is like a friend from whose words they can find inspiration.

“We should educate and guide young people to view the world properly, to understand the national conditions comprehensively, and to grasp the trend of the era,” Xi said in a speech at a gathering to commemorate the centenary of the May Fourth Movement in May 2019.

“Young friends, let your youth shine even more in the sacrifice for the country, the people, the Chinese nation and humanity,” he said near the end of the speech.

Speed up building a leading sports power

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, China has attached great significance to the cause of sports.

It has pledged to become a leading sports power by 2050, according to an official outline issued in September 2019.

Noting the role of the people’s health in social development and national prosperity, Xi stressed that sport is an important way to improve people’s health, and an important method to fulfill their aspirations for a better life and promote well-rounded human development.

The successfully held Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in February and March 2022 are vivid demonstrations, during which China’s goal of involving 300 million people in ice and snow activities has come true, with people’s sense of contentment notably enhanced.

For Chengdu, sports venues for the Games will also benefit the public. As the city strives to build itself into a world-famous city of sports events, a large number of sports venues have been newly built and renovated, enabling residents to enjoy sports free of charge or at low fees.

Promote civilizational mutual learning

The Chengdu Universiade will contribute to cultivating friendship among young athletes and university students from home and abroad, promoting people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, according to a press conference about the preparations for the event in April.

The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed and expounded by Xi in 2017 at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, is China’s answer to the challenges and problems facing the world.

As the international community responded to the unprecedented public health crisis while striving to promote socioeconomic development in recent years, Xi’s vision has been widely accepted worldwide.

The ideal of the Chengdu Universiade also echoes the Global Civilization Initiative, a major public product proposed by Xi in March this year.

“Countries need to uphold the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and let cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and inclusiveness transcend any sense of superiority,” said Xi.

PR Newswire

Chasing Dreams in Tibet

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BEIJING, July 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on the dream-chasing stories of Tibetan youngsters:

Tibet is a vast but mysterious land in southwestern China. There, Tibetan youngsters are chasing their dreams.

Gesangciren comes from a herdsman family. As a child, he used to lie on the grass fields and gaze at planes flying over the sky. Back then, he only dared to imagine that one day, he himself would pilot a plane. In 2017, a policy of poverty alleviation via general aviation was carried out in Tibet, bringing new opportunities for over 20 youngsters from poor Tibetan families, including Gesangciren. From pilot training to short intercity flights, then to high-altitude long-distance flights, Gesangciren finally became one of the first batch of general aviation pilots in Tibet after repeated practice drills and rounds of screening.

One could say Gesangciren transformed his life with the help of national policy and aid projects, while Zhaxilamu, a Tibetan girl also from a herdsman family, changed her life via the internet. In Tibet, every village now has access to mobile reception. Zhaxilamu shares her daily life on short video platforms: Herding sheep, making Tibetan pastry zanba and fixing butter tea… These ordinary episodes of Tibetan life have garnered over a million followers on social media. With improved transportation and logistics in Tibet, deliveries have become more convenient, so Zhaxilamu also managed to do a great job in livestream influencing, which could help her fellow villagers market local agricultural products on the platforms. Now, she is trying to open a B&B as an additional income source for the villagers.

Danzengyixi, a cultural inheritor of traditional Tibetan Opera, is also grabbing the tide of the internet age to further promote and develop the art. It is said that he has been fond of Tibetan Opera since childhood. One time by coincidence, an opportunity came up, allowing him to learn the art from a Tibetan Opera master.

Now, Tibetan culture, with Tibetan Opera as a hallmark, has received support from the CPC and the Chinese government, and more and more young people are participating in the promotion of the art. After graduating from college in Beijing, Danzengyixi chose to go back to Tibet to further research on and promote Tibetan Opera. He compiled works, partnered with artists home and abroad, and innovated the performing art of Tibetan Opera. It is his ambition to reinvent Tibetan Opera by injecting new vitality into it.

