Hdac Technology Develops New Protocol, Strengthens Enterprise Solution, and “EXPANDS” into FinTech Business

Hdac Technology, a technology company of hybrid blockchain project 'Hdac', announced its business strategy and technology development roadmap at Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas Hotel in Seoul, Korea, on March 13. It was announced that Hdac Technology is designed as an enterprise architecture where a hybrid blockchain project 'Hdac' can reflect the needs of diverse industries. It will also revitalize DApp ecosystem with enterprise blockchain service and develop the FinTech business led by HyundaiPay. In the first quarter of 2019, Hdac Technology plans to complete the SDK(Software Development Kit) and API (Application Program Interface) development to establish an enterprise solution development environment and secure a framework. Particularly, by aiming at DevOps, the firm will support rapid and easy development, deployment, testing, and distribution of Hdac-based blockchain infrastructure. In addition, it will actively explore DApp with growth value and act as an accelerator, thereby realizing the increasing value of Hdac and building a platform that can fully cover the ecosystem. The goal is to provide a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BasS) solution that can easily and conveniently build and operate infrastructure and services based on blockchain, even if the company is not a blockchain specialist. Hdac Enterprise Blockchain Solution can be used in a variety of fields ranging from construction and real estate areas, such as smart home and P2P transactions, manufacturing areas including electronic contracts, purchases, process emergency detection, and production history management to finance and distribution areas using membership points or prepaid cards. ▲ Michael Yoon, CEO of Hdac Technology and HyundaiPay (Photo by Hdac Technology) ▲ Moon-Ok Cho, CTO of Hdac Technology (Photo by Hdac Technology) Moon-Ok Cho, CTO of Hdac Technology introduced the plans of Enterprise Blockchain Solution. “In about March or April, Bridge Node, which connects mainnet and a DApp partner’s mainnet, will be released so that DApp partners can develop smart contracts. In the mid to long term, we will evolve mainnet itself to a scalable platform for attracting more DApp partners. What’s more, we are looking into cooperation with global cloud providers to provide the best enterprise blockchain for enterprise customers and to secure global market competitiveness.” In addition, he added, “With the aim of properly packaging blockchain solutions on a framework unit to combine legacy systems that have been maintained and blockchain, we are at the stage of conducting private block chain testing and POC(Proof of Concept) in the industry domain of Hyundai. We are preparing a BasS(Blockchain-as-a-Service) solution that combines blockchain technology with global cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft. We expect 2019 to be the first year to lay the foundations for advancing both domestic and global business.” Smart Factory enables application and implementation of various new IT technologies such as AI, IoT, cloud, and blockchain by converting data generated at the manufacturing site into big data. Currently, the firm is in the stage of executing POC with Hyundai-affiliated manufacturing-based companies and considering Smart Factory business that controls various factory facilities and machines and collects data through combination with AI and IoT technology based on blockchain. ▲ Hdac Enterprise Blockchain Solution can be applied across a wide range of industries. ▲ Wallet Service provides a two-sided (user and biz partner) integrated service as a platform for various FinTech services. FinTech business, which is headed by HyundaiPay, is based on offering a payment service that can use cryptocurrency conveniently in daily life. Unlike Switzerland-based Hdac Technology, HyundaiPay is operated as a domestic corporation, so Michael Yoon and Moon-Ok Cho, CEO and CTO of Hdac Technology, are also CEO and CSO and HyundaiPay at the same time, respectively. As for FinTech business based on blockchain, the firm will first expand its business centered on the killer services including Prepaid Point Payment Service and Real Estate P2P Service and secure customers at the same time. After that, it will create a user-friendly Wallet Service platform for actively targeting FinTech market. Prepaid Point Payment Service, which is the core, can be used for simple remittance, on/offline merchant payment, smart home service, and simple payment after issuing a prepaid point, “H point (tentative name)”, with Hdac Coin. The “H point” will be evolved as a stable coin in the future. The charging means includes not only Hdac Coin but also various cryptocurrencies, affiliate points, and account cash transfer. By the fourth quarter of this year, the firm plans to provide gift card purchase services such as department store gift cards and Gifticon, and QR code payment service in retail stores. Moreover, by the first quarter of next year, it plans to expand its use by providing simple payment service at mobile/online shopping malls and payment service of electricity and gas bills at the luxury apartment brand, 'HERIOT', of Hyundai BS&C. Real Estate P2P (Peer-To-Peer) Service will provide profits to investors by selecting real asset products such as real estate. It is composed of investment product guide, product evaluation, credit evaluation of business operator, education, consulting, etc. It prepares FinTech product based on real assets to guarantee stable profit rate to users. In particular, it is planned to provide a blockchain-based P2P platform that enables easy management of real assets and reinvestment into various types of assets in connection with the Prepaid Point Payment Service. In the future, it will be expanded to P2P financial services based on various assets. Furthermore, Hdac Technology will showcase Wallet Service, which will be an upgraded version of the existing Hdac Wallet as a FinTech service platform for end-users and business partners. As any complicated authentication procedure has removed, it is to provide an easy and convenient blockchain-based integration service that allows the general users who do not know the blockchain to quickly register by using only their phone numbers. Wallet Service will provide multi-chain wallet, simple remittance, simple payment, point charging function including two-sided (user and biz partner) integrated service as a platform of various FinTech service as well as user's simple and friendly user experience. It will be conducted in a form of portal service that supports Prepaid Point Payment Service and Real Estate P2P Service. When the environment is created, personalization services will be prepared through AI or data analysis. On the other hand, it was announced that Prepaid Point Payment Service, Real Estate P2P Service, and Wallet Service are all in the process of launching businesses within the year. ▲ Hdac is a hybrid blockchain platform that integrates public and private blockchains. Hdac is a hybrid blockchain platform that integrates public and private blockchain and is designed as an enterprise architecture that combines blockchain and IoT to reflect the needs of various industries. Hdac blockchain core framework includes elements such as consensus algorithm, blockchain, cryptocurrency, P2P transaction, security, VM, and smart contract. Based on this, the functions for B2C business service including Wallet, Explorer, node, mining, ePOW in the mainnet, which is a public blockchain service area. In a private blockchain area, the functions for B2B business such as access and management of channels, DevOps environment for development and operation at the same time, off-chain environment linking the existing legacy data or heterogeneous systems, user membership function with access to blockchain, and operational governance function. Hdac Technology also announced that the Bridge Node, which can compose a separate side chain for the enhancement of DApp ecosystem, will be released by the end of March after finishing its development, inner integrated testing, and verification work. Bridge Node provides off-chain scaling by connecting the mainnet’s core and the side chain core of DApp partner’s mainnet and adding a layer that deals with the contract. It also includes a private key that identifies the individual, allowing the owner of the contract, which occurs on Hdac blockchain, to be clearly seen on the mainnet. This enables audit trail of contracts to ensure reliability and scalability. With the application of Bridge Node, Hdac mainnet will be able to provide three services: Token Service, Contract Service, and Scalability. Token Service can issue tokens through Bridge Node or interchange with Hdac, and record the result of the operation through the contract to Hdac mainnet while maintaining the consensus algorithm defined in each blockchain. Contract Service enables issuance and management of new tokens and provides contract functions as well as Scalability that can design various multi-chains based on Hdac mainnet into an independent governance and chain economy by using bridge node. ▲ An architecture diagram of Bridge Node-based DApp Ecosystem ▲ The private blockchain sector is also negotiating a partnership for BaaS business. Hdac Technology stated that it started the R&D of a new protocol ‘HPOS (tentative name)’ to upgrade existing ePoW, Hdac’s consensus algorithm, to PoS(Proof of Stake)-based consensus algorithm for effective network operation of Hdac mainnet. PoS is a category of consensus algorithm of public blockchain based on the economic stake of the inspectors in the network. It has an advantage of improving energy efficiency compared to a consensus algorithm with mining method, which is a consumptive competition method. In addition, because a certain punishment is possible for actions against the utility and accuracy of the network and disturbances of networks, it becomes possible to freely design about network attacks and to maintain the economically safe-network security. In order to develop this new protocol, the development team of Hdac Technology is communicating globally through the meeting with Joseph Lubin, the Co-Founder of Ethereum, as well as development team of Ethereum POS protocol. The team will pursue a comprehensive partnership such as joint R&D and business collaboration. Hdac also initiated research into issuance technology of security token according to the token specification based on the ERC-1404 standard, and announced that it is studying smart contract on token issuance, transaction, and white labeling processing under legal restrictions . “We will provide a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution that can easily and conveniently build and operate infrastructure and services based on blockchain, even if it is not a blockchain specialist. What’s more, we are looking into cooperation with global cloud providers to provide the best enterprise blockchain for enterprise customers and to secure global market competitiveness” said, Moon-Ok Cho, CTO of Hdac. He added, “We are currently developing a private blockchain framework based on the Enterprise Ethereal Alliance (EEA). In addition to the round-robin method, we will review and develop various consensus algorithms such as PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance), expand DevOps tools, and release a private framework including SDK in the first half of this year.”

