VoIPWatch

Amazon, Apple and Google Steal The Show at CES

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this week's CES is clearly showing how what was once the way companies did business, has changed, and at the same time, what's old is new again and companies who once fought with each other are finding new ways to be allies. For example, Apple stopped licensing in 1997. Now they're redefining licensing by making it easier for anyone to access their iTunes platform. That's called distribution. What's next? Letting anyone make an iPhone-I think NOT.

Taken on face so far, it's clear Apple, Google and Amazon are dominating CES. News about assistants being deployed by multiple brands, new features and uses of the AI backed functionality and most of all iTunes ending up on Samsung, Vizio, and other smart TV brands. That and pure word play on the famed "what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas" line tied to your privacy.

Looking more closely, neither Amazon, Apple nor Google has really introduced any new products themselves. No new iPhones or MacBooks. No new Homes, Hubs, Mini's or Pixelbooks and no new Echos were introduced. But all three are dominating the news and over time, your wallets directly and indirectly. In everyway possible, they have mastered the hardware channel at this year's CES and at the same time proved that "software really is eating the world."

But what about all the news about them you say?

Well, its all indeed smoke and mirrors, with the media jumping on the names of Apple, Amazon, and Google when in reality what we have is a roll-out of services. Yes, those same services Tim Cook talked about is what caused the ill-informed stock market types to think Apple was a bad stock to hold onto, who misunderstand Google's real motivations, and who have yet to really see Amazon for what they are.

Apple wants to be the brand you will always trust. Their single billboard in Las Vegas is all about keeping what's your's, your's. It's also the premium brand. It's Bentley and Ferrari. Everyone else is Mercedes Benz and Chevy. They want iTunes to be the lure to keep you an Apple user. By aligning with the TV brands, they are skipping ahead of Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora.  Musicians love Apple. The labels work with Apple. The motion picture and television industry co-exist with Apple. Pretty much everyone trusts Apple, and this week, Apple reminded everyone why.

Google wants to make it as easy as talking to collect as much information about you so you can have a better, and less expensive, but still, have an elegant ride. Android is their Mercury, their messenger and the Google Cloud is their playground.  For Google, it's all about developing and deploying services. Hardware is their razor. The services are the blades. Google now has more razor manufacturers than anyone all lining up to be their blades' retailers. 

Amazon is for every day. It's the shopping center, file cabinet, and switchboard. Amazon is Walmart's biggest fear. They sell Apple. Google. Samsung. Jeff Bezos is the most prominent arms merchant in the world and never has to fire a single shot. Amazon hardware is the Colt .45's of every man. But if you want a Sig (Google) or a Glock (Apple) he'll find a way to deliver one to you. 

All the interest around voice interfaces is really about the death of the keyboard and the calculator. Just as we traded our landlines for smartphones and our calculators for digital spreadsheets, we're being migratory. Like the birds which fly south for the winter, we're leaving one nest for another. Instead of typing we merely talk. 

But what's also interesting is how all three are avoiding being social media platforms. Instead, they have all chosen to leave that for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  That's smart thinking as the big three are really all about the customer. Consumer or enterprise. Social media is all about the interaction between people who in theory are friends (or not), and a means to amplify, extol and pontificate.

Who do I see as winners from CES?

1. Zapier-without question the more cloud-based services with open API's based on REST come to market, the more Zaps get created, the more opportunities Zapier has.
2. IFTTT-where Zapier has taken a cloud and software focus, IFTTT takes the hardware world and connects it to services. Both are able to be used with Google's Home Hub and Alexa, and not as much with Apple (yet).
3. Google as Gmail, Calendar, Tasks, Apps integrate with more smart assistants but comes with a caveat. Google need to connect the Assistant to their business accounts soon as you can already do that with Alexa and Echos. I consider this like the way SMS was a decade ago. It wasn't interoperable with every operator. Then one day, it was. Like that, so will Home Hub and G Suite for business start working.
4. Amazon - someone has to sell all the new hardware, and they've proven they are the best (place) to buy beating out Best Buy, Costco and eBay sellers for new, more because they deliver and this year literally will be.
5. Qualcomm and Intel-their chips are everywhere. NVidia and MediaTek too. But for these four the looming 5G is where their chips really start to be cashed in.

Oh, how 2019 is going to be an exciting year as friends, foes, allies alike dance with one another, while still looking to stick the knife in their rivals backs.

But with all the hoopla, one question has to be looming in everyone's mind.

Where have you gone, John Legere?

Why I Love My $79 Amazon Fire HD Tablet

I don't usually buy cheap. As a matter of fact, that's about as far from my behavior in tech gear as people who have known me will tell you. I've always bought (or overbought) the latest and greatest Apple gear. I would dive in and buy whatever was newest in Android, usually from Samsung, then OnePlus (I still do buy their gear for Android). I would almost always buy a Pixel from Google.

The rationale was simple, those brands build the best of the best, so paying more for it, meant I had the best. But when it comes to tablets, I haven't rushed out to buy a new iPad, as my iPad Pro 9.6 does all that I need. It's still is as fast as any iPad on the market, runs the apps I use, and can be my companion at dinner or when on the plane. But it's got one problem. Even at 10" with the case, it's just too big for me sometimes to tote around.

