ORLANDO, Fla. — Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and SAP America, Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), are working with the HP (NYSE: HPQ) Enterprise Group to help clients more rapidly and cost-effectively adopt and deploy the SAP HANA® platform through an innovative subscription based model. The goal is to accelerate the ability of clients to transform their business by leveraging real-time business insight provided by SAP HANA. The companies will provide integrated solution-as-a-service and additional managed services solutions leveraging their respective assets, products and services to target clients worldwide across various industries. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW, in Orlando, Florida.

The solution will help clients that have already purchased SAP HANA but have not started their deployment or fully utilized their license capacity for SAP HANA, and will feature Accenture managed and implementation services and HP Converged System for SAP HANA and Enterprise Group infrastructure services.

The collaboration will include Accenture as the primary services provider, HP’s Enterprise Group as the primary infrastructure provider, and SAP will provide mission-critical product support for SAP HANA. Accenture will manage the client relationship and deliver deep industry expertise, strategy, business process transformation experience and integration and deployment capabilities, while HP’s Enterprise Group will provide to Accenture the systems architecture, IT infrastructure products and technology, and infrastructure services and related software for the new solution.

“Accenture’s strategy, business process and integration expertise coupled with HP’s Enterprise Group IT Infrastructure will help clients take full advantage of the SAP HANA platform. With Accenture serving as the single point of contact, clients would find it easier to deploy and manage SAP HANA on HP Infrastructure and achieve key benefits including lower risk, reduced commitment and greater scaling options,” said Mark Willford, senior managing director, Technology Ecosystem and Offerings, Accenture. “This joint initiative will be managed through the Accenture and SAP Business Solutions Group and provides another example of how we can simplify the process for clients to leverage SAP solutions and Accenture services.”

“Increasingly, organizations are looking to streamline their IT infrastructure by shifting their focus from integrating hardware, software and services, to adopting complete systems that can be quickly ordered and deployed to achieve business results faster,” said Nariman Teymourian, senior vice president, Global Enterprise Solutions, HP. “HP’s Enterprise Group offers industry-leading infrastructure and capabilities that are a critical part to delivering an SAP HANA solution-as-a-service to help customers speed innovation.”

“With today’s announcement, we are taking another step toward helping our customers leverage the power of SAP HANA in the cloud,” said Kevin Ichhpurani, senior vice president and head of Corporate Business Development and Strategic Ecosystem, SAP. “Together with Accenture and HP, we plan to offer the world-class benefits of SAP HANA through a more simplified approach that can include required technology and services without the capital expense of traditional deployment.”

For more information, including additional news and coverage from SAPPHIRE NOW, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 289,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

SAPPHIRE® NOW
With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP offers customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held in Orlando, Florida, June 3-5, 2014, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and an online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether on site or online, participants can gain insight as to how SAP is delivering on its strategy and helping organizations around the world to run better. For more information, visit www.sapphirenow.com. Follow SAPPHIRE NOW on Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and for news and coverage during the event, visit the SAP News Center at www.news-sap.com.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 258,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – At Adobe Summit, and building on their partnership announcement from last September, Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) will announce availability of their first set of joint solutions designed to help enterprises transform their customer experiences [watch the keynote live stream]. Available today, these solutions will transform cross-channel experiences and campaign orchestration using Adobe Experience Cloud and Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365 and Power BI. In addition, the companies will announce they are collaborating on an industry standard to define and unify the language for marketing, sales and services data needed to deliver digital experiences consistently at scale.

“Today’s customers have high standards when it comes to brand interactions. Enterprise companies must deliver exceptional experiences at scale or risk losing customers to competitors,” said Abhay Parasnis, executive vice president and CTO, Adobe. “Bringing together Adobe’s and Microsoft’s sales, marketing and customer intelligence solutions enables brands to better understand and engage with their customers across all touch points.”

“We believe the combined power of our technologies will allow enterprise businesses to harness their data in new ways, unlocking critical business insights and actionable intelligence,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Microsoft. “Together, we are delivering compelling and personalized experiences that will drive brand loyalty and growth.”

Turning Data Integration into Actionable Insights
Through new integrations announced today, businesses will now be better able to align sales and marketing, and create compelling, personalized and consistent experiences for their customers.
The companies today will unveil the following:
The integration of Adobe Campaign and Microsoft Dynamics 365 enables enterprises to compile customer insights across various channels, creating a single view of the customer that can be used to personalize experiences across marketing touchpoints.

Adobe Analytics plus Microsoft Power BI offers increased insights across the enter Brands are able to pull behavioral data into Power BI to visualize the impact of campaigns across segments, understand which customer touchpoints are most effective, and turn these insights into actionable, successful outcomes in real-time.

Adobe Experience Manager Sites Managed Service, is now available on Microsoft Azure, letting companies deliver personalized web experiences faster and more efficiently no matter where their customers are. Brands can manage their web content across any screen within Adobe Experience Manager with lower management and resource costs.

Collaboration on an Industry Standard Data Model
Building on both companies’ strong track record in data science and machine learning, Adobe and Microsoft are collaborating on a semantic data model for understanding and driving real-time customer engagement. This model will standardize how data is structured and vastly expedite the process of gaining insights from massive amounts of data.

This new approach is being designed in conjunction with other industry leaders. AppDynamics, Acxiom, Dun & Bradstreet, Qualtrics, Zendesk, [24]7, and MasterCard are participating with Adobe and Microsoft in the development of this new data model and are committed to building applications based on the common language.

By providing end-to-end integration at the platform level, customers can more easily customize their apps, capture behavioral data within web and mobile apps, and glean insights from across Adobe and Microsoft services as well as any platforms that support the data model. Both companies are expected to provide an update on the progress at Microsoft Build 2017 on May 10-12.

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About Adobe
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

Read more at https://news.microsoft.com/2017/03/20/adobe-and-microsoft-announce-availability-of-joint-offerings-to-transform-customer-experiences/#Soz7WwgmoTW2tPhC.99

London and Redmond, Wash. — At Adobe Summit in London, Adobe’s annual European Digital Marketing conference, Adobe (Nasdaq: “ADBE”) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) today announced a strategic partnership that will redefine how enterprises manage their marketing, sales and service to better engage with customers across touch points. The partnership will include the integration of Adobe’s industry-leading Marketing Cloud Solutions with the best-in-class Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution and will allow brands to deliver experiences that take all customer engagements into account — from reach and acquisition to retention and loyalty. This new integration will help eliminate the frustrating customer experiences that result when marketing, sales and service interactions are siloed.

“Helping our customers reinvent productivity and business processes is one of our top priorities. Partnering with Adobe enables us to deliver a comprehensive set of customer engagement processes to enterprise customers to help them be more productive and better engage with their customers,” said Kirill Tatarinov, executive vice president, Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft. “The integration of our industry-leading Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution with the Adobe Marketing Cloud will enable business professionals to maximize their investment in technology and deliver breakthroughs in marketing, sales and customer care.”

“Adobe and Microsoft are creating the industry’s first large-scale solution for connecting the customer experience across all touch points,” said Brad Rencher, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Marketing Business at Adobe. “We are making it possible for the long-held promise of the customer-centric enterprise to become a data-driven reality.”

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, Microsoft’s integrated marketing management solution, includes capabilities like marketing resource management that are complementary to Adobe Marketing Cloud to provide added value to customers. The partnership will bring an integrated CRM-marketing solution to marketers across many industry segments including financial services, travel and leisure. This partnership offers customers the ability to:

Align sales and marketing activities by tightly integrating audiences and their behaviors, which can help guide sales or service calls, identify sales opportunities or inform lead scoring.
Find high-value audience segments and provide them with real-time offers on the website or enable targeted display ads.
Combine Web behavior data with order history, return history, loyalty status and call center history to not only identify where in the sales life-cycle stage a customer is, but then also deliver the right content at the right time, whether that content resides on a landing page, in a service follow-up email or as an alert in a mobile app.
Both companies are committed to expanding other areas of collaboration and product integration including Adobe Marketing Cloud Solutions running on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Adobe Campaign and Adobe Experience Manager are now certified on Microsoft Azure. Adobe already partners with Microsoft Azure to deliver streaming of major sporting events including the Olympics and Super Bowl through Adobe Primetime. The companies are also working on a connector that would enable data and insights from Adobe Analytics to appear in Power BI, Microsoft’s business analytics service that enables people to see all of their data through a single pane of glass, providing a consolidated view across a business.

About Adobe Marketing Cloud

Adobe Marketing Cloud empowers companies to use big data to effectively reach and engage customers and prospects with highly personalized marketing content across devices and digital touch points. Eight tightly integrated Solutions offer marketers a complete set of marketing technologies that focus on analytics, web and app experience management, testing and targeting, advertising, social engagement and campaign orchestration. The tie-in with Adobe Creative Cloud makes it easy to instantly activate creative assets across all marketing channels. Thousands of brands worldwide including two thirds of Fortune 50 companies rely on Adobe Marketing Cloud with over 30.5 trillion transactions a year.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

About Microsoft Dynamics
At the heart of every successful business are the people who make things happen. Microsoft Dynamics designs modern business solutions that empower individuals with intuitive tools that allow them to do their best work. Our proactive, easy-to-use business applications adapt to the way people and systems work, enabling businesses to rapidly deploy and be forward-looking in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Hangzhou, China, – Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) announced that Taobao (China) Software Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has agreed to invest RMB2.81 billion in Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. Ltd (Shiji Information) (Shenzhen Stock Exchange stock code: 002153), a China-based hotel information technology provider, in return for a 15% stake. After completion of the transaction, Alibaba Group will have one board seat on the board of directors of Shiji Information. The investment is subject to customary closing conditions. As part of the strategic investment, Alibaba Group and Shiji Information will work together to connect the systems of Taobao Travel vertical with Shiji Information’s systems, with the aim to continue to strengthen Alibaba Group’s service capability in the online travel market.

Taobao Travel is a vertical within Taobao Marketplace that enables consumers to book air and train tickets, hotels, vacation packages, excursions, and travel visa services; consumers can also access the platform via a dedicated Taobao Travel mobile application. This investment is part of Alibaba Group’s “live @ Alibaba” vision to diversify the company’s products and services and become central to the everyday lives of consumers. It will also bolster Alibaba Group’s online travel market service capabilities through the two companies’ collaboration in data and systems.

Shiji Information is primarily engaged in the development and sale of hotel information management system software, system integration and technical service. Its products and services are used by both domestic and foreign high-end hotels in China. Currently almost 6,000 hotels use Shiji Information’s service.

As part of this strategic investment, Taobao Travel and Shiji Information are expected to focus their collaboration on hotel information systems, including direct connection with hotel information systems, booking-related product development, integration with member services platforms and payment settlement through scannable technology.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.

Alibaba Group’s major businesses include:
Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China’s largest online shopping destination
Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China’s largest third-party platform for brands and retailers
Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China’s most popular online group buying marketplace
AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace for consumers to buy directly from China
Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China’s largest global online wholesale platform for small businesses
1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale marketplace in China
Alibaba Cloud Computing (www.aliyun.com), a provider of cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs
Alibaba Group also provides payment and escrow services on its marketplaces through its contractual arrangements with Alipay (www.alipay.com), a related company of Alibaba Group.

Through China Smart Logistics, a 48%-owned affiliate, Alibaba Group operates a central logistics information system that connects a network of express delivery companies in China.

Altice N.V. (Euronext: ATC, ATCB) and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Altice to acquire Cablevision. Under the agreement, Altice will deliver $34.90 in cash for each Cablevision share.

The acquisition of Cablevision represents Altice’s next step in the US market following the announced acquisition of Suddenlink earlier this year. Together both operators represent the 4th largest cable operation in the US market.

Cablevision is the leading operator in the New York metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) which represents the most attractive US cable market characterized by affluence and population density. With a network passing more than 5 million premises Cablevision serves more than 3.1 million residential and business customers. With approximately 65% of its cable customers subscribing to triple-play services, Cablevision generates industry-leading ARPU and benefits from high
customer loyalty.

Cablevision’s focus on service, innovation and investment provides a strong basis for extending its market leadership and growth momentum. Its first-in-class broadband network positions Cablevision well to provide next generation services to its
customers while competing effectively in the marketplace.

The acquisition also includes:
– Lightpath, the company’s business services unit
– News 12 Networks “as local as local news gets” is the first, largest, and most watched 24-hour local television news network in the US, delivering local news to more than 3.7 million homes in the New York tri-state area
– Newsday Media Group with Newsday, the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper distributing to over 1.8 million weeklies on Long Island, and amNewYork, the prominent free daily newspaper in the US with a circulation of approximately 300,000
– Cablevision Media Sales, the company’s advertising sales division.
Cablevision generated $6,525 million in revenue and $1,858 million in AOCF1 on a consolidated basis for the 12 months period ended June 30, 2015. Cablevision’s cable and Lightpath businesses generated $6,206 million and $2,005 million in AOCF
over the same period with a balanced mix between video, broadband, telephony and business services.

The acquisition of Cablevision by Altice represents an enterprise value of $17.7 billion and values Cablevision’s cable and Lightpath business at 6.1x synergyadjusted AOCF2.

As part of Altice, Cablevision will benefit from additional international operational expertise, enhanced scale and further investment support that are at the core of the Altice business model and strategy. While operating with independent capital
structures, Cablevision and Suddenlink will draw upon management from both companies creating a leading communications services and technology group in the US market with 4.6 million customers in 20 states. Both companies will benefit from this national platform and from operating efficiencies and economies of scale.

Altice’s commitment to innovation, best-in-class services, long-term network investments and customer service creates significant benefits and long-term value for customers, employees and shareholders.

Patrick Drahi, Founder and President of Altice: “As a family business we are proud to be entrusted by the Dolan family with the ownership of Cablevision and look forward to continuing the pioneering path they have paved for us. The strategy of Altice in the large and highly strategic US market is reinforced with the acquisition of Cablevision. We will be in a stronger position, as in all other markets in which we operate, to deliver the best services, invest in the most advanced technology, and
develop innovative products for the benefit of our customers.”

Dexter Goei, CEO of Altice: “We are very excited about our acquisition of Cablevision, which has developed into a pre-eminent cable operator under the steady, long-term ownership of the Dolan Family. This acquisition, our second in the cable sector in the US, is the next step in Altice’s long-term oriented strategy in the US, one of the largest and fastest growing communications markets in the world.”

Transaction details
Holders of shares representing a majority of the outstanding of voting power of Cablevision delivered written consents approving the transaction. The announced transaction is not subject to further shareholder approval.

The transaction is to be financed with $14.5 billion of new and existing debt at Cablevision, cash on hand at Cablevision and $3.3 billion of cash from Altice. BC Partners and CPP Investment Board have an option to participate for up to 30% of
the equity of Cablevision. Altice intends to raise equity by issuing Class A shares in connection with funding its portion of the acquisition. Altice has received full financing commitments from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Barclays.

The announced transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2016 once applicable regulatory approvals have been obtained.

JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Barclays acted as financial advisors to Altice. Shearman & Sterling, Covington & Burling, Mayer Brown, Ropes & Gray, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell acted as legal advisors to Altice.

About Altice
Founded by telecom entrepreneur, Patrick Drahi, Altice is a multinational cable, fiber, telecommunications, contents and media company with presence in three regions – Western Europe (comprising France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland), Israel and the Overseas Territories (currently comprising the French Caribbean and the Indian Ocean regions and the Dominican Republic). We provide very high speed based services (high quality pay television, fast broadband Internet and fixed line telephony) and, in certain countries, mobile telephony services to residential and corporate customers.

SEATTLE- (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today introduced a groundbreaking new tablet for under $50. The new Fire tablet includes a quad-core processor, 7” IPS display, front- and rear-facing cameras, up to 128GB of expandable storage, exclusive Amazon features and services, and access to the world’s best content ecosystem—all for just $49.99. Customers can also choose to buy Fire as a six-pack for less than $250.

“Today, we’re taking another step in our mission to deliver premium products at non-premium prices,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “The all-new Fire features a quad-core processor, is incredibly durable, and is backed by the Amazon content ecosystem, the new Amazon Underground, and Amazon customer service with Mayday Screen Sharing. Fire sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low cost tablet.”

Fire delivers a world-class entertainment experience. With access to over 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps, and games, as well as exclusive features like X-Ray, ASAP, and Second Screen, Fire is great for watching movies, playing games, reading books, listening to music, and more. With expandable storage via microSD card and features like On Deck you’ll never worry about running out of entertainment, whether jumping on a plane or heading out on a family road trip.

Fire—High Quality Tablet, Affordable Price For just $49.99, the new Fire tablet includes:
Best display of any tablet in its price class—Unlike other low-cost tablets that use TN displays, Fire’s 7” IPS display offers a great viewing experience with vivid and accurate color reproduction that can be seen at all angles.
Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor—2x more processing power than Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite at less than half the price; quickly and easily switch between apps, stream movies, and browse the web without waiting for your tablet to catch up.
Durability—As measured in tumble tests, Fire is almost 2x more durable than the latest generation iPad Air.
Front- and rear-facing cameras—Video chat with friends and family with the front-facing camera; take and share photos, and save them for later with free, unlimited cloud storage for all photos taken on Fire devices.
Up to 128GB of expandable storage via microSD—Enjoy even more videos, music, games, and photos while offline.
All-day battery life—Delivers up to 7 hours of reading, browsing the web, listening to music, and watching video.

Fire OS 5 “Bellini”—Includes an updated user interface that replicates the look and feel of a magazine, making browsing and searching for your content easier than ever—what you want is just one tap away; plus, Fire OS 5 includes hundreds of new and upgraded features and platform updates, plus Amazon-exclusive services.

Amazon Underground—A one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free—including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs, and more.

Have you ever forgotten to download a movie ahead of a flight? For Prime members, On Deck automatically keeps your Fire tablet current with popular Prime movies and TV shows, as well as Amazon Original Series, so you always have something good to watch. Importantly, On Deck only uses the available storage on your tablet, opportunistically in a special shadow mode. When you download something, On Deck automatically makes room for your selected content—there’s no hassle of needing to clear out space yourself. This feature will be available via a free, over-the-air Fire OS update in the coming months.

Activity Center—For parents whose kids have outgrown Amazon FreeTime, Activity Center provides an easy way for them to see how their kids are spending time on their Fire tablet—from how much time they spend playing games, to which websites they visit. Activity Center will be available via a free, over-the-air Fire OS update in the coming months.

World-class customer service and tech support—Mayday Screen Sharing lets an Amazon expert guide you remotely through any feature on your screen, available 24×7, 365 days a year—for free.

Amazon-exclusive features—ASAP, X-Ray, Second Screen, Amazon FreeTime, Family Library, Word Runner, and more.
World’s best content ecosystem—Access to over 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps, and games—with free, unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content.

Also available for Fire are new accessories, including a protective cover available in five colors—black, blue, orange, green, and purple—that can stand in both landscape and portrait orientations, for $24.99.

The Fire Family
Fire is $49.99, and will start shipping on September 30—order at www.amazon.com/fire. Fire is also available as a buy five, get one free six-pack for $249.95.

In addition to Fire, Amazon also today introduced the new Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets, Fire Kids Edition tablet, and the all-new Amazon Fire TV. To read the press release about the new Fire HD tablets, visit www.amazon.com/fire-hd-pr. To read about the new Fire Kids Edition, visit www.amazon.com/kids-edition-pr. To read about the new Fire TV, visit www.amazon.com/fire-tv-pr.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

SEATTLE- Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the launch of AWS Educate, a program that helps educators and students use real-world cloud technology in the classroom to graduate students ready to enter the cloud workforce. AWS Educate is designed to make it easy for educators to quickly and easily find cloud-related course content, incorporate cloud technology into their teaching curriculum, and provide students with hands-on experience with cloud technology – with AWS credits to make the cloud more affordable than ever. AWS Educate is free for educational institutions, educators and students to join, following AWS’s approval of their application. To learn more about AWS Educate, visit: http://www.awseducate.com.

Cloud computing has rapidly transformed the way businesses and organizations across industries operate and innovate, such as researchers using the cloud to study genomics, non-profits using data analytics to better target donors, startups creating disruptive new applications, or established companies bringing new innovations to market faster. Cloud computing has become the default environment not just for building and deploying applications, but it has also become a key driver for transforming organizational innovation and business operations. As such, there is a growing demand for developers, information technology (IT) professionals, and forward-thinking business leaders with demonstrated knowledge of cloud computing. AWS Educate empowers educators with training, tools, and technologies to help students develop the skills to design, deploy and operate applications on the AWS Cloud.

“For years, the AWS educational grants program has put cloud technology in the hands of educators and students, giving them the ability to put big ideas into action. We’ve seen students develop assistive computer vision technology in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, and aspiring entrepreneurs take a web startup from conception to launch within 60 hours,” said Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS. “Based on the feedback and success of our grant recipients and the global need for cloud-skilled workers, we developed AWS Educate to help even more students learn cloud technology firsthand in the classroom. We’re pleased to offer AWS Educate to educators, students and educational institutions around the world.”

By joining the program at http://www.awseducate.com, educator and student members receive several benefits, including:

AWS credits: Educators and students can apply for and redeem AWS credits for eligible services, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), Amazon CloudFront, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Elastic MapReduce (Amazon EMR), Amazon Redshift, and Amazon Glacier. While students and educators at any educational institution may join the program, those affiliated with an institution that becomes a member may receive additional AWS credits.
Web-based training and self-paced labs: Access to self-paced labs can help educators and students gain hands-on experience working with AWS technologies; additionally, educators receive online access to AWS Essentials courses for a thorough technical overview of AWS products and common solutions.
Collaboration forums: Educators and students can attend in-person and virtual events designed to help the AWS Educate community incorporate cloud technology into coursework; additionally, educators have access to a forum in which they can join discussions with other AWS Educators.
AWS resources: All AWS Educate members have access to a wide library of learning materials they may use in their classrooms, including webinars on best practices, instructional videos on AWS services, and customer case studies.
Educator content: Educators can access and share professional development materials to help them incorporate cloud technology into their coursework. Currently, AWS Educate houses over 100 educator-uploaded materials from many of the top computer science universities around the world, including Harvard University, Stanford University, and Cornell Tech. Materials include a wide range of full courses, syllabi, lectures, and homework assignments, for example: lectures, videos, and assignments from University of Pennsylvania Professor Zack Ives’ Scalable and Cloud Computing class; University of Toronto’s Eyal de Lara’s Introduction to Cloud Computing class; and University of Washington’s Magdalena Balazinska’s Introduction to Data Management class.
Dr. Majd Sakr, computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said, “Three years ago, I began incorporating AWS services into my cloud computing courses. The cloud resources AWS provided me has allowed me to really challenge my students to develop real-world solutions to problems they might face in their careers. One such project involves giving students 1.2 terabytes of Twitter data and asking them to compete against other students by building a tweet query web service that meets correctness, budget and throughput requirements. So far, we’ve had over 770 students complete this course, and as an institution, we are committed to expanding our use of AWS technology in the classroom over the next several years through AWS Educate.”

Professor Zack Ives at the University of Pennsylvania shared complete course materials and assignments (jointly developed with his colleague, Professor Andreas Haeberlen) from two classes with AWS Educate. Professor Ives said, “I am a big believer in course projects that fully exercise what the students are learning in the class, and simultaneously demystify the popular services they use every day. We give them realistic projects, such as a full-fledged social network with friend recommendation, or building a Web crawler and search engine. AWS Educate completely changes the scope of the resources we can make available for the project — even in a large class, they see what it takes to truly harness Hadoop, cloud key-value stores, and clusters of virtual machines. This experience is imperative to giving them the ability and confidence to succeed in their future careers. I’m happy to share my coursework with the AWS Educate educator community, and look forward to learning from fellow computer science professors.”

The Los Angeles High Impact Information Technology, Entertainment & Entrepreneurship, and Communications Hubs (LA HI-TECH) is a regional consortium of eight community colleges with a mission of building and sustaining a skilled and competitive workforce that contributes to the economic growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). “By providing content, training resources, and access to AWS credits for students, AWS Educate helps us create clear career pathways in IT for almost 2,000 community college students,” said Dr. Patricia Ramos, Dean of Workforce and Economic Development, Santa Monica College and West Regional Hub Chair of LA HI-TECH. “Our regional consortium of eight Los Angeles-area community colleges, LA Unified School District, and four other school districts and charters, relies on access to new technology and knowledge sharing between educators to equip our students with the skills needed to succeed in a competitive workforce.”

For more information or to join AWS Educate, visit http://www.awseducate.com.

About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from data center locations in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. More than a million customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

SEATTLE– Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps, a new category on the AWS Marketplace that makes it easy to search for and buy desktop applications for Amazon WorkSpaces. Starting today, Amazon WorkSpaces’s virtual desktop customers can access the AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps, choose from a broad selection of more than 100 applications in eleven categories, and pay by the month for the applications they use. To simplify deployment of these desktop applications, AWS also announced Amazon WorkSpaces Application Manager (Amazon WAM), a new service that packages and delivers applications to Amazon WorkSpaces so that they that run as if they are natively installed, but are centrally controlled by IT administrators for simplified maintenance and auditability. For more information, visit https://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/applicationmanager/awsmarketplace.

Launched in 2014, Amazon WorkSpaces is a managed desktop computing service in the cloud that gives end-users access to the documents, applications, and resources they need from the device of their choice. Until now, Amazon WorkSpaces customers did not have an easy way to search for and buy applications for their Amazon WorkSpaces. Additionally, customers have only been able to buy desktop software on an annual or perpetual license basis. With AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps, these customers can now easily find and purchase monthly subscriptions to popular desktop applications in categories such as Security, Productivity and Collaboration, Business Intelligence, and Illustration and Design – all from within the Amazon WorkSpaces console. Customers only pay for the software they use. There are no additional contracts or invoices, and customers receive all software charges in their monthly AWS bill.

Today, many companies deploy a mix of upwards of 200 software titles to their desktops. This requires them to invest in infrastructure to manage their applications and track usage, which adds cost and complexity. Further, it is difficult to manage upgrades and retirement of applications when they are no longer needed. Amazon WAM makes it easy to manage and deploy these applications on-demand and at scale. With Amazon WAM, administrators can build and curate a selection of desktop applications, and then control which users have access to them. Users can then select and install only the applications they need, and administrators can track usage in real-time so they only pay for what their employees use. In addition to selecting applications from the AWS Marketplace, businesses can upload their own line of business applications and control employee access to them.

“With just a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, Amazon WorkSpaces customers are able to provision a high-quality, cloud-based desktop experience for their end users at half the cost of other virtual desktop infrastructure solutions,” said Gene Farrell, General Manager of AWS Enterprise Applications. “By introducing the AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps and Amazon WAM, AWS is adding even more value to the Amazon WorkSpaces experience by helping organizations reduce the complexity of selecting, provisioning, and deploying applications. With pay-as-you-go monthly pricing and end-user self-provisioning of applications, customers will lower the costs associated with provisioning and maintaining applications for their workforce.”

About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from data center locations in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. More than a million customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

Amazon Web Services is a $5 billion business and still growing fast — in fact it’s accelerating,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Born a decade ago, AWS is a good example of how we approach ideas and risk-taking at Amazon. We strive to focus relentlessly on the customer, innovate rapidly, and drive operational excellence. We manage by two seemingly contradictory traits: impatience to deliver faster and a willingness to think long term. We are so grateful to our AWS customers and remain dedicated to inventing on their behalf.”

Highlights

Amazon launched Dash Button — a small button that Prime customers can place in their home and use to reorder frequently used household items. Today, customers can chose from 18 popular brands, such as Bounty, Huggies, and Clorox.

Amazon announced the Dash Replenishment Service (DRS), a new service that enables connected devices to order goods from Amazon when supplies are running low — like a coffee maker that automatically orders more coffee beans. By using DRS, device makers are able to leverage Amazon’s authentication and payment systems, customer service, and fulfillment network. Early adopters of DRS include Whirlpool, Quirky, Brother, and Brita.

Amazon announced new features for Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, including X-Ray (now available directly on your HDTV), support for a captive portal to connect to Wi-Fi at a hotel or dorm room, and new shortcuts. Amazon Fire TV also added expandable USB storage and private listening with support for Bluetooth headphones.
In just one year, Amazon Fire TV apps and games selection is up 5x, including Sling TV, Fox Sports Go, Flappy Birds Family, TED, WSJ Live, Crossy Road, and Game of Thrones – A Telltale Game Series.
Fire TV Stick launched in the U.K. and Germany, joining Amazon Fire TV. Pre-orders for Fire TV Stick on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de broke all previous records for Amazon devices in the first week of availability.

Amazon Echo continues to get smarter as more customers use it and provide feedback — new features include Pandora integration, home automation, support for sports scores and schedules, traffic reports and route suggestions, and voice control for customers if listening to music via Bluetooth. Amazon has released a limited preview of the Alexa SDK to enable developers, content creators, and service providers to build apps and experiences for Echo.

Amazon launched unlimited cloud storage with Amazon Cloud Drive — two new storage plans for customers to securely store new and existing content collections. The Unlimited Everything Plan provides unlimited storage for photos, videos, movies, music, and files, and the Unlimited Photos Plan provides unlimited photo storage plus 5 GB of additional storage for videos, documents, or other files — all for a low annual fee. Customers can sign up for a free 3-month trial on either plan.

Prime Now has expanded to Miami, Baltimore, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin. Prime members can choose from tens of thousands of daily essentials through a mobile app. With Prime Now, two-hour delivery is free and one-hour delivery is available for $7.99.

Amazon Prime celebrated its 10-year anniversary with tens of millions of Prime members around the world. Prime members in the U.S. enjoy unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items, unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video, more than one million songs and hundreds of playlists with Prime Music, unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos, and access to more than 800,000 books to borrow with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Amazon Studios announced that full seasons of Mad Dogs, The Man in the High Castle, The New Yorker Presents, and children’s shows Just Add Magic and The Stinky & Dirty Show will debut exclusively for Prime members in the U.S., U.K., and Germany. Amazon Studios also greenlit second seasons of Mozart in the Jungle and Bosch, as well as original kids series Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids, and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street.

Amazon introduced Amazon@Purdue, our first staffed on-campus pickup and drop-off location at Purdue University. Amazon Student and Amazon Prime members get Free One-Day Shipping on textbooks and Free One-Day Pickup on over one million items when shipped to the Amazon@Purdue location.
Amazon officially launched Write On by Kindle, an online community where writers and readers share in the creative process. Readers can check out works-in-progress — from short stories to novels — and offer feedback, or they can try their hand at writing a story themselves.

Amazon launched Amazon Home Services, a new marketplace for on-demand professional services, backed by Amazon’s Happiness Guarantee. Customers can browse, purchase, and schedule hundreds of professional services directly on Amazon.com in less than 60 seconds. Amazon Home Services features handpicked pros offering upfront pricing on pre-packaged services with helpful reviews from customers that have made verified purchases.

Poppy J. Anderson became the first German author to sell over one million Kindle books using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), joining the Kindle Million Club with many other internationally successful KDP authors such as John Locke, J.A. Konrath, and Tina Folsom.

Amazon expanded public fulfillment center tours to the U.K., Germany, France, and Poland. Visit www.amazon.com/fctours for information on available tour locations, dates, and times.

Amazon Prime members in Spain now receive Free One-Day Shipping with their Prime subscription.

Amazon Fashion, which has emerged as a top category on Amazon.in, partnered with the Fashion Design Council of India as the official title sponsor of the 25th edition of India Fashion Week.

Amazon.in launched the Amazon Seller App, a best-in-class mobile app for sellers in India, which makes it easy and convenient for sellers to update inventory, source and list new items on Amazon.in, and respond faster to customer queries.

Amazon.in launched Kirana Now, a pilot service that delivers everyday essentials to customers within two to four hours. This local service utilizes India’s vast network of small and medium businesses to achieve quick, easy, and convenient delivery for Amazon.in customers.

Amazon China opened an Amazon international brand flagship store on Tmall, which features thousands of Amazon China’s popular, directly imported products. Additionally, Amazon Global Store selection on Amazon.cn has grown to over one million items.

AWS announced Amazon Machine Learning, a fully managed service that makes it easy for any developer to use historical data to build predictive models that can be used for a broad array of purposes, including detecting problematic transactions, preventing customer churn, and improving customer support. Amazon Machine Learning is based on the same proven, highly scalable machine learning technology used by developers across Amazon to generate more than 50 billion predictions a week.

AWS announced AWS Marketplace for Desktop Apps, a new category on the AWS Marketplace that makes it easy for customers to search for and buy applications for their Amazon WorkSpaces cloud-based desktops. Customers can choose from a broad selection of more than 100 applications in eleven categories, and pay by the month for the applications they use. To simplify deployment of these desktop applications, AWS also announced Amazon WorkSpaces Application Manager (Amazon WAM), a new service that packages and delivers applications to Amazon WorkSpaces.

AWS announced the general availability of AWS Lambda, a compute service that runs developers’ code in response to events and automatically manages the required compute resources, making it easy to build and manage applications that respond quickly to new information. AWS also launched several new features to make it easy for mobile developers to use Lambda for mobile, tablet, and Internet of Things applications.

AWS announced the general availability of the Amazon EC2 Container Service, a high-performance container management service that makes it easy to run distributed applications using Docker containers on AWS. AWS also added the ability to use Elastic Block Store (“EBS”) and Elastic Load Balancing (“ELB”) with the EC2 Container Service, as well as a new, flexible container scheduler that combine to make the EC2 Container Service the best place to run containers in production.

AWS introduced the latest generation of Amazon EC2 Dense-storage (D2) instances, and larger, faster Amazon Elastic Block Storage (Amazon EBS) volumes. To support very large transactional databases and big data analytics, the new Amazon EC2 D2 instances offer up to 48 TB of storage and up to 3,500 MB per second of disk read throughput, while the new Amazon EBS volumes store up to 16 TB and process up to 20,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS).

SEATTLE- (NASDAQ:AMZN) — Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon company, today announced that Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire Elemental Technologies, Inc., pioneers in software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. The acquisition brings together Elemental’s leading video solutions with the AWS Cloud platform to provide media and entertainment companies with a range of integrated solutions to efficiently and economically scale video infrastructures as the media industry increasingly moves to internet based delivery.

Elemental software makes it easy for media and entertainment companies to take live and on-demand video destined for traditional networks like cable, satellite, or over-the-air broadcast and re-format that content for distribution to PCs, smart phones, tablets, and TVs. Elemental has more than 700 media franchise customers and powers some of the world’s most popular over-the-top TV (OTT) applications, like the BBC’s iPlayer, CNNGo, ESPN ScoreCenter, HBO GO, MSNBC Shift, and Sky Go and Sky Now. Additionally, Elemental is supporting the world’s first 4K Ultra HD services including those that were delivered by the BBC during the 2014 World Cup.

“Elemental shares Amazon’s passion for invention and putting the customer first,” said Andy Jassy, Senior Vice President of Amazon Web Services. “Together, we’ll collaborate on deeper technology integrations and new infrastructure offerings so that media and entertainment companies can evolve their hybrid and cloud models as they continue to innovate their services for viewers.”

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Elemental will continue to operate its business under its existing brand, delivering the full range of solutions for pay TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters, governments, and enterprise customers. Elemental will also expand the integration of its offerings with AWS, and through close collaboration with AWS, accelerate the innovation of next-generation services that feature a range of solutions for customers leveraging on-premises assets, hybrid architectures, and cloud.

“The media and entertainment industry is at a unique inflection point, and as a part of Amazon, we will be in an even stronger position to help our customers delight their viewers globally,” said Sam Blackman, co-founder and CEO of Elemental. “We’re thrilled to have Amazon supporting our growth and ongoing commitment to our customers’ success.”

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed and are subject to closing conditions. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Elemental and AWS at IBC2015
At IBC2015, which will be held in Amsterdam from Sept. 10-15, AWS and Elemental will feature a variety of cloud video and advanced video streaming workflows at the companies’ respective booths. AWS will be located in Hall 14 on Stand 14.N29. Elemental will be located in Hall 4 on Stand 4.B80.

About Amazon Web Services

Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from data center locations in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. More than a million customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

About Elemental
Elemental Technologies is the leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company pioneered the use of software-based video processing to distribute video over IP networks. Solutions from Elemental provide the flexibility, scalability and performance required to deliver high quality video via turnkey, cloud-based and virtualized deployment models. Powering video experiences for more than 700 leading media franchises worldwide, Elemental helps pay TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters and enterprise customers bring video to any screen, anytime – all at once. The company has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China, Russia, India and Brazil. To learn more, please visit www.elementaltechnologies.com and follow @elementaltech on Twitter.

