Beyond Devices Podcast

Jan's taking on a new full-time job and stepping away from his role as an independent analyst, which means we're taking a bit of a break from the podcast after this episode, and will post less frequent episodes in future. With that context, we're in a contemplative mood and decided to make this episode a discussion about the state of the tech industry. We tackle a few distinct themes: the power of incrementalism in the face of a bias towards big inventions; the maturity of key markets and the market structures that's driving us to; changing competitive dynamics and the increasing power of a few big players; and the role that regulation might play in the future of the industry and changing all that. The show notes below include links to some of the things we mentioned on today's episode. • Jan's blog post about his job change: https://medium.com/beyond-devices/seventeen-years-an-analyst-a5e9d215b48c • Jan's last Techpinions post, on the state of the tech industry: https://techpinions.com/some-thoughts-on-the-state-of-the-tech-market/51643 • Vivint Smart Home website: https://www.vivint.com You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

We're back on our normal schedule for this week's News Roundup episode, and back to covering three distinct topics. This week those are: Snap's disappointing earnings and the proposed changes to the product and strategy there; Twitter's broader rollout of the 280 character limit and criticism over its use of user verification, and Aaron and Jan's first impressions of the iPhone X, which we've both been using for a few days now. The show notes below include links for the various stories we covered on today's episode. News stories we covered: • Snap Earnings Release: https://investor.snap.com/news-releases/2017/11-07-2017-211621749 • Jan's Snap analysis: https://techpinions.com/snapchats-strategic-failure/51554 • The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz (Amazon affiliate link): http://amzn.to/2yoTsAV • Business Insider on Snap redesign plans: http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-redesign-planned-for-december-4-2017-11 • Twitter 280 blog post: https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/tweetingmadeeasier.html • Jony Ive Wallpaper interview: https://www.wallpaper.com/design/jony-ive-apple-park You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

We're a couple of days late with this episode – Jan was traveling late last week, but we still wanted to cover Apple earnings, so we recorded first thing on Monday morning, and should still have another episode later this week. Apple earnings are the major focus for this episode, as we go through the various reporting segments in order of size by revenue. But we also spend a few minutes towards the end of the episode talking about Facebook's earnings. The show notes below include links for the various stories we covered on today's episode. News stories we covered: • Apple Earnings Release: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/11/apple-reports-fourth-quarter-results/ • Facebook Earnings release: https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2017/Q3/Q3'17-Earnings-Release.pdf You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's episode is entirely devoted to Q3 2017 earnings reports which were released this week from four big companies: Amazon, Alphabet, Twitter, and Microsoft. We talk through the highlights of each company's earnings, the strengths and weaknesses (and warning signs) and the broader competitive landscape around these companies. We'll likely do a deep dive on Apple earnings among other things in our next episode. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Amazon earnings release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2311817 • Alphabet earnings release: https://abc.xyz/investor/pdf/2017Q3_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf • Twitter earnings release: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AMDA-2F526X/3731695548x0x961121/3D6E4631-9478-453F-A813-8DAB496307A1/Q3_17_Shareholder_Letter.pdf • Microsoft earnings release: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/earnings/FY-2018-Q1/press-release-webcast.. You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

