Apple Watch’s New Band to Increase Battery Life

So now that we’re certain all of us has our handy Apple Watch, we’re left no solace as the darn thing dies right before you send your boss that career-saving memo. D’oh!

No worries. Apple is releasing an Apple Watch “Reserve Strap” in November to extend by life by thirty hours. Huzzah!

WHY WE SHOULD LIKE THIS

This will free Apple Watch users from the potential woes of over-charging their watches overnight. Yes, it’s true, if you leave an electronic device plugged in for long periods of time after it’s already at full power, you will eventually reduce the battery’s total energy capacity, causing it to die younger, and younger, until finally when you press that power button it will only yawn, and blink and die again.

HOW THE BAND’S DESIGN CAME TO BE

But anyway the Reserve Strap’s been through two major redesigns since its debut in early March. Its developers, Lane Musgrave and John Arrow have worked day and night to achieve that chic look and extravagant functionality.

The final look is 25mm wide, 3-9mm thick, with a total weight of 65 grams. Initially designed to be made of rubber and metal combined into some synthetic Thermoset Elastomer Silicone band that would have been “as resistant to water as the Apple Watch,” it has since evolved into more practical forms.

WHEN YOU CAN ACQUIRE THE BAND

Set for shipment on November 3, 2015, Apple informs us that this strap could assuage users’ mulling over whether or not their Apple Watch could even make it through a full day alive. The new strap is in full compliance with Apple’s original band design guidelines for the wearable. The specs intimate that if the band and watch are both drained, the two can stay together and be charged simultaneously à la micro USB.

HOW IT WORKS

To begin charging simply press the power button once. The watch may be used during the charging process, which should take around 60-75 minutes. If the user leaves the strap on during use, the Apple Watch will drain the Strap’s power to keep itself at 100 percent, until the Strap dies. The LED will glow green, yellow or red depending on whether the charge is full, partial or nil, respectively.

Microsoft CEO Nadella wants to help the world 'to achieve more'

Microsoft has a new mission statement that goes straight to the point.

The software maker's new official goal is "to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more," CEO Satya Nadella wrote in an email to employees. The message was first obtained by GeekWire on Thursday, and Microsoft confirmed its authenticity to CNET News.

Former CEO Steve Ballmer revised Microsoft's mission statement in October 2013 so it called on the company to "create a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most." It didn't have quite the same zing as Nadella's does now.

Nadella's philosophy builds on, but doesn't erase, a few other Microsoft marketing mantras he's touted since taking charge in February 2014. For instance, "more personal computing" is still very much alive -- that's Microsoft's way of admitting that people use all sorts of devices connected together over the Internet. Focusing on that phenomenon is one of the core strategies Nadella says will help the company become the major player in the "mobile-first, cloud-first" world. Indeed, "mobile-first, cloud-first" is another favorite for Microsoft executives, who are looking to the company's fast-growing cloud services division to help sell software.

Microsoft is preparing for the July 29 release of the Windows 10 operating system, which powers more than 90 percent of the world's PCs. Most Windows users will be able to upgrade to the new version for free. With Microsoft 10, developers will be able to write "universal" apps once, which can then run on any device running the new operating system. That universality underlies the company's revised mission statement: Helping customers be more productive across all apps and devices.

Nadella has spent much of the last year and a half rebuilding Microsoft. He's emphasized getting the company's flagship software, like its Office application suite, on devices of all sizes and types, including competitors', and has stressed the power of Windows as a cloud-based service. He has also instituted companywide cultural shifts, pushing ambitious research projects like the HoloLens headset out of the lab and turning the development of Windows 10 into a transparent, feedback-driven process that recruited consumers as early testers.

The changes haven't come without some sour notes. Last summer, the company laid off 18,000 employees of its then-125,000-person global workforce A majority of those layoffs were former Nokia employees brought on after Microsoft acquired the Finnish company's handset division in April 2014 for $7.2 billion.

And just last week, Microsoft announced an organizational shakeup that included the exit of former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. Microsoft promoted Terry Myerson, former head of operating systems, to be chief of the new Windows and Devices Group. That division rolls the consumer device businesses, like Xbox, Surface and Lumia, into the company's largest software division. The goal is to make Windows 10 the common thread among every device, product and service.

Nadella also noted the company's ongoing diversity initiatives, a topic that made headlines in October when the CEO implied female employees shouldn't ask for raises but should instead trust karma.

"We will be open to learning our own biases and changing our behaviors so we can tap into the collective power of everyone at Microsoft," Nadella wrote in the new mission statement. "We don't just value differences, we seek them out, we invite them in. And as a result, our ideas are better, our products are better and our customers are better served."

Nadella doesn't mention the word "layoffs" in his memo, but he does flick at the possibility of more employee exits or even products or divisions potentially getting the axe.

"We will need to innovate in new areas, execute against our plans, make some tough choices in areas where things are not working and solve hard problems in ways that drive customer value," Nadella wrote.

Audi is sending a Quattro rover to the moon for the Google Lunar XPrize

Google is funding a $30 million new-age space race, a competition to see who can be the first to put a rover on the moon and cover 500 meters across the lunar surface, all while beaming back high-definition footage to Earth. A series of independent teams around the world are competing, and Audi just got in the game in a big way. The car manufacturer announced Thursday that is has signed on with the German team Part Time Scientists.

We visited Part Time Scientists last year to check out an earlier version of their four-wheel-drive rover as it motored across a simulated lunar environment, testing to ensure the rover's optical systems would work in the harsh conditions on the moon.

The rover shall henceforth be known as the Audi Lunar Quattro. It certainly fulfills the naming criteria, with four-wheel independent drive, and I'd say the brushed aluminum finish fits quite neatly within the Audi aesthetic, too.

Audi said in a press release Thursday it is supporting the Part Time Scientists with its knowledge in several tech fields, "from quattro all-wheel drive and lightweight construction to electric mobility and piloted driving." In addition to know-how, Audi will hopefully give the team the funding it needs to get their rover up where it belongs.

