Monthly Archives: January 2020

A growing wave of blockchain-based apps are using the distributed ledger to offer services that commit to transparency and safety, even as the broader industry continues to expand. The global dating app industry — with annual revenue of $2 billion and 220 million users globally — is expected to continue to grow by up to 6 percent annually until 2025, making it ideal for innovation. Take Ponder, launched in 2017, which now has 70,000 users. Its blockchain-based service doesn’t just connect people for dates; it also allows others to play matchmaker — and earn from it in cryptocurrency. Every time you are successful in making a match and both the people “like” each other, you earn $10, and if they end up marrying, you can win up to $1,000. Singapore-headquartered Viola.AI uses blockchain to build what it calls a global relationship registry that is transparent, open and accessible to all. The technology creates smart contracts and digital wallets for users that allow Viola.AI to verify their identity, including through visual recognition. Its artificial intelligence engine meanwhile tracks down common interests and backgrounds to find sharper matches than would be possible with standard dating app algorithms. The company had an initial coin offering (ICO) in June 2018. It also has trained relationship experts who offer online advice — for a fee, which you pay in “Violet Tokens” that you purchase from the company.TRUST AND SECURITY COME FROM THE BLOCKCHAIN AS USERS MUST GO THROUGH [WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY] A CIVIC MANAGEMENT PLATFORM.OLIVER DALE, BLOCKCHAIN ANALYSTLike Voila.AI, DateCoin, which had its ICO in May 2018, combines neural networks and AI algorithms with blockchain to promise a more secure and transparent dating experience. These apps are all available on Google Play, Apple’s App Store and a range of Chinese online platforms. And established dating apps are now beginning to acknowledge the potential of blockchain by also turning to the technology. Secretive Hong Kong-based dating app for the ultrarich, Luxy, in 2018 announced that they will accept bitcoin as a mode of payment. The app uses blockchain to verify that those looking to get on the platform are all millionaires. “Many of our clients are in this industry, and accepting [cryptocurrency] is just the first step in integrating this technology with Luxy,” Raffael Krause, head of public relations at Luxy, says of the company’s switch last year. To be sure, it’s early to say just how much these apps will disrupt mega-platforms like Tinder, which gets 1.6 billion swipes a day — that’s more than the population of China. That some of their most sophisticated services need you to pay for them means their audience might stay niche, at least for now. Not everyone — especially men — will be willing to take the trouble of going through extra scrutiny to set up their profiles, experts caution. 

For a long time I was very neglectful of my skin. I’d moisturize now and then, but it wasn't until I used a moisturizer for my exact skin type that I realized what I had been missing. It was a revelation; I felt like I could cry. But it can be hard to find the right products to match your skin, as well as intimidating. Well, Neutrogena's new app solves that. The Skin360 app uses the iPhone’s FaceID camera to scan your face and determine which areas need help. Naturally the app recommends Neutrogena’s products, but it offers an easy entry into personalized skincare that doesn’t require anything other than an iPhone with FaceID

Of all the wild and wacky applications of AI we're seeing at CES, cat facial recognition is one of the most delightful. Designed by UC Berkeley students, the Alexa-enabled Lulupet uses AI to both determine the size, quantity, and consistency of different types of cat excreta and report which cat did the dirty deed (more than 40 percent of all cat owners own more than one cat). This will help you figure out which of your beloved kitties is having a rough day, gastrointestinally. The Lulupet will go on sale on Amazon for $149 in March.

Over the holidays, the Russian government said it had completed a multi-day test of a national, internal internet known as RuNet, a bid to show that the country's online infrastructure could survive even if disconnected from the rest of the world. Though Russia claims the initiative relates to cybersecurity, researchers and human rights advocates inside Russia and around the world argue that the test underscores Russia's broader campaign to control and censor access to digital information within its borders.Whether the Kremlin intends to fully cut Russia off from the global internet remains an open question. But through its support of purpose-built Russian services and its tech sector more generally, Russia has indisputably made significant steps toward going it alone. In early December, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that will take effect this summer requiring all computers, smartphones, and smart TVs sold in Russia to come pre-loaded with apps from Russian developers. The government is also investing 2 billion rubles—about $32 million—in a Russian Wikipedia alternative.Those initiatives, together with increasingly isolationist infrastructure, points to a desire for markedly increased control. But analysts say that last week's test may actually reflect a gradual approach rather than a rush to separate.

