The Future of Fitness Can Fit in Your Ear

The Future of Fitness Can Fit in Your Ear

For fitness geeks who love their Apple Watches and FitBits, there is a new gadget on the market that will further enhance the way people workout.These new gadgets are smart, sweat-resistant earphones called "hearables". They can deliver music from you smartphone without wires, track your pulse, count steps, measure distance and pace, tally the flights of stairs you climb, figure out running routes and estimate how many calories you've burned. Hearables compiles all this data and to create fitness goals for you and inspire you to continue pushing yourself to the best of your abilities. Best of all, they do not way down your wrists as your run like Apple Watches and FitBits.

Some hearables even have an AI personal trainer that talks to you when your earbuds are on, such as LifeBEAM's Vi. Vi, the AI can offer you casual greetings, in addition to providing progress updates, and personalized instructions for you. Her remarkable personality allows her to crack jokes and communicate with the athlete in a way that resembles a real personal trainer and friend. 

The innovation of these hearbles are threatening to disrupt and change the industry of fitness as some people may decide to pay a one-time price for an AI trainer instead of a monthly membership at a gym or with a real personal trainer. 

LifeBEAM Vi: Best for Serious and lonely runners. Contains a chatty AI named Vi who seems impressively human, personalizes her audio coaching based on your history and makes you laugh. $199.

Jabra Elite Sport: Best for CrossFit regulars and data junkies. Contains versatile tracking that adjusts to cardio or weightlifting depending on your needs, records your past achievements, and tests your fitness level. $220.

Bragi Dash Pro: Best for Swimmers. Contains a waterproof casing and a 4GB hard drive, built-in MP3 player that allows you to disconnect from your phone and still listen to tunes at the bottom of the pool. $330.

Written by Priscilla Phuong

WSJ Link

U.S. to Apply Tariffs on Up to $50 Billion of Chinese Imports

U.S. President Donald Trump, seen in the White House on Jan. 17, is expected Thursday to unveil tariffs on Chinese imports. 

President Trump is due to make an announcement this Thursday (3/22) at 12:30 pm. Specialists believe his administration will impose a tariff on imports from China that could generate $50 billion in fees for Chinese companies. The administration believes that China violates some of the US intellectual property rights, and it is anticipated that the country will sue China at the World Trade Organizations.

This newly imposed tariff may create a big impact on the Chinese markets, hence the price of its products should go up to compensate for the fees. Chinese businessmen will be forced to apply new strategies to absorb this huge cost if they want to keep importing to the United States, where they might have to develop new logistics strategies.

By Vinicius R. Ferreira

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-apply-tariffs-on-50-billion-of-chinese-imports-1521723078

Uber Suspends Driverless-Car Program After Pedestrian Is Killed

A still image shows investigators at the scene of a fatal accident involving a self-driving Uber car on a street in Tempe, Arizona.

Driverless cars are a step into the future, and companies have been studying this method for years now. Recently, many companies started to penetrate this market, looking to make huge profits using several segments of the economy. However, a tragedy shocked the business world this week. A 49-year-old woman was hit and killed while cycling in Tempe, Arizona. The car who hit her was a driverless test car for Uber, which pulled their experiments out of the market immediately. 

 

This controversial market now faces several critics, and that can affect its potential for profit. If one were to make a SWOT analysis, these accidents represent a tremendous threat to the company. As more driverless cars are put out on the street, more accidents are bound to happen, and consequently, more critics will surface.

By Vinicius R. Ferreira

https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-suspends-driverless-car-program-after-pedestrian-is-killed-1521551002

Rihanna tells fans to ditch Snapchat

Rihanna slammed Snapchat after a distasteful ad for a mobile game was advertised through the app called, "Would you Rather," asking users if they would rather slap Rihanna or punch her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Considering they had a pretty popular domestic violence dispute in 2008 this obviously didn't sit well with the pop singer. After blasting Snapchat on her Twitter account, about $800 million of Snap's market value was erased. "“This advertisement is disgusting and never should have appeared on our service,” a spokesperson said. The company has blocked the advertiser from its platform and is investigating how the ad made it through the approval process." But clearly the damage has already been done.

However, this isn't the only instance of a celeb endorsement gone wrong. In February, Kylie Jenner tweeted that she simply doesn't use the app anymore and shares fell 6.1%. This is $1.3 billion in market value totally wiped out. 

In relation to our class this should teach us all a lesson. Social media is a double edged sword. We can use it for growth, and attention which is great. Keeping track of page traffic, and even hiring social media influencers. However, word spreads through these things like wildfire so one mistake could lead to the downfall of your company. 

https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2018/03/15/rihanna-tells-fans-to-throw-the-snapchat-app-away-shares-fall/

The Robots Have My Online Order!

Its Wednesday evening and you have major plans for the weekend. You need an outfit quick but you don't have time to go from store to store at the mall so you get on your laptop and browse Zara's website for the perfect outfit. You select your items and realize that it wont get to you in time if you have it mailed to you so you select the "click and pick up in store" option. You get to the store only to  realize you have to wait in Zara's infamous hour long lines and vow never to choose the "pick up in store" option again. 

The "pick up in store" option has become a strong focus for many online retailers with a large percentage of those sales contributing to the overall online sales. The "pick up in store" option is a leg up for retailers against their mega competitor Amazon not only for convenience and faster delivery, but it also helps with in store sales. The idea is that if the customer is already in the store to pick up a purchase made online, they could maybe pick up an extra item or two while they are there. The downside is the long lines that inconveniences their customers and might deter them from using the "pick up in store" option.  

