Up Periscope: The rise of live streaming
With the likes of Meerkat, Periscope and even Facebook offering mobile broadcast tools, live streaming will become more popular in the year ahead, according to new data.
Mobile
Huge increase in online shoppers lifts John Lewis
John Lewis managed to win over Christmas shoppers thanks to its impressive website, but its sister brand Waitrose failed to entice enough customers to beat last year’s festive sales figures.
Oculus Rift goes on sale in March for $599
Facebook has confirmed a March date for the consumer launch its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, priced at a hefty $599 (plus shipping costs).
The rise of voice search: Youngsters talking to their phones
For most consumers, voice-powered search tools on mobile are yet to make a big impact; according to Global Web Index’ global data from our 34 markets, less than a fifth of online adults are regularly using them, putting them some distance behind traditional search engines.
Half of consumers ‘would pay extra for a privacy-friendly app’
Over two fifths of global mobile consumers are are “reluctant sharers” of their personal data, but 21% of mobile users currently take no action to secure their device, according to new research.
Virgin Active targets New Year gym goers with #emojivation emojis
To coincide with the surge in New Year’s gym sign ups, Virgin Active has created an ‘emojivation pack’ to help people share how they get active across social media platforms.
Twitter mulls ditching 140 character limit
Twitter is considering ditching its 140-character limit in tweets, expanding it to a whopping 10,000 characters.
Facebook ‘deliberately broke’ Android apps in user experiment
After its controversial ‘sadness’ experiment back in 2014, Facebook is facing new criticism for playing with users’ feelings- this time by breaking its app on purpose.
European app trends: The year of the emoji
Last year was the year of the emoji, with phablets set to dominate 2016 and productivity apps on the rise, according to new data from Flurry.
Sat navs get smarter: Garmin focuses on ‘driver awareness’
Garmin has launched a new line of Sat Navs with a focus on ‘driver awareness’, keeping users informed of hazards they may not have spotted yet.