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SYMBIOTE TRAPPED IN GLASS CHAMBER ON SMARTPHONE ENTER FUSION: A SHAPE-SHIFTING DEVICE FROM HMD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VENOM: THE LAST DANCE

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A unique Smart Outfit, has been created in collaboration with Sony Pictures’ upcoming action-thriller Venom: The Last Dance to demonstrate the capabilities of HMD’s latest smartphone technology, FusionFusion is a new breed of smartphone innovation that operates like a symbiote: you can attach different “outfits”1 that take over the device, transforming both its look and performance, akin to Venom and Eddie Brock in the film. Fusion goes on pre-order in the US todayOnly three in the world Venom: The Last Dance outfits were created and feature some of Venom’s best lines from the upcoming movie including “We are Venom” as the welcome sound, a “We are screwed” ringtone and a touching voicemail from the beloved characterCheck out the video on YouTube here.

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Human Mobile Devices (HMD), a leading European smartphone manufacturer, and innovator, is thrilled to announce the world’s first symbiote Smart Outfit for HMD Fusion in collaboration with Venom: The Last Dance. The prototype Smart Outfit has been created to celebrate the start of U.S. pre-orders of the Fusion smartphone.

To celebrate the launch of US pre-orders for HMD Fusion, the designers at HMD have teamed up with Sony Pictures’ highly anticipated new action-thriller, Venom: The Last Dance, to create three of the ultimate, unique Smart Outfits for the new Fusion smartphone, which comes with symbiotic qualities. The Venom: The Last Dance Outfit is an innovative smart outfit that comes with 160 electromagnetic arrays that control a Venom-like liquid – ferrofluid – in a glass chamber that can be attached to Fusion via six pins on its rear cover.

Once attached, the Venom: The Last Dance Smart Outfit alters Fusion’s physical appearance and ‘Venomizes’ its software akin to how Venom and Eddie Brock are bonded together as a fused entity in the film.

HMD, CMO, Lars Silberbauer commented on the Venom: The Last Dance prototype: “This has been a fun experiment– like Venom’s search for its perfect host, the Symbiotic Smartphone Experiment went through countless iterations to master the movement of ferrofluid mimicking the character. The one-off innovation coincides with US pre order going live for HMD Fusion today – a new type of smartphone that can change form.”

The three one-of-a-kind Venom: The Last Dance Smart Outfits that have been created come with a bespoke user interface including Venom wallpapers and icons as well as some of Venom’s best quotes from the upcoming movie which include a “We are screwed” ringtone and a touching voicemail “Eddie, I’m with you till the end.” Even the sounds and alarms are Venomized. Fear not, even though the Venom: The Last Dance outfits are nearly as rare as Venom himself, fans can also get their hands on Venom: The Last Dance phone wallpaper if they check out the HMD blog here.

HMD Fusion brings the symbiotic bond between Venom and Eddie Brock to life with cutting-edge, shape-shifting technology. Just like Venom merges with its host, Fusion allows custom “Outfits” to seamlessly attach and take over the device. Using six smart pins, these Outfits—much like a phone case—instantly transform both the hardware and software, adapting the smartphone to meet your needs. Fusion outfits that offer protection for Fusion will start rolling out at the end of this year, with smart outfits launching next year including an ultimate selfie outfit as well as a wireless charging outfit arriving in 2025.

“To celebrate its arrival in the U.S., we’ve teamed up with Sony Pictures to launch a Venom: The Last Dance Outfit concept that’s quite literally, out of this world,” says Raun Forsyth, VP of Design at HMD. “Using 160 electromagnetic arrays, we’ve created a mesmerizing effect where black ferrofluid dances, mimicking Venom’s iconic symbiote in the Venom: The Last Dance Outfit. We’re very excited to bring HMD Fusion to the market, and hopefully you will see the endless possibilities smart oufit technology can create, as showcased with our very exclusive Venom: The Last Dance Outfit .”

The three Venom: The Last Dance Smart Outfits transform the phone’s interface and performance while adding cinematic lines from the latest movie.

When the Venom: The Last Dance outfit is combined with the HMD Fusion device and it boots up, you hear “We are Venom” followed by an animation from the latest movie. The device contains movie easter eggs including an alarm sound that chimes “Eddie, the time has come” and a in your face message notification that yells “Who sent that thing?” in Venom’s voice.

