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The role of diet in healthy brain ageing and dementia risk
 Four studies being presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2017 are highlighting the potential benefits of certain diets and how they can support healthy brain ageing and help to reduce dementia risk.

There is a body of evidence indicating that what is good for the heart is also good for the head, and these new large population-based studies add to this, each looking at different versions of diets and in different groups of people.

Researchers in the US used data from 5,907 healthy older people in the Health and Retirement Study to scrutinise the links between diet and memory and thinking skills. They were interested in the effects of the traditional Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and a modified version called the MIND diet. Adjusting for socioeconomic, health (e.g. obesity and diabetes) and lifestyle (e.g. smoking and physical activity) factors, the team found that people who were relatively good or very good at sticking to the MedDiet or MIND diet were more likely to perform better on memory and thinking tests. The people with the highest scores onthese diets were 35-40% less likely to perform poorly on cognitive tests compared to those with lower diet scores.

A similar study in Sweden analysed data from 2,223 healthy older people (aged 60 and over) over a six-year period, looking at their dietary patterns and scoring them against an index called the Nordic Prudent Dietary Pattern (NPDP). Comparing the NPDP with a range of other healthy diets; MedDiet, MIND, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and BSD (Baltic Sea Diet), the team looked to see whether there was any effect of diet on memory and thinking skills. They found that being relatively good or very good at sticking to the NPDP was linked with lower decline in memory and thinking skills. They found similar results for MedDiet and MIND, but no link was found between DASH or BSD diets and memory and thinking skills.

In the third study being presented today, researchers looked at particular dietary components and whether they were linked with inflammatory molecules in 330 healthy older people, with an average age of 79. They found that higher levels of inflammatory molecules were associated with high intake of cholesterol, beta-carotene and lutein, and low intake of omega-3, calcium and vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, D and E. This dietary pattern was also associated with reduced executive function speed – skills such as decision making, controlling behaviour and mental flexibility. No association was found between this diet pattern and memory, language and visuospatial skills.

While these three studies looked at associations between diet and memory and thinking in healthy older people, the fourth study focussed on associations with dementia risk. The researchers used data from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, which has followed women in the US for up to 20-years, recording information about lifestyle factors such as diet. Looking back at data from 7,057 women, the researchers analysed dietary information and calculated diet scores of how closely participants eating habits matched the MIND diet. They also looked at how many of the women went on to develop dementia over a follow-up period of almost 10 years, finding that women with diets most similar to the MIND diet had a lower risk of dementia.

Dr David Reynolds, Chief Scientific Officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, said:

"Understanding how the way we lead our lives could affect our brain health is important, as there may be lifestyle factors that are within our power to change that help support healthy ageing. This observational research highlights the role of healthy eating habits in helping to protect our brains as we get older, with many focussing on Mediterranean-style diets. A Mediterranean-style diet is one low in meat and dairy but rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, cereals, beans, nuts and 'healthy' fats like olive oil. This research builds on growing evidence suggesting that following a Mediterranean style diet may hold valuable health benefits as we enter our later years.

"Observational studies like these can be useful for highlighting factors linked to healthy ageing, but this type of research can't definitively answer whether specific diets can prevent dementia. Current dementia risk reduction efforts are exploring ways to support people in mid-life to adopt healthier diets, as this could be an effective way of lowering the number of people who go on to develop dementia in later life. While we know there are positive lifestyle changes that can impact dementia risk, it's important to remember that dementia is caused by complex brain diseases influenced by age, lifestyle and genetics."

Output: Four studies being presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2017 are highlighting the potential benefits of certain diets and how they can support healthy brain aging and help to reduce dementia risk.There is a body of evidence indicating that what is good for the heart is also good for the head, and these new large population-based studies add to this, each looking at different versions of diets and in different groups of people.


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Rumours about Apple adding laser to iPhone suggest move into AR
 These days, the term “laser sensors” brings to mind the lidar units many autonomous cars use to map the world in high resolution. But they needn’t be quite so advanced. Last year, researchers at MIT showed that a $10 laser and some simple circuitry could add low-power range-finding capabilities to a regular smartphone, with an accuracy to within millimeters.

Indeed, Fast Company’s source believes that the laser, lens, detector, and electronics for the depth sensor could cost Apple as little as $2 per phone. Clearly, that means that it’s not going to be mapping the world in the same level of detail as a driverless car. But it would be able to provide a means of measuring distances and mapping spaces. That’s more than any single-camera iPhone can achieve, and laser range-finding could be more accurate than the stereo camera system of the iPhone 7 Plus. And unlike the 7 Plus’s cameras, it would work in low light.

Its addition to the iPhone would fit with the direction that Apple seems taking its flagship product. At its developer conference in June, the firm made good on its long-standing desire to build augmented-reality products with the launch of new developer tools to help people build AR software for its devices. Early examples of software suggest that, even using a single camera, the resulting apps are impressive. But a laser sensor could provide more accurate ranging information and, in turn, more realistic AR. It could open up other applications as well, such as 3-D mapping of spaces or more intelligent camera focusing.

Whether a laser sensor appears on the next iPhone remains to be seen. But if it does, it will make a lot of sense.

(Read more: Fast Company, “Apple Is Getting Real About Augmented Reality,” “Self-Driving Cars’ Spinning-Laser Problem")

Output: Rumours published by Fast Company and MacRumours that the next generation of iPhones may include a laser system for depth sensing are adding to speculation that Apple is planning a strategic move into augmented reality (AR). At its June 2017 developer conference Apple released a batch of AR developer tools to help people build AR software for Apple products. Adding a laser sensor to the iPhone would allow for much more accurate ranging information and depth perception, and more realistic mapping of AR objects on to the real world.


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Queensland sugar-waste biofuels project wins state funding
 iQ Industry Queensland Thank-you for your interest in iQ Industry Queensland. We invite you to purchase a registration throughto get the most out of the service.

North Queensland Bio-Energy Corporation has hailed a State Government funding commitment as “a breakthrough” for its planned $640 million sugar-based renewable energy project at Ingham. NQBE chairman Robert Carey said the $1.17 million funding stemmed from the Queensland Government’s Bio-futures Industry Development Fund. “It is the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for the project in […]

Output: A sugar-waste biofuels project has secured AUD1.17m ($928,000) in funding from the Queensland government. North Queensland Bio-Energy (NQBE) plans to use waste from sugar production to generate enough energy to power about 28,000 properties as part of the proposed AUD640m scheme. It will also produce 430,000 tonnes of raw sugar and up to 60 million litres of fuel-grade ethanol each year, creating more than 250 permanent jobs when operational.


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Festy wearable gives festival-goers the chance to pay with Dash
 Combining two of the most hyped trends in fintech, wearables and cryptocurrencies, Irish startup Festy has unveiled a wristband that lets festival-goers make contactless payments in Dash.

User add the Dash currency to their QR code and NFC-integrated wristband and then use it to pay for food and drinks at POS terminals where Visa contactless is accepted as well as on phones with NFC tags.

Festy is linked directly to a consumer’s Dash account so transactions occur within seconds, while merchants have the ability to cash out their Dash for the equivalent fiat currency.

Dash claims to be the world’s leading digital currency for payments and is currently the sixth most valued cryptocurrency at over $1.3 billion. Festy argues that the currency is ideal for festivals, where party-goers often have long waits in line to use ATMs that can charge several euros per withdrawal.

Graham de Barra, CEO, Festy: "Unlike existing traditional bank payments that take a 2-5% fee, there is no cost on receiving Dash for merchants. Merchants accepting payments will never have a chargeback, and there are potentially enormous savings to be made compared to the crippling fees from existing payment solutions."

Output: A wristband unveiled by Irish start-up Festy allows festival-goers to pay using open-source cryptocurrency Dash. By adding Dash to their wearable, users will be able to pay for food and drink, saving time and money on ATMs. Merchants are charged nothing for receiving payments, and they can cash out their Dash for the equivalent fiat currency at any time.


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With Cancer Screening, Better Safe Than Sorry?
 Doctors and medical organizations often advise that past a certain age, older adults can forgo various screening tests for cancer. But many patients, no matter how old or sick they may be, are reluctant to abandon tests they’ve long been told can be lifesaving.

To be sure, among my close circle of septuagenarian friends, none of us have stopped getting annual mammograms, even though I, having previously had breast cancer, am likely to be the only one among them for whom the potential benefit might conceivably outweigh the risks.

I’ve met people with no known risk for colorectal cancer who continue to get colonoscopies well past the age of established recommendations. Not to mention the countless men at low risk for prostate cancer who continue to get PSA tests, often at the suggestion of their doctors, when the best evidence says that for such men the test can result in more harm than good.

Few may realize that ill-advised screening tests come at a price, and not just a monetary one that adds many billions to the nation’s health care bill. Every screening test has a rate of false positive results – misleading indications of a possible cancer that requires additional, usually invasive, testing with its own rate of complications.

Output: Doctors and medical organizations often advise that past a certain age, older adults can forgo various screening tests for cancer. But many patients, no matter how old or sick they may be, are reluctant to abandon tests they’ve long been told can be lifesaving.


