Data breaches were rampant in 2019, occurring at an unprecedented pace. However, the first half of this year has seen a reduction in the number of reported events. Reported being the operative word.
Centralizing all tools and customer-effecting services into one system delivers great efficiencies for businesses. However, enabling customers to have the same experience in real time is the difference between a CRM and CXM. CRM Buyer pursued the potential transition process -- and the impact of both CRM and CXM products -- in a conversation with Thryv VP Ryan Cantor.
How Chatbots Improve Employee Productivity in the 'New Normal'
Coronavirus has ushered upon us an era of isolation and curtailed face-to-face operations in favor of virtual interactions. The service of demand and delivery has shifted mainly to digital channels. While this trend was visible in the pre-COVID world, the pandemic has accelerated digital-first engagement. Here are six ways to improve employee productivity and streamline business operations in the new normal.
Amazon Vendors: Look at Direct Fulfillment Right Now
Amazon recently confirmed that it is facing fulfillment center capacity limitations. This is one reason why its Direct Fulfillment program that allows vendors to ship directly from their warehouses to their customers, is going to become increasingly prevalent. Amazon sellers should prepare to adopt Direct Fulfillment immediately. But why is this the perfect moment, and how can its benefits be maximized during the remainder of 2020?
Software piracy involves much more than businesses and consumers using illegal copies of computer programs. What lurks within the pirated copies is often rogue code -- malware -- that can be just as deadly to computers and users' finances. Software companies are reporting that piracy has increased 20 to 30 percent due to COVID-19.
When Linux was born on Aug. 25, 1991, it was little more than a hobby for then 21-year old Linus Torvalds. Today the Linux community is estimated to be more than 86 million users strong. Awareness of Linux in the enterprise was nonexistent 29 years ago. Since then Linux has become the backbone of many large and small enterprises.
Most Tech and Finance Firms Delaying Office Returns Into 2021
Tech and finance professionals are joining the ranks of workers in other industries by delaying their return to in-person office work. According to thousands of employees and managers polled about their companies' plans regarding working from home, many U.S. employers have postponed return-to-office plans until as late as the third quarter of next year.
25-Year Anniversary: How Windows 95 Forever Changed Personal Computing
Last week was the 25th anniversary of the biggest and most critical launch in computing history. The year running up to the Windows 95 launch was a fantastic mix of media showcases, previews, speculation and excitement. From the standpoint of demand, nothing that preceded the product even came close; and since then only Apple has been able to drive the same level of excitement.
Cash Crunch Could Stymie Municipalities' Switch to EVs
Municipalities throughout the United States have been switching from diesel- and natural gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles, to cut costs and reduce damage to the environment. However, funds are drying up as governments grapple with falling income due to lower taxes and business activity, along with increased costs to deal with the pandemic.
Credential Harvesting Attacks Take Aim at Video Meeting Apps
Users of video conference tools should be aware of the growing risk of impersonation attacks. Cybercriminals are capitalizing on the exponential increase of users turning to Zoom and other platforms to collaborate across work and friend networks. ...
Best Practices to Improve the E-Commerce Checkout Process
To deliver exceptional customer experiences at-scale, retailers need to have their finger on the pulse of changing consumer expectations. Modern consumers expect checkout to be seamless and safe, no matter the digital channel or their geographic...
Automated CX Strategies to Revitalize Customer Relations
Vlocity commissioned Utility Dive to survey energy professionals across North America. Findings show more utilities are thinking about customer journey-mapping to design coherent consumer experiences from end-to-end, yet only 20% currently offer...
OpenEEW Formed to Expedite Earthquake Warning Systems
A new coalition is building a low-cost solution to save lives in earthquake-threatened regions, rather than garnishing a profit from a new early-warning system. OpenEEW is an open-source IoT project with the goal to save lives by reducing the...
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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Like the Tetris 99 battle royale game from last year, Super Mario Bros. 35 is free if you have a subscription to Nintendo's Switch Online service. It launches October 1st and will run until March next year.
— Mat
NVIDIA shows off 'Doom Eternal' running on the GeForce RTX 3080
It's one of our earliest looks at the new GPU in action.
It's a tradition of sorts. Fancy new NVIDIA tech meets the latest (or older) version of Doom. This time around, to showcase its latest tech, the company released a gameplay video of Doom Eternal running on the new GeForce RTX 3080, which includes side-by-side comparisons with the 2080 Ti (a souped-up version of the 2080). There's an fps counter in the top right corner all the way through, and it rarely dips below 100 fps despite all the gnarly, fast-paced action and all the graphical flourishes. The new GPU lands in a few weeks. Continue reading.
Amazon's new Blink cameras can run for up to four years
Well, as long as you splurge on the extended battery packs.
While most of us are holed-up at home for longer, let's stay secure. That's Amazon's pitch, again, for its latest security cameras. It's revealed a pair of new Blink cameras: the $80 Blink Indoor and the $100 Blink Outdoor. The latter is the hardier of the two models — water-resistant and rated to work in environments as cold as -4°F and as toasty as 113°F. Both offer a 1080p stream of everything happening within a 110° field of view.
Both the Indoor and Outdoor run on two AA batteries, which Amazon says is enough to power them for a full two years. For this year, and if you're really not interested in replacing batteries so very often, Amazon will start selling an extended battery pack for Blink cameras that can house four AA batteries instead of the usual two. Continue reading.
