The taxi business is being impacted severely by competing transportation networks: in July, average trips by taxis in San Francisco, home to on-demand car services Uber and Lyft, were reportedly only one-third of trips in March 2012. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is doing its best to help taxi drivers stay in business, but the trend towards on-demand services seems all but inevitable at this point.
Category: Percolate
Amazon Is A “Gadget Company” Now
With the release of six new tablets and e-readers earlier this week, ecommerce giant Amazon has officially evolved into a “gadget company”. From refreshed low-end tablets to high-end e-readers, the company has come a long way since the introduction of its the Kindle seven years ago. And except for the $199 Kindle Voyage, most of the new lineup seems to uphold its business model—sell hardware for little or no profit, and hope to make money when customers buy content on Amazon’s platform. But as Apple has proved time after time, a true gadget company can profit from both hardware and content.
Why Millennials Are Spending More On Experiences Than Commodities
A new survey by Harris Poll shows that today’s young adults — the so-called millennials between ages 18 and 34 — are giving exciting, first-hand experiences higher priority. 78% of those surveyed claimed that they would rather spend money on a desirable experience, such as a music concert or road race, than buy material goods.
This preference is also linked to a widespread “fear of missing out”, or FOMO, perpetuated by the rise of social media. Although the survey has a relatively small sample size and is conducted on behalf of Eventbrite, the event ticket company, the findings do points out a key trend in the evolving consumer behavior of younger generations.
Roku: 10 Million Sold; Most Popular Streaming Device
Roku announced today that it has sold 10 million of its set-top boxes in the United States, claiming itself as “the most popular choice among streaming players”. Launched in May 2008, Roku caught the rising tide of OTT market and has been standing strong against a tsunami of formidable competitors, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast. Seeking to expand its revenue stream, Roku has even teamed up with manufacturers to produce TV sets with built-in Roku service.
Why Apple’s Restriction On NFC Use Won’t Last
Apple has confirmed that its newly-added NFC chip in the iPhone 6 is restricted to Apple Pay, citing security concerns for not opening up NFC access. This means no NFC-enabled marketing tools or even other non-commercial convenience apps… for now. Apple restricted its Touch ID fingerprint sensor in a similar way for the iPhone 5S, but has recently opened it up to third-party developers with iOS 8. So it’s very likely that Apple will allow further NFC implementation in a future release of iOS.
Google Testing Drones To Provide Internet Access To Remote Areas
There have been a number of trials of commercialized drone usage, so it is refreshing to see Google coming up with a new purpose for drones: the tech giant is reportedly planning to test solar-powered drones in remote areas of New Mexico in hope of developing a system that “may eventually be used to provide Internet connections in remote areas or help monitor environmental damage“.
Verizon Entering Sharing Economy With Car-Sharing App
The sharing economy is undoubtedly on the rise, with its global revenue set to hit $335 billion by 2025. Now Verizon wants a piece of the growing market too. The telecom giant has announced its plan to launch, later this year, a mobile app to connect independent car owners and rental agencies with would-be drivers on the go. The rising popularity of on-demand car-sharing has led to the recent successes of ride sharing apps such as Lyft and Uber, but Verizon has bigger plans—it is said to be expanding the platform to other connected resources in the sharing network.
What The Updated Google Hangout Signifies
Google Hangouts has got a huge update, including Google Voice integration, which allows users to send and receive text and phone calls through the Hangouts app. Coming right on the heels of Apple’s newly announced support of WiFi calling, this updates signals Google’s desire to unite its fractured chat services and build an integrated IM system that can run across devices in order to compete with Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime.
Managing Partners Of IPG Media Lab At Dmexco
Our managing partners David Rosenberg and Chad Stoller are present at the German ad tech convention Dmexco. Chad took the stage yesterday in the “Future in Five” panel and talked specifically about utilizing new technology to reinvent out-of-home advertising. During his presentation, he highlighted the universality of outdoor advertising, the Lab’s recent efforts in programmatic outdoor buying and IPG’s recent investment in mobile measurement company Placed.
Watch the video of Chad’s great presentation via embedded video above (from 7:42 ~ 13:05)
Verizon Plans To Introduce Internet-Based TV Service
Watch out, Netflix! Your archrival Verizon might be entering your turf soon. The telecom giant is reportedly working on an Internet-based TV service will arrive sometime in mid-2015. Most significantly, the service would adopt the “a la carte” model and let users freely customize their channel subscription. If implemented as such, this might just be the next stage of the cord-cutting movement.
