This week’s update includes news of an entirely new console concept, insights on mobile commerce and voice search, and some creative uses of bots on Facebook Messenger.
HEADLINES
- Facebook announced updates to Pages for business, adding integrations with third-party e-commerce platforms and an enhanced Recommendations feature for people to link directly to businesses they rate highly
- Nintendo announced Switch, “one of the most revolutionary consoles ever” – a unique hybrid between a traditional console and a handheld, released Spring 2017.
INSIGHTS
- The state of mobile commerce in five charts.
- Google announce that 20% of searches (on their mobile app and Android devices) are voice.
- Flip Dive: a case study in mobile ad monetization.
COOL
- Channel 4 has launched a new series of Humans and with it a campaign featuring a Facebook Messenger bot and product recall website.
- Play “digital dress up” with this Shakespeare Magic Mirror.
- Unilever create a chatbot to create unique stories that help teach kids how to brush their teeth.
DEEP READS
- Apple wants to get in your house before you buy it.
- Google’s in-house VR filmmaker on making VR movies you’d actually want to watch.
- Two views on AI from people worth listening to, both courtesy of Wired. The first from their co-founder Kevin Kelly, and second from recent interviewee, the soon to be outgoing (sob) POTUS.
