Artificial Intelligence

Veteran information technology executive Joe Zucchero has joined the board of advisors at big data solutions provider Profitect.

Profitect said Zucchero’s expertise in IT operations, cross-organizational implementation, and an understanding of the technology needs of the retail industry aligned perfectly with the company’s suite of solutions.

Virtual Piggy has appointed Sébastien Motte to lead business development in the gaming sector.

Electrolux North America has recently begun production on its first Memphis, Tenn.-made home cooking appliances.

The inaugural products produced at the Memphis facility, the Frigidaire and Frigidaire Gallery slide–in ranges, rolled off the assembly line, were crated and loaded onto trucks for warehousing and retail distribution throughout the United States. This marks the culmination of a two-year construction effort of the $266 million facility.

Beaverton, Ore. -- Digimarc Corp. announced that SharperImage.com is using the Digimarc Discover platform to make it easy for consumers to simultaneously browse print catalogs, research and buy from their mobile device.

Information technology outsourcing (ITO) enables organizations to cut labor and infrastructure costs, improve operating efficiencies and increase flexibility in the IT department. Although certain aspects of retailing are ideally suited to out-of-house automation via ITO, the retail industry as a whole has not embraced ITO as much as some other industries.

Leading diamonds and fine jewelry online retailer Blue Nile has added Scott Howe to its board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Howe is president and CEO of Acxiom Corporation, an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.

Prior to his current role, Howe was corporate VP of Microsoft Advertising Business Groups, where he managed a multibillion-dollar business encompassing all emerging businesses related to online advertising including search, display, in-game, mobile, digital cable and a variety of enterprise software applications.

Allentown, Pa. - POS system and merchant services provider Harbortouch has unveiled its new “future-proof” payment terminal, Perkwave.The solution features a proprietary EMV-enabled credit card terminal integrated with a customer-facing NFC reader.

Lover.ly, a wedding inspiration and shopping site, has appointed founder of Nordstrom.com Bob Schwartz as the company’s first chairman.

As chairman, Schwartz will work closely with founder and CEO Kellee Khalil and the Lover.ly executive team to help shape the company’s long-term strategic growth, business and partnership development, capital strategy and build out Lover.ly’s brand and product pipelines.