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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?

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.

The Age of Influence Online

In 2005 Martin Geddes asked me to outline how Nokia could use bloggers to help properly introduce their upcoming line of smartphones, dubbed the "N Series" to overcome the challenges faced by their USA Country Comms team and Global Comms worldwide. In the past they had tried to work with bloggers and never got past the starting gate I was told.

Over a chat I outlined the program, and a day later presented the program to the Nokia Global Comms lead charged with the N Series rollout. The program, simply named "The Nokia Blogger Relations Program" became a runaway hit six months later when we launched it. It was such a hit that the Washington Post credited it with changing Nokia's fortunes.

Back then, metrics like we have today weren't available. There was no Twitter and Facebook was just getting going. My hand-picked group of "bloggers" included the likes of Om Malik, who then was GigaOm, Michael Arrington, who was TechCrunch, Rich Tehrani of TMCNet, Jeff Pulver, Kevin Tofel and the late James Kendrick of JK On the Run, Matt Miller of Palm Solo, now with ZD Net, Alec Saunders who had launched Windows Mobile at Microsoft and others like them.

Unlike today, where social media managers use data, I relied on my sports era training of how to find the right players and volunteer leaders to help grow the Philadelphia Flyers amateur hockey community presence. 

Stats like web traffic wasn't really a factor. Instead I looked for those who could provide insight, perspective and opinion surrounding the devices. I also looked for passion in their writing, and a fundamental aspect of their work life. They had to have experience with some smartphone. Back then it was either a Palm Pilot, a Blackberry or a Windows Mobile devices.

Today, data like the number of followers on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, are laregely how decisions are made, and in turn a lot of money is wasted on targets who will never buy the product or use the service. In the social influencer world there are three types of influencers:

Those who are all about New and Shiny - they simply reflect what they've been told by the company behind the product or service. Often the coverage is based on a news release, a photo or a short statement. Rarely is there any hands-on experience and almost never is their factual comparative reporting, as too many companies fail to let the media have long-term, unfettered access to a product or service. In the Nokia program we simply said to the bloggers to return the devices whenever they wanted to. We followed a similar approach with Boingo where we provided test accounts that were not supposed to expire though sometimes they did and we would reactivate them almost immediately. Most of what you read in high traffic news sites are using this approach where they want to control the message, not inspire thoughtful coverage.

Second is Release and Review. This is where the actual service or product is provided under embargo, or post-launch to reviewers for the purpose of detailing the many features and benefits. The music review world or book critics were great examples of this years ago, and in the days or real media, restaurant critics, many who were unknown on sight, would honestly provide a comparative critique, and offer the kind of detail that helped buyers and customers make informed decisions.

A great example of the expert reviewer is Kevin Tofel, a long time friend, peer and colleague (I was the intermediary who suggested to Om Malik that GigaOm purchase JK on The Run.) Kevin's recent review of the Pixel Slate is a fine example of a targeted review by a well-informed expert. When you compare his review vs. those from general market tech reporters, who have larger audiences, you see why Kevin's the go-to guy for Chromebooks and Slates. Many of the other reviewers have never touched a Pixelbook, or their experience was for only a week or two. This goes back to why in 2005 we aimed for smartphone using bloggers to be who received the Nokia devices whenever possible.

The third, and most important group, are those who demonstrated their blogging to provide what we nicknamed IPO for Insight, Perspective and Opinion.  That meant long-form writing, not short, simple, thin and unimaginative reporting. This allowed for the kind of coverage that people like Oliver Starr, Tofel, Miller, Malik, Pulver, Tehrani, Arrington all were providing their audiences. The IPO blogger or influencer also have what the release and review and new and shiny influencers don't have.  Deep experience and subject matter expertise.

Today, influencer relations is not about quality for many companies or their marketing execs, especially, those not versed in direct marketing vs. digital marketing. It's why social media managers who never learned about TRPs (target rating points) vs. GRP's (gross rating points) often buy their influencers based on large numbers - like the number of followers, vs. the right people who are followed.

The Kevin Tofel example is key here. His readership numbers are far lower than CNET, TechCrunch or The Verge, but his knowledge about Chromebooks is far richer, and his opinion is based more on deeper insight, and a far more experienced perspective.  That makes his reviews far more valuable, as they combine "release and review" with IPO.

What This Means

Twitter is more akin these days to the envelopes full of coupons that come in the mail. 99% of what you see is from businesses or people you would never do business with unless the deal arrived at exactly the time you needed it, as most expire a few weeks later. 

Instagram is like a glossy magazine of the past that you subscribed to and has "ads" from the places you shop, or want to shop in. When you start to follow influencers (i.e people you don't know and who surely don't know you) this is an example of vicarious living, much like the glossy magazines like US and People were or what watching TMZ or ET provide. The feeling of being an insider in Hollywood or New York when you live in, say Iowa (no offense to Iowans). Rarely do the influencers really engage with you except to drive traffic.

