Amazon Gets Physical, Physical

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Amazon Gets Physical, Physical
Number 2680
Broadcast Date FEBRUARY 3, 2016
Episode Length 39:24
Hosts Tom Merritt
Guests Scott Johnson

A mall CEO says Amazon may open 300-400 bookstores in the US. Warby Parker and Bonobos have done similar things. Are malls the last mile for online retailers? Scott Johnson and Tom Merritt discuss.

Guest

Headlines

Microsoft announced Wednesday it has acquired SwiftKey the makers of the software keyboard and SDK for Android and iOS. Swiftkey learns from all its users how to anticipate what word will be typed next. Microsoft says that predictive technology aligns with aims to build intelligent systems as well as integrate into Microsoft’s existing Word Flow product. Microsoft says it will continue to develop the SwiftKey keyboard for iOS and Android.
Google SVP of search Amit Singhal posted on Google Plus that he will retire at the end of this month. He wrote “My dream Star Trek computer is becoming a reality, and it is far better than what I ever imagined.” Google VP of engineering and head of artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, will take over.
Google Fiber announced Wednesday it will work the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ConnectHome initiative to provide gigabit Internet service to public housing at no cost. The West Bluff property in Kansas City will be the first to receive gigabit Internet as part of this program, it will expand in Kansas City and eventually to all public housing in each city served by Google Fiber.
FitBit unveiled the Alta today, a $130 fitness tracker band featuring an OLED touch display and automatic activity tracking. The Alta has swappable bands in different colors plus a leather band and metal bracelet for $30, $60 and $100. The Alta will ship in March in North America and the rest of the world in April. Classic bands will available at launch with the Metal Bracelet coming in summer and the leather band coming soon.
Cisco issued their annual report on mobile traffic estimating by 2020 5.54 billion people will have a mobile phone. CNET’s Roger Cheng points out 5.3 billion will have electricity and 3.5 billion running water. Cisco forecasts mobile data traffic will grow to 366.8 exabytes by 2020, with phones making up 81% of that traffic and more than 75% of it will be video. And global average network speed should be 6.5 Mbps by then, triple what it is now.
Submitted by mechagobbler
Yahoo bought Tumblr in 2013 for $1.1 billion and BuzzFeed reports Yahoo announced it has reduced the blogging service’s value by 23%, or about $230 million. Yahoo wrote down $4.5 billion in the value of various corporate units and has announced it will lay off 15% of its staff and pursue an aggressive strategic plan. As we mentioned yesterday, Yahoo’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% and beat estimates.
Technology review reports that researchers from the University of North Carloina in Charlotte led by Jason Marmon have developed a transistor that controls current with laser light shined on a wire made of cadmium and selenium that’s only a few atoms thick. It conducts when illuminated and insulates when dark. No source drain or gate. They can be made smaller than current nanometer-wide field effect transistors. The next step is figure out how to send light to each transistor at a decent power efficiency and speed. Still someday Moore’s law might be broken by Light Effect Transistors.
Submitted by starfuryzeta
Several ad blocking extensions for Samsung’s new android Internet browser are having trouble with Google’s Play store. Adblock Fast was removed from the store and told it violated Section 4.4 of developer Distribution Agreement prohibiting interfering with the service of a third party. Crystal is still available but its update was blocked for the same reason. Adblock Plus has not been affected.
Nintendo’s first mobile game, Miitomo is coming to North America in March for iOS and Android. Nintendo announced Wednesday you can pre-register for it starting February 17th by signing up for a new Nintendo Account. And you’ll get a special bonus if yo do. No word on where signups will take place, or what the special bonus will be.

Discussion

Pick of the Day

We’ve received LOADS of Picks regarding hooking up your phone’s audio audio in your car, so here’s a roundup:

Plugs into aux jack to add bluetooth less than $30.
Submitted by Jason in Seattle

$25-$30 Plugs into power adapter with USB and aux cord.
Submitted by Yousef from Detroit

Pioneer deck for less than $100 that has Bluetooth and an extrenal mic. Learned about from the Wirecutter.
Submitted by Tommy the newspaper publisher in Maui

Gary followed up on the Photive bluetooth headphones he had sent in as a pick awhile back. They finally stopped working on Jan. 19th (A month after a trip through the wash) so he went for a pair of $17 bluetooth earbuds from Danibos.
Submitted by Gary

Messages

I always listen to the show every day on my when I am back from work, it is been awhile since I do not miss one episode, best podcast ever!

Wanted to share a couple of things, from last week's episodes I heard that one of the topics was driving apps, on my side I'd like to let you know is if you ever visit Costa Rica, Waze is the to-go app. The community is big here, all maps and roads are up to date, there is no chance you can get lost here using google's app.

Also wanted to share a very interesting article I read today where CDN giant Akamai is planning a core internet protocol (TCP) boost that will increase the speed of sites in up to 30%. This is great news, TCP has been out for awhile so a refresher is awesome!

Thanks a lot!

Note from Tom: TCP replacement called Giga to be opened and combined with Google's QUIC. Would require IETF approval and adoption by hardware and software.
Sent by Pura Vida from sunny Costa Rica


Dear DTNS,

For the hyperloop transportation about shipping freight, it might not be used for "normal' freight, but for special speedy deliveries between locations.

Think about how Amazon could use this for their Prime Shipping!! Not only could there be Amazon freight shipping trucks, now Amazon could you Prime Hyperloop to ship packages from one place to another in record time. Then take them out for delivery. May not be the 2 hour delivery, but delivery within 6 hours or 1 day.
Sent by Mark Stevens


Alan Char suggested it might make a good alternative to air cargo: "The travel times seem comparable, and I imagine the weight restrictions can't be much worse than those of air cargo."
Sent by Alan Char


Tom and Co.

Not to jump the rumor gun, but your brief discussion of the rumored iPhone 5SE got my mind working. Since the rumor came out, I've been really worried that the battery life would be a huge issue, since the iPhone 6s's is only passable, the smaller chassis would probably fit a much smaller battery. However, looking at the iPhone 5s as a guide, the battery is only 10% smaller than that of the 6s. Assuming that the 5se will have a smaller screen and perhaps the same resolution as the 5s (thus less strain on the GPU), the battery reduction might be offset. Apple may also decide to lower the SOC clock speeds (which might be needed for heat dissipation anyway) to further help. I know its speculation on speculation, but if the battery life is improved, it might be a surprisingly tempting device.

PS - Love hearing Miriam on the show, she's great!
Sent by Rich from Lovely Cleveland

YouTube

Links



Preceded by:
"Landscape Mode, Baby!" 		Amazon Gets Physical, Physical
 Followed by:
"We Don’t Need Another Hero"
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