SEATTLE– Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), today announced it will open an infrastructure region in South Africa in the first half of 2020. The new AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region will consist of three Availability Zones. Currently, AWS provides 55 Availability Zones across 19 infrastructure regions worldwide, with another 12 Availability Zones across four AWS Regions in Bahrain, Hong Kong SAR, Sweden, and a second GovCloud Region in the U.S. expected to come online in the coming months. For more information on AWS’s global infrastructure, go to: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/.

“Having built the original version of Amazon EC2 in our Cape Town development center 14 years ago, and with thousands of African companies using AWS for years, we’ve been able to witness first-hand the technical talent and potential in Africa,” said Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “Technology has the opportunity to transform lives and economies across Africa and we’re excited about AWS and the Cloud being a meaningful part of that transformation.”

The new region is the latest in a series of AWS investments in South Africa. In 2004, Amazon opened a development center in Cape Town that focuses on building pioneering networking technologies, next generation software for customer support, and the technology behind Amazon EC2. AWS has also built a number of local teams including account managers, customer services representatives, partner managers, solutions architects, and more to help customers of all sizes as they move to the cloud. In 2015, AWS opened an office in Johannesburg, and in 2017 brought the Amazon Global Network to Africa through AWS Direct Connect. In May of 2018, AWS continued its investment in South Africa, launching infrastructure points of presence in Cape Town and Johannesburg, bringing Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Route 53, AWS Shield, and AWS WAF to the continent and adding to the 138 points of presence AWS has around the world.

The addition of the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region will enable organizations to provide lower latency to end users across Sub-Saharan Africa and will enable more African organizations to leverage advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile services, and more to drive innovation. Local AWS customers will also be able to store their data in South Africa with the assurance that their content will not move without consent, while those looking to comply with the upcoming Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) will have access to secure infrastructure that meets the most rigorous international compliance standards.

African organizations already moving to AWS

Organizations across the African continent have been increasingly moving their applications to AWS. Enterprises such as Absa, Investec, MedScheme, MiX Telematics, Old Mutual, Pick n Pay, Standard Bank, Travelstart, and many more are using AWS to drive cost savings, accelerate innovation, and speed up time-to-market. African startups choosing AWS as the foundation for their businesses include Aerobotics, Apex Innovation, Asoriba, BusinessOptics, ColonyHQ, Custos Media, DPO PayGate, EMS Invirotel, Entersekt, graylink, HealthQ, JourneyApps, JUMO, Luno, Mukuru, NicheStreem, Parcelninja, Simfy Africa, Zanibal, Zapper, and Zoona. The African Public Sector, including researchers, museums, and health sciences organizations, are also choosing AWS. For example, The National Museums of Kenya (NMK), is using AWS to digitize their most precious and valuable artifacts, which make up one of the largest collections of archaeology and paleontology in the world.

Absa, one of the largest and most innovative banks in Africa, welcomes the news of an AWS Region. “AWS has been Absa’s primary cloud provider for the past three years. The reduction in latencies that will accompany their expansion to South Africa will further enable us to scale our cloud consumption,” said Andy Baker, CIO at Absa. “We no longer deploy bespoke hardware, SAN storage, or high-cost proprietary database solutions. Instead, our new tech stack utilizes low cost, fully automated, logically partitioned, open source software, with real-time security and application monitoring. AWS’s track record of delivering enterprise ready and South African regulator-approved services to Absa has given us confidence to deploy services aimed at further reducing our operational costs and improving our cyber risk profile.”

Another well-known South African enterprise using AWS for their mission critical workloads is MiX Telematics, a global provider of fleet management, driver safety, and vehicle tracking services and solutions. “We started working with AWS in 2015 and decided to go ‘all-in,’ including migrating our full fleet and mobile asset management stack to AWS and shutting down our on-premises data centers over a period of 18 months,” said Catherine Lewis, Executive VP (Technology) at MiX Telematics. “Through moving to AWS, we have been able to speed up innovation and increase system reliability, while reducing the time to get new ideas into production from months to minutes. While we already use AWS globally in Ireland, Australia, and the U.S., an AWS infrastructure region in Africa will accelerate our innovation even further, improve our service, and ultimately reduce the costs of supporting our base of over 700,000 vehicles. We are also in the process of migrating over 7,000 costly Microsoft SQL Server databases to Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS PostgreSQL, and adopting new technologies, such as AWS’s Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning services, to help more intelligently manage vehicle efficiency, improve driver safety, and ultimately enable us to drive greater value for our customers.”

Pick n Pay is one of the largest retailers in Africa, with over 80,000 staff across 1,560 stores, and is moving their eCommerce and data analytics systems to AWS. “By moving our eCommerce and mobile customer application to AWS, from our previous managed services model, we estimate we have saved significantly on our total cost of ownership over the past year,” said Chris Shortt, General Manager of Information Services, Pick n Pay. “The relationship, performance, reliability, and cost savings has been positive and has led us to move our SAP Business Warehouse systems to certified AWS X1 instances. Selecting AWS highlights the differentiated, cloud-first thinking they bring to us as opposed to more traditional, and less agile, service providers. The scale, security, speed, and customer focused nature of AWS is something we’ve become accustomed to and look forward to expanding our use of their services as the South African Region becomes a reality.”

In the startup space, Entersekt, an authentication and mobile application security company, is leveraging the scalability of AWS to support world-renowned financial services organizations including Absa, Capitec Bank, Nedbank, Swisscard, and more. The company is using AWS to send fully encrypted data from their banking customer’s on-premises environments to the cloud. This high level of security helps Entersekt’s customers across 45 countries to secure over 150 million transactions per month, drastically reducing online and mobile banking and payment fraud rates. “As a South African headquartered company and long-term customer, we are proud to be among the first to welcome the news of an AWS Region,” said Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt. “Our customers are large financial institutions for whom even minutes of downtime are unacceptable. They experience significant spikes in transaction volumes during the course of a month and AWS provides the elasticity and availability they demand, without having to build, operate, and protect a system of this kind themselves. AWS has ensured extremely high service levels even as transactions continue to double every six months. An AWS infrastructure region in South Africa is great news as it will give us the opportunity to continue this rapid growth and offer South African financial institutes localised data control and protection with increased system performance and reduced latency.”

Another startup using AWS to speed up their work is South African-based Hyrax Biosciences. Originating from the South African National Bioinformatics Institute at the University of the Western Cape, Hyrax Biosciences has developed a technology on AWS called Exatype that rapidly and accurately tests HIV and tuberculosis drug resistance. “When we were developing Exatype, we naturally turned to AWS because it allows us to provide patients with secure, timely, and reliable results. We knew that with the ability to quickly scale up our technology on AWS, our solution had the potential to influence the lives of millions of people,” said Professor Simon Travers, Co-Founder and CEO of Hyrax Biosciences. “Currently 10 percent of patients on HIV antiretroviral treatment do not respond to the drugs provided to them because of drug resistance. The Exatype system solves this problem by showing clinicians which drugs would be most effective for each individual patient in order to increase their response and improve treatment. Traditionally, it can cost as much as $300 to $500 to do a single resistance test. Now, thanks to AWS, Exatype can do this at a fraction of the cost. HIV still affects millions of people, so knowing an AWS Region is coming to South Africa is great news as it will help us to speed up research and take us a step nearer to ensuring all HIV positive people get the standard of care they need.”

AWS also has a vibrant ecosystem in South Africa, including AWS Partner Network (APN) Partners that have built cloud practices and innovative technology solutions on AWS. APN Consulting and Technology Partners in South Africa helping customers to migrate to the cloud include Autumn Leaf, BBD, Dimension Data, EOH, First Distribution, Silicon Overdrive, Servol Software, Symbiotics, Synthesis Software Technologies, and others. For the full list of AWS Partner Network members, please visit: https://aws.amazon.com/partners/.

AWS supports South African development

As well as supporting existing customers, AWS is also investing in the future of the South African technology community, taking part in a number of philanthropic and charity activities. Amazon supports organizations such as AfricaTeenGeeks, an NGO that teaches children to code, Code4CT, a charity set up to inspire and empower young girls by equipping them with technical skills, DjangoGirls, which introduces women to coding, and GirlCode, which supports the empowerment of women through technology. Amazon engineers work with these and other charities to provide coaching, mentoring, and AWS credits. Amazon also supports Africa-focused non-profit organization World Reader by donating cloud technology and Kindle devices, filled with e-books, to tackle illiteracy in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of the support from Amazon, World Reader has deployed over 27,000 Kindles to 396 schools and 109 libraries across 16 African countries.

In the education space, AWS supports the Explore Data Science Academy to educate students on data analytics skills in order to produce the next generation of data scientists in Africa. AWS is also working with education institutions in South Africa, such as the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, to help train the next generation of cloud professionals through AWS Educate. Another program for higher education institutes is AWS Academy, which provides AWS-authorized courses for students to acquire in-demand cloud computing skills. The program has already attracted the country’s major academic institutions, including the University of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg, and Durban University of Technology.

To help grow the next generation of African businesses, AWS works with the venture capital community as well as accelerators and incubators in South Africa to provide resources to startups through programs such as AWS Activate. In Cape Town, AWS works with organizations such as 4Di Capital, AngelHub Ventures, Crossfin, Knife Capital, LaunchLab, MTN Solution Space, Mzansi Commons, and Silicon Cape as well as co-working hubs, such as Workshop17, to provide coaching and mentorship as well as technical support and resources to help African startups launch their businesses and go global.

To sign up for an AWS account to prepare for the arrival of the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region, visit aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon Web Services
For over 12 years, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. AWS offers over 125 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 55 Availability Zones (AZs) within 18 geographic regions and one Local Region around the world, spanning the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the UK. AWS services are trusted by millions of active customers around the world—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—to power their infrastructure, make them more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

AOL and leading mobile-first data exchange, adsquare, announce a new partnership to bring adsquare’s unique data of 360 million mobile consumers globally together with the ONE by AOL platform. Using adsquare’s unique combination of anonymised data sources from across retail purchases, location and mobile advertising IDs, mobile and online usage and first-party data, the deal will provide enhanced, holistic mobile audience mapping for publishers and scalable, highly valuable ‘in-the-moment’ mobile audience targeting opportunities to advertisers.

Covering 12 markets, US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, the partnership brings adsquare’s rich mobile-first data into the ONE by AOL platform. The data will connect with ONE by AOL: Publishers – enabling publishers to improve the quality and value of their inventory by serving enhanced premium, contextual audiences to advertisers – and ONE by AOL: Advertisers, enabling advertisers to connect with those audiences in real-time, on mobile devices and across screens.

The deal will also empower AOL’s managed media sales teams across those markets to utilise the unique audience data to enhance mobile campaigns across AOL’s owned and operated properties, including The Huffington Post, Engadget, TechCrunch, MAKERS and Build. The agreement also extends across Microsoft brands such as MSN and Outlook.com (AOL+MSFT Partnership markets only), as well as scaling those audiences through AOL’s mobile in-app advertising platform.

Alex Timbs, Head of Data & Attribution, AOL International said: “This new partnership brings a wealth of opportunities for both publishers and advertisers. By bringing adsquare’s data on board, we are enhancing our already strong ability to deliver quality, scalable, holistic audiences for advertisers to reach and for publishers to monetise. Our open philosophy means we can offer multiple data sets to help advertisers build powerful brands and publishers to grow revenues.”

Tom Laband, CEO & Co-Founder at adsquare says: “We are pleased to join forces with AOL on a global scale to make mobile advertising more relevant. Mobile is so much more than the most personal channel for targeting customers. It is also the most consistent identifier, and source of a broad set of data. adsquare’s Audience Management Platform offers a single access to multiple data sources and dimensions to create powerful audience segments.”

adsquare provides access to demographic, interest, intent, psychographic and behavioral mobile data. It leverages location data and combines it with offline data such as POI, household, purchase, weather and event data, as well as using App Bundle IDs to onboard app store metadata and app contextual segments. Additionally, adsquare provides access to a vast amount of first- and third-party data from its range of sources that is already segmented and connected to mobile advertising IDs.

About AOL:
AOL is a global, mobile media technology company with a mission to build brands people love. AOL is recognised as a leader in the digital space, dedicated to delivering premium content to consumers and innovative advertising solutions to brands and publishers. A subsidiary of Verizon, AOL is shaping the digital future.

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced that App Store customers worldwide set new spending records over the holidays, wrapping up a record-breaking year. App Store spending topped $1.22 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Customers also spent over $322 million on New Year’s Day 2019 alone, setting a new single-day record.
“The App Store had a record-breaking holiday week and New Year’s Day. The holiday week was our biggest week ever with more than $1.22 billion spent on apps and games, and New Year’s Day set a new single-day record at more than $322 million,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Thanks to the inspiring work of our talented developers and the support of our incredible customers around the world, the App Store finished off an outstanding 2018 and kicked off 2019 with a bang.”

Apple announced Wednesday that the App Store helped drive Services revenue to an all-time record in the holiday quarter. Apple services set new all-time records in multiple categories, including the App Store, Apple Music, Cloud Services, Apple Pay and the App Store’s search ad business.

Gaming and self-care were the most popular categories of app downloads and subscriptions during the holidays. Globally, multiplayer games including Fortnite and PUBG were among the top downloaded games over the holidays, along with Brawl Stars, Asphalt 9 and Monster Strike. Productivity, Health & Fitness and Education apps are already capturing the attention of customers in the first few days of the year with 1Password, Sweat and Lumosity charting in their respective categories.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Chicago — Apple today announced that it is working with the city of Chicago to bring coding opportunities to Chicago’s nearly 500,000 students through a citywide expansion of Apple’s Everyone Can Code program.
The initiative in Chicago was designed in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, local businesses and non-profit organizations. Together, Apple and local organizations are helping expand opportunities for students to build the skills they need to pursue careers in the app economy by becoming proficient in Swift, Apple’s easy-to-learn programming language that empowers anyone to create world-class apps.

“At Apple we believe coding is an essential skill, so we’ve designed Everyone Can Code to give everyone the power to learn, write and teach coding,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to be working with our friends and partners in the great city of Chicago on this initiative. Together with Mayor Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges, we look forward to helping students learn Swift and build the skills they need to thrive in today’s workplace.”
Starting this spring, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago will expand Everyone Can Code curriculum and materials to reach students citywide. For the first time, City Colleges of Chicago will offer the innovative App Development with Swift curriculum, helping students build skills around coding and app development.

Chicago Public Schools will also offer new Swift Coding Clubs, which bring coding education to after-school programs. Swift Coding Clubs guide students through key coding concepts, introduce them to Swift and walk them through an app design and prototyping project.
Apple and local businesses, including GE Transportation, IBM, Jellyvision, Lextech, McDonald’s, Rush University Medical Center, Ulta Beauty and United Airlines will add volunteer opportunities for their Chicago-based employees to help support students. Additionally, 1871, One Summer Chicago and other Chicago-based businesses will offer more than 100 internships to high school and college students who have completed the Everyone Can Code curriculum.

“Coding is not just a critical skill in today’s economy, it is another outlet for students to expand their horizons and explore their creativity,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Everyone Can Code is an incredible opportunity for young people across Chicago to learn the language of the future, sharpen their minds and develop the skill sets needed to compete and win in the 21st century.”
“Everyone Can Code gives students opportunities to learn new skills and develop a strong foundation in STEM to prepare them for a successful future in the 21st-century economy,” said Dr. Janice K. Jackson, acting Chief Executive Officer at Chicago Public Schools. “This initiative introduces coding curriculum that develops core skills, creativity, collaboration and problem solving, which will help lay the groundwork for a successful future.”

Apple provides learning experiences for coding in all Apple Stores. New App Development Design sessions also premiered at Apple Michigan Avenue this fall.
Everyone Can Code is a program designed by Apple to help everyone learn how to code, creating opportunities for all students and preparing them for the workforce. The comprehensive program includes a range of free resources, from helping students explore basic coding concepts to building fully functional apps.
Swift is Apple’s powerful and intuitive programming language that gives developers the freedom and capabilities they need to create the next generation of cutting-edge software. Popular apps including Airbnb, KAYAK, TripAdvisor, Venmo and Yelp are all created with Swift.
The app economy has generated more than 1.5 million jobs in the US and more than 64,000 jobs in Illinois alone. The demand for coding skills continues to grow, with more than 500,000 programming and coding positions available in the US as of August 2017. Since the launch of the App Store in 2008, US app developers have earned over $16 billion in App Store sales.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

CUPERTINO, California and ARMONK, New York – Apple® and IBM today deliver the first wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions in a new class of made-for-business apps and supporting cloud services that bring IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad® users in the enterprise. IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions are now available to enterprise customers in banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications and for governments and airlines, thanks to an unprecedented collaboration between Apple and IBM. IBM clients today announcing support for IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions include: Citi, Air Canada, Sprint and Banorte.

“What we’re delivering aims directly at the new quest of business—smart technologies that unlock new value at the intersection of big data and individual engagement,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Business Services. “Our collaboration combines IBM’s industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple’s legendary user experience and excellence in product design to lift the performance of a new generation of business professionals.”

“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The business world has gone mobile, and Apple and IBM are bringing together the world’s best technology with the smartest data and analytics to help businesses redefine how work gets done.”

In targeting key opportunities and priorities within industries, IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps take enterprise mobility a level deeper, helping employees access their company’s full capabilities wherever they interact with clients—faster, easier and more securely than ever before.

Built exclusively for iPhone and iPad, IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps are delivered in a secure environment, embedded with analytics and linked to core enterprise processes. The apps can be customized for any organization and easily deployed, managed and upgraded via cloud services from IBM specifically for iOS devices, with security across the data, app and device. This first suite of IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions is now available across multiple industries, with additional apps being continuously designed and developed:
Plan Flight (Travel and Transportation) addresses the major expense of all airlines—fuel—permitting pilots to view flight schedules, flight plans, and crew manifests ahead of time, report issues in-flight to ground crews, and make more informed decisions about discretionary fuel.
Passenger+ (Travel and Transportation) empowers flight crews to offer an unmatched level of personalized services to passengers in-flight—including special offers, re-booking, and baggage information.
Advise & Grow (Banking and Financial Markets) puts bankers on premise with their small business clients, with secure authorization to access client profiles and competitive analyses, gather analytics-driven insights to make personalized recommendations, and complete secure transactions.
Trusted Advice (Banking and Financial Markets) allows advisors to access and manage client portfolios, gain insight from powerful predictive analytics—in the client’s kitchen or at the local coffee shop, rather than the advisor’s office—with full ability to test recommendations with sophisticated modeling tools all the way to complete, secure transactions.
Retention (Insurance) empowers agents with access to customers’ profiles and history, including an analytics-driven retention risk score as well as smart alerts, reminders, and recommendations on next best steps and facilitation of key transactions like collection of e-signatures and premiums.
Case Advice (Government) addresses the issue of workload and support among caseworkers who are making critical decisions, one family or situation at a time, on the go. The solution adjusts case priorities based on real-time analytics-driven insights, and assesses risk based on predictive analysis.
Incident Aware (Government) converts an iPhone into a vital crime prevention asset, presenting law enforcement officers with real-time access to maps and video-feeds of incident locations; information about victim status, escalation risk, and crime history; and improved ability to call for back-up and supporting services.
Sales Assist (Retail) enables associates to connect with customer profiles, make suggestions based on previous purchases and current selections, check inventory, locate items in-store, and ship out-of-store items.
Pick & Pack (Retail) combines proximity-based technology with back-end inventory systems for transformed order fulfillment.
Expert Tech (Telecommunications) taps into native iOS capabilities including FaceTime® for easy access to expertise and location services for route optimization to deliver superior on-site service, more effective issue resolution and productivity as well as improved customer satisfaction.

“Mobile innovations are driving profound impact on how Citi delivers superior client experiences, particularly those that extend our enterprise expertise all the way to the point of customer contact,” said Heather Cox, Chief Client Experience, Digital and Marketing Officer for Global Consumer Banking at Citi. “There’s terrific energy in our collaboration with IBM and Apple around the goal of equipping our professionals with mobile capability that will create new competitive advantage and enable us to re-imagine how we share our knowledge to improve the quality of life for our clients.”

To supplement the IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps, the partnership between Apple and IBM offers business customers additional levels of capability integrated for enterprise mobility, including:
Mobile Platform and Enterprise Integration—Leveraging IBM’s global industry consulting expertise, client experience design and enterprise systems integration from analytics, workflow and cloud storage, to fleet-scale device management, security and integration. Enhanced mobile management includes a private app catalog, data and transaction security services, and productivity suite for all IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions. In addition to on-premise software solutions, all these services will be available on Bluemix—IBM’s development platform on the IBM Cloud Marketplace.
Supply, activate and manage—Streamlined end-to-end procurement, deployment and lifecycle management—at scale; along with cloud solutions for enterprise security, device management, and data and process integration. IBM Global Financing leasing options and services to allow organizations to keep pace with latest device releases.
AppleCare for the Enterprise—Providing IT departments and end users with 24/7 assistance for their devices from Apple’s award-winning customer support group, with on-site service delivered by IBM.

For more information regarding the new Apple and IBM solutions, please visit www.ibm.com/mobilefirst/us/en/mobilefirst-for-ios.html or www.apple.com/business/mobile-enterprise-apps/.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

About IBM MobileFirst
IBM’s 6,000 mobile experts have been at the forefront of mobile enterprise innovation. IBM has secured more than 4,300 patents in mobile, social and security, which have been incorporated into IBM MobileFirst solutions that enable enterprise clients to radically streamline and accelerate mobile adoption, help organizations engage more people and capture new markets. Through IBM’s partnership with Apple, the two organizations are transforming enterprise mobility with a new class of industry specific business apps. For more information on IBM MobileFirst, visit the press kit or www.ibm.com/mobilefirst. Follow @IBMMobile on Twitter, and see IBM MobileFirst on YouTube, Tumblr and Facebook.

CUPERTINO, California and ARMONK, New York—July 15, 2014—Apple® and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an exclusive partnership that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad®.

The landmark partnership aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change—grounded in four core capabilities:
a new class of more than 100 industry-specific enterprise solutions including native apps, developed exclusively from the ground up, for iPhone and iPad;
unique IBM cloud services optimized for iOS, including device management, security, analytics and mobile integration;
new AppleCare® service and support offering tailored to the needs of the enterprise; and
new packaged offerings from IBM for device activation, supply and management.

The new IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions will be built in an exclusive collaboration that draws on the distinct strengths of each company: IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the power of more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers behind it, fused with Apple’s legendary consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform. The combination will create apps that can transform specific aspects of how businesses and employees work using iPhone and iPad, allowing companies to achieve new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction—faster and easier than ever before.

As part of the exclusive IBM MobileFirst for iOS agreement, IBM will also sell iPhones and iPads with the industry-specific solutions to business clients worldwide.

“iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.”

“Mobility—combined with the phenomena of data and cloud—is transforming business and our industry in historic ways, allowing people to re-imagine work, industries and professions,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and CEO. “This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM’s leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take for granted, but can’t imagine living without. Our alliance will bring the same kind of transformation to the way people work, industries operate and companies perform.”

Apple and IBM’s shared vision for this partnership is to put in the hands of business professionals everywhere the unique capabilities of iPads and iPhones with a company’s knowledge, data, analytics and workflows. Specifically, the two companies are working together to deliver the essential elements of enterprise mobile solutions:

– Mobile solutions that transform business: The companies will collaborate to build IBM MobileFirst for iOS Solutions—a new class of “made-for-business apps” targeting specific industry issues or opportunities in retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications and insurance, among others, that will become available starting this fall and into 2015.

– Mobile platform: The IBM MobileFirst Platform for iOS will deliver the services required for an end-to-end enterprise capability, from analytics, workflow and cloud storage, to fleet-scale device management, security and integration. Enhanced mobile management includes a private app catalog, data and transaction security services, and productivity suite for all IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions. In addition to on-premise software solutions, all these services will be available on Bluemix—IBM’s development platform on the IBM Cloud Marketplace.

– Mobile service and support: AppleCare for Enterprise will provide IT departments and end users with 24/7 assistance from Apple’s award-winning customer support group, with on-site service delivered by IBM.

– Packaged service offerings: IBM is introducing IBM MobileFirst Supply and Management for device supply, activation and management services for iPhone and iPad, with leasing options.

Announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June and available later this year, Apple’s iOS 8 is the biggest release since the launch of the App Store℠, giving users incredible new features and developers the tools to create amazing new apps. For enterprise, iOS 8 builds on the new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted, with expanded security, management and productivity features.

Apple designs Macs, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

IBM’s 5,000 mobile experts have been at the forefront of mobile enterprise innovation. IBM has secured more than 4,300 patents in mobile, social and security, that have been incorporated into IBM MobileFirst solutions that enable enterprise clients to radically streamline and accelerate mobile adoption, help organizations engage more people and capture new markets.

IBM has made a dozen acquisitions in security in the past decade, has more than 6,000 security researchers and developers in its 25 security labs worldwide that work on developing enterprise-class solutions.

IBM has also established the world’s deepest portfolio in Big Data and Analytics consulting and technology expertise based on experiences drawn from more than 40,000 data and analytics client engagements. This analytics portfolio spans research and development, solutions, software and hardware, and includes more than 15,000 analytics consultants, 4,000 analytics patents, 6,000 industry solution business partners, and 400 IBM mathematicians who are helping clients use big data to transform their organizations.

This news is courtesy of www.apple.com

San Francisco, California — Apple and Salesforce today announced a strategic partnership that brings together the number one customer relationship management platform and iOS, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, enabling powerful new mobile apps for business. Working with Apple, Salesforce is redesigning its app to embrace the native mobile platform with exclusive new features on iOS. The companies will also provide tools and resources for millions of Salesforce developers to build their own native apps with a new Salesforce Mobile SDK for iOS, and a new iOS app development course on Trailhead, Salesforce’s free, web-based learning platform.
“We’re excited to work with Salesforce and that their industry-leading CRM will embrace native iOS and deliver exclusive new features on iPhone and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the powerful combination of iPhone, iPad and iOS — the best hardware and software for business — together with native Salesforce apps and the new Salesforce SDK, we can deliver great customer experiences for businesses around the world.”
“With this partnership, we’re bringing together the world’s number one CRM platform with iPhone and iPad, the world’s best devices for business,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and co-CEO, Salesforce. “Together, Salesforce and Apple are defining a new era of mobile innovation with native apps on iOS, and empowering millions of people with access to Trailhead and the skills they need for the jobs of the future.”

The redesigned Salesforce Mobile App will take full advantage of native iOS features like Face ID, Siri Shortcuts, 3D Touch and more. Salesforce has also applied Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines to deliver an optimal experience for users.
The initial focus areas of this strategic partnership include:
Native Salesforce iOS apps for business: Salesforce, working with Apple, will redesign the Salesforce Mobile App to give customers rich experiences exclusively on iOS, with unique Apple capabilities such as Siri Shortcuts, Face ID, Business Chat and more. Salesforce will also introduce the first ever Trailhead Mobile App, first on iOS. The partners will also deliver powerful iOS apps for industries and small business that will serve their specific customer needs.
Empowering Salesforce developers on iOS: Apple and Salesforce are developing the first Salesforce Mobile SDK that is optimized for Swift, Apple’s powerful and intuitive modern programming language. The native SDK will enable businesses and developers to build and deploy apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce Lightning Platform, adding to the hundreds of thousands of iOS apps for business in the App Store today.
Accelerating developer learning and career growth: Apple and Salesforce believe strongly in the democratization of technology and empowering developers — with any education level or background — to learn skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow. To support developer learning and career growth, Apple is launching a new Get Started with iOS App Development Trail that will teach anyone how to build native iOS apps in Xcode with Swift.
Attendees of Dreamforce 2018 can get an early look at the new Apple and Salesforce offerings in the Salesforce Campground (Moscone South Halls ABC) or the Trailhead Area (Moscone West Level 1). For more about the partnership, please visit salesforce.com/apple or apple.com/business/partners.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
Salesforce, the global CRM leader, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced new accessibility features coming later this year, including Eye Tracking, a way for users with physical disabilities to control iPad or iPhone with their eyes. Additionally, Music Haptics will offer a new way for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music using the Taptic Engine in iPhone; Vocal Shortcuts will allow users to perform tasks by making a custom sound; Vehicle Motion Cues can help reduce motion sickness when using iPhone or iPad in a moving vehicle; and more accessibility features will come to visionOS. These features combine the power of Apple hardware and software, harnessing Apple silicon, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to further Apple’s decades-long commitment to designing products for everyone.
“We believe deeply in the transformative power of innovation to enrich lives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why for nearly 40 years, Apple has championed inclusive design by embedding accessibility at the core of our hardware and software. We’re continuously pushing the boundaries of technology, and these new features reflect our long-standing commitment to delivering the best possible experience to all of our users.”

“Each year, we break new ground when it comes to accessibility,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives. “These new features will make an impact in the lives of a wide range of users, providing new ways to communicate, control their devices, and move through the world.”

Eye Tracking Comes to iPad and iPhone
Powered by artificial intelligence, Eye Tracking gives users a built-in option for navigating iPad and iPhone with just their eyes. Designed for users with physical disabilities, Eye Tracking uses the front-facing camera to set up and calibrate in seconds, and with on-device machine learning, all data used to set up and control this feature is kept securely on device, and isn’t shared with Apple.

Eye Tracking works across iPadOS and iOS apps, and doesn’t require additional hardware or accessories. With Eye Tracking, users can navigate through the elements of an app and use Dwell Control to activate each element, accessing additional functions such as physical buttons, swipes, and other gestures solely with their eyes.

Music Haptics Makes Songs More Accessible
Music Haptics is a new way for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music on iPhone. With this accessibility feature turned on, the Taptic Engine in iPhone plays taps, textures, and refined vibrations to the audio of the music. Music Haptics works across millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog, and will be available as an API for developers to make music more accessible in their apps.

Pause playback of video: Music Haptics on iPhone 15 Pro
Music Haptics is a new way for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music on iPhone.

New Features for a Wide Range of Speech
With Vocal Shortcuts, iPhone and iPad users can assign custom utterances that Siri can understand to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks. Listen for Atypical Speech, another new feature, gives users an option for enhancing speech recognition for a wider range of speech. Listen for Atypical Speech uses on-device machine learning to recognize user speech patterns. Designed for users with acquired or progressive conditions that affect speech, such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or stroke, these features provide a new level of customization and control, building on features introduced in iOS 17 for users who are nonspeaking or at risk of losing their ability to speak.

On iPhone 15 Pro, a screen reads “Set Up Vocal Shortcuts” and prompts the user to choose an action and record a phrase to teach their iPhone how to recognize their voice.

On iPhone 15 Pro, a screen reads “Say ‘Rings’ One Last Time,” and prompts the user to teach iPhone to recognize the phrase by saying it three times.

On iPhone 15 Pro, a user gets an alert from Vocal Shortcuts that says “Open Activity Rings.”

On iPhone 15 Pro, a screen reads “Set Up Vocal Shortcuts” and prompts the user to choose an action and record a phrase to teach their iPhone how to recognize their voice.

With Vocal Shortcuts, iPhone and iPad users can assign custom utterances that Siri can understand to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks.

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“Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve speech recognition for millions of people with atypical speech, so we are thrilled that Apple is bringing these new accessibility features to consumers,” said Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, the Speech Accessibility Project at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s principal investigator. “The Speech Accessibility Project was designed as a broad-based, community-supported effort to help companies and universities make speech recognition more robust and effective, and Apple is among the accessibility advocates who made the Speech Accessibility Project possible.”

Vehicle Motion Cues Can Help Reduce Motion Sickness
Vehicle Motion Cues is a new experience for iPhone and iPad that can help reduce motion sickness for passengers in moving vehicles. Research shows that motion sickness is commonly caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel, which can prevent some users from comfortably using iPhone or iPad while riding in a moving vehicle. With Vehicle Motion Cues, animated dots on the edges of the screen represent changes in vehicle motion to help reduce sensory conflict without interfering with the main content. Using sensors built into iPhone and iPad, Vehicle Motion Cues recognizes when a user is in a moving vehicle and responds accordingly. The feature can be set to show automatically on iPhone, or can be turned on and off in Control Center.

Pause playback of video: Vehicle Motion Cues on iPhone 15 Pro
Vehicle Motion Cues is a new experience for iPhone and iPad that can help reduce motion sickness for passengers in moving vehicles.

CarPlay Gets Voice Control, More Accessibility Updates
Accessibility features coming to CarPlay include Voice Control, Color Filters, and Sound Recognition. With Voice Control, users can navigate CarPlay and control apps with just their voice. With Sound Recognition, drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing can turn on alerts to be notified of car horns and sirens. For users who are colorblind, Color Filters make the CarPlay interface visually easier to use, with additional visual accessibility features including Bold Text and Large Text.

The new Sound Recognition feature in CarPlay alerts a user of a potential siren sound.

Updates to CarPlay include Sound Recognition, which allows drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing to turn on alerts to be notified of car horns and sirens.

Accessibility Features Coming to visionOS
This year, accessibility features coming to visionOS will include systemwide Live Captions to help everyone — including users who are deaf or hard of hearing — follow along with spoken dialogue in live conversations and in audio from apps. With Live Captions for FaceTime in visionOS, more users can easily enjoy the unique experience of connecting and collaborating using their Persona. Apple Vision Pro will add the capability to move captions using the window bar during Apple Immersive Video, as well as support for additional Made for iPhone hearing devices and cochlear hearing processors. Updates for vision accessibility will include the addition of Reduce Transparency, Smart Invert, and Dim Flashing Lights for users who have low vision, or those who want to avoid bright lights and frequent flashing.

The Live Captions experience in visionOS is shown from an Apple Vision Pro user’s point of view.
visionOS will offer Live Captions, so users who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow along with spoken dialogue in live conversations and in audio from apps.

These features join the dozens of accessibility features already available in Apple Vision Pro, which offers a flexible input system and an intuitive interface designed with a wide range of users in mind. Features such as VoiceOver, Zoom, and Color Filters can also provide users who are blind or have low vision access to spatial computing, while features such as Guided Access can support users with cognitive disabilities. Users can control Vision Pro with any combination of their eyes, hands, or voice, with accessibility features including Switch Control, Sound Actions, and Dwell Control that can also help those with physical disabilities.

“Apple Vision Pro is without a doubt the most accessible technology I’ve ever used,” said Ryan Hudson-Peralta, a Detroit-based product designer, accessibility consultant, and cofounder of Equal Accessibility LLC. “As someone born without hands and unable to walk, I know the world was not designed with me in mind, so it’s been incredible to see that visionOS just works. It’s a testament to the power and importance of accessible and inclusive design.”
Additional Updates

For users who are blind or have low vision, VoiceOver will include new voices, a flexible Voice Rotor, custom volume control, and the ability to customize VoiceOver keyboard shortcuts on Mac.

Magnifier will offer a new Reader Mode and the option to easily launch Detection Mode with the Action button.
Braille users will get a new way to start and stay in Braille Screen Input for faster control and text editing; Japanese language availability for Braille Screen Input; support for multi-line braille with Dot Pad; and the option to choose different input and output tables.

For users with low vision, Hover Typing shows larger text when typing in a text field, and in a user’s preferred font and color.

For users at risk of losing their ability to speak, Personal Voice will be available in Mandarin Chinese. Users who have difficulty pronouncing or reading full sentences will be able to create a Personal Voice using shortened phrases.

For users who are nonspeaking, Live Speech will include categories and simultaneous compatibility with Live Captions.

For users with physical disabilities, Virtual Trackpad for AssistiveTouch allows users to control their device using a small region of the screen as a resizable trackpad.

Switch Control will include the option to use the cameras in iPhone and iPad to recognize finger-tap gestures as switches.
Voice Control will offer support for custom vocabularies and complex words.

The new Reader Mode in Magnifier is shown on iPhone 15 Pro.

The Hover Typing experience is shown on iPhone 15 Pro.

The Personal Voice experience is shown in Mandarin Chinese on Mac.

The new Reader Mode in Magnifier is shown on iPhone 15 Pro.

