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Amazon's Super Bowl ad tries subbing celebrities for Alexa
What would happen if Alexa lost her voice? According to Amazon's Super Bowl commercial for 2018, the company would bring in famous people to fill in the gaps. The new Alexa spot features Jeff Bezos hesitantly approving a plan to substitute in celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson, Cardi B and Anthony Hopkins.
Amazon teases Alexa Super Bowl ad starring Jeff Bezos
If you want a good barometer of how far Amazon Alexa has come, you just need to look at the company's teaser for its Super Bowl LII ad. Where Amazon's first-ever Super Bowl commercial was eager to sell you on the still-unproven Echo using as much star power as possible, the biggest star (so far) in the teaser is Jeff Bezos -- you know, the company's own CEO. The clip has Bezos giving the tentative go-ahead for a sketchy Alexa replacement after the AI assistant loses her voice.
Yahoo Sports starts streaming NFL playoff games this weekend
Last month, Verizon signed a new deal with the NFL, exchanging its rights to be the exclusive wireless carrier for NFL games for rights to air games on a wider range of devices. That has led to a few new options for NFL fans when it comes to how they can watch games on their phones and today, Verizon announced that playoff games will be available for viewing on the Yahoo Sports app starting this weekend as will the Super Bowl next month. "Consumers in the US will be able to watch all four playoff games with one click on the Yahoo Sports app," Oath CEO Tim Armstrong told CNBC.
Airbnb's rehabilitation tour doesn't end with a Super Bowl ad
Airbnb's rehabilitation tour came to a dramatic climax on the evening of Feb. 5th, 2017. In between downs of the 51st Super Bowl, as dozens of beefy men slammed their bodies together to the cheers of millions, Airbnb aired an advertisement presenting itself as a compassionate, socially conscious company. "#WeAccept," Airbnb declared over a slideshow of stoic faces, most of them people of color. Light piano music accompanied the white text, which read, "We believe no matter who you are, where you're from, who you love or who you worship, we all belong. The world is more beautiful the more you accept."
Super Bowl LI commercials were heavy on tech and politics
For people who don't care about football, watching the Super Bowl is mostly about enjoying the overhyped commercials that happen during the event. (That and the half-time show.) Naturally, tech companies see this as an opportunity to connect with mainstream audiences, leading them to spend millions of dollars on cheesy ads. A good example of that is T-Mobile's Super Bowl LI spot featuring Justin Bieber, in which he promotes the carrier's unlimited plans by showing off his "#UnlimitedMoves." Yup, we know.
Intel drones form US flag for Lady Gaga's halftime show
Remember when quadcopter drones juggled balls and formed up into a Star Trek logo? That seems downright quaint compared to what we just saw at Lady Gaga's elaborately produced Super Bowl halftime show. During her first number, 300 Intel drones formed the shape of an American flag, punctuating the singer's wire-assisted fall to the stage below.
Amazon flashes Prime Air drone delivery in its Super Bowl ad
The game is over, but Amazon managed to stand out with a brief (if also disgusting) 10-second spot. Unfortunately, other than the voice-controlled shopping via Echo, it needed a disclaimer that "Prime Air isn't available in some states (or any really). Yet" but Prime Air is looking surprisingly realistic these days. Until then, though, it may be easier to prune your Super Bowl party guest list carefully.
'Stranger Things' ad reveals S2 release date: Halloween
We got our first real peek at the next season of Stranger Things during tonight's Super Bowl, and a release date for its second season. The teaser revealed it's not coming until Halloween, so we hope you have plenty of other plans in place between now and October 31st. Things are said to pick up in 1984 about a year after they left off, with the old gang returning, and "The world is turning upside down."
Lady Gaga's Super Bowl show will tout 'hundreds' of drones
It's easy to be cynical about the Super Bowl's halftime show: unless you're a fan of the artists, it's often an excuse for a bathroom break... or at least, to gawk at the ridiculousness of the American cultural zeitgeist. Lady Gaga might give even the jaded a reason to tune in this year, though. CNN sources hear that the "Bad Romance" singer (who's rather fond of tech) is planning a show using "hundreds" of lit-up drones, marking the first time that robotic fliers have graced the Big Game. Gaga and crew aren't spoiling the show, but people in the Houston area have witnessed drones swarming over the football stadium like a horde of glitzy UFOs.
Nintendo's first-ever Super Bowl ad is for the Switch, of course
When you consider the fact that Nintendo and its mustachioed mascot are household names, it's a bit strange to realize the company has never run an advertisement during the Super Bowl. That's about to change. A new video on the company's YouTube channel touts itself as the extended cut of the company's first-ever Super Bowl ad. The commercial highlights the portable and home console modes of the Nintendo Switch to an intense soundtrack -- but this is more than your average peek at the company's next game console. It's a five million dollar investment toward the Nintendo Switch's success.
