Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 10/15 - The #MadeByGoogle Event

Episode Date: October 15, 2019

All the headlines from the Google hardware event, Apple butts in with new Beats, Libra loses another one, your movie theater wants to rent you movies, and Fortnite is back from the “black hole.” Sponsors: WeWorkRemotely Zapier.com/ride Links: PIXELBOOK GO: GOOGLE FINALLY MADE A REASONABLY PRICED CHROMEBOOK (The Verge) Google announces Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL (The Verge) BEATS ANNOUNCES SOLO PRO ON-EAR HEADPHONES WITH NOISE CANCELLATION (The Verge) Facebook's Libra announces board as support shrinks further (Reuters) AMC Theater Chain Gets Into Streaming With On-Demand Movies (NYTimes) Fortnite’s black hole has closed, and Chapter 2 is finally here (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Ride Home for Tuesday, October 15th, 2019. I'm Brian McCullough today. All of the headlines from the Google Hardware event.

Apple butts in with new beats. Libra loses another one. Your movie theater wants to rent you movies. And Fortnite is back from the Black Hole. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Today at The Shed in the kind of gross new neighborhood. of Hudson Yards on Manhattan's far west side. Google held its made-by-Google hardware event, and it was kind of unusual for an event of this kind. Usually, the new products themselves

take center stage with things like all the new specs and the pricing and the availability, heavily emphasized and underlined. But Google wanted you to know that they are all about things just working in perfect harmony in the background of your life, what they kept calling ambient computing. And so at the event, they would mention a product sort of in passing. Like, hey, we've got a new laptop. We've got a new Ness Gizmo or whatever. But they really did it in passing. If you blinked, you could actually miss any of the bold face details. Really, the star of the show was Google Assistant. And so Google instead focused on a bunch of demos and use cases of how assistant via all of these new hardware devices can blend seamlessly into

every corner of your life with the hardware just there to serve that ambient computing ideal. Let's get one thing out of the way up top because that's kind of how Google did it today. Guess what? The Stadia Cloud Gaming Service will launch November 19th for those who paid up the $130 for the Founders Edition package. Yes, Stadio. will be supported on the new pixel fours. And that's it. That's about all the time Google spent on Stadia, except for actually a long, detailed video about how they designed the new cloud controllers,

which was kind of weird. Google also gave short shrift to its new PixelBuds 2. Their new truly wireless ear nubbins, they got short shrift because they won't be available until spring of 2020, at which point they'll retail for $180. But that annoying chord that was there on the original pixel buds is gone. But you can still use pixel buds too to translate speech, have a long Bluetooth connection. Actually, that was interesting.

Google says you can be several rooms away from your phone or on the other side of a football field if you're outside. And the pixel buds will still work. They also have adaptive sound boosting to help you hear in noisy environments and the usual five hours of listening time and 24 hours of of listening with the wireless charging case. And of course, you can still use them to invoke Google Assistant. As I said, Assistant was the real star of the show today. Google unveiled the second-gen version of Assistant, promising speed boosts, new capabilities, and a design overhaul. What can you use this new Assistant on? Well, how about the new Nest Mini, which boasts near identical design to previous models, but also improved audio, a wall-mount option, and it's coming on Octave.

October 22 for $49. And actually, the new assistant is coming first to the pixel phones, so more on that in a second. Google also showed off the mesh-capable Nest Wi-Fi router coming in November for $269 for a two-pack. And that two-pack is key because you have one router and one Wi-Fi point, and Google says that's all you need. That will be enough to create a Wi-Fi network that will cover 85% of U.S. homes with two times the speed and 25% better coverage. And of course, Google Assistant is built into the Wi-Fi point so you can do things like turn off lights or say, hey, Google, pause Wi-Fi for the kids' devices. Also, if you use Nest Aware, Google's cloud recording services for things like Nest cameras and

the like, get ready for simpler monthly billing. Monthly plans for multiple cameras now start at $6 per month for $30. of event and video history, and $12 a month for 60-day event history, as well as 10-day 24-7 video history. And Google unveiled its cheapest Chromebook yet, the Pixelbook Go, a laptop with a 16-by-9, 13.3-inch display, an option for 4K resolution, Intel CPUs, and up to 256 gigabytes of SSD storage. Pre-orders open today in the U.S. and Canada, starting at $649.

