The Microsoft Launcher for Android now lets you track your kids’ whereabouts

Microsoft is launching an update to its Android launcher today that gives parents the ability to track their kids’ location. This is one out of a number of parent- and kid-focused announcements the company made today. Others include the ability to block sites in Microsoft Edge on Android and the launch of MSN Kids, a new curated news website for children.

At the core of these new features are Microsoft’s family group settings that already allowed you to do things like track a child’s activity on Windows 10 and Xbox One devices or limit screen time in general.

“As a mother to a young and curious daughter, I deeply understand the need for tools to help balance the use of technology in the home as well as out of the home,” writes Shilpa Ranganathan, the General Manager of Microsoft’s Mobile Experiences group, in today’s announcement. “It’s especially near and dear to me as leader of a team building experiences for mobile devices. We emphasize the idea of transparency as a guiding principle for these new experiences.”

The new tracking tool is rolling out with today’s update of the Microsoft Launcher for Android and will put the latest known location of your kids right in its personalized news feed.

I’m not sure how useful blocking access to sites in Edge for Android really is, but if you manage to lock your kids out from Chrome or any other pre-installed browser — and block them from downloading them — then I guess this could work.

As for MSN Kids, Microsoft notes that the site will curate information from trusted sources, including Time for Kids, Popular Science, Sports Illustrated for Kids, National Geographic, and USA TODAY. It’s worth noting that there is no sponsored content or advertising on the site.

 

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/31/the-microsoft-launcher-for-android-now-lets-you-track-your-kids-whereabouts/

AWS launches pay-per-session pricing for its QuickSight BI tool

Amazon QuickSight, the company’s business intelligence tool for AWS, launched back in 2015, but it’s hard to say how much impact the service has made in the highly competitive BI market. The company has far from given up on this project, though, and today, it’s introducing a new pay-per-session pricing plan for access to QuickSight dashboards that is surely meant to give it a bit of a lift in a market where Tableau and Microsoft’s Power BI have captured much of the mindshare.

Under the new pricing plan, creating and publishing dashboards will stay cost $18 per user and month. For readers, though, who only need to have access to these dashboards, AWS now offers a very simple option: they will now pay $0.30 per session up to a maximum of $5 per month and user. Under this scheme, a session is defined as the first 30 minutes from login.

Previously, AWS offered two tiers of QuickSight plans: a $9 per user/month standard plan and a $24/user/month enterprise edition with support for Active Directory and encryption at rest.

That $9/user/month is still available and probably still makes sense for smaller companies where those who build dashboards and consume them are often the same person. The new pricing plan replaces the existing enterprise edition.

QuickSight already significantly undercuts the pricing of services like Tableau and others, though we’re also talking about a somewhat more limited feature set. This new pay-per-session offering only widens the pricing gap.

“With highly scalable object storage in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), data warehousing at one-tenth the cost of traditional solutions in Amazon Redshift, and serverless analytics offered by Amazon Athena, customers are moving data into AWS at an unprecedented pace,” said Dorothy Nicholls, Vice President of Amazon QuickSight at AWS, in a canned comment. “What’s changed is that virtually all knowledge workers want easy access to that data and the insights that can be derived. It’s been cost-prohibitive to enable that access for entire companies until the Amazon QuickSight pay-per-session pricing — this is a game-changer in terms of information and analytics access.”

Current QuickSight users include the NFL, Siemens, Volvo and AutoTrader.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/31/aws-launches-pay-per-session-pricing-for-its-quicksight-bi-tool/

"What do I get?"

When people are confused, unengaged or dubious, it's probably because you haven't answered a very simple question to their satisfaction.

The answer doesn't have to be direct (quid pro quo doesn't scale very well) but it must be clear enough to be understood.

