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Without Proper IT Protection, It's Just A Matter Of Time Before SMBs Get Hacked

Sekur Private Data Ltd

For several years now, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have been under the assumption that if they just move their files and data to the cloud, they will be protected. The hope is that cloud-based services like Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Azure and IBM (NYSE: IBM) Cloud Services will provide a layer of protection for sensitive information and peace of mind. But even cloud software providers can be subject to hackers and data breaches. Unfortunately, most SMBs are unaware their remote workers are creating even more opportunities by using unsecured systems to conduct business, further compromising whatever data protection they use. SMBs diligent in using the right tools and processes to protect their data from attacks such as hacking and theft are providing a shield against cyber intrusion and phishing scams. In doing so, they protect sensitive data such as email addresses, phone numbers, medical information, bank and credit card numbers and, in some cases, private medical information. New research shows that many are missing the mark in this area. SMBs Are A Huge Hacking Target According to a benchmark study by Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), SMBs account for more than 40% of all data breaches, with more than six out of 10 reporting at least one cyber attack in the past year resulting in at least eight hours of business shutdowns. Thirty percent of small businesses consider phishing attacks to be the most significant cyber threat, with 1 in 5 having no endpoint security and more than half existing without any information technology (IT) security staff in house. As SMBs struggle to find cost-effective solutions to the issue, the stress of protecting data is also affecting their workflow. A new survey from CNBC and SurveyMonkey found that nearly 4 in 10 small-business owners say they are very or somewhat concerned their business will be the victim of a cyber attack within the next 12 months. There Are New Data Protection Tools Now Available One company leaping to provide inexpensive and peace-of-mind offerings for SMBs is Swiss-hosted privacy and cybersecurity company Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQB: SWISF), which focuses on privacy and security communications and data management solutions. The company developed SekurMail and SekurMessenger as part of a privacy and security bundle of email, messaging and file transfer in one application featuring the company’s latest SekurSend and Chat-by-Invite technology. That technology includes proprietary anti-phishing and privacy features in SekurSend®, which allows users to send an email to any other recipient — whether they have Sekur or not — in complete privacy and security. The email never leaves Sekur’s encrypted email servers in Switzerland. The recipient can then click on the notification and reply in the same manner using SekurReply® without registering for a Sekur account. SekurMessenger comes with a proprietary feature and technology called "Chat-By-Invites". This feature allows a SekurMessenger user ("SM user") invite a non-SM user, or a group of non-SM users, to chat in a fully private and secure way, without the recipient ever having to register to SekurMessenger or download the app. At the end of the chat, the initiator of the conversation can remotely terminate the conversation and all traces of the conversation are deleted from all users, including the recipient. The invite can be sent via Email or SMS. Sekur has already enabled invites in 61 countries, covering over 3.40 billion people, and will add more countries as Sekur expands globally. The target sectors are numerous, including but not limited to real estate, legal, finance, medical, government, energy, manufacturing. Sekur has big plans to reach SMBs with solutions for the remainder of 2022 and 2023, including: Developing new email and digital marketing and search-engine optimization (SEO) targeting over 3 million SMBs out of the 30 million in the U.S. with a conversion goal of up to 10% (up to 300,000 SMBs and up to 1 million to 1.5 million users). The development and use of additional marketing tools on several types of media, including a significant launch in its SekurMail product over all digital media and electronic billboards in New York City to complement its planned television ads and new interviews. The product launch of SekurVPN, SekurVoice and SekurPro, a video conferencing tool targeting C-level executives. The company offers its products globally through its websites, approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications operators. For more information on Sekur Private Data, visit https://sekurprivatedata.com. For more information on Sekur solutions, visit https://www.sekur.com. Sekur is a Privacy and Security solution developed by GlobeX Data S.A. and licensed globally through its sister companies GlobeX Data Ltd. and GlobeX Data Inc. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a publicly traded Cybersecurity and Internet Privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure communications and secure data management. The company trades in the public stock markets under tickers (OTCQB: SWISF), (CSE: SWIS) and (FRA: GDT).For more information about GlobeX Data please visit us at https://globexdata.com. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Alain Ghiai aghiai@sekur.com Company Website https://sekur.com/en/about

