Here’s Mary Meeker’s essential 2018 Internet Trends report

Want to understand all the most important tech stats and trends? Legendary venture capitalist Mary Meeker has just released the 2018 version of her famous Internet Trends report. It covers everything from mobile to commerce to the competition between tech giants. Check out the full report below, and we’ll add some highlights soon. Then come back for our slide-by-slide analysis of the most important parts of the 294 page report.

• As of 2018, half the world population, or about 3.6 billion people, will be on the internet. That thanks in large part to cheaper Android phones, though individual services will have a tougher time adding new users as the web hits saturation.
• While smartphone shipments are flat and internet user growth is slowing, U.S. adults are spending more time online thanks to mobile, clocking 5.9 hours per day in 2017 versus 5.6 hours in 2016.

More analysis to come

TechCrunch – Mary Meeker 2018 Internet Trends Report from Josh Constine

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2IXw8Un

Google builds its cross-platform multiplayer AR tech into a doodling app

At Google I/O earlier this month, the company announced Cloud Anchors, a tool that shares 3D data captured by a user’s smartphone with the cloud and can match that data up with another user to create a shared AR experience where each person’s phone is seeing the same things in the same places.

Today, Google is rolling out Cloud Anchor functionality to its AR drawing app called Just a Line which it released a couple months ago. Just a Line is hardly a breakout hit for Google, but the simplistic app that lets users paint the 3D world with a white line offers a nice testbed for early AR functionality that’s just as experimental.

What will likely differentiate Google’s offering from whatever Apple ends up shipping is that the Cloud Anchors is cross-platform. The Just a Line app is available on both Android and iOS, and with today’s update users on both platforms will be able to collaborate and view items in a shared space.

Google wants to bring multiplayer AR to iOS and Android with its new Cloud Anchors tool

What’s generally important about multiplayer AR experiences is making the process simple enough for users to sync their spatial map with another user so that they see the same digital objects in the same physical locations. What Google has built seems a bit cumbersome with each user needing to stand next to each other to pair their environments. It also seems that the functionality is limited to two people at the moment.

Just a Line isn’t the most high stakes place for Google to be dropping this feature, so there is clearly room for the company to keep updating what they’ve got as they see what early usage looks like.

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2sqbiBP

Google Fi adds support for the Moto G6, LG’s G7 and V35 phones

Project Fi, Google’s wireless service, is getting support for a number of new phones today. Until now, if you wanted to switch to Fi, the only officially supported phones were Google’s own Pixel and Pixel 2 phones, the Nexus 5X and 6P, as well as the Moto X4 and its Android One variant. Today, Google is adding the Moto G6, as well as LG’s G7 ThinQ and V35 ThinQ phones to this list.

Since Google’s network is a bit different from its competitors, thanks to Fi’s ability to switch between the networks of T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular to provide users access to the strongest signal in a given area, the company has always taken a very strict approach as to which phones it officially supported.

If you want to make the switch to Fi, which also recently introduced its own take on its competitors’ flat-rate plans, then the 32GB version of the 5.7-inch Moto G6 is now available for $199 (discounted from $249). The two LG phones will be coming to Fi next month for their standard retail prices of $899 for the V35 and $749 for the G7. While Google isn’t offering any major outright discount for the LG phones, those who pre-order one will get a $50 Fi credit.

It’s worth noting that the V35, LG’s new a 6-inch flagship phone, only launched today and is essentially a G7 with more RAM, a different display and larger battery. The phone was originally rumored to be an AT&T exclusive, but I guess we can put that idea to rest now.

Both the G7 and Moto G6 have generally received favorable reviews. Google also currently offers the Moto X4 for a heavily discounted $249, but that still makes the G6 the most affordable option for Fi. This may create a bit of confusion for potential users, though, as those are quite similar and it’s hard to figure out which one to pick (just like choosing between the G7 and V35). At the same time, though, it’s nice to see Google add more options for its Project Fi customers.

LG adds more AI camera features and a notch for the G7 ThinQ

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2LI9HAp

Mapbox’s new SDK helps developers build smart AR navigation apps

Mapbox, the open source mapping service that competes directly with Google’s Maps Platform, today announced a new software development kit (SDK) that will make it easier for developers to build applications that provide AR navigation. That by itself would be cool, but by using ARM’s Project Trillium AI platform, the Mapbox Vision SDK can also recognize other vehicles, pedestrians, speed limit signs, construction signs, crosswalks and more, all without having to train their own machine learning models to do so.

