Irish Tech firm Workhuman valued at $1.2bn. #Workhuman #Tech

Irish technology company Workhuman has announced that London-based alternative asset manager Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) has become an investor in the organisation, as part of its European investment strategy, acquiring a minority stake in the company from existing shareholders. Morgan Stanley acted as exclusive financial advisor to Workhuman in a highly competitive process. The transaction values Workhuman at $1.2 billion.

Workhuman, the world’s fastest-growing social recognition and continuous performance management platform, develops pioneering technology to make employees feel more appreciated and socially connected at work, creating happier and more productive workplaces for some of the world’s biggest organisations including LinkedIn, Procter & Gamble, Cisco and Eaton. Over five million employees around the world are on Workhuman’s platform, across 160 countries.

Workhuman continues to support organisations globally in building human connections and increasing productivity in the workplace, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first half of the year, more than 300,000 employees have started taking advantage of Workhuman’s Social Recognition and Life Events cloud products. The company has built out its suite of human applications with new features in existing products, and introduced Moodtracker™, an always-free employee survey platform that focuses on making real changes within organisations. In addition, Workhuman is offering special editions of two of its Workhuman Cloud products – Life Events® and Conversations®  – free for any organisation to use until March 2021.

Globoforce co-founder and CEO Eric Mosley.

“We are excited to welcome ICG as a strategic investor, while providing liquidity to some of Workhuman’s earliest supporters,” said Eric Mosley, Workhuman co-founder and CEO. “ICG’s support helps put us on a great path forward as we get ready for the next phase of Workhuman’s growth. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we all need human connection. Our continued double-digit growth and ongoing business momentum is a sign that organisations are craving a way to build better relationships and foster trust with their employees, no matter where they are.”

“Workhuman is a truly unique HR platform provider that we are excited to be in partnership with,” said Benoit Durteste, CIO and CEO of ICG. “The business’s historic performance is testament to the results it delivers for clients and their employees, reaching organizations in more than 160 countries. In the past couple years, and even more so as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have begun to realize the power and value of their people and have been forced to innovate and thrive in new ways. Workhuman provides them with progressive tools to understand, engage with and better utilize their employees in ways they never could before.”

As part of Workhuman’s strategy to drive growth, three accomplished executives have recently joined the company’s leadership team. Chris DeMeo, formerly of Staples, took the role of VP of Customer Marketing; Dr. Patti Fletcher, who comes from SAP SuccessFactors, joins as VP of Brand Marketing; and Jason Griggs, previously at Workday, takes the reins as SVP of Global Sales.

For more information about Workhuman, please visit www.workhuman.com.

Nokia announced as key supplier to Ireland’s National Broadband Plan. #NBP #NBI #Nokia #FTTH

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) has selected Nokia to deploy a nation-wide FTTH network solution in the Republic of Ireland over the full programme delivery period for the Irish Government’s landmark National Broadband Plan (NBP).

As part of the agreement, Nokia successfully tendered to provide 100% of the active equipment, including an FTTH network based on next-generation PON (Passive Optical Network) technology, an aggregation network, based on its IP routing and optical networking technology and a full performance management solution.

The project is one of the most ambitious government broadband plans in the world, with the goal of providing high-speed connectivity to all of Ireland’s population, including 23% of whom currently live in the more rural Intervention Area (IA) where the NBP will be focused.

It involves more than 44,000 non-farm businesses, over 54,000 farms and 695 schools, ensuring that no one is left behind and laying the foundation for Ireland’s digital future for generations.

The major rollout has key milestone dates and NBI has hired Nokia to supply all active network equipment and integration services. As a result, NBI will be able to rely on the latest technologies, integration and end-to-end service performance to ensure its schedule goals are met.

Peter Hendrick, CEO at National Broadband Ireland, said: “We believe that better broadband networks promote social progress, equality and sustainability. With equal access to local, national and global opportunity, every person, community and organisation in Ireland will be empowered to achieve more. We look forward to working with Nokia because the company has the experience from similar projects globally, as well as the technological capabilities and end-to-end portfolio, for a project like this.”

