Image source: https://us.aibo.com/

Sony has launched a new API (application programming interface), which is a set of functions and procedures that allows software components to interact.

They’re calling the developing program Aibo. Sony is welcoming developers and their innovation to utilize this system to create products of services.

The company has already developed an irresistibly cute mechanical dog, and it has more tricks than just sitting and fetching.

In the concept video above, you can gain a fuller understanding of what this all means and what is possible for the future. Aibo was able to assist with monitoring the microwave, turning on a robot vacuum, reminding a human that they left the fridge open, and even act as a surveillance camera for mothers.

Sony notes that this program has the ability to teach the robotic dog new tricks, but there is no way of manipulating its emotions or mannerisms. Good thing it seems happy all of the time.

As Aibo made its way from Japan to the U.S., its current price is just shy of $3,000. Very pricey, but obviously over time, the price will naturally drop once devices like this become ubiquitous in all households, similar to the television now.

I think we all saw this new wave of the future coming. One day, robots like these will be commonplace. In ways they already are. Take Roomba or Alexa for example. I view these as steppingstones to the advancement of what’s to come. But as always, there could be serious consequences to relying on technology to complete daily tasks for humans. I would hope we don’t pull a WALL-E.

Source material: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/11/15/20967282/sony-aibo-smart-home-assistant-program-developer-api

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwirp5On7_flAhVqn-AKHUkSBYIQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=%2Furl%3Fsa%3Di%26source%3Dimages%26cd%3D%26ved%3D%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.onlinemarketinginstitute.org%252Fblog%252F2018%252F09%252Fextend-brand-building-podcast-strategy%252F%26psig%3DAOvVaw1IPXolJJczq9u9cPD6ZfLA%26ust%3D1574307688027123&psig=AOvVaw1IPXolJJczq9u9cPD6ZfLA&ust=1574307688027123

In recent news, Spotify has taken its first steps towards personalizing their user’s podcast recommendations. Spotify’s first step towards personalization was the launch of its “Your Daily Podcast” playlist, which offers users a personalized list of podcasts they could be interested in. After seeing positive results during a testing period, Spotify has decided to roll out the feature to all users in the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The playlist, which personalizes user’s podcast recommendations, mixes podcasts that users already follow along with Spotify’s own recommendations. To gather a list of podcasts that users might be interested in, Spotify takes into account listening history and podcasts users currently follow. The playlist is set to feature trailers along with long podcasts and shorter news segments. Emily Rawitsch, Director of Product Design, states that, “Listeners might be shown an episode in a series they already listen to; a show about a similar topic to something they already like; a popular show in a genre they like; or a show with a host they already enjoy.” Spotify plans to stick with listening behavior as a determining factor for podcast recommendations with plans to role out a further developed algorithm in the future.

In my opinion, I think this is an awesome move for Spotify. There really hasn’t been a great place (at least not that I know of) to discover new podcasts and with Spotify’s new feature, this could be the beginning of a better discovery process. Their current music discovery playlists and features are awesome and if they are able to replicate the same thing with podcasts, I think this could be a big hit. I currently only listen to two podcasts, so I am pretty excited to be able to use Spotify’s new discovery feature to find new podcasts.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/19/20971061/spotify-playlist-daily-podcast-update-recommendations-subscribe

Sony Acquires AT&T’s 42% Game Show Network Stake In Deal Worth $500M

In recent news, Sony has acquired AT&T’s 42% stake in the Game Show Network. AT&T is reported to make $380 million from the stake sale as well as selling dividends of about $130 million, coming to a grand total of a $500 million evaluation. The entertainment company is said to completely own 100% of the company and will continue to be carried on AT&T’s DirecTV.

AT&T is still recovering from its $81 billion acquisition of Time Warner and by selling the GSN, this gives the company a chance to pay down debt and generate cash from non-strategic assets.

Sony’s Entertainment chairman stated how the the acquisition will allow the brand to advance the ever-growing gameshow business, aligning towards their strategy of developing targeted direct-to-consumer offerings. GSN’s programming portfolio includes notable shows such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, but also airs syndicated titles such as America Says, The Chase, Common Knowledge and Catch 21, and Family Feud.

