Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 05/21 – Snap Is Dead Serious About This AR Stuff

Starting point is 00:00:00 On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Friday, May 21st, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough today. Snap releases its first true AR glasses and then buys the company that helped make them a reality. Is Netflix going to get into gaming to help juice growth in North America?

Starting point is 00:00:51 Is the IRS going to crack down even harder on crypto? Twitter's newly revamped verification system and, of course, the weekend long read suggestions. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Snap held its annual Snap partner summit yesterday, and the big news was the unveiling of Snap's first AR glasses with four built-in microphones, two stereo speakers, and a touchpad, quoting the verge. On Thursday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel unveiled the company's first true augmented reality glasses. Technology that he and rivals like Facebook think will one day be as ubiquitous as mobile phones. A demo showed virtual butterflies fluttering over colorful plants and landing in Spiegel's extended

Starting point is 00:01:34 hand. The new spectacles have dual wave guide displays capable of superimposing ARFX made with Snapchat's software tools. The frame features four built-in microphones to stereo speakers and a built-in touchpad. Front-facing cameras help the glasses detect objects and surfaces you're looking at so that graphics more naturally interact with the world around you. These spectacles, however, aren't ready for the mass market. Unlike past models, Snap isn't selling them. Instead, it's giving them directly to an undisclosed number of AR effects creators through an application program online. Another indication, they aren't ready for everyday use yet. The battery reportedly only lasts about 30 minutes. The idea is to encourage a small portion of the 200,000 people

Starting point is 00:02:19 who already make AR effects in Snapchat to experiment with creating experiences for the new spectacles, according to Spiegel. Like the bright yellow vending machines, Snap used to sell the first versions of spectacles several years ago, the approach could end up being a clever way to build buzz for the glasses ahead of their wide release. Spiegel has said that AR glasses will take roughly a decade to reach mainstream adoption, end quote. And then, if that wasn't enough to convince you, they're serious. Word came this morning that Snap has agreed to acquire wave optics, the supplier of the AR displays used in these new spectacles. They were acquired for more than $500 million.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Nothing says you're serious about this stuff like actually putting your money where your mouth is. Quoting Alex Heath in the Verge again. The deal is SNAP's largest ever, underscoring the company's long-term bet that AR eyewear will eventually go mainstream. Wave Optics primarily makes wave guides, a display technology that allows for the overlaying of virtual objects onto the real world through a transparent surface light glass and accompanying light projectors. Snap is using wave optics displays and the new spectacles announced this week, which it isn't selling widely but is giving to a small number of ARFX creators. Based in the UK and founded in 2014, Wave Optics raised a total of $65 million in funding to date,

Starting point is 00:03:39 according to the financial data firm pitch book. The roughly 125-person team will now report to the director of Snap's hardware division, Steen Strand. SNAP is paying for half of the deal in stock now, and in two years it can decide to pay for the other half in either cash or stock. A SNAP spokesperson confirmed the acquisition. For SNAP, the purchase scoops up the maker of a key component for AR glasses in a nascent but quickly growing industry. Snap's spokesperson said that wave optics will continue to supply other companies with its wave guides and work with SNAP on custom optical systems. Even still, buying wave optics is partly a defensive move by SNAP.

Starting point is 00:04:18 app. Many of its larger tech rivals are working on their own waveguide technology as they plan to debut AR glasses. Google, which first broke into the space with Google Glass in 2013, recently posted a slew of listings for a new team dedicated to building waveguides. Apple bought the holographic wave guide maker Aconia in 2018 and is planning to announce an AR headset as soon as next year. And Facebook has said, it's building custom waveguides for future AR glasses, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes will one day, quote, redefine our relationship with technology, end quote. By the way, also at that partner summit yesterday, Snap announced that Snapchat now has 500 million monthly active users, reaches 90% of 13 to 24 year olds in the U.S., UK, France, and Australia, and grew more than

Starting point is 00:05:07 100% year over year for the last five quarters in India. Also more than 5,400 creators earned $130 million in total via its Spotlight incentive program, but that it will stop giving away $1 million per day to creators beginning June 1st. Spotify has finally added online music downloads to the Apple Watch, quoting the verge. Spotify is adding the ability to download playlist, albums, and podcasts on Apple Watch to play offline the company announced Friday. Users will be able to stream audio in 96KBPS, add and delete Spotify content. on their phones and sync with the watch. The offline feature will be available starting Friday on Apple Watch Series 3 or later, running watchOS 6.0 or later with WatchOS 7.1 and Up recommended.

