Latest news with #AlexTaylor
Cision Canada
07-07-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
viaim Offers Prime Day Deals on AI-Powered Recording Tools for Global, Privacy-First Workflows
NEW YORK, July 7, 2025 /CNW/ -- AI workplace technology brand viaim has announced a global Prime Day promotion, offering at least 20 percent off across its entire product lineup from July 7 through July 19. The promotion features its flagship recording earbuds RecDot, the comfort-focused OpenNote, and the desktop companion NoteKit. Together, these tools form a seamless AI-powered productivity hardware suite built for multilingual, mobile, and high-compliance professional environments. More than just earbuds, these tools mark a step toward bringing AI into the everyday routines of global professionals. viaim hardware is engineered for real-time efficiency. Using FlashRecord, users can start recording immediately with a long press, without having to download any app or configure Bluetooth pairing, with all products supporting real-time transcription and translation in multiple languages. For time-strapped users, viaim's proprietary AI system automatically generates structured summaries and to-do lists based on meeting audio. This allows professionals to turn two hours of content into one minute of actionable output. By embedding intelligence directly into devices people already wear and trust, viaim is making AI practical, wearable, and truly personal. During Prime Day, customers can experience viaim's most advanced features through its three-device ecosystem. RecDot is a wireless AI recording earbud designed for professionals who need reliable, on-the-go capture of conversations and meetings. It delivers call and meeting recording with 48 decibels of hybrid noise cancellation and ergonomic controls. OpenNote is a long-wear headset built for all-day comfort and seamless transcription during travel or work. It lasts up to 53 hours and features AI-assisted meeting summaries and text clean-up, and a silicone loop design suitable for long-term wearers including glasses users. NoteKit is a lightweight USB audio recorder tailored for desktop setups and hybrid meetings that complements the suite by capturing high-fidelity audio in any computer-based setting and bridging gaps that traditional microphones often miss. viaim's vertical approach to product design is what sets it apart. Rather than offering generic features, viaim optimizes for professional needs such as cross-border meetings, multilingual project reviews, and sensitive industry use cases such as legal and healthcare. The entire ecosystem is built with privacy at its core. Recordings are encrypted and stored locally, with no cloud dependency. All devices meet HIPAA and GDPR data compliance standards, directly addressing concerns from 38.6 percent of users who worry about recording privacy, as shown in recent user surveys. Alex Taylor, a cross-border M&A consultant and part-time outdoor content creator, uses RecDot and NoteKit to manage over ten international meetings a week. He records compliant audit calls on the go, captures bilingual Zoom negotiations, and uses OpenNote to draft content while cycling coastal highways. In his words, the viaim setup gives him the freedom to work and create anywhere, without compromise. Ahead of Prime Day, Dr. Song Wang, Chief Technology Officer of viaim, emphasized the growing market demand: "Our research shows that North American users have increased their recording time by 120 percent year-over-year, yet over half of meeting value is still lost in disorganized notes. With viaim, clients in finance are closing compliance reporting 40 percent faster, and tech teams are making decisions 2.1 times more efficiently." viaim is an AI-driven technology company focused on intelligent workplace hardware for global professionals. With users in over 180 countries, viaim combines precision acoustics, real-time translation, and local-first data security to create tools that work across languages, industries, and time zones.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Floor & Decor Announces Grand Opening of Chula Vista, California Store
- Leading high-growth retailer specializing in hard-surface flooring offers homeowners and professionals the industry's broadest in-stock selection of tile, natural wood, natural stone and more, celebrates its new warehouse location in California - ATLANTA, June 26, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Floor & Decor (NYSE: FND), the leading high-growth retailer specializing in hard-surface flooring for homeowners and professionals, has announced the grand opening of its newest warehouse location in the San Diego area, at 394 East H Street in Chula Vista. The warehouse store and design center has opened with a team of approximately 30 full-time and part-time associates, and is led by Alex Taylor, the store's Chief Executive Merchant. Floor & Decor operates more than 250 warehouse-format stores and five design studios across 38 states and offers a broad assortment of in-stock hard-surface flooring, including tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone, along with decorative accessories and wall tile, installation materials, and adjacent categories at everyday low prices. "We're excited to bring Floor & Decor to Chula Vista," said Taylor. "For over 20 years, we've proudly supported professionals and homeowners across the country, and this new store is an incredible opportunity to extend that service to the San Diego area. We can't wait to join the community, meet our new neighbors, and help make their home improvement projects inspiring and cost-effective." In