(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 — Google rolls out dining and translation filters to Google Glass…oops, I mean Lens!
Google Glass is back – but now it’s called Lens. The company is making the device more feature-friendly and adding functionality that can help your business. (Source: Tech Crunch)
Why this is important for your business:
For example, if your customers use Google Lens on an iOS or ARCore-compatible Android phone, they’ll soon be able to order at your restaurant. Or your salespeople can use it to translate foreign languages on-the-go. Lens will be accessible in the Google Assistant, Google Photos, and main Google search apps as well as directly in the camera app on Pixel phones. For restaurant ordering, users just point their phone at a menu and the Lens app highlights the most popular dishes or surface food information and photos from the restaurant’s Google Maps profile. You do have a Google Maps profile, right?
2 — Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, and LinkedIn demonstrate the power of in-house AI solutions.
At an event called ‘Transform: Accelerating Your Business With AI’, Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, and LinkedIn announced that they’ll be building their own artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to be more competitive. For example, Lyft offers a chat-like experience in its app, powered by AI and machine learning, which anticipates customer questions and analyzes driver and passenger data to offer the most effective resolutions. And LinkedIn has launched an AI Academy to equip employees in areas like engineering, product management, etc. with the knowledge they need to integrate AI into their current projects and develop more intelligent products and technology while continuing to innovate. (Source: Venture Beat)
Why this is important for your business:
The best way to figure out how artificial intelligence can be used in your business is to see how other companies – big companies – are using it in theirs. The ideas provided by Lyft, Uber, Airbnb and LinkedIn should help.
3 — Google’s $399 Pixel 3A is stronger than its price tag suggests.
Even though it costs half as much as the Google Pixel 3, the new 3A is very durable. In fact, its Dragontrail glass display performed in YouTube’s scratch-and-bend tests as well as phones that use Corning’s Gorilla Glass. It ranked almost equal to Corning’s glass on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness too. During JerryRigEverything’s testing, the phone’s all-plastic body bent somewhat but didn’t break, and the plastic-covered fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone was able to recognize fingerprints after withstanding several deep scratches. (Source: The Verge)
Why this is important for your business:
I like the Pixel 3A and, as I wrote this week on Inc.com I think it may be a much more affordable mobile device option for your employees going forward.
4 — FrontdeskAI adds Intelligent webchat to family of AI assistants for small business and franchises.
FrontdeskAI, a developer of AI solutions for small businesses and franchises, announced the introduction of Sasha Online, an intelligent webchat solution for appointment-based businesses.. (Source: MarTechSeries)
Why this is important for your business:
It’s available now and the company says it offers fast, human-like responses to questions and appointment requests along with contextual intelligence and the ability to learn with every encounter. Will it deliver the “immediate productivity and revenue generation through automated appointment scheduling and rescheduling and improved customer engagement” that’s promised? It could be a claim worth investigating.
5— Techstars-backed startup Eddy Travels launches AI travel assistant with voice understanding.
Toronto-based AI travel tech startup Eddy Travels recently introduced an AI-powered personal travel assistant designed to simplify trip planning. (Source: AIThority)
Why this is important for your business:
The company says it gives users personalized suggestions for the best flights, hotels, car rentals, and other services. It’s designed for millennial travelers in Canada and the US, and it’s available on popular messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Viber, and Line. If you’ve got a lot of travelling employees, this app may help make their reservation experience more productive and affordable.