Audi and Part Time Scientists hope to launch to the moon in 2017. But, with two other GLXP teams, Astrobotic and Hakuto, planning to make their launch in 2016, Audi may be entering the race a little bit late. Regardless of who gets there first, we all win.

Can the Microsoft shake-up get Windows 10 moving in mobile?

Likely realizing the challenges ahead, the world's largest software maker announced on Wednesday an overhaul of its executive ranks. The most notable change was the departure of Stephen Elop, whose devices business -- which includes smartphones -- will be integrated into the operating systems group run by Terry Myerson.

"We are aligning our engineering efforts and capabilities to deliver on our strategy and, in particular, our three core ambitions," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an email to employees. "This change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace."

The shake-up underscores what's at stake if Microsoft fails to bolster its mobile presence. With Microsoft pushing the idea of getting its Windows 10 operating system on as many devices as possible -- and having them work together -- it's critical that the company establish a bigger foothold in mobile. Without the smartphone, for many the single-most important device in their lives, the idea of a seamless Windows experience between devices breaks down.

"Microsoft's reorg shows that Microsoft is determined to be a part of the mobile mind shift, and that their mobile efforts will benefit from closer engineering alignment with Windows," said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

For most people, the idea of a Windows phone remains foreign. Smartphones running on Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system (which will be rebranded to Windows 10 Mobile) made up only 2.5 percent of the global market in the first quarter -- a fraction down from a year ago, according to Gartner. In comparison, Android controlled nearly 80 percent of the market, with iPhones making up 18 percent.

That task is now up to Myerson, who will lead the newly created Windows and Devices Group and will focus on "enabling more personal computing experiences powered by the Windows ecosystem."

Microsoft didn't make Myerson available for interviews.

For Elop, the departure marks the end of his four-year quest to get consumers to buy a Windows Phone, first as the CEO of Nokia, when, in 2011, he controversially shifted the Finnish phone giant's strategy toward Microsoft's mobile operating system. Elop, who originally left Microsoft to join Nokia, returned after the software giant acquired Nokia's devices business in 2014.

His unit, however, released only a handful of cheaper, lower profile devices under Microsoft, and Elop was absent from the company's Build developer conference keynote presentation in April.

Better  together

One of the challenges Elop faced -- and Microsoft still faces -- has been the lack of popular apps available when compared with Android and Apple's iOS operating system. Whether it's new games like Fallout Shelter or social networks like Snapchat, there remains a lot missing from the Windows App Store. Even if a popular app like Spotify shows up, it's often much later in the game.

Microsoft's pitch has been that the common foundation behind Windows 10, which will power PCs, tablets and smartphones, allows developers to write an app for one device and easily have it run on the others. The hope is that more apps pop up for all Windows users.

It's a story that's been told before by Microsoft, even back when Windows 8 was making its debut with the idea of the common tile-based user interface across PCs, phones and tablets. But back then, there were still fundamental differences between the guts of the mobile and PC platforms, something they've worked on for Windows 10.

Microsoft's move to create a new group under Myerson also underscores the importance of tying together parts of the business that have largely run separate from each other.

"When you talk about integration between software and devices, you need to integrate on the staff level," said Chris Hazelton, an analyst at 451 Research. "This will give you the full integration that Microsoft wants."

Progress with Surface

Microsoft has already made strides in one aspect of the mobile business: tablets. Its Surface Pro 3 has proved to be a hit with consumers, particularly business-minded ones.

In January, Microsoft declared that Surface represented a billion-dollar business, led by the high-end version of the tablet. Its rise comes as Apple's own iPad business has struggled with declining revenue.

"It's stealing share from competitors and slowed the growth of the iPad," Hazelton said.

The Surface Pro 3 is an important ingredient in Microsoft's software-anywhere recipe, but Myerson needs to parlay that success into broader interest in its Windows smartphones.

Surface Pro 3 was successful enough that Elop hinted that the next Microsoft flagship smartphone could find inspiration in the tablet.

"There are a few clues on a device like this," he said in an interview in March as he grabbed a Surface Pro 3.

So where is that flagship smartphone?

All the software improvements and integration in the world won't get consumers excited about Windows 10 Mobile without a sexy flagship product to rally behind. One of Myerson's biggest priorities in his new role is to ensure that Microsoft has an exciting product (or products) to push when the new Windows Phone platform, Windows Mobile 10, makes its debut.

"The lack of a halo device is a major gap in their portfolio," Hazelton said.

The older Windows Phone platform has clung to its market share by offering affordable smartphones in the emerging markets. In the US, it has similarly won a small following through attractively priced devices. On Wednesday, AT&T said it would sell its large Lumia 640 XL smartphone for $8.34 a month for 30 months, or roughly $250.

These devices, however, tend to get overshadowed by higher profile -- and more expensive -- products such as Apple's iPhone 6 or Samsung's Galaxy S6, which benefit from significant advertising and retail support.

Getting that high-profile device in the hands of consumers is vital to showing off the new Microsoft, one in which all of its software and experiences can flow from device to device.

Microsoft has already made progress with the Surface Pro 3. It's a virtual certainty that the PC and laptop makers will heavily push Windows 10-powered devices when they become available. The missing link is the smartphone.

"If I can move seamlessly between devices, I can see the value in having a Windows smartphone," Hazelton said.

Google zooms in on smart-home vision with Nest Cam

Nintendo is in a time of transition, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president, said Tuesday in the company’s Digital Event video released for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo. Nintendo is making a push into mobile gaming and it’s working on its next console, the NX, but details of those two efforts won’t come this year, Fils-Aime said. They’ll come in 2016.

This year, Nintendo is using E3 to focus on the games it has for its two current platforms: the Wii U console and the 3DS hand-held. The big star of the video, which Nintendo released online instead of an arena-filled live event like Microsoft and Sony held yesterday, is “Star Fox Zero,” the new Wii U space shooter.

