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Toshiba and Naturenix Launch Demonstration Test of Battery Subscription Service for Electric Motorcycle Taxis in Bangkok

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– Developing markets in emerging economies by utilizing SCiB™*1 with long life performance in hot environments –

TOKYO, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Toshiba Corporation  and Naturenix Inc., a battery tech startup from Shimane University, have started a demonstration test of a battery subscription service for drivers of electric motorcycle taxis in Bangkok, Thailand on September 30, 2024.

In Bangkok, electric motorcycle taxis help people avoid traffic congestion, but face the problem of high temperatures that degrade battery performance and life. The demonstration test will use Toshiba rechargeable lithium-ion batteries “SCiB™”, known for reliable, long-life performance in high temperatures, to ensure extended stable operation of electric motorcycle taxis, eliminate the large initial investment in a battery, and to reduce running costs. Improved battery life will also reduce materials consumption and contribute to lower environmental impact.

Lithium-ion battery performance degrades in high temperatures. The problem is particularly pronounced in two- and three-wheeled vehicles, where it is difficult to add cooling mechanisms, especially in hot countries like Thailand. Expensive lithium-ion batteries often need to be replaced after only one or two years of use, making their use economically impractical and limited. There have also been accidents where batteries have caught fire, highlighting the need for batteries with high-level safety features.

While demand for lithium-ion batteries in emerging economies is expected to exceed 600GWh by 2035, only 2.8% of that is expected to be from lithium-ion batteries for motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles, both widely used in daily transportation. The reasons for this low demand in a sector where batteries could play a major role degradation and safety issues. Solutions in these areas will help to unlock a significant market for batteries for motorcycles and three-wheelers.

Working with Windee International, a joint venture with a local parking management servicer, Naturenix will provide a battery replacement service for electric motorcycles. The demonstration test will use Toshiba’s battery SCiB™. It will be mounted with sensors that monitor its characteristics and the collected data will be transmitted to Naturenix for analysis with AI. User of the service will be asked to complete a questionnaire on the service. The company will also monitor carbon dioxide emissions and examine the effectiveness of the service in reducing environmental impacts. The data collected will determine the effectiveness of the service and support preparations for a wider roll out in FY2025.

The Toshiba’s battery SCiB™ used in the demonstration test is characterized by its long life and high level safety, with minimal performance deterioration even after over 20,000*2 charge-discharge cycles. This longevity is particularly important in hot environments like Thailand. It also has excellent safety features, making it less likely to experience abnormal heating or ignition, even in the event of an internal short circuit.

Naturenix’s packing and charging technologies minimize heat generation by reducing internal resistance to the extent possible. By utilizing these technologies, the company aims to achieve longer battery life and higher output, as well as faster recharging, in as short a time as six minutes. It also expects to reduce the number of batteries on standby for recharging, and by doing so cut the service operating costs.

This battery pack’s data analysis functions constantly monitor the state of the battery. This is communicated to AI that can provide highly accurate estimates of battery degradation. Depending on the degree of degradation, after use on e-motorcycles it can be reused in a number of applications, such as being converted to a stationary storage battery.

Through Fleet operators, Naturenix will lease batteries to its customers, electric motorcycle drivers, on a subscription model. It allows Fleet operators to provide electric motorcycles to their customers without the cost of the batteries, reducing initial costs that are high barrier to entry for electrification. As the battery manufacturer, Toshiba expects to generate sustained revenue from battery rentals, as well as from manufacturing and sales.

For this demonstration, Toshiba will supply SCiB™ and Naturenix will be responsible for development and manufacturing the battery packs. Both will work for asset management, system development, installation, and providing the subscription services to customers. Naturenix will also establish a subsidiary in Thailand in FY2025 to mass produce battery packs with SCiB™, with the aim of supplying batteries not only for electric motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles, but also for forklifts and golf carts.

About Toshiba

Toshiba Corporation leads a global group of companies that combines knowledge and capabilities from almost 150 years of experience in a wide range of businesses—from energy and social infrastructure to electronic devices—with world-class capabilities in information processing, digital and AI technologies. These distinctive strengths support Toshiba in building infrastructure that everyone can enjoy, and a connected data society, and in achieving the Company’s ultimate goal, a future that realizes carbon neutrality and a circular economy. Guided by the Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future,” Toshiba contributes to society’s positive development with services and solutions that lead to a better world.

