Google, Levis Strauss Collaborate to Release New High-Tech Denim Jacket [VIDEO]

After months of waiting, Levi Strauss finally unveiled its high-tech denim jacket which was made in collaboration with search giant Google. Dubbed the Commuter Trucker, the high-tech gear will be available on Monday of next week via the clothing brand’s online store Levi.com.

Levi’s Commuter Jacket was created in a partnership with Project Jacquard, a part of Google Advanced Technology and Products group. The jacket is aimed at cyclists or even motorists who want to be connected even while commuting, Gizbot reported. Thus, wearers of the high-tech jacket can access its cool features by touch or simple gestures.

Α jacket with a touchpad? Well done @Google and @LEVIS ! #TechNews https://t.co/y1MR009zMY

— Thanos Sklav (@TNS_Sklav) September 25, 2017

According to Levi’s, it will not be necessary to take out your smartphone to access some of its features. The Commuter Jacket‘s sleeve is equipped with Google’s touch and gesture interactivity. A simple brush or tapping on the sleeve will let you connect to your friends, music, and useful navigation tools.

For instance, you can use the jacket to give you directions while navigating certain areas in your city that may be unfamiliar to you. If you have pre-programmed your destination, you can also access the Commuter Trucker jacket to give your estimated time of arrival. Of course, you'll need to have earphones to be able to hear the jacket’s audio response as well as a cell phone for connectivity.

Communication is a lot easier if you are wearing Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket. Answering phone call is a breeze and can be done by tapping its sleeve. You won’t even need to look at your phone screen to read incoming messages as the jacket will be able to read them for you via the earphones.

And the best part is that you can customize the jackets smart features with gestures that you choose. Using Google’s Jacquard app, you can assign what action can access which type of function such as reading messages, pausing and playing your music or asking for directions.

But of course, you can’t really expect the high-tech features on a cool denim jacket to come cheap. The Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google sells for $350, which is quite steep for denim. And even if you have the cash now, getting one might be a bit of a problem depending on your location. The Commuter Trucker jacket is only available at select Levi’s stores starting September 27, 2017, before it hits online stores on October 2.

For Android users, the Commuter Trucker jacket is compatible with phones running Android  6.01 or newer versions. For Apple users, the jacket works with an iPhone 6 or later models as long as the device is running on iOS 10 or iOS 11.

[Featured Image via YouTube]

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Mozilla's Firefox Quantum Aims to Dethrone Google Chrome as Fastest Internet Browser

Google Chrome, the leading U.S. browser at the moment, is about to face some serious competition up ahead. Mozilla just unveiled an improved version of its browser called the Firefox Quantum touted to be drastically faster than its predecessor and offering browsing speeds said to even surpass that of Chrome.

During the late 2000’s, Mozilla Firefox had one of the fastest user growth among Internet browsers according to Forbes. Unfortunately, the browser’s growth lost steam and is now lagging behind rivals Google Chrome and Apple Safari. Chrome is currently leading the pack in the U.S. with a market share of 44.5 percent followed by Safari at 25.4 percent. Firefox, in the meantime, only managed to secure a 7.4 percent share.

Firefox Quantum—now in Beta!—is twice as fast as Firefox was just a year ago. https://t.co/fosfCaMyne

— Firefox 🦊 (@firefox) September 26, 2017

However, Mozilla is betting big that it just might be able to reclaim some its lost market share with the introduction of a souped-up browser, the Firefox Quantum. One of the most attractive features of the upcoming browser that just might earn it new followers is its browsing speed. Set to debut by November this year, Mozilla says that it is superfast – twice as fast than the current version and is even faster than the number 1 Chrome. And the best part is that, according to Mozilla, the Firefox Quantum uses 30 percent less RAM when compared to Chrome.

At the moment though, there is no third party data available yet to back up Mozilla’s claim. The claim is supported by data obtained using Mozilla’s own open-source benchmarking tool Speedometer 2.0.

But Mozilla insists it’s not just about speed. The upcoming Firefox Quantum will also come with an improved user interface which will ditch the curved tab design of the current browser. In addition, Quantum is said to be optimized to take advantage of modern high-res displays.

Quantum will also be able to differentiate tabs and can influence the download speeds to a certain degree. Tabs that are currently active will download faster than tabs running in the background.

The #Firefox Quantum interface redesign is called Photon. Its design system site is also now in Beta. Have a look!https://t.co/1pvq9JCLt5 pic.twitter.com/sj9H0o43AH

— Madhava Enros (@madhava) September 27, 2017

Firefox Quantum will also incorporate features of Pocket, a popular news and article reader app which Mozilla acquired in February of this year. When users open new tabs, a list of trending pages currently being read by Pocket users will appear as suggestions.

While Mozilla has already set Firefox Quantum launch date this coming November 14, users can already use its beta version for Android, iOS, and desktop. The test version is available to enable users to discover bugs before it is released.

[Featured Image via Mozilla]

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Twitter Doubles Its Character Limit for Select Languages

Twitter is about to address one issue that has annoyed users of the social media platform for the longest time – its restrictive 140-character limit per tweet. On Tuesday, the company finally announced that it is now doubling the character limit per tweet from 140 to 280 characters.

However, the expansion to the new 280-character limit will not be applicable to all languages supported by the platform. The new cap will be imposed on select languages such as English, French, Portuguese and Spanish but the 140-character limit will still be used for other languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean according to Tech Crunch.

Apparently, some languages like Japanese, for instance, only require fewer words to express the same amount of information as compared to other languages such as English. According to company data, 9 percent of English tweets reached the 140-character mark while only a minuscule 0.4 percent of Japanese tweets were observed to reach the threshold, Business Insider reported. In addition, most English tweets have 34 characters compared to the 15-character tweets common for Japanese users.

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔

We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

At the moment though, only a handful of users will benefit the expansion to a 280-character limit. The new cap is still being tested for a select minority of users but a platform-wide implementation is already being planned.

The 140-character limit tweet is a rather touchy issue for Twitter. For some users, the limit is seen as the perfect length for Twitter where brevity is the hallmark. In fact, users protested when rumors surfaced in 2016 saying that Twitter planned on allowing users to make lengthy, multi-paragraphs tweets. CEO Jack Dorsey had to deny the rumor in response and reiterate that the 140-character cap is here to stay saying, ““It’s a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment brevity.”

In Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, 140 characters for Twitter is plenty, thank you https://t.co/MwT9o3AbGH

— Quartz (@qz) September 27, 2017

However, Twitter has now acknowledged that for a majority of its users, the 140-character limit could sometimes become an issue. In a blog post, Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen revealed: “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.”

Hence, the company decided to expand the limit so that users don’t have to cram their thoughts into a 140-character prose. Aside from giving them more room to express their ideas, the new 280-character limit is deemed the perfect restriction to compel them to make posts that are as concise as possible; the perfect balance between brevity and room for expression.

[Featured Image via Pixabay]

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Target Partners With Pinterest, Find Products by Taking a Photo

Searching for products being offered on Target will soon be as easy as taking a photo on your mobile phone. In a recent announcement, Pinterest revealed that it teamed up with Target allowing the retailer to use the former’s visual search called Lens.

The deal aims to harness the power of Pinterest’s visual search tool by shortening the buying cycle and catching potential shoppers at their moment of discovery. If something catches a potential buyer’s eyes, like an article of clothing, for instance, the buyer can just snap a picture of the clothes and, with the Lens technology, the system will display similarly styled clothes being sold at Target.

.@Target + @Pinterest are teaming up to make finding the perfect product as simple as taking a pic. Get the details: https://t.co/7jrSO1yRSv pic.twitter.com/UO8WdSKPWm

— Target News (@TargetNews) September 25, 2017

As part of the deal, Target has committed to increasing its ad spending on Pinterest in exchange for gaining access to the Lens technology, Marketing Land reported. However, it was not disclosed just how much ad spending Target will be shelling out for this commitment.

There are speculations that Target and Pinterest might enter into some form of ad revenue sharing scheme in the future where they can sell ads to businesses that want their products to be featured prominently in the Lens search results. While indeed a possibility, a Pinterest spokesperson explained that such partnership is not yet being considered at the moment.

The companies are trying to position themselves on the rising trend of using images and voice to search the web instead of typing the actual phrase. If this trend continues, estimates project that by 2020, 50 percent of internet searches will be done using images and voice.

The deal could encourage consumers to buy from Target. Even if the actual product being photographed is not sold by Target, the search result generated by Lens will only show similar products being sold by the retailer.

Pinterest has been sinking serious money into its image search technology program. It allocated a large chunk out of the $120 million it got from the latest round of funding for r&d. This resulted into the redesigned Lens which introduced new useful features into the image search tool such as zoom, focusing ability by tapping and a search option for previously taken photos saved to the Camera Roll.

Target will initially plug Pinterest’s Lens tool into its Target Registry mobile app. However, there are plans that the image search tool will eventually be integrated into the main Target mobile app as well its desktop counterpart sometime in the future.

[Featured Image via Pinterest]

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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October

The U.S. telecommunications landscape is about to drastically change once more. If rumors are correct, Sprint and T-Mobile, two of the country’s largest telecommunications players could merge by October this year.

Of course, talks of T-Mobile merging with Sprint have been around for years. This time, however, it looks like there’s more meat to it than mere idle speculation. According to Reuters, T-Mobile, the U.S.’ third largest carrier, is on the brink of agreeing to a merger with the country’s fourth-largest carrier, Sprint, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.

Timing is important in mega-merger deals. Previously, plans of a merger between the two telecom giants fell through when it became apparent that the Obama administration’s anti-trust stance would object to the deal. With the Trump administration, however, a T-Mobile-Sprint merger could push through and deal makers are not likely to let this window of opportunity pass by, according to Engadget.

#Sprint and #TMobile could #merge in late October https://t.co/al5Azjlmot

— Live Tech Direct (@LiveTechDirect) September 25, 2017

At the moment, neither Sprint nor T-Mobile has officially commented on the leaked merger plans. However, company officials from both camps have already given previous hints of such agreement.

For instance, T-Mobile CEO John Legere gave indications last January that the company is open to a possible merger in the near future saying, "It may make sense from a scale standpoint." On the other hand, Sprint CEO and President Marcelo Claure hinted that it would make announcements about merger discussions in the near future.

Should the transaction push through, Japan’s SoftBank Group will end up controlling between 40 to 50 percent of the merged entity while German firm Deutsche Telekom and the rest of T-Mobile shareholder will own the majority of shares. SoftBank controls Sprint while Deutsche Telekom owns a majority of T-Mobile.

The combined entity will likewise become the second biggest telecom player on the block. Combining T-Mobile’s 69.6 million subscribers with Sprint’s 53.7 million will create a telecom titan with 123.3 million subscribers, enough to overshadow Verizon’s 114.5 million (the current number 2) and placing it firmly behind AT&T’s 135.7 million.

Aside from the advantage of scale, a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint could also improve the combined entity’s bottom line. According to research firm MoffetNathanson partner and senior analyst Craig Moffett, a merger could mean as much as $4 billion in savings due to cost-cutting opportunities. The combined entity could then invest those savings in areas like 5G which is critical if it wants to maintain an edge over rivals in technology.

[Featured Image via Youtube]

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Google, Levis Strauss Collaborate to Release New High-Tech Denim Jacket [VIDEO]

After months of waiting, Levi Strauss finally unveiled its high-tech denim jacket which was made in collaboration with search giant Google. Dubbed the Commuter Trucker, the high-tech gear will be available on Monday of next week via the clothing brand’s online store Levi.com.

Levi’s Commuter Jacket was created in a partnership with Project Jacquard, a part of Google Advanced Technology and Products group. The jacket is aimed at cyclists or even motorists who want to be connected even while commuting, Gizbot reported. Thus, wearers of the high-tech jacket can access its cool features by touch or simple gestures.

Α jacket with a touchpad? Well done @Google and @LEVIS ! #TechNews https://t.co/y1MR009zMY

— Thanos Sklav (@TNS_Sklav) September 25, 2017

According to Levi’s, it will not be necessary to take out your smartphone to access some of its features. The Commuter Jacket‘s sleeve is equipped with Google’s touch and gesture interactivity. A simple brush or tapping on the sleeve will let you connect to your friends, music, and useful navigation tools.

