Strategy in TECH...
Reuters is reporting that the Apple and Google brands both saw precipitous drops in their brand reputation in the latest version of an annual survey conducted by the respected Harris Poll. At the same time, and perhaps offering a dire warning, Amazon came in at number one (again!) and Tesla saw a big jump in their brand reputation.
Just one week after Amazon made a widely reported purchase of video doorbell maker Ring (for a reported eye-popping $1 billion), we learn that it has made another investment into the smart home space, taking a share of smart thermostat maker Ecobee. Although this was an investment made through their Amazon Alexa Fund and not an outright acquisition, it seems pretty clear that Amazon is getting very serious about the smart home business.
Consumer’s Front Door an Impenetrable Barrier to Online Delivery PeopleGifted visionaries like Jeff Bezos can image amazing products and convenient services. For example, like designing the world’s easiest online shopping site…and, dreaming of having consumers purchase goods online to be delivered IN their home. Today, in 37 cities across the United States, Amazon is launching its new delivery service where deliveries are placed past your temporarily unlocked front door and placed into your home…thanks to a special $250 door lock and cloud camera packaged solution that can be temporarily opened for the delivery person, called Amazon Key.
As we perused the newswire services Monday, one release, from a New Jersey criminal defense law firm, caught our eye. Titled, “Are Your Smart Devices Betraying You?” the release was written more like a poison warning label than a news release. Your smart device, Westfield, NJ-based Stahl Criminal Defense Lawyers said, are “always on and potentially recording or transmitting.”
CEDIA announced today that like last year, Amazon will offer a sponsored keynote presentation at the upcoming CEDIA 2017 show in San Diego. The Amazon keynote will take place on Thursday, September 7, from 2:00PM – 3:00PM in the San Diego Convention Center Ballroom 20A.
Recode is reporting that Amazon is testing an installation service for smart home products in several key test markets – in direct competition with Best Buy’s Geek Squad. While these two giants battle over the rights to install smart home solutions into the home, where does this leave the independent integrator?
Momentum continues to build for voice-enabled devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home products, according to new data and forecast from eMarketer. Usage rates also appear to be increasing for the broader category of virtual assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana.
Tidal, the musician-owned music streaming service put together by rapper Jay Z, announced this week that it has sold a third of the company to telecom giant Sprint. Although the original announcement did not disclose the price, Billboard, the music industry trade journal, said that Sprint invested $200 million for a 33% stake in the company.
We’ve been reporting lately on the growing popularity of voice control. Driven largely by the introduction of Amazon’s Echo in 2014, which featured a dramatic improvement in performance over previous hands free systems like Siri, voice control has been picking up momentum with consumers and attracting new competitors like Google with its Home model, and soon Microsoft with Cortana.
But news services are reporting that Amazon has sold out of the Echo right in the heart of the holidays. Not good…
One of the keynote presentations at CEDIA 2016, was from Amazon – the monster online retailer. Amazon executive Charlie Kindel introduced the custom integration attendees to the Amazon Echo, Tap, and Dot…essentially Internet appliances that all feature their Alexa voice control technology. Then, late in the presentation, Kindel announced the company has developed a way for Alexa to interface with home systems – and even forged integration partnerships with Lutron, Crestron, Control4 and others.