For more information, visit https://www.global.toshiba/ww/top.html or follow Toshiba Corporation on  LinkedIn.

About Naturenix

Naturenix is a start-up company that aims to create a world where nature and electronics coexist through the provision of battery longevity technologies and next-generation energy platforms. By collecting dynamic data on batteries in actual use and analyzing it with AI technology, the company promotes open innovation in batteries and ensures long-term use across multiple applications by guaranteeing asset value based on an understanding of battery use and degradation. For more information, please visit www.naturenix.co.jp

Note 1: SCiB™ is a trademark of Toshiba Corporation.

Note 2: Characteristics may vary with conditions of use.

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SOURCE Toshiba Corporation

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NAVER D2SF Invests in On-Device AI Startup TraceWeave

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TraceWeave develops its own post-Transformer AI architecture that enables AI agents to run on memory-constrained devicesCompletes paid pilot in mobility; pursues commercialization across robots, drones, smart glasses, and moreNAVER D2SF continues to invest in on-device AI and next-generation device technologies

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NAVER D2SF has made a new investment in TraceWeave, an on-device AI startup led by co-founder and CEO Jaeyoung Park. TraceWeave is the team behind Phase-TITAN, a post-Transformer architecture that understands long contexts and carries out multi-step tasks while keeping memory usage constant. NAVER D2SF recognized the company’s core technology for enabling AI agents on resource-constrained devices.

As AI expands to robots, vehicles, smart glasses, and drones, its applications are advancing beyond simple chatbots toward complex reasoning and decision-making. In Transformer-based models, the key-value cache (KV-Cache) grows with context length, requiring more memory. On-device constraints in memory, battery life, and heat have made it difficult to implement AI agents that understand long contexts and perform complex tasks.

TraceWeave’s Phase-TITAN is a new AI architecture designed to resolve this memory bottleneck by replacing the conventional Transformer architecture altogether. TraceWeave develops its own AI models rather than relying on existing open-source models. Memory usage remains constant as context grows. According to TraceWeave, at a 1M-token context without quantization, a comparable Transformer’s KV-Cache holds tens of gigabytes or more, while its 1B Phase-TITAN model holds 0.04 GB. This enables agents to call tools, interpret results, and decide on their next actions entirely on the device, without cloud calls. TraceWeave’s internal benchmarks on RULER and BFCL indicate that Phase-TITAN maintains performance on par with Transformer models of the same size and larger.

TraceWeave has demonstrated a multi-step agent running on a smartphone using only its CPU, without cloud calls. In mobility, it completed a paid pilot with the autonomous driving affiliate of a global automotive group, identifying driving-data frames that improve the partner’s autonomous driving model without human annotation. It is also validating in-vehicle agent performance with a global automotive electronics software company and exploring opportunities in robots, drones, smart glasses, and wearables. TraceWeave was a Top 20 finalist in NVIDIA’s 2026 Inception Grand Challenge.

TraceWeave was co-founded in October 2025 by researchers with backgrounds at ETH Zurich, Google, and KAIST. The team combines engineering expertise grounded in computational neuroscience and physics with business development capabilities, designing its own architecture and validating it in device environments that reflect real-world customer needs. In this seed round led by Mirae Asset Capital, TraceWeave raised approximately KRW 3 billion at a pre-money valuation of approximately KRW 30 billion. Based at NAVER D2SF @Gangnam, the company plans to use the funding to expand its research and engineering team for next-generation architecture development and grow its business.

“Taking the KV cache out was never the hard part. Staying capable without it was,” said Jaeyoung Park, co-founder and CEO of TraceWeave. “The best part is no part. Phase-TITAN already delivers Transformer-class capability without the Transformer’s memory tax, and the next one goes well beyond its class, with the memory still fixed.”

“On-device AI is a core technology for implementing complex, advanced AI across diverse device environments beyond PCs, and it also offers advantages in reducing cloud call costs and protecting privacy,” said Sanghwan Yang, Head of NAVER D2SF. “TraceWeave is a team that is innovating AI architecture to overcome the limitations of existing AI models and bring AI to on-device environments.”

