Beyond Devices Podcast

This is our News Roundup episode for the week. Our three topics this time around were the Essential Phone and related products and services announced by Android creator Andy Rubin; the Nest Cam IQ announced by Nest; and a set of minor news items regarding Apple, including a report from late last week about a dedicated AI chip, another that manufacturing has begun on Apple's home speaker; and two press releases from Apple around Swift Playgrounds and $70 billion paid out to developers cumulatively.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise noted):

Essential Phone:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/30/★-andy-rubins-essential-announces-yet-another-phone-claiming-to-change-the-market/

Nest Cam IQ:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/31/nest-launches-smarter-security-camera-for-inside-homes/

Apple AI Chip:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/26/★-apple-is-developing-a-dedicated-ai-chip/

Apple Siri Speaker:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/31/★-apple-starts-manufacturing-its-siri-speaker/

Apple $70 Billion Paid to Developers:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/01/apple-announces-cumulative-70bn-paid-to-developers-over-20bn-in-past-year/

Apple Swift Playgrounds Expansion:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/01/apple-adds-robot-drone-and-instrument-support-to-swift-playgrounds/

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

We skipped last week's Question of the Week but it's back this week with a deep dive on Kleiner Perkins analyst Mary Meeker's annual deck on Internet trends, which was delivered at the Code Conference run by Recode. It's a massive deck with 355 slides and 11 separate topics, but Aaron spent some time pulling out some of the most interesting insights on three topics: Mobile, China, and India, and shares both those and some thoughts on how to approach the deck with us.

Here's a link to the deck and video of Meeker's presentation:

https://www.recode.net/2017/5/31/15693686/mary-meeker-kleiner-perkins-kpcb-slides-internet-trends-code-2017

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyon…ast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/be…odcast/id1002197313), or in your podcast app of choice.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

This is our News Roundup episode for the week and also our only episode, as we didn't have time for a Question of the Week episode this week. This was something of a quiet week with only a couple of major announcements, but we still found some stuff to cover. We talked about Microsoft's new Surface Pro, LeEco's US retrenchment, Google execs' comments about monetization Assistant and Home, and Apple News hiring its first Editor in Chief.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise noted):

Microsoft Surface Pro Announcement:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/23/★-microsoft-announces-new-surface-pro-custom-windows-10-for-chinese-government/

LeEco US Retrenchment:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/23/★-leeco-cuts-70-of-us-staff-refocuses-on-chinese-speaking-americans/

Google Assistant Monetization:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/24/google-execs-say-assistant-will-monetize-through-e-commerce-and-ads/

Apple News Hires Editor in Chief:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/25/apple-news-hires-former-new-york-magazine-editor-as-first-editor-in-chief/

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

This is our News Roundup episode for the week. Having discussed the week's big Google news in the Question of the Week deep dive episode, this one covers the other tech news, including Spotify's 2016 financials, developments in the Uber/Waymo lawsuit, and a grab bag of Apple news including its acquisition of Lattice Data, reports of Tim Cook wearing an Apple Watch-connected glucose monitor, and manufacturing iPhones in India.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise noted):

Spotify financials: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/18/★-spotifys-losses-widen-revenue-per-paying-user-drops-in-2016/

Uber/Waymo lawsuit:

• Preliminary injunction: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/15/waymo-uber-injunction-made-public/

• Uber threatens to fire Levandowski: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/19/uber-threatens-to-fire-levandowski-if-he-doesnt-comply-with-court-orders/

Waymo/Lyft partnership: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/15/★-waymo-and-lyft-partner-over-self-driving-cars/

Apple Lattice acquisition:

• Tech Narratives: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/15/★-apple-acquires-dark-data-analysis-company-lattice-data-reportedly-for-200m/

• TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/13/apple-acquires-ai-company-lattice-data-a-specialist-in-unstructured-dark-data/

Apple manufacturing iPhones in India: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/17/★-apple-makes-first-iphones-in-india/

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

For the second week in a row, our Question of the Week episode focuses on a developer event, this time around Google's I/O conference. We focus mostly on the first day keynote, which covered a ton of ground in two hours, from a general pitch around Google's AI and machine learning capabilities to the Google Assistant and Home, Google Photos, YouTube, Android, and VR and AR. We discuss most of these things and the overall structure and focus and what it says about Google's strategy.

The following three posts may also be of interest to you:

• Jan's media comment on the Google I/O announcements:

https://jackdawresearch.com/2017/05/17/google-io-announcements-reflect-reduced-role-of-android/

• Jan's Techpinions column on Google I/O:

https://techpinions.com/googles-fading-focus-on-android/50103

• Several Tech Narratives pieces on the announcements:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/17/★-google-makes-assistant-and-home-announcements-at-io/

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/17/google-photos-hits-500m-maus-adds-sharing-and-ai-features-photo-books/

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/17/★-google-announces-standalone-vr-headsets-samsung-daydream-partnership/

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/17/google-launches-vertical-jobs-search-feature/

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyon…ast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/be…odcast/id1002197313), or in your podcast app of choice.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

This is our News Roundup episode for the week, in which we discuss the announcement of Amazon's Echo Show device with a screen; Snap's first earnings as a public company; and Uber's failure to have its court case with Waymo settled in arbitration and related news. Aaron's away this week, so this is a solo effort from Jan.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links):

Amazon Echo Show:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/09/★-amazon-announces-echo-show-an-echo-with-a-screen-and-video-calling/

Alexa Calling and Messaging:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/09/amazon-announces-alexa-calling-and-messaging-coming-to-other-echo-devices/

Snap Earnings:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/10/★-snap-inc-reports-more-slow-user-growth-growing-losses-minimal-spectacles-sales/

Uber Court Case:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/11/ubers-bid-to-move-waymo-case-to-arbitration-fails/

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

This is our Question of the Week episode, with a deep dive on Microsoft's Build developer conference and the announcements it made there. As Aaron is away this week, Jan – who attended Build in person – talks through the major announcements from the two keynotes. The first part of the episode discusses the first-day keynote, which focused on cloud and AI as well as Satya Nadella's new vision for the company, which is all about the Intelligent Cloud and Intelligent Edge. The second half of the episode discusses the second day's keynote, where the focus was on Windows and Microsoft's vision for mixed reality.