Besides them, there is also Luobuzhandui, an English teacher who started his own business in Lhasa, hoping to open Tibetan children up to a larger world; and Cirendajie, a Tibetan teenager studying in Beijing, who received a reply to his letter from China’s Shenzhou spacecraft Taikonauts in the Tiangong space station… More stories about dreams like these are appearing every minute.

Over the past seven decades or so, absolute poverty was eradicated in Tibet; the Qinghai-Tibetan railway was completed on the Tibetan plateau, and mobile and internet reception became more accessible for ordinary people. In the new era, the CPC and the Chinese government have kept up their pace in improving public services, providing higher quality education and health care; they have made efforts to promote communication, interaction and integration among different ethnic groups, helping premium Tibetan culture gain respect while being passed on and developed. The realization of those dreams relies on the concerted efforts of the government, society and individuals. Meanwhile, it is exactly the realization of dreams that shows people the progress of modernization with Chinese characteristics in Tibet.

The vivid Tibetan life is captured in each and every Tibetan person.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Chasing Dreams in Tibet
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-07/27/content_95603830.htm

PR Newswire

Anthology Announces AI-powered Course Building Tools, New Student Success Features in Blackboard Learn

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New progress tracking, accessibility and course building tools streamline critical processes for instructors and provide key data to unlock learner success 

BOCA RATON, Fla., July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Anthology, a leading provider of education solutions that support the entire learner lifecycle, announced a host of new features, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), designed to help instructors create more engaging learning experiences more quickly and provide granular, easy-to-action insight on learners’ progress. The new capabilities – Accessibility Checker powered by Anthology Ally, Holistic Student Overview, Progress Tracking, and course building tools – are key innovations aimed at improving student success and retention and are the result of significant investment in Learn product development and the user experience.

“From the beginning, our team has been building a Learning Management System that, as part of a broader Anthology ecosystem, delivers meaningful, data-informed experiences that drive student success,” said Jim Milton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Anthology. “This announcement is the next step along that journey, with features that simplify and streamline instructor processes while connecting data from the LMS and across the institution to deliver unprecedented insight.”

Demonstrating the company’s commitment to ethical and responsible use of AI guided by Anthology’s Trustworthy AI Framework – developed in collaboration with Anthology institutions – the new course-building capabilities in Blackboard Learn are designed to provide inspiration to instructors and instructional designers as they develop their courses and allow them to create more engaging learning experiences more quickly. Seamlessly embedded into Blackboard Learn’s workflows, the tools can suggest a possible course structure aligned with its learning outcomes, generate images, suggest test questions and grading rubrics, and drive toward more authentic assessment. The capabilities are opt-in and the instructor is always in control of the content generated.

“Traditionally, the LMS has been a static environment, focused on the management of the learning process,” said JD White, Chief Product Officer at Anthology. “With these new AI-powered features, we are fundamentally changing the equation by providing an experience that can deeply inspire in the pedagogical process. It means instructors can build more engaging courses more quickly.”

In addition to the AI features, Progress Tracking delivers easy-to-action and more granular insight into how a learner is performing, engaging, and progressing in a course, empowering instructors to better understand student engagement and quickly recognise and reach out to any learner needing help. Coupled with Holistic Student Overview – a comprehensive picture of a learner’s performance – Blackboard Learn provides an unprecedented level of insight into a learner’s journey.

All institutions that use Blackboard Learn Ultra will also gain a digital content reviewing tool – Accessibility Checker powered by Anthology Ally. The tool reviews and flags course content with accessibility issues for instructors, allowing them to quickly remediate issues like missing alternative text for images.

Anthology also launched a new digital adoption solution – Anthology Adopt powered by Pendo – to provide institutions with valuable insights and enables administrators to deploy in-app messaging to guide users on features and functionality to improve their overall experience and help drive and scale adoption.

Institutions continue to choose the powerful benefits of Blackboard Learn Ultra. The number of courses taught in Learn Ultra has increased by 50 percent since June 2022 and take-up is increasing at an accelerating pace in 2023. It has never been easier to transition to Learn Ultra with new tools such as the Ultra Adoption Toolkit and bulk course conversion. The planning, change management, and conversion tools – built in partnership with Blackboard Learn institutions, their instructors, and users – together are powering the fastest, most efficient conversion process and can also be utilised by clients migrating from other LMSs.