For instance, you can use the jacket to give you directions while navigating certain areas in your city that may be unfamiliar to you. If you have pre-programmed your destination, you can also access the Commuter Trucker jacket to give your estimated time of arrival. Of course, you'll need to have earphones to be able to hear the jacket’s audio response as well as a cell phone for connectivity.

Communication is a lot easier if you are wearing Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket. Answering phone call is a breeze and can be done by tapping its sleeve. You won’t even need to look at your phone screen to read incoming messages as the jacket will be able to read them for you via the earphones.

And the best part is that you can customize the jackets smart features with gestures that you choose. Using Google’s Jacquard app, you can assign what action can access which type of function such as reading messages, pausing and playing your music or asking for directions.

But of course, you can’t really expect the high-tech features on a cool denim jacket to come cheap. The Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google sells for $350, which is quite steep for denim. And even if you have the cash now, getting one might be a bit of a problem depending on your location. The Commuter Trucker jacket is only available at select Levi’s stores starting September 27, 2017, before it hits online stores on October 2.

For Android users, the Commuter Trucker jacket is compatible with phones running Android  6.01 or newer versions. For Apple users, the jacket works with an iPhone 6 or later models as long as the device is running on iOS 10 or iOS 11.

[Featured Image via YouTube]

The post Google, Levis Strauss Collaborate to Release New High-Tech Denim Jacket [VIDEO] appeared first on WebProNews.

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Mozilla's Firefox Quantum Aims to Dethrone Google Chrome as Fastest Internet Browser

Google Chrome, the leading U.S. browser at the moment, is about to face some serious competition up ahead. Mozilla just unveiled an improved version of its browser called the Firefox Quantum touted to be drastically faster than its predecessor and offering browsing speeds said to even surpass that of Chrome.

During the late 2000’s, Mozilla Firefox had one of the fastest user growth among Internet browsers according to Forbes. Unfortunately, the browser’s growth lost steam and is now lagging behind rivals Google Chrome and Apple Safari. Chrome is currently leading the pack in the U.S. with a market share of 44.5 percent followed by Safari at 25.4 percent. Firefox, in the meantime, only managed to secure a 7.4 percent share.

Firefox Quantum—now in Beta!—is twice as fast as Firefox was just a year ago. https://t.co/fosfCaMyne

— Firefox 🦊 (@firefox) September 26, 2017

However, Mozilla is betting big that it just might be able to reclaim some its lost market share with the introduction of a souped-up browser, the Firefox Quantum. One of the most attractive features of the upcoming browser that just might earn it new followers is its browsing speed. Set to debut by November this year, Mozilla says that it is superfast – twice as fast than the current version and is even faster than the number 1 Chrome. And the best part is that, according to Mozilla, the Firefox Quantum uses 30 percent less RAM when compared to Chrome.

At the moment though, there is no third party data available yet to back up Mozilla’s claim. The claim is supported by data obtained using Mozilla’s own open-source benchmarking tool Speedometer 2.0.

But Mozilla insists it’s not just about speed. The upcoming Firefox Quantum will also come with an improved user interface which will ditch the curved tab design of the current browser. In addition, Quantum is said to be optimized to take advantage of modern high-res displays.

Quantum will also be able to differentiate tabs and can influence the download speeds to a certain degree. Tabs that are currently active will download faster than tabs running in the background.

The #Firefox Quantum interface redesign is called Photon. Its design system site is also now in Beta. Have a look!https://t.co/1pvq9JCLt5 pic.twitter.com/sj9H0o43AH

— Madhava Enros (@madhava) September 27, 2017

Firefox Quantum will also incorporate features of Pocket, a popular news and article reader app which Mozilla acquired in February of this year. When users open new tabs, a list of trending pages currently being read by Pocket users will appear as suggestions.

While Mozilla has already set Firefox Quantum launch date this coming November 14, users can already use its beta version for Android, iOS, and desktop. The test version is available to enable users to discover bugs before it is released.

[Featured Image via Mozilla]

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Twitter Doubles Its Character Limit for Select Languages

Twitter is about to address one issue that has annoyed users of the social media platform for the longest time – its restrictive 140-character limit per tweet. On Tuesday, the company finally announced that it is now doubling the character limit per tweet from 140 to 280 characters.

However, the expansion to the new 280-character limit will not be applicable to all languages supported by the platform. The new cap will be imposed on select languages such as English, French, Portuguese and Spanish but the 140-character limit will still be used for other languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean according to Tech Crunch.

Apparently, some languages like Japanese, for instance, only require fewer words to express the same amount of information as compared to other languages such as English. According to company data, 9 percent of English tweets reached the 140-character mark while only a minuscule 0.4 percent of Japanese tweets were observed to reach the threshold, Business Insider reported. In addition, most English tweets have 34 characters compared to the 15-character tweets common for Japanese users.

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔

We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

At the moment though, only a handful of users will benefit the expansion to a 280-character limit. The new cap is still being tested for a select minority of users but a platform-wide implementation is already being planned.

The 140-character limit tweet is a rather touchy issue for Twitter. For some users, the limit is seen as the perfect length for Twitter where brevity is the hallmark. In fact, users protested when rumors surfaced in 2016 saying that Twitter planned on allowing users to make lengthy, multi-paragraphs tweets. CEO Jack Dorsey had to deny the rumor in response and reiterate that the 140-character cap is here to stay saying, ““It’s a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment brevity.”

In Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, 140 characters for Twitter is plenty, thank you https://t.co/MwT9o3AbGH

— Quartz (@qz) September 27, 2017

However, Twitter has now acknowledged that for a majority of its users, the 140-character limit could sometimes become an issue. In a blog post, Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen revealed: “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.”

Hence, the company decided to expand the limit so that users don’t have to cram their thoughts into a 140-character prose. Aside from giving them more room to express their ideas, the new 280-character limit is deemed the perfect restriction to compel them to make posts that are as concise as possible; the perfect balance between brevity and room for expression.

[Featured Image via Pixabay]

The post Twitter Doubles Its Character Limit for Select Languages appeared first on WebProNews.

from
https://www.webpronews.com/twitter-doubles-character-limit-select-languages-2017-09/

Target Partners With Pinterest, Find Products by Taking a Photo

Searching for products being offered on Target will soon be as easy as taking a photo on your mobile phone. In a recent announcement, Pinterest revealed that it teamed up with Target allowing the retailer to use the former’s visual search called Lens.

The deal aims to harness the power of Pinterest’s visual search tool by shortening the buying cycle and catching potential shoppers at their moment of discovery. If something catches a potential buyer’s eyes, like an article of clothing, for instance, the buyer can just snap a picture of the clothes and, with the Lens technology, the system will display similarly styled clothes being sold at Target.

.@Target + @Pinterest are teaming up to make finding the perfect product as simple as taking a pic. Get the details: https://t.co/7jrSO1yRSv pic.twitter.com/UO8WdSKPWm

— Target News (@TargetNews) September 25, 2017

As part of the deal, Target has committed to increasing its ad spending on Pinterest in exchange for gaining access to the Lens technology, Marketing Land reported. However, it was not disclosed just how much ad spending Target will be shelling out for this commitment.

There are speculations that Target and Pinterest might enter into some form of ad revenue sharing scheme in the future where they can sell ads to businesses that want their products to be featured prominently in the Lens search results. While indeed a possibility, a Pinterest spokesperson explained that such partnership is not yet being considered at the moment.

The companies are trying to position themselves on the rising trend of using images and voice to search the web instead of typing the actual phrase. If this trend continues, estimates project that by 2020, 50 percent of internet searches will be done using images and voice.

The deal could encourage consumers to buy from Target. Even if the actual product being photographed is not sold by Target, the search result generated by Lens will only show similar products being sold by the retailer.

Pinterest has been sinking serious money into its image search technology program. It allocated a large chunk out of the $120 million it got from the latest round of funding for r&d. This resulted into the redesigned Lens which introduced new useful features into the image search tool such as zoom, focusing ability by tapping and a search option for previously taken photos saved to the Camera Roll.

Target will initially plug Pinterest’s Lens tool into its Target Registry mobile app. However, there are plans that the image search tool will eventually be integrated into the main Target mobile app as well its desktop counterpart sometime in the future.

[Featured Image via Pinterest]

The post Target Partners With Pinterest, Find Products by Taking a Photo appeared first on WebProNews.

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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October

The U.S. telecommunications landscape is about to drastically change once more. If rumors are correct, Sprint and T-Mobile, two of the country’s largest telecommunications players could merge by October this year.

Of course, talks of T-Mobile merging with Sprint have been around for years. This time, however, it looks like there’s more meat to it than mere idle speculation. According to Reuters, T-Mobile, the U.S.’ third largest carrier, is on the brink of agreeing to a merger with the country’s fourth-largest carrier, Sprint, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.

Timing is important in mega-merger deals. Previously, plans of a merger between the two telecom giants fell through when it became apparent that the Obama administration’s anti-trust stance would object to the deal. With the Trump administration, however, a T-Mobile-Sprint merger could push through and deal makers are not likely to let this window of opportunity pass by, according to Engadget.

#Sprint and #TMobile could #merge in late October https://t.co/al5Azjlmot

— Live Tech Direct (@LiveTechDirect) September 25, 2017

At the moment, neither Sprint nor T-Mobile has officially commented on the leaked merger plans. However, company officials from both camps have already given previous hints of such agreement.

For instance, T-Mobile CEO John Legere gave indications last January that the company is open to a possible merger in the near future saying, "It may make sense from a scale standpoint." On the other hand, Sprint CEO and President Marcelo Claure hinted that it would make announcements about merger discussions in the near future.

Should the transaction push through, Japan’s SoftBank Group will end up controlling between 40 to 50 percent of the merged entity while German firm Deutsche Telekom and the rest of T-Mobile shareholder will own the majority of shares. SoftBank controls Sprint while Deutsche Telekom owns a majority of T-Mobile.

The combined entity will likewise become the second biggest telecom player on the block. Combining T-Mobile’s 69.6 million subscribers with Sprint’s 53.7 million will create a telecom titan with 123.3 million subscribers, enough to overshadow Verizon’s 114.5 million (the current number 2) and placing it firmly behind AT&T’s 135.7 million.

Aside from the advantage of scale, a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint could also improve the combined entity’s bottom line. According to research firm MoffetNathanson partner and senior analyst Craig Moffett, a merger could mean as much as $4 billion in savings due to cost-cutting opportunities. The combined entity could then invest those savings in areas like 5G which is critical if it wants to maintain an edge over rivals in technology.

[Featured Image via Youtube]

The post Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October appeared first on WebProNews.

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Facebook’s Algorithm: 3 Must-Know Changes

Facebook is always tinkering with its algorithms and it can be challenging to keep track of everything. This summer, Facebook’s key updates included demoting spammers, screening out fake news, testing AI with a personal assistant “M,” as well as bringing emojis and new filters to Facebook Messenger.

The name of the game for Facebook advertising is quickly becoming Facebook Messenger. As Facebook’s newsfeed becomes more and more saturated with content, the platform will be expanding its options for how to reach your customers. It will deprioritize slow-loading pages and is giving you the tools to compete with deeper insights into your fans, non-fans, and closest followers.

In this blog, you’ll find the three things you need to know about the recent changes to Facebook’s algorithm.

1. Messenger Ads are now Available Worldwide

Initially tested in Australia and Thailand, brands can now reach Facebook users (all 2.01 billion of them!) directly through their Facebook messenger app. These ads will appear in a user’s inbox, according to Facebook, based on “how many threads a user has, the size of their phone’s physical screen and the pixel density of the display.” Messenger ads come with a “sponsored” label in the home tab of the Messenger app. They are formatted to look like a typical newsfeed ad, including the headline, copy, image, and calls to action. Users can then click through to any website or destination you select when setting up the promotion. If you’re on the receiving side of a Messenger ad, there’s no way to permanently turn off ads, but a user can tap the downward arrow in the bottom right of an ad and see options to report or hide it.

This has big implications for marketers looking to expand to a global audience. Start to think through your customer segmentation strategy. Be willing to branch out from your traditional Facebook strategy and beat the crowds sure to flock to this new tool in due time.

See Powerful New Ad Metrics and Page Insights

Facebook has unveiled some new, deep, and robust marketing analytics that will have big implications for your marketing strategy. Besides making your analytics page easier to read and digest, Facebook has some hot new data, fresh off the presses.

First, Facebook will break down reach between fans and non-fans. Now, you can see who shares your posts the most. Why is this important? With this information, you can measure the value of your current fans. If you’re getting more traction with non-fans, this should help you adjust your sales strategy: it’s possible that your so-called “fans” aren’t evangelists. How can you activate them to advocate on your behalf? If your non-fans are IRL ( in real life) your biggest fans, what can you do to entice them to convert as customers?

Next, Facebook is giving you a window into when your fans are online. Yes, there are plenty of tools that tell you your optimal posting time (and often these tools contradict themselves). Now, you can gauge optimal times for your page yourself. Using historical data, you can see the average amount of fans who saw posts in an hour on any given day, as well as the average number of people who saw any posts on Facebook at that hour.

Last but not least, Facebook has finally included official statistics for engagement rate with statuses, photos, videos, or links. Refine what content works best for your brand, and get the most lift from optimum posting times. Paired with your engagement platform and CRM system, your sales funnel has never looked brighter.  

Newsfeed Prioritizes Fast-Loading Web Pages

This summer, Facebook’s Newsfeed article has started to give a boost to faster loading web pages—and punish sites with long load times. What does this mean for marketers? It’s not enough to have the right image, compelling copy, and a smart targeting strategy. If you’re trying to funnel an audience to a sign-up page or to learn more about your product, your website must be optimized.

How does Facebook determine if the speed of a page is too slow? The algorithm will factor in the estimated load time of a web page when someone clicks a link on the Facebook mobile app, versus desktop. It will also account for the user’s current network speed and the general speed of the web page off of the Facebook platform. If a link loads more quickly, a post including that link will get a higher position in your newsfeed.

In part, this strategy is an effort to push marketers to use Facebook’s Instant Articles tool. Instant Articles launched in 2015 as a new way for publishers to optimize their content so readers can access it instantly. Instant Articles do link back to an article or website, but in terms of referral traffic, those who view your content as an instant article won’t actually visit your website—and you’ll lose track of how much impact Facebook has.

However, it seems like Instant Articles are here to stay. In the US and Canada, Facebook users click and read over 25% more than the mobile web version of that same article. Stats get even higher in Asia and the rest of the world. If you want your content to compete, make sure your web page is optimized to load quickly and rank highly.

What changes will impact your brand the most? What adaptations will you make to your social strategy? I’d love to hear what you’re doing in the comments!

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Google, Levis Strauss Collaborate to Release New High-Tech Denim Jacket [VIDEO]

After months of waiting, Levi Strauss finally unveiled its high-tech denim jacket which was made in collaboration with search giant Google. Dubbed the Commuter Trucker, the high-tech gear will be available on Monday of next week via the clothing brand’s online store Levi.com.

Levi’s Commuter Jacket was created in a partnership with Project Jacquard, a part of Google Advanced Technology and Products group. The jacket is aimed at cyclists or even motorists who want to be connected even while commuting, Gizbot reported. Thus, wearers of the high-tech jacket can access its cool features by touch or simple gestures.

Α jacket with a touchpad? Well done @Google and @LEVIS ! #TechNews https://t.co/y1MR009zMY

— Thanos Sklav (@TNS_Sklav) September 25, 2017

According to Levi’s, it will not be necessary to take out your smartphone to access some of its features. The Commuter Jacket‘s sleeve is equipped with Google’s touch and gesture interactivity. A simple brush or tapping on the sleeve will let you connect to your friends, music, and useful navigation tools.

For instance, you can use the jacket to give you directions while navigating certain areas in your city that may be unfamiliar to you. If you have pre-programmed your destination, you can also access the Commuter Trucker jacket to give your estimated time of arrival. Of course, you'll need to have earphones to be able to hear the jacket’s audio response as well as a cell phone for connectivity.

Communication is a lot easier if you are wearing Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket. Answering phone call is a breeze and can be done by tapping its sleeve. You won’t need to take out your phone to read incoming messages as the jacket will be able to read them for you via the earphones.

And the best part is that you can customize the jackets smart features with gestures that you choose. Using Google’s Jacquard app, you can assign what action can access which type of function such as reading messages, pausing and playing your music or asking for directions.

But of course, you can’t really expect the high-tech features on a cool denim jacket to come cheap. The Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google sells for $350, which is quite steep for denim. And even if you have the cash now, getting one might be a bit of a problem depending on your location. The Commuter Trucker jacket is only available at select Levi’s stores starting September 27, 2017, before it hits online stores on October 2.

For Android users, the Commuter Trucker jacket is compatible with phones running Android  6.01 or newer versions. For Apple users, the jacket works with an iPhone 6 or later models as long as the device is running on iOS 10 or iOS 11.

[Featured Image via YouTube]

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Mozilla's Firefox Quantum Aims to Dethrone Google Chrome as Fastest Internet Browser

Google Chrome, the leading U.S. browser at the moment, is about to face some serious competition up ahead. Mozilla just unveiled an improved version of its browser called the Firefox Quantum touted to be drastically faster than its predecessor and offering browsing speeds said to even surpass that of Chrome.

During the late 2000’s, Mozilla Firefox had one of the fastest user growth among Internet browsers according to Forbes. Unfortunately, the browser’s growth lost steam and is now lagging behind rivals Google Chrome and Apple Safari. Chrome is currently leading the pack in the U.S. with a market share of 44.5 percent followed by Safari at 25.4 percent. Firefox, in the meantime, only managed to secure a 7.4 percent share.

Firefox Quantum—now in Beta!—is twice as fast as Firefox was just a year ago. https://t.co/fosfCaMyne

— Firefox 🦊 (@firefox) September 26, 2017

However, Mozilla is betting big that it just might be able to reclaim some its lost market share with the introduction of a souped-up browser, the Firefox Quantum. One of the most attractive features of the upcoming browser that just might earn it new followers is its browsing speed. Set to debut by November this year, Mozilla says that it is superfast – twice as fast than the current version and is even faster than the number 1 Chrome. And the best part is that, according to Mozilla, the Firefox Quantum uses 30 percent less RAM when compared to Chrome.

At the moment though, there is no third party data available yet to back up Mozilla’s claim. The claim is supported by data obtained using Mozilla’s own open-source benchmarking tool Speedometer 2.0.

But Mozilla insists it’s not just about speed. The upcoming Firefox Quantum will also come with an improved user interface which will ditch the curved tab design of the current browser. In addition, Quantum is said to be optimized to take advantage of modern high-res displays.

