KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- Medical device company, Asensus Surgical Inc has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KARL STORZ VentureONE Pte Ltd (KARL STORZ), a wholly owned subsidiary of KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG.
KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG is a global leader in the medical technologies industry, especially in the area of endoscopes, medical instruments and devices that offers state-of-the-art technology for minimally invasive procedures in virtually all surgical specialties.
Under the MoU, KARL STORZ intends to market and sell Asensus’ Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) as a standalone device together with their IMAGE1 S Imaging system and OR1 integration solution.
In addition, the companies intend to work together on the integration of the ISU into KARL STORZ's laparoscopic vision systems, and jointly collaborate on developing next-generation instrumentation to be used with Asensus and KARL STORZ surgical platforms.
According to Asensus Surgical in a statement, the detailed terms are currently being negotiated, and definitive agreements will be finalised within 90 days.
“By leveraging their extensive commercial network, leading visualisation systems and longtime instrumentation expertise,we can bring the tremendous value of augmented intelligence offered by the ISU to operating rooms worldwide.
“Beyond the benefits of their commercial scale, the co-development of new instruments will combine two unique R&D teams at the forefront of their fields to ultimately deliver best in class instruments to surgeons,” said Asensus Surgical President and Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Fernando.
Meanwhile, KARL STORZ Managing Director, Stephan Abele said: “This partnership with Asensus is a natural fit as we shared a vision for what digital surgery, and especially laparoscopy, could be in the future.”
Asensus Surgical is digitising the interface between the surgeon and patient to pioneer a new era of Performance-Guided Surgery by unlocking clinical intelligence for surgeons to enable consistently superior outcomes and a new standard of surgery.
-- BERNAMA
Friday, 17 February 2023
A CUT ABOVE: ASENSUS SURGICAL-KARL STORZ MOU TO MARKET INTELLIGENT SURGICAL UNIT
Thursday, 16 February 2023
AM BEST PLACES CREDIT RATINGS OF FUBON INSURANCE VIETNAM CO., LTD. UNDER REVIEW WITH NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS
This Credit Rating (rating) action follows AM Best’s downgrade of the Long-Term ICR of Fubon Vietnam’s parent company, Fubon Insurance Co., Ltd. (Fubon Insurance) (Taiwan) on 3 February 2023 (see related press release). AM Best downgraded Fubon Insurance’s Long-Term ICR to “a” (Excellent) from “a+” (Excellent) while affirming its FSR of A (Excellent), and also placed the ratings under review with negative implications. That recent development was the result of weakened financial strength and ongoing uncertainty around the credit profile of Fubon Insurance. Fubon Vietnam’s ratings incorporate rating enhancement from its ownership and integration with Fubon Insurance. As a result, AM Best needs to assess the impact of further near-term developments on the credit profile of Fubon Insurance to determine its continued ability to provide explicit support to Fubon Vietnam.
The under review with negative implications status on Fubon Vietnam’s ratings reflects the need for AM Best to fully assess the company’s eligibility to continue receiving rating enhancement prospectively. The ratings will remain under review pending completion of AM Best’s assessment of the credit rating fundamentals of Fubon Insurance.
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2023 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Contact
Isaac Yeo
Associate Financial Analyst
+65 6303 5019
isaac.yeo@ambest.com
Chris Lim, CFA
Senior Financial Analyst
+65 6303 5018
chris.lim@ambest.com
Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5098
al.slavin@ambest.com
Source : AM Best
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
MIDEA TOP 50 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN FORBES CHINA 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Midea Group was awarded as one of 2022 Forbes China Top 50 Sustainable Development Industrial Enterprises for its outstanding performance in green manufacturing, carbon neutrality, sustainable development and environmental, social and governance (ESG) construction.
According to Midea in a statement, the assessment focused on the specific indicators of five dimensions, namely management system, technological innovation, comprehensive benefits, resource allocation, and demonstration & promotion.
The selected companies are all industrial enterprises that have been established for at least 10 years, and have an annual revenue of more than RMB100 billion, along with a year-on-year increase in research and development (R&D) investment of about 50 per cent. (RMB100 = RM63.98)
Along with possessing state-of-the-art technologies that are among the best in the world, they also demonstrate key advantages over their counterparts worldwide.
