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15 Best Secret Santa Apps: Gift Exchange Generator Tools For Memorable Christmas

Halvorson Media Group

Choosing The Best Secret Santa Organizer For A Truly Special Christmas Looking for ways to breathe life into the Christmas gift exchange? Try setting up the good old Secret Santa game. Whether you will be exchanging presents with your colleagues or in a close family circle, this lovely ritual will help to ensure everyone feels valued and included. And with our selection of the 15 best Secret Santa generator services, you can find a tool that will help to get things organized. So pick an app of your liking, invite your friends, and get prepared for a truly memorable Christmas! To save you time and effort, we have carefully scanned dozens of gift exchange generator services and apps available in the market today. Here are our top 3 recommendations. Our #1 recommendation is My Santa, a versatile Secret Santa app that has all the features necessary to organize an outstanding Christmas event. What Is Secret Santa and Why Do You Need An App for It? [ How To Do A Secret Santa ] Secret Santa is a simple and enjoyable game that allows saving some money and ensures each person in a group gets the present. So, here is how it works: A group of colleagues, roommates, friends, relatives, or whoever else, agrees to participate in the game. They write their names on a piece of paper and put them into a container. Each person draws a name from the container to find out who they shall prepare a gift for. The participants can set the basic rules such as the date, by which the presents must be ready, and the budget. They might provide wishlists or even agree upon a particular gift type such as digital only, gifts with meaning, or charitable donations. The game begins and everyone tries to find the best possible gift for the assigned person. By the due date, each participant must receive their secret present. Set Up Your Perfect Secret Santa Event with My Santa Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? But what if the participants want to play remotely? Or what if you need to send a digital present such as a subscription but do not know the email of the assigned person? A Secret Santa organizer service takes care of minor issues like this and ensures they do not spoil the whole fun. These services allow you to invite participants through social media, create a Secret Santa list with emails and phone numbers, add wishlists, and much more. Simply put, Secret Santa name randomizer services — at least, those from our top 15 selection — let you enjoy the best part of the gift exchange ritual without being distracted by organizational matters. 5 Features of the Best Online Secret Santa Generator But how, you may wonder, do we know the services on our list are the top ones? Well, here are the four criteria we have kept in mind while compiling this selection. Maybe, they’ll come in handy when you are choosing your best Secret Santa app. Price Setting up a gift exchange game is, among all else, about saving some money so the best Secret Santa generator should be free. Or, it might have paid plans but, in that case, it must have a free one, too. And the latter should offer a decent feature set so that you only pay if you want some exclusive pro perks. Feature set The best gift exchange generator is the one that helps you get things organized. With this in mind, we expect it to have a basic set of options such as setting up the due date and the budget as well as some advanced features such as wishlists and personalized gift recommendations. Access My Santa’s Free Advanced Features To Plan An Idea Event Interface What’s the use of advanced app features if you don’t understand how they work? The best Secret Santa app should, thus, have a simple user-friendly interface that feels intuitive and will appeal to different age groups. Visual design Christmas is probably the loveliest holiday in the year with a whole host of heart-warming symbols. In addition to being functional, the best online Secret Santa generator must have an eye-pleasing visual design for you to feel the magic vibe of Christmas time. 8 Awesome Secret Santa Organizer Services Worth Trying #1 My Santa — Best Secret Santa gift exchange generator overall💖 When it comes to functionality, My Santa is the absolute leader on our list. Besides the standard due date, budget, and name drawing, it has a whole set of advanced features including three modes of gift exchange: in-person, virtual, or mixed; real-time reports to track the progress of each present exchange; wishlists, where you upload links to particular items; personalized gift recommendations for each participant and hints where these gifts can be bought. The best part of it is that it only takes you a few seconds to set up an account and start the game. And if your group is 10 people or fewer, you can enjoy the service for free. For bigger companies, the price will vary between $9-$19, which is not expensive either. Add to this a charming winter-themed interface, user-friendly design, and prompt customer service, and you get a perfect organizer tool to make your Christmas unforgettable. Find Out More About My Santa’s Plans And Pro Features We especially love two currencies (euro and dollars) for budget settings; an opportunity to manage several games at a time; participants can be invited via Whatsapp and Facebook; secret chats to exchange messages; progress reports to keep an eye on how it is going; playful design and intuitive interface. We wish they made the service totally free; added the feature to prevent certain pairings. #2 Elfster — Best feature set for a free Secret Santa organizer ✨ Another great Secret Santa gift exchange generator on our list, Elfster is a beautifully designed platform that offers all features necessary for a successful gift exchange game. In addition to classic options such as spending limit, due date, and wishlists, Elfster