Netflix partners with Microsoft for its ad-supported tier

Source: Netflix and Microsoft

Netflix recently announced it picked Microsoft to become its technology and sales partner for its new advertising-supported tier. This new tier should be a more affordable option for viewers while also drawing in additional revenue for the company. Its slowing growth has forced the streaming service to look at new ways to attract subscribers. And it is one solution it announced back in April after reporting a drop in its subscriber base.

The company set a tight time frame for this rollout, so it needed a third party to handle the sales and technology. Netflix has reportedly met with Google and Comcast, but these companies have rival streaming services. Microsoft will now be the exclusive server and seller of ads on Netflix. While Microsoft doesn't come to mind when you think about advertising sales, it generated US$10 billion in ad sales last year and bought Xandr, AT&T's ad business.

Click to read more ...

Google partners, invests with ADT to boost smart home security plans

Embed from Getty Images 

Google has announced a partnership and US$450 million investment into security firm ADT, giving it a 6.6% share of the company. The plan is to let ADT's technicians sell and install Google Nest products, which could help attract customers who are intimidated by setting up smart home products on their own. At the same time, ADT gets to use Google's smart home and AI technology expertise to develop its home security product range. Google wants to become the "cornerstone of ADT's smart home offering." 

"Over time, Nest's devices, powered by Google's machine learning capabilities, will enhance ADT's security monitoring," Google said. "The goal is to give customers fewer false alarms, more ways to receive alarm events and better detection of potential incidents inside and around the home." It isn't clear, though, if this partnership will extend beyond the US.

Source: Engadget

IBM to provide CANet with data analytics for cardiovascular research

IBM partners with the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) to provide an important tool for the digital age: data analytics. The partnership launches Heart-SIGN (System for Information Gathering and Networking), a cloud-based analytics platform designed to “manage, monitor, store, correlate, and analyze” data generated by all CANet research projects. CANet makes use of IBM BigInsights on Cloud and Watson Analytics to build the platform meant to inspire new ideas and share research related to heart rhythm disturbances. Heart-SIGN will serve as a data resource for research and clinical practice on arrhythmia. It can also help researchers identify specific needs of patients, track them through the system, and measure outcomes.

The platform is also designed to provide evidence-based recommended starting points to answer questions that might have taken researchers years to investigate. These are all put in a single, dynamic interface to help “achieve faster and more cohesive clinical outcomes.” Millions of people in Canada experience irregular heart rhythms or arrhythmias, with some experiencing sudden cardiac death and others getting disorders like atrial fibrillation and syncope.

Uber’s working with Volvo to further its autonomous driving initiative

Uber and Volvo have announced a new industrial partnership to help with the ride-hailing company’s autonomous driving program. Volvo has already sent some of the 100 cars they plan to send Uber before the year ends, plus they are working to create new vehicles designed to incorporate autonomous driving technology. But Volvo won’t be supplying the self-driving tech, Uber will be using the technology they’ve developed on their own, which the company plans to start public trials soon.

The new autonomous they will be working on will be using Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture, which is the same platform used by its XC90, S90, and V90 cars. This will be the main focus of the collaboration between the two companies. And both will be using said vehicle for their own autonomous vehicle development.

Source: The Verge