Quantum will also be able to differentiate tabs and can influence the download speeds to a certain degree. Tabs that are currently active will download faster than tabs running in the background.

The #Firefox Quantum interface redesign is called Photon. Its design system site is also now in Beta. Have a look!https://t.co/1pvq9JCLt5 pic.twitter.com/sj9H0o43AH

— Madhava Enros (@madhava) September 27, 2017

Firefox Quantum will also incorporate features of Pocket, a popular news and article reader app which Mozilla acquired in February of this year. When users open new tabs, a list of trending pages currently being read by Pocket users will appear as suggestions.

While Mozilla has already set Firefox Quantum launch date this coming November 14, users can already use its beta version for Android, iOS, and desktop. The test version is available to enable users to discover bugs before it is released.

[Featured Image via Mozilla]

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Twitter Doubles Its Character Limit for Select Languages

Twitter is about to address one issue that has annoyed users of the social media platform for the longest time – its restrictive 140-character limit per tweet. On Tuesday, the company finally announced that it is now doubling the character limit per tweet from 140 to 280 characters.

However, the expansion to the new 280-character limit will not be applicable to all languages supported by the platform. The new cap will be imposed on select languages such as English, French, Portuguese and Spanish but the 140-character limit will still be used for other languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean according to Tech Crunch.

Apparently, some languages like Japanese, for instance, only require fewer words to express the same amount of information as compared to other languages such as English. According to company data, 9 percent of English tweets reached the 140-character mark while only a minuscule 0.4 percent of Japanese tweets were observed to reach the threshold, Business Insider reported. In addition, most English tweets have 34 characters compared to the 15-character tweets common for Japanese users.

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔

We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

At the moment though, only a handful of users will benefit the expansion to a 280-character limit. The new cap is still being tested for a select minority of users but a platform-wide implementation is already being planned.

The 140-character limit tweet is a rather touchy issue for Twitter. For some users, the limit is seen as the perfect length for Twitter where brevity is the hallmark. In fact, users protested when rumors surfaced in 2016 saying that Twitter planned on allowing users to make lengthy, multi-paragraphs tweets. CEO Jack Dorsey had to deny the rumor in response and reiterate that the 140-character cap is here to stay saying, ““It’s a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment brevity.”

In Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, 140 characters for Twitter is plenty, thank you https://t.co/MwT9o3AbGH

— Quartz (@qz) September 27, 2017

However, Twitter has now acknowledged that for a majority of its users, the 140-character limit could sometimes become an issue. In a blog post, Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen revealed: “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.”

Hence, the company decided to expand the limit so that users don’t have to cram their thoughts into a 140-character prose. Aside from giving them more room to express their ideas, the new 280-character limit is deemed the perfect restriction to compel them to make posts that are as concise as possible; the perfect balance between brevity and room for expression.

[Featured Image via Pixabay]

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Target Partners With Pinterest, Find Products by Taking a Photo

Searching for products being offered on Target will soon be as easy as taking a photo on your mobile phone. In a recent announcement, Pinterest revealed that it teamed up with Target allowing the retailer to use the former’s visual search called Lens.

The deal aims to harness the power of Pinterest’s visual search tool by shortening the buying cycle and catching potential shoppers at their moment of discovery. If something catches a potential buyer’s eyes, like an article of clothing, for instance, the buyer can just snap a picture of the clothes and, with the Lens technology, the system will display similarly styled clothes being sold at Target.

.@Target + @Pinterest are teaming up to make finding the perfect product as simple as taking a pic. Get the details: https://t.co/7jrSO1yRSv pic.twitter.com/UO8WdSKPWm

— Target News (@TargetNews) September 25, 2017

As part of the deal, Target has committed to increasing its ad spending on Pinterest in exchange for gaining access to the Lens technology, Marketing Land reported. However, it was not disclosed just how much ad spending Target will be shelling out for this commitment.

There are speculations that Target and Pinterest might enter into some form of ad revenue sharing scheme in the future where they can sell ads to businesses that want their products to be featured prominently in the Lens search results. While indeed a possibility, a Pinterest spokesperson explained that such partnership is not yet being considered at the moment.

The companies are trying to position themselves on the rising trend of using images and voice to search the web instead of typing the actual phrase. If this trend continues, estimates project that by 2020, 50 percent of internet searches will be done using images and voice.

The deal could encourage consumers to buy from Target. Even if the actual product being photographed is not sold by Target, the search result generated by Lens will only show similar products being sold by the retailer.

Pinterest has been sinking serious money into its image search technology program. It allocated a large chunk out of the $120 million it got from the latest round of funding for r&d. This resulted into the redesigned Lens which introduced new useful features into the image search tool such as zoom, focusing ability by tapping and a search option for previously taken photos saved to the Camera Roll.

Target will initially plug Pinterest’s Lens tool into its Target Registry mobile app. However, there are plans that the image search tool will eventually be integrated into the main Target mobile app as well its desktop counterpart sometime in the future.

[Featured Image via Pinterest]

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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October

The U.S. telecommunications landscape is about to drastically change once more. If rumors are correct, Sprint and T-Mobile, two of the country’s largest telecommunications players could merge by October this year.

Of course, talks of T-Mobile merging with Sprint have been around for years. This time, however, it looks like there’s more meat to it than mere idle speculation. According to Reuters, T-Mobile, the U.S.’ third largest carrier, is on the brink of agreeing to a merger with the country’s fourth-largest carrier, Sprint, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.

Timing is important in mega-merger deals. Previously, plans of a merger between the two telecom giants fell through when it became apparent that the Obama administration’s anti-trust stance would object to the deal. With the Trump administration, however, a T-Mobile-Sprint merger could push through and deal makers are not likely to let this window of opportunity pass by, according to Engadget.

#Sprint and #TMobile could #merge in late October https://t.co/al5Azjlmot

— Live Tech Direct (@LiveTechDirect) September 25, 2017

At the moment, neither Sprint nor T-Mobile has officially commented on the leaked merger plans. However, company officials from both camps have already given previous hints of such agreement.

For instance, T-Mobile CEO John Legere gave indications last January that the company is open to a possible merger in the near future saying, "It may make sense from a scale standpoint." On the other hand, Sprint CEO and President Marcelo Claure hinted that it would make announcements about merger discussions in the near future.

Should the transaction push through, Japan’s SoftBank Group will end up controlling between 40 to 50 percent of the merged entity while German firm Deutsche Telekom and the rest of T-Mobile shareholder will own the majority of shares. SoftBank controls Sprint while Deutsche Telekom owns a majority of T-Mobile.

The combined entity will likewise become the second biggest telecom player on the block. Combining T-Mobile’s 69.6 million subscribers with Sprint’s 53.7 million will create a telecom titan with 123.3 million subscribers, enough to overshadow Verizon’s 114.5 million (the current number 2) and placing it firmly behind AT&T’s 135.7 million.

Aside from the advantage of scale, a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint could also improve the combined entity’s bottom line. According to research firm MoffetNathanson partner and senior analyst Craig Moffett, a merger could mean as much as $4 billion in savings due to cost-cutting opportunities. The combined entity could then invest those savings in areas like 5G which is critical if it wants to maintain an edge over rivals in technology.

[Featured Image via Youtube]

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Google and HTC Team Up to Challenge Apple's iPhone

It looks like Google is bent on diversifying its businesses as it moves further into hardware. In fact, its latest billion dollar deal suggests the company is determined to stake its claim in the smartphone market which inevitably puts it on the warpath with Apple's iPhone.

Google’s intention to join the hardware fray could not get any clearer. On Wednesday, the tech giant announced that it has entered into a $1.1 billion arrangement with Taiwan’s HTC, a deal which will effectively let Google hire a sizable part of HTC’s engineering team, tapping into their hardware expertise.

What does $1.1 billion get you? Intellectual property and a team of HTC engineers https://t.co/TxSzzLgplB

— WIRED (@WIRED) September 21, 2017

While it was not stated just how many HTC engineers will now be working for Google, HTC chief financial officer Peter Shen revealed that the company’s research and design team will now be reduced to just 2,000, down from the 4,000 manpower complement before the deal. However, the deal won’t likely hurt HTC’s operations as the estimated 2,000 employees affected by the deal were already working on Google’s Pixel smartphones, which were manufactured by HTC.

The latest move is in line with Google’s push to make it big in the smartphone and gadgets segment. In 2016, the company hired ex-Motorola chief Rick Osterloh to helm its new hardware division. A few months later Google announced the arrival of Pixel devices which were made with the help of HTC.

But with half of HTC’s engineers at its beck and call, Google’s bid to be among the top hardware players has become very serious. Effectively, the arrangement will allow the company to manufacture its own range of devices, which could make it serious competition for rivals Apple and Samsung.

Google sets its sights on the iPhone with HTC deal https://t.co/WGl0c6WdP3 pic.twitter.com/csERV22qZo

— The Verge (@verge) September 21, 2017

But the potential rift between Apple and Google is expected to go beyond mere smartphone sales figures. According to The Verge, Apple is actually in the way of Google’s ambition to be on every device connected to the internet.

As everyone knows, Apple has its own set of apps and software that has allowed it to remain independent of Google. Aside from running on its own operating system, it has its own Apple App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and its own smartphone, the iPhone line. In addition, Apple’s personal assistant Siri searches the web using Bing rather the Google search engine.

And that is where Google would likely make its attack. By making its own suite of devices that ran only in Android, consumers will have no choice but to shun Apple applications. But to dislodging the well-entrenched Apple, with its horde of loyal customers, will not be a walk in the park for Google and would depend largely on whether or not its upcoming gadgets will outshine the iconic iPhone.

[Featured Image by YouTube]

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Mozilla's Firefox Quantum Aims to Dethrone Google Chrome as Fastest Internet Browser

Google Chrome, the leading U.S. browser at the moment, is about to face some serious competition up ahead. Mozilla just unveiled an improved version of its browser called the Firefox Quantum touted to be drastically faster than its predecessor and offering browsing speeds said to even surpass that of Chrome.

During the late 2000’s, Mozilla Firefox had one of the fastest user growth among Internet browsers according to Forbes. Unfortunately, the browser’s growth lost steam and is now lagging behind rivals Google Chrome and Apple Safari. Chrome is currently leading the pack in the U.S. with a market share of 44.5 percent followed by Safari at 25.4 percent. Firefox, in the meantime, only managed to secure a 7.4 percent share.

Firefox Quantum—now in Beta!—is twice as fast as Firefox was just a year ago. https://t.co/fosfCaMyne

— Firefox 🦊 (@firefox) September 26, 2017

However, Mozilla is betting big that it just might be able to reclaim some its lost market share with the introduction of a souped-up browser, the Firefox Quantum. One of the most attractive features of the upcoming browser that just might earn it new followers is its browsing speed. Set to debut by November this year, Mozilla says that it is superfast – twice as fast than the current version and is even faster than the number 1 Chrome. And the best part is that, according to Mozilla, the Firefox Quantum uses 30 percent less RAM when compared to Chrome.

At the moment though, there is no third party data available yet to back up Mozilla’s claim. The claim is supported by data obtained using Mozilla’s own open-source benchmarking tool Speedometer 2.0.

But Mozilla insists it’s not just about speed. The upcoming Firefox Quantum will also come with an improved user interface which will ditch the curved tab design of the current browser. In addition, Quantum is said to be optimized to take advantage of modern high-res displays.

Quantum will also be able to differentiate tabs and can influence the download speeds to a certain degree. Tabs that are currently active will download faster than tabs running in the background.

The #Firefox Quantum interface redesign is called Photon. Its design system site is also now in Beta. Have a look!https://t.co/1pvq9JCLt5 pic.twitter.com/sj9H0o43AH

— Madhava Enros (@madhava) September 27, 2017

Firefox Quantum will also incorporate features of Pocket, a popular news and article reader app which Mozilla acquired in February of this year. When users open new tabs, a list of trending pages currently being read by Pocket users will appear as suggestions.

While Mozilla has already set Firefox Quantum launch date this coming November 14, users can already use its beta version for Android, iOS, and desktop. The test version is available to enable users to discover bugs before it is released.

[Featured Image via Mozilla]

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Twitter Doubles Its Character Limit for Select Languages

Twitter is about to address one issue that has annoyed users of the social media platform for the longest time – its restrictive 140-character limit per tweet. On Tuesday, the company finally announced that it is now doubling the character limit per tweet from 140 to 280 characters.

