Amazon’s Alexa is set for further expansion following a partnership with chip maker Qualcomm to integrate the voice assistant within wireless headphones. The pairing means that Bluetooth headphone manufacturers will be able to enhance the functionality of their devices by inserting custom microchips which enable pairing with a phone enabled with Alexa. In this way users will be able to talk […]
Kenshoo, a global leader in marketing technology, announced it has become an Apple Search Ads Authorised Reseller, adding support for Apple Search Ads to the Kenshoo Marketing Platform. Apple Search Ads helps marketers with app discovery by offering them the opportunity to promote their app at the top of relevant search results on the App […]
Apple has acquired Akonia Holographics, a Colorado-based startup that focuses on making lenses for augmented reality (AR) glasses. The purchase is yet another indicator that the tech giant is hard at work on a wearable AR device. Akonia Holographics was founded in 2012 by a group of holography scientists, and originally focused on holographic data storage […]
Huawei has taken Apple’s spot as the world’s second top-selling smartphone manufacturer, according to Gartner. The report notes that Huawei sold 49.8 million units in the second quarter of 2018, taking 13.3 percent of the smartphone market share and beating out Apple’s 44.7 million units. The report confirms another report from Counterpoint research. That 13.3 percent market […]
Apple has announced plans to rebuild its Maps app, starting from scratch using its own dataset, although it will still use satellite navigation firm TomTom as a data provider initially. The app, which is the most frequently used on iPhones, has a rocky history, with a number of notably criticised versions in the past. The new version […]
Ahead of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it has been reported that the tech behemoth may look to expand its digital advertising business. The iPhone maker is looking to form an ad network where ads would be placed in the apps of companies, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple would then share any ad […]
9.2m smart speakers were shipped in Q1 2018, with Amazon continuing to lead the way ahead of Google despite having its market share nearly halved. According to Strategy Analytics, Amazon shipped an estimated 4m Echo devices in the first quarter of the year, up from the 2m it sold for the same period in 2017. […]
Apple is reportedly enforcing some of its privacy rules more stringently for apps in its App Store. According to a report by 9to5Mac, the iPhone maker started removing apps that share location data with third-parties without “explicit consent” from users. Apps that have been removed from the App Store in this instance have been cited […]
For the second year in a row, marketing agency Stone Temple Consulting has confirmed that Google Assistant is the smartest and the most efficient virtual assistants on the market. In an attempt to figure out which smart speaker is the most intelligent, Stone Temple asked the Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana approximately […]
Instagram has announced the launch of a new “Focus” mode, which is designed to allow Instagram users to take portrait images with a softly blurred background. The feature is available as a new option next to “Superzoom” when you open up the camera. It can be used with the front or rear-facing cameras, and Instagram […]