The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Google I/O 2016

So if you don't have the time to watch the inspiring 2 hour video from Google's CEO Sundar Pichai, here is the Ultimate Cheat Sheet on the key take outs from the developer conference.

 

Key Note by Google CEO Sundar Pichai

 

Google Home, an Amazon Echo rival, was announced on 18 May 2016 at Google's I/O 2016 keynote event. It's a speaker which lets you have a conversation with the Google Assistant - another new feature announced at the launch. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said "all credit to Amazon for creating interest in this space." The demonstration is in a family setting. You can ask Google to turn on music in one room or multiple. Google will help with your homework. Google Home will even make and change restaurant reservations. PC Advisor expects the cost of the product to rival Amazon Echo.

Google Allo is the answer to the likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and iMessage. Allo is a new text messaging app that isn’t a Hangouts replacement but its own standalone app coming to iOS and Android soon. The key difference is that Allo comes with some machine learning built in, courtesy of Google Assistant, the company’s virtual assistant. As explained by Engineering Director Erik Kay on stage at Google I/O 2016, Allo is a ‘smart’ messaging app that learns over time to make conversations both easier and more productive.

Smart Replies is a great functionality within the app and Google claims that Assistant will learn over time and provide you with personalised answers that you can use. It’ll work when asked things like if you want to go out for dinner, but will also suggest responses to photos through image recognition technology, Google are able to understand the context and suggest a response.

Google Duo is the attempt at providing a human video chat experience, the main new feature is the Knock Knock functionality where you can see the caller before you actually pick up. There's obviously still plenty about Duo we don't know, and won't know until it is finally available later this summer. What we've seen so far promises a lot, and it's on Google to deliver. Assuming that happens, Duo has the potential to be a huge deal when it comes to showing people that video chat isn't clunky and mechanical anymore. It's possible that Duo can start the process of encouraging people to use video chat as though it were a normal thing, and not just for special occasions and meetings. If you haven't already, you can pre-register for access to Duo right now.

With the Android N update,  which is the latest OS for Android devices and yet to be fully named.  We see Android Virtual Reality Mode which is a series of optimisation to improve VR functionality.  Google announced Android 2.0 which has standalone apps, you can also display more information onto your watch for example and tailor the display to your specific needs.  Android will also offer instant Apps, so you can use apps without having to wait for installation.  You will be taken straight to the content within the App.  Another great highlight is Split-screen and picture-in-picture modes are coming to Android! You can search on your phone but also split the screen and complete another related task on the bottom have of the device. Picture in picture mode is limited to Android TV, allowing you to watch a live channel in one corner while you do something else in the Android interface. The new multi-window feature, which allows you to run two apps side by side, each getting half the screen, should be a major upgrade for Android tablets especially. It's handy on phones too, but Android tablets have long been in need of features that capitalize on their greater screen real estate.

Google Day Dream is Android's powered Virtual Reality platform. Daydream — which encompasses both hardware and software — is a more advanced successor to Cardboard, the disposable headset standard that Google released two years ago. It's a mobile VR system powered by the next wave of Android N devices, built to a company-approved standard. Where Google Cardboard worked with almost any smartphone, Daydream will only work on new phones with specific components like special sensors and screens. A Daydream home screen will let people access apps and content while using the headset; an early look shows a whimsical forest landscape with the slightly low-poly look that Google has used in Cardboard apps. Inside this environment, Google has created special VR versions of YouTube, Street View, the Google Play Store, Play Movies, and Google Photos. It's also recruited a number of outside media companies to bring apps to Daydream, including streaming platforms like Netflix and gaming companies like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.

Google has announced eight hardware partners that will make Daydream-ready phones, including Samsung, HTC, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Asus, and Alcatel. Read more here at The Verge

 

Android Auto will soon be available via an app to all and with it comes the Waze navigation app too, a great app for crowd fuelled traffic data and geo specific offers for drivers.

 

Google also talked about the Self Driving Car Click the title for some pics of the autonomous automobile.

 Project Ara is Google's Modular phone, this means building a phone from different components, allowing users to personalise and chose features based on needs and cost, this has been confirmed for release. Now when we say personalise we really mean it, one of the examples featured a glucose sensor!

 Project Jacquard is about connected clothing that can become a handy phone control.  At I/O a collaboration with Levis was unveiled, whereby the staple denim jacket became a handy phone control for an on-the-go hipster cyclist.

A lot of the release dates will be in Winter so we will be eagerly awaiting.

