The Tech Landscape #104 đ
Ernest Rutherford, known as the âfather of nuclear physicsâ, discovered the concept of radioactive half-life, among many other achievements. His name has been given to six institutions, five awards, ten buildings, five major streets, a rocket engine, a crater on the moon, a crater on Mars, and the element rutherfordiumâatomic number 104.
I delayed this edition to include the news from Appleâs WWDC conference. To be honest, there was so much of it that I should have done a special edition instead. Strap in.
Apple WWDC 19
Apple held its annual developer conference and announced many, many new features for its software platforms.
iPadOS
- iPad gets its own version of iOS, called iPadOS
- Works more like a desktop, with features including slideover panels and multi-window support/multitasking
- Better file management including external devices like USB drives
iOS
- iOS apps are up to 50% smaller will open 2x faster
- Siriâs Shortcuts app is now installed by default, and will suggest automated shortcuts based on behaviour
- Siri now has a fully synthetic and hence more natural-sounding voice
WatchOS
- The Health app can track trends over time, and a new Cycle Tracking app lets you track your menstrual cycle
- Watch apps can run completely independently, no need for a companion iPhone app
- Watch will now alert you to excessive noise levels
AirPods and HomePod
- Siri will be able to instantly announce and reply to news messages in AirPods
- You can share audio to other AirPod users by tapping phones together
- You can hand-off audio to your HomePod from your iPhone
- HomePod gets multi-account support
MacOS
- The next version of MacOS is called Catalina.
- iTunes is dead, replaced by separate Music, Podcasts, and TV apps like on iOS
- Mac & iOS can now be fully controlled by voice
- Project Catalyst lets developers make apps that work on both iPad and Mac
XR
- RealityKit is a new software library making it easier for developers to make AR environments
- Reality Composer is a new graphical tool and content library for AR development
- ARKit 3 brings people occlusion and motion tracking, tools that let it look like people are integrated in the virtual scene
Other Things
- âSign in with Appleâ is a privacy-focused login alternative to Google and Facebook
- The all-new Apple Maps will cover the entire US by the end of 2019
- Apple Maps gets a Street View-like âLook Aroundâ feature
- CarPlay gets a redesigned UI and Siri now works with 3rd party music apps
A summary of key updates
Video: The WWDC 2019 keynote in 13 minutes
Assistants & Voice
Amazon announced the Echo Show 5, a small, cheap ($90 in the US) update of its smart display. Amazon also announced new privacy tools: the Show 5 has a physical camera cover, thereâs a new Privacy Hub site with transparency about your data, and new voice commands including âdelete all my recordings from todayâ.
theverge.com/2019/5/29/18643451/amazon-echo-show-5-alexa-screen-price-availability-89
In-skill purchasing for Alexa is now available in the UK and Germany. Skills can offer one-time or subscription purchase options.
developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/6704c2d4-eac1-4a97-b631-57d2a43a1cd3/developers-in-the-uk-and-germany-can-now-monetize-alexa-skills-with-in-skill-purchasing-isp
XR
Googleâs AR search results, announced at IO last month, are starting to roll out. So far it just seems to be animals and not the brand partnerships that were previewed.
androidpolice.com/2019/05/29/put-a-shark-or-panda-in-your-living-room-with-google-searchs-new-ar-3d-models/
YouTube is preparing to roll out tools for creators to add AR makeup try-on, starting with lipstick, to videos. This is a solid use case that many brands have already implemented.
androidpolice.com/2019/05/30/youtube-is-working-on-ar-powered-makeup-samples-for-beauty-shoppers-apk-teardown/
Nrealâs AR glasses, shown off at CES earlier this year, will soon have a limited launch, priced at $500. The glasses tether to your phone but look more like actual glasses than high-end headsets like the Magic Leap.
theverge.com/2019/5/30/18646160/nreal-light-ar-xr-qualcomm-snapdragon-sunglasses-consumer-price-shipping-release-5g
Leap Motion, the system that tracks hand movements in mid-air, is now part of Ultrahaptics, makers of the system that provides âtouchâ feedback in mid-air. This could be a useful input mechanism for AR & VR: letting you âfeelâ digital objects in your view.