Additional accessibility updates include a new Reader Mode in Magnifier.
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Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day with Apple
This week, Apple is introducing new features, curated collections, and more in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day:
Throughout the month of May, select Apple Store locations will host free sessions to help customers explore and discover accessibility features built into the products they love. Apple Piazza Liberty in Milan will feature the talent behind “Assume that I can,” the viral campaign for World Down Syndrome Day. And available year-round at Apple Store locations globally, Today at Apple group reservations are a place where friends, families, schools, and community groups can learn about accessibility features together.

Shortcuts adds Calming Sounds, which plays ambient soundscapes to minimize distractions, helping users focus or rest.

Visit the App Store to discover incredible apps and games that promote access and inclusion for all, including the accessible App Store Award-winning game Unpacking, apps as tools for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and more.

The Apple TV app will honor trailblazing creators, performers, and activists who passionately share the experiences of people with disabilities. This year’s theme is Remaking the World, and each story invites viewers to envision a reality where everyone is empowered to add their voice to the greater human story.

Apple Books will spotlight lived experiences of disability through curated collections of first-person narratives by disabled writers in ebook and audiobook formats.

Apple Fitness+ workouts, meditations, and trainer tips welcome users who are deaf or hard of hearing with American Sign Language, and Time to Walk now includes transcripts in the Apple Podcasts app. Fitness+ workouts always include Audio Hints to support users who are blind or have low vision, as well as modifiers so that users of all levels can participate.

Users can visit Apple Support to learn how their Apple devices can be customized using built-in accessibility features. From adapting the gestures to customizing how information is presented on a device’s screen, the Apple Accessibility playlist will help users learn how to personalize Apple Vision Pro, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac to work best for them.

CUPERTINO, California—September 15, 2014—Apple® today announced a record number of first day pre-orders of iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the biggest advancements in iPhone history, with over four million in the first 24 hours. Demand for the new iPhones exceeds the initial pre-order supply and while a significant amount will be delivered to customers beginning on Friday and throughout September, many iPhone pre-orders are scheduled to be delivered in October. Additional supply of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available to walk-in customers on Friday, September 19 at 8:00 a.m. local time at Apple retail stores. Customers are encouraged to arrive early or order online from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) to pickup in-store or receive an estimated delivery date. Both models will also be available on Friday from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, additional carriers and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as we do,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a new record for Apple, and we can’t wait to get our best iPhones yet into the hands of customers starting this Friday.”

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK beginning this Friday, September 19 and in more than 20 additional countries beginning on Friday, September 26 including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the biggest advancements in iPhone history, featuring two new models with stunning 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina® HD displays, and packed with innovative technologies in an all-new dramatically thin and seamless design that is still comfortable to hold and easy to use. Both models are better in every way and include: the Apple-designed A8 chip with second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture for blazing fast performance and power efficiency; advanced iSight® and FaceTime® HD cameras; ultrafast wireless technologies; and Apple Pay™, an easy way to simply and securely make payments with just the touch of a finger.*

The new iPhones include iOS 8, the biggest release since the App Store℠, featuring a simpler, faster and more intuitive user experience with new Messages and Photos features, predictive typing for Apple’s QuickType™ keyboard and Family Sharing. iOS 8 also includes the new Health app, giving you a clear overview of your health and fitness data and iCloud Drive℠, so you can store files and access them from anywhere.

Pricing & Availability
Every customer who buys an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup to help them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPhone before they leave the store.

iPhone 6 comes in gold, silver or space gray, and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 64GB model and, for the first time, a new 128GB model for $399 (US) with a two-year contract.** iPhone 6 Plus comes in gold, silver or space gray, and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $299 (US) for the 16GB model, $399 (US) for the 64GB model and $499 (US) for the new 128GB model with a two-year contract.** Both models will be available from Apple retail stores, the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), and through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, additional carriers, and select Apple Authorized Resellers including Best Buy, Target and Walmart.

* Apple Pay will be available to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers in the US as a free update to iOS 8 this October.
** For qualified customers only. Check with your carrier for details.

Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, defined the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad and has announced Apple Watch, its most personal device ever. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, continues the rapid pace of innovation of mobile software with iOS and integrated services including Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world with OS X, and free iOS and OS X apps like iWork and iMovie.

Apple® and China Mobile today announced they have entered into a multi-year agreement to bring iPhone® to the world’s largest mobile network. As part of the agreement, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available from China Mobile’s expansive network of retail stores as well as Apple retail stores across mainland China beginning on Friday, January 17, 2014. iPhone 5s, the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world and iPhone 5c, the most colorful iPhone yet, will be available for pre-registration from China Mobile’s official website (www.10086.cn) and customer service hotline “10086” beginning on Wednesday, December 25, 2013.

“Apple’s iPhone is very much loved by millions of customers around the world. We know there are many China Mobile customers and potential new customers who are anxiously awaiting the incredible combination of iPhone on China Mobile’s leading network. We are delighted that iPhone on China Mobile will support our 4G/TD-LTE and 3G/TD-SCDMA networks, providing customers with high-speed mobile service,” said Xi Guohua, China Mobile Chairman.

“Apple has enormous respect for China Mobile and we are excited to begin working together. China is an extremely important market for Apple and our partnership with China Mobile presents us the opportunity to bring iPhone to the customers of the world’s largest network,” said Tim Cook, Apple CEO. “iPhone customers in China are an enthusiastic and rapidly growing group, and we can’t think of a better way to welcome in the Chinese New Year than getting an iPhone into the hands of every China Mobile customer who wants one.”

China Mobile now has over 1.2 million 2G/GSM, 3G/TD-SCDMA, 4G/TD-LTE base stations and over 4.2 million Wi-Fi access points, providing broad coverage to quality networks for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c customers. China Mobile is rolling out the world’s largest 4G network. By the end of 2013, China Mobile’s 4G services will be available in 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. By the end of 2014, China Mobile plans to complete the rollout of more than 500,000 4G base stations, which will cover more than 340 cities with 4G service. The collaboration between Apple and China Mobile will give a big boost to the development of China’s homegrown 4G/TD-LTE technology. iPhone on China Mobile supports major cellular network standards, making a global phone a reality for China Mobile customers.

iPhone 5s redefines the best smartphone experience in the world with amazing new features all packed into a remarkable thin and light design, including the Apple-designed A7 64-bit chip, all-new 8 megapixel iSight® camera with True Tone flash and introducing Touch ID™, an innovative way to simply and securely unlock your phone with just the touch of a finger. iPhone 5c features an all new-design in five gorgeous colors and is packed with features people know and love like the beautiful 4-inch Retina® display, blazing fast performance of the A6 chip, and the 8 megapixel iSight camera—all while delivering great battery life.* iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c both offer more 4G LTE bands than any other smartphone in the world and include all-new FaceTime® HD cameras.

iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c come with iOS 7, the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone, featuring a stunning new user interface, completely redesigned with an elegant color palette, distinct, functional layers and subtle motion that make it feel more alive. iOS 7 has hundreds of great new features, including Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop®, enhanced Photos, Safari® and Siri®.

Details of pricing and availability of iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c for China Mobile will be available at a later date.

This Press Release is courtesy of APPLE.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple® today announced the all-new Apple TV®, bringing a revolutionary experience to the living room based on apps built for the television. Apps on Apple TV let you choose what to watch and when you watch it.The new Apple TV’s remote features Siri®, so you can search with your voice for TV shows and movies across multiple content providers simultaneously.

The all-new Apple TV is built from the ground up with a new generation of high-performance hardware and introduces an intuitive and fun user interface using the Siri Remote™. Apple TV runs the all-new tvOS™ operating system, based on Apple’s iOS, enabling millions of iOS developers to create innovative new apps and games specifically for Apple TV and deliver them directly to users through the new Apple TV App Store™.

“There has been so much innovation in entertainment and programming through iOS apps, we want to bring that same excitement to the television,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Apps make the TV experience even more compelling for viewers and we think apps represent the future of TV.”

The new Siri Remote dramatically simplifies how you select, scroll and navigate through your favorite content while bringing unique interactivity to the new Apple TV by using a glass touch surface that handles both small, accurate movements as well as big, sweeping ones. Adding touch to Apple TV creates a natural, connected experience, even if the TV screen is on the other side of the room. Developers can take advantage of the built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, and the touch surface on the Siri Remote to create games and other app experiences that have never been seen on TV before.

With Siri, you can use your voice to search TV shows and movies by title, genre, cast, crew, rating or popularity, making it easy to say things like “Show me New Girl,” “Find the best funny movies from the ‘80s,” “Find movies with Jason Bateman” and “Find popular TV shows for kids.” Apple TV will search iTunes® and popular apps from Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime, displaying all the ways the resulting TV shows and movies can be played. Siri also offers playback control and on-screen navigation, as well as quick access to sports, stock and weather information.*

tvOS is the new operating system for Apple TV, and the tvOS SDK provides tools and APIs for developers to create amazing experiences for the living room the same way they created a global app phenomenon for iPhone® and iPad®. The new, more powerful Apple TV features the Apple-designed A8 chip for even better performance so developers can build engaging games and custom content apps for the TV. tvOS supports key iOS technologies including Metal™, for detailed graphics, complex visual effects and Game Center, to play and share games with friends.

Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV will be available at the end of October starting at $149 (US) for a 32GB model and $199 (US) for a 64GB model from Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. A new Xcode® beta is available for developers today that includes the tvOS SDK at developer.apple.com/xcode/downloads. Developers can request an Apple TV developer kit at developer.apple.com/tvos/.

*Siri availability and functionality varies by country. Subscription required for some content.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms — iOS, OS X and watchOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Apple is committed to supporting app creators across the globe and helping them do their best work in service of their users. Through a myriad of online and in-person programs, Apple encourages developers to connect directly with experts to receive guidance on their apps and games and explore the latest in Apple tools, technologies, features, and best practices.

Apple has expanded on opportunities for developers to engage with experts, reaching creators and innovators from over 160 countries in 2023. In advance of WWDC24, Apple has also launched additional avenues to reach developers globally, including updated Apple Developer Forums, Pathways, and more.

“It’s an honor and a privilege for our teams to work directly with developers at every stage of their journeys, from students and hobbyists, to budding entrepreneurs and coding professionals,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We’re always looking for new ways to support this amazing community as they bring their visions to life and push the boundaries of what is possible.”

Last year, Apple was able to help developers realize their full potential through a variety of learning opportunities. Meet with Apple Experts had nearly 50,000 developer engagements online and in person in 2023. Participants dove into the latest Apple tools and resources to bring their apps to the next level, and connected directly with Apple experts for insight, support, and feedback. Apple Developer Centers in the U.S., China, India, and Singapore have served as homes for a variety of year-round developer engagements, and offer a supportive environment for developers to learn how to grow their businesses and improve their apps. Developers can register for new upcoming sessions, workshops, labs, and one-on-one consultations on an ongoing basis to access support, no matter where they are on their development journey.

Apple Vision Pro developer labs have enabled developers to experience their visionOS, iPadOS, or iOS apps and games running on Apple Vision Pro. Since their launch in June 2023, the labs have seen over 6,000 visits from developers who worked side by side with Apple experts in Cupertino, New York, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo to optimize their apps for the infinite spatial canvas.

Apple Developer Academies and Apple Foundation Programs offer students around the globe the opportunity to explore the essentials of app development and sharpen their coding skills. In 2023, the Developer Academies trained over 1,900 students. Separately, more than 1,800 students went through an Apple Foundation Program. Last year saw the biggest cohort of female students ever in both programs, with women representing 53 percent of students at the Academies and 38 percent of participants of the Foundation Programs.

Apple Entrepreneur Camp is a technology lab that helps entrepreneurs and developers from underrepresented groups create the next generation of cutting-edge apps. Apple hosted another five distinct cohorts in 2023 with founders, engineers, coders, and designers around the world. The program has already supported hundreds of app creators and is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Founders and developers who are interested in applying can sign up to be notified about upcoming cohorts.

Ahead of WWDC24 next week, Apple Developer Forums have been updated, connecting developers with more experts and other developers for timely responses to technical questions, and providing code-level support from Apple engineers. The forums have also been reorganized into a streamlined layout by topics, subtopics, and corresponding tags.

Pathways are simple and easy-to-navigate collections of videos, documentation, and resources that can help developers build great apps and games and empower them to take the first step toward developing for Apple platforms. Since its launch in May, over 40,000 developers have accessed content on Pathways for insights into app design, Swift, SwiftUI, game development, visionOS, and distributing on the App Store.

This year, developers can experience WWDC on YouTube for the first time, in addition to the Apple Developer app and website. Developers can visit the Apple Developer channel to subscribe and explore video sessions from the conference.

CUPERTINO, California — Apple® today announced iBooks® Textbooks and iTunes U® Course Manager are expanding into new markets across Asia, Latin America, Europe and elsewhere around the world. iBooks Textbooks bring Multi-Touch™ textbooks with dynamic, current and interactive content to teachers and students in 51 countries now including Brazil, Italy and Japan; and iTunes U Course Manager, available in 70 countries now including Russia, Thailand and Malaysia, allows educators to create and distribute courses for their own classrooms, or share them publicly, on the iTunes U app.

“The incredible content and tools available for iPad provide teachers with new ways to customize learning unlike ever before,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We can’t wait to see how teachers in even more countries will create their new lesson plans with interactive textbooks, apps and rich digital content.”

iBooks Textbooks offer iPad® users gorgeous, fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, rotating 3D diagrams, flick-through photo galleries and tap-to-play videos. iBooks Textbooks don’t weigh down a backpack, can be updated as events unfold and don’t need to be returned. With nearly 25,000 educational titles created by independent publishers, teachers and leading education services companies, including new educational content from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Hodder Education, iBooks Textbooks now cover 100 percent of US high school core curriculum and the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) core curriculum in the UK.

“Oxford University Press is using iBooks Author for Headway, Oxford’s all-time best-selling English language series, to create engaging iBooks Textbooks for iPad,” said Peter Marshall, Managing Director, ELT Division at Oxford University Press. “In releasing 13 new iBooks Textbooks, including ‘Headway Pre-Intermediate,’ the best-selling level in the series, we are enriching the language learning experience for students around the world.”

“We believe resources like iBooks Textbooks represent a monumental shift in learning because they engage multiple capacities of each individual student,” said Miguel Dominguez, Marketing Director of Imaxina Novas Tecnoloxias in Spain, an independent educational content developer and publisher of iBooks Textbooks, including “The Senses,” which incorporates interactive elements such as video and animated images of the human eye and ear to illustrate how the body works.

With iTunes U Course Manager educators can quickly and easily share their knowledge and resources directly with their class or to a global audience on iTunes U. This free iOS app gives millions of learners access to the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content from top schools, leading universities and prominent institutions. iTunes U Course manager also gives teachers the ability to integrate their own documents as part of course curriculum, as well as content from the Internet, hundreds of thousands of books on the iBooks Store, over 750,000 materials from existing iTunes U collections, or any of the more than one million iOS apps available on the revolutionary App Store℠.

“iPad is so much more than just a textbook or just a notepad for students—it’s a powerful educational tool, a study partner, a window into the past and a glimpse of the future,” said Sophie Post, fourth grade history teacher at UK’s Falkner House school. “Teaching history was once a static timeline of events. In leveraging the entire educational ecosystem of iPad, creating my own iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U courses, and pulling in apps like History: Maps of the World, studying history has suddenly become a creative, dynamic and truly transformative experience for my pupils.”

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

This Press Release is courtesy of www.apple.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple® today announced iPhone® 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the most advanced iPhones ever, adding a powerful new dimension to iPhone’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface. The new iPhones introduce 3D Touch, which senses force to enable intuitive new ways to access features and interact with content. iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus feature Retina® HD displays made from the strongest glass on any smartphone and 7000 series aluminum, the same alloy used in the aerospace industry, in gorgeous metallic finishes that now include rose gold.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus also introduce a transformative new approach to photography called Live Photos, bringing still images to life by capturing a moment in motion. Live Photos, 3D Touch and other advancements in the new iPhones are powered by the Apple-designed A9 chip, the most advanced chip ever in a smartphone, delivering faster performance and great battery life.

“The only thing that has changed with iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus is everything — 3D Touch lets users interact with iPhone in entirely new and fun ways, and the innovative Live Photos brings your pictures to life,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “These are the most advanced iPhones ever, with 7000 series aluminum, ion-strengthened glass, the new 64-bit A9 chip, 12-megapixel iSight and 5-megapixel FaceTime HD cameras, faster Touch ID, LTE and Wi-Fi. Customers are going to love them.”

3D Touch
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus introduce new ways to navigate and experience iPhone by sensing pressure to enable new gestures — Peek and Pop™ — so you can dip in and out of content without losing your place. Press lightly to Peek at a photo, email, web page or other content, and press a little deeper to Pop into the content itself. With Quick Actions, 3D Touch provides shortcuts to the things you do most, so you can send a message or take a selfie with just a simple press from the Home screen.

Camera Innovations
The world’s most popular camera is even better in the new iPhones with new ways to capture and relive unforgettable moments. iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus introduce Live Photos, which go beyond snapshots to capture moments in motion. Live Photos are beautiful 12-megapixel photos that, with just a press, reveal the moments immediately before and after the shot was taken, so you can enjoy a living memory rather than an instant frozen in time.

High-definition video improves with support for 4K — with a resolution of 3840 x 2160, delivering over 8 million pixels — and the expansion of optical image stabilization to video on iPhone 6s Plus, for taking beautiful videos in lower light. After capturing 4K video, you can edit on your Mac®, PC, iPad® and with the latest version of iMovie® on iPhone, you can even edit two simultaneous streams.

Additional camera advancements include:
a new state-of-the-art 12-megapixel sensor with advanced pixel technology and Apple-designed image signal processor, for truer colors and sharper, more detailed photos; and
a new 5-megapixel FaceTime® HD camera and Retina Flash, which momentarily makes the display three times brighter with True Tone® lighting, for wonderfully bright selfies in low light.

Advanced Technology
A9, Apple’s third-generation 64-bit chip powers these innovations with 70 percent faster CPU and 90 percent faster GPU performance than the A8, all with gains in energy efficiency for great battery life. The A9 chip and iOS 9 are architected together for optimal performance where it matters most, in real world usage. M9, Apple’s next-generation motion coprocessor, is embedded into A9, allowing more features to run all the time at lower power, including “Hey Siri,” without iPhone needing to be plugged in.

With advanced wireless technologies including faster Wi-Fi and LTE Advanced, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus users can browse, download and stream content even faster.¹ The new iPhones also support up to 23 LTE bands — the most in any smartphone — for better worldwide roaming.

iOS 9, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, brings more intelligence to iPhone with proactive assistance, powerful search and improved Siri® features, all while protecting users’ privacy. Built-in apps become more powerful with a redesigned Notes app, detailed transit information in Maps, and an all-new News app for the best news reading experience on any mobile device.² The foundation of iOS is even stronger with software updates that require less space to install and advanced security features
to further protect your devices.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available in gold, silver, space gray and the new rose gold metallic finishes for $0 down with 24 monthly payments starting at $27 (US) and $31 (US), respectively, from Apple’s retail stores in the US, Apple.com, select carriers and Apple Authorized Resellers.³
Exclusively at Apple’s retail stores in the US, customers can choose their carrier and get an unlocked iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with the opportunity to get a new iPhone annually and AppleCare+ on the new iPhone Upgrade Program with monthly payments starting at $32 (US) and $37 (US), respectively.⁴
Both models will be available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK and the US beginning Friday, September 25, with pre-orders beginning Saturday, September 12.
Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colors and Lightning Docks in color-matched metallic finishes will also be available.

¹ Data plan required. LTE Advanced and LTE are available in select markets and through select carriers. Speeds vary based on site conditions and carrier. For details on LTE support, contact your carrier and see www.apple.com/iphone/LTE.
² Transit information in Maps will be available in select major cities including Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Mexico City, New York City, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto and Washington D.C., as well as over 300 cities in China, including Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. News app availability varies by country.
³ Prices are rounded to nearest dollar and are based on 24 monthly installment payments. Taxes and activation fees may be due at sale. Carrier terms and eligibility may apply.
⁴ The iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid US personal credit card. Requires a 24-month installment loan with Citizens Bank, N.A. and iPhone activation with a national carrier — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon. Full terms apply.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms — iOS, OS X and watchOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

San Francisco — Apple today introduced iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the best, most advanced iPhone ever, packed with unique innovations that improve all the ways iPhone is used every day. The new iPhone features new advanced camera systems that take pictures like never before, more power and performance with the best battery life ever in an iPhone, immersive stereo speakers, wide color system from camera to display, two new beautiful finishes, and is the first water and dust resistant iPhone. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in more than 25 countries beginning Friday, September 16.

“iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus dramatically improve every aspect of the iPhone experience, reaching a new level of innovation and precision to make this the best iPhone we have ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The completely redesigned cameras shoot incredible photos and videos day or night, the A10 Fusion chip is the most powerful chip on any smartphone while delivering the best battery life ever in an iPhone, and an entirely new stereo speaker system provides twice the sound, all within the first water and dust resistant iPhone.”

New Advanced Camera Systems
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus take the world’s most popular camera and make it even better with entirely new camera systems. The 12-megapixel camera includes optical image stabilization on both iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and a larger ƒ/1.8 aperture and 6-element lens enable brighter, more detailed photos and videos, and a wide color capture allows for more vibrant colors with more detail. iPhone 7 Plus features the same 12-megapixel wide angle camera as iPhone 7 and adds a 12-megapixel telephoto camera that together offer optical zoom at two times and up to 10 times digital zoom for photos.

Coming later this year, the dual 12-megapixel cameras also enable a new depth-of-field effect, using both cameras on iPhone 7 Plus to capture images, while sophisticated technology including Machine Learning separates the background from the foreground to achieve amazing portraits once possible only with DSLR cameras.

Additional Camera Advancements Include:
New Apple-designed Image Signal Processor, which processes over 100 billion operations on a single photo in as little as 25 milliseconds, resulting in incredible photos and videos;
New 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera with wide color capture, advanced pixel technology and auto image stabilization for even better selfies; and
New Quad-LED True Tone flash that is 50 percent brighter than iPhone 6s including an innovative sensor that detects the flickering in lights and compensates for it in videos and photos.

More Performance & Battery Life
The new custom-designed Apple A10 Fusion chip features a new architecture that powers these innovations, making it the most powerful chip ever in a smartphone, while also getting more time between charges with the longest battery life ever in an iPhone. The A10 Fusion’s CPU now has four cores, seamlessly integrating two high-performance cores that run up to two times faster than iPhone 6, and two high-efficiency cores that are capable of running at just one-fifth the power of the high-performance cores. Graphics performance is also more powerful, running up to three times faster than iPhone 6 at as little as half the power, enabling a new level of gaming and professional apps.

Both phones include support for up to 25 LTE bands, for the best worldwide roaming in the industry, and LTE Advanced for three times faster data rates than iPhone 6 at up to 450 Mbps.1 For customers in Japan, iPhone will now support the leading FeliCa contactless technology, bringing the ability to use credit and prepaid cards, including on iD and QuicPay domestic networks, and Suica, Japan’s dominant transit card issued by JR East, the world’s largest transit operator.
An Amazing Audio Experience

New stereo speakers offer amazing and immersive sound that is two times louder than iPhone 6s, offering increased dynamic range of sound and a higher quality speakerphone. The new iPhone comes with EarPods with Lightning connector to deliver incredible sound, as well as a 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter that allows customers to use old headphones and accessories.

New AirPods, Apple’s innovative new wireless headphones, weave simplicity and technology together to reinvent the wireless experience making headphones easy to use. Featuring the new Apple W1 chip, AirPods have extremely efficient wireless communication for a better connection, improved sound and industry-leading battery life. AirPods harness the power of Siri, allowing you to access your favorite personal assistant with just a double tap.

Design That Makes a Splash
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus come in a gorgeous design in silver, gold and rose gold finishes and introduce two all-new black finishes, a beautiful black finish that has an anodized matte appearance, and an innovative jet black finish that has a deep, high-gloss look. The new jet black finish is accomplished through an innovative nine-step process of anodization and polish for a uniform, glossy finish. An entirely reengineered enclosure results in a water resistant iPhone offering protection like never before against spills, splashes and dust.2

The new iPhone features the brightest, most colorful Retina HD display ever in an iPhone, now with a wide color gamut for cinema-standard colors, greater color saturation and the best color management in the smartphone industry. An all-new, advanced, solid-state Home button on iPhone 7 is designed to be durable and responsive, and working in tandem with the new Taptic Engine, provides more precise and customizable tactile feedback.

Featuring iOS 10, the Biggest iOS Release Ever

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus come with iOS 10, the biggest release ever of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. iOS 10 introduces a huge update to Messages that delivers more expressive and animated ways to message friends and family, the ability for Siri to do more by working with apps, new ways to interact with apps and even more places to use 3D Touch, beautifully redesigned Maps, Photos, Apple Music and News apps, and the Home app, delivering a simple and secure way to manage home automation products in one place. iOS 10 also opens up incredible opportunities for developers with Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages APIs, allowing customers to do more than ever with the apps they love to use.
Pricing & Availability

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and the new black finish in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models starting at $649 (US), and the new jet black finish will be offered exclusively on the 128GB and 256GB models from apple.com, Apple Stores, Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers.

Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, customers in the US, and for the first time in the UK and China, can get an unlocked iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year. The iPhone Upgrade Program is available at apple.com and Apple Stores in the US with monthly payments starting at $32.3

Customers will be able to order iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus beginning Friday, September 9, with availability beginning Friday, September 16, in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, US Virgin Islands and the US.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Slovenia beginning Friday, September 23. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will also be available to customers in India beginning Friday, October 7.

The new Apple-designed wireless AirPods including charging case will be available for $159 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores beginning in late October. All iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models will include EarPods with Lightning Connector and a Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter, also sold separately at apple.com and Apple Stores, for $29 (US) and $9 (US), respectively.

Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colors will be available starting at $35 (US) and iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case will be offered in black and white for $99 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores. Lightning Docks in several color-matching metallic finishes will also be available for $49 (US).

Every customer who buys iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup, in-store or online4, to help them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.

Anyone who wants to learn more about iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus or iOS 10 can register for the free workshops offered at every Apple Store

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced iPhone XR, integrating breakthrough technologies from iPhone XS in an all-screen glass and aluminum design with the most advanced LCD in a smartphone featuring a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display and six beautiful finishes. iPhone XR brings the powerful A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine, the TrueDepth camera system, Face ID and an advanced camera system that creates dramatic portraits using a single camera lens. iPhone XR will be available to pre-order beginning Friday, October 19 and in stores beginning Friday, October 26.

iPhone XR comes in six new finishes: white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED.
“iPhone XR helps us reach even more people with the latest iPhone innovations. It is packed with the newest technologies including a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display that goes edge to edge, the latest TrueDepth camera with faster Face ID authentication, new 7-nanometer A12 Bionic chip with second generation Neural Engine and a 12-megapixel camera that takes advanced Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The new iPhone XR has a gorgeous new aerospace-grade aluminum and glass enclosure that has IP67 protection from liquids and dust, long all-day battery life and comes in six beautiful finishes. iPhone XR makes it possible for even more people to have the great experience of the latest iPhone X technology, in beautiful new designs, at a more affordable price.”

The advanced camera system creates dramatic portraits using a single camera lens.
Groundbreaking Aluminum and Glass Design in Six New Finishes
A stunning all-screen design pushes the display of iPhone XR to its edges. The most durable front glass ever in a smartphone is wrapped in an elegantly matched anodized band made from durable 7000 series aerospace-grade aluminum, and the glass back design enables wireless charging.
iPhone XR comes in six new finishes: white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED. A seven-layer color process gives the glass back beautiful nuanced hues, and the aluminum band and camera trim are color matched to give a sophisticated finish. This new design is splash and water resistant, with a rating of IP67, and protects against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda.1

iPhone XR is splash- and water-resistant rated IP67 and protects against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda.
A portion of proceeds for iPhone XR (PRODUCT)RED purchases will go directly to Global Fund HIV/AIDS grants that provide testing, counseling, treatment and prevention programs with a specific focus on eliminating transmission of the virus from mothers to their babies.
Most Advanced LCD in a Smartphone
The beautiful 6.1-inch all-screen Liquid Retina display2 is the most color accurate in the industry, with wide color support and True Tone for a more natural viewing experience. Precision-milled glass, advanced pixel masking and sub-pixel antialiasing allows the display to follow the curves of the device, while a new backlight design enables the display to stretch into the corners.

A beautiful 6.1-inch all-screen Liquid Retina display stretches into the corners of iPhone XR and is the most advanced LCD in a smartphone.
iPhone XR supports fast and fluid iPhone gestures like tap to wake, swipe up to the home screen, swipe down to access notifications and the Control Center, and the new haptic touch feature for pressing on the home screen to instantly launch the camera or flashlight.
A12 Bionic Chip with Next-Generation Neural Engine
The Apple-designed A12 Bionic, the smartest and most powerful chip in a smartphone, features the first 7-nanometer chip ever in a smartphone that delivers industry-leading performance in a more power-efficient design. A12 Bionic features a six-core fusion architecture with two performance cores that are up to 15 percent faster, four efficiency cores that are up to 50 percent more efficient, a four-core GPU that is up to 50 percent faster, powerful Apple-designed Image Signal Processor (ISP), video encoder and more. All of this unlocks new experiences for games, photography, video editing and graphics-intensive apps while still offering great battery life. Even with all this power, iPhone XR lasts up to an hour and a half longer than iPhone 8 Plus.

A12 Bionic unlocks new experiences for AR, games, photography, video editing, graphics-intensive apps and more.
The next-generation Neural Engine is built for advanced machine learning in everything from photography to augmented reality. A new eight-core design allows it to complete up to 5 trillion operations per second compared to 600 billion in A11 Bionic. This enables new capabilities like faster plane detection for ARKit and new features that use real-time machine learning. For the first time the Neural Engine is open to Core ML, empowering developers to build apps that utilize this highly efficient machine learning engine. Core ML running on the A12 Bionic Neural Engine is up to nine times faster than on A11 Bionic, with as little as one-tenth the energy usage.
Face ID, The Most Secure Facial Authentication System Ever in a Smartphone
Face ID is faster on iPhone XR, enabled by software optimizations and a faster secure enclave. The TrueDepth camera system uses precision depth-sensing technology that goes far beyond the capabilities and security of two-dimensional facial scanners to unlock iPhone, use Apple Pay, gain access to secure apps and many more features with just a simple glance.

iPhone XR includes Face ID, the most secure facial authentication system ever in a smartphone.
Advanced Single Lens Wide-Angle Camera
iPhone XR features a 12-megapixel f/1.8 aperture wide-angle lens with an all-new sensor, delivering faster auto-focus, while larger and deeper pixels improve image fidelity and low-light performance on photos and videos. Improvements to the ISP, Neural Engine and improved software algorithms enable portrait photos with a beautiful bokeh effect. Smart HDR brings better highlight and shadow detail across photos.

Featuring the same 12MP f/1.8 aperture wide-angle lens camera as iPhone XS for stunning photos and videos.
New Depth Control allows users to adjust the depth of field both in real-time preview3 and post-capture to create striking portraits with a beautiful bokeh effect. Selfies have never looked better with an enhanced Portrait mode on the front-facing TrueDepth camera and Portrait Lighting for dramatic studio lighting effects.

iPhone XR introduces Portrait mode with a single-lens camera with sophisticated bokeh, and Depth Control lets you adjust the depth of field.
iPhone XR showing Portrait mode.

iPhone XR introduces Portrait mode with a single-lens camera with sophisticated bokeh, and Depth Control lets you adjust the depth of field.
iPhone XR introduces Portrait mode with a single-lens camera with sophisticated bokeh, and Depth Control lets you adjust the depth of field. iPhone XR introduces Portrait mode with a single-lens camera with sophisticated bokeh, and Depth Control lets you adjust the depth of field.
Wireless Technologies
iPhone XR uses LTE Advanced for fast download speeds4 and introduces Dual SIM5 through the use of a nano-SIM and digital eSIM.
Featuring iOS 12
iPhone XR comes with iOS 12, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. iOS 12 changes the way iOS users see the world using augmented reality, helps people rediscover and share photos, and makes communications more expressive and fun with new Animoji and Memoji. Screen Time helps customers understand and take control of the time they spend interacting with their iOS devices, Siri Shortcuts give any app the ability to work with Siri and new privacy features help protect users from being tracked on the web.

The TrueDepth Camera on iPhone XR enables Portrait mode selfies, Animoji and Memoji.
Pricing and Availability
iPhone XR will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED starting at $749 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, customers in the US can get iPhone XR with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier (no multiyear service contract required) and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year. The iPhone Upgrade Program is available for iPhone XR at apple.com and Apple Stores in the US with monthly payments starting at $37.41.
Customers will be able to pre-order iPhone XR beginning Friday, October 19 with availability beginning Friday, October 26, in more than 50 countries and territories including Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE, UK, US and US Virgin Islands.
With Apple GiveBack, customers in the US can trade in their eligible device for an Apple Store Gift Card or a refund on their purchase. If their device isn’t eligible for credit, Apple will recycle it for free.
Every customer who buys iPhone XR from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup in-store or online to help them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.
Anyone who wants to learn more or go further with iPhone XR or iOS 12 can sign up for free Today at Apple sessions at apple.com/today.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple® today introduced beautiful new Apple Watch® cases and bands, available starting today, including new gold and rose gold aluminum Apple Watch Sport models. Since its release, Apple Watch has helped users receive and respond to notifications, interact by simply speaking to Siri®, conveniently use Apple Pay™ and track their health and fitness activity. watchOS™ 2 arrives as a free update on September 16 and further enhances this groundbreaking experience with new features and native third-party apps.

watchOS 2 makes apps faster and more fluid by running natively on Apple Watch, and introduces new watch faces, the ability for third-party apps to display information on the watch face as complications, and an innovative way to see future events, past headlines and more with Time Travel. watchOS 2 also includes new communication features such as the ability to respond quickly to Mail with dictation, Smart Replies or emoji, and Digital Touch enables more creativity with multiple sketch colors.

“Our customers love Apple Watch and tell us its incredible health and fitness features are having a huge impact on their lives,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations. “We’re excited to expand Apple Watch’s functionality with watchOS 2 and offer even more personal choice with beautiful new styles and colors.”

Expanded Assortment of Apple Watch Styles
Apple Watch collections are expanding with new case colors and fresh new bands. With new standalone Sport Bands that range from rich vibrant colors to more neutral tones, Apple Watch is now more customizable than ever:
Apple Watch Sport’s lightweight anodized aluminum case now comes in two new beautiful colors, gold aluminum and rose gold aluminum paired with high-performance fluoroelastomer Sport Bands in lavender, antique white, stone and midnight blue.
Apple Watch Sport silver aluminum is now available with new orange or blue Sport Bands.
The stainless steel Apple Watch collection offers a variety of new bands including a two-toned Classic Buckle in black or saddle brown.
The Apple Watch space black stainless steel case is now available with a black Sport Band.
Apple Watch Edition now includes an 18-karat rose gold case with a midnight blue Classic Buckle.

Apple Watch joins Apple’s commitment to (PRODUCT)RED with a stainless steel case and a (PRODUCT)RED Sport Band with a portion of the proceeds going to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.

Apple Watch bands for the entire Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch collections are available to purchase separately, along with four new Sport Band colors in fog, turquoise, vintage rose and walnut.

View the full line-up in the Apple Watch gallery.

watchOS 2 & Native Third-Party Apps
watchOS 2, the first major software update for Apple Watch, available September 16, provides even more ways to customize with new watch faces including Photo, Photo Album and Time-Lapse. Watch faces are even richer with third-party app complications that let users see news headlines, upcoming flight times and more. Time Travel allows users to conveniently explore events in the future by scrolling the Digital Crown™.

Apple Watch app developers can now take advantage of key hardware and APIs to create fast, fluid, native third-party apps such as playing back video in the CNN app, using the speaker and microphone in iTranslate or measuring heart rate while cycling with Strava.

Pricing & Availability
Shipping today, Apple Watch is available on Apple.com and will be available in Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers, specialty stores and department stores over the next few days. For local availability, visit locate.apple.com.

Apple Watch is available in two different sizes, 38 mm and 42 mm, in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, starting at $349 (US); Apple Watch, starting at $549 (US); and Apple Watch Edition, crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, with prices starting at $10,000 (US).

