The Tech Landscape #126 🤞
Lab126 is Amazon’s R&D arm, responsible for the Kindle, Fire, and Echo device ranges. It’s name comes from the smiley / arrow in Amazon’s logo, which runs between the A and Z, the 1st and 26th (respectively) letters of the alphabet.
Quite a lot of sort of low-level, developer-focused news this week, and not a ton of consumer announcements. Listen, I just collate the stories, I don’t make them.
XR
Snapchat introduced a 3D painting tool for drawing on pictures and videos recorded with depth information. iOS only, for now.
theverge.com/2019/10/30/20939665/snapchat-augmented-reality-drawing-lens-ar-bar
8th Wall, which is pioneering web-based augmented reality, announced a new platform for building and publishing WebAR experiences. This looks really exciting, but there’s no free tier so I can’t try it because I’m cheap.
medium.com/8th-wall/introducing-8th-walls-cloud-editor-built-in-hosting-4c1ceec8799
Mozilla released Architecture Kit for Spoke, its world-building tool for immersive spaces. Architecture Kit brings 400 pieces of custom-built construction pieces.
blog.mozvr.com/year-with-spoke-architecture-kit/
The Supermedium VR web browser is no longer in active development. The VR market is rapidly constricting.
roadtovr.com/supermedium-vr-browser-stops-development/
Assistants & Voice
Amazon announced the general release of the Alexa Gadgets Toolkit, letting developers make Alexa-compatible companion hardware.
developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/bb916eae-5b6a-4d73-bd8c-176e2c60f071/build-gadgets-games-and-smart-toys-with-the-alexa-gadgets-toolkit-now-available-everywhere
Amazon launched Alexa Skill Personalisation, allowing Skill developers to customise their apps for multi-user households.
developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/1ad16e9b-4f52-4e68-9187-ec2e93faae55/recognize-voices-and-personalize-your-skills
Smart Home
Apple released a software update for HomePod with support for multiple users and iPhone to HomePod handoff. Some users have reported that the update is bricking their speaker, so it’s currently paused.
9to5mac.com/2019/10/28/homepod-update-voice-profiles-handoff-more/
Samsung held its annual developer conference, where it announced a new version of its cross-device interface, One UI, new features for Bixby including app templates, a visual language for screens, and better app discovery, and an automation API for smart home devices.
program.developer.samsung.com/2019/10/30/samsung-developer-conference-day-1-recap/
Wearables
Google has agreed to acquire Fitbit, and says it plans to make its own Wear OS wearable devices. I’ve said I think this is the only way forward for Wear OS, as without ‘Made by Google’ devices the platform is effectively dead.
blog.google/products/hardware/agreement-with-fitbit/
Apple announced AirPods Pro earbuds, with hands-free Siri and noise cancelling.
apple.com/newsroom/2019/10/apple-reveals-new-airpods-pro-available-october-30/
Hardware
Google’s Coral hardware products, for building machine learning services on edge computing devices, are now generally available after a Beta launch. This is one of those boring updates that may have big ramifications down the line.
newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/10/connecting-people-with-health-resources/
ByteDance, parent of TikTok, has released its first phone. The China-only Smartisan Nut Pro 3 gives access to Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese cousin) with a swipe up from the lock screen.
abacusnews.com/china-tech-city/first-smartphone-tiktok-maker-bytedance/article/3035886
Social
Snapchat have extended their Creative Kit to the web in an effort to increase their reach. Website owners can add a Snapchat button which lets visitors share content into the app.
kit.snapchat.com/news/creative-kit-for-web
Facebook had 2.45 billion monthly users at the end of September, up 8% on the same time last year. Revenue is up 29%. They’re doing OK.
investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2019/Facebook-Reports-Third-Quarter-2019-Results/default.aspx
Facebook announced a new Preventive Health tool, giving US users advice and resources about cancer and heart disease. They promise not to use this information for ad targeting.
newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/10/connecting-people-with-health-resources/
Adidas are the first brand to sell products through a Snapchat game, with custom baseball cleats on offer.
springwise.com/innovation/retail/adidas-snapshat-shoppable-mobile-game
Advertising
Twitter announced it will no longer accept political advertising. Which is great… but… their definition of political includes immigration, climate change, and more. So, no more ads promoting efforts against climate change, for example? This could get messy.
twitter.com/jack/status/1189634360472829952
83% of ad fraud happens in China, according to a new report by Group M. This is why most Chinese are broadly in favour of commercial social credit schemes.
campaignlive.co.uk/article/group-m-china-home-83-global-ad-fraud/1596131
Everything Else
Online game League of Legends showed off its first in-game costumes designed by Louis Vuitton. Gaming is the next big thing for culture and fashion.
theverge.com/2019/10/29/20937187/league-of-legends-true-damage-hip-hop-group-kda-louis-vuitton
Google Search will no longer index Flash content on web pages. The final nail in the coffin.
webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/10/goodbye-flash.html
Facebook Messenger got a few new tools for businesses in the latest update to the Graph API, including ‘icebreakers’ for starting conversations, and visibility on users’ reactions to their messages.
developers.facebook.com/blog/post/v2/2019/10/30/messenger-graph-api-v5-release/
Uber announced Uber Money, a new financial division. The launch will include a debit card for drivers and a digital wallet initially for drivers but later coming to consumers in the Uber and Uber Eats apps. Uber really want to be a super-app.
uber.com/newsroom/introducing-uber-money/
Spotify announced Spotify Kids, a stand-alone app for kids (obviously) with ad-free, human-curated playlists of content. It’s currently only available in Ireland as a trial.
newsroom.spotify.com/2019-10-30/introducing-spotify-kids-a-new-standalone-app-for-the-next-generation-of-listeners/
Google has opened up the .new domain, used to create shortcuts to app functionality (try doc.new if you haven’t already), to other companies and organisations.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/entrepreneurs/shortcuts-made-possible-new/