Star Fox Zero marks the return of the franchise, which hasn’t been seen on a home console since 2005’s “Star Fox: Assault,” on the Nintendo GameCube. The game creatively uses the Wii U’s tablet-like GamePad controller’s built in 6.2-inch touchscreen to display a cockpit view of the fighter-pilot action that the game centers around. A more traditional third-person view is shown on screen, and Nintendo expects gamers to switch their gaze between their TVs and the GamePad while playing the new title.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s famous game designer, concocted the dual-screen gameplay. The company is collaborating with Japan’s Platinum Games to finish Star Fox Zero, which should be in stores this holiday season. Playable demos are available at the E3 expo in Los Angeles this week.

The game is graphically impressive, filled with starscapes and planetary scenes of mountains, ancient ruins and oceans. But, while the game looks good for a Wii U title, it falls short of the visual breakthroughs happening on rival consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4.

In a press event Sunday, Miyamoto said that the point of Star Fox Zero is the gameplay and the visual style of the game, which is somewhat cartoony. It was made that way with a purpose. “A lot of games nowadays look so realistic that they all look the same,” Miyamoto said.

The famed designer is right–many casual gamers might have trouble telling the difference between a “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield” game. But Nintendo’s strategy also reflects that the Wii U has far less graphical horsepower than rival home consoles.

The Wii U is also set to get another title centered on one of Nintendo’s longest-running and most successful characters: Mario. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. series, Miyamoto and other developers at Nintendo created a title called Mario Maker, set for release Sept. 11. In Mario Maker, players can design their own slide-scrolling levels in the visual style of both old-school 8-bit consoles and modern Wii U graphics.

The company showed an especially difficult level created at its Nintendo World Championships e-sports competition, which was hosted Sunday at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater  as a part of E3. Miyamoto said he had another reason for creating Mario Maker: “I still just love making games, it’s my favorite thing,” he said. He wanted “to let other people enjoy the experience of making games themselves.”

Some Best Buy stores in the U.S. will let gamers demo Mario Maker for themselves this week. Other Mario titles are on the way as well, including Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, which will hit the Wii U later this year. Nintendo is also launching a website called LetsSuperMario.com, where people can upload their own Mario-themed videos to celebrate the game’s 30 years.

Also Missing: Zelda on Wii U

Nintendo, meanwhile, has plans for its hit line of amiibo “toys-to-life” figurines. They will work with Mario Maker, so that characters like Zelda and the Wii Fit Trainer can appear in the game with the tap of a figurine on the GamePad controller. The new “Skylanders Superchargers” Wii U game also will work with special Bowser and Donkey Kong amiibo. And the coming “Yoshi’s Wooly World,” a beautiful platform adventure game in which the dinosaur runs through a world made of digital yarn and cloth, will have plush amiibos when it goes on sale this October.

The 3DS portable console got some love at E3 as well. Nintendo has a new “Hyrule Warriors Legends” adventure game coming early next year for the hand-held, and “Metroid Prime Federation Force” is a four-player shooting game that lets friends play online. There’s also a “Legend of Zelda” game coming this fall called “Zelda Triforce Heroes,” which lets players solve puzzles and traverse through dungeons with other players online.

One thing Nintendo disappointingly made no mention: the new Zelda title for the Wii U, which it showed a brief trailer of last year at the big show. The unnamed game is still under development, but it’s a no-show so far this year.

Nintendo at E3 2015: ‘Star Fox’ Returns but Silence on Wii U ‘Zelda’ and NX

Nintendo is in a time of transition, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president, said Tuesday in the company’s Digital Event video released for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo. Nintendo is making a push into mobile gaming and it’s working on its next console, the NX, but details of those two efforts won’t come this year, Fils-Aime said. They’ll come in 2016.

This year, Nintendo is using E3 to focus on the games it has for its two current platforms: the Wii U console and the 3DS hand-held. The big star of the video, which Nintendo released online instead of an arena-filled live event like Microsoft and Sony held yesterday, is “Star Fox Zero,” the new Wii U space shooter.

Star Fox Zero marks the return of the franchise, which hasn’t been seen on a home console since 2005’s “Star Fox: Assault,” on the Nintendo GameCube. The game creatively uses the Wii U’s tablet-like GamePad controller’s built in 6.2-inch touchscreen to display a cockpit view of the fighter-pilot action that the game centers around. A more traditional third-person view is shown on screen, and Nintendo expects gamers to switch their gaze between their TVs and the GamePad while playing the new title.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s famous game designer, concocted the dual-screen gameplay. The company is collaborating with Japan’s Platinum Games to finish Star Fox Zero, which should be in stores this holiday season. Playable demos are available at the E3 expo in Los Angeles this week.

The game is graphically impressive, filled with starscapes and planetary scenes of mountains, ancient ruins and oceans. But, while the game looks good for a Wii U title, it falls short of the visual breakthroughs happening on rival consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4.

In a press event Sunday, Miyamoto said that the point of Star Fox Zero is the gameplay and the visual style of the game, which is somewhat cartoony. It was made that way with a purpose. “A lot of games nowadays look so realistic that they all look the same,” Miyamoto said.

The famed designer is right–many casual gamers might have trouble telling the difference between a “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield” game. But Nintendo’s strategy also reflects that the Wii U has far less graphical horsepower than rival home consoles.

You’re the Game Designer in Mario Maker

The Wii U is also set to get another title centered on one of Nintendo’s longest-running and most successful characters: Mario. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. series, Miyamoto and other developers at Nintendo created a title called Mario Maker, set for release Sept. 11. In Mario Maker, players can design their own slide-scrolling levels in the visual style of both old-school 8-bit consoles and modern Wii U graphics.

The company showed an especially difficult level created at its Nintendo World Championships e-sports competition, which was hosted Sunday at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater  as a part of E3. Miyamoto said he had another reason for creating Mario Maker: “I still just love making games, it’s my favorite thing,” he said. He wanted “to let other people enjoy the experience of making games themselves.”