On this week's News Roundup, we kick things off with Samsung's Developer Conference and the announcements the company made there, which were more strategic and big picture in nature than most of its hardware announcements. Secondly, we talk about the reviews for Google's Pixel 2 smartphones, which were published this week and were a surprisingly mixed bag, especially with regard to the displays on the larger phones. Third, we cover Netflix's earnings, which kicked of the Q3 earnings season earlier this week, and lastly we talk about the two big sets of iPhone supply and sales rumors currently floating around. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Samsung Developer Conference: Jan's piece on Techpinions: https://techpinions.com/samsung-aims-for-connected-thinking-at-developer-conference/51364 Samsung press releases: http://www.samsungmobilepress.com/sdc2017 • Pixel 2 Reviews: Techmeme roundup: https://www.techmeme.com/171017/p8#a171017p8 Debunking piece: https://hackernoon.com/debunking-misinformation-about-the-pixel-2-xls-display-6fa4dfbdd304 • Netflix earnings: https://ir.netflix.com/results.cfm. The piece I wrote about shutting down Tech Narratives (and about my other work) is here: https://medium.com/beyond-devices/making-some-changes-26a42ee196c1 You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's episode kicks off with a discussion of Netflix's price increases, and the context and reason for those. Next, we do a deep dive on Google's event this week and all that it announced, from new Pixel phones to new members of the Home family and a few other products also unveiled. Lastly, we talk about the other event that happened on Wednesday this week, the launch of the first voice-enabled speaker from Sonos. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Oculus: Jan's Take on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/11/★-oculus-announces-199-standalone-headset-other-hardware-and-software-news/ Oculus: https://www.oculus.com/blog/pioneering-the-frontier-of-vr-introducing-oculus-go-plus-santa-cruz-updates/ • Apple/Spielberg: Jan's Take on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/10/apple-signs-deal-for-reboot-of-spielbergs-1980s-series-amazing-stories/ Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-signs-content-deal-with-steven-spielberg-1507656455 • Movies Anywhere: Jan's Take on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/12/disney-warner-sony-21st-cf-universal-join-movies-anywhere-digital-locker-service/ Variety: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/movies-anywhere-launches-with-joint-studio-backing-1202587915/ • Snapchat Context Cards: Jan's Take on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/10/★-snapchat-adds-context-cards-for-ride-sharing-restaurant-booking-other-services/ Snap: https://www.snap.com/en-US/news/post/introducing-context-cards/ Jan's Techpinions piece: https://techpinions.com/google-and-the-disintermediation-of-search/51316 • Twitter Abuse: Jan's Takes on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/12/twitter-demonstrates-its-inconsistency-in-policing-abuse-again/ https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/13/prominent-women-launch-twitter-boycott-on-friday-over-abuse-issues/ TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/12/twitter-breaks-silence-on-mcgowan-suspension/ USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/10/12/rose-mcgowans-harvey-weinstein-tweets-got-her-suspended-fromsome-women-and-men-pledge-boycott-twitte/760130001/ You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's episode kicks off with a discussion of Netflix's price increases, and the context and reason for those. Next, we do a deep dive on Google's event this week and all that it announced, from new Pixel phones to new members of the Home family and a few other products also unveiled. Lastly, we talk about the other event that happened on Wednesday this week, the launch of the first voice-enabled speaker from Sonos. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Netflix Price Increases: Tech Narratives (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/05/★-netflix-to-raise-prices-for-two-of-three-tiers-of-service/ Mashable: http://mashable.com/2017/10/05/netflix-raising-prices-again/ • Google Launch: Pixel Phones: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/04/★-google-announces-pixel-2-smartphones/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/171004/p30#a171004p30 Home Devices: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/04/★-google-announces-larger-and-smaller-home-devices-new-software-features/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/171004/p30#a171004p30 Other Announcements: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/04/google-launches-premium-chromebook-earbuds-ai-powered-camera/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/171004/p21#a171004p21 Jan's Techpinions column: https://techpinions.com/google-is-clearly-serious-about-hardware-but-not-about-selling-phones/51272 • Sonos Event: Tech Narratives (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/10/04/★-sonos-launches-first-voice-speaker-adds-alexa-support-for-older-devices/ Sonos: http://press-us.sonos.com/159680-sonos-unveils-smart-speaker-with-support-for-multiple-voice-services You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Aaron is traveling this week, so this is a solo episode from Jan, which means it covers a little more ground than usual. We kick things off with the Amazon event this week and how to think about the announcements made there. Secondly, Jan talks about Twitter's test of a 280-character limit for tweets, whether it's a good idea, and what else it should be doing as well (or instead). Thirdly, we touch on a theme in the news this week, which is ecosystem wars between Amazon, Apple, and Google, and a variety of movements that were signaled by the various players over the last few days. Fourth, Jan talks about recent developments in Google's EU Shopping case, and lastly he shares his thoughts on next week's Google hardware event, and what we might see there. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Amazon Event: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/27/★-amazon-matures-echo-line-updates-and-lowers-price-on-fire-tv/ Amazon: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsconsumer&nyo=0 Jan's Techpinions column: https://techpinions.com/amazon-matures-its-echo-lineup/51196 • Twitter 280: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/26/★-twitter-tests-expanding-limit-to-280-characters-in-most-languages/ Twitter: https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/Giving-you-more-characters-to-express-yourself.html • Ecosystem Wars: Apple/Google: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/25/★-apple-switches-search-back-end-for-safari-and-siri-to-google-from-bing/ TechCrunch:https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/25/apple-switches-from-bing-to-google-for-siri-web-search-results-on-ios-and-spotlight-on-mac/ Apple/Amazon: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/26/amazon-begins-selling-apple-tv-hardware-again/ TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/26/the-apple-tv-is-back-on-amazon/ Amazon/Google: Tech Narratives (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/27/google-pulls-youtube-from-amazons-echo-show-device/ The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16371292/google-youtube-amazon-echo-show • Google Shopping: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/27/google-officially-begins-rolling-out-european-shopping-search-changes/ WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-rolls-out-search-shopping-ad-changes-in-europe-1506528301 You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's News Roundup episode focused on three news stories. We kicked things off with a discussion of Nest's biggest set of announcements in recent memories and what it means for the smart home market. Next, we discussed the various reviews that came out for Apple's new products this week. And lastly, we talked through Google's investment in / acquisition of part of HTC's smartphone business.  The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Nest Launch: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/20/★-nest-introduces-first-new-hardware-categories-in-years-enters-security-market/ Nest: https://nest.com/press/nest-expands-into-home-security/ • Apple Reviews: iPhone: Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/19/iphone-8-reviews-suggest-great-cameras-nice-but-familiar-design-great-performance/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/170919/p6#a170919p6 Apple Watch: Tech Narratives (free): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/20/★-apple-watch-lte-reviews-mostly-positive-but-some-note-ltewifi-issues/  Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/170920/p8#a170920p8 Apple TV 4K: Tech Narratives ($):  https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/21/apple-tv-4k-reviews-mostly-positive-note-high-price-some-bemoan-details/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/170921/p6#a170921p6 Hodinkee Apple Watch review: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/apple-watch-series-3-edition-review • Google-HTC: Tech Narratives (free): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/21/★-google-and-htc-announce-1-1-billion-acquihire-and-patent-licensing-deal/ HTC: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/google-and-htc-announce-us11-billion-cooperation-agreement-300523328.html You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's news was rather dominated by Apple, but we did still find some other things to talk about in our News Roundup episode. We kick things off with news that Facebook (as well as Google and Twitter) has been offering advertisers the option of targeting users by some pretty unpleasant terms including several antisemitic ones. Secondly, we talk about news from NBC that Amazon is looking at buying several less-watched TV channels from big traditional TV companies that are looking to offload them. And we couldn't help but cover some of the Apple news that emerged later in the week, both related and unrelated to Tuesday's announcements.  The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Facebook, Google, and Twitter Ad Targeting: A good roundup from Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-14/facebook-removes-advertiser-ability-to-target-jew-haters Tech Narratives take ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/15/facebook-announces-ad-targeting-changes-in-response-to-racist-keywords/ Talking Points Memo article: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/facebooks-heading-toward-a-bruising-run-in-with-the-russia-probe • Amazon Buying Channels: Jan's Tech Narratives piece ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/15/★-amazon-is-reportedly-looking-to-buy-lower-profile-channels-from-tv-companies/ NBC News story: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/amazon-hungry-it-s-coming-your-cable-channels-n801781 • Apple Roundup: Jan's Tech Narratives piece on other announcements (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/13/various-additional-details-about-apples-announcements-dribble-out/ Jan's Tech Narratives piece on cookie blocking ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/14/apples-new-safari-cookie-blocking-angers-major-advertising-trade-groups/ Adweek piece on open letter from ad groups: http://www.adweek.com/digital/every-major-advertising-group-is-blasting-apple-for-blocking-cookies-in-the-safari-browser/ 9to5Mac piece on Safari cookies: https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/15/what-are-cookies-how-do-cookies-work/ You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

