ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE:
IBM) today launched the IBM Watson Trend App, a new way for
shoppers to understand the reasons behind the top trends of the
holiday season and also predict the hottest products before they
sell out. The app is available via a free download at the Apple App
Store.
The IBM Watson Trend app distills the sentiment of tens of
millions of online conversations by scouring 10,000 sources across
social media sites, blogs, forums, comments, ratings and reviews.
Unlike other apps or lists that provide a static ranking of "hot"
products, the Watson app reveals
how consumers feel about the products they are considering or have
purchased.
Using Watson's understanding of
natural language and machine learning technologies, the app
uncovers consumer preferences to pinpoint patterns and trends to
reveal why people are choosing certain products or brands. The app
also uses predictive analytics to forecast if a particular trend is
a fleeting fad or will continue to remain strong.
To uncover insights behind the top holiday trends and products,
Watson's natural language engine
aggregates insights into distinct trend groups: content, context
and sentiment. Each group is given a relative daily Trend Score,
ranging from 0 to 100, based on the impact (size of the
conversation) and the momentum (the rate of growth of the
conversation).
Users can view the top 100 trending products and stories behind
them across three categories – consumer electronics, toys and
health and fitness. As of November
18, the top trends include:
- Smartphone Photogs Drive Demand for Professional-Grade
Cameras: While smartphones users have one of the most powerful
mobile cameras at their fingertips, Watson finds consumers want more. Watson identified standalone cameras like the
Nikon D-SLR are the number one choice for amateurs looking to take
their photography to the next level due to their greater depth and
superior quality. Amateurs aren't the only ones looking to upgrade,
expert photographers are setting their sights on Sony's 42
megapixel Alpha 7RII mirrorless camera that allows them to record
Ultra HD 4k video
- Whether it's Star Wars or Lego City, Buy Now Before It's Too
Late: The new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, has
helped make Lego Bricks the "it" toy of the 2015 holiday season and
it's likely that many will sell out including the new Millennium
Falcon set. However, according to Watson in addition to Star Wars, two other
sets will also likely sell out this season: Lego City and Friends.
As a result, shoppers should take advantage of early Black Friday
deals and make their purchases now. Beyond chatter about impending
product shortages, Watson finds
that adults and children alike are excited for the new Star Wars
line while other products such as Lego City are selling well among
both boys and girls, which reinforces the growing trend of
gender-neutral toys.
- Traditional Toys Go Back-to-School: According to
Watson, Mattel's connected-toy,
Hello Barbie is at the top of parents' gift-giving lists but it's
no longer due to her sense of style. The new Hello Barbie delivers
an "engaging and unique play experience" by letting children have a
two-way conversation with Barbie. Parents specifically call out the
companion app feature that allows for parental control of all
conversations. Other "Edutainment" toys leading the pack, according
to Watson, include the new PAW
Patrol Imagicard Learning Game (for LeapFrog tablets).
- Tis' the Season for Wearable Tech: When it comes to
must-have tech gifts, wearable accessories top wishlists for both
gamers and movie lovers. According to Watson, while excitement around Minecraft
continues to be strong, the social conversations aren't focused on
the game itself but the new Gameband, which allows people to play
anywhere, on any device. For movie-lovers, Watson identified excitement around the Oculus
Rift (OR), a virtual reality wearable that not only enhances the
gaming experience but can support made-for-OR movies.
As consumers use the IBM Watson Trend app to pinpoint what
products are popular and why, IBM also reports on how consumers
will shop for these gifts. With the Thanksgiving holiday just one week away, IBM
predicts that, for the first time, more consumers will turn to
their mobile devices than their desktop to seek out the best
buys. Over the five-day holiday period, mobile traffic is
expected to increase by nearly 57 percent, up 17 percent over
2014. Mobile sales are predicted to increase by more than 36
percent, up 34 percent over last year.
The Watson Trend App uses a combination of API capabilities from
IBM's open Watson Developer platform including Sentiment Analysis,
Keyword Extraction, Concept Tagging and Taxonomy Classification. In
the future, IBM Watson Trend will continue to evolve with the
addition of new capabilities including geographic and language
data, and an increased level of personalization that caters to each
consumer's unique interests and preferences.
IBM continues to add and stretch the boundaries of what
Watson can do. The original
Watson system was based on 1
natural language QA API, today the
platform has over 30 APIs powered by over 50 underlying
technologies to provide capabilities that span language, speech,
vision, and data insights.
By sharing these capabilities via the Watson Developer Cloud, an
open developer environment, a vibrant community of entrepreneurs,
startups and established businesses are commercializing their own
cognitive powered products and services to transform a variety of
industries and disciplines including retail and customer
service.
For more information or to download the IBM Watson Trend App, go
to www.ibmwatsontrend.com
Lizette Kodama
IBM Media Relations
646-675-0750
Doug Fraim
IBM Media Relations
617-501-6376
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SOURCE IBM