In a move reported to be worth over $200 million, Apple purchased Topsy, the Twitter analytics engine that is one of the few services to offer unfettered access to Twitter’s proprietary data. It offers a concise way to analyze tweets, measure reach, and gather sentiment about a hashtag, message, or campaign more broadly; you can even search Twitter’s entire archive through the service. Why Apple purchased the startup, though, is a bit of a mystery. They don’t, at present, have any stake deep Twitter integration per se, but it could be looking to use Topsy to start metrics collection for iTunes Radio.
Category: Percolate
PS4 Breaks UK Console Record
The Playstation Four broke the UK console launch record with over 250,000 units sold in 48 hours, which amounts to about $1.4 billion in sales. The PS3 only broke 100,000, while the Xbox One hit 150,000. Not much fuss has been made about international sales, with Microsoft and Sony touting their sales of over one million devices in North America. Neither console has taken a definitive lead in the “console wars,” but as the international numbers continue to trickle in it seems like the Sony device has more global appeal.
Windows Market Share Continues To Stagnate
Last month was the first full month of worldwide availability of the new Windows 8.1 OS, but according to data from Net Applications, Windows 8 and 8.1 gained just 0.05%, with Windows 8 falling 0.87% and Windows 8.1 jumping 0.92%. Interestingly, Windows 7 managed to gain more market share than Windows 8 and 8.1 combined, with a gain of 0.22%, a worrying sign for windows. Nonetheless, Windows still thoroughly dominates global market share, hovering at a cool 90.88% in total. So ultimately, the biggest concern has to be the slow adoption of the new operating systems rather than its global share more broadly.
Amazon Prime Air May Bring Drones To Life
Some people assume drones are only a military invention, but Amazon is debunking that urban legend with a new program called Amazon Prime Air. It would utilize drones to drop packages at people’s houses across the country in what Amazon is saying would only take 30 minutes or less. In a segment on 60 Minutes, CEO Jeff Bezos said that the project is about five years from full roll-out, largely because of FAA regulations and municipal legalities that the company is sorting through. Nonetheless, the future is here: get ready to see drones piloting packages to your door – what you want, when you want it.
GTA: San Andreas Comes To Mobile
Rockstar Games recently launched its hotly anticipated installment to the Grand Theft Auto franchise with GTA V, to much success. Now the gaming giant is planning to re-release Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a classic originally released for the PS2, for a handful of major mobile platforms, just as it already has with GTA III and Vice City. The game has been revamped for the platform, and is sure to score big with mobile gamers who enjoyed the console version. While re-releasing classic games for different platforms is nothing new, Rockstar’s commitment to releasing large-environment games for mobile platforms could serve as an example to other game houses to do the same.
Athos Core Improves Quantified Self
Athos is taking quantified self to the next level with its new product: Core. Using proprietary EMG sensors, mounted wirelessly in custom Athos workout garments, Core aggregates information about heart rate, breathing and how a user is working individual muscle groups, and displays this information in an app in real time to create actionable insights that improve the effectiveness of a workout. Athos believes their product gives a comprehensive and useful insight into athletic progress and isn’t just for power athletes: it could be used by anyone who exercises, or even for rehabilitation purposes. The company just scored $3.5 million in seed funding, so it will be interesting to see how this company and product shape up.
Twitter Integrates Age-Screening For Alcohol Brands
Twitter announced that alcohol brands will now have an improved experience on the social network. In the past, when users followed alcohol brands they would be Direct Messaged asking for their age. Now, Twitter asks users to supply their ages up front, and does the legal age check in each country. Twitter also said that it will remember your age requirement, and will not allow the alcohol brands to remember your birthday, to give consumers a feeling of privacy. Whether age-screening actually works is a hot debate at the moment, but this is a step forward in attempts to institutionalize the policy.
British Airways Debuts Airplane-Tracking Billboard
British Airways can claim a first in advertising, having launched its new Look Up campaign, which includes a custom animated billboard that updates to track actual flights overhead. The ad displays a little boy pointing to the sky, and his finger follows the path of an actual plane. The billboard also displays the plane’s flight number and origin. Innovative ads like these capture the imaginations of their audiences and provide a more positive experience of being advertised to, while also ensuring higher levels of engagement.
Dropbox 3.0 Comes To iOS
With iOS 7 came the inevitable app upgrades across the board, but one notable laggard was Dropbox. Now they’ve remedied that fact, with a new look and feel to fit iOS 7’s broad redesign. The most important new feature, though, is AirDrop support, letting users send links and files over the instant-sharing platform – over Wifi or Bluetooth. The AirDrop support means that the app could position itself as the file-transfer medium of choice for Apple devices. The video saving function is also upgraded, and ultimately this update takes the app, finally, into the realm of the new OS.
Spotify Is Now Worth $4 Billion
Spotify secured $250 million in new funding, which makes the company now worth more than $4 Billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Exactly one year ago, the music streaming service raised $100 million to raise its valuation to $3 Billion. All this while Spotify continues to lose money: it’s net loss increased to $77 million this year. The extra money might continue to give the streaming service leeway to build out revenue-generating products to fend off the losses.