celebration of the grand opening, Floor & Decor is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 3, at 10:00am PT with the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce and the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce. Calling All Flooring & Home PROs Floor & Decor provides a comprehensive suite of services, and a rewards program tailored for professionals in the construction, renovation, and flooring industries through its PRO Services and PRO Premier Rewards Program. On Thursday, July 17, from 5:00pm-8:00pm PT, Floor & Decor invites all PROs in the Chula Vista area to an exclusive PRO Industry Networking Event, for a chance to win $10,000. Pros can visit to RSVP and register to win. During the event, visitors will get to meet the dedicated on-site PRO Services Team, who are there to assist and provide efficient service and support, just for Pros. Visitors will also get to interact with supplier representatives and learn about Floor & Decor's PRO services and industry-leading PRO Premier Rewards program. "Building relationships with our local professionals is very important to us. Their success is our success," said Taylor. $5,000 Floor Makeover Sweepstakes In addition, the Chula Vista Floor & Decor store will give away a $5,000 Floor Makeover* as part of its grand opening festivities. From June 26, 2025, through August 26, 2025, customers have the chance to register to win these prizes at Super Saturday & Crack the Code Following the grand opening, the Chula Vista Floor & Decor store will host a family-friendly Super Saturday* event on Saturday, July 12, from 10:00am to 2:00pm PT, to showcase local vendors and the new store to the San Diego community. Floor & Decor will partner with other local businesses to promote its new store opening while offering the first 200 customers a chance to win $100,000 from its Crack the Code* game. Customers will have the opportunity to enter a five-digit code of their choice to see if they crack the code and win $100,000. Stacy's Sugar Shop giving away sweet treats, and Caffe Tazza giving away coffee with fixings free for the first 200 customers. Store Facts & Features Location: 394 East H Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910 Regular store hours: Monday - Friday 7am-8pm, Saturday 8am-7pm, Sunday 10am-6pm PT Phone Number: (619) 494-1511 For more information on Floor & Decor, please visit or on Instagram at About Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. Floor & Decor is a multi-channel specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories and seller of commercial surfaces operating 254 warehouse-format stores and five design studios across 38 states as of March 27, 2025. The Company offers a broad in-stock assortment of laminate and vinyl, tile, wood, and natural stone flooring and installation materials and decorative accessories, as well as adjacent categories, at everyday low prices. The Company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. *Must be at least 18 years old to enter the $5,000 Floor Makeover and Crack the Code Sweepstakes. View source version on Contacts MEDIA CONTACT: Kristen MyersAgean Public 732-947-1366 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
26-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Floor & Decor Announces Grand Opening of Chula Vista, California Store
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Floor & Decor (NYSE: FND), the leading high-growth retailer specializing in hard-surface flooring for homeowners and professionals, has announced the grand opening of its newest warehouse location in the San Diego area, at 394 East H Street in Chula Vista. The warehouse store and design center has opened with a team of approximately 30 full-time and part-time associates, and is led by Alex Taylor, the store's Chief Executive Merchant. Floor & Decor operates more than 250 warehouse-format stores and five design studios across 38 states and offers a broad assortment of in-stock hard-surface flooring, including tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone, along with decorative accessories and wall tile, installation materials, and adjacent categories at everyday low prices. "We're excited to bring Floor & Decor to Chula Vista," said Taylor. "For over 20 years, we've proudly supported professionals and homeowners across the country, and this new store is an incredible opportunity to extend that service to the San Diego area. We can't wait to join the community, meet our new neighbors, and help make their home improvement projects inspiring and cost-effective." In celebration of the grand opening, Floor & Decor is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 3, at 10:00am PT with the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce and the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce. Calling All Flooring & Home PROs Floor & Decor provides a comprehensive suite of services, and a rewards program tailored for professionals in the construction, renovation, and flooring industries through its PRO Services and PRO Premier Rewards Program. On Thursday, July 17, from 5:00pm-8:00pm PT, Floor & Decor invites all PROs in the Chula Vista area to an exclusive PRO Industry Networking Event, for a chance to win $10,000. Pros can visit to RSVP and register to win. During the event, visitors will get to meet the dedicated on-site PRO Services Team, who are there to assist and provide efficient service and support, just for Pros. Visitors will also get to interact with supplier representatives and learn about Floor & Decor's PRO services and industry-leading PRO Premier Rewards program. 