02/14, 9:10am
JPMorgan doubt on ultrabooks backed by sales
An investment note from JPMorgan analyst Mike Moskowitz on Tuesday downplaying the likely impact of Windows-based ultrabooks was backed by support from PC resellers. He saw most competitors pursuing the MacBook Air and going for "more of the same" in computers, largely trying to replicate what they'd seen before instead of trying something new. The emulation was ironic for an industry that had initially downplayed the Air, he said, although he saw there being a number of practical competitive issues as well.
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02/13, 2:00pm
Iconia Tab A200 getting official Android 4.0
The Acer Iconia Tab A200 is getting an official update to Android 4.0, users on the Android Police forum have reported. The update moves the tablet from Android 3.2 to Android 4.0.3, as promised earlier. If owners didn't get an automatic notification of its availability, they can manually check by going to the System update screen in their settings menu.
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02/10, 2:05pm
MacBook Pro expected to slim across the line
On and off rumors of a major MacBook Pro redesign were supported on Friday with leaks supporting a complete overhaul. The AppleInsider hints had Apple's high-end notebooks being overhauled over the course of 2012 to more closely resemble the MacBook Air, dropping optical drives and slimming down. Rumors of a 15-inch Air were more likely references to Apple repeating what it did with the unibody MacBook Pro, where the 15-inch model led the redesign and other sizes followed later.
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02/10, 12:35pm
Will take wrap off previously unknown phone at MWC
Acer will soon be launching its flagship CloudMobile smartphone. Pocket-lint reports that the company will be revealing the Android 4.0 device at the upcoming Mobile World Conference in Barcelona later this month. Only some details are available.
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02/09, 9:15am
iPad 3 to get expected one-year anniversary launch
Apple may hew closely to the formula of its iPad launch last year for the iPad 3 if leaks Thursday are indicators. The company would use the "first week in March" to introduce the new tablet and put it on sale roughly a week later, AllThingsD heard. The event would take place in San Francisco, most likely at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (pictured) that Apple has used for both iPad events so far.
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02/07, 9:35am
Garnter paints bleak picture for Windows in Europe
New Gartner data breaking down European computer market share has shown poor results for almost every computer builder outside of Apple. Continent-wide, both market leader HP as well as Acer, Dell, and Toshiba were all dropping market share. Only ASUS (up 1.5 points) increased share based solely on its own merits among the top five; Lenovo's gain was inflated by its acquiring Medion last June.
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02/07, 8:25am
Acer thinks CEO violated non-compete clause
Acer was reported Tuesday as having sued its ousted former CEO Gianfranco Lanci. The Taiwan PC builder claimed in an Italian court that Lanci broke a non-compete clause by signing with Lenovo and working for a direct rival. Neither Lanci nor Lenovo had responded to the accusations.
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02/04, 4:05pm
Windows Phone Tango and Apollo dated
Microsoft's roadmap for Windows Phone was given a possible outline in a rumor Saturday. Tango, the first minor update, was pegged by Digitimes contacts as going live in March or April if Microsoft clinged to its roadmap. The rumored second Tango update would arrive in mid-year.
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02/01, 7:35pm
Acer chairman sees core unity in notebooks
Acer chairman JT Wang made more comments at his company's Lunar New Year event that outlined more of how Acer planned to survive Apple and the computer market. He made the prediction that ultrabooks and netbooks would fold into a single category within the next 18 to 24 months. Digitimes didn't glean how this would happen, although the company had predicted $499 ultrabooks by 2013 that would leave little gap between the two.
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01/30, 12:20pm
Acer chair hopeful for early turnaround
Acer chairman JT Wang chose the unusual venue of his company's Lunar New Year ceremony to make predictions about early 2012 sales. With Digitimes and others in attendance, he thought Acer had a good chance of being profitable in its first quarter of 2012 after a 2011 defined by losses. The Chinese holiday and hard drive shortages would make January a low point, but the rest of the quarter would do well.