The iPad Mini is a better device for that, but price and performance wise, it's not justifiable anymore. It doesn't have the fastest processor, and it's not really a phone, even if I can add all the VoIP and Conferencing apps I use.  Even at $399 for a Wi-Fi only iPad Mini 4, it's over 4 times the cost of a tricked out; case carried, keyboard enhanced Amazon Fire HD 8.

But there's something else that has had me fall in love with the Amazon Fire HD 8. It's the audio and video quality when I cast to any Chromecast HD in the house.  It's fuller, richer and more robust than my iPad. Hands down. That and the facts that it's also so small and light and if it's damaged or stolen, I've lost all of $100 (case, keyboard included).

It's become my go-to jukebox to send music to my 4-year-old Samsung 43" SmartTV, and my two less than a year old TCL Roku 65" or 55" Toshiba Amazon Fire TV's that dot the house in different rooms. Each has Google Chromecast's or Android TVs, and even some have built-in Chromecast themselves. Video streams flawlessly. Audio hits the highs and lows, and by choosing the best quality, it's delivering the audio as good as any mobile device can.

When I take it with me on the go, I can tether to either my OnePlus 6T or iPhone 7. It connects quickly to Wi-Fi, and when I need to, I can always latch on to a Boingo powered hotspot.

Amazon's private label program for hardware doesn't end with the HD Fire for me. I also needed a soundbar to connect to my TV. While it's not the best on the market, it sure is good enough to do what I need, and priced at under $75.00 it sure fills the living room, enhancing the audio enough to keep me happy.

Here's the bottom line. Amazon's line of gear is value priced. Yes, you have trade-offs, but for where we've gone tech wise we don't need to buy only Apple to have what we need.

 

 

The CES Ramp Up

If you're a techie, a gadgeteer or an electronics junkie or simply someone who enjoys entertainment gear, CES is where the action is every January. It starts next week, and already, the ramp up is happening.

So next week, as the publicity machines crank up there will be lots of news surrounding what some will call "the next big thing," but in reality, it's not what's on the floor that's big. It's CES that is the "big thing" as it takes over the entire city of Las Vegas. It's where every brand fights for attention and where every attendee fights for a cab ride.

Already, rumors are floating around about this being the big show for Google (I disagree as I/O, and Next are where Google shows off). Apple never really does anything at CES except walk the floors, and Amazon, which has Re: Invent every November only needs to be there to support licensees. 

The mother of all trade shows is for the mega brands and the want to be brands to generate "heat" around their newest products. That's why CES has morphed into so much more than just "consumer electronics" and is why FoodTech, SportsTech, AutoTech, GreenTech, SeniorTech and BizTech are all there. CES creates new markets, builds awareness and is where the exhibiting companies are selling in.

And CES is about just that. SELLING IN. It is not about selling through. CES is where new products are seen, where meetings are held and where orders get written.

In many cases, the hype around the new products is so early that consumers salivate for the next big thing. It used to be TV and Stereo gear, but now it's about smart devices, smart homes, smart kitchen appliances-seriously, does anyone want dumb anything? 

This year marks the third year I'm skipping CES because, in this era of instant journalism, you can know all that's going on in more places more quickly by just using Google.

And that's why for Google, CES is really a big deal.

Why the WWE is A Telescope, Not a Microscope

I grew up watching WWWF wrestling when Vince McMahon was the broadcaster. Actually, even before that. I would stay up late to watch Florida Championship Wrestling with Gordon Solie. The same with Georgia Championship Wrestling, even the AWA when Thunderlips pre-dated the creation of Hulk Hogan. In the 80's was at the Spectrum in the media conference for the first promotional tour for Wrestlemania and in the late 70's I interviewed Bruno Sammartino for the Philadelphia Journal (well promoter Phil Zacko did most of the talking). I'm also a music junkie and what is going on with the WWE and music plus their talent roster is all part of a bigger play. 

 

The idea of a campaign is typical to marketing. It starts with a hint. A tease. It grows. And grows. What the WWE and Rousey's managers are doing, are building more than just one person.  Wrestling has always been a soap opera. Stories within stories. Themes within themes. As a student of advertising I love a great campaign and seeing all the nuances that the public takes for granted. This is one of them.

 

The WWE has done a masterful job at reviving the song "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. They are doing it with "Rowdy" Rhonda Rousey, a former MMA champ, but also with the whole women's movement surrounding the Divas, what they did in the UAE last summer and with their upcoming all women's pay per view. That means some music supervisor came up with a few songs that could be the core of the campaign. Hats off to that person. Then a creative director and team built upon it. Mastery on so many levels.

 

 

 

This is a campaign around a campaign, carefully crafted to broaden their audience at a time where the "Me Too" movement is alive and growing. While I have no doubt that at some point the same thing went on in the WWE, that's ages ago and from a different era. As someone who grew up in sports and entertainment, that was part of the game off the playing field. It wasn't right then, it was just how it was.

 

 

But today, with youthful stars like Rousey, Charlotte Flair and others who are now competing on par with the likes of the top male wrestlers, the WWE, their close confidants in the world of Hollywood agentry are shaping things the way the big 4 networks have not even come close to. The same can be said about the NHL, NFL and MLB, while the NBA at least has the WNBA. You don't see the NHL glorifying women's hockey, yet it's an Olympic sport. The NCAA has the women's hockey championships. So while we all know wrestling is reality TV at it's finest, and live reality in the arenas, it has surpassed the rest of the groups at moving in the direction of giving women their place, "bad reputation" or not.

