Month: June 2021

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Sophi.io da The Globe and Mail Conquista o Digiday Media Award

A Digiday premia a Melhor Plataforma de Editoras, Sophi.io, uma suíte de ferramentas de automação, otimização e previsão alimentadas por inteligência artificial desenvolvida pela The Globe and Mail

TORONTO, June 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io, o mecanismo de previsão e automação com base em inteligência artificial da The Globe and Mail, conquistou o prêmio de Melhor Plataforma de Editoras de 2021 da Digiday Media Award que homenageia a tecnologia de maior sucesso que ajuda as editoras a alcançarem seus objetivos.

“A IA é uma tecnologia essencial para ajudar os editores a agregar valor autêntico às histórias — estendendo sua medida de sucesso além das visualizações de página e da viralidade. Por exemplo, a Sophi fornece dados de quanto cada artigo da The Globe and Mail contribui para a retenção de assinantes, aquisição, potencial de registro e dólares de publicidade. Além disso, para implementar efetivamente o aprendizado de máquina, cerca de 10% da força de trabalho da The Globe and Mail agora são cientistas e engenheiros de dados, contratados para desenvolver e expandir ainda mais a estratégia a Sophi”, disse Digiday.

Os prêmios homenageiam empresas, tecnologias e campanhas que se destacaram em toda a mídia no ano passado. “Este ano, a competição foi acirrada e os programas robustos. A inovação e as grandes ideias expandiram o campo de jogo para muitos dos vencedores, mesmo em um ano em que as quarentenas limitavam o local e como as pessoas podiam trabalhar — e jogar”, disse Digiday.

Phillip Crawley, Editor e CEO da The Globe and Mail, comentou: “É uma honra termos sido escolhidos como o vencedor do Digiday Media Award de Melhor Plataforma de Editoras. Nem sempre enfrentamos empresas nos setores de mídia e marketing, mas nossos investimentos na Sophi foram impulsionados pelo entendimento de que nossa tecnologia pode incentivar diretamente o desempenho e o crescimento econômico de empresas em uma grande variedade de setores.”

Os outros finalistas na categoria Melhor Plataforma de Editoras foram: Piano, Connatix, Insticator, Duration Media e Adapex LLC.

A Sophi é um sistema de inteligência artificial que ajuda os editores a identificar e aproveitar seu conteúdo mais valioso. Com recursos preditivos potentes que usam o processamento de linguagem natural, o Sophi Dynamic Paywall, é um mecanismo de paywall totalmente dinâmico, em tempo real e personalizado que analisa o conteúdo e o comportamento do usuário para determinar quando solicitar dinheiro ou um endereço de e-mail de um leitor e quando deixá-lo em paz.

Sophi Site Automation organiza autonomamente conteúdo digital para encontrar e promover os artigos mais valiosos. Ele coloca 99% do conteúdo em todas as páginas digitais da The Globe and Mail, incluindo sua página inicial e páginas de seções. A Sophi está tendo tanto sucesso que agora está sendo usada para o laydown de impressão também. A Sophi está disponível para editores em todo o mundo para permitir que seus produtores de conteúdo se concentrem na criação do melhor conteúdo possível.

No início deste mês, Sophi recebeu o Global Media Awards de 2021 da International News Media Association (Inma) de Melhor do Show na América do Norte e Melhor Uso de Dados para Automatização ou Personalização. A Sophi também foi vencedora do Online Journalism Award (OJA) por Inovação Técnica no Serviço de Jornalismo Digital, concedido pela Online News Association (ONA), e do World Digital Media Award e do North American Digital Media Award concedido pela The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) na categoria de Melhor Start-up de Notícias Digitais.

Sobre a Sophi.io

A Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) é uma suíte de ferramentas de otimização e previsão com base em IA que ajuda os editores de conteúdo a tomar decisões estratégicas e táticas importantes. As soluções Sophi variam desde a Sophi Site Automation até Sophi for Paywalls e Sophi Analytics, um sistema de suporte à decisão para editores de conteúdo. A Sophi foi projetada para aprimorar as métricas que mais importam para qualquer empresa, como retenção e aquisição de assinantes, engajamento, recentidade, frequência e volume.

Contato
Jamie Rubenovitch
Dirigente de Marketing, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail
416-585-3355
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com
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Zimbabwe Imposes Curfew to Contain Rising COVID-19 Cases

HWANGE, ZAMBABWE – Zimbabwe’s new COVID-19 lockdown includes a curfew, a ban on intercity travel, and a vaccination blitz aimed at border towns and vendors. But vendors and rights activists say the government should make more vaccine available instead of tightening regulations.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the new measures, including a 6:30 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, on national television Tuesday. He said the restrictions were the result of a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

“Commerce and industry are to open from 0800 hours to 1530 hours. Travelers from countries with alpha and delta COVID-19 variants will be quarantined and tested on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 10th day, at their own expense. Those deported back to Zimbabwe will be subject to self-quarantine or will be quarantined in identified places. Travelers with fake COVID-19 documents will attract custodial sentences,” said the president.

