Articles by David Jones

Snap on Wednesday announced changes designed to combat fake news on Snapchat by separating content from professional creators from postings by friends and family. Stories and Chats from friends will appear on the left side of the camera, while Stories from content creators, publishers and other members of the community will appear on the right sid...

Amazon Web Services on Monday announced Amazon Sumerian, a new Web-based platform to help developers quickly design and deploy virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D applications without the requirement for complicated tools and training. The platform lets developers build realistic VR, AR or 3D environments, populate them with animated charact...

Online sales hit a new record of US$6.59 billion on Cyber Monday -- a 17 percent increase from the $5.6 billion in last year's sales for the day -- making it the largest online shopping day in history, based on Adobe Analytics data released Tuesday. Mobile shopping also broke records, starting with the channel's first-ever $2 billion sales day. Sm...

U.S. retailers crossed a historic new threshold over Thanksgiving weekend as consumers set new records for e-commerce activity and embraced mobile shopping like never before The record-breaking US$5.03 billion spent online on Black Friday -- a 17 percent increase from a year ago -- was in line with expectations, according to Adobe Analytics. Consu...

Amazon Web Services has become the latest tech firm to join the deep learning community's collaboration on the Open Neural Network Exchange, recently launched to advance artificial intelligence in a frictionless and interoperable environment. Facebook and Microsoft led the effort As part of that collaboration, AWS made its open source Python packag...

Billions of voice-activated Internet of Things devices may be subject to external attack due to BlueBorne vulnerabilities,Armis revealed on Wednesday. Hackers could exploit BlueBorne to mount an airborne attack, using Bluetooth to spread malware and access critical data, including sensitive personal information....

Google on Wednesday announced the addition of new functionality for its recently launched job search portal, including features that display salary range and street-level location information. Salary information -- among the things users have requested most, according to Google -- will improve the likelihood of matching qualified applicants with...

A total of 164 million Americans, or 69 percent of the U.S. population, plan to shop Thanksgiving weekend, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation. Upwards of 115 million people, or about 70 percent, plan to shop on Black Friday, the report shows, while 78 million plan to shop on Cyber Monday, 71 million on Small Business Satur...

Amazon has denied a report that it has been working on a free, ad-supported video platform to complement its subscription-based Amazon Prime Video service. Amazon has been in talks with various television networks, movie studios and other media entities about providing content to the site, according to the report, published Monday in Ad Age....

Customers prefer human interactions to interactive voice response systems or other automated customer service offerings, according to a new report from B2B ratings firm Clutch Businesses need to move carefully when outsourcing customer service operations, the research also suggested because there are big differences depending on how familiar reps a...

Amazon on Wednesday began shipping its latest smart home product, a security camera that works with its Alexa personal assistant and Echo speakers The Amazon Cloud Cam allows customers to live-stream activity inside their home 24/7. It features 1080p full HD resolution, two-way audio for communicating with family members or pets, night vision techn...

Microsoft on Tuesday released its long-anticipated and much-hyped Xbox One X console, promising to push the boundaries of modern gaming and video entertainment. The Xbox One X is the most powerful console in the world, with up to 40 percent more power than existing devices on the market, the company claimed.

Amazon recently began reducing prices on merchandise sold by third-party sellers, ratcheting up its market share competition with discount stores, including Walmart and Dollar General. The company has started to display a new tag, "Discount Provided by Amazon," The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Price cuts so far have been a little less t...

Activision's Call of Duty WWII became available on Friday, and the title made its long-awaited debut with a splash, kicking off what is expected to be a robust holiday season for the gaming industry. The most anticipated multiplatform title of the season, based on the Nielsen Game Rank, Call of Duty WWII latest installment reaches back to the icon...

IBM on Wednesday announced IBM Cloud Private, a software platform that allows enterprise customers to run applications and store critical data in an on-premises, private cloud environment. The new service employs a Kubernetes-based container architecture that supports both Docker containers and Cloud Foundry....

The Linux Foundation this week announced an agreement with AT&T and Tech Mahindra to launch the Acumos Project, a new platform for open source development of artificial intelligence The new platform is part of a broader effort to open up opportunities for AI collaboration in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors.

The rumor that Amazon has set its sights on disrupting the pharmaceutical industry has gained greater currency recently, just months after the company set the grocery business on fire with its acquisition of Whole Foods, and in the midst of its widely publicized search for a second U.S. headquarters location. Amazon reportedly has taken major step...

Nintendo appears to have knocked it out of the park with Thursday's offical launch of its new Super Mario Odyssey title, which appears to have won over video game critics and promises to drive Nintendo Switch sales well into the holiday shopping season. The reception is another lift for Nintendo, which has been riding high following strong reviews...

Siftery on Thursday announced the launch of its new Product Alternatives search tool, which is designed to help companies find alternative B2B software products when replacements are needed. The Product Alternatives tool allows users to search a database of more than 40,000 software options, Siftery said. Its artificial intelligence technology not...

Amazon on Wednesday announced a new service that will allow Prime members to receive in-home delivery of packages with the help of high-tech smart locks that allow drivers to open their front doors Amazon Key will launch officially on Nov. 8 in 37 U.S. cities and surrounding communities, with additional locations to be added over time. The service ...