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Disney+ Hotstar has about 8 million subscribers – smarthometec

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Disney+ Hotstar has about 8 million subscribers – smarthometec

We finally know exactly how many subscribers Hotstar has has accumulated in India over the years. "About 8 million."

Disney said on Wednesday that its eponymous streaming service now has over 50 million subscribers, of which nearly 8 million are in India, where it started its service on Hotstar less than a week ago.

The five-year-old hotstar is the most popular on-demand streaming service in India with more than 300 million users. The service and its operator, the Indian network Star India, were picked up by Disney last year as part of its $ 71 billion deal with Fox.

For years, people in the industry have been curious about Hotstar's premium subscriber base – with no luck. Most estimates assume that there were approximately 1.5 to 2 million subscribers. Competitive managers expected lower value.

A month-long analysis of a streaming company in India recently found that 2 million subscribers paid for music and video services. So 8 million is a big milestone.

But the ARPU that Disney will get from these 8 million subscribers will be much lower. Disney + Hotstar is available in India at an annual subscription price of approximately $ 20. (This is the revised subscription cost. Hotstar charged approximately $ 13 before launching Disney + in India.) The service also offers a lower cost tier that costs less than $ 5.5 a year.

For that $ 20 a year, Disney + Hotstar subscribers get access to an extensive catalog that includes access to Disney Originals in English, as well as multiple national languages, live sporting events, dozens of TV channels, and thousands of films and shows. including some from HBO, Showtime, ABC and Fox, which have syndication partnerships with the Indian streaming service.

“I think everyone is still trying to find the right prices. It is true that the average Indian consumer is used to much lower prices and can no longer afford it. However, we need to focus on the consumers who are likely to buy this and have the required broadband access, income, etc., ”said Matthew Ball, former Strategic Planning Manager at Amazon Studios, recently speaking to smarthometec.

Disney + competes with more than three dozen international and local players in India, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Times Internet's MX Player (with over 175 million active users per month), Zee5, Apple TV + and Alt Balaji with over 27 Million subscribers.

Most of these services monetize their viewers through ads and have kept their monthly subscription price below $ 3.

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Texts for frontline workers, a crisis prevention hotline and more – smarthometec

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Texts for frontline workers, a crisis prevention hotline and more – smarthometec

What do a heating filter company, a robotics startup and an architecture startup have in common? Usually nothing. But just as COVID-19 conquered the world and endangered the lives of millions, companies were relocating to produce N95 masks and ventilators for healthcare workers.

The innovation from the startup world was breathtaking and frankly difficult to manage. It feels like everyone in Silicon Valley and beyond is up for the challenge, even if they don't have pockets as deep as Amazon and Google.

To gather some good news and hope at least once a week, we summarize some of the startup efforts we see to combat the effects of COVID-19. This is not a place where we analyze startups working on suggested healing methods (you can see Darrell's tireless work for it). Instead, we're going to look at the unique ways that companies try to feel less lonely and unpack how technology answers the questions we ask ourselves.

Stopcovid.co

The founder of Managed by Q, Dan Teran, has partnered with the startup of the training service ESLWorks to send the latest corona virus updates in real time via SMS to the employees at the front. The Stopcovid.co initiative is aimed at workers who may not be supported by a large organization but still need to follow the CDC's health recommendations. The messages are sent via WhatsApp and text messages so that non-digital users can easily access the information. When I caught up with Teran, he said, "I don't want to characterize the population we want to reach, but if I were a delivery driver 12 to 14 hours a day and tried to put food on the table, I'm probably not up to date State of the virus and how it spreads. "

Cornell Tech Clinic

The Cornell Tech Clinic helps survivors of domestic violence to receive support at a time when individuals are forced to stay in the house and rely on virtual communities. The clinic launched a remote program to provide advice to survivors of abuse who fear that their partners will use technology to abuse them, be it cyberstalking or monitoring every call or chat. The new program includes information on how to get in touch with a case worker remotely, how to help yourself, and a research study to help people with technical abuse.