Marketing is often the craft of using symbols and inferences to make it very clear to people what they're going to get.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/549181818/0/sethsblog~What-do-I-get.html

Australians will no longer be able to order from Amazon’s American site

Starting in July, Australians will be blocked from ordering items on Amazon’s United States site. The company said today that shoppers in Australia will be redirected to its local site, Amazon.com.au, and that its international sites, including Amazon.com, will no longer ship to Australian addresses. The change is in response to a new tax regulation that goes into effect on July 1 and requires businesses earning more than $75,000 AUD a year to charge Australia’s 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on low value items imported by consumers.

Called the “Amazon tax,” the new policy was introduced following concerns about the impact of Amazon and other large overseas e-commerce businesses on Australian retailers, who have to apply GST to all products they sell. A loophole in tax regulations, however, means that the GST is currently applied only to items purchased from overseas retailers if they are worth $1,000 AUD or more, which many local companies argued gave Amazon, eBay and other overseas competitors an unfair advantage.

Amazon launched its Australian site last December and says it currently has 60 million products, a fraction of the estimated 500 million products that are listed on Amazon’s U.S. site. As a placation, Australian customers will also have access to 4 million products that were previously available only on Amazon.com through its new Global Store.

In a statement emailed to TechCrunch, an Amazon spokesperson said:

“As a result of changes to Australian GST law on 1 July, international shopping options for Australian customers will change.

While we regret any inconvenience this may cause customers, we have had to assess the workability of the legislation as a global business with multiple international sites. Based on our assessment, we will redirect Australian customers from our international sites to amazon.com.au where they can shop for products sold by Amazon US on the new Global Store, available today. This will allow us to provide our customers with continued access to international selection and remain compliant with the law which requires us to collect and remit GST on products sold on Amazon sites that are shipped from overseas.”

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/30/australians-will-no-longer-be-able-to-order-from-amazons-american-site/

Amazon will now directly pay top Alexa ‘kid’ skill developers in the U.K. and Germany

Amazon is expanding its program that pays developers directly for their top-performing Alexa skills, by now offering these “developer rewards,” as they’re called, to those based in the U.K. and Germany who publish “kid” skills. This emerging skill category was one of the last to be included in the developer rewards program, which already offered payments for top skills in over half a dozen other categories, including Education & Reference; Food & Drink; Games, Trivia & Accessories; Health & Fitness; Lifestyle; Music & Audio; and Productivity.

The developer rewards program quietly launched just over a year ago, as a way to encourage developers to build voice apps for Alexa before the ecosystem had expanded to include support for other monetization options like the in-app purchases and subscriptions offered today. The program helped to seed Amazon’s skill store with more content, while also rewarding quality apps that gain traction with consumers.

The initiative has seemingly had an impact – Alexa is now adding 5,000 new skills every 100 days, and reached over 30,000 in the U.S. as of March.

Amazon says today it has since paid out “millions” to developers in 23 countries as a result of this program.

Some individual voice app developers, like game maker Volley, have reported earning in the five-figure range on a monthly basis from Amazon’s program, to give you an idea of the payout potential.

With the expansion to Kids skills in the U.K. and Germany, the hope is now to encourage U.S. developers to roll out their app (or localize it) for other markets.

Making other markets a priority will be important for Amazon, as the smart speaker race heats up outside the U.S. Earlier this month, analysts at Canalys noted that U.S. smart speaker market share fell below 50 percent for the first time. Notably, Google outsold Amazon for the first time as well, with 3.2 million Google Home and Home Minis sold to Amazon’s 2.5 million Echo shipments.

This also comes on the heels of Amazon’s launch of an Echo Dot Kids Edition, which combines Echo Dot hardware with a FreeTiime Unlimited subscription for kid-safe content, including, now, the ability to whitelist voice apps.

In addition to the inclusion of kid skills in the developer rewards, Amazon also announced a new perk for developers: free Echo devices. If the skill gains 100 customers in the first 30 days live, developers earn an Echo Dot. If it has the most unique users that month, they earn an Echo Spot. And just for publishing, they’ll receive an Amazon Alexa backpack. These are limited time promotions, however – more details are here (U.K.) and here (Germany).

