E-Commerce Minute

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E-Commerce Minute: Saturday -- September 30, 2017

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
Amazon Deploys Army of Echoes Against Oncoming Threats
Cloudflare Stream Promises Easy, Cheap Video Hosting
Red Hat, SAP Team on New Integrated Enterprise Linux Platform
Digital Hub Returns
Behind-the-Scenes Cryptocurrency Mining Discovered on Showtime Sites
New Cloud Tools Aim to Streamline, Monetize Partner Relationships
Innovation Requires Market Enablement
Einstein Tries Sales Forecasting
Cloud Partner Program Aims to Replace ERP
Amazon's Alexa May Get Into Your Head
Nimble's Social CRM Finds Its Way Into Office 365
Artificial Intelligence, Smart Speakers and You
AWS to Sell Cloud Services by the Second
Finally Oracle

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Today's Story Highlights

Amazon Deploys Army of Echoes Against Oncoming Threats
Amazon has unveiled five new Echo products that raise the bar in the
automated home market. Among other things, Amazon has improved the sound
quality in its second-generation Echo speaker to compete with several
new competitors in the high-end audio segment. The new Echo, which is
more compact and comes in a variety of shell colors and finishes, offers
more immersive sound.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84841.html

Cloudflare Stream Promises Easy, Cheap Video Hosting
Cloudflare on Wednesday released the beta version of Cloudflare Stream,
a new, inexpensive streaming video service. Designed for app developers
who want to build businesses hosting and streaming videos, Cloudflare
Stream bundles encoding, global delivery and video player software into
one package. These functionalities can be separated upon request.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84843.html

Red Hat, SAP Team on New Integrated Enterprise Linux Platform
Red Hat on Tuesday announced the launch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux for
SAP Solutions, a new platform that combines two existing systems for
analytics and data management into a single offering. The new platform
combines the existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP Applications and
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for SAP HANA into a single, consolidated
platform.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84845.html

Digital Hub Returns
Digital Hub is not a new idea. It's been percolating for a few years,
and its roots can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, where in a cluster of
eight buildings, there exists what might be the original hub. In Dublin,
it's made up of 97 companies employing 725 people, and it was given a
jumpstart by the government in 2003. Elsewhere, we might be more attuned
to the idea of a tech incubator.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84844.html

Behind-the-Scenes Cryptocurrency Mining Discovered on Showtime Sites
Showtime Networks apparently has mined the websites of online viewers
using the same Coinhive technology that The Pirate Bay recently used in
a test run on its site. A subsidiary of CBS, Showtime is a premium
television network that offers professional boxing, feature films,
original scripted television shows like Ray Donovan and other
programming.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84838.html

New Cloud Tools Aim to Streamline, Monetize Partner Relationships
AppDirect on Tuesday announced new products and functionality for its
Cloud Commerce Platform. The new tools, AppReseller and Cloud Management
Suite, enable software vendors to launch reseller partner programs
quickly. Software as a Service providers can use the new capabilities to
help their small and mid-sized business users manage and leverage their
software more effectively.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84839.html

Innovation Requires Market Enablement
In this age of tech industry consolidation, one has to wonder what will
happen with the pace of innovation as a few large companies begin to
dominate. In personal computers, the WinTel marriage continues to
control the technology, while Dell, HP and Lenovo control the devices.
Similarly, in smartphones, Apple and Samsung, which both design their
own chips and devices, dominate the market, especially in North America.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84836.html

Einstein Tries Sales Forecasting
When Salesforce unveiled sales forecasting with its artificial
intelligence tool, Einstein, my immediate reaction was that it should
have tried something easier -- like solving global warming. Really, a
sales forecast that bears some resemblance to reality has been a grail
quest for all of us for many years, and Salesforce is not the first
software company to throw its hat in the ring.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84835.html

Cloud Partner Program Aims to Replace ERP
Brightpearl, which offers a cloud-based retail management system for
mid-sized retailers and wholesalers, on Wednesday launched a new
Enterprise Partner Program. The company aims to build out its partner
ecosystem to deploy an end-to-end management service for omnichannel
retailers as an alternative to traditional enterprise resource planning
systems.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84833.html

