The Comunicano for Friday March 17 2017

MARCH 17 - ISSUE #45

Happy St. Patricks Day…are you green yet? So to not delay things, like green beer, a shot of Irish whiskey and more, let’s get on with the news, in today’s COMUNICANO.

Here's why Irish entrepreneurs' eyes are smiling on St. Patrick's Day VENTUREBEAT.COM – Share There are a lot of mature and emerging tech hubs around Europe now. But there remains an unusually tight link between Ireland’s tech economy and Silicon Valley.

Google Watch

G Suite Update Alerts: Improving video file attachments in Gmail with video streaming GSUITEUPDATES.GOOGLEBLOG.COM – Share

Google reduces JPEG file size by 35% ARSTECHNICA.COM – Share New algorithm is based on human psychovisual system. Images look better, too.

Amazon Watch

Alexa on iOS: Siri's Not Even the Best iPhone Assistant Anymore WWW.WIRED.COM – Share An update to Amazon’s iOS app puts iPhone and iPad owners just two taps away from a voice assistant that surpasses Siri in significant ways.

Amazon puts Alexa inside its main iPhone app VENTUREBEAT.COM – Share Starting today and available to all iPhone users next week, you can talk to Amazon’s intelligent assistant Alexa while using the Amazon app.

Amazon invades smartphones in war over voice-controlled computing WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Voice-controlled artificially intelligent assistants will transform how you interact with computers — and Amazon is determined not to miss out.

Media Watch

YouTube makes its biggest e-sports bet with FACEIT streaming deal WWW.REUTERS.COM – Share Alphabet Inc’s YouTube is doubling down on the lucrative business of competitive gaming, where players square off on virtual games for big prize money in tournaments.

Report: Spotify considers restricting biggest releases to paid users as it renegotiates royalties w/ labels 9TO5MAC.COM – Share

Netflix Ratings System Changed From Stars to Thumbs VARIETY.COM – Share Netflix is getting ready to replace stars with Pandora-like thumbs ups and thumbs downs in the coming weeks.

Comcast’s X1 leads cable video resurgence, even as cord-cutting reached an all-time high of 795K in 2016 WWW.FIERCECABLE.COM – Share Led by Comcast’s impressive growth of 161,000 pay-TV subscribers, cable had its best year for video subscriber growth since 2006, collectively losing only 278,000 customers.

In Motion Watch

Sleepy Behind the Wheel? Some Cars Can Tell WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share Some automakers already offer drowsiness detection systems, and more are likely to follow with ever more sophisticated technology.

To avoid the high cost of car ownership Singaporeans are gigging as Uber drivers with rented cars QZ.COM – Share Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world to own a car, thanks to government fees and restrictions designed to reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transportation.

LimeBike Raises $12M From Andreessen To Solve The 'Last Mile' Problem WWW.FORBES.COM – Share The bike-sharing startup has come out of stealth and announced it has closed a $12 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Amex GBT Launches Automated Air Rebooking Tool WWW.BUSINESSTRAVELNEWS.COM – Share For Sabre airfares booked at U.S. points of sale, American Express Global Business Travel now rebooks cheaper airfares that become available within 24 hours of booking.

Odds & Ends

Jessica Alba’s Honest Company is replacing its CEO after a sale to Unilever fell through WWW.RECODE.NET – Share Clorox executive Nick Vlahos is the new chief executive.

AT&T Blocking Facetime Over Cellular on the New GoPhone Unlimited Plan | Prepaid Phone News WWW.PREPAIDPHONENEWS.COM – Share

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Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.