Zara fashion has come up with a way to remedy that chaos. They plan to eliminate the need for human interaction with their "pick up in store" option by installing a robotic retrieval system in most of its stores that are being used as pick up locations. The robotic system will help pick up's become a much faster experience for Zara's customers which will help with the long lines and possibly promote even more sales. If the customer doesn't feel stressed out standing in a long line and can get to their package quickly, then they can have more time to shop while they are in the store. 

So don't worry about those crazy lines and chaos at Zara's. You'll be able to get your inexpensive Spanish fashion much faster because robots are making shopping much more convenient and fun! 

-Roxanne Cepeda

https://www.wsj.com/articles/zara-turns-to-robots-as-in-store-pickups-surge-1520254800

Facebook Really Is Spying on You, Just Not Through Your Phone’s Mic

https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-really-is-spying-on-you-just-not-through-your-phones-mic-1520448644

    

       Do you know that feeling you get when you were just having a conversation with your mom about those shoes that you really wanted and next thing you know, you see an advertisement about those same shoes as you scroll through your news feed? Nowadays, the way technology has advanced, our world keeps surprising us each and every day. So much so, that Facebook has begun to take advantage of this. In this article written by Joanna Stern, she discusses the ways Facebook knows exactly what type of advertisements you would be interested in seeing on your news feed. It may be rather startling how well Facebook is able to do these things, but one has to admit that their methods are actually pretty clever. A few of these ways include tracking what you have purchased in stores. Have you ever typed in your phone number when purchasing your items in order to receive store points?  That information allows Facebook to see what you have purchased and from where. Which is why that chapstick you bought the other day showed up on your news feed. Another way Facebook has improved their advertising system is by using your phones GPS, your location tracking, and Wi-Fi access points around you and any other breadcrumbs you may leave behind. Facebook can also track what apps you have used and any other advertisements or pages you have clicked on as well as your search history. All of these things put together, allows Facebook to know what you like and determine what advertisements they should target you with. However, Facebook does not want people to feel as if their privacy is being invaded. That is why there are ways you can turn off location services or any other ways Facebook could find out information about you. Although the way Facebook gathers their information may be a bit scary, many companies have been able to take advantage of Facebooks advertising skills and have improved their companies revenue because of it. Facebook is a great way for other companies to market their products because it is efficient. The way they are able to target people that they know for sure are interested in their products allows them to be more successful. As a user of social media myself, this article caught my eye because I too was a little paranoid when I heard the rumor that Facebook was starting to "hack" into their users' microphones in order to gather better insight. However, this article provides the readers with solutions on how to stop Facebook from receiving your information. This information comes in handy especially if the user is as paranoid as I am. 

        

          

 

How Museums Come Up With Their Admission Prices

With Museum's recent funding being under pressure and numbers being down, the "perfect price" to charge visitors has become a complex and important question for museums. This article I found by Daniel Grant, explains how many many museum attractions, specifically in the north-east, have had recent issues on what to charge their customers and how to increase their profits. This has become a complex and controversial question for many of these sites as funding increasingly gets harder to come by and the financial pressure is so tight. The result they came up with is a "hodgepodge" of approaches as they try to decide the most efficient way to maximize revenue while still giving the most customers access. This has to do with the 'customer' portion of the External Market Environment. If museums can't get their customers in the door because of high prices and the struggle with finances, this could be a major problem for museums.

While opening up gift shops and cafe's do generate more revenue, admission prices are the crucial fix to this issue. Many museums in the known tourist locations have agreed and decided on a $25 cost that the customers will have to bear. Director of New York's Acquavella Galleries and former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art says that $25 "appears to be a prevalent number for admissions, based on comparable prices", but also states that if you don't agree, "you don't want to be out of line with others". The $25 universal price also depends on what city, the types of attractions and where you're located. In 2015, the Indianapolis Museum of Art was facing a debt of $125 million and a mandate to stop drawing from their cash reserves. So the admission price rose from free to $18 for adults. 

They want the increased admissions to apply manly to one target market group, which is tourist. They plan to impose it on visitors who are not New York state residents starting this month. Meaning you must have a valid New York ID or be a student in Connecticut, New Jersey or New York to get the lower price. The logic behind it all is that the increase in revenue will come from the out of state visitors, who make up a percentage of 50-55% of the total visitors. Here is an example of what admissions currently look like in an art gallery in Chicago.

ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

CHICAGO RESIDENTS: Adults: $20 | Seniors: $14 |

Students: $14

ILLINOIS RESIDENTS: Adults: $22 | Seniors: $16 | Students: $16 | Teens: $16

OTHERS: Adults: $25 | Seniors: $19 | Students: $19 | Teens: $19

FREE: Children under 14; Illinois teachers; LINK and WIC cardholders; Illinois residents (Thursdays 5-8 p.m. and some winter weekdays); active-duty military and their families (Memorial Day-Labor Day); and some other groups.

Across the country many museums worry about their local & young art fans market going down. Places with this perspective are adapting a variable pricing system, which makes it easier for all visitors and the local art fans. These prices look much like those of the Crocker Art Museum in California which are; $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, college students and service members, $5 for kids ages 7-17, and free admission for children 6 and under.

An alternative some have seeked to the higher prices is offering a "freebie" day.. Something like the 3rd Sunday of every month is free for all guest! 

The prices will most likely continue to rise and fall and all depend on what city you are in. But the main focus is finding what works best for these critical funding issues while still keeping their frequent loyal customers. I myself, enjoy going to museums but I always try to check and see if they have a "student discount" or sometime of "freebie" day. So I am guilty of that and can now see why museums are struggling because I am sure I'm not the only one who does this. 

By: Daniel Grant 

Feb 19, 2018

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-museums-come-up-with-their-admission-prices-1519095781