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The art of the deal? Why a money-back guarantee for drugs is a bad idea
 The art of the deal? Why a money-back guarantee for drugs is a bad idea

President Trump likes to boast that he mastered the “art of the deal.”

But one option his administration is considering to encourage lower drug prices, which surfaced in a recent draft executive order, may not be much of a deal for consumers.

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The concept has a clunky name — value-based pricing — but it’s fairly simple. One increasingly popular version works like this: A drug maker refunds some money to an insurer if its medicine fails to improve patient health or prevent a costly incident, such as a heart attack.

Output: President Trump likes to boast that he mastered the “art of the deal.” But one option his administration is considering to encourage lower drug prices, which surfaced in a recent draft executive order, may not be much of a deal for consumers


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Improve health care by controlling drug prices
 Derickson K. Lawrence

The efforts of the current Congress to change access to health insurance hardly encourages hope for controlling drug costs. Any substantive changes to bring prescription drug prices under control has to come from the grassroots.

The sick, the elderly, the poor, the disabled, and the middle and working classes deserve better.

The U.S. represents the largest pharmaceutical market in the world, so why are we paying twice or three times as much as in other countries? There are no competitive market forces driving prices. We have to pursue change in two areas: consumer discretion and choice. And this is right time to do so because there appears to be broad-based support to lower drug prices. A Kaiser poll conducted in April shows that large percentages of Americans — including Democrats, Republicans and independents — support multiple actions to control drug prices.

NEWS: NYS adds regulations to protect Obamacare

MORE: 'Medicare-for-all' single-payer plans reignited by GOP's Obamacare rollback

LOCAL: Affordable Care Act town hall in Mount Vernon

In March, a coalition of regional groups began working on solutions. Officials from the New York State Suburban Hospital Alliance (representing 51 hospitals in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island), the health-care network Northwell Health, the Westchester Homeowners’ Coalition and other groups built consensus around certain priorities, and then consulted with the New York State Medical Society, state legislators, leaders of Westchester County and other stakeholders.

We settled on a two-pronged approach to promoting consumer discretion and choice when it comes to purchasing prescription drugs.

The first approach is to improve price transparency. A bill in the state Legislature (A8046, S6629), introduced last session by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, and state Sen. George Latimer, D-Rye, would require pharmacies to provide consumers with the retail, pre-insurance price of a drug before the prescription is filled.

If drug prices are disclosed to a prospective purchaser, it would allow for both discretion and the convenience to shop around. This action is not a panacea. It does not address the internal price dynamics occurring among the drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers and insurance companies. But it would put some control back in the hands of consumers, an important first step.

The second approach, which will have to be fleshed out in the fall, is to push for New York State to pilot its own single-payer prescription drug dispensary. A state-run dispensary would compete with existing pharmacies, providing consumers with real choice. Having such choice, along with price transparency, would be particularly important if Congress imposes a cap on Medicaid funding that states would receive for each person enrolled.

While there is much debate about a single-payer health-care system, a single-payer dispensary for prescription drugs could receive widespread support. There is an opportunity here for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lead on a key national issue by commissioning a bipartisan group to pursue a pilot program.

State legislators are in recess in their districts for the next six months. We want to use that time to build support for these initiatives. One way to do that is by having towns, cities and counties across the state pass resolutions of support for price transparency legislation and a pilot drug dispensary. In the wake of Washington's inaction, New York State can lead the nation in moving to lower prescription drug prices, making a difference in the lives of 20 million New Yorkers.

The writer, a Mount Vernon resident and former congressional candidate in the 16th District, chairs the Westchester County Homeowners' Coalition.

Output: The efforts of the current Congress to change access to health insurance hardly encourages hope for controlling drug costs.  Any substantive changes to bring prescription drug prices under control has to come from the grassroots.


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Escaping Big Pharma’s Pricing With Patent-Free Drugs
 How’s this for a great deal? The United States government funded research and development of a new vaccine against Zika. But the Army, which paid a French pharmaceutical manufacturer for its development, is planning to grant exclusive rights to the vaccine to the manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, along with paying Sanofi up to $173 million.

Sanofi will be free to charge the United States American health care providers and patients any price it wishes. Although American tax dollars funded the vaccine, and the United States took the economic risks, history suggests that many Americans would not be able to afford it.

This is a negotiating strategy of unconditional surrender. Although President Trump said before taking office that drug companies were “getting away with murder” and had campaigned on lowering drug prices, his administration is doing the opposite. A draft order on drug pricing that became public in June would grant pharmaceutical companies even more power to charge exorbitantly. For example, it could shrink a federal program that requires companies to sell at a discount to clinics and hospitals serving low-income patients.

Exorbitant prices are one thing that’s very wrong with the way we make medicines. The other is: medicines for what? If a malady has no market in wealthy countries, it gets no attention. Poor-country diseases, known as “neglected diseases,” have a ferocious impact: One of every six people in the world, including a half-billion children, suffers from neglected diseases. Yet of the 756 new drugs approved between 2001 and 2011, less than 4 percent targeted those diseases. The industry spends far more on lobbying government agencies to extend monopolies on high-cost drugs — or hand out deals like the Zika vaccine — than it does on research for a vaccine against dengue fever, which poses a risk for 40 percent of the world’s population.

Output: How’s this for a great deal? The United States government funded research and development of a new vaccine against Zika. But the Army, which paid a French pharmaceutical manufacturer for its development, is planning to grant exclusive rights to the vaccine to the manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, along with paying Sanofi up to $173 million.


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Medicare Boosts Incentives To Promote Weight Loss, Prevent Diabetes
 To prevent overweight Medicare recipients with prediabetes from progressing to full blown diabetes, federal officials have proposed a significant funding boost for health care providers and others that offers a new program aimed at helping people lose weight, a proven strategy to thwart the disease.

Participating providers — from hospital systems and physician groups to wellness centers, supermarket chains and even churches — could receive up to $785 for each participant who loses 5 percent of their body weight. It goes up to $810 for 9 percent weight loss. Participants also must participate in a comprehensive lifestyle curriculum.

Previously, the maximum payment Medicare had proposed was $450 for one year, with an optional $180 offered in a second year if participants completed 12 additional classes and maintained weight loss.

In San Diego County, 13 groups have applied to participate in the program. Among them are healthcare providers Scripps Health, Sharp Rees-Stealy and UC San Diego, along with Jenny Craig and several community clinics.

The revised Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program was outlined Thursday in a proposed rule to be published in the Federal Register this week. The program is designed to offer intense face-to-face sessions that teach diet, nutrition and exercise strategies.

Participants will attend classes at weekly intervals within the first months, tapering off to less frequent intervals during the three-year program. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency known as CMS that is administering the program, has structured it so participants would have no co-pay or fee. The program would start on April 1.

Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas, vice president of the San Diego-based Scripps Diabetes Care and Prevention program in La Jolla, which plans to offer the program, praised the proposed rule because it raises rates and extends the program one year longer.

That will allow programs to “maintain staff to teach the classes and provide at-risk participants a long enough intervention to really drive on-going behavior change,” Philis-Tsimikas said in an email. “The weight change of 5 percent that needs to be documented for reimbursement is reasonable.”

Diabetes costs Medicare $42 billion more than it costs for similar beneficiaries without diabetes, and the agency believes a program that can avoid some of that cost is worth trying, even if it doesn't work for some of those who enroll. Without intervention, studies show people with prediabetes will progress to diabetes at the rate of 5 percent to 10 percent annually within three years, and possibly longer.

To be eligible, Medicare enrollees must have a blood test showing evidence of impaired ability to process glucose, defined as having an HgA1c result of 5.7 percent to 6.4 percent or a fasting glucose of 110 to 125 mg/dL. Participants also must be enrolled in Medicare Part B and meet standards that define them as medically overweight.

The latest language for the program contains numerous provisions to protect beneficiaries from unscrupulous programs and lifestyle and nutrition coaches. It also has elements to protect Medicare from fraud that wastes taxpayer dollars.

In another proposed change, CMS would extend beneficiaries' participation to 36 months of face-to-face diet and exercise instruction curriculum; initially it was to be 24 months. The new rule offers two years of longer, ongoing maintenance sessions instead of one.

The payments are to be made incrementally to a range of companies that provide lifestyle instruction. Payment is tied to the number of courses beneficiaries attend and whether they can lose at least 5 percent of their body weight in the first year and maintain it in the next two. Weight loss is associated with a reduced risk of progression to diabetes.

An estimated 20 million people in the United States age 65 and older have prediabetes, or 50 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is helping CMS roll out the program, nine out of 10 may not know it. Extrapolated to San Diego County, an estimated 200,000 Medicare beneficiaries may be eligible for the program.

Such a large-scale systematic effort to help people modify their diet to reduce carbohydrates and control their glucose levels may stimulate physicians across the country — especially those in healthcare systems that are running the program — to be more diligent about screening their patients for prediabetes.

The program is said to be a big help to clinicians who complain they don't have time now in their practices to counsel patients about the need to change their lifestyle, or how to do it with greatly modified intake of carbohydrates and sugar.

Under the latest proposed rule, continued participation in the program after the first 12 months is contingent on participants losing at least 5 percent of their body weight from baseline and keeping it off.

