113 enterprise AI companies you should know

Digital commerce

https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/23/113-enterprise-ai-companies-you-should-know/

OpenSignal’s new network speed-testing app tells you what the numbers actually mean

Crowdsourced network coverage mapping service OpenSignal has launched a new standalone app that not only reveals your mobile and Wi-Fi internet speeds, but provides context on what the numbers actually mean.
Launched this week in beta for Android users, Meteor enters a pretty crowded space — it’s fair to say that there is no shortage of speed-testing apps. But what OpenSignal is striving for here is a colorful, user-friendly experience that moves beyond simply showing you numbers to tell you what those little “Mbps” metrics can get you in terms of services.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/03/02/opensignal-launches-meteor-internet-speed-test-grade-tool/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=meteor.test.and.grade.internet.connection.speed 

Winter is Coming

In 2012, there were just 350 marketing technology companies. Today, there are nearly 4,000.

Companies are growing tired of relying on so many vendors to fulfill their advertising and marketing needs. The average marketing stack has around 17 siloed, underused applications. 
--
While companies like Disney, Viacom, and Time Inc. have been spending heavily on content, they’re now turning to technology to maximize their content investments. Disney’s accelerator is investing in a number of companies that help marketers and advertisers increase viewer engagement.
http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/26/winter-is-coming-for-marketing-technology/
http://chiefmartec.com/2016/03/marketing-technology-landscape-supergraphic-2016/

Here’s how China’s ‘big 4’ smartphone firms are fighting for customers globally

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/25/how-chinas-smartphone-big-four-are-fighting-for-global-customers/

Mozilla releases The Internet Health Report, an open-source document with version 1.0 coming by year end

Fresh off its brand redesign, Mozilla has released The Internet Health Report, an open-source initiative to document the state of the internet, combining research and reporting from multiple sources. The report, which will be improved and expanded throughout the year, covers five key topics: decentralization, digital inclusion, open innovation, privacy and security, and web literacy.

--

One notable statistic is the number of people who can’t get online in the first place. The report shows that 57.8 percent of the world’s population cannot afford broadband internet, and 39.5 percent cannot afford an internet connection on their mobile device.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/19/mozilla-releases-the-internet-health-report-an-open-source-document-with-version-1-0-coming-by-year-end/ 

https://internethealthreport.org/v01/

Mozilla unveils new logo, font, and design

Mozilla today revamped its “brand identity”: a new logo, font, color palette, language architecture, and imagery. This is the first time the company, first founded in February 1998, has done such thorough brand refresh.

--

 The biggest change is of course the logo (see the old one here). The biggest standout is the inclusion of “://” in place of “ill” to emphasize the company’s ties to the internet. Mozilla says it is “committed to the original intent of the link as the beginning of an unfiltered, unmediated experience into the rich content of the internet.” Its color palette is derived from the highlight colors used by Firefox and other browsers.

The new font, called Zilla, is free and open to all. It was created by Typotheque, a historic Mozilla partner that was the first type foundry to release web-based fonts.  

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/18/mozilla-unveils-new-logo-font-and-design 

/

App Annie: Worldwide app downloads grew 15% and revenue soared 40% in 2016

Downloads, revenue, and time spent in apps all grew by double digits during 2016, according to a report by market researcher App Annie.

--

Time spent in apps grew more than 20 percent to nearly 900 billion hours in 2016, according to the year-end report.

The platform owners paid out nearly $89 billion in revenues to publishers from in-app ads and app store revenue, up 40 percent from the year before. That means apps generated $127 billion in revenues overall, as platform owners take about 30 percent of the revenue.

--

Gaming also had a huge year, as gaming still accounts for 75 percent of overall revenue for apps on iOS and 90 percent of revenue on Google Play.

--

The top five apps by revenue were Spotify, Line, Netflix, Tinder, and HBO Now.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/17/app-annie-worldwide-app-downloads-grew-15-and-revenue-soared-40-in-2016/

 

 

For image app PhotoGrid, a picture is worth 300 million downloads

Over two billion images are shared every day across every corner of the web. 

--

PhotoGrid, the most popular photo editing app on the market with over 300 million downloads around the world and 15 million daily photo edits, is taking advantage of the photomania. Sophisticated users and image-savvy marketers know that the quality of those social media images matters.
--
The company behind PhotoGrid, leading mobile utility and lifestyle app developer Cheetah Mobile, has recognized the power of image-driven communication to create communities.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/13/for-image-app-photogrid-a-picture-is-worth-300-million-downloads/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roidapp.photogrid&hl=sv

Google graduates ‘Show fewer ads’ feature out of AdSense Labs

Google today announced an update to its AdSense service for showing ads on websites: The “Show fewer ads” feature, which lowers the number of ads on a given website, is no longer tucked away in the “AdSense Labs” tab that’s accessible from the “Optimizations” tab. Now it’s visible to all publishers, under the “My ads” tab. And now the feature goes by a new name, “Ad balance.”

--

By only showing your best-performing ads, you may see a minimal drop in your earnings. However, these changes may result in an overall earnings increase, since an improvement of the user experience often leads to users staying longer on your site and engaging with more of your content.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/13/google-graduates-show-fewer-ads-feature-out-of-adsense-labs

Global tech revenues will likely fall 2% to $929 billion in 2017

The outlook for the technology market looks weaker in 2017, said Steve Koenig, director of research at the Consumer Technology Association, the group putting on CES 2017, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week. Overall unit volumes will be flat, while revenues will hit $929 billion in 2017.

