Tag: Echo

This week the remnants of last week’s global cyber attack has continued to hold news. A security blogger known as ‘MalwareTech’, managed to halt the global attack by accidentally finding a hole in the software code. The blogger found the web address attached to the malware unregistered and bought it for eight pounds! This allowed him to see where the computers were accessing it from, instantly triggering a code to halt the spread. Elsewhere, AI maintains a strong position in media news, particularly on the subject of Chatbots and voice-activated devices. Juniper Research predicts Chatbots will save UK businesses £6 billion every year until 2022, the areas of predicted savings are in the healthcare and banking industries. Whilst in connection to voice-activated devices, Amazon remains dominant as American Express has launched payment using Alexa and the new ‘Echo Show’ starts shipping next month.

HEADLINES

• A hero will rise.  How a security blogger halted the global ransomware attack
• Amazon to launch the Echo Show, Alexa with a screen
• Twitter signs a Multi-year deal to stream the NFL

INSIGHTS

• How Chatbots could save companies billions
• 3 ways to use Social Media analytics to quantify purchase intent
• Voice-activated connected device usage jumps 130 percent

COOL

• Google’s new AI Selfie/Emoji creator
• American Express launch a new Alexa Skill that lets you pay your bills using just your voice
• MIT’s giant 3D Printer can build a house in only 14 hours

DEEP READS

• Is this the future of VR?  What it feels like to experience Facebook Spaces
• The impact of Amazon on the clothing apparel market
• What trends in China reveal about the Future of Commerce

As always, please share anything you find interesting at #OMDFWD

It is rumoured in the Financial Times that Spotify is in advanced talks to take over rival Soundcloud for $700m. While Spotify brought in $2.2bn in revenues in the past year, the company is still failing to make a profit. During a time when competition in the music streaming industry is fierce, Sweden’s Spotify remains to be the market leader. Well-known rivals include Amazon Prime and Apple Music. However, there are also other contenders on the market such as Tidal, Rhapsody and Deezer with ever increasing presence fueled by on-going PR and celebrity endorsements.

Each competitor has their own distinctive characteristic. German-based SoundCloud places a main focus on artists by allowing them to upload music and share it with fans through social media and blogging. In the beginning, the company established itself within the dance music genre and is now influential across the music industry as a whole. While Apple launched its own music service in 2015, Spotify still leads the way with 40 million paying users compared to Apple Music’s 17 million.

HEADLINES

• Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft come together to create a Partnership on AI.
• Spotify is rumoured to be in talks to buy Soundcloud.
• HTC’s VR app store opens today, making it easier for users to find non-gaming content.

INSIGHTS

• A small survey but significant shift: more than 50% of US shoppers turn to Amazon (not Google) first to find products.
• A (free, one-click download) infographic showing how Echo users are using the device so far.
• Deloitte’s Mobile Consumer Report 2016 (UK)

COOL

• Fove – VR with eye tracking.
• IBM Watson and The Weather Company are ready to launch the first Cognitive Ads.
• Slightly beyond digital media but pretty big future facing news: Elon Musk is going to take us to Mars.

DEEP READS

• ‘Snapchat Spectacles and the future of wearables’
• ‘What the next few years look like for VR’
• ‘In one experiment 98% of users failed to notice a clause requiring them to give up their first-born as payment’ – how the digital age has destroyed the concept of ownership.

Share anything interesting you spot with the hashtag #OMDFWD

Until now Amazon has only sold its voice-controlled devices in the US. However, they have confirmed its virtual assistant Echo speakers are heading to the UK, Germany and Austria. The machines can answer questions, control other internet-connected devices, build shopping lists and link to dozens of third-party services including Spotify and Uber. Experts say they appeal to early adopters’ sense of curiosity but tend to be harder to sell to others, potentially due to the raised concerns about the use of listening technology. With an estimated five million speakers already sold and Google working on their own artificial-intelligence-powered speaker to be launched later this year, it appears the mass market is finally ready to bring such technology into the home. Currently the most common smart home device is the thermostat, so we’re excited to see how this product develops.

HEADLINES

• Facebook adds new functionality to Messenger that includes payments and linking ads to Messenger. The latter could help this platform take off for brands
• Snapchat – now at 150 million daily users, 50 million in Europe – introduced new ad targeting, including email and mobile device matching
• The Amazon Echo is coming to the UK, Germany and Austria this Autumn.

INSIGHTS

• Google say their app install ads have generated a billion installs for developers in the past four months– a significant jump on the previous period
• An IAB Europe report on the Programmatic Market
• Forrester report says that robots will eliminate 6% of all US jobs by 2021.

COOL

• Uber launches a limited public trial of its self-driving car technology in Pittsburgh
• Carling releases its own ‘Amazon Dash style’ beer button
• Twitter live streams its first NFL game and the experience receives some great reviews.

DEEP READS

• This really is a deep read: Deepmind’s latest project looks to improve machines’ ability to understand and generate speech.
• On Netflix: ‘Why Hollywood fears a content monopoly‘.
• Think the new iPhone lacks innovation? You’re wrong, so says the latest a16z podcast.

As ever, share what you spot using #OMDFWD