Of all industries, retail is undergoing one of the most significant digital transformations. Various forms of computing are rapidly becoming embedded in every aspect of retail, from corner stores to the world’s largest retailers. Revenue from digital commerce is growing five times faster than from in-store sources, and global digital commerce sales now comprise 16.4 percent of total retail sales.

At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference next week in New York, Microsoft will unveil our latest solutions to empower retailers all over the world to take advantage of this transformation. Central to these announcements will be our new vision for digital commerce and the toolkit that enables it. Our goal is to be a technology ally to the retail industry, to help retailers thrive — with more relevant and optimized e-commerce experiences, enhanced shopper-level personalization and expanded monetization opportunities. Today, we are announcing two new Microsoft solutions for retailers that do precisely that: Microsoft PromoteIQ and Microsoft Bing for Commerce.

Introducing Microsoft PromoteIQ

One of our key offerings for retailers is the Microsoft PromoteIQ commerce marketing platform. This is the next step in our journey of evolving our digital commerce offerings since announcing the acquisition of PromoteIQ in August 2019. Using Microsoft PromoteIQ, retailers can now dramatically increase revenue from their digital vendor marketing programs, while remaining fully in control of monetization and engaging brand partners.
 
Commerce marketing is a highly effective way for retailers to create powerful new high-margin revenue streams that can fund innovation elsewhere in their businesses, as well as provide brands with a powerful toolkit to market their products to shoppers. But competing for brand dollars with other marketing solutions can be daunting. Microsoft PromoteIQ helps make it easy by delivering an end-to-end commerce marketing platform with enterprise-grade capabilities to manage and scale vendor-funded digital marketing — whether on-site or off-site. The platform includes an extensive analytics suite to deliver audience insights and help brands understand incremental sales lift. It also includes integration with Microsoft Advertising, which opens up a powerful new source of incremental demand for retailers. With Microsoft PromoteIQ, a retailer remains fully in control and is finally able to turn commerce marketing into an essential growth engine for their business, funding new capabilities and innovations while strengthening their partnership with vendors and brands.

The Home Depot did just that. The world’s largest home improvement retailer needed to maximize the 170M monthly visits to homedepot.com, the fifth-largest ecommerce site in the U.S. They partnered with PromoteIQ to integrate a commerce marketing platform to manage and scale vendor-funded digital marketing efforts. Since the program launched in early 2019, customer engagement has increased by 35 percent and promoted products have seen double-digit growth compared to 2018. Numbers tell an important piece of the story, but it’s also great to see that the customer and vendor relationships are now stronger than ever. Customers are presented with relevant advertising for products they may need for their home improvement projects, and even may see content for complementary projects like décor to complete their room. Vendor partners now have enhanced marketing controls to drive better conversion, increase visibility, and learn from real-time performance insights.
 
Microsoft PromoteIQ offers great solutions to help retailers — and brands as well. For brands, the Microsoft PromoteIQ platform provides a robust offering for comprehensively managing advertising campaigns with key retailer partners, across campaign management, targeting, optimization and analytics. 
 
At NRF we’ll showcase customer examples and show the Microsoft PromoteIQ platform. If you are interested in learning more about the Microsoft PromoteIQ commerce marketing platform, please visit www.promoteiq.com.

Introducing Microsoft Bing for Commerce

Another important introduction for retailers is our new solution for an essential enabler of digital commerce: product search. Today’s shoppers expect convenience, to the point that 80 percent of them will abandon a site that produces poor search results. Microsoft Bing for Commerce is an intelligent search, personalization and product recommendation solution that helps gives retailers the power to meet today’s shopper expectations and grow revenue, thanks to more relevant and customized results that drive conversions.
 
Retailers can now leverage the power of Bing intelligence and Microsoft AI to searches on their websites, applying insights from millions of shoppers around the world. This puts advanced query understanding into the hands of retailers — helping to decipher the natural human language of shoppers on their sites and create a shorter path between shoppers and the product they’re seeking. 
 
Microsoft Bing for Commerce includes product recommendations that are relevant and personalized, as well as visual search innovation that helps satisfy emerging shopping behavior. Microsoft Bing for Commerce offers all of these intuitive capabilities on PC and mobile and does this with Microsoft’s dedicated approach to privacy and data compliance.
 
Microsoft Bing for Commerce is now available in public preview for large retailers as a stand-alone offering and will soon be available as a part of Dynamics 365 Commerce. More information is available at www.microsoft.com/bing/commerce.
 
It’s a time of unprecedented growth and transformation for the retail industry. We’re excited to see our partners and customers grow their businesses by taking advantage of the opportunities in digital commerce.
 
If you are at NRF next week, please visit us at the Microsoft booth on Level 3, #4051.

Pokemon Sword And Shield News & Guides

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Threat intelligence is often spoken about as being a key pillar of cybersecurity. But what is it and why is it so important?