--

Seven products — tablets, laptops, desktops, TVs, smartphones, cameras, and wearables — account for 81 percent of all tech sales.

--

Smartphones account for 47 percent of global consumer tech spending. We can expect to see $441 billion in revenues in 2017, flat compared to a year earlier. Volumes will hit 1.8 billion in 2017, flat compared to 2016. About 60 percent of smartphone revenue is now coming from emerging markets.

http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/03/global-tech-revenues-will-likely-fall-2-to-929-billion-in-2017/ 

 

Leading developer Lightricks launches Facetune 2.0 to leverage Apple’s app subscription model

Lightricks has released a new version of its popular Facetune app that may get as much attention for its new business model as the suite of new features.

-- 

Users will be able to download the app for free, try new features, and buy them individually. Or users can subscribe to the app to access all the features, as well as all new features added in the future. The new version will be available worldwide on November 25, but prices for features and subscriptions will vary from country to country. However, in the U.S., subscriptions prices are expected to be $3.99 per month.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/11/25/lightricks-launches-facetune-2-0-becoming-one-the-most-notable-developers-to-embrace-apples-app-subscription-model/ 

 http://www.facetuneapp.com/

 

How the growth of esports compares to traditional sports trends

Esports events can fill a big stadium of fans who watch video game pros play for $20 million in prizes. But compared to traditional sports, esports still have a long way to go.
One telling statistic: Traditional sports leagues such as basketball monetize fans at about $15 per person. Esports right now is monetizing at $2.83 per person, according to market researcher Newzoo.
--
Ultimately, the reason why the NFL and NBA and many of these other leagues monetize so well is because they’re more or less monopolies. The problem, from our perspective — the reality in esports — is that things are pretty decentralized and fragmented in the overall landscape. Publishers own the IP. The IP isn’t static. Games become more or less popular as a result of what publishers do. How they think about esports varies a lot.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/11/18/how-the-growth-of-esports-compares-to-the-trends-in-traditional-sports/

2017 will be the year of interactive email

Since emails have no JavaScript, the programming language behind most web interactions, we tend to think of emails as a “read-only,” one-way channel; good for sharing calls to action that get people back to your website.

--

CSS3 does allow for basic interactions, like switching tabs, without any JavaScript at all. Mark Robbins of RebelMail describes a technique called “Punch Card Coding” that uses CSS alone to allow users to click buttons that change what they see on screen, essentially by having every permutation as a different “tab.”

http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/21/2017-will-be-the-year-of-interactive-email/ 

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2015/10/punched-card-coding-the-secret-of-interactive-email/

http://emailclientmarketshare.com/

Content marketing is up 300%, but only 5% of it matters

Announced at AdWeek in New York today, Beckon — the marketing performance data platform — has analyzed over $16 billion in omnichannel marketing spend and performance data to better understand what works, what doesn’t, and where to invest your budget.

--

“We found that a very small fraction of branded content — just 5 percent of it — accounts for 90 percent of engagement. The other 95 percent of a brand’s content typically has single digital views and likes.”

http://venturebeat.com/2016/09/27/content-marketing-is-up-by-300-but-only-5-of-it-matters/ 

https://pages.beckon.com/rs/976-IET-418/images/Marketing-Truth-or-Marketing-Hype-Beckon-Report.pdf

 

Is Berlin’s IFA challenging Las Vegas’ CES for title of biggest consumer gadget show?

http://venturebeat.com/2016/09/12/is-berlins-ifa-challenging-las-vegas-ces-for-title-of-biggest-consumer-gadget-show/

Machine Intelligence 2.0 in charts and graphs

http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/16/machine-intelligence-2-0-in-charts-and-graphs/

https://www.vbprofiles.com/l/machineintelligence 

Introducing the Bots Landscape: 170+ companies, $4 billion in funding, thousands of bots

http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/11/introducing-the-bots-landscape-170-companies-4-billion-in-funding-thousands-of-bots/

https://www.vbprofiles.com/l/bots 

 

How Picfair plans to conquer the stock photo market by keeping photographers happy

Picfair differentiates itself by letting anyone upload their snaps and decide how much they should sell for.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/11/meet-picfair-europes-upcoming-stock-image-starlet/
https://www.picfair.com/search?aspect_ratio=&mode=picked&price=1000&q=deep+purple&search%5Btimeout%5D=3s&utf8=%E2%9C%93&width=0

Brandnew IO launches influencer marketing platform

Berlin’s Brandnew IO has a new influencer marketing platform that helps brands chase people who have become big on social media.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/06/01/berlins-brandnew-io-launches-new-influencer-marketing-platform/

http://www.brandnew.io/

Seismic raises $40 million as sales tech landscape continues to swell

Venture capitalists have pumped around $10 billion into B2B sales enablement tools in the past three years.
--
Why is inside sales such a hot space? Essentially, sales has become a more challenging job in recent years, so new tools are popping up to solve these new problems — namely, figuring out how to help extremely informed buyers.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/25/seismic-closes-40-million-as-sales-tech-landscape-takes-shape/