Cormac Whelan, CEO UK and Ireland at Nokia, said: “It is imperative for today’s digital societies to provide high-speed connectivity everywhere – not just in cities and urban areas – to enable new digital services, digitalization of industries and innovation for economy and society to the benefit of the whole country. This project is key for the further digitalization of Ireland.”

Additional information worth noting…

  • Nokia holds #1 position in next-generation PON (XGS-PON) worldwide (Dell’Oro 1Q2020)
  • Nokia has 26 XGS-PON and 300 GPON deployments worldwide
  • Nokia has 250+ cloud-ready customer deployments with its fiber access platforms, a unique solution with greater choice, flexibility and control to deploy SDN
  • Nokia products included in the projects: Nokia FX OLT, Nokia XGS-PON ONTs, management system and enhanced applications; 7750 Service Router, providing IP edge networking for the cloud era; and 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) to support next-generation DWDM multiservice, multilayer P-OTN transport
  • Nokia will deliver following services: Design, Testing, Integration, I&C, Project Management & CARE

AWS and Formula 1 Announce New Racing Performance Stats for 2020 Season. @awscloud @F1 #AWS #F1

Today, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Formula 1 (F1) (NASDAQ: FWONA, FWONK) are introducing six new, real-time racing statistics that will roll out through the 2020 season, beginning with the launch of “Car Performance Scores” at the season opening Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria July 3-5. “Car Performance Scores” isolate an individual car’s performance and allows race fans to compare its performance to that of different vehicles head-to-head.

The new set of statistics to be released this season will use a range of AWS services, including machine learning, to give fans the ability to compare their favourite drivers and cars and better predict race outcomes. Learn more at: https://aws.amazon.com/f1/.

With 300 sensors on each F1 race car generating more than 1.1M data points per second transmitted from the cars to the pit, Formula 1 is a truly data-driven sport where much of the thrill comes from extracting exciting details on performance statistics. F1 relies on the breadth and depth of AWS services to stream, process, and analyze that flood of data in real-time, and then present it in a meaningful way for F1 global TV viewers.

The new “Car Performance Scores” insight will display as an on-screen graphic that provides fans with a complete breakdown of a car’s total performance using four core metrics: Low-Speed Cornering, High-Speed Cornering, Straight Line, and Car Handling. The new graphic will illustrate how those metrics compare from one car to another, enabling race fans to gauge a given car’s relative performance in those different areas and see where each team and driver is leading the pack or losing crucial time to their rivals.

F1 and AWS previously announced six F1 Insights, including Exit Speed, Predicted Pit Stop Strategy, Pit Window, Battle Forecast, Pit Strategy Battle, and Tyre Performance and will roll out the following six additional “F1 Insights powered by AWS” stats as on-screen graphics from July through December of this season, offering fans more visibility into the split-second decision-making and action on the track, as well as behind the pit wall where the team strategists operate:

  • Car Performance Scores: Isolates an individual car’s performance and allows race fans to compare its performance to that of different vehicles head-to-head (debuts July 3-5 at the FORMULA 1 ROLEX GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH GRAND PRIX 2020).
  • Ultimate Driver Speed Comparison: Allows race fans to see how their favorite drivers compare to other drivers in history, dating back to 1983, to help determine the fastest driver of all time (debuts August 7-9 at the EMIRATES FORMULA 1 70th ANNIVERSARY GRAND PRIX 2020).
  • High-Speed/Low-Speed Corner Performance: Allows fans to see how well drivers tackle the fastest bends on the track travelling at more than 175 kph/109 mph and slow cornering (below 125 kph/78 mph) compared to other vehicles, which is critical to lap time (debuts August 28-30 at the FORMULA 1 ROLEX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX).
  • Driver Skills Rating: Breaks down and scores driver skills, based on the most important factors for overall performance, to help identify the best “total driver” on the track. By calculating varying subsets of qualifying round performance, starts, race pace, tire management, and overtaking/defending styles, this insight will provide an overall driver ranking (debuts the second half of the season).
  • Car/Team Development & Overall Season Performance: As the season unfolds, this will plot a team’s cumulative performance from race to race to uncover the development rates of each team (debuts the second half of the season).
  • Qualifying and Race Pace Predictions: Gather data from practice and qualifying laps to predict which team is poised for success ahead of each race session. These predictions will create heightened intrigue and excitement for the Saturday qualifying session and Sunday race (debuts the second half of the season).