'Building relationships with our local professionals is very important to us. Their success is our success,' said Taylor. $5,000 Floor Makeover Sweepstakes In addition, the Chula Vista Floor & Decor store will give away a $5,000 Floor Makeover* as part of its grand opening festivities. From June 26, 2025, through August 26, 2025, customers have the chance to register to win these prizes at Super Saturday & Crack the Code Following the grand opening, the Chula Vista Floor & Decor store will host a family-friendly Super Saturday* event on Saturday, July 12, from 10:00am to 2:00pm PT, to showcase local vendors and the new store to the San Diego community. Floor & Decor will partner with other local businesses to promote its new store opening while offering the first 200 customers a chance to win $100,000 from its Crack the Code* game. Customers will have the opportunity to enter a five-digit code of their choice to see if they crack the code and win $100,000. Stacy's Sugar Shop giving away sweet treats, and Caffe Tazza giving away coffee with fixings free for the first 200 customers. Store Facts & Features Location: 394 East H Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910 Regular store hours: Monday - Friday 7am-8pm, Saturday 8am-7pm, Sunday 10am-6pm PT Phone Number: (619) 494-1511 For more information on Floor & Decor, please visit or on Instagram at About Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. Floor & Decor is a multi-channel specialty retailer of hard surface flooring and related accessories and seller of commercial surfaces operating 254 warehouse-format stores and five design studios across 38 states as of March 27, 2025. The Company offers a broad in-stock assortment of laminate and vinyl, tile, wood, and natural stone flooring and installation materials and decorative accessories, as well as adjacent categories, at everyday low prices. The Company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. *Must be at least 18 years old to enter the $5,000 Floor Makeover and Crack the Code Sweepstakes.
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘People recycle the same old racism': Sheffield metal stars Malevolence on their big break – and how to confront online hate
Malevolence insist they aren't psychic. In late February 2020, days before Covid-19 lockdowns started being implemented around the world, the Yorkshire metalcore band released their breakthrough single, Keep Your Distance. It was a melee of growls and beatdowns that propelled them to new heights – in part thanks to a title that foresaw the next year of government messaging. 'It was completely by coincidence,' guitarist and vocalist Konan Hall tells me on a video call from his home in Sheffield. 'But everyone started tagging us in signs saying 'Keep your distance because of Covid'.' Lead singer Alex Taylor can't help but laugh, joining the call from his place just up the road. 'It was free marketing!' The song amassed millions of streams by the time restrictions were lifted, and that momentum has only been built on in the years since, as the band toured with scene megastars such as Lamb of God and Trivium. Their impact on live crowds is now as famed as their high-octane music: footage of a venue-wide circle pit that they incited at the Hammersmith Apollo went viral in 2023, and last year they set a new record for crowd-surfers at Derbyshire's Bloodstock festival, scoring 901. There was pandemonium when they played a secret set at Download festival last weekend: 'Make these security guards fucking work!', Taylor told the crowd. But their music isn't just mindless mayhem, reflecting as it does on mental health struggles and online hatred. Thanks to its heaviness and richness, their upcoming album Where Only the Truth is Spoken is one of the most anticipated heavy releases of the year. Much of it was made at the California studio of vaunted metal producer Josh Wilbur (Korn, Gojira, Avenged Sevenfold), while its drums were recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in California. 'We used the same console Fleetwood Mac used for Rumours,' Hall says. 'There was a Nirvana Nevermind drum kit photo on the desk. Going from being a kid, loving those bands, to using the same gear was a dream come true.' Malevolence were already well over a decade into their career when the pandemic hit. Co-guitarist Josh Baines, bassist Wilkie Robinson and drummer Charlie Thorpe have been playing shows since they were 11, and they started jamming with Hall in the mid-2000s, when he was 15. Taylor completed the lineup in 2010, and Hall calls the five-piece's early days gigging in the north of England 'some of the best years of our lives. We'd play for free beer.' The members had to balance their touring schedule with full-time careers, and they still take the occasional outside job to this day. 'Konan's done a bit of building work, I've done security, Josh was working in bars,' Taylor says. He adds that the jobs were 'a means to an end to allow us to go on, like, two-week European tours in our friend's Vauxhall Zafira'. In April 2020 they released the ballad The Other Side, which was about the trauma of a serious break-up and featured melodic vocals from Hall. Performing it at Download festival the following year, Taylor told the audience 'It's OK to not be OK', and talked candidly about losing loved ones to addiction and suicide. The singer later revealed that four of his friends took their own lives within a two-month span during the pandemic. He tells me that that experience inspired him to open up lyrically. 'All I'd ever really known was the band,' he says. 