U.S. tech execs are experiencing app envy, with companies from Uber to PayPal and billionaires Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey setting their sights on building one-size-fits-all “super apps” to rival Tencent’s WeChat in China and SoftBank’s LINE in Japan. Where typical apps are built to do one thing really well, so-called super apps are generalists, which in theory means people will use them more often. Spotify and Snap have also expressed interest in super solutions, which have been popular in Asia since 2020 and are sparking new interest in the West. Continue reading U.S. Firms Chase China’s WeChat in Bid to Build Super Apps

At the Technicolor Experience Center in Culver City, Nvidia held an event highlighting its decisive move into software, with artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other areas. Vice president of developer programs Greg Estes noted that the company has 850,000 developers all over the world in universities and labs as well as companies like Adobe. Its developer program provides hands-on training in AI and parallel computing, impacting the media and entertainment industry, as well as smart cities, autonomous vehicles and more. Continue reading Nvidia Emphasizes Software at Technicolor Experience Event

Facebook partnered with point-of-sale systems Square and Marketo to track how well ads lead to offline purchases. For users with location services enabled, the system uses GPS, Wi-Fi and cell towers to provide specific information on in-store transactions. Square and Marketo are just two services that provide so-called offline conversion APIs that let businesses match transaction data to ads reporting. Previously, Facebook ads didn’t provide this kind of precise metrics, unlike Google, which established AdWords in 2014. Continue reading Facebook Debuts New Ad Tracking Tools to Entice Marketers