Amazon’s “Clicks and Mortar” pilot
High streets in the UK have been hit particularly hard in recent years by a crisis, for which internet shopping and e-tail giants, such as Amazon, have been partially to blame. It may come as a surprise, therefore, to learn that Amazon is launching a new pop-up pilot, bringing popular online SMEs to pop-up stores across the UK.
The pop-up pilot program is expected to last for up to one year and will enable over 100 SMEs to sell on the high street, in an effort to “help up-and-coming brands grow their high street presence.” These SMEs will be selling on the UK high street for the first time via time-slots in 10 pop-up stores- each open for 6 to 8 weeks. The first pop-up shop was opened on Monday on St Mary’s Gate in Manchester. The “Click and Mortar” pop-up stores will offer “everything from homeware and health and beauty products to food and drink and electronics.” Some examples of brands involved in the pilot include a foldable kick-scooter brand for adults (Swifty Scooters); a maker of leather cases for electronics devices (Torro Cases); and a men’s skincare range (Altr for Men). Amazon confirmed that it will not take any sales commission from the stores.
You can read more about this and similar announcements here.
Gartner: 90% of current enterprise platforms will need to be replaced by 2021
Gartner has predicted that 90% of all current blockchain platforms will need to be replaced within 18 months by 2021, in order to for industries to stay “competitive, secure and avoid obsolescence.” Although there are many blockchain platforms emerging right now, in some cases they are “nearly indistinguishable” from core blockchain technology, according to Adrian Lee, senior research director at Gartner. The capabilities and short-term benefits of these platforms are often overestimated by IT leaders.
Gartner reports that one of the main issues within the blockchain platform market is high fragmentation: It is composed of fragmented offerings that often overlap, “making technology choices confusing.” Furthermore, Gartner does not expect there to be a single dominant blockchain platform within the next five years, but rather the emergence of a multiplatform world “due to the lack of an industry consensus on product concept, feature set, core application requirements and target market.” According to its recent forecast, by 2025, the business value added by blockchain will to increase to just over $176 million. This growth is expected to surge and exceed $3.1 trillion by 2030.
Click here for the press release.
Another Amazon headline: Amazon’s new helicopter-plane hybrid drone for deliveries
Amazon has just unveiled a drone device that’s like nothing before. The company has developed a helicopter-plane hybrid drone that it hopes to start using for test deliveries of toothpaste and other household goods within the next few months.
So, what is so special about this technology? The new drone takes off vertically via propellers and then tilts its body to fly horizontally, just like a plane. It can carry packages of up to 5 pounds and features AI, as it uses multiple sensors to fly robotically without endangering people on the ground or traditional aircraft. However, don’t expect see these drones roaming the skies freely anytime soon; it could take several years to gain regulatory approval and this technology presents more challenges than the average drone, as there currently aren’t any standards for its robotic features. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is granting Amazon a one-year approval to test the devices in limited ways, still not allowing drone deliveries. The new and nameless drone is the result of 50,000 iterations tested on computers. The device has 10 moving parts- 6 propellers and 4 control surfaces that allow it to maneuver in flight. The propellers are guarded by a 6-sided shroud and it is so far the only drone able to fly horizontally without a separate set of propellers.
For more information, click here.
NASA announces commercial delivery partners for new lunar landings
Have a great weekend.