One important facet to the deal on both sides is how AT&T will continue to air GSN shows on DirectTV and that Sony has full creative control. Sony has certainly had a good year in terms of striking these massive deals. They held firm in not giving in to Disney’s oppressive negations and now they own a major stake in a very popular television network. Already in the video game, film, and now gameshow industry, it’s interesting to see the vast array of content Sony now has at their disposable. The variety infers just how Sony may be looking down the line when potentially growing the company.

Google now has access to millions of medical records thanks to a new partnership with the Ascension hospital network, and even though the companies intentions are unknown, there are already privacy concerns. The program, named Nightingale, is currently under investigation by federal regulators from the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure it doesn’t violate HIPPA. Both parties involved insist they want to have better care and resources for their patients.

On the podcast, Reset, Christina Farr, a tech and health reporter for CNBC, spoke on how this isn’t new for Google’s habits. She observes that how Google likes to gather as much data as they can and then try and figure out how they can use their engineering powerhouse of a company to suggest products and tools built off the data.

While we may be sharing our health status to Google through our searches, it feels very different to them having information like, whether you have HIV or are at risk for diabetes. There is speculation on what what Google is trying to do, but nothing is certain. One theory is that they want to create a database that could help detect diseases earlier, by using the their large-scale database.

This is not the first time Google has showed interested in the Health care industry. They has Google Health from 2008-2012, which actually allowed users to upload their health records. They also launched Google Cloud Healthcare API in 2018, which is a platform that is supposed to allowed healthcare providers to easily, securely, and instantaneously collaborate while taking care of you.

I personally think it is troubling that Google could have my medical history, while it supposedly anonymous and general information, signs have pointed to names being attached to records. They already have so much information on us, but to gather and have access to data as personal and important as health records could have serious concerns. I think there could even be conflicts of interest in whatever Google decides to do with the data.

Article

Frozen’s animated artists discuss how hard it was to create Frozen 2’s costume designs due to a more in-depth set of details in the movie.

Griselda S. Lemay and Brittney Lee are members of the visual development team at the Disney corporation, which means that they are the animators of the film. This includes the environment of the movie, props, characters and especially their costumes.

Lemay mentions that the creation of Frozen 2 was a very complicated process and probably the most complex of any other animated movie. She states that it is due to the advancement of computer generated imagery and 3D technology. Although it was a difficult process for both Lee and Lemay, they found the challenge very exciting and educational. Examples of detailed animations included: bead work, sequins, enhancing fabric on the characters and the C.G.I. behind each kind of textures. There is emphasis on how important the movement of the characters are within the movie. They explain that if Elsa or Anna were wearing velvet, that it should have the movement of cotton wear. They also talk about the importance of their wardrobes and how they didn’t want to update their wardrobes too much and take away from their already- built-in personalities. The animators also talk on behalf of their adventures in the movie and considered how their wardrobes would work in regards to their adventures. This included adding pants to their wardrobes, they were underneath their dresses but were added to help them function.

Not only were perfecting animations an important aspect to making Frozen 2 but the fact that audiences and children will want to wear these kinds of costumes came into play when making the animations and alterations. The animators curated their illustrations based on the audience and the feel of the film.

The process of making a movie is already a difficult concept. I can only image how hard it is to animate each section and scene of a children’s movie. Animation is all about the perfection of the drawing, which all handmade or expertly controlled by technology. There is so much time to put into perfecting one image, which I think is insane talent. From the establishment to animation to what it is now, I believe that there is less appreciation in the animation world and I feel like there should be more praise about it.

Source:

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/11/18/20970465/frozen-2-costumes-design-animate-anna-elsa

It’s assumed that people have a preference for shows with high production values as they are attracted to displays of cinematographic sophistication.

A tv show the appears as such would be upcoming “The Mandalorian” tv series. Where visually-detailed and vivid scenes that the content as whole appears to be more similar to that of a movie than a television series.