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/30/amazon-will-now-directly-pay-top-alexa-kid-skill-developers-in-the-u-k-and-germany/

Amazon begins nationwide expansion of Whole Foods discounts for Prime members

Amazon introduced 10 percent savings at Whole Foods for Prime members earlier this month, and today it kicked off a nationwide expansion of the initiative.

The Prime Whole Foods discount — one of a number of measures following Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods — has expanded to 12 more states, including northern California, Colorado and Texas, with more set to follow soon.

The collaboration is yet another reason to subscribe to Amazon Prime, and the compelling package for consumers gives retailers — both online and offline — further reason to fear Amazon.

The offer was launched in Florida first but this expansion is the first of a wave that are designed to allow Prime customers across the entire U.S. to get discounts at Whole Foods and Whole Foods Market 365 stores by the end of this summer. Whole Foods currently has over 470 stores in the U.S., Canada and U.K. combined, but the majority — 463 to be precise — are in the U.S so there’s plenty of work to cover that entire patch.

The discount is also possible for customers who use the Whole Foods delivery service, which is also part of the Amazon app. Prime members get free delivery if their order is $35 or more, and there’s a two-hour delivery window.

Amazon’s nationwide expansion of Prime discounts at Whole Foods has begun

“From delicious dinner options like shrimp or rotisserie chicken to fresh organic raspberries, we’re offering savings on products customers love and can enjoy with their families. Exclusive deals like the sustainably-caught halibut were a huge hit in Florida, and we’re excited to partner with our suppliers to bring Prime members even more discounts on seasonal favorites and everyday staples,” A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods Market president and COO, said in a statement.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/30/amazon-expands-whole-foods-discounts-for-prime-members/

More better math

Math’s important. It’s elegant. It’s a magical way to deal with abstract concepts on your way to finding out the provable truth. There's not enough math in the world.

Math isn’t the same as arithmetic. Basic arithmetic is necessary, but everything beyond that is simply easily-graded compliance disguised as busy-work.

A high school principal told me that there’s a high correlation between students who fail to complete algebra and those that drop out of school before graduation. It’s not surprising if you think about it—factoring polynomials is a totally useless activity that only demonstrates that you’re good at school.

What would happen if we introduced variables and intuitive algebra and then immediately switched gears to probabilities (gambling and decision making) and statistics (sports, predictions and understanding the world as it is and it might be.)

What would a year of hands-on truth-finding do for a class of freshman? What mathematical and vocational doors would it open?

Every day we spend teaching hand factoring of binomials to non-math majors is another day we raise mathematically illiterate kids. What are we waiting for?

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/548927842/0/sethsblog~More-better-math.html

Up or out?

We have a choice, a chance to engage with two different environments.

There's the 'up or out' competitive mindset of the soccer squad. Every game you re-earn your spot on the team, or find yourself on the bench.

And there's the fortress, the sinecure, the satisfying feeling of knowing that we're safe. Or at least that we feel safe. This is my desk, my office and my job. When something interrupts that apparently secure perch, it feels a little bit like dying. Don't touch my stapler.

In the fast-moving world of 'up' is also the promise of possibility, the freedom to innovate, the requirement to be generous in your work. Out isn't nearly as important, it turns out, as forward.

Soccer is a zero-sum, winner/loser finite game. But life, it turns out, is a magical opportunity for up, and for forward.

While the sinecure demands little but compliance.

Here's the key question: Which feeling/experience/state do you look back on fondly? Which one engages you, challenges you, makes you the best version of yourself?

When you tell yourself your story—the story of last week, last month or last year—is it about how boring and secure life has become?

What you learn isn't up to someone else's curriculum or syllabus any more--it's on you, on each of us, to decide what's next, to decide who we will become. We're not in fifth grade, wondering if something is going to be on the test.