To create these new insights, Formula 1 will use 70 years of historical race data stored in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), combined with live data that is streamed from sensors on F1 race cars and the trackside to the cloud through Amazon Kinesis, a service for real-time data collection, processing, and analysis. F1 engineers and scientists will use this data to leverage machine learning (ML) models with Amazon SageMaker, AWS’s service for building, training, and deploying ML models.

F1 is able to analyze race performance metrics in real-time by deploying those ML models on AWS Lambda, which runs code without the need to provision or manage servers. All of the insights will be integrated into the international broadcast feed of F1 races around the globe, including its digital platform F1.tv, helping fans to understand the split-second decisions and race strategies made by drivers or team strategists that can dramatically affect a race outcome.

“Over the past two years, Formula 1 has embraced AWS’s services to perform intense and dynamic data analysis. The F1 Insights we’re delivering together are bringing fans closer to the track than ever before, and unlocking previously untold stories and insights from behind the pit wall,” said Rob Smedley, Chief Engineer of Formula 1. “We’re excited to be expanding this successful relationship to bring even more insights to life, allowing fans to go deeper into the many ways that drivers and racing teams work together to affect success.”

“Formula 1 racing mixes physics and human performance, yielding powerful, but complex data that AWS is helping them to harness. Our existing relationship with F1 has already produced statistics that have brought fans into the race paddocks, and our study of race car aerodynamics is influencing vehicle designs for the 2022 season,” said Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS. “This year, we’re thrilled to extend the power of F1 data in the cloud and unlock new insights that help fans understand more of F1’s rich complexity.”

To learn more about the first 2020 F1 Insight, Car Performance Scores, please click here. For more information about AWS and its involvement with Formula 1, please visit: https://aws.amazon.com/f1/. For additional news on how AWS is helping Formula 1 develop the next-generation race car, visit: https://aws.amazon.com/f1/news/.

Zero Latency Dublin ReOpening. #ZeroLatencyDublin #VR #VirtualReality

Zero Latency Dublin is out to prove an old adage: a lot can happen in a year. Between March 2019 and 2020 over 20,000 players have saved the world and slayed millions of zombies and robot invaders behind the doors of their slickly decked out warehouse in Sandyford. They won Best Leisure Business at the Sandyford Business District Awards and were on the verge of starting a series of monthly tournaments. 

And then the lockdown happened. 

Like everyone else, Zero Latency hit the pause button and put zombies on hold until the pandemic passed. But Zero Latency’s owners didn’t let lockdown slow them down. Aside from making their arena Covid ready, they’ve also taken time to create new socially distant policies and, most excitingly, test their newest game ‘Undead Arena’. 

And now they are excited to announce their reopening on July 2 for which bookings are already open. 

“Everyone wants to shoot zombies and test their survival capabilities in a zombie apocalypse,” explains Managing Director Ronan Cunningham, who started the venture with his wife Susanna Murphy last year. “With over 80% of our players trying at least one of our current zombie games, we thought it would be a good time to release Undead Arena, our best zombie game yet.” The new game pits teams of up to 8 players against waves of undead in an ‘80s inspired, post apocalyptic game show setting and promises to be a new favourite of guests. 

Zero Latency sits just off the Stillorgan Luas stop, alongside Sandyford’s high- tech office buildings. Inside players battle zombie hordes, rogue robots, each other, or their own senses in a variety of out of this world virtual reality games. Unlike other virtual reality options, Zero Latency’s unique, free roam VR system allows players to explore game worlds untethered by wires or walls. 

And after three months of being restricted to our own homes, who doesn’t want to explore a spaceship or take out some pent up aggression on stumbling zombie hordes. 

