Quick Bytes – Dec 29th: Who Won the Holiday Season?
A look at the most interesting startup and business-related news stories of the week.
The new tech holiday market
Quick Byte
Once the territory dominated by iPhones, we’re seeing Apple move over slightly during the holidays for other smart technology. Alexa, of course. It’s becoming a very different market space during the holiday season. Smartphones and tablets have historically dominated the gift-giving market with other tech accessories often viewed as little gimmick-y. We’ve seen tech wearables come into their own and now smart home technology is growing exponentially – the Alexa app jumped to the top app download spot over the holidays. Apple devices activated from 19-25 Dec still took 44% of the share of the smartphone market, with Samsung at 26%, up 5% from last year. We’ll wait and see if Apple’s promises of HomePod can regain it’s market share in this new category.
The Full Story
2017 was another marquee year for smartphone sales and innovation with the introduction and evolution of manufacturers’ flagship devices, such as Apple’s iPhone X, Google’s Pixel 2, and Samsung’s Galaxy S8. With more consumer options than ever before, Flurry took a look at the most gifted smartphones and tablets around the globe this holiday season, examining activations throughout the week leading up to Christmas day and the end of Chanukah. Flurry Analytics, part of Oath, is used by over 1M mobile apps and has insight into 2.1 billion devices worldwide. Read the Full Article Here
Library of Congress attempts to archive modern history
Quick Byte
The documentation of history is heading into new territory with the advent of so many different platforms that history is made on in the 21st century. Twitter is a standout among these platforms with every part of it, from design to marketing, designed to spark conversation (or confrontation). The Library of Congress has always planned on archiving all tweets to make them accessible to the public. However, now it has adjusted this to only archive tweets around events of selective importance as they relate to national interest. It will be interesting to see how national bodies look to incorporate these platforms with budget restrictions and company policies so often presenting themselves as a hindrance to the recording of modern history.
The Full Story
The Library of Congress just announced some changes to its long-running plan to archive all of Twitter. On December 31st, 2017, it will stop archiving all tweets and instead choose certain tweets to archive on a “very selective basis,” Gizmodo reports. The decision was announced in a recently published white paper that reads “the tweets collected and archived will be thematic and event-based, including events such as elections, or themes of ongoing national interest, e.g. public policy.” Read the Full Article Here
Tech care for the elderly
Quick Byte
We often talk about how smart technology is only smart if it fully integrates into a person’s lifestyle in a natural way that adds real value. This article on letting tech care for our elderly is a great example of that. CareCoach solves multiple problems and challenges, from companionship, to information sharing, to round-the-clock care, with a single piece of technology. It’s not trying to replace an in-house carer, it’s created it’s own space of value.
The Full Story
ARLYN ANDERSON GRASPED her father’s hand and presented him with the choice. “A nursing home would be safer, Dad,” she told him, relaying the doctors’ advice. “It’s risky to live here alone—”
“No way,” Jim interjected. He frowned at his daughter, his brow furrowed under a lop of white hair. At 91, he wanted to remain in the woodsy Minnesota cottage he and his wife had built on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, where she had died in his arms just a year before. His pontoon—which he insisted he could still navigate just fine—bobbed out front. Read the Full Article Here
Idea vs iteration: Apple design
Quick Byte
“Apple is a design company. Its future doesn’t rest on being first in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or any other technology. Its future rests on design.” It’s certainly true that Apple owns the space where technology meets design. However, the complaints about Apple design come through thick and fast these days. From cables that fray, to incompatible fingerprint technology, to a cluttered music store. Apple, of course, has (cult-like) brand loyalty so they’re not suffering terribly and their designs are still top of the tech field. But it certainly is a good reminder that good design is not an initial idea – it’s constant iterations of that idea that are just as necessary.
The Full Story
A generation of peerless products made Apple the world’s most valuable company. Now some in the i-universe are questioning if the magic—in the post–Steve Jobs era—is still there. Don’t believe the naysayers. Read the Full Article Here
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