There’s been mounting pressure on the social networking company’s CEO to speak up.
Source: CNET
The phone-free, PC-free headset launched in China but is arriving worldwide to compete with Google’s Daydream View and Facebook’s Oculus Go.
Source: CNET
The entire CT6 range gets a handful of updates for 2019.
Source: CNET
AdsWizz, one of the few ad-tech firms entirely focused on digital audio ads, will join Pandora in a cash-and-stock deal.
Source: CNET
Pandora announced this morning it’s acquiring digital audio ad technology firm AdsWizz for $145 million, as a combination of at least 50 percent cash, with the remaining paid in either cash or stock at Pandora’s discretion. The company, whose technology will be used to upgrade Pandora’s own ad tech capabilities, will continue as a subsidiary headed by CEO Alexis van de Wyer.
AdsWizz offers an end-to-end technology platform that powers music platforms, podcasts and broadcasting groups. Customers include Cox Media Group, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Entercom, Omnicom Media Group, Spotify, Deezer, PodcastOne, GroupM, and others.
Its software suite includes a variety of ad technology capabilities, including dynamic ad insertion, advanced programmatic platforms, ad campaign monitoring tools, and more.
Above: AdsWizz’ AudioMatic platform for programmatic buying
It has also developed a number of new audio formats, like ShakeMe which has users shake their phones to trigger an action while listening to an ad; ads that can target users based on an activity like jogging or a situation like cold weather; ads that can be customized based personalized data; and others.
Pandora says it will leverage the acquisition to capitalize on the growth in digital audio advertising, which is up 42 percent year-over-year, according to the IAB.
We understand that Pandora was interested in where AdsWizz’ roadmap aligned with Pandora’s specifically in the areas of audio monetization and ad-buying capabilities. It believes that by joining forces, it will be able to ship and launch new products faster.
Once integrated with Pandora, advertisers will be able to transact through AdsWizz’s global marketplace across Pandora and other audio publishers, the company says. Pandora says that it will continue to invest in AdsWizz technology that supports its core business and the wider industry – or, in order words, Pandora isn’t ripping away AdsWizz from its competitors in streaming at this time.
“Since I joined Pandora six months ago, I have highlighted ad tech as a key area of investment for us. Today we took an important step to advance that priority and accelerate our product roadmap,“ said Roger Lynch, CEO of Pandora, in a statement. “With our scale in audio advertising and AdsWizz’s tech expertise, we will create the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem, better serving global publishers and advertisers — while improving Pandora’s own monetization capabilities.”
The deal comes at a time when Pandora continues to generate the majority of its revenues from advertising, despite its entry into the subscription business with its own rival to Apple Music and Spotify. In its Q4 2017 earnings, the company reported $97.7 million in subscription revenue that offset a 5 percent year-over-year decline in advertising revenues. Meanwhile, ad revenues clocked in at $297.7 million, down from $313.3 million in the same quarter the year before.
It also follows a rough year for Pandora which saw its original founder and CEO Tim Westergren exit, along with Chief Marketing Officer Nick Bartle and President Mike Herring, as part of a larger exec shakeup.
In addition to AdsWizz CEO van de Wyer, Pandora’s acquisition will add 140 people to the company from across all AdsWizz locations, including its San Mateo headquarters.
Pandora has not been as acquisitive as rival Spotify, having generally purchased businesses that are of strategic importance at the time, instead of smaller teams with interesting technology. It’s best known for its acquisitions of Rdio and Ticketfly in 2015, though the latter was handed off to Eventbrite last year.
“We know that the value we have created for all our stakeholders – brands, publishers and listeners – comes from our ability to create engaging and well-targeted advertising experiences. That will not change,” said van de Wyer, in a post on AdsWizz’ website. “Our focus has always been digital audio, with a unique expertise in innovative monetization solutions. That will not change. What will change is our ability to grow even faster, to develop technology more rapidly, to accelerate our ability to provide solutions that meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of advertisers and digital audiences. And to have an even bigger impact on people’s lives,” he added.
The new acquisition does not impact the first quarter 2018 guidance or the full year 2018 commentary provided at Pandora’s last earnings, the company notes. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018, and is subject to regulatory approval.
Source: TechCrunch
If all goes well, some GIF creators may start seeing their GIFs show up in augmented reality experiences, based on a new deal that’s happening with Gfycat this morning.
Gfycat said it would be working with a company called Metaverse that, like many tools of its kind, is looking to make it easier to build applications in a more plug-and-play matter — this time for building augmented reality apps. Gfycat has more than 130 million monthly active users and in particular gears its tools toward creators, and this could be another step in helping those creators get their content out to the masses as activity in augmented reality starts to continue to pick up. It’s certainly not that pretty right now, but these small agreements can sometimes be the start of increasingly robust toolsets for developers.