To date, some 1,450 companies nationally have applied to the CDC to be a recognized provider in the diabetes prevention program.

CMS said those granted "pending" recognition will be allowed to submit claims if they meet several requirements, such as submission of performance data from similar diabetes prevention programs they have offered in the past.

If the rule proposed Thursday is made final in November, as expected, it would:

–Establish payments for providers depending on the number of one-hour courses participants attend (see table).

–Delay the program's start date from Jan. 1 to April 1 to give more time for organizations to prepare.

–Allow beneficiaries who develop diabetes during the months they are participating in the program to stay in the program.

–Refuse to allow the curriculum to be offered online without face to face interaction, except as a limited number for make-up classes.

–Permit organizations to offer "in-kind beneficiary engagement incentives" such as gym memberships, onsite child care or transportation, as long as they relate to the goals of the program, but not theater tickets or retail gift cards.

–Prohibit programs from offering free meals or meal replacement services in the curriculum because they do not help beneficiaries make their own decisions to better manage their own health.

–Allow programs to furnish participants with technological items for temporary use, such as a tablet loaded with fitness apps or a fitness tracking watch, as long as the total amount of the devices does not exceed $1,000 per beneficiary. Also, the organization must retrieve those items after the course is completed.

–Prohibit giving participants technology items for their permanent use if their value exceeds $100.

–Prohibit lifestyle companies from advertising incentive offerings. Companies must offer them after the beneficiary enrolls so as to prohibit selective bias in attracting participants who are more likely to succeed.

The proposed rule spells out an extensive number of fraud prevention and oversight activities intended to prevent Medicare from paying for services not provided, and to prevent lifestyle coaches from harming patients through such crimes as embezzlement or extortion. For example, it would:

–Require that organizations submit National Provider Identifier numbers, birth dates and Social Security numbers for their lifestyle coaches who teach the classes. Coaches would also have to undergo background checks.

–Prohibit coaches from program employment if they have had Medicare or Medicaid billing privileges revoked, been convicted of serious crimes including rape, murder, or assault, or financial crimes such as extortion, embezzlement, or income tax evasion, insurance fraud.

"We propose that CMS will screen each individual identified on the roster of coaches included with the supplier's enrollment application to verify that the individual coach does not meet any of these conditions," CMS said in its proposed rule. "We have selected these types of felony convictions based on the risk we believe they could pose to the Medicare program and our beneficiaries."

–Require that ownership change, changes in coaches or adverse action history be reported to CMS.

–Require program applicants to pay a fee of $560 for program integrity efforts and to cover cost of screening.

Require program applicants to pay a fee of $560 for program integrity efforts and to cover cost of screening.

Output: To prevent overweight Medicare recipients with prediabetes from progressing to full blown diabetes, federal officials have proposed a significant funding boost for health care providers and others that offers a new program aimed at helping people lose weight, a proven strategy to thwart the disease.


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TalkTalk [2]: TalkTalk targets premium Pay TV market with discounted Sky offers
 Tuesday, Jul 18th, 2017 (12:01 am) - Score 1,494

Internet provider TalkTalk appears to be making a more aggressive move to grab a bigger share of the premium Pay TV market today by reducing the price of their broadband based triple-play TV bundles and cutting the price of the Sky Sports and Sky Cinema add-ons by 75% and 50% respectively.

All of the ISP’s broadband bundles include unlimited usage, line rental, free connection and an included wireless router among various other features (e.g. Parental Controls and anti-virus protection). Customers also get the option of a 12, 18 or 24 month contract term at different prices.

Under the new offer customers who take one of TalkTalk’s two entry-level Standard Pay TV broadband bundles will also receive a free YouView (IPTV) based TV Set-Top-Box (normally £25) and can optionally can add heavily discounted Sky Sports (£8.50 per month instead of the normal £34) and / or Sky Cinema boosts (£8 per month instead of the normal £16).

TV with Fast Broadband (up to 17Mbps) PRICE: £19.95 per month for 12 months (£27.00 thereafter) TV with Faster Fibre Broadband (up to 38Mbps) PRICE: £26.50 per month for 18 months (£33.50 thereafter)

Take note that the offer of a free TV box doesn’t apply to TalkTalk’s more expensive premium Plus TV bundle as that includes a more sophisticated STB with video recording features (cost of £25 applies). Apparently this promotion is also available to existing as well as new customers’, at least that’s what the ISP tells us.

At the time of writing the offer isn’t yet live on TalkTalk’s website and so we haven’t had a chance to check if the details are exactly as described to us yesterday afternoon, although we will be checking later this morning. However fans of Sky’s premium TV content will no doubt feel very enticed by such an offer, which must be costing the provider a fair bit to sell.

UPDATE:

The offers are now showing on TalkTalk’s website and so far as I can tell the above details appear to be correct.

Output: Offers said to be showing on TalkTalk's website suggest the UK ISP is looking to gain a greater share of the premium Pay TV market by reducing the price of its broadband-based triple-play TV bundles and cutting the price of add-ons like Sky Sports and Sky Cinema by 75% and 50% respectively. The offers are expected to attract users of Sky’s premium TV content, and it is speculated that it "must be costing the provider a fair bit to sell".


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Lucid Motors concept blows Tesla away with 235 mph top speed
 The small and subtle California electric vehicle (EV) carmaker Lucid Air has hit 235 mph* with its Alpha Speed Car prototype on the 7.5-mile oval track while thumbing its nose at the so-called competition. (*235.44 mph, to be exact.)

Lucid Air Hits 235 MPH

In and of itself, Lucid Air hitting 235 mph is not that terribly exciting. Others have done and will continue to reach those speeds and above. Doing it in an EV is already newsworthy, but how about one designed and built in a few short years with a team of fewer than 300 people? Impossible, no? Maybe if we’re talking about a Koenigsegg or other ultra-rare exotic supercars, but this is planned to be a $60,000 EV that aims to shake the EV world with conviction and passion. Passion is something the company certainly has, our last interview and Lucid Air test ride with its officers confirm.

The brief but thoroughly enjoyable test ride of the Lucid Air mule on the not-optimized Petersen Museum parking lot tarmac was an eye opener and an excitement I hadn’t felt in many years. If this is what this new company can offer in such a short amount of time (that type of performance–price sweet spot), then we can say EVs are starting to deliver on their potential. Lucid Air hitting 235 mph in a such a short amount of design and development time is simply impressive.

And to think the Lucid Air hitting 235 mph wasn’t impressive enough, the company believes there is still room for improvement!

Lucid Air Hits 235 MPH. So What?

If racing leaves you feeling blah and you just don’t get it, remember that it does serve many purposes. Short of testing the obvious speed potential, it opens up the car’s racing potentials and advertises it to the world. It is also a normal tried and true test platform, which so far hints at Mercedes-like comfort and performance, but as a truly green car.

Speed tests are part of every car’s development cycle and the Lucid Air is no exception. What it does surprise with are impressive performance results that leave an untapped future in front of the company.

What Lucid is really pointing itself toward is exactly that market segment Tesla is so elegantly dominating, the luxury car segment. Right in the Tesla Model S range, Lucid has a platform it says it can sell at an entry-level $60,000 up to most likely mid-$100K for a fully loaded car. (The Tesla Model S currently starts at $69,500, but we’ll have to wait to find up if Tesla drops or raises the price by the time the Lucid Air comes out, and how much it improves.)

With its Alpha Speed Car prototype reaching 235 mph at the Transportation Research Center test track in Ohio, Lucid is now squarely into LaFerrari performance territory but in an “affordable way” with an entry-level version based on the same platform. Essentially, you have the potential to own unprecedented performance for a consumer electric car that hopefully can be unlocked at the flip of a keyboard. It’s simply brilliant.

Lucid & Lucid Air Consumer Matters

Unlike another EV startup that is finally redefining and streamlining itself again, Lucid offers concrete results and points to deliverables soon. And compared to the overpowering German automotive PR machine, it is achieving broad and important press at a fraction of the marketing budget.

So far, Lucid promises a 1,000 HP EV with a range of 400 miles, which would be roughly the equivalent of 100 MPGe. A 315-mile version will also be available, and reportedly a rear-wheel-drive base model sporting a 240-mile range and a healthy 400 hp to boot (to remind traffic what the future looks like and who holds the torch).

Currently, Lucid is taking deposits of $2,500 for its Air, which is due for production soon. However, keep your eyes on the special 255 “Launch Edition” model series that a few lucky and discerning aficionados will get their hands on. That special edition will have the 315-mile battery range option kicking out 1,000 hp, which promises to be a lot of fun anywhere, anytime.

Of course, building cars means having a place to build them. Lucid’s initial factory is in Casa Grande, Arizona, as chosen and announced last year. Lucid is currently raising $700 million for the plant. If it wants to meet its 2019 production deadline, it will need to continue the breakneck pace it has undergone the past 4 years. If the company aims to build 10,000 cars the first year, ramping to 50,000 after that won’t be any small task.

Does The Lucid Air Have Serious Competition?

Depending on your definition of competition, I’d say that so far no other players have wrapped up an EV in such an impressive way as Lucid has. The impressively short amount of time it took the team to develop the Air and its unmatched performance is yet another way of showing how EVs liberate engineers from internal combustion engine constraints, but the important points is that the engineering team had the aim of maxing out an EV’s potential at a reasonable cost.

