Important Note
Tech Narratives was a subscription website, which offered expert commentary on the day's top tech news from Jan Dawson, along with various other features, for $10/month. As of Monday October 16, 2017, it will no longer be updated. An archive of past content will remain available for the time being. I've written more about this change in the post immediately below, and also here.
Samsung Smart View App: Next Version to Allow Chromecast-Like Casting | Variety (Dec 30, 2016)
Samsung has sold smart TVs for years, but they’ve generally been standalone devices, rather than being driven from a smartphone or app, despite an earlier project which was intended to use tablets as a remote. This new functionality looks like Chromecast, and may well be a response to competing TVs using actual Google Cast technology. As with most of Samsung’s services, though, it’s unlikely to be a big hit.
via Samsung Smart View App: Next Version to Allow Chromecast-Like Casting | Variety
Slower-than-expected iPhone 7 sales prompt Apple to cut production by 10%, report claims (Dec 30, 2016)
There are two problems with these reports – firstly, they come out every year in some shape or form, and have a far from perfect correlation with poor sales of iPhones; and secondly, the scale of the cuts is always ambiguous – is the 10% relative to last year at the same time, a cut from Q4 to Q1, or something else? The latter would obviously be expected given the usual cyclical drop from Q4 to Q1, while the former would be entirely unexpected. But as usual this Nikkei report drove lots of “poor iPhone sales” headlines despite all that.
via Slower-than-expected iPhone 7 sales prompt Apple to cut production by 10%, report claims
ESPN takes you inside a college football rivalry with VR (Dec 30, 2016)
Though high-quality gaming content exists, other top-notch content for VR is still pretty experimental, so seeing a brand like ESPN investing in VR content is a good sign. For this kind of thing, VR is obviously still a far better fit than AR, and immersive video content in general will be critical for taking VR beyond gaming.
via ESPN takes you inside a college football rivalry with VR
BuzzFeed editor makes 2017 predictions – Business Insider (Dec 30, 2016)
Fake News is one of several areas where BuzzFeed has done excellent investigative work this year (harassment on Twitter is another), and editor-in-chief Ben Smith thinks we’re in for more in 2017 (I agree). The big question is whether 2017 will eventually see some sort of return to normalcy or whether we’ll see a growing divide between the realities embraced by different groups of people – sadly, I believe it will be the latter.
via BuzzFeed editor makes 2017 predictions – Business Insider
How Amazon, Google, and Facebook Will Bring Down Telcos | WIRED (Dec 30, 2016)
The headline here is overblown – Facebook, Google, and many other over-the-top services have already eaten into telcos’ business, but end user Internet access remains pretty inviolate as a telco domain. This piece skims over that element very quickly, without addressing any of the big barriers to entry that exist. I’ve no doubt that some of the other changes discussed will occur, but that’s the big one that’s going to keep telcos relevant and even healthy going forward.
via How Amazon, Google, and Facebook Will Bring Down Telcos | WIRED
Facebook and Google Dominate ‘Top Smartphone Apps of 2016’ List, While Apple Music Ranks 9th – Mac Rumors (Dec 30, 2016)
Facebook and Google absolutely dominate this list, and to my mind this dominance remains one of the biggest threats to Apple going forward: to the extent that people increasingly use their iPhones to access services and apps provided by other companies, those companies are in an increasingly strong position to usurp Apple’s position in devices. Apple Music is the only Apple app in the top 10, while Facebook and Google have 8 of the other 9, with Amazon scraping in at #10.
Apple plans to make iPhones in Bengaluru from April – ETtech (Dec 30, 2016)
One of the barriers to Apple opening a retail presence in India has been that its products are not made there, and although there has been talk about a temporary lifting of that ban, Apple likely still needs to make iPhones in India in order to solve this problem over the long term. I haven’t seen others confirming these reports yet, so let’s take this with a pinch of salt for now, but it certainly seems plausible.
via Apple: apple plans to make iphones in bengaluru from april, Technology News, ETtech
Amazon beat competitors in a new way this holiday season: Money spent on TV ads – Recode (Dec 29, 2016)
Most of the big online companies have eschewed traditional advertising in the past, and yet that’ starting to change – Google now spends money promoting its hardware, among other things. And Amazon is now spending increasing amounts – and more than Walmart or Target – during the holiday period. That can be read as a sign of confidence, but more likely it’s a sign that Amazon feels the need to reach out to new users (the 17%) to drive growth, which in turn may be a sign of a user base reaching saturation point.
via Amazon beat competitors in a new way this holiday season: Money spent on TV ads – Recode
Uber expects to give 15 million rides this New Year’s Eve – Recode (Dec 29, 2016)
Three times growth from 2015 to 2016 is remarkable, and a useful indication of how fast this industry is still changing and growing. And yet peaks like this are still one of the biggest challenges for companies like Uber (and even Amazon, in a completely different way) – build your infrastructure for normal operation, and it’s tough to handle massive spikes in demand. Surge pricing helps a little, but you still can’t get out any more than your total number of drivers at any given time.
via Uber expects to give 15 million rides this New Year’s Eve – Recode
Jack Dorsey Says Twitter Needs An Edit Function – BuzzFeed News (Dec 29, 2016)
Jack Dorsey sought user input on what Twitter needs to do next today through Twitter itself, and one of the big requests was an editing feature, which it appears he’s inclined to support. He also conceded the company needed to do more on harassment, which continues to be a big turnoff for potential users. And yet I suspect the changes Twitter needs to make most won’t be suggested by existing users because they relate to on-boarding and capturing a new slice of users that don’t currently see value in Twitter or find it too hard to use.
