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Hong Kong Smart Apps Shine in Asia Smart App Awards 2024

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Hong Kong Sweeps Top Three in “Lifestyle, Social, and Entertainment” Category

Israel Wins Grand Award for Second Consecutive Year

HONG KONG, Sept. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The “Asia Smart App Awards 2024” (ASA) held its Award Presentation Ceremony at New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel on 11 September 2024. Organised by the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) and sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA), the ASA is well supported by partners from 16 other Asian countries/ regions as co-organisers. The ASA is dedicated to recognising the outstanding achievements of industry professionals in the smart app industry across Asia. It also provides an excellent networking platform for local smart app industry professionals and their counterparts in the region, with the aim to fostering the growth and development of the smart app industry, while encouraging Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries to strengthen the use of smart apps in combination of technology to expand room for development. 

The Israeli company Vitalerter Ltd, developer of the Vitalerter app, which won the prestigious “Asia Smart App Awards 2024” Grand Award, also took home the Gold Award in the “Public Sector and Social Innovation Enterprise Category”. The app provides continuous monitoring for bedridden individuals using a non-contact wireless sensor that transmits data in real-time to an AI system for analysis. When the system detects a potential danger, it immediately alerts on-duty nursing staff via mobile phone.

Hong Kong contestants demonstrated outstanding performance in the 2024 edition of the ASA, particularly in the “Lifestyle and Entertainment Category”. Blua Health by Bupa (Asia) Limited won the Gold Award and the “Special Mention Award – Best UX/UI Design.” Blua Health is Hong Kong’s first AI-powered, one-stop health app, allowing users to assess their health status anytime, anywhere, guide their healthy lifestyle, and earn reward points. The Silver Award went to the Solos AirGo App, which enhances the smart glasses experience by integrating AI-driven conversations, translation, fitness tracking, and health monitoring, boosting productivity and well-being. The Bronze Award was won by the O+O MetaEvent Hub, which connects online and offline activities, enabling remote participants to engage in exhibitions and seminars through virtual avatars. The AI chatbot provides 24/7 service and analyses visitor behaviour to help optimise future events.

In the “Business and Commercial Category”, the Gold Award went to AIM, Korea’s first AI-driven investment app, offering top-tier personal investment advisory services. Users can quickly open accounts and receive expert advice from the AI algorithm “Esther” to invest in global markets. The app has served 70,000 users and manages $1 billion in assets. Other finalists in the three categories came from Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, and Vietnam.

This year marks the 10th edition of the ASA. Since its inception in 2013, the competition has received over 1,300 smart app entries from across Asia, making it a prestigious and widely recognised event in the industry. It has become an annual highlight of the smart app industry in Asia. This edition, the ASA returns with the theme “AppAIchemy: Chapter 10 of ASA Saga”, highlighting the vibrant development of smart app across various fields including artificial intelligence (AI). The WTIA is pleased to continue collaborating with 16 co-organisers from various Asian countries and regions, including Mainland China, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, to bring this timely event to further foster the growth of the burgeoning smart app sector in Asia. This edition’s ASA Award Presentation Ceremony and Summit took place on 11 September, bringing together the elites of the Asian smart app industry with the aim of promoting cooperation and development through exchanges and discussions, and driving innovation and the wider application of smart apps.

Officiating at this edition’s award presentation ceremony, Mrs. Lowell Cho, Assistant Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries congratulated all the winners and encouraged Hong Kong’s cultural and creative industries to leverage technology to drive industry development.

Keith Li, Chairman of the WTIA, also expressed during the award presentation ceremony, “It is with great pride and satisfaction that we commemorate the tenth anniversary of this prestigious Asian event. For this milestone edition, we have once again convened distinguished industry experts from 16 other Asian countries and regions here in Hong Kong, underscoring the international significance of this occasion. This edition’s theme centred on the exponential advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), and the competing smart apps have aptly demonstrated their capacity to drive rapid innovation and transform industry paradigms across diverse sectors. I am particularly impressed by the exceptional innovation and technical acumen displayed by all contestants. Among them, the finalists deserve special commendation, with their tireless efforts and ingenuity duly recognised and rewarded. The ASA not only celebrates technological achievement but also reinforces Hong Kong’s position as a hub for innovation in the smart app industry across Asia. We look forward to witnessing the continued growth and impact of these groundbreaking technologies in shaping our future.”