L’article de NextINpact explique qu’au ministère de l’Intérieur et chez les industriels, beaucoup « poussent au développement de cet outil », en soulignant notamment que divers enjeux sécuritaires importants vont arriver. À l’image, par exemple, de cette citation très équivoque d’un chercheur du Creogn (Centre de recherche de la gendarmerie nationale) : « La Coupe du monde de rugby en 2023 et les JO de Paris en 2024 représentent des opportunités remarquables de convaincre la population de l'intérêt de déployer la reconnaissance faciale. »Risques de dérivesUn autre point soulevé par les associations de défense des libertés est lié aux risques de dérives du point de vue de la surveillance, alors que l’efficacité de ces dispositifs reste encore largement discutée. Exemple parmi d’autres, que nous évoquions déjà dans un article sur les données biométriques daté d’octobre 2019 : au Royaume-Uni, une étude réalisée par l’Université d’Essex a montré que le système de reconnaissance faciale londonien (qui a pour ambition de repérer les personnes suspectées de crime dans la foule) présentait un taux d’erreur de 81%. Plus récemment, le National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), un groupe d’experts affilié au gouvernement américain, a montré que les algorithmes de reconnaissance faciale identifient par erreur les personnes asiatiques ou noires 100 fois plus souvent en moyenne que les personnes blanches.Pour éviter de telles discriminations, Philippe Latombe insiste sur la nécessité d’ouvrir un grand débat sociétal sur le sujet, qui n’implique pas seulement les experts mais tous les citoyens : « Il faut ouvrir le débat AVANT de mener des phases d’expérimentation comme celles-ci. Si on le fait après, on va courir pour bloquer la technologie. Il vaut mieux définir dès le départ ce à quoi va nous servir une technologie et la construire de façon à ce qu’elle respecte par nature ces obligations. Cédric O part du principe inverse : il pense qu’il faut faire l’expérimentation, voir ce qui se passe techniquement, et seulement ensuite se poser des questions. »Moins critique à l’égard du projet de Cédric O, le député LREM des Yvelines Didier Baichère, par ailleurs vice-président de l’Office parlementaire d’évaluation des choix scientifiques et technologiques, préconise une expérimentation plus longue, « de deux ou trois ans », mais qui s’accompagnerait d’une loi pour l’encadrer. « Une loi d’expérimentation permettrait d’écrire ce que pourrait être concrètement cette expérimentation, en la bornant dans le temps de manière géographique, en définissant le collège de scientifiques impliqué et la façon de mener la consultation citoyenne effective, nous explique-t-il. Pour résumer, il faut s’inspirer des lois de bioéthique. Ce n’est pas seulement un sujet technologique, il s’agit de savoir quelle est la société que nous voulons pour demain (...) Cédric O pense ce qu’il veut, mais à titre personnel je crois qu’on peut difficilement dissocier l’expérimentation de la consultation citoyenne effective. »

Bonne nouvelle pour les voyageurs allemands... et pour le climat ! Les prix des billets de trains longues distances diminuent à la suite d'une baisse de la TVA, décidée par le gouvernement, pour lutter contre le dérèglement climatique. Les trajets de plus de 50 km des lignes Intercity-Express de la compagnie ferroviaire publique allemande, la Deutsche Bahn, coutent environ 10% moins cher qu'auparavant, indique The Guardian, jeudi 12 janvier.Cette baisse généralisée des prix intervient après que la TVA a diminué de 12 points, passant de 19% à 7% pour le trafic ferroviaire. En France, le taux de TVA est de 10% sur les billets de train. Des offres spéciales sont aussi mises en place en Allemagne, notamment concernant le transport de vélos. L'objectif est de rendre le train plus intéressant financièrement que d'autres moyens de transports plus polluants comme la voiture individuelle ou l'avion. 

