Amazon recently launched Amazon Business with features tailored to businesses. It was designed as a response to business customers wanting an experience at work similar to how they shop at home, according to Prentis Wilson, vice pr esident of Amazon Business, who says it offers “features and back-end integration businesses need to save time and money.” … [More]
LifeLock Program for the Workplace
LifeLock’s recently launched product, LifeLock Benefit Elite™ identity theft protection, was created specifically for employers and brokers to offer as a benefit for employees. It is designed to help detect potential fraud, including issues with a 401(k) account, and bring it to the attention of the employee through alerts within the company’s network via email, text or phone. … [More]
Technology Assesses Physical Fitness for the Job
A post-hiring physical involves a host of compliance issues, but technology is giving businesses a way to assess some applicants’ fitness for the job as a simple step in the interview process. “Cost Reduction Technologies came up with a way to test an individual’s strength and agility,” says Melissa Lykins, claims manager for Lovitt & Touché, an insurance and employee … [More]
Geolocation Is a Marketing Find
There are 6 billion smartphones in the world, and the number that have geolocation technology continues to grow. “It’s the largest growth rate ever seen in any technology,” says Andy Lombard, CEO and founder of Socialwhirled, a marketing and technology company based in Phoenix. The marketing landscape is shifting dramatically, and Lombard believes geolocation is important … [More]
Secure Against Internal as well as External Breaches
Diligence against cyber security breaches is as much an issue of internal processes as external threats. In fact, the breach Home Depot so publicly suffered last year was enabled through a pfishing scheme whereby hackers first gained access to a third-party vendor that had access privileges with Home Depot. In the recent survey “Privilege Gone Wild 2” by global cyber … [More]
Securing Mobile Financial Access
Working with financial institutions to provide risk management solutions against the constant evolution of threats, Early Warning is building an ecosystem that will continue to match up with the threat over time. With no direct link itself to the end user, Early Warning’s strategy is collaboration among companies with their own expertise and a consortium model in sharing data … [More]
Communication Control
Consumers “have little control over their messages thanks to autocorrecting tools and the lack of ability to easily fix errors leading to miscommunication,” says Kevin Wooten, reTXT Labs co-founder and CEO. His Tempe-based company’s recently launched app (patent pending) puts users in control of their text conversations by enabling them to edit previously sent messages and to … [More]
IT Staff in Demand
The unemployment rate in Phoenix for IT professionals is half the general unemployment rate. That shortage of talent makes for a very competitive market, and therefore, observes Allan Dunn, managing director of the Phoenix office of IT staffing agency MDI Group, “Businesses must be willing to pay above the median rate based on a skill set.” There is non-salary compensation … [More]
CEI’s Maker Lab Advances Manufacturing Opportunity
The new maker lab at the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation is making 3-D printing available, enabling rapid — and affordable — prototyping to local entrepreneurs and startup companies. PADT StartUpLabs opened last month with five portable and six larger 3-D printers and SolidWorks computer-aided design (CAD) software, along with hand tools and light power tools to support … [More]
Streamlining Mobile Communication
Extended email and message “conversations” among multiple parties can get chaotic and confusing. Offering a “chatlet” technology designed to clear the clutter, Beerud Sheth has launched the messaging app Teamchat. The platform allows users to create their own app to be able to summarize and organize messages, including collating responses to different questions, customizing … [More]
Maximize Creativity
SparcIt recently launched a new creativity assessment trainer platform — a service geared primarily toward consultants, experts and workshop facilitators looking to improve the performance of their employees. The first platform that measures and improves creativity, the service was previously in beta testing with more than 25,000 use-cases through IO psychologists, consultants … [More]
Gilded Age
Newly released, the Gild Platform is a first-of-its-kind technology that brings together all the elements companies need for hiring, and applies data science, consumer-friendly technologies and predictive analytics to every phase of the talent acquisition process. The Gild Platform automates this routine process and helps recruiters make better and smarter hiring decisions, … [More]
Technology Levels the Playing Field
EZBZ uses technology and the Internet to create a marketplace for businesses that does not hinge on first-page Google placement or the most beautiful website. Consumers go to EZBZ’s site and simply post a query for a product or service, EZBZ identifies and notifies local vendors that offer the product or service via an email or text, and the vendors then have the opportunity to … [More]
The ‘Secret Formula’ of App Success
Applications for mobile devices are proliferating at an almost-exponential rate. Many existing businesses have more than one, and some businesses are created specifically around an app. A study recently released from ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business applies analytic research to replace the crystal ball, crossed fingers and specific-market research business owners and app … [More]
Low-Tech Meets the Cloud
Rocketbook is a simple paper notebook that, with the help of an iOS app, quickly and accurately captures images of pages and files them in cloud storage. The microwave-safe pages are also compatible with the off-the-shelf Pilot FriXion heat-sensitive pens. This allows users to reuse a Rockebook by erasing it in a microwave oven. Joe Lemay started Rocket Innovations with the … [More]
Real-Time Fraud Protection
Emailage is a fraud prevention company that leverages the only truly global identity — email address — to determine the risk of a transaction. Using its proprietary machine learning algorithms, Emailage delivers an intelligent risk score that does not require the use of sensitive customer data. Since its founding in 2012, the Chandler-based company has tripled revenue year over … [More]
Blink Once to Guard Against Fraud
As millions of Americans fall victim to identity fraud each year, USAA is unveiling its solution to offer its 10.1 million members safety against such theft: biometric recognition. A new USAA app has to recognize a user’s face before allowing access to the individual’s accounts. USAA, which offers banking, investing and insurance services to people and families who serve or … [More]
Paper-to-Digital Software for Law
Addressing the particular needs of the still-paper-intensive legal industry, DocSolid is a software and services company that creates paper-to-digital solutions. President Steve Irons, creator of the company’s intellectual property, explains, “The technology is a patented way to get paper scanned and integrated with existing software solutions and infrastructure like copiers, … [More]