S’More and Hopeline

S’More, a dating app that connects users beyond physical appearance, works with a mental health prevention hotline, Hopeline, to raise money. The campaign, titled "Social Distance is Not Emotional Distance", brings Hopeline a $ 1 donation for every person who starts a conversation about S’More.

Procore construction management

Procore, a developer of construction management software, offers customers free access to its software for projects created for COVID-19 related emergency relief products. The hope is to help the construction industry turn hotels, convention centers, and more into medical emergency facilities without the extra money for software.

Wize tutoring platform

Wize, which is made up of a number of Edtech companies offering giveaways, will provide its tutoring platform free of charge until the end of the school year. Students who have felt the effects of the closure of their school or university can access a library of exam or exam preparation materials.

Springboard career coaching

The Edtech startup Springboard offers a free weekly career coaching seminar to help job seekers prepare for an "economy after the pandemic". The AMA takes place every Wednesday from April 1st from 12.30pm to 1.30pm PST.

Voxel51

Voxel51 uses existing live cameras to keep track of how preventive measures are taken worldwide. It uses artificial intelligence to give a window to social activities in popular public spaces and to "rate" areas based on social behavior. This allows you to track how much people listen to public health recommendations.

Tech Manitoba and computers for schools

When Tech Manitoba, a local nonprofit in Canada, had only eight outdated computers for the 150 needy families, the company knew that a bigger solution was needed. Tech Manitoba has partnered with Computers for Schools and is now giving 200 refurbished, refurbished computers to those in need.

One Planet prayer beads

One Planet, a venture company, launched a global prayer chain. On the LightUpTheWorld.org website, people from around the world can post prayers and reflections that focus on health and optimism. When you go to the website, the prayer you see is written and published in real time by the author.

Stilt interest loan

Stilt is a tech startup that claims to offer low-interest loans to immigrants to help them build loans based on requirements that go beyond social security number and credit rating. It offers customers who are hourly workers and earn less than $ 45,000 a year, an immediate freeze on payment interest and a leniency – which is a delay in foreclosure – for two months.

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As tech layoffs surge, some support emerges for those without a job – smarthometec

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As tech layoffs surge, some support emerges for those without a job – smarthometec

The massive increase in layoffs related to COVID-19 has placed the technology in a unique position. While the startup world itself faces layoffs, it also tries to get people back to work.

At the end of 2019, the belt tightening phase supported by SoftBank led to a flood of crowdsourcing tables with employee names of companies like Oyo, WeWork, Zume and others. The spreadsheets appeared as a bet on the network effect, with the ultimate goal of hoping that the spreadsheets would end up in the hands of a recruiter who wanted to hire one of hundreds of layoffs. Now that COVID-19 is crippling the economy, layoffs have increased dramatically after this one period.

On the one hand, we reported on the number of tech companies that are cutting staff Oyoto ZipRecruiterto TripActions. On the other hand, we also saw the rise of platforms to connect the layoffs and Promises from employers not to lay off workers during this difficult period.

In a world where Zoom is firing people, the efforts of technology to offer the fired community and action are undoubtedly important.

So many startups have made layoffs or plan to do so that at this point it would be easier to list those who * don't * cut staff.

Here are some places that try to help laid-off employees:

– Erin Griffin (@eringriffith) April 2, 2020

The current pandemic climate and the resulting massive unemployment mean that a table with a long list of employee names and unchecked contact information doesn't help.

Shannon Anderson, director of talent at Madrona Venture Group in Seattle, saw that her company's portfolio companies were struggling with layoffs and the changing economy. Two of the portfolio companies, Textio and Rover, fired employees along with a number of other companies.

"We wanted to expect a reduction in power across the ecosystem," said Anderson. "It is a global problem."

To strengthen the layoff network, Anderson turned to a number of human resources managers, including Chris Brownridge, the founder of Silver Lining, a job platform for the laidoff. He started Silver Lining after closing his startup last summer and firing his 20 employees.

"I have felt the pain (from layoffs) on the part of the employer, and it is painful for the employer, especially if you take care of (your employees)," he said in January. "I don't want spreadsheets to be thrown around. I think that's not the right answer. We need a standardized way of dealing with it, with a community behind it."

