Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 09/16 – Facebook Unveils The Oculus Quest 2

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 Wednesday, September 16th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. Facebook unveils the Oculus Quest 2 as part of its Facebook Connect, formerly Oculus Connect event.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Amazon Music gets podcasts. Spotify puts the Apple One bundle on blast. Developers have found yet another reason to get pissed at Apple. And AT&T is not only bringing advertising to HBO, they want to add ads to your phone as well. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Okay. The Facebook Connect event, knee the Oculus Connect event until recently, kicked off mere moments ago from when I am speaking these words into this mic. Mark Zuckerberg looked to be giving the keynote speech

Starting point is 00:01:19 from what seemed like his house in Hawaii, maybe. He gave us a bunch of interesting tidbits, like Facebook is apparently working with Rayban maker Luxottica to develop some AR glasses. They don't have any products to show us just yet, however. He also sang the praises of VR generally, saying that since COVID-19, he's held most of his management meetings entirely in VR. And Facebook is getting into the fitness space as well with something called Oculus Moves. Andrew Bosworth came on to say that Portal and Messenger will be opened up for developers to create on soon. But the really big news was the Oculus Quest 2 is here, and it looks like a really big update. Starting at $299 with a more lightweight design, the Quest 2 will have 50% better

Starting point is 00:02:04 resolution, a 90-hertz refresh rate, up to 256 gigabytes of storage, and you can get your hands on this starting October 13th. Remember, this is the lightweight wireless VR headset that doesn't need any additional hardware to use. This is the device that Facebook hopes will take VR mainstream, quoting and gadget. The Quest 2 features fast-switching LCDs with a resolution of 1832 by 1920. That's a nice bump from the 1440 by 1600 screens from before. but since they're no longer OLED, you can say goodbye to inky dark black levels. Given that plenty of high-end VR headsets are also moving over to fast LCDs, even the incredible Valve Index. It's hard to get too mad over that change. It's also nice to

Starting point is 00:02:49 see support for 90 Hertz refresh rates, which will make VR experiences far smoother. But that faster rate won't be available at launch, so you'll be stuck with 72 Hertz for a bit. Facebook says the Quest 2 is around 10% lighter than before, and it's also a tad smaller, which should alleviate the front heavy annoyance from the first model. There's also a new head strap that relies on flexible materials instead of the stiff mechanism from before. The revamped controllers also take a few cues from the Rift touch controllers. They're slightly larger and they bring back the thumbrest that I sorely miss from the

Starting point is 00:03:20 first quest. The company is also making the Quest 2 more customizable this time around. It plans to offer different faceplate options for wider and narrower heads. If you miss the previous headstrap, that'll return as a premium option with room for a rear battery pack. Facebook says that extra battery will double the quest's runtime and act as a counterweight to balance the whole contraption on your head, end quote. Guess what? There's already a review of this unit up from Addy Robertson at the verge. She says the Quest 2 has got a sharp screen, a great price point, and an increasingly strong ecosystem overall. But she notes that the required

Starting point is 00:03:56 link cable and that better strap cost extra, which is annoying. And she still thinks the whole device is just still too bulky for most people. Nevertheless, she concludes by saying this, quote, The Quest 2 is the first headset I can reasonably recommend for a wide audience. Facebook's VR head start is growing and the coming year could set industry expectations for privacy, developer autonomy, and basic consumer friendliness. This may not be VR's mass market moment, but it's the moment to start seriously thinking about how that world might work, end quote. Sound good to you. Sounds so good to Facebook that it says it will stop selling the Rift S headset in the spring to focus on the Quest 2 as its flagship device in the VR space going

Starting point is 00:04:37 forward. Of course, as just noted with that quip about privacy and developer autonomy, this is the first Oculus headset that will require a Facebook account just to use it. So keep that in mind if you're considering finally getting on the Oculus bandwagon. Snowflake, a cloud data warehousing company raised $3.4 billion in its IPO today, making it the largest software IPO ever, and valuing Snowflake at over $44 billion. Not only that, at the time of this writing, the indications on the stock price suggest Snowflake could open at double its $120 a share IPO price, which had only recently been lifted from its earlier range under $100. So this is looking to be a significant first-day pop. And quoting Axios, Snowflake loses money but got a big boost of confidence

Starting point is 00:05:36 when Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to invest $500 million concurrent to the IPO. Snowflake raised venture capital in early 2018 at a $1.5 billion valuation to help it compete in the red-hot business of helping companies move their legacy workloads into the cloud, end quote. So a $1.5 billion dollar valuation only two years ago to now over $44 billion, as Axios says in its delightful house style rocket ship. This was a weirdly crazy busy newsday, so forgive me, but I'm going to try to cram a whole bunch of things into small segments like that last one to try to get as much into today's show as possible. Amazon Music has added podcasts for free across both its subscription and ad-supported tiers. There are more than 700.