Amazon's Alexa May Get Into Your Head
Developers at Amazon's secret Lab 126 reportedly have been working on
audio-only smart glass technology that would allow users to communicate
with its virtual assistant Alexa. The smart glasses would connect
wirelessly to users' smartphones and transfer communications through a
bone-conduction audio system that would negate the need for headphones.
Amazon plans to release the device this year.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84830.html

Nimble's Social CRM Finds Its Way Into Office 365
Social sales and marketing software provider Nimble and cloud services
consultant NeoCloud have partnered to deliver a simple, affordable
contact management and CRM package for Microsoft Office 365. NeoCloud
has agreed to bundle Nimble CRM into all of its Office 365 deployments,
beginning this month. Nimble CRM adds employees' individual connections
to a shared team relationship manager.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84828.html

Artificial Intelligence, Smart Speakers and You
The artificial intelligence speaker war is now being waged, and it is
escalating. Today you can choose between Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Harman Kardon's Invoke is coming this fall. By the end of the year,
Apple's HomePod will be competing in the market, and Samsung has
indicated it will join the fray as well. With all these choices, how can
you determine which smart speaker is right for you?
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84827.html

AWS to Sell Cloud Services by the Second
Amazon Web Services on Monday unveiled a new per-second pricing plan for
EC2 instances and EBS volumes, which will take effect Oct. 2. The new
pricing for Elastic Compute Cloud and Elastic Block Storage used with
EC2 instances will allow greater flexibility and efficiency for
customers wanting to expand their use of cloud computing data, AWS said.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84822.html

Finally Oracle
Oracle showed some very good numbers in its latest earnings report. As
it begins its second year of aggressive cloud promotion, the company
overall is showing significant year-over-year improvements, thanks to
its turn to cloud infrastructure, applications and platforms. Yet when
read right, the numbers announce the end of the beginning of the end as
much as they announce the end of the beginning.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84825.html

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Elon Musk wants you to fly Rocket-class. It's the Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 2017 By Darrell Etherington Elon Musk wants to rocket us back and forth between cities all over the world, South Korea has had enough of ICOs and Angry Birds debuts to a mostly nonplussed public market. That and more in The Daily Crunch for September 29, 2017. Plus, it's Podcast Friday! 1. Elon Musk wants to get you anywhere on Earth in under an hour When Elon Musk pulls a 'one more thing' style move at a keynote, he really delivers: The SpaceX CEO revealed that his company hopes to use its new BFR spacecraft to make city-to-city trips on Earth, with most popular routes taking less than 30 minutes. The ambitious vision would easily leapfrog supersonic flight and, if that's not enough, Musk says tickets to ride his rocket will cost around the same price as full-fare economy on current airlines. 2. Here's everything else Musk revealed about SpaceX's Mars plan Earth-to-Earth hyper speed travel wasn't the only big surprise Musk had in store – he also talked about a lot of updates to SpaceX's Mars strategy, including ways the company hopes to make colonizing the planet more affordable. One of those plans is to use one spaceship instead of many different versions, or as Musk put it, to "cannibalize" its own existing business. Sponsored By: iClick Interactive How far are brands from conducting AI-driven marketing in China? With the rapid progress made in the Chinese martech industry, I believe AI-driven marketing solutions will become more end-user-friendly in the not long future in China, accessible by marketers without the need of having expert knowledge in the field. Learn More… 3. South Korea bans ICOs, too South Korea is following China's example, banning ICOs since they have a high potential for scummy use. Regulators aren't done with the ICO mop-up, so keep watching this space for more global clampdown. 4. Rovio IPOs, pops and fizzles Angry Birds maker Rovio has gone public, but the public wasn't that impressed. The stock briefly popped but then after that it dropped off quickly. 5. The Sphero Mini is a small ball Sphero's smartphone controlled ball is an interesting toy, and one that has a lot of unique appeal. But it's also a bit of an oddity that mostly helped pave the way for Sphero's real success: Its Star Wars branded toys. But the new Mini might be affordable and kooky enough to have broader appeal. 6. FAA outlaws U.S. drone use around major monuments Drones begone! At least around the Statue of Liberty, the Hoover Dam, Mount Rushmore and seven other U.S. national monuments and dams. 7. It's Podcast Friday! That most wonderful time. This week's Original Content takes on Star Trek: Discovery, the first new Star Trek TV show in a decade. And over on Equity, Google makes some acquisitions and we're seeing some tech stalwarts go public. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Rails / Elixir Software Engineer at ThinkCERCA (Chicago, IL, United States) Senior Front End Engineer at ThinkCERCA (Chicago, IL, United States) Senior Java Backend Developer (m/f) at eGym GmbH (Berlin, Deutschland) Lead Engineer Backend (m/f) at eGym GmbH (Berlin, Deutschland) Senior UI/UX Android Application Engineer at Shield. Ai (San Francisco, CA, United States) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2017 AOL Inc. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   Terms of Service