Apple Watch requires iPhone® 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus running iOS 8.2 or later.* watchOS 2 and iOS 9 will be available beginning Wednesday, September 16 as a free software update.

*To use all watchOS 2 features, download iOS 9.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms — iOS, OS X and watchOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

CUPERTINO, California ―Apple® today announced that customers can start making payments with the touch of a finger. Apple Pay™ is now available in the US. Apple Pay offers an easy, secure and private way to pay using Touch ID™ on iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in stores and within apps. Users of the just-announced iPad Air™ 2 and iPad mini™ 3 will be able to use Touch ID on their devices for Apple Pay within apps. The new service will be enabled by a free software update to iOS 8.

“Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The reaction to Apple Pay has been amazing. We continue to add more Apple Pay ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay.”

“We are excited to make it easier and more convenient for our customers to shop at Whole Foods Market,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. “We are thrilled to be one of the first retailers to accept Apple Pay across all of our locations nationwide as it offers our shoppers a fast, private and secure check out option at our stores.”

Apple Pay is designed to protect the user’s personal information. It doesn’t collect any transaction information that can be tied back to a user and payment transactions are between the user, the merchant and the user’s bank. Apple doesn’t collect your purchase history, so when you are shopping in a store or restaurant we don’t know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid for it. Actual card numbers are not stored on the device, instead, a unique Device Account Number is created, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element of the device. The Device Account Number in the Secure Element is walled off from iOS and not backed up to iCloud®.

Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by the top US banks. In addition to American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and others, who announced support in September, more than 500 new banks from across the country have signed on to Apple Pay. Users can make purchases in stores and within apps, with credit cards issued by many of the leading banks nationwide, which make up 83 percent of the credit card purchase volume in the US.*

Apple Pay in stores is fast and easy to use. Simply hold iPhone near the contactless reader while keeping a finger on Touch ID. In addition to the 262 Apple retail stores in the US, availability from leading retailers at launch include: Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Babies”R”Us, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Bloomingdale’s, Champs Sports, Chevron and Texaco retail stores including ExtraMile, Disney Store, Duane Reade, Footaction, Foot Locker, House of Hoops by Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Nike, Office Depot, Panera Bread, Petco, RadioShack, RUN by Foot Locker, SIX:02, Sports Authority, SUBWAY, Toys”R”Us, Unleashed by Petco, Walgreens, Wegmans and Whole Foods Market. In addition, many others will add support this year, such as Anthropologie, Free People, Sephora, Staples, Urban Outfitters, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and more.

Checkout is simple and can happen with a single touch—there’s no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information. Your actual card number is kept private and not shared with the online merchant. Online shopping within apps allows users to pay for physical goods and services including apparel, electronics, health and beauty products, tickets and more. Apps with the ability to use Apple Pay at launch include: Apple Store app, Chairish, Fancy, Groupon, HotelTonight, Houzz, Instacart, Lyft, OpenTable, Panera Bread, Spring, Staples, Target and Uber. Many more will support Apple Pay by the end of this year with popular apps such as Airbnb, Disney Store, Eventbrite, JackThreads, Levi’s® Stadium by VenueNext, Sephora, Starbucks, StubHub, Ticketmaster and Tickets.com, among others.

Leading payment solution providers and terminal suppliers such as Adyen, Authorize.Net, Bank of America Merchant Services, Braintree, CyberSource, Chase Paymentech, First Data, Heartland Payment Systems, iMobile3, NCR, Oracle’s Micros, Stripe, TSYS and VeriFone, among others, are working to bring merchants in stores and in apps the ability to easily, securely and privately accept payments using Apple Pay.

Availability
Apple Pay will be available in the US starting Monday, October 20 with iOS 8.1. For shopping in stores, Apple Pay will work with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and with Apple Watch™, upon availability. For online shopping within apps, Apple Pay is available on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Users should contact their bank to determine their card’s eligibility, some banks may not support all card types. Apple Pay will be available in select retailers and apps in 2014. For more information visit www.apple.com/apple-pay.

* American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo at availability with additional banks coming quickly thereafter including Barclaycard, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC Bank, USAA and U.S. Bank.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced iPhone X, the future of the smartphone, in a gorgeous all-glass design with a beautiful 5.8-inch Super Retina display, A11 Bionic chip, wireless charging and an improved rear camera with dual optical image stabilization. iPhone X delivers an innovative and secure new way for customers to unlock, authenticate and pay using Face ID, enabled by the new TrueDepth camera. iPhone X will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, October 27 in more than 55 countries and territories, and in stores beginning Friday, November 3.

The device is the display on iPhone X, featuring the first OLED screen that rises to the standards of iPhone.

“For more than a decade, our intention has been to create an iPhone that is all display. The iPhone X is the realization of that vision,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer. “With the introduction of iPhone ten years ago, we revolutionized the mobile phone with Multi-Touch. iPhone X marks a new era for iPhone — one in which the device disappears into the experience.”

The all-glass front and back on iPhone X feature the most durable glass ever in a smartphone in two beautiful colors, silver and space gray.

“iPhone X is the future of the smartphone. It is packed with incredible new technologies, like the innovative TrueDepth camera system, beautiful Super Retina display and super fast A11 Bionic chip with neural engine,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone X enables fluid new user experiences — from unlocking your iPhone with Face ID, to playing immersive AR games, to sharing Animoji in Messages — it is the beginning of the next ten years for iPhone.”
Gorgeous All-Screen Design

The Super Retina display employs new techniques and technology to precisely follow the curves of the design, all the way to the elegantly rounded corners.

iPhone X introduces a revolutionary design with a stunning all-screen display that precisely follows the curve of the device, clear to the elegantly rounded corners. The all-glass front and back feature the most durable glass ever in a smartphone in silver or space gray, while a highly polished, surgical-grade stainless steel band seamlessly wraps around and reinforces iPhone X. A seven-layer color process allows for precise color hues and opacity on the glass finish, and a reflective optical layer enhances the rich colors, making the design as elegant as it is durable, while maintaining water and dust resistance.1

The beautiful 5.8-inch Super Retina display2 is the first OLED panel that rises to the standards of iPhone, with stunning colors, true blacks, a million-to-one contrast ratio and wide color support with the best system-wide color management in a smartphone. The HDR display supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, which together make photo and video content look even more amazing. The addition of True Tone dynamically adjusts the white balance of the display to match the surrounding light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience.

iOS 11 is redesigned to take full advantage of the Super Retina display and replaces the Home button with fast and fluid gestures, allowing customers to naturally and intuitively navigate iPhone X. Simply swipe up from the bottom to go home from anywhere.
Face ID, a Powerful and Secure Authentication System

Face ID on iPhone X introduces a revolutionary new way to securely unlock, authenticate and pay.
Face ID revolutionizes authentication on iPhone X, using a state-of-the-art TrueDepth camera system made up of a dot projector, infrared camera and flood illuminator, and is powered by A11 Bionic to accurately map and recognize a face. These advanced depth-sensing technologies work together to securely unlock iPhone, enable Apple Pay, gain access to secure apps and many more new features.

Face ID projects more than 30,000 invisible IR dots. The IR image and dot pattern are pushed through neural networks to create a mathematical model of your face and send the data to the secure enclave to confirm a match, while adapting to physical changes in appearance over time. All saved facial information is protected by the secure enclave to keep data extremely secure, while all of the processing is done on-device and not in the cloud to protect user privacy. Face ID only unlocks iPhone X when customers look at it and is designed to prevent spoofing by photos or masks.

iPhone X features the 7MP TrueDepth camera and a redesigned 12MP rear camera with dual OIS.
The new 7-megapixel TrueDepth camera that enables Face ID features wide color capture, auto image stabilization and precise exposure control, and brings Portrait mode to the front camera for stunning selfies with a depth-of-field effect.

iPhone X also features a redesigned dual 12-megapixel rear camera system with dual optical image stabilization. The ƒ/1.8 aperture on the wide-angle camera joins an improved ƒ/2.4 aperture on the telephoto camera for better photos and videos. A new color filter, deeper pixels and an improved Apple-designed image signal processor delivers advanced pixel processing, wide color capture, faster autofocus in low light and better HDR photos. A new quad LED True Tone Flash offers twice the uniformity of light and includes Slow Sync, resulting in more uniformly lit backgrounds and foregrounds.

The new camera in iPhone X features a larger and faster sensor, new color filter, deeper pixels and OIS for capturing vibrant photos and videos with more detail.

The cameras on iPhone X are custom tuned for the ultimate AR experience. Each camera is individually calibrated, with new gyroscopes and accelerometers for accurate motion tracking. The A11 Bionic CPU handles world tracking, scene recognition and the GPU enables incredible graphics at 60fps, while the image signal processor does real-time lighting estimation. With ARKit, iOS developers can take advantage of the TrueDepth camera and the rear cameras to create games and apps offering fantastically immersive and fluid experiences that go far beyond the screen.

Natural Light: The subject’s face is in sharp focus against a blurred background. Studio Light: A clean look with the subject’s face brightly lit. Contour Light: Dramatic shadows with highlights and lowlights. Stage Light: The subject’s face is spotlit against a deep black background. Stage Light Mono: Like Stage Light, but in classic black and white.

The new camera also delivers the highest quality video capture ever in a smartphone, with better video stabilization, 4K video up to 60fps and 1080p slo-mo up to 240fps. The Apple-designed video encoder provides real-time image and motion analysis for optimal quality video.
Portrait mode with Portrait Lighting on both the front and rear cameras brings dramatic studio lighting effects to iPhone and allows customers to capture stunning portraits with a shallow depth-of-field effect in five different lighting styles.3

With iOS 11, iPhone X supports HEIF and HEVC for up to two times compression and storage for twice the photos and videos.

iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions. iPhone X users can record and send Animoji messages that mirror their facial expressions.

The TrueDepth camera brings emoji to life in a fun new way with Animoji. Working with A11 Bionic, the TrueDepth camera captures and analyzes over 50 different facial muscle movements, then animates those expressions in a dozen different Animoji, including a panda, unicorn and robot. Available as an iMessage app pre-installed on iPhone X, customers can record and send Animoji messages with their voice that can smile, frown and more.

Introducing A11 Bionic
A11 Bionic, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone, features a six-core CPU design with two performance cores that are 25 percent faster and four efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster than the A10 Fusion, offering industry-leading performance and energy efficiency. A new, second-generation performance controller can harness all six cores simultaneously, delivering up to 70 percent greater performance for multi-threaded workloads, giving customers more power while lasting two hours longer than iPhone 7. A11 Bionic also integrates an Apple-designed GPU with a three-core design that delivers up to 30 percent faster graphics performance than the previous generation. All this power enables incredible new machine learning, AR apps and immersive 3D games.

The neural engine in A11 Bionic is purpose-built for machine learning, augmented reality apps and immersive 3D games.

The new A11 Bionic neural engine is a dual-core design and performs up to 600 billion operations per second for real-time processing. A11 Bionic neural engine is designed for specific machine learning algorithms and enables Face ID, Animoji and other features.
Designed for a Wireless Future

The new Apple-designed AirPower mat, coming in 2018, can charge iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously.

The glass back design enables a world-class wireless charging solution. Wireless charging works with the established Qi ecosystem, including two new wireless charging mats from Belkin and mophie, available from apple.com and Apple Stores.

The glass back design on iPhone X enables a world-class wireless charging solution.
Apple gave a sneak peek of AirPower, an Apple-designed wireless charging accessory coming in 2018, which offers a generous active charging area that will allow iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X customers to simultaneously charge up to three devices, including Apple Watch Series 3 and a new optional wireless charging case for AirPods.

Pricing and Availability
iPhone X will be available in silver and space gray in 64GB and 256GB models starting at $999 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and carriers (prices may vary).

Through Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program, customers in the US can get iPhone X, with the protection of AppleCare+, choose their carrier (no multiyear service contract required) and have the opportunity to upgrade to a new iPhone every year. The iPhone Upgrade Program is available for iPhone X at apple.com and Apple Stores in the US with monthly payments starting at $49.91.4

Customers will be able to order iPhone X beginning Friday, October 27, with availability beginning Friday, November 3, in Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands.

Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colors will be available starting at $35 (US), while a new iPhone X Leather Folio will be available for $99 (US). Lightning Docks in color-matching metallic finishes will also be available for $49 (US), prices may vary.
Every customer who buys iPhone X from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup in-store or online to help them customize their iPhone by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.5

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

CUPERTINO, California —Apple® today announced it has agreed to acquire the critically acclaimed subscription streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple. Apple is acquiring the two companies for a total of $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time.

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”

“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Jimmy Iovine. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”

Iovine has been at the forefront of innovation in the music industry for decades, and he has been an instrumental partner for Apple and iTunes® for more than a decade. He has produced or collaborated with some of the most successful artists in the history of the iTunes Store®, helping make it the world’s number one music retailer. Iovine and Dr. Dre are sound pioneers, artists and entrepreneurs.

Beats Electronics has brought the energy, emotion and excitement of playback in the recording studio back to the listening experience and has introduced an entirely new generation to premium sound entertainment. Beats Music was developed by a team of people who have each spent their entire career in music and provides music fans with an incredible curated listening experience.

“Music is such an important part of Apple’s DNA and always will be,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The addition of Beats will make our music lineup even better, from free streaming with iTunes Radio to a world-class subscription service in Beats, and of course buying music from the iTunes Store as customers have loved to do for years.”

In just five years since launch, the Beats “b” has become the brand of choice in the music and sports worlds, and is the market leader in the premium headphone market. Music superstars including Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj have designed their own customized Beats headphones and speakers. Fashion designers and street artists such as Alexander Wang, Futura and Snarkitecture have collaborated on special limited products, while renowned athletes including LeBron James, Serena Williams and Neymar use Beats as a critical part of their training and game day process. Beats has quickly become part of pop culture in the US and with the acquisition the Beats product lineup will be offered in many more countries through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

Subject to regulatory approvals, Apple expects the transaction to close in fiscal Q4.

Formally established in 2008 as the brainchild of legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records Jimmy Iovine, Beats Electronics (Beats) comprises the Beats by Dr. Dre family of premium consumer headphones, earphones, and speakers as well as patented Beats Audio software technology and streaming music subscription service Beats Music. Through these offerings, Beats has effectively brought the energy, emotion and excitement of playback in the recording studio to the listening experience and has introduced an entirely new generation to the possibilities of premium sound entertainment.

Beats Music is a subscription streaming music service that focuses on providing a personalized music experience for each user through a unique blend of digital innovation and musical passion. Programmed by a trusted team of well-respected music experts with over 300 years of experience across all genres, Beats Music delivers the right music for any situation, any time, and any preference, personalized to your tastes. The result is an artist-friendly digital music service that does more than simply offer access to music, but one that establishes an emotional connection to it as well.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

This news is courtesy of www.apple.com

CUPERTINO, California —Apple® today unveiled Apple Watch™—its most personal device ever—featuring revolutionary new technologies and a pioneering user interface with a beautiful design that honors the rich tradition of precision watchmaking. Apple Watch introduces a specially designed and engineered Digital Crown that provides an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate. The Digital Crown is Apple’s most revolutionary navigation tool since the iPod® Click Wheel and iPhone® Multi-Touch™. Apple Watch will enable you to communicate in new ways right from your wrist by sending and receiving messages, answering calls to your iPhone, and with Digital Touch, sending something as personal as your own heartbeat. Apple Watch also introduces comprehensive health and fitness apps that can help people lead healthier lives. Apple Watch is available in three distinct collections—Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.

“Apple introduced the world to several category-defining products, the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “And once again Apple is poised to captivate the world with a revolutionary product that can enrich people’s lives. It’s the most personal product we’ve ever made.”

“With Apple Watch, we’ve developed multiple technologies and an entirely new user interface specifically for a device that’s designed to be worn. It blurs the boundary between physical object and user interface,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Design. “We’ve created an entire range of products that enable unparalleled personalization.”

Apple Watch introduces a revolutionary design and iOS-based user interface created specifically for a smaller device. Apple Watch features the Digital Crown, an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly, without obstructing the display. The Digital Crown also serves as the Home button and a convenient way to access Siri®. The Retina® display on Apple Watch features Force Touch, a technology that senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly and easily access controls within apps. Apple Watch introduces the Taptic Engine and a built-in speaker that together discreetly enable an entirely new vocabulary of alerts and notifications you can both hear and feel. Apple custom-designed its own S1 SiP (System in Package) to miniaturize an entire computer architecture onto a single chip. Apple Watch also features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 to pair seamlessly with your iPhone.

Apple Watch comes in three distinct collections—Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition—available in two different sizes, 38 mm and 42 mm. The beautifully designed and durable enclosures are crafted from custom alloys of polished or space black stainless steel, space gray or silver anodized aluminum and 18-karat rose or yellow gold. Apple also created an entire range of watch straps: the high-performance elastomer Sport Band; the Milanese Loop in a flexible magnetic stainless steel mesh; the Leather Loop in soft, quilted leather that conceals magnets for quick fastening and adjustment; the leather Modern Buckle, which closes with a solid metal clasp; the leather Classic Buckle; and the stainless steel Link Bracelet. Apple Watch comes with a unique charging system that combines Apple’s MagSafe® technology with inductive charging for a quick connection that snaps into place.

Apple Watch is an extremely accurate timepiece that’s also customizable for personal expression. Apple Watch comes with 11 watch faces ranging from traditional analog faces to new faces like the dynamic Timelapse face; the Astronomy face with its interactive, real-time 3D model of the earth, sun, moon and planets; and the Solar face, a contemporary sundial. Apple Watch can be personalized in appearance and capability with additional information such as upcoming events, moonphases or your activity level, enabling millions of possible configurations.

Taking advantage of its location on your wrist, Apple Watch provides timely information that can be viewed at a glance. Smart Replies and dictation let you respond quickly to messages, and with Handoff, you can start a message on your Apple Watch and continue where you left off on your iPhone. Swipe up from the watch face for Glances that quickly show you information you care about, such as your current location, stocks or your next meeting. Pressing the side button brings up Friends, a view of your favorite people, so you can contact them quickly and easily. Digital Touch allows you to send a sketch, a gentle tap, an audio message through Walkie Talkie or even your own heartbeat. Apple Watch lets you interact quickly and conveniently with the world around you, so you can pay for coffee using Apple Pay™,* board a plane with a Passbook® boarding pass, control your Apple TV® or get directions.

Apple Watch includes a groundbreaking Activity app designed to help motivate you to be more active throughout the day, and an all-new Workout app designed to provide the metrics you need during dedicated workout sessions. Apple Watch uses the accelerometer, a built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone to provide a comprehensive picture of your daily activity. The Activity app measures three separate aspects of movement: calories burned, brisk activity and how often you stand up during the day. The Workout app provides goal-setting and pacing during popular session-based workouts, such as running and cycling. The companion Fitness app on iPhone collects your activity data so you can see your activity history in greater detail. Apple Watch uses this history to suggest personal, realistic goals, reward fitness milestones and keep you motivated.

Apple introduces WatchKit, providing new tools and APIs for developers to create unique experiences designed for the wrist. With Apple Watch, developers can create WatchKit apps with actionable notifications and Glances that provide timely information. Starting later next year, developers will be able to create fully native apps for Apple Watch.

I-Phone 6
Apple® today announced iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the biggest advancements in iPhone history, featuring two new models with stunning 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch Retina HD displays, and packed with innovative technologies in an all-new dramatically thin and seamless design. The new iPhones feature a precision unibody enclosure of anodized aluminum that conforms seamlessly with the shaped glass of the display, resulting in a completely smooth and continuous surface. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are engineered to be the thinnest ever, delivering a bigger display in a design that is still comfortable to hold and easy to use.

Packed with innovative new technologies, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus include: the Apple-designed A8 chip with second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture for blazing fast performance and power efficiency; advanced iSight® and FaceTime® HD cameras; ultrafast wireless technologies; and Apple Pay™, an easier way to simply and securely make payments with just the touch of a finger.¹ Both models include iOS 8, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, featuring a simpler, faster and more intuitive user experience with new Messages and Photos features, QuickType™ keyboard, a new Health app, Family Sharing and iCloud Drive℠.

“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the biggest advancements in iPhone history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The iPhone is the most loved smartphone in the world with the highest customer satisfaction in the industry and we are making it much better in every way. Only Apple can combine the best hardware, software and services at this unprecedented level and we think customers are going to love it.”

For the first time iPhone is available in two new sizes: iPhone 6 features a stunning 4.7-inch Retina® HD display with 1334 x 750 resolution, providing 38 percent more viewing area than iPhone 5s, while iPhone 6 Plus features an even bigger 5.5-inch Retina HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, providing 88 percent more viewing area and nearly three times the pixels than iPhone 5s. The Retina HD displays offer advanced technologies including higher contrast for deeper blacks and dual-domain pixels for more accurate colors at wider viewing angles.

With second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture, the all-new A8 chip offers faster performance and is more energy efficient, delivering higher sustained performance with great battery life. With Metal™, a new graphics technology in iOS 8, developers can take performance of the A8 chip even further to bring console-class 3D games to iPhone. The A8 chip also includes a new, powerful Apple-designed image signal processor that enables advanced camera and video features.

Both models include the M8 motion coprocessor that gathers motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and the new barometer, which senses air pressure to provide relative elevation. The M8 motion coprocessor can continuously measure your motion data, even when the device is asleep, saving battery life for fitness apps that use the sensors all day. With iOS 8, motion data from M8 appears in the Health app so you can see how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed, or how far you’ve walked or run. Developers can use CoreMotion APIs that take advantage of M8 and HealthKit to create apps that help you take better care of your health and fitness.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus introduce Apple Pay, an easy way to securely pay for physical goods and services in stores or apps with just the touch of a finger. Users can pay securely and conveniently in stores by simply holding the phone near the contactless reader while keeping a finger on Touch ID™; there is no need to unlock your iPhone or launch an app. With Apple Pay, you can also make one-touch purchases within apps, without having to enter credit card or shipping information. All payment information is kept private, encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Element, a chip inside the new iPhones.

The iSight camera gets even better with a new sensor featuring Focus Pixels for faster autofocus, making it easier to quickly capture any moment. iPhone 6 Plus users will also benefit from optical image stabilization technology that compensates for hand shake in low light and works with iOS 8 to reduce subject motion. High-definition video on iPhone improves with faster frame rates up to 60fps for 1080p video and 240fps for slo-mo, as well as continuous autofocus, cinematic video stabilization and time-lapse video. The FaceTime HD camera now captures over 80 percent more light with a new sensor, larger f/2.2 aperture and advanced new features including burst mode and HDR video.

With faster LTE download speeds of up to 150 Mbps, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users can browse, download and stream content faster. The new iPhones also support high-quality voice calls over LTE (VoLTE) as well as Wi-Fi calling.² With support for up to 20 LTE wireless bands—more than any other smartphone in the world—the new models make it easier to experience high-speed networks around the world. Both iPhones also include 802.11ac Wi-Fi with speeds up to 433 Mbps and Bluetooth 4.0.³

The new iPhones come with iOS 8, the biggest release since the launch of the App Store℠, delivering a simpler, faster and more intuitive user experience and new features including QuickType keyboard, a new Health app, Family Sharing and iCloud Drive. With more than 4,000 new APIs, iOS 8 allows developers to further customize the user experience with major extensibility features and robust frameworks such as HealthKit and HomeKit. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users also have access to the revolutionary App Store, which offers more than 1.3 million apps to iPhone, iPad® and iPod touch® users in 155 countries around the world.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

SAN FRANCISCO ―Apple® today unveiled iOS 8, the biggest release since the launch of the App Store℠, giving users incredible new features and developers the tools to create amazing new apps. iOS 8 delivers a simpler, faster and more intuitive user experience, including iCloud® Photo Library, allowing you to enjoy your photos and videos more easily across your devices; new Messages features to easily share voice, video or photos with just a swipe; and an entirely new Health app that gives you a clear overview of your health and fitness data all in one place. iOS 8 also includes predictive typing for Apple’s QuickType™ keyboard; Family Sharing, the easiest way to share purchases, photos and calendars within the same household; and iCloud Drive™, so you can store files and access them from anywhere.

“iOS 8 offers simpler, faster and more intuitive ways to use your device with incredible new features like iCloud Photo Library, a new Messages app, the QuickType keyboard and an entirely new Health app,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We’re also giving developers amazing new tools to make managing your health and your home from your devices an integrated, simple and secure experience.”

In iOS 8, the Photos app and iCloud Photo Library give you access to all of your photos and videos anytime, anywhere. Your photos are easy to find and are organized consistently across your enabled devices. The Photos app can automatically straighten horizons and with smart editing tools, you can quickly adjust light and color or access individual tools for deeper fine-tuning. With iCloud Photo Library, every adjustment and effect is automatically updated across your devices.

Conversations in Messages become more immersive with the ability to communicate with just a swipe. Tap to Talk allows you to share your voice and the same simple gesture also works for sharing videos and photos within Messages. Group messaging now gives you the ability to add and remove contacts, leave a conversation and the option to not be disturbed. Users can easily browse through all of the photos and videos within a conversation and share multiple photos and videos at once. You can choose to share your current location from within Messages for an hour, a day or longer.

The new Health app gathers the information you choose from your various health apps and fitness devices, and provides you with a clear and current overview in one place. iOS 8 offers developers the ability for health and fitness apps to communicate with each other. With your permission, each app can use specific information from other apps to provide a more comprehensive way to manage your health and fitness. For example, the Nike+ apps using NikeFuel will be able to pull in other key HealthKit metrics such as sleep and nutrition to build a custom user profile and improve athletic performance.

New predictive typing for Apple’s QuickType keyboard is smarter and more personalized, and intelligently takes context into account, such as who the recipient is and in which app you’re typing. QuickType understands the way you communicate, suggesting favorite phrases, so you can write entire sentences with just a few taps. What the keyboard learns is encrypted on your device and never sent to the cloud.

iOS 8 introduces Family Sharing, making it easier than ever to communicate and share purchases, photos and calendars within the same household. Family members can browse and download each other’s iTunes®, iBooks® or App Store purchases. Up to six members can participate, each with their own Apple ID. Parents can create Apple IDs for children, which includes Ask to Buy, requiring parental permission for purchases. Family Sharing automatically keeps everyone connected by creating a shared family photo stream, shared calendar and provides an option for locating family members and their devices.

With iCloud Drive, documents of any type can be safely stored, accessed and edited across your devices. Make edits on one device and the most up-to-date version of your documents will be available across all devices, whether an iOS device, Mac®, Windows PC or on www.icloud.com. iCloud Drive brings a whole new level of collaboration between apps, providing seamless access and the ability to work on the same file across multiple apps.

For Enterprise, iOS 8 builds on the new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted. iOS 8 offers expanded security and management improvements as well as new productivity features, including an expanded level of data protection for key built-in apps, the ability to set your out of office response, see your colleague’s availability when scheduling a meeting and support for configurable Thread Notifications in Mail.

Additional iOS 8 features include:
• design enhancements that build off the stunning interface of iOS 7, bringing interactive notifications, quick access to key contacts, the ability to quickly switch back and forth between the inbox and drafts in Mail, as well as intelligent suggestions;
• extended Spotlight® capabilities that give you results beyond what’s on your device, including articles from Wikipedia, findings from the news and results from places nearby; and
• greater continuity between iPhone®, iPad® and Mac, including Handoff to start an activity on one device and finish on another, along with Instant Hotspot and the ability to make and receive calls and send SMS and MMS messages from your Mac or iPad.

The iOS 8 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. iOS 8 will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod touch® 5th generation, iPad 2, iPad with Retina® display, iPad Air™, iPad mini™ and iPad mini with Retina display. iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Drive use your iCloud storage with the first 5GB free. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

This news is courtesy of www.apple.com

CUPERTINO, California — Apple® today announced iPad® with Retina® display replaces iPad 2 as the most affordable 9.7-inch iPad at $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The fourth generation iPad features the amazing 9.7-inch Retina display, the Apple-designed A6X chip, ultrafast Wi-Fi, a 5MP iSight® camera which also captures 1080p HD video, a FaceTime® HD camera, and support for LTE carriers worldwide,¹ all while delivering up to 10 hours of battery life.² iPad with Retina display comes with iOS 7, featuring hundreds of great new features, including Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop®, enhanced Photos, Safari®, Siri® and iTunes Radio℠.³

“Now for $399 customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iPad line sets the gold-standard in mobile computing and all iPads have access to the largest and best ecosystem of more than 500,000 iPad optimized apps from the App Store.”

iPad customers have access to the revolutionary App Store℠, which offers more than one million apps to iPhone®, iPad and iPod touch® users in 155 countries around the world, and more than 500,000 apps are designed specifically for iPad. More than 65 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store, which offers customers an incredible range of apps in 24 categories, including newspapers and magazines in Newsstand, games and entertainment, kids, education, business, news, sports, health and fitness and travel. The iLife® suite of creative apps, including iPhoto®, iMovie® and GarageBand®, and the iWork® suite of productivity apps, including Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote® are essential to the Apple experience and are now free, so more iPad users have access to these great apps that are optimized to support 64-bit technology and include hundreds of new features.

Pricing & Availability
iPad with Retina display models in black or white are available for a suggested retail price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model for either AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon. Smart Cover® and Smart Case for iPad with Retina display are available in dark gray for $39 (US) and $49 (US) respectively through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Authorized Apple Resellers. iPad Air™ with Wi-Fi models are available in silver or space gray for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model and $799 (US) for the 128GB model. iPad Air with Wi-Fi + Cellular are available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model, $829 (US) for the 64GB model and $929 (US) for the 128GB model.

iPad mini™ with Retina display Wi-Fi models are available in silver or space gray for a suggested retail price of $399 (US) for the 16GB model, $499 (US) for the 32GB model, $599 (US) for the 64GB model and $699 (US) for the 128GB model. iPad mini with Retina display Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available for a suggested retail price of $529 (US) for the 16GB model, $629 (US) for the 32GB model, $729 (US) for the 64GB model and $829 (US) for the 128GB model. Additionally, the original iPad mini is offered at $299 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $429 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model for either AT&T, Sprint, T-mobile or Verizon.

¹LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks. Check with your carrier for details.
²Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
³iTunes Radio is available with iOS 7 in the US and Australia.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

This news is courtesy of www.apple.com

SAN FRANCISCO — March 9, 2015 — Apple® today announced that Apple Watch™, its most personal device yet and the newest innovative addition to Apple’s ecosystem, will be available on Friday, April 24 to customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US. Apple Watch is an incredibly accurate timepiece, an intimate and immediate communication device and a groundbreaking health and fitness companion. Highly customizable for personal expression, Apple Watch also brings an entirely new way to receive information at a glance and interact with the world through third-party app experiences designed specifically for the wrist.

“Apple Watch begins a new chapter in the way we relate to technology and we think our customers are going to love it,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait for people to start wearing Apple Watch to easily access information that matters, to interact with the world, and to live a better day by being more aware of their daily activity than ever before.”

“Conceived, designed and developed as a singular product, Apple Watch merges hardware and software like never before,” said Jony Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Design. “In Apple Watch, we’ve created three beautifully curated collections with a software architecture that together enable unparalleled personalization in a wearable device.”

Apple Watch introduces revolutionary technologies including the Digital Crown™, an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly without obstructing the display. The Retina® display with Force Touch on Apple Watch senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly and easily access relevant controls. The all-new Taptic Engine™ discreetly delivers a gentle tap on your wrist whenever you receive a notification or message.

Incredibly Accurate & Customizable Timepiece
An extremely precise timepiece, Apple Watch keeps time to within 50 milliseconds of UTC, the universal time standard.* Apple Watch can be personalized with watch faces ranging from traditional analog such as the Chronograph face, to the information-rich Modular face, or beautifully animated butterflies and jellyfish on the Motion face. Apple Watch goes beyond telling time with specialized functions on the watch face—known in watchmaking as complications—such as the sunrise/sunset, upcoming calendar events or daily activity level. With multiple customizable watch faces and complications, Apple Watch enables millions of possible configurations. Swipe up from the watch face for Glances that quickly show you information you care about, such as the weather forecast, your current location on a map or the music you’re listening to.

Intimate & Immediate Communication Device
Apple Watch enables you to send messages, read email and answer calls to your iPhone® right from your wrist. The Taptic Engine alerts you with a gentle tap so you won’t miss important notifications. With Digital Touch, Apple Watch allows you to communicate in all-new ways by sending a sketch, a tap or even the rhythm of your own heartbeat. Interact quickly and conveniently with the world around you with Apple Watch by paying for coffee using Apple Pay™**, boarding a plane with a Passbook® boarding pass, or raising your wrist to ask Siri® for turn-by-turn directions in Maps.

Groundbreaking Health & Fitness Companion
Apple Watch encourages you to sit less, move more and get some exercise every day. The Activity app provides a simple visual snapshot of your daily activity with three rings that measure active calories burned, brisk activity and how often you’ve stood up to take a break from sitting during the day. Apple Watch provides the detailed metrics you need during dedicated workout sessions for the most popular activities, such as walking, running and cycling through the Workout app. With an accelerometer, a built-in heart rate sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone, Apple Watch smartly uses the best sensors for different types of motion and provides a comprehensive picture of your all-day activity and workouts. The Activity app on iPhone collects your activity and workout data from Apple Watch so you can see your history in greater detail. Apple Watch uses this history to suggest personalized activity goals, reward fitness milestones and keep you motivated.

Apple Watch is available in two different sizes, 38 mm and 42 mm, and in three distinct collections—Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition. Apple Watch Sport features a lightweight anodized aluminum case in silver and space gray with a Retina display protected by strengthened Ion-X glass and matching high-performance fluoroelastomer Sport Band in five colors. The Apple Watch collection features highly polished stainless steel and space black stainless steel cases with a Retina display protected by sapphire crystal. The Apple Watch collection comes with a choice of three different leather straps, a stainless steel link bracelet and Milanese loop, and a black or white Sport Band. Apple Watch Edition features cases specially crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys developed to be twice as hard as standard gold, a Retina display protected by polished sapphire crystal and a choice of uniquely designed straps and bands with 18-karat gold clasps, buckles or pins.

The world’s most vibrant and innovative developer community has been creating all-new experiences specifically designed for Apple Watch. From requesting an Uber, checking in to your American Airlines flight, booking a bike for your Equinox class to remotely controlling your Honeywell Lyric thermostat while away, the possibilities for Apple Watch apps are endless. These experiences extend the functionality of your favorite iPhone apps, while delivering an innovative way to interact—right from your wrist. Popular apps such as Instagram, MLB.com At Bat, Nike+ Running, OpenTable, Shazam, Twitter, WeChat and more will also be available on Apple Watch. The new Apple Watch app that comes with iOS 8.2 on iPhone lets you browse, buy and download apps from the Apple Watch App Store™.

Designed to be worn throughout your day, Apple Watch delivers up to 18-hour all-day battery life*** and comes with a unique charging solution that combines Apple’s MagSafe® technology with inductive charging for a quick connection that simply snaps into place.

By design, the shopping experience for Apple Watch will be the most personalized Apple has ever offered. When Apple Watch becomes available for pre-order from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) on Friday, April 10, Apple retail stores and department store shop-in-shops will begin offering customers the chance to preview their choice of Apple Watch and try it on in-store.

Pricing & Availability
Beginning April 10 in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US, Apple Watch will be available for preview, try-on by appointment at Apple’s retail stores, and available for pre-order through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com). On April 24, Apple Watch will be available online or by reservation in Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan. Customers who purchase online or in-store from Apple will be offered Personal Setup to customize and pair Apple Watch with their iPhone.

Apple Watch is available in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, priced at $349 (US) and $399 (US); Apple Watch, available from $549 (US) to $1,099 (US); and Apple Watch Edition, crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, with prices starting at $10,000 (US).

Apple Watch will also be available to preview or try on at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo and Selfridges in London on April 10. Apple Watch will be for sale on April 24 at these select department store shop-in-shops, and at boutiques in major cities across the world including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin.

Starting today customers can explore and choose their favorite Apple Watch in the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) or through the Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad.

Apple Watch requires iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.2. or later. iOS 8.2 will be available for download today.