Silver Lining is a platform that allows candidates to submit profiles for recruiters from top companies for review. The job seekers on the website range from architects, UX designers, engineers, community managers and more.

Then COVID-19 spread around the world, forcing people to stay home and spend less. The economic downturn has had an uneven impact on companies around the world: where redundancies exist for the travel sector, there are spurts of use for remote workers. Overall, however, the workforce has problems. Last week alone, 6.6 million Americans registered unemployment.

Madrona said that she is donating part of her budget to help Silver Lining offer more services to layoffs. The company declined to share the total amount of the donation.

Silver Lining will now also offer coaching, resume and emotional support to people on the platform, Brownridge says. Thanks to donations from Madrona, Skytap, Bandwidth, Voodle, the Female Founders Alliance and others, the website can be used free of charge.

The increase in layoffs has resulted in Boston-based Drafted, a referral startup, launching a product called Layoff Network to help the layoffs. The startup previously sent a newsletter, discharge list, with a weekly list of layoffs with hyperlinks to spreadsheets. During the SoftBank layoffs, Olivia Clark, the newsletter's creator, noticed an increase in traffic – more than 1,000 recruiters signed up.

Now she says traffic has increased 2,000%, and in just two weeks, Drafted's engineering team has turned this newsletter into a job search network.

The layoff network connects with recruiters who have been recommended by their peers and “approved” for their skills. If you are fired, you can sign up and create a profile and ask a previous employer or colleague to recommend you. According to Clark, this is similar to LinkedIn's "advocate" feature to ensure that people are credible.

Once approved, the person is added to a talent feed. Recruiters can search for candidates, job titles, companies or locations here. Unlike a table, this navigation is much easier and adds another level of human touch.

Clark says the platform will be free for layoffs who are recruiting or hiring. Drafted has a paid corporate level for organizations that want to mass layoffs and support former employees.

The basic efforts are large and varied. Here is a list of companies that are actively hiring. Here is a list for Canadian technicians and one for the Colorado tech scene. And here's a live tracker of startups that have made layoffs started by the team at Human Interest, a startup that has nothing to do with layoffs.

Megan Murphy, who created Chicago superstars for the Chicago tech scene, has not yet received any donation or support. As the number of unemployed increases, Murphy notes that there is a lack of clarity about which companies are hiring and which job vacancies are still active. If a company hires a job in January, it may no longer be the case (to keep costs down).

"I can't waste time writing cover letters and custom resumes for jobs that don't really evolve," she said. "There are tons of crowdsourcing tools out there trying to identify who is actually hiring while others are trying to identify who initiated a hiring freeze or lay off employees, and in the meantime the company's career pages are not up to date." We need a source of truth – and at the moment nobody is really prepared for it. "

At the moment, Murphy says she's getting creative on her own search and asking others to do the same. "Virtual communities and experiences are becoming more important than ever." She names guerrilla slack channels and reddit as examples of organic communication.

How can she keep up with the demand from people who need help with their next job? Murphy, who is looking for a job herself after being released, says she has fewer interviews with potential employers, so she was able to help those who sign up.

The work of these entrepreneurs is scratching the same hope that lies in the hundreds of contact information in a crowdsourcing table for layoffs: the need for a community in a difficult time. And these days remind us more than most of the power of having a group of people together.

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Using AI responsibly to fight the coronavirus pandemic – smarthometec

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Using AI responsibly to fight the coronavirus pandemic – smarthometec

Mark Minevich Contributor

Mark Minevich is president of Going Global Ventures, advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, digital fellow at IPsoft and a leading global AI expert, as well as a digital cognitive strategist and venture capitalist.

Other contributions from this contributor

The American AI initiative: a good first step among many

Irakli Beridze Contributor

Irakli Beridze is head of the Center for AI and Robotics at the United Nations Interregional Research Institute for Crime and Justice (UNICRI).

The emergence of the novel corona virus has caused a stir in the world. COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, has spread to virtually every corner of the world. The number of cases exceeds one million and the number of deaths worldwide is over 50,000. It is a situation that affects us all in one way or another.