As per tradition, this week's Question of the Week episode is a deep dive on Apple's September 2017 event, which happened this morning. Jan was there in person, while Aaron followed along remotely, and in keeping with our usual format we discuss the announcements largely in the order in which they were made, starting with the tribute to Steve Jobs and discussion of the new Apple Park campus, as well as an update on the retail business, and moving into a discussion of the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and iPhone product announcements. Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: Apple press releases: • Watch: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/09/apple-watch-series-3-features-built-in-cellular-and-more/ • TV: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/09/apple-tv-4k-brings-home-the-magic-of-cinema-with-4k-and-hdr/ • iPhone 8: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/09/iphone-8-and-iphone-8-plus-a-new-generation-of-iphone/ • iPhone X: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/09/the-future-is-here-iphone-x/ You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's News Roundup episode covers four major topics. We kick off with a discussion of the Roku IPO filing and the launch of the Roku movie channel, and the implications of the company's increasingly ad- centric business model. Secondly, we discuss various streaming partnerships including T-Mobile giving away Netflix, Spotify bundling Hulu into its student subscriptions in the US, and Disney moving away from Netflix. Third is a discussion of Amazon's search for a second headquarters, and we finish up with a brief chat about the Equifax hack. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Roku IPO and channel: Jan's takes on Tech Narratives: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/01/★-roku-files-to-go-public-loses-money-sees-ads-as-core-of-future-business-model/ (free post) https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/06/roku-launches-its-own-channel-showing-ad-supported-movies/ (paywall) Roku S-1 filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1428439/000119312517275689/d403225ds1.htm Variety piece on Roku channel launch: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/roku-channel-avod-1202548017/ • Streaming partnerships: T-Mobile & Netflix: Jan's Tech Narratives piece (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/06/★-t-mobile-announces-free-netflix-for-family-plan-subscribers/ T-Mobile announcement: https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/tmobile-uncarrier-netflix.htm Spotify-Hulu: Jan's Tech Narratives piece ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/07/spotify-adds-hulu-to-5-per-month-us-college-student-subscription/ Variety news story: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/spotify-premium-hulu-student-bundle-1202549614/ Disney: Jan's Tech Narratives piece ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/07/disney-says-streaming-service-coming-in-late-2019-will-include-lucasfilm-marvel/ CNBC news story: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/disney-ceo-iger-marvel-star-wars-to-go-to-disneys-streaming-service.html • Amazon HQ2: Jan's take on Tech Narratives (free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/09/07/★-amazon-announces-search-for-second-us-hq-location-invites-cities-to-make-pitches/ Amazon's announcement: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170907005717/en/Amazon-Opens-Search-Amazon-HQ2-–-Headquarters • Equifax hack: Bloomberg story: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/three-equifax-executives-sold-stock-before-revealing-cyber-hack You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

As with our last Question of the Week episode, this one is an interview rather than a discussion between Aaron and Jan. This time around, Jan talks to Mark Bergen, who is the Alphabet and Google beat reporter at Bloomberg, and previously did the same job at Recode. As such, he's one of the most knowledgeable people out there about what's going on both at Google and the broader set of Alphabet companies, and has lots of interesting thoughts about all of them. We talk about the Alphabet structure and how that's working out for the company, some of the other bets including Google Fiber, Verily, Calico, and DeepMind, as well as the non-core parts of Google itself like the enterprise cloud business. We also talk through some of the recent political flak Google is taking from both sides of the aisle and what the company's prospects are long term. Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: • Mark's articles on Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/ATAlg7b7W-Q/mark-bergen • Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhbergen You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week Aaron was traveling and so you get a solo episode from Jan again, with five news items from this week. First up is Fitbit's announcement of its Ionic smartwatch, which will be available in October. Second is Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and what he means for the company. Third is Google's surprise announcement of ARCore, its response to Apple's ARKit developer tools for augmented reality apps on the smartphone. Fourth is another Google story, this time its intent to comply with the European Commission's order for changes to its Google Shopping service in Europe. And lastly, the announcement by Amazon and Microsoft that their two voice assistants will work together starting later this year. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Fitbit Ionic: Jan's take on Tech Narratives: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/28/★-fitbit-pre-announces-fitbit-ionic-its-second-smartwatch-due-in-october/ Fitbit announcement: https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Fitbit-Launches-Ionic-the-Ultimate-Health-and-Fitness-Smartwatch/default.aspx • Uber CEO: Jan's Tech Narratives piece from early in the week ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/28/★-uber-expected-to-name-expedia-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-as-new-ceo/ Jan's second Tech Narratives piece following the official announcement ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/30/uber-finally-makes-ceo-announcement-official/ Uber Press Release: https://newsroom.uber.com/ubers-new-ceo/ • Google ARCore: Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/29/★-google-previews-arcore-its-response-to-apples-arkit-for-android-phones/ Google announcement: https://www.blog.google/products/google-vr/arcore-augmented-reality-android-scale/ • Google-EU: Jan's take ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/29/★-google-intends-to-comply-with-eu-action-on-shopping-search-not-appeal/ Bloomberg report: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-29/google-faces-tuesday-deadline-as-clock-ticks-toward-new-eu-fines • Amazon-Microsoft Voice Partnership: Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/30/★-amazon-and-microsoft-announce-cortana-alexa-integration/ New York Times Report: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/technology/amazon-alexa-microsoft-cortana.html?_r=0 You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is our News Roundup episode for the week, and as usual we discuss a few of the week's big news stories. First up is Samsung's launch of the Note8 device, the successor to last year's ill-fated Note7, which took place this week in New York City. Jan attended in person and shares some of his thoughts, but we also talk about some of the other ins and outs of the device and how it might do. Secondly, we talk about Amazon's very rapid progress in closing its Whole Foods acquisition and the immediate benefits customers of Whole Foods will see when the deal closes next week. Lastly, we discuss this week's New York Times report about the Apple car project, Project Titan, and some of the details that emerged from that story. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Samsung Note8: Jan's take on Tech Narratives ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/23/samsung-announces-pricey-note8-with-dual-cameras-confirms-speaker-in-works/ Jan's Media Release: https://jackdawresearch.com/category/media/ The Verge Story: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/23/16186496/samsung-galaxy-note-8-2017-announced-features-price-release-date Jan's YouTube video of the Live Focus feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qloIJpoi5I • Amazon-Whole Foods: Jan's Tech Narratives piece ($): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/24/★-amazon-whole-foods-deal-to-close-monday-lower-prices-to-follow/ Amazon Press Release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2295514 • Apple Car: Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/23/★-apples-car-project-suffered-from-lack-of-focus-reports-new-york-times/ New York Times report: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/technology/apple-self-driving-car.html?_r=0 You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

