8X8 BAGS 2026 METRISTAR TOP PROVIDER FOR CPAAS BY METRIGY

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Global business communications platform provider, 8x8 Inc has been named a 2026 MetriStar Top Provider for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) by Metrigy, an independent research and advisory firm.

The CPaaS recognition is part of a broader result in Metrigy’s 2026 MetriStar Award programme, with 8x8 also receiving the MetriStar Top Provider recognition for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS).

“Most of the companies we work with are not just looking for a messaging API; they need the whole chain: campaign management, AI, analytics, and a contact centre that talks to all of it.

“This recognition from Metrigy validates our approach helping organisations improve customer satisfaction, drive growth, and simplify operations at scale,” said 8x8 General Manager, CPaaS, Sylvain Chaperon in a statement.

The awards are based on Metrigy’s Customer Experience MetriCast 2026 study, which surveyed 1,437 customer experience (CX) leaders across 10 countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

8x8 achieved above-average scores on both business success and customer sentiment, with particular strength in CSAT improvement, revenue growth, platform reliability, and no-code/low-code application quality.

Metrigy highlighted 8x8's integrated communications portfolio as a key differentiator, noting that the company is among a small number of vendors offering CPaaS, CCaaS, and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) within a single platform.

The research also highlighted 8x8's approach to treating CPaaS not as a standalone developer toolkit but as a programmable layer across the CX stack, expanding customer engagement capabilities beyond the contact centre to sales, field service, and frontline teams.

-- BERNAMA

NIPPON KINZOKU LAUNCHES DECORATIVE STAINLESS STEEL FINISHES FOR EXTERIOR USE

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- Nippon Kinzoku Co Ltd, a manufacturer of cold-rolled stainless steel, has introduced its new "Decorative Stainless Steel Finishes for Exterior Use".

The premium cold-rolled stainless steel strips, widely used in automotive mouldings and telecommunications enclosures, are designed to help manufacturers eliminate post-processing steps while significantly reducing their environmental footprint.

According to Nippon Kinzoku in a statement, the new product line offers a wide range of aesthetic options for automotive exterior trims and housings for smartphones and personal computers.

The company said its core strength lies in its "coil-to-coil" continuous processing technology, refined through decades of cold-rolling expertise, enabling it to deliver unique designs, consistent quality and high productivity.

The decorative finish is integrated directly into the material, eliminating the need for secondary polishing, painting and surface treatments, resulting in higher production yields and lower overall production costs.

In addition, the product line also helps reduce environmental impact by minimising carbon dioxide emissions through streamlined manufacturing processes. As an "Eco-Product", it supports the global transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050.

The company said standard 2D (annealed and pickled) and 2B (skin-passed) finishes are also available while offering customised combinations of different finishes to create bespoke textures.

-- BERNAMA

ATON LAUNCHES AI-POWERED FAMILY SAFETY PLATFORM AMID BULLYING CONCERNS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 (Bernama) -- ATON Inc has launched FamGuard, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered family safety platform designed to help parents monitor children's digital activities and identify potential signs of online risks, as concerns over school bullying and cyberbullying continue to grow in Singapore.

The launch comes amid heightened public attention to child safety following the widely reported Sengkang Green Primary School bullying case, which sparked broader discussions on student protection and the early identification of behavioural warning signs.

ATON said FamGuard combines real-time location tracking with AI-powered Conversation Insights and Friend Scoring to help parents better understand changes in their children's communication patterns and social interactions, enabling earlier conversations when unusual behaviour is detected.

“Technology cannot replace parents, but it can help families stay connected earlier and start conversations sooner,” an ATON representative said in a statement.

The platform also offers parental control features, including Screen Time Management, App Usage Monitoring and App Controls, to help families encourage healthier digital habits and oversee smartphone usage.

The company said growing use of messaging applications, social media and online group interactions has broadened expectations for family safety services beyond location tracking to include greater visibility into children's digital environments and behavioural patterns.

The launch follows research indicating that one in four upper primary school students in Singapore has experienced bullying, while many parents remain concerned about children's exposure to cyberbullying and other online risks.

ATON said FamGuard was developed to support families seeking additional tools to strengthen digital safety while complementing parental engagement and communication.

-- BERNAMA

Abaxx Exchange Trading Volume Jumps 582 Pct In Second Year

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Abaxx Technologies Inc (Abaxx) announced that Abaxx Exchange has surpassed one million futures contracts traded year-to-date as it marked the second anniversary of the Singapore-based commodity exchange.

