This week has somewhat religious undertones: Air deliveries, app revivals and Vatican wearables.

Alphabet's Wing runs pilot with commercial drone deliveries from FedEx and Walgreens

Alphabet-owned drone delivery company Wing has now started making deliveries to homes in the US. Previously, the company have been running tests in Australia and Finland, but Alphabet has launched the first commercial drone delivery service to homes in the United States. A pilot program in Christiansburg, Virginia, will have drones drop off packages from FedEx, Walgreens and the local retailer Sugar Magnolia.

The pilot is possible after Wing got an expanded Air Carrier Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. It now has permission to "allow multiple pilots to oversee multiple unmanned aircraft making commercial deliveries simultaneously to the general public." UPS has received the same certification, but their drone delivery will focus on hospitals and medical campuses for now.

Kik Messenger won't shut down, MediaLab just acquired it

Last month, Kik announced that it would shut down its messaging platform and instead focus on the company's pivot to Kin cryptocurrency. Now it's clear that Kik Messenger will stay alive thanks to an acquisition by MediaLab.

MediaLab said in a post on the Kik blog that they will continue to develop the Kik Messenger application. Their first steps will be to fight spam and make it possible to create larger chat groups. But they also acknowledge the need to turn around the platform financially – planning to launch ads to the platform in the upcoming weeks.

MediaLab is a Santa Monica-based holding company founded in 2018. It owns several other "internet brands." The most well-known is Whisper, an app that allows users to share secrets.

The Vatican just launched a "click to pray" rosary bead wearable

To attract a young, tech-savvy generation, the Catholic Church will launch a wearable device and mobile app on October 25. The eRosary – a rosary bead bracelet – comprises 10 black agate and hematite rosary beads and a data-storing "smart cross" connected to a mobile app. The idea is to make it easier to pray on the go.

The app is activated by making the sign of the cross, and the wearer can choose between different rosary prayers, some of which will be seasonal and updated throughout the year by the Catholic Church. Another feature of the eRosary is that it acts as a virtual health assistant—recording and sharing health data on-demand for those who want to meet their wellness and spirituality goals simultaneously.

With AstroTech apps like The Pattern and Co–Star growing among spiritual youth, it was about time the established actors within the spirituality field launched something of their own.

Tool of the week: Outgrow

Have you heard the buzzword interactive marketing? Outgrow makes it simple to build interactive online content, such as calculators and quizzes, without coding skills. Interactive marketing is often very successful, especially in content marketing – 7 of the 20 most shared articles on Buzzfeed are quizzes.

You can embed them on your webpage or share them on social media directly. You can also use them for lead generation – gathering email addresses from participants. In great marketing, it is essential to build beautiful, engaging experiences for your audience – now you have yet another way.

Photo by Izabella Englund.

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