Our team at Converge is focused on researching and writing about all things related to the intersection of business and technology, leveraging technology to drive business success—and helping our clients do the same. To help you to stay up-to-date with the constant change that is technology and how it affects business we present the inaugural edition of the Converge Weekly Roundup.
Snapchat Spectacles Gaining with Brands
Snapchat’s new video sunglasses debuted just this week and are already making a mark with brands. Of course it’s no surprise that Gary’s agency, Vayner Media, isn’t wasted anytime jumping on board to work with clients to leverage this new POV video technology. See how Sour Patch Kids, Esquire, and Vayner Media’s team are using Spectacles to build brand awareness in a whole new way.
AI: Don’t Worry, the Robots Won’t Kills Us. No, Really
Stanford University has launched an ongoing, endowed project called the One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence as a way of taking the long view on all things related to AI and the impact it is likely to have on the world as we know it, over the next hundred years. The Cliff Notes version: Not to worry, “no machines with self-sustaining long-term goals and intent have been developed, nor are they likely to be in the future.” I’ll be diving into the just-released first report, “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030,” and writing more about this over on our Futurum blog in the near future. Stay tuned.
Mozilla Launches Firefox Focus, a Private Web Browser for iOS
Mozilla, the company behind the popular web browser Firefox, is introducing a new mobile web browser for iOS users that puts a priority on private browsing. Called Firefox Focus, the new mobile browser blocks ad trackers, and erases your browsing history, including your passwords and cookies by default. The result is a simplified browser that may load web pages more quickly according to Mozilla.
92% Of Everything We Do Will Be in The Cloud
That’s the prediction from a study by Cisco with cloud traffic increasing over 350 percent by 2020. Big Data and associated Internet of Things are a big part of this growth. By 2020, database, analytics and IoT workloads will account for 22 percent of total business workloads, compared to 20 percent in 2015. The same study indicates the public cloud is growing faster than private cloud with hybrid cloud solutions accounting for much of the shift
More accurate, fluent sentences in Google Translate
In 10 years, Google Translate has gone from supporting just a few languages to 103, connecting strangers, reaching across language barriers and even helping people find love. Now with the help of Neural Machine Translation, it’s set to progress even further.
Photo Credit: taletouch Flickr via Compfight cc
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years' experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly's coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”