Category: Percolate

Why YouTube Plans To Launch A Spotify-like Service

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Re/code

Earlier this week at the Code/Mobile event, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki confirmed an ad-free music service is on the way as the company investigates paid video subscriptions. In addition, she also revealed that about 50 percent of views are coming from mobile devices — the limited local storages make streaming a favorable choice for consuming content. As viewers spread across digital platforms and moving towards streaming instead of purchasing content, launching a subscription-based service seems like a good move for the YouTube.

Why Apple Pay Is Now Blocked At CVS

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: LA Times

Initially supporting, Rite Aid and CVS Pharmacy abruptly pulled support for Apple Pay after a week of smooth operation. According to various sources, the odd move is most likely a result of the retailers’ involvement with the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium. The consortium is currently building CurrentC, a rival system to the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that Apple Pay deploys. Will Apple be influential enough to make CVS and Rite Aid switch side again? Only time will tell.

Update: Apple has reportedly blocked Apple Pay for CurrentC in response. Round 1 is officially on.

Update #2: MCX surrenders as CEO Dekkers Davidson says that the CurrentC exclusivity deal that blocks Apple Pay will expire within “months, not years“, giving its members an easy way out.

Amazon Launches Fire TV Stick To Compete With Chromecast

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: TechCrunch

It looks like Google’s Chromecast has a new competitor as Amazon introduced the Fire TV Stick today. It is a $39 dongle that works just like Chromecast, currently priced at $35. To sweeten the deal, Amazon also throws in a free month of Prime membership, while also offering it at a discounted $19 to existing Prime subscribers. It seems to be a serious challenger to Chromecast in terms of both features and value, and we won’t be too surprised if we see an Apple TV Stick soon.

Update 10/30: The ship date for Fire TV Stick has been pushed back to January.

Fitbit Officially Charges Forward With Three New Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: The Verge

Over a week after their existence was leaked, fitness tracker leader Fitbit has officially announced three new wearable devices. The Fitbit Charge is an update to Fitbit’s previous Force fitness tracker, but the other two devices — the Charge HR and the Surge — include some powerful new technology that should allow users to get a picture of their health all day. Given their recent decision to opt out of Apple’s HealthKit, however, it seems like Fitbit might need to do more than just hardware updates to retain the user base.

Etsy Introduces Credit Card Reader

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Re/code

With Apple Pay going public this week, it looks like mobile payment is undoubtedly l’air du temps ( fancy French for “all the rage right now.”) Not to be left behind, online marketplace Etsy will start offering free credit card readers to some of its U.S. sellers as part of an effort to extend its reach beyond the Internet and explore a new revenue stream (Etsy charge 2.75 percent of each transaction). The Square-esque dongle will be used in conjunction with an Etsy app to allow sellers to accept credit card and debit card purchases. So next time you visit a hipster craft fair, prepare to swipe your card on one of these.

Uber Experiments With On-Demand Healthcare

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Engadget

After experimenting with picnic baskets and grocery delivery, Uber is now introducing a pilot program named UberHealth that looks to leverage Uber’s logistical power into on-demand health services, starting with the flu shots. Users in Boston, Washington DC or New York City can order an on-demand flu shot to be delivered and administered by what Uber refers to as “roaming nurses.” Maybe in the near future, Uber can do more for healthcare like bringing doctors straight to the doorsteps of bedridden patients.

Why Amazon Suffered Larger Than Expected Third Quarter Loss

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Statista

Amazon reported disappointing quarter earnings on Thursday, missing both revenue and profit estimates. And it seems like the lackluster sales of the Fire Phone is to blame, primarily. Not only did Amazon take a $170 million write-off related to the phone’s weak performance — in addition, Amazon’s prime cloud business is currently locked in a price war with Microsoft and Google. Still, the holiday season is upon us, and as the chart from Statista shows, the E-Commerce giant always bounces back pretty well during the fourth quarter, especially with three pop-up stores opening to assist the holiday shopping this year.

Museums Embracing Digital Tools

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: NYTimes

Once reluctant to accept the virtual world, museums are now transitions into the digital age — using interactivity, 3-D imaging and augmented reality in displays. They are embracing digital experiences to enhance the physical experience of exploring the museum. The Met Museum, in particular, even embraced the hyperlocal “here and now” philosophy by encouraging visitors to use their mobile phones while browsing artwork f0r additional information.

Lord & Taylor Expanding In-Store Beacon Program Nationwide

Posted on by Lab Team

 Read original story on: Street Fight

After testing in-store beacon technology in ten locations across the U.S. and Canada with positive feedbacks, Lord & Taylor now plans to expand the pilot program to its stores nationwide by the end of November. The company installed four to six beacons in each test store, and used a centralized system to send discounts and editorial content to the signed-on mobile devices of its customers. The company reported an 18% engagement rate for in-store messages from its pilot program, while the average engagement click-through rate for a mobile banner ad is less than 0.4%

Vistar Media Teams Up With AirSage To Mine Carrier Data

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original story on: Street Fight

Vistar, a digital out-of-home startup, wants to use their data to map of consumer behavior in the real world. Through a partnership with AirSage — one of few startups that have negotiated deals with carriers for this data — Vistar has developed a system which it says can allow marketers to analyze where nearly 110 million of consumers live, work and shop in an anonymized and privacy-sensitive way.

The new data product is meant to supplement the core digital out-of-home business. But the move also comes as the company launches its own mobile advertising demand-side network, and looks to find a way to compete in an increasingly crowded mobile advertising industry.