Over the course of 25 years, Midea has honed and perfected its sustainable development management system, which integrates the concept of sustainable development into virtually every step of production and operation, as part of its efforts to fulfil its commitment to creating shared value with stakeholders.
Midea Shunde Industrial Park utilises distributed photovoltaics (PV) systems, energy storage equipment, high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment (including MDV8 multi-connected units), LINVOL digital intelligent elevators, energy recovery modules, and automated production lines to realise both a green office and low-cost carbon production.
Meanwhile, the Midea Chongqing Factory currently leverages over 15 green and energy-saving technologies, eight digital scene applications, three green certifications and consultations, and also boasts access to over 10 information systems, has also obtained the PAS2060 carbon neutral certificate, becoming one of Midea's first zero-carbon pilot plants.
Guided by the most advanced carbon consulting, Midea Jingzhou Factory has made a zero-carbon pathway that includes four stages namely, planning & design, construction, operation and transformation as well as adopted key zero-carbon solutions to obtain both its green and zero-carbon certifications.
-- BERNAMA
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
"HELLO HONG KONG" CAMPAIGN OFFERS 500,000 FREE AIR TICKETS, CITY-WIDE DEALS
Thursday, 9 February 2023
UNIPHORE BUYS HEXAGONE TO PROVIDE INDUSTRY-FIRST AI CAPABILITIES ACROSS X PLATFORM
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Uniphore, the leader in conversational artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, has acquired Hexagone, which fuses various voice, visual and text-based data to provide AI-derived insights to help better understand human behaviour.
In a statement, Uniphore said with this acquisition, the company added substantial enhancements in behavioural science to its industry-leading X Platform, ensuring customer conversations and queries are resolved with significant accuracy and empathy.
As part of the acquisition, Hexagone founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Camille Srour and his team of data scientists have joined Uniphore.
Uniphore co-founder and CEO, Umesh Sachdev said conversations were the lifeblood of every business and being able to derive value from them was critical as companies compete to succeed.
“This acquisition brings unique capabilities to our X platform, making it the only platform that can fuse critical signals from different behavioural modalities in a conversation together, and ultimately provides organisations with the right information to make every conversation count,” he said.
Integration of Hexagone’s technology into Uniphore’s X platform will enhance the capability to fuse all data derived from computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), knowledge AI, and voice and tonal analysis to pick up behavioural and emotional cues.
With this enhancement of the emotion fusion technology, Uniphore can now help people perform their jobs with more ease and accuracy and provide better customer engagement.
Meanwhile, Srour said: “From the beginning, Hexagone was built with a vision to take conversations and the value we extract from them to the next level.”
“We are thrilled to join Uniphore and its conversational AI and automation platform, helping our emotional analysis technology reach customers everywhere,” he added.
-- BERNAMA
ENTROPIK, AI-POWERED INTEGRATED MARKET RESEARCH PLATFORM PROVIDER, RAISES $25 MILLION IN SERIES B FUNDING ROUND LED BY BESSEMER VENTURE PARTNERS AND SIG VENTURE CAPITAL
BENGALURU, India, Feb 9 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Entropik, a leading AI Powered Integrated Market Research platform provider, has raised $25 million in a Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital. The round also saw participation from Trifecta Capital, Alteria Capital, and long-time existing investor Bharat Innovation Fund.
Entropik has grown ~7x in the last two years, riding on its patented Emotion AI Technologies and driven by its expansion into the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Its unique integrated research platform brings quantitative surveys, qualitative research, online panel & patented emotion AI technologies under one umbrella, making it a one-stop solution for marketing & product organizations. Over 150+ global brands across finance, media, consumer goods, food & beverage, and entertainment leverage Entropik's consumer research stack to make better consumer-centric decisions faster and more efficiently.
Ranjan Kumar, Founder & CEO of Entropik, said, “The world is evolving fast, and brands, whose foundation is understanding its consumer preference & behavior, are failing to deliver meaningful experiences. In our mission to enable brands to achieve a robust understanding of its consumer, we are thrilled to have Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital join this journey. The new round also comes as a testament to the rigor and hard work put in by our global team and the trust put by enterprises in our offerings.”
“We are delighted to partner with Ranjan, Lava, Bharat and the entire team at Entropik Tech, in their mission to create a globally leading Emotion AI platform. We believe the strength of the platform lies in its multi-modal, cross-functional capabilities. We are excited to see the team extend their early leadership in the customer research category while continuing to expand into other categories as well,” said Anant Puri, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners.