Some Best Buy stores in the U.S. will let gamers demo Mario Maker for themselves this week. Other Mario titles are on the way as well, including Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, which will hit the Wii U later this year. Nintendo is also launching a website called LetsSuperMario.com, where people can upload their own Mario-themed videos to celebrate the game’s 30 years.

Also Missing: Zelda on Wii U

Nintendo, meanwhile, has plans for its hit line of amiibo “toys-to-life” figurines. They will work with Mario Maker, so that characters like Zelda and the Wii Fit Trainer can appear in the game with the tap of a figurine on the GamePad controller. The new “Skylanders Superchargers” Wii U game also will work with special Bowser and Donkey Kong amiibo. And the coming “Yoshi’s Wooly World,” a beautiful platform adventure game in which the dinosaur runs through a world made of digital yarn and cloth, will have plush amiibos when it goes on sale this October.

The 3DS portable console got some love at E3 as well. Nintendo has a new “Hyrule Warriors Legends” adventure game coming early next year for the hand-held, and “Metroid Prime Federation Force” is a four-player shooting game that lets friends play online. There’s also a “Legend of Zelda” game coming this fall called “Zelda Triforce Heroes,” which lets players solve puzzles and traverse through dungeons with other players online.

One thing Nintendo disappointingly made no mention: the new Zelda title for the Wii U, which it showed a brief trailer of last year at the big show. The unnamed game is still under development, but it’s a no-show so far this year.

Google’s Nest adds home-monitoring camera to suite of smart-home products

Nest Labs, the home automation company owned by Google, has announced the Nest Cam, the newest addition to theirrange of connected devices.

A connected home-monitoring camera with microphone, speaker, motion sensors and night-vision, the Nest Cam is a redesigned version of the highly regarded home camera manufactured by Dropcam, which Nest acquired in June 2014 for $555 million.

Shooting video in 1080p high-definition with a wide-angle glass lens and three megapixel sensor, the Nest Cam retails for €199, and can upload 10-30 days worth of continuous video to the newly announced Nest Aware cloud service. The additional Nest Aware cloud service costs either €10 or €30 a month for the different storage options.

Nest also announced a redesigned version of the Nest Protect, a fire, smoke and CO2 alarm, with new sensors to detect fast-spreading fires.

Software announcements included upgraded software for Nest’s original learning thermostat, first launched in 2011, as well as version 5.0 of its mobile app for controlling and interacting with Nest’s suite of products.

Co-founded by former Apple vice president Tony Fadell and former Apple engineer Matt Rogers in 2010, Nest Labs was acquired by Google in January 2014 for $3.2 billion.

“At Nest, we always wanted to build more than a thermostat,” said Nest chief executive Fadell. “Our vision was to create a thoughtful home, a home that takes care of itself and the people in it. Five years later, all the pieces are in place.”

Nest’s general manager for Europe, Lionel Paillet, said “We have three products today, they work well on their own, they work better together, and they work great with third-party products.”

The so-called Internet of Things category of internet-connected devices has long been seen as a major growth area by technology companies, with numerous manufacturers now developing home automation products.

In recent weeks, both Google and Apple have focused on the area with software announcements – Google unveiled Brillo operating system for connected devices, while Apple revealed details about its HomeKit framework for communicating with and controlling connected accessories.

Deutsche Bank Reiterates Buy Rating On Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Stock

According to a research note published on Wednesday, Deutsche Bank has reiterated a Buy rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock with a price target of $55. The sell-side research firm hosted a lunch meeting on Tuesday with approximately 20 investors to exchange insights on Microsoft.

Deutsche Bank noted that the stock has been trending down modestly after hitting a peak of $49 in late April. The firm believes that the downward trend is due to unusual strong move in the stock, following the March quarter results as well as recent weak PC market news. The investors mostly focus on cloud transition, the state of the PC market, and how the stock would react if Microsoft was to acquire Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).

The bull case focuses on the cloud transition story, with Office 365 and Azure now providing 7% of the revenue mix and growing more than 100%. The operating expense story and the stability of Microsoft’s Server product revenue were mentioned far less in the bull scenario. The bulls also argued that the pending Windows accounting change and associated GAAP earnings per share (EPS) cuts are in the stock already, as are weak PC market trends.

The bearish side of the investors focuses on near-term and secular PC growth concerns with consensus view mixed at best, without any Win 10 lift in the second-half of 2015. The bears also discuss skepticism about the cloud transition, mostly saying that is it a drag on margins or will it cannibalize on-premise workloads. The bears also question about Office 365 growth being offset by the decline in traditional license Office.

Deutsche Bank analyst, Karl Keirstead stated, “We conclude that the weak PC market is largely in the stock (the PC-centric Windows OEM business is now just 12% of MSFT’s rev mix), the cloud transition story is additive and will lift sentiment for some time.” He further added that Microsoft’s valuation multiple will appear more reasonable to the skeptics as EPS growth recovers in fiscal-year 2016 (FY16).

According to Bloomberg, 23 analysts rate Microsoft stock a Buy, 14 recommend it a Hold, and only seven tag a Sell. The consensus 12-month price target on the stock is $49.9 showing an upside potential of 9.6% on the current trading price.

The stock is currently trading down 0.87% at $45.43 as of 1:06 PM EDT. Since the start of the year, the stock experienced a decline of 3.42% with an average daily trading volume of 29.27 million shares.

Microsoft Corporation Shakes Up Leadership Team

In an e-mail to employees, Nadella said the change will allow Microsoft to “deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace.”

He also emphasized that Microsoft has three interconnected and bold ambitions: (1)reinvent productivity and business processes,(2) build the intelligent cloud platform, and (3) create more personal computing.

Changes to Microsoft senior leadership team

According to Nadella, he made a decision to organize Microsoft’s engineering efforts into three groups to work together to deliver on the company goal and strategy.

Terry Myerson will lead Windows and Devices Group (WDG), which combines the engineering efforts of the current Operating Systems Groupo and Microsoft Devices Group (MDG) led by Stephen Elop.