allows setting up draw restrictions and the exchange type (by mail or at a party). Besides the great functionality, the platform is perfect for drawing inspiration. Elfster’s shop has all sorts of lovely gifts which you can buy as a present or add directly to your wishlist. Overall, Elfster offers the best feature set you can get from a Secret Santa gift exchange generator for free today. Best suited for those who seek maximum functionality free of charge #3 Pikkado — Best old-school Secret Santa name randomizer 🎉 Pikkado is a unique Secret Santa list generator that brings together fairly good functionality and a very simple, somewhat old-fashioned design. Thus, its group creation form looks like one of those you could see at the onset of the Internet era. In the meantime, when setting up an event, you, all of a sudden, discover the service has all the necessary features in place. It allows you to determine the budget, specify the due date, and set up all sorts of draw restrictions. In addition, Pikkado enables you to set up and manage several events at a time and write anonymous emails to participants. The latter is especially helpful if you need to find out important details about a person without disclosing yourself. All in all, it is a good free service that will appeal to people of different ages with its smart and simple design. Best suited for families and mixed-age groups #4 SecretSanta.com — Best variety of gift exchange games Powered by Elfster, the service provides all features and functions you might expect from the best Secret Santa generator: prevent same pairings, set pairing exclusion rules, assign several recipients to each participant, and much more. All features are free and easy to use. What makes the platform stand out from other Secret Santa apps on our list is that it offers different gift exchange formats. Besides the classic Kris Kringle game, you may likewise enjoy Yankee Swap and White Elephant. This should appeal to those who are not new to the gift exchange ritual and would love to add more fun and novelty to it. There is also a great blog with Christmas history, facts, and inspirational ideas. Best suited for those who want to recharge the classic gift exchange game #5 Sneaky Santa — Best source of inspiration and cool gift ideas Another beautifully-designed platform on our list, Sneaky Santa is the best gift exchange generator for those who seek good functionality coupled with inspirational ideas and recommendations. Adding wishlists, contacting one another via a chat, drawing names, and preventing certain pairings — all this and a lot more is available for free here. Whereas great functionality is what every best Secret Santa app on our list features, there is something that makes Sneaky Santa stand out. Thus, we particularly adore this site for its heart-warming blog with cool gift ideas such as 10 Gift Ideas for Homeowners or Gifts Under $25 For A Virtual Office Christmas Party. They are even present on Zazzle with cute Christmas souvenirs such as mugs and cards. Best suited for those who seek inspiration and great gift ideas #6 Secret Santa Organizer — Best for a simple design & lovely interface We choose this organizer because it has a good design, plenty of features, and is simply lovely. There is some unique charm about this platform that will make you choose it again and again. Setting up an event here is super simple and free. All you need to do is to fill in a simple form with the date, location, budget, participants, and their emails. You can also add a personal message to greet the participants. With all its simplicity, the organizer has as many as 12 interface languages available. It also has some advanced features such as excluding certain combinations, unlimited amount of participants allowed, and the opportunity to reuse your wishlist for new events. The service is, thus, a perfect fit for anyone who wants it simple, effective, and, meanwhile, atmospheric. Best suited for those who want a mixture of simplicity and effectiveness #7 Giftster — Best for shopping your family’s and friends’ wishlists This Secret Santa list organizer is, first and foremost, about ensuring your presents are meaningful and wanted rather than organizing the gift exchange as such. The service is primarily focused on the wishlist feature. Once you’ve started a group and added at least one participant there, you can start shopping for the person’s wishlist. Gifster will show you which items have been already bought so that there is no risk two people will buy the same present. The service is, thus, an ideal solution for those who want guarantees their presents will be appreciated. The interface is cute and the overall design is simple and intuitive. And because there are no due dates or budget limits, Gifster is a great way to make the process of shopping for gifts more enjoyable and stress-free. Best suited for choosing meaningful and wanted presents #8 My Wishlist — Best for cool wishlists for all occasions As the name implies, the service specializes in generating and sharing wishlists. You can add items from any webshop, create a wishlist for any occasion, and reserve items on your friend’s Secret Santa list, to ensure there will be no double gifts in your company. You can also use the platform as a simple Secret Santa name generator without email. You won’t find any advanced event setting features here but you can still use it to draw names and manage exclusions. The platform is very simple to use and free of charge. Best suited for sharing all sorts of wishlists More Downloadable Secret Santa Apps That Might Be of Help For those looking for downloadable Secret Santa apps that allow you to manage the gift exchange on the go, we have compiled a selection of seven great Secret Santa organizer tools. Check the table below to find your best Secret Santa generator! Contact Details Edward +1 929-491-3157 edward@halvorsonmediagroup.com Company Website https://halvorsonmediagroup.com/

