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September 30, 2019

The Tech Landscape #121 👓

There are 121 places in Finland called Paskalampi, which translates as “Sh!t Pond”. The number rises to 426 when you include the alternative spelling, Paskolampi.

As we approach the final quarter of the year the hardware announcements are coming thick and fast. This week it was Amazon’s turn to show off.

Alexa

Amazon held its annual Alexa hardware device, where it announced eight new Echo devices including three wearables: Echo Buds, wireless ear buds with hands-free Alexa; Echo Frames, glasses with speaker and mic for accessing Alexa; and Echo Loop, a ring which you click once to invoke Alexa, twice to make a call to a single chosen contact. After taking over your home and your car, now Alexa is coming for your body.

The core Echo home range also got updated, with a 3rd generation Echo and Echo Dot (now featuring an LED display), the Echo Show 8 smart display with group audio/video calling, the high-end Echo Studio with 3D sound and smart acoustics, and the intriguing Echo Flex which is both a smart plug & tiny Echo speaker.

Amazon’s plan for Alexa to be the operating system for your home was represented by the Echo Glow multicoloured lamp/night light for children, and the Amazon SmartOven. Both connect to Echo devices by Bluetooth rather than have Alexa built-in.

Alexa itself is getting a new, more natural-sounding voice and, for an extra charge, you can now opt to use the synthetic voice of Samuel L Jackson.

Assistants & Voice

Leading voice assistant companies including Amazon, Baidu, Microsoft, and Tencent have formed a coalition called the Voice Interoperability Initiative aimed at making smart speakers support multiple assistants, invoked with their respective wake words. Apple, Facebook, and Google are notably absent from this coalition.
press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-and-leading-technology-companies-announce-voice

Alexa on Echo Show devices can now detect and describe objects shown to its camera. The feature, called Show and Tell, is aimed at vision-impaired users, and is available in the US.
blog.aboutamazon.com/devices/alexa-what-am-i-holding

Google is resuming its audio review programme for Assistant recordings, but with more privacy controls and visibility into the process.
blog.google/products/assistant/doing-more-protect-your-privacy-assistant/

Google Assistant now has an Xbox Action, letting you open games and apps, take screenshots, and more. The app is for English speakers, and in Beta for now.
blog.google/products/assistant/game-your-xbox-one-now-works-google-assistant/

Google Assistant will soon be available on more Chromebooks; until now it was exclusive to Google’s own Pixelbooks.
blog.google/products/chromebooks/whats-new-september2019/

McDonald’s launched a voice app for Alexa and Google Assistant to make it easier for people to apply for jobs in its restaurants. The voice app starts the application process then sends details to an applicant’s phone to complete.
theverge.com/2019/9/25/20883007/mcdonalds-apply-thru-amazon-alexa-google-assistant-job-applications-ai-automation

XR

Facebook held its sixth Oculus Connect event for VR developers last week, where it announced a number of new features for its Oculus platform.

The Oculus Quest standalone VR headset will get controller-free hand tracking next year, using a technique that doesn’t require depth-sensing cameras. The Quest is probably the closest to a consumer-ready headset I’ve ever tried, but I still don’t believe VR is going to hit mainstream.
oculus.com/blog/introducing-hand-tracking-on-oculus-quest-bringing-your-real-hands-into-vr/

Facebook will add a ‘new social layer’ to the Oculus platform, allowing users to message friends and post status updates from within VR.
techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-is-building-a-new-social-layer-for-oculus-headsets/

Facebook will launch a new social VR sandbox environment called Horizon in 2020. I give it 18 months before it closes.
techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-horizon/

Facebook has acquired CTRL-labs, a startup which makes technology that reads electrical signals sent through your nervous system to create movement—so making a hand gesture would control an on-screen movement, without the use of cameras. Ideal for a future AR headset.
facebook.com/boz/posts/10109385805377581

Games

Google introduced Play Pass, a subscription service offering 350 apps and games with no ads or in-app purchases. The service is coming to Android phones in the US for $4.99 a month, although early adopters can get the first year for $1.99 a month.
blog.google/products/google-play/google-play-pass-enjoy-apps-and-games-without-ads-or-app-purchases/

Microsoft announced that a limited, invite-only preview of its cloud gaming service, xCloud, will be starting soon in the UK, US, and Korea.
theverge.com/2019/9/24/20881425/microsoft-project-xcloud-game-streaming-sign-up-us-uk-korea-features

Louis Vuitton is partnering with Riot Games to create designs for popular multiplayer game, League of Legends. It will create a physical champions cup, and a range of in-game character skins.
theverge.com/2019/9/23/20875541/louis-vuitton-league-of-legends-skins-summoners-cup-case

Social

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, now has in-video visual search which highlights faces (to find more videos by the creator) and products (to buy).
twitter.com/mbrennanchina/status/1176160937549582336

Twitter released a new UI feature that allows users to swipe through multiple timelines based on Lists. This opens the door to better interest and group focused use, instead of the standard ‘firehose’ of Tweets. The feature is available now on iOS.
theverge.com/2019/9/23/20880372/twitter-lists-alternative-timeline-swipe-feeds-pinned-follow-people-feature-update

Pinterest continues to rapidly expand into social ecommerce with new Shop The Look ad units, a Shopping tab for business profiles, and a wider rollout of product catalogues.
newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/new-ways-to-reach-shoppers-with-shop-the-look-ads-global-catalogues-and-dynamic-business

Fintech

The Kik messaging app is shutting down after its founders decided they want to pivot to blockchain.
betakit.com/kik-chat-app-shuts-down-as-company-goes-all-in-on-kin/

Chinese commerce giant Alibaba has taken a 33% share in the world’s largest fintech startup, Ant Financial, owners of payment behemoth Alipay. Ant was previously spun out of Alibaba to act as a separate company, although the two kept a close operating partnership.
technode.com/2019/09/24/alibaba-gains-33-of-ant-financial-in-conclusion-of-spinoff-deal/

Everything Else

Uber announced several new features including a redesigned app combining ride-sharing and Eats, new in-car safety features, public transit integration, and an all-inclusive travel pass. Uber want to be “an operating system for everyday life”.
uber.com/newsroom/everyday-life-os/

Xiaomi showed off the Mi Mix Alpha, a concept phone with a screen that wraps around almost the entire device.
theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/9/24/20881378/xiaomi-mi-mix-alpha-announced-wrap-around-screen

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