For those less enthused about zombies, their non-shooter game option, Engineerium, is an award winning VR experience that allows players to traverse beautifully crafted, mind-bending pathways in an ethereal puzzle game. With something to offer every player, Zero Latency’s arena has welcomed corporate events, children’s parties, hen and stag dos, and school trips as well as casual gamers. 

“Playing at Zero Latency is the closest thing you will get to being inside a computer game,” explains Cunningham, “The immersion is such that even our most regular players still forget that they are standing on flat ground in a warehouse in Sandyford, and that is the beauty of Virtual Reality. Not only are players untethered by wires, but the games create unique pathways and a sense of distance not possible in other games”. 

As Cunningham reflects on an important successful first year in business, he is keen to thank his customers for playing and “hopes that they will continue to support this exciting business in the years to come as it releases bigger and better titles and upgrades hardware to meet gaming demands. It’s an exciting time to be involved in an emerging tech that is firmly finding its place in the market.” 

As they take bookings for their reopening on July 2, Zero Latency’s future looks as untethered as their players. For more information see http://www.zerolatencyvr.ie

Poly customers get a virtual sneak peek of company’s portfolio of devices for Microsoft Teams #MicrosoftTeams #Poly

Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, today announces its global sneak peek at the Poly products working together to deliver a seamless Microsoft Teams Rooms experience.

Poly is embarking on a Poly & Microsoft Collaboration Virtual Roadshow 2020 — a virtual webinar series across Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia, and Asia, where customers will get the chance to learn about the latest, easy to set-up solutions that are powered by Poly MeetingAI. Poly augments the Teams Rooms experience and delivers the same familiar native Microsoft experience underpinned by clever AI.

Taking place throughout June and July, the Poly & Microsoft Collaboration Virtual Roadshow 2020 will feature one of the richest and most complete range of audio and video solutions to drive optimal employee collaboration experiences using Teams.

​“Poly is showcasing how businesses can optimise their use of Microsoft Teams. With an end-to-end portfolio of desk phones, headsets, videoconferencing solutions and managed services, Poly brings together one of the world’s strongest product portfolio aimed at enhancing your Teams collaboration,” said Christophe Herrerias, Senior Manager – Alliances Go To Market, Poly.

Poly’s portfolio of solutions brings flexibility to every Teams experience, supporting productive collaboration for everyone:

Create flexible and collaborative meeting spaces:

  • Poly G10-T, Poly G40-T and Poly G80-T, which will be available later this year, offer audio and video tools that deliver high-quality meeting experiences for users on Microsoft Teams, and give IT managers the ability to easily scale for meeting rooms of all sizes. Poly Room Solution for Teams Rooms will begin shipping upon Microsoft Teams certification in the coming months to select regions.
  • Poly Studio X collaboration bars are purpose-built, integrated solutions that will offer a native Microsoft Teams meeting and calling experience.
  • Poly Studio, a plug-and play USB video bar, offers clear, high-fidelity stereo audio and dynamic video experiences with group framing and speaker tracking technology.
  • Poly Trio C60 conference phones are centre of all types of meeting rooms, and the conference phones deliver quality audio and innovative features such as Poly NoiseBlockAI that reduces distracting background noise.
  • Poly Calisto 7200 has exceptional conferencing performance for huddle rooms.

Optimise the meeting experience for every participant: 

  • Poly CCX series Teams edition desktop phone combines a native Teams solution and premium voice and audio quality so teams can be their most productive in no time.
  • Poly Voyager 4200 and Poly Voyager 5200 office series can connect to a desk phone, smartphone or computer and have a dedicated Teams button to instantly invoke the Teams app. Audio and visual alerts mean you’ll never miss anything and scheduling a meeting, starting a call or checking your calendar becomes quick and easy.

“Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork for millions of workers around the world who use the platform every day to share ideas, create content and collaborate on projects. We are pleased that our partnership with Poly is delivering a wide variety of easy-to-use Teams devices and solutions that offer best-in-class audio and video experiences, helping people get work done,” said Kurt Petersen, General Manager Device and Partner Sales, Microsoft.

Poly solutions offer speed and responsiveness for a native Teams experience and a dedicated Teams button. Features also include Poly HD Voice and Poly MeetingAI.