Starting point is 00:06:31 podcast titles available on Amazon Music at start, which is interesting because Apple currently lists more than a million podcasts, and Spotify's catalog claims one and a half million. But of course, with Amazon, there's also this, quoting the Wall Street Journal. When Echo device users ask Alexa to play a podcast, it will draw from Amazon Music's catalog as the default if the podcast is available. Amazon Music listeners will be able to make the transition between mobile phone app, in-car, and smart speaker listening with the service picking up a podcast where the user left off. Amazon has also lined up new original exclusive shows hosted by DJ Khaled, Becky G, Will Smith, and Dan Patrick. In the first one, DJ Khaled will interview other artists about their

Starting point is 00:07:16 breakthrough hits and the stories behind them. Like Spotify, Amazon Music will collect podcast revenue only on ads that run on its original and exclusive content, end quote. As I just told you, this has been a crazy busy day, so I've not been able to to have the time to check and see if the tech meme ride home is on there. So if anyone uses or subscribes to Amazon Music, give it a quick check and let me know on Twitter if we're in the service or not. A safety driver who was riding in the autonomous Uber vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, during its fatal crash in 2018, has been charged with negligent homicide, quoting the New York Times. Raphaela Vasquez, 46, who worked for Uber and was overseeing the autonomous vehicle

Starting point is 00:08:02 at the time of the crash, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court. Investigators have said she was watching a video on her phone and did not break until it was too late to stop. The vehicle was traveling about 40 miles per hour when it hit a lane Hertzberg, 49, as she was walking her bicycle across the street at night, the authority said. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation attributed the crash mostly to human error, but also faulted, and quote, inadequate safety culture at Uber. Few state and federal laws govern liability for accidents involving autonomous cars. In 2019, an Arizona prosecutor's office said Uber would not face criminal liability for the incident, end quote. As you'll recall, Apple announced its first services bundles yesterday, and given the temperature of the moment, this news does not surprise me. Spotify immediately called on authorities to restrict Apple's bundles, what it calls Apple's anti-competitive behavior.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Apple, meanwhile, argued that bundling saves customers' money and also alternatives to all of the services in its bundle exist. Quoting Apple Insider. Moving the target from Spotify's previous statement about Apple's dominance somewhat, the company told Apple Insider and other venues that the bundle is an abuse of Apple's dominant market position. This is Spotify statement, quote, once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services. We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple's anti-competitive behavior, which, if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect, end quote. Meanwhile, in a new filing related to Apple's legal tussle with Epic Games,

Starting point is 00:09:49 Apple has lashed out at Epic saying, quote, Epic started a fire and poured gasoline on it. They also argued the game developer's injuries are entirely self-inflicted. Quoting The Verge, In the 37-page opposition brief, Apple writes that Epic could solve the problem itself, quote, in an instant by simply adhering to the contractual terms that have profitably governed its relationship with Apple for years. Later, the company adds, Epic could have avoided any further harm involving both Fortnite and Unreal Engine with simply a keystroke. It says that by refusing to do so, Epic, quote, is holding its own customers hostage to gain leverage in a business dispute, end quote. This is not a new argument from Apple. Ever since it kicked Fortnite off the App Store in August, the iPhone maker has been clear it would be happy to return to the status quo. But these filings do offer more detail on the legal arguments Apple will be drawing on in its response to Epic's demand for a preliminary injunction and the restoration of Fortnite to iOS users. A full court hearing to decide that matter is scheduled for September 28th, end quote. By the by, it's not just Spotify that is pissed at Apple after yesterday's event.

