Artificial Intelligence

President and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce, Neil Ashe, made a cameo appearance during Walmart’s fourth quarter earnings presentation to shed light on omnichannel investments that caused the company to forecast 2013 profits below analysts’ estimates.

Walmart’s forecast first quarter earnings in the range of $1.11 to $1.16 and full year earnings in the range of $5.20 to $5.40. Embedded in those numbers are huge investments in ecommerce that will cost the company about nine cents a share.

MALIBU, Calif. — Toy maker Jakks Pacific reported that net sales for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $133.5 million, compared with $141.1 million reported in the comparable period in 2011.

The reported net loss for the fourth quarter was $119.5 million, or $5.45 per diluted share. This compares with a net loss of $20 million, or 77 cents per diluted share.

Brian Michon was named chief technology officer at Cartera Commerce, a Boston-based provider of card-based marketing solutions for merchants, banks and loyalty programs.

In his new role at Cartera, Michon, a former vp of engineering at Intuit, is expected to drive Cartera’s card-linked offer technology strategy and lead the company’s development, operations and solution delivery teams.

Jim Farrell has joined Stratacache’s interactive media subsidiary enVu to lead the sales effort for a new gestural ad network with intriguing retail applications.

Farrell will be responsible for building and overseeing the sales efforts for enVu’s five North American sales regions including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit and will focus on cultivating a successful sales and customer service team.

General Motors’ director of information technology, Kim Clower, and Walmart vp of strategy for innovation, governanance and communications are keynote speakers for the 9th annual Women in IT Conference.

The event, presented by the Information Technology Research Institute at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, will focus on celebrating innovation and developing opportunities for women in technology. It will be held at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Ar.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — As mobile commerce grows in popularity, the need for IT professionals is rising, according to a new survey about IT risk factors for 2013 published by global consulting firm Protiviti. The 2013 IT Priorities Survey (www.protiviti.com/ITsurvey), designed to help IT departments classify areas in need of attention in order to better execute the function's strategic mandate, found that IT executives are struggling to manage the wide variety of technology risk, regulatory compliance and performance challenges that now face them.

NEW YORK -- Google is looking to extend its presence in the retail space, by opening freestanding stores in the United States.

According to a report by online site 9to5Google, the first flagship locations will open in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season.

“Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase," the website reported.

By Gregg Brunnick, sdinfo@ea.epson.com