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/naver-d2sf-invests-in-on-device-ai-startup-traceweave-302913752.html

SOURCE NAVER D2SF

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Gear Up for Year-End Wellness: iHerb Spotlights 4 Everyday Health Essentials and Kicks Off 11.11 Early Access Sale with Up to 40% Off Sitewide

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HONG KONG, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As October gets underway, many individuals are proactively preparing their daily health and self-care routines ahead of the busy year-end season. Global health and wellness e-commerce platform iHerb has curated a premier lineup of four top-selling daily nutritional supplements from its flagship house brand, California Gold Nutrition, and consumer-favorite brand, Doctor’s Best. Encompassing marine collagen, Omega-3 fatty acids, CoQ10, and chelated magnesium, this selection addresses distinct nutritional priorities, providing consumers with comprehensive, high-quality choices for daily maintenance and holistic vitality.

The iHerb Singles’ Day Early Access campaign officially launches today and runs through October 28. During the promotional period, shoppers can apply promo code “HD11BUY” at checkout to receive up to 40% off sitewide. Additionally, new customers worldwide can use promo code “WELCOME7” to enjoy 30% off their first purchase—offering consumers the ideal opportunity to proactively map out their year-end wellness and nutrition regimens.

Daily Wellness from Within: Collagen and Omega-3 as Nutritional Building Blocks

Founded in the United States and powered by 30 years of global health curation, iHerb offers an extensive catalogue spanning vitamins, dietary supplements, beauty, sports nutrition, and everyday lifestyle essentials. The platform empowers consumers to explore premier wellness goods from around the world all in one convenient place.

Among the featured highlights is California Gold Nutrition’s Hydrolyzed Marine Collagen Peptides + Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C. This synergistic formula pairs bioavailable hydrolyzed marine collagen peptides with hyaluronic acid and antioxidant vitamin C. Formulated as an unflavored, easily dissolvable powder, it blends effortlessly into morning coffee, smoothies, or water according to usage guidelines, offering a hassle-free addition to daily beauty and mobility regimens.

For essential fatty acid support, California Gold Nutrition’s Omega-3 Premium Fish Oil provides concentrated Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA. Delivered in fish gelatin softgels, it offers an accessible, high-purity option for consumers seeking to incorporate vital fatty acids into their daily dietary routine to maintain overall cardiovascular, cognitive, and cellular wellness.

Targeted Cellular Vitality and Essential Minerals: Advanced Science from Doctor’s Best

Complementing collagen and fish oil, trusted wellness brand Doctor’s Best delivers science-backed formulations for more specialized nutritional support. The brand’s High Absorption CoQ10 utilizes naturally fermented Coenzyme Q10 paired with patented BioPerine® black pepper extract to enhance nutrient absorption and bioavailability. It provides an exceptional daily option for adults focused on supporting cardiovascular function, cellular energy generation, and antioxidant defenses.

Another standout favorite is Doctor’s Best High Absorption Magnesium Lysinate Glycinate, which features Albion® TRAACS® chelated magnesium in convenient tablet form. This fully chelated delivery ensures high bioavailability and superior digestive tolerance, allowing consumers to easily select the right daily supplement tailored to their dietary habits, physical activity, and relaxation needs.

Special Promotion: 11.11 Early Access

Sitewide Early Bird Offer: Use promo code HD11BUY to take up to 40% off sitewide.

New Customer Welcome: First-time shoppers globally can apply promo code WELCOME7 for 30% off their order.Promotion Window: Active immediately through October 28, 2026.Details & WhatsApp: Subject to terms and product eligibility on the official iHerb website. Subscribe to the official iHerb Hong Kong WhatsApp channel for real-time campaign updates.

About iHerb (https://hk.iherb.com/)

iHerb is a world-leading e-commerce destination dedicated to health, wellness, and self-care. Founded in California in 1996, iHerb now serves millions of customers across more than 180 countries. With a selection of over 40,000 authentic, high-quality products across vitamins, supplements, sports nutrition, personal care, and grocery items, iHerb delivers value and convenience directly to doorsteps worldwide, supported by state-of-the-art GMP-registered, climate-controlled distribution centers.

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SOURCE iHerb

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EPG Showcases Full-Stack AIDC Capabilities and Global Delivery Network at DCWA 2026 in Singapore

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SINGAPORE, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — EPG, a global provider for prefabricated modular data center infrastructure, showcased its latest AI data center solutions at Data Centre World Asia (DCWA) 2026, held in Singapore on September 29–30. Demonstrating its commitment to Asia-Pacific and the markets beyond, EPG presented its AI Core prefabricated modular data center solution and Edge POD prefabricated edge data center solution, alongside the global launch of AeroLev 1850, an air-cooled, magnetic-bearing chiller platform jointly introduced with MagPro. Together, these offerings demonstrate EPG’s end-to-end capabilities across modular infrastructure and high-efficiency cooling for AI data centers (AIDCs).