After a couple of weeks off for the Question of the Week episode, we have an interview with Mary Jo Foley, a reporter who's been covering Microsoft pretty much exclusively for 20 years, and who's one of the most knowledgeable and respected journalists on the Microsoft beat. We talk through the state of Microsoft and the various transitions and cultural shifts it's going through at the moment, whether things really are changing at Microsoft, how, and why. But we also talk through some more topical items about Microsoft including the recent Consumer Reports controversy over the Surface line, layoffs in the sales team, and the launch of Windows 10 S. Thank you very much to Mary Jo for joining us, and we hope our listeners find this interview interesting. We're hoping to do more of this kind of thing going forward with our Question of the Week episode, so if you have suggestions for people we should interview, let us know! Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: • All About Microsoft, Mary Jo's blog at ZDNet: http://allaboutmicrosoft.com/ • Windows Weekly, the Microsoft podcast Mary Jo does with Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte (and which you can also find in your podcast app of choice): https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly • Mary Jo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/maryjofoley Jan also mentioned the Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/user-500920953), iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-narratives-podcast/id1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/tech-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Aaron's back, and so we're back to our usual back and forth format, this time around three major topics. First up, we talk about the belated launch of the Essential Phone from Andy Rubin's company, and the reviews which came out on Friday. Secondly, we discuss recent reports about the Apple Watch, including the possibility of an imminent LTE version and suggestions that Apple is talking to health insurer Aetna about subsidizing devices for its members. Lastly, we talk original video content, in the context of Netflix's hiring of Shonda Rhimes and Apple's reported $1 billion investment this year in originals. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Essential Phone: Jan's take on reviews: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/18/essential-phone-reviews-highlight-challenge-of-android-differentiation/ Techmeme roundup of reviews: http://www.techmeme.com/170818/p5#a170818p5 • Apple Watch: Jan's piece on LTE reports: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/04/★-apple-watch-with-lte-may-be-coming-later-this-year-says-bloomberg/ Jan's piece on Aetna: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/14/apple-is-talking-to-aetna-about-apple-watches-for-insurance-customers/ Source on LTE reports: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-04/apple-said-to-ready-cellular-capable-watch-to-break-iphone-ties Source on Aetna: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/apple-aetna-secret-meetings-to-bring-apple-watch-to-millions-more.html • Original Video Content: Jan's take on Netflix and Shonda Rhimes: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/14/netflix-hires-shonda-rhimes-away-from-abc-to-create-new-shows/ Jan's take on Apple's $1 billion spend: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/16/apple-reportedly-spending-1-billion-on-original-video-content-in-next-year/ Source on Netflix: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/netflix-lures-shonda-rhimes-away-from-abc-studios-report-1202526464/ Source on Apple spend: https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-readies-1-billion-war-chest-for-hollywood-programming-1502874004 You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

With Aaron away, this is a solo episode of the News Roundup by Jan. Because there's only one of us talking, there are more topics than usual on this week's episode: six, to be precise. These are: the controversial Google memo; Uber board shenanigans; Netflix and Disney's announcements this week; Facebook's new Watch tab; Consumer Reports' decision to withdraw its recommendation of two Surface models from Microsoft; and the conclusion of the recent SoundCloud funding saga. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • Google Memo: Two pieces from Jan: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/07/google-employee-pens-memo-arguing-against-diversity-initiatives/ https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/11/google-cancels-diversity-town-hall-over-harassment-and-threats/ Business Insider on the cancelation of the Town Hall: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-cancels-diversity-town-hall-2017-8 Motherboard's original reporting on the memo: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kzbm4a/employees-anti-diversity-manifesto-goes-internally-viral-at-google • Uber Board: Jan's piece on the Benchmark lawsuit: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/10/uber-investor-benchmark-sues-kalanick-over-fraud-to-remove-him-from-board/ Axios's scoop on this story: https://www.axios.com/benchmark-capital-sues-travis-kalanick-for-fraud-2471455477.html • Netflix and Disney: Jan's take on the Netflix Millarworld acquisition: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/07/netflix-acquires-millarworld-comic-book-company-to-hedge-against-loss-of-marvel/ Jan's take on Disney earnings: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/08/★-disney-reports-earnings-will-acquire-bamtech-launch-streaming-services/ Disney's announcements: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/walt-disney-company-acquire-majority-ownership-bamtech/ Netflix announcement: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/3667621494x0x952713/155017DE-F0EF-47FA-972C-F9B002997979/PDF_Netflix_Acquires_Millarworld_-_Final_1_.pdf • Facebook Watch: Jan's take for Tech Narratives: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/09/facebook-launches-watch-a-new-tab-for-video-including-original-content/ Jan's Techpinions column: https://techpinions.com/the-risks-of-facebooks-video-pivot/50781 Facebook's announcement: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/08/introducing-watch-a-new-platform-for-shows-on-facebook/ Variety on some of the new shows: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/facebook-premium-shows-launch-1202521520/ • Consumer Reports and Surface: Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/10/consumer-reports-withdraws-surface-recommendations-over-reliability-issues/ USA Today story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2017/08/10/consumer-reports-pulls-recommendations-surface-laptops/554302001/ • SoundCloud saga: Jan's take on the latest news: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-closes-new-investment-shuffles-management-pivots-business/ TechCrunch article: https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/11/soundcloud-saved/ Bloomberg interview: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/soundcloud-gets-new-life-with-fresh-170-million-investment You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's News Roundup episode features a discussion of GoPro and Fitbit earnings, how they're similar and how they're different; Bloomberg's reporting on potential Facebook hardware for the home; iPhone details emerging from the HomePod firmware leak; and a discussion of recent numbers on market share and shipments in the smartphone, tablet, and wearables markets. As usual, we spend a few minutes on each topic, with each of us chiming in. The show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives and original sources as appropriate. News stories we covered: • GoPro and Fitbit earnings: 1. GoPro earnings release: https://investor.gopro.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/GoPro-Announces-Second-Quarter-2017-Results/default.aspx 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/03/gopro-recovery-continues-in-q2-but-still-losing-money-well-off-past-highs/ 3. Fitbit earnings release: https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Fitbit-Reports-353M-in-Revenue-Sells-34M-Devices-in-Q217-Up-14-Sequentially/default.aspx 4. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/02/fitbit-reports-more-shipment-revenue-declines-losses-in-q2/ • Facebook hardware: 1. Bloomberg report: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-01/facebook-is-said-to-work-on-video-chat-device-in-hardware-push 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/01/★-facebook-reportedly-working-on-video-chat-device-voice-speaker/ • iPhone leaks: 1. Mac Rumors: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/30/homepod-firmware-face-detection/ Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/31/iphone-design-and-feature-details-show-up-in-homepod-firmware/ • Market share numbers: 1. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/03/tablet-and-wearables-numbers-for-q2-show-rise-of-chinese-vendors/ Jan also mentioned his recent podcast episode on Samsung with Bernard Leong on Analyse Asia – that episode can be found here: https://analyse.asia/2017/08/03/episode-198-samsung-group-2017-jan-dawson/ You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

