The Tech Landscape #102
On 3rd January 2019 a new record was set in the US House of Representatives, when 102 women took the oath of office.
An unexpectedly busy week for news—it feels like some announcements were held back to avoid being overshadowed by the F8 and IO conferences.
Assistants & Voice
Google announced ‘mini-apps’, small chunks of interactive web content that can be displayed in Search and Assistant. This wasn’t announced in the I/O keynote, and I almost missed it entirely—but I really think it’s quite a big deal. venturebeat.com/2019/05/08/googles-mini-apps-are-app-like-experiences-for-search-and-google-assistant/
Alexa Guard, the service that uses Echo devices to monitor certain sounds (like breaking glass, fire alarms) is rolling out in the US after a short trial. Non-conversational audio detection is hot this week—see the Live Transcribe news later.
theverge.com/2019/5/14/18618098/alexa-guard-amazon-echo-speaker-security-feature
Amazon’s new Fire 7 tablet will have a hands-free Alexa mode, making it a tablet and smart display for under $50.
voicebot.ai/2019/05/16/hands-free-alexa-feature-turns-fire-7-tablet-into-a-50-portable-echo-show/
Google gave a free Home Mini to everyone who attended the Golden State Warriors’ stadium for a recent game—some 19,500 devices.
voicebot.ai/2019/05/14/google-gave-away-19000-google-home-minis-at-the-warriors-trail-blazers-nba-playoff-game-this-evening/
XR (AR & VR)
Microsoft announced Minecraft Earth, a new location-based AR app for building with voxels in the real world, and sharing with friends. I think this is potentially hugely important for the understanding of what AR could be—much more than Pokémon Go, which was more a location-based game with a light dusting of AR.
theverge.com/2019/5/17/18627341/minecraft-earth-ios-android-free-ar-game-features-pokemon-go
Google is shutting down JumpVR, the service that created HD 360° videos from multi-camera rigs. It’s another sign that VR is no longer on its roadmap.
variety.com/2019/digital/news/google-jump-shutting-down-1203219306/
Lenovo unveiled ThinkReality, an AR headset and software platform. The headset is similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens, but with a separate hardware pack instead of built-in components.
engadget.com/2019/05/13/lenovo-thinkreality-ar-vr-headset-hololens-2/
Apps
The US Supreme Court has upheld an earlier ruling that Apple should be able to face lawsuits which claim it’s acting as a monopoly. Apple had appealed an earlier decision, saying that its customers aren’t the purchasers of apps, but the developers of them.
theverge.com/2019/5/13/18617727/apple-v-pepper-antitrust-illinois-brick-supreme-court-case-loss
Tinder will release ‘Tinder Lite’, a stripped down version of its dating app, aimed at emerging markets with generally less capable phones.
digitaltrends.com/social-media/tinder-lite-coming-soon-to-emerging-markets/
Fintech
Apple Pay will soon be able to read NFC tags, opening up contactless payments for services including Bird scooters and PayByPhone parking meters.
9to5mac.com/2019/05/13/apple-announces-support-for-apple-pay-nfc-stickers-partners-with-bird-scooters-and-more/
Google are making a major push into payments in India with a reward scheme built into Google Pay. India is the testbed for a lot of finance features which may later make their way into Google Pay globally.
techcrunch.com/2019/05/16/google-pay-india-android-cashback/
A new app called Spedn aims to take cryptocurrency payments mainstream. You can add your own virtual coins to the app, which when presented at a participating (US) retailer will make the payment in dollars.
theverge.com/2019/5/13/18617554/flexa-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-etherium-whole-foods-gamestop-nordstrom-flexacoin
Hardware
The US government has issued a national emergency order which prevents US firms from using foreign telecoms—a move widely interpreted as a ‘Huawei ban’. Really not a good week for Huawei—see the Android news below.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48289550
Lenovo announced the world’s first PC with a foldable screen. I still don’t really get it; you get a smaller device when folded, but with the compromise of… well, everything else.
theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/5/13/18537302/lenovo-foldable-pc-thinkpad-x1-prototype-hands-on-folding-screen
Audio
Android’s Live Transcribe feature, which transcribes conversations for the hearing-impaired, is now more useful as it can record certain non-conversation sounds (dog barking, doorbell) in the transcription, and can also store the transcriptions for up to three days.
blog.google/products/android/new-features-make-audio-more-accessible-your-phone/
Spotify seems to be trialling Storyline, a new way for artists to annotate their music. The service already has a similar feature using information from Genius.
androidpolice.com/2019/05/13/spotify-storyline-lets-artists-tell-the-story-behind-their-songs-instagram-style/
Spotify is testing a voice-controlled in-car audio device, which it’s calling Car Thing. It also teased future testing devices called Voice Thing and Home Thing.
newsroom.spotify.com/2019-05-17/5-things-to-know-about-spotifys-latest-test/
Video
Apple’s redesigned TV app is now available through the iOS 12.3 update.
apple.com/newsroom/2019/05/all-new-apple-tv-app-available-in-over-100-countries-starting-today/
Hotstar, a Disney-owned Indian video platform, claims to have set a new record for concurrent viewers of a live streamed event, with 18.6 million tuning in to watch the final game in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
techcrunch.com/2019/05/12/hotstar-disneys-indian-streaming-service-sets-new-global-record-for-live-viewership/
Identity
Microsoft has released a new tool to manage identity, based on blockchain technology. The idea is that your personal identity details wouldn’t be locked in a centralised provider—like Facebook—but be available to all participating apps and sites.
coindesk.com/microsoft-launches-decentralized-identity-tool-on-bitcoin-blockchain
Google has confirmed that it’s working on support for storing digital copies of physical forms of ID, such as drivers licenses, on Android devices.
venturebeat.com/2019/05/09/google-is-bringing-electronic-ids-to-android/
Everything Else
At their Marketing Live event Google announced more ads in more places, a redesigned Shopping experience, and a new Travel portal, amongst other news.
blog.google/products/ads/new-ad-innovations-new-consumer-journey/
Microsoft and Sony announced a ‘strategic partnership’ to work on streaming games, content, and machine learning on the Axure platform. Widely interpreted as a defence against Google’s Stadia cloud games service.
news.microsoft.com/2019/05/16/sony-and-microsoft-to-explore-strategic-partnership/
Google have reportedly halted Huawei’s license to use any of their services. Huawei phones will still be able to use Android, but without any Google extras—including the Play Store.
theverge.com/2019/5/19/18631558/google-huawei-android-suspension
Instagram’s Explore tab has been redesigned with more personalised recommendations, as well as prominent links to Shopping and IGTV.
instagram-press.com/blog/2019/05/16/making-explore-an-even-better-home-for-your-interests/
Instagram have ended their trial of Direct, the standalone messaging app. Its experimental features will likely be brought into the main app.
techcrunch.com/2019/05/16/rip-instagram-direct-app/
The W3C, the standards body for the web, announced that all major browser vendors have signed up to investigate bringing native machine learning support into browsers.
theregister.co.uk/2019/05/17/w3c_support_for_ai_in_the_browser/