The Comunicano Communique for Monday February 8th 2016

The Comunicano Communique

The Super Bowl News Hangover continues, as most of the news is still tied to the Big Game. News releases, news accounts, what made the game happen, news behind the news is all pouring out. And there's some good one from after and before the game worth reading. But there's more out there, including some stories from late last week you may have missed. Also, catch me today February, 8th at 1:45 PM PST for my live discussion on @BizRockstars  - with Ken Rutkowski across the nation and watch my interview live on  under the watch live tab at BusinessRockstars.com. May today be YOUR SUPER DAY.  Enjoy your day and enjoy the news..     Hashtags In Super Bowl Ads Slightly Dropped To 45% For 2016 Hashtags were in 45% of Super Bowl 50 ads, down 45% last year and the lowest percentage since Marketing Land has been tracking their usage with Super Bowl ads over the past five years. Still, it was a pretty healthy percentage. Twitter and Facebook tied the most mentioned social networks though neither was explicitly mentioned much.     [continue...]     Super Bowl 50's data deluge: How much is too much? Do you remember the "Announcerless Game?" On December 20, 1980, an otherwise insignificant game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, teams trudging toward the end of dreary seasons, became famous - or infamous - because of a controversial experiment by the NBC television network.     [continue...]     In Silicon Valley, N.F.L. Eyes Its Future SAN FRANCISCO - On any given Sunday during football season, the N.F.L., a league that promotes itself as a standard-bearer of innovation, produces games that are analog at their core. The leather ball has been stitched the same way for decades, and the chain gangs hold the first-down markers like crossing guards at a busy street corner.     [continue...]     Here Are the Tech Companies Breaking the Bank for Super Bowl 50 Ads If there's one thing tech likes, it's scale. And what has more scale than the Super Bowl? It's a really big audience, all in one place, riveted to the screen. That's why Internet companies are willing to toss aside their better instincts about data-savvy consumer segmentation and spend for a TV appearance during the big game.     [continue...]     Why Amazon is doubling down on lobbying     Amazon nearly doubled its lobbying expenditures in 2015 versus the previous year, spending $9.4 million dollars trying to sway Congress and executive agencies. The jump puts Amazon's lobbying efforts in the same league as other tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook -- and reflects how the company's expanding business interests have raised the stakes of its relationship with the government.     [continue...]     Wildly Popular App Kik Offers Teenagers, and Predators, Anonymity The allegations are beyond chilling: two Virginia Tech freshmen charged with the premeditated kidnapping and killing of a 13-year-old girl who, authorities say, communicated with her murderer online. But the way they chatted - on a wildly popular messaging app called Kik - has increasingly become a source of concern for law enforcement.     [continue...]     Google virtual reality should be WAY better than Cardboard Google is readying a new VR headset, say rumor-mongers. The inevitable "people familiar with its plans" have scurried out the woodwork to spill these fascinating legumes. Well, it's fascinating if you believe that VR is The Next Big Thing. But not so much if you see it as a load of over-hyped nonsense.     [continue...]     Google confirms Hangouts will now use peer-to-peer connections to improve call quality and speed Google Hangouts has received a small but important backend upgrade: peer-to-peer (p2p) connections. Google confirmed to VentureBeat that the functionality started rolling out to all users this week. Reddit user kxra spotted the addition in their Hangouts for Android app yesterday. We reached out to Google to gauge what exactly the feature meant for users.     [continue...]     Uber's design boss leaves following disastrous rebranding Logo is a circle with a square in the middle set for riders Hexagon with a square in middle has been designed for drivers Logos reflect concepts of 'bits and atoms' and small floor tiles The man behind Uber's radical redesign of the brand has left the firm.     [continue...]     How Mick Jagger's HBO Series 'Vinyl' Will Pay Tribute To David Bowie - Noah Bean Set To Play 'Starman' Singer TV The Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese-produced series was already deep into production when rock icon David Bowie died in January. The series, which revolves around the music business in the 1970s, already planned a cameo by Bowie, of sorts.     [continue...]     It's not Cyberspace anymore. - Data & Society: Points It's been 20 years - 20 years!? - since John Perry Barlow handed out paper copies of his " A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace " to the government and corporate leaders who descend on a certain snowy resort town each year as part of the World Economic Forum (WEF).     [continue...]     What Do Industry Insiders Think Will Happen in VC in 2016? | Bothsides of the Table "This is the year the tortoise may gain on the hare." There are a lot of data points that one can observer to get a sense of the venture capital markets - both LP fundings into venture and VC financings of startups. They point to some widely known facts: financings & valuations are up massively ...     [continue...]     Email sucks for building a working relationship Messaging apps make me a better VC As a VC, I spend my life helping startups. I'm constantly looking for ways to do it more and do it better. I was giving the White Star team an update on one of our EU portfolio companies recently.     [continue...]

We hope you are enjoying The Comunicano Daily. If you want to share it with friends, colleagues and co-workers, or even your wife, child or even someone you don't like, please do. They can join by visiting The Comunicano Daily signup page: http://eepurl.com/BFXkD