In our latest #TechTalk, John Lambert, Distinguished Engineer and General Manager of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), explains how, while all organizations work to manage their security risks in cyberspace, these risks become threats when combined with malicious intent. The goal of threat intelligence is to give organizations context and awareness about the online threats they face and to help them prioritize their responses.

Cybersecurity threats reflect the geopolitical contests, competitions and conflicts occurring in the world, John explains. This means that many organizations face threats from adversaries seeking to cause financial, reputational, or even geopolitical damage. Microsoft studies the most significant threat actors in order to understand the techniques they use, and to build defensive measures into the services offered to customers. Every month Microsoft blocks around five billion attacks – including malware attacks and phishing emails, as well as more targeted threats – by tracking and limiting the actors behind them.

John also discusses how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which can be taught to detect and respond to cyberattacks, is speeding and scaling up Microsoft’s defensive efforts. However, he also warns of the new cyber-challenges that the same technology can bring, particularly in relation to the manipulation of image and speech patterns to spread disinformation via ‘deep fakes’.

In order to respond to the growth and sophistication of cyberthreats, John argues that organizations facing common threat actors need to work together far more proactively and share information to be able to anticipate and defend against common threats. At the same time, individuals can help protect themselves more thoroughly by better managing their passwords and credentials.

Watch the full #TechTalk below:

Tags: #TechTalk, AI, cybersecurity

Following on from our reader-voted Top 50 Games of the Decade, Nintendo Life staff members will be picking their personal favourite Nintendo games between the years 2010-2019. Today, Damien tries his hardest to remember where the nearest bonfire is before he runs into another angry skeleton…

Games are supposed to be fun, entertaining and – within reason – moderately challenging, so I’m not entirely sure why I fell so badly for FromSoftware’s brutal and almost sadistic Dark Souls when it launched back in 2011. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that my tolerance for difficult video games has all but evaporated – there are too many other distractions in my life to contend with titles that require superhuman reflexes, extreme memorisation and saint-like reserves of patience, if you ask me – but Dark Souls, for some inexplicable reason, proved to be the exception.

I’d dabbled in the almost fatally obtuse and convoluted Demon’s Souls a couple of years previously, drawn in by its Berserk-like grim fantasy aesthetic and haunting atmosphere, but it was, if anything, too daunting; there were moments – such as the utterly terrifying Tower of Latria – which almost proved too much for my feeble resolve, especially in the total absence of the ability to save your progress mid-level. I trudged on nonetheless, respecting the game’s rewarding mechanics but utterly down-beaten by its stern, gleefully harsh gameplay.

Dark Souls, however, would ensnare me totally. Full disclosure: I played it on Xbox 360 on release (it would have been rather hard for me to obtain the Switch version in 2011, after all), and it consumed every moment of my waking life. I played it prior to shifting into my full-time position on this site, but I happened to be working with someone else who had bought it at the exact same time.

We’d convene on our coffee breaks to discuss progress in hushed, reverent tones; one day, I’d be able to offer advice on how to defeat a tricky boss, whereas the following day it would be my co-worker who had overtaken me and had tips to share. This back-and-forth exchange went on for weeks. Dark Souls deliberately left a lot for players to discover on their own – hence the brilliant in-game messaging system, where players leave helpful (or not) notes for fellow adventurers, warning them of traps or pointing out safe routes – and having someone else to bounce tactics off of was a real boon, especially during those early days when online guides weren’t quite as expansive as they could be.

I think a lot of the best video games are based around a very clear ‘risk and reward’ mechanic; the thrill of putting hours of progress on the line and knowing you could lose everything, but then overcoming the odds to emerge victorious… that, in my opinion, is one of the best feelings you can get from a game, and the Dark Souls series nails it perfectly. The flip side, of course, is that you’ll fail just as often, if not more. However, while Dark Souls is undeniably brutal, the fault always lies with you, the player. You failed because you didn’t react in time to repel an incoming blow; you didn’t look for the tell-tale sign that an enemy was about to strike; you didn’t prepare properly for a tough battle. It might delight in rubbing your face in the dirt, but Dark Souls is never truly ‘unfair’ – you just need to make sure you even the odds as much as possible, and take your time.

The other big reason I absolutely adore Dark Souls – and FromSoftware’s other titles – is the fact that the lore behind the action is so fully-formed and dense; even the smallest, most inconsequential item in the game is blessed with a lengthy backstory, filling in gaps and building a unique and foreboding world that arguably rivals the best the fantasy genre has to offer. I fully admit I was totally enraptured by Lordran and its many varied locations and inhabitants; I wanted to know everything about every environment and every character. The thing that makes this grand narrative so incredible is that much is left up to the player when it comes to joining the dots and fitting all of the plot strands together – if, indeed, they actually do fit together in the first place.

When Dark Souls was confirmed for Switch, I literally leapt for joy. I didn’t need an excuse to play through the game again, even if its punishing nature did bring back some bad memories (Blighttown, I’m looking at you); if only I’d had the ability to take the game with me on the road back in 2011, my progress – and that of my intrepid co-worker – would have been much more swift, and perhaps a little more collaborative, too.