*Accuracy depends on regular syncing with iPhone.
**Apple Pay is only available in the US and through participating banks. See www.apple.com/apple-pay for details.
***Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results may vary.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

CUPERTINO, California— —Apple Watch™, Apple’s most personal device yet, will be available for preview and pre-order on Friday, April 10. Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US can try on and experience Apple Watch at their local Apple Store® or at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Isetan in Tokyo, Selfridges in London, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in Japan and China. Customers can pre-order their Apple Watch through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) beginning April 10 at 12:01 a.m. PDT for delivery beginning April 24.

“We are excited to welcome customers tomorrow and introduce them to Apple Watch, our most personal device yet. Based on the tremendous interest from people visiting our stores, as well as the number of customers who have gone to the Apple Online Store to mark their favorite Apple Watch ahead of availability, we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. “To provide the best experience and selection to as many customers as we can, we will be taking orders for Apple Watch exclusively online during the initial launch period.”

Customers interested in learning more about Apple Watch can visit their local Apple Store for a personalized session with a Specialist to try on, fit and size their band, and explore the amazing features of Apple Watch. Customers who want to try on an Apple Watch are encouraged to make an appointment by going to www.apple.com.

Starting Friday, customers can try on Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport or Apple Watch Edition* to find the model with the size, finish and band to best fit their personal preference and style. Everyone visiting an Apple Store will be able to view all three collections and get hands on with Apple Watch Demo to browse and edit different watch faces, and learn about Apple Watch’s health and fitness features, Digital Touch, Siri®, Apple Pay™** and more.
Pre-orders begin April 10 at 12:01 a.m. PDT through the Apple Online Store, the Apple Store app for iPhone® and iPad®, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan. Customers who pre-order their Apple Watch can have it shipped for delivery beginning April 24. All Apple Watch customers will be offered Personal Setup, online or in-store, to pair their Apple Watch with their iPhone. New owners will also learn how to personalize Apple Watch by selecting a watch face, deciding which notifications to receive, setting up the Activity app, and receive an introduction to Apple Pay** and the Apple Watch App Store™.

Beginning April 24, Apple Watch will also be available at boutiques in major cities including colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London and Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin, and select Apple Authorized Resellers in China and Japan.

Apple Watch is an incredibly accurate timepiece, an intimate and immediate communication device and a groundbreaking health and fitness companion. Highly customizable for personal expression, Apple Watch also brings an entirely new way to receive information at a glance and interact with the world through third-party app experiences designed specifically for the wrist.

Apple Watch introduces revolutionary technologies including the Digital Crown™, an innovative way to scroll, zoom and navigate fluidly without obstructing the display. The Retina® display with Force Touch on Apple Watch senses the difference between a tap and a press, providing a new way to quickly and easily access relevant controls. The all-new Taptic Engine™ discreetly delivers a gentle tap on your wrist whenever you receive a notification or message.

Pricing & Availability
Apple Watch is available in three collections, Apple Watch Sport, priced at $349 (US) and $399 (US); Apple Watch, available from $549 (US) to $1,099 (US); and Apple Watch Edition, crafted from custom rose or yellow 18-karat gold alloys, with prices starting at $10,000 (US).

More information about where to buy Apple Watch is available at locate.apple.com.

Apple Watch requires iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.2 or later.

*Apple Watch Edition is available for try-on at select stores.
**Apple Pay is only available in the US and through participating banks.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

NEW YORK and LONDON, May 16, 2021 — Arqit, a British company established in 2017, has announced the launch of a new quantum cybersecurity platform designed to solve current and future threats to the security of internet communications. The platform, QuantumCloud™, uses transformational innovation in both quantum physics and crypto-mathematics, and has been developed over the course of four years of collaboration with the UK Government, BT and Virgin Orbit.

The launch positions the British economy at the forefront of global innovation in quantum, space and cyber technology, and Arqit alone intends to create 2,000 high-tech jobs in the UK. Since 2017, Arqit has received significant financial support from the UK Government through various departments and innovation programs. Arqit is in a position now to announce that, as a result of Wednesday’s announced financing transaction, it will remain operationally headquartered in the UK.

Arqit and BT today further announced that BT has entered into a contract to become Arqit’s exclusive reseller in the UK, incorporating their products into its wider portfolio of Security solutions. BT was a foundational research partner for Arqit in 2017, and the companies intend to extend their collaboration to find new ways to develop the UK’s quantum communications infrastructure.

Virgin, which has itself a long history of pioneering in aerospace technology, has invested via its Virgin Orbit subsidiary in the Arqit financing transaction as well as signing contracts to launch the first two Arqit satellites, possibly from Cornwall in the UK, targeted for 2023.

Arqit’s mission is to use transformational quantum encryption technology to protect the data of our governments, enterprises and citizens. Over the past four years, Arqit has invented and patented technology which substantially extends the ability to provide the benefits of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to end point devices. QuantumCloud™ puts a lightweight agent at any end point device, which is able to rapidly create an unlimited number of symmetric keys with partner devices.

QuantumCloud™’s reach is due to be expanded further through the usage of pioneering satellite technology. Currently the symmetric keys used in data encryption are created terrestrially. However, by 2023 Arqit plans to launch two quantum satellites, which will build on established QKD protocols to extend the capability to both create and transmit a backbone of secure keys to the data centres of Arqit’s customers all over the world.

QuantumCloud™ is symmetric encryption reborn for the cloud, providing a significant improvement on legacy PKI encryption technology, and delivering future-ready protection against quantum-based attack. The US Government department NIST published a White Paper in April urging haste in the creation of new solutions to these problems – Arqit and its partners have achieved just such a solution.

Kwasi Kwarteng, BEIS SoS said: “Building back better from the pandemic means harnessing the latest developments in science and technology, so we want the UK to be the world’s first quantum- ready economy given its potential to deliver new jobs, skills and knowledge across Britain.

“Our National Quantum Technologies Programme, that is set to pass £1bn of public and private investment over its lifetime, is helping create a world leading quantum ecosystem here in UK, and supporting the commercial success of innovative quantum businesses.”

Howard Watson, Chief Technology Officer of BT said: “BT has been undertaking pioneering research in quantum security for many years, including working with Arqit on the research and concepts behind their technology. This launch is a great example of the innovation and capabilities that are being developed through collaboration across the UK’s technology ecosystem. We are proud to be providing this technology to UK customers, which will bolster our industry-leading security capabilities.”

Dan Hart, President and CEO of Virgin Orbit said: “The Virgin Group has been a long-term investor in space because of the transformational impact it will have on our world. At Virgin Orbit, we look for innovative companies to work with, and we are pleased to be Arqit’s satellite launch partner and to invest in its development. Arqit’s satellites will enable the company to further distribute its cutting-edge quantum encryption technology, which will drive and protect development across so many key sectors.”

Arqit Co-Founder and Chairman David Williams said: “This is a global business and we are proud to have on the team some of the finest minds and capabilities from the US military and cyber, space and cloud tech markets. Also the UK’s public and private start-up community must take considerable credit for providing the infrastructure and backing to build this business – which we believe will embed the UK at the heart of global cyber-security and quantum encryption commercial and government programmes for decades to come. In the course of the next few weeks and months we will be announcing a long list of international customer and partner initiatives which are testament to the regard in which the UK is held in this mission critical enterprise and we are grateful to the Government, BT, Virgin and other backers for their support in our development.”

About Arqit
Arqit has invented a unique quantum encryption technology which makes the communications links of any networked device secure against current and future forms of hacking – even an attack from a quantum computer. Arqit’s product, called QuantumCloud™ creates unbreakable software encryption keys which are easy and efficient to use remotely with no hardware or disruption to software required. The software has universal application to every edge device and cloud machine in the world.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in the United States, Arqit was founded in 2017 by UK satellite industry veteran David Williams. Arqit’s venture investors included Notion Capital, Seraphim Space, Evolution Equity and the UK government’s Future Fund.

About BT’s Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) programme:
BT has been actively developing security solutions for quantum communications towards commercialisation since 2014, as part of its wider programme to research the impact that quantum computing will have on telecommunications. BT leads and contributes to a number of collaborative projects in the field of QKD, providing insight from its own research and engaging with industry to standardise and integrate QKD into broader future-ready security solutions. In addition to our work with Arqit on satellite QKD, BT provided the first industrial deployment of a QKD solution for the National Composite Centre in Bristol, utilising Toshiba’s quantum technology.

NEW YORK and LONDON, Aug. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) reveal in a new report the pressing need for the accountancy profession to make the necessary connections between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its relationship to environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimensions.

Polling over 5,700 respondents, including an expert panel of ACCA members across North America, the research reveals a global cautious tone, with fewer than half (43%) believing that the impact of AI on their rights as an individual is positive – such as safety and personal security, levels of fairness, levels of choice, levels of transparency. In North America, 30% of respondents believe this to be the case.

Feedback from North American respondents also reveals:

A considerable 82% believe that their leaders prioritize ethics as highly as profits – compared with 66% globally.
70% believe that the impact of AI on overall standard of living in society is positive – compared to 64% globally.
However, just 13% of their organization has implemented an ethical framework for AI use.
And 44% of respondents have a basic understanding of what an algorithm is.
ACCA and CA ANZ say in Ethics for sustainable AI adoption: Connecting AI and ESG that professional accountants, with their explicit and long-standing commitment to ethical practices, are well placed to guide organizations along a responsible path for AI adoption.

Jillian Couse, head of ACCA North America says: “Our findings present a wake-up call for the accountancy profession to lead the way and become the super connectors needed to ensure an ethical approach. Their management of the transition to mass usage of AI in an ethical, responsible manner is essential if sustainable long-term value is to be secured from it.”

The report’s nine recommendations include the need to set tone at the top on AI adoption by prioritising an approach that is consistent with organizational values such as diversity and inclusion in considering the impact of AI on under-represented groups, or fairness when it comes to recruitment or surveillance of employees; and transparency such as appropriately disclosing AI use to customers.

Another recommendation for the profession is to challenge greenwashing and seek insights from AI tools to help with professional skepticism in examining whether the organization’s claims about sustainability, such as on achieving net zero targets, are matched by its performance. Suspect claims need to be challenged.

Speaking of the global picture, Helen Brand, chief executive of ACCA says: ‘AI adoption must consider the needs of all, especially the under-represented and vulnerable in society. That’s why one of our recommendations is to ensure the profession exercises its professional judgement, because AI may create previously unseen situations. We recommend that professional accountants need to avoid over-reliance on simplistic checklist-based approaches which don’t give the full picture or leave space for unintended consequences.’

Also commenting on the global findings, Ainslie van Onselen, chief executive of CA ANZ adds: ‘Our report found that in order to ethically and sustainably adopt AI, organizations need effective governance mechanisms. This starts with setting the right tone and culture at the top and covers a range of areas from oversight and delivery procedures, to regulation and data governance. AI is a strategic endeavour that should be spearheaded by leaders who know and execute on the difference between what we have a right to do and what is the right thing to do. It’s important to build knowledge and skills at the intersection of AI, ethics and sustainable development. This aligns well to the accountancy profession which can play a key role in driving responsible adoption.’

The global accountancy profession is bound by the Code of Ethics (the ‘Code’) and its five fundamental principles as set out by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). These are integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behavior.

Ethics for sustainable AI adoption: Connecting AI and ESG can be downloaded here: https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/professional-insights/technology/ai_ethics.html

About ACCA
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global professional body for professional accountants.

We’re a thriving global community of 233,000 members and 536,000 future members based in 178 countries and regions, who work across a wide range of sectors and industries. We uphold the highest professional and ethical values.

We offer everyone everywhere the opportunity to experience a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. Our qualifications and learning opportunities develop strategic business leaders, forward-thinking professionals with the financial, business and digital expertise essential for the creation of sustainable organizations and flourishing societies.

Since 1904, being a force for public good has been embedded in our purpose. We believe that accountancy is a cornerstone profession of society and is vital helping economies, organizations and individuals to grow and prosper. It does this by creating robust trusted financial and business management, combating corruption, ensuring organizations are managed ethically, driving sustainability, and providing rewarding career opportunities.

And through our cutting-edge research, we lead the profession by answering today’s questions and preparing for the future. We’re a not-for-profit organization. Find out more at accaglobal.com

About CA ANZ
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) represents more than 128,000 financial professionals, supporting them to make a difference to the businesses, organizations and communities in which they work and live. Chartered Accountants are known as Difference Makers. The depth and breadth of their expertise helps them to see the big picture and chart the best course of action. Find out more: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/about-us

SOURCE ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)

CONTACT: Jeff Simmons, jeff@anatgerstein.com

Related Links
https://www.accaglobal.com

DALLAS, Dec. 21, 2021 — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has agreed to sell its global programmatic advertising marketplace, Xandr Inc., to Microsoft.1 The agreement builds on a decade-long relationship between Xandr, including its predecessor companies, and Microsoft for delivering global digital media solutions for advertisers.

As the digital landscape evolves in a post-cookie world, Microsoft and Xandr can shape the digital ad marketplace of the future. Xandr’s technology strategically complements Microsoft’s current advertising offerings and will help accelerate delivery of digital advertising and retail media solutions for the open web by combining Microsoft’s audience intelligence, technology and global advertising customer-base with Xandr’s scaled, data-driven platform.

“Microsoft’s shared vision of empowering a free and open web and championing an open industry alternative via a global advertising marketplace makes it a great fit for Xandr. We look forward to using our innovative platform to help accelerate Microsoft’s digital advertising and retail media capabilities,” said Xandr’s EVP and GM Mike Welch.

“With Xandr’s talent and technology, Microsoft can accelerate the delivery of its digital advertising and retail media solutions, shaping tomorrow’s digital ad marketplace into one that respects consumer privacy preferences, understands publishers’ relationships with consumers and helps advertisers meet their goals,” said Mikhail Parakhin, President of Web Experiences at Microsoft.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory reviews.

About Xandr Inc.
Xandr Inc. is a first-tier affiliate of AT&T Inc. and a data-enabled technology platform powering a global marketplace for premium advertising. Xandr Invest, Xandr Monetize, Xandr Curate, and Invest TV are advanced technology platforms which maximize working media dollars, offer audience-based buying at scale for digital environments, and optimize media spend across screens for buyers and sellers alike.

*About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a diversified, global leader in telecommunications, media and entertainment, and technology. AT&T Communications provides more than 100 million U.S. consumers with entertainment and communications experiences across mobile and broadband. Plus, it serves high-speed, highly secure connectivity and smart solutions to nearly 3 million business customers. WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content to global audiences through its consumer brands, including: HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Turner Classic Movies. Xandr provides marketers with innovative and relevant advertising solutions for consumers around premium video content and digital advertising through its platform. AT&T Latin America provides wireless services to consumers and businesses in Mexico.

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information is available at about.att.com. © 2021 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA– – Today at VMworld® 2014, AT&T and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) announced they will deliver highly secure, flexible bandwidth, low latency private cloud network connectivity for VMware vCloud® Air™ customers using AT&T NetBond(SM). Working together, VMware and AT&T will enable customers to quickly connect to VMware vCloud Air using AT&T’s Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based private network solution.

AT&T and VMware recognize that enterprises continue to cite secure, high performance bandwidth as a key requirement to deploying hybrid cloud solutions linking existing data centers with off-premises cloud infrastructure. This new solution will use patented cloud integration technology from AT&T to pair virtual private networking with VMware’s industry-leading hybrid cloud platform. Customers of the solution will benefit from the enterprise-grade security of virtual private networking, overcoming the barriers that exist for enterprises needing a highly secure, reliable and scalable connection to VMware vCloud Air.

“VMware vCloud® Air™ is unique in allowing customers to extend their existing applications seamlessly into the public cloud, using the same management and security capabilities they use in their on premises environments,” said Bill Fathers, executive vice president and general manager, Hybrid Cloud Services Business Unit, VMware. “By working with AT&T, our customers will be able to connect their existing sites to VMware vCloud® Air™ using AT&T worldwide network in hours or minutes rather than the weeks required for traditional network connections.”

AT&T NetBond’s patented technology will help businesses dynamically connect to VMware vCloud Air from any location on their private corporate networks. This will give VMware vCloud Air customers who use the service the reliability, speed, protection and performance of AT&T’s global network. It also offers the simplicity, flexibility and cost efficiency of the cloud.

“Secure, private and reliable connectivity to cloud services has been a key concern for businesses,” said Jon Summers, SVP Growth Platforms, AT&T Business Solutions. “VMware vCloud® Air™ with AT&T NetBond provides a pre-integrated network-enabled cloud, enhancing performance and flexibility by extending an AT&T VPN into VMware’s hybrid cloud platform.”
The new combined solution is expected to be available the first half of 2015.

Additional Resources
Visit the VMware vCloud® Air™ online press kit to get service details and images
Follow VMware vCloud® on Facebook and Twitter

About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.
– See more at: http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/vmw-newsfeed/AT&T-and-VMware-to-Bring-Enterprise-Grade-Security,-Speed-and-Reliability-to-VMware-vCloud-Air-Customers/1872981#sthash.MAKiZEnY.dpuf

Today, AT&T announced their plans to open at least 100 Connected Learning Centers (CLC) by the end of 2027 and celebrates the landmark opening of the 50th CLC in Austin, TX. This milestone is part of the company’s $5 billion commitment to bridge the digital divide and to help 25 million people get and stay connected by 2030, as research shows tens of millions of Americans still lack access to wired or fixed wireless broadband connections.

In Texas alone, almost 2.8 million households and 7 million people lack broadband access, indicating the great need for these connectivity resources across the state, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Today’s Austin CLC opening marks the 14th center AT&T has established in Texas – and the 50th nationwide – over the past three years to establish a connectivity hub in underserved communities.

“Our CLCs are more than just places with internet access—they’re gateways to opportunity,” said Jeff McElfresh, chief operating officer, AT&T. “Students come here to complete their homework, seniors connect with their grandchildren, job seekers find employment. We are proud to open our 50th Connected Learning Center today, and we are thrilled to commit to opening at least 50 more in the next three years to serve as many people as we can.”

AT&T knows internet connectivity makes a difference. In Texas, AT&T invested more than $12.6 million in network infrastructure from 2019-2023 to expand internet access, and now serves more than 4.7 million customer locations in the state. AT&T also offers eligible customers Access from AT&T, which has speeds of up to 100 Mbps for $30 per month.

Bringing Connectivity to Communities
Each CLC receives a $50k contribution from AT&T and is equipped with AT&T internet and technology supplied by corporate partners like Dell Technologies. Each CLC also receives support from AT&T employee volunteers, who help to provide digital literacy and learning workshops in collaboration with the National Parent Teacher Association and Public Library Association. CLCs provide the skills and training that help people safely navigate the online world.

Since the CLC initiative began in 2021, AT&T has established 50 CLCs across 16 states, serving a reported 33,000 people nationwide. Demand for these centers has grown, as nonprofit and corporate partners recognize the need for and benefit of connectivity in their communities. In response to this demand, AT&T plans to open over 50 additional centers, totaling at least 100 CLCs across the country by the end of 2027.

Vital Partnerships in Bridging the Digital Divide
Since the inception of the CLC initiative, Dell Technologies, Inc. has been a key collaborator, providing technology to these centers. As part of its commitment to digital inclusion, Dell donates Dell OptiPlex desktop PCs with integrated audio and webcams for use at CLCs. World Wide Technology, a leading minority supplier of IT services, manages configuration and installation.

“Technology, connectivity and digital literacy skills are foundational needs to access the benefits of our digital society,” said Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager, Telecom Systems Business, Dell Technologies. “Our longstanding collaboration with AT&T and the Boys & Girls Clubs on the Connected Learning Center initiative is a great example of how we are championing digital inclusion to enable access and opportunity for all.”

Over 123,000 kids and teens are impacted by the access to connectivity through the CLCs established at 20 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. An additional 20 of the upcoming CLCs opening by the end of 2027 will also be established within Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide.

“Today, access and connectivity online are critical to ensuring kids and teens can succeed academically,” said Jim Clark, president and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “We are thrilled to honor this milestone with AT&T as we enable even more youth across the nation to achieve great futures.”

“We are grateful to AT&T and Dell for their partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs and for their efforts to provide the critical resource of digital connectivity to our youth,” said Zenae Campbell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area. “Our mission is to prepare all youth to have great futures, with a strong focus on STEM programming, and the new CLC at our home club in Austin will not only provide our kids with connectivity, but also the skills and understanding they need to leverage technology so they can excel in school, in the workforce, and in their personal lives.”

A Milestone Event
The 50th CLC opened July 19 at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area’s Home Club at the Sheth Family Campus. The event included remarks from Jeff McElfresh, Chief Operating Officer at AT&T; Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Telecom Systems Business at Dell; Jim Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of America; and Zenae Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin area.

Just a few weeks into storm season and it’s already been an active start. During this time, the essential need for dependable connectivity becomes especially clear. This is what motivates us to support our Network Disaster Response (NDR) and FirstNet® Response Operations Group (ROG) teams in having the necessary training and resources to respond to any emergency.

With forecasts from our dedicated meteorologists at the AT&T Weather Operations Center predicting an above-average storm season, we’re employing new assets and solutions. Our goal is to keep communities connected throughout the storms. While Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate, our new equipment and solutions will help communities recover safer and faster when she does strike.

Innovating Disaster Response
For more than three decades, AT&T has been at the forefront of disaster response innovation, with an investment of more than $1 billion in our Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) program over this time period. Past hurricane seasons serve as a reminder of the need for constant innovation. After learning from the team’s experience delivering FirstNet solutions to Sanibel and Pine Island during Hurricane Ian, we’ve introduced a game-changing, 45-foot custom-built landing craft to our maritime fleet. It can transport pickup trucks, FirstNet Compact Rapid Deployables (CRDs), and other essential solutions.

The landing craft also enhances self-sufficiency and reduces our reliance on local communities – this is critically important when resources are already severely constrained. This vessel, alongside the rest of the maritime fleet, is part of the more than 750 pieces of specialized response equipment that traverse land, sea and air and can quickly deploy before, during and after any storm.

Supporting Public Safety
As America’s public safety network, FirstNet, Built with AT&T is focused on reliably connecting first responders in any emergency and disaster. FirstNet ROG – led by former first responders – works in tandem with the AT&T NDR team to make sure recovery assets will be where they are needed the most. Agencies on FirstNet have access to their own dedicated nationwide fleet of more than 180 portable network assets, as well as the benefit of AT&T NDR assets like the new landing craft. This year, ROG has deployed over 500 solutions in response to incidents and disasters.

“We support our nation’s first responders around the clock with a focus on enhancing public safety’s ability to communicate and safely provide emergency response,” said Jim Bugel, President – FirstNet, AT&T. “Through our public-private partnership, public safety has access to their own dedicated fleet of assets and experts as well as industry-leading equipment from AT&T NDR when needed – all at no additional charge. It’s just one more way we provide an unprecedented level of support to help first responders stay mission ready.”

We’ve also recently made critical updates to FirstNet Push-to-Talk and FirstNet Messaging, introducing new features such as discreet listening and enhanced group and interagency coordination. These improvements are designed to strengthen communication among first responders during any circumstance. Additionally, this past February, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) announced a series of strategic investments that will deliver more coverage, capabilities and capacity for first responders — keeping themselves and our communities safer.

Living Our Purpose
Our NDR and ROG team members are at the heart of every deployment, expertly managing every situation. Each team member truly lives and breathes our purpose, and you see that in the videos below:

The innate ability of the NDR and ROG teams to adapt and innovate is what allows us to respond effectively and support communities when they need it the most. Whether facing hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, tornadoes, or any other emergency, AT&T is there to keep our communities connected.

Article by Corey Anthony AT&T
Corey Anthony, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Operations

DALLAS, – AT&T Inc. T, +2.15% has completed its acquisition of DIRECTV. The newly combined company – the largest pay TV provider in the United States and the world – will offer millions of people more choices for video entertainment on any screen from almost anywhere, any time.

“Combining DIRECTV with AT&T is all about giving customers more choices for great video entertainment integrated with mobile and high-speed Internet service,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “We’ll now be able to meet consumers’ future entertainment preferences, whether they want traditional TV service with premier programming, their favorite content on a mobile device, or video streamed over the Internet to any screen.”

“This transaction allows us to significantly expand our high-speed Internet service to reach millions more households, which is a perfect complement to our coast-to-coast TV and mobile coverage,” Stephenson said. “We’re now a fundamentally different company with a diversified set of capabilities and businesses that set us apart from the competition.”

AT&T now is the largest pay TV provider in the U.S. and the world, providing service to more than 26 million customers in the United States and more than 191 million customers in Latin America, including Mexico and the Caribbean. Additionally, AT&T has more than 132 million wireless subscribers and connections in the U.S. and Mexico; offers 4G LTE mobile coverage to nearly 310 million people in the U.S.; covers 57 million U.S. customer locations with high-speed Internet; and has nearly 16 million subscribers to its high-speed Internet service.

Current customers of AT&T and DIRECTV do not need to do anything as a result of the merger. They’ll continue to receive their same services, channel lineups, and customer care. Customer account information, online access and billing arrangements remain the same. The integration of AT&T and DIRECTV will occur over the coming months. In the coming weeks, AT&T will launch new integrated TV, mobile and high-speed Internet offers that give customers greater value and convenience.

With the completion of its DIRECTV acquisition, AT&T will continue to deploy its all-fiber GigaPower Internet access service – the company’s highest-speed Internet service, which allows you to download a TV show in as little as three seconds. When the expansion is complete, AT&T’s all-fiber broadband footprint will reach more than 14 million customer locations.

AT&T announced that John Stankey will be CEO of AT&T Entertainment & Internet Services, responsible for leading its combined DIRECTV and AT&T Home Solutions operations. Stankey will report to Stephenson. DIRECTV President, Chairman and CEO Mike White announced his plans to retire.

“Mike is one of the world’s top CEOs and a great leader who built DIRECTV into a premier TV and video entertainment company spanning the U.S. and Latin America,” Stephenson said. “He has been a terrific partner and friend, and his legacy will be an important part of our combined company.”

As a result of this transaction, AT&T leads the industry in offering consumers premier content, particularly live sports programming, such as the exclusive rights to NFL SUNDAY TICKET, which gives customers every out-of-market NFL game, every Sunday afternoon, on any screen – TV, mobile devices or PCs. Additionally, the company owns ROOT SPORTS, one of the nation’s premier regional sports networks, and has stakes in The Tennis Channel, MLB Network, NHL Network, and GSN (Game Show Network).

AT&T is also developing unique video offerings for consumers through, among other initiatives, its Otter Media joint venture with The Chernin Group. The joint venture was established to invest in, acquire and launch over-the-top (OTT) video services. This includes its purchase of a majority stake in Fullscreen, a global online media company that works with more than 50,000 content creators who engage 450 million subscribers and generate 4 billion monthly views.

Under the terms of the merger, DIRECTV shareholders received 1.892 shares of AT&T common stock, in addition to $28.50 in cash, per share of DIRECTV. AT&T will provide complete updated 2015 financial guidance at a conference the company will host for financial analysts in the coming weeks. The conference will be webcast to the public.

The DIRECTV acquisition significantly diversifies AT&T’s revenue mix, products, geographies and customer bases. As a result of this acquisition, as well as AT&T’s acquisition of Iusacell and Nextel Mexico, AT&T expects that, by the end of 2015, its largest revenue streams will be, in descending order: Business Solutions (both wireless and wireline); Entertainment & Internet; Consumer Mobility; and International Mobility and Video.

As part of the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of the transaction, AT&T has agreed to the following conditions for the next four years:

Within 4 years, AT&T will offer its all-fiber Internet access service to at least 12.5 million customer locations, such as residences, home offices and very small businesses. Combined with AT&T’s existing high-speed broadband network, at least 25.7 million customer locations will have access to broadband speeds of 45Mbps or higher.

Within its wireline footprint, the company will offer 1Gbps service to any eligible school or library requesting E-rate services, pursuant to applicable rules, within the company’s all-fiber footprint.

Within AT&T’s 21-state wireline footprint, it will offer discounted fixed broadband service to low-income households that qualify for the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In locations where it’s available, service with speeds of at least 10Mbps will be offered for $10 per month. Elsewhere, 5Mbps service will be offered for $10 per month or, in some locations, 3Mbps service will be offered for $5 per month.

AT&T’s retail terms and conditions for its fixed broadband Internet services will not favor its own online video programming services. AT&T can and will, however, continue to offer discounted integrated bundles of its video and high-speed Internet services.

AT&T must submit to the FCC new interconnection agreements it enters into with peering networks and on-net customers for the exchange of Internet traffic. The company will develop, in conjunction with an independent expert, a methodology for measuring the performance of its Internet traffic exchange and regularly report these metrics to the FCC.

AT&T will appoint a Company Compliance Officer to develop and implement a plan to ensure compliance with these merger conditions. Also, the company will engage an independent, third-party compliance officer to evaluate the plan and its implementation, and submit periodic reports to the FCC.

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

1 Includes DIRECTV Latin America pay TV subscribers as of March 31, 2015, including subscribers of Sky Mexico, in which DIRECTV holds a minority stake.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. T, +2.15% helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed Internet and voice services. We’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. In the U.S., our wireless network offers the nation’s strongest LTE signal and the most reliable 4G LTE network. We offer the best global wireless coverage*. And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and secure cloud solutions.
Additional information about AT&T products and services is available athttp://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.
© 2015 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Reliability and signal strength claims based on nationwide carriers’ LTE. Signal strength claim based ONLY on avg. LTE signal strength. LTE not available everywhere.
*Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; voice roaming; and world-capable smartphone and tablets in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.

DALLAS, — AT&T* today closed the sale of its incumbent local exchange operations in Connecticut to Frontier Communications, which has its corporate headquarters in Stamford. Announced in December 2013, the transaction includes wireline network assets and consumer, business and wholesale customer relationships.

AT&T will continue to have a significant presence in the state, providing wireless service, networking, application solutions and professional services for consumers and business customers.

“AT&T is committed to the state of Connecticut,” said John Emra, President, AT&T Connecticut. “We’ll continue to deliver advanced networking business solutions as well as world-class mobile products and services to families and businesses throughout the state. We will also preserve our long history of investing in community organizations in Connecticut.”

On October, 25, 2014, AT&T’s business and consumer wireline customers in Connecticut — and about 2,500 employees who support these operations — will transfer to Frontier. Over the past 10 months, AT&T has worked closely with Frontier to plan for the transition for Connecticut customers and employees. AT&T will continue to support Frontier throughout the conversion process.

The sale was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and other state regulatory authorities.

AT&T will use the proceeds of the $2.0 billion cash transaction for general corporate purposes.

* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best global wireless coverage, based on offering roaming in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier, and offers the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

– See more at: http://about.att.com/story/att_completes_sale_of_connecticut_wireline_operations_to_frontier_communications.html#sthash.aF76UEt9.dpuf

DALLAS, Aug. 3, 2015 – AT&T will deliver the first-ever nationwide package of TV and wireless services – all from a single provider on one bill, with special discounts – beginning Aug. 10. The offer includes HD and DVR service for up to four TV receivers, unlimited talk and text for four wireless lines, and 10GB of shareable wireless data – all for $200* per month, an annual savings of $600 or more in the first 12 months.

AT&T is the only single provider that can deliver nationwide TV and wireless services with one point of contact for customer care on a single monthly bill.

“Today is the first of many planned moves to enable our customers to enjoy a premium entertainment experience almost anywhere,” said Brad Bentley, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, AT&T Entertainment and Internet Services. “We’re going to deliver more TV and entertainment choices to more screens – when and where our customers want it. And we’ll offer incredible value with more flexibility and convenience through our integrated packages that deliver a great experience.”

As part of this launch on Aug. 10, and for the first time nationwide, new DIRECTV subscribers will have immediate access to programming – on their mobile devices via a walk out and watch TV experience – at point of sale. They can view it on their compatible mobile devices after leaving the store before TV service is installed. The walk out and watch feature will be delivered through the DIRECTV app and customers will have a limited time to activate their mobile TV service. AT&T sales representatives will assist customers to set up the app on their wireless device in the store.

AT&T is now selling DIRECTV in more than 2,000 AT&T retail stores nationwide – integration built around customer convenience and simplification.

“AT&T is wasting no time extending the benefits of its DIRECTV acquisition to consumers,” said Roger Entner, founder, Recon Analytics LLC. “With this newly integrated offer, it’s clear AT&T is focused on offering value on top of convenience to win new customers and become a leader in entertainment and communications.

“All in One”: It’s Simple

With the new All in One plans, consumers can choose from a variety of DIRECTV plans available nationwide, or several AT&T U-verse TV plans, available in 21 states.

TV packages available for 12-month promotional pricing include:

DIRECTV Select or U-verse U-Family, $50 per month
DIRECTV Xtra or U-verse U-200, $70
DIRECTV Ultimate or U-verse U-300, $75
DIRECTV Premiere or U-verse U-450, $125
Customers may add AT&T’s coast-to-coast wireless services, with 10GB of shareable data and unlimited talk and text for four phone lines for $160 per month. When combined on a single AT&T bill with the basic TV plan for $50 (DIRECTV Select or U-verse U-Family), with service on up to four TVs, consumers will pay $200 per month for the All-in-One plan after a $10 a month combined bill discount.

Customers who combine TV services with eligible AT&T wireless services on a single monthly AT&T bill are eligible for the $10 combined bill discount. The discount will continue if the customer keeps both services on a combined bill – an annual savings of $120.

Additionally, DIRECTV and U-Verse TV customers who switch to AT&T wireless service from another wireless provider will receive a $300 bill credit when they buy a smartphone on AT&T Next and trade in an eligible smartphone.**

“All Included” Covers Costs and Brings in High-Speed Internet Options

As part of this launch, AT&T also is introducing a customer friendly “All-Included” pricing model with DIRECTV and U-verse TV packages. “All-Included” pricing plans start as low as $50 per month for TV programming and include up to four receivers, DVR functionality and HD technology fees for the first 12 months.

In addition to the $200 per month TV and wireless combined plan, where available, customers also can add AT&T high-speed Internet services “All-Included” plans. Introductory 12-month promotional pricing includes the Wi-Fi gateway with no monthly fees for equipment. Pricing is available for three speed tiers, including:

AT&T high-speed Internet with speeds up to 6Mbps, $30 per month***
AT&T high-speed Internet with speeds up to 24Mbps, $40 per month***
AT&T high-speed Internet with speeds up to 45Mbps and 75Mbps, $50***
AT&T’s DIRECTV and U-verse services offer customers the freedom to watch hit TV shows anytime virtually anywhere, using a TV, computer, tablet or smartphone.****

AT&T is now the largest pay TV provider in the U.S. and the world, providing service to more than 55 million customers in the United States and in Latin America and the Caribbean. AT&T has more than 132 million wireless subscribers and connections in the United States and Mexico; offers 4G LTE mobile coverage to 308 million people in the U.S.; covers 57 million U.S. customer locations with high-speed Internet; and has more than 16 million subscribers to its high-speed Internet service.

AT&T now leads the industry in offering consumers premier content, particularly live sports programming, such as the exclusive rights to NFL SUNDAY TICKET with DIRECTV service. It gives customers every out-of-market NFL game, every Sunday afternoon, on any screen – TV, mobile devices or PCs. The company owns ROOT SPORTS, the nation’s premier regional sports network, and has minority stakes in the Game Show Network, MLB Network, NHL Network and the Sundance Channel.

AT&T is also developing unique video offerings for consumers through its Otter Media joint venture with The Chernin Group. They established the joint venture to invest in, acquire and launch over-the-top (OTT) video services. This includes its purchase of a majority stake in Fullscreen, a global online media company that works with more than 50,000 content creators. These creators engage 450 million subscribers and generate 4 billion monthly views.

Learn more about the All-in-One offer at www.att.com/dtvoffers. Learn how AT&T is changing the future of television at www.att.com/dtv.

*New DIRECTV and U-verse customers only. Price after $10/mo. combined bill discount. Includes DIRECTV SELECT TV or U-verse U-Family and Mobile Share Value 10GB plan for 4 smartphones (excludes 2-yr agmts.) See Mobile Share Value 10GB plan details below. 24 month agreement required for DIRECTV TV packages; 12 month agreement required for U-verse TV plans. Pro-rated ETF (up to $480/DTV, up to $180/U-verse) applies if TV is cancelled before end of term. After 12 months, then prevailing standard rate for TV (currently $85/DIRECTV SELECT and $93/U-verse U- Family) applies unless canceled or changed by customer prior to end of promo period. . Must maintain qualifying services for cont’d combined bill discount. Pricing programming, features subject to change at any time without notice. Taxes, other charges & restr’s apply. Offer ends 11/14/15. OFFER NOT VALID in U.S. Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. Visit att.com/imagine for details. Combined billing & discount may take effect 1-2 bill cycles.

