Members of Congress received a warning this month about security vulnerabilities in the so-called internet of things (IoT), as cyber experts cautioned that with billions of new devices coming online, coordinated hacking attacks could become - literally - a matter of life and death.

The global third party logistics (3PL) market is expected to be worth $925.31bn by 2020 and will be partially driven by the outsourcing of secondary business activities, according to a new report.

The recent DDoS attacks launched from IoT devices demonstrate that the internet of things spans all parts of IT and that most companies deploying it still need a lot of help. That's the message from ARM, the chip design company behind nearly every smartphone and a big chunk of IoT, at its annual TechCon event last week in Silicon Valley.

If retail advisor Doug Stephens is to be believed, the term "store" someday will be remembered as a relic of the Industrial Revolution as our culture and technology enable transactions virtually anywhere, thanks to socially integrated buy buttons, mobile commerce and more. We've already seen a shift in the language of retail away from "stores" to "physical retail spaces," which Stephens told attendees at September's SAP Retail Forum is a better way to describe how retailers should think about their businesses as commerce channels proliferate.

Picture yourself entering a department store and, instead of wandering around searching for the correct department or product, you are guided by an expert personal concierge. The concierge is not a person, but rather a humanlike smartphone assistant. Whether you want to know "where are women's shoes located?" or "is this dress available in size six?" this concierge is always at hand to assist you. This is what retail shopping may be fast becoming, thanks to the mass proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI)-based technologies.