Texan Grocery King H-E-B launches Self-Checkout Mobile App

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Waiting in those long lines and fighting for the best deals can make grocery shopping a real hassle. While self-serve checkout counters have sped up the process, they have inadvertently encouraged theft and thievery. Amazon’s new Seattle warehouse may have overcome those issues with its Amazon Go grocery store but Texas-based H-E-B’s new self-checkout mobile app could give the retail giant a run for its money.

The app allows customers to freely peruse the shelves and scan items they want to purchase. When they’re ready to checkout, users can pay via the mobile app and just need to show the digital receipt to an H-E-B employee before existing. More than just a self-checkout mobile app, H-E-B Go also tells customers the aisles where they can find certain items, a handy feature especially if you’ve ever been inside one of H-E-B’s massive grocery stores. The mobile app keeps track of users’ shopping lists to provide recommendations and reminders on future shopping trips. It offers coupons too, helping users save even more on their shopping trips.

Currently, H-E-B’s self-checkout mobile app is in use at two locations: the South Flores location in San Antonio and the De Zavala Road location near Shavano Park. The app is still in its pilot stage and not yet ready to roll out to other stores, but it’s already a hit among users.

Are you working on experiments to improve the efficiency of grocery shopping and other day-to-day activities? Did you know your experiments could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% on your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

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Swanson Reed is Texas’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firm, offering tax credibility assessments, claim preparation, and advisory services. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program in Texas, from claim prep & audit compliance to claim disputes.  

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative

20 years later, AOL Instant Messenger’s retirement is a testament to advancement in R&D

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In the not-so-distant past, before direct messaging, texting, and smartphones, before Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, Skype, before the boom of Twitter and Facebook, only one online communication method reigned supreme: AOL Instant Messenger.  Known as “AIM” for short, the AOL messenger, along with its counterparts by Microsoft and Yahoo, changed the way people interacted with each other online.

AIM first appeared on the scene in 1997 and, by 2001, it had over 100 million users. While Yahoo and MSN messengers were widely used outside of the United State, AIM was the most popular instant messenger among Americans.  The messenger’s trademark “buddy list”, screen names, and immediate, simultaneous access to multiple friends changed communication during a time when most people talked to each other over the phone. Now twenty years since its launch, AIM will officially retire by December 15, 2017. Oath, the company behind AOL, announced the news last week. Michael Albers, Head of Communications, stated, “AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed.”

The messenger had sparked new user behaviours that are now common practice in contemporary social media. Before Facebook statuses, there were AIM’s “Away Messages” which allowed users to creatively update their friends of their whereabouts. Before adding “friends” on Facebook, there was asking for people’s screennames. AIM profile stalking was a precursor to Facebook profile stalking.

While no one has used the messenger in years, nostalgia has burst across the internet reminiscing how the now-obsolete technology was once transformative. Adam Lashinsky wrote in Fortune, “At the risk of oversharing, it is no understatement to say I began dating my wife on AIM. She worked at AOL when I joined TheStreet.com, and she was on AIM as much as I was. I remember early instant messaging chats far more than phone chats.” In The Guardian, Matthew Cantor recalled, “For me, as a 14-year-old, AIM was a revelation. Here was a way I could communicate with my peers – including those who were objectively cooler than me – without stammering or panicking…That’s because, behind the wall of the computer screen, we had the time and distance to craft much wittier banter.”

AIM’s retirement demonstrates how times have changed. The instant messaging era has since been replaced by smartphones and apps. Nevertheless, the technical innovation that sparked AIM and contributed to its decline will continue. Lashinsky poignantly stated, “Like many consumer technologies that went before it, AIM ushered in a revolution that quickly left it behind. I can’t say I’ll miss it. But I sure am glad it existed.”