August 18, 2022 05:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Citibeats Launches New Open Source Ethical AI Community Dedicated to Democratization of AI

Citibeats

Citibeats, a provider of ethically-sourced AI insights that drive real-time, data-driven actionable decisions, is establishing an open-source community dedicated to democratizing its AI algorithm. The “ Ethical AI Community ” will be composed of developers who are committed to refining Citibeats’ existing algorithm to ensure that it is as free from code bias as possible—a key consideration for realizing the potential of AI as a solution for some of the world’s most complex problems. The company’s commitment to Open Source Data Science (OSDS) is consistent with Citibeats ’ mission to harness the power of AI for good. By creating an open-source platform for its algorithm, the company is building transparency, reliability and security into the core of its operation model. “Ethics and trust are key to our mission,” said Abby Seneor, CTO at Citibeats. “As a company, we want to gain the trust of the public by doing the right thing, consistently, to help society. So it’s a logical step for us to make sure we can trust the output we get from our machines. We believe that the only way to do that is by opening our models to let the community see and challenge our inputs—resulting in a robust, inclusive and transparent AI.” Reducing Code Bias & Embracing Diversity The issue of code bias is well known within the tech community—there are many examples of algorithms that “learned” to discriminate against specific races and genders due to a lack of diversity in the teams that created them. The Ethical AI Community seeks to tackle this problem head-on by opening its algorithm to as wide of a community as possible. “We can only ensure that our tools meet the needs of all communities when we invite different voices to be heard—particularly during the creation and review of the tools themselves,” said Abby. Developer Community Waitlist The Ethical AI Community is expected to launch in October 2022. In the meantime, the Citibeats team is encouraging developers to sign up for a waiting list to be notified of developments, as well as a Slack channel. About Citibeats Citibeats utilizes ethical AI for social understanding. By analyzing unstructured data from social media, blog posts, forums, and more, the platform generates real-time insights regarding todayâs most pressing issues, from sustainability to social risk. Our corresponding monitors shed light on millions of evolving conversations, empowering global leaders to contextualize changes with data-driven insights. Contact Details Citibeats Matteo Mezzanotte mmezzanotte@citibeats.com

August 18, 2022 12:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time

GEORGIA TECH ROBOTICIST FRANK DELLAERT JOINS VERDANT ROBOTICS

Verdant Robotics

Dr. Frank Dellaert, recognized innovator in spatial artificial intelligence (AI) for autonomous vehicles, has joined Verdant Robotics as chief technology officer, effective immediately. In this position, Dellaert will lead the expansion of computer vision and robotics applications to deliver faster, more complex agronomic solutions to increase the productivity and sustainability of global agriculture. Dellaert is recognized for using graphical model techniques to solve large-scale mapping and 4D reconstruction challenges in complex, dynamic environments. Most recently, he helped create technical solutions for Skydio, Facebook Reality Labs, and Google AI while on leave from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he has been on the faculty for more than twenty years. “At Verdant, we use robotic perception – Frank’s core skillset – to unlock superhuman farming, giving farmers and agronomists the opportunity to do things never possible before,” said Dr. Gabe Sibley, co-founder and CEO of Verdant Robotics, a seasoned roboticist credited with autonomous solutions for the space and automotive industries. “As we continue to push the boundaries of discovery, it became clear that Frank’s know-how and expertise expands our technical breadth so we can help growers achieve the next level of production at scale.” Spatial AI, which infers the geometry of the world, along with deep learning are the underlying technologies that enable ag robots to distinguish a sprout from a weed or make other real-time agronomic decisions when working in a field. At the most basic level, autonomous ag robots must solve the ‘what’ and ‘where’ problems to ensure the accuracy of a specific task. “Adding a preeminent innovator like Frank takes Verdant’s technical advantage in robotics and algorithm design to supercharged status,” said Dr. John Hamer, managing partner at DCVC Bio. “Focused on their broad vision for the digital transformation of agriculture, which is fundamentally enabled by spatial AI, Frank joins a technical team who either invented or built the technology in the first place.” For the past two years, Verdant has continued to scale operations to meet demand for its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) offering to specialty crop growers. In addition to fleet deployment, Verdant continues to refine advanced algorithms for on-farm efficiency improvements, such as accuracy of input application by high-speed vehicles in unstructured environments. “I am excited to join Verdant and help farmers gain access to the AI revolution that is improving many aspects of our society,” said Dellaert. “Bringing my experience, I look forward to helping Verdant leverage the state-of-the-art in computer vision and robotics to improve the overall sustainability of food production – for our planet and the billions of people who depend on farmers every day.” About Verdant Robotics: Together with growers, we are building sustainable, high-fidelity farming: spatially, temporally, and physically working the farm at a precision, accuracy, frequency and scale never before possible. At Verdant, we believe environmentally conscientious robotic farming is the future of agriculture. Our goal is to transform how food is grown while improving the lives of farmers, workers and rural communities. By digitizing the farm at sub-millimeter scale, indexing it, and taking actions that unlock new value, we are providing our customers with superhuman farming tools. To learn more, visit www.VerdantRobotics.com. Contact Details AgTech PR for Verdant Robotics Jennifer Goldston +1 816-260-0040 jennifer@agtechpr.com Company Website https://www.verdantrobotics.com

