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techonomy12

How Walmart is going all out with mobile

TUSCON, Ariz.-- Here's the takeaway from a panel called, "Shopping Outside the Box: The Intersection of Data and Dollars," that took place at the Techonomy conference: For all retailers -- that means brick-and-mortar giants -- it's all about the data.

"Data is the weapon," said Dan Schulman, the Group President of Enterprise Growth at American Express.

And, increasingly, that data is coming from mobile devices. The challenges facing brick-and-mortar stores are only growing as online shopping moves from the desktop to smartphones. People look up prices online while they're inside a store. … Read more

Here come the humanoids. There go U.S. jobs

TUCSON, Ariz.--Rethink Robotics founder Rodney Brooks took to the stage at the Techonomy conference here to talk about the wonders of his new robot, Baxter, which is designed to work on factory floors doing dull and necessary tasks. He costs just $22,000 and works for what amounts to $4 an hour.

Baxter is a step forward in robotics with mass potential. It has a face and sensors to tell it when people are near. It's about as close to a humanoid robot as we can get, and Brooks said it's just the beginning.

"Within 10 … Read more