J.C. Penney announced that it planned to close 130 to 140 stores as well as two distribution centers in the coming months. The struggling retailer follows in the footsteps of Sears and Macy’s , both of which have plans to shut stores to cut costs as shoppers move away from mall-based retailers.
Category: Science / Technology
Tech wrap: Probing AT&T 911 outage; Kiwi tech recruting; China lunar spaceship; Zuckerbergs expecting
The Federal Communications Commission says it is investigating why AT&T cellphone customers were unable to call 911 in several states on Wednesday night. Law enforcement and government agencies in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and other states reported the problem and provided alternate numbers for people to call during emergencies.
Coachella festival boosts its VR experience for 2017 with augmented reality
Over the years, the ticket packages for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have become a fun unboxing surprise, with snapshots filling Instagram long before fans flood their social media streams with selfies from the festival itself. Artwork, miniature pop-up scenes of the Empire Polo Club in Indio and calendars have been inside the boxes, along with Coachella’s coveted entry wristbands, in recent years.
Apple’s iPhone 6 Revival Could Go Over Well in China and India
With manufacturing costs for older and/or less advanced models likely in the $200 range or below, the company can easily sell such iPhones at lower price points while still turning a profit, and in doing so take share from mid-range Android rivals. But when a company is selling over 200 million phones annually at an average selling price well north of $600, it’s hard to blame it for being cautious about how much it moves down-market, given the risk of potentially cannibalizing sales of pricier models.
This Is Why J.Jill’s CEO Is So Optimistic About IPO Despite the Declining Retail Industry
J.Jill CEO Paula Bennet discussed what it’s like taking a women’s apparel retail company public in the struggling environment. J.Jill launched its initial public offering of 11.67 million shares priced at $13 Thursday morning and although the stock is down, company CEO Paula Bennet is optimistic.
Us FCC to probe at&T 911 call outage
AT&T’s mobile subscribers in some U.S. states were not able to make 911 emergency calls late Wednesday, leading to complaints from police departments and emergency agencies in various parts of the country. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wrote on Twitter that his agency was receiving reports of widespread AT&T 911 call outages and its public safety staff were investigating.
Intel Should Remain Dominant in Server CPUs, but AMD and Qualcomm Just Made Things More Interesting
While Intel is about to see tougher server processor competition, no rival can match the breadth of its offerings, or its industry support. Just as the PC CPU market has been overdue for some real competition to challenge Intel’s hegemony, the same could arguably be said for server CPUs.
Modell’s Takes a Swing at Amazon With Online Presence
Modell's CEO Mitch Modell on the state of brick and mortar, the GOP's Obamacare replacement and the impact of a higher minimum wage. Are online retailers such as Amazon permanently changing the landscape of retail in America? Modell’s CEO Mitch Modell says for some consumers, the brick-and-mortar experience remains valuable.”
U.S. Senate resolution aims to let ISPs share your private data without permission
A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to roll back privacy rules for broadband service providers that were approved by the Federal Communications Commission in October. The rules include the requirement that internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon should obtain “opt-in” consent from consumers to use and share sensitive personal information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.
US Senate resolution aims to roll back privacy rules for ISPs
A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to roll back privacy rules for broadband service providers that were approved by the Federal Communications Commission in October. The rules include the requirement that internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon should obtain “opt-in” consent from consumers to use and share sensitive personal information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.
How to Keep Your Phone Number While Switching Carriers
If you are a small business owner, your telephone number may well be part of your community identity, especially if you have already invested in advertising and business cards. As long as your business remains in the same geographic area, the Federal Communications Commission guarantees your right to keep your telephone number even if you switch carriers.
Tyson’s New CEO: The Future of Food Isn’t Meat
Tyson Foods' new CEO is on a mission to change people's perception of the iconic brand-which has faced chicken abuse and price-fixing charges. Hayes says he is now pushing the 80-year-old meat processor towards sustainability, plant-based … The new CEO of one of the world’s largest meat processors, Tyson Foods Inc., sees plant-based protein as a big part of the food industry’s future.
Alibaba’s Jack Ma Wants Serious Jail Time for Counterfeiters
Billionaire Alibaba-founder Jack Ma wants China’s top lawmakers to come down harder on fake goods — the very same plea voiced by global brands who’ve accused the e-commerce service of harboring knock-offs. The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. chairman appealed to the National People’s Congress convening in Beijing this week to penalize counterfeiters as harshly as drunk drivers.
