Posts

Amazon making HOW MUCH?!

/in /by

Many ad companies and traditional media owners are braced for tough times due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many companies marketing spends have been brought to a halt. However , Amazon’s ad business has emerged as a somewhat of a bright spot. For the tech giants financia update for Q1. This is despite belt tightening in from brands in other areas.

Amazon Ad Revenues

Amazon disclosed on the 30th April that it’s companies revenues from it’s advertising arm had seen a gain of over 44% over the past 3 months to reach $3.9BN! However Amazon doesn’t break out it’s ad revenue figures , chief fiancial officer Brian Olsavsky told investors that the Q1 ad growth rate was in line with previous results of Q4 2019. It grew at a 40% clip.

This trajectory outstripped the growth of its more established offerings such as online sales 24%, subscription services 28% and Amazon Web Services 33%.

Overall, Amazon’s total earnings for the first 3 months of 2020 showed that the pandemic has actually helped Amazon make money. It pulled in a total of $33M an hour. Between January and March revenues were $75.4BN

Amazon’s Q1 profit was $2.5bn down from $3.6bn onthe same period last year. Jeff Bezos cautioned that this would dip further in light of the Covid-19 related spend.

Amazon Calming down….

Bezos has cautioned that despite the company earning a lot of money. Shareholders should ‘take a seat’ as they planned to spend $4bn or more in the next 3 months on coronavirus related expenses. Such as keeping employees safe and getting products to customers.

“This includes investments in personal protective equipment (PPE), enhanced cleaning of our facilities, less efficient process paths that better allow for effective social distancing, higher wages for hourly teams, and hundreds of millions to develop our own Covid-19 testing capabilities,” Jeff Bezos

Profit

The $4bn spend will equal to Amazon’s entire profit for Q2 which caused Amazon’s shares to plummet immediately after. Amazon’s director of investor relations, Dave Files said that it had seen some impact from advertisers belt tightening.

“In March, [we saw] some pullback from advertisers and some downward pressure on price, but how but advertising continues to advertise at a high cliff,” he said.

“It wasn’t as noticeable maybe as with what some others are seeing, and it’s probably offset a bit by the continued strong traffic we have to the site. So it’s a bit of a mixed bag. We have again, as I said, downward pressure a bit on pricing.

Files also noted that a “large portion” of the firm’s advertising related to Amazon sales, “not [to] things like travel and auto”. Those sectors however,  have been impacted by coronavirus pandemic.

“Our advertising will prove to be very efficient as well,” he assured investors. “And it can be directly measured. So even as people are cutting back perhaps on advertising, or are their costs, I think this will be one area that will prove its value. It has in the past.”

Amazon’s positive outcome from the pandemic comes as platform and media owners look for ways to help limit the impact that coronavirus has on their business and ad revenues.

(The Drum)

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Let us know what you think of the show by clicking here!

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more amazing ways to kill time!

Follow us on Twitch by clicking here!

Episode 351 How Long Will The Bog Roll Last?

/in /by
Read more

Jeff Bezos and Saudi Arabia Phone Hacking Links

/in /by

According to a source speaking to the Guardian anonymously, the Crown Prince sent an infected video file to Jeff Bezos. Following a seemingly friendly exchange on 1st May 2018. According to digital forensic analysis this link infiltrated Bezos’ phone.

This raises difficult questions for the Kingdom, how the National Enquirer, a US tabloid, obtainted details about Bezo’s life.

Furthermore the Crown Prince and his inner circle would be under more scrutiny. What were they doing in the months prior to  the Washington Post Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Saudi Arabia have previously denied targeting the phone and insist Khashoggi Murder was a result of a “rogue operation”.

Digital forensic experts investigated how Bezo’s texts were obtained by AMI following the leak. AMI insist the brother of Bezo’s girlfriend tipped them off.

The Saudi’s had managed to access private information according to Bezo’s security team.

Writing in the Daily Beast, the head of security of Bezo’s security team stated a “close relationship” between David Pecker, the chief exec of the company that owned the Enquirer and the Saudi Prince.

Forensic Analysis

Agnès Callamard reviewed the forensic analysis, a UN special rapporteur who investigates extrajudicial killings. the infected file is considered to be credible enough for investigators to consider approaching Saudi Arabia for an explanation.

Discovering credible evidence, while investigating the Khashoggi murder that the Crown Prince and other senior Saudi officials were responsible.

While pursuing ‘several leads’ into the murder, declining to comment on the alleged Bezos link.

The Guardian asked if she was challenging Saudi Arabia, following the new allegation. Callamard said she was following all UN protocols, which require investigators informing governments about forthcoming public allegations.