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01/27, 7:20pm
iPad has firm footprint two years on
Friday signaled the second anniversary of the iPad's introduction and what has since been interpreted as the start of a shift in the entire computing space. Apple's tablet was unveiled this day in 2010 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco by its late co-creator, Steve Jobs. It would only go on sale April 2, but it proved to be polarizing from its unveiling, even for Apple loyalists.
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01/27, 12:10pm
Acer, Samsung in distant second-place spots
The iPad was the overwhelming leader in the Japanese tablet market during 2011, data from tracking firm BCN indicates. Apple held a 63.6 percent share of the Japanese market, easily eclipsing its closest rivals. Acer ranked second with just 9.8 percent, for instance, while Samsung came in third at 5.3 percent. Apple claimed second place in terms of tablet accessories with 13.3 percent; the company was flanked by Elecom at 21.6 percent, and Trinity at 12.8 percent.
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01/22, 12:50pm
Acer Iconia Tab A510 and A700 get Euro launch info
A pair of updates following a press event in Hamburg have given likely release dates for Acer's Iconia Tab A700 and its more mainstream A510 equivalent. Both Tablet Community and Tablet Test expect the quad-core Android 4.0 tablets to arrive in April. Production for at least the A510 was expected to start in February or March.
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01/20, 7:10pm
Sports Tegra 2 1GHz chipset and 16GB of storage
A few days later than expected, Acer's new Tegra 2-based 10.1-inch tablet has gone on sale in the US. The Iconia Tablet A200 is now available at Best Buy. The tablet had been anticipated to arrive on US shores this Monday.
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01/20, 3:40pm
AT&T ships Aspire One 722 for $40 on contract
AT&T just revealed it has began selling Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire One A0722 netbook. The dual-core, 1GHz AMD C-50 system sports a full-sized keyboard and can connect to the carrier's HSPA+ network. A six-cell battery may give it long battery life, although it's not known by how long.
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01/18, 10:45pm
Acer sees ultrabooks dictating its lineup
Acer chairman JT Wang mentioned late Wednesday that as much as a third of of his company's entire notebook line may be ultrabooks. With Digitimes listening, Wang expected systems like the Aspire S5 and Timeline Ultra to account for 25 to 35 percent of all Acer's notebooks in 2012. The recently unveiled systems would be a foundation of the line and ship in spring, but more models were coming in the summer, the chairman said.
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01/12, 12:45pm
LG licenses Microsoft patents, explores partners
LG on Thursday became the latest company steered into signing a patent license deal with Microsoft. The Spectrum designer has agreed to pay Microsoft an unknown amount for "broad coverage" both on Android and Chrome OS despite LG not yet having a Chromebook on the market. Unlike past such licenses, however, Microsoft didn't issue a boilerplate observation that LG was paying royalties, leaving the door open to a lump sum.
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01/11, 5:50pm
IDC shows Apple 3rd in US, Acer drop
Fall 2011 was the worst season for PC growth in the US in a decade, IDC found in preliminary results. The overall PC field shrank 6.7 percent compared to what it had in late 2010, based partly on hard drive shortages triggered by Thailand flooding. However, the iPad and other tablets like it, combined with a tough economy, meant many didn't want PCs, particularly in the "difficult competitive landscape" of the US as well as Western Europe.
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01/11, 5:25pm
Economies, Thailand take toll on industry
In spite of two previous quarters of gains, computer industry shipments slipped 1.4 percent in Q4 2011 to 92.2 million units, according to preliminary Gartner estimates. The research firm had been forecasting a 1 percent drop. "Continuously low consumer PC demand resulted in weak holiday PC shipments," analyst Mikako Kitagawa is quoted as saying. "While economic uncertainty in Western Europe had an effect on consumer PC shipments, expectations of a healthier economic outlook in North America could not stimulate consumer PC demand in that region. The healthy professional PC market as well as growth in emerging markets could not compensate for the weaknesses in mature markets, with overall growth still negative."
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01/08, 6:10pm
Acer Aspire S5 gets our early test
We've had the opportunity to try Acer's Aspire S5, and we've come back pleasantly surprised so far. The magnesium and metal chassis, which is matte, feels good to the touch, is thin and light, and isn't cutting corners like some others. More importantly, the keyboard and trackpad are genuinely nice to use; it doesn't have the full suite of multi-touch gestures, but it's generally responsive, supports two-finger scrolling, and isn't too hard to properly right-click with the invisible buttons.