 

 

 

 

 

The Comunicano for Friday February 17 2017

Last night I dined out using Feastly for the first time. It was the way to book seats at a “pop up” dinners across the USA. The dinner was the debut of former Herringbone LA chef Jason Witzl, who is in the process of opening up his own Cal-Ital place, Ellie’s, in DTLA. Not only was Feastly a cool app/service experience end to end, but the communal dining experience made it easy to make new friends, hang with old friends, eat very well and of course BYOB.  Alexa-can you come with me? So many times i wanted to take Alexa with me, so while Telzio had voice enabled access to my Amazon Echo first via their mobile app, almost a full year or so ago, there wasn’t a lot of use. Well the game just changed as Rain Labs has launched Reverb with apps for the Mac, iOS and Android. It’s all made possible by Amazon Voice Service.  As I wrote on the Xceptional Blog a few days ago, Amazon keeps looking more and more like a telco/information services competitor to AT&T, Verizon, H-P and more…. So with that, let’s dive into the news in today’s extended edition of Comunicano.

Facebook just changed its mission, because the old one was broken WWW.THEVERGE.COM – Share Facebook used to repeat its mission statement so often that most tech reporters could recite it from memory: “To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” And it’s…

Here are the details of Uber's disastrous public Q&A session with drivers on Facebook THETECHPORTAL.COM – Share In this Q&A session, the complaints against Uber varied from low fare prices, even lower earnings, and hated services like UberPOOL.

App Watch

Messaging Tech Expert: The Year Messaging (Actually) Matches its Hype WWW.PSFK.COM – Share Anurag Lal explores how messaging platforms function as productivity tools, encompassing a wider variety of services and capabilities.

White House Staff Are Using A "Secure" App That’s Really Not So Secure WWW.BUZZFEED.COM – Share Some senior officials are using a new messaging app that may not be as secure as it claims. “We would not recommend this app to someone…

23 Must-Have Alexa Skills for Your Small Business WWW.PCMAG.COM – Share Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa can help streamline your day-to-day business operations with voice-activated skills across communications, logistics, productivity, scheduling, and much more.

Money Watch

Uber Gives Restless Employees a Way to Cash Out WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM – Share With no public offering imminent, the $69 billion ride-hailing startup is buying back shares from longtime staff.

Airbnb buys Montreal-based Luxury Retreats to bolster high-end vacation offerings WWW.THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM – Share Acquisition of Canadian company gives San Francisco firm access to luxury rentals

Verizon acquires Portland startup Skyward, a maker of drone management software WWW.GEEKWIRE.COM – Share Verizon is bolstering its efforts in drones with the acquisition of Skyward, a Portland-based startup whose software helps commercial drone operators in in

Daimler’s MyTaxi acquires Greek rival Taxibeat for undisclosed amount TECH.EU – Share Greek taxi hailing app Taxibeat has been acquired by German competitor MyTaxi, which is owned by Daimler. No financials have been disclosed.

Soundtrack Your Brand has raised $22 million for B2B music streaming WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Soundtrack Your Brand thinks music streaming for business is worth billions.

Apple Watch

Apple Vowed to Revolutionize Television. An Inside Look at Why It Hasn’t - Bloomberg WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM – Share The company is testing a new Apple TV capable of streaming ultra-high-definition 4K. It may not be enough to take on Amazon and Roku.

Apple may cut the (charging) cord completely with the iPhone 8 WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM – Share As some industry experts wonder whether Apple will add wireless charging to its next iPhone, others believe it will go all in – cutting the charging cord completely, just as it cut the analog audio port in the iPhone 7.

Cool Things

The Piaggio Gita Is a Futuristic Helper Bot From the Makers of the Vespa WWW.WIRED.COM – Share Piaggio’s Gita follows you around. It goes with you, turns with you, stops with you.

A breakthrough in Alphabet’s balloon-based internet project means it might actually work WWW.RECODE.NET – Share The Loon project says these advancements shorten their timeline for deployment.

Private Astronaut Taxis by SpaceX, Boeing May Not Be Ready by 2019 WWW.SPACE.COM – Share NASA intends to put a backup plan in place in the event that SpaceX and Boeing are not ready to fly humans to space in 2019, according to a new report.

Where is Zealandia? Geologists say they have discovered eighth continent WWW.CSMONITOR.COM – Share A new study argues that a mostly submerged landmass about two-thirds the size of Australia meets all the usual criteria for a continent.

Odds & Ends

AT&T’s new, new unlimited data plan eliminates an annoying requirement WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM – Share The move comes days after Verizon launched its own competing offer.

Jack Dorsey: Twitter Lacked 'Focus And Discipline' For Growth WWW.FORBES.COM – Share On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Dorsey offered some insight into the source of Twitter’s user growth problem, which has haunted the company for years.

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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.

