The COMUNICANO for Monday September 3rd 2018

I decided to resume sharing my newsletter with the blog readers. Of course you can subscribe by going to this page.     September 3 · Issue #376 · View online Amazon’s Alexa is going EVERYWHERE…..Chromebooks are spelling doom and gloom for Apple, Microsoft….Google Express slows down…..Cord Cutting offers a better experience….DOJ cracks down on bench and switch visa workers….California fights FCC over net neutrality……Google … Read more

Apple Fortunes May Be Changing

In the movie "Wall Street" the phrase, "Greed is good" has defined a culture for many years. The "Apple App Tax" where the Cupertino giant takes thirty percent of in-app purchases is a wonderful example of Gordon Gecko's now infamous line in the film. On one hand, Apple wants to make as much money as possible, … Read more

Verizon Huffed and Puffed and Blew The Firefighters Off

Verizon really has a fire on their hands reputation wise after the issue surrounding a fire departments' data plan being slowed down as their crews were helping with the massive fire in Mendocino. This underscore corporate customer service ignorance and product management stupidity at the highest of levels. Emergency services and first responders are invaluable … Read more

Outdated Content is Friday’s Fish

Repurposed from LinkedIn It invariably happens. You are about to do something with software or a SaaS based service that you've never done before and you need help. You don't need the IT department or the IT Person to help you, as you're smart enough to know how to read instructions. You surf over to … Read more

AI, Voice and Transcription

Longtime media maven Jeremy Wagstaff, who has done stints with the WSJ and other legit media, has penned a very insightful piece about Voice AI and Transcription. In the post, Jeremy highlights services that are doing decent work in the AI-assisted transcription industry. I read this with a keen interest, as my agency's very first technology … Read more

Cloud Telecom Edges Into Legacy Carriers

While no one would accuse Telenor of possessing a legacy carrier mentality, as they did birth Appear.In and other VoIP based properties, they like so many of their fellow telephone companies have done for years, they're outsourcing VoIP and packaging it up, as a white label play. They've gone with San Diego VoIP innovator, VoxOx. … Read more

Facebook Takes Aim at Yodlee

A series of stories about Facebook and their interest in banking all basically say the same thing. That banks may be willing to share information with the social media giant. One angle I didn't see come through was the impact on Yodlee. For years, Yodlee has been a key data interchange player in the banking world. … Read more

Boingo Buys Into the Apartment Market

In what may be overlooked by some as "just another acquisition" former Comunicano client (right up to the IPO) Boingo made a very shrewd buy today that gets them into the growing apartment and condominium market quickly. Long the provider of choice in airports, shopping malls and office buildings, this expands their reach into apartment … Read more

Uber’s Most Important Asset-People

Uber, the ridesharing service has been making a ton of mistakes, but the biggest one is ignoring the most important asset they have. People. Recently they announced a deal with Cargo, to put snacks and other products on sale inside their drivers cars. There's only one problem with that. They never told the drivers. In … Read more

Tsahi on The TokBox Acquisition

I read Tsahi's well thought out post about the recent TokBox acquisition. Overall I found very little to disagree with, and appreciated the candor about the global carriers in ability to execute. Let's face it. The legacy folks have been making money off of services like landline and dial tone for years. The mobile folks … Read more