August 18, 2022 09:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

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Sofy Raises $7.75M for No-Code Software Testing Platform

Sofy

Sofy - a testing platform for software developers which accelerates product release times by 95 percent - announced $7.75M in oversubscribed seed funding today led by Voyager Capital with participation from PSL Ventures, GTMFund, Revolution, and others. Sofy is used by Microsoft, Alight and other enterprise customers - in addition to 15,000 users worldwide - to give their developers 10x faster quality assurance testing without the need to write a single line of code. Sofy will use the funding to accelerate its growth and augment its signature no-code test automation platform for mobile apps, web applications and APIs. “Traditional software testing is manual and slow,” said Syed Hamid, Sofy founder and CEO. “No-code test automation for mobile apps is a sea change for developers, cutting weeks from quality assurance (QA) schedules and freeing developers to focus on better apps. The funding allows us to grow aggressively beyond the 15,000 engineers and QA testers who have already deployed our product. Which is quite remarkable since we’ve already scaled quickly, on a bootstrap budget, due to our unique insights from decades working in this space coupled with incredible market demand.” Sofy was founded in 2016 by Syed Hamid and includes other key executives such as Hyder Ali, VP product and business development; and Usman Zubair, VP Engineering. Prior to founding Sofy, Syed was an engineering leader at Microsoft for almost two decades, where he led testing and engineering teams across numerous geographies. “No-code test automation is transforming the $4B mobile application testing market and bringing tremendous gains to the software development and deployment process. Syed and his team invented the category years ago,” said James Newell, Managing Director at Voyager Capital. “Application developers no longer need to make the unenviable choice between waiting on their QA team, writing custom testing scripts or simply shipping without proper testing. Sofy allows them to ship better code, faster without taxing scarce engineering teams.” Sofy's no-code test automation platform frees developers from writing automation code, so instead they can focus on building applications and services rather than infrastructure for testing. AI is used to improve test automation resiliency, so every member of the team can run those tests on hundreds of devices, generating results in minutes. “There are more than 7M apps across iOS and Android platforms and each one must be tested before it ships on countless devices and multiple operating systems,” said Syed. “No-code test automation for mobile apps saves millions of dollars in manual testing and frees overburdened engineering teams to write business logic that actually makes money for their company.” About Sofy: The best way to automate is not to write automation code but rather leverage the power of AI to create resilient, no-code automation so QA teams can focus on testing. Sofy is an intelligent tool that simplifies testing and saves time, increases productivity, and shortens testing cycles. Sofy is powered by machine learning and real devices to let QA teams simplify manual, automated, and robotic testing while saving time and money. About Voyager Capital: Founded in 1997, Voyager has over $520 million under management in B2B, early-stage venture capital. When you work with Voyager, you get investment beyond the dollar signs. With a focus on Software, Cloud and Big Data Applications in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, Voyager creates relationships with entrepreneurs early in a company’s lifecycle. Contact Details Forrest Carman +1 206-859-3118 forrestc@owenmedia.com Company Website https://sofy.ai/