With the imposition of bans, restrictions on movement, the closure of borders and other measures to contain the virus, the operating environment of law enforcement agencies and security services designed to protect the public from harm has suddenly become more complex. They are in the midst of an unprecedented situation and play a vital role in curbing the spread of the virus and maintaining public security and social order. In response to this growing crisis, many of these agencies and institutions are turning to AI and related technologies in a unique and innovative way to get support. Improving monitoring, monitoring and detection capabilities is high on the list of priorities.

For example, at the start of the outbreak, Reuters reported a case in China in which the authorities relied on facial recognition cameras to persecute a Hangzhou man who had traveled to an affected area. When he returned home, the local police were there to instruct him to quarantine himself or to have an effect. Police in China and Spain have also started using quarantine enforcement technologies. Drones are used to patrol and broadcast audio messages and encourage them to stay at home. People flying to Hong Kong Airport receive surveillance wristbands that notify the authorities if they violate the quarantine by leaving their homes.

In the United States, a surveillance company announced that its AI-enhanced thermal cameras can detect fever, while in Thailand border guards at airports are already operating a biometric screening system with fever detection cameras.

Individual cases or the new standard?

Given the alarmingly increasing number of cases, deaths and countries that are locked, we can assume that these are not isolated examples of technological innovations in response to this global crisis. Over the coming days, weeks, and months of this outbreak, more and more AI use cases will most likely come to the fore.

While the use of AI can play an important role in conquering the reins in this crisis and can even protect officials and officials from infection, we must not forget that their use can raise very real and serious human rights concerns that can be harmful and undermine them Community confidence in the government. Human rights, civil liberties and the basic principles of law can be exposed or damaged if we do not take this route with great care. There can be no going back when Pandora's box is open.

In a public statement on March 19, the United Nations Free Speech and Media Observers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Representative for Media Freedom of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe issued a joint statement on promoting and protecting access to and free flow of information during the pandemic and noted in particular the increasing use of surveillance technologies to track the spread of the coronavirus. They acknowledged the need for active efforts to fight the pandemic, but stressed that “it is also vital that such tools be used in a limited manner, both in terms of purpose and time, and that individual rights to privacy, non-discrimination , The protection of journalistic sources and other freedoms must be strictly protected. "

This is not an easy task, but a necessary one. So what can we do?

Ways to use AI responsibly to fight the coronavirus pandemic

Data anonymization: While some countries are tracking individual suspect patients and their contacts, Austria, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom collect anonymized data to investigate the movement of people more generally. This option continues to give governments the ability to track the movement of large groups, but minimizes the risk of data breaches.

Purpose limitation: Personal data that is collected and processed to track the spread of the coronavirus should not be reused for any other purpose. National authorities should ensure that the large amounts of personal and medical information are used only for public health reasons. This concept is already in force in Europe under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but it is time that it became a global principle for AI.

Data exchange and open access data: António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, has insisted that "global action and solidarity are vital" and that we will not win this struggle alone. This applies to many levels, including the use of AI by law enforcement and security services in the fight against COVID-19. These agencies and bodies need to work with each other and with other key community stakeholders, including public and civil society organizations. AI use case and data should be shared and transparency promoted.

Time limit: Although the end of this pandemic appears to be quite distant at this point, it will come to an end. In this case, national authorities will have to reduce their newly acquired surveillance functions after this pandemic. As Yuval Noah Harari noted in his recent article, "temporary measures have the nasty habit of surviving emergencies, especially as there is always a new emergency lurking on the horizon." We have to make sure that these extraordinary skills are actually reduced and do not become the new norm.

Within the United Nations system, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) is working to advance approaches to such AI. It has set up a specialized center for AI and robotics in The Hague and is one of the few international players that deal specifically with AI in terms of crime prevention and control, criminal justice, the rule of law and security. It helps national authorities, particularly law enforcement agencies, to understand the opportunities of these technologies while eliminating the potential pitfalls associated with these technologies.