The AI-powered tools are scheduled to enter testing environments for Blackboard Learn Ultra clients in August and planned for production in September. The features are included for all Learn clients that choose to make them available. Accessibility Checker powered by Anthology Ally, Progress Tracking, and Holistic Student Overview are now available to Learn Ultra institutions globally.

About Anthology

Anthology offers the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale for education, supporting more than 150 million users in 80 countries. With a mission to provide dynamic, data-informed experiences to the global education community through Anthology Intelligent Experiences™, we help learners, leaders and educators achieve their goals by offering over 60 SaaS products and services designed to advance learning. Discover more about how we are fulfilling our mission for education, business and government institutions at www.anthology.com.

Contact:

Erin Mitchell
Anthology
Erin.Mitchell@anthology.com 

Logo – https://techent.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/anthology-announces-ai-powered-course-building-tools-new-student-success-features-in-blackboard-learn.jpg

PR Newswire

MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.6 Brings New Video & Audio Previews

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VANCOUVER, BC, July 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — MiniTool Software Limited has just released the new MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.6, professional data recovery software for Windows users. The new version provides a new way to preview videos, audio, and pictures, and supports saving files in the preview interface. Besides, it adds some new file types under the “All RAW Files” path.

The main updates of the new version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery are as follows.

1. Brand New Preview Tool for Audio, Video, and Picture

1.1 Support for Audio & Video Preview

In MiniTool Power Data Recovery previous versions, audio & video preview are not supported. Now, in MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.6, users are allowed to preview audio and videos that are no larger than 2 GB.

Supported audio file types include: “au”, “mp3”, “wav”, “wma”, “m4b”, “aif”, “mid”, “ogg”, and “mmf”. Similarly, the audio size must be within 2 GB before it can be previewed.

Supported video file types include: “mkv”, “webm”, “mts”, “flv”, “3gp”, “mp4”, “m4a”, “avi”, “mpg”, “asf”, “wmv”, “rm”, “ram”, “rmvb”, and “mov”.

This update is friendly to free users because free users have a 1 GB free data recovery limit. Previewing data before they recover videos or audio ensures that the recovered files are the desired ones.

1.2 New Preview Tool for Picture

In addition to changes to video & audio previews, the way image files are previewed also has been improved. The new version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery speeds up picture preview. With this change, users can recover deleted photos faster.

Supported image types for preview:
“JPF”, “JPX”, “JP2”, “J2C”, “J2K”, “JPC”, “JPEG”, “JPG”, “JPE”, “BMP”, “TIFF”, “TIF”, “GIF”, “PNG”, “EMF”, “WMF”, “WEBP”.

1.3 Support for Saving Audio, Video, and Picture in the Preview Interface

It is worth mentioning that in the new MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.6, a new “Save” button is added to the audio, video, and picture preview interface. So, users can save files directly from the preview window.

Besides, in the old version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free, users need to download the previewer tool before previewing files. The new version has a new preview tool built into the software, allowing file preview without downloading any tools.

2. Added More File Types for All RAW Files

In MiniTool Power Data Recovery 11.6, more file types are supported under the “All RAW Files” path of the scanning result page. Added file types include “dwg”, “dxf”, “ico”, “mp3”, “swf”, “vob”, “mkv”, “webm”, and “webp”. This update increased the probability of deleted file recovery when the file system cannot be found.

About MiniTool

MiniTool Software Limited is a professional software research and development company dedicated to data recovery, disk management, data backup, etc. The main products include MiniTool Power Data Recovery, MiniTool Partition Wizard, MiniTool ShadowMaker, MiniTool PDF Editor, MiniTool MovieMaker, and MiniTool Video Converter.

For more information about MiniTool software, please visit its official site: https://www.minitool.com.