The new measures to contain COVID-19 include what the government is calling a “vaccination blitz” targeting borders and vendors.

The head of the Zimbabwe Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation, Samuel Wadzai, has welcomed the new regulations allowing vendors to operate for limited hours.

But Wadzai said the vaccination program should be voluntary, not compulsory.

“What we can urge the government is for the vaccine to be accessed without queueing for long hours. Let’s decentralize. This is the only way we can do away with these lockdowns. In their nature lockdowns are restrictive and they don’t give us space to operate as informal traders. So, we urge the government to quickly ensure that the vaccines are available,” he said.

About 771,000 Zimbabweans out of a population of 14 million have received their first shots, and 545,000 have received their second inoculations since the program started in February. The country had a monthlong shortage of vaccine until it received 500,000 Sinopharm doses from China on Saturday.

Zimbabwe has about 48,533 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,761 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which tracks the global outbreak.

Dewa?Mavhinga, head of Human Rights Watch in southern Africa, told VOA the infection figures do not justify a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

“It seems excessive. The government is focusing more on restrictions than on other efforts that are needed to contain the coronavirus — efforts such as ramping up vaccinations, ensuring that all essential workers are vaccinated and ensuring that the adult population in Zimbabwe is vaccinated. There is no movement in that regard,” said Mavhinga.

Zimbabwe’s seven-day average infection rate has increased five times in the last two weeks, according to official figures released this week.

The government says it is importing more vaccine in July and in August to achieve herd immunity for about 10 million people by the end of the year.

Source: Voice of America

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Golden Globes Change Rules to Break Language Barrier

LOS ANGELES – The Golden Globes, American film awards at the heart of a lively controversy in recent months over their representativeness, announced Wednesday that they would change their rules to allow foreign language films to compete in the generalist categories and films of animation.

These criticisms prompted the NBC broadcaster to cancel the ceremony scheduled for next year, to allow time for the Golden Globes to improve its ethnic and cultural diversity as well as its transparency.

Many had particularly criticized this year the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA in English) which awards these trophies for having relegated “Minari,” an American film featuring South Korean immigrants settling in the Arkansas and mainly filmed in Korean, in the category of best foreign language film.

While it was featured in many Oscar flagship categories, “Minari” was unable to appear at the Golden Globes for Best Comedy or Best Drama. “Parasite,” the Oscar-winning film the previous year, had suffered the same fate for the same reasons.

“As we review our rules this year” to take into account criticism from the entertainment industry, “we decided to take new approaches to upcoming ceremonies and to make sure these films benefit from the the attention they deserve, “HFPA President Ali Sar said in a statement to AFP.

“The language will no longer be a barrier to be recognized as the best,” he assures us.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 journalists working for various media, has been facing charges of discrimination, sexism and corruption for several years.

Last month, the organization passed a series of reforms to improve its representativeness and try to appease critics, but those assurances failed to convince the entertainment industry and criticism continued to rain.

Stars like Scarlett Johansson and Tom Cruise have judged these reforms far too slow and vague while two members of the HFPA have resigned from this group which they described as “toxic.”

Heavyweights like Netflix and Warner Bros have made it known that they will no longer work with the association until significant changes are implemented.

On Wednesday, the HFPA said the majority of its members have completed diversity and inclusion awareness sessions.

New rules prohibiting, for example, the acceptance of gifts and providing for the hiring of diversity advisers are also planned.

Source: Voice of America

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Zoom to Acquire Kites GmbH

Kites Team to Help Enhance Zoom’s Machine Translation Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif. and KARLSRUHE, Germany, June 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – Kites GmbH (“Kites”), a start-up dedicated to developing real-time Machine Translation (“MT”) solutions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kites was founded in 2015 and has academic roots with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where co-founders Dr. Alex Waibel and Dr. Sebastian Stüker are faculty members. Kites’ talented team of 12 research scientists will help Zoom’s engineering team advance the field of MT to improve meeting productivity and efficiency by providing multi-language translation capabilities for Zoom users.

“We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, President of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless of language, geographic location, or other barriers – we are confident Kites’ impressive team will fit right in with Zoom.”

“Kites emerged with the mission of breaking down language barriers and making seamless cross-language interaction a reality of everyday life, and we have long admired Zoom for its ability to easily connect people across the world,” said Dr. Waibel and Dr. Stüker. “We know Zoom is the best partner for Kites to help advance our mission and we are excited to see what comes next under Zoom’s incredible innovation engine.”

