Typing with Your Brain, Closer Than You Think

On Wednesday, April 19th, Regina Dugan spoke as a keynote at Facebook’s F8 developer’s conference. She states that Building 8 has been working on a “brain-computer interface” for the past several months. This “mind-reading technology” is said to help people type 100 words per minute, that's five times faster than most people can type from their smartphones, and all from your mind. Ms. Dugan was hired by Facebook from Google last year under the job description to develop what she called “audacious science.” Dugan explained that the program wasn’t about decoding random thoughts and ideas. Instead, Facebook aims to interpret and send/share people’s thoughts that they would’ve expressed anyway. She explained that the new technology could not only enhance everyday life but that it could also help disabled people voice their thoughts and opinions. Other things that Building 8 is working on is technology that could help people “hear” with their skin and augmented reality technology.

The idea of having “tiny brain electrodes” implanted in your brain that can interpret your thoughts and ideas and then send them to others is not a technology that can be taken lightly. This technology opens up a lot of doors to not only help people but also to potentially hurt others. What do you think? Would you go through the procedure to be able to type 100 wpm without looking at a screen and send thoughts and ideas to others?

Facebook Aims to Connect Directly to Your Brain by Deepa Seetharaman

As Retailers Race to Close Stores, a Web Startup is Opening Them

Throughout the years, fashion changes, and trends come and go. This is where this online store got its idea from. Unfortunately there are many retailers that have been in the business for years, and have ended up having to close their stores. For example, Payless Shoesource Inc. was one of the country's largest shoe retailers, but due to bankruptcy they are closing 400 of their store locations. This is where "Greats" comes in. "Greats" is a Brooklyn based online shoe brand established in 2013. Since the shoe industry is so broad, they have decided to start opening up some stores starting out in the New York area.
Online retailers that are not majorly known have become a trend, especially to the younger crowd who find that sense of urban/vintage more fashion forward. And this is the exact crowd that Greats is reaching out and appealing to. Their plan is to compare and contrast between their online and offline channels such as people that buy online compared to people that physically come into the store and purchase the product.

Samsung Gets Green Light to Test Self-Driving Cars

Samsung Electronics Co. is known worldwide for their manufacturing in high-tech electronics and digital media. However, since global sales for cellular phones have decreased, Samsung had to find other ways to get their technology out there. That is why Samsung have reached out to companies investing in self-driving technology, such as Hyundai. South Korea is ambitious in that they want to grow in the auto industry by having a test drive of a driverless car.
Test driving the self-driving car will help Samsung in having a better understanding of their operating systems and what they can do to better their platforms and software. Also, since Apple Inc. has already started in the early stages of self-driving cars, Samsung can learn from their competition.

Microsoft Unveils New Surface Laptop, Windows 10 S Aimed at Students

Microsoft Corporation unveiled new laptops that would compete against Apple Inc, such as the Apple's Macbook Air. The device costs $999 with a sleek design as well as coming in four different colors.
Microsoft is also aiming to appeal to students and teachers in the education market by partnering with Acer Inc. to produce low-cost laptops starting at $189. The company is also going to have applications such as Office 365, available free to all students and faculty.

Microsoft has been struggling with their competition regarding to the costs of their devices. That is why this is a great idea to expand their market towards students who are in need of laptops and these sorts of devices, as well as the faculty and staff of schools. Reducing their costs will definitely draw their consumers in, especially during the summer when students and parents are shopping for back to school.

Economy Needs Consumers to Shop Again

 

     The economy needs consumers to shop again because the Gross Domestic product report showed that there is a growth in the economy at 0.7% in the first quarter and the consumer spending was just at 0.3% annual rate. This is the slowest that it has been since 2009. This accounts for around 2/3 of the economy and ultimately has a huge impact on the Gross Domestic Report.  

     Relations to Marketing: There needs to be an understanding of what influences consumer behavior and why that consumer wishes to purchase something. Because of the increase in incomes, consumers will probably spend more. However, there is inflation that is rising and destroys the consumers gains which causes difficulty. Investors are advised to watch closely hoping that the second quarter is not low in consumer spending.  

If consumer spending seems to be "tepid" then there is no way that there will be anymore investments on new equipment and expansion efforts and maybe raising salaries.

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/economy-needs-consumers-to-shop-again-1493395219

Apple Still Has Room to Grow

We all know about Apple Inc. and how it is one of the biggest corporations of all. However, it is not done growing. Based on the latest versions of the IPhone people still expect a lot from them in the coming years. Which means, the rally is still on and there will be more to come. It is said that Apple shares have averaged a roughly flat performance in the month that follows an IPhone announcement. As people are eager to know what the new edition will be, there is another opportunity from Apple where they can attract other customers from other platforms.

Relation to Marketing: There is a lot of product development in the company - every year! Now that they have Apple users as their target market, they are also trying to target Android users and get other potential buyers to keep the "rally" going and keep the stock average of a 20% gain.

Big-Name Food Brands Lose Battle of the Grocery Aisle

Retailers are choosing to promote fresh foods and items from local brands over packaged foods as a way to appeal to the increasing percentage of healthy conscious shoppers. According to the vice president of a Chicago grocery chain, more shoppers are choosing to buy hot, freshly prepared pasta and other items from the deli counter rather than boxed pasta with powder cheese that has been on shelves for weeks at a time. More and more retailers are considering reducing the amount of shelf space in their store to make way for more fresh foods and prepared counters to give their consumers more options in the way they like.

This trend of buyers sudden shift in preference started a few years ago with people switching from buying chips, cereals, and granola bars to buying produce, rice, and fresh meats in an effort to make healthier choices. However, this has had a negative effect on packaged foods, recently showing a 2.4% decrease in sales just in the first quarter of this year. Another reason for the decline in sales for big named packaged producers such as Kraft, Mondelez, and Kellogg, is the competition with the cheaper store named brands that sell similar products for much less. Retailers are putting pressure on these companies to raise their sales numbers, going as far as to demand a lowering of the prices in order to sell more.

What these producers decide to do in order to increase their sales will have to be decided sooner rather than later with the threat of retailers changing the way grocery shopping is presented to the consumers. If retailers reduce shelves and add more fresh stations and products this could be a major economic hit to the producers of packaged foods.

WSJ ARTICLE