Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

Micromobility startup Helbiz to go public via a SPAC, and will expand into ghost kitchens – TechCrunch

Micromobility startup Helbiz, which now operates across Europe and the USA, is merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to become a publicly listed company, giving it a war chest to potentially roll-up smaller competitors in the space, as well as the resources to expand into cloud or ghost kitchens as part of a move into food delivery.

Helbiz intends to merge with GreenVision Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: GRNV) in the second quarter of 2021. The combined entity will be named Helbiz Inc. and will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the new ticker symbol, HLBZ.

The transaction includes $30 million PIPE anchored by institutional investors and approximately $80 million in net proceeds will be fed into Helbizs micromobility and advertising businesses, which have 2.7 million users.

Helbiz says the merged entity will have a valuation of $408 million, and by run Helbizs existing management under CEO Salvatore Palella.

Palella said: Through this transaction, were committed to fulfilling our vision in revolutionizing transport by using micromobility to become a seamless last-mile solution.

He further revealed to me that the company plans to establish ghost kitchens in Milan and Washington, DC later this year, with the aim of introducing a five-minute delivery time.

Helbiz has tried to differentiate itself from other players like Lime and Bird by offering e-scooters, e-bicycles and e-mopeds all on one platform.

Key to Helbizs offering is an integrated geofencing platform that tends to appeal to city authorities who dont want scooters left in random places, as well as a swappable battery that enables easier charging of the devices. Its subscription service allows users to take unlimited 30-minute trips on its e-bikes and e-scooters every month.

In Europe the company currently operates a fleet of e-scooters and e-bicycles in Milan, Turin, Verona, Rome, Madrid and Belgrade, and in the U.S. it operates in Washington, DC, Alexandria, Arlington and Miami.

David Fu, chairman, and CEO of GreenVision, commented: Helbiz has distinguished itself as the only company to offer e-scooters, e-bicycles, and e-mopeds all on one user-friendly platform Helbiz has a proven and capital-light business model that combines hardware, software, and services with extensive customer relationships.

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Micromobility startup Helbiz to go public via a SPAC, and will expand into ghost kitchens - TechCrunch

IBM outlines its quantum computing software roadmap with heavy dose of Qiskit, open source – ZDNet

IBM laid out a software roadmap for quantum computing that will include the release the Qiskit runtime this year, updated software interfaces and circuit libraries and control systems into 2023.

By 2025, IBM is projecting that there will be frictionless quantum computing to enable a broad array of applications that will surpass classical computing. A lot is riding on open source software called Qiskit. That runtime will serve as the base for further quantum software development. IBM outlined its quantum computing hardware roadmap in September.

Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Quantum Ecosystem Development at IBM, said outlining a software roadmap is critical to developers as well as enterprises looking to invest in quantum computing. "Roadmaps give people more confidence on what to expect and when," said Sutor. "We do hope this gives a lot more certainty."

Sutor said the goal is to set up a software ecosystem to get to the point where quantum computing trumps the classic approach. Much of the roadmap revolves around eliminating noise in the quantum system and errors. "This is a different programming model and we are mixing software development constructs," said Sutor.

Quantum computers are coming. Get ready for them to change everything|Research: Quantum computing will impact the enterprise, despite being misunderstood|What classic software developers need to know about quantum computing

Because quantum computers are physical systems it's critical that software develops to correct errors and add fault tolerance. Ultimately, developers will earn quantum computing programming and Sutor noted there has been a lot of interest in IBM's quantum classes. "If you know Python you can learn quantum computing," said Sutor. "Then you just have to decide where you want to enter the stack. If you're a sophomore in college and thinking ahead you can use Qiskit for all of this."

Here's a look at the roadmap.

A few key highlights along the way:

More quantum computing:

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IBM outlines its quantum computing software roadmap with heavy dose of Qiskit, open source - ZDNet

Over 3 Million Copies of the ‘First’ Versions of Avid’s Creative Tools Have Now Been Downloaded by Video and Music Makers – GlobeNewswire

BURLINGTON, Mass., Feb. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) today announced that aspiring creative people around the globe have now downloaded copies of Avids freePro Tools | First,Media Composer | FirstandSibelius | Firstcreative tools software more than 3 million times. Avid First tools were created to give new generations of artists essential experience and a career foothold by learning on simplified versions of the same tools that professionals use every day to create the most popular films, television and music enjoyed by people everywhere.

Since the introduction of Avids freemium offerings in 2015, First downloads have accelerated year over year, with 1 million added during the last year alone. With cloud-enabled First tools, users can create songs, music scores, videos, movies and other professional-grade content. First tools users seeking to further their creative capabilities and advance their careers can upgrade to more powerful versions of Avid creative tools on affordable paid subscription plans. Overall,the consistent conversion rates of free softwaredownloadsto paid software subscriptions for Avids First tools family arehelping to drive the companys robust subscription growth in the large and growing creative tools market.

The Avid First tools continue to rise in popularity because they put a massive amount of creative capacity into the hands of aspiring artists and creative professionals, giving them entry-level versions of the industrys leading creative tools for freewith an easy upgrade path to fully featured versions through affordable subscription plans, said Jeff Rosica, Chief Executive Officer, Avid. Were thrilled that weve set a new record with 1 million additional downloads achieved in less than a year. Besides helping millions of aspiring content creators learn their craft, the continued success and accelerated popularity of Avids First freemium software strategy has also proven to be an important contributor to the growth of our subscription business.

Pro Tools | First is for artists beginning their journey in recording and production. It gives aspiring artists a leap forward in turning their ideas into music. First users compose, record, mix and collaborate in the cloud with a streamlined creative tool set built on industrystandard Pro Tools.