The following three posts may also be of interest to you:

• Jan's comment on Tech Narratives about the day 1 keynote announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/10/★-microsoft-makes-cloud-cortana-iot-announcements-at-build-conference/

• Jan's comment on Tech Narratives about the day 2 keynote announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/11/★-microsoft-makes-windows-and-device-centric-announcements-at-build/

• Jan's weekly column on Techpinions, which ran through themes from Build: https://techpinions.com/microsofts-symbolic-shift-from-windows-to-cloud/50042

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyon…ast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/be…odcast/id1002197313), or in your podcast app of choice.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

Earlier this week, our Question of the Week episode was our quarterly deep dive on Apple's earnings. This News Roundup episode covers some of the week's other big tech news:

• The first eighteen minutes or so of the episode are a discussion of Microsoft's education-focused event in New York, and we talk both about Windows 10 S and the Surface Laptop, and Jan shares his theory about what's really going on with Windows 10 S.

• Our second topic is Hulu's long-awaited launch of its Live TV offering, which was announced this week and which sparks a discussion about the state of online pay TV, which Jan also wrote about this week

• Lastly, we have a brief discussion on two other TV announcements made this week by Twitter and YouTube, both of which unveiled new shows for their respective platforms.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links):

Microsoft Windows 10 S launch:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/02/★-microsoft-introduces-windows-10-s-a-streamlined-and-soulful-version-of-windows/

Microsoft Surface Laptop launch:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/02/★-microsoft-unveils-surface-laptop-an-odd-mix-of-power-and-constraints/

Hulu With Live TV launch:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/03/★-hulu-launches-live-tv-offering-with-50-channels-ads-limited-dvr/

Twitter TV announcements:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/01/★-twitter-announces-a-dozen-new-video-deals/

YouTube TV announcements:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/04/★-youtube-announces-six-new-original-content-series-for-its-free-service/.

You might also be interested in reading Jan's piece on the state of online pay TV: https://www.recode.net/2017/5/5/15545644/hulu-streaming-ott-pay-tv-bundles-cord-cutter-price-point

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (http://podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

This is our Question of the Week episode, with the question being what we should make of Apple's March quarter earnings, reported on Tuesday this week, so this is our quarterly deep dive on Apple's earnings. We talk through each of the major product segments – iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch (and wearables generally), Mac, and Services, and also talk a little about trends in China and in R&D spending, among other things.

You might also be interested in Jan's Tech Narratives post (free even if you're not a subscriber) on Apple earnings – https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/02/★-apple-reports-continued-revenue-growth-slight-dip-in-iphone-strong-services/ – or his tweets immediately after the earnings call, in this thread: https://twitter.com/jandawson/status/859500780776112128

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcasthttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), or in your podcast app of choice.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).

Earlier this week, we did our Question of the Week episode, which covered the state of retail, while this News Roundup episode covers some of the week's big tech news:

• Three Amazon topics: its announcement of the Echo Look fashion-focused device; its launch of its "Subscribe with Amazon" hub; and its Q1 earnings

• Recode's report that Apple is working on a peer to peer payments service a la Venmo and possibly also a debit card

• Mobile earnings from Verizon (last week), AT&T, and T-Mobile, and a brief discussion on bundling and TV too

• Twitter's earnings, which featured the best user growth in two years but also the first year on year revenue decline for the company.

As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below.

News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links):

Amazon Echo Look Launch:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/26/★-amazon-announces-echo-look-which-adds-a-camera-and-fashion-advice-to-echo-for-20/

Subscribe with Amazon launch:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/24/★-amazon-launches-subscription-hub-for-content-news-apps-and-more/

Amazon earnings:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/27/★-amazon-reports-slightly-slower-growth-lower-operating-margins-in-q1-2017/

Apple in P2P payments:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/27/★-apple-is-considering-launching-p2p-payments-and-a-debit-card/

Verizon results:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/20/★-verizon-reports-poor-q1-2017-results-offset-a-little-by-unlimited-reintroduction/

AT&T results:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/25/★-att-reports-tv-and-wireless-subscriber-losses-in-q1-2017/

T-Mobile results:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/24/★-t-mobile-releases-q1-2017-earnings-improving-margins-slowing-sub-growth/

Comcast results:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/27/★-comcast-reports-slight-tv-sub-growth-1m-home-automation-customers/

Twitter earnings:

https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/26/★-twitter-announces-best-user-growth-quarter-in-two-years-revenue-declines/

We also mentioned the Techpinions podcast at the beginning of the show – you can find it on the Techpinions website (https://techpinions.com/category/the-podcast), on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/techpinions/id868991384?mt=2), Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes868991384/techpinions), or in your favorite podcast player.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email ([email protected]).