'You kind of have this thing where you have your band life, your personal life and your work life, and it's almost expected to keep them in separate boxes. But, having such sad things happen, it made me realise: this is all entwined.' As a result, Where Only the Truth Is Spoken exposes more of the vulnerabilities behind this barrel-chested band. Through its acoustic verses and climactic choruses, Salt the Wound is about the question, in Taylor's words, of 'how far do you expect the people around you to fix your problems before it then becomes an issue for them and drags them down?' Meanwhile, hardcore rager If It's All the Same to You is about the singer cutting ties with family members 'who've had their minds warped by what they've read on the internet. I just don't have the time for people who just repeat and recycle the same old racist bullshit. It's very much a song of: you keep that energy well away from me. You get people who are like, 'Oh, he's just stuck in his ways. He's always been like that.' I'm like: well, no, that's not acceptable any more.' In November, Malevolence will play their biggest-ever headline shows in London and Manchester. Taylor wants Where Only the Truth Is Spoken to crack the UK Top 10, while Hall wants to headline Download one day: 'You can't get bigger than that!' But there's a larger goal: the band hope their honesty regarding mental health and real-life struggles will guide fans through their own challenges. 'That's way more important to me than, like, playing a bigger room,' says Taylor. 'It's about bridging that gap [between artist and audience] and hopefully helping people through whatever it is that they're going through in life, whether it be mental health struggles, loneliness, anger or sadness.' Where Only the Truth is Spoken is released 20 June on Nuclear Blast Records In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
Miami Herald
17-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Cox Communications and Charter to combine in major cable deal
Cox Communications plans to merge with Charter Communications in a deal that, if approved by regulators, will combine two of the nation's largest cable companies. Cox Communications, based in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and owned by Cox Enterprises, is the third-largest cable operator in the nation. Charter, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is the second-largest. The combined company, to be called Cox Communications within a year of the closing of the deal, will be publicly traded and based in Connecticut. But it will retain significant operations at the Cox Enterprises campus in Sandy Springs. The complex transaction, which will require shareholder and regulatory approval and could take a year or more to close, values Cox Communications at about $34.5 billion, the companies said. The combined company would surpass Comcast in terms of cable customers. It will also offer its suite of consumer and business products under Charter's Spectrum brand. Those offerings include fiber internet, mobile and wired telephone service and streaming entertainment. Cox Enterprises will become the combined company's largest shareholder, controlling nearly a quarter of the company. 'Our family has always believed that investing for the long-term and staying committed to the best interests of our customers, employees and communities is the best recipe for success,' Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, said in a news release. 'In Charter, we've found the right partner at the right time and in the right position to take this commitment to a higher level than ever before, delivering an incredible outcome for our customers, employees, suppliers and the local communities we serve.' Taylor will join the board of the new company and become its chairman, and he will remain chairman and chief executive of Cox Enterprises. In an interview, Taylor said the new Cox Communications will retain a culture centered on community, customers and employees. He also said he sees the new Cox Communications being an entity that will continue to invest in Atlanta. The combined company will have more than 100,000 employees. Its network will span 46 states, covering nearly 70 million homes and businesses - and they intend to grow, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said during a conference call with analysts and investors. The companies don't have any 'real overlapping footprint,' he said. The companies said together they will be bigger and better able to compete in an evolving marketplace that has seen consumers access television, other forms of video entertainment and the internet in different ways, increasingly wirelessly and on the go. Streaming services have changed the way many consumers watch video and TV, and wireless and satellite companies have expanded into internet service. Cable companies have responded by launching cellular networks. 'Cox and Charter have been innovators in connectivity and entertainment services - with decades of work and hundreds of billions of dollars invested to build, upgrade, and expand our complementary regional networks to provide high-quality internet, video, voice and mobile services,' Winfrey said in the release. Addressing the need for regulatory approval, Winfrey, who will be president and CEO of the combined company, told investors and analysts the deal is 'good' from a competition standpoint. He said he hopes approval could come by mid-next year but acknowledged it's 'hard to say.' The corporate marriage, he said, 'allows us to actually invest more into the footprint, to have better products, have better service, invest more in (artificial intelligence) and invest more in U.S.-based jobs.' 