customer engagement

Winsage
April 23, 2025
Former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer discussed the company's shift from paid upgrades to a Windows as a Service model, highlighting the challenges faced after the success of Windows 7 and the disappointing reception of Windows 8. He noted that Microsoft made Windows 10 available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, which allowed the company to gather valuable telemetry data while introducing users to subscription services. However, the telemetry raised privacy concerns among users, as it included advertising and upsell mechanisms. Plummer expressed a desire for a version of Windows Pro without telemetry and advertising, indicating he would pay for such a product. He also mentioned that the transition to a service model helped address piracy by offering free upgrades to users with non-genuine copies of Windows.
AppWizard
April 21, 2025
Jeffs' Brands' subsidiary, Fort Products, has submitted the Android version of its AI-powered pest control mobile application for review on Google Play, marking a step towards commercial rollout after successful development and internal testing. The app helps users identify pests and recommends treatments based on species, infestation severity, and preferences, while also suggesting Fort's proprietary pest control products. CEO Victor Hakmon highlighted the app's goal to empower users in addressing pest issues. The initiative aims to enhance Jeffs' Brands' direct-to-consumer offerings and establish new digital channels. The app is expected to be available for download after Google approval. Positive aspects include enhanced technological capabilities and potential for increased customer engagement and product sales, while challenges include the pending approval and lack of metrics on revenue or user adoption.
AppWizard
March 29, 2025
McDonald's will launch a special meal promotion in conjunction with the release of "A Minecraft Movie" on April 4, 2025. Starting April 1, 2025, customers can order the "Minecraft Movie Meal," which includes a Big Mac, a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets with "Nether Flame" sauce, and a collectible item. A themed Happy Meal will also be available for children. The promotional toys include iconic Minecraft elements like a creeper and sheep, as well as reimagined McDonald's characters in a Minecraft style. Customers must order through the McDonald's app to access these limited-time meals.
AppWizard
March 24, 2025
Ciphers Digital Marketing has launched an SEO Checklist App for Android devices, aimed at helping business owners, marketers, and developers identify growth opportunities and prioritize SEO best practices. The app includes features such as SEO self-assessment, an instant scoring system, actionable insights, and a user-friendly interface. Additionally, Ciphers Digital is integrating Google Cloud AI to enhance client offerings with smart chatbots, voice assistance, context-aware conversational experiences, and custom-trained models. The company provides a range of services, including SEO, web design, PPC advertising, and content marketing, and aims to foster intelligent and scalable digital growth solutions.
AppWizard
March 15, 2025
Valve's "Steam Year In Review" blog post revealed that the peak concurrent user count on Steam has nearly doubled since March 2020, with users engaging with more new titles than ever. In 2024, newly released games generated the highest revenue on Steam, reaching ten times the levels of 2014. Over 500 games surpassed 0,000 in new release sales, with more than 200 achieving over million, marking increases of 27% and 15% compared to 2023. Despite these revenue figures, only 15% of user playtime was dedicated to games released in 2024, up from 9% in 2023 but down from 17% in 2022. Notable successful titles included Palworld, Helldivers 2, Space Marine 2, and Black Myth Wukong, alongside established games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. The closure of several live service games suggests a potential shift in the gaming industry's dynamics.
AppWizard
March 1, 2025
Many businesses are temporarily restricting website access to users in most European nations due to GDPR compliance. The GDPR, effective since May 2018, mandates strict guidelines on personal data handling, prompting companies to reassess digital strategies. Organizations are investing in technology solutions, such as consent management systems, to balance compliance with user experience. Businesses are encouraged to prioritize transparency and user trust, implement user-friendly consent mechanisms, and leverage data analytics to tailor offerings while remaining compliant.
Tech Optimizer
February 22, 2025
Mindbody utilizes a cloud-based platform for the fitness and wellness industry, offering services such as client booking, scheduling, payments, marketing, and analytics. Their email marketing platform is built on an Aurora PostgreSQL cluster, currently at version 13.8, with a size of approximately 17 TB and a workload distribution of 80% reads and 20% writes. Mindbody faced scaling and performance challenges due to architectural limitations and increasing data demands, leading to all workloads being directed to the writer node. The average BufferCacheHitRatio was below 80%, indicating frequent disk access rather than cache hits, contributing to higher query latencies and I/O costs. To address these issues, Mindbody adopted Aurora Optimized Reads, which enhances caching capacity and improves latency and throughput for I/O-intensive workloads. Transitioning required upgrading the database cluster to version 14.9 or higher, and extensive testing was conducted in a proof-of-concept environment. The upgrade process involved a blue/green deployment strategy to minimize production disruption. After implementing Aurora Optimized Reads, Mindbody experienced significant performance improvements, including a 50% reduction in average daily CPU utilization and a 90% reduction in ReadIOPS. The AuroraOptimizedReadsCacheHitRatio indicated that 85% of read requests were served from the optimized cache. Cost analysis revealed a 23% reduction in monthly Aurora costs post-transition, with potential for further savings by downsizing instances.
AppWizard
February 20, 2025
Amazon will discontinue its Appstore for Android devices effective August 20, 2025, and will also terminate its Coins digital currency program. Users will lose access to the Appstore on Android devices, but any coins held in accounts by that date will be eligible for a refund. The Appstore will continue to operate on Amazon's proprietary devices, including Fire TV and Fire Tablets. Additionally, Amazon will end support for its app store on Windows, which had allowed Android applications since March 5, 2025.
AppWizard
February 20, 2025
Amazon will close its app store for Android devices on August 20, 2025, and will also discontinue the Amazon Coins program on the same date. Users will no longer be able to download or use apps from the Amazon Appstore on Android devices after this date, but the app store will continue to operate on Amazon's Fire TV and Fire Tablet products. Unredeemed Amazon Coins will be refunded before the shutdown. The decision is aimed at focusing efforts on the Appstore experience on Amazon devices, where most customer engagement occurs.
Search