Source: CHENGDU SPEED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD

PR Newswire

NetEase Cloud Music and RYCE Entertainment Form Strategic Partnership

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HANGZHOU, China, July 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Cloud Music Inc. (HKEX: 9899, “NetEase Cloud Music” or the “Company”), a well-known online music platform featuring a vibrant content community, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement (the “Agreement”) with RYCE Entertainment, one of China’s leading music and entertainment companies, to further expand the Company’s sweeping music content library.

Beyond the extension of previous cooperation, NetEase Cloud Music is now able to access an expanding portfolio of RYCE Entertainment’s music catalog in China with 30-day initial launch rights to distribute new additions to the catalog under the latest terms of the Agreement. The two companies will collaborate to promote RYCE Entertainment’s prominent artists and music catalog in China through the synergies of extensive music production and distribution prowess. 

Since its founding in 2021, RYCE Entertainment has been devoted to creating and distributing critically acclaimed music to a global audience, and its music catalogue boasts works from a diverse roaster of talented artists, including Jackson Wang, Amber Liu, Tablo, PSY.P, Caelan Moriaty, Oscar Wang, AnsrJ and Renyu Zheng, among others.

As one of China’s leading online music platforms, NetEase Cloud Music is a preferred online destination for younger generations to enjoy music across a wide variety of genres from artists both at home and abroad. The platform boasts a unique music community atmosphere, highly interactive user base and impressive user stickiness. In 2022, NetEase Cloud Music hosted 189 million monthly active users who showcased vigorous average daily music listening trends and interactions with other users in the community. Together, these features underpin NetEase Cloud Music’s robust capabilities in efficiently promoting music content and enhancing the interactions between artists and their fan base.

As a forerunner in China’s online music industry, NetEase Cloud Music continues to partner with leading entertainment companies around the globe. Earlier in 2023, the Company further extended its portfolio of C-pop music and other popular genres through partnerships with other iconic production companies including Rock Records and B’in Music. With a powerful and growing portfolio of music from major labels that span a wide range of genres and geographies, NetEase Cloud Music is known for incubating independent musicians and fostering emerging musicians as it continues to grow its production capabilities and loyal Gen Z community of dedicated music fans.

About RYCE ENTERTAINMENT

RYCE is an innovative global music and entertainment company which operates in three main business sectors: music, artist management, and IP development.

Having integrated top management and production teams from across the industry, RYCE presents a strong lineup of talent, backed with vast copyright and media resources, industry access and networks. The company continues to develop creative business models to produce entertainment content that adapts to new media trends and is committed to creating a diversified and contemporary entertainment company.

About Cloud Music Inc.

Launched in 2013 by NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES; HKEX: 9999), Cloud Music Inc. (HKEX: 9899) is a well-known online music platform featuring a vibrant content community. Dedicated to providing an elevated user experience, Cloud Music Inc. provides precise, personalised recommendations, promotes user interaction and creates a strong social community. Its focus on discovering and promoting emerging musicians has made Cloud Music Inc. a destination of choice for exploring new and independent music among music enthusiasts in China. The platform has been recognised as the most popular entertainment app among China’s vibrant Generation Z community.

Please see http://ir.music.163.com/ for more information.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, estimates of financial performance, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realised in the future. Underlying these forward-looking statements are a lot of risks and uncertainties. In light of the risks and uncertainties, the inclusion of forward-looking statements in this press release should not be regarded as representations by the Board or the Company that the plans and objectives will be achieved, and investors should not place undue reliance on such statements.

Investor Enquiries:

Angela Xu
Cloud Music Inc.
music.ir@service.netease.com

Media Enquiries:

Zhang Mengqi
NetEase, Inc.
globalpr@service.netease.com

Source: NetEase, Inc.

PR Newswire

Facemoji Keyboard Launches 2023 Global State of Emoji Report

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Report reveals the classic emoji remains a beloved means of creative self-expression as well as the rising trend of animated emoji stickers

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Facemoji Keyboard today published its 2023 State of Emoji Report to celebrate World Emoji Day on July 17. The report highlights a notable change in the No. 1 most-used emoji and for the first time includes Argentina’s flag among the top 20.

