Keep reading to find out all the mobile details, and more, in this month’s digital marketing round-up!
iOS 11 is available
As of September 19th, iPhone and iPad customers around the world are now able to update their devices to iOS 11, a major update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system and the biggest software release ever for iPad. iOS 11 brings augmented reality to hundreds of millions of iOS devices and new professional capabilities improve images in Photos and Camera. Siri is more natural and useful and a redesigned App Store makes it easier to discover apps and games.
The future is here: iPhone X
On September 12th, Apple announced iPhone X, the future of the smartphone, in a gorgeous all-glass design with a beautiful 5.8-inch Super Retina display, A11 Bionic chip, wireless charging and an improved rear camera with dual optical image stabilization. iPhone X delivers an innovative and secure new way for customers to unlock, authenticate and pay using Face ID, enabled by the new TrueDepth camera. iPhone X will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, October 27 in more than 55 countries and territories, and in stores beginning Friday, November 3.
Google buys big piece of HTC in billion-dollar bet on devices
Google is biting off a big piece of device manufacturer HTC for $1.1 billion US ($1.4 billion Cdn) to expand its efforts to build phones, speakers and other gadgets equipped with its arsenal of digital services.
The company is buying the HTC team that built the Pixel smartphone for Google in a cash deal, they said in a joint statement Thursday. Google is also getting a non-exclusive license for Taiwan-based HTC’s intellectual property to help support Pixel phones.
Google teases about Pixel 2 Release
Tired of hearing about the iPhone X? Google clearly is, as the Mountain View company has just debuted a new marketing campaign and website that urges viewers to “ask more.” The new landing page is part of the madeby.google.com subdomain, and it carries the teasing tagline of “thinking about changing phones?”
They’ve scheduled a Live Event for October 4th. Catch it all here.
Facebook bans monetization on all videos depicting violence and tragedy
Posted on their blog earlier this month, Facebook says it will change its guidelines on who can earn money through Facebook, as well as what kinds of content are acceptable to monetize.
First, the company says it’s laying out a new set of guidelines on what violates its policies for monetization programs like Branded Content and Instant Articles. Those rules go from the general — a ban on depictions of death, even if used for “educational” purposes — to the more specific: the first bullet on the list is a ban on the use of children’s characters engaged in “violent, sexualized, or otherwise inappropriate behavior.” Other monetization bans extend to depictions of violence or explicit acts.
Google is offering Mobile Web Specialist Certification for $99
Prove your mobile web skills by earning a Mobile Web Specialist Certification. Earning this certification will be a definitive step in your career as a Mobile Web Developer, and you can add your electronic certification badge to your resume, website, or online profiles.
Customizable, collaborative dashboards to arrive within AdWords
In an effort to consolidate data while providing each advertiser their own important KPI stats, Google is launching dashboards to within their AdWords product. As an advertiser, your first thought might be that this already exists within the “home” tab of an account. The difference with customization “Home” modules and “dashboard” information is that instead of enabling standardized modules, dashboards will allow for customizable tables and charts that can be created from scratch on the spot. Best yet? These dashboards can be shared.
YouTube opens up Twitch-style subscriptions to more creators
YouTube is expanding Sponsorships, its relatively new service that lets viewers pay creators a monthly subscription fee in exchange for exclusive perks. The program, which existed only in beta prior to today, will now be available to any channel in the YouTube Gaming mobile app, a Twitch competitor that encourages gaming personalities to live-stream their play sessions and post edited recordings of gameplay footage. Sponsorships will also be available for non-gaming channels across all of YouTube in a limited beta testing phase starting today.
Google updating Transparency Report and electronic privacy laws
Google is releasing the latest version of their Transparency Report concerning government requests for user data. This includes government requests for user data in criminal cases, as well as national security matters under U.S. law. Google fought for the right to publish this information in court and before Congress, and they continue to believe that this type of transparency can inform the broader debate about the nature and scope of government surveillance laws and programs.
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Thanks for checking out September’s Digital Marketing Round-up!