Finally, when you load the phone you will see a voicemail message has been left, that says “Eddie, I’m with you till the end.” And to round off some of the best lines from the upcoming movie, the device has a “We are screwed” ringtone in Venom’s voice.

About Fusion 
Fusion isn’t just a phone—it’s a reflection of your style and needs. Snap on a Smart Outfit to transform its appearance and performance. Built with cutting-edge technology, Fusion delivers all the customization and adaptability of the future, wrapped in an industrial-chic shell. You can repair it at home with an iFixit kit in markets where iFixit support is available2, it also has a camera powerhouse with a 108 MP Hybrid OIS triple rear camera and 50MP front camera, Fusion empowers users to capture their best moments with ease. Gesture controls like a peace sign or finger heart enable hands-free shots, elevating your selfie game.

Customizable, Repairable, and Ready for Anything: Fusion is designed for ultimate flexibility:

Repairability: The Gen 2 repair-friendly design makes it easier than ever to swap out a smashed screen or depleted battery.

Industrial-Chic Design: Even without Outfits, the slim, stainless-steel-reinforced body stands as a fashion statement, tapping into the raw, grunge aesthetic of Gen Z.

Camera Powerhouse: Equipped with a 108MP Hybrid OIS triple rear camera and 50MP front camera, Fusion empowers users to capture their best moments with ease. Gesture controls like a peace sign or finger heart enable hands-free shots, elevating your selfie game.

Fusion is now available for pre-order at HMD.com, and outfits start rolling out at the end of the year, keep an eye on US HMD socials for updates. The Venom Outfit is a limited-edition concept to celebrate the launch of Fusion in the U.S. and the arrival of the cinematic release of Venom: The Last Dance.

Smart Outfits are on the way – but why not make your own? 

Fans can make their own outfits for the HMD Fusion if they are feeling inspire by the Venom: The Last Dance outfit – it can be anything they want it to be. The HMD Fusion Development Toolkit3 is open to the public, so for tech savvy fans with some technical skills to boot and access to a 3D printer, they can use the CAD file to create their very own outfit for HMD Fusion. It’s a great way for consumers to showcase their own artwork and imagination.

Fans can also dream up adding cool new features with a Smart Outfit, using the API as well. Both the API and the CAD file are included in the toolkit, so fans can go ahead and get creating.

HMD Fusion is now available to pre-order from the HMD online store. Fusion casual outfits will start rolling out at the end of this year, with smart outfits launching next year including an ultimate selfie outfit as well as a wireless charging outfit arriving in 2025.

Repairable. Customizable. Futuristic. Get ready to fuse with HMD Fusion.

1Smart Outfits sold separately.
2Details available at https://www.hmd.com/self-repair.
3For more information, visit https://www.hmd.com/en_int/fusion-development-toolkit-download

About Human Mobile Devices
We are Human Mobile Devices, and we start by tuning into what people really want. Our consumers are passionate about the planet, often feel swamped by digital overload, and are keeping a close eye on their budget. That’s why we are thrilled to be Europe’s largest smartphone maker, championing repair-at-home phones, and a go-to for much needed digital time out.  Coming this year, you can expect to see a new portfolio of Human Mobile Devices original mobile devices, as well as Nokia phones and exciting new partnerships. For further information, see www.hmd.com.

About Venom: The Last Dance:
In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo is forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance. Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu and Alanna Ubach. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker. Venom: The Last Dance will be released in theaters on October 25, 2024.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html

 

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The Cotocon Group Is Helping NYC Building Owners Navigate What Comes After Local Law 97 Filing Season

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Ten days past the May 1 deadline, The Cotocon Group is working with building owners, property managers, and co-op and condo boards across New York City to assess what was filed, identify exposure, and build a compliance strategy that goes beyond the annual report.

NEW YORK, May 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Cotocon Group, New York City’s leading building compliance and sustainability consulting firm, is actively helping property owners across the five boroughs address what happens after Local Law 97 filing season ends. With the May 1 reporting deadline now ten days behind the industry, The Cotocon Group has seen firsthand that the work of compliance is far from over — for many buildings, it is just beginning.