Key findings about emoji usage include:

  • The Loudly Crying Face overtook the long-time favorite Face with Tears of Joy as the most-used emoji globally.
  • Lionel Messi finally taking home the gold in the 2022 World Cup was a moment felt around the world, and it pushed Argentina’s flag all the way into the top 20.
  • European countries such as Spain, France, the U.K., Italy and Russia all have the Partying Face in their top 10, suggesting a return to a festive mood post-pandemic.
  • The Face with Tears of Joy, the Loudly Crying Face, the Red Heart, the Rolling on the Floor Laughing, and the Pleading Face all remained in the top five this year, proving that while we all appreciate options, we always end up going back to our favorites.
  • Whether crying from laughter or straight up crying, the top three emoji all featured tears. 
  • Canada was the only country to have a piece of clothing in its top 10 – with the pants emoji coming in at .
  • The Skull ranks among the top 10 in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. – all English-speaking countries.

With emoji becoming a popular fixture in messaging, the more creative users started looking for new avenues to infuse even more joy and excitement into their messaging, specifically with emoji stickers which bring emoji to life with animation.

“Emoji are a staple in our digital and cultural landscape,” said Natalia Lin, product lead at Facemoji Keyboard. “Our State of Emoji Report reveals how emoji have become a beloved form of creative self-expression for individuals worldwide. They continue inspiring us to create fun emoji-centric content.”

The data in this report covers global emoji usage habits of Facemoji Keyboard’s Android and iOS users between June 2022 and June 2023. Emoji rankings in this report reflect global overall emoji usage frequency by app and by country – displaying data from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Thailand, and the United States. 

To read the full State of Emoji Report 2023, click here.

About Facemoji Keyboard  

Facemoji Keyboard is the world’s first content-creation keyboard that allows users to find, design or invent the trendiest and smartest ways to express themselves. With Facemoji, users can fully customize their keyboard and create and share unique expressive designs, so every user can be a modern trendsetter in content creation.  

PR Newswire

Sojern Acquires VenueLytics to Bolster its Platform for the Hospitality Industry

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Sojern, the leading travel marketing platform, today announced the acquisition of VenueLytics, the hospitality industry’s most integrated guest experience platform serving independent hotels, resorts, chains and casinos. Sojern will incorporate VenueLytics’ capabilities as an extension of the Sojern Travel Marketing Platform.

Logo, no tagline
Logo, no tagline

Sojern has long been a direct bookings driver for hotels—providing comprehensive digital advertising solutions that help travel marketers find, attract and convert new travelers, re-activate existing guests to build loyalty, and maximize net revenue per available room (RevPAR). This acquisition expands Sojern’s Travel Marketing Platform to engage across the entire guest journey with VenueLytics’ cutting-edge technology that includes an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered virtual concierge, real-time guest feedback and digital reputation management tools, and a guest marketing suite for email and text promotions. VenueLytics’ solutions help marketing, operations, and front-desk teams better serve their guests with less resources required, drive incremental revenue, and maximize profit. With these additional features, Sojern can now help marketers find, attract, convert and engage travelers throughout their journey.

“This is an exciting step forward for our customers as we can empower hoteliers beyond advertising alone, expanding our offerings to be a true end-to-end marketing platform,” said Mark Rabe, CEO of Sojern. “We are dedicated to providing the travel industry with innovative solutions that leverage data, AI and technology to drive results. VenueLytics’ expertise in analyzing, unifying and activating data from various hotel management and marketing systems will allow Sojern to deepen our relationships in hospitality. This addition helps us to advance toward becoming the travel marketing platform.”

One of VenueLytics key customers is Grupo Posadas, the largest hotel company in Mexico with over 180 resorts and hotels. Posadas Director of Quality, Standards and Innovation, Leslie Gomez, commented, “By using VenueLytics AI Concierge throughout the guest journey, Posadas has increased Ancillary Revenue with more than 53K requests over the last 9 months. Our guests satisfaction improved more than 19 percentage points (pp) in NPS (Net Promoter Score) from the guests who had contact with our digital concierge experience.”