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01/08, 5:50pm
Brilliant display paired with fast hardware
Following Acer's special event ahead of CES, Electronista had a chance to try out the company's upcoming flagship tablet. The Iconia Tab A700 touts a 1080p display paired with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, which combine to raise the bar in Android tablet hardware.
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01/08, 5:25pm
Acer shows A700 tablet with Tegra 3
At the end of Acer's live event, Acer teased the Iconia Tab A700. While not mentioning it by name, the company confirmed that the Android tablet was quad-core -- already known to be using the Tegra 3 -- and played HD video as proof. It gave no details or a release date.
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01/08, 5:15pm
Services mimic iCloud
Acer has detailed a range of cloud services that offer features similar to that of Apple's iCloud. The PicStream utility enables users to take photos on their Android smartphone and then view the content on a PC without manually transferring files. Conversely, a movie purchased from the company's all-in-one PCs can be viewed on a tablet or smartphone as long as the computer is in standby mode.
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01/08, 5:15pm
Acer intros two ultrabook-class PCs at CES
Acer ahead of its formal keynote has unveiled two ultrabook-class systems. The Aspire S5 is billed as the world's thinnest ultrabook and measures just under 0.6 inches thick. The black, magnesium-and-metal body weighs 2.97 pounds. Along with the thinnest, Acer touts the S5 as one of the first Windows-based ultrabooks to carry Thunderbolt, which it backs with USB 3.0.
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01/06, 6:15am
Ex-Acer CEO tapped to lead new Lenovo division
Former Acer CEO has been tapped by Lenovo to lead its new Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division. Following Lanci’s sacking at Acer, Lenovo had hired him as consultant on different ways in which the Chinese computing giant could bolster its retail operations. According to the Wall Street Journal, Lanci had established strong relationships with distributors in Europe while at Acer, which Lenovo is keen to leverage.
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01/05, 1:55pm
Iconia Tab A200 coming on January 15 for $330
Acer's upcoming budget-priced Iconia Tab A200 tablet is due to arrive on January 15 in the US, priced at $330. Its specs will include a dual-core, 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 10.1-inch, 1280x800 touchscreen display. While Android 3.2 will initially be onboard, it will be updated to Android 4 sometime in mid-February.
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01/04, 10:50pm
ASUS said to be maintaining Android strategy
Acer is reportedly changing is tablet strategy, shifting its focus toward Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 platform. Although Acer has yet to formally announce its full product lineup for 2012, unnamed sources within the supply chain have told DigiTimes that the company will be diverging from the Android tablet market in the near future.
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01/02, 8:25am
Acer and Lenovo trust Microsoft to W8 tablets
Acer and Lenovo are putting their faith in Intel-based Windows 8 tablets for the summer, part suppliers claimed Monday. The two, according to Digitimes, would depend on Intel's tablet-oriented Clover Trail Atom platform. No details existed for the tablets, although Clover Trail would help get thinness and battery life closer to ARM tablets like the iPad and some future Windows 8 models.
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12/30, 4:40pm
Atom-based netbook may hit retailers post CES
Pricing for a new Intel Cedar Trail-based Acer netbook have popped up in Europe. The Acer Aspire One D270 (AOD270) is a 10.1-inch said to be running the newer, faster 1.6GHz Atom N2600 processor. The D270 is also believed to come equipped with 1GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. It will be available with either a three-cell or six-cell battery.
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12/29, 8:55pm
Tablet shows days after A200 begins pre-sale
Just days after Acer put its Iconia Tab A200 tablet up for pre-sale in the UK, the upgraded A700 model has surfaced in Russia. The latter tablet is described by Nomobile.ru as thinner and lighter than the former, with a housing that measures 9.8mm thick, while the 10.1-inch display has been upgraded with 1920x1200 resolution.
