The Tech Landscape #128 👨💻
In 1986 I persuaded my dad to buy me my first home computer, the ZX Spectrum 128, promising that I would pay him back in montly installments. I never paid him back a penny. Sorry, dad.
As I write this, I’m watching Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s lecture on the history and future of the Web. He’s pessimistic about the course it’s on but optimistic that we can change that course.
XR
Apple will release an XR headset in 2022, followed by lighter XR glasses in 2023, according to an internal presentation leaked to The Information.
theverge.com/2019/11/11/20959066/apple-augmented-reality-ar-headset-glasses-rumors-reported-release-date
Snapchat Lens creators can now use Lens Studio to create fully 3D effects for videos captured in Spectacles or recent multi-camera iPhones.
twitter.com/SnapLensStudio/status/1195465252726378498
Assistants & Voice
Walmart (US) has extended its voice shopping service to Siri through a new Voice Order shortcut. I think this is the first grocery shopping service on Siri.
corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2019/11/11/hey-siri-add-to-walmart-introducing-a-new-shortcut-for-online-grocery
Alibaba says more than 1 million orders were placed using voice shopping on its Tmall Genie smart speaker on Singles Day.
insideretail.asia/2019/11/14/chinese-consumers-embraced-voice-ordering-on-singles-day/
Browsers
Google announced some experimental features for the Chrome browser, including visual indicators for fast and slow sites, Web Bundles that let you share whole web pages without an internet connection, and new APIs to give access to more phone features in an aim to have parity with native mobile apps.
blog.chromium.org/2019/11/chrome-dev-summit-2019-elevating-web.html
Brave, the privacy-first web browser which promises to reward users for seeing ads, has released its first official version.
theverge.com/2019/11/13/20962085/brave-beta-1-0-privacy-browser-chrome-firefox-safari-ad-block-tracker
Social
Instagram is globally expanding its test of hiding Likes from viewers.
twitter.com/instagram/status/1195009164470181888
Instagram is testing a new video editing feature called Reels, which lets users add music and effects to their videos. Yes, just like TikTok does. It’s available only in Brazil initially.
techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/
TikTok is allowing some users to add an external URL in their bio and open links to retail websites from within videos, as it continues to experiment with social shopping (an area already well explored by its Chinese cousin, Douyin).
techcrunch.com/2019/11/15/tiktok-link-bio-social-commerce/
Facebook announced new fundraising features including a charity donation sticker for Facebook Stories and a donation button for non-profit businesses. If I were being cynical, I’d point out that getting people to add their payment details for fundraising makes it more convenient for them to buy from businesses on Facebook in future.
forbes.com/sites/mnunez/2019/11/14/facebook-instagram-challenge-paypal-with-new-donation-tools/
Wikipedia’s owner is launching a new social network, WT:Social, which he says will not feature ads and will instead be funded by donations. It seems to be a pivot of the failed WikiTrinune news site, and it’s far from clear to me what it’s for and why anyone should use it.
thenextweb.com/insider/2019/11/14/wikipedias-co-founder-takes-on-facebook-with-ad-free-social-network/
Video
YouTube got a redesign in desktop browsers, with fewer but richer video suggestions, and a new queuing feature.
youtube.googleblog.com/2019/11/introducing-fresh-new-look-for-youtube.html
Twitch Studio, a new desktop tool that makes it easy for live streamers to get started broadcasting, is available as a public Beta (on Windows only).
theverge.com/2019/11/12/20961584/twitch-studio-beta-obs-new-streamers
Money
Facebook introduced Facebook Pay, a unified cross-platform payments system. Initially available to US users of Facebook and Messenger, it will spread to Instagram and WhatsApp and more markets in the future.
about.fb.com/news/2019/11/simplifying-payments-with-facebook-pay/
Google will offer bank accounts to customers in the US through Google Pay, in partnership with Citigroup and a Californian credit union.
wsj.com/articles/next-in-googles-quest-for-consumer-dominancebanking-11573644601
Apple could be forced to open its Apple Pay NFC capabilities to rivals, as a new German law requires companies to open up electronic payment infrastructure.
reuters.com/article/us-apple-germany-apple-pay/apple-warns-of-risks-from-german-law-to-open-up-mobile-payments-idUSKBN1XP16M
Everything Else
Google is launching its SMS-replacement RCS messaging service in the US, presumably fed up of waiting for carriers to implement it themselves.
blog.google/products/rcs/upgrading-messaging-android-us-rcs/
Google Maps can read out hard-to-pronounce foreign place names, as it becomes a little more integrated with Translate.
blog.google/products/maps/speak-easy-while-traveling/
Google Search will provide help with pronouncing words, and use visuals to illustrate certain nouns.
blog.google/products/search/how-do-you-pronounce-quokka-practice-search/
WordPress has launched a recurring payments feature, allowing publishers to easily provide subscription content. The feature, in partnership with Stripe, will be available only to hosted versions of WordPress at launch; hopefully it will be more broadly available to self-hosted publishers later.
en.blog.wordpress.com/2019/11/12/recurring-payments/
Sony released a software update for its Aibo robot dog which brings a web-based API so developers can create custom actions, and a virtual coin which can be traded for ‘food’ called ‘aibocrisps’ (really).
prnewswire.com/news-releases/sony-electronics-adds-application-programmable-interface-to-aibo-robotic-companion-300959290.html
Chinese retail giant Alibaba announced sales of £29.8 billion on Singles Day, China’s biggest shopping event. To put that in context, Amazon sold £11 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined in 2018.
walkthechat.com/singles-day-2019-breaks-new-record-38-billion-in-24-hours/
Waymo launched a fully driverless car trial in areas of Phoenix, Arizona. Still a long way from being more generally available, but this is a milestone.
techcrunch.com/2019/11/01/hailing-a-driverless-ride-in-a-waymo/