Snap Launches Spotlight Feed
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Snap Launches Spotlight Feed | |
| Number | 1291 |
| Broadcast Date | NOVEMBER 23, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 5:39 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
Snap launched a new feed on Snapchat called Spotlight, two new programs in California allow for paid autonomous vehicle services, and a coalition of digital marketing companies ask the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to block implementation of Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ initiative.
Headlines
- Snap launched a new feature in Snapchat called Spotlight, a dedicated space with short, entertaining videos in a vertically scrollable feed. Snap says its algorithms will personalize feeds with the most engaging recent snaps, and the feed will be human moderated. The algorithm will look at how many views a Snap gets, how long people watch it, if it was frequently skipped, and whether it gets shared. Spotlight will feature snaps from both private and public accounts, by either sending to Spotlight directly or posted in the Our Story feed. Snaps from private accounts won't feature attribution, with no way to comment or message the creator. Snap also says it will pay over $1 million a day to users who create top Spotlight Snaps for the rest of 2020.
- The California Public Utilities Commission approved the Drivered and Driverless Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Programs that allow for paid autonomous ride hailing services in the state. To participate, companies will need to obtain either a charter-party carrier Class P permit or a Class A charter-party certificate in the Drivered AV Passenger Service pilot program, as well as an AV testing permit from California's Department of Motor Vehicles. The state expects it will take several months for companies to be accepted into the programs. Operating an autonomous ride hailing service will require submitting quarterly reports that include anonymized pickup and dropoff information, the availability of wheelchair accessible rides, fuel and electric charging types of vehicles, vehicle and passenger miles traveled, and working with the disadvantaged and accessibility communities. Previously the CPUC allowed for autonomous testing in the state, but not for paid autonomous vehicle services.
- A coalition of digital marketing companies calling themselves Marketers for an Open Web announced it filed a complaint with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to block implementation of Google's ‘Privacy Sandbox’ initiative. This initiative is set to roll out in early 2021 and would phase out third party tracking cookies. The coalition is asking for the Privacy Sandbox to be delayed until regulators devise "long term competitive remedies" to mitigate Google's ad dominance. Google's Privacy Sandbox is an open standard the company announced last year that would replace cookies with a browser privacy budget that would allow a site to make a limited number of API calls to get information to group a user into a larger group but not sacrifice anonymity.
- While Apple's rumored augmented- or mixed-reality headset isn't a thing yet, Mike Rockwell, Apple's head of AR, and Allessandra McGinnis, its senior product manager for AR, tell CNET that Apple's mission right now is through the device you already have in your pocket - the iPhone. Apple says there are already 10,000 AR-enabled iOS apps from 7,000 developers, many of which focus on shopping or home improvement.
- Google launched an invitation-only trial of a new app called Task Mate in India, designed to let users “earn money doing simple tasks on your smartphone.” The app says tasks are from “businesses around the world,” and are categorized as either “Sitting” or “Field Tasks,” with a provided walking ETA. Example tasks include walking to a store front and taking a picture, recording a spoken sentence, transcribing content, or checking details for a business. Users can either select from a number of available tasks, or the app can send a notification request on a task. It's unclear if local businesses make requests to Google for these tasks or are paying for the service.
- Twitter confirmed that a bug in its ephemeral Fleets feature could allow content to be viewed after the supposed 24 hour expiration. These fleets would disappear from the UI of the main Twitter app, but a developer tool using Twitter API could pull in Fleet URLs which could be used to view content after 24 hours from posting. Twitter clarified that the API only pulls Fleet URLs less than 24 hours old, and is working on a fix to make older URLs unviewable after 24 hours. Twitter does store Fleet content for up to 30 days, and is available in a user's Twitter data for download until the platform deletes it.
- An updated Apple support page says the company is working with Microsoft to bring compatibility for the Xbox Series X controller to Apple devices. Apple devices currently support the Xbox Wireless Controller with Bluetooth, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller , Xbox Adaptive Controller, and PlayStation DualShock 4 Controller.
- Twitter user L1ngL1ng confirmed he was able to use the Checkra1n jailbreaking tool to jailbreak a first generation HomePod, posting a screen shot of accessing the HomePod OS over a SSH connection. This is the first publicly demonstrated jailbreak of a HomePod, which runs an OS based on tvOS.
- Google Assistant can now schedule turning on and off smartlights. This works through Assistant's Scheduled Actions features, and can be set to either specific times or for events like sundown and sunset. Previously Google Assistant could turn on or off smart lights, or use them as part of an alarm.
- To celebrate the video for Billie Eilish's Bad Guy surpassing one billion views on YouTube, Google created Infinite Bad Guy, and endless music video built on covers of the song at billie.withyoutube.com. The site initially plays the official video, with one of 15,000 cover videos on either side of the playing version. Clicking on those videos will transition to the new version without missing a beat or a lyric. Google trained a neural network to sync the different versions. Clicking pause will list every cover you listened to during your session.
Links
| Preceded by: "Week in Review for the Week of 11/16/20" |
Snap Launches Spotlight Feed |
Followed by: "Sony Confirms Playstation 5 Completely Sold Out" |