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Unit4 Extends FP&A Solution with New AI-Powered Forecasting and Planning Capabilities, Designed for Mid-Market Organizations

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Unit4, a cloud leader in enterprise software for services organizations, today announced the latest version of Unit4 Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), including new capabilities enabling finance teams to more intelligently forecast and plan, helping organizations make better decisions more quickly and effectively.

While many vendors offer AI-powered solutions today, Unit4’s new tool, Smart Forecaster, extends intelligent forecasting to business users across the enterprise. This new capability leverages Artificial Intelligence to help finance teams forecast more frequently and accurately by using historic data combined with influence factors and scenarios. Smart Forecaster is available to customers through Unit4’s early adopter program.

In addition to Smart Forecaster, the company announced the availability of Solution Builder, a tool that provides quick modeling capabilities, which enables finance teams to respond to new business needs and requirements such as cost center calculations, changes in P&L, or scenario planning in a secure offline environment. Once complete, the tool easily and securely transfers some or all of the elements into the live production system as determined by the user.

Also, in this new release, Unit4 FP&A delivers enhanced dashboarding and visualization capabilities that will help finance teams create reports for non-finance users with flexible, easy-to-understand business intelligence translating into actionable insights and solid, data-driven decision making.

Companies such as Swiss Life, Villeroy & Boch, UK-based Magnox and Swiss-based retailer Migros Aare have selected Unit4 FP&A to drive their critical forecasting and planning requirements.

“The fact that we can now rely on one single version of the truth saves us a lot of time. Previously, we had to double and triple-check a multitude of Excel lists. Now we can use this time to focus on the contents of our data as well as further analysis”, says Pascal Speicher, Corporate Financial Controller & CPM Project Leader, Villeroy & Boch.

Unit4 FP&A, a competitively priced solution for mid-market people-centric services organizations, frees your team to spend more time delivering insights and creating value for the business. We help you more comprehensively understand the numbers and then turn that insight into action for better business results. We do this by combining automated, AI-driven planning, forecasting, reporting and analytics with highly interactive dashboards and powerful, pre-configured models to leverage better decision making. Unit4 customers realize a quicker time-to-value through the ready-to-use business content built into the solution; functionality that is not available from other vendors in the market today.  The solution is available standalone or fully integrated in the company’s People Experience Suite which also includes ERP and HCM.

Gordon Stuart, CFO at Unit4, said: “Finance teams have always played a central role in helping set strategy and build plans by the nature of the function. With the onset of market changes as a result of COVID-19, the need now to evaluate and often reshape those plans, at a moment’s notice, has become core to what FP&A teams are asked to do. Unit4 FP&A with its new Smart Forecaster and Solution Builder functionality has armed them with the ability to do it quickly and accurately. And that, coupled with enhanced dashboarding and visualization capabilities, makes complex data-based information accessible and understandable to those that need to understand it and, in turn, expedites the decision-making process and velocity with which new or revised strategies are set in motion.”

At this week’s Experience 4U virtual global event, Unit4 FP&A customers DOF Group and Migros Aare were among the speakers, talking about their own experiences. DOF Group, a complex group organization providing subsea project and marine services, is enhancing ERP functionality with Unit4 FP&A to simplify, automate and align its business and financial planning processes. Migros Aare, a cooperative of Switzerland’s largest retail company, Migros, uses an innovative way of forecasting on a per-day and per-store level with Unit4 FP&A, that makes the lives of store managers easier and helps the company achieve a higher accuracy for its annual budgeting. The sessions are available to watch here.

Artificial Intelligence

Elevate Your Virtual Reality Experience with KIWI design RGB Vertical Stand, Now Available on Meta’s Website

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LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Top-tier VR accessories provider KIWI design has launched its latest product, the RGB Vertical Stand. This Meta-authorized accessory, designed to deepen users’ immersion in the metaverse, is now available on the official Meta website.

