What’s happened this week:
- Google continued a bold move into robotics with the purchase of Boston Dynamics.
- Instagram launched direct messaging to leverage the growing trend of photo messaging currently dominated by Snapchat.
- Facebook announced the creation of an artificial intelligence lab to explore machine learning based on its gargantuan data stack.
What we have learned:
- The UK has the highest Mobile ad spend per head, overtaking even Japan in 2012 from the Ofcom International Communications Market report 2013 (p205).
- Mobile will influence 10-15% of in-store retail by 2017 up from 6.8% today according to the Deloitte Mobile Influence 2013 report.
- Over 60% of Internet traffic comes from non-human sources such as bots, scrapping tools and the internet of things, up from less than 50% last year.
Cool stuff:
- Google Tips is a new site to guide you through all sorts of things Google can do for you beyond search.
- The Walk is an interactive story that gets better the further you walk, funded by the NHS.
- How technology and fashion are suddenly connected with the rise of wearables, 100m such devices are forecast to be shipped next year.
Where to find more:
- 14 lighthearted digital predictions for next year from SOAP covering the rise of micro-transactions, 3d printing and Virtual Reality.
- Star VC Fred Wilson’s view of the next 10 years is shaped by the rise of networks; replacing hierarchies, unbundling products and in which we are all a node.
- How the internet of things will replace the web as it begins to predict and influence our actions in the real world.
