Month: July 2023

Created in 1955, the Red Dot Awards are presented annually for products that show exceptional quality, functionality, and design innovation. They are widely recognized as the world’s most prestigious product design awards. This is the third year in a row our teams across Xfinity and Sky have won – the fourth time overall – and it’s always a moment of pride for our designers and engineers to receive this recognition.

This year’s honor is special for a few reasons. For the first time, our teams won for designs spanning both consumer and business products, with our new Comcast Business Gateway earning one of the four awards. Secondly, these products all came to fruition – in part – during COVID. Throughout the pandemic, teammates from around the world collaborated remotely across the company’s Global Technology Platform, the engine that powers Comcast’s connectivity and entertainment products and unifies Xfinity and Sky products under a common design system.

Here’s a look at this year’s class of Red Dot Award winners spanning our connectivity and platforms businesses.

Comcast Business Gateway

As today’s businesses grow, their connectivity solutions must also transform, with more speed and capacity to handle higher volumes of data.

To meet these demands, in 2023, Comcast Business unveiled its latest and most powerful WiFi device. The Comcast Business Gateway is the first WiFi-6 certified product offered by Comcast Business, designed to provide faster speeds, enhanced security protection, and state of the art WiFi coverage. With its ability to communicate more effectively across multiple devices that require data simultaneously, the advanced gateway can prioritize traffic more efficiently, resulting in reduced lag during video conferencing and file uploads.

Design-wise, its simple, compact form defies the conventional wisdom that business networks require racks and racks of servers.

“We wanted to make a solution that provides each business with placement flexibility: on a counter or desk, as well as on a wall or in a standard server rack,” said Mike Jou, Senior Creative Director at Comcast, whose team is tasked with reimagining the product experience through industrial design. “We wanted to align Comcast Business’s flagship device with our design system but also customize it for a specific business use case. It’s built with a solid, heavily textured surface that elegantly transitions between two common shapes on the top and bottom of the form. Between those transitions, a band wraps around the entire form, allowing room for key elements such as status LEDs, ventilation, I/O ports, and mounting provisions.”

Xfinity Large Button Voice Remote

Xfinity’s Large Button Voice Remote represents the culmination of decades of TV remote learnings and know-how.

This newest iteration is designed to be user-friendly, particularly for those with dexterity or visual challenges that make it difficult to use standard remotes. Its soft tapered form is easy to hold and operate with one or two hands while the elevated IR window, speaker relief, and flat bottom ensure stability and performance when used while resting on a surface. The remote also features large backlit buttons, high contrast colors, enlarged text, a removable wrist strap, a “press to slide” back cover, and rubber lift tabs for battery removal to enhance its ease of use.

With a prominent accessibility shortcut key, users can quickly access settings like Comcast’s Talking Guide, closed captions, large text options, audio description, and more to suit individual needs.

“Our product designers believe in creating experiences that solve the needs of as many people as possible,” said Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President, Accessibility. “By designing our products with accessibility uppermost in their minds, not only do they create better products for everyone, but they also help unlock greater independence for millions of people living with disabilities.”

Xfinity Home Camera

The Xfinity Home Camera is a sleek home monitoring and surveillance device, offered as an integral part of the Xfinity Home suite of products and services. It captures high-definition video footage and sends it to our secure cloud where the content can be viewed from afar on a smartphone or tablet, enabling customers to keep an eye on their homes when they are across town, across the country, or even travelling abroad.

Aesthetically, it was important to engineer a discreet and elegant product, inviting enough to place or install in any space.

“We wanted to create a friendly form in a soft white color that can easily fit in any room, from the garage to the nursery,” said Jou. “We engineered it with an integrated ball and socket to provide flexibility to get just the right angle with ease, whether placed on a surface or mounted directly to the wall.”

Sky Stream Box

The Sky Stream Box is the new, easy way for subscribers to get Sky in the U.K. and Europe. It gives customers the best entertainment streamed straight to any TV over WiFi, with no satellite dish or additional installation required. Sky Stream brings the Sky Glass UI and experience to even more people following the launch of the world’s first streaming TV last year.

The Sky Stream box is easy to set up and has a user-friendly interface that makes navigating through different apps and content simple. It also comes with a voice-activated remote control, which allows users to browse and select content quickly. The device supports high-definition video and provides a smooth streaming experience, making it a popular choice for those who want to enjoy their favorite shows and movies on the big screen without the hassle of cable or satellite TV.