The rise and fall of AOL demonstrates the advancement and innovation of R&D in the communication technology sector. If you are developing software and programs building on AOL Messenger’s legacy, your R&D activities may be eligible for the R&D tax credit and you could receive up to 14% on your research and development expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Swipe Right for Your Next Career Move: Austin-based Bumble launches Professional Networking App

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When dating app Bumble first launched on the tech scene in 2014, it revolutionized online dating with its “women make the first move” approach. Now four years later with 20 million users worldwide, 800 million matches and counting, the Austin-based company is set to change the online professional scene with its new networking app, Bumble Bizz. The networking app was released on the Apple App store earlier this week in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany.

Built into Bumble’s original app and drawing on its features, Bumble Bizz would connect users based on geographic location and users can swipe left or right to indicate whether they want to connect for mentoring or networking.  Swiping right means interested to connect while left signifies disinterest. Users are matched when both swipe right. They then have 24 hours to connect or else the connection disappears. Unlike Bumble which only features an image and short biography, the networking app would also include a digital resume highlighting skills and past work experience.

Bumble CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd explained the company developed Bumble Bizz because many Bumble users were already using the app for professional connections in addition to romantic ones. Like its original app, Bumble Bizz sets the stage for women to initiate contact. Herd said, “We’ve stayed focused on creating a community with a foundation built upon positivity, respect, confidence, and encouraging women to make the first move.” The company’s head of brand Alex Williamson further added that Bumble Bizz was to create a “safe space for women to network”, given the higher risk of harassment for women in the professional sphere.

In response to media calling Bumble Bizz the potential “LinkedIn killer”, Herd has emphasized that the networking app functions differently from LinkedIn’s platform. For one, Bumble Bizz is more informal and casual compared to LinkedIn. The 24-hour time limit to make a connection, moreover, creates a sense of urgency instead of accumulating connections that are “dead” over time and not actively cultivated. Herd said, “We’re trying to give you access to people right here, right now around you, hyper-relevant to you, and create real-life connections.”

The networking app has launched on Apple. It will be available on Google Play on October 18. By the way, Bumble will be using its networking app to look for potential employees at its Austin office. If you’re interested, get started on Bumble Bizz today.

Building networking apps and changing the way we interact online? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% back on your research and development expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

 

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s.  For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Saving Lives with Smartphone Apps: Earthquakes in California and Mexico

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Two powerful earthquakes struck Mexico earlier this month, ravaging the country and resulting in hundreds of casualties. Thankfully, fewer lives were lost compared to 1985’s earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damages. Smartphone apps may have been a contributing factor.

After 1985, the Mexican Seismic Alert System (Sasmex) was developed, an alert system detecting seismic tremors along the Western coast and sending at least a minute’s notice to residents of an impending quake via radio and television. Sasmex has since connected to smartphone apps like Sismos Mexico and Earthquake Alert, improving its speed and accessibility. The sooner the warning reaches residents, the faster they can safely take cover.

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R&D Within the Smartphone Industry

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Reuters reported Apple’s commitment to invest roughly $44 million in a research and development center in Indonesia. The investment will allow Apple to begin selling the iPhone 7 as the government has stipulated 30 percent of handsets sold within the country must be made of local content which includes hardware, software or investment commitment.

 

Apple’s local content certification received in November allows the company to begin selling the iPhone 7 as of January 2017.  The agreement allows Apple to sell products of $488 (6 million rupiah) value and above.

 

As said by Suryawirawan, director general of metal, machines, transport equipment and electronics at the industry ministry, ” they can distribute devices priced 6 million rupiah ($448) and above. That means all iPhones can be distributed.”

 

With Samsung controlling 26 percent of the smartphone sales in Indonesia, and China’s OPPO holding 19 percent market share, Apple will have tough competition for one of the biggest social media markets worldwide.

 

The company has been trying to enter the market for some time, however, as Q3 of 2016 showed Apple’s first decline in revenue in over 15 years, this is a very important moment. As the iPhone comprises two thirds of the of the company’s total revenue the success of this market would have a large impact on revenue.

If  you would like to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive further, please do not hesitate to contact one of Swanson Reed’s offices today.