December 01, 2022 12:47 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Venus Protocol Welcomes Ankr As A New Partner in Isolated Markets, Part Of V4 Upgrade

Venus Protocol

Venus Protocol is thrilled to have a tremendous list of launch partners for our release of Isolated Markets. Through a series of interviews, Venus Protocol invites you to learn more about each partner and the value our users bring to its community. But what are Isolated Markets? Isolated Markets open the door to creating isolated lending and borrowing pools with individual risk profiles and segregated risk for virtually any token on BNB Chain. This provides previously nonexistent use cases for these assets and plans to greatly expand the number of tokens available on Venus. Venus Protocol asserts that it will now safely provide the ability to lend and borrow to the long tail of crypto assets. Venus would like to thank Ankr for partnering with us and taking the time to educate us all about their offering. Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure providing a network of RPC nodes for developers on 20+ chains, as well as a pioneer in liquid staking since December 2020. Ankr also offers other developer tools such as advanced APIs, gaming SDK, and also enables any project to launch its AppChain on a Binance Application Sidechain (BAS). Venus Protocol: Who is your target audience and how would you describe your typical user? Ankr: Our target audience depends on our product lines. For developers tools, our target audience is clearly developers, and more specifically, Web3 projects that enjoy low latency and enhanced reliability thanks to our distributed network of RPC nodes. For liquid staking, our main audience are DeFi users, but also Web2 or Web3 integrators using liquid staking as an infrastructure to build on top and benefit from part of Ankr’s liquid staking fees. Venus Protocol: In which category (Gaming, DeFI, Liquid Staking, Tron, etc) will your token reside, and what’s been happening in that space? Ankr: Our BNB liquid staking token will reside in a Liquid Staking category. Because BNB Liquid Staking is not instantly redeemable, it suffers from a higher liquidity risk than lending BNB on Venus, which can be redeemed any time under normal market conditions (unless if utilization rate of the pool is 100%). As a consequence, BNB lending rewards tend to be typically lower than BNB liquid staking rewards, and we can assume that the difference reflects the additional illiquidity risk of BNB liquid staking vs. lending. Most of the time, BNB lending rewards are significantly lower than BNB liquid staking rewards (Lending APR is about 5x lower), and we believe that this difference does not fairly represent the liquidity risk associated with liquid staking, which is redeemable under 7 to 14 days depending on the liquid staking provider. The goal of the liquid staking isolated pool is to trigger a convergence of BNB lending APR towards BNB Liquid Staking APR by indexing the latter to BNB borrowing APR. We believe that the low BNB lending APR vs. BNB liquid staking APR is a problem and its source is related to the lending pool’s interest rate model that does not take into account external yield opportunities to its common lending pool such as BNB liquid staking. Triggering a convergence of BNB lending APR towards BNB liquid staking APR requires adjusting the isolated lending pool interest pool might result in a higher liquidity risk in the lending pool when compared to the main lending pool if the lending pool’s optimal utilization rate is isolated lending is higher than on the common lending pool. If the isolated lending pool is considered higher risk than the common lending pool, it is possible to lend on the common lending pool BNB and make sure that borrowed BNB in isolated lending results in a higher lending APR for BNB lenders on the isolated liquid staking lending pool. The isolated liquid staking lending pool is also not exclusive to BNB liquid Staking. Ankr Bridge brought ETH and MATIC liquid staking to BNB chain and those assets can also be integrated into the same liquid staking isolated lending pool. The main benefit for Venus for this liquid staking isolated lending pool is that it will: increase BNB borrowing demand, provide a natural incentive for BNB borrowers to borrow BNB by accepting BNB liquid staking as a collateral reduce the necessity of adding XVS farming rewards to stimulate BNB, ETH and MATIC borrowing enable the opportunity to earn higher lending interest for BNB lenders create more incentives for DEX to enable more capital-efficient liquid staking liquid pools on DEX that could lend BNB, ETH and MATIC instead of not generating recurring yield. allow risk segregation and expand yield opportunities without adding risk to Venus’ common lending pool. Venus Protocol: Can you describe a use case for how your users will take advantage of Isolated Markets on Venus Protocol? Ankr: We see two categories of users: DeFi users and integrators. 1.1 DeFi users will have access to liquid staking folding strategies enabled by an organic source of yield - liquid staking rewards. Users will be incentivized to collateralized BNB liquid staking and borrow BNB as long as the optimal utilization of the liquid staking isolated lending pool is not reached since the liquid staking APR is indexed in the interest rate model of the liquid staking isolated lending pool. 1.2 There are DeFi users concerned about the liquidity risk of liquid staking because it is not instantly redeemable. Lending to a liquid staking isolated lending pool is a very good alternative for such users that can benefit from a higher yield when compared to common lending pools and lower liquidity risk than liquid staking. 2. Integrators will have access to higher lending interest on BNB, ETH and MATIC without depending on additional farming rewards, which will make the isolated lending pool more attractive for BNB lenders than other lending pools. Venus Protocol: What value can your users find in using Isolated Markets on Venus Protocol? Ankr: The value for BNB borrowers in using Isolated Market on Venus is BNB liquidity to perform liquid staking leveraged strategies with a higher level of predictability than most other pools due to the indexation of liquid staking APR to the interest rate model of the isolated lending pool. The value for BNB lenders is to access higher BNB rewards than other lending pools while benefiting from a lower liquidity risk than liquid staking. Thanks to our friends at Ankr for taking the time for this interview. You can reach out to them or the team at Venus Protocol with any questions. Venus Protocol (“Venus”) is an algorithmic-based money market system designed to bring a complete decentralized finance-based lending and credit system onto Binance Smart Chain. Venus enables users to utilize their cryptocurrencies by supplying collateral to the network that may be borrowed by pledging over-collateralized cryptocurrencies. This creates a secure lending environment where the lender receives a compounded interest rate annually (APY) paid per block, while the borrower pays interest on the cryptocurrency borrowed. These interest rates are set by the protocol in a curve yield, where the rates are automated based on the demand of the specific market, such as Bitcoin. The difference of Venus from other money market protocols is the ability to use the collateral supplied to the market not only to borrow other assets but also to mint synthetic stablecoins with over-collateralized positions that protect the protocol. These synthetic stablecoins are not backed by a basket of fiat currencies but by a basket of cryptocurrencies. Venus utilizes the Binance Smart chain for fast, low-cost transactions while accessing a deep network of wrapped tokens and liquidity This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Venus Protocol contact@Venus.io Company Website https://venus.io/

December 01, 2022 10:20 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Appknox Takes Another Step Towards Minimizing CyberAttacks For its Clients - Introduces Store Monitoring in its Vulnerability Assessment Solution

