Microsoft

Recent announcements that Apple will partner with IBM to release more than 100 mobile iOS applications tailored to work with IBM’s data analytics and cloud services, and that Microsoft will focus on digital work innovation in its smartphone segment, serve as reminders that mobile devices are continuing to evolve. Increasingly, mobile devices are offering features that make it easier for retailers to position advanced computational and analytical power at the point of customer contact. Here are three ways upcoming changes in the capabilities of mobile devices will affect retail.

Naperville, Ill. – Arba Retail Systems has released a new mobile POS solution. Built specifically for Microsoft Surface tablet series, this retail management software is compatible with the latest Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Tablet.

The retail version is designed for both single unit and chain stores. The software is built on the latest Microsoft technologies — .NET and MS SQL Server, and compatible with the Windows 8 OS.

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. is enacting a restructuring plan to simplify its organization and align the recently acquired Nokia mobile devices and services business with the company’s overall strategy. These steps will result in the elimination of up to 18,000 positions in the next year.

What if you could replicate the physical in-store experience on the web? The concept sounds incredibly powerful. Retailers could connect product experts with key audiences to demonstrate and sell physical products, just like in-store. The ubiquitous “Can I help you?” chat windows are a pale reflection, at best, of a truly interactive customer experience. It’s impossible to convey the intricate details that make a brand and its products unique in a text-only window.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples is expanding its home and office automation platform, Staples Connect, including a rollout to 500 stores, new pricing for the Staples Connect Hub, and collaborations with Microsoft, Jawbone, and D-Link. Staples is also the first retailer to announce the integration of wearable technology to its platform.

The connected home space is getting crowded with Staples Connect, the newest platform looking to simplify peoples’ lives by putting them in constant contact with their home or business.

Waban, Mass. - After a drop in daily Facebook usage on computers in 2013, U.S. consumers increased their daily use of Facebook, from 42.5% of the population in 2013 to 46.5% in 2014, according to new research by the Temkin Group. The "Social Media Benchmark Study, 2014" examines 10,000 U.S. consumers' use of several different social media sites, on computers and mobile devices, and compares the results to previous studies from 2012 and 2013.

▲ Cloud computing, the remote hosting of applications on virtual platforms for on-demand, Web-based delivery, is on the fast track. Analysts estimate that during the next six years, 90% of new spending on Internet and communications technologies will be on cloud-based technologies.

Cloud computing (which at its simplest means storing and accessing data and programs on the Internet — the cloud — instead of a personal computer) is profoundly impacting how IT professionals implement, deploy and manage technology solutions.