Après le feu connecté, Cosmo Connected présente sa dernière nouveauté en matière de micro-mobilité : un écran connecté. Destiné aux cyclistes, il se fixe sur une armature de lunettes. Grâce à ce dernier, l’utilisateur peut accéder à des informations telles que leur vitesse, la direction à suivre ou bien encore la distance parcourue sans avoir à baisser les yeux. En effet, les informations apparaissent directement devant les yeux du cycliste grâce aux lunettes. En plus de cet écran connecté, la jeune pousse avait dévoilé il y a peu un casque destiné également aux cyclistes. Équipée du feu de freinage, la barre de LED fixée à l’arrière du casque s’illumine automatiquement pour prévenir les usagers à proximité en cas de ralentissement du cycliste. Cosmo Connected propose également une télécommande qui permet d’indiquer tout changement de direction sans que le cycliste n’ait à lâcher le guidon.Des innovations qui laisse à penser que la micro-mobilité attire de plus en plus d’entrepreneurs et que la technologie permet d’améliorer considérablement la sécurité des voyageurs en milieu urbain.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Telegram isn’t willing to disclose financial documents and answer questions that would’ve shed more light on the disposition of investor funds. The SEC wants the information before the testimony of three Telegram employees, including CEO Pavel Durov, scheduled for next week. The regulator believes it’s relevant to the case it filed against the operator of the popular encrypted messenger in October.On Thursday, the commission asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to order Telegram to provide the documents, including bank records. These, the SEC hopes, will demonstrate how much Telegram has spent from the funds it collected in two token sales conducted in early 2018. The money was to be used for the development of the Telegram Open Network (TON) project and the integration of the Telegram messenger and other applications with it. In its letter to the court, the SEC notes:Plaintiff respectfully moves to compel Defendants to answer questions and provide documents regarding the amounts, sources, and use of funds raised from investors in connection with the unregistered sale of securities at issue in this case.Telegram delayed the launch of the TON blockchain, for which it received support from investors, when the SEC took the company to court claiming that its ICO constituted an unregistered offering of securities. The company insists that the Gram (GRM) token is a currency. In the two private sales, between January and March 2018, Telegram sold the rights to 2.9 billion coins to 171 investors worldwide for $1.7 billion, including $424.5 million to 39 U.S. residents.

Qui aurait cru que des stars comme Cristiano Ronaldo pourrait contribuer à l’augmentation de la visibilité de la blockchain ? Et pourtant grâce à son image, les Juventini ne s’arracheront plus uniquement les maillots du club mais, pourraient également se ruer sur sa toute nouvelle crypto : la $JUV.En effet, c’est le 2 décembre 2019, que la Juventus annonce qu’elle a lancé sa propre cryptomonnaie ($JUV) permettant à ses détenteurs de voter sur un large éventails de décisions relatives à la vie du club.La Juventus emboîte ainsi le pas au PSG qui avait pris la même initiative. Sauf que la sortie de la $JUV a devancé celle du $PSG et de celle d’autres crypto-foots, qui devraient bientôt voir le jour.$JUV, de clients à fansPermettre aux supporters détenant des $JUV de voter sur des décisions relatives à la vie du club : C’est l’objectif affiché par la Juventus en lançant sa crypto-foot, fruit de son partenariat avec Socios.20 000 000 $JUV seront émis à termes, le prix de lancement de la crypto-foot a été fixé à 2 EUR le fan token. Les Juventini peuvent s’acheter des $JUV avec du Chiliz (CHZ), la crypto native de Socios. Environ 150 000 USD de $JUV ont déjà trouvé preneurs à l’heure actuelle.Les crypto-foot devraient redonner aux supporters le sentiment d’être des fans et non uniquement des clients, dans leur relation avec leur club. 

It seems businesses are very happy to talk the talk of user-friendly digital, without really walking the walk.One of the ironies in the whole process of my cancellation was that I got an automated phone call not long after I had spoken to the call centre (but before I received my cancellation email). The automated call was a customer feedback mechanism, asking if I was satisfied.I must admit I hung up before I could hear much of what was required. At the time I was very satisfied with my experience. However, if I had been asked for feedback after I had received the email above, I think I would have taken the time to explain my concerns.Do I have a point here? I am still happy with my experience. I would use the website again.But if we are really serious about sectors such as travel moving away from offline channels, and if we really believe that customer-centricity is important for brand-building and loyalty, we need to keep shining a light on these awkward compromises in user experience – what many might call a ‘dark pattern.’Travel is a tricky sector. Look at British Airways, for example. Consultant Dan Barker shared a screenshot of a booking screen on Twitter recently and wrote: “Some odd things going on here from British Airways: 1. It presents being able to buy food on board as a benefit of Economy Plus (of course, you can also buy it with basic). 2. The Business ‘dedicated check-in area’ doesn’t actually exist.”The Competition and Markets Authority has taken enforcement action already this year against some holiday booking sites that employed tactics such as pressure selling and misleading discounts. All sorts of businesses are trumpeting lines about the customer when there is clearly work to be done. And if we cannot trust businesses to weed out dark patterns online, what else might we be missing?It seems businesses are very happy to talk the talk of user-friendly digital, without really walking the walk. To get back to more prosaic advice for marketers and their C-suite seniors, being familiar with your product and its many customer journeys is more important than ever.Short-term growth may just be too good to be true.