The ASA 2024 has three award categories: Public Sector and Social Innovation Category, Business and Commercial Category, and Lifestyle and Entertainment Category. The gold winners of each award category were further assessed to determine the winner of “Asia Smart App Grand Award”, which was presented to Vitalerter Ltd.

The two special mention awards introduced in this edition, namely the Special Mention Award – The Best Start-up and the Special Mention Award – The Best UX/UI Design, were open to teams from Hong Kong and the 16 participating countries or regions, aiming to recognise innovative applications from start-ups and applications demonstrating excellence in user experience and interface design. ReCube Limited from Hong Kong won the Best Start-up Award with their application “ReCube”, which allows users to easily borrow and return reusable tableware at partner restaurants, while encouraging environmental protection through a points system, thereby promoting sustainable development in the community. As for the Best UX/UI Design Award, a smart app from another Hong Kong company, Bupa (Asia) Limited’s Blua Health outshone its competitors by utilising AI technology to provide personalised health management advice so that users can conduct health assessments anytime, anywhere through the app, and cultivate healthy lifestyle habits through a points reward system.

The lists of the Asia Smart App Awards 2024’s awardees* are as follows:

Asia Smart App Grand Award

Awardee: Israeli – Vitalerter (Vitalerter Ltd)

Public Sector and Social Innovation Category:

Gold Award – Israeli – Vitalerter (Vitalerter Ltd)Silver Award – Indonesia – paperless (PT Digital Kreasi Muslim)Bronze Award – Indonesia – Silang App (Silang.id)

Business and Commercial Category:

Gold Award – Korea – AIM (AIM Inc.)Silver Award – Vietnam – Store Optimizer (Palexy Company Limited)Bronze Award – Malaysia – Agmo EV Super App (Agmo Holdings Limited)

Lifestyle and Entertainment Category:

Gold Award – Hong Kong – Blua Health (Bupa (Asia) Limited)Silver Award – Hong Kong – Solos AirGo App (Solos Technology Limited)Bronze Award – Hong Kong – O+O Meta Event Hub (Chef Digital Limited)

Special Mention Award–The Best Start up

Awardee: ReCube, ReCube Limited (Hong Kong)

Special Mention Award–The Best UX/UI design

Awardee: Blua Health, Bupa (Asia) Limited (Hong Kong)

*Further details and full winner lists (including the list of Certificate of Merit winners) of each category of “Asia Smart App Awards 2024” are available on official website at https://bestasiaapp.hk. 

The Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) organises the Asia Smart App Awards (ASA) 2024, the 10th edition following the success of past editions, with funding support from the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA). The ASA is dedicated to recognising the contributions of industry insiders to the smart app industry, provide a networking platform for smart app industry professionals from Hong Kong to other Asian countries and regions, encouraging growth and development of the industry.

The WTIA remains committed to enhancing the reach of these awards across Asia, bolstering the development of the local smart app industry, and facilitating local smart app talent in business expansion. The awards have drawn participants from an increasing number of Asian countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh.

In addition to the “Asia Smart App Awards 2024” Award Presentation Ceremony, the Asia Smart App Summit was held on the same day. The Summit convened expert representatives from 17 Asian countries and regions to engage in discussions about trending topics.

The organiser express its gratitude to the CCIDA for the funding and to all the partners, supporting organisations, and speakers for their strong support. The highlights of all events of the ASA 2024 will be uploaded to https://contest2024.bestasiaapp.hk/  for review.

Media Enquiry:

Market Hubs Holdings Limited

Lierence Li

Debbie So

+852 3998-4900

+852 3998-4900

lierence@markethubsgroup.com

debbie@markethubsgroup.com

About the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association

The Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA), established in 2001, is a not-for profit, politically-neutral trade association dedicated to the wireless and mobile industry. The WTIA acts as a platform, an aggregator, and a community for industry professionals to learn and drive emerging wireless and mobile technologies, governance, and standards. It facilitates networking between like-minded professionals, boost interoperability between networks and devices, and strives to help all organisations apply these technologies to existing or new businesses. The WTIA also represents and is supported by digital industries pertaining to mobile such as digital entertainment, digital marketing & media, and start-up sectors. To know more about the WTIA, please visit http://www.hkwtia.org. 

About the Asia Smart App Awards (ASA)

The Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) organises the Asia Smart App Awards (ASA) 2024, the 10th edition following the success of past editions, with funding support from the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA). By uniting 16 co-organisers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Israel, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, in addition to Hong Kong, the ASA carries this auspicious occasion to further encourage the development of the expanding smart app industry. For more details about the ASA, please visit www.bestasiaapp.hk.