By extending its platform with VenueLytics, Sojern can now support hotel marketers with an all-in-one platform that drives guests directly to a property, enables upsell mid-stay, remarketing post-stay, and builds long term loyalty. In addition to the multichannel offerings of Sojern, VenueLytics provides the ability to engage customers in an expanded multichannel network that includes SMS, Email, WiFi, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, ChatBot, Alexa, Google Home and other social media and third party apps. This allows Sojern to expand into generative AI with cutting edge tools to drive and optimize booking value for hotels.

VenueLytics Co-Founder and CEO Baskar Manivannan commented, “We have partnered with Sojern for more than a year, and joining forces will strengthen our customer base and reputation while enabling us to offer the hospitality and travel industry a wider and timely range of solutions. With AI, data analytics and personalized multichannel guest engagement at the backbone of what we do, we have a shared vision to empower hotels around the world to drive profitability, and truly elevate guest experience and satisfaction.”

Last month, Sojern announced the latest version of its Sojern Travel Marketing Platform with enhanced AI powered audiences. With this acquisition, it further demonstrates the company’s rigor and success at integrating new technology and scaling it globally. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Sojern has reported previously that it is profitable, has driven more than $10 billion in global travel bookings, and serves over 10,000 customers annually around the world leveraging its long-standing AI capabilities.

The acquisition will deepen Sojern’s hotel expertise in North America where VenueLytics has been focused. VenueLytics will now be able to support the global hospitality industry as an extension of the Sojern Travel Marketing Platform. To learn more about how this acquisition can benefit your travel marketing campaigns, please visit Sojern’s website.

About Sojern
Sojern is a leading digital marketing platform built for travel marketers. Powered by artificial intelligence and traveler intent data, Sojern provides multichannel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. More than 10,000 hotels, attractions, tourism boards, and travel marketers rely on Sojern annually to engage and convert travelers around the world.

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PR Newswire

Call for Entries for Mozilla’s Rise 25 Awards

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Mozilla, the nonprofit-backed tech company whose mission is to ensure the internet is a global public resource that is open and accessible to all, today announced their Rise 25 Awards final deadline for entry as July 17, 2023. The awards will recognize and celebrate the 25 game-changers who are shaping the future of the internet to be more ethical, responsible and inclusive, ensuring a positive future for all. To commemorate Mozilla’s 25th anniversary, a ceremony will be held in October in Berlin, with details including programming updates to be announced in the near future.

“Mozilla’s mission has always been to benefit public interest, from when we first open-sourced our Firefox browser code 25 years ago, to the technologies we create today that spark innovation, more competition, and more choice online,” said Lindsey O’Brien, Chief Marketing Officer at Mozilla. “With Rise 25, we celebrate our 25th anniversary and honor the innovators who are shaping the future of the internet, creating technologies to be more ethical, responsible and equitable, and content that is more inclusive and diverse.”

Five honorees will be selected for the following categories:`

  1. Artists creating innovative and thought-provoking digital artwork who use the internet as their canvas to inspire others and re-think what’s possible online.
  2. Activists who are using the internet to drive social and political change, and to amplify their voices to make a difference in the world.
  3. Creators, filmmakers, educators, comedians, etc. who are using storytelling to build community online, inspiring their audiences and sparking important conversations.
  4. Builders, engineers and technical people who are building the infrastructure of the internet, shaping the technical side of the web, making it faster, more secure and accessible to everyone.
  5. Advocates, policymakers, lawyers, etc. who are shaping the regulations and policies governing the internet, fighting to keep it open and free.

The 25 honorees will receive roundtrip transportation to Berlin, as well as accommodations to attend the ceremony in person. To submit a nominee for consideration, visit https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/rise25 by Monday, July 17, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. PT. The 25 honorees will be announced at a later date.

About Mozilla
Founded in 1998 in San Francisco, Mozilla is the non-profit-backed technology company behind pioneering brands like Firefox, the privacy-minded web browser. More than 270 million people around the world use Mozilla products every month.

Media Contact:
pr@mozilla.com