Hot Topics, from Facebook and Snapchat to Mobile and Native

Today's blog will cover trending topics which have been arising across the Advertising Industry.

Instagram now allows you to use Video in Carousel Ads, the company has revealed carousel ads on its photo-sharing app will now support use of videos and it hopes this will create “a richer storytelling experience.”, advertisers can have carousel ads entirely made up of videos, photos, or a mixture of the two formats. see the latest here from Venturebeat

Find out the leading brands buying into Snapchat as presented by Adweek. Leading the way are Activewear brands like Nike.  In the UK today we see the Crunchie Snapchat filter with the sound bite 'Give Me Crunch' making waves.

This brings me onto our next topic, should we be worried about facial recognition technology, from Facebook tagging to Snapchat lens filters and MSQRD who are joining Facebook. Is it possible that these companies are using this data for other purposes, and without consent? Curious? See what this Mashable video has to say.

Mobile is a hot topic, we know Google redesigns mobile adwords and adds in some programmatic ad features. This week we also see Facebook axe its desktop exchange in favor for mobile advertising. Facebook says consumer usage has primarily moved to mobile and that products such as Dynamic Ads for Carousel, video campaigns and custom audiences have mobile re-targeting features that are not supported by exchange.

Facebook is also busy focusing on Virtual Reality and has created a London based oculus virtual reality team as reported by The Drum. The office will be the first European VR base for the social giant, which bought Oculus for $2bn back in 2014.

Digital is taking precedence in Manchester. The report released by The Digital Powerhouse found that the digital sector is fueling the growth in the North's economy. We know Manchester now has a world class digital marketing cluster, we have seen Havas Media and MEC having a strong hold over the North. HealthTech is strong for Leeds and Liverpool is building a reputation for expertise in the IoT.

The IAB are set on delivering best practice across Content and Native and looking to launch a green paper. With the explosion of content-based and native advertising in recent years, the breadth of what the term ‘content’ now covers —formats, platforms, message and strategy—and almost every brand now looking to have a digital content strategy (over a quarter of all display advertiser spend now goes on Content & Native (inc. in-feed)—£776m) it comes as no surprise that measurement is such a hot topic.  The next event will be 31st May and you can book your tickets here.

From Programmatic to Programmable Advertising

I am an avid fan of programmatic advertising from working with the great minds at the Accuen trading desk where I was first introduced to testing and running programmatic display adverts for my clients which proved successful to seeing the category continually evolve working with a young dynamic and ever evolving Affiperf trading desk.  We have seen the explosion of all sorts of inventory being traded from social, video, private market place, premium advertising and audio advertising.

The concept of programmatic advertising is that we are buying an audience and this is a powerful one.  The definition, programmatic is an automatic way of buying and selling eyeballs. So when I came across an article on a new category on the horizon I was all the more curious.

Appnexus talk about Programmable Advertising and are pioneering its evolution.  Here is a summary of the thought leadership-

What is the Programmable Internet?  This is a vast and dynamic network of interconnected devices and cloud-based applications, each in conversation with consumers and with one another.  It's vastly more powerful than the static programmatic internet of 2006.

What is the difference between The Internet and My Internet?  The internet of 2006 was monolithic and one-dimensional with text and images on a page or in a one-way communication between two people.  Today's programmable internet is highly personalised. For example your Amazon landing page will look different to mine.  The news feed on my Twitter account is unique.  The programmable internet is distinguished by its capacity to customise user experience.

Below are examples of companies AppNexus are working with -

OneSpot- this is a content marketing platform working with Fortune 500 brands like Kraft Heinz, Delta Faucet and Whole Foods Market. They apply machine learning to content marketing, analysing vast sets of content interest data among consumers, to predict the best next piece of content in real time. So, a leading food retailer applied OneSpot's capabilities to its 7,000+ recipes, blog posts and seasonal entertaining how-tos. As a result, they drove four-times repeat engagement rate, and repeat visitors checked out an average of more than eight pieces of content over 30 days. That’s deep learning in action.

Twelvefold, with brands like Allergan, AT&T, Fiat Chrysler, H&R Block, Lincoln, Microsoft, Pfizer, Quaker and Samsung, use proprietary machine learning, Twelvefold curates articles and videos and identifies trending topics and audiences in real-time. This allows advertisers to activate against them with powerful and effective placements. They align brand messages with the most influential, authentic and relevant content online. 

