Technology, hardware, and gadgets. WiFi speakers, digital dashboards, and more.
TuneIn has partnered with Adobe Advertising Cloud to expand how advertisers can reach their audiences on smart speakers and other new devices. The on demand marketplace from Adobe Advertising Cloud allows advertisers to automate their ad buys across TuneIn’s content. In addition to the Adobe deal, TuneIn also announced that it has launched a newly designed channel for Roku devices. Continue Reading
Digital audio advertising platform TargetSpot announced today the opening of an office in Toronto, as it continues a global expansion. The Canadian office is in Toronto, and the recently hired Nora Wallace has been appointed to lead it as Sales Director. Continue Reading
Sonos has taken its ambitious next step into the smart speaker space with a new product that supports multiple voice assistants and changes the form factor. The Sonos Beam is a sound bar, a much larger device than the most popular tabletop smart speaker designs currently on the market, that’s capable of providing quality audio for a range of entertainment purposes in small- or medium-sized rooms. Continue Reading
In 2018 there is a fresh sense that programmatic audio is coming into an era of recognition and marketplace maturity. RAIN spoke with Scott Walker, Pandora’s SVP of Programmatic Sales, and Alexis van de Wyer, CEO of AdsWizz. The conversation touched on Google’s entry into programmatic audio, predictions of the future, and Pandora’s acquisition of AdsWizz.
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As an indication of how audio publishers are flowing into smart speaker distribution, tech company XAPPmedia announced it has enabled over 1,000 voice-enabled apps on the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant platforms. Continue Reading
This year, Apple focused its WWDC keynote entirely on its software and operating systems. That choice meant the presentation didn’t get into any big-ticket numbers about the company’s entertainment services. However, Apple has made some updates to add functionality to both its Podcasts and Apple Music platforms. Continue Reading
Digital audio technology company AdsWizz won the Drum Digital Trading Award in the category of Best Overall Technology for Programmatic Trading. Of special note is that this awards program, which has been running annually since 2014, covers all media categories for digital advertising. So the top placement is not only a celebratory moment for the company, but a spotlight on the maturation of digital audio as an important programmatic advertising medium. Continue Reading
Canalys has released its latest numbers on smart speaker sales, and the research firm found that Google beat out Amazon for most units sold globally in Q1 2018. Overall, sales in this product category rose 210% to 9 million units based on Canalys’ accounting. Continue Reading
Venerable media metadata company Gracenote (a Nielsen subsidiary) today announced a new technology product called Sonic Style, which classifies tracks into micro-categories that more exactly match up to what consumers with to hear in playlists. The technology aspires to create smarter playlists in a voice-first world of smart speakers. Continue Reading
Amazon currently leads the industry for smart speakers, but more international competition has started to chip away at its dominant market share. Market research company Strategy Analytics released its first-quarter report on the product category. The analysis found that 9.2 million units were shipped globally in the period. Continue Reading
In a significant rollout of new advertiser products, iHeartMedia is today launching iHeartMedia Analytics, a digital attribution service for broadcast radio. The company is seeking to transform how advertisers plan, buy, and measure their campaigns in the largest array of commercial stations in the U.S. Brian Kaminsky, iHeart’s President of Revenue Operations and Insights, offers details to RAIN News. Continue Reading
SoundHound secured $100 million in a strategic funding round. This influx of money will support driving adoption and distribution of the company’s Houndify voice AI platform. SoundHound also aims to expand globally, with new offices planned in China, France, and Germany. Continue Reading