In close cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), UNICRI has set up a global law enforcement platform that promotes the discussion of AI, identifies practical use cases and defines principles for responsible handling. A lot of work has been done in this forum, but it is still early and the road ahead is long.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed several innovative use cases and the urgency of governments to do everything possible to stop the virus from spreading, it is important to set aside fundamental principles, rights, and non-compliance with the law will. The positive power and potential of AI are real. It can help those involved in this struggle to slow the spread of this debilitating disease. It can help save lives. But we have to stay vigilant and commit to safe, ethical and responsible use of AI.

It is important that we remain aware of the duality of AI, even in times of great crisis, and make every effort to finally push AI forward.

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Estimote launches wearables for workplace-level contact tracing for COVID-19 – smarthometec

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Estimote launches wearables for workplace-level contact tracing for COVID-19 – smarthometec

The Bluetooth Location Beacon Estimote startup has adapted its technological know-how to develop a new product specifically designed to curb the proliferation of COVID-19. The company has developed a new range of portable devices that co-founder Steve Cheney believes can improve workplace safety for those who need to be placed in a physical place of work, even when social distance and isolation measures are in place.

The devices, simply referred to as "proof of health" wearables, aim to enable contact tracking – in other words, monitoring the potential spread of the coronavirus from person to person – at the level of a local workplace facility. The aim is to give employers the opportunity to hopefully give impulses for a possible transfer between their employees and to give them the opportunity to hopefully curb local distribution before it becomes an excessive risk.

The hardware contains passive GPS Location tracking and proximity sensors with Bluetooth and ultra-broadband radio connection, a rechargeable battery and integrated LTE. It also includes manual controls to change a wearer's health status and to record conditions such as certified health, symptomatic and verified infections. When a user updates their status to indicate a potential or verified infection, other users they have had contact with are updated based on the proximity and history of the location data. This information is also stored in an integrity dashboard that provides detailed logs of potential contacts for central administration. This is designed for internal use within an organization, but Cheney tells me that he is now working to see if there is a way to work with WHO or other outside health organizations to potentially use the information for company tracing and to use population groups.

These are said to exist in various form factors: The existing pebble-like version that can be attached to a lanyard for carrying and displaying around a person's neck. a wrist-worn version with an integrated adjustable strap; and a card format that is more compact to carry and can work with conventional security badges that are often used for access control of facilities. The pebble-like design is already in production and 2,000 are now being used. In the near future, production with the company's manufacturing resources located in Poland is to be increased by up to 10,000 more.

Estimote has been building programmable business sensor technology for nearly a decade and has worked with major global companies like Apple and Amazon . Cheney told me that he quickly realized the need to apply this technology to the pandemic's unique problems, but Estimote had been 18 months in development for other applications, including the hotel industry for employee safety / panic button use.

"This batch has been in full production for 18 months," he said in a message. “We can program all wearables remotely (they are LTE connected). Suppose a factory provides this – we are writing an app for the wearable remotely. This is programmable IoT.

"Anyone who knew the virus would require proof of health over site diagnostic technology," he added.

Many have proposed technology-based contact tracking solutions, including using existing data collected from smartphones and consumer applications to map the transmission. However, these efforts also have a significant impact on data protection and require the use of a smartphone – something that Cheney says is not really useful for closely tracking the workplace in high-traffic environments. According to Cheney, Estimote can help employers by creating a special wearable to avoid doing something “invasive” with their workforce, since it is instead tied to a convenient device whose data is shared only with their employers, all in one Form factor that they can remove and have some control over. Mobile devices cannot do nearly as fine-grained tracking indoors as dedicated hardware, he says.

And contact tracking at this hyperlocal level doesn't necessarily give employers early warning signs to stop spreading earlier and more thoroughly than usual. In fact, greater contact tracking powered by sensor data could reveal new and improved strategies for the COVID-19 response.

