With CES 2019, the Detroit Auto Show, the Chicago Auto Show and the Sundance Film Festival all in the rearview mirror, this year's calendar of tech, automotive and cultural events are already well underway. Just like last year (you remember last year, right? The good and the bad), CNET will be covering news and announcements from every major show and event that happens from now until 2020, when it starts all over again with CES 2020. CanJam: New York 2019, Feb. 16-17 The "premier headphone audio show," is something for audio junkies to get excited about. There are several shows throughout the year and around the world, but they kick off in New York. Expect to hear about the "latest products and innovations in headphones and personal audio electronics in all price ranges." Toy Fair 2019: New York, Feb. 16-19 Toys and tech go hand in hand these days and the Toy Fair gives us our first glimpses of how the pairing will take shape in the coming year. Last year … [Read more...] about 2019 tech events calendar: Everything on deck from Apple, Google, Amazon and more
Google online shopping festival
Is Poland the opening Alibaba needs to break grip of Amazon, Microsoft, Google on cloud?
The international cloud market is dominated by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, while the e-retail space is usually controlled by Amazon or local parties. But it's no secret that Chinese giant Alibaba wants a piece of both markets as well. Central Europe, which is still a cloud frontier, is its battleground of choice. On almost every list of leaders for public clouds, Amazon is in top spot, with Microsoft second, and Google third. The big exception to that hierarchy is in China and, by extension, Asia. In its home market of China, Alibaba reigns supreme and, according to figures from Synergy Research Group, that gives them a runners-up spot for the entire Asia and Pacific (APAC) region. The online retail market shows something similar, with either Amazon or a local party ahead of the pack, and Alibaba playing some role with its AliExpress platform. However, given the global status quo for the cloud, even a huge company like Alibaba would have issues getting its foot in … [Read more...] about Is Poland the opening Alibaba needs to break grip of Amazon, Microsoft, Google on cloud?
Alibaba smartens up chatbot ahead of 11.11 shopping festival
Alibaba Group says it has tweaked its chatbot in preparation for the e-commerce platform's annual shopping festival, beefing up the automated tool's predictive and interactive capabilities.The Chinese e-commerce operator said the Alime Shop Assistant now would offer 24 by 7 automated customer support and feature better scalability for peak demand. The chatbot's predictive analytics also had been boosted to preempt what consumers might ask and prompt them in their shopping decisions, such as reminding them about discount vouchers. Alibaba takes more cloud products global, eyes APAC growth Chinese internet giant talks up new product releases such as Anti-Bot Service and its datacentre footprint in Asia-Pacific as key differentiators against cloud rivals, Amazon Web Services and Google. Its machine learning specialist also urges need for governments looking to build smart cities, such as Singapore, to ensure its citizens benefit from such initiatives. Read More The tweaks were made … [Read more...] about Alibaba smartens up chatbot ahead of 11.11 shopping festival
[Update: Now available] Deal Alert: Google Play will exclusively debut Rememory on August 24th for free
Update 1: 2017/08/24 6:53am PDT It's live Rememory is an upcoming sci-fi mystery movie from director Mark Palansky, starring Peter Dinklage, Julia Ormond, and the late Anton Yelchin. In a rare move, it will get its debut on Google Play Movies & TV before it hits theatres. Even better, it'll be free for a limited period, from August 24th. [Spoiler Alert] The film tells the story of visionary scientific pioneer (Martin Donovan) and his invention that can record and play people's memories. He's found dead soon after its unveiling, causing his widow (Julia Ormond) to isolate herself from the outside world until a mysterious character (Peter Dinklage) appears to help solve the mystery. It's currently got a rating of 8.6 on IMDB, so could be worth seeing. Take a look at the trailer below to whet your appetite further. Lionsgate Premiere will be releasing the movie in theatres on September 8th, 2 full weeks after it'll debut on Google Play Movies & TV, so if you want to … [Read more...] about [Update: Now available] Deal Alert: Google Play will exclusively debut Rememory on August 24th for free
JD.com breaks records in mid-year shopping spree
JD.com said it has achieved 127.5 billion yuan in orders between 0:00 of June 1 and 0:10 of June 18, a record high for the Chinese company during the so-called June 18 Shopping Festival -- the mid-year online shopping spree resembling the November 11 extravaganza. More than 90 percent of orders placed on JD.com are now able to be delivered on the day or within the second day, thanks to JD.com's efficient logistics arm operated by the company directly, according to a Sina news report on Monday. JD.com's results follow US technology giant Google announcing that it has signed a strategic partnership with the Chinese second-largest ecommerce firm with the aim to break into the Chinese retail market and optimise the retail ecosystem. Google believes the Asia-Pacific region is one of the largest and fastest-growing ecommerce marketplaces in the world, with consumers from Southeast Asia alone expected to spend $88.1 billion online by 2025. JD.com figures showed that the top five most … [Read more...] about JD.com breaks records in mid-year shopping spree