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.
Amazon’s Alexa Goes Hands-Free on HTC U11 Smartphone, Falls Short (Jul 17, 2017)
Amazon’s Alexa assistant has come to a couple of smartphones at this point, debuting on the Huawei Mate 9, but on those devices, it couldn’t respond to a voice command in the way the Echo devices can – invoking Alexa required opening the app. The HTC U11 changes that, by bringing an always-listening version of Alexa to a smartphone for the first time, but this review from the Verge makes clear just how big a challenge Amazon and Alexa still have in front of them in breaking out of the home. The biggest issue is that Alexa doesn’t work until the screen is unlocked, meaning that the always-on feature has a huge handicap. Beyond that, many of the features available in Echo devices are missing, and it’s added nothing to allow Alexa to provide functions people typically use voice assistants on the phone for, such as sending messages or making calls. All of this just confirms what I’ve been saying for some time now about Alexa, which is that it does fine in the home with a limited set of tasks and highly optimized hardware, but is useless out of the home and will struggle to compete with truly integrated assistants like Siri and the Google Assistant, which are baked into phones and their operating systems. It was theoretically possible that Amazon would get some Android vendors to give Alexa true first-party status and phenomenal performance on a phone, but that certainly doesn’t seem to be happening yet, which means that as Google and Apple enter and take share in the voice speaker market, their assistants will start to seem a lot more compelling, because they can be used both at home and out and about, eroding Echo’s two-year head start and the advantages that’s conveyed.
via The Verge
Judge Rules Google Doesn’t Have to Hand Over All Records Requested by DoL (Jul 17, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Weekly Narrative Video – Snapchat is Maturing (Jul 15, 2017)
This past week’s narrative video is on the Snapchat is Maturing narrative, which feels very relevant as Snap Inc’s share price drops below the IPO price and questions continue to arise about its long-term potential. As usual, I’ve updated the accompanying essay to reflect what’s happened since I first wrote it six months ago too. Subscribers can watch the video on the narrative page here as always, and if you’re not yet a subscriber you can sign up for a 30-day free trial here and get access too.
Daily Podcast Episode 14 – July 14, 2017 (Jul 14, 2017)
The daily podcast episode for July 14 is up now on SoundCloud and should be syncing shortly to iTunes, Overcast, and other podcast apps. As usual, the podcast spends about one minute on each of the items covered on the site today, and also points to a few other items in the news today which I didn’t cover but which are nonetheless interesting. You can find today’s episode on SoundCloud and all episodes on iTunes, Overcast, and so on.
Snapchat Is Looking for Ad Tech Acquisitions, Has Talked to AdRoll (Jul 14, 2017)
Business Insider reports that Snapchat is looking to beef up its ad tech capabilities and has had discussions with AdRoll as a possible candidate, though those talks seem to have ended at this point. This goes to the heart of one of the big weaknesses Snapchat still has as an advertising platform, namely its inability to give advertisers the insights they want into how their ads are performing or the impact they’re having. That, combined with the lack of user growth, means Snap’s future growth prospects are challenged, and that in turn explains the recent hit to the stock price. The right acquisition (or several) in this space would help change that, but many of the best assets in the market have long since been snapped up (or developed internally) by the major players, so the pickings will be slim and the benefits of an acquisition less than they might once have been.
via Business Insider
Facebook Starts Testing Ads in its Marketplace Classifieds Tab (Jul 14, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Twitter Product Head Says Twitter Lite Growing Indian User Base Significantly (Jul 14, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Chinese Regulation of Mapping Creates Barriers for Autonomous Driving Data (Jul 14, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Instagram is Winning Over Some Big Publishers from Snapchat (Jul 14, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Daily Podcast Episode 13 – July 13, 2017 (Jul 13, 2017)
The daily podcast episode for July 13 is up now on SoundCloud and should be syncing shortly to iTunes, Overcast, and other podcast apps. As usual, the podcast spends about one minute on each of the items covered on the site today, and also points to a few other items in the news today which I didn’t cover but which are nonetheless interesting. You can find today’s episode on SoundCloud and all episodes on iTunes, Overcast, and so on.
Netflix and HBO Lead Emmy Nominations (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
TV Networks Score Growth in Upfront Ad Commitments (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Roku Said to be Preparing 2017 IPO (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Amazon Reported to be Working on Next-Generation Echo for Fall Release (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Some Online Publishers Increase Revenue by Reducing Ads (Jul 13, 2017)
The Wall Street Journal has a nice bit of reporting here on several websites which are reducing the number and toning down the nature of ads, and seeing positive results in terms of ad revenue as a result. Reading the article, it’s hard to avoid asking “You mean you dramatically improved the user experience and more people spent more time on your site?” The changes being described here seem so obvious that it’s easy to forget that the received wisdom in online advertising (as in TV advertising, arguably) has been that the best way to generate more ad revenue is to show more ads and make them harder to ignore, at the expense of the user experience. The backlash against advertising online (manifested in both use of ad blockers and refusing to visit sites with obnoxious ads) and on TV (manifested through ad-skipping DVRs and the rise of ad-free properties like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO) is now finally forcing a reckoning among those that have swallowed that line of thinking. And the results should surprise no-one: prioritizing anything over the user experience is always going to worsen the experience and therefore usage, while prioritizing the user experience will improve it and usage, and in the process may well improve revenues too. This isn’t a panacea for online display ads, many of which will be blocked anyway even if not obnoxious, and whose value compared to native and search ads continues to erode, but it’s better than continuing down the road most online publishers have been on. The solution for TV advertising, on the other hand, isn’t nearly so simple, given the broader declines in viewership.
via WSJ
★ Facebook Reportedly Working on a $200 Standalone Oculus VR Headset for 2018 (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
★ Uber Joins Forces with Yandex in Russian Ride Sharing Market (Jul 13, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Daily Podcast Episode 12 – July 12, 2017 (Jul 12, 2017)
The daily podcast episode for July 12 is up now on SoundCloud and should be syncing shortly to iTunes, Overcast, and other podcast apps. As usual, the podcast spends about one minute on each of the items covered on the site today, and also points to a few other items in the news today which I didn’t cover but which are nonetheless interesting. You can find today’s episode on SoundCloud and all episodes on iTunes, Overcast, and so on.
Siri Usage Reported to Fall as Alexa and Cortana Grow (Jul 12, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.
Netflix Squeezes Fox Out of Top 4 Must-Keep Viewing Options (Jul 12, 2017)
This content requires a subscription to Tech Narratives. Subscribe now by clicking on this link, or read more about subscriptions here.