The content industry even before the COVID-19 pandemic was “moving towards software-based systems, virtualization, cloud” and IP, Michael Koetter, WarnerMedia senior vice president-technology strategy, told an SMPTE webinar on media production in the coronavirus era. With stay-at-home mandates in place since March, “it’s been difficult to sustain normal workflow,” he said. “I think we’ve all jumped into the deep end of the pool with these technologies. We’ve pushed this technology adoption curve forward probably by two years.” And “we have not just remote contributors, but remote production operators, remote engineers -- everyone’s remote.” The “crazy thing” about that environment is “we’re not just surviving, we’re thriving,” he said. “The technology is incredibly empowering. Not only have we managed to keep our production going, but we have done everything from taking hours of commute off people’s days to reducing pollution.” The new normal doesn’t just apply to news or sports, “but also to traditional film and TV production,” he said.

Back-to-school spending may exceed records, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Students and their families anticipate buying more laptops and computer accessories “in anticipation that at least some classes will take place online” due to COVID-19, it said. NRF canvassed 7,500 consumers in early July, finding parents with kids in elementary through high school plan to spend $789.49 on average, topping the previous record of $696.70 last year. College students and their families expect to spend $1,059.20 on average, which would top last year’s record of $976.78. NRF projects total back-to-school spending to reach $101.6 billion, topping the $100 billion mark for the first time. Slightly more than half of respondents said they expect their kids will take at least some of their classes at home this fall. Of those, 36% expect to buy laptops, 22% computer speakers or headphones, 21% other accessories and 17% printers.

Though pandemic “consequences” remain a challenge for the global economy, TomTom revenue is “on the road to recovery from the lows that we experienced in April,” said CEO Harold Goddijn on a Q2 investor call Wednesday. The GPS and mapping device supplier had “a very good upward trend in the second half of the quarter, both for automotive and for retail products,” he said. The June 30 quarter started with “factory and retail closures impacting trading conditions for automotive and consumer,” said Chief Financial Officer Taco Titulaer. The quarter got progressively better with the reopening of automotive factories and “the return to retail activity,” he said. “June was by far the strongest month and contributed about half of the quarter's operational revenue,” though it was down 47% from a year earlier, he said.

Retailers are cracking down on the maskless. Walmart shoppers will be required to wear masks beginning Monday, it said Wednesday, citing the spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases. About 65% of Walmart’s 5,000-plus stores and clubs are in areas that have such government mandates, blogged Dacona Smith, chief operating officer-Walmart U.S., and Lance de la Rosa, COO-Sam’s Club. Citing states and municipalities with mask mandates that “virtually everyone” complies with, they anticipate the same to happen in other parts of the country. The company didn’t respond to questions. The National Retail Federation hopes it's a “tipping point” in the debate over masks. NRF encouraged all retailers to adopt such a nationwide policy. It highlighted Starbucks, Best Buy, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Apple, Qurate and Costco requirements. The association co-signed a July 2 letter with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and other industry groups to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and governors, advocating that a national mask standard be implemented locally. As Best Buy was gearing up for a reopening after shelter-in-place last month, it said staffers would be required to wear face masks and it was asking customers to wear them, too. It upgraded that position Wednesday, joining other retailers requiring customers to wear face coverings in its stores.

The vast majority of “company leaders” surveyed plan to let employees work remotely at least “some of the time” after the pandemic, reported Gartner Tuesday. It canvassed 127 human resources executives June 5, finding 82% intend to continue with telework policies at least part time. Forty-seven percent said they plan to let employees work remotely “full time,” it said. “Flex time” will be the new normal for many organizations, it said. Forty-three percent versus 42% plan to grant employees flex days or flex hours. “The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a huge experiment in widespread remote working,” said Gartner. “As business leaders plan and execute reopening of their workplaces, they are evaluating more permanent remote working arrangements.”

It takes a lot for companies to move supply chains, and 5G, COVID-19 and trade tensions are some factors, a Flexport webinar was told Tuesday. Strong government action requiring companies to move supply chains would be limited to "a few select sectors,” said John Murphy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-international policy. For manufacturers, producing in China was a way of “wringing costs out of the supply chain,” said Flexport Chief Economist Phil Levy. Price pressure has intensified, said Ryan Petersen, Flexport CEO. “Consumers are always going to want the cheapest thing, and if anything, the internet’s made price pressure insanely competitive because consumers are in control now.” They can “go find the cheaper thing from whoever’s got it, wherever they might be,” he added. Asked about prospects for national industrial policy, Murphy referenced a bill introduced last month by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Mark Warner, D-Va., that would incentivize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, provide more federal support for R&D and secure the supply chain. “This isn’t the U.S. becoming China,” Murphy said, comparing the initiative to efforts in Singapore, Ireland and Israel.

App use by U.S. smartphone owners during Q2 grew 20 minutes a day year-over-year, led by mobile browsing and social networking apps Facebook and TikTok, said Strategy Analytics Tuesday. Games had the biggest share of smartphone minutes, though usage was largely flat. Social media app usage rose 21% and business and finance, including videoconferencing, grew 68%, as users largely worked from home during the pandemic. Browsing app minutes were up 13%, lifestyle 12% and productivity 7%. Time spent using video entertainment apps including YouTube and Netflix declined 12% and 33% “as customers defaulted to other devices with bigger displays” and better user experiences, said the researcher. Smartphone behaviors are shifting as users observe stay-at-home orders and "adapt to new norms as a consequence of COVID-19,” said analyst Nitesh Patel. Apps having strong declines were in transport (44%) and travel and location (35%). Consumers also are meeting communication and entertainment needs with tablets, PCs, games consoles and smart TVs, said analyst Barry Gilbert.

The National Retail Federation scheduled a free, three-day online event to help retail e-commerce and digital marketing professionals navigate COVID-19. The July 20-22 event will include marketing strategies for reaching Generation Zers, said the association Tuesday. “Consumer expectations have never been higher,” said NRF. “It’s about building personalized omnichannel experiences, cultivating brand loyalty and much more.”

New video delivery technologies and smart content management solutions are bolstering enterprise video, said ABI Research Tuesday. It forecasts the market will reach $18.7 billion this year due to work-at-home mandates. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are enabling enterprise video applications to be more efficient, while facial and object recognition, scene detection and speech-to-text capabilities are making video indexing and search functions easier, faster and more accurate, said analyst Khin Sandi Lynn. Low latency video allows livestreaming of corporate events to internal and external viewers. Enterprise video deployments are increasingly cloud based, she said: The expansion of fiber networks and 5G infrastructure will improve the content delivery process further.

With tech industry eyes trained on the fate of the Jan. 6-9 CES 2021 in Las Vegas amid COVID-19, CTA with little fanfare announced Monday it was canceling all CES Asia shows. The pandemic forced the mid-March cancellation of the 2020 CES Asia that was set for June 10-12 in Shanghai (see 2003110036). “We evaluate our events in light of the changing needs of our industry and the priorities of our members and exhibitors,” said CTA. “Given the pandemic, the economy, and our visible role as an American trade association, we have decided to focus on other CES related programs.” The State Department issued a "China -- Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory June 4 for U.S. nationals. The Shanghai government mandates a 14-day quarantine for foreign visitors.