Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

Orion will woo breakaway brokers with two events– an unusual move for a software firm– after missing the boat on 2020 recruiting in a tough pandemic…

The Omaha, Neb. software giant is seeking to supply pent-up demand created by the COVID-19 pandemic after many brokers saw the benefits of working independently from home.

Brooke's Note: Like in politics, two credible sources in the RIA world can look at a wall and one can say it's black when the other sees white. In this case, we have two credible sources saying 2020 was an off year for breakaways and two other sources saying it was good -- even hot. Fortunately this article doesn't rely on being sure about either one. For certain, Orion is investing considerable time and resources to spur breakaway activity to fill a void it is willing to bet it can fill. There can be no doubt these two events are not "digital" or "tech" events in disguise considering that the Omaha firm is calling them breakaway boot camps. Meanwhile, you can't help wonder if more is going on here? Are RIA custodians less of a presence in recruiting wirehouse brokers after 2020 was another year of radical fee compression in money market funds, bank deposits, revenue sharing and the completezeroing out of sales commissions?

Eric Clarke says he plans todirectly woo breakaway brokers this year--an unusual move for the CEO of asoftware firm--aftera 20% slide in 2020 recruiting, but some recruiters say he may have just missed the boat in a tough but hot market.

WhileOrion Advisor Servicesdoesn't technically recruit, Clarke says his firm is constantly speaking with advisors before they're ready to go independent.

"Weve always been supportive of helping advisors make a break to independence. Sometimes advisors call us first, sometimes they call a custodian, sometimes a compliance consultant," he says.

Louis Diamond, president of Morristown, N.J.-based Diamond Consultants saysdon't presume that the breakaway broker movement took a year off in 2020.

"It was the busiest recruitment year since 2014 in terms of advisors moving," he says. "I definitely don't think it was slower."

This year is already proving to be another stellar year, Diamond says. "We're very bullish on advisor recruitment for 2021 and the breakaway movement."

But Diamond's view is by no means universal.

My sense is there definitely were a lot less breakaways," saysAlois Pirker, senioranalyst with Aite Group."Everyone in the market has had this, deer in the headlights reaction, and advisors needed to make sure their clients were OK.

Hard numbers are hard to come by, butInvestmentNews Researchtracks breakaways and called the pace "blistering" in 2020. "The numbers are way up, even as firms struggle amid the COVID-19 pandemic," it said, reporting on the first nine months of the year.

RIAs saw a net gain of 931 financial advisers whojumped from one firm to another, a slight decline compared with 998 advisersduring the same period in 2019.

Independent broker-dealers, discounters, and regional broker-dealers all gained, while institutional firms, banks, insurance broker-dealers and wirehouses saw net losses.

LPL Financial, Fidelity Brokerage Services and Cambridge Investment Research were leaders in recruitment gains. See:LPL Financial hires new 'digital' head of recruiting -- IBM exec Scott Posner -- after the old school approach was leaking oil

Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Clearing Services and Edward Jones led for net recruiting losses, according to InvestmentNews. See:Timing of Morgan Stanley's Broker Protocol withdrawal sends shocks through RIA legal and recruiting circles

A lot of advisors are accustomed to a 30-minute commute. But, weve been working from home for the past 9-10 months and now they realize that going independent means they can have the flexibility to work from home, Clarke says.

Working from home may in fact be an additional nudge to advisors to leave their current firms for separate reasons than just the commute, Diamond says.

"They're beginning to question why they're paying so much money to the firms and working at home helped them realizethey were more independent than they thought they were," he explains.

In 2020, Clarke says his firm helped 100 advisors breakaway, a 20% decline, from the previous year. He blames the COVID-19 pandemic and not RIA recruiters.

"The pandemic has really slowed down the movement of advisors to existing firms to a new firm," he says. "The pandemic has made it difficult to transfer accounts and have meetings.

"There is a big pent up demand for advisers who are ready to make a break, but we are waiting until the vaccine has been distributed.

"This pent-up demand will manifest over the next 18 to 24 months. They'll not all make the break in July, August, or September, but you'll see it happen over time," Clarke says.

The pandemic has changed advisors' circumstances and it's possible they may feel even more energized about leaving, Clarke says.

While the pandemic has been disruptive to all, Pirker sayshe suspects breakaways will do better than they did in the 2008-2009 financial crisis. For instance, many financial firms had difficult reputations during the financial crisis.

A lot of firms had brand damage then and were in the news about being rescued and that was a burden. This hadnt happened this time around.

"I dont think the breakaway model has fundamentally changed. If someone wants to be independent nothing has really changed. Its just the logistics and timing that has changed, he explains.

Clarke says he's not going to let another year pass where he entrusts such a vital sales process to third parties.