The Comunicano for Wednesday February 15 2017

FEBRUARY 15 - ISSUE #23 HUMPDAY…….and there’s tons of NEW and that makes NEWSsurrounding new services releases that are making the rounds today from the likes of Facebook, Signal, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. They all have decided to unleash new “stuff” that changes the way we consume, communicate, create and deliver information today, and after a wave of non-news of late, it’s nice to see NEW back in the NEWS.. Let’s start with Facebook, which is going to become a bit more “annoying” as they start with sound on within their video news content. Their claim is more people prefer that, but thankfully there are ways to turn the audio off…Microsoft makes its biggest move to take on Gmail with a more complete Outlook Premium offer…In some cases I’ve included the official announcement as well as a news item about what’s new, in an effort to provide deeper transparency and insight.  After all that, there’s a few perspectives on the new data plan wars happening in the USA that’s waging between the mobile operators that will help you decide what plan and what changes are right for YOU….That and more are all in today’s COMUNICANO. New Release Watch New Ways to Watch Facebook Video from the Facebook Newsroom NEWSROOM.FB.COM – Share   Facebook is launching an app for Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV WWW.RECODE.NET – Share The new app will let users kick back and watch Facebook videos from the couch. Outlook.com Premium Comes Out of Preview WWW.THURROTT.COM – Share   Introducing Cloud Spanner: a global database service for mission-critical applications CLOUDPLATFORM.GOOGLEBLOG.COM – Share   Signal Adds Video Calls, Better Quality---And a New Privacy Tradeoff WWW.WIRED.COM – Share You’re about to be able to turn on new encrypted calling features. But you may also want to turn off one that could leak your metadata. Video calls for Signal now in public beta WHISPERSYSTEMS.ORG – Share   Yahoo Mail now syncs photos across devices and IDs who's calling on the phone VENTUREBEAT.COM – Share Yahoo views its mail service as being something more than standard email — its senior vice president for communications products Jeff Bonforte once described the inbox as “the database to the user.” Our lives reside in this software that tells us when not only someone messages us, but when our next meetings are, and it has become our main address book, replacing the paper version. Yahoo Mail Update: Never Guess Who’s Calling or... YAHOO.TUMBLR.COM – Share Yahoo Mail Update: Never Guess Who’s Calling or Email Yourself a Photo Again By Michael Albers, VP, Product Management Get excited! Two unique features are coming to Yahoo Mail: Caller ID and photo… Dataplan Watch Expect T-Mobile to Continue Inflicting Pain on Verizon and AT&T REALMONEY.THESTREET.COM – Share The carrier’s results and guidance show that its aggressive pricing is still fueling share gains, and that it’s not coming at the cost of profit growth or needed investments. Experts warn businesses not to over-buy on unlimited data plans WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM – Share Smaller businesses that think they could benefit from an unlimited plan from wireless carriers need to calculate their costs carefully. Your complete guide to choosing an unlimited data plan WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM – Share And how to make sense of the competing offerings now flooding the market. Unlimited plans comparison: Verizon vs. AT&T vs. Sprint vs. T-Mobile WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Verizon and T-Mobile recently updated their respective “unlimited” data plans, so we put all of the offerings from the big four carriers head to head. Odds & Ends This sick Valentine's day ad shows people getting naughty with their phones MASHABLE.COM – Share OnePlus’s Valentine’s Day #LickofLove ad is extremely cringeworthy – be warned! How To Create A Killer Logo-Two Experts Weigh In WWW.STARTUPS.CO – Share   Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

The Comunicano for Friday February 3 2017

 

