Panic buying and competition for consumer attention between in-store and online transactions have created a brave new world of retail that is bound to continue into a post-pandemic reality. The E-Commerce Times reached out to several firms that guide brands on how to prepare for, and adapt to, changes in consumer behavior and product demand -- and what this means for the future of retail.
Why Microsoft Teams Will Be the De Facto Standard for Video Collaboration
Videoconferencing has been an exciting and somewhat painful technology to watch because it seemed like everyone in the segment fundamentally didn't understand that if you don't have interoperability and didn't focus on ease of use, it wouldn't work. Rob Enderle looks at why Microsoft Teams is trending to be the new standard for video collaboration.
Fitness Products Shatter Online Sales Records During Lockdown
Digital at-home exercise sessions and sales of home exercise and health equipment purchased online are fueling new consumer trends that could permanently supplant old shopping routines.
The Past, Present and Future of Attribute-Based Encryption
That padlock in the address bar of the website you're visiting represents the 's' after 'http' -- which stands for the latest version of Transport Layer Security. Together with Secure Sockets Layer, which TLS replaced, these digital security technologies allow encrypted communication between two parties, such as web sites or servers, and web browsers. Like the Internet itself, these technologies were breakthroughs when conceived.
Getting a prospect on the line and talking to them directly matters. It's the ability to deliver the pitch with the right content, cadence, and care for your future clients' needs that makes a voice call so effective. It's not just salespeople who prefer a call -- 92 percent of all customer interactions happen over the phone. Simply put, that direct human connection creates the right environment to establish trust.
Recent research shows that employees are well aligned with the directions and goals of their companies, and that they are competently led and respect their bosses; but the technologies they use leave a lot to be desired. This includes CRM, and too often the functionality that their currently installed CRM doesn't offer. Consequently, the changes Salesforce just introduced in its Marketing Cloud could not have been more timely.
Consumer interest in cloud gaming could boost annual subscription revenues to nearly US$3 billion, according to Parks Associates. There is renewed interest, the research firm's report noted, in gaming services that can stream over the Internet and deliver games to multiple platforms without downloads and without taxing local processing power.
Rancher Labs and Fujitsu Form Kubernetes Partnership as Suse Readies Merger
Rancher Labs and Fujitsu have announced an alliance to hasten the adoption of Kubernetes container orchestration technology industry-wide, starting within public sector institutions in the U.K. and Ireland.
3 Apps to Help Golfers Get Into the Swing of Things
Sports performance technology continues to advance and gain popularity as high-tech tools are utilized to enhance player performance in all types of athletics. Golf is no exception.
New E-Comm Partnership Gives US Merchants Access to LATAM
ShipStation has partnered with Mercado Libre, which is known as the "Amazon of Latin America" and has operations in 18 countries throughout the region. Mercado Libre is the fourth largest marketplace in the world in terms of visits per month.
Close to half of all CRM projects fail and about 40% of CRM software purchased goes unused because sales teams don't want to use software that makes them glorified data entry clerks and still doesn't "work."
Open Source Software has a different set of risks and challenges compared to closed source or proprietary software. The Information Security Forum released a report to help security pros recognize the benefits and perceived challenges of using OSS.
The University of Cincinnati online program is ranked 10th in the country by U.S. News & World Report (2020). Enjoy the flexibility of a schedule built for working professionals. Learn from educators with decades of experience in the field of IT.
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.
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Herman Miller is known for iconic seating designs, like the Eames Chair or Aeron office furniture, so what can it do for gamers? Well, this.
Herman Miller
The $1,495 Embody Gaming Chair eschews the racing-inspired designs of most gamer chairs and, instead, starts with the company's existing Embody line, which it says is "The benchmark for pressure distribution, natural alignment and support for healthy movement." To hold up under intense sessions, Embody worked with Logitech to add tweaks, like padding to support an "active posture" plus cooling foam. And, of course, some alien-looking blue coloring to make it stand out. You gotta have that.
— Richard
Dell XPS 17 review (2020): So. Much. Screen.
Cheaper models start at $1,400.
Engadget
After going missing for a decade, the XPS 17 is back, bringing Dell's bezel-less design to an even larger frame. Devindra Hardawar took this top-of-the-line $3,000 model, with its NVIDIA 2060 Max-Q GPU and massive battery, for a spin. Unsurprisingly, it can handle pretty much any game you'd like to see on a large 4K screen, and it ran for more than twelve hours during our testing. Continue reading.
Space Force official logo and motto unveiled
Yes, it looks familiar.
Space Force
No, it's not Star Trek or Pontiac, this is the logo for a new branch of the armed forces. Continue reading.