Starting point is 00:06:03 A Spotify premium subscription is also required. Another streaming service, Deezer, beat Spotify to the punch, adding the ability to download music from its Apple Watch app earlier this week, and quote. The information is reporting the rumor that Netflix might be looking to to hire an executive to oversee an expansion into video games, as it considers options including an Apple arcade-style games bundle. In recent weeks, Netflix has approached veteran game industry executives about joining the company, the people said. While the company has already dabbled in games, for example, it created a game based on Stranger Things with an outside developer. It is looking at boosting its investments in the category. One option the company has discussed is offering a bundle

Starting point is 00:06:53 of games similar to Apple's online subscription offering Apple Arcade, one of the people said. But the details of Netflix's game strategy is still very much in flux, the people said. For example, it hasn't yet decided whether it will license games from outside publishers or develop them itself, or a combination of the two, one of the people said. One thing Netflix has decided on, though, is that the games won't feature advertising, the person said. Strategy TBD, one game industry executive said of Netflix's games plans. they're still figuring it out, said another. It's clear why Netflix is getting more serious about

Starting point is 00:07:26 finding new ways to attract subscribers. The company, which counts around half of U.S. households as subscribers, has seen its growth slow in its home market and increasingly has looked overseas to acquire new customers. Games overall are a faster-growing part of the entertainment business than television and movies, and they also compete increasingly with filmed entertainment for the finite attention spans of consumers. In fact, Netflix co-seeked CEO Reid Hastings in the past has cited the popular game Fortnite as a bigger competitor for Netflix than other subscription video services because of the amount of time kids and young adults spend playing it. To that end, games in theory are a natural evolution for Netflix. In reality,

Starting point is 00:08:07 though, most traditional entertainment companies have seen mixed results at best from their investments in games. At worst, those investments have turned into outright flops. But Netflix has something many of those entertainment companies lack, a direct relationship with more than 200 million global subscribers to whom it can promote its games, end quote. I think I've mentioned before on this show or some shows that I had about $1,000 worth of Netflix stock all the way back in 2003. And the whole reason I bought Netflix all those years ago was because I thought that they were about to expand into video game rentals back then. This was back when all they were was a DVD by mail company, so I figured it would be simple to just, you know, mail,

Starting point is 00:08:51 gaming discs as well. Of course, I ended up selling all my Netflix shares at some point when they had merely doubled. I, of course, ran the numbers on that original $1,000 this morning, and learned that it would be worth roughly $334,000 today had I never sold. Live long enough, and you two will have stories just like that. Not that crypto needs any additional pressure at this point, but the U.S. Treasury has announced it will require any cryptocurrency transfers worth $10,000 or more to be reported to the IRS, saying cryptocurrencies pose a tax evasion risk. Yes, but I do wonder how they're actually going to do this, quoting CNBC. Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly,

Starting point is 00:09:48 including tax evasion, the Treasury Department said in a release. This is why the president's proposal includes additional resources for the IRS. to address the growth of crypto assets, the department added. Within the context of the new financial account reporting regime, cryptocurrencies and crypto asset exchange accounts and payment service accounts that accept cryptocurrencies would be covered. Further, as with cash transactions, businesses that receive crypto assets with a fair market value of more than $10,000 would also be reported on, end quote. A growing number of Wall Street analysts have over the past month sounded the alarm that Regulators at the Treasury and Securities and Exchange Commission could soon take a more active role

Starting point is 00:10:28 in cryptocurrency regulation, end quote. And you may have heard Twitter is rolling out its newly revamped verification program with new categories that include activists and journalists and previews of upcoming changes to various profiles, quoting the verge. To make the grade for verification users will have to meet Twitter's revamped verification criteria, which includes having an account of public interest that falls under one of six different types of categorizations, as well as being, quote, authentic, notable, and active. Here are the six categories of accounts that can qualify one for verification, government, companies, brands, and organizations, news organizations and journalists, entertainment, sports and gaming, activists, organizers, and other influential individuals.