The Omaha, Neb.,software company, with $1.4 trillion in administered assets, will hold two events -- including an in-person confab. The express purpose is to pick up the slack after reliance on the recruiting community last year came up short.

The first "Breakaway Boot Camp" will be held,April 7,virtually on Zoom. Advisorscan turn off their camerashouldthey wish to remain anonymous, Clarke says.

The agenda for the April event will feature a keynote presentation from Downtown Josh Brown.

"I'm not being paid, Orion supports us and I support them at conferences and stuff. We love their products and services. They asked me a favor and I said sure," Brown said.

Other A-list speakers include Clarke andShannon Spotswood of RFG Advisory.

Joel Bruckenstein, founder of the T3 Conference, will discuss technology andBrian Hamburger of MarketCounsel Consulting will discussemployment transition, regulatory complianceand business launch.

The second event will be in-person in Omaha, Neb.,June 30. Bothevents are free.

Of course, Orion is now positioned for a much higher yield on recruiting. It wrapped up a merger with Brinker Capital Investments and creating a $44 billion AUM TAMP.

Orion works with more than 2,100 advisory firms and it can gain directly from tuck-in recruits to those firms. See:With Envestnet-Yodlee showing no let-up, Orion Advisor Services and Brinker Capital race to close merger in just three months, a leap toward 'unstoppable,' both organically and inorganically

Orion's boot camps will be a prelude to its more all-purposeAscent 2021 event at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

"We thought we'd help these advisors by getting out in front of it with options to consider," Clarke says.

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Orion will woo breakaway brokers with two events-- an unusual move for a software firm-- after missing the boat on 2020 recruiting in a tough pandemic...

Shazam Dolly Parton and Get Up to Five Free Months of Apple Music – MacRumors

Apple is offering up to a five-month free trial of Apple Music to new users of the streaming service, in a unique partnership with country music singer Dolly Parton.

The song "5 to 9," a new spin on her hit classic "9 to 5," was played as part of a Super Bowl commercial for Squarespace. Parton posted details of the promotion on her Twitter account.

Users who missed the opportunity to Shazam the commercial can still take advantage of the free trial by following the link included in Parton's tweet.

Apple usually offers up to a three-month free trial of Apple Music to users who haven't subscribed to the service before, so this latest promotion represents one of its better deals. According to Apple, the promotional codes for this offer expire on March 31, 2021.

If after activating the deal you're not convinced, you can cancel your Apple Music subscription without losing your access to the service for the duration of the trial.

Shazam is a free download from the App Store [Direct Link].

(Via 9to5Mac.)

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Shazam Dolly Parton and Get Up to Five Free Months of Apple Music - MacRumors

Government censorship threats over TikTok spiked interest in VPNs – ZDNet

TikTok, the video-sharing social network, drove a lot of interest from consumers last year. It also piqued their interest in Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), according to new research.

The research by Brooklyn, NY-based security advisors Security.org found that interest in VPNs was directly correlated with newsworthy events.

The company measured the amount of web traffic in a day compared to the average web traffic of a week prior to the date and correlated this with significant events during 2020.

VPN technology is used for various reasons. It can be used to create a secure channel to communicate with the workplace protecting sensitive business information, to bypass government restrictions, or to hide activity from Internet Service Providers amongst others.

Almost one in 10 US adult VPN users cite whistleblowing, activism, or bypassing government or organization restrictions as a reason for use of VPN technology.

Security.org's research showed that interest in VPN technology tends to increase significantly whenever there is a newsworthy event that impacts travel, or internet usage, or impacts working from home environments.

On March 22020, the first deaths due to COVID-19 were reported, leading to an increase in VPN interest of 99 percent compared with average web traffic the week before..

On March 24 2020 when the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was announced, there was a 78 percent increase in consumers' VPN interest.

This was due to people looking to secure their at-home networks for the possibility of stay-at-home orders and working from home due to the pandemic.

On August 13, average consumer interest in VPNs increased by 74 percent when President Trump proposed a ban on TikTok in August 2020. Interest also spiked by 34% on September 20th - the day the TikTok ban was said to start.

When internet censorship is threatened, average consumer interest in VPNs increases, and consumers flock to buy routers like the GL.iNet Beryl router which has VPN software built in to the router.

A VPN will allow people to access the internet in countries where restrictions are in place. Countries with levels of internet censorship can bypass firewalls to get to otherwise-restricted content.

As restrictions on free content continue to grow, I think that more and more of us will switch to VPN technology. We can then ensure that we have the freedom to access the content we want to and to communicate as if there were no restrictions at all wherever we happen to live.

