What’s happened this week:
- Facebook revealed Notify, a standalone notifications centric app for following publishers
- Facebook Messenger is testing Snapchat-like disappearing messages
- Apple is shutting down Beats Music and transferring users over to their own steaming service
What we have learned:
- Despite this month’s impressive growth figures release, one of Snapchat’s key investor’s reduced their value by 25%
- Alibaba Singles Day, China’s 24-hour online shop-a-thon anti-Valentines Day, generated $14.3bn sales– 69% generated on mobile
- 47% of Millennial mums primarily use mobile to make their digital purchases, according to research by ROTH
Cool stuff:
- Microsoft has developed a tool that identifies emotions from facial expressions in photos
- Hyatt Hotels are testing room service and customer care through Facebook Messenger
- As Facebook’s video 360 functionality comes to iOS, Marketing Land have collated the first brands to launch video 360 ads on the platform
Where to find more:
- Reviews for YouTube Music from Gizmodo (disappointed), The Verge (impressed) and TechCrunch (happy so far)
- TNW asks if Apple is right — are apps the future of TV?
- Forbes has a nice look at Apple’s rumoured foray into peer-to-peer mobile payments