“KIWI design’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of virtual reality accessories takes another leap forward with the introduction of our new products,” said Ray,the CEO of KIWI design. “We are always dedicated to bringing innovative upgrades to VR device accessories, with the goal of enriching users’ virtual reality experiences.”
The newly launched RGB Vertical Stand features a user-friendly modular design with push-in assembly, making it easy to set up and use. It is compatible with Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, and Quest Pro, ensuring widespread usability. With a magnetic USB Type-C connector, it provides an effortless way to charge and display your headset. Users can also customize their display with 16 pre-set ambient multicolor RGB light options.
With VR technology constantly evolving, users are seeking more immersive experiences. As a leading manufacturer of VR accessories, KIWI design is committed to enhancing the user experience, through unique product designs. Since its establishment in 2015, KIWI design has acquired over 100 patents and has a diverse product lineup, including head straps, facial interfaces, VR stands, charging accessories, and controller grip covers.
KIWI design has also actively participated in the Made for Meta program, which is provided by Meta to strengthen its partnerships with leading brands to deliver accessories that enhance Meta products with more choice and a richer experience for everyone. KIWI design’s participation in this program validates its high-quality design standards.
The RGB Vertical Stand for Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, and Quest Pro and another specially designed authorized charging dock for the Meta  Oculus Quest 2 are now available for purchase on both KIWI design’s website and Amazon. For more information about our brand and products, please visit our website and follow KIWI design on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok.
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WIO Taps Gracenote to Revolutionize Television Broadcast Reporting

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LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — WIO LLC, parent company of the global TV broadcast airings platform, WIOpro™, has announced a new strategic agreement with Gracenote, the global content data business unit of Nielsen, to address the longstanding challenge of accurately tracking and collecting music royalties generated by broadcast television and digital programming, With this agreement, WIO will integrate Gracenote TV program metadata and show airings into its WIOpro™ (“When’s It On – Professional”) platform enabling performance rights organizations, copyright management organizations and other entities to better monitor broadcast schedules and identify when royalties have been earned.

By integrating Gracenote historical program data into WIOpro’s new LookBack™ feature, WIO is enhancing its reporting capabilities and empowering Collection Societies, Rights Management Companies and the royalty-earning community to more easily monitor and export broadcast airings and better understand collections opportunities.
“At WIO, we are committed to empowering collection societies and copyright holders around the world with our platform tools and unprecedented access to the best and most accurate television broadcast and streaming data available,” said Shawn Pierce, Co-Founder and CEO of WIO LLC. “We have enjoyed an incredible relationship with Gracenote for 10 years. With the solidification of this agreement, we are able to deliver an unrivaled dataset to the royalty and residual community in a way that has not been offered before.” said Adam Shafron, Co-Founder and CTO of WIO LLC.
“WIO’s platform developed to solve the difficult matter of royalty tracking only becomes more powerful based on the integration of accurate, timely and comprehensive Gracenote metadata,” said Scott Monahan, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Gracenote. “We look forward to the combination of WIOpro’s technology and Gracenote’s program metadata delivering on the promise of transforming music royalty collection so that rights holders can be fairly compensated for use of their work.”
WIO and Gracenote will be at the MusicBiz 2024 conference in Nashville, TN May 13 – 16. Contact Dave Pelman, COO of WIO LLC at [email protected] for media queries or to book an appointment for a product demonstration.
About WIO:WIO is a technology company dedicated to providing broadcast television and digital programming data tailored specifically for the royalty and residual collection industry. Through its platform WIOpro (wiopro.com), users obtain access to real-time broadcast insights, reporting and curated data delivery.
About Gracenote:Gracenote is the content data business unit of Nielsen providing entertainment metadata, connected IDs and related offerings to the world’s leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music, podcasts and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler.
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IDTechEx Explores Printed Electronics in Electrified and Autonomous Mobility

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BOSTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Electrification, autonomy, and vehicle ownership saturation are causing a technological revolution in the automotive sector. These automotive meta-trends are driving drastic changes in electronic component requirements and present a high-volume opportunity for printed electronics to capitalize on.