What The Cotocon Group Is Seeing on the Ground

In the days following the May 1 deadline, The Cotocon Group has been conducting post-filing reviews for clients across New York City and identifying a consistent pattern: buildings that filed on time are discovering that what was submitted does not always reflect the full picture. Inaccurate energy data, mismatched benchmarking figures, incorrect emissions factors, and compliance pathways that do not align with a building’s actual emissions profile are among the issues The Cotocon Group’s team is actively working to resolve.

The NYC Department of Buildings has reported that approximately 93% of covered privately owned properties submitted compliance reports, while roughly 1,400 properties did not file and are now facing enforcement action. The DOB is also actively auditing submitted filings. For The Cotocon Group’s clients, that reality drives the firm’s focus: it is not enough to have filed. What was filed must be accurate, defensible, and aligned with each building’s compliance strategy going forward.

“We are in buildings right now reviewing what was submitted and finding issues that owners did not know existed. Wrong emissions factors, wrong benchmarking data and improper ownership that doesn’t match DOB records. Compliance pathways that are not up to date with the latest CBL.”
Jimmy Carchietta, Founder and CEO, The Cotocon Group

How The Cotocon Group Helps Buildings Stay Ahead

The Cotocon Group provides end-to-end compliance support for covered buildings under New York City’s suite of building energy laws. For Local Law 97 specifically, the firm’s work spans the full compliance cycle: from pre-filing data verification and emissions analysis, through BEAM, ESPM and DOB filing support, to post-filing review, audit preparation, and penalty exposure assessment.

At the center of The Cotocon Group’s compliance offering is The Carbon Shield, the firm’s proprietary technology platform. The Carbon Shield gives building owners, property managers, and boards continuous visibility into their emissions profile, compliance status, and penalty exposure — not just during filing season, but throughout the year. Rather than discovering a problem when the next deadline arrives, clients using The Carbon Shield can identify and address issues while there is still time to act.

The Cotocon Group’s Local Law 97 services include:

Post-filing review and data accuracy verificationCompliance pathway analysis and correctionPenalty exposure assessment and financial planning supportBEAM and DOB filing supportDOB audit preparation and documentation reviewYear-round emissions monitoring through The Carbon Shield

“The Carbon Shield was built because we saw that building owners needed more than a filing service. They needed a way to understand their compliance position at any point during the year, not just in May. Local Law 97 is a permanent part of owning a building in New York City. Our job is to make sure our clients are never surprised by it.”
— Jimmy Carchietta, Founder and CEO, The Cotocon Group

Who The Cotocon Group Works With

The Cotocon Group works with a broad range of clients across New York City’s real estate landscape, including individual building owners, large property management companies, co-op and condo boards, commercial landlords, and institutional asset managers. The firm’s team brings deep technical expertise in building systems, energy data, and New York City regulatory requirements — giving clients both the analytical foundation and the practical guidance needed to steer through an increasingly complex compliance environment.

Building owners and managers looking to assess their current Local Law 97 compliance position, review a recent filing, or begin planning for the next reporting cycle are encouraged to contact The Cotocon Group now. The period immediately following a filing deadline is one of the firm’s busiest and most productive — because it is when the most meaningful compliance work can be done.

“We tell every client the same thing: the best time to call us is before the deadline. The second-best time is right now. There is real work to do in this window, and the buildings that do it will be in a financially stronger position when the next reporting cycle begins.”
— Jimmy Carchietta, Founder and CEO, The Cotocon Group

About The Cotocon Group

The Cotocon Group is a New York-based building compliance, energy, and sustainability consulting firm helping property owners, managers, co-op and condo boards, and facility teams comply with New York City’s building energy laws. The company provides support for Local Law 84 benchmarking, Local Law 87 energy audits and retro-commissioning, Local Law 88 lighting and submetering requirements, Local Law 95 energy grade posting, and Local Law 97 emissions compliance.

