It’s been a busy week in the world of technology. Lots of big things going on you may have heard about like Apple’s WWDC conference and some things you may have missed like Amazon opening a new big tech office in Minnesota! Whether it’s national news about billion dollar acquisitions or local industry updates, we want to help keep you up to date on the things that might affect your own strategies.
1. Snapchat announces big upcoming news
First off in this week’s tech & social media news we will focus on Snapchat as they’re making a major change to their advertising platform. Snapchat said that it will commence inserting ads in between stories, not super frequently but occasionally when you auto-advance from one story to another. This is great news for advertisers, effectively allowing them to advertise to the most daily frequented social media platform available today. However, that vast user base might not be as accommodating to the influx of branded content.
2. Microsoft shows off its checkbook with acquisition of LinkedIn
Next in this week’s tech/social media news we’ll move to a story that you probably heard about as it made big headlines. Microsoft bought LinkedIn for the huge price tag of $26.2 billion dollars (about $196 a share). The acquisition feels reminiscent of Microsoft’s purchase of Skype in 2011. Microsoft hopes that this will help them expand their reach in social networking services and professional content. I can only imagine Microsoft will want to make some changes, hopefully for the better.
3. Welcome to the Twin Cities, Amazon
Another big bit of tech news closer to home, Amazon decided it would open a new tech office here in downtown Minneapolis. Dave Glick, Amazon’s VP of operations technology, said in a statement that the region’s commitment to education and “caliber of technical talent in Minneapolis make it an ideal place for our expansion.” It makes sense considering the amount of talent here from other big retailers like Best Buy and Target that are headquartered here. The office will house 100 employees when fully operational, and those employees will be filling spots for a wide array of IT services.
4. Apple’s WWDC Conference: What happened
Finally, when Apple makes announcements it’s always a big story and Apple’s WWDC 2016 Conference was filled with them. Here are some of the ones we think are the biggest. First, the new iOS 10 that will be coming mid summer has been opened up to beta users. It’s being described as “the biggest iOS release ever for our users” by Craig Federighi. iMessage will also be getting a whole new tool belt of fun more interactive features for users. Also we’ll be hearing more of Siri in the coming months. Apple has opened Siri to all developers basically meaning it can be integrated as a tool into the apps you love. One of the final big takeaways I found from WWDC was the update of features and speed to the Apple watch with watchOS 3. Be sure to check out our Twitter page (spyder_trap) to see a video including even more big announcements from the conference.
5. A top Minneapolis digital marketing firm is hiring
In probably the biggest digital news of the week, we’re still hiring for numerous openings here at Spyder Trap. Our search marketing, development, and accounts teams are all looking to grow. So be sure to check out our current openings and maybe you’ll be our next Spyder Trapper!