About the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency

The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) established in June 2024, formerly known as Create Hong Kong (CreateHK), is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to provide one-stop services and support to the cultural and creative industries with a mission to foster a conducive environment in Hong Kong to facilitate the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and cross-genre collaboration, promoting the development of arts, culture and creative sectors as industries under the industry-oriented principle, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia’s creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community to implement Hong Kong’s positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange under the National 14th Five-Year Plan. CCIDA’s website: www.ccidahk.gov.hk.

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SOURCE The Wireless Technology Industry Association

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Faith: The Spark Born by the Yudu Riverside

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BEIJING, Oct. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — An interview from China.org.cn with Wang Xiaohui and David Ferguson on the Long March:

David Ferguson:

This is the Yudu River. One dusk in October, 1934, more than 86,000 soldiers of the Red Army crossed this river and embarked on the Long March, a two-year saga that has left its mark in history.

Yet, lingering here by the river, I am struck by a simple question: If you have faith in a bright future, and reality seems to thwart you at every turn, where do you find the moral strength to keep believing?

Wang Xiaohui:

At dusk on Oct. 17, 1934, an army of more than 86,000 troops gathered along the banks of the Yudu River. Over 800 boats of all sizes floated on the water, bound together with planks collected from villagers’ home gates, timber beams, and even coffin boards reserved for elderly locals. The people of Yudu built this pontoon bridge, determined to help the army led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) cross the river.

At that time, no one knew that the great expedition embarked upon by the banks of the Yudu River would go on to transform China and exert far-reaching influence across the world.

China in the 1920s and 1930s was plagued by chaos and despair.

The Kuomintang (KMT), the ruling party back then, was not capable of unifying the nation, leaving warlords locked in endless fighting. In 1931, Japanese invaders launched an assault on northeastern China, beginning their invasion. Crushed under domestic turbulence and foreign aggression, countless civilians were displaced, with many even starving to death on the streets; in certain regions, severe drought resulted in zero harvests, yet the farmers were forced to pay land taxes assessed for more than a decade into the future.

Amid this turmoil, the only glimmer of hope for the Chinese nation was kindled by the revolution ignited by the Communist Party of China.

The CPC, dedicated to winning liberation for the people and national independence, built contingents of workers’ and peasants’ Red Army troops and revolutionary base areas across the countryside. Impoverished farmers were granted land ownership, as well as unprecedented political dignity. On Nov. 7, 1931, the Chinese Soviet Republic was officially proclaimed in Ruijin, then a small village in southeastern China’s Jiangxi Province, establishing a Soviet system under which workers, peasants and soldiers elected representatives to run regional affairs and make policies.

The communist ideal of a fair society free from exploitation and equality for all blazed like a spark in the darkness; it kindled hopes among impoverished Chinese and became the wellspring of faith that enabled the Red Army — a force made up of poor workers and peasants — to overcome all hardships in the days to come.

Yet, bright as the spark was, it burned thin and fragile at times. Could this flame still endure when the ideals it carried were repeatedly battered by harsh reality?

In September 1933, flocks of warplanes clouded the skies over the Red Army’s revolutionary base areas. By then, Japanese invaders were steadily advancing towards North China, but Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT turned a blind eye to the looming national crisis. They mobilized over a million troops and more than 200 aircraft to launch a massive offensive at the Red Army’s base areas. Over the previous three years, Chiang Kai-shek had mounted four major military “encirclement” campaigns aimed at exterminating the Red Army, but all ended in failure. He was desperate for a pivotal victory to restore his prestige and to wipe out the CPC and the Red Army.

At the time, the commander of the Red Army abandoned mobile warfare tactics pioneered by Mao Zedong and other commanders, opting instead for rigid positional warfare involving conventional head-on clashes. But the reality was, some Red Army units didn’t even possess a single light machine gun; how could they confront the heavily-armed KMT army head-on?

Zhong Ming, a Red Army medic, could never erase the memories of gravely wounded soldiers being carried to his aid station. He remembered how a soldier whose chest was blown open begged his comrades to end his life. At the frontline, a whole battalion of Red Army soldiers religiously followed orders to defend crude earth-and-wood bunkers, but under the constant barrage of KMT artillery and airstrikes, every soldier in the battalion laid down their lives; not a single man survived.

What’s more heart-wrenching is that no matter how fearlessly the Red Army fought, the steep imbalance in military strength, paired with erroneous military command led to irreversible losses. By October 1934, the KMT’s iron-clad encirclement closed menacingly around Ruijin.

