Artificial Intelligence

Armonk, N.Y. – Retailers are suffering fewer cyber attacks, but for hackers it is becoming a situation of quality over quantity. According to findings released by IBM, despite a 50% decline in the number of cyber attacks against U.S. retailers, the number of records stolen from them remains at near record highs.

While retailers are sorting how to capitalize on wearable technology, Intel is betting that that smart glass manufacturer Vuzix will play a role.

Vuzix began selling its flagship M100 Smart Glasses on Amazon prior to the holiday and more recently Intel invested $24.8 million in the company. The investment gives Intel 48,626 shares of Vuzix’ preferred stock and the opportunity to convert those shares into common stock that would give Intel a 30 percent ownership stake in the company.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Intel Corp. has made a $24.8 million investment into Vuzix Corp., a provider of  wearable display technology video eyewear and smart glasses products in the consumer, commercial and entertainment markets. Vuzix is focused on next-generation optics and displays that have the potential to fit in fashion-based wearable glasses.  

Intel's investment will be used for general working capital to accelerate the introduction of Vuzix next generation fashion-based wearable display products into the consumer market.

Retailers are always looking for ways to operate more efficiently and it appears a similar philosophy is being employed by cyber thieves who covet their massive trove of personal information.

Last week, I took a look back at three technologies that disrupted retail in 2014. Now that we are kicking off the first work week of the New Year, it’s time to look ahead at three technologies likely to disrupt retail in 2015.

Wearables

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Join Oracle Retail VP of strategy Andrea Morgan-Vandome on Tuesday Jan. 6 at noon ET as she shares the new developments of 14.1 combined with functionality through the acquisition of Micros. In this interactive webinar, attendees will hear first-hand how Oracle is able to delve deeper into mission-critical initiatives and offer retail-rich functionality.  

The new year will bring more fraud than ever before, but also more tools to prevent it, according to three experts from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).

The experts at ACFE were asked for their top fraud predictions for 2015. They weighed in on digital currencies, information security and other issues that will help shape the effort to prevent and detect fraud in the new year:

 

DO embrace technology: It can show you what you need BEFORE you set your feet on the ground. Google Earth/Street view can give you a sense of the macro-features, but remember that these online technologies can be six to 12 months out of date.

DO get a solid read on pedestrian traffic counts: Retailers thrive on quantity and quality of traffic. Technology exists to place traffic counters (passive devices) on properties to get not only the body count but also to identify the busiest hours, busiest days of the week and more.