The Tech Landscape #143 🥰
This is issue 143 of The Tech Landscape, a weekly collection of news about consumer digital technology. Stories are selected by me, Peter Gasston, with a little insight and opinion where appropriate.
US children’s entertainer Fred Rogers used the number 143 as a code for ‘I love you’ (because of the number of characters in each word) and reportedly tried to maintain his weight at 143lbs because of it. In 2019 the government of Pennsylvania declared May 23rd (the 143rd day of the year) to be 143 Day.
Games
Google announced a second games studio for Stadia, in Playa Vista, California. The two studios will work only on games that use Stadia’s unique features. One of the things that seems to be holding people back from using Stadia is the fear that Google will shut it down if it doesn’t work, so announcements like this are important to show Google is invested.
blog.google/products/stadia/games-entertainment-studio-playa-vista/
The global esports market will make £850 million in revenue this year, with 75% coming from media rights and sponsorship, according to a report by Newzoo.
newzoo.com/insights/articles/newzoo-esports-sponsorship-alone-will-generate-revenues-of-more-than-600-million-this-year/
Riot Games is working with US ratings agency Nielsen to develop a new esports broadcast metric, starting with its own League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). The metric, Average Minute Audience (AMA), will help esports attract more advertisers.
nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2020/02/nielsen-lcs-live-viewership-rating/
Pokémon Go is getting a new Battle League mode, which will pit players around the globe against each other but still encourage walking. It’s a curious mix of esports and AR gaming, and a vague hint at the future of this type of game.
theverge.com/2020/3/5/21166034/pokemon-go-battle-player-league-competitive-date
Apps
Google released the latest Pixel Drop for its phones, bringing a tap-to-pause gesture in Motion Sense, more AR lenses in Duo, easy access to saved cards and tickets through the power menu, and more. They should promote this better, it’s a nice exclusive feature.
blog.google/products/pixel/more-pixel-features-dropping/
BBC Studios (a commercial subsidiary) has invested in podcast player Pocket Casts. The podcast player is owned by a consortium of US public radio stations and is dedicated to keeping an open podcasting ecosystem in the face of increasing commercialisation by Spotify and others.
podnews.net/press-release/bbc-studios-pocketcasts
Social
Twitter is testing a new ephemeral tweeting format called Fleets. I mean, they’re basically Stories, like you’ve already seen in Snapchat, Instagram, et al. I’m not sure how this will impact the core product yet, and it seems neither is Twitter because they’re trialling it in Brazil only for now.
twitter.com/kayvz/status/1235248842196398080
Tumblr’s camera got a bunch of new features and a lot of improvements, as well as being easier to find. Back in the day Tumblr only had to compete with other blogs, now it also has to go up against Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.
staff.tumblr.com/post/611134039144923136/get-your-swiping-fingers-ready-theres-a-brand-new
Everything Else
Google Assistant can now read aloud text from a web page or app with the command ‘read this’. It’s a useful accessibility feature and potentially makes Home/Nest devices more useful if they can read out web search results or news stories.
blog.google/products/assistant/easier-access-web-pages-let-assistant-read-it-aloud/
Google will make mobile-first indexing of the web the default from September. This means that sites which aren’t optimised for mobile will likely see a drop in search engine performance.
webmasters.googleblog.com/2020/03/announcing-mobile-first-indexing-for.html
Facebook announced a ‘faster, smaller, and simpler’ Messenger for iOS, rebuilt from the ground-up to be a quarter of its previous size. It seem they’ve also removed the Discover tab, although I’m a little confused as I thought that was removed in Android a little while ago. Anyway, while bots can still be discovered through Facebook ads or QR codes, it’s no longer easy to find them in the app.
about.fb.com/news/2020/03/faster-smaller-simpler-messenger/
Nreal’s AR glasses will have hand-tracking controls through a partnership with Clay AIR. The Nreal Light glasses are expected to launch later this year.
venturebeat.com/2020/03/06/nreal-light-ar-glasses-add-clay-air-hand-tracking-hint-at-5g-gaming/
Ad spend on Facebook and Google (combined) is expected to surpass spending on the entire global TV sector for the first time this year, according to Warc.
cityam.com/facebook-and-google-ad-revenue-to-surpass-tv-for-first-time/
Following a deal with AT&T TV, Google says ‘over 160’ TV providers are using Android TV in their devices. I don’t understand why Google don’t make an ‘Android TV stick’ like Amazon has with the Fire; Android TV and Chromecast feel like they don’t really have a champion in the company.
blog.google/products/android/cable-tv-meets-android-tv-new-way-watch/