Verizon CEO: 5G Wireless Revolution to the Home Launches in 4 Cities and a Rollout to the Masses is Next

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg says that 5G wireless to the home is "a revolution" while announcing the first active 5G in homes in the world. Two weeks ago Verizon started taking orders in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento and the response has been massive.

Fast wireless to the home has long been a goal of Verizon that is likely to spur on cable cutters since OTT programming is readily available and consumers won't need to buy internet from the cable companies.

Vesterberg also says that they are in talks with many enterprise companies regarding their use of 5G which could truly make the IoT come to life.

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg made discussed the 5G rollout on Bloomberg:

Verizon Launches 5G to the Home in 4 Cities

Verizon has worked for a long time with 5G and there are many use cases. The first use case is active 5G in the home. Instead of having fiber to the home we’ll have wireless to the home. It’s just a revolution as to what you can do with wireless. We announced 5G two weeks ago that you can order it and today we are going to make the first customers in the world, in the four cities, get 5G in the home. It’s an exciting time for us.

Many things are happening in 5G. We are doing home, there’s definitely going to be a lot of enterprise solutions, IoT and all of that. Of course, we as consumers are going to get the 5G in smartphones in 2019 which is going to be a totally new experience.

5G in the Home Reduces Latency

There are so many facets of 5G compared to 3G and 4G where basically throughput and speed were the only two things you could trade on. There are so many more things you can do with it including reducing latency. That’s why we started 5G with the home because we think that is a totally new market for us where we can address our customers.

We’ve had a massive interest but we do this limited, there are only four cities, but I can tell you there are so many people coming in and checking if their zip code is included, so we are starting it a little bit small and when we have established a global standard of 5G we want to roll it out to the masses throughout the country.

Enterprise Use of 5G is Very Important.

Enterprise is very important and of course, when it comes to 5G you can think about the real-time enterprise, you can take away all of the cords. We’re already talking to many enterprises and what use cases they see from 5G.

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Aeva Takes Autonomous Driving Sensors to a New Level

Aeva is a new startup founded in the backyard of Google's Mountain View, California headquarters. Co-founders Soroush Salehian and Mina Rezk, who both previously worked on the super secret self-driving car project at Apple called Titan, have announced their first product.

The product is a data collecting box that car manufacturers or third parties such as Uber can attach to cars to capture data to inform autonomous driving systems to make them safer. They say that the Aeva box is “part of the autonomous stack” that can easily be dropped into vehicles.

Soroush Salehian, co-founder of Aeva discussed his companies Aeva box with CNBC:

Aeva is for automobile car manufacturers or companies that are developing ride share autonomous taxis. We are providing this as part of the autonomous stack so that these customers can actually integrate this just like a drop in a placement into their vehicles as they develop their mass production vehicles.

The beauty of this system is that we directly measure the velocity map. We do not take multiple frames to infer each measurement.

When you typically see these kinds of sensors around the vehicles you typically see them with different kinds of boxes. You see maybe one box that is maybe the sensor head or the just a sensing system and then others that is the compute system. They're usually connected together and typically these boxes are hidden away in a trunk or something like this.

One of the unique things about technologies and the work that we've done in the past couple of years is that we have been able to integrate this system into this single compact package while it provides still all the capabilities of these different sensors and outputs into one box.

Mina Rezk, Aeva’s other co-founder describes how the system takes data:

We have our depth map in which the color represents the depth of objects of every of pixel on here. Then we have our reflectivity map in which every pixel represents the reflectivity of each object. We also have our own unique velocity map in which every pixel represents the velocity of these objects.

There is a lot of motion that can easily be picked up whether it’s moving away or coming towards us. It is much harder to pick that up in a depth map because you have to infer multiple frames to understand what is going. However, in the velocity map within one single frame, we can easily know what is moving away and what's coming towards us.

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Gene Munster: SEC Removing Musk as Chairman of Tesla was a “Gift Essentially”

The settlement by Tesla with the SEC removing Elon Musk as Chairman of the company was a "gift essentially," says Gene Munster of Loup Ventures. The markets seem to agree with Tesla stock way up on the news.

Gene Munster Managing Partner of Loup Ventures, a research-driven venture capital firm focused on frontier tech, discussed the departure of Elon Musk as Chairman of Tesla with CNBC's Squawk on the Street this morning:

It really was an ideal situation for the company and the reason is that not only do you remove him as Chairman, which has been obviously an obstacle for investors over the past several months, but you keep him as CEO. I think to be very clear longer-term Elon Musk does not need to be CEO,  but there's an important piece here that I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. Having him remain CEO is critical because the company essentially is at war right now in terms of getting to profitability and producing Tesla Model 3’s at a scalable rate.

