Technology, hardware, and gadgets. WiFi speakers, digital dashboards, and more.
Today, several Google executives shared the latest updates for the tech company in the keynote for Google I/O. The developer-focused event shared some of the upcoming changes for the Google Assistant voice AI platform that will help the company bring the service to more countries and offer more functions. Continue Reading
NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago, and This American Life have joined forces to acquire podcasting app Pocket Casts. Owen Grover, formerly executive vice president and general manager of iHeartRadio, will join Pocket Casts as its new CEO. Continue Reading
Netflix has launched an interactive audio drama on Google’s smart speakers to promote its reboot of Lost in Space. The audio experience, which was produced in collaboration between Google and Netflix, gives listeners a branching narrative with multiple-choice questions and answers that lets them aid key characters from the program. Continue Reading
Spotify recently made waves in the financial sector with its unique direct listing, but the company’s next move is expected to be firmly back in the tech space. Spotify is hosting an event on April 24 to share its latest development. According to the early reports and speculation, that development may be a piece of dedicated hardware for streaming Spotify via voice control in a car. Continue Reading
Tokyo FM is the flagship radio station of Japan FM (39 stations), and is making a joint partnership announcement with AdsWizz. The deal brings AdsWiz technology to a new “Wiz Radio” app, and appoints Tokyo FM the sales rep for the AdWave digital audio marketplace in Japan. Continue Reading
EmpireStreaming has has announced a new monetization methodology, launch as a product called Empire Audience Network. the new initiative emphasizes monetization through RPM (revenue per thousand listening hours), a metric the company is positioning as helpful to small- and mid-sized audio publishers. Continue Reading
EmpireStreaming, which owns the Live365 internet radio platform, has partnered with ad-tech company AdsWizz to bring dynamic ad insertion and digital audio management to its client base of small and mid-size webcasters. Continue Reading
AdsWizz announces today an integration with NextRegie, the advertising agency of NextRadioTV in France, to sell digital audio ad inventory programmatically. NextRadioTV owns and operates radio and TV stations. The thrust of this deal is to market podcast ads programmatically. Continue Reading
In a major addition to its growing portfolio of hosted clients, podcast tech company ART19 has announced that over 100 NBC-owned podcasts are moving to its platform. Specific networks include NBC Sports, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Oxygen and SYFY. Continue Reading
It was only a matter of time before two of the biggest trends in the tech world crossed paths. There’s a new skill for Amazon Alexa called DeepMusic that plays songs composed by artificial intelligence over a smart speaker. Click to listen. Continue Reading
The Infinite Dial kicked off with a look at ownership trends in technology and media. Most telling, the research from Edison and Triton focused on the growth in smart speakers. Awareness of the device segment was 71% for Amazon Alexa, up from 57% last year, while Google Home awareness rose from 45% in 2017 to 56% in 2018. Considering the recent ad blitzes for the segment, John Rosso joked that those who haven’t heard of them are “probably living in caves and staring at their tablets.” Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Apple developing high-end headphones. Growth of branded podcasts. AI creates an infinite podcast. Continue Reading