Although we’ve traditionally included Faraday Future as competition, the company is now restructuring itself and has dropped its Nevada plant plans. We’ll have to see what it offers the market, if it ever gets to market with a product, but nothing seems to be coming anytime soon.

In the meantime, the only other competition on the horizon would be Nio. However, the company hasn’t (yet) delivered anything like what Lucid has shown.

There is, of course, poster child Tesla, which leads the news when it comes to leaving traditional automakers behind in the fast-blooming electric-car world. But how much cross-shopping there will be between upstart Lucid’s offerings and the now quite abundant Model S is something that’s hard to judge at this point.

So far, Germany seems very keen on using the full might of its teutonic marketing arms. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche are predicting and talking about their future production models, theoretically available over the next few years. So far, there’s much more enthusiasm and hype than deliveries, but that could change if they really do have hard work going on behind the scenes.

Jaguar has also joined the race and Aston Martin is readying itself for an EV surprise.

Lucid needs more than top-speed records to sway customers away from more established EV makers, but news of the Lucid Air hitting 235 mph can only help cement Lucid as a top Tesla alternative, a sort of Maserati to Ferraris in the world of EVs, but much more affordable.

Sign up for Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast: I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ... Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps —— grow. So ...

Output: California-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Lucid Air's latest prototype, the Alpha Speed Car, could become Tesla's biggest rival, after the small firm designed, built and drove the EV at 235mph in a few short years. While still in the process of raising the $700m it needs to construct its plant at Casa Grande in Arizona, Lucid Air plans to take on Elon Musk's Model S range, with EVs priced between $60,000 and mid-$100K, producing 10,000 during its first year, before ramping up to 50,000 EVs annually.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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HTC reports bug on keyboard update which displays banner ads
 HTC has confirmed that ads automatically being presented within the keyboard app on certain smartphones is indeed an error.

As spotted over the weekend by Reddit user Azirack on his HTC 10, banner ads were automatically appearing within an updated TouchPal keyboard on phones like the HTC 10. HTC’s newest phones are sold with TouchPal preinstalled and the free version of TouchPal for other devices typically shows ads, but a statement recently issued from HTC says this was not supposed to happen on the company’s proprietary devices. TouchPal developers also responded to several comments on the Google Play Store that complained about the automatic ads, saying, “For the ads issue, it is fixed from the server side.”

HTC has since delivered the following statement to Engadget:

"Due to an error, some HTC customers have reported seeing ads on their phone's keyboard. This is absolutely not the experience we intended, and we're working to immediately fix the error and remove the ads as quickly as possible."

This is certainly not the first alternative way smartphones have delivered ads: Amazon recently brought the Nokia 6 to the US, which has a few price points, including a subsidized version that allows lock screen ads and offers. There is, however, a big difference between opting in and being served random ads within basic functionalities on your device without warning or agreement.

Output: Mobile manufacturer HTC has reported a bug that automatically displays banner adverts within the keyboard app on a number of its smartphones. The advertisements appear on the TouchPal keyboard app, which many of the company's devices are sold with pre-installed. "This is absolutely not the experience we intended, and we're working to immediately fix the error and remove the ads as quickly as possible", said HTC.


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Facebook provides 'clean rooms' for data insight
 Ask Facebook for access to its data and the official answer is going to be, “Nope.”

But under certain circumstances, a limited number of advertisers and agencies are tapping into impression-level Facebook campaign delivery data, AdExchanger has learned.

The data-sharing arrangements are euphemistically referred to as “clean rooms.” These clean rooms are safe spaces where insights derived from Facebook data can be coupled with an advertiser’s first-party data for attribution, measurement and modeling purposes.

“We and a partner combine a data set with very specific rules and controls around how each party can operate within the shared environment,” said Scott Shapiro, a product marketing director for measurement at Facebook, who noted that Facebook didn’t invent the clean-room concept.

The term “clean room” is most commonly used by the manufacturing industry in reference to secure environments for scientific research, semiconductor device fabrication or the production of pharma products. The word has also been co-opted to describe dust-free data recovery labs.

This is how it works in the advertising context: A marketer or agency loads a virgin computer or device – one that’s never been connected to the internet before – with its first-party data, like an email list, for example. A second clean machine on the Facebook side is loaded with impression-level and non-PII campaign data.

The machines can’t ever have touched the internet so that there’s no possibility of outside interference or interception of the data.

The proprietary data coming from Facebook is then combined with the advertiser’s first-party data, matches are made and the data is analyzed to extract aggregated insights that one or the other couldn’t gather on its own.

The phrase “clean rooms” conjures up a vision of government scientists in biohazard suits working silently in a lab with stark white walls. The actual process is a little more prosaic, but does usually involves both parties in the same physical room at the same time to share their data and run their analyses.

Although Facebook’s data never leaves the Facebook environment, the advertiser can pull campaign-level user insights which could be used to inform future campaigns.

Say an advertiser creates an audience based on first-party data, like a list of email addresses attached to specific consumers. The advertiser could push that list into Facebook, match it, grab a copy and use the combined data set as the basis for an attribution model.

It can also work the other way. Some advertisers develop their own in-house attribution model, but there isn’t a way to transfer that model securely into Facebook’s system. The clean room environment would allow that advertiser to apply its proprietary attribution model against Facebook’s campaign data set.

Facebook, of course, has to be circumspect in how it accommodates these buy-side requests. Aggregated user data tied to campaigns can be combined with an advertiser’s proprietary attribution model, but it can’t ever leave the Facebook system.

It’s also not in Facebook’s best interest to give too much data to advertisers, or to other parties, for that matter. Facebook’s power lies in its scale and access to identity data. But if Facebook turned over too much of its data, buyers may eventually become less reliant on it.

It’s not clear how many advertisers or agencies have taken advantage of a clean room setup with Facebook. AdExchanger spoke with execs at two large media agencies who are aware of the prospect.

Clean rooms are not yet a scalable solution on the level of Custom Audiences. The physical movement of data between devices in an undisclosed location by sophisticated data scientists is not the sort of thing one can easily productize, and Facebook has no plans to do so.

What the clean rooms do represent, however, is Facebook’s willingness, after certain pressure is applied, to accede to the demands of the buy side. Marketers have been complaining for years about the lack of insights they can get out of Facebook and the other walled gardens.

But to get the grease, agencies and advertisers need to make themselves into squeaky wheels.

“Attribution is all a series of hacks,” a senior-level agency executive told AdExchanger. “If you find a creative way to ask, ‘Can we put someone on your premises to work on your data in a way the data never leaves?’ there are things you can do.”

Output: Some advertisers and agencies are gaining access to Facebook's delivery data through what are known as clean rooms, spaces containing two computers which have never been connected to the internet. Clean rooms allow data insights to be viewed in addition to an advertiser's first-party data for attribution, modelling and measurement. Facebook's data will never leave the Facebook ecosystem, so clean rooms give advertisers otherwise inaccessible insights that can be used to tweak their next campaigns. The use of clean rooms suggest a willingness on Facebook's part to make modifications and allow advertisers greater access to customer data.


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One-third of global population will use social media in 2017
 Executive Summary

Two opposing developments sum up the state of social network usage in 2022: slowing global growth after unexpected pandemic gains and the rise of TikTok as a major force in social media. The intersection of these trends means that future growth for the main social platforms will come not from wooing first-time users but, increasingly, from stealing each other’s.

3 KEY QUESTIONS THIS REPORT WILL ANSWER:

What factors are driving a slowdown in global social network user growth in 2022?

How many users will TikTok have worldwide, and how much of a threat will it be to the rest of the Big Five: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter?

How should marketers and their agency partners adapt their social media strategies to take advantage of shifting usage patterns?

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report presents our latest forecasts for global social network users through 2025 and identifies the top usage trends for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter.

Output: One-third of the global population, or 2.46 billion people, will access the internet at least once a month this year, a rise of 8.2% compared with 2016, according to a report by eMarketer. It cited increased adoption of mobile phones and broader mobile coverage as the driving forces behind the figures, and revealed 81.8% of social network users will log on via a mobile in 2017, a number set to rise to 86.7% by 2021. EMarketer said it had "significantly raised its estimates" for China regarding the number of its social media users and also predicted an increase in India.


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Longer range battery keeps Renault Zoe atop European EV charts
 Ask a North American driver to name companies that make electric cars, and you'll probably hear Tesla, maybe Nissan, and perhaps Chevy or BMW or Toyota.

Chinese drivers may be more likely to say BYD (and perhaps Tesla), but Europeans will likely name Renault. (And Tesla.)

The Renault Zoe, now in its fifth year but entirely unknown to U.S. and Canadian buyers, continues to be the best-selling battery-electric car in Europe.

DON'T MISS: Long-range Renault Zoe electric car reviewed in U.K.: Forbidden Fruit

Its maker is part of the longstanding Renault Nissan Alliance, which recently added Mitsubishi to become the fourth largest automaker in the world collectively.

The French maker just released its first-half global sales figures, and the Zoe continues to dominate the sales charts within Europe.