Mobile Share Value 10 GB plan pricing includes $100/mo. plan charge for 10GB of data & $15/mo. access charge per smartphone on no annual svc agmt. Excludes phones on 2-yr agmts. Data overage charges ($15/1GB) apply. Device purchase costs add’l. Activation & other fees, charges and restrictions apply. Visit att.com/mobilesharevalue for details.

**$300 Credit: Limited time offers. Select locations. Requires a line ported in, eligible svc, and good working trade-in smartphone. $100 switcher bill credit (w/i 90 days) + $200 trade-in credit (may be promo card). Activation & other fees, charges & restrictions apply. Visit att.com/summerbuyback for details.

***U-verse Internet Price Offers: Price after bill credit for new residential Internet customers. Requires another AT&T service (TV/Voice/Wireless) and combined billing of all services on a single AT&T bill. After 12 mos., then prevailing standard rate applies unless canceled by customer prior to end of promo period. Must maintain qualifying services for cont’d receipt of bill credits.12 mo. term req’d. Prorated ETF (up to $180) applies if Internet is disconnected before end of term. Promo pricing applies to service rates only; excludes taxes and up to $99 installation charge. U-verse Internet price incl. 250 GB of data/mo. Add’l $10 charge per 50 GB of data usage in excess of data plan. For more info, go to www.att.com/internet-usage. Offers end 11/14/15.

****Watch TV on the go requires qualifying device, TV plan and data connection. Data charges may apply. Content varies by device, TV plan and viewing location.

Geographic and service restrictions apply to AT&T U-verse services. Call or go to www.att.com/uverse to see if you qualify.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed Internet and voice services. We’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. In the U.S., our wireless network offers the nation’s strongest LTE signal and the most reliable 4G LTE network. We offer the best global wireless coverage*. And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and secure cloud solutions.

Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2015 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

*Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; voice roaming; and world-capable smartphone and tablets in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.

– See more at: http://about.att.com/story/att_introduces_tv_and_wireless_combined_offer.html#sthash.lHxfjq9Q.dpuf

PLANO, Texas, Feb. 21, 2022 — AT&T has joined Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) Startup 5G program, a 5G innovation collaboration driven by Ericsson’s ConsumerLab that assists communications service providers (CSPs) with commercialization and monetization of 5G, leveraging years of research on consumer behavior and trends. AT&T is the first U.S. service provider to join the global program.

Ericsson Startup 5G aims to help CSPs by introducing them to the right consumer innovation companies, and supporting the development of a go-to-market strategy to address an estimated global $3.7 trillion business opportunity within the 5G consumer market by 2030. CSPs that collaborate with Startup 5G are bolstered by Ericsson’s ConsumerLab research and analytical data, as well as exclusive access to a worldwide network of 40+ 5G startups.

AT&T has joined Ericsson’s Startup 5G program, a 5G innovation collaboration driven by Ericsson’s ConsumerLab.

Jay Cary, Vice President – 5G Product & Innovation, AT&T, says: “AT&T customers are already enjoying the benefits of our 5G network, with fast speeds, low latency and superior reliability. Now, the network we’ve built is ready to take on more social and immersive experiences that will transform how we live, work and play. Tapping into Ericsson’s ConsumerLab and its deep catalogue of companies and innovative ideas could help us bring new experiences to life using technology like AR and VR across a variety of interests, including travel and sports.”

AT&T joins an array of innovative companies from across the globe that seek to drive 5G innovations. Ericsson’s Startup 5G Program supports exploration and identification of innovative capabilities spanning multiple consumer segments and touching technologies in areas such as entertainment & media, gaming, sports, learning and more.

Jasmeet Sethi, Head of ConsumerLab, Ericsson Research, says: “With access to more than 40 global startups, the program offers AT&T a unique opportunity to not only leverage actionable consumer insights from our Ericsson Research Analytical Platform but also connect with innovation partners to emerge, on top of their existing initiatives and programs.”

This project is the latest in a long history of collaboration between AT&T and Ericsson, including the development of public and private 5G networks.

Rob Johnson, Vice President and Head of Global Customer Unit AT&T, Ericsson, says: “We are excited to have AT&T, with its long legacy of innovation in the mobile space, joining our Startup 5G program to put exciting new 5G applications and services in consumers’ hands. Our global industry knowledge, ecosystem of partners and service provider collaborations will help drive innovative 5G products that will open new possibilities for consumers. We are glad to be embarking on this journey together with AT&T.”

Last year, Ericsson released the largest global 5G consumer study to date – Five Ways to a Better 5G – capturing opinions equivalent to 1.3 billion consumers and 220 million 5G users. The report revealed that 5G is already beginning to trigger new smartphone behaviors, with 5G users spending more time on cloud gaming and augmented reality (AR) apps compared to 4G users.

Read the Ericsson ConsumerLab: Five Ways to a Better 5G report here.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

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ABOUT ERICSSON:
Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the business areas Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

SOURCE Ericsson

NEW YORK, – Building on its national efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of texting while driving, AT&T today announced Connected Intersections, a new traffic safety initiative to spur technological solutions to improve traffic safety on New York City streets. The initiative seeks to utilize smartphone technology and wireless networks to make pedestrians, cyclists and motorists more aware of their surroundings and alert them to potential dangers. To kick-off the initiative, AT&T and NYC Media Lab released a paper drawing on research from around the country that examines smartphone distraction and impediments to traffic safety.

The paper, titled “Exploring How Mobile Technologies Impact Pedestrian Safety,” provides a springboard for a three-month tech challenge where developers will compete to create smartphone apps and wearable solutions that aim to augment the public’s connectedness to their immediate surroundings while reducing distraction. Developers will take advantage of smartphone sensors, phone-to-phone communications and natural user interfaces, among other technologies.

ChallengePost will produce the challenge and has assembled a panel of expert judges from across the transportation and technology sectors to judge the submissions and identify the winning solutions. Kim Wiley-Schwartz, Assistant Commissioner for Education and Outreach at New York City’s Department of Transportation, NYU Professor Mitchell L. Moss of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, General Assembly Co-Founder Matthew Brimer, Luke DuBois from New York University’s Polytechnic School of Engineering, Justin Hendrix from NYC Media Lab and Marissa Shorenstein from AT&T will award cash prizes collectively totaling $50,000.

“Mobile technology has allowed people and communities to connect in extraordinary ways, and as an industry leader, our goal is to facilitate ways for mobile technology to help be an asset, not a hindrance to public safety,” said Marissa Shorenstein, New York State President of AT&T. “The anti-texting while driving campaign championed by AT&T, It Can Wait, has raised awareness of the dangers of texting while driving. We want to build on its success by encouraging the development of apps and devices that use smartphones to improve traffic safety on New York City streets. We’re eager to see what developers create over the next several months and hopeful this initiative will lead to mobile technology embraced by the public and sustained by developers.”

“When NYC Media Lab started talking about this set of issues with AT&T in 2012, we hoped what was then a seed research project with NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering might lead to a broader effort to explore how new media and communications technologies can be employed to make the City a safer place,” said Justin Hendrix, Executive Director, NYC Media Lab. “This effort is the first of its kind and I look forward to the results.”

The report cites recent statistics showing that New York City pedestrian fatalities in car crashes were four times greater than the national average. The city has made it a priority to reduce pedestrian deaths with plans to lower speed limits, improve traffic signals and signage and create pedestrian greenways are already underway. AT&T seeks to use the collective power of the city’s transportation, technology, and academic and advocacy communities to serve these efforts.

“The NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering is excited to once again work with AT&T toward developing technology that will improve the lives of New Yorkers,” said R. Luke DuBois, co-director of the school’s Integrated Digital Media program. “We began developing a research brief more than a year ago on the issue of injuries and fatalities due to distracted mobile device use, and the city has outlined an impressive set of policy initiatives on the topic. We intend to do our part by exploring how technology can play a role in ensuring that mobile devices are used safely and responsibly.”

“New York is a city in motion, whether it is drivers in their cars or pedestrians on the sidewalks. Everyone must be aware of the risks involved when they move through the city streets,” said Mitchell L. Moss, Henry Hart Rice Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at NYU Wagner, and Director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. “Information technology can play a vital role in improving pedestrian safety in the neighborhoods of New York and provide a model for cities around the world.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing the solutions developed to address pedestrian safety,” said Matthew Brimer, co-founder, General Assembly. “Modern mobile technology will allow people to produce creative, effective ways to increase the awareness of those walking within the city and solve this important issue.”

“It’s inspiring to see AT&T take a lead role in working with the global developer community for this software competition,” said Brandon Kessler, CEO of the ChallengePost platform, which will showcase the competition and results. “The latest software development kits and APIs are powerful, and enable developers to catalyze a new generation of software and wearable solutions to reduce distraction and improve safety.”

AT&T cemented its leadership role as a traffic safety advocate in 2010 when it developed and launched the “It Can Wait” campaign to spread awareness among drivers about the dangers of texting while driving. The nation’s other leading wireless carriers have since joined the campaign.

Winners of the Connected Intersections challenge will be announced in October. For more information or to register for the challenge, visit http://intersections.challengepost.com/ and follow the latest news on Twitter using the hashtag #ConnectedIntersection.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

– See more at: http://about.att.com/story/att_launches_connected_intersections_to_improve_pedestrian_safety_in_new_york_city.html#sthash.2sjy4ELB.dpuf

KISTA, Sweden, Oct. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Building on more than 20 years of collaboration, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and AT&T today announced a five-year agreement to accelerate the expansion of AT&T 5G. This deal helps support deployment of the service provider’s recently acquired C-band spectrum and the launch of 5G Standalone (SA). AT&T is tapping into Ericsson’s leading network expertise as the company works toward its 5G network goals.

Ericsson will help AT&T to bring its 5G network to more consumers, businesses and first responders across key industries – including 5G use cases in sports and venues, entertainment, travel and transportation, business transformation and public safety.

AT&T’s network evolution is made possible in part by the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, which includes the Advanced Antenna System, Advanced RAN Coordination and Carrier Aggregation technologies.

These deployments will support future network enhancements like Cloud RAN, which offers communications services providers increased flexibility, faster delivery of services and greater scalability in networks.

The solution supports a centralized RAN architecture enabled by Ericsson Fronthaul Gateway, a new technology that will enable a more efficient transport of the fronthaul interface by converting it to packet (eCPRI).

Scott Mair, President, AT&T Network Engineering and Operations, says: “As we continue to expand our nationwide 5G network, Ericsson’s technology offerings and 5G expertise will assist with our network evolution. This latest agreement provides the pathway for us to deploy Ericsson’s next-generation centralized RAN architecture, enabled by Fronthaul Gateway, with the ability to support future network enhancements, like the evolution to Cloud RAN.”

Ericsson Cloud RAN is a cloud-native software solution handling compute functionality in the Radio Access Network (RAN). It complements the existing technologies in the RAN domain and allows for the adoption of leading practices to become a foundation for openness, enabling innovation in 5G.

Ericsson Cloud RAN will enable communications service providers to seamlessly evolve towards cloud-native technologies and open network architectures to meet the demand for more deployment flexibility.

Niklas Heuveldop, President and Head of Ericsson North America, says: “This agreement reinforces our long-standing partnership of innovation and execution with AT&T. 5G networks will enable unprecedented, sustainable and exponential growth, accelerating the digital transformation of industries and the public sector, for the benefit of consumers, enterprises and society at large. Ericsson is excited to join forces with AT&T to help make this vision a reality.”

MORE INFO

5G Carrier Aggregation and Advanced RAN Coordination is a blended solution that optimizes coverage, capacity, and latency of mid-band and high-band deployments. It enables communications service providers to maximize their spectrum assets when deploying 5G.

Advanced Antenna System (AAS) is key to C Band deployment as it enables extended coverage, while providing tremendous throughput/capacity that can truly enable enhanced mobile broadband.

Ericsson Fronthaul Gateway is a new technology that will enable a more efficient transport of the fronthaul interface by converting it to packet enhanced Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI).

Related links:
Ericsson Radio System
Ericsson 5G RAN

NOTES TO EDITORS:

FOLLOW US:

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ABOUT ERICSSON:

Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the business areas Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ericsson/r/at-t-selects-ericsson-for-expansion-of-5g-network-and-c-band-spectrum-build,c3427332

DALLAS, Oct. 2, 2014 — AT&T* and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are working together to extend AT&T NetBondSM to AWS. Customers will have a new high performing and highly-secure choice to connect to AWS, including the ability to scale their network at the same rate as their enterprise-class applications running on the AWS Cloud.

AT&T NetBond dynamically adjusts the size of the pathway to the cloud as data needs change and puts the control of the highly-secure network in the hands of the customer. Customers will also benefit from an integrated design that can be quickly implemented.

With AT&T NetBond, customers will be able to access business applications and information that are stored in AWS, bypassing the public Internet and the security risks associated with it. AT&T NetBond also improves performance by as much as 50 percent and can surpass the best experience on the Internet by as much as three times.

“When companies combine their strengths and resources to make the services easier to use, the customer wins,” said Melanie Posey, research vice president at IDC. “The addition of AWS broadens AT&T’s already expansive NetBond ecosystem and will give customers highly secure, reliable, and on-demand connections to another key public cloud service provider. This pairing of AT&T’s VPN with AWS’s leading cloud platform will likely serve as a game changer for enterprises, prompting accelerated adoption of cloud services.”

Many businesses are choosing AT&T NetBond as their on-ramp to cloud. To date, there are a wide-range of customers using the service in industries such as health care, manufacturing, retail and government.

“Our customers want the computing power and cost-efficiency that cloud services deliver with the best security and performance,” said Jon Summers, senior vice president, AT&T Mobile & Business Solutions. “AWS’s extensive portfolio combined with AT&T NetBond offers them the best of both worlds. Our customers will have VPN performance, full cloud networking automation, and flexible and secure bandwidth when accessing AWS cloud services.”

AT&T NetBond offers the following customer benefits:

Simple: Seamlessly works with existing AT&T VPN. Customers don’t need to order or manage any other equipment or access lines.
Security: Isolates traffic going directly to cloud platforms using the AT&T private global network, providing more protections from security risks such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Savings: Network elasticity provides the right amount of bandwidth the customer needs. Companies can save as much as 60 percent on networking costs.
Performance: Improves performance by as much as 50 percent and can surpass the best experience on the Internet by as much as three times.
The new integrated solution is expected to be available next year.

For more information, visit, www.att.com/netbond.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2014 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Reliability claim based on data transfer completion rates on nationwide 4G LTE networks. 4G LTE availability varies.

– See more at: http://about.att.com/story/att_teams_with_amazon_web_services_to_offer_on_demand_network_enabled_cloud_solutions.html#sthash.0i3vtuT3.dpuf

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 5, 2021 — AU10TIX, a global leader in automated identity verification, today announced that it is partnering with Microsoft for the rollout of Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) verifiable credentials, now in public preview, to help improve verifiability and secure information exchange. The integration brings AU10TIX’s four decades of identity verification automation to Azure Active Directory, for managing identities, based on wide variety of attributes, such as documents, biometrics and electronic data without collecting and storing personal data.

AU10TIX’s proprietary technology, originally built for airport security and border control, is based on sophisticated neural networks and delivers identity verification results in less than 8 seconds. It offers speed and accuracy to Microsoft-run organizations wanting to issue digital claims about identity attributes based on Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers open standards. Once verified, these credentials can be used to prove an identity across different organizations to accelerate onboarding of users, secure access to apps or enable a more trustworthy credential recovery experience. Individuals will have more control of their shared personal information and be able to manage credentials in the Microsoft Authenticator app; developers will be able to request and verify credentials via an application SDK.

“Over the past year, digital identity has emerged at the center of a safer more trustworthy digital ecosystem. In a world without borders, businesses must enable more flexibility as we work, learn, and collaborate remotely. At the same time, bad actors have taken advantage of rapid digitization to grow in sophistication and agility,” says AU10TIX CEO Carey O’Connor Kolaja. “Unification is the only intelligent defense. That’s why we launched INSTINCT last year, a first-of-its-kind platform to unite the global business community in fighting synthetic fraud. Now, as a Microsoft partner, we’re furthering our collaborative mission to create safer services, promote trust, and seamlessly secure our everyday access to life.”

“Our vision is to provide the platform for a digital identity in which individuals have more control over what information they share and can restrict access if needed,” said Sue Bohn, Partner Director Program Management, Identity Division at Microsoft Corp. “Collaborating with AU10TIX empowers businesses to verify information at scale while ensuring users have greater control over their personal information.”

To learn more about this program, please visit the AU10TIX website.

About AU10TIX
AU10TIX, an identity management company headquartered in Israel, is on a mission to obliterate fraud and further a more secure and inclusive world. The company provides critical, modular solutions to verify and link physical and digital identities so businesses and their customers can confidently connect. Over the past decade, AU10TIX has become the preferred partner of major global brands for customer onboarding and customer verification automation—and continues to work on the edge of what’s next for identity’s role in society. AU10TIX’s proprietary technology provides results in less than 8 seconds, enabling businesses to onboard customers faster while preventing fraud, meeting compliance mandates and, importantly, promoting trust and safety. AU10TIX is a subsidiary of ICTS International N.V. (OTCQB: ICTSF). For more information, visit AU10TIX.com.

Media Contact
Joseph Giumarra
Press@AU10TIX.com
201-741-8293

EMC World 2016 – LAS VEGAS – Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a leading global technology distributor, today unveiled an industry-first EMC® software-defined storage solution featuring IsilonSD Edge. Designed for the fast-growing software-defined storage market, this new Avnet-developed offering will initially be available in the U.S. and Canada. Powered by storage expert EMC and utilizing industry-standard servers, the solution delivers a cost-optimized scale-out, network-attached storage (NAS) option for edge applications. Committed to solving for the needs of demanding file-based replication requirements, this solution is easily configured to serve the requirements of remote office/back offices (ROBO) for small, midsize and enterprise customers.

“Software-defined storage solutions are taking the market by storm. They exponentially increase options available to IT professionals and provide enterprise-grade reliability and performance. These solutions also optimize cost by using industry-standard and commercially available servers,” said Eric Barnhart, vice president of Avnet’s EMC solutions business unit in the Americas. “EMC continues to invest in innovative, software-defined storage solutions, such as IsilonSD Edge. EMC software-defined storage solutions are incredibly powerful. When combined with Avnet’s assembly, integration, logistics and financial services expertise, these solutions become truly unique in the marketplace.”

The new solution is designed to reduce the costs associated with scale-out-enabled storage, while significantly improving return on investment. This is achieved by using off-the-shelf platforms, which can now run the Isilon® OneFS® operating system, in the IsilonSD Edge form factor. This now gives customers the same enterprise capabilities that are available to them in the appliance form factor. Customers can now take advantage of cloud economics and scale through the Isilon CloudPools™ solution now in a software-defined form factor. This reduces overall storage costs with the Avnet Cloud Marketplace, Avnet’s one-stop shop that offers comprehensive solutions from leading cloud service providers, flexible payment models and a powerful cloud management toolset. This will flatten the cost curve and significantly boost the return-on-investment models for hybrid-cloud-enabled storage.

Additionally, Avnet will incorporate its consumption-based financial service – CapacityNow – into the solution. It enables organizations, both commercial and government, to acquire technology through a flexible managed service. CapacityNow was developed as an alternative to traditional leasing and financing, where the user can now align their payments with actual usage.

“How the IT industry solves complex storage requirements is being revolutionized by software-defined storage solutions,” said Sam Grocott, senior vice president, marketing, Emerging Technologies Division, EMC Corporation. “EMC selected Avnet to create new ways to bring IsilonSD Edge to market because of their proven ability to transform technology into true business solutions, easily and simply. Avnet is a global company at the forefront of technology, and its scale and reach will enable us to quickly bring highly differentiated solutions based on our technology to market that address the unique business needs of our customers.”

Avnet is an award-winning EMC distributor and supports EMC in Asia Pacific; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; and North America. Plus, 2015 marked the 15th anniversary of the Avnet and EMC partnership. Throughout this long-standing relationship, Avnet has helped EMC bring innovative solutions to market. For example, Avnet has enabled EMC partners to adopt their choice of converged and hyper-converged solutions, which allow partners to design and deploy new solutions that offer their SMB, mid-market and enterprise customers the cloud and data center benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure at the price points and sizes that align with their needs.

Avnet at EMC World 2016
At booth #751, Avnet featured live demonstrations of its new software-defined storage solution featuring IsilonSD Edge. Additionally, Avnet hosted an invitation-only partner appreciation event at LAVO, located at The Palazzo, Las Vegas. Avnet is a Silver-level sponsor of EMC World 2016 which was held at The Venetian in Las Vegas, May 2-5, 2016.

SEATTLE— At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), introduced significantly expanded APN Partner benefits, new Managed Service and SaaS Partner Programs, and APN Partner-specific training for its AWS Partner Network (APN) program. In addition, AWS announced the 2015 Premier Consulting Partners, a designation that recognizes 28 APN Partners that provide superior customer service and expertise in building and migrating customer solutions on AWS. AWS also announced the AWS Marketplace has grown to more than 1,900 software products that are pre-configured for the AWS Cloud and available across 23 different categories that customers can purchase and launch, many with 1-Click functionality. For more information, visit http://aws.amazon.com/partners/overview/.

As businesses and organizations of all sizes move to AWS for a wide variety of use cases – from building new applications leveraging analytics and real-time data, to reinventing their digital and website strategies, to migrating entire mission-critical data centers – customers are increasingly relying on APN Partners for solutions and services that solve their business needs. The AWS Partner Network (APN) program, which provides technical, business, and marketing support for this ecosystem, has grown over 75 percent in the past year. Similarly, the AWS Marketplace has added hundreds of new software products across categories including security, network infrastructure, and business intelligence. Customers around the world are running more than 70 million hours of AWS Marketplace software each month.

“The growth in the APN program over the last year and in the capabilities of our APN Partners highlights just how critical APN Partners are to our customers’ success,” said Terry Wise, Director, Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, AWS. “As the cloud increasingly becomes the default platform for businesses of all sizes, there has never been a better time to be an APN Partner. Moving into 2015, we plan to more than double our investments in our APN Partners with the most significant set of updates, enhancements, and new benefits to the APN since its inception. We are very excited to work with our ecosystem to help them grow their businesses, differentiate their offerings, and drive success for our joint customers.”

New AWS Programs for APN Partners
AWS is providing additional offerings to APN Partners to help expand their AWS solutions and accelerate customer engagements. As part of this, AWS is providing best practices guidance for cloud transformation as well as funding for qualified customer proofs-of-concepts. Additionally, AWS will fund up to half of professional services fees for eligible Advanced and Premier Partners, and all of their AWS usage fees for eligible customer proof-of-concept projects. Further, AWS is now providing eligible APN Partners with free usage credits for solution development, as well as marketing benefits to help them promote their solutions to customers.

New APN Programs for Managed Services Providers and SaaS Partners

The APN includes several programs to support APN Partners in key areas of their AWS business. These programs, including the AWS Channel Reseller Program, the APN Competency Program, the AWS Direct Connect Program, and the AWS Government Partner Program, provide additional tools, training, and benefits for qualified APN Partners. Today, AWS is introducing two new programs. The AWS Managed Service Program is designed for APN Consulting Partners who are skilled at cloud infrastructure and application migration and deliver value to customers by offering proactive monitoring, automation, and management of their customers’ environment. APN Partners who join the AWS Managed Service Program will be eligible for specialized technical support, training, and marketing benefits. The AWS SaaS Partner Program is designed to provide training, marketing support, and a community of peers for APN Technology Partners who are leveraging AWS for their global Software as a Service offerings.

Expanded Training, Offerings, and Delivery for APN Partners
AWS is committed to helping APN Partners create thriving businesses that offer AWS-based solutions and practices. To further this commitment, AWS is significantly expanding the training options available to APN Partners to include:

A new AWS Certification Prep Bootcamp to help partners meet new APN certification requirements in 2015.
An AWS Professional Services Bootcamp to help Premier Consulting Partners learn best practices and methodologies from AWS experts and their peers.
A Windows on AWS Bootcamp to help Premier and Advanced Partners learn to migrate and run Windows-based products and applications.
A free online AWS total cost of ownership (TCO) and Cloud Economics accreditation course to help partners provide their customers with guidance on TCO and cloud economics.
Twenty-Eight Consulting Partners Named 2015 Premier Partners

The AWS Premier Consulting Partner designation highlights the top APN Consulting Partners globally that have distinguished themselves by investing significantly in their AWS practice, providing exceptional customer service, helping a large number of customers run their applications on AWS, and developing a broad bench of employees with deep AWS skills. Premier Partners include: 2nd Watch, Accenture, Aquilent, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bulletproof Networks, Capgemini, Classmethod, Cloudnexa, Cloudpack, Cloudreach, Cognizant, CSC, Datapipe, Dedalus, DLT Solutions, Infosys, Matrix IT, Melbourne IT, Minjar Cloud Solutions, Nomura Research Institute, NORDCLOUD, Serverworks, Slalom Consulting, Smart421, Smartronix, Storm Reply, tecRacer, and Wipro.

AWS Marketplace Momentum
The AWS Marketplace provides a channel for ISVs, SIs, and VARs to sell their software as tightly integrated solutions on AWS to customers around the globe and build a strong recurring revenue stream with AWS. It offers a wide array of enterprise, open source, and business software products, and simplifies the licensing, purchasing, and deployment of software to the AWS Cloud. New and recent additions to the AWS Marketplace include: Barracuda Networks, Cavirin, CheckPoint, Cisco, CloudBasic, Dynatrace, Fortinet, HyTrust, Imperva, Informatica, KeyNexus, Logi Vision, Lumeta, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Progress Software, SAP, Sophos, Tibco-Jaspersoft, Townsend Security, WS02, and YellowFin.

To assist sellers in growing their business on AWS Marketplace, AWS introduced several programs and features throughout 2014, including automated CRM capabilities, a Marketing Dashboard with analytics tools, sales and marketing enablement programs, and the ability to offer annual subscriptions for products in the AWS Marketplace.

For further details on APN benefits and terms, see http://aws.amazon.com/partners/2015/.

About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services offers a robust, fully featured technology infrastructure platform in the cloud comprised of a broad set of compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services from data center locations in the U. S., Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore. Hundreds of thousands of customers, including fast-growing startups, large enterprises, and government agencies across 190 countries, rely on AWS services to innovate quickly, lower IT costs and scale applications globally. To learn more about AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

Tianjin – Bank of China (BOC) Tianjin Branch and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the successful completion of the bank’s first smart branch. The new flagship location aims to provide an outstanding customer experience through the use of big data and analytics, mobile and social business tools. This flagship branch will serve as the model for all future Tianjin Branch of BOC locations.

As one of the leaders in China’s banking sector, BOC looks to keep pace with the changing customer and industry requirements driven by mobile and social technologies. BOC is focused on delivering transformational services that tap big data and innovative channels to create new, more personalized customer experiences. A long-term partner of BOC, IBM provided deep industry insight and consulting expertise to help create BOC’s new smart branch.

“The completion of our flagship smart branch further illustrates BOC’s dedication to continuous transformation to best meet the needs of our customers, and this is just the beginning,” said Sun Huimin, president assistant of Tianjin Branch of BOC. “Looking ahead, we plan to capitalize on digital and other innovative technologies to strengthen all of our customer-facing channels and their ability to deliver clients a personalized experience.”

“With IBM’s help, Bank of China is setting a new standard for the Chinese banking industry and the client experiences it delivers,” said Ron Lefferts, FSS leader, GBS, IBM Greater China Group. “Consumers worldwide expect a new level of service whenever they interact with a brand, whether it be a retail store or a bank. BOC’s new smart branch applies forward-looking insights gained from big data and analytics as well as social and mobile technologies to quickly respond to changing customer needs, giving BOC a distinct competitive advantage.”

The new Smart Branch incorporates the following innovative technologies and approaches to provide customers with the best possible experience:
Dedicated Customer Experience Section: The branch features a sales area where customers can freely experience the bank’s services and products through various terminals, including one for mobile banking. In this area, sales representatives are available and equipped with mobile devices to demonstrate products to multiple customers simultaneously.

Intelligent Process Management: The BOC will monitor the flow of customers in surrounding branches, in real time, to proactively divert customers into nearby, unoccupied branches.

Track and Analyze Integrated Customer Data: BOC will capture anonymous user behavior from all interactive media in the branch and analyze it for insight. Better understanding customer behavior will help the bank make changes that respond to customer preferences.

VTM Remote Bank Teller: BOC customers can carry out real-time communications with a remote bank teller for simple, standard transactions. This allows BOC to complete a greater volume of financial transactions, significantly improving efficiency for both the bank and its customers.

Creating a Seamless Experience On and Offline: Customers can purchase services or get additional information through an interactive QR code wall at the branch. Customers can also share service QR codes with friends on social networks to make digital recommendations.

IBM has global expertise working with banking and financial institutions to build a strong technology backbone that helps them become more customer centric, resulting in increased revenue and business performance in a competitive marketplace.
For more information on IBM Banking visit http://www-935.ibm.com/industries/banking/

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January 2015 – There is optimism for a sustainable future, where poverty is eradicated, disease eliminated and everyone has access to nutritious food and the opportunities presented by education. This message of hope was delivered by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, Co-Chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA. They were speaking at the 45th World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos-Klosters.

Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, confirmed that the main reason for optimism is the evidence of the past. “We have made tremendous progress in this world,” he said. Rosling pointed out that it is possible to make the world a better place. “The long-term trends are going in the right direction. The conflicts and the epidemics we can solve.”

Bill and Melinda Gates believe that the lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history. Important breakthroughs will be driven by innovation and technology, ranging from new vaccines with universal coverage, better agricultural yields due to better seeds, better nutrition, cheaper smartphones and new ways to deliver these benefits to more people.

“At any increase in the level of GDP, life is better,” Bill Gates said. “We get economic growth, but the fundamental basics have improved as well. The wonderful thing about the fundamentals improving is that it will continue for the next 15 years.”

Poverty has been halved because of innovation, he said. “Countries are following others that have done it right. Economic miracles start with agriculture, education and then they can participate in the world economy.” He pointed to China, which is now a middle-income country, as an example.

Bill Gates predicted that “in the next 15 years, we will have the tools to reduce [the incidence] of malaria and AIDS by 95% to 100%”. Melinda Gates said that vaccines are “a miracle cure”. Today, eight out of 10 children are getting vaccines. “Biotechnology and innovation are absolutely saving lives,” she said.

One out of 10 children used to die before the age of five. Thanks to the development of new vaccines and treatments, the percentage of children who die before the age of five has been cut in half. “We are looking at the biggest childhood killers of the world and tackling them with incredible vaccines,” said Melinda Gates.

Vaccine systems are being developed and the lag time between research and development and a vaccine being ready is one to three years. Thanks to private and government funding, prices have gone down by 35%. Countries such as Vietnam, Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda are reporting 90% vaccination coverage.

The Gates believe that with innovation in agriculture, within 15 years Africa will be able to feed itself, with access to the latest seeds adapted to African regions. Melinda Gates noted that with training in how to plant, crop rotation, and no till farming, Africans will be able to feed their families and trade intra-country.

Cheap smartphones are a game-changer. “In the next 15 years mobile phone coverage will go up, the price will come down, gender equity will improve and online software will be flourishing,” Bill Gates predicted. This will revolutionize everything: agriculture, access to digital payments, low transaction costs, women’s empowerment and education.

“If you want to pick one thing in an economy, education is a master switch of economic improvement,” Bill Gates concluded.

More than 2,500 participants are taking part at the 45th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 21 to 24 January 2015.

WATERLOO, ON, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Announced today, BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) have established a new partnership to bring BlackBerry’s industry leading BlackBerry Spark® platform to organizations across Canada. IBM will resell BlackBerry’s endpoint management, endpoint security and critical event management software, to enterprises and governments nationwide.

BlackBerry is trusted by millions of people around the world for its best-in-class security, productivity and safety software. The company’s outstanding technologies give businesses the tools, protections and comfort they need to operate in today’s digital economy.

“BlackBerry and IBM share a strong track-record of technology innovation and deep expertise in industry verticals,” said Neelam Sandhu, Senior Vice President and Chief Elite Customer Success Officer, BlackBerry. “Together we will bring best-in-class solutions to people across Canada, at a time when security, productivity and safety are needed most and without compromise. We are delighted to establish this partnership.”

“We are proud to partner with BlackBerry to enable the digital transformation of organizations across Canada,” said Xerxes Cooper, IBM Canada’s General Manager for Global Technology Services. “As the world’s leading open hybrid cloud platform and artificial intelligence company, our strength in delivering excellence to clients across industries is well recognized. Together with BlackBerry, the solutions we provide will help address critical business issues for Canadian organizations.”

For more information on BlackBerry software, including BlackBerry Spark® unified endpoint management, BlackBerry Spark® unified endpoint security, and BlackBerry® AtHoc® and BlackBerry Alert®, visit BlackBerry.com.

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 175M cars on the road today. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry’s vision is clear – to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contact:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com

About IBM Canada
For more information about IBM Canada, visit: www.ibm.com/ca-en

SOURCE BlackBerry Limited

Related Links
https://www.blackberry.com

Waterloo, ON – Continuing its strategy to arm mobile professionals with tools that make them more productive, BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in mobile communications, today launched the BlackBerry® Passport. Featuring a large square touch screen and new QWERTY touch-enabled keyboard, the BlackBerry Passport is a device purpose-built for productivity-driven business professionals who want a smartphone that empowers them with the mobile tools they need to get things done, without sacrificing style or portability.

“As we set out to design BlackBerry Passport, we were guided by a simple yet challenging idea – to set aside the limitations of traditional design and to instead simply build a device that fundamentally changes the way business professionals get work done on their smartphone,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO at BlackBerry. “The BlackBerry Passport was created to drive productivity and to break through the sea of rectangular-screen, all-touch devices.”

Thoughtful Design for the Mobile Professional
Inspired by actual passports, the universal symbol of mobility, the size and form factor of BlackBerry Passport is portable enough to easily tuck into pockets and use wherever you go. Utilizing premium, robust materials such as Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 for the display and forged stainless steel for added strength, BlackBerry Passport will provide the durability business professionals require in a smartphone.

The large square screen is optimized for viewing and creating content, and will make everyday tasks like reading and writing emails, reviewing and editing documents, web browsing, and map navigation, more comfortable and effortless. The BlackBerry Passport includes the industry’s first touch-enabled keyboard with gestures that make typing, editing and navigating more efficient and accurate. BlackBerry’s physical QWERTY keyboards have always made it easier for users to create polished, professional communications with exceptional accuracy. BlackBerry Passport’s new QWERTY keyboard is almost four times more accurate than BlackBerry® 10 virtual keyboards – the error rate is on average 74% lower – so there are fewer typos to get in the way of what you’re trying to say.

The BlackBerry Passport along with Porsche Design P’9983 smartphone from BlackBerry®, are the first devices to launch on BlackBerry’s latest OS platform, BlackBerry® 10.3. They come preloaded with new productivity-enhancing features including BlackBerry® Blend and BlackBerry® Assistant, as well as the BlackBerry® World™ storefront and Amazon Appstore, offering access to the very best apps for work and play.

BlackBerry Blend

BlackBerry Blend brings messaging and content that is on your BlackBerry smartphone to your computer and tablet. Get instant message notifications, read and respond to your work and personal email, BBM™ or text messages, and access your documents, calendar, contacts and media in real time on whatever device you are on, powered by your BlackBerry. BlackBerry Blend is being introduced on the BlackBerry Passport and will work across desktop operating systems, including Mac OS X 10.7 +, Windows® 7+ and Android™ tablets running Android 4.4+ via cellular, USB or Wi-Fi connections. BlackBerry is also working to bring the Blend experience on other tablets soon. The downloadable version of BlackBerry Blend for Macs and PCs is available today at www.BlackBerry.com/Blend, on the Apple® App StoreSM for iPad tablets, or via the Google Play™ Store for Android tablets.