A wartime CEO is different than a peacetime CEO and I think Elon Musk makes the right wartime CEO. I think that this played out as good as it can. The last piece I'll add is that this is a huge opportunity for the Board to really bring in somebody from the outside that can gain investor confidence. I hope that they capitalize on that opportunity because it's something that they couldn't have done on themselves, they needed to have their hand forced. Here they are with a gift essentially.

Alma Angotti, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Investigations and Compliance at Navigant, and a former SEC enforcement attorney added:

I think that this is an important message case for the SEC. I think they were eager to have it be concluded quickly. There are a couple of things, the first thing is this was a very important message case for the SEC and secondly I think they wanted to minimize harm to Teslas investors by concluding it quickly. I think they feel like they accomplished their goals with the settlement that they reached.

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Rapid7 CEO: We Have Not Designed Our Technology Ecosystem to be 100% Secure

The recent massive data breach at Facebook have brought to focus that if one of largest technology companies in the world can have their data compromised then any company, regardless of the security measures they may have in place is also vulnerable. This included sectors such as healthcare, banking, and transportation.

The CEO of Rapid7, a company which offers vulnerability management solutions, says that cybercriminals have recently realized that data is money and that vulnerabilities are happening because of our speed of innovation. This is compounded because almost all companies are in essence becoming software companies. 

Corey Thomas, Rapid7 President and CEO, discussed the challenges of cybersecurity on CNBC this morning:

Cybersecurity Attacks Affecting the Fundamentals of Business

What we're finding is that more and more things are actually causing people to really understand that cybersecurity attacks are going to affect the fundamentals of the business. I think with Facebook, it was the additional layer of so much turmoil and scrutiny already that it's just another sign that it's going to be troubling days ahead.

I was surprised by the recent breach in some ways because of how seriously Facebook takes security. On the other hand, when you look at the details of the breach it was completely understandable. They have lots of technologists, they’re moving fast, and the compromise itself and the vulnerability itself was the interplay of a whole bunch of different errors that actually went wrong at the same time.

We Have Not Designed Our Technology Ecosystem to be 100% Secure

One way to think about it is that we have not designed our technology ecosystem to be a 100 percent sure and secure. We value speed and one of the reasons that so many companies are successful is because they're fast at building technology that all of us love and adopt and use. The side effect of that, unfortunately, is that speed comes at a cost.

Speed of Innovation Raises Security Risks

I don't know if we'll be able to put the speed of innovation genie back in the box. I do think we're going to have to raise standards and I think there are lots of fundamental things that people can and should be doing.

What actually scares me more are not the Facebook’s of the world, because I think Facebook and many companies have good security. It's the fact that our entire economy is becoming more digital and frankly most of the companies that are starting to actually turn their services into technologies that are digitally connected are just not as sophisticated with security as a company like Facebook.

Almost Every Company is Becoming a Software Company

If you look at healthcare and the transportation ecosystem we're connecting more and more aspects of our lives and we're turning them into compute. You have a bunch of companies in the software industry which just ten years ago used to be an industry of relatively few names in the overall ecosystem.

If you look toward the next ten years, almost every company is becoming a software company in some way.

Cybercriminals Have Recently Realized that Data is Money

Banks have been focused on security for longer because they've been the targets of fraud people have always gone after the money. You can argue that it's a relatively recent focus area to realize that data's money. That's something that the internet companies realized 10 plus years ago and criminals have now realized that in the last five years, so that's a change.

The other aspect of it is banks do innovate less. If you look at one of the biggest disruptions that are coming along now is the in the financial services sector and in the consumer financial services sector. I would argue that banks are having the other outcropping of that because they innovated a slower pace typically they are now being disrupted.

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5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Product Description Page for Better Conversions

A visitor that arrives at your product description page is only a few clicks away from making a purchase. But whether they leave your site or buy your product depends in large part on the page design.

Despite its importance, a lot of store owners don't pay enough attention to their product page. Most are happy to just put up a photo and a brief description. This is a travesty since the product page can make or break a sale. If the customer doesn't find the page appealing and informative, they won't move on to the checkout.

There are, however,  a number of fast and easy strategies you can implement right now to improve your product page and boost your sales. Let's take a look:

1. Analyze Your Customer's Behavior

One of the best ways to improve your conversions is to have a well-designed product description page. You'll need to have the right balance of images and information, especially since shoppers tend to just scan the page. According to a Nielson report, 79 percent of consumers don't read word by word. They just scan a page and pick out specific words and phrases.