We're back with another deep dive, this time around our quarterly review of Apple's earnings for the June 2017 quarter, Apple's fiscal Q3. We talk through three sets of things: the numbers announced for the quarter, the guidance offered for next quarter, and additional comments on topics like China, augmented reality, autonomy, and original video content. We dive into the performance of Apple's various business lines, both in terms of what's been happening and what we expect to happen going forward, and quite a bit more. Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: • Apple's earnings press release: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/08/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/ • Jan's take for Tech Narratives: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/08/01/★-apple-reports-accelerating-growth-first-ipad-unit-growth-in-four-years/ Jan also mentioned the new Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/user-500920953), iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-narratives-podcast/id1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/tech-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You should also check out the Analyse Asia Podcast run by Bernard Leong. You can find the first of two episodes featuring Jan on SoundCloud here: https://soundcloud.com/analyseasia/episode-197-tech-narratives-with-bat-softbank-in-asia-with-jan-dawson. The podcast is also available on iTunes, in Overcast, and all the usual places. Well worth a listen if you're interested in tech in Asia. You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is the week's News Roundup episode. We'd hoped to have a Question of the Week for you too, but we had a technical hitch in recording and it'll be out at some point in the next couple of weeks instead, with a deep dive on Apple earnings as usual next week. For today, we cover two other companies' earnings: Twitter and Amazon. Both offered more of the same, albeit in very different ways, with Twitter seeing more revenue declines and anemic user growth, while Amazon posted rapid growth but a big drop in margins. We also talk about Apple's culling of the iPod line and the iPod's historical significance, and Adobe's announcement of the end of life for Flash. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered: • Twitter Earnings: 1. Release from Twitter: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AMDA-2F526X/3731695548x0x951003/11DEB964-E7A5-43F8-96E2-D074A947255B/TWTR_Q2_17_Earnings_Press_Release.pdf 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/27/twitter-reports-q2-earnings-no-mau-growth-slowing-dau-growth-revenue-down/ • Amazon Earnings: 1. Release from Amazon: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Njc2MzU4fENoaWxkSUQ9Mzg0NDA0fFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/27/★-amazon-reports-strong-growth-much-smaller-margins-in-q2/ • iPod Line Culled: Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-kills-off-ipod-nano-ipod-shuffle-2017-7 • Death of Flash: 1. Axios: https://www.axios.com/adobe-is-finally-killing-flash-2464992190.html 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/25/adobe-announces-end-of-life-for-flash-in-2020/ You can also find the Beyond Devices Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-devices-podcast/id1002197313), in the Overcast app (https://overcast.fm/itunes1002197313/beyond-devices-podcast), or in your podcast app of choice. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Here's our News Roundup episode for the week, with a deeper dive on a few of the big news items from the past few days. We kick off earnings season with a discussion of Netflix earnings and what if anything it has to worry about in future. Secondly, we discuss Lyft's announcement that it's working on a self-driving system, as a complement to recent announcements on working with partners on this area. Third, we talk about the rebirth of Google Glass as an enterprise and industrial product, and the broader implications for related products like Microsoft's HoloLens and AR headsets in general. We wrap things up with a discussion of abuse and harassment on Twitter, which continues to be a problem despite the progress the company touted this week. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered: • Netflix Earnings (Jan's take on Tech Narratives – a free post): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/17/★-netflix-q2-earnings-later-house-of-cards-launch-drives-strong-sub-growth/ • Lyft Self-Driving System: 1. https://medium.com/@lvincent/introducing-level-5-and-our-self-driving-team-705ef8989f03 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/21/lyft-announces-its-own-vaguely-defined-autonomous-driving-effort/ • Google Glass: 1. Wired deep dive: https://www.wired.com/story/google-glass-2-is-here/ 2. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/18/google-glass-relaunched-as-enterprise-and-industrial-product/ • Twitter Abuse 1. BuzzFeed article: https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/twitter-is-still-dismissing-harassment-reports-and 2. Twitter blog post: https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/Our-Safety-Work-Results-Update.html 3. Verge article: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/20/16000834/twitter-anti-abuse-tools-data-update 4. Jan's take: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/20/twitter-provides-data-on-abuse-efforts-fails-to-address-inconsistent-application/ You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

After a couple of weeks' break, we're back with another Question of the Week, this time focused on Apple's health and wellness products and services and the ecosystem it's built around them. Jan attended a set of briefings last week in which Apple laid out its portfolio and that of its device and software partners, and it makes for a good jumping off point for an evaluation of the breadth of Apple's portfolio in this space, and the value third parties add. We run through a brief history of Apple's efforts in this area, then discuss the current state of things across five major domains – Activity, Mindfulness, Nutrition, Sleep, and Medical. Lastly, we talk about where things might go from here. Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: • Jan's Techpinions column summarizing the recent briefings is here: https://techpinions.com/apples-health-and-fitness-push-accelerates-as-it-turns-3/50536 Jan also mentioned the new Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/user-500920953), iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-narratives-podcast/id1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/tech-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Once again, there's no Question of the Week episode this week, but here's our roundup of the major news of the week. We start with Microsoft's push to expand access to broadband in the rural United States through the use of wireless technology running in white spaces spectrum. The second item is Amazon's third annual Prime Day and what it's likely to mean for the company. Third, we discuss Uber's capitulation in the Russian ride sharing business and its decision to merge its operations there with those of Yandex, the dominant market player. And lastly, we talk about the report from Bloomberg that Facebook's Oculus is working on a standalone VR headset for next year. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise stated): • Microsoft broadband plans: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/11/★-microsoft-announces-plan-to-help-provide-broadband-in-rural-america/ • Amazon Prime Day: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/12/★-amazons-third-prime-day-grows-60-again-echo-devices-the-big-sellers/ • Uber and Yandex: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/13/★-uber-joins-forces-with-yandex-in-russian-ride-sharing-market/ • Facebook VR headset: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/13/★-facebook-reportedly-working-on-a-200-standalone-oculus-vr-headset-for-2018/ You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