Captify fuses the accuracy of search with the scale and creative impact of display, powered by an exclusive first-party data network and proprietary semantic technology. For example, a leading auto brand used Captify’s Search Intelligence to power a high impact brand skin campaign. Search Intelligence uncovered those users they knew would be most interested in the new car model and it revealed the actual attributes and features of the car that were most aligned to their lifestyle and interests, using semantic analysis. Captify then activated a high impact skin campaign with a product carousel displaying the actual features of the car most indicative of their preferences for a rich and tailored advertising experience.

So the all important question, is programmable marketing essential for all brands and agencies?  It’s the new table stakes. If your tech platform isn’t programmable, then you can’t engage audiences across today’s highly personalised and customised internet. It’s not that programmable is a nice-to-have. It’s a must have, because the very nature of the internet has changed.

And there you have it, the thought leadership.  Whilst we in the advertising industry have just about got our heads around programmatic advertising, I'm keeping my eye on programmable advertising.  To learn more AppNexus are running a programmable marketing forum on the 8th June 2016.

Sources:  

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/no-programmatic-no-problem-future-automated-marketing/1393474#yomgezUhmYxcSZCR.99

http://events.appnexus.com/programmable-marketing-forum-register/

The Internet of Things, Top 10 Companies Leading the Charge

The Internet of things is a subject which is talked about regularly but what does it actually mean and who are the companies leading the charge?

It simply refers to any smart devices that send information, wirelessly, back to a computer server or smartphone app. IoT helps people make better decisions and keep tabs on machines to prevent problems and better use their resources.  A personal favorite of my own is the Hive app, launched by British Gas.  It means I can control my hot water and heating settings from my mobile phone at the touch of a button saving electricity and in turn doing my part for helping the environment.  

Some other examples include when roads are most congested and public car parks are most popular, or to monitor operations on a remote oil rig in the middle of the ocean.  Children are also getting involved with the IoT, I've got my eye on a start up called SAM Labs which was founded in 2014, SAM Labs creates tools and software to help kids get involved with the Internet of Things programming projects that allow them to build smart inventions. It got its first 800 or so customers via a successful Kickstarter campaign.  It has tied up with more than 1,000 schools, which use its IoT learning kits as part of their learning or after-school programmes.

So we know start ups are launching in the field but who are the top 10 big IoT companies? I've researched a number of companies in the market and here are the top picks - 

Amazon Web Services 

The cloud is playing a big role in IoT, and the biggest cloud provider is Amazon Web Services (AWS). The cloud is a natural spot to store huge amounts of data, and Amazon is increasingly offering powerful services to gain insights on that data. In 2015 AWS launched its Internet of Things platform, which uses tools like Kinesis (a real-time streaming service), S3 (the Simple Storage Service), and DynamoDB (the massively-scalable NoSQL database).

Bosch

German conglomerate Bosch is perhaps best known for its automotive parts division, but it also makes products ranging from home appliances to enterprise software. Bosch says its range of products will be connected to the IoT to ease maintenance and monitoring of devices, making it one of the key enablers of IoT. Plus, the company has built an IoT cloud to process all that data.

Cisco

Cisco predicts that by 2020, there could be 50 million devices connected to what it calls the Internet of Everything. It’s hoping many of those devices will use the company’s networking equipment to communicate. Cisco has carved out a range of IoT services, from network connectivity (including switching, routing, wireless access and embedded network hardware), to fog computing services (which bring data collection, storage and analysis to the network edge), to data analytics, security, management and automation.

Dell

As an enterprise hardware manufacturer, Dell is preparing its infrastructure components for a world of IoT. It’s offering endpoint connectivity for devices plus back-end storage and analytics platforms to manage IoT data. In 2014 Dell opened its IoT Lab in Silicon Valley in partnership with Intel.

GE

GE is credited with coining the term the ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ to depict the idea of connecting devices used in manufacturing to the Internet. GE hopes to help facilitate that through its Asset Performance Management platform, which aims to use data and real-time analytics to prevent unplanned downtime. Predix, a cloud-based data and analytics service, is another pillar of GE’s IoT plans.

Google

Google’s IoT ambitions span consumer and enterprise-facing initiatives. Google paid $3.2 billion for smart thermostat maker Nest, which the company could expand to include a whole connected, smart-home system. On the business side, Google says its combination of fiber-optic back-end network, combined with its massive public cloud mean it is in a unique position to serve the needs of IoT.

Huawei

Chinese telecom/network vendor Huawei made a big push in the IoT market last year by releasing LiteOS, a micro operating system for IoT devices. It joined the Cloud Foundry open source community to help create an IoT application development platform, too. Huawei is taking on the IoT market in Asia and increasingly in the U.S., hoping a world of connected devices will usher in new opportunities for its core networking products.