China-Korea Yantai Industrial Complex Press Conference

On February 26, at 10:30 am, a Media briefing session on ‘China-Korea Yantai Industrial Complex’ was held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas Hotel. The session was attended by about 30 people from Yantai City and the industrial complex, including vice mayor of Yantai, Zhang Dailing(张代令), and people from Korean companies and media. The China-Korea Yantai Industrial Complex was constructed as two core areas and two expanded areas over a total area of 80.4㎢. In the core areas, smart manufacturing, logistics and new energy sectors are concentrated, while expansion areas are concentrated with life sciences, biotechnology and medical fields. Besides, it will actively build cooperation with Korean companies in various fields such as finance, e-commerce, and entertainment on the strength of the policy of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. ▲ Dailing Zhang, Vice Mayor of Yantai, China ▲ Ho-yeol Bae, Director of Investment Strategy, Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment ▲ Jinsheng Gu, Minister-Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Korea “Yantai Industrial Complex is a significant strategic hub for economic cooperation between China and Korea. In the future, we will devote our utmost efforts to make the industrial complex the cornerstone of the economic development of two countries by attracting companies and talents through active policy support and benefits,” said Zhang Dailing, Vice Mayor of Yantai, China. “While Chinese VIPs were visiting the Saemangeum site, there was an in-depth discussion about exchanging more actively between the two countries. I believe the active exchange since last year has become a stepping stone to devising a win-win strategy,” said Ho-yeol Bae, Director of Investment Strategy, Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment. “The Embassy will make efforts to realize the Xiaokang(Moderately prosperous) Society and the Chinese Dream. We will do our best for the idea of ‘Benefit all Mankind(人类共同)’ by carrying out the reform and opening up according to the ideology of the general secretary Xi Jinping(習近平). The two countries are neighboring countries facing the sea, and have achieved rapid overall achievement over the past two decades. It has achieved a lot of accomplishments with wider human exchanges. On the other hand, trade protectionism is worsening in the world and uncertainty is growing. In the midst of this, complementary characteristics between China and South Korea are emerging. We look forward to substantial cooperation in each area and hope to have more benefits for the people of both countries,” Gu Jinsheng(谷金生), Minister-Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Korea. ▲ The plan to accelerate growth of Industrial Complex focused on by the Chinese government and Yantai city government was introduced. ▲ The specialization strategy of the development zone was introduced to the representatives from Korean companies. ▲ Major projects of ‘One Belt One Road’ in the expanded zone were introduced. Taking this opportunity, Korean companies’ entry into China is expected to be more active. If a Korean company moves into an industrial complex, it will receive a subsidy for renting industrial parks and expanding factories. There are also institutional benefits such as tax breaks and visa exemption (for maximum 144 hours). It is expected that Korean companies will capture the fast-growing Chinese domestic market and secure an economic growth engine. At the presentation, five policies for Korean companies were announced; subsidies, substantial use of land, strengthening tax support, active attracting of talented people, and providing trade and administrative support. It is expected to further boost the value of the industrial complex, which has a strategic position with the two zones and one base, including the demonstration zone, precedent zone, and new development base. In 2018, 66 new Korean projects were launched with a total value of $210 million and recorded the total turnover of about $7.47 billion (RMB 50 billion). Likewise, the upward trend in China since 2019 is expected. In particular, the Industrial Complex said they will attract more than 100 Korean companies by 2025 and will invest a total of $2 billion in these companies. Meanwhile, the Industrial Complex was established in December 2017 to explore economic cooperation between Korea and China on the basis of the Korea-China FTA agreement that entered into force in December 2015. The complex has settled down as an important base of the policy of Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt One Road(一帶一路)’ and a bridgehead of entering China, Korea’s number one trading partner.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars opens ‘Rolls-Royce Seoul Cheongdam Boutique’

