By now you might be familiar with the term “Buy Now, Pay Later” (commonly referred to as “BNPL”). Let’s explore some of the reasons for this trend.
So what is BNPL exactly?
“Buy Now, Pay Later” schemes are loan financing products which are somewhat similar to credit cards. Through partnerships with specific retailers, you can buy goods and services through installments (with APRs similar to mainstream credit cards / lines). These typically range from four bi-weekly payments to installments spread over 60 months.
It’s a fairly streamlined process: you don’t need to pull any physical “plastic”, enter your number, etc… Besides the convenience factor, most providers will only perform a “soft credit check” every time you make a purchase. Some retailers also run special offers such as 0% interest options if you pay the full balance within a relatively short period of time. This type of loan can be potentially interesting for consumers who either lack a conventional credit history or are not particularly interested in managing credit cards. …
It won’t be easy…
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts are in favor of strict social distancing initiatives until a proper vaccine can be widely administered.
As national and regional governments are contemplating to gradually re-open their respective economies, the complexity of creating social distancing policies when it comes to passenger transportation is strikingly evident. Passenger transport often translates into packing a large number of individuals into tight, closed quarters… Yet transit authorities, airlines and cruise ship operators have a few ideas to make this happen.
Face covering
Covering one’s face is a well-know method used to stop the spread of viruses and contagious diseases. There are various types of face coverings such as surgical masks, N95 respirators; as well as non-medical “cloth masks” which can as simple as a scarf or bandana wrapped around a person’s nose and mouth. …
Now that CES 2020 is over, let’s rewind a bit and discuss some of the most interesting robots presented at the humongous tech event.
Samsung’s Bot Chef
Samsung’s Bot Chef, which the South Korean conglomerate refers to as a “cobot” (collaborative robot). Bot Chef cannot prepare meals from scratch, but it can assist you with basic tasks. Bot Chef can download and display recipes on a nearby screen, open flames, dice and push ingredients; and more…
MarsCat
The makers of MarsCat claims that the device is “the world’s first fully autonomous robot cat”. The concept is simple: instead of giving your robot pet commands via voice or touch for it to complete tasks, once MarsCat is activated, it’ll act like a regular cat, doing “its own thing” and when it wants. …
As 2019 is winding down, here are some of my predictions for the upcoming year. 3, 2, 1… let’s go.
Facial recognition will receive more scrutiny
Facial recognition has faced scrutiny this year, and it is likely that global observers will continue to have privacy concerns over such frameworks.
Earlier this month, it was reported that all mobile phone users in China registering new SIM cards must submit to facial recognition scans. The new law requires telecom companies to deploy “artificial intelligence and other technical methods” to check the identities of people registering SIM cards. All retail stores in the country had until December 1st to start implementing the new regulation. …
Despite difficult circumstances, perhaps we shouldn’t count out the commercial real estate company just yet
By now, you might be aware of WeWork’s failed IPO attempt and the difficult situation the once celebrated company is facing.
Despite a massive, last minute bailout from SoftBank (its largest investor), the company is cash-strapped; several reports even indicating an upcoming layoff of roughly 4000 jobs (almost 27% of its total headcount).
So where does WeWork go from here? Does the former unicorn darling even stand a change of surviving another year? Perhaps… but it may require sacrifice and a renewed vision.
Back to reality: Market yourself as a real-estate company
As of late 2019, I think most people realize WeWork is (really) a real-estate company. The tech startup “disguise” can longer continue, which was partly causing the exaggerated $47 billion valuation. …
Tony Flath is an Edmonton, Canada-based tech influencer who specializes in various fields including cloud computing, cybersecurity, IoT and artificial intelligence to name a few. I had the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss the evolution of cloud technology which is progressively utilizing advanced AI frameworks.
Phil Siarri: Hi Tony, how are you? Can you tell our audience a little bit about your professional experience?
Tony Flath: Hi Phil, I’m doing great, thanks! I hope that you are doing well too. My professional experience has been an interesting one, from years of sales of complex solutions to 15 years of human resources management practitioner experience with a CHRP designation to 2016. Now working as a telecommunications and technology advisor with specialty in cloud and cybersecurity. …
Sometimes, technology is complicated and caters to small privileged niche markets. But not all endeavors follow such pattern. Let’s explore a few projects that aim to help the world population in a meaningful and potent way.
Evaporative cooling to improve vegetable storage in rural areas
Across the Sahel in Africa, many small farmers, market vendors, and families lack an affordable and efficient solutions for storing and preserving vegetables. Therefore, harvested vegetables are at risk of spoiling before they can be sold or consumed.
Such translate into a loss of income for farmers and vendors, a lower availability of nutritious foods for local communities, as well as an increase in the time spent traveling to purchase fresh produce. …
The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro are fitted with a high performance, bulky, rectangular camera
FutureSin’s founder Michael K. Spencer provided a great summary of Apple’s big annual event in his recent piece entitled “Apple’s iPhone 11 Event 2019”. But I want to dwell a bit further on the iPhone 11 itself which is shipping on September 20, … more specifically on its improved camera!
Apple has fitted large, rectangular camera “humps” to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. Some media outlets are stating that such features might trigger trypophobia (the fear of small holes). 🙄
These are the main specs:
- Primary Camera — 12 MP, f/1.8 aperture, 26mm, 1.4µm pixel size, Optical Image stabilisation (OIS), Quad-LED True Tone flash, 4K 60fps…
Yet negotiations between the U.S. government and the Chinese tech giant seem to be at a standstill
I’m back with a new “Huawei” piece. Since I last wrote about the company and the launch of its new flagship phone (the Mate 30 Pro), a few bizarre events have occurred.
1/ First of all: a corporate media statement is implying the U.S. is launching cyber attacks against the company.
2/ The same statement allegedly mentions that law enforcement agencies in the U.S. …
This is a direct consequence of the slow progress in negotiations between the Chinese tech giant and the U.S. government
If you follow the “mobile industry”, you may already know: Huawei’s next flagship smartphone, the Mate 30 Pro, will not ship pre-installed with key Google-built applications such as Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube and other apps you probably use on a daily basis.
This is a direct consequence of the slow progress in negotiations between Huawei and the U.S. government following the Chinese tech giant’s “U.S. ban”.
Under the current terms, American companies can continue to provide support for Huawei devices that are already sold or for sale. …
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