FEBRUARY 3 - ISSUE #15 The big news, especially here in the Southland, is SNAP and their 3 billion dollar IPO. There’s lots of coverage on it, with some deep insight from the Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern and the Business Insider as well as the L.A. Times. The stories around the story is also interesting so there’s six for your reading pleasure.  Beyond SNAP, we have news about Google, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, the Sharing Economy, Microsoft and a bit more.  Lastly, next week is IT Expo Week in Fort Lauderdale. I’ll be there so find me in the media room, or up on stage on any of my three panels. That’s all in today’s COMUNICANO!!! Snapchat company's IPO filing might be L.A.'s biggest ever WWW.LATIMES.COM – Share Snapchat maker Snap Inc. filed papers to move forward with what’s expected to be the biggest initial public offering ever for a Los Angeles company and one of the highest valued in U.S. history. What’s So Great About Snapchat Anyway? WWW.WSJ.COM – Share As Snap Inc. files its IPO, here’s what grown-ups need to know about Snapchat, the social network millennials love so much. Upcoming Snapchat Lenses will be Able to "Interact" with Objects WWW.DIGITALTRENDS.COM – Share Work-in-progress Snapchat Lenses will reportedly “interact” with real-world objects and scenes, according to reports. Snapchat paid third cofounder Reggie Brown $158 million to disappear WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Snap Inc. has disclosed that it paid a total of $157.5 million to settle with its ousted third cofounder Reggie Brown. Snapchat IPO: Inside Snap Inc.'s company culture WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Thursday night’s filing of Snapchat’s IPO papers was the largest data dump we’ve ever received from the company. Here’s what we learned. Snap S-1 Filing WWW.SEC.GOV – Share   Uber Watch Uber C.E.O. to Leave Trump Advisory Council After Criticism WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share Travis Kalanick plans to step down from the president’s council, after internal pressure from employees and a social media backlash. Sharing Economy Goes Mainstream in Business Travel — Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report SKIFT.COM – Share   Odds & Ends The Best Drone Photography of 2016 WWW.CNTRAVELER.COM – Share You’ve heard it from us before: Drones can take your travel photography to (literally) a whole new level, offering a perspective on a place that has long been out of reach to most of us. As drones become more commonplace, it is harder to stand out. Amazon's advertising business is growing fast - WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share Amazon’s fastest-growing business is its advertising business, which is a direct competitor to Google and Facebook. Facebook’s AI unlocks the ability to search photos by what’s in them TECHCRUNCH.COM – Share Initially used to improve the experience for visually impaired members of the Facebook community, the company's Lumos computer vision platform is now.. How Twitter took on Trump's bot army—and won MASHABLE.COM – Share A small change got real people’s voices heard. Why augmented reality will be big in business first WWW.ECONOMIST.COM – Share The technology is coming. But it will take time for consumers to embrace AR With Chrome 57, Progressive Web Apps will appear in Android’s app drawer, settings, more 9TO5GOOGLE.COM – Share   Microsoft Outlook for iOS now supports add-ins like Giphy and Trello WWW.THEVERGE.COM – Share Microsoft is bringing apps and add-ins to its Outlook for iOS email application today. The software giant has partnered with Evernote, Giphy, Nimble, Trello, and Smartsheet to bring the first… Business Ops is the New Sales and Marketing Ops. Why Consolidation is Crucial to Your Bottom Line. MATTERMARK.COM – Share   We’re probably underestimating how quickly electric vehicles will disrupt the oil market WWW.VOX.COM – Share Unpredictably rapid growth happens pretty predictably. Catapulting Europe’s brightest FinTech startups from Singapore to Asia with The FinLab TECH.EU – Share FinTech startups are invited to apply for The FinLab’s accelerator programme in Singapore to help bring their ideas to market. Verizon Restructures Small Business Segment, Launches Verizon Business Markets WWW.CRN.COM – Share   Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