In Europe, as Renault notes, overall the carmaker had 26.8 percent of the market for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

Longer-range Renault Zoe electric car, introduced at 2016 Paris Motor Show

Its first-half sales volumes grew 34 percent, and registrations of the subcompact hatchback Zoe rose 44 percent.

That meant the Zoe remains Europe's top-selling electric vehicle.

READ THIS: Renault Zoe electric-car owners can double their range by upgrading leased batteries

One factor that may keep the Zoe, which went on sale in late 2012, at the top of the charts is this year's substantial upgrade in battery capacity.

Launched in 2012 with a 22-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery and an effective range of 60 to 90 miles, it now offers a 41-kwh pack that gives a range of 300 to 400 kilometers (185 to 250 miles) on the European test cycle.

Renault Zoe e-Sport Concept being revealed at 2017 Geneva auto show [photo: Olivier Martin-Gambier]

Even if you were to downgrade that to a likely EPA rating of perhaps 150 miles, that's still a major upgrade that radically increases the usability of the car.

And those owners who leased their batteries rather than buying them outright can swap in their old 22-kwh battery for a brand-new 41-kwh one, gaining a far longer range in their existing car.

CHECK OUT: 2017 Renault Zoe electric car: larger battery doubles range

In its home market of France, meanwhile, the Zoe leads even more decisively. It represents almost 70 percent of all plug-in electric passenger cars sold in the country.

The 9,200 Zoes registered from January through June were more than 40 percent higher than the same period in 2016. New-vehicle sales in France totaled 2.48 million in 2016.

_______________________________________

Follow GreenCarReports on Facebook and Twitter.

Output: The Renault Zoe remains at the top of European electric vehicle (EV) sales charts after selling 10,682 units in May this year, up from 7,704 in the same month in 2016, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. A substantial upgrade to battery capacity has given it an effective range of 185 miles to 250 miles, up from 60 miles to 90 miles when it first launched in 2012.


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Advertisers turned off by Snap's premium content ad prices
 In March, Digiday reported Snap was talking up a “Snapchat Shows Initiative” to agencies, an effort to bring more exclusive, TV-style programming to Discover. It’s gotten a warm welcome from video production partners like A+E Networks, NBCUniversal and Elisabeth Murdoch’s Vertical Networks. For buyers, it’s still a wait-and-see game.

Snap is pitching shows with a mid-roll slot that are sold on the basis of “share of voice” — that is, weighted based on the other advertisers on the show — just like its Live Story ads are. Similar to Twitter, said buyers, the pitch lets brands work with premium content at a “premium price.”

Pricing is handled through the production partner. Prices are high: One buyer was quoted upward of $300,000 for a slot, but the price dropped to $100,000 when there were no takers. That’s a common tactic for the company, which usually prices “hot” new things highly (remember in 2015 when it asked brands for $750,000 a day for its disappearing ads?) before dropping prices.

“We haven’t used them yet, but at their initial asking price, it’s not the best use of advertiser dollars unless there is room for a logical integration into the show itself,” said one agency buyer. “This has been offered at certain spend levels. If there is room to negotiate, the buy becomes a bit more interesting but still limited for clients looking to drive branding.”

Buyers said Snap also has some of the highest CPMs in the industry — about $22 for premium CPMs, those most suited to ads — inside the Discover section.

“Clients are always interested when it comes to Snapchat. Part of that is because it remains the sexy thing,” said Jeff MacGurn, svp of the performance marketing group at Mirum. “But when I hear about Snapchat and long-form video content, I have to ask, ‘Is that really how viewers interact with your platform?’”

MacGurn said his agency did a study on how content gets popular on social media platforms. About 20 percent of video content goes “viral” or gets a large number of viewers, he found. And even with other platforms like Facebook, it’s no-sound autoplay that gets traction — a far cry from the shows Snapchat is creating.

Mike Dossett, associate director of digital strategy at RPA, said Snap is making a big bet, but “given the relative nascence of the offering, we like the idea of approaching this as a test, versus committing to a significant annual upfront buy.” “We see a lot of value in Snap partnering with established, credible media companies for some of their new programming. They can help draft off the credibility and cross-promotional visibility of these media partners,” he added.

Snap’s “The Rundown” on E! averages 7 million viewers per episode, according to Snapchat, while Vertical Networks’ “Phone Swap” got 11 million viewers per episode in its first season. “It’s a very difficult, because as a buyer I have ask myself, ‘Is Snapchat the right place to watch video content?’” said MacGurn. “Right now, it might be, but it might not even be the best use of my advertiser’s money since I can go to other platforms and hypertarget audiences at a much better level.”

Buck Wise, vp of strategic partnerships at WPP-owned Swift, whose client Starbucks was one of the first brands on Snapchat, said sponsorship is of less interest because it feels like more of a awareness media tactic than strategic creative opportunity. Over lunch with some of Snap’s consumer goods team last year, one executive told Wise that Snap was “going to get into the vertical TV content space.”

“I was excited when Snap told me and became curious if we could create our own branded-content shows,” he said. “But it’s obviously working with networks only at this time, so a straight sponsorship is more placement or brand affinity focused and less interesting for content creators.”

Snap’s Shows are an important move for the company, which has seen declining performance and encroaching competition from Instagram Stories. The platform has incentivized media buyers with discount coupons and media credits for the second quarter of 2017 in an effort to sweeten the deal for those still worried about the platform’s performance. Last week, Morgan Stanley downgraded Snap stock to overweight, with analyst Brian Nowak saying in a note that the ad product is “not evolving/improving as quickly as we expected, and Instagram competition is increasing.”

“Selling against Snap Shows is one of the ways that Snapchat can become a strong player in the space again,” said a digital media buyer. “Shows are something sticky that keeps people in platform, ensuring that they have a key differentiator against Instagram, Facebook or Messenger. To further their appeal to advertisers, they need to diversify their ad products, increase tracking and strengthen the number of content partners they have.”

Wise said Snap has an opportunity here: “Brands make the mistake of seeing it as TV versus digital. It’s not that black and white. Young people do want to watch things on mobile.” The difficult thing for agencies is that Snap ads — whether on shows or elsewhere — need to be shot vertically.

A large part of the problem isn’t necessarily that Snap’s shows aren’t catching on, but an overall immaturity in the marketing. “The budget is just not comparable for content on platforms,” said one top buyer. “Right now, there is no business model yet for ad-back long-form video content on platforms. But that may change. Long term, it’s all up for grabs for everyone, including Snapchat or Facebook.”

Output: The premium prices of ad slots on Snapchat's Shows have been a turn-off for advertisers, which balked at quotes of between $100,000 and $300,000. While some insiders insist ad-backed, long-form video content is still in its infancy and should not be dismissed, others have said vertical video remains a stumbling block, and questioned whether Snapchat is the right place to view video content. Morgan Stanley recently downgraded Snap stock to "overweight", citing increased competition from Instagram and said Snapchat was "not evolving/improving as quickly as expected".


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Burberry's Chinese WeChat strategy returns 4% rise in Q2 sales
 In a bid to reinvigorate sales in the massive Chinese market, British luxury fashion brand Burberry has, this year, ramped up advertising on China’s popular social media app WeChat.It’s a strategy that’s paid off for the brand, which saw a 4% rise in overall sales in the second quarter. That’s more than expected, thanks largely to a resurgence in China, where sales had slowed in recent years.It also saw revenues from the Chinese market more than double compared to the same period in the previous year. At the same time, it tripled its reach via Chinese social media platform WeChat thanks to a campaign for its DK88 handbag.For one campaign, the brand co-created a video series with Vogue Film that featured A-list stars—model Liu Wen, singer Kris Wu, and actress Fan Bing Bing—carrying the DK88 bag.Burberry has prided itself on combining digital marketing with sales, such as by allowing shoppers to immediately buy online what they see on the catwalk during a fashion show.It said growth over the period had been driven both by fashion and innovation. But it said that footfall in its mainline stores had been challenging: instead, growth came from returning top customers. In the year ahead, it expects to focus on improving productivity in its current stores.The new chief executive Marco Gobbetti said: “”I am delighted to have started as Burberry CEO. We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter, while mindful of the work still to do. This is a time of great change for Burberry and the wider luxury industry. I look forward to building on the foundations Christopher and the team have put in place and creating new energy to drive growth.”

Output: Luxury British fashion brand Burberry has notched up a 4% rise in overall sales in China during Q2, after an advertising campaign on WeChat. Burberry also saw revenues more than double, compared with the same period in 2016, while it trebled its reach following a campaign for a DK88 handbag featuring model Liu Wen, singer Kris Wu and actress Fan Bing Bing. The company said, while footfall had been "challenging", current growth was down to returning top customers. CEO Marco Gobbetti said the firm would focus on improving productivity in its current stores.


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Snap Publisher tool reformats ads into vertical format
 One of the knocks against advertising on Snapchat is that it’s hard to make ads for Snapchat. The mobile app’s insistence on vertical video compels advertisers to create campaigns from scratch rather than reusing ads that ran elsewhere. Now Snapchat is addressing that obstacle.

On Monday, Snapchat officially rolled out a browser-based ad creation tool, Snap Publisher, that anyone with access to its self-serve ad-buying tool, Snap Ad Manager, can use to create Snapchat’s vertical video Snap Ads, whether or not they have any vertical videos to use.

