The Tech Landscape #203 🍟
The end of the Real World, new Shows, and Apple trying ads again: this is issue 203 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.
“Next week I’ll write my newsletter earlier than Sunday night so I don’t have to rush the intro”—me, every week.
I follow a lot of self-described futurists on Twitter. (As an aside before my main point: not all futurists make predictions, and beware the ones that do; they’re rarely held to the accuracy of their predictions. “The future is a great place to hide”, as Bob Hoffman put it.)
Anyway, lots of futurists are going absolutely nuts about NFTs at the moment, and my feeling is that they’re not being skeptical enough. It is, I think, good to be skeptical (not cynical), although it has to be a balanced skepticism; neither overly nor… er, underly. I always go back to Carl Sagan’s essay, The Burden of Skepticism:
It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes, whichever one it is, you’re in deep trouble.
While I see the theoretical promise of NFTs, I think that the futurist Twitterati getting excited about them are confusing the promise with the reality. There’s a long-standing question of how creators assert ownership of (and value to) digital items, and NFTs are an answer to that question. I’m just not convinced that they’ll prove to be the right answer. I may be wrong (god knows I have been in the past), but I think it’s important to be healthily skeptical either way.
Well, I warned you this was going to be rushed. It’s midnight on Sunday. On with the newsletter. Hope you’re well!
XR (AR & VR)
Niantic extended access to its developer platform, which now goes under the name of Lightship. The former Real World Platform includes real-time 3D mapping using the smartphone camera, semantic understanding of objects in the maps, and multiplayer tools. From its experience with Pokèmon GO and acquisitions of 3D mapping technology company, Lightship should have a key role to play in the future of AR.
nianticlabs.com/blog/lightship/?hl=en
HTC Vive announced two new VR headsets: the tethered Pro 2, and all-in-one Focus 3. Both feature 5K resolution and a 120° field of view, and are aimed at enterprise users.
vive.com/uk/newsroom/2021-05-11/
Spatial, a VR collaboration platform, launched an interactive web viewer. Spatial lets users build rooms for exhibitions, concerts, etc, but was previously limited to VR headsets; the Beta release of its web version extends its potential reach.
auganix.org/spatial-announces-beta-launch-of-its-new-interactive-web-app-to-extend-its-immersive-ar-and-vr-platform-to-browsers/
Smart Home
Amazon launched three new models of its Echo Show smart display. The Show 8 has a more powerful chip to handle automated face tracking and zooming, and new AR effects; the Show 5 has an improved camera and a price cut; and the Show 5 Kids has a colourful design and a year’s free access to the Kids+ content library.
press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-introduces-upgraded-echo-show-8-echo-show-5-and-all-new
Project CHIP, the smart home standard with the backing of Amazon, Apple, Google, and more, is now called Matter. The standard aims to ensure connected devices work as seamlessly as possible, and the first Matter-certified devices are due at the end of this year.
zigbeealliance.org/news_and_articles/chip-is-now-matter/
Tile smart tags will work with Amazon’s Sidewalk network later this year. Sidewalk uses a mesh network of connected Echo and Ring devices to communicate, extending their range and stability. By utilising Sidewalk, Tile tags can be more easily located. It’s similar to how Apple’s new AirTags and Find My service work—Tile is currently suing Apple, so an alliance with Amazon helps it compete.
prnewswire.com/news-releases/tile-to-join-amazon-sidewalk-later-this-year-301134312.html
Everything Else
Apple bought Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising company. Coming just weeks after it hobbled third-party advertising tracking on iOS, it seems like Apple is planning to corner the advertising market on its platform.
reuters.com/article/us-apple-quattro-idUSTRE6043NM20100105
Advertising
TikTok introduced Green Screen Duet, which lets users respond to videos by using them as backgrounds. Green Screen and Duet are two of the most popular features of the app, so combining them opens up new ways to keep content chains going.
newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/green-screen-duet
Entertainment
Discord announced new features including discovery and ticketing tools for its live audio Stage Channels. The features come as the company celebrates its sixth birthday with an updated identity.
blog.discord.com/how-were-making-discord-more-welcoming-for-everyone-ee152f198c60
Social
Users of Google Pay in the US can now send payments internationally to India and Singapore. It’s in partnership with Western Union and Wise, and many more countries will be added throughout the year.
blog.google/products/google-pay/send-money-loved-ones-abroad/
Payments
Facebook is testing a prompt for users who share an article without reading it first. Twitter implemented the feature last year and said 40% more people opened an article after seeing the prompt, and 33% more people opened the article before retweeting.
twitter.com/fbnewsroom/status/1391816265891778560?s=20
Social
US retailer Walmart announced that its buying Zeekit, which uses digital models to preview clothing sizes. Zeekit had previously worked with ASOS, amongst other retailers, but will apparently become Walmart exclusive. The technology helps customers get a better idea of sizing, to reduce returns.
corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2021/05/13/walmart-announces-plans-to-acquire-zeekit-a-leading-virtual-fitting-room-platform-to-enable-enhanced-and-social-shopping-experience-for-customer
Commerce
CC Search, a search engine for freely-licensed media, is joining Wordpress under the name Openverse. The service, an open source alternative to Google Images, Unsplash, etc, was going to be closed down before this intervention.
wordpress.org/news/2021/05/welcome-to-openverse/
Media
Stat of the Week
Facebook app downloads dropped 30% year-on-year. This is according to estimates by AppFigures. Facebook’s own data shows that, while monthly users continue to grow globally, the number has plateaued in Europe and is dropping in the US—I think we’ve seen—or are seeing—its peak.
9to5mac.com/2021/05/13/report-facebook-app-downloads-drop-30-amid-tiktok-growth-and-privacy-concerns/
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