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars expanded its existing Cheongdam Exhibition Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and opened ‘Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Seoul Cheongdam Boutique’ on February 20th. Reflecting boutique concept of Rolls-Royce, the ‘Global first’ Cheongdam boutique is a customer-centered multi-cultural exhibition where customers can experience and enjoy the brand value of Rolls-Royce. The Cheongdam boutique is an outcome that reflects the customer-oriented management philosophy of Rolls-Royce, and Rolls-Royce has been constantly analyzing and trying to broaden the boundaries of customers’ possibilities. As a result, Rolls-Royce determined that it needed an emotional environment that would allow customers to immerse themselves in the entire purchasing process and enjoy the fun at the same time. Therefore, through the Cheongdam boutique, Rolls-Royce is expected to take a step closer to becoming a global luxury house beyond the automobile maker. Rolls-Royce's Cheongdam boutique enhanced accessibility and convenience by moving to Cheongdam Dosandaero, where flagship stores of famous fashion brands are concentrated. The most prestigious experts in each area, including luxurious architects, materials specialists and interior designers, participated in completing the best boutique to create a distinctive space that suits the luxurious lifestyle of the top customers. In addition, as well as automobiles, a variety of handicrafts and artifacts will be on display to help customers experience the infinite creative expression that Rolls-Royce offers. ▲ ‘Rolls-Royce Cheongdam Boutique’, which was introduced as the first boutique after moving to Dosandaero ▲ Torsten Müller-Ötvos, CEO of Rolls-Royce “This boutique opening is important not only in Korea but also in Rolls-Royce as a whole, and it also has meanings of Korean market’s importance and that Seoul will lead the global luxury sector. In addition, Korea has achieved a dynamic growth in the luxury car market. About two years ago, the first Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Studio in Asia opened in Korea, and many people could access Rolls-Royce since then. As a result, we had renewed the annual sales record for two years,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvos, CEO of Rolls-Royce. According to CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvos, for Rolls-Royce last year, the Korean market was one of the fastest growing in the world with annual sales first recorded the three digits. And he introduced that the silver ghost collection, a limited edition of only 35 Rolls-Royce Ghost, shows the pride of Rolls-Royce working for special customers. Moreover, last year was the year when the 8th generation 'Phantom', a flagship model, could be sold throughout the year, and when ‘Cullinan’, the world's first super-luxury all-terrain SUV, was introduced and received the world’s enthusiastic response. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce is the first luxury automobile manufacturer in Korea to adopt the revised Automobile Management Act, also known as the Korean version of Lemon laws. Rolls-Royce is doing its utmost to make not only the products but also the entire journey that a customer orders and owns best. The Cheongdam boutique is a stepping stone for Rolls-Royce to move beyond automobile manufacturers to becoming a global luxury house. Furthermore, the Cheongdam Boutique is the world's first Rolls-Royce boutique, and the world's existing Rolls-Royce showrooms will be transformed into an attractive, experimental concept that reflects the world of Rolls-Royce as a global luxury house. As Rolls-Royce believed that an emotional environment that would allow customers to immerse themselves in the entire purchasing process and enjoy the fun at the same time is needed, it moved to Cheongdam Dosandaero, where flagship stores of famous fashion brands are concentrated, and successfully enhanced accessibility and convenience. At the same time, the most prestigious experts in each area, including luxurious architects, materials specialists and interior designers, participated in completing the best boutique to create a distinctive space that suits the luxury lifestyle of the top customers. In addition, as well as automobiles, a variety of handicrafts and artifacts will be on display to help customers experience the infinite creative expression that Rolls-Royce offers. ▲ You can see the silver ghost collection, a limited edition of only 35 Rolls-Royce Ghost cars, in Cheongdam Boutique. ▲ As soon as you enter the entrance, you can see Rolls-Royce's flagship 'Phantom' ▲ The Cheongdam boutique is organized as a space where you can not only see automobiles but also enjoy a wide variety of 'luxury'. ▲ The Korean team got a plaque of appreciation for their performance.

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  ‘Ransomware’ and ‘Cryptojacking’ Mining Cryptocurrency Declined, While ‘Formjacking’ Stealing Credit Card Information Increased

  Cybercriminals are always wondering about get-rich-quick schemes, that is, how much money they can earn quickly. Cybercriminals have been using cryptojacking to mine cryptocurrency and ransomware to demand money. Recently, however, they are turning their attention to formjacking, a method of stealing credit card information. Cryptojacking, which is the most common way for cybercriminals, is the process of mining cryptocurrency using the processing power of the target computer and cloud CPU usage. With the attention of bitcoin, the notion of cryptocurrency has attracted great popularity. In addition, cybercriminals favored the cryptojacking technique of extracting cryptocurrency by planting malicious codes. However, according to a recent ISTR report released by Symantec, the value of the cryptocurrency ‘Monero(XMR)’ has fallen to 90%, and the cryptojacking peaked at the beginning of 2018, but showed a 52% decline throughout the year. As the adoption of cloud and mobile computing has increased, both the effectiveness of attacks and the profit have fallen. However, cryptojacking should not be ignored as it is still attracting attackers with low entry barriers, minimal overhead and guaranteed anonymity. At the same time, ransomware also shows a decline in overall attack activity and in profit. The number of infections by ransomware fell 20% last year, down for the first time since 2013. However, in 2018, the number of ransomware attacks against enterprises has risen by 12%, showing a contradiction to the overall downturn, which is a constant threat to them. In fact, more than eight out of ten ransomware infections are affecting the enterprises. Furthermore, the ransomware is evolving. Ransomware is mainly targeting enterprises through e-mail with office files. The reason why enterprises are targeted is that they typically use Windows, do not back up important files well, and there will be a lot of profit when the attack succeeds. The certain ransomware families, such as a wanted SamSam, usually attack with a lot of ‘PowerShell’ scripts and mainly target medical institutions and local governments. In 2018, they already attacked at least 67 agencies, and the amount of extortion is estimated to reach $6 million. According to the latest annual report of the IBM X-Force security research, the number of cryptojacking is more than double that of ransomware, as the ransomware attacks were greatly reduced last year. While the attempts to install ransomware on devices in the fourth quarter of last year were declined 45% from the first quarter, the increasing rate of cryptojacking attacks grew to 450%. The industries that received the most cyber-attacks include finance (19%), transportation (13%), service (12%), distribution (11%), and manufacturing (10%). ▲ Cryptojacking is on the decline, but it cannot be ignored. As cryptojacking and ransomware are slowing down, a new form of crime has emerged among cybercriminals, which is ‘Formjacking’. Formjacking is a virtual ATM skimming that steals financial and personal information of individual users through card information and credit card fraud on online purchasing sites. According to Symantec’s reports, on average, over 4,800 websites appear to be infected with formjacking codes every month. It is estimated that cybercriminals will make at least tens of millions of dollars in revenue in 2018 in underground markets such as ‘Dark Web’. Information that was hijacked by formjacking is sold for up to $45 for one credit card. In the case of British Air, where more than 380,000 pieces of credit card information were leaked, the offenders are expected to earn more than $17 million. Individual users cannot know whether visited online sites are infected without using a security solution, so their risk of identity theft and personal and financial information are likely to be exposed. For companies, the risk of attacking the supply chain as well as the risk of reputation or legal liability experienced during infection is increasing. Formjacking, which is continuously on the rise, is expected to continue in 2019 and beyond. Cybercriminals are constantly intellectualizing and diversifying their methods of attack. Cryptojacking, which has been crammed with cryptocurrency, but the attack rate has fallen by 52% when the value and attack effect have fallen, and also ransomware has an attack pattern concentrated on enterprises that suffer greater than individuals. Though the attack has diminished, cybercriminals have evolved to develop more intelligent techniques and to use various other methods, such as formjacking, to launch various attacks. In addition, the number of formjacking has increased, making cybercrimes more likely to occur to ordinary users who are not related to cryptocurrency or enterprise computers. Even ordinary users who have been excluded from the target cannot easily know whether they have been infected after making a payment on their website. In the United States, the structure of online shopping is easy and fast based on JavaScript, making it easy for cybercriminals to do formjacking. Korea seems to be relatively safe because it has a different payment method and does not use JavaScript, but it has to be noted that recently cases of overseas direct purchase have increased and damage cases are increasing rapidly as well. As the attacking method is becoming more intelligent and diverse, users are advised to recognize and prevent the danger. In addition to the aforementioned cryptojacking, ransomware and formjacking, in 2019, security will be important in various aspects such as clouds, 5G and IoT devices. Users need to avoid crybercrimes as intelligent as the cyberciminals through improving their security awareness and getting more comprehensive training on threat limitations and corrective actions. ▲ Formjacking is emerging as a new information extortion method.