Creators would have to invest a large amount in order to achieve this level of quality for a Tv series. According to THR, “The Mandalorian,” is priced at $15 million an episode.

That’s just $5 million less than what it costs to make an episode of Game Of Thrones.

Top-tier producers are starting to enter huge deals with both streamers & regular tv studios and are offered near limitless budgets for production. The article also hypothesizes that this will create a higher demand for more high quality produced show.

The washing post article feature also mentions that high-budget shows like “The Mandalorian” has the potential to do what directors like Scorsese and other older directors fear may happen due to changes in technology, and potentially steer consumers away from movie theaters.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/11/14/mandalorian-is-first-tv-show-that-actually-looks-like-movie-that-might-be-problem/

https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/cost-of-tv-scripted-series-rises-1203378894/

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/343309/disney-reports-10m-sign-ups-for-disney-one-day.html

Disney has announced that their highly-anticipated streaming service app Disney+ has already racked up about 10m+ subscribers after its launch this Tuesday. Although Disney has not stated whether or not this number includes pre-sales or the company’s 7-day free trial. It is very possible that most of these subscribers are from Fios, since they are offering their customers a free year of the Disney+ to their new and existing Verizon Wireless unlimited customers, new Fios home internet customers and new 5G home internet customers. Once customers get the free trial and utilize it for a year, they will probably want to keep the service and buy it after the free trial is up. Either way, the numbers are amazing and Disney has forecast that Disney+ will have 60 to 90 million subscribers by the end of 2024.

Disney has no plans to release the platform outside of the company, and debuted in 3 countries Tuesday– United States, Canada and the Netherlands. The streaming service is slated to be released in more countries in the coming weeks. It will debut in European markets on March 31, 2020 which should bring in a huge amount of subscribers and revenue.

I found it interesting that Disney warns subscribers streaming content on Disney+. that they may encounter “outdated cultural depictions” while watching some older Disney content. Some of Disney’s classics such as Dumbo, The Aristocats, The Jungle Book, and Lady and the Tramp. Disney warns their customers that they are about to see content that will trigger some people due to its negative depictions of minority races. In my opinion, Disney is making sure to keep a close eye on its content now that it is presenting it on a single streaming platform to a 2019 audience who is a lot more racially aware.

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiaiqjBh-jlAhUEVN8KHSE3APoQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.firstpagedigital.sg%2Fresources%2Fsocial%2Fthe-dos-and-dontss-of-dealing-with-negative-comments-online%2F&psig=AOvVaw10bnBkZ_qyOXkqGvcwijWI&ust=1573764426307486

Do you ever wonder if what you are seeing on social media is true to how consumers ACTUALLY feel about a product? Recent news about negative social media comments states that what you are seeing online doesn’t actually tell the full story. Respondology, a Colorado-based brand safety firm, has rolled out a new service titled “The Ad Mod”. The Ad Mod is a new technology that combines AI and human monitoring to automatically delete negative comments on paid ad content. The service is specifically designed for paid advertisements through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

The company’s first partner, Horizon Media, used the service for the launch of the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich. Horizon Media used the service to track comments on professional athlete’s Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts who were paid to promote the new sandwich. While using “The Ad Mod”, the campaign saw a 10.8% increase in engagement.

Companies that use Ad Mod will be able to launch their posts through a dashboard and see which comments are screened by Ad Mod. The service screens all comments on a selected post with machine learning. The machine automatically removes comments that are seen as negative towards the brand, as well as racist, sexual and violent comments.

In my opinion, I think this app can be good and bad. I feel like this app can be great for removing comments that are seen as racist, sexual, and violent, however I think it is wrong to hide comments that are seen as “negative” towards a brand. Removing negative comments promotes a false narrative or image around a brand, especially if a majority of individuals feel poorly about a product or brand. It seems kind of shady, especially if 8/10 comments on a post are removed because they are negative.

https://www.adweek.com/digital/brands-can-remove-negative-comments-paid-social-posts-ad-mod/