AT&T is telling customers they need new phones now
Though it won't be necessary until February 2022.
AT&T
In an email Wednesday morning, AT&T told some of its customers their phones soon won't be supported by new network technology. The message urges customers to buy a new phone to ensure they'll still be able to make voice calls. However, it slickly sidestepped that the change isn't happening until February 2022. That's, like, two iPhone launches away.
The email links to an AT&T support article that mentions the company plans to scrap its 3G network in February 2022. The page says: "Once we do, 3G devices and 4G wireless devices that don't support HD Voice will no longer work on our network." In a statement to Engadget, the company said "We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and will be more clear in future updates." Continue reading.
Lenovo's first gaming phone has two batteries and a camera on the side
It gets a point for being unique.
Lenovo
We've seen phones with pop-up front-facing cameras before, but the Legion Phone Duel is a little different — this one's mounted on the side. Gamers overseas can buy a Legion Phone Duel with either 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM (both options being overkill) and either 256GB or 512GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. Oh, and yes, it has two 2,500 mAh battery cells. Why? Maybe the real question is why not? Continue reading.
Microsoft's Xbox and Surface business keeps growing amid the pandemic
And its cloud business continues to boom.
Microsoft is weathering the coronavirus pandemic well. Amid strong revenues of $38 billion (up 13 percent from last year), the company's Q4 earnings report revealed its Xbox business has increased by 65 percent from a year ago. Surface laptop sales, meanwhile, jumped up by 28 percent.
It makes sense, given the increasing demand for PCs to manage work and school at home, as well as games for us to play through when we're not going anywhere else. Continue reading.
Apple will provide 'hacker-friendly' phones to security researchers
This isn't your ordinary iPhone.
AT&T
Apple has claimed for years that its devices are more secure than the competition, but it was often through restricted software access. Now, the company will begin loaning out special "Security Research Device" (SRD) iPhones to security researchers so they can truly suss out the device's security vulnerabilities.
The SRD phones are only for controlled settings and will feature unprecedented access that normal iPhones don't typically have, such as root shell access and the ability to run custom commands. These are not researchers' smartphone daily drivers and must stay at the research premises at all times. Continue reading.
Review: Sony's ZV-1 is a powerful portable vlogging camera
For beginners, it's also incredibly forgiving.
Engadget
The ZV-1 is Sony's first RX100-series camera designed specifically for vlogging. According to Steve Dent, it does that job well thanks to a lightweight body, built-in high-quality microphone, flip-out display, best-in-class autofocus and excellent image quality.
The 24-70mm lens is sharp, but it needs to be wider because of the 25 percent crop when using electronic stabilization. It also lacks a true touch display and a headphone port. That nitpicking aside, if you're looking to step up from a smartphone or just want something simple, it does the job nearly perfectly. Continue reading.
After all the teasing, coaxing and interviews, OnePlus didn't have much else to say about its big return to keenly priced smartphones. Oh, except the price — arguably the most interesting part. At under $500, the OnePlus Nord sounds like yet another polished midrange device for anyone not sold on flagship phones that cost double that amount. But it has a huge 90Hz screen, a 48-megapixel camera sensor and 5G connectivity — it's a lot of phone for the money.
Engadget
And while it all sounds pretty good (especially in the matching ear buds) you'll probably never get a chance to buy one if you're in the US. The phone will launch in India and Europe, with a few devices seeded to OnePlus die-hards in the States.
And even if the phone makes a splash in other regions, unfortunately for OnePlus, Google's Pixel 4a is on the horizon. It could spoil the party.
— Mat
Watch the drifting power of Ford's 1,400 horsepower Mustang Mach-E
Can that powertrain fit inside a two-door Mustang coupe? I'm trying to see something.
All-Electric Mustang Mach-E 1400 Prototype
Larry Chen / Ford
Confirming an earlier "leak," Ford has unveiled a one-off Mustang racing prototype that shows what unlimited power and torque can do. The Mach-E 1400 uses a 56.8-kilowatt battery and seven motors to make, you guessed it, 1,400 horsepower.
Three motors power the front axles, while four are connected to the rear. It might sound silly to have more motors than wheels, but those allow the car to be tuned for track racing, drifting or drag-racing. All those motors can drain the battery in less than 30 minutes, but it can also fully recharge in 45 minutes. In this four-minute video, Vaughn Gittin Jr. showed what it could do vs. gas-powered Fords (a '65 Mustang Hoonicorn RTR V2, a 2020 Mustang Shelby GT350R and 2019 NASCAR Mustang, driven by Ken Block, Chelsea DeNofa, Hailie Deegan and Joey Logano). Continue reading.