Dr. Stüker and the rest of the Kites team will remain based in Karlsruhe, Germany, where Zoom looks forward to investing in growing the team. Zoom is exploring opening an R&D center in Germany in the future. Dr. Waibel will become a Zoom Research Fellow, a role in which he will advise on Zoom’s MT research and development.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains express and implied “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 related to Zoom’s acquisition of Kites that involves substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits of the transaction, our development of our MT solutions, our ability to integrate the Kites team, and potential growth opportunities. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “target,” “explore,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the statements. These assumptions, uncertainties and risks include that, among others, the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not realized when expected or at all, division of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities, potential adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, the ability to integrate Kites successfully, and other factors that may affect future results of Zoom. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2021. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Zoom at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Zoom assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

About Kites
Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – Kites GmbH is a start-up company founded in 2015 by Dr. Sebastian Stüker and Dr. Alex Waibel with the express purpose of transforming the latest research in speech translation technology into viable products. Kites’ mission is breaking down language barriers and making seamless cross-language interaction a reality of everyday life. Kites aims to provide custom services to its customers in order to provide technology and services that fit and are operated and maintained at the necessary quality levels.

Zoom Press Relations
Colleen Rodriguez
Global Media Relations Lead
press@zoom.us

Zoom Investor Relations
Tom McCallum
Head of Investor Relations
investors@zoom.us

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Aratek unwraps 4-4-2 ten-print scanner for large-scale jobs

TAIPEI, June 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Aratek recently launched the A900 ten-print fingerprint scanner designed specifically for heavy-duty use in large-scale implementations.

The ARATEK A900 is the FBI Appendix F FAP 60 certified ten print 4-4-2 live fingerprint scanner built for the toughest and most massive of jobs. This IP65 rated portable unit comes a built-in 2.8” LCD screen plus a speaker which combine to give users a step-by-step audio-visual walkthrough of the entire enrollment, verification & identification processes.

The A900 is rated for superior image quality that exceeds strict standards set by the FBI for the use of Live-scan System (Rolls, plain & 4-finger) & Identification Flats (4-4-2 flats).

The newest Aratek fingerprint scanner is an FBI Appendix F certified FAP 60 device that comes in a rugged IP65 enclosure rendering it impervious to dust and moisture. This makes the A900 the ideal fingerprint solution in all conditions, working smoothly as it does even in the harshest of environments.

“With the pandemic forcing businesses and governments to give the digital-first strategy a serious thought, identification and authentication will continue to provide the security underpinning for this move towards complete digitalization,” noted Samuel Wu, Aratek’s VP for International Business Division.

Wu adds that in high-growth regions such as Africa, the A900 is well-positioned to be the backbone of digital identity solutions for applications that will soon become all-digital such as Finance & Banking, National ID, Voter registration, Census, Law Enforcement, e-Passport & VISA.

“Digital identity is reshaping business and governance in Africa and is making a real difference in people’s lives. In Togo, authorities found innovative uses for the new biometric digital ID card, expanding its usefulness from its traditional use as a voter ID into something that greatly facilitates the distribution of aid during the lockdown. Citizens only need to present their existing digital ID to get financial assistance. What can be more convenient than that?” Wu said.

The A900 features a built-in 2.8″ LCD screen plus a speaker which combine to give users a step-by-step audio-visual walkthrough of the entire enrollment process (sequence, position, enroll success & enroll fail, etc.).

Security is a strong suit of the A900, which uses AES-256 encryption to ensure fingerprint data is not compromised in transit as well as Live Finger Detection (LFD) to prevent fraud through spoofing.  The A900 also supports ISO19794-2, ISO19794-4, ANSI 378, ANSI 381 and WSQ to enable data interoperability across agencies.

The durable platen on the A900 is built to reject residues and is able to capture excellent images from any finger type — dirty, dry, moist or rough.

The A900 comes with a comprehensive SDK in line with Aratek’s strong emphasis on development and integration, supporting sequence checking, NFIQ fingerprint image quality check and slap fingerprint segmentation for 4-4-2 fingerprint acquisition.

About Aratek

Aratek is a global leader in the biometrics and securities industry. We dedicate to provide cost-effective products and tailored solutions. We enable governments, educational institutions, banks, and many other industries to become increasingly efficient. With our sophisticated end-to-end product portfolio ranging from fingerprint modules/scanners to biometric mobile terminals to facial recognition terminals, Aratek is here to provide real-world solutions to real-world problems.