Appknox

Appknox, a leading mobile security testing platform, has released a new add-on feature on its Vulnerability Assessment (VA) Solution - Store Monitoring. In 2022, it was found that over 75% of the top 100 android mobile applications had security risks. This means that while App Stores are thought to be safer for users to get their applications from, many apps there are still unsecured. This creates a problem for the app user as well as the app developer, as while the former risks privacy data breach, the latter could end up with a tarnished brand reputation, among other damages. To address this issue for organizations, Store Monitoring is a quick and easy way to gain visibility on whether all your applications released to the app stores are secured or not. “Mobile apps are fundamentally different than Web apps; if there is an update available in a mobile app, it becomes challenging to ensure the latest version of the application is always installed in everyone's phone. The control over the application goes to the respective App Store, and it becomes challenging for companies to keep checking if these applications have passed the required security checks before being released. At Appknox, we understand how important it is to monitor these applications and ensure the quality gates check even after release,” Subho Halder, Co-founder & CISO, Appknox. With the vision of being beneficial to both - the large enterprises with hundreds of applications and small teams responsible for managing the security of multiple apps - store monitoring will ensure that for every single app released, the client is notified if it is scanned by appknox or not. This is yet another feature that takes Appknox Vulnerability Assessment (VA) a step ahead of its competitors. Launched on November 15 th, 2022, Store Monitoring with Appknox VA aims to help organizational leaders like CISOs and security team managers gain visibility and control over whether their apps are being scanned for vulnerabilities before being released on public app stores. This will be especially useful in large organizations where multiple apps are being released simultaneously. At the same time, for smaller security teams, this feature will help them keep track of their apps and ensure that they are being assessed for vulnerabilities before the release. The feature will also be compatible with syncing up client applications on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store for post-production scanning. It will allow the client to have updates about the scan status of the latest application versions that have been released. In discussions about the new feature, Raghunandan J, Sr. Product Manager at Appknox, said, “ Store Monitoring will empower organizations to ensure that their mobile apps are secured using Appknox before releasing it to the Stores. With this feature, we enable the security team leaders and managers by providing insights on the status of the Vulnerability Assessment of their applications released to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. This should help them to take the necessary steps needed to secure their apps first, before putting it out in the hands of their users.” Harshit Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO of Appknox, remarked that the feature is received well by the clients. When asked about the vision for this new launch, he said, “We are looking at upgrading and evolving features to make them more useful and insightful for our customers. One of many upcoming upgrades that the clients can expect is the post-production testing from App Stores to ensure customers' applications are always secured. This will make the organization's efforts to secure its mobile application with Appknox seamless.” About Appknox Founded in 2014 by Harshit Agarwal and Subho Halder, Appknox is a leading mobile security testing platform. HQ'd in Singapore and Bangalore, Appknox today is one of the most powerful plug-and-play security platforms which enables developers, security researchers, and enterprises to build safe and secure mobile ecosystems using a system plus human approach. With its VAPT solutions (Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing), Appknox has provided end-to-end mobile application security and testing strategies to over 500 businesses & Enterprises globally. Appknox has also enabled some top government agencies with its On-Premise deployments. A champion of Value SaaS, Appknox has been recognized by Gartner as one of the top mobile app security vendors in its 2021 Application security Hype Cycle report. Contact Details Appknox Shivani Dhiman +91 79882 55460 shivani@appknox.com Company Website https://www.appknox.com/

December 01, 2022 10:01 AM Eastern Standard Time

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REPORT: Online marketplaces in India to reach $350B in Gross Merchandise Value by 2027

