Technology and Business Review: March 25, 2017

Every week is an exciting week when it comes to what’s happening in the tech space. Here are the stories we found most interesting this week in tech and business.

Huawei reportedly in talks with AT&T over US smartphone distribution. Huawei is looking to penetrate the US market and now its reported to be in talks with AT&T to distribute the company’s phones. This makes sense, since most people buy their smartphones through their carriers.

For those not familiar with the Huawei, it’s the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world after Samsung and Apple. According to Fortune, talks with AT&T are in the beginning stages and Huawei is in the early stages of receiving AT&T’s approval of the company’s proprietary Kirin mobile phone chip destined for use on AT&T networks. It will probably take some time before we see Huawei branded phones here in the states, but it’s certainly worth watching. I’ve been using a Huawei device since late last year and love it. From a long-time Apple user, that’s high praise. To find out more, check out the deets on Android Authority.

How AI will shape the future of search. The way people access or look for information online has evolved over the years. In the past we relied on typing words in a search bar to retrieve a list of links we would click on, weeding through the information to find what we need. Now, because of the proliferation and accessibility to smartphones and devices like the Amazon Echo, people are increasingly relying on voice based search tools to find information. For marketers, this is an important development. Learning more about artificial intelligence and how it will affect the future of search should be a top priority. Check out this article shared by my good buddy Sam Hurley for more details.

The 13 Cities Getting 5G.  For those of you waiting for 5G wireless technology to be rolled out in your area, your patience is about to pay off. Verizon has announced it will begin testing 5G in 11 US cities and AT&T is following suit and testing in two.

What does having 5G wireless mean in practical terms? Much faster downloading of movies, better online game play, higher quality streaming video, and much faster loading of large images and files. 5G technology changes everything. For more on this exciting development in mobile technology, check out the details from this article shared by my friend Marsha Collier to see if your city will be among the first to get 5G technology.

U.S. workers face higher risk of being replaced by robots. Robots are a hot topic right now and with good reason. I believe it’s important for everyone to grasp this major trend, especially our political leaders. If you think the integration of robots into the workforce will take another 50 to 100 years to happen, think again. AI technology is already affecting our lives and shaping the future. According to this article shared by Evan Kristel from CNN, jobs that are likely to be affected in the near future are low skilled positions, meaning jobs that involve repetitive tasks that can be easily automated. The article also lists the countries that will likely be affected most by this coming wave of automation. It’s definitely worth the read so check it out now.

Work Smarter: Productivity Tools for Your Business Webcast by Microsoft. In this age of digital transformation when working with remote team members is more the norm rather than the exception, it’s imperative business leaders realize which technology is helping their companies and employees grow the most

For those seeking the perfect balance of tech and productivity, please consider checking out the upcoming Office Small Business Academy webcast on March 28th at 9am PST | 11am CST | 12 pm EST and follow @OfficeSmallBiz on Twitter. Register Now.

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