Mobile commerce was definitely up over the 2014 holiday shopping season — and for many sites, mobile traffic has surpassed desktop traffic. (Although I think that tablets, which are used more like laptops, which have replaced desktops, are muddying the stats.)
But, despite all the attention Apple Pay got, few used mobile payments to buy stuff.
Seems like virtual reality is about to blow up. Mozilla and Google plan to implement browser APIs that will let VR developers make their virtual worlds accessible via the browser. Users still will need headsets, however.
I’m a big fan of the Motor City. If I wasn’t so settled in Berkeley, I’d definitely move there. I occasionally do some lifestyle/culture writing and this was a fun piece.
I didn’t choose the title; Detroit is much cooler than Oakland.
The photo is by Jesse Welter, who leads photo expeditions all over the city.
http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/Oakland-Magazine/October-2014/Detroit-As-An-Oakland-Doppelganger/
Last week, Facebook reported Q3 earnings. Revenue exceeds analysts expectations, stock falls, blah blah blah. What was interesting about the call was how much like Google Facebook is sounding, not least of which is its ambition to catalog, well, not all the world’s knowledge, but all the world’s Facebook content — which is coming close to equaling the size of Google’s index.
Security is lagging behind tech when it comes to highly computerized automobiles. Chris Valasek, director of vehicle security research at IOActive, and security expert Charlie Miller recently released a research paper titled “A Survey of Remote Automotive Attack Surfaces” that details all the different fronts on which automotive systems could be hacked. I talked to him about whether there’s really a problem and how bad it could be.
Providing same-day coverage of conferences keeps me focused and thinking, as I try to make connections between what different speakers say and identify trending topics. I recently wrote same-day wrap-ups of FC Business Intelligence’s Insurance Telematics USA conference. (Insurance telematics, also known as usage-based insurance or UBI) refers to the various hardware and software applications that let insurers get an accurate view of customers’ driving behavior.)
Day One: Data, Data Everywhere as UBI Becomes Ubiquitous
Day Two: What UBI Do People Really Want?
You could think of TotallyHer.com as one giant, in-house version of Outbrain. The newly launched site pulls the top content from a network of owned and partner sites, then mixes in native ad content. Other sites in the network act as farm teams for TotallyHer, which is what gets promoted by site owner Evolve Media. Hmmmm.
Subway hasn’t connected the dots between its two web series and in-store sales, but it does an excellent job of creating an ecosystem of content assets for each one while forging complex ad/distribution deals. Read all about it in Summer with Cimorelli: Inside Subway’s Hit Web Series.
How music and entertainment brands harness social media not only to amplify content but also to create new business models.
What is it? The lines can be blurry, but I’d define brand journalism — as opposed to brand content — as work that has a raison d’etre beyond plugging a company. While all good branded content provides valuable information or insights to the reader, I think what separates brand journalism is that you might not even realize that it was produced by a company, because it adheres to the same standards and follows the same form as regular ol’ journalism.
Some recent examples of my work in this area:
M-Commerce: What Metrics Matter?
How Socially Devoted Brands Handle Negative Tweets
See all my SAP blog posts here.