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  Ficosa turns 70, leading the race towards the automobile of the future

  Ficosa, a top-tier global provider devoted to the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of vision, safety, connectivity and efficiency systems for the automotive sector, is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a firm commitment to new technology for more assisted driving, autonomous cars, connected cars and e-mobility to lead the current transformation of the automobile. The history of Ficosa began in 1949 when Josep Pujol Sucarrats supported his son and current president of the company, José María Pujol, in founding a small workshop in Barcelona with José María Tarragó, called Pujol y Tarragó, which manufactured mechanical cables for the spare parts market. Over the following seven decades, a firm commitment to innovation and internationalisation have made Ficosa the global benchmark in the automotive and mobility sector, with more than 10,500 employees in 19 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. In the words of Javier Pujol, Ficosa CEO: “One of the keys to our success lies in our ability over the years to anticipate future changes, in conjunction with our clear commitment to innovation. This has led us to transform the company to get out ahead of changes, whether for example being pioneers in going beyond Spanish borders in the 1970s or diversifying our line of products to meet market needs. Likewise, the secret of our success can also be found in our philosophy of doing a lot with very little, our solid human values of humility, hard work and entrepreneurship, and the great team that has made up this company at the various points throughout its history.” Pushing new technology The new technological products aimed at more assisted driving, autonomous cars, connected cars and e-mobility have become the pillars of Ficosa’s growth. In recent years, the company has implemented a significant plan for investment in new technology, which will be further bolstered with an additional €500 million over the next four years, in order to fuel its leadership in areas that are decisive for the automobile of the future. The company, which saw €1.28 billion in revenue in 2017 and invested nearly 8% of its sales in R&D, expects revenue from technology systems to go from €100 million to €800 million over the next five years. Ficosa has developed and manufactured the Audi e-Tron’s digital rear-view system, the first vehicle to market with this technology composed of cameras and screens instead of the conventional exterior mirrors. This project is a turning point in the technological transformation of the company and reaffirms its leadership in vision systems, marking a milestone in the automotive industry worldwide. In late 2018, Ficosa reaffirmed its commitment to electromobility by inaugurating its new e-Mobility Hub, a pioneering centre in Spain and the world in technology for electric mobility. Located in Viladecavalls, it employs 120 engineers and will become a global benchmark laboratory in the development of electromobility systems for hybrid and electric vehicles. Pujol highlights: “As part of our DNA, Ficosa’s evolution has always been closely tied to the transformation of the automobile. Some years ago, we set our sights on technological products with high value added for the automobile and made a firm commitment to our transformation. The digital rear-view system and the new e-Mobility hub are clear examples that, once more in Ficosa’s history, we have known how to anticipate and make the right decision. We’ve come a long way in the past 70 years, but the race towards the car of the future is frenetic, which is why we are stepping on the accelerator to push innovation in the company and stay at the front of the pack.” The efforts to capitalise on innovations and the latest advances have also led to a significant growth of the engineering team focused on these new technological products, reaching a record number of more than 1,170 engineers worldwide. Over 700 of them work at the Technological Centre in Viladecavalls (Barcelona, Spain), the group’s most important engineering centre, where 160 engineers were hired in 2017 alone. Over the past five years, Ficosa has bolstered its global presence with new plants in Jandira (Brazil), Shenyang (China), Cookeville (United States) and Rabat (Morocco). The Morocco plant was the latest centre to be inaugurated, last year, and the company’s first foray onto the continent of Africa. Plus, the company has recently reinforced its presence in Portugal with new facilities in Maia.

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  Airbus’ Skyways drone trials world’s first shore-to-ship deliveries

  Airbus Skyways drone lifting off ©Wilhelmsen Airbus has begun shore-to-ship trials in Singapore with its Skyways parcel delivery drone. This marks the first time drone technology has been deployed in real port conditions, to deliver a variety of small, time-critical maritime essentials to working vessels at anchorage. The maiden shore-to-ship delivery flight was made to the Swire Pacific Offshore’s Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel ‘M/V Pacific Centurion’, 1.5km from the shoreline of Singapore’s Marina South Pier, carrying 1.5kg of 3D printed consumables. Landing safely on the ship deck and depositing its cargo to the shipmaster, the Skyways unmanned air vehicle swiftly returned to its base, with the entire flight taking within ten minutes. The trials are being undertaken in conjunction with partner Wilhelmsen Ships Services, one of the world’s leading maritime logistics and port services company. During the trials, Airbus’ Skyways drone will lift off from the pier with a payload capability of up to 4kg, and navigate autonomously along pre-determined ‘aerial corridors’ to vessels as far as 3km from the coast. Airbus’ Skyways lead, Leo Jeoh shared his excitement at the milestone flight: “We are thrilled to launch the first trial of its kind in the maritime world. Today’s accomplishment is a culmination of months of intense preparation by our dedicated team, and the strong collaboration with our partner, as we pursue a new terrain in the maritime industry.” “We are also happy to be taking a step forward for Airbus’ urban air mobility endeavour, as we continue to explore and seek better understanding of what it takes to fly safe and reliable autonomous flying vehicles safely,” he added. “The now proven, seamless operation of drone deliveries from shore to ship, in one of the world’s busiest ports proves the hard work, investment and faith we, and indeed our partners, placed in the Agency by Air project over the past two years was not misplaced,” said Marius Johansen, Vice President Commercial, Ships Agency at Wilhelmsen Ships Services. “Delivery of essential spares, medical supplies and cash to master via launch boat, is an established part of our portfolio of husbandry services, which we provide day in and day out, in ports all over the world. Modern technology such as the unmanned aircraft systems, are just a new tool, albeit a very cool one, with which we can push our industry ever forward and improve how we serve our customers,” he added. The use of unmanned aircraft systems in the maritime industry paves the way for possible enlargement of existing ship agency services’ portfolio, speeding up deliveries by up to six times, lowering delivery costs by up to 90%, reducing carbon footprint, and significantly mitigating risks of accidents associated with launch-boat deliveries. Airbus and Wilhelmsen Ships Services signed an agreement in June 2018 to drive the development of an end-to-end unmanned aircraft system for safe shore-to-ship deliveries. The collaboration marries Airbus’ extensive expertise in aeronautical vertical lift solutions and Wilhelmsen’s wealth of experience in ship agency services. A landing platform and control centre were set up at the Marina South Pier in November 2018, through the facilitation of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The maritime agency also designated anchorages for vessels to anchor off the pier for the trials, while the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore worked with Airbus and Wilhelmsen to ensure safety of the trials. Skyways is an experimental project aimed at establishing seamless multi-modal transportation networks in smart cities. Through Skyways, Airbus aims to develop an unmanned airborne infrastructure solution and address the sustainability and efficiency of unmanned aircraft in large urban and maritime environments. Having demonstrated the ability to deliver parcels safely and reliably to vessels anchored off the coast of Singapore, Skyways will soon be commencing another trial phase delivering air parcels autonomously in an urban environment, at the National University of Singapore.