The Comunicano Communique for Friday April 8th 2016

The Comunicano Communique

Good Morning. It's Friday and it's been a busy week. Our big client news was YipTV joining T-Mobile's BingeOn. For the New Jersey based company this is a major milestone and likely a harbinger of things to come......The news cycle this week has also been fast and furious as next week tax day looms on April 15th, so it "usually" slows down. We'll see. What company is hot? Facebook. Why? Start with pal Stephan Rust's blog post from last Thursday and then read the following few stories about the social network giant and I think you'll agree that we all can begin to drop "social" from the description of Facebook. They are really cresting into an all everything company. Then there's the "let's buy Yahoo" news. I bet shareholders are wishing they took Steve Ballmer's offer a few years ago now.....What is it about Pigs and Hogs? Of courseencrypted communications remains in the news. What'sApp did it this week (read what the EFF has to say). Signal is available to more now via the desktop (as announced on their blog). The Amazon Echo remains the hottest product on the market ,and as I have all three, I can say that first hand, having been a user and raving fan since the Beta over a year ago. Talk about a daily experience changer, the Echo is just that, all of which rolls nicely into the talk about Bots...yes Bots. Not Bats.. There's all that and more in today's Comunicano Communique, so grab your coffee mug, tea or chai and get on with the news. By the way, don't miss the API event of the summer in Las Vegas. "All About The API"......     Facebook leading the way in Mobile disruption After digesting some of the insights from Barcelona during Mobile World Congress, it's becoming more and more apparent that Facebook, not Apple or Google, nor Ericsson or Cisco, and especially not Vodafone or China Mobile, is leading change in mobile.     [continue...]     Facebook Messenger now lets you start a chat by scanning profile codes Becoming friends with someone on Facebook Messenger just became a lot easier. In a new update that started to roll out Thursday, Facebook's chat app now has Messenger Codes - circular patterns around a user's profile photo, which can be scanned to start a chat with that person.     [continue...]     Facebook Messenger may soon have more bots Facebook Messenger will soon have more bots. According to a leaked slide deck, the company will announce a bot platform for its chat service at next week's F8 conference. According to TechCrunch, Facebook is seeding APIs to developers that allow them to build bots for Messenger and Web plugins for Live Chat.     [continue...]     When do bots beat apps? When context and convenience matter most     There's a question I've been asking founders when they pitch me their bots: "Why is this a bot and not an app or a website?" I've been fascinated by the explosion of developer interest and startup activity around chatbots and am pretty bullish on their potential as both a user and an investor, but it's important to take a step back and think about why we're all so focused on conversational interfaces.     [continue...]     Video game Olympics announced for Rio A new eGames international gaming tournament will make its debut in Rio during this summer's Olympic Games. The event, launched as part of this week's London Games Festival, offers medals and national pride rather than cash prizes for the winners. The competition, backed by the UK government, will be run by the new International eGames Committee (IEGC).     [continue...]     Verizon to Proceed With Yahoo Bid, Google Weighs Offer Verizon Communications Inc. plans to make a first-round bid for Yahoo Inc.'s Web business next week, and is willing to acquire the company's Yahoo Japan Corp. stake to help sweeten the offer, according to people familiar with the matter. Google, the main division of Alphabet Inc., is also considering bidding for Yahoo's core business, a separate person said.     [continue...]     Is That Email Really From Your CEO? The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week warned about a "dramatic" increase in so-called "CEO fraud," e-mail scams in which the attacker spoofs a message from the boss and tricks someone at the organization into wiring funds to the fraudsters.     [continue...]     Taking Alexa for a ride Alexa, the ever-present voice control assistant living inside Amazon's Echo, Echo Dot and Tap products, has been a useful addition to the CNET Smart Home -- our spot in the Kentucky countryside for testing out all sorts of connected gadgets and gizmos (the Echo, Echo Dot and Tap included).     [continue...]     Amazon expands free same-day delivery to 11 mid-sized cities, increases coverage in existing metro markets - GeekWire Amazon continues to increase the value of its Prime membership, this time expanding its network of free same-day delivery options for members. The retail giant announced today that same-day delivery options are available to Prime members in 11 new cities, bringing the service's footprint up to nearly 30 metro areas across the U.S.     [continue...]     Reddit launches official iOS and Android apps Remember when, in October 2014, Reddit bought the unofficial Reddit mobile app Alien Blue? Even though the app was quickly relaunched, that was the first step towards Reddit launching its own official apps. That moment has finally arrived. On Thursday, the official Reddit apps landed on Android and iOS (iPhone only).     [continue...]     Now's your chance to try Signal's desktop Chrome app The desktop version of Edward Snowden's favored end-to-end messaging system, Signal, is now available to anyone who wants to check it out. Open Whisper Systems announced the desktop version back in December, but until today it was invite-only.     [continue...]     Tesla Proclaims Early Model 3 Demand A Victory For EVs A week after the Model 3 unveiling, and Tesla is in the endzone doing a touchdown dance. A blog entry on the official Tesla blog boldly states that this past week was "The Week that Electric Vehicles Went Mainstream." Elon also couldn't contain himself and let the good news from the summary of reservations for the week overflow onto Twitter.     [continue...]     Most Airbnb hosts flout SF laws, city report says More than a quarter of San Francisco homes listed as vacation getaways on Airbnb violate the city's 90-day annual limit on such rentals, while the vast majority of Airbnb hosts have yet to register their properties, flouting a law enacted last year, according to a report released late Thursday by the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst's Office.     [continue...]     YipTV Joins 'Binge On' Mix YipTV said it has joined Binge On, T-Mobile's controversial optional service that delivers mobile video in 480p resolution and zero-rates the streams of its growing list of OTT partners. YipTV is a no-contract OTT-TV offering launched last May that's focused on Spanish-language video and features plans from more than 100 international and domestic live TV channels.     [continue...]     YipTV, Dailymotion, others bulk up T-Mobile's Binge On streaming ... International-focused streaming service YipTV and OTT provider Dailymotion are among a block of over-the-top providers and TV networks that have signed on to T-Mobile's ( NYSE:TMUS) streaming service, Binge On, setting a challenge to its primary mobile-first video streaming challenger, Verizon's ( NYSE: VZ) Go90 service.     [continue...]     StubHub Will Use Virtual Reality to Let You Preview Your Seat Like many companies, eBay is convinced virtual reality is the next big thing. But also like a lot of companies, eBay is trying to figure out just what that means for its business. On Thursday, the company is announcing its first small foray into the VR arena, as subsidiary StubHub offers Final Four ticket buyers the option to get an immersive, 3-D view of available seats.     [continue...]     Regis McKenna's 1976 Notebook And The Invention Of Apple Computer, Inc. At first blush, it appears to be an utterly unexceptional spiral-bound notebook. Manufactured in the U.S. by the National Blank Book Company of Holyoke, Massachusetts, it's got a light green cover and 80 sheets of narrow-ruled 8-by-10-inch paper. The first sign that its contents might matter is a request haphazardly rubber-stamped on the front: "RETURN TO REGIS McKENNA HIMSELF."     [continue...]     The Hidden Economics of Porn A gender-studies professor explains how the industry works.     [continue...]     Andy's App of the Week - SENDERS Back in the day, Rapportive was a great go to app to discover more about the person you were engaged in an email conversation. Then it was acquired by LinkedIn and its usefulness waned. Fortunately a new service has come out and it's awesome. I'm referring to Senders, which I talked about on Thursday's BusinessRockstars. Senders does for social and contact information what USA Today's bite size round-up stories did to the news. Makes it easy to know all you need to about someone in one place with their LinkedIn, Twitter, About, Angels List data and a quick search on Google all baked in. Senders is still in beta, so expect a bug here or there, but after a day of using it, I can't live without it.

