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As we get to the end of December, I typically pick my product of the year, but this is also the end of the decade, so I'll go back and look at the prior products of the year, name my pick for this year, and then pick my product of the decade. Let's get to it 2010 was an easy choice as the iPad came out and scared the hell out of the entire PC marke...

"Digital transformation" is not a new term or concept. While it has taken on multiple definitions, one thing is for sure: Companies view it as a top priority, so much so that 40 percent of technology spending will go toward digital transformation, according to IDC, with enterprises spending in excess of US$2 trillion through 2019 This insurgence of...

The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) goes into effect in 2020, and other state and federal laws are on the horizon -- but is it possible that these state laws will really provide us privacy? For instance, how many readers take the time to read the privacy policy (or click agreement) when they download a new version of an app on their smart...

Sometimes when you tug on the thread of a small customer service failure, you unravel a big skein of much knottier problems. That happened when Shield Healthcare didn't send "Great Aunt Nelly" her shipment of medical supplies on time There are many people like Nelly in the U.S. -- elderly and disabled folks who depend in part or entirely on governm...

Today's consumers live in a digital world, which means they can retrieve all the information they desire at the touch of a button, putting them in control Additionally, they have become immune to traditional outbound marketing methods, such as billboards and television advertisements, and expect brands and businesses to tailor their messages based ...

Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix arrived just in time for the holidays. Its first stable version, released on Dec. 4, is based on Ubuntu 19.10 Eoan Ermine It utilizes Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop environment on top of Ubuntu Linux's codebase. Work on several release candidate and beta versions stretches back to 2013. The efforts stayed under the radar until ...

We've recently seen much breathless news coverage of the Nightingale Project, Google's half-secret partnership with Ascension, the second-largest healthcare system in the United States The details of the project -- which involves sharing the healthcare data of tens of millions of unsuspecting patients -- have raised significant concerns....

Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance are teaming up on a new Internet Protocol-based standard for smart home device connectivity, they jointly announced Wednesday Connected Home over IP will be an open source project. A working group will define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification.

The 300-plus mile trip between Cleveland and Chicago could take as little as 32 minutes by Hyperloop, according to a US$1.2 million feasibility study released earlier this week Hyperloop is the only form of high-speed transportation that is profitable and makes economic sense in the United States, maintains the 160-page study, a joint effort of Tra...

For the last 15 years I've written year end articles on where we've been and where we're going in CRM and more broadly in tech. This year, as I went through the pieces I wrote, it struck me that the major topics that were important in 2019 would be equally important in 2020. In my mind there are several clusters of things that have sticking power....

Amazon third-party sellers will not be able to ship Prime customers' orders using FedEx Ground and FedEx Home, as of Wednesday "We have seen a drop in the delivery performance of FedEx Ground and FedEx Home ship methods for Seller Fulfilled Prime shipments," Amazon told sellers in a note provided to the E-Commerce Times by corporate communications ...

Google has stalled the rollout of its Chrome 79 Web browser for Android devices until it can find a way to neutralize a data-destroying bug. Affected users have been vilifying Google and app developers for failing to head off the problem The latest Chrome version contains two highly anticipated new features: phishing protection, and the ability to ...

Measuring Broadband America, a 10-year-old FCC program to ensure that Internet service providers deliver on their connection speed promises to consumers, has become unreliable Companies including AT&T, Cox, Comcast and Verizon have been employing tactics to make their performance numbers look better than they actually are, The Wall Street Journal r...

When Intel released its diversity report last week, it got pounded for the lack of diversity in its executive staff. Intel is one of the few companies being transparent about diversity. Given that lack of diversity is the problem we want to solve, the bashing is stupid. It is only going to make it harder to address the problem. In effect, Intel ...

The world of paid digital advertising is changing fast. Over the last year alone, marketers have had to adapt to big changes on Facebook's platform. They now have to reckon with the continued growth of Amazon, which is taking an ever-larger bite out of online advertising budgets. Even Google, long the alpha dog in digital marketing, is altering its approach with the changing times...

Serving two masters, in theory, is nearly impossible. In practice, the Linux Lite distribution easily satisfies Linux newcomers and veteran penguin fans as well This distro is very beginner-friendly. That is, in large part, the result of a fine-tuned Xfce desktop interface that gives former Windows and macOS users a familiar base. More established ...

China has issued an order that all foreign-made computer equipment and software be removed from government offices and public institutions within the next three years The news of Beijing's move came earlier this week in a report from the Nikkei-owned, London-based Financial Times....

The era of messaging and automation is upon us! The fundamentals of delivering a good customer service experience in 2020 will be much the same as in 2019: Customers will expect convenient in-channel resolutions that take little effort on their behalf. However, with the rise of friction-free, asynchronous, and personalized private messaging channel...

If anything is certain, it's that e-commerce doesn't look the same today as it did in 1995. A company called eBay burst onto the scene that year, and Jeff Bezos shipped Amazon's first book order. That unleashed a flood of online shopping, and businesses and consumers never looked back In the past two and a half decades, e-commerce has revolutionize...

Google on Tuesday released an update to its Chrome browser with a slew of new features that are heavy on security Chrome 79.0.3945.79 has 51 security fixes. It offers improved password protection over earlier versions, real-time phishing protection, and predictive phishing tools....