Accel India

With a large addressable market, growing online shopper base, and increasingly digitised MSMEs, online marketplaces in India contribute more than $100 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), with B2C e-commerce marketplaces being the single largest segment, contributing $50 billion. Over the next five years, the marketplaces sector is expected to more than triple, to reach $350 billion in GMV. These marketplaces will be creating $400–$500 billion in enterprise value, contributing more than 5% to India’s GDP, enabling more than 15 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to grow their businesses online, and creating 7 million jobs by 2027. These are among the findings of a new report “ The Rise of Digital Bazaars in India ”, released by Bain & Company and Accel today. Marketplaces have created tremendous value for individual buyers, for businesses, and for the economy alike. Arpan Sheth, Partner at Bain & Company and co-author of the report said “ Marketplaces have contributed to India’s growth story by offering greater access to capital and innovative financing solutions for traditionally underserved segments; enabled MSMEs to transact online, with an increased pan-India reach; and have provided employment opportunities to more than 3 million gig workers in India. India has cultivated a vibrant and successful marketplace landscape, demonstrated by the sheer breadth of more than 300 funded marketplaces across multiple categories like retail, education, healthcare, travel, financial services, etc. Almost 20 marketplaces reached more than $1 billion in GMV and many players are turning profitable. While online marketplaces will continue to be dominated by B2C e-commerce with 40% of the total GMV in 2027, the B2B e-commerce marketplaces GMV is slated to grow by five times its current size to reach $55 billion, followed closely by online food delivery which will almost triple in size to reach nearly $22 billion. Not just for buyers and sellers, marketplaces have also seen significant traction with investors in recent years, having received cumulative funding of $30 billion between 2018 and October 2022. B2C e-commerce, B2B e-commerce, and online food delivery were among the highest- funded marketplaces sectors, together accounting for close to 60% of total funding received in the last 5 years. From B2C e-commerce marketplaces leading the share of deal volumes in 2018, B2B e-commerce marketplaces emerged as the frontrunner in 2022, with deal volumes growing to 31% of the total deals in the year so far. 2021 was a landmark year, which saw funding in marketplaces reaching $16 billion, growing four times compared to 2018 and deal volumes doubling in the same period. However, in 2022 year-to-date (YTD) marketplace funding activity has been moderate at $4.5 billion, given the tempering of 2021 highs, valuation corrections, and muted sentiments in global public markets. Prabhav Kashyap, Partner at Bain and Company and co-author of the report said, “ Dealmaking in the short to medium term is likely to be more measured and valuation multiples will see some degree of rationalisation. The future of marketplaces, on the other hand, is robust and with strong growth in their GMV and continued interest from investors, we expect the segment to see ample opportunities and a strong pick up. While the marketplace model is popular across multiple categories, upstream business-to-business (B2B), fintech, and shipping and logistics are some of the most exciting areas. These sectors show evidence of successful marketplaces as well as significant headroom for growth of new or emerging players.” Upstream B2B presents as a $1 trillion+ opportunity and a high margin potential; with fragmented supply, need for disintermediation, and government initiatives being key growth drivers. Fintech marketplaces have also grown owing to the low penetration of financial/insurance products, digitisation of user base, and availability of easy-to-use digital platforms. An approximately $200 billion addressable market and supply chain inefficiencies have resulted in a surge of tech-based shipping and logistics marketplaces. Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel and co-author of the report said, “India is one of the world’s fastest growing and most dynamic emerging markets. Our report on the country’s digital bazaars reveals the extent to which marketplaces have grown in this market across both business-to-consumer and business-to-business segments. More than 1/3rd of large outcomes in our start-up ecosystem have been marketplaces and contribute to more than $100 billion in GMV. Accel India is fortunate to have partnered with many of these marketplaces from seed to scale. We have invested more than $700 million in these companies, and continue to look for more such opportunities.” The report highlights that the next wave of scale marketplaces has the potential to emerge in two additional major categories— (1)‘Bharat-first’ models driven by participation from tier- 3+ cities, and (2) global cross-border models addressing the export potential India has. Gaming, caregiver services, creative content, Web 3.0, have large-scale marketplaces in mature markets, but are currently nascent in India. They represent future trends in the Indian marketplace landscape, and are a precursor for these segments to grow large in India given proof of scale in US and China, where multiple unicorns are present in these areas. About Bain & Company Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 64 cities in 39 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10- year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry. For more, visit www.bain.com/india or https://twitter.com/BainIndia About Accel Accel is a global venture capital firm that aims to be the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Accel has been operating in India since 2008, and its investments include companies like BookMyShow, BrowserStack, Flipkart, Freshworks, FalconX, Infra.Market, Chargebee, Clevertap, Cure Fit, Musigma, Moneyview, Mensa Brands, Myntra, Moglix, Ninjacart, Swiggy, Stanza Living, Urban Company, Zetwerk, and Zenoti, among many others. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or https://twitter.com/Accel_India Contact Details Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.seedtoscale.com/marketplaces/digital-marketplaces-in-india

December 01, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Holiday Gadget Guide

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details News Media Group Karl Wayne +1 334-440-6397 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

December 01, 2022 06:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise et CORTEX2 collaborent pour faire de la vidéoconférence une expérience de réalité étendue