Historically, printed electronics technologies have nurtured a close relationship with the automotive sector, with printed force sensors pioneering passenger safety through seat occupancy and seatbelt detection. As such, the automotive sector continues to represent the lion’s share of the global printed and flexible sensor market, which IDTechEx’s report on the topic evaluates as worth US$421M in 2024. However, if the automotive sector is to continue to be a reliable revenue stream, printed electronics technology providers must adapt to address the emerging technical challenges facing future mobility.
Augmenting autonomous vehicles with printed electronics
As vehicle autonomy levels advance, the increasing number and distribution of spatial mapping sensors required will need continuous performance improvements to ensure passenger safety. Emerging printed electronics technologies can augment these sensors, extending detection bandwidth and maximizing reliability during operation.
Transparent conductive films (TCFs) are being developed to heat and defog LiDAR sensor panels, ensuring the function is unperturbed by external environmental conditions. Properties such as high transparency and low haze are important for defogging. These properties can be easily tuned using the wide variety of material options available for TCFs, including carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires.
IDTechEx identifies printed heating as a leading application of transparent conductive films. This is attributed to diminishing growth prospects in capacitive touch sensing applications. Innovations in thin film coating techniques have enabled indium tin oxide (ITO) to dominate touch sensing applications, all but displacing TCFs completely.
Looking towards the future, printed electronics technologies could play a more active role in advanced autonomous driving. Emerging semiconductive materials, such as quantum dots, printed directly onto conventional silicon image sensor arrays can extend detection range and sensitivity deeper into the infrared region. Augmenting existing image sensor technology with enhanced spectral range could facilitate the competition of hybrid silicon sensors with established InGaAs detectors.
Printed sensors promise granularized battery health monitoring
Vehicle electrification is driving the sustained development and evolution of electronic management systems, particularly in the battery and electric drivetrain. A strong market pull exists for technologies that increase vehicle efficiency, range, and lifetime while reducing recharge times.
Printed pressure and temperature sensors measure battery cell swelling and thermal profiles, providing granularized physical data that can be used to optimize battery deployment and recharging. Moreover, hybrid printed sensors that combine integrated printed heating elements promise a solution to actively address battery temperature. IDTechEx estimates that printed sensor-enabled battery deployment and charging optimizations could be worth up to US$3000 in savings per vehicle.
There remains uncertainty about whether electrification trends will correspond to increased demand for physical sensors in electric vehicle batteries, owing to the utility of existing electronic readouts for managing deployment. Virtual sensors also pose a threat, where AI-enabled software models interpret data to predict and emulate physical sensor functions without the need for discreet components. However, emerging regulations regarding safety and sensor redundancy will likely favor measurable metrics and see automotive makers continue to adopt physical sensors. IDTechEx predicts that virtual sensors are unlikely to displace their physical counterparts – so long as low-cost sensors remain widely available.
Embedding printed electronics in the car of the future
IDTechEx predicts that global car sales will saturate over the next decade, with automakers increasingly looking for premium features and technical innovations to differentiate themselves from the competition. In-cabin technologies will be highly desirable – as the location where passengers reside and interact with the vehicle the most.
Lighting elements are emerging as a prominent differentiator, described as “the new chrome” by Volkswagen’s chief designer. The use of in-mold structural electronics (IMSE) enables the integration of embedded lighting elements using existing manufacturing processes. 3D electronics technologies are intrinsically attractive for automotive integration, as functional layers are conformable and lightweight while easily embedded within existing aesthetic elements.
Despite strong tailwinds, the adoption of in-mold electronics within automotive interiors has been sluggish. This is attributed to the challenges of meeting automotive qualification requirements, as well as stiff competition with less sophisticated alternatives such as applying functional films to thermoformed parts. Nevertheless, momentum is building, with technology providers like Tactotek partnering with Mercedes-Benz and Stallantis to progress the automotive validation of IMSE to TRL5.
Outlook for printed electronics in automotive applications
Just as printed force sensors heralded early passenger safety systems, printed electronics technology is poised to underpin next-generation innovations for the car of the future. But this time, the competition will be stiff. Critical cost requirements must be met, while desirable new functionality must address existing challenges faced by manufacturers. Printed electronics can play a role in supporting emerging electrified and autonomous mobility, such as augmenting LiDAR sensors or optimizing electric battery deployment. Demand for technologies that enhance passenger experience and vehicle aesthetics will continue to grow, and printed electronics can supply low-power, lightweight lighting solutions for these.
Sustained engagement from tier suppliers and manufacturers continues to make the automotive sector key to printed sensor market growth opportunities – a total market IDTechEx predicts will reach US$960M by 2034. Strong partnerships between material providers and printed electronics technology providers are complementary to those of the highly vertically integrated automotive value chains between tier suppliers and OEMs. Leveraging printing techniques to provide solutions that slot into existing manufacturing processes and designs will be crucial. In the medium term, the printed electronics technologies most likely to realize revenue potential are those that can adapt to service emerging challenges already known to the automotive industry.
For more information on IDTechEx’s research on this topic, please see their report, “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2024-2034: Technologies, Players, Markets”. Downloadable sample pages are available for this report.
For the full portfolio of printed and flexible electronics market research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/PE.
About IDTechEx:
IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com. 
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Media Contact:
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