Category: Newsletter

One-click-knowledge-providers, the decentralization of the smartphone and coaching for X as “killer applications” for smartwatches “One-click-knowledge-providers” Despite — or especially due to — the vast availability of knowledge on the Internet, people are looking for a “source of authority” in the online world, similar to a person of authority or expert in the offline world. Wikipedia, wikiHow, and Quora are only a few examples for that. For many these sites and the first and only places they go to look for information. They are “one-click-information-providers”. The Buzzard and BadAbout go into the direction of “one-click-opinion-providers” and aggregate opinions about a certain topic. (The Buzzard curates pro and contra arguments about political topics and BadAbout criticism). In essence, they tell you what to think. Whereas I am unsure whether such niche companies like The Buzzard or BadAbout will prevail in the long-run I do think that “one-click-knowledge-providers” (information and opinion providers) will be important in the future. However, their appearance is likely to change as they get increasingly integrated into whatever platform you use as your virtual assistant (Alexa, Siri, Google…). In this development your virtual assistant will be your one and only “source of authority” telling you what to know

News and topics I found interesting in calendar week 34. Topics Augmented sound Novel Effect is a bedtime app that overlays sound effects to bedtime stories you read. I am a big fan of augmented audio (see my “The future of headphones report”) and find it great to see development in that direction. However, I am unsure if such applications could be used somewhere else, although education (adding animal sounds, for example) could make sense. Knops — The volume button for your ears: These over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are earphone-shaped and allow you to adjust outside noises (increased/decrease volume). Interesting to see non-medical products in the form of earphones which do not aim at playing music and are OTC. Expecting to see more of these OTC hearing aids. Smart rings second… there’s many “smart ring” projects out there focusing on different value props: fitness, security, identity, payments, etc. pic.twitter.com/qaauGImu2e — Luke Wroblewski (@lukew) August 21, 2017 I also recently came across the ORII ring which uses bone conduction technology for sending and receiving text messages. Besides that, there are several other things you can do with rings: use it as a panic button record audio receive notifications through light or

Topics Alexa for X Last week I wrote about how we might be heading into an “X with Alexa” trend (X being any product you can think of) which reminded me of the “Tinder or Uber for everything” trend. With the Klove Knob, a stove knob with Alexa built-in, and Vobot, a smart clock Alexa built-in, I came across two new devices this week. Still unsure why it should make sense to add Alexa to each imaginable (consumer) product. Niche development for autonomous cars We won’t have autonomous cars overnight. This is not only due to technological but also compatibility issues (people are not familiar with the technology, they do not trust it, they prefer driving because it equals enjoyment and fun…; see Compatibility here). However, compatibility can and will increase through several steps, which, again won’t only be of technical nature (such as the progression across the autonomous driving levels) but also through use cases in niches. One niche application is public transport. For example, the city of Berlin and two other partners are going to operate autonomous buses in 2018. That public use of autonomous driving technology will familiarize citizens the concept of autonomous driving. Furthermore, autonomous cars are more

Fox will show its first six-second TV ad: Let’s call them “Snapchat-ads”. I am unsure if they might be even too short for TV ads. Admittedly, ads interrupting watching TV is annoying, but at least the ads are entertaining (at least some of them). Not sure if consumers will consider them super irritating because they are on the one side interrupting and on the other hand not providing any “advertisement value.“ “Voice banking is coming to the forefront” (according to Business Insider). USAA is adding Alexa-based balance checking and information about spending behavior. Makes sense to me; regardless of how good looking some banking apps are (I am using N26, and their web and app-UI is pretty nice), digging into my spending behavior still requires Excel. Whereas I like analyzing that stuff, I would prefer it if somebody could tell it to me. More precisely, I would prefer someone showing it to me (inquiry can still be voice-based). On the one side there are privacy concerns (somebody overhearing it) and on the other hand I can only remember some much numbers at a time. Thus, integration into Amazon Show (and similar) would be cool. Moreover, visual representation would allow mobile

Hier der Überblick der Autonews die ich diese Woche spannend fand: HERE und Pioneer kooperieren Elon Musk gab Details zum Model 3 Das Autonomous Vehicle Disengagement Reports 2016 zeigt durch autonome Autos zurückgelegte Kilometer unterschiedlicher Hersteller

Hier der Überblick der Autonews die ich diese Woche spannend fand: Rüdiger Grube, CEO der DB, hört auf Mercedes’ erweitert seine Car2Go-Plattform um die Modelle CLA und GLA Ursprünglich bot Car2Go nur zweisitzige Smarts an. Seit 2016 gibt es aber die Mercedes A-Klasse und den GLA zum Mieten. Seit 2017 ist nun auch der CLA mietbar. Diese Entwicklung ist sehr interessant, weil es nicht dem traditionellen PLC folgt. Statt mit einem differenziertem Produkt anzufangen (z. B. sportlich), bot car2go zu Beginn mit den Smart das Grundlegendste an, nämlich den Transport von A nach B. Sukzessive entwickelte sich das Angebot dann nach “hinten” im PLC und nun gibt es z. B. – wie car2go es beschreibt – lifestyle-Autos (den GLA) oder sportliche (den CLA) im Sortiment. Studie von Oliver Wyman zeigt wachsendes Interesse von Investoren im Automobilsektor Klage von Tesla zeigt wie wichtig und vor allem selten Know-How in der Automobilbranche ist Uber & Daimler beschließen Kooperation genauso wie Honda & GM TU München gewinnt Hyperloop Wettbewerb Tesla Motors heißt nun Tesla Daimlers lud zur Jahrespressekonferenz Nissan geht nicht auf die IAA, dafür aber CeBIT