Saudi experts believe Saudi Arabia targeted Bezos because he owns the Post. Following Khashoggi’s critical columns about the Crown Prince that he wrote.

US Dilemmas

Saudi Arabia were targeting Jeff Bezos, it reflects the “personality based” environment according to Andrew Miller, a Middle East expert:

“He probably believed that if he got something on Bezos it could shape coverage of Saudi Arabia in the Post. It is clear that the Saudis have no real boundaries or limits in terms of what they are prepared to do, in order to protect and advance MBS, whether it is going after the head of one of the largest companies in the world or a dissident who is on their own.”

Despite US intelligence finding that a high possibility that Mohammed bin Salman ordering Khashoggi’s murder. Trump and Jared Kushner, still are close with Crown Prince.

Saudi Arabia and AMI have denied Saudi Arabia involvement.

(The Guardian)

 

Sign up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Let us know what you think of the show by clicking here!

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Follow us on Twitch by clicking here!

Black Friday, a wonderful customer experience

/in /by

Us Brits are predicted to have spent a whopping £5.6Billion combined on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. With the average spend also predicted to be £251.20 each. Why the shift in behaviour? The digital era. Shoppers are now preferring speed and convenience rather than going into a brick and mortar store.

92% of those surveyed by PwC claim that they will have bought at least 1 item over the internet between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This number includes 56% of all customers who intend to do all their shopping on the net!

Black Friday Human Interaction

Despite this HUGE increase in online shopping. The PwC survey discovered that 75% of consumers desire human interaction as part of the digital journey. Therefore more retailers are investing in assisted intelligence solutions.  Which therefore will create a seamless brand experience in order to compete in such a competitive online environment, this is according to Sameer Parvez, Head of Retail & Ecommerce at Teleperformance:

With sales predicted to be 800 per cent more than a regular Monday, it is imperative retailers have a digital customer experience in place that integrates chatbots with their existing customer interaction channels, alleviating pressure from customer service agents. The demand for chat services is significant, with over 50 per cent of consumers preferring this method of instant communication.

As more and more consumers go online, companies that adopt an omni-channel customer engagement strategy can retain an average 89% of their customers, deepening the relationship between the brand and the consumer.”

In order to stay relevant to consumers who now expect 24 hour communication, retailers must respond to this need and boost their digital online experience by considering a High-Tech, High-Touch approach. This gives shoppers the option to speak to a customer service advisor as well as round-the-clock online chat services.

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Let us know what you think of the show by clicking here!

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more amazing ways to kill time!

Follow us on Twitch by clicking here!

Talisker Tasting Experience

Whiskey With Alexa!

/in /by

Voice is going to be HUGE in 2019 and there are more and more usages that companies are discovering every day. One of the interesting ones that we’ve used is from Diageo. It’s available on Amazon’s Alexa and it’s called Talisker Tasting Experience. Once asking Alexa to open Talisker Tasting, consumers will be asked to name the Whiskey that they own. Be that the Talisker Skye, Talisker Storm or Talisker 10 year old Single Malt. Once informed Alexa will begin an audio journey. Consequently drinkers will be taken through an auditory journey of how to taste the Scotch and get to know the richness and complexity of flavours from within the Talisker range. Furthermore after completing their drink, tasters will be invited asked to ask questions about the story of their drink, or flavours of Scotch that they’re interested in.

The final stage invites the taster to ask questions about the story behind their drink or flavours of Scotch they may like to try in the future.

“Talisker is a brand with an extremely rich heritage, produced by the sea on the Isle of Skye. When approaching this project, we were looking to bring elements of this location and the fantastic tasting tours at the Talisker Distillery into people’s homes.”

“Voice is the perfect technology to do just this and provide an enhanced brand experience by putting the consumer, product and brand at the centre of a tasting, in a completely seamless and non-intrusive way.” Benjamin Lickfett, Head of Technology and Innovation at Diageo

Additional Apps

This isn’t the only Alexa based app from Diageo either! They also have  ‘The Bar’ which was released in December 2017. However, this app is specifically for the Echo Show. This app will highlight how to master mixology techniques and shop for ingredients. All through voice led advice. Furthermore  Happy Hour Amazon Alexa Skill uses voice to provide cocktail recipes. Consequently, the app will even recommend bars to drinkers, specific bars to enjoy a Diageo cocktail.

While, voice is getting really really good and we’re intrigued to find out how Diageo will develop their voice technology. It’s worked really well for the Talisker Tasting Experience and we cannot wait to see more!

Download Talisker Tasting Experience here!

Purchase some Talisker Whiskey here!

Listen to the guys chatting about this by clicking here! 

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Let us know what you think of the show by clicking here!

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more amazing ways to kill time!