In a statement, the company said trading volume reached nearly 1.1 million contracts as of June 25, 2026, representing an increase of about 582 per cent from the 160,854 contracts traded in the full year 2025.

According to Abaxx, average daily trading volume rose to 17,665 contracts in June 2026 from 638 contracts per day in 2025, while daily open interest increased to 1,411 from 235 over the same period.

The company said the exchange has launched 18 futures contracts across seven markets since trading began in June 2024, covering liquefied natural gas (LNG), battery materials, precious metals, weather-linked products and environmental markets.

Abaxx said the exchange also recorded several milestones, including its first carbon, nickel sulphate, lithium carbonate and Germany Onshore Wind futures block trades, as well as its first deliveries under carbon and gold futures contracts.

The company added that Abaxx Exchange has continued expanding its ecosystem, with seven clearing firms, 22 brokers and 11 independent software vendors currently connected to the platform.

Abaxx said the exchange also secured regulatory recognition in key markets, including registration as a Foreign Board of Trade by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission in November 2025 and registration as an Organised Market Place with the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators in April 2026.

-- BERNAMA

Spain Tops Summer 2026 Business Travel Destinations: Holafly Study

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Spain is the leading destination for business travellers this summer, followed by Japan and the United States, according to Holafly's Summer Travel & eSIM Report 2026.

The company said Spain continues to attract both business and leisure travellers at scale, while Japan's ranking reflects its growing importance in the Asia-Pacific business landscape.

The United States ranked third, followed by France, with Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Greece completing the top 10 destinations.

Holafly for Business Vice President, Alex Bryzowski said business travel is increasingly influenced by destinations that combine economic relevance with accessibility, infrastructure and international appeal.

“Business travel today is about much more than attending meetings,” he said in a statement.

According to the report, the UAE remains one of the few destinations whose appeal is driven primarily by business activity, supported by its position as a regional hub for finance, technology, trade and international events.

The report said the findings reflect a shift in business travel patterns as professionals increasingly seek destinations that support both work and lifestyle amid more flexible working arrangements.

Holafly is a global eSIM provider offering digital connectivity solutions for leisure and business travellers in destinations worldwide.

-- BERNAMA

Autheo Introduces the Internet Operating System: A Decentralized Coordination Layer for the Web, Blockchain, and AI

Five years in the making, Autheo is launching its decentralized operating system on Mainnet — after public testnet adoption surpassed 1.8 million wallets, nearly 1 million smart contracts, and 8.8 million transactions

SHERIDAN, Wyo., June 30 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autheo today launched the Mainnet of its decentralized operating system — a coordination layer enabling the Web, Web3, AI agents, and crypto applications to interoperate natively, with post-quantum security for digital identity, tokens, smart contracts, and agentic AI.

THE COORDINATION LAYER THE INTERNET NEVER HAD

Today’s blockchain landscape is fragmented — Web2, Web3, AI agents, and crypto applications cannot interoperate natively, and cross-chain bridges operate at the bridging layer. Autheo provides a coordination and execution layer where Web services, blockchain networks, and AI agents coordinate natively on a common identity, messaging, and execution surface, anchored by an on-chain, quantum-resistant trust and identity layer for agentic AI.

“We didn’t set out to build just another network,” said Scott Bayless, Managing Director and co-founder of Autheo. “We set out to find the right relation between the ones we already have. A body has many parts. A city is many trades. The Internet today is many systems — each doing its work, none of them moving as one. With Mainnet now live, Autheo is the layer where the web, the chain, and the agent can finally work together.”

FOUNDED BY LONG-TIME COLLABORATORS

Founded in July 2021 by Todd Mortenson and Scott Bayless, Autheo was built around four architectural foundations: TheoID (W3C-compliant DID for users, services, and AI agents); PQCNet (post-quantum framework on NIST standards: ML-KEM, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA); a sovereign Cosmos SDK Layer 0 with native IBC interoperability; and an integrated EVM-compatible Layer 1 execution environment, operating as a Proof-of-Stake with delegated staking and licensed validators, secured by block finality through CometBFT consensus (“Proof of Autheo”). Engineering is led by CEngO Kenneth Harper, with contributors across MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Caltech. Audits: Halborn (testnet) and CertiK (Mainnet). Partners include Zeeve, InfStones, Hydrex, Halborn, CertiK, TrustSwap, Team.Finance, and Utila.

