TazPad Inches Closer to Production, NFC and Fingerprint Biometric Security in Tow

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br /> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;"> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="136" mce_src="http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9342/tazpadsg.jpg" src="http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9342/tazpadsg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="tazpad-sg" width="300" />There’s approximately a billion trillion tablets on the market now, or so it would seem, the vast majority of them running Android or some presto-change-o OS based on the Android kernel. What manufacturers will have to do if they plan on taking a piece of this pie at this point is one of two things: get a whole new most-powerful processor to become king OR make a unique tablet to carve out a niche. What the team at French NFC and Zigbee specialist TazTag has done is to integrate AuthenTec’s TCS2 TouchChip sensor into its TazPad Android tablet alongside fingerprint biometric security — a tablet with real business intentions.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The last time we saw this tablet it was back in February where we were to believe it was going to break cover at CeBIT. What we now are to understand is that the developers at TazTag are currently preparing to put the TazPad into volume production but that they’re waiting for investment funding to move forward with the project. On the other hand, they seem pretty confident that they’re going to get it.</div> <blockquote style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 3em; padding-top: 0px;"> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> We wanted to offer enhanced security capabilities with the TazPad, which is why we selected AuthenTec’s durable, high resolution TCS2 touch sensor for integration in this unique NFC-enabled Android tablet.” says Eric Fouchard, TazTag’s CEO.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> “No other Android tablet combines fingerprint authentication with the NFC transaction capabilities of the TazPad. Whether a user is interested in convenient yet secure authentication for NFC, ZigBee or Wi-Fi transactions or linking a customer to a back-end system for authentication, the TazPad is a very capable platform for mobile identification. We look forward to supporting TazTag in a successful launch of this new NFC tablet,” notes AuthenTec’s Alan Kramer.</div> </blockquote> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> With talk of the inner workings of the tablet before it’s technically started mass production comes cash to continue. This tablet will feature a 7-inch color screen, multitouch, HDMI, camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and Zigbee. I don’t know about you, but even though all of this sounds good, I’d still have to be convinced with some more brand-backing or at least a full list of specs before I pick one of these up – or I recommend my multi-million-dollar business “Burns-co” to pick up a batch.</div> </div> </div>

TazPad Inches Closer to Production, NFC and Fingerprint Biometric Security in Tow

There’s approximately a billion trillion tablets on the market now, or so it would seem, the vast majority of them running Android or so...

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Updated: Sony A77 / A800 rumours: what you need to know