Through its technical expertise, compliance strategy, and technology platform — The Carbon Shield — The Cotocon Group helps buildings understand their current compliance position, reduce exposure to penalties, and plan for long-term asset protection. To schedule a Local Law 97 status review, contact The Cotocon Group at (212) 889-6566 or visit www.thecotocongroup.com

Media Contact
The Cotocon Group
Email: media@thecotocongroup.com
Phone: (212) 889-6566
Website: www.thecotocongroup.com 

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Global adtech player GumGum expands into France with its innovative Mindset Graph™ technology

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The company aims to expand in France with an offering powered by its proprietary technology, the Mindset Graph. This innovative approach, based on understanding consumer mindset, enables highly effective ad targeting and performance.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 11, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — GumGum, founded in California in 2008 and operating in 19 markets worldwide, is opening a new office in Paris. The company aims to expand in France with an offering powered by its proprietary technology, the Mindset Graph. This innovative approach, based on understanding consumer mindset, enables highly effective ad targeting and performance. GumGum already has a strong client base in France, along with an established network of publishers and agency partners.

Founded in 2008 in Santa Monica, GumGum is now considered one of the leading global SSPs. Following its international expansion, the company is strengthening its presence with a dedicated Paris office.

Originally focused on contextual digital advertising, GumGum has gained a competitive edge with the launch of its proprietary “Mindset Graph” technology in 2024. Continuously enhanced by AI, this solution identifies a user’s mindset in real time and determines the optimal moment to deliver an ad across multiple digital channels, including mobile, desktop, and CTV.

“Our mindset is constantly evolving,” said Jeremy Pacome, Commercial Director, Benelux & France at GumGum. “Throughout a single day, we move between different roles and levels of engagement. It’s this continuous shift that the Mindset Graph allows us to capture and understand.”

To achieve this, the platform analyzes millions of signals generated by users’ digital interactions, including, but not limited to, the content they consume, the attention paid to each message, the time of day, and the context of consumption. These signals can be enriched with advertisers’ first-party data, anonymized insights derived from campaigns across more than 10,000 brands, seasonal and cultural trends, and publisher data.

The Mindset Graph: the only solution that ingests, structures, and connects millions of signals in real time to drive impression-level activation

“Most adtech platforms analyze these signals separately,” added Jeremy Pacome. “With the Mindset Graph, we bring them together to reconstruct a complete view of a given moment. This allows us to determine the optimal timing for each ad impression and predict its impact for the advertiser.”

This model has already demonstrated strong performance, with GumGum serving over 3,000 brands, partnering with 40,000 publishers, and delivering more than 500 billion impressions per month.

Backed by leading investors such as Goldman Sachs Growth/Springcoast Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, and Upfront Ventures, GumGum has raised more than $130 million since its founding, including a $75 million investment from Goldman Sachs in 2021.

A strong existing footprint in France

GumGum already has a solid presence in France, having delivered campaigns for global brands such as Boucheron, IBM, Adidas, Dell, and Nike. The company also partners with the top 5 global agencies operating in France, and has built a strong network of premium publishers, including Le Monde, La Tribune, Radio France, Le Figaro, and Challenges.

To accelerate its growth, GumGum will focus on three key solutions, all powered by the Mindset Graph:

GumGum Outcomes, which measures the impact of ad exposure on business outcomesAttentive Lift, which measures the correlation between attention and brand performanceCTV, with standard 15- and 30-second video formats activated directly through the platform to simplify campaign delivery and optimization

“We’re entering France with strong ambitions,” stated Jeremy Pacome. “We’re actively expanding our Mindset Graph measurement and optimization capabilities so that every campaign we run doesn’t just perform better individually, but makes our entire system smarter over time. For French advertisers, that means smarter media planning, more effective decisioning, and performance that strengthens over time. We’re excited to get started.”

About GumGum

GumGum is The Mindset Company™ transforming advertising. We deliver results by matching brands with people in the right mindset, in the moments that matter.

Powered by the Mindset Graph™, our AI-driven data engine processes billions of real-time contextual, creative, environmental, and historical signals to match every ad with the most receptive audience. The result is advertising that drives meaningful outcomes for advertisers and publishers, and is more relevant for consumers.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Santa Monica. GumGum operates in over 19 markets across North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

Media Contact
Kayla Smalls, GumGum, 1 9179994629, kayla.smalls@gumgum.com, GumGum

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Docusign Announces Agentic Contract Workflows for In-House Legal Teams

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Docusign agents triage, review, and move agreements forward across its Intelligent Agreement Management platform, solving business problems in the way point products cannot

SAN FRANCISCO, May 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Docusign (NASDAQ: DOCU) today announced a new set of AI-powered capabilities and strategic partnerships designed to help in-house legal teams drive progress for their companies while enjoying cutting edge AI-based legal tools. With the introduction of a contract assistant and agents, Docusign is expanding its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform — the only platform with total context of your agreement history and relationships — to serve as the system of action for legal professionals and the teams they support.

