Closures caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have disrupted the comic book industry and it seems that may not change any time soon. A new report claims that Marvel Comics may end up pausing around one-third of its comic book issues until mid-summer at best over issues caused by the pandemic. The news follows a delay that impacted all Marvel comics in late March.
As many states prepare for the worse of the coronavirus outbreak to come, several nations in the world seem to have the situation under control for now. One of these nations receiving praise from the World Health Organisation and other authorities is the tiny country of Singapore in South East Asia.
Amazon may be forced to delay its Prime Day event this year over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has caused a massive uptick in orders through its service. The company went on a hiring spree to keep up with the demand last month, also temporarily increasing pay rates for both warehouse workers and grocery packers. Amid all of that, the company had to pause its Prime Pantry service due to an overwhelming number of orders.
With entire countries coming to a standstill to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus, it will soon take its toll on supply chains around the world. The disrupted network of companies, factories and manufacturers could greatly affect the products we take for granted. Tech products, equipment, fashion, cars and other products are likely to have a stunted year ahead.
In an announcement this week, Instacart said that it will start providing its full-service shoppers with health and safety kits from third-party manufacturers. These new items are intended to help protect shoppers from contracting the novel coronavirus and developing COVID-19. The company repeatedly stresses that it has been following CDC guidelines, but says now that it is taking 'proactive steps' to give its shoppers a bit of help.
Following its news about a deal with Twitch in late March, SoundCloud is back with another way for its users to earn money: fan donations. The company is making it much easier for its creators to solicit donations from their fans by adding a donate button directly to the creator's channel. With this, fans who want to support the creator can easily send them a tip through their preferred third-party service.
Lyft has announced a new program that gives some essential workers limited free access to its network of electric scooters. Called the LyftUp Scooter Critical Workforce Program, this initiative targets healthcare workers, first responders, and people who work in transit. The company is offering these individuals free scooter rides in a number of major metro regions in the US.
Gaming is huge business and the COVID-19 situation has boosted that even further. Even without the coronavirus, however, analysts have predicted that the gaming industry revenue this year will be double the recording and box office markets combined. As such, it's really no surprise that almost anyone and everyone wants a piece of that pie. And, of course, Amazon is setting out to conquer that market as well in more ways than one.
Marvel has gotten on the bandwagon of making certain things free over the next month or so of quarantine. Starting today, April 2, Marvel fans can access a curated selection of the company's most iconic comic book stories for free through the Marvel Unlimited service. Only some of the comic books available on the Marvel Unlimited platform are made available for free under this change, including things like Civil War and Avengers vs. X-Men.
The folks at Estimote created a set of devices and software that'll allow a business owner to keep track of their workers remotely. With a "contact tracing dashboard" and Bluetooth devices (worn by each employee), a business owner can keep track of the location and relative health of their workforce. Each wearable device scans for other wearable devices in the area and "registers close interactions."
DoorDash, one of the multiple services that enable customers to order food from local restaurants and have it dropped off at their door by gig economy workers, has expanded to include convenience stores. The new expansion covers around 1,800 convenience stores throughout the United States, the company announced on Wednesday, including popular destinations like 7-11, Wawa, and CircleK.
The T-Mobile merger with Sprint is complete, leaving John Legere has a lot more free time on his hands and subscribers awaiting the promised huge increase in 5G coverage. It brings to an end a protracted period of regulatory attention, controversy among consumer rights advocates, and big boasts from T-Mobile itself.