IBM, Salesforce Agree to Partner on Artificial Intelligence
International Business Machines Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. agreed to mingle their artificial-intelligence technologies in a bid to boost sales of data-analytics offerings. The companies Monday announced plans to offer integrated AI services that weave the broad human-like conversation and learning capabilities of IBM’s Watson with Salesforce’s more sales-oriented Einstein technology.
Costco Is Quietly Becoming a Digital Player
In its 2017 first fiscal quarter, which covered the 2016 holiday season, Galanti noted that while overall digital sales had risen by 7% year-over-year, the numbers during the Black Friday period were much better. During the week of Thanksgiving and the two that followed, he said, digital sales had risen by the low-to-mid teens.
Amazon Chief Bezos Expected to Unveil Further Private Space Exploration Plans
The burgeoning space-transportation company owned by Amazon.com chairman Jeff Bezos this week is expected to announce some customers and new initiatives, the latest step toward its long-term goal of building rockets powerful enough to penetrate deep into the solar system, according to industry officials. The moves by the typically secretive Mr. Bezos, these officials said, are anticipated to disclose further details about Blue Origin LLC’s strategy to create a family of reusable rockets initially intended to take tourists on suborbital voyages, and then propel spacecraft into Earth’s orbit and eventually blast both manned and robotic missions to the Moon and various planets.
GE, Siemens Vie to Reinvent Manufacturing by Harnessing the Cloud
Germany’s Siemens AG and larger U.S. rival General Electric Co. are duking it out to develop the definitive ‘Internet of Things’ cloud platform for industry.
Are We Breaking The Internet?
Recent outages from critical services across the net have created massive disruption in recent weeks: Whether it was Amazon’s S3 service failure, which took down thousands of sites, Cloudflare’s “Cloudbleed” security issue, which forced many sites to ask users to reset their passwords, or Google Wifi’s accidental reset, which wiped out customer’s internet profiles, the infrastructure behind the internet has looked substantially more unstable recently. The packetized technology that underlies most of the internet was created by Paul Baran as part of an effort to protect communications by moving from a centralized model of communication to a distributed one .
SAPVoice: Why Platform, Not Pipeline, Will Save Your Business
Rapidly pacing the front of the room, voice bellowing, arms gesticulating, you’d think Erich Joachimsthaler, Founder of Vivaldi , was doing his best drill sergeant impersonation from Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket . Alas, Mr. Joachimsthaler was nowhere near marine barracks; he kicked off a pretty great “Jam Session” called “Disrupt or Be Disrupted: Embracing Digital in B2B.”
Here’s why Steve Jobs never let his kids use an iPad
Steve Jobs in 2010 was on the stage at the Apple event releasing the iPad and he described it as a wonderful device that brought you educational tools. It allowed you to surf the web, it allowed you to watch videos, it allowed you to interact with other people.
Report: Robots threaten to replace 80 million jobs in U.S.
Mar. 02, 2017 – 3:38 – Brian Brenberg, economics professor at The King’s College, on how technology will replace manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
FCC puts robocalls, prison phones at the top of its agenda – CNET
On Thursday, newly minted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released the agency’s agenda for the month, with six items it will discuss and vote on March 23. At the top of the list is killing robocalls — those automated phone calls that annoy the entire nation. Pai has been working fast to kill regulation and policies like net neutrality — the concept that all internet traffic must be treated as equal — that the previous administration enforced.
Alibaba-Rival JD to Get $2.1 Billion In Finance Arm Spinoff
JD.com Inc. agreed to sell its finance arm for 14.3 billion yuan in cash while retaining a share of its future profits, part of a deal to spin off the fast-growing division and create a strong rival to billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial. The sale and spinoff of JD Finance, a payments and investment business, will be completed by the middle of 2017, the Beijing-based company said Thursday without naming buyers or investors apart from Chief Executive Officer Richard Liu.
Verizon Cloud causes new data usage problems for some consumers
The issues are related to Verizon’s discontinuation of Backup Assistant, a service that allowed cellphone customers to automatically back up all of their contacts, along with their phone numbers and email addresses. That way, if their phone was lost or damaged, the contacts could be transferred to a new phone.
Us FCC stays data security regulations for broadband providers
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has halted new rules that would require high-speed internet providers to take ‘reasonable’ steps to protect customer data. In a 2-1 vote that went along party lines, the FCC voted Wednesday to stay temporarily one part of privacy rules passed in October that would give consumers the right to decide how their data is used and shared by broadband providers.
