Apple released its new iTunes Radio on September 18th 2013 in the U.S.A and five days after launch bragged that it “had 11 million unique listeners on its radio service”. (The Globe and Mail) This is a huge threat to the worlds most popular streaming music platform, Pandora, who has more than 80 million users and a library of around 800,000 songs. An apparent 50 percent of Pandora listeners require an apple device to tune into their radio service, giving Apple the advantage with their new iTunes Radio app. Apple “could suck away 15 per cent of Pandora’s “listening hours” over the next six months.” (Globe and Mail)

Most of the big named players in the radio streaming industry are not in Canada because for a while Canada thought that “radio streaming [isn’t] for us” (Globe and Mail) which means that Apples iTunes Radio will be among the first, beating Pandora, to stick its foot into the vast industry in Canada. Apple will also be making iTunes radio available to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and various Nordic countries. This new iTunes radio has already shown to be boosting Apples revenue as a result in a rise in its shares of 1 percent. Apple plans to expand their new radio feature to hundreds of different countries over the years with their catchy slogan, “hear where your music takes you” (Apple) iTunes radio will be a great thing to come to Canada because the vast majority of people already own iPhones and users will now feel like an unlimited amount of music streaming capability is right at their finger tips.

Sources: Apple http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-radio/

The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gadgets-and-gear/gadgets/apple-will-bring-itunes-radio-streaming-music-to-canada-report-says/article14740224/

Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-07/apple-said-to-expand-itunes-radio-to-u-k-before-pandora.html

Vehicles with Wi-Fi capability are the next big thing that is soon to arrive in Canada. Launched in the U.S last year, this new technology will be available to Canadians in 2014. Rogers Communications Inc. is partnering with Sprint Corp to start the process of developing a car with wireless internet capacity that enables drivers to access the internet right in their car no matter where they are on the road.

This new “connected car” will virtually turn peoples cars into moving living rooms where they will have the ability to use a touch screen dashboard to access weather networks, news, YouTube, Google, etc. The Sprint Velocity technology along with Rogers wireless capability will not only allow people to access the internet but they’ll be able to remotely start their engines from their smartphones thus giving them the ability to heat up their car before hand for those cold wintery days. Roger, along with many other corporate giants, look at this as a huge revenue stream in the very near future because more and more “drivers demand vehicles with the same technology and services they have at home.” (BNN)

As of now not much is known for pricing for the use of Rogers Wi-Fi in vehicles, but they are leaning towards the idea of being able to add it onto an already existing family share plan for convenience and consumers preference. No matter the device, they should all be on the same Rogers family plan; smart phones, tablets, and now even cars. I look forward to seeing this new car technology in Canada in action come 2014!

Source: BNN http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/9/26/WiFi-enabled-vehicles-coming-to-Canada.aspx

Twitter is working hard to implant itself into the TV advertising economy and in recent months has partnered itself “with television content owners such as CBS, MTV and the NFL through a program it calls Amplify.” (Canadian Business) They seek to up their TV advertisement revenue stream from its current %1 to a potential %5-15 over the next couple of years. Twitter is pursuing to undertake a bigger role in the TV advertising economy because their statistics show that it generates thousands of tweets about live TV shows every hour. For example, “the recent finale of “Breaking Bad” generated a record 1.24 million tweets. The conversation peaked at 22,373 tweets per minute according to analytics firm SocialGuide.” (Canadian Business)

With constant and growing consumer interacting between live TV shows and thousands of tweets, Twitter is looking to use their social networking platform in ways that allows marketers to directly connect with consumers by allowing them to “beam real time video-clips to Twitter users who may have seen —or could be interested in — their TV programming.” (Canadian Business) In conclusion, twitter will be used as another social face for mobile TV advertisement and look to use this as an advantage over Facebook who as of now says they aren’t seeking to earn revenue from TV partnerships but instead “focus on helping people discover great content”. (Canadian Business)

Source: Canadian Business http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/twitter-tunes-into-tv-chatter-sees-future-in-advertising-partnerships-2/