'Atlanta success story' Cox Enterprises is one of the nation's largest privately held companies. Cox Enterprises was founded in 1898 by former Ohio Gov. James M. Cox when he purchased the Dayton Daily News. Cox later purchased The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution newspapers, building a media empire that would expand into radio and television. The company acquired its first cable franchise in 1962, making the Cox family the longest continuous operator in the sector and the largest privately held operator. In the 1960s, Cox Communications went public. But Cox Enterprises took back control and made it a privately held subsidiary in 1985. Following an acquisition, the cable company was public again during the 1990s and early 2000s until the family bought out shareholders. Today, Cox Communications' cable territory spans 19 states, and it operates broadband services in more than 30 states. In an interview, Taylor said with what was then about a $660,000 investment, Cox started its cable business, one that for many years was dwarfed by its newspaper business in terms of revenue and profit. Even by the 1980s, newspapers remained Cox Enterprises' largest profit center. Taylor, the great-grandson of the company's founder, has a shareholder letter from the 1960s that contains a photograph of family members learning about the power of cable and being told one day it would carry not only television but information, such as how to improve one's golf game, the ability to shop and for families to obtain the contents of a newspaper - essentially what would become the modern internet. Taylor credited his family for having the foresight to invest in technology that would connect the world and what would become the family-owned company's largest division. Taylor's uncle, predecessor and now Cox Enterprises chairman emeritus, Jim Kennedy, was the architect of much of that success. 'In the last 20 to 30 years, under the leadership of Jim Kennedy, it's grown into this amazing Atlanta success story,' Taylor said. Cox Enterprises is also a major player in the automotive sector, with holdings that include AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. In recent years, Cox Enterprises has diversified its holdings, selling its majority stakes in its television and radio stations and making acquisitions in clean energy, electric vehicles and the EV supply chain, health technology, sustainable agriculture and media. The company, for instance, is now the nation's largest operator of advanced greenhouses and a powerhouse in EV battery maintenance and recycling. Cox Enterprises will continue to own its Cox Automotive division, media holdings, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Axios, and its emerging ventures in technology, agriculture and other sectors, the company said. Charter was founded in 1993 and, over the years, expanded through acquisitions. The company, in 2016, acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to become the second-largest cable provider in the U.S. In 2024, Charter reported more than $55 billion in revenue and more than $5 billion in profit. The company reported 12.7 million video customers at the end of March and about 30 million internet subscribers. Charter also operates Spectrum News stations in the markets it serves and will expand the local news service to Cox Communications markets. In 2024, Cox Communications brought in about $13.1 billion in revenue, Charter's CFO, Jessica Fischer, told investors. Cox Enterprises will receive $4 billion in cash as part of the transaction, $6 billion in convertible preferred units that are exchangeable for Charter common stock and nearly $12 billion in common units that are exchangeable for Charter common stock. The combined company will assume $12 billion in outstanding Cox Communications debt. The Cox-Charter deal comes as Charter recently acquired Liberty Broadband in an all-stock transaction, which will result in Liberty shareholders retaining stakes in the future Cox Communications. In addition to appointing Taylor as chairman of the combined cable business, Cox Enterprises will have two other seats on the 13-seat board. Charter said the combined company will likely produce $500 million in cost savings and other synergies within three years of the deal closing, 'stemming from typical procurement and overhead savings.' In announcing the deal to its employees, Cox officials said it is too soon to know potential impacts on individual workers. In striking a deal with Charter, Taylor said it was important to find a partner willing to continue Cox's commitments to philanthropy and community service in all markets it serves, including Atlanta. As part of the deal, Charter will create a new Cox Communications foundation, endowing it with $50 million. It will also establish an employee relief fund to help workers of the new company who might encounter hardships such as natural disasters, similar to one created two decades ago at Cox Enterprises. 'We want the new Cox Communications, like the current Cox Communications, to be one that's very committed to employees and the community,' Taylor said. The deal at a glance Key points about the combination of Cox Communications and Charter Communications: Headquarters: Will be in Stamford, Connecticut, with major operations in Sandy Springs. $34.5 billion: The value of Cox Communications in the deal, including assumption of debt. $55.1 billion: Charter's annual revenue in 2024. $13.1 billion: Cox cable's annual revenue in 2024. More than 100,000: Employees of the combined companies. 46: The number of states served by the combined company. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