Contact Poly to attend a virtual session and be one of the first to learn about the portfolio of desk phones, headsets, speakerphones, video bars and Teams Room Solutions.

Irish Medtech Association puts spotlight on app helping doctors tackle Covid-19. #MedTech #ACORRD #Covid-19

The Irish Medtech Association, the Ibec group that represents the medtech sector, is putting a spotlight on the Irish medtech community’s critical role in helping healthcare professionals work safely and treat patients affected by COVID-19 as well as support Ireland’s reopening.

 

Acting Director of the Irish Medtech Association, Nessa Fennelly said “We are proud of how our sector has made an impact in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From Cork and Galway, to Athlone and Dublin, this is a national effort. In the coming weeks, the Irish Medtech Association will be offering insights of how medtech leaders in Ireland are assisting the frontline fight against COVID-19 here, and across the world. Ireland’s medtech community has stepped-up to the challenge in the face of unprecedented need to deliver diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment, respiratory support equipment and digital health solutions to tackle COVID-19.”

Fennelly added, “This week, to start our Medtech Good News campaign, we are delighted to focus on digital health. Digital health solutions are an exciting area of innovation that are playing an increasingly important role since the start of the pandemic by offering vital insights and supporting remote care. A fantastic example of how these technologies are at the vanguard of combating COVID-19 is the ACORRD clinical support tool developed by S3 Connected Health, with the support of consultants from the Royal College of Surgeons. This medical technology helps clinicians using a web-based application on their smartphone, to track disease progression, assist in the early identification of patient deterioration, and provide timely advice to the care team.”

 

Commenting on the Assessment of COVID-19 Risk of Respiratory Deterioration (ACORRD) tool, President of S3 Connected Health and Chair of the Irish Medtech Digital Health Working Group, Jim O’Donoghue said “ACORRD has had a real impact in the fight against COVID-19. By building on our existing Affinial platform we managed to accelerate development and bring ACORRD from concept to deployment in just ten days after receiving a rapid response on a derogation from the Health Products Regulatory Authority. We are proud to see ACORRD already in use in major Dublin hospitals, as well in a pilot programme in Northern Ireland. We are grateful to our frontline healthcare workers for their tireless efforts to protect us from the virus, and we’re honoured to play a part.”

We check out Bondcable the ‘smart’ cable – it is simply a clever one. #Kickstarter #Cables

Neat, tangle-free and long-lasting: reduce the cable waste,Compact, tangle-free and long lasting, A cable which puts an end to messy storage & structure damage

What is BondCable? 

BondCable is no ordinary ‘smart’ cable – it is simply a clever one. 

 

  • No additional fastener or fancy mechanism needed to keep your cables tidy and tangle-free 
  • Longer than standard cables (1.2m) and strength tested (up to 2 kg weight intake)
  • Fast charging & smooth data transfer. 
  • Our lightning cables are MFi certified and produced by Apple-certified manufacturers

 

Why BondCable

Did you know that obsolete cables generate more than 51,000 tonnes of waste per year? It’s because twisted and entangled cables get damaged easily. The additional stress from tension and friction is amplified further when they are twisted and pulled at force. 

 

  • BondCable features a flat-profile cable to  minimize twisting and stress on the cable. 

 

  • With this self-bonding cable management, the BondCable is able to achieve extremely high reliability and durability ratings, thus maximizing product lifetime and minimizing waste from needlessly discarding easily-damaged products.

 

  • Environmentally friendly packaging – no glue, no plastic, 100% recyclable and degradable.

How does it work…

 

 

PRE-ORDERS: Company will start collecting pre-orders on Kickstarter on June 16th, with expected shipment date of early October 2020. 

Our sample arrived a bit late but here is a hands on  look at what you are dealing with… This is a very robust cable it does what it says on the tin and works perfectly fine for data transfer and charging  but no messy tangled cable..

 

About CleverThings

The BondCable is the inaugural product from CleverThings, a new brand concept initiated by Design Insight, a design studio with over 16 years of experience in the design and development of consumer products.