It’s easy to see how this could be useful for navigation apps, but Mapbox is going a step further by also integrating its service deeply with Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform. Indeed, the company has integrated the open source Azure IoT Edge runtime into its SDK to allow developers to easily push events that the Vision SDK detects into the cloud. Thanks to this, you could easily crowdsource data about roadside construction, for example, or how busy a given intersection currently is. And in the context of a navigation app, the driver could get the same info in real-time, too (just in case you missed that construction sign…).

“The future of location is building live maps in real-time from distributed sensor networks embedded in vehicles and mobile devices at scale,” said Eric Gundersen, CEO of Mapbox, in today’s announcement. “Every vehicle and mobile device utilizing the Vision SDK creates a better map, and this same data is streamed back to Microsoft Azure for further processing. The Vision SDK not only runs in real-time to improve the driving experience in the vehicle, but also generates data for the back end to update the map based on changing conditions, powering larger solutions for smart cities or insurance companies.”

Using ARM’s Project Trillium platform, the SDK is able to make use of the mobile device’s onboard CPUs, GPUs and AI chips (if available) to perform the necessary object recognition. Once new phones launch with ARM’s new ML and object detection processors, the SDK will be able to perform all of these functions even faster, but for now, it can extract features from the video feed at a speed of about ten times a second.

Mapbox notes that its SDK will work on iOS and Android, but developers could also use it directly in a car that uses ARM embedded automotive chipsets.

The company says that it currently has about 1.1 million developers on its platform. It uses a variety of sources for its mapping data, but the core of its data comes from the OpenStreetMap project.

 

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2xsuchd

LG Is Stealing Its Own Thunder with the V35

The LG G7 isn’t even available yet (it officially goes on sale June 1st), but that hasn’t stopped LG from pushing out another big, expensive phone in the V35.

Read more...

Source: Gizmodo http://j.mp/2Jd7Y7A

Plex adds support for podcasts, debuts personalized mobile apps

At CES in January, TechCrunch reported media software maker Plex was planning to expand its service with the addition of new media content, starting with podcasts. Today, it’s making good on that promise by launching support for podcasts into beta, along with a whole new look and more customization options for its Plex mobile apps.

While Plex got its start as a software application for organizing people’s home media collections, it’s been expanding over the past couple of years to add new features in support of cord cutters who want to watch TV via their antenna, and record those shows. It also acquired the streaming news startup Watchup in order to add a dedicated news hub within its app.

Earlier this year, the company spoke of its ambitions to continue adding more types of content to its media center software, including audio and video podcasts, followed by digital, web-first and other longer-form creator content. (It had originally expected to add podcasts in Q1 2018, so this nearly-June launch is a bit of a delay.)

The larger goal, on Plex’s part, is to organize all your media content in one place – from live and recorded TV to your personal media collections of music, photos, and videos, and your news and information – including, now, your favorite podcasts.

The feature, live today in beta, is available on the Plex web platform, Roku, and iOS and Android, with other device support coming soon.

You can browse and search across Plex’s podcast library, filter podcasts by categories, or click into a title to see the details, episode lists, and related podcasts. To follow that podcast, you click the “Add to My Podcasts” button. This will add the podcast to your “On Deck” dashboard, as well.

If the podcast you like isn’t in the Plex catalog, you can add it by entering the feed URL, and Plex will treat it as if it is – it will retrieve all its metadata, related podcasts, and make it searchable.

The feature also includes the standard media controls you’d expect, like forward and back and support for variable speed playback, as well as a “mark as played” option, all available through Plex’s upgraded media player. That option can help you transition to Plex’s podcast platform from another app, as you won’t have to lose your place, in terms of what you’ve listened to, and what you’ve not. And it lets you continually mark off any episodes you may have caught elsewhere, or just otherwise want to skip.

Your listening progress is also synced across Plex’s suite of apps.

In a few weeks, Plex will roll out a handful of other features for podcasts, including smart downloading with granular controls for managing the episodes you want to keep on a per show basis (e.g. keep the last three); additional metadata for richer show pages and better discovery options; and podcasts import and export (OPML) so you can move your current subscriptions more easily into Plex.

Along with the launch of podcasts, Plex is updating its mobile apps, too, to offer better customization options. Now, if you want to listen to your podcasts and news while you’re on-the-go, on mobile, you can configure the app to show that media on your home screen. Or, if you use the app more for casting your videos to your living room TV, you could bring those favorite shows to the front instead. And so on.

On this new, customizable home screen you can re-order you content, remove any of its sections (like “Recently Added” or “On Deck,”), or add new ones from elsewhere in the app, including across servers (like Plex Cloud or your local server such as your home PC.)

Plex has also added tabs at the bottom of the screen for switching between your media type (e.g. movies, TV, etc.), which are fully customizable, too. You can even customize the default source for each media type.

