What’s happened this week:
- Google bought artificial intelligence company Deepmind, who had previously been in acquisition talks with Facebook, for an estimated $400m
- T-Mobile have moved into personal banking in the US with the launch of “Mobile Money”
- South Korea revealed plans to launch 5G mobile connectivity by 2020
What we have learned:
- U.S. mobile search investment grew 59% to $1.1bn, and mobile display by 54.4% to $700m, according to research by the IDC
- This year’s Grammy’s generated 15.2m tweets during the live show, which featured 33 live on-air marriages officiated by Queen Latifah
- Netflix ended 2013 with 43m subscriptions globally, as it announced plans for growth in Europe and a potential 3 tier pricing model
Cool stuff:
- The reality of a consumer-friendly Star Trek Holodeck is getting closer
- Google might be launching an ad-funded taxi service to drive shoppers from a digital marketplace into physical stores
- Apple celebrated 30th anniversary of the Mac by launching a mini-site featuring an interactive timeline detailing the history and evolution of the Mac since 1984
Where to find more:
- Businesses should take a scientific method approach to data, theory and decision making according to Duncan Watts, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research
- Is Snapchat’s success due to it being a more authentic form of communication over other social networks?
- Mobile payments – potentially the next big growth wave for Apple
