Facebook Takes On Amazon With Online Shopping Venture
Feature will allow businesses to set up digital storefronts and sell directly to users on platform
Amazon to acquire Wi-Fi mesh network startup Eero
Amazon is getting into home networking. The Seattle retailer today announced that it’s entered into a “definitive merger agreement’ with Eero, under which it will acquire the Wi-Fi mesh network company for an undisclosed price. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.
Agencies say search, social spend will rise, but increases target 5 platforms
Media spending on search and social platforms is expected to increase this year, but increases will be concentrated among a handful of platforms. That’s according to Marketing Land’s Digital Agency Survey 2019, which we released recemtly at SMX West in San Jose, California.
Bill Gates Made These 15 Predictions Back in 1999 – and It’s Scary How Accurate He Was
In 1999, Bill Gates wrote a book titled Business @ the Speed of Thought.
In the book, Gates made 15 bold predictions that at the time might have sounded outrageous.
But as Markus Kirjonen, a business student, once noted on his blog, Gates’ forecasts turned out to be eerily prescient.
Here are the 15 predictions Gates made just about 20 years ago – and how close they’ve come to being true.
Google.org donates $2 million to Wikipedia’s parent org
Google.org President Jacquelline Fuller today announced a $2 million contribution to the Wikimedia Endowment. An additional $1.1 million donation went to the Wikimedia Foundation, courtesy of a campaign where Google employees decided where to direct Google’s donation dollars. The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia, while the Endowment is the fund.
Netflix rolls out biggest-ever price hike for streaming subscribers
The company says the extra cash will help pay for its investment in original shows and films and finance its debt. Netflix is raising its U.S. prices by 13 percent to 18 percent, its biggest increase since the company launched its streaming service 12 years ago.
Microsoft ends 2018 as America’s most valuable company
Barring any further stock market shocks, Microsoft finishes the year ahead of Apple and Amazon as America’s most valuable publicly-quoted company, despite never making it to $1 trillion.
Microsoft (briefly) passed Apple to become the most valuable US company today
Microsoft’s cloud strategy has impressed. Apple’s smartphone sales? Not so much.
Facebook Portal needs more At least it just added YouTube
To offset the creepiness of having Facebook’s camera and microphone in your house, its new Portal video chat gadget needs best-in-class software. Its hardware is remarkably well done, plus Messenger and the photo frame feature work great. But its third-party app platform was pretty skimpy when the device launched this week.
Apple, Amazon, Google and others sign letter opposing Trump’s attempt to redefine gender
A list of 50-plus companies, including some of tech’s top names, joined forces this week to pen a letter calling out the Trump administration over a reported plan to narrow gender definitions.
Amazon reportedly has 63% U.S. smart speaker share, eclipsing Google and Apple
Amazon’s Echo family has dominated the smart speaker market for years, and the latest consumer survey from Strategy Analytics offers details on the most popular models — as well as the performance of rival speakers from Google and Apple.