Apple details progress and new initiatives in latest Supplier Responsibility Report

Apple has realeased their latest Supplier Responsibility Report in an ongoing effort to ensure improved education and health awareness for suppliers and their workers. Of note in this latest report is the effort to bring preventivr health programs focused on educating women workers aimed at 1 million Apple suppliers around the world.

Education is also a focus for Apple who is bringing a wide range of classes to workers in the supply chain. Offering them the opportunity to learn within their work environment.

"Apple launched a first of its kind new program to provide vocational training to give students the skills they need to be factory line leaders, graduates are guaranteed an internship with an Apple supplier. To date, 2.5m people have taken classes, which range from language skills up to university degrees, and since 2007, 12,000 people have graduated with a university degree," Apple said in a statement.

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ecobee closes $80 million funding round

Smart home innovator ecobee Inc. announced that it has closed on an $80 million CAD Series C funding round led by Energy Impact Partners, followed by eight institutional investors including Thomvest, Relay Ventures, and the Amazon Alexa Fund. This funding will allow ecobee to build upon its suite of smart home technologies connected by whole-home-voice control, sensor technology and artificial intelligence. It brings ecobee’s total funding to approximately $190 million to-date.

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Twitter Canada to live stream the Paralympic Winter Games starting Friday March 9

Twitter Canada announced a live streaming partnership for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. This one is unique as it’s exclusive to Canada so will only be viewable on Twitter in Canada. 

The live Paralympic action will be available to Canadians on Twitter starting Friday, March 9 and running through Sunday, March 18th. 

This will include a daily Canadian recap show from CBC and event action (both live streaming via the @CDNParalympics and @CDNParalympique Twitter accounts) This is the link where the English language content will be streaming.

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Deezer comes to Amazon Alexa and Sonos One smart speakers

Deezer is making at-home listening even more accessible for music lovers around the world by launching for Amazon Alexa. Deezer will be available on Amazon Echo devices as well as other devices that support Alexa such as Sonos One, Ultimate Ears BLAST and MEGABLAST among others.

Deezer Premium+* users in the UK can harness the power of their own voice for the ultimate lean-back audio experience including direct access to Flow, a personal soundtrack that combines smart data and editorial recommendations to play a continuous stream of music specifically tailored for the individual listener. Alexa will also be able to identify and play music based on specific genres and moods.

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