Amazon is launching Astro, its first household robot, powered by its Alexa smart home technology.
The company said it can be remote-controlled when not at home, to check on pets, people, or home security.
It can also patrol a home automatically and send owners a notification if it detects something unusual.
Amazon said it was more than “Alexa with wheels” and had been programmed with a range of movements and expressions to give it personality.
Smart retail entrepreneurs are always looking for an edge. This year, amid labor shortages, supply chain chaos, and changing consumer behavior, that need is all the more vital.
Technology tools–in particular, automation–can help alleviate some of the stress in-person staff are now feeling, says Laura Kennedy, the senior lead analyst in the consumer and retail practice of CB Insights, a technology insights company. Such automation–which can be in the form of digital checkouts or even a cleaning robot within stores–can also lead to efficiencies, explained Kennedy, speaking on retail tech trends during a webinar this week.
LinkedIn earlier this month unveiled a new push around creators to bring more original content (and engagement) to its platform, but that’s not the only effort they are making to bring more activity to its networking site. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that LinkedIn is also running a test around events — specifically, paid events.
We were first passed code related to the events test via a source who asked to remain anonymous: The code pointed to LinkedIn selling tickets, as well as those organizing the events having a dashboard where they could monitor how those sales are going, how much they are earning, and of course then run the events themselves. A LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed the information to us:
CLOUDFLARE, THE INTERNET infrastructure company, already has its fingers in a lot of customer security pots, from DDoS protection to browser isolation to a mobile VPN. Now the company is taking on a classic web foe: email.
On Monday, Cloudflare is announcing a pair of email safety and security offerings that it views as a first step toward catching more targeted phishing attacks, reducing the effectiveness of address spoofing, and mitigating the fallout if a user does click a malicious link. The features, which the company will offer for free, are mainly geared toward small business and corporate customers. And they’re made for use on top of any email hosting a customer already has, whether it’s provided by Google’s Gmail, Microsoft 365, Yahoo, or even relics like AOL.
At least three people were killed and 50 injured after an Amtrak train derailed in Montana, CNN and The New York Times reported Saturday evening.
An Amtrak spokesperson told Insider seven cars on the Empire Builder train derailed near Joplin around 4 p.m. MT. There were 146 passengers and 16 crew members aboard the train at the time, the spokesperson said.
“Amtrak is working with the local authorities to transport injured passengers, and safely evacuate all other passengers. Additional details will be provided as available,” the spokesperson said, adding that anyone with loved ones aboard the train should call 800-523-9101.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays delivery workers from getting hungry New Yorkers their food, and now, the city is finally stepping up on their behalf.
The New York City Council passed six bills Thursday intended to improve pay and working conditions for delivery workers employed by companies like GrubHub and DoorDash. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio reportedly supports the bills, according to the New York Times.
British Airways has abandoned plans to launch a low-cost carrier at London’s second biggest airport, Gatwick, blaming pilots for its decision to scrap the new initiative.
The reversal comes less than a month after British Airways unveiled plans for a short-haul subsidiary to compete with Ryanair (RYAAY) and EasyJet (ESYJY) in an area of aviation that is recovering more quickly from the pandemic than the transatlantic and other long-haul routes that used to generate most of its profit. It had hoped to start operating by next summer.
A volcano on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma sent lava fountains shooting hundreds of feet into the air on Sunday (Sept. 19), forcing thousands of people to evacuate the area.
The volcano, called La Cumbre Vieja or “The Old Summit,” last erupted in October 1971, when lava continually poured from the volcano for more than three weeks, according to NPR. This time around, the volcano is expected to remain active only “for the next few days,” the president of the Canary Islands Ángel Víctor Torres said, Reuters reported.
Over the last nine months, the Biden administration has enacted nearly $10 billion in student loan forgiveness, using executive authority to modify or expand existing federal student loan relief programs.
Student loan borrowers have been clamoring for information about who qualifies, and how to obtain relief. But for the vast majority of borrowers who do qualify, no action is required. That’s because most of the covered student loan forgiveness initiatives will be implemented automatically, and borrowers will be notified by the Department of Education. In short, if you qualify, you’ll probably know.
87 percent of full-time employees expressed interest in diversifying their retirement investments with cryptocurrency
While major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are now household names, most Americans haven’t bought into this fast-growing asset class. One reason for this discrepancy is because the average American’s exposure to the broader investment market takes place through their employer-sponsored 401(k) plans.
And with so much volatility and so little regulation in cryptocurrency markets, traditionally risk-averse retirement managers have generally shied away from cryptocurrency investments. But fresh data suggest the handful of companies already offering cryptocurrency retirement options are ahead of the curve.
New research on full-time employees preferences suggests that workers are interested in this new retirement savings option. These data suggest there is an untapped well of enthusiasm for cryptocurrency investments through a 401(k) plan; however, there remain variations in attitudes towards cryptocurrency investments depending on one’s age and current investments.
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