CES 2021 is in session, Parler’s controversy continues as it goes from number 1 to where’d it go, and a new retail policy where you can just keep your return items.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, January 12, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A virtual CES is upon us. There’s a lot more to come later this week, but some news is beginning to drop already. Panasonic Automotive has unveiled its first fully wireless Wi-Fi camera. It sticks to the back of trailers to provide an unobstructed view of the traffic conditions around the vehicle. Another unique product is the MaskFone which combines a machine-washable fabric mask with an N95 filter, a built-in microphone, and attached earbuds. You can experience clearer sounding phone calls with it as well. Cars with all screen dashboards are the new interior look. Mercedes-Benz EQS electric luxury sedan is showcasing its new digital dashboard where the passenger display can play video and the driver display shows gauges. Stay tuned to ITWorldCanada.com this week for the latest from CESA. [Twitter]
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Parler CEO Says Service Dropped By “Every Vendor” And Could End His Business from technology
It took only 48 hours for Parler to go from No. 1 on the App Store to disappearing entirely off of the face of the earth. It’s been quite a week for Parler. After Twitter suspended Trump’s account, many right-wing influencers told followers to head to Parler. Parler jumped to the top of the App store until it was taken down by Amazon and Google. On Sunday, Parler suddenly disappeared from the top charts of various app stores. Its CEO told Fox News that it would “get back online as quickly as possible,” and that Parler could be down for up to a week as it desperately searches for another web provider to host its service.
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Got some clothes you want to return? Meh, keep them. As online shopping spurs, lots of gift returns some retailers are saying just keep it. Amazon and Walmart are starting off by using AI to decide if it’s cheaper to refund the purchase price but leave certain products — like those that are cheap or hard to ship — with customers so they can either keep or donate them. This follows the boom of e-commerce sales this past holiday season as sales reached nearly $70.5 billion according to an estimate from CBRE Group. [LinkedIn]
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. We’re going to draw a winner for our latest contest this Wednesday, so if you haven’t already, tell us what you think was last year’s biggest Canadian tech story. Let us know on Twitter @ITWorldCa, or leave a comment on the show notes for this episode at ITWorldCanada.com. Respondents will be entered into a draw for a chance to win an IT World Canada mug! I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening!