The intersection between robots, makers and marketing has hit fever pitch with the creation of a robot mixologist built in partnership with Coke and Barcardi. Meet the Makr Shakr. Read more »
Given the documented ability of mobile apps, search, and social networking to lift sales, it makes forehead-smacking sense for retailers to shift their focus away from sales lost to showrooming into harnessing the shopper’s in-store wireless experience for themselves and their brands. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Will Coca-Cola be the answer to helping move segway inventor Dean Kamen’s clean water technology into commercialization? Read more »
The Danish Design Center in Copenhagen is featuring an exhibit that explores ways to reduce waste and use more sustainable materials for some of the common things we use. Turns out big corporations are some of the leading thinkers on these eco materials. Read more »
With more and more business leaders now turning to this topic, the questions — and confusion — are multiplying. With so much to consider, we’ve broken down the cloud discussion to help companies decide which strategy is right for their business. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Spotify is partnering with Coca Cola in a deal that it says will expand its international reach, giving it a boost similar to the way Facebook integration has supercharged usage. Coke will use Spotify to power its music outreach and will help promote the service internationally. Read more »
Twitter on Wednesday switched on enhanced brand pages for accounts owned by National Public Radio, NBC News, Volkswagen, and others. This is the first batch of premium Twitter pages from companies other than the handful of launch partners who unveiled enhanced brand pages in December. Read more »
Trotting out auto industry veteran and the former public face of Chevy Volt, Bob Lutz, as a spokesman, VIA Motors on Tuesday showed off its technology of converting conventional trucks, cargo vans and SUVs into hybrid electric vehicles and laid out production plans. Read more »
Spending in the mobile advertising space will be approximately $4 billion worldwide this year, so despite perceptions to the contrary, we can safely assume it’s an area to watch in the coming years. To get a clearer picture of mobile advertising’s future, it helps to first explore the current landscape — the key drivers and players involved today. With these as a backdrop, a five-year outlook such as this comes into greater focus and leads to a discussion of the major players to watch as 2016 approaches. Companies mentioned in this report include Foursquare, LivingSocial and Zynga. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
On Wednesday morning energy software startup Hara plans to announce that it’s raised another $25 million from new strategic investors, including the collaboration of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips (called Energy Technology Ventures), as well as the investing arm of Japanese conglomerate Itochu. Read more »
In the second quarter of 2010, greentech startups scored record venture capital and increased spending despite a weak economy. Solar power retained its lead in greentech venture financing, while global investment for clean energy asset financing fell. China, meanwhile, underscored its rising might in the greentech industry, raising billions of dollars in green energy financing. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft has seen its Xbox Live subscription gaming service grow pretty dramatically, with the service topping $1 billion in revenues. Perhaps more importantly, the majority of that revenue didn’t come through subscriptions, but from the sale of movies, TV shows and other content on the service. Read more »
Bloom Energy says its fuel cells can be 100-percent carbon free — but that’s only if you run them on biogas. What’s biogas, and where does it come from? And how can Bloom’s customers get ahold of some to make their fuel cells something more than […] Read more »
For the first time in 23 years, Pepsico isn’t spending millions on a Superbowl ad, but instead is funding a series of social-media powered community renewal projects to the tune of $20 million, a campaign that appears to have already paid off. Read more »