However, the expansion to the new 280-character limit will not be applicable to all languages supported by the platform. The new cap will be imposed on select languages such as English, French, Portuguese and Spanish but the 140-character limit will still be used for other languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean according to Tech Crunch.

Apparently, some languages like Japanese, for instance, only require fewer words to express the same amount of information as compared to other languages such as English. According to company data, 9 percent of English tweets reached the 140-character mark while only a minuscule 0.4 percent of Japanese tweets were observed to reach the threshold, Business Insider reported. In addition, most English tweets have 34 characters compared to the 15-character tweets common for Japanese users.

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔

We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

At the moment though, only a handful of users will benefit the expansion to a 280-character limit. The new cap is still being tested for a select minority of users but a platform-wide implementation is already being planned.

The 140-character limit tweet is a rather touchy issue for Twitter. For some users, the limit is seen as the perfect length for Twitter where brevity is the hallmark. In fact, users protested when rumors surfaced in 2016 saying that Twitter planned on allowing users to make lengthy, multi-paragraphs tweets. CEO Jack Dorsey had to deny the rumor in response and reiterate that the 140-character cap is here to stay saying, ““It’s a good constraint for us and it allows for of-the-moment brevity.”

In Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, 140 characters for Twitter is plenty, thank you https://t.co/MwT9o3AbGH

— Quartz (@qz) September 27, 2017

However, Twitter has now acknowledged that for a majority of its users, the 140-character limit could sometimes become an issue. In a blog post, Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen revealed: “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.”

Hence, the company decided to expand the limit so that users don’t have to cram their thoughts into a 140-character prose. Aside from giving them more room to express their ideas, the new 280-character limit is deemed the perfect restriction to compel them to make posts that are as concise as possible; the perfect balance between brevity and room for expression.

[Featured Image via Pixabay]

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Target Partners With Pinterest, Find Products by Taking a Photo

Searching for products being offered on Target will soon be as easy as taking a photo on your mobile phone. In a recent announcement, Pinterest revealed that it teamed up with Target allowing the retailer to use the former’s visual search called Lens.

The deal aims to harness the power of Pinterest’s visual search tool by shortening the buying cycle and catching potential shoppers at their moment of discovery. If something catches a potential buyer’s eyes, like an article of clothing, for instance, the buyer can just snap a picture of the clothes and, with the Lens technology, the system will display similarly styled clothes being sold at Target.

.@Target + @Pinterest are teaming up to make finding the perfect product as simple as taking a pic. Get the details: https://t.co/7jrSO1yRSv pic.twitter.com/UO8WdSKPWm

— Target News (@TargetNews) September 25, 2017

As part of the deal, Target has committed to increasing its ad spending on Pinterest in exchange for gaining access to the Lens technology, Marketing Land reported. However, it was not disclosed just how much ad spending Target will be shelling out for this commitment.

There are speculations that Target and Pinterest might enter into some form of ad revenue sharing scheme in the future where they can sell ads to businesses that want their products to be featured prominently in the Lens search results. While indeed a possibility, a Pinterest spokesperson explained that such partnership is not yet being considered at the moment.

The companies are trying to position themselves on the rising trend of using images and voice to search the web instead of typing the actual phrase. If this trend continues, estimates project that by 2020, 50 percent of internet searches will be done using images and voice.

The deal could encourage consumers to buy from Target. Even if the actual product being photographed is not sold by Target, the search result generated by Lens will only show similar products being sold by the retailer.

Pinterest has been sinking serious money into its image search technology program. It allocated a large chunk out of the $120 million it got from the latest round of funding for r&d. This resulted into the redesigned Lens which introduced new useful features into the image search tool such as zoom, focusing ability by tapping and a search option for previously taken photos saved to the Camera Roll.

Target will initially plug Pinterest’s Lens tool into its Target Registry mobile app. However, there are plans that the image search tool will eventually be integrated into the main Target mobile app as well its desktop counterpart sometime in the future.

[Featured Image via Pinterest]

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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October

The U.S. telecommunications landscape is about to drastically change once more. If rumors are correct, Sprint and T-Mobile, two of the country’s largest telecommunications players could merge by October this year.

Of course, talks of T-Mobile merging with Sprint have been around for years. This time, however, it looks like there’s more meat to it than mere idle speculation. According to Reuters, T-Mobile, the U.S.’ third largest carrier, is on the brink of agreeing to a merger with the country’s fourth-largest carrier, Sprint, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.

Timing is important in mega-merger deals. Previously, plans of a merger between the two telecom giants fell through when it became apparent that the Obama administration’s anti-trust stance would object to the deal. With the Trump administration, however, a T-Mobile-Sprint merger could push through and deal makers are not likely to let this window of opportunity pass by, according to Engadget.

#Sprint and #TMobile could #merge in late October https://t.co/al5Azjlmot

— Live Tech Direct (@LiveTechDirect) September 25, 2017

At the moment, neither Sprint nor T-Mobile has officially commented on the leaked merger plans. However, company officials from both camps have already given previous hints of such agreement.

For instance, T-Mobile CEO John Legere gave indications last January that the company is open to a possible merger in the near future saying, "It may make sense from a scale standpoint." On the other hand, Sprint CEO and President Marcelo Claure hinted that it would make announcements about merger discussions in the near future.

Should the transaction push through, Japan’s SoftBank Group will end up controlling between 40 to 50 percent of the merged entity while German firm Deutsche Telekom and the rest of T-Mobile shareholder will own the majority of shares. SoftBank controls Sprint while Deutsche Telekom owns a majority of T-Mobile.

The combined entity will likewise become the second biggest telecom player on the block. Combining T-Mobile’s 69.6 million subscribers with Sprint’s 53.7 million will create a telecom titan with 123.3 million subscribers, enough to overshadow Verizon’s 114.5 million (the current number 2) and placing it firmly behind AT&T’s 135.7 million.

Aside from the advantage of scale, a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint could also improve the combined entity’s bottom line. According to research firm MoffetNathanson partner and senior analyst Craig Moffett, a merger could mean as much as $4 billion in savings due to cost-cutting opportunities. The combined entity could then invest those savings in areas like 5G which is critical if it wants to maintain an edge over rivals in technology.

[Featured Image via Youtube]

The post Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Happen in October appeared first on WebProNews.

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