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Rainbow TM d’Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise soutiendra le programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe en développant des outils basés sur la réalité étendue pour rendre les télécommunications d'entreprise plus efficaces. Alcatel-Lucent Enterpris e, fournisseur de solutions de communication, de cloud et de réseau adaptées aux secteurs d’activité de ses clients, participe au Consortium CORTEX2 (COoperative Real-Time EXperiences with EXtended reality). Avec plus de 100 ans d’expérience et d’excellence dans les métiers de la communication, il était naturel pour Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise de contribuer au projet CORTEX2 en apportant son expertise et ses plateformes technologiques ouvertes pour porter le paradigme de la collaboration vers un nouveau standard. L’ambition est de faire de CORTEX2 la plateforme de référence qui permet de nouvelles expériences de collaboration grâce à la réalité étendue (XR). CORTEX2 est un projet européen mené par le laboratoire allemand DFKI et financé par la Commission Européenne à hauteur de huit millions d’euros dans le cadre du programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe. Le consortium est composé de 10 organisations réparties dans 7 pays qui travailleront ensemble pendant 36 mois. La plateforme CORTEX2 sera exploitée à partir du cloud ALE, et Rainbow TM d'Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise sera la colonne vertébrale de ce concept innovant de coopération à distance sur la base de la réalité étendue, afin de garantir son adoption par le plus grand nombre. La crise sanitaire mondiale a accéléré le développement du travail à distance et entraîné une forte augmentation du recours à la vidéoconférence et aux plateformes permettant le travail en équipe. Aujourd'hui, l’intégration d’outils et de services de réalité étendue au cœur de ces plateformes de collaboration à distance doit permettre de relever les nombreux défis générés par ces nouveaux modes de travail et reproduire une proximité des échanges indispensable à une collaboration efficace. Grâce au partenariat technologique et économique des différents membres du consortium, CORTEX2 va permettre de simplifier l'adoption de la technologie XR en fournissant: Une prise en charge complète des expériences de réalité augmentée (RA) et réalité mixte (RM) dans un environnement de collaboration combinant des équipements et des services hétérogènes grâce à une nouvelle passerelle capable de piloter les différents médias. Des outils de téléconférence ayant un impact réduit sur l’environnement grâce à des méthodes de transmission innovantes et une réduction de l’espace mémoire occupé par les documents partagés. Des expériences de réalité étendue (XR) puissantes et faciles à mettre en œuvre avec la reconstitution 3D instantanée d'environnements et d'objets, et la reconnaissance de gestes pour déclencher des actions associées. La fusion d'éléments visuels et audio pour une interprétation sémantique multicanale et des outils améliorés tels que des agents conversationnels virtuels ou la génération d’un résumé automatique des échanges à l’issue des réunions. L’intégration complète de dispositifs de l'internet des objets (IoT) dans les expériences XR pour optimiser les interactions entre les systèmes et les processus. La moitié du budget total du projet sera consacrée au financement de startups et de PME technologiques pour les soutenir dans le co-développement. Cet investissement vise à créer de nouveaux cas d'usages pour démontrer les capacités de CORTEX2 et favoriser l'adoption de la technologie XR dans de multiples secteurs et par tout type d’utilisateurs. Dans le cadre de sa mission, le consortium permettra à des tiers, notamment des petites et moyennes entreprises, d'utiliser les outils et services de CORTEX2 pour développer leurs propres services. S’appuyant sur les API de la plateforme de communication as a service (CPaaS) d’ALE opérée dans le cloud Rainbow, CORTEX2 offrira des services de coopération interactifs et en temps réel enrichis par les technologies de réalité étendue. Sa palette fonctionnelle sera illustrée et promue au travers de trois projets pilotes: production industrielle, réunions d'affaires et formation à distance. Production industrielle: Création d'une expérience XR immersive pour effectuer une maintenance industrielle assistée à distance à l'aide de divers appareils mobiles dans des environnements à bande passante limitée. Réunions d'affaires: Proposer des réunions d'affaires enrichies en réalité virtuelle et réalité augmentée pour une inclusion transparente des participants à distance et une meilleure productivité. Formation technique à distance: Utilisation de la RV/RA pour une transmission efficace des connaissances où l'instructeur à distance peut faire la démonstration d'opérations complexes à plusieurs stagiaires en utilisant un modèle 3D immersif d'équipement industriel. "Nous sommes ravis de participer à ce projet passionnant qui mettra la réalité étendue à la portée des utilisateurs européens. Avec CORTEX2, les capacités de la RX seront intégrées à l'espace collaboratif Rainbow grâce à l'utilisation de la RV, de la RA et de l'IA. C'est formidable d’être au cœur de ce projet à la pointe des technologies d'aujourd'hui ", a déclaré Sylvain Rivier, coordinateur de CORTEX2 pour Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. Ce projet a été financé par le programme de recherche et d'innovation Horizon Europe de l'Union européenne sous la convention de subvention N° 101070192. A propos de Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise offre les expériences technologiques personnalisées du « tout connecté », dont les entreprises ont besoin. Les solutions et services ALE d’infrastructures réseaux, de communication et de cloud à l'ère du numérique sont conçus pour assurer le succès des clients, et ce, grâce à des modèles commerciaux flexibles; dans le cloud, sur site et hybride. Ces solutions sont sécurisées et développées pour un impact environnemental limité. Plus de 100 ans d'innovation ont fait d'Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise un partenaire de confiance pour plus d’un million de clients dans le monde entier. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, dont le siège social est en France, compte 3400 partenaires commerciaux dans le monde, permettant ainsi une proximité locale. Pour plus d’informations: https://www.al-enterprise.com/fr-fr LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter et Instagram. Contacts Presse - Fabriq PR Max Etcheverry - Mélanie Pernin-Frigerio - Muriel Martin 06 33 24 48 80 max.etcheverry@fabriqpr.com / alepr@fabriqpr.com Directrice Régionale Marketing & Com – France Katerina Cerny katerina.cerny@al-enterprise.com Coordination mondiale de l’activité presse Carine Bowen press@al-enterprise.com Contact Details Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Katherine Skidmore +44 20 3750 6688 katherine@fox.agency Company Website https://www.al-enterprise.com/

December 01, 2022 03:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise und CORTEX2 entwickeln Videokonferenzen mit XR-Technologie