I hope now that Bandai Namco will find some means of getting the oft-overlooked sequel onto Nintendo’s console, and perhaps even move mountains to bring Dark Souls III to the system. Being able to play the entire trilogy on the move would be a revelation for me personally, and I’m ready to admit that while my time is precious, I’d be more than willing to put my body (and mind) on the line once more to experience these absolutely incredible games.

While a great many games have had an impact on me during the past decade, few stick in the mind quite as strongly as Dark Souls – and that’s why it’s effortlessly the best game I’ve played during the past 10 years.

??? Give it up for Piplup! ???
This adorable Water-type Pokémon is the star of January’s #PokemonGOCommunityDay! Don’t tell Oshawott. ?
?⭐️ https://t.co/SOfJaLKNyr pic.twitter.com/MDPGNp1Hun

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) January 8, 2020

BrashMonkey have just launched a Kickstarter campaign Spriter 2 Alchemist.  Alchemist is an extension to the upcoming Spriter 2 Pro 2D animation system that adds procedural content generation and animation support.  Existing Spriter Pro customers are offered a preferred rate when backing Spriter 2 Alchemist.  The tiers break down as follows:

As of writing the Kickstarter is about 10% of the way towards it $50,000USD goal with 27 days to go.  Full details of the features of Spriter 2 Alchemist are available on the Kickstarter page, as well as discussed in more detail in the video below.

Spriter is not the only 2D animation package available and we have covered a number of them previously here on GameFromScratch.  A run-down of free 2D animation tools is available here on DevGa.me, while we have done feature videos on Spine, Creature(video), COATools for Blender (video) and Dragonbones(video) if you are looking for an alternative.

GameDev News 2D Applications

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Nomad Games is a studio to keep an eye on this year, we feel. Having recently extracted themselves from their close partnership with Asmodee Digital, the world is seems is once again theirs for the taking and they’re already putting into action their master plan:

Step One: Get a new Games Workshop license
Step Two: ???
Step Three: Profit

Nomad Games are perhaps best known for their digital port of Talisman, one of Games Workshop’s cult classic board games (before the miniatures firm doubled-down on all things Space Marines). Seems the studio has managed to bag themselves another ‘old school’ license, as Nomad has today announced they are making a digital version of Fury of Dracula.

Originally published by the Warhammer giant in 1987, this is a Hidden Movement game about a group of vampire hunters who need to uncover clues in order to stop Dracula (who is played) before he creates an unstoppable army of mindless thralls! Nomad plan on adapting the fourth edition of the game, which was released in 2019.

We don’t know much more about the project at this point. Nomad aren’t ready to commit specific platforms yet and in what order they’ll be developed, but we did get a “more than likely” comment on the game coming to mobile platforms. Whether it’ll be first, same time as PC/Console or later down the line we don’t know yet.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Australia’s Far North Queensland has been declared essentially dengue-free for the first time in about a century, following an intensive release campaign. Other targeted efforts are making strong progress in Asia and South America, where authorities have long tried to wipe out mosquito populations with insecticides.

“Our Wolbachia method is natural and self-sustaining,” Green says. “As a large-scale public health intervention, we believe that this a cost-effective way. The evidence so far is that it can sustain itself in local populations for up to seven years. And we expect it will continue.”

How machine learning and AI will help take the fight global 

The Program’s data science partner, Gramener, is developing machine learning for the AI model. It will tap the Program’s existing release point records as well as many other datasets on human population densities, land use, industrial sites, weather, and other variables. Satellite imagery will be a big part of mapping out large urban areas with strategic and granular accuracy. 

The aim is to have the ability to pinpoint multiple impactful release points within blocks of as little as 100 square meters.

READ MORE: Gramener is building AI tools to help biodiversity conservation

“We want to target the areas where our intervention is needed most,” Green says. “We will be able to release Wolbachia mosquitoes where they will have the most effect with analysis at a countrywide scale instead of at a neighborhood scale. Our ambition is to be able to look at a whole country and run the model over all its urban areas and let it give an unprecedented snapshot of where we can have the most impact.”

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Joppa says machine learning and AI are potent tools for not-for-profits that want to tackle big challenges but have limited resources.

“The World Mosquito Program started with the objective of figuring out how to attack a problem. In this case, they worked out how to neutralize the disease-carrying ability of mosquitoes. Then they worked out where they needed to release these mosquitoes.

“They started collecting tons of data. It then became a really messy data problem as they tried to compare a bunch of different data sets to work out where they could be most efficient.

“Ultimately, this is where machine learning comes in. It allows you to take all of that data, abstract it down to a single estimate of probability and map it out. It is cost-effective, and it is super scalable. Instead of figuring out data visualization and analytics for one particular area, you can now do it for an entire city, for an entire country, for the entire world.

“That is because the data sets they are using are globally generalizable. One model that works here can work everywhere.”

Top imagery: Wolbachia mosquitoes are released in rural Fiji.