The Tech Landscape #173 🚜
Google Hardware, Facebook’s Great Convergence, and Pinterest Shopping: this is issue 173 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.
An awful lot of news from Google this week, as it held its Autumn hardware event and took the opportunity to simultaneously announce a bunch of other features too. There’s usually a lot of news from Google as they do so much, and so much in the open, but this week there’s notably more.
Top Stories
Google showed off new hardware at its Launch Night In event: an updated Chromecast which runs Google TV, aggregating movie and TV content from many different apps; Nest Audio, a smart speaker replacement for Google Home, with an emphasis on sound quality; and two 5G-ready phones, the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G, with premium mid-level specs and prices to match (£599 and £499, respectively). Nothing radically new (even without the pre-event leaks), but a solid range of affordable (comparatively) devices.
blog.google/products/devices-services/launch-night-in-helpful-devices-2020/
Facebook announced that Messenger will replace Instagram DMs, meaning the two apps will be able to exchange messages. With this, Account Centre (below), and the previously announced Business Suite (for SMBs to manage pages and messages across FB and Insta), the plan for the Great Convergence of Facebook’s apps is underway. A better experience for users, easier for developers to manage, and harder for regulators to break up.
about.fb.com/news/2020/09/new-messaging-features-for-instagram/
Facebook announced Accounts Center, a tool for connecting identity and payment details across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, making it easier for cross-platform content sharing and payments.
about.fb.com/news/2020/09/privacy-matters-accounts-center/
Pinterest rolled out its shopping features, including shoppable Pins, Lens results, and Shopping Spotlights, to the UK. It also announced new advertising opportunities in Lens and the Shop tab, and conversion insights for US businesses. I’ve said this before, but Pinterest is a massive and overlooked opportunity for ecommerce.
newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/pinterest-announces-new-global-shopping-and-ad-features-ahead-of-holiday-season
Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service is launching Crowd Choice, an intriguing feature which lets live-stream viewers participate in choices within games. It’s one of the unique features that cloud gaming offers, and hints at the future of the technology: imagine eSports where fans of a team can directly influence games.
eurogamer.net/articles/2020-09-30-google-stadia-finally-gets-crowd-choice
Everything Else
Apps Google will make it easier to access third-party app stores in Android 12, while enforcing the use of Google Pay for any payments and in-app purchases in the Play Store. This seems very obvious written to avoid the App Store lawsuits which Apple is currently facing.
android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listening-to-developer-feedback-to.html
Social Facebook is adding more tools for Groups, including Facebook-assisted moderation, branded collaboration management, and real-time chats. It’s also experimenting with surfacing posts from public Groups into the News Feed to drive traffic.
about.fb.com/news/2020/10/supporting-online-communities/
Travel Amazon announced Explore, a marketplace for live experiences and virtual tours. For a fee, local experts will use live video (with two-way audio) to demonstrate crafts, take guided tours, or provide personalised shopping services. The platform is in Beta, by invitation only, but it seems a promising idea for lockdown times.
techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/amazon-launches-a-virtual-tours-and-experience-platform-amazon-explore/
Commerce Google is extending its free listings on the Shopping search tab to the rest of the world, following the US which went free earlier this year. Its also launching Local Service Ads, which put people in touch with trusted professionals, in 10 European countries including the UK. Both are useful tools for small businesses at a time when local shops & services are more important than ever.
blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/powering-economic-recovery-through-retail/
XR Google is updating Live View, its AR-powered directions in Maps, to show nearby landmarks and elevation for better orientation, and to launch directly from transit directions to help with multi-modal journeys.
blog.google/products/maps/new-sense-direction-live-view/
XR Google’s Daydream VR platform is confirmed dead. The software will no longer be updated, and may not work on Android 11 at all. I really must finish my long-brewing post about Google’s (lack of?) AR strategy.
androidpolice.com/2020/10/02/googles-daydream-is-over-the-vr-platform-is-dead/
XR Facebook’s Oculus and music-streaming service Tidal officially announced (after it was teased a couple of weeks ago) a series of six concerts coming to the Venues VR space, beginning with pop star Charlie XCX. Virtual gigs are so hot right now.
oculus.com/blog/oculus-partners-with-tidal-to-deliver-six-concerts-in-venues-starting-with-charli-xcx/
XR Oculus Venues hosted its first(?) ‘unofficial’ VR concert with a performance by DJ Steve Aoki for Supersphere. I can find very few mentions of people actually attending this—ownership of a Quest headset is a barrier to audience.
forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2020/09/30/the-platform-is-the-star-of-steve-aokis-new-vr-concert/
Assistants & Voice Amazon released new Motion and Sensing APIs to support its Echo Show 10 smart display, which has a motorised base. Skill developers can make the device swivel, shake, and turn to face the person speaking.
developer.amazon.com/en-US/blogs/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/2020/09/new-echo-show-10-apis.html
Messaging Google’s Duo video messaging app is gaining a screen-sharing feature, and the Pixel-exclusive (I think) Recorder app can now automatically edit audio files when their text transcript is edited—extremely useful for removing the ums and aahs.
blog.google/products/pixel/new-5g-pixels-more-helpful-features/
Entertainment Disney+ is the latest streaming service to add a social watching feature, called Group Watch. Up to seven subscribers can watch a title at the same time, and leave emoji reactions as they watch—there’s no live chat. Available now in the US.
theverge.com/2020/9/29/21492148/disney-plus-groupwatch-friends-family-us-subscribers-scener-netflix
Retail Amazon announced Amazon One, a contactless terminal which uses unique palm signatures for payments and location check-ins. It’ll be available in Amazon Go stores initially. It‘s maybe a tiny bit more convenient than using multiple cards for different locations, but many people may see an unacceptable privacy/security risk in leaving your biometric data in Amazon’s hands (LOL).
blog.aboutamazon.com/innovation/introducing-amazon-one-a-new-innovation-to-make-everyday-activities-effortless
Search Google announced News Showcase, a dynamic news panel which shows editorially-curated content with extra context in a new partnership with 200 organisations worldwide said to be valued at $1bn. It comes at a time when the EU and Australia are considering regulation which would make Google pay partners for news stories—a move which seems completely counter-intuitive to me, as Google is their biggest traffic provider.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/google-news-showcase/
Health & Wellbeing Google’s Camera app on its new phones will start to use clear and non-judgemental labelling for face retouching effects, as research suggests that effects applied by default without user knowledge can negatively impact mental wellbeing.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/digital-wellbeing/more-controls-selfie-filters/
Stat of the Week
An extra 36 million people, 30 million of them from rural areas, came online in China between March and June. There are now 940 million Chinese internet users.
scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3103622/china-internet-services-struggle-recover-covid-19-countrys-internet
According to mathematics and number theory, 173 is an odd, deficient, and odious number, but a balanced prime.