The Tech Landscape #112 👻
112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island, New York, is the address of the house featured in the book The Amityville Horror, a supposedly true story of paranormal experiences. No evidence has ever been presented to confirm the book’s claims.
I’m looking for new readers. If you find this email useful, why not tell a friend.
Assistants & Voice
Google is experimenting with allowing users to send text messages using Assistant even when the phone is locked.
9to5google.com/2019/07/21/google-assistant-lockscreen-texting/
Google has partnered with JBL to launch a soundbar with built-in AndroidTV, Chromecast, and Google Assistant. A full Smart TV box, in a soundbar.
blog.google/products/android-tv/android-tv-soundbars/
It seems that the Nest Hub Max, Google’s big Smart Display announced at IO in May, will be released in the UK, US, and Australia in September. Google announced the date on a product support page before quickly removing it.
androidpolice.com/2019/07/23/google-nest-hub-max-officially-arrives-september-9-in-the-us-uk-and-australia/
Amazon introduced Skill Flow Builder, a new tool for building story-based Alexa Skills without code.
developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/83c61d4e-ab3f-443e-bf71-75b5354bdc9e/skill-flow-builder
Messaging
Facebook is pulling its Instant Games feature from Messenger and into the Games tab of the main app. This indicates that Messenger will no longer follow the ‘super-app’ model of WeChat.
facebook.com/fbgaminghome/blog/instant-games-platform-updates
WhatsApp is now available on phones running KaiOS, the light operating system used on millions of low-end featurephones across developing countries. WhatsApp can be downloaded from the KaiOS Store, and will come pre-installed on new phones starting later this year.
kaiostech.com/kaios-technologies-and-facebook-bring-whatsapp-to-millions-of%e2%80%af-smart-feature-phones%e2%80%af/
WhatsApp says it has 400 million active users in India, a country with an estimated 500 million internet users.
techcrunch.com/2019/07/26/whatsapp-india-users-400-million/
Video
Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, has acquired British music startup Jukedeck, which generates audio tracks using machine learning processes. The move hasn’t officially been announced, but it makes sense for TikTok to have more customisable music—and more music it owns.
musically.com/2019/07/23/ai-music-startup-jukedecks-ceo-now-runs-the-ai-lab-of-tiktok-owner-bytedance/
Snapchat gained 13 million new users in the last financial quarter, with well over half of those signing up because of the viral baby face / gender swap Lens.
theverge.com/2019/7/23/20707569/snapchat-snap-earnings-users-added-filter-gender-swap
Retail
Alibaba.com, the Chinese mega shopping portal, has opened up to US suppliers. This gives access to hundreds of millions of buyers worldwide.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-23/alibaba-advances-u-s-courtship-just-as-trade-tensions-simmer
Google has launched its new Shopping page in the US. It brings together the old Shopping (links to products on third-party seller sites) with Express (fulfilment and returns handled by Google).
androidpolice.com/2019/07/22/new-google-shopping/
Everything Else
Google announced some new tools for users in Nigeria, including motorbike and Danfo (informal bus) routes for Maps, an offline-optimised version of Photos called Gallery Go, Google Lens support in Google Go (light search app), and better language support across them all.
blog.google/around-the-globe/google-africa/google-nigeria/
Google released Sound Amplifier, a new assistive tool for Android that filters out environmental noise and lets users focus on nearby sounds.
blog.google/products/android/sound-amplifier-more-people-can-hear-clearly/
Amazon released a version of its Prime Video app for Oculus VR headsets.
variety.com/2019/digital/news/amazon-prime-video-vr-1203278260/
Google Images now shows previews of the web page where the image search result is used, which the user can swipe up to visit. It’s a faster way to browse multiple ideas. Sites that want their pages included in the preview will need to use Google’s AMP technology.
webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/07/helping-publishers-and-users-get-more.html
Apple acquired Intel’s smartphone modem business for a reported $1 billion. This gives Apple the power to create custom 5G modems for its phones; a 5G iPhone is expected next year at the earliest.
apple.com/newsroom/2019/07/apple-to-acquire-the-majority-of-intels-smartphone-modem-business/
Microsoft will invest $1 billion in machine learning research startup OpenAI. The startup will develop new products for Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, while taking advantage of the service for running its training models.
venturebeat.com/2019/07/22/microsoft-invests-1-billion-in-openai-to-develop-ai-technologies-on-azure/
The Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5bn for privacy breaches, the second-largest fine it’s ever handed out. The FTC stopped short of insisting on any personal liability for Mark Zuckerberg, or any meaningful changes to Facebook’s business model.
theverge.com/2019/7/24/20707013/ftc-facebook-settlement-data-cambridge-analytica-penalty-privacy-punishment-5-billion
Tencent, owners of WeChat and much more, have made a ‘substantial investment’ in Antstream, a new retro cloud gaming platform. TBH this isn’t news I’d usually cover, but I think cloud gaming is a technology to watch, and Tencent seem to be using gaming to make their move into the western market.
gamasutra.com/view/news/347196/Tencent_makes_substantial_investment_in_retro_streaming_service_Antstream.php