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The Comunicano Communique for Thursday March 31st 2016

The Comunicano Communique

Good Morning. It's Thursday and as I wrote earlier in the week, the NEWS is happening. Today there is more than double the usual number of news stories you'll receive, with 18, and also far less feature content.....so grab the coffee and get ready to read. In technology we'll go well beyond the FBI iPhone Hack and all the news surrounding that, much of which is more speculation than fact. The tech news is from the usual and some unusual suspects. Microsoft with their Build 2016 Conference is dominating the tech press with stories surrounding their Hololens, API's, Bots, Cortana, their new Edge browser and how it deals with Ad blocking, Skype and more. To parry Microsoft's news a bit, Google is coming out with news about their efforts in Virtual Reality, with an update on their cardboard viewer with 360 degree viewing. Then there's news on Tesla's new car debut and how the tax credits for buying one may not last... Of course Apple has well timed news around their Major League Baseball sponsorship all based upon the iPad going in the dugout and getting mentioned on air.  There's more news about their "New" iPhone, the SE with a strong review leading the way for that and the better way to charge iPad Pro 12 inchers... Oh, and Uber announces how they are improving customer service by moving it into the app which makes things easier and also lets the world know how they have expanded what they are doing with Hilton. In the world of "what's old is new again", we have AOL's Tim Armstrong, who is now working for Verizon, with access to their war chest, going on record on wanting to buy Yahoo which some may remember used to power the telcos DSL, now he wants to power their ad network with their platform.  There's all that and more in today's Comunicano Communique. By the way, don't miss the API event of the summer in Las Vegas. "All About The API"......     BUILD 2016: Microsoft talks Cortana, Skype, bots, and intelligence APIs On March 30th, during the BUILD 2016 keynote presentation, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about "Conversations as a platform." That means conversations between two or more people, between people and digital assistants, and between people and bots, which are intelligent applications that humans can converse with.     [continue...]     Microsoft launches HoloLens emulator so developers can test holographic apps, no headset required As promised, Microsoft today started shipping its $3,000 HoloLens development kits. In addition to sharing that bots are coming to the new platform, the company also released a HoloLens emulator, which lets developers test holographic apps on their PC without the need for a physical HoloLens.     [continue...]     HoloLens, A Year Later: A New Demo At Build 2016 A year ago at Build 2015, we got our first demo of Microsoft's HoloLens. At this year's event, we got a second crack at seeing the augmented reality device in action, and it was a completely different experience. Or, we should say, Microsoft took a completely different approach.     [continue...]     Microsoft plans to build ad blocker into its Microsoft Edge browser | ZDNet One of Microsoft's biggest gambles in Windows 10 is its decision to turn Internet Explorer into a legacy product, primarily for enterprise customers. Its replacement, Microsoft Edge, has been developing slowly since its version 1.0 release with the first release of Windows 10.     [continue...]     Skype is getting Cortana and crazy bot messaging You'll soon be able to use Skype to books trips, shop, and plan your schedule, just by chatting with Cortana. During its Build conference, Microsoft demoed how Skype users will soon be able to start a chat with Cortana and get things done just by having a conversation.     [continue...]     Google makes it really easy to embed 360-degree VR experiences You've tried out Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR, you've seen those nifty virtual reality experiences, and now you want to create your own and put it on your website. Well, Google just made that a pretty simple task.     [continue...]     Google tackles simple 360 content embeds with VR View, introduces Cardboard SDK for iOS Virtual reality is great for gaming and movies, but when it comes to real-world use cases there's still quite a bit of room for VR to prove itself. Google is hoping to kickstart this process by making 360 VR content a bit more simple to implement and, in the process, way more spontaneous for users to discover and view.     [continue...]     AT&T moving away from Social Security numbers for customer security, will use pass codes instead AT&T ( NYSE:T) is asking its customers to use pass codes rather than Social Security numbers when dealing with the carrier in an apparent effort to better protect users' sensitive information. "Previously, we required the last four digits of your Social Security Number as part of the process to access your account when calling Customer Service or visiting some Retailers," the carrier recently wrote in an e-mail to subscribers.     [continue...]     Meet The iPhone Dream Team Hackers: FBI, Japanese Pinball Machine Maker, Israeli Cyber Firm FBI Director James Comey leads a dream team which pulled off the iPhone hack.     [continue...]     Apple strikes deal with MLB to provide every team with iPad Pros Apple and Major League Baseball have signed a multi-year deal that will see every team receive iPad Pro tablets for use in the dugout, reports The Wall Street Journal .     [continue...]     iPhone SE review: It's a pocket-size powerhouse The SE is the little iPhone that could. With a 4-inch screen and the body of an iPhone 5s, it fits in my pockets better than my iPhone 6s, and it's easier to use one-handed. But it doesn't compromise much over its bigger, more expensive siblings.     [continue...]     Testing Apple's 29W USB-C Power Adapter and iPad Pro Fast Charging When Apple refreshed its online store with a new USB-C to Lightning cable with support for fast charging through a 29W power adapter on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro last week, the addition immediately caught my interest. You can also use the cable with an Apple 29W USB-C Power Adapter to take advantage of the fast [...]     [continue...]     With Model 3, it's make or break for Tesla On Thursday night, at an invitation-only, Hollywood-style premiere on his SpaceX campus in Hawthorne, Elon Musk and his Tesla team will unveil their latest creation: the Model 3, Musk's long-awaited electric car for the masses. Few details have been revealed so far, but the car is essentially a...     [continue...]     Report: AOL's Tim Armstrong wants Verizon to acquire Yahoo to build an ad powerhouse AOL, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong has grand plans to turn parent company Verizon, Inc. into an ad powerhouse, and acquiring Yahoo, Inc. may be a part of that plan, according to a new report Wednesday.     [continue...]     Drone Startup Airware Raises $30 Million, Adds Former Cisco CEO To Board A drone powered by Airware technology inspects the roof of a home. (Photo courtesy of Airware) Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration projected in a report that 7 million drones will be sold annually in the U.S. within four years. Some 4.3 million, the FAA forecasted, will be bought and operated [...]     [continue...]     Checking Your Uber Rating Or Getting Your Purse Back Just Got Much Easier After years of forcing customers to use email to complain about anything, Uber is now committing to more updated technology. On Wednesday, the ride-hailing giant announced it plans to roll out globally its in-app customer service support features, which it has been quietly implementing in the U.S. since late 2015.     [continue...]     Hilton Deepens Its Uber Relationship in New Loyalty Push Hilton may not have been the first hospitality company to partner with Uber - that distinct honor goes to Starwood - but it is the first hotel company that's allowing its loyalty members to view their hotel stay information and be able to check-in from the Uber app, all while they travel to their hotel in the very Uber they were reminded to book from their Hilton HHonors app.     [continue...]     Why Do the Feds Usually Try to Unlock Phones? It's Drugs, Not Terrorism Until the FBI backed down from its battle with Apple over accessing the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, it seemed the agency had chosen a near-perfect case on which to make its stand against encryption.     [continue...]

