Category Archives: Facebook

Apple, Episodes, Facebook, Original content, Snapchat, T-Mobile, TV, Verizon, Wireless charging

Episode 82 – Original Video Content, Snap’s S-1 Filing

We’re back to our usual format this week. Our News Roundup kicks off with a couple of US wireless stories – Verizon Wireless reintroducing unlimited plans, and T-Mobile reporting its results. Next up, we discuss Apple joining the Wireless Power Consortium, and what it might mean. And lastly, we discuss Facebook’s announcement that it’s working on an app for TV boxes like the Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

Our Question of the Week is “Who is investing in original video content and why?” The topic has been in the news this week with Apple showing off trailers for two new original series that will be part of Apple Music, and YouTube star PewDiePie being dropped from its original content lineup after making some anti-semitic videos. We discuss who’s investing in this area, why, and what they’re spending, as well as whether it will all be worth it.

Our Weekly Pick is a musician recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Amazon, Apple, Apple Music, Cars, CES, Episodes, Facebook, Nintendo, Xiaomi

Episode 77 – CES, iPhone 10th Anniversary

We’re back after our long Christmas, New Year, and CES hiatus – thanks for bearing with us while we took our break, and Happy New Year!

We kick things off with a News Roundup, with three topics: Apple’s reported investment in original video content, ostensibly for the benefit of Apple Music subscribers; Nintendo’s announcement of pricing, specs, and other details for its Switch console; and Facebook’s attempt to help news organizations with its Journalism Project. Our main topic today is themes from CES, in which we discuss the fact that Amazon’s Alexa was everywhere, cars continued to grow in importance, smart home gear and services continue to evolve, drones were popular at CES but struggled elsewhere this week, wearables seem to be fading as a force, and Chinese companies continue to struggle to break into the US in a big way. Our third segment is a discussion of the 10th anniversary of the announcement of the iPhone, and all that’s changed in the world as a result.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

2017, Alphabet, Apple, Episodes, Facebook, Microsoft, Predictions, Snapchat, Twitter, Uber

Episode 76 – 2017 Predictions and 2016 Predictions Review

This episode is all about predictions. First off, we review the predictions we made a year ago for 2016, including a raft of Apple-related predictions as well as some other company-specific ones and then some industry level forecasts. But most of the episode, from about 15 minutes onward, we focus on predictions for the year ahead. We again start with some company-specific predictions, concerning Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Snapchat. But we also include some industry-level predictions again. As last year, the predictions are a mix of those where we feel we’re on solid ground, and those where we’re sticking our necks out a bit. This will be our last episode until sometime in the New Year, so happy holidays!

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, Cars, Design, Episodes, Facebook, Google, Harman, M&A, Samsung, Snapchat, Twitter

Episode 71 – Samsung buys Harman, MacBook Pro Review and Apple Design

This week’s episode is back to our usual format, with a News Roundup to kick things off, a Question of the Week, and a third segment, followed by a Weekly Pick.

Our News Roundup covers three stories: firstly, Snap (nee Snapchat) released its Spectacles hardware and reportedly confidentially filed IPO documents with the SEC; secondly, Twitter introduced some muting options to help combat abuse and harassment, while also kicking several figures from the “alt-right” movement off the service’; and thirdly, the fake news story we discussed last week continued to evolve this week with Facebook and Google both making news.

Our Question of the Week is “What are the implications of Samsung buying Harman International?” Aaron did some research this week into this acquisition and its implications, and answers questions about what exactly Samsung is buying, what Harman’s connected car business does, and how the two companies might bring their assets together, and lastly how this is likely to impact consumers and the broader tech industry. (We also weigh in on the idea that Apple should have bought Harman instead).