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br /> <div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;"> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="133" mce_src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A800%20A77%20release%20date-200-200.jpg" src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A800%20A77%20release%20date-200-200.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="200" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">This article is continually updated with news and information regarding the Sony A77 / A800.</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Sony A77 was one of the worst-kept secrets until a release date was finally confirmed in March.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> We can now expect a Sony A700 replacement by mid-summer, Sony says, and company officials have been divulging the Sony A77 specs at trade shows for some time now. So while we all wait for the official release date, we have created this one-stop shop for everything you want to know about the Sony A77, with spec wishlists from our head of testing, all the latest news and more.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony A77 release date</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE:</span> On the 14 February 2011, Sony announced a 'mid-year' release date for the new camera as well as released an image showing a prototype of it's long-rumoured Alpha 700 replacement in a translucent skeleton casing.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Thought to be called the Sony A77 to fall in line with last year's Sony A33 and A55 releases, the Alpha 700 replacement will feature translucent mirror technology, Sony said.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Other Sony A800 / A77 specs include Full HD video recording and Sony's newly developed Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor. The Sony Alpha 77 / Alpha 800 body will also feature a new battery grip and new flash, Sony said.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The company did not confirm a Sony A77 price upon its release, nor did it reveal other specs such as how many megapixels the Sony A77 release will offer. It is thought, however, that the Alpha 700 replacement will feature an 18-megapixel sensor. A Sony spokesperson told us that recent reports that the Sony Alpha 77 release would boast a 25-megapixel sensor are untrue.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The full Sony announcement, according to Google Translate, reads: "Adopted a semi-transparent mirror 'Translucent Mirror Technology' and the newly developed "Exmor" APS HD CMOS sensors will be installed in series A mid-mount machine concept model (skeleton model) on display.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The intermediate unit, will be available later this year and 2011, it works fast and accurate auto focus at all times, full HD video and still there was always the focus (AVCHD) delivers picture. The standard zoom lens suitable for intermediate unit, the flash will exhibit together with vertical grip."</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE: </span>On 7 April 2011, Sony Alpha Rumors said its sources claim the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will not delay the Sony announcement of a Sony A77 release date, which it expects in July of this year.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE:</span> On 12 August 2011, Sony Alpha Rumors has posted a video which apparently shows the a77.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The video, which comes from a brand new account on YouTube is labelled simply as 'sony alpha A77 ?' and apparently shows the new advertising campaign for the upcoming camera.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> In the advert, the camera is shown resting on the sand at a beach and being dusted off before use by a photographer, suggesting that the camera will be at the very least dustproof, if not waterproof also.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> If the advert turns out to be genuine, we could see an announcement and release date very soon.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony A77 specs</span></div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <img alt="Sony a77 a800 release date and specs" class="aligncenter" height="176" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A77%20A800%20release%20date%20-%20sensor-420-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A77%20A800%20release%20date%20-%20sensor-420-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> [Originally posted 13 January 2011]</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Sony has revealed a a replacement to the high-end Alpha 700 DSLR, which it will release this year, according to a press report.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> A spokesperson for Sony tells us the company has shown a prototype for what could be the Sony A800 at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, but adds that this is the same Sony Alpha 77 prototype shown at Photokina last autumn despite other press reports claiming it is a new mock-up and not the final design.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The spokesperson also tells us that a Sony A77 release will use the translucent mirror technology introduced with last year's Sony Alpha 33 and Sony A55 cameras. The Sony Alpha 800 will also feature "an APS-C sensor, Exmor CMOS, HD video with AVCHD format, and be targeting the EOS 60D market segment," the spokesperson said.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> He added that reports that the Sony A700 replacement could boast 25 megapixels as well as high ISO settings in the hundreds of thousands, are untrue.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The Sony spokesperson could not confirm a Sony A77 release date, but indications are that a Sony Alpha 700 replacement will come this year.</div> <div mce_style="text-align: center;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;"><img alt="Sony a77 a800 specs - translucent mirror technology" class="aligncenter" height="154" mce_src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A77%20A800%20release%20date%20-%20translucent-mirror-technology-420-100.jpg" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/PhotoRadar/Camera%20Rumours/Sony%20A77%20A800/Sony%20A77%20A800%20release%20date%20-%20translucent-mirror-technology-420-100.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="252" /></span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE - February 2011</span>: the Sony A77 specs got a little clearer after Sony officials revealed at an event in Spain that all future Sony Alpha cameras will feature the company's translucent mirror technology, introduced last year with the Sony A55 and A33 cameras.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE - March 2011</span>: PhotoRadar's head of testing, Angela Nicholson, shares which 10 specs she would like to see on a Sony A77 release:</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> - Translucent mirror technology to allow faster phase detection AF when using live view to compose images<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Electronic viewfinder<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- At least an 18 megapixel APS-C Exmore sensor (some reports have claimed 25 megapixels)<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- 3in LCD screen with at least 920,000 dots, possibly more to beat the 1,040,000 dots of the EOS 60D<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Articulated screen, the Alpha 55's articulated joint movement is a little restricted, Sony may resolve this with the A77<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Full HD video with AVCHD format - a dead cert.<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Sensitivity expandable to at least ISO 25,600, but probably higher<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Sweep Panorama with 3D<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- A digital level is a feature of all recent DSLRs and there's bound to be one in the A77<br style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;" />- Built-in GPS to geotag images in-camera, in place of the Sony GPS-CS1 external unit</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Keep in mind, as well, that a spokesperson from Sony has already told us: "The [Sony A700 replacement] mock-up shown at CES was the same one used for Photkina, which I stated at the time was not a final design. It will be Translucent Mirror, APS-C, Exmor CMOS, HD video with AVCHD format, and be targeting the Canon EOS 60D market segment."</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE – 4 March 2011</span>: Sony Alpha Rumors has posted a French photographer's analysis of the layout of the Sony A77 body. Is he correct?</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">Sony A77 rumours</span></div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Sony Alpha users have been eagerly awaiting a replacement for the Sony A700 for at least a year. Announced in 2007, the A700 was - and still is - Sony's most convincing prosumer APS-C DSLR, and the closest thing to the fondly remembered Konica-Minolta semi-pro film SLRs of yesteryear.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Three years on and the Sony faithful are feeling neglected. Three years, and two full-frame DSLRs (the Sony A900 and its near-clone, the Sony A850) plus a flurry of somewhat uninspiring entry-level and midrange Alpha-series models later, and the A700 is looking decidedly isolated. So will they or won't they?</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> All indications now are that Sony will replace the Alpha 700. Prototypes were on display at Photokina last autumn and CES in January. And just recently a Sony spokesperson confirmed to PhotoRadar that there will be a replacement to the Sony A700, and the Sony Alpha 800 (of possibly the Sony A77) will use the translucent mirror technology like that introduced with the Sony Alpha 33 and Sony A55 (read our Sony A55 review) cameras last year.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> We expect some more leaks, and then an announcement in the early part of this year. But don't hold your breath.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">2011 Sony A77 release date probability</span>: 90% - but Sony might still surprise us.</div> <div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">UPDATE – 6 May 2011</span>: Photo Rumors has spotted the Sony A77 listed in Sony's latest consumer repair guide. While we've already known that a Sony A700 replacement is due for release this summer (see the post at the top of this page), what's significant about this is that until now there was still speculation as to whether the Sony A700 replacement would be called the Sony A800 or the Sony A77. This would appear to confirm we will see a Sony A77 release date before too long.</div> </div> </div>

Updated: Sony A77 / A800 rumours: what you need to know

This article is continually updated with news and information regarding the Sony A77 / A800. The Sony A77 was one of the worst-kept ...

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