Building a successful global business is a never-ending juggling act. With what can seem like an unlimited number of moving parts, compromises feel inevitable. Efficiency is traded for simplicity. Optimal long-term solutions are traded for quick and dirty fixes. Here are some considerations e-commerce businesses should take into account when planning a global initiative.
Women in Tech: 20 Trailblazers Share Their Journeys
Successful women in the tech trenches share their insights and tackle subjects ranging from how to search out a strong mentor to how to be one -- from how to advance in a large company to how to start your own firm.
This book is an excellent guide for students considering STEM courses, graduates pondering job choices, and career changers at any stage in life. It's also a useful tool for school and career counselors, recruiters, and HR pros eager to diversify their workplaces.
'New Normal' Security Era Begins for US Agencies, Cloud Providers
Google has undertaken a pilot program for Voice Match. A limited number of users can use the tool with Google Assistant-enabled smart speakers and smart displays to make in-app digital purchases on Google Play, or to make purchases from restaurants that enable food ordering through Google.
New Group Aims to Help Bridge E-Commerce Digital Divide
The United States Business Association of E-Commerce is poised to open for business. Its mission is to help small and mid-sized enterprises, as well as minority- and veteran-owned startups, to bridge the e-commerce digital divide. The B2B marketplace platform will connect small and medium-sized firms to domestic and global buyers.
Website Development Contracts, Part 1: How to Avoid Major Disasters
When entering into website development contracts, the more you know the more likely you will be able to avoid contract disasters that could prevent your website from launching on time or working properly. There are many stories about failed software development projects, not just in connection with website development contracts, but with all information technology projects.
Influx of E-Com Sales? Now's the Time for 2021 Tax Planning
E-com businesses that are now seeing a rush of sales have an amplified need for efficient tax planning. However, many online retailers either wait until the last minute or don't do it at all, resulting in business owners missing out on money-saving options.
COVID-19's rampage is causing the electronics industry to suffer supply chain setbacks. Product innovation remains incredibly important in today's new normal, but electronics industry product launches have been delayed or canceled due to the...
More than 40 percent of professionals working at home because of the pandemic would prefer to work remotely full time, suggests a new report from Valoir. "One of the reasons we did this survey was to help provide people with more data to...
If your contact center agents are working from home, download our Remote Agent Checklist to ensure they can provide exceptional customer experience, no matter where they're based.
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Despite the cancellation of pretty much every major tech event so far, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) says that CES 2021 will still take place in January, with a raft of social distancing safety measures in place.
Those include widening aisles in many exhibition areas and more space between seats during events The organization says various spaces across the show will be cleaned and sanitized regularly (shouldn't that be de rigueur, anyhow?), with hand sanitizer stations placed throughout.
CES
For tech media and analysts, the Consumer Electronics Show is legendary for its ability to make you ill with flu-like symptoms. Maybe it's the dry air or the melting pot of thousands of people from around the world. Maybe it's just all those touchscreen devices or simply those Vegas buffets, but it's very easy to get sick by the end of the show.
For now, the organization says it'll encourage attendees and exhibitors to adopt best practices, like wearing masks and not shaking hands -- though it seems it won't demand it. The CTA says major companies and brands have already committed to next year's CES.
Seven months is ample time to prepare and reassess the risks -- and maybe reconsider holding the event all over again?
-- Mat
Studio Ghibli is making a fully CG movie
'Aya and the Witch' will premiere on Japanese TV, not theaters.
Studio Ghibli
The next animated movie from the world-renowned Studio Ghibli will be a departure from its previous efforts. The studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki is well known for its expertise in traditional hand-drawn animation and only occasionally uses CG in its films. The upcoming Aya and the Witch, however, will be animated entirely in 3D. The studio usually only uses computer animation as a fallback for scenes that would be particularly difficult or labor intensive to achieve through hand-drawn methods. (All Ghibli films before 1997's Princess Mononoke are completely animated by hand.)
The movie will be based on the children's book Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones. Studio Ghibli previously used another Wynne Jones title, adapted into 2004's Howl's Moving Castle. The movie will arrive this winter but will go direct to TV, sidestepping movie theaters. Continue reading.
SpaceX's latest batch of internet satellites includes one with a sun shield
The Falcon 9 booster used is now the first one to have launched and landed five times.