Intel

In a world of connected devices, all those gadgets are going to need processor chips. Intel wants to be the company supplying silicon for the Internet of Everything. The company has rolled out a variety of products to serve IoT, from its Quark line that provides low-power computing for small-form factor appliances, to Atom processors that are ideal for rich graphic rendering.

Salesforce.com

While many other companies on this list are building ways for connected devices to impact industrial and commercial operations, Salesforce.com says that the IoT presents a new opportunity for marketers to gain deeper insights into their prospects and customers. Connected devices allow chief marketing officers (CMO) to learn how their products are being evaluated and used, what stage of the process the prospects are in and potentially what factors influence buying behavior. Salesforce.com has introduced its IoT Cloud, powered by its real-time processing engine named Thunder. IoT is not just about connected machines; it’s about connected products and marketing, too.

Oracle

Oracle wants its databases and applications to be the platform its customers use to manage and analyze IoT data. Oracle is building connections for its SQL, NoSQL and Hadoop databases to ingest IoT data and integrate data back into the company’s applications (Oracle Sales cloud, Service Cloud and CRM). Oracle has an IoT service and IoT cloud that prepackage these workflow services into a product.

Source Links: 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2015/02/26/corporate-leaders-arent-prepared-for-the-internet-of-things/#18cc898c6d4b

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2287045/wi-fi/wireless-153629-10-most-powerful-internet-of-things-companies.html#slide16

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/london-startup-raises-3-2m-introduce-internet-things-more-kids-1557810

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/eu-investing-120bn-create-giant-internet-things-what-about-security-risk-1556873

'More Peppa Pig' - Children's Media Consumption Habits and Attitudes

One evening my 2 year old toddler was requesting 'More Peppa Pig', I'd reluctantly allowed her a 30 minute slot to watch her favourite programme, the episode had finished and she pointed to our Samsung Smart TV repeating 'More Peppa Pig' then a little louder 'More Peppa Pig'.  She then grabbed the control and pressed the Sky remote attempting to forward the adverts to get to the next episode.

All too aware of Why to avoid TV before 2 research which suggests screen viewing has negative effects on children's language development, reading skills, short-term memory as well as sleep and attention, I wanted to understand the media consumption of other children.  There is a survey telling us that 40% of infants watch some sort of video by the age of 5 months and this rises to 90% by the age of 2.

What do other data sources say?  OFCOM conducted a study which they started in 2005 analysing Children and Parents Media Consumption and Attitudes.  Over a 10 year period we are able to understand how media consumption habits have changed.  Here are some highlights from the latest 2015 report -

The amount of time 8-11s and 12-15s spend online has more than doubled, from 4.4 hours a week in 2005 to 11.1 hours in 2015.

In 2005, 61% of 8-11s and 67% of 12-15s had access to the internet at home. In 2015 close to nine in in ten 8-11s (91%) and nearly all 12-15s (96%) have internet access at home, either through a fixed broadband connection or through using a mobile network signal.

In 2005 3% of 8-11s and 13% of 12-15s had internet access in their bedroom. In 2015 this has increased to 15% of 8-11s and 34% of 12-15s who have internet access via a desktop, laptop or netbook in their bedroom, and many also use portable devices, like tablets and mobiles, to go online. One in ten 5-15s now only go online

According to OFCOM tablets are proving popular with toddlers, over half of 3-4s and three-quarters of 12-15s use a tablet in 2015.

And since 2005 the mobile phone has overtaken the TV set as the device 12-15s would miss the most.

In 2015 traditional TV is being challenged by other types of audio-visual content. Among 12- 15s who watch both TV and YouTube content, for the first time more say they prefer to watch YouTube videos (29% vs. 25% in 2014) than TV programmes (25% vs. 30% in 2014).

Fewer 12-15s in 2015 nominate Facebook as their main social media profile while more are nominating Snapchat.

So back to the challenge of TV time, a separate article by Babycenter provides the best way to tackle TV time.  The idea is to think of it as refined sugar, the advice is to limit the time your toddler spends watching TV, make screens physically inconvenient, go with calm and quiet programs, watch programming and not television and watch with your child whenever possible.

The research is in and the statistics are eye-opening, I prefer the refined sugar approach and who knows what platforms and media my toddler will be consuming by the time she is a 12 year old, gone will be the days of Snapchat and Facebook?!?