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow unterstützt das Forschungs- und Innovationsprogramm Horizon Europe bei der Entwicklung von Extended Reality-basierten Werkzeugen für die effektive Telekommunikation in Unternehmen Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, führender Anbieter von Netzwerk-, Kommunikations- und Cloud-Lösungen, beteiligt sich am Konsortium CORTEX2 (COoperative Real-Time EXperiences with EXtended reality). Mit künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) und maschinellem Lernen (ML) unterstützt Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise von seinem Hauptsitz in Colombes/ Frankreich das Konsortium CORTEX2 dabei, den Zugang zur Remote-Zusammenarbeit durch XR-Erfahrungen (Extended Reality) der nächsten Generation zu demokratisieren. Davon profitieren sollen zahlreiche Branchen sowie kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen (KMU). CORTEX2 ist eine mit acht Millionen Euro dotierte Initiative, die von der Europäischen Kommission im Rahmen des Forschungs- und Innovationsprogramms Horizon Europe finanziert wird. Das Konsortium besteht aus zehn Organisationen aus sieben Ländern, die 36 Monate lang zusammenarbeiten werden. Die CORTEX2-Plattform wird von der Alcatel-Lucent-Enterprise-Cloud aus betrieben, die Kommunikationsplattform Rainbow von Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise wiederum dient als Basis für das innovative, auf erweiterte Realität basierende Telekooperationskonzept. Dies soll eine möglichst große Verfügbarkeit und eine schnelle Skalierbarkeit gewährleisten. Die globale Gesundheitskrise hat das Arbeiten aus der Ferne beschleunigt und zu einer verstärkten Nutzung von Videokonferenzen und Plattformen für die Teamarbeit geführt. XR-basierte Tools können die Kommunikation bei der Fernzusammenarbeit verbessern, stellen die meisten Unternehmen aktuell aber vor erhebliche Herausforderungen. Die zehn Partnerorganisationen wollen mit ihrer Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen von CORTEX2 die Einführung der XR-Technologie vereinfachen. Im Einzelnen bedeutet das: Vollständige Unterstützung für Augmented Reality (AR)-Erlebnisse als Erweiterung von Videokonferenzsystemen beim Einsatz heterogener Service-Endgeräte durch eine neuartige Mediation Gateway-Plattform. Ressourceneffiziente Telekonferenz-Tools durch innovative Übertragungsmethoden und automatische Zusammenfassung von gemeinsam genutzten langen Dokumenten. Benutzerfreundliche und leistungsstarke XR-Erlebnisse. Hierbei werden von Umgebungen und Objekten sofort 3D-Rekonstruktionen erstellt sowie erkannte Gesten genutzt, um entsprechender Aktionen in Teammeetings anzustoßen. Verschmelzung von visuellen und akustischen Elementen für eine mehrkanalige semantische Interpretation sowie erweiterte Tools wie virtuelle Gesprächsagenten und automatische Meeting-Zusammenfassung. Vollständige Integration von Internet-of-Things-Geräten (IoT) in XR-Erlebnisse zur Optimierung der Interaktion mit laufenden Systemen und Prozessen. Die Hälfte des Gesamtbudgets des Projekts ist dafür gedacht, Technologie-Start-ups und KMU zu rekrutieren, die bei der gemeinsamen Entwicklung mitarbeiten sollen. Diese Investition zielt darauf ab, neue Anwendungsfälle zu erschließen, um die Fähigkeiten von CORTEX2 zu demonstrieren und die sozialen Auswirkungen zu bewerten, die mit der Einführung der XR-Technologie in externen und internen Anwendungsfällen verbunden sind. Als Teil seiner Aufgabe wird das Konsortium den generischen CORTEX2-Rahmen Dritten, einschließlich KMU, zur Verfügung stellen, damit diese ihre eigenen Dienste entwickeln können. Die Cloud-basierte Rainbow-Kommunikationsplattform unterstützt als Schlüsselkomponente eine vollständig interaktive XR-basierte Zusammenarbeit. Pilotprojekte sind in den Bereichen industrielle Produktion, Geschäftsbesprechungen und Fernunterricht geplant. Industrielle Produktion: ein immersives XR-Erlebnis für eine industrielle Fernwartung mit verschiedenen mobilen Geräten in Umgebungen mit begrenzter Bandbreite. Business Meetings: Um Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality angereicherte Besprechungen sollen Teilnehmer aus der Ferne nahtlos einbeziehen und die Produktivität steigern. Technische Remote-Trainings: VR/AR zur effizienten Wissensvermittlung, bei der der Ausbilder aus der Ferne mehreren Teilnehmern komplexe Vorgänge anhand eines immersiven 3D-Modells einer Industrieanlage demonstrieren kann. „Wir freuen uns sehr, an diesem außergewöhnlichen Projekt teilzunehmen, das den europäischen Nutzern die Erweiterte Realität näherbringt. Mit CORTEX2 werden wir XR-Fähigkeiten durch den Einsatz von VR, AR und KI in den kollaborativen Raum von Rainbow bringen“, so Sylvain Rivier, CORTEX2-Koordinator bei Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. Das ultimative Ziel dieser Partnerschaft ist es, Videokonferenzen über die Bildschirm-zu-Bildschirm-Interaktion hinaus auszudehnen und XR-basierte Tools in die Unternehmenskommunikation zu integrieren, um eine nahtlose Zusammenarbeit bei der Remote-Kommunikation zu ermöglichen. Die Europäische Union fördert das Projekt im Rahmen des Forschungs- und Innovationsprogramms Horizon Europe unter der Fördervereinbarung Nr. 101070192. Über Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise liefert individuelle Technologieerlebnisse, mit denen Unternehmen alles miteinander vernetzen können, um im digitalen Zeitalter erfolgreich zu sein. Die sicheren und nachhaltigen Netzwerk-, Kommunikations- und Cloud-Lösungen werden flexibel implementiert: in der Cloud, vor Ort oder hybrid. Alle Lösungen bieten integrierte Sicherheit und schonen die Umwelt. Mehr als 100 Jahre Engagement für Innovation und den Erfolg der Kunden haben Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise zu einem führenden Anbieter gemacht, der heute mehr als eine Millionen Kunden in aller Welt betreut. Mit seinem Hauptsitz in Frankreich und mehr als 3.400 Geschäftspartnern weltweit verbindet das Unternehmen globale Reichweite mit lokaler Ausrichtung. Besuchen Sie unsere Webseite: https://www.al-enterprise.com/de-de Aktuelle Nachrichten finden Sie auf LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, und Instagram Kontakt für Medienanfragen Igor Leko ALE Deutschland GmbH igor.leko@al-enterprise.com Globale Anfragen: Carine Bowen press@al-enterprise.com Agenturkontakt: Arno Laxy/Johannes Manger Sympra GmbH (GPRA) Agentur für Public Relations ale@sympra.de 0711 / 9 47 67 0 Contact Details Fox Communications Katherine Skidmore +44 20 3750 6688 katherine@fox.agency Company Website https://www.al-enterprise.com/

