May 17, 2016 | CPG, Mobile, Online advertising, Online video, Social media
MTV is launching a new sex education series on Snapchat, with Trojan condoms lined up as sponsor. The ‘Pants Off’ programme marks MTV’s first series created specifically for the app. Scheduled over 8 weeks, the series explores sex and relationships and will takeover...
May 17, 2016 | E-commerce and E-retailing, Mobile
Amazon has opened up its Dash Buttons to developers, letting program their own functions into the Internet of Things device. Previously, consumers had to buy new buttons for each product, and users could only use them to buy those products. The new ‘AWS IoT...
May 16, 2016 | Mobile, Search engine marketing
Google has launched a new keyboard for iOS devices that directly integrates search functions, such as maps, GIFs or shopping results, into user’s messages. Called Gboard, the keyboard features a button on the upper left that lets users perform web searches, look...
May 13, 2016 | Mobile, Online advertising
The average click-through rate for premium native ads on mobile is now 137% higher than on desktop, according to new research. The study, from Polar, indicates that that the volume of branded content campaigns rose 365% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the...
May 13, 2016 | Content marketing, Mobile
This week’s New Yorker magazine features an augmented reality cover to tie in with its ‘innovators’ issue. The cover, designed by Christoph Niemann, comes to life through augmented reality, along with inside-cover Qualcomm ads. The cover’s augmented reality features...
May 13, 2016 | Mobile, Online video, Social media
Periscope is now supporting drone camera streams, as the live video app continues to expand the platform. Broadcast from a bird's eye view with drones! Available on iOS soon.https://t.co/J3GfdW4JRX— Periscope (@periscopeco) May 9, 2016 The move follows the...
May 11, 2016 | Mobile, Search engine marketing
The team behind Apple’s voice assistant Siri have revealed their latest independent project “Viv”, an AI bot that lives on your phone and aims to be “the intelligent interface for everything.” Viv was unveiled at Techcruch’s Disrupt conference,...
May 9, 2016 | Mobile, Social media
Snapchat users were treated to a movie with a difference last week, when made-for-mobile film ‘Sickhouse’ was broadcast in real-time snippets to the social media app. The horror film, called Sickhouse, was told via video shorts released gradually over the...
May 6, 2016 | Facebook marketing, Mobile, Social media
A 10-year-old hacker has been awarded thousands of dollars for breaking into Instagram – a service he’s too young even to use. The Finnish security expert found a trick that would allow anyone to delete comments that had been left by users. The boy – named as Jani in...
May 5, 2016 | Mobile, Online advertising, Online video, Social media
Instagram has launched video carousel ads, with Airbnb, Taco Bell and Macy’s among the first brands to sign up to the new interactive format. The new video carousel ads let advertisers display three to five videos or images at a time that users can toggle from...
May 5, 2016 | E-commerce and E-retailing, Mobile
Almost half of UK eCommerce transactions (48.9%) now take place on mobile devices, up 6% year-on-year, with iPhones overtaking iPads, according to new research. The study, from Criteo, also indicates that a fifth (19%) of all UK eCommerce transactions take place on...
May 3, 2016 | Brazil, Mobile, Social media
Snapchat is teaming up with NBC for the upcoming 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro this summer, in a major deal that could propell the youth-centric social media app to a wider global audience. Under the US-only deal, Snapchat will present “unique perspectives”...
