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Great New Product, New Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News, Shopping

No strings attached: This levitating lamp uses science to defy gravity

February 22, 2019

Science-fiction author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke once observed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That certainly sums up the new Levia lamp, created by Italian designed studio Idea3Di. At first glance, the stylish lamp — which is mounted on a base made of either Carrara or Black Marquina marble — simply looks like an attractive piece of quasi-industrial chic design. Look closer, however, and the lamp’s oversized LED filament levitates below the lamp stem, creating an otherworldly effect that’s sure to wow visitors.

Continue reading… “No strings attached: This levitating lamp uses science to defy gravity”

Amazon.com, Food, Shopping

Most shoppers are still leery of buying their groceries online. But delivery in the US is set to ‘explode’

February 11, 2019

In the U.S., a mere 3 percent of grocery spending takes place online today.
A new study by Bain & Co. in collaboration with Google finds shoppers are still reluctant to try delivery services and often don’t stick with them.
But the firm predicts grocery delivery will ultimately take off as companies continue to invest in it.

Continue reading… “Most shoppers are still leery of buying their groceries online. But delivery in the US is set to ‘explode’”

Automation, Food, Shopping

Stop & Shop is testing self-driving mini grocery stores

February 8, 2019

Grocery store chain Stop & Shop announced today that it will begin testing driverless grocery vehicles in Boston starting this spring, combining the hype of autonomous delivery cars, cashier-less stores, and meal kits into one experimental pilot. The launch is part of a partnership with San Francisco-based startup Robomart, whose vehicles will cart around Stop & Shop items like produce, convenience items, and meal kits to customers’ doorsteps.

The electric vehicles will be temperature-controlled to keep produce fresh, and controlled remotely from a Robomart facility. Customers can hail the mini grocery stores via an app, on an interface which feels a lot like calling an Uber. Once the vehicle arrives, customers can unlock the doors, and the items they grab are tracked with RFID and computer vision technology. When they’re done shopping, they can send the vehicle on its way, and a receipt is emailed soon after. It’s like a much tinier Amazon Go store coming directly to your house.

Continue reading… “Stop & Shop is testing self-driving mini grocery stores”

Amazon.com, Automation, Electric Vehicles, Shopping

Amazon has made its own autonomous six-wheeled delivery robot

January 31, 2019

Amazon is entering the robot delivery game with an electric hamper on wheels it’s calling the Amazon Scout. The e-commerce giant is the latest company to try its hand at this sort of automated, last-mile delivery solution, following a crop of startups, as well as experiments by larger firms like Domino’s Pizza and PepsiCo.

Details about the Scout are thin on the ground, but the design looks similar to existing robots. In fact, the Scout looks almost identical to devices from Starship Technologies, an Estonian startup that was an early entrant to the field. (In a statement to The Verge after this story was published, a spokesperson for Starship Technologies said “[w]e’re huge believers in autonomous delivery robots. As the company that created this category, it’s great to see others realizing the potential.”)

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Amazon.com, Automation, Latest Trend, Shopping

Amazon Go, one year old, has attracted a lot of cashierless imitators

January 31, 2019

Mighty AI spent much of its first five years building software that helps self-driving cars recognize real-world objects. The Seattle startup went so far as to open a Detroit office to cozy up to the auto industry.

Then last February, Mighty AI’s sales team received an unusual request: Instead of identifying pedestrians and cars, could they track items plucked from store shelves by shoppers? A few months later, Mighty AI signed a deal to do just that, joining the race to help brick-and-mortar retailers keep pace with Amazon.com Inc.

A year ago, the e-commerce giant opened a cashierless convenience store called Amazon Go, marking its biggest effort yet to change the way people shop in the physical world. Today a fleet of companies are working to replicate elements of Go or invent other ways of streamlining store operations.

Many are startups like Mighty AI, but established giants are wading in, too. Walmart has been testing Go-style technology, and Kroger and Microsoft recently announced a joint venture to bring elements of the e-commerce shopping experience to the grocery store.

Continue reading… “Amazon Go, one year old, has attracted a lot of cashierless imitators”

Amazon.com, Shopping, United Parcel Service, UPS

UPS and Latch are expanding in-building deliveries to 10 more cities

January 30, 2019

After launching apparently successful pilot runs in San Francisco and New York, UPS announced today plans to expand its in-building delivery service to 10 additional U.S. cities. In mid-2019, the parcel service will be adding Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Miami and Seattle.

Continue reading… “UPS and Latch are expanding in-building deliveries to 10 more cities”

Internet, Latest Trend, Shopping

Retailers rethink physical stores as click-and-collect catches on

January 24, 2019

Buy online, pick-up in store is often heralded as the future of retail: Customers shopping on their own terms, as efficiently as possible. But it might end up being a bigger lift than expected for retail stores.