Starting point is 00:11:20 You'll be able to apply for verification in the account settings tab at some point over the next few weeks. Once you've applied, Twitter says you can expect a response within a few days, but that timeline could open up to a few weeks depending on the volume of applications. All applications will be evaluated by humans. Twitter said in a briefing with journalists this week, end quote. Time for the weekend long read suggestions. First up, after the whole Warner Media Discovery tie-up news this week. The streaming wars, as I said, are turning hot and eyes are turning to the other dogs in

Starting point is 00:11:58 this fight, especially those now. struggling for scraps, especially Viacom, CBS, and NBC Universal, who are going to have to make some tough choices soon. Does it even make sense for them to try to continue to go this alone? Is broad consolidation coming? Quoting the great Alex Sherman in CNBC. Even before this deal, it was clear that Lionsgate, MGM, Sony Pictures, and AMC networks were probably too small to compete in a streaming world where success depends on a massive store of content and global reach. but Viacom, CBS, and Comcast, NBC Universal are much bigger and presumably assumed they had some time, at least a year, to see how many subscribers signed up for their streaming offerings, Paramount Plus, and Peacock. That timeline is shorter now. Suddenly, both Viacom, CBS, and NBC Universal seem subscale as they attempt to put together global streaming services.

Starting point is 00:12:51 They aren't trying to be niche players, such as Stars or AMC Plus. That means both will need more content to compete against Netflix, Amazon, Prime Video, Disney, and whatever the new name of Warner Media Discovery will be. The obvious move would be for Viacom, CBS, and NBC Universal to merge, but a combined Viacom CBS NBC Universal would have two U.S. broadcast networks, CBS and NBC housed under the same corporate roof. That won't fly with U.S. regulators. While the parent companies could theoretically spin out or sell them, the broadcast networks provide so much value to both companies and their streaming services that it seems unlikely, end

Starting point is 00:13:28 quote. The piece goes on to outline the four options available, as Sherman sees it. Very interesting stuff. Next, I can't get enough of these newfangled day traders, meme traders, no matter what you want to call them. So here's another one from Bloomberg that even has a taste of this week's recent crypto volatility for such folks, quote, go ahead and laugh. Even accounting for Wednesday's wild swings in crypto prices, one defy token meme has roared over three thousand. percent since August. Another poo coin has doubled in a month. Safe Moon, which was recently endorsed by Barstool Sports Dave Portnoy, is up more than 56,000 percent since launching in early March. It's more aggressive capitalism than we've ever seen, Nick Carter, co-founder of researcher

Starting point is 00:14:16 coin metrics and general partner at Castle Island Ventures, says of the flood of new coins. At last count, almost 10,000 new ones were minted this year alone, data from Dune Analytics show. Quote. In Gadget has a bit of an evergreen piece up about Sony, wondering if Sony can ever get its glory days back in terms of making cool gadgetry. People forget this. When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, one of the main companies he wanted to emulate, because he admired them so, was Sony. Quote, it's had such a rocky time over the last few decades that Engadget's Matt Smith dubbed Sony the ketchup king in 2014 after abandoning its Vio PC business. That was a notable defeat. for Sony. Vio's were practically the only stylish PCs throughout the 90s and early 2000s.

Starting point is 00:15:04 Even Steve Jobs was known to admire Sony's PC designs, so much so that he tried to get the company to produce Vio machines that ran Mac OS10 in 2001. Obviously, those discussions never went anywhere. Even now, as Sony is riding high on the PlayStation 5 and focusing on being an entertainment giant, the company's influence is far from its heyday. Sony used to dominate the TV world with its Trinitron CRTs, an innovation so far beyond early color TVs that it won an Emmy in 1973, a first for any consumer electronics product. The Walkman practically took over the world, popularizing the idea that you could listen to your favorite tunes anywhere. The question facing Sony now, how can it return to being an innovation leader? End quote. I had not realized until reading this

Starting point is 00:15:49 piece that Sony is these days, by and large, just a PlayStation business. They used to be so much more. They used to be a bit of an everything business. And then I know Jack did this one on our sister podcast, the Kotkeye Ride Home. He did it this week. But I love this concept so much. I can't resist sharing it with you in case you didn't hear it over on the Kotkees show. When we imagine humanity inventing its way out of trouble vis-a-vis climate change, maybe we imagine machines that literally suck the carbon out of the air like giant vacuum cleaners.

