Amazon Friday announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion. Amazon has ostensibly been an online retailer for over 20 years — except some niche retail bookstores and their attempt last year at… Read more »
As part of yesterday’s WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC) Google launched their foray into home connectivity with the HomePad called by Apple CEO Tim Cook, “breakthrough home speaker with amazing sound and incredible intelligence that will reinvent home audio.” Don’t overlook the last word, in his statement, despite the desire some will have to group HomePad with… Read more »
Recent weeks have brought controversy over electronic billboards in restaurants and shopping precincts that utilize advanced facial recognition techniques to not only provide personalized advertisements but also measure and record the consumer and their response, ostensibly to enable retailers to provide more targeted marketing and services. In Oslo, the restaurant Peppe’s Pizza had its usage of… Read more »
Honeywell last week announced a new “Connected Freight” solution that gives shippers and logistics companies unprecedented ability to monitor shipments of high-value and perishable goods, helping prevent costly damage and loss. The new solution, developed in collaboration with Intel and third-party logistics companies, provides real-time information about the location and condition of critical freight while in… Read more »
How do we conceptualize aging and disability in an era where there’s a heady excitement about a future reality that surpasses our current lived experiences of health and old age? Consider future tech such as Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a growing movement of people into posthumanism and of course fiction like the TV series Black Mirror with… Read more »
In July 2016, the BMW Group, Intel, and Mobileye announced that they would join forces to deliver a highly and fully automated driving system for serial production by 2021. The companies have since developed a scalable architecture that can be adopted by other carmakers and mobility providers in pursuing state-of-the-art designs and to create brand… Read more »
Last Friday here in Europe, we saw over 50,000 companies and over 100 countries hit by the WannaCry ransomware attack. In Germany, digital display boards at Deutsche Bahn train stations were inoperable. In Spain, internal computers were down at telecommunications provider Telefonica. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) was hit, with staff unable to access patient records, some phones down… Read more »
Local municipalities are increasingly turning to smart city technology to reduce public crime through efforts such as connected lighting, targeted surveillance and data assets. One of the more innovative smart solutions is ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection, acoustic surveillance technology that uses sensors to detect, locate and alert law enforcement agencies of illegal gunfire incidents in real… Read more »
Air pollution is a significant problem in many parts of the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 6.5 million deaths per year can be attributed to air pollution, much greater than the number who die from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and road injuries combined. A number of enduring serious health conditions can also be attributed to… Read more »
Germany has always been a place for industrial invention and innovation, reflected by the creation of the concept of “Industrie 4.0” by the German Government. Last week saw Europe’s leading technologists involved in the digitalization of industry bought together at Hannover Messe to showcase their answers to the key question faced by industrial enterprises everywhere: How… Read more »
