Amazon's Home Alone Moment

At the risk of becoming the guest who wouldn't leave, Amazon has put a new twist on being Home Alone, as in it doesn't ever want you to be truly home alone. With a slew of product announcements, from better, faster, cheaper Echo products to Alexa-enabled microwaves to in-car kits, Amazon is staking a serious claim on the privacy of our homes. Is it too much? Is there risk? Can Apple, Google, or even Walmart compete? And what type of a moat is Amazon building this time? We dive in on your behalf. Plus, our Fast Five: How not to steal hotel guest data in China; John Hancock's IoT-enabled Life Insurance Policy; Adobe acquires Marketo to expand its market opportunity; Amazon's To Catch a Thief moment; and Apple's XS battery surprise. Our Tech Bites winner this week: Google! They may have stopped reading your personal or business Gmail, but they haven't stopped letting others take a peek. Is there any trust left between users and the company that gave us the Google Doodle? Hint: we don't think so. Google doesn't exist to make people happy, it exists to keep its shareholders happy. Our Crystal Ball prediction of the week takes a cut at who might be able to step up, or partner up, and compete against Amazon? Could it be Apple, with a warehouse full of cash and some clever acquisitions? This episode features: Daniel Newman (@danielnewmanuv), Olivier Blanchard (@oablanchard), Fred McClimans (@fredmcclimans). If you haven't already, please subscribe to our show on iTunes or SoundCloud. For inquiries or more information on the show you may email the team at [email protected] or follow @FuturumXYZ on Twitter and feel free to direct inquires through that channel as well. To learn more about Future research please visit www.futurumresearch.com As a reminder, the Futurum Tech Podcast is intended as an informational newsletter only. No investment advice is offered. While equities are frequently discussed, no investment advice is offered or implied.