In theory, all you need is a shiny new router for hassle-free wireless connections in your home or small office. Yet in practice, your wireless reception often will be plagued with interference issues. Here are some suggestions to fine-tune your WiFi setup.
Classroom of the Future: The Rise of Online Learning
By necessity, almost all education is happening online at the moment. However, the trend of online education likely will continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Online learning is often more convenient than in-person training, and because the methods and techniques for online education are evolving and improving, it quickly has become a preferred business tool.
How to Adapt Your Customer Service When Crisis Strikes
Customer service doesn't have to suffer while your company goes through a difficult transition. In fact, 78% of consumers said they stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service. Now is the time to show your most valuable buyers how you'll keep them informed, updated and respected throughout this crisis by adapting your practices to the moment.
Oracle appears to be undergoing a kind of resurgence during the coronavirus crisis. Financial analysts are saying nice things about its ability to pay dividends even in tough times. Its technology, which always has been good, is seeing an interesting uptick. All of this is buffing the company's image after years of, yes-but responses from the market.
More than 40% of professionals working at home because of the pandemic would prefer to work remotely full time in the future, suggests a new report from Valoir.
Abandoned Open Source Code Heightens Commercial Software Security Risks
Outdated or abandoned open source components are persistent in practically all commercial software, putting enterprise and consumer applications at risk from security issues, license compliance violations, and operational threats, according to the Synopsys 2020 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis Report.
Merchants: Adopting New Payment Technologies Is Easier Than You Think
Consumers increasingly demand seamless ways to purchase wherever they go, and they want their transactions to be quick, safe and, importantly, secure. The fact is, merchants must embrace new methods quickly or risk being left behind.
Researchers Combine Deep Learning & Pixels to Nix Malware
Microsoft and Intel researchers have found a way to combine artificial intelligence and image analysis to create a highly effective means to combat malicious software infections. The researchers call their approach "STAMINA".
Warren Buffet once said, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." You can cover over a host of sins when times are good, but bad or unsafe practices will be exposed when times are rough.
If your contact center agents are working from home, download this Remote Agent Checklist to ensure they can provide exceptional customer experience, no matter where they're based.
2020 Online Shopping Habits and Retailer Strategies
Episerver surveyed over 4,000 global online shoppers to learn about their ecommerce expectations and habits. Download Reimagining Commerce to get an exclusive look at successful retail strategies in 2020.
Get the day's top e-business and technology news from ECT News Network delivered to your inbox as stories break. Sign up today.
Feedback
We welcome your feedback. To share your thoughts or ideas, please use our online form.
Manage Subscriptions
This newsletter was sent in response to your request on an ECT News Network website. To update your settings, or to receive other newsletters from ECT News Network: Manage My Subscriptions.
BUSINESS SERVICES
How to Advertise
To advertise in this newsletter or elsewhere on ECT News Network, please call our sales department (818) 461-9700 or follow these links:
A lot of people are excited about the new Xbox and the new PlayStation. Both are set to arrive later this year, with fantastical graphic fidelity, minimal load times and all kinds of hardware specs.
Then, last week, Microsoft revealed 13 third-party games heading to the Xbox Series X during the console's launch window this fall. It also gave us a glimpse at ninth-generation console gaming, which left me a little cold. Maybe it's because Microsoft is going to stretch out the teasers for the Series X across multiple livestreams and videos. Maybe it's because stream quality is temperamental, and it's hard to hit those crisp 4K visuals on even decent internet speeds.
I think the main issue is a lot of these games (Assassin's Creed, Yakuza 7, to start with) will be on other platforms -- including the rival PlayStation. A lot of the other teasers left me with more questions than answers and didn't make me marvel at the future of gaming. (I might have to wait till July, when Microsoft plans to showcase Xbox Game Studios titles and hopefully a closer look at Halo Infinite.)
Why am I complaining about last week's Xbox news on a Thursday? Well, it's because a game engine gave me goosebumps yesterday.
Epic's Unreal engine has powered an awful lot of games over the last few console generations -- and Unreal Engine 5 is pitching itself as a tool for making immersive games even if you're not a multi-million dollar studio. And if you are, hey, it's a shortcut. Hopefully, this lays the groundwork for new unique games that'll sell us all on getting a new console.
-- Mat
Epic Games teases its new, nearly photorealistic Unreal Engine 5
It's approaching movie-quality CG.
Epic
If you needed something to hold on to ahead of next-gen consoles actually getting here, Epic is happy to oblige. It's released an early showreel of the Unreal 5 engine, showcasing its new Nanite system (in charge of generating tiny polygon geometry to add detail) and Lumen, which is a dynamic lighting system that can transform how scenes look on the fly.
Both will address two major factors in game development: money and time. UE5 should help small teams get a level of graphical fidelity closer to those of major gaming companies. But we will have to wait for it. Unreal Engine 5 will be first available to preview early in 2021 with full access expected by the end of that year.
And it wouldn't be an Epic news event without something to do with Fortnite -- yes, it's behind that, too. The battle royale title will be a launch title for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The company plans to migrate Fortnite to the Unreal Engine 5 in mid-2021, which should enhance the game's visuals (big time) and greatly expand its capabilities. Continue reading.
Sony's new image sensors will make cameras smarter with onboard AI
Promising privacy and intelligence.
Sony
Meet the IMX500 and IMX501, two 12.3-megapixel sensors with onboard AI processing chips. They'll be able to handle "light" machine learning tasks — like recognizing if a stray dog or cat enters your backyard — on their own, without sending any video to the cloud or another system. Instead, they can deliver anonymous metadata pings to alert you about what they've seen. Continue reading.
Dell's modern design comes to the XPS 15 and revived XPS 17
Tiny bezels help make these big laptops smaller than the competition.
Dell's XPS line has always been at the front of eliminating bezels. The 13-inch models recently expanded their screens to wipe out plastic along the bottom, and now the design language has reached larger models. That includes a redesigned 15-inch model with the new look, as well as a back-from-the-dead 17-inch version.
Additionally, thanks to the new design, Dell is pitching these as the "smallest" 15- and 17-inch laptops you'll find anywhere. It turns out that not only does the screen give you more to look at with a 16:10 aspect ratio, it also shrinks the frame so they're a little easier to carry around or slide into a bag. Naturally, they have 10th-gen Intel Core CPUs inside, as well as NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti GPUs in the 15-incher and up to RTX 2060 GPUs in the 17-inch. Continue reading.
Engadget's Guide to Health and Fitness Tech: The best GPS running watches
Something for casual runners, marathoners and everyone in between.
Brett Putman for Engadget
As the weather turns nicer and many of us venture outside for the first time in months, runners will be out in full force (if they haven't been already). If you're a newbie runner or a seasoned athlete, you may be considering investing in a GPS running watch to map training routes, collect pace data and more. But there are a plethora of options out there, not to mention the many smartwatches that have built-in GPS -- how do you choose? Engadget tested out numerous GPS running watches and highlighted the best of the bunch to make your decision a little bit easier. Continue reading.
Chrome will soon group tabs together to save pack rats from themselves
Improve your organization.
Starting with the next version of the company's browser, which the search giant will begin rolling out next week, you'll be able to organize tabs together into customizable groups. To start sorting your tabs, right-click on a single one and press the "Add Tab to Group" option. When you create a new group, you can assign it a name and color to make it easily identifiable. If you feel like moving a tab to a different group afterward, you can do so by dragging and dropping it. Continue reading.
