Articles by

Long-term trends in the technology segment are often the result of structural change. One such change in the semiconductor space was the shift to outsourcing specialized functions, including technology development in the form of intellectual property, chip design, fabrication, and packaging and test. That change, along with the move to more specia...

I grew up thinking the Mall of America was an unbelievable epicenter of retail commerce. Touted as the biggest mall in the world -- even equipped with an amusement park -- the Minnesota complex boasted stores of all kinds: toys, clothing, furniture, home furnishings. I think you get the point. Then this thing called "e-commerce" came along and bas...

Google wants to become your digital shopping catalog through shoppable ads The company on Tuesday said it is testing a new format on a small percentage of traffic with select retailers. Merchants can highlight multiple products available for sale within a sponsored ad among Google Images results.

Microsoft has been urging customers to upgrade from its Windows 7 operating system, while attempting to ease the transition with several options for extended support. It will stop providing routine fixes and security patches effective January 2020. Regular support for Windows Server 2008 also is scheduled to end at that time Windows 7 enterprise cu...

Looking at the current assortment of customer relationship management functionality, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, voice recognition and chatbots, you might conclude that the tools are evolving to remove salespeople and others from direct customer contact -- and you wouldn't be wrong. What's surprising to me, though, is the ...

Target has reported higher gains in last year's holiday sales, largely due to improved e-commerce strategies and store makeovers, and has offered an upbeat outlook for 2019 The company on Tuesday said that its stores fulfilled nearly 75 percent of its fourth-quarter digital sales. Target's earnings rose 4.5 percent in the final quarter of 2018.

Pitney Bowes on Monday unveiled Consumer Connect, a self-service post-purchase marketing solution for retailers and brands. Pitney Bowes provides commerce solutions in the areas of shipping and mailing, data and e-commerce. The Consumer Connect service helps retailers drive new revenue after shoppers press the buy button. It enables retailers to c...

August on Tuesday introduced a new smart doorbell to its product lineup. The August View, priced at US$230, is a wireless doorbell that can stream sharp 1440p HD video. It supports two-way audio, so you can talk to guests via an Internet connection The View can be paired with August and Connected by August smart locks. That means you not only can s...

Following a natural disaster that causes property damage to businesses and homes -- say a hurricane, fire or flood -- how often do you hear suggestions that the victims were at fault for their misfortune, or that they could have done something to prevent the event from occurring in the first place? Not often, right? We all know that events like that are possible. We plan around those possibilities, and we don't blame the victims when they happen. ...

Facebook has undermined privacy on its network by exposing mobile phone numbers provided to secure user accounts through two-factor authentication. That's because anyone can use the numbers to look up a user's account. One doesn't even have to be a Facebook member to do so Moreover, there's no way to opt out of the setting, although it can be limit...

EasyOS is an experimental Linux distribution that either will renew your passion for using something different or leave you disappointed in its oddball approach to computing EasyOS is a blend of the best ideas from Puppy Linux and the now-discontinued Quirky Linux. I have used several of the popular Puppy Linux variants over the years. I adopted Qu...

Online learning platforms have made the process of offering workshops, courses, and educational content of all kinds easier than ever. In addition to the growth of online learning in traditional educational spheres like colleges and universities, there's been growth in the business world. Companies and organizations increasingly have been using online learning platforms both to train employees and to educate customers and clients...

Learning to code, regardless of the path a child chooses to take, is crucial today. Research shows us that this knowledge will be important in any career. As both a female leader in technology and a mother of a 10-year old boy, I am acutely aware of its critical importance in both my professional and personal life. Coding is a necessary literacy in this technological age.

Amazon on Thursday announced Project Zero, a program that empowers vendors to help drive counterfeits down. The anti-counterfeit campaign will employ Amazon's advanced technology, machine learning and innovation. Amazon will partner with Project Zero's participating vendors to protect their intellectual property by detecting and removing counterfe...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday announced a settlement of its suit against a company accused of using fake paid reviews to boost sales of its health supplement product on Amazon The settlement puts vendors and marketing firms on notice that the FTC is committed to rigorous enforcement of rules against fraudulent reviews on e-commerce p...

Predicting the power output of wind farms has been challenging, but it's becoming less so with the use of machine learning Google and British artificial intelligence company DeepMind have been using ML algorithms to improve predictions of the wind power output at Google's wind farms in the Midwest, according to a post coauthored by DeepMind Program...

A new cryptovirus called "B0r0nt0K" has been putting Linux and possibly Windows Web servers at risk of encrypting all of the infected domain's files The new ransomware threat and the ransom of 20 bitcoins (about US$75,000) first came to light last week, based on a post on Bleeping Computer's user forum....

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday defended the company's US$479 million contract with the U.S. military -- a commitment that some Microsoft employees strongly opposed While pledging to engage with employees and consider Microsoft's role as a corporate citizen, Nadella said the company would not withhold technology from institutions in democraci...

The artificial intelligence revolution has been going on for a while, but that does not mean all of software research and development is part of it. It is, nonetheless, an interesting example of what pushes the software industry forward. The ideas and techniques that brought machine learning into existence were developed over the span of several d...

Salesforce will be celebrating its 20th birthday on March 8. Where did those decades go? "Time flies like an arrow," said Groucho. "Fruit flies like a banana." There it is.