Starting point is 00:16:22 Well, as sort of an experimental prototype, such a little bit of a little bit of the air, thing actually exists now, quote. In a clearing on the edge of the black forest in southern Germany, a modified shipping container painted an immaculate white sits near a field of solar panels. Inside, ducks wrapped in insulating foil, elbow between racks filled with cabinet tanks. Everything is motionless and silent, except for a soft whirring and humming. Michael Klump, a postdoc at the Carl Schley Institute of Technology, turns a spigot and a clear liquid flows into a glass flask. The substance smells faintly of warm wax. Though it resembles oils derived from plants or petroleum, it does not come from any familiar source, but has

Starting point is 00:17:04 literally been pulled out of thin air, transubstantiated from gas to liquid with the help of renewably generated electricity. On a mass scale, it could be used to fly airplanes or power-heavy machinery, replacing petroleum in some situations. It even has a catchy name. E-fuel. The idea of turning air into liquid fuel may sound fantastical, but the underlying principle is as mundane as a head of lettuce. It's the same thing that plants do with photosynthesis, said Roland Dittmeyer, leader of the project and director of the Institute for Microprocess Engineering at KIT. While the machine that I watch produced that energy-dense liquid in the forest clearing is just the first stage of a pilot program, the underlying technology could help reshape the battle against climate change. The project called

Starting point is 00:17:52 P2X is part of the Copernicus Project, an initiative to prepare Germany for a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The $40 million demonstration phase was supported by 18 research institutions and 27 industrial firms, including Siemens, Volkswagen, Shell, and Tyson Krupp, end quote. Finally, a tweet thread from Figma Design, that is a bit of industrial design and gadget history. It solves the mystery of why pressing shift plus two using one key will work, but shifting shift plus two using the numeric keypad on your keyboard does not. It's a crazy story going all the way back to the IBM System 34 and back to the Model M, the so-called God keyboard that bequeathed to us keyboard layouts as we know them today. Cool stuff. That's all for today. That's all for today.

Starting point is 00:18:54 day. There is no Ride Home Plus content this weekend, no new content at least. It is coming, but it got delayed a little bit. There is no Twitter space to share this week, though we should have more news on that next week. What I do have for you this weekend is a regular bonus episode for everybody. That is, I think, the best episode I've ever done on cybersecurity stuff. Remember when the colonial pipeline hack happened, and I quoted the cybersecurity experts at Cyber Reason about it. I mentioned they were a sponsor, of course, but they were also in the news, so, you know, why not talk to them? Well, they heard me mention them, and one thing led to another, and I ended up interviewing Israel Barak, the CISO of Cyber Reason, and in this great episode coming to you,

Starting point is 00:19:45 he outlines how these sorts of cyber attacks work, how the entire economy around RANESO, and ransomware as a service works, even how we're almost in a modern day echo of the freebooters, actual pirates like Sir Francis Drake, who are doing their dirt with the tacit approval of various nation states, but of course at arm's length to maintain plausible deniability. Fascinating stuff. I want to take the time to assure you that I did not get paid anything extra to do this interview. Cyber Reason made their big Q2 block by of ads on the show months ago, and I get pitched all the time by companies who just want me to interview their CEO or whatever

Starting point is 00:20:25 just so they can talk their book and promote their companies. And I always say no. If it's not newsworthy, I don't want to do it. This was newsworthy. Israel didn't just talk about his company. He talked about the ransomware space generally, and I think it's really, really interesting. So making clear my editorial standards here, this was not a pay-to-play situation. This was just a sponsor coincidentally being in the news. Anyway, as I said, I think this is one of the better cybersecurity interviews I've ever done. Hope you enjoy it. Talk to you on Monday.

Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 05/21 – Snap Is Dead Serious About This AR Stuff

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