                                                           

Amazon expands Echo line big time. It's The Daily Crunch.

THE DAILY CRUNCH THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 2017 By Darrell Etherington Amazon's Echo fest, Toshiba to sell chip business to group including Apple, and dockless bikes get more backing. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for September 28, 2017. 1. Amazon sounds out the sweet spot for Echo hardware Amazon had a lot in store for us yesterday, including six new products from its Echo lineup. These include a brand new main Echo, with better sound and a body wrapped in fabric, as well as a new Echo Plus with smart home hub integration. There's also a new all-seeing eye called the Echo Spot, which is actually adorable if somewhat frightening because it has a camera and is designed to set on your nightstand. But it's also adorable. 2. Toshiba to sell chip business for $18 billion to group including Apple Toshiba's chip business sale to a group led by Bain and including Apple had been rumored previously, but now it's official – the deal has been agreed to by Toshiba, and is valued at $18 billion. If the deal goes through as planned it should close in March. Sponsored By: iClick Interactive How far are brands from conducting AI-driven marketing in China? With the rapid progress made in the Chinese martech industry, I believe AI-driven marketing solutions will become more end-user-friendly in the not long future in China, accessible by marketers without the need of having expert knowledge in the field. Learn More… 3. Uber rival Grab backs dockless biek sharing startup Southeast Asian Uber rival Grab is making some investments, including in ofo and Mobike competitor oBike. It's a smart strategy, and one that Uber is likely to follow suit on once it gets the rest of its house in order. 4. Magic Leap's new website is full of weird Easter eggs Magic Leap's website is both less weird now that it has removed its eccentric founder's weird blog post links, and also somehow more weird because of the hidden Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. 5. Anchor raises $10 million for its podcast platform Podcast hype seems to have cooled somewhat recently, but platforms focused on the medium continue to get funding. Anchor follows network Gimlet in raising significant funding, with a new $10 million round. 6. Google Assistant makes its way to Android TV Nvidia Shield TV now supports hands-free Google Assistant, which makes it a 4K streaming box and smart home companion with voice commands all in one. Pretty great update, and it's free for all existing and new device owners. 7. Twitter faces congress today over Russia election probe Social media used to be all about cat gifs and overly confessional blog posts, but now it's about undue influence in elections by foreign powers. This should be a fun congressional hearing. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Rails / Elixir Software Engineer at ThinkCERCA (Chicago, IL, United States) Senior Front End Engineer at ThinkCERCA (Chicago, IL, United States) Senior Java Backend Developer (m/f) at eGym GmbH (Berlin, Deutschland) Lead Engineer Backend (m/f) at eGym GmbH (Berlin, Deutschland) Senior UI/UX Android Application Engineer at Shield. Ai (San Francisco, CA, United States) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser If you do not want to receive this email or you would like to update your preferences click here. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 © 2017 AOL Inc. All rights reserved.   Privacy Policy   Terms of Service