Category: Percolate

Is Netflix Big Enough To Close Off Its API?

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Gigaom 

The short answer is “yes”. Netflix stopped issuing new keys to its public API two years ago, but today, Netflix has officially shut down its public API, shuttering support for an array of third-party apps that pull data from the streaming service. Netflix is enjoying a leading position in the OTT market, in which they can afford a closed ecosystem.

Notably, however, the streaming service has partnered with a small number of third-party developers, including NextGuide, Yidio, and Fanhattan, to grant them with continued API support. So maybe the ecosystem is not as closed as it could be—yet.

 

Walmart Matches Price With Amazon To Combat Showrooming

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Gizmodo

The growing power of ecommerce is bleeding into brick-and-mortar retail. Walmart has reportedly informed managers of its roughly 5,000 stores across the US that they can match prices with Amazon.com and other online retailers.  As 21% of US respondents use a smartphone to research online in their purchase journey, according to Google’s consumer barometer, we expect more practices like this to be formalized in retail stores to combat the showrooming effect.

 

Samsung Launches New Wearable, 360-Degree VR Camera, And More

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: CNET

After announcing their own beacon platform earlier this week, Samsung continued to launch shiny new products at its second annual developer conference this Wednesday. From digital health to smart home, and from virtual reality to wearables, every area that Samsung has been dabbling in resulted in a new development:

  • Simband: First introduced in May, the updated tracker is loaded with numerous sensors that gather users’ biometric data, including blood flow, EKG levels and skin temperature, which will all be stored on SAMI, the company’s newly-introduced open and cloud-based database.
  • Project Beyond: This 3D-capturing 360-degree camera is designed to capture videos and stream them on the Gear VR. The company is also setting a Gear VR “Innovator Edition” for an early December launch.
  • SmartThings: Every new connected Samsung device will now be incorporated into the company’s smart home platform, which is now opening up to developers with a beta SDK. In addition, Samsung introduced software development kits for various sectors, including the Samsung Digital Health SDK, a Gear S SDK, and an S Pen SDK.

It’s clear that Samsung is doing all it can to support and motivate developers to build up an ecosystem that is rich and diverse so as to compete with Apple, but only time will tell if all these efforts pay off.

 

 

Sony To Introduce Its Own OTT TV Service

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge

Sony announced an ambitious plan to launch web-based TV service on its gaming platform PlayStation, with initial testing in NYC followed by a broad rollout set for Q1 2015. PlayStation Vue, as the service is dubbed, will cover all major broadcast and some cable networks, which distinguishes it from the majority of the OTT streaming services available right now. However, it will need to be priced appropriately in order to compete with traditional TV providers.

Why Facebook’s New Privacy Policy Is Deviously Brilliant

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: WIRED

In a deviously brilliant move, Facebook has replaced its privacy policy with a simplified, legalese-free version and released an interactive privacy guide to help educate its users, all without ceding any control over how data is sold to advertisers.

The updated privacy rules actually clear the way for its upcoming push for payments and location-based ads, which is only natural in this stage of Facebook’s evolution. Being upfront might be a great tactic for Facebook, but it’s a tricky line to walk when users are still not getting a fair deal in the value exchange for personal data.

Why Samsung’s New Placedge Beacon Is A Big Deal

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: BEEKn

Samsung is launching its own beacon! The company has unveiled the Samsung Placedge Platform, which functions as a beacon-detecting uber-application that sits at the device layer, with no specific app required. A SDK has also been released to enable developers to create their own apps, allowing for more customized experiences.

This move by Samsung helps to reinforce that beacons aren’t an Apple-only thing. It also highlights the competition for access to consumer engagement happening in the hyperlocal space.

How To Solve The Data/Privacy Paradox

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

The digital privacy paradox that we recently explored in our POV on consumer data has been reiterated by a new PEW Research study, which found that an overwhelming 91% of the 607 adults surveyed said they agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control over how personal information is being collected and used by businesses.

Yet highlighting this data/privacy paradox, 55% of people surveyed also said they are willing to share information about themselves with web companies in order to use their services free. The underlying value exchange, therefore, is crucial to solving this data dilemma that many brands are facing today.

For more insights on this topic, download our POV here.

The Long-Waited YouTube Music Key Is Here

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge 

YouTube has reportedly struck a deal with rights agency Merlin, gaining music licenses from the thousands of independent record labels. Coming just two weeks after CEO Susan Wojcicki publicly confirmed that a subscription-based, ad-free music service was on the way, this new development definitely sets the stage for its presumably imminent launch. Whether the big mainstream record label would be on board remains to be seen, but given YouTube’s long-time partnership with Vevo, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Update: YouTube has just officially unveiled a subscription-based music service. Named YouTube Music Key, an ad-free music and music videos starting at $7.99 a month. It also comes with access to all the music in Google Play.

Walmart To Challenge Chromecast and Roku with Vudu

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge

Walmart is ready to compete with the likes of Chromecast and Roku in the increasingly saturated market of streaming dongles. The “Vudu Spark” will be launched this coming holiday season to help push Vudu—the Walmart-owned video streaming service—and Vudu only, into more living rooms. With such limited functionality, the massive retailer may need to set a competitive price to be a true contender.

 

How Brands Can Survive Facebook’s New “Easy Unfollow” Tool

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: AdAge

Facebook quietly introduced a new tool last Friday that helps users manage the contents showing up on their newsfeed. Users will be able to see which of their friends or the brands they follow accounted for the most posts in their feeds each week, and unfollow anyone with just one easy click. As a less drastic measure, the company also included a feature to dial down the number of posts from a given friend or brand.

Either way, brands now need to be more mindful of both the quality and quantity of the posts they regularly push out. As users gain more control over whose content occupies their newsfeed on the social network, only brand messages with true substance, used in right doses, will offer a fair value exchange for users’ attention.