Facebook started out similar to a mailing list where friendship was the common thread. It has in some ways replaced your personal address book and phone as you can connect, keep tabs and communicate with your friends. It was supposed to be only about your friends, but has now become a home of businesses too. They use your friends' relationship as currency to get you to follow them. With LIKES related to what your friends approve of being shared to you, very specific geotargeting and more, Facebook had the right idea with its core idea, as its cap of 5000 friends limits overreach. Unfortunately, Facebook let the genie out of the bottle and the more they add in ads paid for by businesses augmented by promoted content, or what we used to call "the advotorial," the less meaningful the content  has in value, and likes become nothing more than a checkbox. Check-ins are meaningful to Facebook. It's the content surrounding the check-in that is meaningful to your friends. Unfortunately, Facebook's search  relevance is not really that good, eliminating the value of a historical post to your friends.

LinkedIn has always been the most restrictive to marketing, so beyond the InMail offers from people you don't know, LinkedIn level of control was enough to keep the excess marketing to a minimum. That's why LinkedIn has always been a higher value service for influence to reach the longer form seeking audiences.  Think of LinkedIn like what was directory assistance or the White Pages directory with additional content about people you know, want to know or used to know.

Review Sites/Blogs/Personal Websites once you get past the pay for player, the bloggers who are paid to write, or produce videos for product and service companies, you'll find deeper insight and better advice. For example, the Costco Wine Blog is a great site for wine buyers who shop at the wholesale club. Costco permits it to use their name because it is not harmful to the brand. If anything it provides an outsider opinion on what's only found on their shelves. It highlights only the best wines based on real tastings of the wines, not merely, the fact that they are sold there. 

Sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp in theory are valuable, but only to a point. They are helpful in researching what's where or who's who. Unfortunately, the content is user contributed, making the authority value rather low. In essence they are more like the almost defunct Yellow Pages directory ads. 

Each social media approach has value, but as a pioneer in social media marketing, too much of what was advertising dollars are being spent on mass audience, where if you reach a large enough audience you'll get some traffic and in turn some customers. 

Today, Social Media today is too much like Mass Media of the past. It needs more.

Smart social media management means taking the approaches of direct marketing first, so if you effectively target the right influencers from the start, then you don't need the mass part at the start, but can apply that approach after you've built the quality content that's "real."

The Google Disconnect

Google is my provider for so much these days. GSuite. Pixel phone. Pixelbook. The Google Cloud powers my phone service, Dialpad and my conference bridge, UberConference. I dumped cable for YouTubeTV. In my life, Google is like Santa Claus. It knows when I've been sleeping. It knows when I'm awake. It knows when I've been bad or good (by my search habits) and Google knows where I go, via Google Maps and Waze. Google knows my music likes via YouTube Music. It knows my questions, via Google Home. To me, if Google doesn't know me by now.....well you get my point.

So how come when I arrive for the first time at Starbucks with my Pixel and my Pixelbook I have to log in to the Google powered hotspot?

My Newsletter The Comunicano

For the past few years I've been putting out a newsletter, The Comunicano. First I used Flash Issue, a very well thought out platform. But as we have all seen with technology, someone always comes along and builds something better. And Revue is that better platform. It's cheaper, easier and faster for me to produce what has become an almost daily ritual for me to share news that I've found interesting.

But there's something more about the newsletter. It's the open rate and click through rates.  Even on Thanksgiving the click through rate was over 30 percent, and the same on Black Friday. 

Those types of readership levels are really something to be thankful for. If you want to subscribe, click here.

 

 