According to Nadella, the WDG brings together all the engineering capability required to drive breakthrough innovations that would bring the Windows ecosystem forward. It would also position Windows as a service across Microsoft devices including Lumia, Surface, HoloLens, Surface Hun, Band, and Xbox.

Scott Guthrie will continue to lead the Cloud and Enterprise (C+E). The team is focused on building the intelligent cloud platform of Microsoft. It would also concentrate in building high-value infrastructure and business services that are unique to customers such as data, analytics products, business processes, security, and management offerings.

The Dynamics products development teams will join the C&E team to accelerate further the company’s work on ERP and CRM.

Qi Lu will continue to lead the Application and Services Group (ASG), which is focused on reinventing productivity. The team is leading the development of productivity services for digital across all devices. Nadella said Microsoft’s engineering efforts to build a solution for education would be transferred to the ASG team.

Stephen Elop retires

Nadella also announced that Stephen Elop’s retirement. Elop led the Operating Systems Group and Microsoft Devices Group when he returned to Microsoft after its $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s devices and services business.

“Stephen and I have agreed that now is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft. I regret the loss of leadership that this represents, and look forward to seeing where his next destination will be,” said Nadella.

Three other executives including Kiril Tatarinov, Eric Rudder, and Mark Penn also decided to leave Microsoft to explore other opportunities.

5 Personalization Tips to Grow Your Ecommerce Business

We all know that personalization and customization can go a long way toward building a relationship with potential buyers. The thing is, personalization is so much more than just greeting the customer by name when they visit your website. That’s a great first step, but it’s not the only benefit you can get out of gathering information about your customers. Want to know what else you can do? Here are some tips.

Offer Custom Content

No matter what you sell on your ecommerce site, we’re sure that you haven’t shared all the possible information about every single product. The things you can’t fit on your website don’t have to languish forever. Instead, create helpful guides, ebooks, white papers, case studies, checklists, how-to instructions, tutorials, and anything else you can think of to get that information into the hands of your buyers.

When you have information that buyers are searching for specific products, offer them the applicable content to help them make up their minds. After they make a purchase, provide them with the tutorials and instructions they need to make the most of their products.

Sell scarves? Offer an ebook with ten different ways to wear that new scarf. Sell lawnmowers? Give a spec sheet that compares the various mowers each customer researches. There really will be something for everyone at any point in the buying journey.

Move Buyers Through the Journey

Speaking of the buyer's journey, personalization helps you guide those buyers through every point from awareness to delight. The ultimate faux pas after meeting someone is to introduce yourself again the next time you see him or her as if you’ve never met before. If only you had some way to remember who you’d met before, how many times you’d met, how interested they were in what you had to offer, and how close they were to making a purchase.

With personalization options on your ecommerce website, you can track each and every customer through every step of the buying process. You’ll know when to start greeting them by name, when to send them more information about the products that interest them, and which products to recommend. 

Provide Better Product Recommendations

Oh, the product recommendations! Most ecommerce businesses attempt upselling and cross-selling with product recommendations. What are those recommendations usually based on? In many cases, they’re based on what previous buyers purchased. Since not every buyer is created equally—and sometimes people just buy really weird stuff—the recommendations aren’t always relevant.

By using the information you gather on each and every buyer, you can craft much more relevant recommendations. For instance, if someone is searching for lawnmowers, you could show them various mowers with similar specs. It wouldn’t be way off base to show them a weed trimmer, either. If, however, you threw in a patio table umbrella just because the last person who bought a mower also bought an umbrella, you’d only succeed in confusing your current customer.

Improve Segmentation

Because consumers aren’t all created alike, you’ll need to work hard and often on segmenting your buyers according the wants, wishes, tastes, income, and any other descriptor you can think of. Absolutely every segmentation you can think of will apply.

For instance, Molly and Sue may both be female, between age thirty and thirty-five, and have roughly the same income. Does that mean they’re always lumped together? Of course not. Molly is married with kids and lives in the Midwest. Sue is single and ready to mingle and living in Manhattan. The amount of income they have to spend on online purchases, the types of items they’ll buy, the weather where they live—all of these things are different, and they’ll affect the marketing messages they react to.

Use Segmentation to Your Benefit 

When you can segment your buyers with every bit of information you know about them, you have the ability to use that information at any given time. For instance, what if you had a pop-up message for all buyers experiencing sunny weather offering a discount on your best sunscreen moisturizers just for that day? Those who have rain and humidity would probably appreciate a frizz-control hair product ad instead.

You can use segmenting a million different ways, and all of those ways will help you build strong relationships with loyal customers. It’s yet another way you can surprise and delight consumers so they stick around for more and bigger purchases.

Facebook Ex-Finance Chief Starts Behavioral Health-Care Company

David Ebersman, who took Facebook Inc. public as its chief financial officer, now has a venture of his own.

Ebersman’s startup is called Lyra Health, focused on using data to improve treatment of behavioral disorders including depression, anxiety and addiction. It is backed by Ebersman and Venrock, the venture capital firm.

Ebersman, who worked at Genentech Inc. before joining Facebook, said he left the social networking company last year in part to get back into the health care industry. He left with Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s blessing, he said.

Zuckerberg “very much believed in the idea that if there’s something important to you, you have to take a shot at it, even if it’s hard,” Ebersman said in an interview. Several of Facebook’s former executives have launched startups on their own, including Quip Inc., by former chief technology officer Bret Taylor, and Asana, the workplace productivity company by co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.

Ebersman plans to make technology for employers, insurers and hospitals that helps analyze treatment outcomes and coordinate care.

“In the current system, far too many patients are undiagnosed, and those who are diagnosed aren’t getting the right treatment,” he said. “Depression and anxiety are very high on the list in terms of cost drivers and issues that negatively affect productivity.”

