E-Commerce

Before Apple launched its long-awaited HomePod smart speaker earlier this week, the expectation was that it would unveil a sophisticated Echo killer that would redefine the landscape that Amazon has dominated, with Google playing catch-up. "Just like iPod reinvented music in our pockets, HomePod is ...

Amazon has introduced a Prime membership priced at $5.99 monthly for people on government assistance who have a valid EBT card. A Prime membership ordinarily costs $10.99 per month, or $99 per year. The EBT card is used to disburse funds for a variety of government assistance programs, including TAN...

Alphabet shares reached a new record high on Monday, surpassing the $1,000 benchmark just a week after Amazon accomplished the feat. Investors placed bets that Google's core search and emerging artificial intelligence technology will help maintain the company's dominance over its Silicon Valley riva...

Apple reportedly has begun production of a high-end speaker with Siri-based digital assistant technology to compete directly with Amazon's Alexa-based Echo speakers and the Google Assistant-powered Home speaker. Production is in the early stages, but the device could be unveiled as early as next wee...

Facebook last week signed agreements with several content firms -- among them Vox, Buzzfeed, ATTN and Group Nine Media, according to reports. The deals are widely viewed as part of the company's strategy to attract millennials to its live-streaming Web content. Facebook will offer multi-tiered progr...

Amazon stock surged to more than $1,000 for the first time on Tuesday, marking a milestone for the dominant e-commerce retailer and leaving its closest competitors still trying to figure out a path to closing the gap. Amazon's shares hovered near $997 in late mid-afternoon trading after reaching $10...

Google has unveiled Google Attribution, a tool that uses machine learning to measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns across a variety of devices and channels. Part of a series of new measurement tools introduced at Google Marketing Next, Google Attribution aims to help marketers dete...

Comcast has led the way in cable television ever since it acquired AT&T Broadband a decade ago. However, in recent years, new technologies -- like IPTV and wireless TV from new competitors like AT&T and DirecTV Now -- have been eating away at Comcast's growth. That's why Comcast not only has...

Walmart on Thursday reported soaring e-commerce growth during its fiscal first quarter, along with strong organic sales figures. Online sales grew a stunning 63 percent during the quarter, perhaps in response to the company's newly introduced free two-day shipping and its upgraded mobile app. "We're...

Comedian John Oliver, incensed over proposed changes to unravel Net neutrality protections for consumers, unleashed a torrent of criticism against the Federal Communications Commission and urged viewers to register their protest online. The response led to a digital meltdown on the agency's site Sun...

The electronics industry over the past several years has made tremendous strides in creating artificial intelligence in a manner imagined by Allen Turing in the 1940s. The convergence of algorithmic advances in multilayer neural networks, the evolution of PC GPUs as massively parallel processing acc...

Twitter on Monday announced a partnership with Bloomberg Media to launch a 24-hour streaming news service -- one of a dozen new content deals Twitter has entered to drive user engagement. CEO Jack Dorsey and a group of top executives announced the slate of programming agreements -- which include con...

More than 8,600 retail locations will shut down this year, following the 5,077 that closed last year, based on data from Credit Suisse. Moreover, 2017 could surpass 2008 -- the worst year for retail closures on record -- when 6,163 stores shut down operations. However, unlike 2008, when overall con...

Cable TV has been facing mounting attacks from new technologies and new competitors. C Spire recently joined the action, announcing plans to enter the pay-TV space. It's not yet clear what C Spire TV will be, or how it will impact the marketplace. We'll have to wait for C Spire to spell that out in ...