TESTNET ADOPTION HAS COMPOUNDED

Autheo’s public testnet went live in 2025 and attracted 350,000 wallets and 60,000 smart contracts over its first twelve months. Following the May 12, 2026 Mainnet Phase 1 announcement, adoption accelerated: wallet addresses grew more than 5x and smart contracts more than 15x in the 45 days since. Cumulative totals:
1,812,088 wallet addresses
968,502 smart contracts

(Figures per Autheo network data, June 24, 2026. Independently verifiable on the public testnet explorer: testnet-explorer.autheo.com · verified contracts.)


“Mainnet is live,” said Todd Mortenson, Managing Director and co-founder of Autheo. “The industry will be racing to retrofit post-quantum security ahead of NIST’s timeline — our developers won’t have to. We built PQC in from the ground up. One interface for Web services, on-chain protocols, and AI agents. One million human developers on-chain within three years. And the AI agents building alongside them? Orders of magnitude more. The coordination layer for that future is live today.”


WHAT’S NEXT

Developer access (Mainnet, live today):Docs: docs.autheo.com
Mainnet block explorer: evm-explorer.autheo.com
Chain ID: 2127 (0x84f)
Public RPC endpoints: rpc1.autheo.com · rpc2.autheo.com · rpc3.autheo.com
Testnet explorer (with verified-contract source): testnet-explorer.autheo.com

The THEO token is anticipated to list on Hydrex.fi in early July 2026. Core Node, Prime Node, and Sovereign Validator (399 NFT-licensed; 275 subscribed) programs at commerce.autheo.com.

The complete press release with extended technical detail is available at autheo.com/press.

ABOUT AUTHEO

Autheo is building the Internet operating system: a decentralized coordination layer for Web, blockchain, and AI agents, anchored by PQCNet (NIST post-quantum cryptography) and W3C DIDs. Addresses the convergence of AI, blockchain, and crypto — supporting agentic AI, tokenomics, enterprise blockchain, and on-chain digital sovereignty against quantum computing. autheo.com · @Autheo_Network.

MEDIA CONTACT

Ryan Teigen, Director of Product Marketing
Email: ryan@autheo.com · press@autheo.com · Phone: 608-713-1028
autheo.com · X: @Autheo_Network

Forward-looking statements: Certain statements in this release, including statements regarding anticipated network growth, partnerships, and roadmap, are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ. Autheo undertakes no obligation to update such statements except as required by law.

A video accompanying this release is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/99a95dde-f8e8-42d6-8e59-72d34724b7f9

SOURCE: Autheo LLC

DISCLAIMER: BERNAMA MREM are not accountable for any causes of website defacement, misuse, or illegal activities connected to cryptocurrency, blockchain, tokenisation, or bitcoin. This material should not be considered as guidance or an opinion, as it does not constitute financial or investment advice. Use this information at your own risk; we are not liable for any losses or damages caused by the republication of this article.

--BERNAMA

HI3D INTRODUCES AI-POWERED END-TO-END 3D PRINTING WORKFLOW

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Hi3D, an all-in-one artificial intelligence (AI) 3D maker platform, has introduced an end-to-end AI manufacturing workflow for 3D printing that automates tasks previously handled by professional modellers and experienced makers.

Using a Blokees-style mecha as an example, users enter a character concept and visual description, and Hi3D's Nano-Banana 2 image engine generates concept artwork optimised for 3D reconstruction, supporting consistent multi-view generation.

According to Hi3D in a statement, once the artwork is approved, its Sparc3D high-precision generation engine reconstructs a complete 3D model in approximately two minutes.

Hi3D generates watertight meshes optimised for physical manufacturing, unlike AI 3D tools that focus mainly on visualisation. Structural integrity, topology continuity, and printability are handled automatically, reducing cleanup work that previously took hours to minutes.

For large mecha models, print preparation is often more complex than creation, as models must typically be split into components to fit desktop printer build volumes, a process that traditionally requires manual work in software such as Blender or CAD.

However, Hi3D’s intelligent segmentation system automatically analyses models, separates them into printable components, and generates matching connector structures, including mortise-and-tenon joints and ball-joint assemblies.

Combined with Hi3D’s Press-Fit Tolerance system, which calculates assembly clearances based on printer specifications, nozzle size and material characteristics, printed parts can be assembled directly without extensive trial-and-error adjustments.

After model preparation, Hi3D enters the print setup stage. Its smart build plate optimisation system adjusts orientation and support strategies, prioritising surface quality for character figures while reducing support material and print time for mechanical components.

The final output is an enhanced 3MF file compatible with major slicing ecosystems. Using this workflow, the time required to transform an original Blokees-style mecha from a text prompt into a printable file can be reduced to around five minutes.

-- BERNAMA