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Google Cash Above Dividend-Shunning Peers Spurs Call for Payout

The time has come for Google Inc. to join Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other peers in technology by introducing a dividend, according to Charles Sizemore, chief investment officer of Sizemore Capital Management.

Google, the owner of the most popular Internet search service, has shunned cash payouts since going public in 2004. It’s one of a 11 U.S.-based companies with market values of more than $50 billion that aren’t paying dividends, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The attached chart compares the 11 companies’ cash, equivalents and investments maturing in a year or less as a percentage of total assets at the end of their latest fiscal quarters. Google had the highest proportion, 49.1 percent. The company, based in Mountain View, California, finished the first quarter with holdings of $65.4 billion.

“It’s time to grow up, wear your big-boy pants and start paying a dividend,” Sizemore wrote two days ago in a posting about Google. He wrote in an e-mail yesterday that he didn’t own shares for himself or his Dallas-based firm’s clients.

Google might consider starting with $1.5 billion of dividends annually, he wrote in the posting. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, paid $11.2 billion during the past four quarters. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, distributed $9.7 billion.

To be sure, Google’s cash-to-assets figure as of March 31 was the lowest since the third quarter of 2008. The percentage was in line with two of the largest Chinese Internet companies: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., at 49.3 percent, and Baidu Inc., at 56.5 percent

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Lutron Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit review:

 hasn't been a very vocal partner of Apple's HomeKit home automation system, but all that changed with this week's retail launch of the $230 Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit. It comes complete with a Siri-enabled Smart Bridge hub, two plug-in light dimmer modules, two remote controls and an iOS app for your phone, tablet and Apple Watch. (UK and Australian availability has yet to be announced, but the US price converts to around £150 or AU$295.)

Although this is just the first piece of HomeKit hardware to see the light of day, it's surprisingly full-featured, responsive and simple to use. I was able to control plug-in lamps with dimmable LEDs using Siri, the mobile app and the Apple Watch with only a couple of minor setbacks. From setting up the hardware to telling Siri to "Turn on the lights," the entire experience was a true pleasure.

$230 is a lot to spend for a couple of dimmers, but Lutron's streamlined HomeKit solution is recommended if you're an iOS adherent looking to dive into home automation.

One hub to rule them all

Lutron's hardware works exceptionally well, but it's the least interesting thing about this kit. We already reviewed the original Lutron Smart Bridge last year with the same two-outlet plug-in dimmers and remotes.

This new HomeKit-exclusive hub looks pretty much the same as, if not identical to, the original. It's a slab of white plastic that connects to your router and helps translate Clear Connect to lighting accessories, so you can dim your LED, halogen and incandescent bulbs, set schedules and more via the companion Lutron Android or iOS app. That's where things start to get interesting.

You can still find the original Smart Bridge hub on Amazon for $120 as a standalone device (although it will be phased out soon) and plug-in dimmer and remote kits for 60 bucks each. That's $240 for the original hub and the same accessories -- $10 more than this new kit with the HomeKit-specific hub, two dimmers and two remotes. I really liked the original hub, but this second generation one offers a lot more features (but only if you're an iOS devotee).

Lutron told us that this kit would be in Apple Stores throughout North and South America (with the exception of Brazil) as well as on Amazon starting June 2, but we were unable to find them in our local store in Louisville, KY. It wasn't available in any other stores in the surrounding area, nor even in the NY Apple stores as of this writing. The company ended up sending us a kit directly instead. That means that you may not be able to find this kit right away, but it should be en route to an Apple Store near you soon.

Ready, steady, go

Although Lutron has updated its app to account for Siri integration since I reviewed the original hub and accessories, setting everything up works roughly the same as it did before. Connect the Smart Bridge to the router and follow the instructions on the app to pair any accessories. Since this kit comes with two plug-in dimmers and two remotes, I followed the instructions to pair those specific products.

This was really straightforward, with one small exception. To pair the dimmers and the remotes, you have to press and hold their "off" buttons until the LED indicator starts blinking rapidly (as pictured above). If you don't press it in exactly the right spot and in exactly the right way, it won't work. And if you want to reset one of the accessories, you have to follow a series of overly complicated rhythmic button presses that border on ridiculous. Setup was simple otherwise, though.

There are a lot of ways to approach this system, but it's very basic at its core. You can plug up to two lamps into a single module and each module has its own built-in controls. So where you can only control a Belkin WeMo Insight Switch from the WeMo app (or through another software platform, like IFTTT), you can actually turn your lamps on or off and even dim them from the Lutron plug itself. The paired remotes act as an extension of that functionality too.

Then, you have the Lutron app. Forgetting any of the HomeKit features for the moment, the app is very comprehensive, allowing for a whole host of custom schedules and scenes as well as standard on, off and dimmer capabilities. This gives you the opportunity to interact with your lighting whether you're connected to your home network or on a distant cellular or Wi-Fi network.

I particularly liked its geofencing feature; it worked flawlessly. You can set it to automatically turn your lights off when you leave and on when you return and even adjust the distance threshold. There's also an option you can set that will only turn your lights on if you return home after sunset. In general, though, accessing the lights from the plugs, the remotes and the app all work remarkably well. They are reliable, responsive and straightforward, even when I tested with a handful of different dimmable LED brands and models.

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Can 4K TVs make 'regular' HD content look better?

New 4K Ultra High Definition TVs promise incredible detail with higher resolution. But with most content in non-4K, 1080p resolutions, is this even possible?

If you listen to the marketing from TV manufacturers, it seems TVs with 4K resolution will deliver a massive boost in picture quality.

And, if you're lucky enough to actually have a source of real 4K video -- one with the same 3,840x2,160-pixel resolution as 4K TVs -- you may well be able to see additional detail. (4K TVs -- also known as Ultra HD sets -- are so named because that 3,840-pixel horizontal resolution is almost 4,000 pixels wide. 4K TV is less of a mouthful than 3.84K TV.)

But real 4K video sources are still few and between, which means most of us will be watching content in good, old-fashioned "regular" high-def: 1,920x1,080 (1080i or 1080p) or 1,280x720 (720p), both of which have far fewer pixels than 4K.

