Radar 7 – Edition 7

8 Nov 2013

Radar7 is our recurring feature where we’ll highlight the top seven pieces of thought-provoking industry commentary that should be on your radar.

Why Facebook Is Teaching Its Machines to Think Like Humans

Many companies such as Facebook, Google, Baidu and Microsoft have been investing heavily in the development of algorithms that “understand” human behavior, trying to translate it meaningfully to gain further insight into user activity. This Wired article offers a lesson in “deep learning,” a new field Facebook is exploring to try and understand our nuanced language and behavior on a new level.

Sorting Out the Confusion Over Mobile Payments (video)

Alternative payment systems have largely struggled to generate significant market penetration, despite the hype, with a lack of standardization and issues with third parties regarding payment processing. This video at The Wall Street Journal describes tokenization by credit companies, a possible tool to assist with consumer confusion and potential security issues.

What urban people want from their smartphones (study)

A new Ericsson study of 7,500 people in New York, London, Tokyo, Beijing, and Sao Paulo suggests that urban residents want quality services relating to traffic assistance, shopping, eating out, and entertainment to all be available via their smartphone. This VentureBeat article highlights that the participants expect these capabilities within three years.

The Top 7 Technology Trends That Will Dominate 2014

Looking ahead to the new year, theories are starting to appear across the internet regarding the big trends of 2014. This Forbes article suggests that technology trends of the near future will be around innovations such as Smart TV, Google Glass, Apple’s TouchID, Xbox One and Playstation 4, 3D printing and natural language searching.

Show me the money: Advertising and the internet of things

Comparing and considering possible models for advertising in the connected age, GigaOM suggests that consumers with connected devices may experience techniques varying from interruptive ads to less intrusive, innovative methods in the near future.

Cloud: The Next Industrial Revolution

Few would argue the transformative power of the Cloud – but could it be the next revolution? Comparisons have been made in this All Things D article to draw attention to the transformative potential of the technology, arguing that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.”

Home Sweet Connected Home

While many find the concept of connected homes appealing, there is a lack of cohesive development harmony in this budding industry. This piece at ReadWrite argues that as vendors begin to standardize communication protocols and operating systems to build apps on, we will see innovation in the area accelerate.