It used to be that only 10,000 people a year could learn from a top business school, that executive education cost more than a car, that strategies and insights were closely guarded secrets. Now, they're available to those willing to make the commitment.

That commitment is a choice. It's the choice to become a bigger contributor, to stand a little taller, to make a bigger difference.

Up isn't always what we're going to get. Sometimes, we challenge ourselves and fail. But the alternative, the non-choice of sitting still and hoping we'll be ignored in our little sinecure, isn't much of an alternative at all.

In this moment, this summer, right now, each of us has the chance for a bit more up. The chance to connect, to inspire and even to leap.

 

Today is the last/best day (the deadline) to apply for this summer's altMBA. This is what it feels like to level up.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/548738304/0/sethsblog~Up-or-out.html

Excellence

If you knew,

and you could see the world through the eyes of the customer,

and you really cared...

What would you do?

That's a simple test of creating excellence.

So, if I'm on hold for 56 minutes with Orbitz, does the CEO know? Is that ever a desired outcome?

Does the engineer who shipped a hackable voting machine know that it's hackable? 

The plumber who finished the job and left the hot/cold controls in reverse position... did he care enough?

Excellence cuts through bureaucracy and status quo and excuses and asks a simple question:

What would you do if you knew?

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/548554452/0/sethsblog~Excellence.html

Amazon leads $12M investment in India-based digital insurance startup Acko

Amazon appears to be restarting its funding efforts in India after Acko, the digital insurance startup in India, confirmed that the U.S. retail giant led a new round of funding for its business.

Amazon — which has been linked with an Acko investment since the start of this year — backed lending startup Capital Float last month, and now it has led a $12 million funding round for Acko alongside Ashish Dhawan, the founder of PE firm ChrysCapital, and existing backer Catamaran Ventures. The deal takes Acko to $42 million raised to date.

Acko was founded in late 2016 by Varun Dua, one of the co-founders of insurance comparison site Coverfox. With Acko, Dua is taking a deeper step into insurance with a digital-only business aimed at disrupting the $10 billion industry in India by leveraging the growth of internet access in India to democratize coverage and develop more relevant products.

Significant funding and big name partners

The company got off to a good start when investors pumped $30 million into it last year, before it had even acquired a license to offer insurance. (That came in September.) Fast-forward 12 months to today, and Acko has covered the traditional space of automobile insurance policies, and a newer category ‘internet economy’ since January. It’s that latter focus that appeals to Amazon via this deal, which Dua told TechCrunch came about after Acko began talking to Amazon as a potential insurance partner.

Acko has gone after big name partnerships in its pursuit of internet economy deals, which Dua said primarily consists of e-commerce, ride-hailing and travel site-focused products. In April, Acko launched passenger insurance for Uber-rival Ola’s ride-hailing service, which covers riders for obvious items like minor accidents, and eventualities like missing a flight due to traffic delays. The insurance claim system is built into the Ola app to simplify the process for users.

“We know from user behavior experience that passengers tend to contact Ola when they have issues, so we wanted to set up a pretty seamless claims process that’s reasonable integrated,” Dua told TechCrunch in an interview, adding that Acko has covered more than 10 million Ola trips so far.

The company is likely to work with Amazon around e-commerce coverage — the first focus of which will be around gadget protection — although nothing is set in stone yet.

“The idea is to find some way to collaborate in the future,” Dua explained. “We’re a new age insurance company and [Amazon] believes it can create value. They see that bundling financial service or something in the lending space [may] happen [in the future] given the data and numbers of users they sit on.”

Acko already offers special deals for Amazon customers

Despite a fierce e-commerce battle in India, Acko isn’t restricted by this deal with Amazon.

Dua said Amazon “completely wants [Acko] to grow independently and it hasn’t laid down any conditions” that might prevent it from working with rivals like Flipkart. Indian media reported that Acko had been in investment talks with Flipkart — which Amazon’s U.S. foe Walmart has agreed to buy a majority stake in — but Dua declined to comment on that rumor.