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  TOKYO GAME SHOW 2019 ( TGS 2019 ) Exhibition Outline Released

  In cooperation with Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. (Nikkei BP, President: Suguru Niinomi), the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA, Chairman: Hideki Hayakawa) has announced that it will be holding TOKYO GAME SHOW 2019 (TGS 2019) at Makuhari Messe (Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture) for four days from Thursday, September 12 to Sunday, September 15. Applications for exhibition are now being accepted. The theme for TGS2019 is “One World, Infinite Joy.” With dramatic advances in technology, games can now connect players around the world instantly, anytime and anywhere. Under this year’s theme, the event hopes to communicate the true value and possibility of games that a new level of experience and excitement shared among people, as friends and mates enjoying the same game together, will strengthen “ties” among people, and that games can provide even more fun experience. In recent years, the game industry has seen an expanding range of titles, from casual ones to highly competitive e-Sports, and games are now enjoyed in many different ways. With the increasing number of game fans, expectations for Tokyo Game Show are also becoming increasingly diverse. The last year’s TGS 2018 was the biggest event ever in its history, with 668 companies and organizations from 41 countries and regions participating as exhibitors and 298,690 people visiting the exhibition. TGS2019 will have a further expansion of its Internet video streaming platform and contents, so that game fans who are not at the venue can also feel the excitement of TGS, together with visitors. The event aims for increased viewership in Asia and on a global scale. In the e-Sports field, which is attracting attention also from outside of the game industry, this year’s event again plans to hold championships in various genres at the giant "e-Sports X (Cross)" stage (details to be announced in April). In addition to improved usability with venue layout and easy-to-view stage setup, we are committed to enrich real-time gameplay content for streaming overseas and offer enhanced information on the event. Furthermore, the event organizer’s keynote speech program will be held focusing on new technologies, such as next-generation communication system “5G”, “blockchain” and “artificial intelligence (AI).” TOKYO GAME SHOW started in 1996. It has grown to become an event receiving attention in Japan and elsewhere, with over 600 businesses and organizations exhibiting each year since 2016 and visitors exceeding 250,000 for six years in a row since 2013. Expect more excitement than ever at Tokyo Game Show 2019, which has grown to the “world’s largest game show” increasing its presence in global communities.

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  KISO Released the Results of Its Survey on User Awareness of Naver’s Search Word Service

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  ‘Ransomware’ and ‘Cryptojacking’ Mining Cryptocurrency Declined, While ‘Formjacking’ Stealing Credit Card Information Increased

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  SK Telecom unveils ‘5G Smart Office’ at press conference

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  HP Labs Boris Balacheff Vice President had Media Group Interview in Korea

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  Get EOS Airdrop Token Every Hour Is Now Possible on Infinito App Square with PRA CandyBox!

  SINGAPORE, Mar 22, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Infinito Wallet's crucial partnership with global leading EOS block producers and block producer candidates comes along with valuable benefits for users. This March 13th, support for EOS DApps will officially be available on Infinito Wallet's newly launched App Square and the well-known EOS token distribution DApp - PRA CandyBox will be at Infinitors' service along with a great deal of airdrops everyday.Developed by ProChain based on the EOS main network, PRA CandyBox is the top 1 EOS DApp listed on DappRadar and the only airdrop-related dApp among the top 100 dApps as of 19 February 2019. With the join of this DApp, Infinito Wallet's users are now gifted with EOS candies everyday or even every hour. To be specific, the amount of EOS airdrops users can get daily varies in accordance with their account's level. To heighten level, wallet owners can deposit EPRA token - PRA CandyBox's proprietary token - into their account. This means the more EPRA token users deposit, the more EOS candies and the shorter duration for them. Level 1 accounts are those with less than 1,000 EPRAs, can repeatedly claim tokens every four hours. While top accounts like level 12 are rewarded with up to 12 airdrops every hour. Users can find this DApp inside Infinito App Square, displayed as "Browser" in the Universal Wallet. Convenience is one highlight of this EOS token distribution as PRA CandyBox keeps their airdrop "game" extremely simple. To receive candies, Infinito Wallet's users simply need to click on the airdrop project, input password and tap "confirm". That's it!*Please note that you must own an EOS account in order to receive EOS tokens.Infinito App Square, on the other hand, provides users utmost convenience as all DApps including PRA CandyBox are seamlessly connected to the Universal Wallet. Therefore, crypto holders can easily and securely make transactions using cryptocurrencies in their wallet. Along with PRA CandyBox, this March, App Square also welcomes DApps such as DEXEOS, ETHLend, XOV Connect, Evolutionland, Etheremon, and EOS Account Creator. Partnership with leading DApps for App Square is part of the Infinito team's effort to develop Infinito Wallet into the universal home to not just leading coins and tokens but also for innovative blockchain apps and services. Download Infinito Wallet on App Store or Google Play Store now!"Infinito's mission is to prove the power beyond cryptocurrency of blockchain to users and thus, bring mass adoption to this ground-breaking technology. We hope PRA CandyBox's integration into Infinito App Square will bring extra benefits to crypto holders. Together, Infinito Wallet and PRA CandyBox will contribute values to not only Infinito Wallet's users but also to global EOS community. " said Jack Thang Nguyen, Project Director of Infinito Wallet."PROCHAIN is a big data-based public-chain ad biding and distribution protocol, striving to build a transparent and token-based ad platform and serve scenarios including decentralized ad distribution and web3 media traffic monetization. PRA CandyBox, our offer wall product, has always been No.1 in the whole EOS system in terms of DAU. It mains satisfies DApp developers' promotion needs, and distributes traffic via on-chain media like EOS wallets. The traffic originates from the integration of various EOS wallets, and through CandyBox the users can get token rewards, thus effectively improving the DAU rate and promoting consumption. The user experience of Infinito Wallet is wonderful. I believe our cooperation with Infinito will not only enhance both parties' development in the field of cryptocurrency, but also boost the healthy growth of the EOS ecology" - David White, Founder and CEO of PROCHAIN shared.Become Infinito Wallet's partners or get your DApp listed on App Square now!Soon, DApps on EOS, Ontology, NEO, and more will be added to the Universal Wallet with variety of functions such as Exchange, Finance, Compliance, Games, Education, News and more. So, Infinito Wallet is looking forward to expand their partner network and DApp list for a greater future. Contact the team behind the Universal Wallet via info@infinitowallet.io. Build your own DApp?For DApp developers, Infinito team also provides development platform to help you develop DApps easier and faster. Infinito Blockchain Platform (IBP) has a wide variety of blockchain modules including: API/SDKs, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Solutions, DApp and Smart Contract templates, and more. Contact info@infinito.io for more information.About Infinito WalletPositioning as a leading universal wallet for crypto users, Infinito Wallet serves as a gateway for users to maximize usage and potentials of their cryptocurrencies. By selectively expanding their partner network, Infinito Wallet aims to build an ecosystem of practical blockchain services including exchanges, ID/KYC solutions, and other blockchain-related business services. At the same time, Infinito team helps support communities of developers and businesses with an open blockchain infrastructure of technologies and compliant-ready services, so that they can seamlessly build, launch, and operate innovative products and services efficiently.Infinito Wallet's core development team of blockchain R&D experts has intensive professional experience. Currently, their organization consists of more than 300 members including developers, designers, business and marketing specialists. Infinito is promoting research on infrastructure for cryptocurrencies and developers utilizing blockchain.Follow Infinito Wallet on:- Telegram: https://t.me/infinitowallet- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfinitoWallet/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/InfinitoWallet- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8s67KYZ1AHZRUqJLLFc0g- Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+InfinitoWallet- Medium: https://medium.com/infinito-wallet- Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/infinitowallet/- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infinity-blockchain-labs-europe/ Copyright 2019 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