"Typically, contact tracking is based on people's memories or some general assumptions (for example, the shift someone has worked on," "said Brianna Vechhio-Pagán of the Applied Physics Lab at John Hopkins University in a statement. “New technologies can now track interactions within a transmittable area or a range of ~ 6 feet, reducing the error caused by other methods. By combining very dense contact tracking data from Bluetooth and UWB signals with information about the infection status and symptoms, we can discover new and improved ways to ensure the safety of patients and staff. "

Given the final duration of measures such as physical distance essentially in the air and some predictions suggesting that they will continue for many months, even if they differ in severity, solutions like Estimote's could be more essential to maintaining Services and solutions are critical companies that are doing their utmost to protect the health and safety of workers who take these risks. More extensive measures may also be needed, including general, publicly available contact tracking programs, and efforts such as these should help influence the design and development of these programs.

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SoftBank terminates $3BN tender offer for WeWork shares – smarthometec

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SoftBank terminates $3BN tender offer for WeWork shares – smarthometec

SoftBank group has made a $ 3 billion takeover bid for WeWork Shares – citing unfulfilled closing conditions.

The investment giant was said to have gotten cold feet when the WSJ reported last month that it was using government investigations as a means to resign from its obligation to acquire $ 3 billion in shares from existing WeWork shareholders to buy.

Under the share buyback agreement negotiated last year, WeWork founder Adam Neumann was to receive nearly $ 1 billion for his shares in the cooperating company. The former CEO had already been pushed out of office at that point after public markets overruled his leadership, as we reported at the time.

In a press release released today, SoftBank SVP and Chief Legal Officer Rob Townsend wrote:

SoftBank remains fully committed to WeWork's success and has taken important steps to strengthen the company since October, including tied-up capital, developing a new strategic plan for WeWork, and hiring a new world-class management team. The takeover bid was an offer to buy shares directly from other major shareholders. The termination does not affect WeWork's business or customers. A precondition for the completion of the takeover offer was the fulfillment of certain closing conditions that the parties had agreed to protect SoftBank in October last year. Some of these conditions were not met, so SoftBank had no choice but to cancel the takeover offer.

SoftBank lists the unfulfilled conditions that led to the termination of the offer:

Failure to obtain the required antitrust approvals by April 1, 2020;

Failure to sign and complete the rollout of the Chinese joint venture by April 1, 2020;

Failure to complete roll-up of Asia (ex-China and ex-Japan) joint venture by April 1, 2020;

The existence of several new and significant pending criminal and civil investigations that have begun since the MTA was signed in October 2019 and from which authorities have requested information, including WeWork funding activities, investor communications, and business relationships with Adam Neumann, operating and financial position; and

The existence of several new measures by governments around the world related to COVID-19 that restrict WeWork and its operations.

A WeWork spokeswoman declined to comment on SoftBank withdrawing the offer. However, Reuters has reported that a WeWork board special committee said he was "disappointed" with the development and was considering "all legal options, including litigation".

At the time of writing, SoftBank had not yet responded to a comment request.

The press release emphasizes that “Neumann, his family and certain large institutional shareholders such as Benchmark Capital was the parties that benefited the most from the takeover bid. "

“Together, Mr. Neumann's equity and Benchmark make up more than half of the shares offered. In contrast, current WeWork employees have advertised less than 10 percent of the total, ”she writes, adding:“ SoftBank previously worked with WeWork to finalize an earlier phase of the takeover offer, in which more than 4,000 employees revalued out of the money were able to offer stock options at lower exercise prices that would provide these employees with more than $ 140 million in reduced exercise prices (if such options had been worth much less or nothing without such revaluation). "

Earlier this week, WeWork announced the sale of Meetup, a social networking platform designed to connect people personally, at an undisclosed price that is reported to be well below the WeWork purchase price paid in 2017 for it $ 156 million.

The novel corona virus has certainly disrupted business with hipster employees and social networks, as the population is encouraged to do the opposite of mixing. The short-term prospects for collaborative spaces in a new age of social distancing and encouraged (or forced) home work look bleak.

Outside of Asia, WeWork has so far closed only a tiny minority of its locations worldwide due to the corona virus pandemic.

Even in badly affected cities in Europe such as Madrid and Milan – where governments have implemented stringent quarantine measures to stem the flood of COVID 19 deaths – WeWork has not taken the step to close cooperation rooms.

Instead, buildings in Europe and the United States were temporarily closed or only individual floors when infections were found.