There's no Question of the Week episode this week, but here's our roundup of the major news of the week. We kick things off with a discussion of Jawbone's reported liquidation and what it might mean for the broader wearables market. Secondly, we discuss preliminary disclosure of financial or operating results from Samsung, LG, and Xiaomi, which emerged this week. Third is a quick evaluation of a report from CIRP that Amazon now has 85 million Prime subscribers in the US, which Jan is skeptical of. And last is a discussion of the reports this week that Apple might ditch the Touch ID sensor in at least one of this fall's new iPhones. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise stated): • Jawbone liquidation: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/06/jawbone-has-begun-liquidation-proceedings/ • Samsung preliminary results: www.technarratives.com/2017/06/27/fa…active-users/ • LG preliminary results: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/07/lg-preliminary-q2-results-suggest-revenue-and-earnings-miss-despite-growth/ • Xiaomi Q2 smartphone shipments: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/07/xiaomi-claims-70-quarter-on-quarter-smartphone-shipment-growth/ • Amazon Prime subscribers: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/07/amazon-said-to-have-85-million-prime-subs-in-the-us-but-probably-has-fewer/ • Touch ID reports: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/07/03/kgi-and-bloomberg-report-leaks-on-iphone-8-security-features/ Jan also mentioned the new Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (@user-500920953), iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-…d1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/te…-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This week's News Roundup episode focused on three major news items, plus one smaller related one. First up, we discuss the European Commission's action against Google over Google Shopping integration in search, including a 2.4 billion Euro fine. Secondly, we discuss Facebook's announcement of 2 billion monthly active users and its significance, as well as a subtle shift recently in Facebook's focus. In the context of those two items about giant companies, we also talk briefly about the Canadian Supreme Court's ruling that Google needs to take down links in search to IP-infringing product listings not just in Canada but globally and the ramifications of that ruling. Lastly, we discuss both the formal reviews released this week of Amazon's Echo Show and Jan's own first impressions on using the device for a couple of days. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered: • Google & EU: Jan's Tech Narratives piece (no paywall): https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/27/eu-fines-google-e2-4bn-2-7bn-over-favoring-google-shopping-in-search-results/ The EU's announcement: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1784_en.htm • Facebook's 2 Billion: Jan's Tech Narratives piece: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/27/facebook-hits-2-billion-monthly-active-users/ Jan's longer blog post (no paywall): https://medium.com/beyond-devices/facebooks-first-second-and-third-billions-2dffc63e20e7 • Canadian Supreme Court ruling against Google: CNET article: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-must-yank-search-results-globally-says-canada-court/ • Amazon Echo Show reviews: Tech Narratives piece: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/26/★-amazon-echo-show-reviews-suggest-solid-performance-limitations-creepy-factor/ Techmeme: http://www.techmeme.com/170626/p8#a170626p8 Jan also mentioned the new Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (@user-500920953), iTunes (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-…d1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/te…-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is our Question of the Week episode for this week, with our News Roundup to follow on Friday. This week's question is "Is Voice the Next Big User Interface, and is Amazon Really Winning? " The question comes from the prevailing narrative in the media, which often seems to hold both that voice is going to be the user interface that replaces current ones like touch screens and smartphones, and that Amazon is dominating that voice interface market. We pour some cold water on both assertions and use survey and other data to evaluate the true state of the market, what's really going on, and whether anyone is really "winning". Here are some links relevant to today's discussion: Various voice surveys that Jan mentioned: USA Today survey: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/06/05/alexa-fun-siri-because-typing-hard-survey/102436072/ Creative Strategies Survey: http://creativestrategies.com/voice-assistant-anyone-yes-please-but-not-in-public/ Siri as mobile search engine: http://searchengineland.com/survey-siri-googles-nearest-mobile-search-competitor-272640 Satisfaction with voice assistants: http://pages.experts-exchange.com/virtualassistants.html Jan also mentioned the new Tech Narratives Podcast, which you can find on SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/user-500920953), iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tech-narratives-podcast/id1252808525?mt=2), and Overcast (https://overcast.fm/itunes1252808525/tech-narratives-podcast), and which should be available in many other podcast apps too. You can also find the Beyond Devices 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is our first episode for two weeks, as Jan's been traveling, and since Aaron is now busy this is a solo News Roundup from Jan on some of the big news stories from the last two weeks. On the agenda today are all the big Uber news including the Holder Report and the resignation of Travis Kalanick as CEO; Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods; a new Xbox from Microsoft; the hiring of two former Sony TV execs by Apple; and an end to email scanning for the purposes of targeting ads by Gmail. As usual, the show notes below include links to all these stories on Tech Narratives. News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise noted): Uber: • Holder investigation: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/13/★-uber-investigation-recommends-many-changes-travis-kalanick-takes-leave-of-absence/ • Emil Michael leaves: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/12/uber-svp-emil-michael-leaves-company-and-board-gets-a-new-female-member-from-nestle/ • Travis Kalanick resigns: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/21/★-uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-finally-does-the-right-thing-and-resigns/ Amazon-Whole Foods and related topics: • Amazon-Whole Foods: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/16/★-amazon-announces-intention-to-buy-whole-foods-for-13-7-billion/ • Walmart Bonobos: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/16/walmart-to-acquire-online-mens-clothing-retailer-bonobos-for-310-million/ • Amazon Prime Wardrobe: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/20/amazon-launches-prime-wardrobe-a-mix-of-home-try-on-and-clothing-box-service/ New Xbox: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/12/★-microsoft-debuts-xbox-one-x-smallest-and-most-powerful-xbox-at-es/ Apple Sony TV execs: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/16/apple-poaches-two-sony-tv-execs-to-lead-video-programming/ Gmail email scanning: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/23/gmail-will-stop-scanning-emails-to-target-ads-due-to-enterprise-confusion/ Additionally: • Episode 85 was our deep dive on Uber – find it in your podcast app or on the site at: podcast.beyonddevic.es/2017/03/episo…um-mac-vs-pc/ As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Following our deep dive on Apple’s WWDC news on Monday, here is our News Roundup episode for the week. We kick things off with a bunch of Uber news, much of it involving hiring and firing of executives and others, in a sign that Uber may finally be taking its cultural problems seriously. Secondly, we talk about Alphabet’s sale of its Boston Dynamics and Schaft robotics businesses to SoftBank. And third, we talk about two other bits of Apple news from later in the week: Apple’s launch of Business Chat, and news that it won’t include “gigabit” modems in its next iPhones. As usual, you'll find links to other relevant material in the show notes below: News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links unless otherwise noted): Uber fires Anthony Levandowski: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/30/★-uber-fires-anthony-levandowski-for-refusal-to-cooperate-in-lawsuit/ Uber hires Frances Frei: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/05/uber-hires-harvard-business-school-professor-to-help-with-culture-and-strategy/ Uber hires Bozoma Saint John: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/06/bozoma-saint-john-leaves-apple-music-to-become-ubers-chief-brand-officer/ Uber fires Asia business exec: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/07/uber-fires-exec-loses-bid-to-keep-doc-private-says-management-changes-coming/ Uber fires 20 as a result of investigation: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/06/★-uber-fires-20-and-takes-action-against-others-over-inappropriate-behavior/ Alphabet sells Boston Dynamics and Schaft to SoftBank: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/09/★-alphabet-sells-boston-dynamics-and-schaft-robotics-businesses-to-softbank/ Apple Business Chat: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/09/apple-announces-developer-preview-of-business-chat-for-imessage-customer-service/ Apple "gigabit" iPhones: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/06/09/apple-reported-to-hold-off-on-gigabit-modems-in-next-iphones/ Additionally: • Episode 85 was our deep dive on Uber – find it in your podcast app or on the site at: http://podcast.beyonddevic.es/2017/03/episode-85-ubers-ethical-vacuum-mac-vs-pc/ • Aaron mentioned a friend's article on compliance crises being a terrible thing to waste, and you can read it here: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/natural_resources_environment/Winter%202016/NRE_v030n03_feat02_Galli.pdf As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is our annual deep-dive episode on announcements from Apple's WWDC developer conference. We handle the news from today's keynote in more or less chronological order: • Introduction, tvOS, watchOS • macOS and new Mac hardware • iOS and iPad • HomePod. We discuss each of the announcements and share our thoughts and what we think the implications and prospects are for the products announced. Here are two links relevant to today's discussion: Jan's media comment on WWDC: https://jackdawresearch.com/2017/06/05/apple-hosts-its-most-hardware-centric-wwdc-in-years/ Apple's Newsroom, with press releases on all of today's announcements: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/ 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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