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  Singapore's Tembusu to launch at least RMB 1.0 Billion of China Funds after securing first QFLP Status for Guizhou Province

  Lim Ming Yan joins Tembusu Partners' China Advisory Board as ChairmanMr Lim Ming Yan, Former CEO of Capitaland, to Chair Tembusu's China Advisory BoardSingapore / Guizhou, China, Mar 21, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Singapore-based Tembusu Partners Pte Ltd said today it will launch several investment funds totalling at least RMB 1.0 billion (approx. S$205.6 million) after securing the first Qualified Foreign Limited Partner (QFLP) status awarded to a foreign fund management firm in China's Guizhou Province.The pan-Asian investment firm also announced the appointment of Mr Lim Ming Yan, former CEO of property giant Capitaland, as Chairman of its China Advisory Board as Tembusu seeks to increase in investments in China, coinciding with the central government's efforts to liberalise the economy and promote innovation.Tembusu's 80-20 joint-venture with a Guizhou state-owned entity is the first in the southwestern province to secure the QFLP license. The latter allows investors to enjoy an 'express lane' for regulatory approval and taxation, without the issue of foreign currency convertibility. By shortening transaction time and investment process, foreigners can make multiple direct investments in Chinese companies more easily.Funds launched by Tembusu will invest primarily in technology, infrastructure, healthcare, tourism and impact related projects in China. Through the funds, investee companies will also be eligible for financial incentive schemes from the Chinese government.Through a strategic partnership with the Guizhou government, Tembusu will receive first-hand access to deal flow. Tembusu has established an office in Guiyang, the provincial capital, since 2017. With operations in Shanghai and Guiyang it is registered as a private equity fund manager with the Asset Management Association of China. Established in 2006, Tembusu holds a Capital Markets Services licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In line with this initiative, Tembusu announced the appointment of Mr Lim Ming Yan as Chairman of Tembusu's China Advisory Board. Mr Lim retired late 2018 as President and CEO of Singapore Exchange-listed Capitaland Limited, ending a 22-year career with one of Asia's largest real estate development companies. He brings with him a wealth of experience in capital markets as well as strong networks in China. "I am delighted to join Tembusu's China Advisory Board. Tembusu is a well-regarded Singapore homegrown private equity specialist which has helped fund and nurture a number of emerging Asian companies. I hope to bring my experience and understanding of China to assist Tembusu in its China initiatives," Mr Lim said. Mr. Andy Lim, Founder and Chairman of Tembusu Partners, said: "The funds we intend to launch will enable Tembusu to bridge the investment communities of China, Southeast Asia and the rest of the world through accelerated deal flows. As China continues to open up and connect with the world, the funds will pave the way for more to participate starting from Guizhou. I am honoured that Ming Yan has agreed to spearhead our China Advisory Board and am confident that he will open up new opportunities as we seek to participate in the growth of some of China's most promising companies."About the Tembusu QFLP SchemeThe QFLP status allows Tembusu to enjoy the benefits of the policy and greater access to onshore transactions as it expands its footprint in China. Tembusu, which focuses on pan-Asian businesses, is aiming to tap growth in China, which has evolved into one of the world's largest markets and an innovation leader driven by a new generation of entrepreneurs, especially in the technology sector. The launch of Tembusu China Funds under the QFLP scheme will allow direct conversion of foreign capital into renminbi for investments in domestic Chinese companies. New QFLP fund managers are evaluated based on investor calibre, overall assets and scale of existing funds. About GuizhouLocated in southwest China with a population of 35 million, Guizhou province has transformed into China's foremost big data hub since 2015, when China's State Council under then-Premier Li Keqiang declared it as the country's 'National-level Pilot Zone' for big-data development. Its economic prominence has also increased since that same year, following the introduction of government policies to support growth of Guizhou-based companies. Since 2016, eligible companies seeking to raise funds from the capital market were provided an accelerated channel by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Situated in temperate climate and supported by the state government, Guizhou has attracted global Internet giants such as Apple, Huawei Technologies and Tencent Holdings to open and operate secure data centres at significantly lower costs and with greater energy efficiency. These developments have increased investments focused on technology and big data in the region. Guizhou is one of the fastest-growing provinces in China, ranking among the top three in economic growth rate in the country for 27 consecutive quarters, and standing above 10% for 14 consecutive years. Guizhou posted a 10% increase in gross domestic product in the first half of 2018.About Tembusu Partners Pte LtdTembusu Partners is a private equity investment firm that invests in promising early and growth-stage companies with a view to generating optimal returns for both investee companies and investors. Besides supporting companies through mezzanine and equity financing, it also lends operational expertise to help them grow. Headquartered in Singapore, its primary geographical markets are within Emerging Asia - comprising China, India and Southeast Asia. For more information, please visit: www.tembusupartners.com Media Contact:WeR1 Consultants Pte LtdEmail: tembusu@wer1.netTel: +65 6737 4844 Copyright 2019 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