Snap Publisher enables advertisers to automatically turn any photo or video, including the horizontal kind, into a vertical video ad. To make things easier, it also has an option for brands to pull photos and videos from their websites. According to Snapchat’s support page for Snap Publisher, advertisers “may only import from sites in which you have the legal right to obtain media from,” but it’s unclear how Snapchat will enforce that rule. For example, I was able to use Snap Publisher on Monday to pull Snapchat’s “Ghostface Chillah” logo from its own website without any problem. Snapchat’s ad approval team probably would have recognized their company’s logo and rejected my ad, but what about the photos I was able to pull from the home page of Getty Images without any kind of license? According to a Snap spokesperson, companies flag advertisers’ illegal use of assets through its Business Help Center.

If an advertiser doesn’t have any existing videos or photos — or at least not any that might appeal to Snapchat’s “cool kid” audience — brands can use one of 13 templates provided by Snapchat that come complete with generic photos and videos of young people doing young-people things like blowing bubbles, looking at their phone, taking selfies and walking down stairs.

Snap Publisher’s most important feature appears to be its automatic cropping tool. This is how Snapchat can address one of the biggest obstacles to advertising on its app. For years, advertisers have wrestled with adopting Snapchat’s vertical video format. Before Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube added support for vertical video to provide more scale for the format, brands either had to produce all-new videos exclusively for Snapchat or spend time cropping and editing vertical versions of their existing horizontal videos in a way that doesn’t make viewers feel like they’re watching a regular video with the sides cut off. Now Snapchat will do that cropping and editing for them.

Brands can choose to have Snapchat’s computer-vision technology figure out how best to convert a horizontal video into a vertical one. This technology can be used to isolate short scenes from a long video so that the ad can be kept within Snapchat’s required three- to 10-second range. More importantly it can be used to detect focal points in those scenes in order to automatically pan the video to keep those points within view and to keep the viewer from feeling like they’re missing something.

At least that’s the theory. In practice Snapchat’s technology is a little rough. I used Snap Publisher’s automatic cropping feature on a video of people walking in a parade. The technology tried very hard to keep people in view as they passed by and to pan back to people who were closer to my camera as they came into view, but its automated panning was jittery and created a glitchy effect.

If advertisers don’t like Snapchat’s automated edits, they can choose to adjust them or to delete them and make their own. This is Snap Publisher’s second-most important feature: an ability to set times for the ad to pan from one part of the frame to another or to zoom in/out. For example, while I didn’t like Snapchat’s automated edits of my parade video, I could add my own so-called “keyframes” that set what part of the video is in view, when and for how long.

To add a keyframe, I select a point in the video and adjust what part of the frame is in view, such as by moving Snap Publisher’s viewfinder to someone on the left side of the frame holding a sign or zooming in on the face of a person in the middle of the frame. I can also create paired keyframes to add a Ken Burns effect to my video, smoothly panning from the first selected frame to the second. In addition to changing what’s in view, I can also adjust how things come into view, such as whether they fade in or out and how the animated effect is timed, such as slowly, linearly or staggered.

In addition to giving advertisers some control over how their horizontal videos can be edited into vertical ones, the keyframes also make it easier for advertisers to use photos for their ads without feeling like the static images might stick out in a bad way on Snapchat’s kinetic app. For example, brands could pan across different parts of a photo or from one photo to another to create a slide-out effect. Or brands could plug their photos into one of Snap Publisher’s photo-friendly templates.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVvEjzTKT3U[/youtube]

Snap Publisher features 13 templates designed to make creating a Snap Ad as plug-and-play as possible. The templates feature placeholders for photos, videos, logos and text that advertisers can customize to their liking, swapping in their own assets and changing sizes, locations, fonts and colors. The templates vary in features, from photo slideshows to videos that slide into call-to-action messages to ads that pan around or zoom in on a photo. Snapchat sorts these templates by potential objectives like raising people’s awareness of a brand or getting them to swipe up on the ad to visit the brand’s site.

Output: Snapchat has released Snap Publisher, a tool enabling brands to convert horizontal video or images to the vertical format the site demands. Available to anyone with access to Snap Ad Manager, Snap Publisher comes with a cropping tool, which automatically reformats video to the vertical, as well as a feature that allows users to pan from one frame to another and zoom in and out. Brands can also use ad templates provided by Snap Publisher and pull in media from other sites. Snapchat hopes the release will make it a more attractive proposition to advertisers.


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The unforeseen risks of a cashless society
 There are certain parts of the Chinese internet that have to be seen to be believed. Coming from outside the country, it’s hard to comprehend that Facebook or Google can be completely blocked until you are forced to do without them. It’s tough to fathom how critical the messenger app WeChat is for everyday life until the sixth person of the day asks to scan your QR code — a sort of bar code — to connect the two of you.

What’s happening with cash in China is similar. For the past three years, I have been outside mainland China covering Asian technology from Hong Kong, which has a very different internet culture from the mainland. I knew that smartphone payments were taking over in China, as the statistics were stark: In 2016, China’s mobile payments hit $5.5 trillion, roughly 50 times the size of America’s $112 billion market, according to consulting firm iResearch.

Even so, the attendant cultural shift was graspable only in person. I recently moved to Shanghai and felt the change with cash acutely because my first few weeks in the metropolis of more than 20 million were spent cut out of the system. Because of an issue with my bank, I couldn’t immediately link my account to WeChat, which has become a virtual wallet for so many.

That meant I had to navigate China the way I would have three years ago: with a stack of red 100-renminbi notes.

Output: Many economists see great prospects in a cashless society including lower transaction costs, new tools to manage economic growth and an end to tax evasion and money laundering. Indeed, a cashless society is fast becoming a potential reality in urban China where there has been a startling transition within three years of residents using smartphones to pay for just about everything. However, there are critics who say there are unforeseen risks including an end to privacy, frightening new powers for tyrants and costs that will disproportionately hit the poor.


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Snap explores acquisition of ad tech company AdRoll
 Snapchat is reportedly seeking to acquire ad tech and martech companies in a bid to make itself more appealing to marketers, which has led to it having talks with San Francisco-based company AdRoll.

The photo messaging app is hoping to grow its ad business and settle investor concerns with the acquisition of a company within the sector.

“They're looking for some business, or a set of businesses, that can help them demonstrate the efficacy of their ads,” a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat, has struggled to convince advertisers that its ads can deliver like those on Facebook and Google and has seen its stock sink below its $17 initial public offering due to a combination of these concerns, its slow growth and competition from Facebook’s Instagram. Further compounding Snapchat’s struggles is the revelation from Digiday that many publishers are deciding to shift from Snapchat to Instagram.

The potential acquisition, which has been likened to Google buying DoubleClick in 2007, of AdRoll would go a long way to easing some of Snap’s troubles. The purchase would give Snap stronger ad targeting and campaign management, as well as eCommerce expertise. Furthermore, it will add to the acquisition of location-based analytics and ad measurement platform Placed, which Snap picked up last month.

Output: Snapchat is rumoured to be in acquisition talks with San Francisco-based firm AdRoll, as the social media site looks to shore up its sinking share price. Snapchat, which recently purchased location-based analytics and ad measurement platform Placed, is keen to invest in a business or set of businesses that can "help demonstrate the efficacy of their ads", according to anonymous insiders. Digiday recently revealed publishers are switching their business to Instagram because of concerns that Snapchat's ad delivery was lagging behind rivals.


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Coursera partners with AXA for workplace learning
 BENGALURU: Online learning platform Coursera has entered into a global partnership with insurance company AXA to develop learning paths, curate relevant content and map out future competencies for its employees. For this, AXA will adopt Coursera's enterprise platform  Coursera for Business The partnership comes after a three-month pilot, during which more than 1,000 AXA employees registered as learners, with 50% of them receiving certifications. The partnership will provide all AXA employees in 64 countries with ondemand access to more than 300 courses on a variety of topics such as data science, digital marketing, and leadership. Upon completion, AXA employees will receive sharable electronic course certificates, which highlight the new skills. AXA will also consider creating customi sed content on the Coursera platform."Coursera complements our existing offer, which is already quite rich. Coursera has a specific take to it  it has top-notch university content. The scale is huge because we are opening this to all our employees, starting from the end of September. The pilot was led in an agile way and lasted for three months," said Stéphanie Ricci, group head of lear ning, AXA Group, GIE AXA Paris.Coursera for Business offers indepth content from top universities, certifications, a mobile platform, and centralised programme management and progress tracking tools. Within a year of launch, Coursera for Business has been adopted by more than 90 large enterprise and government customers, including brands like L'Oreal, PayPal, Danone, JP Morgan Chase and Air France-KLM."Companies are realising that technology and data are transforming their businesses. They are trying to help their employees keep up with some of the most advanced practices on how they do their jobs.In information intensive industries, data is changing the way business gets done," said Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera.The company is backed by venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Enterprise Associates, GSV Capital, International Finance Corporation, Laureate Education and Learn Capital.

