"Google" articles

Last week, Facebook announced its foray into the world of digital personal assistants with “Moneypenny.” The name is apparently inspired by a character who plays secretary to James Bond’s boss in a number James Bond movies. Moneypenny will be integrated into Facebook’s Messenger app and is designed to help app users to research and order products online. Facebook has not yet unveiled the service and is currently testing it among members of its staff. While services...

Last week, Google finally pulled the curtain off its much anticipated MVNO wireless service.  Google calls it Project Fi.   One of the much talked about feature of the service is Google’s pricing model.  Google will only charge users for the amount of data they use instead of the tiered data pricing of the other wireless carriers.  In our opinion, Project Fi will not have a drastic effect on the wireless industry pricing. Project Fi pricing is more or less in...

Google’s impending entry into the US wireless market as a Sprint and T-Mobile MVNO according to unconfirmed media reports has created quite a stir in the industry and the analyst community.  The potential implications for such a move can be profound and far-reaching.  Here is what we think of the announcement if the rumors are to be believed.   What is in it for Google? Google has a lot to gain from such a move.  Google already has a significant...

Cited in a recent article for the Wall Street Journal , Parks Associates research revealed that Google's Chromecast overtook Apple TV in number of shares in the streaming media market this year.  The Parks Associates study , which comprised a survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband homes, showed that Roku remains the top choice among consumers for a streaming media device, with 29% of sales to-date this year. However, Google's Chromecast, which launched on the market in mid-2013,...

As I stroll and speak around CCW-SATCON today, there is plenty of talk around how OTT rights and licensing are going to affect traditional video distribution methods. However, Google (being Google), decided to crash the party with their announcement of YouTube Music Key , an ad-free subscription service that will allow users to watch, download, and listen to music offline or with the screen locked. The new music service is interesting, and there are a few key takeaways from the...

In the past week, Google and Apple have both extended their efforts to penetrate yet another connected consumer platform – vehicles. Apple announced nine new auto manufacturers that have committed to integrating Apple’s CarPlay product into at least some forthcoming vehicle models, and Google unveiled its competing Android Auto product at the Google I/O conference. Both CarPlay and Android Auto allow drivers to access and control select smartphone apps and services through the...

This week, GigaOm , FierceCable , and Streaming Media wrote about data that Google announced at their developers conference that seems to contradict our Chromecast research . However, the articles do a great job of noting several differences in the reported data, namely the different user bases. Google is only showing averages among seven-day active users, while our figures are among all owners . Google’s figures, in other words, do not reflect the overall average among all...

Google updated its terms of service informing users that their incoming and outgoing emails may be analyzed by software to deliver targeted ads.  Google says, "Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising , and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored." The initial reaction...