Day: February 10, 2019

Deloitte: Consumer cellular survey

Rob Williams

The percentage of cellular subscribers who have unlimited data plans rose to 37 percent in 2018 from 25 percent in 2017, according to a Deloitte survey of mobile subscribers.

60 percent of respondents said 5G is now “important” to them, according to Deloitte.

80 percent of respondents who use their smartphones to watch video content weekly said 5G is important to them.

73 percent of U.S. consumers said they were concerned about sharing their personal data online and the potential for identify [sic] theft, according to Deloitte.

69 percent said they believe companies aren’t doing everything they can to protect consumers’ personal data.

73 percent said they would be more comfortable sharing their data if they had some visibility and control.

About two-thirds of respondents use a voice assistant on their smartphones—a 20 percent increase from a year earlier.

Smart speakers are the most prominent platform for digital assistants: 69 percent of respondents use them weekly and 47 percent daily.

Mike Bloomberg’s flip-flop on Amazon’s second HQ

Rob Williams

Mike Bloomberg: Amazon Deal Is Great for NYC

Amazon Is Getting at Least $1.7 Billion to Come to Queens. Now Comes the Fight Over Whether It’s Worth It.

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, praised the deal.

“Amazon’s decision to locate to Long Island City is an affirmation not only of N.Y.C.’s growing tech talent,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote on Twitter, “but also of all the investments — in housing, schools, parks, transportation and culture” made in Long Island City.

Mike Bloomberg Statement on Long Island City Chosen as Amazon’s Second HQ Location
NOV. 13, 2018

Following the Great Recession, we set out to make New York City the technology capital of the world. Today’s decision by Amazon to bring thousands of new jobs to Queens is the latest big step toward that goal. We always believed that the Applied Science competition would help catalyze the city’s tech industry, and that the birth of Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island would help make Long Island City a magnet for start-ups and big companies alike. Amazon’s decision to locate there is an affirmation not only of the city’s growing tech talent, but also of all the investments – in housing, schools, parks, transportation, and culture – that have turned Long Island City into such a thriving neighborhood. Congratulations to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and everyone in our administration and beyond who helped make this progress possible.

Mike Bloomberg: Amazon Deal Isn’t Great for NYC….um, someone help me make up my elitist…er, populist mind?

Bloomberg vs. Bezos: Ex-NY mayor knocks subsidies for Amazon

Bloomberg on Tuesday took issue with the $3 billion in incentives the city and state are providing the e-commerce giant, while celebrating Amazon’s decision to open a new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens.

“You read in the paper Amazon opened one of their new two headquarters, or are in the process of doing it, very close to here. It’s just right across the river,” Bloomberg said during a 15-minute address on higher education inside his financial news service’s Manhattan headquarters. “But the reason they came here was not the tax breaks they got, which I didn’t think they needed.”