Output: Online educational platform Coursera is partnering with insurance company AXA to offer all its employees, across 64 countries, on-demand access to more than 300 courses via Coursera's enterprise platform Coursera for Business. The move followed a successful three-month pilot scheme and will enable AXA employees to study toward course certificates in subjects such as leadership, digital marketing and data science. AXA is the latest firm to adopt Coursera for Business, following JP Morgan Chase, PayPal, Danone, Air France-KLM and L'Oréal.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Redrow [2]: Plans to save pub that closed due to Redrow-linked 'development blight'
 Addiscombe councillors have organised a meeting for next Monday to discuss how locals can save their local: The Glamorgan pub on Cherry Orchard Road.

Residents and councillors want to consider getting the building declared as an Asset of Community Value and purchasing it for use as a community pub in a similar manner to the highly successful The Hope in Carshalton. Residents in South Norwood were recently successful in saving The Ship from redevelopment by achieving ACV status for that building.

The Glamorgan, which had been run as a real ale and food outlet in recent years, closed last November. The former owners had endured six years of development blight in the immediate area, waiting for Redrow Menta to go ahead with their schemes for flats along the same stretch of road, all the while being surrounded by undeveloped building sites.

The building is now empty and boarded up, and its new owners want to bulldoze the site, but they have yet to seek planning permission to do so.

Labour councillors for Addiscombe ward, led by Sean Fitzsimons, are keen to keep the heritage building, which dates from 1844, and see it used for the community.

Fitzsimons is staging an open meeting at 7pm in Room F10 at the Town Hall on July 24, which he sees as The Glamorgan being in … well, the last chance saloon.

“Residents of Addiscombe and East Croydon have one final chance to save The Glamorgan for the community,” Fitzsimons told Inside Croydon.

“Local residents need to decide if they want to save the pub, as we need to show the pub can be revived as a community asset, or find a pub company willing to take the building on.

“This was a great pub once, known for its live music, especially jazz. Let’s see whether we can bring those great days back again, and the first step is getting it listed as an ACV.”

“The meeting on Monday is to try and put together a local group to push this campaign forward,” Fitzsimons said.

In its original guise, as the Horse and Groom, when the pub served a busy and thriving residential area on the eastern side of the railway tracks near East Croydon Station, was included in the Good Beer Guide for eight years in succession, to 1982. The Good Beer Guide, published by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, is recognised as the benchmark which most pubs aspire to. After a period when it was renamed as the Grouse and Claret, the pub was relaunched as The Glamorgan 10 years ago and once again was included in the pages of the Good Beer Guide, recognising the excellence of its food and drink offer.

Since The Glamorgan’s closure, there are now just four pubs still trading in the East Croydon area.

Inside Croydon is Croydon’s only independent news source, still based in the heart of the borough. In April-May 2017, we averaged 32,000 page views every week

If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or a local event to publicise, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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Output: A meeting has been scheduled for Monday 24 July to discuss how locals might be able to save The Glamorgan pub, a heritage building on Cherry Orchard Road, East Croydon, potentially requesting that the building be declared an Asset of Community Value. The pub, which was listed in the Good Beer Guide, closed last November after the former owners reportedly "endured six years of development blight in the immediate area, waiting for Redrow Menta to go ahead with their schemes for flats along the same stretch of road while being surrounded by undeveloped building sites." While they have not yet sought permission, it is said the new owners want to bulldoze the site.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Electric vehicle share reached 1.5% in China in June
 The Chinese market had more than 43,000 new EVs zooming the streets last month. With the market growing below expectations, at 16% YoY, this performance from China feels like when LeBron James scores 28 points in an NBA Finals game — it would be a great score for anyone else, but people expect more from the star of the team.

Anyway, the EV market share grew to 1.5% in China, already beating last year’s record (1.45%). Expect that as the year progresses and sales expand, the Chinese PEV market will surpass the 2% share by year end.

This is still a highly protected market, where 93% of sales belong to domestic brands. Of the 7% left for foreign brands, 6% belong to Tesla, with the remaining 1% divided by all other automakers.

In June, the Zhidou D2 EV was once again the best-selling model, surpassing BAIC’s golden boy EC180 for the lead in the YTD ranking, while BYD has beaten the all-time manufacturer sales record by registering 11,198 units last month, stepping up the pace and surpassing previous leader Beijing Auto in the best-selling manufacturer race.

Top 5 Best-Selling Electric Models in June

#1 – Zhidou D2 EV: This bare-basics city vehicle probably doesn’t inspire anyone, but it surely continues to be delivered in record quantities (4,714 units in June), probably thanks to big fleet deals. This vehicle is sold as a Quadricycle (Think Renault Twizy class) in some European countries, with the following specs: 12 kWh battery, 120 km range, 90 km/hr max speed, and all for some €16,000.

#2 – BYD Song PHEV: This is BYD’s “Model Y,” a VW Tiguan-sized SUV, in this case in a plug-in hybrid version (the fully electric version has had its first units registered just this month). In only its second full sales month, 4,552 of these BYD Song PHEVs were registered, the second best score ever for a BYD model — the Tang set the record at 5,503 registrations back in December 2015, but that’ll probably be beaten this summer. Why is this model so disruptive?

A) It’s an SUV, and we know how they are sucking up sales everywhere. (For some reason, its sedan counterpart, the Qin, disappeared from the spotlight. Expect something similar to happen sometime in 2020 to the Tesla Model 3.)

B) It has the same impressive specs that its larger brother Tang has (18.4 kWh battery, 70 km range, 0–100 km/h in 4.9 secs), but with a more affordable price ($41,300 USD), which will make it the strongest candidate for the monthly best seller trophies in the coming months.

#3 – Chery eQ EV: A consistent high seller in China, the funky Chery eQ sold a record 3,466 units in June. This is one of my favorite Chinese urban EVs — for €22,000 before incentives, you get a decently equipped city car with a 22 kWh battery and 200 kilometers of range. The only major drawback is the weak engine (56 hp, 100 km/h top speed). Add a bit more power to the engine and you could have a valuable competitor to the current crop of worldwide city EVs, since the Mitsubishi triplets are showing their age, the VW e-Up! is pricey, and the Smart Forfour ED … well, it looks too goofy for my taste. (What were Smart designers smoking when they created this recent generation?!?).

#4 – BYD e5: The Plain Jane BYD e5 sedan continues to impress, delivering another record performance (the third in a row), with 3,206 units moved last month. A favorite among taxi companies, along with its e6 older brother, the low-key e5 actually has a lot going for it: 305 kilometers of range from a 48 kWh battery, and a healthy 218 hp, all for 230,000 Yuan ($33,400). A wolf in sheep’s clothing, isn’t it?

#5 – JAC iEV6S: Despite being a vehicle in the intersection of the two hottest trends in China — crossovers and EVs — success surprisingly escaped the iEV6S due to battery production constraints. But those days are now a thing of the past, having scored a record 3,001 deliveries last month. Expect this Nissan Juke–sized crossover to be a frequent sight here in the coming months — not only does it have an attractive design, inside and out, but also decent specs: 114 hp and 251 kilometers of range coming from a 33 kWh battery provided by Samsung.

Year-to-Date Ranking – Zhidou D2 & BYD New Kings

The big news when it comes to changes in the year-to-date ranking was of course the rise to #1 of the Tin Lizzie Zhidou D2 EV. The BYD e5 finally reaching the podium was notable as well, and the JAC iEV6S continues to climb the ladder, now jumping to #5.

But the sensation of the month was the BYD Song PHEV, shooting to #8 in only its second full month on the market. Expect it in July to reach the top 5 and maybe even the podium by the end of Summer.

Tesla may not be thrilled with its rankings, but the Tesla Model S and Model X being present on the top 20 ranking make them by far the most successful foreign models. The third-best-selling overseas model was the BMW X1 PHEV, with an estimated 600 units delivered.

Looking at the manufacturer ranking, BYD (19%, up 2%) is back at the Iron Throne, replacing the previous leader BAIC (17%, down 1%). With warp speed now turned on, expect BYD to distance itself from the competition at lightning speed.

In 3rd place and without immediate pretensions to be the King of the Realm, we have Zhidou, with 10% share, followed by SAIC (7%).

China June YTD Market Share Zhidou D2 EV 4,714 18,693 10% BAIC EC180 2,563 17,939 10% BYD e5 3,206 10,826 6% SAIC Roewe eRX5 PHEV 1,541 9,205 5% JAC iEV6S 3,001 8,197 5% Geely Emgrand EV 478 7,982 4% BYD Tang 1,573 7,502 4% BYD Song PHEV 4,552 6,838 4% Chery eQ 3,466 6,605 4% JMC E100 1,153 6,136 3% Changan Benni EV 1,778 6,064 3% Zotye E200 1,568 5,949 3% BAIC EU260 1,333 5,691 3% Kandi EV 315 4,804 3% Tesla Model S 1,600 4,785 3% Tesla Model X 500 4,514 3% BYD Qin EV300 593 4,117 2% Zotye Cloud EV 1,568 3,687 2% JMC E200 759 3,657 2% BAIC EX200 520 3,577 2% Others 7,110 32,380 TOTAL 43,891 179,148

Cool Kids

In this section, we look at some of the cars landing in the previous month that have potential to reach the top 20. Although, in this first edition, we’re broadening the timeframe to the last two months:

BYD Song EV300: The fully electric twin brother of the Song PHEV, this is a model destined for success, starting with some BYD DNA strong points: long range (a 48 kWh battery allows it to reach 300 kilometers of rated range) and quick acceleration (0–100 km/h in 8.9 secs). Although not as fast as the PHEV version, it has the right technology to succeed in this BEV-friendly market. How successful will it be? I would put 2,000 units/month as minimum bar. For now, there were 189 units registered in its landing month.