Since that'll be the case for many years to come, how much would a 4K TV actually improve the picture?

The short answer is that a 4K TV could improve the picture a bit in the best cases -- but don't expect miracles. Most 4K TVs use a process called upconverting (or upscaling) to convert incoming sources to fit their 4K screens. Done right, it can add to the perceived detail of the image, but you'll have to look pretty hard, and sit pretty close, to see the difference.

What follows is the longer answer why. We've covered this issue before when talking about converting standard-definition to high-definition, but with 4K TVs becoming more prevalent, it's time for an update.

Upconverting, upscaling and scaling explained

Here's the problem. Your 4K TV has a resolution of 3,840x2,160 pixels. Pretty much all cable, satellite, streaming, gaming, Blu-ray and other video content is 1,920x1,080 pixels (which is called 1080p and 1080i) or 1,280x720 (called 720p).

If you were to watch 1080p content on your 2160p TV without upconverting, it would look like this:

All 4K resolution TVs have four times as many pixels as 1080p TVs. Put another way, they have four times as much screen real-estate to fill.

The math and logic behind how an image is scaled (and scaled well) is way beyond the scope of this article. The basics are this: detail refers to how sharp the edges are. The finer the edges, the more apparent detail, for the most part. A scaler figures out what's an edge, and then makes some assumptions as to how to make that edge finer.

It's not magic

The thing is, this isn't magic -- nor is it perfect. Unlike TV shows and movies that can "zoom in" to read a fingerprint on security camera footage from 20 yards away, real-world scaling can do a little but can't work miracles.

Here's an example I made to demonstrate the subtle differences in detail when scaling images.

First is a 1,920x1,080-pixel portion of a photo I took. The second image is that same one, sized down to 540x304, then enlarged as to fill a 1,920x1,080 screen. I'm using HD instead of 4K resolutions because the process is the same and 4K images would be larger than most computer screens.

Not a subtle difference, right? Yes, this is an extreme example, but I think you get the general idea of what's going on.

Here's one more. This is that same blown-up 540x304 image, but this time scaled up with Photoshop, with a bit of detail enhancement.

A lot better, right? Still not perfect, but it definitely looks sharper.

So can good scaling make a 1080p image look good on a 4K TV? Compared to that same content badly upconverted, yes. In CNET's reviews of the better 4K TVs, we've found that 1080p Blu-ray upconverted to the 4K screens looks great, although not appreciably better than 1080p on a 1080p TV.

It's also worth noting just because content is in 4K resolution, that does not necessarily mean it's "good." I've seen some convincing demos where pristine upconverted 1080p content was shown on a 4K TV, side-by-side with the true 4K version of the same content on a second identical 4K TV. It was hard to tell the difference, even up close.

But that wasn't a real-world demo. In the real world, most content isn't pristine. In the real world, streaming 4K content from Netflix or Amazon can look worse than 1080p Blu-ray. CNET's hands-on comparisons of 4K streaming (and 4K from a Samsung UHD content pack and from Sony's 4K video player) versus Blu-ray showed very little difference for the most part, and at times the Blu-ray looked better.

That said, the best 1080p content is never going to look as good the best 4K content. It's just not possible.

Lower-than high-def sources

Upconversion is more difficult with lower resolution sources. Standard-definition TV, DVD and even 720p HDTV programs aren't going to look any better on a 4K TV. You can't get water from a stone.

And it's worth remembering that the more you sharpen an image, the more you accentuate the flaws present in lower-grade content, such as noise or macroblocking.

So will a 4K TV displaying lower resolution sources look worse than on a 1080p TV?

That depends on the TV. Will this older, lower-resolution content still be watchable on a 4K TV? Generally, yes. Some videophiles may balk, but for the most part the image will be soft, but not bad. But again, it can depend on the TV. Which brings us to...

Almost every TV

Just because a TV is 4K doesn't mean it has a good scaler built-in. On cheaper 4K TVs, for instance, you probably save money because of a sub-par scaler. So in these cases, 1080p content probably won't look any better (and possibly worse).

Sadly, as far as scaling performance is concerned, you usually get what you pay for.

Bottom line

Like any marketing, take the claims from TV manufacturers with a grain of salt. Good upconversion can improve the apparent detail in an image; I've seen side-by-side demos that make 1080p look nearly as sharp as 4K. Admittedly these were put on by a company which makes scalers, but the potential is there, just as it was in going from standard to high definition.

To get the most out of your 4K TV, you need good 4K content. There isn't a lot now, but there will be more soon. In the meantime, a TV with a good scaler can make 1080p look slightly more detailed, than it would on a similarly-performing 1080p TV. Presuming, of course, you're sitting close enough.

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Ecommerce aggregator iPrice raises $550,000, sets sights on Southeast Asian markets

After global financial services firm UBS came out with a striking projection for ecommerce in Southeast Asia – a fivefold growth to US$35 billion by 2020 from about US$1.1 billion today – startups operating in this space are making sure they won’t miss out.

Malaysia-based iPrice, a site that aggregates a multitude of ecommerce sites in Southeast Asia into a single shopping destination, is upping its game. The startup has raised US$550,000 in seed funding from Asia Venture Group (AVG) to double down on its machine learning algorithms and compete with the likes of Pricepanda and Save22.

Established in October 2014, co-founder Heinrich Wendel says the website aims to create an enjoyable shopping experience by giving consumers not only a visual but intuitive way of discovering products. Whereas other sites in the space are all about comparing prices, he explains that iPrice focuses on narrowing down – through an easy-to-use search and filter interface – the vast volume of products online to suit a user’s preference.

“No matter whether you are looking for a blue and black dress, three-inch high heels, a solid backpack, or a classic Chesterfield sofa, we will show you where you can get the best offer,” he adds.

