Last week, analysts speculated on Facebook’s FB growing into a video distribution platform, Google GOOGL Music added a free tier to take on Pandora P, Spotify and Apple AAPL Music got some free publicity.
Facebook Versus YouTube?
Facebook has taken online video by storm, starting small with individual creations and growing rapidly to become the platform of choice for airing first episodes of big shows like HBO’s “Ballers” and “The Brink.” So it’s no surprise that advertisers and analysts are taking notice.
But the nature of the platforms is still a bit different: a Google VP says “On YouTube, video is not a bolt on. It's not interrupting the online experience because they are coming to that platform to engage with video." This is a very big deal for people who get tired of processing things that the Facebook newsfeed throws up. And actual views on Facebook may be just a little harder to track.
Google Free Streaming Music Could Challenge Pandora
Google has started a free, trimmed-down ad-supported version of its Google Play music streaming service that lets U.S. users access 30 million songs and create and store self-created playlists of up to 50,000 purchased tracks for $9.99 a month. The service has been available since 2013, but has just 815,000 users. This compares with Spotify’s 20 million users (globally).
Some analysts are mystified that Google stepped up competition with itself (YouTube), but this is probably being done so Google doesn’t have to turn away those on the lookout for a free service (most Google users are accustomed to free services, even if it’s coming in the form of pre-set channels based on genre, mood, decade or activity). And Google can always lure them to pay the $9.99 at some time in the future.
Apple Music Gets Publicity at a Price
Taylor Swift went out on Tumblr telling Apple that since we (indie artists) don’t ask for free iPhones, Apple shouldn’t ask for free music. Apple was quick to reply on Twitter, saying “we hear you,” and adding that artists would get paid during Apple Music’s 90-day free trial period.
Swift has said that free services “cheapened” her product, so when she later said she was happy to sign up for Apple Music, it was like telling the world it wasn’t a “cheap” service. The financial impact on Apple will of course be negligible given the billions it makes selling popular devices.
Two things came to light from the incident: the fact that content truly is king and second, that even the biggest tech companies are increasingly becoming channels/platforms to serve content, close sales and so forth.
|
Company |
Last Week |
Last 6 Months |
|
AAPL |
+0.12% |
+11.18% |
|
FB |
+6.67% |
+10.17% |
|
YHOO |
-1.11% |
-21.26% |
|
GOOGL |
-0.80% |
+6.34% |
|
MSFT |
-1.82% |
-5.04% |
|
INTC |
-3.27% |
-14.71% |
|
CSCO |
-2.58% |
+1.84% |
Other stories you might have missed–
Corporate
Yahoo Exec Jumps Ship to Facebook: After a little over a year at Yahoo YHOO, chief information security officer Alex Stamos is moving to social networking giant Facebook. He is particularly well-known for publicly opposing the government’s surveillance programs and implementing encryptions for Yahoo mail and other services. He will take a similar role at Facebook.
Google Ventures Puts Money Into London Startup: Google Ventures’ European arm and Softbank have together invested $11.5 million in Yieldify, a small startup that has built software tracking the effectiveness of email and onsite conversions for ecommerce firms. It is one of the fastest growing SaaS firms in Europe having grown ecommerce revenue 480% in the last year. It has 800 customers.
Google Building Alabama Data Center
Google Sidewalk Labs Takes First Steps
Facebook Separating Grain from Chaff: New rules by Facebook require small business owners on the social network to pay for promotions on the platform. The social network is concerned that a large volume of low-quality content will negatively impact user experience, so it’s expecting that charging for posts will induce small businesses to improve content and also reduce the number of posts.
Legal/Regulatory
Government Wants Safety of Student Loan Borrowers: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ombudsman Rohit Chopra has sent letters to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSFT Bing asking for help in dealing with scammers. There are 40 million Americans with $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loans that are getting online for management of their outstanding balances. This makes them vulnerable to companies asking for big upfront payments in exchange for lofty promises.
Angie’s List Sues Amazon For Stealing
New Technology/Products
Facebook Messenger for All: Facebook has opened its Messenger app to non-Facebook users, who can sign up by entering a phone number instead. The app has been growing in popularity because of additional features such as the ability to play games, send and receive money, track online shopping orders, etc. According to media reports, it has been downloaded more than a billion times on Google Play and has around 700 million monthly active users.
Microsoft HoloLens in Space: Microsoft Hololens is stepping into space on the basis on an agreement the Redmond company has with NASA. The device will now be used by the International Space Station for collaboration and training. Microsoft appears to be looking for specific verticals where the device could generate some revenue before making it available to the public (and critics).
Google Automated Cars on the Road: California’s Department of Motor Transport have given Google’s automated cars the green signal and the company is now reporting that they are doing up to 25 miles an hour around its Mountain view headquarters. Google hoped to have 100 cars in its fleet, but has managed just 25 thus far. In the test phase, they include a steering wheel, brakes and driver, but the goal is to get them completely automated.
Google’s Wristband for Researchers: Google’s wristband, like some of its other products, have a futuristic goal. In this case, the company wants the device to serve as a research tool for doctors, physicians and others. Google wants the device to be used for clinical trials or even as a prescription to patients, so information like pulse rate, heartbeat and skin temperature of patients in different environments (light or noise levels) can be studied. Apple’s Health app offers similar health tracking and information gathering features.
Gmail Users Can “Undo Send”: Google is the first to allow Gmail users on the web to take back what they said. True it gives you just up to 30 seconds to think again, but this might be enough time in many cases to decide against sending an unsavory/unintentional/uncalled-for email. The feature will be turned off by default and will have to be enabled for use.
Amazon Does More with Alexa: Amazon AMZN has made its cloud-based, AWS-supported voice service available to hardware makers who can integrate the service into their hardware by adding a few lines of code to its free API. This makes the devices more interactive for users and helps to build Alexa as a service. Amazon is backing the effort with money: it has reportedly put up $100 million for developers, manufacturers and startups. Some of the initial partners are Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio and Toymail.
Red Hat Launches Mobile App Platform, Partners with Samsung: Leveraging its FeedHenry acquisition, Red Hat launched its Mobile Application Platform including the JBoss middleware and Open Shift PaaS portfolios. It simultaneously announced an agreement with Samsung to help deliver its products to enterprise customers looking to incorporate mobile workloads into existing IT systems.
Samsung Disables Windows Update on Some PCs: Samsung has been blocking Windows software updates on its laptops using Disable_Windowsupdate.exe. Microsoft has said that this prevents the company from running security updates and thereby exposes users to security risk. Microsoft said it was working with Samsung on the issue.
M&A and Collaborations
Blackberry-Cisco Cross License: In an attempt to minimize patent litigation and increase focus on collaboration and innovation the two tech companies have entered into a patent cross licensing agreement. The details of the long-term agreement remain mostly undisclosed, but media reports state that Blackberry will receive a fee.
Alibaba Is Interested In Food Delivery Too
Box Makes Mends with IBM: Box Inc, which earlier sought to challenge IBM by snatching its clients, is now apparently eating its words. The company, which recently teamed up with Microsoft, is now doing it with Big Blue as well. It has become apparent to all players, especially smaller ones that the way to win in the cloud market is through collaboration and interoperability.
There are enough spoils for all. Accordingly, IBM will now be using Box technology in its enterprise email system and social collaboration platform, while Box uses IBM’s content management, security, analytics and social tools to hopefully attract some big customers.
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