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  23rd edition of FILMART draws nearly 9,000 international buyers

  The 23rd edition of the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) drew to a successful close today after attracting nearly 9,000 buyers during the four-day period.The thematic seminars featured an impressive line-up of heavyweights. Three key forums invited representatives from various industries to share their insights on the development of film and TV industry opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.Over the top (OTT) platform development was a hot topic of discussion. Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia, said despite the challenges, the future of this business is looking very healthy.Seminars focus on development and opportunities in the film /TV industry in the Greater Bay AreaHONG KONG, Mar 21, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - The 23rd edition of Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART), organised by the HKTDC, drew to a successful close today. The four-day event attracted nearly 9,000 buyers.International exhibitors win orders from enthusiastic buyers on-siteAcort International, a US exhibitor and long-time FILMART participant, reached a distribution agreement for a war film titled "World W4R" with buyers from Korea, Vietnam and India on the second day of the exhibition. Horizon Motion Pictures from Canada featured "Wedding and Lovers Tourist around the World" and discussed with filmmakers from the Philippines, India, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. This documentary will have two episodes on each place to introduce local wedding ceremonies and cultural traditions.Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd from Hong Kong said its martial arts films were popular among Southeast Asian buyers at FILMART, with a number of investment discussions ensuing, including for "The Shaolin Temple 2". Sil-Metropole also revealed that a virtual reality production company from the UK intends to remake Sil-Metropole's action movies and micro-movies with VR technology.Mainland China-based China Central Television (CCTV) does a lot of international business, with 60% to 70% of the buyers of its drama-series productions coming from overseas. CCTV said many new-media platforms, including Facebook, in addition to TV stations, negotiated with them at FILMART this year. Mainland animator Fantawild Animation Inc. from Guangdong Province reached a broadcasting agreement with an Indian TV station for the company's animation "Boonie Bears" on the third day of FILMART.14 thematic seminars feature impressive line-up of industry heavyweightsFILMART's thematic seminars featured an impressive line-up of nearly 60 leading industry representatives from the film, digital entertainment, animation and other sectors. The 14 seminars organised by the HKTDC solely or in conjunction with other institutions attracted more than 3,000 attendees. Speakers included Esther van Messel, CEO of First Hand Films; Lex Zhu, Producer of A Bite of China; David Weiland, EVP Asia at BBC Studios; Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia; Sean Park, Marketing Director of YouTube International Markets; Jim Packer, President of Worldwide TV and Digital Distribution, Lionsgate; Yu Gong, Founder and CEO of iQIYI, Inc and President of Worldwide TV and Digital Distribution; Joe Aguilar, Emmy Award-winning producer; Belle Avery, Producer of "The Meg"; Pang Ho-cheung, Director of "Love in a Puff"; Derek Tsang, Director of "Soul Mate"; and Sunny Chan, Director of "Men on the Dragon".Focus on Greater Bay Area film, TV and music development and opportunitiesFILMART this year focused on the development of film and TV in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Leading industry representatives in the Greater Bay Area explored the cooperation opportunities and future development for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau film, TV and music in events including the "TV World 2019 - Opening Ceremony cum International Forum; Greater Bay Area: Golden Opportunity to Spearhead Film-TV business", "Cantonese Movies Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area Forum" and "Hong Kong Asian-Pop Music Festival Business Forum: Greater Bay Area - New Business Opportunities for Cantopop". Allan Zeman, Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, believes the film and TV industries in the Greater Bay Area need to understand each other and how everyone can work together to grasp those opportunities. Sin Kwok-lam, Honorary Chairman & Founder of National Arts Entertainment and Culture Group Ltd, hopes the mainland could further relax the restrictions and quotas on Hong Kong films, allowing them to be released directly in the Greater Bay Area, which has a population of about 70 million.The future of OTT platformsThe rapid emergence of over the top (OTT) platforms in recent years was a hot topic of discussion at FILMART. Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia, said despite the challenges, the future is looking very healthy for OTT services. "You will see people not just selecting and paying for one platform, but for two or three, and people are watching more content than ever before." Sean Park, Marketing Director of YouTube International Markets, shared that YouTube has become part of everyday life, and 500 hours of YouTube content are now uploaded every minute. "Some 70 per cent of views are on phones, for an average of an hour a day - about the time many spend commuting."Networking events, project announcements and more than 300 screenings At this year's FILMART, more than 60 scheduled events - including professional seminars, new film launches and networking activities - facilitated exchanges and business matching. Major film and TV production companies announced new projects on-site, including Emperor Motion Pictures, Media Asia Distribution Limited, Mega-Vision Project Workshop, Mei Ah Entertainment, One Cool Film Production Limited, TVBI Company Limited and PCCW Media Limited. There were also more than 300 screenings, including over 100 world or Asia premieres and numerous award-winning productions. FILMART featured the Online Catch-Up Screening facility for the first time this year. The facility enables buyers and visitors to view exhibitors' works at any time.Another key event taking place as part of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong - The 17th Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) successfully concluded. Widely recognised as one of the most important film-financing platforms in the region, HAF showcased 42 shortlisted projects, including 19 Work-in-Progress projects. This year also marks the third edition of the WIP programme in which, for the first time, a separate section for documentary projects is organised. The programme offers a great opportunity for fiction and documentary filmmakers to secure post-production funds, sales agents and film festival support. Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Curator and HAF Director Jacob Wong called the 17th Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum a resounding success. "Both the number and total value of this year's awards have set new records, affording more resources and opportunities for filmmakers to realise their dreams. As a mission, HAF will continue to support the robust development of emerging talents in Hong Kong and Asia by seeking out promising filmmakers with interesting film projects," Mr Wong said.FILMART website: http://www.hkfilmart.com/filmartEntertainment Expo website: http://www.eexpohk.comPhoto Download: https://bit.ly/2JrwS4BAbout HKTDCEstablished in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter@hktdc, LinkedIn.Contact:Coco Yuen, Tel: +852 2584 4145, Email: coco.hc.yuen@hktdc.org Clayton Lauw, Tel: +852 2584 4525, Email: clayton.y.lauw@hktdc.org Copyright 2019 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

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  Google and Facebook to make $176bn from advertising this year, pushing their share of internet marketing to over 60%

