The Tech Landscape #182 🗺
XR glasses, Google Maps super-app, and Alexa as a chat bot: this is issue 182 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.
I’ve been playing around with Twitter’s Fleets this week. I kind of like them because they let me be a bit more silly and experimental than the feed, which has more of an air of permanence about it. I seem to be in the minority, though; I know the feature hasn’t rolled out to everyone yet, but uptake seems to be very slow.
Anyway, a full week of news this week. Lots of little feature announcements, including a focus on Google Maps and a Stats of the Week bonanza. Enjoy!
Google Maps
A little spotlight on Google Maps, which launched a number of new features this week. As it adds more discovery tools for users and more messaging and insight tools for businesses, it’s an overlooked super-app which is also very important to Google’s future in augmented reality.
Local businesses on Google Maps can now exchange messages with customers directly through the Maps app, and customers can initiate conversations from business posts. Maps also added more business insights, integrating with Search results.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/small-business/connect-and-understand-customers/
Google Maps added a community feed to its Explore tab, showing news and offers from local businesses along with reviews and photographs from local guides.
blog.google/products/maps/discover-more-with-google-maps-community-feed/
Google Maps now accepts contributions to Street View from users with an ARCore-compatible Android phone in a few select cities and countries. It makes Street View imagery more widespread and up-to-date, and is also useful for building its future planet-scale AR service.
blog.google/products/maps/anyone-can-share-their-world-with-street-view/
XR
Vodafone will launch the Nreal Light AR glasses in Germany and Spain next year, with more countries to follow. The Nreal Light tethers to Android phones via a cable, and is being used to promote Vodafone’s 5G services (although how many people will use them outside of their home remains to be seen).
vodafone.com/news-and-media/vodafone-group-releases/news/vodafone-launch-nreal-ar-and-mr-glasses-across-europe
Varjo announced new versions of its VR and AR headsets. The VR-3 and XR-3 are PC-tethered, and offer higher-resolution screens and a wider field of vision. Like most XR hardware, it’s targeted at enterprise users because of the cost.
theverge.com/2020/12/1/21720748/varjo-vr3-xr3-vr-ar-dual-resolution-headsets-price-shipping-specs
Google is closing Poly, its hosting service for 3D models, in 2021. Its the latest evidence that Google is well out of the VR game, but also surprising as the service was integrated with Google’s Swirl 3D ad format—it looks like some Poly functionality will be added to Google Web Designer.
9to5google.com/2020/12/02/google-poly-shutdown/
Everything Else
Messaging Facebook is removing some features from Messenger business chats for users in Europe, to meet new privacy guidelines. These include file attachment previews, receipt and ticket templates, and interactive templates on the web (not in apps). The removals are happening with little warning, and Facebook says it hopes to bring them back, but it seems that Messenger will be very text-focused for businesses in the short-term, at least. This seems like a big story, but no-one seems to be concerned about it, so maybe it’s not.
developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2020/12/04/upcoming-changes-messenger-api/
Messaging Amazon added support for webcams to its Fire TV Cube, letting you use your TV to video-call any other Alexa-enabled screens (like the Echo Show, or phones). This makes it a bit like Facebook’s Portal, although with more faffing about with cables.
theverge.com/2020/12/2/21826108/amazon-fire-tv-cube-webcam-video-calling-now-available
Assistants & Voice Amazon is testing a chat interface to Alexa in its iOS app. It’s the first time that the company has promoted text as a way to interact with Alexa, something which Google Assistant and Siri have offered for a while, and shows Amazon are getting more serious about Alexa on smartphones.
voicebot.ai/2020/12/01/alexa-becomes-a-chatbot-you-can-now-talk-to-alexa-by-typing/
Entertainment Rival Peak, a new cloud-based hybrid of gaming and TV, launched on Facebook Gaming. The title lets viewers interact with characters and make decisions on their behalves, creating an emergent story over weeks. I love the concept, but found the execution a little baffling (and, if I dare say, boring).
protocol.com/facebook-genvid-reality-game-show
Video YouTube announced new features for Premiere, its ‘as-live’ scheduled video service. Creators can use Live Redirect to host a pre-show, add a trailer to be shown before the Premiere, and will soon be able to customise the countdown. I’ve used Premiere a bit this year, and what I’d like is to be able to have a URL reserved before you upload a video.
blog.youtube/news-and-events/grab-front-row-seat-next-premiere-2/
Operating Systems Google announced a set of new features coming to Android phones this winter, including better voice control for people with motor impairment, directly sharing apps with nearby phones, and more emoji remixing.
blog.google/products/android/new-features-winter-2020/
Identity Levi’s is the latest brand to release a collection of outfits for Bitmoji avatars, following on from Ralph Lauren Polo earlier this year.
inputmag.com/style/snapchat-levis-bitmoji-collection
Social TikTok is testing videos of up to three minutes in length. The current limit is one minute, although tripling that opens the opportunity for more in-depth content, like tutorials, which are popular on its Chinese version, Douyin.
theverge.com/2020/12/2/22003880/tiktok-longer-videos-three-minutes-short-quibi-youtube
Video YouTube has opened up YouTube Giving, which allows donations to charities and nonprofits through videos, to all channels in the UK, US, and Canada with over 10,000 subscribers. Recipients must be on an eligibility list, and donors from one of 40 eligible countries.
blog.google/outreach-initiatives/nonprofits/youtube-giving-makes-it-easier-support-nonprofits/
Messaging Facebook announced its intention to buy Kustomer, a CRM tool for business messaging.
about.fb.com/news/2020/11/kustomer-to-join-facebook/
Gaming Microsoft acquired Smash.gg, a platform for organising and discovering eSports tournaments. Its unclear yet what it intends to do with it, although it would seem to be related to eSports coverage on MSN rather than Xbox.
zdnet.com/article/microsoft-buys-esports-platform-vendor-smash-gg/
Wearables Vodafone announced Neo, a smart watch for kids. It features video and text chat, a camera, licensed Disney themes and content, an activity tracker, and parental controls including a location tracker.
newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/press-release/vodafone-unveils-neo-the-game-changing-smart-watch-designed-for-kids-and-featuring-iconic-characters-from-disney-pixar-marvel-and-star-wars/
Stats of the Week
Travis Scott earned a reported £15 million from his Astronomical show in Fortnite, through shares of in-game revenue, merchandise, and music sales.
forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/11/30/how-hip-hop-superstar-travis-scott-has-become-corporate-americas-brand-whisperer/?sh=64660f5774e7
Time spent gaming by people in the US has increased 26% this year, and spending on games has increased by 33%, according to a report by NPD. Four out of five people surveyed have said they played a video game in the past six months.
npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2020/across-all-age-groups-us-consumers-are-investing-more-of-their-entertainment-participation/
Independent retailers sold £3.6bn on Amazon and £3.8bn on Shopify over Black Friday weekend.
twitter.com/AlecStapp/status/1333883501079355395?s=20
37% of all purchases in the US on ‘Cyber Monday’ were made with smartphones.
techcrunch.com/2020/11/30/cyber-monday-2020/
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