Tag: alexa

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Connected Car Mobile Apps Smart Home Smart TVs

CES 2018

Next week, jācapps will be at the Consumer Electronic Show 2018 in Las Vegas. CES 2018 is a must for anyone wanting a glimpse of the newest gadgets, toys, car tech and more. As you’d expect, AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) will be hot topics of conversation.
Smartphone technology, as always, will be at the center of much of the technology exhibited at the show. Smart speakers, the hot gift to give of this holiday season, and the voice control technology behind them will be another theme of the show.
Not only will we be exploring what the future of technology holds, our sister company, Jacobs Media, will be leading a select group of radio industry leaders on an exclusive tour of CES. We are looking forward to next week’s event and hope to see you there!
Our founder, Fred Jacobs, talked to the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, Gary Shapiro, about this year’s show. Check that out here.
To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

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Mobile Apps

2017: A Year In Review

Infographic concept 2017 year of opportunities. New global trends and perspectives in online search, internet tools for business and project management. Vector illustration in thin line style.

As we approach the end of the year, we want to express our appreciation for our clients and their business in 2017. Many of our clients put their trust in us when we were a small upstart.  With their support, we have been able to take that trust and invest it in people and new products in order to become a full-service software company.  That investment has created tremendous growth as our team doubled in size and we added a variety of new capabilities. We could not have done that our amazing clients. Here is a brief overview of where we are and what the future holds:

  • There was great interest in our App Everywhere® program as many of our clients added support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into their apps.
  • We also added Alexa skills and are proud to have developed skills for close to 100 clients. If you saw our recent “smart speaker” study, it’s clear developing at-home presence will be a big deal next year,
  • In 2018, the App Everywhere® program will grow as we add products for devices like Google Home, AppleTV and Roku.
  • We’ll also be adding other new capabilities including push messaging and analytics.

All of these solutions are because our clients told us they needed them, and we really value the many ways in which they make us better.
2017 brought us a flurry of new mobile devices – the iPhone8, iPhoneX, the Galaxy S8 and Pixel 2, along with an upgraded iOS, and our platform was upgraded to handle this flawlessly. Our team is now focused on modernizing the platform to ensure it performs perfectly into the future.
In 2018, we hope to become more than just your mobile app developer. We are now providing web solutions and applications, and with the hiring of Research Director Jason Hollins, will roll out a package of research services, including usability, surveys, focus groups, and more.
We recently teamed up with our sister company, Jacobs Media Strategies, and Sonic Ai to conduct a national online study examining consumer interest in voice-controlled smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home during the 2017 holiday season, take a look at our results here.
One thing we’ve learned after nine years in the mobile business is that it never sleeps, so we can’t either. Stay tuned as our products grow and evolve, and you should always feel free to call us to discuss any element of your digital strategy, share ideas or needs you may have, or just talk about the mobile space.
On behalf of our wonderful jācapps team, we wish you health and happiness in the coming new year! Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more.

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Alexa Amazon Echo Google Home Mobile Apps Smart Home

Consumer spending within app stores is expected to hit $110 billion in 2018

Consumer spending within all app stores is anticipated to surpass $110 billion in 2018, with a shift in popularity of app categories. Entertainment apps have typically gained more popularity with consumers, but need-based apps (e.g., food delivery, payments, etc.) are on the rise. Need-based apps are usually discovered through word of mouth, but more consumers have begun seeking them out to help simplify their daily lives. Additionally, Apple and Google have begun work to reorganize their app stores in an effort to make newer apps more discoverable to users, which is likely to promote more downloads.
Popularity of AR apps will also be on the rise in the new year. Facebook, Google and Apple previously announced they are working to expand their AR capabilities. This type of expansion will open up the app stores for more developers to publish AR apps, generating more excitement from users.

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Astonishingly, downloads for Amazon’s Alexa app surged from 1 million to 3 million within just 3 months last year. This year’s trends are expected to show a growth well beyond that mark as more virtual assistants have been released before the holiday season.
We at jācapps wish you and yours Happy Holidays and look forward to speaking with you about your mobile needs in the new year! Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more.

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Alexa Amazon Echo Google Home Radio Smart Home Techsurvey

Smart speakers are this year's trending gifts

UX

We recently collaborated with our sister company, Jacobs Media and Sonic Ai on a national study regarding smart speakers. Our online study shows that one in five (20%) respondents age 13 and older with Internet access plan to purchase a voice-controlled smart speaker such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home during the 2017 holiday season.
Notably, more than one in six online households (18%) now own at least one smart speaker, with 40% of this group already having two or more of the devices in their household. Smart speaker owners are also especially likely to purchase another of these voice command gadgets for themselves or as a gift this holiday season. In fact, six in ten smart speaker owners (61%) plan to purchase at least one more device during this all-important gift-buying cycle.
The study also shows that one in ten online households (11%) specifically owns an Alexa-enabled Amazon smart speaker such as the Echo, Echo Dot and Show devices; the majority of these owners (69%) have at least one Alexa “skill” enabled, while 45% have two or more Alexa “skills” enabled.
Bob Kernen, COO of jācapps, notes, “With Black Friday and Cyber Monday now in the rearview mirror, both Amazon and Google continue to compete heavily to get as many of their smart speakers, now at their lowest price points ever, into as large a number of households as possible. This data strongly suggests smart speaker ownership will take off in the coming weeks.”
“Smart speakers are clearly the must-have gadget for the holidays. Like anything else, habits will form quickly which is the remarkable opportunity for broadcasters and podcasters. They need a smart audio strategy for smart speakers,” said Steve Goldstein, co-founder of Sonic Ai.
We can develop Alexa skills for your business. Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more!

Categories
Alexa Amazon Echo Google Home Radio Smart Home Techsurvey

Smart speakers are this year’s trending gifts

UX

We recently collaborated with our sister company, Jacobs Media and Sonic Ai on a national study regarding smart speakers. Our online study shows that one in five (20%) respondents age 13 and older with Internet access plan to purchase a voice-controlled smart speaker such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home during the 2017 holiday season.

Notably, more than one in six online households (18%) now own at least one smart speaker, with 40% of this group already having two or more of the devices in their household. Smart speaker owners are also especially likely to purchase another of these voice command gadgets for themselves or as a gift this holiday season. In fact, six in ten smart speaker owners (61%) plan to purchase at least one more device during this all-important gift-buying cycle.

The study also shows that one in ten online households (11%) specifically owns an Alexa-enabled Amazon smart speaker such as the Echo, Echo Dot and Show devices; the majority of these owners (69%) have at least one Alexa “skill” enabled, while 45% have two or more Alexa “skills” enabled.

Bob Kernen, COO of jācapps, notes, “With Black Friday and Cyber Monday now in the rearview mirror, both Amazon and Google continue to compete heavily to get as many of their smart speakers, now at their lowest price points ever, into as large a number of households as possible. This data strongly suggests smart speaker ownership will take off in the coming weeks.”

“Smart speakers are clearly the must-have gadget for the holidays. Like anything else, habits will form quickly which is the remarkable opportunity for broadcasters and podcasters. They need a smart audio strategy for smart speakers,” said Steve Goldstein, co-founder of Sonic Ai.

We can develop Alexa skills for your business. Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more!