The Next Bot Thing
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| The Next Bot Thing | |
| Number | 2714 |
| Broadcast Date | MARCH 17, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 37:19 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
| Guests | Justin Robert Young |
Messaging is the hot new platform and payments are the hot new thing on the hot new platform as witnessed by WeChatPay’s big numbers. Justin Young and Tom Merritt discuss whether this trend is more light or heat.
Guest
Headlines
- Bloomberg reports two people familiar with the plans say executives at Alphabet have determined its Boston Dynamics division is unlikely to produce a marketable product and have put the unit up for sale. One of the sources says Toyota Research Institute and Amazon might be interested.
- Sources tell CRN Apple started storing some of its iCloud data with Google last year Most of iCloud data still is stored with Amazon Web Services though some is on Microsoft Azure. Apple has announced three data centers of its own opening soon.
- Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 for phones today for select Lumia handsets. Carriers will make the update available on their own schedule. You can download the UpdateAdvisor app from the Windows Store that will let you know when the upgrade is available for your handset. Users will get improved Outlook and Office, a version of Cortana aligned with the desktop, and universal apps.
- T-Mobile has added YouTube and Google Play video to its “Binge On” service that doesn’t count certain streaming services against a subscriber’s data cap but also ‘optimizes’ all video to 480p for phone viewing. Google had been critical of the plan but T-Mobile has agreed to make it clearer what ‘optimization’ means and give users an easier way to opt out either by SMS or at my.tmobile.com. Participating companies are also getting more control over how their streams are affected and the ability to opt-out.
- A Duesseldorf, Germany District Court ruled Tuesday that Apple violated patents owned by Kudelski’s Open TV. The patents cover the practice of mixing video, audio and online information in a single video stream. Apple can choose to license, pull the features from its products, or stop selling the products in Germany. A €250,000 fine would be assessed if it fails to comply. Apple can apply for a stay and appeal the decision. Apple has already filed a request to invalidate the patent in Federal Patent Court in Munich. Kudelski has settled with Google, Cisco and Netflix previously.
- Proton Mail is available without an invite for anyone to sign up as of Wednesday. The end-to-end encrypted email system is available on the Web and in iOS and Google Play stores.
- The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union has issued an opinion that, "the operator of a shop, hotel or bar who offers a Wi-Fi network free of charge to the public is not liable for copyright infringements committed by users of that network.” An injunction may be brought to end the infringement but termination, password protection or even examination of transmissions is not required. Sony is suing Tobias McFadden of Munich over music illegally downloaded on his network. The Advocate General’s opinion is not binding on the courts.
- Submitted by AndrewTerry
- TenCent announced its highest quarterly revenue growth in three years much of which is due to WeChat. The messaging platform now has 697 million active users worldwide adding close to 200 million over the past year. WeChatPay alone now has more than 300 million users generating RMB300 million (US$46mm) for bank transfer fees. It is live in China and South Africa.
- Intel gave more details of its “Skull Canyon” NUC at GDC today. The mini PC comes with a 2.6GHz quad-core Core i7 Skylake chip, Iris Pro 580 GPU, 128MB of eDRAM cache, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Among its ports are HDMI 2.0, mini DisplayPort 1.2, four USB 3 ports, and Thunderbolt 3.0 port. It can take up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM and up to two M.2 SATA form factored SSDs with support for NVMe. The barebones version sans RAM, storage and OS costs $650 and will be available for pre-order on Newegg in April shipping in May.
Discussion
- Messaging app WeChat is becoming a mobile payment giant in China
- Facebook Plans To Turn Messenger Into A Platform
- Facebook’s Messenger Bot Store could be the most important launch since the App Store
- I tried to survive an entire day using WeChat to pay for stuff. Here’s how it went
- WhatsApp Ditches $1 Annual Fee, Tests Business Accounts But No Ads, Says CEO
- Telegram’s New Platform Lets Developers Create Smart Message Bots With Multiple Uses
- Line launches a new app to connect brands and personalities with their fans
- LINE Pay
Pick of the Day
- My pick is N1 by Nylas.
It is an open source, extensible email client for Windows, Linux and OS X. Nylas is integrating many of the best features of other email solutions such as Inbox by Google, and adding some additional features via plugins that leverages their own products and servers. Some of the plugins share info with Nylas, but the plugins are of course optional.
This app has a nice design, and is changing my expectations of what a desktop email client can be. - Submitted by Michael
- My pick is N1 by Nylas.
Messages
- I wanted to chime in about the cross platform talk. It was mentioned that Sony had already been doing this but I wanted to clarify that developers have already been doing this, Sony has allowed it. Final Fantasy 11 connected PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 to the same servers. Sony was involved with the PS3 version because it used their networks and Microsoft was involved with the Xbox Versions. However I believe that the official servers players connected to were hosted by Square Enix and not Sony/Xbox. What Microsoft is doing is saying, "we are opening the Xbox Live network to run with the Playstation Network." Normally if you want to run a game on Xbox Live you have to use their servers that only allow the traffic for their games.
What this boils down to is developers have to be able to connect their game to the same server through the different consoles. That hasn't been the easiest thing to do and Microsoft is saying that they are willing to provide the tools to do it.
Regards, - Sent by Brandon Kidwell
- I wanted to chime in about the cross platform talk. It was mentioned that Sony had already been doing this but I wanted to clarify that developers have already been doing this, Sony has allowed it. Final Fantasy 11 connected PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 to the same servers. Sony was involved with the PS3 version because it used their networks and Microsoft was involved with the Xbox Versions. However I believe that the official servers players connected to were hosted by Square Enix and not Sony/Xbox. What Microsoft is doing is saying, "we are opening the Xbox Live network to run with the Playstation Network." Normally if you want to run a game on Xbox Live you have to use their servers that only allow the traffic for their games.
- I suggest another challenge for AI. Diplomacy is a game where players have to negotiate peace deals, ask and give support and most important of all, lie, backstab and betray your friends. A computer playing diplomacy would be a board game a turing test, because it's not only enough to be able to come up with the optimal strategy, but it's also essential for the player to assess when to trust others and how to deceive them.
- Sent by Alex from Olympic Rio
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Middle-Class VR" |
The Next Bot Thing |
Followed by: "Asimov's First Rule of Robot Club" |