After entering into a massive US$5.7bn deal with Facebook, Reliance Industries has begun piloting its new commerce venture JioMart on WhatsApp.

JioMart has the advantage of its own Jio telecom user base and the massive reach of the Facebook-owned WhatsApp platform to transform the Indian retail landscape, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company that estimates the Indian online food and grocery channel to reach INR678bn (US$8.9bn) by 2023.

Away from the real-world or parallel to it, technology has been shaping a massive virtual environment around us. One such significant virtual reality is online shopping, where technology has enabled us to purchase everything from groceries to automobiles from the comfort of our homes.

Mid of 2020, Google released new key figures for measuring user experience, which will become a new ranking factor next year as part of the page experience and thus elementary for SEO.

What has recently been sold as an indispensable method of communicating effectively with customers, is actually the most natural way to share, entertain or convey knowledge. The talent for this is inherent in each of us. After all, we listen to stories throughout our lives and unconsciously absorb them. So, why is it nevertheless quite difficult to get attention with storytelling?

Unveiled at the inaugural SAP Forward Together virtual event, SAP released the results of its poll of 4,500 Southeast Asian business leaders. According to the study, 40% of the businesses polled are still adopting a “wait and see” approach in response to the pandemic, which raises concerns about COVID-19’s impact in the long run.

Limelight Networks, a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and edge cloud services, has launched EdgeFunctions, a new serverless compute service which allows developers to tap into the power of the company’s global network and gives them the flexibility to deploy and run their own code.

Neural Technologies, a long-established sponsor of the Risk & Assurance Group, and a leading international provider of revenue protection, digital transformation and data analytic solutions to the telecommunications industry, has integrated its Optimus Fraud Management System (FMS) with the blockchain that powers RAG's Wangiri fraud intelligence exchange.

AppsFlyer, the global attribution leader, released  the 11th edition of the Performance Index and the 2nd edition of the Growth Index.

The Performance index guides marketers on how media sources are performing, and which show potential for partnership, while the Growth Index examines the diverse ad networks of Southeast Asia (SEA) to determine their rankings.

MOGUL.sg, a property technology start-up, just announced the launch of Singapore's first-ever 3D Virtual Property Expo and provides us with a glimpse into what we can expect to see emerging in today’s experience economy. The virtual expo will take place from 15 to 17 October 2020 and be hosted on the MOGUL.sg platform, featuring Singapore Land Authority (SLA)'s OneMap3D, with the aim to assist home buyers with their property search and decision-making process.

Verizon Media announced the launch of new augmented reality (AR) experiences in Southeast Asia (SEA) with innovative formats, features, and apps that will give brands the power to engage with consumers in 3D. The launch is part of Verizon’s growing work on tomorrow’s technologies such as 5G and extended reality (XR). The division of Verizon Communications, Inc., houses a trusted media ecosystem of premium brands like Yahoo, TechCrunch and HuffPost to help people stay informed and entertained, communicate and transact, while creating new ways for advertisers and media partners to connect. From XR experiences to advertising and content technology, Verizon Media is an incubator of innovation and is revolutionizing the next generation of content creation in a 5G world.

MacOS has the reputation of being a relatively attack-proof operating system. Not only among Apple users, MacOS has always been far less susceptible to malware and cyberattacks than the market leader Windows. The fact is, however, that even Mac users are not immune to compromises or dangerous infections, as there is more and more malware that specifically targets MacOS.

Today’s online buyer expects a direct approach, an authentic dialogue and excellent service anytime and anywhere, according to iAdvize.

“Consumers don't want to get a product sold, they want advice so that they can buy the product that best suits them”, says the International Marketing Manager of iAdvize.

People love to share their stories with other people - especially when they are emotionally touched – and it is called social sharing in the language of the web. Besides the fact of sharing, it also serves to organize feelings: negative feelings can be mitigated by talking about them and that provides relief; positive feelings, on the other hand, can be amplified and prolonged by talking about them. Content with low emotional value is rarely shared with others, whereas highly emotional content is very often shared and best conveyed by telling stories.

Google's goal is to provide searchers with high-quality answers to every question they could possibly ask. To do this, it relies on a complex collection of rules and ranking factors. Some of these factors fall under the category of E-A-T, meaning Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.