It's different in Asia. According to an updated list of building closures on the WeWork website, the company closed more than 30 locations in various cities in India on March 23 – but only after the government imposed a three-week nationwide ban, in which the 1.3 billion Indian residents have been instructed to stay at home.

Elsewhere, WeWork members may see little reason to quarantine to get to a shared workspace if, provided they have the Internet at home, they can stay where they are and be just as productive, without taking the risk of spreading or catching the virus – hence the zoom videoconferencing boom.

WeWork's response to the coronavirus crisis has also led to some rifts in membership. Members' press reports have been annoyed that they have refused to reimburse rooms that they (with a clear conscience) cannot use.

It was also criticized by members who were annoyed that priority was given to prioritizing rental income from small businesses with very low cash requirements, rather than closing during a public health crisis. (We've heard similar stories from members who didn't want to be publicly identified.)

WeWork, meanwhile, has justified staying open in a pandemic by claiming that its locations contain people who do essential work.

When we asked the company about its response to the coronavirus last month, it said to us, "We are closely monitoring the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and have taken a number of precautions to cleanliness" and continued all internal and member events until further notice from March 12th.

On the same day, it had given its own employees the opportunity to work from home – although its doors remained open to members who hold key cards and pay fees.

[cdrforea]

‘Content network effect’ makes TikTok tough to copy – smarthometec

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‘Content network effect’ makes TikTok tough to copy – smarthometec

Lots of TikTok videos Don't start from scratch, not even the competition. Tick ​​tack it's all about remixes where users record a new video to recontextualize audio from someone else's clip or to ripple an existing meme or concept. This only works because TikToks had time to build a huge collection of content from which they could be inspired.

The developers will not be able to start with TikTok copycats, including Facebook Lasso and Instagram Reels testing in Brazil. Direct competitors like Triller and Dubsmash are running to build their archives. YouTube short films that The Information reports are under development today only have a chance if Google allows users to use the 5 billion videos that are already watched on YouTube every day.

This is the power of what I call the "content network effect": each content brings added value to the rest. This is TikTok.

You probably know the traditional network effect – "A phenomenon where a product or service gains value when more people use it. “It is not only the network itself that is gaining in value, but also the value that is made available to every user. Today's best social networks are shining examples. The more people there are on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, the more people you can connect and the more material their relevant algorithms can use to fill your feeds.

If you had to choose between two identical social networks, you'll likely choose that with more friends or developers already on board. Network effects increase the switching costs for switching to another network. Even if it offers better features, fewer ads or less misinformation and bullying, you are unlikely to leave a robust network behind and switch to a sparser network. This makes it difficult to disrupt scaled social networks. All top companies have been around for almost a decade or more.

With the exception of TikTok. The Chinese music / video app has managed to demonstrate a new concept of the "content network effect". In this case, every video uploaded to the app makes every future potential video more valuable. This is because the entire content of TikTok serves as remix feed for the rest. Every song, dance, joke, prank, and monologue generates resources that other creators can use. It is a bottomless source of inspiration.

Remixability, the ultimate creative tool

TikTok produces the remix culture by making it easy to "use that sound". Tap a video's audio button and it's yours. Click through and you'll see all the other videos using it. TikTok even offers an entire search engine for sorting sounds by categories such as trending, greatest hits, love, gaming and travel. Sometimes remixes are based on an idea rather than an audio. #FlipTheSwitch sees couples swap clothes instantly when the lights go out, and has collected more than 3.6 billion videos in over 500,000 remix versions of the video.

You can even duet with the original creator while sharing your and his video side by side. A solo performance becomes a refrain when more duets are connected. In the meantime, remixes of remixes of remixes offer an esoteric reward for hardcore users who recognize how a gag has developed or has turned into absurdity.

Other apps have produced video responses, hashtags, quote tweets, surveys and chain letters, as well as other ways for content to interact or iterate in the past. And there were always parodies. However, TikTok demonstrates the ability to forge a social app with a content network effect at its core.

By facilitating remixes, you can lower the bar for creating user-generated content. You don't have to be amazingly creative or original to do something fun. Each person's life experiences shape their perspective, which could enable them to interpret an idea in a new way.