Every business runs on agreements, but in many organizations that work is still scattered across emails, PDFs, and disconnected tools. As a result, contract data is locked inside static documents, disconnected from where work happens. Legal teams are forced to manually search for insights inside contracts and painfully coordinate next steps across teams like sales, procurement, HR, and finance.

Docusign IAM brings the entire agreement lifecycle into one platform – from creation and approvals to negotiation, execution, and management – transforming agreements into strategic assets that drive business decisions. With agents grounded in real agreement context, teams can analyze, redline, and take action, whether through a chat experience or automation running in the background.

“Legal teams aren’t just reviewing contracts, they’re helping businesses move forward,” said Allan Thygesen, CEO of Docusign. “What Docusign brings to legal AI is dynamic context across agreements, combined with intelligent workflows, that know how to act on that context. That’s what allows teams to work faster, reduce risk, and focus on more strategic work.”

Docusign Iris assistant and agents for end-to-end agreement workflows
With a new assistant and agents powered by Iris, Docusign’s agreement-tuned AI engine, businesses can now move from insight to execution. The agents can triage, review, and move agreements to closing – using the full context of past negotiations, accepted terms, and company policies to recommend and take the next steps across the workflow. Legal teams will be able to:

Analyze, redline, and collaborate on agreements through an intelligent, context-aware conversational AI experience that grounds answers with citations.Use agents to automate agreement processes by invoking them from chat or deploying them to run autonomously in the background 24/7.Leverage an agentic engine grounded in real agreement context including past negotiations, positions, and company policies.Build and test agents for agreement automation and standardization in a new custom workspace – Agent Studio.Automate end-to-end agreement workflows while maintaining human oversight and control where it’s needed.

Agreements are no longer static records. They actively move work forward across the business. A recent report from Deloitte* found that organizations using agentic workflows with an end-to-end agreement platform are seeing nearly 30% higher ROI than those that do not.

A connected legal AI ecosystem
Docusign is also partnering with legal AI platforms with deep domain expertise, including Harvey, Legora, and CoCounsel Legal by Thomson Reuters. Legal teams rely on specialized tools, but increasingly need those tools to more seamlessly connect with contracting workflows across sales, procurement, HR, and finance. Docusign IAM’s open platform makes this possible, bringing legal work into one connected agreement system – by integrating legal research, document analysis, and contract review into agreement workflows and business processes.

As an open platform, Docusign extends its capabilities across the enterprise through MCP – allowing leading frontier LLMs such as Anthropic Claude and OpenAI ChatGPT, and leading business applications like Microsoft Copilot, Salesforce, and Slack – to securely connect to Docusign services and manage contracts within the tools teams already use.

Modern agreement management for how legal teams work
Legal teams today expect to ask questions, get clear answers, and take action in one place, but most AI tools still sit outside the systems where agreements are created and managed. Docusign IAM closes the gap by embedding AI and agents directly into agreement workflows in a single, end-to-end platform. This makes it possible for legal teams to review, negotiate, and move agreements forward in minutes, not hours, while automatically keeping their business partners updated on progress. As Docusign evolves from e-signature to a system of record, and now to a system of action, IAM gives organizations the speed, consistency, and control to execute agreements across the entire business.

Docusign’s new Iris assistant and agents are coming soon. Join us at Momentum in New York on May 20–21 to see what’s next for agreement management, and follow Docusign on LinkedIn and Instagram for updates.

*Source: Deloitte report, “Capitalizing on AI,” 2026

About Docusign
Docusign brings agreements to life. Over 1.8 million customers and more than a billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate the process of doing business and simplify people’s lives. With intelligent agreement management, Docusign unleashes business-critical data that is trapped inside of documents. Until now, these were disconnected from business systems of record, costing businesses time, money, and opportunity. Using Docusign’s IAM platform, companies can create, commit, and manage agreements with solutions created by the #1 company in e-signature and CLM. Learn more at www.docusign.com.

Media Contact:
Docusign Corporate Communications
media@docusign.com 

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