Highlight features of the BlackBerry Passport include:

Large High-Resolution Square Screen – The BlackBerry Passport includes a 4.5” square screen with a 1:1 aspect ratio, 1440×1440 pixel (453 dpi) HD display and Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 for added strength.
Innovative BlackBerry® Keyboard – The BlackBerry Passport’s revolutionary new keyboard brings innovation to input with a responsive touch surface like a trackpad that lets you perform many touch functions directly on the keyboard. You can scroll web pages, flick to type or slide along the keys to move the cursor, leaving the full screen space for viewing.
BlackBerry® 10 OS 10.3 – The BlackBerry Passport comes preloaded with the new BlackBerry 10.3 operating system, including new features such as BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry Blend and Amazon Appstore. It has a fresh look that incorporates updated icons and an instant action bar so that each user’s most commonly accessed functions are in the center of their screen.
Best-in-Class Battery Life – The 3450 mAh battery is the largest among the top selling smartphones and phablets and, when tested against a very active user, provides up to 30 hours of mixed use. It’s our best battery power to date.*
Dual app storefronts for a Wealth of Professional and Popular Apps
– BlackBerry World – BlackBerry World showcases essential productivity apps for business professionals looking to drive efficient communications and collaboration.

– Amazon Appstore – Preloaded on BlackBerry Passport, users can access popular consumer apps through the Amazon Appstore, including the latest Android games and apps, such as Minecraft – Pocket Edition, Candy Crush Saga, Pinterest, Temple Run 2 and Cut the Rope 2.

BlackBerry Assistant – The BlackBerry Assistant is BlackBerry’s first digital assistant and can be used with voice and text commands to help users manage work and personal email, contacts, calendar and other native BlackBerry 10 applications. BlackBerry Assistant intelligently determines how to respond to you based on how you interact with it – if you type, it responds silently, if you speak, it speaks back and if you activate over Bluetooth, it speaks back with additional context because it assumes you might not have access to the screen.
Premium Components – The device is built for the most demanding user using durable materials mixed with top-of-the-line technology, including a Quad Core 2.2 GHZ Processor, 3 GB RAM, 13 MP OIS rear camera and 32 GB memory.
BlackBerry® Natural Sound – BlackBerry Passport comes with powerful speakers and a quad microphone system that delivers a high-quality listening experience. BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise, automatically adjusting volume so you don’t have to.

Availability:
The BlackBerry Passport is now available through local carriers around the world and online through ShopBlackBerry.com and Amazon.com. For more information about BlackBerry Passport, please visit www.BlackBerry.com/Passport. To learn more about BlackBerry Blend, please visit www.BlackBerry.com/Blend.

*Based on mixed usage scenario. Many factors affect battery life, including network connectivity, application usage, feature configuration and battery age. Actual results may vary.

About BlackBerry
A global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols “BB” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and “BBRY” on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

Mountain View, Calif (October 29, 2019)… BMW i Ventures announced today an investment in CelLink, a San Carlos, CA-based manufacturer of flexible circuit technology that delivers high-conductance, large-area, lightweight, and low-cost flexible circuits through a proprietary combination of manufacturing processes, designs, and materials. The new funding is aimed at ramping up production of large-area flexible circuits for power and data transmission.

“We believe CelLink’s technology will transform wire harnessing from an ‘old school’, simple technology to a more advanced, integrated, multi-purpose, flexible circuit technology with more functionality and lower cost. Automotive wiring is finally becoming high tech,” stated Marcus Behrendt, Partner at BMW i Ventures.

The new funding will support CelLink’s operations as it scales up existing production contracts and transitions several projects into full-scale production. CelLink will continue to ramp production in its first manufacturing facility through 2019, and the company intends to bring a new production facility online in the 2020-21 timeframe to meet additional demand.

“CelLink was founded eight years ago on the premise of providing interconnect solutions to the solar industry. We are thrilled that the core innovations that we developed have evolved into a new type of flexible circuit that addresses the growing challenges of vehicle wiring and light-weighting, battery wiring, and energy-efficient lighting applications,” commented CEO and co-founder Kevin Coakley. “These industries are huge, and they require significant technological advances for the world to achieve a state of sustainable energy production and consumption,” Coakley added.

In the long-term, CelLink expects that its technology will scale well-beyond the company’s initial markets. The company has already received strong interest in adapting its technology for use in aerospace and commercial vehicles.

# # #

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Xometry, Yellowbrick, Zum, Urgent.ly, Lime, and Bright Machines. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies

About CelLink
CelLink, founded in 2012 by Kevin Coakley (CEO) and Malcolm Brown (VP Engineering), and joined in 2015 by Bruce Graham (Chairman), manufactures the world’s largest and most electrically and thermally conductive flexible circuits. The company’s products are ideally-suited to power and signal transmission applications including automotive wiring, battery packs, LED lighting, photovoltaics, and other devices. CelLink was originally funded through a 2014 US Department of Energy Sunshot grant, and has since received a total of $35M in follow-on funding, including a 2015 seed investment from SK Telecom, Band of Angels, and Robert Bosch Venture Capital, and a 2017 Series A investment led by 3M Ventures. Please visit www.cellinkcircuits.com for more information.

January 10, 2019 (Mountain View, CA) – BMW i Ventures announced today an investment in Tekion, a technology provider that delivers the most modern cloud platform available for the automotive retail space.

Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, Tekion was founded in 2016 by a world-class team with a unique background combining deep enterprise cloud platform understanding with automotive retail operations. Tekion comes to market with their digital Service Experience (dSE) platform, the only end-to-end digital technology for both consumers and dealership personnel that connects the entire service experience from appointment scheduling to payment and everything in-between. Thanks to a cloud-built platform with advanced machine learning and AI capabilities, Tekion can help dealers offer a personalized and seamless consumer experience.

“Tekion team has built a cutting-edge solution from ground up that seamlessly connects dealers, consumers and OEMs” said Dr. Ulrich Quay, Managing Director at BMW i Ventures. “We are convinced that Tekion will play a big part in the evolution of the dealer software industry, and we are thrilled to join the journey.”

Tekion will use the investment to expand its sales and customer support, and continue its rapid pace of product innovation.

# # #

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 Mio million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Carbon3D, Chargepoint, Claroty, DesktopMetal, Graphcore, JustPark, Life360, Moovit, Nauto, Scoop, Stratim, Turo, Xometry and Zendrive. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies.

About Tekion
Tekion is a cloud-built platform delivering business applications that are simple, fun, cool and inherent with advanced machine learning/ AI, and Human Computer Interaction (voice, touch, vision, sensors and IoT) capabilities for a personalized and seamless consumer experience. Tekion is currently focused on delivering applications and solutions for automotive OEMs and dealers that believe in transforming the automotive retail experience. Born in California’s Silicon Valley, Tekion employs over 150 innovators globally. For more information, visit www.tekion.com

Mountain View, CA – BMW i Ventures announced today a strategic investment in Claroty, the leading developer of cybersecurity software for protecting the safety and reliability of industrial control networks.

Headquartered in New York, Claroty was founded in 2014 by CEO Amir Zilberstein, Chief Business Development Officer Galina Antova, and CTO Benny Porat. Specializing in cybersecurity for industrial and critical infrastructure environments, the company provides an integrated platform of solutions which provide deep visibility into industrial control systems (ICS), combining continuous monitoring for threats and vulnerabilities with secure remote access and consequently enabling ICS operators to protect these mission-critical networks.

“Our investment in Claroty is a clear signal that we are taking the need for industrial cybersecurity very seriously and recognize the tremendous growth potential in the sector” said Tobias Jahn, Principal at BMW i Ventures. “Claroty’s unmatched team, technical superiority, and strategic partnerships with multiple large automation vendors like Rockwell Automation, Siemens and Schneider Electric, convinced us they have the capability for rapid growth and to maintain the leadership position within this segment far into the future.”

The growing threat of advanced cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure and industrial control systems presents a unique challenge. More and more factories utilize connected devices, following IoT and Industry 4.0 developments, which expose these industrial networks to malware and an increasingly hostile threat landscape. BMW i Ventures continues to make investments protecting the safety and resiliency of manufacturing operations and the security of the world-class automobiles.

Claroty will use the investment to expand its sales and customer support footprint globally, increase awareness and demand for the Claroty brand, and continue its rapid pace of product innovation.
# # #

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 Mio million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Carbon3D, Chargepoint, DesktopMetal, JustPark, Life360, Moovit, Nauto, Scoop, Stratim, Turo, Xometry and Zendrive. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies.

About Claroty
Headquartered in New York and launched as the second startup from the famed Team8 foundry, Claroty combines elite management and research teams with deep technical expertise from both IT and OT disciplines. The company is backed by an unrivaled syndicate of investors and partners, including some of the most important industrial control automation companies and asset owners on earth. With an unmatched understanding of ICS, SCADA, and other essential OT/IIoT systems, Claroty built a fully integrated cybersecurity platform. Our award-winning suite of products provides extreme visibility into industrial networks – enabling unparalleled cyberthreat protection, detection, and response. For more information, visit www.claroty.com.

Mountain View, CA – December 18, 2018… BMW i Ventures has announced a strategic investment in Graphcore, a company developing a new kind of computer processor and software specifically designed for machine intelligence.

Since the company’s founding only two years ago, Graphcore has helped innovators create next-generation machine intelligence solutions. Graphcore’s Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) is the first processor to be designed specifically for Machine Intelligence and delivers higher speeds compared to conventional hardware.

“The versatility of Graphcore’s IPU – which supports multiple machine learning techniques with high efficiency – is well-suited for a wide variety of applications from intelligent voice assistants to self-driving vehicles,” said Tobias Jahn, Principal at
BMW i Ventures. “With the flexibility to use the same processor in both a data center and a vehicle, Graphcore’s IPU also presents the possibility of reductions in development times and complexity.”

The investment from BMW i Ventures is a further step towards fulfilling the company’s ambition to build a global technology company, focused on this new and fast-growing machine intelligence market.

# # #
About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Carbon3D, Chargepoint, Claroty, DesktopMetal, fair, Graphcore, Lime, Mapillary, Moovit, Nauto, and Xometry. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed to growth companies.

About Graphcore
Graphcore’s Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) hardware and software lets innovators create next generation machine intelligence solutions. The IPU is the first processor to be designed specifically for Machine Intelligence and delivers between 10x to 100x speed up compared to today’s hardware. Graphcore has raised over $300m in funding from leading financial and strategic investors and is headquartered in Bristol UK, with offices in London UK, Oslo Norway, Palo Alto USA and Beijing China.
More information can be found at https://www.graphcore.ai.

Mountain View, CA – August 31, 2018… BMW i Ventures has announced a strategic investment in Vera, a company developing innovative data-centric security technology for business of all sizes.

Since the company’s founding, Vera has helped some of the world’s leading companies protect their most critical data, without sacrificing visibility and control. Over the past year, Vera has been focused on scaling its data security platform to protect both email and enterprise content with dynamic encryption and and granular control. The company recently introduced its Vera for Mail offering and browser-based editing capabilities, enhancing users’ ability to access and collaboratre on secure files across devices and operations systems. The new capital will help broadly to fuel Vera’s next phase of growth and scale its workforce globally.

“From documents to CAD files, photos to emails, data moves more freely than ever, and Vera’s leading technology allows people and organizations to share all kinds of information, safely,” said Zach Barasz, Partner at BMW i Ventures. “We believe that Vera is at an important inflection point in its growth curve and with the recent appointment of Carlos Delatorre as CEO, we’re excited to join the journey.

# # #

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 Mio million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Carbon3D, Chargepoint, DesktopMetal, JustPark, Life360, Moovit, Nauto, Scoop, Stratim, Turo, Xometry and Zendrive. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies.

Mountain View, Calif (September 12, 2019)… BMW i Ventures announced an investment in Trifacta, the global leader in data wrangling. The new capital will accelerate the company’s continued expansion into new geographies and product areas, in particular expanding upon the company’s use of intelligent automation throughout the platform.

“As we face an exponential growth in big data—from machines in our factories to connected cars on the road—we believe that Trifacta’s data prep solution will be key to accelerating the feedback loop between the hordes of data produced everyday and the types of insights and actions taken by large organizations,” said Marcus Behrendt, partner, BMW i Ventures. “Trifacta’s toolset is key to harvesting the data lakes and is therefore an enabler when shifting to a truly digital organization.”

With an exponential amount of data moving to the cloud, more data quality, preparation and pipeline workloads are moving there as well, causing an increased need to derive faster insights and deliver bottom line business results. Organizations can no longer rely on legacy, siloed data integration processes to handle the speed, scale and diversity of today’s data if they are going to take advantage of the transformational business opportunities provided by the advent of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

“AI, machine learning and analytics have become the primary growth opportunities for the cloud today. Yet, it’s this meteoric growth that is causing barriers to success as AI projects overwhelmingly face the same problem — data quality,” said Adam Wilson, CEO, Trifacta. “As the pioneers in data wrangling,Trifacta offers the leading platform for managing data quality, preparation and pipelines that is natively integrated with all of the major cloud providers. A growing number of industry-leading organizations, including technology pioneers such as IBM and Google are choosing Trifacta to remove the critical barrier data wrangling presents to success with analytics and machine learning;.”

Through Trifacta’s unique combination of human-computer interaction, machine learning & scalable data processing it guides users through the process of exploring and preparing data. By democratizing the data wrangling experience, Trifacta empowers technical data scientists and engineers as well as non-technical business analysts to work beyond data silos to deliver quality outputs with greater efficiency to downstream analytics initiatives.

# # #

About BMW i Ventures
BMW i Ventures, BMW’s EUR 500 million venture capital fund, invests money and resources in startups in the fields of autonomous driving, digital car and automotive cloud, e-mobility, artificial Intelligence and data, industry 4.0, shared and on-demand mobility, customer digital life, and energy services. The firm has already partnered with innovative companies such as Xometry, Yellowbrick, Zum, Urgent.ly, Lime, and Bright Machines. BMW i Ventures invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies.

ABOUT Trifacta:
Trifacta is the global leader data wrangling. Trifacta leverages decades of innovative research in human-computer interaction, scalable data management and machine learning to make the process of preparing data faster and more intuitive. Around the globe, tens of thousands of users at more than 10,000 companies, including leading brands like Deutsche Boerse, Google, Kaiser Permanente, New York Life and PepsiCo, are unlocking the potential of their data with Trifacta’s market-leading data preparation solutions. Learn more at trifacta.com.

BETHESDA, Md., Lockheed Martin has finalized the purchase of Systems Made Simple. This acquisition aligns with our business strategy by augmenting our existing government health IT capabilities and enabling us to deliver solutions to additional customers. We are thrilled to welcome approximately 430 new employees to the Lockheed Martin family.

Lockheed Martin in late October announced the agreement to acquire Systems Made Simple, a leading provider of health information technology solutions to the U.S. federal government.

Systems Made Simple delivers technology and service solutions to improve, increase, enable and ensure the secure exchange and interoperability of information between patients, providers and payers. The company does significant work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in areas such as health data analytics, data center operation, health data management and health system interoperability. The company operates in the fastest growing part of the U.S. federal IT budget and was selected for the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (T4) contract that supports the VA’s IT modernization initiatives, a contract that Lockheed Martin is not currently involved in.

Systems Made Simple is a privately held company headquartered in Syracuse, New York. Additional locations include McLean and Charlottesville, Virginia; Salt Lake City, Utah; Tampa, Florida; and Austin, Texas.

BOSTON – Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), the leading provider of cloud services for video, today announced it has completed the acquisition of the online video platform business of Ooyala, a provider of cloud video technology.

The strategic acquisition strengthens Brightcove’s position as the market leader in the online video industry. Ooyala OVP customers join an already impressive list of companies working with Brightcove.

“This is an exciting time for the company as we integrate Ooyala’s OVP business into Brightcove. We are thrilled to welcome Ooyala’s OVP customers to the family, along with our new team members in Guadalajara and around the globe. We look forward to providing a world-class experience for all of our new, future, and existing customers and employees” said Jeff Ray, CEO, Brightcove. “The addition of our new team members further positions Brightcove to accelerate our speed of innovation and provide deeper support for all of our customers. We are living in the age of video and are 100% committed to ensuring that our customers reap the power and value of video technology to help propel their businesses forward.”

Since its inception, Brightcove has been dedicated to building a best-in-class global video platform with solutions to support media, entertainment, marketing, and enterprise companies. Aspects of Ooyala’s technology will be integrated into the Brightcove platform to provide a best in class offering for all customers.

To learn more about Brightcove solutions, contact us directly, join video enthusiasts and Brightcove users from around the world at the only video conference of its kind at PLAY 2019, May 14-16, in Boston, or visit booth #SU1920 at NAB Show from April 8-11, in Las Vegas.

About Brightcove
Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) is the leading global provider of powerful cloud solutions for managing, delivering, and monetizing video experiences on every screen. A pioneering force in the world of online video since the company’s founding in 2004, Brightcove’s award-winning technology, unparalleled services, extensive partner ecosystem, and proven global scale have helped thousands of companies in over 70 countries achieve better business results with video. To learn more, visit www.brightcove.com.

BT Group plc (BT) announces that, further to its statement on 24 November 2014, it has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Deutsche Telekom and Orange in relation to BT’s possible acquisition of all of their UK mobile business, EE. The period of exclusivity will last several weeks allowing BT to complete its due diligence and for negotiations on a definitive agreement to be concluded.

The proposed acquisition would enable BT to accelerate its existing mobility strategy whereby customers will benefit from innovative, seamless services that combine the power of fibre broadband, wi-fi and 4G. BT would own the UK’s most advanced 4G network, giving it greater control in terms of future investment and product innovation.

While continuing these exclusive discussions, BT will progress its own plans for providing enhanced fixed-mobile converged services for businesses and consumers, in line with previous announcements. It remains confident of delivering on these plans should a transaction not take place.

The key headline terms, which are non-binding, include a purchase price of £12.5bn for EE on a debt/cash free basis. The consideration for EE will be payable as a combination of cash and new BT ordinary shares issued to both Deutsche Telekom and Orange. Following the transaction, Deutsche Telekom would hold a 12% stake in BT and would be entitled to appoint one member of the BT Board of Directors. Orange would hold a 4% stake in BT. In considering the financing of the cash element, BT has a range of options and is mindful of the importance of maintaining a conservative financial profile.

BT expects significant synergies mainly through network and IT rationalisation, back-office consolidation and savings on procurement, marketing and sales costs. In addition, BT expects to generate revenue synergies through selling fixed-line services to those EE customers who do not currently take a service from BT, and by accelerating the sale of converged fixed-mobile services to BT’s existing consumer and business customers.

The exclusivity agreement does not require the parties to enter into a transaction and there can be no assurances that one will occur. If a transaction is agreed, approval by BT’s shareholders will be required as a condition of the purchase.

EE has 24.5m direct mobile customers1 and reported Adjusted2 EBITDA of £1,588m for the twelve months to 30 June 2014.

Broadband must be recognized as the vital development enabler in post-2015 UN Sustainable Development framework, says Dublin meeting of UN Broadband Commission.

Access to broadband could be the universal catalyst that lifts developing countries out of poverty and puts access to health care, education and basic social services within reach of all, according to the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which met in Dublin this weekend.

The Commission reiterated its call to the international community to recognize the transformational potential of high-speed networks and ensure broadband penetration targets are specifically included in the UN post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

It also urged governments and international financing bodies to work to remove current barriers to investment. Globally, as much as 95% of telecommunications infrastructure is private sector-funded, but better incentives are urgently needed if investment is to expand in line with the coming exponential growth of connected users and so-called ‘Internet of Things’ data streams.

In the world’s 200 biggest cities, the number of connected devices is forecast to increase from an average of 400 devices per square kilometre to over 13,000 devices per square kilometre by 2016.

The Commission, which includes some of the world’s most prominent leaders from the tech sector, government, academia and UN agencies. gathered in Dublin at the invitation of Denis O’Brien, Chairman of the Digicel Group and one of the founding members of the group.

Established in 2010, the Commission is a top-level advocacy body which focuses on strategies to make broadband more available and affordable worldwide, with a particular emphasis on accelerating progress towards the eight UN Millennium Development Goals.

It is chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helú, with ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova as co-Vice Chairs.

“The long-sought panacea to human poverty may at last be within our reach in the form of broadband networks that empower all countries to take their place in the global economy, overcoming traditional barriers like geography, language and resource constraints,” said O’Brien, whose companies provide mobile services in some of the world’s most challenging environments and disadvantaged countries, such as Haiti and Papua New Guinea.

To drive faster broadband roll-out, O’Brien called on governments to lower spectrum license fees and advocated for the establishment of a ‘champion’s league’ index that tracks best practice in broadband investment and deployment.

In his welcoming remarks, Rwanda’s President Kagame noted that broadband and ICTs can deliver more efficiency in education, health, finance, banking and other sectors. “In Rwanda, the broadband model we have adopted is based on effective public private partnership, guided by what works on the ground,” he said. “This has allowed broadband and ICT to continue to play an important role in the progress we have made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.” Rwanda is currently rolling out a nationwide 4G mobile broadband network through a public private partnership.

Kagame urged commissioners to go beyond infrastructure and work to ensure its use: “Our initial focus was on connectivity: to put the infrastructure and tools in place to connect citizens to the digital era. Onwards, our efforts need to focus on unleashing the smart use of broadband to help people use services in ways that will significantly improve their lives.”

Uptake of ICT is accelerating worldwide, with mobile broadband recognized as the fastest growing technology in human history. The number of mobile phone subscriptions now roughly equals the world’s total population of around seven billion, while over 2.7 billion people are online. Active mobile broadband subscriptions now exceed 2.1 billion – three times higher than the 700 million wireline broadband connections worldwide.

Most encouragingly, most of this progress has taken place in the developing world, which has accounted for 90% of global net additions for mobile cellular and 82% of global net additions of new Internet users since early 2010, when the Commission was set up.

“That translates to 820 million new Internet users and two billion new mobile broadband subscribers in developing countries in just four years,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, who urged Commissioners to consider defining a Broadband for MDGs Acceleration Framework which could be presented for endorsement to the UN Secretary-General at the next meeting of the Commission in New York in September, ahead of the UN General Assembly. “For the first time in history, broadband gives us the power to end extreme poverty and put our planet on a new, sustainable development course,” he said.

In 2011, the Commission set four ambitious broadband policy and access targets. The seventh meeting of the Commission, held in Mexico City in March 2013, added a fifth target mandating ‘gender equality in broadband access by the year 2020’, aimed at redressing gender imbalances in access to information and communication technologies.

“Broadband can be an accelerator for inclusive and sustainable growth, by opening new paths to create and share knowledge, by widening learning opportunities, by enhancing freedom of expression,” said UNESCO’s Irina Bokova. “But this does not happen by itself, it requires will and leadership, and this is why the Commission matters.”

In addition to broadband and UN sustainable development goals, the agenda of the Dublin meeting covered the changing role of telecom operators and content providers, and innovative solutions for rolling out rural broadband. The gathering also included a meeting of the newly-formed Working Group on Financing and Investment, held on Saturday 22 March.

At that meeting, Commissioners discussed the urgent need for new strategies to finance the massive new investment in telecoms networks needed to cope with a forecast huge surge in mobile data volumes.

“The MDGs constitute the attainment of basic human rights for billions of people around the world,” noted Carlos M. Jarque, who attended the meeting as the representative of Co-Chair Carlos Slim. “The MDGs and emerging Sustainable Development Goals are the foundation for eliminating extreme poverty in the third decade of this new century. It is a fact that broadband can make a tremendous contribution towards their attainment. But in many countries, the telecommunication infrastructure now needs to be doubled every year. No other sector is facing a similar capex investment challenge. We need to identify viable new operating and financing models.”

Last September at the eighth meeting of the Commission in New York, the group released the second edition of its global snapshot of broadband deployment, entitled The State of Broadband 2013 Universalizing Broadband, featuring country-by-country rankings based on access and affordability. In that report, Ireland ranked 35th out of 183 economies for fixed broadband access, 19th out of 170 economies for mobile broadband access, and 31 out of 192 economies in terms of percentage of inhabitants using the Internet (79%).

This news is courtesy of www.unesco.org

Last November, the President outlined his plan to keep the Internet open to new competition and innovation by safeguarding net neutrality — which will help ensure no one company can act as a gatekeeper to digital content. But there is more work to do so that every American has access to a free and open internet. This is particularly true in areas where broadband competition is lacking, resulting in high prices and slow service.

Building on his net neutrality plan, tomorrow in Cedar Falls, Iowa President Obama will announce steps he will discuss in the State of the Union to help more Americans, in more communities around the country, get access to fast and affordable broadband. Communities like Cedar Falls have banded together to commit to broadband that works by bringing in new competition, leveraging municipal investments, and forming new partnerships to bring world-class Internet to places like this small Iowa town.

High-speed, low-cost broadband is paving the way for economic revitalization not just in Cedar Falls, but in places like Chattanooga, TN, Kansas City, MO, and Lafayette, LA — all of which have Internet speeds nearly 100 times faster than the national average and deliver it at an affordable price. To help more communities achieve these results, support economic growth, and promote a level playing field for all competitors, the Obama Administration is:

Calling to End Laws that Harm Broadband Service Competition: Laws in 19 states — some specifically written by special interests trying to stifle new competitors — have held back broadband access and, with it, economic opportunity. Today, President Obama is announcing a new effort to support local choice in broadband, formally opposing measures that limit the range of options available to communities to spur expanded local broadband infrastructure, including ownership of networks. As a first step, the Administration is filing a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to join this effort by addressing barriers inhibiting local communities from responding to the broadband needs of their citizens.
Expanding the National Movement of Local Leaders for Better Broadband: As of today, 50 cities representing over 20 million Americans have joined the Next Century Cities coalition, a nonpartisan network pledging to bring fast, community-supported broadband to their towns and cities. They join 37 research universities around the country that formed the Gig.U partnership to bring fast broadband to communities around their campuses. To recognize these remarkable individuals and the partnerships they have built, in June 2015 the White House will host a Community Broadband Summit of mayors and county commissioners from around the nation who are joining this movement for broadband solutions and economic revitalization. These efforts will also build on the US Ignite partnership, launched by White House in 2012, and which has grown to include more than 65 research universities and 35 cities in developing new next-generation gigabit applications.
Announcing a New Initiative to Support Community Broadband Projects: To advance this important work, the Department of Commerce is launching a new initiative, BroadbandUSA, to promote broadband deployment and adoption. Building on expertise gained from overseeing the $4.7 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program funded through the Recovery Act, BroadbandUSA will offer online and in-person technical assistance to communities; host a series of regional workshops around the country; and publish guides and tools that provide communities with proven solutions to address problems in broadband infrastructure planning, financing, construction, and operations across many types of business models.
Unveiling New Grant and Loan Opportunities for Rural Providers: The Department of Agriculture is accepting applications to its Community Connect broadband grant program and will reopen a revamped broadband loan program, which offers financing to eligible rural carriers that invest in bringing high-speed broadband to unserved and under served rural areas.
Removing Regulatory Barriers and Improving Investment Incentives: The President is calling for the Federal Government to remove all unnecessary regulatory and policy barriers to broadband build-out and competition, and is establishing a new Broadband Opportunity Council of over a dozen government agencies with the singular goal of speeding up broadband deployment and promoting adoptions for our citizens. The Council will also solicit public comment on unnecessary regulatory barriers and opportunities to promote greater coordination with the aim of addressing those within its scope.
Background: A National Need, And Solutions That Are Working

Today, too few Americans have affordable and competitive broadband choices, but some communities around the country are choosing to change that dynamic. As a result – as outlined in a new report being issued today – cities like Lafayette, Chattanooga, and Kansas City, have broadband that is nearly one hundred times faster than the national average, yet still available at a competitive price. By welcoming new competition or building next-generation networks, these communities are pioneers in broadband that works, and tomorrow in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the President is highlighting their remarkable success stories and providing municipal leadership and entrepreneurs new tools to help replicate this success across the nation.

Americans in even our busiest cities often find only one or two providers offering broadband service, and often none providing them with fast, fiber-optic connections — despite the fact that many of cities are already equipped with fast fiber-optic broadband. At the same time, in too many places, residents do not have access to broadband in their home, or their speeds continue to lag while their monthly bills continue to grow.

Both of these challenges are driven by the lack of broadband choice in many American markets. In fact, three out of four Americans have no competition or no service at speeds increasingly required for many online services. Rarely is the problem a lack of demand — too often, it is the capital costs of building out broadband infrastructure and a combination of laws that prevent communities from providing incentives to attract providers. Competitive markets translate to lower monthly prices, better products, and better customer service. In cities across the country, new competitors entering markets have provided consumers with new and often faster alternatives, spurring investment from incumbents and providing consumers with more choice.

Many of the communities that have taken aggressive steps to improve their broadband have residential and business Internet speeds among the fastest in the world — faster, even, than in San Francisco, New York City, or Los Angeles:

What sets these top-performing cities apart is that they have all taken dramatic steps to bring in more competitors, and enter into new partnerships to deliver top-quality broadband. Some specific examples of how creative thinking and partnerships are delivering faster, better broadband across the country include:

Chattanooga, TN — After investing in a visionary 1 gigabit per second broadband network, the City of Chattanooga is transforming itself into a regional center for technology and innovation. Today, Chattanooga is attracting entrepreneurs and computer programmers from around the country and boasts new business incubators and state-of-the-art public facilities. Investors have responded in kind. Since 2009, Chattanooga has gone from hosting close to zero venture capital to at least five organized funds with investable capital of over $50 million.

Wilson, NC — Through inspired leadership and the community mobilization, Wilson has been transformed from “the ‘World’s Greatest Tobacco Market’ to ‘North Carolina’s First Gigabit City,’ delivering speeds up to 100 times the national average, at a price North Carolinians can afford. Unanimously approved by the city council, Mayor Bruce Rose believes this infrastructure “is absolutely essential to improve the economy and quality of life.”

Kansas City, MO — Kansas City was the first city to successfully compete for Google Fiber, the search giant’s entry into broadband service to homes and businesses, and today is being nationally recognized for attracting new start-ups, retaining existing business, and providing better municipal services and education as a result of this new and affordable broadband.

The new report released today by the National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers examines these remarkable stories in greater depth.

SHANGHAI, – Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today announced an alliance with ShanghaiTech University to bring enhanced Wi-Fi infrastructure to Shanghai and to accelerate product development for the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) market. The Alliance Signing Ceremony was held at the Broadcom Asia Media Summit in Shanghai on March 19. For more news, visit Broadcom’s Newsroom.

Based on a combined interest, Broadcom and ShanghaiTech University will collaborate on a joint “Wi-Fi City” program and establish an IoT Joint Innovation Center (JIC). The goal of the Wi-Fi City program is to deploy a carrier grade Wireless LAN network on the school’s new campus. Once the pilot project is complete, the two organizations intend to roll out the networks in increasingly larger geographic areas. The JIC will be focused on developing reference designs that foster the advancement of wearable and other connected devices in the region.

Dr. Jiang Mianheng, President of ShanghaiTech University said, “As a research university, ShanghaiTech is committed to forging an innovation value chain to serve China’s goal to be an innovation-driven country. We look forward to working together with Broadcom.”

“This strong alliance will accelerate the progression of IoT throughout the Shanghai technology community,” Dr. Wang Xi, Director General of Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology and China Academy of Science Academician.

“With one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of end-to-end semiconductor solutions, Broadcom products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments,” said Broadcom CEO and President Scott McGregor. “Investing in best-in-class Wi-Fi, IoT and wearable innovation with one of China’s most prestigious research universities will strengthen wireless infrastructure city-wide and open the door for the development of new, innovative smart products, accessories and other wearable sensors.”

In attendance at the Signing Ceremony were Dr. Jiang Mianheng, President, ShanghaiTech University, Mr. Chen Mingbo, Deputy Director, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Dr. Wang Xi, Director General, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology and China Academy of Science Academician, Broadcom CEO and President Scott McGregor, and Broadcom Senior Vice President of Sales and President of Greater China Dr. Ting Wei Li. The documents were signed by Broadcom Executive Vice President of Sales Michael Hurlston, ShanghaiTech Vice President Dr. Yin Jie and other involved partners.

About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a FORTUNE 500® company, is a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom® products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments. With the industry’s broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip solutions, Broadcom is changing the world by Connecting everything®. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

About ShanghaiTech University
ShanghaiTech is a leading research university committed to serving China’s national development strategy. It seeks innovative resolutions to address the challenges that China is facing in the field of energy, material, environment, human health, thus to improve productivity driven by innovation, and contribute to the restructuring and development of China.

This news is courtesy of www.broadcom.com

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today introduced the industry’s first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system-on-chip (SoC), designed for low-power, mass-market wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches. Broadcom will showcase its mobile innovations at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 24-27. For more news, visit Broadcom’s Newsroom.

The Broadcom® BCM4771 GNSS SoC with on-chip sensor hub enables consumers to more accurately track and manage their health and wellbeing by delivering precision activity tracking and location data while consuming less power than traditional architectures. This enables location intelligence and the extended battery life needed by the growing wearable market. Wearable wireless device revenues are projected to exceed $6 billion in 2018 with sports, fitness and wellness as the largest segment with 50 percent share of all device shipments1.

“Today’s wearables like fitness trackers have surged in popularity, but often miscalculate speed and distance,” said Mohamed Awad, Broadcom Director, Marketing, Mobile and Wireless Group. “As the largest supplier of discrete GNSS solutions, Broadcom brings its location expertise to deliver more precise fitness and health measurements to the accelerating wearable market.”

Broadcom’s new chip constantly monitors user activity levels and location history to improve accuracy while adding advanced features such as location batching. In addition, Broadcom’s BCM4771 significantly reduces power consumption and board area by combining its location capabilities with an integrated sensor hub, contextual awareness, and GNSS. The solution is complimented by Broadcom’s Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED™) Smart and WICED Direct software development kits (SDKs) to provide additional wireless connectivity to the platform.

Key Features
Designed in 40 nanometer (nm) process technology, Broadcom’s BCM4771 GNSS SoC includes a sensor hub that integrates sensor inputs for its on-chip algorithms to detect the user’s context, accurately compute speed and distance traveled, and provide fitness applications with the GNSS track. Power savings and advanced accuracy are achieved by intelligently leveraging context detection through the tight coupling of sensor inputs and GNSS on a single SoC. Broadcom’s BCM4771 also realizes a lower overall bill of materials (BOM) cost through the integration of a multipurpose sensor hub.

Availability
The BCM4771 will be sampling by the end of Q1 2014.

About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a FORTUNE 500® company, is a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom® products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments. With the industry’s broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip solutions, Broadcom is changing the world by connecting everything®.

This Press Release is courtesy of www.broadcom.com

SINGAPORE and SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 02, 2016 – Broadcom Limited (Nasdaq:AVGO) and Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:BRCD) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Broadcom will acquire Brocade, a leader in Fibre Channel storage area network (“FC SAN”) switching and IP networking, for $12.75 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion, plus $0.4 billion of net debt. Broadcom expects to fund the transaction with new debt financing and cash available on its balance sheet. Broadcom, with the support of Brocade, plans to divest Brocade’s IP Networking business, consisting of wireless and campus networking, data center switching and routing, and software networking solutions.

“This strategic acquisition enhances Broadcom’s position as one of the leading providers of enterprise storage connectivity solutions to OEM customers,” stated Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadcom. “With deep expertise in mission-critical storage networking, Brocade increases our ability to address the evolving needs of our OEM customers. In addition, we are confident that we will find a great home for Brocade’s valuable IP networking business that will best position that business for its next phase of growth.”

“This transaction represents significant value for our shareholders, who will receive a 47% premium from the Brocade closing share price on Friday, October 28, 2016, and creates new opportunities for our customers and partners,” said Lloyd Carney, Chief Executive Officer of Brocade. “Our best-in-class FC SAN solutions will help Broadcom create one of the industry’s broadest portfolios for enterprise storage. We will work with Broadcom as it seeks to find a buyer for our IP Networking business which includes a full portfolio of open, hardware and software-based solutions spanning the core of the data center to the network edge.”

Upon closing, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Broadcom’s non-GAAP free cash flow and earnings per share. Broadcom currently anticipates that Brocade’s FC SAN business will contribute approximately $900 million of pro forma non-GAAP EBITDA in its fiscal year 2018.