Fox Sports will broadcast Super Bowl 51 in a 'VR suite'
Sure watching boxing, basketball and tennis in VR are cool, but what about the biggest TV event of the year? Come Sunday, Fox Sports will fix that gap in its lineup by teaming with LiveLike to beam the Super Bowl into your Gear VR or Cardboard headset via the network's app. Or, you can ditch the headsets and use the 360-degree video with your mobile device.
This bag of Tostitos doesn't want you to drink and drive
Super Bowl Sunday celebrations typically include two things: snacks and drinking. To discourage partygoers from drinking and driving after this year's big game, Frito-Lay and ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners teamed up on a limited-edition Tostitos bag with some added features. The so-called Party Bag is equipped with sensors that can detect alcohol on your breath. This isn't a breathalyzer that analyzes blood alcohol content and it will switch from green to red if you've had just one drink.
Super Bowl 51 will stream for free on Fox Sports Go
The Super Bowl has been streaming for awhile now, but watching the commercials (arguably the best part) has been hit or miss in the past. Remember when all that streamed was the game? Yep, that was pretty terrible. This year, however, Fox Sports has a new plan in place: showing local commercials from some 170 affiliate stations, in addition to the national commercials.
Fox and Intel will offer a player's perspective during the Super Bowl
Over the last year or so, Fox Sports has been keen on bringing the latest tech to its live broadcasts. When the network hosts Super Bowl LI in a few weeks, its plans to offer viewers a player's perspective without requiring the participants to wear cameras. Using Intel's 360 Replay technology that's already been employed in MLB and the NBA, Fox will "allow a moment to be recreated in 3D space" to show fans exactly what a player saw during a play. The network is calling it "Be the Player."
NFL is first to stream live sports on a key Chinese social network
If you enjoy Twitter's live NFL games, you might just feel jealous very shortly. The NFL has struck a deal that will make it the first sports league to livestream on Sina Weibo, one of China's largest social networks. The service has already streamed six regular games so far, but the pact will also have it provide the last Sunday Night Football game, a trio of playoff games and even the Super Bowl. Yes, you read that correctly -- in one way, Chinese fans will have easier access to the biggest football game of the year than their American counterparts.
The NFL and Snapchat make their partnership official
While Snapchat has been courting sports fans and major leagues for some time now, the National Football League will be the first to announce an official, multi-year deal with the social media platform. According to the league's announcement, Snapchat Discover and NFL Media will produce official content and Live Stories for every single game of the season, including the Super Bowl.
Recommended Reading: Twitter's identity crisis
What Everyone's Got Wrong About Twitter (Including Twitter) Ian Schafer, Recode Twitter's earnings dropped this week, followed by a number of theories on the future of the company. Deep Focus founder and chairman Ian Schafer posted an op-ed on the matter to discuss the social network's identity crisis. Is it a media company? Is it a data company? Schafer makes the case that Twitter needs to decide soon, for it's own good.
CBS exec: no recent talks with Apple about a TV service
Since Apple itself doesn't have much to say about its long-rumored TV service, we're forced to look for signals elsewhere. In comments revealed just before CBS announced its earnings today, exec Les Moonves once again filled in the gap. Following previous comments that he believes the service is on hold, Moonves told CNN Money that "we haven't had recent conversations with them." That could mean any potential debut is even further off than we thought, although it doesn't seem to be hurting CBS any. CBS reported (PDF) its highest ever revenue for the fourth quarter, while claiming revenue from retransmission agreements is over $1 billion now, and will be at $2 billion by 2020. According to the exec, "something like 40 percent" of revenue his company is getting, didn't exist five years ago.
ICYMI: Robot news round-up, 3D hand scanner and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: iRobot sold its line of military robots to a US-based firm to focus on Roomba and a new chameleon robot changes color to blend in; a student built a 3D scanner with cameras and Raspberry Pi that is much cheaper than any other scanner; and a new pedestrian detection software from the University of California, San Diego, is nearly as fast as the human brain.
Super Bowl 50: the ads, not the football
You've probably seen plenty of this year's Super Bowl ads already, especially as YouTube offered many companies the option to get their videos out in advance, hopefully ensuring more views during the barrage of The Big Game itself. So, we've already covered Pokemon, PayPal and Amazon, but if you're looking to fly to Gotham with Turkish Airlines, musing on a Walken closet, or need a Marvel universe trailer (or two), here's our highlights. Yes, there's Drake too.