PRE-ORDERS Support local! BondCable will start collecting pre-orders on Kickstarter.com on June 16th 2020 at 10pm (Singapore time), with expected shipment date of early October 2020. 

Support BondCable now at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cleverthings/bondcable-self-bonding-charging-cables 

Review – The Tronsmart Onyx Ace True Wireless #TWS #Tronsmart #OnyxAce

The Onyx Ace are the latest on offer from Tronsmart and for the price you pay these are certainly another pair to look at if you are on a budget, With a stem type design like Airpods you wont feel left out with the look and one thing is for sure you will not be missing out on sound,these are loud and that is my personal taste so if its volume you are after these offer it..

These come in cool case too with some LED lights on the front for your battery status and it acts as adecent light in a dark room too I might add, these also have aptX too which is often left out on much higher priced earbuds. The case is light and pocketable and not cumbersome and fits in the small pocket on jeans which is said to be the preffered choice for those who carry true wireless with them.

USB-C charging is also on offer here and you get 20 hours per charge and up to 4.5-5 hours per charge on the earbuds depending on volume etc I was averaging 4 hours with my usage over a week or so which is fine. For calls you have quad mic technology and calls are excellent keeping out most of the outside world this is a bomus for those who takes many calls on the go and so on.

You have 13mm drivers on board giving you a good sound as a whole across all genres, nice bass and good soundstage here and overall these delivered beyond my expectations, watching films you tube or Netflix also shined here with good direction and clarity and also good on voice,  no lag latency was noticed during my testing and I was impressed. You have all the controls you need here such as skip and reverse tracks,volume control and voice assistant acces on the earbuds so no need to take your device out on the move.

Comfort is another thing to note here these are light and sit well in the ears,once inserted you get a connection noise from both sides which lets you know you have connected to your chosen device this is good,these can be used on their own too so you have that option to use one at a time which is always a welcome factor and a feature many people ask for.

Overall for the money you pay here I cant complain at all there,there is features more expensive earbuds leave out and the sound its great with loud volume if required check them out  HERE

Nokia turns network information into actionable security insights for Exponential-e. #Nokia #Deepfield

Nokia today announced an extension of its partnership with Exponential-e, a UK-based specialized cloud and unified communications service provider. Exponential-e will use the Nokia Deepfield solution to improve user experience and increase visibility into applications and service traffic on its network. The solution will also support Exponential-e to combat next-generation distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Exponential-e will rely on Nokia Deepfield software for real-time, actionable insights into network performance and quality of experience. Nokia Deepfield provides Exponential-e with full, end-to-end visibility into internet-based content, applications and services that flow into and across its network.

According to IDC’s Worldwide DDoS Prevention Products and Services Forecast, 2020–2023, DDoS attacks remain popular among cybercriminals as a tool for attacking and taking down network infrastructure and services. As future network attacks will utilize new technologies and approaches, businesses must prepare to protect and defend their networks against more sophisticated attacks. Exponential-e has deployed Nokia Deepfield Defender to detect and identify malicious traffic at scale and to minimize false positives.

Nokia Deepfield enables effective DDoS mitigation through API integration with third-party scrubbing centers – centralized data cleansing stations where network traffic is analyzed, and malicious traffic is removed. The Nokia Deepfield solution uses multidimensional, real-time network and service insights to improve performance, enhance security and optimize the customer experience.

Mukesh Bavisi, Managing Director at Exponential-e, said: “Exponential-e is a leading service provider within the UK, recognized for our innovative technology solutions. Nokia Deepfield gives us the necessary network visibility and actionable analytics that will allow us to continue to improve our network and service capabilities while providing our customers with assured quality, enhanced security and a reliable network environment.”

Cormac Whelan, CEO of UK and Ireland at Nokia, said:

“Nokia has been a long-time strategic partner of Exponential-e, dating back to their origin in the early 2000s and throughout the years as they have grown to become a leader in national-scale Ethernet and IP/MPLS-based network service delivery. As Exponential-e now embarks on the next phase of development, we are proud to be working with them to drive improved network performance and security through actionable insights provided by the Nokia Deepfield platform.”

For more information