Shoppers browse through millions of products on the site by categories, brands, models, and colors, among other attributes. All products are automatically linked to special promotions and coupons offered by ecommerce stores.

iPrice is already live in Singapore (iprice.sg), Malaysia (iprice.my), Philippines (iprice.ph), Hong Kong (iprice.hk), Thailand (ipricethailand.com), Indonesia (iprice.co.id), and Vietnam (iprice.vn). It offers more than three million products from over 10,000 local and international brands sourced from different ecommerce stores.

Free online marketing

iPrice has already signed up more than 30 ecommerce stores such as Lazada, Zalora, and Luxola. It sources the products on its site using a combination of data feeds stores provide, its own crawler, and an automated classification system. This model appeals to the stores, especially the smaller ones since they no longer need to build up expertise in online marketing to compete against incumbents.

“We know that online marketing services can support retailers in expanding their reach to new target markets and growing their customer base. Therefore, iPrice works with ecommerce sites in the region, offering them an additional channel to market and advertise their products,” notes Wendel.

iPrice assures its partners of a real revenue opportunity, claiming it only sends highly targeted traffic or online shoppers who have a clear intent to buy.

Since its launch, Wendel says traffic on iPrice has been doubling every month. “We have seen tremendous traction – quarter of a million monthly sessions,” Wendel says. While not all of these sessions are successful leads, the conversion rates are high, according to him.

iPrice gets a commission of between five and 15 percent of every sale. Over the last three months, it has booked a revenue of US$1 million.

International expertise

iPrice largely attributes its initial success to the technology it built and to the help it received from investor AVG. “Through them, we quickly acquired international know-how, expertise, and talent in the fields ranging from technology and online marketing to the business side of things.”

AVG is a hands-on, private internet holding firm that focuses on digital distribution models. Its portfolio includes successful investments like iMoney, Trusted Company, and Happy Fresh.

iPrice plans to use the capital it obtained from the VC for two key things. First, it will improve its site by adding more filters so users can really find what they’re looking for and building out its algorithms. “We’ll try to personalize the experience, wherein based on the behavior of the user on the site, we will make personal recommendations. We want to make sure conversion rates for stores are high.”

Second, Wendel says they’re ramping up their sales team to get more ecommerce stores on board.

A universal checkout system is also in the cards, but he says this may take as long as four years.

Curated content

The ecommerce sector has been partly held back by consumers wary of buying stuff online for fear of getting scammed. iPrice addresses this concern by making sure only trusted stores are featured on its site. “We will follow a similar approach and aggregate information about ecommerce platforms. Are they trusted companies? Are they quick in addressing consumer concerns?”

iPrice goes a step further by incorporating valuable content to help consumers in their purchasing decisions. “We’ll provide editorial content such as tips on how you can find out if a product is fake or real.”

Wendel recognizes that every market is a different culture and perspective in terms of what the community wants. Therefore, it employs local talent in all countries it operates in to learn more about those markets.

“We are targeting all 600 million people across Southeast Asia. Every day a new online store opens, there are hundreds in each country, the potential is huge,” he says.

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Automattic buys WooCommerce to get into e-commerce — its largest acquisition to date

Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, is buying WooCommerce, a popular e-commerce platform built on WordPress with over $1 million in monthly recurring revenue.

Automattic chief and WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg announced the deal today, but declined to share the terms of the deal. Here’s what we know: WooCommerce’s 55 employees are joining Automattic, WooCommerce is currently profitable, and there are no plans (yet) for WooCommerce’s plug-and-play e-commerce service to land on the for-profit WordPress.com.

It’s noteworthy that WooCommerce competes with e-commerce platforms like Shopify (which is going public) and Squarespace.

We spoke to Mullenweg about the deal this morning, one month before his company turns 10 [the interview was abridged by us for readability’s sake]:

VentureBeat: Will any of this tech make it into WordPress.org?

Mullenweg: It’s actually exclusively there. It’s already open source GPL. We don’t have plans currently for it to make it to WordPress.com

VB: Really? I had assumed it would be automatically built into WordPress.com.

Mullenweg: I think it’s a little bit further down the line. There’s a lot to do with the plugin already.

VB: What about Squarespace? Does this acquisition make you more competitive?

Mullenweg: Absolutely. I would like to think everything we do makes us more competitive. If you look at the data, people are still using WordPress over Squarespace.

We’ve been thinking about this for a really long time — the best way to bring e-commerce to the WordPress world…

VB: Automattic turns ten next month — what’s next?

Mullenweg: We’ll talk about that soon. We’re really focused on Woo today. We have two major lines: WordPress.com, Jetpack, and this is adding a third. It’s far and away our biggest acquisition. It’s six times larger than anything we’ve done before.

VB: This deal seems to be about making WordPress a one-click tool.

Mullenweg: It’s definitely not easy to do. We have teams inside Automattic working on it. The challenge is bringing it to a wider audience. Things like e-commerce definitely bring us closer … it’s thousands and thousands of small improvements every day.

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Alibaba’s eCommerce Competitor JD Invests $171M in ERP Software Firm Kingdee

Alibaba’s eCommerce competitor JD (JingDong)  has announced that it will invest $171 million in Chinese ERP software firm Kingdee, for about 10% of the shares. Both firms have entered into a strategic partnership and the transaction is expected to be closed in second quarter of 2015.

JD wants to further explore its eCommerce and logistics IT solutions. Hence, Kingdee’s integrated ERP solution will be integrated into the enterprise cloud platform migration program to better meet the needs of the growing Chinese market enterprise-class solutions.

Founded in 1993, Kingdee International Software Group Co. makes enterprise resource planning software to manage various aspects of a business like inventory, manufacturing, logistics, expenses and sales. More than 4 million businesses use its services worldwide and it claims to have over 50 million subscribers.

Earlier this year, JD had launched an initiative to bring imported food items to its tens of millions of Chinese customers, to compete against Alibaba which has grown its selection of imported goods. It has also invested in vacation and tourism booking site, Tuniu and U.S. based wearable startup, Misfit among others to grow its eCommerce portfolio even stronger.

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