To be sure, there’s a number of caveats. The most obvious one is that the GIFs created by those creators have to have a transparent background. After all, it would be weird for them to show up in the real world with a weird kind of background that blocks off the rest of reality and kind of sack the whole “augmented reality” concept. But at the same time, it does start to offer a kind of pseudo-home for creators that are looking to crack into AR as well as also offering developers looking to build games or other apps and opportunity to have easy access to content to get started.
We’ve seen from the explosion of games like Pokémon Go and others that augmented reality games are increasingly going to be A Thing. Niantic may have created a pivotal use case for that with a strong brand, but while looking a bit janky right now, it’s possible that a simple game developer might figure out some niche use case in AR that will actually blow up. That starts with having access to good content, and something like this would help get them started.
All this might be completely moot if Apple and others roll out an increasingly simple interface for AR app development like more robust tools in ARkit, where developers would just sidestep platforms like Metaverse in order to just build their own interfaces. But having a hub of content to start from is also an important step in figuring out where to even begin.
The GIF space is increasingly blowing up. We’ve already talked about how a bunch of these major platforms are continuing to grow with Giphy saying it has 300 million daily active users. Tenor, another GIF platform, meanwhile nets around 12 billion searches a month for its own GIFs.
Source: TechCrunch
Here’s a big TechCrunch global shout-out to all countries interested in showcasing their best and brightest technology startups. Come to Disrupt San Francisco 2018 on Sept. 5-7 at the Moscone Center West and join more than 1,200 early-stage startups in Startup Alley, the very heart of every Disrupt event. A country pavilion waits just for you.
We’re looking for delegations of international startup groups, government innovation centers, incubators and accelerators to claim a country pavilion in Startup Alley. Are you ready to step on a world stage, show off your emerging companies and be recognized as a world leader in tech innovation?
Startup Alley is prime real estate, where hundreds of founders from everywhere in the world — and investors looking to fund them — gather to meet, connect and network. And maybe even produce a unicorn or two.
If you want to exhibit in Startup Alley as part of a country pavilion, your delegation startups must meet one low bar: they have to qualify as Pre-Series A companies. If they do, we want to hear from you, so shoot our Startup Alley manager an email at priya@techcrunch.com. Tell us about your delegation and where you’re from, and we’ll provide more information about the application process.
Countries that have participated in previous TechCrunch events include Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Caribbean, Catalonia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Lithuania, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uruguay. We believe that innovation and great ideas know no geographical boundaries, and we strive to increase the diversity within our country pavilions at every Disrupt.
We’re so serious about inviting the world that we’re putting our money where our mouth is. Sign on for a country pavilion and you’ll receive a discount off each Startup Alley company’s exhibitor package, and you’ll get organizer passes to the event. Plus, if you book your pavilion before July 25, your startups will receive one additional Founder ticket to attend Disrupt SF. You’ll find ticket pricing info here.
And in case you haven’t heard, Disrupt SF 2018 is going to be the only Disrupt event in North America this year. Not only that, by moving to a new venue, we’re tripling our floor space, and we plan to host more than 10,000 attendees. It’s our biggest Disrupt ever.
Don’t forget about all the phenomenal programming that Disrupt offers. We’ve expanded to four distinct stages — including the Main Stage featuring interviews with tech titans and icons. You can expect programming that spans 12 tech category tracks: Artificial Intelligence, Augmented/Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Biotech, Fintech, Healthtech, Investor Topics, Justice/Diversity, Mobility, Privacy/Security, Robotics and Space (as in “outer”).
Then there’s the illustrious StartUp Battlefield, where competitors vie for a grand prize of non-equity cash, investor love and serious bragging rights, a virtual Hackathon (more details on that coming soon), Q & A Sessions that let you dive deep on crucial tech, hands-on workshops and after parties.
If you’re a founder or an investor, you need to know about our CrunchMatch platform. It’s a quick, easy and efficient way to cut through the noise and connect with and meet the people looking for funding and the folks looking to provide it.
Disrupt San Francisco 2018 takes place on Sept. 5-7 at the Moscone Center West. Don’t miss the chance to showcase the best tech companies in your country. Email us about reserving your country pavilion today.
Source: TechCrunch
Stanford’s John Hennessy, now chair of Google parent Alphabet, and Berkeley’s David Patterson developed the Reduced Instruction Set Computer in the 1980s.
Source: Wired
While potential photographic subjects would shy away from a DSLR-wielding tourist, barely a soul would notice a box as compact as Leica’s CL.
Source: Wired
Human error leads to countless leaky databases. But Google has some new protections in place to help cloud customers better help themselves.
Source: Wired