Also, follow us on Twitch by clicking here!

 

IKEA Smart Home Invasion

/in /by

When we think of smart home tech we think of the Apple’s, the Amazon’s, the Phillips’ of the world. When we say to you flat packed furniture the company that springs to mind is IKEA. IKEA smart home invasion is coming your way in 2019.

However, that soon may change in 2019, with IKEA set to become a major player in the smart home market. Wired are reporting that by playing to it’s strengths, not only in brick and mortar stores. One can assume that their displays is the perfect opportunity to show off how the tech works, before a customer buys it. But, furthermore by building inline sales and partnerships with the big boys in Sonos, Apple and Xiaomi.

Weapons in their arsenal

IKEA already have smart home kit in their Arsenal, with smart home light bulbs (TRÅDFRI) and smart electrical outlets (KADRILJ and FYRTUR) both systems are low cost and near invisible tech. They both work manually as you’d expect and automated controls. Not only that, but they also work within the main ecosystems of the three big players within this market. The Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit. If IKEA are smart enough they could put smart home tech into all aspects of the home, be that kitchen gadgets, home entertainment or garden accessories.

As you would expect IKEA are implementing the same DIY aspect of their furniture into their smart home tech.

“It is as simple to install KADRILJ and FYRTUR as all our other blinds….You can even change from an old HOPPVALS or SKOGSKLÖVER to this one, using the same bracket. This means that the customers can easily install the smart blinds themselves, a unique IKEA property.” Lena Engman, business leader home textiles at IKEA

Wired are reporting that Björn Block, business leader of IKEA Home Smart confirms that we will see more smart products in 2019. This smart home push begins with the smart blinds that are releasing in ‘some markets’. The highest profile product will be a smart speaker: SYMFONISK, this will be in collaboration with Sonos. Which, consequently, is part of a long-term Future Home Sound Project.

SYMFONISK was first teased in June last year and is expected to hit stores ‘mid to end of the year’. The smart speaker was designed to fit in to various pieces of IKEA furniture. Which not only makes sense in the home of customers but even easier for the retail powerhouse to show off it within their stores.

(WIRED)

An outlook…

Will this foray into the Smart Home market dent the grip that the big boys have on it? Will people take IKEA seriously in the tech world? Only time will tell, but if done right IKEA have a great outlook on things, after all, we all buy our flat packed furniture from there, why not our smart home tech if it were integrated perfectly?

For a more extensive look at how IKEA are taking on the smart home market please click here to check out WIRED’s deep dive look at IKEA’s Smart Home Invasion.

Listen to the guys chatting about this by clicking here! 

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Let us know what you think of the show by clicking here!

Click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see more amazing ways to kill time!

Follow us on Twitch by clicking here!

Alexa Blueprints

Alexa Blueprints

/in /by

Alexa is great and is one of our favourite smart voice assisstants available today! However, would you like it if you could make Alexa, just that little bit more personal? Would you like to make your own Alexa commands? Even your own Alexa, voice controlled games? Now you can with a new feature and website from Amazon! Head over to bluerprints.amazon.com to get started on your very own Alexa commands. Furthermore you don’t even have to know how to code! Plus you can make as many different Alexa skills as you like!

Alexa Blueprints: How To

Alexa Skills are just like the apps you have on your smartphone, but are placed on your Amazon smart speaker instead. There’s already loads available on the Alexa Skills Store! You can download apps which help fit your lifestyle, order a pizza, order a cab even pull down the latest football scores!

Once you start using Blueprints you can use templates that are available to you to create your own personal Alexa skill within minutes! You can create anything that your heart desires. Be that custom games, to-do lists, learning! Furthermore you can get creative with them and make things such as a learning and knowledge skill but make it about your family. Such as a trivia game “Alexa, open My Family Trivia”

There are a whole host of skills that you can make, simply browse the blueprints that are available to you in the following categories:

 

  • Fun & Games
  • At Home
  • Storyteller
  • Learning & Knowledge

What skill are you going to make? Let us know by contacting us via our social media pages, we’re @howtokillanhour across all socials!

 

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter by clicking here!

Amazon Key

Amazon Wants Your Boot: Amazon Key

/in /by

Your car boot that is. After successfully launching Amazon Key, Amazon are looking to launch a similar system. Yet, this time delivering items to your car.

However, the scheme is only available to those who own newer models of GM or Volvo vehicles and 37 US cities.  Also deliveries being made using the Amazon Key for cars scheme are limited. Deliveries are only to be made to cars that are parked in a publicly accessible area. Which means cars that are parked on driveways, office car parks or on streets in front of a house or a block of flats.  This means no deliveries to be made to private garages or other such areas that aren’t readily or easily available.