August 18, 2022 09:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Xcitium Debuts Live Threat Map to Monitor Ransomware and Malware in Real Time

Xcitium

Xcitium, formerly known as Comodo Security Solutions, debuted its new threat map during last week’s Black Hat USA 2022 in Las Vegas. The platform allows users to monitor ransomware and other malware and see undetected threats targeting networks across the globe in real time. More than 900 participants were able to observe demonstrations during the four-day Blackhat event and the threat map is now available online. This comes on the heels of Xcitium’s launch of ZeroThreat™, a patented endpoint technology that is the only solution on the market entirely eliminating potential damage from ransomware and other malware by isolating threats and rendering them ineffective. “Our goal with this new threat map is to prove just how many of these threats are going undetected by other endpoint detection and response (EDR) platforms allowing ransomware and other malware to dwell inside networks,” said Denmark Francisco, Chief Marketing Officer at Xcitium. “Xcitium ZeroThreat™ makes dwell time obsolete with patented Kernel-level API Virtualization technology that instantly contains unknown threats to determine their intent before they inflict any damage.” Black Hat USA attendees awarded Xctium’s booth a 4.67 / 5.00 score including the Threat Map display, product demonstrations, and overall booth experience which included a coffee bar with two baristas! It’s the latest accolade for the company that was also recently honored by Frost & Sullivan with the Best Practices Competitive Strategy Leadership Award in the Global Endpoint Security Industry. Xcitium’s new ZeroThreat™ is the cornerstone of a new suite of products that includes Advanced EDR and extended Managed Detection and Response X/MDR. “We created this with the needs of our global customers in mind. There are more than 300,000 unknown threats and files released daily. How do you know which ones are safe and which ones are malicious? You simply can’t,” said Francisco. “We created our threat map to make enterprises aware of the urgency for ZeroThreat prevention before any detection is needed to keep their endpoints safe.” For additional information and to see a live demonstration of Xcitum’s threat map go to threatmap.xcitium.com. About Xcitium Xcitium, formerly known as Comodo Security Solutions, is used by more than 3,000 organizational customers & partners around the globe. Founded with one simple goal – to put an end to cyber breaches, Xcitium’s patented ‘ZeroThreat’ technology uses Kernel API Virtualization to isolate and block threats like zero-day ransomware and other malware before they cause any damage. ZeroThreat is the cornerstone of Xcitium’s endpoint suite which includes advanced endpoint protection (AEP), endpoint detection & response (EDR), and extended managed detection & response (X/MDR). Since inception, Xcitium has a proven zero breach track record when fully configured. Contact Details Ashley Pontius +1 813-409-4091 ashley@ashleypontiuspr.com Company Website https://www.xcitium.com/

August 18, 2022 09:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time

OPPO Launches ColorOS 13 Global Version Featuring Brand-new Aquamorphic Design and Intelligent Experiences Based on OPPO’s Latest Innovative Technology