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The Comunicano Communique for Wednesday March 30th 2016

The Comunicano Communique

Good Morning. It's Tuesday and it's the kind of NEWS day I love. That's when there is actually NEWS to read. What's happening? Lots of new features in apps and from services. It's the storm before the Tax Time lull so expect lots of "we have something new" to be coming out the next week or so. Take a look. See which companies are actually doing something NEW....All that and more in today's Comunicano Communique. By the way, don't miss the API event of the summer in Las Vegas. "All About The API"......     Digital Asset Holdings signs deal Depository Trust & Clearing Corp for Blockchain repos trial Blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings, LLC has signed a new deal with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. to trial the company's Blockchain technology at the firm.     [continue...]     AT&T to Add an Unlimited Data Option for Home Internet and Will Better Enforce Overages on Other Plans On May 23, the company will introduce a new unlimited data option for its U-verse home Internet subscribers. AT&T customers who have only the U-verse home Internet service can add unlimited data for $30 more a month.     [continue...]     Introducing Fiber Phone Whether it's calling mom or ordering take-out, we rely on our phones to help reach the people and things that matter. And while mobile phones have pushed us toward the future, home phone service is still important to many families. Landlines can be familiar, reliable and provide high-quality service, but the technology hasn't always kept up.     [continue...]     'Burner' phones might be made illegal Burner phones might be about to be banned in the US. A Congresswoman has proposed that everyone buying a phone in the country would have to register with personal ID, to stop criminal activities being planned with handsets that can be bought anonymously and then thrown away. Forcing shops to require customers to give over identification when buying cheap phones or pre-paid SIMs could be one of the most important ways that terrorists are able to communicate, according to Ca...     [continue...]     Facebook's Messenger lands first airline as chat app pushes into commerce SAN FRANCISCO - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines passengers will soon be able to check in, get flight updates, make travel changes and talk to customer service reps straight from Facebook's Messenger chat app. KLM is the first airline and the first major European partner for Messenger, which is used by 800 million people around the globe.     [continue...]     Snapchat Wants You to Video Call Your Friends and View all their Stories Snapchat has taken to the official blog to announce new features that allow users to place audio and video calls. Over 200 stickers have been added to the mix, allowing you to send stickers of things such as aliens, Snapchat's ghost, and walruses to your added contacts.     [continue...]     Instagram Increases Video Length From 15 Seconds To 60 Users will soon be able to record and post Instagram videos that are as long as 60 seconds. Instagram has increased the video limit on posts because users have been watching more videos on the service. "In the last six months, the time people spent watching video increased by more than 40 percent," the company said on its official blog.     [continue...]     SoundCloud Starts Subscription Plan, Taking On Spotify and Apple Two weeks after signing its final licensing deal with a major record company, the online music service SoundCloud has introduced its long-awaited subscription plan. The new program gives customers access to a much wider range of music than is available on competing services like Spotify and Apple, and it offers artists and their labels the promise of royalties.     [continue...]     Spotify raises $1 billion in debt with devilish terms to fight Apple Music On-demand streaming music is inevitable, so Spotify is taking whatever fuel it can get to win the race against Apple. Whoever can sign up customers faster to consume their data and network effect could earn money off them for a long, long time.     [continue...]     Waze rolls out speed alerts to tell you when you're driving too fast Google-owned GPS driving app Waze is making it easier to avoid speeding tickets today, with the launch of a new speed alerts feature. Now when you're driving on unfamiliar roads, or perhaps find yourself somewhere where the speed limit isn't clearly signposted, you can set up alerts for when you're moving too fast.     [continue...]     Lyft wants to make 'casual carpooling' a thing again Ride-hailing service Lyft is launching a new carpooling service in the Bay Area today that it insists is entirely different from all the other carpooling services out there, including its own Lyft Line.     [continue...]     Plot twist: I'm working for Google So that's a headline I never thought I'd be writing. But it's true. I recently flew out to Mountain View for orientation, meetings and my first visit ever to Google HQ. To clarify though, I haven't earned one of the Noogler hats that my son has coveted for so long.     [continue...]

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