Large retailers like Target, Walmart, Kroger and Home Depot are using store pickup to cut delivery costs, encourage customer interaction with associates, and drive in-store sales growth. It’s a strategy that seems to be working: according to an International Council of Shopping Centers 2018 holiday season survey, 86 percent of U.S. shoppers purchased something new while picking up e-commerce orders in stores. Target saw a 5.7 percent holiday sales bump for November and December, in part due to store pickup. And three out of every four digital Target orders are fulfilled by a store, evidence of the central place stores can play in an e-commerce supply chain.

“We consider our stores our single biggest competitive advantage; they function as service hubs, fulfillment hubs, and they’re incredible showrooms for inspiration,” said Target CEO Brian Cornell at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show this week.

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App, Shopping, Wearables

Will there be self-lacing shoes in your future?

January 23, 2019

Hands-on with Nike’s self-lacing, app-controlled sneaker of the future.

Say hello to Adapt BB.

I flew across the country to Portland to experience the Adapt BB, Nike’s new self-lacing, Bluetooth-enabled sneakers, but the guy showing me around campus is wearing a pair of Zoom Flys that refuse to stay tied. Within 10 minutes of tying them, they’re untied again, flailing all over. I hate when people point out my untied shoes, but his feel intentional. Of course I notice the laces. Of course I point them out. He laughs and swears he’s not doing this on purpose, that Nike hasn’t deliberately set up my visit with a scene out of an infomercial fail.

The Adapt BB — the BB stands for “basketball” — build on Nike’s decades-long dream to create an auto-lacing smart shoe that adapts to wearers’ feet. The company wants to fundamentally change footwear and, of course, sell more shoes.

Imagine: your feet swell during a basketball game because you’ve been running back and forth on the court, and your sneakers detect your blood pressure. Instead of reaching down and untying your laces, the shoes loosen automatically. Never again will you have to fuss around with your laces because, guess what, your shoes already know what you want to do.

Continue reading… “Will there be self-lacing shoes in your future?”

Big Data, Food, mobile apps, Shopping

Microsoft and Kroger to create data-driven connected grocery stores

January 17, 2019

Microsoft and Kroger are taking a leaf out of Amazon’s book by building futuristic “connected” grocery stores.

As part of a pilot project, Kroger, the largest supermarket in the U.S. by revenue, and Microsoft have transformed two retail stores, one near each of their respective headquarters — in Monroe, Ohio and Redmond, Washington — using technology powered by connected sensors and Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

The first fruit of the partnership is a digital shelving system, which was actually announced last year and is in the process of rolling out to dozens of Kroger stores across the U.S. Called EDGE (Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment), it bypasses paper price tags for digital shelf displays that can be changed in real time from anywhere, and it also can display promotions, dietary information, and more.

But the test stores are where Kroger and Microsoft are taking things to the next level. In addition to EDGE shelving, the system will include a new guided shopping experience, personalized ads, and something the partners are calling “pick-to-light.”

Continue reading… “Microsoft and Kroger to create data-driven connected grocery stores”

2019 CES, Automation, Robotics, Robots, Shopping

Robot dogs are the weirdest package delivery system we’ve seen

January 15, 2019

A mailman’s fever dream at CES 2019

Germany automotive firm Continental is best know for its tires, but at CES 2019 the company is demonstrating something a little different: package delivery by robot dog.

As part of its research into the future of mobility, Continental has partnered with robotics company ANYbotics (a spin off from ETH Zurich) to imagine the future of package delivery. In a staged demonstration on the CES show floor, the firm showed how one of ANYbotics’ four-legged robots could jump out the back of a self-driving delivery truck and carry a package right up to someone’s front door.

In the demo, the ANYMal robot could be seen slowly picking its way over debris in the garden before ringing the fake doorbell with one if its limbs. It then tips the package off its back onto the porch and performs a little victory dance as a bonus.

Continue reading… “Robot dogs are the weirdest package delivery system we’ve seen”

Amazon.com, Home Technology, Shopping

More than 100 million Alexa devices have been sold

January 12, 2019

More than 100 million devices with Amazon’s Alexa assistant pre-installed have been sold, the company said Friday.

The new metric, revealed by Amazon devices SVP Dave Limp in an interview with The Verge, showcases just how quickly the company has crammed the voice assistant into disparate hardware devices and shoved them out the door. The company did not distinguish further how many of these items were Amazon-built Echo devices and how many were designed by third-party OEMs.

Continue reading… “More than 100 million Alexa devices have been sold”

Amazon.com, government, Shopping

India bans ecommerce companies from selling their own products

January 2, 2019

“An entity having equity participation by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, or having control on its inventory by e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies, will not be permitted to sell its products on the platform run by such marketplace entity,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

Ecommerce companies can make bulk purchases through their wholesale units or other group companies that in turn sell the products to select sellers, such as their affiliates or other companies with which they have agreements.

Continue reading… “India bans ecommerce companies from selling their own products”