(This post originally appeared on Forbes)
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 — This new technology will reduce face touching.
Immutouch is a smart band available on iOS and Android for $50 that is designed to help people from touching their face as coronavirus worries continue to grow. Seattle-based entrepreneurs have taken into consideration the top advice for preventing the spread of the virus, such as avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes, and created the smart band that will vibrate if you touch your face. The smart band has a gravimeter that is directly built into the band and is calibrated to any smartphone while tracking a person’s sensitivity and movements, giving off a vibration as soon as a person’s hand nears their face. (Source: GeekWire)
Why this is important for your business:
Necessity is the mother of invention and difficult times create opportunities for entrepreneurs – particularly those that come up with innovative tech like Immutouch. Maybe it’s something to consider for your workforce?
2— Amazon launched a business selling automated checkout to retailers.
Amazon announced last week that they will be rolling out a new business, selling the technology that drives their cashier-less grocery stores and making it available to other brick-and-mortar retailers. Rather than scanning an app, Just Walk Out—the name of the technology—allows shoppers to simply insert a credit card into a turnstile in order to enter. As shoppers pick up items, the items will be placed into the customer’s virtual shopping cart. Once the individual exits the store, their credit card will be billed, completely negating checkout lines or scanning bar codes on items. (Source: Reuters)
Why this is important for your business:
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right? The future of retail will be automated checkout and today’s merchants that don’t recognize this trend are going to find themselves in a difficult position in the years to come. Of course there are and will be other tech companies offering help for automating your store, but right now Amazon is leading the pack and regardless of how you may feel about the online giant, their automated checkout applications and services must be considered.
3 —A botnet was taken down in an operation by Microsoft, not the government.
This past week, Microsoft worked to stop a dangerous malware that has been known to stealthily take over millions of computers all over the globe. This take-down has been in development for the last eight years and was directed at Necurs, a criminal organization that is thought to be based out of Russia. Employees at Microsoft have been tracking Necurs as they infected nine million computers throughout the world, sending spam and even organizing stock market disruptions and designing ransomware that freezes computers until payment is received. Members of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit assembled in their Redmond, Washington HQ for the operation. (Source: NYTimes)
Why this is important for your business:
This story is a just one example of how big tech are proactively going after hackers without waiting for governments to do it for them. It also highlights the opportunities for small tech firms that can provide applications and services to support even large companies like Microsoft. Of course, small businesses need to take it upon ourselves to ensure that our data is protected. But it’s good to know our service providers are investing heavily in meeting this challenge.
4 — SpotOn has tapped $50M to take on Square and more in payments and financial services for SMBs.
Point of sale payment solution company SpotOn recently raised $50 million in Series B funding with plans to continue growing the business after a successful past year. SpotOn—which also provides marketing, appointment booking, and other small business solutions—has reported that their revenues have grown 150% in 2019 and—just since the start of 2020—have already seen 5,000 customers added to their books. With the funding, SpotOn intends to grow their company both throughout the United States and globally. (Source: TechCrunch)
Why this is important for your business:
According to TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden, “this latest investment from former Twitter execs is an… interesting… one, given that the current CEO of Twitter (co-founder Jack Dorsey, who succeeded Costolo in the role) is also the CEO of Square, which is one of SpotOn’s biggest competitors.” I guess if Jack Dorsey considers this service to be a potential alternative to Square, maybe we should be thinking the same?
5— QuickBooks has deepened their PayPal integration for SMBs.
Intuit announced last week that they will be rolling out several new digital features that will work to solve the obstacles that often cause SMBs to go out of business within the first few years. QuickBooks is said to have improved specific areas such as payroll and administration compliance, late payments, payments, as well as cash flow forecasting. (Source: Pymnts)
Why this is important for your business:
According to the company, several new features have been added in order to make integrated services with PayPal more efficient and easier to use when it comes to credit or debit card invoices, in addition to options through GoCardless and iZettle. The company says it has also collaborated with small business owners in order to uncover those issues and work to develop solutions.
