Intel and Luxottica Group will collaborate on a multiyear research and development alliance "to fuse premium, luxury and sports eyewear with smart technology," the companies said in a joint announcement Wednesday. Luxottica controls a broad portfolio of eyewear brands, including Oakley, Oliver Peoples and Ray-Ban. Its licensed brands include Bulgari, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, Michael Kors, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Tiffany and Versace. The companies aim to push R&D "boundaries" to anticipate "what smart technology for eyewear will look like in the future," they said. The collaboration will yield its first product next year, they said. "The growth of wearable technology is creating a new playing field for innovation," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Intel and Luxottica will mesh their "respective ecosystems" to help drive "a much faster pace of innovation and push the envelope of what’s possible," he said.
Consumers said maintenance and predictive analytics on a vehicle’s health are the highest requirements for having a connected vehicle, a Compass Intelligence report found. The report released Wednesday said there's low interest in having entertainment DVD systems, Compass said in a news release. The target segment for this market, which is children under 10, is taking a hit because kids are increasingly using tablets for entertainment purposes, it said. “Overall products and services that can enhance the driving experience, entertainment and vehicle maintenance are the key wants from end-users.” Research for the report was done via an online survey of more than 1,320 persons, Compass said. More than half of users want a system that displays when preventative maintenance is due, and 60 percent want real-time traffic updates, it said.
Nearly six of 10 consumers who use a smartphone or tablet while shopping prefer to look up information on their devices rather than talk to store employees, CEA said Wednesday a survey found. That preference is highest among male shoppers and those between ages 25 and 44, it said. Sixty-two percent of mobile shoppers indicate they perceive the information they gather via their mobile device as more beneficial than the information available in-store via product displays or sales literature, it said. "Mobile devices have significantly shifted consumers’ shopping behavior," CEA said. "Retailers are increasingly focusing on delivering a complete consumer shopping experience and mobile devices are now a vital piece of that puzzle." Mobile shoppers more often use their mobile devices for assistance when shopping for electronics (60 percent) than for any other product type, CEA said. Following electronics, mobile shoppers most frequently use their devices while shopping in physical retail stores for groceries (55 percent), apparel (47 percent), shoes (45 percent), and health and beauty products (39 percent), it said. While shopping specifically for electronics, mobile shoppers use their devices to compare prices (63 percent), read customer ratings or reviews (52 percent) and search the Internet for more information (51 percent), it said.
Pandora released a beta version of a new mobile interface for its customers, said a company news release Tuesday. The interface, which will roll out to all Pandora users over the next several months, is available for 3 percent of Pandora’s iPhone and Android smartphone users.
Hughes launched upgraded satellite Internet access plans for small- and medium-sized businesses. The Business Internet Select and Access plans feature download speeds from up to 5 Mbps to up to 15 Mbps, Hughes said Tuesday in a news release. The plans will operate over the HughesNet Gen4 service, it said.
Cyber Monday online sales grew 8.5 percent over 2013, but the average order value slipped 3.5 percent to $124.21, said an IBM report Tuesday. The upward trend for mobile shopping that analysts reported during Thanksgiving week continued Cyber Monday, with purchases via smartphone and tablets growing 27.6 percent, IBM said. Smartphones drove 28.5 percent of online traffic Monday, doubling that of tablets, but tablets accounted for 12.9 percent of sales, compared with 9.1 percent for phones, it said. Tablet users spent more per transaction than smartphone shoppers, at $121.49 versus $99.61 on average for smartphone users, it said. Cyber Monday shopping via desktop PC accounted for 59 percent of online traffic and 78 percent of sales, IBM said. Customers spent more when shopping on a desktop PC, it said, recording an average order of $128.24 compared with $110.72 for mobile shoppers. Among mobile shoppers, iOS users were bigger spenders than Android counterparts on Cyber Monday, IBM reported. They accounted for twice the traffic and almost four times the sales, ringing up $114.79 per order versus $96.84 for Android users, it said. Overall, iOS devices accounted for 17.4 percent of total online sales, compared with Android devices with 4.4 percent of online sales, it said. More than 46 percent of Cyber Monday marketing emails were opened on mobile devices or tablets, versus 52 percent on desktops, IBM said. Overall open and click-through rates were 12.8 percent and 2.2 percent, it said. The number of transactional messages automatically sent to consumers based on an action -- such as a purchase receipt or cart abandonment -- grew 48 percent year-over-year, IBM said, while the median number of emails sent per retailer to consumers Cyber Monday was even with 2013 at two. In social media, a comparison of the impact of Facebook and Pinterest showed that Pinterest shopping referrals drove an average of $97.78 per order compared with $123.44 for Facebook, IBM said. New York City repeated as the top metropolitan area for Cyber Monday sales, with an average spending per order of $112.44, followed by Washington, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. Walmart, meanwhile, posted the biggest online day for orders in its history, the company said in a news release Tuesday.
In an update to a streaming media report, Parks Associates said 10 percent of U.S. broadband households bought a streaming media player or stick in the first three quarters of 2014, matching 2013 full-year sales figures. At the end of October, Roku led the market at 29 percent share, while Google's Chromecast replaced Apple TV in the No. 2 slot with 20 percent share versus Apple’s 17 percent, Parks said Tuesday. Amazon’s Fire TV holds the fourth spot at 10 percent penetration, it said. With the introduction of Amazon’s Fire TV Stick in November, Apple is now the only top streaming media hardware maker without a stick form factor, said Barbara Kraus, research director. On the content side, Showtime and Sony are planning to launch over-the-top video services to compete with HBO and Netflix, she said. Parks plans a session on “Monetizing Smart Home Solutions and Connected Devices” Jan. 6 as part of CES. The Parks Connections summit will include six executive sessions and a networking cocktail reception.
Level 3 will provide Intelsat with network connectivity to its new North America headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and to other locations. Intelsat will have access to additional network capacity and diverse routing options to enhance the IntelsatOne terrestrial fiber and teleport network linked to Intelsat's global satellite infrastructure, Level 3 said in a Tuesday news release. The agreement intends to improve information access and operational efficiency, while also ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery across Intelsat's locations, Level 3 said.
AOL acquired Vidible, a cross-screen video platform for the exchange of digital media, said a joint news release Tuesday. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Vidible has 300,000 videos that garner 800 million plays per month, it said. AOL has 1 million premium videos in its library.
In a move to grab customers from its two biggest competitors, Sprint said Tuesday it will buy out AT&T and Verizon customers’ wireless contracts up to $350 in a “Cut Your Bill in Half” event beginning Friday. Sprint will pay customers up to $350 per line via a Visa prepaid card to cover their early termination fee or installment bill balance when they switch, it said. Sprint will offer unlimited talk and text within the U.S. over its network and match customers’ data allowance for half the cost of their current data plan. The promotional rate “will be the customer’s ongoing price” as long as they remain on the plan, Sprint said. To participate, AT&T and Verizon customers need to upload a copy of a current wireless bill to the Sprint website, visit a Sprint store with a copy of the latest bill, turn in their current phone, pick a service plan and get a new phone using one of Sprint’s leasing options -- or pay full rate for the phone, the carrier said.