December 01, 2022 03:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and CORTEX2 collaborate to make video conferencing an Extended Reality experience

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow TM will support the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme in developing extended reality-based tools for effective business telecommunication Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, a leading provider of network, communications and cloud solutions, is taking part in the CORTEX2 (COoperative Real-Time EXperiences with EXtended reality) consortium. With AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) at the heart of its technology development, ALE will support CORTEX2 on its mission to democratise access to remote collaboration offered by next-generation XR (Extended Reality) experiences across a wide range of industries and SMEs. CORTEX2 is an eight-million-euro initiative funded by the European Commission through the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. The consortium is composed of 10 organisations across seven countries that will work together for 36 months. The CORTEX2 platform will be operated from the ALE cloud, and Rainbow TM by Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise will be used as a backbone for the innovative extended reality-based tele-cooperation concept to ensure large scale adoption and rapid scaling. The global health crisis accelerated remote working and led to a sharp increase in the use of videoconferencing and platforms enabling teamwork. Today, XR-based tools, which can enhance remote collaboration communications, present significant challenges for most businesses. Through the partnership of all ten organisations CORTEX2 aims to simplify XR technology adoption and will provide: Full support for Augmented Reality (AR) experiences as an extension of video conferencing systems when using heterogeneous service end devices through a novel Mediation Gateway platform. Resource-efficient teleconferencing tools through innovative transmission methods and automatic summarisation of shared long documents. Easy-to-use and powerful XR experiences with instant 3D reconstruction of environments and objects, and using recognised gestures to trigger corresponding actions in collaborative meetings. Fusion of visual and audio elements for multichannel semantic interpretation and enhanced tools such as virtual conversational agents and automatic meeting summarisation. Full integration of internet of things (IoT) devices into XR experiences to optimise interaction with running systems and processes. Half of the total budget of the project will be dedicated to recruiting tech startups and SMEs to support with co-development. This investment aims to engage new use-cases to demonstrate CORTEX2 capabilities and assess the social impact associated with the adoption of XR technology in both external and internal use cases. As a part of its mission, the consortium will enable third parties, including small and medium enterprises, to use the CORTEX2 generic framework to develop their own services. The Rainbow cloud-based Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) will be a key component of the project that supports fully interactive XR-based cooperation and will be showcased in three planned pilots: industrial production, business meetings and remote training. Industrial production: Creating an immersive XR experience to carry out remote industrial maintenance using various mobile devices in limited bandwidth environments. Business meetings: Offering Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality enriched business meetings for seamless inclusion of remote participants and improved productivity. Remote technical training: Using VR/AR for efficient knowledge transmission where the remote instructor can demonstrate complex operations to multiple trainees using an immersive 3D model of industrial equipment. "We are delighted to take part in this amazing project that will put Extended Reality at European users’ fingertips. With CORTEX2, we will bring XR capabilities into Rainbow’s collaborative space through the use of VR, AR and AI. It's an exciting time to be at cutting edge of these technologies," said Sylvain Rivier, CORTEX2 coordinator for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. The ultimate goal for this partnership is to extend video conferencing to more than just screen-to-screen interactions, enabling the integration of XR-based tools into business communications for seamless remote communication collaboration. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101070192. About Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise delivers the customised technology experiences enterprises need to make everything connect. ALE provides digital-age networking, communications and cloud solutions with services tailored to ensure customers’ success, with flexible business models in the cloud, on premises, and hybrid. All solutions have built-in security and limited environmental impact. Over 100 years of innovation have made Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise a trusted advisor to more than a million customers all over the world. With headquarters in France and 3,400 business partners worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise achieves an effective global reach with a local focus. al-enterprise.com | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram Contact Details Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Katherine Skidmore +44 20 3750 6688 katherine@fox.agency Company Website https://www.al-enterprise.com/

December 01, 2022 03:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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CSG to Present at Sidoti’s Virtual Winter Conference

CSG

CSG ® (NASDAQ: CSGS) today announced that the company will present at Sidoti’s Virtual Winter Conference on Thursday, December 8, 2022. The presentation will be held at 2:30pm EST and will feature comments from CSG chief executive officer Brian Shepherd. The conference presentation will be available via webcast here. About CSG CSG empowers companies to build unforgettable experiences, making it easier for people and businesses to connect with, use and pay for the services they value most. Our customer experience, billing and payments solutions help companies of any size make money and make a difference. With our SaaS solutions, company leaders can take control of their future, and tap into guidance along the way from our more than 5k-strong experienced global CSG services team. Want to learn more about how to be a change maker and industry shaper like our 1,000-plus clients? Visit csgi.com to learn more. Copyright © 2022 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved. Contacts: John Rea Investor Relations +1 (210) 687-4409 john.rea@csgi.com Contact Details Tammy Hovey +1 917-520-2751 tammy.hovey@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

November 30, 2022 02:01 PM Mountain Standard Time

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