A heatmap is a great tool to use when designing a product page. It lets you track where your customers typically look, what they click on when they arrive at your page, and how far down they scroll when reading your content. Knowing where they're looking gives you the chance to remove any distracting images or irrelevant data.

[Image source: MockingFish]

2. Establish Trust

You want to build trust with your customers from the get-go. Product reviews and security seals are just two ways to go about this. But you can also establish trust by providing clear information on shipping costs, duration, and details like how many items can be ordered, etc. Knowing this key information will give your customers peace of mind and keep them moving toward your checkout page.

[Image source: Harry's]

Summarize these details to save space, but make sure you place them in a strategic part of your page. For instance, customers who visit Harry's product page will see this information next to a photo of the item on sale. Also, consider adding links in the description that offer more detailed information about the product. 

3. Enable Chat on Select Pages

Your prospective customers may get frustrated and exit your store when they have questions about an item and there's nobody to advise them. And many consumers simply don't have the time or patience to call customer service or email your company. You can use live chat to solve this problem and improve conversion rates.

[Image source: ZenDesk]

This feature also makes life easier for shoppers since they immediately get the answers they need. It also tells them that your company is efficient, always available to listen and willing to resolve their concerns, thus increasing brand trust. 

4. Use Customer Photos as Social Proof

People trust recommendations given by friends, family, and their fellow customers. It's why many brands include customer reviews and feedback. But you can step up your game and enhance product page conversions by using customer-generated photos. Seeing your items showcased by customers helps put them in context. The social proof it provides can also influence a prospective buyer's decision while giving your customers a realistic look of your product.

Amazon.com uses this strategy quite well. The website allows customers to upload images of items they purchased via the site and links them to the review on the product page.

5. Improve Product Titles

Your product's name is the first thing that will catch a shopper's attention on the product page. So it makes it even more important to create a good product title that will entice them to look at what else you have in store. The title is where you can be creative while giving your customer key details about the item and its features.

Make sure you use a tone that your demographic can relate to. For instance, fun and whimsical titles are good for a young audience while a formal voice is better for connecting with a B2B market. You can use different fonts, colors, or icons for your titles. You can also pick out interesting features of your product and highlight it in the title. For instance, UncommonGoods sells a set of socks with environmental motifs which they named "Protect The Planets Socks," appealing to the environmentally conscious customer. 

A well-thought of and designed product page can result in a positive shopping experience that will boost sales. Try to incorporate these five strategies and watch your conversions shoot up.

[Featured image via Pixabay]

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The Great Debate: Why Experimentation Matters to Branding

We spend oodles of hours working out the kinks of our branding. As marketers, we get down to the nitty-gritty of taglines, color palettes, and guidelines. Then, get it approved,  document it, and launch it to the world.

For most companies, that’s it.

We spend all of our time making sure people use the logo and tagline correctly. But we can’t get employees to get excited about it or customers to pay attention. Even with all we’ve invested, it’s still a struggle to get noticed in a world of iconic brands with million-dollar budgets.

How do we keep a brand intact yet still keep it fresh and relevant?

The Two Sides of Branding

Branding creates a way for people to know that we sell donuts while another company sells air compressors. If we don’t have a brand, we don’t give people context for how to know us. The companies that invest the time to come up with a brand story and image that really sets them apart already have a jump on their competition. But these days, that’s table stakes.

We have to give people opportunities to play different roles in their relationship with our brand. One that moves them from passive spectators to active participators. But to make this work, we have to understand the two sides of a brand.

The Fixed Side

These are aspects that shouldn’t be changed once they’re set. The brand purpose, values, logo, tagline, typeface, and voice. Once these are established, they are important to guard because consistency gives people context. You want to always show up as the same “person,” whether you connect with someone online or in person. That’s everything from websites to emails to salespeople and customer service reps. Consistency is your golden egg.

The Flexible Side

The critical part of branding starts with your brand purpose because it’s your North Star. Without it, you don’t have a filter through which to make decisions for experiments. That’s when you see brands do all kinds of crazy things that disrupt the credibility that they’ve established. But once you’ve entrenched your brand purpose across your employee base, you now have a foundation that lets you experiment with how you express yourself.

Experimentation to Better Engage Employees

Global Manufacturing and Technology company Emerson Electric celebrated its 125^th anniversary in 2015 with a year filled with brand experimentation. The innovation-driven company had seen a trend that was having a significant impact on its business. Graduate engineers wanted to work for sexier companies. Companies like Netflix, Apple, and Google. They were having a hard time recruiting young professionals to work on vortex flow meters, temperature transmitters, and garbage disposals.