  • For the first time, the strength of the duopoly is reducing the pool of ad money available to other online media owners• WARC Global Advertising Trends - The Duopoly LONDON, Mar 21, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, has found that of the $590.4bn spent on advertising worldwide last year, $144.6bn (24.5%) went to the Google and Facebook 'Duopoly', which equates to almost one in four dollars. The duopoly's adspend share is up from 20.3% in 2017 and is more than double the 10.8% recorded in 2014. WARC predicts a further increase to 28.6% ($176.4bn) this year.Looking only at the internet advertising market, the duopoly took over half (56.4%) of ad money in 2018, a share which WARC expects to rise to 61.4% this year. This growth is squeezing other online media owners, as the pool of ad money available to them is now in decline for the first time, down 0.7% to $111.0bn.James McDonald, Data Editor, WARC, and author of the research, comments: "One of the main reasons for the duopoly's success is their creation, and subsequent ownership, of the digital formats perceived to be most effective by adland's decision makers: paid search and social. Several surveys in the past year have shown search and social to be highly regarded by advertisers in terms of meeting campaign objectives."Google dominates the search engine market, handling almost all mobile searches worldwide and nine in ten on desktops. Meanwhile, ad buyers can target Facebook's 1.48bn daily users by leveraging a rich cache of personal data."Beyond major brands, the accessibility of the duopoly's ad buying tools has attracted a long tail of small- and micro-advertisers, creating a competitive advantage which has been core to revenue growth."Against this backdrop, WARC's research on the duopoly highlights three key trends:Google and Facebook are directly competing for video dominanceThe value of the online video market across WARC's 12 key markets - Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, US - is $30.2bn, which equates to 21.5% of linear TV, and is growing rapidly. Much of this money is spent on social media sites, including Facebook and YouTube (e.g. 86%, or £1.9bn in the UK).Both Google and Facebook hope to unlock brand budgets while also controlling the trade of targeted performance advertising. Regulation appears to be the principle threat to the duopoly's growth, which currently shows no sign of a significant slowdown.Google is battling Amazon on two fronts to defend its search market dominanceGoogle handles 63,000 search queries per second - or two trillion in an average year - but its dominance of the paid search market may soon come under threat from Amazon. The e-commerce giant is developing its own search business, looking to pair advertisers with consumers close to the point of purchase.Whilst WARC expects Amazon to make $13.9bn from advertising this year (compared to Google's $107.4bn), its ad business is growing much faster than Google's, with 69% of marketers in a recent WARC survey stating that they intend to up their ad investment on Amazon this year.Amazon, which has a rich database of consumer purchasing habits, has also stolen a march on Google in the emerging area of voice search. Its Echo devices are used by 63% of American smart speaker owners, well ahead of Google's Home devices on 26%.Younger Americans are leaving Facebook's core platform for InstagramInstagram is now the main driver of daily user growth for Facebook, with estimates suggesting that as many as 15m US users have left Facebook's core platform since 2017.Instagram's rise in popularity hasn't gone unnoticed by marketers, with Instagram recording a net budget increase (the number of practitioners intending to increase budgets minus the number intending to decrease) of 67% in a recent WARC survey, ahead of Amazon on 63%, YouTube on 60%, and Facebook on just 13%.Facebook is responding by pivoting to an encrypted messaging service to regain consumer trust, and to build a secure environment for online payments. The company spent $1.1bn on advertising worldwide last year in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.Global media analysis - The Duopoly• 28.6% Google and Facebook's combined share of global adspend this year, up from 24.5%in 2018• 41.0% search and social media's share of US adspend• 51.8% share of attainable users Facebook reaches every day• 61.4% the duopoly's expected share of the online ad market this year• 82.7% Facebook's share of US social adspend in 2018• 86.0% social's share of UK online video advertising spendOther key media intelligence new on WARC Data • Seven in ten companies are not GDPR compliant• TV's reach key to cross-channel campaigns• Flipkart lags behind Amazon India in adspend• 5G to triple mobile speeds by 2022• 94% of UK youth access TV streaming servicesDownload the report sample from content.warc.com/read-the-warc-data-global-ad-trends-excerpt-on-the-google/facebook-duopoly. Global Ad Trends, a monthly report which draws on WARC's dataset of advertising and media intelligence to take a holistic view on current industry developments, is part of WARC Data (www.warc.com/data), a dedicated online service featuring current advertising benchmarks, data points and trends in media investment and usage. WARC Data is available by subscription only. For more information visit https://www.warc.com/dataAbout WARC- your global authority on advertising and media effectivenessWARC provides the latest evidence, expertise and guidance to make marketers more effective. WARC's mission is to save the world from ineffective marketing.WARC's clients include the world's largest brands, advertising and media agencies, media owners, research companies and universities. They rely on WARC for rigorous, unbiased information and advice on almost any advertising and marketing issue, which WARC delivers via best practice guides, case studies, research papers, special reports and advertising trend data, as well as via webinars, awards, events and advisory services.WARC collaborates with more than 50 respected industry organisations globally including: The Advertising Research Foundation, Cannes Lions, Effie Worldwide, Association of National Advertisers, ESOMAR, 4A's, IPA and DMA. WARC was founded in 1985, and has offices in the UK, US and Singapore. In July 2018, WARC became part of Ascential plc, the global specialist information company.Contact:Amanda Benfell Head of PR & Press +44 20 7467 8125 amanda.benfell@warc.com Copyright 2019 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

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  CEEK VR to Launch First Virtual Reality Gift Card at Retail with Global Payments Tech Leader

  The CEEK VR Gift Card will enable most compatible Android and Apple iOS VR devices with plans for integration with Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Microsoft Mixed Reality Headsets and Google Daydream headsets. SACRAMENTO, California, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CEEK VR - The award-winning, premium, streaming platform with patent-granted products, and service, designed to bring the world of Virtual Reality to the masses via entertainment, education and healthcare today announced that it has made history as the first VR company to launch a gift card designed to scale VR entertainment transition from a niche product to mass adoption. CEEK Virtual Reality Gift Card The dire lack of premium content for VR headset buyers often results in high device return rates at retail, but the CEEK VR streaming platform makes it easy to access a variety of premium entertainment experiences. From music concerts to documentaries and independent movies in 360 VR, Interactive VR, True 3D and 2D in social VR environments, the first ever Virtual Reality Gift Card CEEK VR ensures that no matter what Virtual reality headset consumers purchase, people can have access to premium VR content. Target will be the first retailer to offer Ceekers (CEEK VR customers) the CEEK Virtual Reality Gift Cards in store, alongside Gift Cards from the likes of Starbucks, iTunes and Google Play. With the VR Blockchain integration, the points never expire. Last year CEEK integrated with Apple iTunes Card which is available on all our products, and now the CEEK Virtual Reality Card makes it even simpler for Ceekers to access our platform. "We are getting great reception in this highly competitive retail space because of our award-winning, patent-granted innovative immersive solutions featuring a growing library of premium content from the likes of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, U2, originals from Grammy winning artists, over 100 concerts from iconic and emerging artists as well as a powerful lineup of exciting Live Streaming concerts planned," says CEEK VR CEO Mary Spio. About CEEK VRCEEK VR is an award-winning, premium, blockchain enabled virtual reality streaming platform consisting of a portfolio of patent-granted products and services designed to bring the world of VR to the masses via entertainment, education and healthcare. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/838817/CEEK_VR_CEEK_Virtual_Reality_VR_Gift_Cards.jpg Related Links :www.ceek.com