However, it’s a sign of just how powerful a combination Google’s software and Nest’s hardware represents when even casual observers can imagine such scenarios that, in reality, would not be that difficult to execute on Google’s part.
“Why Google Bought Nest and What It Could Mean for Your Home” via Mashable
I love the tweet from @marksuman about Waze + Nest being able to turn up the heat in your house as it notices you getting closer to home.
App competition means there’s almost always a free app option consumers can choose instead of shelling out for a paid app. So the bar for what a paid app should be is pushed ever higher. By 2017, Gartner predicts that 94.5% of downloads will be for free apps.
“Gartner Says Less Than One Percent of Consumer Mobile Apps Will Be Considered a Financial Success by Their Developers Through 2018” via Gartner Reports
Key points:
See what Netflix’s new pricing strategy can teach us about growing with the customer and pricing along proper value metrics.
A great article that discusses the importance of price testing with your customers, especially when you have a SaaS offering and are trying to attract different personas to the same product line. Another great point in the article is about having a clear value metric for your customers; one that can be explained to your users and makes sense when striated across price ranges.
Netflix Experiment Stirs Up 3 Steps to Develop Your Pricing Plans
A Forrester analysis suggests what some might find surprising: Microsoft gained the only ‘trailblazer’ status by being trusted across generations.
Nice to hear that in the wake of all the recent data leaks and hacks that have occurred across different industries that MSFT’s “One Microsoft” bet is paying off.
2014 will be remembered as the best time in a generation to have bought a venture-backed company in Latin America as an efficient way to gain entry to the quickly growing Latin America market (known as the “Acqui-entry”). The opportunity in Latin America is extraordinary and valuations generally remain very low compared to similarly situated U.S. based startups.
Juan Pablo Cappello via TheNextWeb, “Why 2014 will be the year of the “Acqui-entry” in Latin America”
Good article on why startups need someone devoted to growth. Especially in the early stages when you’re searching for the features that will help you go from linear to hockey stock user acquisition, dedication to testing and data remains paramount.
SwiftKey is a definite advantage of typing on android vs. iOS IMO. Typing on my car’s nav is terrible, so this wouldn’t be too bad. Depends on how it works with addresses.
SwiftKey Takes Its Predictive Android Keyboard Software Into Cars With Clarion Car Stereo Tie-Up
Yahoo’s ambitions in the advertising world are becoming clearer, and they include competing with the titans of online marketing.
It was surprising to hear how relatively well the sponsored posts on Tumblr are doing. Let’s see if Yahoo and its 800 million users’ worth of data can build momentum against the incumbents.
#neato 