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12/28, 2:20pm
Intel Atom N2600 and N2800 ship
Intel ushered in what might be the swansong for netbooks on Wednesday by finally shipping Atom processors based on its Cedar Trail platform. Confirming rumors of another delay, it was shipping the 1.6GHz N2600 and 1.83GHz N2800 with the expectation that they would be available in early 2012. Familiar netbook supporters Acer, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba had pledged new systems using the chips.
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12/27, 3:50pm
Acer Iconia Tab A200 due in UK January 6
The recently introduced Iconia Tab A200 from Acer has just shown up at UK retailer Very in both black and red versions. The listing reveal the price of the 10.1-inch tablet to be £299 (about $470) after tax, with North American prices likely to be lower than that if it crosses over. Both are similar apart from color.
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12/26, 12:25am
Acer creator Shih expects tablets to stay
Acer shouldn't give up on its tablet business just because it's struggling at this stage, the company's founder Stan Shih remarked this weekend. He called the tough conditions "unavoidable" in Digitimes' account of the chat. The former executive likened it to teething troubles Acer had when it first dipped into notebooks, implying that Acer ultimately became a major contender by holding on to its strategy.
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12/23, 8:10am
Acer may scale back mobile teams
Acer might significantly scale back its touch device efforts if reports with possible official confirmation are accurate. The company was said by Taiwan's Economic Daily News to be dropping its touch business group and moving half of its 300 research and development workers there to other divisions. It would still have smartphone and tablet teams, but they would be cut down to 30 and 70 each.
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12/21, 8:05am
Acer 15in ultrabook may be cheap
Acer's category-breaking 15-inch 'ultrabook' could be far cheaper than the norm for the category if rumors from Taiwan's part suppliers are accurate. Made by Pegatron, the possibly fiberglass-based design was estimated by Digitimes' source to cost $699, or well under the $999 benchmark. It would reportedly come after "satisfactory" sales of 11- and 13-inch systems.
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12/20, 5:35pm
ITC makes early ruling against Motorola
Microsoft achieved a key win as the ITC ruled in its favor in a complaint against Motorola. An early ruling from the trade agency found that some Motorola devices allegedly violate one of seven Microsoft patents. The Windows maker's deputy general counsel David Howard took the company's typical approach in a response, saying Microsoft was "pleased" and arguing that every Android device maker must pay royalties.
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12/15, 12:05am
Acer chair insists Wintel will return to glory
Frequently outspoken Acer chairman JT Wang in statements Wednesday once again insisted that Apple would go away in the near future. Although he saw Apple as a key component, he predicted with Digitimes that Apple as a primary source of growth would weaken in the next two years and that Wintel, the combination of Windows and Intel, would once again be growing the fastest. He anticipated ultrabooks dropping to $699 in 2012 and assumed there would be "surging growth" in Windows PCs at that stage.
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12/14, 12:10pm
Merrill Lynch estimates iPad, Android real winners
Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig in a research note estimated that 2012 would see multiple tablet designers cut out of the market. RIM would be the primary victim, as its poor BlackBerry PlayBook sales had not only lacked momentum but created a ripple effect where developers didn't write apps. In his projection, the analyst saw the PlayBook as non-existent in 2012's market share.
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12/12, 10:15am
Intel revises down for Windows PC builders
Intel on Monday showed the full extent of hard drive shortages by lowering its outlook for the fall. It now expects to make $1 billion less in revenue than before, at $13.7 billion, as companies are unable to ship PCs without the drives they need. The holiday season would still see sales up versus the summer, Intel said, but it expected problems up to the spring.
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12/09, 7:50am
Acer and ASUS said simplifying in Apple-like model
Original design manufacturer (ODM) contractors reportedly claimed Friday that Acer and ASUS would take a partial cue from Apple and simplify their product lines for 2012. The two would aim to trim costs and improve profit by having fewer but clearer models, Digitimes said. As an example, ASUS had over 10 Eee PC netbooks now, but it would have a "maximum" of five models in 2012 with clear high-end, middle, and low-end versions.