Faced with this dead-end, what decision would you make?

This stood as the most agonizing decision for the Red Army. The biggest challenge lay not in sacrificing one’s life for an ideal, but in finding a way to keep the revolutionary cause alive.

To stay meant defeat — the Red Army had no room to maneuver within the Central Revolutionary Base Area. To break through the encirclement, however slim the odds, offered a fighting chance. Preserving the Red Army as a living force mattered much more than clinging to isolated strongholds. Where the spark survives, the path ahead remains lit.

The air already turned chilly in October. Units of the Central Red Army assembled in Yudu to prepare for a strategic shift. The plan was kept strictly classified; none of the soldiers knew they were evacuating the base areas, only sensing an unusual vibe.

At dusk on Oct. 17, crowds lined up at the Yudu riverbank. Tens of thousands of villagers flocked from every corner to see the Red Army off. They walked alongside the marching columns, slipping food like eggs and glutinous rice balls into the soldiers’ pockets, praying for their swift homecoming.

The main force of the Central Red Army set off. Within days, they left behind revolutionary base areas where they had survived, grown and taken root. No one anticipated that the journey they embarked on would become the Long March, a trek spanning over 10 provinces. Still less could anyone imagine that this journey would ultimately pave the way for a brand-new China.

Looking back on this chapter of history, many claim that the Red Army only set out on this expedition because the enemies left them no other choice. To a degree, yes, the Long March was indeed a forced strategic shift, yet this fact does nothing to diminish its greatness and glory.

The ordinary Red Army soldiers had no idea how far they would march, or where they were heading. But they clung firmly to their founding mission: to deliver liberation for the people and independence to the nation. This unswerving conviction kept them from disintegrating through countless perils, sustaining them as they marched into the unknown with resolve.

David Ferguson:

I now realize that faith and ideals untested by harsh reality may have no true substance.

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has always upheld the realization of communism as its fundamental goal. Despite devastating losses and extreme adversity, the Red Army continued to press forward resolutely and never faltered. Its inner strength came from an unshakable belief in the cause, an unwavering commitment to the founding aspiration, and a profound sense of mission. The Red Army was never fleeing pursuers in search of safety; it was marching forward to a future in which it had a steadfast belief.

Wang Xiaohui:

The Long March went on for two years. The Red Army trekked 25,000 li across some of China’s harshest terrain, but they kept their heads high, seeking hope amid despair and marching towards light through unending darkness. The lofty ideals and sense of mission they upheld have also become the torch that guides generations of CPC members in the following centennial, tempering them into steel as they press forward unswervingly toward national rejuvenation.

That spark lit along the Yudu River has never dimmed since.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Faith: The Spark Born by the Yudu Riverside
http://www.china.org.cn/2026-10/16/content_118736835.shtml

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SOURCE China.org.cn

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Linktel Technologies Highlights Breakthrough 1.6T LPO Performance & Strong Market Pull at OCP 2026

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SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At the recent 2026 OCP Global Summit, Linktel Technologies showcased its cutting-edge optical interconnect portfolios engineered specifically for next-generation AI computing networks. Among the heavy lineup, Linktel’s 1.6T Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) solutions commanded immense industry attention, drawing heavy customer interest for their unprecedented energy efficiency, ultra-low latency, and supply-chain resilience.

Spotlight: 1.6T LPO Performance & High Customer Traction

AI data centers face immense scaling pressures, demanding higher bandwidth densities with tighter thermal and power budgets. Linktel’s 1.6T LPO solutions—highlighted by the 1.6T LPO 2DR4—delivered standout performance metrics that captured the spotlight at the summit:

Ultra-Low Power Consumption: Operates with power consumption as low as an impressive 10W, drastically mitigating data center cooling and power loads.Minimal Latency: Features a linear optics architecture that cuts down signal processing delays, making it a critical asset for high-performance AI scale-out fabrics.Enhanced Supply-Chain Resilience: Eliminating the optical DSP mitigates component choke points, ensuring robust scalability for mass deployments.Proven Interoperability: Following its breakthrough performance and multi-switch platform interoperability at the early September 2026 1.6T LPO-MSA Plugfest, Linktel has laid a solid foundation for the 200G-per-wavelength ecosystem.

Surging Market Interest

Throughout OCP 2026, Linktel’s live demonstrations of its 1.6T LPO, LRO, and FRO modules drew crowds of data center architects and industry partners. With volume production already in place, Linktel is fully equipped to meet the exploding market demand for energy-efficient, high-density 1.6T connectivity.