Related Links:

https://www.aratek.co

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1549681/Aratek_A900_4_4_2_FBI_FAP60_Ten_print_Live_Fingerprint_Scanner.jpg

 

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Aratek dévoile un décadactylogramme 4-4-2 pour des projets à grande échelle

TAIPEI, 29 juin 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Aratek a lancé récemment l’A900, un lecteur d’empreintes digitales faisant figurer les dix doigts, conçu spécialement pour une utilisation intensive dans des applications à grande échelle.

The ARATEK A900 is the FBI Appendix F FAP 60 certified ten print 4-4-2 live fingerprint scanner built for the toughest and most massive of jobs. This IP65 rated portable unit comes a built-in 2.8” LCD screen plus a speaker which combine to give users a step-by-step audio-visual walkthrough of the entire enrollment, verification & identification processes.

L’A900 a été conçu pour fournir une qualité d’image supérieure qui dépasse les normes strictes établies par le FBI pour l’utilisation de systèmes Livescan (rouleaux, capacité de capture simple et 4 doigts) et de jeux d’empreintes plaquées (empreintes plaquées 4-4-2).

Le lecteur d’empreintes digitales le plus récent proposé par Aratek est un dispositif FAP 60 (Fingerprint Acquisition Profile – profil d’acquisition d’empreintes digitales) certifié par le FBI (annexe F). Il est protégé par un boîtier robuste IP65, anti-poussière et qui le rend imperméable à l’humidité. Cela fait de l’A900 la solution d’empreintes digitales idéale dans toutes les situations, même dans les environnements les plus difficiles.

« Avec la pandémie obligeant les entreprises et les gouvernements à réfléchir sérieusement à la mise en œuvre prioritaire d’une stratégie numérique, l’identification et l’authentification continueront à fournir le fondement de sécurité pour cette progression vers la numérisation complète », a commenté Samuel Wu, vice-président d’Aratek pour la division des affaires internationales.

Samuel Wu a ajouté que, dans les régions à forte croissance comme l’Afrique, l’A900 était bien positionné pour constituer l’épine dorsale des solutions d’identité numérique pour les applications qui deviendraient bientôt entièrement numériques comme les finances et les banques, l’identification nationale, l’inscription des électeurs, le recensement, l’application de la loi, le passeport électronique et les visas.

« L’identité numérique transforme les échanges commerciaux et la gouvernance en Afrique et fait une réelle différence dans la vie de nos concitoyens. Au Togo, les autorités ont découvert des utilisations novatrices de la nouvelle carte d’identité numérique biométrique, s’écartant de son utilisation traditionnelle comme pièce d’identité de l’électeur pour l’employer à d’autres fins, comme lors du confinement, où elle a permis de faciliter grandement la distribution de l’aide. Les citoyens n’ont qu’à présenter leur carte d’identité numérique pour obtenir une aide financière. Qu’y a-t-il de plus pratique que cela? », a déclaré Samuel Wu.

L’A900 est doté d’un écran ACL intégré de 2,8″ et d’un haut-parleur qui se combinent pour offrir aux utilisateurs un survol audio-visuel, étape par étape, de l’ensemble du processus d’inscription (séquence, poste, succès d’inscription et échec d’inscription, etc.).

La sécurité est une caractéristique importante de l’A900, qui utilise le chiffrement AES-256 afin de garantir que les données dactyloscopiques ne sont pas compromises en transit, ainsi que la détection des empreintes digitales en temps réel (LFD, Live Finger Detection) pour prévenir la fraude par usurpation d’identité. L’A900 prend également en charge les normes ISO19794-2, ISO19794-4, ANSI 378, ANSI 381 et WSQ pour permettre l’interopérabilité des données entre les organismes.

Le plateau durable de l’A900 est conçu pour rejeter les résidus et est capable de capturer d’excellentes images de tout type de doigt : sale, sec, humide ou rugueux.

L’A900 est livré avec un SDK complet, en ligne avec l’attention particulière que porte Aratek au développement et à l’intégration, au soutien de la vérification de séquences, au contrôle de la qualité d’image d’empreinte NFIQ et à la segmentation d’images multi-doigts (slaps) pour l’acquisition d’empreintes 4-4-2.

À propos d’Aratek

Aratek est un leader mondial dans le secteur de la biométrie et des valeurs mobilières. Nous nous engageons à fournir des produits rentables et des solutions sur mesure. Nous permettons aux gouvernements, aux établissements d’enseignement, aux banques et à de nombreuses autres industries de devenir de plus en plus efficaces. Avec sa gamme de produits de bout en bout, sophistiqués, allant des modules/scanners d’empreintes digitales aux terminaux mobiles biométriques et aux terminaux de reconnaissance faciale, Aratek fournit des solutions concrètes aux problèmes du monde réel.

Liens connexes :

https://www.aratek.co

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1549681/Aratek_A900_4_4_2_FBI_FAP60_Ten_print_Live_Fingerprint_Scanner.jpg