OPPO

SHENZHEN, CHINA - Media OutReach - 18 August 2022 - OPPO today officially released the global version of its latest Android-based operating system, ColorOS 13, to global users. As one of the first operating systems based on the newly released Android 13, ColorOS 13 incorporates a number of key Android 13 features while introducing a brand-new Aquamorphic Design for a concise and comfortable visual experience and user-friendly UI. Boosted by OPPO’s latest tech innovations, ColorOS 13 includes a range of new features for smart multi-device connection to further enhance productivity with intelligent experiences. ColorOS 13 - Inspiration Ahead - Smart and Connected https://youtu.be/1S-IbFfjLkA Concise and comfortable UI made possible with new Aquamorphic Design Inspired by the way water acts in nature, OPPO has introduced a brand-new Aquamorphic Design to ColorOS 13 to create a fluid, vibrant, and inclusive UI. ColorOS 13 features a new Theme Palette inspired by the changing color of light between sunrise and sunset at sea level, while the new system font improves the readability of system text in any language. With other upgrades like Card-styled Layout, ColorOS 13 is designed to deliver a concise and comfortable visual experience based on Aquamorphic Design. Aquamorphic Design[1] ColorOS 13 also delivers a more intuitive user experience through the integration of different Aquamorphic Effects into the system animations, UI, and Quantum Animation Engine with new Behavioral Prediction on users’ control intentions. This is complemented by OPPO’s human-centric inclusive design language, which introduces Empty State Illustrations, Adaptive Layouts for different screen sizes, and highly recognizable icons to enhance readability and overall ease of use. Also, a new series Always-On Display images is called “Homeland”, which depict powerful scenes of wild animals in nature. The Always-On Display animations reveal the changes in the homes where animals live, based on daily temperature changes to call on you to pay attention to climate change and the earth we live on together. Fundamental performance enhanced by self-developed technology ColorOS 13 marks the debut of the Dynamic Computing Engine, OPPO's system-level technical solutions developed in-house to deliver a more smooth and stable system and all-round improvements to the fundamental user experience. The Engine brings two major improvements to ColorOS 13, including increased battery life and the ability to keep more apps open in the background. OPPO's Dynamic Computing Engine improves the scheduling of hardware resources to extend battery life by achieving a better balance between high performance and low power consumption. It also helps to keep more apps alive in the background, making it possible to switch between multiple apps without losing the status within an app or experiencing lag while switching. Intelligent work and life experience with the brand-new smart features ColorOS 13 provides a realm of smart features covering every aspect of life and work. Aside from being a great way to express your personality, the Smart Always-On Display[2] in ColorOS 13 can now display information related to music and food delivery apps, giving users quicker access to information and more convenient control over music playback and other functions. OPPO has partnered with world-leading software and service providers including Bitmoji and Spotify, to provide a wide range of convenient and personalized experiences through the Smart Always-On Display. Due to OPPO’s industry-leading LTPO2.0 technology, the Always-On Display refresh rate is reduced to just 1 hertz to save 30% power consumption for some scenarios. Other smart home screen management features like Large Folders, Shelf[3], and Home Screen Widget also help users to easily and quickly access the information they need in the way that works best for them. With online meetings becoming increasingly common following the Covid-19 pandemic, OPPO has developed the industry’s first Meeting Assistant for smartphone designed specifically for online meetings. The Meeting Assistant can automatically prioritize wireless data packages to provide a more stable connection during online meetings. It also simplifies banner notifications to minimize distractions while allowing users to add an OPPO Notes[4] shortcut that helps to take meeting minutes with Notes in a small pop-up window. One of the biggest updates to arrive on ColorOS 13 is the improved multi-device user experience. Multi-screen Connect now supports seamless connectivity between smartphone and OPPO Pad Air, and between smartphone and PC[5], boosting productivity and convenience through File