Qualcomm smart speaker platform + more

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Qualcomm smart speaker platform for AI-enabled devices – Business Insider – will Qualcomm attract the same developer community as Amazon’s Alexa has? The Qualcomm smart speaker platform will find it hard to get audiences wanting high quality audio as Apple found out with the first generation HomePod. It won’t only be Qualcomm chips that boost the cost but the complete component chain

Google is making antitrust concessions in Europe – Business Insider – reminds me a lot of the European settlement that Microsoft made with the EU that then facilitated the popularity of Firefox (and Chrome)

The New Zealand shooter finds support in Islamophobic corners of China’s internet — Quartzmany comments reflected the view that the shooting was a by-product of the West’s excessive political correctness, a perspective that has found increasing support on China’s internet in recent years as part of what’s known as the baizuo, or “white left” movement, a derogatory term used to describe Western progressives that is roughly analogous to the term “social justice warrior.”

Google Stadia is a Net Neutrality Nightmare – Varietythe numerous unknowns and uncertainties of Stadia, from pricing to game library to concerns over internet latency and speed requirements, what’s truly disconcerting is the unspoken assumption that forgoing hardware is a net positive for consumers and creators alike. Ultimately, the adult in all of us is sick of having to repurchase video game boxes just to keep up (at least, I am). But if a PC is like a puppy in how it brings you some kind of joy or entertainment, you have to ask yourself one question. Would you rent a puppy?

MoviePass co-founder’s new app rewards you with movie tickets for watching ads | BGR – how many ads would you have to watch and what kind of personal information is being used in targeting? Also what kind of incentives does this set up and is that the kind of demographic an advertiser wants to reach?

APAC accounts for less than 15% of revenue for holding companies, says R3 – really interesting, especially when I remember Sir Martin (Sorrell) saying at Stream Asia a number of years ago that APAC had more WPP employees than Europe in his state of the union type speech

The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus | Morning Run :60 | Lincoln – YouTube – interesting ad how Ford’s Lincoln brand is trying to associate the in-car information with the utility (in fitness terms at least) with wearable tech

Why I’m Swapping My iPhone for an Alarm Clock From 1939 – WSJ – focused design rather than convergence (paywall)

ThoughtfulGiftCards.com – Is It a Scam, or Just Shady Marketing? | JoAnna Wahlund – interesting marketing tactic / social engineering – I respect the thinking, if not the use that it was put to

Can a Facebook Post Make Your Insurance Cost More? – WSJ – in Wadds book Brand Vandals I warned that this was inevitable. Seven years later and its now an issue

Swiss Watchmakers Say Slowing Growth in China Won’t Hurt Sales | News & Analysis | BoF – Switzerland’s watch industry is going through a period of profound change, notably in distribution, as brands focus on developing their own boutiques — brick and mortar or online — while reducing their network of third-party retailers

Amazon Beauty: Who Is Selling What? An Exclusive Analysis of Over 200,000 Beauty and Personal Care Listings on Amazon.com | Coreinsight – interesting read (PDF) particularly in light of Amazon Kicks Off Spring with the Launch of Belei, its First Dedicated Skincare Line | Amazon.com, Inc. – Press Room – 12 products including moisturisers, serums, eye cream, spot treatments and more

Most Amazon Brands Are Duds, Not Disrupters, Study Finds – Bloomberg – but then most new consumer product launches are duds

How Baselworld Can Establish its Relevance Once More | Luxury Society – interesting case study from the Digital Luxury Group. More luxury-related posts here.

Why “Drop” Retail Is the Future of Luxury Sales in China“Drops have been popular in China because consumers want to feel that brands are making an effort to design or offer product specifically for them and drop retailing gives brands the opportunity to show that they are focused on doing something special specifically for China”

Luxury Marketers Can no Longer View Chinese Consumers as a Monolith | Luxury Society – they shouldn’t have ever viewed Chinese consumers as a monolith in the first place

Walmart Builds a Secret Weapon to Battle Amazon for Retail’s Future – WSJ – (paywall)

US Army applying new areas of math | John D Cook – expect homotopy type theory (HoTT) to be the new machine learning in a few years

China’s middle class stress over debt payments as unemployment hits two-year high | SCMP – only a matter of time before this happened due to overheated property market and slowing economic growth