There are two colors, just black and not pink. I did not get to actually hold one of these in my hands after the event, but seeing others use them up close, they looked super slim and super sexy with that sort of ribbed design on the bottom, and a supposedly super quiet keyboard, which again, one has to assume has keys that actually function, unlike some other people. But let's get to the stars of the show, the 5.7 inch pixel 4, which is 7,000. $899 for the 64-gigabyte version and $899 for the 128-gigabyte version, and the 6.3-inch pixel 4 XL starting at $899 for the 64 gigabytes and $999 for $128. I did get to play around with both of these phones, and they feel super great. There is no more notch at the top, just a really big chin where the cameras and sensors are, including the new radar chip, which allows for faster, face unlocking and all sorts of cool gestures. And by gestures, I mean not swiping on screen. I mean waving your hands over the phone to do things like silence calls or skip songs and the like,

quoting the verge. The Pixel 4 comes in three new colors, white, black, and a limited edition orange option. It goes up for pre-order today and it will ship on October 24th. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be sold by every major U.S. carrier. The Pixel 4XL has a 6.3-inch quad-hd display while the 5.7-inch pixel 4's screen is 1080P. Both feature a 90-hertz max refresh rate for ultra-smooth scrolling and responsiveness, but the refresh rate automatically adjust to the usual 60 hertz in some circumstances, where you wouldn't even notice, to optimize your battery life. Aside from screen size and battery capacity, the two new pixels offer identical hardware specs. They're powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 processor, come with either 64

gigabytes or 128 gigabytes of storage and have six gigabytes of RAM. For this year's camera system, Google has added a telephoto portrait lens beside the standard primary rear camera. The telephoto lens offers two times zoom through a hybrid of optical and digital focus, according to Google. Aside from adding a secondary rear camera for the first time, Google is also adding new software tricks and improving existing modes like NightSight, which now has a long exposure astrophotography feature. Live HDR Plus offers a real-time look at the picture you'll get after Google applies its image processing. There's also a new shadows slider if you want more control over what HDR is doing, and Google says it has improved white balance in all photo modes, end

quote. Now I did actually also get to see some in-person demos of the night site astrophotography stuff and it's pretty cool. But you know what was the coolest? Google has a new voice memos app called recorder. I'm not kidding. This thing is wild to use. It transcribes what you say into it in real time and then because it's Google you can search through past recordings for things like, you know, all the times you use an individual word even. All of the transcription processing happens on the device, so you can even use this in airplane mode. If that doesn't sound cool to you, believe me,

you have to try it yourself and see how weirdly accurate it is. And that's it. I think the vibe of the event can be summed up by this tweet by Carolina Milanese, quote, Fascinating to listen to Rick Osterlo, speak about made by Google and the ambient computing and how more and more the product they are selling is intelligence via tech and Google Assistant, not the product itself, end quote.

When major events like these happen, competitors tend to love to step on someone else's big day just a bit, and Apple is no more immune to this than anyone else. Apple's Beats by Dre Division has introduced new over-the-ear headphones. The $300 solo pros incorporate features found in previous beats updates and in Apple's AirPods. That includes both an active noise-canceling feature that responds to noise around the listener, and the H-1 and W-1 chips found in AirPods allowing fast battery charging and the use of Siri when paired with an iPhone or iPad. This is the first redesign of the on-ear headphones since Apple's acquisition of beats in 2014. The new model is due out October 30th.

The new headphones support Apple's new audio sharing feature added last month to iOS 13 and iPad OS 13, allowing multiple headphones and earbuds to connect simultaneously to an iPhone or iPad model from the last two years or so. The feature works with AirPods and Powerbeats Pro and now with Solo Pro. The headphones also include a button to engage transparency, a feature that allows ambient noise to bleed through. Apple says a full charge will allow up to 22 hours of listening with active noise canstance, and up to 40 hours with ambient bleed through. These are wireless-only headphones. There's no way to plug them in, even if you wanted to, except for charging. They have a proprietary lightning port like an iPhone or other beats headphone models.

