Technology, hardware, and gadgets. WiFi speakers, digital dashboards, and more.
Apple’s fiscal Q1 earnings report, characteristically, did not break out specific numbers for its Apple Music service, but did refer to it optimistically. To hear CFO Luca Maestri tell it, Apple’s music mojo is back. Continue Reading
Veritone, the artificial intelligence platform with a focus on audio, is announcing today an agreement with streaming giant TuneIn. TuneIn will use Veritone’s Cognitive Media Platform (CMP) to capture, archive, and analyze its sports, news, and talk programming. Continue Reading
CBS is partnering with Wrapify, the San Diego-based startup (founded in 2015) which wraps selected American cars with advertising, and shares revenue with the car owner. think of it as Uber without passengers. CBS Radio will use the alliance to drive revenue in the D.C. Metro market. Continue Reading
A new report from VoiceLabs examines the burgeoning market of voice-activated personal assistants. With the pushes by so many tech companies – such as Amazon, Google, and Sonos – into this space, what are device owners actually using them for? VoiceLabs’ used its Voice Experience Analytics service to give some answers to that question. Continue Reading
Powered by a belief that digital audio advertising is the most most powerful and effective marketing medium, San Francisco-based ad-tech company Instreamatic today launched a platform for digital audio publishers to expose their inventory to national media buyers. Continue Reading
Edison Research and Triton Digital, co-producers of The Infinite Dial, have announced the date of this year’s webinar release: It is March 9 at 2:00pm EST. The broad and detailed survey of American listening behavior has been conducted annually since 1998, producing long-running trend indicators, and is widely considered to be an authoritative snapshot of how and where Americans listen to audio. Continue Reading
As we reported, Norway has started turning off its nationally operated FM transmitters and switching radio stations across the country over to DAB digital. In an era when first-movers signal future mainstream, it’s natural for U.S. broadcasters to get the shivers. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) addressed the matter head on. Continue Reading
John MacFarlane has stepped down as CEO of Sonos. Patrick Spence, who has already served as Sonos’ chief commercial officer and president since he joined in 2012, is taking over in the top exec role. Continue Reading
Ford has announced that it will start integrating Amazon’s voice-activated Alexa system in its cars this month. Alexa is the virtual assistant popularized in Amazon’s Echo and Dot devices, and the Ford/Amazon alliance is a pointer to the future of voice-controlled car infotainment. Continue Reading
Harman International’s JBL brand has added a new home speaker product that offers wireless playback without a Bluetooth connection. The JBL Playlist has Google Chromecast built in, which means owners of the speaker can use the it to stream music, radio, or podcasts from their other devices. Continue Reading
Ford and Toyota have formed the SmartDeviceLink Consortium, an alliance of car companies and software developers intended to create alternatives to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the leading suppliers of smartphone integration in dashboards. The effort hopes to bring some oxygen into a closed duopoly governed by the world’s two leading operating systems. Continue Reading
Pandora is announcing today the wide release of its two newest ad formats: Muted Video and Responsive Mobile Display, after six months of testing with a handful of launch advertisers. Test partners included Denny’s, Google, Express, and the Lexus Dealers Association. The beta period enabled Pandora to develop usage metrics. Continue Reading