leapmotion.com/news/ultrahaptics-leap-motion/
AR platform maker Magic Leap has acquired Mimesys, a provider of volumetric telepresenceâthat is, âhologram video callingâ.
magicleap.com/news/press-release/mimesys-joins-magic-leap?linkId=68209993
Qualcomm have released the first reference design for VR headsets, based on their AR/VR chip the XR1 used in the Nreal glasses mentioned above. (A reference design is a technical blueprint that hardware makers can copy instead of designing their own from scratch, speeding up the design process.)
qualcomm.com/news/releases/2019/05/29/introducing-qualcomm-snapdragon-smart-viewer-reference-design
Retail
IKEA will reportedly launch a new app that combines online shopping with virtual interior design. They currently have many different apps, including the AR preview app, IKEA Place, but none of them allow you to shopâyou have to go to their websites for this.
reuters.com/article/us-ikea-ab-apps-exclusive-idUSKCN1SX1DV
Amazon is to open stores in 10 UK town centres, starting in Manchester. Perhaps having more of a bricks & mortar presence might mean they pay more tax.
theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/03/amazon-open-pop-up-shops-uk-town-centres-high-street
Hardware
Apple released a new iPod Touch, with support for group FaceTime and AR. Still WiFi only, no network data, but a decent âiPhone for kidsââŠ
apple.com/newsroom/2019/05/new-ipod-touch-delivers-even-greater-performance/
ByteDance, owners of TikTok and other properties, are reportedly planning to launch their own smartphone which will have all of the companyâs apps preinstalled. This has been tried before, notably with the Facebook phone in 2013 and the Amazon Fire phone in 2014, but nobody has done it successfully yet.
digitaltrends.com/mobile/tiktok-owner-bytedance-making-own-smartphone/
Oppo and Xiaomi have both teased their under-screen selfie cameras, which will do away completely with the notch/pinhole cutouts in future phones.
talkandroid.com/340587-oppo-and-xiaomi-show-off-their-in-display-camera-technology/
Social
Time spent on Facebook continues to fall, according to new data from eMarketer. Their latest report says that people spend an average 3 minutes fewer per day than in 2017, with that number expected to drop by another minute next year. This may not seem like a lot, but most of Facebookâs revenue comes through engagement.
emarketer.com/content/emarketer-reduces-us-time-spent-estimates-for-facebook-and-snapchat?ECID=SOC1001
Twitter has acquired Fabula, a London-based start-up which uses machine learning to detect spam and other abusive practices on social networks.
blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/Twitter-acquires-Fabula-AI.html
Games
Pokémon Sleep is a new game that wants to use sleep as a mechanism. Details are scarce, but it seems the new Pokémon Go Plus + (yes, really) wristband will track sleep and use the hours for training Pokémon.
engadget.com/2019/05/28/pokemon-sleep/
Facebook released a new tool to put ads in games on their platform. Makes FB a more attractive proposition for game developers, who can earn a little revenue.
engadget.com/2019/05/29/facebook-game-developers-get-more-options-for-monetization/
DeepMindâs latest game-playing AI system has learned to win the game Quake III by âcollaboratingâ with human team-mates.
technologyreview.com/f/613604/deepminds-ai-has-used-teamwork-to-beat-humans-at-a-first-person-shooter/
Maps
Google Maps is starting to bring in some features from Waze, beginning with speed camera and speed limit data.
zdnet.com/article/google-maps-to-roll-out-speed-limit-and-speed-camera-features/
Google Maps will start surfacing popular dishes in restaurant pages, using user-submitted photographs and reviews.
blog.google/products/maps/popular-dishes-feature-maps/
Everything Else
Apple went on the defensive over its App Store policies, releasing a web page explaining why itâs not a monopoly and shouldnât be sued.
apple.com/ios/app-store/principles-practices/
Spotify is testing a social listening feature where invited friends can simultaneously listen to a playlist.
thurrott.com/music-videos/spotify/207643/spotify-will-soon-let-you-listen-along-with-your-friends
Facebook announced Avatars, a Bitmoji clone coming to Messenger in Australia before a later global rollout.
techcrunch.com/2019/06/03/facebook-avatars-stickers/
Ofcom has released its first annual Online Nation report, which will look at the internet habits of the UK population. Lots and lots of interesting data in this.
ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/internet-and-on-demand-research/online-nation/narrative