The Customer’s Always Write

The Customer’s Always Write
Number	2892
Broadcast Date	NOVEMBER 1, 2016
Episode Length	38:23
Hosts	Tom Merritt
Guests	Scott Johnson

Twitter’s launching new customer service tools for companies. Scott Johnson and Tom Merritt talk about what we as consumers want from online customer service. Plus Google outs a Windows exploit and Instagram makes shopping easier.

Guest

• Scott Johnson
  • Frogpants

Top Stories

• Google’s Daydream VR headset is coming November 10th
• Minecraft: Education Edition Available Now!
• Pinterest makes Instapaper’s premium features free for all

Google announces the DayDream VR officially arrives November 10th. Microsoft launched Minecraft: Eduction edition today (it had been in Beta since June). And Pinterest is making Instapaper's Premium service free for everyone, including the ad-free website, text to speech playlists, unlimited notes and more. Now here are some more top stories.

• Instagram tests shoppable photo tags

Instagram launched "shoppable tags" for photos on its iOS app in the US Tuesday. Retailers like Kate Spade and JackThreads can tag products in photos . Users tap on the image to highlight the products, then tap on the product and see an in-app details page with price description and a shop now button. Basically instead of sending you to a website, Instagram is loading the shopping page faster in the app. Though you do need to leave the app to finish the purchase. Instagram won't take a cut of sales.

• Google launches Tango AR smartphone system

Google launched its augmented reality system Tango for smartphones Tuesday with the arrival of the Lenovo Phab2 Pro for $499 in the US. Tango uses depth-sensing cameras and inside out position tracking. 35 apps are available at launch from games, to staging furniture in your home.

• Google Just Warned of an 'Actively Exploited' Microsoft Windows Bug

Monday, Google's Threat Analysis Group disclosed a critical Windows vulnerability on their security blog 10 days after it was disclosed to Microsoft. The vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild. It exploits a flaw in the win32k system, in conjunction with another Flash exploit, to escape secure sandboxes. Google patched Chrome against the vulnerability, but Microsoft has not yet patched Windows. Google gives companies at least 60 days to patch vulnerabilities unless it is being actively exploited. Then the time falls to 7 days.

• Kickstarter launches a livestreaming feature

Kickstarter is launching Kickstarter Live, a feature that lets crowdfunding projects livestream to their product pages, created by Vancouver video software startup, Huzza. Viewers can ask questions and back projects while watching. You can find Live streams at live.kickstarter.com where there is a schedule of upcoming streams and replay streams that are no longer live.

• Sony’s profit down 86% but its costly mobile business has been shored up

Sony reported a drop of 86% in profit year over year in Q2 due to a strong yen, the Kumamoto earthquake, and company restructuring. The downsized Sony Mobile division posted profits of $37 million up from a $172 million loss a year ago. Sony's PlayStation business was its top performers though exchange rates dropped sales 11 percent. Home entertainment profit rose 11%. The earthquake impacted Sony Semiconductors with revenue dropping 5%. In the media space Sony Pictures profits rose 5% and Sony Music profit rose 15%.

• Justin Kan launches video Q&A app Whale

Justin.tv and Twitch founder Justin Kan announced the launch of a one-on-one video Q&A app called Whale. Kan originally developed the app to provide a repository of frequently asked questions. Kan hopes to use the platform for creators to monetize their content, users buy "whale coins", which can be used to buy answers on the app. The app is available for iOS.

Discussion

• Twitter unveils new options for customer service
• Speed up customer service with quick replies & welcome messages in Direct Messages
• Twitter rolls out new features for businesses running customer service accounts
• How To Build Bots for Messenger
• Care by Google
• Mayday: Get Help on Your Fire Tablet

Pick of the Day

• Beyerdynamic MMX 2 PC Gaming Multimedia Digital Headset with Microphone

Hi,

listened to your pick for a headset and would like to add another brand which is relatively unknown to most consumers.

It's the headphones from Beyerdynamics, who are producing professional audio equipment but also consumer level stuff. their sound-quality is en par with sennheiser which you might know but since they aren't as widely known they are much cheaper.

I'm currently using a MMX-2 http://amzn.to/2eBfUBw and are very happy with the sound and microphone quality

Regards

Submitted by Michael

Links

• This episode on dailytechnewsshow.com
• Support DTNS on Patreon
• DTNS subreddit

Preceded by: "Ghost In The Machine"

The Customer’s Always Write

Followed by: "There’s No i In Teams (Because It’s Microsoft Not Apple)"