How It Works

A user simply downloads the Amazon Key app, as they would do for the home version. Then link the app to their vehicle. Furthermore, just like the home version, the app will give users a delivery slot. Inform them when it’s on the way and when it has been delivered. Consquently the app also keeps a log of when their car has been locked and relocked. Just like on the home version.

To combat theft, the packages are delivered into a boot and placed/hidden out of sight. To Amazon’s credit, the giant online retailer have been making strides in this area.

Privacy

For a number of years the company have placed an emphasis on leaving packages in an area where they cannot be stolen. Or atleast very difficult to steal from. Amazon even offer secure lockers in available locations for the customers in urban areas.

“Receiving a package securely and reliably in your car, without you having to be there, is something we think many people will appreciate…..This mix of car and commerce is starting the next wave of innovation and we intend to be at the forefront.” – Atif Rafiq, chief digital officer at Volvo Cars.

Furthermore there has been worries of privacy. Are Amazon going to track where by car is at all times? Rohit Shrivastava, the general manager of Amazon Key, shared this concern and calmed everyone’s fears. Also he states that the system that Amazon uses for Amazon Key is “Securely Encrypted” and they cannot see or track a users car.

Listen to the guys chatting about this by clicking here!

Keep up with all things How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our newsletter! Simply click here to get a piece of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox!

Smart Speaker

Alexa Vs Siri Vs Google Home

/in /by

Google Home Vs Apple Homepod Vs Amazon Alexa

#Siri Vs #Alexa Vs #GoogleAssistantWho has the best personality?…..only one way to find out… take it away Marcus Bronzy…For more sick stuff like this sign up to our mailing list here howtokillanhour.com/news

Posted by How To Kill an Hour on Wednesday, 11 April 2018

 

With the release of Apple’s Homepod, we set out to find out the best smart speaker available to you today. However, we didn’t just want to know which speaker was the best in terms of features. We wanted to do know which one had the best personality! Can they give us the information we want, in the speed that we want it and in the way that doesn’t bore us?! We pitted them against one another. Check out the video above to learn more!

So, we took all 3 of the speakers from the big tech companies (Amazon, Apple, Google) and pitted Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant against one another. It was a fair test, we sat all three in front of us and asked them a range of questions. Each of them asked the same question, one after each other, to gauge the best response.

However, we weren’t just looking for if the speaker as actually able to answer the question. That’s just one part of the test. The main thing we’re looking for is, can the speaker answer our question with the most amount of information. While remaining concise?

Alexa Vs Siri Vs Google Home: Comedy

Furthermore we aren’t boring here at How To Kill An Hour, so we also decided to throw in some funny questions to see how much fun the AI’s can be on these smart speakers! Plus we asked some of the AI’s easter egg questions. Can you guess which ones they were?

Do you have a smart speaker? What’s your preference and why?! Let us know by getting in touch via our socials: @howtokillanhour across all social media platforms! (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Purchase:

Amazon Echo
Google Home
Apple Homepod: 

To subscribe to our YouTube channel please click here!

To listen to the latest podcast (EP274) please click here!

Keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by sigining up to our newsletter, simply click here!

Siri

Apple looking to make Siri better!

/in /by

As we have discussed on the show previously, the most impressive AI helpers are those from Amazon and Google. With Alexa and Google Assistant respectively. However, if you may recall that it was Apple who first introduced us to an AI that can help you in your day to day lives. Siri, was the first out of the gate. Yet, she is lagging behind her rivals when it comes to intelligence. Both Alexa and Google Assisstant can recall a lot more information and specific information. Siri on the other hand, sometimes can’t even answer basic questions. Only answering what you want if you ask her something in a very specific manner. She’s just not as good as her counterparts. With the release of Homepod, the lack of intelligence in Siri is even more obvious. Yet it’s vitally important to get this correctly, now more than ever, because of Homepod’s battle with Alexa and Google Home. That’s not to say that Siri isn’t intelligent, she can answer questions, she just isn’t good enough.

Siri Hiring

So to battle this, the guys over at Thinknum have noticed that Apple have been on a Siri hiring spree. Hiring as much as 161 different positions to help improve Siri. There’s been a steady increase in Siri related job positions since the summer of 2016, however, there’s been a surge, since February of 2018. The positions are for engineers. Engineers that are geared towards helping Siri answer her weaknesses in answering simple general questions. Other positions that are available are for Siri’s Proactive Intelligence. This is basically Siri’s ability to anticipate the type of info that you may need. A further two other positions are for SiriKit developer framework and speech generation. While it may be some time before we see any improvement on a consumer level, this definitely shows Apple’s intent when it comes to AI.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!