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Snapchat releases ‘Spectacles’ – Video-sharing sunglasses
Got $129 to spare and an unstoppable addiction to Snaps? Well you’re in luck, Snap.inc (Snapchat’s new name), is releasing Spectacles; snappy looking sunglasses which can record video which syncs straight with your smartphone, so everyone can see how genuinely great a time you’re having at that techno festival/colour run/street food market.

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So what exactly do we know about this latest hardware? Spectacles can record video in 10 second bursts and the camera has a 115 degree lens which mimics how humans see. The footage is shot in a circular format to help distinguish the footage from those squares on other platforms like Facebook. The battery will last for around a day and you can charge your specs in a dedicated case. But will you look like a total knob wearing them? Still unknown at this stage. Probably not recommended if you already wear glasses to, you know, see.

‘Snap to Unlock’ ads go live IRL
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Snapchat marketing codes or ‘Snapcodes’ have started appearing IRL, inviting people to scan them for promotional in-app add-ons. They are DEFINITELY NOT QR codes (they are pretty much QR codes). Can you guess which brand the above is from? No, not Smirnoff, it’s actually Universal Pictures promoting Girl On The Train.

Rumour has it that Twitter could be being sold
Twitter shares have soared after it has been reported that the company may be receiving formal bids from potential buyers including Google and Salesforce.com. Salesforce.com chief digital evangelist, Vala Afshar has tweeted: Screen Shot 2016-09-26 at 15.19.36

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I simply love butter Vala. Maybe I’ll make a bid for Lurpak.

Facebook admits miscalculating key video metric for two years
Whoops! Facebook made a boo-boo and the world is not happy about it. The platform has admitted over-estimating the average time users spend watching video on its platform by only counting users that watched at least three seconds. A media agency was told by Facebook that this has resulted in an over inflation of figures by between 60% and 80%.

So what’s the big deal? Well, it’s estimated that 85% of new digital ad spending goes to Facebook and Google because of their impressive metrics. Now it seems that this spend was allocated based on incorrect data. The industry is now calling for third-party measurement across all social platforms for added transparency.

As if by magic! Facebook rolls out new third-party measurement tools
Facebook has now announced a handful of partnerships with companies including Nielsen Catalina Solutions, Oracle Data Cloud, Visual IQ and Neustar MarketShare. The deals aim to help marketers see how effective cross-channel campaigns are in terms of return on investment. Brad Smallwood, VP of marketing science at Facebook, said the “people-based measurement” approach using third parties will give brands more accurate results.

… and adds new features to its dynamic ads
Facebook will now incorporate data about local product availability, pricing and special offers into its dynamic ads. The development is designed to make the format more appealing to businesses with brick-and-mortar stores. The idea is that instead of just showing you the product, the ad will direct you to a specific store where the product is available at a specific price. Then if the product sells out, the ad will start featuring something else from the store’s catalogue instead.

Google launches chat app Allo
Google has smashed onto the chat app scene with its new app Allo. Allo is different from the current market leaders Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger because it integrates AI capabilities into your chat, so you can search for a delicious Taco or your favourite YouTube vid while staying in the app and chatting with your pals.



We Are Social’s favourite strawberry blonde innovator Tom Ollerton thinks Allo’s features are “ahead of the game” saying:
In the future it will be commonplace for automated assistants to be present in our conversations, and Allo is the first example for consumers to try out.

Spotify and Tinder pair up to find your music match
Spotify is teaming up with Tinder to integrate your music preferences with your profile by letting you choose a “personal anthem” which tells your story in the hope that this will lure your next victim into swiping right for you. I’m screwed unless there are any other Celine Dion fans out there? (call me!).