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 (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

This is the Question of the Week episode for this week, and the News Roundup episode should be up on Friday. This week's question is about whether the death of physical retail has been exaggerated, and ultimately what the state of physical retail is in a world where Amazon and e-commerce in general seems to be wreaking havoc. We talk through recent trends in retail, from the supposed apocalypse to those companies investing despite the downturn including Apple and T-Mobile. Aaron uses the jobs-to-be-done framework to talk through what people hire retail to do for them, and how physical retail might be able to hold its own against online retail. And we talk about the experimental nature of much of what's being done in physical retail to stem the tide of e-commerce. Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode: Article on Amazon's book stores: http://www.retaildive.com/news/why-amazon-is-betting-big-on-brick-and-mortar/431499/ Introduction to jobs-to-be-done theory: https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done T-Mobile store expansion: http://fortune.com/2016/04/26/t-mobile-store-openings-iphone/ New York Times piece on Amazon retail technology: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/technology/amazon-wants-to-crush-your-store-with-its-technology-might.html?_r=1 Quartz piece on retail innovations: https://qz.com/956745/retail-experiments-from-farfetch-nike-and-amazon-offer-visions-of-the-store-of-the-future/ Blog post on JTBD framework applied to retail: https://bhc3.com/2012/01/11/carving-up-the-retail-industry-by-customer-jobs-to-be-done/. As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Earlier this week, we did our Question of the Week episode, which covered the Facebook F8 announcements, so this News Roundup episode covers some of the other big news for the week: • Several Apple news tidbits, including a set of environmental announcements, hires of satellite experts from Google, the purchase of a music documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, web embedding of Live Photos, and purported shots of the chassis for the next iPhone • Google Home announcing multi-user support, as well as two announcements relating two Amazon Echo and Alexa • Netflix Q1 2017 earnings • Samsung Galaxy S8 reviews, which came out this week, and news that Google Music will be the default music service on the devices. As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed below. News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links): Apple's environmental news: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/20/apple-makes-big-environmental-push-for-earth-day/ Apple hires Google satellite execs: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/21/apple-hires-google-satellite-execs-likely-for-mapping-or-broadband/ Apple acquires a music documentary: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/20/apple-acquires-first-movie-at-tribeca-film-festival/ Apple enables web embedding of Live Photos: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/20/apple-enables-web-embedding-of-live-photos-for-developers/ Google Home multi-user support: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/20/★-google-home-now-recognizes-multiple-users-by-voice/ Amazon opens Lex platform to all developers: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/19/amazon-scales-alexa-back-end-by-opening-lex-voice-and-text-service-to-all-developers/ Amazon bans most ads in Alexa Skills: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/21/amazon-bans-almost-all-ads-in-alexas-third-party-skills-apps/ Netflix reports Q1 2017 earnings: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/17/netflix-reports-q1-2017-gains-5m-subs-makes-first-profit-internationally/ Galaxy S8 reviews: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/18/samsung-galaxy-s8-reviews-say-hardware-is-great-software-not-so-much/

This is the Question of the Week episode for this week, and the News Roundup episode will be up tomorrow. This week, Jan attended F8 and our Question of the Week is "What's the state of innovation at Facebook?" We use Facebook's F8 announcements and presentations as a lens to look at how Facebook is innovating both in the products it's creating today and in the research and development work it's doing over the longer term. We also talk about what Facebook needs to do differently. As usual, you’ll find some links to related content below: Facebook F8 Site, where you can see all the session videos: https://www.fbf8.com Facebook's Developer News site, where you can see the news from F8: https://developers.facebook.com/blog/ Jan's Techpinions column on Facebook's Innovation Chasm: https://techpinions.com/facebooks-innovation-chasm/49727 As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

There won't be a Question of the Week episode this week as we've both been busy. Here is this week's News Roundup episode, in which we cover the following five topics in quick-fire order: • Spectrum news including the conclusion of the FCC's spectrum auction and AT&T's proposed purchase of Straight Path • Two pieces of news about Apple R&D efforts: it appeared on the California DMV's list of companies with permission to test self-driving cars on public roads, and CNBC reported that it's been working on glucose monitoring technology for several years • Uber released some of its finances for 2016 to Bloomberg, while The Information reported on a Lyft-hacking program called Hell Uber used to run, and the company's PR head left • Samsung announced that its Bixby voice assistant won't ship with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ when they're released next week in the US • LeEco announced the end of its bid to acquire Vizio and the killing off of its EcoPass content service, and was also reported to have fallen far short of its revenue targets in the US last year. Links to the related comments on Tech Narratives (some of which now behind a paywall) below: FCC spectrum auction: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/13/t-mobile-dish-and-comcast-among-big-winners-in-fcc-spectrum-auction/ AT&T buys Straight Path: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/10/att-buys-straight-path-in-1-6-billion-deal-for-5g-arsenal-bloomberg/ Apple self-driving cars license: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/14/apple-receives-permission-to-test-autonomous-vehicles-in-california/ Apple glucose monitoring story: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/12/apple-has-been-working-on-glucose-monitoring-technology-for-diabetes-for-five-years/ Uber shares finances with Bloomberg: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/14/uber-shares-partial-flattering-financial-data-for-2016-with-bloomberg/ Uber's Hell program: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/13/uber-had-a-program-called-hell-designed-to-undermine-lyft/ Uber PR head leaves: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/11/uber-comms-head-rachel-whetstone-is-departing-recode/ Samsung Bixby voice delay: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/11/samsung-says-bixby-voice-assistant-wont-ship-with-galaxy-s8-axios/ LeEco Vizio deal falls through: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/10/leecos-acquisition-of-vizio-officially-called-off-variety/ LeEco US sales fall short: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/10/leeco-is-said-to-miss-u-s-sales-forecasts-plan-more-job-cuts-bloomberg/ LeEco kills off content subscription: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/14/leeco-kills-ecopass-video-streaming-and-services-subscription-plan/

Here is this week's News Roundup episode, which is a solo effort from Jan as Aaron is traveling. This week, we cover: • Two unusual announcements of future plans from Apple: its intention to build its own GPU, and its roadmap for pro Macs • Comcast's announcement of its wireless service, Xfinity Mobile • Facebook's testing of a tab surfacing recommended content not shared by your friends • Samsung's preliminary financial results for Q1 2017. Links to Tech Narratives comments on each of these news items are below: • Apple and Imagination Technologies GPU announcement: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/03/apple-gpu-supplier-imagination-tech-says-apple-plans-to-build-its-own-gpu-in-1-2-years/ • Apple Mac announcement: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/04/apple-plans-new-imacs-for-pros-later-in-2017-new-mac-pros-in-2018/ • Comcast Xfinity Mobile annoumcement: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/06/comcast-introduces-its-mobile-service/ • Facebook testing recommended content tab: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/03/facebook-shows-users-more-content-which-doesnt-come-from-your-friends-techcrunch/ • Samsung preliminary Q1 results: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/04/06/samsung-sees-bounce-in-q1-ahead-of-galaxy-s8-cnet/.