What started with someone ripping audio from two people singing "Don't be suspicious" while sneaking through a graveyard on the Parks & Recs TV show resulted in people lip-syncing it as they tried Escape her child's room without waking her and left the house in clothes, stole from her sister's closet, tried to keep a llama as a pet, and photoshopped to look bigger. Unless someone has already done the audio clip work, there is nothing that can inspire and empower others to engage with it.

TikTok's archive against the world

That's why I wrote that Mark Zuckerberg misunderstood the enormous threat posed by TikTok after the CEO said to Facebook employees: "I think about TikTok as if it were Explore for Stories." Facebook and Instagram had great success cloning Snapchat stories because they only had to copy the functions. Stories are autobiographical vlogging. All you need are the creative tools that Instagram has and rebuilt Facebook and share people of whom the apps had billions.

However, TikTok is not about sharing what you're up to. Stories that usually start all over again because each user's life is different. It is micro entertainment with a content network effect. If TikTok competitors offer people the same video recording capabilities and sales potential, they still lack the archive of the source material.

Facebook's lasso looks exactly like TikTok, but has not gained momentum since it started in November 2018. Instagram Reels intelligently copies TikTok's remixing tools. However, if the Brazilian tests go well and it finally starts in English, it will start with flat feet.

On YouTube launches shorts as Alex Heath and Jessica Toonkel of The Information report that it is planned to bury it in its main app before the end of the year. That could make it impossible to compete with a dedicated app like TikTok that opens directly to your For You page. The only salvation would be if YouTube unlocked its entire database of videos for remixing.

Thanks to its position as the default location for hosting videos and its searchability experience that Facebook and Instagram lack, YouTube shorts could at least contain all the necessary ingredients. Given YouTube's uninterrupted social failures, from Google+ to YouTube stories to its dozen Deadpool messaging apps, YouTube may not have the skills to combine them.

Other social networks should consider how the concept applies to them. Could Facebook turn your friends' photos into collage material? Could you share thematic collections of your favorite posts with Instagram? The remix culture is not disappearing, nor is the value of promoting content network effects. With video consumption surpassing professional production, remixes are the way the world is entertained and how amateurs can contribute creations that are worth going viral.

[cdrforea]

DoorDash now delivers from over 1,800 convenience stores nationwide – smarthometec

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DoorDash now delivers from over 1,800 convenience stores nationwide – smarthometec

DoorDash announced today that it is expanding beyond food and also delivering from convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, Wawa, CircleK, Casey's General Store and others. The service works with over 1,800 U.S. convenience stores to provide easy access to household items such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, over-the-counter medicines, and hot and cold food, beverages, snacks, and more.

The expansion occurs at a time when customers stay home due to the COVID 19 outbreak. This has led to food delivery apps tracking usage. However, it makes no financial sense to place an order for the delivery of food with integrated fees and limited time slots if you only need a few household items. This has sent consumers to convenience stores, which are considered indispensable even when local government orders are blocked.

Unfortunately, this means that consumers run the risk of being exposed to COVID-19 just because they need a roll of toilet paper, for example.

For less urgent household needs, consumers have placed Amazon orders. In fact, they shipped so many orders that Amazon even had to temporarily suspend its Amazon Pantry home delivery service because it became crater-like as the volume of orders increased.

DoorDash said testing of convenience store delivery began earlier this year, but the launch was accelerated in response to the COVID 19 pandemic as options for pickup and delivery services became critical.

At the start, the new convenience category is displayed in a banner at the top of the DoorDash app. You can then add items to your shopping cart as usual. The order is delivered to your front door via a contactless delivery option or can be picked up depending on availability.

"Local businesses have been forced to change the way they work, and we hope to use these efforts to support and empower franchisees and local convenience stores to reach customers through the DoorDash platform," the company said in a blog post Food Partnerships were written by Mike Goldblatt, Head of DoorDash, and Fuad Hannon, Head of New Business Verticals.

The company plans to add more convenience stores to the app every day as the category expands. If you don't see any options today, you can do so soon.