Company / division: Google
Google Assistant is coming to Android TV – The Verge (Jan 4, 2017)
One of the weirdest things about the Google Assistant from the day it launched was that it wasn’t immediately part of Android, but was exclusive to Pixel and Home for at least some period of time (how long exactly has been something of a mystery). We are, now, starting to see signs of the Assistant making its way to some third party devices, notably those cited in this article, but still “in the coming months”. Meanwhile, Alexa is in almost every new voice device announced at CES, highlighting the folly of Google’s strategy to prefer its own devices rather than going straight to an open platform.
via Google Assistant is coming to Android TV – The Verge
Dish unveils a 4K Android TV streaming box with Netflix, Sling TV, and local channels – The Verge (Jan 3, 2017)
Though cord-cutting is often seen as “breaking the bundle”, in reality many cord cutters end up creating their own stitched-together bundles of multiple streaming services, and in many cases an antenna for over the air content is part of the mix too. DISH’s Sling recognizes that, and this box combines the Sling service, Netflix, YouTube, and OTA channels into a single box running Android TV. That makes it a fairly compelling box – arguably more so than most of the other Android TV boxes out there.
via Dish unveils a 4K Android TV streaming box with Netflix, Sling TV, and local channels – The Verge
Hyundai Collaborates With Google Assistant In Further Connecting Homes To Cars – Hyundai (Jan 3, 2017)
This integration allows a Google Assistant user to remotely control their Hyundai through its Blue Link connected car system. We’re going to see more and more integrations between various voice assistants and cars, though of course Siri won’t be part of that yet because its third party integrations are limited to a handful of specific categories. Google is slowing ramping up its API efforts around the Assistant, which should add value in interesting ways.
via Hyundai Collaborates With Google Assistant In Further Connecting Homes To Cars – Hyundai
The Ad Tech Renaissance – Brian O’Kelley (Jan 3, 2017)
This piece does a great job of breaking down the headline figures on the size of the online ad market into its constituent part, and argues that even though Google and Facebook dominate both ad dollars and growth in them, there’s more going on beneath the surface, and opportunities for other companies do exist in ad tech, even if not ad display. Separately, Brian argues that finding better ways to serve up ads on content sites is vital for their survival. I don’t know that I agree with all of this, but there’s some very good analysis here.
FCA and Google Collaborate on a Uconnect System Concept Powered by Android – Fiat Chrysler (Jan 2, 2017)
This is an interesting side benefit of Google’s partnership with Fiat Chrysler around autonomous vehicles – FCA is now using Android N to power a new version of its Uconnect connected car technology in cars. FCA is on the official list of Apple CarPlay partners too, so even though there’s deep integration with certain Android apps here, this doesn’t mean iPhones will be second-class citizens in the car. But it does mean Google is now in cars in two distinct ways while Apple still seems to be honing its strategy behind closed doors.
via FCA and Google Collaborate on a Uconnect System Concept Powered by Android – Fiat Chrysler
How Amazon, Google, and Facebook Will Bring Down Telcos | WIRED (Dec 30, 2016)
The headline here is overblown – Facebook, Google, and many other over-the-top services have already eaten into telcos’ business, but end user Internet access remains pretty inviolate as a telco domain. This piece skims over that element very quickly, without addressing any of the big barriers to entry that exist. I’ve no doubt that some of the other changes discussed will occur, but that’s the big one that’s going to keep telcos relevant and even healthy going forward.
via How Amazon, Google, and Facebook Will Bring Down Telcos | WIRED
YouTube Needs to Become a TV Star – Bloomberg Gadfly (Dec 29, 2016)
This analysis does a great job of breaking down a couple of specific challenges relating to ad revenue from YouTube – its relatively low revenue per user, and the need to break into traditional television to tap into a bigger video advertising bucket. YouTube has evolved – notably introducing a subscription model – since Wojcicki took over, but arguably not enough. And YouTube is critical for Google growing its overall ad revenue.
via YouTube Needs to Become a TV Star – Bloomberg Gadfly
Reversing Course, Amazon Testing Google Product Listing Ads, May Be Ramping Up Efforts | Merkle (Dec 28, 2016)
This is just third-party observation in the wild at this point, so it should be taken with a pinch of salt, but this would be a big win for Google and conversely a big concession for Amazon, which has stayed out of Google’s shopping search since it became a paid placement product. Third party data we linked to in September suggested 55% of online shopping searches start on Amazon, but 28% still start on search engines like Google. Amazon is here attempting to divert some of that 28% back to its site.
via Reversing Course, Amazon Testing Google Product Listing Ads, May Be Ramping Up Efforts | Merkle
Amazon Echo and Google Home were smash hits this holiday season: voice developers see major holiday growth | VoiceLabs (Dec 27, 2016)
This data is purely directional, but it confirms what you’d instinctively suspect – that both Amazon Echo and Google Home sold well over the holidays. The gifting phenomenon with these devices suggests a mainstreaming which is new to this space over the past year – Amazon’s massive growth in holiday sales was testament to this too. All the same, it’s obvious that Echo far outsold Home.