The board of directors of Brocade and the Executive Committee of the board of directors of Broadcom have unanimously approved the transaction, which is presently expected to close in the second half of Broadcom’s fiscal year 2017 which commenced on October 31, 2016, subject to regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions, customary closing conditions as well as the approval of Brocade’s stockholders. The closing of the transaction is not subject to any financing conditions, nor is it conditioned on the divestiture of Brocade’s IP Networking business.

About Broadcom Limited
Broadcom Limited (Nasdaq:AVGO) is a leading designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of analog and digital semiconductor connectivity solutions. Broadcom Limited’s extensive product portfolio serves four primary end markets: wired infrastructure, wireless communications, enterprise storage and industrial & other. Applications for our products in these end markets include: data center networking, home connectivity, broadband access, telecommunications equipment, smartphones and base stations, data center servers and storage, factory automation, power generation and alternative energy systems, and displays. Broadcom is co-headquartered in Singapore and San Jose, Calif. For more information about Broadcom please visit http://www.broadcom.com.

About Brocade
Brocade (Nasdaq:BRCD) networking solutions help the world’s leading organizations turn their networks into platforms for business innovation. With solutions spanning public and private data centers to the network edge, Brocade is leading the industry in its transition to the New IP network infrastructures required for today’s era of digital business. Brocade is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. For more information about Brocade please visit http://www.brocade.com.

BT and Dolby Laboratories today announced expanded availability of the BT MeetMe™ with Dolby® Voice™ service and of the innovative Dolby Conference Phone as well as the integration of the service with Cisco® WebEx® and Microsoft® Lync®. BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice combines Dolby’s nearly 50 years of audio expertise with BT’s world-class communications capabilities to deliver exceptionally clear, natural and productive meetings.

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice transforms conference calls by delivering an in-person experience. The users get stunning audio quality, free from background noise. They also hear each person from a distinct virtual location so it is easy to identify who is speaking and to hear everyone on the call — even those with soft voices. Conversation flows more naturally and everyone can contribute better.

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice also offers significant cost savings over traditional audio conferencing services. Because users can join conference calls over data networks, the service helps lower transport and access fees.

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice can be accessed anywhere — via the desktop, mobile devices and in meeting rooms using the Dolby Conference Phone. Packed with innovation, it is the only phone that extends the complete Dolby Voice experience and productivity to meeting rooms. It provides outstanding audio clarity and the ability to not only pick up all the voices in the room but also to separate and clearly present them to remote participants. In addition to being an endpoint for BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice service, the phone can be used for traditional IP telephony calls. The Dolby Conference Phone is now available worldwide.

“The Dolby Conference Phone revolutionizes the way people communicate and collaborate,” said Andrew Border, vice president and general manager, Communications Business Group, Dolby Laboratories. “Because everyone hears clearly and feels like they are in the same room, participation increases and calls are more effective.”

Carlos Zamora, global vice president, BT Conferencing, said: “Audio quality has a tremendous effect on the productivity of meetings. With BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice now integrated with BT One Collaborate for Cisco WebEx and BT One for Microsoft Lync, end users will gain substantial new benefits from the industry’s most popular collaboration platforms. We are proud to announce today that customers across Asia-Pacific and Africa are also now able to enjoy the full benefits of this great technology.”

The integration of the service with BT One Collaborate for Cisco WebEx lets users enjoy the full WebEx functionality while benefitting from the clearer, more natural and effective BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice experience. BT One Collaborate users can now initiate and manage BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice audio conferences directly from the WebEx interface. This can be done from a traditional PSTN environment or from an IP connection.

The integration with BT One for Microsoft Lync provides the flexibility for participants to join their Lync meetings from the Lync client or from a BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice client and the Dolby Conference Phone. Users benefit from the in-person audio experience of BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice and from simple access for internal and external meeting participants. All Lync features are available to users who join from the Lync client.

Case study – WANdisco
BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice is already boosting productivity, enhancing collaboration and improving operations for companies like WANdisco, which is using the service and the Dolby Conference Phone to connect workers across several worldwide offices. WANdisco is a leading provider of continuous-availability software for global enterprises to meet the challenges of Big Data (www.wandisco.com/about).

“We recently deployed BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice and the Dolby Conference Phone across several of our worldwide offices. The experience has been excellent,” said WANdisco CEO David Richards. “The clarity and quality of the audio makes a huge difference in our ability to work together. As a result we have moved our senior management meetings, which include attendees from the UK, US, and Australia, to BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice. The combination of the service and the phone really makes it feel like everyone is in the same room. You forget you are on a conference call. We plan to expand our use of the service and deploy the phone in more rooms in the coming months.”

BT MeetMe with Dolby Voice and the Dolby® Conference Phone are available in Asia, Australia, Africa, throughout Europe and the United States. Using IP connectivity, the service is more cost effective than traditional conferencing services.

About Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) creates audio, video, and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in mobile devices, at the cinema, at home, and at work. For nearly 50 years, sight and sound experiences have become more vibrant, clear, and powerful in Dolby®. For more information, please visit www.dolby.com.

Ofcom has today announced that it is proceeding with a formal notification to require the legal separation of Openreach from BT, after BT failed to offer voluntary proposals that address our competition concerns.

Openreach is the division of BT Group that develops and maintains the UK’s main telecoms network used by providers such as Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and BT’s retail business.

Ofcom is pressing ahead with its plans to improve broadband and telephone services for people across the country, pursuing better service quality and encouraging greater investment in networks. Creating a more independent Openreach – which works in the interest of all providers, not just BT – is an important part of achieving this.

We are disappointed that BT has not yet come forward with proposals that meet our competition concerns. Some progress has been made, but this has not been enough, and action is required now to deliver better outcomes for phone and broadband users.

Plans to reform Openreach
In July, we set out our competition concern that BT has the incentive and ability to favour its own retail business when making strategic decisions about new network investments by Openreach. This concern arises because BT runs the national network, Openreach, as well as its own retail business.

We proposed reforms to address this structural issue, to provide regulatory clarity and confidence to the industry, and ultimately better outcomes for people and businesses. A more independent Openreach would be well placed to invest in ‘full fibre’ broadband for everyone.

Our proposal requires Openreach to become a distinct company with its own Board. This would comprise a majority of non-executive directors, including the Chair, who are not affiliated with BT. Openreach would be guaranteed greater independence to make decisions on strategic investments, with a duty to treat all of its customers equally.

We are now preparing to notify the European Commission of our intention to implement these plans, requiring the legal separation of Openreach to make it more independent. Throughout this process, we remain open to BT bridging the gap between its proposal and what is required to address our strong competition concerns.

Responses to our July consultation
Ofcom has today published the non-confidential responses to our July consultation on Openreach. These responses reflect a wide range of views.

Around 94,000 people responded to our consultation via an online campaign. Some 90,000 of these were identicalresponses written by the campaign, calling for action to improve the UK’s telecoms infrastructure; including the full, structural separation of BT. A few responses shared positive experiences of BT and urged no further action.

A significant number of the 4,000 non-standard responses raised concerns about slow broadband speeds, the availability of fibre broadband and the quality of service from major service providers. Most concerns related to BT, with a smaller number of complaints about other providers including Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.

These views underline the critical role that digital communications play in people’s lives, and the importance of the steps Ofcom is taking to deliver better telecoms services for people and businesses. We will be taking into account all of the views as we finalise our proposals.

Across the range of consultation responses, two issues featured particularly heavily: calls for the structural separation of Openreach; and the potential costs of any action, notably how BT’s pension deficit could be affected.

We have today provided an update on our initial views on both of these issues, in light of the consultation responses.

Separation models
We have considered carefully the calls for the structural separation of Openreach, which would split BT and Openreach into two entirely separate companies, under different ownership. Stakeholders have also provided a range of views on how our July proposal for legal separation could be enhanced to address the competition concerns identified.

Responses to our consultation also make clear that structural separation could generate materially greater costs and risks compared to models based on legal separation. This includes the costs of physically separating the two businesses, and effects on the BT pension scheme. Structural separation is the most intrusive form of regulatory intervention available.

BT’s pension scheme
In response to our consultation, BT told us that our proposed model would trigger substantial costs, and highlighted the impact of our proposals on the BT Pension Scheme Trustees. The Trustees of the scheme echoed this concern, as did the unions who represent most BT employees. However, most stakeholders who responded to our consultation took the view that the concerns raised by BT, the unions and Trustees relating to the BT Pension Scheme have been overstated.

We have today published a note setting out some background on the BT Pension Scheme, and our initial views as to how we might take forward the questions raised in these consultation responses.

Ofcom’s current view
Our current view is still that an effective and robust form of legal separation, with Openreach as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT, is likely to achieve the greatest improvements for everyone in the shortest amount of time. Therefore, this is the approach with which we are minded to proceed.

Our model will include proposals to publicly scrutinise and monitor its effectiveness against several measures of success. The most direct will be whether Openreach Board decisions are taken independently, without undue influence from BT Group. If Ofcom’s monitoring suggests that legal separation is not delivering sufficient benefits for the wider telecoms industry and its customers, we will return to the question of structural separation – fully breaking up the companies.

BT’s voluntary proposal
In July, alongside our proposals, we published BT’s voluntary plan, which the company argued should address our concerns. We were clear that BT’s plans did not go far enough.

We have continued to discuss with BT potential changes to its voluntary proposal. Although we have made some progress, BT has so far failed to offer proposals that would adequately address our concerns. BT’s proposals still fall short in important areas. These include the transfer of people and assets, and the level of influence that BT Group executives could exert over the management of Openreach.

Preparing a notification to the European Commission
We remain open to further voluntary proposals from BT that address these outstanding concerns. However, we are now preparing a notification to the European Commission to require the changes to increase Openreach’s independence.

We have already discussed this with the European Commission and expect to consult publicly on a submission to the Commission in the early part of next year.

We then intend to proceed quickly to submit a detailed plan to the Commission and, subject to its decision, implement the reforms of Openreach so the UK can benefit as soon as possible.

Civilian and military operations worldwide have grown dependent on a functioning GPS system. Guiding vehicles; aiding air traffic control systems; monitoring agricultural activities; providing geolocation for communications systems; synchronizing financial transactions — these and many more integral parts of the economic and day-to-day lives of more than 2 billion people worldwide rely on GPS.

The space-based piece of America’s GPS system is made up of more than two dozen satellites orbiting the Earth. The satellites are controlled by a ground system that allows technicians to manage and operate the satellites, protect the data passing to and from users, and monitor the system’s performance to ensure accuracy.

A high-performance vehicle without an intelligent driver is little more than a collection of expensive hardware. In many ways, the ground system functions as the “brain” of the entire GPS system.

And the current brain is showing its age. As such, it’s incapable of using the full capabilities of GPS II satellites currently in orbit. And when the next generation of GPS III satellites are launched, they’ll introduce even more technology the current ground system can’t handle.

To solve this capability gap, the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX) is currently in development. OCX modernizes the ground system, allowing it to take advantage of the updated capabilities of GPS II and GPS III satellites, and giving the system flexibility to evolve as future needs emerge. Raytheon Company is responsible for developing OCX, which is scheduled to enter operation in 2018.

Solving difficult technical challenges

Because GPS is so broadly used, a system crash would cause serious financial, societal and national security issues. As such, it’s become a potential target for cyber attack. To protect the system from hackers, Raytheon is integrating robust cyber protections into OCX, securing the system from end-to-end against malicious cyber criminals.

OCX is also being designed to operate both GPS II and GPS III satellites concurrently, which ensures uninterrupted operations during upgrades or transitions from existing to new satellites.

In addition, Raytheon is evolving the OCX architecture to support the Launch and Checkout System (LCS) in preparation for the first GPS III satellite launch. LCS represents a significant risk reduction for the remainder of the OCX program by accelerating critical cyber security protections and validating system performance through operational tests.

FIVE BENEFITS OF GPS OCX
1. Dramatic Performance Improvement

The effectiveness of the GPS system and its signals are measured in three ways:

Accuracy — The accuracy of GPS time and location information is essential for a wide range of applications, including navigation, cell phone service, military targeting, etc.
Availability — The GPS system must be available and trustworthy at all times, anywhere in the world.
Integrity — Users of the GPS system, whether military, civilian or commercial, must have complete confidence that the GPS signal has not been compromised in any way.
OCX will improve and enhance all three performance areas. End users will enjoy twice the accuracy of the current system, and because OCX lifts the limit on the number of satellites in the GPS constellation, signal strength will be much stronger in hard-to-reach areas like dense city streets and mountainous terrain.

To make sure those signals are secure and trustworthy, OCX is integrating the same algorithms used in the FAA’s Wide Area Augmentation System and employing digital signatures on all critical external interfaces. These technologies will give GPS users an unprecedented level of system integrity.

2. Unparalleled Cyber Protection

To protect GPS from cyber threats that could compromise or interrupt the system, OCX is implementing DODI 8500.2 “Defense in Depth” information assurance standards, coupled with a wide range of proprietary cybersecurity technologies and techniques designed to harden its cyber defenses while complying with the US military and government cyber standards. In short, GPS OCX is designed to be the most secure ground system, ever.

3. Secure Information Sharing

The “internet of things” depends on fast, secure, automated information sharing. In the past, key information like clock and satellite position corrections were only available through rigid, point-to-point interfaces, and only to a very small number of users. GPS OCX will introduce a single, net-centric interface that employs state-of-the-art encryption technologies, enabling secure sharing of that information quickly and accurately, with a larger user group, when and where it’s needed.

4. Modern Civil and Military Signal Compatibility

The current GPS ground control system wasn’t designed to process the newest types of navigation signals. As such, offline tools are enabling current satellites to broadcast modern civil signals. The new M-code military signal, which is more accurate and jam/spoof resistant than existing signals, isn’t supported by the current system at all. OCX will offer full backward and forward compatibility with all existing civil and military signals.

OCX will also introduce L1C signal compatibility with navigation systems deployed by Russia, Europe, China, Japan and India, giving users access to a much larger, more accurate network of satellites and improving coverage worldwide.

5. A Flexible, Open Architecture Built for the Future

Unlike previous generations of GPS ground systems, which were built on proprietary, closed architectures, the new GPS OCX ground system represents a departure from the past by embracing open systems. A service-oriented architecture, modular sub-systems, and the ability to easily integrate new capabilities and signals as they become available will eliminate the need to re-architect the system as its mission evolves. This approach gives OCX significant flexibility to meet future needs, and extends the life expectancy of the system.

edwood City, CA; Redmond, WA; Urbana-Champaign, IL; Berkeley, CA – C3.ai, Microsoft Corp., the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC announced two major initiatives:

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI), a research consortium dedicated to accelerating the application of artificial intelligence to speed the pace of digital transformation in business, government, and society. Jointly managed by UC Berkeley and UIUC, C3.ai DTI will sponsor and fund world-leading scientists in a coordinated effort to advance the digital transformation of business, government, and society.
C3.ai DTI First Call for Research Proposals: C3.ai DTI invites scholars, developers, and researchers, to embrace the challenge of abating COVID-19 and advance the knowledge, science, and technologies for mitigating future pandemics using AI. This is the first in what will be a series of bi-annual calls for Digital Transformation research proposals.
“The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a consortium of leading scientists, researchers, innovators, and executives from academia and industry, joining forces to accelerate the social and economic benefits of digital transformation,” said Thomas M. Siebel, CEO of C3.ai. “We have the opportunity through public-private partnership to change the course of a global pandemic,” Siebel continued. “I cannot imagine a more important use of AI.”

Immediate Call for Proposals: AI Techniques to Mitigate Pandemic
Topics for Research Awards may include but are not limited to the following:

Applying machine learning and other AI methods to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
Genome-specific COVID-19 medical protocols, including precision medicine of host responses
Biomedical informatics methods for drug design and repurposing
Design and sharing of clinical trials for collecting data on medications, therapies, and interventions
Modeling, simulation, and prediction for understanding COVID-19 propagation and efficacy of interventions
Logistics and optimization analysis for design of public health strategies and interventions
Rigorous approaches to designing sampling and testing strategies
Data analytics for COVID-19 research harnessing private and sensitive data
Improving societal resilience in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
Broader efforts in biomedicine, infectious disease modeling, response logistics and optimization, public health efforts, tools, and methodologies around the containment of rising infectious diseases and response to pandemics, so as to be better prepared for future infectious diseases
The first call for proposals is open now, with a deadline of May 1, 2020. Researchers are invited to learn more about C3.ai DTI and how to submit their proposals for consideration at C3DTI.ai. Selected proposals will be announced by June 1, 2020.

Up to $5.8 million in awards will be funded from this first call, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 each. In addition to cash awards, C3.aiDTI recipients will be provided with significant cloud computing, supercomputing, data access, and AI software resources and technical support provided by Microsoft and C3.ai. This will include unlimited use of the C3 AI Suite and access to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, and access to the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Super Computing Applications (NCSA) at UIUC.

“We are collecting a massive amount of data about MERS, SARS, and now COVID-19,” said Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State. “We have a unique opportunity before us to apply the new sciences of AI and digital transformation to learn from these data how we can better manage these phenomena and avert the worst outcomes for humanity,” Rice continued. “I can think of no work more important and no response more cogent and timely than this important public-private partnership.”

“We’re excited about the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute and are happy to join on a shared mission to accelerate research at these eminent research institutions,” said Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientist at Microsoft and C3.ai DTI Advisory Board Member. “As we launch this exciting private-public partnership, we’re enthusiastic about aiming the broader goals of the Institute at urgent challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on longer-term research that could help minimize future pandemics.”

“At UC Berkeley, we are thrilled to help co-lead this important endeavor to establish and advance the science of digital transformation at the nexus of machine learning, IoT, and cloud computing,” said Carol Christ, Chancellor, UC Berkeley. “We believe this Institute has the potential to make tremendous contributions by including ethics, new business models, and public policy to the technologies for transforming societal scale systems globally.”

“The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, with its vision of cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaboration, represents an exciting model to help accelerate innovation in this important new field of study,” said Robert J. Jones, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “At this time of a global health crisis, the Institute’s initial research focus will be on applying AI to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and to learn from it how to protect the world from future pandemics. C3.ai DTI is an important addition to the world’s fight against this disease and a powerful new resource in developing solutions to all societal challenges.”

“Together with the other C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute partners, we look forward to creating a powerful ecosystem of scholars and educators committed to applying 21st century technologies to the benefit of all,” said Chris Eisgruber, President of Princeton University. “This public-private partnership with innovators like C3.ai and Microsoft, providing support to world-class researchers across a range of disciplines, promises to bring rapid innovation to an exciting new frontier.”

“By strongly supporting multidisciplinary research and multi-institution projects, the C3.ai DTI represents a new avenue to develop breakthrough scientific results with a positive impact on society at a time of great need,” said Robert Zimmer, President of the University of Chicago: “I’m very pleased that the University of Chicago is part of this formidable collaboration between academia and industry to lead crucial innovation with great purpose and urgency.”

“The vision of C3.ai DTI is driven by the recognition of digital transformation as both a science as well as a scientific imperative for this pivotal time, applicable to every sector of our economy across the public and private sectors, including in healthcare, education, and public health,” said Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University. “We are excited to participate in building out the Institute’s structure, program and further alliances. This is just the beginning of an ambitious journey that can have enormous positive impact on the world.”

“At MIT, we share the commitment of C3.ai DTI to advancing the frontiers of AI, cybersecurity and related fields while building into every inquiry a deep concern for ethics, privacy, equity and the public interest,” said Rafael Reif, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “At this moment of national emergency, we are proud to be part of this intensive effort to apply these sophisticated tools to better analyze the COVID-19 epidemic and devise effective ways to stop it. We look forward to accelerating this work both by collaborating with the companies and institutions in the initiative, and by drawing on the frontline experience and clinical data of our colleagues in Boston’s world-class hospitals.”

Building Community

At the heart of C3.ai DTI will be the constant flow of new ideas and expertise provided by ongoing research, visiting professors and research scholars, and faculty and scholars in residence, many of whom will come from beyond the member institutions. This rich ecosystem will form the foundational structure of a new Science of Digital Transformation.

“This is about global innovation based on multinational collaboration to accelerate the positive impact of AI by providing researchers access to real world data and to massive resources,” said Jim Snabe, Chairman, Siemens. “This is exactly the kind of multinational public-private partnership that is required to address this critical issue.”

“I could not be more proud of our association with C3.ai and Microsoft,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes. “This is exactly the kind of leadership that is required to bring together the best of us to address this critical need.”

“We are at war and we must win it! Using all means,” said Jacques Attali, French statesman. “This great project will organize global scientific collaboration for accelerating the social impact of AI, and help to win this war, using new weapons, for the best of mankind.”

“In these difficult times, we need – now more than ever – to join our forces with scholars, innovators, and industry experts to propose solutions to complex problems. I am convinced that digital, data science and AI are a key answer,” said Gwenaëlle Avice-Huet, Executive Vice President of ENGIE. “The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a perfect example of what we can do together to make the world better.”

Establishing the New Science of Digital Transformation

C3.ai DTI will focus its research on AI, Machine Learning, IoT, Big Data Analytics, human factors, organizational behavior, ethics, and public policy. The Institute will support the development of ML algorithms, data security, and cybersecurity techniques. C3.ai DTI research will analyze new business operation models, develop methods of implementing organizational change management and protecting privacy, and amplify the dialogue around the ethics and public policy of AI.

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a Research Initiative that Includes:

Research Awards: Up to 26 cash awards annually, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 each
Computing Resources: Access to free Azure Cloud and C3 AI Suite resources
Visiting Professors & Research Scientists: $750,000 per year to support C3.ai DTI Visiting Scholars
Curriculum Development: Annual awards to faculty at member institutions to develop curricula that teach the emerging field of Digital Transformation Science
Data Analytics Platform: ai DTI will host an elastic cloud, big data, development, and operating platform, including the C3 AI Suite hosted on Microsoft Azure for the purpose of supporting C3.ai DTI research, curriculum development, and teaching
Educational Program: $750,000 a year to support an annual conference, annual report, newsletters, published research, and website
Industry Alignment: C3DTI Industry Partners will be established to assure the institute’s operations are aligned to the needs of the private sector.
Open Source: ai DTI will strongly favor proposals that promise to publish their research in the public domain.
To support the Institute, C3.ai will provide C3.ai DTI $57,250,000 in cash contributions over the first five years of operation. C3.ai and Microsoft will contribute an additional $310 million in-kind, including use of the C3 AI Suite and Microsoft Azure computing, storage, and technical resources to support C3.ai DTI research.

To learn more about C3.ai DTI’s program, award opportunities, and call for proposals, please visit C3DTI.ai.

About C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute represents an innovative vision to take AI, ML, IoT, and big data research in a consortium model to a level that cannot be achieved at any one institution alone. Jointly managed and hosted by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, C3.ai DTI will attract the world’s leading scientists to join in a coordinated and innovative effort to advance the digital transformation of business, government, and society, and establish the new Science of the Digital Transformation of Societal Systems.

About C3.ai

C3.ai is a leading AI software provider for accelerating digital transformation. C3.ai delivers the C3 AI Suite for developing, deploying, and operating large-scale AI, predictive analytics, and IoT applications in addition to an increasingly broad portfolio of turn-key AI applications. The core of the C3.ai offering is a revolutionary, model-driven AI architecture that dramatically enhances data science and application development. Learn more at: www.c3.ai.

C3.ai Contact:

April Marks

Director of Public Relations

917-574-5512

pr@c3.ai

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Microsoft Contact

Microsoft Media Relations:

WE Communications for Microsoft

425-638-7777

rrt@we-worldwide.com

About University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public land-grant research university founded in 1867 and dedicated to building upon a tradition of excellence in education, research, public engagement and economic development. The university pioneers innovative research that tackles global problems and expands the human experience. Illinois faculty, staff and alumni have been leading the way in digital transformation from the invention of the transistor to the birth of the graphical internet browser to high performance computing to the new revolution in data sciences and analytics.

UIUC Contact:

Robin Kaler

Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs

rkaler@illinois.edu

217-333-5050

About University of California, Berkeley

UC Berkeley is the world’s premier public university with a mission to excel in teaching, research and public service. This longstanding mission has led to the university’s distinguished record of Nobel-level scholarship, constant innovation, a concern for the betterment of our world, and consistently high rankings of its schools and departments. The campus offers superior, high-value education for extraordinarily talented students from all walks of life, operational excellence, and a commitment to the competitiveness and prosperity of California and the nation.

University of California, Berkeley Contact:

Sarah Yang

Assistant Dean, Marketing & Communications

Berkeley Engineering

scyang@berkeley.edu

About Princeton University

Princeton University is a vibrant community of teaching and research that stands in the nation’s service and the service of humanity. Chartered in 1746, Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational institution that provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering.

Princeton University Contact:

Ben Chang, Deputy Vice President, Communications

mediarelations@princeton.edu

About University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a leading academic and research institution that has driven new ways of thinking since its founding in 1890. As an intellectual destination, the University draws scholars and students from around the world to its campuses and centers around the globe. The University provides a distinctive educational experience and research environment, empowering individuals to challenge conventional thinking and pursue field-defining research that produces new understanding and breakthroughs with global impact.

University of Chicago Contact:

Rob Mitchum

Associate Director of Communications for Data Science and Computing

University of Chicago

rmitchum@uchicago.edu

773-484-9890

About Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute has more than 1,000 faculty members and over 11,500 undergraduate and graduate students. MIT’s commitment to innovation has led to a host of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances, in fields ranging from aeronautics to computing to cancer research.

MIT Contact:

Anne Stuart

Communications Officer in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

astuart@mit.edu

About Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon (cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 14,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

Carnegie Mellon University Contact:

Jason Maderer

Sr. Director, Media Relations

412.268.1151

maderer@cmu.edu

Las Vegas, Nevada
CES® 2020 wrapped today, following a week filled with over 20,000 product debuts unveiling the future of technology. More than 4,400 exhibiting companies launched their latest tech products to some 170,000 attendees across more than 2.9 million net square feet of exhibit space. From global tech brands to pioneering startups, the innovation at CES 2020 will revolutionize markets and change our world for the better.

“CES 2020 inspired and connected every major industry across the globe,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM, owner and producer of CES. “The innovation unveiled at CES 2020 will reshape industries, create jobs, fuel the global economy and improve lives around the world.”

“This week at CES illustrated that every company is truly a tech company,” said Karen Chupka, executive vice president, CES. “Global technology brands blended with non-traditional tech companies to showcase how innovation is furthering business across all markets – setting the stage for the decade ahead.”

Key Themes at CES
CES 2020 featured the entire spectrum of transformative technology that will redefine markets and shift business models, including:

Artificial Intelligence
AI was dominant throughout the show floor and will be a ‘key ingredient technology’ over the next decade. Companies debuted their latest AI solutions, including Brunswick, Doosan, John Deere and Kyocera.
5G and Mobile Connectivity
CES is the only show where the entire 5G ecosystem – the backbone for connectivity, transportation, augmented and virtual reality, digital health and more – comes together. Carriers and mobile operators, such as Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, Nokia and Ericsson, demonstrated the latest advancements in 5G’s speed, reliability and efficiency.
Non-Traditional Tech Companies at CES
Non-traditional companies used CES 2020 as a platform to launch products. Impossible Foods returned to CES 2020, debuting its Impossible Pork; John Deere was featured in the AI & Robotics Marketplace and other companies, such as Bell, Delta Airlines, L’Oreal NBCUniversal and Procter & Gamble, unveiled how they’re transforming their businesses through technology.
Tech for Good
Innovative technologies launched at CES that will change lives and improve our world. Digital health technologies were a major theme, with advancements in digital therapeutics, wearables and remote patient monitoring as digital health addresses real world issues like opioid dependence, mental illness and chronic disease. The Health & Wellness category saw an increase of nearly 25% with more than 135 exhibiting companies at CES 2020, including Humetrix and InBody.
The Smart Cities exhibit area expanded by nearly 25% over 2019, with companies and organizations including the Department of Transportation, Hitachi and Siemens, highlighting products that will revitalize economies and help communities survive and thrive.
CTA also partnered with the World Bank Group at CES 2020 on a Global Tech Challenge, calling for companies around the world to create solutions focused on three key areas: health, gender inequality and technologies that enable communities to be resilient. The Health Tech Challenge category is accepting applications through February 25 to connect innovators with healthcare providers in East Africa.
Eureka Park
CES 2020 was also the world’s largest startup event, with more than 1,200 companies from 46 countries featured within Eureka Park, offering disruptive innovations, attracting investors and big-name brands. Technologies unveiled within Eureka Park include the Oval Home smart sensor that analyzes temperature, light, humidity and movement in the home; Yoganotch, which applies motion capture technology to help users improve poses; and Caregiver Smart Solutions with sensors that track movement and patterns to provide caregivers reassurance and patients with more independence at home.
“CES has the unique ability for startups and young companies to get exposure to major global brands,” said Mara Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO, ID8 Innovation; member, CTA Board of Industry Leaders. “The opportunities for venture funding and growth are incredible here. And the CES 2020 Diversity and Inclusion conference track was mind blowing!”

Diversity and Inclusion

CES 2020 had a large focus on Diversity and Inclusion, with new programming and partnerships. The Innovation for All conference program featured chief diversity officers and leaders from Bosch, HP and Walmart, and explored inclusive ways that D&I is contributing to the bottom line, shifting culture, hiring differently and investing in diversity.
Travel and Tourism
Delta Airlines was the first airline to keynote at CES. During his address, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian described the future world of travel through tech, including AI, AR, biometric security, smart incentive programs, and a new Parallel Reality experience, as travel becomes more customized.
Transportation and Vehicle Technology
CES 2020 was revved up highlighting the future of transportation. Nine of the world’s leading car manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Daimler (Mercedes), FCA, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota, and more than 150 vehicle tech exhibitors unveiled the latest in connected cars, self-driving vehicles and concept cars. Products included the Mercedes Vision AVTR concept car, Audi’s AI:ME and the Sony Vision S.
C Space
CES brought together content creators, Hollywood, the advertising and music industries, media and leading CMOs to explore the future of brand marketing and entertainment, including streaming services, through the return of C Space. The 2020 program featured more than 60 exhibitors, including AT&T Services, Comcast, Google, HP, Hulu, iHeart, NBC Universal, Pandora, Reddit, Roku, SiriuXM, Snap, Twitch, Turner, Univision and WWE.
Keynotes
The CES stage featured more than 1,100 speakers representing major global industries, including keynotes from Samsung President and CEO of Consumer Electronics Division Mr. Hyun-Suk Kim; Daimler Chairman Ola Källenius; Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian; NBCUniversal Chairman of Advertising and Partnerships Linda Yaccarino; Quibi CEO Meg Whitman and Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao; Salesforce Chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff; Unilever CEO Alan Jope; and Presidential Advisor, Ivanka Trump.

Visit CES.tech/Live to see the CES keynotes, SuperSessions and other conference programs.

“We hosted 40 CEOs and corporate directors here, and over half were attending CES for the very first time,” said Nichole Jordan, Central Region Managing Partner, Grant Thornton; member, CTA Board of Industry Leaders. “As we debriefed, they said this show – this experience – helps them to reimagine their businesses and their futures.”

CES, the world’s largest and most influential tech event, returns to Las Vegas, January 6-9, 2021. Visit CES.tech for product announcements, keynote and session videos, b-roll footage and more.

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® today announced that CES® 2022 will be closing one day early, and the in-person event will take place in Las Vegas on Jan. 5-7, 2022. The step was taken as an additional safety measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place for CES.

Over 2200 exhibitors are confirmed to exhibit in person at CES 2022. In the last two weeks, 143 additional companies have signed up to exhibit in person. Construction of exhibitors’ show floor space is well underway and soon attendees will be able to see and experience the latest tech innovations.

“As the world’s most influential technology event, CES is steadfast in its pledge to be the gathering place to showcase products and discuss ideas that will ultimately make our lives better,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “We are shortening the show to three days and have put in place comprehensive health measures for the safety of all attendees and participants.”

Those that are unable to travel to Las Vegas for CES 2022 have the flexibility to join digitally and will have the opportunity to experience the magic of Las Vegas. Digital registration will grant access to more than 40 livestreamed conference sessions, keynotes, select Media Days press conferences and the ability to engage with exhibitors at CES. Additional registration information can be found at CES registration.

Those that are traveling to Las Vegas can find important details on updated health protocols and show entry process below to make their CES arrival and entry experience as smooth as possible.

Arrival Instructions — CES 2022

1) Before Leaving Home
All attendees must be FULLY vaccinated against COVID-19. Only individuals who are fully vaccinated will be able to pick up a CES badge and access CES in-person in Las Vegas.

CES also recommends individuals test for COVID-19 prior to departing for Las Vegas. International travelers coming to the U.S. must have a COVID test within 24 hours before departing for the U.S. Please check your airline website for more details.

2) Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination (REQUIRED)
All attendees MUST show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend CES in Las Vegas. If one is unable to do so, attendee will not receive a CES 2022 badge to access the official show venues.

U.S. based attendees are encouraged to use CLEAR’s free mobile app and Health Pass feature to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and expedite their CES badge pick up. Learn more.
Non-U.S. based attendees, as well as U.S. based attendees who may be unable to use CLEAR, will need to provide their proof of vaccination at designated locations on-site. Learn more.
3) Pick up badge BEFORE entering show facilities (REQUIRED)
Attendees must pick up their own CES badge. Attendees cannot pick up badges for other attendees.

If arriving at McCarran Airport, CES recommends attendees use the Badge Pickup locations in the airport terminal, located in Terminals 1 and 3, to show proof of vaccination and obtain their show badge and Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Self Test

If attendees are not using the CLEAR app, they must go to a designated Customer Service Center location or airport locations to show their COVID-19 vaccine documentation. Customer Service Centers are located in public access areas before a CES security checkpoint. Once attendees provide proof of vaccination and pick up their badge, they will not need to verify their vaccination status again.

4) Test Before Entering a CES Venue
CES requests that attendees test for COVID-19 less than 24 hours before entering a CES venue.

CES will give attendees one complimentary Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test kit, provided by Abbott, when they collect their badge. Test kits are available at select Badge Pickup and Customer Service Center locations. If attendees pick up their badge at a location that does not have test kit distribution, attendees may go to one of the Customer Service Centers to pick up their test kit.

CES recommends attendees use their complimentary Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Self Test less than 24 hours before entering an official show venue. The test is easy to use, requires only a shallow nasal swab, takes 15 minutes and one can do it from the convenience of their hotel room. NOTE: Each kit contains 2 tests.

During CES 2022
5) Mask during the Show (REQUIRED)
Masks are required for large indoor events in the State of Nevada. Attendees will be required to wear masks as follows:

In exhibit booths and indoor exhibit facilities.
In conference and keynote rooms.
CES shuttle buses and any CES transportation services.
6) Test if experiencing COVID-19 Symptoms
If an attendee is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms while at a CES venue, they are to immediately visit a First Aid area in the venue in which they are located to obtain a COVID-19 test.

At Show Close
7) PCR Tests for International Travelers Returning Home
CES will provide complimentary RT-PCR testing for attendees who are traveling back to their international destination and who require a test to travel. Attendees will be required to present proof of outbound international travel within 72 hours to be eligible to receive your test at no charge. Please check your airlines to understand when you will need to test.

About CES:
CES® is the most influential tech event in the world – the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators. This is where the world’s biggest brands do business and meet new partners, and the sharpest innovators hit the stage. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, CES features every aspect of the tech sector. CES 2022 will take place in person in Las Vegas, and digitally, Jan. 5-7, 2022. Learn more at CES.tech and follow CES on social.

About Consumer Technology Association:
As North America’s largest technology trade association, CTA® is the tech sector. Our members are the world’s leading innovators – from startups to global brands – helping support more than 18 million American jobs. CTA owns and produces CES® – the most influential tech event in the world. Find us at CTA.tech. Follow us @CTAtech

UPCOMING EVENTS

CES Unveiled Las Vegas
Jan. 3, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV
CES 2022 Media Days
Jan. 3-4, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV
CES 2022
Jan. 5-7, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV
SOURCE Consumer Technology Association

CONTACT: Jeanne Abella, jabella@CTA.tech, 703-907-5259

Related Links
www.ce.org

BEIJING, May 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Almost two weeks ago, China succeeded in its first Mars landing, attracting world’s attention to the important milestone in China’s space exploration.

On Friday, science and technology as strategic support to national development, focusing on self-sufficiency and innovation, was once again highlighted in the country’s development roadmap with the convention of the 10th national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology in Beijing.