At the opening address for the Critical Infrastructure Theatre, EPG Chief Operating Officer Johnny Zhang highlighted the growing demands AI is placing on data center infrastructure, from higher power density and faster deployment to more efficient cooling. As AI continues to evolve, infrastructure must keep pace to support the next generation of AI computing.

Building on these themes, Johnny Zhang moderated a panel discussion on the future of data centers, resilience and digital infrastructure, bringing together industry experts from data center design, cloud and AI infrastructure, and cooling technology to explore emerging requirements for energy efficiency, high-density cooling and scalability. EPG Chief Technology Officer Enso Li also presented AI Core at the Energy Security & Efficiency Theatre, demonstrating how standardized modules and factory prefabrication can accelerate data center deployment.

Alongside these industry discussions, EPG continued to strengthen its global partnerships. The company signed cooperation agreements with international industry partners across AI data center planning, construction and delivery. These collaborations will support the development of next-generation data center infrastructure, broaden EPG’s ecosystem across the Asia-Pacific and expand its presence in global markets.

Complementing these industry engagements, EPG showcased its AI Core and Edge POD solutions across its exhibition space, welcoming visitors to explore its modular infrastructure offerings. AI Core takes a prefabricated, modular approach to AI infrastructure, integrating standardized power, cooling and other critical infrastructure modules to simplify deployment and enable flexible expansion as compute requirements grow. Built on this modular approach, EPG’s E Series offers configurable solutions tailored to different project requirements. One of its offerings, Edge POD, is an all-in-one solution for distributed computing environments where power availability and deployment speed are critical. Designed for 1–10 MW applications, Edge POD supports rapid deployment, low-latency computing and distributed redundancy.

EPG’s joint venture, MagPro, also introduced its new magnetic levitation chiller platform, AeroLev 1850. The 1.85 MW-class, air-cooled, magnetic-bearing chiller platform is designed for next-generation AI data centers in water-scarce, high-ambient environments, with chilled-water outlet temperatures of up to 45°C. Its cooling-tower-free architecture combines oil-free magnetic-levitation technology with intelligent controls to deliver efficient, reliable cooling while reducing water consumption.

The launch of AeroLev 1850 marks a strategic milestone in EPG’s global cooling technology roadmap. Established in May 2026, MagPro brings together EPG’s data center engineering and global delivery expertise with CIGU’s magnetic-levitation technology and R&D capabilities. The partnership expands EPG’s portfolio into advanced cooling to address the demands of high-density AI computing while reducing reliance on water-intensive cooling systems.

“AI computing is reshaping the infrastructure requirements of data centers,” said Alick Wan, Founder and Chairman of EPG. “Our focus extends beyond individual technological breakthroughs. By combining modular and standardized solutions with global delivery capabilities, we aim to help customers deploy and scale computing infrastructure efficiently across markets. We will continue working with global partners to build more efficient and resilient infrastructure for the next generation of digital growth.”

Looking ahead, EPG will continue to evolve its solutions and strengthen its capabilities to meet the changing demands of the data center industry.

Learn more: https://www.epg-module.com/

CONTACT: communications@epg-module.com

About EPG

EPG is a prefabricated modular data center infrastructure provider, powered by R&D centers in Singapore, Malaysia, and Shanghai, as well as six advanced manufacturing hubs in Malaysia and China. With over 20 years of engineering expertise, it has a workforce of more than 1,600 employees, including nearly 300 researchers and experienced engineers in its R&D and technical team. Through continuous technological innovation and a scalable delivery system, EPG delivers  integrated and efficient data center solutions for hyperscale, cloud, and enterprise deployments across APAC, EMEA, and other global markets.

About MagPro (Nanjing CIPU Technology Co., Ltd.)

MagPro is a joint venture between CIGU Technology Corp. Ltd. and EPG Data Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., specializing in the research, development, and production of reliable, energy-efficient cooling and air-conditioning systems for AI data centers, cloud, and hyperscales. MagPro operates a more than 6,000-square-meter production base and two air-cooled laboratories, supporting testing of air-cooled units up to 2,000 kW.

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SOURCE EPG Global Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

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