Dalio Jolts Bridgewater as Rubinstein Exits After 10 Months
Ray Dalio shook up management at his Bridgewater Associates for the second time within a year in a sign that the billionaire is grappling with succession planning at the world’s largest hedge fund. Dalio said he will step down as interim co-chief executive officer next month and will remain co-chief investment officer.
Foursquare Wants To Supercharge Your Favorite Apps With Contextual Location Smarts
For such a well-informed companion, your smartphone is remarkably good at playing dumb. Sure, it can quickly clue you in on world events with anxiety-inducing headlines and notify you of new social media followers, but these types of insights don’t even begin to tap into your phone’s extensive knowledge.
New FCC chairman to fix net neutrality ‘mistake’
Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called the net neutrality rules a “mistake” on Tuesday. It’s his strongest statement on the issue since being appointed to the top spot by President Trump last month.
How AI Is Changing The Way Companies Are Organized
Artificial Intelligence may still be in its infancy, but it’s already forcing leadership teams around the world to reconsider some of their core structures. Advances in technology are causing firms to restructure their organizational makeup, transform their HR departments, develop new training models, and reevaluate their hiring practices.
The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017
After NASA embraced the private space industry, the investment dollars began flowing. In 2015, more than $2 billion in bets were placed on space startups, but in 2016 things came back down to Earth-a 30% decrease year-over-year, according to CBInsights .
FCC Chairman wants to bring faster, cheaper broadband to all – CNET
The newly christened chairman of the Federal Communications Commission likely won over the telecom-centric audience at a keynote session during the Mobile World Congress trade show on Tuesday. In his prepared remarks, Pai laid out a vision of light-touch regulation and reversing the policies of his predecessor, Tom Wheeler.
SpaceX Says it Will Fly 2 People to Moon Next Year
SpaceX said Monday it will fly two people to the moon next year, a feat not attempted since NASA’s Apollo heyday close to half a century ago. Tech billionaire Elon Musk – the company’s founder and chief executive officer – announced the surprising news barely a week after launching his first rocket from NASA’s legendary moon pad.
Musk’s SpaceX Plans 2018 Flight Circling Moon With Civilians
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. plans to send two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year as it continues to work with NASA for a planned crewed mission to the International Space Station. The passengers, who each paid a “significant deposit,” will undergo health and fitness tests and begin initial training later this year, the company said in a blog post Monday.
You Rang? I Called Hotel Room Service-And Got A Robot
Meet “Botlr,” the robotic butler who can get around on its own and bring you those late-night needs-from drinks to snacks and extra towels. It’s midnight.
Sony’s PlayStation VR System Sells 915,000 Units Worldwide
Sales have exceeded expectations, making the Japanese company’s system the most popular virtual reality offering and leading to shortages. Sony’s PlayStation VR system has sold 915,000 units since its October launch, making it the most popular such system in the world and exceeding the company’s expectations.
Innovation, Ikea style
It was dreamed up in 1978 by an Ikea designer called Gillis Lundgren who sketched it on the back of a napkin, worried that he would forget it. Now there are 60-odd million in the world, nearly one for every 100 people – not bad for a humble bookcase.
J.C. Penney and Macy’s Are Turning America’s Malls Into Ghost Towns
At the rate department store chains are shuttering locations, your neighborhood shopping mall will soon look like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. On Friday, J.C. Penney became the latest chain to announce a strenuous round of store closures and buyouts for as many as 6,000 members of its workforce in a bid to cut costs.
In An Uncertain World, These Are The Business Trends We Can Count On
It’s never been good form to talk about politics among friends, but today it just can’t be helped. The Trump Administration is approaching governing in a radically different way, and the uncertainty that it breeds can have a paralyzing effect.
Here’s Why Alphabet May Be the Best FANG Stock to Own
The company’s rock-solid balance sheet, its stranglehold over a lion’s share of the digital advertising market, the possibility of rapid growth in the smartphone space, and the ever-widening Google ecosystem, makes Alphabet an unbeatable proposition . Without a doubt, Alphabet’s real cash-cow is its all-encompassing Internet search engine, Google.
Just what is LTE-U? And can it coexist peacefully with WiFi?
This spring, cellphone carriers such as T-Mobile plan to start supporting a new kind of mobile data. Known as LTE-U, the technology may result in a faster, smoother mobile experience.