Advertising’s Moral Struggle: Is Online Reach Worth the Hurt? – The New York Times (Dec 26, 2016)
This is an interesting side effect of the fake news phenomenon, coupled with programmatic advertising – marketers advertise indiscriminately, leaving decisions about placement to computers, but this has backfired in the case of both fake news and alt-right news websites. The repercussions will be felt for some time, and will affect Google and many others in the process.
via Advertising’s Moral Struggle: Is Online Reach Worth the Hurt? – The New York Times
LG’S Mass-Tier Smartphone Offerings for 2017 to be Unveiled at CES | LG Newsroom (Dec 23, 2016)
It looks like LG has pre-announced lots of their CES smartphone announcements, focused on mid-tier phones. Given how everyone but Apple and Samsung (and more recently the Google Pixel) is struggling in the premium market, it makes sense for LG to focus here, though competition from China is intensifying in this segment. Tough times for Android phone makers.
via LG’S MASS-TIER SMARTPHONE OFFERINGS FOR 2017 TO BE UNVEILED AT CES | LG Newsroom
Google will launch two flagship smartwatches early next year – The Verge (Dec 23, 2016)
It’s become increasingly clear in recent months that Android Wear is struggling mightily. Without a shot in the arm from Google, it seems likely to wither on the vine. I still think a Pixel-like direct entry from Google is the best strategy here, but this might be something of a stopgap.
via Google will launch two flagship smartwatches early next year – The Verge
America’s Big 5 tech companies increase patent filings, Microsoft holds lead in AI technologies – IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law (Dec 22, 2016)
Interesting and valuable analysis. But clearly an oversimplification to make patents held the arbiter of a “lead” in AI. Ultimately, whether you lead in AI comes down to the customer benefit you drive from it, not the patents themselves.
Apple V. Google A ‘Stable Duopoly’ in the U.S., Says Stifel – Tech Trader Daily – Barrons.com (Dec 21, 2016)
Interesting data here on purchasing patterns for smartphones in the US – obviously iOS and Android dominate, but it’s notable that Google Pixel buyers are mostly coming from the Android, not iPhone, base. The Pixel launch certainly seems to have been a success, but that’s been bad news for other Android vendors, not Apple, so far.
via Apple V. Google A ‘Stable Duopoly’ in the U.S., Says Stifel – Tech Trader Daily – Barrons.com
Google facing FTC scrutiny over privacy — yet again | The Washington Post (Dec 19, 2016)
The alleged privacy violations at issue here aren’t new, but the threat of formal action over them is. But of course this also taps into the long-running narrative about advertising and privacy and Google’s role in particular. Whether you care or not depends on your overall view of the tradeoffs between business models and privacy, though awareness of (and to some extent concern over) these is rising.
via Google facing FTC scrutiny over privacy — yet again – The Washington Post
Apple, Facebook, Google and Uber say they won’t help Trump build a registry of Muslim-Americans – Recode (Dec 17, 2016)
There’s growing consensus on this point now among the major tech companies, and thankfully little new noise from the Trump transition team about putting this particular campaign promise into action. Of course, that’s not to say it will never happen, or that the administration couldn’t build the registry itself, but it’s good to see tech companies showing some backbone on this point at least.
Google and Facebook Take Aim at Fake News Sites – The New York Times (Nov 14, 2016)
Much of the attention around fake news and the tech sector has focused on Facebook, because it’s the funnel for so much of the stuff people actually see, and because its algorithms tend to create bubbles in which a false sense of reality can take root relatively unchallenged. However, many of those actually peddling fake news monetize through Google ads, and so Google stepping in to help turn off the revenue spigot for some of these sites should go a long way towards shutting down at least some of them.
via Google and Facebook Take Aim at Fake News Sites – The New York Times
Trump claims Google and Facebook are suppressing Clinton email news – Business Insider (Oct 30, 2016)
Having already taken aim at both Apple and Amazon during the campaign, Trump began attacking Google and Facebook over perceived suppression of news about Hillary Clinton’s email servers and the various on-again, off-again investigations into them by the FBI.
via Business Insider
55 percent of online shoppers start their product searches on Amazon – Recode (Sep 27, 2016)
This data – from a survey by BloomReach – shows just how powerful Amazon has become as a shopping destination: over half of online shoppers start with this single destination, versus just 28% at a search engine like Google, which would give them multiple destination options. Other retailers combined accounted for just 16% of the total, so Amazon is totally in a class of its own here.
via 55 percent of online shoppers start their product searches on Amazon – Recode
Hackers can remotely steal fingerprints from Android phones | ZDNet (Aug 5, 2015)
This sort of thing is exactly why Apple makes such a big deal about the secure enclave on iPhones (and the new MacBook Pro) – fingerprint security is only as secure as the encryption and protection for the sensor data on the device. The biggest issue for Android vendors here is that this isn’t really the kind of vulnerability that can easily be patched after the fact.
via Hackers can remotely steal fingerprints from Android phones | ZDNet