The rest is here:
Government censorship threats over TikTok spiked interest in VPNs - ZDNet

Agriculture Analytics Market to Reach $2.27 billion by 2027- Exclusive Report Covering Pre and Post COVID-19 Market Analysis and Forecast by…

London, Feb. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meticulous Research leading global market research company published a research report titled Agriculture Analytics Market by Component (Solutions, Services), Application (Farm, Livestock, Aquaculture, and Others), Deployment (Cloud, On-premise), Farm Size (Small and Medium-sized Farms, Large Farms), and Geography- Global Forecast to 2027.

DownloadFree Sample Report Now @https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5132

According to this latest publication from Meticulous Research, the agriculture analytics market is expected to reach $2.27 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 17.5% during the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. The rise in population with an increase in demand for high-quality food products is a major factor influencing the growth of the agriculture analytics market. Moreover, the growing adoption of smart technologies to enable precision agriculture and increasing AI and predictive analytics to improve the yield offer significant growth opportunities for agriculture analytics market players. However, the fragmented agriculture industry and heavy capital investment are expected to restrict this market's growth to some extent.

On the other hand, lack of technical know-how among farmers and lack of standardization for data management and data aggregation in the agriculture industry are the key challenges of this market. The increasing number of start-up companies in the agro-tech industry is the major trend observed in the agriculture analytics market.

Based on component, the agriculture analytics market is broadly segmented into software and services. In 2020, the software segment accounted for the largest share of the overall agriculture analytics market. This segment's large share is mainly attributed to the growing demand for high-quality food products that enable farmers to solve a new type of challenges with modern analytics techniques and approach traditional problems in modern ways.

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Based on application, the agriculture analytics market is segmented into farm analytics, livestock analytics, aquaculture analytics, and other applications. In 2020, the farm analytics segment commanded the largest share of the overall agriculture analytics market. This segment's growth is primarily accredited to farmers' growing traction on precision agriculture, enabling them to use modern technology for numerous agricultural applications. However, the livestock analytics segment is projected to witness the highest growth rate over the forecast period. Demand for livestock products is witnessing a consistent surge. This is putting tremendous pressure to derive output of limited livestock.

Based on deployment type, the agriculture analytics market is segmented into on-premise and cloud-based. In 2020, the cloudbased segment held the largest share of the overall agriculture analytics market. This is primarily attributed to easy accessibility, less maintenance, affordable pricing, and reliable security provided by cloud-based solutions.

Based on farm size, the agriculture analytics market is segmented into small and medium-sized farms and large-sized farms. In 2020, the large-sized farms segment accounted for the largest share of the overall agriculture analytics market. The large share of the segment is mainly attributed to the increasing spending on data-driven technologies to optimize productivity. However, the small-sized farms segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. Shrinkage of arable lands and convergence of large-sized farms into small-sized farms are the major factors driving agricultural analytics growth. Furthermore, growing awareness about the government's analytics and subsidies for the agriculture sector's digitalization also helps the small-sized farm segment.

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Based on geography, the agriculture analytics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa with further country level analysis in each region. In 2020, North America commanded the largest share of the global agriculture analytics market. The market growth in North America is majorly attributed to the rising demand for quality food and shrinking arable land, followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period. The rapid growth of this region is mainly driven by rapidly developing economies, rising disposable incomes, rapid infrastructure development, growing proliferation of cloud computing and smartphones, rising number of government initiatives, and the growing sense of responsibility towards the environment.

Some of the leading companies operating in the global agriculture analytics market are from the core technology background. These include Deere and Company (U.S.), SAP SE (Germany), and Bayer AG (Germany), among others. These companies lead the market due to their strong brand recognition, diverse product portfolio, strong distribution & sales network, and strong organic & inorganic growth strategies. Key players operating in the agriculture analytics market are Accenture (Ireland), AgEagle Aerial Systems (U.S.), Agrivi (U.K.), aWhere, Inc. (U.S.), Conservis Corporation (U.S.), Deere & Company (U.S.), DeLaval, Inc. (Switzerland), DTN (U.S.), Farmer's Business Network, Inc. (U.S.), Farmers Edge, Inc. (Canada), GEOSYS Intl, Inc. (U.S.), IBM Corporation (U.S.), Oracle Corporation (U.S.), SAP (Germany), and Trimble, Inc. (U.S.) among others.

To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here:https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/agriculture-analytics-market-5132

Scope of the report:

Agriculture Analytics Market, By Component

Agriculture Analytics Market, By Application

Agriculture Analytics Market, By Deployment Type

Agriculture Analytics Market, By Farm Size

Agriculture Analytics Market, By Region

DownloadFree Sample Report Now @https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5132

Amidst this crisis, Meticulous Researchis continuously assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sub-markets and enables global organizations to strategize for the post-COVID-19 world and sustain their growth. Let us know if you would like to assess the impact of COVID-19 on any industry here-https://www.meticulousresearch.com/custom-research

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About Meticulous Research

Meticulous Research was founded in 2010 and incorporated as Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2013 as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Since its incorporation, the company has become the leading provider of premium market intelligence in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The name of our company defines our services, strengths, and values. Since the inception, we have only thrived to research, analyze and present the critical market data with great attention to detail. With meticulous primary and secondary research techniques, we have built strong capabilities in data collection, interpretation, and analysis of data including qualitative and quantitative research with the finest team of analysts. We design our meticulously analyzed intelligent and value-driven syndicate market research reports, custom studies, quick turnaround research, and consulting solutions to address business challenges of sustainable growth.