The COMUNICANO for Thursday February 23 2017

FEBRUARY 23 - ISSUE #29     Getting Quoted…and getting quoted regularly are two different things. So far this year I’ve been quoted three times. Last year over 40. Like the number of exits Comunicano has been involved in, now 42, this isn’t luck, chance or accidental. It’s all about having insight, perspective and opinion on subjects, and having the ability to articulate the answer so it’s reporter educational and friendly.  So the first story about the fastest way through some airports, CLEAR, has my quote, but the background provided to the reporter is there too…that’s how you GET QUOTED…There’s also news about Amazon getting in some hot water, Facebook trying to play nice, faster mobile in the USA, Twitter getting more “personal”, Lyft adding more cities and more news you need to know, so now onto the news in today’s COMUNICANO. Travel Watch Now you can go through MSP airport security with a fingerprint or iris scan WWW.TWINCITIES.COM – Share New biometric technology at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport lets fliers go through security with a fingerprint or iris scan. Norwegian Air steps up transatlantic pressure with $65 fares| Reuters WWW.REUTERS.COM – Share Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA on Thursday announced plans to offer transatlantic flights on 10 new routes between the United States and Europe starting at $65, ramping up pressure on U.S. and European rivals. Media Watch Facebook Is Trying To Smooth Over Relationships With The Media WWW.BUZZFEED.COM – Share Facebook’s new head of news partnerships, Campbell Brown, is hosting off-the-record events at her Manhattan home with big-name media people… Amazon Watch What 'Chime' is it? Amazon sued over name of its new online conferencing technology WWW.GEEKWIRE.COM – Share A New York-based tech company has filed a federal trademark suit against Amazon Web Services over the name of the cloud giant's newly launched Chime online Amazon resists US demands to hand over Echo audio in murder case WWW.ZDNET.COM – Share Prosecutors want the audio recordings for evidence, but are they protected by free speech laws? Ridesharing Watch Google’s Waze Plans Expansion of Ride-Sharing Service WWW.WSJ.COM – Share Google is planning to dramatically expand a carpool service on its popular navigation app Waze, setting the tech giant on a collision course with the ride-sharing industry. Lyft launches in 54 new cities, while Uber does damage control MONEY.CNN.COM – Share Lyft has launched 94 new cities total since the beginning of the year, on the heels of trouble at Uber. Wireless Watch T-Mobile Continues to Boost Capacity for Customers with LTE-U Launching in Spring 2017 NEWSROOM.T-MOBILE.COM – Share   GE, Intel, AT&T team up to put cameras, mics in San Diego WWW.REUTERS.COM – Share General Electric will put cameras, microphones and sensors on 3,200 street lights in San Diego this year, marking the first large-scale use of “smart city” tools GE says can help monitor traffic and pinpoint crime, but raising potential privacy concerns. Why I am not going to buy a cellphone AEON.CO – Share It is mildly subversive and perhaps a little quaint when someone clings to their flip phone and refuses a smartphone.  Odds & Ends Google's Perspective API Opens Up Its Troll-Fighting AI WWW.WIRED.COM – Share Google subsidiary Jigsaw is now offering developers access to an API for its AI-based detector for abusive comments. Twitter tweaks direct messages for brands so they sound more human VENTUREBEAT.COM – Share Twitter is once again tinkering with direct messages, this time to let brands show customers that they’re communicating with a human, not an automated bot.  How Peter Thiel’s Palantir Helped the NSA Spy on the Whole World THEINTERCEPT.COM – Share   How leaders of 9 billion-dollar companies stay productive MASHABLE.COM – Share A little thought can go a long way 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 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 for Friday January 27 2017

 

JANUARY 27 - ISSUE #10 It’s only been a few months since cableco Charter gobbled up Time Warner Cable, but now it looks the buyer may become the bought which becomes a big win for Charter’s largest shareholder, Liberty Media and John Malone. That’s because Verizon is reportedly in talks to buy Charter, largely as a defensive move against both Comcast. That’s because Comcast is rolling out wireless phone service and also due to AT&T trying to buy up Time Warner for all their entertainment properties.  In other news we have good news for rural New York State when it comes to broadband; why video streaming is so easy;  a Facebook/MailChimp ad match up; a look at a lot of e-commerce tools; how to increase sales; plus those hotel thermostats and you, along with a short item on Starbucks and its customers. Those stories are all in today’s Comunicano. Verizon Watch Speculation builds on a Verizon-Charter tie-up, no offer made WWW.BUSINESSINSIDER.COM – Share (Adds analysts’ quotes, context, updates share… Verizon Wireless and AT&T see value perception decrease TODAY.YOUGOV.COM – Share Two of the four major wireless phone brands have experienced significant value perception declines with consumers for the last 30 to 60 days, which may create opportunities for their rivals. Rural Broadband to Keep Growing (in NY) New York to keep $170M to expand broadband access WWW.WASHINGTONTIMES.COM – Share New York state will get to keep $170 million in federal funding for broadband access after all. Video Streaming Watch 5 Ways to Use Live-Streaming to Amplify Offline Events WWW.SOCIALMEDIATODAY.COM – Share While there’s some hesitation from event organizers, live-streaming can be a great compliment for offline conferences. Oscars 2017: Where to Stream the Nominated Movies WWW.NYTIMES.COM – Share Several Oscar-nominated films are still in theaters. Here’s where you can stream the rest. Marketing Watch Facebook Ad Campaigns for MailChimp BLOG.MAILCHIMP.COM – Share With Facebook Ad Campaigns for MailChimp, you can grow your audience and sell more stuff in the same place. Find new subscribers and reconnect with others. Gorgias - E-commerce Stack. Top 100 e-commerce apps. GORGIAS.IO – Share E-commerce stack: Top 100 e-commerce apps and tools for Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce How Tech Companies Double Annual Sales with Three Words MEDIUM.COM – Share It’s January, which means increasing sales and growth targets for emerging technology companies for the new year. With more venture capital funding comes higher expectations. How do private B2B tech… Odds & Ends It’s Not You: Hotel Thermostats Really Are Rigged WWW.WSJ.COM – Share Systems can leave guests pushing buttons in vain. Now some travelers have started resisting, scouring thermostat manuals to uncover secret overrides of the override. Starbucks: Crowded stores turned off customers WWW.USATODAY.COM – Share The chain reported disappointing sales growth and partly blamed store “congestion.“ 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.