SAIC Roewe eRX5 BEV and i6 PHEV: Following on the success of the eRX5 PHEV version, the Tiguan-like-but-better-looking RX5 SUV now has a BEV version (with a 48 kWh battery, watch out, BYD!). Meanwhile, the i6, one of the most appealing Chinese sedans on the road, grew a plug and now has a PHEV version, using the same drivetrain as the eRX5.

The all-electric SUV landed in June, with 43 units, but in a few months, once the production kinks are sorted, sales should easily reach into four digits per month. As for the Audi A4–sized i6 PHEV sedan, it scored 359 units in its first full sales month. Given the recent sales bleeding that sedans are suffering, it will be hard for it to replicate the success of its e550 predecessor, so reaching four-digit sales will be considered a success.

Also published on our EV Sales page and the EV-Sales blogspot.

Sign up for Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast: I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ... Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps —— grow. So ...

Output: Electric vehicle (EV) market share hit 1.5% in China last month, figures show. The growth beat 2016's record of 1.45% and it is predicted that, as sales expand, the Chinese plug-in EV market share will surpass 2% by the end of 2017. China's EV market is still very protected, with domestic brands accounting for 93% of sales. Of the remaining 7%, 6% belongs to Tesla.


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Volvo engine recycles exhaust energy for 7.5% efficiency gain
 By employing a secondary exhaust turbine downstream of the main turbocharger, the normally lost energy is routed to the flywheel, recovering as much as 50 hp and helping to improve fuel economy by up to 6.5% when compared with previous GHG14 D13 engine models.

Volvo Trucks North America’s new VNL series delivers up to 7.5% improved fuel efficiency when spec’d with Volvo’s available D13 Turbo Compound engine (D13TC). ( Earlier post .) Designed for customers with long-haul, steady-speed operations, the 13-liter Volvo D13TC utilizes turbo compounding technology that recovers energy typically wasted through the exhaust, converting it into useable mechanical energy that is transferred back to the engine.

Combined with an additional 1 percent fuel efficiency benefit from the improved aerodynamics of the new VNL series, customers spec’ing the D13TC will see up to a 7.5 percent improvement overall. —Göran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America

Volvo D13 With Turbo Compound. Click to enlarge.

Customers are able to pair the D13TC with Volvo’s XE—eXceptional Efficiency—powertrain packages. XE packages rely on Volvo’s fully integrated I-Shift automated manual transmission to downspeed the engine, enabling a cruise rpm up to 300 rpm less than the average truck sold today, saving fuel.

The VNL series comes standard with the Volvo D13 engine, with the D13TC available as an option. Customers choosing Daycab and VNL 400 models also have the option of spec’ing the 11-liter Volvo D11 as an alternative. The 15-liter Cummins X15 is also available in the VNL series.

All three Volvo engines feature the patented wave piston, which employs a uniquely designed piston crown. The new wave piston increases compression ratio from 16:1 to 17:1, increasing efficiency. Improved flame propagation increases cylinder efficiency while at the same time reducing soot.

A proven common rail fuel injection system improves fuel efficiency by enabling finer control and more accurate fuel injection.

The engines also feature a revised EGR flow sensor with a new double-wall casing to reduce condensation and soot buildup in cold weather, preventing downtime. An available two-speed coolant pump also contributes to improved fuel efficiency as a result of reduced parasitic losses. The new intake throttle enables a faster warmup when the engine is started.

Output: Volvo's D13 Turbo Compound engine (D13TC) recycles exhaust energy to help deliver up to 7.5% improved fuel efficiency in VNL trucks. The 13-litre D13TC uses a secondary exhaust turbine downstream of the main turbocharge to recover normally-lost energy, which is then routed to the flywheel. The process boosts fuel economy by up to 6.5% compared with previous D13 engine models but, when combined with the additional 1% benefit from improved aerodynamics, VNL series truck drivers will see a 7.5% improvement overall, Volvo Trucks North America said.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Poor data blamed for Gillette's 'manhood' razor error
 “My husband and I have different last names and then my kids all have my husband’s last name, so I’m the only Greer,” she said. No clues emerged from her magazine subscriptions or her Amazon account, she said, though she took a close look at the sports socks she bought for her father-in-law recently.

The error stood out to Ms. Greer given that many of the ads she sees online tend to be “freaky on point.” For example, she often likes posts on Facebook related to the St. Louis Cardinals, her hometown baseball team, and the University of Alabama football team, she said, and recently saw an ad for a shirt that read, “My two passions in life are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Crimson Tide.”

“That was creepily specific to me to the point it’s disconcerting,” she said.

The razor was a harmless mistake at the opposite end of the spectrum and so entertaining that she wondered if Gillette did it on purpose in hopes of getting people to post about it on social media, she said.

Bret Dodson, a 48-year-old in Seattle who works in cancer research, posted to Facebook about receiving the package on June 27, joking that the company was “only 30 and a half years late.” He said in an interview that he had not liked or followed the brand on social media or made any online purchases that would indicate he was 18. He assumed the company had bought a faulty batch of data that skewed some of its mailings.

“I work with a bunch of young people and so I’m very frequently joking about ‘us hip young millennials,’” he said. “But I don’t think I’ve ever entered myself as a millennial online because I don’t know what I’d put as my date of birth. Maybe Gillette is really good with data mining and they know I joke about being younger than I am.”

Gillette has been under pressure in recent years as it has lost market share to online upstarts, including Dollar Shave Club, which was purchased last year by Unilever. The birthday mailings include a promotion for an on-demand service from Gillette, which allows people to reorder blades using text messages. Razors and shaving-related products account for 11 percent of Procter & Gamble’s annual sales and 15 percent of its earnings.

Output: Procter & Gamble-owned brand Gillette's traditional mail drop of a free razor to celebrate 18-year-old boys' first shave was met with bemusement in the US recently, as recipients included two women and a 50-year-old man. The three recipients took the error in good heart, putting it down to "bad algorithms" or unreliable datasets the company might have bought. “When dealing with such a large volume over a period of time, there are apt to be some mishaps,” said Gillette spokesperson Barbara Diecker. Razors and shaving-related products make up 11% of Procter & Gamble’s annual sales and 15% of its earnings.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Sonova hearing tech firm makes first titanium device via 3D print
 Swiss hearing solutions technology company Sonova started using 3D printers for custom hearing aids at the start of the millennium.

Expanding on this additive expertise, Sonova’s hearing aid range has expanded to include the Virto B-Titanium – the company’s first ever titanium device made using additive manufacturing.

Animation of the powder based 3D printing process used to make the Virto B-Titanium hearing aid. Clip via Phonak on YouTube

Custom-made hearing aids

Each year, Sonova and its subsidiary brand Phonak produce hundreds of thousands of custom-made hearing aids for patients around the globe.

To start, an impression of a patient’s ear canal is taken by hand using silicone. This mold is 3D scanned, then turned into a digital model using software from partners at Materialise.

The custom models are then 3D printed in acrylic using a light-powered vat polymerization technique.

Improving upon the strength and fit of these model, Phonak’s new Virto B-Titanium device is made using the powder bed fusion method of metal 3D printing.

Smaller, stronger, more resistant

The Vitro B’s titanium casing is 15 times stronger than the shell of an average acrylic device, making it more hardwearing and resistant to water. The device is also 26% smaller than the average Phonak product, making it no bigger than a fingertip.

Scott Witt, director of product management at Phonak, calls the Virto B-Titanium “the most discrete hearing aid ever produced” by the company. This matches a majority demand from patients for an “invisible device” that fits well within the ear canal but also provides performance.

What’s next for Sonova?

Patrizia Richner is a digital manufacturing engineer for the Sonova Group in Switzerland. This week at the International Additive Manufacturing and 3D printing conference in Nottingham Richer will be speaking on the advanced applications of the technology within the company’s latest projects.

Robin Wilson, lead technologist for high value manufacturing at Innovate UK, also tipped Sonova in his guest article on the Future of 3D Printing.

For all the latest 3D printing news, subscribe to the most widely read newsletter in the 3D printing industry, follow us on twitter and like us on Facebook.

Featured image shows: A Virto B-Titanium hearing aid. Image via Phonak

Output: Swiss hearing solutions technology firm Sonova and subsidiary brand Phonak have responded to customer demand for a discrete yet high-performing hearing aid by developing their first-ever titanium device using additive manufacturing, the Virto B-Titanium. A silicone mould of the patient's ear canal is scanned digitally using Materialise software, and a light-powered vat polymerisation technique used to 3D print it in acrylic. Using a powder bed fusion method of metal 3D printing is said to make Virto B-Titanium's casing 15 times stronger than its acrylic equivalent, yet no bigger than a fingertip, 26% smaller than Phonak's average product.