Media Composer | First is for artists just beginning their journey in video editing. Its a complete, streamlined creative toolset built on Avids renowned editing brand with all the features and functionality needed to tell great stories.

Sibelius | First is a streamlined notation tool for musicians, composers and students. Based on the worlds bestselling notation software, Sibelius | First enables music composition, transcription and editing with the added advantage of cloudbased workflows.

All Avid First tools for aspiring creatives can be downloaded immediately for free athttps://connect.avid.com/3-Million-Downloads.html

Avid First Users Connect with the Global Creative Community Avids free tools also put the power of the global user community at users fingertips with free resources to advance their working knowledge, such as tutorials and online forums, which enable users to solicit help and share advice from each other and Avids staff experts. All Avid users are encouraged to take a free membership in the Avid Customer Association, which facilitates the creative communitys input and influence on what Avid does next and provides a forum for raising issues affecting media creation today.

About AvidAvid delivers the most open and efficient media platform, connecting content creation with collaboration, asset protection, distribution, and consumption. Avids preeminent customer community uses Avids comprehensive tools and workflow solutions to create, distribute and monetize the most watched, loved and listened to media in the worldfrom prestigious and award-winning feature films to popular television shows, news programs and televised sporting events, and celebrated music recordings and live concerts. With the most flexible deployment and pricing options, Avids industry-leading solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools, Avid NEXIS, MediaCentral, iNEWS, AirSpeed, Sibelius, Avid VENUE, FastServe, and Maestro. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visitwww.avid.com, connect with Avid onFacebook,Instagram, Twitter,YouTube,LinkedIn, or subscribe toAvid Blogs.

2021 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, Avid NEXIS, FastServe, AirSpeed, iNEWS, Maestro, MediaCentral, Media Composer, Pro Tools, Avid VENUE, and Sibelius are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice.

PR Contact:AvidDave Smith978.502.9607david.smith@avid.com

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Over 3 Million Copies of the 'First' Versions of Avid's Creative Tools Have Now Been Downloaded by Video and Music Makers - GlobeNewswire

Batch Printing and File Conversion Software by fCoder is Now Free for Teachers – PR Urgent

fCoder is stepping up with an initiative to support education workers by offering them DocuFreezer and Print Conductor free of charge.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT

Many schools and colleges have transitioned to remote or hybrid learning during the pandemic, and education industry specialists are having a hard time. Teachers are experiencing an increased workload they have additional routine tasks to do by themselves. For example, they may need to convert or print student reports at home and handle other document printing and file conversion tasks.

To support education specialists in these circumstances, fCoder now provides them with their document printing and conversion solutions Print Conductor and DocuFreezer for free. These Windows applications for Windows can simplify batch printing and converting (or combining) documents to PDF. Print Conductor lets print multiple files with ease, and DocuFreezer can convert numerous documents received from students to a specific format or create a large PDF from them.

Licenses of Print Conductor and DocuFreezer are given away free of charge from January 18, 2021, and till June 1, 2021, on the following conditions:one license per person;requests are accepted until June 1, 2021;licenses are lifetime, so the programs can be used with no limitations or fees after June 1.

fCoder advises anyone whose work is related to education or training to contact them and request their copies via the support form on the fCoder website.

Learn more about Print Conductor at https://www.print-conductor.com

Learn more about DocuFreezer athttps://www.docufreezer.com

Learn more about fCoder at https://www.fcoder.com/solutions/education

Since 1998, fCoder has been offering a range of professional software for Windows users. The company specialists develop desktop, server-side, and command-line programs for batch printing and file conversion. The applications, each focused on specific tasks, are being maintained and regularly updated by the developers.

Software created by fCoder optimizes document processing as well as saves time and other resources of various companies, governmental entities, non-profit organizations, and individual users. The key products developed by fCoder are Print Conductor, FolderMill, Image Converter Plus, 2JPEG, 2TIFF, 2PDF, DocuFreezer, and Universal Document Converter.

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Batch Printing and File Conversion Software by fCoder is Now Free for Teachers - PR Urgent

ErieBank initiative to be featured on ‘Undercover Billionaire Comeback City’ – GoErie.com

Erie Times-News

ErieBankPresident David Zimmer will appear on a Discovery Channel episode of "Undercover Billionaire: Comeback City."

Billionaire Glenn Stearns, series host, will feature Zimmer with TKO-Erie owner Brian Arrington as they partner to give inner-city youths a safe place to go, learnand train for a bright future. ErieBank is donating$25,000 to helpgive100 scholarships to underprivileged Erie students.

The episode Knocked Down, But Not Outcan be watched with a free trial of Discovery+ and in time will be available for free viewing online.

More: Familiar face, new mission: 'Undercover Billionaire' back in Erie to mentor entrepreneurs

New rankings by U.S. News & World Report list six Pennsylvania State UniversityWorld Campus online programs among the nation's best.

Penn State Behrend faculty members teach the bachelor's degree programs in software engineering and finance, tied for 10th ranking. The software program was developed at Behrend.

The masters degree in project management also originated at Behrend and also ranked 10th.

Ratings are based onengagement, faculty credentials, student excellence and more.

Kwik Fill locations in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio areraising funds for the 39th annual MDA Shamrocks program to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Customers can donate to the Shamrock campaign through March 17. Paper shamrocks with the customer's name will be displayed in each store.

Forinformation about the campaign, visit mda.org/shamrocks.

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ErieBank initiative to be featured on 'Undercover Billionaire Comeback City' - GoErie.com