SpaceX
Last night, SpaceX deployed another 60 of its Starlink internet satellites, but one of them was different from the rest. It includes a deployable visor intended to keep sunlight from hitting the brightest, most reflective surfaces. These satellites intentionally fly lower than normal communications satellites, and reflected light has been upsetting astronomers who need clear skies to look out into space. Continue reading.
Kitty Hawk moves on from its original flying car project
The Flyer is no more.
Kitty Hawk
The original Flyer that debuted in 2017 was a one-seat, propeller-driven vehicle that looked like a flying motorcycle. Kitty Hawk introduced a new version one year later, and while it remained a single-seater, the updated 250-pound aircraft looked more like a cross between a drone and a stunt plane. However, the Larry Page-backed company is ending work on that project.
CEO Sebastian Thrun told TechCrunch that "No matter how hard we looked, we could not find a path to a viable business." So instead it's focusing on a new project: an all-electric aircraft dubbed Heaviside that takes off and lands like a helicopter despite being 100 times quieter. Continue reading.
Google makes it easier to use Advanced Protection and Titan security keys on iOS devices
With a Lightning-to-USB adapter you can use any security key.
Google
Thanks to changes rolling out now, anyone with an Apple device (iOS 13.3 and above) will be able to use Google's Titan Security Keys to secure both work and personal Google Accounts.
Because USB-A and Bluetooth Titan keys have NFC functionality, signing-in should be as easy as tapping your key to the back of your iPhone. You will also be able to use Lightning security keys, like the YubiKey 5Ci, to secure your Google Accounts. Continue reading.
That's necessary, since it comes in four colors, each preloaded with a different set of games -- do you want Sonic & Tails, Shining Force or OutRun? -- and the set adds on a 'Big Window' magnifying lens. There's no word on a US release date yet, but now that we're up to the Game Gear, I'm just wondering what it would take for us to see some Sega CD, 32x or even Saturn Mini retro hardware.
-- Richard
Why do people still think 5G makes them sick?
The rise of new technologies often brings up fears.
Professor Omer van den Bergh, a tenured professor of health psychology, said: "There is a group of people that tends to attribute… symptoms to environmental causes, and these are typically people who have what we call modern health worries." Instead of the historically more-common sensitivities to things like perfumes and household cleaners, this group of people with modern health worries are increasingly attributing symptoms to electromagnetic radiation in the environment. This is where a natural alignment with 5G conspiracy theorists starts to arise. This is also the theme for this week's Engadget podcast. Listen or continue reading here. Continue reading.
Streaming services join music industry 'blackout' over death of George Floyd
Some artists feel #theshowmustbepaused observance is "tone deaf," however.
The music industry staged a "blackout day" in support of protests around the alleged murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. This included streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify used a black logo and headline image on its "flagship" playlists and podcasts, while adding to participating playlists and podcasts eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence — the length of time police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck.
Apple Music canceled its regular Beats 1 radio schedule, steering users toward a streaming station that celebrates the best in Black music. Continue reading.
Grindr drops its ethnicity filter, finally
Should it have even existed in the first place?
Dating app Grindr will finally remove its ethnicity filter, following years of criticism. The app currently lets users filter potential matches based on age, height, weight and ethnicity, but the company — which says it has a "zero-tolerance policy for racism and hate speech" — has confirmed the ethnicity filter will be dropped from the next version of the app.
The change appears to have been catalyzed by responses to a tweet in which Grindr said, "Demand justice. #BlackLivesMatter." One response to the tweet said, "remove the ethnicity filter" and was subsequently retweeted 1,000 times. Grindr later deleted its original tweet, replacing it with a longer statement that included the decision to drop the ethnicity filter. People of color have taken issue with the ethnicity filter for years, but Grindr has failed to respond -- until now. Continue reading.
Amazon reportedly preps June 22nd sale to counter the pandemic slump
It would last for at least a week.
The company may be delaying its annual Prime Day sale, but it's still planning a separate summer sale as the pandemic begins to taper off in places. CNBC claims to have seen a document outlining plans for a "summer sale," tentatively named "Biggest Sale in the Sky," which would focus on clothing and fashion. Continue reading.
The kitchen gadgets and gear that might be worth your money
We'll admit it: There's an Instant Pot.
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
You're probably cooking more at the moment, so why not upgrade your culinary toolkit? We take a look at the best high-tech appliances and apps for your kitchen and cooking. Continue reading.