This is the Question of the Week episode for this week, and the News Roundup episode will be up shortly too. This week's format is a little different, as Aaron is traveling, and so I spoke to an old colleague of mine, Chris Lewis, who is also an analyst and is registered blind. I spoke to Chris via Skype about his use of accessibility technology on his various devices, and also about the work he's been doing helping organizations think through some of the issues around accessibility and using technology to help people with disabilities. • Chris's website is http://www.lewisinsight.com • Chris is on Twitter at @chr1slew1s and can be reached via email at chris (at) lewisinsight (dot) com.

This is the second of our new News Roundup episodes, which will usually appear on Fridays and discuss several of the week's top tech news stories. This week, we cover: • Congressional action to roll back privacy regulations for ISPs, which has been covered in somewhat hyperbolic fashion • Three tweaks to Twitter features, including a new model for @-replies, DM protections, and an avatar change • New RIAA numbers on the size of the US music market in 2016, and especially the contribution of streaming. As with this week's other episode, relevant links are displayed below as raw URLs: News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links): • Two Tech Narratives pieces on the ISP privacy regulation and on the EFF/Verizon story https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/20/isps-say-your-web-browsing-and-app-usage-history-isnt-sensitive-ars-technica/ https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/31/eff-withdraws-verizon-spyware-claims-cnet/ • Twitter's @-replies and avatar changes https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/30/twitter-removes-usernames-in-replies-from-140-character-limit-mashable/ https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/31/inside-twitters-obsessive-quest-to-ditch-the-egg-fast-company/ • RIAA music numbers (Tech Narratives) and Verto Analytics (press release) https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/30/streaming-crossed-50-of-music-revenue-in-the-us-in-2016-riaa/ http://www.vertoanalytics.com/verto-index-streaming-music/ Other items: • Reporting on FBI Director Comey's Twitter account from Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com/this-is-almost-certainly-james-comey-s-twitter-account-1793843641 • Former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler's op-ed on ISP privacy https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/opinion/how-the-republicans-sold-your-privacy-to-internet-providers.html?_r=0

This is the second week of our new split format, and this is the Question of the Week episode. This week's News Roundup should follow on Friday. This week's question is "What do you make of the Samsung announcements this week?" Samsung held an event on Wednesday in New York City at which it announced its latest smartphones, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, as well as several other accessories, including updated Gear 360 and Gear VR devices, and a new mesh WiFi router-plus-IoT-hub called Connect Home. Jan, who was at the event, talks through some obvious questions about the new devices and the other announcements from today's event. We're trying something new this week here in the show notes – we had a request to put the links here instead of just on the site, but SoundCloud is a little funny about HTML in its episode descriptions, so each link will appear as a full URL below, but hopefully this makes it easier for you to chase down the related content we link to. This week's links are all to Tech Narratives pieces Jan wrote about the Samsung announcements: 1. The S8 and S8+ announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/29/samsung-debuts-galaxy-s8-and-s8/ 2. The Connect Home router and smart home announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/29/samsung-connect-home-a-google-wifi-clone-with-a-smartthings-twist-cnet/ 3. The Gear VR and Gear 360 announcements: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/29/samsung-updates-gear-vr-and-gear-360-camera/ 4. The T-Mobile LTE announcement: https://www.technarratives.com/2017/03/29/t-mobile-touts-faster-speeds-for-galaxy-s8-on-its-lte-network/

This is the first of our new News Roundup episodes, which will usually appear on Fridays and discuss several of the week's top tech news stories. This week, we cover: – Advertisers in the UK and now the US boycotting YouTube and to some extent Google more broadly over ads appearing next to undesirable content – Samsung's pre-announcement of its Bixby virtual assistant, which will ship with the Galaxy S8 smartphone it's expected to announce next week – Twitter testing a paid subscription service for power users, apparently built around Tweetdeck and costing $20 per month – Apple releasing a new, cheaper, 9.7" iPad and a video creation and editing app called Clips, and its acquisition of Workflow. As always, you'll find links to these stories and other things we discussed on the website at podcast.beyonddevic.es.

As we announced last week, we're embarking on a change in the format of the podcast, and from here on out you'll see two episodes from us weekly, with each encapsulating one of the segments of the old format – the Question of the Week, and the News Roundup. The News Roundup will generally go up on Fridays so that we can capture the week's news, while the QotW episode will probably go up earlier in the week. Here, then, is this week's Question of the Week (QotW) episode, which answers the question "Is Apple undertaking a new low price strategy?" This assertion has been in the news lately, with analyst Neil Cybart penning a piece arguing that Apple Watches and AirPods are underpriced and several people arguing this week that the new iPad is another sign that Apple is going downmarket. In our episode, Aaron evaluates these assertions and brings in some of Apple's pricing history in order to answer the question of whether we're seeing a departure from Apple or whether something else is going on. As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast on the website at podcast.beyonddevic,es.

This week's format is a little shorter than usual – we dispense with our third segment and stick to just the News Roundup and Question of the Week, partly in preparation for some format changes we're planning. More about this in the episode, but we're considering a split of the News Roundup and Question of the Week portions into separate episodes. That change – or something like it – should be happening in the next week or two, so look out for that. This week's News Roundup covers our usual trio of topics. First up, Intel's proposed acquisition of Israeli tech company Mobileye for its autonomous driving technology. Secondly, a few additional details that have emerged about Hulu's over the top pay TV service which is launching soon. And lastly, a pair of home speaker-related announcements: Google plays its first ad on Google Home, while Amazon puts Alexa in the Amazon app on iPhones. Our Question of the Week is "What is the state of AI?" There's been a bit of a backlash recently agains the alleged overuse of "AI" to describe all kinds of technologies, and certainly evidence that the term has been used increasingly on earnings calls and elsewhere. So what is the definition of AI, and what counts and what doesn't? Is it being overused (or underused)? And what is it actually being used for today? Our Weekly Pick is a TV show recommended by Aaron. As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast on the website at podcast.beyonddevic.es.