Less than 10% of business-to-business e-commerce buyers say their experience has been "excellent" over the past six months, according to a B2BecNews survey of 111 industrial purchasers. The report says many e-commerce platforms fail to offer in-demand features, such as ordering systems that integrate with the buyer.
Adidas Originals teamed with rapper Curtis Roach to create an Instagram Stories music video that unveiled the artist's new track, "Spectacular," while he danced wearing the brand's P.O.D. sneakers. The video, available for only 24 hours, is an example of "disappearing cinema" technique, the brand said.
Sony reported this week that PlayStation Vue's live local sports and on-demand nationwide programming will be offered through the Apple TV app. Vue is the first pay-TV vendor in the US added to the Apple TV app, which will send viewers to the Vue app to view the content.
Once called a "modern-day Paul Revere" after speaking before Congress about the cybersecurity risks of vulnerable software, Chris Wysopal said hackers still play a vital role in software safety. Wysopal, who now serves as chief technology officer at software security company Veracode, said in-house hacking provides a necessary layer of security to lessen cyberthreats.
China's Alibaba Group will hold its 10th annual Singles Day sale on Nov. 11. Last year's sale day generated $25.3 billion in sales, and this year the event will expand to more international markets and integrate digital and physical retail in the company's "new retail" strategy, said CEO Daniel Zhang.
Most consumers continue to use Alexa devices to manage basic tasks, but Amazon wants to change that by providing developers with financial incentives for expanding voice applications. Amazon reported more than 50,000 available Alexa skills and has sold an estimated 47 million Echo devices.
SteamVR Beta is working on a new feature similar to the Oculus Rift's Asynchronous SpaceWarp called Motion Smoothing. This feature forces games to render at 45 frames per second when they are not meeting or close to 90 FPS and inserts "synthetic" frames between each real one to improve video.
Samsung Display held an event in China to allow businesses to see new screen developments, including fingerprint-on-display and sound-on-display options for premium smartphones. The company also showed off its solution for conserving power while playing high-quality content.
Virtual reality hardware and software sales are expected to top $6.9 billion for 2019, indicating the technology has gone mainstream, per SuperData Research. It's expected that augmented reality will perform even more strongly over time, with the firm predicting it will generate more revenue than VR by 2021.
Raley's has put more of a focus on the customer experience with a new website that emphasizes personalization and the retailer's vision for health and wellness. "Our goal is to make it easier and more compelling for customers to interact with online shopping and our savings program, Something Extra," said Mike Molitor, Raley's vice president of e-commerce and loyalty.