via Jack Dorsey Says Twitter Needs An Edit Function – BuzzFeed News
Fiat’s Secret Self-Driving Car Shows How Industry May Evolve — The Information (Dec 29, 2016)
Great inside information here about FCA’s other self-driving initiatives beyond its Waymo partnership. The strategy highlights the big concern many carmakers have about partnering with Alphabet (or for that matter Apple) – that they will cede differentiation to the platform vendor and lose their own competitiveness in the process. Clearly, FCA remains committed to its Waymo deal, but it’s sensible to hedge its bets here.
via Fiat’s Secret Self-Driving Car Shows How Industry May Evolve — The Information
Uber asked a lot of Pittsburgh for its self-driving cars, and offered back very little — Quartz (Dec 29, 2016)
As I’ve said previously, Uber has a pretty complex relationship with the municipalities where it operates, often flouting taxi regulations and more recently also self-driving ones. In the case of Pittsburgh, Uber has at least worked with the city, but it now appears that it has been something of a one-way relationship. Ironically, the dynamic here is reminiscent of that between Google Fiber and cities, in which the latter have bent over backwards to help Google, whereas in autonomous driving Google (now Waymo) has been more cooperative, while Uber borrows its Fiber playbook.
via Uber asked a lot of Pittsburgh for its self-driving cars, and offered back very little — Quartz
Here and Mobileye team up on self-driving mapping tech | TechCrunch (Dec 29, 2016)
There is so much change happening at once in the transportation industry that it’s impossible for any one company to stay on top of it all, which generally leads to a decent amount of focus. However, there are benefits to companies integrating their efforts to benefit from each other’s skills and advances, and HERE and Mobileye are doing just that around autonomous driving. It’s a smart move and one that should benefit both companies and their partners.
via Here and Mobileye team up on self-driving mapping tech | TechCrunch
Why Google shutting down Map Maker should terrify SMBs – Search Engine Land (Dec 29, 2016)
Fascinating thinking about an impending change to Google’s map crowdsourcing efforts – the company is shutting down Map Maker, its official crowdsourcing effort, but this just means edits will go into Google Maps itself, without much of the transparency of Map Maker. This, in turn, is a process rife with abuse today and with potential for much more anonymous mischief making going forward. The perils of relatively unsupervised crowdsourcing…
via Why Google shutting down Map Maker should terrify SMBs
YouTube Needs to Become a TV Star – Bloomberg Gadfly (Dec 29, 2016)
This analysis does a great job of breaking down a couple of specific challenges relating to ad revenue from YouTube – its relatively low revenue per user, and the need to break into traditional television to tap into a bigger video advertising bucket. YouTube has evolved – notably introducing a subscription model – since Wojcicki took over, but arguably not enough. And YouTube is critical for Google growing its overall ad revenue.
via YouTube Needs to Become a TV Star – Bloomberg Gadfly
2016 was the year we figured out Facebook’s empire is dangerous – Mashable (Dec 29, 2016)
This is a narrative that gained significant steam during the course of 2016 – the idea that Facebook is becoming incredibly powerful as a filter through which people experience the Internet and the world, and that this much power is dangerous. That danger is arguably heightened by the incredible power Mark Zuckerberg still has as CEO to single-handedly shape policy for the company. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of this kind of thing in 2017.
via 2016 was the year we figured out Facebook’s empire is dangerous
Another shake-up at Faraday Future, as ‘global CEO’ departs – The Verge (Dec 29, 2016)
Another day, another negative story about Faraday Future. At this point, I’m wondering whether there will even be anyone left to present at FF’s CES press conference next week. Certainly, all this bad press is unhelpful both to FF itself and to its major investor, LeEco, which is making its big push into the US too.
via Another shake-up at Faraday Future, as ‘global CEO’ departs – The Verge
Amazon patent reveals its drone-deploying flying warehouse plan (Dec 29, 2016)
With the usual caveat about not assuming a patent filing implies immediate (or even any) intention to build something, this is another fascinating step in the evolution of Amazon’s logistics operation. Logistics are vital to Amazon’s ability to do what it does, and a small competitive edge driven by innovation pays off in big ways. Definitely looks like a better use for a barge than Google’s ill-fated Glass showroom.
via Amazon patent reveals its drone-deploying flying warehouse plan
Apple seeks tax benefits, label law waivers to build iPhones in India & boost local sales – AppleInsider (Dec 29, 2016)
India is a market Tim Cook talks about a lot, as if it had the potential of China over the long term, and yet Apple’s presence there is minuscule for a host of reasons, not least much lower disposable incomes and regulatory barriers to a retail presence. However, Apple continues to chip away at these challenges bit by bit in an attempt to grow its business in India. I suspect we’ll still see slow progress there over the short to medium term.
via Apple seeks tax benefits, label law waivers to build iPhones in India & boost local sales
Samsung at CES: Ignore that burning Galaxy Note 7 over there – CNET (Dec 29, 2016)
Shara does a great job here of stating the challenge Samsung faces heading into CES, where it holds the biggest press conference of any exhibitor but tends not to make smartphone announcements. I’m concerned that we still don’t have an official explanation for the Note7 fires, which means the story will keep sticking around, and will keep making people – especially those who’ve never bought one – think twice before buying a Samsung phone.
via Samsung at CES: Ignore that burning Galaxy Note 7 over there – CNET