Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce have pledged money and created new programs to upskill their workforces starting a trend and bigger conversation about how to prepare today’s workforce for the future.
Escalating App Store War Between Apple and Developers Likely to Bleed into Antitrust Probes in US and EU
Apple removes Fortnite, Epic Games’ popular battle royale game, from its App Store, and blocks “rival” game streaming platforms from iOS. Fortnite pretty much immediately filed suit, but there’s much more to unpack in this quest for a piece of the mobile game revenue pie. Note that last year 2.5 billion people played mobile games, propelling mobile game revenues to amount to nearly 75% of all in-app spending. 30% of that revenue is what Apple (and Google) are fighting to capture, at the expense, some would argue, of game developers.
Google Extends Work From Home Policy Through End of June 2021
Google joins the growing list of large corporations extending work from home policy, extending through the end of June 2021. We see this as a continuing trend from many large corporations and it’s exciting to watch the technology solutions serving this new “future of the workplace” evolve and organizations and employees adapt.
Apple Antitrust Probes Heat up 2020 for the iPhone Giant as it Faces Scrutiny in the EU and US
Unpacking the scrutiny on Apple’s App Store and Apple Pay business practices that have caught the ire of regulators, lawmakers, and other tech companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Of note, a third vulnerability for Apple, and an angle that US courts will be perhaps more eager to tackle than the previous two, is whether or not Apple’s business practices can be shown to have led to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers. This is a core litmus test for antitrust cases in the US, and this point should have Apple attorneys at least a little worried.
Google $2.1 Billion Fitbit Acquisition Hits EU Snag
Fears about Google’s use of Fitbit data to potentially gain an unfair advertising advantage cause EU regulators to take a closer look at the potential anticompetitive effects of the deal. I don’t see much cause for alarm here, and here’s why.
Google Cloud Announces General Availability of Its Cloud VMware Engine
Google Cloud announces the general availability of Its Cloud VMware Engine which validates VMware as an industry standard for virtualization and gives Google more clout in the booming cloud market.
ICYMI: Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon Wear 4100+ Brings Significant Performance Improvements to Android Smartwatches
Performance improvements aside, I can’t help but sense that the android smartwatch ecosystem is being somewhat hamstrung by a lack of interest, perhaps from Google, to really focus on beating Apple at its own game.
Allscripts and Microsoft Extend Cloud-based Health IT Partnership
Allscripts and Microsoft Corp. announces a five-year extension to their strategic alliance to enable the expanded development and delivery of cloud-based health IT solutions.
Google Announces Digital Job Training Program to Help with Economic Recovery
Grow with Google is designed to help jumpstart the economy by helping workers learn skills that will make them more appealing to employers (college degrees not required), and also to help employers fill what is often a gigantic skills gap. As part of this initiative, Google is offering grants, offering apprenticeship positions at Google, expanding its IT Certificate Employer Consortium and more. The future of work continues to be about an always-learning mindset, individually and in the business world, and this is another way Big Tech is stepping up to make that possible.
4 Actionable Customer Experience Statistics For 2020
Exploring 4 key data points that CX and Business executives can leverage in driving their 2020 strategies.