Daily screen time up to 6.3 hours
Mary Meeker’s annual report on tech trends provides some statistics on screen usage. Americans consumer a whopping 6.3 hours of digital media per day, up 7% from the prior year. Last year was the first that Americans spent more time on mobile devices than on TVs. While watching TV, 88% of Americans simultaneously used a mobile device. 41% of those viewers were using the mobile device to discuss the content with friends and family while 71% were looking up information related to what they were watching. Quartz
dis-rup-shun: Conventional television content continues to be less important and watching on-demand or live content on a mobile device has become a priority. While TV advertising revenues are down as a result, the importance of word-of-mouth (word-of-keyboard, actually) is increasing the value of the content. Content that evokes discussion on social media has a longer shelf life as friends and family, armed with recommendations and familiarity, are more likely to select the discussed content from a dizzying array of choices. The task for producers, then, is to create content that creates a social media response.
Verizon Smart Locator helps you find anything
The Smart Locator is a tiny device used for finding anything you lose frequently. Using Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi and LTE, the $100 per year device will locate anything as long as it is within an LTE cell and the 5 day battery is still active. The Verge
dis-rup-shun: The Smart Locator is the essence of Internet of things, as it puts most anything on the Internet. For $100 per year, keeping up with something you value, like a pet, a purse, or a small child, this is a bargain. Most things, perhaps with the exception of small children, will have their own wireless radios in them in a year or two, but until then, the Smart Locator is a good option.
Smart Displays versus Tablets: which is better in the kitchen?
The new crop of smart displays from Google Nest, Lenovo, Amazon and JBL are optimized for the hands free and voice use in places like the kitchen, where ease of use and assistance with cooking and home controls is the objective. These devices run a version of Android called Android Things. Tablets, on the other hand, offer far more customizations, like running Netflix in the kitchen, while still responding to voice controls. These devices run a version of Android’s mobile OS. The difference in experience is significant and both offer trade-offs. CNET
dis-rup-shun: The question is, do our homes need a specialized screen, optimized for different rooms, like the kitchen, the shower, the bedside, or if a tablet located anywhere will do. Separate devices will be displaced by screens built into refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and wall switches, but at the rate of technological evolution, a 10-year-old smart refrigerator will become a dinosaur far more quickly than a dumb refrigerator. Expect built in screens in most new appliances to be as ubiquitous as their control knobs are today, while counter top screens will control and report on all of those smart appliances.
Amazon and Google under federal scrutiny for unfair competitive practices