Our third segment combines a couple of Apple-related items: Jan shares a summary of his MacBook Pro review from earlier this week, and we also discuss the new coffee table book Apple launched this week about its design.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a movie recommended by Jan.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, BlackBerry, Deloitte, Enterprise, Episodes, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter

Episode 64 – Demystifying Snapchat, Consumer Tech in Enterprise

Our News Roundup this week covers BlackBerry’s announcement that it will stop making its own hardware; Twitter’s announcement that the creation of Moments is now open to everyone, in addition to the ongoing rumors of a Twitter acquisition; and Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars in the coming decades through his SpaceX company.

Our Question of the Week is “What is Snapchat?” We’ve discussed Spotify once or twice before on the podcast, but this is a deeper dive than we’ve done before, and seeks to address this question from at least a couple of angles, namely Snapchat as an app, and Snapchat (now Snap Inc.) as a company. We discuss how Spotify actually works, and how its features have evolved over time. But we also talk about the company’s evolving conception of itself, and the way its founders have described the app and the company since its launch five years ago. And of course we do all this in the context of the launch of Snap’s Spectacles over the weekend.

Our third segment is a discussion of a series of related moves by what are ostensibly consumer technology companies into the enterprise. We talk about Apple’s new partnership with Deloitte around business process transformation, as well as Facebook at Work, which is expected to be released more broadly next week, and why these companies seem to feel the pull to participate in the business world.

Our Weekly Pick is a series of books recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, Apple Watch, Episodes, EU, Events, Facebook, iPhone, iPhone 7, News

Episode 60 – Social Media Insights, Apple Event Preview

In our News Roundup this week, we talk about the EU’s action against Apple with regard to its Irish tax arrangements; Facebook’s firing of the editors who used to handle its Trending Topics section, and the somewhat predictable results; and the news from the first day of German tech trade show IFA, which kicked off on Wednesday.

Our Question of the Week this week is a little different, in that instead of asking each other questions as we usually do, we’ve brought a guest on. Alison Faulkner is the creator of the Alison Show, who’s an event producer, a writer and an Instagram and social media personality. We had Alison on because she knows far more about social media and making money on social media than either of us do (she has over 80,000 Instagram followers and 15,000 YouTube subscribers, among other things). Aaron interviewed Alison – who happens to be a neighbor of his – and asked her about what she does, how she does it, and the business of social media.

Our third segment is a preview of Apple’s event next week, at which it’s expected to unveil the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2. We round up the various rumors and reports of what will be announced, add our own predictions, and talk about the importance of how Apple positions some of the expected changes, including the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack, new cameras, and more.
Lastly, we wrap up with a Weekly Pick, which is a movie recommendation from Jan.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

  • Jan’s post on Apple and the EU from Tuesday
  • Alison Faulkner’s website, the Alison Show, where you can find a link to her YouTube channel, her Instagram account, as well as her writing and other online activities
  • Jan’s Weekly Pick was the movie The Man Who Knew Infinity, which is a true story about Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. The movie is available to buy and rent on iTunes, Amazon, and all the usual places where you’d rent and buy movies (affiliate links).

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Earnings, Episodes, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, Twitter

Episode 56 – Q2 2016 Tech Company Earnings Review

We’re back after a two-week break, and this episode is exclusively devoted to a review of major tech companies earnings for Q2 2016, which were reported over the last several weeks. We take a thematic approach to the topic, focusing first on hardware companies, principally Apple and Samsung; then on the big ad-focused companies: Google, Facebook, and Twitter; and then two companies that stand somewhat apart: Microsoft and Amazon. We discuss the themes that emerged from earnings this quarter, and also some of the surprising elements in each company’s results.

Next week, we’ll be back to our usual structure, with a News Roundup, Question of the Week, and Weekly Pick.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

  • The only external link we discussed on the show was a piece in the Atlantic by Ian Bogost entitled “Facebook is not a technology company”. We discussed this right at the end of the episode.

