There’s much happening, as always, in the worlds of tech and business, this week. From the clever Google Docs phishing scam, to smartwatches getting renewed interest from consumers, to the launch of Echo Look from Amazon, and the journey of early adopters of the Internet of Things. Let’s dive in. What’s So Dastardly Clever About the Google Docs Phishing Scam. …
Tech is the New Black: How Wearables Can Help Set You Apart
This post is sponsored by Samsung. All thoughts and opinions are my own. In the boardroom or on the street, first impressions matter; technology can help you make good ones, setting you apart from the crowd. Wearables, for instance, provide utility and functionality while letting those around you know you’re up to speed and dedicated enough to leverage tech tools to …
Blockchain 101: How This Next Big Service Will Change The Future
If you thought the cloud wars were already tense, you were right. But the rise of blockchain is pushing that war to a whole new height as giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM rush to bring Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) to the cloud environment. Will BaaS become the key differentiator in the competition—or will a whole new technology race in to disrupt …
It’s All About the Tech: Employee Advocacy Tools
Employee advocacy programs are like untapped marketing gold that can help build brand awareness and even drive revenue to your company. To ramp one up successfully, consider using one of the many tools that can put your employees to work for your brand, and measure the success of their efforts. First, though, are you familiar with employee advocacy programs? Employee …
Modern Marketing Meets Modern Technology: Greatness Ensues
Marketing isn’t what it used to be. Sure, the Brand Bowl takes place adjacent to the Super Bowl each year, but if you are a business owner, leader, or marketer, it is safe to say that your role is changing. For the doomsayers, this change is scary. In fact, there are countless pundits out there proclaiming a sentiment of doom …
Why a VPN Might Not Be the Answer to Your Privacy Concerns
Consumer privacy in the age of digital-everything and big data has always been a hot topic. Lately, though, it’s on fire thanks to recent legislation passed by Congress. As a result, privacy concerns have spiked. To those worried about privacy, some in the industry are suggesting a move to virtual private networks (VPNs) might be the answer. It’s not. Let’s …
Technology and Business Review: Week of April 8, 2017
Our favorite time of week is the time we spend curating the latest technology news that affects business and how we work. Here’s what caught our attention this week—driverless cars, shopping experiences, phishing attacks that continue to plague enterprises big and small, Microsoft’s Azure Stack preview that provides support for Azure Functions and App Service. Self-driving and electric cars are …
Recap of Google’s Next ’17 Event
At Next ’17 Google announced 100 new products, partnerships, and services at the three-day event. A few of my highlights are below. They are a mix of G Suite related as well as Cloud services-related things that are geared to what we’re doing with machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts over at our sister company, XVA Labs. Here’s my download— …
The Ethical Side of Artificial Intelligence
Once upon a time, the biggest threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) was that it might create robots who would steal parts of our human workload. But today, as AI becomes even smarter—in many cases able to read social queues and emotions even better than humans—many are starting to worry AI could take over humanity altogether. Stephen Hawking once said …
Technology’s Influence on the Customer Journey
It is undeniable that technology is changing and shaping the world around us. The customer journey is no exception. Retailers are being forced to reevaluate their marketing strategies thanks to emerging technological trends. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are at the forefront in creating new ways for companies to reach consumers without them ever having to leave their …