Transfer that supports more file formats without hardware limitations. Users connecting their smartphone to a PC via Multi-screen Connect will also benefit from being able to display multiple mobile apps simultaneously on the PC screen. Privacy and security protection as priority Privacy and security have been a prior focus of ColorOS since the very beginning. ColorOS 13 integrates the underlying privacy protection features of Android 13. For example, the system will automatically delete the clipboard history after a short period of time, preventing sensitive information leaks caused by malware. In addition, with the Nearby Wi-Fi feature[6], users can enjoy Wi-Fi without revealing specific location information. OPPO’s self-developed technology plays an equally important role in boosting privacy and security. Based on the on-device algorithm model, Auto Pixelate[7] can recognize and blur out the profile photos and names in chat screenshots automatically with one tap, and the new Private Safe is encrypted with the widely-used Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to provide high levels of security. ColorOS 13 provides privacy and safety protections that users can trust based on authoritative security and privacy authentication standards such as ePrivacy, TRUSTe, ISO27701, and ISO27001. Exploring new Android experiences in strategic collaboration with Google OPPO has been working closely with Google during the development of ColorOS 13 to explore ways of bringing new value to the Android OS experience. OPPO’s flagship Find N foldable smartphone and Find X5 Pro flagship smartphone were announced as two of the first smartphones worldwide to receive the Android 13 Beta update. OPPO has also launched ColorOS developer versions based on the Android 13 Beta and will continue to work together with Google to build a rich Android ecosystem. ColorOS 13 rollout plan and upgrade policy For the global rollout of ColorOS 13, OPPO plans to update nearly 35 smartphone models within the year, covering more than 60 countries and regions, and as many as 160 million users. This is the biggest update plan ever in the history of ColorOS. This rollout will begin with the Find X5 Pro and Find X5 today with the official release of ColorOS 13. OPPO will then continue to bring ColorOS 13 to over 20 more devices starting in 2023. ColorOS 13 Based on Android 13 Beta Version Roll-out Timeline [1] The image shown here are indicative only. If there is inconsistency between the image and the actual product, the actual product shall govern. [2] For non-AOD-supporting models, the control panel is displayed at hand rise or double-click on the screen. Smart Always-On Display only supports certain models due to hardware limitations, please refer to the actual situation. The display supports Spotify controls and food delivery information from Zomato and Swiggy and more to be released once they’re available. [3] Please refer to the actual model for more information on availability and functionality. [4] OPPO Notes are available on certain models with ColorOS13.0 and on the rest with further OTA updates. Please refer to the actual model introduction for more information. [5] To use Multi-Screen Connect, your computer must meet these minimum requirements: Windows 10 build 18362 or later; Intel i3 2.4GHz processor and above; Wi-Fi Direct; Bluetooth protocol 4.1 or higher. 8GB RAM and 2.4GHz & 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi are recommended. For detailed information, please refer to https://connect.oppo.com/en-US/adaptedModels. [6] The feature needs to be adapted by the application itself. [7] Auto Pixelate supports Messenger and WhatsApp. The on-device algorithm detects and pixelates profile photos and names without accessing the content of your chat messages. About OPPO OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since the launch of its first mobile phone - “Smiley Face” - in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology. Today, OPPO provides a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find X and Reno series. Beyond devices, OPPO also provides its users with ColorOS operating system and internet services such as OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO has footprints in more than 60 countries and regions, with more than 40,000 employees dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world. About ColorOS ColorOS is a highly customized, efficient, intelligent, and richly designed Android-based mobile OS from OPPO. With over 500 million global monthly active users, ColorOS supports 67 languages, including English, Hindi, Thai, and Indonesian. Contact Details Media Contact press@oppo.com