I wonder if in Switzerland at this point they're saying, Ak, do Libra. As I mentioned yesterday, in Geneva, yesterday, the Libra Association's 21 remaining members met and selected a five-member board of directors. This came after another prominent defection, booking holdings, which owns booking.com, kayak, and price sign. So, Libra lost another one, booking is out. However, Uber and Lyft do still remain. But Libra did also finally get to put the association together formally. The initial board includes the primary mover at Facebook, David Marcus and representatives from Payu, Andresan Horowitz, Zappo Holdings, and Kiva, a global

microfinancing initiative. Payu is the last remaining payments firm at Libra, but that company has a limited operating area that does not include the U.S. or Canada. Meanwhile, regulators are still demanding information and the French government said it would work to prevent Libra from being available in the European Union at all. The AMC. movie theater chain has found not so surprising success with its AMC Stubbs A-list subscription program. Unlike the it was always going to be doomed to movie pass, which is finally defunct, as we know, AMC controls its costs and captures profits from concessions. Now the theater chain is building on both its free Stubbs affinity program and on A-list

by expanding into on-demand digital purchases and rentals of newly-rele-releases. least films. It's the first movie exhibitor in the United States to do so. The new service is called AMC Theaters on Demand and will feature about 2,000 films. There's no streaming component as of yet. This is the old style iTunes slash Comcast on Demand, order up a movie and watch it within a certain period of time. Films will cost $3 to $6 to rent and $10 to $20 to purchase standard among this sort of video on demand offering. AMC's free Stubbs program has 20 million members who receive various incentives and rewards, and nearly a million people as of August pay $20 to $24 a month for A-list, which lets them watch up to three movies a week and receive concessions discounts and credits.

But that mailing list has become an incredible marketing tool when paired with Video on Demand. Six million Stubbs members purchased tickets to the Lion King this summer. Chief Content Officer Elizabeth Frank told the New York Times that when Lion King becomes available on AMC's On Demand Service, it will email those very patrons looking for a second dip. On-demand services have relatively fixed costs to operate compared with physical movie theaters. With sufficient subscribers, they can easily be a high-margin business that neatly ties in with a list funneling its heaviest in-theater movie watchers who already have chain loyalty into deals and bonuses in this new line of business.

AMC has actually gone through a huge transformation in just the last few years, including upgrading theater seating and improving and expanding food options. Partly owned by a Chinese conglomerate, AMC bought a slew of competitors in the U.S., UK, and Northern Europe, ballooning its debt and sending its stock price plummeting down nearly 60% from a year ago. Attendance has dropped two down nearly 4% in the first half of 2019 year over year, but that's been the movie theater business in total, right? but AMC's moves may turn out to be savvy. Movie theaters have to provide a reason for people to leave their homes and streaming services to get out, justifying the in-theater spending while capturing an entire life cycle of a viewing customer could ultimately bolster flagging returns.

And finally today, a quick follow-up. Parents, the shrieks that you hear from your children's bedrooms don't mean that they've inconveniently lost a limb or poked their eyes out. it's that Fortnite is back. That couple-day blackout period has ended, and Fortnite has released what it is calling Chapter 2. So children and adults around the world may be expressing audible relief in a variety of forms. As I reported yesterday, Fortnite's creator, Epic Games, blew up the previous state of the game called Season 10, or Season X, I actually don't know.

For two days, those entering the game saw a black screen with a small black hole at the center. Now the company has unveiled chapter two. The Verge says the new environment is, quote, wilder and more untamed than its predecessors with few urban areas. With this blackout, it's not like Epic Games just simply opted to walk away from revenue. It's trying to goose its lagging fortunes, actually, with this new fresh environment and worldwide attention from the surprising blackout. Epic Games brought in $2.4 billion in 2018 with over 200 million players.

engaging worldwide. However, revenues have been falling in 2019, plummeting by double digits year over year. So maybe some sort of publicity stunt like this was long overdue. My sincere thanks to the great Glenn Fleischman for helping me write the show today. Glenn has a new book out called Connect and Secure Your iPhone and iPad that covers security and privacy in the new version of iOS. and iPadOS. Get your copy at take controlbooks.com. That is all for today. Hopefully, this is out sometime around 5 o'clock.

As I'm recording this, we're past three already. But I did my best. Talk to you tomorrow.