Google Maps is improving travel ETAs with DeepMind AI
Now it can predict traffic jams before they start.
Still using Google Maps? Whenever you have somewhere to go, you'll be happy to know that it's touting a 50 percent increase in ETA accuracy for many areas, thanks to the application of machine learning tech. Specifically, it's using DeepMind AI, most famously used to master the game of Go. Google has also adjusted its approach to traffic predictions in the COVID-19 era, by prioritizing historical traffic patterns from the last two to four weeks and deprioritizing older patterns. Continue reading.
If 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2' is a feast, local multiplayer is dessert
The remastered games 'look 1,000 times better' now.
Two decades later, the first two Tony Hawk games are back and available on a console or PC near you, in lovingly remastered form. The only problem: Your thumbstick skills from 1999 have not been similarly preserved. Still, if you have a partner to play with, Jessica Conditt explains you may have a future in failing together while you re-learn the game's tricks. Continue reading.
Apple pushes iOS 14's updated ad anti-tracking feature to 2021
Facebook is already warning those in its ad network about the change.
With iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, apps will need to ask for permission before collecting your phone or tablet's unique Identification for Advertisers device code. This identifier, also known as IDFA, is one way advertisers can, for example, find out that you've installed an app through a Facebook ad. It was intended to take effect at the same time iOS 14 launches, but in a message to developers, Apple said it won't kick in until next year, to give them more time for preparation. Continue reading.
A dual-motor configuration and all wheel drive is what gets the car moving so quickly, but Lucid promises to reveal all the details during an event on September 9th. After that, the only thing left is to actually build these things so that the claim of "World's Quickest Production Sedan" can be a bit more accurate.
— Richard
Intel unveils its 11th gen 'Tiger Lake' CPUs
The company also mentioned changes to improve on-device AI processing.
Despite some setbacks moving from 10nm to 7nm, Intel still promises that its SuperFin FinFET transistor process contributes the biggest speed improvement within a generation. The benefit of that boost will be seen in its upcoming 11th gen CPUs, which can deliver a 20 percent CPU speed improvement over last year's 10th generation, with graphics performance that's twice as fast. They're better for video streaming with hardware support for Dolby Vision HDR, as well as Thunderbolt 4 and displays at resolutions up to 8K.
There are different sets of chips for different styles of devices, but one other label to look out for is the Intel Evo tag. Like all 11th gen-powered machines, they'll show off Intel's newly revamped logo, but they've also been certified to meet several standards.
Each one can wake from sleep in less than a second, has at least nine hours of real-world battery life and has fast charging that can pull in four hours of juice in just thirty minutes plugged in. ASUS' ZenBook Flip S is one of the first ones we've seen, while manufacturers like Dell, Acer and others will have upgraded laptops out later this year. Continue reading.
The best ultraportable laptops you can buy
The Dell XPS 13, MacBook Air and ASUS ZenBook 13 all made the list.
If being thin and light is more important than adding extra display size or heft, then an ultraportable (defined by Engadget as weighing less than three pounds and less than .75-inches thick) might be the laptop you're looking for. Of course, with many different models on the market, making a choice and hoping to find one in stock can be tricky. We have some advice on the best ones to buy if you can't wait for Tiger Lake. Continue reading.
It's not Qualcomm's most thrilling barrage of announcements. It announced a new made-for-PC processor based on ARM designs. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 follows up 2018's Snapdragon 8cx, and back then the company said the "x" in the name stood for "extreme" power. This year's model offers better AI performance and support for newer standards of WiFi and Bluetooth, yet it doesn't appear to run any faster than before.
The company also announced 5G heft for its entry-level Snapdragon 4-series chipsets — the genuinely cheap Qualcomm phone processors. Details are still sparse, but Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun said the company plans to be one of the first to introduce a smartphone powered by Snapdragon's 4-series 5G mobile platform. Motorola and OPPO are also supporting Qualcomm's plans to scale 5G tech to the 4-series.
And for something completely different, Qualcomm's new adaptive active noise cancellation tech will change audio based on your earbud fit.The Adaptive ANC can adjust in real time to changes in how the buds fit in your ears. And since everyone's ears are different, Qualcomm says this tech can help companies deliver high-quality audio performance for more users.
Qualcomm doesn't mention when we can expect to see the new audio tech in new devices. But given that it's available now on the company's premium Bluetooth audio SoC (System on a Chip), you probably won't have to wait long for headphone companies to put it inside new products. Continue reading.
Panasonic Lumix S5 review
Meet Panasonic's answer to Canon's EOS R6.
Steve Dent says this is "the best video-centric camera in its price range." With features like its excellent stabilization, large sensor, 10-bit 4K options, relatively small size and flip-out display, you won't do better for $2,000. Continue reading.
'The Mandalorian' season two hits Disney+ on October 30th
What sort of merchandise-centered character will be introduced next?
Season two of the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian will start streaming on Disney+ on October 30th. For now, there's not much more to say — there aren't any more details about the release schedule yet, including whether Disney will follow the same track it did for season one by debuting episodes weekly instead of making all of them available at once.
At least it's fair warning that Mat should watch the first season before it lands. Continue reading.
