The Tech Landscape #116 đ¨đł
The âHundred Years Warâ is the name given by historians to a series of conflicts over the right to rule the Kingdom of France, fought by the royal houses of Plantaganet (England) and Valois (France). The conflicts began in 1337 and ended in 1453, meaning they lasted 116 years.
A day later than usual because of the public holiday (I got my days mixed up and thought yesterday was Saturday). To keep the news as fresh as possible Iâve included some stories from today (Monday), so expect a shorter email next week.
Assistants & Voice
Baidu shipped more smart speakers than Google in the last financial quarter, according to a report by Canalys. This has generated a few headlines but itâs pretty meaningless as Baidu and Google sell in completely different markets, and Baidu launched a new smart speaker range.
canalys.com/newsroom/smart-speaker-market-q2-2019?ctid=497-f991eafe5696a8a67e4ddb47265c54b5
Bose launched a new portable home speaker which connects to Alexa, Assistant, AirPlay, and Bluetooth.
9to5toys.com/2019/08/22/bose-airplay-2-speaker/
Messaging
Facebook is removing the Chats feature from Facebook Groups. The feature was introduced only last year and it isnât clear why itâs being removed; Facebook say only that âthe current product infrastructure doesnât support Chats in Groups directly in the Facebook appâ. This is possibly an effect of Facebookâs push to harmonise all of its messaging platforms.
facebook.com/communityleadershipcircles/photos/a.1658480497594622/2210735435702456/?type=3&theater
YouTube is removing the private messaging feature it added in 2017, saying it prefers to focus on public conversation. I honestly thought this was Googleâs best chance of getting into the messaging market, but the feature was basically abandoned almost as soon as it launched.
support.google.com/youtube/thread/12446824
Video
Reddit launched a time-limited experimental live-streaming video service, RPAN, ahead of a broader rollout at a later date.
wired.com/story/reddit-livestreaming-rpan/
Google is bringing its Night Light technology to video-calling app Duo, enabling bright pictures in low-light conditions.
blog.google/products/duo/low-light-mode/
Android
Android is dropping the letters and dessert names from its release versions, meaning the next major release will be called just Android 10. The identity has also been refined to be a little more⌠mature, I suppose.
blog.google/products/android/evolving-android-brand/
Androidâs ARCore, the software library that does all the AR magic on Android phones, has been renamed to âGoogle Play Services for ARâ. Itâs technically clearer in terms of where it sits in the Android stack, but is a bit of a mouthful.
9to5google.com/2019/08/05/google-play-services-ar/
Security
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube took action against a number of accounts, suspected of being agents of the Chinese state, which were involved in âcoordinatedâ and âunauthenticâ action against the ongoing Hong Kong protests.
Twitter will no longer accept advertising from state-controlled news agencies, after they removed a network of âstate-backedâ accounts.
blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/advertising_policies_on_state_media.html
Following a tip-off from Twitter, Facebook removed three groups and five user accounts.
newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/08/removing-cib-china/
YouTube removed 210 channels found behaving âin a coordinated mannerâ.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/maintaining-integrity-our-platforms/
Privacy
Facebook launched new controls for how it collects data about you when youâre not using itâfor example through its login box or pixel tracking. The controls are live in Ireland, S. Korea, and Spain, with a global rollout to follow.
newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/08/off-facebook-activity/
Google released early details of an initiative called Privacy Sandbox, aimed at protecting user privacy while still providing sufficient data to advertisers. Itâs fair to say the details are somewhat vague right now.
blog.chromium.org/2019/08/potential-uses-for-privacy-sandbox.html
Google Photosâ face grouping feature, which finds all photos of your friends and groups them automatically, is returning to Europe. The feature was previously launched and pulled over privacy concerns, so presumably Google has overcome these.
engadget.com/2019/08/22/google-photos-face-grouping/
Everything Else
Samsung has partnered with WeChat to put the latterâs Mini Programs prominently in the OS of new phones. Mini Programs are small apps powered by WeChat, and integrating them more tightly to the phone UI makes WeChat into a semi-operating system.
abacusnews.com/big-guns/wechat-looks-even-more-operating-system-now-thanks-samsung/article/3023853
Google Go, the light version of its search app aimed at developing markets, is now available globally. Go is optimised for voice and touch, and includes Google Lens for live translation.
blog.google/products/search/lite-packs-punch-google-go-comes-android-everywhere/
Apple Card fully launched in the US after a two-week trial period. Now anyone (with an iPhone) can apply through the Wallet app.
apple.com/newsroom/2019/08/apple-card-launches-today-for-all-us-customers/
Apple Music has a new Top 50 chart based on data of the songs people have used Shazam to identify. Apple acquired Shazam a year ago, and this is the first sign of its utility to the music service.
techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/shazam-data-is-powering-apple-musics-newest-chart-the-shazam-discovery-top-50/
Ford, the car maker, is launching its own eSports racing team, âFordzillaâ (yes, really).
digitaltrends.com/cars/ford-looking-to-recruit-gamers-for-its-first-ever-esports-racing-team/