Netflix comes to Google's Nest Hub devices
How was that not a thing?
Google
Even though Google's various Nest displays already had built-in Cast support for services like YouTube and Amazon Prime, Netflix was blocking them. Now it isn't. Continue reading.
Make your tablet work harder for you with a few accoutrements.
Engadget
Accessories will be key whether you're turning your new iPad into a laptop replacement or just trying to protect it against daily-life hazards. Valentina Palladino tested out a bunch of cases, keyboards, styli and more to see which iPad accessories are the best to get right now.
Among her recommendations are the $18 ProCase Leather Folio, Logitech's slim Keys to Go keyboard that costs $46 and HyperDrive's $90 6-in-1 USB-C adapter. Continue reading.
Microsoft told antitrust committee that Apple's App Store is anticompetitive
President Brad Smith called out Apple's fees and arbitrary approval policy.
A US House antitrust committee is getting set to grill tech's biggest CEOs early next week, but Microsoft wants them to focus on one in particular: Apple's Tim Cook. Microsoft President Brad Smith met with the committee several weeks ago and reportedly stated concerns about how Apple manages its App Store.
Smith complained specifically about Apple's arbitrary app approval policy, which recently caused a ruckus over the rejection of Basecamp's Hey email app. He also railed against Apple's payment requirement, which allows it to take as much as a 30 percent cut of developers' revenue. That policy is currently the subject of an EU antitrust investigation launched at the behest of Spotify. Continue reading.
Amazon officially delays Prime Day
Until 'later this year.'
Amazon's own shopping holiday — Prime Day — will still go ahead this year, but it won't be for a while, the company announced on Tuesday. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect operations worldwide, a spokesperson confirmed "we'll be holding Prime Day later than usual," while promising to share "more details soon."
Even bricks-and-mortar stores are reconsidering big retail dates — Walmart recently announced it will close on Thanksgiving this year. Continue reading.
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Is it a little weird that this unveiling will come through an augmented reality app? Maybe, but by next year, this could just be how things are done, since we're through with in-person events for a while.
— Richard
Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet' has been delayed indefinitely
Don't expect to see a direct-to-home release for this one.
Warner Bros.
Despite the best efforts of Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan to bring the movie to theaters this summer, coronavirus-related shutdowns have shattered those plans. The studio has delayed the spy/sci-fi blockbuster several times, and now it's firmly back on the shelf — Warner Bros. has postponed it indefinitely. Continue reading.
Nikon's full-frame Z5 camera offers in-body stabilization for $1,400
It's aimed at photography more than video.
Nikon
Nikon's newest Z series camera packs in full five-axis stabilization, the same Expeed 6 processor as the pricier Z6 and Z7, and a 24-megapixel CMOS sensor. The Z5 does have some video chops; it can record in 4K, but it will crop what the sensor picks up — that's not a good thing. The Z5 arrives in August and costs $1,400 for the body only. Continue reading.
SpaceX pulls off its first double fairing catch after a Falcon 9 launch
After several near misses over the last year or so.
SpaceX
Now SpaceX can reliably launch and then land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rockets, what else can it do to make space travel cheaper? Apparently the answer is to catch the rocket fairing in ships equipped with huge nets. Recovering the pieces undamaged so they can fly again will save millions of dollars, and on Monday, SpaceX managed to catch both halves for the first time. Continue reading.
Password security is important. I'm serious. If Twitter's recent hack of its biggest users didn't convince you, I'm not sure what will. Making your passwords strong is only half the struggle — how are you supposed to remember them? Enter, the password manager. Continue reading.
Samsung to reveal five devices at its August 5th Unpacked event
The company's mobile head teases new phones, earbuds and a smartwatch.
Samsung
Samsung will announce five new devices at its upcoming online Unpacked event on August 5th. Tae-moon Roh, the president and head of the company's mobile communications business, shared the tidbit in a blog post Samsung published on Monday. That suggests we'll see more than just the heavily leaked Galaxy Note 20. Well, actually, thanks to said leaks and spoilers, we can pretty much lay out all five devices... Continue reading.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are getting remastered 'Overcooked' games
There better be raytracing.
Team 17
Both Overcooked games are on the way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. As announced during the Summer Game Fest stream yesterday, Ghost Town Games is remastering them for the upcoming consoles, and Overcooked: All You Can Eat includes all the DLC for both games. There'll be more than 200 kitchens (or levels) and more than 120 chef characters to pick from. And because it's on next-gen consoles, it will run at 4K resolution and 60 frames-per-second options, as well as faster loading times. Continue reading.