To keep its innovation edge, Emerson CMO Kathy Button Bell knew she had to experiment with how the brand showed up in the marketplace. She started by partnering with Hank Green, a YouTube science sensation who already had an avid following of young people—the same audience Emerson was looking to recruit. She followed that with commercials on prime-time TV (something B2B brands never do) to announce the launch of the #ILoveSTEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content hub. She’s continued to experiment with many things the brand does, including how it launched its new company values to employees.

For Button Bell, taking a chance and partnering with Green was worth the risk alone. With their mutual goal of encouraging people’s interest in science, their relationship has helped Emerson reach a broad audience while also building its identity. In a three-month period in early 2015, traffic to Emerson’s website spiked—from about 25,000 page views to nearly 500,000. One benefit to Emerson has been the growing number of people who visit its careers page, resulting in a larger pool of people who want to work for the company.

Racing Toward Experimentation

Then take a look at NASCAR, a brand that was losing traditional fans fast and couldn’t gain traction with a younger generation that watched any screen but television. Evan Parker, vice president of content for NASCAR, took a new look at things as simple as team structure and how they told stories. He and his team experimented with how they built relationships with fans and drivers, with short-form and long-form content, with different types of content and channels, and everything from GIFs to livestreaming. The results? Hundreds of millions of online views, a Facebook docu-series, and, most importantly, a broader audience.

Both Button Bell and Parker understand why experimenting is so important. First is that it keeps a brand fresh and relevant. Second, it opens opportunities for partnerships and potential new lines of revenue. And last, it energizes marketing teams and inspires them to think more broadly about the brand and the impact they can have on it.

Experimenting gives us the opportunity to turn a fixed, static organization into a flexible one that feels alive and thriving. It lets us express personality and allows us to show the world that we’re not an organization driven by products, but rather, businesses led by people who want to connect with other people.

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You Need Smart Analytics that Drive Better Actions

At the recent Salesforce Dreamforce conference, Salesforce announced Einstein Plus, a visually improved no-code version of their artificial intelligence platform. Prior to announcing this new product release, Ketan Karhanis, SVP & GM of Salesforce Analytics discussed why AI insights are potentially transformative to businesses who have the guts to trust them.

Ketan Karhanis, SVP & GM, Salesforce Analytics at Salesforce talks about the need for smart analytics in businesses in order to drive better actions:

Technology is Simply an Enabler

We must be clear about one thing, technology is simply an enabler. Real transformation requires trailblazers. We live in a time of tremendous technological change with lots of good stuff happening AI, AR, voice. This is not about the technology, it's simply about you. The single biggest question is how does all this enable your success and what does this mean to you?

You all know the world of business applications, such as sales, service, marketing, you know this world very well. Then there's the world of analytics, some call it visualizations and some call it reporting,. No matter what you call it it is important because it’s crucial to see what is happening in your business and why.

AI and Analytics Need to Come Together

Now we have AI, the game-changing power of AI insight. What does that mean? Now we can get a glimpse of the future. We get predictive and prescriptive, very exciting technology. But are you going to be swivel chairing three different boxes, three different logins, different stats for everything, one stack for ML, one stack for visualization?  

That's probably not going to be fun because here's one simple thing we need to realize, these are not three separate boxes they are facets of the same experience. AI and analytics need to come together and they need to be infused in your business applications.

You Need Automated Discovery

What you need is not just a digital experience but an intelligent experience where analytics is built right in and if done right analytics becomes invisible but you get the benefits of it, and the benefits are pretty spectacular. We are drowning in data, lots of data everywhere. Making sense out of millions of data points in sub-second speeds to derive insights, that's kind of hard, our brains are not really wired to do that.

You need automated discovery. Automated discovery helps you discover the story in your data and the intelligent experience comes built with automated discovery. Insights have to be outcome focused.

You Need Smart Analytics that Drive Better Actions

Of course, you need charts which tell you about the past, but you need recommendations and explanations. You probably don't need yet another dashboard which tells you what happened. You need better outcomes for the future and you should not settle for incomplete. From visualizations to predictive to prescriptive you need it complete in one experience.

You need smart analytics. AI stands for actionable insights because an insight which does not lead to an action is just a dumb chart. That's why connecting to the business process is key. Insights need to drive better actions.

You need to be able to leverage your existing teams and bring them to this new world of no-code AI, of a completely different way of interfacing with your insights. AI’s role is amplifying your effectiveness, it's about augmenting your skills but how will you trust it. That's why accountability is key, transparency is key, and you need all of this.

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