Starting point is 00:11:01 Apple developers are frustrated as well because remember how Apple just up and announced that iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 were suddenly going to be available today much sooner than folks were expecting, usually especially with the new iOS versions. The releases tend to come alongside the new phones. Yeah, well, developers weren't expecting this either, and they're mad because they had basically one day's notice. This is from Mashable, quote, Without advance warning like this, nothing is ready, a developer at high caffeine content, Steve Trouton-Smith told me, developers aren't ready, the app store isn't ready,

Starting point is 00:11:39 and everybody is rushing to react instead of having the chance to simply finish their apps properly, end quote. Steve ran through the normal iOS release process with me. Apple usually gives third-party app developers a heads up about a week before the official public release of a new iOS. The company puts out a golden master copy of the new iOS and Xcode developer tool before the latest operating system is officially released to the public. This gives iPhone app developers the time they need to make sure the apps they've been building for the beta releases of the new iOS actually work on the final version. Sometimes there are critical bugs that are only revealed or could only be fixed at this point

Starting point is 00:12:15 in the process. The extra time can also be used to add new features for any new devices announced at the Apple event. Apple's approval process for apps also takes some time, so developers have that week to make sure they submit in time to guarantee their work, will be in the App Store for the iOS release. Gone are the hopes of being on the store by the time users install the new iOS 14 and are looking for new apps. Gone is the chance to get some last-minute fixes into your existing apps to make sure

Starting point is 00:12:41 they don't stop working outright by the time users get to upgrade their OS, explained Steve, end quote. I saw a couple of tweets from prominent Apple developers. I found this one interesting and may be indicative of the mood. This is Jimmy Bossy, quote, releasing the GM seed to developers the day before release is a clear signal that Apple sees no real value to developers. Conceptually, as an aggregate community, maybe, but not as individuals, end quote. AT&T says it is considering offering wireless phone plans partially subsidized by advertising,

Starting point is 00:13:21 and it might do so as soon as next year. Quoting Reuters. The consideration, which has not been previously disclosed, underscores 18 and and T's commitment to the advertising business as the U.S. phone carrier reviews its portfolio to identify assets to sell in order to reduce its debt load. AT&T is considering selling its advertising technology unit Xander, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters, quote, I believe there's a segment of our customer base where, given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill,

Starting point is 00:13:52 chief executive John Stanky said in an interview Tuesday, end quote. the headlines might be framing this as, hey, might you be willing to endure some ads if they cut your bill a bit? No, that's not actually what this is. This is actually them proposing bribing you to willingly opt in and subject yourself to Facebook-style data mining slash advertising. I say that because note the following from the same story, quote, AT&T engineers are creating unified customer identifiers, Stanky said. such technology would allow marketers to identify users across multiple devices and serve them relevant advertising. The ability to fine-tune ad targeting would allow AT&T to sell ads at higher rates,

Starting point is 00:14:35 he said. AT&T has invested in developing targeted advertising on its own media properties using data from its phone, TV, and internet customers, but the company has been, quote, slower in coming up the curve, Stanky's words, on expanding its marketplace that allows advertisers to use AT&T data to target other media companies' audiences. Stanky said. AT&T's advertising marketplace, which incorporates data from outside AT&T, could face privacy challenges as consumers express rising concern about tracking of their media use across platforms and laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act have been passed, end quote.

Starting point is 00:15:15 John Snanky continues to feel to me a bit like a bull in a china shop, and I say that, actually, with grudging respect, the man simply does not care about ruffling feathers. He's going to try some stuff at AT&T. It's going to be wild. And look, if you don't like it, you know where you can go. Let's end today with some more details from that same Stanky interview blitz. Bloomberg says AT&T is planning to release a lower-priced version of HBO Max that will be partially ad-supported. The new version of HBO Max will have a light ad load.

Starting point is 00:15:49 AT&T chief executive officer John Stanky said Tuesday in an interview, some shows on the service will remain advertising free and only available to subscribers who pay the full price. There is some content where you want the experience to be commercial-free, Stanky said. The addition of commercials next year will mark another major change for HBO, a premium cable network that's being asked to serve as AT&T's online workhorse in streaming. It will also draw a clear distinction from its longtime rival Netflix, which has steadfastly refused to carry advertising. HBO Max will join streaming competitors like Hulu and NBC's Peacock that offer consumers

Starting point is 00:16:23 a lower price or free access if they're willing to watch commercials, end quote. Note that never in its history has HBO ever had ads. So let's go once more to the well, to the joke that I've made a thousand times about blowing up TV just to recreate it. Here's an idea for you, Stanky. What if you streamed your content for free, broadly available to anyone who wanted it, and you supported it entirely by ads? instead of calling it HBO or HBO Max, since we know HBO isn't TV, it's HBO, you could call this new offering TV.

Starting point is 00:17:05 Oofa, day one of school here in Brooklyn, and it was a friggin' nightmare. And it was completely virtual today, not even the first in-person day. So, awesome. Talk to you tomorrow.

Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 09/16 – Facebook Unveils The Oculus Quest 2

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