Reading List - Week of October 24

Good news for Canadian consumers that love online shopping! H&M, the fashion retailer, has finally launched eCommerce for Canada. In other eCommerce and technology news, Google has unveiled a digital and connected whiteboard and Microsoft has presented an all-in-one desktop PC. Alibaba, the giant Chinese eCommerce platform, is getting ready for the most popular shopping day in China, Single’s Day, this November. Uber, the transportation company wants us to fly between cities.

H&M launches Online Store in Canada

Source: DigitalJournal

H&M, one of the world's largest fashion retailers announced this Thursday the opening of its online shop in Canada. Everything in-store will be now available online, from the women’s wear to household items. The company also revealed that some of the items will be exclusively available online all year-round. Toni Galli, President of H&M Canada shared his enthusiasm affirming that "our Canadian customers will now have twenty-four-hour access to the best of our fashion and home collections via their computers, smartphones, and tablets anywhere in Canada."

Introducing Jamboard, an Interactive Whiteboard By Google

Source: TechCrunch

Who's going to stop Google? The company unveiled (again) a new product this week, the Jamboard. What is it? It's a digital and connected whiteboard. It's the new tool to have when brainstorming with your staff or presenting a new project to one of your clients. The Jamboard will connect users in person or via their smartphones, tablets, and any device. The interface of the Jamboard is really responsive. Users can draw on it and erase with their fingers or the eraser. A camera and a Bluetooth system have also been added to the whiteboard. Guess who's going to add meetings to their schedules?

Short Flights Will Be a Reality Soon with Uber

Source: TechCrunch

You might be already using Uber to get around within and between cities with someone else's car. What about flying? Yes, you heard me right. Uber is looking at a brand new market: on-demand air transportation. The American company wants their users to have access to air transportation whenever they want for quick and easy travel. Uber Chief Product Officer, Jeff Holden, has summarised a white paper about this new network of transportation. He expects Marina SF to San Jose air commute time to be no more than 15 minutes, which in comparison is 2 hours by car. So when Uber will make it happen? The company first needs to reach out to cities, governments, and other private and public sector stakeholders to present the idea.

Alibaba is Getting Ready for China’s Singles’ Day

Source: InternetRetailer

While Americans and Canadians have Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Chinese have a special day too! It's on November 11th and it's called Singles' Day. It's a celebration of single life, where unmarried people exchange gifts amongst themselves. For this occasion, Alibaba, the giant eCommerce Chinese platform, has big plans. Alibaba expects 40,000 global merchants to participate in the Chinese shopping festival. Last year, just for the Single Day event, Alibaba earned $14.3 billion in sales.

Microsoft Unveils An All-In-One Desktop PC

Source: Surface

Microsoft announced this week its first all-in-one desktop PC, the Surface Studio. So what's new? Well, the Surface Studio has a unique feature, called the “zero-gravity” hinge. Basically, it lets you place the device at any angle you want, including completely flat on your desk. Watch the video and you'll see, it's revolutionary! Since the PCs will start to be shipped on December 12th, you still can add it to your Xmas list. However, starting at $2,999 the Surface Studio might not fit every budget.