[gallery ids="1647814,1647815,1647813,1647812,1647811,1647806,1647805,1647803,1647802,1647799,1647795"]

The addition of podcasts to this more personalized media experience makes sense not only because of how popular podcasts have become, but also because many are tied to the shows you watch – they’re creator commentaries, roundtable discussions, fan chats, critic reviews, and more. It’s easy to imagine, then, moving from watching a show on the TV then heading out and launching the Plex app to listen to the podcast discussing the last episode.

That’s the vision Plex has, at least. However, even with these additions, Plex’s software overall still caters more to the DIY crowd – those who want set up their own antenna, rather than pay for an online TV service like YouTube TV or Sling. And it hasn’t yet solved the problem of media that’s all over the place – favorite shows and movies are strewn across services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Amazon, and it’s hard to know where the things you want to watch reside. Those are still challenges Plex could attack in the future, by becoming a hub that jumps you into those catalogs, too.

It’s unclear how well Plex’s expansions have been working to attract new users and paying subscribers. The company doesn’t break out the latter, and it still claims today the same 15 million registered users it had at the beginning of the year. Becoming a podcast player could help bump that number up, and introduce more people to Plex’s software, as a result.

Podcasts are in beta and the mobile apps are rolling out starting today.

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2sh8nMM

PUBG’s creators are suing over Fortnite similarities

Fortnite has eclipsed the once dominant PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds title, both in terms of mindshare and money. Last week, the former was reported to have pulled in $296 million for the month of April — a financial windfall that’s only likely to increase as the title makes its way to Android in the coming months.

Now the company behind PUBG is taking Fortnite’s creators to court. PUBG (the company), a subsidiary of Bluehole (the company behind PUBG, the game — slightly confusing, I know), has filed a suit against Epic Games over copyright infringement concerns. The South Korean suit, noted by The Korea Times, takes particular issue with Fortnite’s battle royale mode.

Bluehole has been vocal about the similarities since the new mode was released in September. The developer released a statement at the time, addressing “growing concerns” with its former partner.

“After listening to the growing feedback from our community and reviewing the gameplay for ourselves,” the developer wrote, “we are concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.”

PUBG’s popularity has been declining since the beginning of this year, while Fortnite has continued to pick up steam. Last week, Epic announced that it would be investing $100 million into eSports competitions over the next two years.

Epic declined offer a comment for this story.

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2kzoAsk

ZenScreen could help you achieve a ‘balanced digital diet’

Skyfire co-founder Nitin Bhandari is working on a new approach to cutting our addiction to social media and reducing screen time with a startup called ZenScreen.

The startup has raised $700,000 in funding from Opera (now Otello) and assorted angel investors. It launched iOS and Android apps last month, as well as a Chrome browser extension.

Bhandari, who also served as senior vice president of consumer apps at Opera after the acquisition of Skyfire, said that during his work on mobile browsers and apps, he started to worry about whether creating more engaging — even addictive — apps was a worthwhile goal: “The cognitive dissonance was really eating at me and my team.”

Existing apps lock you out of your browser or smartphone for limited periods of time — for example, I use Forest to cut down on distractions when I need to focus on writing. But Bhandari said the “don’t even touch your phone” approach is “just not practical” for many people.

So ZenScreen includes a number of different features that are designed to create what Bhandari said is “almost like a balanced digital diet.” (In fact, ZenScreen created an “AppKins Digital Health Pyramid” showing which apps you can use as much as you want, and others that should  be limited.) Adults can use it to control their own app usage, as well as that of their kids.

For example, instead of trying to keep you off your phone for, say, an hour each morning, ZenScreen offers something called Smart Mornings, where you have 10 minutes to access social apps, followed by 20 minutes where you can only open work apps and utilities. Similarly, you can set limits on how much time you spend on social/entertainment apps during the day and restrict social media again when it’s close to bedtime.

To do this, Bhandari said ZenScreen had to solve “a really hard problem to figure out which app is being used and how long it’s in the foreground.” The company uses VPN technology to monitor your app usage, though Bhandari said, “We have a very unique VPN where all of the technology runs right on your device and sensitive data never comes to our servers.”

ZenScreen offers access to personal app usage analytics and its Quiet Time feature for free, then charges $4.99 per month for everything else.

“I actually compare our pricing to a gym membership — that’s kind of what we’re doing for your brain,” Bahndari said. “When you compare it to $80 a month, or $100 a month for the gym, $4.99 seems like such a no brainer if this topic is important to you.”

Source: TechCrunch http://j.mp/2snXIPp