Posts made in January, 2016

on Jan 31, 2016

By Natalie Mortimer IBM has closed a deal to acquire the Weather Company as it makes gains in its IoT capabilities. The combination of technology from the two companies will serve as the foundation for the new Watson IoT Unit and Watson IoT Cloud platform, building on a $3bn commitment made by IBM in March 2015 to invest in related offerings and services. The planned acquisition will bring together IBM’s cognitive and analytics platform and The Weather Company’s dynamic cloud data platform, which powers the fourth most-used mobile app daily in the US and handles 26 billion inquiries to its cloud-based services each day. John Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jan 31, 2016

By Stephen Lepitak I felt great sadness this morning at hearing of the death of Sir Terry Wogan. He was a man I wish I’d met to let him know how much he had meant to me as an inspiration. I grew up watching Sir Terry on the BBC and to me the two things were integral to each other. My first memories of him were as the host of Blankety Blank and watching him at my parents tiny caravan where we went for weekends, on a Saturday night as he worked his cheeky charm to great effect. I loved that Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jan 31, 2016

By Natalie Mortimer Broadcaster and Eurovision Song Contest veteran Sir Terry Wogan has passed away aged 77. The Limerick-born presenter had a career that spanned 50 years on television and radio, and was involved with Children in Need since its inception. According to a statement from his family Wogan died after a short battle with cancer. “He passed away surrounded by his family. While we understand he will be missed by many, the family ask that their privacy is respected at this time,” the statement read in a report by the BBC. Wogan started his career in banking before switching to join Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jan 31, 2016

By Rebecca Stewart Twitter’s future is a hot topic right now. Between board departures, a rumoured overhaul of its beloved 140-character limit and a spate of new features it’s clear that the platform is braced for change in 2016. The Drum caught up for marketers to find out what they made of the recent shake-up and how they think the platform could be improved. When Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was confirmed as permanent chief executive he promised to do “whatever it takes” to help the social network grow and “give more utility to the people who love to use it daily”. In his short tenure Read full story › Source: The Drum...

on Jan 31, 2016

By Natalie Mortimer O2 is hoping to own the mobile tech retail space with the introduction of two new concept stores, which it is confident will give the business a “competitve edge”. The company opened the doors of its new stores in Manchester and London this month with the aim of “re-writing the rule book” of what a phone shop should be about with the emphasis on educating consumers about the possibilities of technology. Designed by design agency Dalziel & Pow the stores are three times the size of O2’s typical stores and divert from the stereotypical image of a functional and transactional phone Read full story › Source: The Drum...