India has emerged as a key market for Amazon, yet it has backed fewer than half a dozen startups, including home services company HouseJoy, financial comparison service BankBazaar and gift card startup QwikCilver, and acquired just one: payment platform Emvantage in 2016. However, with Capital Float in April and Acko in May, Amazon may be back with renewed vigor.

Dua confirmed that this newest funding round “wasn’t an extremely planned capital raise” but adding Amazon gives the business a further validation.

He said that Acko is aiming to raise a significant funding round next year which would be used to give it a war chest — capital is an important requisite for an insurance provider — and execute on its strategy for the following three years or so. The company has held ongoing talks with undisclosed global insurance firms, Dua said, and that may manifest in a participation in the planned round.

Working with regulators

Part of the current focus is bringing a new online approach to traditional insurance, whilst also figuring out new types of cover that apply to today’s digital age. That’s necessitated a relationship with Indian regulators, and an avoidance of traditional startup practices like the hackneyed (but often true) ‘move fast and break things’ approach to product development and user growth.

“A lot of the thing we want to attempt are new and the regulation isn’t always there,” Dua told TechCrunch. “We have to ensure regulators are on board rather than jumping the gun and facing any backlash later.”

Dua added that typically regulators require two months to sign off on new products — like the Ola micro-insurance for passengers — but that communication lines remain ongoing, and often further clarification is required on Acko’s part.

The company’s Bombay office directs the regulator dialogue and related areas such as compliance, finance and auditing. Acko’s other office in Bangalore houses product development, marketing and tech teams. The startup’s total headcount has grown to around 100, Dua said, with a tech team of around 40 whose priorities include developing claims systems, pricing models and integrating with partners such as Ola and potentially Amazon and Flipkart further down the line.

Acko is an ambitious digital play to disrupt India’s $10B insurance industry

Acko was one of the first insurers to go all in on digital — certainly at its scale — and Dua said over the past year he has heard of new challengers lining up funding, whilst traditional insurers are taking aim at online by breaking out new business units. In his eyes, Acko has a head start on other digital-only outfits — in terms of timing and funding — while he believes traditional players typical struggle with tech talent and have their eyes on legacy businesses which bring in the bulk of their revenue.

Still, he sees these moves as further validations of Acko’s goal of fully digital insurance.

“I genuinely think it’s possible to create a billion-dollar income in five to six years,” he said. “There have been three insurance model generations world: the global retail commercial risk like AIG, progressives such as DirectLine and now there’s a third-way with the likes of [$3 billion-valued U.S. startup] Oscar, [SoftBank-backed] Lemonade and [China’s] Zhong An.

“When we look at India as a market, generation two and three are both missing — there’s a lot of innovation potential in terms of pricing, distribution, claims efficiency and more.”

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/27/amazon-acko-12-million-investment/

After the hiccup

Most customer relationships don't stumble because something went wrong. Your best customers know that mistakes happen.

It's what happens next that can cripple the relationship.

How we recover from a miss is where the possibilities lie. If you're open, engaged and focused on making things better, the door is open to build a resilient, ongoing partnership. Not just for customers, but for all the people we work with and count on.

Too often, we're so focused on not hiccuping, or so filled with shame and blame when we do that we fail to allocate enough emotional labor to do the most important part--making things right. Not with a refund or a basket of fruit, but by truly seeing the other person, understanding what happened and doing the hard work to move forward.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/548393934/0/sethsblog~After-the-hiccup.html

You can't please everyone

We know this.

Each of us knows it. From experience. From logic. By doing the math. It can't be done.

Okay, fine.

So, what are you doing about it?

When you're creating something, are the possible reactions of the people you can't please weighing you down? And when you inevitably end up disappointing someone, how do you react or respond?

It doesn't do any good at all to know that you can't please everyone but not use that knowledge to be bolder, walk lighter and do better work for those you can please.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/548250218/0/sethsblog~You-cant-please-everyone.html