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Epic Games' next headquarters will replace a local shopping mall
Epic Games is buying the local shopping mall to turn it into the 'Fortnite' developer's headquarters by 2024.
Amazon may turn dying JC Penney and Sears stores into warehouses
Amazon is reportedly in talks to convert department stores in malls to fulfillment centers for its online shopping business.
A humanoid is born in a Turkish robotics factory
The Uncanny Valley posits that robots get exponentially creepier the closer they look to humans -- take Nadine the social robot, RealDoll and the Geminoids (please). However, a company called Akin Robotics in Turkey has proved that robots don't need to look like humans at all to evoke the "ugh" factor. It recently unveiled a new factory that will produce an Eyes Without a Face-like model that will surprise, delight and terrify visitors at airports and elsewhere.
Google might set up Pixel 2 retail stores in India
India is the world's second largest smartphone market, second only to China. It makes sense, then, that Google would want to push hard to sell its Pixel 2 phones in the region. According to a new report at The Economic Times, the company is planning to open brick and mortar retail stores in India to do just that.
Nokia links up with Bluetooth 4.0 for indoor positioning, because anything Google can do, it can do better
Not to be outdone by the mobile mammoth that is Google, Nokia's prepping its own version of indoor maps for wireless users. Rather than run the risk of being a me too! product, Espoo's Research labs have chosen Bluetooth 4.0 as the main ingredient for its in development location service. The Finnish company's hoping to get a slew of partners onboard so it can begin outfitting retail shops, malls and other well-trodden public spaces with inexpensive antenna arrays that would track a user's movements via device-embedded Bluetooth tags. But indoor positioning for mobile-wielding users isn't the only endgame here, as the tech could also find its way into shopping carts -- useful for gathering analytics on consumer habits. It's certainly a privacy trade-off, but by now you should be well comfy with the notion that digital convenience always comes at a cost. Hit up the source below to take a peek at the proposed equipment.
Malls halt cellphone-tracking experiment after complaint from Senator Schumer
As you may have heard last week, two US malls (the Promenade Temecula in Southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Virginia) decided to conduct a little experiment this holiday shopping season, in which they employed some cellphone-tracking technology in an effort to learn more about individuals' shopping patterns. That technology came from a company called Path Intelligence, which has previously outfitted UK malls with the system, and assures folks that it only detects cellphone signals, not phone numbers or other personal data. Those assurances apparently weren't enough for US Senator Chuck Schumer, however, who sent letters to both the FTC and the CEO of Path Intelligence, complaining that the tracking was "simply unreasonable," and that a "shopper should not have to choose between the ability to be in touch with friends and family in case of emergency and safeguarding her privacy." While it's unclear if it's in direct response to the Senator's letter, the company that owns both malls has reportedly shut down the tracking systems after only a day of use, although it isn't commenting publicly on the matter just yet. You can find Senator Schumer's full statement at the source link below.
Apple opening store in Anchorage, Alaska
Apple will open its most northerly store in Anchorage, Alaska, later this year according to ifoAppleStore. It will be nearly 300 miles north of the current most northerly store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. Apple is currently advertising for retail staff to work in the space that it's taking over from the Eddie Bauer chain (don't worry, Eddie Bauer is only moving downstairs) in the city's Fifth Avenue Mall. At 61 degrees north, Anchorage is about 600 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The new Apple Store seems likely to remain its most northerly outpost for a while unless the citizens of Murmansk get up a petition to be granted their own Genius Bar.
Paris and Palo Alto getting new Apple Stores
ifoAppleStore has news of two new stores opening up soon. First up, Paris is getting another new store (in addition to the Opera store opened there recently) in the Carré Sénart shopping and entertainment complex, about 30 miles south of downtown. The area is reportedly quite built up as a commercial complex, so it sounds about right for an Apple Store to be there as well. That store is scheduled to open by November. Palo Alto, right near me in California, is also getting another store, though this time to replace the one that's already here. Instead of closing and re-opening the store, Apple apparently plans to demolish another building a few blocks away (seen above) and build a brand new store in its place. The new store design will have a glass entrance and roof, and it will use natural light to connect the inside with the outside. It sounds great -- the new store will probably be up and running sometime in 2012. [via MacStories]
Shopkick, Best Buy team up to use location-based app for loyalty program
I've been a member of Best Buy's rewards program for a little while now -- as long as I'm spending way too much of my hard-earned money at the big box retailer, I figure I might as well try to get some of it back. And I was pretty impressed with what they've done on their website with the program -- you can track your status and check out whatever deals are available to you whenever you sign in. And now, Best Buy has partnered up with an iPhone app called Shopkick, set to go live later this week. Shopkick is an app designed to automatically "check-in" with partnered retailers, so you can earn rewards bucks or other loyalty currencies whenever you stop by a specific retail location. Instead of using GPS, the app uses the smartphone's speaker to pick up a certain audio signal being played in-store, so "checking-in" at a Best Buy with the signal running will apparently grant rewards or discounts to customers. I don't know if the process actually appeals to me, even as a loyal Best Buy customer -- I haven't been interested in the whole "check-in" fad, and Shopkick sounds more like adware than anything else. But we've heard already that Apple themselves are interested in location-based networking, and this seems like exactly the kind of system that retailers and app creators alike are trying to build, enticing customers to visit and interact with brands and products in their stores. Shopkick goes live later this week and has already partnered with 25 malls in cities across the US, so we'll see how customers react to it.
First pic of Microsoft retail store's construction -- both Abercrombie & Fitch visibly nervous
Here you have it, folks. We knew this was coming, but the first photographic evidence of a Microsoft retail store under construction has just come to us -- via the company's Twitter account -- and we have to say, it brought a few tears of joy to our eyes. The first two stores are set to be opened in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California this fall. Wonder if the inside will look anything like those plans we saw?
Wii demo kiosks to be under supervision?
We suppose any Wii is better than no Wii, but having to battle it out in a round of Excite Truck with a proudly-pinned employee watching over each shoulder just seems a bit idiosyncratic. While we already know that Wal-Mart isn't planning on hiring any more smiling faces to oversee the presumably fractious gaming crowd, you just might find a few "helpful staff members" at your side while flinging the Wiimote in your local GameStop. Nintendo's George Harrison has insinuated that all Wii demo stations will feature untethered controllers, but store personnel will be eying the players to ensure the nunchuck isn't used as a weapon (and that it doesn't leave in unauthorized pockets). He also noted that the big N has spent "considerable amounts of time" in designed the forthcoming kiosks, and mentioned (vaguely) that they "could be found at retail outlets, malls, the Nintendo Fusion Tour, and other consumer events." While we still aren't exactly sure where you'll wind up finding that ever-elusive Wii demo station, be sure to mind your manners when you finally do.[Via The Wiire]