The Sky Stream Puck’s small, discreet form factor blends in with the home without detracting from the TV-viewing experience. It comes with the Glass Remote that was designed with excellent ergonomics, premium finish, and a low center of gravity that nestles comfortably in the palm of the user’s hand.

Thoughtful design and engineering helped reduce cost without compromising quality, allowing Sky to provide Sky TV over WiFi for less than a pound a day.

A History of Award-Winning Innovation

These awards join a growing list of honors recognizing our global innovation, a list that started in 2014 with the X1 Entertainment Operating System earning its first Emmy. The feat has been repeated several times, including a win for the Voice Remote platform in 2018, and recently, a 2022 Technology and Engineering Emmy for VideoAI used featured across Xfinity, Sky, and Peacock for advanced sports viewing.

The Red Dot Award is issued by an international jury to products that demonstrate outstanding design each year. We are excited to be among the leading companies providing our customers with state-of-the-art products that makes their lives easier.

Eco Capsule Wins Fourth International Award for Sustainable Design 

Comcast also gained its fourth international recognition – the 2023 iF Design Award – for the Xfinity Eco Capsule, which launched in 2020.

The Eco Capsule, a sustainable packaging solution with the world’s first resealable molded fiber lid, is crafted from bamboo, sugarcane, and paper with responsible manufacturing methods powered by solar, wind, and recycled water.

Comcast’s package design and accessibility teams also partnered to include its first-ever use of braille on packaging along with ergonomic features.

Past Eco Capsule wins include the Red Dot Award (2021-22); IDEA Gold Award (2022) and Good Design Award (2022).

Later this year, the Eco Capsule will be further incorporated into additional products sold in Xfinity retail stores, including the upcoming Storm-Ready Xfinity WiFi device. 
 

It’s clear the energy transition is uneven, and countries worldwide are advancing the buildout of renewables at different speeds.

As we move toward net zero in 2050, there is another equally fundamental fact for Canada and Canadians to consider: natural gas is the great equalizer to a less turbulent, more equitable and sustainable energy evolution. And we happen to have plenty of it.

In fact, our friends from places like Germany and Japan have been knocking on our door in recent months and asking Canada for natural gas (the great equalizer) . . . to which we’ve said . . . no. So why are we shirking something that’s equal parts opportunity and obligation?

LNG2023, the largest global liquified natural gas (LNG) conference and exhibition in the world, is taking place this week in Vancouver. It’s not a stretch to picture 15,000 delegates and stakeholders wandering the epicenter of Canada’s LNG industry scratching their heads and asking themselves the same question.

“The Germans, Japanese and South Koreans came to Canada looking for more energy and we’ve turned them away,” said Greg Ebel, president and chief executive officer of Enbridge, the continent’s leading energy infrastructure company that happens to move of 20% of all the natural gas consumed in North America. “What message does that send to our allies, trading partners and the developing world?”

Ebel joined president and CEO of the America Gas Association Karen Harbert, Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill, and Chevron Executive Vice-President Oil Products and Gas Nigel Hearne in a panel discussion today titled Challenges of a Turbulent Energy Transition. The topic of LNG, natural gas cooled by industrial processes to a liquid state and moved offshore to the world’s LNG market aboard special tankers, featured prominently in the conversation about the energy transition.

Canada has 1,373 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources available for production—it’s enough to power British Columbia, as an example, for centuries. With Canadian environmental policies, Canadian natural gas is also some of the lowest-emission, most sustainably produced in the world. It’s a secure, clean supply that could go a long way towards helping the likes of China and India secure an alternative to coal for power generation. In China today, 55% of the energy mix is coal; in India it’s 57%. In fact, both countries continue to grow their coal consumption.

Ebel also noted of the great potential North American LNG has to lift up many parts of the developing world. According to the World Health Organization, more than 700 million people on the planet have no access to electricity and 2.4 billion are cooking with fuels, like dung, which are harmful to health.

“Countries like Canada, the U.S. and others with an abundance of natural gas can and should help others alleviate energy poverty,” Ebel said.

Enbridge voices were heard among other LNG20230 panel discussions in Vancouver today.

Cynthia Hansen, executive vice-president and president, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Enbridge, talked about the risks that Canada’s uncertain permitting and regulatory processes pose to future growth of LNG. Enbridge has a 30% ownership stake in the Woodfibre LNG project in Squamish, B.C., due to enter service in 2027.

“We are well positioned to help meet the need, but it takes five to 10 years to permit anything, so without clear rules of engagement and timelines, capital will remain on the sidelines,” she said.

CAMDEN, N.J., July 13, 2023, /3BL/ – Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) today honored Findlay Subaru of Las Vegas of Las Vegas, Nevada with the Subaru Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award for 2023, recognizing the retailer’s ongoing commitment and support to their local community. The award goes to the Subaru retailer who has shown significant commitment to their customers and their community throughout the year, exemplifying the Subaru Love Promise.

“Being recognized as the Subaru Love Promise Retailer of the Year is a true honor and a heartfelt acknowledgement of our commitment to making a difference in the lives of our customers, our employees and our Southern Nevada community,” said Burton Hughes, General Manager of Subaru of Las Vegas.

For the past 18 years, Hughes and his team have gone above and beyond to establish an open, welcoming atmosphere at Subaru of Las Vegas. Giving back to the community is at the heart of everything they do, working with over 50 nonprofit organizations. Since 2021, Subaru of Las Vegas has donated over $1 million to local charities including Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada and Michael’s Angel Paws. Beyond dollar figures, their employees actively volunteer beyond expectations, and are advocates for both community organizations and customers in need. The retailer’s reputation for ensuring that customers’ best interests come first has also earned Subaru of Las Vegas the Subaru Customer Commitment Award from 2018 through 2023.

Subaru of America, Inc. created the Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award to shine a spotlight on exceptional Subaru retailers who contribute to their local communities while taking efforts to turn customer transactions into lifelong owner relationships. The Love Promise is a pledge to show love and respect to all people at every interaction with Subaru and to make a positive impact in the world.

This is the eighth annual Subaru Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award. For more information about the Subaru Retailer of The Year Award, please visit: https://www.subaru.com/our-commitment/love-promise/retailer-recognition.

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company’s vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $300 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged nearly 88,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do. For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Diane Anton 
Corporate Communications Manager    
(856) 488-5093  
danton@subaru.com

Adam Leiter
Corporate Communications Specialist
(856) 488-8668
aleiter@subaru.com

July 13, 2023, /3BL/ – SkysTheLimit.org, the leading platform for entrepreneurial empowerment, is thrilled to shine a spotlight on Cameron Cox, the Founder of ShuLovesRebels (SLR), a remarkable fashion house dedicated to curating alternative lifestyles that heal.

In an era where fashion production contributes to carbon emissions and a significant portion of landfills each year, Cameron is determined to revolutionize the industry through ShuLovesRebels. His vision encompasses not only high-quality, ethically sourced products but also a profound commitment to minimizing waste and reducing the fashion world’s carbon footprint.

At the heart of ShuLovesRebels lies a private community designed to nurture the next generation of young leaders globally. By creating this platform, Cameron is paving the way for aspiring entrepreneurs to connect, learn, and grow together, fostering a sense of collaboration that is essential for sustainable progress. His ambition is for ShuLovesRebels to be remembered for the quality of products it delivers, not the waste it leaves behind.

Cameron Cox’s journey to success has been shaped by the support and guidance he received from mentors along the way.

“The information my mentors gave me are steps I use in my own business now. My company went from looking for a developer to offering the services of designing and developing websites/apps for my clients. My sales did increase from the clarity I received. They doubled and possibly tripled because I offer new services and receive new prospects daily,” said Cameron.

His continuous drive for excellence, combined with a spirit of innovation, has made ShuLovesRebels a force to be reckoned with in the fashion industry.

Read more about his inspiring story here.

To further honor Cameron’s achievements and inspire others, Sky’s the Limit will be hosting the highly anticipated Limitless! premiere featuring the visionary founder himself. Limitless! is a groundbreaking series, where entrepreneurs can share their experiences, insights, and strategies for success. This episode will provide a unique opportunity for attendees to learn from Cameron’s journey, gain valuable knowledge, and connect with like-minded individuals. More details can be found here.

Sky’s the Limit offers opportunities for traditionally marginalized entrepreneurs – typically those who identify as LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, women, veterans, disabled people, and people from low-income backgrounds – to connect with mentors to come together to foster, grow, and shape modern and future enterprise. The organization has also provided over $450,000 in startup grants and educated tens of thousands of diverse entrepreneurs.

For more information about how to get your company involved in mentoring, please visit skysthelimit.org/partnerships.