Contact:Mr. Khushal BombeMeticulous ResearchDirect Lines: +1-646-781-8004 (North America)+44-203-868-8738 (Europe)+91 744-7780008 (Asia-Pacific)Email-sales@meticulousresearch.comVisit Our Website:https://www.meticulousresearch.com/Connect with us on LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-researchContent Source:https://www.meticulousresearch.com/pressrelease/40/agriculture-analytics-market-2027

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Agriculture Analytics Market to Reach $2.27 billion by 2027- Exclusive Report Covering Pre and Post COVID-19 Market Analysis and Forecast by...

Jiobit launches an improved version of its kid (or pet) tracker, the Jiobit Next – TechCrunch

A Chicago-based startup, Jiobit, wanted to make a better child location tracker than the bulky smartwatches and other insecurely designed products already on the market. So in 2018, it launched its own modular kid tracker a small dongle of sorts that could be tied to shoelaces, belt loops or school backpacks, for example. Today, the company is out with a new generation of this device, the Jiobit Next, which aims to improve accuracy, battery life, reliability and more.

The company says it took its two years of learning and customer feedback into account when developing the new design, which is today used not only by parents, but also by pet owners.

The updated version of the Jiobit, now $129.99, is a small device that weighs less than four quarter coins, and includes a combination of radios Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular and GPS as well as sensors, including an accelerometer/pedometer, temperature sensor and barometer.

Image Credits: Jiobit

The upgraded version now includes a new antenna system designed to increase performance inside schools, stores, high rises and other challenging signal environments, the company claims.

It also leverages the reach of low-power, wide-area (LPWA) wireless networks in order to better serve rural regions where cellular coverage is limited and spotty. This allows the device to still be tracked when outside of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth mesh networks.

The new Jiobit is also waterproof (IPX8) up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes and includes an alert button that instantly notifies loved ones that the user is lost or in danger. This button can be customized through the Jiobit app as to which family members will receive the alert, or it can even be turned off which may be useful if the child is too young to understand how to use it.

Jiobit owners can continue to monitor the device through the app or now, a web app that includes alerting and notification controls. This opens up the service to more than just families it could be used by organizations to deploy Jiobit into the field.

Like some software-based tracking apps, the device supports features like Trusted Places, which are geofenced areas where you expect the device to be at certain times, like school or maybe a doggie day care. When the device is not in a Trusted Place, you can enable Live Mode to watch its movement in real time.

Image Credits: Jiobit

Another improvement focuses on battery life. The upgraded version offers 50% longer battery life than the prior version, the company says. Under typical use cases, the Jiobit will last up to 10 days between charges, though it lasts longer when on standby and not in active use. (That may be why pet owners are seeing slightly longer battery life of 10-20 days, for instance.)

The original idea for Jiobit had come about because founder John Renaldi, a previous VP at Motorola, was shocked to find that most child trackers on the market were storing their certificate keys in the clear and were hackable. He wanted to build a more secure alternative, and brought on co-founder and CTO Roger Ady, a previous director of engineering at Motorola, to help.

Today, the Jiobit has its own dedicated security chip to communicate with the companys servers, and uses its AES-256 Jiobit TrustChip technology to encrypt data both at rest and in transit with TLS1.2 encryption. It also refuses to download any software thats not cryptographically signed by Jiobit in order to prevent malware or other rogue software from being installed.

Image Credits: Jiobit

The service itself, meanwhile, is compliant with U.S. childrens privacy regulations (COPPA).

The new Jiobit Next will work only within the U.S., while the first generation works internationally across 146 countries. But both will continue to be supported by way of subscriptions. Users can choose between a two-year subscription plan ($8.99/month), a six-month subscription plan ($12.99/month) or a month-to-month subscription plan ($14.99/month). These dont require a cellular plan or SIM card from your existing carrier, like other child trackers and smartwatches.

To date, the startup says its raised $12 million in outside investment, including from Netgear and other Midwest VC firms. Jiobit isnt disclosing how many devices it has sold to date, specifically, but says its in the mid-five-figure range.

The new device is on pre-order starting today and will be sold later this month on its website, and then Amazon, Chewy and Target. It has also partnered with family tracking app Life360 to offer special pricing.

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Jiobit launches an improved version of its kid (or pet) tracker, the Jiobit Next - TechCrunch