August 18, 2022 07:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Meet Zinc8 (OTCMKTS: ZAIRF; CSE: ZAIR) — Has It Made The Low-Cost, Long-Duration 'Battery of the Future'?

Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc.

Renewable energy sources like wind, solar and water may offer a cleaner, more sustainable way to meet the world’s energy needs than the fossil fuels nations have depended on for the past two centuries. However, one barrier that makes widespread adoption challenging is how intermittent they can be. Winds come and go. The sun can get blocked on overcast days. Water currents fluctuate. To use an extreme example, homeowners living north of the Arctic Circle get six straight months of sunshine and six straight months of darkness. Without a way to store the power generated from solar panels for later, those panels would only be useful for half the year. One of the best ways to deal with that intermittency is the battery, and one of the best designs on the market today is the lithium-ion battery. However, the design is expensive and comes with limitations that make it difficult to scale to the capacity needed to fully eliminate dependence on fossil fuel. That’s why Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. (OTCMKTS: ZAIRF) (CSE: ZAIR) says it is deploying a low-cost, long-duration alternative that can meet the energy storage needs of a 100% renewable future. Lithium-Ion Batteries Are The Best Storage System Available Today, But They’re Far From Perfect The technology for manufacturing batteries has come a long way in the past few decades, too. Today, the most efficient design available is the lithium-ion battery, which you’ll find in everything from Tesla Inc. ’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) electric cars to EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) ABSL™ space batteries. In a lithium-ion battery, lithium ions are stored on either end of the battery in an electrolyte solution. When power is needed, the lithium ions move from the anode (positive side) to the cathode (negative side). When charging the battery, they move back from the cathode to the anode. That movement creates an electrical current. It’s a huge improvement over older batteries, to be sure, as it’s lighter than the lead-acid batteries found in combustion engine cars and charges faster and more reliably than nickel-cadmium designs. Even so, it suffers from a few limitations: Scaling a lithium-ion storage system means stacking more batteries because you can’t change the capacity of a battery. So it’s hard to scale for larger storage needs. Lithium-ion batteries are prone to catching fire if overcharged or if short-circuited. While built-in circuit breakers can prevent the batteries from overheating, there is still some risk of fire. Capacity loss caused by degrading materials means that even the best lithium-ion battery has an expiration date. They’re also expensive to manufacture since they rely on costly and rare minerals like lithium and cobalt. While the cost has dropped from over $1,200 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2010 to just $132 per kWh in 2021, there’s seemingly still a long way to go before it’s truly affordable — especially for large capacity needs like storage for the nation’s energy grid. Zinc8 Reports Building The Lowest-Cost, Longest-Duration Storage Technology On The Market Seemingly anticipating these challenges over a decade ago, Zinc8 Energy Solutions was founded in 2012 by a team of engineers determined to develop a battery that was capable of long-duration storage but built using materials that were far cheaper and more abundant than the ones that go into existing batteries. The result — Zinc8’s patented Zinc-Air Regenerative Fuel Cell System, which the company says costs as low as $45 per kWh for incremental energy capacity cost when retrofitting a system with extra energy capacity and eliminates many of the safety and scalability concerns with lithium-ion batteries. The system's capital largely depends on the duration of the system. At 8 hours, it is $250/kWh; at 100 hours, it is trending towards $60/kWh. The Zinc-Air system is made up of three parts — the zinc regenerator, storage tank and power stack. When power from the source enters the zinc regenerator, zinc oxide moves from the storage tank into the regenerator where that power separates the zinc from the oxygen. The separated zinc particles flow back into the storage tank while the oxygen is released into the air. When power is needed, those zinc particles are moved into the power stack where they are recombined with oxygen in a process that generates electricity. Afterward, the zinc oxide is returned to the storage tank until it’s needed in the zinc regenerator again. Because these components of the battery are decoupled, scaling the system’s energy capacity is a matter of swapping out the storage tank in the middle for a larger capacity tank. If it’s more energy output that’s needed, you just add more power stacks to the system. For a faster-charging system, add more zinc regenerators. With a lithium-ion battery, you buy the entire battery stack — even if all you needed was a bit extra charging speed or a little more storage capacity. With Zinc8’s decoupled system, you’re only adding the pieces you need, which can save on costs and space required. The nontoxic, nonflammable and low-cost design has won multiple awards, including the 2020 New York Power Authority’s Innovation Challenge, which came with $2.55 million to build a 100kW storage system at a demonstration site in the state. The company has also reported raising over $56 million in investor funding and even won the support of Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, who asked Zinc8 to consider making Ulster, New York, its new manufacturing hub. “I made it clear to Zinc8 CEO, Ron MacDonald, that I stand ready to help their potential expansion in the Hudson Valley in any way, including fighting to secure the historic federal battery research and development incentives I passed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law,” Senator Schumer said on a phone call with MacDonald. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Featured image by dcbel on Unsplash Zinc8 Energy Solutions has developed innovative battery technology that uses zinc and air as fuel. Our technology resolves the intermittent and unpredictable nature of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. With a cost-effective solution for energy storage, clean energy is made reliable and available as and when required. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Nancy Thompson nancyt@vorticom.com Company Website https://www.zinc8energy.com

August 17, 2022 02:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Fullintel Appoints Angela Dwyer as Head of Insights