Bhavanipratap Rana, Investment Advisor to SIG Venture Capital, said, “Entropik provides a faster and cheaper alternative for businesses to interact and understand customer feedback. In an increasingly digital world, consumer and user insights become core to businesses' success in cultivating a loyal customer base. Marketers can now measure more accurately and assess consumer feedback with Entropik's products, like Affect UX, Labs, and Decode. We are excited to invest and support the team at Entropik as they expand into new markets.”
Ashwin Raguraman, Co-founder and Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund, said, “There is a special feeling when you have been at the start of what is an incredible journey. Entropik has grown tremendously, powered by its DeepTech solutions and a high-quality, continuously evolving team. In enabling brands to improve their customers experiences, they are the engine powering how customers interact with their brands better. Their multimodal platform encompassing brainwave mapping, facial coding and voice tonality is globally unique. We hopped on the Entropik train a while back and are very happy to keep buying a ticket to extend our journey.”
With this latest round of funding, Entropik will continue to disrupt consumer research for global brands and build world-class products out of India, enabling research, marketing, and product teams to move towards a more collaborative, agile, and scalable way to conduct research. They will also focus on expanding their footprint across the US, Europe, and Asian markets.
About Entropik :
Entropik is a leading AI-powered Integrated Market Research Platform company founded in 2016. They enable research, marketing, and product teams to move towards a more continuous, collaborative, agile, and scalable way to capture user feedback research by democratizing research and insights data across the organization. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company has a business presence across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Entropik's AI-powered Integrated Market Research Platform provides a research platform covering Quant, Qual, Behaviour Analytics, Video Interviews & Self Captures with an integrated panel under one umbrella. It caters to 150+ global clients across sectors such as Telecom, BFSI, Media, CPG, FMCG, and Entertainment, among others.
The company has 17 patents in Multi-Modal Emotion AI technologies like Facial Coding, Eye Tracking, and Voice AI. Entropik has won many awards and accolades, such as the Amazon AI Award 2018, and is quoted by Gartner as India's 'Top 5 Cool Vendors in AI'.
For more information, please visit: https://www.entropik.io/
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Contact
Aditi Sharma: aditi.sharma@entropiktech.com
Source : Entropik
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
JUNIPER RESEARCH: OPERATOR 5G REVENUE TO REACH $625 BILLION BY 2027, AS 6G DEVELOPMENT SHOWS PROMISE
For more insights, download our free whitepaper: Why Operators Need to Consider 6G Now
5G to Account for 80% of Operator Revenue by 2027
The research forecasts 80% of global operator-billed service revenue will be attributable to 5G by 2027; allowing operators to secure a return on investment into their 5G networks. However, the increasing implementation of eSIMs into new devices will drive global cellular data traffic to grow by over 180% between 2023 and 2027, as data traffic is offloaded from fixed and Wi-Fi networks to 5G.
Research author Frederick Savage commented: “eSIM-capable devices will drive significant growth in cellular data, as consumers leverage cellular networks for use cases that have historically used fixed networks. Operators must ensure that networks, including 5G and upcoming 6G networks, are future‑proofed by implementing new technologies across the entirety of networks.”
6G Development Necessitates Innovative Technologies
To prepare for this increasing demand in cellular data, the report predicts 6G standards must adopt innovative technologies that are not currently used in 5G standards. It identified NTNs (Non‑terrestrial Networks) and sub-1THz frequency bands as key technologies that must be at the centre of initial trials and tests of 6G networks, to provide increased data capabilities over existing 5G networks.
However, the research cautions that the increased cost generated by the use of satellites for NTNs and the acquisition costs of high-frequency spectrum will create longer timelines for securing return on 6G investment for operators. As a result, it urges the telecommunications industry to form partnerships with specialists in non-terrestrial connectivity; thus benefitting from lower investment costs into 6G networks.
Operator Revenue Strategies market research: https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/operators-providers/operator-revenue-strategies-research-report
Download the whitepaper: https://www.juniperresearch.com/whitepapers/why-operators-need-to-consider-6g-now
Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector; providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.
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Contact
Sam Smith, Press Relations
T: +44(0)1256 830002
E: sam.smith@juniperresearch.com
Source : Juniper Research