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About SkysTheLimit.org: SkysTheLimit.org is a digital platform that connects young, historically excluded entrepreneurs with one-on-one support from experienced business advisors and mentors, entrepreneurship training, and community-voted startup grants. SkysTheLimit.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. 

Originally published in FedEx’s 2023 ESG Report

We have ambitious sustainability goals, and electrifying a substantial portion of our global fleet of over 215,000 motorized vehicles is a crucial component of our path to carbon neutral operations. Our fleet is comprised of PUD vehicles, long-haul trucks, forklifts, airport ground service equipment, and other non-road vehicles. Due to performance and operational requirements, the electrification of each vehicle class presents different opportunities and challenges. Across our entire FedEx parcel PUD fleet, we are committed to replacing existing vehicles with zero-tailpipe emission vehicles by 2040, using a phased approach.

Our approach to fleet replacement and electrification is focused on identifying the right vehicle solution in the right application. We are actively engaging local original equipment manufacturers around the world to create the most efficient and sustainable vehicle fleet for our operations.

In 2022, FedEx Express announced an agreement reserving production of 2,000 EVs from BrightDrop, a technology startup from General Motors, over the next several years. We expect to continue expanding our EV fleet by procuring up to 20,000 more BrightDrop EVs, subject to future negotiations. Following the first deliveries in December 2021, we had received 150 BrightDrop Zevo 600 vans by June 2022. The Zevo 600s are all-electric, zero-tailpipe emission vans designed for last-mile deliveries with a range of up to 250 miles on a full charge. Through our relationship with BrightDrop, we introduced BrightDrop Trace electric carts (eCarts) into FedEx Express operations in New York City. In an initial pilot, couriers handled 25% more packages per day when using the eCarts on routes in a high-density, vertical urban environment. The New York City Department of Transportation recently approved a long-term use exception of the eCarts, which are now in use in both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

In August 2022, FedEx Office began piloting ten Ford E-Transit vans across nine markets within its PUD network. The pilot program aims to help FedEx Office understand the performance of EVs in a variety of operational, road, and weather conditions. FedEx Express Europe placed an order for 98 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter vans, which are anticipated to arrive at six of our major facilities in 2023.

FedEx Ground is developing a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the EV transition for independent service providers and is implementing the necessary infrastructure at our facilities to provide charging solutions. As of FY22, FedEx Ground operated 56 EV charging stations, which independent service providers can access to support their own EV transition, and has deployed 115 electric yard tractors and 14 electric PUD vans.

FedEx Freight is evaluating EV opportunities to define scalable solutions for its entire fleet. To date, FedEx Freight has placed orders for 18 EV tractors, 8 EV box trucks, and 10 EV yard tractors, and will install 36 fast chargers at four hubs. FedEx Freight operates 1,400 electric-powered forklifts, approximately 15% of its forklift fleet.

We are actively building the innovative charging infrastructure required to support our growing fleet of EVs across our vast network of facilities. In California, we have already installed more than 500 charging stations. FedEx Express Europe announced in October 2022 the development of 114 EV charging points at PUD stations in London, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, and Strasbourg. Installing the large-scale charging infrastructure required by our operations involves our close collaboration with local utility companies and regulators to help strategically plan for and implement the additional grid capacity needed.

While growing EV charging will cause our electricity usage to significantly increase, we are investing in on-site renewable energy generation and procurement, and exploring other innovative approaches, such as battery storage, to overcome this challenge and continue reducing our emissions. See the Facilities section for more information on these initiatives.

Through our Zero Emission City Deliveries Solutions program in Europe, we increased delivery options within urban centers, including EVs and cargo bicycles. In FY22, we more than doubled the number of electric cargo bikes in Europe, which are now deployed in 17 cities. Our growing fleet of electric bikes reduces impacts from our operations, including noise levels and combustion engine exhaust compared to traditional last-mile vehicles. Across some cities, like London and Toronto, our electric bike fleet is replacing a substantial percentage of our van routes. This strategic rollout highlights our commitment to use the right solutions in the right applications. We continue to electrify forklifts, airport ground service equipment, and other non-road vehicles across our operating companies to reduce fuel and maintenance costs. We anticipate improving our efficiency further as new technology develops.

Key links 
BrightDrop EV Delivery 
FedEx Office E-Transit Van Pilot 
FedEx Express European Charging Infrastructure 

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