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12/07, 10:55pm
Acer chief to avoid PC race to the bottom
Acer in a discussion surrounding the company's global internal meeting confirmed a broader switch away from its traditional budget base towards ultrabooks. CEO JT Wang told Dow Jones that the ultra-thin PCs, which owe their existence to the MacBook Air, would be the "key growth driver" in 2012. The Taiwan firm said it would stop participating in what's often referred to as the race to the bottom, or an obsession with price and sheer market share among Windows PC makers that leads to sacrifices in build quality and sustainable profit.
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12/06, 1:55pm
Intel Ivy Bridge to focus on efficiency over clock
Following a desktop slip, details of Intel's notebook versions of its Ivy Bridge processor lineup have leaked as well. The lineup seen by VR-Zone will simplify into just U-series ultra-low voltage chips that use 17W and full-power M-series chips that use 35W, 45W, or 55W depending on the model. All 25W chips have disappeared now that PC builders can dial down the peak power themselves.
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12/05, 10:20am
Windows 8 tablets led by Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba
Microsoft is taking the unusual step of letting ARM processor designers choose their own partners for Windows 8 systems, part suppliers stated Monday. NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments were each being told to pick one major and one minor partner, Digitimes understood. Among the major partners, NVIDIA had picked Lenovo, Qualcomm had chosen Samsung, and TI had selected Toshiba.
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12/02, 7:40am
Acer Iconia Tab A200 precedes higher end models
Acer quickly confirmed last-minute leaks Friday with a new addition to its Iconia Tab line. The A200 carries the same 10-inch display and dual-core Tegra 2 chip as the A500 but drops the rear camera and cuts the storage to 8GB or 16GB depending on the model. In return, it gets a softer, more colorful look in gray or red, although it's still relatively thick at 0.49 inches.
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11/30, 11:00pm
Acer sees ultrabook prices falling fast
Acer President Jim Wong has continued a string of comments on mobile late Wednesday with remarks expecting steep price drops in ultrabooks. Although they were sitting at $1,000 at the end of the year, the notebooks could get to between $799 and $899 by spring next year, he said with Digitimes in attendance. He fully expected prices to drop even steeper, down to just $499 in 2013.
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11/30, 10:05pm
Samsung PM830 and optical multi-touch arrive
Samsung's more technical side started mass production on two key breakthroughs on Wednesday. Its micro SATA SSD line has received a major leap through a variant on the PM830 family. Although small enough to fit in the MacBook Air and Windows-based ultrabooks, it can hit fast read speeds of 500MB per second and writes of 260MB per second.
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11/30, 5:00pm
Acer pledges itself to tablets and to Tegra 3
Acer President Jim Wong in an interview committed his company to tablets. Somewhat contradicting his company's usual position, he told T3 that tablets were a "very important category" to Acer. It was the only company shipping Windows tablets in significant numbers, Wong said, and would have a Windows 8 tablet along with its Android efforts.
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11/30, 9:00am
Acer sees light at end of bleak 2011
Acer saw rare optimism for performance this year after company President Jim Wong said the company would return to profit for the fall. The company's successive losses for the past six months were clearing up now that it had finished selling off the "abnormalities" of unsold notebooks. The company is still expected to be in the red for 2011.
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11/29, 10:35pm
Intel ultrabook subsidy, Atom delay may be exposed
Intel is giving Windows-based ultrabook makers a $100 discount to help them try to undercut Apple on price, part suppliers in Taiwan claimed late Tuesday. Designers were getting the "marketing subsidy" in a move that Digitimes understood would lead to prices dropping five to ten percent below the $1,000 mark. The drop would follow an earlier cut expected before the end of 2011 and would presumably come from Intel's $300 million ultrabook fund.
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11/29, 8:40pm
Acer, Lenovo, and Samsung line up for Tegra 3
A new rumor from the portable industry has Acer, Lenovo, and Samsung lining up their quad-core Tegra 3 tablets for the first quarter of 2012 for what may be a repeat of the conflict with Apple. While not specific on which models were coming, the Digitimes tips suggested Acer's Iconia Tab A510 and A700, the upcoming Lenovo tablet, and a future Samsung Galaxy Tab variant would all be unveiled at CES or Mobile World Congress. Prices wouldn't dip significantly below the high end at between $459 to $599.
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