Fullintel, LLC

Fullintel, a leading media monitoring and media intelligence service, is proud to announce it has appointed Angela Dwyer, a leader in the global PR measurement industry, as its new Head of Insights. A former senior vice-president at NYC-based PR agency Lippe Taylor and senior project manager at PRIME Research (now Cision), Angela has spent years developing and implementing advanced media metrics – such as the Hypatia Gravity Score – to help improve the effectiveness of PR campaigns and media outreach. She’s also actively involved in the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC). Building on Fullintel’s Award-Winning Media Measurement Foundation “Fullintel has mastered a cost-effective, human-curated media monitoring approach,” explains Dwyer, “along with a great analysis foundation in terms of Fullintel’s Media Impact Score and PredictiveAI™ crisis module. I want to continue adding to that by customizing the approach for each client based on a range of factors, such as drivers of recall, predictors of how someone might think about your brand, or even different audience drivers depending on the client’s goal.” Angela’s addition builds on Fullintel’s growing momentum in the PR measurement industry, culminating in the company winning Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards at the 2021 AMEC Awards for media measurement. “Angela is one of the most talented senior members of the global measurement community, period. We’re extremely proud to have her join our team,” said Fullintel President Andrew Koeck. “We look forward to providing our clients across healthcare, tourism, retail, aviation, and other industries with even more impactful and actionable insights, based on our ever-evolving measurement program and new products such as PredictiveAI.” Improving Measurement Standards For Communicators Angela is a regular on several industry committees and boards, including the International Public Relations Measurement Commission. She’s also set to join other media measurement experts in hosting the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Master Class, a strategic playbook for communicators featuring eight live and interactive sessions from Sept. 19, 2022 to April 18, 2023. About Fullintel: Fullintel combines best-in-class technology with expert content curation to deliver the most relevant, cost optimized media monitoring, daily news briefs, and media analysis possible. Our analysts curate print, online, social media, broadcast, and influencer opinions in real time compiled by technology, supplemented and verified by humans. Where technology alone fails, your dedicated analyst has you covered. Fullintel has offices in Cambridge, Mass., Ottawa, Ont. and Nagercoil, India. Contact Details Fullintel Samuel Chen +1 339-970-8005 schen@fullintel.com Company Website https://fullintel.com/

August 17, 2022 10:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Blockchain Solutions Provider ChainUp Expands Global Presence with a New Office in South Korea

ChainUp

ChainUp, a global blockchain technology solutions provider, announced its expansion with a new office opening in Seoul, South Korea. While they are headquartered in Singapore, ChainUp currently has offices in Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, and the United States. With its office in South Korea, the company plans to strengthen its presence in the region and harness the market’s potential. ChainUp provides businesses with a complete suite of blockchain solutions all within one platform. Its comprehensive solutions include digital asset exchange systems, NFT trading systems, wallet solutions, liquidity solutions, and digital assets custody and management. Since its founding in 2017, ChainUp has served more than 1,000 clients in 30 countries and regions, reaching over 60 billion end-users. Mr. Lee Sangwook, Head of Korea Office of ChainUp said, “The Web3.0 and blockchain industry in Korea is fast-growing and backed by strong government support. With our new office in South Korea, we aim to bring our comprehensive solutions to businesses in the region while fostering close partnerships with relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem to promote technological advancements and industry developments.” Mr. Sailor Zhong, Founder & CEO of ChainUp said, “To fulfil our vision of making blockchain technology more accessible for businesses around the world, we aspire to consistently grow our footprint to facilitate blockchain adoption and support businesses across different industries in their blockchain journeys to stay ahead of the technological curve.” --- End --- About ChainUp Group Founded in 2017, ChainUp is a leading end-to-end blockchain technology solutions provider covering infrastructure development and ecosystem support. Built on the mission to empower businesses through blockchain technology, ChainUp’s innovative and all-around compliant solutions include digital asset exchange systems, NFT trading systems, wallet solutions, liquidity solutions, and digital assets custody and management. Headquartered in Singapore and with offices around the world, the company has served more than 1,000 clients in 30 countries, reaching over 60 million end-users. For more information, please visit: www.chainup.com. Contact Details ChainUp Group Xue Zhen Yeo xuezhen.yeo@chainup.com

August 17, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time