 |
|
|
|||||
For years, weve been wondering when Samsung would actually bring Ballie, its cute household companion robot, to market and now we finally have our answer: it wont. After the planned summer 2025 release window came and went, the company has opted not to release the gizmo as a consumer product, at least not for the foreseeable future. According to Bloomberg, Samsung has "indefinitely shelved" the robot. A spokesperson told the publication that the company will keep Ballie around as an "active innovation platform" internally. "After multiple years of real-world testing, it continues to inform how Samsung designs spatially aware, context-driven experiences, particularly in areas like smart home intelligence, ambient AI and privacy-by-design," the spokesperson added. Theres a sliver of a chance that Samsung will eventually bring Ballie to market, but that seems unlikely as things stand. So, six years after we first clapped eyes on the robot at CES 2020, (and two years after a redesigned larger version debuted), it appears to be doomed as a consumer device. Its a bit of a shame, as Ballie seemed like a fun gadget. In fairness to Samsung, companies are now likely having to be more judicious about what products especially more experimental ones go into full production amid rising costs of things like RAM. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/you-wont-be-able-to-buy-samsungs-household-ballie-robot-after-all-104529942.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
OpenAI just introduced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space within its chatbot designed to help people make sense of fragmented health information.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
ASOS just updated its return policy, targeting customers whose shopping style makes free returns unsustainable.The UK-based online fashion retailer has revamped its previously implemented Fair Use Policy, now deducting GBP 3.95 per returned parcel from refunds for shoppers with a return rate of 70% or higher who've placed at least three orders in the past year. For the most prolific returners those with an 80% return rate across five or more orders ASOS charges an additional GBP 3.95 handling fee on top of standard delivery costs.The policy includes a 30-day processing window and continuously monitors customer behavior over rolling 12-month periods, allowing shoppers to track their return rate through their account dashboard. ASOS is framing the policy as protecting free returns for the majority while addressing a minority of customers whose shopping patterns strain the business model. Customers can avoid the fees by keeping items worth more than GBP 40 per order, and ASOS still offers full free returns for faulty or incorrect items.TREND BITEASOS's Fair Use Policy uses economic friction to reshape customer behavior without outright bans. Rather than penalizing all returns or eliminating the service entirely, the retailer creates a tiered system that preserves benefits for most while discouraging excessive returns through modest fees. The approach balances business sustainability with customer retention, banking on the reality that most shoppers will adjust their habits rather than absorb recurring costs.It's also a tacit acknowledgment that the environmental cost of returns the carbon emissions from transport, packaging waste and products that end up in landfill has become too significant to ignore. As e-commerce matures and margins compress, expect more brands to deploy similar behavioral economics: not punishing customers, but making unsustainable habits just inconvenient enough to discourage them, for both financial and environmental reasons.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||