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Episodes, Facebook, Gaming, Live Video, Microsoft, Mobile gaming, Pokemon Go, Surface, Twitter

Episode 55: Pokemon Go Prospects, Facebook Live Video

Our News Roundup this week covers Amazon’s Prime Day, Twitter’s recent deals and experiments around professionally produced live video, and Microsoft’s announcement of Surface as a Service.

Our Question of the Week is “What do the economics of the mobile gaming industry tell us about the future of Pokemon Go?” The game has burst dramatically onto the scene, and already provided a nice boost for Nintendo’s share price, but past experience suggests massive hits can be short-lived in the mobile gaming market. We discuss the potential hurdles and challenges for the game, and for Nintendo as it finally embraces the mobile gaming market. We also talk about the implications for augmented reality.

Our third segment is about Facebook Live Video and how it’s been used in recent weeks for some harrowing footage very different from what it was originally conceived to do, and in contrast to the type of live video Twitter is now pursuing. We talk about the responsibilities that come with such power for Facebook, and the benefits to society from the increased openness the technology brings.

As always, we wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which is an app recommendation from Aaron.

Programming note: we’ll be taking a two-week break while Jan is on vacation, but we’ll be back the first week of August.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Amazon, Apple, Episodes, Facebook, India, iPhone, Smartphones, Twitter, Windows 10

Episode 53 – Apple in India, Facebook News Feed Changes

Our News Roundup this week covers three topics: Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 10 now has 350 installations; Twitter’s addition of stickers to photos shared through the platform; and Amazon’s new strategy for selling third-party Android phones with ads on the lock screen.

Our Question of the Week is “How is Apple doing in India, and how can it do better?” It builds on research Jan has been doing over the last few weeks on what Apple might do to boost its fortunes – and specifically the iPhone’s fortunes – in India. We talk about the unique characteristics of the Indian market, and how it’s different from China; the state of the smartphone market in India; Apple’s current position there; and four major themes around how Apple can accelerate growth and increase its addressable market there.

Our third segment covers the changes Facebook announced to its News Feed algorithm on Wednesday, the reasons for the move, and the likely implications for users, for publishers, and for Facebook. As usual, we wrap up with a Weekly Pick, this week two items recommended by Aaron.

I want to briefly thank all those who helped me in my research for this episode and my weekly Techpinions column, which also went up today on the same topic, including Shibesh, Harshil Shah, Sudeep Mishra, Sascha Pallenberg, Viranch Damani, Varun Krishnan, Nitin Alabur, and others. Your help and insight is much appreciated.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Advertising, Apple, Cars, China, Episodes, EU, Facebook, Google, Mary Meeker, Microsoft, Smart home, Xiaomi

Episode 49 – State of the Smart Home, Mary Meeker’s Deck

This week’s News Roundup covered three topics: Microsoft’s deal with Xiaomi to share patents and pre-install Office and Skype on Xiaomi devices; rumors of a new 5K display from Apple; and a new EU Code of Conduct on policing hate speech signed by major American tech companies. We discuss the ins and outs of each of these stories and their implications.

Our Question of the Week is “What’s the state of the smart home, and how will it change?” This topic builds off a recent piece Jan wrote for Techpinions which was syndicated to Recode, titled “The Smart Home is Stuck“, in which Jan argued that the most high-profile element of the smart home market – the retail purchase, self-install segment, is stuck at the early adopter phase. However, we also discuss the other major segment in the market, which is the service-based alternative, which sees devices professionally installed and managed, and charges monthly service fees rather than a one-off device purchase fee. This part of the market, exemplified by companies like Vivint, AT&T, and Alarm.com (through a white label model) is performing much better. We talk about how this situation might change over time, some of the other dynamics, and potential future innovations in the space.

Our third topic is a discussion of analyst Mary Meeker’s most recent slide deck, which provides a 200-slide overview of major trends in the internet and related fields, and was presented at the Code Conference this week. We focus on three of the trends she identified – ad spend, cars and technology, and China – and discuss each of these in some detail.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which is something of a follow-up to an earlier recommendation from Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.