Overview of Other Innovations at OCP 2026

In addition to the heavily requested 1.6T LPO lineup, Linktel showcased two other major high-speed architectural pillars:

12.8T Liquid-Cooled XPO:Featured a live thermal demonstration integrating advanced liquid cooling to guarantee stable operations in high-density AI nodes.As a founding member of the XPO MSA, Linktel is actively scaling XPO series with FRO, LRO, and LPO variants for comprehensive scale-up, scale-out, and scale-across frameworks.6.4T/7.2T NPO Modules:Displayed with covers removed to reveal internal architectural designs supporting both ELS and ILS configurations.Combines compact high density with low power and low latency, backed by an established 6.4T/7.2T NPO roadmap.DMD Technology & Executive Presentation:Linktel Engineer Director Dr. Grace Zhang hosted a heavily attended Executive Session titled “Dispersion Managed Transceiver for Next-Gen AI Fabrics,” detailing cost-effective 800G (20km) and 1.6T (10km) solutions for OCS SuperPOD architectures, as well as the feasibility of 400G per lambda (3km).With its DMD product line already in volume production, Linktel actively calls upon ecosystem partners to join forces in collaborative development. To drive ecosystem maturity, Linktel is open to sharing its U.S.-filed patents, paving the way for industry-wide adoption and advancements in next-gen AI fabrics.

About Linktel Technologies

Linktel Technologies is a global leader in optical transceiver development and manufacturing, supplying high-speed optical I/O connectivity—including pluggable transceivers, optical engines, and ODM/JDM services.

For more information, visit www.linktel.com or follow Linktel Technologies on LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Linktel Technologies

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Advanced Manufacturing in Focus: Smart Life and Robotics Take the Spotlight at 140th Canton Fair

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GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 18, 2026 /CNW/ — Phase 1 of the 140th Canton Fair, themed “Advanced Manufacturing,” opened on October 15 and will run through October 19. As one of the event’s most closely watched sections, the Consumer Electronics and Information Products zone once again serves as a showcase for the latest achievements in China’s manufacturing and technology industries.

Smart Life Solutions Address an Aging and Globalized Market

A highlight of this section is the focus on smart living, which brings together smart solutions designed to support healthier, safer, and more independent lifestyles.

For example, wearable devices and continuous glucose monitoring systems enable convenient tracking of key health indicators such as heart rate and blood glucose levels. Meanwhile, wearable exoskeletons and other AI-powered devices support mobility training and functional recovery. For home and elderly care, companion robots, electric nursing beds and home-use hyperbaric oxygen chambers, offer a combination of daily care, wellness support and lifestyle assistance. All these solutions highlight a growing shift toward technology-enabled living, where health management, personal care, and independent living are becoming more accessible and connected.

Service Robots Demonstrate Expanding Real-World Applications

The Service Robot Zone remains one of the fair’s most popular attractions in this edition.

Among the crowd favorites is a humanoid robot standing roughly 70–80 centimeters tall. With its expressive movements and playful appearance, the robot draws constant attention as it dances, approaches visitors and occasionally performs flips to the delight of onlookers. Behind the product is a company that has overcome key challenges in compact joint modules and modular humanoid robot development. Its independently developed high-power-density joints deliver remarkable agility and explosive movement, while modular architecture provides flexibility for a wide range of future applications.

More broadly, the Service Robot Zone features exhibits spanning a wide range of application areas, including embodied intelligence, specialized operations, urban services, and smart living. Full-size humanoid robots, dexterous hands with multimodal sensing capabilities and wheeled robots highlight the latest advances in artificial intelligence, perception technologies and motion control. For demanding industrial and emergency environments, exhibitors are presenting robotic inspection systems, live-line maintenance robots and underwater propulsion robots designed to improve safety and operational efficiency.

The commercial services sector is also well represented through reception robots, façade-cleaning robots and fully automated coffee kiosks, while everyday life applications include wearable exoskeletons, robotic lawn mowers and educational robots for home use. Together, these exhibits demonstrate how China’s robotics industry is accelerating its transition from technological innovation to large-scale commercialization.

As the 140th Canton Fair gets underway, the showcased innovations highlight China’s growing strength in advanced manufacturing, turning cutting-edge technologies into practical, market-ready solutions for global customers.

For more convenient attendance, please click here for pre-registration:
https://buyer.cantonfair.org.cn/register/buyer/email?source_type=16

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SOURCE Canton Fair

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