(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 —Yelp reviewers can now offer feedback on restaurants’ COVID-19 health and safety practices.
Yelp has announced that those using their platform to review restaurants will now have the opportunity to share their own feedback on how well those establishments are following COVID-19 safety and health guidelines. At the moment, those providing reviews are only able to share feedback regarding mask-wearing and social distancing since those are easily observable by patrons. While the new review category will not impact a restaurant’s rating, the reviews will be easily accessible, similar to the way that restaurants can be categorized as being “romantic” or “kid-friendly.” (Source: Nation’s Restaurant News)
Why this is important for your business:
If people can leave Yelp reviews for your restaurant, retail or service business then you better make sure you’re place of business is practicing Covid-19 safety. Otherwise, you could find yourself with less customers willing to visit.
2 — LG confirmed that its shape-shifting “rollable” phone will arrive this year.
According to LG, consumers will be able to purchase their new rollable phone by the end of 2021. The new phone— formally known as the LG Rollable—has the ease of a traditional phone that folds, but without the nuisance of a crease. It is predicted that users will be able to adjust the size of the phone in order to better fit the aspect ratio of a video but that the phone will still need to have a screen made of plastic, which raises concerns about screen protection. (Source: The Next Web)
Why this is important for your business:
Samsung has already released a foldable phone and, with LG’s “rollable” offering look for our phones to be looking much differently in the future.
3 —A Fintech Startup Matches Contractors To Financing
A fintech startup located in King of Prussia, PA was able to add 100 employees throughout the coronavirus pandemic thanks to $2 million they raised in seed funding. PowerPay— a startup that assists home contractors in providing financing to their customers— was hit by the pandemic only three months after launching. Rather than going out of business— as they anticipated— the startup began this new year with 110 employees.. Thanks to a network made up of over 7,000 contractors, PowerPay was able to originate over $1 billion in loans and make a profit just a half a year after launching. (Source: PHLBizJournal)
Why this is important for your business:
An old idea that leverages new technology – and what a great business model. Contractors who need financing options in order to close larger projects now have a great resource to offer their customers. Given its growth, the idea is clearly catching on.
4 — “World’s first” AI-based robotic restaurant is coming to Naperville.
According to Nala Robotics, they will be opening up the first ever robotic restaurant in the world. The company plans to use artificial intelligence in the restaurant, which will be located in the Mall of India in Naperville, IL. This particular location will essentially embody 10 different restaurants by providing pizza, burgers, chicken wings, Italian, Portuguese, Mediterranean, Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Mexican food. The various foods will be cooked up using ‘Chef Nala’, an AI-driven robot. The hope is that the new robot will help rectify many of the obstacles that have come up for restaurants throughout the coronavirus pandemic, such as completely negating any human contact when it comes to preparing food and delivery. (Source: NCTV17)
Why this is important for your business:
Robot pizza makers, robot sushi, now it’s robot…everything. As minimum wages rise and other costs increase, innovative restauranteurs are going to invest in technologies this these to keep their overheads under control
5—The App store saw a record 218 billion downloads in 2020 and a consumer spend of $143 billion.
Information provided by App Annie’s yearly “State of Mobile” industry report, revealed that mobile usage resumed its upward trend in 2020, growing due to the changes brought on by COVID-19. This past year app downloads went up by 7% (YOY), reaching a record-breaking 218 billion. According to the same report, spending by consumers also went up by 20%, reaching a new record of $143 billion with the UK, South Korea, Japan, China, and the United States leading the markets. The report also indicated that consumers racked up 3.5 trillion minutes of usage solely on Android devices in 2020. (Source: Tech Crunch)
Why this is important for your business:
Writing apps continue to be a giant business, and a continued opportunity for tech-minded entrepreneurs.
